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redflagshipwriter · 8 months ago

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Hot Ghouls in your area 7

masterpost

Chapter 7

…Jason slowly put down the book and turned it cover up, shell-shocked from that interaction. He lifted his phone and took a photo. He sent it to Roy.

“What do you see?” He typed. Jason bit his lower lip and tried not to scowl while he waited for a response.

It wasn’t that Jason was unused to conflict. Jason was great at conflict. He won every conflict! (Almost.) But what the hell had this shit been? Why had that guy been so pissy about the book? What the hell was wrong with the book that Jason didn’t see?

“Gibberish?” Roy texted back a few minutes later. “It gives the impression of wonky Cyrillic to me. But it's got a terrible energy to it. The hell is that?”

Jason looked at the cover. To his eyes, there was a serif font declaring it Sense and Sensibility Universe D version 5.

“Thanks,” he sent, ignoring the question and then the barrage of heart emojis. Shit, okay.

That answered one question. But it didn't answer enough. What the fuck had that college kid been seeing that was so offensive?

‘And why'd he think we would meet again?’

Jason pushed deep, deep down any awareness that he hoped it was true. That had been weird enough that it would bother him forever if he didn’t get answers.

He sort of hated the idea of getting his nosy family involved, but they would ask different and in some ways, less annoying questions than other groups he could poll. They'd know not to lie to him, at least. So he sent the picture on to the family group chat with the same question and grimly finished his tea.

The elderly proprietor came out then and noticed that her other customer was gone. She looked confused for a moment, scanning the seat to see if his book bag was still there. She picked up the cash he'd left on the table and then started stacking dishes.

‘He’s a regular,’ Jason guessed, honing in on the opportunity to learn more. He flipped the book open but held the apparently offensive cover down towards the table, out of her line of sight. He needed to know what had gone so wrong. Jason wasn’t normally the kind of person that cute college kids had beef with.

He'd never been in this café before, his intuition had just told him to duck inside.

“I think he forgot something,” Jason offered casually, pretending to just look up from his book. “Ran out real quick in a panic.”

The lady let out a soft “Ahhh,” of comprehension. “Something for his afternoon class, perhaps,” she agreed, looking a little happier.

“Yeah, it looked like he was getting ready to settle in for a long study session and then he bolted,” Jason lied, watching her underneath his lashes. He had been paying a little more attention than he ought to when the guy came in. He was Jason’s type, aside from the thing where he’d hated Jason’s face for no apparent reason-

‘No, actually, everyone I’ve ever been into hated me on sight.’

Ouch. As Jason digested that embarrassing truth, the owner continued talking.

“He does that,” she agreed, apparently not thinking it was odd at all for them to talk about the habits of another customer. “Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's a sharp cookie, did you know that?” She continued, and oh, she had halfway adopted this college kid, huh? There was warmth and a hint of pride in her tone.

Jason valiantly swallowed the snort. “He looks familiar, but I don't think we have classes together,” he fished.

“Mm, he's doing some kind of math and engineering,” the lady helpfully supplied. She gave Jason her full attention as she stood up from the table. “And you?”

“Modern language and literature,” Jason said, and sort of wished it was true. He didn't really have the time. Did he? Spoiler was a full-time student, wasn't she? …Huh.

While he chewed that over, the lady had drifted a couple steps closer.

“...Those are two meaningfully different courses?”

“Modern language is learning additional languages, I'm doing Russian and Greek right now,” Jason lied easily. He was fluent in both already. “Literature is mostly classics, for my purposes. I'm focusing on Regency Lit.”

She looked very interested, but she detoured away to deposit the dirty dishes behind the counter. They kept up a light conversation about books as she wiped off the table and reset for the next customer.

When she left, he finally had the chance to check his messages. There was a full-on fight in the group chat. The last message was from Stephanie. She had tagged him and asked, “Is this an optical illusion??? Like that dress?”

Ah, fuck. Jason felt a rock settle in his stomach at the confirmation that something hinky was going on.

‘I can’t read this in public if it’s saying something I can’t control or even know.’

Fucking hell. Jason scrolled back up and checked. Damian listed the correct title. Dick saw what, ‘I thought was Greek at first.’ Stephanie might have been joking but she argued vigorously that it was pictographs that started with a bird. Drake had sent “You rediscovered Minoan Linear A? Cool.” and then not participated in any follow-up discussions. Duke had sent only a stream of confused and tearful emojis.

Cass had marked it read.

“Fair enough, I guess,” Jason muttered to himself. Resentfully he put the book back in his bag.

What had that guy seen? If he’d just seen something foreign but illegible he wouldn’t have gotten so pissy about it. And who the hell had he been, anyway? Why was he so special?

Well. That was something to do with his afternoon. Jason paid up his bill and gave Phyllis his well-wishes for her doctor’s appointment tomorrow on the way out. Phyllis was a good contact, he would definitely come back for more of her jasmine tea no matter how mad that guy got at him.

…Jason really needed a name.

And found…

He headed to Gotham University and used the student computers to look up departments and then hack into the registrar. Jason flipped through photos until he found his guy: Danny Fenton, 19, sophomore double-major in the Engineering department. Good grades, no notes on his account about academic dishonesty or conflict.

'Little weird to meet two Dannys in a 24 hour period.'

Jason searched the guy online and found…

He let his mouth drop open in disbelief at the batshit insane website design he had stumbled into. The Fenton family had a website, apparently, and they had maybe let a 7 year old design it in 2008. The colors… The lack of centering… The.. the neon choices.

His eyes watered. It took a while to fight down his aesthetic grief and actually start comprehending the text.

He had expected this to be like, an online family newsletter. And it was! The link he had followed detailed “Danno going to college in the big city!!!” The boy himself looked extremely resigned in the attached photo. Seriously, Jason had seen much less mortified mugshots. The thing was, that on the same page, alongside posts about other kids going college (Jazzypants!) and someone called Alicia recovering from “supergout!” with "her eight favorite toes remaining!!!", there was also a lot of mention of ghosts.

Like, a lot.

Jason scrolled in pained disbelief. There were photos that showed extremely weird and dismayed green people obviously flinching away from a camera. A beautiful green woman with her hair halfway over her face snarled through a flood of smoke under the title “Wishywish Ghostie Interviewed: Learn what drives her generous heart!” and an ugly robot motherfucker was seen fleeing under the caption, “Skalker indicates that spook is a GHOST SLUR!”

….Was it a shit post? Just one long shitpost? It had to be a joke site.

Well. No. Jason buried his face in his hands and came to terms with the horrible fact that not only were ghosts real, he was accidentally married to one and this bombastic midwestern family already knew about it. This was his best lead for getting that 'beyond death do you part' separation.

They had been blasting the existence of ghosts for all the world to read, and it hadn’t been news. The Justice League didn’t know about this whole society. The journalism done by– Jason lifted his head to check– Jack Fenton interviewing clearly very unwilling ghosts was the only primary source that he knew of.

He took a few deep breaths. He came to terms with grief. He decided to block his family from any further involvement in this shitshow, for what remained of his dignity. And he grimly noted down Jack Fenton’s email.

Jason cleared this history and closed down his tabs, feeling a decade older than he had when he had entered the library. He ignored the sultry ‘come talk to me’ eye contact that the student worker was shooting him from behind the counter as he slouched out.

He stopped for a moment on top of the stairs to watch campus move. He saw the theatre building and the modern language headquarters from his vantage point, along with about half of the student center. There was just a trickle of foot traffic between buildings along paved paths. A few people were hanging out on blankets in the grass. An old man in a suit was taking a phone call next to a crawling rose garden.

‘Maybe I should go to school.’

Well. After this shit was sorted out. Obviously he could not go to school before he got divorced. It would be torturous to hang out with cute boys his age and be committed to some hot dead mermaid who didn’t even wanna make out with him sloppy. Loser shit on absolutely every level, goddamn.

Jason shoved his hands in his pockets and jogged down the stairs. He kept an eye out for Danny, but had no luck.

Not that he cared. It was interesting that he had a lead: Danny clearly had some connection to ghosts, and he had been able to read…

‘Maybe he realized it was a ghost’s property and he thought I stole it?’ Jason realized in a stroke of inspiration. That made more sense. If he knew enough to recognize it as ghost language or whatever, then he might have felt affronted about Jason having it.

He went through his mental checklist to pick out what he did and didn’t know. Once he felt he had a hang on his priorities, he beelined to his own laptop in his favorite safehouse and started looking into the Fentons in more depth.

It was a great lead. It was suspiciously good, in fact, he thought as he found Jack Fenton’s online family newsletter again. What were the odds that he would run into Danny Fenton in a cafe that Jason had never even been in before? It had been a total fluke that he’d entered. He’d been walking past to a favorite place and then just had the urge to try the dark little family cafe.

‘…Ah, fuck’, Jason sighed. More ghost shit. It had to be. Something about Danny Fenton’s ghost shit had registered to him now that he’d been exposed to ghost central.

#red hot ghouls #dp x dc #dc x dp #dead on main

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becauseicantthinkwritings · 4 months ago

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Objects in Motion

Part 3

Alpha! Billy Russo x Omega! Reader

Hey, I hit 4k followers! That's pretty cool, thank you everyone!

Part 1 // Part 2

A snip taken from Le Printemps, by Eugène Bidau

It takes you too long to pick a dress the next morning. There was an issue with all of them, one was too tight around your chest that you could barely breathe, the other had a hole in the sleeve that you hadn’t noticed before.

You'd ended up picking something you hadn't worn in a while- sage green with little flowers on it.

Halfway to the museum, you'd noticed a small stain on the skirt, that had made you frown.

It wouldn't lift with the wet wipe you'd pulled from your bag, and you'd have to settle for hoping he wouldn't see it.

Your stomach flips at the thought of him.

You'd worn a dress in hopes that this was a date- you didn't understand why you wanted it to be a date so badly.

Okay, that wasn't true, you knew you liked him, even though you shouldn't.

It probably wasn't a date, why would he be interested in dating you?

I haven't had a clear thought since, he'd said, you knew the sentiment, wondering, if he was just like every other Alpha, nice at first and then demanding later.

The other Alphas you'd been with- you try not to shudder- they'd been awful, love bombing until you let your guard down, and then getting angry when you tried to deny them something.

The last one had gotten upset that after only knowing him for two weeks, you didn't want to share your heat with him.

The scorn he'd shown you when you reinforced your denial instead of caving, it had made you curl up and never want to see another Alpha again.

This Alpha could be worse, he could be cruel, waiting to get you alone to trick you into something you didn't want because you'd stolen his coat. The thought sent an uncomfortable wave of nausea over you.

You see your seedy reflection in the window, everything moving too fast for you to focus on except your own gaze.

You would not be taken advantage of.

There’s that too much feeling again, everyone is so busy around you as you stand outside the art museum waiting. You see children running past, and dogs, a delighted scream in the distance that makes your chest feel like it’s on fire with the too much of it all.

Why did the world have to be so chaotic? Why couldn’t it be warm and quiet and peaceful with hints of cracked pepper and bergamot-

You blink, realising you’d been thinking about the Alpha again.

Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea. To get involved with someone that made you feel this way, like you wanted to give in to his demands. At which point would he ask for too much?

Your shoulders drop, you check the time, quarter to twelve.

You turn to leave.

Someone says your name.

You raise your head to find the Alpha approaching. He’s wearing a beige shirt, with large threads that look almost knitted, paired with black pants and another coat that definitely costs more than you can afford.

Too late, your stomach twists.

You nod your head in greeting.

“Hi,” You acknowledge shyly, “You’re early.”

“Hello, I thought I told you to call me when you got here?”

Your chest squeezes in fright. Was he already making demands?

You keep his gaze, trying to show him a braver you than you were.

“I only just got here.” You challenge, wondering why it was such a big deal.

He nods, raising a hand to push his hair back. You watch him scan the area before letting out a soft breath.

“Sorry, I just didn’t like the idea of you waiting all alone here.”

Was he worried about you?

“I can manage,” You inform him, “I come here all the time.”

He studies you for a moment, looks as though he wants to say something, but decides against it.

“My apologies,” He turns to stand beside you, “Shall we?”

Your stomach flips at his words and you try not to focus on it, or him, and definitely not his smell.

You begin walking.

You try not to touch him, keeping a respectful distance, not wanting to take any part of him he might not be willing to give.

As you walk through the museum’s outdoor park, a lot of people glance your way. Men and women alike, want to steal a look at the man standing beside you. It makes you feel incredibly conscious of yourself, and you feel like the stain on your skirt grows ten times its size in that time.

You wonder if any of their staring has to do with the assumption that you were a mated pair- the thought makes you shiver- the idea that you would be mated to a person that looks like him.

“Cold? Want my coat?” He offers.

You shake your head, not wanting to touch this Alpha’s coats ever again.

“I’m alright, I’m overheating anyway.” You reply, hoping he didn’t ask any follow up questions. Your period would be upon you soon.

“Poor thing.” He soothes.

It almost makes you stumble.

Your eyes widen and you feel a sharp pang in your stomach, his easy comfort swirling in your hindbrain, begging you to curl up with this man in a cozy nest- not a man, you correct yourself, an Alpha.

You’d only walked a few minutes beside him and already you were thinking about bringing him into your nest? Had you gone insane?

You refuse to think about it, focusing on the trees, and the people passing by with dogs on harnesses leading the way-

“Did you grow up in New York?” He asks, his voice breaking into the whirlwind in your head.

You swallow, shaking your head before looking over at him.

Damn- looking at him was a mistake.

You tell him where you grew up on a shaky breath, asking him to reciprocate.

He smiles, calmly responds that he grew up here, bounced around the city a bit. Something about his response, the tone of his voice, tells you that there’s a key part of the story missing.

You don’t pry, knowing better than to ask intrusive questions.

You swallow, smiling at him politely when he looks at you, still trapped in the moment when he offered you his coat.

You catch a group of women with their eyes on William, and when their gaze falls on you, you watch their collective expressions switch from interest to disdain.

You drop your head, finding that maybe the floor is safer to gaze at than your environment.

What were you doing here with him? Why had you done this? You should have just stayed home where you were safer.

“What do you do for work?” He asks next, breaking into the din in your head.

You turn to look at him with wide eyes, unsure as to why he was so interested in you.

“Uh- I’m- I work in customer service… somehow. I have no idea how I ended up there.”

“What do you mean?” He asks, the tone of his voice sounds genuinely curious.

You glance his way, giving him a smile.

“I’m not exactly a person that’s comfortable around people. I like… being alone.”

“You don’t like it?”

“Not really, but it’s better than nothing.” You let out a breath, “Can’t complain.” You finish with a mutter.

“Something else you want to do?”

You shake your head sadly. You couldn’t very well say that you’d rather not work at all- it would look like you were after his money.

You think for a moment, trying to make something up, and falling short.

“Honestly, I don’t know, I guess I haven’t found my calling yet.”

He nods in understanding, and it gives you the opportunity to ask about his line of work.

“What about you? What do you do?”

“I'm in security,” he answers, “I handle asset and individual protection, and I even get contracted by the government occasionally.”

You listen intently, nodding along to his words. You'd already looked him up and had some idea of what he did, but it was interesting to hear it from him.

“That sounds really cool. Is there a lot of danger?”

He grins, and abjectly, you feel as though you've asked something stupid.

“It can get dicey sometimes, yeah, especially with protecting people.”

“Right, yeah, sorry, dumb question.” You mutter, looking down.

“I like your questions.” He says lowly, angling his head in your direction so that you hear him.

Like a fledgling omega, your heart skips a damn beat.

His eyes are very dark, you try not to trip as you get caught up in them, pools of obsidian, pulling you into him.

He gazes right back, the soft look in his eyes fills your head with delight, makes you forget about breathing for a few moments.

It's something so primal inside of you, a whisper in your head that this… this alpha, might be special.

You breathe out a short sigh, inching closer, until you're close enough to breathe him in. You close your eyes, taking a deep, slow breath, bergamot and citrus chasing your anxieties away.

You lean in more, hindbrain in control, desperate for more of his scent, his hand is rough on the back of your neck.

Your nose almost brushes the scent gland on the side of his neck when someone walking past clears their throat loudly.

You jerk, pulling back, brain restarting as absolute horror fills you.

No way did you almost scent a stranger in a public place.

You make a sound of regret, stepping back, his hand slips from your neck, you glance up at him, the scent of desire heavy in the air.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry.” You vocalise, turning away for a second to catch your breath and calm yourself.

“I wasn't stopping you.” He admits, as you continue to breathe.

This was too much, he had too much of an influence on you. His words make your stomach flip.

It was a very good thing, you decided, that you'd chosen a public place. You couldn’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if you'd been alone. You weren't sure if you had the capacity to stop yourself around him.

He had the hidden ability to somehow switch your brain from rationality to instinct. And that, was the most dangerous thing of all.

“I'm sorry,” you say again, trying not to cry from how overwhelming it is to resist him, “If you- if you want to leave I'll understand.”

“Not at all, omega.” He replies almost instantly, “I want this, don't be sorry.” He reaches out to take your hand in his, giving you a reassuring squeeze.

“Come on.” He guides, taking a step forward to prompt you into walking again.

He doesn't let go of your hand.

The sandwich shop has an old feel to it, sitting at the center of the park with lots of seating both indoors and out for dining, the little building looks like it was built at least a decade or two ago. The roof is partially made of glass to allow natural light to spill in, blocked by trees all around except in the direct centre where a large amount of light spills in.

When Billy asks to be seated in the coolest spot, you turn to look at him in surprise, your stomach twisting, heart accelerating as you take in his casual dominance of his environment.

Like other Alphas, he knew how to command a room, though, with him, the assertion was more subtext. He was polite, and yet he always seemed to get what he wanted. It was a dangerous mix, and the implications of what that meant for you scared you a little.

“Is here okay?” He asks, turning to you when the woman at the front guides you to a table.

You blink in surprise. No one had ever-

You study the booth with a little frown, finding it a little too bright for your senses and then your eyes drift two tables down to a darker booth before looking back at him shyly.

“That one?” He asks, already moving.

“Yes please.” You say nicely, following him.

It's nice, you never sit in the booths because it's usually just you when you come here, but the seats are soft, and you can tell the velvety upholstery is clean and has recently been redone.

He slides into the seat opposite to you, his knees bumping yours for a second as he gets settled.

You giggle when they bump you again and he mutters an apology.

“Sorry, it's a little small,” you say, “And you're kind of… not.”

He laughs quietly.

“I'm okay, getting in was the hardest part, and it's not too bad.” You feel his legs extend out on either side of yours, taking up space to get comfortable.

You can feel your heart beating forcefully as you watch him scan the little paper menu that had been placed on the table before you'd been seated. Finding difficulty in figuring out why exactly he'd taken an interest in you.

“S-so,” you murmur, getting his attention, “You didn't have the coat cleaned?”

His eyes darken, a smile pulling on his lips as he recounts the memory in his head.

“I was curious. I'd deleted the video of you taking it- didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for you- plus I know that omegas occasionally do things on instinct- so when I got it back, wrapped so tightly, I was… just wondering about you a little.”

You swallow nervously.

“And then?”

You feel the molten heat in his gaze as his eyes roam over you.

“And then I smelled the most delicious scent. It made me desperate, made me lose control of my own thoughts for a couple of minutes. The smell of your heat was wonderful, omega. I knew I had to find you.”

You open your mouth to respond, but your eyes catch movement of a waitress coming your way.

“Hello, my name is Teresa, I'll be your waitress this evening. Are you ready to order?” She rushes out, smiling politely though you notice that her eyes linger on William for a few moments more.

“We're not ready to order yet,” he says, eyes still locked on you, “Can you come back in five minutes?”

She nods easily, stepping away with a ‘sure thing.’

There's a beat of silence, where you stare down at your menu and read none of the words, head racing with what you know.

“What are you thinking about getting?”

You blink, glancing up at him and then back down to the menu.

“Um, I usually get the turkey on rye, so maybe that.”

“Got any suggestions for me?”

You hum, deep in thought.

“The grilled chicken pesto always smells so delicious, there's some fresh mozzarella in it too. I've never had it, but it's a popular one.”

“You should try it. Mix things up.”

You smile sadly, glancing at the price of the sandwich in question, the fresh mozzarella near triples the price.

“That's okay, I'll stick with my turkey.”

“Don't worry about anything else. If you really want the pesto, get it.”

His eyes are earnest, and you know there's another conversation happening in the subtext of this one. That he was willing to cover the cost, that it was obvious that it was the source of your hesitation.

You swallow, glancing down at the price once again, figuring that one sandwich wouldn't throw him into debt.

A little lump swells in your throat, you wonder if he would expect anything because of this like alphas before. You figure one sandwich did not give him that much leverage over you. You'd done more damage with his coat and he'd overlooked that.

“Okay, I'll have it. What will you get?”

“Steak sandwich.” He answers, with a smile, just as Teresa appears again.

“Ready?” She asks eagerly.

“Why did you pick this table?” He asks, studying you.

You glance over at him, having been distracted by some people walking in.

You're beautiful, he squeezes his fists, fighting himself. He wants to provide for you so badly that it tears at him. He can see how defensive you are, how cautious you act sometimes. He knows that you must have had bad encounters with Alphas to be this wary. He wants to learn you, know you better than he knows himself.

“I have a little sensitivity to light.” You respond, absentmindedly, “I can barely see in direct sunlight.”

He inclines his head, noting for later, to avoid anything that would overwhelm you.

“I'm sorry to hear that, sweetheart, it must be so hard to deal with.”

He feels delight fill his body as you give him a wide eyed look, your omega nature appreciating his sympathy to your plights.

He bites the inside corner of his lip, wanting this sweet, timid omega to be his, very badly.

The urge to have you scent him sharpens, to press your nose to his neck, to have you breathe him in, mix your scents together so that no one would question whether or not you were a mated pair. You'd almost done it earlier, and he hadn't realized how eager he was for it until the moment you'd pulled away.

He had to play his cards right. If he scared you away, he would not get another chance.

You talk a lot, about where you grew up, and the schools you went to, and when he tells you about his childhood, you try not to give him any looks of pity, nodding along, eager to listen to everything he has to tell you.

You want to comfort him though, your hands clenching into fists in your lap because you want to reach over and squeeze his hand and tell him you’re sorry but logically you know that you barely know him.

Except that you feel like you’ve known him a very long time. Your face hurts with the amount you’ve smiled, the unfamiliar expression printed onto your face, where you’re usually shy or frightened.

When he asks about you, you feel a little more comfortable revealing personal information. Describing the details of your job so that he understands your day to day work.

“Does it pay well?”

“You know it doesn't.” You grumble sadly, “I would take up a second job if I could, but companies have this rule about how many hours an omega is allowed to work weekly.” You stop talking, waiting to see what stance he was going to take on this. The entire job market was designed to push omegas into the arms of alphas or betas rich enough to take care of them.

His mouth turns down into a frown.

“They should just pay people liveable wages to begin with. Having a second job would be too much for anyone. At least tell me you get health insurance.”

You make an unsure face.

“For the most part, but there are… big gaps.”

His eyebrows crush together in sympathy.

“You get heat days?”

You nod, taking a few sips of your drink.

“Yeah, they give us three, and I usually have to take two extra sick days because I have longer heats.”

“Wait, they don’t give you days specific to your heat requirements?”

You let out a little awkward laugh.

“No, three heat days, giving more days to some people would be unfair according to them.”

He clicks his tongue, “That must be so hard.” He hums, and something primal sparks inside of you.

Yes, your mind screamed at him, yes alpha, I’m a poor little thing, please soothe me and take care of me and keep me warm and safe and full-

You clear your throat.

“I get by.” You reply.

He shakes his head, deep in thought.

“It’s still not fair.”

You let out a slow sigh when you take your first bite of the sandwich.

Eyes closed, you can't believe what you're tasting, that it could be so delicious.

You do your hardest not to take a second bite before finishing the first, determined to savour it.

Across from you, he makes a low hum when he bites into his, and you fight a smile, stomach fluttering, happy that he likes it.

“Maybe you can find another job?” He suggests between bites.

You blink, shoulders dropping.

“I've been trying, it's just not that easy,” You look down at your sandwich, a touch of sadness fills your chest, “Sorry, I don’t mean to complain.”

“It's okay, I want to hear about it.”

You let out a harsh breath, your stomach turning over.

“Why? Because you smelled my heat and decided I was going to be your omega?” You blink, regretting the words as soon as they come out, drawing back into yourself and waiting for him to get angry.

“I'm sorry,” you say when he doesn't immediately speak, “I shouldn’t have- I'm sorry.” You take a shallow breath, feeling the panic grip you tightly.

“Don't apologize, sweetheart, you didn't do anything wrong.”

You don't meet his eyes, still trying to get control of your fears.

You hear movement, and in your peripherals, you watch him slide out of the booth and to a stand. Oh god, was he leaving? You feel your eyes begin to swell with tears.

You'd done it, successfully chased him away.

Your breath stutters when his plated sandwich slides in beside yours, and finally, you glance up at him.

“May I?” He asks softly, and you automatically comply without thinking, sliding deeper into the booth to give him more space.

He fits himself in, while you grab a napkin to blot at your tears, a little embarrassed now that you realize he wasn't actually leaving.

“S-sorry.” You whisper, trying to apologize for this abundance of emotion. For sure, it would definitely annoy him.

Your breath stutters when you feel the warm press of his palm to your shoulder blade.

“Breathe, omega, everything's alright.”

You suck in a shaky breath, his scent wrapping around you.

He moves slowly in your peripheral, moving his hand to brush the backs of his fingers over your cheek.

You finally look at him when he touches you, the sensation leaving tingles behind.

“One more big breath for me.” He guides, and you obey, feeling your brain respond to his gentleness.

His eyes are warm, chocolate, a feeling of ease settles into the base of your spine.

“When I smelled you on my coat for the first time, I knew I had to find you. But, finally meeting you, and slowly getting to know you, is what makes me want to stay. You're not my omega, and I'm not your alpha… But I'd like to be.”

My alpha?

Your lips part in disbelief, looking into his eyes, feeling hope swell inside of you.

Maybe he would make a good alpha, maybe he would hold you when you were scared, and kiss your cheek every night before falling asleep, maybe he would hold you tightly and talk to you after sex, and not make you feel like a used item to be discarded-

You shudder out a breath.

“I-I'm not interested in finding an alpha right now.” You stutter out, afraid of his response.

His eyes remain kind, though there's something in them that makes you think that he's sad.

“I understand, sweetheart. I won't bring it up again.” He turns, bringing his sandwich up to his mouth to take another bite.

You follow his lead with wide eyes, surprised that this was all he had to say on the subject.

After a few bites, shoulder brushing his arm every now and again, you can't hold back.

“You're not… mad?”

You hear him exhale slowly.

“I don't think I could ever be mad at you, little one. I like you a lot, and I'm willing to… be as patient as you need me to be.”

Your heart squeezes in your chest.

“And what if it never happens? I don't want to give you false hope.”

To your surprise, he laughs, low and sweet. It brings a smile to your face though you don't know the joke.

“I'm going to have hope whether I want to or not. That's the consequence of wanting.”

Want.

“You want… me?”

“I thought that was obvious.”

“Well, yes, I guess it was, but…” You let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking your head, “I'm sorry, this is so crazy.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why is it crazy?”

“Bec-” You couldn’t say it out loud.

He turns to you, studying you intently for a moment.

“I mean, well, look at me.” You say softly.

He raises his eyebrows.

“You're lovely.” He murmurs.

You can't help the shy smile that it brings to your face.

To no one's surprise, he pays.

You let him, because you were in no position to offer any kind of payment, and he was willing to lose a three thousand dollar coat on a whim.

When he offers you a ride home, you feel comfortable enough with him to accept, looping your arm around his bicep when he extends his elbow for you to take.

The muscle below is firm, and you simmer with delight at the privilege he gives you.

You look around as you walk together, taking in the scenery around, watching as someone throws a frisbee, and a dalmatian runs to catch it.

“I take it you don’t like me, then.” He says, interrupting your thoughts.

“I do.” You blurt so quickly that your brain doesn’t have time to catch up. There’s something aching in your chest at the thought that he was unlikeable to you.

You take a deep breath, smiling sadly.

“That’s the problem. I like you, and that will cloud my judgement. My past experience has made following my heart almost impossible… and alphas…” You swallow, “Alphas can be scary, and they flip so suddenly sometimes,” you let out a sigh, shaking your head, “It's dangerous to trust an alpha.”

“It hurts me to hear you say that.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I'm the one who's sorry. I'm so sorry, and angry that you've had so many bad experiences with alphas. I'm sorry that they made you feel unsafe. I know it doesn't hold much weight right now, but I'd never hurt you.”

You're almost inclined to believe him.

“I guess we'll see.” You say, giving him a meaningful look.

He grins down at you.

“I like the sound of that.”

His car is heavy with his scent. You close your eyes, heart racing, breathing in deep lungfuls, feeling your brain go hazy with it.

Your skin gets hypersensitive, the feel of his leather seats brushing your thighs, the way it feels on your fingertips, makes you drunk in a way you've never felt before.

You don't give him your real address, but one that's a block over so that he doesn't see the hovel you really live in.

It's hard to focus on anything outside of the vehicle, when his engine purrs to life and the sound vibrates your eardrums gently, he makes sure you're buckled in, before starting off.

He doesn't race, takes his time, moves reasonably. It makes you feel safe, settles you. You'd been a little worried he was an aggressive driver, but you had nothing to worry about.

You blink in surprise when he extends his phone to you, unlocked, his hands catching your eye, a work of art you could stare at for hours.

“Pick some music?” He offers.

You nod, fingers brushing his, and you select something soothing, lo-fi, to enjoy.

You get hypnotised by it, the bergamot and notes of citrus, cracked pepper that makes you hum, delighted. If this was what being in his presence was always like, how would you ever leave?

You wanted to press your nose to his neck, breathe him in right from the source, you wanted this scent soaked into your pores until it followed you everywhere. You wanted this smell in your nest, clinging to your things.

You're so needy by the time he pulls over, eyes glassy with want, you notice his hands are gripping his steering tightly.

“Omega,” he says, a slight tremble to his voice, “Do you want to scent me? It'll help you relax.”

It wouldn't. You knew it from the bottom of your heart, scenting him would only make you want him more. But your hindbrain's in control now, and all you do is nod shakily, fumbling to unbuckle your seat belt.

He covers your hands calmly, doing it for you when you struggle too many times. You look at him shyly when you're both free.

He gives you a warm smile, before tilting his head up, exposing his gland to you.

Your heart pounds in your ears, a thrumming that fills your head, almost too loud as you lean forward, pressing your face to his neck.

He groans, and you reach to fist his shirt tightly in your hands, taking in a deep breath.

This was your alpha, there was no denying it, no other scent had ever took hold of you the way his did, everything else was rotten in comparison, and you were losing grip of your sanity with each passing moment.

You breathe him in, memorizing it, the extra kick, straight from the source, your hindbrain takes full control in these moments, and you're completely helpless to it.

“Alpha.” You sigh into his neck, and you feel him shudder beneath you.

You tilt your head up, lips brushing his gland, he groans loudly, the sound echoing in your ears, drowning out the thrumming of your heart for just a moment.

“That's it, omega," He guides, "Take what you need.”

You whine, if you really took what you needed, he'd already be at home in your nest, ready to make you his.

You tilt your head higher, and he turns to look at you with heated eyes, your noses brush in the quiet of his car.

Someone walking past catches in your peripheral, and you gasp, reeling back, realising where you were.

“S- sorry.” You say, scrambling away, reaching to unlock the door, stepping out and bolting as fast as your legs can carry you, too afraid to look back at him.

It takes you three orgasms in your bed before you begin thinking again.

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo x female reader #my writings #the punisher #omega!reader #Alpha!Billy Russo #objects in motion

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thealtoduck · 4 months ago

Text

Secret Saviour

Damian Wayne x Male Reader

Warnings: None…

Part 1: Being the son of Roulette and meeting Damian Wayne…

Summary: When Bruce goes missing Damian finds an unexpected help in Y/n Sinclair…

(A/n: I changed the title from the poll)

——

Ever since the two of you studied together you and Damian had grown fond of each others company. Despite that Damian would never admit this fact, he insisted to his family that he was simply investigating you to see if you were somehow involved with your mother’s criminal activities.

He hadn’t actually found anything suspicious connecting you to Roulette yet which pleased him. Because according to him it means ”he dosen’t have to contact the GCPD… yet”. But Damian would have to put his ”investigation” on halt for a bit.

One dark night during patrol Bruce had suddenly disappeared without a trace, no comms could reach him and they had no way to track him except for the Batmobile’s last location, which hadn’t revealed the slightest hint. His allies looked for him for days trying to find even the smallest clue that would at least let them know he was alive but nothing.

Just when they felt like there was no where else to look they got a call from the watchtower. They answered and Martian Manhunter appeared on the screen of the Batcomputer.

”Hey J’onn, good news I hope” Dick greeted. ”The watchtower recieved an urgent message about Batman’s current whereabouts from an unknown source” J’onn said and another voice started playing from the speakers, one which Damian recognized…

”Is this the watchtower?” A voice came over a weak signal making the sound crackle lightly. Despite the bad audio quality Damian knew that voice immediately it was Y/n’s voice. ”I know Batman has disappeared and I think I know where he is, have someone meet me on the 4th floor of parking garage next to the Royal Hotel, on Wednesday at midnight and I’ll tell you what i know”.

The message then ended and J’onn said ”I’ll let you decide how to deal with the informant, make sure to be careful, contact the League if you need any further help, good luck”. Then he hung up and disappeared from the main screen.

”Do we go meet the informant? It could be a trap to get us too” Duke questioned. ”We don��t have anything else to go off, this could be our only lead, we have to go” Tim stated. ”How about two of us go meet the informant, while the others keep watch in the surrounding area and Oracle monitors, incase it’s a trap” Dick said drawing up a plan.

The others muttered and nodded in agreement of the plan. ”I wanna meet the informant” Damian then voulenteered on impulse making the others turn to him suprised by his eagerness. But Damian needed to make sure it was you, even if you might be luring him in to a trap.

”Alright” Dick said and walked them through the plan ”Me and Damian meet the informant on the 4th floor. Jason, you keep an eye from above the top of the Royal Hotel. Cass and Steph, i want one of you on the 5th floor and one on the 3rd floor, incase we need back up. Duke and Tim, you’ll watch from the building across the street, everyone clear?”.

The each member of the team uttered a quick ”Yes” in understanding. As Damian went to bed he knew needed to keep an eye on you tommorow.

——

The next day when Damian attended school he was on the watch for you. Once he found you, you greeted Damian as you usually did but as you got to class he noticed you seemed off. You were usually the more talkative out of the two of you but today you seemed distracted, almost nervous today.

When you got to lunch time and you and Damian sat down together he questioned ”Are you okay? You’re being quiet”. ”Oh… no I’m fine I just got a lot to do, so just a bit stressed you know” you answered vaguely.

The fact that Damian had pointed it out, made you seem more focused and yourself, he assumed it was to not seem suspicious and make him ask more questions. Once the school day ended you were quick in saying goodbye to him before you got in to a car as your chauffeur took you home.

——

Later that night Nightwing and Robin grappled to the 4th floor of parking garage and started looking around. There were some cars parked there that they kept a watchful eye on in case any goons were hiding inside. Soon the two spotted a figure dressed in all black.

The figure was looking down to the streets below the garage. The two approached slowly ready to grab their weapons in case of an ambush. As they stopped behing the stranger he turned around.

Damian had been right there you were hidden in a black hoodie. Not something you’d usually wear but Damian understood it was for stealth purposes. And even then he thought black suited you well.

Dick however was caught slightly off guard a kid was the one who had made an emergency call to the Watchtower…

”Thanks for meeting me” you said, your voice cautious as you looked around to see no one would hear you. ”So, what do you know?” Nightwing asked.

”I think that Batman was taken by the criminal, Roulette, ever heard of her?” you started. ”Yeah, she’s the one who runs those illegal cansinos, what makes you think she’s behind this?” Dick asked.

”I… have sources who work closely with her” you said Robin and Nightwing noticing the slight hesitation in your voice. ”They say she’s advertising a special event with her superhero cage fights that started around the same time Batman went missing” you explained.

”Any idea where she might have taken him?” Robin spoke up, his voice throwing you off for a moment, Robin sounded kinda like Damian. You got back on track and answered ”My guess would be her casino in Las Vegas, it’s her biggest one, she holds all her major events there and I think she’d make having captured Batman, a big event”.

You held out a flash drive in your hand and said ”This contains the layout of the Vegas casino”. Nightwing picked it up and said ”Thank you, you’ve been very helpful to us”.

”It’s the least I could do after all you’ve all done for the city” you told him with a small smile. ”I have to leave now” you told them. ”Good luck” you said walking off, you felt someone grab your shoulder.

Making you turn around being met with Robin. ”You shouldn’t walk home alone, It’s dangerous this late at night, someone should escort you” he stated. You smiled at him. ”Don’t worry I’m a tough boy, who can take care of himself, thanks for the offer though” you stated, a teasing tone to your voice and you once more turned around and strolled off.

——

Dick and Damian then started their drive home in the Batmobile. ”I wonder what sources he had, hope he’s not mixed up in that crowd, he seemed pretty young” Dick said with a worried tone.

”That was Y/n Sinclair, he probably got the info straight from Roulette herself” Damian revealed. ”Oh! That was your boyfriend? The one you’re ”investigating”? He seemed nice, I like him, Good pick” Dick stated.

”He’s NOT my boyfriend!” Damian said annoyed.

”You just offered to walk him home” Dick accused. Damian glared at his brother and said ”Just to make sure he stays out of trouble”.

”…Right” Dick said not believing a single word Damian said.

#damian wayne x male reader #damian wayne x male!reader #robin x male reader #robin x male!reader #batfam x male reader #batfamily x male reader #batboys x male reader #dc x male reader #dc comics x male reader #justice league x male reader #batfam x male!reader #batfamily x male!reader #x male reader

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misshoneyimhome · 9 months ago

Text

250 FOLLOWERS FESTIVAL

“I like waking up with you” I Nico Hischier

Summary; While Nico Hischier may struggle with expressing his emotions, leading to occasional frustrations and arguments, a strong relationship can withstand any challenge.

Tropes & warnings; no warnings; strangers to lovers, couples fight; very mild-smut descriptions;

Other notes; so as I finished, I sort of realised that it doesn’t really have much plot - it’s just pure fluff; still hope it’s readable 😅 inspired by the lyrics from ‘PILLOWTALK’ by Zayn Malik 🤍

Word count; 1.7K

➼｡ﾟ

You and Nico fell in love quicker than you ever imagined possible. In a way, it felt as if fate had brought you together on purpose, weaving your lives into a beautiful tapestry of love and passion. It was as simple as the fairy tales you grew up with; from the moment you met him on that crisp autumn evening, you knew your life would change forever. It was love at first sight.

Your love story began at something as simple as a charity event for the New Jersey Devils, right at the start of the hockey season. It was a night filled with glamour and excitement, the room adorned in the team's red, white, and black colours.

You were there as a friend of one of the team’s partners, however, as the event had unfolded, you suddenly found yourself standing alone, without the companion you’d arrived with.

Yet, in a mere moment, lost in thoughts as you gazed into thin air, among the buzzing crowd, your eyes suddenly met Nico Hischier's. His big, brown golden eyes captivated you instantly, sparking a connection you simply couldn't deny.

And to your surprise, Nico confidently made his way through the crowd in your direction, never breaking eye contact. And when he stood before you, his smile was nothing but magnetic.

"Hello," he said, his voice smooth with a hint of a sweet yet rough accent. "I couldn't help but notice you from across the room. Would you mind if I joined you?"

Though his boldness took you aback, there was just something about him that had you drawn in. And before you knew it, you were engrossed in deep conversation, completely oblivious to the world around you.

"I must admit," Nico said with a playful glint in his eyes, "I didn't expect to meet someone as captivating as you at this event."

His words warmed you, causing a blush to rise to your cheeks. "I could say the same about you," you replied with a soft smirk, completely unable to look away from him.

And as the night then progressed, you felt an unexpected strong and deep connection to the Swiss captain, as if you'd known each other for ages. So as the evening slowly drew to a close, you couldn't shake the feeling that this might just be the beginning of something extraordinary.

To say the least, you were absolutely right. As the weeks passed and turned into months, your connection with Nico only grew stronger. And before long, despite your initial hesitation, you moved from being just good friends to something definite more.

It was no secret between you, that you’d had concerns, influenced by the idea of dating a professional hockey player with a demanding lifestyle and packed schedule. However, Nico dispelled those worries with his steadfast commitment to you. He didn't just start calling you his girlfriend sooner than expected; he proudly introduced you to everyone as his partner anywhere you went, demonstrating his dedication through every word and deed. In a way, it was quite remarkable how, despite the demands of his career, he always found time for you, placing your relationship above all else.

Because Nico's life as a hockey player did indeed involve frequent travel, rigorous training sessions, and the pressure of performing on the ice. There were nights when he returned home exhausted, his body aching from a challenging game. Yet, even in those moments, he never failed to show you love and appreciation. Whether through a heartfelt text before bed or a lengthy phone call while on the road, he made sure you felt valued and cared for.

And especially one aspect of your relationship that remained constant was the physical connection you shared. The chemistry between you was electric, igniting flames of desire that grew hotter with each passing moment. Your intimate moments together were nothing short of explosive, leaving you both breathless and exhilarated every time.

Incredible sex became a defining feature already in the very beginning of your relationship, the kind that would make the neighbours blush and the walls tremble. But you never paid any attention to the noise complaints or the curious glances from passers-by. In those moments of passion, it was just you and Nico, lost in each other's embrace, consumed by the intensity of your love.

During those intimate moments, you felt the deepest connection with Nico, as the barriers between you dissolved and you revealed your souls to each other in the most vulnerable and intimate way possible. Every time you lay intertwined in the aftermath, your bodies still tingling with pleasure, you were certain that you were in love.

However, naturally, challenges arose along the way. No relationship is without its flaws, including yours. Arguments erupted over missed dates or suddenly cancelled plans, tensions escalating like an impending storm. Yet, as always, Nico had a knack for smoothing over rough patches, turning conflict into connection. With just a smile or a tender gesture, he could transform the atmosphere between you from a war zone into a paradise.

It was a turbulent relationship, to say the least. Nico's ability to express his absolute joy and deep love for you was unmatched, his affection evident in every touch and whispered word. But beneath that outward display of affection lay a layer of resilience and reticence when it came to his concerns and fears.

And it didn't take you long to notice that he tended to bottle up his negative emotions, keeping his worries hidden deep inside. Nico was skilled at putting on a brave face, particularly as the team captain, even when the weight of the world seemed to be bearing down on him. And while you admired his strength and resilience, it also led to frustration and tension between you.

There were times when you wished he would open up, and share his fears and insecurities with you. However, whenever you broached the subject, he would shut down, enveloping himself in silence. In those moments, the distance between you almost felt insurmountable, like an unbridgeable chasm. But, no matter how bad your arguments could be, Nico never let you go to bed angry or sad.

One evening, after a rather heated argument, you sat on the edge of his bed, tension thick between you.

"I'm sorry, y/n," Nico said softly, his voice tinged with regret. "I didn't mean to shut you out like that. Sometimes I just feel the need to be strong for everyone else, and I forget that it's alright to lean on you too."

His words resonated deeply within you, highlighting the complexities of his role both on and off the ice. You reached out, taking his hand and gently squeezing it as you met his gaze.

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Nico," you reassured him, your voice gentle yet firm. "I'm here for you, through thick and thin. We're a team, remember?"

And a faint smile slowly grew and played on Nico's lips as he nodded, gratitude shining in his eyes. "I know," he murmured, his voice heavy with emotion. "And I'm thankful for you every day, y/n. I don't know where I'd be without you."

Navigating the highs and lows of your relationship required a delicate balance. Yet, through it all, your love for each other remained unwavering, and you were determined to face the challenges together, hand in hand.

In fact, maintaining this steadfastness was surprisingly simple; Nico never allowed you to even consider the idea of walking away. And truth be told, you had no desire to. Despite the ups and downs, everything between you felt pure, raw, and intensely passionate.

The past year had been nothing but a whirlwind for both of you, with highs of victories and lows of defeats. Throughout it all, you had been each other's support, standing strong through thick and thin. And with the off-season offering a brief break from the hockey season's demands, you cherished every moment spent together, aware that Nico would soon be back on the ice, fully engrossed in the game.

Then as the autumn leaves then began to change, marking the start of a new season, Nico's excitement was beyond palpable. He simply couldn't contain his joy at the prospect of another year filled with his beloved sport and the woman who had captivated his heart.

And as you lay together in the gentle morning light, Nico's words enveloped you like a warm embrace, filling you with love and affection. His vulnerability caught you off guard, as his declaration of love lifted your spirits.

"I like waking up with you," he whispered, his voice filled with emotion, echoing the sentiment you had shared countless times before.

Your heart fluttered at his words, warmth flooding through you at the depth of his affection. You gently reached out, brushing your fingers against his stubbled jaw as you spoke softly, a smile gracing your lips.

“I like waking up with you too…” you murmured, your voice filled with tenderness.

But it was evident there was more on his mind. "I can’t believe I have you in my life... I love you, y/n…" Nico's voice quivered with emotion, his gaze locked on yours as if seeking reassurance.

And you couldn’t deny the way your heart swelled with love for him, mirrored in the depths of his gaze. "Nico," you whispered, reaching out to stroke his hair, "I love you too, more than words can express."

The moment hung heavy with emotion and possibility. Then, with a surge of determination, Nico voiced the question he'd been pondering for a while.

"Move in with me, y/n," he implored, hope and longing evident in his eyes. "Please. I want us to wake up together every day, fall asleep in each other's arms. Will you move in with me?"

And you couldn’t help but let a tear slowly well in your eye at the sincerity of his request, overwhelmed with love for the man before you. So without hesitation, you simply enveloped him in your arms, whispering your answer in his ear.

"Yes, Nico," you choked out, your voice thick with emotion, "Of course I'll move in with you.”

As you held each other in the gentle dawn light, surrounded by the promise of a new beginning, you knew this was just the beginning of a beautiful chapter in your love story. With Nico by your side, you felt ready to face whatever the future held, confident that together, you could overcome anything.

#250 followers festival #nico hischier imagine #nico hischer x reader #new jersey devils imagine #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine

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starlightazriel · 4 months ago

Text

bee 6

desc: best friends > lovers azriel au (fem reader)

warnings: 18+, fluff, sexual tensionnn, alcohol/drug addiction,

other parts can be found on my masterlist under azriel

wc: 4.8k

six

Azriel was leaning against the counter and I instantly felt his eyes boring into me, studying me. I had known Azriel long enough to be able to visibly see that he was clearly on a bender, or coming off of one, something was bothering him. And when something was bothering him there was always at least alcohol involved, if not more. I knew he was an alcoholic, that wasnt anything new. I knew he dabbled, okay, maybe heavily dabbled. But I never wanted to think of Az as a drug addict, it just didnt sound right. I hoped it was just one of his phases.

Despite that look that he always got when something wasnt right in his life, underneath that guarded exterior, his eyes, detached but still so attentive to my presence... I could still see my Az, and I could tell he was hurting. I knew he must be upset, he must be thinking that he lost his best friend, the one person he could come to and never have to put any sort of wall up with. I knew, when Cass left I would have to explain myself to him, I needed him to know that nothing had to change between us just because I kissed him. I knew how he was, I knew he was dwelling on all of it, thinking that because he had rejected me things would be weird between us and they already had been anyway from him walking in on me... But it would pass, it had to.

"Good morning," I say softly, swallowing hard as I took my seat on the stool at the counter. Cassian was making pancakes, and I silently thanked any higher power that he was still here. I had noticed his large body nearly hanging off the couch when I had come in lastnight, they had both been sleeping thankfully.

"Good morning!" Cass greets cheerfully, twisting from the stove away from the pancakes he had just flipped. "I was just telling Az that you guys need some bigger and better couches, my neck is toast after lastnight," I chuckled quietly, my eyes nervously drifting toward Azriel every few seconds who hadn't stopped staring. It was making my cheeks hot, making me nervous.

"Yeah, um, I've been saying that, definitely on the list," I swallowed, hard, my eyes flicking back to Azriel again. "Could you pour me a coffee Az?" he softens slightly but his jaw flexed, he didn't say a word, but he didn't move to pour my coffee either. "Az, are you- Are you just gonna sit there and ignore me?" I ask, Cassian glances back between us, squinting a bit. Cassian was also visibly uncomfortable now. But that, that was Az, he could blend in easily when he wanted to, and when he was angry, everyone around could feel it.

"Kind of like you ignored me last night so you could go fuck my plug?" he asks coolly, my cheeks burn and I tried to swallow the lump aching in my throat. His tone was even, not letting off a hint of emotion, but I could see the temper flaring in his eyes. My toes curled in my slippers, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when I remembered the way he spoke to me the other night, the way he wrapped his hand around my throat and looked directly into my eyes- "Hope you wrapped it up, he gets around," again, that emotionless tone, I opened my mouth to speak, thankfully, Cassian chose then to drop the platter of pancakes onto the counter.

"Pancakes are ready family!" he said, standing between us, I knew he could sense the tension. The awkwardness hanging in the air, the metaphorical absolute cloud of shadow that hung over Azriel. "Cool it Az," Cass cuts him a look as he piles pancakes onto his plate and takes the seat at the counter next to me. I served myself, taking two, Azriel didn't touch them, stayed right where he was, leaning up against the counter, watching me.

I wanted desperately to tell him to eat something. I couldn't bring myself to say anything else. Annoyed wasn't the word, who was he to even bring it up? And more importantly how did he even know that it was Eris that I was with? And why in front of Cassian? Not that I cared, really, Cass was the type of person you either loved or hated the first time you met him, and he and I had bonded instantly the first time Az brought him around. I didn't care that he knew, really, it was just the principle.

"The silence is real loud guys," Cassian comments, and he was right, no one had said a word for ten minutes at least. "And I think I really should be going," he adds as he stabs the last bite of his pancakes, I had barely finished my two while he wolfed down his stack. Please don't go. I wanted to say but I cut him a look instead which he smirked in response to.

"Later Cass," I mumbled, squishing a crumb left on my plate with my fork, anything to keep my hands busy.

"Don't be late Az, seriously, Rhys will kill you," Cassian puts his plate in the sink, not bothering to wash it. Azriel finally turned to look at Cassian for what felt like the first time since I'd entered the room. Working today... Guess I wouldn't be able to talk to him.

"Im not going to be late. Right behind you," Az muttered after Cass as he slammed the rest of his orange juice and headed toward the door. My eyes shifted to him, now that he wasnt looking at me. His jaw flexed as he watched the door close and the tension in the room seemed to grow ten fold with the click of the lock.

After a long moment, Azriel turned, and there she was, looking at him. He didnt soften the way he wanted to, the way he knew he should. There was so many things that he wanted to say, he didnt seem to know how to say any of them.

"Working today?" she finally blurted and broke the silence. He knew her too well, he could tell there was so much she wanted to say too, but she didnt know how to start either. She was shy or whatever.

"Yeah," he shrugs, knowing he should be walking away right now to go get dressed and ready. "Some shit for the event, project I've been working on. Mor is the model, she's in town just for the tattoo," he shrugged and tried his very best not to let his eyes wander, to keep them trained on hers. She only nodded, they fell into a short silence, he noted the way she was still nervously playing with her fork. "So..." He finally works up the courage to say something, at least something before he left. "You and Eris, huh?" he rubs the back of his neck, searching her eyes, he knew his own weren't telling of anything, usually Bee was one of the only people he didnt have to put up walls with. He couldn't help it now though, he was afraid of whatever he was feeling, he couldn't really even understand his feelings.

"Oh," she swallows, and just shakes her head at him, her fork clattering onto the plate. "No, well... At least I don't think so just- Its been a while," she rambled, nervously biting her lip. So they did fuck. Azriels eyes narrowed, he could feel the back of his neck getting hot, he swallowed the angry words that threatened to spill from his lips. "Are you seeing Cecille again?" the question caught him off guard, distracted him.

"No. I didnt even go there for that," it wasnt a lie, he definitely wasnt going to start seeing her again. She had just been a scapegoat, somewhere to run because he was afraid. He didnt know how to make sense of all the conflicting emotions he had been dealing with.

"Oh," she says awkwardly, averting her gaze, he swore he noticed her shoulders slump in relief. Though, he knew it was probably only because she had always hated Cecille, and she thought Az was wrong for sleeping with a married woman. Of course she did, Bee was a good person, unlike him.

"Yeah," he shrugs, standing a little straighter now. He really had to go. "I gotta get to the shop. Just be careful with Eris, okay Bee? I know he can be-" Azriel grimaced, "cool, or whatever. But there's a lot of people in this city that would kill him, or anyone that might be close to him if they got the chance." He didnt want to scare her, but its not like it wasnt true. Eris' dad was a fucking mob boss, his whole family was dangerous.

"It was just one night Az," she swallowed, and he nodded, feeling only a tiny bit relieved. Because, maybe it was just one night, but it had happened. Eris of all people got to fuck her, touch her- maybe even taste her. His Bee. The thoughts sent his stomach coiling.

"I don't need to know. I'm just saying," he shrugs trying to play it off like it was nothing. He wondered if she saw right through his facade the way it felt like she did. She always saw him, knew who he was underneath the exterior that the rest of the world got. Even like this, even on the morning after days of being absolutely fucked up, she still saw him, and he could feel it. He needed her, that was just another reason why he wasnt wiling the risk, of giving into his desires for Bee. If he did something to fuck it up, which inevitably he would, and she never spoke to him again... Losing her just wasnt an option for him.

"Az I know you need to leave, but I just wanted to apologize... For overstepping or crossing a boundary or whatever the other night," her cheeks burned a bright red as she rambled, and her words caught him so off guard that his expression instantly softened. The other night.

"You shouldn't be apologizing," he swallowed, his phone buzzed in his pocket, he ignored it. He knew if he didnt leave now he would be late, and he still needed to change. "I should be- I was fucked up. I shouldn't have ever put my hands on you like that, I shouldn't have-" Azriel paused, he swore something like disappointment flashed in her eyes, did she like being choked out? This was exactly the problem, a month or two ago, however long it had been since he walked in on her, he had thought he knew his best friend after practically growing up together. Lately, it had felt like they were getting to know each other for the first time. "I shouldn't have taken it as far as I did, you were so drunk..." Azriel swallowed hard, he remembered how torturous it had been to pull away from her. After she had cum, just from him rubbing her panties alone, she had soaked through them. He had been able to smell her pussy on his fingers when he had lit his cigarette, his mouth had been fucking watering, his cock had been so fucking tight in his pants, begging him. And he had to fucking walk away, she was too drunk, and she was Bee, she didnt deserve to get fucked in some dirty alleyway. "And I'm sorry if I made you feel like... Like i didn't want to keep going or something... I just, I can't lose you Bee," admitting it out loud made him blush, it made him feel weak.

"Az you could never lose me," she insists, his phone was ringing in his pocket now, he could tell she wanted to say more. He wanted to hear it, even though her words made him blush. Made him feel something he wasn't used to feeling. "You should go, Cass said you can't be late. We'll have time to talk later," she gives him one of those cute half smiles, he knew she was right. So he just nodded, debated on giving her one of those half hugs but he didn't.

When Azriel strode into the shop, he immediately knew Rhys wasnt happy, he did that thing with his eyes where they just burned through you, like they could read every thought you ever had. His eyes flicked to Rhys' cousin Mor, a grin spread across his face, he advanced and tackled her in a hug. It had been forever since he'd seen her, she rarely came now, she was off pursuing her fashion designing dreams in the big apple.

"Hey, sorry Im late. Mor, it's good to see you, how are you?" He definitely had gone through a phase of crushing on her at one point, that was before he found out they more or less had the same preferences.

"That's okay Az, it's good to see you too," she laughs, hugging him back before breaking away, her blond hair bouncing behind her. Azriel knew this was good, a big piece, something he had been working on for a while, dying to put into ink on Mors skin. He knew this was exactly what he needed to steady his mind, maybe he'd even talk to her.

"I thought Cass told you not to be late," Rhys cuts in, his jaw flexing in annoyance. "This shit is important Az, if we win this thing... Its going to be huge, its going to give us enough publicity that I can finally open another shop in Vegas," Rhys was serious, and it was dragging Azriels mood down, enough that he knew he needed a little something extra to focus. He didnt say anything, just nodded to show Rhys he understood before ducking into the bathroom and mumbling something to Mor about getting settled into his tattoo room.

He fished the little bag from his pocket and used his house key to take two small bumps of encouragement. This technically was cutting back, days ago he would have taken a whole line before doing a tattoo this big. He estimated that with a few breaks it would take him around six to eight hours, and Mor was a trooper, he'd tattooed her before and he knew she could sit through it. He took a piss, washed his hands, and made sure his face was clean before he exited the bathroom.

"Az," Rhys stopped him just before he entered his tattoo room, it was just the two of them now. Kat and Cass were in his piercing room designing the sign for their booth, and Mor, waiting patiently for Az in his own tattoo room.

Azriel stops, wincing slightly, he blinked once before turning around. "What's up?" he tries to be as casual as he can, tries not to let his eyes dart all around the room which was near impossible with nothing to do with his hands.

Rhys softened slightly, but he was still clearly pissed, and he doesn't let on the pity he was probably feeling for him. That was another thing Az hated. "I just need you to get your shit together. And Im not kidding," he tilted his chin lightly, in that way that Rhys did to show that he was in charge. "I want to take you and Cass to Vegas, and hire an entire new staff for here. Maybe even sign Riley on a more permanent position here," this was all new to Azriel. He knew Rhys had been talking about going big in Vegas for a long time. Maybe even turning into a celebrity tattoo shop, but Az figured he would hire outside for that. He figured him and Cassian would have stayed back and run the original shop, he didnt even know if he wanted to go to Vegas. "I can't take you there like this Az, once in a while is cool. This every day shit? Don't make me cut off your supply completely," Rhys words are even, serious, final. Azriels ears got hot, his temper flared, and no it wasnt just the slight buzz he had egging his temper on. It was that Rhys basically just insinuated that he would fire him completely if he didnt clean up his act. And also Rhys arrogant insinuation that if he fired him Azriel would be nothing, like he couldn't get a job somewhere else and supply himself that way. Even though he knew it wasnt true, it hurt, Rhys and his fucking power trips.

"Alright bro," Azriel responded through his teeth, knowing that if he said anything else, it wouldn't be good. "Understood. Im gonna go get to work now," he didnt wait for Rhys to say anything else before he shut himself in his tattoo room with Mor, who was looking at Azriel with raised brows. Of course she over heard.

"What was that about?" she asks casually as Azriel puts some music on and takes a seat on his chair, she was sitting with her bare back to him, her arms in front of her holding her clothes to her chest. If he was younger, he probably wouldn't have been able to handle this, but Mor was more like a sister to him now.

"Rhys being Rhys," he shrugs, he didnt really want to get into it now, even though Mor was probably the best person to talk to. Azriel prepped her skin, cleaning a large area on her upper back where he would be putting her tattoo. It was a gorgeous piece of snowy mountains, with Mor nestled into them, atop a beautiful horse. Immense detail, he had worked on the stencil for weeks.

Azriel changed the subject after that, and for a while they chatted while he worked, it was peaceful enough that he didnt take another bump on their lunch break. He ate something instead, Mor had brought him back a sandwich which he was more than grateful for since he skipped breakfast and hadn't been eating much of anything recently.

When the break was over and he was all set up for the next round, they fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, the outline had been completely finished earlier and he was now just shading and adding details.

"Okay Az, I can't take it anymore. I need all the tea, the full tea. I told you about my new fling I need to hear more about this Bee situation Kat barely had any details, Ive been telling Rhys for years that you guys are gonna end up getting married and having the cutest little babies," she giggled and Azriel leaned back for a moment, her body shook slightly with her laugh.

"Hold still," he muttered, blushing at the mention of y/n, he was glad Mor was facing the other way so she couldn't see. "It's nothing really, I just kind of walked in on her and I can't get her out of my head now. We um, we kissed once. 'S like I just.. I don't know Mor," he shrugged and leaned forward again to continue tattooing her.

"You kissed?" She demanded, sounding excited, Azriel sighed, his cheeks still blazing. "How was that? She's hot Az, you better claim her before I do," Mor was relentless and always seemed to be able to get him talking.

"Yeah, we kissed. I just- I don't wanna fuck it up, she's my best friend Mor," he squints slightly, willing himself to focus as Bee took over his mind, specifically the way it felt to kiss her. "If I give in.. To whatever this is.. I risk losing her, she says I won't... But you know how that goes," he mumbled and shrugged, swallowing hard. He had never wanted anyone so badly as he wanted Bee now, he had to think about puppies and Rhys' grandma so his dick wouldn't get hard in front of Mor.

"Az, you guys were meant for each other. You need to tell her how you feel before it's too late," she insists, he was almost done now, it was getting late too. Lighting wasnt as good anymore, but it was enough for him to finish and get his final details in. He knew she was probably right, he knew at this point, seeing Bee with someone else would destroy him. Fucking Eris was bad enough, but if she actually started dating someone, fell in love with someone. He didnt know how he would handle it. Even if he couldn't fully understand his feelings, he knew now, he wanted her in his life as more than just his friend.

"Im gonna ask her out," he finally says after a long moment of silence his cheeks were still burning but he kept his hands steady as he continued on his final details of the tattoo. Mor squealed with delight, making Azriel grimace, he was sure she would tell Kat and Bee would find out before he even got the chance, so he decided he needed to do it tonight.

"Cutest. Babies. Ever. Mark my words," she giggled again and Azriel sighed before telling her to keep still again. Nerves were coiling in his stomach and he couldn't remember the last time he felt like that.

It was late. I had expected Azriel to be home by now, I knew it was a big tattoo but it had been at least nine hours that he had been gone. I wondered if they all had went out for drinks, since Mor was in town, they probably did. I sighed, tossing the empty ice cream pint on the coffee table and taking another small sip from my second glass of wine. I definitely wasnt drunk, but headed in that direction if I kept going much longer.

I knew I was going to need at least a little bit of liquid courage for what I was about to do. After thinking about it all day, I planned to tell Az everything when he got home. I was tired of being a coward and watching from the sidelines, and he deserved to know that I've been standing beside him pathetically hopelessly in love with him for the past eight years.

I had taken advantage of the alone time when he first left, pleasured myself to his photo as many times as I wanted, worked on a little homework, stalked Eris' social media a little, because even though I knew Azriel was the one for me... I couldn't help but still be just a little bit curious about him.

Now, the alone time was getting old, the wine was only making me more impatient, and the stupid reality tv show I was watching wasnt doing anything to sooth my restlessness. Azriel hadn't texted me all day, and I had been fighting the urge to text him all day, knowing that he was busy tattooing and probably wasnt even on his phone anyway. I was horribly nervous, and I knew that if he didnt get back soon, I would probably make up some excuse as to why this wasnt a good idea and back out of it. Just this morning I had been ready to go back to being just friends, to tell him that we could be the same. That nothing had to change between us- I just knew I would regret that forever. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I never got the way I felt off of my chest.

My heart raced when I heard the key in the lock and I closed my eyes for a brief moment, begging any higher power that I wouldn't be a complete idiot. "Hey Az," I twist, watching him enter, he smiles sheepishly at me, entering the living room and sinking into his usual chair by the couch, he turned, swiveling the chair to face me.

"Hey y/n," Azriel breathes out and chews on the inside of his lip, my lips part slightly in surprise at the use of my name, he almost never used my real name, it was always Bee. Nerves fluttered in my stomach, I was completely thrown off by his demeanor now and all of the words I had so carefully planned out all day seemed to slip away. His waves were disheveled from him probably repeatedly running his fingers through them, a few pieces fell over his guarded eyes, is he nervous? Azriel rubbed his hands on his legs as if they were sweating, he didnt break eye contact with me, it made my cheeks hot.

"How um- How did the tattoo go? How's Mor?" I ask, trying to keep my voice as even as I possibly could, my heart thundered in my chest. What was he going to say? Why was he being so weird?

"It went really well," he seemed almost relieved at my question, like he needed to stall something. "Mors great, she can't wait to catch up with you too- Probably going to do a big camping trip with everyone... After the event, before she um, before she goes back to New York," he was distracted, I could tell, whatever was on his mind had him nervous. That wasnt like Azriel, it made me nervous.

"Sounds like fun," I managed, but his intense gaze was starting to get to me, he looked like he was trying to figure something out. Like he was so afraid of something, searching for an answer from me before he could even get his words out.

"Bee?" he finally says after a long moment of silence, my heart leapt as I watched his cheeks warm, his throat bobbed, his hand found the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his I had gotten to know over the years.

"Yes?" I managed, something about the air felt so heavy. This felt like some detrimental turning point like Az was about to open up to me about something big. Hes quiet again for a moment, and his normally tanned face was slightly red, I wasnt used to seeing him blush. The sight made me tingle, it made my nipples harden beneath my shirt, it reminded me of how his face looked after we kissed. I squeezed my legs together, he didnt miss it, his eyes dropped, and quickly snapped up to mine again, he swallowed hard before speaking again.

"I want you to come to the event..." He trailed off and Im about to say yes, of course, I was already going to be there- "With me," he adds on, his voice a throaty whisper, heat pricks at my skin before settling between my legs at the sound of his voice.

"Like as your-" I stopped myself, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud, my cheeks were on fire, my heart pounded in my chest. This, this was not what I expected.

"Yes, as my date, not as my best friend, I want you on my arm all night, as my date," his voice was so sensual, raspy, as he watched me intensely, his eyes searching mine. My lips parted as he looked at me expectantly, I felt like I was dreaming, I had thought about this moment for so long. "Well? What do you say?" always impatient, and I hadn't exactly realized I still hadn't said anything.

"Yes," I mumble stupidly, relief washes over his face, a confident smirk spreading across his face at my lack of words. What could I even say now? My stomach was practically doing somersaults now as I racked my brain for anything I could possibly wear, the event was the day after tomorrow.

"Good," he sunk back in his chair a little, his eyes wandered before settling back on mine. "You should go to bed Bee," his voice was so damn low and gravelly, it made me want to get on my knees right now. He rubbed his hands on his pants again, his eyes not leaving mine.

"Why?" I ask, my eyes tracking his movements, savoring each and every detail of him. My mind was racing, part of me felt like I was dreaming.

"Because if you don't, Im not going to be able to keep my hands to myself," his voice was raspy and uneven, his jaw flexed, his eyes roaming over me hungrily, like the way he had looked at me before we kissed that night. I debated for a few seconds on whether or not I should just undress and let him put his hands all over me. I decided I didnt want him to regret it later, or change his mind about taking me as his date. Plus, my body was begging me to shut myself in my room and use this whole little conversation as fuel for multiple orgasms. So I stood up, and smiled shyly down at him.

"Goodnight Az."

a/n: sorry for the wait :/ thank you for being patient eeeeeeee they definitely fucking in 7 wtff officially proof read I love this series so much omggg

taglist: @smalljasper289 @cynthiesjmxazrielslover @scorpioriesling @userxs-blog @lilah-asteria @abadfantasybook @judeduartewannbe @lindsayscottagebythesea @velarisdusk

#acotar #azriel smut #acotar fanfiction #acotar smut #acotar fic #azriel fanfic #azriel fic #azriel spymaster #azriel fan fiction #azriel fluff #azriel x reader #azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel acotar #pro azriel #azriel x you #azriel au #azriel fanfiction

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secretsandwriting · 2 months ago

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HELLO!!!, can I request a etho fanfic

So this is not hermitcraft but the life series, so I would like the secret life one. like etho got a task but it involves reader, they have to like they both have to kill 2 or 3 warden together, but unfortunately the reader died, but the reader will respawn tho. if you dont want to make it secret life you can do it in hermitcraft, but it will change a few, BUT ITS FINE, That it! I dont know if you get it or not😭😭 but I hope you do get it🥲🥲, THANK YOU💜 LOVE YOUR WORKSS🫶🏻🫶🏻

I got this in April, i'm sorry it took so long!! I hope you see this anon!

Anyways, this has a hint of the hermits being borderline god mentioned bc I love that so much. So many emotions too...

Death Games and Wardens

Etho wasn’t sure how to go on about this, He had to keep his task a secret but it involved you. He stared at the book in his hands.

Kill two wardens with Y/n. Neither of you can die.

The thought of you dying sent a pang of fear through him. Logically he knew that if you died, you would respawn and if you lost your last live you would go back to your home server. Which was hermitcraft, the exact Server he would return to.

Respawning was bad on a good day, but on a Server with rules that didn't follow Players normal code and instead added some, made respawning even worse. He didn’t want you to go through that.

“Etho!” His focus was torn away by you. He couldn’t help but relax around you, even when playing against you in death games. Somehow, you brought comfort to him no matter the circumstances. The book burned in his hand as he remembered what your task was. He saw your book in your hands and a nervous grin on your face. “You got a good one?”

“Let's go somewhere private.” You nodded and followed him to the border. Etho glanced at the two sentences in his book and signed. The fear of you getting hurt was back and growing stronger. You broke the silence, apparently he waited too long to start.

“Does your task involve both of us?” He nodded, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. “Good my task does too… Now.. Is yours something we have to do?” Another nod and more stomach pains. “Ok, this is my task.” You handed him your book and he opened it.

Etho’s secret involves you. Do it with him and guess what it is to finish.

Etho may read this book.

He somehow hated this more. You didn’t even know what you were getting into. That meant more room for mistakes and mistakes would lead to a very fast death. You were oblivious to his dilemma and just waited for him to figure it out, assuming he was just trying to figure out how to go about this. The expression on his face was very abnormal but these were death games, they put everyone on edge and filled them with stress.

“Are you ready?” Etho’s head jerked up to look at you. “We only have so much time after all.” He sighed and nodded. He really wanted to come up with a fake task but he knew you wouldn’t like that.

“We need to gear up.”

Fully geared,you followed Etho do into a cave, when the shrieker went off, you hesitated. This wasn’t looking good. This had to be a hard task and probably involved wardens. Something you avoided no matter what. The sound of the Shrieker going off a second time had adrenaline pumping through your veins and terror settling in your bones.

“Etho,” You whispered. “Is the task to summon a warden?”

“No, but that's your closest guess so far.” You were starting to understand Etho’s hesitation and strange looks. The shrieker went off a third time, darkness filling your vision and the sound of a warden spawning filled your ears.

“It’s over here,” Etho whispered. You weren’t sure what to do until you saw Etho launch himself at it and attack it with his sword. Pulling out your bow, you shot it with arrows both to lower its health and to help Etho out of any sticky situations by drawing its attention away.

To focused on the fight, you didn’t notice the second warden spawn or it approaching from behind until it was too late

Y/n was slain by Warden

Etho’s attention on the warden shattered when he saw the death message and another warden standing in the middle of all your items. His hesitation cost him some hearts but he managed to get away and took the surface without them following. Rushing to spawn he looked around, desperately trying to find you and make sure you were ok. He found you not too far away, sitting on the ground looking a bit dazed.

“Y/n!” Etho grabbed you and held you close. “I’m sorry! I should have noticed! I shouldn’t have let it happen!” You sat in his arms, letting him ramble at you while you readjusted after a hard respawn. When you finally got yourself together, you listened to Etho’s rambles, pulled yourself out of his grip, and slapped him hard. Etho immediately stopped and jerked back to look at you.

“Pull yourself together!” Etho immediately took a deep breath and squeezed your hand. Once he was calm, you continued. “Etho, I'd respawn no matter what. You know that. If I didn't respawn here, I’d be back on hermitcraft. If I wasn’t there we have enough people that are almost gods on the server I'd be found and brought back.”

Etho shuffled forward and dropped his head on your shoulder, he wrapped his arms around your waist and his shoulders shook with sobs. You ran your fingers through his hair while your other one rested on his back, you slowly rocked side to side. From your spot you could see a few of the red names started to surround you.

Your communicators buzzed with the 5 minute warning but you knew you wouldn’t make it until then. Not with the intent in Gem’s face as she came closer. She paused and pulled out her communicator and typed for a second before flipping it so you could see the message to Xisuma letting him know to expect you. Something only done when one of the players was having a rough time. She smiled when you mouthed a thank you and slipped it back into her pocket before lifting her sword.

Etho was slain by Geminitay

Y/n was slain by Geminitay

Waking up on hermitcraft was disorientating. It always was when you respawn from another server due to death. Your communicator buzzed with a message from Xisuma.

Xisuma: Did you respawn ok? Gem messaged ahead, she didn’t specify who

Y/n: Yeah

Y/n: Etho was having some trouble at the end. Did he respond?

Xisuma: No, I was just about to go check on him.

Y/n: I’ll do it. I’ll let you know if anything went wrong with his respawn.

Xisuma: Ok

You got up from your temporary bed at your mega base and made sure your elytra was equipped before shooting off to Etho’s base. You searched the entire place, the only sign of Etho was the messy bed and his communicator on the floor. So you took a gamble, instead of flying you ran down the path leading to your starter base. Looking for a mop of white hair along the way. With no sign of him along the way, you looked through your house. Stopping in the doorway of your room to see Etho sitting on the floor next to your bed.

“Etho.” He didn’t seem to hear you. “Etho!” You tried again, nothing. Carefully, you moved towards him, making sure to go slow. When you were close enough, you gently rested a hand on his shoulder. He jerked out of your grip and looked up at you.

“Y/n!” He launched himself at you, pulling you close and holding you tight, relief crawled up his spine as he clung to you. “I thought you were gone.”

“I just respawned at my mega base. I told you I would respawn… Come on, let's lay down for a bit.” You managed to get Etho into your bed and when he relaxed you sent a message to Xisuma.

Y/n: Etho’s ok, just the death part of the death games messing with his head.

Xisuma: Ok, take care of him. Let us know if you need anything.

With that out of the way, you put your communicator away and decided to get some rest. Maybe when you woke up, the two of you could figure out what you were. But for now, you were tired.

Etho x Y/n shippers

Geminitay: I kinda felt bad, Etho was clinging to Y/n when I killed them. I mean CLINGING

Xisuma: Y/n went to help Etho right after his respawn when he wouldn’t respond and then let me know he was ok.

Xisuma: What happened?

Grian: So I might have purposely messed with their secrets so they had to work together. I forgot it might have been a bit traumatic.

ImpulseSV: What were their secrets?

Grian: Ethos was to kill two wardens with Y/n and not die and Y/n’s was to help and guess what it was.

Xisuma: Etho is literally laying on top of Y/n in their sleep

Geminitay: THEY'RE SLEEPING TOGETHER

Grian: THEY’RE CUDDLING???

Xisuma: [Image]

Tangotek: You think they’ll actually talk this through after this or not?

You two did not in fact talk about it afterwards. Both of you just acted like it didn't happen and the group chat with every hermit except the two of you were outraged

#asks #request #etholabs #etho x reader #hermitcraft #hermitcraft x reader #hermitcraft etho #hermitcraft etho x reader

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cherryheairt · 2 months ago

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"Eager for a niece or nephew already?" Daenys asked, corners of her mouth lifting. One day, she hoped for many nieces and nephews to surround herself with if she truly did end up a spinster. If so, she was comforted with the fact that she had only brothers, thus would have all their wives be moved to Dragonstone or the Red Keep to allow everyone to be close together.

"Indeed. It's been a while since Winterfell's keep has been graced with younglings."

Daenys almost snorted at the strange name for children but kept it to herself in hopes of not offending him. Northerners and their strange vocabulary. "I quite agree, it is rather quiet in the Great Keep."

Is it too soon to say that I hope the little footsteps and giggles that fill the walls of Winterfell are Daenys' babies with Cregan? Despite his initial mistrust and reservations, Cregan begins to fall in love with the princess so subtly that he doesn't even seem to realise it. It's one thing to worry about the daughter of the heir to the throne being well cared for and safe while she's under your responsibility in your house, but it's quite another to comb her hair and teach her how to hunt and fight. I mean Cregan first turned away when the princess washed her hair, but then braided it (I say that at that moment the idea occurred to him and he was grateful to have had an annoying sister in childhood). Apparently Cregan was jealous that Seamus had saved her before him. Cregan has taught her to hunt and fight because he cares about her. Cregan has deliberately looked at her legs, plus he sleeps next to her (I say that when they slept Cregan felt the softness of the princess's hair and thought again to braid it just to touch it freely, besides looking at her freely). Now Cregan is very worried about what Seamus is going to do to her now that he has taken her away from him.

The same goes for the princess, she seemed very worried because she thought she always ruins things when she talks to Cregan (because of the death talk). Plus she was too worried that if she hadn't got the Targaryen genes he might never have paid attention to her and would have mistaken her for any lady from any other House. It is no accident that she thought that when she previously compared Cregan to a prince. It seems a subtle hint of romantic feelings on her part.

Was it casual when you braided my hair and asked how I want my funeral rites to be????

Yes! I'm glad you noticed the transition between him respectfully looking away and then offering to DO her hair for her when he noticed how much she hated doing it every morning.

Neither of them even seem to notice, but theyre both being consumed entirely by the thought of the other, even imagining life before them is a distant memory by now.

Little Dragon-Wolf 'pups' or 'hatchlings' are what I think they might call their kids. I was just thinking of making a drabble about wolf pack behavior and comparing that to their future dynamics 😌

She has spent her adolescence thinking her only interactions with kids will be with her nieces and nephews, not her own children. She's in for a world of surprise there.

Imagine the thoughts that Daenys has running through her mind currently, and when she was alone with him in the woods once again. This giant beast of a man looking at you spitefully, telling you that you only need to be alive and nothing else. Cregan knows the mind of a man and has sent countless to the Wall for their crimes against women. Alone for hours on dragonback, where not even your dragon, who is seen as a God to the smallfolk, can help you.

I think the Starks are quite like royalty in their own way. They govern and dictate themselves. They are entirely ignored by the Crown until they need fighters for wars that don't involve the North one bit.

Unfortunately, even after marriage Cregan would not officially be called a Prince. Like Ser Laenor and Lady Laena who married the Prince and Princess and never changed titles.

Also, that makes me wonder about the canon events in the book. If everyone but Aegon and Viserys is gone, Daenys would be the heir as the eldest child of Rhaenyras. After their eventual marriage, would Cregan leave Winterfell to be King Consort, or would they be doomed to live the rest of their lives apart spare from occasional visits to the other. It's a tempting angsty end, one that Daenys would probably not be able to cope with alone.

I hope everyone is content with how the romance is progressing, I feel as if it is fast-paced but I know I can't wait forever for the romance aspect lol

#cregan stark x reader #hotd fanfic #cregan stark x oc #cregan x reader #dragondreamer #cregan stark

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adokyoguen · 11 months ago

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Can you write a fic where Muzan sees the reincarnation of his late wife who he married when he was a human.

★۰ ໋࣭ muzan x reader.

omg I really liked this request so much that I wanted to do two parts, lol

this will be before Muzan finds the reincarnation of his late wife okay? I hope you like it and I'll be posting the second part soon :)

note: any grammatical errors made, please ignore. English is not my first language so I ask for patience :((

Muzan was never affectionate, at least the upper moons never noticed a feeling of empathy or an ounce of happiness in muzan. Everyone described him as spiteful and insensitive, he sees no value in humans. To his subordinates... he never showed respect.

But what no one knew was that a long time ago, Muzan actually had a family, he didn't have children, but Muzan has a wife, or rather, he did. She died a long time ago, he didn't even remember her face anymore, like, it was more than a thousand years alive as a demon... how could he remember? But he remembered all the effort she had put into giving her husband as much comfort as possible. Muzan was currently in the Infinity Castle, testing some experiments, but it seemed like something was wrong, the man felt something draining his energy. Even if it was 0.1%, he could feel it.

Was this some effect of the experiment? No... Muzan knew very well what he was messing with, and no side effects involved mental fatigue, especially from the first Oni that existed. Maybe it was his intrusive thoughts about humans that ended up leading him to you. He really hated humans, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to take one's life, but with you... was it different?

When he turned into an oni, you were there, in fact neither of you two understood very well what had happened to Muzan, but you never treated him with indifference... you had a pure heart, too pure to live in this world cruel, too pure to be rotten.

On the one hand, he would have immensely wished that it had been him who had killed you, it would have been much more dignified than a simple death from natural causes, at least for you. It's ironic to say that Muzan fell in love with you precisely because of your pure heart, since the man was totally the opposite. Even if you were here, Muzan wouldn't be the same caring husband he was years ago, but deep down, he would know that you would never give up on him.

Muzan sat on the chair, trying to clear his mind to return to the experiment, he cursed you deeply for appearing in his thoughts just when he was busy with something that could revolutionize the lives of oni's.

But then... there you were.

Muzan raised his head after feeling a presence in the same room as him, the man knew that Nakime wouldn't put anyone in the infinite castle if it weren't for Muzan's own request, so why is he feeling watched?

The answer was you.

For some reason that even he couldn't describe, you were there, exactly as you were buried, for a split second, he might have thought he was going crazy, but he didn't want to think about it. Muzan got up from the chair and approached his late wife, you looked so... cold. He didn't show any hint of emotion in his eyes when he raised his hand to touch your cheek, that touch wasn't a form of affection, it was just a test to see if he could feel your skin.

And the answer was no, the hand instantly passed across her figure. How were you here? Had he cursed his soul or something? Haven't you rested in peace all these years?

— Y/N?— Muzan calls you, hoping that you could respond.

Hope, this word is something he hasn't had for many years, of course his greatest hope was the blue Spider Lily Flower, but he never felt hope in the human race. But well... you're not human anymore, so he didn't care about his momentary weakness.He watched her hand come up and land on his hand, which was flying across his cheek. Muzan felt his senses scramble when you gave him a smile, that smile he thought he would never see again.

Muzan never left his cold expression, after years of being an oni and killing people... he no longer felt anything inside him, and at that moment, it was the same. His thoughts were interrupted with smoke filling the place, Muzan hurried to move the container that was causing this away from his table, so that the smoke would stop.

His gaze turned to you, but you weren't there. The man looked at the room he was in, looking for any sign of his presence, even though he felt that there was no one else with him. Muzan sat in his chair again, looking at the blueprint he was studying on his desk.

Brugmansia suaveolens of course... how did he not think of that before? The man took his notebook from the table, where he had notes about the variations of plants on the planet.

Brugmansia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. They are woody trees or shrubs, with pendulous flowers, and have no spines on their fruit. Their large, fragrant flowers give them their common name of angel's trumpets, adjacent to the nickname devil's trumpets of the closely related genus Datura.

Side effects of Brugmansia include nausea, vomiting, dry eyes, increased heart rate, dizziness and visual hallucination.

#muzan kibutsuji #demon slayer muzan #muzan x reader #kyn #kimetsu no yaiba #kny muzan #tanjiro kamado #nezuko kamado #demon slayer #zenitsu agatsuma #inosuke hashibira #upper moons #romance #dark romance

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jarofstyles · 1 year ago

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Reaper 10

Reaper is a dark story with dark and mature subject matter. 18+ NSFW

A shorter but very important update. Finally heading closer to the meat of the story hehe

Check out our Patreon for exclusive writing and early access!

wc: 6.6k

warnings: violence, rage, reaper on the edge of it all

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“Good fuckin’ riddance.” Harry spit onto the body, life slowly draining from his veins as he bled out on the floor. “Piece of shit.”

Since the guy thought it was ok to sell people, to own and control their lives, Harry thought it was fitting that he had no control over what happened to him in the end. Cutting off each finger and toe, beating him, a few levels of torture. It wouldn’t make up for the lives he had stolen, the innocents that he had killed in the process, but it was some sort of revenge.

“Clean this shit up.” He barked at one of his brothers, giving another disgusted glance at the soon to be corpse before stalking out the door. His hands were bloody and bruised but he felt a tiny hint of relief. Getting rid of scum always did feel good in a weird way. One less person who would harm people who didn’t deserve it off of the earth. He liked to think of himself as an exterminator of sorts.

“Where’s Bunny?” He grunted as he kicked the basement door shut, seeing Viper at the bar playing cards with Wiz. Cigarettes hung from their mouths as they turned to look at him.

“Kitchen. May want to wash the blood off your hands before you see her. Look like a horror villain.”

Harry was too far gone just fresh off a kill, any consideration he had for his look at the minute was non existent. All he knew was he needed to see his Bunny if he wanted to get out of this headspace anytime soon.

The past week and a half had been busy to say the least. With no signs of the stalker, he and his brothers buckled down on finding the last of the scum involved in Mia’s case. It took lots of convincing, but Bunny was safe and protected by his brothers. They were all afraid of what would happen to them had she not come home in one piece.

The Reaper had been all the more violent and impulsive ever since the stalker appeared. His brothers had all noticed. Viper’s solution was to keep him on killing duty, hoping it would take the edge off like it usually did. It seemed that his feelings for Bunny went much deeper than any of them could imagine.

Harry pushed open the door to the kitchen with his elbow, immediately feeling his muscles relax at the sight of his girl.

“Okay so, we just want to make sure we gently tap them— so when they lift in the oven they have that little foot.” Bunny was teaching Mia how to make macaroons. Strawberry and cream ones.

His back relaxed slightly when he heard her soft spoken instructions, his body tuning into her voice. He didn’t say anything yet, going to the sink as he felt her eyes on him.

She didn’t deserve bloody hands on her. She needed clean and soft hands with tender touches right now. His exhale was slow, trying to shift himself out of the rage induced fog.

There was a reason people called him the Reaper. It wasn’t unknown. He turned off. He turned into someone else when he was there. The red brain space. He turned off a lot of his emotions besides the ones needed to get him through, the ones usually consisting of anger, rage, bitterness, aggression.

Shaking the water off his hands, he grabbed a paper towel and began to wipe his hands free of water, the jerky movements alerting Y/N to his mood.

“One second, Mia.” She said quietly, patting her back. Mia knew how the score went, nodding as she turned to mind her business. She knew better than to get involved with Reaper’s business. Everyone should.

Approaching with caution, Bunny placed her hand on his lower back first not wanting to startle him in this state. It always seemed off, his energy changed completely and radiated off of him like a thunder cloud looming over his head.

“Hi Baby,” She turned on her charm, resting her head against his back a little bit to ground him. It was better for her not to look at the blood that was being washed off into the sink, it was hard not to notice the smell though.

“Mia and I are making macaroons, we already made a batch if you wanna taste one, I can bring it to you.” She wanted to go along with things as normal, try and remind him of how things were when he wasn’t in this headspace.

“Or if you want we can go to our room and snuggle.”

She was always gentle with him in this headspace. It was a little scary at first but Harry wouldn’t hurt her. That was something she knew without a shadow of a doubt. Especially when she felt him relax a little bit with her hand rubbing over his back.

Her eyes looked over his shirt and noticed it was fairly clean, except for a few specks of blood on the hem. It was a weird feeling, to think that the man who was so damn tender with her had just moments ago, been violently ending a life. And that his first instinct was to go back to her.

“Room.” He grumbled, turning around once he was sure his hands were clean and taking her face into his palms. Y/N felt the damp, cool fingers on her skin and gave him a pretty smile, searching his eyes.

They were dark. Different. It always seemed to happen like this. 3 times this past week and some days, he has sought her out after she pretended to not know what he was doing and found her doing something mundane, peeling her away from the friends she had made here to keep her close and breathe in her scent.

He ignored Mia’s presence, leaning down to capture her lips in a hard kiss. He wasn’t shy about it, turning her around and tucking her into the corner of the room while he kissed her roughly. Fully. Bunny knew he wasn’t fully out of the weird, almost animalistic face and she was ok with that. She just wanted him to calm down eventually, and she enjoyed that she was the person that had that power.

He pulled back and kissed her again, sliding his hands under her shirt and caressed the hot skin of her lower back. It was grounding to him, feeling her smooth flesh and the softness of her curves, the sweetness of her mouth and taste testing prior batches. She smelled like the baked good and hints of her shampoo. He wanted to bathe in it. “M’so angry.” He admitted against her lips. “Want to fucking…” He huffed, resting his head against hers. “I don’t regret it, Bunny. I’ll keep killing those fuckers. I’m going to keep doing it and I’m going to keep coming back upstairs to wash my hands and find you after.”

He warned her. “I should terrify you.”

“You don’t.” She wasn’t lying. He didn’t scare her, maybe a little, but only because she could tell it wasn’t him. Was it dangerous for her to believe that she was the only one to get him to calm down? Would her luck run out one day? It was something she tried not to think about too much. She preferred to believe him and their feelings for one another.

“It’s just what you do… I understand, you aren’t like that with me. Why would I be afraid?” She asked the question that was never really meant to be answered. Instead she moved to press another kiss to his lips, her hands wrapping around his wrists to hold them comfortably.

“Come on, let’s go. We can watch a documentary about sea lions.” After their little trip to Vegas they’d been watching a lot of animal planet. Something about the animals also calmed him down.

“Let me just tell Mia.” She would have to fend for herself with the macaroons. She only had to let them bake off and cool off now. The filling was the easy part.

Harry leaned against the doorway as he watched her go to inform Mia when he heard his name being called from the front room. It was Kid, he knew, but he wasn’t sure what the fuck he wanted.

“What?” He snapped, stalking through the kitchen with irritation obvious on his face until he saw the red envelope he held in his hand. “What the fuck is that?”

Though in his stomach, he had a sick feeling. He already knew.

“It’s addressed to you.” He said quietly. “To Reaper. It was stuck in the gate, someone shoved it up between the bars. I saw it on my way in.” The envelope was snatched over quickly, Harry’s anger boiled again heavily in his stomach.

What the actual fuck?

“Funny, you think you can keep her hidden from me. I see her everyday.”

Harry was just about to snap when he noticed the back of the note felt a lot like a photograph. To his own horror, there were photos of her in the parking lot on a few desperate occasions this week. His Bunny, oblivious and stunning as ever, on her way back to this place this fucker has now made his way to.

Any ounce of solace he’d found in Y/N’s touch a few moments ago had drained from his body, replaced by a new, much more sinister rage. Without much thought, Harry slammed his fist against the nearest flat surface which just so happened to be the kitchen door.

Kid took a step back immediately, trying not to flinch at the flying pieces of wood now scattered across the floor.

The room went silent, nothing but Harry’s heavy breathing and the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

“That’s it!” Reaper was here in full force, not even noticing the blood gushing from his knuckles. “I’m going to butcher this rat. I swear to fuck no one better stop me, I will end his entire blood line so help me god.” His breathing was heavy, teeth grinding against one another.

Bunny stood speechless, not really sure what to do in this situation. She wasn’t even sure what he was yelling about until she noticed the envelope.

He’d found them?

“Reaper.” Viper barked as he watched Harry go towards the door. “He isn’t out there. He wouldn’t be. Don’t go shooting into the road.” He had watched as Harry took the gun from his back holster and held it in his hand, the rage shaking through him.

This place wasn’t easy to find. But obviously, whoever the creep was, didn’t just fuck around. It was making Harry angry. Yes- it had been their idea to poke the bull, but it only made him more upset now knowing the lengths he would go. The disregard he had for his life meant that was the same for his thoughts on Bunny’s- he didn’t care. He was insane.

If he had any clue what Harry belonged to, what his name meant, the rumors and whispers, he would know better. Obviously he lacked sanity for the fact he was stalking someone to begin with but after all the warnings, after all the attempted scare offs… he was still at it.

“He’s watching her. He’s at her school. He’s insane.” He shook his hand in the air, the gun waving around. The safety was on- Bunny was in the room. “I’m going to lose it.”

“I know, brother. I know.”

“No! None of you caught someone taking photos?” He hissed, looking around the room as he raised the weapon. “None of you saw a fucking camera?”

“Obviously not. Put down the gun.” Viper ordered. “Your girl is in the room. Put it down.” He said it lowly, the twitch in his hand and the reminder making him listen.

“I’m taking her away from here for a while. We’re fucking leaving. Make sure someone is at her mom’s place. Nowhere is fucking safe around here.” He hissed, turning to Bunny. “Go get your stuff. We’re going somewhere away from here. Wiz- get us on a fucking plane and someone go get me fakes to get out of here. I just-” He ran his bloodied hand through his hair, not even feeling the pain with the anger that made him burn. “How the fuck did he find us here? There’s a gate inside a gate.”

Bunny took this time to approach him once again, setting her hand on his back as she always did and tried her best to stay calm. She needed to be calm for him. All she wanted was for him to come with her, but it seemed like Viper wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Let me clean up your hand and I’ll go pack.” She spoke in a gentle and level tone, reaching for his bloodied hand without hesitation. It hurt her to see him like this, so angry and distraught because he couldn’t do anything about it. He was trying his hardest, she could see it. She wished she was able to help more.

Viper looked at her in warning, obviously worried about her safety. He didn’t know how they were in private, she felt like he had no right to command her. She knew what she was getting herself into. Bunny looked from Harry’s hand to Viper with a small pout, hoping he would let her do this.

“Follow me.” Viper let out a sigh, leading Bunny towards their in house infirmary. She made sure to keep an eye on Harry, rubbing his skin to soothe him the best that she could. He was still heaving, she could see the cogs turning in his head.

He was like a live wire.

Bunny watched his face carefully, not afraid of him but afraid of what he may do. It felt like the last few days he had been like a dog pacing in its cage, but this was a whole other level.

His jaw was clenched and his breathing was heavy, but his face had turned stone cold. His eyes? They were dark. Hot. Livid. She was treading with caution.

He was on another planet right now. He was in protector and killer mode at the same time and it was killing him. Reaper wasn’t one to run away from conflict in any capacity. Harry, however? He just wanted to keep Bunny safe. That was his goal, always. Her safety.

“You okay to be alone?” Viper asked Bunny. He didn’t want to offend Reaper but he also took her safety seriously.

“Yes, I’m okay. He won’t hurt me.” Bunny repeated once again, knowing it would only be worse if they were to separate the two of them. If they wanted Harry to calm down in any capacity, removing her was the worst they could do.

Viper eyed the two of them for a moment, facing an internal battle. He couldn’t live with himself if he let Reaper hurt her, but for some reason, he trusted her.

“I’m going to help Wiz sort out your trip. When you’re done here just meet me in my office.” Viper spoke calmly, giving her a look as if to say ‘be careful’. The metal door made a quiet crashing sound as he left, leaving the two of them alone.

The bright overhead lighting of the infirmary wasn't creating the most soothing atmosphere, but Bunny tried her best to be the softness Harry needed as she guided him to sit on the bed.

Her hands delicately pushed his hair away from his face and behind his ears, watching his snarling expression carefully.

“Can I get the first aid kit?” Her words were gentle, not wanting to leave her stop from between his legs if he wasn’t ready. She knew her body was something that kept him grounded and she didn’t want to irritate him.

He simply nodded.

It felt better in the quiet. No music, no nothing but the gentle touch of Bunny.

Bunny, Bunny, Bunny.

He had to keep her safe. The rage bubbled again before it ebbed, her hand stroking over his arm as she returned with the kit. He wasn’t worried about the split knuckles or the throbbing he felt in his hand. He had a high pain tolerance for as long as he could remember, but he felt a bit bad under all the anger about her life being disrupted. That he couldn’t just be… a normal protector. That he had to worry about snapping.

He’d always had a bad temper, but this sort of anger was new. He hadn’t cared too much about anything else for a long time. Now that he cared so much for her that it felt like she was injected into his damn blood, he felt out of control. Not having control over finding this guy was making him feel certifiably crazy. He’d never been sane, mind you, but he even knew it was bad now.

His thoughts lingered on how he had never wanted to take someone out more. The person who caused all of this shit, who made it unsafe for her to even be alone in the places she had grown and loved. The places she learned.

“Baby?” She whispered softly in an attempt to get his attention, gently starting to wipe off the dried blood as she disinfected the open wound. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t wanna,” Bunny cooed, “just come back to me.”

She let the hand holding his caress his skin in a form of comfort, using tweezers to get the splinters out from under his skin.

“You’re very angry, I know… I can imagine how frustrating it is— you are doing everything you can.” She wasn’t sure if her words would be of any help, but she wanted to say them anyway. “You’ll get him, I know you will. But for now, we are here.”

A small hiss came from her as she watched the peroxide bubbling over the wound. He didn’t even blink. It made her heartache seeing him so empty and drained.

Harry watched as she began to wrap his hand with gauze, turning it a bit to make things easier for her. He’d never had someone handle him with such care in this state. It baffled him to think she wasn’t afraid. How could she be so brave? To trust him when he didn’t trust himself.

“All done.” Bunny smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to the bandaged hand. She didn’t expect him to speak, she was waiting patiently till he was ready.

He sighed, looking over her face. She was so fucking good. A little damn angel plopped into hell and he had to be the one to protect her. He’s never experienced such a panic in his life. Self doubt that he would be able to keep her safe.

It fucked him up considering this was supposed to be the safest place. That someone could get by without being noticed was a tell to some sort of skill. Wiz was an incredible guy when it came to security and electronics. He had either blocked the alarms or there was some sort of rat.

He couldn’t trust most of these people right now. While he definitely felt guilt for that considering he knew 99% of them were on his side, there was a possibility someone wasn’t. And he wouldn’t chance that.

“Damn it.” He snarled. “You… I should be taking care of you.” His face showed irritation and instead of backing up, she repeated the soft action of brushing his long hair back out of his face that had fallen out of his low bun. “I’m supposed to take care of you and you’re here… fucking bandaging me up. Being so fucking sweet. “

“Is that so wrong?” She asked confused, “Think I wouldn’t be taking care of you if this wasn’t happening?” Of course she would be. Bunny enjoyed caring for him and providing a little bit of peace in his very rough and heavy lifestyle.

To think he’d ever imagine it as a burden, as if life wouldn’t have thrown something else wretched and horrid her way had it not been this.

“You are taking care of me. I’m here and I’m safe.” Bunny tried her shot at getting him to see things from her perspective. “You need me right now, that’s okay… I’m right here.” It had almost become natural for her to tend to his anger before she began to process her own feelings. She didn’t think it would help to dwell on the idea of someone watching her, she was already paranoid enough as it was.

“I want to help this feeling, I know I can’t, but please… you have to let me.”

He growled in frustration. It was almost infuriating how sweet and understanding she was because it was his problem. He felt like he was making shit even harder.

“I just… I feel like all I fucking do is drag you down. This was supposed to scare him away.” He stood up, walking away from her. He needed to breathe, to pace for a minute. “This shit was supposed to protect you. And I made it worse.”

He tugged at his hair, his bad hand throbbing at the action. He really was wanting to pull his hair out. A woman like Bunny didn’t belong in this decrepit, dangerous place and yet he had dragged her down. There was no way out of it either, not without the guy being dead.

All he knew was that he had access to the school area, was good at technology, was lanky and tall and was a little bitch. A creep. He hated him more than he had hated anyone else because he had no regard for Bunny. It was obvious at this point.

“I need to take you away; like a fucking coward. I’m running away but I don’t give a fuck. We need a break. You need to be somewhere you feel safe. You think I don’t see it?” He asked, approaching her again.

“You think I don’t see when you disappear inside your head and you try your best to just pretend like you’re fine? I see right through it. You’re not processing any of this shit of whatever it is you’re supposed to do. And I’m worried. I’m worried about you, mentally, physically, emotionally.”

He was right.

She hadn’t been processing it properly, but she was in distress and though he was blaming himself for making it worse, who knows what would have happened if he continued? It was just like Bunny to divert the conversation though. It seems Harry wasn’t having it today. He stopped her before she could speak.

“You know I’m right about that. Bun, listen, I’m not in a good fucking space right now. I don’t even know how I’m talking to you cause I’m my head I just want to tear this place to shreds. I need you to tell me if I’m stepping over the line, cause you’re being so fucking sweet— I don’t deserve that!” He shook his head, the last line coming out a bit louder than he’d anticipated. She could only shake her head at him.

“Harry— I’m trying to deal with it how I can. We both are. It hasn’t really hit me these past few times, I haven’t been letting it. I just know I won’t be able to keep going on with my life if I think about it too much. You know I’m in my head because I’m trying to self soothe… there is no answer to these feelings, they fucking suck. I know. This guy is fucking crazy. He could have done worse if you didn’t get involved. Who knows? The what ifs are killing me. Please don’t blame yourself for any of this. It’s not your fault.”

He swallowed thickly, his heavy breathing the only sound in the room before he dropped his hands, letting them smack against his sides.

Fuck.

He didn’t mean to explode on her. It’s the last thing she needed. She didn’t need his shit on top of everything else but he was so… so fucking scared. He didn’t like the idea of her getting hurt. He didn’t like that she wasn’t communicating it with him.

“Can you please just tell me… tell me about it when it does come up? When you feel like it’s too much?” Harry was well fucking aware he wasn’t the easiest to talk to. He wasn’t. He was intimidating and easily irritated and he had tried to build a wall between them in the past. It would be understandable why she would be hesitant before but now? Now he was doting on her.

He wished she trusted him.

“It is my fault. You shouldn’t even be in this position. I wish you had been able to fucking trust me enough when it first started happening so you could have told me. I know that it’s my fault you didn’t. It isn’t your fault at all.” He huffed, walking back to her. “I don’t deserve your sweetness . I was supposed to look out for you when Sterling left and now look at this shit.”

He felt like he had failed. He had failed her.

She was trying her best to stay level headed, trying not to blame things on herself for not telling him sooner. Seeing him like this was making her emotional, she didn’t want him to be so stressed.

“I’ll try, I promise.” Bunny said with a small sigh, “It’s hard for me in general. It's not that I don’t want to tell you these things, it’s just hard for me.” Y/N swallowed thickly, looking up at him with glossy eyes. “I didn’t think not telling you would come to this… I would have told you right away.”

Bunny snaked her arms around him in a hug, squeezing his body to hers, listening closely to his heart beat. She kept her head there for a few moments, relaxing as she felt the weight on his hand cradling the back of her head.

They were a mess. The both of them. Harry knew that this wasn’t exactly healthy- nothing with him probably would be- but he didn’t have it in him to stop his indulgence for her comfort.

He couldn’t keep himself from pulling her as tightly as he could to her body, exhaling heavily as he pressed a few kisses to her head. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m fucking sorry for all of this shit.”

The hoarseness of his voice caught her off guard. His anger was still there but he was still being soft with her. That was the difference. He never lifted a hand meant to harm her. Never. He never would.

“It’s okay. We’re going on a trip and we can just… we can try and forget about this for a little bit.” She whispered against his shirt. “Just pretend to be normal for a bit. I don’t even know where we’re going but I’m going to be safe with you. Maybe we can feel ok when we get away.” Her choice was muffled against the fabric but he heard it.

“I will do my best, baby.” He mumbled against her hair. “Don’t think it’ll ever be normal with us again.”

-————-

“Okay everything you need is here. For the time being, you are Ryder and Kitty Davidson.” Wiz spoke as he placed the documents on the table. “I got you rings as well, congratulations.” He winked trying to make light of the situation.

“You’re flying First class to London. Your flight is in about 4 hours so you should get heading to the airport as soon as possible.” He continued, looking up at Viper to confirm the details. The two of them thoroughly planned this trip to ensure their safety.

“I’ve booked you in indefinitely at the Londoner hotel. It’s very central with high security. They know you want your privacy and for their reputations sake they won’t fuck up. If you want to change locations, I trust Reaper knows his way around better than me.” Wiz let himself trail off as he tried to remember anything else he might be missing.

“I’ve arranged to have a car pick you up under the name Davidson. It’s one of our own so no need to worry. He’s returning a small favor.” Viper added, checking his phone for any other updates before looking at the two of them.

“We’re going to have some decoy cars leave first. One is going to Reaper’s place, one will be going to your Mom’s, and the third out of town.” Viper explained the plan, “We’re leaving through the underground exit in a completely different vehicle. All you have to do is finish up with packing and we’ll be on our way.”

Bunny was still amazed at some of the things the club was able to do. There were a lot of whispers about the things they were a part of from the normal people, the people around the town. But based on their assumptions, no one would have realized they had this sort of money.

Harry had explained they had eggs in a bunch of baskets, some legal and some… not so much. That meant an influx of cash and places to launder it through.

She knew if this was any other time,she would be asking tons of questions. Why? How? What? But right now she was putting her trust in Harry and the guys of the Devil’s Keepers. Viper and Wiz had always shown up for her since she met them and it was a welcome thing to have.

“Thanks for putting this together.” He nodded at Wiz, taking the folder from him. “We will call you when we land with the burners.”

“I’ll be prepared for a thick cockney accent.” Wiz joked, making him snort. Yeah, right. He was more of a Manchester and London hybrid but that wouldn’t make sense to him. Harry’s accent had thinned since being here as a teenager but he knew that it would thicken the moment he stepped back there. It usually got stronger when he talked to his mum on the phone, so he could imagine how easily he was going to fall into it later.

Bunny had never been out of the country before, this was something completely new. The thought of it was actually exciting if she ignored the whole point of the trip. The running away from a stalker bit.

Harry had always talked about his life in London, with a fondness she really saw in him elsewhere. It was as if he wondered what his life could have been had he been dealt a different hand. It seemed like his life there wasn’t that fruitful, but his returns to the country had always been pleasant.

“You packed warm, yeah baby?” He asked quietly, his Reaper persona taking a step back now that they had a plan. In all honesty, he was relaxed because he knew his way around London better than any man. He swore it. No one would want to willingly go to his ends. That he was sure of.

“We’ll get you more clothes.” He spoke without even listening to her response, he had a feeling there was nothing warm in her duffle here in Vegas. Poor girl was in for wind and rain and clouds.

“We will?” She quirked her brow. “And just how will I do that?”

“M’gonna buy you some. You need jumpers and jackets. The only one you packed was one of mine.” He gave her a slight look but it was in jest. He liked her in his clothes. The black jumper with slightly frayed sleeves tended to be her favorite and he wasn’t going to tell her no. Thankfully he had been able to grab some warmer clothes but not too much. He’d need to shop as well.

“Well, I did want to buy some stuff.” She admitted, leaning her head against his arm while she looked into his duffel bag. “You know the cool shopping places in London? Not the designer ones but hole in the wall shops?” She liked to buy stuff that was unique, but she didn’t have the chance too often here. Her slip dresses were a staple but she did want to get some good jeans in London.

It was definitely a way of coping. Y/N knew that eventually she wouldn’t be able to push the fact that this trip was to evade danger from the back of her mind anymore. She would have to accept it at some point. But god damn, did she want to pretend it was just a trip with her… boyfriend? Lover? Whatever they actually were.

“I think so.” It’s been a few years since I’ve been there.” The last time he had traveled back was 3 years ago, briefly. Only 2 weeks to get some things settled. He hadn’t been back since. “We’ll have to see. Things change rather quickly, but I found a place last time when I ruined my trousers.” He replied, zipping up the duffle bag.

“All right, Sniper say we are all set to go. If you have everything, let’s get to the car. No time to waste.” Viper was a bit on edge himself, not having expected someone to find the clubhouse. Nonetheless, he had no intention of letting Harry know he was worried. He needed Reaper to have a break. As much as they needed him, for all of their sakes, it was better he went.

The sound of their footsteps against wet cement echoed as the four of them descended down to the tunnels. They had a few for safety reasons. They had a bunker, a few rooms where most of their dodgy business took place. Killing and disposal and what not. Towards the end though was a garage full of three cars with the exact same plates. One was red, one was black, and one was white.

“Take your pick bun.” Viper decided to make light of the situation. These cars were all clean. For the most part. They were mostly used for situations like these, getaways for safety. The plates changed after every use so they couldn’t be tracked. They cycled through wrapping them in different colors. It was all to keep things as anonymous as possible.

Bunny went for the white one. The red would get attention, the black was an obvious inconspicuous choice, but the white was a medium level. Harry was quiet for the most part now, helping her in and waving to Mia. She was playing decoy. Her hood was up and it was obvious she was a woman but the tinted windows would hide some of her features, making it easy to confuse the both of them.

“Thank you.” He said quietly to her. Despite not talking to her much he appreciated even the slightly risk she put herself in for Y/N’s sake.

He got into the car with her, placing his hand on her thigh immediately. Y/N noticed this was something he did subconsciously. He didn’t even really seem to think about it. Every time he sat down next to her or drove with her, his hand would rest on her leg. Squeeze or rub or just rest still, he liked having a hand on her.

Her hand rested on top of his with a sigh, fiddling with his anatomical heart ring. He had a few he switched around but he rarely took this one off lately. It was chunky and large but it suited his hand, bruised knuckles and all. Her cheek rested against his arm, trying to let go of her nerves.

“S’okay.” He comforted quietly. “We’re getting a break from this. Maybe the guy will get tired of it. If he doesn’t… we’ll come back rested enough to finally get him.”

Harry was exceedingly exhausted. His eyes were heavy all day but he couldn’t sleep. Nervous about her, about the freak breaking in somehow, someway, and hurting her. It plagued him like a nasty sore that wouldn’t heal.

Wanting to keep the stalker off their trail meant that Viper and Wiz had to stay low profile. The guy would recognize the two of them and they didn’t want to risk it. Instead, he had other members who had not been seen with Bunny to drive all three cars.

“Be safe, yeah?” Viper nodded at the two of them from outside the window. “Have fun, little rabbit. Enjoy it.” The words were tender as they fell from his mouth. He wanted nothing more than for her to enjoy her time away from all of this. To have a bit of freedom again.

Bunny gave him a small smile and nod, watching as he gave Harry a small fist bump before their window was rolled back up. The sound of roaring engines soon filled the space, each car making their way out. They had a few come out the front as well, this creepy wouldn’t know what was coming.

She didn’t dare to speak up as they traveled down through the long, narrow, and dark tunnel. It seemed like it kept going and going. She wasn’t sure how it got there, but she was starting to think she shouldn’t ask.

Instead she snuggled further against Harry in the back seat, continuing to dig her face fully into him. It seemed his scent was able to do something to keep her calm since she couldn’t exactly wrap herself in his bedsheets anymore.

Harry didn’t like not being the one driving but he has to make that sort of sacrifice today. It wasn’t too big of a deal though, considering Bunny was nearly burrowed into him.

Harry, before her, wasn’t a fan of physical touch at all. He took his partners from behind, making them hold whatever was in front of them so they didn’t touch him. He barely kissed, barely allowed them to do a thing besides suck him off or spread their legs for him. It was very willing people, too, but still. He wasn’t a warm and fuzzy person. He would peels hands off of him and step back to avoid hugs or touches, keeping it hand handshakes for most, or a back pat or two.

That’s partially why it was so weird for him that he felt so grounded when Bunny touched him. The comfort that he felt when she would brush his fingers with her own or press a tiny kiss to his hand, leaning against him. His own body seeking her out for it. That had shocked him and made him feel incredibly out of place once he stepped back from it. The good thing though, was he didn’t hate it.

If anything he fell into it more and more each day. Initiating more and more like a nosy little puppy, chaste and gentle touches like fingers under shirts playing with her bracelets or adjusting the hair in her face . It felt a bit pathetic he wanted to touch her every day, if he was being honest. He’d also never felt so good with it. Her fingers tangled with his own little kisses that didn’t lead to anything other than a smile.

He was fucked. A goner. He had become well and truly soft, obsessed, possessive, enamored with the girl he definitely shouldn’t. Sterling is still going to beat his ass, and Harry is going to let him.

It was worth it.

#harry styles #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #harry styles one shots #one direction #one direction imagine #one direction blurb #one direction one shot #one direction fanfiction #one direction fan fiction #one direction smut #reaper #reaper harry

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lady-arc-art · 8 months ago

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THEORY: “Welcome Home, my son…”

For a while I wondered why puppets are used specifically to help tell the story of this ARG? Then it was brought to my attention from another Welcome Home fan that maybe there are some parallels to the story of Pinocchio. In versions of the story, Geppetto had a real son that passed away and from his grief he created a wooden puppet that looked like his son, who would later become Pinocchio.

I also think it kind of is that way because there’s a big emphasis on family and children/babies in this update. With Howdy’s family coming over for the Homewarming, Julie and Frank trying to get everyone to be quiet so they don’t wake up the flowers and bugs that are hibernating (which is something parents do when they don’t want any loud noises that could wake up a sleeping baby), and the commercials targeted towards children, also Frank singing a lullaby and Wally singing a song about children going to a place called Toy Land and never leaving.

Then it hit me, sorry if any of this sounds fanfic-y or if I’m reaching a bit, but this is what think could be going on.

In the early-mid 60s, Ronald Dorelaine was a children’s entertainer, specializing in puppetry. He ran a troupe with some of his other puppeteer friends called “The Playfellow Puppets” and they would put on little puppet shows as part of the children’s theater slot at the local community centers.

The cast of characters included (and in order of creation): Julie Joyful (she was the first created since she’s a simple hand rod puppet), Frank Frankly, Eddie Dear, Sally Starlight, Howdy Pillar, and Poppy Partridge.

Since a part of me feels like almost everyone else was created before Wally and Home also it would make sense if Poppy was kind of “new” since she’s the most complex puppet to operate.

Ronald Dorelaine had a young son who would often tag along during his father’s performances, and his son’s named was Walliford, but sometimes his dad would call him “Wally.” Walliford was very fascinated with his father’s work and the characters he created, and one of his favorite things to do was draw and paint, hoping that someday he would create something when he grows up just like his father. Walliford even helped Ronald come up with a new character for “The Playfellow Puppets.” Barnaby B. Beagle. A blue dog that was inspired by one of his son’s drawings.

Which would explain this.

Ronald’s puppet shows started becoming so popular that it even started gaining attention from producers of a local tv station (sort of similar to PBS) where they offered Ronald the idea to turn his puppet show into a television series. Ronald took up on the offer, and the show began to develop. However a tragedy would soon happen….

Ronald was a heavy smoker (hence why there is a a big emphasis on cigarette ads in the recent update):

One day when trying to discard a cigarette before Ronald had to leave the house (possibly to go to a last minute meeting with the producers that would be helping him develop his new tv show). However he was unaware that the cigarette was still lit, and it set a fire to his home. Ronald was safe because he wasn’t in the house at the time of the fire, but his son Walliford was nowhere to be found and his body was never recovered so he’s presumed dead.

(Probably hinted at when Home’s eyes turned red in the commercial compilations)

I also think maybe Eddie’s puppeteer was a witness or somehow involved with this incident (possibly because he agreed to watch Walliford while his dad went out) since I noticed during his breakdown, everything turned bright red and Eddie looks like he feels guilty about something, hence why he’s sweating and Home appears to be starring him down as if he did something.

From his grief and in order to cope with the loss of his son, Ronald created a new character as a tribute to him. Wally Darling, and from there the plot of the show changed. The show would now be about a neighborhood, all of the previous characters would be neighbors with Wally Darling, who would now be the lead of the show. Ronald also added some traits that were present in Walliford, such as his love for art and his friendship with Barnaby (who was Walliford’s favorite of the group) for the new Wally character.

Then for a last minute edition, Ronald included a sentient home for Wally to live in. The Home was meant to keep Wally the puppet safe and to watch out for him, which was something he wasn’t able to do for his son.

Hence why the title of the show changed to “Welcome Home,” since to him he wanted it to feel like his son now has a second chance at life and he’s finally back home where he belongs. Almost like saying “Welcome home, my son.”

However none of this was enough for Ronald, even though he created a new character to keep Walliford’s memory alive, it was hard for him to find a puppeteer to play Wally because it wasn’t the same. All he really wanted was his son back and he would go to whatever means necessary even if it means going to the extreme. He later came across “the entity” and made a wish for Wally Darling to become real (like how Geppetto wished for Pinocchio to be real and The Blue Fairy brought him to life). And with that his wish came true. Wally was now sentient without the use of puppeteer.

I kind of believe this to be the case because Wally to me feels like the odd man out, everyone else feels lively and zany since they’re real people, while Wally just feels like a blank slate, with the way he speaks sounding very monotone. Here there was a bit of an innocence to Wally since he’s always learning things for the first time and asking questions about certain concepts and feelings, since he was literally a puppet brought to life and “the baby” of the group. However the producers, and parents watching the show didn’t think it was odd since they thought Wally was like this since he was meant to be a character that children can project themselves onto.

However what everyone didn’t know is that the entity that helped bring Wally to life manifested it’s way into the show possessing The Home puppet, and since Wally had no one attached to a real person playing him, the entity used Wally as a vessel to carry out their agenda. Day after day, the show started to go more and more off the rails, but what was really happening was through Wally the entity started to brainwash each of the puppeteers into believing that they were the actual characters, possibly by using the sleeping pills advertised in the commercials, or there was foul play on Ronald’s end and he gave all his puppeteers the sleeping pills to “put them out of their misery.”

By 1974, Ronald tried to put a stop to the entity, and he had no other choice but to end the show and destroy all the evidence that it ever happened. Ronald himself also began to slowly disappear from the public eye and he hasn’t been seen since then.

For years “Welcome Home” has gone on being a lost media, until now.

That’s not the end of story, because it turns out the real Wally Darling, Walliford Dorelaine, is actually still alive, but he has amenesia from the incident and he was no memories of his previous life. Doesn’t know what his real name is (it probably started with a W) or who his parents were, which is why he was never brought back to Ronald. By the time Walliford grew up, his friends started talking about this mysterious puppet show that was on TV years ago called “Welcome Home” which was kind of like Sesame Street, but they all thought it was some kind of urban legend. Then suddenly Walliford started getting all these tattered artwork and pictures of merchandise from the show they were talking about, and he showed it to his friends and together they formed The Welcome Home Restoration Group to try and uncover the mysterious Welcome Home show.

Walliford however started experiencing strange feelings both physically and mentally. There were times when he doubted if the show was even real, but whenever he did have any doubt, he had dreams and hallucinations of Wally Darling trying to communicate with him through the phone and he also starts seeing all these strange video clips from the show itself sprinkled throughout the website that he and the team built. The team however started growing concerned for Walliford thinking that he “lost his mind” so they kindly tried to distance themselves from him while they are trying to rebrand the site after seeing that Walliford was trying to communicate with what he believed to be Wally Darling haunting the site, before they shut it down.

This only caused Walliford to create his own website with his own evidence, since it seems like his own restoration team is starting to mistrust him, and now he’s going to get to the bottom of this all by himself.

But what they all don’t know is that Walliford’s connection to “Welcome Home” goes much deeper than that, as it’s in his blood.

#welcome home #welcome home arg #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #julie joyful #frank frankly #eddie dear #sally starlight #howdy pillar #poppy partridge #welcome home theory #welcome home puppet show

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yaeggravate · 7 months ago

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brief post about kaeya's potential future arc (or why 5 star kaeya will totally happen 🔮✨️)

so something i noticed is that kaeya always removes or distances himself from the end of any situation he's in. (it's much more noticeable in his hangout).

first is crepus's death. he hangs back and doesn't get involved in his final moments.

kaeya disappears in the final section of the ballads and brews event. you can find and talk to every character except him.

in the venti route of his hangout, kaeya stays back when it's time to sing with everyone. venti then drags him back in. (what's odd is that venti didn't even notice he was gone at first 👀 "now you see them, now you don't")

Kaeya: Slipping away before the final verse is sung, before the poet has uttered the last line, before everything has concluded… I don't know, something about it just resonates with me.

klee says kaeya hasn't read her the end of the book series the fox and the dandelion sea yet, which is about a guy stuck in a loop. in somewhat the same vein, in the secret summer event, he tells her a story about the jinni and a shepard boy but changes the ending from what we know from the in game book…

and then we have the prince qubad play, where he quietly exits after it ends. he explains why himself (through nahida's auge):

(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Kaeya, optional) Kaeya: (I always like to extricate myself before things start getting tedious.)

in the same route, kaeya quotes the character jaques from shakespeare's play as you like it

Kaeya: Let me think... "All the world's a stage, and all the people merely players."

which is very fitting considering, quote the wiki:

Jaques takes no part in the unfolding of the plot, and confines himself to wry comment on the action and exchanges with his fellow characters.

he also silently does things for others without wanting to take credit, i.e. being rewarded.

and i think i know why 😏

in his character story, kaeya is referred to as a chess pawn in CN, he then repeats this in his hangout.

Kaeya: But I shall not bow to the will of fate. I am no pawn in heaven's plan.

further emphasizing it's not a random throw away term.

i'm neither chess expert nor chess amateur. but anyone can pull up a wikipedia page 😤

pawns are the only pieces that can't move backward, pawns can get promoted to another piece when they reach the end of the board, and… pawns are expandable, made to be sacrificed for the kingdom.

he even expresses the desire to age backwards….which pawns can't do of course.

A very simple such analogy is the Pawn — the expendable, powerless, nameless foot soldier who may, if his actions are brave and his heart is true, become a Queen (although someone more practised at the game may note that the pawn is really a symbol of why you should never overlook apparently powerless people).

that sounds exactly like kaeya's situation, doesn't it? many people have questioned why kaeya is a 4 star given his importance to the main plot, but i think it could be a deliberate narrative decision. (at least i hope it is 😬)

if kaeya is a pawn he can be promoted to a queen when he reaches the end…. except kaeya doesn't want to, as demonstrated by his unwillingness to see things through till the end.

why would he do this?

simply put, it's foreshadowing 😏

kaeya will have his character arc eventually, where the only sensible path is accepting that he must reach the end because pawns cannot stay pawns forever

Promotion is mandatory when moving to the last rank; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn.

there is some sick sense of irony in him declaring he won't be heaven's pawn, when a pawn can only stop being a pawn by moving forward.

i think kaeya's birthday letter about tcg of all things is also hinting at his arc:

If you think about it, playing cards aren't easy at all — you gotta do the math before throwing the dice, and be extra careful with your every move. One step wrong, and the whole table is turned. When that happens, don't you think it's most amusing to watch your opponent's frustrated face, hmm?

(uh oh, celestia 🤭)

say he does reach this metaphorical last rank, what would that look like for him? gameplay wise it would mean a promotion to 5 star status. story wise? a magical girl transformation into the second coming of fischl.

haha ok but, unfortunately i doubt it's that simple.

something else that has been foreshadowed is kaeya's eventual fate…

Traveler: What did you think of the story? Kaeya: It was alright. I suppose the hero always has to sacrifice himself to save others, and it does make for some good storytelling. But it leaves you wondering how he really feels about the whole thing. Did he ever have second thoughts? Only he can know, I suppose.

Kaeya: My dear audience, I ask you this: Do you believe in fate? If fate decreed that your life was to end in tragedy, what would you do?

Kaeya: I, Qubad, will spend the rest of my days in a foreign land, till I breathe my last in a place far from home.

Kaeya: And anyway, life is short, so we should make the most of the time we have. Right now is the perfect time to relax and enjoy ourselves, and who knows how many other chances we'll get. So come on, what do you say?

Fallen I 还没尽…兴… Haven't enjoyed...to the fullest...

When It's Windy 真是和平啊、可又能持续多久呢？ How peaceful, but how long can it last?

Traveler: Good night, Kaeya. Kaeya: Is it that time already? I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye.

let's face it, these are death flags. no, kaeya is not going to perma die, but this might be what he has seen through the Auge der Verurteilung and why he's so reluctant to reach the ending of his story.

but in order to defy fate and become a 5 star you have to throw yourself into the embrace of the immernacht first 😈

#.txt #lore bytes #see? i'm not crazy 😌#kaeya alberich

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xoxo-ren-xoxo · 12 days ago

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fic writer interview!

totally stealing this from @definitelynotshouting because it looks really fun and I haven't had a chance to yap about my own work in a while!

---<0>---

How many works do you have on AO3?

32! used to be more but I totally deleted some of my old Umbrella Academy fics, sadly - could be around 35 or 36 if I hadn't.

What's your total AO3 word count?

334,360... uh, most of that is from two specific fics haha.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

You Say You Feel Hollow (and you know it's 'cause you are) (HC/Life Series | 775)

INCOMING MESSAGE - COMM RECORDS (HC | 725)

“Man is condemned to be free” (DreamSMP | 547)

I Still Feel Alive (when it's hopeless, I start to notice) (Lunch Club | 488)

Let's Call It An Arrangement (HC | 460)

if you remember my lunch club fics no you don't. also kinda surprised to see the range of fics here - some of my older stuff and then some of my newest too!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! the only time I maybe won't is when it's a second or third comment in a thread and I have nothing else to say. even a '<3' comment will get a response. I don't get many comments, so I take the time to respond to them all. also, I share details about the writing process and lore of fics if people ask. so 🔫😐 comment to get secret knowledge. (in the same vein, I always respond to asks here about my fics!)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

oh, man... I don't tend to leave fics on completely horrific endings in any case, but I would say probably my boatem pirate fic, It's All Part of Being a Pirate (HC). definitely the fic with the least ambiguously horrible fate for just everyone involved.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

uh... it depends on your idea of 'happy', honestly. Trembling Jaws Can't Stop Stuttering (HC) is a gore/cannibalism convexian fic that doubles as polyamory negotiations. a lot of people say they feel quite comforted by it despite the violence, especially because of the hopeful ending, so I suppose that qualifies as happy. on the other hand, my alternate canon fic, “Man is condemned to be free” (DreamSMP) is ultimately hurt/comfort with a happy(ish) ending, but you have to get through a lot of literal torture and pain first. so... not exactly 'happy'.

Do you write crossovers?

no, but I do come up with ideas for them quite frequently. I'm just not really compelled to actually write them. my favourite universe to put my blorbos into at any given time is the hunger games. I also do get inspired by other media when coming up with my original ideas - there are definitely hints of shows and films I've watched in some of my fics.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not traditionally, but since I write a lot of gore and cannibalism that is quite graphic (and I do properly tag it of course) sometimes I get people commenting that they weren't expecting such graphic violence, or that it disturbed them. which... idk man, read the tags? it doesn't really bother me to get those comments, I usually just remind them that I did tag it all and they chose to click, but I hope they enjoyed regardless.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

my insane AU *ideas* definitely have way more smut in them than my regular fics (which have none). alas, most of those ideas are sealed away in the DMs of my most trusted confidant (you know who you are) and I am way too asexual to actually write it seriously. those ideas also feature more noncon, dubcon, and general abuse trauma than I would be comfortable sharing on my actual account. they are mostly very cathartic ideas that wouldn't get developed into full fics. I do, however, have a post detailing my headcanons for convexian as a trio on the asexual-autistic-cannibalism spectrum. and yes, those three things are inherently linked. that post and the fics that go with it are as explicit as my works get, really. sometimes I will hint at sex / make innuendos in one-off lines, though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope. I've had a few tumblr posts reposted on instagram, but to my knowledge nothing of mine has been outright stolen... sometimes I see people using very similar plots or styles to mine (particularly in the homoerotic cannibalism genre) and go 'haha it would be funny if they were inspired by my fic' but I'm not popular or egotistical enough to be mad about that.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope. that would be cool, but I'm in pretty english-centric fandoms right now. my aunt had one of her fics translated into five different languages, so I have a lot to live up to!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, but sometimes I will get ideas from other people or they will get ideas from me. @angeart and I have co-written our Ari AU (HC), but that is more of a detailed summary than a fic. also go read it.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean come on. did you think it wasn't going to be scarian? (but grumbo, convex, and all combinations of those four freaks, are also up there)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

basically all of them. Kingdoms AU (HC) will haunt me forever though.

What are your writing strengths?

like others before me I'm just basing this on the comments I get - I am apparently very good at getting character voices right (which is something I do try particularly hard to do, but I honestly think sometimes I get it all wrong). one of my other strong points is writing both abstractly and very literally, especially with gore. I like weaving together metaphors and similes with more blunt descriptions of the physical senses. it seems to work.

What are your writing weaknesses?

oh baby I am terrible with action scenes. pure action really stumps me, and it's what I struggle with most in my professional writing too. that and consistent characterisation (I think in fic maybe it's a bit less of an issue, people don't *really* care if a character is slightly inconsistent, but I bug myself with it... 'he would NOT say that' is my internal motto) also sometimes I dive way too deep into the internal world and forget about the external - especially when a character has to do something simple like walk down the stairs or some other quite mundane action. then everything becomes quite confusing and loaded in too much metaphor and weirdness, something I noticed the most when re-reading the first chapter of Kingdoms AU.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I did it once. badly. I'm monolingual and stupid and my opinion on this is just sort of 'do whatever makes the story flow the best'.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

hamilton. i think. but I had ideas for my little pony and team crafted beforehand that I never wrote because i was, like, 10.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

honestly just wanna write more solo grub (grian x cub). hashtag grub violence.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

one of my least popular fics, and second most recent. Who can really tell? (Life Series) is one of the works that feels the most polished and creatively challenging. perhaps I love it so much because it's unpopular, but I genuinely think my characterisation of listener!bigb was some of my best. it remains amusing to me that its sister fic is my most popular fic by kudos. if you're reading this, perhaps go give it a chance ? 🥺 I also have a huge soft spot for COMMS AU (HC), of course. but it feels unfair to judge an unfinished fic against finished ones.

---<0>---

I don't usually tag people in these sorts of things, but if you wanna give it a go then definitely do! I totally stole the entire formatting and idea from shouting. I will tag @angeart a second time, but no pressure my partner in crime ;D

#ben chats shit on the internet #ill tag the main fandoms for funsies #hermitcraft #hermitshipping #traffic life #traffic smp #hermitblr #trafficblr #trafficshipping #life series #life series smp #tag meme #tag game #mcyt

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