#like even the sh chapters on stay get way less comments than the other ones

[lightyakami]

there are a handful of fic topics that ime rarely get kudos or comments but DO get views & i think it’s because people don’t want their names linked to them. ime it’s usually whump & fetish content but the former is way more prone to this. as an author i think it’s worth being aware of this — like i’ve been writing fic for literally twenty years across a billion different platforms with different engagement styles than ao3 so i an 100000% sure this sort of thing is well-loved and well-read but you’re rarely going to get actual confirmation of that.

[rosewater-chlxe]

pumpkin | colby brock

✖ Summary: While taking a trip to Rosehill Cemetery for one Colby’s videos, you both become a little too distracted to realize the dangers surrounding you. 

✖  genre ; fluff, comfort, the tiniest bit of angst 

✖  warnings ; slight mention of smut, reader w/ anxiety, mention of rituals 

✖ requested - yes | no

anon asked:  Hi love ! I saw that you take requests for colby again and I sent a request a while back asking if you could write one where he and his gf wanted to film a video but they start to make out super randomly and have to film the whole video again and now I am wondering if you could write it ?

a/n: i’m so terribly sorry for the wait; i hope you like it my lovely!! stay hydrated, take care of yourself, n make sure to rest!! ily <3 

✖ masterlist

The setting was quite bizarre for the feelings you felt so deeply and beautifully in your heart; you were completely, utterly mesmerized by the boy standing beside you. You walked in this dark, melancholic place with your fingers intertwined; both his and your hands interlocked. He carried a backpack of filming equipment, drinks, snacks, and band-aids; you carried a separate bag of blankets and pillows. Ghosts and ghouls were rumored to be in this grey, brooding place; even dangerous rituals have taken place here: Rosehill Cemetery. 

“Where do you wanna film the intro? I was thinking next to the Mortuary,” Colby said, “If you’re still comfortable and down for this, that is.” 

“Of course I am!! Maybe a little nervous, but there’s no turning back now,” You replied, feeling a cold chill go down your spine at the thought of anything going wrong. 

“Then the Mortuary it is,” He said with a grin that contained a hint of rebellion and mischief in it. 

As the violet-haired boy filmed the intro to his video, you admired his every feature and each mannerism. The way he talked while swaying his hands and hips; the dimples slightly showing through his cheeks, the motions of his jawline. The angelic, ethereal man that stood before you made you weak to your knees; it was hard to count every breath he took from your lungs. 

You were so in awe that you couldn’t hear the pet names said to get your attention, until finally he said your name. 

“Y/N? You alright?” He questioned with a slight smile, catching your wandering eyes. 

“Perfect.” You replied with a soft smile as he looked you up and down. 

You both ended up heading to the biggest honorary statue nearby, to not only take a thumbnail but also to explore more of the graveyard. As you quietly stumbled down the gravel path with Colby, hand in hand, he made witty comments to the camera whilst paying close attention to your surroundings.  This if the first kind of video of Colby’s that you’ve joined; you’ve always been eager to do something like this, though you know it can get risky and dangerous. That’s exactly why he held it off for so long, he never wanted to put you in any kind of uncomfortable or tense situations. The dyed-haired boy leading you has always been the utmost respectful and kind human being you’ve ever laid your eyes on. 

The amount of pure infatuation and love you held for him came without hesitance or thought; no number could label what you felt, no word could describe what happened in you when you simply glance at him. The electric blue butterflies swarming through your heart and the rosewater in your veins never faded, only growing more and more intense each waking second. Before him, it was as if your world could only be seen in light grey and shades of blue; now everything is built with much higher saturation. 

You knew not of what may happen in the future, but you knew you seen him in every upcoming chapter. 

“Excited?” Colby asked, grinning at you as he looked back at you. 

“Very; and a little scared, not gonna lie,” you replied with a light, friendly laugh. 

“It’ll all be fine, if anything were to happen you know we can just go home,” he reassured you with a sly wink. 

You nodded with a giddy smile, trying your best to look away from him. He could always make you feel like you’re on top of the world even with the smallest of interactions - that absolute bastard. You rolled your eyes as you realized just how much you’ve truly fallen for him. 

You skipped in front of him and stopped him from walking ahead, smirking at him while he looked at you questioningly and suspiciously. 

“What’re you up to, rascal?” He asked, knowing of your mischievous tendencies in the past. 

“Now why do you always assume the worst from me?” you laughed as you started to trace a fingertip along his jawline, then to his neck; you felt him swallow as if he felt nervous, though you knew it wasn’t nervousness making him eager. Soon enough your fingertip made it’s way down to his chest, then to the bottom half of his black button down shirt. You let out a light laugh as you teased, completely removing your hand from his torso entirely. 

Colby scoffed and quickly ran his ring-clad fingers up to your throat, his hand then forming a light grip across your jaw.  

“Wanna think about teasing me again, princess?” He asked with a now lower toned voice. 

You sweetly smiled at his intimidating exterior and leaned in to kiss him, in which he happily obliged. 

You felt his soft, light pink-tinted lips against your own and the rest of your face grew numb. Your body became weak, and your legs tightly squeeze together as you felt the grip on your throat roughen. His tongue darted against your bottom lip, making you let out a sweet, soft sound. Within a few seconds, your hands started wandering beneath his slightly unbuttoned shirt; though as soon as your hand drifted lower, Colby almost immediately pulled away.  

You were snapped out of your lovesick state as his facial features grew concerned; the only thing you seen at the statue you were a few feet away from was the illumination of candlelight and light chanting.

“Down,” He whispered, gently grabbing your shoulder and taking you to crouch with him. He placed a finger over his mouth, creating a silent “sh,” sound as he watched what was happening. 

“Colby,” you whispered, “What’re they doing? Who are they?” you began to panic. 

“Sweetheart, it’s going to be okay, just make sure you stay with me and do as I say,” he calmly whispered while making the softest direct eye contact with you. 

He knew you have always had the worst anxiety and one of his top priorities are making sure that anxiety is calmed; that you’re taken care of. He always tries his best to keep you comfortable in every setting, that became much more evident rather than subtle when you told him about your anxiety. He very much understood what you went through and knew that you could help each other through your anxiety issues. Situations like this was something he never wanted you to experience. 

“Who’s there?” a man in black attire yelled from the statue, looking in your direction. The chanting stopped. 

Colby had a look of shock across his face, then sudden terror as he seen something near the statue that you didn’t; as soon as he gasped, the next thing you knew was running the opposite direction with him. 

“We gotta get the fuck out of here,” Colby loudly spoke right next to you as you ran; he made sure never to let go of your hand. 

“What did you see?” you yelled in response, trying to keep up with him when it came down to every single breath.

Colby didn’t respond, but he glanced back to see six masked silhouettes in the far distance; they did not run, they walked in unison. 

At this point of running for what felt like decades though it had only been an estimated 45 minutes, you could see what looked like the parking lot close ahead. You had tears in your eyes that just wouldn’t drop; your throat felt like it was closing more and more within each passing second. 

You and Colby finally made it to his car and looked back for anyone near you. No one else was to be seen. You jumped in and slammed the door, Colby then locking the car and doing nothing less than booking it. 

He quickly pulled out of the parking lot and started going far faster than he should have. You seen him glance towards you in concern, making sure you were safe. His fingertips tapped on the steering wheel due to anxiousness. 

“Colby, breathe, you’ve got me,” you reassuringly said to him with a small smile, though your voice came out with cracks and whines. 

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry, this was such a bad idea,” he said to you in response, placing his right hand on your thigh whilst he continued driving. 

“I’ll be fine as soon as we get home, please just relax for me?” you asked sweetly. 

He nodded, his muscles untensing and his jaw unclenching. 

“What can I do to make this up to you, sweetheart?” he asked, feeling incredibly guilty for the situation he put you in. 

“You have nothing to make up to me love, but if we’re being honest the footage wouldn’t have been used anyway,” you said causing both of you to let out a light laugh, “so we could film another video tonight instead. A more laid-back one? Perhaps making a Halloween cake?” you excitedly smiled. 

“Anything for you, baby,” he sighed with relief, “but we have to watch horror movies tonight and I don’t make the rules, you gotta cuddle me,” Colby demanded. 

“Most definitely, pumpkin,” you replied lovingly.  

- fin. 

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt.10)

WOW we did it folks. 10 parts to an essay that we're like. a quarter of the way done with. That's pretty great! More or less, by the time you finish reading this post, you'll have read 35k words worth of analysis and I'll have spent countless hours writing it. What amazing dedication we have to this manga! We should get an anime reboot as a reward!

Anyway, let's go crazy stupid trying to wrap up this arc, where we can see the extent of Natsume's selflessness. As we approach the end, something will happen to make Natsume's plans to distance himself from Mikan very difficult. Let us begin!

Also I've been forgetting to put trigger warnings up for these but I put them on the first few so hopefully you know they're all like that. Child abuse is a huge topic we'll cover throughout, as well as all the consequences that come with it, so be wary.

Chapter Forty-One

Medusa--Mihara-san--is amused to see that the frightening, powerful, and awe-inspiring “Black Cat”, who demonstrates a trained command of his alice despite wearing an alice-restraining mask on missions, is actually just a little kid.

Natsume doesn’t care about being impressive; he cuts to the chase, asking where Mikan is. Medusa makes his comments, but Natsume stays on his point: his new mission is to save Mikan, after all. Though keeping Mikan and Ruka safe had been his personal mission from the get-go. But just as Natsume isn’t interested in anything Medusa has to say if it isn’t about Mikan, Medusa isn’t interested in any topic that is about Mikan. So the small talk ends and Shiki is commanded to test the kids’ abilities.

Natsume cares about one thing right now and it isn't his DA alias.

They are in the midst of some kind of battle or standoff when Mikan reappears, safe. She calls out to them, excited to see them again. Ruka and Tsubasa are happy to see her safe as well, so they call out too. Natsume is not as thrilled. He’s good at staying on mission and keeping his attention on the dangers around him, like Shiki and Medusa, as well as the countless other Z members, all with mystery alices.

Mikan suddenly appearing and making herself known is dangerous, and she’s immediately under attack, unwittingly. He runs to protect her, using his alice as a barrier between them and the man who just tried to hurt her, but when he turns back to look at Mikan, he’s livid.

The art in this scene is so gorgeous, I could stare it forever. Look at how silky Natsume's hair is. Pretty.

Tsubasa and Ruka have never been on a mission like this. They were just eager to see Mikan unharmed. She was also just excited to see her friends again after being separated. But Natsume knows better. On a mission, you have to stay vigilant and always careful, and Mikan was careless. He yells at her, scolding her. But even through his emotions, he stays vigilant, protecting her even more when the enemy tries to take advantage of the distraction.

This is what he came for, not just to be the brains and keep them on track throughout the journey, but also to protect them, because that’s what he always does, what his priority always is. He will use his alice to ward off enemy attacks, and use his body as a shield, even if he winds up exhausted and bleeding and hurt. And he is.

But he still tells Mikan to stay behind him, to stay safe, so he can properly protect her this time, because he couldn’t do it before.

He doesn’t expect Mikan to get up and tell him that he doesn’t have to worry. She doesn’t want or need him to protect her; instead she wants to help him. She tells him, for once, that he doesn’t have to be the only one hurt anymore. He’s understandably surprised to hear this, because it means that someone other than Ruka has been paying attention. She understands that he’s been through the wringer, and she doesn’t want to just sit back and benefit from his effort without giving anything back. But more than just saying she’ll take on the brunt of things for him, she wants to help. She wants to be his strength, not a burden on him.

She has been noticing him, even the things he doesn't want her to notice.

This shocks him enough that it actually distracts him from his vigilance, and suddenly it appears that Ruka is in danger. He leaves her side just long enough for her to be captured by Shiki instead, and immediately teleported to Medusa’s side. They needed to get Mikan out of the way, after all, so that Medusa could use his alice, which he immediately uses to petrify Tsubasa’s leg.

Chapter Forty-Two

Right off the bat, we’re shown just how much the stakes have risen. Medusa’s alice is deadly, not just dangerous, and he’s already managed to hit Tsubasa with it. His next command is to have Yuka steal the kids’ alices, and to start with Natsume. It would make things easier on him, anyway, Medusa says, obviously privy to the idea that a child like Natsume wouldn’t want to be a child soldier at all, unlike Reo who mused that maybe Natsume would be more content with just a change of employer.

But Yuka makes it clear that her alice isn’t strong enough to steal all of the alices at once, trying to spare the kids from losing their abilities. So Medusa then goes to a Plan B, convincing the kids that his alice will only be temporarily affecting them until they agree to work for Z. After all, Natsume can’t really use his alice when Medusa has Mikan in his clutches. He’s been in this situation before, practically living in it, having the lives and happiness of his loved ones held over his head so that he will be pliant. Medusa comments that he loves torturing people like him, and he must not be the only one, since Natsume’s been tortured in this way for years now.

Ruka is hit in the shoulder while trying to shield Tsubasa from another attack from Medusa, and the shoulder region is particularly life-threatening, as it’s close to the heart and he might die from the loss of blood flow soon. Of course, this sets Natsume into berserk mode, but before he can use his alice, he coughs violently. This gives Medusa an opportunity to strike Natsume in his dominant arm, his left one.

He tries to use his alice, despite being at a new disadvantage, and still angry from what’s happening to Ruka. So his leg gets hit too.

Medusa gets temporarily incapacitated by Mikan’s nullification, so he sends Yuka to steal Natsume’s alice, which should be a walk in the park because he’s lost control of his arm and leg, so he can’t run away.

It’s here that Natsume reveals to the reader the secret he’s been keeping for the past few days, the one that we must now keep as well, that Mikan is Yuka’s daughter.

This is another one of those situations, where the stars align in all the wrong ways. Something you've always wanted is within grasp, but there's too many reasons not to take it.

Natsume stands there, unable to move, and ponders his situation as Mikan desperately screams for him to run away.

He wonders if he was waiting for this exact moment, if that’s the reason he came along at all, so that he could meet Yuka and have her steal his alice away.

Earlier, Natsume left a conversation about losing alices because it was too painful. He doesn’t feel the same way about his that the rest of them do. It’s not some fond part of him that he can’t stand to lose. He hates it. It’s been a hindrance since the day he was born. People of all sorts of organizations, including the government operated Academy and terrorist organizations like Z, have coveted his power. It’s put his loved ones in danger. It’s made his life a living hell. He’s been robbed of a fun childhood, of smiles and friendship, of peace. It’s stolen opportunity from him, so he can’t even feel free to pursue a crush, or make bonds freely, or let himself laugh. It stole his future from him, and he dies a little bit more every day. He won’t live long enough to go on a date, graduate, get married, get a normal job, have kids, grow old. He might not even make it to middle school, and he knows it. He lives his whole life in eternal emotional, physical, and mental agony. He’s always under the gun, always careful, always selfless, always defensive.

Why would anyone want that?

And this is his chance to lose it all. Things could be easier, better, safer. He could lose it and finally exhale. He could go back home to his dad. He could be an actual kid for once. Yuka could steal his alice and all of his responsibilities and the deadweight he’s been carrying on his back for his whole life could be gone.

Of course he almost lets her steal it.

But Mikan has been screaming in anguish for him to run away, and he remembers what she said when she saved him during the Reo Arc: that it was too late to give up, and that they should return to the academy together, because a bright future must be waiting for them.

And because of that, Natsume makes his first move to escape Yuka’s alice.

Does Natsume really want a future if his friends and loved ones would still be in danger? Would it be worth it if he was safe, if it came at the price of their safety? If Natsume doesn’t use his alice to keep them safe and protected, then who will? Who can?

Natsume smacking Yuka’s hand away isn’t selfish. It’s not him realizing he wants to keep his alice, that maybe deep down, he might actually love it. It’s not dear to him in any way. It’s still the thing that wears his body down and forces him to cough up blood. No, this act is selfless, yet again, because his own happiness and even his life come dead last to him. He has to keep them all safe after all.

Yuka snatches his wrist anyway, ready to steal his alice away, until she realizes she can’t. Mikan is using her alice from all the way across the room to protect Natsume.

So basically, the idea of Natsume leaving the academy causes this kind of reaction in Mikan, something Natsume has no choice but to see for what it is: fondness.

He looks at her with surprise, because this is an act of affection. Mikan has just used her alice to keep him with her. His life isn’t in danger, but she wants him to stick around. Now more than ever, Natsume can see proof that she cares about him, even despite all the bullying he’s done, despite all the mean words he’s thrown her way, even after he told her cruelly that he hates every single thing about her. Up until now, Natsume had no reason to believe she was doing anything but tolerating him, and though that was the outcome he was working for, deep down he does want the girl he likes to have some fondness for him too. This is the first time Natsume can really see that he means something to her too, as more than just a classmate or a partner. He is someone she doesn't want to part with.

And Mikan has fulfilled her wish, to be Natsume’s strength, because now Natsume is able to yell at her to duck and blow up the wall behind her.

Usually such huge explosions are the result of him at his angriest, using his ability to punish the people who hurt his loved ones. He’s probably also done similar things on missions, maybe even when he’s completely calm. But this time Natsume is weaker than ever, his dominant left arm completely out of commission, unable to move, under duress. He finds the strength to cause that explosion because of Mikan, because she wants him around.

While everyone is distracted, Natsume tells Yuka to go help Mikan, hinting that he knows her secret.

So Yuka stabs Mihara-san and has the petrified kids lick his blood off the blade. It’s confusing to the other kids why she would do this, but Natsume knows exactly why.

It would be interesting to see more interaction between Yuka and Natsume. Surely Yuka knows that Natsume is Kaoru’s son? It would be interesting to see if she noticed that his name matches Mikan’s. What does she think of him? What might their dynamic be like? I will always mourn that we’ll never find out.

Chapter Forty-Three

This chapter is the one that should officially designate this manga into the “tragedy” category. Yes, there’s been some heavy and deep stuff so far, most having to do with Natsume and the heavy abuse he deals with, but even with all that it’s managed to be mainly a cheerful and upbeat story. This chapter makes it clear that horrible and heart-wrenching things can and will happen, that we can’t count on a happy ending every time.

The kids are close to escape. They’re about to head through a warp zone back to school, and it’s urgent they move fast because the hide-out they’re in is currently imploding. Unfortunately, Mikan has dropped the antidote to the bullet that hit Hotaru, so she refuses to leave until she’s retrieved it from under a pile of rubble.

Pengy finally has a chance to prove itself, wriggling under and saving the antidote for Hotaru. It has helped Mikan, and because that’s the best thing someone can do, Natsume is grateful.

Natsume's smile (even a small one like this) has incredible powers, like giving robots a feeling of self-worth, making his classmates fall in love with him, and making me think he is a good boy. It would be irresponsible to overuse it.

Just like when Tsubasa showed his worth back at the high school division when he used his alice to help Mikan, Natsume has a new respect for Pengy, who was able to do something amazing to help the group, and Mikan especially. So he gives Pengy a slight smile. It’s really subtle and nothing outstanding on anybody else, but it’s a rare thing to get from Natsume, even for those whom he loves. “I guess you can be a little useful,” he says. This is the best sign of appreciation someone can get from him, and Pengy glows for a moment (ahh… the power of Natsume’s smile), until things fall apart.

The floor gives way under Mikan’s feet. They’re able to pull Mikan up, but Pengy is still too far to reach. Despite Mikan’s desperation, Pengy understands that they’re wasting time trying to reach it. Finally, after Pengy has proven its use to Natsume, it refuses to be a hindrance again, and sacrifices itself so that everyone can safely return the antidote to Hotaru.

They’re all through the tunnel, hit with the knowledge that Pengy is gone. They all react somewhat differently, but Natsume feels guilt.

Pengy's smile has evil powers because it makes me cry.

Natsume had considered Pengy a robot, something unfeeling and mechanical, just a useless thing Hotaru made once. It was something that could be discarded, and after it had proven to be troublesome, he’d even advocated that it should be discarded. He’d considered it useless all along, but when it really counted, Pengy was able to save Mikan and the antidote. It proved not only that it could be useful, but that it wasn’t just another mechanical robot. When Natsume smiled at it, it smiled back. And in its final act of sacrifice, it acted out of love for both Hotaru and Mikan, and Natsume feels sorry for what he’d said about it.

Natsume has a habit for establishing a bad impression of someone, and then having that person work hard to prove themselves to him. Pengy is one example, but he’s like this with Tsubasa, Mikan, and all sorts of people at first. People (and robots) that he despises until they show him what they’re really made of, winning his respect and sometimes even affection. It makes sense he would be so distrustful, seeing the life he has to live. Trusting the wrong person can get you hurt sometimes, and can lead to disaster. And having something useless like Pengy can cause a mission to fail. But Natsume is sometimes wrong about his first impression of a person, and the same qualities that could lead him to believe something is useless or annoying can end up being strengths that he respects.

Chapter Forty-Five

Yes, I skipped 44 because that’s more noteworthy as a Mikan chapter. Natsume doesn’t do anything I found particularly intriguing and I didn’t want to make anything up or repeat myself. In fact, for the rest of this arc, there’s very little left for me to say, so I apologize if this is a short analysis to conclude with.

The first thing we’ll address is the ESP and Persona discussing the insubordination that has just occurred. Yes, an injured student has safely recovered, and a Z hideout has been destroyed, but it wasn’t their plan for things to happen that way. Narumi needs a warning, for one. Natsume, according to Persona, needs simply to be punished back into obedience. From the way Persona talks about him, we can see how little he thinks of Natsume, how easy he can be to manipulate and control, which is all he is good for anyway. To them, Natsume is nothing more than a pawn in their game. Sure, he’s a useful pawn, the Black Cat that strikes fear into the hearts of the school’s enemies and successfully completes his missions even with a punishment mask on, but he’s still just a pawn. Nothing more.

While watching Mikan and Hotaru’s reunion, Tsubasa teases Natsume about joining the group hug. Natsume ignores him, and makes to walk away, but stops just long enough to toss his healing alice necklace to him. Tsubasa can borrow it to make up for having Subaru put Natsume’s injuries first. He makes it clear that he doesn’t want anybody looking after him, and that might seem like a snub, but this is kindness too. Natsume calls Tsubasa by his name, though he’ll do his best to avoid ever saying it again, and lends him a source of comfort and healing to pay back Tsubasa’s compassion. This is a growing moment, because Natsume has opened himself up to the idea that he could care about more people, even if it means more to lose.

Saying people's names is another rare magic from Natsume, I guess.

Natsume has learned things on this mission too, just like Mikan has. He’s a bit more open-minded now. He judged both Tsubasa and Pengy, and ended up changing his mind about them both, even if only by a little. He’s also discovered that Mikan has affection for him too, and it will completely undo all the effort he’s so far tried to make in distancing himself. It’s one thing to stay away from the girl you like when she hardly stands you. It’s another thing when she enjoys your company, and your feelings are turning into love. His feelings have intensified, or maybe they were always so intense but are just newly solidified, as he’s not hiding from them as much anymore.

He won’t be able to distance himself from her anymore, so he’ll completely stop trying.

Conclusion

Natsume has realized that Mikan holds a degree of fondness for him too, and because he is now very deeply in love with her, he will not be able to stay away like he'd resolved to before. Tomorrow we will begin our essay with Natsume's birthday, a very exciting way to start looking at his new approach to his relationship with Mikan.

The last essay (pt. 9) in particular inspired people to tell me that they were learning new things about Natsume, and as a result even loving him more, and that makes me so happy! Natsume is one of my favorite characters ever, and I want people to love him as much as I do! I love when people leave comments or questions! Really, I'm just so happy and over the moon that people are reading and enjoying, because again--this is a LOT of words. It's a long essay, and it means so much not just that people want to read about Natsume and his feelings for Mikan, but that they want to hear what I have to say about it! Thank you so much for supporting me! Isn't it exciting that we're about a quarter through? <3

I can’t put a song in the tags cuz I have too many tags. So. Church by Fall Out Boy.

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[intubatedangel]

Cold Snap: Chapter 3

I forgot how much I enjoy writing Anna and Carl’s relationship. We get to revist them the morning after their fun. Hope you all enjoy it too.

Chapter 1| Chapter 2|

Anna was already awake, a smile on her face as she watched the screen of the monitor on the bedside table. She let herself slip into the memories of last night. It was almost like a dream. Everything she had imagined and more. She shifted a little, sliding a hand from beneath the pillow, down to her chest. The monitor picked up the increase in heart rate as her fingers brushed across the foam backing of one of the AEDs pad that were still stuck to her skin.

She felt Carl stirring beside her and a few moments later the groaned a little as he rolled over. She felt his warm chest settle against her back, his arm wrapping over her, finding the hand that was brushing the pads. His fingers aligned over hers, and together they traced around the electrode with their fingertips.

"I knew there was something we forgot to clean up..." He commented, his voice rumbling through his chest into her spine. It sent tingles through her.

"I'm glad we did." She replied, guiding his hand across her chest, circling around her breast and down to the other pad.

"Hmm..." Carl grunted in satisfaction, then he shifted again sitting up slightly and leaning over her. Anna felt a slight tug on the wire of the pads. "Could have done without sleeping on this though." He said, dangling the hard plastic connector in front.

Anna winced, rolling to look up at him. "Sorry." She had to suppress a slight giggle, at the way he raised his eyebrows.

"That's it? Just sorry?" His tone was light an playful. "I think it's going to take a little more than sorry."

She pulled him down for a kiss, soft and gentle and still breathtaking. "Good enough?" She whispered when they broke apart.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's a start at least. I'll have to think about ways for you to make it up to me." He told her, before he rolled onto his back, stretching out his arms. "I suppose we should get up."

"Do we have too?" Anna moaned, pulling herself up to sit against the headboard. "Neither of us are working. We could just stay here, enjoy ourselves for the day. Play with some of the other toys..." She suggested, looking at him in what she hoped was an alluring way.

Carl looked at her, his hand reaching up to brush some of her sleep-messed hair out of her face. "You have no idea how tempting that sounds." He told her, his finger looping over her ear then running down her jaw. "But the fridge is almost empty. So I was thinking we could go the market, stock up, and maybe head to your place."

"My place? Why?" She asked, thinking about her own dreary apartment. Cramped, dull and lacking that heavenly cupboard of her dreams.

"Well, erm. I know we didn't actually get around to announcing...us. But I figured if you were ready for that, you would maybe want to... move in here more... permanently." Carl said, that nervousness she had seen a few days ago coming back. He really did love her.

She leaned over and kissed him, deeply. For almost a minute they were totally connected, breathing each other in. It natural came to an end, both of them a little breathless. "That's a yes by the way." Anna whispered, before pulling away.

Carl grinned. "Great." He whispered back, then swung his legs out of the bed. "I'll put the kettle on, if you want to..." He waved at the electrodes, ECG and AED, that covered much of her chest.

Anna chuckled, and nodded, then had to stifle a cringing gasp when Carl stood up. A large red mark from the AED connector stood out like a brand on his side. She couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry again."

"Oh...You will be....You will be...." he replied with a low grating voice.

"Seriously? A Yoda reference? Nerd." She told him.

"And yet you knew it instantly. So who is really the nerd?" He countered, slipping out of the room before she could retort. Anna rolled her eyes, yet couldn't help but smile as she began to peel off the electrodes. She was slowly peeling off the AED pads, when she heard Carl's phone ring in the other room. She didn't think too much of it, but a few moments later, her own began to sound. She ripped off the pad, cringing slightly, then looked around for her bag, spying it on the stool in the corner.

She had to step over the CPR board and other leftovers from last night, grabbing the bag and pulling out her handset. She looked at the name. It was Sara, one of her co-workers. She answered.

"I'm sorry Anna, I know its your day off, but they're calling in everyone. You'd better check the news."

* * *

The explosion made the entire boat buck, sending everyone left on the deck sprawling, a plume of fire ballooning into the sky. Shouts and screams rang out, as panic began to take hold. Jones couldn't let that happen. He winced as he pulled himself to his feet. With a glance to one side he noted that at least the injured had managed to get onto that patrol boat before the explosion.

"Get everyone onto the boats. Now!" He shouted at the nearby officers who had regained their feet. As he walked over to that first patrol boat he staggered a touch, the deck pitching up slightly as the rear of the boat took on water. He peered over the side, relieved to see that everyone was ok. "Cast off, now, carry on as planned." He ordered, then signaled a different boat to take its place. The other officers were marshalling the remaining passengers, getting them organised and ready for a much quicker exit. It seemed to have stopped the panic before it could cause any problems. Which was just as well, he had more than enough already.

He turned and looked around for that Paramedic. Lucy Branthwaite he reminded himself. She was kneeling down, and he saw blood on the deck. He started to rush over, concerned for her safety, before he noticed that she was crouched over another figure. One he didn't recognise from earlier. He braced himself on the cabin as he leaned over, taking a quick look. The young man had a badly broken arm, and a nasty cut to his head.

"Miss Branthwaite," he tried to get her attention, but her focus was on the young mans arm as she flicked a penlight across his eyes. "Lucy! You both need to get off the boat. Right now."

Lucy shook her head. "I need to splint this arm before we even try and lower him down." She replied, turning and reaching out for one of her bags. As she pulled it closer and started to open it up the young man stirred, then started to get up. "Woah! Woah. Hold him!" She shouted at Jones. "You need to stay still okay. You're going to be fine. Just stay still."

The young mans eyes seemed glazed, roaming between Jones and Lucy, then the suddenly snap into focus, and he started to say something. It was hard to hear over all the other sounds as police officers tried to evacuate all the passengers. Both Jones and Lucy leaned closer. "Help her. Please help her." The young man was crying, desperate, afraid.

"Help who?" Lucy asked. "Who are you talking about sweetie?"

"Sh...Shona. Please help Shona." He mumbled.

Another passenger, another casualty, Jones thought. "Where is she? Why didn't see come with you?" He asked.

"Luggage...Trapped...Couldn't help her...Please." He sobbed. "Please..."

Jones looked at Lucy, both knowing what it meant. There was someone else, injured and trapped. At the end of the boat that was rapidly filling with icy river water, water that would soon drag the entire boat under the surface of the river. There was no question about what must be done. "Get that splint on then get out of here." Jones told her, ignoring her half-hearted but obligatory protest as he turned to a nearby officer. "We've got another casualty. You're in charge. Get the passengers, then yourselves clear, Understood?" He didn't wait for an answer, turning for the door into the passenger cabin.

Lucy stood in his way. "Be careful." She told him.

Jones nodded. "Don't wait. You get clear, as soon as you can."

"Don't worry. Patients come first," She replied.

Jones headed through the door, sprinting up the steps, towards the half submerged rear of the boat, dreading what he might find.

* * *

Shona was still in the luggage area, watching the stairs, hoping to see rescue come for her, when the fuel tank exploded. The noise was like a physical wall, flattening her to the floor. The whole boat seemed to jump, giving a moment of weightlessness. That ended abruptly and prompted the heavy luggage to slam into her again. She screamed as her leg became little more than blinding pain. For an almost endless time, the pain was the entirety of her existence. Until she was pulled back to reality by something even worse

An icy, wet feeling running down her spine, and rapidly expanding.

She gasped as cold gripped her, her eyes snapping open to see the water rushing into the luggage compartment. Desperately she tried to move, her hands splashing in the water that was already rising. Her fingers instantly numbed, and her efforts got her nowhere. Her legs were still trapped, there was no escape.

"Help! Please help!" She screamed, her voice breaking into sobs as the cold began to encase her body. There was already two inches of water in the compartment, it was rising fast, way too fast. "Please..." She whimpered. The cold, pain and shear stress of her injuries became too much. The will to fight left her, her head fell back into the water, already above her ears.

Her breath shuddered as her body shivered, her temperature plummeting in the cold water of the river. Her eyes felt heavy. So heavy. Her head fell to one side, and she shot back to consciousness as water trickled into mouth and was pulled into her lungs. She sat up as much as she was able, her body acting almost entirely on reflex.

The water covered her legs now, which was actually almost pleasant, the water stripping away all warmth but also all feeling, dulling the pain somewhat. There was less pressure on her too, as cases and bags gained a little buoyancy in the water. Not enough to let her free herself, but it no longer felt claustrophobic and crushing. In fact it was almost comfortable. Like a weighted blanket, without the warmth.

 She let herself half float on the water as it rose, raising her up to a full sitting position. There was a strange feeling. It was almost like serenity. Even though she arched her neck, trying to keep her mouth out of the water, her panic was ebbing away. Her whole body was so numb that she felt nothing. No pain, no pressure. Even the actual feeling of cold had disappeared. All replaced with a feeling of peace and acceptance, even as the water slipped over her mouth, submerging her completely.

On instinct she held her breath as she descended into the water, all sounds being muted away except one. Her heart became loud in her ears, slowed by the rapid onset of hypothermia, each beat was like a drum, thumping out every couple of seconds. It picked up as her oxygen ran low, as her lungs couldn't hold her breath in any longer. She blew out a stream of bubbles, then drew in a lungful of chilled river water. Her body spasmed, trying to cough out the water, only to draw more in, leaving her trashing as much as she was able. All of this was automatic instinct alone.

In her mind, she still felt only peace, as her heart slowed once more. Each resounding thump carrying her off. Each thump taking her further, drifting closer to oblivion. With a soft, accepting smile on her face as she slipped away, Shona's heart beat one more, then came to a standstill.

[pomegranates-and-blood]

Vænn (Ivar’s PoV)

νοσταλγία Masterlist

Vænn: beautiful, hopeful, promising (Old Norse)

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Summary: Another attempt at writing snippets of Ivar’s PoV of νοσταλγία, this time this relates to chapters 11-12 of the main story, approximately.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: The usual

A/N:Today I was supposed to upload Sieghild’s PoV, and Ivar’s was supposed to be on December 1st but hey, I got it done beforehand so here you go.

I’ve been absolutely hating my writing lately, so I am really sorry if this sucks, I don’t know what else to say other than that. Hopefully it isn’t as bad as my worse thoughts make me believe lol, thank you for reading.

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius​​ @heavenly1927​​ @toe-vind-ek-jou​​ @xbellaxcarolinax​​ @pieces-by-me​​ @angelofthorr​​

You smile more freely now, he notices. Like you don’t resent the smiles that curve your lips, like you’ve started to realize he isn’t chaining you.

He watches you study a plum you’ve only taken one small and delicate bite off of, as you muse to yourself and, apparently, to him,

“Back home they made wines with these. With many things, actually. Dandelions, cherries,” Your words die with a small chuckle that shakes your shoulders, and you pause to take another small bite of the fruit. “My favorite is roses.”

Ivar only hums a response, because he doesn’t exactly know what to say to that. He was never the best at…talking, at this apparently easy familiarity; and while lately you do seem to be willing and able to strike a conversation about anything and nothing, Ivar will admit he doesn’t know how to deal with that, so he mostly chooses to stay silent and listen to you talk.

Which you do. A lot. He has a feeling you think you talk and share a lot less than you actually do.

But you give a lot away. He may not be good at talking and charming like Hvitserk or Sigurd, or approachable and easy to confide in like Ubbe; but he is good at watching people.

He watches you, and notices you flinch when a fire is breathed too much life, takes note of the way your eyes soften when he says your name, and is delighted to see your smile is colder when it is directed at someone that isn’t him.

And you also talk a lot. Which he doesn’t mind, the Gods know he doesn’t mind. The sound of your voice seems to be perpetually stuck in his head, and although the arrogant and insufferable little tone you get when you think you are right is infuriating, it is much preferable to when he didn’t know the sound of your voice at all, or the little drag of your accent when you speak his language, or the fluidity of when you speak in yours.

“Oh, and pomegranate wine!” You continue, licking a drop of juice from the side of your wrist up, and his eyes follow the movement. You lift big eyes to him as if you don’t realize how much he wants to trap that small wrist in his own hand and lick any offending drops himself. “You don’t have pomegranates here, do you?”

“Would you want some?”

But you shake your head almost immediately, “No, no, I can’t eat them. It’s…the fruit of the temptation, Hiereiai cannot eat the seeds of it.”

He remembers almost all your tales of the Gods you worship, and the six pomegranate seeds that made a Goddess remain in another realm for half eternity has always stayed with him. Maybe because of how it is one of the tales you don’t think much about before speaking of it, you don’t pick and choose at what to say when you speak of her.

And Ivar wonders to himself, if six seeds of this fruit could make a Goddess be bound to that Underworld; what they could do to a mortal woman, a woman that, like the Goddess you speak of, isn’t allowed to eat them.

The errant thought of telling his brother to arrange for some merchant to find him pomegranates stays for a few moments too long on his head.

Because he wasn’t lying, before, when he told you that he could give you anything you wanted. He would, even if admitting it is giving away control, and even worse, giving it to you, power for you to hold over him; he would.

It doesn’t matter, he supposes. You’ll be his wife soon, he’ll have as much power over you as you have over him.

It will be even, then. You will be equals. That has to be what you wanted, even if you still refuse to accept the idea of marrying him.

You didn’t leave him any choice, after all. If he was the one with power, you’d be cold and look at him with hate in your eyes; but Ivar knows if he let you have power without keeping some for himself, you’d run back to your burnt city, you’d leave him.

Ivar knows sooner or later you’ll come to accept it. He knows it, and he knows you should want at least the title of queen if not that of wife. Because even if he didn’t know who you were, if he chose to ignore it like he did in those first days in the run-down village near Dublin, he would know you were made to rule, to command. It’s written in the way you walk, in the way you talk and hold your head high, in that insufferable arrogance, in that stubbornness.

____

There’s something strange about you when you say your goodnight after the announcement of your marriage is brought up before his brothers, but Ivar decides not to dwell on it. And, as he leaves the dim room where he introduced you to his older brother and announced you are to be his wife, he sees Ubbe waiting by a wall, arms crossed over his chest as he stares Ivar down.

“She’s beautiful,” Ubbe comments as he steps away from the wall, “Doesn’t mean she will make a good wife.”

“I’m not marrying her because of beauty, brother.”

He’s marrying you because he has to keep you with him, because he knows now just as he knew when he first saw you in that field, that you were sent by the Gods, by Freyja, to be at his side. The Gods called you to cross many seas, to travel across half a world, and he knows it was because you and him are Fated to meet, to know each other.

And he knows that slave was right, when she spoke of how it all leads to pain and suffering and so it is a proof of the Gods’ favor when people are chosen to suffer. She said those who endure are rewarded, he still remembers her quiet voice uttering the words, but he hadn’t believed her, not at first.

But now, and ever since he first saw that mirage in the red dress with gentle caresses and loving words turn around with a war cry and the fierceness of a Valkyrie, he knows that slave was right, and the Gods do reward those who endure. And one way or another, for a purpose he wishes he knew but doesn’t yet, you were sent to him as the Gods’ gift for enduring a life of pain and suffering; he knows this.

“What are you marrying her for then, Ivar?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because-…brother, you could do this the…the normal way. Find a woman you care for, a woman that wants to be your wife, not some captured witch that fears you.”

He wanted to interrupt him, tell him he has never had a chance to do things the normal way, because while Ubbe may try to tell him he is just like his brothers, he isn’t. And Ragnar was right, he had to accept that he isn’t a normal man, and that means he can’t do things the normal way, like normal men do.

Instead of bringing up a conversation that will make his brother look at him with that pathetic compassion, that brotherly pity, in his eyes; he clarifies,

“She doesn’t fear me. She fears you.”

The other man doesn’t relent, and when Ubbe steps forward, trying to make him understand, “And why do you think that is? I see what she’s trying to do, I see clearly. She’s bewitched you!”

He rolls his eyes with an exaggerated movement of his head, and meets the eyes of his older brother with what is sure to be the deadpan tiredness of hearing so many times about women being able to bewitch the men in his family.

The only woman he has seen use her cunt or her lips to actually gain power is Margrethe, but no, no one thinks she might have bewitched any of his useless brothers. Or cursed him, Ivar has toyed with that idea many times since that damn night when he tried fucking her.

But it is stupid to think a woman would bewitch his father, or him. He may be a cripple, but he’s not an idiot; he would know if you were trying to fool him, if you were trying to play with his head. He thought you were, at first, before he knew you and your mouth that betrays your truths before you can stop it, and your eyes that give away every softness and every fury.

He knows he would have been able to tell if you tried tricking him.

Mainly because you wouldn’t be this infuriating brat if you actually tried getting something you wanted from him, he gathers.

Ubbe just looks at him with the pressed lips and disappointed eyes of a brother that tries acting like a father, before turning his back and walking away.

____

Your surprise him by appearing in his rooms, but before he can fully form a question as to why you are here, you reach up with shaking hands to your shoulders

Your dress drops to the floor and you stand before him, bare and beautiful and his, his to admire, to touch, to…

But you talk, because you talk a lot, you talk a lot more than you realize. And you speak of how you’re willing to offer your body to him if only to avoid becoming his wife, of how he doesn’t have to do this.

And it is once again like sitting in front of a slave that trembles before him, that kisses him at his brother’s request, that barely masks her disgust when she is forced to touch him.

“Get dressed.”

You cover yourself, and soften your voice but not the way he wants you to. Because now you sound scared, helpless, desperate. And you plead for a way to avoid becoming his wife, for an easy path to escape him.

And he wants to punish you, he wants to make you regret ever thinking you can toy with him, he wants…he wants to make you admit it. He wants to make you shed that…that softness of yours, he wants to…

He doesn’t know what he wants.

He thinks a part of him actually wants you to hurt him, to be cruel. To just…prove him right, prove to him that he can’t have that warm familiarity of having you share your day with him, that fascinating enjoyment of being taught your tongue, those smiles that he earns more and more easily as time goes by.

A part of him wants you to prove him right, and to be cruel and a lie. A chimera, a vision, like he thought you were when he first saw you on that battlefield.

It would certainly make things easier, if he could let go of the childish and pathetic hope of having something normal, like a wife that does not despise him, a woman that actually wants him.

But things aren’t easy, so he just spews venom and barely-hidden insecurities in the form of accusations, and prays your own arrogance and your own temper keeps you from seeing how with nothing but you, you can have him at your mercy.

____

So yeah, there you go. I know it’s not much, only 2k, but I struggle a lot when writing Ivar’s PoV. I sincerely hope you didn’t hate it, thank you for reading and I’m sorry if it sucks.

Best of wishes! <3 <3

[sweetest-honeybee]

To Hell and Back

Chapter 30

Summary: Xisuma isn’t doing all that great to say the least and neither is Keralis

Characters: Xisuma, Keralis, Evil X, Hels

TW: Fighting (not an overly violent or gorey chapter or anything)

Notes: Don’t really like how this chapter was written but I rewrote it like 4 times ;v; Also, I’m like 99% Keralis’s name doesn’t pop up as just Keralis in the chat but I’m too lazy to see what the hermits usernames are in the game lol

———————

“What do you mean I’m being affected?! I’m fine!” Xisuma yelled, quite obviously proving Evil X’s point.

After what Ex said, the admin snapped at him repeatedly while he tried to explain what was happening. How Hels’s hateful personality was being used as fuel for Wels’s outbursts and if Xisuma let his anger get to him much longer, Evil X would be reaching the sickly state Hels was currently in. Hours ago when the knight was sleeping- it was probably nighttime in the overworld- he woke up suddenly complaining about pains he was having in his head.

In tears, might he add.

Obsessed with what Xisuma said to him, Ex took it as that he needed to help Hels. Unfortunately, that meant that he needed to get back to the overworld somehow and one elytra certainly wouldn’t carry both of them, he didn’t think. It would just break faster with the added weight. So, not wanting to ask the other Hermits for assistance since that didn’t count to him as ‘cleaning up his own mess’, he soothed Hels back to an uncomfortable sleep.

Throughout the next passing hours, Ex stayed awake. He had no problem with sleep, weirdly, he didn’t really feel tired even after being up for more than a full day. He watched as Hels slowly lost the color in his face and how he would start to shiver from The End’s everlasting breeze. That in itself was concerning since the knight never really was cold- radiating over 100 degree body heat had its pros for sure. Nonetheless, Hels had to prop himself up on the side of the mast to sit up and overall, he just felt awful. Every movement threw the world around him into a spin and something was mumbling annoyingly in the back of his mind. The Lord was probably punishing him with uncontrollable voices again. He was sluggish, for lack of a better word, because his counterpart was draining him of everything he had left in this vessel.

“Xisuma, take off your helmet,” Hels commanded hoarsely, giving the other his best glare he could muster. Unsurprisingly, Xisuma didn’t comply and only further made concerningly aggressive remarks about the situation. Mostly just saying how he got only a couple hours of sleep the night before and that he was just tired. Yet, none of them, not even Keralis, believed it for a second.

“Shashwamy, you’ve been acting weird the entire time on over here,” Keralis decided to comment. “I think they’re right.”

“Xisuma, if you keep yelling at everyone, I’m gonna end up just like Hels.” Ex stared at Xisuma, awaiting an answer. Growling- growling- at Ex, Xisuma popped the seal around his neck and lifted the helmet, intending to show off that he was just tired and irritated and didn’t, in fact, have red eyes.

Only he did. Very, very red eyes startled both Ex and Hels, the two crawling backwards away from the admin and drawing Hels drawing his sword. It nearly fell from his less than solid grip but he didn’t plan on dying yet. Keralis stepped back a few steps, not wanting to provoke whatever they saw. Xisuma turned to look at him over his shoulder and the man gasped at the sight, drawing his own sword as well.

“Sh….Shashwamy?” The blade wavered in his own grip as well.

Weirdly, it was so unnatural to see slitted crimson irises on the admin. His short, earthy brown hair, minimal stubble, and freckles crossed with an ‘X’ shaped scar across his face oddly supported his usually friendly demeanor. Now, he simply looked possessed and instead of being scared of how the trio fumbled to get away from him, Xisuma chuckled, a deep, sickening chuckle, at the reaction.

“Oh, this will be fun,” he said.

“Xisuma….” Ex muttered, making Xisuma’s head snap towards him. “Xisuma, you need to snap out of it!”

The admin stood, towering over the two still on the ground. Keralis crouched, awaiting some kind of attack or, if their luck happened to be any worse, The Lord of Darkness to appear and kill them all as well. Instead, he unfurled his elytra, speckled grey and white feathers stood out against the ship and he gripped his sword tight, firework rockets in his other hand. He had no intentions to hurt his friend, mostly since he didn’t want to lose him with respawn, but also that whatever it was in front of him, it wasn’t Xisuma.

“Xisuma,” he started, pulling the admin’s attention away from the pair on the other end of the deck. He swallowed the bitter lack of using the endearing nickname, but again, this wasn’t Xisuma. “You can take me on, but we leave the ship and we leave them alone.” He eyed the pair behind the admin.

Xisuma thought for a second. “And if I win?”

“If I die, you’ll be the one left with them here. But I can get you help, Shashwamy. You need to fight it.” The builder kept his voice even, softer than what he would’ve liked.

The admin’s gaze dropped briefly. With a blink, violet eyes were looking at him, but with another blink, they were gone. “You’ll regret trying this. Remember what happened to Tango, Keralis.”

Keralis swallowed thickly. “Yes, I know about Tango. Shashwamy, don’t let it get to you, you’re better than this.”

Xisuma then put his helmet back on, the redness of his eyes glowing through the visor. This time Keralis’s attempts had no effect on the admin. It made his stomach twist, but he stood his ground.

“Fine then. If I die, I come back for you, Keralis.”

The builder shuddered but both were in fully enchanted armor, thankfully, so he would take a few hits if it came to it and so would Xisuma….hopefully. He wouldn’t suffer Tango’s fate at least- Doc had told him and Impulse about it the day before.

Summoning his sword and spreading his elytra- deep green and black spotted pterodactyl wings- Xisuma pulled out his rockets, the pensive glare never leaving Keralis’s unusually large eyes. With that, he stood at the edge of the boat, falling backwards off of it, probably intending for Keralis to follow. He pulled himself up with a few flaps, the smoke of the rockets trailing behind him, and hovered directly over The Void. Keralis thanked everything that Xisuma was bad at PvP. Well, unless the weird evil force had more skill but he doubted that.

With a last glance at the pair on the deck, he fired off his rockets and flew off into the sky. He flew a bit lower than the admin, circling around him. Though, that hadn’t lasted long when Xisuma dived into his direction, already beginning to swing his sword.

He dodged the attack, maneuvering himself around the admin, taking a swing at his elytra to catch him off guard. Not enough to tear his wings, but enough to give him some fright. Keralis fired off more rockets and shot off into one direction. When he turned back around, the admin was coming at him with a speed he would swear was faster than an arrow. Xisuma successfully tackled the other and moved quickly to push his sword upwards into Keralis’s back but his hand was caught and before he knew it, a kick to the chest later and Keralis was flying off again towards the End City.

With yet another growl, the admin sped off towards him. They flew up and around the structure, some shulkers firing at them but the two weaved through the small attacks easily. Keralis flew off over The Void again, letting the admin follow him. Thankfully, the fight was more chasing than attacking and he was perfectly fine with that. Stopping just briefly, he fired off more rockets, flying back towards the city with a much faster speed than he had before. The builder didn’t look like he planned to stop, and Xisuma saw that the idiot was about to fly right into the side of one of the towers. The two were speeding up more and more and even Hels and Ex had no clue what Keralis was planning to do.

But that question was quickly answered when Keralis pulled up just before hitting the building and Xisuma was sent flying right into the side of it. Unfortunately, his armor must’ve given out at some point during the impact because the trio’s communicators buzzed as the admin turned to a puff of green, blue, and purple smoke.

Xisuma experienced kinetic energy

All of the items in Xisuma’s inventory fell meters down onto the endstone and Keralis tore his communicator from his pocket, typing furiously.

<Keralis> Nobody go see xisuma

<Keralis> You dont know whats happening but he and wels are being possessed and will kill you on sight

<Tango> Guessing you were attacked too

<Keralis> Yeah

Pocketing his communicator, and ignoring the various additional buzzes from it from what he assumed were the other Hermits, he flew down to the island. Sure, Xisuma had literally almost tried to kill him, but that didn’t mean the admin wouldn’t at least have his stuff saved. With a sigh, Keralis turned to the ship. Well, Xisuma did drop his elytra in the crash and it wasn’t hardly half broken by any means so Hels would use it to get back to the overworld. Agreeing to this thought, he fired off more rockets and made his way up to the ship.

For a second, Keralis wondered if either Evil Hermit was okay to fly such a long distance. Evil X was already beginning to lose his own color, but the knight was so far along in that process that Keralis didn’t even know if he was awake at the moment. Hels leaned against Ex’s side with a tired frown, breaths leaving in shallow heaves, and beads of sweat pooling over his face. He definitely wouldn’t be flying anytime soon.

Keralis debated with himself. He could see if Ex could carry him back to the overworld and just give him Xisuma’s elytra since they were a stronger set that could handle more weight. On the other hand, both Hels and Ex were probably at more risk of being attacked than the other Hermits but that could be prevented. Nonetheless, Hels needed help and Keralis didn’t want to leave the two to gather health potions….or harm potions. Poison? Did they work like zombie villagers?

He shook his head. Off topic, off topic. Right, well he could just contact the other Hermits, kind of explain what’s going on from what he knew. Though, Wels replied in chat earlier on so any plans would be watched and taken advantage of. He dragged a hand down his face with a groan, grabbing Ex’s attention. This was hard. He just wanted Doc and Impulse back here safely, too. And he wanted Xisuma as well, but that only brought on more worrying thoughts. Hopefully, when he respawned he snapped out of his weird trance. But that was a very iffy hope.

“I don’t know how to help,” he muttered, sending the pair a sad expression. “What do I do?” Ex, nor unconscious Hels, probably knew, but feedback was nice, he guessed. Even if it was the same statement repeated back to him.

Ex only mirrored his expression, turning to glance at Hels. “I….just want to help him. But I don’t know how to stop The Lord of Darkness. This just happens and I don’t think we can prevent it.” He turned back to Keralis. “There’s some people who can probably help but they’re not exactly….nice.”

Keralis perked up, interested in the possible solution. “Who?”

Ex rubbed at his neck, hanging his arm there. “The Evil Hermits. Mostly NPC Grian.”

Then, Keralis deflated. “Oh. There’s not like, a way we can convince them or….?”

The other shrugged. “That’s what I’m hoping Doc and Impulse can do.”

Well wasn’t that certainly news to Keralis. His eyes, already incredibly large as they were, widened at his statement. The fact that Ex said the very thing he was trying to figure out for more than an hour now so casually simply just annoyed him. Ex only rose a brow at Keralis’s increasingly ridiculous vague gestures while he stuttered to get his reply pieced together in his head.

“Wha- They’re in HelsCraft?! And you didn’t think to tell me this before?!” he finally yelled.

“You didn’t ask. You guys said The Lord of Darkness killed them and that they weren’t answering their communicators, so they’re probably in Hels. If we’re lucky, they’re not being tortured.”

Keralis rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but to worry at the thought of his friends being hurt by whatever kinds of creatures were in Hels. He could only think by what Doc said that Hels told him that everything there was so bent on the idea of killing. Though, if Doc and Impulse were there for a reason, they wouldn’t simply be killed. It made, unfortunately, a bit of sense that the people there would have their own fun with a couple of people from the overworld. And Hermitcraft at that.

He crossed his arms, deciding now Ex would be good enough to drag Hels back to the overworld. The man was still his blunt, questionable self and that was enough for Keralis.

“Right, right. Well, we need to get back to the overworld. You can carry him,” he pointed a twirling finger at Hels, ”back there.”

Ex only replied with a huff, then thinking for a second. “Keralis, where did he respawn? Because if I know anything about Xisuma, it wasn’t at his base.”

“Ah….Well, it was in his base but it was….” His eyes widened at the realization. “Down the hall from Wels’s cell. That’s where The Lord of Darkness was, in the cell I mean. I dunno if he’s still there.” He facepalmed internally. They really were just better off keeping him on the boat.

Hastily, Ex pulled Hels and himself up, keeping the knight leaned against his shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

[pixelatedrose]

Soulbound Part Two

First | Part 2 | Next

Ao3 link

Masterpost

Word Count: 2,955

Pairings: Platonic LAMP, Prinxiety, Logicality, Background Remile

Warnings: uncensored swearing, bullying, mention of drugs and alcohol, threats, Unsympathetic Remus, Unsympathetic Deceit, implied mention of sex (wow this fic went from 1 to like 67 real fast) Please leave a comment and tell me if I missed anything that should be tagged or if you want anything tagged!

Summary:

Roman Prince and Logan Rose are soulmates. They’re platonic soulmates though. They both have the same Soul mark to prove it. But they both have one other soul mark, binding them to one other person. And when they find Patton Miles, it just so happens that they’re both his soulmate. Logan being his Soulbound Soulmate, and Roman being a platonic soulmate. But something feels missing. And it feels filled, shockingly so, when they meet a certain someone a year and a half after they found each other.

IMPORTANT NOTE!! I changed all of their last names cause I didn't like them. So. Yeah. Also sorry this seems a bit late, I got caught up with doing things and school and we had a ton of snow (where I live we never get snow) and so I was a little distracted all week. Sorry about that y'all!! But its here now, so yeah!! Hope you enjoy!!

Chapter 2

Roman woke up with a start, his wrist stinging. He looked over at his clock that read a time much to late- or early- for it to be reasonable. He rubbed his stinging skin and tried to go back to sleep. 

  This was a regular occurrence. Waking up at two am to a stinging wrist or shoulder, sometimes an ankle or forearm. Once he woke up nearly screaming as his left side felt like it was on fire.

  He didn't quite know what it was, but Roman never thought much about it. I mean, people woke up with little pricks sometimes, right? He'd probably slept on it wrong or accidentally hit his bedframe in his sleep.

  Roman lay in bed, tossing and turning as he tried to fall back asleep. He looked over to the clock once again and sighed. It was only an hour before his alarm went off.

  Not seeing the point in trying to go to sleep anymore, Roman swung his legs over the side of his bed and started getting ready for the day.

  After taking a shower and pulling in clothes, Roman's alarm rang out two seconds after he was done styling and drying his previously wet hair. He slapped it off as quick as possible, suddenly not wanting to wake anyone else up.

  Roman inched out of his room and into his brother's, flipping on the lights, much to his brother's dismay.

  "Turn the goddamn lights off…." His brother muttered through his pillow.

  Roman sighed. "Nope! C'mon Remus, it's time for you to rise and shine- or whatever it is that you do when you're awake- and get ready for the first day of school!" He walked over to the broad window and threw open the blinds, letting light filter and flow into the already lot room, the sun beams hitting Roman's twin in the face.

  "AaaAAAHH!!" His brother screamed. He sat up in bed and shielded his face. He glared at Roman after adjusting to the light. "I'm going to sell your organs on the internet you pile of horse sh-"

  "Love you too, brother! I'm gonna go make breakfast now okay bye!!" Roman zipped downstairs, not wanting to stick around to see whether his brother would act on that threat or not.

  Ten minutes later Remus came loudly down the stairs and yelled at his brother. "DID YOU GET OUT ALL THE CEREAL AND THE POPTARTS?!!?"

  Roman sighed, looking at the counter that was overflowing with four different cereals and a box of poptarts. "YEAH BRO MAN I GOTCHU!!" He yelled back.

  Remus entered the kitchen area with his heavy heeled boots and skipped over to the cereals. He poured a little of each box into a bowl and unwrapped a poptart and crumbled it on top. He went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of not milk but orange juice and poured it into the abomination that was in his bowl.

  Roman looked away and tried focusing back on the eggs he had in the pan in front of him. "I cannot believe that you actually eat that, Remus! It's revolting!" Roman bemused.

  Remus shoveled a spoonful into his mouth, staring at pointedly. "You," he sputtered through the mouthful of 'Cereal'. "My brother, have no taste." He swallowed and gestured to his bowl. "This is a masterpiece of a meal!!"

  Roman made gagging noise and slid his single solitary egg onto a piece of toast. "That's not even a meal! I daresay it would harm someone rather than anything else!"

  Remus scoffed and took another bite.

~~•~~

  Today was the first day of their sophomore year, 10th grade and they couldn't wait for it to start. Or at least, Roman was excited. Remus had made his opinion adamant; he couldn't care less if the school caught fire.

  But nonetheless, it was a day they'd all been awaiting, whether eagerly or with disdain.

  Patton had stuffed his backpack full of snacks and colorful pins as gifts for his new classmates and friends.

  Roman had excitedly roused his voice in preparation for theater and barber shop choir he was sure to audition for.

  Logan had packed up notebooks and pencils and pens, all fitting perfectly in his backpack as he awaited learning, a year ahead of his peers.

  Remus had done nothing but think up pranks and plans of destruction of freshman newbies for the start of the year. His phone pinged and he picked it up to look at it.

  A boy known around school as Deceit had discretely packed his bag and pockets full of liquors and drugs to sell to anyone who'd buy. He looked at his email and raised an eyebrow. He turned to his messages and shot a text to his partner.

  And a person of seemingly infinitesimal importance shrugged on a black and purple jacket and sighed heavily. He didn't look forward to this. What's to say it was going to be any different from last time?

  And so, life started as sophomores for each and every one of them.

~~•~~

  Virgil Sanders walked up to the front of his new high school. A place to start over… he thought.

  He pushed his way through the doors and tried to think positively.

  "Well helloooo there my good newbie of a kid!!" A voice rang out. Virgil startled back and bumped into someone behind him. How did someone get behind him so fast??

  "Ah, ah! Don't be scared my good pal!" The person behind him said, his voice was a little too reassuring, a little too happy.

  "I-I'm sorry...I'll just find my own way around…" he stammered out. He didn't want to try and be cocky and make enemies this early into the school year. And his anxiety was telling him to play it safe.

  He didn't even see the two that were harassing him before a voice trilled out, "Oh there you are, babe!!"

  Virgil felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. "Hon-ey you've got to stop running off like that! Gurl, you're gonna lose that cute purple head of yours in the crowd if your not careful!" Virgil looked up to see a boy wearing aviator shades and a leather jacket.

  "Uhm--?" 

  Virgil started before the sunglasses'd guy turned and whispered in his ear, "Just play along, babe…"

  "Right…" Virgil turned and kissed the strange man's cheek. "Sorry babe, won't happen again." He cuddled up to the man and wrapped his arms around his waist. If he was gonna play the part, might as well make it convincing.

  "That's right honey bae! Now let's get you to class!" And the two walked away hand in hand.

  As they rounded the corner, the man parted from Virgil and turned on him. "Sorry bout that honey, but gurl you were in real danger there!" He held out a hand. "The name's Remy b-t-dubs."

  Virgil shook it. "Virgil. Thanks. And sorry for the kiss." 

  Remy laughed and waved his hand at Virgil. "Oh pah-lease babe! Trust me I probably enjoyed that more than you think I did!" He winked and laughed again at Virgil's flushed face. "Now, stay outa trouble, ya hear? Cause auntie Remy ain't always gonna be around to save that cute face of yours hun. But here's my number in case you need anything!" Remy took out what looked like a business card and handed it to Virgil.

  Auntie Remy. Gossip wheel, late night counseling, party boy.

  At the bottom a number was printed. "Hey what-" but Remy was already gone.

  What just happened?

~~•~~

  Remus was pissed. He had received the text from Deceit that morning that there was fresh meat and he was so ready to spill crickets in that loser's bag! And then that stupid 12th grade dumbass senior Remy had to show up and "save the day."

  His eye caught a little freshman boy with broken glasses. He carried his books in his arms and had a smattering of freckles to accompany his bright red hair.

  Perfect! Remus thought maliciously. And crept over to sink his teeth into his next victim.

  "Hey there freckle face!" He called cheerily.

  The boy seemed startled and pointed at himself as if to confirm.

  Remus sighed. Wow this kid is dull… "Yeah you, scarecrow reject! Now Imma make this quick since I already lost one lunch income," he started, slinking around the kid. "Hand over the money you mommy gave you for food today else I'll make sure that it won't stay down."

  The redhead seemed flustered. "Wh-what? B-but, I need that money!" He subconsciously reached for his pocket.

  Bingo. Remus knew his type. Fear would get him what he wanted. He grabbed the kid by the front of his shirt, making the books tumble out of his hands. "Listen here, nerd! You gimme that money or else you're gonna be using it to mend all the bones I'll be snapping in you hand, here!" Remus held up one of the kid's spindly hands as an example, wagging it loosely in his face. His maniacal smile grew as he heard the kid whimper in fear.

  Remus put pressure on one of the kid's fingers as the freckled boy didn't move. "Tic-Toc, brainless bastard!" He snickered sadistically.

  "Fine!!" The kid yelped in fear and shoved the money at the bully. "Just leave me alone!"

  Remus pushed the kid to the ground and shoved the money in his pocket. "As you wish, orange peel!" He stepped on the kid's discarded books and walked over to where Deceit watched.

  "40-60, my snake bitch." Remus said, handing his partner 14 dollars of the 35.

  Deceit counted the money and nodded. "I'm disappointed the newbie slipped by us…" he looked off at where the purple haired boy had been a few minutes prior. "But I think he'll be back…" His amber eyes glowed a near sickly yellow. "And this time we're playing the long game."

~~•~~

  Remus had run off ahead of him so Roman entered the school's doors alone. He had wandered only a few steps inside before a blur of blue and gold barreled into him.

  "GOOD TO SEE YOU, KIDDO!!" Patton shouted, squeezing Roman in an impossibly tight hug.

  "Gah!! Good to see you too, Patton!! But," Roman gasped out, smiling. "I can't breathe, buddy."

  "Oh my GOLLY gee!!" Patton shouted, releasing Roman into open air. "I'm sorry bout that, kiddo!"

  "Really Patton, you should know your own strength by now. It'd be quite a shame if I lost my best friend before we graduated." A deep voice called, his voice laced with amusement.

  Roman softly pushed Patton aside. "Logan!!" He shouted and subsequently barreled into the tall boy, retracting after a right squeeze to just a shoulder hug. "Buddy, it's good to see you!" He laughed.

  Patton made a noise and the two boys turned to look at the shorter one. "And it's not good to see me?! I'm offended! Roman! I am your father-"

  "Not my father-"

  "And you will love me right now!"

  Roman laughed and drew Patton and Logan both into a tight hug. "Man I missed you guys!!"

  Logan gently wrapped his arms around the other two and smiled. "As did we, my friend. As did We."

~~•~~

  It was like any other start of school day. Read syllabus, play a get to know you game, repeat.

  It was really fairly normal for Roman.

  Until his third period.

  Roman knew nearly everyone in his grade, he had been the popular kid back in middle school and that had mostly transferred when he got into high school. So when roll call was being taken, it piqued his interest when a foreign voice answered a foreign name.

  "Roman Prince?"

  "You called?" Roman asked charmingly. The teacher looked at him tiredly. Roman cleared his throat. "Here!" He called a little more calmly.

  "Flora Riley?"

  "Here!"

  "Uh...Virgil Sanders?"

  Virgil Sanders? Roman thought. Maybe I just don't remember him and I'll recognize his vio-

  "Here." A quiet but firm voice answered and Roman checked behind him to see the source of the unrecognized voice. 

  A boy sat in the back of the class with his feet pressed up against the table, curling himself mostly into a ball in his chair. But even so, Roman could see purple hair peeking out from under his patchwork hoodie and stylish, iconic reverse eyeshadow applied to his face. His ripped black jeans and scuffed combat boots made it obvious that there was a new emo in school.

  Cute… Roman thought subconsciously. I mean, he was pretty cute.

  "Alright class. We're gonna play a get to know you game. Now come up and draw sticks." The teacher held out a tin full of stocks with names on them and shook it slightly, letting the wood jingle against the run. "You'll be drawing the person you'll be sitting with for the rest of the semester. You may not trade with anyone, and yeah, that sucks but so does school." The class snickered as people drew sticks. There were only enough for half the class, and the other half drew the sticks.

  Roman was not part of the group that drew sticks. So he sat idly at his seat and began to daydream about how the year would go.

  "You're Roman Prince?" A voice asked.

  Roman snapped out of his dreaming and looked up to see Virgil the Emo standing over him. Roman smirked and out a hand to his chest. "The one and only! Come to admire how pretty I am?" He asked charmingly.

  The emo snorted. "As in pretty dull? Maybe. It is a wonder of the world after all."

  Roman scoffed and pressed his other hand over his heart, as if it hurt. "I'm offended! You wound me!!" Roman held out his hand smiling. "I assume we're seating partners then! How do you do, my emo nightmare?"

  Virgil didn't take his hand, rather he just walked to the back of the class. "Come now, Prince of the Preppy, we don't know each other and honestly I don't think we ever will. We're not sitting up front."

  Roman frowned at the lack of jest in the emo's voice. He thought he and the purple haired boy were flirting wonderfully!

  Since Roman didn't seem to have any other Soul Marks, he didn't have a Soulbound Soulmate. So he freely flirted with every moving thing that breathed.

  But Roman wasn't going to give up that easily. "Hey there, plum hair! Tell me, what's it like looking so fruity?"

  Virgil snorted, and hid his face in his sleeve.

  Nooo!! Roman thought. I wanna see your cute face!!

  "I dunno...what's it like being so fruity?"

  Roman laughed and tried again to reach out his hand. "An absolute delight!"

  When Virgil did nothing but sit down at the table in the farthest back corner of the classroom, Roman deflated a little. This Virgil was cute, albeit a little annoying. I mean all he would do is snark at him! Maybe Roman had misread the situation.

  "Fine alright," Roman have up. "I'll stop talking, panic-at-the-everywhere."

  "Sweet." Though it was the answer he should have been expecting, Roman prickled.

  "So you don't want to talk to me at all?" Roman asked flatly, slightly annoyed.

  "No, not really." Virgil said, pulling out his phone.

  "Really? Like really Really?"

  "Yep." He popped the P and pointedly turned away from Roman.

  "Are you kidding me?"

  "Nope." He again popped the P.

  "You know we're going to have to sit next to each other all semester, right?"

  "Yeah…? And…?"

  "Well you have to talk to me eventually!"

  "And I'll stay here dreading when that dreaded eventually will come."

  "You cannot be serious! Come on I'm fabulous!"

  "Fabulously plastic, dumb, and shallow, if that's what you mean."

  "Shallow?!"

  "Uh, yeah?"

  "How dare-!"

  "Alright class!!" The teacher clapped their hands, stopping the impending fight that was about to break out. They started passing out papers to each of the students. "Now choose one or two, or however many you want and ask them to your partner. And yeah it sounds boring and maybe it might be if you're boring. So don't be a boring teenager."

  Roman and Virgil got the paper and looked it over. It at least Roman did. He finally picked one and asked it, knowing that trying to wait for the Emo to pay attention would be futile.

  "If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?" Roman sighed out.

  The answer that came was almost immediate and nearly shook Roman to his core. "Soulmarks." Virgil seemed to have spat the word out. "I'd get rid of all Soulmarks."

  Roman was about to ask further about it but he heard a loud clang behind him.

  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU SLEPT WITH SISSI LETANTA?! YOU SHIT!! YOU KNOW THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND'S LITTLE SISTER, YOU BASTARD!!!" The girl behind Roman was in an absolute rage. The boy she was talki- screaming at was pale and seemed like he'd wet set himself out of fear at any moment.

  "Whoa…yo Virgil check this ou-" Roman had once again tried to communicate with the Emo boy, but turned to see him filming the whole thing. "What are you doing…?"

  "Blackmail."

  "What?!"

  "You never know when it may come in handy."

  "You're the creepiest emo kid I've ever met."

  "And how many emos have you met exactly?"

  "Three! There was this one girl in my middle school that-"

  "Yeah okay you can shut up now."

  "Well thanks."

  The fight had only been broken up by the bell ringing. And Virgil left without saying a word to Roman.

  What a weird, creepy, cute kid… Roman thought. I think I wanna be his friend.

Again, I’m sorry this is later than I wanted it to be, and It’s not as good as I’d like it to be, but I promise I have things planned for this! Big things! Angsty things! Fluff!! I swear it’s going to be better than it is right now, I’m just a little caught up in life at the moment. Hope you liked it! And do feel free to leave a comment if you want me to tag you!! Sweet dreams!!

Taglist

@anxietea-and-insanitea

@ghostboi-bambi

@scrunchiescrunchie

[mimiswitchywrites]

Not A Burden: Chapter 10

TW: SH references, attempted s****de and references, child/s***al a**se references (not graphic but enough that could be triggering).

period typical h***ph*bia

Master list or read on AO3

2.7k words

I refuse to proof read this chapter after spending four days on it so apologies for the inevitable errors you'll find.

If you want to be added to my taglist, message me or comment!

-----------

Gwen liked to think that, after serving families from a young age, she was hard to surprise. That was, of course, until the enigma that was Miriam showed up. The girl, the woman was just so… SO. She was so pretty, so smart, so kind, so funny and so right for Gwen.

And Gwen, foolishly, thought Miri felt the same way. When she had admitted she was glad Merlin had interrupted her and Lancelot, her heart soared. The face Miriam had made upon hearing Gwen and Lancelot had once had relations practically confirmed that, her body draped in loving warmth.

But it was quickly shoved into the depths of ice as Miriam said those scathing words: “something so vile.” Was that truly what she thought? Was she pretending? Maybe so Gwen wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think she had a chance with the beautiful girl? It felt like Morgana all over again – she had found someone that she felt truly comfortable with and they ran off, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her broken soul alone.

But still, Gwen plastered on the servants smile that she had mastered over the years, and made her way about her duties, pretending everything was fine. Because everything was fine. It wasn’t like anything had happened or ever would happen and sure, Gwen had had a momentary lapse in judgement where she thought she could be truly happy with someone, but she would use this as a learning opportunity and would file it away as something to never allow to happen again. And if a tear slipped from her glassy eyes, well, good thing there was no one around to notice.

She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding Elyan’s note on the table: “I shall be spending the night with Gwaine, hopefully talking some sense into him. See you tomorrow dear sister, be well.” She loved him but the idea of explaining why she was in such a state was not something she favoured.

She sat on the creaky stool with a huff, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders, face burrowing into the fabric as if it were hugging her. At least something was. She stayed that way until the sun set, rocking back and forth very gently.

It was the way Miriam had said it that bothered her the most. She seemed to genuinely believe that a woman laying with another woman was disgusting, maybe even worth condemning by the god’s around them, and yet she was the one that suggested it. Why would she think of such things if she hated them? And yet, she had said that she had had a long day in the kitchens so maybe it was as she had said and she was just tired.

Gwen stood, pacing the length of her small hut.

She felt the need to apologise. To assure the girl that she had done no wrong and that it was Gwen that should have held her tongue. She probably shouldn’t have shared that she had been with Lancelot – especially not sharing a little of their more intimate relations – but there was something in her that told her it needed to be said. Maybe she wanted to put Miri off him. Was that selfish? Yes. And yet, it felt so right. There was a hint of relief in Miriam’s eyes, as if she was glad to have a reason to reject him.

Her heart fluttered again; Gwen pinched herself to force it to calm. She had no right seeing that as an opening for herself. What if Miri was uncomfortable with the situation with Lancelot? He was an honourable man, and he would back off immediately if he saw any sign of discomfort, but he was also passionate and that blinded him at times. Was it up to Gwen to step in? She should talk to Miriam. Yes, just to make sure that she understood where her courting could lead.

Gwen stopped in front of the wash bowl, splashing the chilled water on her face and neck. The cold was refreshing on her boiling skin – complicated emotions always made her warm. She took a moment to watch out the window and look up at the castle. She loved the way the candles flickered in the stained-glass window, creating beautiful colourful blobs that flittered about with the gentle breeze that would inevitably get into each room. The whole citadel was quiet tonight, as if giving Gwen peace to think. She hated it.

With yet another sigh, she forced herself to light the fire and heat the soup from the previous night. She hummed as she worked, determined to keep her thoughts in check with songs of Bears and Maidens.

As night set in, belly now full, Gwen prepared herself for bed. Her mind once again circled back to the beautiful girl as she put on her sleeping gown. She knew from the moment she saw Miri that there was something there, something that she was drawn to. She had to give her something, some reason to talk more, and so she had volunteered up a few old gowns for the girl to wear (Gwen did her best to ignore the image of the bloody dress in the bucket, soaking, as she recalled her first memory with her) and it had worked – they had spoken gently almost every day since then.

And now, Gwen thought, we may never again.

With that, Gwen curled up in a ball, pulling the itchy blanket over her head, and fell into a restless sleep.

--

When she woke, eyes caked shut with dried tears, Gwen made a plan. Sure, she felt like she was wearing a shops worth of armour – heart too heavy for her to move properly – but she was nothing if not efficient and a do-er and so her mind set to work.

Miriam was a good person, she had a pure soul – Gwen was sure of it – and so, saying something as… horrible as that must have been a lie. She was new to Camelot, brain in loops from her night in the woods and so she must not know the cities views on such relationships. Although, as she thought about it, Gwen realised that there wasn’t really much to prove Camelot had positive views on such things. There was Merlin and Arthur, of course, but not everyone saw them as she could and so why would someone new assume they would be okay with it? Maybe Gwen could talk to them, get them to tell Miri of their thoughts on the matter and prove her wrong? Show her that it wasn’t shameful and that such things were allowed to be talked about here?

And then what? It was foolish of Gwen to get her hopes up, to think that sharing this would make Miri like her. Like her.

Once again, Gwen’s heart fell.

As she looked in the mirror, tightening her floral corset that people always complimented her on, she imagined Miriam stood next to her. She could see the girl’s dark black hair cascading down her back, their eyes level – Miri was barely taller than Gwen – and they were smiling at each other. Gwen had noticed through stolen glances, that Miriam had three main ways of smiling. The first was her most frequent one: when she pretended she was doing well for people, such as Gaius who would question her on her emotional wellbeing daily. She could see the way it exhausted her to plaster such a look – ends of her mouth curled upwards – but she understood why she did such things. To admit her true feelings (Gwen didn’t pretend to know what they were, just that they were unlikely to be positive) would lead to her being stuck in the physicians chambers for longer, she wouldn’t be able to work in the kitchens and Gwen could tell that brought her true joy.

The smile she saw after meeting the girl the day before was the best smile she had seen in all her twenty-something years. Her eyes practically sparkled, singing her hearts joy, and the apples of her cheeks were full. She was light in her step, as if floating with happiness. The feeling was infectious.

The third smile was the one solely reserved for Gwen. It was the one she saw in the corner of her eye when busy, pottering around the room and clearing up after Gaius. She would pretend to be occupied, just so she could catch glimpses of it. She may not know why Miriam smiled like that, just for her, or why her cheeks glowed red each time she was caught looking, but she did know that it did wonderful things to the butterflies residing in her stomach.

That was the smile she imagined now, looking at the faux reflection of the girl next to her.

She sighed, pulling on her shawl.

--

By the time she had finished work that day, doing little jobs for whoever needed a helping hand, the sun was hiding behind the woods. She popped her head into Gaius’ chambers, asking where Miriam’s quarters were, before slowly setting off towards the servants’ lodgings. She was glad to have never needed to sleep within the castle – she found that living in the lower town, no matter how many drunkards would wake her with their shouts outside, created a much-needed gap between work and home life. They were kept well, there were plenty of people proficient at cleaning in this area of the castle, but Gwen noticed how much colder the stone felt without the fires being kept alight as they were in the parts of the castle that high born’s inhabited.

Gwen slowed her pace further as the end of the corridor came into view. Gaius said Miriam was in the room one from the end, on the left. She played over what she wanted to say, trying to form some sort of structure to the conversation but falling short. You should talk to Merlin and Arthur and Camelot is a kind Kingdom with accepting inhabitants and even if you do truly think people like that are vile, I cannot agree with you and I hope you accept that. She was less sure on that last point. It didn’t feel as if Miriam would think that but what if she did? Would Gwen even wish to stay friends with someone like that? Would it be safe for Merlin and Arthur to be friend with someone like that? She wasn’t so sure Arthur counted as her friend – she had heard conflicting reports on his thoughts towards the girl – but Merlin would definitely be affected by views such as that.

She stopped, the door within reach now. Her heart was racing, mind spinning. Despite trying to organise her thoughts for an entire day and night now, she was no closer to knowing what to say, not properly. How does one even broach the subject? She had to also be careful of the girls mental state – it was clear she did not want people walking on hot coals around her, but she couldn’t allow herself to be angry at the girl for what that could do.

She took a deep breath and listened, trying to ground herself.

There were voices inside. Although muffled, Gwen could make out the distinct, beautiful, melody of Miriam and, listening closer, Merlin.

Merlin. That was good. Maybe, if she knocked now, he could stay. That way, she would have someone to back her up that she knew would agree. Having him, she selfishly thought, also meant she wouldn’t have to bring her own feelings into the mix. She wouldn’t have to mention Morgana if someone that felt towards those of the same sex as was expected of the opposite was there.

She took a final breath of fresh air, pushing away the thoughts telling her to run and hide under her blanket.

She knocked.

And then again, just to be sure they would hear.

“Hello?” It was Miriam and, Gwen noticed, her voice was off – as if she were upset. That did not bode well.

“Miri?” She called, anxiety flowing through her whole body, “Can we talk?”

There was a pause and Gwen almost considered leaving, apologising for the interruption, and packing a bag. Maybe she could visit Ealdor and stay with Merlin’s mother for some time. Cleaning pig pens sounded far better than this—

The door opened and there she stood; eye’s glassy but still smiling hesitantly at Gwen. How did she still look so perfect when upset? Gwen’s nerves fluttered once again but, with a heavy swallow, she began, “Hi.” Her voice was quiet, but it brought Miri’s lips up more, evolving into that smile.

“Hi.”

“Hello Gwen.” Came Merlin’s voice from inside the room. Miriam opened the door up further, allowing Gwen to peer into the chamber. It was small – smaller than Gwen’s room – but, judging by the one bed, it was all for Miriam which was a rare occurrence from what Gwen understood. Miri stepped back, gesturing for Gwen to come in.

“Are you alright?” Miriam asked, face softening in concern as she noticed the way Gwen was wringing her hands with worry. She nodded, once again trying to form the introduction to the conversation.

“I wanted to talk. About yesterday. And my thoughts on that.” Gwen caught the way Merlin and Miriam’s eyes locked – clearly, he was aware of the situation which would make asking him to stay a lot easier, hopefully. “You can stay, Merlin.” She turned to him, eyes practically pleading. He nodded, sitting on the seat behind him.

Miriam sat on her bed (which creaked in protest) and patted the space next to her. With yet another deep breath, Gwen gathered her dress and sat – keeping a bit of distance between them.

“I’m sorry—”

“I don’t understand—” They started at the same time, breaking off with nervous giggles, heat rising in each of their cheeks. Merlin’s eyes darted between the two.

Gwen nodded for Miriam to start.

She took a second, eye’s tracing the serving girls soft features, and began, “I am sorry for how I reacted yesterday. I shouldn’t have said such things – both suggesting you should… consider other options, and for saying it is an unnatural passion.” She picked at her nail, stopping before it bled. “I should have kept quiet, I have no right to interfere in your personal life, and I most certainly shouldn’t have said anything about exploring it like that.”

Gwen’s stomach dropped. Did she still think it was wrong? Why must the girl be such an enigma?

“I can’t wrap my head around you. You are such a kind, pure hearted woman – I am sure of it – and yet you seem to truly be disgusted by the idea of woman laying with woman and man with man. Why is this so wrong? Is it not part of life to be pleasured? If one finds the person that fulfils that part of them, should they turn them away purely for how they were born?” Out the corner of her eye, Gwen noticed Merlin bite his lip and look down at his hands. She had no intention of raising her voice, but she was just so confused, and she needed answers.

“That’s not it, I just, I –” Miriam stood, wrapping her arms tight around her waist and pacing, “I am sorry that I am not the kind of person you thought I was.” Her face was dark, eyes blank and brows pulled tight. Merlin was looking at her with a curious expression, head tilted to the side as if that wasn’t what he had expected her to say either.

“Oh.” Gwen couldn’t form any other words, world busy crashing down around her. She was so sure that Miriam was a good person. That she was just putting up a front. That she meant something with the soft touches of her shoulder and back. That she did actually have a smile reserved just for Gwen, and that the blush meant something more.

But maybe Gwen was wrong: she clearly had been with Morgana.

“Well, I am sorry to have bothered you. Goodnight Merlin.” Her voice cracked but she kept her head high, taking her leave. Her hands shook – whether with anger or sadness, she couldn’t be sure – and so she balled her fists as she made the long walk home.

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

Boston Boys [Part Four]

Summary:  John goes back to the hospital to see Aurelie. Pairing: Chris Evans x OFC, John Krasinski x OFC Word Count: 1800 Chapter Warnings: Criminal activity. Warning to my Marvel peeps, no MCU actors in this chapter.  Square Filled: The entire series (bits and pieces of it) will fill my Crossover square for @marvelfluffbingo. A/N: This story contains a character who lost her hearing as she got older. I do work closely and regularly with the D/deaf community (I’m a sign language interpreter), but my own hearing problems do not involve significant hearing loss. It is not my intention to offend anyone, only to bring in a character with a quality I don’t see often in other fics. If you have questions about her, feel free to ask :)

Boston Boys Masterlist

Coming out of the shower, John carefully applied a new bandage to the cut on his side. The doctor’s work had been pristine; the stitches were neat, his pain was minimal, and there was no sign of infection. He smiled to himself, for her clean work and also for the memory of how concentrated she had been while she was fixing him up. He had remembered various moments of their brief interaction here and there over the last few days. Each memory made him want more to go back and talk to her, but how feasible was a relationship with her? She was a doctor, he was fronting as a bar owner who really was at the head of a crime family after the untimely death of his father. But, with every flash of her face through his mind, he was less and less concerned with the rationality of seeing her again.

For tonight, he pushed the dilemma from his thoughts and readied for his meeting at the bar. He dressed and made himself otherwise presentable, then drove over to Collins Pub. He greeted the bartender and the wait staff, then continued on to the back office.

“You’re early,” he commented to the man seated on the opposite side of the desk. John hung up his coat, took a seat in his chair, and opened the ledger in front of him. “Or am I late?”

Robert shook his head. “I was in the neighborhood, had a couple beers, decided to show myself into the office. Let’s start with old business, shall we? Then, we’ll move on to new business.”

John wasn’t a fan of doing things in that order, but he went for the safe and pulled out a stack of bills. He slid it across the desk; Robert stowed the stack in the inside pocket of his jacket, then moved them on to new business.

“In a few days, I’ll have another exchange for you. This is going to be a big one, Johnny.”

“We can handle it.”

Robert tilted his head. “I don’t know if you can. Not on a normal night. It’s a big trade. I want you to hold an event here at the bar, I don’t care what it is. Come up with something. But, it’s gotta be big.”

Licking his lips, John considered his options. Holding an event at the bar was nothing. St. Patty’s was the following weekend, there were plenty of cash-option things they could put up for that. The bigger the exchange, however, the bigger his concern of being busted.

“Are you listening to me?”

John’s eyes met Robert’s. Of course John was listening. Robert Downey, Jr., ran this neighborhood, even if it was behind a mask. Hell, they all lived behind a mask around here. That didn’t mean he liked any of this. John had never considered another option, but he had hoped -- more so when he was younger -- for another life. Then, his father had died, and his whole life became the family business.

“Yeah, I’m listenin’. We’ll set something up for St. Patty’s, run your money through.”

Robert nodded. “I knew I could count on you. Just the same way I could count on your father. Ronnie never let me down, and I know you never will, either.”

John’s lips pressed into a tight line. His father had been a strong, intimidating man, until a heart attack took his life a little over two years ago. John had immediately stepped up, and the transition was nearly seamless.

“Anything else?”

Robert raised his brow at the question; it wasn’t often that anyone rushed him out. Licking his lips and leaning forward, he pressed John further into obligation.

“I know you want something different, Johnny. I know you had dreams of a different life. You don’t have to tell me any of it -- I see it. I saw it in you when you were a kid. The dream never went away, even if the hope of the realization of it faded out. You took on a huge responsibility when your dad died. I’ll admit, I had my doubts, but you’ve held out like a champ. Keep it up, big things are gonna keep coming your way.”

John nodded. He didn’t feel all that encouraged, but he supposed he could be grateful for the effort. The men shook hands and wrapped up the meeting. John stood until Robert was out of eyesight, then tapped his fingers on the desk. That one short meeting was weighing heavily on him. He needed something happy, something that could give him hope back.

He knew exactly where he needed to go.

“Dr. Juneau is with a patient, she’ll be out in a moment.”

John thanked the nurse and found a spot on the wall to lean against in the waiting room. A few chairs were open, but he wasn’t sick or hurt. He was certainly trying to maintain a low profile.

He was starting to get anxious when the double doors that led back to the emergency room opened and the brunette doctor came through, hands in her pockets. She started to make way for the triage desk but spotted John first, and must have put two and two together. She crossed her arms over her chest as she approached him.

“How’s that injury?”

John smirked. “It’s healing up real nice, thanks. I wanted to thank you, for your discretion, and tell you that I’ve held up my end of the bargain on that end.”

She kept her defensive stature. “I appreciate that, but I’m not sure I believe that you came to interrupt my busy night out of sheer gratitude.”

He liked her spunk. “You're not wrong. The truth is — I’m not open with other people very often, and certainly not on subjects that involve …”

“Feelings?”

“Something like that. But I don’t know what to say except that I’ve been thinking about you a lot since you fixed me up, and I was wondering if I could take you for a cup of coffee sometime.”

The doctor’s hands fell to her side before she pushed them back into the pockets of her scrub pants. She considered him for half a minute, then gave him the name of the place.

“It’s a bit of a drive, out to Attleboro, but they’re open twenty-four-seven. My shift ends at three, I’ll meet you there around four. If you’re game.”

He’d drive anywhere to see her again, talk to her more. “I’ll be there, Doctor. Thank you.”

Finally, the hint of a smile broke through. “My name is Aurelie.”

Her mouth pulled into a full smile then, and she even seemed to be blushing a little as she jogged back to the double doors. Their eyes met for one last glance before she disappeared back into the chaos.

At four-forty-five, John finished off his third cup of coffee and waved the waitress down for the check. She gave him an empathetic smile and a nod, tending to the few customers at the desk before going to the register. She put a ticket on the table; John put a twenty down, far more than his total. He pushed out of the booth and let out a deep breath, heading for the door. He could see the silhouette of a woman coming towards the door, so he swung it open and held it open for her.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I inevitably had a patient that took longer for me to admit than I would have thought, then I sat in my car for about ten minutes, deciding if I was really safe enough to come here and meet you or not,” Aurelie rambled, standing not quite inside the diner, but not far enough out for him to close the door, either.

John smiled and motioned for her to go in front of him. Aurelie smiled too, and pushed her jacket off her arms as she went to an open booth.

“I’m not gonna lie, I’ve already had three cups of coffee and I might be awake for a while. So you’re gonna have to hang out with me till I’m tired.”

Aurelie laughed as she slid into the booth and promised she would hang around as long as she could stay awake herself. The waitress brought her a cup of coffee and John a glass of water.

They talked about everything, except what the Krasinski family really did to make money and the fact that Aurelie was connected to the Evans family, and they were both entirely smitten.

“So, you’re a doctor who grew up in Attleboro, moved to Boston when your mom remarried, you love baseball, but you don’t already have a boyfriend? How is that possible?” John asked as they meandered out of the diner. The sun was up by now, and traffic was picking up. The commute back into the city was going to be less than pleasant but the visit had been worth it.

Aurelie shrugged. “The whole deaf thing throws people off pretty often, and I stay busy at work. Not to mention, I’ve got some seriously overprotective brothers. How is a handsome bar owner who also loves baseball and lives up to family responsibility like it’s second nature also single?”

John stopped them between their cars, facing her. The sun was in his eyes, and he squinted against the glare.

“I’ve been wanting to settle down for a while, but no one’s really caught my eye. Not enough to put in the effort. Till now.”

Aurelie smiled and blushed. “Are you tired yet, John?”

“I don’t think so. You?”

“I did just work a fifteen-hour ER shift.” She took a deep breath, and he could see she was hesitating. “Would you be upset if I went home?”

John held his hand out to her; Aurelie slid her hand into his. He licked his lips and stepped closer to her. “Would you be upset if I kissed you before you went home?”

Aurelie bit her bottom lip. “I’m not sure we’re there yet, but if you’re up for a second date, maybe …”

He squeezed her hand and leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “I definitely am.”

“Good. I’ll give you my number, and we can go from there.”

“Good,” John agreed.

With Aurelie’s number safely programmed into his phone, they parted ways. She waved before pulling out of the parking lot, and he was not far behind her. The entire way home, John had the nagging feeling he was going to have to tell her sometime soon the truth about his work, or she was going to find out for herself. In the meantime, though, maybe he would see where this thing could go.

AlloftheThings: @captain-s-rogers @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @hurricanerin @horsesandbandsforlife @im-not-an-armrest-im-short @captain-rogers-beard @shynara51 @sea040561 @softrogers @pinknerdpanda @xtina2191 @jackryanplz @beakami @heartsaved @fullprunerebelstatesman @blackwidowismyhomegirl 

Boston Boys: @atc74 @the-murder-strut-murdered-me @becs-bunker @shield-agent78 @patzammit @crazyandanonymous4u @ntlmundy​ @jennmurawski13​

[bethhxrmon]

do flowers exist at night? -chapter nine

Chapter Nine: Here Comes The Rain Again

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC

Chapter Summary: Exactly one month after the events of the Upside Down, Annie is trying to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, Steve is worried about what will happen after he eventually graduates high school.

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Swearing, trauma recovery, fighting, a plot twist

A/N: Thanks for the encouraging words, hopefully I’ll be able to keep writing. Now all that’s in my way is my college classes taking up my time. Really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter because I’m really excited about it! You can find the other parts here.

~*~*~*~

One month. It had been almost exactly a month since everything had truly been swept out from underneath Annie and any perception she had of reality as she knew it. Something that she thought was accomplished by moving to New York and her parents then divorcing. Things couldn't have possibly gotten more messed up after that. How naive she had been.

Lunchtime was simultaneously the best and worst part of every day. On one end, it meant there was only half a day left and she could hang out with Steve for a while. However, she hated eating and she hated finding her way to the auditorium. It was always a matter of how quickly she could pick the lock and get in. Seeing that Steve was cornered by Billy just a few yards away made her pause.

She could go over and stop it. She should go over and stop it. Except, she couldn't go over and stop it. Not after last time. Wasn't a month ago enough to tell her she couldn't possibly do anything to help? Things would only be worse.

So instead of doing anything, she picked the lock to the auditorium and let herself in, closing and locking the door behind her. Once Steve knocked, she opened it, but she didn't want anyone following her in. That was the whole point of this place. It was the only safe place in the whole school.

It was even safer when she lit up the whole space. Staring into the shadows and seeing the things she thought she would only see in her nightmares became all too common. Shouldn't she have been over this by now?

"I got my last college letter," Steve said as he ate, "Well, community college to be exact."

Annie looked up from her book, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I don't know if I'll go there. I've got a few options."

"Oh, um, that's really good!"

Any positive tone just felt too forced for Annie's taste, but Steve never seemed to notice that. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Steve. He was getting out, that was good. Except, what did that mean for her?

Deep down, Annie knew that was the most selfish thought she could have. Steve wanted to leave, it was so obvious. Everyone wanted to get out, but so few did and she really thought he had a chance. Getting away from everything that happened sounded like a dream come true.

The problem was that she still had another year. It was another year with Billy Hargrove and whoever he ended up befriending once Tommy graduated. Who was she supposed to talk to? Even after being at the school for over a month, she had yet to find any group of people she truly wanted to be around.

Sure, the kids would be freshmen next year, but did she really want to sit around them every day? She had to put on some kind of act for them so they didn't worry about her. Still, it seemed that Steve was better at doing that with them.

She didn't even fully realize what she was crying at as she got to the epilogue of War and Peace. The characters she cared about the most seemed to make it to the end. Yet she didn't even realize what she was doing until the large book was thrown across the stage.

Steve jumped, "Are you okay?"

"Um... yeah, Tolstoy's just a shit writer," she pursed her lips.

He shook his head, "What happened?"

"Sonya... she was my favorite, you know? And you know what happens to her?! Sh-she... she ends up all alone! Every engagement she had fell through an-and she's living with everyone, but everyone hates her! They say nothing's wrong with her but they just hate her so much and-" she choked out a sob and buried her face in her hands.

Steve's eyes widened and he quickly moved next to her and attempted to hug her, but she was quick to move away before he could, "Hey, maybe if you ate something-"

"I-I'm not hungry."

He huffed, "That's bullshit. I've barely seen you eat since I've known you."

"Just because you haven't seen me eat doesn't mean I'm starving myself," she snapped, looking up at him.

"You think I don't notice?" his brows furrowed, "Annie, you put on mascara in my car when I drive you to school. You wouldn't do that if you got up early enough, so I know you're not eating breakfast. I haven't seen you eat lunch in, like, a week and I don't know about dinner, but I'm sure when your mom's not home you try to get away with not eating anything. I'm not an idiot-"

"I never said that and you know it. It's not your job to fucking babysit me. I'm not one of the kids, and it's not like you're gonna be around in a few months anyways so don't even bother acting like you care," she said, getting up to pick up her book and then to leave.

Steve could only sit there as the door closed, and Annie preferred it that way. If she wanted him to follow her, she would have said something different. Maybe there was a part of her that wanted him to follow her. Hell, a part of her wanted him to hold her and tell her that he would visit even if it was a lie. Just something to keep her from feeling like everything was crashing down all over again.

Even in their one shared class, Annie didn't bother looking in his direction. Mainly because it was embarrassing to think that she cracked like that. Though, she was sure he had enough of her by that point. If he noticed all those issues with her, then he probably didn't want anything to do with her.

That idea in mind, she stayed in the girl's bathroom for what had to be another half hour. By then, she was sure that Steve would get the hint she wasn't coming and he would just go on his own way. Never mind the inch of snow on the ground or how she only had her black vans to help her walk through it all. She would get over it. Obviously this would be the norm once Steve left so she may as well try and get used to it.

However, she didn't expect that anyone would still be lingering that long after. Trying to sneak around Billy right in front of the school was impossible.

"Need a ride?" Billy asked, putting an arm around her.

The stench of cigarettes made her want to scream, but she couldn't say anything. It felt like she was just watching it all happen to her. She wanted to push or do something.

All she could think of was to run, so that was what she did. Annie ran so hard that her lungs burned. Except, she didn't get too far because of how slick the sidewalk was and she landed on the ground, smacking her side against the concrete.

Annie tugged her sweatshirt around herself even as she felt the ice cold snow digging through most of the fabric. The sound of a car pulling up was lost on her.

Steve was in front of her and she wasn't sure what part of that shocked her the most. That he stayed the whole time or that he was trying to help her up. At least nothing physical had been broken.

"Are you gonna say anything?" he asked as he drove.

Annie crossed her arms, "I can take care of myself, you know."

"Right, you did such a good job of that when you were eating shit on the ice," he said, "Look, Anne-"

"Don't fucking call me that!"

His grip on the steering wheel tensed, "Can you please not yell right now? I get it, you're really pissed off or whatever, but it's really icy out and I need to focus."

Annie simply stayed silent after that, not even commenting on how the radio was going haywire. When he pulled up to her house, she just got out and went inside without another word. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize when she knew she was right about having to get used to not having him around.

The only consolation of the day was that Erik curled up in her lap as she finished the last part of the book she had been working through for the last month. If only she could move on from everything that happened the same way she could close a book and put it back on a shelf.

It was the phone ringing that snapped her from those thoughts, and she rushed to pick it up. Her mom said that Scott was coming over for dinner since Thanksgiving had gone less than smoothly.

"Hi, who's this?"

"Anne, I'm looking for your mom," her dad said.

"She's not home right now. Not that I'd tell her you called."

"You know, if she isn't looking after you right, I can take care of-"

"Fat chance. Like I'd want you taking care of me," she said, clenching the phone in her hands.

He sighed, "I'm just saying, the custody battle isn't entirely over."

"Why would you wanna take care of me when you won't even pay child support?! What's the point in having you just torture me for the next ten months when I'd just be miserable the whole time!" 

A surge of pain went through her hand that made her drop the phone. The phone was completely fried and her hand was a little bit burned. She simply stared for a few moments before going to take care of it in the bathroom.

That was when she saw a bit of blood coming from her nose. It contrasted with her light brown skin and she was quick to wipe it with a piece of toilet paper. She then focused on bandaging up her skin. However, a question of what happened was still in the back of her mind.

Had she done that?

The kids always talked about how Eleven's nose bled when she used her powers. Annie didn't get nosebleeds often. Before right then, the last time she got a nosebleed had been after she woke up with all those things crawling on her.

It was a weird and unrealistic theory, though. Two nosebleeds didn't mean anything. Her paranoia was probably through the roof. The odds of her simply finding parallels that weren't there was more likely than anything else. Besides, why would she have powers now?

There wasn't anything super different about her. Sure, her birthday was just over a month ago and she was seeing the Upside Down, but that had more to deal with being near the lab. At least, that was the feeling she and Steve decided to go with. The lights would flicker on and off every time, though.

As much as she didn't buy it at first, none of that stopped Annie from spending a good amount of time on the lamp in her room. She brought a box of tissues and concentrated as much as she could on the light bulb.

"Okay, this is really stupid, I know it's stupid," she said, glancing over at Erik who simply continued his nap in the middle of her bed.

Still, she continued to stare at the light in front of her. Something had to happen. After all, it was clearly possible to some degree. She didn't know her biological parents, maybe they were like that or they were part of something. It was worth trying and the only one watching her fail was her sleeping cat. Steve wasn't going to sneak up on her. Not after she completely screwed that friendship up.

"Come on, you're making me look like a dumbass," she glared at the light.

It had been a month and she wasn't over anything that happened. The least that experience could have left her with was some form of powers. Maybe that could keep her safe from all those shadows at night. She deserved something after all that she lost. Everyone had someone else. And sure, she had Steve at the time but she knew she messed that up beyond repair. Maybe it was for the best. When had she ever had something go right with a guy?

The light sparked a bright, light blue and she almost screamed from how suddenly it lit up. Annie stared at it with such intensity. The light continued to beam brightly and stayed that same distinctive blue. It was beautiful. Was this really the only thing she could do, though? 

All that trauma and for what? All those nightmares and flashbacks out of nowhere and all she got was the ability to turn on some lights. There was also the chance to traumatically flip-flop dimensions. She couldn't forget blowing up the phone either.

With all of those thoughts swimming in her head, the light shattered. Glass clattered all over her desk.

"Shit."

At dinner that night, Annie sat with her mom and Scott over some soup that was quickly heated up at the last possible second. Still, it tasted just fine and Annie made sure that her mom knew that. Well, after she explained that the phone freaked out on her.

"So, Scott... I was watching Carrie the other night and I was wondering, like... could someone be able to have those types of powers but with electricity in real life?" she asked, some of her hair falling in her face.

Scott took a spoonful of soup as he thought, "Interesting... I believe you're asking about electrokinesis. Everyone has an electric current inside themselves, being able to control that would be a psionic ability that has yet to be proven by science. Though, we're making new discoveries all the time. It's always in the realm of possibility."

"Um... and what do you think they could do?"

"I suppose someone with that power could control everything with an electrical impulse. Lights, electronics... even other people. That would have to take a lot of power, though," he said before shrugging, "No one really knows, but there is always research to be done."

For a moment, Annie couldn't help thinking about Billy and all the other people at school who did something to make her life hell in the last month. If she tried hard enough, she could really do some damage.

Would that be enough, though? She needed to show someone and figure out what to do. The only person who could come to her mind was Steve. This was huge, surely a sudden onset of psionic abilities was enough to completely discard the things she said. If there was anyone she trusted with something so important, it was him.

After dinner, she thought through what she was going to say. Once she had something in mind, she grabbed her jacket and snuck out through her window. It was freezing outside, but she didn't notice as she hurried on her walk.

There was no reason to fear the shadows if she could just zap something away. Sure, she still turned at every slight noise. It was the first time she walked to Steve's this late at night. She didn't take too long to get to his house. The issue at play was figuring out how to get up to Steve's room.

It took a bit of walking around the house, but she did manage to scale the house, knowing where Steve's room was. The room was right above the pool that was covered and most likely drained. She could see the window light was on.

There was never a worry that Steve would be asleep. He was like her in that way, neither of them slept a whole lot. Probably for the exact same reasons, but she never asked.

The only problem with his window was that there wasn't any roofing below it. She mentally prepared herself to jump when she saw a breath in the dark air. With the way the wind blew, the smell of cigarette smoke hit her face and her heart dropped.

She could only cry out when she slipped on the slick roof and started to fall forward. A scream caught in her throat and wouldn't leave, but she felt something grab at her arm.

"Annie?!" Steve whisper-yelled, "What're you doing here?"

She stared up at him, "I- um... a little help?"

"Thought you could help yourself or whatever," he said as he dropped his cigarette out the window and helped her up into his room.

Getting inside Steve's room made it obvious that talking about electrokinesis to start things off wasn't going to cut it. She wasn't blind and could easily see the red rims around his brown eyes.

Annie chewed on her lip, "What's wrong?"

Steve couldn't bring himself to say anything and instead handed Annie a letter from his desk. She took it, reading over its contents. It seemed that Steve got waitlisted at the community college for one reason or another. 

"I don't get it... I mean, sure that sucks, but you just said that you got into a few places. What's wrong?" she asked, setting down the letter.

He laughed bitterly, "Don't you see? I lied about that. This was my last option, and I couldn't even get into fucking community college. Looks like I am gonna be around in a few months."

There was a long pause as Annie processed his words. Everything about her abilities completely went out of her mind. Of course she wanted Steve around for more than a few more months, but that didn't mean she wanted him to be stuck in Hawkins.

"Are you gonna say anything?" he asked, trying to look at her as though that could give him half a clue as to what she was about to say.

She looked up at him, "I'm sorry, like, really sorry. I shouldn't have said the things I did today and I know I shouldn't have freaked out on you. Um... I know what I said was really shitty, and- and I know that because I was trying to push you away."

"An-and I wish I could say that if I knew what was going on with all this college stuff that I wouldn't have said those things, but it really doesn't matter because I said them anyway and I'm so, so sorry. You don't need to go through all this alone," she said, doing everything she could to keep herself from crying.

Steve sighed, "You don't need to apologize, I already don't have a future. You probably want a friend who isn't a screw up and an idiot and-"

"Steve! Don't you dare talk about my best friend like that ever again," she said, her voice cracking as she hugged him, "You're so smart. I mean, come on, you see right through whatever act I've got going on."

He hugged her back, "Right, because tearing apart your brain is a good way to make money.... that's nice but I'm still a failure."

"No, absolutely not," she frowned, "Maybe things don't look great right now, but you know what?"

"Hm?"

"Everyone thought Cats was gonna suck, and it ended up so critically acclaimed and has more great songs than it had any right to have."

Steve blinked, "You're comparing me to Cats? Cats the musical?"

"Um... yep, I am," she gave a hesitant smile when she looked up at him.

He couldn't stop himself from laughing and he looked down at her with a look she could have sworn he never gave her before. One of his hands went to brush some of her hair out of her face. A finger traced her scar and for once, for the first time, she didn't flinch or pull away. Neither of them said anything, but she could have sworn Steve was leaning down and she knew that she was about to tip toe up to his height.

There was a knock at the door and suddenly they were both looking at each other with wide eyes. Steve nodded to his bed and Annie immediately got under the bed. She had been so used to his parents not being there that she forgot they would even be around.

Her heart was pumping through her ears and she shut her eyes tightly. Why couldn't she have had the power to turn invisible? It would make life so much easier. Why did it have to be a month? Why couldn't she be over it?

"Annie?" Steve whispered, looking under his bed and helping her up so she could sit on his bed next to him, "Hey, what's with your hand?"

She gave a small shrug, "The phone broke while I was talking to my dad."

"Oh..." he looked over the bandage, "Why'd you come tonight?"

"Guilt? I don't know, I um- I guess I needed to make sure you didn't hate me or anything."

He shook his head, "I don't hate you. Did you hurt me? Yeah, of course you did, but I couldn't hate you. I know it's been exactly a month, and you've gotta be really stressed."

"You knew?"

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd wanna talk about it," he ran a hand through his hair, "And I never really knew you before everything went to hell, so I don't know what's normal for you, but I don’t think this is it."

She stared down at her lap, hair falling in her face, "It's not normal, I don't think it is, anyway. I mean, like, I'm a girl and I've been stupid and I've done stupid stuff and been talked into doing stupid things with people, you know?"

"Right..." he nodded for her to continue.

Annie sighed, "I've felt like I wanted to sink into the floor before, but Billy and those demodogs and my parents all at once? I-I just wanna disappear or to control something or destroy or just- just something that lets me actually feel."

"Anne-"

She winced, "Stop. I know it's just a dumb nickname, but that's what my dad's always called me and- and he did nothing but make me feel like garbage in a ten page letter. That part’s not important, but I can't for the life of me distinguish the two things."

"Okay, okay, I won't call you that. I promise," he reached over to her hands, "But I can't stress how much I don't want you to disappear on me. So I need you to tell me you didn't mess up your hand on purpose."

She nodded, "I didn't, the phone went haywire. My mom's buying a new one tomorrow."

The pair stayed up talking about everything from a month ago. Including how Annie was going to go to Barb's funeral. No, she didn't know the girl, but Annie knew that could have been her. Maybe the fact that Steve didn't deserve to be at that funeral on his own was also why she planned on going.

Taglist (let me know if you want to be added!): @dungeons-and-demodogs​ @nxncywheeler​ @ilovebucketbarnes​

[petertingle-yipyip]

Where Happiness Begins - Peter Parker

Chapter Five - Don’t Throw It Away

//WHB Masterlist //

//Series Inspo: @cxptain-capsicle @stuckonspidey // Series Tags: @writingsbychlo @mc225g @fandom-princess-forevermore @peterparker-glee-other @olliekookie @rosegoldhome @chubsluda @missmulti @eternaleviee @freerebel @disgustangg //

Word Count: 4,427

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Summary: It seemed like everything was going good with Y/N and her new friend, Peter. But Peter makes what could be the biggest mistake of his young life. Even though Y/N warns him, don’t throw it away, does Peter do it anyways?

“How was the internship?” Ned asked happily as he plopped down next to Peter at their usual lunch table.

“It was cool.” Peter answered, carefully choosing his words. He knew he couldn’t tell Ned about what the internship exactly consisted of, but he could be vague. “I met Tony Stark and his daughter.”

“You got to meet Tony and Y/N Stark? They’re like, living legends!” Ned said with excitement. “Did you see their suits?”

“I caught a glimpse of them.” Peter shrugged. “They’re working on some cool stuff.”

“Awesome!” Ned exclaimed quietly.

“Yeah, and Y/N said most of the work would be done at home but I could call her if I ever wanted to work at the facilities. It’s kind of an on-call deal as to when I’ll be here or there.”

“You have her number!?” Ned practically shouted.

“Keep your voice down!” Peter hushed him. “She said to call when I need something.”

“Dude, just call her.” Ned said to Peter. “You’ve been staring at what I assume to be her phone number forever.”

“I can’t just call her for no reason!” Peter argued. “She told me to call if I need anything. And I don’t need anything at the moment.”

“Well you need to talk to her. And this is getting embarrassing.”

“She hasn’t reached out to me since I last saw her. Do you think maybe she doesn’t want to talk? Maybe it was an empty gesture.”

“She wouldn’t have given you her phone number if she didn’t want to  talk to you.” Ned sighed in disappointment. As much as he loved Peter, he knew his friend was a dumbass. “Maybe you should start texting Y/N instead of whoever else you’re always texting.”

“I don’t text anyone!” Peter defended quickly, suddenly anxious that Ned had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“That’s the problem, Peter!” Ned sad, throwing his hands forward. “You’re not texting anyone! You have Y/N Stark’s phone number and you’re not doing anything about it. She’s a genius, dude. Smarter than you even. And you’re letting this opportunity fall through your fingers.”

“I’m not losing anything.” Peter shook his head, turning his attention elsewhere while Ned continued to talk. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to Ned about you, but he knew he couldn’t talk to Ned about you the way he wanted to. He wanted to talk about how powerful you really were, how when you’re in your suit you act like you’re unstoppable, and how if he didn’t know any better he’d believe you were. Maybe he did believe that after all.

“What is she like in person? Is she funny? Sarcastic? I bet she’s confident, just like her dad. But not she rules the world, just like she knows she’s badass. I mean, she’s the youngest Avenger. She has to have some confidence, right? Nah, she definitely has to know sh-”

“Did Liz get a new top?” Peter interrupted Ned.

“Liz?” Ned asked, confused by the sudden change in topic. “No, we’ve seen that before. Just never with that skirt.”

“Should probably stop staring before it gets creepy though.” Peter said dreamily, momentarily forgetting all about Y/N and being sucked back into his crush on Liz.

“Too late.” Michelle announced from the other end of the table. Both boys turned to her quickly. “You guys are losers.”

“Then why do you sit with us?” Ned asked carefully while Peter made a gesture of offense.

“Cause I don’t have any friends.” She answered plainly. “Besides, how are you going to stare at Liz while talking about Y/N Stark?”

“You heard that?” Peter asked in a loud whisper.

“I’m pretty sure everyone did.” She replied using the same tone. “You’re not very quiet, Parker. If you have her number, just use it. What’s the worst that’ll happen?”

The bell rang after that comment, sending all of them to their classes. Peter tried to push through the rest of the day like normal. Finish class, go to decathlon practice, go on patrol. That’s the way his days always went. But for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Michelle had said at lunch.

How are you going to stare at Liz while talking about Y/N Stark?

It wasn’t like he was talking about you in any way other than a friend. You two were friends, right? New friends, but still friends. You had saved him a few times in Germany, and he helped take care of you afterwards. Cause that’s what friends do. That is what friends do, right?

The day seemed to drag until he finally got to decathlon practice. Peter didn’t want to quit and bail on the trip to DC, but he also knew he had to stay and be Spiderman. He had to make sure you and Mr. Stark didn’t regret giving him the suit. He had to take his responsibility as Spiderman much more serious now.

“Let’s move on to the next question.” Liz said to his other teammates. “What is the heaviest naturally occurring element?”

Peter wasn’t really listening to anything after that. It was obviously Uranium. He had to focus on explaining why he wasn’t going to Washington with his team.

“Peter… It’s Nationals.” Mr. Harrington tried to reason with the boy. “Is there no way you can take one weekend off?”

“I can’t go to Washington because if Mr. Stark needs me, or if Y/N Stark needs me, then I have to make sure that I’m here.” Peter said carefully.

“You’ve never even been in the same room as Tony Stark.” Flash commented from the back. “Let alone the same room as Y/N. She’s a total babe, no way she’s hanging with you.”

“Wait, what’s happening?” Peter’s teammate spoke up from the stage.

“Peter’s not going to Washington.” A teammate said from the floor.

“What?” The first teammate said as Abraham rang his bell. “No, no, no, no, no, no.”

“Why not?” Abraham asked.

“Really?” Liz asked sadly. “Right before Nationals?”

“He already quit marching band and robotics lab.” Michelle added casually, causing everyone to turn to her. “I’m not obsessed with him, just very observant.” She defended herself.

“Flash, you’re in for Peter.” Liz said over his shoulder, giving Peter one last look.

“Oof, I don’t know. I gotta check my calendar first. I got a hot date with Black Widow coming up.” Flash retorted, giving Peter a look.

Peter had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping on Flash and exposing his secret. He remembered the joke you made on the ride back to the states. He let a small smile grace his face as he thought of your laugh, your smile, your bright and hopeful eyes. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have you in his life.

Usually, patrols were fairly simple. Stop a mugging. Help an old lady across the street. He even helped someone get their bike back. He had given directions, and someone even bought him a churro. Until the ATM robbery. That night was so intense Peter wasn’t sure if he remembered it right.

There were weapons he had never seen before. He wasn’t sure he was going to come out of there on top. But he was Spiderman. He had to. That also happened to be the night Ned discovered Peter’s secret. Peter had to explain everything, which only gave him more stress than keeping his secret. He was scared that if Ned knew, he’d be in danger. But no one knew that Ned knew. So Ned would be okay, right?

He had to call you that night.

He held the phone to his ear as he laid in his bed that night. Instead of falling asleep or catching up on homework, he just stared at the ceiling and talked to you. “Hey, Y/N.” He smiled when you finally answered.

“So what are we calling this, exactly?” You asked your dad as F.R.I.D.A.Y. showed you blueprints for a new Spiderman suit. You were finally able to start easing back into your normal activities. You were medically cleared of your concussion, your ankle had dulled to an ache when you stood on it for too long, and your fracture and ribs were still healing. Movement of your upper body was less painful and you could breathe deeper without a sharp sensation.

“I don’t know. Iron Spider?” Tony shrugged, sliding across the lab in his desk chair to be by your side. “Has a nice ring to it.”

“And what about the suit we just gave him not too long ago?” You questioned, leaning on your dad’s shoulder.

“I have a new upgrade every so often. Same goes for the kid. You could also upgrade your own suit as often as you like. You just don’t.” Tony shrugged again, pushing you off by your forehead. “You designed his sensory filters so you’re on that first. Pull up your old designs and upgrade them.”

“I don’t even know how I did them, honestly.” You said, scrolling through the projected files to find your Project Parker files. “I’m pretty sure F.R.I.D.A.Y. did most of the work.”

“Well, figure it out.” Your dad with an eyeroll. “I’m staring to doubt if you’re really my daughter.”

“Haha, very funny.” You said sarcastically. “How am I supposed to upgrade these? I mean, just how clear does he need to see?”

“You know him better than I do, Y/N/N.”

“Yeah, but the upgrades are your idea.” You muttered. “Besides, Peter said they were perfect as they are.”

“Either way, they have to be redesigned.” Tony waved a hand dismissively.

“And why’s that?”

“New mask means new aesthetic design means reconfigured to a new shape.”

You and your dad spent hours flipping through designs. Some of them were nonsense scraps, things that you knew were unfathomable in the few hours you had to put it together that night, but now could be played around with. One of your personal favorites were the four additional appendages that are multi-functioned. Some things needed an overhaul from the start, something you weren’t happy with when you gave him the suit in general.

“Can we change the color?” You asked suddenly.

“Blue and red was your call, doofus.” Tony laughed.

“I know, but if he’s the Iron Spider now, shouldn’t his colors match if not coordinate with Iron Man?”

“Incoming call on Ms. Stark’s cell phone.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced before your dad could answer.

“Who is it?” You asked, not letting your attention shift from your past designs.

“Petey.”

“Petey?” Your dad asked with wiggling eyebrows. “Since when do you call him Petey?” Tony laughed.

“Answer it please. And put it on speaker. Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Of course, Ms. Stark.”

“Hey, Y/N.” Peter said, the smile evident in his voice.

“Peter Parker, as I live and breathe. I was starting to think you didn’t want to talk to me.” You laughed lightly, noting a small flaw in the mask design. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“There’s a trip to Washington this weekend with the decathlon team.”

“Cool. Take lots of pictures.” You said aimlessly, expanding your lens designs.

“I’m probably not going.” He chuckled nervously.

“Just go to Washington, kid.” Tony interjected.

“Mr. Stark, hey. Hi. How- how are you?” Peter said quickly.

“I didn’t get a ‘how are you’ and I’m a bit upset about it.” You teased.

“Look, we said keep your extracurriculars up. Didn’t we?” You asked, him humming an ‘mhmm’ in response. “That includes decathlon.”

“But what if something happens here?” Peter asked as he wandered aimlessly around the room. “I mean, I’ve been texting Happy but he’s been ignoring me.”

“Yeah, we know.” Tony laughed. “He’s been sending us screenshots of your messages. Congrats on the churro, by the way. Anyways, listen kid, we didn’t bring you with us to Germany for you to sit here and obsess over things you don’t even know are going to happen.”

“Dad’s right, Pete.” You agreed, swiping your design towards your dad. “Are you using the new nanotech for this suit? Cause if so, we could use nanite lens instead of expandable?” You asked Tony before turning attention back to Peter. “You can’t sit here and put your life on hold because of Spiderman, because of this internship. Your team is depending on you, aren’t they?”

“I guess. I mean, Flash is gonna stand in for me. And- and Mr. Harrington understands.” Peter tried to reason with you.

“So that means Mr. Harrington is very disappointed but knows he can’t force you to go.” You shook your head. “Peter, you’re brilliant but also so dumb.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true, kid.” Tony agreed. “Are the lenses retrofitted?”

“Custom cut. Mask was fit to the lens.” You shook your head. “Go to Washington. We’ll handle whatever is going on that you don’t want to leave for.”

“There’s nothing specific.” He tried to defend himself.

“Yes, there is. You’re a terrible liar.” You smiled slightly.

“No, I’m not.” He argued. Your silence was enough pressure and he caved. Sighing heavily, he continued. “There were these guys tonight, and I think they had like, alien weapons.”

“We’ll look into it.” Tony said carefully, looking at you with an interested but confused look. “Go to sleep, Peter. We’ll talk later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“But don’t do anything he would do.” You joked.

“There’s a small gray area. And that’s where you operate.” Tony explained.

“Night, Petey.” You said, directing your focus on how to reconfigure the fit of the nanosuit versus the original. “How is this going to work? The mediums are completely different, there’s no way to transfer the program.” You asked your dad, who leaned over to see what you were looking at. Tony reached over your shoulder to touch and adjust your designs, but you smacked his hand away.

“Night, Y/N.” Peter said softly before hanging up. He knew you and your dad would look into it, but he also couldn’t sit by and do nothing.

As the week went on, things with those ATM robbery guys escalated. Peter met a guy with wings, chased the guys, found out they were selling the weapons, and decided on going to Washington. Only Peter wasn’t going to Washington for the decathlon. He had put a tracker on one of the guys and saw that’s where they were headed. He had to go and do something. Even though Mr. Stark told him to not worry about the guy with the wings when he had fished him out the lake, Peter didn’t have it in him to let something this big go. It was happening in his own neighborhood. It was his job!

“I thought you didn’t want to go to Washington.” You said when Peter answered the phone as he rode the bus with the team. “What changed your mind?”

“You did?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Telling you?”

“Why did you bring the suit?” You asked plainly. “You’re going for decathlon. You don’t need it.”

“I just didn’t want May to find it if I left it.” Peter lied.

“Hmm.” You paused, thinking about whether or not Peter would be telling the truth. “So I’m not going to see any news stories about Spiderman in Washington?”

“Course not. Don’t be silly, Y/N.”

“I’m trusting you, Peter.” You said through a sigh. “Don’t make me regret it.”

“You won’t.” Peter smiled in relief. He wasn’t completely sure you’d believe him but he was glad you didn’t question him anymore.

Later that night in the hotel room, Peter and Ned had the suit laid out on the bed. He had connected the suit to Ned’s computer, while Peter had a flashlight in his mouth as he tried to find the tracker. Ned sat with the laptop, watching the programs and code display themselves on the screen.

“Peter… Why are we removing the tracker from your suit?” Ned asked casually as Peter worked.

“Uh.” Peter said before taking the light from his mouth.  “Because I gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move again. And I don’t really want Mr. Stark to know about it.”

“What about Y/N? Why not tell her what you’re doing and she can talk to her dad?” Ned suggested.

“Y/N wouldn’t want me to do it either.”

“So you’re lying to Ironman now? And his daughter?”

“No, no, no. Not Lying.” Peter tried to explain. “They just don’t really get what I can do yet.”

Carefully, Peter peeled the tracker off the fabric. “Gotcha.” He said triumphantly as he held it up. “Alright, have fun tracking this lamp.” He said, sticking the tracker to the nearest lampshade.

Meanwhile, you were eating dinner with your family when this was happening. A small beep in your bracelet drew your attention.

-Tracker removed from Project Parker suit. Immediate maintenance required. Last known location: Washington, D.C.-

“What the hell?” You mumbled, swiping the notification away. You’d look into it later.

Back in Washington, Peter wasn’t quite done toying with his suit.

“There’s a ton of other subsystems in here.” Ned commented, scrolling through the code.

“Hmm?” Peter mumbled. He had remembered something you had said about there being more to what the suit could do but he never really gave that much thought.

“But they’re all disabled by the Training Wheels protocol.” Ned snickered.

“What?” Peter said quickly, jumping to see what Ned was seeing. “The Training Wheels Protocol?” Suddenly, he remembered something you had said in Germany.

Once the Training Wheels are off, I’ll show you what that suit is really capable of.

“Turn it off.” Peter demanded, now offended, He knew there was more his suit was capable of, but he never thought he had needed training wheels.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Ned shook his head with a small laugh. “I mean, they’re probably blocked for a reason.”

Peter groaned before pushing himself up and climbing onto the other bed. “C’mon man. I don’t need training wheels.” He huffed and jumped in a circle on the bed. “I’m just sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It’s not cool.” He pouted.

“But you are a kid.” Ned countered.

“Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands.”

“Peter, I just don’t think this is a great idea.” Ned tried again. “I mean, what if this is illegal?”

“Look, please. This is my chance to prove myself.” Peter said, kneeling by Ned’s bedside. “I can handle it, Ned, come on.”

“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Ned told his friend.

“The guy in the chair.” Peter whispered, hoping it would be enough to convince him.

“Don’t do that.” Ned breathed with a shake of his head.

“C’mon.” Peter pushed.

Ned hesitantly sighed, but deactivated the Training Wheels protocol. The suit flashed, blue lights running the seams. A new alert was sent to your bracelet, interrupting dinner yet again.

“Again?” You scrunched your eyebrows.

“What’s the issue?” Tony asked, gesturing to your flashing bracelet.

-Training Wheels Protocol has been disabled at off-site location. Confirmation required. Stark Industry Key Identifier not entered. Immediate attention required. All systems are now active.-

“You’re kidding.” You mumbled as your bracelet flashed an alert. “I’m going to kill him.”

“What’s wrong, hon?” Your mom asked as you shook your head.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a notification. Can I be excused for a minute?” You asked her and your dad.

“Sure.” Tony nodded. “Make sure you come back. It’s your turn to clear the table and do dishes.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You waved your hand before stepping into the hall.

“Y/N, oh my gosh, hi!” Liz answered your call. “I haven’t heard from you in forever!”

“I know! Sorry, everything has just been so busy around here.” You laughed lightly.

“I bet. With the new internship you have set up with Peter. That was really cool of you to do that for him, by the way.”

“Speaking of Peter, he went with the decathlon team, right?”

“Yeah. I think he’s still in his room. The rest of us are at the pool.”

“He didn’t wanna go with you guys?” You asked, checking the tracker on Peter’s suit. It still said the hotel. “Or did you not invite him?”

“Of course I invited him.” She said, hearing a hint of annoyance in her voice, annoyed that you’d even suggest she’d leave him out. “He just hasn’t come down. Why?”

“He’s not answering me. I thought maybe he was with you guys.” You shook your head again in disbelief. “It’s not important. I can talk to him when he gets back.”

“Well, maybe Ned can get a hold of him. Here, let me hand him the phone.” She said. Before you could protest, you could hear muffled voices within the transfer.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., I need you to record this conversation with Ned Leeds. Discreetly, please. Send the file to my Project Parker folder. And keep it locked. My passcode only.” You said quickly. The system beeped and the recording began.

“Hi, Ned Leeds?” You asked when you heard a male voice through the phone. “Y/N Stark. How’s Washington?”

“Holy shit.” Ned sighed.

“Yeah, listen. I need to talk to Peter. He’s not answering my calls.” You said plainly.

“Well, the thing about that is- He’s not really around right now.” Ned said nervously.

“What do you mean, not around?” You pressed.

“Well not like he’s gone. He’s here. In Washington. With us. He’s just busy?”

“Busy doing what? I swear to God I will go to that hotel right now and beat the information out of you myself, Leeds.” You said, your patience running thin. “You’re going to tell me what that boy is up to. Everything that you know, do I make myself clear?”

“He’s just stretching his legs, getting the hang of some new resources.” Ned hurried. “He’s not doing anything wrong.”

“Then why are you so nervous?”

“I’m not nervous!” He replied quickly. “And Peter is fine. He’s just upgraded his old programs.”

“Upgraded?” You paused for a moment, wanting to check something. “Hold on, Ned. Don’t go anywhere.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., I need to see Peter’s live feed. Send me the video from the Baby Monitor protocol.” You said, watching your phone show you what Peter was seeing. You saw him in an old storage building, where scraps from the past battles were stored. You watched as he filtered through different web options, vocalizing small questions and comments as he went. “Son of a bitch.”

“Uh, Y/N?” Ned said, pulling your attention back to him.

“Did you know?”

“What?”

“The suit, you moron. You two are bunking together. Did. You. Know?” You asked carefully. You could feel the anger bubbling in the pit of your stomach. You were beyond pissed.

“Yeah, I knew.” He said hesitantly.

“Did you help?” You challenged. “That’s a complex, multi-million dollar suit. It’s not something that can just be hacked whenever. So I’m going to ask one last time. Did you, Ned Leeds, help hack the suit?”

“It may have been from my computer.” He slowly confessed. “I told him it was a bad idea. I didn’t want to do it but he kept saying I was his guy in the chair. I told him it was probably illegal, and now we’re going to jail. Aren’t we? Oh my god.” Ned said in a panicked voice.

“You have better have a good explanation as to why before I kill you both.” You hung up quickly before dialing Peter.

“Would you like me to save the audio file, Ms. Stark?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. asked as you waited for Peter to answer.

“No, just delete it.” You sighed. “Ned doesn’t need to get dragged into this more than he already is. He obviously didn’t want anything to do with it. Peter’s the one to blame.”

No answer.

“Peter Parker, I know you are not ignoring my calls. I know you are not that stupid.” You said plainly. “And if you are, you are going to be in deep shit with my dad. You’re lucky I got the notification that the suit was tampered with and not Tony. Actually, I know you’re not ignoring me because I saw your feed. You’re in a goddamn Damage Control Deep Storage Vault. God, Peter, how could you be so stupid? So disrespectful? So irresponsible. And you had the audacity to bring your friend, Ned, into it? How stupid are you, honestly. And to top it all off, Ned didn’t want to hack the suit. He didn’t want anything to do with it and yet here we are, two notifications from your suit interrupting dinner.

“That is a multi-million dollar suit and you’re taking it apart like it’s a toy. Maybe it was a mistake to let you keep the suit. There was absolutely no need to take it with you to Washington and you know that. Trying to make sure May didn’t find it, my ass. Now, you’re ignoring me, with a highly advanced, highly equipped piece of Stark tech, doing God knows what with it. Why did you need to do it, Peter? Why? What are you trying to prove?

“I swear to God, the moment you are home with Aunt May, I am going over there and I’m taking that damn suit back. I guess you weren’t ready for that kind of power. I’m serious, Parker. Did you even think about the consequences of what tampering with that suit could mean? What if what you were doing had damaged the suit? How were you going to explain that to me and my dad?

“There’s no way to explain how the tracker had been removed and the Training Wheels protocol was disabled. Those things have to be physically altered. I made it that way on purpose, that way someone had to do something about it. You had to earn the freedom and liberties that that suit has to offer. But you went ahead and took it into your own hands and toyed with the suit.” You had to pause to take a deep breath. You had been talking so much and so fast that your mouth had gone dry.

“Look, I’m pissed. Tony is going to be even more pissed when he finds out. And I’m not keeping this from him. I hope you didn’t expect me to. You really disappointed me this weekend, Peter Parker. I seriously cannot believe you’d be so stupid.” You spoke slower. “Call me once you’re back. We need to talk.”

[shelling4869ford]

Lost in Time, Chapter 35: Secured

Preview:

No one had dared to ask why they were leaving the city.

Even though the old scientist wondered how quickly they'd shown up since none of them had had the time or sense to call then or inform them of Ran's condition.

No one… but him.

The professor sighed, ignored the stinging in his ears while he sunk deeper into the car's seat. His eyes wandered to the rearview mirror behind them, where Tracy and Stuart followed them in the second car, along with Ran, Kazuha, and her son.

He wished he could trade place with one of them.

"How could you allow this, Yusaku!? HOW?"

The inventor flinched under Yukiko's loud accusation, and he couldn't help but wished for her former silence to return. When Yusaku had come back with an antidote for Ran in his hand, his wife had been the only one who hadn't asked where this suddenly had come from. She'd watched his every move with empty eyes, no words coming over her lips.

Yusaku had done everything to avoid her gaze, to overhear her silence even though he knew that his wife had already made her own deductions.

The author sighed heavily, massaging the bridge of his nose while his eyes went out of the window, observing how the houses that moved by seemed to melt into a grey mass.

"What do you suggest I should have done, Yukiko? To let Ran die? Just like that?" The actress remained silent, swallowed hard, while the tiny hairs on her neck stood on end.

"No."

Yusaku nodded, finally turning back to his wife, even though he was glad that the professor had taken the seat between them to provide some distance.

"See…" the author sighed, combing with his fingers through his hair.

"… there was no other way to save her."

"You knew that he offered his life in exchange?"

Yukiko's voice was bitter, rough.

"Our son's life, Yusaku!" The author closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to get rid of the unpleasant memories, only to make space for new ones. He remembered when his wife's voice sounded like that the last time. Fresh tears appeared in her deep blue eyes so that he found it difficult to find his voice again.

"Shinichi knows what he's getting himself into, Yukiko…"

"Yes, indeed," Jodie cut in, but the American's voice sounded far less optimistic than Yusaku's. She'd found it necessary to intervene now to stop the pointless accusations behind her and explain the new situation to them. The actress looked at her in confusion, while her husband waited in silence for her to explain. Jodi didn't turn around but nodded to Akai, who handed Yusaku his phone.

His eyes went to the small display, on a text message that contained not more than two words.

Sherlock Holmes

The writer frowned and studied the number below.

"This is from Shinichi…"

Jodie nodded and followed the traffic on the road with a stern gaze before forcing the car into the next gear.

"Exactly. Sherlock Holmes. SH, his code for-"

"Safehouse."

...

READ MORE ON FF.NET

READ MORE ON AO3

Phew,

sort of a filler chapter I know, but I promise you the next one will be much more entertaining.

Thank's for everyone who followed and reviewed (even though some... more reviews would be nice- jeez I feel like Oliver Twist pleading for more, so just ignore me XP) The last frew weeks had been quite rough... my grandpa died, the x-ray in my vet-clinique blew up and I had to organize another one cheap and quickly so yeah let's hope corona will pass without a massive second wave here in Europe.

Anyway thank's to Tobina for her great work as my beta again- don't know how you find the time girl but you're amazing!

I better turn the rambling mode of now.

I am looking forwards to your comment's / reviews!

Stay safe everyone!

Till next month, Shelling

[mymoodwriting]

The Choice Is Yours

F!Reader x Vampire!Yuta

Genre: Vampire Dystopia

Warning: Blood, Fingering, Non-Con, Aggression, Fangs

Words: 2.6K

Chapters:

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Epilogue

Prompt: Good behavior goes a long way when a new world order is established within hours and humans wind up at the bottom of the food chain. As luck would have it you were claimed by a vampire named Yuta, so you’re saved in a sense. Many would say you’re in a rather unique situation, and despite its perks it wasn’t really something you asked for.

    You woke up alone, which you didn’t mind at all. You were actually relieved that you didn’t have to worry about Yuta the second you opened your eyes. The room was so big and empty, the quiet actually making you a bit uncomfortable. You heard voices outside and went over to the window, looking out at the backyard, which was huge.

    You could see others, the house servants, working in the field. There was the flower garden as well as a little farm area. You really didn’t like this freeloading lifestyle you were given, but then again you’d be paying for it in blood. After a moment some servants came in with a cart, the smell of food filling the air. Then YangYang followed.

“Good morning, Yuta apologizes for not being here with you this morning, he had work to attend to.”

“Uh… that’s okay…”

“Breakfast is here for you, so please enjoy.”

“Right, thank you.”

    You ate your fill, knowing anything less would upset Yuta. Once you were done the leftovers were taken away and YangYang approached, grabbing your arm and pricking your finger. He took a drop of blood and checked it with some device.

“What’s that…”

“Just checking to make sure there aren’t any drugs in your system.”

“Right… so… now what do I do?”

“Anything you want, you have free range of the house. Although, I will be accompanying you to look after you.”

“Of course.”

    You were quite afraid to leave the room, not sure of what you would even want to do. In the end you decided you wanted to go outside, wanting to see the garden. If YangYang had any suspicions he didn’t voice them, simply helping you navigate the house and letting you out to the backyard.

    You got a few stares from the others but you did your best to ignore them. There was a nice stone road but you wanted to go beyond, curious about how far you could go before you hit the fence. There were a lot of trees surrounding the property, felt like you were near the mountains or something, which brought up a lot of questions. You didn’t live anywhere near wildlife, so you wondered how far from home you really were.

    It was impossible to miss the fence, seeing the tall black coated metal. The idea never crossed your mind but YangYang informed you that the fence was electric and touching it would set off an alarm, so trying to climb in any sense would be pointless. All the surrounding trees were also stripped of their lower branches, so climbing the trees also wasn’t an option.

    This really created an atmosphere of helplessness for you and anyone else in the house. You wondered if all vampires were like that, keeping humans in these huge cages. You hadn’t noticed your own tears, every moment that passed just made the world all the scarier.

“Excuse me.” YangYang interrupted. “There is something I must attend to and would prefer it if you spend your time inside.”

“Okay…”

    You made your way back, quickly wiping away your tears. You could always go back out but you didn’t feel like trying your luck so you assured YangYang you’d be staying in the library. It was pretty big for a house library, but there were some books you hoped to find. If you were living with a vampire it was best to educate yourself. There were some books you found further in the back, not myth, but it seemed to be history books. They were rather old and a little hard to understand but just what you had been looking for, kinda.

    From what you read, it was just going into detail about things you already knew. There was nothing about how a vampire came to be, or a halfbreed, or how to kill them. It was frustrating, those creatures couldn’t truly be immortal, there wasn’t even anything about some kinda weakness. One of those books had to have some new information, but you doubt you’d find it.

    The book you had was suddenly taken out of your hands. You looked up to see Yuta, the vamp kissing your head and examining the book you were reading. He laughed, flipping through some pages and then putting it back. You had stayed seated, starting to think maybe you should have been more secretive about what you were reading.

“Did you actually understand it?”

“Yes… a bit difficult but not too much.”

“Trying to learn our secrets? Find a weakness?”

“Maybe… but I didn’t find anything new.”

“I see.”

“Just curious about where you came from…”

“Hm, well, for starters there are seven original vampires.”

“Se… seven?”

“Yup, every other vampire and halfbreed falls into one of those bloodlines.”

“So… how did those seven come to be?”

Yuta chuckled. “Maybe some other time, come on now.”

    He took your hand and you followed him out of the library. At least you got something out of him, but that knowledge didn’t make you feel any better. It raised more questions, and scared you a bit considering their kind took over in a day.

    Yuta took you into a room that appeared to be his study. He had you sit down and then took a seat at his desk, looking over papers. You looked around, not knowing what to expect, but you couldn’t stand Yuta’s silence.

“So… why am I here?”

“Hm?”

“Is there something I’m supposed to do?”

“No, I have work and wanted you with me. You can find something to read if you want, or I’ll give you paper to draw with.”

“Oh… okay.”

    You got up and looked around. He was surrounded by books, every wall practically lined with full bookshelves, a picture frame of some foreign landscape up as well. You browsed the books, curious as to what they were about.

“Sorry about leaving you alone in the morning. I had things to take care of.”

“It’s fine… so what do you do? How does the world even work now if your kind run everything.”

“Not much has changed, you still need to eat and my boss is pretty much in charge of agriculture worldwide. Certain things are still necessary and have someone running them.”

“Let me guess, the first seven ultimately run everything.”

“Correct, and they’re all very good friends so don’t think we’ll start a war.”

“Yeah, more sophisticated than us and what not.”

“Exactly.”

    You found a book that did keep up with his story. Actually a lot of the books were about agriculture and wildlife.

“Why do you care so much? You could just feed us the bare minimum, or some weird paste that gives us all the nutrients we need.”

“If we provide you with the best then you’ll be at your best. We’re not cruel and you forget half-breeds still need normal food as part of their diet, and it’s a nice luxury for the rest of us. Besides there’s beauty in nature and we’d like to preserve that.”

“That’s good… you won’t destroy the planet.”

“We’re doing the opposite love, and looking after your species.”

“Do… are we really so childish in your eyes?”

“Very.”

“Alright then, I’ll stop talking.”

    He made no comment on your words, seeming to silently agree and focusing on whatever he did as work. You grabbed one of the books on the shelf, sitting back down to read. Given that it was about plants it was kinda boring, but you didn’t know what else to do. Yuta just wanted you around, which was creepy to say the least.

    The book was a bit interesting, every couple of pages, and since you didn’t pay attention to the time, it flew by. The knock at the door caught your attention, lunch time already. You were a bit nervous, thinking that you were on the menu, but that wasn’t the case, thankfully. You hadn’t really worked up an appetite but ate anyway. Afterwards Yuta gave you a lollipop, a sweet little treat. It was good, with an interesting taste you couldn’t quite figure out.

“You enjoying the sweets?”

“Yeah… guess it makes my blood sweeter?”

“It does, but it also has medicinal qualities.”

“What?”

“Our blood can heal minor human injuries.”

“Wait… so that taste… was your…”

    You started to feel sick. You wanted to throw up but Yuta was suddenly at your side, hand over your mouth, holding your head back.

“Ah, ah, ah, easy now, don’t want to throw up your lunch.”

    You whimpered, a few tears slipping down your cheeks. Yuta didn’t let you go until you had calmed down, bringing you over so you could sit in his lap. That was certainly weirder than the silence, making it clear he saw you as a child. You still felt sick over the candy, making a mental note not to have anymore ever again if it could be avoided.

    Yuta rested his head on your shoulder. You really didn’t want to know what he was doing, but when you saw his notes. They were written like the books you had looked at earlier, you could understand the writing, vaguely, but didn’t want to snoop. Yuta suddenly was kissing at your neck, making you squirm. His grip on you just tightened and you jumped when you felt his fangs.

“Sh, I’m not going to do anything yet, but I do want to take a break.”

    Before you could say anything he pinned you down on the desk. You hit your head a bit, reeling from the pain, but your attention was quickly on him. You whimpered, not sure of what awaited you next. He suddenly kissed you, and it was very sweet, but you couldn’t let yourself get swept up in that. You felt his hands trailing down your body, and you knew exactly where they were going.

“Wait, no, Yuta… please…”

“Hush, we’ll have a little fun.”

    You whimpered, feeling his cold hand slipping into your pants. You squirmed but knew better than to try to fight him again. Whenever his lips were near your neck you whined, scared that at any moment he’d bite you. He said it would feel good, but you didn’t know if he was being honest. Regardless you didn’t want it to happen.

“Yuta… oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Of course not.” Yuta groaned, and then whispered in your ear. “Be quiet.”

“I would come back later but-”

“Speak.”

    Yuta kissed your cheek before standing up, looking at Xiaojun who just let himself in. You didn’t know why he told you to be quiet, you had no intention to talk, but then you realized what he meant. He hadn’t moved his hand, and had no issue pushing a finger into you. Your hand shot up to cover your mouth, not wanting to go against his orders.

“Taeyong is on the phone for you. There was a report of an incident in some of the southern farms.”

“Incident? It’s only been a few days and we already have a resistance, how cute.” Yuta looked down at you. “You humans can be so troublesome.”

    You were biting your lip, holding back your moans. He hadn’t let up during his conversation, if anything getting more aggressive, now having three fingers in you. Xiaojun was obviously aware of what was happening but he made no comment, and he clearly wasn’t bothered. Even if you were distracted the conversation caught your attention a bit, the idea of a human resistance hadn’t crossed your mind.

“I’ll take it in a second.”

“Very well then.”

    Xiaojun left the room, but you kept your hand over your mouth. Yuta chuckled, having enjoyed you squirming in silence beneath him, although he was cruel. He pulled his hand out before making orgasm, moving your own hand and shoving his finger into your mouth. You did nothing at first but quickly realized what he wanted you to do. It was a strange taste, strange situation, but you had no choice. You sucked on his fingers until he pulled them away with a pop. You stared at him, not sure what he wanted from you next.

“Go clean up, and then come back.”

“Ah… okay…” 

    You slowly sat up, cautiously moving away and leaving the room. Once you were out you took a breath, glad to be out. He may have told you, but you also wanted to clean up. You didn’t know the house well but eventually found the bathroom, locking the door behind you and taking another moment for yourself. You did your best to clean up, kinda annoyed he didn’t actually get you off, but you didn’t want to finish either, he’d probably expect you to.

    He wanted you to go back to the office, but you didn’t want to. Being there was already uncomfortable and you didn’t know what he had planned next. You sat on the floor, thinking about what Xiaojun said. When you thought about it, the resistance, it made sense. People away from civilization probably weren’t found, others actually managing to hide and avoid the collecting, fighting back and winning, maybe some were even immune to whatever was released into the air. Such a thing hadn’t crossed your mind, and it kind of gave you hope.

    You were snapped out of your thoughts when the door suddenly opened. You had locked it, but that didn’t seem to be an issue for Yuta. He glared at you, making you crawl back and hug your knees to your chest. He walked in, standing over you, arms crossed. You whimpered, scared about being yelled at.

“I told you to come back.”

“I…”

“I was trying to make this a nice day, but fuck it.”

“Wa-”

    Yuta grabbed your arm and yanked you to your feet, dragging you along. You weren’t sure what was happening but you knew he was taking you to his room. He threw you on the bed, pinning you down. You were still confused but when he showed you his fangs you knew what was happening next. You started fighting then.

“No! No, wait, I’m sorry, I won’t-”

    He clearly didn’t care, digging his teeth into your neck in the blink of an eye. You screamed, eyes going wide, but the pain was quick to disappear. Somehow the bite started to feel good. His grip on you loosened and you wrapped your arms around him, letting out a little moan. He pulled you up, having you sitting in his lap. Your grip grew weak and your arms fell to your side, your vision fading. 

    Yuta pulled away, catching his breath. He smiled, looking at you, seeing a cute little smile adorning your lips. He peppered your face with bloody kisses, licking them away a moment later. Everything was a blur, your neck feeling a bit sore. You leaned heavily against Yuta, barely able to move, and very pale. He craddled you in his arms, rocking you to the sides.

“You taste wonderfully.”

“… why… why me…”

Yuta sighed. “I was told that you were a good girl, I wanted to see just how good. And you have not disappointed.”

    You gently cuddled against him, far too weak to move properly. A bit of your clothes was stained red with your blood, as well as some of the sheets. Yuta called out to YangYang, telling him to get some servants to change the sheets and bring you a change of clothes.

“I guess you’ll be going to bed early sweetheart.”

“Hm…”

“Sh, just take it easy love, I’m here, I got you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

[maikatc]

Black Sun Tale | Two Weeks

i’m dropping this bad boy early!! this is by far my favorite chapter i have written as of yet so i really do hope this gets spread around from the people that reads this because boy is this an experience!-

regardless, remember that this is a first draft with only minor edits, but nonetheless enjoy the chapter.

- 

The child picked upon the grasses of Fowls and freed the broken pieces from his hand. Only instead of it flying away through some gentle breeze, dashing away into the nature ahead, it fell without any weight behind it, landing flat into the rest of its brethren. He sighed at the falling pieces, continuing to drop them and sitting beyond disappointment. The greens coaxed his weighing patience and filling stomach, yet an emptiness lied in both matters at hand. 

His mother sat by him, face crinkled in concern and gaze fixated on the grass he broke. Her position imposed his usual state: knees up, arms wrapped around and mouth buried in. However, her dress fluffed out of the arms she belted her legs to, the summer blue of the fabric touching both of them, while her hair crumpled up against her arms. No cold winds blew the hair, the dress, even fragile skin away, but the stillness brought eerie silence. 

“What’s the plan,” he spoke. “The one for me to start eating?”

She continued watching the greens falling, no seeming heart to reply at first. “I won’t be the one to guide you in this,” she replied. 

“Then who is?”

“Margaret,” was her answer, “a second era.”

He broke a new piece. “Why her?”

Her tone rang empty, no energy peeping from her arm. “Her and her brother are known in the society to feast on their victims.”

He squirmed. 

“She’s more fitting to aid you than I am.”

Plucking an entire patch of grass, he stuttered out, “What’s her plan for me?”

The best answer she gave was, “I haven’t an idea. All I know is that it may work.”

With the last bit of the grass patch gone from his hands, the boy sighed. He dusted off his dirt-less hands and plummeted himself down. “When do you want me to meet her?”

“… A day.”

“A day?”

She told him, “You likely need to be as energized as possible, as I’ve said.”

“Right.” his body tensed at nothing as the possibilities arrived closer than he would have wished. “So, tomorrow then.” 

She hummed a yes. “I give you my luck.”

Soon, his vision began to blur along with his sense of consciousness. It seemed he must be returning to his normal state. Though before he could frolic with a full stomach and painful guilt, he muttered to himself, “I hope I even have luck.”

***

“Oliver,” Vittorino asked him, “Are you ready to go to Grettie’s for once?”

“Grettie’s?” Oliver whisked his head from his music, a great distraction. 

Vittorino’s arms crossed between one another as he wore an impatient face. “You’ve been avoiding it since you came back from school.”

“And why’re you so worried about it?”

He whined, “Because Alice told me I had to take you.” 

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, besides I haven’t met up with the twins in a while.”

Oliver retorted back, “But that’s your choice! I have nothing so far except that I have to.”

Vittorino sighed. “I’m sorry to say but you gotta get over this,” reminding him, “you’re only gonna get hungrier.”

Plucking a string harshly, the next few days of the starving cycle flashed to him. Morally speaking, dying was the better option. Though the escape from pain and survival weighed more in his fears. “Fine.”

In an instant, another door appeared before Oliver’s room, basking in loving swirls for a design. The bubbliness of it subdued his overall interest.

“I do not like that.”

“Nobody does, except Grettie.” Vittorino opened the door to the inside of another home. Walls formed by wood and decorations to spare. “Hey! Margaret! It’s been forever!” He turned back to Oliver, gesturing him to enter. 

Oliver, still in bed, sighed and brought himself over, grabbing his cardigan on the way.

Once inside, the door slammed shut.

Vittorino already adjusted himself by the dining table. His back leaned by the side of the wooden chair and legs relaxed by laying on another. The table decorated itself with a flower vase and coasters that shined with antique beauty. The fine detail of all the furniture were similar to the table, even. Loving swirls and loops cradled each other in its old-fashioned beauty. And along with it all was the woman of the household carrying a bucket to the kitchen. 

Warm colors bloomed unto her dress and apron, her sleeves dangling against her elbows even when rolled up. Her height continued to stature Oliver, especially in heels, though still not as tall as Vittorino. She held a smile upon her face at him, with brown eyes shining like agates and hair tied with a braid. “Why Oliver! It’s such a pleasure of meeting you.” Her accent was thick compared to others, Oliver supposed German. She lowered a hand to meet his as a greeting, a dirty substance piled onto her skin. “Forgive me for not washing up yet, but I suppose you’ve met the same issue before,” she joked.

Oliver knew the scent, and reluctantly took the hand. “You’re Margaret?”

“Yes, but you’re always open to call me Grettie,” she said. “You can sit with Vittorino while I make preparations.”

“For training…?”

“Oh no,” she laughed, “I simply plan on making sweets later today.”

“Don’t eat them,” Vittorino whispered. “The sugar’s like poison.”

Trusting some of Vittorino’s guidance, Oliver nodded at him while sitting in the other chair. 

As brought herself to the kitchen, and no loud noises rang at her area. Oliver breathed, “Okay, so far, she isn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Oh, Gret’s definitely one of the nicer ones of the second eras.”

He questioned, “Then what’s worse?”

“Well, there’s some that are just stuck-up, so they’re annoying. And others like to complain like first eras, so they’re annoying too.”

“… And?”

“Yeah that’s about it.”

God, I can’t believe it, “What about the crazy ones?”

He chuckled. “We’re all probably ‘crazy’, but the crazier ones of us are just funny.”  

Bluntly, Oliver replied, “You all suck.”

Margaret exited her spot in the kitchen. “Now Vittorino, we need to catch up with one another.” She sat between the two of them. 

He eyed Oliver before speaking. “C’mon, I’ve just been busy with work for months. I need to hear what’s up with you and everyone.”

“You haven’t had any interesting targets?” She pouted. “You have to have at least one good story to tell.” 

Vittorino scowled, “Even with our break, Alice’s been having me deal with eight different people! And I can’t even kill them off like normal because ‘she says so.’”

“That’s seems like a fine hassle, Vittorino.”

“They aren’t. Half of ‘em are dumb and boring.” He rolled his eyes as Oliver sat confused. “But let me hear about how everyone else is doing.”

“Why,” she started, “Hans and I have been living comfortably as always.”

“Yeah, duh, you guys are functional.”

“Though apparently, Orelia found Mei.”

“Huh, no way,” Vittorino’s face widened. “How’d she find her?”

“Got bored herself and hunted her down,” she exclaimed.

“Sounds like her,” he laughed. “And did Mei panic?”

“Well, of course, no! She actually managed to escape from what ‘Relia says too.”

Wait a minute. Oliver continued to stay silent. Is this just their gossip?

“Look, look, now the question is how she even got out.”

“Jumped out of the window while tied up.”

Vittorino busted out laughing.

“It was all for fun and games, so there wasn’t much effort put into it.”

“Still! The savageness,” he wheezed, “is unreal!”

Says the savages. 

“So now Mei’s gone again,” Vittorino asked. 

“Yes, yet again.”

“Darn, I would’ve gone and picked on her a little.”

Margaret asked him, “Well, what about Adeen?”

He shrugged, “We both got tired of each other a while ago. But she had the same deal with everyone else.”

“Well, have you seen her since?”

He scoffed, “No, she’s just bothering herself with her own fires and crying about it, probably.”

“My, what a shame,” she huffed. “But Vittorino, we may need to find another time for stories because of the little one over here.” She gestured her hands at Oliver, now washed and clean. 

He smiled. “Ah, right. Sorry Oliver.” He stood up from his chair and waved as he walked by the door. “Good luck with her,” he commented.

“He’ll need it,” Margaret replied. 

As he shut the door, the woman shifted her gears towards Oliver. “Now then, let’s talk. Cannibal to cannibal.”

Oliver shuffled in his seat. “Even if I joke about it, I don’t like being referred to that…”

“That’s fine then,” she ensured. “About your diet…”

Adjusting his jacket, he replied, “Yeah…” 

“Is there anything you’re curious of?” She pointed towards the kitchen. “Anything you want to try out?”

Oliver twiddled his fingers with a teared-up fabric from her pointing, and tapped his foot against the table. “Not really, but what– … How come you started to eat like that?”

“Why,” she exclaimed, “there isn’t much to it, but my brother and I were introduced to it thanks to Akeldama.”

Akeldama…? The name rang a bell in his head. “What do you mean by introduced?”

“Oh, he gave us flesh for meals as our experiment,” she told. “They tasted all fine and well but we grew accustom to it.”

“Wait,” Oliver pointed his finger to a pause. “Experiment?”

She gasped, “I’m sorry. I forgot you aren’t one of us.” She flipped her braid to the side and twisted it. “Akeldama saved every one of us from one thing or another and raised us all to be free endeavors. But whilst raising us, he experimented us with different kinds of exposure for curiosity sake. Effects varied but for me and Hans, we live jolly lives.”

Oliver pulled back, disturbed at the actions. “And you all were okay with it…?”

She answered, “Some put up with it before he even found them. But all of us trusted him one way or another.” She grasped her apron’s bow. “Besides, if it weren’t for the experiments, I wouldn’t have found a fun joy in the career we have.”

Oliver bit his lip. “Okay, I know you guys have fun with killing and all that stuff, but… explain a little more?”

She chuckled. “Killing is alright, but it’s not my interest. I found more fun in making meals of the matter.” Explaining herself, she grabbed a cup and kettle, serving herself tea. “Nobody’s ever explored what you could make with the meat because of the moral standards, but we don’t have that to back us down. So, it’s like discovering a whole new type of art in cuisine!”

He bit harder. 

“It’s lucky that my brother and I share our payments, because now we’ve set it to where he hunts our share while I venture to see what I can make in the world here.” She grinned in pride at him. Though Oliver refused to genuinely smile back. 

“So, uh, you like cooking then. That’s why.” Oliver studied the house more as a distraction from implications. Cute frames and paintings floated above them on the walls, staring him down. “… How are you gonna help me?”

She swirled her tea around, eying him. “You see, my ability is going to help us today definitely.” Clicking on the ring of the cup, she assured him, “There’s nothing to worry about considering time.”

He questioned her on the statement. 

“My ability preserves time and magic in closed areas and objects.” She said in excitement, “If I ever were to store ingredients, they’d never rot for instance; and that way, we can take as long as needed.”

“Oh wait, that’s useful.”

“It truly is.” She then stood and pushed in her chair. Tea was still buried in her hands as she led a new route. “Come with me, now.”

Oliver followed. 

“How do you feel about eating the meat? As a concept.”

“Terrible.” 

“Oh, that’s no good.” She stopped at a rustic door, one made of newer metal than the rest of the home. She sighed, “I haven’t used this room in forever!” 

Yanking onto the door handle, Margaret pulled with all of her weight and muscle. She tried to keep her grunts hidden though failed the more she pulled on the metal. 

As she struggled, Oliver insisted upon himself grabbing the handle she once held. “Can I try?”

Huffing, she nodded. 

The weight was mild, but his strength prevailed with his missing hunger. The door opened quite easily for him. 

“My,” she cheered, “you’re definitely the son of a strong fellow.” She scuffed his hair, to his pride and discomfort.

Stepping on over, Oliver entered into what laid behind the door. A setting of bricks created a small room along with cobwebs to match the darkness. Rotten water stank the area and the only scene of comfort to be found was a worn-out pillow and a rock bed floor on the side. Countless of cracks and withers dressed the land, grass plucking up down beneath. It was all empty abandon. 

“Huh…” Oliver tensed. “What exactly is the plan for being here…?”

Slam. 

Eyes widening, Oliver whipped his head back to find the door shut against him. Immediately, he run to the door and tried to push it back open. No avail. “Margaret,” he gasped for air, “what are you doing?”

“Ah, luckily I can still close this old thing. Anyhow, it’s my plan for your training,” she said. “I won’t let you out until you eat- oh hold a second, I forgot.”

Her will was correct, as it only took a second until the edge of the door opened up, leaving a little hole. “Until you eat this.” Through the hole, a plate appeared before Oliver, scent thick once she closed the opening again. A raw piece of flesh was on that plate, blood dripping at the edges and forcing Oliver’s heart to pound at the sight. “I’ve heard you tended to eat uncooked meat. Mighty interesting, I say.”

“No…” The shaking body dropped to the ground, gagging and wheezing. “I- I have a family, and friends, and-”

“Don’t worry about that. If you take long, you’ll only be gone for an hour or two.” She added, “And the dungeon disables magic, so you aren’t able to turn into the wolf here.”

Tears were too staggered to drip against his cheeks. He covered his mouth as he whimpered, “Let me out.”

She giggled, “You think that’ll get me? This may have been years ago but I’ve had plenty of people crying in this very dungeon before. You won’t be any different.” Though, after she said, “That is, aside from the fact that I’ll force you if you get to the brink of death- but that’s just because this was all Alice’s request.”

He cried, “But I can’t-”

“And if you’re worried about the meat, there’s no need for concern. It’ll be fresh no matter how long you prevent yourself!” Steps uttered in Oliver’s ears as his heart dropped. “And trust me, it’ll be delicious.”

“No, no, no,” the breathing began. He banged on the door as he screamed, “Let me go!” over and over. “Please let me go!”

But nobody arrived in his aid. No way sufficed as a way out. No one hid to find him at the latest moment. Nobody comforted him in the hopes of anew after so long. 

Minutes passed and he realized this. His last scream finally croaked out as his panicking high peaked. Still restless however, he turned to the plate of flesh, disgusted at the sight. Pushing it aside, he escaped from his thoughts to the corner of the dungeon, and curled up into a ball, shaking and crying in the silence of the darkness. 

***

She hummed as she cooked and baked, twirling around in the meanwhile as she made her fun. 

Hans would arrive to the home from time to time; their sibling bonding being rather kindly and that of a truly connected family. 

Otherwise, some guests would arrive at the home, Grettie greeting them all to her lovely home with delicious sweets and rarities. They’d discuss all kinds of topics and all expressed such great interest and passion between one another, until they left for the satisfying day.

Time spent at her home was considerably gracious. At least, from Oliver’s observations in the dungeon. 

Shaken from weakness and exhaustion, he listened. Carefully and quietly, the life outside his cell irked in his skin as his hunger ached him. A mixture of a certain emptiness welled inside of him, something he could never describe again every second, over the time he had been trapped. And the length of how long he was inside? He lost that long before. 

No distractions were laid out in front of him. The beautiful music to focus upon; the news to worry over; the few friends to trust and talk to, gone with seeping recollection. He wept for them without knowing who he truly wept for by that instance. 

All there was, from the useless bed and careless bricks, was that plate. It daunted him. From the ever-growing scent and tiny pool of blood, it ravaged his mind to almost a resisting obsession. The only answer of escape was through that core of a human, taking it up and knowing it down to his throat where the nectar and bites lodged itself with flavor. He gulped at every thought from the scent, though never carried out. He still refused to lose his own battle despite the torture it brought him. The pain will eventually force him to truly forget his purpose, he imagined; however, the conversations from the outside was his only grasp to the rope of sanity. 

Margaret’s humming continued, a hellish humming so-to-say. Basic and leaning towards off-pitch, but Oliver did not mind anymore. Cutting ingredients and burning kettles tickled his ears harshly, the sounds growing more aggressive the more he stayed. Though, yet again Margaret’s door opened up. 

“Margaret? You’re home, correct?”

His twitching eyes darted at the cell door. The timid voice screamed into Oliver’s memory. And soon his breathing quickened over the voice of his mother who brought him here. 

“Why, Alice! Of course, I’m home.” Steps pattered on the floor. “It’s always lovely to have guests over, come, sit.”

More trickles of steps hit the ground, the new ones much more gentle and hesitant in sound. The chair squeaked away from its spot for one to sit. 

“Would you like some tea?”

“Oh- No, thank you. Your brews are considerably too sweet…” 

Another chair screeched back. “Says the woman known for her amounts of sugar.” An object, likely a sugar cube, dropped into a beverage. The clicking against her tea cup jabbed into Oliver’s ears. 

“Well, not many trust your meals anyways.” 

“But it’s always kindly to offer. Besides, Hans and sometimes Orelia already enjoy what I make.” A sip replied to her words. “Oh, it still needs more sugar.”

She continued to drink her tea as Alice sat silently along with her. 

“So, Margaret…” She cleared her throat. “What was the conclusion for Oliver?”

“Ah.” The junior set down her cup. “It’s been about a week but he’s still in there. Quite stubborn I’d admit.”

“He- what are you speaking of?”

“His training, obviously.”

“… What did you do for him?”

She clicked the cup. “What I did? Why, I decided to use up the old dungeon again and keep him there until he eats. There’s not much else to it.”

A slam banged the table. “You WHAT?”

“It’s a simple method, Alice. People grow desperate quick with it.”

“- And he’s been stuck there for a week? It’s only been an hour since he was dropped off-. Margaret, you’re traumatizing him!

“Is that what you call it?” She laughed. “My dear, his lifestyle must have been filled with so much ‘trauma’ that this will be nothing.”

“Yes but-” she paused. “He’s only a child!”

“A child that’s seen faces of death millions of times for almost half his life, who isolates himself constantly and penalizes himself to the brink of death. I wouldn’t refer to him as an innocent one.”

“… How do you know that?”

She sipped. “It was merely a hunch though it wasn’t hard to guess. Us lost children have had similar instances at some point in time.”

“You’re just excusing yourself,” Alice hissed. “Where is he?”

“Right over there.” A running dashed and slammed at his door. 

“Oliver! Oliver, are you okay?” Alice cried out for him carelessly. 

Thoughts were blurred for the sickened one, his opinions empty. However, few words he remembered, those he questioned, rang out like none other. “I’m fine,” he croaked, throat burning at his first time talking in ages. 

She choked back her tears. “I’m so sorry, Oliver. I didn’t expect her to go this far!”

He never questioned her words, only her actions. 

In silence, he asked, “Why was I created…?”

“What,” she gasped through her sobs. 

“You put me here… because of how I was made,” the words flew out of his mouth without thinking. “Why make me when I have to be in this…?”

She spoke softly. “Because I wanted you. That’s all I ever wanted… But now, I regret being so careless of my desires. Careless enough to make you the way you are. And it pains me every day to know what you are because of me, Oliver.”

A pit in his gut yanked him into a sicker state. “Then, I was a mistake.”

“I-” She paused. “No, no, that’s not what I’m telling.”

She stuttered at words. 

“You’re… an anomaly to be amazed with, Oliver. It was a miracle for you to be created in the first place… But all I’ve wanted was to live a normal life, living in a pretty cottage with my daring husband and beautiful, happy son. I tried my best for my dreams to come true, trust me.”

There was no reaction to the words that displayed soulless for him. Though a certain lie stuck in his head. “What about my father?”

“Your father…” She giggled against her crying. “Christopher was… a rambunctious fellow. He’d pull off some idiotic things just to spite like- like he named himself after his housecat to make our leader mad! He made so many stunts in rebellion it was charming until… that, occurred. But, nevertheless I love him.”

“… Sounds nice.”

Oliver lost the time between their silence. All he heard was her crying, and sobbing endlessly until the emotions laid dry. 

“Why won’t you let me go,” he asked. 

She delayed her answer at first. “Regardless of how terrible it is, you have to learn. Forgive me…” A step back uttered in Oliver’s ears yet again, but this time with no panic or fear. “I’ll have to leave you now, but good luck.”

She left him there, as his loving mother, thanking Margaret for the visit and shutting the door.

***

“What were you thinking, Margaret?!” The door slammed intensely to the harm of Oliver’s more sensitive ears. His conscious began to fade in and out without his control along with his skin wilting into black. Though, despite the weakness, the angered voice brought an unrecognizable memory.

“Oh my!” Margaret cheered while placing down her knife. “Akeldama, it’s lovely of you to be here after so-”

“Answer the question.” 

“What? About Oliver?” 

“Of course, about him,” he yelled. “You don’t know of the consequences that it would bring, don’t you?”

“Well, I figured he’d be fine considering being of-”

“It doesn’t work like that,” he interrupted. “He’s been inside for almost two weeks, hasn’t he?”

No sound of a reply. 

A click was made. “He should be going numb by now from his senses going wild without anything.” He ordered, “Let me see him.”

No steps crinkled into his hearing, however a new feature of the cell door arrived so late. The top opened up a small linear hole for eyes to appear before him. Oliver shook and winced at the light he never recalled. Yet what pierced his heart was the blood red eyes looking back at him. 

“How long were you planning on keeping him here?”

Margaret answered, “About three weeks, since that was the point most of my targets lasted.” 

“That’s too much of a risk,” he replied. “He’ll last two or three days at most by now.”

“Wow,” she exclaimed, “I wouldn’t imagine him being weak-bodied.” 

“Just special,” he commented. However soon after, his voice grew stern. “Now, if he doesn’t eat by tomorrow, you make him eat the food or else I’ll execute you and your brother. You understand?”

Again, no reply. 

“Good, now go. I want to talk with him.”

Soft steps surrounded the area slow and steady, with muttering words, “He hasn’t executed anybody since the 1700s!”

“And I won’t hesitate about it, Grettie,” he spoke back. “But give yourself credit. It’s a first for me to be this frustrated. Consider it a good job on your part.”

“Ah, why thank you, Akeldama.” And she ran off to a room she normally wandered off to in Oliver’s head.

After a moment of silence, Akeldama looked away from the peep-hole and sighed. “I should’ve expected this honestly, but hopefully majority of your memory here is blurred over time.” 

Oliver refused to open his mouth at the supposed, experimental heathen. 

“You don’t have to talk, if you’d like. I’ve just wanted to talk for a long while. Besides, humans need some sort of interaction once an occasion, so it’s for the best.”

The boy followed the beast’s response. Though, his way of speech poked in his mind. 

“… Okay. You’re not in the best situation, even for an apparent benefit. And I know you listened to what I said so let me say one thing: it’s fine to feel however you’re feeling about your case.”

He listened against his wildering mind. 

“People can say idiotic things, make absurd actions, that can overall be ridiculous in the grand scheme of things. But that’s the beauty of it. They choose to do as they please because they feel like it’s the right thing, even if to others, it isn’t, you know?” He blabbered silently, yet with passion sighing out. “And what’s greater is that you don’t even have to listen, you don’t have to agree with them or follow them. Humans choose their own paths because they are themselves and their own mind, and you’re even able to do that as well.”

He paused. “… The point is, no matter the reasoning, or the excuses some make up, you don’t have to follow them or continue on liking them. It’s all one’s choice and you live for your benefit, that’s another beauty.” He formed a short chuckle. “Honestly, you were one of those sudden impulses… from what I recall. Sure, you may not live the best life, but be grateful for living. I’m surprised this has all come this far, even. You’ve been a wondrous creation just with some faults in the mixture, but that shouldn’t back you down at all.”

The monologue eased Oliver’s shaking breathing. His words held no panic nor inane excitement. Only a foreign, changing accent and honest words spoke even when he could not understand them.

“You may not enjoy your hardships with them but you should still live… You’re able to be furious, despondent, fearful, and even if that leads to one’s downfall, it’s still one of the best things you can have. It makes you human. And as-”

He stopped. Then began to pace in his new steps. “I’ve said too much. Far too much, haven’t I?”

Oliver stayed silent still. 

“Why, this is very new for me,” he stammered. “I must’ve gotten it from Livi- no, don’t say that… What should I consider this, then?” 

He talked to himself for some time, to Oliver’s still listening ears.

“Ugh, I want you to forget this- practically all of this, but that’d be ill-wise for your sake.” He continued his fast steps. “Forget about me but don’t forget my words,” and a command was made.

Afterwards, his steps led to the exit and a shut was made. 

More steps scuttled back in, with Margaret’s voice following. “My, he’s never said anything like that to us. What a surprise.” After a moment, she walked on over to the cell door, opening the peep hole and Oliver meeting her eyes. She gasped, “Oh wow, I never imagined something so peculiar… Well, you heard him earlier, I’ll make you eat by tomorrow, so enjoy your time.”

And the opening was shut, cutting off the light he yearned for so long. 

***

After fading away from himself once or twice, he began scratching up his arms. Yet no blood seeped out from the deepening black they have become.

Every movement ached in numb pain. A burning sensation crawled under his skin every second as his heart raced for something to take. His mind floated away from any thoughtful strength, waiting for something to take over him like all the other times, but to no avail, his reliance failed. Outside noises began to ring an inaudible tone while the darkness finally blinded his surroundings. The bricks he laid against disappeared as he lost what he once viewed as a simple corner. And the pain blocked him from being able to acknowledge himself through touch. 

All that remained was his desperate self, and his scent. 

How long will it be until he was finally free? He wondered. It must only be a few hours until she arrived again, dragging him back to the light. Returning him to his home, his music, his apparent love. He would return to where he was cherished, right? Only one would believe of where he had been, and care for him, he knew that much. The gratification of comfort awaited him the more his pain faded away. 

All that was needed was a bite. 

A delicious bite that would bless him back his senses the most sinful way possible. The tender meat stacking on his tongue, blood staining his refurnished skin. The scent and taste masking all of himself and pain with ecstasy instead while the meat crumpled in his mouth into more flavor within itself. 

He would lick up the blood off his fingers, for what a fine delicacy it would be! Such a tiny bite would turn into the amass in front of him. His tiny hands grabbing and hassling all the meat until he gobbled it all up, for what a delight, it was! What an amazement, it was, for embracing such a sin! Who knew something so torturous would transform to something so addicting! 

… That is, until his sight returned to him, and in the dark, was his bloody hands in front of an empty plate. He gasped back with a jump as his energy already started returning to him. The metallic taste blended into his mouth while processing what he committed. His fingers curled into his mouth, his body craving more for what was on it. 

He whipped it away, and tried rubbing it all off on his cardigan. Don’t. 

He stared back at the plate, now empty but still carrying trickles of blood. Don’t. 

Crawling back, his pain ached for more. Please, don’t.

Yet his heart’s cries failed while licking off the blood on the plate. 

“Well, well…” Her words articulated perfectly again. Oliver turned to find the peep hole open. “I wonder how delicious it would’ve been before,” she laughed. 

Glaring at her, he wiped his face, thoughts trying to lick it off. 

“You only had an hour left but, congrats.” The door knob turned, but she grunted back with no door movement. “Oh, now I didn’t think this through…”

“What,” with a tone empty.

She continued to pull the door until she pouted. “It seems that you have to open this yourself, but you don’t have the strength yet, don’t you?” With a sigh, her steps faded off. “I’ll fetch you more food to gain yourself then. Consider this as more than seconds.” 

He sat in silence, and all he reacted with was a lick of the teeth. 

***

“You don’t have to…”

“But I insist!” Margaret rushed back and forth from the kitchen, carrying various items each time from an old cloth bag to a kitchen knife, her apron getting dirtier every minute. “Consider it an apology treat.”

He asked without effort, “And why an apology treat?” 

She rushed out of the kitchen with the burlap bag, brown and sturdy, and handed it to him with blood slowly staining the cloth underneath. “I didn’t expect this to be that much of a controversy, so to say.” She grinned. “This won’t rot by all the rest, but I know you’ll gobble it up in no time!”

A pit in his now full stomach grew. His senses acted up upon the treats inside the bag. “… Okay, just get Vittorino please.”

“Gladly, but you may have to wait.” she dabbled on a piece of paper and pen she quickly grabbed, only to then slide it into a box. “Would you like to talk in the meanwhile-?”

“No- no,” Oliver replied. “I’ll wait… here.” Sitting down, he stared at the bag whilst she sat across from him. 

She placed an arm on the table. “If you must.” 

Only a few minutes passed before Vittorino returned by the door. His arm held his head from behind as he walked in. He sighed, “You cannot believe how dumb some teenagers can be.”

Glumly, Oliver found Vittorino in his relaxed state as always in his talking, but the aching relief of seeing him again simply moved him to his side. 

Vittorino noticed, and looked down upon him. 

“… Take me somewhere quiet.” 

Vittorino stared, then made an understanding face. “Margaret, you took him in there, didn’t you?”

“Did you think it was a bad idea too?” Her arms crossed each other. “Even Akeldama got mad about it!”

He never replied, and instead returned to Oliver’s request. “Yeah, I think I know a place.”

The place was a beach, cobbled with sandy air and a serene blue sky. Clouds overweighed the color; recent drops kissed marks on the ground with gentle mush at every touch. The clouds refused to walk on yet the gusty breeze blew away from any dim atmosphere, blowing speckles of sands and the fluff of one’s hair.

Waters slept soundly, not pushing against the end of the island and instead snoring little tuffs of its puddles. Its clear body reflected the sky above, and through glimpses shined the rocks it used as pillows. Those rocks of smooth sheen crept around every step, from the waters to the growing forest behind. No tide could interrupt the restful evening, not the moon nor any sight of the sun. 

The greys of the land contradicted lifelessness.

Vittorino trudged himself over onto the sidelines of the water. Sitting down, he snatched a pebble and watched the whistling waves.

Oliver only stood against it all, eying Vittorino without the rest of the world. “What’s this place?”

He threw the pebble into the water. “A place that no one’s lived in for 300 years. It’d be quiet, yeah?” The pebble skidded through the water for seconds’ count until dripping down below. 

Without a motivation, he joined the other. His shoes tipped at the edge of the water with temptation of dunking in. The water tickled his soles, but to none of his laughter. He stared down upon it and Vittorino’s pebbles. The gratifying wind of the land dissatisfied his unknown desires. As the wind carried his hair against his face, he turned to the bag by his hands, gaining closer to stain the sand underneath him. 

It was a bag of fulfillment, one that he could show off to himself and bask in the treasure. Such a fulfillment already engrailed in his stomach in which he obsessed over only minutes ago. Why would he like that, he asked. A mere worthless beast would crave such a fulfillment. Yet, the pit in his spirit craved to be rid of it, and told his arm to move. Staring blankly against the sky, his dried-up, bloody hand dipped into his mouth, creeping down to into his throat until he brought himself down to a gag and-

A hand grabbed his arm back, another trapping around his torso. “Don’t do that-” Vittorino struggled to speak. 

“No,” he wrestled back at him. Water leaped out of his eyes. 

“You’ll die, Oliver.”

“Please stop and leave me-” His spirit stopped at the final word, complete fear and pain returning at the thought of the word, the thought of the phrase. The sickening pit gouged his skin to an utter freeze. And the seeking of comfort finally returning him to a necessity. 

“Oliver…?”

“Take me to the street,” he said.

“The street?”

“You know which one,” he said.

Vittorino studied and loosened his grip, still grabbing hold. A small wave finally kicked and watered their feet, catching a small trickle of blood along the way. 

“… Okay.”

***

The comfort was writing on his journal, drabbles of lines sinking down into the corner without control of the page. He was curled up in his blankets, earbud wires attached in the abyss of his hair and the end of an MP3 player.

Oliver stood beside him in his distraction, bag in hand, until he finally turned around and saw.

He froze from his writing, eyes widening and blinking to a red tint. He stared up at his dead eyes, mouth agape and finding a word. But Oliver already knew what to begin with. 

“Let’s not talk about it.”

- 

Ten Dollars | Bread and Water | Red Eye | Crimson Capture | November 1st | A Mother | A Demon | A Child | The Wolf | Bloody Fingers | A Monochrome World | The Pocketwatch | I’ll Have My Day | Next >>>

[argylemnwrites]

Just Sorry That It Happened

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x MC (Cassie Vanderfield)

Book: Open Heart (Book 1, Chapter 15)

Word Count: ~1900

Rating: PG-13 (adult language, some suggestive comments)

Summary: Bryce is the one Cassie turns to when her day takes an unexpected turn for the worse.

Author’s Note: Written for Day 29 of the Choices July Challenge (prompt - Comfort). As someone who never chose any interaction that implied romantic or sexual interest in Ramsey, it was pretty uncomfortable watching him pin MC to the counter and come onto her, only for her to never act like anything like that happened going forward. In reality, I think it would be pretty devastating to discover someone you viewed as a mentor might have had ulterior motives for their interactions with you. This fic essentially touches on that fact.

Bryce shoved open the door to his apartment, arms full of groceries. He hadn’t really planned on running errands today, but since he switched weekends with Keegan to have this one off, that meant he was going to be working the next 26 days straight. So after they all left the country club, he decided he better stock up before he got too busy to buy soap or coffee.

Making the decision to switch to have this weekend off had been an easy one, even if it did mean almost a month of work without a day off. But with everything Cassie was going through, it was absolutely the right thing to do. Even though she wasn’t his girlfriend, no matter how much the other surgical interns teased him that she was, he did care about her. A lot. He had just never put that much stock in labels. He and Molly had been in an “official” relationship for years when that all fell apart dramatically, after all. So, in the end, Bryce figured it was more important to show someone they were important to him, rather than putting a title on a relationship. So yeah, of course he was gonna take this weekend off to spend time with Cassie.

The whole situation with Mrs. Martinez was just so effed up. He knew that Emery had to take action, that once she heard that Cassie stole that drug sample, she couldn’t just let it slide. But at the same time, he knew Cassie, and she had just been trying to honor Mrs. Martinez’s wishes. Her heart had been in the right place. The fact that she was the only one being punished, when he and Jackie and Elijah and Sienna had been a part of it all, also left him feeling guilty. But at this point, all he could really do was be there for her.

As Bryce unloaded the bags onto his kitchen counter, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He almost sent the call to voicemail reflexively. His parents were really the only ones who called instead of texting, but he glanced down and was surprised to see her name flash across the screen. He quickly swiped to answer her call.

“Hey, how did it go with Ramsey?”

There was a long pause before she spoke, “Are you home?”

“Yeah, why?”

Another pause, punctuated by a small sniffle. “Can I come over?”

“Of course. Cassie, is everything okay?”

More silence. “I’m about 15 minutes away.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

The fifteen minutes felt like hours. Bryce didn’t do well with waiting. Patience might be a virtue, but he’d always preferred action. Cassie was clearly upset about something. When she’d left the country club, she’d seemed hopeful, so things must have gone poorly with her chat with Ramsey. But even if Ramsey had told her he wouldn’t testify on her behalf, that didn’t exactly explain how shaken and off she’d sounded on the phone. Something was very wrong here, but she hadn’t exactly given him any clues.

Finally, the call box on the wall buzzed. He pressed the button to unlock the front door, and a few moments later, he heard a gentle knock on his door. He walked over quickly, throwing open the door to see Cassie standing there, looking even paler than usual.

“Cassie, what happened? Are you okay?”

She nodded, stepping past him into his apartment. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just…” She trailed off, not seeming to know what to say next. After a few seconds she shook her head, finally turning towards him. “Can I get a glass of water?”

Bryce nodded, pouring her a glass of water before he joined her on his couch. She’d taken a seat there, chewing on her thumbnail and bouncing her leg up and down. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, passing her the water.

She nodded, but didn’t start talking, just holding the glass with both of her hands. Bryce wanted to touch her. Hold her hand or put an arm around her, but he didn’t want to spook her. He got the sense that he was going to have to be patient. It probably was less than a minute, but the silence stretched on for what felt like ages before Cassie finally spoke.

“So, I went to Ramsey’s apartment.”

Bryce nodded. He knew that much at least.

“Well, he was a mess. And he was drunk.”

Bryce cringed. As surly and curt as Ramsey was at work, he could only imagine how bad he would have been without the confines of professionalism and with his inhibitions lowered. “I’m so sorry, that probably wasn’t pretty. You have to know, whatever he said about you, it isn’t true.”

She shook her head, “It’s not that. We got into it a little bit, and I don’t know, I guess things got a little heated. Next thing I knew, he…”

She trailed off, but Bryce swallowed roughly. There was really only one way that sentence ended, the only question was to what degree. “Cassie, what did he do?”

She stared into the glass of water as she continued her story. “Not too much. He kind of had me trapped against his kitchen island. Then he came onto me.”

“Cassie…”

“He said since we both aren’t working at Edenbrook, we could finally have sex.”

“Shit. What an asshole. Are you okay?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I was able to get out of there pretty quickly. He’s not testifying at my hearing, in case that wasn’t clear.” She drank half of her glass of water before she continued. “He said he wasn’t my mentor, that I was just another intern. I guess he just saw me as a piece of ass.”

“Come on, you know that’s not true. He trusted you to help with Banerji. He must trust your medical judgement.” Bryce couldn’t believe he was defending Ramsey here. I mean, he was an attending who just drunkenly hit on an intern, and pretty aggressively by the sounds of it. Not to mention the intern in question was the woman he was pretty sure he was starting to fall for. But he couldn’t stand to hear her so hopeless-sounding, like her entire worldview was destroyed.

“I should have listened when you told me Ramsey was just interested in me personally. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

Her head landed on his shoulder, so Bryce wrapped his arm around her back, trying to comfort her. Ramsey being an asshole was the last thing she needed right now, with everything else going on with Mrs. Martinez and her upcoming hearing. “I’m so sorry, Cassie. He’s a dick. You know that you are an awesome doctor, right? Just because he’s a piece of shit doesn’t mean that others haven’t seen how smart and talented you are.”

“I don’t know, Bryce. He was the one attending who really believed in me. I thought I could follow his footsteps, run a diagnostics department someday. I thought he saw himself in me, but now I know he just, well… saw himself in me, I guess.”

Bryce chuckled, pleased that Cassie was at least able to crack a joke about the whole, messed-up situation. 

“Hey, First Aid does list humor as one of the four healthy coping mechanisms,” she quipped.

“Is that all you remember from Step One?”

“More or less. Are you telling me you remember more?”

“Of course. I’ll have you know I-”

“Never mind, I don’t want to know that you scored a 265 or whatever you got. Announcing your score will only make you even more insufferable.”

“Oh, come on. You seem to tolerate my presence well enough. I’m not that bad, am I?”

She pulled back from him slightly, turning to stare into his eyes. “No,” she said, a small smile dancing across her face, “You aren’t bad at all.”

The moment was tense and expectant. Bryce wanted to kiss her, but it felt like the wrong thing to do after everything she’d been through that night. Instead he pulled her into a loose hug, not wanting her to feel trapped. She tugged him in closer though, which he took as a good sign. Almost instantly though, she jumped back.

“Shit, Cassie. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, not after he-”

“No, it’s not that. You’ve been great. I just spilled water all over myself.” She gestured down across her body, the now empty glass of water in her other hand. Sure enough, a giant wet patch covered her lap.

“Do you want something to change into?”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you have a lot of women’s clothing around here, Lahela?”

“I’ll have you know I look excellent in skinny jeans. But no, I was thinking more a t-shirt and some sweatpants.”

“I might look a little funny catching the T wearing your clothing.”

“Just stay here tonight.”

“Bryce, you’ll have to leave at like 5 am.”

“4:30 actually. Don’t worry about it, I’ll just leave you my keys, and you can lock up when you go. I’ll just swing by your place after work to grab them.”

She squinted at him slightly, “You trust me alone in your place?”

He shrugged, “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

She seemed to mull over his words, his suggestion, but she made no move to go change into something more comfortable. Bryce wanted her to stay. He didn’t want her to go home where she would undoubtedly head straight to her bedroom and the events of tonight would sit with her, causing all sorts of doubts and fears to surface. And he didn’t want to give her roommates a heads up, because at the end of the day this wasn’t his story to tell. He wanted her here with him, where he could cheer her up and reassure her that Ramsey being a douchebag didn’t mean anything about her skills as a doctor.

“Come on, Cassie. Get comfortable and then we can watch House and make fun of all the medical errors.”

She thought about his offer for just a few more moments before she smiled as she stood up from the couch.

“Which drawer?”

“Second from the top.”

A few minutes later, she emerged from his bedroom wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that she’d rolled over several times at the waist. She looked truly relaxed for the first time in days. Climbing up next to him on the couch, she cuddled up alongside him as he opened up Amazon Prime and flipped over to House. 

“Alright, let’s find the episode where it actually is lupus.”

She laughed as the episode started to play, a magician performing some trick in the cold open. They both shifted to get more comfortable, and by halfway through the episode, Bryce felt his eyes starting to get heavy. Cassie was clearly getting tired, too, as he felt her head getting heavy on his chest.

“Thank you, Bryce” she mumbled, letting out a yawn at the end of her sentence.

“No problem, Cassie. I’m just sorry you have to go through this at all.”

But there was no response other than a faint snore. Bryce smiled, glad he had been able to provide any sort of comfort to her tonight, at least enough to help her get some sleep.

Tags: @omgjasminesimone @mfackenthal @thequeenchoices @octobereighth @feartheendlesssummer @tallulahshh @fortunatelywaywardsandwich @dreaming-of-movies @choicesarehard @pinkcoloredmarshmallow @kinda-iconic @choicesjulychallenge

[lilacmoon83]

A Darker Curse

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 30: Heartbeat

August opened his bleary eyes and turned away from the offending sunshine that was peering through the blinds. He rolled away and right against another warm body, suddenly remembering everything from the night before. He gently put his arm around her bare waist and nuzzled her neck, earning him a sleepy sound from her. They had gotten a bit tipsy last night, but still had all their faculties when they made this step to intimacy.

"What a night…" she said. He smiled.

"Yeah...it was," he agreed, as she turned to face him.

"I haven't been this happy in a very long time," she admitted.

"So...that means you're moving to Storybrooke?" he asked hopefully.

"I kind of have to. I mean, that's where my boyfriend lives," she replied playfully. He grinned.

"You're right...that's where he lives," he agreed, as their lips met again and he tossed the covers over their heads.

~*~

Snow gave him a dreamy stare, as their lips parted again, and they cuddled close. He fed her another bite of pancakes and then took one himself. Emma rolled her eyes from across the booth and tore up some more cut up pancakes on her son's tray.

"Guys...I love you, but we're in public," she complained. Snow winced.

"Sorry honey…" she said.

"It's just been a long time since I've been this happy, especially without any obstacles in our way," she added.

"Cora's gone, the curse is broken, and we're all together," she gushed. Emma smiled.

"And I'm happy about all of that, but maybe just a little less making out at breakfast," she replied. David chuckled.

"We'll try, princess," he offered, making her roll her eyes playfully again, just as Neal and his family arrived.

"Good morning," he said, as he kissed the top of little David's head. Their son looked up at him and cooed.

"Morning," Emma said, as he slid into the booth beside her, after pulling up a table so his father and Belle could join them.

"Neal told us you had a late night visitor," Belle mentioned. Snow grimaced.

"We did and I know he's hurting. I feel bad...but I'm not giving up my son," she replied.

"You shouldn't have to. He went about trying to reconnect with August in all the wrong ways," Belle assured.

"She's right...he lied to us and he should be thanking you," David agreed.

"I know...I just want my son to be happy. I hope Geppetto feels the same and just gives him a little time, because I know August will eventually forgive him. If he lets him," Snow said, as they finished up and continued to talk, while Neal, Belle, and Gold ate. Just as they were getting ready to part ways for the day, with David going to the station with Emma, and Snow heading for her first day as Deputy Mayor, without Cora around, they heard a terrible scream coming from the Inn. Neal picked up little David and all of them hurried over there to see what was going on.

~*~

Graham approached the vault in the cemetery with cautious optimism. Now that he had his memories back, he was reflecting on everything and naturally regretted his part in any of Cora's plot, but knew now it was because he literally had no choice. Cora had taken his heart, long ago, after his part in helping Snow and Charming. He didn't regret it though. They were good people and deserved none of what Cora had done to them. He was just glad it was finally over and she was gone. He hadn't even considered that getting his heart back would be an option. He was just glad the person that could use it against him was gone. So when Regina had called and told him he had that option, he had quite literally jumped out of bed.

"Good morning," Regina greeted, as he arrived.

"Morning," he said anxiously.

"I...I don't really know how this part works," Regina said, as the three of them walked into the vault.

"I watched her do a lot of magic, but I'm afraid she never gave any hearts back. So…I'm not really sure how this works," she said, as Graham approached the breathing wall. It was as creepy as he remembered, but one compartment seemed to glow brighter red than the others.

"Well...perhaps it will be easier than anticipated," Robin commented, as he watched his wife extract the compartment and take the heart out.

"I'll try to be gentle," she promised. He nodded.

"It's okay...I'm ready," he said, as she pushed the organ into his chest and he took a sharp breath and felt a flood of emotion course through him. He hadn't felt anything in so long that suddenly doing so was almost overwhelming. But in a good way.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome...and I'd like Emma to remain Sheriff, but I am sure she could use a second deputy to cover the night shift," she suggested. He nodded.

"Emma should be Sheriff and David should have the daytime deputy position so he can be with Snow in the evening. I'm the obvious choice for the night shift...I prefer it anyway," he agreed. Regina nodded, as her phone rang and she answered it.

"Snow?" she asked, as she heard her sister's panicked voice on the other end.

"Oh...okay, we'll be right there," she said, as she hung up.

"What was that about?" Robin asked.

"We need to get over to the Inn. I'll tell you both on the way," she replied, as they followed her.

~*~

"Granny?" Emma called, as they looked around the deserted lobby of the Inn.

"Up here!" they heard her call, as Snow and David followed their daughter upstairs, hand in hand. When they got there, they found the older woman with one of her maids, who was crying hysterically.

"What's going on?" David asked.

"In there," Granny said, as Emma opened the door and was unable to warn her father, before her mother and the others saw the scene. Snow cried out and covered her mouth with her hand, as David pulled her back. She turned away, as he hugged her close, while observing the gruesome scene.

"Do not bring Belle or the baby in here!" Emma called to Neal and Gold, as the latter peered inside. Blood and brain matter was splattered all over the wall, as Greg Mendell lay dead on the floor, his eyes frozen open in death.

"What's going on?" August asked, as he and Tink exited the room down the hall and approached, hand in hand.

"Mom?" he asked, seeing how incredibly shaken she was.

"I'm going to help Emma," David told her, as he kissed her forehead and prodded her toward August, who hugged her.

"Stay with her…" he said. August nodded, as Tink looked in the room.

"Oh my God...Greg…" she uttered.

"Greg is dead…" she said, as she looked back at August.

"We...we just saw him last night," August replied.

"Which means you two might be the last people to see him alive, other than whoever killed him," Emma said, as she and David observed the scene.

"It might not mean anything, but he was shot in the temple and not in the back of the head," David said.

"It might. Back of the head would suggest surprise or execution," Emma replied.

"What was his state of mind?" she asked the other blonde.

"It was good...really good. He was still sad about his father's death, but he had accepted that the person that did it paid for it," she said.

"She's right...he planned to leave town. He was uncertain, but seemed like he was ready to find a new start," August offered.

"Did you have any trances last night?" Emma asked.

"Uh no, I was...busy," he replied.

"Do you think it might come to you?" Neal asked. August shrugged.

"I don't know...it might. But I can't force a trance. They just happen and I don't control them," he replied.

"I'll run out to the squad car and get the crime scene kit. Guess I'll be getting that training you were going to give me on the job," David said, as he kissed Snow quickly and hurried outside.

"Who would kill him?" Tink wondered.

"I don't know...you know him better than me," Emma replied.

"And we won't know until we get an autopsy, but we have to consider suicide," she added.

"No...that makes no sense," Tink refuted.

"The angle of the bullet hole suggests that it's a possibility," Emma said.

"Nothing in his demeanor suggested he was suicidal. He was actually...hopeful," Tink replied, as Emma stood up and put gloves on, as David returned.

"Okay...let's toss the room," she said, as they started searching through everything. David opened the chest of drawers and found a liquor bottle that was almost empty.

"Em...I need a bag," he called, as she tossed him one.

"Empty?" she asked.

"Almost," he replied.

"Maybe he got a little less hopeful," she said.

"No…he was in a good place. I'm telling you," Tink argued.

"His father was murdered and he didn't get to play any active role in making Cora pay. It's possible that he had a drink last night and it hit him that he wasn't going to get a satisfying closure," Emma argued back.

"Or someone wants us to think it's suicide," Tink said.

"Okay...if you think he was murdered, then by who?" David asked.

"He's right...the only other person from your team is still in lock up at the station," Emma replied.

"The only other person here...but trust me, the home office runs deep. Pan has a ton of sheep that follow him and do his bidding all over. Greg wanted out," Tink said.

"He said that?" Emma asked.

"Word for word," August confirmed.

"Then you think we may have another outsider in town?" David asked.

"Another outsider?" Regina asked, as they arrived and saw how upset Snow was.

"It's Greg Mendell...he's dead," Snow said.

"Murder?" she asked, as she came in now that they had the body covered with a sheet.

"The evidence suggests suicide, but Tink thinks that's what it's meant to look like. We won't know more until we get a complete autopsy," Emma replied.

"He wanted out...he told me and August that last night," Tink offered.

"Okay...that is a motive for murder. Any idea who would come to do the job?" Regina asked.

"I have an idea...but if she's here, then she won't reveal herself until she's ready to," Tink said.

"And who is this woman?" David asked, as Tink scrolled through her phone.

"Her name is Tamara...and she was Greg's supervisor, so to speak. She's the one that gets the orders from the Home Office and sent him here, posing as a district attorney," Tink replied, as she showed them the photo.

"What does she want?" David asked.

"Whatever the Home Office wants and even I don't know what that is. But Tamara...she hates magic and wants to destroy it. She's willing to do whatever dirty work they give her as long as the promised goal is destruction of magic," Tink replied.

"Which is this entire town," Gold said. Tink nodded.

"Then we need to find her," David replied.

"Which won't be easy. She's good at this," Tink said.

"Then we draw her out…" Regina suggested.

"How?" Snow asked and her sister smirked.

"This morning, I gave Graham his heart back and as you know, I have many more to return," she said.

"But it requires having the person it belongs to come forward, so we planned to announce to the entire town that anyone needing their heart back should come forward. All I have to do is offer the time to show up to my mother's vault, which is full of magic, and that would be too tempting for this person to ignore," Regina said.

"That's a good plan and we know what she looks like. We'll just have to keep our eye out, just in case she decides to disguise herself somehow," David replied.

"Snow and I can go to the television station now and have them tape a special announcement. I'll encourage them to have it ready for the evening edition of the news," Regina said.

"I can work up a quick front page story for tomorrow morning's mirror too," August agreed.

"We'll get the body to the morgue and get a rush on the autopsy," Emma said. Snow gave David a kiss, before leaving with Regina and Robin, while Graham went with them to the hospital once the morgue van arrived.

~*~

Geppetto entered the cathedral that morning and removed his hat, as he approached the altar.

"Hello Geppetto," Blue greeted solemnly.

"I have come for your help again…" he said.

"Geppetto…" she started to say.

"Please...just hear me…" he pleaded and she nodded.

"My boy...he will not talk to me and I fear he may never after what I did last night," he said.

"What did you do?" Blue asked.

"I visited Snow at her home...at a rather inappropriate time and the conversation became rather heated," he confessed.

"Oh Geppetto…" she chided.

"I know...I just wanted her to understand that he's my son! She needs to let him go!" he said.

"Geppetto...she has been a mother to him for twenty-years. You cannot expect a woman to let go of a child, whether she gave birth to that child or not. We are both lucky that Snow has not lashed out at us or shunned us completely," she reminded him.

"I know this...I know the Prince suffered greatly under the curse, but I had to do what I did for my boy. I sacrificed the Prince to Cora's curse to save my boy from it and I would do it again," he stated.

"And I think even the Prince understands why you did it and he is an honorable man that probably would have given up his spot to August if asked," Blue advised.

"Pinocchio! His name is Pinocchio!" Geppetto insisted.

"No...his name is August and he is a grown man now," she corrected.

"But if I am correct in my suspicions, he will not understand it if you speak harshly to his wife and neither will August," she advised.

"He threw me out...and August was not there. I asked around...and it seems he was with a young lady last night," he said, which peaked her interest.

"A young lady?" Blue asked.

"I believe she was once a fairy too. Tinkerbell I think is her name," he replied, as Blue's gaze narrowed.

"Please...you must help me get my son back," he said, interrupting her thoughts.

"You must give him time...he'll come around," she insisted.

"That is what everyone keeps telling me! But it won't happen! He refuses to have anything to do with me. It would be different if he was still a little boy," Geppetto said, as his eyes widened at that.

"That is the answer…" he realized and Blue became worried when he looked at her.

"You can help me with magic!" he exclaimed.

"You can make him a little boy again!" he insisted.

"No...we can't do that to him," she refuted.

"You must!" he cried.

"You must turn him back! You gave him life in the first place! You can reverse him back to the way he was!" Geppetto insisted.

"Not against August's will I cannot...you would be asking me to take his choice away. His free will...his humanity. It is wrong, Geppetto," she replied.

"Please...you must give me this second chance with my boy!" he cried tearfully and her heart ached for him.

"And what will you say to Princess Snow when you take away a child that she loves? A child that she has raised? You will break her heart and we did that once already when we separated her and the prince," Blue said.

"She has another child! And a grandchild! Not to mention that she has gotten her youth back!" he said heatedly.

"She is young again and can bear more children! I cannot have another child! I did not get my youth back! This is my last chance!" he cried. She nodded mutely.

"We will figure something out," she replied vaguely, as she comforted him.

~*~

"Good afternoon, fellow citizens of Storybrooke," Regina said, as she looked at the camera from the podium, with Snow standing beside her.

"We wanted to take a moment to speak to you all, now that the curse has been broken," she continued.

"We know that some may still be fearful, but we are here to assure you that the time for fear has passed. My mother, former Mayor Cora Mills, is dead," she announced.

"Back in our land, she earned the moniker of the Evil Queen and it was well earned," she added.

"She killed many people and hurt many more. I cannot right all of her wrongs, but there are some that I can fix. My mother took many hearts, those of which are here in Storybrooke," she continued.

"As a gesture of goodwill and a marker of a new era in this town, I am inviting all those that she stole from to come to my vault, tomorrow morning, to receive it back," she added.

"I know that my mother's vault may be a scary place, because of all the magic inside, but I assure you that I have everything under control and will return what belongs to you," Regina said, as Snow stepped to the microphone.

"We know things are still uncertain and that's why we are inviting the whole town to the park nearby for a town wide celebration to begin this new era of peace and love. You no longer have anything to fear and we promise to lead this town into a bright future," Snow concluded, as the camera panned back to the regular reporting and the two women stepped away from the podium.

"I hope that did the trick," Regina murmured.

"You mentioned the magic in the vault. If she's really interested in destroying or even just getting a sample of the magic, such a setting will be too tempting," Snow reasoned. She nodded.

"I hope so...I don't want to think that we just gave false hope when we might have a killer in our midst," Regina said.

"We'll stop her if we do," Snow insisted, as the two of them headed out to return to their offices for the remainder of the day.

~*~

"And that was our new esteemed Mayor, Regina Mills, and her deputy Mayor, Snow White, inviting those that had their hearts stolen by the Evil Queen Cora to gather tomorrow morning at the Mills family vault to have what was taken returned to them. In addition, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be holding a celebratory gathering in the park nearby as well," the news droned on and Tamara flipped the television off. She had set up a trailer in the woods and tapped into the local cable. That vault was like a gold mine. She would have to be careful, but she needed to get into that.

"Guess I'm going to a celebration tomorrow," she said, as she grabbed a scarf and some sunglasses, confident that it would be an adequate disguise...