#i’m moving into the woods to become a forest gremlin

[drawingdragonfly]

can we just appreciate trees for a minute?

Like just so pretty

[justagalwhowrites]

Lavender - Ch. 37

Joel makes emotional adjustments to you and Ellie. A continuation of Lavender ch. 1-3 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Smut. Just smut. Smutty smutty smutty smut. Oral (m receiving); unprotected p in v sex (wraps it up fools); evidence of canon-typical violence. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ only

Length: 4.1k

“Joel,” Ellie drew his name out so it was stretched long and thin. “My fucking feet are about to fall off and that’s going to be an improvement. We have to stop.” 

“Few more miles.” 

Joel kept his eyes straight ahead and clenched his jaw. He knew the three of you had logged a lot of miles over the last few days. He sure as fuck was feeling it. His knees weren’t what they were 20 years ago but stopping had not been an option. He needed to get you all as far as he could from the men who’d tried to take you, been willing to hurt Ellie. 

The three of you walked through the night and then all the next day after fleeing the camp, going in non-sensical ways through the woods. You’d insisted on taking first watch but Joel had hardly slept. He woke up what felt like every few minutes, squinting to find you in the dark, the stock of the rifle across your lap glinting in the moonlight. You slept curled around Ellie, holding her small body tightly to your own, her head tucked below your chin. 

He woke you both before the sun was fully up, his legs still aching. But he had to keep you moving, had to put more miles between the three of you and things that would wish you and Ellie harm. 

It had been a week of this now. They hadn’t seen another person - even any signs of another person - since Joel killed the man from the camp. Hadn’t crossed paths with any infected, either. The three of you had finally come upon a road that morning, having cut through woods for days. Joel was hoping that you’d come upon a town at some point, even a fucking tiny one. Somewhere he could orient himself, just a gas station with a damn map would do the job. He wasn’t sure where he’d led you after twisting through the forest for so long, hoping to cut such a confusing path no one could follow even if they were trying to. 

He just wanted to get a few more miles. Then maybe the fear that had gripped him since you were pulled away from him and a gun was held to Ellie’s head would ease. Just a few more miles. 

“Joel,” you said quietly, glancing at Ellie as she trudged along the side of the road. “No one is following us. This isn’t helping.” 

He looked down at you, your eyes wide and soft. And it was a comfort for a moment. But then he remembered just how wide they got when you were ripped away from him, when you begged him to take Ellie away. 

“Few more minutes,” he looked ahead again. “Then we’ll stop for the night. Next town we find we can stop for a few days, if it looks safe.” 

“Few days?” Ellie perked up. “Fuck that sounds amazing. I’m going to sleep for like… a week. And actually give my feet a chance to go back to their normal shape, I feel like they’ve melted into these stupid boots…” 

Joel pushed you for another mile and found a spot off the road to set up camp for the night. 

“There’d better be a town like… three miles up the road,” Ellie muttered, her back against a tree as the sun set. “I am so fucking tired of walking. I never want to walk again.” 

“Hate to break it to you, kid, but we’ve probably only covered maybe 400 miles of the 600 or so we need to hit to just get to the Wyoming border,” you said, eyes closed as you rested your head against a tree trunk. “And then we need to get toward the side of the state that Tommy was calling from. We’re maybe halfway there.” 

“Fuck,” she muttered. You smiled a little. 

“One of these days I’m going to get on you about your language again, Gremlin,” you said. “You’re becoming feral in the wild.” 

Ellie scoffed. 

“I was always feral.” 

“More feral, then,” you conceded.  

“Thank you,” Ellie smiled, content. 

She settled in for the night, stretching out in her sleeping bag and curling in on herself as your fingers laced with Joel’s, your breaths relaxed and steady. It was calming, in a way. You were solidly next to him. He could feel you, hear you, sense you. Ellie was safe and close, even in her disturbingly small and fragile way of being. The sharp, jagged shock of fear that had been choking him for the last week eased when you were both like this. Where he could see you, know you were safe. 

He was used to it with you but it was new yet familiar with the girl. 

Joel hadn’t spent time with children since the outbreak. He’d never really been a kid person. Sarah had been the exception to the rule - to every rule, really. After she was gone, it made sense to avoid kids entirely. It was too risky. Some of the jobs he’d done in the QZ told him that. Kids were a walking liability. They were delicate, too curious for their own fucking good, no sense of self preservation. Joel had surrounded himself with people who weren’t risky. People who could handle themselves, who wouldn’t destroy him if they got hurt. 

It’s why he’d shoved you so far away from him, even while he was tied to you, like his veins ran from him to you and back again all the while. Ellie… she was becoming like that, too. 

He was sure that it had started because of you. Watching you with the girl was too much like seeing you with Sarah. Ellie and Sarah were two very different people but you loved them the same way - unapologetically, fiercely, fully. In the way that they needed you to love them without expecting anything in return. Your safety became tied to hers. 

But it had grown and changed in the few weeks Joel had known the girl. She was more like him than Sarah was in so many ways. She was more like him than she was like you. He saw so much of himself in her, in her rough edges and brash determination and deep drive to take care of things on her own. He wanted to protect her before she ended up just like him, before she became too hardened to the world to be able to love anything in it. And when the man had put a gun to her head…

The man wasn’t living then, not after that. Joel had already wanted him dead for trying to take you but you’d have tried to talk him out of it and he may have let you. But after he threatened Ellie? There was no forgiveness for that. Not when he’d threatened both of you. 

“You should get some sleep,” Joel said quietly, squeezing your hand. 

“I’m comfortable where I am,” you said softly, squeezing back. 

“You’re gonna wake up in an hour and you’re not gonna be able to fall back asleep,” he said.  

“So worried about your wife,” you smiled a little, your eyes still closed. Joel sighed. “What? I’m just saying, most men at least ask a lady first…” 

“Yeah well,” he shrugged even though you couldn’t see it. “Maybe I will ask one day.” 

“Waiting to see what options are on the table wherever Tommy’s living?” You asked, still smiling a bit. 

“Figured if I ever asked I should do it right,” he said gruffly. “Been waitin’ for it long enough. Lie down before you end up sleep deprived.” 

“Fine,” you signed, not bothering to go for a sleeping bag and putting your head on Joel’s lap. “Wake me up when it’s my turn to keep watch.” 

He didn’t answer. He just rested a hand on your side, feeling your breathing shift as you fell asleep. 

Ellie hadn’t been too far off in her wish for a close town. It only took three hours of walking the next day before houses started to crop up alongside the road, in little clusters. Then there was a church, a small subdivision made up of maybe 10 houses, a grocery store. 

“Oh man, if they have Spaghetti-Os or Chef Boyardee…” Ellie said, walking faster than she had in days for the store. 

“Hold on,” Joel grabbed her by the backpack and put her behind him, his gun and flashlight out. “We’ve never been here, gotta take a look around first before you go in and grab whatever you’d like…” 

You took your gun out, too, and kept Ellie tucked safely in between you and Joel. But the store was empty, clearly had been for a while. The shelves had been somewhat picked over, but it didn’t look like many people had been here since the outbreak. 

“We must be off the beaten path,” you said, tucking your gun into the waistband of your pants and starting to examine what food there was on the shelves. 

“Dibs!” Ellie reached to the back of the shelf and pulled out a can of ravioli.

“All yours, gremlin,” you smiled. 

“Fuck yeah.” 

Stocked up on food, you went to the pharmacy and Joel pried the gate up enough for you to clamber over the counter and into the back. 

“There was a leak back here,” you called. “But still have some usable stuff…” 

You came back with a few bottles of medication and a notebook. 

“What’s that?” Joel frowned. 

“The emergency information booklet,” you said, setting on the counter and climbing back over. You opened the booklet and shined your flashlight down at it. “Here we go, we are in scenic Curtis, Nebraska.” 

“Nebraska,” Ellie nodded slowly. 

“Just one state away from Wyoming,” you said. “Just hope Curtis is on some maps. Speaking of, we should make sure we grab some maps…” 

The three of you made your way through town, Joel in the lead, Ellie behind, you at the back. But there was no one. 

It didn’t take long to find why. In the middle of the small downtown was a pile of bodies, the skeletons charred. Everyone had been wiped out early. Infected would have bypassed quickly with no one to spread it to and being so far from everything meant that it was likely no one had been here in years. Joel put his gun away. 

“Fucking FEDRA,” Ellie muttered, bypassing the pile, barely looking at it. Joel waited for you, your eyes glued to the bodies, your arms crossed tightly over yourself. He pulled you against him and kissed your temple before continuing on. 

It didn’t take long to find one of the few hotels in town, an extended stay place. 

Joel pried the automatic door to the lobby open and quickly looked around, but it didn’t look like anyone had been here in a while either. There was a rack of brochures near the door and he grabbed a map. Ellie picked up an ad for a local attraction, frowning as she looked it over. 

“Did people really go to shit like the Museum of American Dollhouses?” She asked, holding up the brochure. 

“No,” Joel said. You laughed. 

“Not really,” you amended. “But apparently enough people did.” 

“Weird,” she put it back, looking around the lobby some more. She jumped the check in desk, ignoring your exasperated “Ellie” as she did. She rifled around, pulling out a pile of room keys. 

“What are these?” She asked, turning one over in her fingers. 

“They unlock the hotel room doors,” you said. “But only once they’re programmed to so they’ll be useless for us. Is there some kind of room list back there?” 

She frowned, rifling around for a moment before finding a packet of paper and holding it up. You took it. 

“OK,” you said, looking over it. “It looks like there are some two bedroom things on the ground floor, rooms 121, 123 and 125.” You looked at Joel. “There are doors.” 

He half smiled at you and led the way to the rooms. 

They were in relatively good shape, the beds still made from the day of the outbreak. The hotel had been fairly new when everything went to shit and it was too far from anything major to be bombed, so it had held up fairly well. No signs of leaks, windows were intact. Ellie staked her claim to a bedroom, throwing her arms out wide and falling back onto the bed. 

“I’m never leaving again,” she said. 

“You can’t eat ravioli in there,” you called at her from the small kitchenette. 

“I will leave one time,” she said. “But then never again!” 

Joel barricaded the main door once night fell, Ellie going to curl up in her room fairly early. 

“Do me a favor and keep it down,” she said, gesturing between the two of you. “Because… gross.” 

“Be extra loud,” you said, Joel’s arm around your shoulders as you sat against him on the couch. “Got it.” 

“Ugh,” she closed the door. You giggled. 

Joel looked down at you. 

“You mentioned a door,” he said. 

“I did,” you nodded. “Specifically that one, over there.” 

Joel nodded for a moment. 

“Think we should take a closer look at what’s behind it.”

“Really?” You looked up at him, mischievous. “Why’s that?” 

“I swear if you don’t let me inside you…” he nipped at your ear. 

You giggled. 

“Let’s see what’s behind the door.” 

Joel had never been happier about the existence of a piece of fucking wood. The second the door was closed, your arms went around his neck and your lips were on his own. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you tight to him, your breasts pressing against him, your hips already trying to grind against him. He groaned, slipping his tongue into your mouth, tangling with yours, sliding over your teeth, trying to get to as much of you as he could reach. 

He always fucking wanted you. That was a damn near constant in his life, had been for more than 20 years. Even for the years he thought you were dead - easily the bleakest of his life - when he dreamed of you, it almost always involved fucking you. The feeling of being inside of you, becoming a part of you in the way that he constantly ached to be, the deep satisfaction of having you as close as anyone could get. Even when he just dreamed about talking with you, it was almost always soaked in sex. Naked with you in his bed, tangled in his sheets, your limbs twisted with his own, your hair wound around his fingers. The best conversations of his life had been with you, naked and vulnerable and shut off from the world. He’d longed for that more than he did your body. 

But the want he had for you now was different. It was its own snarling, groping thing inside of him, always reaching for you. It had been screaming for satisfaction since you were pulled away from him more than a week ago. He needed to feel you around him. Needed to be deep inside of you, so deep that there was no question in his mind that you were safe and whole and his. He needed to be so close to you that fucking no one could take you away from him. 

Joel pulled your shirt over your head and immediately unhooked your bra, taking that off you, too. You tugged as his shirt and he helped you pull it over his head as he pressed you backwards, until your legs were against the bed. He kissed from your mouth, over your jaw to your throat, your skin salty from sweat and dirt and he wanted to devour you. 

“Want you,” you said, your nails digging into the exposed skin of his back. “Fuck, want you inside me…” 

“Far past wantin’ you,” he said, his lips on your collarbone. He unbuttoned your jeans and tugged them, along with your underwear, down your body. He nudged you down on the bed and your hands flew to his jeans, opening them, tugging the fabric over his aching cock and down until it was in a pile in the floor. You gripped his shaft, running your thumb over his already dripping head before spreading it down over him. You looked up at him through your eyelashes before you leaned forward and took him in your mouth. Just the tip of him at first, your tongue wrapping around him, making him moan as you pressed it into him. 

“Fuck, Baby,” he groaned, slipping a hand into your hair. “Fuck, your mouth…” 

You moaned, taking more of him into you, sucking him, your tongue pressing into the thick vein that ran along the bottom of his cock until his head was at the back of your throat, your lips wrapped around the base of him. You moaned around him, the vibrations in your throat going straight to his tip, damn near knocking him off his feet as he stood between your legs. You started bobbing up and down his thick shaft, sliding him almost all the way out of your wet, hot, soft mouth so just the tip of him remained between your lips before taking him all the way into your throat again.

You moved a bit faster with every stroke, taking him harder into you each time, his head making you choke as he filled you. Your hands held his thighs, trying to pull him as deep as you possibly could, making his knees go weak. 

“Don’t want to cum in your mouth,” he managed, through gritted teeth, trying to think of something - anything - besides just how warm and wet your tongue was. “Fuck Baby, need inside you, need…” 

You took him deep in your mouth and moaned, more forcefully this time, sending the vibrations from your throat straight to his cock. He groaned, pulling your head back from him forcefully. You panted for breath and wiped your mouth on the back of your wrist. 

“Tryin’ to make me cum before I get to fuck you?” He asked, leaning over you. You crawled back on the bed and he followed, grabbing your ankle and holding you still. 

“Not on purpose,” you smiled a little, sitting up on your elbows. 

“Find that hard to believe,” he spread your legs and settled between them, his fingers running over your slit. You were fucking dripping wet. 

“This all from sucking me off?” He breathed. You nodded. “Fucking hell…” 

He kissed you, rubbing your wetness over his shaft, pressing you down into the mattress. He pressed himself against your tight, grasping hole and held your hips in place before he thrust into you in one sharp motion. Your back arched as he met your back wall, your channel already starting to flutter around him. 

“Fuck Baby,” he groaned into your mouth, giving your tight heat a moment to get adjusted to his intrusion. 

It didn’t matter how many times he’d had you, he’d never get tired of fucking you. It would never get old. You felt to goddamn good, your body molding to him, gripping him tight but soft, your whole being stretching over him. He could feel your body making room for him inside of you, your walls pushed apart while your hips pressed up into him, desperate for it. 

He’d never felt anything like being inside you, the overwhelming physical sensation of it alone would be enough to ruin him for anyone else. Nothing felt as good as you, fucking nothing, your tight core gripping him so well it almost hurt. He filled you so perfectly it was the closest he came to believing in God. He was made to do this with you, there was no other way to understand it, explain it. His body was built to fit into yours, to wrap around yours while you were around him. 

That would have been enough. It would have been more than enough. But looking in your eyes when he was inside you, the feeling that he’d never been this close to another person and never would be again, never wanted to be this close to anyone but you. The idea that he could see inside you, to all the parts of you he coveted most, that he could know you in a way no one else could and that you could see him in that way, too. 

It was a fucking miracle he didn’t cum the second he was inside you. 

“Joel,” you breathed, your lips brushing against his own as you spoke. “Fuck… I need…” You closed your eyes for a moment, he could see your throat work as you swallowed. “I need you to move, I need… fuck, too much…” 

He kissed you softly as he pulled back from you slowly, dragging his swollen head along your inner walls, feeling every tender ridge of you before thrusting back in, earning him a delicious little groan. He kissed down your jaw to the side of your neck as he increased his pace, your hips rising to meet his as your body tightened around him. You pressed your face into his shoulder with a whimper as his cock drove all the way to the back of you, pressing against the mouth of your womb.

“Fuck,” you panted, kissing his shoulder. “About to… Joel I’m going to cum, I can’t… Fuck!” 

You came. Hard. Your walls rippling over him with such force it made his hips stutter over you, desperate little whimpers slipping from your lips as your body milked him. 

“Taking me so fucking well,” he managed as he fucked you through your orgasm. You moaned, sounding on the verge of tears below him, his hips slamming against yours with almost bruising strength. “Fuck, baby, you feel so good, so fucking good…” 

It seemed like you wanted to say something but couldn’t manage it. He thrust all the way inside you, his own orgasm so fucking close but not ready to leave your body yet. He pushed back from you, his cock still buried in you to the root as he looked to where he became a part of you. You were stretched tight over him, your lower lips swollen. 

“Look so fucking pretty with me inside you,” he breathed, looping an arm below your leg and pulling your calf up to his shoulder. He pressed a kiss into the muscle there, making you moan, and he leaned over you with your leg still tight against his chest. You groaned a little as your body adjusted and he held himself inside you. But he knew you felt the angle difference, your eyes searching his own as the moonlight filtered in through the window. Your pussy tightened even more around him. 

“Joel,” your voice was raw, achey. “I love you… want you… need you deep, need to feel you as close as I can…” 

“I know Baby,” he said, pressing his hips down, able to go even deeper from this angle, your back arching, your whole body tensed like a band ready to snap. “Fuck, you’re incredible, fucking incredible…” 

He started fucking down into you then, pulling out only as far as necessary to thrust all the way back into you as your pussy gripped him tight. 

“Want to cum with you,” he panted, his arms caging your head as he took you, the moonlight casting shadows on your face. “How…” 

“I’m close,” you managed, panting for breath. “Fuck, just… my neck and keep…” 

He pressed his cock into you harder, faster and pressed his mouth against your throat, finding the spot he knew where you were most sensitive at the same time as his cock pushed as far into you as something could go and you came around him, your pussy throbbing over his shaft sending him over the edge. He sank as far into you as he could reach, the whole of him buried deep inside you as he came, emptying himself into you until he went slack on top of you, his cock still buried within you. 

Joel rolled onto his side, taking you with him, the leg that had been pressed to his chest hitching over his hip as he started to soften inside you. He took your face in his hand, his fingertips dipping into your hair. You pressed your lips into his palm as you caught your breath, your eyes searching his own. 

He smiled a little. 

“What?” You whispered. 

“I fucking love doors.”

A/N: I know, no cliffhanger this time, just our lil' family being a lil' family (and Joel and Doc fucking each other's brains out. As you do.)

I do have a taglist. Please comment below if you'd like to be added! I try to add everyone I see but if I've missed you, please comment again. If you're on the list below but not getting alerts, it's because Tumblr is being mean and won't functionally let me tag everyone. I've left everyone on the list hoping that will magically change but alas, here we are.

Thank you for being here and for reading this and following along! I'm not sure when we'll get another chapter quite like this one - probably not for a hot minute? It's going to get real plot heavy as we get to Jackson so may as well enjoy it while we can!

Love you all!

Taglist: @paleidiot @ayamenimthiriel @ginger-swag-rapunzel @drewharrisonwriter @flugazi @pedropascalsbbg @taoyuji @starstruckmusiciansartghost @splendsay @bigboiseason123 @jpbplvr @ashleyandring @mrsyixingunicorn10 @sloanexx @ninaminaromina @lady-bellyn @hufflepuffriver @sarap-77 @storyarcscribe @mellymbee @jasminedragoon @lemonmeli @reds-ramblings @arizonadaydreamer @mumma-moonchild@blackroseguzzi@candypeaches16@kittenlittle24@wrappedinfiction@oatmeaiboy@pedritosdarling@winchestergypsy90@imnotdatboii @lalalalemonade11 @maknimuk1@mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes@pedrosaidsheispunk@commanderawkward@n7cje@elliesgirlll@tsunamistorm123@spookyxsam@leeeesahhh @anoverwhelmingdin @untamedheart81 @pedropascalfan221 @pedr0swh0r3

[loz-and-lu-fan-blog]

Raising a Kokiri part 1

The Kokiri forest was a textbook definition of a fairy haven. The magic that ran drifted through the air relaxing the boy, the smell of the deep wooded pines always brought a sense of inner peace. It was a place where not only any fairy could relax but flourish.

Yet it did nothing for Navi’s pain.

Any fairy would be calm and relaxed in the forest, naturally reverting to their smaller form only standing about 4 inches tall, yet Navi wasn’t afforded this luxury. She was still standing over 8 feet tall, even though her wings had grown with her they couldn’t support her body for more than a few minutes. 

‘Why must I be curse like this?’ Navi thought bitterly as she sat on a tree stump, watching the other fairies play with their kokiris, trying to numb the slight pain she self. Navi knew exactly why she was stuck in this form, it was the reason she was in pain.

Her kokiri, Link.

Even at the thought of his name she could stop the flare of pain in her chest, or the tears falling down her face. She should have never allowed the Great Deku tree to give Link his quest, if he had needed the horrible man to be killed she should have done it. He shouldn’t have restricted her to her smaller form so she couldn’t protect her baby; she shouldn’t have had to watch her little boy forcibly grow up and see so much pain. Her baby boy shouldn’t have had to travel through time to strike down the demon king. The only thing she was grateful for was the princess sending both of them back in time. She just wanted to protect him so much, that when the forest finally called her back to free her of her small form she took it, she could finally protect her child. And when she got back to bring him home...he wasn’t there.

He wasn’t there!

Navi tore up their home, searching through every corner of Hyrule, even going as far as to hurt Ganondorf for the location of her son. But it was all dead ends. She couldn’t feel her bond with her kokiri, and it tore her heart.

Navi had to stay in the Kokiri forest sense, then, trying to keep the pain from being away from her Kokiri down. Even Mido and Meosa came up to try and comfort the lone fairy, hah it seems that hell had froze over. Some Fairies had offered to allow Navi to take care of their Kokiri but Navi could bring herself to take a role from another mother; for now she was committed to being the guardian of the forest, making sure nothing would take a Kokiri from their fairy.

Which brings us to the problem? The portal.

It was made of golden magic, opening at the edge of the Kokiri forest. New smells of different woods made it clear their once safe woods were not so safe anymore, even the growing deku sprout wouldn’t protect the forest. 

Navi was the one who argued for guard duty, while others protested she stood firm. She was stuck in this form anyway, might as well put it to use.

So she stood at the edge of the portals, in between two woods and realms.

And she waited.

----

Warrior was beginning to think that Hyila hated him, or maybe she just hated the Links in general. It seemed like every two steps the Links were attacked by these monsters with black blood. To add to the bullshit that was their life they had switched worlds in the middle of the day, and they just so happen to appear in the middle of an enemy camp. Which lead to the links being surrounded by enemies that they had to fight their way out.

Warrior was starting to understand why Time and Legend hated Hyila so much.

They finally killed all the monsters, leaving the heroes tired and bloody. Time decided that after their fight that it was the perfect time for setting down for the night. 

Wild started cooking while Time and Twilight secured the perimeter away from monsters, the other Link finally taking a break from all their fighting. It seems like the goddess was giving them a break.

Dinner was great, Wild knew how to make amazing food, and Sky was assigned to their night watch while the second shift was awarded to War.

Soon the sky went from the twilight to the darkness of night, and all the links drifted to sleep. However soon Sky, the hero on watch found himself drifting into dreamland.

What they didn’t realize was that nine Links would soon become ten.

--

Young Link, ugh what a horrible name he was given, he preferred what his big brother had named him, Mask. He offered to help his older brother with his monster problem, however this led to where he is now.

He was alone, it was dark out, he was cold, and he was in pain. He missed his big brother, he always helped him. He missed Navi.

Mask couldn’t stop the tears from falling as he thought of his fairy, his mother. He didn't know why she had left him, he always thought fairies were supposed to care for their kokiris, did she not want him anymore? His saving grace in Termina had been Tatl, she wasn’t Navi, but she help the little boy not feel so alone. However now he was stuck in another hyrule, with no big brother and no fairy.

He was tired of being alone, tired of waking up in places he didn’t remember, tired of being so cold.

Mask soon realized he had stumbled along a camp, he pulled out his sword realizing where he wandered into possible danger. However, taking a look around he realized that everyone was asleep, which was a poor decision on their part. Mask put his sword away, looking around camp for stuff these soldiers wouldn’t miss; maybe Mask would finally find some food that didn’t taste like ash.

The young child rumbled through their bags, surprising most slept like the dead. One of them has some fairy magic to him, which if he knew the person he would probably be glued to the man's side, the fairy magic could lessen the pain he was feeling. Surprisingly this man had fae food which likely meant that this man was a fae in some form.

Mask was originally going to leave after his tiny food raiding, however a bright blue caught the boy’s attention. His curiosity got the best of him as he slowly got closer, could it really be his big brother. Finally getting closer he could see the man’s face.

It was his big brother, Link, or as Mask liked to call him War.

Mask felt some of his anxiety flow away after seeing War. Maybe it was his separation anxiety, or even the pain and cold from being separated from Navi. Mask just grabbed the end of War’s scarf, curling himself in it and lying down on War much like a toddler would. His warmth wasn’t like Naiv’s fur but it would help keep out the cold.

Mask soon drifted off to sleep, surrounded by warmth and close to his big brother.

-----

Navi felt something, something that lessened the pain in her chest. She didn’t know what was outside the portal, but it lessened the pain in her chest.

Could it be her Kokiri? Could it be the person who stole her Kokiri away from her?

It took a lot of convincing on Navi’s part but she finally got the other fairies to agree to let her explore; which meant someone else needed to take over guard duty.

That didn’t matter to Navi, she would explore this strange new world, and figure out why it lessened her pain.

So she went off into the unknown.

-----

The sun was starting to peek through the clouds by the time Wild got up, he was always the ‘first’ one up although he would bet all his rupees the old man was awake, just acting like he’s asleep so he didn’t have to cook.

Speaking of cooking he needs to get up, make sure none of the links were hiding and injuries then start cooking breakfast. He went around to every link, making sure he couldn’t see any blood or signs of bandages; but he stopped at Warrior.

Did War always have a child with him? Where did the child even come from? Was it another Link?

Wild decided he shouldn’t even bother with it and went about making breakfast.

Slowly the Links began to wake up one by one most concern on getting some food. However Hyrule let out a yell when he realized some of his food was missing.

War soon found himself returning to the land of the living and he realized two things, one, it was daylight out and two, there was a weight on his chest. Warrior found the latter much more concerning and tried to get up, seeing that he was pinned under the weight he just opted to look up. He was greeted to blond hair, green clothes all wrapped up in his blue scarf.

“Mask?!?” War screamed out waking up every other link that was asleep, apparently the little child could sleep like the dead. Warrior finally realized who it was, brought his arms around the young boy to bring himself up into a sitting position. Mask seemed to grumble out at the sudden shift but was trying to stay asleep.

“Come on little buddy” Warrior whispered to the little hero, shaking him slightly. 

“Nooooo” the little boy whined out as he tried to stop the sun from waking him up.

Sky observed wondering who that little child was, many of the other Links were watched in cursorily.

“Sooo War, is he yours?” Legend said very bluntly which caused their elder hero choking on his spit. Warrior just sent a glare to the pinked haired hero.

“No he isn’t mine” War said as he watched Mask slowly wake up “although he might as well be sense I’m the only one who puts up with grelimin nature”

“....i...hate you” Mask muttered out to War after hearing himself referred to him as a gremlin.

“Come on, it's time for breakfast” Warrior said as he untangled the little boy from his scarf. Mask seemed to just rub his eyes as his feet hit the ground, then he looked up to realize there were 8 people he had stolen from. Mask just turned to give War a certain look.

“No, they are safe, you can’t stab them” War just simply stated, as Mask nodded in understanding. The Links just looked at War in shock.

“Like I said, he was a gremlin,” War said with a shrug. They all move around the campfire to eat, Time keeping an eye on their newest little member. War was doing the same, but only because he noticed how skinny the boy was.

Wild cooked the soup that Wind loved so much, and they all began to chow down. Time side eyed the tiny hero of his past, he saw how Mask would take a spoonful of the soup with a smile but as soon as eyes were off of him, he would turn around and spit out the soup. Time grimaced at the memory, when he was that young everything tasted like ash so he knew this was a common occurrence. Time figured that he had been the only one who saw that.

“So Mask I thought Lana was going to send you back to your time?” War brought up soon after Mask had ‘eaten’ most of his food.

“Dark link got in the way...Lana said he took something important so she can’t help the timelines merging again” Mask answered “Lana also said hi”

War smiles at the fact Lank asked Mask to tell War she said hi, however that smile was quickly drowned out with worry. Dark link was back, did that mean Cia was back as well. What does that mean now? Will he and the group need to stay in his hyrule trying to get back whatever dark link stole?

“What should we do after this captain?” Time asked snapping the hero out of his anxiety brain.

“We should probably head to the castle, my zelda might know a way to contact Lana” War stated as the Links nodded and went back to their soup. This will be simple, go to the castle, find the Dark links and get the piece back. And now he has all the other links to help him out so it should be easy right….right?

They had all gone to gather their things for their journal, Mask had no idea how far they would get sense this place was crawling with monsters. He had gone to pick through some of his belongs out in the forest, he didn’t need any of them getting noisy, especially the man with the Deity markings.

“Where is it?” Mask grumbled to himself as he dug through his bag, his stomach growling at him. He knew he had fae food in here, he stole it from the brown hair guy who smelled like a fairy. And he needed to eat something, he couldn’t fight unless he had something to eat.

“Looking for these?” A voice said making Mask jump before turning to glare at the voice. It was the man with the deity markings, likely named Link like the others; he held the bag he stole from the fairy link, it was filled with sylvanberriers which honestly to most just likely looked like pink apples. The man held one in his hand, causally tossing it up and down.

“Give it back, their mine” Mask hissed out to the older hero, who just looked amused at him.

“Really, isn’t there a warning about children eating fae food? And nothing tops fae food like sylvanberries” The man said taking a bite out of the fruit much to Mask’s horror. The man simply gave a shrug as he tossed the bag to the child.

“Yeah now I was alot like you as a child, Only fae food until I learned how to taste again” The man commented which made Mask freeze. Eating human food again and it not taste like ash? Was that even possible? The man let out a chuckled as he tosses another fruit to the young boy. Mask caught it without much problem.

“An apple?” He muttered out.

“Yep, you will have to trick your taste buds for a while, if you eat fae food with normal human food it will start to lose the ash taste” The man said with a shrug “Or don’t and go on with your life; i don’t know it was so long ago”

The man slowly walked back to camp and Mask made a mental note to ask his big brother what that man’s nickname was; if mask had to take a guess he feels that ‘happy’ and ‘salesmans’ fits the man more. He looked back and the two fruits in his hand, before deciding to take a risk. One quick bite of an apple before a bite of sylbanberry, to which he chewed waiting for the taste of ash to fill his mouth.

But that didn’t happen..well it was still there very far off in the background, he mostly tasted the berries that reminded him of home. Despite how much Mask wanted to save the moment he began to swallow most of the other fae food, they needed to get moving after all and Mask had questions that needed to be answered.

Mask quickly finished his food before heading back to the other Links. The first thing Mask did was ask everyone’s nickname. Apparently the man with the Deity markings was called Time and the weird fairy man was called Hyrule. The two closest to his age were Wind and Four, but that’s really all he paid attention to.

They walked along in the forest, heading towards the direction of the castle; the links had opted for the forest because it just wasn’t as open as hyrule fields. However both Mask and Time knew better then to assume the forest was safe, they knew the feelings of eyes on the. However Mask felt that might had been wishful thinking because he was missing Navi, so he opted to distract himself.

And the best way he found to distract himself was stealing.

He got about 10 minutes in before he got called out.

“Hey!” Warrior yelled, making the group jump “Give that back” he ordered.

Mask immediately put on his innocent acts as all the links turn to look at War. Some looked at War like he lost his marbles.

“Sorry Mask here has some sticky fingers” Warrior saids to the group, most replied with raised eyebrows.

“War, I’m sure it was nothing,” Legend said, not liking how the peace and quiet ended. You could tell the veteran hero was annoyed. War just stared at him dead eyed.

“Hey Legend where is your wallet?” Warrior asked the pink haired hero.

“Of course it’s right her-” Legend said as his hand went to his pocket, however the words died down when he realized it was gone. War gave Mask a small bump to which Mask opened his palm revealing the wallet.

“Sorry” Mask said as Legend snatched his wallet back. 

They went back to walking in the woods, Mask talking with Warriors while Legend did his best to avoid the young pickpocket. The tension growed but Mask and Time were used to it.

It was nice….until it wasn’t.

[nightashes]

The Red Glint

A/N: This is for @anxiouslyfred as a part of the @sanderssidesgiftxchange. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season!! 

Summary: An attempt to find Mothman leads to the trio (Roman, Remus, and Virgil) discovering something much much cooler.

warnings: none

writing masterlist - ao3 version

***

His boot sinks into the mud as he steps over the slick corpse of a fallen tree. Remus cackles behind him as he shoves Roman over the obstacle, causing his brother to fall face first onto the ground. The shriek the prep emits is enough to shatter glass. Virgil hisses at his friends as he clutches his ears in pain. 

“REMUS! Look what you’ve done to my shirt, you vandal! I just bought this.” The prep stands, throwing a handful of mud at his brother, who joyfully accepts the slinged debris as if it were a gift from the gods. 

“Don’t worry, Roman, the mud has really improved your looks.” Remus licks a drop of mud off his hand. 

Virgil smirks at the brothers’ bickering. He should have known it would come to this. “Ummm hey, guys.” He tries to catch their attention.

“Ugh. That is disgusting.” Roman watches his brother hum in delight at the taste. “You’re paying for my dry cleaning, heathen.”

“And what makes you think I’d do that?” Remus counters.

Roman takes a deep breath, preparing what Virgil assumes will be a rant worthy of Logan. The emo simply rolls his eyes in exasperated amusement. “Alright enough of this.”  He grabs Remus by the collar and propels him over the log. The punk lands heavily in the mud in a fashion similar to Roman. 

“There now you are even.” Virgil wipes his hands free of the mess. 

The twins stare at Virgil owlishly in surprise.

Then at each other.

A wicked grin spreads across both their faces.

They turn their gaze back upon Virgil.

Virgil gulps. He knows to fear the moments when the twins share a thought. 

They lung for the emo. His screams reverberate through the trees, sending a flock of crows flying into the air. Their dark calls echo through the forest. The devious laughter of the twin terrors intertwine with the bird call as they seize upon their friend and drag him down into the mud. Colliding into a pile of earth and laughter, they squirm under each others’ grasps. Virgil, lamenting the fate of his jacket, his beautiful black jacket, seizes upon handfuls of the gooey mess and slathers it into both of his friends’ hair. Roman pretends to faint in horror at the fate of his luscious locks. Remus latches onto the two, entrapping his twin and friend in his clinging grip. He rolls around, covering the trio in as much mud as possible. Shouts. Laughter. Virgil fighting against his jailer. Roman ranting. And Remus smushed between them with the biggest, toothiest grin imaginable.

Exhausted, they collapse against each other. Lying upon the forest floor, panting for breath. Soft giggles being shared between them.

Virgil watches the tops of the trees sway in the breeze. The clouds can be seen between the branches as they slowly move past. Roman hums in thought.

“Can we get up now?” Roman prompts.

Virgil nods in agreement. Squirming free of the tentacle-like grip of his friend, he extricates himself from the pile. Roman follows close behind him. The dramatic twin stares down at his ruined clothing and for once, he seems okay with it. Not particularly happy, but still okay. 

The chaotic gremlin stares up at them from the ground. “Vee Vee, how much further until we get to see Mothman?”

Virgil rolls his eyes. He is often rolling his eyes in the company of the twins, “First off, we don’t actually know if Mothman is out here. CrypticHunter66 only said that they saw two glowing red eyes. Could be Mothman. Could also be a million other things. Secondly, give me a moment.”

He pulls a map out of his back pocket. Turning it this way and that, Virgil studies the forest landmarks and the trail they have been following, “I think we are close. The bridge should be right up ahead.”

The bridge is no longer a bridge. It was once. Years ago it had allowed hikers and hunters of all types to cross over the frothing river. But age is a curse and the bridge has long been lacking in care. It has rotted and collapsed in on itself. Moss has grown upon it, disguising it’s true shape. It can no longer be called a bridge, just as the river can no longer be called a river. Both victims of the changing tides of time and now the bridge is but a pile of moss covered wood and the river is but a crevice of earth.

Roman jumps down into the ditch that was once a river, “Where is this monster? It’s time to do some slaying.”

“Not in that outfit.” Remus answers. 

Virgil is barely listening to the bickering brothers. He focuses on rereading the message sent to him by his online source. 

“Two glowing red eyes,” He mumbles to himself. “beneath the fallen bridge.”

Virgil scooches down into the dried-up river, trying his best not to fall.

Remus jumps. Yelling, “Roman, catch me!”

Roman does not catch him.

The bridge does not really seem like it would have enough space for a creature to hide beneath. Not unless Mothman was the size of a small animal. Virgil does not think that Mothman is the size of a small animal. Still, he turns on his phone’s flashlight and attempts to see into the depths of the rotted wood pile. 

A red glint shines back.

Oh crap. Mothman is a small mammal.

Virgil reaches his hand out towards the red glow. He stops himself. Pausing to think. Should he do this? Reaching out to a potential cryptid seems like a bad idea-

“Hey, emo-”

“AHHHHHH!” Virgil nearly jumps out of his skin. Slapping Remus, he continues to yell, “You scared the living crap out of me!”

“Oh sorry, anyways! Where’s Mothman?”

Roman pokes his head over Remus’s shoulder. “You found Mothman! I wanna see.” He attempts to shove past his brother.

“Guys, would you shut up! I actually did see something and if you two would be quiet for just one second in your lives so you don’t scare him away that would be great!”

“Ummm, but Virgil you are also screaming?” Roman counters.

“Shhhhh.” Virgil hisses. “Shut it and come here.”

Together, they turn back to the bridge. Virgil shines his light. The red glint twinkles. “Oh good, he’s still here.”

“Oh god, we’re about to meet Mothman.” Remus whispers excitedly. 

They creep closer, leaning in as far as they dare. 

“Do you see him?” Roman whispers.

“Not really. Just his eyes.” Virgil responds.

“I see them too. Can I grab him?” Remus bounces.

“With your bare hands?” Virgil questions as if he hadn’t been about to do the same thing.

“Then what do we do?” Roman ponders.

“I’m gonna grab him.” Remus reaches forward.

Virgil and Roman both shout no, rushing to stop their chaotic friend. But it is too late. Remus’s hand closes around the red glowing object. And then. The world explodes.

Red. 

Everything is red.

And bright. 

So very bright.

There are stars.

And trees. 

Virgil groans. His clothes are stiff. Why are his clothes so stiff?

“What happened?” A voice speaks beside him. It sounds like Roman.

That’s right he was with the twins. “Remus?” Virgil calls out, rolling onto his side, the leaves crinkle beneath him. 

“I’ve got Mothman.” The chaotic twin mumbles, waving his closed fist around in circles in the dark. Remus stares at his fist. “He’s rocks.”

Virgil squints into the night. When had it gotten so dark? He needs a light. His phone, where was his phone? His hands feel across the forest ground. The dried mud on his clothes cracking at his movements. 

“Has anyone seen my phone?”

“I’ve got mine.” Roman answers as a light illuminates their small group. 

Virgil uses it to search by as Roman helps Remus to stand, he seems more disoriented than them. He can hear them talking about whatever rock Remus has as he spies a shine of glass. His phone! It’s partially buried beneath some leaves but all in all it seems unharmed. He scoops it up just as he hears Roman shout. “We’re gonna be rich!”

“What’s going on?” Virgil rejoins the twins.

They’re bent over, looking at whatever Remus is holding in his hands. Roman waves him closer. “Virgil, don’t they look like rubies? I think they’re rubies!”

Sure enough in Remus’s hands sat three glistening red gems. Rubies? Maybe. Virgil didn’t exactly know much about geology. Either way, it sure wasn’t Mothman.

“Rubies. Not glowing red eyes.” Virgil mumbles as he reaches forward. Before his fingers can touch a gem, it flies out of Remus’s hand and smacks itself into his palm. Virgil grips the stone as he stares down at it in shock.

“Whoa.” Remus encapsulates all their thoughts into that one word… whoa.

“How is this possible?” Virgil questions aloud.

“Virgil, your eyes! They’re glowing red!” Roman exclaims. “The rocks, they must be magic!”

“That’s insane!” Virgil holds his hand up to his eyes. Sure enough a red glow illuminates his palm. His eyes are glowing!

Roman holds his own hand out, as if testing something. Without even a second to think, another one of the stones zooms into his hand! His own eyes begin to light up in the darkness. “This is so cool!” He bounces in excitement. His feet leaving the ground. Leaving the ground and not returning.

 “Whoa. Whoa!” He tilts around in midair. Windmilling his arms as he floats above the ground.

“You can fly! I wanna fly.” Remus whines. Looking down at the last stone remaining in his hand, he squeezes his fist tight around it. Gritting his teeth, he bends his knees and jumps. Launching himself into the air. His figure is propelled upwards. Zooming into the treetops and beyond as he is lost in shadows. He becomes nothing but a silhouette against the stars. His boisterous laughter is carried down to them. Calling out, urging them to join him in his flight.

Roman reaches out his hand to Virgil excitedly, “Come on. We’ve got to try this!”

Virgil gulps, “I don’t know. Heights aren’t really my favorite.” He answers, staring up at the twin soaring through the air.

Roman pauses at the apprehension. He calms himself and speaks simply. “If you don’t want to that’s okay. We can stay down here. But if you do want to give it a try, know that I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.”

Remus flies past their heads. “Guys, I can see everything from up here! Wahoooooo!!!”

The emo tentatively places his hand into his friend’s. Roman gives him a slight squeeze as Virgil quirks a smile. “Ready?” Roman whispers.

Virgil nods his head. “I guess I just jump?”

“That seems to be the general idea.”

Virgil takes in a deep breath. And then he jumps. Rising into the air, he feels the gravity of the earth abandon his body as he lifts himself up higher and higher. Roman is holding his hand tightly, just as he said he would, rising beside him. They tug each other this way and that. Drifting between the tree branches, they weave their way up and above. Breaking out of the forest, they fly through the open air. Watching the trees pass below them. 

A cheer rises in his chest and breaks out of him as he holds his free hand up, stretching it out as if to touch the stars. It’s beautiful up here. Roman laughs beside him, pointing out his favorite constellations. Behind them a roar grows louder. Remus rushes past them, pushing himself to fly faster and faster. He loops through the sky and twists through the clouds. Diving and ducking in an aerial display of chaos and grace.

“We’re superheroes!” Roman cheers, smiling widely at his friend beside him. Their small duo is illuminated in a soft red glow shining from their eyes. They’re a rosy comet drifting across the sky. Not a falling star, but rising in laughter and joy.

“We’re superheroes.” Virgil echoes.

taglist: @stop-it-anxiety @hexatrash @ollyollyoxinfree @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun @leiasolo77 @arya-skywalker @alexxadontplaydespasito

[isabella-gliatta]

B L A C K    W E E K

I wanted to talk about the use of black in animated movies, specifically the difference between Disney and Studio Ghibli movies.

Disney Movies -

1.) The majority of the time, black is a universal color among villains in Disney movies; its practically a rule.  Black is either apart of their costume, hair, or body.  Along with this is a rather 2D personality/motivation.  These villains are rarely complex and don’t have redeeming traits that make an audience member sympathize with them. Their motives are plain and clear - money, power, youth, etc.  Their opposing protagonist never wears black (unless their hair is black, such as a POC or Snow White whose hair is a defining trait).  Black is an easy way to convey evil. Dark color = dark aura/essence = evil.  This is in no way bashing these movies; I love Disney movies more than most.  This use of black is just an easy way to convey an evil character.

Studio Ghibli -

Studio Ghibli movies are applauded for their complex characters and storylines. Their use of the color black is a perfect representation of this.

2&3.) Witch of the Waste from Howl’s Moving Castle - In the beginning of the film, this character falls into the typical villain archetype/trope.  However, over the course of the movie she loses the bit of youth and health she still had (from her magic).  By the end, she is her pure, raw self.  At moments, she retains her sense of superiority/ disregard for others, but she has many “cute old lady” moments (mostly in her relationship with the dog Heen).  Her black clothes go from conveying her “evilness” to her old age.

4.) No Face from Spirited Away - Studio Ghibli often uses black as a way to convey mystery and complexity.  No Face is a mysterious spirit with mysterious powers (he can shape-shift, create gold, eat pretty much anything, but he never speaks).  When first introduced, he is a nuisance and hazard to the bath house (at one point he ate someone).  But soon his soft character comes through.  He tags along on the protagonist’s journey, keeping her company in lonely and hopeless moments (he also endlessly offers her gold).  Growing up I always thought he was somewhat cute, like an old dog with little energy but endless love.  His black figure assists in his “mysteriousness.” He doesn’t have a definitive shape and he can disappear in dark spaces. I like this picture specifically because of his contrast with the scenery around him.  In class, many students agreed that black is a inconspicuous color.  However, in this setting, No Face’s black body clearly sticks out and draws the viewer’s attention.

5&6.) Gigi from Kiki’s Delivery Service - Gigi is Kiki’s adorable sidekick.  This movie already fights the typical stereotype of an evil witch, showing that witch’s are kind and helpful.  Gigi isn’t the typical black cat; he doesn’t bring bad luck and isn’t the pet of an evil villain.  He is a hilarious supporting character that brings Kiki’s naivety down to earth through comedic pessimism.  Also, the black makes his large eyes and mouth pop, making him a very cute cat :). Ghibli took the traditional mysterious black cat to create an adorable and funny character.

7.) Soot Sprites/Gremlins from My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away - Once again, black is used to make a cute and mysterious creature.  At first, these sprites surprise and “spook” the main characters in each movie.  But as the plot progresses, they become a cute companion.  In Spirited Away, the protagonist is scared by the swarm of these eerie bug-like creatures, but they soon prove to be ADORABLE; they carry and keep safe the protagonists shoes and socks, they work really hard carrying coal in the boiler room, they make cute little squeaky noises, and they LOVE sprinkles. I’m sorry, I just love these little guys.  In My Neighbor Totoro, the sprites are the protagonists’ first encounter with the mystical woods.  They are a precursor for their magical adventure.  Naturally, the sisters’ are initially scared by them.  The sprites’ black design is similar to that on Gigi; they appear mysterious, but their large white eyes make them very cute :)

8&9.) Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke - Princess Mononoke is famous for character complexity (among many other aspects of the film).  Lady Eboshi is initially seen as a villain; she is destroying the forest, angering forest spirits, causing discourse in the land, etc.  Her main goal is to kill the Forest Spirit (which is viewed as impossible by most as he is the highest god) to continue mining ore and expanding Iron Town. However, as the protagonist, Ashitaka, meets with and befriends her, she is seen as a kind-hearted and driven woman. She took in, helps, and hired outcast lepers and female brothel workers, giving them a home, family, and honest work.  The audience never dislikes her; she has a calm, kind demeanor and is very welcoming to Ashitaka. Her character design is the darkest of all the characters (at least all the human characters).  She is the only person with black hair, and her main outfit sticks out among the other towns people.  The use of black in her design contrasts her from the other characters (ie, Ashitaka is dressed in soft blues to portray his humble and kind nature).  She appears more powerful and mysterious among everyone else (Why does she have these goals? Where did she come from? What motivated her to help people less fortunate? How did she get in such a powerful position? etc.) 

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Growing Old(er)

Alternate Title: Growing Older

Summary: Everyone has a sinking realization that life is temporary and that we’re all gonna die, and unfortunately sweet Mabel has her’s.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, Stanley, be serious!”

“I am serious! Dipper can have my boxing gloves and Mabel can have my old collection of photos.”

“This is an important document that goes above and beyond a few keepsakes!” Ford tried to explain this, yet again, to his brother. “We need to discuss more important arrangements…”

“Look, Wise Guy, the Shack already belongs to Soos…”

“But what about the car? What about the Stan O’ War?”

“The boat’s gonna be burned down with us in it.” Stan held up his hands in front of him and moved them apart as he elaborated. “Picture this: two old sailors lying in their boat, their friends and family shooting flaming arrows at it across the sea as some farewell-bar song plays. We’d go down like kings!”

“Yeah, no.” Ford said firmly. “We’re not doing that.”

Mabel skipped into the living room and found her grunkles at the card table. They had a bunch of stupid-looking documents covering the table, but Ford seemed like the only one really interested in it, a pen in his hand and he was leaning forward to work while Stan was sipping a can of soda and sat back in the chair. “Whatcha doin’?” She asked.

“Constructing our will and testimony.”

“WHAT?!” Mabel shrieked and covered her mouth with her hands. Her uncles stared at their niece as her eyes filled with tears and she struggled to ask with a choked whisper, “Are… are you guys…”

“Oh no, pumpkin.” Stan scooped her up into his lap and hugged her. Mabel clung onto his undershirt tightly and bit her lip as she tried not to cry. “Sixer and I are fine, I promise. He just thought it’d be a bright idea to get this outta the way for when we do kick the bucket.”

Ford leaned forward and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry, my dear, I never meant to scare you like this. I swear, we’re both perfectly healthy and going to be around for awhile.”

Mabel wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her sweater and sniffed. “O-Okay. So… why are you making a will?”

“Well, unfortunately someone bypassed the downsides of faking your death and stealing another man’s name.” Ford said lightly as he gave Stan a crooked smile. His twin just stuck his tongue out at him. “So there are some things we need to discuss to simplify complicated actions and it would be a good idea to make certain arrangements.”

“Like what?”

“Well, since in a way we both share the name ‘Stanford Pines’, it would be wise to make such legal documents together. This will ensure that the right people receive the right gifts and inheritance, and that our bodies are properly taken care of in an orderly manner that best helps the living grieve and keeps the government off our backs.”

Mabel still didn’t like the sound of all of this. “But why do you guys need to talk about it? You said you’re fine.”

“We are, sweetie,” Stan said warmly and ruffled her hair. “But we’re not gonna be around forever. Eventually these old farts are gonna be sleeping with the fishes, and when that happens we just wanna make sure everything’s taken care of. At least that’s what Sixer wants. I don’t care what happens as long as my tombstone is bigger than his.”

“That is not going to happen.” Ford said firmly with a smile.

“Too bad, I called it.”

“Since when?!”

“Since the election last summer. The niblings can back me up, right Mabel?”

The brunette grinned and shrugged. “Sorry, but since you two aren’t fighting anymore it doesn’t count. Clean slate!”

“What?!” Stan gasped with a smile. “Betrayed by my own pumpkin! Fine! Someone’s not getting my old stop-motion movies!”

“Good!” Mabel laughed with her uncles for a little bit while Ford wrote some stuff down, still trying to complete the task. The teenage girl looked up at her hero and she remembered the reason why she came in here in the first place. “Hey, do you guys wanna go make some cupcakes with me? I’ve got extra sprinkles!”

“Sure,” Stan let Mabel slide off his lap and he stood, but his brother stopped him.

“Not so fast, Stan, we have to finish this at some point. Why don’t we make cupcakes after dinner?”

Mabel’s concerns were coming back. She looked at Ford carefully to try to pick up a lie. “I thought you said you two were okay.”

“We are, Mabel, I promise.” Ford even paused his work and crossed his heart for his niece, making her smile. “But no one lives forever. One day we won’t be here. It’s like Stanley said; we just want to make sure everything will be okay.”

“It’s the way it works.” Stan said with a shrug and plopped down in his chair. “We’re born, we live a little, and then we die. S’long as you don’t just survive but live too, it ain’t so bad.”

Mabel stared at her uncles. “Aren’t you scared?” Her voice was meek and lacked her usual confidence.

“Of death? Not really.” Ford admitted. “Death is nothing but the next great adventure. An unseen destiny awaiting all mortals at the end of their lifespans.”

“And hey, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to go just yet.” Stan added in. “I wanna see my kids graduate and get married and have their own little gremlins to terrorize them.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Ford quickly agreed with. “I didn’t mean we’re done with life, but the more familiar we become with death, the less frightening it is.”

“Besides, we’ve both faced the hooded dude so many times, leaving with him will be like seeing an old friend.” Stan barked a quick laugh and added, “Maybe I’ll grab drinks with him!”

Mabel giggled, but then slowly wandered onto a dark train of thought. The idea of death was not new to her; she and her brother had nearly died at the hands of an evil triangle (she still sometimes had nightmares about it). But even though she had come to terms with growing up, she hadn’t put two and two together and realized that growing up also means growing older and then dying. It was new territory Mabel had not yet ventured into, and suddenly she didn’t feel like making cupcakes anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day the subject was still on Mabel’s mind. One day, her favorite people in the whole world were going to die. Stan was going to die, Ford was going to die, Dipper was going to die. Then she would be all alone until she died. But then what? The end? Lights out? There were such things as ghosts, so maybe they could come back and haunt Gravity Falls as a family, but the ghosts didn’t seem quite like themselves on Earth; they were vengeful and angry and hurt. Mabel’s grunkles had enough of that in life, so maybe it was for the best that they don’t come back.

Mabel was so distracted that she tripped on a rock while walking in the woods and scraped her knee. She held it and winced with tears in her eyes, a little bit of blood trickling down from her small wound. “Ow, ow, ow! What the…”

She looked at the rock that had caused it and saw something odd by it. A necklace with a silver chain and a red ruby in a circle sparkled by the rock. Mabel picked it up and looked at it. Scratches of some kind were around the ruby and it sparkled and looked pretty. The ruby was a darker red than most normal rubies, but there was no denying the sparkling gem. “Wow, cool! I bet Grunkle Ford would love to look at this.” For safekeeping, Mabel put it around her neck and tucked it under her sweater as she stood.

She continued on her way to town and she smiled at the arcade. As she approached, she was oblivious to her changing body. She grew a few inches taller, now maybe slightly shorter than Wendy, and her hair was shorter, now only to her shoulders. A few zits littered her maturing skin and her curves were growing in. Mabel was so distracted by her thoughts and the need to think of something else that she didn’t even notice. Her clothes magically changed with her so she didn’t feel tight or uncomfortable.

Mabel entered the arcade and happily played that new battle video game she had her eye on. Shooting aliens made her feel a little bit better, but it also made her hungry. She left the arcade a little while later and talked to herself as she wandered around Gravity Falls for something to eat. “I mean, I get it. There’s nothing wrong with change. I know there’s nothing I can do about it, but I guess I never really thought about everything changing like that.”

As Mabel walked, her hair grew back to it’s normal length and her zits went away. Her vision was a little blurry, but Mabel just shrugged it off and dismissed it as a sign that she was tired. She did feel emotionally drained as she purchased a jelly-filled doughnut and munch on it, her mind now in a rut. She had no idea what to do or where to go to feel better, so maybe a walk in the woods would help.

Mabel strolled through the forest and continued to think about life and death. “Poor guys… what will happen to them if they’re not together? What if Grunkle Stan dies first? Grunkle Ford will be all alone, but what if Grunkle Ford dies first? Then Grunkle Stan will be all alone again. None of that’s fair.” Mabel then gasped in horror and her eyes became more blurry due to tears. “What if Dipper dies first and I end up all alone? Or what if I die first and then he’ll be all alone? Ugh, why can’t every twin die of duel heart attack?!”

Mabel was very tired. Her back ached and her legs ached and her knees ached and she had a headache… everything hurt. She realized she was at the lake and she decided to sit by the shoreline and rest. She held her knees by her chest and peered down at the water. “I guess I just gotta… WHAT?!” Mabel yelled in horror and jumped away from her reflection, but then forced herself to make sure she wasn’t crazy.

An old version of Mabel stared back at the thirteen-year-old. Her gray hair was the same shade as Grunkle Stan’s except for a stripe of darker gray down her long hair, kinda like Grunkle Ford. She had wrinkles from all of her past smiles and her hands were ached with arthritis. In fact, everything hurt, but if Mabel had to guess, her reflection was only in her fifties.

“Wow… I look so cool!” Mabel cheered as she peered down at the lake. “Look at me! I look like a silver fox! This is great! I can buy all the drinks and magazines I want! On weekdays I get half-priced dinners! I get free money from the government! And now I don’t have to go to high-school!” She laughed at her own joke, but then her back popped painfully and she yelped. “Ouch! Is this how the guys feel all the time?” Mabel asked as she looked at her curly gray hair and her wrinkling skin. A scary realization started to sink in. “Oh no. This… This is bad… What if I… Ford!” She gasped and quickly stood up. “Grunkle Ford will know what to do! He can fix me!”

Against better judgment, Mabel ran as fast as she could for home. Her hair became grayer and curlier as it began to lose it’s life. Mabel suddenly felt an overwhelming pain in her chest, making it hard to breathe, and she tripped over her own feet and fell, unable to get back up. The old lady moaned on the grass, helpless. She looked up and with her horrible vision she could have sworn she could see a brown triangle up ahead, indicating the Mystery Shack.

“Help… help…” She breathed weakly, but no one was coming. She sighed with exhaustion and laid back down on her front to try to regain some rest so she could move forward.

Dipper, meanwhile, had been looking for his sister. He guessed she was hanging out with Candy and Grenda, but in case she was somewhere in the house he wanted to ask her if she had borrowed his BABBA CD. “Mabel? Mabel?” He called on the porch. He shrugged and was about to head inside, forced to be patient, but then he heard and saw Waddles scamblering out of the woods alone; immediately Dipper suspected something was off; Mabel never lets her beloved pig explore alone, but maybe he had been adventurous and sneaky and now regretted it.

“Waddles?” Dipper scratched the top of his head to calm him down. “What’s up, buddy? You okay?”

Waddles suddenly bit his vest, tugged, and then let go and ran back to the edge of the woods. He oinked and squealed, begging Dipper to follow him. Taking his chances, Dipper followed, wondering if something - or someone - was out there. Only a few steps into the woods and Dipper saw a woman on the ground face-first. He saw the long gray hair and gasped with shock when he realized it was an old lady. “Whoa, hey, are you okay, miss?” He asked and was on his knees by her side, unsure how to help.

“Dipper…” The old lady sighed and looked up at the boy.

“Mabel?!” Dipper gasped; she may be old, but he could recognise her own twin. “What the heck happened?! Did you time travel? Are you from the future?!”

“N-No…” Mabel sighed. “Ford… Grunkle Ford… get…”

“Come on, I’ll take you to him.” Dipper said firmly to mask his fear. He draped one of his sister’s frail arms over his neck and helped her up to her feet. Slowly but surely they were heading back towards home.

Meanwhile, Ford was at the kitchen table, pleasantly munching on his lunch. Stan, on the other hand, shivered, put down his fork, and gulped down some soda.

“What, you don’t like my tuna salad?” The scientist asked.

“No. Who puts raisins in tuna salad?”

“The French.”

“Well, it’s not right.” Stan grumbled as he started on a new task: picking the raisins out of his meal.

Ford rolled his eyes and got up to refill his glass with water. The door opened and they heard Dipper’s voice before they saw him. “Grunkle Ford!”

He smiled kindly and turned, “What is it, m-” He dropped his glass, letting it shatter by his boots.

Mabel hung loosely by his shoulder, her hair gray and her skin in wrinkles. The elder twins rushed to her and Stan got to her first, holding her gently by the chin to look at her face. “Mabel, sweetie! Can you hear me? What happened?!”

“I don’t know, I just found her like this!” Dipper answered.

“Set her in the armchair.” Ford instructed. “We can fix this…”

“What if we can’t?!” Stan dared to ask. “I’m not just saying this cuz of her age, but she doesn’t look good.”

“No, you’re right.” Ford elaborated. “She’s not that much older than us, but the sudden change must have taken a toll on her body; we’ve had time to adjust and keep our bodies in good shape… or at least prevent aches, but she hasn’t had that kind of time. But she’ll be fine, we can reverse this, I’m sure of it.”

Dipper had Mabel sit on the armchair, her eyes closed, and now sitting back the amount of effort she had to put into breathing was more apparent. She groaned slightly and the boys were shocked to find her aging again more rapidly in front of them. Her wrinkles were deeper and her hair slowly turned white.

“Dipper, get the first aid kit, now!” Ford commanded and the teenager was off like a rocket.

Stan sat on the dino-skull and held her thin hand. “Just hang on, pumpkin, we’ve got this.” He soothed, his voice trembling slightly due to his tightening throat.

Mabel moaned slightly and tried to open her eyes. “Gr-Grunkle Stan…”

“Yeah, it’s me, sweetheart.” Stan smiled and squeezed her hand. “You’ll be fine, you’re a Pines for crying out loud, so just hang in there, okay?”

Mabel cracked a small smile and nodded.

Dipper was back. “Here!”

“Good,” Ford opened it and took her opposite hand, pulling out a stethoscope and listening to her heartbeat through her wrist. “Let’s see…”

Mabel was aging again; her hair was thinning and some of it was falling out of her scalp. Her hand in Stan’s grasp was now nothing more than skin on bones, her veins sensitive. She moaned and had to put more effort into her breathing; now she looked almost a hundred.

“No, no, no!” Stan called. “Mabel?”

“Hold on, sweetie, it’ll be okay.” Ford gently coached Mabel as he listened to her heartbeat, praying it would never stop.

“What the…” Dipper began to notice faint glowing behind Mabel’s sweater. He pulled down to see her neck and upper-chest and he gasped at a red ruby necklace with a silver chain. The gem was glowing and vibrating, almost looking like it was hot, and when Dipper went to touch it, it almost burned his skin and it was stuck to Mabel’s skin like it had been super-glued onto her.

“That’s not any gem!” Ford gasped. “That’s a Youth-Sucker! It drains the wearer’s youth until the host dies and then the necklace will feed off of the body.”

“What do we do, what do we do?!” Stan asked.

“We have to remove it, carefully.” Ford said and turned to Dipper. “Get the tool kit.” And the teenager was gone, again.

Too soon Mabel was aging again. More hair was falling out, now half of it was gone and the rest remaining was thin. Mabel tried to swallow a moan but it was very apparent on her face that she was in a lot of pain. The pain would definitely explain the sou-sucking leech. Ford eyed the anomaly on his niece’s chest as it began to pur happily over the approaching meal.

“Dipper, hurry!” Ford barked harshly.

Mabel struggled to open her eyes, but she was tired of looking at the darkness. “I… I love you…” Her voice was so quiet and so weak it was a miracle it could be heard.

Stan squeezed her hand as tightly as he could risk without hurting her. “We love you too, pumpkin, but don’t gimme any of that mushy stuff like it’s goodbye, okay?” He blinked to try to ease the stinging in his eyes.

“M’scared…”

“Here!” Dipper was back and practically threw the tool box at Ford so he could get to work.

The scientist pulled out one of his electronic gloves and a pair of tweezers and instructed,” Dipper, hold down the sweater’s neck so I can work.” Dipper helped the gem being showcased and it continued to vibrate and burn and pur. Mabel would probably have a very nasty burn on her chest for a while, but that didn’t matter nearly as much as saving her life.

“Easy, easy,” Ford said mostly to himself as he carefully pinched the gem by the hook where the string was, reading to pull when the anomaly was at its weakest. He would have to do it quickly to not worsen Mabel’s burn with his glove, and so in classic Stanford Pines action, with one swift movement he shocked the gem and pulled it off of Mabel’s chest the second it screeched with pain and anger.

The moment the Youth-Sucker was off Mabel her youth returned her to and soon she was a tired thirteen-year-old, rosy cheeked and with a full head of beautiful brown hair. She blinked her eyes open and rubbed them with her fists, like waking from a dream, and was surprised to find still electrocuting the Youth-Sucker in his fist as punishment for trying to kill his Mabel. “Whoa.”

“Mabel!” Stan cried out and swallowed her into his lap for a tight hug. “Don’t scare me like that, pumpkin, I thought I was gonna lose you!”

“I’m sorry, I just thought it looked cool.” Mabel tried to explain but her face was buried in his chest and she happily hugged him back.

“Well, all’s well that ends well.” Ford breathed, his anxiety finally going down as he stood normally and pocketed the Youth-Sucker to dissect for science. “I’m sure there’s a valuable lesson to take from all of this.”

“Meh, too tired to figure that out.” Mabel moaned as she nuzzled her face against her grunkle.

“Alright, then bed sweetie.” And Dipper and Ford knew better than to point out that he was taking her to his bedroom instead of the attic; Stan needed a nap, too, and there was no way he was going to let his little girl out of his arms for a while after that traumatizing scare.

[star-captain]

Pirate Attack- Part Two

I was really excited to finish this story, the climax was really fun to write. Hopefully my next piece should be the official start of ‘Wandering Stars’, a story arc of Red, Avon, And Ecto. It’ll include adventure, mysterious enemies, and the infinity portal to hermitcraft!

Anyways, here’s Pirate Attack- Part Two. Red and the hermits are planning their assault on Xisuma’s guardian farm, but it’s not without dangers to dismantle a massacre. 

Red is @theguardiansofredland​ ‘s gremlin.

Red has seen ships before, but never has he seen one that’s still afloat. At least, not one as big as the Juggernaut. It’s busy, crewmembers shifting past him like fish through a coral reef. The other hermits are impressed by the ship and it’s crew. At the helm, Cleo looks like the captain everyone knows she is. Her burning orange hair waves in the wind that fills the sails. She is the pirate queen. 

The galleon sails away from Sahara’s shores, off towards the deep ocean where Xisuma’s farm resides. Mumbo and Iskall start planning intricate redstone devices to take out the machine, and Cleo is hard at work ordering her ship and plotting the course. Red can’t help but clamber onto the bowsprit, the wood beam jutting out over the water. It’s dangerous to be out there, where one slip could mean plunging into the ocean. Even though Red can’t drown, the Juggernaut could hit her, and barnacles are sharp. 

She can’t help but watch the water as the ship cuts through the waves. Water parting ways and cradling the hull. It curls upward, before peaking and turning to whitecaps that escape in the wake. Red can feel the seaspray on her face, cool water cleansing her of negative thoughts and feelings. The ocean changes color depending on the depth, starting at a light blue among the shallow coral, deepening into a forest green, before navy blue takes precedence over the deep ocean. Yet each wave, each ripple is a different shade of the whole mosaic. It’s art, the ocean, and the ship is a paintbrush mixing colors across the canvas. 

“The others are talking about things way over my head, and I honestly just wanna be out of Cleo’s way. Mind if I join ya?” Red looks over their shoulder, seeing Grian standing precariously on the bowsprit. Red nods, and he takes a seat next to them. “We’ve met before. You scared the life out of me. I didn’t really hear anything you said, I just knew you were not happy to see me.” 

“Do you blame me? You were about to take a pickaxe to my home.” Red chuckles. 

“Iskall explained things to me. I feel really bad for that now. No hard feelings?” 

Red pauses, thinking for a moment. “Nah, hopefully things can be smooth sailing from now on.” Just as they say that, the boat hits a large wave. Grian clasps onto the wood for dear life, while Red grabs hold of line connected to the sails. “Though now that I know where you live, you might have trouble on your hands if you mess with my stuff.” 

“I don’t mind trouble. I’m usually the start of it as well.” The two look up to the distance, able to see Xisuma’s farm. The massive, star shaped angles float in the sky, like shards of glass floating down from the heavens. Grian can’t help but look at the build in awe. Red can’t help but growl with disgust. Xisuma’s massacre machine is simple, and powerful. And because of it’s simplicity, it’s almost impossible for Red to break it for long. 

“I always forget how incredible this all is. Just out here, in the middle of nowhere.” Mumbo states. The entire ship is quiet, observing the structure. 

“And you’re sure Xisuma is alright with us destroying the farm?” Cleo asks, leaning on the wheel to get a better view beyond the sails. 

“Well, we aren’t going to aim for all that.” Iskall points out. He looks to Red. “I think you know more about this than any of us. How is his farm built?” 

Grian and Red slide off the bowsprit, though they all look over the starboard side into the water. Red points below the surface. “All those walls are the...farm.” She frowns at calling it such a thing. She doesn’t think it’s like a farm. It doesn’t raise things, just kills what’s already there. It’s a butcher shop. “I’ve tried to destroy it before, but...uhh...it’s quite a hot project.” She shivers remembering the lava that would sometimes spill out, nearly catching her fins on fire. 

“I think Mumbo and I can mess with the redstone inside.” Iskall offers. Mumbo smiles, holding up a repeater board and vials of redstone dust. 

“I can fire on the outer walls, knock it down and hopefully stop the farm from running.” Cleo saunters to the group, nodding her head at the cannons all lined up and ready to fire. 

“And from there, Red and I can go in and make sure it stays off for good.” Grian finalizes.

“Hopefully we can save the guardians while we’re there.” Red adds.

“Won’t they fire their bubble lasers at us?” Grian makes a little noise for effect. 

“The ‘bubble lasers’ are the least of your worries.” Red states with a chuckle, clambering onto the side of the ship. Ready to get to work. “I’d be more worried about the lava if I were you.” 

The group disbands. Iskall and Mumbo take a headstart, rowing off in a shared boat into the entrance of Xisuma’s base. The two boys are giddy, feeling like real pirates infiltrating an enemy fortress. From the ship, Cleo can see the two disappear into the prismarine structure as she hangs from the rigging way up high. Below her, her crew scrambles to fill each and every cannon with gunpowder and a cannonball. They’re broadside with the base, and plan on making multiple trips around. Firing on the defenseless structure as low as possible. And on the stern of the ship, waiting for the signal, is the pair of troublemakers. Grian holds an assortment of material to keep from drowning, whether it’s a respiration enchanted turtle helmet or a few bottles of water breathing. Mother Cleo is not letting any crew perish on this trip, there will only be one zombie. 

A whistle cracks through the air, followed by a bright yellow burst of the firework high above sea level. Mumbo and Iskall are in, and getting to work together reconfiguring the redstone to leave a surprise. The Juggernaut fires with such force the boat recoils backwards, cannonballs flying into the water and busting through the sand. The sails fill and the ship begins to move again. But Grian and Red aren’t onboard anymore. 

They’ve jumped ship, swimming towards the destroyed sand wall that the Juggernaut leaves behind. Grian is painfully slow compared to Red, but they do manage to get to the remnants. Grian removes blocks that Cleo’s cannons didn’t break, before swimming lower to block out the dangerous lava below. He can’t help but wave to his fellow architechs through the glass. He’s not sure if they’re laughing or arguing, covered in redstone dust and making a terrifying machine of madness. Higher up, Red rips apart the stone that traps her guardian friends. The fish struggle against the current of the moving water, but Red manages to pull them free. 

That becomes the system. Cleo bombards the farm, Grian moves in to clean up, and Red frees the guardians from an untimely death. About halfway through, the pirates hear noteblocks going off. At first at irregular and changing times and tones. But as they continue, the music begins to become recognizable.

Dunnnn na. Dunnn na Dunna dunna duna dunadunadunadunadunaduna. Grian nearly spits out his water breathing potion while hearing the song. Onboard the Juggernaut, Cleo laughs. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!” 

The music stops after awhile, Iskall and Mumbo making their escape back to the ship. Cleo has also made a full circle of the base, raising the sails. The only people left in the attack are Grian and Red. Grian eventually swims back as well, taking a look at the pair’s work. “I think I have all the lava blocked off. No fish is getting cooked anymore.” 

“I want to do a lap, make sure no one is still stuck.” Red advises. Grian looks up at the surface, then nods and starts to rise. Red swims along the destruction, observing the pirate attack’s results. The current of the moving water is strong, but nothing she can’t handle. Every part of the sand wall has been removed, and repurposed to cover the lava below. No guardians are stuck in the remnants of the farm- except one. 

It’s a young guardian, still gaining the strength to swim. It’s little, about the size of a salmon. The guppy can’t escape the torrent of water. Red swims over, reaching out to tug the guardian to freedom. “It’s okay, sometimes you just gotta keep swimming. With a little help.” 

She pulls it to freedom, only to trade places. The current is strong, almost as strong as a magma block. Despite Red swimming up with all her strength, she’s losing ground. But what does it matter? Grian got all the lava, she can just let it push her to the bottom and swim out there. 

Except when Red looks down, it’s not sand below. Grian missed a few blocks here. The water starts to get hotter. Red attempts to surface as fast as he can, but it’s not match. This water was built for death, and he’s stuck in it. 

On the Juggernaut, the hermits have gone quiet. Grian thought Red was right behind him. There didn’t seem to be anymore guardians, so he should be back by now. Cleo is starting to go into her motherly mode. “Someone should check on him.”  

“I don’t have any more water breathing. Only my helmet.” Grian tugs the turtle shell off his head, blond hair flattened by the helmet. 

“I’ll look.” Iskall swipes the piece of armor, and clambers down the ladder to the water. The boat is still moving, so he grips the ropes tight and ducks his head under. At first he sees nothing, no sign of the kipling. Maybe he just left? But then Iskall spots him. Red is struggling, losing strength and a battle against the water current pushing him down. 

Down towards an uncovered patch of lava.  There are only two or three of those, sources that Grian didn’t realize existed. It’s separated from the water, so falling in is a death sentence. It was built to kill. Iskall gasps as he resurfaces, scrambling up the side of the ship to the deck. “Red’s stuck, being pulled into a part of the farm still active.” 

“We need to save them.” Cleo demands. She starts to clamber over the railing, but Iskall pulls her back to the deck. 

“Red can’t manage to swim through that on their own, how are we supposed to be able to? We need a different plan.” Iskall observes the deck. Mumbo pulls out his remaining stock of redstone, Grian shifts through stacks of sand. They don’t have much time. But it’s Grian’s clever little mind that comes up with an idea. 

Below the water, Red is getting exhausted. No matter how hard she swims, she can’t escape. A part of her is glad that she was the one to get caught, because a human could not withstand such a current. At least her new friends aren’t trapped here. The lava below is getting closer, and Red’s muscles scream for her to give up, to let go. To stop postponing what seems inevitable now. Of all the ways for Red to perish, she never expected to die in these damned guardian farms. 

She can’t fight any longer. She can’t get her arms to push, her legs to kick. Red becomes dead weight, and the current pulls her faster towards the seafloor. Towards the lava. She can see the surface, the sunlight refracting the light above her into broken shafts. The water at her back keeps getting warmer, closer and closer to her demise. And in all of this? She accepts her fate. She saved her family, other guardians by tearing this down. She closes her eyes, letting the water sweep her away. 

An explosion can be heard, muffled from above the surface. The sound of water splashing, pushed out of the way of some solid. Red collides into the seafloor, the jolt snapping her eyes open. She slips out of the water current, pushed along the seafloor. Away from where lava was. Was. Now it’s filled with sand, and the flowing water harmlessly pushes her out of the way. 

She’s alive. Red breathes in, not thinking she’d have the chance to do that again. All she can do right now is lay on the sand and breathe in the water. She watches as an anchor is lowered down, and crawls onto the heavy metal. Red holds on with what little strength she has left, practically collapsing onto the wooden deck as soon as she can. Whatever the hermits are saying, she can’t hear them. She just needs to breathe, and remind herself that she’s still alive. 

“Wha-what did you do?” Red finally manages to ask. Cleo wraps a blanket around him, and hands off a cup of tea. 

“Iskall saw you were having trouble, so we devised a plan.” Cleo states. “Or, well, Grian did.” 

“We pooled our resources together. Iskall and Mumbo took one of Cleo’s cannons and modified it to shoot sand blocks that I had.” Grian nods his head over to the contraption. Redstone is all over the deck in a haphazard way, in no way compact or pretty. 

“You did all that for me?” Red questions. 

“We weren’t just going to let you die. Hermits stick together. I’m sorry we couldn’t put it together faster.” 

“No, no. Don’t be.” Red looks at them all, and smiles. “I’m just glad to not be a fried fish.” 

The whole crew stares for a second, before realizing it’s a joke. Grian laughs first, bubbling up into a throaty laugh. Mumbo and Cleo realize soon after, and Iskall breathes out his laugh last. “Let’s get back to shore,” Mumbo states. “I don’t want to be here when Xisuma arrives and starts hearing the Jaws music but doesn’t know where it’s coming from. And every other surprise we left.”

[moveslikebuckywrites]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Slow Show - mia_ugly Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Erasmus/William (Warlock - Slow Show) Characters: William (Warlock - Slow Show), Erasmus (Warlock - Slow Show), Joshua (Warlock), Julia Chattox, Harry the Rabbit (Warlock) Additional Tags: fireside contemplations, introspective, gratuitous thoughts about stitching, idk what else to tag this with, Warlock (TV), mia_ugly's Slow Show Universe

It’s real angst hours in here today my friends.  Have y’all noticed that Harry the Rabbit is the same color and pattern as the tunic Erasmus wears in season 1 (but randomly changes to a green one in season 2)? Because I DID.

Here be sad about a stuffed rabbit.

mandatory @averyfell tag

Deep in the woods, under cover of the snowy pines, William and Joshua rest with Arthur near a crackling fire. The cold is seeping into their bones and the lack of food is starting to weigh heavy on William’s mind.

That, and other things.

Splitting up had been the right thing to do, but that hadn’t made it any easier.  Not for the first few days where all Joshua could do was cry for Erasmus or Julia, but mainly for Erasmus.  It’s hard for a small child to understand; sometimes hard things must be done, sometimes people have to leave for a while.

William has never been good with children, and he’d been against this decision from the get-go.  But Erasmus had the experience and Julia’s spells would be needed while they searched for the other half of the prophecy, so it fell to him to look after the child.

William loved Joshua, of course, that went without saying.  He just had no experience when it came to entertaining children; even after so long on the run with Joshua he never seemed to connect.

At least the boy had Harry.  He loved that silly little rabbit, almost as much as he loved Erasmus.

William feels a shiver run up his spine and pulls his robes tighter around himself.  They’ll need to find real shelter soon. It’s still the early days of winter, but the dark depths of it are coming at them faster than can be ignored.  He looks over at the boy, curled up and sleeping in the fur of that Godsend of a dog, clutching his little toy rabbit close.

William doesn’t often get a good look at the little thing.  It’s very nice, though, surprisingly so, a soft burgundy twill with linen for the lining in the ears.  Joshua rarely lets it out of his sight. The only times he does, he’ll take it to Erasmus and shove little ‘Harry’ towards him.  “Watch rabbit,” is all the small boy says. He never gives the toy to anyone else.

Erasmus had been the one to give it to him, showing up in camp one day with the stuffed toy.  Tossing it to the boy like it was nothing.  

When William had asked, Erasmus had said he’d stolen it from a shop in town.  The priest had wanted to berate him for it but couldn’t bring himself to when he saw how quickly Joshua was taken with it.

He is staring at Joshua and the dog now, musing his thoughts, when the boy shifts in his sleep.  The boy’s grip loosens and little Harry falls into the dirt.

William shakes his head and stoops to pick up the toy.  He pauses, turning the bunny over in his hands. It’s hard to tell in the firelight, but he could swear the deep burgundy material is diamond twill…

…

“Keep up, priest, come on then!” Erasmus yelled over his shoulder, “Haven’t you ever climbed a hill before?”

William didn’t know how they moved so fast.  Julia was far ahead at this point and the priest was sure carrying Joshua was the only thing slowing Erasmus down at all.  Sometimes he still had a twinge of doubt about this whole thing.

When Julia had arrived at his parish begging sanctuary, he hadn’t hesitated.  When Erasmus had, reluctantly, joined up with them, he had been apprehensive. Erasmus never truly seemed to care; more of a mercenary type.  If the conman didn’t owe them a debt of gratitude for saving him, William didn’t think he’d stick around at all. When they had come to the conclusion that the village was no longer safe for them, he’d begun to doubt.  He’d grown quite attached to the small boy, and knew this prophecy was bigger than any one of them could tackle on their own. But leaving his village, leaving home. That was difficult.

His faith was in flux.  Not his faith in the Lord, of course, that he was steadfast in.  But the Church there was the rub of it.

And he doubted himself.  Would he really be of any use?  What if it came to blows? What could a soft old priest hope to accomplish against armored inquisitorial guards?  Erasmus’ teasing only served to remind him if they were to be captured, it would ultimately be his fault.

He opened his mouth to tell Erasmus such but was stopped by a loud yelp.

Joshua had gotten fussy and decided he’d rather be with Julia, and in his attempt to clamber off Erasmus’ shoulders he’d knocked them both tumbling down the hill.  Julia saw to Joshua as William helped Erasmus to his feet.

“Are you alright, dear boy?” William asked as Erasmus grumbled.

“Damn urchin knocked me over,” Erasmus shouted, picking twigs and leaves out of his long red hair, “no bloody respect around here!”

“He’s two, what’s he supposed to know about respect?” Julia asked while seeing to Joshua’s very minor wounds.

“Well still, ought not to climb around so much.” The mercenary stalked off, shouting behind him, “Gonna get someone hurt one of these days!”

Julia shot William an exasperated look.  The priest just shrugged and made to follow Erasmus.  He caught up quickly, finding him pacing in a circle and cursing.

“You know,” William said softly, not wanting to spook the man, “Joshua could’ve been hurt a lot worse.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone did their best to make sure they took the brunt of the fall instead of the wee fellow.”

Erasmus shot him a glare, which was met with a knowing smile.

“Don’t get any ideas, priest,” Erasmus said, pointing an accusatory finger at him, “I’m out for one person and one person alone.  Me. Myself. Just the one, end of discussion. I’ll not have a bloody man of the goddamned cloth tarnishing my hard-won reputation.”

William raised his hands in a gesture of deference, willing to let the man believe whatever he felt like.  However, William prided himself as a judge of character, not one to be put off by brazen displays of aloofness.  No, Erasmus most definitely was a soft touch at heart. William was sure he deeply cared for the boy. Nothing Erasmus could say would convince him otherwise.

“Ah SHIT , stupid little gremlin!” Erasmus shouted, breaking William from his thoughts.

“You hear me back there!” Erasmus shouted towards the witch and the boy, “You’re done for!  Do you even know how expensive diamond twill is? How hard I had to work for something as nice as this!”

His deep burgundy tunic had been ripped almost completely, ruined as it were.  William rewrote his inner thoughts a bit; maybe he was off. Maybe Erasmus was just what he said he was.

Erasmus went to stalk off again but stopped noticing the look on William’s face.

“What are you looking at, priest?” he hissed in William’s face, “I’ll be back, I just need to go be pissed off for a minute.”

“Understandable, it was a very nice tunic.” William said dryly, not bothering to hide the edge in his voice.  He watched Erasmus stalk off further into the woods.

…

William had been wrong to jump to that snap judgement, of course, as he knows now.  But that can’t possibly be the same burgundy diamond twill of Erasmus’ old tunic, he must be mistaken.

But there it is, this pattern and this fabric.  From the tunic that had been ruined two years ago.

This is silly.  Ridiculous. Absolute nonsense.  He has to be going mad if he’s getting this distracted about the origins of a stuffed rabbit.  His paramount duty is to protect the boy, not get caught up in a bunch of what-if nonsense that doesn’t really matter.  And that’s the crux, isn’t it? Why does this matter? Why can’t he shake it?

He doesn’t put the rabbit down, just keeps turning it over in his hands.  It’s soft and worn from being well loved.

The stitching on the ears makes him stop; an odd looping thing.  As he runs a finger over it William is sure he’s seen that before as well…

…

They had made camp near a river, about four months after leaving the village.  They wouldn’t stay long; they never did. Just enough to sleep, maybe to eat a bit.  William had proven to himself that he could be useful and managed to catch a couple of trout (don’t say he never learned anything from his father, not that he ever tried to teach him much).

The smell of the fish roasting over the campfire was drifting through the air and everyone was in good spirits.  Julia was playing with Joshua, keeping him distracted and away from the fire. The two-year-old had developed a habit of grabbing anything within arm’s reach, and it wouldn’t do for him to go grabbing hot fish and burning himself.  Erasmus had wandered off some time ago.

“Julia, my dear, will you keep an eye on the fish for me?” William said, standing and wiping his hands off on his knees, “It’s almost ready, I’m just going to pop off for a bit and find where Erasmus ran off to.”

He followed the river, retracing the steps he saw Erasmus take earlier.  It didn’t take long to find him. He was sitting on a log on the riverside, tunic (a new one, in a deep forest green) draped over a branch1.  He was fiddling with the hem of a spare linen undershirt.

“Are you sewing?” William said, slightly surprised.

“Yea, gotta keep things in order somehow,” Erasmus said as he laid stitches along the hem. “These things wear out, can’t really go around getting new ones.”

“No, I suppose not,” William said as he watched Erasmus’ hands, deftly moving the needle to and fro, in and out.  

It was obviously a well-practiced skill.  William remembered the nuns, when he was still learning the priesthood, taking the time to darn socks that were wearing out rather than replacing them.  Vows of poverty and all that. They would work so quickly you almost couldn’t keep up if you watched. It was soothing. Sister Loquacious tried to teach him once.  It hadn’t gone well.

Erasmus’ needle moved with precision, even if the stitch looked rather odd.  There was the usual straight stitch he was used to seeing, but then he would pass the needle through loops he made at the edge.  Very odd, compared to anything in William’s small knowledge of sewing.

“Where did you learn to do that?” William asked, voice soft and almost a whisper.  One might mistake it for reverent if one were listening.

“Don’t really wanna talk about it, if it’s all the same,” Erasmus said as he finished his stitch.

“Right, of course,” William watched as Erasmus took his tunic down from the branch. “Dinner is almost ready, thought I’d come find you.  You know how Julia is, we’ll be lucky to have any left when we get back.”

“Ha,” Erasmus scoffed, “Right, because she’s the one who goes through our stores.  Don’t think I haven’t seen you sneaking around at night through the rucksacks, priest.”

They both caught the scent of fire-cooked fish wafting towards them.  Erasmus sauntered in the direction of camp with William following close behind.

A few weeks later, Erasmus had shown up in their camp and tossed a burgundy rabbit at Joshua, who immediately named it Harry.

…

That loop stitching is familiar.  It adorns so many things of his and Julia’s now, where Erasmus has volunteered to fix them.  And here it is, unmistakable, along the ears of this rabbit.

William feels something warm bloom in his heart.  His feelings, this infatuation for Erasmus has been bubbling for a while, no matter how hard he tries to stomp them back down.  His justification has always been that Erasmus is not in this for them, in the long run. The man had told him straight out. Erasmus does things for himself and no one else, no matter how false the priest knew that to be in his heart.

But this was unmistakable.  Sewing a toy rabbit for a scared child.  Sewing it out of his own ruined clothes. How long had Erasmus held onto that ruined tunic?  How long did it take him to make it?

William feels tears start to prickle at the corners of his eyes and holds back a sob.  It feels like something is cracking open inside of him, and when whatever it is spills out, he’ll never be able to put it back.

He misses Erasmus.

He’s alone in the woods with only a small boy and a dog, doing his best to keep them all safe, and he misses Erasmus so much that it physically hurts him.  This is a new feeling to William; attachments like this weren’t allowed in the priesthood.

He remembers the dream he had, almost a year ago now (though not a day goes by that it doesn’t haunt him).  The soft brush of lips on his, that euphoric feeling of being home ripped away so suddenly by the coming of daybreak.

William sits by a campfire, holding a small burgundy rabbit in his hands.

William sits by a campfire and heaves a sigh, hugging said rabbit the same way a small child would.  The same way a small child does almost every day.

William is in love.

He’s in love with Erasmus, and he’s finally admitting this to himself.

And there’s no going back now.

---

1 - He stole it, of course.  Can't expect a conman to go around paying for nice tunics.

[lizord-lord]

(I AM!!! NOT DEAD!!! I STILL!!! WRITE!! Or at least I like to think I do. I got stuck on multiple parts of this chapter, and just buckled down and finished it last night, and it ended up being the longest chapter yet, not to mention entirely fucking over my outline. Hopefully more updates will come sooner, but given..everything about me, don’t count on it. But I am SUPER excited to bring you this chapter, so enjoy!! And thank you to @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2​ for beta reading/ feeding my tiny gremlin ego.)

Ships: Royality

Word count: 6,585

Summary: Patton’s always believed there’s more the the world than meets the eye. Or at least-meets others’ eyes..his own have always seen glimpses of shimmer in the bushes, colors in the breeze, movement in the shadows.It was only distant hope-until a day of exploration in the woods led him to become acquainted with a pair of Fae twins. They call themselves Truth and Lies… But does he really know which is which?

Warnings: brief body image issues, sympathetic deceit

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Will O’ The Wisp, Chapter Three

I say you intrigue me, bright as you are

Work was torture. Not because Patton disliked his job-far from it, he enjoyed watching people splash color onto cups and plates and little figurines.  And even working at the kiln wasn’t too bad-though hot, but it was summer in Florida, so that wasn’t too much of an issue. He was pretty used to the heat at this point. It being summer, of course, there were more customers, which meant more hectic days, but this specific establishment was run by a very nice lady named Via who believed in the workplace being a friendly environment for all involved. And her wife Esther always brought donuts on Wednesdays, so there was that too. Even if Patton had stopped partaking lately. So overall, it was a pretty nice job. 

No, Patton’s suffering was not at all employment-based, but rather, patience-based. How was he supposed to just stand around doing normal person work when he, Patton, just a few hours ago, had met faeries?? It was taking all of his self-control to not bounce on his toes and begin to gush on about that magnificent experience to every one of his coworkers and the customers to boot!

Luckily, he managed not to. Roman might share his joy when they both got home, but the general populous wouldn’t, and Patton knew that they wouldn’t, and furthermore he did not want all his work friends thinking he was crazy. Heck, half of them already thought he was for refusing Esther’s donuts! Okay, maybe that wasn’t quite the same thing. 

Nevertheless, by some very human miracle, he managed to make it through the day with only the occasional comment about how he had more energy than normal. Which was fine. He managed to be his usual outgoing self without too much suspicious activity up until clock-out, where he ditched his uniform as quickly as possible and hopped on his brand new baby pink bike with so much gusto that he very nearly fell flat on his face. In fact he likely would have, had Elliot not also decided to bike to work today. They caught him just in time, tugging him back to his feet by the shoulders. In an effort to play off his near-death (okay, maybe not quite that bad) Patton laughed, but he was sure that between his face and hair, he looked entirely the same color.

“Thanks,” he said, slightly breathless. Elliot rolled their eyes, but there was a fond smile on their face. “Yeah, no problem Patt. Pretty sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want you faceplanting into the pavement.” “Oh for sure- if you hadn’t been there I would have been Splatt-on!”

Patton beamed as Elliot sighed.

“Take it back, you can perish on the floor for all I care.” “Aw, C’mon, it’s not that-” “Nope.” They held up a hand, face deadpan. Patton only giggled. “I am not letting you get a combo in there. How’s the new place?” “Oh!” Puns forgotten (much to the very sun’s relief) Patton brightened, brushing a few stray curls out of his eyes.

“It’s lovely! Even moving in was a blast, it’s just so...homey, y’know? Like something out of a storybook. And the woods! There’s this forest out back you see, and it has the most beautiful little stream, and the trees are huge, and- oh gosh you won’t believe this-”

He caught himself just in time. No! Bad Patton! God, was his mouth really that big? He just couldn’t wait, he’d had this massive revelation bottled up inside all day, and he’d almost been that careless? “What?” “Oh-” thinking quickly, Patton swung his leg back up onto his bike and made a bit of show of being careful to buy himself another two seconds. “I found this strawberry patch! Yeah, maybe I’ll pick some and Ro and I can make strawberry shortcake this weekend!”

Phew. Elliot tilted their head, clearly interested, but didn’t add anything until Patton was done putting on his helmet. “Sounds like a fun time. I won’t keep you any longer- I’ve been late to too many shifts already, now you get back to your man!” They laughed good-naturedly and gave a small wave as they headed inside the shop, and Patton grinned back over his shoulder before taking off down the road.

                                                           *

“Oh there you are my sunlight, my world is golden and warm again!” Patton laughed at his boyfriend’s dramatic, but routine greeting. And on par with that routine, he shut the door, dropped his keys in the little dish that they had put on the windowsill nest to the door, and let Roman sweep him into his strong arms, giggling as they kissed with way more passion necessary for people who had only been apart for about eight hours. If there was any perk to not have or be visiting Virgil constantly, it was that he wasn’t there to loudly call them gross and chuck a pillow, stuffed animal, blanket, comic book, magazine, tissue box, or on one occasion of extreme sleep-deprivation, his cat SV- at their faces.

They separated eventually, both giggling, and Roman set Patton down with a slight “oof.”

“Roman you won’t believe what I saw in the woods today!! Faeries Roman, I met real faeries!!”

The words spilled out of Patton’s mouth before anything else-even a hello, nearly squealing the last words in his pure excitement. 

He felt Roman’s hands go still in his, a look of pure shock spreading over his boyfriend’s face. An expression that soon morphed from shock to disbelief, then hope, and then an excitement so strong that Patton was sure that, if they were cartoon characters, his eyes would have turned into stars. Patton laughed, and then Roman laughed, and they gripped each other’s hands tight- and before long they were dancing like children in a little ring, laughing and squealing, because faeries were real and they lived in their backyard!!!

“Tell me everything!!” Roman exclaimed breathlessly once they had finally run out of energy and stopped the gleeful dance, and Patton nodded wildly, grinning so hard it hurt his cheeks as he dragged Roman to the couch, bouncing on the white cushion in his poorly-contained joy.

“Okay so- after you left I hung around a bit, and then I got bored, so I headed out to the woods y’know? It wasn’t really as fun without you at first, so I ended up back by that tree we saw last time. Beautiful tree, I think it looked even prettier in the morning! Oh- but anyway I think I fell asleep for a bit- and then I was hearing these voices, so I stood up and turned around- and when I did- faeries!!”

“How many?” Roman asked eagerly, his eyes sparkling, “How big were they? Did they have wings? Were they butterfly wings or like- insect wings? Or petals? What were they like?” Patton shook his head quickly, but the smile never left his face. “No, no wings- they were actually your height I think, maybe taller? But they were beautiful Roman, the way they moved- they were like dancers, or acrobats..it was amazing. But they talked to me, and we introduced ourselves- I’ll tell Virgil not to worry, I didn’t give my full name- but they’re called Truth and Lies, and they’re brothers! Well, sorta..they’re cursed you see- well, I think- Truth can only tell the truth and Lies can only lie, so they talk a little weird, and sometimes it’s just wind? Anyway- they said I could see them again tomorrow!!”

And just like that, Roman deflated.

“...I have a shift tomorrow..” he moaned, sparkle fading from his eyes like a puppy who had just had its favorite treat thrown in the trash. “Oh. Well-” Patton quickly squeezed his hands, worry flashing over his face- oh dear, in his excitement he’d forgotten, “Don’t worry- if they’re okay with meeting up tomorrow I’m sure they’ll be okay with showing up on Friday, right?”

“..right.” 

“I’ll tell them you want to meet them okay? They’re really friendly, I’m sure they’ll be okay with it! Plus, who wouldn’t want to meet such a charming prince?” Smiling, Patton leaned in to nuzzle Roman’s nose, which caused his boyfriend to let out a high-pitched squeal. And then a bout of giggles, which Patton soon found himself mirroring as Roman’s hands cupped his round cheeks and he began to pepper kisses over every single freckle. And then finally, his mouth landed on Patton’s, and the kisses turned from feather-light and playful to slow and sweet. By the time they separated, the immediate concern had been forgotten, and somehow Patton had ended up on Roman’s lap. Neither of them minded this, however. 

In fact, for a few minutes they just sat there in the light of the sun streaming through the window, with Roman’s arms slung around Patton’s middle- until Roman’s stomach rumbled.

“So….Chinese tonight, Rosebud?” he suggested- then pouted when Patton frowned and firmly shook his head. It wasn’t dinnertime quite yet, but Patton was hungry too, and with their slightly uncoordinated work schedules, he and Roman often ended up eating early, so food was something to be thinking about. However, despite his enjoyment for Chinese takeout, a more disciplined part of Patton’s brain rejected the suggestion.

“No, we had pizza last night Ro- and I made waffles this morning! We should get something healthier, at least make something ourselves?”

“Oh, alright, fine,” Roman sighed, though he was milking the disappointment a bit. “How about...enchiladas?”

Patton smiled conspiratorially at that, then rose from the couch and turned, trading out the expression for his most over-the-top stern look, placing his hands on his hips to really sell the bit. “Are you going to going to spill the sauce all over the counter and then draw a dog with it instead of cleaning it up again, young man?” “Nooooo?” Roman laughed, putting on his best “innocent face”, which made him laugh, and then Patton laughed, and Roman jumped up from the couch and took Patton’s hand, tugging him towards the kitchen. “I promise, no enchilada sauce masterpieces on the counter!”

The enchiladas went without incident (well, except for Patton dropping a bowl on the floor, but nothing was spilled and nothing broke, so it was fine) and soon the couple was seated together at the table, happily eating. It was well into the evening now, and Roman had been recounting work stories. Mostly bitching about this one lady who had come in with her seven-year-old son (which was fine as long as he didn’t break anything) and upon Roman coming up to her to ask if she was finding everything she needed, glared at him, covered her son’s eyes, and backed out of the store as if he was some ghoul asking if he could eat her child’s heart rather than a store employee just doing his job. Patton was listening intently and offering his full support in the rant, and Roman had just started to list all the other times people had been horrified to see a man in makeup working at a beauty store- when the doorbell rang.

That was odd. They weren’t expecting anyone, Virgil wasn’t the type to show up out of the blue and for that matter- neither were most of their friends. It could be the mailman, but that was unlikely, so that really didn’t leave much. Then again, after this morning, the oddness of the doorbell ringing when no one was expected seemed like nothing. Nevertheless, Patton quickly pushed back his chair and stood, Roman following, and opened the door.

Before them stood a friendly-looking man in perhaps his late thirties or early forties, with pinkish-purple hair and a tan sweater. He looked a tad surprised that they’d answered the door, but waved, then held out a hand to shake.

“Heyo! So you’re our guests for the summer, hm? Nice to meet you, I’m Emile Picani.”

“Oh!” This must be one of their neighbors. Patton took his hand and shook it, then offered a large smile and stepped back slightly.

“Sorry, we weren’t really expecting any visitors- I’m Patton Sanders, and this-” “Roman Prince, delighted to make your acquaintance.”  Patton rolled his eyes playfully at the little bow his boyfriend offered their neighbor before taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

“My boyfriend,” Patton finished with a sigh, slightly relieved at the way Emile laughed at said boyfriend’s antics. “Why don’t you come in?”

“Oh no, I just wanted to say hello, I shouldn’t be intruding-” “Nonsense!” Roman proclaimed. “We were just finishing up dinner, and it’s always good to get to know your neighbors, right?” “Well..if you’re alright with it, I suppose.” 

He stepped inside and Roman closed the door behind him. Patton quickly excused himself to clean up their dinner dishes, and before long they were all seated in the little living room area, Roman and Patton together on the couch and Emile in a white wicker rocking chair.

“So where are you two coming from?” Emile asked.

“Oh, not far,” Roman replied. “I’ve been around, but my family moved to Portsmount city when I was sixteen, and dear Patton has lived there all his life.” “That’s right! I’d always really wanted to see some country, so we figured rather than renting a place together we could try somewhere a little more rural for the summer and..y’know, see how we liked it!” “Aww, how sweet,” chuckled Emile “Though I wouldn’t call our little spot of town country really.” “Well it’s pretty close to me!”

“Fair. Suppose I’m kind of the same myself in a way- I’ve lived here all my life. Makes the commute a bit of a pain, but the view is worth it.” “You have?” Roman asked, leaning forward a bit with interest. “Got any stories to tell?”

He was grinning slightly, and Emile laughed again, though it was a bit high-pitched.

“Oh, plenty, but if I recounted all of them we’d be here all night. Maybe I can humor you another time?” “Of course,” Patton replied. “Plus, most of them aren’t really the town’s, if that’s what you’re after. Dare I say it’s not really too eventful a place, but it’s pretty darn homey.”

“Seems that way..” Patton’s voice trailed off almost dreamily, but his eyes sparkled- not an eventful place? He’d never heard anything less true.

“So what do you two do?”

“Well I, am an actor!” Roman proclaimed, puffing out his chest slightly, “But in between shows I’m just a Sephora cast member for now.” “An actor? My my, that’s wonderful! Though I can’t say I’m surprised, you definitely have the attitude.” Roman beamed at the compliment, while Emile turned his sights on Patton. “And what about you?” “Oh, I work at Color Me Mine.” “Color Me Mine?” he tilted his head, confused, “Can’t say I’ve heard of that place.” Patton just waved a hand, unbothered. Most people didn’t know where he worked. “It’s a shop where people can come and paint their own ceramics- bowls, plates, figurines-that sort of thing.” “Creative types then?” “Mhm!” Emile pushed his glasses up his nose. “Well our little spot is going to be lucky to have you then! I’m a therapist myself. Shame I can’t have my office out here, I think a natural environment can really help clear the mind and make sessions easier. But it’s obviously too far.”

“You can say that again,” Roman snorted. “Our friend Virgil still lives in the city and most of his texts so far have been asking if we’re dead. I’m only half-certain that he’s joking…” “I’m sure we’ll get him out here for a visit sooner or later,” Patton assured.   

“Sounds like you’ve got a mom friend experiencing empty nest syndrome,” Emile joked, and they all laughed.

“Virge means well, he’s just a bit uh..” Patton rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, Ro and I can be a bit crazy when left alone, he’s normally kinda a voice of reason for us.” “Ah, I see.”

“Speaking of friends,” Patton began, eager to keep the conversation flowing- he liked Emile, wanted to keep speaking with him. “Have you got any around here?” Emile let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “No, not around here. There aren’t really too many people here anyway- not on the edge of the country at least. Most of the people I know live up in Vaybury proper.” 

Vaybury was the actual town they were staying in- well, technically. Houses trickled off once you got out of the main area of town, and the house Roman and Patton were staying in was on Becker Street, pretty much the last real street before you hit real country, and there were only about six or seven houses on it. Some of them weren’t even occupied. So what Emile said made sense, though it disappointed Patton somewhat.

Their chatting continued for another ten minutes or so, pleasantries and enjoyable-if shallow, small talk, before Emile announced he was grateful for their hospitality and happy to make their acquaintance, but he should be getting back home. But of course, Patton being Patton and Emile seeming to have similar traits of good-natured talkativeness, they had ended up continuing the conversation with Emile leaning by the doorway. Roman had just finished up telling the story of all the hoops they’d had to jump through to even be able to see this place, and Patton picked up right when he finished with their first impressions.

“You can see why we picked this place,” Patton laughed, gesturing to the rosebud wallpaper. It was very 1950s, but when Roman saw it he had picked Patton up and teased him about how he was all over the house already- and Patton had giggled and blushed as pink as the little flowers themselves. But he didn’t reiterate that part to Emile, it seemed a bit too personal. “It’s just beautiful, and the view is gorgeous- I know it seems a bit silly but it was kind of the home I always pictured living in as a child..” he ducked his head slightly, brushing vermillion curls from his eyes, but their neighbor smiled along with him.

“You can see why I just had to insist,” Roman said with a large smile, wrapping his arms around Patton’s middle and making him squeak, “My dear sunlight was shining like his namesake when we finally got here- not to mention on our walk in the woods! Though I doubt I was much better,” he chuckled, “That forest is just magical, is it not? I swear I was certain we’d come across Rapunzel’s tower any minute!” But Emile frowned at that statement.

“You...went into the woods? For how long?” “Oh, only an hour or so,” Roman responded, waving a hand, “At least when I was there anyway-Patton was telling me all about his adventure this morning as soon as I got home!”

“You went alone into the forest?” 

Patton nodded- and for a moment he was afraid Emile would be angry- or that there was some terrible danger there that the fey hadn’t warned him of..but Emile only looked concerned. He sighed, pushing horn-rimmed glasses up his nose. “I...wouldn’t do that if I were you. The fringes are usually fine, but the deeper you go- well, there are wild boar in there. Not a good place for visitors, or locals for that matter.” He shook his head and placed one hand on the door frame, stepping out into the evening sun.

Roman and Patton shared a glance, and after a moment Patton stepped out of his boyfriend’s arms and offered the concerned man a small smile.

“We’ll keep that in mind- thank you. And it was great meeting you!” “You too,” Emile replied, giving them one last friendly nod, before he stepped down the path and Patton closed the door behind him.

They stood in those positions, staring at the door, until Roman voiced what was going through both of their heads. “...Do you think he knows?” “I...I don’t know.” Patton’s voice was quiet, his gaze cast to the floor. “He could.” “Perhaps you could ask them tomorrow?” “Oh- yeah, I can.” 

There was a moment of silence. “I’m sure it’s nothing though,” Patton assured. But only the air would relax at the words, because though both of them nodded, neither of them would really take the comment to heart.

                                                             *

It rained the next morning. Not a light drizzle either, but the heavy summer rain- Patton left the house swaddled in a bright blue raincoat, his hands shoved in his pockets. It felt better once he got into the woods, but the branches would often bow under the weight of the rainwater and dump hundreds of drops down onto is head. Despite his hood, by the time Patton reached the clearing the fey had appeared in, his red curls were plastered to his face and his glasses were completely fogged over.

He honestly wasn’t sure if Truth and Lies would appear today, with this weather...but he wasn’t going to assume anything. The massive oak that stood proud in the center of the clearing, to Patton’s relief, was tall, dense, and wide enough that it didn’t seem to be showering the ground with droplets, so Patton found a relatively dry root to perch on and pushed back his hood, shaking the water from his hair like a puppy.

He unzipped the raincoat too, just enough so that he could use the hem of his faded pink shirt to clean away the moisture from his glasses and slip them back on- and then jolted backwards in shock, smacking his head against the trunk of the oak and letting out a yelp of pain, for there were the two faeries, hanging from a branch by their knees and twisted together like a butterfly’s cocoon, both pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

“Oh, Patton!” 

With his eyes closed, he couldn’t be sure as to whose petal-soft fingertips lifted up his chin before sliding around to feel among his wet curls for any sort of bump on the back of his head, but judging by the silky tone, it was Lies. “We don’t offer any apologies for startling you so..that looked comfortable.” Definitely Lies. Patton opened his eyes, still seeing flecks of sparkle at the edge of his vision- ow, that was going to swell most likely- to see the green fey only inches from his face, with Truth just a little farther away, his hands placed on the root right next to Patton’s right thigh and leaning  over his shoulder. Instantly, Patton’s cheeks flushed, and he let out another squeak, this time one of embarrassment. 

“No! No it’s okay, just a little bump- clumsy me really, not your fault, it happens all the time!” “Are you certain?” Patton’s nodded vigorously, and to his relief the two moved back a bit, sitting down on a raised root opposite him. Not that he minded their presence, it just...it surprised him, and despite his friendly nature having such fantastical creatures only inches from his nose- it just- it was scary! Not because he was scared of them, of course, it just...it felt like they were looking right through him.

“Well...that’s good. We almost thought you wouldn’t come. What with the rain and all. I find most humans prefer not to go out in such weather.” “Oh- I wouldn’t miss it!” Patton quickly exclaimed, “I mean, sure the rain’s kind of a pain, but that’s why I have a coat!” “That’s good,” Truth smiled, “We’re glad you’re here.”

“Of course- what was I going to do, watch TV instead of meeting with faeries?” The notion was ridiculous- Patton laughed, and the two fey added their musical giggling to the mix of sound. Patton felt a spark of pride for getting them to laugh.

“True, true, but you must remember that of course not everyone is willing to accept our existence.”

“Right.” Patton..he felt bad for those people. Those who refused to accept there might be childlike wonders in the world..maybe he got called immature or gullible for his willingness to accept the fantastical- but that was fine. Their loss.

“So..Patton.” He was jolted out of his musings by Lies’s smooth voice, and looked up, to see the green fey tapping his glimmering cheek.

“What do you think of that tour?” “Tour? Oh-OH!” Patton flushed, embarrassed at his absentmindedness, “Of the woods?” “No.” “Um...well, I don’t really think I should. Don’t want to lose track of time, y’know?” They just blinked.

Patton shifted on the damp root, suddenly self conscious, and looking for a subject change- when he remembered the conversations of the previous evening.

“Nevermind- actually, I kind of wanted to ask you two something?” “Of course,” replied Truth, leaning forward a smidge as both tilted their heads. Patton brushed a hand through his wet curls, trying to push them back into something that made him look a little less like a drowned poodle.

“Well..Roman really wants to meet you, but he couldn’t actually come today- but he’s free on Friday...so if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I was kind of hoping maybe we could meet then too? So he could meet you?” The words came out in a bit of a rush, and when Patton looked up almost sheepishly, he was met with the sight of the two fey sharing another one of their odd looks. 

“That sounds terrible Patton..” Lies said with a smile, after a moment of that silent discussion, “Was that all?” “Ye- no! No, there was actually one other thing..” bringing up Emile felt..more invasive. But he’d promised Roman he’d ask..and he was horribly curious himself.

“Our..new neighbor came over last night. He’s really nice- but it kind of ended on a..not-so-good note. He warned us to stay out of the woods.” “Well of course, none of the humans who’ve settled here find themselves afraid of the forest,” Lies dismissed, waving a hand and leaning onto Truth’s shoulder. Judging by the blue fey’s expression (hard to read as it was) he didn’t seem to think this anything important either. “...Well yeah- but you know, we were just a little worried that he knew something- you don’t know an Emile, do you?” He felt a bit bad, possibly giving out part of someone else’s name..but it’s not like he could just describe him right? They had to have seen so many people.

“Emile?” Truth frowned, tapping his delicate fingers on Lies’s knee, “No, I don’t remember any human by that name in recent years..” “I definitely remember him.”

Patton felt his shoulders relax slightly- and a laugh escaped his throat. “Of course- I knew it was probably silly, but I just wanted to check.” “Of course, cautiousness pays off well.”

“You sound like Virgil,” Patton chuckled. Well, Virgil would have phrased it more like “People can call you paranoid, but they won’t be laughing when you’re stocked for the apocalypse and they aren't.”

He missed Virgil..

“Well then Virgil must be immensely intelligent,” Lies commented, holding out one hand in front of his face, observing his nails- and Patton almost frowned. Lies’s odd opposite-speak was a bit hard to adjust to, true, but Patton caught on quick- and he swore the fey had just called his friend stupid! “Hey, he’s n-” But Patton was cut off by the sound of Lies’s laughter as Truth, his face pinched with offense, pushed the green fey off of the root and onto the slightly muddy grass. Lies let out a shriek, his laughter turning to something of disgust as he leapt to his feet and quickly brushed the mud from leaflike skin. And Patton suddenly felt immensely silly for jumping to conclusions, as he realized that Lies was in fact, taunting his brother. But he also didn’t really blame himself- years of going to bat for his friend had conditioned him to be very protective. And that was a good thing!

He found himself muffling a giggle with one hand, then almost jumped as he suddenly felt a body press against his side. Quickly turning his head, he realized that Lies had slid onto the root next to him instead of his brother, and wrapped his arms around Patton’s left arm, tucking in close. It sent Patton’s cheeks absolutely ablaze, his laughter dying in his throat (along with any other sounds he might consider trying to make) but the fey didn’t even seem to notice, instead flashing a wide smirk at Truth.

“Well, if you’re going to be that way, maybe I’ll just make sure to share this one..” “As if you wouldn’t have been caught in your own web centuries ago without me,” Truth sniffed. “Well excuse me for refusing to have any fun at all..” Lies drawled, letting go of Patton’s arm only to drape himself over his lap, slinging one slender arm around Patton’s shoulders to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. Warm tingles spread down his spine, and Patton shivered. He almost felt like he couldn’t move, or speak. He didn’t want to disturb the delicate scene.

“Now who’s groping the poor thing?” “Hm? What do you mean?”

It was then Patton realized that the two were indeed aware that he was still there- and probably even his reactions to their actions..which made him hide his hands in his face in order to cover up a blush that probably made every freckle on his face stand out like seeds in a watermelon. “No-it’s um-” god he couldn’t even get a word out “fiNE it’s fine I don’t really mind.” Lies laughed- and leaned up to press a delicate kiss to Patton’s temple before sliding off his lap. Patton went absolutely rigid, and by the time his thoughts calmed down he realized the green fey had perched himself back on the branch over Truth’s head, dangling one arm and one leg over like it was a perfectly soft sofa and not a cylinder of wet, rough bark.

“Now now Patton, remember, obvious lies aren’t my job.”

He had the feeling he was supposed to laugh at that, but as he was currently engrossed in trying to function like an actual person who wasn’t a tomato in a raincoat and could speak words, it was a bit difficult.

“I apologize for him…” Truth sighed, brushing a droplet of water off of one of the cobalt spots on his cheek.

“No- no, it’s really fine I mean it,” Patton managed to get out, though he did end the sentence with a very awkward high-pitched giggle that he would rather have avoided. He kicked his legs a little in an effort to distract himself.

“Hm...you said your “boyfriend” couldn’t accompany you today- why is that?” “Oh, he has work. His shift is a lot earlier than mine,” Patton explained quickly, grateful for a subject change. He received no answer immediately, but did notice Truth tilt his head thoughtfully, and heard Lies let out a scoff from his place languishing on the branch. “Work. I didn’t think humans would have gotten over such a notion by now, of course I suppose it wasn’t vital a time ago..but now you seem to do it just for boredom!”

...Patton couldn’t honestly argue too much there. He might be an optimistic soul who, while having a very strict moral compass, didn’t like to dwell too much on the terrible things about the world he couldn’t do anything about as a single person, but you couldn’t live around Virgil without being fully educated as to the sins of capitalism and the emptiness of what most people were brainwashed to believe was “necessary” work in order to earn the basic right to live.

“Yeah..it’s a..thing.”

“What does he do anyway? You’ve all gotten past farming right?” Truth asked a bit boredly, tracing a pattern on the root with his finger. Patton pursed his lips, trying to figure out how to explain it all.

“Well...I mean no, a lot of people still farm since we need food, but thanks to technology most people have other jobs. Roman um...well he works at Sephora, which is a store that sells makeup, which is like- facepaint! Yeah, humans paint colors on their face to make themselves look different.” “Oh how despicable!” Lies exclaimed- a little to Patton’s surprise, considering the...well not disinterest, he wouldn’t call it that, but general..detachment, that the two fey had expressed so far. “What?” “Oh, it’s just so awful to hear you’re finally taking some enjoyment in your little lives,” Lies said with a smile- and Patton felt his own lips curl up too, the faerie almost seemed to glow when he grinned, despite the cloudy sky and tree shading the three of them. “Humans in the past were just so interesting, not scared of their own shadows and not a single hour of the day spent working!” ….Honestly, Patton could...see that. He wouldn’t want to live a few hundred years ago, even if it was some alternate universe where there wasn’t any of the admittedly awful social norms..he’d feel trapped. Trapped in one role, in one or two places, with little ability to know what else was out there or meet new and interesting people unless he dedicated decades to traveling. He wouldn’t quite call the humans of the past “scared of their own shadows” as opposed to “superstitious” but here he was talking to a pair of faeries so...that assumption could be wrong. In fact it probably was. Goodness, he was still having revelations!

“....tton?” “Huh?” Patton’s head snapped up in surprise- and immediately felt something soft against the back of his skull. He quickly realized it was Truth’s’ hand, and then came the embarrassing realization that he had almost bashed his head into the tree again. His cheeks flushed, also because he had just realized he had gotten lost in thought while being spoken to. “Oh-thanks..” “Of course, we wouldn’t want you to hurt your head again.” “Are you alright?” “Of course!” Patton scooted forward, a bit away from the tree that the back of his head seemed so very fond of at the moment. “Sorry, I just..got a little lost in thought there. Again. How very..root of me!” He giggled, tapping the twisting root he and Truth were sitting on, and felt a little bit of pride in his chest as he noticed Lies’s lips quirk up again. “I wouldn’t say that’s a clever bit of word play.” “You think so?” “Of course not.” “..Gee, thanks..” Patton dipped his head a little, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Normally people just laughed (or groaned, but oftentimes it was really the same thing with puns) not acknowledge the little joke. “You’re a real sap, aren’t you Lies?” And there were the reactions he was used to- a musical laugh from Lies, and an agonized groan from Truth. “Please don’t encourage him…” “Come now Truth, his jokes aren’t darling..when will you learn to humor people?” “When doing so doesn’t result in being subjected to terribly constructed wordplay,” Truth responded flatly. “Plus, flattery is your job.” “Oh yes, and that’s why you’re the favorite.” “Excuse me?” “Face it, no one knows I’m the better seedling.” “It is likely they only say that so you don’t throw a tantrum.” Lies gasped, a look of exaggerated hurt flashing over his pointed face as he drew his hands to his chest protectively- and in that moment, the two of them so much resembled Virgil and Roman- one responding to goads with dry wit, the other teasing but reacting with “horror” when the words were turned back on him, that Patton was unable to stop himself from bursting into laughter. “..Pardon?” “It’s- oh, it’s-” Patton let out another bout of laughter at seeing the expression crossing the face of the two faeries, and by the time he stopped, his face was still glowing with mirth.

“You just- you argue just like Virgil and Roman!” “...We do?” Truth’s voice was...actually surprised. And a little confused. It was the first time in the hours he’d spent with them that Patton was actually certain that he knew what was going on in the fey’s head. “Yes! They bicker just like brothers sometimes, it’s adorable!” He got no response. Truth and Lies simply glanced at each other, but Patton was too full of glee to feel embarrassed at the silence. “..Say, do you think we’ll ever meet this Virgil?” asked Truth, and Patton briskly answered. “I’d like you to- but it probably won’t happen. I mean, he lives in the city, and it’s about an hour away when there isn’t traffic..and Virge really doesn’t like driving in traffic. So if he does visit it won’t be often- and…” his smile dropped, “Well, no offense, but Virgil isn’t really..well, he probably wouldn’t feel too comfortable around you two.” “...I see.”

Lies’ response felt..wrong, to Patton. But thankfully, he was saved from delving further into that awkward topic by the sound of Night Owl. Not the actual bird of course, though it was dim out due to the rain it was still late morning, there wouldn’t be any owls about- but the sound of the alarm Patton had set to remind him when he had to start heading home to get to work on time.

“What was that?”

“Just my alarm,” Patton responded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and turning off the alarm, sliding off the root and onto the damp grass. He noticed the way Truth and Lies leaned towards him and the phone- no doubt curious, but as much as he’d like to explain, he really had to get going. Especially considering that he might get lost on the way back.

“...An alarm,” Truth repeated, and Patton nodded.

“Yeah, it’s a noise I set to play so I remember to do certain things- like, I need to go right now, for my job.”

“Oh, must you?” Asked Lies, with a tone of voice that could only be described as a whine as he slid from the branch and wrapped his arms around Patton’s waist- which made him squeak as his face was pressed into the faerie’s chest.

“Can’t you stay just a little longer?”

“....No, I’m sorry, I really have to go,” Patton insisted, very gently squirming out of the fey’s grip and ignoring his pout. “But I’ll see you on Friday, right?”

“Right,” Lies sighed, and Patton heard the soft sound of feet touching down onto grass, turning to see Truth had stood from the root, and was smiling gently.

“Right. And we are so looking forward to meeting your partner.”

He placed a kiss on Patton’s forehead- and though Patton did not squeak this time, he did blush and giggle. He turned, zipped up his raincoat and pulled his hood up over his damp hair, still smiling.

“Goodbye!”

“Goodbye,” the fey chorused, but when Patton turned back around to wave, they were gone.

Well, that seemed to be their way. So he waved anyway at the empty glade and turned around, marching off through the woods and savoring the smell of damp leaves and wood.

Tags: @patton-croc-agenda @why-things-go-boom @tawnyevergreen @jynxlovesluck @towersandmyrtles @notveryglittery @per-seph-o-nee @definitely-a-plant @starryfirefliesbloggo @karmels-stuff @impatentpending @the-parentheticals @chinesewaffles2 @whatwashernameagain @em-be-lievable @theincediblesulk @xx-fandom-potato-xx

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[divinerot]

i   think   that   might   be   lysithea   avery   ;   last   time   i   saw   her   was   in   the   slytherin   common   room   .   i   heard   she   works   as   an   unspeakable   in   the   death   chamber   now   .   the   twenty   -   one   year   old   pure   -   blood   apparently   looks   a   lot   like   courtney   eaton   ,   though   i   have   no   idea   who   that   is   .   some   say   she   can   be   compelling   and   shrewd   .   although   ,   i   have   heard   she   can   also   be   haughty   and   impious   .   i   have   no   idea   what   side   she’s   on   ,   but   if   i   had   to   guess   ,   i   would   say   death   eaters   .

hi   i’m   bailey   &   a   lot   of   this   is   kind   of   open   -   ended   bc   i   don’t   wanna   lock   myself   in   too   much   /   i   am   also   just   a   forgetful   dumb   of   ass   ,   bt   !!   jhgfndjdjnhf   i   .   i   tried   .   it’s   3am   ,   i’m   tired   .   ..   i   started   drafting   some   replies   &   such   ,   bt   unfortunately   i   don’t   think   i’m   gonna   get   to   them   until   later   on   simply   bc   my   eyes   are   fighting   me   to   stay   open   .

TW  :   death   mention   .

CHARACTER   TROPES   .

light   is   not   good   ,   badass   bookworm   ,   dark   action   girl   ,   family   honor   ,   the   proud   elite   ,   it   amused   me   ,   sadist   ,   mad   scientist   ,   putting   on   my   thinking   cap   ,   kids   are   cruel   /   teens   are   monsters   .

QUICK   BACKGROUND   .

one   of   the   prestigious   sacred   twenty   -   eight   ,   the   avery’s   have   been   renowned   for   many   generations   .   the   current   head   of   family   ,   claudien   ,   is   a   potioneer   ,   but   most   notably   spent   his   own   school   days   at   hogwarts   following   around   tom   riddle   —   correction   :   the   dark   lord   ,   voldemort   —   as   ‘   inner   circle   ’   ,   later   becoming   one   of   the   first   knights   of   walpurgis   /   future   death   eaters   .

born   the   thirtieth   of   april   ,   lysithea’s   father   was   disappointed   she   was   not   his   long   awaited   heir   .   and   unfortunately   ,   the   delivery   was   so   much   strain   for   her   mother’s   body   that   she   ended   up   passing   .   despite   being   initially   unwanted   by   her   remaining   parent   ,   lysithea   grew   up   well   enough   ;   treated   like   any   other   child   in   their   society   ,   spoiled   and   rotten   .   eventually   claudien   remarried   a   few   years   after   –   he   had   high   hopes   his   second   wife   would   bear   him   sons   .   however   those   wishes   fell   flat   as   three   more   daughters   cried   out   year   after   year   ,   forcing   themselves   into   the   world   ,   into   this   family   .

no   one   quite   knows   when   the   shift   in   ideology   happened   ,   but   claudien   decided   if   he   could   not   have   what   he   wanted   in   a   son   ,   he   would   forge   and   make   up   for   in   a   daughter   .   being   the   eldest   ,   lysithea   became   his   target   .

perhaps   she   couldn’t   traditionally   carry   on   the   family   name   ,   but   she   could   prove   a   useful   tool   .   a   baby-face   smeared   with   blood   ,   the   false   purity   of   her   white   dresses   contrasted   against   the   black   everyone   else   wore   .   with   her   signature   silk   ribbons   ,   lysithea   became   a   terror   ;   undoubtedly   a   sight   to   tremble   before   .   under   rosy   cheeks   and   coy   grins   ,   a   vicious   and   unyielding   nature   bloomed   .   cruelty   came   eerily   natural   to   her   ,   so   much   it   even   unnerved   her   step   -   mother   ,   creating   dichotomy   between   her   and   her   half   -   sisters   .   it   was   a   chaos   born   from   boredom   and   a   grandiose   sense   of   self   -   entitlement   .   all   because   she   could   .   all   because   her   father   nurtured   her   to   flash   sharp   teeth   after   luring   victims   into   a   sense   of   security   .   she   was   raised   in   his   image   ,   a   nightmarish   testament   to   all   his   iniquity   .

perfection   ,   superiority   ,   consistency   :   three   main   points   to   her   father’s   philosophy   .   ones   she   memorized   as   she   watched   him   intently   in   his   private   potions   lab   ,   impressionable   dark   eyes   following   his   every   move   .   when   lysithea   turned   eight   ,   claudien   took   a   deeper   interest   in   guiding   her   to   what   it   really   meant   to   be   part   of   the   family   :   dark   arts   .   she   was   excited   ,   quickly   becoming   eager   for   more   to   learn   .   and   ,   all   things   considered   ,   it   could   have   been   worse   .   never   once   did   claudien   raise   his   wand   to   his   daughter   ,   as   he   didn’t   need   to   .   lysithea   was   always   so   willing   ,   so   wanting   –   ready   to   do   as   instructed   ,   no   matter   the   cost   .   from   a   young   age   ,   she   wanted   his   approval   and   praise   ,   but   most   of   all   she   wanted   his   knowledge   .

TIME   AT   HOGWARTS   IN   A   GLANCE   .

slytherin   !   within   moments   of   touching   her   wicked   little   head   ,   the   hat   bellowed   out   her   sorting   .   there   was   no   surprise   ,   most   of   her   family   had   been   clad   green   and   silver   as   well   .   only   a   momentary   falter   to   consider   ravenclaw   for   the   young   avery   ,   but   it   was   unmatched   how   she   would   thrive   with   the   serpents   .

she   was   either   too   exuberant   ,   her   harsh   laughter   directed   at   another’s   misfortune   ,   or   she   was   too   silent   ,   not   speaking   to   anyone   for   days   at   a   time   .   however   pranks   and   jokes   turned   more   severe   ,   and   her   casual   cruelty   was   something   that   placed   many   on   edge   .   some   might’ve   said   it   was   a   blessing   when   she   withdrew   herself   ,   others   would’ve   said   it   didn’t   matter   .

although   horrid   personality   coupled   with   a   pretty   face   aside   ,   she   was   an   excellent   student   .   not   even   the   staff   who   disliked   her   the   most   could   deny   that   .   she   did   above   and   beyond   work   in   many   subjects   .   a   downfall   ,   however   ,   would   sheepishly   be   her   disdain   of   written   work   .   she   could   talk   about   it   flawlessly   and   she   could   execute   it   perfectly   ,   showing   a   spell   or   potion   in   full   action   .   but   on   parchment   ,   she   certainly   left   something   to   be   desired   —   much   to   her   biting   chagrin   .   while   written   tests   ,   quizzes   ,   and   exams   were   not   her   friend   ,   she   refused   to   give   up   .   she   would   just   need   to   get   better   .

lysithea   often   turned   towards   one   of   her   favorite   subjects   for   chaos   inducing   entertainment   :   potions   .   they’re   only   semi   -   poisonous   ,   she’d   say   with   a   scoff   ,   like   being   nonlethal   canceled   it   out   .   it’s   only   putting   them   to   sleep   ,   she’d   say   with   a   shrug   ,   as   if   it   makes   it   justifiable   .   there   was   an   empty   classroom   in   the   dungeons   ,   presumably   an   older   potion   -   mixing   room   .   if   her   roommates   became   too   bothersome   ,   she   would   find   herself   there   to   brew   in   secret   .   between   advanced   potions   and   alchemy   studies   ,   lysithea   picked   up   an   interest   in   creating   new   things   —   but   they   were   selfishly   made   for   her   sole   benefit   to   torment   her   peers   .   some   habits   die   hard   ,   some   habits   don’t   die   at   all   .   she   was   merely   following   in   her   father’s   footsteps   with   unethical   experimentation   ,   only   on   a   more   junior   scale   unbeknownst   to   her   .   she   wouldn’t   know   the   full   extent   of   anything   until   after   her   graduation   .   one   could   have   also   found   her   searching   the   forbidden   forest   if   they   were   fast   enough   ;   unofficial   ingredients   for   unofficial   brews   came   at   some   risk   after   all   .

OTHER   TIDBITS   /   INFORMATION   .

really   this   whole   thing   has   been   tl;dr   she’s   really   just   a   sadistic   gremlin   thanks   to   her   father   ig   ,   but   truthfully   she   would’ve   turned   out   awful   even   without   his   influence   .

upon   graduation   she   received   a   dark   mark   ,   much   to   the   pride   of   claudien   .

works   as   an   unspeakable   in   the   death   chamber   ,   although   often   helps   her   father   with   potions   on   off   days   /   when   it   comes   to   experimentation   for   lord   voldemort   .

her   wand   is   blackthorn   wood   ,   wyvern   skin   core   ,   hard   ,   9.5   inches   ;   a   family   heirloom   of   sorts   ,   tracing   all   the   way   back   to   her   great   -   great   -   great   -   great   grandfather   .   she’s   the   first   witch   out   of   a   long   line   of   wizards   to   use   it   .

in   her   seventh   year   at   hogwarts   ,   her   class   list   was   :   advanced   potions   ,   charms   ,   transfiguration   ,   dada   ,   alchemy   ,   and   ghoul   studies   .   she   was   also   a   participant   in   slug   club   and   potions   club   since   fourth   /   fifth   year   .

her   patronus   is   nonexistent   ,   as   her   true   dark   affiliation   prevents   her   from   casting   the   spell   .   however   if   she   was   able   ,   it   would   take   shape   of   a   fox   .

her   astrology   core   four   are   as   follows   :   taurus   sun   ,   capricorn   moon   ,   gemini   ascendant   ,   aquarius   midheaven   .

due   to   her   mother   passing   during   /   after   childbirth   ,   lysithea   could   see   thestrals   before   any   activities   ,   illicit   or   otherwise   ,   had   her   bear   witness   to   death   .

prefers   tea   to   coffee   and   has   a   secret   sweet   tooth   .

moral   alignment   is   somewhere   between   chaotic   neutral   and   neutral   evil   .