#im thinking about doing some Shadow Temple stuff

[l3ominor]

Guyyyyssssss help-

The brain is braining bad ideas and I'm having too much fun hdhdhsjjd

[crazylittlejester]

I have a new headcanon for Mask :3 Mask doesn't know how to swim, and has; Megalohydrothalassophobia; fear of underwater creatures or objects and Thalassophobia; fear of large bodies of water. (This is me actively noting that there's hardly any swimming parts in the child half of Ocarina of Time(and ignoring them-) and stuff. Anything that happens while Link is an adult in OoT isn't Mask but rather Ocarina. They are their own separate entities/characters in The Auras of Light) I love Mask in my au. This kid is sassy, headstrong, stubborn, and overall a little shit. He's also Bigender, an insomniac, and straight up a gongshow. This is me tying in one of my other headcanons, being that Mask is terrified of feeling trapped(Cleithrophobia) (Lil tidbit: When Mask gets scared, she will involuntarily cover her left eye - this has to do with nearly losing it to the Dead Hand in the Shadow Temple) Mask just gets extremely paranoid around large bodies of water, especially since you never know when something could just- attack you out of nowhere. Mask is okay with shallow bodies of water- if at the beach or something he will go in to about his knees, and refuse to go any farther. She prefers to stay where she can touch the ground- if he can't touch, he's not going in. She'll worry that something'll grab her and drag 'em under. I'd also imagine that pre-OoT, when Mask was a kid he fell into the river at some point when she was like, four or something and nearly drowned cause like, nobody had really been like "lets teach the four year old how to swim :D". Mask probably gave up on learning how to swim from that point on and probably avoids the river as well. Mido being a bit of a jerk also definitely played some part into that first phobia- I can see Mido convincing a six or seven year old Mask that there were monsters that'd drag you under and eat you in the river or something, and like hell he'd believe that because last time he went near the river bro nearly drowned.

im so sorry this got absolutely BURIED in my inbox

these are cool!! I think its really interesting you have them as separate characters :)

[alexanderlightweight]

Heyooo first lemme just say that your writting is amazing. Even your darkish prompts are kinda fluffy at the end.

I imagined my prompt in a marriage of inconvenience but it kinda goes on any if yours.

Magnus flies into a rage and destroys either the NYI or alicante itself because Clary attacks Alec because of the secret marriage. Alec ismt hurt or anything but because she dared to do it our favourite high warlock shows the shadowworld that you really shouldnt touch what is his.

Thanks in advance and im looking forward to all your writtings so i can curl up in a corner wispering my precious like Gollum

Ah thank you so much! i really appreciate that and yeah, i'll write something super DDDNE and dark and then write the end and saeth will read it and go 'awww thats cute' but... that's also @saeths. who is @alxndrlightwoods and their opinion of cute things can be a little skewed.

so i'm never really sure until i post where my stuff falls tbh

kay so this is totally random but this is actually going in 'all your cracks i'll paint gold' the deruned alec verse. because it just fit best there and also, it's a bit of a plot twist because clary doesn't care enough about the institute or alicante for her to be bothered or affected in season 1 or 2 by it being destroyed.

i hope you've been enjoying them and enjoy this, thank you for this lovely prompt

<3 lumine

-

Clarissa Fray is the last person Alec expected to meet on one of the rare occasions he ever leaves Magnus’ loft. The only reason he’s even where he is, is because one of Magnus’ friends is healing an acquaintance of Magnus’. Which means that when asked to go with him, Alec of course said yes.

However, he was not expecting the small redhead that charges into the hospital rune and is seething at him.  If not for the wards and magic on this floor of the hospital, Alec imagines that Fray would have caused an incident.

“You, why are you here?” She yells when she sees him and Alec reminds himself that he can’t just rip the stupid little girl’s heart out, even if she is yelling at him like she isn’t the one whose fault is everything that’s happened to him. “You’re supposed to be dead! Everyone is acting like you are. Your mom threatened me! Izzy hates me and Jace is practically a ghost! This is all your fault Alec!”

“My fault?” Alec scoffs because he’s not touching the rest of her statements and is about to argue when he realizes it’s pointless. He can’t argue with someone caught in a delusion and Clary Fray is caught in a delusion of her own grandeur and self-righteousness. “Forget it, Fray. I didn’t come here for you. You’re not even supposed to be here.” 

“Well, I didn’t come here for you either, but that doesn’t matter. You’re going to help me save my mom, Alec. The warlocks won’t listen to me without Magnus, and I heard all about it while Dot was being healed. You ran to Magnus. You’re the reason why he stopped helping me, why no one can solve the potion.”

“Actually, I stopped helping you because you disgust me, and I have better ways to waste my time.” Magnus says and Alec relaxes, watching him come out of the shadows, the gold of his eyes a deadly promise in the dark.  “In fact, watching pond scum form is a far less a waste of time than listening to you.”

—

Magnus binds her easily and throws her through a portal, following leisurely with his arm around Alexander’s waist, his boy pressing kisses to Magnus’ temple. 

“How does she know I’m with you?” Alexander asks him, worry in his voice and Magnus regrets trusting Dot as much as he and Cat have. Apparently, she’s not nearly as trustworthy as he thought, if she thinks sharing information about her High Warlock’s lover is acceptable.

Because Alec is no longer a shadowhunter and he certainly doesn’t have any ties to the clave, not like Clarissa now does. Yet for some reason, Dot shared something that she only ever heard because Magnus lowered his guard enough to share with Cat while he helped heal her.

It’s such a disregard for Magnus’ privacy as well as Cat’s and also, means that Magnus and she can no longer talk around Dot freely. Which is disappointing on many levels.

“A small mistake on my part, darling.” Magnus assures him, “I’ll handle it. She won’t be able to share it around anymore and if it looks like they’ve tracked us, I’ll simply move us again. The clave won’t be able to take you from me, darling. Not even if they begged or bribed me.”

They’re on a roof by a mundane college, an artistic one and while Magnus could feel pity for all the lives he’s about to ruin, it’s hardly his fault that Clarissa Fray doesn’t consider the consequences of her actions.

“I normally try to avoid mundane losses, even just their structural losses. However, even if you should decide not to be a shadowhunter, Clarissa Fray. Remember that because of your greed, this avenue will always be lost to you.”

With a flick of his power the fire alarm goes off and Clarissa is struggling and yelling against the magic keeping her quiet, eyes wide as the last lingering vestiges of the college flee and, as they all watch, Magnus lights it up. 

Several parts of the building suddenly imploded. Little clouds of smoke and bright bursts of flames, mortar and ash and debris raining down as Clarissa screams and cries.  She’s showing more emotions for the idea that the college brings than when her little friend died or when she’d been supposedly grieving the pain, she caused Alexander and Magnus rolls his eyes.

“How tragic. Who could have predicted that a gas explosion would take down the school you hoped so dearly to join.” Magnus tuts and he pulls Alexander closer, and he sighs in contentment when his boy leans back trustingly. “Perhaps, you should learn to watch where you step, little shadowhunter. Not everyone will be so kind as to light the way and the world of shadows is a very dark one.”

Magnus portals away, leaving her to watch the place burn down and without really any interest in staying.  She’ll either manage to free herself or be found by her blond shadow and Magnus doesn’t care either way, not beyond getting Alexander away.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Alexander.” Magnus tells him, when they’re back on their roof and Alexander is sitting on the moss, his knees tucked to his chin as he stares at the pond with waterfowl and koi that Magnus keeps.

Magnus very sneakily magics a little dish of tidbits to Alexander, and he’s given a weary but grateful smile before Alexander throws out the pieces. The koi dart over even faster than the birds, greedily gobbling as much as they can from the surface before following the sinking pieces down. The few birds that there are ignore them, coming straight to the edge, spoiled little creatures that they are.

They come right up to Alexander and snack out of his hand, ignoring Magnus with glaring orange eyes and ruffling their bloodred feathers.

“I can’t believe they all like bones so much.” Alexander murmurs, “it’s a good way of disposing of it though.”

Magnus hums in agreement, because that’s exactly why he has these variants on their roof.

"I loathe her." Alexander finally whispers, "I wanted to rip her heart out. She was talking to me just like she did when she first showed up. Ungrateful, demanding, like nothing in the world matters compared to what she wants. I just wanted to kill her. Make sure she can't cause any more damage to my life, Magnus. I can't I lose anymore."

“It's alright darling, I have you and I’ve taken care of it. Clarissa will be unable to speak of where you are or that she’s seen you. Or that you're with me. Dot has also been taken care of, as apparently, she was under the impression that she enjoyed certain privileges that she does not.”

Which simply meant that she was relying on their precious dalliance to smooth things over and hadn’t expected Magnus to actually be serious about his boy.

A misunderstanding of course, but a grave one on her part. Not, however, an unforgivable one.

As long as she keeps her mouth shut from now on.

[trickstarbrave]

i havent proofread this but

here is the first part to 'hortator of the sharmat'

i might go back and fix a lot of stuff but im excited so far bc i love this little messed up idea

--

The Sixth House broke out of Vvardenfell first, and then escaped out from the mainland, slowly but surely infecting the greater empire. The Tribunal’s power was waning, and the empire had no idea what to do about the strange plague ravaging the lands.

Most of the Sixth House preferred to move in shadows or hiding in plain sight. They had squirmed their way into the heart of the empire and beyond, but they didn’t move without a purpose.

Many, when they didn’t live in old ruins or in the wilds, instead opened up orphanages far and wide. There was always an unfortunate abundance of orphans in the Empire, except in Morrowind where the temple’s charity took care of anyone displaced or abandoned. Churches in Cyrodiil were always flooded with too many mouths to feed, so it was no wonder they readily accepted help from outsiders wearing the robes of the Nine Divines. In fact, many were former priests or nuns who, when exposed to ash statues, suddenly took up an interest in opening their own orphanages with the help of some ‘kind and generous souls’.

Neht was one of the orphans the Sixth House picked up. At first it wasn’t all bad; he was no longer hungry all the time and no longer being kicked around on the street by people who looked at scruffy children like they did diseased rats. He thought that, surely, they must be good people from how kindly they treated the children, despite the strange iconography beneath the surface that didn’t belong to any divines or the way they constantly muttered to themselves and sleepwalked.

And then he became a young adult, and he saw what really happened.

Typically a young Dunmer of his age just started with physical labor. Usually the orphanage would send older kids out to work in fields for a couple of hours a day to help out and even bring back some coin. Neht thought that was why they sent him and a few other kids away by wagon. Only this wasn’t a short excursion; what he thought was only going to be a few hours at most quickly ended well past nightfall. The other kids were confused, talking among themselves.

There was one thing they all had in common, they realized: all of them had been born under the thief sign. 

Finally, they were all ushered inside an old ruin, greeted inside by the black and blood red iconography they’d see at the orphanage. Only this time it was everywhere, blood red candles lighting their way.

The Bosmer, two years older than Neht, muttered to his friend wondering if they were daedra worshippers. 

From there they were divided up and told why they were there. There were no Nine Divines, at least, not in that they were worthy of worship. Even the living gods of the Tribunal were false gods. No, there was one real god: the god of Morrowind, the Dreamer, Dagoth Ur, and the Good Daedra of Morrowind ruthlessly dethroned. All betrayed and abandoned by their people. All in service of a higher cause.

None of them knew what to think. Neht remembered several didn’t take it seriously. Others planned to escape, not underestimating how difficult it would be. 

They were told they met certain conditions to be Dagoth Ur’s champion, Saint Nerevar Moon-and-Star reborn. Lord Dagoth’s greatest strength, and his destined consort. And through various trials, the Nerevarine would be revealed and brought to him to finally cleanse Morrowind and begin his expansion in earnest.

And the first trial was one of the worst: the trial of flesh. To become free from aging and blight. The true start of their trials and cut them off from the rest of the world. 

The blight, corprus, the strange new plague that was a huge thorn in the empire’s side. Whatever you called it, the divine disease was the same: many infected became not too dissimilar to zombies, though magic targeting the undead didn’t work on them. They never decayed past a certain point either, and showed no mindless desire to infect others. Instead they seemed to just… Walk. They wandered and moved into the wilderness, wherein they seemed to disappear. Some infected others, but the empire seemed relieved they weren’t overrunning cities at least.

One by one they were all infected with it. None of them could escape, though many tried. If any did so, they were dragged back alive, forced to endure it. 

Most of them became the common corprus beast, lumbering around aimlessly, looking decayed. Others lost the color of their skin entirely and became a different kind of mindless creature, looking waxen as a corpse. A few of the unlucky ones had their skulls cave in and growths form out of it, though they were taken away more quickly.

The rest of them waited through pained fevers, nightmares, and pure agony. To Neht it felt like he endured the pain of dying over and over again, only finding relief from physical pain when he closed his eyes. Most of the time he dreamed though it was nightmares: dreams he was being ripped to pieces. Dreams that he was being poisoned. Dreams that he had been betrayed.

A few more of them succumbed to the strange transformations, but weeks after that…

Their fevers instead began breaking. The aches and pains subsided. The nightmares became less and less common. They no longer looked visibly ill. And as they would soon learn: they no longer aged. Luckily they were all physically mature, but there was something somber about how they would remain like this either forever, or until they mentally deteriorated into becoming the ash creatures they saw before.

The other trials were tests of skill. They were trained with various weapons and even magic, before their tutors found their strengths and honed in on them. Neht’s life became getting up, eating, and working his body doing more grueling training than even the arena apprentices were given, and then finally passing out.

Then they were tasked with surviving Ayleid traps. Then killing monsters. Then killing hostages like stray blades agents that learned too much or people who went lurking in homes to find treasure. Then killing each other to narrow it down further.

Neht didn’t even know why he was fighting except to just not die. He was overworked, stressed, and numb. Perhaps death would have been a blessing, but he couldn’t bring himself to overcome his base instinct to survive.

The other ‘potential incarnates’ as they were called, took different perspects. Many became, as you’d expect, enraged and planned to kill their way out of there one day or succumbed to despair. However what was more surprising was that the majority didn’t fall into one of those categories, but instead a different kind: those that wanted so desperately to be Nerevar Reborn. Those that started saying they knew they were his incarnation and often fought with each other about who was truly Nerevar. They became ruthless, killing each other in jealousy and to prove they were the ones who were ‘truly’ Nerevar. 

But without fail, there was one thing that they all stumbled over: the trial of the moon and star. The moon and star ring was a relic of the good daedra—the definitive proof of Nerevar’s identity. The dwarven brass ring was enchanted to kill all those except for Nerevar and Nerevar alone.

After a certain point of accessing their skills, the higher ups of the Sixth house would have a ceremony under the watchful eyes of the statue of Azura, and were told to put it on.

And one after the other, they all died. Blood leaked from their eyes, their noses, their mouths, before they even burst into flames choking on their own blood.

Some were still cocky thinking they were the real Nerevarine. Others would scream and try to fight away from the leaders to avoid wearing the ring. But Neht knew both camps were foolish. Begging and pleading or trying to escape wouldn’t stop them and none of them were Nerevar reborn. But it seemed delusion and fear clouded their senses. 

If there was a way out, Neht would have found it by now. But instead it seemed it was ‘his’ turn; his time was up so some god in a volcano could foolishly search for his ‘destined’ bride or groom, no matter how many had to die. Maybe the blood and fire would be better than succumbing to the madness late and becoming an ash ghoul after all like the Altmer around his age did two years ago.

They woke him at dawn, taking him to bathe. Only this time the maids scrubbed him town; something they usually only got on the 25th of evening star, Nerevar’s birthday and this their new collective birthday whether it was the same or not. It was to cleanse them for prayer, their bodies being washed with a specialty ash soap imported from Vvardenfell. The scent always made Neht a little nostalgic; it was perfumed with a blend he’d never smelled anywhere else before, but it overwhelmed him every time. When he closed his eyes he felt like he was somewhere far away, familiar and alien all at once. Perhaps that was the intended use of the soap—to make his mind go hazy, almost covered in a fog as the stress melted off his muscles.

Then he was dressed in black and red robes. They were soft and luxurious, though only two thin layers. They were costly and most of them died, after all.

From there they styled his hair, brushing it back into a large braid. The older woman covered in scars braiding his hair back always muttered to herself as though in a trance, but this time Neht could understand a few of her words.

“… Perhaps we got it right… Perhaps this time I can style St Nerevar’s hair properly rather than cut the braid of a false incarnate…”

All of their braids were kept, bound tightly, revered by the sixth house. Even though they were false incarnates, they were ‘blessed’ supposedly by Dagoth Ur and Azura and would be at peace in Moonshadow for all eternity.

Neht sighed, a red tie being used to secure the braid, before he was moved to the final room.

He hesitated slightly, before he continued walking, numb now as he knew he marched to his death. Panic would only make it worse, he imagined, and wouldn’t save him regardless. 

The highest member of the cult smiled at him, her grin almost unnerving. She was a middle aged woman who always put him on edge; one moment she was smiling brightly at them, but the moment one of them died her eyes became cold and uncaring, her expression only one of mild disgust and disappointment. The only reason she regarded any of them positively was because they might be the Nerevarine. Likely none of them were, but there was a possibility. 

“Come forth, incarnate. It is time for your next trial.” Her voice echoed across the room. Others couldn’t see, but they could all hear in these ruins when voices echoed so freely. 

Neht stepped forward as the woman beckoned for his hand. He hesitated once more, before sighing and handing it to her.

He breathed in the perfume still clinging to his skin, trying to seek one last reprieve of comfort before his senses were swallowed up by blood and fire. Metal touched his skin as the ring slipped on, and Neht shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the agony.

Seconds slipped by, unable to breathe as he braced himself for pain, but… It hadn’t come. He wondered how long he’d have to wait, before he heard whispers and he looked down at his hand. No bruising was visible like on the other false incarnates. He reached up, touching his face, not feeling any blood.

Panic finally ran through him as the realization crashed over him, now wishing more than anything that he’d been killed.

“Ah,” the head priest looked at him with pure glee in her eyes, “I’ve finally done it… I found the Nerevarine.”

“I—“ Neht’s breathing was quick now. “What if this is a fake ring?” Something else inside him however, denied it the moment it left his mouth. No, the ring felt too familiar on his hand. It felt too right, like he’d worn it for centuries.

“It is no fake,” She laughed a bit too loudly. “I check it personally for the enchantment the moment before I put it on an incarnate…” Her eyes were still staring at him half crazed. “It’s really you, St Nerevar.”

“I-I’m…” His voice trembled as he backed away, before the head priest clapped her hands.

“Prepare Saint Nerevar properly.” She ordered, as maids and guards surrounded him. “He must be groomed and dressed appropriately. Then we prepare to travel to Vvardenfell him to Lord Dagoth.”

It couldn’t be true.

He couldn’t be Nerevar.

Neht punched the nearest guard, before the others quickly subdued him with magic. All the while the maids cooed over him, stroking his hair and singing hymns, delighted it was ‘Nerevar in the flesh’.

Neht didn’t know what happened to the rest of the incarnates. He never saw them after that. 

[linkedin-corp]

wait i love ilaw actuslly hes so little guycore. tell us more

EEEEE HIIII . im so glad u asked abt him cuz for the past week or so ive been frothing at the mouth thinking about him and his little gaggle of freaks . tho tbh he is Not really little guy and moreso shadow the hedgehog but in sky:cotl form. its hilarious and i hate him (affectionate)

however unfortunately im one of those people who if i dont know everything there is to know about the lore of a media im super into i just start making stuff up . and sky is one of those occasions . so bare with me

so starting off explaining some sky:cotl lore for those that know absolutely nothing about it . basically . in the lore, wayyy before you (the player) exist , the world of sky was prosperous and full of life and everything was running smoothly like silk butter

but eventually a corrupt fella came around and became a dictator and ruined everything for everyone, dark dragons began to show up and basically strip everyone of their light (which turns them to stone or just straight up kills you)

so (starting to make things up from here on out bcus im not sure if its true to canon or not), when the darkness started to fall, the wasteland elder was at the frontlines of the war that ended up happening, and got sealed away like all the other elders after the war was lost but not killed completely.

ilaw was a high ranking soldier under the wasteland elder and considered them one of his greatest friends (totally not in a gay way) , and it was hard to ever find them apart

ilaw tried to protect his elder (i use the name 'tsadi' for the wasteland elder even though thats confirmed not canon, i still like that its a thing thats in the wiki and its a nice name) tsadi, but ended up failing

tsadi gave light to ilaw so he could continue going on and fighting the war (well. moreso 'run away and save yourself',) but ilaw didint want to leave tsadi behind, and ended up falling right before tsadi did

fast forward to current day (like. hundreds or thousands of years in the future, im unsure how long of time had passed between the shattering and current day in sky), a colleague of ilaw that was revived finds him and offers him light so he isnt trapped anymore

cue ilaw having a massive identity crisis about the fact he fucked up and did not keep himself safe like tsadi wanted OR keep tsadi safe , and failed his duties to keep his people safe in general

so he ends up spending mostly ALL of his time in wasteland, brooding over the fact that pretty much everything is different now and everyone he used to know is either dead or missing

bcuz of this though , he ends up meeting a moth (what people call "new players") there, after saving them from a krill (dark dragon). this of course causes said moth to become attached at his heel and they never leave after that. accidental moth adoption

it helps him heal somewhat, because for awhile he was very closed off and secluded and would only really talk to his colleague, or others that he considered close friends (which. at the time after his revival, wasnt very many)

eventually, said moth heads back to wasteland after building up the courage and makes it through. though, when she returns, they tell ilaw that they saw tsadi there in the temple. it does make him go into shock for awhile and for a bit after that he doesnt head back into the wastelands due to immense terror. 💔 aand the healing process restarts

so. lots of war trauma and gay longing and tragedy . ive cried over these idiots a few times and i love them to death .

but i do have a couple more small facts about ilaw ! or other thoughts i had written down ect ..

he finds the skykids of current day a tad bit annoying right after he gets revived but eventually softens because the hustle and bustle is comforting . something something lots of background noise so he doesnt have to think about his own problems

i also often imagine him easily beating the shit out of the krill in wasteland . but he wouldnt attempt that in current day because i doubt he trusts himself not to get fucked up again plus hes too busy thinking about tsadi

just. sits utop the crumbled forts and grumbles to himself while imagining himself beating up krill . hes literally shadow the hedgehog but in sky form . if he knew what kinning was he would kin that guy

[pocketramblr]

any totk thoughts (just from osmosis bc idk if you've played it)

i haven't played it or really sought out watching it but i still have things from osmosis and i will say them,,,,, under the cut. very disorganized and randomly spoilery etc etc

Things I Would Have Done Differently If I Were Sonia

1- Been named "Zelda" instead. (nin10do you COWARDS are you really scared to have two different characters separated by untold generations named zelda NOW??? NOW YOU THINK THATS CRINGE???? fool. You did that in your first ever sequel and it was amazing. now you look scared and stupid. kill the part of you that cringes instead. In my head her name is Zelda and i dont care.)

2- not married that fake "Rauru". Like. OG Rauru is a cool fat ancient sage with an animalsona who protects the nukes away from everyone else and when you accidentally mess it up he hides and keeps you safe until you can go fix it. This new one is some imperialist that everyone is sooo obsessed with because his waist is snatched now. Or maybe i'll be more generous and say it's because they're furries that's more fair. But still like. Please there are others to simp over. he was all "oh im the first king of hyrule' and i was like 'oh.... no you're not'

(its actually ok that we have um. yet another first king of hyrule. Because we can have 3 first kings of hyrule, since we have 3 iterations of ganondorf now too. but we should still have 3 first zeldas. and we only have 2. because they messed up sonia. come on it would have been all NICE AND CLEAN AND BALANCED if there were 3 first kings, 3 first zelda, and 3 ganondorfs. This is the series about 3!!!!! but.... well perhaps next game we can have a third first zelda. perhaps i can be patient.)

(also love that we have a 3rd ganondorf. do you know how often i had to explain he does in fact reincarnate and that fsa ganondorf is a different one from oot? but now everyone knows theres more than one but less than the number of links even if they dont know exactly how many ganondorfs there are so. close enough! now ill just pretend he had a 3rd seperate origin story as well instead of 2 origins shared between 3 come on let the guy have something.)

This is unrelated but I think the Zonai are the evolutionary link between Ooca and the botw!Rito (since they did not evolved from the zora like ww!Rito). They look kinda dinosaur-y to me. i guess they're supposed to look kinda goat-y too? and rabbit-y???? i dunno i think they're generally fun. And also might be the results of unethical sheikah experimentation yeah i don't forget the temple of shadow............

OH and im very glad (our) Link wasn't the hero from the tapestry with Zonia. theres apparently some other Zonai hero with red hair who's briefly in it? i wish that Zonai was also named Link and got more to show but i was really not a fan of time-looping this poor link too, he had enough of that with the 100 year nap. if i can't have a gerudo link, at least we have a zonai hero maybe

but also in sooooo many fics i reserve the right to completely ignore this game. if it doesn't fit where i planned it didn't happen. this is like hyrule warriors to me. in another timeline.

LOVE all the yiga stuff and getting to fight with friends now. its what link deserves and his friends deserve. LOVE LOVE that Zelda and Link are so codependent there's not a word in the hylian language for them. i am a qpr truther for this particular zelink but i think that if these two were offered a way to fuse into a single being they would at least STRONGLY consider it. unhinged. love them.

incredible outfits for link and i love slowly discovering them as art passes my dash.

The way this world is even more open than botw is such a feat, the open engineering is just fabulous. I hope to see a new drone every week. Torturing the koroks is just. its horrible but i laugh every time .kjhghjkkjhjk whyyyyy these poor little tree dudes (*chanting 'crucify this one too' in my head*)

the way this game tried to both continue the botw 'honoring past games' and did a new 'gaslight you about the other games never happening' is a wild balance. Like, TWINROVA SHOWED UP??? in what i think is a very subtle detail in a memory??? maybe there's more of them in the game but it seems to be the same level as like 'hero of the winds' mentioned plus some salt around hyrule. excellent love that. but i also just saw a post gushing about how great it was that this game made this link theeeee most important specialist hero eeeever and the master sword was only ever for him and um. i just hope that isn't true. i think this game should add and not take away.

but hey twinrova showed up and there was that cool goth gerudo too!! i stan her.

oh and redeads in gerudo town or whatever it was? AMAZING. gerudo town was all spared from the calamity in the first game with no guardians making past the desert so having the town taken over and terrifying with the upheaval is just a good show of stakes stepping up.

OH!!!! and my number one favorite thing is that Link can make a drink that he was too young to order in botw. funniest possible thing that dude can do.

[vibrathor]

i finished datv

its a decent game, just not a decent dragon age.

This was the first game in the series where I felt nothing upon reaching finale, no excitement, no sadness, no epicness, just wanted to get it over with. I still started a new character, mostly to see if I can get more lore tidbits on this particular combo of race/faction (and to unlock the last achievement Im missing from 100%). Its just... shallow. Good for "relax, consume and dont ask", but if you want just a tad bit more, youre in for a bad surprise. Not to mention the constant hand holding, jesus christ, trust your player to have a brain, Bioware.

More under the cut, spoilery

it will be chaotic, but hey ho...

Honestly, I played it for the lore. I knew certain aspects that got confirmed, i was baffled by others, especially contradictory to the previous games... which still would be okay if only it didnt just started snowballing into one big mess.

Old gods lore? Gone. Seems like quickly attached to the elves, which would have been great if it was done better. Much better.

It was elves all along? Spirits into bodies? Expected. Shame they decided to just cut through it with a blaster and infodump en masse on the player, it really took me out.

Blight? See, thats interesting, but we also first learned that red lyrium is blighted lyrium. To have titans infected blood could be interesting, except also red lyrium means angry. What.

Statues of the dread wolf in every single elven place? Yeah why. There was a big point of having his statues in mythals temple in dai, big enough to get its own dialogue, but nope, lets just reuse assets, enviromental storytelling? what is that

Isabela only shared the name with Isabela I knew. Same with Dorian. Morrigan had a few good lines, but it wasnt my Morrigan.

I also like how we dont care about the previous choices and characters, except the ones we need and are as bland as possible, and all have selective amnesia. Either leave the south and the past completely, or import more choices, this is just jarring.

I expected a soft reboot, which we get with letters telling us about the South getting wrecked, and im sort of at peace with that? It stings, but still. The ILLUMINATI reveal at the end tho? I hope they pivot from the implication that ALL of the previous villains/heroes/events were influenced by THE ILLUMINATI, not just observed, DIRECTLY INFLUENCED, cause thats not just shitting on lore, thats shitting on some amazing characters and their agency (LOGHAIN OF ALL), and amazing stories, for the sake of what...? Clearing cut from the past team? I was never a big fan of Trick W, but this is just... ugh. Unless it is a VERY GOOD WRITING, that im not expecting from this team.

Writing is very bland, and mostly bad, way too anachronistic, tonally not even at all, characters are just meh, and the fact you HAVE to be nice to all of them doesnt help. I cant dismiss them, i cant fight with them, i cannot NOT recruit them, the most i can do is not do quests (but loot. and codex entries. and stuff), which is such a regressive decision. POWER OF FRIENDSHIP LESSSGOOO

I think I truly liked only Emmerich and Davrin, even Harding was a shadow of herself. I knew Taash was written by Weekes instantly, same bratiness, same annoyance about them as Sera... whom i actively dont like, but i cared about anyway, and I was prepared and did it for Taash, but certain in your face, including breaking the forth wall, preachy scene made me fucking cringe. Like i literally had to pause cause it was so bad. Taash is kinda too childish as well, not straight to the point like some people claim, just fucking daft. Neve is flat, Bellara is a worse Merrill, Lucanis had a promise, but its like hes written by 2 different people at all times, even Solas contradicts the one I knew before.

Also its so... weird that like Harding gets stuff from her Ma and wants to go camping, but at the same time we know South is barely holding. Antaam is so good theyre every fucking where.

Wardens are great, Id die for Evka. Assan is my boy. Manfred is the greatest wisp that ever was.

What was the most disappointing though, was the zones. What do you mean i FINALLY go to tevinter and see only fucking dock town? Where are my villas? Where are the bad magisters? Wheres the rampant injustice (except in the passing or the codex)? In Treviso, where are the scary Crows, not this anti-hero italian nice mafia? Kal Sharok is just different, but everyones nice and looks normal, but theyre different, lets not get into it though.

Where are dozens of elves following Solas? Whats up with that 6th sense twist that was SO BAD?

Theres probably more stuff that I already forgot about.

I know this games development was hell, the whole process got restarted like 3 times, but the way they sanitised almost everything (shoutout to the Blight cause it has some good moments), and the writing that is even more chaotic than this post, make me feel so... bitter? Disappointed? Disillusioned?

Certainly nothing positive.

[trans-beetleboy]

PRETTY BOY'S.

Macaque x male reader! [heavily inspired off of decora fashion!!1! I wrote this out pure fluff and comfort because i wasn’t feeling the best. Sorry i got lazy towards the end i hope you still enjoy!!!]

( ◡́.◡̀)(^◡^ )

__ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ___________

"why am I doing this again?" Macaque sighed under his breath, feeling you lightly dab the brush covered in eye shadow against his closed eyelids, his brow twitched as you do, not really expecting the feeling even though he knows what you're doing.

"Because you love me." a sly smile plastered your face hearing a soft grumble leave his throat as you dabbed a bit more shadow to the lower part of his eye, giving them some what of a curve.

"and because you agreed too, so basically you did this to yourself man." grabbing a smaller brush, you dipped it into a darker color than the one before, the idea to blend into the corner of his eyes to give it like a cartoonish like shadow."Im surprised you agreed to this."

"I don't know why I did, im starting to regret my decision..." Macaque confessed a bit of attitude laced his voice. feeling you move away from his face, he laid his head in his palm, massaging the new forming soreness in his temple.

"Awwww, why?" you pouted, adding a thin layer of blush to his cheeks, your intent was to joke, but from the corner of your eye, you saw his brows furrow together and watch him huff out an annoyed cloud of smoke from his nose, feeling the warm gust around your wrist , sending a slight shiver under your skin.  your smile turned into a frown quickly, worried you may have unintentionally made your friend upset.

you open your mouth to ask but macaque beat you to it first.

"I feel like you aren't taking this seriously. your not up to something are you?" the demon  monkey accused, pointing a finger at your direction, his brows furrow hard enough the skin on his head started to wrinkle.

you stare at his closed eyes for a second, a small awkward atmosphere formed between you and Macaque, you were a bit surprised he would accuse you of doing something bad as to do something so small as like putting makeup on, but shake you it off, maybe he thinks your going to prank him like Mei and MK do. You've seen what they been up too, and you would be worrisome as well.

"have you known me to be up to evil schemes? Im a bit offended you think of me so lowly." you place a hand over your chest taking your heartbreak before you quietly chuckling to yourself. Hoping to lighten up his paranoia mood with a bit of a dramatic jokers act, which fortunately in your favor, seemed to work a bit as you swatch him struggle to force his grin down.

you smile yourself, gathering up the few makeup palettes and products you used, feeling that you've put enough makeup on his face for now.

"you should know my relationships are not build on trust." Macaque mumbled into his hand, his golden eye's slowly open, his vision blurry at first  but quickly adjusting to his surrounding's. his eye's landed on you as he watched you gather your stuff not really expecting a response, so he was quite shocked when he heard your voice, nonetheless the word's that come out of your mouth.

"I mean, you must trust me a little bit. you let me do this." your own eye's met his widen ones as you gestured to your handful of makeup then to him, your smile never leaving, in fact it turned more mischievous, sticking your tongue out playfully at him.

"Now can you put your hair? fur? up please, I need to get something real quick." you asked handing him a purple hairband that had a star charm on it, that seemed to be conveniently in your pocket.

The monkey gave you a look of uncertainty before taking it gently from you hand, watching you as you walk out of the room to get what ever you were looking for.

Macaque put the band between his teeth as he started to grab locks of his hair deciding to put it up loosely, his mind on your words. He never really thought about it, usually he is scared to trust people, to let them into his life, but at some point he let you in without realizing it, what was it about you that he could trust?

"you can look at your makeup if you want! there's a mirror on my dresser! Don't go snooping!"

Shaking his head out of his own trance, Macaque looked the door way were you left, seeing you rummage threw the bathroom cabinet from across the hall, a pile full of something rested against the sink, He quirked a brow not realizing a small smile was curling onto his feature.

Tail flipping, the demon got up from his crossed position and headed to your dresser in the corner of the room, finding it strange you don't have a full length mirror in your room, but hey, everybody has their quirks y'know?

full heartedly expecting  some sort of purposeful train wreck, Macaque was surprised when he picked up the hand mirror, to see the makeup done well. light mixed with dark purple shadow curved his eye's in away that almost make's them look droopy, giving the golden color of his eye's a bright pop, and what he was assuming was probably the blush gave his cheeks more color to them.

He felt good.

He felt quite pretty.

Coming back into the room you find Macaque looking into your small hand mirror, his eye's seemed to sparkle but you weren't sure if it was from the reflection of the mirror or the physical serotonin you can see boosting off of him.

"Heh, okay hot shot come here for a moment then you can go back to making out with yourself."

He glanced at you for a moment before putting the mirror back down on the dresser.

"Bend down a bit, your a fucking big monkey."

Rolling his eyes Macaque doing as you asked, was startled a bit when you grabbed bits of his hair, going to protest on what were you doing, he notices the variety of pastel colored hair clips  you held, some having bow's, others having charms the others plain with different designs on them, one of them catching his eye was shaped as a strawberry.

Ah. that must've been the pile he saw on the edge of the sink.

"Their, done. what do you think?" you asked a smile stretched on your features as you back away from the demon's face once again.

Macaque standing back up, reached for the hand mirror behind him as you watch him with excitement, which soon turns into nervousness as quite moments pass, with him still looking into the mirror, a emotion on his face you cant read.

"d-do you like it?" you stuttered, scratching the back of your neck , your throat tightening with worrisome, thinking your friend doesn't like it, what if he HATES it, what if he hate's YOU now-

your eye's met Macaque's as he looked up from the mirror, the makeup and hair decora really fitting together with his features, the look in his eye's were soft, the color of them almost like a warm honey color now.

"I....I love it.." the demon said.

something clicked in his head, trust. he knows why he trusts you. He trusts you because you make him feel good, you make him feel happy with your annoyingly chipper attitude, he's not really sure why this has made him open up to you but it has, you have made him feel something special. your something special to him.

He watches as your body deflates as you let out a sigh of relief.

"Oi.... don't freak me out like that you shart!" you laughed, the lump in your throat disappearing as you let out another sigh.

"Im glad you like it, i wasn't sure if you would so this was just a random throw but it turned out well and im glad-"

"Can I try to do this on you..?" Macaque asked hesitantly[not caring he interrupted your nervous blabbing], pointing at his new makeup feature's.

you raised your brows in surprise for a moment, not expecting the question at all, but you beam softly at the monkey demon, giving him a warm feeling in his chest.

"of course!"

BONUS:

"Meeeeiiiii im telling you it really did happen!" MK whined at his best friend, who was currently giving all her attention to her phone, seeing what the latest news's has to offer about anything bad happening to the city.

"MK how do you expect me to believe Redson, DEMON BULL KING'S CHILD, saved you from the inner crack's that lead down to the earth's deathly lava pit core? Without any evidence?" Mei sighed lightly, not being able to believe his story, the earth cracking to it's blazing core? maybe. Redson helping the MK? Let alone saving him? That's less believable than Sun Wu Kong's excuses to... really anything.

"MEI, THEY LITERALLY HELPED US BEAT LADY BONE DEMON, THEY HELPED YOU CONTROL THE SAMADHI FIRE MEi pl e ase-" MK deflated defeatedly on his best friend

"She's right kid, it's a little hard to believe that the child of the Demon bull king would help out anyone." Pigsy said scratching the back of his neck, trying to hold back his mischievous grin, leaning his body leaning against the door frame of the kitchen, watching the the hero slowly get louder confused why his friend's weren't believing him.

any other time he would stop MK from getting worked up but today has been slow, and he want's some entertainment. he chuckles to himself before he see's  from the corner of his eye you standing at the entrance door, noticing your extra flare of hairclips, and makeup today, realizing it as, what he thinks is Decora kei, he's heard of it from Chang'e cooking channel, she has talked about how it is one of her favorite style's to explore.

What he wasn't expecting was the shadow demon himself to also be decorated in many hair clips and makeup,  standing in his entrance door, with you, holding your hand?!

Pigsy watched how Macaques face soften as you talked to him, how the edgy evil dark demon monkey was wearing pastel decora in his hair and seem genuinely happy to be talking with you.

Pigsy has one thing to say about that.

Good for him.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[mayansmcsblog]

Her world or mine

I have no idea when i wrote this but i found it in my drafts half done so i finished it and- yh that's about it😅

This was meant to be based upon the song her world or mine but i got off track so its only loosely based upon it.

word count: 3640

Enjoy!

He hasn't used the truck for weeks, he had no reason to anymore, being in it only brought back memories of you. The long drives, the short drives too. The way you would hold his hand while he was driving or how you would remind him to pay attention to the road when he looked in your direction for too long. All the memories were fresh within his mind- almost as if it was yesterday. 

Even now, he was only sitting in it, he had to do the beer run and obviously that couldn't be done on a bike, he had to take the truck, but all he could think about was how you used to sit in the passenger seat beside him. He could see it in his mind so vividly, if he didn’t know you had moved on he would swear you were sitting with him. 

Looking at the dash his gaze caught the Polaroid photo that was still in its place next to the radio. Your face accompanied a smile whilst his had his usual ‘tough’ man expression, but if you looked close enough, you would be able to see a small smile placed upon his lips. You took it at one of the infamous Mayans parties, he remembered how it took you around 10 minutes to ‘convince’ him to take it, he wanted to take it from the moment you suggested it but he wondered how far you would go to get him to do it

-

“Please” you had been begging him for the last 5 minutes in attempt to get him to take a photo with you but to no avail

“No” you two were sitting on the bench outside the clubhouse, people surrounding the both of you, everyone was involved on their own conversations so neither of you paid any mind to them. Of course he was still aware of his surroundings but was more relaxed than usual

“But come on” you begged

“No y/n” he kept his face as straight as he could but you could slowly see a shadow of a smirk forming upon his lips

“Why?”

“No face no case” he shrugged with a slight smirk on his face, clearly that was a lie. Not even 20 minus prior you had taken a photo of all of the club members standing outside of the clubhouse per bishop’s request so he could frame it and hang it somewhere within the clubhouse to show off the members.

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Why are you so adamant? “He questioned

“Because” 

“Because what?” standing up he motioned for you to do so as well,

“Just because”

“Come on follow me”

Standing up you took this hand as led you away from the party,

“Where are we going?”

“To take this god damn photo”

-

Recalling that night he felt a pain inevitably run across his chest, sure you two were only friends when it was taken but that night was the foundation for building the relationship you two once shared. 

Why had he been so stupid to let you go?

He knew he would have to drive past your place to get to the brewery, it was inevitable really. There was no other way unless he was going to drive an extra 30 minutes, which he didn't have time for.

when he reached the turn in to your street he slowed down a little, looking at your house from a distance he could see a car he didn’t recognize in the driveway. As he got closer he could see two people on the porch, he immediately recognized you accompanied by some guy. 

Of course you had someone else.

-----

Sitting on the couch you couldn't help but let your mind drift back to him, you missed his smile, you missed the way he would have a running commentary while watching anything on the TV, you missed how he would hold you after a long day, you missed everything about him.

“You’re thinking about him again, aren't you?” 

You did nothing but hum in response

Your brother had elected to stay with you for a few weeks while he was on a business trip for some type of expansion for the company he worked for. Originally it was a good idea, it kept you mind off Ez, but the more time your brother was here, the more he talked about his wife back home and how he couldn't wait to get back to her just made you think about how you don't have someone in your life to look forward to anymore, you no longer had someone you could tell everything to, someone who would stay by your side, someone you knew would be waiting for you when you were away from home. As much as you loved your brother, you were thankful he was leaving tomorrow

“Im gonna go get a drink” standing up you heard your brother mumble something in response but you elected ignored him and heading to the kitchen.

As you approached the fridge you spotted the picture of you and Ezekiel stuck on the door. You were pretty sure it was Coco who had taken when him, you, Ez and Angel went over the border for a day because none of you had anything to do and for some reason Mexico was the first thing that was suggested. You had been meaning to get rid of it but couldn't bring yourself to. Alot of memories were collected between the four of you, some of them you were just not ready to let go of yet.

By now he was probably already in another relationship so why were you still holding on?

Grabbing a bottle of water you headed outside and sat on the porch steps. You knew there was a party at the clubhouse tonight, Angel had invited you to come, but you knew Ez would be there. 

Did you really want to see a girl all over him while you're still here alone? Because that would definitely happen

Maybe he wouldn't be there? Or maybe he would be too busy doing stuff to even realize you were there 

You were too wrapped up in your own mind to even realize your brother had stepped outside till you heard a creak from the wood behind you 

“Y/n?”

“Yeah” 

“you okay?" He asked sitting beside you

 “yep"

You two sat in silence for a few moments before he started talking once again

“I love you ye? Don’t let that boy ruin you. He lost you by his own fault. You did nothing” he rambled on about how you should have been treated better and how Ez lost the best thing he could ever have. But you knew he was wrong.

Ezekiel always treated you like a queen, your brother met him one time and barely spoke to him for longer than five minutes. As far as you were concerned you brother didn't know anything about him

While he was rambling you were looking into the distance, mainly just looking at the sky but you could have sworn you saw his truck drive past, but maybe you were just seeing things right? His truck wasn't the only one, there were probably millions of them.

-

The party was in full swing, people were everywhere, the room full of patches from all over. mass amounts of people from charters were visiting in celebration of a new deal with the sons, leaving Ez to tend the bar along with some hang rounds.

Wiping down the bar he couldn't help but think about you for the billionth time today. He knew you two broke things off but it didn't mean you had to leave everyone from the club behind as well as him.

"Bro what the hell is wrong with you?" Angel questioned

"Nothing" shrugging his shoulders he dropped the bar rag and turned to get angel a beer from the fridge behind him

"Stop lyin man, what's going on in that head?" Angel knew his own brother better then to believe 'nothing' was going on with him, something was always going on up in Ez's brain, even if he didn't admit it

"I dunno man, I just think it's weird how y/n left us you know?" Ez shrugged again, handing angel a beer

"She didn't leave us. She’s distancing herself. Got a lot of family shit going on right now" he explained, you kept Angel in the loop with everything, after all he was your best friend even before Ez and you got together, if Ez wouldn't tell you something- Angel would.

"Just think it’s weird" Ez repeated, messing with the bar rag once again

"Ya well she’s coming tonight”

Before Ez could respond coco stood next to Angel 

"Who’s comin?"

The brothers looked at each other for a moment before angel came up with an idea 

"Just some random bird for our boy scout to bed"

"My man," Coco chuckled "finally gonna get your dick wet huh?"

----

You knew this was a bad idea, you knew he would be here. 

Was he going to be with another girl? Actually stupid question, of course he would be

Opening your phone you sent angel a text

‘I'm like five minutes out but i swear to God if you abandon me tonight i will hit you so hard that you can't remember anything for a week’

At least he would walk in with you so you weren’t alone right?

---

Angel stood up abruptly in the middle of a conversation he was having

"Where the fuck you going?" Coco questioned, lighting a cigarette from the chair he was sitting in

"Meet a friend"

"A friend huh?"

"Yeah...maybe you'll like her" Angel replied before grabbing his beer and retreating towards the door.

---

Walking through the gate you saw the front of the club littered with patches. Some of them were from different charters. Weird, angel never mentioned other charters visiting, by the look of the outside, you could only imagine the clubhouse itself is packed with people.

Scanning the crowd you spotted the person in question walking towards you

“Hey stupid face”

“good evening stupid head”

“that's basically the same thing i just said” 

"oh shut up i couldn't think of insult fast enough”

Pulling you into a hug you couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed. Angel was always like an older brother to you, an annoying one at that but still a brother.

It had been weeks since you saw him, being back in his company made you feel safe again, almost like a sense of home

He placed a kiss on your temple “We missed you here”

“Yeah, I know” letting him go you looked around, mainly to see if any of the other guys were in sight but also to see if coco was around, expecting to be attacked as per usual. 

Angel took notice of you scanning the crowd “He's inside”

“Hmm? Sorry I got no idea what you're on about”

Pulling you into his side he wrapped an arm around your shoulders “sure ya don't”

Walking inside you scanned the crowd once again, thankfully coco was nowhere to be seen for the moment and most of the guys were spread out around the room. Bishop and Taza were playing pool, Gilly and Creeper were sitting at the table in a conversation whilst hank sat opposite them looking at something on his phone, Ez was tending the bar like usual but this time he was accompanied by some hang rounds.

At least there isn't girls hanging off him yet 

“C'mon let’s get a drink huh” angel lightly shoved you towards the bar playfully.

“No”

“No?” his eyebrows raised playfully

“No and if you try to make me go over there with you i promise i will embarrass you” you laughed 

“Fine”

After he got the drinks you both sat at a table in the corner for a while talking, the majority of the topics were about what had been happening while you were distanced from everyone.

Eventually Coco spotted you two and joined in the conversation. you sat talking to the two of them while everyone else was up to their own things, you didn't mind, the both of them combined made for some very interesting storys, the conversation could never die. After around 10 minutes, Angel had left you two alone saying he “wasn't bout to listen to this shit ''- which was super ironic considering the topic of conversation was about modifications for a new bike coco had brought a few days ago

“How does your bike handle anyway? I heard they are bottom heavy and hard to manoeuvre sometimes” you questioned. overtime Ez had taught you some things about bikes, mainly when he was just rambling about random things not thinking you were really paying attention to what he was saying

“It’s alright i guess, sometimes it slips when I lean too far on corners, other times it tends to not wanna go the way I need to but other than that it handles pretty well, arms hurt like a bitch after long ride though” he explained

Nodding your head you understood where he was coming from, having your arms at that angle for hours must have taken its toll

“Ay '' he nodded his head towards someone behind you, Turning your head you saw it was Ez walking through the door with Angel, seemingly engrossed in some type of conversation they were having.

Despite spotting him earlier you only scanned over his appearance but now you actually took a good look at him, he looked different, not much but still different from before. His hair was in the same style but it little more grown out then usual, his facial hair had grown out a little too. His eyes had bangs underneath them and his face looked drained.

All in all he looked like shit.

“You know he’s not the same without you right?” bringing your attention back to coco you couldn't help but feel like you were to blame, maybe if you fought harder of him you two would have never split.

“You two spoke since?” he questioned

“Nope...I got a few drunk calls saying he was sorry but other than that. No” you shook your head. 

After you two first broke up he called you around a week later rambling about something but since he was slurring his words- you could barely understand anything he was saying. You got about 2 voicemails of him saying he was sorry and how he fucked up but- you never spoke to him, never texted him back when he would ask you if you were coming to one of the parties.

“The amount of times we've had to stop him from drunk calling you is unreal”

Playing with the label on the beer bottle in front of you, you thought about what coco said- clearly Ez had attempted to talk to you at some point, but why? The whole breakup was because he needed “space” to deal with some things so why was he trying to talk to you?

“He wanted space, I gave it to him” you shrugged, slowly peeling off the label

“Didn’t mean you had to leave us too” looking up from the bottle you saw coco was now avoiding your gaze

“Yeah...I know” maybe it was wrong of you to drop everyone, but being around them would have only brought back memories of you and Ez. At the time it seemed like a good idea to distance yourself from all of the guys, but now, despite only being here for a hour, you could tell how much you really missed being around them.

“You know he’s walking over here right?” Dropping your head onto the table you let out a sigh causing coco to laugh “I’ll leave you two alone huh?” lifting your head up you looked at him with a facial expression as if to say ‘don’t leave me’ but he did anyway

“Y/n” his voice was low, almost as if he didn’t believe he was saying your name again

“Ezekiel”

“Can we talk?”

“We are talking” sitting up straight you turned in your seat to look at him. He looked even worse up close- the bags under his eyes were alot darker then they seemed from a distance, they made it appear like he hadn’t slept for days, you couldn’t help but notice he had a bruise slowly forming on top of his right eyebrow.

“What happened there?”

He looked confused for a moment till you pointed to his eyebrow

“Oh I erm…got into a fight.....with a wall” his eyes were trained onto the floor, almost like he was ashamed.

You hummed in response not sure how to respond without laughing 

“So how have you been?” he questions

“Good i guess..how about you?”

“Alright I suppose”

What followed was nothing but silence between the both of you, neither of you knowing what to say. The sounds of other people talking and rock music became almost deafening as the two of you stayed silent

“Well this got really awkward fast” you spoke up causing Ez to laugh a little

“Yeah..yeah it did” he nodded

After a few more moments you stood from your chair “I'm just gonna-”

“Yeah go, i get it go ahead” he finished your sentence for you.

Nodding you quickly made your way outside, the yard was almost empty by now, people had either left for the night or had moved inside.

You spotted Angel sitting on the front steps fiddling with one of the rings on his hand while looking at something in the distance. You sat beside him in silence, neither of you even attempting to make conversation but simply just being trapped within your own minds.

When you and Ez broke up you knew things would change, you knew the two of you probably wouldn't be able to have the same conversations you would before, but you never expected them being so awkward.

Maybe it was just because the wound was still pretty fresh, after all it had only been just over a month

After a few minutes you heard the door behind you open as someone stepped out, seconds later a figure sat next to you, looking over you saw it was coco

“What we doin? havin a lil moment to yourselves” he asked lighting up a cigarette and offering the both of you one

“Yep” Angel responded, taking one and lighting it before looking somewhere in the distance once again. All three of you sat for a few minutes just looking at seemingly nothing in particular.

Maybe it won't be like this forever? At some point there has got to be a time where you can come to the club without feeling awkward because ez’s here.

You heard the clubhouse door open once more behind you and once again, you didn't turn around, but coco did

"Ay man sit" you heard him say as he snapped his fingers at space left beside him to whoever stepped out from the door. It didn't take long for whoever it was to sit down.

Much like he did with you and Angel, Coco offered the person a cigarette which they must of silently declined from the lack of verbal exchange.

There has to be a point when you and the club can all hang out together like before....there has to be a stage where you and Ez can talk like normal people without it being awkward….right?

Seemingly out of no were Coco spoke up, nodding his head towards two stacked benches on the opposite side of the yard "You think i could clear those in one attempt?"

Angel was the first to respond "Absolutely fucking not" he paused for a moment- looking where the benches were stacked "but I'd love to see you try"

"I bet $50 you fail and fall face first" someone spoke up, looking to your left you finally realized who stepped out earlier ..Ezekiel

"Bet, ill prove you wrong" coco stood, taking off his kutte and placing it on the stair rail "you two wanna place any bets?" Coco looked at you and Angel

"Nope, I'm good" you shook your head

"I bet $50 that you don't clear it" Angel responded

"You have no faith pretty boy" coco responded, shaking his head  as he started to walk over to the benches

"This is going to end in a hospital trip" you stated making both Angel and Ez laugh

All three of you watched as coco seemed to examine the height of the two benches, planning the distance he would have to run to gain enough speed to propel himself over them and how he would land the jump

"You think he's gonna snap his nose again?" Ezekiel questioned

"Definitely" both you and Angel replied

All three of you watched as coco began to run towards the benches, from your angle it looked as if he could clear it....you were wrong. 

Seconds later coco was laying face first in the dirt, one leg was on the floor while the other was stuck in a piece of wood on the bench that had broke underneath his weight

"I think i broke my nose" you heard coco exclaimed causing all three of you to laugh. The few people who were still outside drew their attention to the scene and started laughing too when they realized what happened.

"Ill go get some paper towels" you said, still laughing.

Maybe this was a sign nothing had changed between the four of you, that you could all still hang out and do stupid stuff like before

Maybe nothing has to change

-------------

An| hope you enjoyed this fic. Honestly have no idea why or when i started writing this but 🤷🏼‍♀️ . *sorry for any spelling or grammar errors or any parts that don't make sense. only scanned it before posting it*

ALSO- i swear part two to the prank war is coming! Its just talking awhile for me to find a way to describe to things going on as well as being busy with other stuff.

[abelle25125]

Id love to hear your collector theory!

ok there might be a few holes in this because i haven't re-watched all the episodes about the collector recently - but my main theory is that the collector was an entity around at the same time as the titans, who either worked with them or with someone associated with them - and at some point there was a conflict that resulted in the Boiling isles titan sacrificing themselves to keep them trapped.

(evidence and ramblings under the cut)

first things first:

Who / what is the collector?

Based on KKKOHD we can assume theyre not a witch, given both his appearance (there are no other witches that tall) and also the appearance of his magic, which is black unlike the glowing coloured version we see used by most people and also seems to be,,,,,made up of them?

I cant show it in just screenshots but the shadow of the net stretches back and the collector seemingly comes from it

They also seem to have a serious sun and moon motif, and the moon on the Boiling Isles literally has a face on it - and is shown to have magical properties (thinking back to the moonlight conjuring that can bring life to inanimate objects?)

I'm thinking that the collector is some sort of moon elemental or spirit of some sort - an ancient magic thats different from that of witches that has been around for a long long time.

next up:

Whats his motivation?

In Hollow mind he mentions being betrayed and wanting revenge on someone

"Betrayed, beguiled, alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on... Ugh, "unity" is so hard to rhyme."

Given the fact that it does rhyme and they don't use it - i'm going to assume they don't want revenge on humanity, especially since that motivation dramatically differs from what belos wants.

So they want revenge on someone! who is it? im guessing the titans, and maybe by extension - the witches that live on it.

They know about the draining spell and don't seem to have much of a problem with killing off all witches

And based on the scraped concept for the vision in hunting palisman we can assume the Day of Unity is going to awaken the titan in some way - presumably killing off all the remaining witches who weren't in a coven for the draining spell.

Why does the collector want to wake the titan? i think its because they're trapped underneath it.

We've gotten a good look at where the collector is trapped - a blue ball shaped prison in the space between worlds.

the closest thing we've seen to that ball is Kings temple

which bares a resemblance to the door to the round boy in Elsewhere and elsewhen

So, we have someone stuck in a prison made up of titan technology trapped in a place you can only get to with Titan's blood, underneath the body of a dead titan. i really feel like the titan either died trying to capture the collector and their blood pooling into the ocean trapped him in the space between - or someone with access to titan stuff found a dying titan and chose to stick their captured moon spirit in there.

So what now?

The collector, now trapped in the space between swears vengeance on those who trapped him and does the only thing it can do from their prison. Watches people through the cubes, gathers information and manipulates people who can see them. He does this with the titan trappers - which results in them killing off all the remaining titans and then he does this with Belos, another lost child with abandonment issues and a distaste towards life on the boiling isles. He teaches him about the draining spell, a way to source power into a spell for when the moon covers the sun and the tide is lowest - thousands of witches pouring their power into one huge moonlight conjuring. Reanimating the Titan

The theory gets a little bit muddy after this point, mostly because i have no clue as to how the day of unity is going to go, like,,,,all balls are in the air right now

ive seen some people talking about how Belos wants to wipe out all magic - and the collector is magic, so if they are freed there will probably be some back stabbing - but i dont think the collectors going to replace Belos as the big bad in Season 3. It would be really unsatisfying from a storytelling standpoint - it would take away the colonial and real life counterparts from Belos and replace them with a magical clown child who if they where a person would be obsessed with collecting pokemon cards, and that would just feel bad thematically. It would be a lot more fun if there are these two antagonists trying to manipulate each other into doing what the other wants.

if you look at it from various sides the collector doesnt really seem all too evil. They have the mentality of a child who's been around for thousands of years and can trap living things in paper, of course they're not going to have any regard for human (or witch?) life, its the equivalent of a kid stepping on ants or chasing birds to scare them away. It would make a good extreme parallel to Luz - who literally ran away to the Demon Realm to escape her personal prison and who at the start of the show, was also very curious but naive.

there are obviously some holes in this theory - with the largest one being the timeline. The only time we see the collector not trapped in the space between is in KKKOHD - which not only had a lot of dream spookiness going on, but also looks pretty much the same from when we see the same location in Edge of the world

(there also where already a bunch of dead titans in the KKKOHD flashback so who knows how they died.)

The validity of this theory is completely dependant on the owl beasts scroll having had to float around the ocean for literally thousands of years before being picked up (which could honestly explain why there are no other owl beasts but idk) and there's honestly just so much we dont know about the collector, its fairly hard to speculate anything concrete

so yeah! thats what ive been thinking. i hope i explained it alright, but there are definitely some holes here and there.

[peanut-butter-parkerxx]

hickey prank...gone wrong

y/n wanted to prank the avengers for forgetting to hide a hickey she got from a 'mysterious boy' after she finished pranking them and telling them its fake, peter came in and NOT so subtly asked her when he did that since they're secretly dating

pairing: peter x stark!reader

status: secretly dating

y/n's pov

ive been watching a lot of youtube lately, it literally became my best friend, i scrolled through my recommendations and found a 'hickey prank' video, i smiled to myself already knowing im about to do it, and clicked on the video

It was a girl pranking her parents for getting a hickey, i watched the girl make the fake hickey on her neck, and i was considering to ask peter to do one for me that would be more entertaining but that would obviously backfire if i couldnt wipe it out

so i didnt ask him, another thing is that peter and i have been secretly dating for around a month now, my dad, tony stark, strictly told peter that i am off limits but were still dating and its been the best month ever.

anyways, i opened my vanity drawer and got my eye shadow pallet, i decided on a spot to make the 'hickey' and started adding dark colored eye shadow to make it look believable, the end result looked pretty good, and i know that from experience ;)

it ws on the right side of my neck right below my ear, i opened my two braids to cover the 'hickey' took my phone to record this i already know chaotic experience since this is the avengers we're talking about and left my room while i was walking in the hallway i got a text from peter saying:

MY baby 🥰🧸: coming in 15! xx

I squealed from excitment coz its been a week since ive seen him because of his exams and everything but back to the prank

i walked inside our kitchen/living room and the avengers were scattered everywhere since they just finished a mission and now theyre hungry af, perfect

i snuck my phone behind a bowl of fresh fruits and acted normally trying to contain my nervousness and excitement

"hey guys!" i said looking at the kitchen island that filled with delicious hot meals, yumm

"hey sweetie" dad said kissing my cheek, and everybody mumbled a 'hey' since they're too busy stuffing theyre mouths with food

"hows the mission?" i asked curiously, thor, sam and scott completely ignored me trying to stuff everything in, nat and wanda were talking about how stupid one of the men were for flirting with them and comepletely beat the shit out of him for makig inappropriate comment, my girls I thought and steve, dad, bruce, and bucky answered my question

they've always had a soft spot for me and hated whenever i got ignored, i smile at them grateful that they didnt ignore me even though i wouldnt get mad i mean im also starving

i continued on eating arguing with sam on who will get the biggest slice of the chocolate cake wanda made, but then i remembered i came here to do the prank so i decided its time

i looked infront of me checking if my phone is still recording and it was, its been recording for 8 minutes now so i excused myself from the table to go 'get some fruit'

i quickly grabbed an apple and rerecorded the video, "so what do you guys wanna do? peters coming in a few" i said taking my hair and secured it behind my ear, its been exposed its been exposed omg omg omg i tried to calm down a bit coz in any second someone could spot my 'hickey'

"oh, we could have a movie night, you know, coz peter finished school so we should celebrate" my dad said looking at me then looking back at his food but looked at me again eyes widened, he spotted it ABORT MISSION OMG OMG

I looked down at my food trying not to run from the glare hes giving me

"y/n?" my dad asked, his tone has never been this serious before, oh shit

"y-yes" i squeecked god pull it together y/n, its not real

"what is that on your neck" he pointed out, which grabbed everyones attention, great, all eyes were on me, steve, bucky and bruce widened their eyes shocked, wanda and nat were smirking, sam, scott, and clint were laughing their asses off while thor looked as clueless as a baby

i was sitting at the center of the table and i just wanted to sink in and get absorbed my the marble walls

"w-what do you mean?" i asked 'confused' i grabbed nats phone that was between us, opened the camera and gasped trying to act surprised and scared "I-I uhhh" I let go of my hair so it can cover it again "I-I burned my self while curling my hair" I nervously blurted out, wow I'm a great actress

"that does not look like a burn young lady what is that?" Steve buts in, anger literally fuming from his ears and eyes Bucky glaring at me trying to think of every boy I've ever interacted with

"I curled my hair uncle Steve!" I replied rolling my eyes

"THAT IS NOT A BURN HUN THATS A HICKEY" my dad got out of his chair clearly getting angrier by the second

"ITS NOT DAD, YOU THINK I COULD HOOK UP WITH BOYS WHEN IM BEING WATCHED 24/7?" I shot back standing as well, everybody gasped

"what is a hickey if I may interrupt"

"SHUT UP" the rest of the team said clearly enjoying this

"I wanna know who's D y/n got" Sam said laughing

"was he at least good?" Nad asked smirking

"please tell me you used protection" Wanda asked concerned

"WHO IS IT" all three of them said

"NO ONE!" I shouted

"why is he that important that you have to be so secretive of him?" Bucky suddenly blurts out tightening his fists so hard his knuckles could pop out

"maybe he's special" nat smirked

"y/n" my dad said in a warningly tone "if you don't tell us who this idiot is I swear I'm gonna let Bruce turn into the hulk and smash every boys house that you've ever interacted with" I felt like that was enough, and obviously got everyone's attention, I tried to contain my laughter coz they're faced are just hilarious waiting for me to tell them who it is

"it's....it's...a-a..A PRANK!" I laughed, everybody looked at me speechless clearly not buying it

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS A PRANK THERE'S STILL A HICKEY ON YOUR NECK" my dad shouted

"yeah a FAKE one" I took the wipe from my back pocket, wiping my 'hickey' and gestured to the smudged make up "SEE??" I laughed

Steve, Bucky, Bruce and my dad looked relieved, nat, Scott, Wanda, Clint, and Sam looked...disappointed?? And Thor was still clueless as ever, I walked to the counter to stop recording

"YOU WERE RECORDING?" Wanda scoffed

"do not do that to us a again young lady I was gonna get a heart attack" Steve warned leaving the table

"doll" Bucky said and I looked at him "if I ever see a boy with you this close" he gestured between him and I "I will squish their face and pull his brains out with my bare hand" he warned

and for a second I thought of Peter, I swear he's gonna get killed if they know what 'helping him study' and 'looking after me' means I just rolled my eyes at their stupid behavior

"so y/n didn't get any D yesterday? Poor thing" Sam laughs

"SAM I SWEAR YOUR NEXT ON THE LIST" dad said walking out of the kitchen

"for the first time in forever IM glad this was a prank coz the poor boy would've been dead just by the glares he'll get" I laughed shaking my head after the hilarious prank we cleaned up the kitchen island

"ok guys I'm gonna go to my room to clean this...mess" I gestured to my neck full of smudged make up

"hey guys, what did I miss?" Peter walked in the living room a few minutes after i left

"oh just y/n being y/n, she'll tell you what happened" Scott laughed which confused Peter but he ignored it m opened the fridge to get a snack and go to your room,

like I said it's been a week since he's seen you so he was very excited to kiss you hug you and just shower you with affection...in secret obviously

he knocked on my door doing our secret pattern and barged into my room

"HEY PETER" I almost shouted jumping onto him crossing my legs on his torso and snuggling my headphones to his neck

"hey baaaby" he whispered kissing my temple

"ITS BEEN AGES" I whisper shouted

"that it has" he whispered back finally connecting his lips with mine, And slowly walked to the bed, he sat down which resulted in me straddling his lap

"I missed you" I mumbled hovering his lips a bit

"I missed his more" his voice was lower than usual which made my hormones go haywire, he started pampering me with kisses

"I *kiss* miss *kiss* you *kiss* so *kiss* fucking *kiss* much" he said

"oh since when does innocent Peter Parker swear" i teased looking at his eyes

"since I've dated you" he shot back "when I started dating you, you made me feel and become like a normal horny teenage boy" he kissed me again

"well, im glad you feel...normal" I laughed, he started kissing my neck again and unfortunately my dad was walking past my bedroom at the time

"is this a bruise or just a very messy hickey I gave you, coz if it is I better fix it" he smirked already knowing it's not his but just finding an excuse to do one on me

"oh it's just a prank I did to the team which thankfully I recorded so you can see it"

"how bout I make it a real one?" He smirked

"Yes plea-"

"WHAT?" my dad barged in PERFECT TIMING DAD

"PETER BENJAMIN FUCKING PARKER YOU HAVE 3 SECONDS TO LEAVE THIS COMPOUND BEFORE I FRENCH FRY THAT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS INNOCENT BRAIN OF YOURS"

"RUN PETE RUNNN"

🏃‍♂️ 💨

Have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night!

-quacksonlover

[barbarasbae]

Even in Hawkins- First of Many

Part 16  master list

Billy Hargrove x Fem! Reader x Steve Harrington

Word Count: 1.5k 

Warnings: smut, family units/children are had, 18+, Billy is a pile of mush for his family 

heres a corny ending to something i’ve been working on for a year and a half. might post one of the better versions of it later but heres an ending for now

You excited?” Y/n teased Billy, sliding hands under his zip up. “I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” He raised an eyebrow, eyes flitting over her body. “I’m in a hoodie and sweatpants and you’re in that.” That being jeans with one of his button up shirts.

“You get to wear whatever you want on dates when you save the world.” She tugged gently on a curl. He huffed, pulling his omega into a hug. His omega had a nice sound to it. “Smell so good.” Y/n trilled, squeezing him gently. The doorbell rang, startling them both. She scrunched his hair on his scalp, him smacking her hands away.  “You’re trying to make me look worse.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to even look bad, Bill.” He rolled his eyes. He still wasn’t used to the gnarled scars after having them for almost two months. “Don’t roll your eyes at me mister.” 

“I’ll roll them if I want. They feel like the only part of me that can move right now.” He retorted, Y/n sticking her tongue out at him and opening the front door. “Hey Steve.”

“Hi...I brought you these.” He held out flowers to Y/n with a blush. “Thank you.” 

“And I brought you this.” He gave Billy a box, the blond taking it with shaking hands. “Do you need your medicine?” Y/n asked quietly when she noticed. He shook his head, opening the box to a sand dollar earring. It made him chuckle. “Thanks, pretty boy.” 

Billy shut the door behind Steve, Y/n in the kitchen making popcorn. “Can I kiss you?” Steve asked Billy, stepping into his space. “W-uh, sure.” Billy was red faced, Steve placing his hands on Billy’s wrist and hip, giving him a gentle kiss. Billy followed him as he pulled back, Steve laughing under his breath. “There can be more of that later if you want.” Billy nodded, getting a barked out laugh from the tall omega. “I have a couple different movies.” Y/n announced, bowl of popcorn in her arms. They made their way to the living room, Billy stopping her before they made it to the couch. He cupped her face in his hands, giving her a long wet kiss. It made her smile. “What was that for?” He shook his head, kissing her forehead. “Ooh, let’s watch this one.” Steve held up The Terminator.  

Everything was going well, an omega on each side of Billy. Y/n tucked her nose in Billy’s neck, her hand on his stomach. Steve was holding his free hand. Billy pulled his hand back and slid an arm around Steve’s shoulder, the older boy smiling at the pink faced blond. “Can you take some of the blankets off? It’s getting hot.” He asked Y/n, kissing her temple. “Why are you being so sweet?” She asked quietly, hugging him again, hand sliding a little farther down to his thigh. He shrugged before suddenly stiffening, Steve’s hand on his other thigh. “I forgot how horny The Terminator makes you.” He teased Y/n, her glaring at him. The boys laughed, but fell back into silence fairly quickly. Steve palmed over Billy’s sweatpants-covered dick, the blond blushing. “Is this okay? I can stop. Just tell me if-”

“This is fine.” Billy grit out. “Are you okay? Y/n asked, sitting up. He nodded. Steve did it one more time, smirking. “Gonna cum already, alpha?” Billy let out a soft whimper, bringing a smile to their faces. Y/n sat on her knees and faced Billy, purring in his ear, rubbing a hand up and down his thigh. “I’m- I’m gonna cum if you don’t stop.” Steve got up and pulled the blanket off of Billy, gently pushing the alpha’s thighs open. “Shit, Billy.” Y/n moaned, pre-cum staining his sweatpants where his dick was straining against them. “I wanna ride you.” She cooed, kissing his ear. Steve got between Billy’s legs, nosing at the bulging erection. Billy grunted softly, gripping Y/n’s thigh. “Such a big dick, alpha.” Steve purred,  dragging his tongue over the blond’s cloth covered erection. Billy whined, Y/n making the start of a hickey appear on his neck. Steve sucked the tip into his mouth, Billy jerking his hips and gasping. Both omegas watched cum soak his boxers and sweats, purring. “That feels good, huh?” Y/n asked, rubbing Billy’s shoulder. “Shit.” He croaked, Steve getting up with a pout. “What’s wrong?”

“I wanted to suck him off.” Billy was panting a little harder. “You okay, babe? Steve, can you get him some water?”

“I’m not a baby.” Billy protested, nose to nose with his girlfriend. “I know. Just don’t wanna over do it. Was scary to not have you around.” She told him, nuzzling into him. Steve handed Billy a cup, the omega sitting next to him, both omegas watching him drink. “Stop acting like I’m gonna drown in a cup of water.” 

“Sorry.” 

Billy changed and came back to Y/n and Steve scenting each other, her practically in his lap. “Keep watching?” He asked, grabbing the remote. “Sure.”

They finished the movie, Steve saying he had to work tomorrow. “Don’t usually put out on the first date but it was fun.” He was blushing. Y/n nodded, Billy smiling. He had a good feeling about this. 

---

Billy woke up slowly. It was so nice and warm but his alarm was blaring on the nightstand. “Fuck…” He groaned, arm over his eyes. “Fuck!” A high pitched little voice parroted, giggling. Billy shot up, seeing his 4 year old daughter sitting at the end of the bed. “No,no no we don’t say that, Daisy.”

“Fuck.” She declared, little brows furrowed in determination. “Daisy, it’s not a nice word.” 

“But you said it.” She pouted, Billy getting up and holding her on his hip. “I did. Let’s just not tell mommy, okay?” She nodded, hugging him. “Where’s Steve?” Billy called to Y/n as he entered the kitchen. She was making food for their 7 and 5 year old sons. “He’s getting dressed.” 

Billy set Daisy in her chair and kissed the back of Y/n’s shoulder. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, stinky breath.” She teased, Billy blowing a raspberry on her neck that got her to squeal. Steve came into the kitchen in blue scrubs, Y/n handing him his lunchbox. “Be safe. Love you.” She kissed Steve’s cheek, Billy rubbing his nose against the tall omega’s.  “I’m gonna be late. Love you too. Bye babies.” Y/n smiled as the brunet planted wet kisses on each kid, Daisy giving him one back. Billy hugged Y/n, her leaning into him. “You okay this morning?”

“Yeah. Just enjoying my pack. I love you.”

“I love you too. You’re on bath duty.”

“Nooo!” Came a chorus of protests. Y/n laughed. “Good luck.”

“Who needs luck when you have talent?”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “Sure, big man.”

Billy stuck his tongue out at her and snatched up Axle, the youngest boy. She did it back. “What?” She asked him, the blond looking over her. “Nothing. Just enjoying the view.” 

“Such a dork, Billy.” 

“Isn’t that how I charmed you?”

“No. That was a special feature I had to unlock. Go bathe your filthy child.” She teased, Axle protesting that he wasn’t filthy. Steve came back through the door. “You okay?”

“Roads closed because of snow. Couldn’t get out of the neighborhood.”

“Lucky us.” She kissed his pink nose, helping him take off the layers. “Stop ‘enjoying the view’ and give him a bath.” She told Billy. He put his son down and told him to meet him in the bathroom. “Did I ever tell you what I wanted the first time I saw you guys?” They shook their heads, Y/n hugging Steve. “Wanted you both. Wanted a pack. Can’t believe I pulled it off.” 

“DAD!” Billy cringed and left them, the omegas giggling as their kids followed Billy into the bathroom. “How’d we ever go for that?”

“Hm?” Steve was playing with the hem of her shirt. “Sorry, I was thinking about all the stuff we like to do on my days off.” His hand slid around to her ass, squeezing. 

“Problem, all the kids will have the day off too.” 

“Damn, it’s like we enjoy making them or something” He joked, Y/n smiling up at him. “I think you both lucked out that The Terminator makes me horny.” 

“God that’s so lame!

“It’s true though. I’ve always been mad I didn’t get to see Bill dressed up like him in ‘84” Steve groaned. “I feel like we’d be in a much different situation now,” 

“Probably.” They giggled. 

Billy heard his mates laughing in the kitchen, the kids making a mess of water. Thank god 17 year old Billy was a huge perv. Billy was never gonna get used to how lucky he’s got it. 

                                                   end. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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[shadowstalker732]

ALRIGHT LETS GIVE THIS POSTING THING A GO

MY REVAN TIME (one of them at least)

Also spoiler warning a guess for a game over a decade old? (Am I meant to say spoiler warning? Who knows not me)

(Please don’t yell at me about stats I do what I want)

Anyway first playthrough where I don’t stop and hard restart Tarris or Dantooine 13 times because choice reasons and me forgetting that stealth is useless and just letting the game auto level for me (learnt that the hard way), I’ve basically done Tatooine but I haven’t beaten the dragon yet cos I wanted to bugger off to another planet first and chose Kashyyyk. And I’m down in the shadow lands now (do not worry Zaalbar I WILL GET YOU BACK) and yeah that’s where I’m at.

ANYWAY, Shay or Shar Stalker (because the game won’t let me do non-binary) is a light side Revan. Good of heart dumb of ass and yet will still rob you dry if you place bets on a strategy game against them. Height wise around the 1.6m mark (5′3″ for the Americans). Prefers the double lightsaber look (currently got a short green one and a normal blue one for amnesia version). Not a flirt but definitely had something going on with my Exile in the past but that ended in the Mando war at some point… teenagers in war don’t usually do well mentally wise.. back story and post events of Kotor under the cut (also warning it’s long, like super long, and goes into their future story? As well)

SO BACKSTORY,

Shar got some Mando blood floating in their veins from some ancestor and that causes them to go full buir sometimes hence why Mission, Zaalbar, HK-47, T3-M4 and Juhani get bed time stores aboard the Ebon Hawk and chocolate space milk whenever they stop (Rev gets some too because who doesn’t love some good old Choccy milk), droid duo get cleaned basically daily while Bastila gets the bird for even thinking that this is a waste of time and resources.

Wait I said backstory… TEMPLE LIFE!

Rascal trio with Exile and Alek at their heels. All three, good of heart dumb of ass. Shar was a prodigy and excelled in basically all Jedi subjects at the time, was pretty popular with most people and just a nice person who didn’t stand for bullshit. Got into a few “heated” (honestly that’s an understatement) arguments with council members about how some things in the galaxy were handled but mostly had a positive response from people. At this time their main saber was purple and their off hand a short cyan. Joined the Republic in the Mandalorian wars a few months before their 17′th birthday. Didn’t not return to the Temple once after leaving for war.

The War 

(I should mention I get most of my knowledge from wiki skims (not deep reads) and other Tumblr posts so if it’s off canon… it’s my story and Star Wars is my sand box so I MAKE THE RULES HERE BABY!)

After many battles and the relationship between the battle trio growing stronger with time it was also weakening. At one point Shar and Exile had a romantic relationship going but only kept that going for a few months, they both decided that this was not the time to be doing this and if they both survived would actually give the lovers thing a shot (doesn’t happen). Throughout the war all three realise that they must make sacrifices to stop the war, the old saying “sacrifice one to save the many” is said often between the three at first before it becomes second nature. During one of the battles Shar’s cyan lightsaber is completely destroyed including the crystal being completely shattered. After taking the mantle of the Revanchist only uses the name Revan and never removes the helmet unless it’s only the trio and only then will respond to their old names. All three are slipping mentally in this war but have all managed to hold onto the Light side by trusting each other. After the mass shadow generator event Revan looses all contact with Exile (force and otherwise) and assumes death, despite it being Revan’s own order it’s a major pushing point towards the dark.

The End of the War

Revan faces off against Mandalore the Ultimate and slays him, in his dying breathe speaks of the Sith Empire growing in the Unknown Regions and how this war wasn’t only about giving the Mandalorian’s a good fight but also to weaken the republic for Ultimates Empire allies. Not many Mandalorians knew of the Sith truth behind the war and just followed their Mandalor’s word that this war would bring them the honour of a good fight, and it did in a way. After Revan learns of the empire growing hidden amongst uncharted routes, knew that the council would never believe them and so took matters into their own hands. Taking a fleet and insisting it was to chase down the last of the Mandalorian high command, Revan left for the unknown regions.

The Unknown 

Yeah everything went to shit. Rev and Alek get captured and Sith tortured and kind probed by old man Sith Emperor but in that time Revan gains acute knowledge via reverse mind prob, of how the Sith empire is running, where resources are coming from and key weak points. During this time Alek falls completely and Revan fains it for now. Torture continues for a good while until Revan makes the choice that they have been making all through out the war “sacrifice one to save the many”… Revan embraces the dark side and makes a plan, a plan to empower the known galaxy enough to destroy the “true” Sith empire by uniting it as their own Sith empire. Revan knows light will always rise to face the dark and that the light side is strong, someone will rise to take them down after the “true” Sith empire is defeated and only in death will Revan have fulfilled their promise to the unknown Mandalorian and finally be able to be one with the force. Revan embraces the dark fast and is soon sent off by the Sith emperor who thinks Revan is under his control to take control of the star forge and start building the Sith army in the known galaxy, Revan assumes command with now Malek as their right hand.

Beginning of Darth Revan

Basically what is described in the first Kotor game, Darth Duo go find star maps, get to forge, start fucking up the galaxy yadeyadeya. Malek pulls a sick move and fucks up Revan’s plan to stop the Sith Emperor and boom Amnesia time baby. Oh also during Sith times used a red and their old purple lightsaber but when they got captured by Bastila both lightsaber’s goy yoinked and locked up on Coruscant for simple reasons. 

No Memory Time Baby

Council is smart as fuck and call them Shay Stalker AKA their old name to see if that will reawaken light memories or thoughts in Revan and basically try and nudge amnesia Rev to stay lightside cos they don’t want to see their lost padawan fall back to the dark, (Jedi are a complicated subject), also ONLY SHAY no mention of their other name Shar at all! So that will cause problems later for poor Rev when they start remembering things :), basically the game from here on. Memories of a calm life on a farming planet before joining the military, lost both their siblings (AKA Alek and Exile) while away on service. Joined to stop the Sith from taking any more innocent lives. Throughout the game Shay try’s to help as many people as they can and choose the option that will benefit good and innocent people, constantly says fuck to corporations and nasty people, is not afraid to kill a bitch. As I haven’t completed the game fully (but I am planing a lightside finish and I’m not exactly sure when the “I am Revan” bit comes in I’m gonna leave this as it is. Oh and blue main saber and a short green saber with a crystal they managed to purify (AKA was red but returned to its natural colour through meditation and force cleansing, also helped by Bastila)

Memories

Like I said I haven’t finished the game yet BUT after the whole “oh fuck oh stars IM REVAN?????” Lots of shit starts to make sense and the force “spell” (I’m gonna call it spell) that repressed Revan’s memories had already begun to weaken somewhat before this point but this kinda opens the flood gates but not too far just enough for it to not make any sense at all. Team is there for Rev and the game finishes lightside. (Also I know I said this rev not gonna romance but this is post game stuff now and I just don’t wanna romance Bastila in game so yeah) ANYWAY, Revan and Bastila build a healthy relationship together and Revan starts to regain a lot of memories that their friends help them through. Revan remembers why they took the name Revan and actually goes to Coruscant to the high council to explain why they put on the helmet in the first place and the Council adheres to Revan’s request and returns the original helmet. The Star forged one stays in storage for now. Revan also requests their old armour and lightsabers to help regain memories as to why they fell, the council is hesitant at this request and only allows Revan to meditate with their old things at the main temple with a council member present. Over one or two years a lot comes back but there is still a few key dates, names, moments and details missing. Oh and Revan uses force powers to make Bastila preggers. IF BOBA FETT CAN SURVIVE A SARLAC AND PALPATINE CAN EXIST IN THE SEQUELS. REVAN CAN PULL FORCE BULLSHIT TOO!

The Unknown part 2: Electric boogaloo 

Revan finally remembers what made them go dark and realises they fucked up their own plans pretty bad and the Republic IS WORSE OFF THAN HOW IT STARTED COS OPPS REVAN ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A SHIT TON OF FORCE USERS LIGHT AND DARK SO yeah. Bastila was holding the brain cell of the force bond in this moment and Revan decides the best course of action is to go face the Emperor alone… fucking brilliant Revan how the fuck did you win the Mandalorian wars again my good sir? Revan tells Bastila that they (Rev) has been assigned a mission to infiltrate the remanence of Revan’s old Sith Empire and basically destroy it from within and that this mission is basically so hush hush that Bastila isn’t meant to know but Revan thought it only fair to say that they would be gone for potentially a long time for this mission and Bastila, unaware that this would be the last time she saw them, accepted this goodbye and hoped they would return before their baby was born. But Revan has always been a good lier… even to themselves. Without anymore fuss they left the Known Galaxy leaving all their friends and family behind never to be seen again to face off against the bitch that started it all. (I haven’t read the novels or played the SWTOR game and never plan to do either so again I say this is wiki knowledge that I’m doing what ever I please with that knowledge because Star Wars is a sand pit and I’m the kindy kid that’s decided to sit and play with it today)

Mmmmm Watcha SaaaaaaaAy

Revan gets their ass handed to them and imprisoned for three hundred years and tortured and mind probed AGAIN. Also cut off their connections to any other force user to ensure old dude couldn’t get to them as well. Absolutely not having a good time here. After the 300 years of PAIN the force within Revan gets so fucked up that their physicality splits into two entirely separate beings, Dark Revan and Light Revan. When this happens the prison breaks and Light Revan makes their escape and gets out barely alive while Dark Revan hangs back and swears allegiance to Sith Empire and starts plotting to overthrow old dude cos Sith. Light Revan makes it back to the council and they heal them and have a very hard time believing they are Revan until Revan perfectly describes a gift they gave Bastila before they left that now a descendent of Revan now owns. The council doesn’t understand how Revan split into two entire different beings but accept “the force acts in mysterious ways at times”. Revan is FINALLY given knighthood and helps prepare the republic for the Sith Empire that hasn’t attacked yet but definitely will soon. And this is where Tarre comes in.

Mando Time Yeah!

My Tarre will get his own beefy post (def not as big as this one) maybe tomorrow or the next day so for now it’s just what Tarre does and means to Revan. ANYWHO, Tarre becomes Light Revan’s padawan. (I should mention that Light Revan despite being called Light Revan is leaning towards a grey area within the force but isn’t down right evil like dark Revan is. Dark Revan is killing puppies of an endangered species cos their bored evil). Tarre is Revan’s padawan and becomes a knight. Revan enjoys teaching Tarre about the force and understanding how Tarre was brought up a Mandalorian and with the peace between Jedi and Mandalorian’s at this point was welcomed into the Jedi temple later than most. Revan raises Tarre like he is their own son/little brother and they form an extremely powerful force bond because of it. I’ll go in depth on Tarre’s post but Tarre still gets Mando training for 4 months of the year but the jedi training is the rest of the year. Revan joins Tarre when he return to Mandalore to continue his Mando training and learns more about Mandalorian history and culture while there. While on Mandanlore Light Revan truely feels relaxed for once despite random Mando’s sometimes jumping out and challenging them to fights because apparently Revan is now a ghost story and a feared mighty warrior legend and when anyone finds out that Revan is “alive” immediately tries to prove that they are stronger than Revan (which they are not). A few years after Tarre is knighted the war with the True Sith Empire begins.

I don’t know what to call this bit sooooo UWU

Battles, fights, old shit, it’s a war. Revan proves to be supper fucking useful in leadership but doesn’t do as much “sacrifice one to save the many” moves anymore. Revan keeps predicting what the Sith are gonna do an THATS cos Dark Revan is leading the, and Revan knows Revan best but not the reverse. Light Revan knows how Dark Revan will act but Dark Revan doesn’t know how Light Revan will act since Light Revan technically includes Shay/Shar, Mandalorian War Revan, Amnesiac Shay, and post Amnesia. While Dark Revan is only really Darth Revan and post Amnesia so Light Revan technically outweighs Dark Revan. I’ve probably butchered that explanation or done it too late but that’s how it’s gonna be cos it’s midnight and I wanna finish this and post it today. ANYWAY, final battle between the Revan’s. They have a massive duel on the battle field and eventually Light Revan strikes Dark Revan down but also receives some pretty nasty injuries. Light Revan understands the need to be whole again and as Dark Revan “dies” reunites with that half of the force and Revan returns but Revan is so done, so fucking done with living and trying and they had a good run and now they have what was Dark Revan’s and Light Revan’s injuries all on one body and sure if Rev really tried they could probably suck the life force out of some Sith warriors to keep themselves alive but… they just don’t want to. Eventually Tarre finds the fallen Revan reunited at last and stays by their side as Revan finally lets go and becomes one with the force. After the battle Tarre brings Revan’s body back to the Temple to be burnt as Revan had requested but their armour, lightsabers, and other possessions would be taken to a place only Tarre knew of to be sealed away until a far descendent of Revan’s comes along to claim them as their own. The war isn’t over and Revan’s passing only fuels Tarre further into defeating the Sith empire that the republic eventually does after 20 years of war. 

Conclusion 

And that’s the overall story of this Revan, I know very long, very deep, wtf this is your second post after a what? 1 year break? Actually let me check… yeah nope about a year has passed since my Crash post. If you have made it this far thanks for reading my first ever “decent” post about something I’ve been developing for a while now in bits and pieces. Sorry it was so long but then again I did miss a lot of shit. If you want to interact and ask more questions about this Revan go ahead my ask box is open (don’t be weird tho and just cos I post long doesn’t mean you have to ask long unless it’s legit). I’ll try and get the Tarre post out tomorrow around this time too or earlier depends. Thanks again for taking the time to read my word vomit. Also sorry if there are any spelling mistakes I have missed.

Have a good one!

[floatinginwords]

Saved by the Devil (15/?) - Tommy Shelby

Summary: More stuff after Epsom and a bit of of Tommy pov. (im sorry about these summaries im terrible)

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x fem!reader (Romantic)

Warning: Mention of death and blood.

A/N: Not my best but yea. im getting the hang back i think? i dont know...feedback would be great. thanks for reading and hope you all have a good day and are treating yourselves well. 

  The drive was quiet.  Neither of you two spoke and honesty you were glad for the silence. Your thoughts were loud enough as it is. Polly didn’t drive you far until she spoke or more like laughed. It sounded like a mad women’s laugh. Your stomach did flips as you could recall the laugh at your stay in the asylums from time to time. You don’t dare look at polly hoping her eyes stayed glued to the road. You didn’t want to see any glint of madness that was in her eyes. You didn’t want to ask any questions that might just pop out of your mouth. You had enough running through your mind. You had your own shit to go through.

Once you entered the city part you could see that the path polly was taking was to Adas. You didn’t want to go there.

“Polly, you can let me off here.” You say, looking at some random street corner.

She scoffs “Its getting dark and you wanna walk the rest of the way? I thought you were smarter than that.”

You don’t say anything. She continues speaking, “Just tell me where you wanna go.”

 “just pull over Here, Polly.” You say.

 She doesn’t say anything as she listens to your orders. She looks a bit annoyed but you don’t have to explain yourself. You leave the car and take one last look at Polly.

 “Thank you. I appreciate it.” You say.

 She nods. “You should call Tommy when you get home. Im sure he’ll want to hear from you.”

She starts the car and leaves you by yourself. You watch the car fade in the distance. You think of Thomas wondering if he’s dead or nt. You shake your head at the thought. You cant afford to think of that right now.

You walk the route that you’ve memorized that is Trinities place. Your there in no time. As you go through alleyways, hiding in the shadows, not wanting to take any chances. You know now that your paranoia was not just something to torture you.

You run up the stairs. Ready to pound on your best friends door, take what you needed and say a quick goodbye. But her door is ajar. You take the knife off your thigh holster, kicking your shoes off incase of a getaway and walk in slowly.

 The apartment is a mess. Books and glass litter the floor. Furniture is upside down. Curtain torn down. Blood stained on the walls. You gulp as the blood stains lead you to the bathroom. You follow. And your heart breaks as you see Trinity her face toward the ceiling. She looked dead with all the blood that covered her neck but her shallow breaths told you she was still holding on. You drop the knife, fall to your knees, struggling to hold the tears that you thought had already ran out today.

 “…(y/n)..”trinity struggles to speak, blood splats out of her mouth.

 “don’t speak. Don’t worry its gonna be alright. Its gonna be-be okay.” You looked around the bathroom, it was in such dissary you didn’t know what supplies you could use to help her. Though you knew that the amount of blood lost was too much. It would not be okay.

 Trinity grabs your shirt and brings you close. You can smell the copper in her breath. “Leave. Its- its under the-the painting.” She whispers. Her grip loosens and her stare loses focus. You sob into your friends chest.

  You look under the only painting that Trinity had in her apartment Its of a little ship sailing in the sea. You never understood why she liked it. You take it off its hook and find a moderate sized hole that holds the bag of contents that you had asked her to hide for you. You finally had everything. It was time to finally leave. You took one last look at your friends apartment feeling bad you couldn’t give her a proper burial. You know she didn’t have a religion. You grow resentment that no one in this apartment building helped her. You find a match in her drawer and some alcohol. You make a trail through the apartment down the stairs of the building. Not before leaving with some of her jewelry and dress. Needing something to remember trinity by. You light the match and throw it with ease. Th building lights up in flames. You could hear the screams pleasing for help. But you walk away heading toward the train station with a heavy heart.

 Tommy’s P.O.V

 Thomas was taken to a field. His face a mixture of boredom and anger, his soon to be killer don’t care what he feels. Hes been on the other end of this and he didn’t are what his victims felt. He thinks of your face. The way you called his name. He wonders what your doing, if you got home safe. Surely you did. His brothers, Polly, one of his many loyal employee would have sought to it. That’s all that mattered. That you weren’t here facing the type of death that he was about to.

He asks for a last cigarette. The captors allow it watching him descend into an anger that he can no longer hold in. He was about to have everything.

‘Well not everything’ he thinks of the night where he almost got to kissed you and what a missed opportunity that was. He should have gone after you told you how he felt then. But it seemed to be to late as the man pressed the gun to his temple. He will make his piece with death. I mean how could he not when for so many years, he has been the reaper for so many.

 But instead of the bullet going through his skull, marking the end of Thomas Shelby’s life, he’s pushed into a grave and two shots ring off. One assassin stand while two bodies drop. He lays in the grave, confused and very alive.

The standing assassin simply says, “At some point in the near future, Mr.Churchhill will want to speak to you in person. Mr. Shelby. He has a job for you.”

For a moment he is stunned. He was so content with the thought of death merely moments ago and here he was alive in a grave meant for him. The man tells him to go. And Thomas wastes no time walking away toward a life he fully intends on enriching and keeping for a long time. Hopefully you get to be apart of it too.

Read pt.16

tags

@babylooneytoonz @captivatedbycillianmurphy @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat @evelyn-4034  @ms-dont-care  @owenniasstars @shikin83 @lauren-raines-x @cactisjuice

[the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff]

Open your eyes (Chapter 2)

Well... hello. I couldn’t wait (cause im just that impatient) so here’s chapter 2. The credit for the characters goes to the wonderful and amazing @lumosinlove

@waltzintherain this chapter is pretty safe... or is it? Just know that this is not the thing I have been ranting about in your ask box (and would like to formally apologize for scaring you) 

@clearsuitcasecookienerd 

I’m not sure if there’s something triggering in this chapter but I’m including this warning anyway. Just in case

Masterlist

Finn was looking out the window of the library with a weary expression. Leo came up behind him, hugging Finn close to his chest and laying his chin on the shorter man’s shoulder. “What’s bothering you?” His tone was laced with worry. Leo watched Finn’s reflection carefully, trying to understand what had gotten his beloved so worried. He was frustrated when he found nothing there. Finn, for however open he was with his emotions, was almost impossible to read. 

Finn turned his head a little to place a kiss to Leo’s cheek. He looked back out the window with a crease between his brows. “That letter Logan sent. They need help finding Regulus. He said that the prince got kidnapped by a sorcerer.” 

Leo kissed Finn’s temple and stepped away from him. Finn turned to him with a questioning look, arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t worry about it, love.” Leo tucked one of Finn’s red curls behind his ear. “There’s not much you can do right now. Wait till they get here before you start worrying yourself sick.” Leo grabbed one of Finn’s hands in his, forcing the other man to drop his defensive stance. “I know you Finn. Something is bothering you and it isn’t just Logan’s letter.” He touched his forehead to Finn’s gently. ”Tell me. What’s wrong?” 

Finn squeezed his hand once, twice, before answering. “It’s just that.” Finn took a steadying breath. “Logan and Sirius both grew up hearing about the evils of magic and now someone close to them got kidnapped by a sorcerer. Regulus went missing three months ago, the longer they go without knowing where to even start looking the harder he’ll be to find.” Leo kissed Finn’s forehead and hugged him close, placing his chin on top of his fiancé’s auburn curls. Finn sighed softly, burrowing closer to Leo’s chest, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders. “I don’t want you to have to hide a part of yourself around them, love. If anyone can change their mind about magic it’s you.” 

Leo smiled softly at him. “I love you.” He kissed Finn and took his other hand. “Come on. Your friends are arriving soon.” They walked to the entrance of the palace where Lily was already waiting, James at her side, practically bouncing on her feet. 

James smiled when he saw them, laughing when Lily took off running when she saw Remus and two other men enter the courtyard. “Should I be jealous?” He asked her in a loud teasing tone. She didn’t bother answering, too busy tackling Sirius in a hug. When Remus got off of his horse she hugged him tightly. Logan chuckled in amusement, sliding off of his saddle. “I’m really feeling the love over here.” Lily looked up at Logan and gave him a firm hug, whispering something in his ear that made him blush brightly. 

James approached Remus with a grin on his face, hugging him when he was close enough. He made sure no one was paying attention to them before asking quietly. “Do they know?” Remus shook his head lightly and James nodded, smile returning to his face in time for Lily to introduce him to the others. 

“This is James Potter”, she said wrapping a hand around his waist, “and that baby faced sunshine boy is Leo Knut.” The blonde blushed at the comment. 

“Stop teasing my fiancé Lily, it happened one time.” Finn said, laughter and amusement lacing his tone. 

“What happened?” Sirius asked with a confused look. 

There was a beat of silence, there was no way of explaining it without revealing Leo’s magic. “Don’t you dare tell them.” 

Lily was the first to catch on to what he was trying to do, a smirk appearing on her face. “And why shouldn’t I, your highness?” She asked mockingly. 

Leo groaned, hands coming up to cover his face. “You promised you would never mention it again.”

“Fine. We won’t say anything”, she conceded. The rest nodded, while Sirius looked on with an intrigued expression. He let it slide, accepting that he wasn’t going to get answers if Leo didn’t want him to. 

Remus grabbed Sirius’s hand and interlaced their fingers together. The group left the courtyard. Finn, Leo, and Logan going their separate way to one of the gardens. They reached the shadow of an oak tree and sat down, Leo laying his head on Finn’s lap. Logan looked at Leo’s baby blue eyes, “can I ask about the sunshine comment Lily made.” 

Leo made a small noise, hiding his blushing face in Finn’s stomach while the redhead laughed. “No. It’s so embarrassing.” 

“Stop whining Leo, it wasn’t that bad.” 

Leo smacked Finn in the chest playfully. He turned to look at Logan. “It was horrible. This one wouldn’t stop teasing me for days afterwards.” 

Logan raised an eyebrow at Finn. “So you do make a habit of making fun of other people’s misery.” 

The older boy shrugged. “I only make fun of my friends. Especially if they are as cute as this one”, Finn said, poking Leo’s dimpled cheek. Logan pointedly ignored the unknown feeling that settled in his chest. 

“What do you think the others are talking about.” Leo had an idea of what they were discussing, but he wanted to see if the three of them could come up with a way to find Regulus. 

Logan shrugged, a look of worry crossing his features. “Probably about Reg. It’s been so long since he disappeared. Didn’t leave a trace the dogs could track or anything.” The green eyed boy curled into himself a little, resting his chin on his knees. “King Orion says it’s the work of sorcery.” 

Finn’s paused for a second before going back to running his hands through Leo’s curls. “And you agree with him?” 

“I guess. Regulus started acting weird some time before disappearing. His nightmares got so much worse, he became paranoid and then one day it all just stopped. Out of nowhere.” 

That intrigued Leo, though he didn’t show it. “What do you mean stopped?” He kept his tone even. 

“I mean that he started sleeping peacefully. No nightmares, no sleepless nights. At least that’s what Dima told us.” 

Finn looked at Logan. “Isn’t that a good thing?” 

“We thought so. But some time after it all stopped he started acting oddly. He threw weary looks around and distanced himself from everyone. His servant was the only one who could talk to him normally.” By the time Logan finished Leo had gotten a far away look on his face. 

“Well that certainly sounds like sorcery.” Leo turned to meet Logan’s eye. “Maybe someone enchanted him or used a charm to get inside his head.” 

Logan hummed, a furrow appearing between his brows. “Is that even possible.” 

Leo shrugged lightly. “Sure. Though I think it’d be easier to charm an object that he would wear daily. That way the sorcerer only has to cast the spell once.” 

“How do you know so much about this stuff?” Logan asked. 

“I like to read about this kind of thing.” Leo made sure to lock eyes with Logan before saying the next part. “Hufflepuff’s laws on magic are not nearly as strict as Slytherin’s. It’s easier to break and heal enchantments when you know what you’re dealing with.” 

Judging by the tension that seemed to take over the green eyed boy Finn guessed he got what Leo was implying. To his fiancé’s credit he didn’t even blink when Logan’s hand twitched to the pummel of his sword. Leo’s baby blue eyes staring him down, daring Logan to do anything. Logan was the first to look away, body relaxing by a fraction, but it was enough for Finn, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. 

Logan took a deep breath before speaking again. “So there’s a chance that Reg was coerced into leaving the palace?” 

Leo took a moment to think the question over. “Not coerced exactly. If my guess is right and the sorcerer used an item of clothing or jewelry to enchant him then”, he waved a hand around, “ then maybe he is under their control. Like a puppet, guided by invisible strings.” 

“That sounds more likely actually.” 

Both boys looked at Finn. “Think about it. His attitude change could be someone else manipulating him. And if the sorcerer was able to get inside his head that would explain why his nightmares stopped.” 

Logan took a second to process what he had just heard. “What about Dima though? Regulus acted normally around them.” 

It was Leo who answered this time. “The mind isn’t that simple. It can’t be explained in black and white. And Dima is Regulu’s servant, I can only expect them to have a relatively close relationship.” At Logan’s nod he continued. “Whether they are friends or something more, Regulus trusts Dima unconditionally. Spells used to manipulate the mind attach themselves to insecurity and fear to twist the way you see reality.” 

“Are you implying Reg doesn’t trust us?” Logan’s voice took on a defensive edge. 

“No. I’m sure he trusts you, the question you should be asking is to what extent that trust goes.” Logan deflated slightly at Leo’s response. “Look, Logan, someone can trust you and still be scared of you. It happens and there’s not much you can do to fix it when you don’t know what's wrong in the first place.” 

Logan ran a hand through his dark curls. “But why would he be scared. We’re his friends. Sirius is his brother.” 

“That means nothing when it comes to fear.” Finn regretted being so blunt when he saw the broken look on Logan’s eyes.

 “Fear isn’t rational. And sure, you are his family, but for the spell to take hold over his mind so quickly there had to be something for it to hold onto. And you said he suffered from nightmares.” Leo kept his tone soft. “Did you ever wonder what they were about?” 

Logan looked down at his lap, all the fight seemed to have drained out of him. “No.” He looked at something over Finn’s shoulder, refusing to meet either of their eyes. “He has been getting them since he was a child. They were just”, he shrugged, “they were another part of Regulus.” 

Leo bolted upright, startling both Finn and Logan. Worried blue eyes met green. “We need to find Sirius. I think”, he bit his lip, thinking the words over, “I think I know what happened. Or at least have an idea of what might have happened.” 

Logan got up, stumbling over his own feet. “Let’s go then.”

“Wait.” Leo grabbed Logan’s arm, the other man looked down at his hand. “I don’t think you’re going to like it very much.” 

Logan stared at Leo, determination burning in his eyes like greek fire. “Do you think it will help get him back?” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s all that matters.” 

Brown eyes watched the interaction carefully. He decided that he would do everything in his power to help Logan. He didn’t know why the broken look in those green eyes hurt so much, but Finn never wanted to see it again. “Let’s go find the others then.” He interlace his fingers with Leo’s, squeezing Logan’s arm reassuringly with his other hand. “We’ll find him, Lo”, a look of determination took over his brown eyes, “I promise.” 

Logan nodded firmly and began walking, Finn and Leo following him out of the garden and into the palace. They decided to start looking for their friends in the library, since that had been the general direction in which they were headed earlier. Leo was the one to break the silence first. “Do you think I should tell Sirius.” 

“About your magic?” Leo nodded in response to Logan’s question. “Only if he asks. If the first thing you say involves the word magic you won’t get through to him. He wants Reg back, but he also thinks magic is the thing that took him away.” They had reached the doors to the library. Logan put his hand on the golden handle. “You’re going to have to ease him into it and hope that his desire to bring his brother back overpowers Orion’s teachings.” 

With that he heaved the heavy wooden doors open. A pair of silver eyes turned to look at them. Sirius gave them a weak smile. “Hey” 

The three of them walked to where he was sitting besides the rest of their friends and an unknown man. “Who is he?” At Logan’s question the man turned to look at him with a bright smile. 

“I’m Thomas.” He shook Logan’s hand. “But my friends call me Talker.” 

Logan leaned in to whisper to Finn. “Talker?” 

“He never shuts up.” Finn whispered back. 

Logan hummed, “Fitting.”

The three sat down at the table. Leo locked eyes with Remus and Lily across the table, a silent conversation passing between them. At Lily’s nod he began to talk. “Logan explained why you came here seeking help.” He turned to look at Sirius. “I may have an idea of what happened.” 

Sirius looked at him, hope shining in his silver irises. “Please explain.” 

“I— we think Regulus may be under someone’s control. An enchantment of sorts that took over his mind.” Remus’s eyes widened at Leo’s words. He stood up abruptly, letting go of Sirius’s hand and walking over to the bookshelf, taking books and parchment rolls out and setting them on the table while Leo continued his explanation. 

“That may be the reason why his nightmares stopped so abruptly. My guess is that someone used an object he wears a lot, most likely jewelry, and enchanted it. That way they would be able to influence his action while he wore it.” 

“He always wears one of our mother’s rings, even when he sleeps. Maybe that’s the enchanted object.” Sirius sighed defeatedly. “That doesn’t help us find him though.” 

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Remus sat back down on his chair and opened one of the parchment rolls. “The mind is complex, it's hard to enchant it and even harder to create a spell that will let you control it for so long.” He was reading down the lines of text frantically. When he didn’t find what he was looking for he moved to another scroll. “Only a highly skilled sorcerer could have done that.”

Lily picked up where Remus left off, explaining in a more calm tone. “Remus is looking through the archives. After the War many of the kingdoms created laws that forced sorcerers to register their magic. That includes what their specialities are, if they are priests for the old gods, things like that. If we can find the most powerful ones we can narrow down our search for Regulus.” She picked up a heavy tome Remus had dumped on the table and passed it to Leo. “We need to know what spell this sorcerer cast so we can break it.” She opened another book that sat in front of her, Leo had started reading the one she slid to him. 

“The mind is strong but once it cracks it’s hard to fix it.” Remus picked up another scroll. “Whoever enchanted Reg is using powerful magic to alter his brain. If the spell hasn’t worn off yet and we have to be the ones to break it his mind will take the worst hit.” 

“He’s going to need someone to help him through it.” Leo finished, focusing on the words he was reading. 

“Exactly.” 

Sirius looked between the three of them, a combination of hope and confusion on his face. “How—”

Remus raised a hand to interrupt the questions he was sure were coming. “Gryffindor has books on magic”, he said pointing at Lily and Leo’s books, “the scrolls are the lists of sorcerers, warlocks, and witches that live in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor.” 

“The queen insists on knowing all magic users that come and go from her lands. Anyone who studied the old religion and became a priest in the last twenty years studied in Ravenclaw at one point or another”, Lily looked up from her book, “the chances of one of them not being here are very low.”

Leo spoke up once she had finished talking. “Lily gave me a book of healing magic.” He stared at Sirius, the same daring look he had given Logan back in the gardens. “I’m a healer.” Leo’s eyes turned a bright shade of gold and a warm calming feeling settled over them. 

Sirius’s eyes became guarded, his hand reaching to the sword at his side. Remus reached over and took it in his, interlacing their fingers and placing a kiss to Sirius’s knuckles. “Leo is the best at healing. Regulus will need magic’s help, Sirius. There’s no way to work around that.” He squeezed Sirius's hand reassuringly. “When we find him, because we will find your brother, he may need someone to help ease him back into a reality where there’s no one speaking into his mind.” 

“The spell holds onto insecurity and fear. He had issues before this happened, the enchantment just added wood to the fire.” Sirius deflated slightly at Leo’s words. 

James spoke up after a moment, eyes wide and staring at a word in one of the scrolls Remus hadn’t looked through yet. “Does the name Bellatrix Lestrange sound familiar to you?” A chorus of no’s answered his question. 

“Bellatrix Lestrange”, he read, “high priestess of the old religion. Witch. Known Family: Druella Black (deceased), Cygnus Black (deceased), Andromeda Black, Narcissa Malfoy, Orion Black, Rodolphus Lestrange (deceased).” 

Sirius stared at James with an unreadable expression. Remus squeezed his hand lightly before speaking up. “That’s our mystery sorceress.” 

“How could you possibly know that.” Sirius flinched at his own aggressive tone. “Sorry”. 

“That’s obvious isn’t it”, Thomas said, ignoring Sirius’s defensiveness. “She has more reason than anyone to despise your father. She was family and King Orion was the leader of the War on magic.” 

“It would make sense if she was born with her magic”, Lily commented. “She probably was the next in line to be Slytherin’s court sorceress. Your father’s war robbed her of her birth right.” 

“And the best way to get back at Orion is attacking his favorite child.” Sirius's voice was devoid of any feeling. “Reg was always father’s perfect little boy. Except for the nightmares, but Orion ignored those.” 

Logan spoke up for the first time since they had sat down. “You said I wasn’t going to like something. You haven’t said what.” 

Leo locked eyes with Lily. Logan didn’t understand what happened in the few seconds they looked at each other, but Lily’s eyes widened. She gave a hesitant nod. “There’s a chance that Regulus has magic.” 

Remus groaned tiredly. “Of course he does. I’m such an idiot.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “How didn’t I notice. The nightmares. The paranoid glances. Warning Sirius before one of the missions his father sent him on just for him to come back injured.” 

Lily stared at Remus, eyes weary. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting are you?” Remus nodded defeatedly, head dropping to Sirius’s shoulder. The other man tangled his fingers in his brown hair, eyes unfocused. 

Logan looked between them before speaking. “For the sake of us that have no idea what he is suggesting, explain, please.”

Lily looked around at everyone’s face before her gaze settled on Sirius. “Reg could be a seer. People that can see the future, parts of it anyway. But without training…” she trailed off. 

“What happens”, Sirius’s voice cracked, “what happens without training?” 

“The visions could drive them insane”, Leo answered. 

Remus lifted his head from Sirius’s shoulder, his warm honey colored eyes meeting Sirius’s lost gaze. “This just proves how strong his mind is.” 

“How?” Sirius asked, barely above a whisper. 

“Anyone weaker would have lost their mind years ago”. Leo’s voice was soft. 

Silence fell over them, giving Sirius time to process what had just happened. His entire life had been picked to shreds, making him questioning all of his beliefs. Leo had magic, Lily probably did too. He had lost family somewhere that had kidnapped his brother to get back at his father. His brother may have magic and-. A distressed noise ripped from his lungs before he could push it down. 

Remus held Sirius close as silent tears spilled down his face. He watched Leo’s eyes glow gold before Sirius went limp against him. He hugged him tightly, standing up and carrying him over to one of the dark red sofas and laying him down, draping one of the soft blankets that Finn kept in the library for late night reading over him. He kissed Sirius’s forehead softly, wiping the tear tracks that ran down his flushed face. 

“How long will that spell last”, he asked Leo once he came back to the table and sat down. 

“As long as he needs.” Leo’s kind baby blue eyes looked at the sleeping man. “He needs time to process everything. His mind needs rest.” 

“Thank you, Leo”.

 The man nodded and looked at Logan. “I know where we can find Andromeda. But I’ll need your help.”  

“What?” Logan’s green eyes widened. 

“She lives in Hufflepuff’s countryside. I remember seeing her name years ago in one of the archives.” Finn lit up at Leo’s words.

 “So you know where she lives?” Finn’s enthusiasm made Logan feel a little better. 

“Not exactly.” Leo answered. “I remember the general area but not the exact village. It’ll take at least three days to find her.” 

“Won’t it be faster if we look for where she lives in the archive”, Logan asked. 

“No”, Leo answered simply. “It would take a two and a half day trip to reach the castle and then another three days looking through the archives for her. Not to mention how long it will take to reach the village.” He looked at Finn. “She lives in one of the outlying villages near Gryffindor. It’s a day’s ride away, though we would still have to sleep in the forest for the night.” Both Finn and Logan nodded. If they found Andromeda they would have a chance of finding Regulus and that was better than what they had started with when they arrived at the library. 

“Very well then”, everyone looked at Lily, “we all have our work cut out for us. Remus take Sirius to your mother“, she gave him a sympathetic look, “he needs it. We don’t rest until we find Regulus.” 

“And if we don’t find him?” Logan asked quietly. 

Lily’s emerald green eyes shone with determination. “That’s not an option.”  

*~*~*~*~*

Sirius woke up in an unknown place. He sat up slowly, he could feel a headache starting behind his eyes. He closed his eyes tightly, as the memories of the previous day came crashing down on him like a heavy weight. He opened them slightly when he heard someone come into the room. A woman stepped through the door, she had light brown hair and gentle amber eyes. She seemed familiar, somehow. 

“I’m glad you’re awake”, she sat at his bedside and placed her hand on his cheek, eyes glowing gold. Sirius flinched away from her touch, not used to people using magic on him. “Remus will be glad your up. He has been pacing since he woke up this morning.” She chuckled under her breath, standing up and walking to the door. “Come out whenever you’re ready”, she said before leaving, closing the door gently and leaving him alone. 

Sirius sat in silence for a moment, thinking over everything that had happened since he arrived in Gryffindor. His mind went over the conversation in the library over and over again. Reg probably had mgic. SIrius was surprised to realize he didn’t care, or he did, just not in the way he maybe should have. He just wanted his brother back. His thoughts were interrupted when Remus barged into the room. “Thank gods you’re up.” Sirius grimaced at his boyfriend’s loud voice. Remus sat besides him on the bed and kissed him softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Physically fine, mentally exhausted.” 

Remus kissed his forehead, rubbing the back of Sirius’s neck to try and ease the tension. “Logan left with Leo and Finn this morning. They won’t be back for at most a week.” 

Sirius made a small sound of acknowledgment, leaning back into Remus’s soft touch. “Why?” 

“Leo thinks he knows where to find Andromeda.” Sirius sighed softly, the remaining tension bleeding out of his shoulders. Remus kissed the tip of his nose, interlacing their fingers together and pulling Sirius out of bed. “Come on. Jules has been asking for you and you need breakfast.”

They walked to the dining room. Sitting at the table were Julian, the woman who Sirius thought had to be Remus’s mother, and a man that had to be his father. Remus squeezed his hand reassuringly, pulling him to the table and sitting down. Sirius sat besides him, Julian at his other side. 

The man offered a hand for Sirius to shake. “I’m Lyall, you must be Sirius.” 

“Yes.” Sirius shook his hand firmly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

Sirius gave a startled yelp when he felt something brush his leg. When he looked under the table his eyes widened. “Remus.” His boyfriend turned to look at him with a questioning look. “Why is there a dragon under the table?” 

He heard Julian laugh from besides him. The boy bent down under the table and brought out a small dragon. It was pure black with glowing purple eyes. It perched itself on Julian’s shoulders and curled its tail around his arm protectively. “Oh, that’s just Calliope”, Remus answered dismissively. “Julian has a tendency to take in strays. He found this little one in a cave near the river Godric a few months ago.” Remus threw a piece of bread at the dragon. 

Sirius looked at Julian incredulously. “Who sees a dragon and immediately thinks to bring it home?” 

“In my defense, I didn’t do that.” Julian held a piece of meat for Calliope to eat. “She climbed up on my shoulders and wouldn’t come down. And she’s adorable.” He scratched behind her ears. “I couldn’t leave her. She is just a baby.” 

“Believe me. We tried to make her leave.” Lyall smiled at Calliope’s indignant huff. “She just crawled back into Julian’s room. We gave up after the second time.” 

They ate in silence. Calliope moved to lay in Sirius’s lap at some point, he had to admit, she was pretty cute. He scratched behind her ears, looking at Remus with wide eyes when she started purring contentedly. The other man laughed brightly, eyes shining with amusement. They left the house around midday, heading towards the royal stables to get their horses. Twenty minutes later they were headed back to Slytherin, a heavy feeling settling over Sirius. “Father will want me to report to him.” 

Remus turned his head slightly to look at him. “What will you tell him?” 

“As much as I can, with obvious exceptions.” 

“Like Leo’s magic?” Sirius nodded, Leo was the reason they even knew where to start their search, he wasn’t going to spoil that plan by telling his father about magic. They rode in comfortable silence for a few hours, content to be in each other’s presence.

Remus pulled on his horse's reins to make her stop. Something was wrong, the forest was too silent almost like it was holding its breath. He turned to look at Sirius, who was studying him with a question in his eyes. He opened his mouth to ask why Remus had stopped, but he couldn’t get words out. 

A group of mercenaries ambushed them, coming out from where they had been hiding behind trees and bushes, causing an uproar and disrupting the unsettling silence that had fallen over the forest. Remus jumped down from his saddle and unsheathed his daggers just in time to block a sword that was heading for his shoulder. 

Remus managed to reach Sirius’s side. Both men fought back to back, but the enemies didn’t seem to end. Remus was so focused on his fight that he didn’t notice when Sirius got separated from him until he heard a faint hiss. He slashed at the last of the men that had been fighting him before turning around to look at Sirius. 

He was fighting one of the mercenaries and didn’t notice the man that was sneaking up behind him, sword raised. Remus knew he wouldn’t get there in time to help. He felt his magic tingling at his fingertips, itching to get out. He let it, his eyes turning a deep shade of gold, a gust of air traveling through the clearing and knocking both mercenaries off their feet. 

Remus looked at Sirius to check if he was ok, only to see silver eyes staring at him. Sirius’s face was a perfect mask of nothing. His eyes held no emotion, he looked more like his father than ever. Remus was terrified.

A deadly calm settled over the forest. Silver and amber stared at each other for what could have been years, but were really just a few seconds.

 “Sirius I—” he didn’t let Remus finish. Sirius turned around and left. Remus fell to the ground, his knees giving out from under him.

Sirius had to get away. He needed to put as much distance between himself and Remus as he could. He knew he couldn’t avoid this forever, not now that he knew that the man he had fallen in love with had magic. 

He needed time to think, clear his head, before he did something he would surely regret. He had suspected Remus’s magic since the day before, when Remus started planning with Lilly and Leo, but Sirius had tried denying it for his own sake. He couldn’t have taken the news last night, he couldn’t take them right now. So he just kept running. Sirius felt sick. His father had always told him magic was evil. Anyone who practiced it became corrupted, eventually. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that Remus, his Remus, the same man that had spent hours bent over books and looking through archives for even the slightest hint as to where Regulus could be, was evil. He thought back to Leo and Lily and Hope. All had magic, and all had been kinder to him in the short time he had known them than his father had been through Sirius’s life.

He stopped dead in his tracks. He left Remus, the love of his life, who had magic, alone in the middle of the woods probably thinking he would never see Sirius again unless it was through a wall of pain and fire. The realization slashed at his heart, it would’ve hurt less to stab himself with a hot blade. The image of his Remus tied to a pyre, body surrounded by flames, his screams filling the castle’s courtyard brought tears to Sirius’s eyes. He ran back to where he had left Remus, he could hear the fallen leaves crunching under his feet, his breathing heavy. When he got there he saw Remus curled into himself on the forest floor. The sight made his chest ache. It was like someone had taken a jagged knife and carved a whole where his heart should have been.  

Remus heard footsteps approach the clearing, but he didn’t look up. He didn’t have to. He could recognize Sirius by the way he walked. He had tears streaming down his face. He was scared, not of dying he knew deep down Sirius would never hurt him. He was scared to lose Sirius. He wanted his partner to really know him. To love the real him, not the lie he had created to survive in Slytherin. 

Sirius approached Remus carefully. Watched his shoulders tense. He could see Remus’s flushed face, he had tears streaming down his cheeks. Tears Sirius put there. 

The knife took another slash at his heart. 

He sat down in front of Remus. His love’s eyes were unfocused. Sirius wanted nothing more than to gather Remus in his arms and never let go. “Love”, Remus flinched at Sirius' voice, “ love please look at me”. His voice was thick with unshed tears. Remus’s amber eyes snapped up to meet grey. He could feel fresh tears falling down his face. Sirius put his arms around Remus and hugged him tightly. He felt the shorter man tense, before hugging Sirius back. 

Remus held onto Sirius like his life depended on it, face buried in the crook of his neck, breathing Sirius in. If this was the last thing he got to do he would cherish every second of it. He just hoped that if Sirius chose to execute him, if Remus was wrong and Sirius truthfully wanted him dead, that it wouldn’t be the flames. “I’m not executing you, sweetheart”, Sirius’s voice broke, “and I’m not exhiling you either.” Remus tensed. He hadn’t realized he had said that out loud. 

Sirius dropped a kiss to Remus sweaty honey colored curls, tears falling from his silver eyes. “I couldn’t bare to lose you. I don’t want to live in a world where you are not by my side.” Sirius felt his already bleeding heart break, tears falling down from his eyes. “Love, please look at me”. 

Remus lifted his head from Sirius’s shoulder. A sword calloused hand reached up to touch his cheek, thumb brushing across Remus’s cheekbone. He leaned into the soft touch, wrapping his hand around Sirius’s wrist. Sirius placed a soft kiss on his lips. Remus’s eyes fluttered shut. He leaned into it, before breaking the kiss and touching his forehead to Sirius’s. 

Sirius tightened his arms around Remus. He needed to hold onto him. Know that he was alright, that he was safe in his arms, because every time that Sirius closed his eyes the image of Remus burning came back to his mind. It made his blood run cold in his veins. “I’m so sorry, Re.”

Remus snuggled closer to Sirius, dropping a soft kiss to his neck. “I accept your apology.” Remus kissed the same spot again gently. “I understand why you ran. It still hurts, but I can understand. It was a lot and after what happened yesterday”, he shrugged lightly, “I get it.” 

Sirius took a deep breath before speaking softly. “Can I ask?” There was a beat of silence, and then Remus made an agreeable humm, moving to sit on the ground in front of his boyfriend. He took Sirius’s hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly, and gave him a small smile. 

“Ok”, he let out a breath before continuing, “what do you want to know?” 

“When did you start learning?” 

Remus looked somewhere above Sirius’s shoulder with a thoughtful look. “I guess I started using magic when I was a child.” His eyes focused on Sirius again. “But I did go through a few years of accidental magic when I was a baby.” 

Sirius gave him a confused look. “What?” 

“Right, you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Sirius pointedly ignored the murmured insults about his father. “Pretty much everyone who is born with their magic goes through a few years where they can‘t control it. That’s how parents know their child was born with a magical gift.” 

“What’s your gift then?” 

Remus smiled at him and held his open palm between them. “It’s better if I show you.” He whispered a word that Sirius didn’t understand and his eyes flashed a brilliant gold. A glowing fog appeared on his hand, curling around his fingers and wrist. “Air and light manipulation are my specialty, but I can do other more general stuff.” 

The fog had started to disappear. Sirius stared at it until it was completely gone. A second of silence followed, the small display of magic leaving Sirius temporarily speechless. He shook himself off his daze. “Can I ask what Lily’s specialty is.” 

Remus shrugged, not surprised that Sirius had figured out Lily had magic of her own. “She’s a fire witch. It’s a pretty rare specialty, dangerous even, but she knows how to control it.” 

“Do you fight with it?” 

“Not really.” Remus’s brow creased a little, looking for the right words to explain. “Air, it’s unpredictable, hard to control. It requires a lot of concentration. Lily tried teaching me how to fight with magic a few years ago.” He grimaced. “It didn’t go so well.” 

Sirius motioned for him to explain. “Lily is good with blades, but magic is her thing. Especially considering her specialty.” A small orange flame lit up in Remus’s palm. “Fire and air are both versatile, but fire is sharp and dangerous by nature. Air is powerful, but unless you put a lot of energy into it…”, a soft breeze extinguished the fire, “it’s not worth wasting that much energy when I have someone like Lils by my side. We’re a good team because the difference in fighting style makes us unpredictable.” 

Silver eyes stared at Remus with carefully contained curiosity. “Unpredictable how?” 

“Lili’s style is”, he stopped for a second before continuing, “she doesn’t follow patterns like most people. She changes tactics every time her opponent starts getting comfortable. Right when you think you have her figured out she changes direction.” 

“And you?” 

“You saw me sparring with Lily, why don’t you explain it to me.” 

Sirius tried to remember that fight. He had seen Remus moving with a grace he had never thought the other man was capable of, only stumbling when Lily managed to catch him off guard. Sirius suspected she was the only one that could do that. 

“You were fast. Managed to not stumble, somehow, I’m still trying to figure out how you didn’t fall flat on your face.” Remus blushed, but remained silent for Sirius to continue talking. “Your movements were fluid. It was hard to tell what you were going to do next.” 

His boyfriend smiled at him, amber eyes shining brightly. “Are you starting to see the pattern?” Sirius shook his head, making Remus’s smile soften. “It’s ok.” He grabbed his hand and went to stand up, pulling Sirius up with him. “I just wanted you to understand, our fighting styles mirror our Magic’s behavior.”

Sirius made a small ‘oh’ sound. The other man’s words sinking in, he decided to ask Remus more questions about it later. Maybe when Lily was there to explain, too. He felt his boyfriend tug on his hand lightly. “We need to find the horses. Unless, of course, you plan on walking all the way to Slytherin.” 

He wrapped his arm around Remus’s waist, chuckling softly. “Alright. Let’s find them and go home.” 

After they managed to find the horses, who were grazing by a small clearing near the river Godric, they rode towards Slytherin, debating how they should explain the plan to the king without mentioning magic. They had decided that Remus would go with Sirius to report to Orion on the rescue mission’s progress and once the king questioned how they had come about the information of who had kidnapped Regulus, as they were sure he would, Remus would mention the archives. 

They reached the citadel almost two days after their departure from Gryffindor. They were received at the courtyard by Sir Pascal who gave them a worried look. Remus handed his horse reins to a stable boy and walked up to the knight, Sirius following behind him. “Your father is expecting you in the council chamber.” 

Sirius nodded, motioning for Remus to follow behind him. They were standing in front of the wooden door faster than either of the would have liked, Sirius breathed deeply before nodding towards the guards to open the doors. His father was sitting on his throne, a stony expression set on his face. Sirius walked in, Remus following a step behind him. He tried not to flinch when Orion’s dark eyes settled on him. 

“Father”, Sirius bowed his head in respect. He wasn’t sure his fathers deserved that respect anymore. The king motioned for him to continue speaking. “We found a possible lead, and a possible culprit.” 

Something lit up in the king's eyes, it was a strange sight. Remus was so used to the dark, empty nothing behind Orion’s irises, the only other feeling he had ever seen in them was hatred for his kind. He tuned back to the conversation just in time to hear Sirius say  Lestrange’s name. It made something sharp flash across the king’s eyes, alarm bell’s rang inside Remus’s head, they had to choose their next words carefully. 

“Where did you come across this information?” Orion asked, something like ice creeping at the edges of his voice. 

“Actually, m’lord”, Sirius met his father’s eye, preparing himself for what would come after he spoke, “Remus found it in Gryffindor‘s archives.” 

Orion looked at him, Remus had to resist the urge to run away. “Is that true?” 

“Yes, your majesty.” He kept his tone carefully even. “The king keeps records of all sorcerers that live in his lands and ally kingdoms. I thought it would be best to start our search there.” 

Orion stared at him for a few seconds before returning his gaze to his heir. They continued their discussion while Remus stood back, occasionally answering any question the king might have had about the information stored in the archives. Three hours later Orion had given his blessing to continue with their search for Bellatrix, ordering Sirius to execute her on the charges of sorcery, treason, and endangerment to the crown. Sirius nodded stiffly, anxious to get out of the room and as far away from his father as he could. 

Remus followed behind Sirius, leaving the council room behind and walking to his boyfriend’s chambers. The moment the doors closed Sirius threw himself at his bed, landing with a small thud on the soft mattress, burying his face on the pillow and screaming, the muffled sound barely audible. Amber eyes stared after him worriedly, the last few days had been heavy on Sirius, his mind needed a break from everything and Remus wanted nothing more than to give that to him. With a flash of gold a crow made of pure light appeared in front of Remus, it’s wings fluttering softly. It moved toward the bed and perched itself besides Sirius’s head, tugging at a strand of his black hair. It startled a laugh out of him. “What is this?” Sirius asked softly. 

“A messenger bird.” Remus sat beside Sirius, maneuvering them so that Sirius's head lay on his lap, the bird sitting softly on his boyfriend's chest. “Lily’s is a butterfly.” 

“Why does she get a butterfly?” 

Remus began to run his fingers through Sirius’s dark curls, the feeling making Sirius melt. “I think butterflies are Lily’s favorite.”

Sirius’s eyes were closed, a small content smile on his lips. “What about Leo?” 

“His is a little salamander. A newt, if you will.” A small giggle bubbled out of Sirius making Remus smile, he bent down to kiss Sirius softly, he hadn’t seen his boyfriend this at peace since he received the news of Regulus’s disappearance. “I love you.” 

A startled expression took over Sirius’s face. “What?” His voice choked up by the sudden rush of emotion. “Y-You… what?”

“I”, he kissed Sirius’s forehead. “Love”, a kiss to his nose. “You.” Remus kissed his lips, slow and loving, trying to pour all of his feelings into it. The angle was more than a little awkward and Sirius was still a little in shock, but his eyes still fluttered shut. He returned it with as much love and adoration as he could. It was perfect. 

They broke apart, breathless and smiling. Sirius stared into Remus’s eyes, he could see gold swirling in his warm amber irises, how had he ever thought that magic could be evil. “I love you too. So much.” 

Remus smiled. Sirius could have sworn it lit up the entire room, a warm feeling bloomed in his chest. Sirius didn’t know how he had ever survived without the amber eyes, bright smile, and soft lingering kisses, but he never wanted to live like that again. He would do anything to keep his love safe.

 “I love you.”

[offtopicoverload]

Whispers

Grateful whispers muttered in the dead of night, hushed and vulnerable.

replaying blades and i would die for Nia, so have a little ficlet

T Rating (i mean, theres the usual blades stuff of violence, but not any extra warnings)

Nia x MC (Cleo)

~5.6k words (i didnt edit most of this but at this point i dont care im sick of this)

-

“Alright, Priestess? Enjoying yourself?” Cleo asks with a grin, settling down beside the slowly dying fire while fiddling with her bowstring, gaze flickering between light eyes and the weapon in her hands.

Nia returns her smile, eyes briefly meeting amber and the orange light playing within them, “Yes, this pilgrimage has proved quite eventful so far.”

Cleo barks a laugh, eyes lifting to flicker amusedly at Nia, “That’s one way to put it.”

“It’s true,” Nia leans closer, her face lighting up in excitement, “I never expected to be face to face with an owlbear! It was so…” she trails off, lips contorted as she searches for a proper description.

“Big? Smelly? Stupid? Loud?” Cleo supplies, a small bemused smile on her lips.

“I suppose, though I was thinking more along the lines of ‘one of a kind.’”

“Owlbears aren’t one of a kind, Priestess.”

Red hair flies around Nia’s shoulders as she shakes her head, “The experience was one of a kind. This journey to the Temple is one of a kind.”

“That depends on if you plan to get attacked again, then it’s definitely not one of a kind,” Cleo leans backwards, her elbows propping her up as her gaze scans the eager Priestess before her.

“I assure you that I have no such plans.”

“Good, wouldn’t want you getting hurt.”

“No? Would that not give you another opportunity to showcase your abilities?”

“Yeah, but that’s - that’d be awful,” Cleo averts her eyes, fumbling upright once more and turning back to her bow, staring at the wood intently as heat rises in her cheeks.

“I believe the same could be said for you, putting yourself in danger for us.”

“I mean, I guess, but I’m getting paid for it, while you’re, you know,” slender fingers rise to tug at white dreads anxiously, words tumbling out of Cleo’s mouth without care, “You.”

“That’s -” Nia chuckles nervously, a neon blushing painting her skin, “You’re too kind,” she mumbles beneath her breath.

“Just, um…” Cleo jumps to her feet, dusting herself off before grabbing her bow, “I’m gonna head to bed, Priestess. Uh, good night,” and turns on her heel, hurrying away from the campfire.  

Nia’s eyes follow her retreating form, skating along her figure, “Hey, Cleo?”

Cleo spins back around at the last second, only a step away from her tent, but with a smile on her face, “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Another grin, firelight illuminating exposed teeth before that bright smile slips into the shadow of the tent.

---

“Hey, Priestess,” Cleo stops beside Nia, leaning against the tree behind her, hands fisted together before her. The forest’s sounds are in the distance, echoes of an argument between Mal and Threep even nearer as Cleo’s honey eyes trace the shape of the trees. “Are you doing okay?” she asks softly after a long pause.

Nia gives a stiff nod, her gaze never straying from her hands as they lay knotted together in her lap, fingers fidgeting restlessly. Her shoulders are tense,  her brow is furrowed, and her jaw’s clenched as a million emotions flit through her mind.

“You sure?” Cleo prods, standing straight as her gaze inspects Nia carefully, “I’m, you know, here if you need anything. Promise.”

“It doesn’t really seem real,” the words come fast from Nia, hurried and tumbling over one another, like she’s worried if she doesn’t rush them, they’ll never make it out of her mouth. “That he’s gone, I mean. Just like that.”

Cleo nods in understanding, settling beside Nia on the grass, her legs folded before her as she picks at the foliage, “I know what you mean.”

“I’m sorry,” Nia blurts out, eyes wide and panicked as she takes in the sorrow on Cleo’s face, the waves of grief in her bright eyes and the mountains of loss weighing down her shoulders.

“Don’t be,” Cleo shrugs, shaking her head a beat later, “I should be saying that, I was meant to protect you.” She scowls down at her hands, tearing apart a piece of grass in frustration.

Nia’s palm rests on her forearm, squeezing comfortingly, “You couldn’t have possibly done more than you did. That was - We stumbled upon the Shadow Court.”

“Still,” Cleo shrugs her off, ripping a dead leaf into tiny remains, “They’re gone, and I’m the one with the weapon.”

“Only Scholar Vash is gone, Cleo, and there was no way to help him. We did all we could,” Nia reassures, finding Cleo’s forearm and squeezing again. “But we can get Kade back, and we will. Promise,” she squeezes again, pouring as much sincerity into the gesture as she can muster.

“Alright, Priestess,” Cleo manages a wavering smile, and this time she doesn’t pull away, doesn’t steal her arm back, just lets Nia’s hand rest there.

Nia nods, her thumb brushing along Cleo’s skin, “And - and thank you. For protecting me already, and everything else,” she whispers.

“Anytime.” Cleo’s hand finds hers, squeezing.

---

The ship tilts violently to one side, the interior of the hull sliding with it as a yelp sounds from above Cleo, quickly muffled a second later. She extracts herself from the bottom bunk, glancing around and finding the boys asleep throughout the space, and pokes her head up.

Nia’s back is to her as she grips the railing surrounding the bunk, the Priestess curled in on herself as Threep lays at the foot of the bunk, his tail tucked under his chin. “Nia?” she calls quietly.

The woman in question turns to face Cleo, Threep shifting slightly at the movement. Her hands are tucked beneath her head, eyes bright in the low visibility of night, shining and gleaming in the few stray rays of light, and blinking innocently.

“Are you okay?” Cleo asks as soft as she can, gaze even softer.

“Yes…”

“You sure? You seemed, uh, kinda startled.”

“The waves are startling,” she frowns, her features pinched as she props herself up on one elbow.

“Right, sorry,” Cleo fights a smile at the indignant glower staring back at her. “So you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

Cleo shrugs, muttering, “Okay,” as she sinks back to her bunk, laying back and staring blankly upwards. Her fingers tap against the back of her palm as her hands rest on her abdomen, knit together with fiddling thumbs.

“Hey, Cleo?” Nia’s voice hesitantly asks, curls falling past the edge of the upper bunk.

“Yeah?”

“I, um, I can’t sleep.”

Cleo smiles privately before flying upright again, pausing just before Nia’s face hanging over the edge of her bunk, “How can I help, Priestess?”

Nia darts backwards, cool air filling the space between them, so much cooler than it was for just a fraction of a moment, “Um, maybe with a distraction?”

Cleo beams, her teeth glinting bright, “On it.” She jumps, hopping the barrier surrounding the top bunk and landing beside Nia, hovering over the Priestess with a wicked smirk, hair creating a curtain to separate them from the rest of the world.

Nia squeaks, jolting backwards as a blush alights along her cheeks and ears, “Oh, Gods,” she murmurs under her breath. She covers her flushed face with her hands, fumbling to sit upright as Threep hisses at the disturbance of his sleep.

“We’ll be quiet,” Cleo whispers to him, sitting back on her heels with arms crossed over her chest as she glares at the nesper.

He glares right back from over his paws, hissing one last time in warning. Cleo hisses back.

“Alright, Priestess,” her frown drops away as she turns back to Nia, leaning forward with her palms spread on the bunk, “Let’s talk.”

“About - About what?” Nia’s hands lower, revealing still-stained, but moderately-less-so, cheeks.

“Hmm…” Cleo hums, low in the back of her throat, a deep, intoxicating sound like dark liquor. “Ooh,” her face lights up, eyes flying up to catch Nia staring at her, “What about the boys? What do you make of them?”

Nia clears her throat, sitting upright and attempting to ignore the blush on the back of her neck, “I think they’re quite all right.”

Another mischievous grin curves Cleo’s mouth, “That’s it? C’mon, Priestess, you’ve got to have more to say than that.”

“I assure you, I don’t,” Nia huffs, crossing her arms over her chest in protest.

“Not even about Tyril? And all his haughtiness? Or Mal and his ridiculous stories?”

“Well…”

Cleo crawls closer, turning until her back is resting beside Nia’s, “Ooh, the Priestess has something bad to say,” she elbows Nia in the ribs and wiggles her shoulders for effect.

“Not bad, per say…” Nia drawls, avoiding eye contact as the tips of her ears turn bright red and her hands fidget restlessly with the tips of her hair, legs crossing and uncrossing nervously.

“You don’t have to say anything, I’m just kidding,” Cleo’s teasing tone falls away as she puts some distance between them, gaze turning earnest in the dim cabin.

“I know, but -” Nia exhales with a tiny frown, “Tyril is so stiff, he’s like a statue!” she whispers loudly. “And Mal! He’s a thief and proud of it!” her eyes are wide, scandalized as she gapes at Cleo.

“Wait ‘til I tell you about mercenaries.”

Nia playfully slaps at her thigh with a scowl, until Cleo’s laughing and covering her mouth to avoid waking the others, her chuckles barely subdued as she leans against Nia for support.

“Do you mind?” Threep hisses once more, glaring up at the pair from his spot at the foot of the bed.

“I’m so sorry, Threep, my sincerest apologies,” Cleo turns mockingly serious in an instant, her hands clasped before her in a plea.

“Good,” Threep huffs, crawling into Nia’s lap and curling into a ball, his purrs resuming as Cleo scratches behind his ears.

“Such a simple kitty.”

His teeth gnash at her hand, “Never call me something so cruel again.”

“Got it, boss,” Cleo salutes him, her expression serious again as Threep sighs, dropping his head to his paws and burying his face in his fur. “You two are getting along, I see,” Nia hums, her palm skating along Threep’s back, a purr sounding in response.

“We’re the best of friends, right Threep?”

“Yes, indeed. Now can we go to sleep?”

Cleo nudges Nia in the side, her head cocked curiously, “Well? Think you can sleep now?”

There’s no expectation in her irises as she blinks, but Nia still dips her head to avoid Cleo’s gaze. She shakes her head, scratching Threep to give herself a distraction from the irritation she expects from Cleo.

“Alright, but we need something else to do, since you’re no good at gossip,” she slumps against the hull, thinking deeply as Nia blinks at her in surprise.

“Um, okay…” She mimics Cleo’s posture, sinking into the bunk and pulling Threep closer in her arms.

“Oh, I know! I could tell you a story! One of my favourites that Kade always told. Well, he’s probably better at it, but I can try?” Cleo offers, eyes glowing as she sits bolt upright, eager at the opportunity.

Nia smiles, whispering quietly, “I’d love to hear it, Cleo.”

Cleo sits beaming for a moment before coming to her senses and beginning her story. She speaks in hushed whispers, gesturing wildly as her smile grows wider at every giggle from Nia, “And then the troll just whacked the adventurer with his club! Just whack!” she mimics swinging a club in a wide, uneven arc. “And down the mountain the adventurer went, hitting his head a lot, too, I imagine,” she nods sagely, Nia stifling another giggle at her earnest expression.

“So the adventurer gave up?”

“Of course not, that’d be an awful story!” Cleo chastises. “He climbed the mountain again, but this time, he had a plan,” she carries on, detailing every step of the adventure and subsequent defeat of the troll.

“Thank you,” Nia whispers, the words barely there as she settles against the bunk, idly dragging her nails through Threep’s thick fur as she watches the tale further unfold before her.

Cleo pauses mid-sentence, her cheeks flushed from her vigorous storytelling, and turns to meet Nia’s eyes, “Anytime,” before falling back into the ridiculous tale with ease.

---

Cleo’s curled up in her bedroll, face pressing into it with eyes shut tight to block out the dying embers of the fire resting before her. Stars and swirling colours play behind her eyelids, a rainbow to watch as sleep evades her.

“Hey, Cleo?” Nia’s voice is gentle in the night, barely audible over the snores ripping through their camp.

“Yeah?”

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“... I can’t sleep,” Nia confesses, her cheeks heating as she stares at the stars glowing in the night sky.

Cleo rolls over to face her, bedroll pulled up to her chin as bright eyes peek out from it, “Me neither. Wanna… talk?” she proposes, eyebrows jutting upwards.

“Yes, please,” Nia sighs in relief, scooting closer and snuggling into her own bedroll.

“So… How about -”

“Do you think we have a chance?” Nia blurts out, cutting Cleo off abruptly, eyes piercing into amber.

“Like…” Cleo’s brows furrow as she runs through the question in her mind, before she shakes her head, clearing it of the fog, “What?”

“Do you think we have a chance to defeat the Shadow Court? Do you think we can do this? Or are we just making things worse? Has any of this been worth it since Scholar Vash died?” Nia’s words explode from her mouth, rushed and panicked and worried and mixed together.

Cleo rises onto her elbow, one hand escaping from her bedroll to gesture calmingly, “All right, I think you need to slow down and take a breath, okay?” she nods encouraginly.

“Okay.” Nia clamps her jaw shut to do as told, inhaling deeply and exhaling quickly a few times.

Cleo squirms closer, stopping directly beside the Priestess’ curled up form, “Nia, are you scared?” she whispers cautiously into the tiny space between them.

“Terrified.”

“Good, me too,” Cleo grins, relaxed and reassured as opposed to the mischief and excitement usually contained within it.

Nia gapes, mouth hanging open as she stutters for a response, “Really? You?!”

Cleo flaps her hand with a tiny frown, “Shh, shh, don’t wake up the snorers.”

“Right,” Nia nods, regaining herself, “Sorry. But… you’re scared?” she asks incredulously, her voice pitching high.

“Oh, yeah,” Cleo nods, her expression surprisingly serious, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Nia nods vehemently, hair stirring around her, “Yes, of course.”

Cleo sucks in a deep breath, “I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a kid from a tiny village that met a pretty - That got caught up in all this Shadow Court stuff and is just trying to stay alive and get my brother back. I have no idea what I’m doing. Ever.”

“I don’t either, Cleo. I know I’m supposed to be good at this, being a Priestess and all, but this is very out of my depth,” Nia squeaks.

“I know, Priestess,” Cleo grins at the panicked expression on Nia’s face, “But do you feel better now? Talking about it?”

Nia pauses, eyes flitting around at nothing in particular, “Yes,” she nods resolutely, “Yes, I do.”

“Good. Now try to get more sleep before dawn.” Cleo rolls back over, her back to Nia as she wraps her bedroll tight around herself. She tunes back into the snores from across camp and the hoots and calls of birds, the purring of Threep a few feet away.

“Hey, Cleo?”

“Yeah?” she mumbles into her bedroll.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“...I’m cold.”

“Uh,” Cleo’s eyes blink open before she glances over her shoulder, Nia’s gaze already trained on her, “Do you want me to restart the fire?”

“No, you’ll wake the others,” Nia whispers in concern.

Wiggling in her bedroll, Cleo faces the Priestess once more, “Do you want the extra blanket?”

Nia shakes her head with a small frown on her lips, “Imtura took it since her bedroll is too small.”

Cleo’s lips twist into a frown as she stares at the stars, searching for a solution. Her cheeks heat as soon as she finds it, and she stumbles over her words, “Do you, uh, want to, er -”

She sighs as her tongue betrays her, scooting over and tugging her bedroll open in invitation, “Just,” she waves her hands awkwardly, avoiding looking at the Priestess as her face remains flushed dark.

And Nia’s blushing just as hard as she squirms into Cleo’s bedroll, attempting to keep some distance between them and ultimately failing in the small space.

Cleo lays still, arms set at her sides as she faces upwards, refusing to meet Nia’s imploring gaze beside her, “They’re going to make fun of us in the morning,” she mumbles.

“They always do,” Nia shrugs, light eyes wandering over the rise and fall of Cleo’s profile curiously.

“Yeah, but we don’t have to give them a reason,” Cleo huffs, crossing her arms and subsequently stirring the bedroll.

Nia cocks her head, frowning deeply as her eyes swim, “Are you kicking me out?”

“What -” Cleo’s eyes fly to hers, “No! No, I’m -” she bites her tongue at the sight of a smile spreading over Nia’s lips, mischievous and self-satisfied all at the same time. “Gods, you’re just as bad,” Cleo whines, dragging a hand over her face.

“It’s funny when you’re flustered. You aren’t often,” Nia hums.

“Yeah, ‘cause - Look, just go to sleep,” Cleo cuts herself off, turning her back to the Priestess and her amused grin and burying her face in the warmth of the bedroll to the warmth of her cheeks.

Nia slides closer, arms folded against her chest as her forehead presses between Cleo’s shoulderblades. Her head shifts with Cleo’s inhales and exhales, a gentle, hypnotic rhythm to lull her to sleep as the breaths slow, weighed down by the startings of dozing off.

“Hey, Cleo?” she whispers, the words hot where they soak through Cleo’s shirt.

Cleo grumbles out a response, “Yeah?”

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“...Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Cleo sighs out, sinking further into the bedroll as Nia’s own breathing slows gradually, a drawn out tempo to match.

---

The woods are relatively still, sounds of life echoing in the distance, bouncing off the trees and playing in the breeze in a faint melody for Cleo’s entertainment. She’s on first watch tonight, carefully sharpening her blade just to keep her hands busy and humming quietly to herself, a song from the Riverbend tavern.

“Hey, Cleo?” Nia pads over to the tree Cleo’s sitting at with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, taking careful, quiet steps, wary of the sticks and leaves beneath her feet and glancing between her path and Cleo.

“Yeah?” Cleo moves her bow from one side of her, leaving space for the approaching Priestess.

She stops at the trunk of the tree, peering down at Cleo with a smile, “Mind if I join you?”

“‘Course not, the more the merrier. Er - Sometimes.”

Nia drops to the forest floor, legs curled beneath her and blanket held tight around her body, “Why only sometimes?” she murmurs, shivering slightly from the chill of night.

“Don’t want the Prince getting any ideas,” she sneers in the direction of Baldur’s tent, quickening the pace at which she sharpens her sword momentarily.

“Mmm,” Nia hums, shifting closer.

Cleo’s eyes land on her, taking in the shaking of her body, “Cold?”

“A little.”

“C’mere,” Cleo wraps an arm around her back, pulling her into her side and her body heat. Nia sighs, her head falling to Cleo’s shoulder and eyelashes fluttering shut in contentment.

“I still can’t believe we saw a unicorn,” Cleo says after a long moment.

“I know!” Nia perks up, her head flying up to meet Cleo’s eyes, excitement overflowing from them. “It was magical! This whole clearing is magical,” her gaze rakes over the clearing, landing on the shimmering water a ways away.

“Know what else I can’t believe?” Cleo nudges Nia with her hip to earn back her gaze.

“What?”

“That Baldur hasn’t been punched back.”

“Cleo!” Nia lightly slaps her side in a scolding, but only succeeding in sending Cleo into a laughing fit, “He’s - He’s a prince!” she chastises, whispering heatedly under her breath.

Cleo’s chuckles begin to subside as she forces out a retort, “Exactly, no one else is gonna do it, it’s gotta be one of us!”

“Shh,” Nia waves her hand to quiet Cleo, “What if he hears?” she hisses.

“I can take him,” Cleo nods resolutely, raising her free arm and flexing to the amusement of a now-giggling Nia. “Prince Jerkface’s got nothing on me. I killed a drakna queen!” she announces proudly, chest puffed out.

“I’d rather you not fight the crown prince,” Nia’s head falls back to Cleo’s shoulder when her giggles subside, snuggling further into Cleo’s side.

“Hmph. Fine,” Cleo grumbles, her palm skating up the length of Nia’s back absentmindedly.

“Cleo?”

“Hmm?”

Nia’s cheek presses further into Cleo, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Cleo’s head drops to Nia’s, a single red curl twisting around her finger.

---

The bedroom door open, slowly and loudly, the hinges’ creaks filling the room as red curls peer cautiously around the frame, “Hey, Cleo?” a hesitant voice calls into the room.

The woman in question shifts upright, glancing over her shoulder at the curious eyes staring at the back of her head, “Yeah?”

“You’re awake.”

Cleo smiles, “Yeah.”

Nia shuffles inside, closing the door behind her and cringing at the loud creaking. She stands awkwardly, shifting on her feet nervously before Cleo, “...I can’t sleep.”

“Do you want to hang out here?”

“Yeah.”

“Come here, then,” Cleo grins, scooting to make room on the edge of the bed beside her.

Nia crosses to her, dropping beside Cleo and folding her legs before her, picking at her gown as Cleo lays back, gazing up at the Priestess. “Well… she drawls after a long moment.

Light eyes flick up to meet her gaze, “Well what?”

“Well why are you up?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Why can’t you sleep?” Cleo prods, circling a spot on Nia’s thigh with her index finger idly.

Nia only shrugs, turning back to pick at her gown to distract herself. Cleo sighs, sitting upright in front of Nia, cupping her jaw to draw her gaze, “What’s going on and how can I help?”

Red spreads across Nia’s skin, hot to the touch as she blushes furiously, but she refuses to look away from Cleo’s vibrant eyes. “I, um. The masquerade,” is all she manages, but it’s enough for Cleo’s palms to fall from her cheeks.

“Yeah,” she nods, “Going to a fancy party just to fight evil isn’t exactly the most calming thing to think about.”

“What if we fail? Or someone gets hurt? What happens if Kaya wins?” Nia rambles, her breath coming quicker as panic builds inside her chest, “What if - What if something happens and - and -”

“Hey,” Cleo stops her in her tracks, tone stern and eyes ablaze, “We’ve got this, okay?”

“But what if -”

Cleo gives her an exasperated look, silencing Nia for the second time. With a sigh, she offers her hand, palm upturned and fingers wiggling teasingly. A small smile illuminates Nia’s features as she slips her hand into Cleo’s, their fingers tangling together as Cleo’s thumb traces delicate knuckles. “We’ve got this,” she whispers, almost too quiet to hear.

“We’ve got this,” Nia repeats, squeezing the hand in hers for reassurance. “We’ve got this,” one last whisper as she pulls her knees to her chest, her head lolling against Cleo as she slows her ragged breathing.

“We’ve got anything they can throw at us. Promise.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Nia murmurs reassurances to herself as Cleo’s thumb continues circling her skin, the presence grounding. “Cleo?”

“Hmm?” she hums, attention on their interlocked fingers as the plays with Nia’s.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime,” she whispers against Nia’s hair, pressing a kiss to her head while her eyes stay trained on their fidgeting hands.

---

The sheets are cold against Cleo’s skin, the warmth from earlier gone as she stirs, eyelashes gently fluttering open. It’s dark in the dead of night, moonlight noticeably absent as she shifts into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she reaches it.

A groan spills from her lips as she slumps forward, every muscle protesting to just go back to sleep, but she fights the urge, slipping out from the bed and crossing the room to the massive windows and the cracked door, star and city light mixing to guide her.

She steps onto the terrace, carefully closing the door shut behind her, just to find Nia standing beside the railing, her arms folded atop it. A breeze lifts her hair from her shoulders, sending it flying behind her, curls swirling in a sharp contrast to the harsh dark sprawled before them.

Whitetower stretches out against the horizon, vibrant rooftops and candlelit windows providing a splash of colour against the black above them, only the peppering of stars shining in the sky tonight.

Cleo joins Nia at the railing, taking in the sombre expression on her face as she stares out at the city, warm lights reflected in her bright eyes. Only their dimmer tonight, blank as the sky without its moon, “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“What are you doing out here?”

She sighs, fingers fidgeting with a strand of hair, “I couldn’t sleep again.”

Cleo nods, letting silence fill the space as she carefully curls her arm through Nia’s, their bodies drawing closer together as they lean against one another. “It’s nice out,” she hums, eyes trained on the lights of the night market in the distance.

“It’s beautiful,” Nia echoes, breathless at the sight before, a gorgeous painting come to life, “I missed this,” she exhales slowly, some tension dropping from her shoulders. Her eyes flick up to Cleo’s, “Not - not that I regret anything, or wish I never went and met you, or -”

Cleo silences her with a soft kiss, only lasting a second before her forehead is falling against Nia’s, “I know. I know,” she murmurs with a smile, eyes drinking in the blush painted on Nia’s cheeks.

“Okay,” Nia nods, ears still red as another spell of quiet fills the balcony, the pair simply leaning against one another as a rainbow of brilliance shines in their irises, swirling and coalescing into perfect little slivers of the beauty before them.

Nia rubs her arms, attempting to force heat into them to counteract the cold winds blowing through the sky.

“Are you cold?” Cleo instinctively starts repeating Nia’s motions, running her palms over the lengths of slender arms.

Nia smiles sheepishly, “Freezing.”

“Let me fix that, then,” Cleo chuckles under her breath as she steps behind Nia, slipping her arms around her cool body, palms on the back of Nia’s freezing ones. “Your hands are like ice,” she groans, pulling them towards Nia’s core in search of further heat.

“And yours are like fire,” Nia giggles, even more when Cleo ghosts feather-light kisses over her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, just to watch her squirm. “That tickles!” Nia protests, writhing in Cleo’s arms.

Cleo grins against her skin, “Yep,” before planting one final kiss to Nia’s cheek, her chin dropping to her shoulder to stare out into the dark horizon.

Nia sighs, sinking into the warmth of the body behind her, wrapped around her, supporting her like always. Like in the woods or on pirate ships or in crowded ballrooms, against Shadow Court members and terrifying creatures and their own team members, like always. “Thank you.”

A soft smile illuminates Cleo’s features even more than the city’s lights as she squeezes the woman in her arms, “Anytime. I kinda like keeping you warm.”

“I meant for everything, Cleo.”

“Oh,” she pauses at the intensity in Nia’s voice, the sincerity and earnesty overflowing from the sentence. “Well, it still stands. I’m always here. Promise,” and drops another kiss to Nia’s exposed shoulder and squeezing her tight again.

---

Darkness swirls, shadows engulf the space in rolling, trembling vengeful waves as shouts and clashes of steel echo through the vast atrium. Bodies lay littered in heaps, blood is thick in the air, and anger and hatred crowd the hall. So, so much hatred, enough to drown in it, to let it rip you apart from the inside out, to become buried in an avalanche of pure, unending hatred.

Cleo’s legs tremble beneath her, the weight of the world resting heavy on her shoulders as tears cascade down the length of her face, blurring her vision until nothing coherent remains. Her blood pounds in her ears, drowning out the sounds of a vicious battle around her as she grasps desperately at the hands held in hers, fingers interlocked in a silent, desperate plea. A plea for everything to be okay, for none of this to be real, for the black in Nia’s veins to be nothing but a bad dream.

Through tears, she watches, helpless as Nia retracts her hands, clutching at her head and bending at the waist, pain painted across her features in a grimace. Her entire being quivers, shaking in her skin, trembling as everything she is tries to rip her apart from the inside out. Cleo tightens her hold on the hilt of the blade resting in her hand as sobs tear through her vocal chords, ripping apart her throat as she pours every ounce of her being into the only words she can summon, the only words that feel at all close to enough: “Forgive me.”

The bright, glowing blade buries itself in Nia’s sternum, her features contorting as shadow and light battle within her, as her eyes and skin and veins and everything burn with the force of the Light as it attempts to vanquish the darkness within her. And all Cleo can do is watch, can let the lump in her throat sit and grow as a body collapses before her, limp and empty and lifeless, all because of her, because she has to be here, she just has to.

She has to be the one, she has to do this. She has to be, she has to, she always, always has to, to be the one. She has to, to see her fall, has to, to see the pain, has to, to hold her, has to, to lose herself, has to, has to, has to. She has to suffer for letting her go, has to face her broken promise, has to accept her failures, has to, has to, has to, has to, has to.

Cleo bolts upright, her chest heaving as sweat drenches her clothes, hair sticking to her damp brow. Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the dark, to the familiar bedroom surrounding her, to the moonlight glinting through the open window, to the presence beside her.

Her knees press to her chest as her shoulders tremble, hands slipping into her hair to grip dreads tight in an attempt to steady herself. She squeezes her eyes shut, blocking out the moonlight in favour of the pulsing flashes of darkness and shadow as she counts each breath, weighing each inhale and exhale carefully, methodically.

Her pulse gradually slows from the thundering beat it once was, now a dull throb in the back of her skull, a thrum in her veins, an ache in her chest. The echo of her terror is gone, but likely not for long - it always finds its way back, snakes its way inside of her heart and eats away at her, devouring her with her own guilt until she’s bursting at the seams. It may have been years ago, but the memories of that day, of that scene, of that overwhelming, all-consuming loss that had gripped her feel far too real in the dead of night.

Cleo slowly unfurls from her hunched position, stretching back out with a steadying exhale, the tension previously held within her muscles disappearing as she stares at the ceiling, at the shadows and figures formed by stray moonlight. The branches of the fruit trees outside shift in the gentle breeze and along the ceiling, that same breeze billowing the curtains and sending a constant, calming scent of sweet fruit floating through the air.

The body next to Cleo stirs ever-so-slightly, heat slipping closer to her and soaking through her skin, settling within her bones in a manner more comforting than any campfire, than any hot meal, than any blanket imaginable. Cleo rolls onto her side, carefully slinging an arm over the rise and fall of ribs, fingers tangling in the very tips of long, soft hair and playing with them, relishing the well-known sensation on her fingertips.

Her forehead presses against the one before her, soft exhales slowed by sleep ghosting along her lips as eyes flutter beneath closed lids, the gentlest of movements. Stray strands of red tickle high cheekbones, inhales raise exposed chests, dim light plays off sharp contours and soft curves.

“Hey, Nia?” Quiet permeates the room, settles along the furniture like a layer of dust, reaches the farthest corners like a familiar companion. A companion that’s become far more common in the time since that awful day, a day followed by ones with less and less nightmares, less and less haunting memories, less and less sleepless nights.

She sinks further into the sheets, relishing the softness of the fabric and the warmth of the body beside her, her senses drinking in all of Nia. From shadowed features to delicate breaths to floral scents emanating from messy red curls, it’s all so perfect, all so carefully crafted as moonlight dances along her skin, “Thank you.”