#i want to fight god in a field but they are hiding in the RAIN like a COWARD

[samwisefamgee]

why does everything in the universe cost so much

[waves-against-a-cliff]

Cookies and Brownies - Gaz x Reader

Content Warnings - Fluff with some very, very minor angst.

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Normally, Gaz did not find leaving his flat so difficult. Usually he was already gnawing at the bit to get back onto the field from his mandatory leave, to get back to doing something instead of lying around. Well now he had a reason to want to stay, for the person next door who also happens to work at his favorite bakery/cafe.

There is something cruel about that, ironically cruel. Gaz has never had any trouble getting people to come home with him, sometimes he didn’t even need to put on any of his charm. But he knows it was because of his looks, charming like a prince in a fairytale. Was it the military lifestyle? Was that why he found it so hard to keep people around him and wanting him? Maybe.

But you, you were different. You didn’t see his return to the military as a goodbye, closing your door on whatever is happening between the two of you. No, you worked out a solution in mere seconds. Gift packages, he’d seen some men he’s worked with before get them. Packages usually from loved ones, like family or partners. Sometimes from friends. Gaz hadn’t gotten one since his early days, back when his grandmother was still around. God rest her soul.

It’s two weeks later, two weeks into being at this base in this fucking desert that the package arrives. His name is called out alongside others and he is handed a package, it has several postmarks slapped onto it with your handwriting on the box for the address.

His stomach twists at the sight of your handwriting, how is that possible? How can he feel that way over handwriting? It’s not just anyone’s handwriting, Gaz thought, it's yours. Distinctly and completely yours. Something no other person could replicate, just you.

Gaz waits until he’s in his tent, empty thankfully, to cut open the package. Inside there is a letter on top of several tins that his mind immediately thinks are sewing supplies until he connects the dots. He opens the letter first, imagining his grandmother slapping the back of his head for being rude and going for the gifts first.

More of your handwriting, his heart pounds as he reads through the letter. He can’t help but rub his thumb over where you wrote his name. Kyle. His real name, not a call sign given to him years ago. Kyle Garrick.

Kyle opens the first tin and finds it filled to the brim with chocolate chip cookies. It dawns on Kyle then that there are four tins, which means lots of baked goods. He licks his lips as he pulls out the other tins and opens them, just to know which one’s hold which.

There is another tin of cookies, white macadamia nut and two tins of brownies. One looks like the classic kind and the other filled with cookie-brownies. He feels like a wolf staring down prey, unguarded sheep ready to be eaten. Before he digs in, he puts the tins away and rips a piece of paper from his notebook and writes.

Dear Kyle,

Hello! I hope the package found you alright and that I had added enough postmarks for it to make the journey. I hope you’re still at base and not somewhere fighting bad guys haha. Things here have seriously slowed down or maybe its because our best customer isn’t currently here. I made some cookies and brownies although they might be stale. If they are, I’m sorry but I’m not sure how to stop that from happening. Do you have any kind of favorite candies? If you send me a letter with your favorites I’ll be sure to include it in the next batch, maybe even bake it into the cookies.

It’s been raining impossibly often but according to Mrs. Thompson its that time of the year. Is that true or is she trying to keep me from rightfully complaining about not seeing the sun in a week? Why is it that when you left the sun decided to hide behind rain clouds? Do you have some kind of deal worked out with the weather? If so, let me in on it, there’s only so much rain a person can handle. Well, I don’t want to hold you up. Enjoy the likely stale cookies and brownies.

[sephifrog]

Starwhisp and Moonlight

(TW slight bullying from family, one curse word?)

--

Sighing, the woman taped her fingers against the cold glass, tracing the raindrops with her fingers, seemingly empty eyes stared out into the green field below, the fog from her sigh had blurred her vision of the once puddle-filled backyard.

visiting her father's side of the family for the first time in years felt odd, she wasn’t a little girl anymore she didn’t have to sit back and listen to the insults but found herself doing just that, smiling and laughing as they pointed out her imperfections.

“You have a pimple on the tip of your nose! You look like Rudolph!”.

Ah, her auntie, always one to point out others' flaws but never realising she was the one with the most, she was a horrid woman. Her husband was nicer but still no saint and if she started on her cousin she wouldn’t be able to stop.

“And look at her hair you cut it short again, why would you do that do you want to look like a boy?” the grating voice filled her ears and it took all her her strength not to groan.

Turning her head away from her aunt she locked eyes with her cousin, someone she used to hold dear before he decided she wasn’t worth his time anymore, she never knew why, and at this point, she didn't care, the relationship was too strained to bother fixing.

Tilting her head she smiled sarcastically with a nod, not responding verbally knowing if she started a fight with him her auntie wouldn’t leave her alone for the rest of the week she was here and by God she didn’t need that.

Before he could open his mouth to comment any further the room got louder causing the duo to break their glares away from one another, spotting her younger cousin rushing over with a box in his hand, eyes bright with excitement as he shoved it into her face.

“Jade look! I got that game you said I would like”.

Craning her neck away from the box that was shoved in her face her eyes crossed trying to read what the younger boy was showing her, but he pulled it away just as fast. giddy smile and shining eyes making her prior annoyance fide slightly.

“Final Fantasy seven! You said you used to play it with Arian right?”.

Hearing his name felt like a punch to the gut but she tried to hide the sadness by grabbing the game case gently, reading the back, and tracing the art she let out a shaky sigh as she knew her brother would have hyperfixated on the game with her.

“Yeah kid, he used to play the original while I watched him, he would of loved to play the remake if he was..”

She didn’t want to finish the sentence.

Her cousins didn’t want her to either.

The silence was almost deafening.

“Well, maybe you can watch me!” the little boy was always quick to recover his usually cheerful eyes now weary, almost too smart for his age- it wasn’t fair on him, she could only nod with a strained smile.

whatever love her oldest cousin had for her back then must have resurfaced or maybe it was the respect and love he had for her brother because he left her after that taking his brother and leaving her to her thoughts. She turned to watch the rain again, thoughts of her brother whirling through her mind.

She can't help but lean her head against the window another habit her family would usually scold her for, this time however before she could fully zone out her eyes focused on what seemed to be a person in the yard, her eyebrows narrow in pain the longer she tried to focus on it but after she blinked it was no longer there.

Huffing she finally stood from her spot deciding to grab some painkillers for her headache so it wouldn't turn into a migraine, ignoring when her uncle tried to talk to her, not in the mood for him. Or anyone on this side of the family for that matter.

—--

Falling asleep had always been hard for her, she doesn’t remember the last time she fell asleep without issue. Music used to help her but as she grew older she started to imagine being somewhere else and would get lost in her thoughts, before she knew it it would be morning and she would have to deal with the day without sleep.

Jade Shuttered at the thought of dealing with her family without sleep, she knew it would end badly. For them or her, she didn't know she just knew it would be bad.

“Maybe some fresh air would help” muttering to herself she begrudgingly left the warmth of her bed and grabbed her robe, slowly creeping through the house she felt a shiver ripping through her and pulled the fabric tighter over her nightgown.

She could hear the older adults laughing and cheering in the basement another thing she didn’t miss about this side of the family. She stumbles to the front door eyes squinting as the porch light flicked on, she had to blink a few times for her eyes to focus, the pain in her head coming back again causing her to grunt and grab the railing- when her head stopped spinning she locked eyes with a figure in the distance a need to follow washed over her.

Standing up straight she shakes her head at the figure, something akin to fear filling her when it beacons her forward, gripping the railing tighter and clenching her jaw Jade takes a single step backward before her head starts to throb again causing her to stumble forward closer to the figure.

The throbbing stopped.

Again she looks up to where the figure is and it motions her to come closer not moving from its spot, she looks back to the house in worry and debates screaming but knows it will only alert the younger members of her family and although she isn’t the biggest fan of them she doesn’t know what this thing can or will do.

“I’m not stupid- I can not be this Fucking stupid” a scoffed-out laugh escaped her.

Jade let go of the railing and took another few steps towards the phantom, shoulders tense and teeth clenched so tightly she could almost hear them crack.

she was afraid.

The figure started to move backward as she advanced toward it, annoyance almost took over the fear.

“Really? Seriously?- Alright.”

If she could see its face she’s sure it would be laughing at her.

Before she knew it they arrived at a clearing and she suddenly felt the chill in the air again, teeth chattering and arms folding she watched as the figure started to move around the clearing seemingly looking for something.

The creaking of the trees and whistling of the wind were starting to fray her nerves as the figure straightened and seemed to strut toward her, it paused and for a brief moment, Jade believed she might be waking up from a dream.

For a moment she was calm it seemed like time stopped, Then it burst into wisps, grey and black shadows filled her vision, and her lungs felt frozen as the whisp crumbled and reformed around her, her body felt heavy like stone when she tried to move away.

The pain in her head came back tenfold and as she opened her mouth to scream it felt like she was drowning. Her eyes blurring with tears and the feeling of being crushed was the last thing she remembered before her head hit the ground.

-

“If you ever got the chance to live in another world but keep your memories, would you want to stay?” your brother's voice was loud and boisterous something she grew fond of over the years.

“Uh? I don’t think so, I would want to come home to our family” Her response seemed to shock him.

“Huh? You would pass up the chance to live out your days with your favourite character? even Sephiroth?”

The teen shakes her head with an eye roll shoving the boy and causing him to stumble, he catches his footing just in time however shooting her a pout while he straightens his bag.

“You wouldn't pass it up?, you would abandon everything you know, the people you love to live with someone that you lied to? Living in a world you don’t belong in-”.

The boy groans loudly shaking her arm and interrupting her with his whines.

“Don’t ruin this for meeeee”.

Relenting the girl presses her lips into a thin line thinking about how to respond and appease her twin.

“The only way I wouldn’t want to come home is if you and mum weren't around and I had nothing to come back to- but that’s never going to happen”.

Arian looked like he was going to argue but just grunted accepting that she would always think like that.

“Well, what about if you don’t remember anything?”.

Sighing the girl shook her head with a smirk and started to jog in front of him.

“HEY! Don’t run from me!-”.

Laughter rang out as the Twins ran home.

—-

Waking with a start Jade looks around, dizzy and disorientated head heavy and throat dry.

This isn’t where she was knocked out.

[long-periods-of-horrible-sanity]

Lazy summer days with nothing to do but walk, explore, and pretend that you're lost. A broken branch becomes a longsword, a bow staff, the scythe of the Grim Reaper. You wield it with the ferocious ignorance of a child and terrorize everything that lies in your path.

The world grows darker, sunlight dims, and you squint up at the sky to see storm clouds closing in. Their shadow is a veil, dulling the green of the fields, and a harsh wind blows, flapping your clothes and tugging your hair. A drop of rain plops, then another. Time to run back home and un-lose yourself again.

You're wading more than running as you pass through the field, a little Moses parting the Green Sea. The grass undulates and hisses, its turbulent waves spark fear, because you've just now realized, it's alive! Alive!

Thunder rolls, ominous and low, trembling the earth beneath your feet. In your mind, this is God, shaking the foundations of the Earth, threatening to split the ground open and swallow you down the dark maw of an abyss. Perhaps the bottom is filled with dinosaur bones or great mounds of human skulls, or perhaps it glows red with hot magma, the fiery lake of Hell that's open to receive you.

Get behind me, Satan, and all your minions of Hell! You toss your stick back, over your head, at the demons snapping at your heels, certain you can hear the cackles of devilish little imps hiding in the grass, watching, waiting, hungry for a child's tender, sweet flesh.

You'll have to catch me if you want to eat me, and I won't go down without a fight. I'll bite and claw and gnash my teeth, just like the sinners in the fires of Hell. I don't fear you; I won't stop. I can outrun you. You can eat my dust-to-dust.

Ahead is the tree line and, beyond that, the house. That's the boundary you set, the one they cannot pass, because children inherently know such things. They're born with arcane knowledge written in the marrow of their bones.

You break through the edge of the field and stumble forward into the trees, and you're tempted to run backwards, mock the demons with your triumph, but the rain is pattering the leaves and soon you'll be drenched.

You stagger up the porch steps and sag to your knees, breaths gasping, chest heaving; you're lucky to be alive!

"Don't roll around on the dirty porch, child! Get up and get inside. Wash your hands for supper."

You sneer, offended, disappointed that your great escape goes unacknowledged.

Bazen öylece rüzgarın ahengine dalar insan. silkeleyip dururken yemyeşil çimenleri..

A momentary breeze..

[plumblossomcafe]

Voice lines:

Hello:

Hello, my name is Y/n. Nice to meet you. Um, I'm glad you decided to let me join you on this journey, I promise I'll work hard and protect you to the best of my ability.

Chat: Concern:

My biggest concern is being around tall men, men with blue hair, or a combination of both. It gives me bad memories of when I was still being used as an experiment by The Doctor

When it Rains:

I love the rain. It's fun to play in, but let's not play in it for too long, or else we'll get sick

When Thunder strikes:

Ah!!! That was a loud one. I don't like it when thunder strikes, so when that happens, I always hide under the blanket and hold onto Bybbles.

When it's snowing:

Quick, let's make some snowmen and snow angels!!! It'll be fun, oh, and we can catch snowflakes on our tongues or have a snowball fight!!!

When the sun is out:

I like the sunlight, hey, since you're free, why don't we make some flower crowns, or relax?

Good Morning:

Morning *yawn* I slept well last night, the first time in a while, actually. It felt nice.

Good Afternoon:

Lunch was nice. It wasn't fancy or anything heavy. I liked it.

Good Evening:

Hmm, what should we eat for dinner? Sweet Madame? Sakura Tempura? Adeptus Temptation? Oh, what do you want to eat? Tell me what you want to eat and I'll make it for dinner tonight.

Good Night:

Good Ni-, oh? You want to sleep with me? Why? Oh, you're worried about my sleep? Alright, I hope I won't disturb you when I wake up during the night due to my nightmares. Sleep well.

About Y/n: Book worm:

I read all the books in Mondstadt's library, well minus the scary ones. I'm interested in reading different genres, so if you have any recommendations feel free to let me know, minus the scary ones or the ones that "rot my brain" according to Lisa and Jean, I don't know which ones they're talking about but you could ask them.

About Y/n: Pampering:

After spending some time in Mondstadt after I was saved from the Fatui, I didn't really talk to that many people, so I always stayed quiet. Though I still talked to Diluc, Jean, Lisa, and Amber and they always like to pamper me, especially Jean, Lisa, and Amber. I always tell them to stop pampering me, but they don't listen, and I gave up in the end.

About us: Trust:

As a friend, I trust you enough, meaning that I put you all of my trust. But please don't take advantage of it.

About us: Journey:

I've been enjoying this journey so far, and I get to meet new people that I know, along with meeting old friends and making a ton of friends. I always write letters to Papa, Dad, Jean, and Diluc explaining all that happened!!!

About Vision:

A vision is like a medal that the gods give you for all the hard work you've done or because of how strong your ambition is that makes them believe that you deserve your vision.

Something to share:

I remember that when I first learned how to cook, it was a disaster, Kaeya said as a joke that I could defeat my opponent easily just by cooking a meal for them. I gradually got better, and now I make the delicious meals that you know and enjoy.

Interesting things: animals:

I like animals, I also like researching about them and I especially enjoy learning about new animals that I've never heard of.

Interesting things: medicine:

I'm somewhat good when it comes to the medical field, but I'm improving. Soon, I'll be capable of healing serious injuries and making medicines to cure patients.

Receiving a Gift I:

Delicious!!!! Can I have seconds, please?

Receiving a Gift II:

Can I have the recipe? I really want to try cooking it myself.

Receiving a Gift III:

Down the hatch... hehe...

Birthday:

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Traveler. Happy birthday to you. I hope all of your dreams and wishes come true!!!

Feelings About Ascension: Intro:

Amazing.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up:

I'm still getting used to this much power.

Feelings About Ascension: Climax:

Your going through all this just for me?

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion:

Wow, I didn't know, I made this much of an impact on you. I'm very grateful, in the past, others told me that I didn't matter even if my back at the Knights of Favonius, Diona, and Diluc told me otherwise, but now being with you on this journey makes me happy. Is it fine if I give you a hug? Thank you.

[mirei-nari]

Oh here's another one. My 6th grade graduation. I had a dress for this one though. Except no one showed up for this either. I had maybe a max of 5 leis because I had 3 teachers in my class thay year because it was the biggest class. And like 2 from my friends' parents. Everyone else had leis up to their eyes. This day I vividly remember walking home in that dress with 5 leis that I put in my bag. I don't remember if I cried or anything. I know I'm crying now just thinking about it. I've been to every single one of my cousin's graduations but no one came to the first and last one I ever had.

That's probably why I didn't finish high school. Because I knew my graduation wouldn't matter. Plus my parents didnt care enough. Thought I was independent and disciplined enough to do online schooling instead. Look where that put me.

Another one is probably the camping trip from 5th grade as well. My dad dropped me off that morning. I remember him being annoyed because I had to be there early for the bus. That field trip was so fun even though I did get hurt. My dad's friend that was living with us at the time picked me up. I don't remember much after getting into his car and getting home. I wasn't close with this friend at all so it was a silent ride home even though I really wanted to talk about the field trip. I don't think I talked to any adults about that field trip. Only people I talking about it with was my friends at the time. I wasn't asked why I had a huge bandage on my leg either. I know I cleaned it and redressed it by myself when I got home too.

Another one was in the 8th grade. I think this is when the depression started to kick in and I didn't even know at the time. One of my very best friends moved away and for a week straight I just locked myself up in my room and cried even though I didn't know why I was just so sad. As I got older I realized I was upset because my one of my best friends moved away i was never going to see her again. And I didn't know how to say I was sad about that. Because I remember thinking to myself "it's just someone moving away. Why are you so sad about it. You have other friends." And these were full on sobbing crying sessions. For a week straight. No one asked me why I was crying.

9th grade. My last year at the high-school. My best male friend since 4th grade got a girlfriend and she didn't like me at all and so that friendship ended. My other girl best friend and I got into a dramatic fight about God knows what in the rain. I walked home that day fucking crying. I remember walking into the house soaking wet and the first thing I heard someone say was "don't bring the rain in" like I had a fucking choice.

I got asked out as a fucking joke because, and these were the exact words, "someone had to take one for the team". That lasted a week because teenagers are stupid and can't keep their mouth shut. So when I found out I ended it and came home crying that day too. But hey. No one cared because my mom tried to kill herself after finding out my dad was cheating on her. Which they tried to hide but i wasnt stupid then. I just pretended to not notice because i knew they were hiding it from me. This is probably why I'm deathly afraid of any type of relationship other than friendship. This is probably why I hyper fixate on fictional characters so much. Not to mention when I turned 18 and my dad started the divorce process straight up told me he ONLY stayed with my mother because he did not want to pay child support. Lmao like how the hell do you tell that to your child and not expect it to fuck up their entire view of the world.

I think my family just didn't say anything because 1: they were too busy with their own lives and 2: just thought I was being a teenager.

Jfc. These aren't even everything. These are just the ones that stand out to me when I think about my childhood.

I really thought I just had a normal childhood. But reading what I've been writing made me fully realize that I did not in fact have a normal childhood. I had a very fucked up childhood and turned me into whatever the hell sad human being I am today. Lovely.

[ms-starflower]

Maribat Rare Pairs — Day 4 — Caught in the rain

@maribat-october-rarepairs

What is the ship name for Bart x Marinette?? Bartinette? Bartnette?? MariBart?? Mart?? (I don't like this one)

I'm calling them Bartinette.

Also, TimKon if you blink. It's really only in subtext, but still.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a rule, Marinette didn’t make long car trips after the sun was down. There was something that always bothered her about long and almost empty highways. Not that she was scared, of course not. It was just more convenient to do the trip by daylight. And safer, too.

But Tim and Kon’s christmas party was tonight and she had been needed at the New York’s headquarters until 5pm. By that time the sun was already down and she could only take the road or miss the party. Tim would kill her if she missed the party.

She would have used Kaalki’s Miraculous, but Tikki had looked at her with that disapproving expression when she had brought the idea, and she had relented.

At least, Bart had also business in NY and proposed to carpool with her, so she was not alone. Even if she had to spend two hours confined in a car with him, fighting down her blush as he joked and laughed. His laugh was very, very pretty and it was taking all of Marinette control to keep

An hour in and she was starting to regret their close proximity. She hadn’t been able to say anything to him, not trusting herself to not stutter like her middle school self in front of Adrien, but he didn’t seem to notice, filling the silence alone. Telling her embarrassing stories about all the people they knew, and some she didn’t.

That’s when the rain started.

Marinette hated to drive under the rain.

And Bart was just here, beside her. Being all pretty, and funny, and cute, and laughing, and she couldn’t focus. And that was making driving under the rain even more difficult.

They were just out of the city limits when her car started to make really, really worrying sounds.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” she muttered with panic when the car slowed down.

“Something wrong?” Bart asked her with a cute little tilt of the head.

“Ah, um. Yes?” She said slowly, parking the car on the side of the road and putting on her warnings.

“I don’t have any signal,” he told her, waving his phone at her. “Do you?”

I— Um,” she muttered, taking out her phone to look. “No, I don’t.”

“Well, I think we are going to be late to the party,” he said with an attempted smile, not a very successful one. “Tim is not going to be happy.”

She hummed her agreement, avoiding his eyes. Now that she wasn’t driving anymore, it was way more difficult to ignore his presence this close to her. Why did she accept to this torture, again? Oh, yes. Because he asked her with his blinding smile, and that ‘yes’ had been out of her mouth before she even registered his proposition.

“So, wanna go to Tim and Kon’s place on foot?” He asked, looking out the window. She actually blinked in surprise, looking out. The rain was still pouring.

“Ah, uhm— I— Uh, not really, actually,” she stammered out, still avoiding his gaze. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, she saw his shoulder dropping in disappointment from the corner of her eyes. “Right. Do you have another idea?”

She didn’t, no. Chewing nervously her lip, she looked back at the backseat with the rearview mirror, Tikki was still sleeping but, then again, transforming in Ladybug wasn’t going to help her. Maybe she could use her yoyo to—

Her brain froze suddenly when she felt Bart’s hand on her arm.

“Hey, it’s fine, don’t worry. We can just wait a bit for the rain to stop,” he told her with a comforting smile. Marinette looked up at him, feeling the sudden need to kiss him.

“Yeah!” She exclaimed, looking around for an escape. She needed to get some distance before she did something stupid. “I’m going to try to get a signal!”

She opened her door, making Bart jerk back in surprise, before trying to get out but was stopped by her security belt. Cursing, she got it off and got out, slamming the door behind her. Only then realising that she was being drenched by the rain, and that her phone was still inside the car. Taking a deep breath, she turned back and opened the door.

“I, um, just need that,” she muttered, grabbing her phone without looking at Bart, and slamming the door again.

She walked to her trunk, deciding that now that she was out, she could place that warning triangle thing you were supposed to place when something like that happened.

She was just putting it in place when Bart got out of the car, her coat in his hand. Marinette hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t wearing it. She took it with a muttered ‘thanks’, looking somewhere around his chin.

“Did I say something to hurt you?” He asked suddenly, more serious than she ever heard him outside of the field. “Maybe I did something to offend you?”

“What?!” She exclaimed, looking up at him in surprise, not sure she heard him right above the sound of the rain. "Non! No, of course not! Why—”

“I don’t know!” He said, shrugging his arms and shoulders. “I’m just trying to understand why you don’t like me! I’m sorry if—”

“Wait, you think I don’t like you?!” She asked, so astonished she forgot about her nerves.

“You don’t,” he told her with a frown. “You don’t talk to me outside of mission, and if you do you don’t look me in the eyes. I see you with Tim or Kon or Cassie or anyone, really. You laugh with them, and you are friendly and relaxed but as soon as I come near you, you shut down.”

“And— And you think it’s because I don’t like you?” She asked with a disbelieving tone.

“Why else?” He said, passing a hand through his wet hair. “Look, I don’t know what I did but I really hope you can push past it because I think you’re great! You are funny, and strong, and cute— Not that that has anything to do with it! I’m just saying, I’m sorry for whatever I did—”

She didn’t know why she did it, but Marinette suddenly grabbed his face and kissed him. It took her less than a second to register what she was doing and letting go, taking a step back.

“Oh mon dieu, I’m so, so sorry! I—” she stopped, putting both hands on her mouth.

“You kissed me,” Bart said slowly, blinking at her.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It’s just— You said— But it was— And then— You’re wrong,” she said suddenly, looking down at her hands. “You didn’t say anything to hurt or offend me. The problem isn’t that I don’t like you, the problem is that I like like you.”

“You like me, like me,” he said slowly, and Marinette didn’t want to see the expression on his face. “As in, ‘you would go on a date with me’ like me?”

“Um, yeah. That’s— That’s sum it up,” she said, playing nervously with her hands. “And I never was my best self with my crushes so I— I figured that if we don’t interact much, you wouldn’t hate me?”

“And it never occured to you that I could like you back?” Bart asked, something akin to amusement and relief in his tone.

“What?!” She asked, looking back up at him. Bart took a step toward her, his hand coming up to put a wet strand of her hair behind her ear before cupping her jaw.

“You’re beautiful, badass, funny, when you don’t talk to me, at least,” he added with a small, his eyes searching for something in hers. “There is nothing in you not to like, and I was heartbroken that you seemed to not like me that way. But you do.”

“I— Um, yeah. Yeah, I do,” she said softly as his face came closer to hers. She looked down at his lips. “Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes, please,” he told her with a chuckle.

And she did. It wasn’t fireworks or butterflies in her chest, but it was just as good, if not better. It felt right and warm. Like coming home.

They stayed there for a while, ignoring the rain and the world around them, losing themselves into each other.

“Oh my god, Bart,” Marinette said, jerking her head back. “You’re a speedster.”

“What?” He said, blinking the daze out of his head.

“Bart,” she repeated with realisation. “You’re a speedster!”

“Uh, yes? That’s not news?” He told her with confusion. “You’ve known that for almost two years?”

“Oh my god, Bart,” she said again, starting to feel stupid. “When you asked to go on foot, were you planning to use your vitesse?”

“Well, yes? But you—” He paused, looking down at her with a grin creeping on his face. “Mari, did you forget about my vitesse?”

“Oh mon dieu,” she muttered, hiding her face in his chest.

“You thought I planned to make you walk all the way there without super vitesse under this rain?” He asked, laughter seeping in his tone.

“Shut up,” she muttered halfheartedly, hitting him with her fist.

“That explains why you said no, at least,” he said when his laughter finally calmed down. “So, now that you remember my powers, wanna get out of here? We can call a tow truck from Kon’s place.”

“Oh please, yes!” She said, looking up at him. She smiled stupidly when he gave her a peck on the lips. “Let me just grab my stuff and Tikki.”

[polaroid15]

Parker Luck

Summary: Two weeks after the Vulture-incident, Tony buys a parenting book. Too bad there isn't a chapter on Parker luck.

Read on Ao3 HERE :)

------

Two weeks after the Vulture fiasco, Tony buys a book called ‘Parenting for Dummies’.

He almost immediately regrets the purchase and hides it in a drawer in the lab, not yet brave enough to face it. Then one day he spends three hours squished against Peter’s side, listening to the boy ramble about everything under the sun while they adjust his web shooters. It hits Tony like a brick wall, and when Peter bounces out of the lab after teaching Tony a complicated handshake he knows he’ll never remember, he swears under his breath.

He shouldn’t be surprised, really. He had known it from that very first moment in the kid’s bedroom in Queens.

For once, denial has gotten him nowhere.

After his eyes ache from staring at the door Peter had disappeared from, Tony stands, stretches out a kink in his lower back, and grabs the book from the drawer before he can lose his nerve. Still standing, he traces his thumb over the word Parenting on the cover.

Retreat, his mind begs. Stop. Before it’s too late.

But deep down, he knows he’s already in too deep.

With a heavy sigh and a pressing warmth in his chest, Tony flips the pages to chapter one.

--------

Peter calls it ‘Parker luck’.

Tony calls it the source of his ever-increasing gray hair.

When Peter stumbles into the Tower covered in blood and delirious from a nasty hit to the head, Tony thinks he’ll pass out from the sudden weight of his worry. It only takes some gentle coaxing and seven stitches to make it better, but the unease sits in Tony’s gut long after Peter falls asleep. When the boy wakes up, he apologizes until Tony snaps at him not too.

“It’s the Parker luck, Mr. Stark,” Peter tells him, his head wrapped like a mummy on halloween. “It gets me everytime.”

Parenting for Dummies Chapter Three: Listen. “A nasty concussion doesn’t exactly sound like luck to me, kid.”

“Oh, well it’s not good luck,” Peter clarifies with a weak smile. “In fact it’s really bad luck. Exceptionally bad.”

“You’re killing me here.”

“Did you know that I slipped on a banana peel once? A banana peel. I was on crutches for three weeks in middle school.”

Tony’s worry melts into a hesitant amusement. He sits back on his stiff medbay chair and makes a distant note to invest in a better one. “That is pretty lousy luck, kiddo.”

“And it just keeps getting worse,” Peter says. “Getting bitten by a radioactive spider, crashing Flash’s car, or the fact that I spent homecoming destroying a plane while fighting my date’s dad.”

“I hope this Parker luck of yours isn’t contagious,” Tony jokes, but something in Peter’s eyes darkens. He leans back against the white sheets, chewing on his bottom lip. Tony thinks again of chapter three, of the subtitle that prompts to push at the right times, and takes the liberty. “What is it, kid?”

Peter closes his eyes and gives a watery smile. “Nothing, Mr. Stark. Sorry.”

And because he’s an idiot, Tony believes him. Something tells him he needs to buy Parenting for Dummies 2.

--------

When Peter saves a school bus full of third graders from a thirteen car pileup at the expense of his collar bone, Tony rereads his book, this time with a highlighter in hand.

He wishes there was a section on Parker luck.

This time, he’s less careful about where he reads. Pepper catches him one night, her eyebrows disappearing behind her bangs in her surprise. Her smile is genuine. “Is that what I think it is?” she asks.

“Maybe.”

“Oh God, please don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”

Tony rolls his eyes and dog ears his page before setting it aside. “I am, actually. And sorry to break it to you, but you’re not the father.”

Pepper laughs and sits on the arm of the couch. She runs her hand through his hair and he can’t help but lean into her touch. “This is about Peter,” she says.

His first instinct is to deny it. He feels vulnerable in a way he isn’t used to. “So what if it is?”

“He’s a good kid.”

“I know.”

“He’s making you soft.”

Tony scoffs, but doesn’t deny it. Not with Parenting for Dummies on his lap. “He’s stressing me out, is what he’s doing.”

“He really cares about you, Tony. I see it every time he’s over here.”

His body betrays him by the gentle swoop in his stomach. His mouth twitches in a smile. “I care about him too.”

“You’re a good example to him. He needs someone like you in his life. Especially after what happened to his parents. And his Uncle.”

And then it clicks. Parker luck. Tony’s mouth goes dry.

“I’m trying,” is all he manages to whisper. The book in his lap seems to increase by ten.

Pepper leans over him, pressing her lips into his hair. “I know.”

---------

It’s his and Peter’s fifth mission together.

Today, they’re going up against “the Detonator”, a crazed woman with an affinity for making bombs and setting them off in busy neighbourhoods. She’s armed with a team of rocket-launcher-wielding henchmen, and it’s taking every effort to keep the city in one piece.

Most of the block has been evacuated, thanks to Peter. Tony remembers chapter seven and shoots the boy some praise over their coms. Steve, who’s joined them for the day’s fight, agrees with clipped enthusiasm.

“Thanks guys!” Peter says in his usual animation. “These rocket launchers are no joke. Have you ever seen the movie-”

But whatever it is, it’s lost in the deafening sound of an explosion. He hears Peter swear over the com and Tony’s blood runs cold. Three blocks down, an orange fireball balloons into the air. Steve is already running, his shield tucked into his chest.

Tony shoots off into the sky.

---------

Peter thought they had everything under control.

Until rocket launcher man number 3 decided to explode the bank off 47th street, that is.

He feels the heat from the explosion before he can process what happened. It rips across his back and throws him off his feet into a hot dog cart across the street. Rubble and ash rain down on parked cars and their alarms begin to sound.

“Crap,” Peter groans, shoving away the dented cart and stumbling to his feet. His ears are ringing.

“Pete?” Tony’s voice cuts through the haze. “We’re on our way. You alright?”

“Yeah,” he responds, breathless. His shoulder aches. “These guys are not in a good mood.”

“You can say that again.”

The man who had fired the shot runs up the steps of the bank, bypassing chunks of concrete. Peter limps after him.

“Sorry man,” Peter says when his opponent’s back is still turned. “It’s after hours.”

Startled, the man spins. Peter fires a web to disarm him and it only takes one swift punch to finish the job. He webs him to the floor and kicks the rocket launcher into the corner.

“Kid?” Tony lands beside him, faceplate lifting and his hands reaching to grab onto him. His grip is tight on Peter’s arms, and Peter is unsure which one of them Tony is trying to comfort. “You still in one piece?”

Peter’s ears are still ringing, a high pitched whine that makes his eye twitch. His ankle throbs and he can feel warmth spreading down his back from a cut on his shoulder. He nods anyway. “Are you?”

“Better now that I see you haven’t been barbecued.”

Steve joins them as Peter laughs off Tony’s worry. He’s breathing heavy, his forehead streaked with ash. “Someone sighted the Detonator. She’s heading east towards the Empire State Building.”

“Of course she is,” Tony sighs. Finally, he lets Peter go. “Ready for a field trip?”

But just as he says it, another violent explosion lights up the street across from them. Peter stumbles against the force. Tony grabs his arm, and Steve his shoulder, and he steadies. Through the black smoke, a child cries.

Chest tight, Peter takes a step forward before he’s yanked back. It’s Tony. His helmet hides his expression, but Peter can tell from his stiff posture that he’s worried. That he doesn’t want to separate.

As if sensing it too, Steve places a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Peter and I will clear the rocket launchers. You go take care of the Detonator.”

“But-”

“She can’t get to it first, Tony. You’ll be the fastest.”

The crying continues, and Peter takes another step. This time, the metal fingers wrapped around his elbow loosen, letting him go. “You better watch him, Rogers.”

“Mr. Stark-”

“Don’t do anything stupid, kid.”

And then Tony is off, blasting off into the sky. Peter shivers against the hot air his exit leaves before turning to run towards the smoke and debris, Steve hot on his heels. Without hesitation, he jumps over the small flames and emerges on the other side, his throat closing up against the smoke.

The first thing Peter sees is the child, snot-nosed and hidden underneath the bed of a truck. His eyes widen when he sees them, a cry stopped short. “Spider-Man!” he yells.

“Get the kid,” Steve says. “I think I see our guy.”

And then he’s gone.

Peter doesn’t dwell on it, vaulting over a smashed mailbox and a stretch of broken glass to reach the kid’s side. He’s trembling, but his hands reach out. Trusting him.

“It’s alright,” Peter says, accepting the kid’s outstretched hands. “We’re okay. Do you know where your family is?”

The boy shakes his head, lip wobbling but obviously trying to be brave. “N-no. I lost them over there,” he says pointing down the street.

“Okay. No problem. Let’s go find them.”

He doesn’t give the boy an option to walk, but instead guides him to rest against his back. Small fingers lock together at the base of Peter’s throat, holding tight.

“What’s your name?” Peter asks as he heads in the direction the boy had pointed. Keep him distracted.

“Benny.”

Peter’s breath catches. “Nice to meet you, Benny. I’m Spider-Man.”

“I- I know.”

“Oh yeah?”

The boy’s head bobs against his back. “I see you on TV. And on the newspapers on the street. You fight bad guys.”

“I try too.”

“You’re awesome,” Benny says, and the shaking quality to his voice recedes.

“I think you’re the awesome one. You’re being so brave.”

“Brave?”

“Yeah, Benny. Even though it’s scary right now you’re still going.”

Benny sniffles. “Are you scared?”

“Nah,” Peter says. “I’ve got you to protect me.”

Against his back, Benny’s chest swells with a breath of a response, but before he can let the words lose a relieved cry erupts from their left. A woman in a pastel headscarf runs towards them, her arms outstretched. “Benny! My little Ben-”

“Mom!”

Peter maneuvers him to the ground and as soon as his small feet hit the ground he’s running. The pair meet in the middle of the street, their arms wrapping tight and their tears mixing. The mother’s eyes meet him from over Benny’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she says, every ounce of her emotion leaking into her words.

“Of course,” is all he can manage.

Once he’s sure they're safe and off the street, he deviates his attention to his coms. “Steve?” he asks over a private channel. “Where are you?”

For a long time, Steve doesn’t respond. Then just as Peter’s worry spikes the man’s voice fills his ears, pinched and strained. “By the river. I’m cornered.”

“Karen-” Peter starts, but Steve’s location pops up on his screen before he can ask further. He changes the trajectory of his swing and just barely avoids clipping his hip on the corner of a building. Then, to Steve, “I’m on my way!”

He finds the Captain in worse shape than he had expected. He’s hunched against an upturned car, it’s tires melted from the sheer heat of the destruction on the street. His shield is raised over his head to protect him from debris raining from the crumbling buildings.

Across the road, three of Detonator's accomplices are shooting the buildings around him, shrieking with glee whenever new glass shatters. Peter glides between the chaos before landing beside Steve. He scrapes his hands on the landing.

“Oh my god,” Peter says, flinching from another loud explosion. “What do we do?”

Steve grimaces, and it’s only now that Peter sees how messed up his leg is. It’s twisted at an unnatural angle, the material of his suit singed and still smoking around it.

“What the hell happened?” Peter gasps, feeling sick.

“It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.”

“Not with those crazy rocket guys standing guard. You can’t walk!”

“I can try.”

Adrenaline courses hot through Peter’s bloodstream. He peaks over the car and reassesses their opponents. “I can take them.”

“No. Tony said-”

“Tony isn’t here,” Peter argues. “Besides, I have my Peter tingle. I’ll be fine.”

“Peter tingle?”

“Be right back.”

“Wait!”

But Peter ducks out of cover, knowing that Steve won’t be able to stop him. He runs towards the one closest to him and hopes the element of surprise will be enough to take them down. It is, but barely, and now his cover is blown. The other two turn their weapons towards him and before he can suck in a breath, fire.

Peter swears and jumps high, the rockets whistling as they pass under his feet. They hit the edge of the sidewalk by the river, blowing it open and skipping chunks of debris into the water. Not wanting to wait for them to reload, Peter swings and takes them both out with a single kick. He lands in a messy roll, disoriented by the quickness of the fight.

“We’re clear!” he yells over to Steve, but even as he says it dread sits heavy in his gut. He takes one step towards the car before he hears it- a sharp release of air.

Fire blooms up at the base of the building closest to Steve, the crack of the impact enough to rattle Peter’s teeth and throw him to his knees. It’s the last straw. The building makes a horrible noise of grinding cement, like a scream, and Peter knows enough from experience that it’s close to collapse.

“Steve!”

He sprints to where the man is trying to limp away. His eyes find him, their blue shocking through the dust and smoke. “Peter. You have to get out of here-”

“Not without you.”

Before the man can object, Peter pulls his weight over his shoulder and makes it his burden. He wonders distantly where the fourth rocket launcher is and why they haven’t been blown sky high yet.

But then glass and cement falls down around them like rain, and Peter realizes. Because the building will finish the job for them.

“We’re not going to make it,” Steve says through ground teeth. His hold on Peter’s shoulder is bruising. “Peter, please.”

The building sways again. They have a couple seconds. Nothing more.

Then Peter sees it. A manhole.

“Here,” he gasps, dropping to his knees and tearing off the cover. Every alarm bell in his head is screaming, but it’s the only option. The only way they’ll both have a chance. “Go.”

Steve drops in, disappearing into darkness and landing below with an aborted shout. Peter kicks his legs in just as the building crumbles. Fear stops the breath in his chest and he slides the rest of the way in. He falls and lands hard, head spinning, before finding Steve’s arm in the darkness and pulling him deeper into the sewer.

There’s a couple moments of silence.

And then the world erupts.

Peter will remember later how the force of the impact threw both of them off their feet and how it was impossible to keep his grip on Steve’s arm. He’ll remember the deafening noise of the building smashing onto the street above them, of the great plume of dust that filled the tunnel and blinded him.

He’ll remember falling, his legs jelly, and struggling to his knees.

He’ll remember wishing he had called Tony.

But none of it registers in the moment. There’s only terror.

And then there’s nothing.

----------

“Peter. Come on. Work with me here.”

Awareness brings pain. He strays.

“Nope. No. Peter. Open your eyes.”

The voice belongs to Steve, Peter realizes in a stilted disorientation. Steve, who had been hurt. Steve, who sounds very much alive.

It’s enough for Peter to lift his heavy eyelids. His surroundings are dark, but he can see the Captain’s worried face swimming in front of him, warping in and out of focus as both of them release a breath of relief.

“Thank God,” Steve says.

“Are you okay?” Peter murmurs, surprised for a moment by how unwilling his vocal cords are to cooperate. There’s new blood on Steve’s face and the torso on his suit is torn.

“It’s you I’m more worried about.”

“Mm. Why?”

Steve might respond, but Peter doesn’t hear it, his awareness slipping like the close of a stage curtain. Strong hands shake him and the sting of his injuries are enough for him to struggle back into wakefulness.

“Stay awake, kid. Alright? Tony is on his way. Keep your eyes open.”

Peter didn’t remember closing his eyes, but sure enough, when he tries they open. “Tony?”

“He’ll be here soon.”

There’s a tightness in his chest, and Peter coughs against it. It sparks a sharp pain behind his ribs and he curls his fingers into the ground as Steve braces him by his shoulder. His ribs are definitely broken. His leg throbs and the skin on the right side of his face itches terribly with drying blood. He blinks a couple times to try and alleviate his double vision, but it does nothing.

“What happened?” Peter asks.

“You don’t remember?”

“Not really.”

Steve’s expression pinches like he’s just eaten something sour. “The building above us collapsed, but don’t worry about it too much. Tony will be here in a flash.”

Collapse. Peter sucks in a panicked breath and it makes him cough again. It hurts worse this time, and his vision goes gray. He comes back to himself in Steve’s lap, his whole body shuddering and then man’s hand clamped protectively against his back.

The new perspective shows Peter a growing red stain on the Captain’s side.

“Steve,” he gasps, uncoordinated fingers reaching out to press against the wound.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not- it’s not nothing-”

Before Steve can retaliate further, their coms crack back to life. Peter winces against it, his fingers reaching up to struggle with the edges of his mask. Steve pushes his hand away. “Leave it. It’s helping filter your air.”

“Peter? Rogers?” Tony’s voice comes through in a mess of static. It reminds Peter of Ben’s favorite radio station that had been broadcasted too far to have a good connection. “I’m here. Oh Christ, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“Steve’s hurt,” Peter mumbles. It’s important Tony knows.

“Rogers?”

“Just hurry, Tony,” Steve says. There’s a pressure in his voice that Peter’s too tired to translate.

“The explosion caused the river to flood. You’re under about three feet of water right now.”

“We’re airtight.”

“For now.”

Peter feels himself dip further into Steve’s lap and the man’s steadying hand is delayed. Weaker. “Peter? What did I tell you about staying awake.”

“What’s wrong with Peter?”

“Queens. I need you to put pressure on this for me. Don’t give up on me now.”

Peter groans. For once, he doesn’t care how young it makes him sound. He struggles up anyways and replaces his hand obediently over Steve’s side. It paints his hands red and he tries desperately not to think of Ben.

“Rogers-”

“I got it, Tony.”

There’s a weighted silence. Peter bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself lucid. The static in his brain reminds him of the time he had gotten stabbed, and wonders if he’s bleeding somewhere too.

“Okay. I found a weak spot. It shouldn’t cause too much damage. Are you ready?”

“Go for it.”

There’s another lurch of shifting rock. Peter can’t help but cry out, his muddled brain struggling to comprehend that this time, it’s to help. Then there’s a loud crash, a weak beam of sunlight, and the rush of water.

Within seconds, the cold spray is up to their waists. Peter grinds his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut against reflexive tears the biting temperature brings. It gives him a boost of adrenaline, and when he opens his eyes again, his vision is more clear.

Tony is with them moments later, hovering above the water. His hands reach for Peter, but Peter shys away. “Steve first,” he pleads. “He’s bleeding-”

“You’re bleeding too-” Tony starts, but even as he says it, Steve lists dangerously to the side. His face is pale, his breathing shallow. Tony catches him by the shoulder. “Don’t move,” he tells Peter, and works to lift Steve up towards the hole.

The water is up to Peter's chest now. It steals the breath from his lungs and he scrambles to stand. Somewhere in the journey the ground above him groans and he loses his footing. He hears Tony yell out for him, feels metal hands push him hard, and then he’s completely underwater. There’s more noise. More pain.

He breaks the surface, stuttering on his breath and his teeth clattering. More sunlight has entered the tunnel, and it’s easy to piece together what had happened.

“Tony!”

Peter fights against the current to reach his mentor’s side. His suit is pinned under a large slab of concrete by his left leg, the water already sloshing up to his neck. Peter practically collapses beside him and digs his fingers under the weight, but his ribs scream in protest so violently that his vision goes white.

“Easy!” Tony yells, catching him by his arms when he falters. “Kiddo, listen to me. The suit will let me breathe for a while. You need to get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to. FRIDAY took some damage, but she’s recalibrating my boosters. I’ll be able to get out.”

“No,” Peter chokes, trying again to lift the concrete keeping Tony pinned. “I won’t leave without you.”

“Peter-”

“I’m not losing you too. I can’t- I can’t-”

Tony’s voice is more gentle, his hand reaching to cradle the side of Peter’s face. “Listen to me, bud. I know this is scary. But you have to trust me. You have to go. For me.”

Peter shudders. Feels hot tears pool under the tight confines of his mask. “Told you I have Parker luck,” he says.

Tony finds it within himself to laugh. The water is at their chins. “I know, kiddo. But you don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’ve got each other now.”

“Tony-”

“Go.”

The water rises over his mouth. He wouldn’t be able to answer even if he wanted to. Then Tony’s head is submerged, and icy terror closes around Peter’s heart.

He dives under and reaches once more for the weight on Tony’s leg. He pulls and struggles and feels Tony’s hands on his arms, trying to pry him off and pull him away. The light is gone in the murky water.

Please. Please.

The concrete shifts. It takes everything in Peter not to gasp out at the pain it causes, to waste the precious air he has left.

Please.

It shifts again. Tony has given up on trying to push him off and is instead helping to lift the weight. Just a little bit more.

Peter screams, tiny bubbles escaping and carrying whatever he had left away. His body loses strength just as the concrete is alleviated. He thinks he feels Tony’s hands close around his numb body. But really he can’t be sure.

Tony is safe.

And it’s all that matters.

-------

“Peter. Don’t do this.”

“Breathe, Queens. Oh God-”

“Steve. What do I- I can’t- I can’t-”

“Keep the compressions going, Tony. Keep going okay? Don’t stop.”

“I can’t do it without him. I need him, Steve. I need-”

“Keep it together. He’s going to be fine. Right, Peter? You’re going to be fine. You just have to breathe for us.”

“Kiddo. Baby. Please.”

It’s all water down a drain.

A swirling, murky mess.

And it takes Peter with it.

-------

Parenting for Dummies: Chapter 12.

Love them unconditionally.

Tony hasn’t left his kid’s side for hours. He’s been glued to him, the boy’s limp hand pressed between his own like a lifeline even when the doctor’s had worked to splint his leg. Every breath, every rise and fall of Peter’s chest is a miracle, and Tony stares at the heart monitor until his eyes burn.

May is dozing in a recliner in the corner, her glasses crooked on her face. It’s just nearing three in the morning.

There’s movement behind him, and Tony turns to find Steve. He’s traded his hospital gown for a pair of loose sweats and a white shirt, the skin on his arms wrapped with thick bandages. The Captain turns and sees May. When he speaks, his words are almost a whisper. “How is he?”

Tony shrugs, a sudden lump monopolizing in his throat. “He’ll be okay.”

“Has he woken up yet?”

“No.”

Steve sighs. He limps to Tony’s side, but still manages to keep some distance. “He was brave today.”

“If by brave you mean dumb, then yes.”

“He saved our lives. We both know that you wouldn’t have been able to blast out of there by yourself.”

Dread sits heavy in Tony’s gut, because it’s true. He would’ve said anything to get Peter to safety. His blasters weren’t recharging. Weren’t even close to functioning.

But the kid had been too selfless for his lie. Really, Tony shouldn’t be surprised.

And now every time he closes his eyes he sees Peter. Hurt, small, Peter. Jerking with the last of his energy to free Tony. Of going limp in the water, no more air leaving his lips and remaining totally unresponsive as Tony fought to return the life to him.

“I wish it didn’t have to be him,” Tony says.

“But it is. It was.”

“I know.”

Steve lays a hand on Tony’s shoulder. He’s too tired to flinch away from it. “Let me know when he wakes up.”

And then he leaves.

Tony runs his thumb over Peter’s knuckles. “Wake up,” he says. Pleads.

But with his usual stubbornness, Peter doesn’t show signs of waking for another hour. First his fingers twitch. Then he groans. His eyelids flutter and Tony nearly collapses in his relief. Soft and weary eyes turn to find him, and Peter’s lips turn into a smile.

“You’re okay,” he murmurs.

“You have no idea how angry I am with you right now,” Tony says, but any heat behind his words is lost behind his relief. Peter must see it because his smile only widens.

“You don’ look angry.”

“Furious?”

“Nope.”

“Enraged?”

Peter laughs, then winces. He looks down and notices Tony’s hand clamped on his own. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“Well, the feeling’s mutual.”

Peter looks up. Tony tightens his hold.

“Maybe I don’t have Parker luck after all.”

“We’re breaking the cycle,” Tony agrees. He lifts Peter’s hand and presses a firm kiss to the back of his hand. Peter smiles again.

“Pepper told me you bought a parenting book,” he says, eyes drooping.

“That woman is nothing but a liar.”

“Mm. I believe her.”

“Sorry to break it to you kid, but whoever would want to willingly parent a danger seeking, heart attack inducing kid like you would have to be crazy.”

Peter squeezes Tony’s hand. “Sorry to break it to you, but I guess that means you're crazy.”

Tony’s heart compresses with warmth. “Yeah kid,” he says, “I guess I am.”

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

[dinosaurtsukki]

dating the port mafia’s medic

a/n: basically headcanons of port mafia members dating one of the organization’s medics who happen to be you. i just thought this would be cute and i’m craving fluff. also these are,,, really long.

feat. akutagawa, chuuya, and odasaku

akutagawa ryuunosuke:

you were the doctor that mori specifically assigned to him to help with his lung condition

even though akutagawa was supposed to have regular, weekly sessions he’d only come in like,, twice a month and that was after you texted mori that he hasn’t been visiting you

akutagawa isn’t all too comfortable with the fact that he has to take off his shirt so that you could put him in an x-ray gown or when you need to listen to his breathing with a stethoscope

but you’re incredibly patient with him and also the pay is good so you persist

at one point during one of your sessions, akutagawa grumbles about having to come to the clinic when he just wants to live long enough to make dazai proud

and you’re like ‘is that so?’

“personally, i’d feel kind of sad if you had to die so early”

that kind of gets akutagawa thinking. he can tell by the way you said it that you had no ulterior motives behind it

akutagawa: but,,, i'm your most troublesome patient

you: oh my god you think you're troublesome ??

you start to rant abt all the patients you had to treat before who didn't believe in vaccines or got their elbows stuck in weird places

akutagawa finds your stories really entertaining so he ends up enjoying and willingly going to his sessions with you

after that first fight with atsushi, you ended up taking care of akutagawa and patching up his body 

literal days of you just being at his bedside, worrying and hoping that he'll wake up and then you suddenly realize that maybe you have feelings for him

when akutagawa regains consciousness, he finds that he doesn't entirely hate the situation he's in because he gets to see you more often

he likes listening to more of your stories while you sit at his bedside. eventually he opens up with stories of his own (most of them are abt his missions so yeah)

akutagawa begins visiting your clinic more and one day he comes in even though he doesn't have a session and then agonizes over why the heck he did that

good guy senpai chuuya is basically all 'idk are you in love or something?'

to akutagawa it's utterly unacceptable and he hides his feelings for so long until you're the one who decides to confess to him

and to your surprise, he hesitantly asks if maybe you two would like to be in a relationship

you two are awkward about it at first. akutagawa doesn't really know if drinking tea at your clinic could be considered a 'date' but he does like these moments

both of you have pretty hectic schedules since m your patients are also mafia members and you have to be on-call all the time but akutagawa is really understanding

he likes seeing you in casual clothes but he also thinks you look good in a labcoat (he probably borrowed it when you were not looking to try it on)

because akutagawa has grown quite accustomed to your touch and initiates holding hands with you (in private ofc)

he's still not used to the idea of you taking care of him not just as a doctor but as his s/o but it makes a nice change for once

chuuya nakahara:

the first time he met you was after a mission when he was taking one of his subordinates to the emergency room of the infirmary

you were the doctor on-duty that night and the first time chuuya laid his eyes on you he was like 'damn'

who knew the mafia doctors were this hot amirite

ofc you were also kind of starstruck to see mafia executive chuuya nakahara in the emergency room but you had a job to do and a man was losing blood

you: what's his type?

chuuya: uh,, h/c hair, beautiful eyes, labcoat...

you: i mean... his blood type

chuuya's got it bad. after that night he couldn't stop thinking about that cute medic aka you

but he didn't even know what your shifts were so he LOOKS FOR YOUR CASE FILE IN THE RECORDS

it's like he's gonna commit a murder or something but no he's looking for information on you

the guy’s pretty impressed when he looks at your resume and definitely sees why you were hired to be a doctor at the mafia but that only makes him want to see you more

but questions is, how does he make it look like he was just ‘passing by the infirmary’ and not that he’s actively looking for you

tsundere boy is tsundere

because chuuya almost NEVER gets injured in fights and he’s got a reputation for that and now does he get himself injured on purpose just to see you?

well, the opportunity presents itself in the form of him and dazai fighting cthulhu aka lovecraft but we all know its cthulhu 

chuuya wakes up on a hospital bed to you checking in on him and he almost falls off the bed in shock

but then after he gets his bearings he realizes what an IDEAL SITUATION THIS IS

although it’s kind of hard to flirt with someone when you’re in a hospital gown with an IV infusion stuck to his arm

nonetheless, he finally decides to ask you out after his last day of treatment and you’re shocked of course but agree

although your first date ends up being rain-checked because a patient comes in a new mission for chuuya comes up

actually almost all your dates get rain-checked until after a mission, chuuya decides to visit your clinic with a bouquet of flowers just when you get off your shift

chuuya: are... you free?

you: yeah. are... you free?

both of you are too tired for a fancy restaurant date so you two end up at a cozy bar to share a drink

chuuya loves listening to your stories and talking to you. he literally has his chin on his hands listening to how you made a makeshift tourniquet out of your labcoat while you were on the field

both of you are really busy people but chuuya likes to stop by your clinic once in a while

you always have fresh flowers on your table because chuuya brings them for you

sometimes he’ll come home to you already tired and passed out 

oda sakunosuke:

the first time he met you was after a particularly rough mission and you were luckily there at the emergency room to treat him 

this guy had a concussion and needed stitches asap but instead he was asking you to treat his companions first 

you quickly treated him and let him rest and of course the first thing he asks when he wakes up is how everyone else is doing

your intrigued of course because you’ve never met a mafia member who was like him 

the second time you met him, odasaku actually brought someone from the enemy faction along because he didn’t think that leaving him to die was the right choice

he didn’t know if you would treat them because you were loyal to the mafia but you also had your own moral code as a doctor to treat patients no matter who they were

odasaku stuck around the emergency room knowing that it was going to take you hours to treat the man and when you come out, you’re surprised to see him there with a cup of coffee

the two of you end up sitting in the hallway and talking about all sorts of things. you love listening to how odasaku stopped killing so that he can fulfill his dream of being a writer

he on the other hand loves hearing about how you went through the hell that was med school because you were dedicated to saving lives

maybe odasaku doesn’t mind getting injured so much because that means he gets to see you but also you can’t help but feel worried about him

one time, one of the odasaku’s adopted kids gets really sick and the first person he ends up calling is you because he has no idea what to do 

to his relief, you show up right at the curry restaurant and are very much ready to help

odasaku admires how good you are with kids. even though they just met you, they’ve already taken a liking to your calm, sweet presence

you even pull out your stethoscope and let them take turns listening to each other’s heartbeats

until a kid walks up to oda to check his heartbeat and is like ‘uh,,, your heart is beating really fast’

cue all the kids singing “ODA LOVES Y/N, ODA LOVES Y/N”

you look up at oda and he doesn’t look away and now you know

after that day, oda asks if you would like to maybe have a drink with him or visit a cafe and you say that you would love to

odasaku loves to drop by your clinic because he’s such a caring boyfriend and he knows how stressed you are from your work

he even comes by in the morning to bring you your coffee and he memorizes your order

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

taglist (check out my post for details on being part of my taglist): @waitforitillwritemywayout @atsumu-brainrot​ @laure-chan @goodfoodxoxoxo ​ @guardianangelswings @ah-kaashi​

[tartagliaxx]

May I have a Kaeya and a Morning Glory? Just did a quick search of the meaning (victorian variant) and seems interesting (to me, that is).

“ KAEYA + MORNING GLORY ”

━━ ☆ PAIRING: kaeya/reader

━━ ☆ GENRE: angst

━━ ☆ SUMMARY: morning glory | mortality of love, love in vain

━━ ☆ WARNINGS: none

it felt like it all began with a 'once upon a time' — like it was bright yellow sparks against mid-september rain. it was gentle despite the crystal blades striking against your skins and it was warm because of your hand in his. a side step, one to the left and one to the right. clumsy and unelegant but beautiful. you were laughing in his arms as you danced to the song that stained the air and suddenly, it was paradise due to a 'happy ever after.'

once upon a dream, he was a knight. battle-worn and schooled to the brink with proper conduct and chivalry. a passing encounter and suddenly, an urge to love. he fell into your steps as a cheeky remark left his lips and when you closed the door on him, all was well. you knew him. you've heard of him and his valiant ventures. you've seen him across courtyards just nursing a cup of wine. you knew him and you allowed him to pull you into a sun dance. a sun dance that was enough to make any fair maiden and lad swoon especially when paired with his bright periwinkle eyes.

but then he awoke and everything was cold.

strange, he mused bitterly at the sudden shiver that crawled through his spine. now was july — a hot kiss from her, blonde rays hitting his skin and filling him with warmth. outside was the golden hour, a blessing from the marmalade sunset and the burnt sienna-colored fields. everything screamed heat but he was cold and so was your side of the bed.

"why am i surprised?" he mumbled as he slipped out of the bedroom, hopes of spending one of his rare day-offs with you being washed away to the drain.

methodically, he began making coffee, and like a madman, — like a madman clinging onto something that he was losing — he subconsciously began brewing your favorite cup despite barely tolerating the taste of it.

did you ever notice the grimace that he hides under the wraps whenever you offered him a sip from your mug or did you not care the same way you didn't care about him when you started yet another fight over what? the sound of his voice?

the loud bang left behind by the door still echoed in the empty living room and he still remembered the way you pushed him away when he tried to fix things leaving but a residual void in his soul. scoffing — not at you but at himself — he took a sip from his cup and found that his delusion made even your distasteful coffee taste perfect.

he heard keys jingle before the door creaked open. your light footsteps against the wooden floor you used to happily skip around on suddenly becoming reminiscent of the pounding tunes of his nightmares. blinking away the cracks in his composure, he forced out another smile despite how off it looked on him.

hair tousled with his eye looking swollen and red, bleeding lips, and an empty gaze. trying — begging you to see that he was worth it and guilt because you couldn't.

"kaeya—"

"ah, you're back. i was wondering if you ever would."

"kaeya—"

"do you want some coffee? i made some over there."

"listen to me," running a hand against your face, you approached him. gentle hands uncharacteristically cold as you held his, "we need to talk."

right, the talk. the tragic conclusion, the reality of his dream. this was the first time in a while that he saw the bright sparks in your eyes and he hated that it was because you were putting an end to the dream he was trying to salvage.

"let's," you winced as you felt kaeya flinch, drawing away from your touch, "let's break up."

"why? why should we?"

he knew the answer and you knew that but you still indulged. "kaeya— i, god, i have to force myself to do the bare minimum for you! love isn't supposed to be like that!"

he knew but it didn't hurt any less.

"what—"

"we fight every single time that we're together and for some reason, every single thing that you do infuriates me. you take me out on dates and i come not because i want to but because i feel obligated to. you tell me you love me and i grimace because i don't know if i do. heck, i can't even stand to stay in one room with you!"

"so what? you're saying that you don't love me anymore?" kaeya stood up and the way he towered over you with his tense muscles and clenched teeth had you backing up.

"kaeya—"

"tell me," he seethed out, eyes blown wide with all the hurt and rage that swam inside the murky pools, "tell me! why am i so hard to love?!"

"that's the point! i don't know if i ever did!"

kaeya paused because that was the one thing he could do. blinking back your tears, you reached out to him only to pull back when he stepped away, one hand furiously rubbing at the sudden onslaught of tears.

"so that was it? this was all pity and not—"

"that's not—" you moved to protest but he cut you off.

"if you felt that way, you should've just told me!"

a roar. a scream similar to the ones you hear in the wild when someone is so incredibly hurt that hurt becomes rage and rage becomes the one thing you could feel. what do you call a madman who was clinging onto something he never actually had? you call him his name. you write his name boldly in some fancy cursive. he was kaeya and kaeya? he threw one of the picture frames that had you and him smiling and he crushed it until it was nothing but shattered glass. just like him. just like you and him.

"please, just—"

"leave! that's what you want, right? go ahead and leave! leave me like everyone else!"

hesitating, you picked up your things before moving to the doorway only stopping to send him one last glance, "when you— when you're feeling better, find me. let's talk through this properly."

"go." he whispered as he sunk into his knees, face trapped in his palms as he tried to save the last of his pride and heart, "just go. please."

it was cold. how you didn't even argue to stay, how you didn't bother to muffle the soft click of the door that signaled your exit from his life, how you came into his life and made him think that he finally found someone who would stay no matter what only to leave him alone in the end. he shouldn't be surprised. in a sense, there shouldn't even be hope but he still foolishly trusted, and now what?

leaning against the wall of the cold house, kaeya cried. memories rushed all around him but he couldn't bring himself to look because it hurts. it hurts him so much that he still loved even when it wasn't returned. wincing, he watched as blood pooled out of his hand, cut by the pieces you left behind, but it didn't hurt. not even when he so badly wanted it to just to make him feel something — anything but the numbness that was quickly settling in.

it felt like it started with a 'once upon a time, someone lied and another believed it so desperately that he blinded himself of all the other things.' it wasn't a spark. it was a fire that he allowed to scorch him entirely until he mistook the fever with the love he craved but was deprived of. it was clumsy and unelegant and grotesque. he was begging then he was sobbing and suddenly, it was a tragedy that ended with 'and so one lived happily ever after while another was left alone and lonely and half-dead as he would always be.'

━━ ☆ NOTES: this was,, so hard to write adhakjanak i don't usually write stuff like this because this isn't the cup of angst that i usually indulge in but it was very interesting as you said. thank you for joining the event and i hope you liked it! view the rest of the event shorts here! 💐

[deiliamedlini]

Aggressively WIP Wednesday 😁

Okay, so I actually think I need help. Maybe an opinion if you have a minute!  I was working on a minific and even did a WIP Wed of this almost a year ago hahaha (oops talk about neglect) but I’m now rewriting what I had of it and I just don’t know if it’s coming out okay or if it’s too hard to read/follow, or too boring. Ugh. I haven’t been this confused about the beginning of a WIP in a long time, so I’m turning to my favorite creative day of the week for help. 

In terms of the plot, Zelda met a group of friends in Hyrule Warriors, which is an MMORPG (online multiplayer game). Shocker, it’s the Champions. So she befriends Link the most because of course she would. But the way it’s written is sometimes like game chats, so like I said, idk if it’s in dire need of reworking or anything. 

I’d say this fic will be rated M. And the online assholes in this fic are 100% real, but reworded so you can’t find the OG tweets despite it still making me bitter to this day because a few of us were bombarded on Twitter for answering a survey asking what we wanted added, and we asked for an option for female characters to a class. Nope; not me being bitter. 

This WIP is 4000+ words because honestly, I’m in panic mode about it for some reason, so have a chunk of content from it today lol

/

The Elysian Fields were lush and green; wisps of wafting clouds scattering across the grassy flower patches. Zelda looked around, admiring the beauty. It was one of her favorite activities: running around and just looking at everything. The sights, the sounds. It was all crafted to perfection.

She watched her robe billow in the breeze, even while she stood completely still, the leaves moving, the water rippling. Bugs and birds flew. Fireflies of amber darted around.

Idling, she yawned. It was peaceful. Who could really blame her?

Perhaps her one complaint was the ridiculous outfit she was wearing. While it looked stunning, emblazoned with gems and strapless, a long train and a short front, lace sleeves that blew around her, even a deep dipped neckline that plunged halfway down her chest, it was highly impractical.

How was anyone, even a magic user like herself, meant to fight monsters in such a stupid ensemble?

Her knight was late, and Zelda was getting impatient. Soon, she’d trek off on her own. For a while, she played with her water magic, letting her specialty rain down an epic display all for herself.

She had to loot some sapphires off the blue poe spirits. It was the only thing she needed to enchant her long staff. And if that stupid knight didn’t get here soon…

WildKnightOut2: hey srry I’m late. Fuzzball needed to be fed the soft food

WildKnightOut2: Gods forbid I give him hard food. Spoiled brat

xPrincessZx: No problem. I’m in Elysian Fields.

xPrincessZx: PS-Duchess never gives me a hard time with her food

WildKnightOut2: I already know you have a perfect cat no need to rub it in

A Hylian warrior ran up to her and bowed, floppy green hat plopping around, clipping through his green tunic and chainmail. His blue and silver Hylian Shield sparkled from his back, hiding some of the rare weapons he carried.

Zelda sat back in her computer chair and chuckled at the screen. Wild always bowed to her, ever since they first met while playing Hyrule Warriors.

She’d been minding her own business at a merchant in Castle Town when his little Hylian had run straight up to her and bowed. Though it was cute because of her character name, she didn’t understand until a message pinged in the bottom left of her screen.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Hey Princess

(PM): xPrincessZx: Hello?

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Jst wondering if u have a spare flower crown from yesterday’s festival. Missed it. Will pay

Zelda pulled up her inventory, forgetting she was still wearing her flower crown from the Flower Fest. It must have been what tipped him off. In fact, she had four spares.

(PM): zPrincessZx:  Yeah, I do. Come to the chest and I’ll trade.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Thx

She’d never done a trade with anyone who wasn’t in her guild, so she’d felt nervous running to grab it.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: How much u want?

(PM): xPrincessZx: Actually, I’ll give it to you free if you’re willing to help me with a quest? Or 10k.

WildKnightOut2 would like to join your party.

She accepted and watched his character appear in the corner of her screen.

WildKnightOut2: That’s a rip off, btw. Crowns are with 15k at least. Don’t undersell

xPrincessZx: Thanks. I didn’t realize. I’m still kind of new.

WildKnightOut2: Howd u get out here then?

xPrincessZx: I had a run from a friend in my guild.

WildKnightOut2: Got room for a warrior in there?

Of course, that was months ago. Now, she expected such a gesture. He was the one in the guild she’d clicked with the most. Though there were four others who made up the marvelous group, The Champions, Zelda found the most in common with Wild.

Though… she didn’t know his real name. She didn’t know any of their real names. Not their voices, or their faces. All she had was a character, and that character’s appearance.

To her, Wild was a short, blonde, muscular, handsome knight in shining armor (literally at times), with brilliant blue eyes and a ridiculous elf-like costume. Not that her costume was much better. And gods, that plunge dress was what he had to use to visualize her.

Zelda looked down at her real clothes: pajama bottoms that she’d thrown on the second she’d gotten home from work, and the mis-matched brown cardigan she’d worn all day that was too comfortable to take off. The thick glasses on her face were hardly a match for the glass orbs that floated around her character. Though she’d made hers as close to her real self as she could, she felt her character beat her by leaps and bounds.

It was easy with Wild. He was a Hylian. The others?

RockRoast12345 was a rock-like goron warrior with a Warhammer who packed a serious punch as the guild’s tank. He soaked up all as much damage as he could, and Rock’s build was strategically planned to redirect all that damage right back to enemies. He was perfection, aggroing all the enemies to him, shielding the group so they could do their own damage.

It helped that Rutella Zoran IV was one of the most skilled clerics in the game. A red Zora—and clearly not what she looked like in real life—who curiously wielded a spear rather than a staff, she’d joined the guild when the NPC healers were so useless that they had to succumb and call for a new member. Her healing skills were maxed out, and her attention to stats was something that Zelda could never understand. She kept Rock at max health while he took the damage.

And TheBestYouveNeverMet was a blue rito. A bird. She highly doubted she was talking to a real anamorphic bird. He was a ranger with a bow, dealing attacks from the back of the group with her, ranged combat as their mutual specialty.

Finally, a Gerudo Paladin, their guild leader named ThunderstruckQueen, rounded out the group. Zelda was jealous of the purchase-only red hairstyle the Gerudo had for her character. She had a sword and shield, but her body flickered with elemental lightening magic. Paladins were the hardest class to play as because of their varying styles, but ThunderstruckQueen was unstoppable.

And together, they formed The Champions.

Most of the time, they played as a group. One of Zelda’s favorite memories had been when they’d first brought TheBest in, and he hadn’t gotten on with Wild right off the bat. She’d saved several screenshots of their chaos.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: should I aggro a group over so he has to fight them for us?

(PM): xPrincessZx: No! Don’t do that! I’ll get sent over to deal with them!

(PM): xPrincessZx: HEY! I SEE YOU ON THE MAP!

(PM): xPrincessZx: WILD GET BACK TO THE GROUP

On the mini-map, she’d seen a hoard of red coming at them and rolled her eyes before joining TheBest to kill them with area attacks. It was the easiest way that they got themselves killed in this game: self-sabotage.

Some days, they didn’t play together. Other times, only two of them were on. But on weekends, they all came together in an unstoppable force.

After a week of lesson plans, and cleaning the classrooms, and sneezing students, and emails asking for an extension on a paper that wasn’t even due yet, she relished the escape the weekend provided. Granted, she still had to grade about a hundred tests, but that was a problem for Sunday or even Monday. Tonight was Friday, and on Fridays, Wild was always on.

When it was just the two of them, they worked seamlessly.  

WildKnightOut2: Okay, I’m ready. Fuzz is asleep on my foot

xPrincessZx: Aww! I wish I knew where Dutchess was

WildKnightOut2: go find her

The loading screen for the Haunted Wasteland came up, and she sighed. He’d already warped them.

“Dutch?” Zelda called, spinning around in her chair.

On cue, a fluffy, dainty white cat sauntered out from the other room with all the swagger of a true royal, head even tilted up slightly. Paws reached out in a big stretch, mouth widening in a yawn. She glanced once at Zelda, then promptly ignored her so she could sit on the back of the couch and stare out the window at traffic.

“Good chat,” Zelda muttered, turning back around to wait for the map to load.

Despite not knowing their faces or voices, she did know almost everything else about her guild members, from their families, to their jobs, and even their hobbies. She and Wild bonded over their cats almost immediately. His, a fat orange cat with an attitude towards anyone who wasn’t Wild, and who needed exercise, according to the vet. Wild had told her of a time he’d tried to leash Fuzz for a walk, but it had been a mewling mess. And she knew when Fuzz was nearby crawling over Wild’s keys, because his character would be sent running off a cliff as a long stream of senseless letters and symbols were sent to the party chat.

When her screen loaded, Wild was dancing, waiting for her.

She chuckled, especially when he ran circles around her, creating a swirl in the fog that had her smiling wider.

WildKnightOut2: ur internet sucks. Where exactly we going princess?

xPrincessZx: I need to farm for new armor out in the Haunted Wasteland’s sand dunes. Do you need to do anything?

WildKnightOut2: I need to help u farm in the haunted wasteland sand dunes. What do you need?

xPrincessZx: 10 Sapphires

WildKnightOut2: damn ok I have 2 u can have so u only need 8

xPrincessZx: You sure?

WildKnightOut2 would like to trade. Zelda pushed a piece of hair from her face and tried to hide her wide grin at his enthusiasm, as if he could see her.

xPrincessZx: Thanks. How’d that party go last night?

WildKnightOut2: Sucked

xPrincessZx: Cool details. Thanks

WildKnightOut2: If ud been there, ud have hated it

xPrincessZx: Why?

WildKnightOut2: Bunch of self-absorbed idiots. Like TheBest is

xPrincessZx: Lol. He’s not that bad.

WildKnightOut2: if u say so

WildKnightOut2: How was sowr

WildKnightOut2: Work*

Zelda autoran towards the path, only stopping her typing when she needed to slightly turn to stay on target.

xPrincessZx: Same old. Someone stayed after class to talk about their favorite tv show because they heard I watched too

WildKnightOut2: What show?

xPrincessZx: Moonlight Howl

WildKnightOut2: Nice. Good show

Though she was about to compliment his taste in television, she spotted a blue poe in the corner of her screen and pinged it. They both ran, a team of NPCs following close behind.

They headed into the Wasteland looking for blue poes that had rare drops for sapphires. She and Wild took out a few groups before they started to struggle. Neither could play and talk at the same time fast enough to warn the other that something was happening, and they both ended up at the shrine of resurrection more times than they cared to admit.

xPrincessZx: Did you like last week’s episode? Amara and Castor were getting it on

WildKnightOut2: Pfff well now I know what kind of movies you watch

xPrincessZx: Calling me out like that ;)

Zelda sat back and took a deep breath, pressing her palm anxiously into her forehead as she crashed into a poe, thankful for the distraction and the need to fight, not type. Her heart raced whenever she tried to flirt with Wild, but he had to think she was insane.

WildKnightOut2: Damn and here I thought I’d be left wondering

xPrincessZx: All you ever have to do is ask

She hadn’t even realized that her character was standing in the middle of the sand dunes, surrounded by skeletons raising up from the dead in the night. It was only when the screen flashed red from damage that she even looked off the chat.

“Shit,” she muttered, casting a shield so she could heal.

Wild’s character ran over, taking out the enemies outside her little bubble.

WildKnightOut2: Distracted, Princess?

xPrincessZx: Was just thinking about you a little too much

ThunderstruckQueen: What am I interrupting?

ThunderstruckQueen: I WISH this game had backchat

ThunderstruckQueen: I need to know

ThunderstruckQueen: As our illustrious leader, I demand to know what I interrupted because damn you two, can we not leave you alone for a few seconds? You’re in the guild chat! Go to PMs if you want to get freaky

Zelda rolled her chair away from her desk, running across the room, her head in her hands, face flushed, and downright burning. She needed to be moving, to let the nerves go through her body, her muscles, her very blood. As if she wasn’t already anxious enough.

Slowly making her way back to the computer, she saw Wild was just as silent.

Swallowing her pride, she sat back down.

xPrincessZx: To be fair, I thought we were in party chat

WildKnightOut2: Same

ThunderstruckQueen: You’re both so cute. Please hook up irl

ThunderstruckQueen: That’s… not what I meant

ThunderstruckQueen: but also… not a bad idea

(PM) WildKnightOut2: Save me

(PM) xPrincessZx: You’re the knight, I’m the princess. I’ll totally play my damsel card in this situation, and only in this situation. You get us out of this

WildKightOut2: You know, I think my cat is calling me. I have to go. Play tomorrow bye

(PM) WildKnightOut2: Love you, Princess, but chivalry is dead

(PM) xPrincessZx: You’re the actual worst

WildKnightOut2 has logged off.

/

Rolling out of bed Saturday was a challenge all its own.

Relying almost entirely on coffee, bagels, and the love of Duchess to keep her awake, she began her day with her laptop on her dining table, grading a pile of papers that she needed done by Monday.

Until Duchess threw herself on top of the keyboard, demanding attention.

Zelda scratched behind fluffy ears. “You could at least help me, Dutch.”

But met with the yellow glare of her entitled cat, Duchess simply sprawled out more, tapping keystrokes across the screen. Zelda watched the line grow as ufiw became ufiwfiwheffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff.

“Dutch, move. Let me minimize this at least.”

Duchess was attentive, but stubborn. Immobile.

Rolling her eyes once more, seeing the next page of comments open up with more letters, Zelda pulled out her phone and relented to head scratches for her best friend while she looked through a forum for Hyrule Warriors.

IDK I NEED TO COUNT LOL New Notifications.

Following the red, she lazily scrolled through her messages, noticing all but one was a reply to a comment she’d made. Her forum name was different from her character, a bad habit of hers from her youth: twenty screennames, one password for each. So, she logged in as TwilightPrincessOfHyrule.

  Hyrule Warriors Team: New Update Includes Armor Options

TwilightPrincessofHyrule: More ridiculous outfits for women? Give me some armor. I get that I’m a mage, but a mage wants to live too! I want to kick ass and look good doing it!

Rrlpztsndb: doesn’t work like that

Bang70219: Most people in war were male and all warriors were male irl so what does it matter. It’s not like the armor is realistic anyway since it wasn’t real

ZantIsKING: This is why girls shouldn’t even be playing games like this. Of course you’d focus on the clothes

TwilightPrincessofHyrule: You know you all sound sexist, right? We want female characters and the POINT of the last few updates has been inclusivity. Why can’t a female character wear decent armor in your opinion? Because you want to see her tits? Fuck off

ZantIsKING: Video games are meant for men because eyou fucking feminists can’t ever be happy with shit. Get over yourself, and get of this community little girl. let the men play

HyruleWarriorsModTeam: @TwilightPrincessOfHyrule, we know you want more female character armor options and while I don't have anything further to add on the subject please know that the comments above yours are not welcome in my community. Hyrule Warriors is for everyone.

ZantIsKING: This message was reported and removed by the moderators for violating the harassment policy. Learn more here

HeroOfTime✔️: @ZantIsKING sick fuck, back off

Zelda gasped as she checked and rechecked the name. HeroOfTime was one of her favorite streamers for Hyrule Warriors, and he was here, in this discussion, on her side.

Known as the lone wolf of gaming, he was never in a guild, and rarely played with real players on his team, opting to command the NPCs around him in ways that dealt serious damage. A warrior with a ranger specialization, golden armor, a wild cross helmet that was almost his signature, he was probably up there as one of the best players she’d ever seen. When he did drop into PVP modes, he slaughtered everyone around him. It was incredible to watch.

And, though he didn’t talk often, when he did, he was funny.

And cute.

Blonde hair that was often a bit wild and messy, piercing blue eyes that stared into the screen just right that the light was constantly complimenting him, usually in a Hyrule Warriors sweatshirt, thick glasses that looked similar to hers. Gods, she would admit that sometimes, she forgot to watch his character when his face was in the corner of the screen.

But no, she would play it cool. This conversation was no time to fangirl at him.

TwilightPrincessofHyrule: It is sick isn’t it? this is what I still have to deal with every time I say anything on these forums. Last time I did a survey where adding more female characters in PVP was an option, and I was still harassed for it

HeroOfTime✔️: @TwilightPrincessOfHyrule that’s so uncalled for. Ur right. There should be more female characters in PVP. Why did u limit them @HyruleWarriorsModTeam? I remember that survey and I voted the same. Anyone want to come at me too?

Voldgoga: Yeah yeah Sexism blah blah blah. What you call Feminism we call logic. No one wants to play as a female bokoblin or general damn it.

QueenMidna: Lol typical aggressive male. Do you even know who you’re talking to right now?

Voldgoga: Yeah sure. You don’t have to drag your freaking gender into a male monster war. When Tecmo took over you’re getting your ego pumped up even more with female lead and the men are being pushed aside just for the sake of inclusion even though it’s stupid for the plot. Not everyone has to be female to make sure you’re satisfied.

QueenMidna: Keep typing I legit love this aggression

HeroOfTime✔️: When did I start playing Hyrule Warriors: Civil War? TwilightPrincess just wanted new armor. Anyone who is trying to invalidate an OPINION is a fucking moron

Voldgoga: You’re the one invalidating opinions @HeroOfTime, so who’s the moron? You’re a fucking feminist too

HeroOfTime✔️: Damn right I am. Me, @QueenMidna and the @TwilightPrincessOf Hyrule will destroy you all in PVP because asshats with no class like you who attack people with your fucked up logic are shit players overcompensating for everything they’re lacking. Bring me diversity you cowards

HeroOfTime✔️: Or better yet @Voldgoga @ZantIsKING @Rrlpztsndb @Bang70219 come fight on stream.

Trello Vello: @HeroOfTime They weren't even being offensive??? Lol they were making a point that bokoblins had no females among their ranks, cuz uhhh there are none. Lol.

Chaos Bringer: @HeroOfTime @Midna @TwilightPrincessOfHyrule calling people disgraceful and sexist while being disgraceful and sexist lmaooooooo

Voldgoga: @TwilightPrincessOfHyrule Feminist! You aint kicking nobodys ass! You’re probably the last one on the scoreboard. What do you want them to do ? Make a female bokoblin Army ?

Jabu’sMom: You can never make a feminist happy 😂

Voldgoga: Yep. bokoblins are male. Half the monsters don’t have a gender. There are female options for every class, Lana the lead of the freaking campaign. And still there are not enough women so let’s make bokoblins female.

TwilightPrincessofHyrule: Legit I never said anything about bokoblins. Do I think there are females? Fuck yes. Did I ask to play as one? No. I asked for more practical looking armor and you all talked yourself into some fucking sexist rant about bokoblins. You’re all fucking nuts

HeroOfTime✔️: @TwilightPrincessofHyrule, don’t even waste your energy on them anymore. I reported them all for harassment. You should too. Nice talking to you all. You’re going to have chat blocked for a while

That little checkmark beside his name was practically as good as saying he was on the developer’s team themselves. Not many players were from verified accounts, so if the Hero had something to say about them, he was going to be listened to.

One New Message

Zelda checked her inbox curiously, expecting to see Voldgoga continuing their rant, but to her surprise, it was HeroOfTime✔️.

HeroOfTime✔️: Hope that didn’t bother u. I didn’t mean to step into ur fight, but when I saw what Zant said, I couldn’t help myself

TwilightPrincessOfHyrule: No worries! I’m glad you did. Your name alone prob scared some people out of the convo, and your reporting def worked

HeroOfTime✔️: U know me?

TwilightPrincessOfHyrule: Doesn’t everyone?

HeroOfTime✔️: Lol idk. I know who I am, so I have a biased answer

TwilightPrincessOfHyrule: I guess that’s true! I’ll speak for everyone else then, and say yes, yes we all do

HeroOfTime✔️: Damn Princess, ur a poet

HeroOfTime✔️: Srry to cut this short but I gotta stream soon, so I g2g. But good talking to u

TwilightPrincessOfHyrule: Yeah, you too! Thanks again, and have a good stream!

She checked her clock. He didn’t usually stream at this time, but she’d get the alert on her phone whenever it started. For now, she set it down and rested her head on her arms, staring at Duchess’s sleeping form, debating moving her off the keyboard or not.

Goddess, she wished she had Wild’s number, or even a way to talk to him outside the game. She wanted to tell him who she’d just spoken to. He watched Hero’s streams too, though she wasn’t sure if he had quite the same fascination with him that she did.

Checking the clock again—and seeing that only one minute had gone by—she figured he’d probably be at work anyway. Despite not knowing her guild’s names or voices, she did know them. Wild was a rock-climbing instructor and in his free time, he was a free solo climber up some mountains. When she’d looked the sport up, she’d been horrified to see that he basically climbed mountains without a harness or ropes, and a fall could kill him. She’d asked if he was good at it, or just did it for fun, and his answer had been an ambiguous “yes” which left her nervously chuckling.

Just as she told him stories about her students, he told her about his. His company sent him to different places for work both indoor and outdoor training, but his favorite students to reminisce about were the ones who screamed at him, or the adults with crushes. And her favorite tales usually ended with them flirting themselves:

WildKnightOut2: Goddess, she kept feeling my arms with her husband right there. And you could just tell he was enjoying the show too.

TheBestYouveNeverMet: Looking at you? Gross

xPrincessZx: Did you report them or anything?

WildKnightOut2: Nah. I can usually tell the harmless ones from the creepy ones. I’ll tell them to stop, but these two were just so in love with me the whole day. I was almost flattered

xPrincessZx: So all it takes is complimenting your arms to win you over?

WildKnightOut2: Give it a shot and I’ll let you know if it works

xPrincessZx: Oh damn you handsome knight. Carry me away in your big strong arms

There had been a long pause.

WildKnightOut2: Yeah, it works

TheBestYouveNeverMet: I stand corrected. Y’all are both gross

“Come on, Dutch,” Zelda cooed, picking her gorgeous queen off the laptop. “I have to work so I can play later, okay?”

Duchess sprawled out in Zelda’s arms, whining and mewling until Zelda set her back down, and she sauntered away towards her cat tower where she could rein over the room in peace.

Tapping her pen against a sticky note anxiously, Zelda couldn’t stop thinking about her slight crushes on these two characters. And they really were just characters, weren’t they? Wild was a man she’d never met in a guild full of friends she didn’t know talking through a chat that was only on while they were out killing moblins. And worse, HeroOfTime was just a hopeless teenager’s kind of crush on a famous actor. He was cute, funny, talented. But she didn’t know him either. But… she supposed that meant that she did technically know Wild.

She knew about his family: he didn’t live near them, but he kept in contact with his grandparents, his father, and his little sister. She knew his job and his hobbies. She knew how to make him laugh. She knew all about his cat.

“Nope,” Zelda muttered, throwing the pen aside and moving the laptop off the table to her couch, setting up the portable lap tray and her mouse so she could just log on to check. Never would any work get done now, so it wasn’t even worth trying to trick herself into being focused.

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Kaz brekker x reader In The Rain

A/N: So this is going to be interesting... So because Kaz has some problems with touching people I thought I would make the reader suffer as well... The reader in this story has problems with skin contact as well and was abused as a kid so beware! Also this was also posted on my wattpad account you can find me on wattpad @ kk123huff!

Warnings: Bad writing, CHILDHOOD ABUSE, HARASSMENT, language, HAPHEPHOBIA, SEXUAL ABUSE, THE MENAGERIE, THE READER THINKS OF HERSELF AS NOT GOOD ENOUGH YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL IN EVERY WAY FOLKS! Some angst then some fluff near the end. You have been warned!

Summary: The crows are on a mission (Matthias is alive) and the crows don't know you very well (well expect for Kaz you and him have known each for years and he's technically your boyfriend but the other crows have no idea!!!) It's a dangerous mission (well when is it not hehe.) And Kaz is going to die but you save him! Let's see what will be revealed to the rest of the crows because of this dilemma. The reader also can turn into a creature like; wings come out of her back claws produce and she gets horns and a tail, and Fangs. She has a healing factor, kinda like Spiderman's, and she can touch people and they can die, and she basically has a mix between Alina's powers and the Darklings powers that I call moonlight magic. All her senses are amped up and same with her strength, agility, speed the whole shebang. Cheesy I know. But anyways onward and enjoy!

(All rights go to Leigh Bardugo and You I just own the plot!)

Reader p.o.v.

Running in the rain sucks. Especially when your running from the Blacktips. Especially when there are Blacktips chasing you and another group of people named the Hunters. Especially when those people were hired by Tante Helen. So to start off today I was going on a mission with Kaz and his crow friends, to officially end the Blacktips and whip them out  completely. Then to give the mission a good start none of the crows (besides Kaz) were trusting me at all. And I didn't expect them to but when I mean trust I mean like mission level of trust so they would at least trust my capability or at least trust Kaz. But they absolutely did not!    

Which is fine, because why would they trust a monster? Not that they know I'm one (again besides Kaz.)

So when we went to ambush their leader (the Blacktip's) there was no one there.

Well Kaz's entire plan just about went up in flames in those couple moments.

So we scope the area a bit till this guy jumps me and holds a knife to my throat.

Fantastic. This day is just perfect.

Being held right up against a man that's not Kaz with a history in the menagerie may off set me a tinsy bit. Screw you guy. Then it was fine though because I hit a spot on his neck to make his hand go numb so he drop the dagger and with his knife I killed him. Slit throat of course.

The irony that comes with living.

Then at least 33 men because apparently the Blacktips are sexist come into the abandoned warehouse. Kaz turned to us gave us a nod and we ran. While we're running for our lives these guys (there's about 8 of them) which call themselves the Hunters as they yelled what they wanted at us and came pouncing towards me. And of course they wanted to kill me.

So life is just amazing right now, and running in the rain sucks. Screw the rain saint/god because I'm going to tear their eyeball out if I meant them in death.

I run around a corner with the rest of the crows following because I can run inhumanly fast (well not really just faster then the average human.) Then I run into a weird sort of field thing that was close the the warehouse so we can fight and know where everyone is because their is a lot of people who want to kill me and Kaz. Great.

You could just let your other side out and this could be done in minutes. A voice in my head whispers.

Shut up. I think to myself. Everyone hates a monster. I think as I take a quick glance over to Kaz.

The crows and I gather ourselves together, I look to Kaz; "We could still end this, the Blacktips's leader is here." I nod my head over to the big bulky man with dirty blonde hair and redish pale skin looking for our hiding spot.

Kaz's gaze is on mine unwavering with those topaz eyes with that strike of green in them every now and then. "We could." He says

"But..." Nina says. I glance over to her quickly, but what? So I say exactly what I think.

"But what?" I snap slightly annoyed- we should be getting a move on there's 41 people to take down we have to get going.

"Those guys wanted to kill you Y/n, it's not safe for anyone here it could be potentially fatal to this job."

I shrug my shoulders uncaring, who would care if I died? Kaz might for a while. I sneak a glance at Inej. But he has her, and I know she's 100 times better than I am Kaz just needs to see that.

"Who isn't after to kill me these days? Plus a jobs a job, I die, I die, there's nothing anyone can do about that. If I'm going to die might as well do it fighting, also you don't just stop a job you keep on going regardless. It doesn't matter if I'm a casualty as long as the job got done then it's fine."

Everyone looks at me with a face of shock apparently not expecting that answer.

"So what's the plan." I snap yet again being set of guard by that damn man.

Kaz sighs knowing he can't stop me. "Okay..." He starts talking. "I know how we're going to get out of this."

_________________Mild time skip like 25mins top, and your just about to start the plan____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry that was weird, onward!

I take Kaz's hand and squeeze it slightly but let it go just as fast. Just a reminder that I needed - even if he had the gloves. He glances over to me and his face is a mix of emotion;  worry, love, anger, and some more I couldn't identify.

Love? He could never love you. The voice hissed. You will never be enough, you monster! The voice laughed. You must be going insane! I growl slightly. Quiet. Fine suit yourself to your madness you inhuman.

Kaz looks over to me and his mouth quirks up a little bit and he nods at me.

"Come on let's go show them what a murder of crows look like." I grin sadistically.

We come barging out of our hiding spot hitting them at all ends. I pull out my knives and charge towards the Hunters.

I slash my knife onto one of their arms and the man growls in pain, as I place another cut right on his thigh. He nods his head and 7 other men come to back him up. I cock my head to the side and grin.

"Well boys, it looks like it might not be a fair fight for you!" And with that I'm off. I pounce on the one beside the one I already injured and with two knives in each hand like claws coming out of my skin I slash his throat open and he drops to the ground dead.

Then 3 come at me this time while 4 come around to my back. Not a chance kiddos.

I jump really high into the air then with amazing speed come down onto 2 guys killing them on impact. Now the other five are pissed at me for killing 2 guys at once great. They circle around me, it's like their trying to Hunt a predator with their sloppy movements and mindsets mind you.

"We we're sent in here by Tante Helen to bring you to her or to at least kill you." The man smiles.

"It may be easier than we thought." Okay so you can call me whatever you want I don't care but never tell me I can't kill you. It's the only thing I seem to be good at.

I howl out into the open and I can feel the transformation already.

Dark black feathery wings spout from my back like flowers on steroids, I feel my teeth take the shape of some deadly fangs, of brown-red cat like tail comes out from under, horns warp around my head like warping paper, and majestic claws form onto my nails.

The men look at me in fear and a certain blood lust is there that wasn't before.

"You ready boys."

It's a mess of bodies and I think there's only 4 guys left, I jump on one of them tear off his head blood splattering all over me even though it probably didn't matter because there was blood all over my body at this point. I stick my claws into the other chest and he slowly falls to the floor chocking on his own blood.

Then I see it.

It's obviously another man but the difference here is that he has a gun trained on Kaz while he's occupied with the other boy.

And he's pulling the trigger.

Without so much as a second thought my wings lift up and take flight and with a boost of moonlight magic I fly right into Kaz causing him to slip and kill the other man.

Oh and I got shot.

Blood sputters from my chest and I fall to the ground. Kaz whips towards me and yells; "Y/n!"

Or least I think he did everything is a bit hazy right now. I feel myself transform back into my normal human form. And Kaz cradles me in his arms and I realize with a first he doesn't have his gloves on. He commands something to Jesper about killing the last man and something to Nina and Inej about finding healers.

"It's going to be okay Y/n stay with me damn it!" But it sounded slow and hazy - it must be that damn rain. Suddenly I gasp in realization. I could use my moonlight magic to heal myself. In my excitement I accidentally kissed Kaz.

We haven't kissed before think that neither of us we're ready but by the saints, I never wanted to stop.

His lips we're gentle and soft against mine, they shifted with mine as if we were meant to fit together. It was all the stars in the universe coming down on us, it was binding us yet it was destroying everything around. Beautiful destruction.  

Oh and I healed myself while this happened.

We pulled away running out of air and because Kaz thought I was still dying.

"Moonlight magic it helped me heal some of the way, my healing factor will do the rest." I manage to say with Kaz so close to me.  He raises his eyebrow, then Kaz fucking Brekker gives me a full on relived smile.

Then in that moment we realized we had an audience.

Fuck this shit.

Kaz picks me up (what the fuck) but I'm secretly glad because I don't think I could even stand up right now. The crows faces are just priceless I giggle a little and right now it doesn't even matter to me that I showed them the monster, Kaz trusts them so I should take that leap. Plus Kaz and I just toke a big step in our relationship I couldn't be happier.

"Meet my girlfriend."

Their faces transform into surprised and even more shock, but a little bit of pride too. And I smile because for the first time in years the voices in my head are speechless.

So that's that I guess. I honestly suck at writing for Kaz and there may be a part 2! We will see... 🤪

2014 Words

-thedelusionreaderbitch

[inessencedevided]

- ☁️ Gusu Lan ☁️ -

The Wens are prepared with torches to burn down wooden beams that have stood for centuries, they bring swords and as many foot soldiers as possible to fight the prestigious disciples of the Lan sect, to slay them where they stand, paint the pristine white walls as red as the bird on their banners.

But they are not prepared for the anger of a god.

————————————————————

This is a story of a remote sect and a lonely deity, lost to the mountains until Lan An found his shrine again, cleaned it up, placed offerings and lit incense to welcome back the one who is now known as HanguangJun.

He loves his small humans, especially the children who tumble into his shrine, tiny and fragile like the wild white rabbits that visit his home. They bow clumsily but so very earnestly, offerings clutched in pudgy fists, slightly creased and yet worth so much more than blank, dead jewels and coffers full of gold he would never need.

One of the humans is a young, lonely woman. She looks tired each day she climbs up here, her robes as grey as the rocks surrounding his humble shrine. She lights incense and brings loquats she smuggled, rabbits spilling from her sleeves. Talks to him more than she prays, tells him how she stole away from the house they hold her prisoner in for an act of self defense, tells him how alone she is in these cold and remote mountains, speaks of how these visits are her only joy.

Day after day she struggles more and more to come up here, looks haggard, falls in on herself. Her eyes are still bright and alert but she seems lonelier than ever until one day her visits cease completely.

(They say it rained for a week after Madam Lan died, a cold and unforgiving wind howling through the mountains, that even the old trees sounded as if they were crying out with one voice. When ZewuJun, by that time still Lan Xichen, wants to clean his mother’s home, he finds an empty plot of land, a gurgling river and a small cluster of gentians. He remembers her telling him of the shrine on her deathbed, of the shrine and a lonely god who was almost like a son to her.)

————————————————————

The summer comes warm and with the sound of cicada song, a cooling breeze dancing around the feet of the visiting disciples that look in awe at the grand entrance carved from white stone. The sacred rabbits mill about and the atmosphere has something ethereal, something otherworldly. Even the rowdiest young people feel that someone resides here and watches over their every step.

Still, some of them find time to wander about, relax and swim in the streams that are rumoured to belong to the deity guarding this prestigious sect. One of them is Wei Wuxian, disciple of Baoshan Sanren, martial nephew to Xiao Xinchgen and Song Lan, a bright and curious youth, smart and wild like the streams rushing through the mountains of Gusu. He makes fast friends with the Jiang siblings and Nie Huaisang, who is also the one who tells him of the Keeper of the Mountains.

He treks up the mountain like so many before him, wind and sunlight dancing through his hair in a thousand ways of welcoming him, playing with his red ribbon almost like a bird tugging at it to bring it to its nest. He walks the path that has been smoothed down by footfall and age, anticipation blooming in his chest.

When he stumbles upon a remote house in the mountains and finds a man in there practising calligraphy with a steady and beautiful hand, he asks him (slightly breathlessly and shining like the sunlight that caresses his hair like a lover would) if he knows of the Keeper of the Mountains, of HanguangJun. The man lifts his head, his features elegant and placid like the finest white jade, hair like an ink spill and eyes the colour of dark, warm earth caught in a sunbeam and says in a voice that reminds him of sprawling riverbeds and the endlessness of the horizon beyond the mountains “Yes. I do.”

He offers spices to the shrine the man showed him when he walks down the mountain, tells the sky-blue tassels and the calmly chewing rabbits that he sadly does not have much to offer but that maybe this will be a joy to the deity in an otherwise bland cuisine. When he visits the man in his remote little house again, he serves food that swims with red and smells of spices that remind Wei Wuxian of home. He plays guqin and makes tea, pets the rabbits that wander up here and is a calming presence in the turmoil of burgeoning youth and a looming war.

————————————————————

War comes faster than most sects have time to recruit anyone. It carries a banner with a screeching bird the colour of the blood that will soon spill.

Some flee, some fight. And some? Some pray.

ZewuJun carries himself to the shrine, his sword already bloodied, panting and shaking, his hands and robes dirtied with red, so much red. He falls onto his knees, begs for his sect, for his mother who was once a beloved worshipper, for the children who should never be part of this bloodshed. For himself and for his uncle.

As he walks down the mountain, his sword sings in tandem with that of a god, glowing, radiant in his anger. Wens fall to his Bichen like autumn leaves, fires wink out in a wave of his hand. He steps in front of the building the little disciples and those unable to fight are hiding in, rabbits clustered around his feet, sword raised and a snarl on his ethereal face. Now Lan Xichen knows why a calm god like him is called HanguangJun, the Keeper of the Mountains. “Not a step further,” he says and his voice sounds like thunder. ZewuJun never had a brother, he is an only child but his mother told him of the lonely god she saw as a son of hers as much as himself and so he falls in step with the god, raising his own sword.

The Wens flee as if demons are hunting them.

—————————————————————

In Yunmeng, the Jiangs are in a similar situation, cornered like a fox by wild dogs, fighting until their fingers bleed, teeth and swords bared, attempting the impossible. Jiang Yanli, too weak to lift a sword but very versed with a cooking ladle is doing the best she can but her parents, her brother and her home are in danger. She is not ready to die yet, so she kneels down right here in the kitchen that is as good as hers, spreads out spices and prays to the god Wei Wuxian told her of. Her voice is shaking and she is holding the sharpest, longest knife she has (the one she uses to cut the ribs) in an iron grip.

She feels the cold encroaching, maybe because she grew up as child of the swamps, child of the summer heat in which robes stuck to your back regardless of how fine the silk is, sees the fog rolling in before anyone else does. Hears the reverberating twang of a guqin echoing over the lake, sees the lotuses bobbing up and down in a sharp wind smelling of mountain flowers. Sees the ice climbing up the wooden pillars that have supported Lotus Pier for years. Feels, more than sees him land on the pier, his anger radiating out, sword as unbending as the mountains he hails from still dripping with blood, a guqin in his hands made from a material that is as white as bleached bone.

He is terrifying but she is not scared. She is not afraid of the god who came when she called, a disciple mostly unknown to him but from the stories of the lovely young disciple she sees as a brother.

She falls in stride with him, holding her kitchen knife, her teeth bared and her footfall sure next to the god and his glowing white robes. Watches him fall in tandem with her little brother, with her mother, dance a deadly waltz with Wen Zhuliu, incandescent with rage. Her mother gets him, gets his hand that ended so many cultivators and the god that came to save them ends the life of Wen Chao, spears his heart with his gleaming sword.

He nods at her and she feels warmth wash over her, a benediction, an approval of her bravery. She lets the knife fall to the ground and sobs into his white robes, shaking and thanking him over and over. “No need,” he says and his voice really is a mountain river, calm and powerful. “You are steel wrapped in silk. A heart full of warmth. Fire too. You are one of mine too. I will protect you. Coming generations as well.”

He stays for a few days. He stays even though his sect must surely ask where their god has suddenly gone. Indulges Yanli in the kitchen and Wanyin on the training field, cleans up and heald. He is very homely for a being of such acclaim, quiet but curious, kind in a way that displays a hidden strength.

At the end of the week, Baoshan Sanren’s disciples come from their mountain and Yanli watches the god light up in a careful but very powerful way, like the sunrise over the mountains as the wild disciple with the red ribbon dancing in his hair runs up to hug him, sees the tall man cup his cheeks with a gentleness and devotion that borders on worship, sunlight and the god’s own glow illuminating them as they lean their foreheads against each others on her family’s pier, smiling without noticing anything or anyone else.

Wei Wuxian receives something most people work a thousand lifetimes for, most people will never gain, one mortal lost his life for: the approval and most importantly the regard of his hermit, the love of the Keeper of the Mountains. The heart of a god.

- 🍄 anon

🍄 anon wrote this for the @mdzsnet 'two years with cql' event ☁️💙☁️

[kiki-shortsnout]

For intimacy prompts: #36 being pushed against a wall for Frostironstrange! 💚❤️💙

I might have cheated a little and made it a door....

***

Jealousy wasn’t an emotion Stephen had much experience with. He’d been top of his field when he’d been a doctor, a pioneer, a trailblazer, he was the one people regarded with envy. Even in his romantic life, jealousy wasn’t an emotion he’d fallen victim to, never having formed a lasting attachment to another person.

He knew the root of the emotion stemmed from a feeling of insecurity, that the best thing he could do was turn his gaze inward and think about his own personal growth, to address his feelings of low self-esteem.

This…didn’t feel like feelings of low self-esteem. It felt like a coiled ball of barbed wire and razor blades sitting in his stomach, strangling the life out of him every time he saw them together.

The words on the page wavered as his eyes went unfocused, his ears straining to hear sounds of them whispering, torturing himself further by hearing fragments of their conversation, his mind filling in the blanks.

Why couldn’t it have been me?

Stephen had fallen in love with Tony first. He’d agonized over that, spent countless nights thinking about the reason why, if the rationale behind his jealousy was born from some adolescent feeling such as, I saw him first so therefore he’s mine, but that wasn’t it.

A bond had formed between them when fighting Thanos, a trust that Stephen seldom found in others. He knew Tony, probably better than anyone else in the world after his little exploration of millions of possible outcomes, but that wasn’t what made him fall in love.

It was the man’s determination, his courage, his sarcasm, all wrapped up in an appealing aesthetic package that was Tony Stark. He had been willing to sacrifice himself for the world, just as Stephen had sacrificed countless lives in the Dark Dimension, and at that moment against Thanos, Stephen knew he’d found someone in this huge, boundless universe who could understand him.

He looked up at that moment, staring at Tony across the gloomy Sanctum library. His legs were folded beneath him on the armchair, his elbow on the desk as he rested his head on it, idly swiping through his Starkpad as he worked.

Stephen hadn’t been able to let him die, had used every possible resource he possessed and those around him to save his life. He hadn’t even known Tony that long, but he had still sobbed alongside Rhodey and Pepper as Tony finally inhaled a lungful of battle charred air after excruciating seconds of being dead.

Sensing Stephen’s stare, Tony glanced up, giving him a gorgeous smile, the type that sent euphoric sensations squirming through his stomach. Ignoring Tony’s mouthed question asking him if he was okay, Stephen turned back to his book.

He’d never understood what it meant to love someone until the moment he’d lost Tony. Despite already witnessing millions of potential lifetimes, ignoring millions more, Stephen still wanted to remain by Tony’s side, as a friend, a lover, whatever capacity he was allowed as long as he could be part of the man’s life.

‘What’s got your attention, Anthony? I’m over here.’

Then Loki had happened.

The trickster had faked his death at Thanos’s hand. Not for his own personal gain this time, it was the only way he could save Thor and Bruce, ensure that Thanos would leave whatever Asgardians he hadn’t slaughtered alone. Stephen had doubted Loki’s intentions were as honorable as that, believe a large part of his actions were to save his own hide, but he wasn’t made of stone, despite how he was perceived, and Thor begging him to help find his brother hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.

It was Tony asking him to help bring Loki home, to give him the second chance they’d all had at some point in their lives, that swayed Stephen into action. The man didn’t even know about his repressed feelings, and even then, he was powerless to Tony’s wishes.

‘Lokes, I can barely concentrate as it is when you’re near me,’ Tony flirted.

He ripped the corner of the page from the tightness of his grip.

Stephen couldn’t actually put a finger on the exact moment where his feelings for the God of Mischief had changed from irritation to begrudging respect.

And then into complex complicated feelings of their own.

But he’d known when Loki’s and Tony’s relationship had changed, had seen the way both of them looked at the other, the swollen lips after they returned from meetings.

‘Stephen? Everything alright?’ Tony asked, destroying the painful recollections, making him look up at them both. They were trying to hide their relationship from him, and he wasn’t sure why.

I’m not important enough to know.

‘Yup,’ Stephen snapped, slamming his book shut and throwing it onto the desk between them.

‘Usually, you only look like that after I have spoken to you,’ Loki teased, placing both hands flat on the desk and leaning forward, goading him. That was their relationship, provoking each other, encouraging character growth through spite and teasing.

Today it felt like salt was scouring the wounds on Stephen’s soul.

He needed to control these feelings, these emotions. He’d already convinced himself that he was content with being Tony’s friend, that whatever stirrings of interest he had towards Loki had to be his libido talking. Tony Stark deserved whatever happiness he could find, and Stephen was the biggest advocate for it.

‘No, you’re not, honey.’

Stephen flinched in his chair as he looked up, Tony directly in front of him, his hand reaching out. The way his eyes had become soft and tender with worry for him made Stephen want to weep, to launch himself forward into his arms and speak his deepest desires.

They already have each other. There isn’t room for you.

He batted Tony’s hand away, ignoring the way the man flinched even as a wash of shamed nausea crept over him.

What are you expecting, Strange? That they’ll include you? That Tony will leave Loki for you? Normal people don’t have two partners.

‘Hey, it’s okay…I didn’t mean to scare you, we can leave if you’ve got things on your mind,’ Tony reassured, taking a step back.

‘Nothing’s on my mind,’ Stephen answered straight away, his voice coming out too loud and panicked. He saw Loki’s eyebrow raise in question, the Asgardian looking between them both, analyzing.

Shit.

‘Stephen, something’s obviously wrong, and I don’t think it’s because you don’t understand…’ Tony paused, tilting his head so he could try and read the title of Stephen’s book. ‘Yeah…I don’t know what you’re reading. Look, if it’s something I did don’t be shy,’ Tony told him with a playful grin, but Stephen knew what was behind it, the insecurity he hid behind those smiles.

‘No! It’s nothing you’ve done,’ Stephen lurched forward to grasp Tony’s elbows before remembering who else was with them. Immediately he let go, shoving his chair back with the force he used to escape. Cursing his treacherous body, his gaze went to Loki who was watching the whole thing unfold with shrewd eyes.

‘Come on, asshole, what is it? I’m not a mind reader you know.’

‘No, but I am. I have a glorious feeling this is going to be fascinating,’ Loki’s silky voice wrapped around them both, his fingers lit up with his magic.

He can’t find out.

‘Leave me alone…’ he spat, his hands readying themselves to create a portal as he leapt to his feet. ‘You can’t be serious?’

‘Deadly,’ Loki growled, extending his fingers with a snap, his emerald magic twisting forward and nullifying the portal Stephen had been trying to create.

I need to get out of here.

‘What? What’s going on? Loki, stop it don’t-’ Tony yelped as Stephen launched himself into a run, barreling him over in his haste to escape. Loki gave chase, both of them scrabbling against the wooden floor as they sprinted to the door.

Tony can’t know. Neither of them can know.

Stephen ignored Tony’s frantic shouts for them to stop, the burn in his lungs as he ran, the pain in his shoulders as he collided with the bookcases. Books rained down on him, the library around him fading to one, singular point.

Get to the door!

He could hear Loki hot on his heels, felt the tendrils of his magic trying to ensnare him, his snarls of frustration as Stephen ducked and weaved around the bookcases, no finesse to his movements, just a dogged determination to escape the situation.

Crying out in relief when he made it to the door first, he skidded to a halt when the Cloak billowed up, blocking the way, trapping Stephen inside.

‘They can’t find out! Move!’ Stephen hissed at the Cloak.

The Cloak shook its collar, spreading itself out so it appeared huge.

‘Please!’ Stephen pleaded, his voice cracking. ‘I’ll lose them both otherwise!’

‘What the hell is going on? Are we under attack?’ Feet pounded on the floor behind him, the sounds of his suit forming was audible even over Stephen’s pounding heart.

Think. Think!

Reaching forward to rip aside the Cloak, Stephen found himself slammed against the back of the door, a lithe muscled body pressed against him, and a hot mouth sealed over his. Despite wanting to moan into it, the electric current of unbridled lust surging inside of him, he didn’t stop fighting to escape.

He didn’t want to hurt Tony with his lustful feelings and burgeoning affection for his lover, didn’t want to damage their friendship. Then there was Loki, whose tales of cruelty had reached them all. Who knew what he would do to Stephen for coveting his lover? He would desecrate the feelings he held dear, spinning this into a story that they shared with other while in bed, their mocking laughter surrounding them.

‘Desist your struggles, Strange,’ Loki whispered when he stopped, leaving another scorching kiss on his lips as he held him still. ‘Your feelings are making you foolish. You know I cannot read minds, yet you crumbled under your fear and left your true self bare.’

Stephen strained against the hold, his head banging back against the heavy door, nails gripping the wood. Loki didn’t budge, his strength far exceeding Stephen’s, but he moved his hands to his forearms, allowing the blood to flow back into his damaged hands with a pained hiss.

‘Sorry,’ Loki murmured. ‘It is not my intent to-’

‘You already knew I had feelings for him,’ Stephen hissed, looking over Loki’s shoulder, trying to understand what the expression on Tony’s face was, memorizing the detail of him before he’d be no longer allowed to look.

I never wanted this to happen.

‘Yes, but I did not know of your attraction to me. Which makes this conversation so much simpler,’ Loki answered.

‘What conversation?’

‘You are not alone in your feelings, darling,’ Loki called over his shoulder, his sharp green gaze never leaving Stephen’s.

He slumped in Loki’s hold, hanging his head as shame burned his cheeks.

‘You’re not listening to my words, Stephen.’ Loki brought his head down to whisper in his ear, adjusting his grip so Stephen could rest against him, holding him instead of restraining him. Even with all of the panic making him light-headed, his chest flayed open for all to see, Stephen still took the time to breathe in Loki’s scent, the unique alienness of it.

‘Stephen? Is Loki right? Do you…have feelings for me?’ Tony asked, his voice wavering in bewilderment.

Rubbing his head against Loki’s shoulder for a moment, Stephen took a huge, quivering breath before he drew back, trying to find his courage.

‘No, Loki’s voice rumbled through his chest, oscillating through to Stephen’s skin. ‘It isn’t just lust you have for me. You hold feelings for us both.’

‘Stephen?’

‘Yes. God, I’m sorry, I fell for you, months ago, Tony,’ Stephen sighed, not looking at him, staring at the glossy black hair brushing against Loki’s collarbone. ‘I knew you were together, thought I could be happy…No, I wanted to be happy for you-’

Stephen stumbled as Loki vanished from before him, flailing until he was caught by Tony’s smaller frame. He only had a second to figure out what had happened before he was being kissed again, a sharp whipcrack of shock drowning out any thoughts.

He retained enough sense to break apart, his gaze seeking out Loki, fearful of retribution. Loki’s façade cracked at his stare, relaxing into an expression he’d often seen him look at Tony with.

‘You were blinded by what you did not have, saw only what you wanted to see. You never realized that Anthony was watching you too, snatching gazes of you when you were preoccupied with your melancholy.’

Stephen looked down at Tony in his arms, his brown eyes blazing in that look of determination he’d fallen for.

‘Stephen, I…you too? I never thought…you never gave any indication of-’

Stephen silenced the words with a kiss, reaching up to cup Tony’s face with his hand, expressing everything he could through his actions, his longing, his repressed desire, his love. Their tears mingled together, seeping down to their lips, binding their kiss with suffering sweetness.

‘Idiots, the both of you,’ Loki said, wrapping his arms around them. ‘I know this type of relationship might not be considered… acceptable on Midgard, but I believe now that I know of your feelings, it would be wise to explore the possibilities.’

‘This, this isn’t normal though,’ Stephen mumbled against Tony’s lips, lifting his free hand so he could grip hold of Loki.

‘Who cares about normal? I’m Tony Stark, I do what I want,’ Tony asserted, kissing him soundly on the lips, before turning and kissing Loki’s jaw.

‘Ineloquent as always, but I believe this time the sentiment comes across nicely,’ Loki said, eyes closing as he accepted Tony’s bestowed kiss.

‘You both? How long?’

‘Since Thanos-’

‘Since you found me-’

They answered together. It was Loki who blushed though, uncertain how his own declaration would be taken.

‘I’ve known Tony longer, understood and accepted my feelings for him before I found you, but that doesn’t mean what I’m feeling towards you isn’t real, Loki,’ Stephen assured, his confidence growing, the earlier panic and fear dispelled by their touch.

Loki swallowed and nodded once, his grip tightening before he took a step back, gesturing at the Cloak to move aside.

‘I realize we’ve forced this confession from you, and if you would rather take some time to-’

‘Do you want to go on a date?’ Tony interrupted.

‘A date?’ Loki deadpanned.

‘A date? Like drinks? Food? Music? Somewhere we can get to…well not know each other better, but talk. About what this means for us?’ Tony encouraged, his gaze darting between them both.

‘Anthony. I do not think-’

‘A date sounds great,’ Stephen interrupted him this time, pressing his lips together to hide his amusement at Loki’s confusion, reaching down to take both their hands in his.

[ayamturd]

promises│nihachu

summary: in any given situation or matter, promises are sacred in any relationship one should hold. 

prompt: “Promise you won’t let go?” “I promise.”

warnings: fluff and major angst, death and warfare descriptions, slight dsmp spoilers

pairing: in-game romantic!nihachu

a/n: this is my entry for @quackisinnit’s 1k writing event!! huge congratulatory once again for their achievement and amazing writing (go read their stuff, it’s incredible) <3

wc: (1.6k) - m.list

“Y/n! Slow down, will you!” 

You giggled to Niki’s panic and only sped through the tall grass faster. The world was a blur as you pulled her through the empty, dry field. Every branch of wheat tickled your face as they grazed your sides, yet you could care less as you both ran with little care in the world. 

“But how will we get there faster then?” You glanced back at her with an assured smirk without breaking your pace. Her eyes, while wide with concern, opposed her careless smile. She chuckled loudly at your words, the beautiful sound of her laugher prompting your own as you began climbing a small hill. 

“Only a little further, come on.” Your hand gripped her own gently, and she only squeezed your palm in response. 

As you reached the high ground, you both paused briefly to gather your breaths before you began pulling her again. “I hope this will be worth all the anticipation. You still haven’t told me what you wanted to show me.” 

The line of trees became more evident as you approached them. Entering the forest cautiously, the overhead branches shielded the bright sunlight, only speckles of light breaking through the leaves as they casted over you. 

“Well it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it.” Niki let out a small whine of your name, jogging slightly to meet your footing. 

The forest became evidently thicker with every stride, the overgrown roots of the trees tripping up Niki’s feet as she couldn’t see as clearly. She began to slow significantly in fear of the unfamiliar environment, the dark trunks, all of various sizes, almost taunting her with the possibility of something jumping out at her. 

While your presence was comforting, she couldn’t hide how naturally scared she was to continue forward. 

Noting her anxiety, you stopped completely to check on her, though her eyes were anywhere but your own; she was surveying the surrounding and the inability to see anything beyond a certain distance.

With a tender touch, you called her name more softly and pulled her face to your own. “We can head back if you’re uncomfortable love, but it’s just past this grove, I swear.” 

Niki relished in your touch and leaned into your hold, the warmth of your palm compelling and inviting against her cheek. She nodded ever so briefly, but you did not want to push her past what she was comfortable with due to your own excitement. 

“Speak with me now, love. I won’t force you if you don’t want to, it’s nothing of greater importance to your feelings.” 

Head still bowed down, Niki opened her eyes while lifting your still clasped hands to her lips. She kissed your knuckles endearingly before raising her head more confidently, your concern for her well being driving her emotionally.

“I’ll be alright, darling, thank you.” You leaned closer to exchange a kiss, a light feathery peck to her plush lips, and rested your forehead against her’s. 

Eyes closed, you merely whispered into her skin, “are you certain? You know I could never fault you if so.” 

Niki pulled away, causing your eyes to open at the lack of contact, and gave you a beautiful grin as reassurance. “I am, y/n, I promise.” 

While you smiled brightly, she paused before turning away, almost embarrassed to ask her next question. “Just… just promise you won’t let go?” 

Your airy chuckle made her head snap up to you, afraid of the connotations it held; however, she instead was met with your brilliant, crinkled eyes. They were intense, full of love and adoration that could make her blush widely from the simple gaze, and spoke more words than you could ever relay. 

Moving your hand to the back of her neck, you slowly bent down to kiss her again. It was more intense than before, the passion you displayed shared as Niki grabbed the wrist you held with while her other hand cupped your cheek securely. 

Eventually, you needed air and forced your lips off her hesitantly. Heavy breaths pervaded the forest landscape, and you both panted from the impenetrable emotions you carried. You held a lopsided grin from the kiss, the tired pull of your lips matching her own. 

“I promise, darling. I’ll always have you.”

“Y/n!” 

The sky was dark, fire raging from below and engulfing the space completely. Destruction rained down in the aftermath of the battle, ash and debris scattered everywhere. The smoke was blinding, the stinging film it produced bringing tears to the eyes of all while tainting the air, making it hard to breath or move within the encapsulated scenery. 

It was ringing. The silence was almost deafening after the deathly explosions and sounds that imploded moments before. One could barely hear themself think from the loud buzz or harsh stillness, the contrast more painful to the noise when originally casted in face of what was left to scrape and reforge. 

“Y/n, hold on!” 

Those injured or lost were left casted amongst the destruction of the once beautiful, vast land. Nothing could be said to the devastation that laid waste around them, yet the heartache most suffered was excruciating to the failure of a promise their home once carried. 

While some had fled or currently carried themselves strong against the opposing, ‘god-like’ force that demanded for blood, two loves were still fighting for the purpose of staying together. 

“Y/n! I have you, I have you, ju一 just hang on!” 

Niki’s face was stained with dirt and grime, yet it did nothing to hide the pain she held in her eyes. She was crying, the smoke in her eyes, while harsh and searing, incomparable to the agony she felt while holding you. 

“Niki, I’m so scared.” 

You were hanging over a massive crater, your feet danglingly helplessly in the open air as the wind pulled at your weight. Niki gripped your arm with her entire being, the wounds she had meaning nothing to the turmoil of emotions that raged at the sight of seeing you scared beyond admission. 

Her expression was determined, despite the tear stains that marked her face so vastly to the filth that stained her cheeks. She grunted, loosing her footing momentarily before pulling you slightly up again. In spite of all her efforts, she was too weak and exhausted from the fighting beforehand, body unable to carry the same passion she emulated in thought. 

“Niki.” Her eyes were tight from her current endeavor, and she shook her head at your voice. 

“It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, we’re going to be okay.” Her hands were shaking from your weight, yet she refused to break her grip.

“Niki, please look at me.” Blinking roughly to rid the salty tears, Niki let out a sob from meeting your own tears as well. You were in immense pain, and the fear that overtook was numbing to the point that you couldn’t put up a front any longer. 

“I love you, Niki. I love you so much.” With a shake of her head, more tears ran down her face from the revelation. She pulled harder on your arm. 

“Don’t do that, don’t say it like that.” You tried to smile and bring her comfort from the situation, but in truth you were too drained; the smile you tried for was only an empty shell to the joy it once held. 

“Niki, it’s alright, its o一”

Suddenly, more explosions shattered the still landscape once more. The war was not over and the crack of the already broken terrain collapse further beneath itself. 

Dust clouded your vision and the panic was overwhelming, causing you to speak without thought relative to the reality you both faced.

“Niki, don’t let go, please, promise you won’t let go!” Your words were rushed and incomprehensible. Eyes wild in terror and dread, the cries that escaped you were strained and smothered over the erupting ground around you. 

Niki yelled as loud as she could against the explosions trapping you both, anguished by the matter of fact. “Yes! Yes, Y/n! I have you, I pro一“

Before the vow in vain could be voiced, a new rain of explosions were set barely a few feet behind Niki, and the earth shook violently from impact. She yelped from the unexpected attack and lost her concentration and stability, thrown back, hard, into a sunken ditch. 

Explosion after explosion followed, and she was forced to hold her head in instinct until the silence rang out once more. With a gasp, she struggled to her feet and pathetically climbed her way over the small hill, the littered waste and scrap metal tripping her in her moment of desperation. 

She fell against the edge of the hollow shaft, a look of shock in disbelief before the horror sunk in. “No…”

“No, no, no no no…” She began to mumble to herself until her words became louder. Sinking to her knees at the realization, she released a broken and cracked cry. While sound was muffled to the damage within her ears and her sight was obscured by her teary eyes, the pain and heartbreak she felt was everything and the only thing she recognized then and there.

She cried and she cried, and no matter how much it hurt, she could never stop from the pain that would consume her without her new found sorrow.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Slowly, she laid her head against the ground and clenched her eyes shut, gripping her fists close into herself for she no longer had someone to hold her safe. 

“I’m so sorry.”

[mollymauk-teafleak]

Tie Your Heart to Mine

Widomauk vampire AU! Huge thanks to @minky-for-short for coming up with this AU idea and for being an amazing beta reader alongside the ever wonderful @spiky-lesbian

Please consider leaving a comment on Ao3!

-------

Mollymauk only ever remembers being a vampire. He woke up like this, with a still heart and a thirst he had to fight to control. He struggled to understand humans for the decades he's been alive.

Until vampire hunter Caleb Widogast arrived to kill him.

A year or so on from that day, he marks Caleb as his for the rest of their lives.

-------

When you see them, you just know. You just know.

When Yasha had given him that answer, Mollymauk seemed to remember he’d made a retching noise and aimed a kick at her head. He’d felt that had summarised his feelings succinctly, even if it had earned him a pillow to the face.

He’d just been struggling to understand it. Ever since Yasha had bonded not only with the usual one partner but a second, and a human at that, Molly had been trying to wrap his head around it. How someone’s life could change so completely and so quickly. One day his best friend had been the silent, towering, stoic vampire he’d whiled away decades annoying and travelling with. But then she’d met Jester and Beau and suddenly she was silent, towering, stoic and in love.

With a lot less time for her best friend.

Not that Mollymauk was bitter. He’d wanted happiness for Yasha since he’d met her, he knew how hard her life had been since she was turned, since she lost her first wife. The way she’d talk about Jester and Beau, the light that would dawn in her eyes, the kind that used to be a memory. Molly would never, ever deny her that. He just didn’t understand and that answer hadn’t helped.

But now he was looking down at Caleb, holding his angular face in his hands as he paused in between kisses, kneeling over him as they sprawled out on the bed. A moment’s inhaling, the slightest pause before their lives changed forever, where he looked down at the man he loved.

And he just knew. He just knew.

“What are you thinking, Liebling?” Caleb’s voice was rough and low, breathless from the countless kisses that had carried them up the stairs and into the bedroom. His smile was bright, crooked, a little goofy in the way it only got when he had let his walls down completely.

Molly gave a soft chuckle, running his thumbs over Caleb’s cheekbones, “Just how I can’t wait to be yours…”

“Mine,” Caleb murmured, a note of awe gentling his voice as he reached up to return the touch, ghosting his fingertips along Molly’s neck and following the line of that old scar that bisected his body, “And...you’re certain you want this? You want me?”

Mollymauk sighed softly, his smile turning fond. Ever since he’d explained the process to Caleb, the way that vampires marked those they’d chosen to bond with, the way they tied their souls to another’s, he’d seemed completely mystified. Like he wanted to believe it was happening but, even now that they were moments away from it, part of him still doubted.

And Molly knew exactly who had planted those parts of him, who had cultivated them until they’d grown into a tangled thicket of thorns that Caleb still cut himself on today. He’d known Caleb and his scars for years and it still woke a deep, hungry anger in him. One day he would need to do something about that anger. He would need to do something about Trent Ikithon.

But not tonight. Tonight he would show Caleb exactly what he was worth.

“I want you,” he nodded, kissing the bridge of his lover’s nose, his cheeks, his forehead, “Every part of you, Caleb. Since the moment you walked through my door.”

Molly felt his human squirm, saw the delicious rise of colour up his neck, smelled his sweet, rising pulse.

“Since the very first moment, huh?” his blue eyes shone like pools of water in high summer, though his smile was somehow brighter.

“Well, there was something just so alluring about the vampire hunter turning up all soaked through with rain, giving me the whole oh kind sir my carriage broke down just outside your door routine like I didn’t know he had a stake strapped to your thigh under those ever so tight trousers…”

“Küss meinen Arsch,” Caleb slapped his leg lightly, “It worked, didn’t it? I saw where your eyes were.”

Molly laughed, flicking his tail in retaliation, “I was simply watching for more concealed weaponry, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Caleb rolled them over, a growling edge to his laughter, until the two of them were caught somewhere between wrestling and kissing, hands wandering and gripping tight enough to leave marks.

“So…” Caleb eventually asked, chest heaving, hair now loose from it’s tie and spread out across the pillows like burnished copper, “Do you want to, um…how do we…”

Molly, now sprawled on his side next to his lover, grinned and took his hand, “You know how to do this part, darling. Let me take care of the rest.”

So Caleb nodded, the last of his anxiety falling away like leaves from a tree in the last days of autumn. He dragged Molly across those last few inches between them, kissing him hard, letting his lover stretch out over him like a contented cat. Mollymauk remembered when his dear human had been a thin twig of a thing, when he’d been forced to keep his strength on a tighter rein than he would even have to normally, for fear of hurting him when they lay together.

Now he was fuller, wire cords of muscle hiding in those still slender limbs, stronger and surer. Of course Mollymauk could still break his bones with a firm grasp but that was humans for you. About a year of wandering, free from Ikithon’s brutal, abusive training and returning often to Molly’s determined, loving caretaking, Caleb had flourished. He wasn’t the frightened young man with the shaking hands who’d been sent to Mollymauk’s door to kill him. And as much as Molly had loved that man, he loved this one just as much.

“Liebling…” the other language fell from Caleb’s lips in between heavy, open kisses, making Molly think of far flung fields full of golden wheat, snow capped mountains, all the things you couldn’t find on the Menagerie Coast. It made him think of the other world his lover came from and just how lucky he was that he’d wandered into his home.

“My darling,” Molly murmured in return, bringing their still clasped hands down between his own legs, encouraging Caleb to feel how aroused he already was, “Take me?”

The human gave a breathy gasp and nodded, drawing himself up onto the bolsters so Molly could climb fully into his lap. He slipped his hand back between Molly’s thighs, gently teasing him open, as the tiefling’s tail wrapped around his bare thigh and anchored them together.

“My mate,” Molly whined, biting his lower lip, fangs snagging the low light, “Mine, oh gods…”

Caleb grinned up at him, working his fingers deeper, breaching the soft heat between his legs, “Then make me yours. Show the whole world who I belong to.”

Molly groaned brokenly, digging his nails into Caleb’s shoulders as he dragged him into a bruising kiss and sank down onto his cock. He felt the human start under him before leaning into it, moving into that rhythm they knew, that they’d built over nearly a year together. Familiar, comforting, the same way it always was after Caleb would come home from his long hunting trips. Like coming home. Like exhaling.

And always, as ever, that line waiting just up ahead. The line Molly had never crossed, as much as his heart had ached for it from the first moment he’d had Caleb in his bed. Something so much deeper than his usual hunger, the kind of desire he’d never experienced with any other partner, with anyone he’d ever fed from or slept with. That pull that said he’s yours, the one you didn’t know you were waiting for.

They’d held back from it for nearly a year, both of them very aware that the brainwashed, brutalised, rain thin vampire hunter who’d turned up in the rain that night was in no fit state to make that kind of bond. So it had been long months of separation while Caleb sorted his head out, Molly putting him on the trail of those many vampires that did deserve the justice he’d been trained to give. He’d receive letters, tales of nights under the stars and the deep, dark thoughts that were slowly being unpicked and straightened out, and Molly’s heart would break for him. Breaks that would knit back together the moment Caleb returned.

Molly had been happy to wait, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to that. Immortal beings had to learn how to be patient or things got messy.

But now here was Caleb, his mind his own and his heart about to be Molly’s for the rest of his life. And gods, all Molly could think was how long he’d wanted this. How much he was going to enjoy this.

“Ready?” he gasped out, voice high and wild, instinct and lust burning through him so fiercely it took every inch of his carefully constructed self control to ask that question.

Caleb lifted his chin, pupils blown wide, hair falling in his eyes. He just looked so bloody alive, all flushed skin and damp brow and throat pulsing. So human, so fragile but nothing other than complete and total trust on his face.

“Ready,” Caleb hands slid down his shoulders to rest against Molly’s chest, over his heart that hadn’t beat in nearly a hundred years, as long as he could remember owning it but he could have sworn he felt it flutter at that touch. He felt it respond to that call.

Time stopped when Molly’s fangs broke Caleb’s skin. A single, perfect moment of stillness where the universe clicked neatly into place. Then everything flooded through him, the dark, savoury taste of Caleb’s blood crashing over his tongue, the white hot release of his orgasm and something more, something much more. If his mouth wasn’t busy he would have screamed, though Caleb did enough for both of them. Molly had always wondered what the feeding felt like for his human lover, if he really gained as much from it as Molly did.

But in this moment, he didn’t have to wonder. Caleb’s pleasure was his own and his was Caleb’s, everything they felt theirs to share. They weren’t separate for that brief beautiful heartbeat, they were one being, tied together right down to their atoms. Mollymauk felt Caleb’s red hair sticking to his forehead, the tremble in his hands, the fear and anxiety and doubt that had become permanent fixtures in his brain shaken in their foundations and starting to shift. Caleb felt the strength and power in Mollymauk’s muscles, the looseness of s form that could change at will, the never ending, always gnawing hunger sated only in moments like this.

And they both felt the love the other held for them. Even when they’d doubted and felt unworthy, even when it had seemed impossible, there it was.

Coming back to themselves was like the snapping of a whip, both vampire and human left reeling as they crashed back into their own bodies. Molly shook all over, the usual adrenaline rush he got from feeding cranked up so high he felt like he might break at the seams, every noise a racket in his ears, even the low candlelight too bright. He took deep breaths to ground himself, bracing himself to throw back the usual violent urge to take and take again and take too much.

But it didn’t come. Because how could he ever hurt his mate?

He swayed, their bodies coming apart as he tumbled onto his back, gasping out, “Gods, Caleb, that was…”

He trailed off, everything calming down enough that he could pick out the sound of muffled, snatching sobs. He saw that Caleb had thrown his arms over his face, his whole body hitching as he cried.

“Oh…” Molly immediately reached for him and Caleb latched on, gripping him tight enough to hurt anyone but a vampire, “Oh, my darling, come here. It’s alright, I’ve got you…”

“Sorry,” Caleb choked out, “Sorry, I’m okay, I promise. It was just…a lot.”

“I know,” Molly soothed him, stroking his hair and squeezing his shoulders, making sure he could feel that he was there and his thoughts couldn’t take him far from his embrace, “I know, darling.”

And he did. He felt how overwhelmed Caleb was, how his mind was slowly growing to accommodate these new feelings, the ache in his muscles and rawness in his throat. It was as if the emotions and sensations were coming from somewhere behind his own heart. That was going to take some getting used to.

Eventually Caleb’s sobs were just sniffles and his smile was shining through like sun peeking through clouds. Though he still clung to Molly tightly.

“My mate,” he sighed happily, licking over the twin puncture marks and blushing bruise he’d left on Caleb’s neck, chasing away any lingering burn. Unlike the others from their year together, this one was permanent and it was perfect.

“Mine,” Caleb replied, his voice heavy as the inevitable exhaustion overwhelmed him. He’d always fall asleep after Molly fed so this must have floored him.

Molly smiled, kissing his forehead as he let him drift away, “Sleep, darling. Everything’s going to be okay.”

And as he held his mate in his arms and listened to the quiet of the night around them, Mollymauk meant it. Despite everything they’d been through, it would be okay.

He just knew.