#if i see her in the streets it’s on sight

[otakubimbo]

Warning Shot

Jason Todd x F!Reader

There's a reason you have a bed time, but what kind of friend would you be if you left your bestie in need?

master list

obnote: i have red hood brain rot currently

This wasn’t how you expected to end your night. Well, you should have partially expected it when Franny called you at 9 pm to go out. You shouldn’t ever trust a last-minute decision to go out, especially from a girl who plans her weeks out on a spreadsheet.

A grunt escapes your lips as you haul your friend higher up on your shoulder, “Francesca please. I need you to support yourself a little.”

She groans and murmurs as you can feel her trying to steady her own legs in a pathetic attempt to help you carry her. It doesn’t help that she wanted to go to a bar in downtown Gotham, which is usually fine but not great when you must carry her drunk blackout body and not a single Uber will pick you up in the area.

“You’re gonna owe me big time for this Franny,” your teeth grinding as you attempt to keep the two of you stable on the worst pair of shoes you could have worn tonight. Six-inch heels that you’ve been dancing in all night, now having to carry extra weight through the streets of Gotham. It wasn’t just that, it was Gotham, the chances of getting mugged or worse increased during this time of night. You were always prepared for the worst, but this wasn’t the best situation to be in for either of you. In your line of sight, you see an oasis on these streets, a bench under a stoplight. Technically, it may make you an easier target to spot but at least you should be able to see what’s coming towards you and you need a break.

As you ease her onto the bench, you slump your body beside hers taking your heels off for a moment rubbing your feet unwillingly to let them touch the ground. When you wore a pair of shoes, you committed to the whole night and that included walking home in them. You sigh, after rubbing both of your feet before slipping your heels back on, throwing your head backwards over the bench as you recollect how your night even ended up here.

In the cozy warmth of your apartment, you were preparing to start your nighttime routine when you received a FaceTime call from your best friend, Francesca. You answer it without even looking at your phone, walking with it towards your bathroom.

“Wassup Franny,” propping your phone up on your bathroom counter to see her, “girl are you in the club? Why are you calling me in the club?!”

On her end, the video shakes as if she’s quickly moving with her phone. You sigh heavily as you start washing your hands waiting for her to get to wherever she was going to respond to you.  By the time you were done with that, she finally stopped to her destination away from the larger crowd she was in.

Before you can even say anything else, she cuts you off, “come to the club!”

Her words weren’t slurred, but you could tell by the extra volume of her voice that she was at least a bit tipsy. You check the time quickly before scoffing, it was already 9 pm, if you aren’t out of your house before 6 then you weren’t going anywhere.

“Girl, the bonnet it already on and it’s damn near the next day.” Your tone is firm as you point to your bonnet before you grab your oil cleanser, putting some in your hands.

“Wait! Wait! Wait,” Francesca’s voice stops you before you start the first step of your skincare routine, “your makeup is still on! And I came with my coworkers, but they all left me and now I’m just a girl all alone in a club in Gotham at night by herself, alone, in Gotham, at night.”

Shit, she got you there. She knew you weren’t just going to let her be alone in Gotham by herself. It wasn’t the safest place to be, especially at night. A groan escapes your lips as you think of a way to get out of this.

“Why didn’t you call Kai to go out with you? What’s the point to having a boyfriend if he can’t do that?” Your question hangs in the air causing you to raise an eyebrow towards your friend.

“Well, we are on a break” she finally speaks up, avoiding looking at you directly in the camera. And there it was, the big reason. Everyone knows that a break really means a breakup because even if you get back together it never lasts long. A sigh comes from deep in your chest as you let the oils in your hand fall into the sink. Now what kind of friend would you be if you just abandoned your friend right then. She had been with him since freshman year of college and no you weren’t the biggest fan of his, but he had made her happy, which is all you could ask for from him.

“Alright,” you begin before rinsing your hands off, “Give me like 30.”

Francesca thanks you repeatedly before hanging up. You already had her location so finding what club she was at wasn’t going to be an issue. As you get dressed you contemplate taking one of your weapons with you, Gotham crime had gone down, and it was still Gotham. You decided on one of your smaller pistols that you could put in your bra holster. With all your important items on you, you head to accompany your best friend.

Luckily the line to the club wasn’t long and the cover was free for women that night. It wasn’t until you arrived at the front of the line that you could tell it was going to be a long night.

“Oh, what’s a sweet little thing like you doing by yourself out here” the bouncer asks, a creepy smile coming across his face.

You keep yourself from scowling, trying not to get kicked out before you even get in “my friends already in there actually.”

“How about you just stay out here with me? I’m sure I could show you a better time when I get off than anyone else in there.” His voice held a cocky tone that didn’t match his looks. On top of his inability to read body language, not sensing your obvious disgust and irritation. You had already told Franny that you were about to come in, knowing she would be waiting to meet you right inside.

“I’m good actually.”

He scoffs at your response, “Don’t be a bitch.” His hand reaching out to grab you by the waist. Before you could speak or break the hand that was about to touch you, another hand lands on your waist gently pulling it back. You’re about to shove the stranger off you as you turn to look up at them, you freeze. Oh, this was one handsome stranger, he towered over you, big and buff, a whole lot of man. But then it was his face, he had such a pretty face, his bone structure was sharp, but his other features were so soft, it made you almost want to reach out and touch his face. He had a tuff of white hair, in contrast to the rest of his head, that was falling right over his face. You could imagine reaching out and moving it from that pretty face of his.

“She’s with me actually” the stranger speaks before pulling you a bit closer to him. The bouncer eyes him up and down before scoffing, grabbing the ropes that separated you from getting into the club. He muttered something about its always guys like that getting girls like you. You ignore him as the pretty stranger walks you into the club, the bouncer a wink with a snarky smirk on his face. He releases you once the two of you are in the club.

“I could have handled myself,” you start getting yourself back together after gawking at him, “but thank you, pretty boy.”

He raises an eyebrow at you before you hear your name being called by Francesca. Your head turns in her direction as she’s waving you over with two drinks in hand.

You turn back to him, his eyes going from your friend back onto you, “I guess I’ll see you around, pretty boy.”

The great Jason Todd, THE Red Hood, taken aback by your actions, just watching you walk away towards you friend, grabbing the drink from her hand and downing it in one gulp. Jason wasn’t the kind of man to show interest in a woman, hell, he didn’t want anyone getting close to him but there was something about your energy that captured him. He could tell by the way your body had moved when that bouncer went to grab you. He could tell you were dangerous, and he liked danger. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see what kind of danger you were because he needed to get his intel and whatever you were going to do to that man was sure to cause a scene. Quickly, he pushed the emerging thoughts he was having about you down to get the job he needed to get done.

After you down your drink, you make a quick glance over your shoulder watching the stranger walk away into the crowd.

“Who was fine piece of man you walked in with” Franny asks, also eyeing the back of the stranger.

“I don’t know,” an airy breath escapes your lips as you turn back to your friend, “I was gonna get into it with that creep ass bouncer and he kind of just stepped in.”

“And by get into it, you mean violence” she giggles grabbing you hand leading you to the bar.

“He was trying to touch me!” Your defense for yourself falling on deaf ears. She looks back at you giving you a knowing look. Fran knew you better than anyone, you only hold conversation with people for so long. If words don’t work, you always have a back up option.

“But anyways,” she pulls you up to sit at the bar with him, “he’s not and you should definitely get on that.”

You laugh her off, “I am here for you, my darling. And with that being said shots on me,” you lean up on the bar to get the bartenders attention, “can we get a round of rum shots.”

“But tequila” Fran pouts, grabbing your arm in an attempt to change hint mind.

“Now that’s where I draw the line.”

Too many shots and too much dancing later, here you two sat in the middle of the night on the crime-ridden streets of Gotham. You exhale, exhausted but happy that the night didn’t turn out badly. It was only a few more blocks to your apartment. glad for once you decided to live on the city limits of Gotham.

Everything in you is screaming to take your shoes off, but once you commit to a pair of shoes for the night, you stay in them. You give your feet and ankles a few flexes and turns as you contemplate getting up to continue home. As you lean your head back, closing your eyes for a moment, you can still feel the approach of someone or someone’s It was probably some average thugs that wouldn’t be too big of an issue to get rid of, but you didn’t feel like doing that at that moment. You were about to pull out your weapon to let them know you were armed when they spoke, and it was a voice you recognized.

“Where’s your bodyguard at now, sweetheart? Can’t believe he let two fine pieces like yourselves go home alone. Don’t worry, we got you.” The slimy voice of that damn bounced hits your ears. You were sure he expected you to have some fear as your eyes opened, leaning up to see the man and two other men with him. The Devine were truly smiling down on you because as much as you love to support your best friend, tonight was just so much for you after having a hell of a week at work, and you needed to blow off some steam. You give your full body a few stretches before standing up as they approach you.

“I couldn’t just let a precious thing like you get away so easily.” The sound of his voice makes the shots in your stomach churn, but you still give out a curt laugh. You look back at Fran to see her passing out, clueless of what is going on around her. “Now we can do this the easy way, and you come with us, and my men get your friend. Or the hard way.”

You shift on your feet as the soreness from your heels set back in, “You can try the hard way if you’d like.” The casual tone in your voice makes his henchmen burst into not laughing, going on about how you don’t know their boss.

“As you wish,” the bouncer chuckles moving towards you. Just as he reaches out to grab you, you move faster than their eyes can keep up with, having their boss on the ground and your gun on his forehead. His men panic, pointing their own weapons at you. You squat down to his level.

Leaning down to his ear, you voice is barely above a whisper but mocking, “now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Could be your choice, could be my choice. Now I would prefer we do this the hard way.”

You could almost feel the fear that was radiating off of the man beneath you.

“Easy way, easy way.” He begged and whimpered. With another glance back over your shoulder to Francesca, you sigh and release him. The pathetic man scrambles away from you, bringing his men along with him as quickly as he can. As much as you wanted to break every bone in that man’s hand, you had to get your best friend in bed. You watch them scurry away, standing back up from your crouched position.

Everything happened so quickly after that, your body moving on autopilot before you even realized. The sound of the gunshots reverberates in your ears while Francesca shoots up, staring at you as you lower your discharged weapon in shock.

You just shot Red Hood. You just shot Red Hood.

“Oh my god,” you gasp as your other hand covers your mouth.

Red Hood chuckles, “Three shots. All center mass. You know what you're doing.”

The panic starts to creep in as you turn to Francesca, whose drunk eyes are as big as saucers, which you didn’t even know was possible.

“You just shot Red Hood.”

“I just shot Red Hood.”

Before he could even respond to the two of you, your free hand is all over his chest, checking for any wounds. He was taken back for a moment, not used to the care of his safety, before he gently grabs onto your wrist.

“It’s not the first time or the last time I’ve been shot at. I’m good,” he says, trying to sound reassuring, but your eyes tell him you don’t believe him “Kevlar.”

Your eyes look down at his chest, then back up to his mask. There’s still adrenaline in your blood and panic in your eyes as you try to free yourself from his grasp, your clouded mind trying to process everything.

“Well,” Francesca’s slurred voice comes from the bench, “since you didn’t kill him, can we go to your place now?” Her eyes start back closing, body swaying out of her control.

“Shit, yeah yeah,” you curse holstering your gun back, the metal still warm from being used stinging your skin a bit causing your movements to falter. Red Hood took the initiative to help Francesca up from the bench. “Wait, no, you don’t have to do that.” You move to grab your friend, but he stops you.

“I’m sure your place isn’t far, and it’s kind of part of the job,” he says coolly. You could hear the smirk in his voice behind the mask. You pull yourself together, nodding at him as you start walking back to your place. The silence is a bit awkward between the two of you, the only noises are the creaks of Gotham and the drunken murmurs from Francesca.

“I’m sorry…. again,” you fiddle with your fingers before looking up at him, something about the way he was walking next to you feeling familiar. “It was just on instinct; I shouldn’t have shot you.”

You notice Red Hood hesitate, maybe he regretted trying to help you. What was going through his head was that he had no clue what to say. A part of him felt guilty at your apology since he technically followed you from the club like some creep. But it was only because he saw the bouncer and his men following you also. He assumed you could handle yourself, but he just wanted to make sure after all you were with your extremely drunk friend who was already having issues with walking straight when you exited the club. And he wasn’t watching both of you the entire time; the two of you just happened to always be in his line of sight. He wasn’t being some creep like the bouncer, he was just doing his job to protect the city and its people.

“Goes with the occupation, wasn’t the first time won’t be the last.” his attempt to dismiss your apology has you frowning, but you don’t push back. He felt awkward, needing to fill the emptiness between the two of you with something. “Who taught you to shoot? You’re not some new vigilante or something? Or a new villain?”

That earns a giggle from you. “Not even close. My sister taught me. If it had been her tonight, it probably would have been a headshot.”

“Well, I’ll make sure not to come up on her.”

You look up at him, a sad expression crossing the the gentle smile on your face, “You won’t have to worry about that.” The explanation hung heavily in the air. “But you are lucky, she was a force of nature, that one.” An airy sigh escaped your lips, the type of sigh he was too familiar with, the sigh of sadness, grief, and pain that can’t be described. Your head lifts, catching his masked face looking at you, forcing you to give him an awkward smile before looking at your surroundings.

“Anyways, my complex is just right over there.” You gesture to the apartment complex at the end of the block. It was nicer than Jason expected for being so close to Gotham's downtown. The surprise radiates off him, making you chuckle a bit, basically reading his mind. “It was an attempt at gentrification, but you know it’s still Gotham, so it didn’t expand. And don’t judge me! I moved in after they decided to stop constructions, AND I was part of the protests.”

“But you still moved in?”

“It's already here. may as well take advantage of those wonderful rent prices,” you defend as you start to get your keys out of your bag. It would be difficult to get your keys. Hold Francesca up. “But anyways, thanks for the help.”  You reach over to ease Francesca off his back, but he takes a step away from your reach, putting what he could consider the most adorable pout on your face.

“Jobs not done until you’re inside.”

“Don’t you have other Gotham crime things to take care of?” It wasn’t that you weren’t enjoying his company, you just knew the streets of Gotham and you could take care of yourself. There may be someone out there who couldn’t. It would be selfish to take up even more of his time.

“Nope” even though his voice was distorted his tone gave away all his secrets, he was smirking at you under that damn mask. You just roll your eyes at him and begin walking towards your apartment. As you begin to climb the stairs to your apartment, it seems that Red Hood is struggling a bit, but you aren’t going to say anything, already knowing he would claim everything was fine. You direct him into your apartment, towards the second bedroom to put her down in. It was mainly used as your office, but it did have a bed in there.

After he puts her down in there, you notice that his breathing is heavier and increasing rapidly.

“And there you are, job complete.” his words coming out much breathier than previously.

Your brow furrows with a look of concern, “Are you good, Red?”

He attempts to catch his breath before responding, “Yeah, perfect.” he moves towards your door, but his feet falter.

“Red?”

The name barely leaves your lips before he drops to the floor. Panic hits you harder than his body did your floor as you scramble towards him, hands grabbing at his wrists to check his pulse. It was slow, dangerously slow. Your hands are frantically searching for damage as you call his name over and over again with no response. As you touch his chest, you realize that his shirt is soaked; you couldn’t tell previously because it was black. When you look at your hands, they’re covered in blood, his blood.

“Oh my god you fucking idiot,” you curse as you rip open his shirt through one of the bullet holes you caused.  One of the bullets had broken through the Kevlar, and carrying a person on your back then proceeding to climb five flights of stairs wouldn’t be good for a wound like this. You rip the helmet off of his head because there’s no way he can breathe properly but when you take it off you damn near throw it across the room. Of course, it was that pretty boy; you knew that build and stride was familiar, but the gunshot wound threw it off.  

You had the capabilities of mending him, but you haven’t done it in ages, not since your sister had been alive but hopefully it was just muscle memory. There was always a thought in the back of your head that made you keep your supplies stocked and preserved. Francesca always clowned you for keeping up with your blood supply but look, now you have a usual bag of 0 negative blood to use because he was definitely going to need some. But truthfully you kept it up in the memory of your sister.

As you work to clear his clothes out of the way, you weren’t shocked at the assortment of scars and bruises that decorated his body but one gave you pause. There were several questions running through your head because why would a live body have an autopsy scar? Honestly that was the least of your problems right now, you had to prevent him from getting another one. And if you were being honest, as you worked on him your mind went blank, nothing started clicking back for you until you had him lying on your bed. His vitals seemed to be fine, and his breathing was regular and steady. At that point you just wanted to wash the night and now part of the morning off of you and go to bed. While you were cleaning everything up, Francesca woke up barely even remembering the night which was partially good because you did almost kill Red Hood. Also, grateful it was Francesca of all the people staying that night because it wasn’t the first time she’s seen a mess like this. She just made sure that most importantly you were okay before she left.

Finally, after everything, it was mid day at that point, you crash into your bed exhaustion dragging you down into a deep sleep as soon as your head hits your pillow.

Jason’s eyes flutter open, his mind whirling as he’s trying to remember where he was and what had happened. He breathes deeply, the pain in his chest kick starting the memories from whenever it was before he went unconscious. His head turns to see you lying next to him in what appears to be your bed. You looked downright exhausted even in sleep; you must have been the one to patch him up. His head turns to the other side of the bed, noticing he was connected to wires and IV, before he could even move to pull them out, your voice rings through the silence in the room.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” your voice slightly muffled as you’re still partially curled up into the pillow by his side. He doesn’t even know how you knew; your eyes weren’t even open and yet you felt moved, but it was surprisingly a little scary. Your head slowly moves from being buried in your pillow, eyes blinking slowly at him as you will your body to wake up. You force yourself to sit up, you feel his cautious eyes on you as you get up from the bed to check his vitals. Everything looked normal so far, but you still had check the wound itself. Jason’s eyes watched you as you moved around making your way to the bathroom. After what he assumes is washing your hands, you come back out with gloves on.

Before you could even do that he finally speaks up, grabbing your wrist to stop you from moving the blanket from his chest, “what happened, what are you doing?” Although his questions are valid, you’re just too exhausted and it ticks you off.

“Shut up, unhand me, and don’t move.” The irritation in your voice can be felt. Surprising Jason more than yourself, he allows you to continue whatever you were doing. You roll down the blanket just far enough to see the bandage over the wound, with a delicate touch that Jason has never experienced you peel it back to check for any signs of infection. It looked like it was healing just fine, a sigh of contentment leaves you mouth as you get more bandages to redress the wound. When you’re all done, you finally look him in the eyes.

“Are you a fucking idiot,” you start, putting your hand up to Jason as he goes to respond, “you don’t even need to answer because obviously you are. You could have died! Because what was really your plan?! You knew that one of the shots went through! Shit I should of known that, Kevlar only protects from one 7.62 round and my rounds are .380. It was simple math but still! You’re the one who was actually shot and then didn’t say anything. Just dropped on my floor! What if I didn’t know what I was doing?! What if I couldn’t have saved you?!? I get it, it’s your job blah blah, but you can’t do your job if you’re dead! And I just knew something was wrong.” You’re pacing at this point, hands flailing as you speak, “and another thing, pretty boy!”

“It’s Jason.”

“What?” Your pacing stops as you snap your head at him.

“My name’s Jason.”

You roll your eyes, your pacing continues as you point at him, “and another thing Jason! You can’t just pass out in peoples apartments. Contrary to popular belief that shit was scary to see. And did you even consider what would be the consequences for not only having a dead body in my apartment but killing Red Hood?!? You just can’t do those things Jason”

Your rant stops, chest heaving from it. seriously you were fuming mad how could he value his life so little??? He doesn’t say anything, just stares up at you slightly wide-eyed. This was the first time anyone has ever spoken to him like that before or even seemed to care if he lived or died. He didn’t really know what to do or say, watching as you impatiently tapped your foot, hands on your hips, waiting for him to say something, anything.

“Earth to Jason! Say something!” The sound of your voice jolting him back into the situation that he was in.

“I’m sorry?” He said but it was more of a question than a statement.

“You’re damn right you’re sorry. And next time you get injured you’ll take care of yourself, shit you can even come here and I’ll patch you up. Okay?”

“Uhm okay”

“Good now do you know how to remove an IV?”  You ask more gently than you were speaking previously. The sudden change in tone leaves him speechless, just nodding at you. “Great, because I’m going back to sleep, and you’re going back to sleep, and then if that IV is finished before I wake up, then you may go.” He nods in response again, “Glad we have an understanding.”

With that, you take a notepad and pen out of your drawer, writing down your name and phone number. Jason watches you in your tasks as you check his vitals one last time and ensure his IV is good. After you’re done, your back face-first into your pillow.

“If I wake up and that IV isn’t finished, I'm going to hunt you down and shoot you on purpose this time.” Your voice is coming off even more muffled than when you woke up as your body crashes.

You wake up to the sun warming your face, you could have sworn you kept the blackout curtains down. As you open your eyes, stretching out in your bed, it all clicks in your head when your arms are free to move on your sides. There was no one else in your bed but you.  Panic set in for a moment, thinking that idiot left the moment your eyes closed, but you were happily surprised when you saw the empty IV bag on your nightstand. There was something else next to it that caught your eye. As you sit up, you see exactly what it was. There was a note along with a broken red bat symbol.

‘next time, give me a warning shot’

A silly girlish smile crosses your face as you read the note. At the very least, he did finish the IV, so he should at least be good until he gets to whatever vigilante doctor he uses, just in case you messed up anything. You were out of practice, after all. A sense of relief floods your body at the thought, and yet you could feel your body heating up because in spite of everything, he was kind of charming, kind of cute. Hopefully, he will use the number you gave him.

[ghostedgwen]

You Should See Your Faces | s.black

note : yeah I am speedrunning this masterlist. not sure if I should do a second part to this but ion feel like writing angst involving the black's prejudice with everything going on atm

warning/s : just the usual pureblood prejudice, mostly fluff if we ignore those underlying themes, you have a sister (idk if that warrants a warning), sirius black is the cool rock star bf of your dreams/hj

Sirius Black’s greatest spit in his family might just be the fact that he is destined to be with the muggle girl who always smiled his away, living 5 windows down from his ancestral home.

Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife.

Sirius Black, in all his life, could never have guessed that his soulmate would be a muggle. But is bloody fucking funny the more he thinks about it. "Hey there, rock star."

You didn't give the tattoo in your arm much thought as the sentence written on it was too general. Anyone could say it and at any moment, it would drive you mad trying to draw your own fate from one silly sentence. "Was wondering when you'd finally say 'hi'."

You tug your scarf to fix it around your neck, looking out through the window to see that snow is falling, you grin to yourself at the sight.

You didn't mind the snow at all, unlike most people who hated it, the cold has always been comforting to you.

Having always enjoyed the opportunity to crunch snow under your boots, you always looked forward to fall and the snowy days that came right after.

"Off to build a snowman?" You heard your sister call out to you, her voice obviously mocking you. You roll your eyes.

"Fuck off," you yelled out to her and opened the door. "I'm gonna grab some snacks for tonight, got any request?"

You waited for her to answer you, growing impatient as you kept your hold on the knob.

"Get me dark chocolate, thanks!"

You yelled back an 'okay' and walked out, closing the door behind you and you breathed in the smell of snow. You always loved how the cold prickled your skin.

You were careful on your way down the stairs, looking around the street to see it all covered in snow. You smile at the sight of a few kids playing, throwing snow at each other.

The memories of you and your sister having snow ball fights playing in your mind, you turn your head further down the street. There, you see him.

That kid that you practically grew up with but you barely saw him enough. Your sister insists he isn't real and you have an imaginary friend, but that imaginary friend grew up as well.

His hair long and past his shoulder in soft curls, tattoos littering his arms and smoke escaping past his lips as he clutched a cigarette in between two bony and pale fingers.

He's pale, like snow, and it was contrasting with his stark black hair. You can only guess what colour his eyes are, definitely light from what you've seen.

He seemed to have felt the weight of your gaze when he turned, he was a good distance away and you managed to give him a smile like you always did.

He returned it like always, even curtly nodding in your direction. God, he was so hot and you always thought so - way before he even had the grunge-y rock star look.

You basically watched him find his style and evolve into whatever that is.

You give him a slight wave and turn away, heading off to the store like you originally planned.

.

While at the store, you find yourself looking at a set of scarves being displayed. You eyed one that was black with dark grey stars knitted into it.

You stood for a good minute until it dawned on you who they reminded you of - that hot neighbour of yours that you have never talked to.

You contemplated, wondering if it would be too weird to give a gift to a stranger - but is he really a stranger? You've known him since you were 12, you just never got to actually talk to him.

Without thinking deeper into it, you grabbed the scarf and proceeded to checkout with your basket of sweets. If you chicken out of giving him the scarf, you can always just dump it on your sister.

You almost felt proud of yourself as you exit the store and walk back home, and in your way, you found that he has disappeared again. Not even a trace of cigarette ashes in the snow to prove he was even there.

Your mind was taken off it by the instant sight of your sister in the ugliest jumper opening the door, eager to grab her chocolate.

.

You grip the gift in your hand, you had even bothered to wrap it in the darkest gift wrap you could find. You found it too funny to wrap such a gift in bright Christmas packaging.

In the end, you settled for leftovers from your previous crafting shenanigans. A big sheet of black postcard paper cut into the proper size to wrap around the folded scarf.

You didn't bother sticking a card in it, you thought he'd laugh at that.

Dashing past your door so you can avoid your sister, and her possible teasing if she probes and find out you're giving a gift to your imaginary friend - you were lucky to spot him again.

He was standing outside like always, just looking straight ahead as he smoked. You figured he couldn't smoke inside his home, hence he's always outside.

You slowly approach him, cringing at the sound of snow crunching under your boots. You always loved it but not at this moment, not when you could tell he knew you were coming.

He was acting casual, not yet turning as the sound of your footsteps in the snow drew closer and closer and it was only when you stopped - a good distance from him - did he turn to address you.

"Was wondering when you'd finally say 'hi'."

"Hey there, rock star."

You both said at the same time, your jaw went slack instantly at that. You instantly look down at your arm and found the tattoo glowing, and glowing until it got too bright that it disappeared completely.

You can tell he was also watching his as he lifted his own arm alongside yours, his tattoo glowing until both your arms were empty - the tattoos were gone.

"Just my Yule luck, eh?" He chuckles and god, his voice was as hot as him.

You look up to get a good look at him. What the fuck? As if eh wasn't already perfect from your distant view of him, the image is complete now.

He has piercing grey eyes with hints of blue in them and they looked like crystals to you. Why did such a fine specimen end up being your soulmate?

"I'm ____," you offer him your hand, the tattoo now gone and he gives you a charming grin as he accepted it. Introductions were in order.

"Sirius, yep that's my name. If you got complaints then take it up to my Mum, doubt she'd like that very much."

You stared as he laughed at his own joke. "Like the star?"

He paused, not having expected you to get the reference to his name. "You know of it?"

You snort. "It's my favourite, the dog."

You could almost swear his eyes twinkled at your reply, and he let out a bark of laughter, shaking your hand excitedly before pulling away. "Oh this is bloody rich," he seemed to be finding something so funny while you are unsure what that is.

"Something funny, Sirius?" You asked.

He shakes his head and turned to his left, throwing a look at the house next to him - then turning back at you. "Oh nothing, love," you pointedly ignored the butterflies in your stomach at that. "Just, life is funny is all."

"Nevermind you," you roll your eyes and handed him the wrapped gift. "I was gonna give this to you. Merry Christmas."

He looked pleasantly surprised to be given a gift, he accepted it without hesitation and you watch him open the gift. Not even wasting a second to wrap the scarf around himself.

"Whad'ya think, love?"

You bite the insides of your cheeks. "Very fitting, brings out your eyes."

He laughs. "Everything brings out my eyes."

And you didn't bother interjecting that.

.

"Blimey, it's like the world had wanted you to defy your entire lineage, mate!" James exclaimed, holding back his laughter.

"What are we talking about?" Peter asked, just entering the dorms after visiting his girlfriend in the Library.

Remus greeted him, "Pads is talking about his soulmate."

"You finally met her, then?" Peter asked.

Sirius gives a proud nod and jumped on James' bed to lounge with him, the taller boy laughs this time, barely containing it. "Pads here got himself a muggle soulmate!"

"Bloody hell!" Peter's eyes almost bulged out his eyes.

James continued laughing as Sirius smacked him with one of his pillows. He ignored the action.

"It's too fuckin' rich ain't it?" James could almost cry. "Tosser got sorted into Gryffindor and has a muggle for a soulmate, you're really just born to be your family's karma."

Remus could be seen smiling as well, barely laughing but his amusement was visible on his scarred face. He turns to Sirius who appeared happy, despite the laughter and the joke of it all.

"What's she like then, Pads?"

Sirius turns to him, and Remus could almost see heart visibly form in his irises at the thought of you. "She's great, fuckin' perfect for me if anything. This must be what havin' a soulmate is like, she's just right in all the right ways, and places," Remus rolled his eyes at his wink.

"You are a dog, but you already knew that." Remus turned away to regard Peter instead, opting to ask him about his own soulmate. "How was your girlfriend, Wormtail?"

Sirius turns to James who had stopped laughing and was just watching him. "Our bloody Pads is besotted, would you look'a that?"

Sirius laughs, but didn't dare deny it. "Playtime's over, really lucked out so I'm done with all that."

"How about it then?" James frowned. "She's a muggle, isn't she? How are you supposed to go about this?"

Sirius only smirked. "Type of person that she is, she'll fit in just fine."

"You should introduce her to us some time." Peter spoke up, just finishing up his short chat with Remus about his girlfriend. "I want Demi to meet her too."

Sirius thinks about it for a moment. "This summer might be good, I'll find a way around my family, and we can all get together."

The rest of that day back at Hogwarts was spent catching up on their holidays. Ever since Sirius has completely pulled away from his family - he's anticipated his return to Hogwarts more than ever.

But for the first time, he couldn't wait to get out of Hogwarts to see you.

the end.

masterlist

[of-pale]

It was an ordinary afternoon at the Devil May Cry office, and Vergil was suffering.

Not in battle—though he might’ve preferred that—but at Dante’s cluttered desk, wading through what could only loosely be described as paperwork. He frowned, flipping through crumpled receipts, half-finished contracts and an ever-growing mountain of overdue bills from Sparda-knows-when.

This was beneath him. All of it.

But since his clouded judgment had led him to cohabit the office with his twin—for now, at least—it couldn’t be helped. Running a devil-hunting business required more than just swinging swords and drawing demonic blood. It also required drowning in administrative incompetence. And as Dante’s efforts in the matter had resulted in this headache-inducing disaster, Vergil had no choice but to take the reins.

Then, a knock came from the front door.

He's come to expect potential customers barging in—some barking demands like they owned the place, others wide-eyed and frantic, pleading for help. Either way, to Vergil, they were all the same: a nuisance.

But knocking?

That was... unusual.

Vergil stood—Yamato untouched but always within reach—and moved to the door with the quiet, controlled steps of someone prepared to greet problems. He opened it to—nothing. The street outside was empty.

He scowled and began to shut the door.

“Uh... hello?”

The voice was soft. Timid.

Vergil looked down.

Three young girls in crisp uniforms stood below his line of sight, clutching colorful boxes. It took him a second to process what he was seeing, which might explain the brief flicker of confusion that crossed his face.

The tallest of the three hesitated under his glacial stare. Her rehearsed pitch faltered, but she gathered her courage and held out a box labeled 'Choco-Chomp Delights'.

“We’re selling cookies to raise money for our scout troop. Would you be interested in buying some?”

Vergil’s eyes narrowed at the box as if it was some kind of trap. His expression, which Dante had once diagnosed as a chronic case of stink-eye, only deepened.

One of the girls instinctively stepped back. Only a second later came the familiar clang of boots on the stairs.

“Alright, Verge,” Dante called, “what unfortunate customer are you terrorizing this time?”

Dante appeared at his brother’s shoulder, all lazy grin and casual swagger. When he spotted the girls—and more importantly, the cookies—his eyes lit up like kids on Christmas morning.

“Girl Scout cookies! Hell yeah. Gimme five boxes.”

Before the scouts could blink, Dante slapped some bills into the tallest girl’s hand and tore open one of the boxes like a starving animal. He devoured a whole cookie in one chomp, somehow managing to spray crumbs everywhere.

“Man, I really needed that,” he said through a mouthful, barely swallowing before he shoved the open box toward Vergil. “And so do you. Might sweeten up that sour-ass glare you’re giving everyone.”

The trio of girls giggled at that until Vergil’s icy gaze flicked toward them again.

Dante quickly gathered the rest of his purchase and offered the scouts a warm thank-you, waving them off with a playful salute before shutting the door.

Vergil raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “You do realize these cookies could be poisoned.”

The only threat Dante faced was nearly choking from a burst of laughter. “Are you seriously suggesting some eight-year-olds are handing out demon-poisoned cookies? Try telling me again that you're not paranoid.”

“I am not paranoid. Unlike you, I prefer to stay vigilant.”

“Well, if they are poisoned, then I’ve got all the more reason to share them with you.” Dante popped another handful of cookies into his mouth.

“If they are poisoned, then I finally have a chance to be rid of you. So do sample some more.”

Dante waved a cookie under Vergil’s nose and kept talking with a stuffed mouth. “Come on, one ‘poisoned’ cookie won’t kill you. I’ve had a few already, and I’m still breathing.”

“Unfortunately so.”

There was a pause. A long one.

Vergil’s gaze drifted to the open box, then to the cookie Dante was waving under his nose as an insult. He seemed to sniff at it but said nothing. Just reached out and plucked his own, brand new cookie from the box.

He examined it first, as though it might indeed be cursed. Then, with a slow resignation, he took a small bite.

Silence.

Vergil's expression didn’t change—barely a twitch. But he chewed. Swallowed. Took a breath.

Dante watched, eyes wide with anticipation. “Well?” he prodded.

Vergil calmly finished the rest of the cookie, his face unreadable. “It is... tolerable.”

Dante grinned like he’d just won a decades-long war. “You like it.”

“I tolerated it.”

“Wow. You loved it. I’m buying more next time.”

Vergil scoffed and turned back toward the desk, refusing to eat another cookie. “Your delusions are becoming more concerning by the day.”

Dante tossed another chocolate cookie into his mouth with a smug crunch. “Whatever you say. We’re both poisoned now.”

A week later

The scouts knocked again, nervously.

This time, there was no slow horror-movie door creak. No icy glare.

Vergil opened the door in one smooth motion and got straight to business.

“I’ll buy your whole stock.”

The girls blinked.

Vergil glanced behind him, just once, toward the stairs.

“…And your silence regarding this transaction.”

[selanaris]

DPXDC "Lurks in Shadows" pt4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

TW: blood, cult summonings, sacrifices, references to prostitution and trafficking, canon character deaths & undeaths

Two and Half Hours Before Midnight - Crime Alley Gotham - Street Kids’ Hideout

Jason Todd stood at the alley entrance of the street kids. The kids had information on his missing kid’s case. What he had so far was 23 missing kids. All of the kids were male between ages 13-17. Not all of them went missing in Crime Alley, but all of them were regulars at the shelters and soup kitchens here. Every single missing kid was homeless, fostered, or in a bad home. Kids who go missing are ignored by the system, the police, and the adults in their lives.

The case goes back two years, and the spacing is sporadic, but the timeline matches one kid a month. All the dates they were last seen done within the week before a full moon. Immediately, Jason thinks there is some kind of deadline. There are never signs of struggle, so most likely trafficking.

Despite that, the full moon is tonight, and there has not been a change. The last two missing went missing together, and he had no idea if that meant this month was taken, but he was going to be sure. So now Jason Todd was talking to Su and Halfbit of the street kids.

“We ain’t seen nun of the strange guys from last time. I saw one of Black Masks’ guys walk in and out of the Alley. Since they got Chaz and Roman, we’ve been staying closer to the fort. None of the tots are allowed out of the fort, and all the other bases are closed. We go in packs of three now.” Halfbit said. He was a 14-year-old with battered blue and grey clothes. Jason knew him. Well, he knew his mother, who worked three jobs to pay for Halfbit’s medicine. “No one’s getting snatched on my watch. And when Hood gets Roman back, I can show him how I took care of everyone.”

Jason nodded, lost in thought. Halfbit seemed hopeful that it was over, but he could not feed that hope, only reassured him. He was pulled from his musing at a little tug on his pants. It was 8-year-old Su. “You an’ Hood are gonna find my brother…” She said. Su, also known as Susan, was a little spitfire. She lived in a foster home with her older brother. Her brother was 17 and one of the first kids to go missing two years ago. She was the one to set Jason on the trail of missing kids.

Jason knelt to Su and ruffled her tangled hair. “Yeah. I’ll find him. I promise,” he said with a strained smile. He didn’t want her hopes up, but it was the only way to get her to no go looking on her own like she did when he first found her a year and a half ago.

Jason stood up and sighed, “Keep an eye out, and call me if you see anything.” he handed Halfbit a paper with a burner number, fifty dollars in fives, and some coins for the few payphones that the city was too lazy to take down. “Stay safe, kids,” he said and gave them a two-finger salute, to which he could hear the shuffling of the hidden kids in the shadows. Jason smiled and made his way out of the hideout.

He rode his motorcycle back to one of his safe houses and got changed. It was time for Red Hood’s Patrol.

Red Hood patrolled for a good thirty minutes, mostly checking up on the girls, delivering a few meals, then beat the shit out of some rats that think they can rule. It was all going well. Until something specific popped up. His boys sent him a message. A high-end black car had entered Crime Alley. This can mean a lot of things. The least likely was that some idiot took a wrong turn, but that does happen in his experience. The second option, which is the most likely, is that new money is here to pay or kidnap the girls. Either the outcome or something new, Jason was going to keep a strong eye on this. He revved his cycle and went to the last sighting.

He did not like what he saw. He found the black car, definitely a nice model, and it was parked only a few blocks from the street kids’ hideout. Hood parked across the street from the car. There was a man at the front of the alley with one of the girls around him. Jason went over to the car to look inside while the cop was distracted. He noticed that it was empty, with clean leather seats, a disposable coffee cup with some dark stains around the mouth of the lid, and the biggest key, was a GCPD jacket laid across the back seat. Jason would have preferred traffickers he could punch over Gotham pigs. If he was lucky, he would be allowed to punch this pig.

Hood noticed the night worker had walked away. The cop had immediately turned towards the alley, the hideout. Hood wasn’t letting that happen. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said through his modulator.

He saw the cop freeze up and slowly turn around his a hint of fear in his eyes. Quickly, the expression became tired as he sighed. He looked like a bad Constantine imitation, and Hood couldn’t hold back his smirk under his mask when the cop cursed. “Yeah, Shit is right. What are you doing in Crime Alley? Especially in that.” he jabbed his thumb to the car that screamed for someone to jack his tires. He could already hear the street kids preparing their tools as he took another step into the alley.

“I was dropping off my brother, but he just walked off the moment we parked.” That was a big load of shit if Hood ever heard. Who just drops their brother off in Crime Alley? Did he miss his first day of the goonion meeting? He was about to call out the cop’s bluff when he spoke again under his breath, “Whoever said brothers were great to have lied.”

Now, Hood was a bit more inclined to believe him. But there was the expression about it, the stress and care in his eyes. This wasn’t an older brother. The cop looked to be in his twenties, and he seemed new to keeping a troublesome brother, which would make his brother a kid at least. Jason understood older and younger brothers in a plethora of ages. He snorted a laugh that was picked up by his modulator. “Why the hell did you bring a kid to Crime Alley? That’s just stupid.”

The cop seemed to take that as some kind of connection as his body relaxed, and he walked further into the alley. He seemed to hesitate and look back at Hood before continuing down the alley. “He said he was investigating something.” That piqued Red Hood’s interest, and he straightened up his posture.

The only thing worth investigating out here was the missing kids… Hood tensed up and started to raise his voice in anger. “Uhuh, and is something that has to do with my boys going missing?” he growled.

Red Hood saw the recognition in the cop’s eyes. He could feel the pit rise as his vision slowly tinted to green. “You know about the missing children?” said the cop. Red Hood took a deep breath and focused on the facts. The missing kids were never reported, and those that were reported never got filed. The only way this man could know about this was if the police knew about it and ignored it for two years, or they were involved. This line of thought only caused the green vision to intensify. He couldn’t hold it back anymore. He pulled out his gun and placed it right against the man’s head, and turned off the safety. The only thing preventing him from blowing out the pig’s brains all over the wall was his trigger finger being held tightly around the barrel of the gun.

At this point, Red Hood was barely paying attention as he went into interrogation mode. His vision was full of green, and he was sure that his eyes would be glowing under his mask. Hood interrogated the cop on the facts. 23 missing kids all in his Alley. When he asked about them, the cop only said that he was also investigating. Hood was not really listening to the explanation. None of it made sense to him, and it all felt like bullshit. He claimed he was a victim, but he didn’t even match the targets at all.

Then suddenly, the green cleared from his eyes the moment he heard it, “I am telling the truth. I am sorry. They are dead… Eddie the Machete has been killing them all. 36 victims.”

Dead, all the kids were dead… Not only that, but there were 36 victims. Jason only knew the names and disappearances of 23. How many kids had died, and no one knew about it? How many years had this been going on?

Red Hood no longer saw anything else but green. He screamed and cursed as he kicked something loudly into the alley's wall. He screamed at the cop to get out of his territory. He threw in some threats before punching an obvious dent into the brick wall on his way out. He got on his motorcycle and sped away. He needed to calm down, then he needed a plan on how to find this Eddie and make him regret ever existing.

Jason drove around for a few hours, stopping petty crimes and getting the rage out of his body by slamming criminals’ faces to the ground. He stopped back at the street kid’s hideout to double-check on them before he went out again. He saw Su and Halfbit. Su ran up to Red Hood and grabbed his leg while he was still on the bike.

“I saw him! I saw him!” She yelled while tugging his pants, “You have to go after him. Those meanies in red attacked us and took his book. Then… Then… He said he was gonna go after them… and…”

Hood held his hands up and then reached to pick her up to his lap. “Slow down, Su. What happened? Who did you see?”

“Jack!” she yelled, and it caused Jason to hesitate a bit. That was her brother. Who the cop said was dead. “I saw my big brother. The meanies were gonna take us, then Jack showed up… and he had that book. I saw him make a big fire with his hands! They were fighting, and ‘Bit took us to hide. But… But I saw them get close and take his book. It was very loud. ‘Bit helped me count to a hundred… then the sounds were gone. Jack found us, and he helped us back to the hideout. He said he was gonna go after the big meanies that took his book. You have to find my brother!” Su yelled at the end.

She was convinced that whoever found her was Jack. Red did not want to be the one to tell her that Jack was gone. Eventually, he would have to tell her, but for now, someone did save them, and then got in trouble. That he can work with. “Ok, Su, I’m going to go after him. I promise to bring your savior back.”

She looked at him determinedly and held out her pinkie. Hood did not want to do this, not because it was childish, but because he knew he could not keep this promise. But he had no choice. He wrapped his pinkie around her’s and she nodded, then smiled. She moved to slide off his leg and back to the ground and ran off. Halfbit looked back up at the vigilante. “Jack’s dead… I… I know what I saw… That… thing had Jack’s face… But he saved us… so do what you want with him… I need to prepare Su for her heartbreak… but not today…” he boy said and looked at the ground. He nodded to Jason and ran off to the alley.

Hood sighed, took off his helmet, and looked down at his hands. He had no clues, no support, no evidence… Just grief. He ran his hands over his face, then suddenly felt paper rub between his hands and face. He pulled his hands away from his dominoed face and saw a bright green sticky note. The note had an address in north Gotham and a little message. “This may be what you are looking for.” And wasn’t that vague. It was labeled with the signature ‘C.W.’ Whoever that was?

Red Hood did not have time to dwell too much on it. He ripped the address off of the note and threw the bottom half of the note into the trash where the back half revealed itself to say, “Please Recycle.” And Jason hated this CW even more now. He started up his motorcycle and placed his helmet back on, and drove like hell. He needed to get to North Gotham fast.

The address was some bright pink cafe in North Gotham. He eventually got there about fifteen minutes before midnight. He was going to park his cycle up front, but he paused when he saw a specific yellow underside cape. Jason pulled around the corner of an unrented shop beside the location, and Damian dropped down from the fire escape. “What are you doing here, T- Hood?” Robin said with his usual grump.

Jason sighed and pulled out the torn sticky note with an address, “Following a lead. What about you, brat?”

Robin scoffed and pulled out an identical green sticky note that had the same address on it. “Obviously, I was also following a lead for my case. Tch. Your backup is not required this far from your territory,” he spat.

But Red Hood was not paying attention to the preteen. He was leaning over and reading the sticky note. “Who the hell is the Ghost King?”

[ganxiously]

A Place to Rest Your Weary Bones || 1.8k || 8.15 speculation fic (sort of)

Read below or read on ao3

Buck had not worked a wildfire in quite a while but he still remembered every detail vividly. It was the thing of nightmares after all — the heat, the desperation, feeling like ants trying to move a mountain and most importantly, the aftermath where everything became grey and silent, a desolate landscape of smouldering ash and burnt down husks, a hellish world where certainly no life could ever hope to grow. That’s what he felt like, standing at the doorway to Chimney’s room and realising that his brother-in-law, despite what had happened, had gotten the better end of the deal. He was alive, for one, and well on the road to recovery. He would be better in a week, they said, now that the antivirus had taken effect. Hen, on the other hand, was going to be stuck in the hospital itself for a week and then was looking forward to more than a month of bed rest and light duty. And Bobby . . .

He shied away from the thought and concentrated on Maddie, who was sitting beside Chim and stroking his hand. She was crying, silent tears trailing down her face, but Buck didn’t have it in him to make her stop. This was better, this was better than the shellshocked look she had worn as they had sat together in the hospital waiting room. 

“You sure about staying here for the night?”

His voice was hoarse, broken and battered from all the screaming he had done. For nothing apparently. Buck had learnt the hard way today that screams could not bring the dead back to life. His sister looked up, startled like she had forgotten Buck was still here. She paused for a moment, her eyes looking past Buck to something he couldn’t fathom and then focused back on him again.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She must have seen the hesitance on Buck’s face because she straightened up a little, pulled on the armour of big sister tighter around her shoulders and said,

“Don’t worry. I’ll be alright. I just . . . I just need to keep him in my sight for a while.”

“I can stay with you.”, he offered, a part of him desperate to not be separated from his people, even though he already knew what her answer would be.

Unsurprisingly, she shook her head.

“No, no, it’s fine. You go on ahead and get some rest at home. I just want to spend some time alone with him.”, Maddie told him and then, after a pause, acquiesced, “But be here tomorrow, alright?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. I— I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

That brought a smile to her face. 

“No need for that Buck. You saved the day today. Get some proper rest before you turn up.”

On the way out, he peeped into Hen’s room but it was already crowded with Denny and Mara sitting on either side of Hen’s sleeping figure while Karen and Hen’s mother were off to the side, talking in hushed tones. He briefly considered going inside but it felt intimate, almost sacred. A family keeping bedside vigil and Buck would only be an interloper there. It was better to leave them alone for now.

Outside, the streets were practically empty given the time of the night but by some divine intervention, there was a cab idling at the hospital entrance. Buck approached it, earning a curious glance from the driver.

“Where to?”

“Home.”, came the answer before he could even consider formulating one.

It made the man look at him weird but something must have shown on his face because his gaze softened a second later. He didn’t exactly look any less weirded out but more like he wouldn’t immediately grab hold of Buck and commit him to the psych ward.

“And where is that?”, he asked.

And that . . . that was the question, wasn’t it? Where was home? Buck had a house, sure but did he have a home? He hesitated for a second, glancing back at the hospital. He felt like if he looked hard enough, he would be able to see Chim and Hen’s room from down here. A stupid thought, of course. He was too far away. He slid into the backseat and gave the driver the address to the 118, trying not to think too much on what he was doing. The firehouse was on the other side and he would need to pass by the hospital again to get back to his house. It would take a lot of time. Just because I need to pick up my car, he told himself, and it will save me a lot of time tomorrow.

The firehouse was empty when the cab dropped him off. The gates were still open but the lights were off. The abandoned trucks looked colossal in the dark, their brilliant red hidden and the moonlight making them throw long shadows across the floor. It looked haunted almost, an empty building with an almost empty parking lot in the middle of LA, waiting for its captain who would never step through those doors again. No one would be in the right mind to work, the management had said, let them take a day before they can resume work again. So understanding but still so cruel. Buck would have screamed if there was any strength left in his lungs for that. He didn’t know how things could resume again. The core was gone. Without the nucleus to drag them in and hold them together, they’d either drift apart, orbitless and alone or collide and explode and take everything in their wake. There was no coming back from this.

I’ve lost my captain, he thought, standing at the entrance. I have lost my home. This place had been home for so long. Maybe not home in the way people meant it but definitely a home nonetheless. It had been the first place where he had truly belonged. It was where he had truly come into himself. It was where he had lived, laughed and loved his way to true adulthood. Buck had fought for it, he had fought himself and the world and the universe for it and now . . . now, he had lost it anyways. Because a home was always defined by the people who had made it into one and this one had been made by Bobby.

I’ve lost my Dad.

The sob that tore through his throat echoed through the firehouse, a macabre cry of the half-dead and Buck wondered if he should go in anyways. Just sit there and wait until Bobby showed up. Or until he fused in with the walls, become one with the house — a happy ghost among his happiest memories. But no, there were people who still needed him here. There was Athena, lifeless as a statue, stiff and unmoving like she could arrest time through sheer will. There was Bobby, lying cold in an even colder room, waiting for a hero’s send off. There was Hen and her family and Maddie and Chim and Jee. And Jesus Christ, had anyone even thought to inform Eddie of what had gone down? Life didn’t wait for anybody. It would carry on, one bleak morning after the other no matter how much Buck felt ready to deal with it. 

Steeling himself, he turned away from the 118, walking across the lot to climb into his truck. Taking a deep breath, he started the car but where to? Where was home? Where did he belong? Where could he belong? Buck didn’t know anymore. But he did have a house, a place to rest and gather himself so he could emerge tomorrow and try to help what was left of his family. It was where he should go, drive past the hospital where his loved ones were, take a right, then a left and then another left. Go inside, eat a leftover sandwich, get some sleep and get up early and see how he could help, who he could help.

He didn’t do that. Of course, he didn’t. Instead he circled the hospital once, twice, drove down to pass by his old loft, the repository of his other happy memories. He checked Maddie’s house and then Hen’s and then sat outside of Bobby and Athena’s apartment, eyes trained on the darkened windows. And when he finally turned into his street, it was already nearly dawn. The sky was still dark but the world was coming to life slowly — a few people here and there, the call of a bird, the bark of a dog. He parked his truck and glanced at his house. Looked away and then snapped back to gape at it. Because the house was the same — one storey, pale yellow in colour and porch out front. It was dark save for the porch lights that Buck had learnt to leave on after that one time he tripped on the stairs and sent himself slamming into wall. Everything was as it should be except . . . except for the figure, slumping down on his front steps, long body folded almost in half, hands on knees, head on hands, brown curls gleaming in the soft yellow light.  

Buck was out of his car before he even fully registered what was going on. He walked up the driveway, trembling all over because it couldn’t be, right? He wouldn’t, right? He wouldn’t for Buck, right? But he would, though. He would for, Buck. Always. That much was something he had been sure of even in his worst moments. He came to stand before the tired figure slumbering at his door. Buck stared down at him and then stared some more to make sure he was not hallucinating or anything.

“Tommy?”, he finally called, his voice barely above a whisper.

The head jerked up, Tommy’s body flinching in a way it did only when he woke up from a very deep sleep. Buck felt bad for him. He had already been at the tail end of his 48 hours when Buck had called him and then God knows how many hours they had spent trying to save everyone’s life. He must have been exhausted. Blue eyes stared up at him, wide with shock at first and then slowly it bled away, leaving bone-aching relief in its wake.

“Evan.”, Tommy whispered like he also had a hard time believing Evan was really there. Which was stupid because it was Buck’s house they were at.

“You’re finally home.”

And all at once Buck’s carefully constructed embankments crumbled. Grief and helplessness flowed in, breaking the banks, flooding the fields and Buck collapsed onto his knees, finally, finally safe in the knowledge that someone was there to catch him now. As expected, hands grabbed him by the shoulders, large and strong and steady, not pulling him up, not pushing him away but just holding him, letting him be, letting him float knowing that when it was enough, he could just tug on the line and rest assured that he would be dragged back to the shore. 

“Yes. I am home.”

Amidst the desolate landscape, between the ashes and burnt tree trunks, a tiny sapling broke the surface, not life, not yet but the hope of one.

[shizuturnspages]

Hii, so I have a request for the 'too young to love' series..!

The reader is too childishly playful and shy, that is, she behaves like an ordinary teenager (16-17 years old) who makes a face of disgust at the sight of a couple on the street and runs away from home and therefore she tries not to notice the open manifestation of love from the character, and therefore the character decides to be.. a little stricter with the restless reader in order to finally make her see the love that the character shows (Wanderer, Diluc, Kazuha, Zhongli and Xiao) Thank you in advance if you accept my request.

Too Young to Love: A Little Tougher

Synopsis: The world outside was full of couples. It was easy to ignore them from your room, or pretend they weren’t there, but when you stepped outside, they were everywhere. Holding hands. Sharing ice cream. Kissing on the park bench. Everywhere. And you? Well, you hated it. You’d always been shy, a little childish, and completely unaware of romance. When you saw those couples, you’d make a face of disgust and hurry away, the mere thought of anything romantic making your cheeks burn. There was no way you wanted to deal with any of it. Love was for older people, not for someone like you. But little did you know, there was someone in your life who was quietly, steadily, and very, very persistently in love with you. And you didn't even notice. And so, each time you ran away from love, or blushed and turned away, your obliviousness only pushed them closer to a decision—a decision to make you see. Pairings: [Separate] Yandere Wanderer, Diluc, Kazuha, Zhongli, Xiao x Teenage Reader

Wanderer – The Mischievous “Best Friend”

Wanderer had always been a bit of an enigma. You never quite knew how to interpret his teasing smile, the way he’d playfully push you around, or how his eyes seemed to linger on you just a little too long. But, like you always did, you chalked it up to his usual mischief and moved on with your day.

One day, you walked out to find him standing in the middle of the street, talking to a couple. He looked at you and then at them, smirking as you took in the scene.

“What are you doing here?” you demanded, pretending not to notice the couple holding hands beside him.

His grin only widened. “Isn’t it obvious?” he teased, eyes glinting mischievously. “I’m just trying to get a taste of what love looks like. Maybe I should try it too.”

Your eyes went wide, and you immediately turned away, blushing deeply. “No!” you cried out, turning to walk away.

But Wanderer wasn’t going to let you get away so easily.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice suddenly firm. Before you could respond, he caught your arm, his grip a little tighter than usual. “Why are you running away?”

You squirmed in his hold, feeling embarrassed, but he only pulled you closer, his face uncomfortably close to yours.

“You can’t keep pretending this isn’t real. That I’m not here,” he said softly, almost a whisper. “You’re running from me, but I won’t let you hide forever. Not when you’re the one I want.”

Diluc – The Overprotective Older "Brother"

Diluc had always been someone you respected. He was older, reliable, and always made sure you were safe. He was your protector. But lately, you’d noticed something strange. His eyes lingered on you in a way that made you nervous, as if he were trying to figure something out.

One afternoon, you were sitting at the table with him when you made the mistake of commenting on a couple that passed by. You’d made your usual face of disgust, and Diluc’s expression froze for a moment before he put his drink down with a soft thud.

“You really don’t like seeing people together, do you?”

You blinked at him, confused. “Well, yeah. I don’t get it. People are gross sometimes. Why would anyone want to kiss or hold hands like that?”

Diluc’s eyes narrowed, and his voice became more stern than you’d ever heard before.

“You can’t keep running from love, you know.”

You shrugged, trying to brush it off. “I’m just not ready for that kind of thing.”

But Diluc didn’t seem convinced. “Maybe I’m not ready to let you keep running from me, either.”

The next day, you noticed that Diluc’s gestures toward you were a bit more insistent. He would lean closer when he spoke, his hand resting on your shoulder just a little too long.

It wasn’t until he stepped in to take control of your schedule, insisting on being more involved in your daily life, that you realised just how serious he was.

His patience was wearing thin, and now, it seemed, so was his usual composure. "You’re not allowed to run away from me anymore," he said, voice dangerously calm, as he gently pulled you back toward him after you tried to slip away yet again.

Kazuha – The Calm, Yet Persistent Poet

Kazuha had always been gentle, the kind of person who was soft-spoken and calm no matter what the situation. You admired his sense of peace, his carefree attitude, and his ability to make everything feel like an adventure.

But recently, Kazuha had grown… a little different. You weren’t sure what it was, but you could feel the tension in the way he looked at you.

One day, while you were walking together in the forest, he reached out and brushed his fingers through your hair, something he had never done before. You jumped, surprised by the action, and quickly pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

You fumbled for a response. “I just don’t like… stuff like that. I’m not into—”

But before you could finish your sentence, Kazuha gently held your wrist, his grip firm, yet still warm. “You don’t have to be scared of me,” he said. “But I need you to understand. I’m not going anywhere.”

You took a deep breath, looking at him with wide eyes. “You’re too close,” you whispered.

His smile remained as serene as ever, though there was a hint of something more behind it now. “I’m not going to stop. You’ll see.”

The next few days, his presence around you became more constant. He was always there—waiting outside your door, walking beside you without asking. It was like you couldn’t escape him.

But more than that—he wasn't giving you a choice anymore.

Zhongli – The Calm and Gentle Protector

Zhongli had been kind to you ever since you met. His wisdom, his ability to listen without judgment—it made you feel safe, comfortable in his presence. You thought of him as a fatherly figure, someone who could guide you through the complexities of life. But that had slowly started to change.

One afternoon, you went to the restaurant to meet him for lunch. But as soon as you sat down, you noticed the way he watched you. There was a deep, focused look in his eyes. His hand reached over, just a little too close to yours, and his fingers brushed against your skin.

You pulled away, feeling uncomfortable. “Zhongli, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

He smiled softly, but there was something darker in his gaze now. “I’ve been waiting for you to realise it for a long time now.”

“Realise what?” you asked, eyes wide with confusion.

He sighed, his voice calm but with an edge you hadn’t noticed before. “That we belong together.”

The realisation hit you like a ton of bricks. You had been unaware of how far Zhongli had fallen for you. How much he had given. But now, it seemed he wasn’t going to wait any longer.

“I’ll give you the space to see it,” he said gently, though the firmness in his words left no room for argument. “But I’m not leaving. Not now, not ever.”

Xiao – The Quiet, Protecting Presence

Xiao had always been distant. His reserved nature made it easy to mistake his protective gestures for mere concern. You knew he cared about you, but you never quite understood why he would insist on always being there, even when you tried to push him away.

You had grown used to his silent presence, the way he would stand guard at your door, the way his watchful eyes followed you whenever you moved. But lately, it had started to feel suffocating.

One night, you tried to slip out of the house. You weren’t running away exactly, but you wanted a moment alone, away from the intense emotions that were building. But Xiao caught you by the wrist before you could even reach the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

You flinched, tugging at your wrist. “I just need some air!”

Xiao’s grip tightened, pulling you closer. His eyes were softer now, but his voice was firm. “You can’t run away from me. You’re mine.”

You blinked, confusion clouding your thoughts. “What are you talking about?”

Xiao’s expression softened for just a second before it hardened again. “You’ll understand soon enough. I’m not letting you go.”

[totallynottinsel]

Hey! I saw you were open to Bagginshield fic recs :) kind of an odd request here, but could you please do one where Bilbo+Thorin are on a journey (any, doesn't have to be the Erebor journey if you don't want it to be (: ) and they come across a little hurt abandoned human girl and then they take care of her for the rest of the journey and maybe even adopt her (nothing NSFW pls). If you don't feel up to it, don't feel pressured! Thank you!!

Love this! I'm starting to write with my own Bagginshield oc daughter so this is perfect timing

I hope I did alr, it's hard to speedrun bonding and relationships and have it be short form but I tried 😭

"We've gotten more letters reporting unknown sightings," Said Balin, holding a few handfuls of paper. "Stolen food, clothes.. they're worried it's another Orc pack on the rise."

"Too civilized to be an Orc." Thorin shook his head; since the slow reconstruction of Dale over the past months, the people had been calling aid upon the mountain once again to tell of missing goods. More and more had disappeared and it did not sit well with the folk hoping to make the ruined city home. Some feared the Orcs after what had transpired in the Battle, while others sought it to be them turning on one another for the lack of needs to survive. The last thing they wanted was for the Men of Dale to war between themselves.

"Could it be an animal? I used to get quite a bit of pesky rodents in Bag End. Always ate away my garden.." Bilbo grumbled at the thought of those cheeky mice who came out in the summer to feast.

"Suppose it could. But I doubt there's any left alive to cause this much 'o ruckus." Balin assured. "It might help calm the people if we take a trip down there, just to let them see it's no danger. Would be a good chance to see how Bard is fairing too."

"Let's get to it then," Thorin looked to Bilbo who gave a nod. Things were running smoothly enough in the mountain to leave for the day---at least till Fili and Kili get bored, which they eventually would once they realized Thorin had left, and that meant free run of the whole place.

The three of them took off on pony-back soon after, welcomed by the fresh spring breeze and little song birds that flew to nest on the rock beds. Bilbo smiled fondly at the scenery; he was still getting used to living in Erebor, it was quite different from the comforts of the Shire he'd grown so used to. This trip was also his first official on sight day as a consort, the title he'd gained after he and Thorin tied the knot---which was extremely nerve racking in itself. Being a kings 'right hand man', as he liked to put it, was going to take some getting used to as well. Thorin was always there to quell his worries. And having Balin was a plus.

They soon arrived at the front of Dale, hopping off their ponies and tending them to a post, they were greeted by Bard. "Good to see you, my friends. I hate to say it, but I've been stumped over this so-called thief we have on our hands. I'm starting to believe it's some sort of elaborate joke."

"Well, we're lucky to have the world's greatest burglar at our side, wouldn't you say lad?" Balin gave Bilbo a kind pat on the shoulder. Who better to get inside the mind of a suspected thief than one themselves?

Though Bilbo seemed to think a bit different. "Ah, me?" So that's what he was here for---just to be thrown in as bait! He supposed he couldn't blame them, he was quite good at the whole sneaking thing. At least this time he'd be faced with a rat or less rather than a dragon, or a possible orc... a really odd orc, if that was the case. "Right, I see how it is. You're coming with me." He pointed a finger towards Thorin.

"Wouldn't have thought otherwise." Thorin unsheathed his sword; Bard led them to the areas of notice, and as they walked the streets spoke to the locals who had witnessed this disappearance of goods firsthand. Most of them gave very different answers that really brought them to no conclusions, though Balin did stay behind to try and get some useful information on it from an older lady giving him the eyes.

Bilbo was searching for---quite literal---bread crumbs of a trail down an unsuspecting alley. At the most he'd gotten a scare from what looked to be a raggedy bird that came out from a pile of nasty orc remains. He doubted that was the culprit. The hypothetical trail seemed to run dry till he was spooked again by a scamper from behind, turning a quick shoulder to just catch a glimpse of something small running into a crack in the wall. "A-ha!" He hurried down the opposite end to grab Thorin's attention, who had been taken by the old lady as well. "I've got something---I saw it go into a hole in the wall, or... er, just come look."

"What did it look like?" Asked Thorin as they traveled back.

"I don't know, I only saw a little."

Thorin made some sound of acknowledgement and stepped forward into the alley, sword drawn and pointed near the cracked hole, unaware of what would jump out of it. Before he got too close Bilbo saw a door they could make way into, and they took that route instead. Inside the old house was a collection of burned furniture, broken floor boards and windows and ceilings, and not to mention the dried puddles of blood. Nothing seemed to be occupying the space for quite some time, and the mystery culprit was nowhere. They were just about to leave before suddenly a lengthy shard of glass was thrown at Thorin, who swung out of its way and pushed aside the large crate it came behind from.

It all happened so quick Bilbo barely had time to think till he saw what the tip of Thorin's blade was pointed towards; a child. "Wait! Wait," He grabbed the dwarf's arm and inched him back. "It's a child!"

"I see that," Thorin's sword found its way back to his hip, as he somewhat curiously raised a brow at the sight before them. Around the room there were piles of tattered clothes and fresh and rotten food galore. "Seems we've found are thief." The girl was clearly human, but scrawny and small, she must've been no older than seven or eight. Mud covered her cheek and her redish-orange curls were torn in every which way. She coward away from them.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Thorin! You're giving the poor girl a fright!" Bilbo swatted at him to back away further. "She's not a thief, she's just... trying to survive." He tentatively approached the girl, who tried to hide. "Ah---don't run! It's alright. We're not going to hurt you." He raised his hands to show he wasn't armed, lowering down to her level. "We just want to help, that's all." The girl was still hesitant, but listening. "My name is Bilbo Baggins. And there's Thorin---he's really not as scary as he looks. What's your name?"

The girl only looked at them silently for awhile, until she started to draw something in the dirt.

"Elli," Bilbo repeated the message she scribbled. "That's a very nice name you have there. Where, er... are your parents? Your family?"

Elli drew another, and this time it was in the shape of what looked to be a dragon. Smaug. She must have lost them in the attack on Laketown. "Oh. I... I see." He nodded Thorin towards the drawing, and though the dwarf looked away, the guilt was clear in his eyes. "Would you like to come with us?" Well, that got Thorin's attention back rather quick.

"With us?"

"Yes!"

"She belongs here with her own kind." Thorin crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hm, let's see; how long have I been living in the mountain now? I'm not a dwarf, am I?" Bilbo quipped, waiting for an answer, but Thorin was rightfully bested once again. "Exactly." He went back to Elli, who pointed to the messy pile of food. "Oh, yes, you're hungry. Right---you can come with us and we'll get you something to eat. A warm bath? How does that sound?"

She slowly nodded. She let Bilbo help her forward and followed them back to the ponies, which she was weary of.

"My, and who's this?" Asked Balin.

"Elli, she needs our help. She... lost her family, so I think it's only right we do something." Said Bilbo. The girl was hiding behind him for cover.

"That's mighty kind of you. There's been too many children who've seen death in these past months. I'll see to it if anyone in town knows of her." Said Bard.

And with that, they returned to the mountain with a new addition. She had fallen asleep on the ride back, probably exhausted. Lucky for them Bombur had been experimenting in the kitchen, and some fresh made hearty egg sandwiches were on the table. The smell enticed half the company inside. "Back already?" Kili mumbled with a load of bread in his mouth.

"We... found something." Said Thorin, and everyone gave him a stare.

"Could you be more specific?" Bofur was the first to ask, but Thorin just sighed, and out from behind him came Bilbo, and behind Bilbo came Elli. She clung to his leg. Every dwarf either gasped or hollered loudly.

"Now keep your heads down, lads! This poor girl's been through the ringer, so don't go giving her more trouble." Balin's stern call kept them all shut, besides Dwalin who scoffed as if it was funny.

"This is Elli, Elli---this is... uh, everyone. Almost. They're nice too, once you get to know them." Bilbo took her gently by the hand and led her to a chair, offering her a sandwich which she ate enthusiastically. "Her family was taken by Smaug's last attack."

"She's human, then?" Perked Fili, giving the girl a friendly wave, and her lips nearly curled upward. "Is she gonna stay?"

"Oh! Is she?" Kili was already up. "I've always wanted a---"

"She's just staying till she's been properly fed and taken care of." Thorin intervened with that strangely bitter tone of his. He did say he would work on being far less pessimistic, but that was easier said than done.

"However long she's staying, all that matters is that we get her feeling better." Bilbo handed her another sandwich after she finished the first, as well as some water she gulped down. Kili and Fili offered themselves to get a special guest room ready for her, and Bombur was getting more food ready as they spoke. Ori even went to find some new clothes for her that Dori could fit to her size better. They were a good bunch, as always.

After she'd had a cozy bath to herself and a new set of clothes that were still a bit too large, she was looking to be on the brighter side. At least a little. She slept well enough, but it was the next afternoon where she finally spoke.

"You look funny for a dwarf."

"I---what?" Bilbo turned to face her as she sat looking at some book Ori had given her. "I'm not a dwarf, I'm a hobbit."

"Hob...?" She seemed confused.

"Yes, hobbit. Very different from a dwarf."

"How?"

Bilbo wasn't exactly sure how to describe the many and obvious differences between the two if she'd never heard of a hobbit till then. "Uh, we just... are."

"Why are your feet so big?"

"I was born that way? All hobbit's look like me. Well, not really, but similar enough." He shrugged.

"Oh." She gave a slow nod, even if she thought it was weird. "Will the dragon come back?"

Bilbo's heart pained hearing that. "No, no. He's dead. He's gone forever." Elli let him sit next to her on the floor. "I saw it. And you're safe here, I promise."

She nodded again. "Do all hob-is live here?"

"Hobbit. But no, I used to live quite a ways from here. A place called the Shire; it has very wonderful trees and gardens and all sorts of things."

"Why don't you live there anymore?"

She was full of questions he wasn't expecting. "Ah, well... " How was he supposed to explain all that to a seven year old? "You remember Thorin from yesterday, right?"

"He's not nice."

"Er, he's just... anyways! He hired me to help him and his company find something. I did, and... I enjoy it here, so I decided to stay. To put it simply."

"What did you find?" She tilted her head curiously.

"Some blasted old rock." The Arkenstone really did no favors for anyone. At the very least it was gone. Elli gave him a look that read her thinking of her little interaction with Thorin even worse; he's mean, and he collects rocks? What's up with that?

That did change however on the coming day, when she found herself alone with the dwarf after Bilbo had left to help a kitchen disaster that occurred, and gave the duties of babysitter to Thorin.

"Are you a hobbit or a dwarf?"

Not expecting any conversation to happen, Thorin had closed his eyes to rest, but was almost immediately shook awake. "What?" That caught him by surprise.

"Are you a hobbit or a---"

"Dwarf." He'd become a bit rusty when it came to dealing with young children after his nephews grew older. "Why do you ask?"

Elli shrugged. She asked a few more random questions regarding his appearance or why he collected rocks, which absolutely confused him, but there was one thing she asked that shifted the room. "Will I see my Ma and Da again when I die?"

Thorin wasn't all too sure himself of that; he did not know if Mahal would truly take their spirits to a peaceful place after death, or perhaps he gave you the choice yourself. Or perhaps none at all. In any case, humans and dwarves had different beliefs in what spirits guided you forward, so what her thought of the after days would be like was unlike his own. "What do you think?"

"I think I will."

The sadness of her eyes reminded him of Fili and Kili when their father passed, of himself. "I've lost my Mother and Father. To the dragon, and to another beast I couldn't control."

"Were you sad?" Asked Elli.

"Yes," He nodded. "Some days I still am."

They weren't so weary of each other after that.

And finally it came to a day where all the anguish had caught up to her. She had suddenly burst out in tears, and without word clung to Thorin's leg like a lifeline. He did his best to soothe her aches and Bilbo offered her a kind hug she returned. They both felt and agreed they could not imagine leaving her off somewhere or with someone else; it was hard not to grow fond of her, and she deserved a home to rest in. She equally reminded both of themselves at some point in their lives. Fili and Kili were very pleased to be getting a 'sister' of sorts they could spend their time with, even if she found them a bit too loud or strange. They were all beginning to be quite an interesting family.

[m0rbidity]

"Well, yeah. It was fuckin' cold. What if my feet froze off, or became infected or cut on a rock or something?" she said it like it was a joke, and all her past logic was pretty funny to recount. But it spoke to a bit of a truth about Meena, and that was that vampirism had truly absolved her life of any consequences.

"Thanks though. Glad to know someone sees a bit of excitement in my future,"

Sure, she was never a shy child. But society was something she had to exist in, something that kept Meena Patel in line. She had little brothers and a sister to look out for, and a body to look after, and at least some idea of the consequences of her actions. Like how it probably wasn't a good idea to go running around the grimy, dank streets of the urbanised city she grew up in.

"Maybe we can call someone with a car. I'm pretty sure everyone in town could owe me a favour if I twisted the truth a little. Especially if we use Taz as a guilt-trip. She's like our own little orphan Annie,"

The sight of the wet dog must be enough to make anyone with a functioning heart take pity on them. Meena was already reeling off ideas in her head, pretty sure she had her phone in her back pocket.

"Hurricanes, yeah? What's that like?"

adelaide sucks her teeth, briefly left behind by the two beings much quicker than her. she doesn't put it past meena to be cheating, but accepts her fate as the rotten egg as she catches her breath. ❝ you lived in london and never ran barefoot in the rain? ❞ it was surprising because meena seemed like she was the kind of child and person who would never have passed up the chance to do whatever she wanted — unapologetically bold. ❝ i believe a slowmo run with the perfect girl is still in your future. ❞ she nods, so certain you'd have thought she saw it in a vision. ade had seen worse weather as well. louisiana was kind of a bed for natural disasters. ❝ where i lived was pretty wet too. some hurricanes and such, ❞ she nods, eyes drifting momentarily. but she almost snaps a smile back into place when realizing she's getting lost in her thoughts. ❝ i just ... wasn't expecting this. ❞ no one was. ❝ i feel bad for taz. ❞ ade can't even pet her without being left with brown wet fur all stuck to her hand. ❝ but it looks like we'll be walking home in this. ❞

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapter 3 Review

‼️ SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER ‼️

Warning(s): extreme use of foul language.

Aurora is not pregnant.

I don’t believe it for a second, that cow is lying through her teeth. I already mentioned in the second chapter review that she just couldn’t be pregnant because there are three major reasons that easily disprove her claim.

First, it’s the amount of time that passed by. It has been a few months since Season 4 and the manga, around four months to be exact. And yet, Aurora’s stomach appears to be completely flat. How is this possible? Shouldn't there be a visible bump by now?

Second, season 3’s artbook already confirmed that Aurora was a manipulative woman and wanted to reflect it with her design (by having her hair covering one of her eyes) so who’s to say she’s telling the truth right now??

Third, @kilfeur pointed out in this post that if she was pregnant, Armand would not have allowed her to fly high up in the cloudy sky to gain knowledge about the Eliatrope goddess' eliaculus. Armand was already worried about Aurora when she went up, and the thought of her flying high while carrying their future child would have made him refuse the idea entirely, as he feared it could put their unborn child in danger.

So yeah, this skank is clearly lying her ass off just to manipulate the sadidas so that they could take her side. She’s so fucking petty omg I cannot deal with her. And her father is even worse my god wipe that ugly ass smile off your face you fatass.

This man clearly wants power that’s outside his kingdom. He just wants more even if it doesn’t belong to him and it painfully shows because he won’t stop making this fart face.

But it’s okay because as soon as Amalia opens her mouth, he immediately stops looking like a dumbass and immediately FROWNS because he knows she’s spitting FACTS.

And this is the only reason why I loved this moment. Amalia literally put him in his place and shut him up.

Amalia on the first panel: “What right do you return after you have shamelessly abandoned us? The osamodas kingdom, the nations of Bonta, Brakmar, Amakna, Astrub…”

Amalia on the second panel: “We asked you to come help us!”

Amalia on the third panel: “BUT NO ONE CAME! It was the future of the world that was at stake, not just the Sadida Kingdom!!!”

LIKE YES GIRL YES FUCKING DESTROY THIS OLD WASTE OF SPACE!!!

She literally dragged him on the fucking floor with all these facts omg I can’t she’s such a queen I love her so much. 💖💖

But then, instead of just taking it all like a good boy, this old bag of furry bones only had one thing to say and it was:

Osamodas blue cow king: “You give honor to your egocentrism, Amalia…”

Bruh what.

What are you talking about, you crusty old bat?

She drops so many facts and events that happened and this guy’s only comeback is “you’re being selfish 🥺😡”. Like what the fuck was even that???

Dude if you’ve got nothing to say, then don’t say anything but don’t just blurt out the first thing that comes out of your mouth??? Like what??

This is the equivalent of a detective who presented all the proofs that you committed the crime and the only thing you have to say is “your mama”.

Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse for this guy, he says:

Osamodas blue cow king: “My soldiers would have beat these creatures just as efficiently as yours.”

Oh yeah, where were they then, you fucking liar??? The worst part about this is that you didn’t even try hiding the fact that you would’ve been ‘ready’ but you’re so dumb you have no idea how brain-dead that makes you sound right now. You’re saying you could’ve sent your men BUT YOU DIDN’T DO SHIT. WHAT’S WORSE IS THAT YOU KNEW THE SADIDAS NEEDED HELP CUZ UR STUPID DAUGHTER FLED TO GO BACK TO YOU.

Also didn’t you once claim that Armand’s army was weaker than yours but then all of a sudden you’re now saying that your army could’ve beat the necromes like theirs did???

(oh oop- Armand don’t kill him yet 😭)

Bitch doesn’t even know what he’s talking about anymore. I doubt he even knows wtf he’s saying half the time.

Are you dumb???? Are you actually suffering from constipation????

You’re implying that you were free to help and that you knew they needed help. YOU’RE INDIRECTLY SAYING THAT YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T HELP DESPITE HAVING THE TIME TO DO SO.

While the old fart is yapping, Yugo’s face is just so 🫤😑 I’ve been staring at this panel for 2 minutes now and I love how fucking out of it he looks while listening to the cow 😭 Actually, I’m not even sure if he’s listening, I think he’s just hearing him from one ear but it all goes out on the other side. He looks like a god who’s about to squash an annoying ass ant lol

He’s literally like “is this bitch fr?”

Like Yugo is 100% confident to say that the osamodas king had no idea what the hell he was talking about when he thought his troops and he would’ve been able to fight off the necromes.

Yugo: “You have absolutely no idea what we saved you from!”

Yugo’s making that face cuz he knows the king has no clue what he’s barking about. (Also can’t Yugo just use his wakfu sensing abilities to check if Aurora is actually carrying another twelvian?? Or is he not able to do that because an unborn child does not have wakfu yet?) Little blue bro doesn’t know what necromes even are cuz Yugo never told him about them so how the hell was he supposed to know if his men would’ve stood a chance???? No seriously is this cow okay? Why is he talking? Is he talking just for the sake of talking?? Is he that self-conscious that he’ll make up lies on the spot just to protect his image??? The cow king doesn’t even know that the necromes had a leader. Yugo and Amalia are dealing with a fucking grown-ass child omg.

Osamodas blond cow: “I left because I made the promise to my dear Armand.”

This is a lie. Armand never heard of any promise. An analysis conducted by @geekgirles even indicated otherwise, supporting that the claim made by Aurora was fake. According to the analysis, Aurora was more inclined towards her family than her new life with Armand, and the claim that he made any promises to her was baseless. If you wish to read the detailed analysis conducted by @geekgirles on this matter, you can find all of it in this post.

I’ll now explain to you, in my own words, why her bullshit is hot donkey ass. Keep in mind that the whole reason why she left was to protect “the child” aka “the future heir”. As I said before, Aurora couldn’t have promised Armand anything because he knew she still held a bit too much on her osamodas family. From what we’ve seen, Aurora had the time to go back to the Osamodas kingdom to check up on them because of the eliaculus in the skies, had sided with her osamodas family during the meeting with the eliatrope goddess, had tried to marry off Amalia to one of her brothers and cousin, deliberately brought some of her relatives to Armand’s coronation to….stand around, and even keeps her father around in the Sadida kingdom when he should either be ruling his own kingdom or go back to his cave. Armand is not a moron. He knows that she constantly brings her own family to a place that doesn’t need them. So when he’s about to sacrifice his life unbeknownst to Amalia, he tells her this:

“The future is yours.”

Armand had passed the torch to Amalia.

It's worth noting that this is a crucial moment because he chooses not to pass the leadership to his own wife, Aurora. This decision is based on the fact that Aurora is heavily influenced by her family and is unable to make independent choices. At the same time, he also chooses not to give it to someone else who is just as important.

And that is the imaginary baby that Aurora is carrying.

Remember that the baby doesn't exist, and that's an important fact to keep in mind. Armand, who still loves Aurora, doesn't trust her enough to give her the leading role, or any role for that matter, especially not one that involves a child they could potentially have together. Instead, he gave the role to his sister. Aurora knows this and is fully aware that her promise to him was never even a thing. In Armand’s mind, it wouldn't have mattered if she ran away because he never intended to give her a part of the kingdom’s responsibilities in the first place, even though her getting away like that would have hurt his heart.

And Aurora is over here saying that her dad will help her lead the sadidas while she’s pregnant, girl sit your ass down no one called for you. Hoe thought she was in the same group as freaking warriors, shut up. You clearly want your father to rule for a much longer time literally wtf.

Osamodas blond cow: “During my pregnancy, my father will help me lead the kingdom…and I also count on him to train the future heir.”

It's concerning that her explanation might make sense to the sadidas. I'm not sure how she managed it, but that skank made it sound like her father would automatically assist her in ruling the Sadida Kingdom (despite them being Osamodas) since she would be pregnant and without aid due to Armand's demise. And after her baby would be born, her father would train him under his guidance to make him become strong and successful. She made it sound like a simple plan with no problems attached to it. She hasn’t even mentioned if the “baby” was an osamodas or a sadida. She only mentioned the gender, that the baby was a male (in French, when she calls the unborn child “the heir” she says it by using male pronouns).

Hey, Aurora what happens when your lie doesn’t work anymore because your stomach will still stay flat after eight months? You’re gonna tell the people that you swallowed the baby or something? That it fell down? What happens when you can’t keep up with your lie anymore?? Huh? Ever thought about that, you dumb bitch?

I have an idea, Amalia: how about you throw Aurora to the other side of the world and then try to get yourself pregnant by using Yugo so that you can also have a better reason to stay? Or better yet, you can tell her to prove her pregnancy because again, HER STOMACH IS FLATTER THAN A WASHBOARD AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS. Make her suffer from her lie and try to make her work hard for it.

You know when a dog lifts his tail and head up while he’s walking away from something cuz it shows just how sassy and confident they are? I see no difference with this crappy blue cow ‘family’ except that it ain’t cute when they do it.

They just ignored everything Amalia and Yugo said, looked the other way from every proof and situation that they were currently in, and only brought out Aurora’s pregnancy as a trashy uno reverse card, then decided to dip out before blurting out that they were gonna wait NEXT TO ARMAND’S FUCKING TREE GRAVE SO AMALIA CAN PREPARE HER STUFF TO LEAVE.

Osamodas blonde cow: “We are going to pray at Armand’s grave tree, while you make your arrangements.”

The fucking nerve to say that.

I don’t give a shit if she’s crying while saying it, this bitch is supposed to be a professional manipulator.

She and her family have no shame whatsoever. They genuinely thought they did something there. The only thing they had as “leverage” against Amalia and Yugo was Aurora’s stupid “pregnancy”. And even if she was actually carrying Armand’s kid (for whatever reason), her reason would still be shit cuz Armand already declared in his final hour that Amalia was going to take his role.

Osamodas blond cow: “Your presence here is no longer desired, sister-in-law. Just do what you’ve always done…Go explore the world!”

Like-

Who are you???

Blond cow had the audacity to exist.

Not only do we know that the royal osamodas family are liars and manipulators, but we also now know that they’re complete dumbasses for even wanting to rule the Sadida kingdom of all kingdoms. The Sadida kingdom is not built like theirs. The Sadida culture and its customs are extremely different and very much the opposite of the Osamodas since these two races are polar opposites. The Sadidas care about plant life while the Osamodas care about wildlife. It would be extremely hard for the osamodas to fully accept a culture that preaches everything that opposes what they preach. Not only that, but the Sadida kingdom is the literal embodiment of nature. If anything tries to hit its source no matter how big or small, then there would be dire consequences to the entire ecosystem of the world. The Tree of Life is such a big deal in fact that Armand even nicknames it “the lungs of this world”.

And to protect it, you not only need to be one with nature, but that also means you need a SADIDA to guard it which is a person that can literally SPEAK FOR THE TREES. Aurora you NEED Amalia, not only because she’s a Sadida, but because she’s also a royal AND has the strongest connection to the tree more than any other sadidas. You’re not just ruling a kingdom, you’re taking care of the world’s core.

And Aurora’s father doesn’t seem to understand that very important detail. When Armand reveals to him that the sadida kingdom keeps getting targeted at all times because it represents the lungs of the world, this fucking dumbass cow thinks that it’s because the sadidas are weak and can’t protect their own home which is why it keeps getting attacked.

Aurora’s father is such an idiot that he doesn’t even understand why the kingdom is so precious when he’s just been TOLD THE ANSWER DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS FUCKING FACE.

At this point, even a iop would get it. BECAUSE THE PERCEDAL FAMILY ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT-

This is why imagining an osamodas ruling the Sadida kingdom is a literal death sentence. Because an osamodas, someone who only takes care of beasts, shouldn’t be able to properly take care of the sacred tree that links every single living plant in the world. For fuck sake, Aurora, why do you think they call it “the Tree of LIFE”?????

If the Tree of Life doesn’t have a proper guardian (aka A FUCKING SADIDA), then it dies. And if it dies, that means the ecosystem dies. Aurora, you dumb blond, let me explain it in osamodas language: if every green that you see outside disappears, that means that your stupid animals won’t be able to properly eat, shit, reproduce, drink, breathe, and live. And yes, Aurora that last one also means that they won’t have a surface to walk on, aka death.

You don’t have a brain because you keep listening to your egocentric manipulative fat father every time he opens his mouth and you keep making constipated decisions without thinking about the later outcomes because you think you’re in control of the situation.

The only thing you can do, and I’m being generous here by giving you a “talent”, is to shut the fuck up and sit there looking pretty. You did a good job doing that in Season 4 and I want you to do that again. And while you’re at it, go make me a sandwi-

Not only does Aurora need Amalia, the sadida who has the strongest link to the Tree of Life, but the Osamodas king also needs Yugo. I’m not sure why these blue people didn’t catch the fact that there’s a gigantic ass necrome dragon that’s only been PARALYZED and is currently standing in the fucking Sadida Kingdom’s backyard. The dragon is very easy to spot and the only reason why Yugo still keeps the eliatrope dofus on him at all times is to prepare himself for when the dragon gets out of this state. Because yes, Armand did beat him, but he didn’t kill him. Again, you are not able to kill a necrome. If the royal Osamodas family somehow takes hold of the Sadida kingdom, how the fuck are they gonna beat a fucking dragon, one of the most powerful fucking entities of this world who also had been necrofied to NEVER FUCKING DIE??? The osamodas cow king never saw a necrome, never beat a necrome, doesn’t know how it became a necrome, and doesn’t know where it comes from. Since he doesn’t know shit about the necromes, how is he gonna be able to fight a fucking necrome DRAGON?????

Sweeties, do you get it now?

Staying in the Sadida kingdom isn’t for power-hungry clowns. Staying in the Sadida kingdom means that you’ve gambled with your life more than once and you know the taste of adventure and combat. Staying there means knowing that your life can be taken away from you by either the enemies who try to take the literal lungs of the world, or the paralyzed undead dragon who can wake up at any time if he simply wanted to.

You bozos NEED Yugo and Amalia to the point where you can’t even be the ones to stay there, let alone own the place. You can’t stay there because there is so much to keep guard of, to be aware of, and to be ready for. The sadidas have practiced this dance for centuries now and they’ll keep doing it even harder because of an additional menace that is living on their grounds, the dragon being that very threat. Now, not only do the sadidas have to be vigilant of the outside, but they also have to be vigilant of the inside.

So yeah, the royal osamodas are a goofy ass family and I hate the circus.

(i love how the French commentaries on Allskreen and the Krosmoz app are clowning this family lol everyone understood the assignment)

[edwardshundredyearoldspunk]

every couple of years I remember that julie plec made a character tell another character that “he was your first love, I intend to be your last” and then just fucked me personally over forever?? by not having them end up together?? ever??

[magical-xirl-4]

Shugo Chara is SO GOOD at doing slice of life. The kids hang out by going to the beach, they go shopping or go to a concert, they organise parties and events, Amu spends a day out with her family at the park, she helps her mum at the market, or she goes shopping by herself (though still accompanied by her chara’s), and it feels SO GOOD to watch them do stuff like this because it reminds you of when you were a kid, OR, when you were reading/watching it as a kid, it somewhat reflected your life and made you feel really connected with all the characters and think “hey, I’ve done this”.

Even if you didn’t do most of the things they did, it felt like you could, like you were really hanging out with kids your age and going out and being all mature. They do all of this while magical beings are hanging out with them too, but they are also individual characters with personalities that at the same time, are personally connected to you.

This is why I’ve always wanted an episode where Amu just does mundane things like going to the hairdresser. Or heck even a chapter or episode where she celebrates her birthday with all her friends.

Shugo Chara has always made the mundane seem special and fun, which is why I used to think about it A LOT when I was a child and going out with family or friends. “Amu would do this, she would speak like these to her chara’s, etc.”

I still think about it sometimes like that. It’s basically why it’s my favourite story of all time; because it feels so down to earth.

[crazyhickofftheirrocker]

⚠️Fic Alert ⚠️

Seeing as a few people were hoping to see a scene of Carla and Betsy together after Mason's stabbing (as was I 😑), here's my interpretation of how that could've gone- with potentially more to come.

It does get heavy with the whole grief process so fair warning.

[thegh0stofwilburtheworm]

I NEED MY MOM TO STOP PICKING UP CATS FOR LIKE 2 SECONDS GHAAAA

[ghstslut]

my cousin's friend got rid of all the stuff we had set aside at my aunt's house and all the stuff my cousin didn't even get to go thru yet and i'm so fucking pissed

[moody-alcoholic]

CW: stalking behaviour, over protective 141, fluff.

“See her coming out now.” Ghost says over the radio.  

“Afirm.” Soap’s voice comes back almost instantly. Ghost watches as you stumble over the pavement, pulling your jacket over your shoulders. It’s almost 3am, and most clubs are closing. The friend you came out with left an hour ago. Now you’re alone, drunk, swaying through the streets of London on a busy Saturday night. 

“Watch your distance Soap, no need to spook her.” Price says.

“Copy.” Soap says as he weaves his way through the crowd of clubbers spilling out of the various nightclubs and bars. He keeps his head low, making sure to keep a safe distance from you. They’re not going to lose sight of you though. That’s what Ghost is for. 

He slips between the crowds on the other side of the street, slipping into the shadows every opportunity he gets. 

“She’ll take the next right. Don’t lose her.” Price says as you pick up your pace slightly. He’ll be driving to the next location, ready to pick you up at a moment's notice. You pull your phone out, typing while you struggle to keep your balance. Ghost lost track of how many drinks you had. 

It was a celebration after all, your friend getting a big promotion, she took you to one of the fanciest bars in the city. Even though she left early you still seemed to be having fun, helping yourself to another drink before finally deciding to call it a night. 

The streets off the main road are darker, quieter. Less room for error.

Suddenly you make a sharp turn, almost throwing your body down a dark alleyway. Ghost’s lost visual, he speeds up his strides, he has no idea if the alley is a dead end or not. 

“Soap, don’t lose her.” Ghost orders panic building in his chest. There’s no reply, now Ghost can’t even see Soap. “Soap, confirm visual on the target.” 

Ghost jogs to the next street over, nothing but shuttered buildings and the odd person heading home. 

“Stand-by.” The seconds feel like they’re ticking on for hours. “Eyes on target, she’s-” 

The line goes silent. 

“She’s just throwing up, seems like she’s had a few too many.” Soap says. Ghost can almost hear the collective sigh as he slips back into the darkness waiting for you to emerge from the alley. When you do you seem even more unsteady on your feet. 

“Keep it tight, she’s got another main strip to cross.” Price says. He’ll be moving on already. The amount of times you’ve walked this route. The amount of times they’ve practiced this route, it’s almost like a rehearsed play they could do in their sleep. 

You move on weaving through the growing crowds of the next cluster of clubs. They seem busier than the last. You work through them quickly, Soap keeping his distance, pushing through people without a care. He has one motive, one mission; never lose sight of you. 

As you make it to the quieter end of the street a group of lads cat-call you. You brush it off waving at them as you skip over to the next turn. Almost home. 

“ETA 10 minutes.” Ghost says hugging the shadows on the opposite side of the street. 

“Copy,” Price says, he will be in his final position. For the next few minutes the walk goes smoothly, you’re almost home, almost safe. 

“Got a guy on her six, just overtook me.” Soap says. Ghost’s eyes flick over in an instant. 

“I see.” Ghost says, watching as the man’s pace slows. “Hang back Soap. I got eyes.” 

Ghost doesn’t even hear a reply, his eyes digging into the man now following a few steps behind you. You seem to notice too, quickly taking a peak over your shoulder, pulling your jacket around you tighter. You’re almost there, almost home. 

“Want me to grab him?” Soap asks. As he says it you pick up your speed, your body straightens up. 

“Negative.” 

You turn into the front garden of the house, shutting the gate behind you. The hairs rise on the back of your neck as you fumble with the key pressing it into the lock and opening the door. The feeling of being followed suddenly fades as you make it inside, locking the door behind you. 

“Hey, welcome home.” Kyle says, sticking his head out the kitchen. You smile walking over to him and wrapping your hands around his neck.

“It’s late, you didn’t have to wait up.” you say pressing your lips on his. He kisses you back, his hands gripping your waist. 

“Needed to make sure you got home safe.” You hear John say. You break from the kiss looking over at him sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of tea in front of him. You walk over wrapping your arms around him from behind squeezing him. 

The smell of tea fills your nose and makes you thirsty. 

“Cuppa? Or bed?” Kyle asks, walking over, placing his hand on the small of your back. You hum looking round the kitchen.

“Where’s Johnny and Simon?” You ask. 

“Sleeping, they’re not used to staying up as late as you are.” John chuckles. You smile looking up at Kyle.

“Bed.” You say. He smiles back at you kissing the top of your head. 

“C’mon, I’ll give you a hand.” Kyle says pulling on your waist turning you to the stairs. John hears you giggling as you stumble up the steps to the first floor. A few seconds later the back door slowly opens, Johnny and Simon slipping in. John raises an eyebrow, quickly checking behind him to make sure you’re definitely gone. 

“You better hurry up, I’m pretty sure she’s looking to climb into your bed tonight.” John says as Simon and Johnny look at eachother. Johnny's smiles, taking his coat off and leaving his radio on the kitchen island. 

“Get some rest cap, you look exhausted.” Johnny says, patting him on the shoulder as he passes him. John sighs looking up at Simon. 

“Another successful night.” John says as Simon puts his radio down. 

“Always.” Simon smiles.

_______ What if something went wrong?

👏zero👏self👏control👏

[readwritealldayallnight]

“-other than that, wasn’t so bad.” Simon says, readjusting the material of the balaclava across the bridge of his nose with his free hand. His other hand is busy, keeping yours warm as you lead him down sidewalk after sidewalk.

The two of you have just finished having Sunday morning brunch at a local cafe, something you insisted was becoming ‘tradition’ after the second time it happened. And according to you, after finishing eating, (Simon never wanting to hear a word about you paying for a thing) the next part of this lazy morning routine calls for strolling about at a pace that he would normally find pointless, if not downright frustrating. But for you, he slows down.

“Butcher’s an interesting first job.” You reply, nodding along in thought. You picture a younger Simon, fresh out of school, probably fresh faced as well. He was likely as tall, though not yet as muscular as the military would make him. A meat clever in hand, bloody apron around his waist, he was likely still inadvertently intimidating people back then the way he does now. “I was mostly just taking babysitting jobs until I graduated. Liked it well enough.”

“I actually had to babysit a neighbour one time, when I was younger. Actual baby at tha’ too.” He tells you with a chuckle, slightly shaking his head at the memory.

“What?” You laugh as well, the image in your mind now swapping out the meat clever in a teenaged Simon’s grip for a drooling infant. “How did that work out?”

“Neighbour comes bangin’ on our door, she’s carryin’ the thing, it’s screamin’ its bloody little head off,” You roll your eyes at the way Simon refers to the child, swatting his arm playfully but listening on. “She tells me her husband thinks he’s havin’ a fuckin’ heart attack. None o’ the other neighbours are home or answerin’ the door. ‘Fore I know it, she’s passin’ me the kid, askin’ if mum can watch her while she drives him to the hospital. Next thing I know she’s gone and I’m left with the thing.”

“Oh my gosh! Well where was your mum?” You ask, in disbelief that you’ve never heard this story from him before, half wondering if he’s pulling your leg.

“She wasn’t home, I can tell you that! Only me and the new lil’ orphan were.” He utters, strengthening his grip on your hand as you start to hunch over with laughter.

“Okay so wait, you were home alone? Oh no! How long did you have to ‘babysit’ for?” You giggle.

“Well technically Tommy was there but he would’ve only been a hindrance, told him to stay in his room.” Simon adds, pulling his hand out of yours, only to wrap it around your shoulder, now that you’ve come to a standstill at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. “Fuckin’ nearly 4 hours went by before mum came home and took over. Longest hours o’ my life. I think that might’ve been the day I enlisted actually.”

You elbow his side as you continue to laugh, seeing that he’s teasing you at the end now. You open your mouth to tease him right back, but your eye catches sight of the shop you’ve been standing in front of, jaw dropping wider.

“Simon!” You’re pulling him with a strength he would otherwise be impressed by if he wasn’t so suddenly caught off guard, senses kicking into high alert now as his head swivels in search of the cause of your distress. “How have we never seen this before??”

Oh.

He should’ve known better.

He actually had been avoiding taking you down this street for a little while now, but had been too caught up in his story telling to notice the direction you’d taken in him. His subtle effort of wrapping his arm around you to tilt you away from the storefront obviously hadn’t worked out. He opens his mouth to answer, but can only sigh when you’re already making your way towards the entrance of the pet store.

“We’re only lookin’, right?” He asks loud enough for you to hear as he follows you in.

Wrong.