#i think i may have made her a bit bigger than shes supposed to be but like. thats okay :)

[skitskatdacat63]

If anyone(read: nobody) was curious about Ustinya's scale :D

[purplecoffee13]

NFWMB - part 1

Summary: “Harry is a retired boxer who owns a gym and teaches self-defense classes. He considers himself a strong man, but when a gorgeous innocent woman attends a try-out class, she manages to leave him weak in the knees…”

Wc: 4.3k

Tropes: boxer!Harry x innocent!reader

Warnings: mentions of violence and SA

A/N: hello everyone! This is my new series NFWMB, named after one of Hozier’s most horny songs😄. I am so incredibly excited for this series omg it’s gonna be so good!!! If you don’t believe me, go listen to NFWMB and you’ll get a vague idea of what’s coming ;)

P.S. header = pov change

General Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Harry Styles was not one for regrets.

His life may not have turned the way he expected it to, but he was still proud of where he had come.

Being a professional boxer was a risky job, and Harry had known that when he had decided that it was going to be his career. But there was no other logical option. Harry was an exceptional boxer who was able to go pro at age 18, where he defeated a lot of men who were older and bigger than him.

It was his passion, it always had been. Which was something that was quite remarkable, especially to his closer family members, because Harry was anything but a violent person in his day to day life. He was quite reserved, and managed his temper very well. The years in the boxing ring did harden him quite a bit, his reserved nature developing into something more akin to stoicism.

Nevertheless, Harry loved boxing. It wasn't so much a fight to him, but more of a puzzle. Each opponent had its own made up riddle, and it was up to Harry to solve it as quick as possible. Much like a dance you learn the steps to along the way. A perfect combination of intuitive technique.

He hadn't planned on having to retire at the age of 27 already. It was supposed to be his peak; it had been for almost all boxers in history, and he was looking forward to how far he would be able to push his body during his prime.

He never got the opportunity to get an answer to those questions. A car accident got in the way.

He wouldn't have been able to stop it, he knew that, and he had forbidden himself from thinking about what could've happened had he not taken that specific road back home that horrible night. There was nothing he could do about it now, so there was no point in dwelling on it.

After a year of recovery, he was slowly able to get back into the rhythm of his old life again. Well, except for the boxing part. Knowing that his career in that field was over, he began thinking about some other options of his, and decided on fulfilling another dream of his: opening a gym.

He had always wanted to do it, but he always imagined to be retired by the time he would start on that.

Now, two years later, his gym was already in multiple locations, but Harry was still working at the first one he opened. He would visit the other ones every once in a while to see how everything was going, but he was mainly at the one nearest to his house. It was special to him, the place where it all started.

Despite running the place, and therefore not needing to be on location all the time, Harry was at the gym 24/7. He wasn't a personal trainer—wasn't really his style—but he would help people and teach self defense classes to women.

Every Thursday between 6 and 9, he would teach groups of ten women everything they needed to know on defending themselves from whatever threat they may run into. It was one of the things he was proudest of; the turn out at those classes. That these women put their trust in him, and let him help them become even tougher than they already were.

Tonight, after teaching the last group, Harry had gone to the bar with some of his friends. One of them was Sophie, a woman he had become friends with since she'd joined his self defense class. She was a great person with an impeccable sense of humor, and Harry was glad he had introduced her to Greg, his best friend. They were basically made for each other.

Harry had to admit that he envied his friend for the relationship he had. He was happy for them, but sometimes couldn't help but think that his lack of a partner was this one puzzle piece that would make his life even better. All in good time, he reminded himself.

"Hey," Sophie caught Harry's attention when she waved her hand in front of his face. His gaze shot to hers, eyebrows raised. "So, I was talking about your self defense class today at work. You know, promoting your business and all."

Harry chuckled at the cocky tone in which Sophie told her story, chin up high. He mumble a soft 'thanks', to which she grinned.

"You're welcome. Anyways, I have this new colleague and she seemed so intrigued by it, but she was too insecure about joining. I mean— she didn't outright say that, but I could just tell." She huffed, Greg rubbing her back. Sophie was a very happy person in general and wanted the best for everyone, this new colleague of hers included. Harry had the same habit, it's why he immediately suggested:

"Why don't you invite her along next week? A free try-out."

"But your try-out classes aren't for another two weeks." Sophie noted.

It was true. The self defense classes had become very popular, and since Harry taught them himself, he had scheduled one night of try-out classes a month. He was only able to take on so many people, but he didn't mind making this exception.

"She can join your regular class." Harry shrugged, and Sophie's eyes beamed with excitement.

"Thank you Harry!" She squealed happily, giving Greg a hug to channel her enthusiasm. "Oh, I hope she'll come along!"

"I'm sure she will." Harry assured her with a smile, and took another sip from his beer.

Y/N had never been one for risks.

She had never been the type of person to take the leap of faith, relying more on familiar feeling of security. Why risk hurting yourself when you could be safe and content?

It was the logic she had always operated with, the logic she had been taught from a very young age. Y/N had had a sheltered upbringing. Her parents wanted her and her little brother to be as safe as possible, and that was just fine to Y/N.

Her little brother was the more feisty one of the two, and his childhood consisted of a lot of fighting. It hurt Y/N to see the people she loved so much be so angry all the time, and it only motivated her to be as good as possible. She never drank, smoked, or went to parties. She turned in her homework early and got an A on almost every test. It did put a strain on her relationship with her brother, especially since Y/N's behavior would be used as ammunition towards him.

They still didn't talk all too much, but Y/N hoped that one day, she could repair that relationship again.

Moving a few towns away was a big deal for her parents, but the wonderful job she had gotten as a secretary at quite a prestigious law firm had made it all worth it. They helped her with moving into her apartment, but Y/N would regularly visit them on both weekdays and on the weekends. All in all, she'd had a safe, comfortable, content life.

Until a few months ago.

It was a Friday night, and Y/N had agreed to a date. One of the lawyers at the firm, Oscar, had been flirting with her ever since she started working there. Not wanting to be impolite, Y/N never outright rejected him, and so the flirting continued. She was a bit uncomfortable about it — especially since he was nearing his forties and she was only 23 — but figured the banter was part of the job. She was so shocked when he did ask her to go on a date, she said yes.

It wouldn't be too bad, she figured. She would just go on the date and tell him she wasn't interested afterwards. It could be casual, and no one would be too hurt. The date was definitely out of her carefully moderated comfort zone, but she would step out of it for one night.

The date was fine. Like she had expected, she wasn't interested in Oscar in a romantic way. Still, she listened to his stories, laughed right on cue at all his jokes, and told some of her own anecdotes as well. The dinner was great, and he even offered to walk her home.

They were nearing Y/N's apartment when Oscar had suddenly slowed down his walking pace. She only noticed when she was a few feet away from him, and walked back to where Oscar was standing.

"Are you okay? We're almost there, I promise." Y/N smiled politely, much like she did in the office. Oscar didn't say anything in response, only the corners of his mouth quirking up ever so slightly.

"You're so beautiful, do you know that?" He  complimented her, and Y/N looked at her feet, not quite knowing how to handle the flattery.

"Thank you." She said softly, and froze when Oscar's fingers tilted her chin upwards. Her eyes widened when he suddenly leaned in and put his mouth on hers. After the first few seconds of pure shock slowly passed, Y/N pulled her head back.

Not getting the hint, Oscar grinned and leaned in again, this time with both his hands on her face. Y/N let out a yelp, stumbling backwards. Her body's alarm bells were ringing so loudly, but Oscar must've been deaf to her body language because he backed her up against the wall and kept kissing her.

Y/N cried out as she tried to push Oscar off with her hands, but he only grabbed them and pinned them above her head. Finally, not knowing what else to do, she lifted her knee and kicked him right in the crotch. Oscar shot backwards, groaning loudly as his grip finally loosened on her. He looked incredibly angry.

"What the fuck?!" He bellowed, standing up straight again. Y/N's lip quivered, tears running down her face.

"You wouldn't stop." She said softly, almost in a whisper. Her entire body was shaking from the adrenaline. Oscar's mouth opened to say something, but the conversation got interrupted.

"Oscar!" A woman's voice shouted from down the street. He turned his head, and his face morphed from sheer rage into a lovely smile, the same one he always put up for Y/N back in the office.

"Sophie!" He said, but the mention of her name sounded strained. Sophie... Y/N recognized her name, but she hadn't ever met the woman. She was one of the three female lawyers at the firm. Had been working there for only five years, but her reputation was so badass, everyone knew who she was.

"What are you doing out tonight?" Sophie asked as she gave Oscar a hug, and turned to Y/N. "Who's this?"

"This is Y/N." Oscar replied. "She's a secretary at the firm."

"Nice to meet you." Y/N extended her hand, and Sophie shook it.

"Nice to meet you too! How come I've never seen you around?" She tilted her head.

"I— I work on a different floor."

"Well, I'm glad I met you, Y/N!" She said, the kindness in her tone being a real comfort after that scary moment she just had to live through. Somewhere in the way she said it, and in the way her eyes softened slightly, it almost felt like Sophie knew.

"I— I should go. It's getting pretty late." Y/N decided that this could be her sweet escape.

"Right, I'm gonna bring Y/N home." Oscar said, and your eyes shot to him. Anxiety filled your lungs until all you could breathe was fear. You didn't want to be alone with him. You had no idea what he would be able to do to you. What were you going to do about it? You weren't even half as strong as he was.

"Oh, which way is it?" Sophie asked, turning to Y/N, who was about to open her mouth but got interrupted by Oscar.

"That way." He pointed toward the direction of Y/N's house. Sophie side eyed her colleague, then nodded.

"Exactly the way I was going! Let's go." She hooked her arm into Y/N's, and began walking, ranting about how it was unacceptable that they didn't work on the same floor.

Y/N wordlessly nodded along, filled with gratefulness to Sophie or the universe—or both—for not leaving her alone with Oscar again.

She got home safely about five minutes later, not daring to look Oscar in the eyes as she hugged him and said goodbye, and she only allowed her tears to fall down her cheek when she closed her front door.

Y/N spent the rest of the weekend in bed, not in the mood to do anything. By Monday, she felt both better and worse. She had had some time to come down from the shock of what happened, but the terror that filled her at the realization that she was to see Oscar again, had her stomach turn. On Monday morning, she even got into work late as a result of a wave of nausea that hit her once she'd grabbed her keys, spending the time she used to drive to work to puke her guts out instead.

Later, she'd found out that Oscar had called in sick that day. It gave her some time and space to breathe. Sophie visited her the same day, and she hadn't stopped visiting since.

Oscar did eventually return to work, but they never talked anymore. Y/N didn't dare to look him in the eye, and she avoided him at all costs. One day, about two weeks after everything happened, she did see him waiting by her cubicle, but she hid in the toilet for half an hour and by the time she returned he was gone.

It had been two months since that horrible event, and Y/N had entirely isolated herself. Back to the normal routine, back to what was familiar. It gave her a sense of control. She was fragile, and sensitive. She had just pressed down her sadness and anxiety that lingered as a result from the date, and instead focused entirely on what she could control.

She figured it would be easier. Well, except for the mental breakdowns she'd get when something small didn't go right. The dishes not being cleaned, her vacuum not taking up every speck of dust; it just set her off. It wasn't healthy, but she had no idea how else to deal with these things.

When Sophie mentioned she was following self-defense classes a couple weeks ago, Y/N's ears had perked up. She tried to be subtle about it; asking questions to pry some information about the classes from her. But, being the amazing lawyer she was, it didn't go over Sophie's head, and before she knew it she had an invite to a class.

"See you next week!" Harry exclaimed as the last of the women from the 7pm class left the room. He was still busy putting everything back into place before the next class which would commence in about five minutes.

He was just about done with everything when Sophie walked in, another girl walking in close behind her. Harry couldn't really make up her face, as she stayed closely behind Sophie, even upon nearing him.

Sophie looked proud, probably feeling very accomplished about the fact that she had been able to convince this colleague of hers to take her up on her offer.

"Hey!" She greeted Harry cheerfully, giving him a quick hug. He was still smiling when he turned to the woman standing next to Sophie. His mouth went a bit dry when he took in her face.

"Harry, this is Y/N."

For starters, she was a bit shorter than Sophie, and quite frail too. Her hair was up in a ponytail, leaving her features to be admired out in the open. Her eyes were soft—radiating mostly insecurity at the moment—and wide. Those Bambi eyes and plump, rosy lips...

She looked so... innocent?

He wasn't sure if it was the right word, but he was sure that he had to say something before the silence became too long.

"Hi Y/N." He repeated her name, seeing the slightest flicker of surprise run through the eyes of the woman in front of him. But the slight relaxation of her body told him that his usual trick was working. It was a typical 'strategy' that he would often use with people who were a bit unsure about him. His voice would soften, he would always wear a hint of a smile on his face, and he'd repeat people's names to create a bit more of a familiar environment. It always worked, and he was glad it did. He never wanted anyone, especially a woman, to feel uncomfortable around him.

"Hi." The corners of her mouth tugged up.

Angel.

That's all he could think of as he looked at her. Jesus Christ, she was beautiful.

"Thank you for joining the class. You don't have to join in on everything if you don't feel comfortable. Just observe and see if this is something you would like to practice more often, okay?"

The girl in front of him nodded intently the second he had finished talking. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before she peeped out an, "okay."

Harry grinned, his gaze shooting to Sophie—who was looking at him with this suspicious look on her face that she only got once in a while—before calling everyone in a circle and commencing the class.

This girl, Y/N, turned out to be a real distraction for him. He was so focused on trying to read how she was feeling that he trailed off during explanations a couple times. It was embarrassing, really. He was a grown man for God's sake, why couldn't he just concentrate?

Y/N only joined in for a couple of the basic movements, but she stayed back for most of the class. Her big eyes observed every movement Harry and the others made, impressed with how developed everyone seemed to be in their techniques. He noted that it only seemed to make her more timid, though.

His eyebrows kept knitting every time he looked at her, getting lost in his thoughts on how he could help her become more comfortable in his class. She'd caught his stare about halfway through the class, and at the way her eyes shot to the floor he realized that his gaze was actually doing the completed opposite of what he wanted to do, which was help her.

When the class ended, Harry gave his usual speech about how good everyone had done their job, and that he would see them all next week. Afterwards there would always be a couple of women hanging around to ask questions, and he would stop a few on their way out to compliment their improvements. When the rest of the women had left, Sophie walked up to Harry, Y/N following closely behind.

"Great class, Styles. Thanks for teaching me some ass kicking again." She teased, smiling at him before she took a sip from her water bottle.  Harry chuckled, shaking his head faintly.

"Glad you liked it." He turned to Y/N. "What about you?"

Her cheeks started heating up, mouth falling open ever so slightly. "M— me? Oh, uhm, yeah, pretty good."

"I'm going to use the bathroom really quick, I'll be right back." Sophie chimed in, and began walking towards the door. "Keep her company for me, will ya Styles?"

Harry almost laughed at how Y/N's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets at Sophie's announcement. She was nervous around him, and it was quite endearing, but she didn't need to be. Although it was very cute, Harry wanted her to be comfortable around her.

"You hated it, didn't you?" He said as soon as Sophie was out of sight. Harry was amused, watching Y/N scramble for words when she realized what he had said.

"What? No, no of course not! You're great! Teacher— you're a great teacher, I mean." She stumbled over every last one of her words, making it sound even less convincing than it already was, even though she did really mean it.

Harry solely raised his eyebrow, indicating that he did not buy any of that, and it was all it took for her shoulders to slump and a little sigh to leave those pretty lips of hers.

"It's really not you, I promise. I just get... a bit nervous in group settings, especially when it comes to sports. I don't even go to the gym." She confessed, and Harry nodded. That certainly made more sense. His heart warmed a bit at the fact that she reassured him that he wasn't the reason she wasn't liking the class all too much.

"Why don't you go to the gym?" Harry asked further, his tone soft. He didn't want to press too much, but he did want to know more about her.

"It's... embarrassing." She shrugged. Harry chuckled.

"I go to the gym all the time. I mean, I own this one. I can only imagine how embarrassing I must be."  He joked. He had to say he thought it was pretty funny, the way she blushed as he teased her.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! You're not embarrassing at all— I mean, you’re like the opposite. You're lean, and strong. You have like— big arms and you know what you're doing." She ranted, and had no idea how much Harry's ego was fueled by the compliments she was unknowingly throwing at him. "Whereas I— I have no idea what to do at a gym. I hate the idea of people being able to watch me and judge me if they want. Not that I think everyone's focusing on me all the time! I— I don't think that..."

Y/N's heart was racing as she finally got herself to stop talking. It was a nervous habit she had always possessed. As soon as something got awkward, her mouth would open and it would just never shut again. All communication skills flew out the window as soon as something — or in this case someone — made her nervous. She couldn't even remember half the words she just said.

"I can teach you, if you want."

The offer was as unexpected to Y/N as it was to Harry. He hadn't quite anticipated the words rolling off his tongue, but he didn't regret them either.

"It'll be a private class, and it can be in a closed room, like this one, or after closing time. Whatever suits you." Harry tried his hardest to sound casual, and not like what he was offering was something he literally never did. He had to hire a cleaner at home because he was too busy to get around to cleaning the house, that's how much he had to do. But the prospect of losing even more free time did not seem to bother him at all. In fact, he hoped Y/N would take him up on his offer as he scanned her face and waited for her to say something.

"No, I wouldn't want to ask that of you. I'm sure you're busy with a lot of other things." She declined politely, but he didn't miss the glimmer of hope in her eyes. Those private classes had sounded intriguing to her, he just knew it. So instead of accepting her rejection, he shrugged.

"How about this. I'm always in till late on Tuesday's. If you're sure you don't want private lessons, that's fine. But if it does sound like something you want to do, just be there at 9. I'll be there either way." Harry suggested. He didn't wait for a response — hearing Sophie's footsteps nearing — and instead said,

"Just think about it, alright?"

Y/N merely nodded, not even able to croak out a 'yes' before Sophie walked back into the room.

"Okay, I'm ready to go. Y/N?" Sophie asked, watching as her friend agreed and grabbed her things before walking towards the door where Sophie stood.

"Thanks for the class." Y/N turned around and smiled at Harry, throwing him a small wave as she started following Sophie out the door.

"Anytime." He winked at her.

"Bye Styles!" Sophie shouted, her keys clinking as she waved at Harry, behind her.

"Bye Soph." Harry called out, his eyes still transfixed on the girl behind his friend.

He didn't take her eyes off her as they walked towards the exit, taking in every detail of her delicate body as she moved further and further away from him. She was painstakingly beautiful. How had she just walked in? As soon as the girls disappeared behind the door, Harry let out a big sigh.

"Fuck." He murmured under his breath.

He really hoped Y/N would take him up on his offer. Harry had very quickly and very suddenly developed this intense need to help the girl, and that couldn't mean anything good.

Maybe he'd never see her again. She did sound very unsure. Besides, who said that she even wanted to go to this class? For all Harry knew, Sophie could've just used her manipulative convincing tricks, and Y/N, the polite angel she was, would've felt too bad to decline. Maybe, she thought he was an ass and didn't want anything to do with him.

In spite of the countless theories flying through his head, he knew that she wanted it. He had seen it in her eyes. She did really want to join the class, she was simply too nervous. But whether she would take him up on the offer, that was the question. He'd have to wait until the following week.

Strangely enough, he couldn't wait until it was Tuesday. He couldn't wait to find out…

[kyri45]

✨ShadowPeach Bio Parents Bio AU Q&A! 23/12✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

@boonalina ha chiesto: Question: Why does Wukong's biblically accurate form have two faces? Also, was there some inspiration for you that made you want to design him like that? (Since I know he doesn't have any canonical Kaiju form in LMK) Also also, DAMN that Kaiju fight was so freaking pretty!! The colors were so well done!

thank you!! He has 3 actually, but in the panels you can see 2 bc the third is facing away from the camera aha.

Anonimo ha chiesto: would you make a Shadowpeach bio parents au zine?

yes I would. But it requires an enormeous amount of organization, plus you need multiple people to organize a zine, from contacting, to marketing, to production, to logistic etc… I don’t have the time right now as I’m already working.

@stro-lmk-enjoyer ha chiesto: Head canon that Red Son uses/used to use the ‘rubber duck’ method while working. The rubber duck method is: when making something by yourself you may get stuck/stressed out because you can’t find a solution to a problem. Have a rubber duck on your desk just so you can verbally explain your problem, which could help you solve it by actually hearing it out loud. But a side effect of this is now Red Son will talk to himself while he works, even if it does help it still freaks his parents out hearing him mumbling to himself when they pass his room. Just something I learned recently when watching a video about writing a characters backstory 👍 I thought you might like this too! Bye <3

i know need Red Son just talking about project to a cute rubber duck and MK finding it adorable.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Will LBD come back ? Even if it is just in a dream ?

maybe

Anonimo ha chiesto: how old is MK ? Like 18-21 ???

almost 22.

@haru7110 ha chiesto: IS MEI IMMORTAL LIKE MK AND REDSON IN THE SHADOWPEACH AU??? I NEED TO KNOW!! Fornoreasonwhatsoeverobviouslyhahahahaha (angst purposes)

no Mei is not immortal, but I would guess she has a lifespan slightly longer than average bc of her family.

@cutvdo ha chiesto: When you first draw Red Son in his human form he looked small, but later he looks bigger (probably from you getting more comfortable drawing him). I like to think he changed his human form a bit because he found out MK likes big man

this is the best conclusion ever. He would fr fr

Anonimo ha chiesto: Guess you could say MK got his own personal monkey tree

omfg-

@aizieweex ha chiesto: Hey Kyri!!! I LOVE your art, aaaand thanks for the recent repost of my animatic (or animatik?...I honestly don't know which is more correct, I'm not a native speaker at all), I literally screamed, lol (And still screaming). I wanted to ask, how many parts of the comic are you counting on? Do you already have a certain planned number of chapters? Anonimo ha chiesto: Hello! How long will the shadow peach bio parents au be?

there will be 9 parts in total. I don’t know the exact number of chapters left but I can assume around 30.

@copyrightedbystarkindustries ha chiesto: Love your art!!! Are you planning on putting shadowpeach au stuff on your redbubble in the future?

Yes I do! But first I need to finish my job which will be more or less on the 20th of January.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Does MK use a glamour to hide some scars or something his parents aren’t supposed to find out about ?

yes

@twilight-bai-he ha chiesto: When you said during the livestream that MK will have a new outfit when he is magical girl, What do you mean by that ?

that he will eventually own a new outfit as “official outfit” let’s say. That isn’t his temporary fighting outfit he has now.

@magician-kitty ha chiesto: You think Mac will get more flustered now that Wukong’s more muscular thanks to all that weight lifting from the previous chapters?

a little bit yes.

@whotookfinn ha chiesto: Hey!! I’m absolutely in love with your art, it’s so beautiful and wonderful and IM OBSESSED. Anyway, I’m not sure if you’ve been asked this before, but who’s your favorite lmk character to draw?

macaque and Mk, they fluffy.

Anonimo ha chiesto: I HAVE A QUESTION! after your shadowpeach AU will be finished will you do other lmk Au????

nope.

@cjtuy ha chiesto: My question is about tang and pigsy are they married I've always wondered this

no they are not married, but it’s something they have been thought for a little bit. They known each other for years and got together for one. They know they work very well as a couple, and marriage would only be a more “official” way to show their union. It’s on their mind, maybe they will plan it in the near future

Anonimo ha chiesto: Have you seen that Brandon Roger's clip where he loses his kid? I can just imagine macaque going through that right now with mk being kidnapped. "Mothers adrenaline is kicking in!!" "have you seen my son, he's about this tall, clearly gay but we haven't had the talk" https://youtu.be/dJJUFrENZ_o?si=lbacsYlJr8XpaDQQ (this is the sound just in case)

LMAO I know that video by heart yes absolutely those would be the parents.

Anonimo ha chiesto: In the Bioparents AU, is Redson actually going to be able to court so Mk in the end after the whole celestial situation?

they will have time to do their stuff after the heaven shenanigans.

@ashmeertheimp ha chiesto: I hope you are having a lovely day/night and are healthy and well AND TYSM FOR THAT SPICYNOODLES KISS I LOVED IT AND MY HEART WAS ABOUT TO BURST! Anyway I was wondering if mk and Redson parents are gonna have quality time with there Nephew in spirt/potential son in law?

mm yes. Post heaven shenanigans but yes.

@cpazy ha chiesto: About that,

It means that Mac and MK's powers have to do with the moon cycle, like on a full moon they get stronger or something like that? And if there is an eclipse where the moon turns red, their powers would go out of control?

Yes, but the opposite. On a full moon they are weaker, while on a new moon they are stronger.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Hello! Not a question but I just love and ADORE your shadowpeach bio parents au! ❤️ Recently you had posted about LMK fic recommendations, I wanted to recommend "The Constellations Within Us" and it's sequel "Epilogue: Axis" (ongoing) by cloud_somersault on AO3. It's one of my favorite LMK/Shadowpeach fics! The writing and world building are stellar and it includes similar themes as the ones in your comic, like the themes of reconciliation, shadowpeach angst and repairing their friendship and their joint custod- I mean- mentorship of MK! It's a really good fic and I highly recommend giving it a read! https://archiveofourown.org/works/48308065 And again, love your comic so much! Have a great day! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

aaahhhh I will definetely check them out!

@astro-nomaly ha chiesto: Per ur Bio Parents AU, what happens when a courtnapping occurs, but the person getting napped isn’t actually into the courtnapper, and doesn’t want to be napped? Does courtnapping have a “leave whenever you want” clause or..? (I love ur au akshhenwb)

they are allowed to refuse anytime. If the kidnapper doesn’t allow the he’s a dick

@thecardboardbutterfly ha chiesto: Since everyone is starting to fear for tomorrow, I decided to share my convoluted thought I got yesterday night at like, 3AM to lighten the mood a bit (.3.)~* So Technically, given that Lmk is very much based on Journey to the West, maybe it's not that much of a stretch to call Lmk fan content of JTTW, like some kind of future AU or something. Which means your AU is fan content of Lmk. See where I'm getting at? Because your comic is so popular in the fandom, there is fan content of your AU out there, which is already fan content. Which means we reached a point where we have fan content (fanarts and various inspirations of the bio parents AU) of fan content (said bio parents AU) of fan content (Lmk) of a piece of content (JTTW). The chain is GETTING LONGER BOYS. I personally think it's funny. My apologies for everyone who lost their brain/ last remaining braincell reading this x)

omg. It’s a fan-inception!

Anonimo ha chiesto: Will Red Son and MK ever have a bad date?

I like to believe EVERY date will have would be comically bad. But I think that’s because they still need to understand that they don’t fall under the “typical demon date” or “amatonormativity” umbrella. The best date they could have is just them training and having lunch later, or them playing videogames or netflix and chill.

@sollythesalt ha chiesto: Dumb question but do you remember the scene in lmk where Wukong said he has stage fright? I wonder if you're gonna do something with that knowledge…. Ps: Keep doing your magic queen we love you and your art✌️💅

oh u bet I did

[urinarythreatinfection]

may i ask for headcanons for crocodile x child reader where crocodile's daughter joins the strawhats post alabasta?

and the next time they meet in impel down, well. that's not even his daughter anymore. that's his son now.

thank you very much for the open requests!

(from @77v77)

Bet. My first time writing a trans character so I hope it turned out okay. I'm still not used to headcanons so this honestly came out more as a fic, I'm really sorry about that. If you want a redo I don't mind, sorry. I got kinda carried away with a storyline and it turned out like this.

It's Good To See The New You

Crocodile x FTM!Child!Reader. 1562 words. Author isn't trans but trying their best. Feel free to correct if I messed up. (D/N) Is deadname.

This is how your life is, you’ve accepted it. You’re the daughter of someone powerful, strong, rich, you should be happy; but you aren’t. These dresses aren’t making you happy, the people fawning over you aren’t either, even the small amount of attention you get from your father doesn’t truly make you happy. It’s only when something happens, something that was supposed to be negative, that you get a glimpse of what can be your happiness. How could you let it pass you by at that point? Call yourself your father’s daughter, you don’t let opportunities like this just leave. Of course, maybe daughter isn’t something to describe you anymore.

“Take me with you.” Is what you say to Luffy when he’s leaving.

“Hm?” He looks at you, recognizing who you are, and scowls slightly.

“Take me with you, I want to go with you.” You repeat and it only confuses him more, Luffy doesn’t like being confused either.

He thinks you’re trying to pick a fight at first, but when he realizes you aren’t he calms down a bit.

“I just beat up your dad, why do you wanna come with me?” He asks you.

“Because I want to. So let me on.”

“Wha- Don’t give me orders!”

You two end up getting into a small argument, call it childish but you aren’t used to being argued with by anyone other than your father.

Of course, it ends up working out, Luffy lets you on.

Robin even uses you as an excuse to get on as well, your partner in crime.

Luffy’s a little upset he kind of didn’t get as much of a choice as he’d like, but he got over it once Robin worked her charms. (Using her hands to help them make stupid jokes)

As for you, it took a while for you to warm up to them even though you’re the one who got on.

Something just still didn’t feel right.

You felt better than before, of course, but not as good as you’d like.

It’s only when Nami helps you pick out clothes that you realize that you’ve never truly chosen what you’ve wanted.

You were given options of course, but those options were picked from what your father wanted.

When you were looking at dresses Nami noticed you looking unhappy.

“You don’t have to wear a dress if you don’t want to, you know. You can wear something else.” She says casually.

In her mind it was just a fashion tip from one woman to another, something simple.

But to you it was so much more.

From then on you took things into your own hands.

Not just bossy with the things you’re given, but exploring to find your own choices.

You started dressing differently, which might seem so little but it felt so much bigger to you.

Time passes and it was the best choice you’ve ever made, it helped you become your true self.

The crew was confused at first, Sanji was even devastated, but it passed.

Sometimes Sanji still laments, but it’s more just because he was happy to have another woman to fawn over.

He gets over it, you’re happier this way.

You even get the privilege of not having the privilege of Sanji’s over-the-top affection.

Everything is so much better, so much brighter that you almost forget what your life was like before you were truly yourself.

That’s until you meet your father again, a reminder of who you were.

You know it's not his fault, he never bossed you around or told you you couldn’t be your true self.

He just wanted you to be someone that he could have confidently as his child, someone unbreakable; and that's what you were.

An unbreakable broken person.

That’s how you could describe him too, in the state he’s in.

Chained up and defeated, it makes your heart ache.

Even if he wasn’t the best father he was still yours.

He almost doesn’t recognize you at first, glaring at you until it clicks who you are.

“...(D/N)?” He calls to you and you almost flinch from the sound.

It brings shivers up your spine, even if you know it was from ignorance.

You don’t want to respond, not wanting to acknowledge that previous you; but decide it’s time to face it.

Crocodile himself, your father, isn’t the enemy that kept you captive.

“..Father.” You say to him.

“(D/N) you, what are you-”

“That’s not my name” You interrupt him, and it makes him pause.

Not your name?

How isn’t it your name? He named you himself!

“What are you talking about? I figured you joined that Strawhat’s crew but you changed your name for it? Were you..” He trails off, feeling hurt.

Were you that unhappy with him?

Why else would you change your name if not to try and get rid of your past?

You must be ashamed of him, he sure is.

Got beaten by a brat and ended up in a prison getting mistreated by people he could kill in a heartbeat, if only he had the chance to.

“Father.” You catch his attention, snapping him out of the trance of negativity he put himself into.

“It’s not you, if that’s what you were worried about.” You reassure him, and he scoffs.

“If not me what else? You sure seem a hell of a lot brighter now that you’re not with me.” His heart aches.

Despite not wanting to admit it he did have a soft spot for you.

You were his daughter, the small light he had in the darkness, whether the choice to have you was his or not.

“..It’s (Y/N).” You say quietly and he perks up, looking at you closer.

You look different, more different than he realized at first.

“You’ve changed.”

“I know.” There’s a silence.

Crocodile isn’t one to pry, he didn’t pry even when you were his daughter.

“Are you happier?” He asks you, like a sentimental fool.

Your eyes go wide, but they calm as you smile.

“I am, I’m so much happier.”

“Good. Make sure you stay on the other side of these bars, too, (Y/N).” Your father says and your heart clenches.

You’re happy, but sad at the same time.

Here you are, your true self with friends that care about you, meeting your Father again.

This should be happy for you, there shouldn’t be anything bad about this.

Despite that, you feel like crying; and look down.

Because you’ve gained so much, but you’ve lost being your Father’s daughter.

He still cared for you, and you him.

He helped you with your hair, gave you the luxury he grained, treated you with the respect you deserved, he even changed your diapers sometimes when you were little.

Even though he didn’t need to.

Crocodile loved you as much as he could in and in the way he knew how.

So the thought that you’ve lost that love, it hurts.

You don’t want to go back to being his daughter, you don’t want to go back to being a daughter, but you don’t want to lose being his child.

“Hey, don’t give me that look.” You hear him say, and you look back up.

“I know you and how that face you make when you're about to cry. Even if you’re different know you’re still my..” He trails off and you hesitate.

“Son.” Your heart drops, fear overtaking you at the thought of him rejecting you.

“My son.” He says and your vision blurs.

“Jeez, you really don’t listen don’t you? That a Strawhat trait, or did you get it from me?” He says with a sigh as tears roll down your cheeks.

“C’mon, stand up straight. You’re my kid, act it.” Something he would always say to you when you felt insecure.

It never did much other than help you put your mask back on.

But now those words empower you.

More than when they were said by the savior of Alabasta, the fearsome Crocodile.

You nod and wipe your eyes, you can’t cry now.

“That’s right, one of us has to be free." He looks down at himself, weak from mistreatment and seastone.

"Maybe it’s better you than me.” His chains clink as he moves.

“I am free, I feel so free. All the time.” You say, laughing a bit.

It shocks Crocodile, he hasn’t heard you laugh like this in so long.

He'd thought you'd lost it from age, just as he did.

You haven't laughed this freely with him since he could hold you up with one hand.

The sound of his son sounds so much happier than his daughter.

He wishes he knew sooner, maybe he could’ve even given you different life skills.

Too late for that.

“Are you gonna stand here all day looking at your old man? I doubt you’ve come to free me.” You shake your head.

You don’t even have his key.

Your ears perk up at crashing noises, it’s time for you to go.

You look back at your father, eyes clear and bright.

“I’ll be going now, Dad.” You say with a smile and he bites the inside of his cheek to hold any emotion in.

“Go get em, son.” Crocodile says with a chuckle.

You go off and he sits in his cell.

He wonders if this is how you felt, trapped with him and in a body you didn’t feel was your own.

Maybe this is his retribution, his punishment for his wrongdoings.

If there’s a God out there.. he hopes that they keep that punishment to him.

It wouldn’t be fair to drag someone he just met into his problems.

You deserve your new life.

He’s just happy he was able to see a glimpse of it.

That was it. Hope that was good. I'm not trans but I just based it off of what i've seen and maybe how I would feel if I were trans. Hope that works. I don't know why you made yourself anonymous but put your @ but I'll assume maybe it was because you wanted me to tag you so here @77v77

[hunters-vigil]

The Archon's Baby - Chapter 9 - Rising Tensions - Enter Capitano

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

request from ao3: Make one where they have a child but the female character doesn't tell Mavuika that she is expecting a child and distances herself from Mavuika please 🙏🙏

warnings: pregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, traveller uses they/them pronouns, arguing, mentions of death, poor descriptions of fighting.

Fic under the cut, don't repost my stuff on other platforms, i have ao3. Reader is not the traveller. Reader's adoptive sisters are Chasca and Chuychu.

Eventually, the team who were sent out to fight in the Night Warden Wars returned. All but one. Kachina, who had fallen in battle, would need to revived by the Rite of Ressurection. Everyone else seemed calm, but you couldn't help but frown. Kachina was a child, who had gone to war and died. She would be resurrected and celebrated, which you were glad for, but still, you worried about how traumatic the situation may have been for her.

"Oh hey, it's been a while! How are you doing?" Paimon's voice caught Mualani's attention, along with the Traveller's and Kinich's, as the floating silver creature spotted you already seated waiting for the Rite of Ressurection, and celebration of the Night Warden Wars victory to begin.

"Trying my best. Heard you guys were at the People of the Springs when the attack happened, I'm glad everyone made it out okay, including Atea. I heard she was injured." You smiled softly, cradling the waterskin that Chuychu was insisting you keep drinking water from throughout the ceremony.

"Speaking of Atea, I have something I need to give you from her when everything is over." Mualani interjected, looking over you carefully for any clues, but she couldn't figure out what Atea knew. She also didn't spot how Mavuika was watching you all from her throne. A part of the pyro archon wishing you could be sat with her... but it would be safer for you down there, with Chuychu nearby, and the toilets too...

"Warriors of Natlan - heed the call of life. We are the inheritors of memory and legend. Those who grew alongside sun and wind. Those who forged our own destiny and future. That is Natlan's fire, the lifeblood of our nation." Ntotila declared, as Mavuika headed towards the sacred flame to retrieve Kachina. Her hair setting alight as she disappeared into the flames, making your stomach churn.

Closing your eyes, you held your hand over your heart as everyone began to sing the Ode of Ressurection.

The song eventually ended, but Mavuika returned alone?

"I could not find Kachina within the Night Kingdom, or locate her Ancient Name." Mavuika announced, much to everyone's confusion, including her own. People began to shout, accusations were made, while you rubbed at your temples, a headache brewing.

"I can't listen to these jealous idiots. And they're supposed to be adults." You grumbled, standing up to walk away.

"Are you okay?" The Traveller looked worried, spotting how Mavuika's eyes lingered on the group as Mualani argued with the two idiots trying to suggest Kachina was not a hero.

"Think about it everyone. Who do you think is really at fault here? A girl who never should've even gone to war... Or the great pyro archon? Why would the rules of our nation suddenly stop working?" Tepexpan's accusation had you freezing in place, anger washing over you. Blasphemy...

"Maybe you should all shut up and realise it's probably the abyss interfering? Accusing Kachina and Mavuika will get you nowhere. Jumping to those blasphemous conclusions will get no nowhere. Get your heads of of your asses and use your brains for once." Your voice was louder than you expected, storming away before anyone could retort to your sharp words. Or you calling Mavuika anything but 'archon'.

Mavuika watched you storm away, her eyes flickering to behind her as the Sacred Flame seemed to react to your anger, growing a little bit bigger and a little brighter until you were out of sight.

Luckily, Mualani continued to stand up for Kachina, your words to fall into the background, brushed over.

"That's enough. There is no doubt about today's victory, or Kachina's part in it. She is a hero worthy of our admiration and celebration. However, the failure of today's ceremony is undeniable. Kachina has not been rekindled, and I offer you all my deepest apologies as I continue to investigate this matter..."

Mavuika's voice tapered off as you returned to her chambers, curling up with the blankets over your head. Your head hurt, and now you had probably just embarrased your girlfriend and your sisters with your outburst.

You missed Mavuika putting Tepexpan and Tamuin in their place, but the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps entering the Speaker's Chambers caught your attention, causing you to hide further under the blankets.

You recognised all of the voices. Mavuika. Paimon. The Traveller. Mualani. Kinich. Iansan. Chasca...

Luckily, you couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. Meaning you couldn't hear Chasca agree to go in person to the Night Kingdom with the others to retrieve Kachina.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Atea was wounded in the fight against the abyss. She wanted us to give this to you... it 'embodies fond memories and my strength of will' that's what she asked us to tell you, she said you'd understand what that means," Mualani held out Atea's talisman, "and she has something for your sister, Chasca, but I don' t know where she went-"

Chasca huffed at that, looking directly at Mavuika, who was luckily distracted by the talisman.

"I didn't think this day would come so soon. The flames of her life force, I can feel them flowing through the talisman. If things were different, the two of us could have enjoyed the hot springs together while she gave this to me in person. We're supposed to be 'hot spring buddies' after all..." Mavuika held back her emotion, especially with the warning glare on Chasca's face, "but don't worry. This talisman means a great deal to me. I'll take good care of it, and once this is all over, I'll pay Atea a visit. I can also sort out Atea's other wish..." Mavuika's eyes briefly glanced over at the door that led to her personal chambers, knowing that was where you were.

"Of course. Because the only person who knows her better than her sisters is her archon." Chasca folded her arms, pretending to be happy about what had just been said. Luckily the conversation ended after that, with only Iansan and Kinich remaining by the archon's side.

///

Mavuika ushered Iansan and Kinich out, asking them to wait for her near the Sacred Flame, while she headed into her chambers, with Atea's gift for you in her hands.

"My love?" her hand gently rested on your shoulder, your entire body hidden under the blanket, but she knew you were awake.

"I'm sorry."

"There is nothing for you to apologise for. The general public cannot know the truth, but them questioning the integrity of our heroes... I understand your outburst. I wish I could remain here instead of my duty, but unfortunately I cannot. Mualani brought something for you, from Atea... her request was that you should open it in private." Mavuika explained, watching as you removed the blanket from your face to look at her.

Pressing a kiss to your forehead, Mavuika headed to leave, watching as you took the package into your lap with a confused look on your face.

"I love you." Mavuika called out as her hand lingered on the doorknob, observing how your eyes were glassy but the smile on your face reached them.

"I love you too."

///

You were reading the letter Atea addressed to you when you heard a large explosion coming from the stadium. Leaving the package on the bed, you forwent shoes, hurrying out and past civillians who looked at you in confusion in your beeline towards the arena.

Mavuika was fighting the First Fatui Harbinger. The Captain.

"You shouldn't be here." Kinich immediately kept you behind him and Iansan, the backlashing winds from the pyro and cryo attacks whipping around the stadium.

"What does he want? Besides the gnosis? Wait, is she using your claymore?" You looked at Kinich, grimacing as said claymore was destroyed in the battle. Yeah Mavuika was getting an earful from Xilonen for that...

"Watch out!" Kinich grumbled as the three of you were pushed backwards by the wind of another explosion. Luckily, before the three of you could get blown about any further, a fog suddenly appearing to steal the injured harbinger away. Mavuika stood alone in the areantil Kinich and Iansan arrived by her side, the two keeping you behind them.

"Send word. The Captain and his followers must be apprehended." Mavuika ordered to the Flower-Feather Clan member, Yagbeu. He looked from his archon, to you, then ran to fulfill his task. The patrols of your tribe may be a line of defense for the abyss, but now it would be patrolling against the Fatui too.

"Are you alright, archon?" Iansan asked hurriedly, as Mavuika chuckled.

"He was a formidable opponent - exactly what I would expect of the First of the Fatui Harbingers." Her face soon shifted to worry as she spotted the dust in your hair, "are you unharmed? Let me get you a medic-"

"I've got her." Chuychu interjected, stealing you away before Kinich and Iansan could ask questions about Mavuika fawning over you.

"What are you doing-"

"I should be asking you that! I need to go chase after our older sister, so I'm leaving you with Mayahuel. You're still in the danger zone of the first trimester!"

"Pregnancy itself is a danger zone." You hissed back at your elder sister, who left you in the hands of Mayahuel. The doctor from the Mastesr of the Night-Wind took you away with a comforting smile, and a nod to Chuychu.

"My dear... where are your shoes?" Mayahuel raised a nonjudgemental eyebrow as you flustered, realising they were under the archon's bed. You couldn't exactly tell the doctor that.

/// Meanwhile...

"Oh, you have a younger sister?" Paimon turned to Chasca with intrigue, "wait, Mualani, you said something about a sister-"

"I have two younger sisters. I'll introduce you to them sometime." Chasca thought back to you at the stadium, and Chuychu, who she had a sneaking suspicion was also at the Scions of the Canopy, "let's get back to business. Wayna, how do we use the stone?"

///

You were fine, but the declaration to rest made you want to scream internally. You'd spent so much time hiding (living) in Mavuika's chambers, and now you needed to do it even more. Chuychu could only keep your parents at bay for so long, and with how often Chasca avoided going home... you had definitely broken a record. How had they not come to the stadium and dragged you back by now? They didn't even know about your pregnancy... oh you felt like a horrible daughter...

Walking into the Speaker's Chambers, you froze as you realised Mavuika was there, with Iansan.

"Um... hello." Your voice waivered, looking between the two Ancient Name bearers nervously.

[orobaxis]

I loved your Ominis fic so much! It felt like I was there with him 🤭 for prompts I couldn’t decide between “You need to know that I have grown to care for you. Deeply." and "I can't fathom the idea of my life without you in it." It could be angsty or not I don’t mind 😊

“deeply”

ominis gaunt x f!reader (hogwarts legacy)

ominis starts to avoid you.

word count: 2849

warning: some pureblood purity nonsense, f!reader may be muggleborn or a half-blood

beware of spoilers in the comments/tags/reblogs!

“what's wrong with you and ominis?”

you frown, eyes not leaving your plate as you give anne a shrug. you don’t know, really, what’s going on between you and ominis. he just suddenly became so distant to you.

at first, you thought it was just you. you thought you were going a bit paranoid, or that you were overthinking it. because ominis always sits with you, that was his place, that was where people expected to find him in the great hall. wherever y/n was, ominis wasn’t far behind.

it started when he raced anne to sit beside sebastian for lunch. you don’t think they noticed, and anne was just all too happy to sit beside you and chat, but you did. he was supposed to sit beside you, so why didn’t he? you chalked it up to him wanting to talk (argue) with seb, and thought nothing of it.

next was when you arrived to the library shortly after your potions class. you always go to the library after potions to try to work on your homework, you had a dedicated nook and ominis would join you and you would both nag the twins to start their homework (and not copy yours). but one day, he just…wasn’t there. you were beginning to get worried, then, wondering if he wasn’t feeling well, or if you did something to upset him. so that night, you try to catch him in the common room.

he didn’t show up. you four would usually sit by the large windows overlooking the lake, waiting for the giant squid to greet you while pranking other students. but when sebastian told you that “he said he wanted to rest”, your heart formed a little crack in it. and every day he started to avoid you, the crack just grew a little bit bigger.

“i think…he’s avoiding me,” you tell anne. despite being close to ominis, you and anne share a sisterly bond that was forged early in your lives and stronger than the very foundations of magic. there are things you simply cannot talk to seb or ominis about (for one, your…budding feelings towards the latter), and it’s always anne who you turn to in times like these. “he hasn’t talked to me for days now.”

anne scrunches her face in displeasure. “that isn’t like ominis at all, he’s not ignoring me, and certainly not my brother,” she turns to you warily, “do you think it was something you did? something you said?”

“i’m trying to remember, but i’m certain i haven’t said or done anything that could have upset ominis,” the tone of your voice is sadder now, disparaging, “that i know of.”

anne, ever the optimist, reaches for your hand and squeezes it, “well, whatever it is, i’m sure ominis will come around. he can’t stay away forever, you know?”

feeling somewhat comforted, you give her a terse smile. do you know that?

-

it might be best to stay away. ignoring the thumping of his heart and the fluttering in his stomach, ominis flicks his wand, and the howler is engulfed in flames before it can disintegrate. he is thankful for the privacy of the undercroft at this moment, although he knows that any one of his friends can pop in, the message in the howler was not something he wanted them to hear.

son,

we have heard rumours about you associating with some…unsavoury folk—

is that really what they think of her? of y/n? because she wasn’t born from a prominent pureblood family, because she associates herself with muggleborn professor garlick, because she loves all things that grow and not fascinated in the dark arts?

does his family really think less of her because of her birth?

ominis made a hard and rash decision, and it has been going well. however, he’s certain that you are starting to get suspicious by now. you are a smart witch, you know that he’s been avoiding you. but ominis thinks there is no other option. in order to keep you away from his family’s sharp and piercing gaze, it is better to distant himself from you. it is for your own safety. he cannot have them sink their infected claws into the only comfort he has away from home. no matter how hard it is, ominis has to keep away.

which is becoming hard, seeing your history together. having barely separated, you have all the same classes together. herbology, for one, is your favourite class, and you had paired with him to care for a pot of chinese chomping cabbage. this is going to be a lot harder than he thought, seeing as you had rooted yourself deep into his routine, his life, and his heart.

-

feeling emboldened by your conversation with anne, you are hopeful that ominis will finally break his silence in herbology. you are partners, and you have to discuss how to properly care for this rather…biting…flora.

your anxious smile drops a bit when ominis says nothing when you greet him, only standing away from the potting station, seemingly indifferent.

“so…i thought we should start trimming our cabbage and feed it some carrots,” you suggest slowly, trying to gauge any reaction. “and maybe water it before we leave. what do you say, ominis?”

the smile is replaced by a frown when you see him looking away from you, something he hasn’t done since you two started being friends. he is attentive like that, whenever you talk to him, he would turn to your general direction, making sure you know that he was listening to you. now, you aren’t so sure that he’s not let your words pass through one ear and out the other.

ominis only shrugs, “do whatever you think is right,” and turns away from your completely.

disheartened, you turn to the potting station, trying to ignore the tightening of your throat and the sharp sting of tears threatening to fall down your cheeks. you silently tend to your plant for the rest of the class.

-

“why are you ignoring y/n?”

sebastian finds him sulking close to the defense against the dark arts classroom. this is also one of your favourite hauntings, enjoying the tea the biscuits when you have a free period.

ominis sighs, knowing that he cannot really avoid the question forever. he also knows how persistent sebastian can be, and it would be no use to hide it from him. despite this, he tries to play dumb at first, “what makes you say that?”

“well, for one, you haven’t been sitting next to her or talking to her for a couple of days now. and in herbology, you’d think someone made her watch a niffler getting tortured with how sad she looked.” sebastian’s tone is accusatory.

the gaunt boy frowns as he imagines how much his actions hurt you, only giving you one sentence answers whenever you ask questions in class and avoiding you as much as he can. he hates that he’s the reason you were so down in herbology earlier.

“and anne has been pestering me to ask you,” sebastian adds, “which means you better tell me now before she comes here and beats it out of you.”

ominis scoffs, “like she’d eve—”

“ominis, the only reason she hasn’t hexed you is because she’s busy comforting y/n right now. as soon as she’s done, you best believe we’ll both be on the receiving end of a mean stinging hex.”

well, ominis couldn’t argue with that.

“it’s my parents,” he tells sebastian, “they owled me, wrote to me that i shouldn’t be associating with ‘unsavoury folk’ and those who are ‘lesser’. that i am slytherin’s heir and should not be seen with someone who has muggle parentage and friends with muggleborns.”

sebastian blanches at that. “how dare they!”

“you might think that’s that, but it’s also a threat. they are telling me to stop now, or else they will find her.”

“and this…this is why you’re staying away?”

ominis nods, “i don’t want my family to even think of her. to look at her or touch her. i cannot have them taint her.”

he waits as sebastian goes silent, trying to process what he just said. he is not hoping for a solution, nor comfort.

“but…you’re hurting her. and yourself.”

ominis says nothing. he doesn’t need to. what more can he say?

-

you want to believe that you’re getting used to the silence. but you really can’t. it’s so different without ominis’ presence, without his (overly) doting nature, or his commentary whenever seb does anything stupid. while you still wonder what it is you did to make him ice you out, you also start to muster the courage to talk to him alone and ask him about it.

relaying this to anne, you two try to find the right “opportunity” to catch ominis off guard so that you can confront him. he seemingly catches on to it though, now sticking beside sebastian at any cost. sebastian is also a bit subdued, and that is something you should ask about in a while as well.

it’s so strange to find ominis across the table from you in the great hall, face turned away from you like he is deliberately letting you know he doesn’t want to acknowledge your presence. anne has been helpful, sitting beside you and initiating conversation, but it’s not the same.

it’s not the same without him.

so when the owls started arriving and delivering packages, you consider it a welcome surprise to receive one.

“oh, a package!” anne exclaims excitedly, “who is it from?”

you turn over the package, the smile on your face replaced by a frown, “i don’t know. it’s unmarked.”

at that, ominis can feel the hair on the back of his neck standing, and he sits up straighter. “don’t open it.”

you look up to ominis, surprised that he not only was listening to you (and ignoring you on purpose), but that he talked to you. even if it was just to tell you not to open a package.

sebastian purses his lips and nods, “he’s right, y/n. it could be some prank from someone.”

or something related to the dark arts that is meant to curse you, he and ominis think.

ominis has a gnawing feeling of anxiety, wondering if it was his family who sent you this mysterious package. do they really think he wouldn’t know about it? why would they send something potentially dangerous in such a conspicuous way?

“alright,” you acquiesce, now thinking that it couldn’t hurt to be on the safe side. it would be terrible if the package turned out to be a prank, wondering if it would explode when you open it or splash you with something pungent. “i’ll open it outside.”

“i will open it,” ominis states, and it sounds final. you stare at him, contemplating on whether this would be the right time to ask him, if he has decided he’s had enough of ignoring you and you can go back to the way it was. the finality in his words seem to suggest that he does not tryst whatever is in that package. his arms extend across the table to you, “i’ll keep it in the undercroft for now.”

blinking in surprise, you raise your eyebrow, “you want to hide it there?”

he nods tersely, “just to make sure it doesn’t explode on you. after classes we will go to the beach and open it.”

resigned, you hand the package over to him, taking the moment to bask in the feeling of his fingers brushing against your own. as quickly as it happened, ominis’ hands are gone, and he stands up, wand blinking red in front of him. he doesn’t say anything as he leaves for the undercroft.

sebastian says nothing when he hears your sigh of defeat.

-

the four of you find yourselves at the beach after class, eyeing the suspicious package tucked under ominis’ arm.

“i didn’t find any traces of dark arts in the package,” he says, “but we can never be too careful. i will place it on the ground and i need you all to back away as far as you can.”

“will you be safe?” you blurt out, your worry for him trumping the other confusing feelings you have bubbling up your chest, “if this is some kind of…dark arts artifact…i think it would be best if we get a teacher involved.”

ominis thought about that, of course. “if it’s dark arts, then i might be able to find a way to control it. and then you can go and fetch professor hecat.”

still wary, you voice your assent, grabbing anne’s hand for support.

you watch ominis take a deep breath, sebastian standing not too far from him, ready to catch him if anything happens as well as to guard you and anne.

ominis waves his hand in a flourish, and you all held your breaths as the packaging tears open to find…

a book.

thick, and well-used, it looks like…an ordinary textbook.

you shuffle towards ominis curiously, ignoring sebastian’s calls, and peeked to see what it is.

“oh, it’s a book,” you comment. you get close enough to read the title, even as ominis extends his arm to stop you from getting any closer. “it’s the herbology book i’ve been looking for!”

“what book?” ominis asks, still distrustful.

“i asked deek the house elf to help me find a book on herbology that professor garlick mentioned. he said he knew where that missing book may have been hidden. he must have sent it to me when he found it.”

you cautiously move away from ominis hold, reaching for the book. “see? it’s harmless. deek probably just didn’t put his name on it.”

“so, it’s not evil?” sebastian asks.

you raise the book and wave it, smiling, “nope!”

“merlin’s beard! that gave me quite the fright,” anne exclaims, hands on her chest, “this was all just a big misunderstanding!”

you smile, before subtly turning your gaze to ominis. he is quiet, once again icing you out. he nods stiffly before raising his wand, proceeding to walk away.

“ominis, wait!” you call out.

you see him hesitate, stopping his tracks for a moment. he clears his throat, “i’m glad you’re safe.”

-

he finds out by the large windows in the common room, one of your favourite spots.

you were learning your forehead against the window, listening to the sound of water behind the thick glass.

“the giant squid isn’t here,” ominis remarks, “i couldn’t hear it.”

he cannot see the sad smile on your face. “thank you for letting me know, i think it’s better knowing that instead of waiting for nothing.”

oh.

he doesn’t like the sound of your voice when it’s sad.

before he can process it, he is standing in front of you, hands clenched at his sides. “i’m sorry y/n. i know i hurt you…but…”

your voice is small and muffled against the window, “i don’t know what i did for you to push me away like this.”

“my family has threatened to hurt you if i don’t stay away,” he blurts out, and you sit up in surprise.

“what?” you are shocked, to say the least.

“that’s why i was so worried about the package. i was afraid that they had sent you a cursed object because you…because you associate yourself with me.

but y/n, you need to know that i have grown to care for you. deeply,” ominis doesn’t want to admit how much he’s shaking, how it is obvious from the way he sounds that his shaky voice is about to crack and his throat tight as he struggles to keep his emotions at bay, “you are the last thing i want my family to touch. i couldn’t let them hurt you. not you.”

you exhale, tears now flowing down your cheeks. you stand in front of him and grasp his hands, which are cold, clammy, and shaking.

“oh ominis,” you squeeze his hands, slowly making your way closer until your forehead rests against his. feelings that you thought are yours to keep, buried deep and untouched in your heart, are starting to rise. “i cannot fathom the idea of my life without you in it. i don’t care what your family thinks. i will be fine as long as i’m with you. with seb and anne. with our family.”

ominis starts to break, exhaling as he feels your skin touch his, your smell invading his senses and your warmth soothing his tormented soul. “i cannot lose you, y/n. not to them.”

smiling through your tears, you raise your arms to pull him into a hug. “you won’t lose me, ominis. i promise you.”

there may be a lot of work to be done, more talks to be had, with regards to your feelings and his, on how to navigate these feelings and desires while also making sure that his family never touches you, but for now, ominis basks in your presence and in the love you have for him. and for now, that is enough.

-

aaaahhh sped write this minutes before a class presentation. i hope it’s fine. thank you for your patience with my writing styles/formatting as i try to find the best style/layout to write. thank you for the overwhelming love!!!

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

Thinking about the First Temple and how the lesson Marcy was supposed to learn was about humility but she's never shown to be particularly arrogant before. In fact, I'd say she's the opposite - while trying to solve Andrias' puzzle with Anne and Sprig, she always listened to Anne and took her suggestions into account, even when they made no sense. She never thought "actually, maybe I should handle this" or even "I don't think that'll work - let me try something else". She let Anne take charge and followed her everywhere, and she was genuinely surprised to learn Anne could possibly feel jealous of her. Sure, she's very confident in her intellectual abilities, but I think her flaw, if any, is that she tends to lose track of the bigger picture. She dismisses Anne's suggestion in Wartwood to just let things flow with the townsfolk instead of "improving" their town without their imput, not because she thinks she knows better than the wartwoodians, but because she genuinely thinks they will like it and that, if they liked it, they would like her in return. And she WAS following the mayor's lead, whom she didn't know was a corrupt criminal.

Rather than "humility", I think the Temple's lesson would be about widening her perspective and not missing the forest for the threes. She's not arrogant, she just gets very passionate about some things and loses track of everything else. She didn't accidentally hurt Anne and the Plantars in the Temple because she was so hell-bent on proving she was intellectually superior to it that she neglected her companions' safety, but because she lost track of them. If anything, I think it could be a commentary on how self-centered she can be, a little bit of foreshadowing to the revelation that she brought her friends to Amphibia for selfish reasons, while making Anne steal her supposed birthday gift - which was meant to serve Marcy's purposes all along. That was the epitome of not thinking about others because she's too focused on her own goals.

But I don't think she had any malocious intent when she did that. I think she almost like... forgot to think about Anne (and Sasha). Ignoring other people's perspectives isn't a decision she makes, but an impulse she needs to learn to control, and I don't think the lesson of "humility" is all that fitting. Maybe I'm splitting hairs, because it's not like "humility" as a lesson doesn't work - it shows Marcy she needs to slow down and not assume she can handle every task so easily. I agree on the "slowing down" part but idk if the second part makes much sense? If anything, I think "empathy" would be a better lesson to learn, but then again, that doesn't sound much like something fitting for the "Wit" Temple, and maybe the Temple is meant as a one-size-fits-all and is not meant to offer any personalized lessons, rather it's supposed to filter out any possible incarnations of Wit that may have ill intent or plan to use the power of the gem(s) for selfish purposes. A humble incarnation of Wit would probably also be one that doesn't let their companions get hurt for power or arrogance.

But is that really the lesson the Temple teaches? Because what I actually have a gripe with is how the Temple actually just straight up cheats. How is that a lesson on humility? "You will be lied to and betrayed and no matter how smart you are, you won't be able to sort through that" sounds more grimdark than lesson-teaching. How is that even a lesson? Sounds like the Temple's lesson is "life isn't fair and you need to accept you're sometimes doomed to lose for reasons outside of your control" can be interesting but I don't see how that relates to "humility". To my understanding, humility has more to do with accepting you're subject to the same rules as everybody else and that you're not "above" everyone, that your goals are not above other people's wellbeing. Accepting there are things outside of your control can be humility. It's not about accepting there are forces outside of your control playing outside the rules that will fuck you up and you just have to take it because "oh, you're not above us, little girl". If anything, that sounds more like a lesson about not trusting people will play fair and being ready to tackle that. It would have been different if Marcy just lost the game "legally", but the Temple cheating muddled things up a little.

Tbh I think the only Temple lesson that made sense was the one for Heart. Anne learning reaponsability - yes, yes, very important. Marcy learning humility... eh... kind of? But not exactly. It's not contradictory to her character but that last Temple trial made no sense, and idk if "humility" was THE lesson she needed to learn, but I accept it as a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. Sasha tho?? What did she even NEED to learn determination for?? 😭😭 girl was already determined! Or ar least I think it was determination idk I can't remember. Another lesson that would have benefitted from being more about "empathy" or "responsability" or just generally anything about putting that strength to better use. If the Temples were trying to filter out people who would use the gems' power for evil, then how does "determination" help? What if my dude was determined to do evil? Like, I don't know, Sasha herself???? Stupid fucking Temple didn't help jack shit

[natashashill]

delicate

pairing: agatha harkness x wanda maximoff (platonic), mentions of agatha harkness x rio vidal (romantic)

word count: 1k

warnings: brief mention of agathario kiss (don’t get ur hopes up), very very canon compliant (i think?), insecurities about agatha being a good mom for nicky

notes: i hope this is okay nonnie, this was rlly canon compliant so i didn’t feed into wagatha or anything but i hope this is enjoyable to read at least 😔

summary: wanda and agatha meet after agatha’s death in AAA. stuff ensures but who knows

“Where am I? Damn you Rio, and that stupidly good kiss,” Agatha grumbled as she let her eyes trail around her new surroundings.

She started to walk down a path fitted with trees and away from the suspiciously beautiful lake. As she let herself get carried away with the path, she started to wonder if maybe she should’ve let Billy go with Rio.

“What about my son?”

Agatha quickly turned around to be met with the familiar locks of red hair and an angry graze. Her lips met into a slight smirk.

“Easy there hon. No need to get all worked up. It was just a thought.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow before taking a step forward. Her face softened as she approached Agatha, and that made Agatha feel uneasy. As Wanda approached her, she took a step back instinctively.

“Thank you for looking after my son Agatha. How is he? Is he alright?”

“Relax yourself, he’s just like you, all stubborn and with a flair for dramatics. He’s starting to become exactly like you with his powers. I have to say we have much bigger problems to discuss, like that spell you put me under and trapped me with. Not cool, Maximoff.”

Wanda merely smiled before walking past Agatha.

“Follow me Harkness, we have much to discuss.”

Agatha rolled her eyes and stayed put. She spent three years under some mind control haze because of that witch, she isn’t just going to up and follow her.

“That wasn’t a question Agatha. Let’s go and discuss the matter of what you’re going to do now that you’re dead.”

Agatha reluctantly followed, grumbling under her breath about how unnecessarily dramatic this was. So typical for a Maximoff, she really can’t catch a break.

“So Agatha, are you intending to stay in the afterlife. Once you commit to it, you can go and start to visit all the people you may have missed, they might even be waiting for you.”

Her words strung deep, thoughts of Nicky waiting for her swirling in her head. Would he be upset with her? Does he know all that she did? Would he want to see her after all this time? Her hands move to clutch her necklace, thumb stroking slowly over the cover before stopping by the clasp.

“I don’t know Maximoff, do I really have many options? I didn’t exactly set out a death plan. Also why are you here, you’re not the gatekeeper of the afterlife, are ya?”

Wanda let out a chuckle before responding,

“No Agatha, I wanted to see you before you made your decision. You have plenty of options, the most common being that some go out to be ghosts and -”

Right. Ghosts. She remembered Rio’s ramblings about how much she hates ghosts. Maybe this would be good. Payback at Rio, check back up on that Maximoff boy, and put off seeing Nicky for a bit. But only a bit.

“Being a ghost. That one. How do I do that?”

“Agatha, choosing to be a ghost requires a purpose and it might take more time than you think before you can return.”

“I choose ghost Maximoff. Who else do I have to tell before this happens. And maybe I do have a purpose. Guide your precious son through his mission to find his brother, Timmy wasn’t it?”

“It’s Tommy -”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Someone has to make sure he won’t destroy my house. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to impart some of my extraordinary wisdom of magic to him, I suppose.”

Wanda paused, deliberately choosing her next words carefully.

“Agatha, I respect your abilities as a witch. However, you and I both know Billy doesn’t need your input. Is there anything troubling you?”

“What’s it to you Maximoff? I don’t need advice from you, of all people.”

“Probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to talk. Nothing’s going to get to you anymore, you’re dead, remember?”

“I don’t need you meddling in my life, well death - I should say. Besides, I’m fine so I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Agatha, I know about Nicky. I know you’re avoiding him. Rio told me what happened. I’ve been watching over him while she’s away, he’s a wonderful boy. He asks about you all the time.”

Agatha turns away from Wanda, eyes pooling with tears at the thought of Nicky. All the time they spent apart. Fear filled her at the thought of finally showing up and disappointing him. She couldn’t face him yet. Yet thoughts of Wanda and Nicky surfaced, leaving a pool of bitterness and jealousy in her stomach. What if he prefers Wanda to her now? Would he still welcome her?

“She had no right to tell you, he’s my son. Nevertheless, I must return to Earth and take care of some business before returning to Nicky, I can’t face him yet,” she lets out with a shaky breath.

“Well if you’re absolutely certain-” is the last thing Wanda says before everything changes with a flick of a hand.

Suddenly, they’re transported to a room with a celestial being and two doors. Wanda starts to make her way to the door on the left before briefly turning around, “Take care Agatha,” is all she lets out before stepping through the door.

The celestial being wastes no time in demanding Agatha’s choice.

She freezes.

Her Nicky, waiting for her on the other side of that door. Could she go through it? Does she deserve going through that door? No. She couldn’t, not yet.

“Lady, I need an answer. Now.”

Rooted back to the present, Agatha clears her throat. The attitude was definitely not needed, how busy could the being be that they couldn’t wait for one internal conflict. Rude.

“Ghost. I’d like to return to Earth as a ghost for now.”

“What’s the purpose of the return?”

“I need to make amends by helping Billy Maximoff.”

“Very well, you have two years to do so. If you fail to achieve your purpose you will be forced to remain tied to your house in Westview for eternity. Is that clear?”

“Uhh, yes. I think so, very dark though, eternity is rather harsh.”

“Step to your right and enter through the door.”

Agatha takes a deep breath and makes her way through the door. Clutching her necklace, she steps through.

notes: hi!! so glad you actually made it through this. i’m honestly a little nervous because this is the first thing i’ve written in two years but i’m very excited to work on the other two prompts i’ve received so far ahh <3 anyways i really hope you enjoyed this bc once again im nervous lolsies

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

May I ask for a continuation of "Sorry, but I Think I Lost Your Plot." <3 thanks !

Sorry, but I Think I Lost Your Plot pt 13

Pairing: Onesided!Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Modern!Fem!Reader

Words: 3,009

Hiccup tries to ‘nice date’ you.

Tags: Time Travel, Reader into Movieverse, Dragons: Defenders of Berk, Tunnel Vision, Hiccup POV, Reader Pov, Switch POV

<Previous - Next>

You watched with mild interest as the Riders made hurried efforts to trap Gobber. You tried to stay out of their way, which was especially important as they chased down a madman with an axe.

You had been avoiding the forge a little bit and not just because of Hiccup. Gobber stank. You couldn’t avoid the thought that Berk needed a plumbing system.

You held a poster you made earlier advertising that people take a bath more than once a week at least in the summers, letters scratched in clumsy Norse. You weren’t sure if you had any real intentions of posting it but you had made it and it had taken a long while. So, for lack of anything better to do with it, you carried it around with you.

You sighed, eyeing Fishlegs as he tried and failed to pull any water from the well. Berk had been on water search for a while. At least a week, since the last bath day. You doubted the other teens noticed; they were lucky enough to live up to the Chief, and to benefit from all the privileges that afforded.

You were supposed to clean the railing and caging around the arena, though you had no idea how you were going to do that without any water. Maybe oil? Phlegma said something earlier about water and rust, anyways, so it was probably for the best.

A plumbing system would really help with that. You took a note to go wander down towards the Arena later. Maybe then you’d figure out what to do.

“Okay, we need to figure out a way to keep Berk's supply with water, until a new well can be dug,” Hiccup paced back and forth, arms crossed as he glared down at the cracked stone below. 

He held in a nervous grimace. They expected him to do something. They expected him to do something when no one had looked to him for anything for… Ever. Not before the Red Death. Not before Toothless. He’d been taking the lead a lot lately, and he’d have to say he’d done well all things considered but now he was left scrambling for ideas.

He turned, suddenly, looking at the other riders lined up before him before pointing, “Ruff, Tuff, strap on the washtub and head to Lars Lake to fill it.”

“Okay, that thing’s pretty big,” Tuffnut dropped his crossed arms, bouncing in place before gesturing back towards Ruffnut, who scoffed at him, “I mean, it’s bigger than Ruff's butt, it can take a while, maybe a week or two.”

Hiccup winced, choking down the small part of him that found that sort of funny as Ruffnut turned to look down at her butt, looking slightly put off in a way that was uncharacteristic. 

She then reared back to land a hard punch to her brother’s head. Ouch.

“I was assuming you would use your dragon,” Hiccup said flatly, gesturing as Tuffnut pulled himself off the floor. 

Tuffnut scoffed, “Why would you think that?”

“Right,” Hiccup said, “Astrid, Snotlout, head to the mountain streams and fill as many canteens as you can.”

“Mountain streams…” Snoutlout began, before continuing in a voice just above a mumble, scooting closer to Astrid and trying to rest his arm over her shoulder, “Romanti- Ow!” 

His voice cut off as Astrid grabbed his arm, twisting it wickedly, kicking his begin the knees.

Hiccup winced again, sort of glad he wasn’t Snotlout, before his train of thought seemed to sputter to a stop. The Mountain streams.

His shoulders stiffened. The cove pulled water from one of the mountain streams. It was nice, and green, and really, really empty. The water was fresh and it was pretty quiet. A great place for… for a romantic date.

Maybe Snotlout was right.

Fishlegs looked at Hiccup exhaustedly, face flat and Hiccup shot him his own stormy mild scowl. He didn’t think anyone else picked up on it. He hoped not.

Then Hiccup started.

Looking up, he was greeted to the sight of you, by the top of the cage. You held onto the bars with both hands, looking down into the ring.

Why were you here? His heart picked up a little bit more as you spotted him and gave a small wave.

Sometimes he wondered if it was really time to take down the chains and bars, not that he had the resources and time to do that. It was a miracle his dad hadn’t made Hiccup himself repair the hole Toothless blew into the top after rescuing him from Hookfang on the day of the battle against the Red Death. 

Good will and victory only went so far, after all. He still made Hiccup take out his boots on Boot Night, despite his pleading and begging and leveraging.

“Actually, on second thought, I’ll go get the canteens. Snotlout and Astrid and Fishlegs, you’re all on well duty. Figure out what happened. Toothless and I are faster anyways. We’ll just…” Hiccup laughed nervously. 

He kept his eyes off to the side, rubbing his arm as he imagined the others rolling their eyes. A blink later, though, and you were gone.

He exhaled stressfully. He had one chance.

“What?” Tuffnut asked, while Ruffnut sighed out a long, “Lame.”

Chores. It was always chores that brought you to places you should not be.

You looked down at the Riders talking together in the arena and squinted down into the Arena below as the Riders scrambled for their dragons.

You just got done with your break, which you spent carving. 

You watched Hiccup quickly slide onto Toothless’ saddle, jumping around the others as they siphoned out of the arena and into the sky.

It had been a little awkward, whenever you’d come close enough to Hiccup for there to be any sort of tension. You had been, admittedly, a little avoidant.

You were mildly surprised when instead of taking off like the rest of everyone, Hiccup instead waited till they were a speck in the distance or making a touchdown on Berk to bound right over to you on Toothless.

You started as Toothless stopped suspiciously close, slightly infringing on your space to a level that was slightly unnecessary.

You watched as Hiccup scrubbed the back of his neck, “So…”

You bent down, crouching as you dipped the tip of the canister into the pond, half submerging it and listening to it gurgle as it filled with water.

You watched as the waterline by your feet bobbed slightly. You got as close as you could get to the stream and fall that funneled water into the cove, hoping that the closer you were to running water, the higher quality the water would be, somehow. 

You had a hefty basket next to you and rows of filled canisters lined up by the cove’s packed dirt beach.

Hiccup had been helping earlier. 

The last you checked, he’d half tangled a large blanket back behind you on the grass, checkered in light tan squares and a darker brown almost reddish color. Like a picnic blanket. He seemed to pull it out of nowhere. 

You wondered when Toothless got a satchel. Saddle bag.

You helped him straighten it out quickly and quite clumsily too and shuffled around a bit nervously after.

Hiccup’s dragon seemed to take great joy in staring down Hiccup as he fussed.

You had faith in the fact that what he was doing was good, even if you didn’t know what it was. You weren’t inclined to criticize him when he had taken a back full of flesh-burning acid for you, and also he was the protagonist.

You stood up, scuffing your feet against the dirt to peer into the large basket at your side. No more canisters.

You shrugged your shoulders, looking around.

It was nice to have time to think for yourself for just a moment. Even if nothing was said outright, there was something familiar about the area and you weren’t not going to read between the lines when the things between were cool.

This was where Hiccup and Toothless became friends. 

You wondered if he found this place as important as you thought.

It felt a little sacrilegious being there even though you knew objectively Hiccup and Toothless couldn’t have been the only Viking-Dragon duo to exist here, especially after every other Viking started to pick up dragon riding as a hobby.

You tried to figure out which rock was which- as if you could somehow recreate the movie in your head but in live action. But there were a lot of rocks.

You sighed. It didn’t matter, anyways.

You looked back at Hiccup, who, it seemed, had straightened everything out.

Though for some reason you thought the world would have looked much nicer if the sun had been low on the horizon, washing everything in something sort of orange.

“I finished filling the cans,” You said as you walked up to Hiccup, who was rummaging around in Toothless’ saddlebag.

Hiccup started, a bit disheveled, “Already?”

The drawstrings by his collar hung slightly open, twine undone from the first few holes. You wondered when that happened. Probably in between mumbling to Toothless and something about Snotlout.

“Yup,” You shrugged, popping the ‘P.’

“Everyone will be happy to hear that we got some water back, I’m sure.”

"I’m actually hoping we’ll get back before they notice,” Hiccup shrugged sheepishly.

Toothless snorted, and Hiccup shot him a skeptical, unimpressed glance in response, before focusing his attention back at you.

You took a step back to give him more space to move and settled backwards as he gestured to the blanket of the floor, lips stick in a thin line, shifting back and forth on his heels.

You were slightly confused, expecting in half to start flying back to Berk to help distribute the canisters of water, though if Hiccup wasn’t worried, it probably wasn’t that urgent.

You squinted, “You’re probably a little late for that.”

If chaos was something Hiccup wanted to avoid, then… You knew a few people who had gotten into fit fights over it lately. You were lucky enough not to have to tussle for any water, yet. Everyone else was draining the lakes and streams and anything else they could get their hands on.

“Late?”

You wondered how long it would take for someone to get sick off it. Still water, and all that. As you did, toothless ambled his way off to the other side of the clearing.

 “It’s been on the low for a while. Since the last Bath Day.”

Really?” Hiccup grimaced, adjusting his tunic, green, “How’ve you been getting it?”

“I’ve just been boiling it out the sea,” You admitted, “I got someone down by the docks to fire their Nadder and I’ve just been using the sand glass to collect the condensation.”

It was very time and resource consuming which was probably why no one else had done it. And it was only really good for drinking water and salt, which you used a lot of. 

You’d annoyed plenty of other Vikings by hogging some of the fires down by the Great Hall anyways, though no one had thrown out your pot and glass set up yet.

“The condensation?” Hiccup asked.

“Yeah,” You nodded, “It’s sort of drinkable. Learned how to do that in science.”

You let your head fall to the side, where Hiccup was waiting for you to keep talking. They probably did have a word for it, if the way Fishlegs talk about dragons was any indication. Of course they had a word for it. You weren’t sure how to describe it, though.

“Like from the scientific method. Hypothesis, testing,” You shrugged, resting your chin on your knees and you let your arms rest around your ankles, “I don’t know the Norse word for it.” 

“I think I get it,” Hiccup nodded, anyhow.

Your hands drifted up to feel at a pocket in your sleeve, hastily sewn in by you the day before, perhaps trying to gather whether or not you’d lost the thing you’d put there.

It was a simple bead, wooden with just two lines going around the ends with a small sketchy likeness of Toothless’ face. It was so small, it had taken you forever to carve out. 

It didn’t feel right to keep on your own, somehow.

You rolled it between your fingers, it’s polished, oiled yet bumpy surface feeling tingly underneath your fingertips.

You slipped it out absentmindedly. It was nice to have something to fiddle with, and you were still really proud of it.

“A rose by any other name is just as sweet-would smell as sweet, or something,” You scoffed.

Then you frowned slightly. 

Shakespeare wasn’t actually the best literature had to offer. It sounded sophisticated enough to most people, though that was probably because it was hard to understand half of what Romeo and Juliet were saying, so it was hard not to take most of it seriously, even if some of it was meant to be funny.

And though you tried to ignore it, it was getting more and more difficult to switch between your language and the Vikings’.

“What does that mean?” Hiccup asked. As he let one leg rest flat against the ground and he leaned back against his hands, you couldn’t help but find yourself a little bit bothered by the twine hanging from his shirt.

How did he usually tie it, anyways? 

You tilted your head and turned the bead in your fingers over one more time.  The twine looked thin enough and the hole of the bead large enough to slip through. 

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” You mumbled, embarrassed, “It’s from a romance novel, I think. Romeo is telling Juliet how he’d-... like her, no matter what her name was.”

“Wow,” Hiccup said, “That’s...”

You nodded.

“Hey, Hiccup,” You leaned forward slightly, gesturing to his neck, “Your… The string is untied. By your neck.”

Hiccup glanced down with a grimace, face reddening with embarrassment. He rubbed one hand down the side which had the effect of smashing his cheek oddly.

“Let me…” You said, taking the opportunity to swoop in, scooting closer and grabbing one of his loose tunic strings. 

You realized a bit late that you were a bit too close to be comfortable, but it was too late for you to back down now. You could have put it on his wrist though it would probably fly off when he was riding Toothless, anyways.

You threaded the bead through and tied his loose drawstrings together in a messy bow.

Hiccup looked down at it with bewilderment, bringing up a hand to pull the bed on a string into view, “A bead.”

He looked incredibly embarrassed.

“You don’t like it?” You asked, wringing your hands nervously, “I made it in my free time. It’s just been sitting around, so I thought… I mean, I didn’t… Plan it, or anything, but…”

“No, no, I-ah,” Hiccup coughed, though it sounded a lot like a choke. He spoke in a way which made it obvious he was trying not to squeak, “I really like it.”

“Yeah,” You nodded, glancing out over the small pond, rubbing your hand down your neck and shoulder, “So, anyways… Have you… I mean. I’ve been meaning to ask.”

“Yeah?” Hiccup asked, looking like he was holding his breath.

You weren’t sure what he was listening for, though you didn’t stop to think much about it, very much a girl on a mission.

Hiccup didn’t have a crush on you.

You had something important.

“Have you ever considered building, like, a reservoir? Or a plumbing system or something? With a boiler, I mean, and closed pipes, and all that,” You suggested, thinking about the makeshift system of funnels and dragons Hiccup had come up with before, “You could fill the well pretty good with that, after some water proofing, probably.”

Hiccup looked mildly disappointed.

You pretended you didn’t feel the hot nervous sweat beginning to build in your closed palms.

You should have just put up the poster.

“I mean, infrastructurally, it would probably change a lot,” You started, “You already did something like it, and we had something like that back at home. I’m not very fresh on the details- it’s never been my thing.”

“...I guess we could use Nightmare Gel to keep it going,” Hiccup started. 

You nodded.

“If you think about it, we don’t need a lot to keep a strong fire for a long while, so if we just took a little, then… Dragon spit would work too. And one of the Nadders-” You were gleeful as Hiccup caught on, and listened to Hiccup ramble for a bit with a bright, self-satisfied smile; about what he was doing in the forge, Toothless, and other things, shifting on the blanket below.

He definitely saw the potential, Hopefully the Chief would too. Finally.

Warm bath water.

You never thought the structural integrity of Berk was something you’d ever have to worry about.

You shifted your arms, full of water cans, mouth open slightly.

The village was in chaos. Vikings running around waving weapons, the Riders swooping clumsily around the sky as Whispering Deaths wrecked the island, spiking huts and tearing up farmland.

You turned to stare at Hiccup, whose eyes were wide as Vikings off in the distance shouted something wild about taking cover.

Hiccup sighed as Toothless settled heavily down next to him, basket strapped to his back, smacking Hiccup in the head with his wing, “Ow.”

A viking man, heavy and covered in brown furs burst through the wall of the hut nearest you at the edge of the village, hollering.

Off in the distance, you heard the shout of Hiccup’s name from someone who only could have been the Chief.

He started, dropping a few of the water canisters piled up in his arms.

Hiccup balked out something between sigh and an awkward laugh, “Duty calls, I guess.”

[tmf-confessions]

I HAVE TO CONFESS IT. I HAVE TO SAY IT. GOSHDARNIT I HATE LANDER WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY- 😭😭😭

Okay, so, may get some slander for this but Let me explain myself first- Lander is literally the least developed, most emotionless relationship in tmf.

1. Its (pretty much) useless to the plot

Literally like, they’re supposed to be “super close”, they used to be childhood best friends and now they’re lovers! But like…When do we see that ever???

Lander was basically just an excuse to give luke some screentime, and to give zander some more screentime. I know that not everything has to be necessary to the plot of tmf, but in general, when things happen, especially in such a short series (less than 15 episodes in season 1), even filler content should somehow be able to push the plot forward, right? Apparently not, because Lander literally did nothing plot wise!

You could argue that yes, it did show Zander and luke that jake was a trustworthy, but theres so many other ways that he could have done it, without the whole lander arc, which could have arguably set up both characters for more interesting arcs?

Honestly, I feel like there could have been an arc where luke accepted stacy, and zander had to learn to deal with heartbreak, and it would still push the narrative in the same direction, could have had a lot more buildup too

2. It feels like it’s just there for representation

As a queer person myself, do not get me wrong, it is WONDERFUL to have representation within media, on bigger more popular shows too! I’m eternally grateful that rosy added them in to showcase a queer relationship, however, lander honestly feels like its just that. Like its there, JUST to showcase a real relationship.

Like, they had a cute confession moment, but it was so early on in the series that it genuinely didn’t seem like something that was built up to. Sure, we got a bit of time, but how much time was that? 2 episodes of build up tops? “Lovesick luke” and “a drummers confession” was like, literally it. Nothing beforehand to build up to it, besides the whole “Zander is gay” and “zander and luke are childhood best friends” thing, but those can exist within platonic relationships too, so thats not really buildup at all

We never get to see why they’re attracted to eachother, other than “wow, they’ve been friends for a while and admire eachother, they must have crushes on eachother” like- even as a person who is VERY VERY VERY romantically attracted (think opposite of aromantic, then scale it 20x past that), its just giving “boy and girl co-star on a show and end up together at the end because you cant have 2 friends be close without them being romantic,” but made queer.

Genuinely, if theres going to be a relationship, i think that (as much as i personally am not really a shipper of it) jailey is a WONDERFUL example.

They kind of grew on eachother, and we see that attraction growing slowly, rather than being shoved in our faces or being rushed. Its a well thought out love arc, and almost perfectly encapsulates a slowly formed relationship. even in such a short show, it didn’t feel rushed.

(While rereading this, i’m really notsure how to phrase my words, so these words absolutely do not reflect my ABSOLUTE feelings on this, but this is about as close as I can get with it. I am in absolutely no way accusing rosy of being homophobic, Infact i see quite the opposite in her, she’s a wonderful ally, its just meh writing)

3. Its honestly not the best ship? (This part is my opinion purely)

Dont get me wrong, they’re not toxic by any means, (infact, they seem quite healthy!) but they 100% have some issues they need to work on. Like… does no one notice how Luke like, threatened jake if he hurt zander? Obsession issues a tad bit, perchance?/notneg

Luke kinda exists to push zander’s story arc along in the first season, so we get like, no luke character traits, which i think definitely contributes to them not being the best pairing, but overall they’re so generically “mehh” of a relationship. They’re just kinda together, to be together.

4. FINAL REASON: It was just there to push jake’s story along.

Honestly, I think this is the underlying reason here. Jake is the main character in a really short show, so if somethings not revolved around him, its gotta be quick. Lander would definitely be so much better with more development, but because its not jake centred, we basically get nothing on them. This isnt rosy’s fault by any means, shes gotta get the main story in ofc, it just sucks that that seems to cost other characters screen time and development that could have been really nice.

Overall, Rosy please make more lander stuff in season 2, I need to stop hating it cause it could genuinely be so cute 🙏

confession #810

[gullwrites]

late night discussions

photo source

this is a continuation to this btw. had this on my mind once again and i reallyyyyyy wanted to post it hehe. love looking at their early interactions.

summary: Klara comes over to Tobias an awful day at work. The friends end up talking abt their backgrounds or something at some point.

warnings: vague mentions of murder and assasinations, unethical research

Klara sat between the pillows, slowly sipping the green tea it had made for her. She seemed relaxed, calmer, than how she was when she had showed up by its door two hours ago. Comfortable enough to take her sweater off, too, revealing a dark red sports bra and a big tattoo of a branch of some kind. Sequoia branch, maybe, if it remembered the botanical poster at Aleena's apartment correctly. Though maybe it was the heating in the flat that made her take it off. Tobias still couldn't figure out how to switch it to a colder temperature and has been sleeping under a quilt for a few weeks already.

Tobias shifted slightly, leaning more on the pillow behind it. "By the way, um, may I ask something? Sorry if it is weird, I just, um, well. I'm a bit curious - maybe too curious for my own good, heh," it let out a chuckle, hoping it wouldn't sound ridiculous - though it doubted it didn't. It felt like it was already messing things up, especially now that it realized that it had been quiet for a moment too long. "I, um-"

"Man, you don't think I'm going to, like, do something if you ask a wrong question or something, do you?" Klara interrupted it. She didn't look annoyed or anything, more like upset, which made Tobias slightly frown.

"What? No, no, um, why would you think so?

"'Curious for my own good' really sounded like that. Or something," she shrugged and looked down at the cup.

"Oh, um, that! Sorry, no, I was mostly referring to all the things in my past or something, um," it said as calmly as it could, while telling itself to shut up in its thoughts and fighting an urge to cover its face with its hands.

"Hm," Klara glanced at it and smirked, "Don't worry, I get what you mean."

"Good! Um, I mean, I guess. Heh."

"So, um, what were you going to ask?"

"Oh, well, I... You're not really able to leave your job, are you?"

"Huh?"

"I, um, based on the little things you've told, of course, have gotten this idea of what your job is. I've met a few intercorporate, or internal, negotiators before, back when-" it stopped, realizing that that's maybe a bit too much information for now, considering the contract. "Um. People with job tasks like that don't get to leave peacefully, as much as I know. Corporations don't want witnesses walking around."

Klara stared at it silently. Tobias tried to understand her expression - which, no matter how she seemed to try to control it, still showed some signs of confusion, maybe? Definitely not fear, it thought. Relief?

"I, um, I worked as a researcher at Mackie before, got to talk with some people from internal, if you are wondering why I know all this. And, um, sorry, I tend to connect little details into something bigger a lot, if that makes sense," it added, thinking that it could maybe make it sound less weird or something.

"Researchers don't really get to meet negotiators unless they're in trouble... How did-"

"Oh, well. I have an NDA contract for a reason, heh. Um. Let's just say I, um, have a strong moral compass. And friends who didn't want me found in a river or something."

"Saying you're a whistleblower."

"A failed one, honestly. But, um, yeah, something like that," it chuckled, "I don't know what happened to the data, only that J- um, another person who was with me, got away for a while. And then was found dead two days later, with no data on him. Didn't see it on the news, though - that's what we planned."

"...You're not supposed to tell this, are you?"

"I, uh, probably. I don't know. Not like you'll tell about it. And this flat is bugfree as far as I know. I checked. Can't help being a bit anxious about it, y'know," it added, partly to make itself sound less ridiculous. At least it thought it sounded like that.

"I won't, don't worry," she said, "and I understand you. More than you know."

"Ah, no one is as scared of corporations than corporate workers."

"Yeah. Especially those who don't want to work there but can't leave. And whose whole family is full of corporate workers."

"That sucks."

"It really does." She finished her tea. "I don't do what those who you have met - or experienced - do, specifically. I, um, mostly just do some side things or guard the 'safety of meetings'," she said the end sarcastically, clearly not believing into the whole thing herself. "But I am aware of things some others have to do, or what higher ups cover up. Makes me sick every time. And that I have to be part of it. I know I could take the risk, try to leave, but-" she paused, and Tobias saw a small frown on her face, "I'm afraid of throwing my life away, I guess? I wouldn't want to try and drop off the face of Earth and see if that would keep me safe, because that would mean losing all friends I have, people I care about. And, well, everything I have in my life."

"I'm not judging, don't worry. I actually understand, in a way."

"Gee, thanks," she smiled, "I, um, I appreciate it."

"Anytime, and I'm, um, glad to hear that you trust me enough to tell all that."

"Hah, um, that's not all. But I think you've had enough for one night. And, hey, you did break a contract for me, technically."

Tobias laughed. "So I did. And I'd do it again if you wanted."

"Hm, tempting..." Klara chuckled, "A bit late for that, though, based on your little clock here."

It glanced at the clock. It was 2AM already. "Oh. Huh. Um. It sure is late, heh. Um, you should probably stay over tonight, there's barely any public transport at this time."

"Hm. Maybe... maybe you're right."

"Take the bed, I, um, can change the sheets quickly if you want."

Klara laughed. "No need, thanks. But, um, what about you?"

"Oh, I'll take the bean bag. I sleep on it quite often, actually. Mostly because I just fall asleep while working on university things sometimes..."

"Are you sure? I can-"

"Yes, I'm sure, don't worry, I'll be fine."

[damnaation]

Ambrosia

There are things older than even the gods, and sometimes those things take issue with the treatment of mortals.

This is the non-vore version of this story. I'm still working on the vore version, but I wanted to get at least this out before the end of the year :)

WARNING: There is a scenario very reminiscent of domestic abuse present in this story, though it is not intentional on the parts of any principal character in the situation. Still, it may be distressing for some readers, so take care. Includes a few brief instances of strangulation and choking.

Gods often did not make sense to mortals. She knew this—a constant, a fact she'd known as long as her short memory lasted. They did not make sense to mortals. 

And they did not love mortals. Feel affection, perhaps, think them cute like a charming pet, but loving would require them to see mortals as an equal. And everyone knows they were not. 

The godly realm itself was confusing—could be dangerous for an unaccompanied mortal. Things followed dream logic here, changing and shifting to match its inhabitants’ needs. Her own room—with a bed alone bigger than the room she'd lived in before, the chamber itself easily the size of an inn’s common room, a closet full of more clothes than she could have ever imagined, and a washroom fit for a palace—stayed the same at least, and she could always find her way back to it when she wanted. Helpful when some days the door opened to a parlor, some days a grand hall, some days a courtyard, and on increasingly common occasions her Lord’s own chambers. 

…They still weren't certain how to refer to him. He wasn't a god they had followed, his domain the one of performance and lies, and they had always tried to be honest. But they were his—a gift, an offering, traded to obtain his favor. Not that their life was all too pleasant beforehand—a permanent outsider with no family or memories, stuck doing whatever small tasks they could around the inn they had ended up in to pay room and board. At least he didn't require anything of them but their presence. 

Today upon leaving her chambers she found herself standing on a table and near the size of a child's doll compared to her surroundings. The change in perspective made her dizzy for a moment, wobbling in place before she managed to get her balance. 

… His chambers again. The bed looked like a massive sprawling landscape of dunes, big enough to lose themself in, and the floor was so far below as to be unreachable. But luckily they weren't stranded for long, as they could hear footsteps approaching before the door opened to reveal Lord Juniper. His gaze scanned the room, locking onto her with a slight smile as he approached.

“Good morning, my little flower.” He purred, brushing their cheek with the back of a curled finger before carefully scooping them up in his arms. They were only about as tall as his forearm was long—not the largest he'd been in comparison to them, but still more than capable of being easily lifted and carried around. 

She relaxed and let him take her wherever he was planning—he'd never hurt her, and usually respected if she asked to be put down to walk on her own. Even if she felt a bit like a fancy dog when he carried her around.

“Are you hungry, my dear?”

Always with the nicknames, though they supposed it was only fair—using their name would imply they were equals on some level. And at least they were nicer than some of the names they'd been called before, clearly terms of endearment in some form or another. 

“Yes.” He would know if she lied, and she was actually hungry. With a little hum he brushed hair away from her face, turning to leave his chambers with her tucked securely in his elbow. 

This time he stepped directly into the main hall, a large table running down the center with a single place set—a simple bowl and plate that seemed out of place compared to its grandiose surroundings. A soft white bread roll sat on the plate, and the bowl was full of porridge with raisins. Familiar enough, but still far nicer than what she had been used to before.

They still weren't quite sure where the food came from—they'd never seen Juniper eat, and had yet to find anything resembling a kitchen anywhere. Though they supposed gods wouldn't have to eat. 

Her brain went a bit fuzzy when he sat her down—the chair was the right size, as well as the table and dishes, but he hadn't changed anything as far as she could tell. Now, though, he appeared to be at the same scale, or similar enough. 

“Go ahead and eat, darling. I have a few brief things to attend to that would likely bore you to tears.” A hand rested on their shoulder and squeezed gently, and then he was gone. They tried not to be upset—it probably would have been boring, and certainly gone over their head, but…

She'd been here for what felt like ages with hardly anything to do but lie around in indolence. She was bored, with little way of resolving it other than trying to explore the palatial estate, but nothing stayed where it was.

For now, at least, she had breakfast to eat. And maybe when she was done she would see about finding her way to the courtyard.

~~~

Outdoors wasn't much different. No wind, no rain, just a perfectly pleasant warm sunny day. Always the same, with artificial regularity. But there were a few trees and a pond in the courtyard, with a pale stone path to wander and a few benches to sit on. Marginally better than lying around inside waiting for him to return—but only barely. 

They wanted to stand outside in a thunderstorm again, feel the wind and the rain lashing their skin, the deep rumbles of thunder resonating in their chest like a drum. Even the bitter bite of winter frost, as dangerous and unpleasant as it was, would be something different.

The leaves rustled in a mint-scented breeze, startling her out of her thoughts—the first bit of wind she'd felt all day. Sitting up where she'd been lying on one of the benches—trying to decide whether the sky visible in the gaps between the leaves was real or just another, much higher ceiling—, she watched as Juniper coalesced out of nothing, one moment an empty space and the next inhabited by his familiar figure.

… He almost seemed to stumble for a moment, and didn't quite look the same as he did normally. Dark feathers sprouted from his shoulders, glistening in the light with an odd green shimmer, and his hands had become more like scaled talons ending in sharp-looking claws. 

A shiver ran down their spine. They couldn't explain it, but they suddenly felt like they were stuck in a room with a wild animal—a feeling they had never had around him, even when they had been left bound and gagged in his shrine. Something was wrong.

But before she could even try to slip away, his gaze settled on her, a deep pit of dread opening in her stomach. His eyes were slitted like a snake’s, and the grin that spread across his face had none of the warmth in it that she was used to. 

“There you are, pet.” He leered, a forked tongue briefly flicking the air as he prowled towards her with a serpentine grace.

“Wh- what? What are you-” Their words were abruptly cut off by a hand grabbing their throat, tight enough to cut off any air despite their desperate, instinctive clawing at the scaled talon. 

“I don't believe I gave you permission to speak, mortal.” The words came out in a low, furious hiss, the hand around their neck growing larger until his fingers could wrap entirely around it with ease. Their bare feet kicked helplessly as they were lifted off the ground with no more effort than picking up a discarded toy, his cold slit-pupiled gaze flicking from their face to their hands weakly grabbing at his wrist with a sneer of disgust. 

Just as everything started to go black the suffocating grip around her throat vanished with a sickening moment of weightlessness before she fell, hitting the ground with a muffled yelp as pain burst through her leg. A desperate gasp for air led into a coughing fit, curling in on herself in fear as she tried to relieve the burning in her lungs-

“I trust you will remember your place in the future.” They were pinned on their back with a massive hand, putting enough pressure on their battered frame to make them bite back a cry of pain as a sharp claw pressed against their cheek. “Else I may have to cut out your tongue.”

I'm sorry- whatever I did to upset you, I didn't mean it.

She wanted to crawl into her room and hide—better yet, go back to her tiny room at the inn, but there was no way to get back on her own. Not to mention trying to flee might make him even more angry. But she needed to get away-

The ground gave out beneath her, and she was falling once again, though this time she had a much softer landing—staring up at the ceiling of her chamber, watching a single large black feather drift down alongside her. No sign of how she had gotten there, but the developing aches and a burning line of pain on her cheek were enough to know it hadn't been a nightmare. 

They needed to hide. Whatever had pulled them out of his reach had given them time, but if they thought he was angry before this would no doubt leave him furious at their escape. 

He could kill them for it, if not worse. It was never wise to anger a god, even unintentionally. 

With a choked off sob, she began to move, hardly thinking about what she was doing as she pulled the covers from her bed and crawled beneath it, wrapping herself in blankets and curling up in the dark. Everything ached, though her leg and neck bore the worst of it. Squeezing her tear-filled eyes shut with a sniffle, she grimaced at a sudden burning sensation in her cheek, and slowly raised a hand to touch it. 

Their face was wet, and in the dim light that reached into their hiding place they could see red on their fingertips as they pulled them away. He'd scratched them, deep enough to bleed. Now that they were aware of it they could feel a stinging line of pain, but they didn't have any way to properly treat it.

… The skirt of her nightdress had a few rips in it now, and it was simple enough to tear a strip from the bottom hem to wad up and press against the cut, keeping pressure on it in hopes it was minor enough to heal on its own. 

Curled up in the dark, battered and bruised but most of all terrified, she finally let herself cry. He had been kind to her until now, so careful to not harm her even at his largest size. She wasn't even sure what she'd done wrong, it had been a normal day up until he left, but he was clearly furious at her. 

I don't believe I gave you permission to speak. 

I trust you will remember your place in the future.

With a pathetic, raspy whine—their throat burned, and it didn't take much to imagine a bruise in the shape of his hand wrapped around it—they pulled their blankets close, trying to make themself as comfortable as possible even as their ankle throbbed with any movement. If they stayed quiet and obedient, he wouldn't hurt them again, right? That was their only option. He would find them eventually, the building itself responded to his wishes. But they only hoped for a little longer before that point, enough time to compose themself—if speaking out of turn got them this amount of punishment, crying would certainly be worse. 

She wasn't sure how long she lay there, but eventually the tears dried up, leaving an empty hollow feeling interrupted only by the pain of her injuries and a heavy exhaustion. He hadn't come for her, and she couldn't hear anything beyond her chambers. Shuffling to peek out from under the bed, she let out a soft gasp at what she saw—the door to the rest of the palace was gone. The one that always opened to her washroom was still in place, but it was the only interruption in the smooth stone walls.

They'd been locked in their room like a dog in a cage. For some reason that was the final straw, and with a sniffle they pulled a blanket over their head and allowed themself to drift into unconsciousness. If they were asleep at least they wouldn't hurt, and it was unlikely he would drag them out of their hiding spot if he'd really locked them in their room. 

When she awoke it was with a pounding in her temples and a horrible thirst. For a moment she was confused as to why she was lying on the floor, but the jolt of pain that ran through her when she moved quickly reminded her what had happened. Dragging herself out from under her bed, she had to lean against the wall to get to the washroom door, as her ankle hurt whenever she put weight on it—hopefully it wasn't broken, but it was certainly swollen and warm to the touch. 

There was still a pitcher of clean water in their washroom—a habit they kept, even with the magical wash basin and bath that filled from strange keg-taps in the wall. Their reflection hardly looked recognizable—puffy, red-rimmed eyes from crying, the dark purple of bruising around their neck, patchy bits of red like an uneven sunburn on their face and chest, and the cut on their cheek that had started to scab over while they slept. Their hair fell messily around their face, and their gaze seemed sunken and hollow. 

Dropping her head and turning away from the polished mirror, she carefully poured some water from the pitcher into her cupped palm, barely managing to swallow more than a sip without pain. But she was unbearably thirsty, and forced herself to push through the stinging ache until she had her fill.

… A warm bath sounded nice, and would likely ease some of their aches, but the thought of being caught even more helpless than they already were sent a chill down their spine. No, even if he was leaving them to their own devices for now they weren't going to risk it. 

Shuffling back to their bed, they froze at the sight of the black feather still lying on top of it. 

She'd never seen him like that, feathered and scaled with sharp talons. He wasn't human, of course, but he'd always appeared as such, aside from the changes in size. It was just another reminder of how unfathomable he truly was, and how powerless she was against him. 

Another rolling wave of exhaustion overcame them, and once more they shuffled underneath their bed—the longer it went, the more likely he would come looking, and not being immediately visible would give them a bit of warning, at least. 

Of course, who's to say he didn't forget about me? Or that he didn't lock me in here on purpose as punishment—I'll need to eat eventually, and I can't get out if there's no door.

Those thoughts weren't very reassuring, but there wasn't much they could do to change the situation. At least they had water. They could figure out food if it came to that. 

With a heavy, wet sigh she pulled her covers around herself once again and let exhaustion take her. Sleeping on the floor had made her stiff, but it was a small price to pay for some meager amount of safety. 

The next time she awoke was to a growling stomach. This time, at least, she remembered where she was and why—though whether that was a good thing or not was debatable. Her ankle felt stiff, even more so than the rest of her, and her throat still ached. She should probably get up, start trying to figure out how to get food, but couldn't muster up the energy to move. 

Why now? Why wait so long to punish me for overstepping? Why not make it clear from the beginning?

The thoughts wouldn't leave them alone, whirling in their head like a maelstrom to the point they almost missed the sound of a door opening. 

“Little one?”

She froze, a hand clamping over her mouth and hardly daring to breathe lest he hear it, terrified tears starting to well in her eyes. He'd already come looking for her, and while he didn't sound mad she couldn't trust that—the god of lies and performance was no doubt a skilled actor.

“Are you still sleeping? It's quite late-” His words cut off suddenly, and they could both hear and see him step into their room, walking towards their bed. 

The feather. 

“Where did you come from?” He murmured softly, the slightest brush of skin against fabric hinting that he'd picked the feather off their bed. They could see him standing on the other side, only from mid-calf down, but clearly present nonetheless. 

Please just go. Whatever game you're playing, I don't want to be part of it anymore. I want to go home.

Silent tears filled her eyes as she lay there trembling, but he didn't leave. 

“Are you hiding? I only wanted to check on you, I've been worried.”

That didn't make any sense. He'd half strangled them, locked them in their room, and now he was worried about them? Why couldn't he just leave them alone?

All of a sudden their traitorous stomach growled plaintively. All it cared about was that she hadn't eaten since before everything had happened, however long ago that had been. Their eyes widened in terror, and for a brief moment they hoped he hadn't heard, but their hopes were dashed as they saw him pause, stepping back from the bed slightly before shifting as if to kneel down and look.

“Little flower? What are you-”

With a frightened, raspy whine she shoved herself back and away, backing up blindly until she hit the wall and pulling her blankets tighter around herself as if they could shield her from the wrath of a god. She could hear what sounded like a catch in his breath, but surely it was just her own frantic, terrified breathing echoing in her ears. 

Why is he doing this? What's the point of toying with me like this? 

They could hear his footsteps rounding the bed and recoiled, curling in on themself as much as they could with their bruises and stiff muscles.

“Darling, what's-” 

A sudden, crushing silence fell. They could feel his gaze on them, even as they kept their eyes fixed on the floor, head bowed—as close to prostrating themself before him as they could manage at the moment, all but frozen in their fear.

“What happened to you?” His voice was quiet and tense with barely-restrained fury, and she dared not speak for fear of being punished again.

If she even could, as bruised as her throat was. It wouldn't be surprising if she'd lost her voice from the damage, and she had little desire to try. 

A quiet sniffle escaped them as they tried to keep the tears in their eyes from falling, but the sound of him stepping towards them jolted them out of their paralysis. They jerked their head up—it hurt, but being caught unaware was worse—, wide, terrified eyes focusing on his outstretched hand as they pressed themself as far back against the wall as was possible. He gasped, pulling their attention to his face for a brief moment—his gaze moving from their face to their neck, eyes widening slightly—before they remembered what he'd said and dropped their head. 

He'd had feathers again. Just like before.

“I'm sorry- please don't-” She barely managed a hoarse, cracked whisper of a plea before her voice broke, leaving her coughing and whimpering from pain.

A breeze ruffled her hair, and when she hesitantly lifted her gaze from the floor again he was gone, a black feather drifting to the floor again where he once stood.

Seeing it again was the final crack in their composure. With a pathetic sniffle they started to sob, face in their hands as tears streamed down their cheeks. He hadn't hurt them again, at least, but they didn't understand why he was acting like he didn't know what had happened. It was burned into their brain—the terrifying, crushing strength of his hand around their throat, the sickening feeling of weightlessness as they fell, the sharp jolt of impact through their ankle, the pressure pinning them to the ground as he threatened to cut out their tongue the next time they spoke out of turn-

Wrapping her arms around herself, she slumped into a pathetic, sniveling wreck, desperate, heaving breaths wracking her shoulders and making her throat burn as she gasped for air through her tears. 

I want to go home.

By the time they'd cried out all the water they'd managed to drink earlier they felt as if someone had taken a ladle and scooped everything from inside them in the same way one would scrape out a pot. Still the same shape, but completely empty inside aside from a bone-deep exhaustion—and of course the ever present ache of their injuries. They'd managed to crack the scab on their cheek from their sobbing, a small amount of blood beading on their skin that they wiped away with their tears.

… She should get something to drink, but the thought of shuffling to her washroom and back on her ankle—by this point she was fairly certain it was sprained, if not broken—seemed an insurmountable obstacle. Even trying to crawl back into her hiding place under her bed felt like a heavy task, and it wasn't like it would be any more comfortable, so she simply pulled her blankets around her and lay down where she sat, back pressed against the wall with the now returned door in view.

~~~

The chain around their throat was heavy as they knelt on the cold stone floor, trying not to shiver in their thin shift. Their legs were going numb, but they dared not move without permission—they were on a short enough lead already, a fact that distressed them as Juniper reached down to hook a finger around the chain and tug slightly. The loop around their neck tightened, pulling them off balance and causing them to pitch forwards, arms outstretched to keep themself from face planting. 

“I don't believe I told you to move, pet.” His voice was falsely light-hearted, not even trying to hide the vitriol beneath as he twisted the chain around his hand before lifting her off the ground by it. She struggled, hands trying to slip between the links and her skin to get enough room to breathe, but every second that passed left her feeling weaker. Her vision went dark around the edges, lungs burning but unable to relieve it as her desperate writhing slowly died out from lack of air. 

Jolting upright, they sucked in a greedy gasp, hands flying to their neck—no chain, but it still hurt, a dull ache as their breathing slowly started to return to normal. Allowing one hand to drop from their neck, they balled their fist in the sheets beneath them-

Wait. 

She hadn't fallen asleep in her bed.

“I'm sorry.” 

The unexpected voice made her flinch, attention snapping towards the source only for her to freeze in place like a mouse hoping the cat doesn't see it. 

Juniper sat against the wall, as if he'd been keeping watch over her while she'd slept. There was a strange tension in his frame, looking as if he wanted to approach but was restraining himself. Why, she didn't know, but at least this time he appeared entirely human, no feathers or scales and on the same level as her. 

“What?” They whispered, voice still raspy but less painful than trying to speak aloud.

“I promised to look after you and care for you, and you were grievously harmed. In my domain, no less.” As if it should be obvious. As if he wasn't the one who'd done it. 

Directing their stare at the bedcovers, they balled their fists in the blankets. It was unwise to show anger towards him, he could decide to finish what he'd started at the drop of a pin. 

“What happened, little one?”

Her shoulders trembled, but she remained silent, wrapping her arms around herself and keeping her gaze fixed on her blankets. Whatever he was trying to goad her into, she wasn't going to fall for it.

A light touch brushed their hand and they flinched, pulling away on instinct with a frightened gasp. He'd moved without them noticing, now kneeling alongside their bed with a hand hovering in midair for a moment before dropping to his lap. 

“Please, Red.” Her name—one of them, at least—being spoken in that soft, pleading tone made her sniffle, even though she had cried all of the tears she had to spare. 

“Don't know.” She whispered, shifting uncomfortably. Her voice was still rough, and it hurt to speak, but…

He used to make them feel safe. Had promised they were his, that he would care for them. They just wanted to feel safe around him again. They didn't know why he was doing this, but they were loathe to disobey him now.

“Just do your best.”

Worrying her blanket between her hands, she bit her lip for a moment as she tried to put her thoughts in order.

“Yesterday-” was it yesterday? “-went to do something. Came back mad. 

“... said- shouldn't speak without permission.” Her voice broke, and she lifted a hand to touch her aching throat.

Why did he want her to tell him what had happened? Didn't he remember almost killing her? 

Without turning their head they flicked their gaze towards him—he was looking at his own hand, a quiet horror in his voice. “I did this?” 

That made them freeze—was that a trick question? They had been the one to disobey, to overstep, if they blamed him for their shortcomings he would be furious.

“My fault-” They blurted in a panic before breaking into a horrible coughing fit. It felt like their throat was full of nettles, scraping the delicate flesh raw every time they breathed, let alone spoke, and the coughing just made it worse.

“No.” He sounded angry even at the thought, putting a hand on her knee—she stiffened, but didn't pull away as he continued. “Nothing you could do would make you deserve this. I don't… I don't remember anything from yesterday, but it's clear enough I failed in my duty to keep you safe. And for that I am sorry.”

What? 

“God of lies.” She whispered without thinking—but he looked more distressed than angry.

“Not to you. Never to you.” Heaving a sigh, he pulled his hand back—leaving her almost missing the small point of contact, a bit of stability in her confusion. “I wouldn't expect you to forgive me for this- wouldn't want you to. But I will do everything in my power to ensure it doesn't happen again.”

… It would be frightening, they realized, to find out that not only had you lost an entire day, you'd harmed your pet in the course of it. Or however he thought of them. 

“I will go see if any of the others might know what could have caused this. You should eat, little one.” A bowl was gently pressed into their hands, full of warm broth, though they hadn't seen it before now. Regardless, their stomach growled at the sight of it—they were starving. 

“I'll let you rest now, but if you need anything all you have to do is ask.” There was a sad look on his face as he stood, a hand briefly twitching at his side as if he wanted to touch her, but his gaze drifted to the bruise circling her neck again before he disappeared in a cool breeze.

The door was still there—if they wanted to they could leave, but crawling through the ever-changing rooms beyond with an ankle that wouldn't bear their weight sounded nightmarish. So with a little sigh they started to eat, careful and slow at first before hunger overtook them.

The broth was warm and seemed to soothe the ache in her throat some, making it a bit easier to swallow. Perhaps it was hunger from going more than a day without eating, but it might have been the best thing she'd ever tasted, and by the time she finished she was pleasantly full and once again fighting exhaustion. Setting the bowl on the floor next to her bed, she pulled the blankets up and laid down again to rest. 

He hadn't wanted to hurt them. They were still afraid, of course—whatever had made him do so could happen again, and there was still nothing they could do about it, but at least they had some small amount of relief. Letting out a yawn, they closed their eyes, hoping this time they would be able to sleep without interruption.

No dreams disturbed her slumber, just the deep, dark tunnel of exhausted sleep. 

Awareness came slowly, by degrees. She was warm and comfortable, enough she could have easily slipped back into unconsciousness had the waking world not continued to tug at her. A hand gently running through her hair was the next thing she registered, light enough it hadn't woken her but noticeable now as she started to stir.

Blearily cracking an eye open, their gaze slowly focused on Juniper sitting in a chair next to their bed reading a book while brushing his other hand through their hair. Glancing towards them, he paused when he saw they were awake before pulling his hand back. 

“Good morning, darling. How are you feeling?” He murmured, book vanishing as he closed it with a soft clap.

That was a good question. She wasn't as stiff as she'd been before she'd gone to sleep, and her injuries weren't bothering her as much, but she could still feel them. 

Poking her hand out from under the covers, she wiggled it in a so-so fashion.

“Do you need anything, or would you rather I leave you alone?” Well, if he was asking…

Trying—and failing—to suppress a yawn, they sat up and pointed at the door to the washroom, rubbing at their eyes with their other hand. Even though their throat was feeling a bit better, they didn't want to try speaking if they didn't have to.

He chuckled softly as he stood—the chair he'd been using disappearing as he did so. “As you wish.”

She let out a soft, startled noise as he picked her up bridal style—pausing at the sound, but she wasn't scared, or at least not overly scared. Just nervous. After a moment without any protest he started to walk, carrying her into the washroom before setting her down where she could lean on the counter for support. 

“I'll be right outside if you need anything, little flower.” And with that he pulled the door closed, leaving them alone in the room. 

They shuffled their way through their morning ablutions, before pausing to look at the bath. A warm soak would be nice, but would require them to ask for clean clothes—not to mention getting in the tub might be difficult with their ankle. And it would mean leaving Juniper to wait outside until they were done. 

… Maybe just a quick bath. Between all the crying and sleeping on the floor she felt a bit gross, and would rather put as much of it behind her as she could. And this nightdress would probably have to be disposed of, ripped up and dirty as it was. She didn't have the supplies to fix it, and didn't much want to, either.

Looking at themself in the mirror after they disrobed was… uncomfortable. The bruising around their neck was an ugly dark purple, and there were several more bruises scattered across their body that had been hidden from view. A particularly nasty one on their side caught their eye, as they could see the hard line of where one of the stones in the courtyard had pressed into them. 

Blinking away sudden tears, she hopped over to the tub, sitting on the edge and opening the magic tap to allow it to fill with water. A handful of pleasant-smelling herbs and flowers dropped into the water provided a distraction, and once the tub was full enough she closed the tap and slipped into the warm water, sinking down in the oversized tub until the water was halfway up her neck. 

Letting out a pleased little sigh, they tipped their head back and closed their eyes. The warmth soothed the lingering stiffness as well as some of the aches from their bruises, and the nice smell helped them relax as they soaked. 

It was a struggle not to doze off, but as the water started to cool she roused herself and sat up again. Pulling the stopper started the tub draining, and with a tight grip on the side she carefully stood, sat on the rim of the tub to shift her legs out, and shuffled until she could reach the cabinet with towels in it. Wrapping one of them around herself, she leaned on the wall until she got to the door again. 

Clutching their towel to be sure it stayed in place, they opened the door just enough to poke their head out. 

“Need clothes.” It didn't hurt as much, but still left their throat feeling a bit rough and raw. Juniper looked up at them, gaze fixing on a newly visible bruise on their arm for a brief moment. 

“Of course, my dear.” His voice was soft and gentle, giving her a brief nod as he stood and headed to the closet. He was being very accommodating—not that he hadn't before, but it was still strange to her to have a god waiting on her hand and foot. Though she supposed it made sense, if he felt guilty for hurting her. Even if it hadn't been intentional… he still hadn't said if he'd learned anything from speaking with the others. 

Distracted by their thoughts, they were startled when he held a bundle of cloth out to them. They hadn't realized he was back, and taking it required a bit of fiddling—leaning their shoulder against the wall to keep their balance while they held their towel up with one hand and took the clothes with the other. “Thank you.”

“You don't need to speak if it hurts.” Juniper murmured, pausing with his hand still in the air for a moment before dropping it and sitting back down in a chair that appeared out of nowhere. “But go ahead and get dressed.”

It was only polite to say thank you, she thought, closing the door and sitting down to hopefully make it easier. He'd grabbed another nightdress, the fabric soft and comfortable in her hands as she set it down to put on her underthings—and tried not to think too much about that. Once she was dressed she shuffled to get her good leg under her and stood, opening the door once again—he was already standing on the other side offering her an arm for balance, which she gladly accepted.

“Feeling better?” They nodded, most of their attention focused on the awkward hops that would be needed to get back to their bed—until they felt his arm move and they were suddenly swept off their feet, grabbing at him and letting out a startled yelp that came out as more of a broken squeak. 

He froze at the sound, giving her a look that she would almost describe as panicked if she didn't know better. “Did I hurt you?”

She could practically hear the unspoken addition floating in the air as she shook her head. “Startled.”

Their heart was still racing as they tried to force away the jolt of fear that had spiked through their veins—they weren't hurt, he was just picking them up. So they didn't have to worry about their ankle. 

“Alright.” With a final, searching look, he carried her back to her bed, setting her down as delicately as if she was made of glass before kneeling down alongside the bed. “Are you hungry?”

After a moment of thought she nodded—yes, but she also wanted to talk, and maybe get answers as to what had happened.

Once again, he produced a bowl of food from nowhere—this time some kind of oatmeal. It smelled good, and was still warm as he set it in their lap.

“What happened?” They whispered, tilting their head as they took a bite. He sighed, almost seeming to deflate as he looked away from them for a moment. 

“... There are things much older than the gods, little one. And sometimes, they can… worm their way through the cracks. Most of us are able to shake off their influence without much trouble, but…”

Falling silent for a moment, his gaze once again drifted to her, and he reached out for a moment before dropping his hand again and leaning back on his heels.

“I was mortal once, did you know that? It would have been several centuries ago—an actor who caught the attention of a god.” That made her pause, spoon in her mouth as she gave him a baffled look. Humans could become gods?

Her expression made him chuckle, a brief smile crossing his face before he continued, voice growing somber as he went. “A few centuries is nothing—I'm quite young compared to most of the others. And… I was vulnerable. The old things, the ones that hide in the dark—they are older than you could imagine, and they feel the only place for humans is subservience. I suppose they thought I had been too permissive with you, and chose to make a point. And for that, I will never be able to forgive myself. I failed in my duty to keep you safe.”

… She wasn't very hungry anymore. Setting her spoon down, she wrapped her arms around herself in an anxious embrace—it could happen again. Whatever old thing had a grudge against her might decide to hurt her again, and there was little she could do about it. 

“Would you want me to return you to your place in the mortal world?”

Their head snapped towards him in shock, words spilling from them without even thinking. “No! There's nothi-”

Breaking off into a pained coughing fit, they wheezed for breath as they hunched over, a hand clutching at their burning throat. The mattress dipped beside them, and after a moment hands gently settled on their back and shoulder. 

And then, with a warm sensation the pain faded. Not gone, not entirely, but manageable—rounded over rather than sharp, jagged edges. Enough she could catch her breath again, blinking tears out of her eyes as she tried to settle her breathing.

“I'm not much of a healer, I'm afraid. It's not my particular sphere of influence.” Juniper murmured—he was tense where he sat next to her, as if he expected her to pull away from him at any moment. But whatever he was doing made her injuries feel better, so with a soft sigh she leaned against him and let her eyes close—and after a few seconds he put his arm around her shoulder to hold her close.

A comfortable silence fell for a few moments before he spoke again.

“I won't force you to leave if you wish to stay.” That sent a wave of relief rushing through them—they had little to go back to. Surely their place at the inn had been filled ages ago, and they didn't know if they would be able to find somewhere else to stay. “I simply wanted to give you the choice, if you… if you no longer felt safe with me.”

Their heart squeezed in their chest at his words, faltering and unsure, as if he expected to be rejected at any moment—as if he wasn't a god, with powers beyond their wildest imagination. They shook their head, curling against his side with a quiet whisper. 

“I want to stay.” 

She could feel tension drain from him after she spoke—it must get lonely without anyone around, and she doubted human offerings in his name were very common—, his free hand brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear and hovering for a moment over the healing cut on her cheek. “Of course, my dear. Whatever you ask.”

His hand was warm as he took theirs, brushing his thumb over the back of their palm in silence before speaking again. 

“There are… options to heal your injuries. I could ask one of the others who oversees that domain, or I could simply continue to do what I can myself—you'll recover faster than normal, but I can't heal them immediately. Or…”

He paused, squeezing her hand slightly as he gave her a searching look before turning away, brows furrowed in thought.

“... I could give you ambrosia—food of the gods. It would heal you, but you would no longer be entirely mortal. And… that is not a choice I would ask you to make lightly.”

He was human once. Was it a choice he'd made himself, or one forced upon him? Did he miss it?

The thought of being around another god frightened them—he was permissive of their irreverent behavior, but they were well aware now that wasn't a sentiment universally shared. They didn't want to draw any more ire and risk a worse fate; bruises and scrapes would heal. And the thought of losing their humanity…

He was giving her a choice, at least. But the idea of it was beyond her imagination—would she be unaging, or simply immortal? What other effects might it have on her?

Would she forget what it was like to be human? That thought above all else terrified her—she had so few memories already, to lose what little she had might as well be the end of her. 

Gaze settling on their intertwined hands in her lap, she squeezed his hand slightly before whispering, “Just you.”

He paused for a moment, but acquiesced with a soft sigh. “If that's what you wish.”

Of course, they knew he would have to leave them at some point to attend to… whatever duties gods had. But that had been when things had gone bad last time. He'd come back not himself.

“Something on your mind, little one?” He'd slowly been pulling them closer until they were practically sitting in his lap, his hand gently stroking their back—light enough not to bother any of their healing bruises, but still enough to feel. The question made them pause, trying to think of how to respond in as few words as possible. 

“Been here- don't people need you?”

Pressing his face to the top of her head—a kiss? it felt like it, but surely not—, Juniper hummed softly before letting go of her hand to cup her cheek. “At the moment, there's a frustrated London playwright struggling with his next scene, but that's far less pressing than my acolyte being injured. He will find inspiration in time, and his works will be better for it. You, however, are in no state to be left alone.”

She opened her mouth to protest, though wasn't sure what she would say—he was right, she was injured and in a rough state—, but he pressed a finger to her lips before continuing—voice soft, with an edge of tension in it, almost like guilt.

“Darling, you can't walk. It’s my duty to care for you.” His touch was gentle as he stroked their cheek with his fingers, pausing for a moment at their jaw—no doubt looking at the bruise circling their throat like a collar. 

The lightest brush against their neck made them jolt, recoiling and grabbing at their throat with a harsh wheeze—clawed fingers wrapped tight, cutting off their breath and lifting them from the ground as they struggled helplessly-

Gasping desperately for breath she curled into herself at the sudden flash of memory, but as the panic slowly faded and her breathing leveled out, her mind began to clear. Reality slowly slipped back in around the edges.

The faint smell of mint lingered around them, but they were no longer wrapped in a gentle embrace—raising their head, eyes wide, they expected to find he'd left them once again-

But her gaze quickly settled on his form sitting against the wall, eyes fixed on his hands—one curled into a loose fist and the other wrapped around his wrist. For a brief moment his fingers glimmered with a dark iridescence, but it was gone after a blink. 

“I'm sorry.” His voice was quiet, soft with the kind of meticulous even tone that hinted to a great deal of emotion being forcibly restrained, dark gaze finally flicking up to look at them. “Are you alright?”

Well, they weren't hurt any worse than they had been. A little shaken by their episode, perhaps, but mostly alright. They nodded, a knot of guilt tightening in their chest—he had been trying to help, and they couldn't even manage to keep themself together. Surely he would get tired of it eventually, walking on eggshells to keep from frightening them. They were hardly of much use now, or even good company. And he had plenty of followers, even if few of them truly knew it. He had no real need to keep them around.

“M’sorry.” She rasped out, wrapping her arms around herself in a weak attempt at comfort.

“Oh, my dear. It's not your fault, I shouldn't have pushed so soon.” His reassurance didn't make her feel much better, not with the withdrawn expression on his face. She'd just messed up again. 

Seems like the only thing they were capable of as of late. 

Juniper stood, giving them a sad glance—these past few days were the most they'd been alone since coming here, and it seemed that they weren't the only one affected—before stepping towards the door.

“I should leave you to your meal.”

Right—the half eaten bowl of oatmeal was still in her lap, still lukewarm. She wasn't particularly hungry anymore, but she'd never been one to refuse food when it was offered.

But she didn't want to be alone, either. Being around him still left part of her nervous, flighty, expecting to be punished, but at least she would know if something happened again. Wouldn't be caught unaware.

“Please stay?”

He paused, hand on the door as he turned back to them with a searching look. Whatever he was looking for he seemed to find, since he dropped his hand and turned to face them.

“If that's what you want, little one.” They nodded, spoon in their mouth after another bite of their oatmeal. That put a soft smile on his face, making his way back to the side of the bed and kneeling down to gaze up at them before holding his hand out.

“Could I see your ankle?” He asked gently, head slightly tilted to the side in a way that reminded her of a curious dog. She hummed under her breath, carefully turning to the side so she could sit on the edge of the bed. 

She hadn't actually looked at her ankle since she'd been injured. It was clearly swollen compared to her other one, stiff and painful if she jostled it too much, with an inflamed red discoloration. Juniper drew in a sharp breath at the sight, sitting idle for a moment before reaching out to wrap his hand around the joint. 

“How did this happen?” They were pretty sure they knew what he was really asking.

“Fell.” It wasn't technically a lie—they did fall. After they were dropped, but that's still falling.

He sighed, bringing his other hand up to cup their ankle and resting his forehead on their knee. “I know that's not all of it. Omission is still a lie, little one.”

Setting her now-empty bowl to the side, she wrapped her arms around herself, worrying her lip between her teeth for a moment in thought. Her throat was starting to ache again, even with what he'd been able to do to help. Her ankle was feeling better now though, an odd tingling warmth suffusing it and loosening the tight pain knotted in the joint.

“...Dropped.”

He stilled, freezing so completely they couldn't even see him breathe—did he need to?—before looking up at them with a distressed look on his face. 

“I'm sorry. None of this would have happened if I hadn't taken you from the mortal world.” That made them fall still, averting their gaze from his to the disheveled blankets at their side. 

It wasn't like she'd had any other option. If he hadn't, the band of thieves who'd offered her to him may very well have just killed her instead. No witness left behind to identify them, and the blood spilt in his shrine would technically be a sacrifice. 

“Would've died otherwise.” She mumbled, swallowing uncomfortably—the rasping feeling had returned, a dull ache in her throat that made it ever more apparent she'd pushed too hard.

His hands tightened around their leg, enough to send small prickles of pain through the already injured joint. 

“I would never allow such a thing.” They flinched at the raised volume, curling into themself like a woodlouse but unable to pull free of the grip on their ankle. Dark feathers and sharp claws swirled at the edges of their vision, and they were so very small in the face of an angry god.

Thunder rumbled in the distance—the first change in the perfectly temperate weather since she'd been here—, but she was frozen in place, barely able to hear it over the echoing of her racing heart in her ears. Her chest ached, a suffocating tightness squeezing around her lungs as she trembled in place.

They were nothing but an insect in a maelstrom, an insignificantly tiny thing that could be batted away and crushed without even a thought. Hardly worth bothering with, let alone caring about. 

Breathe. 

She gasped, sucking in a lungful of air as the single word filled her mind and shoved everything to the wayside. The ache in her chest was steadily diminishing, and after a moment she realized there was a hand pressed flat to her breastbone.

“I'm sorry. You weren't breathing- I don't like doing that.” Juniper murmured, clear reticence in his voice. As their heart slowed to a more steady pace he pulled his hand away, redirecting his attention while they settled themself—another episode. Twice within an hour, now. 

“What?” He'd done something to get them out of it, the command having overwhelmed the panic they'd been caught in. Was that something he was capable of? He'd never done it before. 

“I can be… very persuasive if I choose to be. Especially to you.” He sighed, finally glancing up at her—still kneeling alongside her bed, as if she was the goddess and he a humble supplicant. “You were offered to me. Mine to do with as I wished. But I never wanted to force you into anything—whatever you did, I wanted it to be your choice.”

Chewing her lip, she mulled over what he'd said—and hadn't said. It was enough of an answer anyways, he didn't need to spell it out.

“Can make me not scared?”

That made him pause, brow furrowing in thought. “I'm… not sure. I wouldn't want to do anything I couldn't reverse. And if there was another incident…”

They didn't need him to elaborate. Some part of them knew he was being reasonable, but they were so tired of being scared—the creeping boredom from before was far more preferable than the constant fits and lingering dread in the back of their mind.

“Please.” Their voice cracked, and they knew they must've been a pathetic sight, battered and bruised with unwashed, unbrushed hair and tear stains on their face, throat aching from how much they'd spoken in the hoarse whisper they were restricted to.

And he rarely denied her anything she actually asked for.

“Oh, darling-” Juniper straightened up on his knees, reaching out with a moment of hesitation before gently cradling her face. “I'll do what I can, little one.”

Pulling her head down slightly, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before murmuring something against her skin. She couldn't hear what he'd said, but that didn't matter. 

The effect was immediate, tension leaching from their body as they unconsciously leaned into his hands. Still awake and aware, but for the first time in days not carrying their fear and anxiety like a rock on their back. 

“Better?”

Blinking her eyes open—she hadn't realized she'd closed them in the first place—she glanced towards Juniper before giving a small nod.

“Excellent.” Smiling gently at them, he brushed his thumbs over their cheeks before continuing. “If you're willing, I've also thought of something that could help your injuries as well.”

Tilting their head, they let out a soft, curious noise—easier than speaking, and it got the point across.

“Well- if you were small enough for me to hold, it would be simpler for me to help with everything at once.” He paused, gaze flicking to her neck again before glancing away as he dropped his hands to rest on her knee. “But… I can tell- those bruises aren't from hands your size.”

He was right, of course. She couldn't deny that. But what he was saying made sense—and the thought didn't scare her as much as she expected. A little apprehensive, yes, but the blind panic she'd experienced twice today was absent. Whatever he'd done to calm her was working.

And the promise of not hurting anymore was a tempting one. With a rough hum they put their hand over his, squeezing slightly to get his attention and giving him a small smile when he looked up at them. 

“Alright, my dear. If you're certain.” He was quick to get to his feet, squeezing their hand in return before letting go to pick them up—though he paused before actually doing so. “It would be… easier in my chambers, is that alright?”

Another nod—only seeing her own room for the past several days had begun to grow tiring, even if it seemed like a sanctuary at the time. Or perhaps a prison—she still wasn't entirely sure why her door had vanished. If it had been the other, or something else.

“Door was gone.” She mumbled as he lifted her from her bed. “Thought- was bein’ punished.”

His hold tightened for the briefest of moments in response before he spoke. “The realm responds to the wishes of its inhabitants. I was unable to find an entrance until the first time I saw you, despite my attempts, and you are the only other one here.”

… Oh. 

How long had they been able to affect things, they wondered. Was that how they'd gotten back to their room in the first place? 

Juniper paused in front of her door, looking down at her with a steely expression. “I don't want to command you, but I need your word that you will tell me if you are uncomfortable or distressed. Understood?”

The firm tone in his voice was unusual, but they nodded, a shiver running down their back as they did so. He studied them for a few seconds longer before seeming satisfied, giving them a small nod in return as he opened the door. 

A familiar wave of vertigo overcame her and she squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on breathing through the dizziness until it passed. It wasn't the worst she'd experienced, and faded fairly quickly as she shook her head slightly before blinking her eyes open. 

Their breath hitched briefly, one hand clutching at their chest for a moment at catching a glimpse of the floor far below. If they fell-

With a quick, full-body shake she leaned back, closing her eyes again to try to calm herself. She hadn't even looked at him, just the height alone had been too much. But she wasn't insensate with fear, just a bit unnerved.

“Little flower?” There was a slight note of reproach in his tone—he'd told them to tell him if they were uncomfortable.

“M'okay. Just- high.” It wasn't a lie, they were more afraid of the drop than anything else. Keeping their eyes closed for the time being was probably a good idea.

“Alright.” Silence reigned for a moment, before his hands shifted around her. She bit back a startled noise, managing to quell her reaction to simply tensing as his hold changed to cradle her securely. Not crushing, but enough to keep her from feeling like she was going to fall, a solid surface at her back as he carefully stroked her shoulder with his thumb. “Better?”

They nodded, leaning into his touch with a quiet hum. Warm and—as long as they didn't see how far they were from the ground—comfortable, the now-recognizable soft tingling sensation of magic—?—soothing their aches. 

The swaying rhythm of his steps made them perk up slightly, but he didn't go far before falling still once more. 

“Hold on for a moment, little one.” His hold changed, pressing her gently against the solid surface at her back as gravity shifted until she was lying down rather than sitting. “You should be able to look again.”

Blinking her eyes open curiously, she peeked out past his hands—now cupped over her like a cave—to find Juniper laid on the bed in his chambers, with her placed squarely on his chest. The floor was now thoroughly obscured by the expanse of sheets, but the difference in elevation between them and where she was perched was small enough to not unnerve her. 

“It was more comfortable than standing, and not as high for you.” They could feel his voice rumble through his chest as he spoke like a distant roll of thunder. With a little hum they sat down, leaning into his hand and peering up towards his face. 

Still looked human, despite his size. The incident was the first time he hadn't, at least that she was aware of. She'd been blindfolded when she was offered to him, however long ago that had been.

“Had feathers. N’claws.” They murmured, gaze dropping to their hands as they wrung the hem of their nightdress. Their voice was still rough, but it didn't hurt as much to speak at least. 

He was silent at first, a dark look briefly flashing across his face but his touch was gentle as he brushed his thumb over the healing cut on their cheek. “I can, if I so chose. Ravens and snakes are my sacred animals.”

That made sense, they supposed. As much sense as anything else here did—it wasn't as if he was human anymore, and ancient gods were sometimes shown with animal traits.

“... I do want to know what exactly happened.” She snapped her attention back towards him, a hand drifting to her throat subconsciously. Of course he did, he would want to prevent any further harm to his pet. 

“Not immediately. It can wait until you've recovered.” He carefully pushed her arm down with a finger before cupping his hand around her back, stroking her shoulder lightly with his thumb. “Right now you need rest.”

With a quiet hum they lifted their hand to touch his thumb—he went still as they touched him, but didn't pull back. They didn't push him away, just wanted to ground themself a bit. 

A yawn interrupted her thought process, and they felt him chuckle under his breath. The multiple nights of poor sleep seemed to be catching up with her, as a sudden weight seemed to settle across her entire body. She rubbed at her eye with the heel of her palm, pausing for a moment as he ruffled her hair with a finger. 

“You look tired, little bird.” The hand draped around them felt heavier, encouraging them into lying down and curling up on his chest. Some still faintly nervous part of them wondered if he wasn't making them feel so tired, but even if he was they no doubt needed the sleep anyway.

She yawned, letting her eyes close and beginning to drift along with the up-and-down motion of his breathing and rhythmic sounds of his heartbeat as he stroked her back. It was nice to feel relaxed and comfortable again, not hiding away and terrified of making a misstep.

… He breathed? 

Cracking an eye open, they shifted to look up at him, quirking their eyebrow and patting his chest in a silent question.

“Yes?” He looked confused for a moment, and they put their hand against their own chest and took an exaggerated breath. His face lit up in understanding, before looking almost embarrassed. “Ah- I thought something a bit more human might help you be more at ease. I can stop if you want.”

Oh. That was thoughtful. 

Shaking her head with a little smile, she snuggled back down under his hand, letting out a content sigh and closing her eyes again. A nap sounded nice, especially now with the aches from her bruises and scrapes softened and distanced by his magic. And once she stopped holding on to consciousness, she was quick to slip under into a warm, comfortable, dreamless haze of sleep.

[simsandchesscrossover]

More in-depth descriptions of the kids for my kidswap below the cut!

NOTES ON CHANGES (KIDS)

At the start of the story, JOHN has recently been abandoned by his brother, who has given up on training him to save the world. He now resides in a foster care facility. In the first act, he has a rather violent breakdown as a result, and decides to express any and every emotion he pleases. This results in a unique typing style where he often forgets to add punctuation and emoticons to his texts and adds them on later.

Contrary to Rose’s passive-agressive battles with her mother, JADE is frequntly and plainly aggressive. She lives in the woods outside her house and refuses to go inside unless pre-planned and mutually agreed upon- as she puts it, she and her mother have their own territories, and their relationship relies on them staying out of each other’s way. This mindset means that she is exceptionally frustrated when her mother is sober and tries to convince her to come back, saying that “children aren’t supposed to live out in the woods” and “it’s dangerous”. Can’t she see Jade is being the bigger person here?

On the subject of ROSE, she is both more secure and far more paranoid. Actually interacting with other children, the majority of whom found her pretentious and strange, has made her overly defensive, and she has taken refuge in what she views as her areas of superiority. Given her father’s more balanced approach to parenting, she doesn’t believe everything he does is an attack, but when she encounters something odd enough that it seems like one, she spirals.

DAVE deals with his enviroment perhaps the worst out of any of the children. He doesn’t cope well with what he phrases as “living on this bumfuck island with my grandpa until he shot himself because taking care of me was just that bad i guess”. On top of that, he’s constantly hounded (ha!) by a dog-like creature that he used to think was the one that killed his grandfather. Now, he isn’t sure if it’s even real or some sort of grief-induced hallucination. This has made him exceptionally anxious, and although he tries to hide it, his very limited social skills aren’t up to the task.

The Alpha session is a bit more complicated. JANE was raised on a series of recordings from her brother, all intended for a boy named Dirk. Given that she was entirely alone, she had no reason to think that that wasn’t her. Rose gets a vision of the changes to the timeline just in time to send out one final message explaining the truth. A key component of Jane’s worldview is that she deeply resents Dave for that and not being there, and is completely aware that it’s irrational. Conciously or not, she rebels against his post-ironic movie star lifestyle by leaning into suburbia. She sews dapper suits out of t-shirts and practices comedy. Once she discovers that she is not, in fact, Dirk, her idea of mild-mannered perfection shifts slightly. It’s undeniable that this house wasn’t made for her, but some aspect of being a “cool dude” still calls to her more than her new matronly ways… (it’s the transgender)

JAKE CROCKER is the heir to the Crocker corporation, and he’s also a media darling. Despite his father’s attempts to keep him out of the public eye (mainly due to the assassination attempts), the PR department has taken their chance, and his celebrity status is sure to make the population of Earth unwilling to resist their new Empress. Besides, Jake’s got his crackshot aim, a dashing smile, and two-inch-thick bulletproof windows, through which he can wave to his adoring populace before going about his business. What could go wrong?

ROXY spends her days chatting online and experimenting in her grandmother’s laboratory. She may be the only human left on her island, but she’s far from the only creature! Her beloved Gcat is always by her side, at least when he’s hungry. The rest of the island’s animals are wild, but the ones she makes love her. They barely try to eat her even a quarter of the time. But mostly, she wants to figure out a way to get off the island- just for a quick vacay!- and explore the world, meeting all the people and seeing all the sights.

Roxy-DIRK-Lalonde-Strider- whatever his name is now, it doesn’t matter- is wrong. There was some great cosmic error, and he came to this city of carapacians instead of a single apartment in the middle of the sea. He’s always known he didn’t belong here, but he assumed it was just some innate, destructive quality of his. Ever since the day he killed his own pet cat (in an unfortunate robotics accident), he’s known he was a monster. He’s done his best to counteract that, helping the carapacians in any way he could, but it isn’t enough. Everything in this home reminds him of his mistakes, and he makes no effort to change that.

[pondphuwin]

title: better love a dream

fandom: pluto the series

wc: 655 words

aioon character study drabble, oonmay mentioned

🌌✨🌌✨🌌

just a little something i wrote after the first episode, might expand on it and post on ao3 another time ^__^ enjoy reading, pls reblog and lmk your thoughts if u do!

Aioon has never been in love. She's always had other things in life to think about.

When she was a child, she supposes other little girls dreamt of getting married, having children—of finding someone safe and strong to hold onto, through the good and the ugly, and never letting go. Aioon was not a little girl that dreamt of falling in love. Instead, she dreamt of getting rich and going somewhere far away. She dreamt of her grandmother's hand on her shoulder, saying she was proud of her. She dreamt of for once being right and getting her sister to admit she was wrong.

She knew some little girls prayed to God that their dreams would come true. Aioon thought that if there really was a God, she wouldn't have to wish so badly for her own family to like her.

Aioon did not pray (but at least, neither did Oaboom).

Growing up, Aioon was a troublemaker. Quick to start a fight, antagonistic to teachers and school counselors and bosses at part-time jobs alike, loud with nothing particularly important to say. People didn't expect much from her, and though the part of her that dreamed may have wanted to prove them all wrong and crush those expectations to bits, the bigger (jealous, bitter, awful) part of her knew it was futile. Why should she work so hard to be half-decent at things her snobby sister already did with perfect ease?

And of course the one time she does try, makes that idiotic bet with all the confidence and none of the planning, it ends in mindless violence and humiliation. It ends in a guilt so heavy it follows her around for years in the form of her sister's resentful scrutiny. Aioon knows the lines of her own face so well when angry because of Oaboom.

Having a twin is a funny thing, see.

Pang once dated a talk therapist, whose specialty was in Marriage and Family. If she hadn't been on her best behavior the one time they'd met, in case the situationship with Pang happened to last more than two weeks (it didn't), Aioon would have asked her:

What does it mean to be so angry at someone with your own face that on your worst days, you flinch at the sight of her staring back at you in the mirror? What does it mean when the thing you're secretly most afraid of is that you've actually been the evil twin all along?

(Why does one of you have to be evil, Pang had asked when Aioon confessed this months later, both of them splayed on Pang's tiny couch and drunk on cheap wine.

In the movies, one of them is always evil. It's like. Rule #1 of being a twin.

That's not a rule, Pang said, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Anyway, people aren't totally good or evil. We just sometimes make good decisions and sometimes make bad ones. She was very wise even with half a bottle of rosé in her.

You're full of shit, Aioon had snickered and thrown a pillow at her face. She had mostly done it so she wouldn't have to think about all the many, many, many bad decisions she'd made in her life.)

It makes sense that in all her years of not-trying in an effort to distance herself from her sister's Aioon-but-better face and Aioon-but-better life, she would still end up here—suffering the consequences of Oaboom's selfish pride and her own stupidity. Digging her own grave while her sister lays unconscious in a hospital bed somewhere, dangerously close to hers. Making another one of those bad evil twin decisions.

Aioon has never been in love, and she does not pray to God. Aioon has never once gotten close to the things she selfishly dreamed and wished for as a child.

But touching May, she thinks, is the closest she's been to any of it.

[babishfantasies]

I promised - part 1

“Come on sweetie, just a little more” She said with an almost sultry and tender tone. I couldn’t believe it, what was this all about? Was she actually serious about this? Well, I guess it’s not the time for questions, and as long as I do as she says I’ll get what I want I guess. How did things come to this? That’s truly a mystery for me, but who cares.

As I continued to advance slowly towards her, it’s kind of hard to ‘walk’ on your knees, she slowly started to accommodate herself on the couch. Her huge legs uncrossing and opening, her chest moving a little bit forward, her arms extended with her hands open as if she was saying “I’m ready to receive you, sweety”. All of this made her look even bigger than she was, her thick body and massive breasts looked even bigger, and that low cut floral dress made her boobs so accessible, so close to me. Could it be true? Is this some sort of joke?

Wow, she’s so attractive, and the closer I get the better she looks. I hope I don’t end up losing my cool too much or I might have an accident. I hope that’s not what she’s going for, but how am I supposed to look at her from here and not fear that. I can even smell her now. So intoxicating, it’s like putting your entire head in a massive jar of strawberry jam, but there’s also something else, may it be her own smell? Is it that I’m getting closer to her crotch too? Oh no, my loins are burning, I better get to her fast before it’s too late… or maybe that will just make things worse? Well, at the very least I want my head to be resting on her bosom when it happens.

“You made it sweetie, and just the way I told you to. Good work. Now let me handle the rest”. As I’m on my knees, contemplating her beautiful body, she takes me from my armpits and with little exertion puts me over her chest. Then she proceeds to take my legs and accommodates them over hers, so now I’m sitting on the space between her legs with my legs spread over hers and my face looking directly to her chest. I’m about to explode. I start to hyperventilate and my crotch it’s at its limit, my heart is running like crazy and some sweat drops start to appear on my forehead. I guess she notices my desperation and says “are you getting hot? Let’s do something about that.” and slowly starts to remove my hoodie and t-shirt at the same time. I can feel her soft hands moving my clothes upward, her long and cold nails scratch my sides. I instinctively moved my arms up and let her remove my clothes. After what feels like an eternity I’m finally shirtless. “Perfect. Now you’re ready”. I don’t think I am.

part 2

[graysparrowao3]

WIP Whatever: Rolan, Cal, & Lia Special

Thank you for the tag @forget-me-maybe! I know it's not two particular Northern Bastards (but if that's what you were hoping for you may find such a snippet here). I hope it's not bothersome or disappointing if I indulge in posting again, I know I have more than usual lately, to be honest I'm just a bit proud of this bit.

Some more tags should you wish to share or share again <3 @ladyofcrowsandcoffee @falcatamandarina @reverieblondie @commander-krios @turquoiseoverthesea

Behold! From the next chapter of The Elturian Prodigy fic...

Rolan, Cal, and Lia are currently in Avernus trying to survive. Rolan may have finally started to figure out a way to get them back so that the events of Baldur's Gate 3 can begin....

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DESCENT INTO AVERNUS BELOW THE CUT

Rolan cleared his throat. “It has to be the Companion.”

“Want someone to ask you to elaborate, don’t you?” Lia’s eyes were sullen.

“The Companion was the first thing we noticed. When it flickered, changed. That happened before the devils decided to make an appearance. If I can figure out the nature of the change to the Companion, we find our way home.”

“I’ll pack my bags,” Lia’s tongue and voice was dry. “Glad you took your time coming up with that stellar conclusion.”

“Bet it tasted like cheese,” Cal mumbled vacantly under his breath.

“I suppose you’ve already detailed the particulars, have you?” Rolan glared. The exhausted woman across the room huffed air though her nose.

“Fine.” She did not sound pleased about it, but she did continue. “What are you thinking?”

“I’ve been trying to establish a way home, but I’d been thinking too small, too direct. Perhaps it’s less about reversing the way we arrived here, and more about the bigger picture.” He paused for both theatrics and to gather his next thoughts. “It was High Overseer Kreeg who produced the miracle itself. A blinding light to rid the city of evil, or some such drivel.”

“It was evil, Rolan,” Lia rolled her eyes. “We're living in it. Kreeg helped the Riders, saved the whole city.”

Lines creased Rolan’s brow. “I never can remember the deity Kreeg revered. Divine matters. Not my forte.”

“Torm,” came a soft muttering from the youngest tiefling who let his head rest back against the wall.

“Ah. Yes.”

Cal forced whatever amusement he could to his voice, which wasn't much. "Pretty sure if we weren’t already in Hell you’d be smited for blasphemy.”

“Right,” Rolan cleared his throat. “Torm. And Torm is of course…”

“Patron of Paladins.”

“Obviously. A beacon of righteousness and duty. A bleeding heart. Surprised you weren’t fully converted, Lia.”

“Might’ve thought about it,” she shot back. “Not that it’s any of your business. Could've used a few answered prayers lately.”

Rolan was too engrossed in thought to register her reply, his face furrowing further. “Does that sound like the sort of God to banish us to Hell?”

Cal’s eyes slowly animated with curiosity and he sat forward. “What are you thinking, Rolan?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “But you recall making the oath of the Creed Resolute…”

“Which you were willing to break the second the city faced danger,” Lia made her disdain apparent.

“Which I still would, if it were possible,” Rolan’s voice lowered to a pensive mumble. “To serve the realm of Elturgard… the High Observer… defend the city…”

“Serve all people and the greater good,” Lia added. “Uphold Elturgard’s laws and the Creed Resolute.”

Cal finished the code contained within the Creed. “Allow no difference of faith to come between us, and not attribute the Companion to any one God.”

Rolan nodded in affirmation of their combined words. “Now, Lia’s fanciful ambitions aside, why would anyone other than the Riders need to make such an oath?”

“Hells, Rolan,” she frowned, “you wouldn’t shut up about it at the time. We get it – you are so philosophically advanced and the rest of us mindless idiots to social convention.”

“No, Lia,” Cal intervened, “I think he’s actually onto something this time. You think it’s connected, Rolan?”

“It’s no more impossible than anything else. The timing alone is suspect. I’d bet money – if we had any left – that if Torm put the Companion in place, or Kreeg through Torm, or whatever else – I don’t know how all that nonsense works - it’s not Torm’s will that undid it.”

Cal couldn’t help but put words to the question that sat waiting. “So… who did?”

Rolan took a deep breath. “Someone who benefits from every living soul in Elturel swearing to the Creed Resolute.”

The air and vibrations in the infernal basement froze.

“Rolan…” Lia’s voice shook with caution, “please tell me you know who that is.”

“It’s a guess,” he tempered expectations, but the vivid blazing behind his eyes betrayed his excitement. “We are, as I believe, in Avernus. Currently under siege in the Blood War. Commanded in the First Circle of Hell by-”

“Zariel,” the word left Lia’s mouth breathlessly.

Rolan offered an acknowledging nod of his head. "Or, in as it means literally... Companion of Light."

“Holy shit, Rolan,” Cal was leaning so far forward he was leaning on his palms, his eyes flaming bright, “you’re a genius.”

“Wouldn’t go that far,” Lia mumbled instinctively, but a thick layer of exhaustion had lifted from her face and she was staring with expectation. “But this is insane. Zariel is an Archdevil. Maybe if he figures out what we can do about it.”

“Well whatever Kreeg is up to clearly hasn’t helped. And the Riders are next to useless.”

“Rolan!”

“My best speculations,” Rolan hummed. “If Torm was the one that conjured the Companion, perhaps he’s not best pleased about its demise and would rather like it back. If Zariel was involved from the start, I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. Not without more information. Either way, there’s only one place in the city that might offer some insight into the matter.”

Two voices in union gave the final obvious answer.

“The High Hall.”

Rolan tipped his head and his shoulders pulled proudly back. “Perhaps there’s a reason to risk the bridges after all.”