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lucy90712 · 1 year ago

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Could you write something with Pedri? 🥺 Pedri and the reader had a relationship in the past, but counts on Pedri's mistakes they ended up separating. One night they meet in a nightclub and Pedri is jealous of her with another. So he tries reconcillation

WC: 2.0k

Pedri's POV

Breakups are never fun and most of the time they hurt but usually after a while you move on and find someone new or at least normal people do. However nearly two years on and I still haven't got over y/n. The worst part about it all is that I broke up with her so my pain is all my own fault. The two of us began dating not long after I moved to Barcelona and for a few months things were great we did everything together and I was truly falling for her. At some point things changed and we started fighting a lot about stupid things really but the fights were so constant that after a while it was clear neither of us were happy so I ended things. We were both so young that staying in an unhappy relationship didn't seem worth it but now I wish we just worked through things and grew together.

Right after the break up I missed her a lot as she was always by my side supporting me and although over the last two years this has faded sometimes I still wish she was by my side during the big moments. Going to the World Cup all I could think about was how I wished she was there to experience it all with me as we had talked about me one day hopefully making it to a World Cup while we were together. So many little things still hurt me more than I ever thought they would even all this time later. My biggest regret up to this point is definitely letting her go as she was my world and now without her I don't feel whole.

Occasionally I still look at her Instagram as we still follow each other but with the amount of people I follow it's hard to see her pictures on my feed. Over the years she has had a few different boyfriends while I haven't been with anyone else since as no one could ever compare to her. Seeing her with other guys isn't what hurts the most though it's seeing her so happy without me that kills me every time I look at her Instagram. She always seems to be having fun with her friends and smiling, genuinely smiling too which is something I took for granted during our time together. It's torture watching her enjoy her life without me but I can't stop myself as I have to know how she is and what's she's doing even though she isn't mine anymore.

My friends are always trying to set me up with other girls which has never worked out but they keep pushing and I already know that tonight will end up the same. Like always we will go out and they will find a girl who they think would be good for me and inevitably I won’t like her and we will go round in circles. Despite that I'm still going to go with them as we are supposed to be celebrating the end of the season and I don't want to miss out on that.

On the way to the club I picked up Gavi and as we arrived a few of the other guys arrived at the same time so we all walked in together and met with everyone else who was going. We all sat down and tried to talk for a while and I actually started to enjoy myself as I was just left alone and not forced to talk to anyone even though there was a lot of pretty girls in the club. At some point a few of the guys disappeared to go get drinks or go and talk with a group of girls but I stayed put and enjoyed my own evening celebrating with the guys that already have girlfriends. For once I was actually enjoying a night out as my mind wasn't always thinking about y/n and the stupid mistakes I made which led to me losing the girl of my dreams forever.

My nice enjoyable night out didn't last much longer as it was ruined by Gavi coming back over laughing and getting me to look at some of the guys who were attempting to flirt with a group of girls. He clearly wasn't interested in any of them but Ansu, Balde, Ferran and Eric clearly were as even from a distance it was obvious they were trying to get these girls attention. I must admit it was funny to see them so desperate for these girl's attention even though on a normal day a few girls will willingly give them their numbers. It quickly turned to not being so funny anymore when I caught a glimpse of the girl Alejandro was flirting with. Straight away she looked familiar and then I saw that smile, a smile I could identify from a mile away. He was flirting with y/n and of course he didn't know that as I try not to bring her up too much as it hurts to talk about my mistakes but it hurts even more seeing someone else flirt with her right in front of my eyes especially one of my teammates.

"Are you ok man?" Gavi asked

"Umm yeah I'm good" I lied

"Ok I know that's not true somethings bothering you just tell me what's up" he said

"Ale's flirting with y/n" I stated simply

"Who's that?" He asked

"She's the girl I've mentioned that I dated when I was younger we broke up but I've regretted it ever since, she's the reason you guys can never get me to go on a date with another girl" I explained

"Oh if I'd have known I would've stopped him flirting with her" he said

"It's ok it was a few years ago I should really move on" I said

"No if you still love her you should try and talk to her you never know she could still have feelings for you come on you are getting your girl back" he demanded

Your POV

Usually on girls nights I will let loose a bit more and forget about everything going in in my life but tonight that's been harder than it usually is. For the last few days all I've seen is my ex boyfriends face plastered everywhere because his team just won la liga. For some this might be a bit annoying but they would get over it for me it's just painful. We didn't have the best end to our relationship as we just kind of gave up on each other after we went through a rough patch with fighting all the time and that's when Pedri ended things. To this day I still wish we had just been less stubborn and actually talked to each other so we could work through our issues but it's too late now. Seeing Pedri's face everywhere living his best life is what's been difficult this last week as my life has been tough. I just started a new and very stressful job and recently lost a family member and all I want to do is share my worries with Pedri like I always did when we were together.

In an attempt to cheer myself up I've found myself letting this guy flirt with me and maybe flirting back a little. I mean I've had a few boyfriends since Pedri and I broke up but none of those relationships lasted very long as the guys either cheated on me or I got over them pretty quickly. This guy however seemed pretty nice he looked a little familiar but with the lighting in the club coupled with having drunk a bit I couldn't work out where I knew him from. As he was nice enough I didn't worry about where I knew him from as let's be honest after tonight I'm not going to see him again so why not have a bit of fun. The guy quickly told me his name was Alejandro and asked if he could buy me a drink which I couldn't say no to so we went to the bar together to get some drinks and kept chatting. I must say Alejandro was very charming but I'm not stupid I know what he really wants but for tonight I'm willing to play along as it's a bit of fun and I need more of that in my life.

I was enjoying myself as Alejandro put a hand on my waist and pulled me a bit closer until it gave me a view over his shoulder. Straight away I locked eyes with Pedri who was coming towards me from across the room and I just panicked. I pulled away from Alejandro instantly and tried to get away not wanting to face reality but a hand grabbed mine to stop me getting too far. I didn't even need to look to know that it was Pedri's hand in mine as our hands fit together so perfectly just like they used to when we were together. As he pulled me back towards him I could smell his cologne which brought me right back to the date nights we used to have together when we would get dressed up even if it was just to go to McDonald's as we didn't have a care in the world. He continued to pull me away from the crowd as we headed towards the door and out the back of the club where there was no one else was around.

"As much as it's nice to see you again I have to know why do we have to talk out here?" I questioned lightheartedly

"Because I want to have a proper conversation" he said

"So um how have you been?" He asked

"I won't lie I could be better life's tough at the moment but I'm getting through it what about you you must be thrilled to have won the league" I said

"Yeah it was cool but I'm going to be completely honest I kind of wish you were there to celebrate it with me" he admitted

For a few seconds I couldn't believe what he just said. He missed me too. This whole time if we'd have just talked to each other the endless pain could've been prevented. My head was spinning with so many thoughts but I knew I needed to say something before Pedri got worried.

"Do you miss me" was all I managed to say

"Yeah I do I miss you constantly I always wish that we never broke up you were the one for me and I ruined it" he said

"I miss you too nothing has been the same without you" I admitted

"I don't want to take things too quickly and ruin them again but would you like to give things another go this time we will communicate better and work through any problems I just can't go on in life without you" Pedri said

"I'd love to try this again with a clean slate" I said

Both of us were beaming as we walked back into the club hand in hand. We both said goodbye to our friends before heading out of the club so that Pedri could drive me home. Neither of us needed to be out any more as we already got more than we could have ever wished for when leaving the house this evening. When we arrived back at my place together instinctively our lips found each other and we shared our first kiss in nearly two years but it was just as magical as our first if not even better as we are no longer awkward teenagers. As we want to take things slowly and do them right this time we didn't go any further but as he left Pedri promised me a second first date which only made me more excited for what's to come from our reunion.

#pedri imagines #pedri gonzalez imagine #pedri gonzalez imagines #pedri imagine #pedri

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soraviie · 1 year ago

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━ type: Taehyung x gn! reader ━ navigation

━ about: basically Tae has confessed to the reader but they're cautious of getting into relationship, argument ensues

"Just be careful not to fall," you advise Taehyung quietly, examining his movements and whether or not you'll have to act as a quasi superhero this night. But he's not much taken aback by the sound of your voice or indeed your appearance on the rooftop. Almost as though he was expecting it.

"I won't," he bids back just as serenely and you wait for a continuation that doesn't come. For a while there's just this — you, Taehyung and a restless city below, all wrapped together by a bow of silence.

"I knew you'd look for me," he suddenly hums, beginning to swing his legs idly by. The soles of his shoes hit the back of the yellow wall with a rythmic thud and for the longest while it's the only sound shared.

"What are you even doing here?"

"I'm just thinking or maybe not thinking? I don't know," he sighs, craning to cast his gaze the city skyline. It's frighteningly empty — his stare. "Just had to get away."

You give his answer a hum, mostly just to show that you were listening in spite of having nothing to reply. It's a thing you find yourself doing often with Taehyung, now more than ever.

"May I just ask?" suddenly, he utters, legs swinging faster by. The urgency and the rush of his tone belts out the question before it's even verbalized and you wish you wouldn't have come to this rooftop. That's the thing you don't want to but at the same time you couldn't imagine yourself being anywhere else as an unpleasant as it is to share this space with him and more importantly sharing this conversation.

"Please, don't start this again," you groan but Taehyung's not dettered. He never is.

"Why did you say no? Was it the novelty of rejecting Kim Taehyung?"

You lift your face away from the relative safe heaven of your palms and regard him with a bitter glare.

"You think of me so little?" you hiss. "As to presume I'd do so just to what? Be different?"

"Then why—"

"You know why."

"Still I'd like to hear it."

For an outsider the moment in which you glower at each other would seem like a minute, a miniscule, trivial thing that comes and goes as easy as a sand on a beach but for you, for a very much involved insider, it's an eternity. The curve of his jaw is harsh, obstinate. His stubborness is second only to your own but even so as much as he loves you, you know you and all the shifts and gears that make your own brain tick.

"I'm not ready," irately, he twists his head away, most likely expecting such an answer. "You sprung this on me too fast."

"So it's my fault?"

"It's no one's fault! Neither me or you are good or bad, it's just—!" something ungainly and exasparated bubbles up our throat. This is not the night for that, this random ass rooftop is definitely not the place for that so you just swallow it all down.

"It is what it is."

You halfway expect for Taehyung to fight you on this one, to continue the mindless circling you did around each other but unexpectedly, he simply sags onto the ledge, breathing another wistful sigh that quickly evaporates into the cool, glowing air.

"I know," he drags sadly. "But do you ever...do you ever wonder whether you're so busy thinking about your feelings that you don't allow yourself to feel them?"

You suck in a breath through your teeth, almost failing to contain a bout of wry laughter.

"I hate it when you read me to filth," you shake your head. Taehyung smiles but it's empty. You can't say you enjoy the sight of it.

"It's uncomfortable to be seen, right? I felt the same when we first met," once again you have nothing good to say, nothing but a quiet, mute pang bouncing in your chest before crashing all the way into your lower stomach. "So just let me know—"

"I will. Soon," you promise and Tae nods sadly along.

You swing on your heels for a bit. It's cold but he doesn't seem to mind it.

"I'm going back tomorrow morning. What about you?"

Taehyung waves his hand with a tired wrinkle already forming in the space between his eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm here until Tuesday. Got this dinnner planned. It'll be really boring, probably."

"Right."

The air lacks the tension that has built over these last months, it's nice, easy but at the same time a little hollow. You know it and he knows it.

Heading back into the party, Taehyung speaks up once more, continuing to swing his legs around as the world glimmers behind.

"See you back in Seoul."

"Yeah."

#taehyung x you #taehyung drabble #taehyung fluff #taehyung scenarios #taehyung angst #taehyung x reader #taehyung x y/n #file/picture series/taehyung #bts angst #bts scenario #bts drabble

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nidianddeepspace · 8 months ago

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The Tale of the Hoodie Thief

❥ Xavier x OC ❥ An OC remembering loving moments with the Star Baby ❥ stealing your beloved's hoodie, wearing it because it smells like them, FLUFF FLUFFITY FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF ❥ College/University AU, the (my) MC and Xavier as University Students

Hoodies - an essential part of anyone's wardrobe and doubly so for the college student that chooses comfort over everything else. It's a simple garment - you just throw it on, decide if you want to wear the hood or not, and bask in the warm comfort of the fabric before going on with the rest of your day.

I am no stranger to hoodies. Back then, half my closet was filled with them, a range of colors and styles that were sure to impress any and all comfort-focused fashionistas. But there was one particular hoodie I loved more than the others - a pink cashmere hoodie my auntie gifted me last Christmas. I didn't wear it very often, but when I did, I felt like I was the walking epitome of luxury loungewear elegance. Now granted, I didn't know if that was an actual thing, but I didn't care either. I felt what I felt.

So when I realized that it was missing the afternoon I was suppose to hang out with you for a bit, I was exasperated and heartbroken. No matter how many times I rummaged through my closet, I just couldn't find it. I was so upset that my room, usually very neat with everything in it's place, resembled the aftermath of a fashion explosion. I want to curl up into a tiny ball and cry 'til I had no more tears. If I had plans to meet up with anyone else, I would have ghosted them due to my grief. But since it was you, I pressed on.

If there was anyone who could comfort me about my missing hoodie, Xavier, it was you.

As I walked to your dorm, trying to keep it together, it began to rain. But I wasn't about to let some water further ruin my day - I was prepared. As I opened up my umbrella, I started thinking about that night we got caught in a rainstorm on the way home from the arcade. Our good time was washed away by the relentless downpour which neither of us were ready for.

"This is BS! I'm so sorry, Xavier." We rushed through the streets as fast as we could, pelted my the largest droplets of rain I'd ever seen. "At this rate, the both of us are going to get sick."

"It's okay, your dorm isn't that far."

"Yeah, but we're already drenched as it is. This is my fault, I should have checked the weather before we left."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." Even in the middle of a thunderstorm, you were still so calm and collected. "Try not to worry too much."

Soon, we were rushing into my dorm room, huddling up together to keep warm. You sprung into action, grabbing towels from my closet, helping me to dry off. The rain hadn't washed away the scent of your cologne, and I could smell that faint scent of the forest and the musk as you used one towel to dry off my hair and shoulders. If you wanted to, you could have heard my heart fluttering, so painfully aware of how close we were.

"Y-You don't have to do this," I stammered, looking away. I hoped you didn't see the crimson spreading across my face. "Besides, you need to get that hoodie off you. I wonder if any of the dryers on my floor are free."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Too late for that." I'm always worried about you. I care about you so much, can't you see that? I didn't dare say those words aloud. "Anyway, aren't you afraid of getting sick. We have that big test next week."

"if I get sick, I just won't go to class. I can study on my own and if I ask you nicely, you're share your notes with me, right?"

"Well yes, but..."

"Then I've got it covered. So please, don't worry." He smiled as he finished dry my hair, tossing the towel side. "I don't like it when you worry."

"Ah...well, you can stay here until it stops raining. In the mean time, at take off your hoodie and grab one of mine from the closet."

You arched an eyebrow. "One of your hoodies? Would they even fit me?"

"Don't look at me like that, of course they will fit you. Most, if not all my hoodies are oversized. Just pick one and give it back to me later. I'll go see if I can wash and dry your hoodie, hopefully the machines are free."

I came to a complete stop just steps away from your door. It was all coming back to me - you'd left before I'd had a chance to see what hoodie you chose. You sent me a text letting know you were really tired so you had to go. I thought nothing of it at the time. I washed and dried your hoodie, I gave it back to you a few days later, and we went back to the arcade the following weekend.

Realization hit me like a freaking bus.

No...you couldn't have done that...right? No, you...wait...did...did you?

Xavier, did you actually grab my pink cashmere hoodie?!

There was only one way to find out.

(To Be Continued)

#love and deepspace #ladsedit #love and deepspace xavier #lads #xavier love and deepspace #xavier #lads photobooth #lads seiya #xavier x oc #lads xavier

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callsigndragon · 2 years ago

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Seeing Red | Ch. 51: Checkmate (Part I)

Wordcount: 3.3k

Warnings: mentions of kidnapping, death, weapons, killing, mama and papa bear seresin are here to stay. angst angst aNGST, mentions of pregnancy, supportive fam… and a cliffhanger

A/N: besties, this is so long that i had to split it in half. second part of the chapter will be published today as well, don’t worry.

Follow @jinxlibrary for notifications! Masterlist is on pinned.

IMPORTANT DATA FOR THE CHAPTER: There's a mention of a chess move in the chapter. It's called promotion. When a pawn reaches the end of the board it “promotes”, it turns into another piece. Most of the time players promote to a queen, but a rook, knight, or bishop is also possible.

“For the hundredth time, I didn’t see anyone, McGee.” You reply, tired of the same questions. He’s been asking them for an hour now.

"Are you sure? Because maybe you saw a tattoo or something?" He insists, looking at you.

"McGee, she said she didn't see anything." Jake, who is standing next to you, glares at the agent and tells him to stop asking questions. McGee closes his notepad, rolls his eyes, and leaves the room.

You turn in the hospital gurney you've been sitting in since Jake brought you there. He didn’t accept "no" for an answer, and once he felt the swelling in the back of your head, where the kidnapper had hit you, he rushed you to the ER. Doc happened to be there once the two of you entered, with white faces and void eyes. She knew that something had happened, and even though she’s a pediatrician and adults aren’t her specialty, she insisted on taking care of you.

That’s when she found out you were pregnant. It was still too early to see anything in an ultrasound, but she asked for some blood tests, and when they came back, everything was okay and the pregnancy test was positive.

Jake hadn't left you once in all the time you'd been in the hospital, his hand always on yours, wedding bands in constant contact. Neither of you has said a word, both of you are silently blaming yourselves for something that is not your fault. The only one to blame here is the one who planned this, the one who has been trying to hurt you every day since you came back together.

And you want to talk to him to convince him that he did the right thing. That he’s not the one to blame for leaving you alone. You were supposed to be safe while in base, and for some reason, that security had been taken away from you as well as your kid.

But you can’t tell him that when your own thoughts and the voices inside your head are screaming at you to do something, to get up from that blue bed and search far and wide until you find your son.

Your body, however, is completely stiff and frozen.

“Red, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you al-” You cover his mouth with your hand, and the action makes him look at you with a raised brow.

“It’s not your fault. Someone got into base, and we don’t know how. But it’s not your fault, Jake.”

"How are you so calm?" He asks with a broken voice, hand caressing your arm. “I can’t even think properly.”

You sigh, looking down at his hands. “It’s a game, Jake.”

“What?”

You caress his cheek softly, somehow the action brings comfort to the two of you. “What did he leave for you in that box?”

“A red queen.”

You move your hand to your pocket, getting out another chess piece. Is a white pawn. “Liam is only a pawn, Jake. He won’t hurt him.”

Jake takes the piece in his hand, looking at it. “Why didn’t you tell McGee about this?”

“Because he took our pawn, and now it’s our turn to make a move. We can't involve the police or the NCIS in this.”

"You have a white pawn, while I have a red queen. Why?"

"I think the queen was just to scare you, to remind you of something you lost in the past. The pawn, however, is something that is missing now. In chess, the pawn is a piece that can become something else." You explain, observing how Jake's fingers turn the pawn around. It reminds you of how he plays with Liam's fingers when he falls asleep on his chest while watching a movie.

Jake raises his head slowly, the meaning behind your words hitting him instantly. "A promotion."

"If he doesn't get his knight back…" You begin, getting up from the bed.

"...he will turn the pawn into a knight." You nod, watching as he closes his eyes in desperation. “If I had stayed with him, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“If you didn’t run away, Liam wouldn’t exist. So please, stop blaming yourself.” You reassure him, trying to make him understand that this is not his fault. “Jake, I wouldn’t change a thing in my life. I would choose you in every single lifetime.”

Jake nods absentmindedly, pulling from his pocket the red queen piece that McGee gave him early. It didn't have fingerprints. "What are we gonna do, Red?"

“We need to make a move.” You hear someone getting close to the room, and you hide the pawn in Jake’s pocket. Both of you turn around, waiting to see who’s coming. You relax when you see Mav and Iceman.

“There you are. I’m so sorry, guys.” Mav says as he opens his arms and approaches you both. You let Jake be the first to receive Mav's embrace. “I won’t ask how you’re feeling because I could never comprehend the pain you’re feeling.”

Jake steps back, sniffling and wiping a stray tear with his fingertips. You let Mav hug you now, the warmth of his body making you feel better and worse at the same time. “We’re not good. And we won’t be until we get our baby back.” You explain, hugging Jake’s arm.

“Those guys, Tony and Tim, they are talking about search warrants and stuff like that.” Ice mumbles, looking between you and Jake. “I’m sorry. I swore that you’d be safe here and I didn’t keep my word.”

“Ice, you couldn’t have prevented this.” You reply, trying to make him feel better. It’s futile, and you know it. Nobody will feel better until you bring Liam back home.

“I could have tried. I never thought one of us could make this.” He says, sitting on the bed.

You frown at his words. “Wait, one of us? What do you mean by one of us?”

“Apparently, a person from the base took him. He had been relocated here from another base five months ago.”

“Do you have a picture or something?” Jake urges, wanting to know who this man who has kidnapped your baby is.

Ice takes out his phone, tapping at it several times until he finds the picture he’s looking for. He turns it around, and you don’t recognize him. Average white man, blue eyes, dark hair with a buzz cut. It would be like every other man you see almost every day at base if it weren’t for the large scar crossing his left eye.

“I haven’t seen him.” You comment, looking at Jake, whose hands are balled into fists. “Jake?”

“His name is Vlad. He works with my dad.” He reveals, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Vlad is Gregory’s left hand.”

Mav looks at Ice, deception all over his face. He’s not mad at him, however. He’s mad with the system that didn’t work. “How is it possible that nobody saw a connection with him?”

“Because never uses his real name. There’s no way we could have linked him with Gregory.” Jake sighs, rubbing the sides of his head. “Look, I appreciate that you tell me who took my son, but I already know that. What I want to know is what the fuck I’m supposed to do now.”

“Jake,” you warn him, knowing that he’s about to snap at the wrong people. Mav and Ice don’t deserve it.

“I don’t care about what the NCIS says, Red. I’m not gonna stay here and wait for them to bring my kid back.” He barks, almost throwing the phone against the wall. Lucky for Ice, he manages to get it from Jake’s hands in time.

“But you don’t know where he is, Jake. You need to wait.” Mav reminds him, patting his back.

That’s right. You don’t know where Liam is, and you need NCIS help to find him.

Wait.

You know where he is.

“Oh my god, I’m so fucking stupid.” You get your phone out of your bag, and try to unlock it, but you’re so nervous that you keep pressing the wrong numbers. “Come on, you fucking useless block.”

“Red, what are you doing?” Jake questions, looking over your shoulder to see what you’re doing.

“Liam has a GPS in his pants.” You almost scream when you can’t unlock the stupid phone. Jake opens his hand, waiting for you to give him the phone. You do, as you watch him unlock it in one go, his hands more steady than yours.

“A GPS?” Iceman inquires, surprised but relieved that you can track your child.

“Sarge, well, Payback’s wife, bought it. I sewed a hidden pocket in every single one of his pants, and I’ve been hiding it, just in case.” You confess, logging into the app that is connected to the tracking device.

“Why didn't I know about this?” Jake mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I don’t know, I just thought the less people knew about it, the better.” You reply, not looking away from the screen, and sigh in relief when you see that the tracking device is working. The signal is moving north, too fast to be on a car.

“He’s flying.” Jake comes to the same conclusion as you.

“Someone stole one helicopter.” Ice adds, and now you know how Liam has disappeared so quickly.

“But where are they going?”

Jake takes the phone again, moving the map to see what cities are ahead of them. “Hidden Hills.”

“What’s in Hidden Hills?” You inquire, locking the phone and looking around the room at Jake, who is now pacing.

"The house where I grew up."

The image that not so long ago danced around in your brain, the one that featured a small kid that looked like Liam, a kid that wandered in a gigantic mansion with dark and infinite walls, comes back to your mind to haunt you. But this time, the kid is Liam. You need to rescue your son.

“We need a helicopter.” You glance in Ice’s direction, asking silently for permission.

“I can’t. A kid has disappeared, and we’re not allowed to move out of the base until he appears.”

“We’re fucked up, then.”

"Take my bike. Go get your son." Mav stuffs a hand in his pocket, reaching for his motorcycle keys.

"But we can't leave," you say, looking out the window and counting the car patrols outside the building. Tony called them when you were brought to the ER, not wanting another member of the Seresin family to disappear. “The moment we step out of the hospital, one of those officers will follow every step we make.”

“And that’s my cue.”

After hearing the female voice, you turn around to see Sarge and Payback standing there with the rest of the Daggers behind them. You can feel your chest swell with pride at the people in front of you, your family, who have always claimed that when the time comes, they’ll be with you, for better or worse. And here they are.

“Oh my god, Sarge.” You go with them, feeling dozens of arms surrounding you in a big, comforting hug. “The GPS is working, I know where he is.”

“Told ya it would work.” She smiles, patting your hair.

The guys look at Jake, who is leaning against the wall and not looking at them. “Jake, come on. This is not your fault.”

“I will punch the next one that says that.” He grunts, lifting his eyes from the floor to glare at Rooster. “And you know how much it hurts.”

“We’re losing precious time here.” Nat mumbles, looking outside the door. “There’s a car in the underground parking.”

Jake hears Nat’s words and takes a deep breath. He knows what they’re implying. Take the car and drive to Hidden Hills. He would do it in a heartbeat, but there’s a problem.

He knows you’re going to insist on coming with him. He can’t have two babies in that house.

“You’re staying, Red.”

“You’re not going anywhere without me.” You retort, not looking at him.

Jake grabs you softly by the arm, turning you around. “I can’t put another baby at risk.”

“Another baby?” Bob repeats. “Red, are you pregnant?”

“Yes, I'm pregnant. But Jake, you need me.” You insist, ignoring the excited laughs from the daggers. “You can’t go there alone. He won’t let you go.”

“I can’t have another one of my babies in that house.”

You press a hand against his chest, closing your eyes and preparing yourself for the next words you’re going to say. “Jake, we can make another baby. But there’s only one you.”

"I went to the station and got you vests. You’ll be okay. You have everything you need in the truck.” Sarge's hand closes around yours, pressing the car keys against your skin. "He's one hour ahead of you. You need to go now."

You never take your eyes away from Jake's, which are narrowed in tension and darting all over your face. Words wouldn't be able to express all the emotions that are running through his head right now. Rage, terror, fury—all conveyed in one single green stare.

"If anything happens to you now that I have you back..." His voice falters, cracking with unshed tears that break the remains of your heart. Promising that everything will be okay is cruel and unfair. The chances of coming back with your kid are low. But you have to take risks, or you won’t see Liam again.

“Nothing will happen to me.” You promise him, kissing him softly while all the voices in your head scream at you, calling you a liar. You know, and you’re sure he knows too, that you’ll risk everything to make sure that Liam and Jake come back safe to San Diego. Even if that means sacrificing yourself.

“Shit, that Italian agent is coming.” Mickey whisper-yells, and you grab Jake’s hand.

“Doc, is there an elevator that goes to the underground parking?” You ask her, and she quickly nods, handing you two white coats like the one she’s wearing.

“Wear this. It’ll make you look like a doctor, and they won’t stop you.”

You hug all of them quickly and follow Doc, who is quickly turning around corners until she finds the elevator she’s looking for. “It’s this one. Be careful, okay?”

Jake watches as you hug her; the woman is almost tearing up at the thought of something happening to any of you. You whisper something in her ear, something you can’t hear, and she nods, pushing both of you inside the elevator once the doors open.

You can see her tears before the doors close again.

It’s a two hour trip until you get to Hidden Hills. Almost three, actually. And you don't even know how you're going to pass through security once you're there. Hidden Hills is a safe place for celebrities and rich people. No one passes security without previous authorization.

"Jake, we won't be able to pass the guard without being noticed."

"We're not using the main entrance, sweets." He says this while taking his hand off the steering wheel and searching for yours. "My father's house has a secret tunnel. That's our way in."

You nod, looking outside the window. It's so dark outside that you can barely see anything, just trees passing by in a blur. The obscurity is disturbed once in a while by the car lights in the other lane, a brief moment of light in the moonless night.

"Once we get Liam, you're running the fuck out." He orders, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

You shake your head. "I'm not leaving without you."

"Liam is the main priority, Red. He won't hurt him or me. He needs us, you said it yourself."

"Why is he so desperate? Why does he need an heir so bad?"

Jake moves your intertwined hands to his lips, softly kissing your knuckles. You don’t know if the action is supposed to calm you or him. "I don't care. He took our kid. That's the last straw."

Your voice comes out in a shaky breath when you pronounce your next words. "You know there's only one way of ending this, right?"

"We've killed people before, Red."

"Pressing a button while I'm flying. I never had to see the face of the target I'm trying to eliminate!" You protest, feeling a throbbing headache take over your body.

"You won't have to pull the trigger."

You don't say anything after that. The seriousness in his voice makes you ponder how many times he has dreamed of this moment, of finally having the opportunity to put an end to a lifetime of nightmares and psychological torture. You can't even imagine how bad a father has to be for his own son to think about killing him.

You're glad you don't know.

"Rest a bit, okay? I'll wake you up when we're there."

"Promise me that you won't leave me in the car."

"If I go inside that house alone, who's gonna get Liam out?"

Yeah, he needs you to get Liam to a safe place. You can close your eyes, knowing that we won't try to play hero and leave without you.

The secret tunnel Jake mentioned is hidden in a hillside. At the top of that hill is Jake's childhood home. Jake parks the car behind some tall bushes, drumming his fingers against the wheel. He's nervous and scared.

"Let's see what Sarge gave us." You mutter, opening the door and getting out of the car, walking slowly, a part of you not wanting to open the truck and check the contents. Doing it means facing the idea that you may become a murderer, with all the consequences that entails.

Sarge has provided you with almost everything you might need: bulletproof vests, tactical boots, knives, boxing hand wraps, belts filled with magazines for the guns…

"Why the hand wraps?" Jake inquires, grabbing one of the pairs.

"It prevents bruised knuckles." You explain, looking at your hands. "We have to take our rings off."

Jake slips the platinum band off his finger and hides it in one of the vest pockets. "This will work."

You suit up quietly, not even speaking when you need his help to close the vest, or to help you wrap your hands. A soft touch on his arm is enough for him to know that you need him. It's similar to when you're cooking at home—soft touches to catch the other person's attention, no need for words. It's always been like this. And a part of you seems to find comfort in the fact that even at the worst moments, you're still in sync.

Jake doesn't let go of your hands when he finishes wrapping them. You raise your head, watching how he struggles to keep his eyes open, knowing that the moment he blinks, tears will run freely down his face. He can't cry. It's not the moment to cry.

"It's only been what… three months since I got you back?" He mumbles, his words forming a lump on his throat that doesn't seem to go away. "And I might lose you again."

"You're not gonna lose me." Jake leans down to press his forehead against yours as you cup his face between your hands. "We're gonna go in there, get our kid, and walk out without a scratch."

He nods, kissing your forehead, your nose, and your lips in that order. You've always wondered how a final kiss before a battle felt, if it was truly filled with all the emotions you couldn't express aloud in such a short period of time.

It is probably the best kiss you've ever had.

Jake wipes his face, taking a deep breath, and when he opens them again, you can't see a single trace of Jake in them.

That's Hangman. Fierce, determined, and deadly.

"Let's go get Liam," he says, cocking his gun.

You nod, following him towards the tunnel.

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hcfiles · 2 months ago

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Hi, I don't know if you've ever been around people who suffer from anxiety or if you've experienced it yourself. I know I hate being in a relationship, especially when my symptoms are severe. It's always "but you have a good life" and so on. But I don't tell them all… what it's like to have constantly panic attacks make you feel like you're going to die, and your heart rate increases., being mocked, then I prefer them to stay quiet and obviously I'm harsh on them so they leave me alone. So we're seen as narcissists even though we can't make ourselves understood, especially by our parents who ask us about grandchildren when we're not stable. They think having children will cure us. You see, fans like me will find it hard to criticize him because he can't handle himself, but also because we are aware of the weight of people's criticism. And I'm called weak or fragile, ungrateful, lazy, weird. I'm telling you all this so that you can understand people like us, but if you still don't believe us, it's because we live in a shitty society. We're so unstable that neither relationships nor jobs last. We're the failures of society. Our choices will be based primarily on our ability to manage our fears. This leads to new medications, new diagnoses, new side effects. But it’s okay it’s definitely entirely our fault, we’re always dramatic for nothing.

Hi. Your description was clarifying for those who don't know what it's like. But, yes. Believe me. I know. But, he's not alone. He has an entire support among managers, PR team, AR team, family and you name it, who all know about his limitation and work in favor of hiding it from fans and of protecting him, besides helping him make the right decisions, for in his case, all these people have a financial interest and he is in the place of a legal person. As a person with extreme anxiety, do you allow people to force you to go through a situation you know that will be unbearable for you and that will cause you a panic attack or you deny doing it to avoid crisis, because you can't stand the symptoms? People with anxiety, from medium to severe (which I believe could be his case), usually boycott themselves to avoid a crisis and unpleasant symptoms. OK. You might say the PR stunts were a safe situation he was used to and that's why he did it. But, the strategies used against negative publicity... Those weren't. All he had to do was say NO. But again, I'll give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didn't say it, for he thought he could trust the team. But, as he saw they were actually putting more fuel to fire, he should have backed up. OK, again, I will be condescending and suppose.... I don't know. I lost myself. I do believe he is anxious and shy, but he has managed his anxiety over the years feeling more comfortable with duties. Up to now. This shenanigan could have been avoided if he had avoided escorting. This is what led him to this situation, choosing to sell himself as an escort, pretending a fake life also off duty. Not his anxiety. I don't criticize his symptoms. I criticize the decision that led him to the symptoms. Even being a person with low emotional IQ, a public figure who works trusting his manager, he has a certain autonomy to say NO to situations that can jeopardize his integrity. But, then, again, I can be condescending and suppose he signed a deal to always have others deciding for him, without being acquainted about the situation he will put himself in. In this case, he's more than extremely anxious. He's a moron. Sorry, I don't think he's the kind that lets someone else decide deals for him without knowing what he's getting into. Being a person with extreme anxiety (you know that), he is very selective and avoids stressful unnecessary situations. This shenanigan was a whole new thing for him, a different type of PR deal that could have been avoided. He had done it before (KC, the hunter), there was no negative follow up and his image wasn't jeopardized. This time, the real way they all work, the truth about this escorting service and the way he really deals with this part of his life came public. If not, his anxiety would be safe and they wouldn't have induced his symptoms. So, was it intentional to screw him?

#henry cavill

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pikahlua · 1 year ago

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The Todoroki family subplot is so heartbreaking honestly. My heart aches for every one of them. Touya just wanted to be loved 😞

Also… I hope Iida will walk again eventually because that looked incredibly brutal on his legs.

Lately I've had trouble holding my tongue on how I interpret what's going on with the Todoroki family. For me, there's a lot about the Todoroki family story that hits way too close to home. But it just comes across as even funnier when people talk about how unrealistic it is when compared with abuse in real life--because they're usually referring to Endeavor's change. Endeavor's part is actually the best written (or more true to life) if you ask me. The part that rings hollow based on my experiences is the idea that the entire family all at once comes to the same realization about their faults and needing to be better. Very rarely do other people see themselves as part of the problem (the dysfunctional family, if you will), so they pin all the blame on one person.

Anyways, that's neither here nor there in the end. Any extrapolation to the real world we as readers make about the Todoroki family is just that--an extrapolation. We can try to find the morals or reflections of reality in these stories, but ultimately those are things we put into the story, not the artist himself. Even when the artist tries really really hard to make us make those extrapolations, they're still our own extrapolations.

What we really have, literally speaking, is a story about characters in their own world. It has a narrative arc and setting and character development all neatly contained within their society. The story is about a major societal paradigm shift, something that rarely happens in the real world. It was always going to be some sort of wish fulfillment story. Touya's actions from start to finish betray his emotions with respect to his family. I called it "love" in previous posts, but to be clear I don't mean the happy ending saccharine kind of love that diminishes the word. I mean that Touya cares. He can't divorce himself from his feelings about his family. He can't ignore his own investment in the family's trajectory. He's a hurt little boy who grew up and never healed the hurt. You're right: he just wanted to be loved. And now, his family has come to save him (unlike, for contrast, the majority of Tenko's family).

MHA is first and foremost a story about heroes, and true heroes save people--no matter who those people are. No matter what those people have done in the past. If someone needs saving, then a hero must save them. That's the story we've always been reading.

And I'm sure Iida will be fine. He's done way worse to his engines before lol.

#anon ask #ask pika #my hero academia manga spoilers #final showdown spoilers #dabi #endeavor #meta

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benjinoff13 · 1 year ago

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CATWS through a blackhill lens

part 1: Fury’s “death”

before i get into this is just wanna say that these are just my headcanons, when i have a non canon ship i like to find a way to ship them that allows me to still enjoy the canon story meaning i often find a way around the story that we get, this means that with blackhill i have to find a way around nat and steve, nat and bruce, but most importantly, the undeniable tension between nat and maria in catws, if you don’t like blackhill or disagree with this that’s fine, just don’t read

in my headcanon nat and maria get together during their shield days, maybe even before we first meet nat in iron man 2, i believe they're going strong during avengers and their relationship is tested during catws which i will discuss in these posts

there's a lot happening in catws and blackhill wise i think it's by far the most interesting movie, i'll be discussing several scenes but this post is about fury's "death"

when the scene where fury is in surgery starts we see nat and steve looking into the operating room (i won't be discussing how weird it is that they can do that), steve is already there and nat joins him in the room, on the left we can see maria on the phone

pretty soon maria joins nat and steve, she looks into the operating room for a second, the three of them briefly discuss what happened which leads to my favorite canon blackhill moment, nat guesses the bullets that were used to shoot fury are soviet made and maria confirms this by simply saying "yeah", now this doesn't sound like anything interesting but i recommend ya’ll to rewatch this scene cause the way she says it is just so so soft, with the way she says this one simple word maria is trying to say "i'm here for you, i know this is hard, this isn't your fault, you did everything you could, it's gonna be okay, i love you" because she can't say those actual words, she cant hold nat's hand and hug her an let her fall apart against her, neither of them want that, both because there's other people there and because nat isn't ready to feel her feelings like that just yet, she doesn't want to accept this and she doesn't want to acknowledge her grief, maria knows this

maria also knows better than anyone what fury meant to nat, he was (is) the closest thing nat had to a father and at this point he’s one of the very few people that know about her relationship with maria, maria knows losing fury would mean losing a family member, knowing what it means to nat and also losing someone very important herself we can tell that maria is extremely emotional, i have to say that to me it isn't clear whether maria knows fury's death is fake at this point but considering her reaction i don't think she knows, maria is a good liar but nobody can act that well

after the doctors call time of death steve walks away (it's important to note there are still a few people standing behind maria and nat, at no point are they alone during this scene), we get these two shots of just maria and nat that i am absolutely in love with, the first is of both of them still looking into the o.r. we can tell both of them are absolutely distraught, as i said before fury meant a lot to them both as individuals and to their relationship, nat is absolutely speechless which doesn't happen often and our “hardass hill" has a red nose from stress and crying, if you rewatch the scene you can even see maria’s lip quivering

in the second shot we see maria leaning against the windowsill in front of them, i interpret this is her offering her hand in case nat wants to take it, you can see her left hand is at shoulder width while the right hand reaches towards nat, she would never take nat's hand in front of coworkers without asking and she also wants to give nat space which we will later learn she needs a lot, but she wants to offer that comfort to natasha regardless, maria taps her finger a few times to draw nat’s attention to her hand and to tell her she can hold it if she needs to, after a few second natasha still doens't take maria's hand, it’s too much, too soft, there’s too many people there, she simply can’t

in the next scene we see nat saying goodbye to fury with steve standing in the back, again it start with the two of them and then maria enters the scene, she tells steve that she needs to take fury's body, by saying this she implies she wants steve to tell nat it's time, we don't know if maria and nat talked in between these scenes but i don't think they did, i believe their relationship started to slip after new york and fury's "death" was the final drop, there's so much strain on their relationship and they're both going through so much that at this point they're feeling more distant from each other than they have in years, natasha shuts herself off and puts her walls back up that maria spent years breaking down, they're scared that if they talk about what's going on they'll either break down and lose sight of the mission or lose each other, so they don't talk at all

again we see maria more emotional than we have ever seen or will ever see her, after a few second steve goes to get nat

and then this last shot i'll talk about is also the most heartbreaking to me, i can't imagine how heartwrenching is must be for maria to not be able to comfort nat in this situation and have to see someone else try to do this, deep down she wants to wrap nat in her arms and let both nat and herself break down but neither of them have time for that so instead she watches the love of her life lose one of the most important people to her and be comforted by her new friend that they barely know, first she looks at them, then she simply can't bare it anymore and looks away, she can't look at fury's body, she can't look at natasha's heartbroken expression and she can't look at steve standing in the spot she should be in, so she looks away

finally nat walks away and maria can't resist, she glances towards nat, she has to look at her, one second of eye contact will tell her enough, will nat leave forever or will she come back to her, will she feel her feelings or will she focus too much on the mission and self destruct, will she dissapear or will she break her old pattern, nat doesn't look up, so maria never finds out what she needs to know, and more importantly, she doesn't get to look into nat's eyes which is the only thing that could bring her the slightest bit of comfort and ease

part 2: the bunker scene (coming soon)

part 3: nat and steve (coming soon)

part 4: snippets (coming soon)

#this is a bit of a mess #i’m sorry #i tried to put into words what i think and feel during these scenes but it’s HARD #anyway let me know what you guys thinj #blackhill #natasha romanoff #maria hill #black widow #mcu #marvel #captain america: the winter soldier #catws

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androgynousblackbox · 4 months ago

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The Horror of Our Love. 2 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

The Journal

I didn't grow up in the most ideal conditions. It got a lot better when my father died of a mysterious and very sudden heart failure that literally no one could predict. He was such an angry man. Maybe all that stress just got to him finally! I still remember the way his eyes opened up so wide while he was grabbing at his chest. He wasn't looking at me because I was behind the couch, but I could see him. I could hear him too. Hear the quick pacing of his heart as it became slower, slower and slower, until there was no beating anymore. It got so quiet all over the house for a second before he hit the floor.

That is how I found out I had magic. Unfortunately for me, my mother was a muggle and had no idea of what to do with a magical child who told her, at the tender age of 4, that he was responsible for stopping him, hoping to get praise out of it. I want to make it clear right now that it wasn't my intention to kill him. A kid that young can't understand things like life or death. They can't understand that when the heart fails and someone drops to the floor, they are never getting back up again. I just wanted him to stop. Right at the moment. In whatever way it was possible.

It just turned out that the way to stop him resulted in his death. When mother explained it to me, that father was gone, I remember staring at her and wondering why she was so sad about it. I wasn't sad. I wasn't happy either. It just was.

It wouldn't be until much later that I find out that the magic had skipped the generation of my father and he had abandoned the entire wizard world out of pure resentment. He never even tried to tell my mom about it and instead treated her as if that was somehow her fault. Neither of us had the language for what was going on with me, but I didn't really need it that much.

A kid doesn't really need to know the name for every part of their body before they already know how to move on it. My magic was as real for me as my own fingers or my own feet, even if I couldn't see it. Even at that age I knew, it was only a matter of time and practice for me to learn to handle it just as well. Just another muscle at my disposal.

But after it was only my mother and I didn't have much of a reason to train that muscle. Moving things around me without actually touching them was entertainment enough. We had a few good five years before a disease took her. I tried to help, but I didn't know how and doctors were constantly taking me away from her side to perform whatever is that they felt they had to do. The neighbor that was taking care of me during those weeks said that it was the lungs. Hers were not working properly anymore so it was harder to breathe. It was a lot more advanced than they thought initially. There was not a lot of hope for a recovery. I thought about the heartbeat of my father as it was slowly fading away and the idea that the heartbeat of my mother could go through the same thing was so horrific I accidentally made all the lights on the building explode.

When they finally let me hold her hand, I concentrated so hard on trying to make her all better, all the while happily telling her about what I learned at school that day. I tried to get her breathing to become normal again. I tried to ignore my own heart beating in my ears, while I somehow kept talking. As I was doing that, a machine beeped close to her. Once again they pulled me out, but I saw her eyes closed and I panicked.

No magic that time. Just a kid scared out of his mind whose only thought was he didn't want his mother to die. I think I bit at least two nurses and kept yelling they had to let me see her, they had to, I could help, they just had to let me see her.

The next time I saw her face, it was at the funeral her friends organized for her. No siblings, no grandfathers that could look after me. The family on the side of my father didn't even know I existed at that time.

Of course I ended up in an orphanage, where I thought I would stay until I was old enough they would have to kick me out. I didn't want a new family. Quite frankly that wasn't ever an idea that crossed my mind. I already had the best mom this world could offer me, and I couldn't do anything to save her. Why would I want to repeat any of that ever again? It just made a lot more sense to stay where I was until something more interesting happened.

That something came just a couple of years later in the form of a beautiful woman who came to see in my room. She wasn't one of our teachers or part of the staff. I would remember someone like her. There was no husband that I could see, so that already was new. Couples came to visit us, to try to pick us out like puppies at the pet shop, not single people.

She made a little bit of conversation first. Asking my name, what I liked to do, if I liked to be here, if I had lots of friends, before reaching to the actual important issue. I was just a few weeks away from being 11. Sera was the teacher of transformation back then. She gave my letter herself and let me read it and sat down on my bed, patiently waiting for me to start asking her questions.

The first one I made was, naturally, when we can go. I thought it was hilarious. I didn't believe her at all at first, so I wanted to see how far she was willing to take this prank.

When she started to make some of my belongings float around the room, I was convinced that it was strings and trickery somehow. It didn't make any sense to me that other people had the same muscle I did, that they were older, more powerful than me, and they had nothing to show for the rest of the world. That I never heard of them before, that nobody knew. The existence of the secret, that barrier between the muggle world and the wizard one, was to me a testament of how utterly useless the entire rest of the wizard world had to be. It was easier to believe I was the only one with real magic than to think that an entire civilization could be based around hiding theirs.

She could see I wasn't taking her seriously. She pulled an apple from somewhere on her business suit and told me to eat it while thinking about my favorite food. I thought about the pasta that mom used to prepare and suddenly I had a mouthful of it when I bit into the apple. That was the thing that finally did it for me. That flavor sealed my fate.

As she helped me out to buy all my essentials for my first year, she mentioned offhandedly that my last name was known. We were in one of the book stores and she poked with a finger a book whose author had my same last name. They had copies of that same one back at the school I was going to, if I ever was curious about it. For now, the book itself was far too advanced for my current level, and the money the school could supply for me was pretty limited, so it wasn't convenient to buy it then.

On my first night there all I could think about was that book. The topic itself could be anything, but the fact that a member of my family wrote it made all the difference in the world. I took it out of the library as soon as I knew how and read it entirely in one week, all 923 pages. I didn't understood not even a fifth of it and yet, I needed more. I started researching the author on the side, all the while learning more about how wizards worked. It wasn't until a few days later of my arrival that I found out that I was an anomaly inside of the house I landed in.

A kid raised outside of any magic or wizard culture in Slytherin? It was a struggle, I won't lie about it. So many references, jokes and little details that so many others grow up with, things I had to pretend not to care about until I could find out more about it on my own. Likewise, the things I knew were completely alien for them or made no sense. There were slip ups and mistakes, miscommunication along the way. We were from two different worlds after all, and I just find out theirs existed not that long ago. I had a lot to catch up on if I wanted to have free movement to do as I pleased.

Something all the more necessary the more research I did on this one wizard. His name carried a long history that just kept unraveling the more I pulled. Notorious wizards, but also nobodies that disappeared without a trace. Those were the ones who ended up giving more information, ironically enough. Those were the ones who thought their names alone made them somebody that the rest of the world should know.

I don't think I exaggerate when I say that I spent the entirety of my first year, and a considerable portion of the second one, just looking further and further back in my family's history. It's funny to think about it now. If professor Sera hadn't mentioned that name to me, so many things could have been avoided entirely. I am thankful to her for doing that. She is never going to know how much.

If it wasn't for her, I would have never gone to the girl's bathroom on the top floors. I would have never looked at the serpents at the sink in the eye and ordered them to wake up. I would have never gone down that hole that opened up for me or continue down the dark corridor to that chamber. I would have never come inside, ignoring every sign of alarm that told me I should be running away from there, to find the monster that slept under the giant statue. I would have never seen those yellow eyes opened up at my intrusion and that pure white body slithering its way towards me. Only stopping from devouring me whole when I said, on his own tongue, that he was beautiful. His mouth opened wide so I could see his fangs dripping with venom.

He immediately retracted them and looked at me, slowly lowering to see me at eye level. Completely flat on the floor as he was, I still had to raise my head to meet him. The shock was to be expected. It had been decades since the last time anyone with my former last name had come to visit him. None of them have been as young as I was.

He told me that as I came closer to inspect him, seemingly expecting something from me, but I couldn't figure out what nor I cared. There was no plan when I came to visit him. I did it anyway because I knew I could and I wanted to see him myself. It was my birthright, after all. Nobody else in that entire school could have done what I did. Nobody else deserved to look upon him like I could. Only me.

Now that I was in front of him, I barely dared to move. I patted his nuzzle, clumsily, fascinated by the sensation of his scales, and I blurted out my name. He repeated it for himself and the sound of it sent a shiver down my spine. His voice was not the voice anyone could expect coming from a monster. It was light and melodic, one made for singing and telling stories until dawn. It sounded exhausted now that he wasn't going to eat me, not even mustering the enough interest to be legitimately disappointed. I thought it was a pity that such a voice had to be concealed like this.

He finally asked what I wanted.

I looked around at his chamber, bigger than any church I went with my mom with, bigger than any other close space I had seen in my life. It was appropriate for the size this monster had. Seeing as he wasn't going to impede me, I kept exploring around. There were statues of my ancestors at the sides. Some were broken up in some parts because of the years passed, while others were just destroyed to leave behind feet on a base.

The massive head of the monster followed me. His whole body moved easily for the size it was, but there was a heaviness there that couldn't be ignored. He could crush me with his tail alone if he wanted to. Standing right at his side my head would not reach above his back. I could be just a stain under him and nobody would even know it. I made sure to close the entrance before I advanced any further. It would be so easy for him.

"Is this where you sleep?" I asked.

"No, I was just napping" he said and I could hear his patience growing thin.

Completely understandable, of course. There he was, a legendary beast, just lounging in his chamber when a little kid comes around and starts asking questions while not answering him. In my defense, I can at least say that I wasn't doing it out of some power play. I honestly had no answer to give except that I wanted to stay there, with him, but that didn't sound like the kind of answer that he expected to hear and I had no desire to justify myself.

"Where do you actually sleep? Can you show me?"

If a snake could only frown, I know he would have. As it was, only his voice and eyes could tell me how thoroughly confused he was at the request.

"Why?"

"I want to see."

It was a nest that was set up for him under the statue. The stairs leading up to there seemed so long back then, but it took him a second to descend there. I saw old pillows, blankets and even some pieces of clothing of past students he must have grabbed to form this. There the ceiling was oblong, making it like a curve cave where only a small portion of light came in. Even in the darkness I could see his eyes and the pearly shine of his scales, waiting for my next reaction. I had to disappoint him again by keeping asking him questions, way too many in fact for him to actually respond before I had jumped to the next. From my ancestors to how this place came to be, what did he eat, how did he move around the school, why nobody had found him yet, could he leave, what other magic he could do.

Most of it I came to find out in my next visits. I tried to come for at least a few hours everyday and every time I did he was always lifting his head, as if ready to act on a command I just never gave him. Instead I brought my books to study there and read when I finished my homework and played chess when I was bored. I didn't have to explain the rules to him. He just told me that he learned a long time ago, even before landing on this chamber, but it had been ages since he played so he was pretty rusty. That was the excuse at least. I still beat him the majority of times. It was a special kind of joy to see this huge best pout and make excuses the more I grew up, until his I am just letting you win because you are young made less and less sense.

He told me I was a weird kid. Shouldn't you be socializing with other kids your age? Here it is cold, damp and there is not a lot to do. Surely I could have better options for activities that didn't include this place. He was just a big boring monster that left to their own devices and was just going to sleep, eat and sleep again. If I wasn't going to have him attack anyone, dispose of any body or some other task, he couldn't understand why I would want to spend my time there.

His words, not mine. To me it was pretty obvious, although I still had a few years left before fully understanding it myself. As one of the easiest reasons to grab, he was a vast source of knowledge. Making homework around him was just easier when I could ask him a question about something and more often than not he was going to have an answer. Potions were the subject where I could hear his voice perking up the most. What could have taken me maybe one hour on my own was cut in half when I could simply count with his help.

Other reasons were less simple to explain and therefore I wouldn't even try. The way it made me feel when he let me rest my back against any part of his body as he laid comfortably, either eating some prey he had captured or doing nothing. Seeing his face covered in blood for the first time raised my heart and I had the image stuck in front of my eyes for a long time. How the first time that he laughed at one of my jokes felt like an accomplishment to be proud of and then I had to wonder when was even the last time anyone had told him any joke, good or bad. How the sound of his breathing was more comforting than the fire of a chimney in winter. How when he started calling me Al instead of Alastor or kid felt good. How his eyes started to light up and relax when he saw he was me at the door.

I just wanted to come see him. Shouldn't that be enough?

Eventually his questioning became annoying. So of course, I took it as an open invitation for me to bring a friend over so he would shut up for once about socializing with kids my age. She had been one of my friends since the first year, but I didn't think to trust her until we were in our fourth year. She always knew I was up to something, but since I let her copy all my homework and helped her out with the subjects she had trouble with, I never felt the need to question too much about it.

While everyone else in our class was in the nearby town, we were going down the tunnel in the bathroom.

I could see his eyes growing hungry as he came close and I immediately had to tell him that she was a dear friend that I wanted him to see. Until then, she didn't fully believe me when I told her I knew the monster that lived under the school. For some reason she thought that was a way for me to hide the fact I was meeting with some boyfriend I was hiding from her. More reason as to why she didn't want to pressure me about it in the first place. She never told me why that was ever an option in her mind, though.

In any case, once he understood that she wasn't food or an enemy, he was just stunted as to what to do now. At least with me there was an expectation, but she was just a stranger. Not that she let him dwell too much on it before she was admiring him all over, praising him for being a worthy predator that surely inspired fear in all of his victims. Could he give her some sample of his venom just in case? Maybe a portion of his skin? Anything that he could be would be amazing.

He looked at me so confused, so lost in front of her open enthusiasm, that I had to laugh. She just likes magical creatures, especially the carnivorous ones. Her own mother raised dragons so she knew all there was to know about them, how to understand them and tame them. Even how their meat tasted, because when one dragon died it would be rude to just let it go to waste when it came to such majestic beasts. In hindsight, I should have known that she was going to be delighted to meet him from the start, but didn't feel inclined to bring her over until she presented me with her own girlfriend. I guess it was just time to do it then.

As a show of good will, she had brought dead rats in her bag for him. In the case that I was lying or embellishing things for her, she was planning to give them to her cat anyway. For a snake as big as him, rats were merely snacks, like peanuts were for us, but I think he did appreciate them all the same and relaxed after that. Of course she wanted to know everything about him, just like I did when I first met him, although she was a lot more polite and graceful about it. Beast or no beast, she was being her usual charming self all the same and wasn't about to be squeamish or scandalized for anything she happened to find out about his natural instincts.

It took her another couple of visits, but she finally convinced him to fill up a jar she was carrying with his venom. He still insisted on being extremely careful when handling it. Inside the body it was definitely lethal for humans, there was no escaping that, but the mere contact with the skin was permanently paralyzing. There was a cure that had to be applied immediately. His sincere concern moved her to promise she was going to be as careful as one could be. When he wanted to know what she wanted in the first place, my friend just smiled and assured me a girl could always need something like that.

Of course she saved the secret. I never doubted her for a second. I just knew that she was going to understand the kind of marvel that he was, how truly amazing it was that he existed at all. Now I could finally have someone else to talk about him without pretending it was something else entirely. I could use his name as much as I wanted, as long as it was the two of us, and she would give me a knowing smile as she listened to me. She even helped me out to create alibis for being at the chamber late into the night. Was I not in the communal area right after dinner? Oh, I just had to study something in the library, don't worry about it.

When I spent my first night down there, nobody asked me anything when I came back thanks to her. To be honest, I wasn't meaning to do it. It was a cold night, but inside of his nest it was warm and he was wrapped around me in a circle. I was reading a book at the light of a lintern and he was asleep already anyway, so how could I resist such a soft reset. I woke up covered in blankets and he was nowhere to be seen, but I didn't mind. Probably hunting his own breakfast somewhere in the castle. If I had food of my own, I wouldn't have minded waiting on him. Instead, I made my way back to the surface, towards the dungeon for my house.

My dear friend found me on the way to go out with a group of friends and excused herself to come find me, grabbing my arms as she demanded to know what happened. The urgency of her tone sounded weird to me. I had literally just fallen asleep and he didn't want to wake me up or realized it was too late to send me away so he just let me rest there. What else could have happened?

Of course I wouldn't mind spending another night there. All the nights in that castle. But I wasn't so naive to not understand that would only give me trouble in the long run. Just a few nights, though, and as long as I was careful to not concern the classmates I shared a room with, then why not? On my next visit, I commented that to him and he stared at me like I was insane.

"Why?" was all he could say.

"Because it is warmer here than in the dungeons and I don't have to hear snoring," I replied, which wasn't a lie and wasn't the whole truth either. But he wasn't going to hear me and take that either as a good enough answer. "Is that okay?"

He tilted his head to the side and finally shook it, as if he had given up understanding what was wrong with me. Probably for the best. Apparently two rats had walked all over me while I was sleeping, but he could eat them anyway without waking me up so I don't know how that was going to make me change my mind.

"Just make sure that you don't get into trouble" was the last recommendation before he officially threw the towel.

I knew that already and I wasn't planning to risk it either. No because I was particularly fond of the rules, but if they ended up punishing me or expelling me then that meant little to no time to do the things that I actually wanted to do.

In my fifth year at Hogwarts, there was a ballroom organized to celebrate the thousand year anniversary since the school's foundation. I hope I didn't give you the impression that I was antisocial, dear reader, far from it. I am just selective when it comes to the amount of people I decide to spend my time with and the amount of information I give them. I still enjoy the occasional outing just like any other kid of my age.

It wasn't enough for him, though. When I told him about the whole ballroom and how I was planning to just spend the night there, since everyone would be busy with their own celebration, he was indignant. I already made little sense for him, but for some reason this choice he found utterly worth arguing about. A kid like you, come on, surely you have more than plenty of admirers or someone that catches your eye. Are you actually telling me that all this time you were never interested in anyone? Not even once? There was no one that occupied your thoughts, you doodle their name along with you, imagine the two of you together, just enjoying each other's company? You are so young. You have no idea that you are never getting these years back so you should take advantage of them. Even if it's just fun. Make mistakes if you want to make them. This place was not made for a kid like you to have a normal joyful life.

You should want to be away from here as much as possible. And yet you aren't. That was basically the gist of all of his protests. I cared very little for them, of course, but the nagging idea that he was the one who didn't want me there kept pestering me. In the end it made sense. Whereas my dear friend had brought snacks and sometimes I brought whatever dead animals I could catch to him, as said before, those were still merely snacks, small bites for him. They were ever going to fulfill him or give him more of a solid reason to at least stop trying to kick me out.

So I gave him to eat the janitor. That man made it so easy too.

The night of the ballroom, the date I had chosen to go with me unfortunately had a little stomach ache that terminated our night earlier than everyone else. It was almost like someone had slipped a little bit of something on their drink when they weren't looking. But not to worry too much, the effect only lasted until the next morning when the body would naturally take care of it. Nothing too serious either, just enough of an inconvenience to rather go to bed to rest than to keep dancing. They have never done me any wrong, after all.

As I made my way to the bathroom and pretended I was just walking around until it was empty, I didn't bother to be as discreet as usual. I could hear his steps down the hallways, waiting to see what I was doing. He already had his sights on me for some time because of all my sneaking around. He could never catch me in the act of doing anything wrong, but tonight he was finally going to have something. I like to think that he died at least with that satisfaction to console him.

I barely had to do anything for him to follow behind. When the bathroom was empty, when I started descending the tunnel, I was concerned about him going directly to any of the professors or the headmaster herself to inform them of what happened. Luckily for me, acting as if I had something in my pockets must have made him think that time was of the essence, so he didn't waste any on trying to find out what I was up to.

Before I opened up the chamber, I paralyzed him. Then it was only a matter of bringing him floating inside. The giant snake came out slithering from the space under the big statue, directly from his nest, towards myself. I could tell that he was first confused, about to question why I wasn't at the party, until he noticed the present I had.

"What is that?"

"Your dinner. Unless you already had something."

"That is not funny, Alastor."

"Who is joking?" I dropped the janitor, still stiff as a wooden plank, down on the floor. My friend kept staring as if he didn't understand what I was doing. "He steals from the students, did you know? Goes through their mail, eats whatever concerned parents send to their kids. If he could get away with it, he would love to lash out with a whip, isn't that right?" I asked the man that couldn't respond to me or anyone for that matter. "He tells that all the time at least. About how that is supposed to build some discipline. There is always a first year that cries because of him. He won't be missed."

"Is that what you want?" he asked me.

I had again the sensation he was waiting for something of me. At the same time his tone of voice was just as confusing as it was filled with uncertainty. Why was he hesitating? Shouldn't he be glad I brought him food at last? He had been ready to devour my friend, how was this that different?

"He saw me come in" I said as my response. "He saw you already. He is listening right now, even if he can't understand a word, and I can't do obliviate spells yet. What do you think he is going to do if I just let him come back now?"

He still looked at me a while longer as he slithered across the floor until he was on top of the janitor. His yellow eyes stared at the man with an expression I couldn't read. Then he opened up his mouth. I barely managed to see a glimpse of his fangs before he had buried them in the middle of the janitor. It all happened so fast that I almost dropped my wand.

He didn't lie about the effect of his venom. There was no reason for him to do it anyway, but I guess it takes an actual demonstration to really believe something that effective, that quick, can actually exist. I could see very clearly the moment in which the eyes of the man lost all focus, when the lights turned off, before I read a squishing ripping sound as he closed his jaw, taking with him the stomach and probably a good portion of his intestines with him. Even after death, the blood was pouring out everywhere. The smell was almost as overwhelming as the vision when he started to devour the rest, taking chunks and bites, swallowing limbs full. On more than one occasion I could feel his gaze over me, but I was too fascinated to move, to even speak.

By the time there was only a few stains of red in the stone floor, my legs were trembling and had to hold on to a nearby pillar. Slowly, he made his way towards me. I don't know what kind of reaction he was looking, maybe disgust or regret or maybe just laughter, but when instead I reached out arms open to hug my muzzle and lick the blood off his face I could feel his massive body flinching at once as if my tongue was an ax going for his throat. I didn't care that I was ruining the suit I had managed to rent for the party.

I just knew I needed to be close, closer than I was before. It was a compulsion without any other thought behind, no reason that I could use to justify it not even to myself. When my tongue reached for the corners of his mouth, he suddenly reacted pulling back and I stumbled without my support, leaving me cold and dumbfounded. He was staring at me carefully for what seemed like a long moment until he spoke again.

"Go clean yourself" was all he said before he disappeared in one of the many tunnels around the chamber, all connected to the different pipes around the school that allowed him to move freely and undetected.

I licked my own lips, but it didn't taste the same as it did before, when it was on top of his skin. From that day on, he spoke to me more about his past. He had dropped some comments here and there throughout the years, but now it was finally painting a complete image of who he was. He didn't tell me all in one setting, there was usually some point in which he just couldn't continue anymore before he had to change the topic, but eventually I got it all.

He was not always a beast. Many, many, many years ago, when this school was still new, his father saw him communing with muggles in the nearby town to spread magical solutions to their problem. Diseases that otherwise would have killed them were eradicated, injuries that should have been fatal were cured in the blink of an eye, missing children were found, the harvest were a success and food was plentiful. Muggles first took him as a miracle worker, an angel sent by god from Heaven, and one day the narrative changed into that of a devil using temptation to take them to the wrong path.

They followed him back home and retaliated against the smaller wizard population that they found. The news had spread even beyond that zone, so just erasing those memories of this group was not an option anymore. There was no other choice but to flee that place, leaving behind houses and the belongings they couldn't bring with them being reduced to ashes if not completely destroyed.

The wizards were angry, but none worse than the one that was supposed to be his father. He cursed him to that form and locked him up in the chamber to forever be the secret passed down from generation to generation, unable to live by the same magic. From my ancestors, that now I understood were also his, to my own eyes.

Until I got there, being used as a weapon was all he knew. Less than a pet, just an object to be used and forgotten past graduation, like a little entertainment toy. Taking out whatever enemy, friend or annoyance out of the way the other wizards put in front of him. His venom was freely taken as many times they wanted to for whatever purposes they wanted to. Some are more adamant than others. Some are nastier than others. Now I understood why there were statues broken off while others got to pass the test of time. It wasn't that they were just old as I had assumed, it was that he couldn't even resist looking at them.

All of that was already a lot to take in, but that wasn't the part that most stood out for me. If nothing else, it finally made sense why he was so weirded out by my simple presence without ordering him around, by me wanting to spend time here with him without the need for carnage. No, the part that shook me was another one, the last piece of information he was willing to give me, the one he wanted to think about the least.

He never told his father that he had a muggle wife and a child on the way. In a way it was a good thing because he could hold on to the idea they both got to have a good life among their own, without having not even a clue of the indignity he has been subjected to. At the same time, that also meant that he could never contact them or even know about their fate.

The first wizard that came after his father was the children of one of his many brothers. The base of that one had been lost a long time ago after he had knocked the rest of the statue. I didn't ask, and he didn't tell, but the hatred in his voice spoke volumes of what impression that one had left him with. I hated him too, without knowing his name, face or what he had done, simply because he dared to treat him with anything less than respect. But even that paled in comparison with the rage that the man who put him here in the first place inspired me. It seemed that the bad father portion was a curse we both shared.

When it came to his own family, the one he lost contact with, though, his voice turned quiet and his phrases short, as if talking anything more than that was still too painful, even after all these years.

I don't really know why he felt the need to tell me any of that. Maybe he thought that would make me want to stop visiting so much? That whatever I had started already was going to stop because some bastard in my lineage was the bastard that also made him? If any of that was his intention, then I am afraid none of that came true. If anything, it has given me the next purpose for the rest of my years.

I always was planning to keep close for as long as I could. But after hearing about his background, I had a new purpose to dedicate myself to it and told him as such as soon the idea became clear in my mind. Someday I was going to break his curse and we both would get out of this castle together.

Which finally brings us to the reason why I am here speaking to you like this, dear journal. You see, breaking a curse as old as this one requires time, lots of study, trial and error. Wizards might live long, but we aren't immortal.

I didn't care about living forever exactly, but I need as much time as I can gather and as long as I exist here then that is a little more time than another part of me had yesterday. In my own readings I had found out a little about this method to save someone's soul into an object. As long as the soul is attached to this plane, the wizard can't truly die. How many years would that give me? How many opportunities to try on?

At first he didn't believe me when I told him my plan. Why would he? As far he was concerned, I was still just the same kid that kept bothering him almost everyday and brought him food one time. I was only 16 after all. I could still change my mind. I could still meet a wizard or witch that would make life outside of this castle more interesting and worth living, or just get bored of him. He told me as such multiple times and at first I would feel the need to protest, to insist this is what I wanted, but that got tiresome and we never agreed so dropped it. If he wasn't going to believe my word, then I had no other choice but to make him believe with my actions.

My first actual kill was actually in part thanks to my dear friend. She loved to learn about magical creatures, but absolutely despised the professor for that subject. A brute that has no real love for any of the creatures he brought for class, just a sick need to show off his domination skills over them. He had beaten some of those poor creatures in front of them, insisting that was the only way that they were ever going to listen. When I told her about this, she didn't think for a second that I was joking and I adored her for it. Her smile was too precious as she told me to please bring her back one of his fingers to feed her cat with.

A precious gem she was. If it wasn't because of him, I might have been happy just living around her, causing who knows what kind of disasters and problems for everyone around us. As things turned out to be, I had decided on a different path for myself.

Bringing him down with me was so easy. I just had to tell him the truth, that there was a giant snake under the school, but I was too afraid to enter on my own and needed his assistance to decide what to do. Luckily for me, he was an idiot and so he didn't think to contact the headmaster first or any other of the professors. Probably he thought he alone was going to be enough to tame him and then he could get all praise for it. Just as much of an idiot as my dear lady friend had warned me about already.

When I paralyzed him, I presented his body once again but made a gesture to stop the massive fangs coming for him. He had already given me the sight of one of his kills. It was only fair that I gave him the sight of my first real one. Not the product of fear and desperation, but an actual conscious elimination of someone's life because they had already proven that they weren't fit for it.

You can't just say the words and point with a wand. For this curse you have to actually know what you are doing, to want it, to not have a single doubt in your mind. To me it came as easy as breathing and the next second, that professor that no one was going to particularly miss was gone forever.

That is how I came to be here. For this to work you have to take a life each time. I was willing to pay that price as many times as it was required if that meant helping him.

Lucifer, I did it for you. All of this is going to be for you. When I was looking into how to do it I finally understood the words I needed to make sense of it, but I didn't get to tell you. I hope I did it after the deed is done. I don't know. I can only be aware of everything that happened up to that point. I can at least tell you here.

I love you, Lucifer. I think I did the moment I saw you, but then you had to make it worse by actually welcoming me here. By letting me hear your voice and your laugh and letting me stay, I had no other option left. I was doomed the moment you did that because you couldn't bring yourself to kick me out. In a way, this is all your fault too.

I am not complaining though. We can both share these blood stained hands, even if you don't have any. I know you aren't squeamish already.

I have never felt more sure about something before. I want to live outside of those walls with you, for as long it's humanly possible and even after that. I won't let death separate us as long as there is a shred of me somewhere with any conscious left. I will find you and take you out of your prison no matter what.

This is my promise, my darling.

#radioapple #appleradio #duckiedeer #hazbin hotel au #lucifer x alastor #harry potter au

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brandonduhaimes · 2 years ago

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Midnight on the Interstate

Gif credits to owner

Pairing: Matt boldy x reader

Length: 885 words (sorry its a little short)

Requested: Could you write about Matt Boldy picking the reader up and going on a car ride? The reader is stressed/ on the brisk of a breakdown, and he knows car rides are the only thing to calm her <3

You had been struggling recently, school was driving you up a wall and Matt had been on a long roadie. You had tried to finish your assignment early so you could pick up the house a little bit before he returned but life never goes as planned. You had spent the last forty minutes stuck on the final question on your assignment. As you continued to try and find the right words your wonderful boyfriend walked through the door.

"Baby I'm home!" You hear from the doorway and you smile before remembering once again that the house was a disaster. As you made your way to the front room you were swiftly tackled and dumped onto the couch. On top of your laptop. Matt had obviously not meant to and you weren't hurt but your poor laptop did not survive the weight of two bodies being thrown on top of it.

You pushed Matt off quickly but to know avail as your laptop screen was now shattered into pieces.

Matt quickly noticed and immediately started apologizing. "Im so sorry babe i didn't know it was on the couch i just needed to be close to you." He says as he pulls you onto the opposite side of the couch and into his lap.

"No its my fault the house is a mess because i didn't plan my time well. If i had just done my assignment instead of trying to make it perfect the house would have been clean and my laptop would have been in the bedroom in my backpack." You sigh trying to keep the tears from falling.

Matt wraps his arms around you and hugs you from behind. "It sounds to me like you are way overworking yourself babe. You need to take a break."

"I can't finals are coming up and I can't fail them." You mutter and Matt has heard enough.

"Nope we aren't stressing tonight. Get your shoes on and get in the car please. I'll help you with homework and studying tomorrow." He squeezes your waist one more time before kissing your temple and shooing you to the entry way.

You slip on your shoes and you can't help thinking about how amazing he is. He just got off of a long road trip and was probably looking forward to some sleep but felt that you were more important. You smile to yourself and he grabs the keys off of the table in the entry way.

"Where to dear?" He asks and you cant help but smile at him.

"As long as I'm with you anywhere is perfect." You reply and he grabs your hand almost dragging you to the car.

The two of you get in and he begins to drive. He finds a secluded road with some of the most beautiful houses you have ever seen.

"The morning before our first date I came out here while I was stressed. I had wanted everything to be perfect and nothing was working the way I wanted it to. The place I wanted to take you for dinner didn't have any open reservations and none of the outfits I was trying looked right. Brandon made me leave the house because I was stressing him out too much. Then I found this place and it made me feel like everything would work out."

You weren't really sure why but his little monologue had calmed you a lot.

"Our first date was amazing though," you think back fondly on the night in the small restaurant and dancing in the rain outside.

"It worked out really well for a rainy Friday night so I know that everything is going to work out when it comes to school for you." He replies and you grab his hand.

You and Matt continue driving talking and laughing and belting out the words to your favorite songs. You didn't look at the time until it was nearing one in the morning. "We should probably start heading back towards the house, its already really late."

Matt pulled off to the side before putting in the directions to your house neither of you really knew where you were now. All of the roads had become intertwined through out the drive.

As you pulled back into your shared driveway Matt put the car in park and shut it off before coming around to your side and throwing you over his shoulder. "Matt put me down!" You yell and he laughs loudly.

"No Y/n I don't think I will." He carries you into the house and up the stairs to your bedroom before throwing you nonchalantly onto the bed.

He grabs a pair of your pajamas out of your dresser and one of his shirts out of his. "Go ahead and get ready for bed I'm gonna go grab a snack."

You changed before laying down on the bed and immediately falling asleep. When Matt returned to the upstairs he found you on top of the covers with your hair in your face.

He gently pushed your hair back and pulled the covers over you before gently lowering himself into bed before pulling you into his chest. He placed a gentle kiss on your forehead and whispered "i love you" into your ear before falling asleep as well.

#matt boldy blurb #matt boldy fluff #matt boldy fic #matt boldy x reader #matt boldy imagine #matt boldy #minnesota wild #mn wild #nhl fic #hockey fic

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huffle-dork · 11 months ago

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Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 11: SepticHeroes

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix

Read Swapboys | Read Septicheroes | AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT | Septicheroes Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata

Jackie and Bro had been flying for a while. Jackie would never admit it, but he was starting to get tired. He settles down on the edge of a shingled roof for a moment and sighs, looking at the ground below. This is an area lined with shops. Lots of foot traffic. "Jameson used to live here, yknow," he says, pointing at one of the shops. "It was a family business. I mean, no one's taken over the building, but... sucks that he can't run it for now."

Bro touches down next to him and he looks tired as well. He shakes out his head and refluffs his hair under his hat. "Oh really? Why can't he work there now?"

Jackie sighs. "It's... complicated. I mentioned I was looking for a villain earlier. One we don't know anything about? Basically, he made JJ do some fucked-up stuff. Now the police and the League are after him so he and Schneep are hiding out. Oh yeah, did I mention they're cousins? I don't know if relationships are consistent across universes, since our Chase doesn't have a brother. Anyway. They're cousins here but neither of them can run the family business due to being, you know, wanted."

Bro's eyes widen. He shakes his head, "Yeah no.... our Schneep and jj- they're close but... not cousins."

Then, he gets a righteous look of fury in his eyes as he looks out. "...I get that. Magnificent did the same for my brother. Made him do fucked up shit. and Even though he was really disguised when he worked for him... Alt is convinced he needs to hide back home. He's afraid of getting caught... Even though it wasn't his fault! Mag tricked him- manipulated him... controlled him!" He grips his hands into fists. "... i don't get why- villains can just do that to someone...!"

Jackie lets out a huff of laughter. "Yeah... good and bad are complicated, but I know that hurting--manipulating--innocent people is terrible." He pauses. "Maybe your brother and JJ could talk about that stuff together. Maybe we can suggest that when we find him.”

"Heh... maybe- dunno how open he'd be about it though... he's a tough nut to crack. Our Dr. J knows that." Bro laughs.

Jackie pauses, squinting down at the street below. "Oh would you look at that. If that's what I think it is, it's perfect timing." He points at the street, where there's a flicker of green pixels on the sidewalk.

Bro blinks and looks down towards the street with a raised eyebrow.

In a fizzle of green blue pixels, Alt skids out onto the road and then heaves a bit, bending over his knees. "Goddamnit- why is this city so big??" Then, there's a shadow over him as Bro whoops and then divebombs his brother in a huge hug. "Alt!!"

Alt yelps in surprise and then pushes off of Bro and glitches away. "Jesus Christ Chase!" He acts mad for a second then slowly laughs. "You know for a flying hero- you're pretty tough to find-"

Jackie laughs as he sees Bro divebomb his apparent brother, a few pedestrians scattering to give him room to maneuver. They all look unsure at first, until Jackie flies down and starts making casual small talk with the pair. At which point they relax and go about their business... or stay to watch.

"You're pretty tough to find, too. Alt, right?" Jackie holds out a hand. "I'm Windstorm. No real names with all these people around, but you met some friends of mine so you should know it anyway, hahah."

Both the boys look a bit startled at the fact they just said each other's names out loud and look around at the apparent crowd they attracted. Alt hides in his jacket for a second, covering up his face. Then, he blinks and drops it to study Windstorm. He narrows his eyes and tries to think of who this reminds him of, before his eyes widen. Then he laughs, "No fucking way-" And he takes Jackie's hand to shake it. "Well, Windstorm, nice to meet ya!"

"Yeah!! Isn't it cool!!" Bro grins, stimming a bit. "Dude!! Heroes are apparently everywhere here! There's even a league!"

"Yeah i heard-" Alt laughs with a shake of his head.

Now Bro notices Alt's hair color and mask and he gasps, "Alt!! Whats with the costume change- is that a hero outfit??"

Alt immediately blushes- "N-No! No- i uh.. I'm just trying to you know- blend in! The others mentioned it might be good to..." He looks away, embarrassed but trying not to show it.

Jackie glances back and forth between them. Then smiles at Alt. "Well I think you look super cool, dude!...That was unintentional, I promise." He giggles. "Seriously though, you'd look right at home in a comic book. Right, Bro?"

"Hell yeah dude! It's awesome! We can totally make a cool uniform for you back at home too! If that's what you want!" Bro is bouncing on his feet with excitement.

Alt still looks sheepish but he laughs quietly and looks back at them. "I'll... think about it." But then he sighs, "... we can't get too comfy though, Bro. We need to try to find Magnificent before he gets someone around here seriously hurt." Alt looks back at Jackie, "... the others mentioned someone called uhhh" He quickly finger spells out the name M-A-R-V-I-N. "and i.... i think that could be Mag's target if i had to guess... do you know where he might be?"

"Oh shit, right, you guys gotta get home." Jackie had been so caught up in knowing new supers that he forgot they had to go back to their home dimension. "Uh--hang on, let's get to somewhere less crowded." He glances around. Most of the onlookers have moved on by now, so he turns to the shop he pointed out to Chase earlier. The sign reads Jackson Legacy Crafts. "Come on, in here." He takes a key out of his pocket, mutters "I knew I had that in there" and unlocks the front door.

Bro and Alt share a look and then nod, following Jackie inside.

"Jackson crafts huh...? Guessing JJ owns this-" Alt muses as he looks around.

"Yeah, I was just telling your brother about this place. JJ doesn't run it right now, I don't know if he told you about the situation with... why he's staying somewhere else, but suffice to say he can't right now."

Alt nods, "Yeah- they mentioned a bit about it. About that villain that can use tech and stuff. that super sucks..."

The interior of the shop is basically empty, floor collecting dust. The back wall is the only thing that gives any indication that it was once used. Framed family photographs--and one poster of a super called Timekeeper--decorate the wall behind the counter.

"Okay," Jackie says. "I promised Chase--my Chase--that I'd call him once we found you, keep him updated. Actually, I'll FaceTime him so he can see you guys." Jackie takes his phone out of his pocket, still talking. "Anyways, nice to meet you, Alt! That glitching thing you do is really cool, I love how it looks."

Alt blinks and then looks bashful again at Jackie's compliments but he does grin slightly. "Oh! Thanks! And you're- god, I can't believe you're Jackie...! our Jackie can do cool stuff but i think he'd break every bone in his body trying to be a superhero." He laughs and Bro can't help but join in, nodding. "Yeah- we used to be mates in uni- but i re-met him trying to save his neck doing a dangerous parkour move."

Jackie laughs. "God, I can see myself doing that. I really can. The only reason I haven't broken my neck doing stupid stunts is because I can fly. Hell, sometimes I still get hurt." As he talks, he dials Chase's number. It rings for a while. Then it picks up, showing Chase's face. "Hey bro, did you find one of the other guys?"

"Yoooou bet!" Jackie turns the phone so all three of the guys are in shot. "Look at us all!"

Alt grins and then glitches a bit before waving. "Hi! I'm Alt!" Bro grins and wraps an arm around Alt and then gives him a noogie, even as Alt tries to glitch to get him off.

Chase laughs. "Hey, nice to meet you! My brother in another universe, apparently. Hey, since the other-me got to meet him, here's Frosty." Frosty shoves his head into frame. "And also since he keeps trying to get on my lap.”

Alt smiles, “Aw cute!” He’s a lot better around dogs now then he used to be.

“Anyway. What're you guys gonna do now? You have some villain to find, right?"

"Yeah." Jackie nods and looks back at the brothers. "You guys know more about him than me, what d'you think he'll do?"

Alt’s eyes darken and he nods. “Yeah… knowing Mag- he’s either gonna try to find a crazy big power source to drain… or he’s gonna go after this universe’s version of him… and try to kill him. Or drain him- or both.”

“Why he got such a grudge against himself is beyond me.” Bro mutters.

Alt shrugs, “self esteem issues I guess. But- that’s what he’s been aiming to do for the last couple of worlds.” He looks back at Jackie. “That’s why I think we should probably find Marvin… make sure he’s okay. I’m really hoping Mag has stayed knocked out for while but… I know we’re not usually that lucky.”

"Marvin?" Jackie blinks. "We know a Marvin. I--you guys probably know that by now, I don't remember if I told you but maybe JJ and Schneep did. I, uh... don't know where Marvin is, though. He's never told us where he lives. Or what he does, mostly. He has some trust issues, to be honest--"

Alt raises an eyebrow at this but then shrugs, “I guess I get that…”

“You were kinda like that when we first met-“ Bro quips.

“Only cuz I was being used and controlled by a cat bitch every other day.” Alt deadpans back. Bro shuts up.

"Hang on, bro, the messenger's going again," Chase interrupts. If the guys listen closely, they can hear the sound of pen against paper.

"Really? Okay, maybe JJ and Schneep figured something out, then." Jackie looks back at the others. "While that's going on. What do you mean by drain?"

Alt meets Jackie’s eyes and hums, “well- in our world. He’s a dark magician- and dark magic is serious shit. People who use it constantly are always looking for more power- and Mag can steal that power from other magicians or… what you guys call super humans. Or if he’s desperate- even take the life force of someone… taking out all their energy until they’re just a husk and converts that into magic power.” Alt shudders at this before continuing. “…I don’t know if he even can though here… life force maybe but… magic? I’m not sure… that exists here- from what I’m hearing.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t try though,” Bro adds darkly.

Alt nods. “Yeah he’s ridiculously stubborn… and is convinced he needs to drain power from every world he can get his claws on. Mad quest for power and knowledge- you know- classic villain shit.”

Jackie is silent, pale beneath his mask. On the other end, Chase is also silent. "What the fuck..." Jackie whispers. "That's... that's different than an absorber or copycat... Those guys can't kill anyone. That's... that's fucked up."

"Supremely fucked up," Chase agrees. "Uh... to change the subject really quick. The message is done." He holds up a note in front the screen, then puts it down before anyone can read it. "Marvin's at the safehouse. He's freaking out because... well what do you know?" Chase laughs darkly. "Because he had some encounter with a weird absorber who kind of looked like him."

"Shit," Jackie curses. "Is... is he alright?"

"Message doesn't say. And we can't just ask them, you know that."

Alt and Bro don’t reply but their expressions reflect their grim acceptance. Alt’s eyes glow with anger as he hears the description. “Yeah… that’s probably him.”

"We should get to the safehouse fast, then," Jackie says.

"Yep. I'll hang up now so you can do that. Good luck guys." And with that, Chase is gone.

"Okay. You two. This is going to sound a bit weird," Jackie says. "How good are you guys with tunnels?"

Alt seems a bit nervous about the tunnels, “uhhh… depends on if it’s narrow or not. I don’t do good in… tight spaces.”

“I can handle a tunnel, I think.” Bro responds.

"I don't think it's too narrow?" Jackie says. "It's about the size of one of those underground maintenance tunnels. If that doesn't sound good, you can teleport to the safe house where Schneep and JJ are, you know where it is. Bro, I'll definitely be taking you to the tunnel entrance. It looks like a sewer entrance through a manhole, but it's not. It's also not suspicious to see heroes going underground, so don't worry about that. For all anyone knows, we're tracking down some arms dealers down there. We're going to take it to the safe house."

Alt frowns and then sighs, “it’ll be fine- I gotta save up my glitches anyways…”

Bro wraps an arm around Alt and grins, giving Jackie a thumbs up. “Alright! Let’s do this then~”

"Okay." Jackie nods. "Stay close to me. I'll show you where it is. It might be a bit of a walk, so be prepared for that." And with that, he leaves the shop.

Alt grumbles, “yayyy walking.” Bro nudges him with an eye roll before dragging him after Jackie.

-----------

It is not normal hospital policy to let someone go immediately after the SDER department treats them. But Magnificent has his ways. He walks out only about forty-five minutes after being admitted. The burn pain has not faded entirely but it has significantly lessened.

Magnificent had convinced the doctors that he was healed enough to leave so he staggers out of the hospital, thinking of all the ways he’s ready to tear that orange masked kitten apart. Wounding him that much, humiliating him! He was going to pay in the most painful way possible. Now… he just had to find him. …but how?

He's barely out of the hospital car park when something floats out of an alleyway toward him. It's... a flying robot, like the one back in the office building. But slightly different. This one is larger, about soccer-ball-sized, and completely black. The camera in the center fixes on Magnificent's face. A ring around it spins, revealing a set of speakers. "Where did you come from?" a computerized voice asks... a voice that almost sounds like a robotic version of Alt's voice, like someone used samples for the voiceback.

Magnificent jumps slightly and then he narrows his eyes at the robot. He opens up a hand just in case he needs to summon some magic as he eyes it down. “…I could ask you the same thing. What are you?”

"This is merely a device for communication," the voice says. "Called a Semi-Autonomous Machine. The fact that you haven't heard of it is suspicious. As is the fact that you appeared out of nowhere in the East SepTech location.”

Magnificent chuckles and eyes the machine. “Well- very clever. I guess machines here are far more advanced than I had anticipated.”

“Your face is not registered anywhere. Or, it is, but that cannot be you, because Spitfire Cat was there in person with you. My only conclusion is that you either come from somewhere very isolated, or you are not from this world at all."

“Spitfire cat huh… well at least I have some kind of identifier now.” Mag crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at the SAM. “So- your machines have caught me. But- you must have something else in mind for you to approach me outright. Who are you? And what do you want?”

"I prefer to remain anonymous," the voice says. "It has been my greatest strength so far. But if you must call me something, you may call me... Anti. I think that will suffice. As for what I want... I imagine you are planning to go after the man who burned you, are you not? I wish to lend my aid. It would be to my advantage if him--and others he associates with--were eliminated."

Magnificent’s eyes light up with mad glee. Ah… another Alt seeking his aid. How amusing… He smirks and shows off glowing eyes. “Is that so? Well then… I suppose we have a partnership then, Anti. Catch me up on what I need to know… and I can get rid of these pests for you.” Usually he’d ask for more in return- but the thought of revenge is too sweet to turn down. Besides… he’ll get his worth from this he’s sure.

The SAM's peripheral flicks like a tail. "There are four of them. Technically five, though the fifth is not a threat. You have already met Marvin Nedra, the Spitfire Cat, and his solid-heat energy that he forms into shapes and beams. The others are Chase Brody, who is but a normal human, Jackie Skye, who can fly and control air, Henrik von Schneeplestein, who can become invisible and intangible at will, and Jameson Jackson, who can produce strings to control other's bodies. Those last two are currently hiding somewhere I cannot find, some sort of safe house. Marvin is likely to head there as well after you absorbed his power. But if you wish, I can locate the other two easily. I've also armed this SAM with minor combat capabilities, if you require aid."

Mag can’t help but look impressed. “Your knowledge of your enemies is impressive, Anti. And very straight to the point.” He grins. “Send me to one of them and I can track down the other annoyances- I assure you. I’m sure my own are probably teaming up as we speak…”

A moment passes in silence. "Okay. I believe we should take out the weakest link. Chase is at the apartment building 88 Parker Street, in flat number 1010. If he is in danger, the others will come running. It kills time. The building is in that direction." The SAM's peripheral points down the street.

Magnificent chuckles darkly. “I like the way you think. Consider it done.” He sends a little cheeky salute at the SAM’s camera then starts to teleport down the path they indicated.

The SAM dips, like it's nodding its head. Anti says nothing as Mag disappears. The SAM merely rises into the sky and moves in that same direction.

-----------

There is a trapdoor in the hallway of the safe house. A knocking noise comes from it, and Schneep hurries over, opening it up. "I was wondering when you would get here," he says.

Jackie floats out of the trapdoor. There's a ladder, but he decides not to use it. "Sorry it took a while," he says. "But hey! We found these guys."

Bro follows Jackie’s lead and also floats out. Alt glitches up and then shakes himself out, grumbling. Bro laughs and then waves, “Hi guys! I’m Chase! Or Bro Fantastic~! Whichever you wanna use!” He beams.

Schneep jumps a little when Bro flies out, then laughs. “I see, I see. The resemblance is truly uncanny. Ah, Bro would probably be less confusing for me.”

Bro laughs and nods, "Fair enough!"

Alt half heartedly waves at Schneep. “Hey again-“

Schneep nods at Alt. “Good to see you again. I’m glad you found your brother.”

“Marvin is here, right?” Jackie says. “We need to ask him about the guy he ran into.”

“Yes, he and Jameson are in the living room.”

The group moves down the hall to the room in question. JJ is sitting on the sofa with a man in a white, orange, and red costume. He quickly puts his cat-shaped mask on when he sees Bro and Alt, but for a split second before, they saw his face, and it was familiar. “Whaaat the fuuuck…” He whispers upon seeing them.

Alt and Bro blink at the cat masked man and then Bro can't help but laugh, "Yeah that's a fair reaction!" He smiles, "Hi Marvin! I'm Bro Fantastic!"

"..m'Alt-" Alt mumbles then steps up, "Chase told us your message- can you tell us more about who attacked you?"

“Uhhhh… right.” Marvin is still clearly a bit weirded out by this, but he moves on. “Alright. I was in the East SepTech building—”

“Wait, what?” Jackie interrupts. “Why?”

“Becaaaause that McLoughlin guy is sketchy and you know it.”

“He is not. He’s just a bit weird.”

Alt and Bro exchange looks- wasn't McLoughlin Mag's former last name?

“I really don’t want to get into this with you right now,” Marvin says, looking like he very much wanted to get into it, “so I’ll just move on. Anyway. While I was looking around for… something, this guy appeared who… looked like me? If my face was all scarred up. He grabbed my wrist and… and I felt really terrible. Like my life was being sucked out of me. So I got out of there. I think I hit him with one of these on the way out, though.” He holds up his hand, and a small red ball of light appears, giving off a significant amount of heat. “A-anyway, he can teleport so I thought he’d follow me but I guess I hit him really good.”

Alt's expression darkens, "Yup... definitely Mag-" Then his eyes widen as he sees Marvin's power. "Oh woah-"

Bro laughs, delighted. "Oh! Sick power! I hope you made that motherfucker feel it~!"

Marvin gives a small little smile. “He really didn’t seem happy with what happened, I’ll tell you that much.” He curls his hand into a fist and the ball disappears. “JJ’s been filling me in on this whole multiverse thing. So that guy actually was me from another world, then?”

Alt slightly chuckles before nodding. "uh... yeah. His name is Magnificent. Formerly Marvin McLoughlin. Though- say that around him and he'll kill you. He's... bad news. And... if he knows you're this world's him... he's gonna try to go after you again... and probably do much worse than he already has."

“Not… happy to hear he’ll be back for me. Felt like shit after he did whatever… absorbing that was. But I’d be glad to give him a piece of my fucking mind.” Marvin replies.

"Yeah... he drains powers- or life forces if he's desperate... it's not fun... sorry he put you through that," Alt mutters.

“If we all look for him, we could overpower him, probably,” Jackie says. “Just through numbers alone.”

JJ frowns. You want me to help?

Jackie pauses. “Only if you want to, of course,” he says in a quieter voice.

“Bro, Alt, what are Magnificent’s powers?” Schneep asks. “We must be prepared if we are to help you confront him. Which, if he is looking for Marvin, we will eventually.”

Bro makes a thinking face, "uhhh what does Alt call it- freaking mind control bullshit-"

"Mental magic..." Alt sighs, "He can overpower the mind... hypnotism used to batter defenses- he can control you- turn you into puppets. Or.. if he has enough time... even turn you into a pet." He shudders, and in the dim light, the others can see Alt's eyes are almost reflective, like a cat's. "He can also summon other magic... fire usually- sometimes electricity. But, he'll aim to take someone down in his power first. Oh and- you saw, he can teleport, too."

JJ flinches when Alt mentions puppets, but he says nothing. And before either of the brothers can bring it up, Marvin says, “How many fucking powers did he absorb?”

“Marvin, no, he is not an absorber,” Schneep says. “Those are just his powers.”

Marvin blinks. “I’m sorry? What the fuck?”

“They are from different universes, the rules must be different there, I already had the breakdown you are going to have,” Schneep says tiredly. “Do not get me started on Alt’s technopathy and teleportation and fucking… spell circles.” He points at Bro. “I do not know what your powers are but I will bet they are just as confusing.”

Bro looks at Alt who just shrugs in response. “It might be a magic thing- magicians are close to being Jack-of-all-trades- some are expected to be even if they’re not made for it. Some specialize but… the circle likes a wide variety of powers under their belt.”

Bro thinks, “uhhh I think- I can kinda control the energy in my body- and I got an abundance of it! If I wanna run fast, I push it in my legs. If I wanna punch hard- I put into my fists! Flying… is kinda just something I’ve been able to do right away- but maybe it has something to do with that. Oh! And I can kinda use electricity and do like a cool electric bullet thing- but I hear it hurts like a bitch so I try not to use it too much.”

“Well in that case I guess the suggestion I was about to make about using Windstorm’s neutrinalin probably wouldn’t work,” Marvin says.

“I don’t want to use that anymore anyway,” Jackie says.

Alt hums, thinking. “…we’re still trying to figure out what we can use to stop him… usually- the rules of magic would stop him but he’s cheated the system. All I know is- Bro’s his biggest threat but we aren’t sure exactly why.”

“It’s cuz I’m a hero, duh! That’s just a law of the universe!” Bro laughs. Then the hero blinks, “What’s Neutrinalin?”

"Oh, it's a chemical that will muffle supers' powers when it's injected or consumed," Jackie says, sounding like he's quoting a textbook. "The League controls the making and distributing of it. I, uh... don't use it anymore because..." He glances at JJ and Schneep. "Well, uh... I didn't realize there could be... side effects. A-and even though the side effects don't appear for a while I... still don't... like to use it... after seeing them." He clears his throat. "Anyway, your powers are really cool, Bro. Sounds handy."

"I don't like this Magnificent's lack of weaknesses," Marvin mutters. "I mean... I probably could still blast his head off but--I mean, that's a last resort sort of thing."

Alt shudders, holding his arm. "I mean... that might could work but... he's also as hard to kill as a cockroach. and yeah- I dunno what will happen... if we did that." He looks anxious thinking about it.

"Also I don't kill, " Bro says with finality. "It's wrong. Magnificent has done awful things but... killing isn't the answer. Even if we don't have a name to his weakness.. it's something I can do- or Alt. Ive seen him able to neutralize Mag... he just doesn't get his powers as well yet."

"Not to mention we do not know what will happen to Bro and Alt's universe if all three of them do not return," Schneep says. "It may cause problems."

🎶 Dadada da dadada da dadada daa daa 🎶 Jackie jumps, surprised, then slowly settles back down to the ground and takes out his phone. "Uh... sorry..."

"You brought a phone here?!" Marvin gapes at him. "Did you not listen to Kanchana's safe house rules at all?!"

"Hey, there was no time to drop it off, I was concerned about you, dickwad!"

"Well thank you, prick."

Don't worry, they're not actually that mad, JJ says to Bro and Alt.

Bro smirks a bit, "Yeah no i get it- me and Alt bicker like that all the time."

Alt looks at Jackie, "...who'd be calling you here...?" for some reason, dread is starting to bloom in his gut. He has a bad feeling....

"It's Chase," Jackie says. "Which is weird, because he knows he shouldn't call me at the safe house." He pauses, also feeling that same bad feeling Alt has.

"Well... maybe it's an emergency." He picks up the call.

#SITCV Septicheroes #Swap into the crystalverse #septicheroes #swap magnificent #alt anti #bro fantastic #swapboys #im saddd tumblr wont let me do the chat text for anti >:C #it looks so cool in my google doc

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