#like she was the one who put all the needed items together like knife gloves bags etc

[pigeontakeover]

Get you a girl who will lend you a knife so you can decapitate a roadkill deer, help you drive 10 hours home with it, and then dig a hole for you at 1 am so you can bury the head to decompose cause you want the bones

[intangibly-here]

i miss you (more than anything)

zhongli x gn!reader

- scenario; 2.4k words - modern!au - fluff - jealousy

————————————————————

zhongli isn’t one for jealousy— usually.

title from mitski - francis forever.

requested by anon.

————————————————————

“an excellent choice, sir.”

again with the nicknames... 

slender fingers pick up a considerably stylized box, the smooth white a stark contrast to dark, glove-adorned palms. zhongli turns the box over in his hands, inspecting the various fine print explanations splayed along the edges of the plastic. now this is...

BANG!

clink. 

zhongli barely stifles a flinch at the sound of the door slamming, hinges squeaking and metal lock clicking into place with a whirlwind of motion. amber eyes flick up to the doorway, then back down to the polished counter.

five minutes late.

he sets the ice cube he’s handling into a wine glass after a brief pause, beginning to fashion up a flute of apple cider vinegar. the pattering of lively footsteps against tiled flooring rapidly grows nearer, clattering to a halt directly across the bar from where he stands. 

“hey there, mister zhongli! looking just about as boring as ever!”

hu tao plops into the cushioned chair, swiveling back and forth on the seat and leaning forward to watch him pour the concoction.

(it’s designated for customers of course— though that’s only usually. she happens to claim, to his exasperation, that she has “owner privileges”; whatever that could possibly mean when the place itself is meant to serve the needs of customers: that would include the spacing and chairs they may potentially desire when they enter the premises. unfortunately, he’s given up on understanding on her whims.)

from his position across the counter, zhongli absentmindedly spies the edge of a bright-red butterfly wing from underneath her outfit’s loose, flowing sleeves, the simple pendant string looped twice around her wrist. 

swallowtail. 

it’s the name (”like the butterfly, zhongli! the butterfly!”) of the establishment he’s currently employed at and is “run” by the granddaughter of a distant relative (though the bar is legally owned by said relative’s family). due to his— well, rather particular (per say) spending habits and a lack of mindfulness regarding the matter of what they liked to call savings (why would there be a need for these “savings”? he’d like to protest he’s traversed life well enough without them), he’d been pushed into putting the multitude of experience from past jobs into this one. 

and well, here he is now. 

chop. chop. 

two evenly-sliced apple slices tip over from against the blade of the knife and onto the wooden cutting board. fetching a sprig of mint from the small potted plant just below the rack of knives (growing lights and shelving did wonders in the spontaneous lighting of the nightclub), zhongli finished decorating the non-alcoholic drink of choice for the pseudo-proprietress. who knew what havoc she’d cheerfully throw herself into, archons forbid, if it were liquor. she’s already enough of a handful as it is. 

he sighs in resignation and slides the beverage over. the ice tinkles in the glass confines. he does have a favor to ask today after all. hu tao gives the drink a sniff, then puffs her cheeks in mock anger. 

“no alcohol? booooo, you’re such a rock.”

she takes a generous sip anyway. 

“so, what did you call me here for? not very zhongli-like for you to ask something of lil’ ol’ me. archons, have you been replaced?” 

she squints at him judgingly, then raises an eyebrow when he hesitates to answer.

“doesn’t look that way, old man.”

zhongli can feel the beginnings of a headache forming between his brows. he waves his hand dismissingly as if flicking away her babbling nonsense. 

“i have a favor to ask of you.”

“oh-ho?”

hu tao smirks playfully and pushes the half-finished drink aside, craning her neck forward. 

“what can i do for our esteemed mister zhongli, hm? hehe.”

zhongli clenches his fist under the edge of the woodwork in an effort to calm his raging annoyance. 

(it doesn’t help.)

he should just ask, shouldn’t he..?

“..i’ve been pondering this for a number of days now, but nothing quite appropriate for the occasion has happened to come to mind... do you happen to have any gift ideas for...”

he looks to the side to avoid eye contact and trails off, but hu tao immediately gets the memo. 

“ohhh..” her smile only grows wider, “this is for your daaaate—”

zhongli’s face flushes the slightest tinge of rosy pink and he hisses a sharp “shush!” through gritted teeth. and here he had thought she couldn’t get on his nerves beyond how she’d already acted thus far... 

the cheshire grin on her face still continues to climb. 

“well, you’ve definitely asked the right person! how about...”

some new polaroid film? is what she had proposed.

“it’s not some fancy-schmancy anniversary gift, no? just a date! a date! don’t worry yourself so much over it— no, don’t look at me like that. if you called me over to ask about it, you’re deeeefinitely losing hair over this— okay, okay, i got it! don’t kick me out! old man... sheesh. why don’t you get some more polaroid film and wrap it up all nice? useful and an excuse to take more pictures together! i know, i know, i’m a genius— mmph!”

he can still hear her voice bouncing around in his head (”can’t believe you’re getting rid of your boss, mister zhongli! didn’t take you for the rebellious type—”). zhongli brings his hand up to his temple and breathes out another sigh. it’s not like her idea was a terrible one; if anything, it were a wonderfully exquisite proposal— not that he would tell her. 

“i’d like to purchase this, if you would.”

he hands the box over to the shopkeep, who scans the package and rings up the bill. indiscreetly, he feels up the pocket of his jacket. thank the archons he remembered his wallet today. it would certainly be embarrassing to put this particular item on your tab. 

“sure thing, mister zhongli. i’m assuming this is a gift,” they eye him knowingly, “so would you like it wrapped up?” 

deja vu, his brain mutters, this is very much deja vu. he shuts it up promptly. 

“not this time, but you have my sincerest thanks for the offer. i’d like to wrap it myself.” he can feel his (generally..) expressionless face flaring up the faintest hint of pink and berates his mind once more. only when it comes to you...

acquiring the purchased item, zhongli dips his head in acknowledgement as he heads out. the plants hanging from baskets strung along the ceiling sway their leaves to and fro, nearly catching a wayward lock of his hair. he smooths the stray strand back.

“thank you once again, aether. let lumine know they can drop by for some tea again whenever they’d like for me, please.”

the bell hanging over the doorway tinkles when he pushes it open, and the bustle of the busy harbor seeps into the tranquility of the shop. aether nods and waves a hand at him in return, resting an arm on the cash register. 

“come again.”

-

while he’d imagined many ways your planned outing could play out, this was certainly not one of them. 

he’s approaching the meeting spot you two had decided on (right in front of the flowering quince tree near the park; its blooms resemble those of simpler, smaller silk flowers, and it happens to be quite the scenic location to wait) when he spies not only your stature, but another figure residing right besides you. 

who...?

as he steps closer, he can hear your laughter, the kind that he knows bubbles out of your chest and escapes your lips unconsciously. your amusement isn’t lost on your companion apparently, because they smirk teasingly, letting out a full-blown laugh of their own. 

“oh, zhongli, over here!”

your voice snaps him out of his meandering thoughts, and he stops fiddling with his earring (when did he start doing that?), continuing forward from where he’d paused in his observations of this newcomer. something starts to bloom in his chest, small and bittersweet. he’s not sure what to make of it. 

following your beckoning, zhongli finally makes his way to your side, mentally taking note of your.. friend? he doesn’t remember you mentioning anyone like this before though. surely he would remember your friends, no? 

his earring sways in the wind, white tassel fluttering cheerfully. 

“zhongli, this is my friend kaeya. i met him when i made that trip to mondstadt awhile back, remember that? oh, and kaeya, this is my boyfriend zhongli.”

(the little dragon curled up in his heart preens at your introduction of him, small and sweet.) 

ice blue meets molten gold when zhongli’s eyes dart up to make eye contact with this stranger. they squint at him, assessing, then dip into the makings of a playful twinkle. a hand reaches out for a handshake, which he returns in equal measure. interesting...

“he got a little lost touring liyue and i happened to see him here in the park. small world, huh? i know it was our day love, but do you mind if we take him around for today?”

zhongli smiles appeasingly, gentle and assuring as always. he can recognize the slightly nervous look on your face, one that’s a stark contrast to how energetic you’d looked just a few minutes ago. if kaeya’s company makes you happy and you’d like to take him around, then who is he to refuse your request? you two will have more time to spend with just the two of you later, he reasons with himself. accompanying your friend, and in turn his acquaintance, is nothing big.

(and no, it’s certainly not you calling him love that makes him cave.)

“of course we can.”

tugging at the string of his eyepatch, kaeya swiftly ties his hair back and adjusts the collar of his shirt. “so, where to first?”

zhongli takes your hand in his, squeezing softly. you squeeze back.

getting along together should come just fine.

-

he takes it back. 

he takes it all back. 

he’d accepted it at first because, well, this was your friend. he shouldn’t be controlling who you interact with nor who befriended you - that’s not up to him. it shouldn’t ever be. however—  with every passing moment that kaeya inched closer to you, taking up the entirety of your attention and bringing that bright, bright grin to your face—

(this was supposed to be your date. just the two of you. he hasn’t seen you in a month; surely he can feel a bit selfish, right?)

the three of you turn the corner to an intricately-themed restaurant and pause, where even zhongli looks appreciatively at the beautifully grown bamboo stalks lining the edges of its front walls. 

“wanmin restaurant,” kaeya reads, craning his neck up to gaze at the signboard. bold red calligraphy is sprawled across the rough-cut wood. “awfully simple name for such a stunning place, isn’t it?”

if he weren’t stewing in a pot of conflicted emotions, zhongli would surely inform him of how carefully selected this title was, how it represented more than just a name, how it hid at least several decades worth of effort and teachings— but as it is, he (really, of all people) has no patience for that at the moment. 

first tugging on the hem of your outfit, zhongli then takes you by the elbow and hastily leads you forward to the glass doors of the establishment. he grasps your hand in his as usual, but something must be off, because you twitch a little and look at him curiously. 

he turns his head away, lips pursed just the slightest.

“let us dine here for the time being. it is an appropriate time and place, after all.”

the sun shines brightly in the clear sky as if illuminating his words.

kaeya raises an eyebrow, singular eye looking on inquisitively and arms crossed, then moves further ahead of you both once more. the corner of his mouth dips in a clear show of mirth. bowing with one arm held at the waist, one not unalike a formality from a server, he looks straight into zhongli’s eyes and holds the door open for entrance. 

“that sounds like an excellent idea. well, if you would.”

-

“thanks for the tour around you two.”

kaeya hums his thanks with a cheerful lilt to his voice as you all stand under the porchlight of zhongli’s house. 

(it’s not the largest abode, but it’s cozy and sweet, and it’s definitely enough for the both of you whenever you decide to stay over. tonight is one of those nights, and they may as well become more frequent after the trip you took abroad.) 

his car keys reflect the glow of the bulb, swinging around his finger in loops. they clink noisily, metal against metal, and he grabs them all at once, halfway through another turn. in his car sits a box of treasure-themed artifacts, likely old and had found its way into your hands somehow. zhongli knows you’d been meaning to give them to someone, but he hadn’t known it were kaeya— either way, the artifacts that’d been laying on his shelves for weeks were now handed off. 

ruffling your hair, kaeya pulls you in for a brief hug; although zhongli can feel the bitter pang in his chest, he stays where he stands, keeps it still and small. he can wait. 

that said, the moment kaeya drives off, he’s hauling you into the house and curling up on the couch, pulling you onto his lap and tugging you into his arms. the long thought over gift sits patiently on the counter. it’s waited the entirety of today; it can wait another. 

right now, he needs you. 

your body sinks against his, relaxing from the lively, though exhausting, day. slumped against his chest, he burrows his head in the crook of your shoulder and cuddles you, nuzzling into your neck. finally, you’re home. home with him. 

it’s warm...

“..it was our day...”

you shift your head at his mumbling, lifting his chin to presumably look at his expression. your attention is his now. not kaeya’s. not anyone else’s. just his. 

(his eyes are soft and droopy, smudged red making them look especially mellow in the dim lighting, and lips pushed into the slightest pout. he knows what you’re seeing when you gaze at him fondly, and you can almost see the puppy eyes he sports. how unusual of him.)  

“someone’s a little jealous here, hmmm?” 

you drag out the syllables teasingly, and from lips that are pressing kisses against your skin, he responds a little muffled—

“perhaps.”

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Get Some - Tierna Davidson x Reader

Prompt: So I’ve got an idea for Tierna x Reader where they’ve just started dating after quarantined together in Chicago but haven’t told the team yet because they don’t want to mess up the dynamics right before the Olympics. Nobody really suspects anything bc they are both pretty tame at camps, and bc reader has severe baby face the team is always teasing her about being an innocent little fetus forgetting she is actually like 24. So when R shows up to Orlando camp in a bulky hoodie they think nothing of it assuming it’s from Chicago weather until they notice she refuses to take it off and keeps adjusting the hood to keep part of her neck covered. They let her be thinking maybe she’s just cold until she shows up ready for practice with her winter mock neck on under her practice jersey the next day. After they force her to take it off bc it’s 80° out they discover the hickeys she was trying to hide, along with the scratches on her back and freak out bc someone is “defileing the fetus” and grill her trying to figure out who it is while Tierna is just smirking to herself by her locker.

TL/DR: Tierna x Reader trying and failing to hide r’s “love marks” featuring Proud!Tierna and BabyFace!Reader

Note - this awesome human, pretty much wrote this me. 

“Cold munchkin?” Alex teased the forward as she sat next to her in the team meeting. Her hood up, sweater strings tied.

“Not all of us live in constant heat and humidity Morgan. I bet you’re jealous of my lack of tan too,” Y/N winked back, tugging the sweater tighter around her neck.

Tierna grinned behind them, struggling to stifle her laughter.

“Of course she’s jealous! Who wouldn’t want to look like this?” Rose slid in on the other side of Y/N.

“Yea Alex, pale is the new tan,” Sonnett squeezed Alex’s traps from behind as she sat down next to Tierna.

Alex rolled her eyes at unexpected turn.

Vlatko called attention to the rest of the room, starting the meeting for the start of camp.

Tierna kicked the back of Y/N chair while she continued to try and hide her grin from everyone around her. Lindsey giving her a strange look.

At the end of the meeting, everyone made their way to the banquet room for supper, still all separated until everyone’s test results came in.  

“Hey kiddo, you need someone to cut up your food at supper?” Kelley teased, nudging the forward as she made her way to her own seat.

“Ha ha,” Y/N fake laughed, rolling her eyes, “because I’m not old enough to have my knife.”

“You got it,” Kelley winked, shooting her air guns across the table.

After that conversation flowed easily, the players all talking to each other from a distance, making the room busy and loud; everyone eager to catch up.

After supper, Y/N and Tierna attempted to stall, hoping to steal a brief moment together before they all had to spend the night alone in their rooms.

“We should just tell them we had been quarantined in Chicago together, then we could be together,” Tierna tugged on Y/N’s sleeve, swinging both their arms back and forth.

“You need T to walk you to your room, so you don’t get lost?” Ali teased as she walked by.

“Where the hell does everyone keep coming from,” Tierna grumbled quietly, while Y/N rolled her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

“I’m not a child!” Y/N stomped her foot.

“Great argument kiddo,” Pinoe held a thumbs up as she walked past to the elevator.  

“I can find my own room!” Y/N called after her, starting to walk away, only to feel another firm pull on her sleeve. She glanced down to see Tierna still holding on, looking up to see the smirk on her girlfriends face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tuck our kid into bed.” Tierna started to pull Y/N towards the stairs by her sleeve.

Once out of site of the rest of the team, Tierna pinned Y/N against the wall, untieing the strings to her hood. Nosing it out of her way, Tierna started kiss along her jaw line, placing a firm bite to her ear.

“I am addicted to you,” Tierna pulled the collar out of the way, moving her lips to Y/N’s collar bone, scrapping her teeth on it, then soothing it with a gentle kiss.

“Fuck T,” Y/N tilted her head back, giving Tierna more room to kiss. Her hand gripping the back of Tierna’s neck, other sliding under her shirt, scrapping her nails across her ribs.

Tierna sucked harshly Y/N throat, pulling back to see the result, a deep red mark already beginning to turn purple. “You’re going to need to ask the staff for a neck warmer tomorrow,” she whispered into Y/N’s throat, scrapping her teeth across the bruise.

Y/N pulled her hand out from Tierna’s shirt, placing her palms on her chest, debating if she should push her away. She loved what was happening, but knew they needed to stop before things got carried away, or Tierna left any more marks.

“Fuck T,” Y/N groaned out, beginning to push the defender away, “we aren’t in quarantine anymore, people can actually see us now, more importantly, our team can see now.”

“Hmm that would be unfortunate if someone saw these,” Tierna smirked as she leaned back in, attempting to place more kisses along Y/N’s neck. Only for Y/N to push more firmly against her chest.

“You’re killing me babe,” Y/N bit her lip, trying to hold back her smile. Tierna looking completely unashamed, bit the air in front of Y/N, beginning to slide her hands up the front of Y/N’s shirt, digging her thumbs into her hips. Y/N moaned at the pressure, hips pressing out for more contact.

With a brief kiss to Y/N’s lips, Tierna pulled away completely, taking three large steps back and holding her hand out.

“Come on, I promised to make sure you make it to bed safe,” she winked, wiggling her fingers to encourage Y/N to grab.

“I hate you,” Y/N said gruffly, stepping forward to take Tierna’s hand.

“No you don’t,” she sung back, swinging their arms back and forth as they began walking up the stairs.

“I do a little bit,” she mumbled, looking away from the brunette, knowing her faux seriousness would crack as soon as she saw the large smile her girlfriend had on.

“Nope!” Tierna accentuated the ‘p’ at the end, swinging their arms higher, finally earning a giggle from her girlfriend. Her ability to go from pinning Y/N to the wall and leaving hickeys across her neck to innocent and childlike was incredible.

Y/N finally gave in completely and burst out laughing as they climbed the stairs, pushing her shoulders into the taller soccer player. The two gently wrestling the rest of the way up the stairs, separating as they made it to their floor.

Tierna walked Y/N to her door, making a show of it, “I’m just down the hall if you have any bad dreams,” she ruffled her hair and began to walk away. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”

Several loud laughs could be heard from the doors that still remained open.

The next morning players prepared for practice on the side lines, tugging on cleats and debating on long sleeves or short sleeves, Y/N tugged her neck warmer on, tugging it all the way up to her ears.

“Yo, Chicago, shouldn’t you be used to the cold?” Kristie teased as they made their on the turf to warm up.

“Rude! I’m delicate!”

“Yea Kris be nice to the little kid,” Alex came from behind, rubbing her hands up and down Y/N’s biceps. “you cold? Do you need a sweater? Gloves?”

Y/N pulled out of Alex’s hands, rolling her eyes, “I’m fine, just a little chilly this morning.”

Everyone left it for the rest of the morning training.

Y/N was not as lucky that afternoon. Everyone offering warmer items of clothing when they saw her wearing the neck warmer again in the afternoon.

“Are you sick?” Christen reached up, attempting to feel Y/N’s forehead. Y/N was quick to duck out of the way, swatting Christens hand.

“Seriously guys, I’m fine, just not adjusting well to the climate change or something,” Y/N tried to avoid glaring at Tierna, knowing the defender would a smirk on her face throughout it all.

“Are you sure Y/N/N? Should we get the trainers?” know Tierna decided to join in the conversation. Y/N looked sharply at her girlfriend, clenching her jaw, she was the reason for the interrogation.

“I’m fine,” Y/N snarked to the group, “It’s a neck warmer, just drop it.”

“It is way to humid put here right now for you to be chilled,” Ali came over, rubbing her hand on Y/N’s shoulder, sensing the forwards discomfort at being put on the spot. But also concerned for the younger woman, no one should be chilled in the mid-afternoon Florida heat.

The entire practice everyone kept an eye on the younger soccer player. As the intensity of the practice increased, Y/N continued to tug at the neck warmer she was wearing. The hair at the base of her skull soaked with sweat, the collar of shirt drenched the entire away around, face flushed as she heated up.

At the end of practice, Y/N attempted to pull her hoodie over head after she had pulled the neck warm off. Unfortunately, she was not quick enough her movements, the hem getting caught on her sweaty, tangled bun.

“What in the actual fuck happened to your neck?” Pinoe explained, stopping Y/N from pulling the sweater on, gaining the attention of the rest of the team.

Kelley quickly bounded over, pulling the collar of her practice shirt out of the way. The rest of the team now all looking on.

“What happened to your neck?” Alex came over as well, thumb and forefinger holding Y/N’s chin, moving her head around, inspecting the now very prominent hickeys spread across the neck, collar bone, and upper chest.

A loud cat call whistle was heard from behind and “Oh damn” thrown from someone else, follow up with “get some!”

“No! Don’t get anything!” Christen shot the group of young players a hard look, eyes sharp when she looked back to Y/N, “who did this to you?”

“What? This?” Y/N motioned to her neck, “I, uhh, got a tour of the aquarium. They let me hold one of the octopuses.” She finished with a firm nod, satisfied with her answer, smiling to herself.

Tierna remained on the bench a few feet away, coughing to cover her sudden laugh at the terrible story.

“Bullshit!” Alex challenged, still holding Y/N chin firmly. Y/N attempted to pull away, Alex adjusted her grip, palming her jaw.

“Who did this to you?” Christen asked again.

“You’re like 12! No one should be doing this to you!”

“I’m 24,” Y/N rolled her eyes, attempting to pull away, only to be pulled back in.

“You are far too young to young to have hickeys!”

“I’ve had sex before.”

“No! you are not old enough to have sex!”

By now, Tierna was leaning back on the bench, watching as all the older players harassed her girlfriend, all unaware she was the cause of the marks on the young forward. She spread her arms on the back of the bench, leg casually crossed over the other, smug smile.

“Welp,” she popped the ‘p’, “I’ve kissed people, given hickeys, been hickied,” she motioned to her neck again, “and even had sex. Really good, mind blowing sex.” With a wink, Alex finally let her step out of her grip.

“Eww! No!”

“Y/N! Enough, tell us who did this to you? We obviously need to talk to them if they are doing things like this to you.”

“Guys, quit being so dramatic,” Y/N rolled her eyes, attempting to take another step away from the over protective players.

“No no no, come back here,” Tobin stepped forward now. “That ones fresh!” she copied Alex’s motion earlier, gripping her jaw and tilting it up to the expose the fresh hickey on the side.

This caused them all to step closer and inspect the hickey for themselves. Tierna uncrossed her legs, sitting up a little straighter, smile slipping slightly.

“That means its someone at camp!” Kristie called from behind all the veterans.

Y/N eyes went wide, smile fully dropping from Tierna’s face. The overprotective players all looking around, scanning each player, trying to determine who it could be.

“Is it a player? Staff? Coach?” Alex looked firmly at the younger forward.

“Gonna go save your girl?” Alyssa slid onto the bench next to Tierna on the bench, smirking at her.

“What?” Tierna whispered, shocked, eyes darting quickly to the keeper.

“Well,” Alyssa started slowly, “most of those are old, so they happened in Chicago, and you, me, and Y/N/N were the only ones there together. And there’s a fresh one since we got here. And since I didn’t do it, that only leaves you.” She firmly poked Tierna in the chest.

Tierna opened and closed her mouth. “Umm, uhh, fuck.”

“I won’t tell, but you might want to go save her over there. You know none of them are going to drop it until they figure it out,” Alyssa shrugged, “besides it’s your fault really. You are the one that put those one there.”  

Tierna continued to open and close her mouth, then watched as the veterans continued to ask Y/N who It was and beginning to call out several of the younger players who were all enjoying the small interrogation.

“Fuck,” Tierna sighed out, she slapped her thighs and pushed herself to stand. “Kell, Stanford should take your degree away.”

Kelley whipped around to glare at Tierna as she walked toward the group, “what are you talking about?”

“You’re really not very observant,” Tierna smirked at her, “I’m going to let you guys think on this a little more, Y/N/N and I are going to head back to the hotel for supper.”

Y/N smirked and skipped toward the defender.

Everyone watched them walk away, mouth open, eyebrows creased.

“Wait,” Lindsey perked up, smile growing as she figured it out, “weren’t they both in Chicago together?”

That brought all eyes over to the midfielder.

“Yes!” Kelley pointed at her, “they did! Baby T defiled baby Y/N!”

“Shit, I thought we would get further away,” Tierna tugged Y/N’s hand encouraging them to run towards an available van.

“We aren’t done with this!” Alex yelled after them.

[tangtownie]

You Should See Me In A Crown - Natasha Romanoff x Dark!Reader Insert (AU)

Author’s Note: So, this is my first time trying to write something dark…

Think it might land in the category of soft!dark, but be warned none the less!

Super nervous about posting this, but I actually ended up really liking this one myself, so hopefully others will as well.

Reader is from the Red Room Academy, just as Natasha, only reader never left them. I took some creative liberties when describing the Red Room Academy, so that it fit my idea better, which is also why this story is marked as an AU.

The Russian nickname for Natasha means ‘darling’, ‘pet’ or ‘beloved’.

I incorporated some lyrics from the song, tell me how many you can find? 🧐

Regarding the timeline, I imagine this would take place after Natasha brought down SHIELD and shortly after Bucky joined the Avengers.

Also, shoutout to @a-little-counter-esperanto for being kind enough to beta this for me and offer some moral support! 🥰

Once again, this is marked dark for a reason! There might be topics that are triggering to certain people, so please be responsible about your media consumption.

Warnings: Explicit descriptions of violence and murder, dark!Reader, messed up “family” relations, weird/sexual obsession with a sister figure.

Word count: 2.252

Song Inspiration: You Should See Me In A Crown by Billie Eilish

I was perfectly concealed, blending in with all the mindless idiots making their way down the street. If this hadn’t been New York, and people actually paid attention to what happened around them, they might have noticed the warning sign that was the concealed weapons on my body. Or my too heavy boots beating down against the concrete. Carefully eyeing the tower, I counted the people moving in and out of the building. “Bite my tongue, bide my time.” I mumbled quietly, catching the attention of a passerby. We had in fact been biding our time, monitoring the tower for months, counting the number of armed guards on site at any given time. However, it seemed that these soft Americans had their most precious protectors under lock and key at all times. Biting my tongue, I tried not to scoff. One would assume that the Avengers were more than capable of handling themselves, but apparently their employer did not.

Not that it mattered, the more people in the tower, the more people there were for my sisters to play with. My sisters who were all watching me, waiting for my signal. Finally, we had found our missing piece and none of us were leaving here without her. I had been searching for her for years, using the Academy’s missions to get intel on my long lost sister. In time, Mother had found out and I had been forced to deal with that. Fortunately, it was nothing a little thallium poisoning couldn’t handle for me. One less complication and Mother would never get between us again. No one would. Catching the rays of the sun on the edge of my watch, I slowly rolled my wrist, the light reflecting up on a window in a perfect circle. “Wearing a warning sign.” I didn’t know where my sisters were located, but I knew they had all seen my signal. I moved swiftly through the masses, discarding my disguise along the way, and quickly found myself standing in front of the tower.

The first window shattered, as I opened the door, a flurry of bullets following the first one. Civilians were screaming: scrambling to get away, guards were rushing in from all sides: barking commands rushing through their radios and glass continued flying through the air as my sisters blew the lobby to pieces. A few stray pieces of glass tangled in my hair, light reflecting off of them as I moved gracefully through the chaotic scene, while the bloodcurdling screams piercing the air sounded almost like a symphony. Humming quietly to myself, I pulled my gun from the holster on my hip and aimed carelessly before shooting a guard in the face.

The bullet lodged in his eye and he fell to his knees, screaming. His body spasmed out of his control and with a final gurgling scream, he fell limply to the floor. “I love the way they scream.” I really didn’t need to kill him to swipe his ID, but alas why should my sisters have all the fun? After all, I was the one running this mission. The glass crunched underneath my boots and blood splattered all over me whenever my sisters killed the ones that got too close to me.

Making it to the elevator was easy: the guards and civilians continuously dropping all around me. Once inside of the elevator, I pressed R for residential. Wiping some blood from my cheek, I caught a whiff of gunpowder on my dark glove and I inhaled again, greedily, as pure joy filtered through my system. Raising my head to look at my reflection, I was met with a dazzling vision wrapped in all black. I could see the bumps from my arsenal of knives and guns strapped to my thighs, hips and arms. My hair was tied back tightly, the glass shards framing my head like a crown, and blood smeared across my face. “You are so pretty.”

The elevator dinged as it reached the residential floor. Unlike the others, this was ominously silent. By now the precious protectors would now that I had come looking for them. Or rather her. I had come for her and I would die before leaving without her. “Natalia?” I called out for her teasingly. “I know you’re here, любимый." I was met only with silence. Humming quietly to myself again, I fished a knife out of my holster and jammed it into the keypad of the elevator. The keypad sputtered and sparked before I pulled the knife back out, leaving it hanging down the side of the wall.

Flipping the knife carelessly, I scraped it against the wall, as I started moving down the hallway. “Our sisters are so looking forward to seeing you again, sweet Natalia.” I was almost reunited with her and joy filled my voice as well as my body. A flash of movement caught my eye and I turned just in time to see someone charging at me. A quick sidestep and he flew past me. He was tall, broad and dark. Every inch of him wrapped in black leather. His gaze was burning with fury, when he turned to look at me.

“Soldat,” I cocked my head in recognition, a smirk curling around my lips. “I see you’ve betrayed the cause as well.” The burly soldier snarled at me in response and a bubbling laughter rose from my throat. “Poor little Soldat, still have the manners of a raging beast, I see.” The deranged soldier lunged at me again, and it took all of my power to block his fist. The metallic whirring getting louder and louder the more weight he put into it. Grunting with effort, I could feel his arm slipping through mine and his fist met my face with full force. My entire body was slammed backwards into the wall and it felt as though my brain was vibrating from the hit. For a second everything went dark, but the taunting scoff from Soldat ripped me back to reality instantaneously.

Pushing myself from the wall, I growled back at him. To think that my dear sister had been trapped here with these abominations of nature for so long… But no matter, we were here for her now and we would take her away. I simply needed to put down this caged animal in front of me, and we could be on our way. “Watch me make ‘em bow.” Anger flashed in the eyes of the beast as I spoke and he charged again: his metal hand shooting out and wrapping around my throat. His eyes burning while he tightened his grip until all that could escape me were choked off gasps.

I fumbled for the needle in my pocket. I knew it contained just enough sedative to take down a deranged super soldier and while I had anticipated using it on a certain overeager Captain, this seemed like an appropriate use. When I finally grasped the needle, I plunged it into the side of Soldat’s neck. The drug took effect immediately: the beast’s eyes drooping and his ironclad grip on my throat loosening. As my feet touched the floor again, his hand slipped from my throat and he landed with a loud thump. I wasn’t certain how long it would keep him down, so for good measure I grasped one of my knifes and plunged it into him: his stomach, chest and shoulder before I sliced along the inside of his arm.

Loosing my patience, I started down the hallway again. I had to find her and save her. How could Mother ever have thought that Natalia was safe here? Kicking down every door I met, I eventually found her room. The soft scent of jasmine and lemongrass wafted over me and I couldn’t resist the temptation to go in. “You smell so sweet.” My fingers softly grazed over her walls as I moved inside and let the smell of my dear sister take over my senses. Her room was warm and inviting with throw blankets and pillows everywhere and I knew that I had been right. This—she—was exactly what our sisters needed, a comforting and warm presence.

Natalia’s bedroom was immaculate as always, not a single item out of place. Stopping at her dresser, I needed to feel close to her. I tore open a drawer and pulled out a sweater. The material was much softer and smoother than anything I owned and I burrowed my face in it, so that I could really smell her. A sense of calm washed over me and I let myself fall backwards onto her bed, so that I could be surrounded by her scent. My sweet Natalia, how I had missed her. “I fell for those ocean eyes.”

There was nothing I hadn’t missed about her: her eyes that would sparkle like the stars on a bright and cold night. Her deep, soothing drawl. Her soft and luscious hair that I could almost feel running through my fingers. All of it making up the resilient, courageous and ruthless warrior that I had loved for as long as I could remember. My sweet, dear sister. We would be together again soon and then nothing could tear us apart ever again. A sudden sound snapped me back to attention and I quickly got off the bed, hiding beside the doorframe to her bedroom. The steps were careful and calculated, yet soft. A smiled curved over my lips as I recognized them.

“Natalia, любимый, I’ve been looking for you.” Her steps froze at the sound of my voice. I slowly emerged from my hiding spot with the smile still on my lips. Natalia had never looked quite as beautiful as she did with her gun pointed at me. “Oh, любимый, I’m not here to hurt you.” Natalia’s stance wavered just a little and I was elated to see her giving in to me. “I’m here to help you escape, sweet sister.” Confusion washed over Natalia’s face and I smirked as I was reminded that she had always been one of our more simple-minded sisters.

“Mother fell ill.” I explained it simply to her. My darling, simple sister did not need to know all the gory details of what I’d done to find her. “And some of our weaker sisters were flailing without a strong leader, so… I stepped in.” An emotion I didn’t quite recognize flashed over Natalia’s face and she lowered her gun a little. “But as you know, любимый, I’m not exactly a nurturing person and while I see no use of such foolish sentimentality, some of our sisters have requested that you re-join us.” I watched her closely, as I finished my sentence. “We are going to run that place together. That, and any other place you want, my sweet love.” Anger flashed in Natalia’s eyes and her gun was back in my face instantaneously.

I didn’t let her reaction deter me, though. I loved her and I knew that she loved me too. I gently placed my hand on her cheek and dragged her closer to me. “I cannot do this without you, sister. I cannot live with you… Do you have any idea how long I’ve been searching for you?” I placed my other hand on top of her gun and pushed it down until it was pointed at my chest. “If you won’t let me help you, then you’ll have to kill me, любимый.” Natalia’s eyes widened and jumped back and forth, from my face down to my chest. “Tell me, sweet sister. Which do you imagine is worse? Living without you or dying first?” I gently brought my hand up to her other cheek and pulled her closer to me, until our foreheads were resting on one another.

“любимый, my love, don’t resist me.” I whispered the last words before crashing my lips onto hers. The feel of her soft, full lips against mine was even better than I had dreamt. I gasped ecstatically into her mouth and let my hands slide into her hair. I tightened my grip on her hair, when she tried to pull away. She could breathe when I let her. Until then, I would kiss her as long as I pleased. A tear slid down her cheek and I understood. She had finally accepted that we were supposed to be together and that we would rule alongside each other. “You will be the most perfect Mother, любимый.” I whispered against her lips.

Suddenly, a burning feeling spread through my chest and I could hardly breathe. “любимый, do you feel it, too?” I gasped. “We are finally becoming one.” Each syllable hurt more than the last and I barely registered Natalia’s gun clattering to the floor. Something warm ran down my chest and my legs almost collapsed under me. I clung to Natalia and she fell to the floor with me. She wrapped her arms around me and I was in heaven. “You are so beautiful, sweet Natalia.” Even as my vision blurred and I could feel the pull of a deep, dark sleep, I could not pry my eyes away from her. “Sister, I feel so tired…” My voice was cracking from all the effort it took me to speak, but she was here. My true love, my dear sister. I had finally found her again. “Sleep, sister. Everything will be alright.” My sweet Natalia’s voice was the last thing I heard before the darkness took me.

Okay, so Tumblr was acting all crazy when I was making this post, so hopefully, it'll work! 😬

Also, as always, would love feedback in any form! Comment, reblog, messages! It doesn't matter. ❤️

[alitaimagines]

“imagine me and you? I do. I think about you day and night, it’s only right, to think about girl you love and hold her tight, so happy together.” 

jealous! shigaraki tomura - MY HERO ACADEMIA 

note: still looking for more characters to write for! leave me some suggestions! look at my post underneath this please! 

you were sitting at the bar with Toga and Dabi. being that the two of you were seemingly the youngest in the league, the three of you strayed towards each other for company. 

“are any of you going out of the hideout tonight?” Dabi asked before taking a sip of his drink, “I might! I wanted to go to the mall and the grocery store to pick up a few things for the next few days. you know Kurogiri has been bitching about us leaving so often that we might get caught so I don’t wan to leave for the next for days just to shut him up,” you responded. 

Dabi hummed in response as Toga pondered on coming with you, “are you going alone?” she asked. you thought for a moment, “I think so. I know Shiggy wanted to come along but he hasn’t mentioned it to me again so I don’t know if he actually is or not.” 

“well let me know! I don’t want to ruin your date with Shiggy,” Toga exclaimed as you gave her a look, “who the hell said it was a date?” you asked as the two of them started laughing. 

“it’s obvious the two of you are like in love!” 

“stabby here is right. he’s like in love with you.” 

you rolled your eyes at what they were saying but remained silent, “shut up, I’m leaving now. I’m going to see if Shiggy wants to come along or not and I want to get back before it turns dark,” you told them before chugging the rest of your drink before slamming the glass and leaving. 

“they totally like each other!” Toga told Dabi as he nodded, “it doesn’t take an idiot to see that,” he replied. 

you made your way back to the hideout to find your blue headed best friend engrossed in a video game. you went to hug him from the back and embraced him, “hey,” you whispered into his ear, “I’m heading to the mall, you coming?” you asked. 

Shiggy sighed putting his controller down before looking at you. it might not have been obvious to you but Shiggy was actually head over heels for you. 

he knew of your past and how popular you were at school before you dropped out. you were cute, way out of his league, and if he was honest, he pictured you with someone more like Dabi. 

“sure,” he mumbled as you gave him an excited smile before grabbing your Converse and putting them on. Shigaraki couldn’t help but watch you bend down to tie the shoe and bite his lip at the show, “lets go, Tomura!” 

you grabbed your bag as he followed behind. even though it was the dead of summer, he still had to remain unidentified and by that, he was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie. 

you on the other hand were wearing something a lot less covered up. being that you and Toga were the only girls in the league, you two kind of matched in uniforms. the only difference was that your clothes was just a different color. 

“Shiggy?” you said with a sing-songy tone of voice, “can you give me a piggy back ride? my shoes are hurting!” you asked as you watched him slump down before bending his knees a bit for you to get on. 

you smiled before jumping on his back and holding on tight. the walk to the mall wasn’t far but he didn’t want it to end. he enjoyed you holding him so tightly and before he knew it, you were playing with his hair underneath his hood. 

“did I ever tell you how soft your hair is?” you told Shiggy as he shook his head no, “it’s really soft! I should use your hair regiment,” you joked as you gave him a kiss on the top of the head. 

he stopped dead in his tracks at the sudden affection making you hit him on accident, “jesus Shiggy! watch it!” you exclaimed as he muttered a sorry before continuing to walk, “how far are we?” he asked as you looked to your phone, “like ten minutes away. why, are you tired?” you asked as you tried to shimmy off of him. 

“no, stay,” he replied as he held you tighter, “aww, thank you Tomura,” you said giving him another kiss on the head. 

he didn’t say anything until the mall came into view. you finally got off of him before holding his hand. Shiggy made sure that whenever he was with you, he wore gloves in case you wanted to hold his hand. 

you ran your thumb over the top of his hand before dragging him to the entrance. your first stop was at the candle store. you tended to buy a lot candles for your room and even a few for the living room so it didn’t smell so awful all the time. 

just as you entered the store, Shiggy told you he would wait in the front while you shopped. he claimed that smelling all the scents would trigger his allergies. you nodded as you made your way inside of the store and grabbed a decently big bag. 

you smelled all the candles that caught your attention before dumping them into the black reusable bag. Shiggy could notice the few guys that were inside of the store watching you. even if they had their partners with them, they would stare at you whenever you bent down to smell one of the candles and if he was being honest, he wanted nothing more than to take his gloves off and turn all those men into dust. 

once he had enough, Shiggy walked inside of the store and walked towards you, “hey Tomura! I thought you didn’t like coming in here,” he didn’t say anything before grabbing your bag and holding it, “I’ll hold it, it looks heavy.”

you gave him a smile before giving him a peck on the cheek before continuing your candle hunt. that was the reaction he was hoping for as he glared down the very same men that were giving you looks before. 

“okay, I think I’m done,” you replied grabbing the bag and hauling it over to the cash register, “just because we’re villains doesn’t mean we won’t support local businesses!” you whispered to him making him chuckle. 

the cashier rung your candles as you gave her cash. after you left the store, you knew that you at least had to bring Shiggy to the game store after enduring your candle endeavor for what felt like two hours. 

“just for your troubles, you can buy one game,” you told him as Shiggy instantly lit up, “seriously?” he asked as you nodded. 

Shiggy immediately dragged you to the nearest Game Stop and ran over to the PS4 games. you weren’t much of gamer yourself but whenever Shiggy asked you to play or noticed that the game he was playing looked like it would be more fun with a second player, you offered to be his player two. 

now that you were thinking about it, maybe Toga and Dabi were right. the two of you did look like a real couple and there were a few instances where you did you things that made it seem like you were together. 

“I’ll wait for you when you’re done!” you told Shiggy as you found the nearest bench and started to smell the candles you just bought again. 

you knew that Shiggy took forever to find a game but you didn’t mind. being the leader of the League of Villains did drain him and you liked seeing him happy, even if it was for a few minutes. 

you heard the music from outside of the store playing and you couldn’t help but dance in your seat. the one thing you did know was that you were probably one of the most attractive people inside of the store so you dancing did turn a few heads. 

“hey, what’s a pretty girl like you doing in this store?” one of the guys asked as you felt yourself rolling your eyes, “waiting for the person I came with to finish their shopping,” you replied with absolutely no sense of emotion. 

the man laughed as he bent down to your height and even went as far to touch your knee, “get your hand off of my knee,” you whispered, “the person I came with won’t take to kindly to your action,” you added on. 

“sweetheart, you can just admit that you’re by yourself, I can buy you whatever it is you want,” he said completely dismissing your entire point, “please take your hand off me. I really don’t want to cause any harm to you but if I won’t, I won’t hesitate to kill you right here. this is your final warning,” you said again as you grabbed your knife from your back skirt pocket. 

you didn’t even get the chance to do anything when you noticed Shigaraki do the very same thing he did to Midoriya when they first encountered each other. his four fingers were wrapped around the mans throat as his fifth stroked it slightly. 

“leave her alone or I will kill you and it won’t be quick. I will torture you until you realize that even thinking of touching her was okay. plus, for your benefit, you really don’t want the entire League of Villains after you.”

you gave the man an ‘I told you’ look as you finally looked to Shiggy, “don’t, it’s not worth it. let’s buy your game and head out. I still need to stop at the grocery store,” you told Shiggy as he nodded and shoved the game into his back pocket. 

just because you liked to purchase things the legal way didn’t mean he did.  

“you guys are weirdos!” the man screamed as he jumped off the floor and ran to the exit. you couldn’t help but laugh as you and Shiggy made it out of the store, “you didn’t buy the game, did you?” you asked feeling the game in his back pocket. 

Shiggy the entire way to the grocery store remained silent. you grabbed his hand in a way to comfort him but his grip on your hand was tighter than usual. 

his mind couldn’t stop thinking of your interaction with that bastard at the game store. the last thing Shiggy wanted to do was place the blame on you but now that he was looking at you, he couldn’t help but look at your clothes. 

your skirt was undeniably short. the top covered what it had to but regardless, he thought your bottom was the issue. Shiggy wasn’t going to make you change it but maybe if you made it even a tad bit longer he’d be fine. 

by the time you were paying for all your items, Shiggy was pissed. he knew it wasn’t exactly like him to do what he was planning doing as soon as you both made it an alleyway but if he didn’t do it before he got back to the hideout, he wouldn’t do it at all. 

you were carrying the food for the week in the bag as you turned the corner to an empty alleyway. you immediately felt Shiggy shoving you against a wall as his hands roamed your thighs. 

“Tomura, what are you doing?” you whispered as he chuckled, “that little stunt at the video game store really pissed me off,” he mentioned as his face was shoved inside of your neck, “I know it wasn’t your wrong doing but it still pissed me off,” he murmured before biting down on your neck. 

you let out a mixture of a moan and a gasp as he sunk his teeth to your neck, “maybe this mark will show everyone to back the fuck off,” he said looking at you through the strands of his baby blue hair. 

you ran your fingers through his hair as he continued attacking your neck, “Shiggy, all you have to do is ask me out and I’ll be yours forever,” you responded as he laughed, “it’s more than that now. someone thought it was okay to touch you so the only way I know how to fix that is to make a mark,” he said as his tongue grazed the bite mark. 

you let him continue his little game until you realized that it was getting a lot more steamier and you really didn’t want to fuck Shiggy in a public alleyway. 

“if we sneak back into the hideout through your room, you can put any marks you want to leave on me,” you said seductively into his ear before nibbling on it, “just carry me back home.” 

Shigaraki did just that and pulled you on his back before booking it back home. during that time, you were leaving small hickey’s on his neck as he tried to run as fast as possible. 

maybe Toga and Dabi were right. maybe it took one action of a man to release the monster that Shiggy had inside of him. whether his intentions were romantic, completely sexual, or both, he was glad you were on board. 

Shiggy wouldn’t know what to do if he had to continue watch you walk around the hideout with that short skirt of yours and not be able to do anything about it. 

ALITA 

[limbo-lord]

Session 1 Pt. 1

The small bustling town of Willowsdale was littered with colorful flyers that all have the same name advertised on them, The Circus of Discord. A young girl read them as she skipped by “The Barbaric Beast of Black Hollow” “The Athletic Acrobats” “The Keen Knife Thrower” “The Surreal Soothsayer” “The Resilient Ringleader”. The flyers showcased a silhouette declining the act it advertises. But, a flyer placed gently on top of a barrel caught her wandering eyes “The Comedic Clown”. A smile beaming with excitement spread across her face, her rosy cheeks rising with glee, and she tugged on her mother’s sleeve as a small group of three walked by to pass the sight.

A young golden skinned man, tall and lanky, with a mess of black hair that is just barely keeping a proper shape. A long cloak, as deep and blue as the sea, flows behind him with every step he takes. Black rimmed glasses sit on his face and frame his sunken silver eyes. His shoulders were low and he avoided eye contact with everyone who passed by.

A tiefling woman, built and blue, with jewelry decorating her face and hair. A large great axe shone on her back, glaring at those who passed by. The horns growing from her head and the tail dragging behind her steals looks from those around them. She wore a toothy grin, showing off her pointy teeth.

A quiet halfling woman with a green cloak hugging her shoulders. Her mismatched brown and green eyes were scanning every single store that they passed by. Her long cinnamon hair was braided and fell over her right shoulder.

The young man felt a crunch underneath of his foot and found a colorful flyer underneath of his foot. He peeled the flyer from the first road and read the words that were intricately written in swirly letters. “ The Circus of Discord: A Place Unlike Any Other!”.

“I suppose we’ve made it to Willowsdale,” he looked up from the flyer and said to the tiefling and halfling.

“Looks like it,” The tiefling grinned. “And with a day to spare! Good job with the directions Carlita.”

“Thanks,” the halfling responded, still not breaking her gaze from her surroundings. “Should we check in at the tavern?”

“You two go ahead,” The tiefling said. “I’m gonna have a look around town first.”

“If you insist,” the young man nodded. The three began to head their separate ways before he turned around once more towards the tiefling. “Keh’lani?”

“Yeah?” The tiefling turned back around.

“Would you like me to pay for your room? I still owe you for helping me with the kobolds.”

“Sweet! That’d be great, thanks!”

Keh’lani waved to the other two and then disappeared into the crowd. Despite her blue complexion compared to everyone else's, she left their view relatively quickly.

***

The door to the butcher’s shop creaks opened as a curious blue tiefling peaked her head through. At the counter the butcher, a stocky older looking man with a grayish beard hugging his chin, was shaking his head at what was on the counter before him. An elk laid sprawled out across the counter top, it’s head dangling in a twisted position. Keh’lani raised her eyebrows at it’s bulging eyes shrieking at her.

Across from the butcher, standing above the elk, a tall shabby looking man stood with a twinkling trident in his fist. His yellow straw for hair fell to his shoulders creating curtains around the stubble of his chin. His muscular arms were crossed into a tight shouldered position.

“I can’t give you any more than ten silver for this,” The butcher said, motioning to the mangled Elk.

“I spent six hours hunting for this,” the straw haired man hissed. The fist around his trident tightened with shaky rage.

“And too long getting it back, I’m not gonna get a lot of meat from it in this condition.”

“Look,” the man put his cracked hands on the edge of the counter before him and leaned over the carcass, it’s explosive smell now filling the entire shop. “Judging by how many elk I found out there, you need this and I am giving it to you. I’m sure you understand that all of us need to make a living. So, can you just let me give it to you for thirty gold. That’s my final offer.”

The butcher’s mustache twitched under his nose and he let out a smooth breathy laugh as he stared down at the elk. He looked back up at the blonde man across from him and leaned back.

“Then I guess you will just have to find business elsewhere.”

With that the scruffy looking man snatched the elk from the countertop and threw it over his shoulder along with his trident. He mumbled some words under his breath, in a language that Keh’lani was unable to understand, and stomped toward the door.

“That’s a nice elk you got there,” Keh’lani smiled. But, the man mumbled more words that she couldn’t understand and pushed past her, his eyes glaring daggers. Stepping out, he slammed the door hard enough that some of the meat hanging nearby shook. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“Hunters have never really been social beings,” the butcher sighed and then looked at Keh’lani with a homely smile. “What can I do for you?”

***

Looking out on the bustling town stood a circle of trees and hills. Standing at the top of one of those hills were two figures. A pointy eared man with a dramatic purple hat looked down on the townspeople with a snide grin.

“Are you ready, my friend?” The man said to the one standing beside him.

A towering gaunt drow looking man, his pale complexion and chalky white hair causes his severely scarlet eyes to appear as if they are glowing. The twisted sticks and branches he wore around his head stuck out in jagged patterns from the sea of white that is his head. Draped around his shoulders and falling to his ankles was a blanket of woven leaves. He stood with curved posture, his sunken eyes also looking out onto the town.

“I guess,” the drow man shrugged.

“Well, I need to rejoin my circus. But, I wish you luck and do not be a stranger.” With that, the dramatic man turned and descended the grassy hill.

“Thanks, Marcel.” The drow whispered but his words did not reach the elf who had already disappeared into the lights of the town. He let in a deep sigh and nodded a good bye to the forest behind him.

***

The halfling women and young man made their way through the town towards the inn. The young man’s silver eyes float around the town as he walks. They darted away at the old man rambling on the street corner. They squinted at the small writing of a menu too far to read. They lingered on a few items laid out on a carpet for sale. A ring powdered with dust that showcases a glowing jewel, a pair of silk gloves with a unique sigil sewn into them that he recognized for exploration, and a steel lock and key both painted with rust that give off a recognizable energy. His feet began to wander toward the carpet when a tug on his cloak snapped him away.

At his knees Carlita stood, her green and brown eyes widened at him, pointing toward the direction they were walking. He lifted his head to see a crowd of people huddled together. He raised an ebony eyebrow at her and next thing he knew she was dragging him through the crowd.

“Hold on-” the young man started before getting a series of shoulders and elbows jabbed into him. People were holding bottles filled with a shiny purple liquid. As Carlita pushed to the middle of the crowd, a voice booming from it filled his ears.

In the middle of the crowd, up against the wall of the tavern, stood an elven woman. She wore a shit eating grin and had faded orange hair which fell under her pointed ears. Her hands wore white gloves that held out bottles of that mysterious purple liquid.

“Cure all elixirs!” She shouted to the crowds. “Cure any injuries, illnesses, or fatigues! Only fifty gold pieces!” Carlita and the young man both step forward toward the woman. “Why hello there! Are you up for an elixir? Only fifty gold pieces!”

“Hi,” the young man muttered. “Cure all elixirs? Are these healing potions?” The elven woman’s eyes widened and she leaned into conversation with the two of them.

“They’re even better than healing potions,” she whispered. “They come from my god The Enchantress.”

“They’re magic?”

“Even better.” The woman smiled at the young man and held out a bottle to him, the enchanted purple liquid shining within it. “You seem like you know magic.”

“Yes, I am interested in the properties of your elixirs.”

“Ya know what, I’ll give you a discount because I appreciate the interest. Thirty gold just for you.”

The young man’s eyebrows raised and he looked down at his halfling friend. Carlita only looked at him with dead eyes and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out thirty shimmering gold coins and dropped them in the palm of the elven lady who curled her fingers around them. She handed the shining bottle to the young man and stuck out her hand.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” she smiled. “The name’s Liz Lightfire.”

“Dante,” the young man said and shook her hand. “And this is Carlita. Lightfire, do you happen to be related to-”

“Yes, my father is the famous apothecary of Etherbright. But, I just travel, selling my product and spreading the word of the Enchantress.”

“Interesting.”

“You two don’t exactly seem like the usual crowd of this town. What are you doing here?”

“That would be correct, we aren’t from here. We came to see the circus.” At the mention of the circus Liz’s eyes lit up.

“You two are here for the circus as well!”

“Well,” Dante said looking around, “we had a third with us but she’s gone off somewhere.”

“Ya know what,” Liz threw her arms around Dante and Carlita, the height differences putting her soldiers at more of a slant. “You’re going to the circus, I’m going to the circus, I can tell we will be great friends.”

“Friends?” The young ebony haired man muttered.

“Of course! Have you guys already got your rooms?”

“Well, not yet, we were on our way to go check in. Have you? Since, you were kind enough to give me a discount on my purchase it would only be fair for me to repay the favor by paying for your room-”

“That would be great!” Liz began to stuff some of her bottles back into a bag. “I really appreciate it…” Liz lifted her eyebrow as she looked at the bottle in her hand. Her head then whipped around at a kid carrying a suspiciously full sack on his back. “Hey! Those are my bottles!”

When she shouted at the messy haired kid his eyes widened and he ran into the crowd, disappearing before anyone could figure out where. Carlita began to run after him when Liz put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said to the halfling. “They were just a few bottles, I’ve got plenty.”

***

Celeborne roams through the people-filled streets of Willowsdale, standing tall above everybody’s heads. The eyes of those around him seared into the white haired man’s skin causing discomfort to rise in his chest. Heat flushing his cheeks from the attention, he took a turn to step into an alleyway when something slammed into his leg followed by a crashing sound.

His ruby eyes looked down to see a young boy at his feet looking up at him with widened eyes. A bag was at the boy's side and it had broken bottles leaking out of it. A peculiar purple liquid covered the smashed bottles and opening of the bag, darkening it’s color.

“Hey kid, you should watch where you’re going,” Celeborne said, reaching for the bag next to the boy. But, all the boy did was swipe his hand away and cry over the broken bottles. Celeborne’s eyebrows furrowed at the sight before him. “What even are these bottles?”

“Hey!” The white haired man whipped his head around at the shout of someone else approaching him, a blonde man with a lifeless elk hanging over his shoulder. The man stomped toward him with a furious look on his face. “What the hell are you doing to his kid?”

“What?” Celeborne’s face was filled with disbelief. “The kid ran into me! I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing.”

“Yeah, sure, this kid who is one fourth your ran into you.” The blonde man looked down at the crying child and then back at the drow. “Get out of here.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Celeborne snapped and made his way out of the alley.

***

The bell to the door of the tavern rang as the shaggy blonde man stepped in. Eyes stared at the lifeless elk bouncing over his shoulder.

“Welcome back Braxton,” the owner of the tavern, a curly haired woman, said.

“Yeah,” Braxton muttered and dragged his feet to his room.

***

Small break from the storytelling format? Just for time reasons I’m only going to fully write out the important parts of each session. So, what happened next? Braxton tried to carve up the elk in his room, but he didn't know how to properly do it, so the elk’s blood spewed all over him. He walked out to go clean himself up at the lake when in the hall he saw Keh’lani and Celeborne again this time with Dante, Liz, and Carlita. The five had met up and Dante decided to pay for all of their rooms. Celeborne also decided to pay for everyone’s tickets, because he gets a discount as a friend of Marcel, in favor of the free room. Celeborne commented on all of the blood Braxton was covered in so Braxton told him to piss off.

Down at the lake, Braxton washed his clothes when he met a mysterious man named Vincent. Braxton didn’t take much of a liking to Vincent and watched as he headed back in the direction of the circus caravans. The next day was the night of the circus and the group went to go watch the performance, well all except Braxton who went hunting instead. Stay tuned for part two!

[mommymooze]

A Lesson in Beekeeping

Claude x reader

Warning: bee sex discussed. Honeybees. Bee Stings. The noble worker bee giving up her life for the hive

  Today is a free day. Free from classes and studying and homework. Everyone needs time to themselves to relax and do what interests them. You’re deep in the woods near the monastery, collecting plants, seeds, flowers and mushrooms. Your restful time alone is interrupted as Claude, your house leader, has found you.

“What’s a little girl like you doing out in the dark spooky woods? You better watch out for big bad wolves!” Claude laughs.

“I’m not Lys. This isn’t frightening.  The higher altitude and specific climate divergence varies greatly from what I am accustomed to, as well as the flora has specific diverse qualities that interest me.”

“No need to go all Linhardt on me.” The dark haired male backpedals.

“New place, new plants.” You translate.

“You’re not going to complain about being called little?” Claude elbows you, digging for a reaction.

You roll your eyes. “My stature is undisputed. 95% of the student body is taller than I am. As time passes, the percentage pullulates.”

“So now what am I going to pick on?” Claude shrugs.

“Your pants, most likely, you’re standing amongst cockleburs.” You grin.

Pulling your notebook out, you scribble something on a page, stuffing a few leaves in the book before you return it to your pocket.

The next day, Professor Byleth makes an announcement to the class. “The kitchen is in need of anyone who is familiar with collecting honey or bees.” She continues to read the note and frowns. “Honeybuns no longer available in the kitchen.” She looks panicked.

Dorothea, recently recruited into the house raises her hand. “Ferdinand is much like a bee, send him!”

You raise your hand. “I will assist.” You do not mind missing the afternoon class for weapons training and maintenance, since you are a mage, it does not interest you.

“I’ll give it a shot.” Claude throws his hat into the ring.

“You guys are creepy, wanting to play with bugs.” Lysithia snipes.

Class ends and everyone heads out for lunch. Byleth thanks you and Claude for saving the honey buns.

You finish lunch quickly and head to the back entrance of the Kitchens. Martha greets you and hands you a few buckets and sharp knives. They don’t really have the beekeeping equipment, the keeper left suddenly due to his mother becoming ill.

“Looks like we’re going to have to improvise.” You groan.

“To be honest, I’ve never done this before. Always willing to learn something new though.” Claude confesses.

You frown at him. “You’re just curious because their stings contain poison.”

Claude looks away.

You run over to the Golden Deer lunch table. “Professor, we’re going to need assistance gathering equipment together. I’m going to leave the buckets and knives here, if anyone can add to it bring it here. Dorothea, do you have any stiff wide brimmed hats? I need 2. Leonie, can you bring some scissors, needles, thread and thick twine string or cord. Going to need about 3-4 meters. Does anyone have any thick extra leather gloves? Especially if you don’t want them back because they are going to get messy. A pair for me and a pair for Claude. We also need 2 white long sleeved shirts. Ignatz, if you have a spare that would be wonderful. Need one for Claude too unless he has one.”

You run off to the marketplace to find some dark black diamond netting with the smallest holes you could find. Back at the dining hall the Deer have done the deed and all needed items are acquired.

You create a beekeepers veil from the hat, stitching the netting around the brim of each hat. Wearing the long sleeved shirt you put the hat on, then tie the hat itself on with it’s ribbons so it won’t fall off when you bend over. Then you tie the string over the veil around your neck so that the string goes under the collar of the shirt. Putting on the gloves, you stuff the cuffs inside then wrap the open end of the gloves shut with gauze, pinning then tying it with more string.  At the bottom of your pants you tie them around your ankles keeping them close over your socks. You take extra string and wrap them around bundles of semi dry weeds you pilfered from the compost pile.

You are ready for the battle of the bees.

“How do you know all this?” Claude asks as you head out around the walls of the monastery. The bees are located around the back by the fruit trees.

“Grew up a farmer. Brothers wrangled the larger animals. I was stuck with smaller ones. Chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits and bees. Need bees to pollenate fruit trees.”

“An expert on the birds and bees. Got it!” Claude grins.

“Have you ever been stung by a honeybee?” You ask him.

“Dunno. I’ve been stung by all kinds of bees. Black ones, yellow and black, black and white.” He shrugs.

“Claude! Just like every four legged animal is not just a horse, every flying insect is not necessarily a bee!!” You chastise him. “Honeybees are mostly non-threatening unless you are invading their home or disturb them while they gather nectar.” You stop at a nearby flowering bush. “This bush has all sorts of insects on it.” You take the sharp knife and point at a few different ones identifying them. Bluebottle fly, paper wasp, hornet, sweat bee, carpenter bee, bumblebee and finally honey bee.

“Most of the stinging insects have a sharp, smooth, pointy stinger, like Felix’s sword. The honeybee has a barb at the end of its stinger. Think of Byleth’s fishhook. The smooth stingers, can sting multiple times each putting a little poison in. Honeybees, when they sting, their barb gets stuck in your skin, and it rips off their stinger. When the stinger rips out, the poison sac comes along with it. The bee then dies, they are literally giving their life protecting their homes. Never use your fingers to grab the stinger to remove it, you are squeezing more poison into you. Scrape it off with the blade of the knife.”

“Good to know.” The archer nods.

“We are headed out to work on the bees. As soon as you notice you have been stung, we move away and make sure it won’t kill you. If it itches or swells a little, that’s normal. If you swell up to 10 times your normal size and stop breathing, you’re allergic.” You warn.

“Understood.” The Deer’s leaderman nods.

  At the middle of the orchards are several different tables and boxes.  You put the knife and bucket on the table. Inside of the boxes, with the front completely open, are what look like upside down baskets. They have a small hole in front that the bees are going in and out of at a fast rate.

“First we need smoke.” You instruct, taking out a bundle of semi dry weeds, lighting the ends with fire magic until most of the ends catch fire, then you blow the fire out. The weeds give off lots of smoke.

You tell Claude to wait by the table. You quickly go in front of a hive and lift it, pulling it out of the boxlike shelf and placing it on the table. You lift the hive pulling it to the edge of the table and let the smoke go into the hive for 30 seconds or so.

“Smoke gives the bees something to do besides chase you. When bees smell smoke, they think there is a fire in the hive. That means they have to grab what they can and get ready to leave. The bees are filling their stomachs as fast as they can and will fly off when the heat is too much.  Another benefit of this is the bees will have a full stomach and are less likely to sting you. The bee has to curl its body to the front of it to sting you, like bending itself into a letter C. That is much harder to do when its gut is full, less likely to sting.”

You look underneath again There are several rows of beeswax combs hanging down with bees crawling all over them many bees face first into cells eating. You squat down low so you can look up into the hive. The white beeswax comb on the outside looks like it is empty, the next section of comb looks like it has some nectar or honey in it, and the one after that looks like it is fat with honey that has been covered over by the bees.

“Ok. This is a skep, we try to get bees to build their hives in them. It is thick rope that is bound together in sort of a bell or upside down pot shape. The bees start at the top and attach wax to the top, then create these combs. The combs are built hexagonal cells on each side at the tiniest bit of an angle, facing up in a wide V shape. That is so they can put nectar in it and fill it almost half way. Once the nectar is in, other bees will evaporate the water from the nectar by fanning their wings. Once enough water is evaporated, it turns the nectar to honey. Once it is the right thickness they fill the cell up completely, then bees cover it with wax to preserve it. Then we steal it.”

You stick the knife between the ropes of the skep. You cut through the beeswax at the top and sides of the third comb from the left until it comes loose in your hands. Gently, so gently, you pull it out from the hive. It has some bees on it, but most of them stay inside the hive.

“Honeycomb is made from wax that the bees shed off their bodies. They chew it until soft and build these perfectly symmetrical 6 sided cells. Notice the bottom of the cells on this side matches with where 3 cells come together on the other side. Makes it super strong. This honey is heavy, at least 15 pounds on this one chunk alone. We only want to take honey, and the honey should be covered by wax.”

You tilt the comb to the right and some liquid runs out of a few cells.

“Too watery. Bees didn’t cover it and won’t until it evaporates more. Whatever spills the bees will collect and put into their hive again.”

There is about 16 centimeters of comb at the bottom where there is nectar not covered or just empty. You cut this from the rest of the honeycomb, placing the capped comb in the bucket.

You take the part that is cut off and hold it to the light.

“Sometimes you can see eggs in the bottom of the combs that do not have nectar in them, those are bees of the future. I am not wasting this. I’m going to melt the wax at the cut and put it back where I took the other part out.

Squatting under the hive, you summon magical flames, melting all along the cut edge of the wax and nectar, sticking it into the space you took the top of it from. Holding it up there you wait a bit for the wax to cool and it sticks. You leave the next couple combs alone, looking at the opposite side. You don’t want to disturb the queen or babies. The bees keep their spare honey to the sides of the nest where the queen is laying eggs. You decide to cut another chunk out. Gently taking it out you bring it to the table. There is capped honey about half way down. Then the honey stops and there is different colored darker stuff in the combs.

“The top is capped honey. Bees make it to feed the babies and feed themselves, especially in winter. Next they gather pollen. They even sort it keeping the types of pollen together. Grass, clover, ash, oak, maple, sunflower, if it has pollen bees take it. Heavy protein in pollen. They sort honey too. You’ll see all kinds of colors. Really light colored honey in the spring. Darker honey in the fall. Anyway, cells lower than that is where the queen lays the eggs. When the eggs hatch they look like larvae, you know, the stuff Teach fishes with. The bees feed the larvae honey and pollen. It grows and fills the cell. Once it is big enough it spins a cocoon, the adult bees cover them with wax. They pupate and turn into adult bees, chewing their way out and going to work in the hive.

You continue working as you harvest more honeycomb and try not to destroy any of the hard work of the bees by putting what comb you can back inside the skeps.

“I gotta know. Tell me about bee sex. Everyone talks about the birds and the bees.” Claude grins.

“There are 3 castes of bees. The queen. The worker. The drone. There is one queen in a hive. She is the only female that mates. She mates for maybe 7-10 days of her life, maybe 12 to 16 times. Spends the rest of her life laying eggs. Her body is the longest/biggest in the hive, her abdomen is quite large, swollen with eggs. It sticks out much farther than her wings. Next are the female workers. That accounts for 90% more or less of the population. They gather the nectar, bring it back, put it in the cells, dehydrate it, make wax, build cells, protect the hive, guard the hive, get rid of the dead, feed the queen, clean the queen, pollenate the flowers, collect the pollen and 100 other jobs. If there is work to be done they do it. They have the stingers that sting to protect the hive. Queens have stingers too, but theirs are smooth. They fight other queens, nothing else. That is why there is only one.“

“We can’t’ forget the drones, the males. They have no stinger. They do no work. They contribute nothing to the hive except for the queens genes. They don’t pollenate. Their only purpose is to go out and find a virgin or recently virgin queen to mate with. They mate while flying in the air. The drones hang out in an area looking for their lady love. Their eyes make up 80% or more of their head, go almost all the way around it. Once they see a queen, they fly after her. She flies high and fast and whoever catches her first gets her. He sticks his male part into her female part. Upon his entry, his part breaks off, and he falls to his death. She goes out again for more. Bees don’t mate with their relatives, each has their own smell. So they spread their genes around. “

“Gah!” Claude slaps his arm. “They got me!”

“Get over there by the wall and sit down!” You order him, quickly finishing what you were doing, then rushing to Claude’s side, away from the bees you take off your hat and veil putting your ear to his chest to listen. His heart sounds pretty normal. Breathing sounds good

“Where is the sting?” You’re looking him over.  

He points to his right upper arm.

“How are you feeling?” You’re watching the spot where he was stung, checking his fingers, his eyes, listening to his breathing.

“Talk to me for a bit. Just talk about anything. If your tongue swells up, that’s a bad sign. Talk so I know you’re okay.” You unbutton his shirt and pull it down over his shoulder to where the sting is.

“Gah! Just mention bee sex and you’re all over me!” He laughs.

The bee must have snuck inside his shirt, got into a small hole somewhere. His arm looks okay, the stinger is still in his arm and his skin is red around the stinger, the spot is about as big as a gold coin and slightly puffed up. Pulling a dagger out of your pocket, you scrape along his arm, flicking the stinger out.

All the while Claude keeps talking, counting trees in rows. Asking if you would be taking his pants off if he was stung in the leg…

“How are you feeling now?” You ask. “And that is why your pants legs are tied at the ankles. To keep them out.”

“Doing fine.” He grins. “The sting hurts a little less now. Not sweaty, not a real good poison. Mostly localized.

You put your ear to his chest again, checking on his breathing and heart rate.

“So how many stings before they really get to you?” The master tactician asks, his mind always working.

“If you are allergic 1, if you  are sensitive maybe 20? If you work with them all of the time? Well I had over 75 in a single day and it just made me a bit nauseous.” You say as you help him put his shirt back together. “Want to do more or call it quits? I don’t want to do this when it starts to get dark.”

You both agree to play it safe. Marking the hives that were harvested, you head to the kitchen dropping off the buckets of honey. There’s a few bees hanging out with the honey comb, but the kitchen can deal with them.

Heading back to the hives you finish cleaning up.

“So what did you bring to put bees in?” You ask.

“What?” Claude feigns innocence.

“Don’t be all innocent with me. You want some of their poison.” You grin. “Give it to me. I’ll get some in it and then show you how to get your poison. Oh, remember, male bees have no stingers right? I think we should prank Lorenz. It’ll give him a heart attack.”

Claude laughs heartily, “And here I thought you were nothing but a bookworm with no sense of humor.”

“I can have fun too!” You whine.

“Great, just come by my room any night you want to discuss more about the birds and the bees, eh?” He grins.

“Now you’re sounding like Sylvain.” You groan.

“Oooh, that was a major insult. I am wounded.” Claude laughs.

                                              ***********************

Yes. I am a beekeeper. I love my bees. I could watch them work for hours. The smell of a beehive on a warm summers day is amazing. 

[cherryplasmids]

☆ the lives you’ve left behind ☆

pairing: donny donowitz x reader

fandom: inglourious basterds—post-movie sequence

anon request: hi girl! i love your writing and i was wondering if you still write for donny donowitz? if you do i was wondering if you could do an angsty one? that's all i ask, you could take that and run with it however :)

notes: the reader has a kid  — aldo is referred to the reader’s child as ‘uncle’ but that doesn’t mean they are actually related. also, aldo is married to a girl name jenny

— the child is a boy named Alex for filler purposes

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"That's your daddy," You whisper, pulling the tiny bundle of joy closer to your chest. 

The infant, swaddled in a pale yellow blanket decorated with small brown bears, yawns but does not take notice of your words. Instead, Alex twists, stretches his arms out and settles back onto your chest. Without a care in the world, he just relaxes in the warmth that you've given him. An inkling of envy flashes through you—you would do anything to be that carefree again. But the war ruined everything, including your unbridled youthful attitude. 

"Handsome, isn't he?" You question as if the little one will respond. You'd be more scared than anything if he does. You wave the 4x6 photo forward to entice your baby to look. "The most handsome man I've ever seen. Everyone thinks so too, even your uncle Aldo but he won't admit to that.

"But don't worry, baby. You'll be just as handsome and charming as your old man was." 

As if he understands, the boy babbles happily, spit freely spilling over his lips and onto his cheeks. Grabbing a Kleenex from the bedside table, you wipe his face. It doesn't deter him. He continues to express his enjoyment through spit bubbles and random giggling. Your heart swells at the sight—his happiness contagious enough to erase your woes for the night. 

When the sun rises, you'll tell Aldo all about the affection your newborn has been showing. He'll run down the street to coddle his nephew. 

You don't continue until your baby boy calms down enough to the point where spit no longer seeps out of his mouth. By then, sleepiness is taking hold of him. He gives out a deep yawn. One of his tiny hands grips your right thumb while the other curls into a fist and rubs his eyes. A smile quirks at your lips. You take that as a sign to turn in. 

“I’ll tell you about your daddy’s love for baseball tomorrow okay? I’ll even show you his prized baseball cards. but you can’t tell him or he’ll have my head.”

He’s knocked out by the time you lay him down. You pray he’ll sleep through the night, allowing you to earn to some much-needed shut-eye he’s deprived you of for months. After tucking him in, you tuck the photo of Donny under his pillow. You press a gentle kiss on his forehead, whisper a few sweet words to him, and then glide out of the room, leaving the door ajar in case he wails for your attention. You make do with this system until Jenny, Aldo's wife, takes you shopping for a baby monitor. She knows a lot more about baby care than you do.

Sleepiness is taking you hostage too with a yawn escaping your lips every 1-2 minutes but you had housework to complete before the morning arrives. Mostly just clearing out boxes of gifts the Donowitz family had sent from Boston. Some of them were open, others weren’t. Gifts like a microwave or other kitchenware were left in their respective box. You’ll deal with those on a later date. 

There’s one box, though, that remains sealed. You inspect the plain cardboard container and see a word written across one side in neat cursive. But it isn’t the penmanship that has you gasping and dropping the box in shock.

No, it’s the word 'Donny' labeled across the surface that does.

It takes a moment or two for you to shake off the shock and another to get down to the ground. Sitting cross-legged, you stare at the box as if something will pop out and yell “surprise”—a harmful prank that will send you wailing for something you no longer had.

The knife seamlessly glides across the tape and you wonder when you reached for a knife in the first place. Your body is moving on its own accord without a thought concerning your mental wellbeing. While your heart thuds painfully against your ribcage, your hands steadily tear open the cardboard overlaps. 

Taking a deep breath, you open the flaps and find a single sheet of paper covering the rest of the objects. It reads “for my darling daughter, with much love.” It’s signed “Mama Donowitz”.

Underneath the letter reveals a boatload of miscellaneous items from Donny's youth that he's shown to you with pride. His prized Lefty Grove signed baseball, favorite Wrigley's chewing gum, and his worn and torn favorite baseball glove stood out the most. Little things like that made you grin to the point where your cheeks reached your eyes. Anecdotes of Donny's childhood run through your mind—his voice echoing pure excitement. You take your time admiring each item, trying to permanently engrave them into your memory just like you had with his stories. 

Then you find Donny's baby socks, embroidered with his name in red string.  All resolve you bottled up for months disappeared instantly. You completely crumble.

You press the little socks to your chest as tears freely stream down your face and onto your neck, coating the bare skin with liquid. A wail bubbles up within you, crawling up your throat at a steady pace. But when you open your mouth to scream, nothing comes out. It dies in your throat. The only effort you can commit to is to rock back in forth, allowing sobs to shake your body. If someone saw you, they might have thought you were convulsing. They might have even called the ambulance. 

The sobs don’t stop until hours later. By the time your heart calms down from its burning thrum, exhaustion envelops you. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

           Aldo kicks some dirt on the side of the road while lighting up a Chesterfield. It doesn't take long for him to reach your house since it's down the road. He checks his wristwatch before knocking on the front door. He has about 45 minutes to meet Jenny at the factory. He'll spend 15 minutes here for coffee before leaving. You always made better coffee than his wife. 

After some knocking and no response, Aldo takes it upon himself to check through the windows. Most of them are covered by curtains but the window facing the breakfast table isn't. He peers through, searching for you and his nephew wrapped in your arms. 

Instead, he finds you on the floor with no baby in sight. 

Aldo runs to the back door and searches for the hidden key. Besides the backdoor, he digs under the false rock where he remembered he put. It’s gone. The Chesterfield falls into the hole. He crushes it out and fixes the dirt on top. As an act of impulse, he stands up, goes to the backdoor, and punches out the small window panels on the door. The glass breaks easily and shards pierce his hand just as smoothly. Just glancing at it, he can tell his flesh is free from any lingering shards. A clean slice on his wrist bleeds moderately. 

He reaches on the opposite side of the door and tugs at the locks. Not a second later, the door slams open, and you shoot up in an upright position. 

Immediately, a fury of questions spews out of Aldo's lips, blending together and becoming unintelligible to your groggy brain. 

"Is it morning already? I swear I took a five-minute na—" You see Aldo's bleeding hand and gasp, reaching out to inspect his wound. Your current position on the floor completely escaping you for a moment. Aldo lets you worry for right now. 

You drag him up to the sink and run his hand over the open water. "Will I be alright, doc?" His odd accent leaves a few letters out. It reminds you of someone you try not to think about. "Ain't seen such a wound since the war."

Briefly glancing at him, he throws a wink and you gratefully smile. "You're the bane of my existence." You take his hand out of the water to wrap it in a big Band-Aid. It has crude miniature drawings of Mickey Mouse that make Aldo question them. "Just in case either your kids or mine get hurt, they'll immediately cheer up at seeing Mickey. Band-Aid should really invest in designing their product. Who knows how much money they could make?"

Aldo agrees as you finish. "You'll see another day, lieutenant"

He crookedly grins at you and thanks you for your service. You offer him some coffee which he enthusiastically agrees too. He checks his watch as he sits down at the breakfast table. Jenny will have his head if he's late. But he doesn't worry too much about that. She'll understand once he explains what happened. 

"Mind tellin’ me why I caught a heart attack on this fine Thursday mornin’? Findin’ you sprawled out like freshly ran over roadkill?"

"Disgusting, Aldo." You say while passing him his mug of coffee. You turn around to fix yourself a toasted bagel with cream cheese. "I guess I was so tired last night that I fell asleep sorting out the gifts." You lazily wave your hand at the unsorted boxes on the floor. 

Aldo walks over to the opened box in the middle of the kitchen and grabs the socks you dropped hours ago. He looks them over and notices a letter embroidered on the top. 'D' in red thread. 

"Those are Donny's." You confirm. Aldo meets your glazed gaze. 

Aldo sucks in a quick breath. It finally clicks in his head. Jenny will understand. 

“Darlin—" You look up at him with such a depressed expression that immediately shuts him up. All he does is gather you in his arms and rests his chin on your head.

 He hears you mumble something about how small Donny's feet were before you silently cry into his chest. 

After a few seconds, Aldo's cheeks become wet with his own tears as he mourns over not only his friend but the lives he left behind. 

────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────

word count: 1,661 published: august 21, 2020  edited: n/a

[nekojitachan]

Hmm, slowly working on Casts a Shadow ch8 while trying not to be distracted by the MDZS fic (so many ideas!). Trying to decide to post the next CAS chapter or upload the Raven!Andrew soulmate fic this weekend.

Either way, here’s a sneak peek at ch2 of CAS. Warning for the Nest, and dealing with sexual harassment in a... removing parts way.

*******

“You are such a speedy little demon; we should put a bell on you so we can at least keep track of you on the court,” Kari complained while she tousled Nathaniel’s hair. He grimaced at the affectionate gesture but allowed it since the offensive dealer was one of Natalie’s friends.

“You’re gonna give your mark fits once you’re an official Raven.” Octavia frowned as she handed over her apple. “We need to bulk you up some more by then.”

“He just burns it off,” Natalie said as she gave Nathaniel a slight nudge in the side. “This one seems built for running. Maybe he should be a striker or a dealer.”

“I like running,” Nathaniel mumbled after he swallowed a bite of apple; it was crisp and tart, just how he liked them. “And I do fine as a backliner.” He certainly had no problem blocking Riko and Kevin.

The three young women agreed and commented that lack of size didn’t equate to lack of toughness; Octavia and Kari were two of the newer Ravens, both sophomores, and among the few women on the team.

The Ravens – or at least some of them – had stopped being so standoffish with Nathaniel and Natalie in the last few weeks. Part of it had been them noticing the split (such as it was) between the two of them and Riko and Kevin (the ‘heirs’ of Exy), and part of it had been when John, an asshole freshman striker, had heard about Natalie’s sixteenth birthday and thought it a great idea to ask her if she was now ‘ready for some fun’.

Natalie had immediately pulled a knife on him and asked if he was ‘ready to live life as a eunuch’, while Nathaniel told her to leave him his balls and go for his dick instead.

For some reason, that had endeared the handful of women Ravens to them, and earned them the respect of some of the men. It also meant that Nathaniel had to put up with people messing with his hair and teasing him about his height (more the lack of it), about them being ‘asked’ to fetch drinks, snacks or other items during their downtime… but no one tried to hurt them.

(Other than Tetsuji when they messed up drills or practice, or Riko with his tricks out on court, but that didn’t count.)

Nathaniel supposed he could put up with becoming the Ravens’ ‘unofficial’ mascot when it made Natalie smile and got him extra fruit.

After lunch, everyone returned to their rooms or one of the common areas to study during the short time before the final practice of the day; Nathaniel and Natalie usually went to her room to do their homework together. They passed Riko and Kevin in the hallway since their rooms were nearby, and of course Riko couldn’t resist getting a taunt in while passing.

“Ooh, what class is it today? Reading for dummies?” He laughed at the pathetic joke while Kevin gave them an apologetic look; long used to the asshole’s antagonistic behavior, Nathaniel and his sister simply ignored him (which they knew would affect him the most).

For once, Riko left the insults at that, which was a surprise; he enjoyed taunting Natalie over the fact that, despite her being sixteen, she wasn’t that far past Riko and Kevin in academics since she’d dropped out of school after joining the Bloodhounds. She’d done an incredible job catching up while living in Baltimore, but Tetsuji’s intense training regime didn’t leave her much opportunity to study ahead so there was talk of holding her back at least a year, probably two, which would grant her more time to work on her Exy skills.

(Perhaps it was selfish of him, but Nathaniel wouldn’t complain about having Natalie around the Nest longer.)

They didn’t say anything until they were in Natalie’s room. “He’s been a bit odd lately,” she said as she fetched her laptop.

(There was no question about who ‘he’ was.)

“He’s an asshole,” Nathaniel muttered as he dug through his bag for his own laptop. “What’s odd about that?”

“It’s just….” Her brows drew together as she stared at the device’s blank screen then shook her head as she powered it on. “He was so angry when he found out about us swearing to Ichirou, but the last few days he’s been less antagonistic.” At Nathaniel’s dubious look, she rolled her eyes. “For an asshole.”

“Maybe he’s plotting something,” Nathaniel suggested as he logged on to his online classes. “Maybe he thinks he’s figured out something so much better than messing with our beds in that little asshole snake brain of his.”

Natalie smiled as she bumped into his left shoulder. “Tell me how you really feel about him.”

Like he needed an excuse. “He’s an asshole snake of a bastard who-“

His sister cut him off by smacking him lightly over the head with a pillow. “I think I get it!” When he batted the pillow aside and glared, Natalie grinned and pointed at his laptop. “Show some of that creativity for the essay you have to write for English.”

“School sucks almost as much as Riko,” he grumbled as he clicked on the mentioned assignment. “Hey, I’ll do your math if you-“

“No,” Natalie said, smile gone as she focused on her own lesson plan. “You need to learn more than math, Ram.”

“Why, when we’ll be playing Exy and doing stuff for Ichirou.” He narrowed his eyes when he spotted his latest reading assignment. “We gonna debate Pride and Prejudice while slitting some guy’s throat?”

“Perhaps,” she mused while she typed something. “You never know what triggers some people. Might be the thought of figuring out a calculus problem or they’ll lose a finger, or hearing the breakdown of War and Peace’s plot.”

Nathaniel gave his sister an intent look for several seconds. “You’re terrifying, you know.”

Natalie’s special smile returned, the one which she mostly reserved for him, the one that brought out the dimple in her right cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He resumed lying down next to her and forced himself to start on the detested essay. “Hey, why do people hate math so much?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Hmm, not sure, maybe because it doesn’t come to them as easily as it does you. Just like how you pick up languages.” She flashed the special smile again. “But not essay writing.”

“That’s for you to do.”

She hummed in pleasure and stroked a hand over his hair in agreement.

They studied for the rest of the hour (Natalie corrected his essay once he had it written, and he checked her math – they still covered each other like that), then they got ready for the last practice of the day.

There had been some uncomfortable stares from the Ravens when Nathaniel had first changed with them, as they took in the knife and burn scars on his chest and back, but now they no longer paid attention to them. Instead, they teased each other about who would score the most points or rack up the most blocks, then took turns rubbing Nathaniel’s head on the way out to court.

“Why?” he demanded to know as he fended off Gerry’s hand.

“For good luck of course!” the older backliner declared with a laugh, while his partner, Liam, nodded in agreement.

“Your fault for being a redhead, Nat,” Omar called out while he tugged on his gloves. “And so adorable. You should-oof.” He stumbled as Riko ‘accidentally’ swung his helmet at the junior striker while he stormed out of the locker room, a quiet Kevin ever his shadow.

“Spoiled little brat,” Omar muttered as he rubbed his ribs, a sentiment that was echoed by a few other Ravens; Nathaniel wisely kept his opinion to himself (even if it was much the same). He might badmouth Riko to his sister all the time, but they were still Moriyama property even if they now answered to Ichirou and not Tetsuji.

Tetsuji had Nathaniel, Natalie, Kevin and Riko work on drills while the official Ravens warmed up, then scrimmage together for a while. Nathaniel enjoyed the matches because even if Riko was an asshole who always used excessive force against him (which Tetsuji ignored), he was a talented asshole, along with Kevin (who wasn’t as much an asshole as Riko’s toady).

When it was time for them to stop and join in with the Ravens, Tetsuji ordered Nathaniel and Natalie to go back to working on drills; Riko smirked at them as he and Kevin left to join the older players. Nathaniel opened his mouth to complain about being deprived of scrimmage time, except Matsumoto offered to call out drills for them.

Tetsuji nodded in approval while Nakamori and Akagi fell in step behind the ‘Master’; normally, Nathaniel was uneasy around older men (especially ones his father’s age), but Matsumoto was in his early sixties, possessed a quiet voice and kept his hands to himself.

He was also very pragmatic and while he might be one of Tetsuji’s assistant coaches, he realized that ‘the Master’ and his grand Castle Evermore only existed with the main branch’s blessing. That meant he often passed along useful bits of information to Nathaniel and his sister.

They spent half an hour going through the eight Ravens drills (which they’d perfected) in the random order Matsumoto called out, knocking down cones again and again. It was while Nathaniel was setting up the cones yet again that he caught Matsumoto leaning toward Natalie and whispering something in her ear.

He had to wait until after dinner to find out what it was; Natalie joined him in his room. “It seems that someone owes a debt to Kengo, and the only way he can pay it back is to offer up his son, who plays Exy very well,” she explained in French.

For a moment, Nathaniel felt an intense wave of anger at the thought of another kid being sold to the Moriyamas, of having a father like his, before he shoved the thoughts aside. He jumped a little when Natalie gave a gentle touch to his left cheek (scrubbed clean for the night of the stupid ‘3’ which Riko insisted he bear). “I think it’s why Riko’s been acting up lately. Matsumoto said that he overheard Tetsuji telling Riko that you’re getting a partner, so he probably knows about the kid’s background.”

Nathaniel huffed as he rubbed his sore ribs, the ones which Riko had smacked with his racquet earlier in the day. “Knowing the asshole snake, he’s probably expecting a new ‘toy’ to play with.” One his big brother wouldn’t snatch away this time.

“Perhaps.” Natalie didn’t appear pleased with the thought, but there wasn’t much they could do about Riko’s personality worsening by the month. “Come, time to practice.”

“Slave driver,” Nathaniel groaned even as he climbed off his bed and slipped free the knife he kept sheathed on his left ankle at all times; he figured the sooner he suffered through their nightly fighting practice, the sooner he could sleep.

More like pass out on his bed, by the time they were done.

Jean Moreau arrived two days later, a young Frenchman around Kevin’s and Riko’s age, with black hair, grey eyes, and a massive attitude problem. He glared down his nose (of course he was taller than Nathaniel) at everyone but the adults while Tetsuji introduced him to the rest of the ‘Perfect Court’ (as Riko had dubbed the four of them). “Nathaniel, Jean will be your partner. He’s a backliner, too.”

“Understood, sir,” Nathaniel said with a slight bow.

“You’ll teach him everything he needs to know.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’ll be-“

“I don’t want to be here!” Jean complained in French as he tugged on the front of his new uniform, which bore the number ‘4’. “All of you can go to hell, I refuse to-ow!” His pale grey eyes grew wide as he stumbled forward beneath the force of the blow to his back from Tetsuji’s cane.

“You’ll speak English,” Tetsuji reprimanded while Riko smirked and Kevin stared off into the distance as if he wasn’t participating in the whole ‘here’s a new possession’ thing.

“I’ll speak whatever I wa-ow!” That time, Jean was knocked to his knees, where he was hit several times before Tetsuji relented; Nathaniel was disgusted to notice the gleam of pleasure in Riko’s dark eyes over the abuse.

[theheartsmistakes]

The Last Night Part XX

A/N’s at the end:

Parts I-XIX:

Here is Part I

Here is Part II

Here is Part III

Here is Part IV

Here is Part V

Here is Part VI

Here is Part VII

Here is Part VIII

Here is Part IX

Here is Part X

Here is Part XI

Here is Part XII

Part XIII

Part XIV

Part XV

Part XVI

Part XVII

Part XVIII

Part XIX

.XX.

Lucie was already awake when the knock came at her door. She’d been up with the sun writing a letter to Grace for her next available time to meet so that they could continue with their plan to resurrect Jesse without having to sacrifice a life. She’d been up half of the night with ghastly dreams of herself holding a knife to the neck of someone she loves. When it came down to it, even in her wildest imagination, she couldn’t bring herself to do it; not even to a stranger. When it seemed sleep would allude her, she did what she’d always do when reality came to be too much. She sat at her small writing desk pressed underneath the window so she could see the moon and the stars once the clouds had broken away enough. She started a new story. Disappearing into a different reality with new, but familiar people, and stayed with them until dawn. In her alternative universe, there was no mention of demon attacks, murder rates, or pretentious leaders. Instead, they flowered with friendships and love pursued, sustained, or left in need of resuscitation. The pages smelt soft as if sprinkled with powder. She wrote until her wrist ached and her fingers locked and she was forced to rest.

Lucie had just finished buttoning the pearl buttons down the front of her dress when a small knock came at her door. She picked up her gloves and companion hat and glanced once at the drying pages on her desk.

Her hands were stained with black ink that even the fiercest scrubbing wouldn’t remove. Her once clean and neatly trimmed nail beds were all colored with ink. When she woke this morning, she found a mark on her chin, across her forehead, and even some on her bottom lip. Luckily, those came off with a bit of soap and warm water. She recalled the hands of a painter that once did a portrait for the Institute. Not only his hands were riddled with color, but his clothes and his traveling bag as well. An artist doesn’t need to speak or show off their work to be known as an artist. An artist wears their work wherever they go.

She smiled to herself as she opened the door to find their butler with a letter sitting on a silver tray.

“The post arrived,” he said and lowered the tray for Lucie. “Breakfast shall be ready shortly. Are you in need of any assistance this morning.”

As soon as she saw the neat, elegant gold lettering of her name on the smooth parchment, Lucie nearly leaped onto the letter.

“No, thank you,” she fumbled. “That will be all.” And shut the door with her foot.

Without a letter opener close by, she used her finger to slide underneath the wax seal and pulled out the letter, tossing the envelope aside as she unfolded the paper.

Dear Lucie,

I am writing to request your assistance with some correspondence letters I have been needlessly putting off for the last month. If you find yourself with some time today, would you be so kind as to come by the house at any time after noon. The back door will be open. You can see yourself in.

Best,

Aunt Cecily

Clever girl, thought Lucie. Pretending to be her Aunt as to not give away their agenda. Perhaps she did not give Grace the full credit she deserved.

She folded the letter into a small rectangle and stuffed into the bodice of her dress. As she turned to leave, her gloves slipped from her hands and her mouth dropped.

Jesse leaned against the door. With his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes held her face with a rage that rivaled even her own anger.

“And what is it that you want?” She asked with a slight break in her voice.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going.”

Lucie scoffed. “And are you going to be the one who stops me?”

“Yes,” he growled.

“Is this how it’s to be?” She brushed a curl away from her face. “I do something you don’t particularly agree with and you suddenly become my own personal poltergeist?”

“When you’ve left me no other choice,” he said. “I’m trying to leave you alone. I realize I made a mistake by taking advantage of your ability to see me. I’ll never forgive myself for giving into the selfish ideology that after so many years alone, I finally had someone to talk to, that it never occurred to me the wild, beautiful girl would try to resurrect my lifeless corpse.”

“A terrible mistake on your part,” said Lucie, picking up her gloves from the floor.

Jesse stepped away from the door. “I tried staying away from you, but that clearly hasn’t worked. You’ve just managed to get yourself into even more trouble.”

“I need you to move,” said Lucie.

“Lucie, you cannot go there. It’s dangerous. Whatever you’re thinking, whatever they’re planning, it will not bring me back. Not as I was and not as I am now.” He reached for her, but his hands stopped in the air, as if he suddenly thought better of it. His expression softened. “In truth, this is something that I never wanted to confess to you, I’d hoped that you’d simply just let me go. But I realize how important it is now. Lucie, the way you think you feel about me, I don’t feel that way about you.”

Lucie rocked back on her heels just a bit. “And how is it you think I feel about you?”

“An infatuation,” said Jesse. “I’ve let it go on because there’s not many people to talk to when no one can see you. I’ve been alone for so long, quietly observing everything, but never able to engage. And then one day, I heard a girl’s voice in the forest, calling for help and I felt this pull to answer her. A pull that I couldn’t ignore. I never expected you to be able to see me— much less communicate with me, but you could. And it felt like dry land after months at sea. I’ve been using you, Lucie. Selfishly using you, because I couldn’t stand to be alone any longer.”

Lucie’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying these things so I won’t go.”

“It’s true,” said Jesse. “Lucie, you’ve been a great friend, but bringing me back to life won’t make us more than that.”

He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t mean it. He was just trying to push her away; protect her. But the doubt crept in all the same. He never once insinuated that their relationship was anything more than a strange friendship. If he were all she had to talk to in the world, she felt she would have clung to him, if only not to be alone.

Warmth spread across her cheeks. She had to look away from him. She needed to leave. “Please move,” said Lucie quietly.

“Are you still—“

“Move,” she said again and his form brushed aside as if shoved by the wind. Jesse stumbled for a moment, while he gained his bearings again, Lucie pulled open the door and left.  

Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she managed to hold them back. If this was his truth, it was best she knew. Still, the anger boiled inside of her until she almost turned around twice to tell him that she wasn’t bringing him back so they could ride off into the sunset together. She was giving him his life back because he didn’t deserve to die when he did. The way he did. He deserved to live and if she could give that to him, with nothing in return, then that would make her happy.

But if that wasn’t what he wanted, then perhaps it wasn’t her place to force it upon him.

She ran past the empty drawing room and turned the corner to descend the hallway to the dining room when she stopped.

Standing outside the door, pacing like a nervous jungle cat in a cage, was Cordelia. As Lucie approached, it seemed she was speaking in an entirely different language to herself, muttering to hands without noticing Lucie’s approach until she stood right behind her.

“Oh!” Cordelia stumbled back, clutching her chest. “Lucie, I didn’t hear you.”

Lucie appraised Cordelia, her hair was pulled back and braided into a coronet that ran into a braid down her shoulder. Her dress was a soft honey color that swooped across her chest exposing her delicate collarbone. The intricate beading had spots missing, but Lucie could still tell it was one of Cordelia’s most treasured items, if only because she’d never seen her wear it before.

“You look lovely,” said Lucie, running her fingers over the soft silk of the skirt that held Cordelia’s curve closely.

“Do I?” Cordelia blanched. “I supposed I’m trying to make a bit of an impression today.”

Lucie looked around the empty hallway. “On whom?”

Cordelia blushed. “It’s a bit of a long story, and I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable by telling you this information, but James and I may have kissed last night.”

Lucie’s eyebrow jumped and her traitorous heart ached. “May have?”

Cordelia grinned down at her distressed leather boots. “All right, we did. But before we could discuss it, my brother walked out and said all of these awful things to him. I haven’t been able to talk to him yet. I feel terrible.”

“Is that why dinner was so awkward last night?” asked Lucie, recalling the silent meal that passed between everyone except for the adults who kept attempting to make conversation, but couldn’t manage to get more than a few words out of the young adults sitting at the end of the table. No one would make eye contact and Cordelia just pushed the vegetables around her shepherds pie. Lucie had just assumed it was because she didn’t like shepherds pie. “Is James in there now?”

Cordelia shook her head. “My brother is sitting in there alone. A ploy to be sure James and I aren’t alone together. I was hoping to catch James before he came to breakfast, but I haven’t seen him come down. Oh, do you think he’s avoiding me?”

“No,” Lucie assured her. “He’s probably dressing as we speak and taking just as much care as you have.”

“Is it too obvious?”

“No, just the right amount of obvious,” said Lucie. “Sometimes I think my dear brother needs a brilliantly lit beacon for a sign and even then it might wallop him over the head before he saw it. Why don’t you go find him now and I’ll distract Alastair?”

“Because I can’t risk someone seeing me go into his room alone and I can’t very well speak to him freely in the open hallway,” said Cordelia, burying her face in her gloved hands. “I was hoping to catch him before breakfast and ask him for a morning walk. I don’t know what to do, Lucie, I’ve never been in this sort of situation before. And now I have Alastair hovering around me like a judgmental headmistress at a convent.”

“Have you a lot of experience at convents?” teased Lucie.

“You know what I mean,” said Cordelia.

Lucie smiled and patted her dear friend between the shoulders. “I do. Now, here’s what we’re going to do—“

Before she could give Cordelia her plan, James ran into the hallway. His hair stood up from sleeping on it wet and his gear was buckled incorrectly as if he’d done it in a hurry and without glancing in a mirror. Lucie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She looked over at Cordelia who was beaming as if a witchlight had been stuffed inside of her.

“The post arrived—“ James started but was quickly shushed by a gloved hand over his mouth.

Cordelia lunged at him. “Shhh… we must be quiet. Alastair is there.”

James stiffened. “Good. I mean to speak to him.”

“That’s a terrible idea,” said Lucie, blocking the door. “I think the two of you have more to speak about than you and Alastair. Besides, it’s barely nine in the morning. That’s far too early for blood shed.”

James took Cordelia’s hand as if in some sort of act of defiance. “I am not going to sneak around your brother. I’m not going to sneak around anyone. We’ve spent far too much time in secret, I won’t do it anymore.”

Cordelia seemed to melt into herself as she leaned towards James.

Lucie snapped her fingers between them. “That’s wonderful, but now is not the time. What was in the post?”

James tore his eyes away from Cordelia to look back at his sister. He looked at her with a confused expression as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

“The post,” Lucie demanded. “You said the post arrived. What was in the post?”

“Right,” he shook his head. “Magnus replied. He said that he found it suspicious that we chose to write him a letter rather than show up at his door unexpectedly and unannounced as history suggests. Suspicious and intriguing, he said, so he’s invited us over this afternoon.”

“Wonderful,” said Cordelia. “How are we going to get past my brother?”

The three of them thought for a moment. If Alastair had any suspicion that Cordelia would be going off with James alone, he’d be sure to insist on joining or not allowing it at all.

“You’ll tell him you’re coming with me,” said Lucie. “I have to go to Aunt Cecily’s this afternoon to help her with some correspondence. You can tell him that you’re joining me. James, what time are you supposed to patrol with Matthew?”

“Noon,” said James.

“That’s perfect,” said Lucie. “You’ll look as if you’re going off to meet Matthew to patrol and Cordelia will look as if she’s joining me to go to Cecily’s except Cordelia will hop into your carriage instead of mine.”

James and Cordelia stared at Lucie for a long moment before either of them said anything.

“That brilliant, actually,” said James.

“I know, now fix your gear,” said Lucie. “You look like an idiot.”

Lucie speared another sausage onto her fork from the steaming plate in the middle of the dining room table that had been neatly done up with slow burning candles and plain white china plates. Tessa and Will had left the Institute early to attend a meeting with the Counsel. Sona was being visited by a Silent Brother who insisted on keeping a close eye on Sona’s pregnancy due to her age and fragility.

The meal prepared was as extravagant as the table setting: piles of fresh sausages, perfectly browned toast with freshly churned cinnamon butter, golden scrambled eggs, bacon slices, and bowls of seasonal fruit sprinkled with sugar.

The smell wafted through the Institute like a beacon.

Lucie sat beside Cordelia who sat opposite Alastair. He’d finished his breakfast before they left James to ready the carriages. With his plate cleared from in front of him, he flipped through the mundane newspaper occasionally glancing up to examine the two girls opposite him.

The silence between the two Carstairs was palpable. If Lucie wasn’t so nervous herself about having to go to Grace and tell her that she no longer wanted to help bring Jesse back, she might have tried harder to fill the silence. But with her own thoughts racing with the truth Jesse had shared with her, she couldn’t bring herself to even try.

“What are your plans for today?” Alastair asked gently. “I thought we could go to the park and get some fresh air. Maybe that will help to restore some of your memories.”

Cordelia’s fork clanged against her plate. “Lucie’s Aunt needs help responding to correspondences today. I’ve been asked to join her.”

“Oh,” said Alastair. “That’s all right. Do you need an escort?”

“No,” said Cordelia sharply. “James will be busy patrolling with Matthew so you needn’t worry about the two of us sneaking off together.”

Alastair’s mouth stiffened. “Cordelia, I know that you’re angry with me, but—“

“I’m not angry,” said Cordelia, pushing her plate of food away. “We can walk around the park tomorrow or perhaps this afternoon. There are some things we aren’t finished discussing, but if you’ll excuse us, our carriage should be ready and Cecily is expecting us.”

Lucie followed Cordelia when she stood up from the table, but before she turned to leave, she saw Alastair look down at his hands resting in his lap. His mouth muttered something under his breath, probably something he wanted to say to Cordelia, but couldn’t bring himself to. For all of his faults, and he had many, Lucie could recognize the love in his eyes towards his sister.

The two girls left the room, hurrying through down the hallway towards the front doors where two carriages waited. James sat in the driver’s seat of the open one that was mostly used for transporting items. Balios stood patiently while James hopped down and assisted Cordelia into the spot beside him on the bench.

“We’ll meet back at the Institute at three,” said Lucie, that would give them plenty of time for Magnus to muddle through Cordelia’s mind and James to look for the book while she abandoned her plan to help Jesse. “We need to come in together so no one will be suspicious. Good luck, Cordelia. If anyone can find your lost memories, it’s Magnus.”

“Let’s hope so,” said Cordelia and nodded at James to leave.

Lucie gathered her dress and climbed into the carriage waiting for her. She took her seat beside the window on the plush velvet bench and tried not to think about what she was about to do.

Jesse’s words played over in her mind until eyes burned. Maybe it was foolish of her to believe that there was anything more there; that he might actually care for her. Perhaps she did spend too much time in her fairytales that she’d lost touch of reality. Perhaps this was all for the best. She could focus on her training, on becoming parabatai with Cordelia, and finish her manuscript for publication. She’d have to think of a clever pen name, possibly a male one like Jane Austen had, so that her audience would expand past bored housewives.

And perhaps one day she’d meet someone. Alive, preferably, and her feelings for Jesse Blackthorn would be just a distant memory that she tucked into a box in her mind until they’re completely forgotten about, consumed by other things.

She wondered if he’d forget her too. If that was something he could do.

If it was something he’d done already.

It was nearly noon when the carriage came to a stop outside of her Aunt Cecily’s house. She did as Grace instructed and went around the back. The house looked dark when she approached the door though the garden. There was no light coming through the windows, normally Cecily had the doors open to let a breeze inside and some of the stuffiness out or the housemaids were hard at work dusting rugs, hanging laundry, or pouring out dirty mop water, but there was no such activity. Perhaps Grace preferred everything to be quiet.

Lucie rapped her knuckles on the dark wood once. “Grace, it’s Lucie. I don’t want to frighten you by barging in.”

After a moment, when she heard nothing, she tested the door knob and found it unlocked. She pushed it open on  its aged hinges and walked into the kitchen. The curtains had all been drawn leaving the room dark except for small slivers of light where the sun came in through a break in the curtains. Flakes of dust danced in the air as Lucie passed through to the front drawing room.

“Grace,” Lucie called as she checked the chairs and the lounge sofa where they’d shared their bargain. The room was empty and quiet except for the sound of the old grandfather clock ticking away the seconds. “Grace, are you here?”

A chill drifted through the thin fabric of Lucie’s sleeves. There was a faint smell of burning wood.

Lucie turned towards the stairs leading up to the second floor.

“I don’t find this humorous,” said Lucie, and walked slowly up the stairs despite her instincts telling her to stop. “If you’re hiding because you don’t want to help me, well I’m here to tell you that I’ve decided to put an end to our plan. Your brother is adamant that he doesn’t want my help to bring him back and wishes to terminate all contact with me, so you can stop the theatrics now.”

She reached the top of the landing where the hallway split in two directions: West and East. Lucie glanced to her right and knew her aunt and uncle's room to be down at the end and Anna’s room being the first door on the left.

The sound of shuffling feet came from her left. She glanced in that direction just as the skirt of a white dress drifted into a doorway.

Lucie released a sigh and hurried towards the door. Words laced with venom filled her mouth as she stomped down the hallway and nearly kicked open the door.

“I sincerely hope you—“ The words were cut short. Laying in the center of a four poster bed in a black tailored suit, like he’d just risen from a nap, was Belial.

He grinned that cunning, familiar smile at her. “Good,” he said. “You received my message.”

A/N: Happy Halloween friends! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday whether it was spent watching scary movies alone or with friends, safely trick-or-treating in a neighborhood, or partying it up sipping booze through a straw and hole in your mask while dressed like Napoleon Dynamite or a ninja turtle (I'm not judging). Live your best life! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. We are starting to get back into the thick of it, and I for one, am excited. Please give it a like, tell me your thoughts on this chapter, reblog if you feel so inclined, and if you haven’t all ready give me a follow. I post about books, romance, and zero politics. Next update is coming at you, Nov 15!

[rainy-tree-bird]

Cruel Fate// Villain Midoriya x Reader

A/N: I’ve never written any fanfics with Midoriya in them(as the main focus), especially a villain Midoriya, so I hope this will do!

Warnings: Angst, slight Bakugou x Reader (Platonic), Swearing, Knives are present, breakup, villain Midoriya

-----

You were in a seemingly perfect relationship and in your eyes it was, you loved Izuku! He was everything you could ask for, but then one day he just disappeared. As if he just disappeared into thin air, his phone, clothes even shoes were still there in your shared apartment. The both of you were successful pro heroes, especially Izuku, he was quickly rising in the hero ranks and then one day, gone.

This broke you, the love of your life nowhere to be seen. You stopped working, just staying at home, not talking to anyone, barely eating and just drowning in your sorrows especially when the pro heroes and police stopped searching for him.

He had now been missing for two years and you had just gotten worse and worse. Your family and friends had now a full schedule to check on you and make sure that you actually ate and took care of the necessities you needed to survive. No matter who it was or what they did, they couldn't get you to stop the never-ending cycle of depression and need for your sweetheart.

You missed him badly. From the way, he held you in his strong arms every night as if he was protecting you from the dangers of the world to the way he would give you morning kisses on your forehead. You had practically used every piece of clothing that was his to just be able to smell him but now it all had disappeared since you had been slowly but surely worn each clothing item so it now smelled like you instead.

-

On the day that marked the third year since his disappearance, you were lying on the bed in your apartment, you just laid there not wanting to do anything. Hiding under the covers, clutching your pillow tightly. As you were doing this you heard your front door slam open and loud incoherent shouting. You ignored it just assuming it was Bakugou's turn to make sure you had eaten and that he was just in a pissy mood. Well, you had assumed wrong. (Partially at least)

Suddenly the covers on your bed disappeared exposing yourself to the cold apartment and at the foot of the bed was Bakugou. He looked pissed, to a point that you felt that he could kill you just by staring at you with those angry eyes.

-That's fucking enough you sad ass. You gotta get over him! Its been THREE FUCKING YEARS!

Bakugou screamed at you, his face red.

-I fucking understand that you miss him, hell even I miss Deku. But what the fuck are YOU ACCOMPLISHING hollowing up in your apartment!?

He continued screaming, tears now rolling down your face. Not because of the fact that he was screaming at you but because you knew that you were not accomplishing anything by just sitting around being sad and missing him, but you refused to listen to him. He walked up closer to you now standing beside you.

-Y/n you look like shit, what the fuck would Deku think if he saw you like this? Your not fucking alone, he was my-

Bakugou choked on his words, no longer screaming but speaking very sternly. You looked up at his face, tears were streaming down his face too.

-Even if I wouldn't admit it in front of that idiot... but he was one of my close friends, and I sure as hell know that he wouldn't want to see you like this. So quit your moping and come back, hell maybe if you came back and started working as a pro hero again you might even find that damn idiot...

This shocked you, how come you never thought of this? Bakugou had a point, you had to get your shit together...

-Fine, I'll get my shit together... I'll- ... I'll find him.

You mumbled. Bakugou fell silent, he wiped his tears.

-Damn fucking time and... thanks I guess.

He gave you a small smiled. He really has changed since high school and you appreciated the fact that he knocked some sense into you. Giving you that final push to stop moping.

And that's exactly what happened, after a year and a half you were back to working as a pro hero, going outside, being with friends and family. Sure you would never heal from the pain of Izuku disappearing but you were refuelled with new energy and you were going to find out what happened to the love of your life.  

-

One day you were out on patrol, a normal day or it was until you heard multiple explosions. You headed to see what happened and where you could help. The explosion and smoke lead you to a mall, the mall had exploded. You instantly ran inside the mall to find any survivors. You run around looking for people, debris everywhere, pieces of the building was falling onto the ground. Everything was destroyed.

As you turned a corner you fell backwards. Weight on your stomach, almost as if someone was sitting on you. And you were correct, on you was a female with blond hair put up in two messy buns, yellow eyes almost piercing your soul, a cruel, sadistic smile on her lips. You identified the female sitting on you as Toga from the League of Villians. One of her arms lifted holding a knife above your chest.

-Ooooh, won't you look here! You are so cute! But you would look SOOO much better with blood on you!

She exclaimed with a cheery voice. You looked around, you couldn't get her off you. Your quirk was not going to help you in this situation, she was also sitting on you in a position that you couldn't get out of. As you look at her with shock, without hesitation she moves her arm indicating that she's about to plunge the knife in her hand right into your chest. You close your eyes awaiting the pain of a stab.

Yet the pain never arrives, as you open your eyes you see Toga's knife only a few centimetres from your chest. A hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from plunging the knife into your chest. You look towards the direction of the arm stopping her. You didn't believe your eyes, it couldn't be possible. Right beside you, the person stopping you from being killed by this villain is none other than Izuku Midoriya, the love of your life, who had suddenly disappeared four and a half years ago.

-Leave Toga. I'll take care of them.

He says monotonously. Said female whines but gets off of you and runs off into another direction, probably to find a different victim. Izuku reaches a hand in front of you to try and help you up. Though you don't take his hand and stand up yourself. You are still in shock not believing that it's him but he looks like your Izuku and sounds like your Izuku. You observe how he looks like, whilst tears start to stream down your face.

He is wearing a white dress up shirt paired with a black vest and a black tie. Black trousers and shoes, plus a pair of black gloves. You blink multiple times, it looks like your Izuku but at the same time he doesn't, he seems more... Sinister.

-Y/n...

He eventually says with a soft smile. Multiple thoughts and feelings run through your brain and heart. You feel happy and relieved to know that he's alive and seemingly healthy and he's there, your Izuku. But at the same time, you feel angry and sad. If he's ok then where has he been this whole time and was he with Toga? It seemed like it...

-Where the fuck have you been this whole time?

You manage to choke out. You don't wait for an answer and continue to speak.

-Like you just disappeared one day. Without anything, no message... And now you're here, what the fuck Izuku?

All your feelings that you've had during the past five(ish) years now all came and turned into pent up anger, pent up rage. Izuku's silent but he eventually starts to speak.

-I left to become a villain, love. I realized that the hero society was awful. The heroes are a bunch of scumbags only there for the money and fame... It was better to become a villain. You understand right? Why don't you join me and we will be villains together? Come on, baby.

He states, his hand stretched out to take yours so you can join him. You look at him with shock and sadness, but it soon turns into disgust, fully visible on your face.

-Izu, what are you're talking about? I would never become a villain! What happened to you? Wheres MY Izuku!? The Izuku who wanted to become the number one HERO and bring peace to the world?! Not DESTRUCTION!

You pretty much scream. Izuku is silent for a second but then replies.

-This is just how it turned out after I found out the truth about the heroes. Come on, baby, please!

He says as he tries to get closer to you, you back away.

-You are not my Izuku...

You say quietly but loud enough so that he can hear what you said. He looks at you with slight shock. You try to walk away, just get away from here before you fully breakdown. You know that there are probably people out there that need saving, you can't just stand here talking to Izuku. But Izuku manages to grab your wrist and get you to stay. You recoil your arm not wanting to touch him due to the things he just told you.

-Come on Y/n. I'm sorry for disappearing like that, I really am. But we can start over, we can become a happy couple again! I never stopped loving you!

He says desperately as he tries to stop you from leaving. Your cheeks are now very wet and your eyes are starting to get puffy. You suddenly get a memory from when Izuku and you were in high school. You start to laugh through your tears. Izuku notices this and his facial expression is visible that he is wondering why you are laughing.

-Remember in UA when we first started our relationship and you said that you'd always be by my side?

Your facial expression showing clear pain as you ask Izuku this question. Your legs slowly getting weak. He looks first at you shocked, but he then smiles at the memory.

-Of course, I do and I will continue doing that, we'll always be with each other. Especially if you come with me, love!

He states, desperately wanting you to be with him.

-Yeah? Well, you disappeared for almost five YEARS Izuku! YEARS! You could've called, texted, hell even sent a letter but no! NOTHING!

You were now screaming at the top of your lungs, you couldn't contain the anger and sadness anymore. Izuku was silent.

-I've missed you so damn much and just wanted to be in your arms...

You said and it was true, that was something you had been wanting to do for the past few years. Your heart could barely take anymore. You were clenching your hero costume around the place where your heart was. Tears flowing down your face like rivers. Your whole body was shaking. Izuku was looking down at the ground in shame, his fists clenched in how disappointed he was in himself for leaving you for this long...

-And we c- ... we can do that again, I've missed you so much too! I'm ashamed of the fact that I left you and I realise now that I should've contacted you.

He said. He was extremely mad with himself. How could he be so blind and hurt you like this? Tears had started to form around his eyes.

-But- but now... I'm not so sure if I want to be in your arms anymore... Now that I know that you had all the possibilities in the world for you to contact me yet you didn't...

You were violently shaking from being this distraught and angry. You really weren't sure if you loved this man anymore. Izuku was once again looking at the ground in shame. You took a deep breath.

-I really didn't think that I'd say this after getting to see you for the first time in years but... due to the circumstances and the outcome that's happened... and I honestly thought that I would get to love you again. But I don't want to ever see you again.

You said in the coldest voice you could muster, tears now halting the flow. That was the breaking point for Izuku. He fell down to his knees, tears streaming down his face instead. His facial expression showing a mixture of shock, heartbreak and disappointment.

You took another deep breath and took the chance of leaving now that Izuku was in his own thoughts. You never thought this is what was going to happen but fate has cruel ways to mess with you...

[starrynite7114]

43. “What the fuck were you thinking?” And 57. “You look so fucking hot when your mad” ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for the request lovely! <3

Currently making my way through the requests! Request are still open if you all want to make one! :)

43. “What the fuck were you thinking?” And  57. “You look so fucking hot when your mad”

Looking at your watch, you began to become worried as Angel still wasn’t home. Even though he didn’t usually come home at a decent hour, you would think that during your birthday, your old man would make it a fucking mission to get home on time. Instead, you already blew out your candle and ate the dinner you made for both of you, or at least what you could have since your appetite truly wasn’t there. You’ve been with Angel for a little over five years now, the last 3 of it you’ve been engaged. 

Why haven’t you pulled the trigger?

Can’t really say. 

There were many factors that played a part. One was the fact you went to medical school as soon as you and Angel became engaged. Thankfully, you were accepted to UC San Diego and wasn’t too far from Angel. With your medical school education ending this year and moving on to residency, which thankfully, was at UC San Diego once again, you were thinking that maybe before residency, you and Angel could get married. But with everything going on with the club and the cartel, most recently, Los Olvidados, then maybe another three or so years till you could get married. 

Currently, you were sitting eating your ice cream cake as you watched the latest episode of Tiger King. It was your guilty pleasure, that bitch Carole Baskin. You chuckled at yourself as you shoved another spoonful of ice cream in your mouth. It was rare for Angel to miss your birthday. While you were angry at first, now you were worried. He also hasn’t been answering your phone calls, but he could be at the other side. You would call Coco, Gilly or EZ, but you knew that those four were always together. 

“Stupid Angel, stupid EZ.” You murmured to yourself. 

You met Angel through EZ since you two were classmates in Stanford. You and Angel didn’t immediately hit it off, but you two didn’t hate each other. He was EZ’s older brother and you knew better than to mess with your friend’s older siblings. But one thing led to another and you were now engaged to Angel. For some reason, your mother was absolutely in love with Angel and your older brother took a liking to Angel since they bonded over guns. It was a weird dynamic, but you loved it. 

As the next episode of Tiger King was about to start, your door burst open with Gilly assisting Angel inside. 

“What the fuck?!” You yelled out as you saw Angel’s blood soaked shirt and his face that was bruised up, with dried blood at the corner of his lips. “Are you fucking kiding me right now?”

“Y/N, we know this looks bad, but half the blood on his shirt is not even his.” Coco tried to calm you, which just earned him a glare. He held his hands up and instructed EZ to close your door.

“Hey baby,” Angel greeted before letting out a groan as Gilly sat him down on one of the dining table chairs. “Happy birthday.”

“Don’t,” you walked over to the guest room you and Angel had at your apartment, taking out the medial kit you kept in the event the club needed you or Angel was being an idiot. When you got back outside, Coco and Gilly were out in your patio smoking while EZ was helping clean Angel’s wounds. “Do I even want to know?”

EZ chuckled. “Your man has a smart mouth, got himself hit.” 

“The truth EZ.”

“That is the truth, we ran into trouble across the border. Angel was a smart ass, got hit a few times and cut by a knife.” EZ was telling the truth. He was thankful that Adelita saved them cause otherwise, he wasn’t sure where Angel would be right now or himself for that matter. 

You narrowed your eyes at Angel who gave you that annoying smile of his. “You still love me right?” 

“That’s debatable.” You took out a suturing kit so you could suture Angel’s wound. “Take off your shirt, and don’t be smart, I’ll give you another bruise on that face of yours.”

Angel took off his shirt as you asked and you assessed the wounds, thankful that it was just superficial. A few stitches would definitely benefit it. Usually, you would have a sterile field, but since you were working with these assholes, there was no need, it wasn’t like you could get some anyway. Putting on some gloves, you instructed Angel to lay down on the bed in the guest bedroom. His blood was not getting on the new comforter you got for your room. Nope. Not today Satan.

He grimaced as he laid down, but kept mum, not wanting to upset you further. Hell, he was upset too. He missed your birthday and he had this extravagant plan to whisk you away for a few days to Lake Arrowhead. He knew you needed a break, a break from everything that was going on and truthfully, so did he. 

“I love you,” Angel told you as you began to suture his wound. He flinched, hating the fact he couldn’t have some anesthesia, but he knew you would enjoy repairing his wound without it.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” You scolded him.

“I wasn’t thinking mi amor,” Angel really wasn’t. All he wanted was to get rid of that heroin that Adelita had stolen from Galindo. Now, he was paying for it and he was pissed. The last thing he wanted was to miss your birthday especially since he missed it last year. Though, you weren’t in town then and it was completely out of his hands, but this year was going to be different. He wanted to take you to Lake Arrowhead, where your family and friends were waiting, so you two could get married. 

This was the one thing he wanted to do for you after everything you two have been through. He was honestly surprised you two have lasted this long, but he was thankful you didn’t give up on him. This wasn’t about his insecurities or whatnot, but he definitely didn’t think he deserved to have someone as patient as you were with him. At times, you did want to strangle him and he would have let you, but he knew you two were meant to be together. If all these illegal activities and uncertainties didn’t drive you away, you two were in it for the long run. 

Not like Angel would let you go anyway. 

“Of course you weren’t,” you closed up the laceration, shaking your head. “You’re such an idiot, how can you put yourself on the line like that?!”

“Baby, I had to help Adelita, the longer I had those keys, the more paranoid I became.” 

“Yes, Adelita,” you rolled your eyes, placing a gauze on top of the wound on his forehead. “Should I be worried?”

“What?” Angel wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly, sitting up causing him to hiss in pain. 

“About Adelita, should I be worried?”

Angel shook his head. “I don’t know, should I be worried about Dr. Youngs?”

You sighed then. You didn’t have a problem with Adelita, you thought her mission was remarkable. But at times, you couldn’t help and be jealous due to Angel’s willingness to do everything for her, even pushing you aside at times. You were human, it happens, but you knew you had nothing to be worried about. Angel has always been faithful and he wasn’t going to stray now. 

“Are you serious right now?” 

“Well are you fucking serious right now?”

“How can you even ask that?”

“I can say the same to you querida. You honestly think I would fuck up our relationship? I told you what it is, it’s to help the MC get away from the fucking cartel.” 

“And you know he’s my attending physician, he’s a great guy, but he’s also engaged.”

“That doesn’t mean shit, I saw how he looked at you.” 

“You are such a fucking prick, Angel. You can’t come in here saying stupid shit like that after you missed my fucking birthday.” You fumed as you took the tray that had all the items you used to clean Angel up. “EZ! Can you take this tray and dispose of it, please?” 

EZ came, immediately taking the tray. It’s not like the other three men didn’t hear your argument, the door was wide open. And no matter how close you were to them, their loyalty would always lie with Angel. Walking out of the room, they all gave you smiles. 

“Happy birthday Y/N, we’re sorry Angel is a dipshit.” Gilly gave you a hug, which you returned. 

“Happy birthday, if you want we’ll take him off your hands and let you have some quiet time.” Coco offered after he gave you a hug.

You shook your head. “It’s fine, he can sleep in the guest bedroom.” Looking back at Angel who was now standing up, you narrowed your eyes as he gave you his annoying smirk. 

“You look so fucking hot when your mad.” You knew he was going to say something stupid, it was always paired with that smirk.

His three brothers groaned at Angel’s comment, knowing it wasn’t going to help his situation. 

“You can go fuck yourself Angel,” you flipped him off. “Do I still look hot to you?”

“Got even hotter baby,” he knew he was in deep shit, but if you were bantering with him, he must not be in too deep. He gave you a kiss, which you couldn’t really avoid since hitting him would cause him further pain. 

“Happy birthday,” EZ greeted you as well, startling you since you were focused on Angel. “From me, Coco and Gilly.” 

You looked at the envelope in his hand and you raised an eyebrow. Taking the envelope, you opened it and found tickets to see Bruno Mars. You squealed, wrapping your arms around EZ. Giving him a quick squeeze, you made your round towards Coco and Gilly.

Angel watched you, leaning against the wall. He smiled, happy that you enjoyed the idea he gave those fuckers. He was in the dog house right now and he knew giving you your present wouldn’t exactly relieve him of his sins. 

“You guys are more than welcome to stay, but I have some errands to do tomorrow.” You turned around, Angel semi-blocking your way to your room. “Don’t even think about coming to the room tonight.”

“You look even hotter when you threaten me.”

You rolled your eyes and brushed past Angel. He watched you until the door obscured his view. Looking back at his brothers they just shook their heads. 

“What? She loves me, she’ll forgive me.” 

“Or she’ll slit your throat.”

You tossed and turned, annoyed that you couldn’t get comfortable. You heard them laughing outside for a few hours before it died down. The television was still on, that much you knew, so the boys most likely decided to stay. You hated that you couldn’t sleep without Angel. If you were extremely exhausted you could, but with the adrenaline you got after he came home injured, you couldn’t sleep. You knew he was okay, but hundreds of thoughts came through your head. What if he wasn’t okay? What if today was the time he wouldn’t come back. It was a vicious cycle every time Angel wasn’t around you, you worried about him constantly. One of the reasons you were thankful that you decided to become a doctor was so you could save Angel’s life just so you could kill him with your bare hands. 

The door opening broke you out of your thoughts and you immediately closed your eyes. Your back was turned to the door, but you knew only one person would be coming in. The door closed once again and you stayed still, not sure if Angel decided to just peak in or if he actually came in. Your question was answered when you felt a dip on your bed. 

“Baby?” He softly shook you. 

You chose to ignore him, not wanting to have an argument about his stupidity. 

“Come on baby, I’m sorry,” he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you against him. “I know you’re awake. All the Tiger King episodes were watched, come on, talk to me.”

“You missed my birthday.”

“I know I did, and I’m sorry.” Angel placed a kiss on your neck.

You turned to face him, his arms still around you. 

“I’m upset you got hurt most of all.”

“I know you are, but I’m okay, I came home to you.”

“What if you didn’t?” 

Angel frowned. He cupped your face, softly rubbing your cheek with his thumb. He placed a kiss on your lips and then one on your forehead. 

“If I can help it, I will always stay alive for you.”

You began to cry then and Angel panicked. “Mi dulce, why are you crying?”

“Cause you’re such an idiot and I hate you.” You closed the distance between you two, wrapping your arms around him. “I love you so much Angel, I don’t know what I would do without you. Every time you come home looking as you did today, it always scares the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry amor, I promise I wasn’t trying to upset you.” He buried his nose in your hair, holding you tight against him. “I act on impulse, it’s a habit, I’m really trying to be better.”

“Can you try harder? Our kid is going to need you.”

“Of course, anything for our kid.” He froze then, pulling away from you. “Wait, what?”

“I’m pregnant Angel, I’m 3 months along.” You happily shared with him.

“Holy shit, we’re pregnant?” He sat up, a smile spreading across his lips. “We’re having a fucking baby.” He breathed out.

You took out the present you’ve had for him. It was in your bedside drawer, in a rectangular box. You handed over to him and sure enough, it was a positive pregnancy test. 

“Baby, holy fuck,” he enveloped you in his embrace, kissing the side of your head. “We’re gonna have a baby,” he felt the tears welling up as excitement coarse through his body. He always wondered how it would be to have a child with you, someone who had your smile, your eyes, your nose, just your everything. And now, he didn’t have to wonder any further. “Shit, I gotta tell the guys.”

You laughed as Angel was basically skipping out of your room to inform his brothers that you were having a baby. 

Even though your birthday didn’t start out as planned, it definitely ended on a way better note. 

[crimsonrae]

A Matter of Degrees

Chapter Two

Summary:  Dr. Emil Hamilton had been fascinated by Superman, but not afraid. Five years after his death Clark finds out why.

Clark Kent x OC

Rated: Mature

A/N: I’m not a big Superman fan, but after watching Snyder’s films and Henry, I wanted to explore a more broken/healing Clark. Slowish build on this. Let me know if you want to be tagged. :) - Clark in the next chapter: promise.

Metropolis

Lois sighed as she finished the last paragraph of her report on the new Senate nominee. As far as reports go, this one was pretty bland and even she could admit that it lacked a certain...spark. Her usual wit was failing her and she only could thank God that the article wasn't needed for another two days, it would give her time to scratch and polish.

Scratch and polish.

She snorted quietly to herself and shook her head.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been ahead on her articles, had time to do more than a quick polish before handing it over to an associate editor for a good scratching and polishing. Addie was probably going to die of shock when she noticed how error-free all of her work had become... Or maybe not.

The overly pregnant editor had been taking on lighter loads of work as she moved closer to her maternity leave and had bullied almost every reporter in the building into proofreading their own work three times before submitting it to lessen her stress. Lois had been one of the last to conform to Addie's authoritarian rule – not because she didn't want to lighten the woman's load, but because she usually didn't have the time to be that editorial thorough. Perry was good at keeping her busy, knowing that she could handle more than one assignment if she didn't have a big story brewing. She would have been amazed that she had the time now, but she had noticed he had been handing her less and less.

Her stomach twisted sourly at the thought.

Lois had to fight to not look in the direction of Perry's office or toward the desk of a certain tall undercover superhero. Not that it mattered... he wouldn't be there. She hadn't missed the concerned glances from the staff and the undercurrent of worry that touched Perry's tone whenever they talked lately. The office knew something was up with her and Clark... they just weren't sure what.

A good portion of the office had been at his funeral and they had seen firsthand how close she was to the Kent family. To say that everyone had been shocked by Clark's return from the dead was something of an understatement. It had been an open casket funeral after all. Surprisingly, it had been Perry that had weaved the lie that allowed Clark to come back after Lois had revealed who Clark really was to him. His star reporter had fallen afoul of the criminal element while investigating another award-winning story. The destruction from Doomsday had created a golden opportunity for the Feds to fake Clark's death until those responsible for the threat against him were apprehended.

Somehow, Clark had produced a story from that packet of bullshit and that seemed to quiet most of the reporters at the Planet. The rest still asking questions were the ones that dealt with the typical page six news. They wanted the gossip.

How long had she and Clark been an item?

Had she been aware that he had faked his death?

She had been so distraught at the funeral, surely, she hadn't known – she must be furious.

Is that why they barely seemed to be talking? The tension could be cut with a knife.

If anything, those particular encounters had solidified Lois's empathy for people who had a distaste for reporters. She had told Victoria to mind her own damn business and to go chase after Bruce Wayne more times than she could count at this point. Still, she would rather have the gossip columnist's attention on her than on Clark.

Clark.

Again, she had to fight from glancing towards his empty desk. She had to fight the sharp pang that filled her chest at the thought of him. She wasn't sure if it was better or worse that he was away on assignment.

It had taken Lois months to admit that the man she had fallen in love with was gone... and she didn't mean dead. The relief, the joy that had overwhelmed her when the Justice League had brought Clark back had made her blind to the pain that encompassed him. She should have realized that coming back to life would be a traumatic experience, that there would be repercussions... She had just been so happy to have his gentle gaze and shy smile again... and he was Superman. She didn't think that he would be affected by everything so drastically. It was a stupid assumption. Clark wasn't impervious to the world, to emotion, if anything he felt it more than any ten people combined.

It took her two months to notice the nightmares. He stopped sleeping all together after she confronted him about it. She wished she hadn't said anything, because she was rather sure that the lack of sleep was what spurned the flashes of temper he had become prone to.

Nothing big.

Nothing violent.

At least not overtly.

It was little things, like his cell phone needed to be replaced on an almost constant basis. She had found it crushed to bits on more than one occasion. It was reports of restrained criminals packaged nicely for the police having to be carted to the hospital because their binds had been tethered a little too tight. There was a car thief that had limited use of the fingers in his right hand from a lack of blood circulation.

And she couldn't get him to talk about it. Whatever he was thinking, whatever he was feeling – she was sure it had to do with whatever he had experienced while he had been dead. But he had shut her out. Clark refused to talk to her. At first, he had smiled and reassured her that everything was fine that he was still sorting himself out. Lois couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she stopped believing that smile, but she had watched it become more brittle the more she pushed. He withdrew from her. And their relationship became something she couldn't recognize as a relationship.

She felt like a lighthouse on a dark foggy night, but the ship she was guiding was heading for the rocks anyway.

It took her ten months before she gave up and returned her engagement ring.

Eleven before he finished moving out of her apartment.

They were now on the official one-year anniversary of his return and he wasn't even here.

Lois swallowed against the sudden constriction of her throat. She wished Clark was here if only to reassure herself that he was at the very least physically okay, even if he wasn't mentally – emotionally. She missed him and it hurt.

It had hurt for a while now.

She sighed and sent her article to Addie. She would be taking the rest of the day off.

     ── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──

Russia

It was ridiculously cold.

Rebecca clenched and unclenched her fists in her pocket in an unconscious attempt to keep her fingers from going numb. Even while sporting a fur-lined coat and gloves that would put a clown's to shame the icy chill of Moscow's winter still penetrated enough to lick at her skin. She usually didn't mind the cold, her body ran a little warmer than most peoples, but today that chill seemed to have a bite. She wondered distantly if she was getting sick... She hadn't thought she could anymore.

"You were just supposed to get pictures."

The reprimand was clear, the Slavic intonation making its owner's annoyance all the more apparent. Rebecca didn't move her eyes from the group of children receiving medical care not one-hundred feet from her, "Anatoli, tell me what would have happened if I had just taken pictures?"

Chocolate eyes softened as they studied the young woman before him. She had tucked her dark hair into a loose braid, her grey scarf musing the strands lose. She should be wearing a hat, he thought gruffly, but didn't say as such – she looked tired. He tried to remember if he had ever seen her smile, "You would not be leaving Moscow."

"And those children?"

Anatoli sighed, "Would be someplace else."

Her eyes blue, almost violet in color flashed as she looked balefully at him, "Starved, scared, orphaned. How much would they fetch to the right buyers, Anatoli? Someplace else... you don't need to sugar coat things with me. I know what that someplace else would be for these children. Still could be."

"They will be safe, my friend. I will find them good homes, I promise." He briefly spared the small group a glance, "You were reckless."

"No one saw." Rebecca whispered and pulled her gaze away when a small boy began to watch her curiously.

Anatoli snorted, "There was lightening. It was so bright and it made the truck stop. The mean man wouldn't move after it flashed... Don't tell me no one saw. I have ten little somethings that saw and in today's world such accounts would not be taken as a child's imagination."

Rebecca sighed, not wanting to admit he was right. She used to long for the day where people who were different, special, could be acknowledged, and with the appearance and resurrection of Superman, the arrival of the Flash, and Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman said people seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. In many places, even accepted for their differences, but there were more still where such uniqueness was seen as dangerous or worse valuable.

In the last half-decade, Rebecca wasn't sure how many suspicious labs she had stumbled upon.

Let's see what makes the freaks tick, she thought bitterly. Her fingers flexing as if she was about to discover she was in one such lab.

This time it wasn't a lab she stumbled upon, but it was something dark enough to make her stomach twist in knots. She still wasn't fully certain what had made her detour from the main city to the more industrialized sections. She felt like she had been called – like some sort of invisible tether had pulled her to the warehouse that had held the kids. It didn't take much to recognize the Bratva guard outside...they crawled all over the city. It took even less to deduce the children's purpose once she realized they resided inside. There had been no signs of the usual strangeness that seemed to attract her into these situations. No odd flares of light or smoke, no hum of different in the air. Just a feeling to come.

No. These children were normal, if not traumatized, and she hadn't been about to watch them be sold to whatever sexual sadist that lurked out there.

So yes, she had acted. She didn't regret it.

Except for the pair of icy eyes that watched her from the back of an ambulance. The little towheaded boy that hadn't taken his eyes off of her since being pulled from the truck. Rebecca had noticed he said less than the others – more observant, shy, wary. She was rather sure that little boy was the reason she had found them all. He certainly hadn't been surprised by her sudden appearance.

She pursed her lips as she studied him. There were no indications that he was other like her... nothing obvious anyway. She just had a feeling. A feeling not too dissimilar to what had led her here.

She held in a sigh, "Have the boy go to Marvin."

Anatoli raised a brow and followed her gaze to the ambulance, "He's like us?"

She nodded, despite the fact that she wasn't fully sure, but her gut rarely led her wrong. She cut her violet gaze back to the bear of a man next to her. A small stirring of guilt pulled at her and she smiled sadly, "I didn't mean to make trouble for you, Anatoli."

Moscow was Anatoli's home and he needed anonymity to help people, people who were different, find safe havens. She feared she had just shown a spotlight on his presence.

The older man snorted, an amused twinkle entered his chocolate eyes, "Agh, you come to visit, I know to expect some excitement. You lasted longer than I thought. I owe Marvin money now."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You two need a hobby."

"Who has time for hobbies?" Anatoli grunted before nudging her towards his car. He had packed her belongings in the back and made sure to have new travel papers for her. She needed to leave, now, before the Bratva came to inquire about her, "Take the car. Don't call me until your safe."

Reluctantly, she nodded. She hated to leave, she felt like she had left things half done, but she understood the immediacy of her departure. She climbed slowly behind the wheel and found the keys still in the ignition. Anatoli cast her a brief wave and her lips twitched in a subdued smile.

He was in her rearview in moments and her phone was out and on speaker seconds after that. She listened to the dull ringing for a dull moment before the connection came thru, "Hamilton, this you?"

"Hey, Sporty." She intoned quietly, "My trip to Russian's been cut short and it looks like I'll be stateside for a bit... was wondering if you had any work for me?"

There was a brief pause and the clinking of glass trickled over the line. She must have interrupted his lunch, "I don't have anything for you in Gotham. It's actually quiet here for once, but hold on. I'm having lunch with a friend from another paper, let me ask him if he's got anything."

Things went quiet before strains of muffled voices filtered to her. She raised a brow as she realized that Sporty had merely put his hand over the receiver. She wondered if he knew how to work the mute button. Abruptly sound rushed back as a smooth baritone greeted her ears, "Ms. Hamilton?"

"Speaking."

"This is Perry White from the Daily Planet. Sporty tells me that you're a writer – a good one."

Rebecca felt her brow arch higher, "Is there a question in there, Mr. White?"

"Yeah, why haven't I heard of you?"

"I publish under a pseudonym." She replied blandly, "Rachel Wisen."

There was a long silence and she could almost hear the dots connecting in this man's mind, "The travel blogger?"

She snorted and felt shades of her father hover around her. How many times had she heard him say those same words, "Yes, Mr. White... the travel blogger."

"Huh...Look, I don't have any reporting positions open, but one of my associate editors is about to go on maternity leave – I was actually thinking of having my travel editor take over her workload. I could use you to take over his position. It'd be a temporary arrangement."

"Daily Planet is in Metropolis, right?" Rebecca asked after a moment. She didn't know why. She knew exactly where the Planet was and that it was a city, she had no desire to visit. Shades of her father indeed.

"That's right."

Yet, she found herself saying, "Temporary sounds perfect, Mr. White. I can be there at the end of the week."

"Good. I'll get your contact info from Sporty and we can finalize the details when I get back to my office. Have a good day, Ms. Hamilton."

"You too -"

He hung up before she had a chance to finish. Rebecca sighed, remembering vaguely that Sporty was much the same when in business mode. She chalked it up to a newspaper reporter quirk but was thankful for the brevity. It was going to be an interesting few months.

Previous Chapter    Next Chapter

[awhitehead17]

Universal Signs

Chapter Nine / Previous Chapter

Also on AO3

A/N: As a note I am not a doctor so I apologize for any medical inaccuracies but please keep in mind that this is set in space, so not everything will be done accurately! Also as a forewarning there is talk of blood and injury treatment in the form of cauterization. 

Enjoy! :D

“Put him on the bed.”

Having no clue on what to do, Kon follows Cassie’s order and places Tim onto the bed. With Bart’s help they get him situated so he’s lying on his front with his face pressed into the pillow at the end of the bed.

Kon backs away and stares at Tim’s body where blood was still seeping from his back and was drenching the clothing he had on. The human was so still in that moment, it was like he was dead. One moment he had been screaming blood curdling cries and then the next there was nothing, it was terrifying.

Kon hadn’t seen what happened. One moment he was wrestling with a Galavent and the next he hears a scream coming from Tim. It wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened. When he screamed the human had been on the floor on his front with a Galavent on his back, the creature’s claws were lodged into Tim’s skin and was dragging them through his skin. That was until Cassie tackled the thing off Tim and launched it back into the trees.

After that Cassie had rushed to Tim’s side while he and Bart dealt with the surrounding Galavents. From the corner of his eye, he could see Cassie attempting to help Tim but the human was weakly pushing her away. When she finally touched his back Tim had let out that gut retching scream before falling silent.

At that point, Kon tossed a Galavent to the side and rushed over to them. Cassie instantly looked up at him. “Take him to the medical room. Now. Bart and I are right behind you.”

Kon reacted without thinking. He gently picked Tim’s bloody body up with his hands and used his telekinesis to help support it as he carried him to the ship. As Cassie had said, her and Bart were right behind him shielding him from any potential attacks. Once in the ship they immediately close the doors and all rush to the medical room.

The entire time Tim had been weightless and lifeless in his arms. Kon would have thought he was dead if he didn’t hear the heartbeat from within the body. It was weak but it was there.

Once in the room Cassie seemed to take over. She rushes around collecting an array of items from a variety of places and puts them down by the bed.

Bart’s also stood by, watching nervously with wide eyes. “Whatareyoufdoing? Whatarewedoing? Willhebealright? He’snotgoingtodieishe? Idon’twantTimtodie!”

“Bart!” Cassie snaps at him, levelling him with a glare. “Shut up! We need to clean the wound and patch him up before he completely bleeds out.”

Kon stares bewildered as Cassie puts some gloves on and starts pulling on Tim’s tattered shirt that was covering his wounded skin. Underneath her, Tim suddenly cries out. He starts shifting on the bed, jerking every time Cassie touches his back.

She looks over at Kon. “I need you to pin him down.” Kon blinks at her, trying to process what she meant. “Kon, hold him down with your telekinesis so I can treat him.”

Swallowing, Kon stumbles closer to the bed and gently lays his hand on Tim’s arm. He wills his power to wash over Tim like a thin cover, one that gently pins him on the bed so he would stop moving around. He feels Tim weakly fight against the hold and Kon just feels awful for having to put him through this, especially when he lets out a low, painful sound. One of which turns into a scream as Cassie prods his bloody skin, getting the fabric away from the wound.

Just like before Tim suddenly goes quiet and becomes lifeless. It must have all been to much for him and his body’s just given out. Kon quickly checks his heart and finds it still beating but not the same as before.

When he next looks up he finds Cassie cutting away Tim’s shirt, finally removing the fabric off his skin. Kon blinks as Tim’s back gets uncovered, he’s seen a variety of unpleasant things in his lifetime but Tim’s bloody and wounded skin was just horrifying.

He has no idea how Cassie seemed to be level-headed and calm in that moment. A quick glance at Bart tells him that he’s experiencing something similar to Kon. The speedster was stood by vibrating on the spot while chewing on his fingers, looking like he was trying to not freak out.

The two of them watch as Cassie works on Tim. She douses a cloth in a clear liquid before carefully wiping it over Tim’s wounds. Even in its lifeless state, the human body seems to twitch at the actions. Seeing that happen makes Kon cringe, he can’t even begin to imagine how painful it was.

She does this several times until the whole wound had been cleaned, most of the blood having been removed which now allows them to see the damage done to Tim’s back. Four large gashes stretch across from his shoulder to the middle of his back. All four gashes has split the skin apart, allowing blood to seep through and a lot of it. Despite Cassie wiping away what was there it was still coming up and pooling over Tim’s back.

Cassie hisses and looks around frantically. “We need to stop the bleeding. He’s already lost a lot and can’t afford to lose anymore.”

“How do we stop it? The wounds are too big to simply cover with a bandage.” Bart states staring at the sight.

Cassie hesitates, clearly trying to think of something. Kon had no ideas. His species doesn’t tend to get injured like Tim has been so he’s never had to deal with an injury so severe before. In a similar fashion neither does Bart’s or Cassie’s species, it makes him wonder how she knows what to do. He’ll have to question her later on.

Her gasp brings Kon out of his thoughts, She turns her sharp gaze onto Bart. “I need you to go to the common room and find something metal. Something that can be heated up and has a wide surface area.”

Bart looks confused but nods and speeds out of the room. Kon shoots her a look, “Why do you need something metal?”

She doesn’t look at him as he once again wipes away the fresh blood from Tim’s wound. “Because we’re going to cauterize the wound.”

Kon blinks. “I’m sorry what? We’re doing what now?”

“We’re cauterizing the cuts.” She states finally looking at him. Her expression was serious as she explains what she means. “We don’t have the right equipment to give him stitches, mostly because we’ve never needed the stuff in the first place. The only thing I can think of that’ll stop the bleeding quick enough is to cauterize the wound, it’ll close it up and stop the bleeding. It’s a form of treatment I remember that was performed a couple of times on Themyscira.”

“So why do you need something metal?”

She gives him an annoyed look like he was being really stupid. It wasn’t his fault! He genuinely doesn’t know these things! Cassie goes to say something but is stopped by Bart appearing by her side holding up the biggest knife they have.

“Will this do?”

Cassie takes it from him and wipes it down with the same liquid she did with Tim. “It’s perfect. Afterwards she thrusts it out to Kon. “You need to heat it up.”

Kon stares at her. “What?”

She huffs. “Use your lasers and heat up the metal, but not to the point where it’s glowing red. This is how we cauterize the wound. Once the knife is heated I’ll press it against Tim’s skin and close off the wound.”

Kon has no idea what is happening anymore. So Cassie wants to basically burn Tim’s skin in order to save him? Surely that’s counterproductive.

“Kon, if you don’t, Tim will die. Now do it.” At her words he gingerly takes the handle of the knife and starts to heat it up. As he does that Cassie turns to Bart. “Bart I need you to put gloves on and wipe away the excess blood just before I press the knife there understand?”

Once the knife was ready he passes it over to Cassie, she and Bart work together and start treating Tim’s wounds. It was horrible to watch. Every time the knife pressed against Tim’s skin Kon flinched, it made him feel the pain even though it wasn’t happening to him. He’s glad Tim seemed to be out of it to realise what was going on.

It takes a while but eventually they finish the treatment. The wounds were no longer bleeding which was the desired intention and all that was left were four dark and vile looking lines across Tim’s back. After taking a breath, Cassie goes over the wounds one last time, wiping them down gently and then applying a large bandage over the top of it.

Kon and Bart let her work and finish up. Once she was done she turns to them. “That should do it for now, but I can’t say that he’ll be completely fine. All we can do is wait until he wakes up and goes from there. Come on, lets move to the cockpit, we can do regular checks on him.”

They all take a moment to clean up and move to the cockpit, when they get there the three of them automatically go to their own sections. They were still on the planet and find that the Galavents have all settled around the ship. Kon settles down in the pilot seat and prepares for them to take off. The sooner they’re off this planet the better.

“Where are the pingon’s?” Kon questions as he starts up the ship.

“The baskets are down below. We managed to get them onto the ship before getting attacked.” Bart answers from behind him.

“Good.” At least they still got what they came for and don’t have to confront the Galavents again.

Kon gets them into the air and expertly guides them off the planet. Down below the Galavents make a huge deal of the ship leaving and try to fight against it. Their attempts are futile and once they were high enough in the air, the species finally lets them go and disappear into the trees.

Once they were in space, Kon puts the ship on hold and turns to the rest of his crew. After several moments of silence he turns to Cassie who was sat next to him. “How did you do it? How did you know what to do with Tim or how you kept a level head during that time?”

Cassie avoids his gaze and clenches her jaw as she stares at the ground. She crosses her arms over her chest almost defensively and lets out a sigh. “On Themyscira, there were weapons that could harm us. We used them when we trained and when we fought. They were designed purposely to be able to harm Amazon’s, this was supposed to help us become better warriors.

Of course from that came battle wounds, we had to learn how to treat the wounds and perform emergency treatments. I picked up a few things but not everything. I didn’t know about burns or anything of the sort that Tim received last time but open wounds like he got today I do know about.”

Kon takes that in. In all the time he’s known Cassie, he never knew that about her.

“The weapons purely stay on Themyscira, so not a lot else out in the universe can hurt us but it’s good knowledge to have especially when it can help other species we interact with.”

“Well at least you had the knowledge. I had no idea on what to do.” Kon admits sending a smile her way when she finally looks at him.

“I didn’t either.” Bart chimes in. “I’ve got some basics down, but not to the extent we had to do today. Maybe you could teach us some more things, especially with Tim on board. He’s been hurt twice already! How many more times can he be injured and in what other ways?”

Kon nods, agreeing with his idea. “That isn’t a bad idea, it may be worth knowing different ways to treat injuries. Speaking of which, what do we do about Tim now?”

Cassie shrugs. “It’s hard to say. On Themyscira, if you were injured you would heal within hours, maybe close to a day then you’re good as new. Obviously with Tim that isn’t the case. Didn’t he tell us it takes multiple days close to weeks for wounds to heal? Humans have a slow healing rate or something?”

“So we just keep the wound clean and hope for the best?” Bart asks frowning.

“Perhaps.” Kon hums. He then gets an idea and turns to Cassie. “What’s our next stop? Would we be able to find somewhere that maybe produces some sort of increased healing factor, maybe a potion or an ointment. Human’s aren’t the only species around that have slow healing factors so surely there’s got to be something somewhere that could help Tim recover faster.”

Cassie stares at him before glancing away as if thinking about what he’s suggesting. After a moment she looks back at him, “I can have a look around, sure, but I can’t promise any results.”

Kon nods. “It’s better than nothing. So next steps; we find somewhere that produces something to increase healing factors, plan our route to the next item we need to collect and simply keep an eye on Tim and hope he doesn’t die.”

His crew nod in agreement and offer him tight smiles. It wasn’t ideal and having someone injured severely onboard wasn’t a pleasant thing but all they could do now was to try and make it better.

The journey to the next planet would take several days. It wasn’t one they needed to collect any items from but according to what Cassie had been able to find, this planet has several markets which sells a variety of items from all around. The chances that they could find an increasing healing factor substance was pretty high, hence why they were going there.

They all checked on Tim in hour intervals, making sure he was still breathing and that his wounds were no longer bleeding. The treatment Cassie had performed seems to be doing its job and is stopping any bleeding from happening.

It was a good day or so before Tim finally woke up for the first time since going lifeless when they performed the treatment. The three of them had been worried because Tim was out far longer than what he normally would have been if he was just sleeping. When he finally wakes up they let out a sigh of relief.

The human wasn’t right however, he woke up and seemed to be extremely confused. He couldn’t remember where he was, what happened or even who they are. It didn’t really matter because Tim doesn’t stay awake very long. He mutters a few words, lets out a cry of pain before falling asleep again.

It was a very bizarre moment to witness.

When Tim wakes up a second time he’s once again just as confused as before and it takes both him and Bart to explain what the situation was. At their words Tim pulls a face and starts trying to get up, which they had to immediately put a stop to. He wasn’t happy about it but quickly stops fighting when apparently the pain gets too much and he lets out a scream.

Kon feels bad for Tim. He has no idea how much pain the human was currently in but seeing Tim flinch with every movement made him feel awful. Bart, who must have been having similar feelings, suggests about getting Tim to take the medicine he had for his teeth when they made him have the universal translator implanted. That medicine stopped the pain in his mouth so hopefully it would help with his back too, even if it was a little bit.

Tim stays awake long enough to take the medicine and down some water before falling asleep again.

It was on the third day traveling to the next planet that Tim wakes up and seems to be more coherent with things. He was still in immense pain but he seemed to know where he was and can vaguely remember what happened.

The three of them quickly fill him in on it, telling him what they had done to get the bleeding to stop and what they’re planning next. Tim takes it all in and nods but doesn’t offer any comments.

At this point he was still lying on the bed they have in the medical room as none of them had wanted to move him just in case they worsen the injury. Even after three days the injury didn’t look any better than what it did when it first happened.

Bart is the first one to react when Tim begins to shift on the bed, letting out a moan as he tries to push himself up. The speedster blurs next to him and gently pushes him back down.

“I wouldn’t move Tim. You’re still badly injured, as in like it hasn’t even healed a little bit over the last few days.”

Tim shoots him a look but slumps back down onto the bed and buries his face into the pillow, letting out a long moan as he does so.

Kon and Bart share a look and a shrug, both of them baffled by his behaviour. “Uh Tim?” Kon says unsurely, “You okay?”

Tim snaps his head up and sends Kon a glare. “No. I am not okay. I am in an incredible amount of pain and can’t seem to move an inch without it flaring up and I have one helluva of a headache. My body has seized up because I haven’t moved in who knows how long and I feel dirty. So no, Kon, I am not okay.”

That rant seemed to have tired Tim out because he places his head back down on the pillow and promptly goes back to sleep. Kon blinks at his still figure for a while before moving his gaze to Bart who was also staring at Tim with wide eyes.

“He’s a bit cranky isn’t he?” Bart comments.

Kon shakes his head. “I have no idea. One moment he’s awake and then he’s not. When he’s awake he yells at us before sleeping again. Human’s are weird.”

Bart snorts. “That’s one way of putting it.”

They reach the planet two days later. In that time Tim seems to be staying awake for longer periods of time which was great to see because it meant he was slowly getting back to normal, however he was still bed bound. Or at least they make him stay on the bed to stop him from aggravating his injuries further.

There were a few times that they had to help Tim so he could go relieve himself and give his body a quick wash (though they had to wipe his back as Tim couldn’t move enough to do it himself). They also had to help him change clothes, much to his displeasure Tim couldn’t change on his own and reluctantly accepted the help.

Throughout that time, Tim was still cranky and would often snap at them. He would apologize to them sometime later, explaining that his behaviour was because of the pain he was in and how he was just frustrated with the situation.

Eventually he let them clean the cuts, change the bandage and treat the wound on his arm (which was almost healed by now) without any protests. That was progress in building up the trust between them, even if it was only a small step.

When they land on the planet, it gets decided that Cassie and Bart will go out and get what they need. Kon will stay on the ship and look after Tim. The human argues against that, claiming he didn’t need a ‘baby-sitter’ (whatever that was) and how he would be fine on his own. None of them believed him so Kon was the chosen to stay with him.

At first Kon was in the cockpit, going through some files when he suddenly hears a bang come from within the ship. Becoming alert, he drops the paper onto the table and goes to explore. As he leaves the cockpit he extends his hearing out and finds that the commotion is coming from the medical room.

Wasting no time Kon rushes to the room and bursts in through the door, only to stop short when he finds Tim sprawled out on the floor, struggling to get back up.

“Tim!” Kon darts over to him, gently grabs the human by the armpits (trying to be careful of his shoulder) and starts hauling him up, he was planning on putting Tim back on the bed but Tim starts protesting and tries to shove Kon away.

“No. Not on the bed. I am sick of lying down! I need to move and do something!”

“Tim. Tim! You’re just going to make your injuries worse.” Kon tries to reason with him but the human wasn’t having any of it.

“I don’t care! I need to get out of this room and move about. It’s my back and shoulder that’s in pain, my legs are fine!”

In the end Kon gets Tim to stand up but pins him still with his telekinesis so he wouldn’t hurt himself further. They stare at one another, clearly trying to intimidate the other into submitting but Kon wasn’t having any of it. He glares at the human in front of him and tries to think of an alternative because he understands that lying in one place for days on end can’t be nice, but it’s not like Kon can just let him move around freely.

He eventually gets an idea. “How about we move you to your room or the common room? But you have to promise to lie down when we get there.”

Tim opens his mouth but Kon continues to pin him with a look. “It’s either this or I pin you to that bed. I don’t want Cassie shouting at me because I let you wonder around.”

The human blinks at him before averting his gaze. He lets out a sharp breath. “Fine. We’ll go to the common room then please.”

Kon nods and drops his telekinesis. Tim takes a deep breath and slowly steps forward only to instantly collapse, he would have hit the floor if Kon hadn’t caught him.

“Stupid legs.” Tim mutters angrily. “They’ve seized up from where I haven’t walked in days.”

Kon feels sorry for him but before he could do anything Tim was pushing him away again and trying to balance himself on his own. Knowing that Tim wasn’t going to give up, because apparently humans are stubborn creature’s, Kon takes hold of Tim’s arms and lets Tim balance against him.

Tim doesn’t look pleased with the idea but he lets it go and grabs tightly onto Kon’s forearms as he takes a shaky step forward. Together they make their way down the corridor and to the common room. Tim was mostly walking on his own by the time they get there however he was wincing with each step and his face was contorted with pain. Kon helps Tim to lie down on his front when they reach the plush seat.

The human sighs and relaxes into the seat, like he was relived to be off his feet. Kon sits down beside him. “How’s the pain?”

“Bearable.” Tim grits out. Despite his words, Kon doesn’t believe him.

Choosing not to comment on it, Kon gets up from the seat and heads back to the medical room to pick something up. When he returns he’s almost convinced that Tim had fallen asleep until blue eyes peer up at him.

“You don’t have a lot of medicine left. Do you want to take some?” Kon asks looking at Tim and then the pot in his hand.

Tim stays silent for a moment. He soon shakes his head. “No. Save them for another time as are there aren’t many left. I can handle this, I’m fine.”

Kon wanted to point out that he didn’t appear fine but he chooses to stay quiet, deciding that the argument wasn’t worth it. In the end he settles down next to Tim again, turns on the entertainment screen and selects something at random. There’s not a lot to do now until the others return.

[jabbajambler]

22

Human

The Mandalorian/Din Djarin x f!OC

Word Count: 2,031

*GIF by @tintinwrites​*

         "Ouch... Ouch! Ouch, watch it!" Myrah snapped and ripped her arm away from the Mandalorian. Her bicep was red and crusted in dried blood.

         "If you had told me about it sooner, we wouldn't have this problem." He grumbled under his breath as he tried to pull the strings of her shirt that stuck to the somewhat fresh wound.

         She shrugged and looked down at the cut on her arm. It was bright and swollen, but it wasn't too deep. All it needed was a good cleaning and bandage. She couldn't figure out why he was so upset about it.

         "Well, we had more pressing matters at the time. You know, dealing with Fennec and all."

         "So this was when we got knocked off the bike?" He sat back on the stool he had placed next to the cot where Myrah sat. "We could have wrapped it."

         "But if I had told you back then," she grabbed his hand and pulled it from her arm, "we wouldn't get to play medic right now." She sent him a playful wink and her signature charming grin that made his heart beat faster.

         He sighed and pulled his hand away, trying to calm the rapid pulsing of his heart. "Take off your jacket."

         "Woah!" She raised her hands in the air and let out an innocent giggle. "You could at least take me to dinner first."

         "Shut up and take off the jacket." He snapped.

         "Pushy, much?" She rolled her eyes and peeled off her jacket to reveal the black long-sleeve she wore beneath it. Din tilted his head in judgement and crossed his arms over his chest. "What? You want me to take this off too?"

         "It's that or cut the sleeve off." He paused. "How many layers do you have?"

         She shrugged and brought her hands to the bottom of her top, starting to strip it from her body. Din's hands quickly caught hers and pulled the shirt back down to hide her stomach.

         "We should just cut the sleeve." His face began to warm and flush red beneath the helmet.

         "Don't want to see me shirtless, Din?" She drew out the name, the corners of her lips quirking up.

         "Stop." He growled and grabbed the knife from his boot, quickly slicing the sleeve off her shirt.

         Her face contorted into one of disgust. "When was the last time you cleaned that? Didn't you use it on the mudhorn?"

         "Yup." He answered simply and grabbed a few items from the medic box, setting them next to her on the small bed.

         "Ew." She shuddered and watched him work. "You know, maybe it would be easier if you didn't have those beefy gloves." His head snapped to hers in a way that she couldn't interpret. "What? It's not against the code. Don't forget that I know the rules too."

         He nodded and hesitantly pulled his gloves from his hands, his gaze never leaving hers. Her lips lifted into a smile that made his heart swell. He was upset that she hadn't told him she was hurt, but seeing her smile made him realize that he could never stay mad with her.

         Myrah's eyes wandered down to his hands, wanting to reach out and trace her fingers over them. It felt crazy to want so desperately to touch his hands, but she had been so deprived of anything else from him.

         Sure, they had their playful banter and bonding moments, but never physical. The closest they had been was when she fixed his wound way back when. Since then, she hadn't seen even a sliver of skin, no proof that he was even human.

         But here? Now? All she wanted to do was hold his hand, run her fingers over his skin just to know what it felt like. She could feel her hands twitch in anticipation, her heart leaping from her chest as the air grew thick.

         Her thoughts were interrupted once she felt his hands gently grasping her arm to hold it in place. He poured a small canteen of water on her wound and wiped away the blood that surrounded her cut.

         His hands were softer than she expected, but he did wear gloves all of the time. At first she suspected they would be rougher from years of hunting. The gloves must have protected his skin from becoming worn out.

         She winced slightly as he used a soft cloth to dry the area. His eyes lifted to meet hers while he carefully rubbed a healing ointment into her skin. He studied her behind his mask. From the way she closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths to her relaxed posture and how she leaned into his touch.

         He took a deep, shaky breath and forced himself to tear his eyes from her. He found himself lost in thought, wondering if her hair was as soft as it always looked. He had to stop himself from reaching to brush away the gentle strands that fell in front of her face.

         With the bandage wrapped firmly around her arm, he stood up, happy to pull himself away from a potentially messy situation. Then he felt something warm grasp his hand and pull him back. He couldn't bring himself to fight it.

         "Where are you going?"

         "I was going to fly the ship." His voice came out soft and low.

         "It's on autopilot. Besides, we don't have any specific destination." She didn't know why these words were spilling from her mouth. She desperately wished she could keep her trap shut for once.

         He couldn't look at her. He knew that with one look he would stay and never want to leave. "You need rest."

         "So do you..." She sighed and packed away the medical supplies in a small cubby. "Care to join me?" She held out her hand and scooted further back. She already figured she was in too deep, too late to stop now.

         He watched her movements from the corner of his eye, feeling a soft fluttering in his chest that drew him to the woman in his bed. After a moment, he nodded and flicked off the main cabin lights, leaving nothing but a dim light above the bed to light the area.

         Din awkwardly sat at the end of the cot, his posture stiff and tense. It was a small space and he certainly didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but he had no sense of what to do. He was no monk, but this was different. He cared so much for her and was terrified of making a mistake.

         "Relax." She giggled and grabbed his hand, feeling his hand immediately grip hers.

         Her fingers traced the lines of his palm. Slowly, dauntingly, causing a ghost of a shiver to roll down his spine. He could have melted into her touch no matter how small it was.

         "Come back here."

         At this point, she didn't have to ask him twice.

          He pushed himself to the back of the small cot, still sitting, but present and there with her.

         "You know... If we turn off that light, it'll be pitch black in here. I won't be able to see anything." She glanced up and threaded her fingers between his, pressing their palms against one another. Din swore she could feel his heart speed up.

         "You could take off the helmet and be comfortable." She whispered and squeezed his hand.

         He didn't say anything, not even so much as a nod. He simply reached up and pressed the button to the light. Nothing more needed to be said.

         Darkness immediately encompassed them, not even a shadow could be seen. The ship was silent, the child was asleep, and they were peacefully soaring through the skies.

         It was a few moments before Myrah felt his hand leave hers. She heard a soft hiss, followed by the clink of metal against the stool beside the cot. That alone made her breath hitch and caused her heart to pick up speed.

         His hand found hers again, playing with her fingers. He simply enjoyed the feeling of her soft hand against his. His heart had dropped to his stomach in fear. Of what? Who knows. But he was nervous as hell and just wanted to hear her say something.

         Myrah managed to steady her breath and leaned against him. Her hand pulled from his and reached up towards his face, her fingers barely brushing against his cheek. His jaw clenched and tensed against her touch.

         "I'm sorry." She mumbled nervously. "Is this okay?"

         "Mhm..." He hummed and allowed himself to relax. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched his face, even so much as a graze. The feeling was exhilarating yet absolutely terrifying.

         "Well, you need to shave."

         He chuckled, a warm, soothing chuckle that Myrah found so much sweeter without the modulator. If she could hear the sound on replay, she would.

         She turned her body to face him and cupped his jaw in her hands, rubbing her thumbs over the slight stubble. Hesitantly, she pulled her leg over his hip and slid onto his lap, running her hands through his soft hair. The closeness was something the two desperately craved.

         "And a haircut."

         He let out a quiet gasp and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. "Maybe you can help with that sometime."

         There was the voice. The voice she was waiting to hear. It sent a shiver down her spine and brought goosebumps to her arms.

         "You'd trust me with scissors around you when I can't even look at you?"

         He hummed and lowered his head to the crook of her neck while she played with his hair. She was intoxicating to him. Everything about her left him wanting more.

         "Din?" Myrah felt his nose press into her neck with his lips relaxed against her collar bone. It nearly drove her mad.

         "Yes?"

         "Thank you..."

         "What for?" He lifted his head and moved his hand to her hair, running his fingers through the strands.

         It was just as soft as he imagined.

         His fingers trailed down her jaw and held her chin as though she could break at any moment. She sort of felt like she could.

         "For trusting me... After everything I did, I-"

         "How could I not? We're in this together, right?" His other hand rubbed soft shapes on her back through her shirt. He felt like everything in the galaxy could stop and he would be perfectly fine with it.

         "Right." The word came out breathy, hardly spoken at all, but Din heard it.

         His hand wrapped around to the back of her neck, wanting more than anything to pull her closer. This was something they both wanted, right? He was ready to risk it all. The code, the emotions, the wall he had built.

         But the sound of a gentle cooing put all of his actions to a halt.

         They both groaned in irritation, especially when they heard the soft patter of the child running.

         Myrah rolled off of Din and onto her side next to him, facing the wall. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Looking down at the woman next to him, he wondered what would have happened if there was no interruption.

         It didn't seem like she would have stopped, but what would have happened to them? Would anything have changed? Would they pretend it never happened? Why did he-

         "Lay down." Myrah mumbled and struggled to find his hand behind her. "Relax, Din. Sleep."

         He rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. He unbuckled the rough armor and laid down next to her in the underclothes he wore.

         It wasn't as uncomfortable as he expected from the small area. His arm draped over her waist, allowing her to hold his hand as she had wanted while he rested his head against the back of her shoulder.

         "Will do, Princess." He purred as they both drifted into arguably the best sleep they've ever had.

[cosleia]

What if Millicent wasn't a small cat but something tiger-sized and Pryde poked her with his stick one time too many?

The Deaths of Allegiant General Pryde, Part 6: Dinner

(kylux, preslash. content note: graphic descriptions of an animal mauling and eating a person)

“I understand you have a...pet,” said Allegiant General Enric Pryde, slapping his swagger stick into his palm.

General Armitage Hux’s office on the Steadfast was not large—nothing like his war room and engineering facilities on the Finalizer had been—but it had a desk and a chair and a door, and at this point that was all he could hope for. It did have its merits: Pryde had had to use the call box before entering, and he also had to stand while Armitage remained comfortable in his seat.

Armitage managed not to twitch at the sound of Pryde’s crop striking the leather of his glove. It was an obvious intimidation tactic, and Armitage was not intimidated by sanctimonious peons like Pryde. “Yes,” he said. “It’s my prerogative as ranking general.” He watched Pryde’s face, daring him to claim that his rank was higher. This issue had not yet come to a head, and Armitage was, quite frankly, tired of the chain of command being unclear.

But Pryde ignored the comment, likely because he didn’t want to risk losing the authority he’d so recently gained when Supreme Leader Kylo Ren chose to make Pryde’s flagship his own. What he did say was, “It’s highly irregular. And as this is my ship, I have the right to assess the way this creature is being housed. Every centimetre counts on a starship, General—”

“Millicent lives in my chambers, General,” Armitage put in, a bit crossly. “And I pay for her food out of my own stipend. She will have no impact on the operation of the Steadfast, just as she never interfered with the operation of the Finalizer.”

Pryde raised an eyebrow. “If that’s true, then you shouldn’t mind a brief inspection of your quarters? To validate what you’ve said.”

Armitage had a feeling he’d been outmaneuvered, but he wasn’t sure how. Pryde had the right to enter any area on the Steadfast, including all officers’ chambers. Well, excepting Ren’s, of course, and the rooms Ren kept for his Knights.

Wait. Had Ren also made Armitage’s chambers off limits to Pryde?

A smile twitched its way across Armitage’s face. “You’re more than welcome to come meet Millicent, General,” he said graciously. “I’m sure she’d enjoy the company.”

“I’ll send an audit team,” Pryde sniffed. He tucked his swagger stick beneath his left arm the way he did when he was about to walk away dismissively, and oh, so that’s what he was after. Pryde wanted to spy on Armitage. His ‘audit team’ would almost certainly consist of intelligence officers who would bring with them any number of tiny, easily hidden surveillance devices.

“I’m sorry, General,” Armitage said, “but I can’t allow that. Millicent loves people, but she can be distressed by groups. One person is all I’m willing to subject her to.”

“Yet you claim the creature won’t interfere with the operation of this ship.”

Armitage smiled again. “One person is sufficient to perform an audit. As I said, you are more than welcome to come yourself.”

Pryde always looked like he was glowering, but his face looked especially severe now. “Fine,” he said.

“Of course, I must also be present,” Armitage added. “She won’t take kindly to a stranger I haven’t introduced her to.”

“Fine,” Pryde said again. If he was feeling anything beyond slightly inconvenienced, he was hiding it exceptionally well. “We’ll go now.”

~

Armitage heard a muffled thump and the clack of Millie’s claws on the durasteel floor as soon as the hatch cycled open. “Come, darling!” he called, though she was almost certainly already on her way. “We have a visitor!”

Millicent emerged from the bedroom at a gallop, a giant blur of orange and black and white, barreling up to Armitage and bounding up on her hind legs to throw her front paws onto his shoulders. He staggered a bit under her weight and laughed as her enormous tongue lapped over his neck and face. “There’s a good girl,” he praised her, putting his arms as far around her as he could get them, stroking down her back, and burying his face in the wonderfully soft fur behind her ear. “Hello. Hello. Did you miss me?”

As usual, the greeting was over in a matter of seconds; Millie pushed off him and dropped back to the floor and circled toward where Pryde was standing. Her hackles weren’t raised, not really, but she was curious, cautious. The muscles in her legs and back were visibly tensed for a pounce, and her tail was flicking slowly back and forth behind her in preparation to counterbalance. She was absolutely magnificent, the perfect hunter, and Armitage indulged in watching her for a moment before turning his attention to Pryde.

The allegiant general stood stock-still by the door, arms straight at his sides. The only parts of him that moved were his eyes as they followed Millie’s prowl back and forth between him and the main living space. “General?” Armitage prompted.

“It’s rather...large,” Pryde said. For once, his voice wasn’t strong and certain. He seemed to remember how to move, pulling his swagger stick out from under his arm and brandishing it in front of him like a knife.

“Yes, she is,” Armitage agreed.

“I expected something...smaller. Where is its cage?”

Armitage blinked, affronted. “I would never put my Millie in a cage. She needs room to move about. It’s in her blood.”

“It’s tame, though?”

“Of course. I trained her myself. It can be difficult with this species, but only if one is not fully committed to the task.”

“Ah,” Pryde said, shifting back a half step as Millie twitched her whiskers at him. “I suppose you are the son of a nerf-herder.”

“Nerfs are docile plant-eaters!” Even someone as witless as Pryde should be able to appreciate how special Millie was, how unique. “Millie is a carnivore. A predator. It’s completely different.” Armitage wrinkled his nose and added, “Also, Millie doesn’t stink.”

Millie, sensing Armitage’s distress, began to growl low in the back of her throat. Pryde took a full step back.

“No, no, it’s all right, Millie,” Armitage told her. “To me.” Millicent loped to Armitage’s side. “Sit,” Armitage said, and Millie lowered her haunches to the floor in her elegant, feline version of parade rest. “Good girl.”

“She does seem to be well trained,” Pryde said, sounding half relieved and half disappointed. “And her presence in your quarters does not affect the operation of the ship. I shall not press the matter.”

“I appreciate your understanding, General,” Armitage said. At this point, Pryde just seemed eager to leave. He’d had no opportunity to plant any bugs; he hadn’t even moved from the doorway. Armitage, with Millicent’s help, had successfully foiled his plot. “Shall we return to the bridge?”

~

Life-partner did not like the grouchy man he brought home today. Millicent knew that for certain. And Grouchy didn’t seem to like life-partner, either, which meant Grouchy was a threat. They were tolerating each other, though, and that meant Millicent would tolerate Grouchy too...so long as Grouchy didn’t cause any problems.

Some time had passed since then. She had batted her toys around for a while and now she was lying at the foot of their bed. She had just started meticulously grooming herself when she heard the front door cycle open again. It was early for life-partner to return, but he had returned at a strange time already today, so Millie did not worry right away. However, the heavy footfalls she heard next did not belong to life-partner, nor did the scent that shortly came wafting in. Millie leapt off the bed and trotted out to the playroom, lips already curling back in warning.

It was Grouchy. Life-partner was not with him.

Millie bared all her teeth and told Grouchy unequivocally to get out of their home. Her loud, rumbling growl seemed to terrify Grouchy; he froze in place like an ash-rabbit instead of doing what she’d told him. Something he was holding in his left hand fell to the floor with a small clatter.

Millie stepped forward, attempting to startle him, to herd him to the door. Grouchy waved the stick he was carrying in his right hand at her. She paused, cocking her head to the side as she evaluated the weapon. It did not seem to pose any significant threat. “Back,” Grouchy said. “Back, you ugly beast.”

Millie recognized the words. ‘Back,’ of course, was a command. Life-partner used ‘ugly’ whenever he was talking about Dark One, and he loved Dark One almost as much as he loved Millicent, so it must be a compliment. ‘Beast,’ however, was an unpleasant word she had heard as a cub, back before life-partner had chosen her. It meant disrespect.

Millie did not obey the commands of those who did not respect her.

She continued her slow, steady advance. Grouchy let out a high-pitched sound and waved his stick right in her face. This time it actually brushed her whiskers. Millie snapped at it in warning, letting her sharp teeth clack together noisily. “Sit!” Grouchy yelled. “Lie down! Get back! Get away!”

She let out her own yell, again commanding him to leave her home. The roar was so load it rattled the drinking glass life-partner had left on the caf table. Surely that would be enough to get Grouchy to go.

But it wasn’t. Grouchy crouched down, reaching with his free hand for the small item he’d dropped. At the same time, he stopped waving the stick and started thrusting it toward her. This form of attack seemed more dangerous; he might strike her in the eye. One thrust poked her hard in the cheek; she howled, more from surprise than pain, and then she snapped her jaws closed around Grouchy’s wrist to keep him from poking her again.

She’d been polite long enough.

Grouchy screeched and jerked backward, trying and failing to free himself from Millie’s powerful hold, and dropped both the stick and the other thing. Millicent sank her teeth deep into his flesh to secure her grip.

Then she tasted blood.

Life-partner took good care of Millie, providing food and water and a bed and toys and a place to play. But it had been a long time since Millie had hunted prey. A long time since she’d enjoyed the meat of a fresh kill.

She considered. Would life-partner be troubled if she had Grouchy for dinner? Surely his unwelcome intrusion into their home and his refusal to leave broke any sort of truce the two of them had. There might be some other reason life-partner wouldn’t want Millie to eat Grouchy, but now his blood was trickling tantalizingly down her throat and she wanted more.

She deserved this, Millie decided. She had been very good for life-partner, and life-partner loved her. This was her treat.

That settled, she bit Grouchy’s hand off.

Her teeth crunched delightfully straight through the bones and tendons of Grouchy’s arm, and she chomped and smacked her lips and tossed her head until she got the whole hand into her mouth. Millie ground the meat and bones down to delicious pieces between her teeth and swallowed it all triumphantly.

Grouchy was screaming, clutching at his bloody arm, and that only made Millicent want more. She stalked toward him, licking her chops. Should she eat him piece by piece, saving the most savory bits for last? Should she go straight for the delectable organs she knew she’d find within his torso? She could crack him open easily just by leaping on top of him to break his sternum, tearing into his flesh with her claws, ripping out his ribs with her teeth—

He staggered backward until he hit the wall, and then he was scrabbling against it desperately, still screaming. His wounded cries were so sweet and enticing; how could she resist? Millicent lunged and struck him heavily with one paw, sending him flying to the floor faster than he could fall. One of his legs was left sticking out at an odd angle; she stepped on it and felt it break in two beneath her paw.

Now he was sobbing, trying and failing to crawl away. She almost wished they were in an open plain where she could really chase him, follow his wails and hunt him properly, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t have put up much of a fight no matter where he was.

Anyway, in an open plain she might have had to share. Here, this meal was all hers.

He kicked his good leg at her, so Millicent got her mouth around his ankle and gave it a good chomp. It was slightly harder to separate his foot from his body because of the covering over it, but after a few moments of worrying at it, she finally ripped it free. Millicent kept an eye on her prey as she set about tearing open the foot covering to get at the meat. Human feet weren’t especially delicious, but the bones provided a satisfying crunch, and she wanted to enjoy that before moving on to something meatier like the leg.

All Grouchy was doing was whimpering and crying and dragging himself along the ground as best he could without the full use of three limbs. It was slow going. He seemed to be trying to get to the door, but there was no way he’d be able to open it without standing on his hind legs, and Millicent didn’t think he would be able to do that. She took her time, gnawing and slurping at the foot until finally she finished it with a single definitive crunch.

Grouchy had almost made it to the door by the time she was done. It wouldn’t do for life-partner to stumble over him when he got home. Millicent trotted over and grabbed the back of Grouchy’s neck in her jaws and flung him bodily back toward the center of the room. Necks were vulnerable, especially human necks, and Millicent thought she might have broken Grouchy’s; at least that meant he’d hold still while she finished her feast.

It was time to eat his heart, Millicent decided. She’d denied herself long enough. Eagerly, Millie bounded over to Grouchy’s collapsed form, batted him over onto his back with her paw, and cracked open his chest just like she’d planned.

~

“Where is Allegiant General Pryde?”

Usually Pryde was at Kylo’s side whenever Kylo was outside his chambers. Kylo vacillated between finding it convenient and irritating; having an old Imperial constantly hanging around wasn’t really the same as keeping Hux close. Right now, though, the allegiant general was nowhere to be found, and Kylo had some orders to give him.

“General Hux?” Kylo asked, because Hux was the type to know where everyone was at all times.

“I’m afraid I don’t know, sir,” Hux said. A cursory scan of his mind showed he was telling the truth. Surprising. “I haven’t seen him since the middle of cresh shift. He said he had business and left the bridge.”

Kylo felt himself scowling and wished he hadn’t destroyed his mask.

“Can...I help with something, sir?” Hux added.

“Yes,” Kylo said, because he could give orders through Hux just as well as through Pryde. Actually, the allegiant general being absent was a good opportunity. Kylo didn’t feel like he could talk to Hux when Pryde was around. This was ridiculous, of course; he was Supreme Leader and could talk to anybody whenever he wanted. But still, it always felt...awkward. “Your chambers,” Kylo decided, in case Pryde suddenly decided to appear. “Now.”

As they set off together, Hux actually walked abreast of Kylo instead of trailing behind him. It was, Kylo thought, the first time he’d done that in a year. It reminded Kylo of how things had been on the Finalizer, before.

“How is Millicent?” Kylo asked, realizing he hadn’t thought about Hux’s pet in months. He wasn’t even sure she had survived Batuu.

“She’s fine, Supreme Leader,” Hux said. “Healthy and happy.”

It would be nice to see her again. She had always been friendly with Kylo, letting him pet her and scratch below her jowls. She had a deep, throaty purr that was strangely soothing.

He felt a sudden spike of anxiety that things might be different now, that Millicent might not like Kylo anymore. The thought of her rebuffing him was unpleasant. But there was no reason for Millicent to dislike him, was there? Things had—changed, shifted, with Hux, but surely that wouldn’t affect—

Kylo swallowed and pushed those worries down. It didn’t matter if an animal didn’t like him, did it? He was the Supreme Leader. He didn’t need anyone to like him. Not Millicent, not Hux, not anyone.

“Here we are,” Hux said, breaking into Kylo’s maudlin thoughts. Hux activated the airlock hatch to his chambers and started to enter. “Can I offer you a—” Then he broke off, stopping in the doorway, his mouth hanging open for a beat. “Ah. Supreme Leader. Perhaps a different venue—?”

“No,” Kylo said. “We’re already here. I don’t care if you haven’t dusted, or whatever.” He shouldered past Hux.

Then he stopped too. The floor was covered in dried blood, tattered pieces of fabric and leather, and bits of what looked like bone. Millicent lay curled up by the sofa. She looked very pleased with herself; her long tail curled slowly back and forth as she raised her head to look at Kylo. There was blood all around her mouth and all over her paws.

Her stomach was distended.

The smell of blood always gave Kylo something of a rush. It excited him. It was a scent of battle. He licked his lips as he stepped further into Hux’s chambers, scanning the room for evidence of what exactly had happened. It seemed clear enough, though. “Millie,” he said, “did you eat someone?”

Millie licked her own chops in response, as if to say yes.

Hux spoke up then, a nervous thread in his voice. “Supreme Leader, I’m utterly horrified. I’ve no idea how this happened. No one should have been in my chambers. I’m sure she was simply defending herself—”

Kylo raised a hand to shut him up. “It’s fine,” he said. “If Millie did eat someone, they probably deserved it.” He crossed the room to Millicent and buried his hands in her fur. “I missed you,” he crooned to her. To his delight, she rolled onto her back, inviting him to rub her tummy.

“You won’t...punish her?” Hux asked. “No matter who it was?”

“No,” Kylo said shrugging. “Why would I do that? I won’t punish you, either.”

“In that case...” Hux stepped further into the room, stooped over, picked something up, and brought it to Kylo. Kylo glanced up, then did a double take. It was that stick Pryde was always carrying around.

“Oh,” Kylo said with a laugh of realization. “So that’s where he was.”

Hux’s face took on a look of triumph. It was subtle enough that most people probably wouldn’t notice it, but Kylo did. It helped that he could also feel the man’s satisfaction rolling out from him like waves in the Force.

“You didn’t like him,” Kylo said. When Hux didn’t answer right away, Kylo added, “I know you didn’t plan this.”

At that, Hux let out a small laugh of surprise. "No, Supreme Leader. I didn’t like him.”

“I didn’t really like him either,” Kylo said. “But he always did what I ordered, so there wasn’t a good reason to kill him.” Kylo shrugged.

“It seems he intended to spy on me,” Hux added, holding up another item that appeared to be a small transmitter.

Kylo scoffed. “Was he so inept that he didn’t think he could serve me without trying to copy my most brilliant general? Fool.” Kylo turned back to Millicent and resumed stroking her fat belly. “You ate well, didn’t you? Guess you don’t need your regular dinner, do you?” Millicent nudged her face against Kylo’s ankle and started purring, and Kylo felt both gratified and content, like everything was the way it was supposed to be.

After a moment, Hux moved around the caf table and sat down on the couch, leaning over to join Kylo in petting Millicent. “Good girl,” Kylo heard him say softly.

~

Millie didn’t know why life-partner hadn’t taken Dark One as his mate yet. Humans had many strange and inconvenient customs; perhaps a long courtship was one of them. But it was nice to see Dark One again. There was something different about him, something different about the way he and life-partner were behaving around each other...but life-partner still smiled when he thought Dark One wasn’t looking, and Dark One still stared at life-partner like he wanted to mate immediately. It was only a matter of time.

Maybe, Millicent thought as Dark One settled onto the sofa next to life-partner and she climbed up to sprawl across both their laps, it would happen tonight.

~

The Deaths of Allegiant General Pryde series on AO3