#like it’s newest to oldest so I thought they stopped at pet sounds because they wanted it front and center which is fair

[pebblezone]

Wait omg Apple changed the essential albums for The Beach Boys this is so fucking based

[ravennm84]

Payback

Hey everyone! I’ve been writing this new story for the past couple of days, and am planning to take a break for a while after this. My husband and I are expecting our first child next week and will be focusing on her. For that reason, I decided to give the class some sugar, as we all need some goodness in the world. I’ll be back when things settle down, but until then, Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!

It was just an average conversation. Alya was sitting at her desk before class with Lila since Marinette was late again. It was very pleasant until the italian girl said something… wrong.

“After I saved Jagged’s kitten from being run over by the plane and he wrote that song about me, we kept in touch.” Lila tittered away, without a care. “He ended up mentioning how he wanted a pair of special glasses for his tour, so I made him those Eiffel Tower glasses that he loves so much. Next thing I know, he’s bragging about me to all his friends and they’re all asking me to make things for them too. I ended up making a website and going by the alias MDC. Isn’t that amazing?”

Alya hadn’t had a chance to answer as Marinette came rushing into the room a second before the bell rang and Mme. Bustier began her lesson. Although whatever the teacher was saying was practically ignored by the majority of the class that had heard Lila’s claim. 

Because they knew.

They had been there when Marinette had made those glasses for Jagged Stone for the work experience day at Chloe’s family hotel. They knew that Marinette went by the acronym MDC for the initials of her name. Max, Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Kim, and Alya had all helped Marinette set up her website and model her designs a couple months ago, while Lila had been traveling… 

She’s a LIAR!! They all thought at once.

During the next break, Alya quickly set up a group chat with everyone but Lila and Marinette.

FoxyJournalist: You all heard that, right? She’s lying about being MDC, but that’s Marinette!

DJTurtle: So not cool, doesn’t she know that we were there? Is this some kind of joke?

MightIllustrator: Don’t think so, she’s still bragging about it back here.

GothicBeauty: @DJTurtle Agreed, not cool.

Rocker’n’Pink: I can’t believe it! I just emailed Prince Ali to see if he knows her, because if Lila’s lying about this…

BigTeddy: …

SmolTeddy: …

TrueBrain: …

Da’Strongest: … Crap

Sk8Grl: … I second that Crap

FoxyJournalist: Emergency meeting at my place tonight! We need to figure all this out!

DJTurtle: Agreed.

TruQueen: We’ll be there too. I don’t like Dupain-Cheng, but I HATE Rossi.

MissRed: I’ll bring snacks.

By the time class started again, everyone had agreed to meet up after school. The hard part, as it turned out, was shaking the liar, who practically latched onto their group and wouldn’t let them be. It was Mylene you finally came up with an idea, mentioning that they were going to the homeless shelter to help feed people and clean the facility. Lila suddenly remembered that she already had plans and couldn’t come help them, before turning to walk home.

Once she was out of earshot, Alix turned to the other girl with a smirk. “Good going, how’d you know that’d work?”

Mylene shrugged. “I was thinking earlier about all the times she talked about charity work but always made excuses to not come with us when we were doing it. I figured she’d do it this time too, and I was right.”

An hour later the entire class; sans Marinette, Lila, and Adrien, who was at a photoshoot, were gathered in the Cesaire apartment. Everyone had their phones or tablets out, looking up everything that Lila had told them since coming to school. And what they found was anything but comforting.

Connection to Jagged Stone due to saving a kitten: lies, according to articles about his one and only pet for the past 17 years, Fang the crocodile.

Connection to Prince Ali via Go-Green charities: lies, according to Prince Ali himself when he responded to Rose’s email, plus he didn’t do green charities, instead focusing on children’s charities.

Secretly dating Adrien: lies, confirmed when Adrien called Nino back during a break and let it slip that Lila was only his friend and that she made him uncomfortable at times because of how clingy she was.

Every single thing they looked up about Lila turned out to be a lie. And although they couldn’t prove it themselves, that likely meant that all of the diseases and injuries that she’d claimed to have were probably fake too. Meaning that they had been buying her lunch and giving her money for charities, and the money was probably going straight into the liar’s pocket.

“By my calculations, when including all the lunches and food we bought for her, money we donated for charities she wasn’t involved in, and tickets for events she attended with us; Lila Rossi has scammed close to €1,000 from our class. All of which we are not likely to get back from her.” Max groused as he typed away on his tablet.

Alix scoffed. “At least all we lost was some money and a bit of our dignity. I’m pretty sure Marinette went through a lot more than us. Heck, that liar tried to convince me last week that Marinette ruined her homework and said ‘if only she understood what it was like for someone to do that to her’ like she was trying to get me to destroy Marinette’s homework as revenge. I didn’t do it, but I let her copy my homework so she wouldn’t lose any points.”

Juleka’s pale complexion went stark white. “She kept telling me how Marinette was only friends with me so she could get close to Luka and make Adrien jealous, and that I was really trusting to let someone like that near my family.”

“When my headphones broke, she told me that she’d seen Marinette messing with them earlier,” Nino told them, his voice laced with guilt as he remembered giving his oldest friend the cold shoulder for days after that.

Alya’s head dropped into her hands as she struggled to hold back tears. “That liar almost had me convinced that Mari was nothing but a jealous bitch who was out to get rid of her since they both had a crush on Adrien. I can’t believe how close I came to buying that bull.”

“And then there’s the expulsion,” Rose added, her voice quivering. “She was accused of stealing, assault, and cheating on that mock exam. Even though Marinette was reinstated, that kind of stuff doesn’t just disappear from someone’s record. What if that keeps her from being accepted into lycee?”

Everyone went pale at that. Although most turned red in the face a moment later from rage for their friend.

“We can’t let her get away with this!” Kim growled as he began pacing the room.

“But is there anything we can really do?” Mylene asked with tears in her eyes.

When the blonde heiress chuckled, sitting off to the side of the room, everyone turned to glare at her, but she wasn’t phased by their looks. “And this is exactly why I decided to come here. None of you have any idea how to deal with someone like Rossi. I, however, have dealt with those types of people multiple times.” The glares ceased, realizing that Chloe was probably right. 

“One of the best ways to get back at her, would be to use her own lies against her. Do it in a way that the only way out of it is to admit that she’s a liar. And while we do that, we completely tear down the empire that fake HBIC is trying to build, maybe get her expelled like she tried to do to Dupain-Cheng.”

The class stared at her in surprise, not expecting the former hero to actually be useful in this situation. But what she said…

Alya shook her head in surprise. “I never thought I’d say this, but it sounds like you’re the best option. Please, tell us your plan.”

The smirk Chloe gave them, almost made them feel sorry for what was about to happen to the liar.

~oOo~

The following morning when Lila came to class, she saw everyone fawning over something on their phones or tablets. Curious, she stepped next to Alya and looked over her shoulder to find that she was looking at the MDC website. 

She smirked for a second before plastering an appreciative, yet shy grin on her face. “I see you found my website, what do you think of my designs?” 

“Gurl, they are gorgeous! I can’t believe you made such intricate clothes and accessories!” Alya gushed as she continued looking through the pictures until she stopped on a design that she had modeled for Marinette, although, like all the other photos, her face wasn’t shown. “And this one here! It’s like a total dedication to Rena Rouge. Make no mistake, Ladybug will always be my favorite, but Rena’s power is really awesome too.”

“I’m glad you like it!” Lila smiled, she was about to go into describing how she was inspired by the design when Alya asked her something surprising.

“Do you think I can have it? Pretty please?”

Lila came up short, not having expected this. “Well, you can just order it from my website-” she began saying, only to stop when Alya’s expression dropped.

“I don’t understand. You always say that if we need anything to just ask you, and you have this dress listed as in stock on your website, it would be nothing for you to just give it to me, right?”

“I-um-”

“And you even told Marinette the other day that if she were a real friend, she wouldn’t mind giving us free pastries whenever we ask, right?”

“R-right! I’m just surprised that you would be so interested in one of my designs. I’ll bring it in tomorrow!”

“Thanks gurl, you're the best.” Alya gushed before giving Lila a hug that actually kind of hurt. 

Hurrying back to her seat, Lila resisted the urge to curse as she got onto the MDC website to order and overnight the dress to her apartment. Luckily, the mail normally arrived before she left for school. And doing this would help her convince everyone she was the designer MDC.

~oOo~

Lila’s newest lie about being MDC wasn’t going as planned. Sure, she got a lot of praise and people wearing her designs, but it was costing her. Every time she brought in an item that she’d had to buy and overnight to her apartment to give to one of her classmates, another would practically demand another item that was listed as available on the MDC website. A hat for Alix, a hoodie for Kim, a shirt for Max, a dress for Rose, it went on and on. And when she tried to say that she couldn’t, they would say how Marinette would never do such a thing and then start to question what she told them. This left her no choice but to buy everything they wanted herself and give to them. 

Sure, it made her lie all the more believable since she was able to deliver the items they asked for, but it was beginning to clear out her savings. At the rate she was going, she was probably MDC’s best customer.

Then came the day when the MDC website began offering custom orders. Alya asked Marinette for a couple sheets of paper from her sketchbook and a pencil before handing it to Lila. “Gurl, I’ve been wanting you to do something custom for me for weeks, but I wasn’t going to ask since you didn’t have it listed on your website and I didn’t want to take advantage of you. But now, I can tell you exactly what I want and I can even record your process for my blog! Isn’t that awesome?”

Lila gripped the pencil until it nearly snapped. She could barely draw stick figures and she was pretty sure Maribrat knew that, not missing the smirk that the goody-two-shoes was sending her direction. “I would but, oww! My arthritis has been acting up all day and I can barely hold a pencil.” She whimpered pathetically as gingerly gripped her left wrist.

“But that shouldn’t be a problem,” Max spoke up smiling kindly at her. “After all, it’s your left wrist that has arthritis and you’re right handed.”

Shut up, you stupid nerd! She thought, struggling to keep the scowl from her face. “You’re right, but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to draw something out before class starts.”

“But, Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale have commented on your website how you are really good at doing fast concept drawing for your designs. So, it shouldn’t take you too long to come up with something to start with.” Rose commented, her high voice grating on the liar’s nerves.

She was trying to think of another excuse when Chloe began laughing. “You can all stop the act, I think we’ve played it out long enough.”

To Lila’s surprise, the majority of the class nodded before their eager, friendly faces turned to scowls and angry glares as they looked in her direction. Unsure of what else to do, she started faking tears as she looked around the room. “Why are all of you looking at me like that? I haven’t done anything wrong. Did Marinette say something? You know-”

“Cut the crap, Lila! We did our research weeks ago and figured out you’re nothing but a lying bag of nothing.” Chloe cut her off as she stood from her desk and smiled cruelly at the girl. “You really messed up when you started claiming you were the MDC, the rising star of fashion. Everyone in class knows that’s Marinette.”

Unable to help herself, Lila’s head whipped around in shock to glare at the french-asian girl, sitting shocked, but a little smug at her desk. “Is that what Marinette said? She’s lying!”

Alya scoffed this time. “You know, there may have been a point when we might have believed you, but not this time. We were all there when Mari gave those glasses to Jagged Stone and then had her design his album cover. Max and I helped her set up the MDC website. And Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Kim, Max, and I were the ones that modeled the designs posted on her website.”

Lila glared at her. She knew when the jig was up, and there was no point in wasting her energy on her worthless classmates anymore. Still, she couldn’t help but be angry at them. “Well, you all better have the money to pay me back for all the stuff I bought you! Or else I’ll get all of you in trouble with Mme. Bustier and M. Damocles. If you can’t tell, from the time I got Maribrat expelled, I’ve got them both wrapped around my finger.”

“Actually, you can consider all this repaying us.” Max grinned that annoying, calculating grin at her. “Everything you bought was equal to or of similar value to all the lunches we bought you, tickets for events that we covered, or money we donated to your supposed charities, which I’m 96.8% sure was actually your own bank account.”

She growled at that, about to let out a tirade at all of them when Chloe laughed again, gaining her attention again. “Well, all that was to pay back the class, but you’re still not even with Dupain-Cheng or me. I’m sick of seeing your ugly face and hair-don’t in here every day and decided to do something about it. So, I had Daddy get a hold of the Italian Embassy for a meeting the other day. Imagine how surprised and angry they were when the ambassador’s assistant started talking about how incopitant Ladybug and Chat Noir are, since they couldn’t defeat the akuma that had forced her daughter’s school to close for months.”

Lila’s tan skin paled quickly as her head whipped around the room, looking for an escape, but Ivan and Kim were guarding the door. 

“The woman was even more surprised after mentioning which school it was and Daddy told her how it was my school. Then I mentioned a girl that had been out of school for the time the assistant had mentioned, and that she claimed to be in the kingdom of Achu via Embassy funds. The Ambassador wasn’t too happy about what he was hearing and cut the meeting short. Although I did hear her mention that she was planning to speak with the principal and her daughter’s teacher. Speaking of, I wonder why Mme. Bustier is so late for class?

Seconds later, the door Ivan and Kim had been guarding burst open, revealing a very angry Damocles, Mme. Bustier, and a woman that had a strong resemblance to Lila. Without a single word, the woman stomped forward, grabbed Lila by the arm, and began dragging her out of the room. Lila tried to pull free as she pleaded for her mother to listen, but the woman didn’t say a single word as the door closed behind them, leaving a very upset Mme. Bustier standing at the front of the room.

The news quickly spread around school before lunch how Lila had done, and was likely to be expelled for truancy, bullying, lying to the staff, and trying to get Marinette expelled. If that hadn’t been bad enough, an akuma had come fluttering into the courtyard just as the two Rossi’s had been leaving. Lila had pushed her mother away in an effort to catch the akuma, only for a yo-yo to smack her hand to catch it, snapping two of the liar’s fingers in the process. 

Seeing that, M. Damocles had no choice but to call the police while Ladybug and Chat Noir stood guard over Lila, with Alya recording everything from the moment she’d seen the akuma entering the courtyard. Lila screamed and raged as the police handcuffed her and took her away. Ladybug recommended using a facility outside of Paris, as they had witnessed her willingly going after an akuma.

The class never saw Lila again, although they did hear that she had been deported back to Italy and was dropped in a high security prison’s deepest, darkest hole to be forgotten by the world after being convicted for aiding a terrorist. Granted, none of them had expected that when they had set out to get even with Lila, but after seeing her willingly go after an akuma for revenge, they were glad she was gone.

The class had also profusely apologized to Marinette for not believing her, as well as keeping her in the dark about their plan to expose Lila. Marinette accepted their apology, but admitted that she had been starting to figure it out after Lila kept ordering from her website and her classmates ended up with the ordered items. Then, when she had mentioned her theory to Adrien, he’d shown her the group chat and admitted that the class had planned a way to confront and expose Lila. So, she decided to trust her friends and let their plan play out, using the money Lila had spent to buy more supplies and make matching ‘thank you’ gifts for her friends.

And that’s it! I hope you all enjoyed this bit of class sugar. With all the salt out there, I really needed something sweet and this seemed like a good way to do it!

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @maskedpainter @ miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

[ashintheairlikesnow]

*busts in the door* ANTONI SUFFERING PROMPTS? may I offer any combo of 8: pour salt in my muse’s wound(s), 5: drug my muse, and/or 23: trip my muse for my favorite ashtray 😍

One Two Three Four Five

CW: Burns, salt in wound, cigarette smoking, internal and external dehumanization, pet whump, emeto mention

"Sssshhhh." His whimpers have gotten too loud again, and there's a hand in his hair, rough petting that feels more like another kind of violence, opening new wounds. It's Quiet One crouched in front of him, head tilted, eyes sparkling in the graying darkness as dawn comes closer and closer. "Hold still. There we go. Good boy."

A shiver of pleasure runs down his spine, the simple pure sense of doing what he is trained to do, made to do. Made for, what he wanted, to make up for whatever sins are buried deep inside his ruined memory.

"How do you know all this shit, anyway? Not just the movie. They didn't get into half this shit in the movie." Deep-Voice is back in the wrecked kitchen, going through cabinets with doors that hang off broken hinges.

The ashtray is in what was the living room, his hands tied behind him with his own t-shirt, ripped to long strips. He's sweating, even in the chilly empty room, sitting up but slumped over. They've tied one bit of his shirt around his neck with a little bow.

A droplet of sweat runs down his collarbone, dips over his chest, finds a new burn and the ashtray hisses, biting on his lower lip to kill the sound until he feels blood burst free of him again. How many times has he bitten his lip tonight?

Lookout sits over by the front door, miraculously still intact right down to its frosted glass panels. He keeps looking outside and then back, chain-smoking, one cigarette after another even after his face seems green around the edges. There are five from him, five new circles of pain for the ashtray to focus on.

Three with his eyes sparkling, two with a growing uncertainty. Then Lookout went and threw up outside in the bushes someone had once carefully landscaped along the front of the house. He had to be convinced to stop panicking over DNA, Quiet One had to lecture him on not listening to the fucking true crime podcasts any longer.

They're not gonna test your goddamn puke, asshole. Besides, does that look like somebody who's gonna call a fucking detective? Get back in here.

Now Lookout sits by the door, and the butts of the cigarettes he has already finished lay scattered around his shoes.

"My uncle," Quiet One says, using the ashtray's hair to lift his head again, looking over the glazed, empty obedience written alongside the suffering, worn openly on his face. "Works for WRU. They're not supposed to talk about it, sign like the world's most ironclad NDA, but he tells me stories sometimes."

"Ron?" That's Lookout, voice shaking. He looks like he wants to throw up again. The ashtray blinks at him, dazedly. How can he look sick when the ashtray is the one whose skin is burning for his crimes? "Ron works for-"

"Hey! What the fuck did I say about names?" Quiet One rolls his eyes. Deep Voice comes back in, shoes crunching on glass and rocks and bits of crumpled paper and everything else that's been dragged in here over time. He crouches next to Quiet One, holding out a thick cylindrical... something.

The ashtray's eyes can't focus enough to understand.

"Look what I found," Deep Voice says, softly.

Quiet One grins. "Oh, yeah. Do it, man."

Deep Voice flips open a little metal thing along the cylinder's lid, and the ashtray's eyebrows furrow, confused. His thoughts move slowly, fighting through deep water.

He realizes what it is just as Deep Voice tips the canister of salt and pours it over the new constellation they've made on his stomach, reaching out with his other hand to rub circles, pressing the grit deeply into the burns.

The ashtray's back arches, every muscle locked, choked sounds coming from a throat that won't open enough for a scream. Quiet One keeps a hand in his hair to hold him still, watching with bright avid eyes, glittering with fascination as he looks at the veins in the ashtray's neck standing out, the blood smeared along his chin from his lower lip.

"Jesus Christ," Quiet One says, softly. "You're fucking gorgeous, buddy, you know that?"

"What if he gets, like, infected from this?" Lookout asks, hands shaking so hard he drops the lighter when he tries to light up again. "And like. Dies?"

"What if he does?" Quiet One shrugs one shoulder. "Sucks to be him, then, I guess." His eyes move over the ashtray's face, watching with intensity as Deep Voice pours salt on another set of burns, listening to the ashtray's hitched sobs, watching the tears track through dirt down his cheeks. "Fuck, man. Those cheekbones. I can see why some old fucking perv wanted you."

It wasn't for his cheekbones. The ashtray would tell them if he could remember how to speak. It was for his crimes, it was because he had done something so terrible he would give anything to escape it. It was because he had to pay for what he'd done. It was because-

Abruptly, Quiet One lets go of his hair, letting his head fall back down, chin nearly to his chest. "Hey. Get over here with the lighter, man."

"Why?"

"I want to do one more. I'm tired, I want to go to bed. Come on."

The ashtray catches Lookout's soft oh thank god as he gets to his feet and shuffles over, dropping the pack of cigarettes and the lighter into Quiet One's waiting hands.

"What the fuck, dude?"

"What?"

"You smoked like the whole damn pack! This shit costs money, you fucking baby."

"Fuck off, I'll buy you more. Just. Finish it up, I want to go home, too." Lookout looks away, out the broken windows towards the street. "People're gonna be fucking waking up soon. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah. Asshole."

Quiet One turns back to him, using one finger to tip his chin up, almost gently. The ashtray looks back at him, blank but for the pain. It fills his body, the throb of each individual new mark joining the itching aches of the old. The oldest scars are so faint they hardly mar his skin, the newest are bright red burns, skin buckling and bubbling under heat it isn't made to withstand.

"Pozhaluysta," He whispers, lips barely moving. "Pozhaluysta, Mr. Davies, ostanovites'."

"Mmmn. That's Russian, isn't it? Sexy. One more, pet. Think you can handle one more burn for me? Take it quiet and we'll leave. Can you do that for me?"

The ashtray nods, frantically, in desperate need for it to end. He can go back to his room, with the bars on the windows, and sing himself to sleep. He can go back to his room.

"Good boy."

The ashtray stares at the little red circle of light as the cigarette is lit, the flickering flame. The click of the lighter as it shuts again, the smoke blown into his face. Familiar and wrong, this smoke is bitter and acrid and Mr. Davies always smelled sweet and almost herbal when he smoked, the deep clove smell in the ashtray's clothes, his hair, lingering on his skin.

They untie his hands from behind his back and the bow from his neck, Quiet One rubbing at the deep red marks left behind, thumb moving back and forth over the ashtray's Adam's apple, breathing softly. "Shit. God, I wish I had one of these for mine."

"Well, unless you discover a shitload of money, you'd just be stealing. Or... like, committing a bunch of fucking felonies."

"Yeah, yeah. If I clean up a bit I bet my uncle could get me in at WRU. I heard they have a handler there who fucking killed like four people before he got the job."

"Jesus Christ, dude, seriously?"

"Yeah. Peters or something. My uncle doesn't fuck with him. Nobody does. Said he's fucking gross but he gets Employee of the Month like all the time. I could be gross for money."

"Man, who wouldn't be gross for money."

"Ha, right? All right, let's finish this shit up." Quiet One sighs, looking back at the ashtray. "You were a good fucking time, man. Enjoyed the hell out of this. Here we go. Stay quiet for me now."

Quiet One presses the cigarette into the inside of the ashtray's wrist, right in the center of his barcode, the one place that Mr. Davies never touched.

The ashtray bites his lip until it bleeds, whining deep in his throat as new tears fall, but he doesn't scream. He's quiet.

He's good.

He can be good.

"There we go." A ruffle to his hair and Quiet One stands, Deep Voice following almost immediately. Quiet One relights his cigarette and walks to the door, where Lookout moves outside before them.

Quiet One is the last to leave, looking over his shoulder at the ashtray still sitting on the ground, slumped over, in the ruined house. He lifts up his cell phone, turns on flash, and takes a photo.

The ashtray flinches at a sudden blinding light he barely registers as what it is, and Quiet One and Deep Voice laugh.

Lookout is already out by the street, bouncing on his toes, looking back and forth like he expects sirens any second.

"Maybe we'll see you again sometime," Quiet One says, and then they leave, their voices and laughter fading along with the crunch of gravel under their shoes, until the only sound left is the ashtray's ragged, uneven breathing.

He doesn't know when he gets to his feet, or how. He pulls the sweatshirt back on and leaves the shreds of his t-shirt behind. The front door is open, and when he stumbles outside, the sky is pink along the edges of the horizon.

The ashtray moves down the sidewalk, and he doesn't know where he's going, or what he'll do when he gets there.

He ends up standing, swaying a little, next to a stop sign in a place that looks familiar but he doesn't know at all. The pre-dawn light has everything slightly eerie and unsettled in his mind, shapes crashing into each other, puzzle pieces that don't quite fit.

A hand touches his back and he spins around with a gasp, staring down in terror at a short elderly woman with dark brown skin and thick hair a blend of silvery white and black pulled no-nonsense at the nape of her neck.

She looks up at him, her own eyebrows knitted. "I said good morning. Did you hear-" She goes quiet, and her eyes move over his face with too much understanding.

She knows.

Everyone knows what he is. Everyone has always known. It was a mistake to believe he could be safe anywhere outside the four walls of Nat's home. It was a mistake to think he could build a life that might involve leaving here, living on his own.

Everyone will always know.

Antoni swallows, and shudders as it makes the fresh burn on his throat ache and throb in reminder. He struggles to move his mouth to speak. "M-... Miss Ruth. D-Dobroye utro."

He realizes only then that his sweatshirt is still unzipped, and she can see the line of scars, the new burns and old, and heat rushes to his cheeks underneath the dirt already caking them.

"Oh, honey. What happened to you?" Ruth's voice is low, and she looks to one side, and then the other. Then she sighs and steps back, gesturing. "Come on inside my house, sweetheart. Just me this week, no one else to bother us. Let me patch you up, your people are still sleeping no doubt."

His people.

He is safe with his people, inside the house. But he has never been safe when he leaves. It is too easy to read what he is in every inch of his skin.

"Spasibo," He whispers as he follows her up the steps.

[thenextchapter22]

Stuffies

PART 2! Sleeping in the Devildom!

Description: Your first night was an easy sleep, but your second not so much...

or….adventures and cute stories with a reader/MC who carries stuffed animals around all over Devildom.

Pairing(s): NONE!

Word Count: 1,615

Link to my AO3: Click Here

Author’s Notes:  Okay so I was not expecting so many likes for this, but thank you very much to all those reading! :3 I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Part One

_+_

Sleeping in your room while several demons slept in the same hallway was actually pretty easy the first night. You had passed out in the shockingly comfortable bed after dinner with the brothers (and wow was that a crazy time, you lived alone so you always ate alone and the banter was fun to watch, but the food was weird too) and snuggled close with your Panda stuffed animal Po, rubbing your cheek and nose in the ultra-soft plush tummy of the black and white bear that was about the size of a pillow. You even woke up with drool on her.

The first morning before school you had an eventful time meeting angels. Simeon was so pretty and kind, and Luke was hilarious with his huffing and puffing, but super energetic.

They didn’t seem to mind your stuffed animals, either, which was great. You said you stopped caring what people thought, but these were… immortal beings… so it was a little bit different than normal ‘people’.

_+_

Meeting the Angels

It was the morning of your first day at RAD and the room was full of demons, waiting for the new arrivals. You sat on the sofa between Belphie, who was falling asleep into his pillow, and Asmo, who was looking at himself in the mirror and fixing his eyeliner. Why, you weren’t sure. He looked gorgeous. You wore very little on your face, only a bit of liner and Chap Stick that was cherry flavored.

You held one of your oldest stuffed animals to your chest, trying to comfort yourself as best as you could. Meeting the Demons first was so shocking you didn’t realize how much it would have helped to have a soft or squishy friend in your arm until now.

Then, they strolled into the room. Lucifer stood to greet them, nodding his hellos, while you stared in awe. They gave off an aura that was so beautiful. Not a visible one, but it was like your soul was brighter, and your eyes were more open.

There were two of them, one was taller with dark hair, and the other shorter with blonde hair. Both wore white outfits, but had no wings which was sad. But you had only seen a few demonic forms so far—Lord Diavolo, Barbatos, his butler, and Lucifer, when you first came yesterday—so it wasn’t that surprising they would look human. It was probably easier to maneuver in hallways without huge wings or appendages like tails.

“And this is our newest human student.”

Oh, you were being introduced. You stood up and nodded your head, smiling a little shakily at them as Lucifer gestured to you. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

Simeon, the angel who seemed to know Lucifer after watching how they interacted, gave you a handshake that was elegant in the way he held your own hand like you were a princess or something. “A pleasure to meet you as well.”

The smaller one, named Luke, glanced up at you with a wide grin and said something of the same, but didn’t shake your hand. “You’re so pretty! And—oh, what is that? Is that a dog? You brought a dog to the Devildom?! Simeon, I want to bring a pet, pleeease?” He turned his eyes to the taller angel and begged.

Simeon chuckled. He pat Luke’s little head and the blonde haired angel huffed. “Celestial Pets would not survive here unfortunately. And I don’t think it’s a real dog, Luke.”

You shook your head. “Nope, it’s my stuffed animal. His name’s Fido. I know, super original, but I’ve had him since I was a kid.” You held him out for them to see. He was about 10 inches and was squeezable, and you felt he was perfect to take on your first day at RAD.

Simeon smiled kindly. “He’s lovely. Do you have others?”

Mammon spoke up from his place behind you on a separate piece of furniture. ���Oh yea, loooads of ‘em. The entire bedroom is full, it’s insane.”

There was a smack, then a moan from the Greed Demon. “Shut up, Mammon, you insensitive prick,” Satan spoke up. “We’ve all got our collections.”

You were surprised Satan defended you but also happy about it. Knowing Mammon from the breakdown you had yesterday, he probably didn’t mean it to be insensitive, he just spoke before thinking.

“Well, then, I look forward to seeing more of your collection.”

Luke agreed. “Oh, me too! Do you have any with wings? Like a dove, or a peacock, or what about a flamingo!?”

And you all chatted for a bit, and you felt pretty excited for your first day. You were told you were going to meet one more person at RAD, and it had you giddy. Would they be just as kind? You hoped…

_+_

So yes, the first night was good, but after your first day at RAD—and that was a whole other story on craziness that included being overloaded with information on demon history and new math you would probably be terrible at, and also potions was a scary subject because you immediately thought of Harry Potter, and not to mention the many, many demons looking at you and probably wanting to either eat you or kill you—you just could not shut your eyes the second night.

It was past 11pm, the second day of school was tomorrow, and you had to get a good night’s sleep. It was obvious Lucifer demanded good grades from everyone. Sleep was an important part of that.

Maybe an almost midnight snack would help?

So you got up, put on a sweater over your long sleeved pajamas because it was pretty cold here at night, put your fuzzy pink slippers on, tucked Po under your arm, and went down the hallway as quiet as a mouse. You had a surprisingly good memory of places, and mazes were easy for you, and seeing as this house was a maze you found the kitchen quick.

You poured yourself a glass of milk—it looked like milk, and smelled like it, so you prayed it was milk—and sat on the barstool drinking it. Warm milk would be better, or tea, but you didn’t want to open cupboards and have anything bang or start the oven or stove, it looked way different from the ones at home.

There was a flickering of light in the corner of your eyes. You followed it to a room with books stacked high along the walls, and a couch and chairs around a fire going all by itself with brick towering above. Magic, perhaps, kept it burning.

The couch facing it directly was cozy looking so you sat on it, and sipped your milk staring into the hearth. Fire danced in your eyes and it hypnotized you. The warmth was great, and cascaded over your body like you were sunbathing. You liked the sun but heat without light was better, and this was perfect.

You found your eyes shutting and quickly placed Po beneath your head and yawned. Then you drifted into dreamland for a while, the heartbeat of the fire lulling you.

A soft touch on your body woke you up from slumber. The fire was blocked by a body, and your eyes opened and you glanced up to see Belphegor with his own black and white companion, his pillow, and noticed a blanket thrown over your body.

“The fire goes out at 4am, so you’ll get cold,” he said monotonously, then went to the next couch over and copied your position of laying on your side cuddled to your panda stuffie but him with his pillow instead, and you watched as he transformed in the blink of an eye. He was like a cow-hybrid, and had the tail just like one. He also had curled up horns, and you remember seeing those on other transformed demons. Was that a trait they all had?

His eyes glowed purple when he looked at you, mesmerizing like the fire but in a different sense. “Sleep, it’s late,” he said, curling his tail over himself like a small blanket.

And you did sleep, sort of instantly, too, the Sloth Demon following suit. It was probably one of the best nights of sleep you had in a long time.

_+_

“Aahhh~~ So cuuuteee!!”

The sound of photos being taken from a phone, and the squealing, woke you up. It felt too early, and you groaned, pressing your entire face into Po. “Uhhh, noo mom, please turn off the lights,” you begged.

A soft coo, then a poke to your cheek. “Aw, sweetie, it’s time to get up, although I hate to move you looking so darn adorable.”

You blinked away sleep and groaned, rolling your head back to see Asmodeus standing over you, dressed for the day in his uniform, and his D.D.D in hand, and still snapping pictures of you with it.

You covered your face with one hand. “No, stop,” you sleepily pleaded. “Too early, ‘m ugly.”

He shushed you and tapped your hand until it moved, and giggled when you cried as he took another picture. “You’re second to me in beauty, darling, don’t say such things! You and your cute little stuffed Panda bear, this is Devilgram worthy~”

There was a soft chuckle, and you shot your head over to see Belphie laughing at your face. “Beware, Asmo will post that almost instantly.”

“Already done!” the Lust avatar declared. “You’re famous, my dear~” he winked.

“You guys are so mean,” you pouted, shoving your face into Po. But little did they know, you were smiling the entire time.

[normalgirlnextdoor]

Strong, little Omega~ Alpha! Sam x Omega! Reader

Finished version

You couldn’t believe this. THIS had to happen now when all you wanted to do was take a break, relax, maybe go to an all Omega beach, and let Drag rest his strong Doberman jaw from all this times he protected you by ripping the monsters that go bump in the night necks out… but no, you got a call from a friend whom also happened to be a hunter. They called about multiple body’s showing up with their hearts ripped out. Your first obvious thought was werewolf, but with the amount of body’s you knew it had to be a pack.

Pulling up to the newest crime scene in your, silver 1997 cadillac deville. Getting out of the slick vehicle, you turned opening one of the passengers doors open allowing Drag to get out and stretch his legs. Once he was out you closed the door with a creek.

“Come on boy,” you called out walking towards the yellow caution taped house, instantly pulling out your fake FBI badge flashing it to the outside officer guarding the scene.

As you enter the scene you take in the scent of the multiple Alpha officers, glad that you took scent hiding pills before you left the ‘cozy’ hotel you are staying at.

“Miss, how can I help you?” A man whom you can tell was the head detective asked you. In an instant you pulled out your badge.

“Good evening detective I’m special agent Jared and this-“ you point to Drag who has happily stayed sitting by your side, “is my partner Drag. Where here investigating the multiple murders that have been spreading through this town.”

The detective shook his head in understanding.

“If I may, I’m going to take a look around,”

“Please, go ahead,”

You thanked the detective before walking towards the body that laid cold on the ground. Drag walked up to the the body sniffing for any sign of werewolf or any monster really. Once he was done he threw his head up and gave a dark quick growl indicating werewolf. Dropping to your knees you pet your dog, “Good boy! Now let’s go talk to the detective and leave,” you cooed standing back up and heading outside to the detective.

You were finishing up with your question when the sound of a car pulling up on the graveled path filled the air, turning your head you saw a black 19somthing impala pull up hosting two men. Just one glance at them even if they were still in their car told you they were hunters. You sighed, you hated to work with other hunters because they thought you were weak. You knew you were not the strongest biologically, but when you were young your father trained you in hunting and the different types of monsters, so you were pretty experienced. Turning your head back to the detective thanking him before heading towards your car, that the hunters decided to park by.

As you walked, Drag happily skipping by your side, the two men got out.

“Sorry boys, but I already took this case,” you told them once you got close enough. The two men looked at you surprised, the smallest of the two smirked before opening his mouth.

“You a hunter?”

“ I am,” you walked closer to the two opening the passenger door to your car allowing your dog to hop in. After closing the door you turned taking in the shortest man scent secretly, alcohol, blood, and apple pie filled your nostrils not intoxicating like a true mate but comforting like a good friend.

“What’s your names boys?” You said walking toward the drivers side of your car, looking up you meet the eyes of the taller man.

“...Sam and Dean Winchester,”

“Oh! Your the Winchester brothers, neat. Well I’m (Y/n) (L/n). It was nice to finally meet you two-” you opened your door before climbing in, clicking the buckle across your chest. Rolling down the windows,

“Oh and if you really want this hunt, the first one who finds and kills the pack had to buy a round of drinks,” you smirked before driving off.

‘Odd,’ you thought to yourself. You were never the talkative type unless it was someone you felt close to, plus you normal don’t talk to strangers unless you have to… and another thing that man, Dean, his scent didn’t repel you it was soothing almost comforting, like your Omega half just knew it could trust him. Then the other man, Sam...well you didn’t get his scent. A frown came to your face at the thought, which was also strange. Deciding to ignore all of which happened in the last five minutes, you got back to the case.

A few hours later you arrived at an abandoned warehouse.

“Typical,” you muttered under your breath, as you shuffled through your trunk pulling out a gun filled with silver bullets and just Incase your silver switchblade. Turning your attention to Drag who say patiently by the side of your car inspecting the warehouse, his pointed ears up checking the sound of the area. You smiled pulling out a silver spiked collar, farmers use these types of collars so wolf’s can’t bite the weakest point of their dogs.

“Drag, come here boy,” you patted your thigh. The dog turned his head before strutting over to you, getting down on your knees you gently wrapped the collar over the top of his existing one.

“Okay, lets go kick some bitches ass,” You smiled walking into the building, gun up and ready. Bad idea. You only killed three when a sharp needle like pain shot through your neck.

Your eyes fluttered open, a small room with a dim light bulb being your source of light. You looked around noticing your dog in the corner a muzzle tightly strapped around his jaw, his eyes shut in pain.

“Fuck! Drag,” You tried to get up but the cold metal chains wrapped around your wrist and ankles kept you in your spot. You jumped when the loud screech of your ‘cell’ door opens allowing a bright light to flood into the small space. The figure of a man showed in your vision.

“Ahh, little Omega your up! You’ve been out for about two days now, my bad, that little scent blocker of yours wore right off by the way,” his voice was dark and leaving you feeling sick.

“Any way I brought you some friends,” he threw two body’s into the ground, both of them grunt as they hit the floor. Now that your scent blocker wore off your scent enhanced and your scenting ability all Omegas have was enhanced, allowing you to catch the scent Dean, and a mysterious scent that sent you overboard, coffee, sandalwood, mint and alcohol. True mate was your only reason for why the smell was intoxicating.

‘it must be Sam’ you thought to yourself.

“Sam, Dean. Please wake up,” you didn’t mean for it to come out desperate but the Omega and yourself where scared out of your mind. Why the unconscious Winchester didn’t respond or wake silent tears started to fall down your cheeks. You didn’t know what was wrong with you, just the fact that your true Alpha sat on the floor made your Omega go crazy and freak out.

“Alpha please wake up, Alpha!” Your body was shaking now, terrified.

“(Y/n)?” A raspy voice asked.

“Sam? Alpha?” Your voice came out raspy.

In a quick motion Sams head raised up talking in your rich, terrified Omega scent. Without even thinking Sam crawled up to your chained body, pulling you close up against his chest.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, I’ve got you ‘mega,”

You sniffed pushing your head more into the man you know nothing about chest.

“I’m so sorry I’m nothing like this,” you stuttered out with a sniff. Before Sam could say a word a gruff groan echoed in the small space.

“Sammy?”

“I’m here Dean,” his voice was muffled by your hair, his head on top of yours.

“What’s going on? Who’s that? Why does it rek of Omega in here?” The oldest Winchester questioned, freaking out slightly.

“This is (Y/n), Dean. She put scent blockers on so no one knew she was an Omega,” Sam said brushing his fingers through your matted hair, his head no longer on top of your’s.

Dean looked at you before putting his focus on his little brother.

“Can I talk to you Sam,” he tilted his head to the side indicating he wanted to speak to him alone.

“Fine. I’ll be right back,” Sam sighed gently releasing from you before heading over to his brother. You watched them talk in hushed whispers before the cell door opened once again, allowing three men to enter the space. Two of the men grabbed Sam and Dean smashing them into the wall while the last man walked to you twirling a key ring around his pointer finger. When the man was beside you he started to unlock the chains from the walls, as the last chain was unlocked you twirled your body around kicking him hard in the groin hoping to catch him off guard. Thankfully your plan was a success as the man fell to the floor with a yelp. You tried to get up to help the brothers, but the drug they knocked you out was still in effect causing you to fall to the floor in pain. The man you kicked got up anger written all over his face.

“Bad idea kitten,” he snarled pulling the chains around your wrist, dragging you out of the room. Closing the large metal door, leaving the two other werewolves with the Winchester’s, without a word. Your limp lifeless body dragged on the hard dirty ground, pebbles digging and cutting into your skin. Your eyes slowly closed with pain as you fell unconscious, once again.

________________________________

You woke up for the second time that day with a raspy gasp. Your eyes where covered by a blindfold preventing the slightest bit of light to seep in. You noticed that your body was chained to a metal chair, the cold surfaces sending chills down your spine alerting you that you where declothed.

“Ahh, good your up, again,” the same male voice meet your ears making you wimpier and push your body further into the chair. Your nose twitched as the werewolf -man- stood in front of you pulling your blindfold off. You cried out in fear, the Omega in you taking control, your newly exposed skin sending her into a spasm of fear and anxiety. The man moved his hand down your face to your collarbone where he paused.

“Please. Please stop,” your voice came out defeated, pained and scared at the same time. The man only smiled grossly before speaking.

“No, bad pets get punished,” he continued to travel his hands down the valley of your breasts, once again your Omega let loose.

“SAM! Alpha, PLEASE!!” Your plea sent even shivers down the Alpha whom sat in front of you. In only seconds a loud bang echoed through the walls of the warehouse.

“Gra, Fucking bitch,” he growled, swinging his hand down landing it on your cheek with a crack. He turned his body walking towards a table that you noticed was scattered with hunting weapons. He grabbed a blacked out handgun checking for bullets before walking out of the room.

Taking a deep breath you used your sweat covered hands slipping them out of their chained confinement. Next you focused on your feet, painfully pulling them out as well. Once your nude body was free you wobbled to the table picking up your switchblade. Then you wobbled once again back to your spot wrapping your ankles around the front legs of the chair and placed your hands behind your back twiddling with the knife. The man returned again bruised and bleeding, dragging Sam behind him whom was also beaten and chained. He lifted Sam up by his handcuff chains placing him on a hook attached to the wall.

“Now, where was I?” He snarled, walking up to you. Your eyes where on Sams worried ones as the disgusting Alpha neared you. He reached his hands out for your breasts, saliva practically dripping from his mouth. Before he could reach you, you grabbed his head standing up on your feet. Lifting your leg you smashed his head into your knee making him crumple and fall to the floor where you landed on top of him bringing the blade of you knife down onto his chest stabbing his heart, killing him.

“Omega,” Sam whispered out making you jump up from the body picking up the key ring he attached to his hip. Scrambling to Sam's body you unlocked the chains that confined him, allowing him to drop his hands and wrap them around your body. Your head rested firmly to his chest while his left hand rested on your waist, while his other hand tilted your head up allowing him to gently kiss your lips in a sweet but reassuring kiss. When you two parted for air Sam unbuttoned his plaid button up, on instinct you lifted your arms allowing him to pull the shirt around your body buttoning it back up, hiding your nudity. You smiled bashfully wrapping your arms around his waist, tilting your head up allowing the two of you to meet for a kiss.

“My strong little Omega,”

Please do not copy and repost, you can reblog though thank you

Tag list:

@tuliptx

[vivipixels-notepad]

Hypnovember 2019, fic 13

NSFW

CW’s

Fae Trickery

Mild Noncon

Usurping Control

Scary

“Siren”

After that incident that made it clear to the world that magic was real, a large number of forests had been declared protected area by local Fae. Of course, they were immediately recognized, because the government didn’t know what to do and was kind of in shell shock about the literal portal to hell that had temporarily opened. Not every Fae had come out and declared their forests protected, some simply chose to keep their wards up, and to turn away those who entered. It was surprising to Vincent that nothing had happened as the camper drove into the abandoned camp ground. Most of these had either been claimed, or were heavily warded. The intrepid trio, Dizzy, Vincent, and Aes, had decided to take a vacation of sorts. Vincent tugged on his collar. Dizzy had fitted him with his own collar. He was grateful, albeit nervous. He’d never given someone so much control before, but... it felt good. The camper came to a stop.

“Vincentious, honey. Can you get that solar generator set up outside? We’re gonna want power soon.” Dizzy’s voice was in his head, part of how the collar worked.

“Yes...” Vincent tired to hide his blush as much as he could as he stood up.

“Yes what?” There was a small jolt that ran through Vincent’s head. He’d already disobeyed a command.

“Ahh.... Yes Mxster.”

Vincent was hit with a rush of pleasure and assurance.

“There you go, honey. Good boy. Aes? Why do you get out an take a look around?”

Aes climbed out of the camper, following Vincent. They had stopped in a clearing. It was just large enough to hold roughly 2 campers, with some space. She began to walk the perimeter. The underbrush was thick. After staring at it for a bit, Aes picked up a faint hint of magic. Like someone had caused some extreme growth. She kept walked, now on high alert. In the distance, seemingly brought on the breeze, she heard... singing. She stopped in her tracks. It was only there for a moment, then gone. Aes turned towards where the sound came from. There was a spot where the brush was gone, a path. Another breeze, another hint of song. She had to know what it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Vince, hun?”

Dizzy was lounging on one of the couches in the camper. Vincent had just come inside after gathering some firewood.

“Yes Mxster?”

“Have you seen Aes? I told her to take a look around an hour ago, but she never came back.”

Vincent’s stomach dropped.

“What? Why didn’t you say something sooner? Have you not felt the magic in the air here?”

“Well, I figured that was just the three of us. You know we’re all worth our salt in terms of magic skill. ‘Specially you, incubus.”

“Hellfire. Get off your ass and help me look for her, she might have wandered off.”

Dizzy stood up. Bushing themselves off.

“She’s got an invisible leash attached to me, she can’t have gotten far, it won’t let her.”

“She’s what?”

“Vincent, Aes wanders a lot. I put an invisible leash on her to keep her from going too far.”

“That’s.. okay, well... we still need to find her.”

The two exited the camper.

“If I remember, she was doing a perimeter while I was setting up the generator.”

“So if we find what stopped her check...”

“We’ll find her.”

“Alrighty. Show me where she started.”

Dizzy followed Vincent over to the edge of the clearing. They followed the edge, until they found an opening in the brush.

“Hey Diz, I think she went this way.”

“What’re we waitin’ for, let’s find our rabbit.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been walking in silence for a while. The brush had grown significantly, becoming heavier, making the path darker as they walked.

“Hey Diz?” Vincent asked, anxiety growing in his chest.

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask... uh... whatever happened to... uh... to-“

“Caroline?” Dizzy interrupted.

“...yeah...” Vincent knew it was a touchy subject.

“Well, as you know, she got herself caught up in the little... disaster... that was the portal to your homelands opening up. Of course, we know it wasn’t her fault. It was that.. ‘King’ fella. Anyway, a whole bunch of people started calling for her arrest, some calling for a trial, the public wanted her hide. So, she did what any logical person would do. She went into hiding.”

“She’s in hiding?”

“Of course! You didn’t think she’d been retaken by King, did you?”

“That’s... what I had been starting to believe.”

“Well, she’s doing just fine. Found herself a nice place to hide, a good group to hide away with.”

“That’s.. good. But why hasn’t she said anything? Why didn’t she say anything?”

“I can’t answer that. Not because I don’t want to, I just don’t know myself.”

They two stopped abruptly. Something had changed.

“Hey.. Diz do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Dizzy looked at Vincent, who was staring straight ahead. His posture looked looser than before.

“...that singing? It’s... it’s beautiful.”

Dizzy thought for a moment, then plugged Vincent’s ears.

“Can you still hear it, honey?”

“I... can...”

That wasn’t possible. Unless... Dizzy went for the collar, but Vincent easily pushed them aside, and kept walking.

“Vincent, honey, I need you to take the collar off. Whoever is singing knows they operate on a specific frequency, and is singing on that frequency.”

The only other person who knew that was..

“Aes!”

Dizzy took off after Vincent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With each step, the music grew louder. It drew him in him, captivated him. He didn’t know how fast he was walking. Or was he running? It didn’t matter, he just had to get closer. Closer. Closer. Finally, he breached the dark path, into a clearing. The singing stopped. In the center of the clearing, there was a pond. Crystal clear water, with colorful crystals lying the bed. He looked around, to see Aes, kneeling before a short woman, with jaw length minty green hair, that curved outward at her jaw. She was wearing a simple dress, with a crown of flowers in her hair. She turned, and Vincent gasped. Her electric blue eyes seemed to glow, they most certainly did not belong to a human. She smiled warmly, and walked towards him.

“Have you heard the Mistress’s song too? Her newest pet was explaining how to call you.” Her voice was way too chipper for this scenario.

“Newest pet? Who are you, what’s going on?”

“You’re asking too many questions, and I don’t even know who you are yet. May I have your name?”

“It’s-“ he stopped. Oldest trick in the book.

“Hmph. You seek to have my name. Very well, you shall know what to call me. I am Prince Vincentious, son of Azmarius, heir to the throne of lust. You should know better than to try to trick the likes of me.”

“A prince?” The voice came from the pond. It make Vincent’s very core shudder. “I see no prince before us. Simply an outcast, bastard son, who needs to be taught manners and respect.”

“S-show yourself! I will not be insulted through anonymity!”

“Very well, Vincentious.”

A chill ran through his spine. The singing began again.

“Kneel.”

He fell to his knees. Though the word ‘Kneel’ never actually appeared in the song, he heard the voice say that. He heard the singing in his head. He heard the commands in his head. It was overwhelming to the senses, in the most wonderful way.

“Strip. Show yourself.”

He did as he was asked, staring at the shape rising from the pond. Green hair, prismatic eyes, pale skin. The figure was not clothed, and her lower body was covered in scales that shimmered in every color. She stopped singing.

“So this is the young bastard.”

He felt her eyes searching his entire body. She was enormous, probably 14 feet from head to fin.

“You will apologize to my steward, Rikali. She didn’t mean you any harm, yet you approached her as a common foe.”

He felt a twinge from his neck, and he lurched forward.

“I... I am sorry, Rikali, I meant no ill will.”

“Good. Now you may know my name. I am the Siren of the Silent Grove.”

She was exuding some kind of mental pressure, now that she was staring at him. He started to squirm under her gaze.

“You are more than I thought you were. Misguided, you are. Tell me, Vincentious,”

Another shiver throughout his body.

“What brings you to my humble grove? Don’t try to lie like your friend over there did. There are punishments for lying.”

Vincent looked over at Aes. She was kneeling still, her head pitched upwards, staring wide-eyed into a swirling disk of dancing lights. A small trickle of drool traced its way out of her open mouth.

“We-we were just camping nearby. We had no idea this was your grove, I swear it, your ladyship.”

“Funny, that’s the same lie your friend told.”

[believingbrook]

It’s late and still, the sort of stillness in which Kravitz doesn’t want to sleep.

He can, now. Every day he spends on the Prime Material plane with his newfound body, he can feel himself becoming more and more real - his heart to Taako, his head to Lup and Barry, his lungs to Angus, his lips to Magnus, his hands to Merle. He finds more and more often that he needs it, is discomfited without it. After so long not needing to sleep, once more requiring rest is a change, and a change for the unwelcome, especially when his dreams are so plagued with nightmares.

Taako has taken up meditation. Where Kravitz sleeps more he sleeps less, meeting in the middle in a surprisingly well-balanced combination of rest and life.

For Taako’s sake, he closes his eyes and pretends to sleep. It’s short work to even his breathing, to settle his limbs into stillness, and let his husband read uninterrupted by the dim light of the moon. But even as the calming rhythm of a waft of magic turning the page every few minutes, Kravitz can’t find sleep.

It’s not often he feels like this. It’s not often his doubts accumulate until he has trouble breathing. The worst is - he knows it’s not logical. He knows he’s loved and that he loves, because he has physical proof thrumming inside his ribcage. He feels it every time he closes his eyes and dreams. But during long weeks like these, weeks where his is the last face his targets ever see, struggling children and desperate parents, weeks so desolate he asks the Queen to send their newest reapers toward kinder missions, he doubts.

Who is he to claim a life so brilliant as Taako’s? Who is he to place a damp hold on the whole of the IPRE, heroes of a hundred realities? He is despair and death given true form, instilled with false life and the false hope of love.

His breathing hitches, and Kravitz hastily quells it, praying Taako does not notice. For several long moments Kravitz lies in the dark, waiting for Taako to say something, but after several minutes a page flips again and Kravitz allows himself - well, not a sigh of relief, but a brief relapse in that at the very least, he didn’t mess this up too.

What is he but a failed bard? He’d had dreams, once. Aspirations. Things he’d wanted, things he’d pursued with a passion, and all of that had evaporated in death. No - he’d let it evaporate. He’d let go of his dreams. Practically waved them goodbye. Before this year Kravitz had spent centuries without so much as touching a piano and he’s painfully out of practice, painfully out of tune and painful to listen to.

And Taako - gods, Taako could have his pick of anyone. There had been no deceit in his voice when Kravitz had promised Taako that everyone in reality would love him. They do - this plane, the Prime Material plane, even the Celestial Plane that houses his goddess, filled with admirers of Taako and his entire family. Kravitz is...next to Taako, Kravitz is nothing. So what if he is a Reaper? So what if he is one of the oldest, most powerful of his kind? Next to Taako - bright, alive, brilliant Taako - he is cold and dead.

Sometimes he fears he’s draining that life. And now, feeling Taako sitting in the dark, for - gods, just for Kravitz’s sake, he knows it’s true.

Kravitz curls desperately in on himself, clenching around his core, where that thought settles over him like the weighted truth. He’s draining the life from Taako, and soon there will be nothing left, and that above all else terrifies him. He can’t, he can’t see his husband like him - see him cold and lifeless and dreamless, without aspirations and cut off from the rest of the world, bonds severed and only artificial life flowing through his veins. How - how can Taako stand to be around him?

He doesn’t even realize he’s made a sound until there’s the muted thump of a book closing. For the second time that evening, Kravitz freezes, but he can feel himself shaking and he curses his husband’s darkvision. Maybe - maybe Taako will let it go, and tomorrow he can - he doesn’t know, do something -

“Krav?” whispers that voice, the beautiful voice that conceals and needles and cares. “You awake?”

No, he thinks. No, I’m dead.

And he nearly jumps out of his skin when a hand lands on his shoulder. “Krav?”

Kravitz swallows, hard. “Taako? You, uh, you woke me up.”

In wordless response, Taako lifts a hand and brushes it gently along Kravitz’s cheekbone. Only when Taako’s fingers trail across his skin does Kravitz realize that oh, he’s been crying.

“Shit,” he says, heart dropping. This is it, this is what he does, he takes the joy from Taako and just fucking drains it. “I’m sorry, Taako, I - it was a nightmare. I can go back to sleep.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare, babe,” Taako says, and even in the dark of their bedroom Kravitz can see the horrible concern creased along his face. He wishes Taako would stop looking at him like that.

“It was,” Kravitz insists, because he’s always been terrible at lying, but maybe if he insists hard enough Taako will believe him and he’ll go back to reading, peacefully, not worrying about his husband and his stupid, cold self. He musters the best smile he can, shooting for bright and changing it to gentle at the last moment, because that’s what people do, right, they smile gently during the nighttime, and says, “I’m fine, Taako. Don’t worry.”

“Ain’t nobody tellin’ Taako what to do,” Taako huffs, but his expression doesn’t change from the quiet worry that stretches across Taako’s features. “I’m stayin’ nice and awake until you tell me what’s goin’ on, okay, bubbeleh?”

“Nothing,” Kravitz insists. “Nothing, Taako, I - it was nothing.”

Taako studies him for a long moment, those bright eyes roaming over his face. Whatever he finds it’s certainly not honesty, but he must deem it passable, because he nods. Then he says, “If you don’t wanna talk about it, Krav, that’s cool. Gods know I’m not one to judge you for that.”

Kravitz exhales. “Right,” he says, and then adds, “please don’t worry.”

Taako looks at him strangely. “You’re crying in the middle of the night, my dude,” he says. “Of course I’m gonna worry.”

“That - don’t,” says Kravitz, almost pleading. “I’m not -” worth it, “don’t do that. Just, go back to reading, okay?”

“You’re not what?”

“I’m not upset,” Kravitz lies, surprising himself with the ease with which it comes out.

“Okay, now there’s some real worry up here,” Taako says, the anxiety growing on his face. “Normally you’re, like, good at talking shit out.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“That’s horseshit, Krav,” Taako says, but his voice isn’t exasperated it’s gentle, still, and Kravitz winces at it because he doesn’t deserve it, he’s not worth it. “C’mon, you know you can talk to me, right?” he says, and reaches out a hand toward Kravitz’s shoulder, and Kravitz -

Kravitz recoils, because he can’t stand the thought of Taako touching him and becoming a little more lifeless, a little more dead, a little less Taako.

Then he realizes what he’s done, and that Taako’s staring at him. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “I didn’t - I love you, I just, not right now, okay? I’m gonna go back to sleep and you can keep reading, and please don’t worry, I’m fine. I mean it, I’m okay - ”

Before Kravitz can pull away, before he can do much of anything, Taako has two arms wrapped around his shoulders and one palm pressed against the back of Kravitz’s skull. For a moment Kravitz flinches away, because no, this is bad, he’s cold and Taako’s warm and Taako’s going to wither Kravitz is draining him but his husband is strong and Taako does not let go.

“Krav,” Taako says, voice quiet. “I love you.”

“I - ” Kravitz chokes, hands hovering awkwardly behind Taako’s back, torn between returning the embrace and fleeing, far away from Taako and everyone else he could hurt by being himself. “I’m sorry - ”

“Stop.”

“I - what?”

“Stop apologizing. Fuck, babe, just stop it, okay? I don’t - you don’t have anything to apologize for, far as I can tell.”

Kravitz can’t help it - he laughs, first a snort, then a gasp, and then a sob that he buries in Taako’s shoulder because he hates himself, fucking bleeding sorrow over the most brilliant man in the world, and he doesn’t understand why Taako is here, why Taako is still here after all these years. His shoulders shake but Taako’s arms are warm and steady around him, holding him close. Behind his own ragged inhales Kravitz can hear Taako murmuring quiet nonsense, but more than that he’s humming, and that’s what breaks Kravitz - he’s humming.

He’s humming a song that Kravitz wrote, voice drifting gently over the melody, a perfect complement to the warm hands rubbing soothing circles into his back.

Kravitz clings tightly to Taako and cries.

And Taako, chest vibrating as he sings in a voice far deeper than the one with which he talks, lets him.

This should make it worse. This should drive the point home, really, that Kravitz is leeching off of Taako, an unfillable tap that will just keep taking, but somehow it’s harder to believe with his face buried in the crook of Taako’s neck and two hands clenched tightly in his nightgown, feeling the strong heartbeat underneath. Somehow, the rhythm is soothing - a reminder of what still is, rather than what Kravitz might have taken.

With every breath he feels less like drowning. Taako presses his cheek against the side of Kravitz’s head, like he’s trying to hold as much physical contact as possible, and of course he is, he knows Kravitz and he knows that makes Kravitz feel better, and he drops his own personal bubble for Kravitz because that’s who Taako is; cold to the world, but to a select few, warmer than the sun. And he is so, so lucky to be one of that number.

“What’s wrong, love?” he says, and Kravitz almost breaks down again, because that’s - that’s his pet name for Taako, one he uses because Taako needs to hear how much he’s loved, and Taako only uses it for Kravitz when something is wrong, when he’s at his most concerned, and it does its job: it reminds Kravitz that he’s loved.

“I don’t understand,” Kravitz whispers against Taako’s collarbone, not daring to look up. “I don’t understand why you’re here.”

Taako tries to pull back, to lift Kravitz’s chin, but Kravitz presses his face harder into Taako’s shoulder, silently begging to be allowed to hide, just for a moment longer. There’s a brief pause, then Taako’s arms encircle him again, shielding him from his own dark for just a moment.

“You’re wondering why I stick around,” he says, and Kravitz nods.

Taako is quiet for a long moment, still rubbing absent circles along Kravitz’s spine. His fingers are pads of warmth against his vertebrae. Kravitz squeezes his eyes tight, focuses on the heat from his husband’s shoulder against his forehead, and tries to rope his breathing back under control. That anxious, loathing warning against burdening Taako with his own inadequacies is muted, made quieter by the bubble Taako has created around him.

“There’s not a short answer to that question, love,” Taako says. “Let’s start from our happy middle?”

“Okay?” says Kravitz, not really sure where he’s going with this.

Taako chuckles, quietly, fondly. “It’s something Lup and I used to say, back before the IPRE,” he explains, and Kravitz stills, because Taako doesn’t often talk about his time before the Starblaster. Those are not happy memories for his husband. “We used to say: give us an unhappy beginning, a happy middle and a very happy end.’ It was either a game or a prayer.” Kravitz can hear the small smile on Taako’s face. “We haven’t decided which yet, but I think Lulu would agree it was more a prophecy than anything.”

“This....”

“This is our very happy ending,” Taako says. One of his hands raises from Kravitz’s back to run through his hair soothingly. “You’re my very happy ending, Krav.”

Kravitz squeezes his eyes shut again, denial forcing to the front of his mind. What is he against the heroes of a hundred realities? Gods, what is he against Taako’s family?

If Taako notices the resurgence of tension in Kravitz’s body, he doesn’t mention it. His hands are unceasing against the nape of Kravitz’s neck. “So,” he says musingly, “our happy middle. Let’s talk about the sapphire mirror. Krav, gods, I...” Taako says, and his voice cracks a bit. “The first time you told me you loved me I was so, so happy. You make me happy, Krav. I know you think you don’t, but you do. At the time I didn’t know I loved you too, and it took a little while for me to come around,” he says, snorting, because it took a year and a bit for Taako to say I love you, “but you were fine with waiting. All those months I was just trying to screw my head on right and you didn’t complain once. You never stopped telling me how much you loved me, and it was sappy as shit, but that’s who you are, Krav. Patient, and sweet, and kind, even - even with fucked-up elves who’d lost their entire heart.

“And now,” he says, voice softening further, hands coming to rest on Kravitz’s cheek, “we’re in our very happy ending. And, gods, Krav, I mean this - I’m so glad to share it with you. I love you, Krav. No - no, I’m in love with you, and that’s not gonna change. I know you hate being the last face people see and I know you think you’re - that you’re drainin’ me or some shit, but you don’t. You make me so, so happy.” Taako releases Kravitz and taps his other hand under Kravitz’s chin, forcing his gaze upward. “I want you looking at me when I say this, love, because I mean it. I’m in love with you, Kravitz. And I think I always will be.”

He presses his lips softly against Kravitz’s forehead. For a moment Kravitz sits, entirely still, and then he starts to smile.

“Thank you, Taako,” he says. “I - this is a bad time, I know, I’m sorry - ”

“Nope.”

Taako flicks the bridge of his nose. “Right,” Kravitz says. No apologies. He smiles despite himself, because Taako’s in love with him. He’s so lucky that this brilliant, amazing elf is in love with him. “I’m in love with you too, Taako.”

“I know,” says Taako, and pulls him into another hug, this one less desperate, this one calm and content, the horrified strain of earlier dissipating around them. “Anything else you wanna put on the table, homie?”

“I’m not sure I did much putting in the first place,” Kravitz says, surprising himself with a full-blown grin. “But I am feeling better, Taako,” he says, and is surprised by that too, that it’s true. That his husband has taken those loathing thoughts and beaten them away through the sheer force of his love. Gods, Taako is incredible.

“Good. Can’t have a mopey reaper around the house,” Taako sniffs. “Bad for, like, plant morale and shit.”

“If Merle’s gifts were affected by me they’d be dead long ago, babe,” Kravitz laughs, swipes at his eyes.

Even as Taako says, “Well, we’re lucky he made these things hardy as fuck then, my man,” he cradles Kravitz���s face in his hands one more time. He swipes his thumbpads along Kravitz’s eyes, two smooth swathes of warmth that bring another smile to Kravitz’s face. Kravitz reaches up both hands and holds Taako’s wrists, lightly, reveling in this moment, then turns and kisses the palm of one of Taako’s hands.

“Sap,” Taako says with absolutely zero malice in it. He also makes zero move to reclaim his hands.

They sit like that for a long moment, just watching each other, before Kravitz’s jaw cracks in a yawn.

Taako laughs. It’s still as beautiful as the first day Kravitz met him. “Time for reapers to take a nap, I think,” Taako says, jabbing him in the side.

Kravitz concedes, flopping back down on the bed. Instead of levitating his book again, Taako tucks himself right beneath Kravitz’s chin, letting the reaper curl his arms around the small of his back and hold him close.

So Kravitz drifts, his husband in his arms and the quiet sound of a gentle breeze outside, a warm patch on his neck where Taako’s forehead is pressed up against his chin. He’s almost asleep when Taako says, quietly, “Kravitz?”

“Hmm?” he hums.

“You gotta - Krav, next time this happens, just talk to me about it, okay?” Then, quieter: “I don’t like seeing you get this bad. It scares me.”

Kravitz nestles his hand in Taako’s hair in response, a gentle pressure on the back of his head. “I will,” he promises.

And he does.

[warriorsrewrite]

Enter the Wild Chapter 3

( you can either read it under the cut, or here on ao3. it’d be very much appreciated if you interacted with both ! )

(( special thank you for 50 followers !! ))

“Graypaw?” Firepaw asked as the Clan began to disperse. “Who were those two tabbies beside Tigerclaw that spoke out against me joining?” The tabbies in question had moved off to the edge of the clearing, muttering between themselves.

“Huh?” Graypaw followed his gaze and frowned. “Ah… that’s Darkstripe and Longtail. They’re the newest warriors and now they think they’re big shots. They like following Tigerclaw around like little ducklings.”

He would’ve laughed at the mental image, but Graypaw seemed troubled as he watched the dark gray tabby. “So… you don’t like them?”

“More like they don’t like me. Specifically Darkstripe. He’s…” Graypaw sighed and finally looked back to Firepaw. “He’s my brother.”

“Brother?” He looked to Darkstripe, then back to Graypaw. Yes, now that he was looking at them properly, they both had a similar dark gray coat and yellow eyes. “But if he’s your brother, why doesn’t he like you?”

“Apparently, he was really close to our mother. But when I was born… she died, and I guess Darkstripe blamed me for it. He never visited me in the nursery and when I tried to approach him, he would yell at me to leave him alone.”

Firepaw frowned, throwing a glare at Darkstripe’s way even though the tabby wasn’t looking at him. “He’s as dumb as a mouse if he really blames you for that.” This got a snort out of Graypaw, which urged him on. “Honestly, he doesn’t even deserve to have you as a brother. Siblings have to stick together, especially if they’re all the family you have left. That’s why my sister and I are so close.”

“You have a sister?” Graypaw asked.

“Yeah, her name’s Princess.” He bumped his head against Graypaw’s shoulder. “You should meet her sometime. I’m sure you two would get along.”

Graypaw smirked, his liveliness slowly coming back to him. “Speaking of introductions, I should show you around camp! Now that you’re one of us, you have to know where everything is, and who cats are. Follow me!”

As he started walking towards the fallen tree Firepaw had seen earlier, he spotted Bluestar leaping off of the Highrock. “Goldenflower, Dustpaw,” she called out. A pale ginger tabby who looked almost as big as Lionheart and a dark brown tabby who looked similar to Tigerclaw save for his amber eyes quickly joined Bluestar in the middle of the clearing. They spoke a few words before the three of them raced out of camp and into the woods.

“Where are they going?” Firepaw asked, having stopped to watch.

“Well, Bluestar only joins patrols when she’s expecting a fight, so they’re probably going to Sunningrocks. RiverClan had taken it from us last halfmoon, but it looks like they’re going to try and take it back.” Graypaw sniffed. “Dustpaw gets to go because he’s the oldest apprentice and needs the experience in order to become a good warrior. He’ll probably brag about it when he gets back.”

“So, they’re going to go fight?”

Graypaw shook his head. “I don’t think so. Bluestar is mates with RiverClan’s deputy, so she’ll probably negotiate before there’ll be any fighting.”

Firepaw raised a brow. “Mates? But I thought the other Clans were our enemies.”

“More like rivals. We’ll fight over territory disputes, but when one is in need, the others will try to help. At least, if they’re not too stubborn to ask for it. Some cats take mates from other Clans because… well, you know, they fall in love and all that junk.” Firepaw snorted. “Bluestar is one of those cats. Brindleface - your mentor - is another.” Graypaw nodded towards Brindleface chatting with Whitestorm in the middle of the clearing. “Her mate’s from WindClan, though they haven’t had any kits yet, unlike Bluestar and Oakheart. If they have kits, the kits will chose which Clan they want to join after doing half of their apprenticeship in each one. Bluestar and Oakheart’s kits all chose to go to RiverClan, which I think made her sad, but she still sees them at Gatherings.”

“Gatherings?” he asked slowly, mind spinning a bit with all the information.

“Yeah, Gatherings. It’s when all four Clans comes together for a night of peace. They happen every fullmoon.”

Firepaw thought of seeing the moon the night before, and how close it had been to being full. “Oh, so that means one’s going to happen soon, right?”

“Yup, though we probably won’t be allowed to go yet. We’re still too young, and all that.

“Oh…” Disappointment washed over him.

“Don’t worry though,” Graypaw mewed. “Gatherings happen every moon, so we’re bound to go to one eventually. Now, let’s go give you that tour. Follow me!”

Firepaw smiled and nodded before following him to the fallen tree. Sitting under it on the lush grass were four old cats sharing a dead plump rabbit. As they approached, the cats lifted their heads and called out a couple of greetings to them.

“This is the elder’s den,” Graypaw explained to Firepaw before they ducked their heads into the small area. “It’s where warriors who are too old to perform duties live. They’ve done a lot for our Clan, so we have to respect them. Apprentices have to make sure they’re fed before we can get our own food.” As they entered, he nodded to each cat. “Good evening,” Graypaw meowed politely. Firepaw mimicked him.

“Welcome to the Clan, young Firepaw,” a dark brown tabby rasped. Firepaw realized that half of his tail was missing, as well as the fur on the tip. “I’m Sparrowpelt. This is my mate, White-eye.” He nodded to a pale gray molly. One of her yellow eyes was clouded over. “And over here is Smallear” - a gray tom with folded ears nodded at him - “and Dappletail.” The last cat, a dappled tortoiseshell and white molly, purred her greeting. “Patchpelt is usually around here, but he’s stretching his legs off in camp somewhere.”

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” Firepaw mewed, dipping his head respectfully to each elder.

“Have you two eaten yet?” White-eye asked.

They both shook their heads.

“Then why don’t you grab something and eat with us?” Dappletail suggested.

Graypaw hummed, then turned to Firepaw. “You haven’t had a mouse yet, have you?”

“No,” he answered, an excited realization coming to him. I get to eat mice now! No more pellet food!

“Well, that settles it!” Graypaw declared. “The next stop on our tour will be the freshkill pile! Follow me!”

As Graypaw lead the way towards the camp entrance, Firepaw could hear good hearted chuckling from behind them and smiled. “You don’t have to keep telling me to follow you, you know. You’re my official guide, after all.”

“Yeah, but it’s fun to say. Makes me feel like a leader.” He puffed out his chest and Firepaw laughed. They stopped by the camp entrance as Graypaw flicked his tail towards a pile of dead prey. “This is the freshkill pile. When you go out hunting for the Clan, you put what you caught here. Then, once you know the elders and queens have all been fed, you grab something for yourself!”

“Wait,” Firepaw said as Graypaw bent down to grab a juicy mouse. “We don’t know if the queens have been fed, right?”

Graypaw purred at him. “Look at you! Already a good member of the Clan. But don’t worry, I saw Sandpaw going in there with something for them. She was probably the one who gave the elders that rabbit, too. Now, let’s give you a taste of the forest, shall we?”

Excitement nipped at his heels as they went back to the elder’s den. They settled on the lush grass, Firepaw eyeing the mouse the whole time.

Nudging the creature towards him, Graypaw smiled. “Since this will be your first taste of mouse, I’ll give you the honors of having the first bite. Just save me a few mouthfuls, okay?”

His eyes sparkled. “Thank you.” Slowly, he sunk his teeth into its flesh, tearing a large piece off and giving it a good chew. The flavors hit him in a big wave; it was juicy, tangy, and with a hint of what he guessed a forest might taste like.

“Well?” asked Graypaw with a teasing hint to his voice.

“It’s delicious!” Firepaw cried, and the elder’s den erupted into purrs of laughter. But he didn’t care; the bite was everything he had ever dreamed it to be, leaving the dry pellets he had been eating as a pet to look like lumps of dirt.

Graypaw, smiling wide, slid the rest of the mouse over to his side. “Let me have a bite, then you can have the rest.”

“Really? Are you sure?” he asked, even though his mouth was watering for another taste.

“Yeah, I can see how much you want another bite. Let it be a little welcoming gift from me to you,” Graypaw purred, taking his own bite before pawing the last few bites back to him.

Firepaw didn’t know what to say, so he let his gratefulness speak in the happy sounds he made as he tucked into it. While he was licking his lips clean, he thought of something that had confused him earlier when Spottedleaf had convinced ThunderClan to let him stay. “What’s… StarClan?”

Smallear scoffed. “You don’t know what StarClan is?”

The old tom sputtered as White-eye cuffed him across the ears. “Of course he hasn’t. Kittypets don’t learn about StarClan.”

Sparrowpelt smiled kindly at him. “It’s all right, young one,” he meowed. “StarClan is where all cats go when they pass on. They watch over us from Silverpelt, sending our healers visions that help guide us.”

“Silverpelt?” Firepaw echoed.

“It’s all those tiny lights up in the sky at night,” Graypaw explained. “Each little light is a cat that died and joined StarClan.”

“Okay…” he mewed. “I think I get it, but… what’s a healer?”

“That’s what Spottedleaf is,” Dappletail said. “She help heals cats when they’re sick or hurt, and receives the visions StarClan sends to us and interprets them. Apparently, the vision she got when she went to the Moonstone last halfmoon was about you, and how we are supposed to welcome you. Usually a healer doesn’t share their visions with anyone besides the leader, but she knew that was the only way we were going to accept you into the Clan.”

“The Moonstone is a place where the healers of all Clans go each halfmoon to speak with StarClan,” Graypaw said. “It’s the place where their visions are the clearest, I guess. It’s also the place every apprentice visits in the first moon of their apprenticeship to see if they’re meant to be a healer.” He looked at Firepaw with glowing yellow eyes. “So, the next halfmoon, we’ll get to go with Spottedleaf to the Moonstone!”

“Wow,” Firepaw whispered for lack of better words. It was a lot to take in, but he knew that there was even more things he didn’t know about the Clans, so he would have to process quickly in order to remember all of it.

“Ah,” Sparrowpelt sighed. “I remember when I went to the Moonstone. I didn’t have any visions, but the place was so magnificent that I couldn’t care less.”

The other elders nodded in agreement with small smiles on their faces.

“Well,” Graypaw mewed, getting up and stretching his back legs. “Thank you very much for letting us eat with you all, but I’ve got to get Firepaw around to the rest of the camp before nightfall.”

“Welcome again, Firepaw,” Dappletail purred, the others echoing her words. “And thank you for stopping by to give us some company.”

Firepaw dipped his head, murmuring his own thanks, before Graypaw led them back out into the camp. Most of the cats were back to the spots they were at before Bluestar had called the meeting, so the clearing was easier to navigate. Graypaw headed towards the small rock Spottedleaf had come out of. Around it was an array of ferns and behind those Firepaw could spot a small, sparkling pond.

“Inside that rock is Spottedleaf’s den and where she keeps all the herbs,” Graypaw whispered, even though Firepaw saw no reason why he had to. “No one’s allowed to go inside unless they’re sick or injured. I’ve never been inside, but I bet it’s really cool looking. Spottedleaf’s probably in there right now, preparing things just in case Bluestar’s patrol actually does get into a fight.”

Firepaw hummed. He didn’t see the appeal in the shadowy crevice, but seeing how much wonder Graypaw had for the place, he kept his thoughts to himself.

They continued on. “Of course, you’ve seen the Highrock. It’s used for Clan meetings and ceremonies, like making a kit an apprentice. Bluestar’s den is in the crack over there.” Graypaw pointed to said crack and the lichen covering the opening. “No one’s allowed to go in there except Bluestar and Lionheart.”

Next was a thick bush that sat almost directly across from the camp entrance. “The warrior’s den is down there under the bush. It looks small from the outside, but I’ve heard it’s actually very spacious. But, I wouldn’t know because - ”

“Let me guess,” Firepaw said dryly, “because we’re not allowed inside?”

Graypaw laughed. “Yup, though the rules on going into the warrior’s den aren’t as strict as the healer or leader’s den. I’ve heard that if you ask a nice warrior very politely, they’ll let you go down and have a look around.”

As they chatted, a cat poked their head out to look at them. “Oh, it’s the new apprentice,” the molly said, fully exiting the warrior’s den. Her coat was a dark and dappled tortoiseshell color with a bushy ginger tail. “Having a little tour of the camp, are we?”

“Redtail,” Graypaw greeted, dipping his head. “Yeah, I was just showing Firepaw around.” He shuffled closer to Firepaw, eyes sparkling. “This is Redtail. He’s Spottedleaf’s littermate.”

Realization dawned on him, leaving Firepaw gaping - probably rudely - at Redtail, but the warrior didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he gave a little chuckle and bent down to briefly touch his nose to Firepaw’s forehead. “If you need any advice, I’ll be happy to help.”

Firepaw nodded eagerly, a happy glow leaving him a bit dizzy. There’s another cat like me here! he thought. Princess won’t believe it. I’ll have Smudge eat his words when I go back to visit!

Redtail smiled before he turned to murmur something in the den. He moved out of the way as a molly exited behind him, following the path his bush red tail made for her. This molly had a very pale silver-gray coat, and her eyes were an unusual color of blue. “This is my sister, Willowpelt,” he said.

Willowpelt’s eyes glanced in his general direction, and she smiled. “You’re Firepaw, correct?”

“Yes...” he answered, fixated on her slightly clouded eyes.

“Welcome to ThunderClan then.” She gave him a nod before Redtail walked past them to go out into the clearing, his tail guiding Willowpelt along with him.

As Firepaw watched them go, Graypaw explained, “Willowpelt’s eyesight isn’t that good. Apparently, she can only see very blurry shapes, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a warrior. She can hunt and fight like the rest of us, but she just needs a little bit of guiding from someone so she doesn’t trip on anything.” He cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Now, to our next stop!”

Firepaw looked ahead at the thick bramble bush to the warrior’s den’s left. “That’s the nursery, isn’t it?”

“That’s the nursery, where kits are raise - ” Graypaw sputtered to a stop as he finally registered what Firepaw had said. “Wait, how did you know that?”

“Whitestorm pointed it out to me when we arrived.”

Graypaw pouted a bit, but pushed on with the tour. “Well, until a couple of days ago, I was living in there, so I know it pretty well.” Graypaw bounded up to the entrance of the bush that was only big enough for one full grown cat to squeeze through. “But, now that I’m not a kit anymore, I have to get permission from a caretaker to go in. Especially since Frostfur just had her kits.”

As they walked up to the thick brambles, the gray tabby molly with a red tail who Firepaw recognized from when he first entered the camp came out and stretched.

“Rosetail!” Graypaw greeted, bumping his head on her shoulder.

The molly purred, licking him on his forehead. “Graypaw, what are you doing back over here? You’re not trying to get back in here, are you?” she teased.

“No, no. I’m just giving Firepaw here a tour of the camp.”

Firepaw gave a small dip of his head towards her. “Nice to meet you,” he mewed.

She smiled at him. “Pleasure’s mine.”

“After my mother died, Rosetail raised me, so she’s basically like my mom,” Graypaw said to Firepaw, though there was a bit of hesitance when he called her his mom. But before Firepaw could wonder why that was, Graypaw eagerly turned back to Rosetail. “We were wondering if we could go in and see Frostfur’s new litter.”

Rosetail’s smile turned apologetic. “Sorry, but Frostfur and her kits are sleeping right now.” Graypaw deflated. “But I could see if Swiftkit wants to meet the new addition to the Clan.”

Firepaw expected Graypaw to perk up at that, but instead he gave a half frown. “Well, I guess so.”

Rosetail rolled her eyes and whispered to Firepaw, “Graypaw and Swiftkit didn’t get along that well when they were in the nursery together. Swiftkit’s a bit shy, so he never wanted to play with Graypaw. Maybe you can imagine Graypaw when someone denies him something…”

An image popped into his head of Graypaw moping across camp and he snorted.

“Hey!” Graypaw protested. “I can hear you, you know!”

“Anyway, I’ll go get Swiftkit.” Rosetail turned around and re-entered the nursery, her red tail fluttering behind her.

“Well,” Graypaw meowed as they waited, “since we won’t get to see Frostfur’s litter, I’ll just give you some details about them. Apparently there are four of them, and Sandpaw says they’re all really cute. She’s Frostfur’s daughter from her first litter, so she got to come in and see them right after they were born. Their father is Lionheart, which means they’ll be given good care since they’re the deputy’s kits. It’s why Sandpaw has such a superiority complex.”

“You don’t like Sandpaw?” Firepaw was slowly noting the list of dislikable cats was growing.

“No, her and Dustpaw are always bragging about being the kits of powerful cats. Dustpaw’s father is Tigerclaw and his mother is Goldenflower, who’s the sister to Lionheart.” Graypaw glanced around the clearing before whispering, “he probably got his bad attitude from Tigerclaw.”

Firepaw remembered Tigerclaw’s disapproval of him; if Dustpaw’s attitude was similar, then he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet him.

Before they could say anything else, the entrance to the nursery rustled. A moment later, Rosetail exited with a small black and white tom around two moons old. “When I mentioned the new apprentice was here to see him, he practically raced out of his nest,” Rosetail purred, looking down at the little kit, who was peeking out from behind her hind leg.

Taking a step forward, Firepaw crouched and smiled at the kit. “Hello there,” he said softly. “I’m Firepaw. It’s nice to meet you.”

Slowly, Swiftkit took some steps forward until he was no longer hiding behind Rosetail. “Are you really a kittypet?” he asked in the naive way kits do.

“Not anymore,” Graypaw said. As he spoke this, Swiftkit startled and ducked back behind Rosetail. Graypaw huffed, throwing a frustrated look to Firepaw, who had to hide his laughter; he looked exactly how Firepaw pictured him to be when grumpy.

“I used to live with the… Twolegs,” Firepaw mewed to Swiftkit, stumbling a bit over the unfamiliar Clan term for housefolk. “But when I heard about Clan life, there was no way I’d pass it up, so when Bluestar asked if I wanted to come live here, I said ‘yes’.”

Swiftkit was staring at him with awe in his wide amber eyes, and it made him chuckle faintly.

A small commotion behind them had Firepaw turn around in time to see Bluestar’s patrol returning. After a quick look over and spotting no injuries, he knew there hadn’t been a fight. Other cats had noticed their arrival as well and were coming back into the clearing to hear the report.

“Swiftkit’s getting a bit nervous,” Rosetail murmured, drawing Firepaw’s attention back to the kit. Indeed, Swiftkit was back to fully hiding behind Rosetail, body shaking. “I’m going to bring him inside so he can settle down. Thanks for stopping by.” They exchanged soft goodbyes as she ushered Swiftkit back into the safety of the nursery.

“Let’s go see if we got Sunningrocks back,” Graypaw said, trotting over to the middle of the clearing. Firepaw padded alongside him, watching as Bluestar made her way through the gathering crowd and up onto the Highrock.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!” she called. As the Clan regrouped, Firepaw spotted Tigerclaw sitting near the warrior’s den with Darkstripe and Longtail by his side. They each looked up at Bluestar with narrowed eyes.

“Has Sunningrocks been returned to its rightful owner?” Whitestorm loudly asked as everyone settled down.

Bluestar scanned the audience before a wide smile split her muzzle. “Yes, Sunningrocks is ours once more.”

The Clan burst into joyous noise, and even though Firepaw didn’t know what or where Sunningrocks was, he was caught up in the yowls of victory and felt the happiness all the same.

“When we approached Sunningrocks, there was a RiverClan patrol consisting of Oakheart, Skyheart, and Mistyfoot. They were there to renew the border.” Several cats expressed their distaste for that by muttering small insults. “There was, however, no fight. We calmly debated with the patrol until it was established that ThunderClan needed it more due to having more mouths to feed. The RiverClan patrol left, and we re-established the border as it was a moon ago.”

More cries of victory sounded from the crowd, even as Bluestar called an end to the meeting. Firepaw was tempted to join them when he caught sight of Tigerclaw again. The senior warrior didn’t look thrilled or even happy about the outcome like everyone was. Instead, a faint scowl painted his face, and he muttered something to Darkstripe and Longtail that had them nodding with their own frowns. They then retreated into the warrior’s den.

Firepaw’s attention came back when Graypaw leaned into him to whisper, “Oakheart is Bluestar’s mate and Mistyfoot is one of their kits, so it’s no wonder that there wasn’t any fight.” Before Firepaw could think of a response to that, Graypw was already standing up and stretching. “Well, it’s getting pretty late,” he said, nodding towards the darkening sky. The moon shined brightly down at them. “Training starts at sunrise, so we’ll have to go to sleep soon. Which brings us to the last stop in our tour: the apprentice’s den!”

Excitement flowed back into him as Graypaw walked towards a clump of ferns next to a tree stump. He was finally going to see where he was going to be sleeping for the next several moons! “How many other apprentices are there?” he asked as he eyed the ferns.

“Now there’s five of us; you, me, Dustpaw, Sandpaw, and Ravenpaw. Sandpaw and Ravenpaw should already be in here.”

They pushed through the thick ferns until it opened up into a sleeping area that was lined with soft moss. Firepaw could tell where the nests were for the four apprentices by the way the moss was gathered up. And like Graypaw predicted, two cats were already inside, preparing to go to sleep. One of them was the small black tom that had been chatting with Graypaw when Firepaw arrived, and the other was a pale golden tabby who looked a lot like Lionheart.

The tabby lifted her head as they came in and sniffed rudely at Firepaw. “So, here’s the new apprentice, huh?” she muttered. Her openly rude tone threw Firepaw for a loop and had him at a loss for words. “Great, now the den’s gonna smell like kittypet and Twolegs.”

“Don’t mind Sandpaw,” Graypaw told him, walking over to the black tom. “She likes to put cats down for fun. It’s best to ignore her.” As she spat in his direction, he nudged the small tom in greeting. “Hey, Ravenpaw. This is Firepaw.” He looked to Firepaw. “This here is Ravenpaw. He’s the only other good apprentice to hang around.”

Ravenpaw gave him a small smile. “Hello.”

“Hey,” he mewed back. Glancing around, he asked, “so, where do I sleep?”

“Not near me I hope!” Sandpaw called, but he heeded Graypaw’s advice and ignored her.

Graypaw settled himself into a nest by Ravenpaw. “Basically anywhere. There’s some space over here by me if you want. Just grab some moss and come on over.”

Nodding, he gathered up some soft moss that had no one’s scent on it and brought it over to Graypaw, padding it down with his paw. As he was making his nest, the ferns shook with the appearance of another cat. Firepaw recognized him as Dustpaw, the apprentice who went on Bluestar’s patrol.

When Dustpaw spotted him, he wrinkled his nose. “Does the kittypet really have to sleep with the rest of us? He’s stinking up the den.”

“That’s what I said,” Sandpaw growled.

Graypaw scowled at the both of them. “Why don’t you two stop acting like spoiled kits and let the rest of us sleep, okay?”

Ravenpaw hid his snort in his paws, and Firepaw smiled to himself as the older apprentices sputtered. They eventually grumbled to themselves in their own nests on the opposite side of the den, tails lashing, but otherwise quiet.

Firepaw yawned as he completed his nest. Graypaw and Ravenpaw laid their heads down, and soon the den was filled with the soft sounds of sleep. Firepaw got himself comfortable, but didn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, he lay in the glow of being a part of something so grand.

After a while, he let his consciousness slip away, side pressed against Graypaw’s thick fur, and had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

[deeeelightfuldee]

surveyss 015.

WHO ... was the last person you saw face to face? gram

... was the last person you texted or messaged online? Ummm, Harrison? We were talking about health.

... was the last person who asked you for a favour? Kile asked me to respond to him. I came so close to doing it, but we are almost at a week without talking.

... was the last person you lent something to? Uhhh, probably my sister.

... was the last person who told you a secret/confided in you? Em

... is the tallest person you know? Nick. I think hes 6′5?

... the shortest person you know? Goodness... I don’t know.

... your oldest (in years) friend? My mom?

... is the oldest (in length of time) friend? Alix. Since i was 5.

... is your youngest friend? I’m the youngest of my group... so ...

... is your newest friend? Probably my school friends

... is your closest relative? my sister? nephews? niece?

... was your favourite teacher? Mom looool. Or in college I really liked Dr. T

... was your least favourite teacher? ugh. shelly?

... did you spend the most time with when growing up? scott

... knows you the best? kile

... always beats you in games or sports? probably nathan lol

... who is the most creative of the people you know? Thats a great question. maybe my sister.

... is the funniest person you know? EM. definitely a goofball.

... is the most organised that you know? Em. 

... that you know has travelled the most? Nathan travels a lot, roger has gone to so many countries.

... has always been there for you? Hmm. 

... has given you the most personal gift? Mike

... has an annoying laugh? Marcia

... never forgets a birthday? sawyer

...,do you have the most in common with? I really don’t know. I don’t share a ton of the same interests with anyone.

...is the sportiest person you know? devin?

...was your last missed call? I think my sister

...did you last open your door for? mom

... has your heart? sigh. I don’t think it’s wanted right now.

... has your respect? people who are honest 

...do you share a special song with? i got my first kiss to the song “my best friend” by tim mcgraw

...do you miss right now? kile andrew. I miss who i thought he was. I miss talking to him all hours of the day. He felt like an extension of myself... almost like we shared this secret life where we could just .. exist together. without him, I just feel like I lost part of myself.

...last made you angry? the hose.

...did you last buy a gift for? I got my mom and my brother and kile something on my vaca.

...did you celebrate your last birthday with? So kile spoiled me like crazy. I spent the day with mom and then at night, em, nathan, devin, and I got tanked lol.

...have you gone to a concert with? sister, janelle, uhhhh nicole

...can make you laugh? It is easy to make me laugh

...has taught you how to do something? Uhhhhhh, thats a very good question. Probably kile teaching me how to do a stats problem? 

...has lost something of yours? Uhh, not sure.

...has broke your heart? kile

...has stood you up? I haven’t been stood up

WHAT Is your favourite colour? blue

Can you do that most your friends can’t? memorize really well, deny bread, sign, talk neuro

Is your birthday? next weekend

Colour eyes do you have? blue with navy and gray

Form of transport do you take to work/school? typically the car.

Music do you like to listen to in the car? Oh goodness anything that I put on spotify

Languages can you speak? english. some spanish and some asl but not fluently

Was the last thing you drank? diet coke

Was the last thing you ate? trail mix

Time did you wake up this morning? I wake up all hours lately and just stare out my window or at the ceiling. Eventually I just give up and get up for good. I think today was like 5am

Colour are your bedroom walls? They’re kind of a mauve-y brown-y purple

Drink do you usually order when eating out? sometimes, not always.

Food can you cook well? I’m a great baker but I don’t cook all that often. Or rather I should say I am insecure about my cooking.

Animals have you had for a pet? Oh goodness. Dogs, cats, bunnies, chickens, turtles, pigs, horses, birds, parrots, fish, flying squirrels, lizards, ...

Are your initials? dls

Kind of activities do you like to do on the weekends? I like to play games, go on drives, see the world, see friends, window shop, idk

Movie do you know line by line? father of the bride, finding nemo, sleepless in seattle, youve got mail, something borrowed, how to lose a guy in ten days, made of honor, while you were sleeping

Band(s) have you seen in concert? I don’t remember all of them. relient k was one.

Do you buy/get to treat yourself? food or clothes lol.

Colours your phone cover? right now it’s like a teal color. 

Part of the world would you love to visit? switzerland. europe. 

Question do you dislike being asked? when are you going to be married.

Subject were you good at in school? science

Careers do your parents have? mom is a manager of a store and I’m not entirely sure of what dad does. I think he owns a company.

Brand of clothing do you buy most often? probably ON

Chocolate bar is your favourite? right now, probably uhmmm 

TV show have you watched every series of? tbh I couldn’t tell you

Radio station do you listen to the most? 99.5, 98.3, 103.5, 96.3, 

Podcasts are you subscribed to? I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts

Is your favourite dessert? anything mega rich

Can’t you do that most around you seem to? roller blade, skateboard, ice skate

Are 5 qualities you value in a friend? honesty, loyalty, kindness, consideration, humor

Are 5 qualities you value in a partner? honesty, loyalty, kindness, slow-tempered, loving

Size pizza do you usually order? goodness I havent had pizza in so long.

Cuisine do you like to order or cook? I suppose right now mexican

Colour(s) dominate your wardrobe? Black. I want to wear more colors I think I refrain because of drawing attention to my figure.

Toothpaste brand do you use? I think right now it’s crest!

Sounds can you hear right now? one of the most dear movies to me.. Serendipity. I think about this movie all the time in my current situation. Maybe.

Is the weather like today? Steamy. But I have been very comfortable in the AC tbh

Are your plans for tomorrow? I’m going to sleep in. Relax. Spend the day reading in the pool, trying to not think about my situation. 

WHERE Do you keep your phone when not using it? I used to always keep it on me, but now I’m trying to get used to leaving it in the other room or just leaving it at home so I stop obsessing.

Were you born? Palos.

Do you go to unwind? On a drive

Is your best friend right now? I’m not sure where Kile is anymore. Emily is likely asleep. Nathan’s probably out lol

Can you go nearby to have a good time? Tbh, I can be alone and have a great time.

Is the nearest restaurant? like 3-4 blocks away.

Is the nearest beach? There is lake michigan, indiana dunes, or lakes. depends what you fancy.

Did you meet your closest friend? kile and I met on CM. em and I met thru Alix. 

Did you go for your last vacation? Pigeon Forge, TN.

Is the nearest mall or superstore? mall would be orland. Superstore would probably be like a walmart or a target. 

Did you last get an injury? I screwed up my foot somehow so I’m trying to nurse that.

Is the most extravagant place you’ve stayed at? Hmm, probably when my sister would travel and we would stay in these exotic hotels.

Do most the local kids play? If you mean kids like 21 ish, there are some great local bars on Oak Park Ave

Have you been with your family? I mean, I’m going to need more detail in the question

Did you spend Christmas last year? home. Then the boys called for us to come over and see their new toys lol

Did your parents grow up? they grew up in roseland which is now a chicago ghetto lol

Did you buy the shoes you’re wearing? barefoot at the moment.

Would you like to go right now if you could? if I can be totally transparent, I would give anything to go sit on a park bench next to kile. 

Do you miss the most from your childhood? The innocent beliefs. the lack of trauma. 

Is the best restaurant you know? I donno, I’m fairly easy-going about restaurants.

Will you never go again as it was so bad? lol this local burrito joint

WHEN ...was your last vacation? two weeks ago. 

...did you graduate? this may. I really thought it would have been more exciting, but it was such a tragic time. 

...did you have your first kiss? on my 16th birthday

...did you learn how to swim? young. like 5-6? 

...did you have your first relationship? uhhhh 19.

...do you feel the most at peace? on a drive.

...do you usually fall asleep? I have no idea. I’m all over the place these days.

...do you usually wake up? thats a wide range of times.

...did you last watch a movie? i’ve been watching movies in bed all day. 

...did you last go to a party? yesterday

...did you last cry? today

...did you laugh really hard? I laughed yesterday. 

...did you buy something pricey last? my vacation I suppose. I really need to get new gym shoes because it has been a few years but man they are pricey.

...did you have an argument last? I haven’t argued this past week. I don’t know if I’m just worn down or if I have lost the fight in me? I’m not entirely sure.

...did you last have a sick day? donno really.

...did you last recieve a hug? I got about 400 hugs from the kids yesterday lol

...when is your best friend’s birthday? aug 16. april 20. march 13.

...did you learn how to drive? I refused to drive as long as possible. mom tricked me into drivers ed when I was about 18.

...did you last receive a surprise? umm.. I really don’t know.

HOW Many pets do you have? Two.

Many houses have you lived in? one

Often do you shower? once per day usually.

Well can you cook? I am mediocre at the moment.

Many close friends do you have? just gets smaller and smaller.

Many Brothers or sisters do you have? one sister two brothers

Often do you go swimming? I WISH all the time. tomorrow will be my first time in a long time. it’s hardly swimming cus its a small pool, but still.

Many times have you texted today? I’ve hardly touched messaging apps. I’m really behind on my correspondence. 

Do you like your toast (colour, topping)? I used to love it toasted with light butter and then pb

Do you like your tea and/or coffee? no coffee. I’m not huge on tea.

Do you like to celebrate your birthdays? typically the way I spent it last year. this year was supposed to be with Kile. For some reason I just glanced at the calendar and it had our weekend trip for march all highlighted. 

Are you feeling today? I’m ok. I mean, I’m not but it’s closer to being OK.

Serious are you about your career goals? I’m passionate about it.

Many rooms are in your house? 11 I suppose.

Many bedrooms in your house? 4.

Did you do in your school exams? I excelled at them. 

Close do you live to your parents? very close to mom. thousands of miles from dad.

Close do you live to your siblings? My brother is around the block. another brother is maybe 30 mins away. my sister is thousands of miles.

Sensitive to criticism are you? pretty sensitive. its a fault.

Motivated to make changes are you? quite motivated.

Creative are you (1-10): 5

Hard working are you (1-10): 11.

Sporty are you (1-10): 1

Musical are you (1-10): 0

Do you prefer your eggs? uhh, moms scrambled, over easy, or sunny side up.

Often do you go out to eat? like once a month.

Would your best friend describe you? I don’t really know. probably studious, the caregiver, patient

Can someone cheer you up if you’re sad? if they know me well enough. 

Often do you meet up with your friends? like 2-3x a month

Important is religion to you? faith is important.

Old were you when you first stayed overnight from home? like 5

Old were you when you got your first pet? I was an infant

Tech savvy are you? decent. not great but decent.

Do you show you appreciate those you care for? I learn what matters to them and I support their dreams obsessively. I research things that matter, I ask questions, I write cards, buy gifts, and just tell them.

Often do you cut your hair? I need to cut it. asap.

Often do you paint your nails? I’ve stopped painting my hands since graduation. I just .. i cant.

Many countries have you visited? 1

Boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? haha

WHY  ... did you choose your username? because it’s one I use

... did you take this survey? it seemed to have some decent questions. I’m trying to work through stuff regarding kile right now, so it had some opportunities. right now I’m wondering if he still reads these. It doesn’t tell me if someone does, only if they like or comment on it. what does it matter, I don’t know. my mind just swirls.

... did you choose the career you did? I had a professor who showed me a video during a neuro class on aphasia and it was a CLICK moment.

...did you last leave the house? running errands for the party

...did you last give up on something? I am in the process. I don’t want to. my whole body aches and screams not to let go, but my brain is recognizing it is time.

...did you search the last thing you searched? i was converting celsius to fahrenheit 

...would you give up on someone completely? I think sometimes I have this mindset that I can help. I can support. I can enhance your situation. I want to help you grow. I want to be there for it all. I think the reality is I am learning that not everyone wants that. I don’t know that i’m helping as much as I hope, and it destroys me to think I was maybe making his life worse. 

IF You could live in any country which would you choose? switzerland

You could choose any animal as a pet which one? cat or dog

You could be famous for something what would you like? I don’t know that I would want to be.

You are sad, how do you combat it? Right now it is sitting with the feelings of loss. I’m trying not to just blow over it or pretend it isn’t real, but to just let it suck as bad as it sucks. I don’t know. I don’t have any magic way of moving through the sadness.

You can drive when did you learn? when I was 18

You could have any job what would it be? I would want to be somewhere with little human interaction tbh.

You could go anywhere for a vacation where would you go? europe. 

You could eat anything right now what would it be? nothing. loss of appetite.

You wrote a book what genre/topic would it be? maybe a book of poetry. or a biography.

You had a theme song what would it be? that would take me a while to come up with.

You could meet any band/singer in person which one? harry connick jr.

You could act in any movie which would it be? I’m not sure I would

You get married what venue would you like? i think I would want to elope 

If you have kids do you have names picked out? I have names I like on a list.

Could describe your dream home what would it be like? farm. land. big ole porch with comfy furniture. lots of trees. a dreamy bedroom. i really want a window seat. You could go back in time what would you change? for the longest time I wished I could have gone to see John immediately. However, had I done that I would have left here and moved there and I wouldnt have the life I do now. So I guess maybe i dont really know.

Could use 3 words to describe your childhood which ones? the memories without my dad were extremely pleasant. My mom tried her best.

Could get the answer to any question which question would you choose? right now I’d want to know why Kile kept things from me. Like how do you wake up everyday OK with knowing I’m unaware. I wanna know what the plan was.. was he planning to meet me and just secretly break up with her? was he ever planning to move to me? Why did he never fight for me? how was I so easy to let go of? why wouldn’t he just break off what he was was “breaking off” to keep me? what was the alternative? keep us both?? why couldn’t he see how he was hurting me? why didn’t it matter? how does he just let go of me so simply and not c ---- but honestly I’ll never get those answers. I would probably be better off asking will i have my own family one day

You could have an endless supply of something what would it be? Money, because of course.

CAN ... you ride a bike? yes

... you ski? i want to learn

... you bake a cake? oh yes.

... you sing well? mediocre

... you do your own taxes? badly

... you remain calm in a crisis? extremely calm.

... you do first aid? like... bandaid level yes.

... remember your best friend’s family members’ names? almost entirely.

... you fire a gun? yes

... your parents drive? Yes

...your best friend dance well? probably not.

...you make people laugh easily? mom, yes lol

...stand up for yourself? if i get pushed enough, yes.

...you do a martial art? Nope

WOULD You like to learn a new language? absolutely.

Save the life of a stray animal? Absolutely.

Know what to do if there was a hurricane? sure, but it would be very very very very unlikely for me to need to utilize that sort of skill set considering I live in the middle of a loooooooot of land. Not coastal at all.

Try a new cuisine? yes

Risk your life for anyone? Yes.

You like to get back in touch with someone? oh boy. how i wish.

You drive in the middle of the night to get a stuck friend? Ina heartbeat.

You Know how to perform CPR? I mean.. vaguely.

You likely win in a game of chess? I promise you no.

You stop talking for a day for $100? happily.

[bemynightmanager]

Everybody Wants To Be a Cat (Thor, pre-canon)

Here’s my newest story. It takes place years before the first Thor movie, so our favourite Asgardians are still very young here, more like human teenagers.

And yes, you guessed it right, the title is stolen borrowed from Disney’s “The Aristocats” ;)

English is not my mother tongue, if you see any errors, let me know.

With huge thanks to @devikafernando for beta reading. <3

Something moved in the bushes, making the leaves rustle. Thor hesitated for a second, then bravely pushed himself to the front, ready to shield his companions, proudly sticking out his still not wide enough chest. Sif simply snorted and ignored his attempts, moving forward to stand next to him, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. It didn’t matter that the sword was made of wood, because none of them were yet allowed to use real weapons outside the training yard. Last week during one of their regular sparrings she had almost knocked one of Fandral’s teeth out with it, so she was convinced that even a wooden sword could be deadly in her hands.

“Do you think it’s a troll?” Volstagg asked worriedly.

“I thought you said you know this forest like the back of your hand,” Sif pointed out.

Fandral eyed their oldest friend with a bit of mockery.

“Are you afraid?”

“Me? Never!” Volstagg sounded offended. “I simply thought that were anything to happen to us, no one in the palace knows where to look for us.”

“Loki knows,” said Thor, still staring suspiciously at the bushes, where something moved once again. “There is also Heimdall, but I do not think his help will be necessary…”

“You told Loki where we are going?” Fandral asked indignantly.

“He did not seem interested anyway. He prefers his books,” Thor explained with a hint of disdain.

“And I think he’s simply still angry with us that we refused to take him along to that hunt,” stated Sif.

Volstagg shrugged.

“He should be thanking us. At least he avoided your father’s…” he stopped, because there was another rustle and suddenly a slim tomcat with huge green eyes and shining black fur burst out of the bushes and into the clearing.

Thor burst out laughing.

“Here is your troll.”

“It is so charming!” exclaimed Sif, instantly letting go of her sword. “Puss puss, little one, come here!”

The cat completely ignored her. It circled the whole group, its step full of pride, its tail raised high, and it sent them a look of such superiority as if it was not a cat at all, but the troll they were worried about.

“Look, it glares at us just like your father, Thor,” chuckled Fandral.

“So if there are wild cats here, does it mean no trolls?” added Volstagg, his voice filled with badly concealed relief.

“It does not seem wild to me,” answered Sif, still following the cat, determined to pet it. “It is so beautiful and neat.”

Apparently, the cat was not completely tame though, because in this very moment it hissed angrily at the girl, its fur ruffled, and she finally gave up her attempts. Instead, she simply shrugged and went back to her friends.

“A cat is just a cat,” stated Thor, as if voicing her thoughts. “Let us go on. We have to reach the springs and come back home before night.”

They went on, passing by the cat, which was now sitting on a fallen tree, playing idly with its tail. They didn’t go far when they realized that the animal was following them though.

“Hey, maybe the trolls sent him as a spy?” Volstagg asked.

Sif just sent him a look and he shut up.

After an hour or so they got used to the sight of the animal, which appeared and disappeared as it wished but still seemed to accompany them. Finally they reached their destination, the Rainbow Springs. Tired, they sat down on the rocks to rest, staring at the water that sparkled with a thousand of colours. To their surprise, the cat passed indifferently by Sif and Fandral, then lay down next to Thor. It lowered its black head to drink some of the multicoloured water, and it did not protest when Odinson reached out tentatively to pet its back.

“Look, it likes me!” he exclaimed proudly.

“It is probably because of your animal magnetism,” joked Fandral.

Thor frowned.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked in a serious tone.

Sif snorted quietly.

“I mean your bear-like strength, of course,” answered Fandral quickly.

This time the snort came from the cat’s direction, but nobody noticed it.

Having rested, the four friends swam for some time in the colourful water, then reluctantly got ready to head back. The cat disappeared somewhere again, apparently bored with their company. They did not get too far though when they realized that the forest was getting alarmingly dark.

“Listen, do you remember when exactly the sun set?” asked Sif, unsuccessfully trying to see the sky between the thick branches.

“I can’t remember,” Volstagg admitted, unwittingly quickening his pace. It had been years since trolls had been seen in this area, but still he did not feel like remaining in the forest after dusk.

Thor did not look worried though.

“Do you think we would not be able to defeat a troll? There are four of us and we are no helpless civilians!”

“But we only have training swords,” Sif pointed out.

“Still, with our intelligence combined with Thor’s and Volstagg’s muscles, we can fight anyone!” Fandral exclaimed, reaching for his sword and swirling it in the air to emphasize his words.

“If only I had Mjolnir already…” muttered Thor in a dreamy tone.

The others met his words with a simultaneous groan.

“Yes, we know. You would destroy your enemies, and your name would be remembered in songs for the centuries to come,” Sif finished for him. “What a pity it will not happen for at least a few more years,” she summed up mercilessly.

“It is not fair,” Thor complained. “Loki has had his powers since he was born. Why do I have to wait for mine until I am grown up?”

“Yours, however, will be much more useful,” Volstagg assured him.

“Of course,” Fandral agreed. “I do not think Loki would be able to destroy his enemies with his magic tricks.”

“I am sure he would not,” Thor laughed at least. “He could at most disappear and mislead them for so long that they would simply get bored with his game and leave.”

Sif also wanted to join in with a mocking comment but she closed her mouth when she spotted their feline companion again. This time it was not following them like before; it stood in the middle of the path in front of them, blocking their way.

“Be gone!” Volstagg yelled at it, but the cat did not move.

“Go away!” Fandral joined him. He raised his leg as if to kick, but the animal glared at him in such a manner that he immediately changed his mind.

“Listen, it looks as if it is trying to tell us something,” Sif observed.

“Are you serious? It is just a cat,” Thor snorted. He walked up to the animal, squatted down in front of it and spoke in a slow and clear manner: “Go away and let us pass.”

“Get lost!” he added more vehemently when the cat ignored him. “Do you know who I am? I am Thor Odinson, the prince of this land, and I am ordering you to leave!”.

“Why are you talking to it? It is just a cat,” Sif mocked him. “Come on, we can walk around it, cannot we?”

But as they moved on, the cat jumped ahead and blocked their path again, hissing angrily when they did not stop.

“What is wrong with it?” Fandral asked, frowning irritably.

Sif froze and raised her hand, telling him to be quiet.

“Shh, do you hear it?”

There was a regular rumble somewhere in the distance.

“Trolls!” Volstagg moaned, gazing around in fear.

“Even if it is them, they are still quite far away,” Thor reassured him.

“Maybe, but they are exactly between us and the palace,” Sif observed, still listening.

“Trolls do not have good hearing, and the forest is thick here. If we walk very quietly and carefully, we might be able to pass them by without being noticed,” said Thor.

“Look at the cat, it looks as if it wants to lead us,” the girl pointed at the animal, which had already walked ahead and was now waiting patiently, sending them expectant glances. When Sif spoke those words, it meowed in confirmation.

Thor hesitated only for a short while.

“Agreed, let us follow the cat,” he decided.

Loki stormed into the palace, passing unnoticed by the chatting guards, then he jumped up and climbed the drainpipes and the parapets to the floor where his and Thor’s chambers were located. He entered the dark and empty room through the open window, quietly discarded the spell and then lit the nearby candles with a simple gesture of his hand. He hardly managed to lie down on the couch in a pose of lazy boredom, a book open in his lap, when his brother stormed into the room. Thor was dirty and panting, but his face was bright with excitement.

“Loki, you will not believe what happened today!”

“I have no idea,” Loki answered in a tone that was a perfect mixture of indifference and irony. “Were you told that knocking before you enter someone’s chambers is no longer a requirement? Because as far as I know it still is.”

Thor had heard similar comments often enough to learn to be deaf to them.

“We have met trolls!” he exclaimed, unceremoniously pushing his brother’s long legs out of the way to sit down next to them on the couch. “A whole bunch of them. Even some young ones! They must have been heading to the mountains in search for new caves to live in.”

“And what happened next? Did they run away screaming when you showed them your bravery and skill?” Loki turned the page, still stone-faced.

Thor looked down, disconcerted, visibly waiting to see what would win the fight — pride or honesty.

“They did not see us,” he finally admitted. “We passed them by quietly.”

This time Loki glanced up from the book, slightly raising his right brow.

“Oh. Congratulations,” he answered shortly, so that it was impossible to say if he meant it as a complement to their good sense or rather as a mockery.

Thor apparently choose the first option, because, still grinning, he reached for the book, pulled it from his protesting brother’s hands and threw it on the floor.

“Come on, Loki, I’ll tell you the whole story during supper. I am so hungry that I could eat a whole troll!”

“I would not, if I were you. Trolls have stone-like skin. Are you positive that you saw at least one?” Loki held out his hand and the book obediently flew back to it. “Forgive me, brother, but I have a very interesting paragraph here and I am dying to read the rest of it. I am sure your expedition was fascinating though.” And he pretended to bury himself in the book once again.

Thor complained for a while longer, but finally he gave up and left, probably to join his friends who would be happy to listen to his bragging. And, Loki thought, it was good that his brother was so occupied with his little adventure, because it was only after Thor had left when he noticed that half of the floor of his chamber was covered with the little muddy prints left by a cat’s paws. Next time he would have to be more careful.

THE END

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