#it just came on while i was washing die and i could see it clearly in my mind ok

[jonathanbyersphd]

Opening chords of Faith by George Micheal playing the first time Will uses his powers for the Jesus metaphor

[justporo]

So you'll see tomorrow

A/N: Seeing a beautiful piece of artwork by @velnna and listening to Half life by Livingston I got a very angsty idea for a drabble (so be warned, it's sad). This idea came to me first a while back listening to Just a Man (you know from *that* BG3 edit). @velnna as always thanks for letting me play with your son - and sorry I hurt him... Also thank you to Dad on Maf's discord server for the inspo for the final line.

Warnings: implied character death (but this is just an alternate timeline ok??), self sacrifice

~~~

So this was it.

This is how they would all die.

There was no way they would defeat the Netherbrain. All their endeavours that led them here, all for naught. Unless…

Staeve saw it in his eyes first. How their expression changed from swimming and hopeless to hardened and determined. Astarion’s brows drew together - the crease they created between them as sharp as his daggers he lifted up once more.

“Staeve.”

He had never heard his voice like this. The tone as sharp as a knife and hard as rock.

It scared him.

“I’m going to create an opening for you. Be ready.”

Fear dug its claws into Staeve’s throat, choking him, as he began to realise what was about to happen.

“No,” the half-drow whispered, weakly grabbing for his lover’s wrists with all of his remaining strength.

“Astarion, no! You can’t do this!”

Panic gave Staeve new power. Helped him to forcefully turn Astarion around to him. Helped him make his love stare into his eyes as he screamed at him again. And again.

He shook him, even making the daggers drop from his pale, blood-speckled fingers.

Staeve kept screaming, feeling his voice become hoarse, hot streams of tears washing away the grime and gore as they made their way down his face.

But as he kept throwing everything at Astarion he noticed ruby eyes remaining hard and unfaltering. The decision had been made.

The last of his strength went with his last drop of hope as Staeve’s hands fell weakly from Astarion’s. His legs gave up, knees hit the ground hard.

And only then did Astarion shift, taking a final step back before making the run-up.

He dropped down in front of Staeve who could only stare up at him anymore.

“Let me do this one thing right, Staeve,” he whispered solemnly, cupping his love’s face. “Just this once let me make things right.”

Staeve’s vision was blurred, his head swimming. But he still clearly saw the warmth in Astarion’s eyes as he leaned his forehead to Staeve’s.

Astarion’s hand wandered to the nape of his neck as he pressed his eyes closed. “Promise me, you’ll live for me, Staeve. To the fullest.” When the vampire opened his eyes again, Staeve was sure there were tears in Astarion’s eyes as well.

There was nothing in Staeve to do or say. He wasn’t in control of anything anymore it felt like. Not even his own body as he solely kept listening to Astarion’s final words.

“And promise me,” the vampire continued, voice breaking, “sometimes - when you sit in the sun - you’ll think of me, Staeve. Promise me.”

Astarion only waited only long enough for Staeve to weakly nod, seemingly the only thing he was still capable of.

Then he crushed his mouth to his lover’s, the motion so forceful their teeth crashed together.

Desperation had them kiss so hard it hurt, that it felt like perishing already. Astarion’s hand on Staeve’s neck pressed down so hard it felt like bones might crush. A single last breath was passed between them as their lips moved against each other as they tried to make this the most vivid moment they had ever experienced.

One so he could never possibly forget this final kiss - how it had felt.

The other so he would go to his end, with the taste of his lover on his lips.

When a small eternity ended and Astarion broke away he grabbed Staeve’s face a final time.

“I know in another life, I would have loved you forever,” Astarion uttered with a smile.

Then he let go, Staeve almost toppling over, suddenly void of anything still lifting him up.

Astarion grabbed his daggers, turned around with a last glance and a smirk - and then he leapt.

[vrystalius]

Hello! May I request the hashira reaction to a child reader (6-7year) who's basically a yoriichi reincarnation? Like the hashira were struggling against an uppermoon, but reader interferred at a crucial moment and cut them down effortlessly with the hashira's own sword :] here comes the dilemma of how to proceed with a clearly abandoned child who's not a demon slayer yet easily managed to do what no hashira was able to do in centuries , not to mention their extremely young age. Thanks!

❕The hashira’s reaction to you as Yorichii’s reincarnation

You saving the hashira’s asses (with their own weapons!) as Yorichii’s child reincarnation.

Here’s my masterlist for the hashira.

Here’s my masterlist for the demons.

Note: Thank you for sending in a request! I hope I wrote it just the way you imagined and expected it. I think I struggled a little bit, but I you like it anyway, anon! <3 I’m thinking of making a part.2 with Giyu, Obanai, Mitsuri and Shinobu, but let’s see how this picks up first.

Pairing: Sanemi, Gyomei, Kyojuro, Tengen x gn!child!reader

💚 Sanemi Shinazugawa 💚

Sanemi was more impressed that he managed to fuck up this bad that he needed help from a frail child. He feels embarrassed. Embarrassment turn into humiliation, and that into rage. So, Sanemi did what he doest best. Yell and throw around insults.

“What the fuck were you thinking, kid? You could’ve fucking died! How can you even lift my katana?? Your arm is thinner than my damn finger!!”

But deep down, he’s kind of impressed. How did you even manage to do that? You look starved and dirty, as if homeless or neglected. Your yukata was stained and old, and seemingly the only article of clothing you have, obvious by the lack of shoes and socks. Geez, you’ll get sick like that, Sanemi thinks.

But as Sanemi inspected you further (and snatching his katana out of your hands) he noticed some kind of mark on your forehead. Is this the demon slayer mark Muichiro and Mitsuri were talking about back then? That would explain where your energy and skill to kill a former Lower Moon came from. Sanemi also saw how dirty and filthy your hair was, but he could see the deep maroon colour and the red tips peeling through. If someone were to wash your hair, it would look beautiful. Maybe Sanemi could even braid it?

But this was something to think about later. You look like you’re gonna fall over and just die of dehydration or starvation at any moment, or just freeze to death on the spot. If he wants to or not, Sanemi has to take you in for the moment. He can bring you back to the estate and hand you over to Shinobu or something later.

Sanemi would pick you up, into his arms, and wrap his cropped haori around your fragile body to warm you up a little.

“Let’s grab something for you to eat and maybe some clean clothes m’kay? I’ll bring you somewhere safe. Here, I got some ohagi. Eat up, you’ll need the strength to walk. I won’t carry your ass forever.”

🤎 Gyomei Himejima 🤎

Gyomei likes being around children. They are innocent, fragile, weak and need to be protected. They lie, too, but Gyomei doesn’t take it to heart when they do. He never did. Children are children after all.

But when he met you, right after you simply beheaded Upper Moon Five while he struggled, Gyomei knew that you are not an ordinary child. You do not need protection, you are strong enough to take care of yourself, and he can sense the powerful aura you had. He never felt this strong of an aura before, ever. It was almost overwhelming to his heightened senses.

“You seem very strong for a child. Where did you learn all this skill?”

In the ranks of the hashira, no one besides Gyomei can wield his morningstar. It’s too unique and western-style of a weapon to be used by an ordinary slayer, if you ignore the heavy weight all together. It takes a lot of training to wield something like that.

With that being said, Gyomei was surprised to say the least when he heard how you swung his weapon with ease. He felt the heat it was radiating after you beheaded the demon. What kind of breathing were you using?

“You seem tired. How about I carry you back to my estate? It’s safe , and you can rest there. On our way there, we can talk about how you got this strong. Shall I carry you on my shoulders?”

❤️‍🔥 Kyojuro Rengoku ❤️‍🔥

(Let’s just imagine he never fought Akaza during the Muegen Train Arc)

Kyojuro was walking beside what’s left of the Lower Moon’s Muegen train, checking for any more survivors and passengers. Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inouske were heading into the opposite direction to check the other half of the train, while Kyojuro inspected the head of the train (in hopes of finding his katana as well, wich he somehow lost).

That’s where he found you, buried underneath the rubble and remains of the train, luckily unscathed. Kyojuro was ecstatic to have found such a frail child like you in such a terrible situation.

“I’m glad I found you in time! Are you hurt? Hungry? Thirsty?”

But as Kyojuro inspected you, he recognised the yukata you were wearing. He could’ve swore that he saw someone similar flashing before his eyes, beheading the train with some kind of fiery technique. It wasn’t flame breathing, he would’ve recognised it immediately. It was more powerful, more bright. It resembled the power of the sun.

That’s when it hit him. Yes, it was indeed you who beheaded the Lower Moon! Your small stature, your aura. Kyojuro laughed loudly when he realised. You, a child, managed to defeat a Lower Moon! With his own sword as well! Even if you did snatch his katana when you had the chance to kill said demon, he forgave you. You saved them all after all.

He made a mental note to look through all the corps’ records, including the flame hashira archives his father Shinjuro keeps back in their home. Perhaps Kyojuro can find what kind of breathing technique you were using, in case you don’t know yourself.

Kyojuro took his haori off his uniform and wrapped you in it, lifting you off the ground and holding you close to his naturally heated body. You looked surprisingly neglected and starved, as if no one took care of you back home. If you even had a home.

“You did great defeating such a powerful Lower Moon! You should be proud of yourself! How about we share some bento boxes when we head back?”

(You ended up being forced to eat multiple bento boxes because Kyojuro was worried you might starve to death on him.)

🩷 Tengen Uzui 🩷

He is incredibly embarrassed. First, Tengen didn’t notice how Daki was not the real Upper Moon right away. Second, his hand gets sliced off clean. Third, he let his nichirin-blades get snatched by a child. And fourth, that said child managed to behead Gyutaro while that blonde kid and boar boy beheaded Daki. Tengen basically didn’t even do anything! He just let himself get poisoned and lost a hand, then just laid in dirt the rest of the fight. How unflashy and boring!

But he did notice the technique you used to behead the Gyutaro. It was fiery and bright, similar to his friend’s Kyojuro’s flire breathing, just that yours is much more powerful or something. Tengen made a mental note to ask his friend about the fire breathing techniques later.

“Hey kid, lend me a hand will ya?”

What a poor choice of words. He could tell that by your unimpressed expression, but you understood what he meant by that anyway. After giving him his blades back and lifting him off the ground, you helped him walk out of the rubble that was once the entertainment district. Tengen is surprised by your strength and that you’re even able to make him walk upright, but that surprise quickly turned into curiosity.

He noticed the red, flamey mark on your forehead and your dark, maroon hair. You looked very flashy, but neglected. You’re kinda dirty, too. Tengen thinks a little bit of make-up and a nice bath can make you look all flamboyant again! Oh, and yeah, he guesses you’re pretty strong too. But that’s beside the point for now.

Then, finally, Tengen was met with the lovely view of his wives.

“Lord Tengen!! You’re okay! We were so worried!! Waaahh!!”

“Be quiet, Suma! Can’t you see Tengen needs to rest?

“Who’s this little thing here? She looks so thin.”

“My new, flashy and flamboyant apprentice, Hina!”

💠

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Thank you again for requesting, I hope I wrote about what you had in mind. I just got a request for Genya, so I’ll be working on that soon as well.

Anyways, make sure to EAT, SLEEP and DRINK enough!

Take care of yourselves. <3

[fishsinsareacknowledged]

What's your favorite 'Nikto has a crush on reader and must now do something about it' approach

The silent Nikto that stares at reader trying to manifest their affection? The stray cat Nikto that just walks into their life and refuses to leave? The socially inept Nikto who's afraid to approach so he injects himself in little ways; watching over them from afar while they're on a run or at a bar? The direct Nikto who straight up goes to reader and asks them out? The tsundere Nikto that becomes a little mean because he doesn't know how to handle his feelings? Or something else? (love me all versions)

-Kyumi

I love all versions of nikto but honestly rn I could use a nikto who forces himself into your life while you're sick. Like you're on base and you got a headache, a cough, and a runny nose. Resting in your room as directed by the medic and while you're under the covers you hear the door click open. Sure your first thought is that it's your colonel checking in on you but after hearing the first step the words die in your mouth.

Nikto who carefully untucks you out of your comfy covers, knowing and smelling the fact that you haven't showered well in over a week due to your sickness. Nikto who just came back and also needs one himself as he ungraciously undresses you while you weakly protest. Unable to even do much, dizzy yet recognizing that he's trying to take care of you.

An equally tired Nikto who dragged a plastic chair into your room along with him just so you could sit down while you shower. Making sure the water was far too warm for himself yet the perfect temperature for you. Washing your hair and all, debating tying you up when you protest that you don't need any help. Nikto who forces your arms down when you try swatting him away. Pressing a kiss to your forehead as he does, understanding that you're not in the right state of mind to even think.

Nikto who likes seeing the dazed out relaxed look on your face as the warmth melts you. Holding you close and gently picking you up just so he can sit down and place you on his lap while you feel some form of peace after your week-long headache.

"Better yes?", chuckling while he asks. A low laugh that rocks through your body in gentle vibration as he presses a kiss to your forehead, knowing you can't even resist.

Nikto who turns off the shower hours later when it starts to go cold. Using up a whole base's worth of warm water supply for the both of you. Sure he's basically scolding himself till his skins raw and red but the pain free look in your eyes is all he needs to breathe clearly through the suffocating moisture of the shower.

Nikto who brought extra towels just to unroll them flat on your bed, slowly drying you head to toe as he makes sure not to wake you up. A frown on his face when he realizes how warm you already were.

Nikto who obliges happily when your unconscious body reaches out to him. Your soft muscles and skin pulling him down into a chokehold as you mumble incoherently through your dreams. Nikto who tries hard not to moan at the feeling of the front of your body against his back.

Nikto, exhausted and stuck, placed in a chokehold of you, falls asleep. But not before he places a hand around your wrist, making sure that you don't escape when you wake up.

××××××××××××××××××××××x x××××××××××××××××××××××

Idk I like delusional nikto who tries to manifest the attraction too. Cause honestly it would work on me. Like those eyes. Me when. Yk? Oh also domestic kink Nikto. Idk...but he would.

Masterlist

[pauli-writes]

warnings: probably not lore accurate, shackling prison

pairing: dan heng x vidyadhara!reader

author’s note: i got the xianzhou on the brain, im sorry if this is bad i just needed to write something to get rid of my writers block :,)

eternity.

a state to which time has no application, timelessness. the concept of eternity was almost unthinkable to short life species such as humans, everything had a beginning and an end for them. but long life species view time differently, for them eternity was a feasible concept, yet equally as unreachable. whenever one thought they had reached it, they’d die or get reborn anew.

you have wished for eternity as long as you could remember, but you knew even if it would claim you, you would be reborn, doomed to repeat this endless cycle for millennia to come with no memories of your previous life.

and so life moves on, and yet you remained unmoving, as the shackling prison of the xianzhou luofu has been your home for the better part of this amber era. every day you looked wishfully at the dark walls of your cell, imagining a life outside of the prison, the life your other self had lived on the luofu.

but not everything was awful.

you had a friend once. his cell was next to yours, you never saw his face, but you could hear his voice, the screams and whimpers he’d let out when he had a nightmare. it wasn’t that unusual in the prison, but to you everyone else’s voices were scrambled and distant, and yet you could hear his so clearly, the anguish with in it, that one day you couldn’t take it anymore and asked him what he was dreaming about in an attempt to satiate your own curiosity.

“what are you always dreaming about?”

there was a prolonged silence followed by the soft rattling of chains. you assumed he was shackled to the wall just like you were.

“i think i’m remembering things from my previous life…” he spoke, but he sounded unsure and shaken up by his nightmare.

you frowned and shook your head, “that’s not possible.”

he didn’t reply after that. the two of you went back to being silent, for weeks you didn’t bother talking further. you were pretty sure he hated you, still eternity was so far away so you decided to try talking again.

“so, what did you do to end up here?”

he didn’t reply again, but you didn’t care, you needed to talk, to distract yourself from your prison, so you just continued. “i don’t really know, but i think my previous self did something bad.“

there was another pause and you believed this conversation to be another dead end until he spoke softly, “i think mine did too.”

your eyes widened as you heard him speak and you felt yourself smiling for the first time in a while. “i’m reader by the way...”

“dan heng.”

you paused for a moment, the name stirring a sense of familiarity inside of you. was it possible that… perhaps, perhaps not. all you knew at that moment that company was a momentary reprieve from this prison. so, you continued occasionally talking to your new friend, commiserating in your shared misery of being chained up for something you don’t really remember doing in the first place.

you were usually the one to initiate the conversations, dan heng wasn’t much of a talker you quickly figured out, but you mostly only spoke to him after you could hear him having a nightmare. but you were surprised as he spoke up first one night.

“do you know something about imbibitor lunae?”

you paused, a feeling of familiarity washing over you from the word, but nothing concrete came to mind. “it sounds familiar, but i don’t remember…”

“i see.” he replied, sounding disappointed. it made you sad that you couldn’t help him out, but you didn’t dwell on it.

“why are you asking me?”

silence filled the air once more, you could hear the chains rattling from his cell. “i… had a dream. i heard your voice. you said those words.”

“you have strange dreams.”

“you don’t?”

you looked to the ground, trying to recall the last time you had a weird dream, or even a dream. but you couldn’t remember, you slept so little that you definitely would have remembered a dream or strange dreams. “no… i don’t dream.”

“then you’re even stranger.”

you thought for a moment, “maybe…”

time continued passing outside of the prison and just as you found a moment of respite and comfort with the fleeting moments between you and your friend, they were ripped away from you in an instant like a cruel cosmic punishment. you didn’t see anything, but you heard the hushed voices, the whispered names and titles as the chains were loosened and the doors opened.

dan heng, dan feng, imbibitor lunae, the high elder of the vidyadhara…

those names meant something to you once upon a time too, maybe they would again…

[n3ptoonz]

mk1 dialogues with the outworld guys!

a/n: only some characters will have flirtatious lines, while others i can't stand so they WILL get made fun of (i'm looking at you shao.)

i get reiko has fans, so i pander A LIL BIT🙄i can't with havik tho im sorry i didn't grow up w his character so 🧍🏾‍♀️

for syzoth reader is a demon that can shapeshift cause he clearly got a type (ashrah is so freaking pretty)

enjoy ;p

Rain

you: i like wizards

rain: i don't like being called a "wizard"

rain: you couldn't handle the son of a god.

you: if you mean in a fight, probably not, otherwise, absolutely

you: i don't mind getting a little wet from rain

rain: you earthrealmers sure are painstakingly persistent.

rain: i would never court a commoner.

you: you won't be saying that after this match, i guarantee it (wink sound effect).

Reptile

syzoth: if you're from the netherrealm...do you work for quan chi?

you: when i was brain washed yes, now i am reformed and seek redemption

you: do not be afraid, i am kin to ashrah and share her ideologies

syzoth: never thought i would meet so many demons in this life

syzoth: you see what you like? i mean like you- see-

you: demon got your tongue?

you: i find you adorable in both forms, syzoth

syzoth: hey, that's my line!

Shang Tsung

shang tsung: how could I bring harm to such a fine specimen?

you: the same way i'm about to

you: stop flirting with me, sorcerer

shang tsung: not until you consider my offer of ruling the realms by my side

shang tsung: i wouldn't fight me if i were you, i could split your body into eighths

you: tough talk from a man with a silk press

you: you wanna kiss me so bad

shang tsung: kiss, kill, life is all about wonder

Reiko

reiko: you dare poke fun at the ways of an Outworld warrior?

you: uh, you should've seen how you looked shadow boxing at Raiden, I had to laugh

you: come here often?

reiko: wha- you came to my house!

reiko: you just won't quit, will you?

you: there's just something about meatheads that do the trick

you: kiss me, k-k-kiss me, infe-

reiko: it was ONE drunk night!

General Shao

you: just big and greedy

shao: careful, kung lao might overhear you.

shao: ha! you think your puny little self could win against me?

you: you were bested by a farm boy with a sleeper build. nothing about you scares me

you: reiko did not get his looks from his father

shao: soon you won't live long enough to compare!

shao: if i win, you serve as my consort

you: you actually have to have power first to have such imagination

Baraka

baraka: your flesh smells amazing.

you: thanks, new fragrance I made mys- oh you meant as food.

you: so like, does your mouth ever get dry?

baraka: that is the stupidest question i've ever been asked since my affliction

baraka: every day i wake up in aguish.

you: i asked you what time it was...

you: i would ask you to dinner, but you'd run straight for the civilians

baraka: i cannot help what i've become- wait, ask me to dinner?!

Havik

you: what in the actual fu-

havik: continue and you won't be having a mouth either!

havik: why are you looking at me like that?!

you: i'm trying to figure out just how the hell you and baraka pronounce your M's and P's

you: impressive you didn't die from getting a face full of lava

havik: it's probably the only thing liu kang did right!

havik: don't tell me to relax! i lost half my face!

you: hey, you could chill on the whole realm domination and killing a god thing, just saying

--

a/n: this was so hard to write omfg i don't even like half this list😭let me know if y'all want kameo dialogues either in comments or ask box

[littlestarbigsky]

a lil something inspired by this post by @trekkiehood :))

also at the end i used the dialogue from the musical so i threw ace into the mix, too :)

“darry, can you help us with something?” soda asked, poking his head through the front door.

“i thought you were fixing two-bit’s car,” darry called from the kitchen, where he was washing the dishes from the morning. “don’t you and steve have that under control?”

“gotta borrow your muscles, superman,” two-bit appeared next to soda in the doorway.

darry sighed heavily, wiping his hands on the dish towel and walked over to meet them at the door, cringing at the grease on their hands leaving marks where they were holding the door frame.

“you think you could wipe your hands down next time, pepsi?” darry rolled his eyes at them as they all started walking towards the driveway where car was parked.

“i’ll clean it up later,” soda laughed, jogging towards the car and checking something under the hood.

steve was lying on his back on a skateboard under the car, tool kit lying open next to his hip, and johnny was leaning against the hood, watching soda as he fitted pieces back into place under the hood. ace was stretched out, lying on the roof of the car.

steve bent his knee to pull himself back out from under the car and shouted to two-bit, “she’s not perfect, but she’ll run for now.”

“for now?” two-bit called back. “what do you mean for now? i thought you said you could fix it?”

“bring it to the dx and actually pay us to fix it and it’ll last longer,” soda laughed, tapping johnny on the back so he could close the hood.

darry rolled his eyes at their antics, “what did you need my muscles for again?”

“oh, yea!” soda came back around the car and kicked one of the tires laying on the ground. god, what wasn’t messed up with this car? “can you hold these in place while we put it back on?”

darry sighed, but picked up the first tire and held it in place while they reattached it to the car. it didn’t take too long, and darry was grateful to be doing something that wasn’t his chores for a few minutes. they had just finished putting the last tire back on to the car when it happened.

it was a blur, darry only really felt like he was there for fragments of it.

a familiar body came sprinting through their group, shouting at them to follow. clearly he had seen something the rest of them had missed. dally? what the hell was he doing out of the cooler? he hadn’t seen dally run like that in forever, which couldn’t mean anything good for where they were going, but his legs were sprinting underneath him anyways.

he wasn’t sure how he caught it over the noise of all their running footfalls, but it made his blood run cold.

“darry!”

it was ponyboy.

“soda! help!”

he hadn’t run like this since his football days, he could feel the unused muscles in his legs screaming in pain and his lungs felt like they were on fire, but he would die before he slowed down. it didn’t occur to him that he had left the rest of the group far behind him, including dally, meaning he had no idea where he was even going. all he knew was he had to get to pony. pony was the only thing that mattered.

he was painfully reminded of their conversation from that morning. they had argued.

“i told you to put your laundry away last night.”

“i was reading.”

“i need you to do it when you get home from school.”

“i’m gonna see a movie downtown, i’ll do it when i get back.”

god, the kid didn’t ever use his head. he was probably walking around town with his head in the clouds, not even thinking about how he was on soc territory, that they had class rings and blades and mustangs.

he thought of what happened last time the socs got ahold of one of them, he thought of johnny. how they didn’t even realize it was a human lying there on the ground, and how when they flipped him over, they could hardly even recognize him. he had only just started talking again.

get to pony. get to him right now.

there was a bang from the direction of the park and darry ran about ten feet before he could slow down enough to turn himself and see what he had passed. when he finally caught a glimpse, his stomach did an odd sort of somersault.

there was pony, his pony, his baby brother, knocked out cold on the gravel next to the corvette, left eye already swollen shut.

all he needed was one look at bob, class ring proudly glinting scarlet in the sunlight, before darry saw red. it was a good thing the rest of the gang had caught up with him. golly, how far ahead had he gotten? he pulled his fist back and sank it into the jaw of the first soc he could get his hands on, which happened to be clark brillstein. the fight didn’t last long, seven greasers out for blood against five socs just having a laugh meant they ran back to the car pretty fast.

darry made a beeline for pony, soda close behind him. he hoisted pony up by his shoulders, shaking him. he didn’t care that his hands were covered in motor oil, that they were getting all over pony’s shirt and it would be a nightmare to get the stains out. he was still completely limp and sickeningly pale.

god, kid, please wake up.

pony’s eyes fluttered open, and darry thought he could cry on the spot. instead, he dragged pony over to the fountain to start cleaning him up. soda was next to them in a heartbeat, pulling off his shirt to dip in the water and wipe the blood off his face.

“they didn’t get you too bad, did they?” he asked, maybe a little too harshly than was strictly necessary, grabbing pony’s face to look at his eye. it was already bruising, a couple of blood vessels popped in his eye.

“jesus christmas, go easy on him, darrel,” soda pushed his hands away and hugged ponyboy to him, both of them shaking.

“when i want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, i’ll ask you, kid brother,” darry practically shouted. he was having a hard time getting his heart to stop racing.

“pony, what’d you do to piss off the socs?”

“i didn’t do nothing,” pony spat back at him.

“you were prolly on the west side again, weren’t you?”

“it’s the only place they’re showin’ the new paul newman movie!”

“you and your goddamn movies. you know those bastards’ll be waiting for you!”

it was lucky that the rest of the gang had gotten back from chasing the socs off, becuase once the two of them started going at each other, it never really ended well. johnny put an arm around pony and offered him a cigarette. darry let out a sound that might have been discouraging, but with the way pony looked up at him, he knew the damage had been done.

darry dragged himself over to the jungle gym, taking deep breaths and subtly trying to get himself together. the rest of the gang was crowding around pony, rooting for him and offering him what comfort they could.

he knew he’d messed up, been too hard on the kid. he should have hugged him, told him he was glad the socs didn’t hurt him that bad. hell, he should have dropped to his knees when pony woke up, but he didn’t. god, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for pony but when he got too worked up it came off all wrong.

“two-bit, you got your grease?”

oh, god.

[the-fiction-witch]

Sugar

Media The Artful Dodger

Character Jack Dawkins

Couple Jack X Reader

Rating SWEET AF

Requested Could you do a Jack Dawkins imagine where Jack meets Y/n in a side street when taking a break from the hospital (and ykyk they both get to start liking each other). But then Jack consents for a kiss but she kinda gets all nervous cause she's never had a first kiss...

I smiled as I sat on the little stone wall my back against the metal posts watching the clouds roll on by for a while. I heard the door behind me and perked up, turning to see a familiar figure.

"Ohh Afternoon Dr Dawkins," I greeted with a smile,

"Oh, Afternoon Y/n. What were you doing out here?" he asked as he came down the stairs still shook his hands off from freshly washed them inside clearly just got done with something and just cleaned off his hands. 

"Just on a breath, the scent of blood, bile and bodily fluid takes you after a while in there."

"Well you're not wrong." he chuckled and sat down beside me with a pleasant smile, "Prof likes it like that."

"Good for him, does he lack a nose? Mouth? and eyes?"

"He has them whether or not any of them work is highly debatable," 

"What about Sneed?"

"Ohh Sneed doesn't come down to the ward," He laughed, "Mr high and Mighty, Mr Fancy Britches, Mr don't Ether People. He thinks he is too good for the ward."

"what about you? Doesn't it bother you?"

"It bothers me, not much I can do about it, I clean it He'll fire me and put it back how it was in two days." He explained, "Besides, Sort of desensitized to much of it now."

"I imagine you likely are." 

"You get used to it over time." 

"I'm sure I will, what are you doing out here?"

"Ohh you know, just cut a guy's arm off. Felt like having a minute." 

"That's fair," I nodded, 

"I never imagined you wanting to work here."

"Becuase I'm a girl?"

"No, Becuase you're sweet."

"Shouldn't a nurse be sweet?"

"A nurse should be sweet, she should have a good bedside manner. But... You are too sweet."

"Too sweet?"

"You care about everyone, to a fault. In a hospital that's dangerous. Yes you want your nurses to care for patients be sweet and kind to them and it does always help if your nurse is sweet to you." he winked which made me blush, "But you're so sweet, that you care for everyone no matter anything else, you want to do what's for them. And yes that is a fantastic quality to have..." he explained,

"But?"

"But, You haven't been here that long, you're still new to nursing and what you will find out soon enough is that... you can't save everyone as much as we want to." he explained, "And yes believe me that takes time to get used to more than the smells, the sights, the blood. The first time you lose a patient it will never ever sit right with you. Every doctor, every Nurse, carries the weight of everyone they've lost..." he explained, "You can't blame yourself, but you do." 

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Jack. One lost patient means that maybe ten more won't die the same way." 

He smiled briefly, "That's a sweet way to look at it." he nodded, 

"Well, I have a sweet way to look at most things," I smiled,

"You do, and you do a lot to help people, you are very kind and caring, and Very Very Sweet."

"I can always help Jack,"

"But it worries me."

"Why?"

"I worry, the first time you lose someone you'll never get over it I tell you that now as a twenty-eight-year-old surgeon who started training on a ship at fourteen. That first one never quite leaves you." he explained, "I worry that you're so sweet it'll change you." 

"Change me?"

"But you're so sweet that... what's gonna happen when you have a patient you can't help. sometimes you can't help people. Sometimes there is nothing you can do but hold their hand and see them into the next life. Sometimes you have to sit and watch them die slowly and in agony staring into their eyes as their life leaves them knowing there is nothing you can do. You have to sit there and stare into the eyes of a child as they beg you for dead, knowing you can't do anything to help them. And you can't just sit back and think of them as bodies, they were people a person is below your fingers, with a life, dreams, hopes, a family." He explained, "How sweet will you be after all the things you'll witness here." 

"I don't know," I answered,

"How sweet will you be if we save someone, some man from losing his arm, only to find out he'll go home and use that arm to abuse his wife? How sweet will you be saving a girl's life with a surgery that will make her infertile and telling her she'll never get the have children because of what you've done to save her? How sweet will you be watching someone walk out of the hospital refusing treatment knowing they will die without help but knowing you can't force them? A nurse needs a good bedside manner I will not deny but this work is cruel, harsh, and bitter. And I am afraid you will not be so sweet after a few weeks here." 

"Would it be so bad if I wasn't so sweet anymore?"

"I think it would, I don't think the world should lose someone as sweet as you," 

"Maybe I'll still be sweet after all this, maybe all this horror will make me sweeter to see the world for what it is."

"That's a long shot."

"But not impossible."

"No... Not impossible."

"How do you stay so sweet?" 

He chuckled, "You think I'm sweet?"

"You are to me." 

"It's easy to be back to someone who's so sweet to start with." he smiled, and for a while, we just sat watching the clouds together, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," 

"do you taste like sugar?"

"What?" I giggled,

"You're so sweet, I'm curious if you taste like sugar?"

I giggled and licked my hand, "I just taste soap." 

He laughed at me, "Could I kiss you?"

"Hum?" I asked as I hadn't really been listening, 

"Could I kiss you?"

"Why?"

"I wanna know if you taste like sugar or not?" he shrugged with a playful smile, "So? would you let me kiss you?"

"Ohhhh i uhhh I uuhhhh I ummmmm" I stuttered blushing bright red, 

"Whats wrong?" he chuckled,

"I uhhh I'm just auhhh I uhhhhh" I nervously blushed, 

"I'm sorry Y/n." He said, "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." He smiled, "It's perfectly fine, I shouldn't have asked anyway."

"No no! No, it's not that I'm uncomfortable I just uhh I'm sorry I..."

"What is it?" he asked seeming concerned, 

"I've never kissed anyone before."

"What?" He chuckled, 

"I've never been kissed before."

"Never?"

"No."

"Not ever?"

"No."

"In your whole life!"

"No..."

"Awww, You sweet little thing." he cooed, 

"I uhhh I wouldn't mind kissing you."

"You wouldn't?" 

"No,"

"Really, I'd be honoured to get to be the first one to kiss you."

"You would?"

"Of course, such an honour to be a girl's first kiss." 

"Well, I would like you to kiss me."

"Then I'll happily kiss you," he smiled, he took my hand and gently kissed it, "Ohh your right very soapy."

"I washed my hands before I came out," I giggled,

"well they are very soft," he smiled as he stoked his thumb across my hand, he moved a little closer and fixed the hair behind my ear, and his hand stroked my cheek, He smiled and moved closer to the tip of his nose stroked my own "May I kiss you Y/n?"

"You May Jack..." I blushed,

He nodded and smiled before he closed the gap between us and pressed his lips to mine, they were a little cracked but still very smooth, he tasted like oranges and had a metallic sting of blood, his skin smoothly smooth, the tip of his hair tickled my forehead a little his hand still stroked mine, I kissed back gently still a little taken back but I was on cloud nine so very thrilled and happy. He pulled back and smiled, he ran the tip of his nose across the bridge of mine and smiled widely, 

"That was... Amazing..." I gasped,

He chuckled, "I'm glad you liked it, I did too. I must say for your first kiss you were very good." he nodded,

"Thank you," I blushed, 

"And I can confirm, you do taste like sugar." he smiled, 

I giggled a little "I do?"

"You do, My sweet little sugar Nurse." 

"Awww," I blushed, "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"May I kiss you?"

"You may," He smiled, 

I was nervous but I moved closer and pressed my lips to his, he happily smiled and kissed me back. The two of us just sat for a while in the sweet sun kissing for what could have been hours I didn't care I never wanted this moment to end. 

We pulled back as the door opened and we both glanced at the door to see Tim at the door, we both blushed a little to think we had been caught,

"Jack, Man's come in with a shattered foot." 

"Coming," Jack nodded,

Tim headed in which left us alone again, and Jack smiled and offered his hand.

"You-"

"I need my sweet sugar nurse with me don't I?"

I giggled and took his hand, he stood us both up and gave my lips a final kiss before we rushed inside to deal with this. 

[luxury-nightmare]

Mom says it’s my turn on the writing

He knew something was wrong with that place the moment he took the job. The long narrow hallways bathed in red light, the screams of the patients who were just being ignored, the goggles that obscured the employees faces, making it hard to read their expressions.

The caretakers.

He shivered at the thought of them. He had taken this job out of necessity, not out of want. He was a starving artist by any use of the term, working on commercials, infographics, and other projects to make use of his degree, while his own project was shelved until he had enough money to start working on it.

He has never been particularly social, so when the asylum let him work alone with little to no human contact that was fine with him. The one person he did see on the regular was Alex, and intern who did the voice acting for the training tapes. They were nice enough, trying to talk with him despite his more, eccentric tendencies.

So when he got a call from an unknown number, he just assumed it was from them.

He was right, just not in the way he thought.

“Hello?” He said into the phone. “Oh Mort thank si-God you picked up” Alex’s voice was panicked and breathy. Mortimer raised an eyebrow. “Are you ok Alex?” He asked.

“Not particularly,” they replied, “I might need to stay at your place for a while, can I come over for a minute?”

Mortimer looked at his apartment. Half empty paint tubes and pencils covered in bite marks eclipsed every conceivable surface. An ink stain the size of Antarctica stained his rug, half covered by the papers that littered the floor. “Could I maybe get back to you on that?”

“No time, I’ll find somewhere else if you need it-“

“It’s fine I just need a minute to clean” Mort replied “talk later”

“Oh also there’s something you need to kno-“ Mortimer hung up. Jesus it’s been forever since he’s had a guest.

—————————————————

Alex arrived at his door, out of breath and clearly shaken by something. He looked at them, before gesturing for them to come inside. He had made the place look, less terrible than when he had gotten the call. “You’re a lifesaver Mort” Alex said. “Called you on my burner phone, didn’t know if you would pick up” they muttered to themself.

His eyes dropped to their hands, stained with ink in stripe like patches. He didn’t know they drew.

They turned back to Mortimer, concern in their eyes. “Hey, uh, Mort, there’s something I need to tell you-“

But before they could finish, Mortimer’s vision went weird, every color seemed too bright, and he was suddenly aware of how his clothes rubbed against his skin. The feeling that he was being watched came upon him like lightning, and he turned back towards the door.

Only to be met with a monstrous grin.

Do not trust anyone you see wearing this costume.

The creature was crouched over so it could fit in the doorway, wearing a costume both too big and too small for it. It’s body was thin and boney, dark as night like a rotten corpse drowned in ink, and crooked yellow eyes stared into his soul with hunger, like something out of a nightmare.

He stood, frozen in terror, eyes locked at this thing before him. He had drawn it so many times for the asylums tapes, but any familiarity that could’ve brought was washed away as his breath went ragged and ice rushed through his veins.

Dear lord this was why Alex was so scared on that phone call. They were being chased by that thing, and now they were both going to die. Why did Alex lead it here? Why did he do to deserve this? He shut his eyes tight, waiting for it to end.

“Yeah, I was trying to warn you,” Alex’s voice came from behind him. Mortimer whipped around, staring at them in confusion. “Clyde, this is Mortimer. Mortimer, this is Clyde”.

Mortimer turned back to the demon in his doorway in utterly shock. He watched as the demon rolled its eyes and moved past him with inhuman flexibility, only to stop at Alex’s side, tail curled around their wrist subconsciously.

“Do you think we were followed?” It asked Alex. God it’s voice grated on his ears like sandpaper, an overlapping cacophony stolen from so many different people.

But before Alex could respond, the screech of police sirens pierced the brief silence. Red and blue lights blinked outside Mortimer’s window, and a sense of panic rushed over him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw police officers approaching the open door.

And in a split second, Mortimer made his decision.

He shut the door harshly and gestured to the closet down the hall. Both Alex and Clyde seemed to get the memo, rushing down the hall and piling into the closet. ”hey sir!” Mortimer opened the door again, looking the police officer in the eyes, praying to whatever higher entity their was that he didn’t notice how hard he was sweating.

Dear lord please don’t let him be dripping again

”we have been trailing a wanted criminal, and you two have shared some kind of connection, correct?” The officer questioned. “Nope, no, don’t know who you’re talking about?” Mortimer replied, perhaps a little too quickly. The officer raised an eyebrow.

“One Mx. Alex Willams. You two have worked together.” He stated. Mortimer cursed internally. He wasn’t buying this. “Oh the intern, yeah they voice acted for me a couple times, why?”

“They have been conspiring with the Eastridge demon.” The shock of that was still fresh in his mind, so he put on a convincing enough show of shock. “Do you have anything to do with this?”

“No, no, absolutely not. Don’t know a thing Mr. Officer Sir.” A look of suspicion crossed the officer’s face, and Mortimer’s heartbeat spiked.

“Hold on sir,” a second police officer walked up the the one at the door “this one is, probably not the greatest the interview. He’s a little” she twirled her finger around her head, the indication was clear, and Mortimer suppressed a growl. He know people judge him often, but at least they had the decency to do it behind his back.

The officer nodded and turned around “we’ll be in touch Mr. Gray”. Mortimer looked in relief as they walked back to their cars and drove away.

Mortimer shut his door and rushed to the closet, where Alex and the Demon were packed inside like sardines. The both fell out clumsily. Mortimer looked down at Alex, offering his hand, which Alex gladly took. Once they were back on their feet, Mortimer took a breath.

“Alex”

“What the fuck”.

Inspired by @slimeboygirlfriend fic “Starving artist” and this original idea came from @purplechaosguardian

I’m using this fic to set up some stuff for a later fic I wanna do.

remember what I wouldn’t let die on the old whiteboard?

[peakyltd]

Angel | Tommy Shelby (Dark/Angst)

A/N: I was planning on writing something totally different but suddenly this idea came up and I decided to go with it. I put it together pretty fast so I hope it doesn’t feel too rushed. I guess you can count this one as a dark fic. Otherwise it’s just a lot of angst. The ending was supposed to be more comforting but I decided I wanted more angst so I’m here to break your hearts.

Warning: DARK/ANGST. Mentions of blood, fighting, dying, death, loss, war, mild swearing. Just a pretty dark fic in general.

Word count: 1208

The tunnels were dark and breathing became hard. Tommy and his comrades were doing their best to keep as quiet as possible. The pounding of his heart was clearly present in his ears, he was terrified. Terrified to die in these horrible tunnels they were digging. 

He tried to think about things that kept him sane but his mind was racing. He didn’t want to show his comrades that he was afraid, he was a leader and leaders can’t be cowards. 

He held the lamp in front of him as he heard the digging on the other side of the walls, his hand shaking of fear. They were close and he knew it. He heard their muffled voices as he glanced quickly over to his men behind him. Not just his men but his friends, all from Small Heath, he had known them for years. Freddie, Danny, Barney, they were all there. He could see the panic in their eyes. 

His eyes focused back on the sand that was dropping from the walls in front of him as he held his breath. His grip on the lamp tightened as he heard voices becoming less and less muffled. 

Suddenly the barrier between them and the voices broke. A soldier attacked him. He heard the shouts of his comrades while he tried to fight the man off. Danny tried to help Tommy but a shot rang trough the small tunnel, he heard Danny scream in pain.

Tommy tried to reach for them, for something but he wasn’t able to. Another shot was heard and screams of both Danny and Freddie filled the tunnels. He was still fighting the soldier that was on top of him. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and stomach. Tommy reached for his chest and felt some kind of liquid sticking to his hand.

He was trapped and realized that he had been stabbed. Another shot rang and the screams intensified. All he could hear were the unbearable noises of his dying friends, making it hard for him to concentrate. The soldier saw his chance and squeezed Tommy’s throat tightly, choking him.

Tommy grabbed his arms, trying to tear the hands off his throat. He struggled as the air in his lungs was cut off, tears forming in his eyes from the pressure. He needed to fight harder, he needed to safe his friends.

The volume of the screams started to fade and a few seconds later it was quiet. Tommy’s hands found the blade the soldier had stabbed him with and cut his face. The man screamed in agony and let go of his throat.

Tommy pushed him off, stabbing the man multiple times. Rage raced trough his body, he kept going until the man didn’t respond anymore.

Tommy stared at the body, breathing heavily. Reality hit him as he dropped the blade, quickly looking over to his comrades. They layed on the ground, mud and blood covering their bodies. He crawled over to them, panic washing over him as he tried to wake them.

They weren’t responding. None of them. Tommy screamed at them to wake up, to get out. They didn’t move.

A rumbling sound was coming trough the tunnel as sand fell down on him. He tried to drag his men back but it was too heavy for him to do it on his own.

He needed to get out of the tunnel as soon as possible but he couldn’t leave his comrades, his friends. Tears streamed down his face as he was begging them to wake up.

The tunnel collapsed in front of him, burying some of the bodies. Tommy tried to flee to the other side but got trapped under another part of the tunnel that collapsed on top of him.

He tried to crawl out of it but before he had a chance he was buried in pure darkness. The sand was slowly suffocating him and there was no way to escape.

He was left to die in the mud. He had failed his men and he had failed himself.

Suddenly he felt a hand brushing over his chest, then he felt the same on his shoulder, followed by a squeeze. A soft voice was heard somewhere in the distance but he couldn’t make up who it was.

The voice came closer, it was soothing. He was still surrounded by nothing but pitch black and the sand was still suffocating him. “Tommy?” It was the voice again. Was he dead already? He must be. The voice was soft and silvery, only an angel would have such a voice and he certainly wouldn’t go to heaven.

“Tommy, please.” He shot up, his eyes wide and breath heavy. He looked around and found himself in bed, his wife next to him. She had a worried look on her face. Did he take her with him? He couldn’t remember he saw her face in the tunnels.

“Tommy” She said softly. “I’m here, you’re safe.” She added, stroking his hair. A small, reassuring smile on her face. 

“They all died.” Tommy mumbled while he grabbed her hand, staring at her face. “It’s not your fault.” She told him softly. “We’re not dead. Are we?” He asked her, a hint of hesitate in his voice.

“You’re not, love.” She assured him. Tommy let go of her hand and rubbed his face, pressing his palms against his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, the memories came flooding back in.

“Fuck.” He mumbled, he removed his hands from his face and looked back at her. She was gone.

He called out her name but got no response. He decided to get up and look for her downstairs. A faint light came from under his office door. What the hell would she be doing there?

He entered his office, hoping he would find her there but he didn’t. He made his way to his desk, his eyes fell on the ring that was stored carefully next to a picture of her.

It was her wedding ring. He knew he was missing something when he held her hand. He sat down in his chair, staring at the picture in front of him. He took a cigarette from the case that was laying on his desk, lighting it.

It had been months since she had passed. Her death was sudden, a mistake and he blamed himself for it. He missed her so much, she was the only one to keep him sane at times. She always knew how to help him, how to calm him down. 

She still tried to, once in a while she visited him.

He wished she could stay a little longer, to comfort him and tell him that she loved him. And then he could tell her how much he loved her, how much she meant to him. He regretted that he didn’t tell her that more often.

But she left all too quickly. He couldn’t blame her, at least she still took the time to come tell him that he was safe, to wake him from his horrible nightmares. He was happy to see her face, even though it was just for a minute.

Hopefully she would come back soon.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Do you remember the asks I sent a while ago about how another hero would have risen faster if Zelda had let link die in the calamity and the new hero’s « imaginary friend » was the spirit of botw link acting as the companion for the new hero? And how it would make botw link’s family feel? Do you think you could write something with that?

(@wildsage00 @luckybyrdrobyn @artisticgamer)

There was chatter of a strange swordsman amongst the gossipers in Hateno.

Abel was wary of it. He didn't like when there was "exciting" news in Hateno. He preferred it when the village was quiet. It had been quiet for so long, any change in the status quo immediately put him on edge.

He could only handle so much these days. Hylia knew Lyra was enough of a handful.

It had been fifteen years since the Calamity. Fifteen years since he'd lost nearly everything, fifteen years since he'd failed in his duty as a knight, as a husband, and as a parent, fifteen years since he'd buried his soldiers, civilians, his father-in-law, his wife, and his son all within the span of a few weeks.

He still had never spoken of it since then.

In a way, it was foolish of him not to bring it up. Clearly Lyra was just as affected as him, and she had far more of her mother's temperament than his own. He handled the matter silently while she fell apart. He held her while she cried herself to sleep night after night, shivering from nightmares, begging him to make it better and find a way to bring her family back.

She'd stopped crying, after a while. He'd hoped it meant she was improving, but he knew better. His daughter's one saving grace was that both her parents were stubborn, and she had inherited that. It had been interesting, watching which child took after which parent and how they blended them together. Link had always been sensitive, and he had grown quiet under pressure, putting duty above all else like his father. Lyra had always been louder like her mother, understanding the importance of duty but always questioning it; despite this, she held much of her father in her, growing resistant, angry, driven, outright frightening in the face of pressure. She would rise to the challenge and destroy any obstacle in her way out of pure spite if she had to.

As the years had gone by, Lyra's stubbornness and anger came to a head in her adolescence, that horrid time when a desire to grow, naiveté to the world, and self centered viewpoint all mixed into a stubborn and emotional teenager who wouldn't listen.

Those years had been difficult. Abel and Lyra had fought many times, and he'd had to leave the village in search of her more often than he cared to recall. She'd been insistent on learning how to fight, on reclaiming Hyrule as if she could do so by herself, on picking up her brother's sword and killing Ganon singlehandedly.

Those years had... strained their relationship. But they were trying to rebuild. Abel had compromised, teaching her a little of how to fight. She patrolled the forest just outside of Hateno and fought off monsters. Every time she returned with excited tales of her victories his smile grew a little more. It was a fair arrangement, and it kept things quiet and peaceful.

Until the talk of a swordsman started.

Visitors to Hateno Village were a rarity. No one dared venture out of whatever safe haven they had found the first few years after the Calamity. Refugees trickled into town the first few years and Hateno could barely support them. It wasn't until close to a decade later that anyone dared explore once more, and that was when word spread of the dangers of travelers. Strangers were watched warily these days.

Abel washed some dirt off his hands by the pond as he listened to some women gossiping. He heard feet shuffling and glanced to see Uma, one of the village teenagers, approaching him.

"Sir Abel, Mom says there's a swordsman in town," she noted.

Abel hummed noncommittally in acknowledgement.

"Have you seen him?" Uma continued gently.

Abel sighed. Uma was one of the chattier kids in the village, and she found events outside of Hateno fascinating. Naturally, she gravitated towards those who had any sort of experience with the rest of the world, so Abel had been victim to her interrogations in the past. An exciting visitor was definitely likely to pique her interest. "No. And you'd best be careful about him."

Uma gave a small pout, nodding a little in acknowledgement before asking, "Do you know where Lyra is?"

As a matter of fact, Abel did not know. Given the current excitement buzzing through town, he probably should look for her. "No."

"Oh. Ok. Can I get you anything before I go, Sir Abel?"

Abel paused from drying his hands on his tunic. The question was spoken innocently from the lips of a child who didn't know any better, but its origin was something he didn't care to think about.

Hateno Village was not a large place. Everyone knew everyone. They had all known Abel and his family, they had all seen Link walk through town to get home with a legendary blade on his back. Though many didn't know the happenings of Hyrule, word spread of the Hero of Hyrule, the Princess' Champion, and his role in destiny. Just before the Calamity it had gotten bad enough that Link no longer spoke in to anyone in the village and barely uttered a word in the safety of his family's home. When everything had fallen apart...

Well. Abel didn't care for the way people looked at him. Most did so with pity. Some with curiosity, eager to hear what had actually happened. The mayor had been kind enough to prevent any sort of interrogation. Over the years the concern and nosiness had transferred to their children. Uma was a kind soul from a kind family, and had clearly been told that Abel was in need of help, and so she always offered when she could.

He hated it.

"No," he answered quietly, and the teenager traipsed off, likely in search of Lyra, unbothered by his short responses.

Sighing, the world weary man turned and nearly ran into yet another teenager, though he immediately realized this one was not from the village. Based on the boy's dark complexion and black hair, he looked like he could be from Lurelin Village, one of the few remaining hamlets in the entire country. He was built strong; though short in stature, his muscles were apparent, sculpted from training though still softened by youth. He wore garb from the fishing village, all the more confirmation to Abel, and, as suspected based on the rumors, he had a sword on his back alongside multiple travel supplies.

Abel watched the boy warily. He hadn't expected the swordsman to be this young, but he still didn't trust him. What was he doing here, anyway?

"Um... hi," the teenager said, shifting in place awkwardly. "I... heard that girl--Uma? She... she called you Sir Abel. Are you Sir Abel?"

"What do you want?" Abel asked, crossing his arms and staring the boy down.

The teenager shriveled a little under his gaze before glancing to his right, staring at something for a moment. He took a shaky breath, his hazel eyes darting back to Abel for a moment.

Something about this kid was off.

"My... I..." the kid tried awkwardly, and then gave a sharp bow. "Sorry! I'll leave now!"

With that, the boy rushed by him, heading for the village inn. Abel watched him go, hackles less raised than before as he grew bemused.

XXX

The inn was really nice. Like, much nicer than the one back home. Of course, he guessed more people came here. Hateno was more centrally located. Maybe that was it.

Link didn't know. All he knew was this place was so big and overwhelming. He missed home.

After paying for a place to rest, he dragged his feet upstairs, thankful that he had the place to himself. Then he looked hesitantly to his right. "I'm... I'm sorry. He's... I..."

"It's okay," came the always quiet voice as the Hero reappeared, eyes downcast. "He can be intimidating."

Link watched his companion worriedly. The Fallen Hero often had an air of sadness to him, but he usually tried to hide it behind a neutral face or a small smile. Today had been a nerve wracking day for both of them - as soon as he'd been given this new task he'd seen the tension in his companion increase, and he'd spoken even less.

"You said he was the captain of the guard," Link offered with a shrug, trying to cheer him up and also trying to figure this out. "I mean... captains sound intimidating."

The Hero huffed a little, not commenting, still gazing somewhere far beyond where Link could reach. He wondered if it had to do with the Hero's guilt. Link had seen his friend through the years, playing with him, and as he'd grown older the visits had been fewer and far between until the Hero had finally admitted his true destiny with reluctance. He had apologized, stating that the fault was his own, but had promised to be with him every step of the way. Link had found what answers he could from his family and his village, but not much was known about the Hero of Hyrule except that he, alongside all the other Champions, had been killed.

Link supposed the true issue, then, was that the Hero's guilt made him think that he had failed the captain of the royal guard. After all, he had been tasked with protecting not just Hyrule, but the princess specifically. Now she was trapped in the castle.

This entire side quest was... terrifying to Link. He had been traveling with his friend for a good while now, but after many battles and growing in strength, the Hero had said they needed to find Sir Abel, who would be able to help him find the legendary sword that they would need to defeat Ganon. That had led them to Hateno Village.

The idea of taking the mantle of Hero had not quite sunk in until he'd realized that once he accepted that sword, he accepted his destiny. Having to do so was already weighing heavily on him... having to speak to such a scary looking man didn't help.

He kind of looked like his friend, though. That was weird.

"I'll talk to him, I promise," Link said as he sat on the bed. "I just... need to come up with a good way to approach him. Got any tips?"

The Hero hugged himself, looking opposite of Link.

Well, great. His friend was really upset about this. Link sighed. "Hey. It's... don't feel bad about... him. The Calamity destroyed the entire country and killed all the Champions. You know that it's... it's okay, right?"

He'd been trying to have this conversation for a while now. It was obvious his companion bore the weight of the entire Calamity on his shoulders. He'd tried dancing around the subject, thanking him for his help, saying he was great fun to be around. It had been complicated at first - he'd wondered if the Hero had befriended him as a child just to manipulate him into doing his duty when he was older. But he knew this person - he knew the reason he'd befriended him was out of shame, not some devious ulterior motive. So he'd been trying to cheer him up, because any joy he'd seen in his friend had slowly drained out of him as their quest had progressed.

The Hero looked back at him, face stony.

Link huffed. "It's okay. I wouldn't expect you to stop an entire freaking army of guardians. They look really creepy."

"You haven't faced one yet."

"Yeah, yeah, so I don't know how strong they are, whatever," Link said dismissively. "They still look freakishly strong."

"That's why I've told you stay away from Central Hyrule."

"Okay, but like, there were a million of them at the fort on the way here."

The Hero grew silent.

"Did... did Sir Abel fight them?" Link asked hesitantly. When he got no response, he sighed. "We'll figure it out, okay? I'll get the sword."

"Please," his friend suddenly said. "Don't... don't try to do this for me. I don't want you to do this for me."

"You want me to do it for Hyrule?"

"I want you to choose to do it."

"I already did," Link answered immediately. "I chose this. And I'll, uh... choose to maybe try some of the local food and go fishing before I get near that guy again."

His companion chuckled, a rare smile pulling at his lips. "I'll think of a way you can approach him in the meantime."

"Great! You think about it so I don't have to," Link chirped happily, hopping to his feet. "Maybe we can talk at dinner?"

"You know I can't maintain my form that long."

"Breakfast?"

His companion pointed outside the window, and Link slowly walked to it. This was another trial, wasn't it?

"Get the spirit orb from the shrine," the Hero instructed. "I'll meet you after that."

"Spirit orb. Got it." Link nodded, turning to smile only to find himself alone in the room. He felt a little cold and empty all of a sudden, sad and lonely, but he tried to shake it off. He wished his friend could just stay with him, but he guessed it took work being a spirit in a land of... not spirits.

Link looked back outside, catching sight of the knight he was supposed to talk to. The man was wandering by the inn, throwing a wary glance its way. The fisherman gulped.

Later. He'd deal with it later. It was time to relax for the day, and then defeat the shrine in the morning so he could talk to his companion.

They'd figure this out together, like they always did.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

*beating my head on the table anytime i see any statement whatsoever about who did or did not kill jesus*

Tl;dr: Everyone killed Jesus. Including you. And that's really freaking important.

The answer is everyone, btw. Literally everyone on earth. Peter straight up says in the Book of Acts who is responsible: Herod. Pilate. Every single non-jewish nation on earth. The people of Israel.

Clearly Peter is not actually meaning to say that every individual in the world is responsible for Jesus' literal physical death (for which the answer is Judas of Kerioth and The Jerusalem Leaders: Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas, etc. Really just the religious and political authorities at the time). But it's obvious that by the time of the writings of the apostles, they've moved beyond thinking about Jesus' death in historical terms and are thinking about it theologically.

What does it mean for God to die? What does it mean for God to be willing to die? What does it mean for God to be able to die?

The answer they came to around the responsibility of Jesus' death was both historically and cosmically rooted. Historically, it was the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem. The romans leaders literally put him to death; the jewish leaders handed him over to be killed.

But the cosmic significance if of much more importance. Who cares who literally killed him? He's dead. What matters is why. Why did he die? And when you ask that question you get a new answer: Everyone killed him. Peter says it quite clearly, "in [Jerusalem] there were gathered together against your holy servant/son Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the nations and the peoples of Israel" Does that sound like the Jews to you? Does that sound like the Romans to you? No. That is everyone in every nation on planet earth.

What does that mean? Well look later in the same book. Saul (a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin) is perusing and imprisoning and killing (probably hellenistic-jewish) followers of the Way because in his mind they are blaspheming and idolatrous followers of a new cult and will bring down the wrath of God upon their people (which. valid.). But while he's on the Road to Damascus he has an apocalypse, an unveiling, where he sees a vision of the risen Jesus who tells Saul that he isn't persecuting idolatrous cultists, but is persecuting Jesus himself who also claims to be the Anointed One that Saul (and everyone else at the time) had been waiting for.

But the important thing is the first thing: Saul isn't persecuting his followers, he's persecuting Jesus himself. This same concept is played with in Matthew 25: when you see the poor, the incarcerated, the immigrant, the sick, the widow, etc etc etc. When you see the oppressed, it is not merely human beings you see, but it is God himself who identifies with their suffering. This is what Christians call the kenosis: that God emptied himself to become human, born of a poor girl in a washed up town, died the death of a cursed blaspheming slave. God is the God of the suffering. So to persecuted God is to persecute anyone. To kill God is to kill anyone. But especially vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Cain killed (the image of) God when he killed his brother.

Pharaoh killed (the image of) God when he killed the infants.

The kings of Israel and Judah oppressed (the image of) God when they oppressed the widow, orphan, immigrant, and poor.

They killed (the image of) God when they killed the prophets.

That soldier killed (the image of) God when he killed a poor man.

That rich woman abused (the image of) God when she abused her maidservant.

The conquistadors killed (the image of) God when they conquered the "West Indies".

The crusaders killed (the image of) God when they murdered Muslims and Jews.

The Spanish colonists enslaved and killed (the image of) God when they enslaved and killed off the natives.

I could go on. But I don't need to. You can already think of many. From the past. And from today. Need I mention antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny, rape, genocide, hinduphobia, etc etc etc.

Now, I've never persecuted or killed anyone. The total abolition of the use of death as a weapon and all that. But you know what, I have treated people as less than human. And so have you. If you claim you haven't, I don't believe you. We all have treated people as less than human before which is the foundation for how murder comes about. Which is why Jesus says bursting out in rage is just as bad as murdering someone. because when you do, you treat them like they're an object, and not an image (of God). Thus, we all have the blood of God on our hands. The question is about whether we are going to wash our hands clean of it, like Pilate. Or whether we're going to be washed in it, like the apostles.

[xxchumanixx]

Superstitious pt. 2.2

Niklaus Mikaelson x reader

Warnings/Tags: hurt, fluff, comfort, angst, strong language, violence

Authors note: It's so hard not being able to decide between these two - one day it's him, one day the other one - uff

The beginning might seem a little similar to the part two for Elijah, but be sure that it'll be something entirely different!

Anyways, here's part two for Niklaus! Enjoy!

And yes, Diego is still alive in this.

Read part one here!

Word count: 2.904

Wow.

You thought, your eyes following the particles dancing in front of you.

Since when do I see everything so clearly?

You were mesmerized by it, taking a second to admire it.

Then your hearing came back.

It almost crushed you, as every sound in a ten-mile radius seemed to be caught by your ears. Your brows furrowed as you flinched, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Swallowing you felt just how dry your throat was. I’m so thirsty. Why am I this thirsty?

Your eyes focused on the faces staring at you, slowly registering where you were. “What happened?” you croaked out, your voice barely above a whisper.

Elijah’s eyes shifted from you to the ground, his jaw clenched. Niklaus swallowed, averting his gaze as well. You turned, now looking at Rebekah, who didn’t seem like she wanted to give you an answer either.

You felt yourself become angry, the emotion pulsating through your body like the wave of an explosion.

Everything felt so strange, surreal.

Almost hyperrealistic.

As you swallowed again, desperately trying to fight the dryness in your throat, it dawned on you slowly. Your heart seemed to stand still - again -, as you finally grasped onto what had happened to you.

“I’m-” you cut yourself off, blinking rapidly. “I- I’m not human anymore.”

Without you noticing the tears started to flow down your cheeks, blurring your vision momentarily.

Your hand pressed on your mouth, trying to hold back sobs. You failed, as one slipped.

You flinched when Niklaus abruptly stood, leaving the room in a flash. He didn't even spare you a glance while doing so.

Your heart crushed, panic gripping it. Would he abandon you? Now that you were - about to be - a vampire?

Even if he himself was one, too?

Elijah stood up, walking over to you, before sitting down beside you. "I'm so sorry, Y/N." he apologized, stroking your back in an attempt to comfort you. "But I had to. Otherwise, you would have died."

You swallowed, as you let his words sink in.

I don't wanna die, yet. I want to live and thrive.

"So, I'm in transition right now, right?" you asked him, sniffling, but it was Rebekah who answered. "Yes. If you decide to live you need to drink blood. If not - I don't even wanna think about it."

You knew all too well what happened if you refused to drink blood. You would die - this time for real.

But you didn't want that.

"I will do it." you spoke confidently, wiping at your tear stained face. They both sighed in relief, before Elijah got up and left the room, gathering a blood bag for you.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Rebekah wanted to know, absent-mindedly scratching her arm. "What do you mean?" you asked back, confused. She tilted her head like she didn’t believe you. "About my brothers." she clarified, crossing her arms. "You know exactly what I mean. You're like a sister to me, but even I have to admit that it gets exhausting. They would fight for you to death and you can't seem to choose."

You swallowed, indeed knowing exactly what she was hinting at. But before you could respond, Elijah returned, a blood bag in his hands. "It's easier than drinking from a human - at least for the first time." he explained, showing you how to use it.

Swallowing, you grabbed the blood bag, it's heavy weight only intensifying the burden you were about to load on yourself.

You felt the veins under your eyes pulse, as you unscrewed the cap. The once irony smell was now sweet, almost luring you in. It seemed like it would wash all of your worries away, if you just took a sip.

Hesitantly, but still eager to get rid of the dryness in your throat, your lips curled around the opening of the bag, thankful for not having to splatter it all over you.

Breathing in deeply, which shot the sweet and intoxicating smell of the blood right through your system, you took the first sip.

It felt like you were reborn.

Never have you ever tasted anything this delicious, the rich flavor flooding your veins, tickling your tongue.

Eagerly you continued to drink, almost inhaling the cherry-like juice.

The blood bag made an unpleasant, squelching sound when you had emptied it, still trying to get more, though.

You savored the last drop of blood on your tongue, before you registered what just happened.

You had drank blood, and you liked it.

A lot.

Suddenly it seemed to burn your tongue, making you nauseous. Still, you tried pulling yourself together, inhaling shakily. You had to stay strong.

You were a vampire now.

Unsure of what to do with the now empty blood bag in your hands, you awkwardly put it down on the nearest table, almost missing and making it fall down instead. But your reflexes kicked in, catching it in lightning speed, before finally putting it down.

The fast movement made your head spin.

Looking back at the siblings you saw Rebekah smiling fondly. You could tell she was happy you decided to live.

Elijah seemed relieved, offering you a faint smile.

"Where's Niklaus?" you wanted to know, suddenly missing his smile in the picture. Elijah stiffened slightly, trying to cover it up, though. "I think he's in his drawing room." he explained, shoving one hand into his pocket. "He's less happy for you than we are."

You couldn't blame him, though. You understood him.

You nodded, before walking past Elijah, heading for the door.

"Y/N." he stopped you, one hand on your arm. "We should talk about what it means for you being a vampire now." You bit your cheek, swallowing your impatience as best as you could. "Later. Now, I need to see Niklaus."

You left them, only faintly hearing Rebekah mumble to herself, saying that you had already decided. But you brushed it off, not fully trusting you understood her right.

You heard him before you saw him. The canvas that barely missed you when you entered the room crashed against the wall, the wood splitting.

He didn't see you at first, though, caught in his rage with his back turned towards you. He threw everything he could get in his hands, shattering and destroying half of the interior.

"Nik." you spoke up, causing him to halt in his movements, the cup filled with brushes of different sizes still trapped between his fingers.

You heard his teeth grit, fearing for a moment they would break. He breathed rapidly, anger still rushing through his veins.

The cup in his hands shattered, as he clutched it tighter and tighter, causing you to flinch. His hand bled, but he didn't seem to care as the wounds already healed. His back was still towards you, but you didn't miss how stiff it was.

"Please, talk to me Niklaus." you pleaded, needing his attention.

He laughed humorlessly, before turning towards you, arms raised. "What do you want to know that your precious Elijah can't tell you?" he asked, a sardonic grin on his lips.

You faltered, brows furrowing.

"What do you mean?" you wanted to know, unsure what he could possibly be implying.

He huffed, shaking his head, before turning back around. "Oh, please spare me, love." he gave back, picking up a broken canvas. "Didn't he tell you? That there's a possibility of you being sired to him?"

You took a step back, not having thought about it, yet. But you were sure it wasn't the case, right? After all you didn't feel the strong need to fall at Elijah's feet, begging for his attention.

"I'm not sired to him." you explained, walking a few steps towards him. He was still picking at the canvas, not bothering to look up. "I can assure you."

He turned around to you in such speed you would have missed it with human eyes. The edge of the canvas was pointed at you, as he took a daring step closer.

"Do you know what it takes for one to be sired after being turned?" he wanted to know angrily, looking you straight in the eye.

"Love." you both said simultaneously.

You knew exactly what it took.

He seemed taken aback, mouth agape, before he licked his lips, biting down on the soft cushion. His eyes shifted from you to the ground, as the canvas fell from his grip with a dull thud.

"Love." he repeated, shaking his head slightly. "If you love someone deep enough when being turned by their blood, you can become sired to them."

You shook your head, taking another step towards him. "But I'm not sired to him, Niklaus." you tried to assure him. You had noticed how it seemed to crush your heart, seeing him like this.

Rebekah was right - you had already decided.

"Rare occurrence." he muttered, turning away from you again, brushing through his hair with his fingers. "Happens."

Your eyes widened as you realised he was about to give up to his brother - something you would have never expected to see.

"But-" you tried to defend yourself, about to tell him what you really felt, but he cut you off. "You should be grateful you get to pick." he told you, still not looking at you. "If you would have been sired-" he stopped mid-sentence, chuckling bitterly to himself. "Honestly, what difference would it make?"

You had enough.

"Niklaus, can't you see what I'm trying to tell you?" you shouted at him, throwing your arms in the air. "I'm not sired to Elijah, because I don't love him!"

He stiffened, back straightening. Slowly he turned towards you, confusion and anger written all across his features. But his eyes betrayed what he really felt - hope.

"I thought-" he started, but you weren't finished, yet. "Yes, Niklaus, you thought! Maybe you should for once start listening when someone tries telling you that they love you!"

You halted, shocked by your own words. You didn't mean to shout it at him like that, but now you couldn't take it back anymore.

You knew Elijah most likely heard you, but that was a problem for later.

A sudden fear rushed through your veins, picking at your skin like little ice crystals.

You feared he would push you away, deny you the love you so desperately craved from him. It was only now that you realized just how much you loved him. His characteristic smirk, his way of always showing you that you're important to him - just that you never realized just how important.

Now you did and you feared it was too late.

He didn't move at first, too stunned by your words. "You..." he spoke up, taking a hesitant step forward. "You love me?"

You swallowed, but nodded determined. He deserved to know.

"Yes, Niklaus. I love you."

A sound similiar to relief left his lips, before he closed the distance between you, grabbing your face in his hands. His lips met yours in such a heat it warmed up your entire body.

They moved in sync, almost like they were made for each other.

He was eager, you could tell by the way one of his hands found your waist, pulling you closer. Your hands wrapped around his neck, lightly tugging at the short hair.

You poured all of your feelings into the kiss, trying to make him understand just how much you truly loved him.

He took your breath away with his skilled tongue, easily dominating yours. His heavenly smell filled your nostrils and you could have sworn you never felt more alive than in this moment.

His lips found your neck, lightly sucking at the sensitive skin. Your breathing faltered, your hands gripping his hair tighter, trying to bring him impossibly closer.

"Klaus." a voice suddenly interrupted you, causing Niklaus to groan, before reluctantly letting go of your neck. Your cheeks heated up, making his lips twitch in amusement.

One of his daywalkers stood in the doorway, looking almost guilty for interrupting you.

Serves you right.

"Diego." Niklaus almost growled. "Can't you see we're busy?"

You could tell that Diego wanted to roll his eyes so badly. You knew him well enough, having shared a few conversations with the afro American vampire.

He seemed almost disappointed seeing you with Niklaus.

"Yeah, I saw. But I'm sure you'll want to see this." He pointed downstairs, indicating he had something important to show him.

Niklaus sighed displeased, still following Diego after quickly kissing your temple, making butterflies erupt in your stomach, taking you along with him.

Downstairs was a group of vampires gathered, a woman standing in the middle of them. Niklaus' face grew dark, as he seemed to recognize her.

He let go of your hand, stepping towards her. You stayed behind, not sure what was about to follow.

"I know you." he told her, the vampires parting to let him through. "Brave of you to turn up here."

She smirked at him, tilting her head. "I'm surprised she's still alive." she spoke, voice unwavering; sparing you a glance. "Though I assume she must be a vampire now."

Niklaus' patience burned down quicker than a match on fire, as he grabbed her by the throat, squeezing her windpipe.

"Who sent you?" he demanded to know, his eyes turning golden. The woman rasped out a laugh, causing Niklaus to squeeze even tighter. She yelped, suddenly fighting for her life, clawing at his fingers.

"Who sent you?" he repeated louder, pushing her against a wall, creating little cracks in the cement. "E- Esther!" the woman croaked out, as she desperately tried to save her life.

Niklaus went pale at the name of his mother, before his face turned even darker than before, anger causing him to shake as he snapped her neck with a flick of his wrist.

A deadly crack rang through the compound, making you flinch.

Niklaus let the limp body fall down, looking at it a second longer, lost in thought. Then he turned around, marching towards you whilst giving orders to clean up the mess.

He gently grabbed your hand - a stark contrast to his sudden mood, before leading you back to his drawing room.

"Aren't we gonna tell the others?" you questioned, as he sunk down on the couch at the far end. You sat down beside him, leaning your head on his chest. His fingers glided through your hair as you listened to his rapid heartbeat.

You could tell he was exhausted, the shock still deep in his bones.

"Not now." he quietly gave back, kissing your hair. "I first want to spend some time with you, before my mother gets the chance of ruining everything again."

You had heard the stories about Esther, knowing that she wanted to kill her own children. If she was back, it surely wouldn't take her long to show up in person.

You sighed, tracing circles on his shirt clad chest.

"I have the feeling this will get interesting."

[tkthrilla-writes]

The Stars and Moon (Part 1)

A Jotaro x reader fic

Jotaro couldn’t believe the little girl standing right infront of him, standing right infront of his home, his door! He couldn’t believe that she would show up out of nowhere and start making demands when he doesn’t even know who she is!

“I demand that you see my sister!” she yelled, she couldn’t be more than 16 years old, probably some entitled child.

“Yare yare, I don’t even know your sister or who you are! Get lost!” he yelled, now being absolutely fed up of this child’s antics, because of her he was going to be late for his lectures. And right after he managed to get on the right track with his studies, right after he put all that effort to catch up after missing out because of Egypt and his careless behaviour.

“Yes you do! And you’re the only one who can help her!” the girl insisted, Jotaro getting more than fed just walked past the girl, bumping into and making her stagger.

“For fucks sake! Shining Sun!” she yelled out, and out emerged a stand with the face of the sun and a body that was slim, long and stick like to accompany it. “You cannot run from the sun Jotaro!” she exclaimed using her stand to strike an attack. Ofcourse Jotaro was easily able to catch it with his Star Platinum, “My name is Savita Zeppeli! And you will help me save my sister!”

This is something that caught Jotaro’s attention! Savita, that’s the name she has mentioned on more than one occasion before on their trip together. Savita is the name of a person who she held dear. Savita, was the sister of (Y/n) Zeppeli.

As if caught in a trance, Jotaro Kujo turned slowly to face the young teen, and the longer he stared at her face, the more he can recognise the resemblance. It really was her, all those promises and hopes of meeting her one day have finally came to fruition. Allowing Star Platinum to fade away, which made Savita light her eyes in hope of finally being noticed, finally being listened to. Calling in her stand, Shining Sun faded in the sun’s light from where it came from.

He took one step, then another towards her, looking at her closely, not only did she look similar to her sister, but she held some scratches all over her face. Nothing too deep that won’t heal, but clearly, she had been through quite a lot. “Come inside,” he ordered her, walking back through the gate that led to his house. He led her to the tea room, “Stay,” he uttered nothing else but that one command, walking through the halls of his house to find his mother washing the dishes, he announced that he won’t be going to university that day, and that they had a guest.

Ever the optimist, Holly cheerfully prepared the tea to serve, while Jotaro contemplated what could be the reason for this sudden appearance. It had been 3 years since Egypt, they barely had any contact, both of them were living busy lives and even then the conversations would start to get shorter and shorter to the point where now, they haven’t spoken in over a year. Every time he tried to take initiative and call, all he would get is a message in a strange language and the line would cut. Around the firth time he just gave up, figuring she would contact him herself if she wanted to, even though he was never going to be ready to admit it that it had hurt him deeply.

Once the tea was ready, he took it back to the tea room, and placed it on the table in the middle, being sure to serve his guest some before making a cup for himself. Once tea was served for both parties, he planted himself on the opposite die of his so-called guest, straightened his hat to have it cover one eye, and stared intensely and menacingly, making Savita very uncomfortable.

“Um,” Savita squirmed where she sat till a thought occurred, “Ah,” she let out. Starting to dig through her pockets, “I managed to get in touch with our dad’s contacts, and um, they managed to give me your address, been finding a way to get into Japan with the visa and all that, plus there was money which I didn’t have and have to scrunch up somehow. Did you know travelling to Japan is very expensive?!” she started to ramble nervously.

“The point kid! Get to it!” Jotaro gruffed out.

This stopped Savita, she let out a shaky breath, “How… How well do you remember (Y/n)?”

“Well,” he gave a single word as his answer.

“Ok,” this made Savita even more uneasy but she tried to continue, “Well, after you guys finished stuff in Egypt, a few months later our dad died- car accident,” she said shakily not entirely sure where to go or start with what she was saying.

“My condolences.”

“Thanks, um, since then… (Y/n) has changed – a lot a lot more and, she started to stop everything she used to do, and now she just focuses on her work at her university- she’s doing her PhD by the way! I didn’t find out till a few months ago,” Savita once again started to lose focus.

“The point kid!” Jotaro is now getting impatient, but he is glad to hear the (Y/n) continued in her studies like she wanted to, back when they were travelling to Egypt she was wrapping up her Bachelor’s and that’s why she could afford to leave…. Just like he was wrapping up his Bachelor’s.

“The point is I am homeless, my house has been sold and gone, the one family member I have alive won’t talk to me, and the worst part is when I walked in on her and her fucking stand fighting eachother!” Savita snapped on the verge of tears now, heaving as if she was on the verge of a panic attack with all the accumulated stress she had,

Jotaro, while he felt for the kid, and could tell she was dealing with a lot, continued to persist to the point, especially at the little detail mentioned about (Y/n)’s stand. “How can her stand be fighting her? Moon’s Rising doesn’t have a physical manifestation.”

“It does now, and it’s creepy as fuck!” she sniffed. “Cazzo!” she cursed, trying to wipe away the snot slowly dripping. As much as it caught Jotaro off-guard, he couldn’t help but remember that night when they were fighting Dio, but keeping his composure, he just silently handed her tissue she could wipe her nose, “Grazzie,” she let out. “Anyways, it started happening last year, she had just finished her Master’s at the time, we still had our place then. That’s when it started to appear and he would just randomly start attacking her. They would literally ruin the house with their fights. It started to get so bad that she would leave the house and I wouldn’t see her for days, longest she would be out was a good couple of weeks!”

Jotaro hummed at this new information, “What does her stand look like?”

“Honestly,” Savita paused having a sad look on her face, quickly taking a sip of her tea to hydrate, “I really wish I didn’t know, it’s so creepy, just gives you chills. The best way to describe Moon is a stretched out old man.” She let out a shiver just thinking about the Moon stand, “his face is so wrinkly and stretched out, then there’s the smile that is also stretching!”

Not a lot to go on, Jotaro figured it would be best to move on to other questions but Savita beat him to it. “But it has gotten to… a point where… Moon takes over her body…”  she grew very nervous, hoping that would be the end of it and that Jotaro would just believe her. Something which he hardly did, but as unbelievable as it sounded, so did the whole world of fighting vampires with supernatural abilities that manifested themselves based on one’s fighting spirit.

“How does it happen?” he questioned further, still not showing that everything Savita said to him had phased him in the slightest, holding his stern and menacing glare in place. Though the fact that he had asked something about it made Savita relax and if anything, have a little bit of hope that he would help her.

“I only saw it once, and it looked painful…” she started to recount, “Moon had manifested and I thought it was going to be one of their fights again, but Moon was strangling her so hard that they started to fuse… together?” she slowed not even sure if she was using the right words to describe it herself. “Then Moon started to take over her whole body, and her face started to turn into Moon’s face!”

Jotaro sighed, “Where is (Y/n) now?”

“All I know is that she’s in Sweden. I know the university she is studying in, but that’s it,” she dug around more in her pockets to get out an address and picture of her. There she was, the topic of discussion, she looked so different from when he last saw her. She was so bright and full of life, her smile could shine anyone in the dark. But what Jotaro saw was not someone capable of such a thing.

Her eyes were sunken and had dark circles to them, her skin was an unhealthy pale tone with flat oily hair to compliment and complete the whole look. Her cheeks were hollowed like she hadn’t eaten in a while, she was malnourished. She looked sick. Deadly sick. Whatever was happening to her was quite literally eating her away.

While he was able to hold onto the glare on his face while seeing her picture, it broke his heart.

“Shortly after, was a few days,” Savita started again, “I left the house to go to school but when I tried going back home, I found someone else living in there saying they bought the place and just moved in,” she gulped some more tea, “been living bunker to bunker with the Speedwagon Foundation since then working odd jobs around,” she ended awkwardly.

“Stay here,” Jotaro interjected.

“What?” she asked in disbelief not sure she was hearing correctly.

“You’re staying here until we get things sorted and see what it going on,” Jotaro said nonchalantly, standing back up to let his mother know what is happening and that they will now be hosting a guest for an indefinite amount of time.

When he entered the tea room again to his new guest was already jumping on him, “So what’s the game plan? I mean it’s great you’re letting me stay here and all but are we going to Sweden? Are we going to look for (Y/n)? What’s happening?”

“I am going to my lecture,” Jotaro simply stated, causing Savita’s exciting face to drop, “What kid?” he huffed out.

“So we aren’t going to find (Y/n)? We need to help her!”

“Yare yare, you haven’t given me much information to work on, and I have a lecture to attend. My grades depend on it,” ironic he says this considering a few years ago he didn’t even care about his grades, but Egypt and (Y/n) helped to give him a nudge in the right direction. “But what you said is concerning, we will plan later when I get back,” he didn’t even give her time to respond, he just turned around and left the room. He left the house, left for his way to his lectures.

While it was not completely out of the ordinary to miss a few lectures here and there to travel to investigate Stands and their proper origins. So far he was able to travel to Egypt with his very good friend Jean-Pierre Polnaraff, and discover arrows that gave people the ability to either die… or have a stand ability.

So far all that they know about the arrows is that, and the fact that there are many of them…. Which is something concerning.

This thing with (Y/n) is something very concerning.

He will need to call his grandfather, Joseph Joestar, and even Polnaraff, to maybe come together and investigate what is happening with her.

A person fighting their own stand? And the stand taking over the person they essentially came from? The unimaginable within the unimaginable. This will have to be something he goes to see in person.

Jotaro started to think back to Moon’s Rising, (Y/n)’s stand, something that was very fitting of her. She was a person, albeit boisterous, someone who is able to sneak around and hide quite well. Moon’s Rising was not a Stand that was practical at fighting, but was still something effective when it came to fighting.

Moon’s Rising did not have a physical manifestation this much is true, and the simple reason for that was because Moon was simply a whisp of shadows. Moon’s abilities mostly consisted of taking control of another person’s shadow and controlling them via those means, it was also able to act as an extension of (Y/n) and aid in fighting and keeping people safe.

However, (Y/n) also had the ability of Hamon. So sometimes when the situation called for it, she would focus her breathing and concentration, and Moon’s effective reach would extend even more and even allows her to travel through her shadows, although not without limitations. One time during their travels, she had used her Hamon to try to teleport everyone to safety through the shadows in order to try to escape from an enemy stand user, but this had exhausted her greatly and led her to pass out for a couple hours. Since then, Joseph tried to teach her proper breathing techniques on how to better control and strengthen her Hamon. She had managed to get better, even going as far as to use it to punch air and use it to hit the enemies at a distance.

That being said, he couldn’t help but think about her all day, all through his lecture, and through his walk back home. Specifically, how they met.

It happened shortly after they had arrived in Singapore, a bit after Polnaraff was attacked in his hotel room. They were all walking through the streets following Joseph closely as he had seemingly led everyone through a very busy street.

“Oi, where exactly are we going?” Polnaraff piqued up trying to avoid bumping into anyone.

“We,” Joseph started bumping shoulders with someone who was in a particular hurry to get somewhere, they muttered out a quick ‘sorry’ before going along their way, “are here to meet someone, who will hopefully be joining us!”

“How can we be sure they won’t be an enemy stand?” Kakyoin questioned, not really holding any malice or threat in his voice, but more out of semi concern.

All Joseph did was let out a hearty laugh, “I promise you this person is on our side through and through!” he continued to lead them to through the street and into a building. The building was quite large and eccentric, with an outstanding interior to match. It was grand to say the least, a place where the five companions easily stuck out in the crowd, which seemed to die down slowly but was still very busy.

Jotaro was hardly paying any attention, merely just following where his grandfather was leading to. The crowd he was walking through seemed to notice his rough demeanour, and parted ways for him to keep walking. In the corner of his eye he would notice the occasional girl taking a second glance at him, probably to fawn over his appearance. But nobody really stopped him, everyone just kept on walking, which was just perfect for him. No attention, exactly what he wanted.

It wasn’t until Joseph started to stop by door to door to check which room to enter, did they finally reach their destination. He opened the door and walked in to reveal what looked like a little podium with rows and rows of seats. It was a lecture room. A large one at that. It was only then did it click for Jotaro that they were walking through a university and everyone outside were probably students heading off to their next class or leaving for the day.

“Well this is the place we are supposed to meet them,” Joseph exclaimed, adjusting his hat as he entered the room, looking around to see if anyone has arrived before them, “doesn’t seem like they have arrived yet.”

“Do you know when they will show up?” Avdol questioned, also examining his surroundings, keeping an eye out just in case someone nearby was to attack them.

 Jotaro said nothing to this as he was the last to enter the room, sticking by the door to look around.

“They said around this time, but usually they are quite the strickler for time. Hopefully they are just running late and nothing happened to ‘em.”

Then something happened that actually successfully startled Jotaro. A face just popped out of nowhere, and right upfront of his face, simply yelling, “Ciao!” with a big and bright smile on her face.

While Jotaro was frozen and startled, Kayoin and Polnaraff jumped slightly at the sudden noise as they were closest to him. Avdul merely turned around to see what was happening, meanwhile, Joseph just burst out laughing, very amused, “And there she is!”

The girl was standing, but she was standing on the wall, standing perfectly straight and normal, all except for her hair that was falling down to the fall. Standing nose to nose with Jotaro, turning as soon as she heard Joseph, “Zio Jojo!” she yelled, jumping off the wall and falling to the floor. Only not a single sound was heard of her falling and crashing, as she simply sunk further and disappeared to the ground leaving only a small black silhouette on the floor where she landed.

The silhouette travelled and made its way next to Joseph, with some people being on edge about it. But that was short lived as from the silhouette, she emerged from the floor, and as she had done so, she grabbed Joseph by the waist and lift him up off the ground in a tight hug. “It’s been way to long Zio! How are you?! Who are you guys?” she greeted and questioned. First impression got from the girl is that she was extremely scatterbrained.

“I am doing good (Y/n). My my you have grown so much since I last saw you!” Joseph cupped her face fawning over her.

“It’s been four years, since before I left Italy to come here!” she replied, as Joseph went from cupping her face to start pinching her cheeks.

“So long ago, how are your studies coming along?”

“They’re coming along, if everything works out I will be able to graduate in a few months. I know you explained everything on the phone and I said everything depends on my schedule,” she said a little disappointed, “buuuuuuuuut,” her mood shifted to that of excitement again, “I was able to pick up the slack and finish everything so I could help you guys out!”

“(Y/n),” Joseph said seriously, letting go of the girl’s face, “you know you shouldn’t overwork yourself like this, you’ve always been this like. It’s not good for you, and you make your father and nonno Ceasar upset.”

“I know I know, but I managed is what matters now and I get to be with you and help you guys out!” she gestured to everyone, this making Polnaraff and Avdul smile warmly. “Oh, I’m (Y/n) by the way, hi you guys!” she finally greeted with a large smile and slight bow. The light reflecting her posture and face perfectly, shining on the purple crescents she had under eyes.

It was then revealed that (Y/n) was the grandkid of Joseph’s very old friend, who he had known since his young Hamon training days in Italy. And with thanks to both her grandfather and father working at the Speedwagon Foundation she was able to get a scholarship to travel to Singapore for her studies. Now nearing the end of her Bachelors, hopes of travelling elsewhere to continue her education in another country for her Masters Degree. Joseph and (Y/n) seemed quite close, probably because he travelled quite a bit all over the world that he could afford to stop by and visit his old friend and that friend’s family.

Joseph and she then started to explain that she is a stand user that could prove useful and help out a bit on their journey to stop Dio and help save Jotaro’s mother. Turns out Joseph called her before they had left Japan and asked her if she wanted to join their Crusade, luckily after a couple of sleepless nights, while everyone was fighting for their lives to get this far, she was pulling all-nighters left right and centre, just so that she could finish her last assignments to be able to meet up with them on time.

She then explained how her stand ability Moon’s Rising worked using shadows, and if she concentrated enough with Hamon she would be able to enhance her abilities. Ofcourse she knew Hamon, her grandfather was around and to not let the art die, was able to teach her some basics before she left Italy for Singapore.

Overall she was a bright and young soul who got along well with everybody, while it took some time for Jotaro to warm up to her, she quickly wormed her way into his heart and became the official sunshine and smile of the Stardust Crusaders. She was the type of person who was willing to do anything for anyone and everyone, always trying to come up with a solution to help when it came to something personal or fighting an enemy stand user.

But that one scene that he witnessed from her. That was the thing that he couldn’t get out of his mind the most.

It was after the fight with Dio, it was confirmed that not only Avdol and Iggy, but also Kakyoin had lost his life that night in Egypt. Jotaro was very thankful to know that Polnaraff was ok, and that his grandfather was going to live after taking a knife to the throat. But (Y/n), after her attempt to slow Dio down, to buy Jotaro time to attack him, by grabbing onto his shadow. Ended up being a victim to the abilities of Za Wardo, and was flung viciously into a nearby wall, taking restaurant tables and a couple of streetlights with her. Suffering multiple blows to her chest and face not only by the hands of Dio, but also collateral damage from the street.

Luckily she passed out immediately so she did not have to bare the pain awake.

The most troubling thing that happened to her, was afterwards.

Jotaro had been running down the streets of Egypt trying to remember where her body was lying, hoping that she too survived the Dio fight, as images of her beaten and unconscious body had filled her mind. When still at a small distance, but having arrived. He noticed something quite strange.

Whisps of shadows were dancing behind her in the light. Moon’s Rising was called out. But she was unconscious so how could that be happening? Stopping for a literal second, that was when Jotaro saw it happen.

Two whisp-like hands emerged from the shadows, and were slowly reaching for (Y/n). Jotaro wasn’t aware of Moon having a physical manifestation, as far as he knew it was a stand quite similar to Joseph’s. And here is, two hands coming straight out of the shadows… and reaching for her neck… tightening their grip on her with a squeeze so harsh you can see her skin indenting to show that something was there.

The thing that made Jotaro start to move and panic again, was the moment that he saw the two hands start to shake (Y/n)’s already dead body, as if trying to choke the life out of her even more!

“OOOOIIIIIII!” he yelled out, Star Platinum being called out ready for a fight as much as he was tired, running towards her as quickly as he could. However, the moment he had arrived relatively close to her, the hands vanished and disappeared, letting her body slump down against the wall once more.

When she had woken up, a few hours later, Jotaro made sure to ask her about it. Though she denied Moon even having a physical manifestation and that if it did she would probably have known and told everyone about it. He immediately dropped the subject with her after that, just wanting everyone who made it to rest, and not wanting to start something that didn’t need to happen.

Those thoughts were what helped made his day pass. The fact that Savita had brought up Moon fully manifesting and quite literally fighting (Y/n) had triggered that memory in him. Now he wasn’t sure if he should have been more persistent with her on the subject since it has come to her dropping the radar and her to quite literally leave her family.

When arriving home, it was already quite late for Jotaro. He had met up with his mother in the kitchen, where she explained Savita was already asleep, and was so tired that she had barely been able to stay awake during dinner.

He didn’t even say anything to that, he just stood for a moment to show her that he heard her and registered everything that she said, before moving on to move towards the phone that hung from the wall. There he dialled a number where at this point he started to call a lot more these days, at least compared to three years ago, so he knew it by heart.

It rang once.

It rang twice.

Then he got a response as the person on the other line picked up.

“We need to plan a trip to Sweden soon Old Man, something bad is happening there.”

He called his grandfather, explaining the whole situation from start to finish, and how the youngest Zeppeli sibling found her way to his doorstep.

[heavensmtl]

TNGDH 41

As soon as I arrived in the village, I stopped at a merchant, and had him carefully package the goods and money, and had them sent to the nearby imperial palace.

I was tempted to put a bribe on it so that the top worker would come to me, but I knew I'd be too tired if I ran into Kyle, so I did the next best thing.

[The top of the castanets is responsible for moving items to each point. Find the item at the desired location!]

Thanks to the system's guidance, I didn't lose the money that Kyle had so generously given me. I don't want to waste his hard-earned money, even if I pretend it's not a penny or two.

‘By the way, this is what they do at the top.’

It’s just like a delivery service.

Afterwards, as I wandered around diligently, the ‘loading’ time came to an end. Now that I’m here, I’m reminded that time really is money.

-Squeak.

The replica hamster I had left behind was running out of time. As I watched another Cashew Nut disappear like melting snow, fatigue washed over me like a flood, and I fainted and fell asleep.

How much time has passed since then?

When I opened my eyes, I was on a rickety carriage. Since the surroundings were dark, I thought they had covered it with a black cloth…

-Squeak. (Ugh.)

Crazy motion sickness.

As I leaned against the wall and retched, what I thought was black cloth moved. It appeared that Kyle was hugging the hamster house while sitting in the carriage.

“Are you ok, Cashew?”

-Squeak…(Does it look like I’m ok?...)

“Do you get motion sickness too? You seemed fine when I was holding you. Anyway, this thing also resembles Shu.”

What can I do? It’s the same guy inside.

Kyle reached into the hamster house. I figured it was better than being inside the hard house, so I jumped into his palm.

Although his hand had a lot of calluses, it still felt warm and soft.

‘It’s definitely better.’

I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes.

The grand duke won’t be able to hold a hamster all the time until he arrives at the imperial palace, so he should get enough sleep now that it’s lying in his palm.

Rattle, rattle, rattle.

The carriage shook. Those were the days of moving from the north to the south, from winter to spring.

By the time I arrived at the Imperial Palace, to my surprise, I had a miracle value of nearly 30%.

-Squeak. (Is this really happening?)

“Don’t worry too much, Cashew Nut. They value their lives so they will never bandit again.”

-Squeak. (I guess so.)

The story goes like this.

On our way to the palace, we passed through several villages, but one village in particular had an ugly atmosphere.

When I questioned the soldiers, they said that recent incidents of bandits rampaging through the streets, engaging in mischief and extorting money and valuables have been happening frequently.

Unfortunately, it was a small village between two estates and was poor, so no one could help. To make matters worse, the bandits’ tyranny became more severe day by day as there was nothing left to steal.

As a result of this situation, the village people naturally became less welcoming to outsiders.

They didn’t have enough food to share with others, and they were tired of bandits trying to get help from outsiders.

And when Kyle learned the circumstances, he solved all the problems at once and clearly.

With his fist.

“This is the fastest way to the imperial palace, but shouldn’t Shu have to face trouble on the way down?”

-Squeak. (I am here.)

Literally. Kyle took down a group of bandits who were swarming the village with a single fist… 

The bandits, who had been beaten just enough not to die, gave Kyle all the wealth they had stolen and fled to the mountains.

I heard that it was very unpleasant to see it groveling after threatening that it would not be left alone when it came back to the village, but unfortunately, I was in a hamster house, so that was all I could hear.

Well, they didn't have to kill me anyway. Honestly, they were stealing and murdering, so what's the point in killing them?

“They thought I was helping them”

-Squeak. (Illusions are free.)

He seems worried even though he gave me so much money. Well, if I heard that there were people stealing money everywhere, I would be concerned.

Anyway, it was a good thing one way or another.

The townspeople are safer, Kyle has less to worry about, and I get a miracle value boost from something that didn't happen in the original book.

I didn’t know much about Kyle Jane Meinhardt, but it seems he was quite feared outside of the Blake estate.

I don't know what kind of trouble he got into when he was kicked out of the Imperial Palace and went north, but....... It's no wonder that the miracle numbers were so high, as fear turned to awe and word of mouth began to spread.

Moreover, the way he carefully prepared food for his hamster whenever he stopped by  the inn seemed to have created a rumor that he was a warm and just person toward small animals and the poor.

“It’s warming up a lot, so get some air.”

Kyle threw the carriage window wide open. I snuggled up against the grate of the hamster house and sniffed.

The breeze, which had grown warmer as we traveled south, began to waft with the scent of flowers as we neared the Imperial Palace. Spring was said to arrive quickly in the Meinhardt Empire, and even in March, the flowers were already in full bloom.

An engagement during the blooming season, how nice.

Though it doesn't have much of a romantic feel to it, given the opposition.

"Are you bored?"

Kyle suddenly asked sweetly. I kicked him hard on the lips as he tried to kiss me.

Of course I am, man. I haven’t been able to use ‘Summon’ for several days now, so I’m just being a hamster. If this goes on, I will forget that I was ever human.

"When I was holding him, he was so quiet the whole time, no whining......."

Whining? Don’t use such cute words. Do you know how old I am?

"Don't worry, he'll be back in a few days. Five days? No, he's a diligent guy, maybe four days."

Even if Kyle's guess is correct and he's as diligent as he pretends to be, it'll take him four days to catch....... This means that I have to live with this disgusting, 100% pure rat for three more days. 

‘...... I’m sick of it, I’m sick of it’

As I was grumbling excitedly, the carriage slowly came to a stop. Finally, I arrived at the long-awaited destination.

I stuck my head out the window.

Pure white bricks line a street big enough for a carriage or two, and gardens full of spring flowers line the street.

There were lights and structures here and there, and they seemed to have been spread with gold, so they sparkled brightly in the sun.

‘It’s like a royal castle.’

It’s too flashy to be too flashy.

Of course, the most eye-catching of them all was the imperial palace, more opulent than any fairy-tale palace I had ever seen in my life.

Although the palace was not small, its majesty was truly unique as it was the palace of the imperial family.

‘It’s too far to see from here’

Let’s go, me too.

I quickly grabbed Kyle’s fingers with both hands and hung on. Don’t put it in the hamster house, put it in your palm and go. It might be a bit painful, but …… It’s frustrating!

“Okay, let’s go together.”

Kyle looked at me as if he was dying of cuteness and then gently held me in his hand.

Fortunately, there were a lot of people waiting outside , so instead of kissing or hugging me, he put me in the front pocket of his jacket with very careful hands.

I stuck my head out and looked around.

“Meeting Archduchess Blake”

Sen came out in person, leading the maids.

She was always neat and tidy, but in her flowing dress, she looked like a young lady of some noble family.

Her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and when Sen lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed her head in acknowledgment, Kyle did the same.

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

“It’s been a long time, Your Highness.”

“Indeed.”

Kyle’s expression softened.

“How are you?”

Sen replied with a small smile.

“How many people are there who don’t get along well in the imperial palace? It’s a place where everything is abundant.”

Sens' expression as she said that was so calm that it gave off a cool vibe rather than warm happiness. 

Kyle shrugged his shoulders instead of answering, as if he understood. Is it because he had a bad time in the imperial palace and was kicked out into the cold?

“Well, it was more than I thought.”

Sen covered her mouth with an expression of regret and quickly apologized.

“Sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Sen must have seen me while lightly rubbing the back of her neck with her fingertips, and she smiled slightly with an expression that I recognized.

“Did you also bring Cashew Nut?”

“I think I need to get a medical examination from the palace’s magicians.”

“Oh my, where does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Then that’s a relief. What about Shu?”

She looked around. She must have expected me to accompany them, but when she saw that I wasn't among those unloading the carriage, she seemed a little disappointed.

“He decided to stop by his hometown. He will arrive in a few days. It would be nice if you could set up a room for him next to mine.”

"I've already done that. Cashew still needs a place to stay....... I'll have it ready by tomorrow, don't worry."

“Okay. Please.”

Afterwards, Sen headed into the castle with calm steps.

The skill of showing people around a room or asking the maids to do something was unusual. The maids didn’t seem to have any difficulty with Sen either.

‘You’ve adapted quickly.’

Well, she’s a smart girl, so that’s to be expected.

We parted ways with Sen and entered the room that had been prepared for us.

The lavish furnishings and panoramic view were quite the opposite of what I'm used to in the north. Maybe it was because I had become accustomed to the North, but it felt like I was in a foreign country.

Should I say it is more delicate and sophisticated? It's amazing. It's also somewhat strange that there is no snow outside the window.

“You must have had a hard time coming, so eat some of this first.”

Kyle set me down on a neatly folded handkerchief and rummaged through his bag. Sunflower seeds, roasted peanuts, pollack cubes, shredded duck meat… … . No, did you bring all this?

As I was eating this and that, a hand continued to stroke my forehead and spine. It’s burdensome, you guy.

Still, I was afraid to get used to it, but I didn't have the heart to refuse. His affection, expressed with his whole body, seemed to have become second nature.

When I looked up at him with a full stomach, he scooped me up and kissed me on the forehead about five times before setting me down in the center of the bed.

"You sleep here tonight. We'll have what you need tomorrow morning."

-Squeak. (It doesn’t matter to me because I’m a bed type.)

Should I ask for a hamster bed or something?  He doesn't have to share a bed this big, and it's only about the size of his palm.......

‘Wait a minute.’

Why do I have this bed to myself?

Crash.

Kyle unsheathed his sword from his back and drew it close. There was a creak of armor, and then...... he was sitting on the bed with his back to me, still holding the sword.

He's going to sleep like that? Really?

"Sleep well."

He spoke quietly and closed his eyes.

-......

I looked at him with a slightly confused gaze as he slept motionlessly.

I know. 

Kyle doesn't trust anyone here. This is the place where his mother was tragically killed and he was driven out to the cold land as a child. Not only was his life threatened, but he must have overcome many dangers of death.

Because of those countless memories, he is no longer as weak as he was then, and even though no one can treat him carelessly, he cannot relax.

Because things engraved in one’s mind eat away at a person longer than one might think. Even if you think you've overcome everything, I know very well that memories are what come to mind without you knowing. So sick of it.

'… … I can't wait to come back.'

I wanted to be by his side, not as a Cashew, but as a Shu, so he wouldn't feel alone, at least not in this vast palace.

I stared at Kyle’s cold, hard, and lonely face for a long time and then closed my eyes. I prayed that time would pass a little faster.

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

Caelum's Note

Ahh sorry if translations are off or if the grammar is kind of funky. ｡ﾟ･ (>﹏<) ･ﾟ｡ This is my first time doing this and I currently have no proofreader and am translating late at night. Please dm me if there is anything that needs to be fixed. Hope you enjoyed the read! (.❛ ᴗ ❛.)

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[missielynne]

I can't wait to hear your take on this most recent Ghosts episode---I haven't been too enamored with this season so far, but this Hetty-centric masterpiece immediately became among my top two or three episodes of the entire series! I even loved every Flower scene, and I was never much of a Flower scene :) This episode also showcased Sam, Isaac and so many others at their best!

I agree that it's very high up on the list of awesome episodes. I love how so much of it was showing what the ghosts could do without Sam and Jay present and it was just awesome. I enjoyed the ghosts just interacting with each other immensely and I do want more. It was perfect for this episode to be the one where Flower came back because she definitely brought some much needed levity to the episode to contrast with Hetty's story. I also loved how they had her be completely serious and "there" when she thanked Hetty for saving her and revealing her secret to do so. It's so sweet and I really hope it's a step forward in their relationship. They're a strange pair but I loved what she gave Hetty re the washing machine and I hope Hetty can help her out about something.

I thought the idea of Isaac, Sas, and Thor being stuck in the hole to have them out of the way so the reveal of Hetty's COD would be a surprise to *everyone* was a *little* on the contrived and convenient side, but I will forgive them if we hear more about Patience the Feral Puritan Lady, cause that was funny. (Although I suppose I AM glad that Thor didn't have to watch Hetty end her life. If he remembers the relationship that they had when she was a little girl as fondly as he does, I'm sure it really would have hurt him to see her die.)

And of course, my last non-Hetty thing, I know we all suspected that it was Ralph who got sucked off when we knew it wasn't Flower, but...the way they were all "It really WAS *just* a Cholera ghost who got sucked off after all!" made me smile. (Also I wonder what Stephanie will plot now that she's lost Ralph?)

And now...on to Hetty. I've suspected for a while that she would meet a sticky end because of Elias, so it wasn't a complete shock to me, but sad nonetheless, to the point that when I was told how she died, I literally had to take a day and just get ready to watch a character i love and who is clearly sad and lost, end her life. It was so sad that she felt she had no one to turn to before she died, but it makes me even happier that she has everyone at Woodstone to give her the care and connection and love that she didn't have when she was alive. I think we can all be glad for that.