#like the man was gone from the story for a whole chapter sheesh and we just dont see him again....

[gifti3]

Okay im done with Clems route for The Apothecary

Overall i liked it a lot, the plot was interesting and it felt like a story with more overt romance than the usual

But the ending was a bit rushed imo!!

They really needed at least one more part in chapter 4 just to talk about what happened after the big fight and wrap up the main plot

see important characters one last time....

Properly talk about how me and clem are gonna travel together after all the bs we were put through or whatever (totally did not just add my own imaginings here heheh)

ALSO....where is Charons evil speech!? they like glazed over that section when they should have built it up! he needs to get on that stage and have his dialogue and when hes about to enact his tomfoolery....we fuck his plan up and jump him!!!

anyways yea did not like how they did that but at least the actual fight was tense...

[baizhoobies]

𝐎𝐧𝐢 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲…?

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

Synopsis: f!Reader somehow finds herself trapped in the spirit realm. Whoops. She entrusts the help of a Yokai Detective Agency to get her back to the mortal realm where she belongs. Wait? A detective agency? In the spirit realm? And the only way of escape is to work with a disgruntled and hot headed Oni who is somehow spiritually bound to her? Sheesh.

A multichapter, Kamisama Kiss inspired story with your favourite Bungo man. Or at least, my favourite ~

Warnings: 18+, eventual smut, violence, swearing, blood mention, monsterfucking, knotting, ruts, omegaverse vibes, breeding

A/N: YAY another chapter! Starting to heat up now. Thinking of making a playlist for this fic, what do you think?

Chapter Warnings: suggestive, masturbation, possessiveness, strong omegaverse themes, Dazai is a dick but we know that

Masterlist

‘Warm…so warm…’

Kunikida inhaled a long breath, a kind of breath that sang relief across his whole body. It came with a peace he’d never known before, like his soul had gone to the spa or a month long holiday. As he slowly regained consciousness, he felt himself pressed against something, something warm and soft which smelled amazing and hugged it tightly. ‘Gods, this feels good’ he thought to himself at whatever this comforting sensation is. He could feel is arms instinctively pull the source of bliss towards his body, squishing it and nuzzling his face into a crook.

As he woke up more, his eyes flickered open and his breath hitched as he registered your unmistakable form curled into his embrace. His chest was pressed against your back, his face nestled so close to your neck, dangerously close to spot where he could just…

Kunikida’s Alpha instincts flared to life, and an unsettling wave of heat surged through him that went straight to his balls. He was laying there, spooning you, with his cock pressed up against your soft ass and his lips were where your scent glands would be, had you been an Oni.

‘What in the spirit realm is this…?’

Panic set in as he became acutely aware of your scent. It wasn’t just human anymore - no, it was different, richer, more enticing. It was distinctly omega-like, laced with a warmth that tugged at something primal deep inside him. The overwhelming sensation made his breath hitch, his fangs aching with the suppressed urge to mark you.

Kunikida jerked his head back, his cheeks flushing furiously. ‘Absolutely not. Control yourself.’ He clenched his fists to regain composure, though his inner Alpha was screaming otherwise.

He carefully untangled himself, slipping out of bed with the precision of someone defusing a bomb. You stirred slightly, murmuring in your sleep, and Kunikida froze again. But you didn’t wake, and he exhaled a quiet sigh of relief before stepping back and rubbing his temples.

‘This spirit bond is going to be the end of me.’

Kunikida escaped into the bathroom and looked down at the rather large problem protruding from his pyjama pants. He was tempted to rub one out quickly to solve the problem, but it felt wrong with you being in the other room. He tried his best to conjure up the most hideous images, mostly of Dazai sucking the juices out of a crab shell that one time. That would have done the trick until he hears you in the bedroom turning in your sleep, letting out a sleepy groan.

Then boom. His dick stood to attention once more. Is that what you would sound like beneath him? His fingers circling your clit as you begged him for more. Or maybe its the sound you’d make as he slips his knot into you, locking you together and pumping your womb to the brim with his cum.

‘Stop’ he slaps his forehead over and over to try and clear any of those images, but it was too late. He felt like he was entering a rut again, and thats a week of pure hell, and with you being there in close proximity? He wonders if there is a fate worse than hell. How could he be so stupid and let his guard down in his sleep? His dick was literally in the curve of your ass, his face against your neck, he could have, he would have…

Nothing he could do could quell the throbbing need in his loins, so he did the only thing to solve the issue. He leaned against the sink, one hand palming his cock and with the other to cover his mouth as to stifle his moans. He runs his thumb over his shaft, his fingers wrapped around his cock and begins to tug slowly. Kunikida can still smell yourself on him and it dizzied his mind, it was if he was imprinting your scent right into his being as he jerked himself off. His voice raspy from sleep and arousal left his lips, doing everything in his power to quiet them, beads of precum dribble from his slit as his pace quickened.

His mouth salivates at the thought of you - instead of his hand it would be the warm and wet body of the woman currently laying in his bed. His bed. His teeth sinking into your neck and claiming you. Everything ached, his cock, his balls, even his tongue yearned to taste the droplets of blood from your throat. His pace quickens once more as he drives himself closer to the edge.

‘Need…need…need…’

Once he relieved himself, he splashed water on his face to to chase away the heat pooling in his chest - Kunikida decided to channel his restless energy into something productive. Breakfast. Yes, that was a perfectly normal, responsible thing to do.

He busied himself in the kitchen, preparing a traditional breakfast. Rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tamagoyaki - all executed with a precision that calmed his chaotic thoughts. By the time he placed the tray together, the sight of it was enough to pull his mind back to a state of order.

Carrying the tray carefully, he re-entered the bedroom through the curtain and set it on the nightstand. You stirred again, this time blinking awake.

"Morning" Kunikida said, attempting to sound neutral.

You squinted at him, then at the tray, then back at him. “Breakfast in bed? Did I die or is this another alternate universe where you’re nice to me?”

He cleared his throat, ignoring the jab. “You need to eat properly to keep your strength up. That’s all.”

“Oh, is that all? Not because you felt like being sweet or anything?” You grinned, sitting up and stretching. You notice how red his face was, is he embarrassed? “Aw, you’re blushing.”

Kunikida bristled. “I am not blushing.” Of course Kunikida couldn’t just outright say he jerked off to the thought of you being pressed against him, your scent, or the indescribable need to mark you as his.

You accepted the tray, taking in the artfully arranged breakfast with an impressed hum. “Okay, I’m teasing, but this actually looks amazing. You never fail to impress. Guess grumpiness isn’t your only talent.”

He crossed his arms and frowned. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Eat quickly - we have a lot to do today.”

You snickered but obliged, taking a bite of the tamagoyaki. “Mmm. You’re forgiven for being a grump.”

As you ate, Kunikida watched you for a few moments. He liked watching you eat - among other things - but he takes pride in his culinary skills, despite claiming its nothing more than a necessity. He found himself taking note of the way you smiled with each bite, as if you were tasting food for the very first time; and this, made him happy. Satisfied was a word he would not use but he certainly felt it. Realising he’d been staring for far too long, his usual ‘work minded’ instincts kick in and opened his notebook, going over the plans for the day.

“We’re heading to the agency for more paperwork. There are still details to finalize about the Tanuki incident. You’ll stay near my desk and once again, refrain from touching anything.”

You raised a brow. “Paperwork again? That mission felt like centuries ago, what else is there to finalise? Don’t Oni have something more exciting to do? When can we go on another mission?”

“We do plenty of fieldwork, though the fact we’ve not been on another mission is a blessing,” he replied stiffly. “It means things are quiet, and thats a good thing. Missions aside, logistics are just as important as combat. Chaos is unacceptable.”

“Right. And nothing about my presence here screams chaos?” You teased.

Kunikida adjusted his glasses, averting his gaze. “Your presence does require additional… adjustments. But that doesn’t mean I’ll let things descend into disorder.”

You snorted, amused by how rigid he was. “Fine, Mr. Perfect. But only if you promise not to leave me sitting there bored for hours again.”

He hesitated, then sighed. “I’ll find something for you to do.”

Your eyes sparkled with mischief. “How thoughtful. You really are a big softie, aren’t you?”

His cheeks darkened, and he muttered something unintelligible, causing you to laugh.

The domestic quiet between you was unexpectedly pleasant, though Kunikida would never admit it. As he got himself ready for work, he would occasionally steal glances as you prepared for the day. Your teasing smile, the way you bent down to pick up your clothes, it all stirred something he was too stubborn to name. And that lingering omega-like scent… it was maddening.

His dick twinged once again and he had to quickly focus on something else. This morning was off to a bad start, how could this mortal cause so much trouble for him? Spirit bond or otherwise.

‘just a few more weeks’ he reminded himself. ‘I can endure this for 20 more days’

As you stepped out into the perpetual twilight of the spirit realm, you nudged him with your elbow, a sincere smile on your lips.

“Thanks for breakfast in bed, Kunikida. You’re not so bad when you’re not grumbling at me.”

He clicked his tongue, refusing to look at you. “Don’t get used to it.”

But the tiniest ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as you headed toward the agency.

-

The Armed Detective Agency office was buzzing with its usual low hum of activity. Papers shuffled, phones rang, and somewhere in the background, Ranpo could be heard loudly demanding snacks. You sat perched at Kunikida’s desk, your head resting in your hands, watching him neatly organise a stack of documents. It was, in your words, the very definition of “thrilling.”

Kunikida once again looked in your direction before quickly looking away once he’s noticed your staring. ‘Damn this woman. What is she even looking at?’ He thought, burying his face in his work. You noticed him too, the way his hazel eyes softened when he gazed up at you. There was a blossom of satisfaction in your chest, a tension in your stomach you could only recognise as a ‘fuzzy feeling’. It was…nice, that he would look up at you whilst he worked. A subtle reminder that he still thought of you even when he was in ‘work mode’. As much as you weren’t his biggest fan, it made your heart flutter.

He did it once more, then twice, and right before either of you could say anything, Dazai appeared out of nowhere, as if summoned by the mere scent of impending chaos.

“Y/N!” Dazai greeted you with a wide grin, pulling up a chair beside you. “And how are you enjoying life under the care of our dear Kunikida? He’s not too much of a tyrant, is he?”

“Define ‘tyrant’” you teased, earning a sharp glare from Kunikida.

Dazai leaned closer to you, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “If he’s giving you trouble, you can always run to me. I promise to treat you with the utmost care”

You blinked, this man was getting a little too close for comfort, but when you noticed Kunikida’s frustrated eyes at the pair of you, you couldn’t help but snort. Boredom was a killer, and you find yourself once again wanting to see how far you could push the easily aggravated Oni; youre starting to sound like Dazai.

“Wow, are you always this charming?” You take his hand in yours, idly playing with his fingers; your eyes never leaving Kunikida’s to see any and all reactions.

“Only for someone as radiant as you,” Dazai replied with a wink, returning the gesture as he ran his thumb over your knuckles.

From his place at the desk, Kunikida’s instincts went haywire. How dare he just swoop in and…is that you holding his hand? Unacceptable. The grip on his pen tightened audibly, causing the pen to crack.

Dazai glanced at him with innocent curiosity. “Oh, Kunikida, is something wrong? You seem tense. Surely it’s not because of little ol’ me?”

“I’m fine” Kunikida snapped through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you go do something productive for once?”

“But I am being productive,” Dazai said, flashing a mischievous grin. “I’m making your mistress feel welcome. Unlike someone, who just barks at her.”

You smirked, enjoying the interplay. “He does bark a lot.”

Kunikida’s eye twitched. “You’re both insufferable.”

Despite getting close to boiling point, Dazai wasn’t done yet. He leaned closer to you, his voice dropping into a mock-serious tone. “You know, Y/N, remember what I told you the other day about Kunikida?”

“Oh?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow. “What was that again? I need reminding”

Kunikida snapped his head up, his instincts immediately on high alert. “Dazai…”

Ignoring the warning, Dazai pulled out a slim, notebook from his jacket. Kunikida’s notebook.

“Behold!” Dazai declared, holding it up like a prize. “The holy grail of Kunikida’s principles. But more importantly - his list of the 58 traits for his ideal woman!”

You choke back a laugh. “Ah yes! I remember now, Kunikida’s infamous list. Is it really that ridiculous?”

“Ridiculous is an understatement,” Dazai said, flipping open the notebook. “Let’s see… Ah!“

“How did you swipe that you bastard?! Give that back!” Kunikida barked, launching from his chair. His arms reach desperately for his notebook, only for Dazai to pull it away and flick through some of the pages.

“Number three: ‘She must be skilled in domestic tasks, especially cooking and cleaning’. Number twenty-two: ‘She must appreciate the finer points of literature and poetry.’” Dazai reads aloud with gusto.

You sat there, struggling to contain your laughter, tears forming in the corners of your eyes. “This is gold. Please tell me there’s more.”

“There’s plenty more!” Dazai grinned, flipping further down the list. “Oh, look at this! Number thirty-six: ‘She must-‘”

Kunikida lunged, grabbing Dazai by the collar and yanking him to his feet. “I said give it back!”

“Oh no! An Alpha protecting his precious notebook!” Dazai cried, feigning distress.

Kunikida growled low in his throat, hauling Dazai off his feet and throttles him. You lean back in your chair, still giggling uncontrollably as you watch they two of them like some kind of comedy act.

When Kunikida finally pried the notebook from Dazai’s hands and shoved him away, he turned to you, looking thoroughly frazzled.

“Don’t encourage him,” he snapped. “He thrives on chaos.”

You held up your hands, still chuckling. “Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t steal your precious notebook.”

“You didn’t stop him, either” Kunikida grumbled, sitting down heavily and burying his face in his hands.

Dazai, now lounging on a nearby desk, smirked. “You’re welcome, Y/N. I hope you learned something valuable today.”

“Oh, definitely” you replied, resting your chin in your hand as you shot a teasing glance at Kunikida. “I’ve learned that he’s a lot pickier than I thought.”

Kunikida groaned, wishing he could sink into the floor. “Its a guideline, not necessarily rules”

“Oh?” You quirked an eyebrow. “Are there any nonnegotiables?”

“Don’t push it”

After that humiliation, Kunikida returned to work, something about his schedule and that he is too behind on work to deal with Dazai’s insistent teasing. Though the fact that you knew about this list, had heard a few ‘guidlines’ was too much for Kunikida to bare. He knew he’d have to do a better job of keeping his notebook safe from Dazai from now on.

Kunikida curses to himself as he worked, what was Dazai trying to do?! Tease, of course, but using you against him? Unbelievable!

The office fell quiet once more, save for the soft scratching of pens against paper and the occasional shuffle of documents. You remained sat at Kunikida’s desk, trying to occupy yourself while Kunikida sifted through several documents.

Dazai, however, was not one to leave well enough alone. He perched on the edge of a nearby desk, idly flipping through papers that definitely weren’t his.

“Y/N,” he began, his voice dripping with mischief, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh-oh” Kunikida muttered under his breath, not looking up from his work. ‘Not another round of torment, please’.

“That sounds dangerous” You smirked, leaning on your hand to look at him.

Dazai grinned. “Oh, it is. You see, I’ve realized something very important.” He leaned closer, his expression mock-serious. “As an unattached Oni, I find myself unbound. Free. Lonely, even.”

“Dazai” Kunikida said sharply, his pen stilling mid-sentence.

Dazai ignored him, his gaze fixed on you. “I thought it be in your best interest to know that if an Oni bonds with an omega mortal, she or he can pass to and from the spirit realm. I can speak for the rest of us, we’ve gotten quite used to having you here” He points a sharp nailed finger at you. “Let me bite you, Y/N! I’ll make you my omega!”

The room fell silent for a beat.

You stared at him blankly for a for moments before bursting out laughing. “Are you serious?”

Even though you are laughing, thats quite the interesting bit of information. Could this mean you could come back to the spirit realm whenever you wanted? You could visit family and friends in the mortal realm? Part of you didn’t believe it, you couldn’t, it was too good to be true. Well, not completely good, the only downside is bonding and…mating with an Oni. And no offence to anyone there, none of the Oni quite met up to your standards; or at least, you refuse to believe so. Your eyes dart to Kunikida, who looks like he is struggling to keep out of the conversation as much as possible, visibly shaking with what you assumed to be irritation.

“Deadly serious” Dazai said, though his tone suggested otherwise. “Imagine it! You and I, a perfect pairing. I’d be the dashing Beta, and you’d be my radiant Omega. We’d make such a statement in the spirit realm. Plus, one free ticket to the mortal realm - ah, it has been wayyyy too long since I’ve seen sunlight!”

“Absolutely not” you said bluntly, holding up a hand in the devilish Oni’s direction. Dazai was the last Oni you would ever pair with.

“Why not?” Dazai asked, feigning hurt. “I’m kind, intelligent, handsome- ”

“Because you’re an absolute nightmare” you interrupted, grinning.

“Welllll thats fair” Dazai admitted with a shrug. He tilted his head thoughtfully. “Still, you might want to reconsider. The offer stands. When you finish whatever you’ve got going on with Kunikida, I’ll be keeping the bed warm”

Kunikida slammed his hand on the desk, finally snapping. “That’s enough!”

Both Dazai and you turned to look at him, startled by the sharpness in his tone. Kunikida glared at Dazai, his jaw tight and his knuckles white where they gripped the desk.

“She’s not your omega, shes not even an omega! Also, she’s not some prize for you to joke about!” he spoke coldly. He would be damned if he allowed Dazai to even so much as touch a strand of hair on your head, let alone mating and claiming you. That should be his job.

Dazai blinked, then a slow, sly smile spread across his face. “Oh, I see. My apologies, Kunikida. I didn’t realize you felt so… strongly.”

Kunikida flushed but didn’t respond, turning his attention back to his paperwork with more force than necessary. You frowned, sensing the tension in the air. There was an awkward, pregnant silence that hung heavy between the three of you. At least, until Dazai whistled and turned on his heel.

“Well its been fun but-”

Kunikida shot him another glare to make him stop speaking altogether, but this time it worked. Dazai disappeared somewhere down the hall, probably off to find another excuse not to work, leaving you and Kunikida at his desk, silent as the grave.

-

The rest of the day seemed to drag, and by the time you were ready to leave, the atmosphere between Kunikida and yourself was strained. You walked beside him in silence, your earlier amusement replaced by a gnawing unease.

Inside Kunikida’s mind was a whirlwind, ticking things over and over, his jealousy, mixed with damaged pride had reached boiling point, that, coupled with the fact that his instincts are going CRAZY. He’s not entered a rut in what felt like years, and this was not helping. It can’t be a rut, surely. The denial ran thick, it was everything piling up that’s got him like this. The jealousy, the possessiveness, the yearning. God! He doesn’t even like you, well maybe a little…maybe a lot…nah definitely not…Unless?

Whatever the case, he fears that even one word out of you could lead to a disaster.

‘How dare she?’ He thought, giving you a sideways glance and noticing the way you walked, the way you breathed, your scent, that agonising, tantalising scent was enough to drive this Oni to madness. He didn’t need you or Dazai to push him over an edge he was barely keeping himself up on. ‘Meddlesome woman, cruel, evil, tempting woman’.

As you reached the empty hallway leading to the exit, Kunikida suddenly stopped, with all his internal ramblings about how annoying, how irritating and how frustrating you are, he finally admitted to himself the familiar feeling that he had simply written off as the spirit bond. His rut. He couldn’t tell you, how could he? As far as he knew, you hated him, and he hated you - even if you both know that isn’t true. He hesitated, frozen, too scared to move because the second he allows his rut to kick in, its game over, regardless of feelings. You turned to look at him, confused.

“Kunikida?” You asked. And that was it, the trigger he had hoped would never come. Before you could say more, he stepped forward, backing you up against the wall.

“Kunikida, what-”

His hands were braced on either side of you, caging you in with his giant Oni form. His golden eyes, sharp and intense, locked onto yours, and you could feel your breath hitch. He was so close, and his expression seemingly unreadable except for the intense glare. It was a hunger in his eyes and the sheer power behind it that commanded authority. Now you weren’t one for submission but this…

“You need to understand something,” he said, his voice low and rough. “This… bond between us? It’s not a game. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”

“I-I never said it was,” you stammered, your heart pounding in your chest as his face inches closer to yours. Despite mostly looking human, he was unmistakably an Oni; with the growl and temper of one as well.

He leaned in slightly, the faintest trace of heat radiating from him. You could feel the tension in his frame, the struggle he was waging with himself. His gaze flicked to your neck, where the scent of you, faint but intoxicating, lingered.

For one agonizing moment, you thought he might actually bite you. Would you let him? Something about how he’s trapped you is…well whatever it is, you just stand there and almost take it.

“You think it is so hilarious to team up with Dazai, that bastard Oni, and antagonise me the entire day? Well I am so sorry princess, but you’ll learn to regret it. I’ll-”

As quickly as he caged you in, he then pulled back sharply, as if burned. He could feel himself taking control of his instincts once more, only to be replaced by a dulling shame.

“Forget it” he muttered, his tone clipped and cold. Stepping away, he turned his gaze away from yours with a guarded expression. “Let’s go.”

You blink, then blink again, trying to process what just happened. You’re still pressed against the wall, like a deer in the headlights before pulling yourself together.

“Kunikida-”

“Don’t” he said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

He walked ahead without looking back, leaving you standing there before reluctantly following behind him. ‘What the fuck was that about?’.

-

The walk home was quiet and tense, each step echoed along the street in a drawn out, tense silence. He didn’t even turn to look as to whether you were right behind him; you supposed that he would know by instinct as to whether you had gone missing, or at least the spirit bond would alert him. Even so, you would normally catch Kunikida looking behind, making sure you were safe - and in those moments you felt safe, protected even. But now? You had feared your teasing went too far, maybe too many buttons were pressed, maybe you really were annoying as he said you were. Many many excruciating thoughts fly through your head.

You try to think logically, surely he was just having an off day? Maybe he will just get over it and be done with you once the thirty days were up. Whatever the case, by the time you reached Kunikida’s dorm, you couldn’t take it anymore.

“You want to talk about what happened back there?” You asked, your voice carefully neutral. You try to reach a hand out to rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but he moved away quickly before you could touch.

“No” Kunikida said curtly, not meeting your gaze.

“Fine” you huffed, crossing your arms. “But whatever’s going on, we’re stuck together for the next few weeks, so you’d better figure it out.”

Kunikida paused, his hand on the door. For a moment, you thought he might respond, but instead, he opened the door and stepped inside.

You could only follow in silence, occasionally glancing in Kunikida’s direction to see that he was purposefully obscuring his face from you. You felt pangs of guilt, followed by frustration, followed by guilt again. Did you really piss him off that much he won’t even look at you? That he won’t even let you look at his face?

[arsonistslut]

Chapter 15: A false truth

Meanwhile, Jeff lay awake in his hospital bed. He didn't even properly feel angry anymore, or sad, or..anything. He just felt numb. He was getting a hair transplant, but the doctors wouldn't be able to perform proper plastic surgery until a good year or so, so natural healing of his wounds was the only viable option. His parents hadn't visited once, so he had only the staff to keep him company. Whenever one of the nurses came to change his bandages, as was procedure, he could see the look of pity in her eyes. His burns were horrific to look at, he assumed, but not once did he ask to see his own face.

When they put him under for his hair transplant, the demon, apparently calling itself "Zalgo" when asked, had returned to that space they'd talked in before. The same dark corner, red swelling around Zalgo's presence like a plague. Last time Jeff was here with the demon, he took it's hand and pledged bloodshed upon the world..but now he was second-guessing his decision.

"...How do you know Liu hates me, Zal? I mean..he could be in therapy, for all I know! He doesn't hate me, he can't..I'm his brother.."

"He sure is getting therapy.."

Zalgo reached toward one of the walls and swiped over it, opening a sort of..one way window to the sight of Liu and Natalie, gazing at the stars together, Nat running her fingers through Liu's hair as he curled up in her arms like a cat.

"He's forgotten about you, Jeff..remarkably quickly. Another thing.."

Jeff then saw into earlier in the day. Liu was talking to Randy, the kid that set him on fire, and apologized to him. Did it all mean nothing to him...? Did all the times they helped each other, the bond they had, the fact that his brother was rotting in a hospital and was going to be for a year mean nothing to him?

"A reminder, Jeffrey..he's doing this on purpose. They all do, all the couples at school that see a lonesome soul like you with nobody to go to prom with, your family that irrationally hates everything you do and paints you as a monster, the police who arrested you, mocked you for your disorder, they think it's funny. This world hates people like you, and it won't stop beating you down until you're dead."

Chapter 16: Fresh meat

Keith smirked as he saw the new girl with the black-and-red stockings pass him by in the locker. Nina Hopkins, another transfer from 9th grade. She was what you would call the "alt-girl", and if the rumors were true, had similar issues that Jeff kid had. Keith taps his friend Troy's shoulder, and the two follow her as she heads outside to eat her lunch.

"Hey! Where ya goin', anorexic?"

Nina turned to look at the boys who followed her outside, sighing as she ignored them and muttered to herself.

"Same shit as before.."

"What is it, Jeff? You finally got that sex change?"

"Jeff? who's Jeff?"

"Oh, right, that's your 'dead name'. Sorry, nInA!"

Randy saw the two outside, approaching and looking at the situation. At this point, Troy and Keith were hardly people he wanted to associate with anymore. He didn't want to bully people anymore, to hurt anyone else with these two dopes.

"C'mon, you two. We've got bigger fish to fry."

"What? We're just..introducing her to the neighborhood."

"We're going."

"You her boyfriend or something?"

Randy approached Keith, looming over the ginger with a subdued anger in his eyes.

"Maybe I should beat your fucking ass, Keith. Teach you your fair share of respect."

When his "friend" stepped back in surprise and fear, Ellsworth couldn't help but feel just a little bit satisfied with himself. Damn, that felt good.

"Alright, I'm coming..Jesus."

When the three left, Nina, who was just..caught up in all of this, looked on in confusion as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

"Sheesh..who is this Jeff kid, anyway? Heh, maybe I could buy some drugs or something off of him."

She joked to herself, the rest of school carrying on without incident.

Chapter 17: Breaking away

It was the same walk home as usual. The same cool air, the same autumn leaves flowing through the wind, the same desolate suburbia that New Orleans had become. Liu passed the Wallace Street sign that signaled the closeness of his house, his hands interlocked with Natalie's. He was about to cross the train tracks, but then he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Liu fuckin' Woods. How the hell've you been, little man?"

Keith Winchester. Alone. With a baseball bat.

"This is the same street your brother attacked me on. Poetic, ain't it?"

Liu felt that he wasn't gonna get out of this without violence, but he didn't expect this kid, who from what he remembered hearing, had a pretty cushy life, was going to try and attack him and Nat, of all people with a baseball bat. It was metal, too, so he had to have gotten it from his dad or something. Natalie was more annoyed than frightened, however, and began walking toward the bully.

"Oh, you think you're-"

What came next horrified Liu; the awful sound of aluminum striking flesh full force rang out as Keith bashed her upside the head with his weapon. Liu's conscious quickly gave way to let Sully in, and he charged at Keith, who raised the bat above his head to strike Liu down as well, but a hard punch to the gut quickly doubled the boy over. Sully quickly followed up by grabbing Keith's ears and headbutting him, knocking him to thee ground in a daze. Liu felt like he was outside of his own body, just..watching it all unfold. Sully grabbed the baseball bat and struck Keith in the ribs, then again in the shoulder, again to his ribs. A strike to his ankle came next, causing Keith to cry out in pain louder than before. Sully then heard the loud bells of a train arriving and grabbed Keith's leg, grabbing him and then throwing him down against the tracks, placing a foot against his back so he couldn't escape. The train grew closer and closer, the panic of the situation began slowly rushing back to Liu, as Natalie's voice called out to him;

"LIU, NO!!"

Suddenly, Liu regained control, and before the train could kill Keith, he pulled him out of the way of the speeding train, the shock on his face mirroring his. Keith limped away as Natalie rushed over to Liu's side.

"Liu, what the hell was that?! You nearly killed him!"

"I-I don't know, I just..s-snapped!"

"...I've never seen you that..angry, before..that scared me, Liu. It's like..you were a different person."

"I...I guess it was.."

"C'mon, I'll be fine. He hits hard, goddamn it..you got an ice pack or something?"

Liu grabbed an ice pack from his backpack and gently pressed it up to his girlfriend's face, half of him internally cursing himself for not killing that Keith motherfucker for hitting Natalie, and the other just happy that this whole event was over and done with.

3 days passed, and Keith hadn't gotten any better. He could tell Randy was about to split, and Troy..Troy was as dopey as he usually was, that relentless apathy toward all the cruelty and the violence, it was disturbing at times. Still, Keith had agreed to drive the three out to this junkyard he frequented, helped him separate from the outside world. They'd decided that a couple of good-for-nothing cars in an abandoned junkyard would be the perfect tourniquets for their frustrations, and Keith's father played lots of baseball, so they had weapons to use in such..venting. Troy and Randy were having a fair bit of fun there, making crude jokes and smashing old cars to pieces, but Keith was busy letting out all of the frustration, the anger he had for the Woods brothers and what they'd done to him. The car he was smashing apart was nearly about to collapse on it's own as Winchester screamed curse word after curse word, striking the derelict with hit after hit. Once he was finished, he noticed the two other teenagers looking at him. Troy looked amazed at what his friend did, whilst Randy just seemed...concerned.

"Are..are you alright, dude?"

"No, I'm not alright!! Jeff, Liu, those two fucks have been on my mind ever since the shit with the forest happened! Everybody thinks I'm a fucking weakling, thanks to those two! Well, news flash, I am NOT a weakling!!"

"Keith, we'll get those two eventually, alright? They've hurt you, and that means they hurt all of us. Nobody hurts us."

"Right..they're the bigger fish you mentioned when you pussied out over that Nina girl, right?"

"I didn't pussy out, Keith! We need to get after those shitters and not after some weird 17 year old!"

"You..You lie through your teeth, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You left your journal in my car, Randall. I decided to pore through it, and what do I find? Page after page of you whining about us, saying you want me and Troy gone from your life! We were friends!"

"People change, Keith, and I changed. A-After that fire, I realized that it was wrong..all of it was wrong! This bullying shit, it isn't okay! We're making other people feel like shit for our own enjoyment, that's sick!"

Randy let out an exasperated sigh as he sat on the roof of a car, clasping his hands together as he searched for the sort of words he thought could properly express how he's changed. Maybe his story would..resonate with Keith. Troy let out a small chuckle as he laid on a car hood and watched the drama unfold.

"I've never been the best with expressing myself, Keith. People would get mad at me when I said some shit that pissed them off, I didn't have a goddamn clue as to how I was supposed to talk to people. That's why I started all of this, why I started bullying people. People didn't really like me, but it was for a reason I could understand for once! But, now..after I lit Jeff on fire, it just doesn't seem worth it anymore."

"Oh, that's why?! You can't fucking talk right?! Randy, I've gotten arrested for you, you know that?! I took the fall for you for those vandalism charges when we set that old shed on fire, and was because you apparently had a fucking speech impediment."

"Keith, calm down-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

Randy just shook his head as Keith stormed away, snatching his baseball bat out of Randy's hands. Troy soon got up and followed, looking Ellsworth dead in the eyes as he passed him.

"You suck some off, y'know that?"

"And you swallow, prick."

Once Keith and Troy left, Randy smiled to himself, something he hadn't done ever since the incident. It was like a giant weight had been lifted from his chest, so after taking in the bliss of being free of those two, he stood up and began heading home. He'd finally broken away from those two.

[minaminokyoko]

Peace Talks Reactions

Hey, Dresden Fandom. You guys may or may not be knee deep in Peace Talks, but if you are, I welcome you to the below reactions, in handy dandy bullet form. I would love to discuss the book if you’re interested, whether you reblog with comments or shoot me a chat. I just finished the book, so all spoilers are below the Read More tag. 

Woof. Well, at least it was something after six fucking years of waiting.

·         So before Butcher’s giant hiatus, we had this first chapter of Peace Talks already and I have to say I still feel like I felt six years ago: I don’t really know where he’s going with Thomas becoming a father. In terms of what that will do for him as a character. For Harry, it’s different. Harry keeps it close to the chest with his decisions, willing to die for the greater good in an instant, and becoming a father made him have to be more careful and thoughtful in his actions to be sure he can be there for his baby girl. I’m not sure where Butcher is going with this for Thomas, but I guess we’ll see.

·         I was pleased to find out Harry decided to stick with the protected apartment and is trying his best on Dad duty. Me gusta.

·         Right, let’s get to the first big elephant in the room: Ebenezar. Oh my fucking God. I want to punch his fucking lights out. My friend and I have argued about his reaction to seeing Thomas at the apartment already. I know Eb has Harry by a thousand years or more in experience, but it pisses me off that Eb can’t be bothered to learn more about Thomas. Nope. Just skip straight to irrational anger.  It was also disappointing to find out that Eb is not a part of Harry’s life as much as I thought he was in the past, so clearly he doesn’t understand how important Thomas is to him. I’m a bit miffed that Harry didn’t explain Thomas is his half-grandson to help him understand, but at the same time, Harry might be worried about what that revelation will do. Either way, it displays a massive lack of trust in Harry. To think Harry—who has survived all this fucking shit from the supernatural world so far—is just a pawn and he doesn’t know how incredibly dangerous the White Court is. Eb is downright disrespectful and insulting to his own grandson. I’m sorry, but I think he’s being an asshat in huge proportions by just thinking Harry is too stupid to know better and by not asking him why he feels loyal to Thomas.

·         In that same vein, Eb’s whole thing about wanting Harry to leave Maggie somewhere can kiss my ass. I’m with Harry on this one. It’s not that I don’t trust the foster care system and I think anything negative about adoption, either. Maggie is a target because she’s a Dresden. That’s it. There is nothing she can ever do about it. She is the daughter of Harry Dresden, Captain fuckin’ Disaster of the supernatural world. There is no place she can go where she will be safe and Harry is honestly her best shot at being watched over and protected, but not only that, if she’s gonna be in danger her whole life, she might as well be loved and cared for by her father too. Harry brings up such a good point about feeling abandoned and rejected and how Eb’s “protection” jag didn’t work for Margaret either. I know he wants what’s best for her, but I agree that Maggie has a better chance of surviving at Harry’s side than somewhere else. Hell’s bells, that’s how this whole fucking thing started anyway. Susan’s bitch ass hid the kid and it didn’t work. Sheesh.

·         And now the other elephant in the room: Murphy. I think part of me forgot how severe her injuries were. I had assumed months of PT and such would allow her to be mobile again, but then I read Chapter 5 and now I’m just angry and hurt. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. You just don’t. I can’t help it. Murphy is my favorite, goddamn it. I’ve reread the books where she’s helping Harry the most because their dynamic is so phenomenal. They’re my OTP. She is one of the best written female characters I’ve ever known, so ripping her ability to be at Harry’s side away is so…2020. It’s just a nasty, horrible thing and it’s shot my excitement for this novel right in the foot. I didn’t realize how important it was to me that Murphy is Harry’s badass ace in the hole until I was told she’ll be lucky to walk again. I know things have to get worse for characters in order for them to grow, but fuck this so much. I am praying she gets a magical contract or healing or a wish or something so she’s back in action or I’m done.

·         With that same elephant, fuck Jim Butcher for skipping over the foreplay at the end of Chapter 5. Yes, I said it. Fuck him. I know he thinks it’s funny to frustrate us, but this is an act of betrayal of the highest order. Why? Because I’ve waited TWENTY FUCKING YEARS for Harry and Murphy to go canon, and what does he do the first time we, the audience, get to see them in a relationship? Cut to curtains fluttering. Fuck you. We deserved that foreplay scene. No, I will NOT use my fucking imagination, pun intended. I just paid you $15 to use YOUR imagination, Jim. You spent fifteen books building up the trust, love, loyalty, and sexual tension of these two characters. That’s countless words and countless pages. And now that they’re FINALLY together, nope, skip it. Skip what should have been something intimate and powerfully emotional. Ha-ha-fucking-ha. I hope you step on a Lego barefoot. I will try to have faith that Butcher will give us what we want—a canon version of Chapter 14 of Skin Game—but if he doesn’t, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.

·         The thought of Mab and Lara Raith working together is utterly terrifying. No. Just no. Ugh, there are bad times ahead. I also thought it was kind of contrived that Lara is owed favors, which forces Harry to not be able to say no, and I think it’s a bit lazy on Jim’s part for this convenient block to be there and he can’t refuse the favors. It just felt like he didn’t want to put the energy into painting Harry into a corner this time, so here, a convenient favor. That being said, I cackled when Mab called him a bowl of porridge. That was legitimately hilarious. What a bitch.

·         Mm, Harry just called Murphy his girlfriend. I’ve waited twenty years for that alone. *happy sigh*

·         Oh, great. Someone sent Thomas to assassinate someone. I’m betting blackmail, whether he admits to it or not.

·         LOL @ Harry’s cursing policy with Maggie.

·         Harry. Don’t. Make. Promises. EVER.

·         I would not be the least bit surprised if this assassination attempt is Mab’s idea to cut off all of Harry’s allies but her so he will have no choice but to use her protection more often. Mab is a cold fuckin’ piece. Pun intended.

·         Harry, for real, do not square up with Ebenezar. You are a wolf, for sure, but that man is a werewolf by comparison.

·         I’m getting real tired of Ebenezar’s anti-vampire schtick. I get it. They’re bad. Now shut up.

·         This is so unfortunate: I’ve been missing Lara Raith just because she’s a hoot but with this whole favor thing and Harry and Murphy being fitted for chastity belts, I’m more tired than anything else.

·         Oh, neat, one of Gard’s sisters!

·         Of course Lara knows about Thomas being Ebenezar’s grandson. It’s Lara.

·         Oh, good, I’m sure whatever deal Harry just made with Molly isn’t stupid or reckless.

·         Yes, Sanya is a VERY weird man. That is an understatement, Butters.

·         Aha. I had a hunch it was River Shoulders and not the Genoskwa.

·         And oh good, the Genoskwa’s not dead. Yay. I hate you, Butcher.

·         Now there is a good tidbit of story for the series: that the reason everything is accelerating into bad news is we’re about to hit that 666 year mark that people are talking about, where the even worse shit hits. We’ve had small clues about Harry being starborn and this helps provide context for the shit that happens to him. I hope it’s not a Chosen One scenario, but it does explain why he’s been in so many scrapes and why he’s made it out of them so far. However, I tend to dislike destiny in most stories. It can get tedious. We’ll see what’s in store.

·         Ugh, and there it is, but I already knew Lara was gonna make poor Harry break Thomas out from the book trailer anyhow. Sigh.

·         Murphy calling the White Council useless is a fuckin’ mood and a half. I swear, they ain’t nothing but useless since these books first started. Harry hit the nail on the head earlier with Carlos and the Wardens, that they spend a lot of time talking at Harry but not listening. That’s been their entire M.O. from the start. They don’t listen to anything he has to say; they just insist they know better and that he should fall in line, not caring about what he has on said line, which is very often innocent lives. I love the hypocrisy of them preaching to him about making cold, rational decisions when it’s not their asses who have to deal with the consequences. Yes, there is fallout from what Harry does, but the opposition is always there and it doesn’t act solely based on what Harry Dresden does. I really fucking hate the Council at this point.

·         So we get a second of tender kissing in the tub and an “I love you” and then Butcher cuts away again. I am so over it. I don’t have enough energy to put towards how angry he’s making me right now and he doesn’t deserve it anyway. I cannot believe he spent all this time building this relationship up and then makes it canon and won’t touch it. Fuck you.

·         Murphy immediately spotting all three of Harry’s tails is life. God, I love my bad bitch.

·         I do like that Harry has been practicing his Veils. That’s smart. It also shows character development and wisdom that he’s recognizing how much more useful stealth is and that even though it’s hard for him, it’s worth the effort to learn. Good book boyfriend.

·         It’s still Murphy, bitch. Injured or not. My queen is a queen. Try her if you want, Freydis.

·         PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT MURPHY YOU POOR CATHOLIC DARLING COME HERE. That pass was hilariously unexpected in a book that hasn’t been all that funny so far. Thanks, Jim. That got a whole bunch of cackling out of me.

·         “I like your brother.” I just clapped and squealed. I mean, duh, of course Murphy likes Thomas, but this pleases me greatly to hear her say it aloud. Murph is tough and doesn’t like to say stuff like that out loud usually. I’m delighted.

·         For all my complaints, I appreciate Butcher bringing Murphy in to help Harry plan everything. She’s hella smart and experienced in matters where you need to get someone out without being all guns a-blazing. And it is an apology for her being benched halfway thru Skin Game, imo.

·         Oh, shit. Harry doesn’t know Molly’s the one who attacked Carlos. Ugh. I bet this is gonna explode in someone’s face.

·         And Harry just fucked up the rest of his friendship with Carlos, not know Molly already did the same thing. Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

·         “You just went from a three to a six.” Jesus Christ, immortals are so savage, I swear. I laughed, tho. That was mean as hell.

·         I’m dying that Freydis wants a threesome with Harry and Murphy. I mean, who can blame her? Fuck, I want a threesome with Harry and Murphy, if I’m being totally honest here. The thirst is so fucking real.

·         Finally, someone made a joke about Harry and Murphy getting together.

·         Ah, this IS what I missed about Lara, though—she loves to fuck with Harry for the lolz and nothing other than the lolz. I mean, he’s such a peach. I would do the same thing.

·         Also, Jim, for God’s sake, make up your mind about vampires getting burned! I don’t get it. Thomas can touch Harry, and Harry is and always has been loved, so when do vampires get burned and when do they not? We’ve seen Harry touch Lara even when Susan was still alive and remember the kiss in White Night? MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND. I had a debate about this with another fan because it’s so goddamn inconsistent! If anyone being loved by anyone else burns them, then that would mean the entire world would be in the know about White Court vampires because they’d get burnt left and right touching people who are loved. I thought it only happens if they try to feed, not just touching each other. I think Jim needs to pay better attention to his own lore or finally spit out an explanation. We’ll see if he does later with that whole kiss thing from the book trailer, I guess. Argh! *Yosemite Sam curses*

·         I’m really starting to hate Harry’s condition and the fact that he didn’t stop to ask Eb what it is or how to stop it. Ugh.

·         Oh, good, and now everyone will think Harry and Lara are a couple. Convenient. Like they don’t already have constant trust issues. I’m sure Eb won’t block a gasket or anything.

·         Oh, yay, a Malcolm Dresden flashback! This is a delightful surprise. Like a lot of the fanbase, we’ve always wanted to know more about him. He seemed like a good man.

·         Yay! Vadderung to the rescue!

·         Okay, I do NOT like Murphy being alone with a starving Thomas and Lara. Not one little bit.

·         Ah, so the goddess Ethniu gets introduced in this book. That’s why Peace Talks got split and then Battle Ground popped out as the next book.

·         “You’re out of the White Council if you do this.” FUCK YOU, EBENEZAR. Jesus Christ, fuck you. All the Council has EVER done is use and abuse Harry Dresden. They have constantly blamed him for everything or forced him to fight their goddamn battles. You can shove it right up your old crusty ass for all I care. I am sick to death of this belief that they are just so righteous and trustworthy and good when they’re self-important douchebags who think that people are ants and can’t be bothered to protect them unless it directly benefits the Council.

·         I think I’m angriest because up until this point, Ebenezar has been mostly reasonable and it feels inorganic that Jim pushed him this hard. It’s just kind of exhausting because it feels like the plot needs Eb to lose his shit instead of it being something natural. I won’t be shocked if we find out he’s been compromised somehow, but I guess I’ll have to find out myself.

·         Murphy is right on the money. We thought we knew Eb, but we REALLY don’t. And that sucks. A lot. Especially since Harry has barely any family at all.

·         I can honestly tell why this book took Jim six years to write. It’s awful stagnant. It’s the exact same reason that the first draft of Of Fury and Fangs kicked my ass. I wrote the story in the first draft incorrectly, in a way, because all the characters were passive for the most part, and the other half of the problem was that I got halfway through this book and thought up an idea for a better book, but in order for the better book to happen, there were too many things I couldn’t ignore in this one, so I still had to finish it and make it good. Peace Talks, to me, feels like it’s obligatory to set up the next book, and maybe that’s why it feels lackluster to me. It’s a transitional book, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s definitely in the bottom five of the entire series. Transitional books aren’t bad, but they aren’t good either. Most authors know that this tends to happen if you write a trilogy. All the really big, important shit tends to happen in the first and third book if you’re not careful. In this case, yeah, there’s stuff happening, but it’s largely passive. It’s kind of like why back in 2010 people were so hard on Iron Man 2—it spent all this time setting up shit for the MCU, which in the long run is a good thing, but that makes it weak when it tries to stand on its own. 

As it stands, Peace Talks is mediocre. Jim took way too many shortcuts. It felt rushed, ironically enough, because he was so busy moving pieces around to set up for Battle Ground that Peace Talks doesn’t really stand out as interesting or likable like the other books. I really understand why he got stuck and couldn’t write on it for six years. My two biggest beefs here are him pushing Ebenezar into the antagonist role and him completely fucking bailing on the Harry/Murphy relationship after sixteen books of waiting. I mean, yeah, fine, because everything in this book is just set up for Battle Ground, maybe then we’ll get more acknowledgment of the romance and the importance of the relationship, but as it stands, I’m dissatisfied with both aspects. This is part of why we didn’t want a hiatus. If you make us wait this long, inevitably, the result is not going to be up to par. There are VERY few things we as people have waited forever for that ended up living up to our expectations. I almost feel like all the fan theories and fanfiction was a better, more creative result than what actually happened in Peace Talks. That’s harsh, I know, but I’ve been reading the fan generated stuff for six years and that’s just how I feel. 

This is a mediocre novel that’s placing a LOT of weight on what’s to come, which is dangerous from a quality standpoint. It could be a lot worse. I was expecting a disaster. Instead, I got a disappointment. I can live with it, but only if Battle Ground makes up for it. If it doesn’t, then we’re all in a world of hurt.

I’ll take maybe a week or so and then consider if I want to do an actual review or not. We’ll see how I feel once I digest everything and talk it out with friends.

Overall Grade: 3 out of 5 stars

[superfreakerz]

IJR 2

Forgot to post this here, so here it is. 

“It’s Just Research”

Rated M for smut.

Summary: AU. After having her smut-filled story criticized for being amateurish, Lucy decides once and for all it’s time to gain some experience in the world of sex. Her best friend, Natsu, agrees to help her with her research. Together, the two explore each other’s bodies, all the while denying their feelings for each other and insisting that they are just doing research. 

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 2

Aftermath

Lucy glanced at the alarm clock by her bed, wincing when she found that it was already two in the afternoon. It was Saturday, a whole week after she and Natsu had taken each other's virginities. Since then, she hadn't seen or heard from him since. Or anyone else in the gang for that matter since she had different classes from everyone.

Since that night, Lucy hadn't been able to bring herself to talk to Natsu. She couldn't even see the color pink without thinking of him and the scandalous touches he left on her skin- which was quite annoying since her room was covered in pink. She didn't want to think of that night, for it made her nervous.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. She wanted it and she loved it. It felt amazing and her body tingled every time she remembered his touch. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to face him.

Did he regret it? Did he only agree because he was drunk too? Was she bad at it? Questions like those plagued her mind. She was worried that despite her promise to him, their actions may have altered their friendship forever, and she didn't feel ready to deal with the aftermath.

Lucy's ears perked as there was a sudden knock at the front door. Dragging herself out of bed, she threw on a fluffy robe over her pajamas and quickly ran to answer the door. Hoping it wasn't Natsu on the other side, the girl took a deep breath before swinging the door open to find Levy instead.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy asked, surprised to see her there. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"That's what I was going to ask you," Levy replied, her lips curled into a slight frown. "Can I come in?"

Lucy- despite wanting to say no in fear of Levy somehow finding out her secret with Natsu- nodded and stepped aside to let her friend in. The two sat on the couch, Lucy hugging a couch pillow and playing with the material in hopes of distracting herself.

"So… is something wrong?" Levy asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Cmon Lu-Chan. We haven't seen or heard from you in a week. You keep dodging my calls and you haven't been to Fairy Tail. Did something happen?"

Her night with Natsu replayed in her heard. She could almost feel his fingertips warming her skin as he grazed them along her body.

"Nope. Nothing in particular," Lucy answered, swallowing thickly. She could feel her face warming at the thought of Natsu.

Levy gave a skeptical look but didn't question her about it. "Why don't you come to Fairy Tail with me then? Everyone else is already over there."

"E-Everyone?"

Levy arched a brow. "Yeah, everyone. We all miss you. Now can you please come with me?"

Lucy fiddled with her fingers before sighing softly. "Yeah, I'll come. Just give me a minute to get ready."

As Lucy got ready, her anxiety grew. She was scared to see Natsu, but she promised him that she wouldn't let what happened ruin their friendship, so she was going to try her best to keep that promise.

After getting ready, the two headed for Fairy Tail. Fairy tail was a local pub run by the Strauss siblings. Lucy was particularly close to Mira, the oldest sibling and boss of the place. It was a popular place among all in Magnolia, filled with rowdy people of all ages.

As they approached the grand doors of Fairy Tail, Lucy took a deep breath before following Levy inside. She kept her eyes glued on the floor, her nerves getting the best of her. Reaching the table, she gulped, sweat dripping down the back of her neck.

"Lucy! Where have you been? It's been forever!" she heard Gray exclaim.

"Sorry guys, I've just been caught up with something," Lucy replied, sliding into the booth next to Levy. She kept her eyes glued to the table. She could feel someone's gaze boring into her, and she didn't have to lift her head to know who it was.

"Caught up? With what?" Erza asked.

"Oh you know, the usual. Studying, writing, the usual."

"Oh are you writing a new story? We usually don't see you for a week whenever you start a new one."

"Yep! That's what I was doing!"

"What's this one about?" Jellal asked.

"Uhh… That's a secret." Before anyone could question her any further, Lucy asked, "So what about you guys? Anything new happen while I was gone?"

Gajeel nodded his head toward Natsu. "That's what we've been trying to figure out for the last half hour now. It's obvious something's up with him, but he won't tell us anything. Even Erza couldn't convince him to tell her anything."

Lucy's eyes involuntarily peeked up towards Natsu, whose gaze was now glued to the table, obviously not a fan of where the conversation headed thanks to Gajeel. His cheeks were dusted pink, his lips tugged into a frown. As Lucy stared at him, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside his head.

"Now that you're here, you can drag it out of him," Gray said, catching her attention.

She moved her gaze onto the raven-haired boy. "W-What?"

"Well if Erza couldn't get him to 'fess up, then you're our only hope."

Lucy faltered. It was true. Whenever something was on Natsu's mind, she was the group's representative sent to figure out what it was and to cheer him up because she was usually the only one he confided in. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others, it was just that he didn't like opening up about such things and only preferred to do it with her. In truth, it made her feel special.

"Well, uhh, maybe we should stop questioning him about it. I'm sure he'll open up when he's ready," Lucy said. After all, she had a pretty good idea as to what was on his mind, and she did not want the group to know about it. Not now and maybe not ever.

The group shared a glance.

"Uhh, okay," Gray replied, having not expected that answer.

Finally, the group broke up into separate conversations, giving Lucy a moment of relief. It was hard to keep such a big secret from them, especially the girls. She promised them long ago that she would tell them everything once she lost her virginity, but now that it was with Natsu, she had to keep her lips sealed.

Peeking at Natsu in the corner of her eye, she found that he was still staring at the table, not even paying attention to the conversations around him. The air around them was so thick, it felt like she was going to suffocate.

Standing up from the table, Lucy wordlessly headed towards the bar in desperate need of a breath of fresh air- air that wasn't around Natsu. As always, Mira was manning the bar with her signature cheery smile.

"Hi, Lucy," she greeted, grabbing a large cup. "Want your usual?"

"Yes please," the blonde replied with a grateful smile.

The two idly chatted while Mira made her a strawberry milkshake, spraying a mountain's worth of whipped cream on top.

Lucy thanked the other girl for the milkshake, reaching into her pocket to grab her wallet when Mira stopped her.

"This one's on the house," she stated with a wink.

Lucy tilted her head to the side. "Really? Why? Is there some sort of promotional deal going on?"

"Nope. I could tell something was troubling you the moment you stepped in, so I thought I would try to cheer you up a bit."

"Oh, Mira, I'm fine! Here, let me pay!"

"Nope! I already said it's on the house, now shoo!"

Lucy smiled at the older girl. "Thank you, Mira."

"You're welcome, Lucy. I hope whatever it is gets resolved soon."

With a wave, Lucy headed back to the table, where everyone was still wrapped up in their conversations. That is, until they saw her drink.

"Oh great, something's bugging you too?" Gajeel asked, his gaze directed at her.

"What do you mean?" Lucy replied.

"You only get extra whipped cream whenever you're upset or something," Gray elaborated.

Lucy's mouth parted. They all noticed that small detail about her? They weren't just her closest friends for nothing.

"Hurry up and tell us who did it," Gajeel said. Lucy shivered at the threatening glint in his crimson eyes, knowing that if she were to tell him someone had wronged her, he would personally handle it in a way that left someone in a hospital. That was just how their group worked. They would pay someone back tenfold if they were to hurt one of them.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," the girl insisted. "I just felt like having more whipped cream today!"

"Oh bullshit! First Salamander and now you? What's up with all the secrets!?"

"Lucy, you know you can tell us anything," Erza added.

"I know, but-"

"No but's. If something is on your mind, you should let it out and we'll listen. That's what friends are for."

Lucy ran a hand through her hair. She felt the urge to look over to Natsu, but she resisted. She knew that her friends would definitely pick up on the small action if she did.

She thought about telling them. She did promise the girls to tell them when she lost her virginity. Not only that, but maybe this would give her a chance to let Natsu know how she felt about the whole thing- though in truth, she still wasn't totally sure how she felt yet. All she had to do was alter a few details because she still wasn't comfortable with them knowing about her and Natsu.

"Okay, fine," Lucy said with a sigh. "You got me." She could feel Natsu's gaze whip towards her.

"Spit it out already!" Gajeel barked.

"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" She narrowed her eyes at them. "But you have to promise to keep your voices down when I tell you!"

"We promise!" Levy replied for all of them.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy thought back to that fateful night. She pictured Natsu's hands roaming her body, his hot lips grazing her flesh.

"I, uhh…" Glancing around the room to make sure nobody was listening, she lowered her voice to a whisper and continued, "I lost my virginity."

In an instant, everyone's eyes grew to the size of golf balls and their jaws dropped.

Erza's face in particular matched her hair as she sputtered, "Y-You had sex?"

Lucy buried her face in her hands and nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Gray furrowed his brows as he glanced towards Natsu. His face was scrunched up and his lips were pulled into a straight line.

"Lucy must've already told him," Gray thought, feeling sorry for him. He'd long since known about Natsu's feelings for Lucy. Hell, he probably knew about them before Natsu did. "He must've been devastated when Lucy told him, and that's why he's like this."

"Wait, who the hell did you have sex with?" Gajeel asked, clearly on the same page as Gray.

Lucy made sure to keep her gaze straight as she lied, "It was just some guy."

"Just some guy!?" Levy asked. "What do you mean just some guy!?"

"Just some guy I met."

"Where?"

"Uhh, on one of those apps."

"Lucy! Is that really how you wanted it to happen?" Erza asked.

Lucy furrowed her brows. "People do it all the time, why can't I?"

"Because you always talked about how you wanted it to happen! You said you were waiting to find the love of your life first!"

"Well, I got tired of waiting, okay? And I didn't want my inexperience to affect my writing anymore."

Juvia frowned. "Oh, Lucy, did you do it because of what we said about your story?"

Lucy tore her eyes away. "Maybe. Look, it doesn't matter why I did it. The point is, I did. And that's why I've been a little M.I.A."

"Why? Was it bad?" Levy asked. "Was he not attentive or gentle?"

"No, no! It's not that at all!" Lucy answered, shaking her head. It was embarrassing to talk about it, especially with the boys, but it was also relieving to get off her chest. And it was also nice to be able to tell Natsu what she felt without having to tell him directly. "The sex was great. Amazing."

Levy frowned as she asked, "Then what's bothering you? Do you regret doing it with him?"

Lucy heard a sharp intake of breath and couldn't help but glance towards Natsu. Her eyes met his, and she could tell he was wondering the same question.

Tearing her eyes away, Lucy shook her head.

"I don't regret it at all," she answered, her voice steady and her gaze firm. "It was a little embarrassing at first, but I don't regret a single thing that happened that night. In fact…"

She replayed the night over in her head, her cheeks set ablaze. As she was voicing her thoughts aloud, she finally understood what it was she was feeling. She felt nervous- nervous that Natsu didn't feel the same way about that night.

Because she wanted to do it again.

She wanted to feel his fingers against her skin, his lips on hers. She wanted all of him again and again. Thoughts about their night kept invading her mind and driving her body crazy, and she had a feeling they would continue to do so until she acted on her urges again.

"In fact," Lucy repeated, dragging her finger around the rim of her glass, "if he wanted, I would be more than willing to do it again."

Natsu's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. His whole body felt like it was on fire, some of it shooting down to his pants. Burying his face in his scarf, he hid the grin that was taking over his face, not wanting the group to see it in fear that they would unravel Lucy's lies.

"So, yeah. That's about it," Lucy said with a shrug. Taking a sip of her milkshake, she hoped the cold drink would help cool off her body.

Juvia squealed, clasping her hands together. "Lucy, you're glowing!"

The blonde cocked her head to the side. "Glowing?"

"Yeah! Lucy is in love!"

The girl choked on her milkshake, spitting it out onto the table. "L-Love!?"

"Yes! Juvia has an eye for these things! It was love at first sight for Lucy, just like it was for Juvia!"

"I-I wouldn't go that far…" Lucy replied, tugging on the hem of her sweater. She hoped Juvia didn't give Natsu the wrong idea. She wasn't in love with Natsu. He was her best friend! She just wouldn't mind having a few benefits on the side if he was willing.

Meanwhile, Natsu couldn't deny the soft blow to his heart upon hearing Lucy's subtle denial. Still, he couldn't help but feel happy with what she said earlier.

"Anyways, it's been fun catching up with you guys, but as you know, midterms are coming up and I've got some more studying to do," Lucy said as she rose up from her seat.

"Wait! Before you go, can we see a picture of this guy!?" Levy asked.

"Nope!"

"Can we at least know his name!?"

Lucy chuckled, shaking her head. "Sorry, Levy-chan! That information is classified. Bye now!"

Before the group could bombard her with more questions, Lucy bolted for the door.

Three hours passed when Lucy felt a gust of wind wash over her back as she sat at her desk. She didn't need to turn around to know that her window had been opened, and that the soft sounds coming from the window were from none other than the boy who invaded her thoughts for the past week.

Warmth traveled through her body, the space between her thighs tingling with excitement as she heard Natsu stop just behind her. His abnormal body heat washed over her, sending a shiver down her spine as she thought of him closing the space between them.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to break into my apartment?" Lucy teased, thanking the heavens she didn't stutter. She still hadn't turned to face him, not wanting him to see the blush on her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you to lock the window if you don't want me breakin' in?" Natsu replied, his voice sending another shiver down her spine. Oh what she would give to have those lips against her again.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy swiveled the chair around to face Natsu, though with her sitting in the chair, her eyes were met with his toned abs instead. Gulping, the girl forced herself to meet his eyes, heat rushing to her cheeks as she pictured what was just below the hem of his pants.

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy squeaked. Clearing her thought, she brought her voice back down to its normal pitch. "W-What are you doing here?"

Natsu's lips straightened as he stared her down.

"Is it true?"

Lucy arched a brow. "Is what true?"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly while nudging her carpet with the tip of his shoe. He suddenly whipped his head towards her, his onyx orbs gleaming with fierce resolve.

"Is it true that you don't regret what we did?" he asked. "Or were you just saying that earlier so they would get off your back?"

"Oh. Well I meant it," Lucy replied. "And I hope you don't regret it either."

"I don't!" Natsu exclaimed. Realizing his outburst, he ducked his face behind his scarf to hide his enthusiasm.

Still, he couldn't hide it from Lucy.

The girl blushed, clearing her throat and turning back towards her desk. She pretended to read through her notebook, absentmindedly flipping pages and moving her finger along the lines.

"Did you mean the other thing too?"

Her finger stopped, her eyes growing wide.

Slowly swiveling back around, she played with a lock of hair while swallowing thickly.

"M-Maybe," she replied meekly. "That is, if you want to, I mean."

"Do you want to?" Natsu asked.

"You tell me, I asked first!"

"No you didn't! I did!"

"No, your exact words were 'that is, if you want to.' Not a question, so I win!"

Lucy crosses her arms with a huff. "Well I want to, okay?" Realizing the words that slipped past her, she slapped her hands over her mouth. "I-I mean, we only did it once, so I'm still pretty inexperienced. I need to learn more if I really want to improve my writing."

"Oh, yeah. Your writing, of course," Natsu replied, nodding along. "And you do wanna be a famous author someday, so we can't let your writing be amateurish, right? What kinda best friend would I be if I didn't help you with your dream?"

"Exactly! So it's not weird for us to do this, right?"

"Not at all!"

The two broke eye contact, instead opting to stare at opposite walls as they laughed nervously.

"Well, let's set some ground rules if we're really going to do this," Lucy said, cupping her chin in thought. "First, we have to acknowledge that this is simply for my writing, that's it." After what Juvia said earlier, she couldn't risk Natsu getting the wrong idea. Not that he felt that way about her anyways, but just to be safe.

"Okay," Natsu replied, ignoring the punch to his gut he felt from her words. "I have a rule. If either one of us wants to stop, we have to tell the other person."

"Sounds good to me." Though she hoped he wouldn't want to stop anytime soon. "And most importantly, we can't let this ruin our friendship no matter what. If it seems like it's affecting our friendship, we call it quits. Got it?"

Natsu nodded. "Sounds good."

He held his hand out towards her, to which she accepted. They shook hands, solidifying their set of rules.

"So…" Natsu started, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Wanna go get some food?"

Lucy grinned. "Ooh yes! I'm starving!"

"Good! You're paying!"

"What!? No way! I paid last time!"

"No you didn't! I did!"

As the two bickered their way out of Lucy's apartment, their pact slipped their minds. In the moment, they were just two best friends, same as ever. Little did they know what the future had in store for them.

[kayteewritessteve]

If Only You Knew - Epilogue

Description: You arrive home one day to find a wedding invite for two of your best friends from high school. You knew this day was going to come eventually, but even with that said, you weren’t prepared to return home. At least not after 7 years of avoiding Buckhannon, West Virginia. Or rather, avoiding him; your ex-best friend and the secret love of your life. But maybe it was finally time to face your past, to face him, and everything else that happened on that horrible night. Who would have knew that your prom would end up being a total disaster, and the very last night you’d spend in Buckhannon for the next 7 years? you certainly didn’t. That’s for sure.

Catch up HERE.

Word Count: 9,200 ish. Sheesh, this is a ‘giant’ one! See what I did there ;) Sorry, not sorry!

Pairing: Modern!Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Violence. Drinking. Bad and offensive jokes. Possible triggering thoughts, feelings and emotions. Moments of bullying and harsh name calling. Lots of curse words. And a very sloooow burn.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader, so I do proudly own all the errors and this story, so there’s that.

Well, here it is!!!! The final part to the If Only You Knew series. And this is so bittersweet, I am so glad to finally give this story an end, but i’m also going to miss this lovable gang of friends and this story in general. But I have a few other AU’s in store for you all, so stay tuned for those. And that’s about it. I hope you all love this epilogue and I can’t wait to hear what you all think about this ending. Also, I want to note that this chapter might be a little confusing to follow, so play close attention to the timestamp years, they will help you. Anywho, ENJOY!! ♥️

The sun filtering in through the sheer hotel room curtains, along with the incessant ringing of your phone’s alarm, both wake you from your peaceful, be it short, slumber. You quickly reach over to silence the alarm and then are just about to groan, but halt the action when you remember exactly what day it is. It’s wedding day!!!

You stretch from your place still sheltered under the soft duvet and then flip it off you to sit up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you do. You blink the haze away for a moment then stand and wander over to the closet to retrieve your customized silk robe, putting it on over your pj shorts and tank top. And then head to the bathroom to brush your teeth.

You hear your hotel room door flung open, followed by a shrieked, “get up!! It’s wedding day!!” that could only come from one person, Nat. Followed by a whispered, “where the fuck is she?!” clearly from Hilde.

You poke your head out of the bathroom, toothbrush hanging from your mouth, to mumble happily around it, “right the fuck here.” Then you slip back into the bathroom to finish brushing, not missing Nat whining, “hurry up!” as you do.

You chuckle, totally understanding her current excitement level. Today was going to be a big day for all of you. And you’re not gonna lie, you’re just as excited as she is, if not more.

This day has been so many years in the making, and your whole group of friends were ridiculously excited for it. To say the least.

You finally enter back into the bedroom, then you all head down to the party room in the hotel, the one that was rented specifically for you ladies to get ready in.

You walk into the room to see a bar counter covered in mimosas, coffee, tea and an assortment of fruits, treats and breakfast foods. Which of course you instantly make your way to, receiving a snort from Wanda as you do. “You would go straight to the coffee.”

“I’ll have you know, I was far too excited to sleep. So coffee will be the only thing keeping me up right today. Well, that and sheer excitement,” you smirk and quickly make a cup, taking a few large sips then hum, happily.

There is a knock at the door and Hilde goes to check it, finding the hair stylist and makeup artist standing in the hall. They both come in and start to set up their stations as you continue to just happily drink your coffee in silence. Nat, Hilde, Wanda and Rebecca all join you and proceed to make up plates of food, and drinks, alongside you.

And then there is another knock on the door, this time Rebecca answers it and it’s the photographers. She invites them in and they quickly exchange a few words with Nat and then begin to take pictures of the room, the dresses and all of you standing around enjoying the morning. Clearly documenting all the little parts of this wedding, starting with you ladies getting ready for it.

After a few minutes the makeup artist informs you that they are ready to start, and Nat goes for hair first, while Rebecca goes for makeup. Leaving Hilde, Wanda and yourself to eat, chat and wait for your turns.

“Have you both decided how you want your hair done?” You ask them as they sip their mimosas.

“Fully down, all curled,” Hilde answers.

“And I was thinking curled as well, but half up, half down,” Wanda says then looks at you, “what’s your plan?”

“Ah,” you hum for a moment, thinking, “I think I’ll do a full up-do.” You shrug, “maybe have a few pieces hanging down.”

“I like it,” Hilde nods.

“Sounds beautiful,” Wanda adds with a smile, and then the photographer walks up towards you three, snapping photos of you all just chatting, before he ventures off to take a few pictures of the other ladies having their makeup and hair done.

“I feel like a celebrity, with this photographer running around snapping shots,” Hilde laughs.

“Same,” you and Wanda say at the same time and then both giggle before taking another sip of each of your beverages.

As the morning progresses on, all of you ladies get your hair and makeup done, then help each other into your dresses. When there is only about 10 minutes to go before the wedding actually starts there is another knock on the door. Wanda goes to see who it is and finds Winnie holding James Jr—who looks freaking adorable in his little ring bearer suit—and your dad. Who looks so handsome all dressed up in his black suit and tie. Winnie puts James down and he runs towards Rebecca, instantly.

“Well don’t you just look so handsome in your suit,” she coos at him and he giggles as she picks him up. You can’t help the giant smile on your face as you watch how her and James interact. You are so proud of the mom she has become, and James is one lucky kid.

“Do I look so handsome in my suit?” your dad asks and wiggles his eyebrows at you.

You chuckle at this ridiculous man, “yeah, but not as handsome as James.”

He pouts for a second then kisses your cheek, “you ladies all ready to go?”

You nod, “yep, I believe we are all set.”

You all grab the last few things then head out of the room to go get into position next to the closed chapel doors. Making sure that none of you will be seen until it’s your turn to walk, and that everyone knows their places. Then you all just wait for the wedding march song to start.

When you finally hear it playing through the doors, Winnie opens them and ushers Rebecca to go first. Then Hilde. Then Wanda. Then Nat. And then finally she takes James’ hand and the hand of the flower girl, your Aunt Carol’s daughter, Lashana, and wishes you luck before they begin their walk down the aisle, towards their seats at the front.

You take a deep breath, this is it. This is the moment you marry the love of your life and you couldn’t be happier.

You feel your dad take your hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, which causes you to look up at him. “You look stunning,” he smiles, “and you got this, you’ll do great.”

You can feel the tears slowly forming in your eyes as you nod to his words, and whisper, “thank you, daddy,” as you attempt to blink away the happy tears.

You were about to marry the man you’d loved for 11 years. The man you’d swear, up and down, was made entirely for you. The last 2 years hadn’t been easy, but you wouldn’t have traded them, or him, for anything. You’re mind starts to flash back to a few different memories from the last 2 years, the main ones that all led up to this exact moment. Your wedding day.

July 2018 - 2 years ago.

You were standing next to the dessert table at Nat and Bucky’s wedding reception. It had been a beautiful day all around. And you were so happy for your two best friends.

The bachelor/bachelorette party had done a complete 180 after your talk with Steve, and ended up being an amazing night for all of you. You’d gone home with Steve that night, but not for the reasons most would think. You’d both had a lot to drink and knew you couldn’t make proper choices that night. Nor did you want your first time together to be like that.

It was just that, at the end of the night out, neither of you were ready to part ways, not after years of being apart and finally voicing how you both felt. So you went home with him and you both just laid on his bed talking till the wee hours of the morning.

Going over everything, all the moments you both thought something was there but ignored. Turns out, there actually was always something there for both of you. Especially that first day at the lake, where you almost kissed him. You learned he wasn’t upset because you almost kissed him that day, no, he was upset because you hadn’t. And the moment on the field, the day he beat up Johann, as you’d just learned that night, he had almost kissed you that day.

You both spent most of that night with wide eyes and murmurs of ‘idiots’. Because that’s what you’d both felt like after learning all the truths. You’d also learned that those anonymous roses on your porch, from that first Valentine’s Day in town, yeah, those were from him. And that he’d also bought 17 roses–one for each month you’d known each other, the cornball—originally through the school but Madeleine had deleted the order. It was insane how much you were oblivious to back then, but it was all out there now.

You both finally passed out around 8am, and slept most of the day away. But when you woke up, Steve wasn’t beside you anymore. You looked to where he had been when you’d passed out and saw 14 roses on his pillow, along with a note that read, ‘1 for every Valentine’s Day I missed, plus every birthday. I’ll be downstairs making breakfast when you wake up. Come find me.’ With a smiley face drawing below the words.

You jumped out of bed, looking down to instantly remember that he’d lent you a t-shirt and sweatpants to sleep in. It wasn’t an overly cute look, as the pants barely stayed up and the bottoms covered your entire feet. Fucking giant. You giggled then decided to forgo the pants entirely. And ventured down to the kitchen in just his shirt. Hoping it would make him sweat, just a little—and oh boy, had it ever. Except, a lot more than ‘just a little’.

You both ended up spending the whole night together, going to your house to grab some clothes and then passing out early, once again together in Steve’s bed. And when the alarms began to go off the next morning, you both begrudgingly pulled yourselves out of bed. Got dressed, shared a heated kiss that neither of you wanted to end, and then went your separate ways to get ready for the wedding. Hilde and Wanda scooped you from Steve’s place, instantly demanding details. Which you happily gave them, needing to just gush about the last 24 hours.

So now, here you were, loading up a plate of desserts at Nat and Bucky’s wedding, because let’s be honest, you were a sucker for treats, when a voice behind you sends a chill down your spin. “I hear you both finally voiced your feelings.”

You cringed and slowly glanced over your shoulder to see Madi standing a few feet behind you. “That’s not really any of your business, Madeleine,” you replied, coldly.

She took a few steps towards you, now standing directly behind you, so you sighed deeply, not really in the mood for her shit right now. Or ever, really. But especially not today. Then you turned to face her, and just as you did she spoke again.

“You don’t deserve him,” she whispered harshly, “you aren’t good enough for him.”

And normally her words would have hurt you, but at this point in your life, you could honestly care less what she thought of you. You’d finally gotten the one man you’d always wanted, and nothing, or more specifically, noone, could ruin this for you. You were on cloud 9 and refused to ever come back down. “Well you see, you may think that, but Steve doesn’t, and more importantly, I don’t.” You shrug, “so, say whatever you’d like. But your opinions on this don’t matter. We are both happy, and nothing you can say or do will change that this time. So honestly, fuck off back to your miserable little life and stay the hell away from us.” You smile, smugly and go to turn back to your mission at hand. Getting more of those delicious treats on your plate.

“You bitch,” she hisses and grabs your arm to stop you from turning away from her, “you think I was mean to you in school, oh, just you fucking wait. Once I marry Tony, I’ll be around Steve for the rest of our lives. And so long as you’re there, I’ll make sure to do everything in my power to mess this all up for you. You don’t get the happily ever after with the man I love. I won’t let you. I’ll happily break you both up and then show him he should have picked me.”

“Wow,” you said slowly, the true evil that is Madeleine fucking Karlington finally showing through to you. I mean, you always knew she was a horrible person, but you never realized it was to this extent. “What about Tony? And how exactly will you ‘show Steve he should have picked you’ if you’re married to his brother?” You ask, honestly just curious how she plans to play this all out. And just like the true evil genius she is, she spills her whole master plan to you, thinking she had the upper hand here.

“I know you’re only asking because you think you can run to Tony and tell him all of this. But he won’t believe you. Just like he didn’t believe Steve. So I’ll tell you, just so you know exactly how I’ll be taking Steve back from you.” She smirks, “I plan to leave Tony once I win Steve back. I’ll start by claiming Tony is abusing me after a little while of marriage and that’s why I don’t love him anymore, and want out. And Steve will spring to my defence and then I’ll work my magic on him. And the rest will just fall into place,” she shrugged and you honestly wanted to throw up at how nasty and vile this woman is.

But as you were about to make your rebuttal, a form shifted behind you and you glanced over Madeleines shoulder to see Steve standing there with a disgusted expression on his face. But that wasn’t the form you’d seen shift. No, the one you saw move was Tony, his upper arm gripped tightly by Steve, as if he’d just dragged his older brother over here, kicking and screaming. You figured he had.

You weren’t entirely sure how long they’d been there. Or just how much they’d heard. But the hurt and angry expression on Tony’s face made you believe they’d witness damn near the whole thing. You’re eyes shifted from Tony’s form to Steve, locking on his eyes for a moment before you flicked them back to Madeleine.

“That sounds like a wonderful plan, Madi, however,” you pause and go to step around her, “I don’t think it’s going to play out exactly how you were imagining it would.” Then you walked passed her and she turned to probably say something back to you, but froze when she saw you stand next to Steve. Who released his brothers arm and patted him on the shoulder, apologetically.

Then he took your hand and led you away, but you didn’t miss Madeleine going to speak and Tony cutting her off with a harsh, “don’t bother. We’re done.” Then he stormed off, with Madi hot on his heels, begging him to listen. But he didn’t. He ended his engagement with her that night, and cancelled the wedding the following day.

And as far as you know, Madeleine stayed single for a while, living with her mother but then shortly after Steve proposed you heard from Rebecca that Madi had up and moved away to LA. Where she still lived to this day. Most likely still miserable and alone. But you honestly could care less how she felt. You were just glad you didn’t have to see her ever again.

August 2018 - 2 years ago.

You spent the 2 weeks following Bucky and Nat’s wedding with Steve. You both were damn near inseparable, and you’d basically lived at his house during that time. But as time ticked on, you realized you had some big decisions to make.

Steve had been a sweetheart, as always, and hadn’t brought any of the big topics up. But you could tell they were weighing on him. Just as they were on you. Him being the amazing man he was though, he just left it alone, allowing you to think and figure out exactly how you wanted to play this out. Letting you come to a conclusion entirely on your own. However, this really wasn’t just about what you wanted anymore. What he wanted had to play a part in all of this.

So one night, you sat him down and decided to break the little bubble you’d both been happily living in over the last two weeks. Hoping the outcome of this talk would be what you both wanted.

“So, I think we really need to figure out what to do about Boston,” you started, hesitantly.

He nodded, “yeah. I think you’re right.” He paused, and frowned for a moment, but then quickly corrected it, “what do you want to do about it?”

“I’ve thought a lot about it over the last few weeks and I think I may have figured out a game plan,” you said softly, “I’ll need to return to Boston for a bit, to work everything out on that end though.”

He looked down at his hands in his lap and nodded slowly, waiting for you to continue. You started to believe that maybe he thought you’d be leaving for a while and that maybe you wouldn’t be able to come back right away. But ooooh, how wrong he was. “But I’d like you to come with me, as it will be a lot easier to pack and move with your help,” you shrugged, though he probably missed it.

His eyes instantly snapped up to meet yours and his eyebrows tried to high five his hairline—And by ‘tried’ you mean they successfully did. “Wait, what?”

You giggled at the cute, dazed look on his face then continued on, “I, ah, sort of emailed my resignation to my boss a few days ago, and got her confirmation back that same day. I, then, sent my resume to Shield High and they just emailed me yesterday to say they were very excited to see my resume come in, and that they wanted to set up an interview. Which is in 3 days.”

“Holy fuck,” he whispered slowly, clearly now piecing it all together in his head, “are you serious?” He asked breathlessly.

You smiled and nodded, quickly. So excited to hear what he thought of all of this. “I am.”

He shot up off the couch and pulled you up with him. Wrapping you in a giant bear hug, and after a few seconds you realized you were vibrating slightly, and it dawned on you just how excited he was. He was literally bouncing. “Oh shit,” he whispered, happily, “this is the best thing I have heard in weeks!” He kissed the top of your head, then froze, “wait, where are you going to live?!”

“I already talked to my dad, and if I get the job at Shield High, I’ll be moving in with him at first, while I get settled in and then I’ll look for a place later on.”

“You could live with me?” He said quietly into your hair and your smile grew even bigger.

You pulled back to look up at him, seeing the hesitant but overjoyed look in his eyes, “although I’d love that, so so much. I think we really need to do this right. I do want to move in with you, one day, but just not this soon. I want the cute moments where you pick me up from my house for a date. Or where I get to sleep at your house after the odd one, and it’s new and exciting because it isn’t my home.” You take his hand and squeeze it, “if all of this goes how we want it to, we will have many, many years of living together, but they will be when we are both ready. And not just because I don’t really have a place to live,” you giggled and he smiled down at you.

“I totally get it. And I want those cute moments too.” He smirked, “so, speaking of dates, when are you free next.” Then he winked in an overly exaggerated manner at you, and it took everything in you to not laugh and call him a cheeseball. Because honestly, you wouldn’t have him any other way. He is perfect just the way he is. One giant, soft, cheeseball.

“For you? I’m always free,” you jokingly wink back and then you both break out into a fit of happy laughter.

September 2018 - 2 years ago.

“Is that the last of it?” Steve asked as he stood in your, now empty, Boston apartment holding a big box labelled ‘bathroom’ on the side in sharpie.

“I think so,” you said softly as you stood in the middle of your empty living room. You slowly did a 360, taking in just how different this place looked, without all your belongings in it. “I just have that little box on the counter then we can go drop off the keys.”

He smiled and nodded, “okay, I’ll meet you at the van.” Then he walked out the door and left you to be alone. You assumed it was so you could say goodbye to the place you called home for the last few years.

You did a final walk around the apartment, that moment being bittersweet, you were going to miss this little shitty apartment, but you were also so excited for what the future held for you. And Steve. “Thanks for all the good years,” you said softly as you rubbed a hand along the kitchen counter then picked up the last little box.

You’d gone for your interview at Shield High, and they’d damn near hired you on the spot. Well, they’d actually called to officially offer you the job the following day, but same thing. So you and Steve booked his time off, 2 weeks, and then two plane tickets so you could both come up to Boston to collect all your things.

You gave your notice to your apartment manager, who was sad to see you go, but excited for you. You paid the final months rent and then spent a few days showing Steve your favourite parts of Boston. Before the rest of the two weeks was spent packing and cleaning.

You rented a moving truck and were both going to drive back to Buckhannon together in it, along with all your possessions.

You’d done the final walk through with your building manager that morning, and then there you were. Standing for the final time in your little kitchen holding the final box.

“I hope the next tenant loves you just as much as I did,” you whispered then headed out the door, putting the box down to lock up for the final time and then picked up the box and went to hand in your keys.

The ride back was a lot of fun, you and Steve stopped along the way to enjoy the sights, and spent 1 night in a little motel as the 11 hour drive was a little too much to do all at once, especially after many days of packing and cleaning.

When you finally reached home, you unpacked all your belongings into a corner of your dad’s garage. Well, minus your bedroom and bathroom things, those you brought up to your room and unpacked. You figured it would be smarter just to leave everything packed away until you either found your own place or moved in with Steve. Whichever came first.

You got yourself all settled in just in time for the school year to start, and the very first day of class you knew, instantly, that this was the job for you. You loved every student equally, and couldn’t wait for all the fun things you had planned for them, for throughout the upcoming school year.

July 2019 - 1 year ago.

You and Steve had been together for a year now, and so, for your 1 year anniversary, he had this elaborate plan that you weren’t allowed to know a fucking thing about. No matter how much you begged him, or tried to blackmail your friends—once you learned they were all in on it. But none of them would give you anything, and the only person you may have been able to crack—Sam—was nowhere to be found.

And the odd time when you did track him down. He. Was. Never. Alone. Either Hilde would be with him, or Wanda. OR, in some cases, Bucky. All those turds knew Sam was the weak link and they refused to let you break him down. Traitors. So you gave up, finally, and just waited for the special day.

Wanda had brought you a dress the night before, with a note attached to it that read, ‘A beautiful dress for a beautiful woman, I’ll be here to pick you up at 10am. So be ready. No sleeping in!’ You’d laughed. Like your excitement would even allow you to sleep that night, let alone sleep in.

So at 9:45am you stood on your front porch, ready and waiting. And when he showed up at 9:50am, slightly early, you weren’t surprised in the least, he was always early. This was actually late for him, if you were being honest.

He got out of the truck, to come get you. Telling you how stunning you looked in the dress, which fit like a glove, you figured you’d have to thank Wanda for that one. Then he offered you his hand, walked you to the truck, and opened the door for you. You tried to pry any details out of him once he got in the driver’s seat, but all he told you was, “you’ll have to wait and see.” The smirk on his face only made you want to know more.

The first stop confused you, it was your work, or rather, Shield High. You went to ask, but all he did was shake his head as he got out of the truck, he opened your door and led you inside. How he got keys for the school on a Saturday, you had no clue. But you just went along with it.

He led you to a place in the hall and then stopped. You looked around and realized it was the place you’d originally bumped into him that first day of school, all those years ago. And you INSTANTLY knew where this anniversary date was going, but you kept that to yourself and just played along. Not wanting to ruin a single moment of this day for yourself, or more importantly, him. Since he had clearly planned this out way more then you’d originally thought.

“This, was the exact spot where we first met,” he started as he turned to look down at you, and you had to force yourself to not grin like an idiot, or cry—Shit, that was a very real thing that might happen right now if you didn’t put solid effort into keeping your tears at bay. This was only the first stop, you can’t cry yet.

“I thought you were absolutely stunning, instantly, and something in me that day knew you’d play some huge role in my life, I just never could have fathomed how true that feeling would end up being. Or just how important you’d end up becoming to me. Nor was I aware that day, just how desperate I was for someone like you in my life. All I knew then was that I had to know you; the mystery new girl who hinted that she was used to going unseen, called me cute and then looked adorable with a giant goose egg on her head,” he paused. “Which I still feel horrible about, by the way,” he added then chuckled as his fingers lightly rubbed the spot on your head where the goose egg had been, all those years ago. You laughed at that, and it was a watery laugh from the tears that wanted to escape, but you hoped he hadn’t noticed.

“It was a hell of a meet cute, though,” you said with a smile.

“Truer words have never been said,” he smiled back. “Okay, on to the next place.” He offered you his hand and you happily took it. He then led you out onto the field and stopped in a place you knew all too well. “This is where I finally got to actually talk to you, sort of. I was super awkward when we first joined you ladies that day, but only because I was so nervous, and unsure as to what to even say to you. You looked so interested in your book and I didn’t want to bother you. But when you got up and left the group abruptly, I realized I may have made you upset and couldn’t let you stay that way.” He pointed towards the school, “so I chased after you, without so much as a word to our friends, and basically forced you to let me walk you to your locker.” He turned back to look at you, “it was the best choice I’ve ever made.”

“I’m also glad you made that decision, that day.”

He smirked at you, “because you had no clue where you were going?”

You burst out laughing, then lightly swatted his arm, “rude! I totally knew where I was going!”

“I call bullshit,” he laughed, “but that day I realized that I’d happy lead you anywhere you needed to go. So long as you needed me to, and kept smiling, that beautiful smile, at me.”

That, of course, made you smile. Shocker.

“Yes, that one,” he said as he pointed at your lips, “that’s my favourite one.” Then he leaned down and kissed you softly. But the kiss ended far too quickly for your liking, as he took your hand and led you towards the student parking lot. Where his truck was currently parked. But before you even reached the truck, he stopped again.

“And this spot,” he turned to you again, “was the first place I ever had the overwhelming want to kiss you. It wasn’t the only spot, but it was the first. And that probably had to do with you saying I was,” he paused and smirked again, “‘fucking built’ if I remember correctly?”

“Oh god, you heard that?” You cringed at just how awkward you were that day.

“Oh yeah,” he pulled you flush against him, gently, “I heard it,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss you again, before pulling back to hum, “aah, that’s better. That’s how that moment should have played out.” Then he excitedly continued on towards his truck, pulling you along with him, which caused you to laugh loudly at this giant, cheeseball.

The next stop was Sam’s house, though you didn’t go in, nor did you see Sam. Steve just led you to the backyard and you saw that everything had been set up just like it was that first birthday of his, the first one you’d been in town for. Even down to the paper with ‘Fire pit reserved, so piss off!’ written on it and attached to a chair.

You looked up at him, after taking it all in and saw that he had just been watching you, as you did.

“This spot is special,” he said then turned to glance around, “it will also be the only spot I show from that night.” He looked at you again, “unless you want a piggyback ride to Nat’s house?” He smirked.

You smirked right back, as you recited the same words you’d said that night, “a piggyback ride does sound very tempting,” you hummed it over for a second. “Yeah, who am I kidding? I’d never turn down a free ride,” you winked and then you both laughed.

“Okay, but it will have to wait till later. We have a schedule to keep,” he said then looked around again, thoughtfully, as he spoke, “this was the place where you gave me the best birthday gift I could have ever asked for. It wasn’t some fancy, expensive gift, like I’d received from others in the past. No, you actually thought it out. Put effort into it. And it was perfect, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. And it warmed my heart to think of you setting it all up for me, and just how well you already knew me. Even after such a short amount of time.” He turned to smile at you, “but you almost always knew exactly what to do to warm my heart. It was like it just came naturally to you. Which didn’t go unnoticed.”

“Honestly, I was so nervous about that night, I was worried it wouldn’t be enough. I’d wanted to do more for you, but you are seriously so difficult to buy for.” You both laughed again.

“Gotta keep you on your toes,” he said, “but honestly, it’s the thought that matters. I’m not big into buying gifts, I have everything I could ever want. Or need. I just love how you find the little ways to show me that you’re thinking of me. To show me that you care.”

“Okay, noted,” you said with a nod, “that’s easy enough to accomplish, when all I can ever think about is you. And I do care about you, more than you’ll ever know.”

“Oh,” he raised an eyebrow at you, “I’m all you can ever think about?”

“Oh god,” you playfully groaned, “please don’t let that go to your giant ego.”

“Too late,” he chuckled, “and it’s only giant because of you.”

“Well shit,” you mumbled, jokingly, “I knew I shouldn’t have complimented you so much.”

He laughed loudly at that, “we’re already here, so no point in stopping now. Keep the compliments coming.”

You rolled your eyes, fondly, but then he continued on, “but this spot wasn’t just about what you did for me that night, it was also going to be the place I finally confessed my feelings for you.” He sighed then mumbled, “but I kept getting interrupted.”

“Really? You were going to tell me that night?” You asked, wide eyed.

He nodded, “I was. I’d planned on telling you that night, for weeks. Bucky even knew about it.”

“That little bugger!” You joked, knowing full well Bucky would never go behind Steve’s back on anything, let alone something as big as him having feelings for someone. Even if it would have made all of this a whole lot easier. But would you have even believed Bucky if he had come to you telling you about Steve’s true feelings for you? Probably not.

“Oh trust me, he begged me many times to just tell you. He even threatened to tell you himself once, if I didn’t get my shit together fast enough. He clearly never ended up telling you, but for a few days there, I honestly panicked, thinking that he was going to,” he laughed.

“That sounds like something Bucky would do,” you laughed as well, “he’s always been the pushy one.” You paused, “well, him and Nat.” Another pause, “oh god, they really are so perfect for each other.”

“They are. But they aren’t the only ones,” he smiled down at you, and you instantly knew what he meant by that. Because you and him were also so perfect for each other.

“That they aren’t,” you said back.

He took your hand, giving your knuckles a gentle kiss as he murmured, “on to the next spot.” And then he led you back to the truck.

But you didn’t miss the curtains moving in Sam’s house. And instantly you knew he had most likely been watching. The lurker. You chuckled causing Steve to look back at you but you waved it off, “I’ll tell you later.” To which he just smiled and nodded as he opened the truck door for you, again.

The next stop was the lake, specifically in front of the concession stand. The exact spot you both stood and waited for your food that day. The spot where you had almost kissed Steve for the first time.

“You already know that I wanted to kiss you that day at the lake—or that I wanted you to kiss me,” he corrected.

“And that you pouted about it for the rest of the night,” you ribbed him, lovingly.

He gasped and feigned offence, “yeah, well you would have too if the girl of your dreams was about to kiss you and then literally pulled away as if you were on fire,” he pouted. “Then apologized for almost kissing you, because she, and I quote, ‘didn’t mean to’.”

“Ouch,” you said slowly, “yeah, okay, I’ll let you have that one,” you giggled, “you actually remembered my exact words?”

“Thanks for that,” he scoffed, “and yeah, I had nightmares about that day for weeks. And I say nightmares because even in my dreams, you never kissed me in that moment.”

“Awe,” you coo, “my poor baby.” You smirked and watched as he feigned offence again, but then the look quickly disappeared from his face.

“Oh, you’ll pay for that one, Y/L/N,” he said as he reached out and grabbed you, you didn’t even have a chance to attempt to avoid him this time. He was too fast.

He then began to tickle you, and you forfeited damn near instantly. “Okay! Okay! I give! I give!”

He stopped tickling you, and you pulled him down to plant a kiss on his lips. Pulling away after a moment, “there, does that make up for not kissing you the first time?”

“No, but it’s a step in the right direction,” he said before pulling you back into him for another few kisses.

After a moment he pulled away to glance at his watch, “okay, we have to go, there is something we have to pick up soon.” You gave him a quizzical look but he just shook his head, “you’ll have to wait and see.” Then he walked you back to the truck.

A little bit later you pulled into Huddle House’s parking lot, and instantly your mouth watered, he looked over at you and laughed. “Wait here,” he said as he hopped out of the truck and went inside, coming out a few minutes later with 2 brown bags in his hands.

He climbed back into the truck and handed you one, “now, I was going to take you out to some fancy restaurant for dinner, but I figured you’d appreciate this a little more.”

You happily took the bag, “oh gosh,” you groaned, “it smells just as divine as I remember.” You contently sighed then peeked in the bag and took a giant whiff of the glorious smell.

Steve chuckled as he watched you, “but does it,” he raised his hand up as if to show the words up in lights as he spoke, “Smell Divine, Every Time?”

You burst out laughing, “oh god, you remember that too?”

“I remember everything. You’re kind of hard to forget, plus you’re weird. So that helps.” He smiled sweetly as you scoffed at him and then you both dug into the bags. And just like always, you had to search for the dang fork. You eventually found it with a triumphant ‘ha!’ That was followed closely by a happy, “oh damn, it also still looks better than it smells.”

To which Steve murmured between bites, “you always say that.”

Once the food was finished you looked over at him, feeling so pleasantly full, “amazing choice. That was perfect, I’m so glad you picked here instead of some fancy restaurant.”

“I’m glad to hear it, I figured you’d like this more,” he said as he collected up all the garbage and got out of the truck to throw it away.

Once he was done that, he climbed back in, “okay, so this spot was to signify that first summer I spent away from you. That was the summer I knew it wasn’t just some silly crush, and that I truly loved you, and everything about you. Being away from you for those 2 months was hell, but coming home and seeing you again made it all better. That morning will forever be etched into my mind.”

“Mine too,” you said softly, “that was actually the summer I realized my true feelings for you, as well.”

His eyes widened slightly, “really?”

You nodded, “yeah.”

“Wow,” he said slowly, “what are the odds?”

You shrugged, “1 in a million, I’d bet.”

“Sounds about right,” he smiled, “okay, let’s go.”

You both buckled up then headed off. Pulling into High Life’s parking lot soon after. And your heart rate had instantly sped up. He hadn’t said this would be the final spot, but you just knew it was going to be. This was it. The moment you've always dreamed of. Well, the first big moment in a domino effect of moments to follow.

He hopped out and opened the door for you, then led you to the exact spot you’d shared, not only your true feelings but also your first kiss.

He stood there quietly for a moment, hands in his pockets, just staring up at the bar, “and this, this is where my favourite chapter, so far, started.”

He turned to you, “God, that night started off complete shit but it turned out to be, hands down, the best night of my life, so far.” He smiled and took your hand, and you were damn near screaming on the inside, “honestly, Y/N, the words I said to you that night were so true at the time, I did love you so much back then.” He paused and the look in his eyes softened a bit, “but now, now I realize that I barely loved you at all. Not truly at least, not fully.” He shook his head, “I could have never loved you then, like I do now. Not without having the last year to learn all about you as my girlfriend, instead of my best friend. Not without getting to see you first thing in the morning, no makeup and messy hair—”

“The messy hair is entirely your fault,” you interjected and he just chuckled and shhh’d you then whispered, “I have no regrets about that.” Which he finished off with a wink.

You giggled and then he continued on, “as I was saying. I couldn’t love you truly back then without learning that you like to spend Sunday mornings in bed, reading and marking your students assignments. Or that you prefer to shower first thing in the morning, as opposed to at night. Or that you always do the Sunday crosswords in pen, so no one else can do it. Or really, any of the many other amazing things that I’ve learned about you in the last year.”

He slowly lowered down to one knee and pulled a little box out of his pants pocket, and you straight up almost squealed. No joke, you had to quickly slap your free hand over your mouth to stop the noise from escaping. “Basically, all that was to say, I love you more now then I did then. The first time we found ourselves in this very spot. And I want to continue to not only learn about you, but to love you even more, as I do.” He released your hand to quickly open the box, then took it again, “So, Y/N Y/L/N, will you do me the honour of marrying me, and allowing me to love you, more and more, for the rest of our lives?”

And then the squeal finally escaped you, you honestly couldn’t have stopped it even if you’d tried, “yes! Oh god, yes!” You fell to your knees and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him towards you and crashing your lips to his. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around your waist as kissed you back with everything he had.

You pulled away after a moment, when the cheers finally reached your ears and then glanced around in search of the cause. Instantly noticing the little gang of 6 people standing off to the side of the parking lot. And you knew exactly who they all were, without a shadow of a doubt.

Steve stood up then helped you up off your knees, he placed the ring on your finger then turned to quickly glance at your friends before turning back to you, to whisper, “I tried to tell them we’d come see them after all of this, but they weren’t having any of it. They refused to miss this moment,” he chuckled fondly.

“That sounds like them,” you laughed then waved them over, “they wouldn’t be our merry band of misfits if they weren’t,” you started and then yelled the next part for them to hear, “overbearing and pushy as hell.”

“Hey!” Sam exclaimed, “we heard that!”

“That was the point, Sammy,” you smirked at him.

He paused then shrugged as he said, “honestly, I can’t even deny that, all of us are those things,” he laughed.

“And we like it that way,” Bucky added.

You all excitedly chatted in the parking lot for a bit, then all ventured into High Life to celebrate.

All throughout the night you’d glanced down at the beautiful ring on your finger and a smile would break out on your face, then you’d glance at Steve and your smile would grow even bigger. And every time you’d look at him, it was like he could feel it, and he’d look back at you. Then smile himself, as if he knew why you were looking at him.

The night ended up being an amazing one. But honestly, you were too happy for it to be anything but amazing.

January 2020 - 5 months ago.

You’d tried on 24 dresses so far and were reaching the point of being fed up and done with dress shopping. You could picture the exact dress you wanted in your head, but finding it, that wasn’t so easy. You’d gone to 5 different bridal shops in search of your dream dress, and had come up short at all of them—Well, you were currently still in bridal shop number 5, so it couldn’t be ruled out just yet, but you weren’t too hopeful it wouldn’t be ruled out soon. Like the others.

So you just stood there, in the little silk robe they give you when trying on dresses and waited for the attendant to return. You’d tried on 3 dresses so far during this appointment and as you were taking off the 3rd one the attendant froze and said, “oh! I think I know exactly which dress to try next.” Then she quickly mumbled a, “be right back,” and tore out of the room to grab the dress. But once again, you weren’t hopeful it would be a success.

At this point you were resigning yourself to just marrying Steve in some damn jeans. It would be fitting to your relationship. But before you could venture too far down that rabbit hole, the attendant knocked and entered the room, a dress in a clear bag draped over her shoulder.

She helped you into the dress and then clipped it tightly to your form at the back before she helped turn you towards the mirror. You gasped, and the tears instantly formed in your eyes as you took in the sight. In this exact moment, you felt like a bride. And you instantly knew, “this is the dress,” you whispered, breathlessly.

“Oh yay!” The attendant cheered happily from behind you, “okay, let’s go show it to your group.” She adjusted one of the clips and then lifted up the bottom to help you walk.

You climbed up onto the podium and turned to your friends and your dad. Who were all currently speechless. And that caused your tears to finally break the confines of your lower lids, and run happily down your cheeks, as you chuckled out a watery, “so, what do you guys think?”

“Perfect,” Wanda sniffled.

“Breathtaking,” Hilde nodded, wiping a stray tear away.

“Oh god, you’re a vision,” your Aunt Carol whispered.

“I’m more emotional about seeing you in this dress, then I was about my own,” Nat said through a breathless chuckle as she grabbed a kleenex and dapped below her eyes.

You nodded happily, then turned to your dad, who still hadn’t said a word yet, “what do you think, daddy?”

He glanced up and down at the dress for a moment then met your eyes. And you realized his were now also filled with tears. “Oh, kiddo. This is it,” he nodded and smiled, “this is the dress.”

“Yeah?” You asked as you looked down at the dress then at all of them.

“Oh yeah,” they all said in unison.

“Steve is going to fall over when he sees you walking down the aisle towards him in that,” Hilde said and you laughed loudly at that thought.

“I hope not, can’t have him injured on our honeymoon,” you smirked, and then burst out laughing again when you heard your dad groan loudly from his place on the couch.

“I didn’t need to hear that,” he shook his head, and mumbled, “I can’t unhear that now.”

You finally calmed down your laughing fit enough to tell the attendant you’d take the dress. Even though she’d probably already figured that out.

Your dad bought the dress for you, not even allowing the attendant to tell you how much it cost. His exact words were, “the price doesn’t matter. This is the dress and I’ll be damned if you don’t get to walk down the aisle wearing it.”

And that’s exactly what you’d get to do.

June 2020 - Present.

“It’s our time, kiddo,” your dads soft words pull you back to the present and you blink away the flash backs and turn to smile at him.

You take a deep breath, “then what are we waiting for,” you excitedly reply and then both doors are pulled open for you to make your grand entrance, on the arm of the first man you ever loved. The same arm that will soon pass you off to the last man you’ll ever love.

After one more glance at your father, who is clearly trying not to cry, you take a step through the doors and your eyes instantly find Steve’s. And the look on his face says it all.

He breaks the eye contact for a moment, to glance the full length of you, and then those beautiful deep blues lock back with yours and even from down the aisle, you can see the tears building up in them. And that almost makes you cry, but you manage to hold it together, determined to not ruin your makeup before he gets an up close look at you.

You reluctantly break the eye contact, in the hopes it will help you hold back the tears, and then you glance at the people in the pews on either side of the aisle. Seeing Thor and Vis sitting beside each other, giant smiles on their handsome faces and both looking dapper in their suits.

Then you see Laura and the kids, all dressed up and looking amazing. Before your eyes shift to the other side and see Sam’s mom and sisters, all looking beautiful as always in their pastel coloured dresses.

Next your eyes find Peter, Tony and Pepper, sitting near the front. You’d met Pepper about a year ago when you’d gone to a family dinner with Steve, she was lovely and you were so happy to learn Tony had met a nice woman finally, one you hoped would stay around for a while. As you both had hit it off instantly and you could totally see her making an awesome sister in law one day.

And next to them are Steve’s parents, Howard and Maria, both looking so effortlessly content and happy in this moment. Like they both had known this day would come, and the cheeky wink Maria gives you solidifies that thought.

Then lastly you look to the other side, seeing Winnie, James Jr, Maria Hill, your Aunt Carol and your cousin Lashana all sitting together. Winnie and your aunt were already bawling their eyes out and you hadn’t even reached Steve yet, that made you giggle quietly to yourself as your eyes finally flicked back up to Steve’s.

You both then hold the eye contact the rest of your way down the aisle, up until your dad passes you off to your future husband, sharing a few whispered words that you can’t quite make out, but you do see Steve nod his agreement to something before he focuses back on you to whisper, “come on, beautiful. I’ve been waiting 11 years to make you my wife. I can’t wait any longer.”

You giggle softly at this corny cheeseball you were about to marry, then let him lead you up the steps, knowing instantly that this is exactly where you’re meant to be. And Steve is exactly who you’re meant to be with.

If only you’d known sooner, but, then again, you know now, and that’s really all that matters. You got here eventually, and honestly, you wouldn’t have changed a thing. You believe everything happens for a reason, everything plays out a certain way to force you to grow, learn and appreciate everything you have. If things all came easily, they wouldn’t mean as much in the end.

You glance at your soon-to-be husband and smile, receiving a smile in return, then you both focus on the minister. Knowing that this is the final part before you both can call yourselves married. And you both couldn’t wait any longer for that. Or the beautiful, crazy, corny life that would follow this moment—The life where your best friend is by your side every step of the way, except now you’d call him your husband.

‘Your husband.’ God, you really love the way that sounds.

The End.

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

@hopefulmoonobject @caps-lockdown @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @tessvillegas @boxofteenageideas @wangdeasang @giggleberts @casuallydarktiger @theonelittleone @agentbadbitch @ratwrites @starrystellars @bandsandanimefreak @rockyroadthepastryarchy @lovvliies @cuffski @icesoccerer @alwaysright4 @lilsthethrills @imdiegohargreeves @zombiepotterfour @mu-mu-rs @ledandan1244 @straightforwardly @badassbeckettswan @denzmallows @xremember-me-notx @gwynethjodie @lollipopdomination @capstopavenger @jemimah-b99 @rcvenqers @justkending @marvel13princess @alagalaska @silent-loucidity @sabertooth-potato @pies-wands-and-more

[fanficsbytoast]

Mischief Tango Chapter 1

After Tyler Cowie has a disastrous run-in with the Tesseract, she has to team up with the god (or sometimes goddess) of mischief to get rid of her new powers. Or at least, that’s plan.

Warnings for story: M Language, T violence, T sex

Warnings for chapter: M language

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

I don’t think this date could have gone much worse if I’d shown up in clown shoes and a Darth Vader mask. I tiredly stared at the guy across from me, resting my face in my hand while he tapped away on his phone.

        “You like…medieval literature, right?” I asked, hoping to make this less awkward.

        “14th century manuscripts,” he said bluntly.

        I bit back a ‘isn’t that the same thing’ by taking a long drink of water.

        Brendon had been a lot friendlier a couple of days ago, when we’d run into each other in a coffee shop. Oh, yeah, it had been real cute and cliché when I’d bumped into him, knocking his drink all over him and then buying him another. Then we’d hit it off because I was carrying books with me and he was a bookbinder.

        By basic romance literature standards, we were basically made for each other. But it turns out that you needed more than just a common interest to click with someone.

        “Do you like any…like, modern books?” I asked. I traced my fork around my plate, drawing little rake-marks in the cheese sauce of my pasta.

        He snorted. “Modern writing lacks even the most basic literary competence. It’s nothing more than the same tropes recycled with angst and poor grammar.”

        I held back a grimace. “Oh.”

        Giving up, I stared down at the book on my lap. First off, I know it was rude, and secondly, this was Twilight and any normal, thinking person would be appalled by it. Maybe it was just a sign of how terrible this date was, but I thought the book was hilarious.

        I took another drink of water, my gaze still on the words.

        Wait, did it just compare the freaking vampire to a disco ball?

        Before I could stop myself, I snorted water right out of my nose and onto the table…and into Brendon’s face. The poor guy sat there in shock, and I stared on in complete mortification.

        “Oh gosh, I’m sorry—um, here!” I grabbed the nearest napkin and tried to wipe some of it off his face.

        “Tyler—” He tried to push me off, but I ended up knocking over his wine glass into his lap.

        At this point, all I could do was close my eyes.

        “I’ve…got to go,” he said stiffly. “I forgot—”

        “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

        “Eleanor—”

        “Tyler. Just go.”

        The table shifted as he got up and, and I didn’t open my eyes again until I was sure he was gone. At that point I just paid the tab, only to realize that Brendon had left the whole thing for me to pay for.

        Jerk. I shoved some breadsticks into my purse and got the heck out of there.

        Two months. I was two months into trying to ‘restart my life’ and I had suffered through five failed job interviews and eleven failed (or even set-up) dates.

        I wandered out onto the busy London sidewalk, a lump forming in my throat.

        Maybe I should call my parents back in New York. I hadn’t spoken to them in a month; even though those aliens had stormed Manhattan less than a year ago. My parents lived outside the city, but still: Aliens! Actual aliens! What if they came back?

        And superheroes? I could hardly believe they were real, either.

        A car roared by and slid through a puddle, sending a sheet of mucky water sloshing into me. I squealed and jumped back, but it was too late. The muddy water was all over my dress.

        I wanted to cry. A nineteen-year-old woman shouldn’t cry over a bad date or a ruined dress, but I was done. I’d been trying my darnedest for weeks, and I was no closer to turning my life around than when I first got off that plane.

        I covered my mouth and took a deep breath. People were probably wondering why a muddy girl was hanging around the sidewalk with tears in her eyes.

        Oddly enough, the place was empty.

        I’d never seen the sidewalks and streets so devoid of life, especially out here by all the restaurants and night life. Maybe I’d taken a wrong turn or something?

        I looked down at my phone for directions. My GPS would have to tell me how to get home. I’d walked here with Brendon and he’d left me, so there was no telling if I was even heading towards my appartment.

        “Damn it, Brendon,” I muttered under my breath. I thought about calling him and just asking for some directions, but I didn’t want to hear his voice or see his face or anything until I had some time to cool off. Right now, I kind of wanted to put worms in his shoes.

        That wouldn’t be fair to the poor worms.

        At least if I calmed down, I could drag him with some dignity: I bought you a donut! You shared it with me! I LET YOU USE MY STARBUCKS POINTS TO ORDER YOUR CHAI LATTE!

        Seriously, was there a way to refund those? Like an I-just-got-dumped-on-the-first-date refund?

        “Your game is over.”

        Say what now? I looked around to try and find out who was speaking, but all I could see were shadows and the soft, dancing glow of the streetlights.

        “I’m sorry,” said a softer, yet no less cold, voice. “I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re—”

        “Shut it, Asgardian.”

        The voices were coming from down an alleyway. What kind of a name was Asgardian? Sheesh, that was even worse than Eleanor.

        Seriously, though, was someone getting mugged? Nah, these guys seemed to know each other. Maybe it was a drug bust.

        “You have it,” said the rough voice. “We know you do.”

        “Have what?” asked the softer. It was taunting.

        “You know what we mean. We want the casket. Now hand it over.”

        I started to hurry on my way, but then a blue light shone around the corner of the building. What the heck…?

        I should run. I should definitely run. But what was that light coming from?

        My ‘monkey brain’ won out and I crept between the buildings until I was just at the corner of the alley It stretched on, long and narrow, between the shops and houses and the privacy wall behind them. At the far end, where a wall blocked off all escape, stood a man dressed in a long coat.

        He cornered by two towering, hunched creatures. And even despite the blue light, I could tell that they truly were blue. Like, Blue Raspberry Jolly Rancher blue—like giant, mean-looking Smurfs.

        But my attention was drawn to the source of the light. The man in the coat was holding a blue box in one hand, and it glowed so brightly that it illuminated the entire alleyway.

        “That’s not the casket,” growled one of the big evil Smurf creatures. “What have you done with it?”

        “Oh, I don’t have it,” said the man, eyeing them with contempt. I could just make out his facial features: Smooth and elegant, but harsh and full of hatred for the things standing before him. His eyes glittered with anger. “Odin is keeping it in his treasure hoard. I would suggest that you go to him if you’re so interested in the Casket of Winters.”

        Was this some kind of role-play? Like that guy with a LARP group I’d ran into a few weeks ago?

        Ugh, he’d stood me up.

        One of the monsters raised his arm. In the blue glow, I saw a shimmering weapon extend from his hand.

        It was a blade of ice.

        Okay, definitely not some kind of Live Action Role Play. This was real.

        “Now,” said the man, a little smile on his lips, “what good could come in killing me without reason?”

        “Oh, we have a reason,” said the other creature. “You killed Laufey.”

        Holy—what? This guy had killed somebody?

        The man laughed. “Preposterous. How would I ever have the opportunity to do that?”

        “You lured our King into the heart of Asgard and killed him where he stood.”

        “I gave Laufey every opportunity to kill Odin,” said the man. “It’s his own fault he was an incompetent beast who couldn’t even defeat a few guards.”

        “That’s a funny thing,” said the monster. “I heard it was you who killed him. You saved Odin’s life, that’s what the rumors said.”

        “Well, people have been known to spread gossip,” said the man, beaming with that salty, fake smile again. “I can assure you that—”

        “You are a liar and a murderer,” snarled the monster with the blade. “And you will pay for your transgressions against Jotunheim!”

        Yoda what now? I didn’t think they were talking about Star Wars.

        Despite every fiber of my rational mind screaming for me to get out of there, I crept a little closer, hunkering just around the corner of the nearest building so I could hear better.

        I knew it was stupid. This was murder and who knew what else. But it’s not every day that you start seeing stuff that could have come straight out of Star Trek, and my butt was not moving.

        “Now would that truly be wise?” asked the man. He was completely unphased by the monsters’ threats, which made me think he was probably even dumber than I was. “I regret to say this, but I have been humoring you.” He raised the glowing cube. “Do you know what this is?”

        “I don’t care,” said the monster who seemed to be the leader.

        “You say that, but with its power I could defeat the both of you with a wave of my hand.” The monsters glanced at each other, and the man grinned again. “So why don’t we end these negotiations on a pleasant note, in which we go our separate ways and you don’t interfere with my plans?”

        The monsters glanced at each other, but then they stepped aside. The man waved his hand and the cube suddenly disappeared.

        It was all starting to make sense. All this talk with names I couldn’t pronounce? Weird creatures? Mysterious creepy magician man? I was in an anime.

        Just kidding. No, I was witnessing a legit alien invasion—or maybe the alien mafia. It didn’t matter. I needed to get out of here before they realized I was watching them.

        I turned around, only to collide into a wall. Except, it wasn’t a wall. I stumbled back, and in the pale light of the overhead lamp, I could see the man in the long coat. Even in the shadows, I could see the glower on his face.

        Shit! How’d he get here so fast?

        I tried to run past him, but he grabbed my arm and dragged me around the corner and into the alley.

        “I don’t suppose this is yours?” he asked the monsters. I tried to wrench and squirm out of his grasp, but he was unbelievably strong.

        Right. Aliens.

        Tyler, you fucking moron, why didn’t you run?

        “A mortal?” asked one of the monsters.

        “Mortal?” I repeated. “What the—”

        “You insult us,” said the other. “Just kill it and let’s get on with it. It’s probably a spy.”

        “I’m not a spy!” I said frantically. “I just heard voices and—I mean, I didn’t hear much—really! You guys were just, uh, talking about…um…Chicago, right? You know, cyanide, squish, spread eagles—"

        The man’s hand clapped over my face. I wanted to scream, but my mind was suddenly filled with flashing images of my past.

        I was at my third birthday party; donning a cheap, shimmering Cinderella dress that was two sizes too big while my then-dark curls got covered in pink frosting from my cake.

        And then I was seven, blonder headed now, playing in the hayloft of a pig barn at the state fair. My sister’s son, who wasn’t much older than I was, pushed me out and I landed in a mucky mess, surrounded by panicked, squealing pigs.

        I was sixteen now and staring to a mirror, half clothed, and wondering why my thighs looked like zebra legs.

        During my first driving lesson, I backed the car into my dad’s van. He yelled. I cried. He took me out for icecream and taught me to parallel park.

        I graduated. Got my license. I tried getting a job. And then I came here, and brief glimpses of my failed dates and job interviews flashed before me for mere seconds. I was walking down the street; I heard the voices in the alleyway. I saw it all play out again.

        And then it was over.

        A wave of exhaustion slammed into me, and my knees threatened to buckle under my weight.

        “She saw everything,” said the man.

        Wait, had he been reading my mind? Oh no. He’d seen everything. Even my zebra thighs.

        Maybe being killed by alien mobsters wasn’t so bad after all.

        “Then it must die,” said the monster with the weapon. I was about to ask what ‘it’, was, but then he raised the blade over my head. Oh. I was ‘it’. You know what? Never mind. This was much worse than my thighs.

        “Whoa!” I tried to back up, but Trench Coat there still had a hold of my arm. “Can’t you just, like, wipe my memory or something?”

        They all stopped.

        “What?” asked the man. I glanced between him and the monsters. Maybe I was getting somewhere.

        “Uh, y-you know. Like in Men in Black? If you can read my mind, you should be able to wipe—”

        My voice cut off in a squeal as the monster swung his weapon towards me. I raised my free arm to protect my face, but the man shoved me behind him.

        “Are you so thick as to think that her death would go unnoticed?” he growled. “I have no interest in alerting the entire city to my whereabouts.” He looked back at me, his gaze hard. “You won’t say a word, will you?”

        Words came tumbling out of my mouth. “Tell them what? I didn’t see anything. Who are you again?”

        “And if you do,” he leaned closer to me, so close that I could feel the heat of his breath on my face. He wasn’t as tall as the monsters, but he still towered over me. And he needed a mint. “I may not be as merciful as I am now.”

        I gulped, but I nodded frantically. I hardly knew what he was saying except that he was promising not to kill me. And right now, that was all I cared about.

        He shoved me away, and I stumbled before starting to hurry down the alley. I was almost around the corner when I glanced back at them again, just to see if they were about to jump me.

        The lead monster was now raising his weapon behind the Trench Coat man, who was staring me down with a horrible scowl. He didn’t even realize what was happening.

        “Look out!”

        I was too late. The blade struck through his back and out through his stomach, splattering blood across the pavement. I wanted to scream, but all I could do was cover my mouth as the man gasped and fell to the ground. The monsters looked to me. Uh-oh.

        Turning on my heel, I started booking it in the opposite direction. Something cracked like lightning, and a blast of cold energy crashed into me from behind and sent me sprawling onto the pavement. A freezing-cold hand gripped my ankle and dragged me back into the alley.

        I clawed at the ground and screamed, but the hand hoisted me right off the ground. It was one of the monsters. He sneered at me and raised his weapon again, his frozen fingers burning my skin like boiling water.

        With my free foot, I managed to kick him in the face. Let me tell you: A high-heel to the face is nothing to laugh about, even if you’re an eight-foot giant and I’m a relatively small (uh, short) woman. The monster howled and dropped me, and I hit the ground with what I imagined was a splat. The shock from the impact had me choking, but I somehow managed to scramble away.

        His arms swiped at me, but I dodged and dove between the shadows. I lost my shoes, tore my dress, and my hair was unpinned and flying around my face as I desperately avoided his weapon and hands.

        I rolled out of the way of his blade. This time, it collided with the stone so hard that it shattered on impact. The monster roared in pain, and I ran down the dark side of the alley to hide.

        A blue glow bathed the world around me. I ducked down behind a trash can and peered around to see what was happening. The man was hunched over and holding onto his stomach, but he clutched that blue cube thing in his hand.

        The monsters hesitated, but then the one nearest to him went to club him over the head. The man ducked to the side, and energy cracked around the alley, momentarily freezing the giants—and me—in place.

        The best I could describe it as was like two magnets repelling each other. I felt a crushing weight, but I couldn’t move at all. I could barely breathe, and blue light swirled around the alley like Disney fairy magic or something.

        Then the man cried out in pain, clutching at his wound. The energy cut out, releasing the lot of us. The nearest monster backhanded the guy across the alley, and he crashed into the privacy wall. The cube slid across the ground and landed a few feet away from me. Both monsters advanced.

        What was I supposed to do? That cube was obviously really powerful, and these guys were clearly like, well, villains. I couldn’t just let them have it!

        And so I dove for it. I threw myself out from behind the trashcan and grabbed the cube in my bare hands.

        “No!” screamed the man, but it was too late. Energy surged through my veins. Pain tore through my every nerve, but my mind was spasming. I couldn’t let go. It wouldn’t let me! I could feel the power holing up in my arms, but I couldn’t do anything to stop—

        BOOM. The energy in the cube exploded, sending the monsters, the man, me, a ton of trashcans, and a tomcat sailing through the air. My body slammed against the wall, and before I ever hit the ground, I was out cold.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Always You 4

A/n: AU!Story.  This is a Gabriel AU reader insert…Gabriel is a writer and hopelessly in love with Cas’ little sister. After a failed relationship that ended badly in the past, Gabriel is just a shell of what he used to be. Now he has to work on being himself again to get the girl. (Cas in this story is hippie Cas) Slight smut in this chapter.  

Link to Chapter 3

Words: 1,976

Pairings: Gabriel x Reader

___________

After you stormed out the door Gabriel and Cas stood in an awkward silence. Cas finally looked to face Gabriel.

  “Are you gonna go after her?”

  Gabriel gave Cas a glare before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Cas remanding looking in the place where his best friend stood a moment longer before shrugging and going back to his and Dean’s room. He couldn’t be the one that fixed everything between Gabriel and yourself. The two of you would have to learn to fix your issues without him. 

  “I don’t know why I fool with either one of them.”

  He muttered shutting the door behind him.

  Meanwhile, Gabriel stormed into his bedroom also slamming the door before beginning to pace. Did the two of really just have this argument? Did you both really just break up over their stupid tempers getting the better of them? Gabriel yanked at his hair trying to piece together what happened.

  It was entirely his fault. That he got. He shouldn’t have let his stupid insecurities come between the two of you and rule over his common sense. You wasn’t going to go fuck that doctor. He knew that! If you had waited that long for Gabriel to make a move on you then you wouldn’t go throw it all away for some older man (some loaded arrogant older man). He had to give you some credit there. Gabriel couldn’t even remember the last time that you had gone on a date until the two of you had became a couple.

  “Fuck!”

    Gabriel growled angrily. He was just starting to feel like his real self again.  It had been a long time since he has felt that way too!! Gabriel didn’t know the last time that he has used that many pick up lines on someone the way he had you earlier that morning. Watching you blush bright red and having to make yourself pull away from him felt nice.

  There was also the matter of his and Sarah’s son. Gabriel still didn’t know how he felt about that. He had a child that he knew nothing about and hadn’t seen. This also meant that he would have to somehow deal with Sarah! That was the last thing that he wanted to be doing but it looked like he was going to have to find someway to be able to do so. 

  “Fuck me sideways I have got to do something!”

  Gabriel quickly got his keys and walked out the door. He was thankful that neither Cas nor Dean were in the living room. He didn’t want to deal with a mini Spanish Inquisition at the moment.

  Arriving at the hospital, Gabriel didn’t know what in the world he would say to you. Hopefully winging it would be okay. He didn’t even know where the hell you were going to be at. Here he stood in a huge hospital looking for a doctor. Rolling his eyes he noticed the ER receptionist desk a few feet away. That would be a good place to start!

  Walking up to the front desk in the emergency room the receptionist looked up from her computer grumpily.

  “Can I help you?”

  Gabriel looked around the room again before looking back to the woman.

    “I need to see Dr. Y/n Novak.”

  The receptionist looked down at her computer again.

  “The reason?”

  Gabriel frowned. The fuck was it this bitches business? Did she really want him to unload on her? Gabriel guessed that would be a big hell no. Trying to keep his temper down he smiled politely. Killing people with kindness was supposed to work better than being a complete ass right?

  “I’m her boyfriend. It’s an emergency so can you kind of hurry it up?”

  The receptionist looked slightly taken back but picked up her phone.

  “Hold on.”

  The woman turned moving to her phone dialing what Gabriel assumed was your number. Gabriel turned his back to the woman looking around the emergency room. He didn’t understand how you could do this job. After yours parents died in the awful car crash he never understood how you could look at sick or injured people the same way. Your parents deaths made Cas lose his serious grip on reality and live for the moment while it made you more driven. It was you that Gabriel had been worried about. Being a teenager and close to your parents should have affected you more than it did. Gabriel guessed in some ways you kept things bottled up where Cas just ripped up the book known as his life and went wild.

    When the double doors opened and you stepped out, Gabriel felt his mouth drop when he saw all the blood on your scrubs. You looked beyond shocked to see Gabriel standing there…shocked and hurt. Your eyes looked at him closely, clearly searching for what kind of emergency was happening. Gabriel hated that look in your eyes as you walked over.

  “What’s wrong?!! Is it Cas?! Is he alright?!”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “He’s fine. I need to talk to you.”

  You frowned. You clearly didn’t want to hear anything that he had to say at the moment. Sure, you knew that you would have to face him that night when you got home. Deep down you were hoping that he would be asleep when you rolled. You could flop down on the couch and sleep until the next afternoon. That should have been enough time for Gabriel to calm his ass down (and you too).

  “I’m kind of working Gabriel. What is the emergency?”

  Gabriel sighed as the receptionist made a loud “uh huh!” He gave the woman a cold glare.

  “All right I lied!! Sheesh nosy! Mind your own business will ya?”

  Gabriel gave the receptionist another cold glare before physically moving so that he didn’t have to look at the hateful little troll of a woman.

  “Y/n, I need to talk to you about earlier.”

    You sighed but was amused by his hot headed response. That was your normal Gabriel.

  “Want me to call security doctor?”

  The troll lady asked again. Gabriel looked back to her again with a sneer.

  “Don’t you have some papers to file or something?”

  You shook your head.

  “No. It’s fine. I have a few minutes. Come on Gabriel.”

  Gabriel followed you to the almost empty waiting room sitting down. You sat down across from Gabriel who leaned forward taking your hands in his.

  “Sugar I know you are mad. My attitude was awful at home. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m sorry I said all that shit.”

  You leaned back but didn’t let your hands leave Gabriel’s grasp.

  “Then why did you say it?”

  Gabriel shrugged..

  “Why do we do anything we do when we are angry or in my case scared out of my ever loving mind? I was freaking out about everything that happened with Sarah. I freaked out when I realized that I am going to have to be sociable with her and with a kid that I know absurdity nothing about. I was…am afraid that it is going to affect us. I finally got what I wanted and now everything is falling apart. Y/n,you know I don’t do well with turmoil or drama.”

  You pressed your lips together watching his facial expressions carefully.

  “No, you don’t. You never have. Look Gabe, you know I hate Sarah. I think everyone in our house hates Sarah. If voodoo magic worked….she would be a dead woman. Cas already texted me and offered to pay some random Italian mob boss to make her mysteriously disappear. If that doesn’t tell you something I don’t know what will. Gabriel, I am not threatened by her anymore. Worried about how she is going to potentially treat you..yes. I am also concerned about this kid. What kind of lies has been spoon fed his whole life? Because you know as well as I do there has been a ton. The kid seemed fine enough to me earlier but that was just a physical exam. Mentally, I don’t know what is stewing up in there. What are we going to do,Gabe?”

  Both of you were quiet for a moment. Gabriel moved to sit in the chair beside you. He took extra care to not break the physical contact that he had with you.

  “Well,first things first, I am going to find me a lawyer. I guess that means I will be calling Michael tomorrow. I know that we agreed to see less of him but I think he will know what to do.”

  Emma nodded. You didn’t like the idea of facing Gabriel’s older brother but the man was one of the best lawyers in town. 

  “Definitely a good decision. I hope he isn’t offended that none of us have talked to him since Thanksgiving. I feel bad for poor Sam. He has to be an ass to work for but Michael knows his shit.”

  Gabriel sighed before focusing his attention back on you. You  looked exhausted as you rested your chin on your hand.

  “So what about us?”

  He finally asked. Gabriel was afraid to hear the answer to this. What if you told him to get lost? There was no way that he could handle that and stay sane! You looked in his direction again.

  “Gabriel, if you are concerned about me not wanting to be with you because of the kid than that  is the craziest thing that you could possibly think. If Sarah thinks I am going to step aside and let her destroy you again the bitch better be gearing up for a fight. Look I’m sorry about all the shit I said earlier.”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “Me too. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

  You smiled laying your head on his shoulder.

  “I can totally believe that especially since you came down here to talk to me.”

  Gabriel chuckled.

  “You know I hate hospitals. How much longer do you have to go before you can get out of here?”

  You looked down at your watch.

  “About 5 hours. I didn’t want to sign up for a full 12 hour go around. Gabriel, I don’t want you to worry about Dr. Jones. There is absolutely nothing there. I want you ...just you.”

  “I know. I trust you.”

  You stood up knowing that you needed to get back to work Gabriel quickly stood wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “Darlin, I I have to be crazy about you to be holding you all covered in someone’s blood.”

  You laughed and stood on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

  “Always the romantic.”

  Gabriel gave you an eyebrow wiggle and muzzled his face against yours.

  “I’m about to romance the pants off of you sugar. I’ll be up when you get home.”

  You smiled looking completely happy now. That was the smile that Gabriel needed to know that everything was okay. He intertwined his hand with yours before walking out of the small waiting room. Gabriel’s attention focused on the troll receptionist who was still looking at him.

  “That lady wasn’t hugged enough when she was little, huh?”

  You  put a hand over your mouth to stifle a giggle so that lady didn’t realize that Gabriel was talking about her.

  “It sure seems that way. I’ll see you soon.”

  Gabriel nodded, kissing you once more before walking out. You stood watching until he was clearly out of sight before turning and going back into the ER. Maybe the next few hours would go by quickly!

___________________

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[duhhthor]

Unprofessional Crush | Bonus Valentine’s day Chapter

Tom Holland x Celebrity!Reader

*Does NOT impact the Unprofessional Crush story, so it CAN be read without having to read the rest of the story*

Summary: It’s Valentine’s day and whoever’s in the Supermodel’s household will be awoken by a very good and exciting news. 

Word Count: 2.1k

Pairings: Tom Holland x reader ; PLATONIC!Harry Styles x reader

Warnings: cursing and really adorable 

UNPROFESSIONAL CRUSH MASTERLIST

Tom’s p.o.v.

A groan leaves my mouth as I stretch my arms out, searching for my girlfriend’s body that was supposed to be laying besides me. But, instead my palm ends up patting the bed’s now cold surface.

Causing another groan to escape my lips and my eyebrows to involuntarily scrunch up as I’m both wondering where the hell (Y/N) is and the large amount of light practically blinding me as I try to open my eyes.

I don’t have time to get used to the room’s lighting or wonder much about her location, because suddenly her excited screams and loud laughter are echoing throughout the apartment walls.  

I lift my upper body tiredly and support it against her headboard. All of my sleepiness has vanished as soon as I heard her contagious laughter, instead a lazy smile crept itself onto my face, without me even realizing it. The effects of this girl, I swear.

“(Y/N) Why are you laughing all by yourself?!” Harry’s sleep deprived voice thunders through the walls. “At eight in the morning! Have you finally gone mad?!”

I chuckle while rubbing my eyes. “Tom are you with her?! Or should we actually be worried this time?!”

“We should be worried!” I remove my hands from my eyes and start searching for my phone.

“It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!” My girlfriend attempts to scream but can’t because of her unrestrained laughter. The soft thuds of her feet quickly making their way towards the bedrooms, warns me that I’m about to get attacked by the jumble of energy (Y/N) is today.

I stop looking for my phone and face the door, waiting for her entrance. “Oh, good you’re back from tea with the Mad-” I interrupt myself as my eyes widen and I try to stretch my hands in front of me as a shield.

As the supermodel runs at me full speed with this crazy amazing smile spread on her face. She suddenly jumps on the bed and throws herself on top of me.

As I try to peck her soft lips after her attack, I feel and see a glossy magazine cover being shoved into my face.

“It’s here Tom! It’s here!” She squeals in delight.

My eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.

“Look! Look! Look!” She screams like an impatient four year old.

“I’m trying darling!” I chuckle and softly remove her tight grasp from what looks like a magazine, I can’t tell because it’s literally inches from my face. As I lower it without glancing down, she pouts in frustration. proving to me that she actually is a child stuck in an adult’s body, as she also reminds me how badly I want to kiss her.

Instead I bring her hand, that I’m still holding, up to my mouth and kiss each of her fingers. Her pout disappears and a soft smile takes over her face. When I’m done I pull her forward, actually no.

I try to pull her forward.

“You’ll make me wrinkle it!” She yelps in horror.

“I’ll buy you another one.” I reply amused. I mean how could I not?! Here we are with a supermodel who’s appeared in all kinds of magazines fretting about this one. While she knows that there are thousands of copies that we can both afford. Plus, the brand normally sends her plenty of copies, so she can hand out to friends and family.

“You still haven’t looked at it.” She replies grumpily. I playfully roll my eyes and grab her hand again.

“I will in a second.” She huffs, causing me to smile. “Can’t a man enjoy their girlfriend for one second? Sheesh.”

This time I successfully pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her making sure she won’t leave. I tip her head towards me and try to kiss her again.

Yes try. Because she turns her head just in time.

A loud groan erupts from my throat. “Are you really not going to let me kiss you?! It is Valentine’s day you know?!”

“Not until you look at the magazine!” She crosses her arms stubbornly.

I grab the damned thing, still looking at her weirdly.

I look down quickly, just to get it over with, I mean I really want to kiss her so I’m about to do just that. When my mind realizes what it’s just seen. My eyes widen and a smile sneaks it’s way onto her face.

I hadn’t realized it but she twisted herself so she’d be able to gauge my reaction. “Is that?-” I can’t even explain myself.

But somehow she understands me and her smile turns into a huge one as she nods her head fervently. “Yes! Yes it is! Look at it properly!”

I do as she says and grab it. My mouth now hangs open.

There I am. Me. (Y/N). Vogue cover. Valentine’s day edition.

That’s how my mind processes it.

“We made it?” My voice comes out in a small croak.

This time she’s the one who squeezes my hand and chuckles softly while doing so.

“Of course we made it!” She kisses my cheek. “I just wanted it to be a surprise so I invented that whole thing up! So surprise…?”

I laugh at her and pull the girl sitting in front of me right back into my lap. Kissing every inch of her neck that I can find, making one of the sounds I love the most leave her mouth, her laughter of course.

“Hadn’t we agreed to sleep in? And watch movies all day and then go out for dinner tonight?” I whisper against her skin.

“Yes! But I mean it’s here and I’m so so happy!” And she’s off my lap again, jumping on her bed. “That’s my favorite vogue cover I’ve ever done!”

I look at her while her sweet, joyful laughter continues echoing through the house. You could probably hear it from a mile away and it would definitely spread a huge smile onto your face or maybe you’d end up joining her? It rumbles through their halls and into every room of this house, cheering the most unhappy of all people. And what the hell? Why should I ruin this? Or not be a part of it?

I stand up and grab her hands and jump with her on the bed laughing just as crazily as she is.

“Tom?! Have you gone mad as well?! Okay now I’m really worried.” We hear her roommate, Harry Styles grumble. That causes her laughter and mine to get louder somehow.

As her best friend appears at the doorway she lets out a loud and happy shriek. “We’re on the cover!” And literally throws herself at him. Next thing I know they’re both lying on the floor.

Him groaning and her chuckling, of course.

My ribs start to hurt and I fall to the bed, my entire body shakes as I chuckle hysterically.

“You two are assholes, I couldn’t sleep last night you know? And I was like ‘ah whatever it’s almost Valentine’s day let them be” He mocks himself, as he pokes (Y/N) in the stomach causing her to giggle. “And I thought you’d be kind enough to at least let me sleep through the morning the next day. But nope.”

“Perks of living with me! You get woken up by laughter and me being happy and I know you love it!” She shows him her tongue childishly.

A small, soft smile spreads itself onto my face once again.

She gets up and grabs the Vogue magazine showing it to him excitedly.

“Holy shit you guys!”

…

Third person’s p.o.v.

“It’s so easy to photograph them! They could literally be in the dullest room and the pictures would still come out amazing because of what they feel for one another! Why haven’t we thought of this before?” The photographer whisper shouts at the photoshoot’s director.

Harper, (Y/N)’s manager and best friend, happens to be close enough to them and smiles knowingly.

“I don’t know” The director shakes his head. “But I’m glad we chose them for this edition! I mean of course it’s easy to shoot them, just by looking at them you can tell and practically feel their love for eachother!” Gushes the director.

The couple that was making everyone gush were currently whispering to one another, not being able to remove their smiles from their faces. Completely ignoring the sound of cameras going off and acting like they always do.

“I’m so nervous.” Whispers Tom while pulling his beautiful girlfriend towards him, spinning her into his arms. When her back softly thuds against his front she looks up at him proudly.

“You shouldn’t be! You’re doing amazing!”

“Yeah, but I am doing a photoshoot with someone who does this for a living and is fucking marvelous at it!” A soft pout tugs at his lips. But quickly disappears when said supermodel softly kisses it away.

“Yes, and like I said you’re doing amazing! Even better than some of the models I had to shoot with before!” She turns around and pats his chest softly, while looking at him. “So stop pouting adorably and continue doing whatever it is you’ve always done! I mean it worked enough that you made me fall in love with you and everyone in Hollywood seems to love you just as much!”

After a few more minutes of shooting in this area with these clothes. (Y/N) suddenly gasps and pokes Tom. Causing him to look at her with such amazement and love in the eyes that the photographers almost squeal out of joy.

“What is it, love?” He whispers to her, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion at the beautiful smile on his girlfriend's face.

“I’ve got an idea! And it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and that I could only do with you! I’m sure the photographers will love it!” She jumps in her place, squeezing his hand, not being able to contain her excitement.

Even when she pulls him towards the crew so she can explain her idea to them, the photographers are able to capture amazing moments. (Y/N) almost never realizes but she has the habit of grabbing Tom’s hand and pulling him along. She might not notice whenever she does this but he does and he loves it.

The moment they captured had him looking at her with admiration and she had this infectious smile on her face. The man behind the camera had one just by being in the presence of a couple so in love.

“I have an idea!” (Y/N) exclaims excitedly.

And no one in the crew could ever say no to Hollywood’s sweetheart, her happy and good energy making it impossible.

“Oh boy.” Mutters Harper, but even she had a small smile on her face as she shook her head.

...

And that’s how Tom ended up with his upper body hanging upside down, while his legs were hooked on a pull-up exercise bar.

Oh and he was in a Spider-Man costume, the mask covering half his face, they found it at (Y/N)’s and Harry’s apartment. Which shocked no one because they all know she’s obsessed with Marvel movies.

They were doing the iconic Spider-Man kiss. All of the photographers were freaking out and yelling.

“Amazing!”

“Just perfect!”

“We have a cover!”

(Y/N) was freaking out just as much. After a couple of seconds she jumped back and squealed. “You have no idea how long that’s been on my bucket list!”

With help Tom unhooks himself and hugs her, the photographers continued shooting away, not being able to stop when shooting the famous couple in front of them. And they finally understand why everyone’s obsessed with them.

“These will be impossible to pick! All of them just seem to be amazing! And so natural!” Sighs the editor as he looks at them with a soft smile on his face.

“I love you.” She whispers in his ear. He squeezes her tightly “Love you more.”

“Impossible!” She gasps as they continue to bicker playfully, while unknowingly make everyone wishing they had something as special as they do.

The cover ended up being another picture. The editors thought it was best since his face was half covered up. But they made sure to hint about the iconic reenacting on the front.

The picture that was now spread underneath the huge Vogue letters and on thousands of stands, bookstores, being held by fans squealing with delight. Was the one where (Y/N) held his hand with a huge smile on her face, you could practically hear her laughing with just a glance at her. While he looked at her with a smile, well accompanied by his look of utter love and happiness.

A/N 

I was having an incredibly annoying writer’s block and I really hope that’s over now. I wanted to wish Happy birthday to this amazing human being @roseschnapp who always tells me I should be writing! Love u so much and I hope your day is truly amazing! 

plz plz plz send me asks or leave comments I love them so much!

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[theslayersblog]

SlaYers novel 1 chapter 1

Slayers novel 1

Beware of Bandits That Go Grump in the Night

So there I was, tearing through the woods at top speed, a gang of murderous bandits hot on my tail.

Why were they chasing me, you ask? Well, it’s a long, boring story and besides, where I come from, it’s not all that odd to find yourself being chased through the woods at top speed by a gang of murderous bandits. Especially if you’re me.

If you really want to know why I can tell you, but you don’t need to know why. Actually, it’s probably safer if you don’t know. Look, it might ruin the story for you, okay? And you wouldn’t want to ruin the story, would you? Of course, you wouldn’t.

So anyway, where were we before I was so rudely interrupted? Ah, yes: I was tearing through the woods at top speed, a gang of murderous bandits hot on my tail.

Okay, I might’ve stolen something from the bandits. There. Are you happy now? It’s possible that I sneaked into their little bandit camp and helped myself to the teensiest, tiniest bit of treasure, and it’s conceivable that they were a tad peeved about that. And I suppose that might have had something to do with why they were chasing me. Maybe.

It was barely a speck of pixie dust, I swear. And for that, they wanted to wring my neck! Sheesh. How stingy can you be? Not that I’ve ever heard of generous bandits, mind you. But still.

Can we move on now?

There I was, tearing through the woods at top speed, a gang of murderous bandits hot on my tail. I had a good lead on them, but they were sprinting on masculine and murderous feet and I was—er—traipsing along on my ever-so-dainty lotus blossoms— What? My feet are dainty!—so I knew I wouldn’t have the advantage for long.

Not being big on precautionary measures, I screeched to a halt and peeked out from beneath my hood to evaluate my options. The trees on either side of the road were too dense for me to cut through. Even at midday, I wouldn’t be able to see two feet in front of me.

The bandits were closing in, their bloodlust hanging thick in the air. Even the birds had sensed the danger and stopped singing—I was trapped!

Now, when I say road, bear in mind that the road we were running on was more like a path. It was as though some guy had hacked his way through the woods with a machete, figuring that hiking single file was a fine method of travel. Weeds grew high on either side, and starting a scuffle in them was not exactly appealing.

Knowing the terrain better than I did, the enemy had been able to circle around and surround me. I wasn’t too sure of the situation, so I decided it was best to mind my manners for the time being. Still, I had to say something to flush them out.

“I know you’re there,” I shouted, biting my tongue to squelch the sarcasm.

“Well, hello there, toots.”

Who’s it gonna be this time? I wondered. A talking skeleton, maybe? A zombie? Nope. Who’da thunk your average eyepatch-wearing bald brute would have the nerve to call me “toots”? Go figure.

Maybe he’d bolstered his confidence with his oh-so-scary outlaw outfit? Aware that any good look starts off with decent skincare, baldy had gone for a bronzy glow—by massaging his skin with what, judging by the smell, could only have been fetid pork fat. He sported a shirtless ensemble, accessorized with a scimitar, achieving a style that screamed, “I AM A FILTHY, DISGUSTING THUG!” And yet, despite his brute fashion, it seemed he was bent on talking me to death.

“What ya did to us back there wasn’t nice,” he growled.

No duh, genius.

“And now, here ya are, all by yer lonesome and at our mercy.” He licked his lips.

Um… ew.

“Aw now, ya can relax” he said, and slid into a smile so greasy that his cheeks actually made squishing sounds. “I don’t wanna fight ya, toots. Ya look like a biter, ya do, and I don’t fancy tussling with a gal who’d leave me marked.”

“Now, ya got yerself an impressive set of balls, I gotta say. Downright admirable. And yer technique’s real professional-like—busting in and tossing magic around left and right, setting the place aflame, cooking the boss-man to a crisp, and then, once the ruckus was well under way, sneaking into the vault and making off with our loot. Speaking strictly as a professional, I gotta say I was impressed.”

Um, earlier I forgot to mention the parts about the fire and the leader-killing, didn’t I? Sorry about that. I guess that had something to do with why they were chasing me, too. Oh well. No rest for the wicked, I always say.

“Ya got us good. At first we figured we’d chase ya down and exact our revenge, in a fashion befitting our scurrilous reputation, but somewheres along the road I got to thinking maybe there’s a better way, hmmm… ? Maybe the thing to do is to have ya join up with us, huh? Whaddaya say, toots?”

Join up with you? I feel like I need to take a shower just for talking to you, cretin.

“Ya’ll have to return the booty, of course, but ya agree to join up with us and we’ll consider yer killin’ the boss to be water under the bridge.”

I acted like I was thinking it over.

“It ain’t a bad deal I’m offering ya,” he continued. “It’s what ya might call nonviolent conflict resolution, makin’ the best out of a had situation. Give and take: We make use of yer talents, and ya got yerself a gang. Ya give us back our stolen treasure, and we let ya keep breathing. It ain’t such a bad deal, see? Whaddaya say?” he asked, and his smile opened up like a wound.

I see how it is, I thought. Until I knocked off their leader, baldy here had been the number-two guy. So really, I did him a favor. He doesn’t want revenge; he just wants his treasure back and the addition of my special skills to his arsenal. He was probably sweet on me, too. Who could blame him? Unfortunately for him, I have a strict no-return policy where treasure is concerned, and I’m just not depraved enough to hook up with a band of thieves.

Could you imagine waking up every morning to a guy like that asking you, “What’s up, toots?” No, thank you. Ladies, where are the princes on white horses the storybooks promised us, huh? Couldn’t there be just one among this sea of ill-mannered thugs?

Yeah, I didn’t think so. Oh well. A girl can dream.

“Better answer fast, toots. Never know what kind of scum’s roaming around this neck of the woods. Ain’t no place to be a-napping.”

That guy sure was a talker. Bear in mind, I hadn’t said a word since he’d started yammering. I stood there silently while he went on and on and on. And on. And on, some more. What is it with men loving to hear the sound of their own voice?

Right about the time he started winding down with, “So, toots, how’s about it?” I sensed another presence entering our sphere. Hmmm…

“Not a chance,” I growled in as low a voice as I could manage without straining, and I dug my heels in the ground to emphasize my point.

“Why, ya little…” he snarled and he stopped, his mouth hanging open as his wee bandit brain struggled to simultaneously process anger and disappointment. Multitasking evidently wasn’t his strong point, and the pressure caused him to turn bright red. Actual steam shot out of his ears, I think.

“Ya little…” He tried again.

Finally, he found the words he was searching for: “Ya little arrogant bitch.”

Oh, bravo. I can see why it took you so long to come up with that one.

“I made ya a generous offer and ya threw it back in my face! For that, we’re gonna feed ya yer liver! Have at ‘er, boys!”

And with that, ten men stepped out of the forest and surrounded me. Ten.

“Ten guys? That’s it?” It just slipped out. I didn’t want to be rude, but ten? C’mon. It was insulting. Oh sure, the ten guys puffed up their chests and made a show of how tough they were, which I suppose I appreciated, but really. Ten guys? It was as if they had no faith in me. Sad.

“Oh now, this ain’t all of us, toots. Our mates in the woods are aiming their razor-tipped arrows at ya right now. When I say the word—THWANNG! Yer a pincushion. Now, I’m gonna give ya one more chance to save yerself.”

Amateurs! Those were obvious lies. As both a swordswoman and a sorceress, I have impeccable instincts for when I’m being aimed at. If I were in anyone else’s crosshairs, I’d have known it. Those peabrains were way beneath my talents, and I was starting to get bored, when…

“Shall I wait for you to call some friends, so we can have a fair fight?”

The presence I’d sensed earlier! We all turned to see where that zinger had come from. A lone wandering mercenary materialized from among the trees, the rays of morning light reflecting off his drawn sword.

Somebody cue the chorus of angels, would you?

That man was an awe-inspiring vision of wondrous wonderfulness. He was tall, he was blond, and did I say tall already? His breastplate had been forged from the scales of a black iron serpent and judging by his sword, he made a decent living as an archetypical light fighter: fast and skilled. I told you he was tall, right? Did I mention he was a hottie?

“Piece of advice, fellas: If you all take off at a dead sprint now, a few of you might actually make it back to the rock you’ve crawled from under before I catch up and exterminate you like the vermin you are. One or two of you might even escape with your lives. That is, if you start right now”

Not a bad threat, I thought.

The chatty bald beast sputtered and spewed and spat and at last shouted back, “Just who the hell are ya to be creeping out from the woods and interrupting our delicate negotiations with yer ugly threats and insults, huh?”

“I don’t care to sully my name by giving it to you,” the blond replied.

Ouch. Okay, well, that was a little embarrassing. Frankly, the whole thing just got more clichéd and harder to stomach from there. Not that I had any choice, I mean, where was I going to go? I just stood there, probably looking like I’d swallowed a bug, which is pretty much how I felt.

I shouldn’t have complained, right? I mean, doesn’t every girl want a handsome rescuer to sweep in when she’s in a pinch? So what if she could’ve handled the whole thing on her own and the handsome rescuer in question didn’t have the verbal acuity she was hoping for? A gal can’t afford to be too picky these days, can she? I know, I know, but play along, will ya?

“Ya little… !”

Oh no. You think he’ll do any better this time?

“Ya impertinent cad!”

Guess not.

“We’re gonna feed ya both yer livers now! Have at ‘em, boys!”

At last, the sword fight began.

I considered helping the guy out, but I didn’t want to embarrass him. Besides, the proper role of a heroine is to run around shrieking in an excruciatingly high-pitched voice, isn’t it? I mean, otherwise what’s the point?

                        I’d never done the running-around-and-shrieking thing before, and I gotta say, should you get the opportunity, I highly recommend it. It’s a lot more fun than you’d expect.

Anyway, there I was, shrieking like my life depended on it and pretending I had no idea what was going on around me. Sadly, the whole thing wrapped up quickly. The blond prevailed, of course.

Breathless and glowing with victory, he made his way over a minefield of bandit bodies and swept up to me. “Are you all right, milady?” he asked, his eyes seeking out my own. He took his first good long look at me, drinking in my loveliness, and… he was speechless.

Now, I don’t want to brag, but I am not exactly lacking in the looks department. Big, round eyes, a peaches-and-cream complexion; all perched atop a tight little body in petite proportions. Poor thing, he didn’t stand a chance.

He sighed—with admiration and longing, I was sure. When at last able to speak, he did so quietly, as though mumbling a prayer. It was barely as audible as a whisper, and had I not been a gifted sorceress with the enhanced hearing that accompanies that role, I probably wouldn’t have heard him at all. O lucky me!

 “Great. She’s just a kid.”

Just a kid? Okay. That stung a little.

Oh, but wait—there’s more!

“This is what I get for not looking more carefully before I get into these things. I mean, I like kids. I want to be a standup guy, but c’mon! Ten guys, I fought! Ten guys! Is it so much to ask that one of these days there’s a babe waiting for me at the other end? Somebody hot, you know? All breathless and grateful… is that too much to hope for? Apparently so. And now I’m stuck looking after Little Miss No-Boobs.”

Gah!

Okay, I suppose I am a little underdeveloped for a girl my age. And I’m… I’m not very tall. All right, I’m short. Is that what you want me to say? I’m short and I’m flat-chested. What’s the big deal, huh? At least I can run fast and my clothes hang right. Boobs are overrated, if you ask me.

Shit! Why do they always get you where you’re sensitive?

I’m sure he didn’t think I could hear his mumbling. A normal person couldn’t have, but for better or worse, my ears are as sensitive as an elf’s. For worse this time, I’d say. Ouch.

Regardless, he had helped me out of a bit of a pinch, so I had an obligation to thank him.

“Th-thank you very much,” I stuttered, and I smiled as broadly as I could.

“No need to thank me at all.” He managed something of a smile in return. ‘Are you hurt, little miss?”

Little miss?! God, help me…

“You know, it’s not safe for a little girl to be wandering around in an area like this on her own. Were you traveling with your father or someone? Are you separated? Lost?”

Grr… “No, no… I’m—uh—by myself…”

I guessed maybe all that blond hair was making it hard for him to see. I mean, if it had been me, I’d like to think I’d have figured out pretty quickly that the lovely creature before me was no helpless little kid.

“Well, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. How about if I escort you home, sweetie?”

Oh, now… wait just a damn minute—!

“Where do your mommy and daddy live?”

Grrrrrr! “Uh, I’m by myself. I don’t live anywhere, exactly… I was just heading to Atlas City—”

“I see, well, there’s no need for you to explain. I understand completely. You’re in a pretty rough spot, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“I completely understand. We all have our circumstances,” he said in a maddeningly condescending tone.

“No, um, I don’t think you do understand.”

“Oh, I understand more than you think I understand.”

What?! I don’t even think I understand what it is you think that I think that you don’t understand!

In retrospect, I think he thought he’d rescued a helpless little girl who’d been forced to live on her own as a result of some sort of tragedy At the time, I suspected he was going to keep spewing the same reassurances until he died of suffocation or I died of embarrassment. One of us had to put an end to it.

“No, really. I’m fine. I appreciate your kindness, but I’m not a victim. I’m an adventuress, off to see the world.” I was telling him the truth—which, incidentally, was no small feat for me!

“Really, I don’t mean to pry, miss. You don’t have to make any excuses for my benefit.”

Okay, now, this just sucks. For once in my life, I’m not making excuses!

I didn’t know what else to say.

‘All right then, miss. How about if I stick with you and see that you reach Atlas City safely?”

Bad ideal Bad ideal Bad—idea!

“Oh mister, n-no… no—no need for you to go so far out of your way! I-I couldn’t.”

I wasn’t kidding, either. Atlas City was TEN DAYS AWAY I couldn’t imagine spending twenty-four hours a day side by side with Mr. Perceptiveness for TEN DAYS without succumbing to the temptation to commit the premeditated murder of a blond.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I think you need a friend.”

He was obviously committed to the idea.

“But… I…”

The conversation went on like that for a while. I objected. He objected to my objection. I understood where he was coming from, but I thought he misunderstood. He appreciated my understanding, but he thought I misunderstood his understanding. And so on until, between understanding, misunderstanding, thinking and objecting, my head was throbbing, and I no longer cared who went with me, so long as we got moving.

We hadn’t been on the road twenty minutes before he felt the need to speak again. “I don’t believe we’ve introduced ourselves yet. I’m Gourry. As you’ve likely deduced, I’m a traveling swordsman. And you?”

I considered giving him a fake name, but honestly, I was too tired to see the point.

“I’m Lina. I’m a… traveler.”

There. I gave him my real name. And I am a traveler. So maybe I left out a few important details. So what? Gourry had already proven he wasn’t the type to ask penetrating questions. I figured that he’d buy pretty much anything I wanted to sell him about my circumstances, which, as far as I was concerned, was a point in his favor.

And maybe he wasn’t exactly a brain trust unto himself, but he seemed like a nice guy His heart was in the right place, anyway.

It wasn’t like he’d been all, “Hey little missy, let’s you and I go take little voyage together, heh, heh, heh…” Um, ew. If he’d shown any sort of sleazy ulterior motive, I’d have turned him into troll meal. But, he seemed genuinely concerned about me, so I couldn’t exactly be mean to him. And he really wasn’t getting under my skin like I’d figured he would. Still, the prospect of being treated like a kid all the way to Atlas City did not bode well for either of us. Not that I wanted him to flirt with me, that’s not what I’m saying. I just… I’m digging a hole here, aren’t I? Okay, whatever. Let’s just leave it at: He seemed like a nice guy.

With Gourry “escorting” me, I didn’t get a chance to be alone and catch my breath until after we’d found a town that night, gotten directions to the local inn, had some dinner, checked in, gone to our rooms, and said bonsoir for the evening. It sure felt great to be alone. The room wasn’t especially large, and it smelled like burning oil. The, uh, decor left something to be desired, but it was furnished with all that I required—a bed, table, and oil lamp—and it felt downright posh after the day I’d had.

I unfastened my mantle—which is a loose, sleeveless coat or cloak—and tossed it on the floor. It hit the hardwood with a thud, a jingle, and a series of ker-chinks.

Oh, like you’ve never thrown your clothes on the floor. Who are you, my mom? I was tired. Leave me alone.

Thanks to a little spell I’d whipped up to keep my hands free, my mantle, which extends from my collar to my knees, always lies flat, even though it’s lined with leather pouches for holding my loot.

It remains smooth, but unfortunately not silent, and the clanking and clinking of confiscated bandit booty had been driving me nuts all day. I was looking forward to the chance to empty the pouches and appraise my spoils. This was no small task, mind you, as I’d been… uh… working without a vacation for a while, and I hadn’t had a chance to organize. And those leather pouches fill fast because of my basic plundering philosophy, which is to grab anything that looks like it might be valuable and then sort it all out later.

The paltry amount of light produced by a cheap lodge-oil lamp was hardly sufficient for proper treasure evaluation, so I formed a sphere of light between my open palms, and then proceeded to raise it to the ceiling. Voilà! Just a simple lighting spell, but it was bright enough to tan in that room when I was finished. I emptied my leather pouches and spread their contents on the floor around me. I counted some two or three hundred glittering gemstones, a few coins, a large knife, and a statue of some sort.

I could tell right off that most of the gemstones were flawed. The statue appeared to be of a goddess, but more important, it was made of Orihalcon, and for that reason alone was a valuable find. The knife had some kind of “weapons magic” attached to it, that I couldn’t identify. I considered trying to use it, but you never know what something like that might do to an innocent bystander. I decided that the safest thing would be to pawn it at the next magic shop I came across. Finally, there were a few dozen coins minted by the Duchy of Ledis, and since the Duchy had been destroyed some five hundred years before, I figured they would fetch a tidy sum.

And that was it.

It wasn’t much of a haul, but what else would you expect from a low-end operation like Baldy McEyepatch and his Ten Merry Hoods?

A mountain of flawed gemstones is still a mountain of gemstones, and a mountain of gemstones is a sight to behold. A girl could buy herself many a fancy-schmancy dinner with even half a mountain of gemstones. And what else does any girl need?

Well actually, if she happens to be a sorceress, she needs a whole lot more than a few nice dinners to make her way in the world! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Back to the gemstones.

I divided them by type, and then into flawed and flawless groups. The flawless gems were fine as they were, but the flawed ones couldn’t be sold for much. Unless…

I fished a crystal sphere about the size of a child’s fist out of my bag and placed it on the floor in front of me. It spun around several times, and then came to a decisive stop with its engraved symbol pointing to my right.

I pulled a parchment from my bag. Its breadth and width measured the span of my arm, and it glowed the color of an elf maiden’s skin.

This probably goes without saying, but just in case: I need you to keep anything I tell you about my materials on the down low. My spells are trade secrets, and the last thing I need is a bunch of amateurs stirring up forces they can’t control. So, all the details of spell-casting? Just between us, okay? Cool!

From my bag I retrieved another, smaller parchment bearing a symbol block-printed on it. I took one of the flawless rubies and positioned it over the symbol on the larger parchment. I then placed the smaller parchment over the ruby, like I was making a ruby-and-parchment sandwich. As I chanted a fire spell, the smaller paper ignited, turning to ashes in an instant.

“Step one, check!” I peered into the gemstone from above. Sure enough, the symbol from the smaller paper had sealed itself inside the gem.

I then selected one of the flawed rubies and held it lightly in my left hand, four-to-six inches above the marked gem, while chanting an air spell. The stone in my hand crumbled into a shower of blood-colored dust, which sifted down onto the bewitched stone below

I repeated the technique until I’d disposed of the last of the flawed rubies, and the large parchment, on which the stone had rested, was covered with a mound of ruby dust.

“Step two…”

Over the mound, I sprinkled some clear liquid from a small bottle, placed my left palm over that, and chanted a succession of earth-and-water spells, much like the fire-and-air spells I’d used before. My palm got hot as the ruby dust flared with bright white light. After a moment, the light dimmed, and the pile had taken the form of a large ruby dumpling.

Ta-da! Total victory!

What? Don’t you like giant ruby dumplings? Okay, psych! That wasn’t what I was going for either. But just wait.

At first, the dumpling looked like an ill-conceived attempt at pottery. But slowly the surface began to glaze over, and then, a few minutes later, it hardened. The dumpling had shaped itself into a larger version of the bewitched ruby, complete with enclosed power symbol.

“One down!”

I used the same technique on the remaining emeralds, sapphires, and amethysts. When I was done, I had a set of enchanted gems that could be used as simple talismans or combined with other charms or weapons to enhance their powers. More important, I could sell them for a much better price.

Time out. I’d like to take a moment and mention that my own pendant—as well as my bandana and the short sword that I wear on my hip—have all been enhanced in just this way. If you don’t have a jeweled amulet, I highly recommend that you acquire one. They’re fashionable, oh-so-practical, and right now, they’re all the rage with the well-to-do. If you do decide to get one, I would advise that you spare no expense and get the best you can afford. If you’re a person of means, you can even have it custom-made by a talented and experienced sorceress.

Someone like me for instance. I could totally hook you up.

Okay, end of commercial.

Only nine more days to Atlas City. Hang in there, Lina!

* * *

The following morning, Gourry and I traveled on, side-by-side. The weather was perfect, and a symphony of gurgles from a nearby stream filled the air. A gentle breeze wafted through the woods around us, turning the leaves of various trees into nature’s own confetti. Golden light filtered through powder-puff clouds, making the path before us glow. It was one of those magical days.

I closed my eyes, drew in a chestful of the purest air in the world and thought: If I don’t eat something soon, I’m going to have to kill someone.

Hey! I don’t kid around when it comes to food. A girl’s gotta eat when a girl’s gotta eat. And this girl’s gotta eat often.

The next inn was a full day’s hike from the last one with nothing but rocks and weeds in between. As it crept up on noon, I started looking around for a flat area off the road to settle down with my lunch pack.

“Hang in there, little lady.”

Gourry had noticed my energy waning and mistook my insatiable hunger for fatigue. He was trying to say something to bolster my spirits, which was nice, but I really wished he’d cut the “little lady” crap.

“Times like these, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”

“Except I’m not a man.”

I think I threw him with that one.

“Well, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

“Fine. When do the tough stop for lunch?”

He had to think about that for a minute. We stopped. We stared. We contemplated our quandary while water babbled in the background… which is probably where we got the clever idea to go fishing in the stream that ran parallel to the path.

The stream in question was actually more of a river—too large for swimming in safely, though the water was clear. Fortunately, the sandy soil of the riverbank made it comfy to sit on for fishing.

“Here fishy, fishy, fishy,” I sang softly to myself as I collected a suitable tree branch from the forest floor and retrieved a fish-hook from my pack. I pulled out a few strands of my long, luxurious chestnut-colored hair and used them as line. Voilà! A fishing rod.

“Hey, you’re pretty good at this stuff,” said Gourry, sounding genuinely impressed.

“As a wise man once said, Gourry: You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

I set the rod aside and headed to the river’s edge. I moved a few rocks, dug around in the mud bank, and was rewarded with a handful of squirmy worms. I baited my hook and began to fish.

Here, fishy, fishy, fishy…

Nothing. Fishing is all about patience, you know.

Here, fishy, fishy, fishy…

Still nothing.

Here, stupid fishy, $#@!$#—!!!

Eventually, I did manage to catch quite a few fish, but it required a bit more sweet talk. Gourry built a fire; I cleaned and salted; and we cooked them on the spot. They were YUMMY! Frankly, I was so hungry at that point that they could have been breaded and fried in goblin blood, and I still would’ve eaten a dozen whole.

“Lina, you eat the tails?”

Don’t be such a little girl, Gourry.

“Waste not, want not,” I answered, figuring I owed him for that whole when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-get-going non-sense. He didn’t so much as smile. Why doesn’t anyone ever get my jokes? “Gourry, I can understand not eating the eyeballs if you’re squeamish, but why would you want to throw away the guts? That’s, like, a third of the weight of the fish.”

“I am not eating fish guts,” he replied resolutely.

“But they’re the tastiest paaart,” I teased, putting my lovely singing voice to good use. I scooped up some fish gut between my fingers and dangled it in his face before tossing it back and showing him how it was done. I slurped up the last bit through a big grin just for show.

“Lina, the stomach’s in the guts.”

“Yes it is, Gourry.”

“So, the worms you used as bait… you just ate them.”

I thought about that for a minute and then started spitting. I spat and spat and spat and rubbed my tongue on the grass, scraping it with my fingernails and concentrating hard on not throwing up.

“Okay, even if that is the case—”

“It is.”

“Yeah, I get that now! But even so, you shouldn’t point out things like that while someone’s eating.” Grrrrr.

We ate the rest of the fish without the guts. Gourry ate only his share. I checked. We sat there picking at the bones for a bit.

“I’m still hungry, Gourry.”

“Me, too,” he said. I reached for my rod to do more fishing, but I froze mid-motion. I sensed something ugly nearby.

“Goblins…” Gourry whispered under his breath, while we both tried to act nonchalant, “… about fourteen of them.”

Okey dokey.

I grabbed my fishing rod.

Remember when I said that there was nothing between the last town and the next but weeds and rocks? Change that to: weeds and rocks and a whole buttload of goblins. Thanks.

How much do you know about goblins? Let me give you the basics: Goblins are roughly humanoid, but stand only about chest high to the average adult human being. They’re generally—though not exclusively—nocturnal, kind of stupid, and prone to violence. They spook easily, so they tend to avoid human settlements, though they’ll happily poach cattle from the outskirts of towns and villages. In general, they’re not crazy about human beings, and I wouldn’t think that finding people wandering around their turf would fill them with glee. That’s the bad news. The good news is that they’re easy to make fun of.

I grasped my fishing hook with my left hand, narrowed my Incus, and began chanting a hunger spell of my own devising.

I’m not going to teach you the spell, so don’t even ask. I try not to use it; and if I taught it to you, you’d teach it to someone else and pretty soon there’d be no fish left in the sea! So, seriously, don’t even ask.

I’d just finished chanting when one of the goblins let loose a horrific yelp that must have been a war cry. The lot of them came screaming from the undergrowth, rusty spiked clubs and swords at the ready They were expecting us to run, of course.

“Shhh! Quiet!” I shouted in passable Goblin, and Gourry and I held our ground.

The goblins halted.

Taking advantage of the momentary opening, I lowered the fishhook under the surface of the water.

Here, fishy, fishy, fishy…

Silence.

The goblins muttered among themselves something along the lines of, “What’s up with the crazy red-headed broad?” They watched me carefully, trying to figure out what I was doing, but they didn’t attack.

And then… I got a bite.

“Aw, yeah!” I yawped, yanking both line and fish high out of the water. “Whoa! That’s a big one!” A huge fish danced in midair, whipping around the line and spraying us with river water. I took the fish off the line, also in midair; and it flopped on the ground before us.

That last bit, incidentally, was even more difficult than it sounds. Be impressed.

“Grab it!” I shouted in Goblin.

“Gii!” they responded.

“Gya gya, gukii!”

“Gyuge!”

Yes, well done.

The goblins danced around like they’d just won the lottery I kept catching fish, and they kept dancing. I had to bring in two dozen fish before I had them circled in as close as I wanted them.

I handed my rod over to the nearest oaf.

“Gi?”

“Sure. This one works real good. Wanna try it?”

“Gi… ?”

He tilted his head to one side and looked at me like my words made no sense. How rude! My Goblin may not be polished, but it’s not exactly a sophisticated language. I lowered the hook into the water for him and—he got a bite instantly!

“Giggi!”

His companions congratulated him and conveniently forgot all about Gourry and me. We crept quietly out of the area.

* * *

“You know some pretty crazy tricks,” said Gourry, and I had to smile at that one.

At nightfall, we waltzed into the dining hall of the next town’s single-story inn. The air was perfumed with the scent of ale and tobacco; but I was hungry again, and when they brought out meaty drumsticks, I quickly became oblivious to my surroundings. The drumsticks were really good. Mmmm…

I blinked when Gourry spoke, and the room snapped back into focus. Gourry was staring at me blankly from across the table.

What? I blinked again. The candle on the table flickered. I brought my cup to my lips and took a sip of juice. Some pretty crazy tricks? I took another bite from the drumstick in my left hand.

Gourry’s mouth was hanging open incredulously.

Ah, now I remember. “About earlier…”

Gourry’s incredulous expression advanced to who-is-this-little-girl-anyway.

What? What’s the big deal about a little fishing spell? Sheesh. Did he think I was entirely helpless?

“That was pretty basic magic,” I explained. “Not really worth going into, I promise.”

He grunted in admiration. “So… you’re some kind of sorceress, then?”

Gah!

Now it was my jaw’s turn to drop. “Some kind of sorceress? Yes, I am some kind of sorceress! What did you think?”

I’d like to explain that from the moment that Gourry first laid eyes on me, I have been dressed like SOME KIND OF SORCERESS. I wear trousers and long boots, which in fairness doesn’t indicate anything about my profession except, perhaps, that I am not a princess. However, I also wear a loose robe, cinched at the waist with a wide leather belt, a pair of leather gloves, and a bandana over my forehead. Thinly armored epaulets protect my shoulders, and my mantle stretches to my knees. And get this: Every item I have just described to you is embroidered in silver filament with magical symbols. I wear a silver necklace and silver bracelets. And, the short sword I carry on my left hip is embedded with an enchanted gemstone I made myself. I couldn’t look more like a sorceress if I wore a sticker on my chest that said “Hello, my name is LINA and I’m a SORCERESS!”

Did he seriously think I was some kind of fishmonger or a waitress at Le Café Sorcerie?

“Hmmm… I’m not really sure now that you ask. After all that business on the river, I guess I thought you might be some kind of fishmonger or maybe a waitress?”

Die, Gourry! DIE!

I buried my face in my soup dish.

Oh, hey…there’s still a little left in here.

“Relax,” Gourry said, “I’m just kidding. I didn’t think you were a fishmonger. I got you pretty good, though….”

“You sure did. I was going to kill you, but I got distracted by my soup.” I used a handkerchief to wipe the stew off my face as I spoke. He didn’t laugh. I probably should’ve explained that I, too, was kidding, but I’m not a very good sport. Let him wonder.

“So how good are you, anyway? Can you use a fireball? You look like you might be able to handle Black Magic.”

Sorcery, I should explain, is divided into three classes: White Magic, Black Magic, and Shamanic Magic. The latter makes use of the four elements (earth, water, fire, air) and the spirit world—it’s the mainstay of any sorcerer. My real specialty though is Black Magic, which isn’t as dastardly as it sounds—I use only the offensive spells, not the curses. It’s a common misconception that all offensive spells are Black Magic, but many of them are actually Shamanic Magic. The fireball that Gourry mentioned is classified as Shamanic Magic—and it’s a doozy!

“I look like I might be able to handle Black Magic? Is that how little you think of me?”

“No! It’s just, you seem like a pretty easygoing type.”

Riiiight.

“Well, whatever,” he sighed. “It looks like I’m going to see what you can do in just a second anyway.”

How’s that? I wondered. By the time I’d formed that thought, the door to the inn had been kicked open.

“That’s her,” someone growled.

I turned my head in the direction of the ruckus and locked eyes with the growler.

Aw, crap. He was pointing right at me. I was hoping I would turn around to find the grump behind the growl was actually gunning for some other unfortunate “her,” but the index finger in my face dashed my hopes.

You don’t suppose he saw Gourry’s hair and mistook him for a woman, do you? No such luck.

A parade of trolls soon filed in; and behind them, a mummy who appeared to be controlling the lot. Looking closer, I could see that he wasn’t an actual mummy, but a living person wrapped in bandages. Whoever he was, he was clearly a sorcerer.

“Oh my! I’m certain you have the wrong girl!” I gave him a two-fisted smile and tried to keep my eyes from focusing so I wouldn’t look too smart.

“My name is Sophia. I think you must be looking for—”

“Shut up! I’m not concerned about your name, I know your face! You’re the one who robbed us!”

Whoops. Yeah, you got me.

“Oh, was that bad? I’m sorry, guys. Maybe we can work something out… ?”

Gourry eyed me suspiciously.

“I’ll explain later,” I whispered. “First, we’d better—”

About then, I felt troll breath on my cheek.

Familiar with trolls? Quick refresher just in case: Trolls are about twice as large as humans, and they’re as strong as all get out. They’re also surprisingly agile, considering their immensity. The really important thing to remember about trolls, though, is that they’re gifted with rapid regeneration, which means anything less than an instant kill heals within seconds. And that means, of course, that the only way to kill them is with a single blow. Also worth mentioning: Fighting a troll with showy attack spells indoors is a good way to wreck an inn and wipe out your savings. Not that I speak from experience—just trust me on this one. It tends to be dangerous for bystanders as well.

“Have it your way,” I said as I rose from my chair. “Let’s take this outside.”

“No way.”

“Okay…”

Great. The innkeeper is going to hate me.

“Give us back what you stole, and we’ll be on our way.”

Oh, fat chance. “Not gonna happen. I don’t respond well to threats. Especially threats that come from thieving wizards.”

“Excuse me, but aren’t you a thieving sorceress?” Gourry was heckling me from the sidelines.

“Oh, stuff it. Stealing from thieves is fair play.” Sadly, my line of reasoning was failing to impress the bad guys who outnumbered us.

“Get them!” the mummy man commanded, and the trolls moved into action. I moved into action, too.

My foes were armed only with sharp claws and brute strength, but believe me, that was enough. Even though my clothes, as talismans, were charmed, those claws wouldn’t have any trouble slicing right into my guts. One swipe and I was troll feed.

The first and largest launched the initial attack, which I evaded. Using his own right hand as leverage, I swung backward in a half-somersault as the next troll drew near. With the momentum from that move, I slid between the legs of the troll coming toward me, hitting him in the crotch and grabbing onto one of his feet. I may not be able to beat a troll with acrobatics, hut I could throw him off balance for a moment, enabling me to use him as a shield, thus minimizing my enemy’s numbers advantage. It almost sounds like I planned it that way, doesn’t it?

I sensed bloodlust behind me, and the very next moment another troll sent his claws deep into my mantle.

Sorry, ugly, but the mantle’s all you get. I’d slipped it off my shoulder guards a fraction of a second before. I’m so good!

The troll had put too much force into his blow, which sent him stumbling to the floor. I stepped ever-so-lightly on his head as I made my way to my next opponent.

Things went on like this for a while, and I soon found myself next to Gourry. Only this time, I was doing battle and he was watching, like it was some kind of exhibition match!

“Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Did you miss me?” I huffed.

What did he think he was doing, sitting back and watching a poor, innocent girl take on a bunch of trolls?

Don’t argue with me. I can play the poor, innocent-girl card any time I like, thankyouverymuch. And anyway, his behavior was completely inexcusable!

The trolls remained undaunted. Probably because I hadn’t managed to do more than knock down a single one.

“You cheeky little—”

Well at least I’d accomplished something—I was getting on the mummy man’s nerves. Right on.

“Gourry! Could you make an effort to hurt those trolls?” I asked sharply.

“Sure but… uh… you do know that trolls regenerate, right?”

“Yes, I do! Don’t try to educate me. Just do it—quick!”

Well, if any wound will do no matter how small—”

“That’s fine, just do it!”

While Gourry and I had been strategizing, the trolls had closed the distance between them and us. Time to get serious, Gourry.

“All right! I’m on it,” he said, thrusting his right hand into his pocket and pulling out a fistful of nuts. Yes, nuts. The sorts of things that squirrels consider gourmet. I was wondering whether or not he was nuts, when…

“Argh!”

“Ack!”

Flicking his fingertips, Gourry had managed not only to penetrate the trolls’ hides with those small nuts, but to bury the squirrel feed deep into their flesh. He had propelled those nuts with a level of force that would’ve been more than sufficient to take down normal men.

“Interesting technique, kid,” chuckled the mummy man. “Too bad about the rapid regeneration, though…” But before mister mummy was finished feeling smug, the trolls cried out in unison. The tiny wounds Gourry had inflicted were expanding quickly.

“W-what’s happening?! What have you done?” shrieked the mummy man, thoroughly flustered.

The wounds expanded in all directions, ripping the trolls’ tubby tummies into pieces. When it was finally over, more than half their bodies were gone.

It looked pretty nasty. I’m glad it wasn’t right before supper.

The mummy man and the trolls who remained were thoroughly freaked out and appeared to have lost their appetite for fighting. They were whispering among themselves about the crazy new magic I’d just used to chop up their buddies. Fear of the unknown is a powerful weapon. I’ll let you in on a little secret: What I did to those trolls was a lot smarter than it was difficult. Think of it as a reversal of the White Magic healing spell, if you like.

Here’s the deal: A healing spell, as the name suggests, uses spirit power to accelerate the rate at which damage done to the physical body is repaired. By reversing it, I used the trolls’ own healing powers against them. Of course, this would also be at a highly accelerated rate. Remember, trolls have rapid regenerative abilities already. So, by reversing that ability, and amplifying it even further, the tiniest wound causes their bodies to self-destruct.

Thank you, thank you. Now, please hold your applause until the end of the show, folks.

And yes, since you’re wondering, that is indeed another original spell. Normally I wouldn’t use something that nasty in combat, but you can’t get away with just slowing trolls down.

If I hadn’t used it, I might’ve ended up losing more than just my breath.

The spell had worn off, but I’d figured the rest of the group would bolt at that point, anyway. Unfortunately, one last troll proved to be more stubborn than I’d expected. He locked eyes with me and charged. I drew my short sword from my hip and began to chant as he leapt toward me.

Luckily, I was quicker on my feet than he was.

Claw and sword sparked a second, then a third time. The troll left himself open for a moment, and…

“Aha!” I shouted, and my sword sunk deep into his belly.

He grinned.

Another public service announcement: A smiling troll is never a good sign. Now you know.

He had me right where he wanted me. His objective had been to expose his midsection so that I’d strike. Then, I’d be trapped. If I let go of my weapon, I’d be defenseless and dead meat. If I didn’t let go, I’d be trapped within my enemy’s reach, while he’d survive because of his regenerative powers.

But just as he was preparing to gloat, I was settling the fight.

“Lightning!” I called out, using my sword to conduct the Mono Volt spell. The troll’s torso split apart.

That’s what you get for showing off big guy.

The poor thing’s enormous frame thrashed about as it screamed out in pain and finally—mercifully—expired. There was a colossal THUD as each of his limbs simultaneously gave up the fight and crashed to the floor.

Next?

“No more playtime, kids.” I slapped my hands together in front of my chest, closed my eyes, and began to chant. As I slowly separated my palms, a blue-white ball of light appeared between them and grew brighter and brighter.

“F-f-fireballllll!” The mummy man’s eyes widened as he bellowed. “Run! Ruunnn!” He and the trolls who were left took off in a hurry, screaming like their pants were already on fire.

“Whew…” I let out a loud sigh of relief, still holding the ball of light.

“‘Whew’ nothing!” shouted little girly Gourry from across the room. “What are you going to do with that fireball?!” Apparently he, too, feared the power of the fireball spell and had made his way toward the exit.

The fireball is a notorious fire-attack spell used by sorcerers almost universally. The area where the ball of light falls is instantly engulfed in flames, exterminating anything that lives or breathes in the area. Though its destructive power varies from user to user, a direct hit will invariably take a human from “rare” to “well done” before the poor thing even knows what’s coming.

 “Oh, this… ?” I took a long look at what was between my palms and then gently lobbed it upward.

“Aahhhh!” everyone in the room cried out, and then: There was silence.

Gourry was the first to look up… timidly.

“Oh relax, will you? It’s not a fireball.” I smiled and pointed to the white ornament in the air above me. “It’s a lighting spell.” And I laughed and laughed. My goodness I’m a funny girl. I crack myself up.

“What are you going to do about all this?!” interjected the innkeeper, who didn’t find me amusing at all.

I knew this was coming.

The tables and chairs were all smashed up. Corpses were strewn about like peanut shells, and the air was perfumed with L’Eau de Troll Blood. There was indeed a lot of splatter. I mean, a lot. And thanks to the lighting spell, you couldn’t miss a drop of it. It was pretty gross, I guess. More slaughterhouse than tavern, it was not exactly the sort of ambiance people crave in a dining experience. Most of the customers had already relocated to the next inn down the street. The ones who’d stayed were weeping and rocking back and forth.

Heck, I couldn’t blame the guy. If it had been my inn, I’d have been pissed, too. Still, I’d just decimated a small army of trolls and wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, so I put on my best penitent face. In addition to sorcery, I’m an expert at looking cute.

“Gee, mister. I know my companion and I caused you a lot of trouble, but,” I lifted my chin and looked doe-eyed at the old man and whispered, “if we hadn’t, they would’ve killed us!” I slipped the hand that was behind my back out of my glove, and then into my pocket. Just as I expected, the old guy’s scowl was softening.

So far, so good!

“Perhaps…”I drew three gemstones from my pocket, but kept them concealed in my fist. “Perhaps you’ll accept these as an apology?” I grasped the old man’s wrist with one hand and emptied the gemstones into his palm with the other. He still couldn’t see what he was holding, though he must’ve guessed from how they felt. Nonetheless, I couldn’t allow him to avert his gaze. I kept his eyes fixed on mine and held his wrist in a gentle embrace. You can imagine the effect it was having on him.

“Please understand, I fear this meager offering is inadequate as an apology, but it’s the best I can do.” I bit my cheek so that my eyes would well up a little.

Finally, I relaxed my hold on his wrist. The owner glanced down into his palm, then closed it approvingly over what he’d seen there.

“Well, miss. Since you put it that way, what can I say? I’ll have one of my boys in to clean up this mess. Why don’t you just head back to your room and get some rest?”

Score!

Usually, when there’s trouble like that at an inn, you get run out of town immediately. I figured that was what was going to happen, and I was okay with it. If someone asks you to leave, I advise leaving. No point in staying where you’re not wanted, right? It’s not that I learned that one the hard way, but trust me, you’d do well to take my advice. On the other hand, forking over a little, um, token—like a gemstone, perhaps—sends the message that you’re genuinely sorry. It also implies that there might be more stones where those came from, and that the innkeeper would benefit from turning a blind eye to such innocuous eccentricities. That business with the doe eyes and the soft hands doesn’t hurt either.

I bowed my head humbly several times as Gourry and I backed away in the direction of our rooms.

Speaking of Gourry, guess who was pretty annoyed with me? He shot me a disapproving look as soon as we turned the first corner. It served me right, I suppose. I hadn’t been entirely honest with him after all, had I?

You didn’t have to answer so quickly.

“You’ve got balls,” he sighed. “I’ll say that for you.”

I was leaning with my hip against the bed as Gourry spoke. “I don’t think I understand,” I said, trying to play dumb.

He wasn’t buying it.

Then I realized something. “Gourry, what are you doing in here? This is my room!”

“You promised me an explanation, didn’t you?”

“Did I?”

“You did.”

Ah. Well, okay then. I had a few questions for him as well. Might as well get them all out of the way at the same time. “Okay, fair enough. But first, I have a question for you.”

“I’m an open book, little lady. Shoot.”

Not that little lady crap again.

“Okay, sit.”

Gourry grabbed the closest chair and straddled it. “I’m sitting.”

“Now, tell me this,” I said, leaning in and staring him squarely in the eye. “How do you feel about me?”

Silence.

Gotcha.

He nearly hyperventilated.

“Gourry, I’m kidding… just kidding.”

He let out a loud sigh like he’d just been spared the torture chamber.

“Aw jeez, Lina. That was downright cruel. I thought I was going to die there for a sec—”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Men.

“Seriously, Lina, what is it you want to know? I’ll tell you anything but my measurements—those are top secret.”

Ha ha. Don’t quit your day job, funnyman.

“How’d you know those guys were coming after me?”

“I didn’t know any such thing.”

Denying it was useless. “Hey, you said it. Right before those trolls barged in, you said, ‘It looks like I’m going to see what you can do in a second.’”

“Oh, that,” he answered, unfazed. “They were obviously after someone on the inside. I just guessed they were trying to get back something that had been stolen. Call it an educated guess.”

“What made you think it was me? There were at least a dozen people—”

“Hey listen, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but it wasn’t all that tough. I figured they had to be after you because you’d stuck your nose somewhere it didn’t belong. You seem to be the type who finds trouble.”

Bull’s eye.

What was I going to do, argue? I like to think I have better judgment than most people, but he was right. I do have a kind of genius for finding trouble. Big Sis used to say the same thing about me back home.

“That sounds like a reasonable line of thought?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“Any other questions?”

“No.”

“Okay, my turn. Exactly why were those guys after you?”

I let out a sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Shoot.”

So, I told him the whole sordid story about how, after I’d seen those awful bandits robbing and killing innocent villagers;

I’d set out to avenge the villagers, exterminate the bandits, and return the stolen goods (minus a small fee to cover my expenses, of course). And that was why they were after me.

What?! Did you expect me to tell Gourry I attacked them because I was bored and broke. Fat chance. Anyway, it’s not like he’d have believed me anyway. He likes me. I just told the poor guy what he wanted to hear. Really, I was doing him a favor…. Don’t look at me like that!

When I finished my monologue, Gourry nodded heavily.

“I understand completely. That sort of thing happens all too often when people try to do the right thing.”

Tee hee. Hook, line, and sinker. He was buying it. Not just going along with it, but really buying it. It looked that way, anyway.

“Yeah, don’t I know it,” I said, and then I nudged the conversation in a different direction. “There’s something else that’s bothering me, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Those guys couldn’t have seen my face before they picked me out. And yet, they were definitely after me specifically. The one guy must have been a sorcerer.”

“Bandage Man?”

“Yeah, has to be. And they must’ve been expecting to catch me by surprise. They’re hurt now, but they’ve probably only pulled back until tomorrow. I don’t think we lost them.”

“You think he used magic to find you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Magic users can do anything, huh?”

“No, not anything. There’s stuff that magic can’t do. For example, the mummy man must have put a magic mark on something before I took it. That’s probably how he tracked me. Without a beacon of some kind, even the best sorcerer can’t track people that easily.”

“Oh, I get it…” Gourry said, but he didn’t sound like he got it.

“Yep, you got it,” I played along. “Any other questions?”

“No, teacher.”

“Very funny. Then let’s wrap up this—”

Someone knocked.

We moved simultaneously to either side of the door. Gourry put his hand on the knob.

“Who is it?” I called.

“Someone who wishes to make a transaction. I will pay whatever price you name for an object that you possess,” said the voice on the other side of the door.

“You’ll pardon us if we say that sounds suspicious, won’t you?”

“Indeed. I don’t suppose that I would open the door if our roles were reversed,” responded the voice.

Uh… “So… you’re advising us not to let you in?” Why isn’t anything ever easy?

“I am merely being honest. I am also being honest when I say that I mean you no harm at this time.”

At this time? What the heck’s that supposed to mean? “So maybe you’ll change your mind after we let you in?”

“You needn’t be concerned, though I recognize that saying so may be useless. Perhaps it would be more persuasive to remind you that you do have a reliable bodyguard.”

My “bodyguard” and I looked at each other.

“Good point. All right, any funny stuff and I’m warning you, I’ll nail you with an attack spell on the spot.”

“Lina?! You’re not seriously going to let him in… ?” Gourry was flustered.

“It’ll be okay. I have a reliable bodyguard, remember?” I spoke softly and winked. I left my position by the door and walked to the center of the room.

“I’m opening the door. Come in nice and slow,” I warned. “Go ahead, Gourry. Open it.”

A moment later, Gourry did as I asked, and I got my first good look at the man who wanted to make me a deal.

A Hard Man is Good to Find

He certainly was a sight to behold. His entire body was covered in white. He wore a white mantle, a white robe, and a white hood. Everything was swathed in white, but his eyes. And there was someone with him.

“Great. It’s you.” My expression changed as I recognized the mummy man from earlier.

The pair entered the room slowly, the mummy man dragging his feet just enough to flatter me. Gourry closed the door behind them, and the mummy man’s entire body trembled as he glanced back over his shoulder.

The man in white, however, did not move a muscle.

They stopped in the very center of the room, halfway between Gourry and me.

“You two have met, then?”

“Oh yeah, we go way back. Why, just this afternoon we were painting the town red,” I said.

If such a thing is possible, the mummy blanched. The man in white lifted up a hand to keep him in his place.

“We’re always cutting up, aren’t we, my bandaged buddy?”

Guess not.

“My regrets,” said the guy in white. “This is my associate, Zolf. He is most loyal, if overzealous at times. I ask you to please forgive his actions.”

“Fine by me. I’ll just jack up the price,” I sneered. Just then, I noticed for the first time that the man in white was not entirely human. The light in the room wasn’t great, but I could still make out through his hood’s opening that the skin around his eyes was stone. I’d never seen anything like it before, and at first, I thought I was imagining it, but no… no, the guy’s face was made of stone.

Maybe he’s a golem? I considered it. But golems are created to be servile, and this dude’s eyes sparkled with the glint of free will. He was, without a doubt, his own sovereign.

“You are quite the businesswoman. Shall we commence with negotiations?”

“Sure. So, you want to buy an object…”

“I do indeed. One of the objects that you… uh… liberated from a certain band of thieves a short time ago.”

“Any object in particular?”

“I will not say.”

How’s that? I cocked an eyebrow. “You will not say?”

“I will not.”

“I believe we have hit our first bump in the road, then.”

“If I were to specify which object I desire, you might withhold that item from sale, merely out of curiosity, might you not? Here is what I propose: We agree in advance on a price for each object; then I take the one that I desire. I will pay the agreed-upon price at that time.”

“Clever. You know, I don’t remember seeing you at the bandit camp.”

“You did not. I am merely an admirer of the object in question.”

So he says.

“I had initially dispatched Zolf to search for it. He managed to infiltrate the bandit troupe and, using the tracking skills of the thieves, to locate and acquire the object. He too was intent on liberating it from the bandits at the first opportunity, but then…”

“I arrived.”

“Correct.”

“You used the bandits to do your dirty work.”

“I do not think you are in any position to judge.”

Touché. “Okay, I get the general idea. Let’s cut to the chase. The goods are: a statue, a sword, and various old coins. Certainly you’re not interested in the gemstones. They’re ordinary gemstones and not worth much, let alone ‘any price you name.’”

The man in white nodded slowly. “Correct.”

“So okay, let’s start with the blade…” I named my prices in succession.

The man in white was literally taken aback. He actually stepped backward, while the mummy man gawked with both his eyes and mouth wide open. Gourry just stared, dumbfounded (of course).

Men are really not good at this shopping thing.

He said he’d pay whatever price I named. So what’s with the shock?! I asked for a hundred times the street price, which is, granted, enough to buy about a castle and a half, but he said “whatever price you name!” If he’d meant, “whatever price you name WITHIN REASON,” he ought to have said so! Serves him right, if you ask me. Give me the chance to dream, and I’m going to dream big. That’s just the kind of gal I am.

“I came prepared to pay two or three times the street price,” the man in white spat out. “Not a hundred.”

I laughed. Because it was funny.

“This is not a game,” he said, sounding impatient.

“I suppose not. All right, just for you—bargain basement! I’ll cut my prices by half.”

“Half?!”

“Sure. Fifty-percent sale on stolen objects! Get ‘em while they’re hot, boys!” So to speak. Stolen goods. Hot. Get it?

“How dare you,” hissed the mummy man.

“Silence, Zolf!”

How dare I? It wasn’t that hard. I’m daring. It’s what I do.

“I don’t suppose you’ll accept installments, will you?” the mummy snarled under his breath.

“Not likely. I’m also not going to agree to any insulting conditions while I’m being treated like a little kid by a third-rate sorcerer who can’t tell the difference between a fireball and a lighting spell.”

“W-what?” The mummy man’s voice rose an entire octave when he realized that he’d been taken by a phony fireball. “You—! First of all…” He paused to take a deep breath before reading off the litany of my offenses, but the man in white intervened.

“Zolf! I asked you to be quiet!”

The mummy man tucked tail and whimpered at the rebuke.

“Then, as my final offer, perhaps you’ll consider joining us? In a year—no, half a year—you would be paid two, or perhaps as much as three times what you’ve asked for.”

“Hmmm,” I said, crossing my arms and scratching my chin in the universal gesture for “I’m thinking it over.”

“If I refuse your offer,” I asked at last, “you’ll declare me your enemy, won’t you?”

The man in white did not reply. He simply twitched his right eyebrow.

“I’m afraid I must decline your kind offer. I try to make a practice of avoiding your type at all costs. Call it woman’s intuition.”

“Hmph,” he hmphed.

“And intuition or not,” I said, eyes on the mummy, “I’d rather die than be associated with the likes of you.”

Zolf leaned forward and was about to say something he probably thought was both witty and vicious, but the man in white put a stop to that.

Both fear and ferocity met in the space between the man in white and me. The strength of this guy’s will was palpable. He was no ordinary being. We continued to glare at each other for several long moments.

He sighed loudly. “You are a stubborn woman. It seems our negotiations have reached an impasse.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, feigning disappointment.

“Yes. Yes it is. As agreed, I will retire for the evening. Then, as of sunrise tomorrow, I will no longer be honor-bound and will assail you with all my might. You and I will become enemies the moment you set foot outside this inn.”

I nodded almost imperceptibly to indicate my understanding.

He turned his back to me slowly. “Let’s go, Zolf.”

“B-but…”

The man continued toward the threshold, where Gourry held the door.

Zolf hesitated for a moment, then followed the man outside.

“The man in white turned to face us as he spoke. “Oh! I am called Zelgadiss.”

“I’ll remember that,” I replied, dead serious.

Gourry closed the door with a small thud. He waited until he was sure our guests were out of earshot before he finally spoke. “Did you seriously think you’d get your asking price?”

“Of course not! What did you expect me to do—sell the object to that bunch, no questions asked? Are you nuts?”

Gourry shook his head and sighed. He didn’t think I could tell, but even from across the room, I could see he was smiling.

* * *

“Funny how I never get tired of that beautiful sky.” I was lying faceup on a green field, staring up at the clear, clear blue. The sun was warm on my face; the earth was warm on my back. It felt really nice.

We’d finally reached the end of the path that cut through the forest.

The air around us was alive with the songs of birds and thick with the smell of blood.

“Yessiree. That sure is a beautiful sky”

“Hey, Lina…” came a voice from my left. He was lying face up on the field, too.

“Yes, Gourry?”

“I don’t think we should be taking it this easy. Especially while others are still fighting.”

Did I mention the heaps of berserker corpses on the ground behind Gourry and me? No? Well, there were heaps of berserker corpses on the ground behind Gourry and me.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I did fight, though… a little.” “Yeah, you did. I saw you. And I’m not begrudging you that. I’m just saying, you cast one attack spell—which was good—and then you said, ‘I’ll leave the rest to you,’ and that was it.”

“I guess it might seem like that’s what I did.”

“No, Lina, I assure you, that is what you did.” Using his sword like a cane, he rose slowly to his feet.

“I’d like to rest a little bit longer,” I said.

Gourry turned his head toward me, “We’ll be an easy target for them if we don’t get to the next town by day’s end. Get up, Lina. We’re going.”

He wasn’t being unreasonable, but I didn’t feel like tearing myself away from the clouds just yet. I was pretty exhausted from all the hard work I’d done earlier.

“Liiiinaaaa,” he crooned, like a father to his child. Hoping I’d get up and follow, he started to walk away at an unusually slow pace.

“Just five more minutes. It’s nice and warm here. It feels really good.”

“That’s enough!” he shouted and, turning, grabbed my mantle above my right shoulder, jerking me up.

“AAAHHHH!”

The pain was unbearable. My forehead struck the ground as I collapsed, clutching my right hip.

It’s an embarrassing thing to admit, but I have to confess that I’m not very good with pain. Placing my right hand over my wound and focusing my energy there, I managed to croak out a healing spell in an uneven vibrato. It felt like it took a hundred years, but finally the pain receded. A light wound would have healed very quickly, but this one? This one was probably going to take awhile.

“Lina?”

“Hmmm?” I remained as calm as I could under the circumstances. Not that I thought I was fooling anybody, but just for my own well-being.

“You’re hurt?”

I managed a small smile, making it look as feminine as I possibly could.

“It’s just gas, “ I cooed sweetly.

Gourry’s gaze dropped from my face down toward the hip

I was clutching.

“Ugh!” A sharp stab of pain made me yelp again. Gourry abruptly thrust a hand under my mantle and located my wound—it was on my right side.

The dampness he felt there made him pull back his hand in surprise and (knowing Gourry) disgust.

“You’re…” His voice was filled with alarm. “You’re bleeding!”

“Oh, I’m all right,” I said putting on a brave face. I didn’t mean it as a deception, though. The pain really was diminishing.

“You say you’re all right….”

“I am all right, Gourry, I promise. I cast a healing spell just a few minutes ago. I’ll be as good as new in a little bit….” “But—”

“Look, I’d rather have you think I’m lazy than asking me if I’m all right every ten seconds!”

“Sorry…”

“No! No, it’s okay. Just… just let me rest a little bit longer while I heal, all right?”

“Y-yeah… sure.” So Gourry sat in front of me, watching me heal. Which was just about as productive as watching water boil. I was glad he was concerned, but I don’t like people to see me when I’m weak. It makes me feel icky. And there’s nothing worse than feeling weak and icky.

“So you’ve been hurt all this time?” he asked. “You weren’t cloud-watching. You had your hands full trying to heal yourself. I’m so sorry I misunderstood….”

“I told you, Gourry, it’s okay.”

He grew silent. For a while, all we could hear was the wind. “They’re after that thing again,” I said, breaking the silence. “I looked into some stuff while I was alone last night.”

“What stuff?”

“Stuff like what kind of magical mark the mummy man could have placed on whichever object he wanted to track down.”

“Figure anything out?”

I shook my head.

“We’re talking about an Orihalcon goddess statue; a sharp, broad-bladed knife, and a bunch of collectible gold coins. None of these items has any sort of magic mark.”

“Well, what next… ?”

“I think we can rule out the coins. It seems pretty clear that he’s after one object, not a group of objects. That leaves the knife and the statue.”

“Should you be talking so much while you’re wounded?”

“What? Oh, I’m all right. I’m almost fully healed now.”

“Almost fully healed is not fully healed!”

Jeez! Thanks, dad. “I said I’m okay! So anyway, the magic that’s on the knife is probably there to keep it sharpened. It’s not a very high-quality spell. Still, it might carry the mark. On the other hand, the statue is made of Orihalcon, a rare metal that has the power to seal in magic.”

“So you can’t mark that?”

“Yes and no. If you went to the astral plane, you could track the spiritual energy the metal gives off…. Do you see where I’m going here?”

“No clue.”

“Suffice it to say, he could mark either one.”

“More important, why is he so emphatic about whatever it is he wants?”

“That’s just it! I can’t figure it out. Orihalcon is a valuable metal, and the knife’s the product of decent craftsmanship, but there’s nothing eye-popping about either object. But something is making him desperately want one of these items.”

“He said that in half a year he’d give you three times the price you demanded. So, it must be worth even more to him. Maybe the object is supposed to show him where some kind of buried treasure is hidden or something.”

I know what you’re thinking because I thought it, too. The buried-treasure concept sounds like something from a fairy tale, right? Agreed. But it also makes a lot of sense.

“You mean it might be some kind of key. That’s brilliant,” I replied.

“It is?” Gourry was the one who’d thought of it, but he didn’t seem overwhelmed with confidence in his own theory “A magic key! Yes, that could totally be it! I’ve heard of nobles using that kind of thing to safeguard their mansions. Let’s say there’s a fountain in a courtyard that opens up into a treasure vault when a certain young woman enters. In a case like that, the young woman is the key.”

“So this key… could be anything, magical or not, right?”

“Correct.”

“So, if the statue or the knife’s in the right place—”

“Something might happen. Or not.”

“I think I get the gist.”

“It’s not much of an idea, yet. However…” I rose to my feet somehow. Walking was still a bit difficult, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Whoa, there…”

“Jeez, I’m fine. I’m a little worn out, but not helpless.”

As Gourry stood, he eyed me as if I were made of glass.

“Ack!” I cried out as Gourry hoisted me in his arms. It didn’t hurt, it just startled me. “H-hey! Just what do you think you’re doing?!” My face turned the color of a poppy as he explained exactly what he thought he was doing.

“I’m going to carry you for a little while. Just until it’s easier for you to walk.”

“I’m FINE! And you’re tired, too, Gourry…”

“My grandma always made me promise to be nice to little girls,” he said with a wink.

If he’d left out the “little girl” part, I probably wouldn’t have hit him. Oh, well.

* * *

There they go again!

Footsteps. At first, I thought the floor creaking was my imagination. I was exhausted, after all. I’d lain awake most of the night, thinking things over, unable to sleep. What a lucky break that turned out to be! These footsteps weren’t being made by people who’d been out drinking and were finally dragging themselves back to their rooms. These were clearly the footsteps of people sneaking around in the middle of the night, very distinctly trying not to sound like people sneaking around in the middle of the night.

I slipped out of bed. Of course, I couldn’t be sure I was the one being snuck up on, but I figured the chances were pretty good so I might as well be prepared. The footsteps came closer.

I picked my mantle up off the floor.

What? Where did you think it would be? Don’t you know me better than that by now?!

I tucked the mantle under the bed covers, arranging it to look like a sleeping body. I made sure to move very, very quietly.

In no time at all, the footsteps stopped right outside my door. A second later, the door was kicked in and a handful of male silhouettes filed into the room. They headed straight for my bed. There was a terrific moment when they realized the lump under the covers wasn’t me. Silhouettes bumped into one another, jumped up and down, and cursed.

“Well, where the hell is she?!” one of them shouted in frustration.

“Right here, dummy!”

Did I just say that out loud? I knew the second it came out of my mouth that I’d made a big mistake.

Too late to do anything about it now, I thought as I rose to my feet. Besides, I wasn’t a complete idiot. The whole time I’d been sitting there, I’d been preparing. In fact, I’d just finished chanting my spell.

I held my hands together in front of my chest, and began, slowly, to separate my palms. A glittering ball of light appeared in the space between them. It wasn’t a lighting spell this time. This was the real deal: a fireball.

The silhouettes turned toward me, but it was too late. I tossed the fireball into the room and rushed out into the corridor, slamming the door shut behind me.

Of course I made extra sure to check the corridor for other assassins. You really don’t have faith in me, do you?

A fireball detonating behind closed doors normally has double its usual destructive force, FYI.

KA-BOOM!

It was a pretty serious explosion. My fireballs are first-rate, capable of melting steel with a direct hit.

“What the—! What was that?!” Gourry shouted as he rushed from his room. Since he was a mercenary, he and I had a lot in common. Just like me, Gourry was always armed and dressed for an emergency.

“Assassins!” That one word was enough to sum up the situation.

“Did you get ‘em?”

“Dunno!” I confessed. If the attack had come a day earlier, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But, sure enough, as soon as I’d spoken, the door of the room burst open and a flood of silhouettes poured out, accompanied by the stench of burning flesh.

“Dammit!”

Gourry drew and struck with his sword in a single motion. One of his opponents went down. Our newly visible foes were a human wielding a sword and wearing simple armor, with an army of trolls as backup. It didn’t look good.

Gourry took down his second opponent. Unfortunately, the trolls could tolerate both the burns all over their bodies and the cuts from Gourry’s sword, and still keep coming.

They didn’t even seem like average-ability trolls! These guys were polished.

His third opponent; however, was human, middle-aged, and stocky “So you’re with the girl, are you, boy?” the man said, locking swords with Gourry.

“Not bad yourself, pops?”

“That’s the product of experience.”

The two leapt back simultaneously. The first troll that Gourry had put down was getting back onto his feet. That’s regeneration for you. But it wasn’t the time to be admiring Nature’s wonders. We were in a terrible pickle.

It seemed inevitable that while Gourry and the old man were fighting, the trolls would turn their attention my way. Normally I wouldn’t be overly concerned, but right then, I didn’t have the strength to defend myself against an entire army of trolls. My magic was at its absolute weakest point.

The fight should’ve been over the moment Gourry rushed from his room. When he asked, “Did you get them?” I should have answered, “Of course,” and winked in that cute little way I do… and then we’d both have proceeded to put out the fire in my room. Cue the fat lady!

But, no. All I’d managed to do was singe their clothes and hair a bit. I didn’t have the strength to do any real magic.

Mind you, my sword skills aren’t bad at all. They might not be on Gourry’s level, but I do have confidence in my abilities… against human opponents. But, if you can’t use magic, the only way to kill a troll is to lop off its head in a single stroke.

I’d like to restate for the record that it wasn’t that I was helpless with a sword; it was just unlikely that I’d be able to separate a troll’s head from its body in one blow. I’d have to rely on Gourry to do the heavy-duty fighting while I used whatever magic I could against the enemy.

My best bet would be to trick them somehow.

The fact that the battlefield was a narrow inn corridor meant that the enemy couldn’t attack all at once. They’d have to come at us in waves.

That, at least, was the good news.

“Let’s get on with it!” hollered the old man, obviously ready to fight.

Just then, the trolls halted in their tracks. The old man suddenly seemed to be staring into space. There was no spark of life in his eyes at all. It had to be a puppetry spell.

Puppetry is not a particularly difficult technique. Trolls and other simple-minded creatures fall prey to it easily Ordinarily, a puppetry spell is used on a single opponent, allowing the sorcerer to use his or her opponent as a tool for a specified amount of time. However, using it on all the trolls and the old guy simultaneously was well beyond the capabilities of any average sorcerer. This particular practitioner had to possess great power.

“Uh, what’s with them?” Gourry inquired.

A lone priest beat me to the reply. “It is difficult to have a conversation in this inn when the other guests are causing such a ruckus,” he said.

The priest, unnoticed until now, had been standing quietly behind the trolls, near the exit. He seemed friendly enough. I couldn’t get a handle on his age. He looked both young and old at the same time, and I couldn’t see his eyes, as he kept both of them tightly shut.

Usually priests’ robes are white, possibly accented with violet or pale green, or a color associated with the primary deity in his or her congregation.

But this priest’s robes were a deep-red color. It was a blood red, or possibly poison red, I couldn’t be sure in the corridor’s dim light.

“To whom do we owe thanks for our rescue?” I asked.

“I am but another guest staying at the inn. I noticed something suspicious and decided to investigate the matter.”

“Sounds just like you, doesn’t he?” whispered Gourry. I ignored him completely. This was serious business.

“And you’ve put the rest of the guests under a sleeping spell?”

The man’s face indicated the affirmative. “What gave it away?”

“Pretty simple, really. No one’s come by to investigate all that racket we were making.”

“A crowd of curious bystanders would have made a difficult situation much worse—”

“So what’s all this got to do with you?” I interrupted.

The priest snapped his fingers. At his command, the trolls and their companion marched away in single file, as if under a sorcerer’s control.

 “I have seen this group before. They are minions of Zelgadiss.”

“You know him?”

“I do,” the priest nodded. “Zelgadiss seeks an object that you possess. His purpose is to revive the Dark Lord Shabranigdu.”

Well now, this was turning out to be serious business.

“Huh? What’s Sha… Shabra-whosiwhatsit?” Gourry asked, embarrassing me horribly.

“I’ll explain later,” I replied through gritted teeth. Kids these days. Yeesh.

“Wait. You’re not kidding about this?” he asked.

“No, Gourry. Not even the tiniest bit.” I turned to the priest. “Please, go on.

“I assure you, Zelgadiss is a deadly serious concern. He is a chimera—composed of man, golem, and blow demon. He is plotting to use the immense power of the Dark Lord to rend the world asunder.”

“That’s nuts. Why would he want to do something like that?” The priest turned his head. “I do not know. I am certain only that he is, and must be, our mutual enemy.”

Uh-huh. I have a bad feeling about this.

“Our mutual enemy? Wait… when did you become his enemy?”

“I am a priest. I cannot simply stand by while someone—or something—seeks to revive the Dark Lord.”

“Okay, that makes sense…” I mused aloud and folded my arms while Gourry looked on beside me, completely lost.

“So, you want to fight him together?”

“No, I could not make such a request.” The priest shook his head, obviously flustered. I have that effect on my elders.

“It is my guess that by chance you unknowingly came into possession of the key to releasing the Dark Lord, and he has made you his enemy as a result. Am I correct in making that assumption?”

“Something like that.”

“Perhaps it would be best if you gave me the key. No further involvement would be required of you.”

“Under these circumstances, wouldn’t it be best if I just destroyed the key—”

“No! You must not!” the priest shouted, disconcerted. “That is how the Dark Lord is to be revived.”

“But, if we give you the key, you’ll have to battle him all by yourself.”

“You need not be concerned for me. Certainly he is a difficult opponent, but I Rezo the Red Priest, have no intention of being defeated by the likes of Zelgadiss.”

The Red Priest? “You mean, you’re Rezo the Red Priest?” I asked, blushing.

“That is how I am called,” he said, smiling bitterly.

Rezo the Red Priest is famous the world over not only for his simple red vestments, but also for his good deeds. He is a master of spiritual powers equal to those of the High Priest of Saillune, and one of the Five Great Sages of our age; a master not only of the White Magic associated with priests, but of Shamanic Magic and Black Magic, as well. He is known to have only two faults: He was born completely blind in both eyes, and… oh, shoot. I know there was another one… oh, that’s it! His name makes him sound like a villain. He’s so famous, every five-year-old in the world knows who he is.

I felt a tugging on my mantle from behind. It was Gourry.

“So… he’s famous?”

You bonehead. “Yes! I’ll explain later.”

I regained my composure and continued my dialogue with the celebrated priest. “If that is the case, you must allow us to do battle by your side.”

“Well…”

“C’mon! After hearing all that, I can’t just say, ‘Sure, here you go. Good luck fighting the big, bad demons,’ now can I?”

“I appreciate your concern for my well-being, but I assure you…”

“No, no, no! It’s not that I doubt your abilities—that’s not it at all. But, if the Dark Lord is revived, no one will be safe. I realize my powers are nowhere equal to your own, but surely I c an assist Your Holiness in fulfilling your mission.”

The priest’s expression showed concern. “But…”

“Now, don’t go worrying about us either! I’m a pretty top-notch sorceress, and Gourry here’s a damn good swordsman. We won’t slow you down.”

The priest sighed heavily. “Very well, then. It seems I cannot turn away one so determined to serve the greater good.”

“Yes!”

“When the time comes, we shall go into battle together.”

“Right on!”

Gourry tugged on my mantle from behind repeatedly. I ignored him.

“In the meantime, I will safeguard the key,” said the priest.

Nuh-uh, you won’t. I shook my head.

The priest was visibly perturbed.

“They don t know we’ve joined forces. With all due respect, I think it’s best for Gourry and I to draw the enemy off while you support us from the shadows… Your Holiness.”

“But… that strategy puts you in great danger. I should be the decoy.”

“Noooo, if you have the key, they’ll know we’ve made contact. If they know that, then our plan will be exposed, and having a decoy will be pointless.”

“That may be the case, but…”

“Your Holiness, that is the case. Please trust me.”

I would understand if you started to think something fishy was going on about now Gourry sure seemed like he thought so.

“Very well! I will leave the key in your hands for the time being.” That said, the priest walked toward my room.

What the… ?!

He withdrew a small ball from his pocket and tossed it inside the open doorway. Then, he quietly chanted a spell. It seemed like a resurrection spell, but slightly different. Then, just as soon as he had started to chant, he stopped. I wasn’t even sure he had finished.

“I will return to my own room. As agreed, I will assist you from the shadows from tomorrow forward. Sleep well.” He started walking off before he’d even finished speaking.

“Well, your room looks totally normal.” Gourry said, as he peeked his head inside. “What on earth did he do?”

“Let me see…” I peeked into the room as well.

Wow! I was completely speechless.

As Gourry said, the room looked totally normal. Right down to the unmade bed and the cheap white curtains. Everything was exactly the same as it was before I tossed my fireball.

If the room had stayed crispy, I was in for a nasty lecture from the innkeeper the next morning. I hadn’t considered what I was going to do about that, but now I wouldn’t have to. Rezo the Red Priest had restored my room to its pre-firebomb condition. Thanks, Rezo!

“He’s good.” I whistled appreciately.

“Oh yeah? What’s so good about him?”

“Let’s save it for tomorrow. Right now, I need some shut-eye. I can’t be fighting bad guys without my beauty sleep.” As I spoke, I closed the door to my room and entered Gourry’s, curling up in a corner.

“Um… excuse me there, little lady.” Gourry called out to me. “You’re in my room…”

“I know.” I explained it as simply as I could: “If I go back to my room, there might be another attack.”

“How would being in my room—?”

“Two people are more reassuring than one.”

“Got it. You sleep on the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I can’t do that. I’m imposing as it is.”

“… Fine, fine.”

Knowing he couldn’t sway me, Gourry lay down in a corner on the opposite end of the room.

“Er… why don’t you sleep in the bed?” I was the one asking this time.

“A man can’t sleep in a bed while a girl’s sleeping on the floor,” he announced. Clearly, this was the obvious truth.

I managed a strained smile.

“Well, suit yourself… good night, Gourry.”

“Night-night, little lady.”

Sigh. He really is a good guy. I just wish he wouldn’t treat me so much like a kid.

* * *

“So, you really don’t know anything about Ruby Eye Shabra-nigdu, the Dark Lord?” I asked him as we walked shoulder-to-shoulder down a sunlit path. The bit of forest around us looked exactly like the one we’d just hiked a few days before. Seeing the same trees over and over and over again was getting on my nerves. And since the road cut through the Great Kresaus Forest all the way to Atlas City, of course that meant we would be seeing a lot more of the same trees before we actually arrived in town. Oh, goody.

“Hmmm…” mumbled Gourry, trying to recall. “Nope, not a thing.”

The legend of Shabranigdu is downright famous, and not just among sorcerers, either! Everybody knows the story. Everybody except Gourry, apparently.

I let out a loud sigh. “All right. I’m only going to tell the story once, so listen carefully.”

“Listening.”

I sighed again, and doubted that Gourry was even capable of understanding the philosophical weight of what he was about to hear. I guessed not, but I went on with the story anyway, figuring that as long as we were stuck walking through monotonous rows of trees, I might as well make an effort to entertain myself.

“The universe comprises more worlds than just the one in which we live. A very, very long time ago, a countless number of staves were thrust up into the Sea of Chaos and around each stave there formed a world, both flat and round. Imagine the earth as a pie with a stick thrust into it from below. Like that! And one of those worlds is the one we’re living in right here and now.”

I pointed at the ground, just in case “here and now” was a tough concept for Gourry to grasp. While this theory represents the prevailing view among sorcerers even today, I was conveying it in a nontraditional way. If I hadn’t, I’m certain it would have flown in one blond-curl-covered ear and right out the other.

“In ancient times, across the many worlds, a great war waged between two great races. One was the Gods, the other the Demon race, Mazoku. The Gods were protectors of the worlds, while the Demons sought to destroy the worlds by seizing the staves on which they were supported.” Lina proceeded, with a deep breath, “On some worlds, the Gods would win—bringing peace. On other worlds, the Demons would win—and the worlds would be destroyed. This war continues to this day, on some of those worlds.

“On our world,” resumed Lina, “the Dark Lord Ruby Eye Shabranigdu; and the God, Flare Dragon Ceipheed, who is also known as the Dragon God, fought for domination. Their battle continued for thousands of years, until finally, the Dragon God split the Dark Lord’s body into seven pieces and sealed up each piece separately across the world.”

“So the Gods won?” Gourry guessed.

I shook my head. “All the Dragon God did was seal the remnants of the Dark Lord. He didn’t destroy them.”

“But still, the Mazoku’s body was cut into pieces, right?”

“That’s not enough to kill a Dark Lord. Anyway, once the remnants of the Dark Lord were sealed, the Dragon God sank into the Sea of Chaos, his power exhausted.”

“He needed a nap… ?”

“It wasn’t a nap! Fearing the eventual revival of the Dark Lord, the Dragon God used the last of his power to divide himself into four different dragon lords, each occupying their respective elements of earth, air, fire, and water. These various dragon lords would protect the four cardinal points—east, west, north, and south. It’s said that division took place about five thousand years ago.

“About one thousand years ago, the Dragon God’s fear was realized. One of the seven pieces of Shabranigdu was restored by a human whose mind and body had been taken over by the Dark Lord in an effort to revive himself.

“When the Dark Lord invaded the north, fighting through the water dragon lord’s well-prepared traps, he prevailed, destroying the water dragon lord in the process. However, his own body became bound to the earth as a result, and he was no longer able to move.”

“Well that didn’t get either of them anywhere,” interjected Gourry.

“It happened because they were practically equal in power,” I explained. “Anyway, that effort destroyed the balance that kept peace in the world, which is what, in turn, made the dark creatures appear.”

“Huh, no kidding?” Gourry seemed pretty impressed. “Well,” I clarified, “whether the myth about the origin of the world is literally true or false, something named Shabranigdu, calling itself the Dark Lord and possessing immense power, existed in this area oh-so-many years ago. And something else had similarly existed in the lands to the north.”

“So…” Gourry paused, putting the pieces together. “That Zel-what’s-his-name guy in white wants to put the seven pieces together and bring this Dark Lord back again?”

“Precisely Assuming what Rezo the Red Priest said is true, that is.”

“Now that you mention it,” Gourry said in a voice approximating a whisper. (I do pride myself on having excellent hearing, remember.) “You spoke pretty highly of that Rezo guy to his face,” he noted, “but I didn’t get the impression you trusted him.”

Bingo, Gourry.

“It’s all a matter of perspective, I suppose…” I spoke in a low voice as well. “How do we know this guy is the real Rezo? Rezo is a living legend, but no one’s reported seeing him in person for at least a decade.”

“So you think one of the bad guys might be calling himself Rezo, just to get close to us?”

“Could be.”

“How do you know I am who I say I am, Lina? You seem to trust me.”

“You think I trust you?” I teased.

“Hey, that’s harsh!” Gourry complained.

“I’m kidding. You don’t look like a guy with ulterior motives.”

“Thanks, little lady,” Gourry said like he was patting a puppy on its head.

Way to ruin a moment, pal. Again!! “Gourry, you really have to stop treating me like I’m a kid,” I pleaded. Honestly, my biggest fear was that I was actually starting to get used to it!

“You keep saying that, but how old are you, anyway?”

“Twenty-five.”

Gourry turned beet red.

“I’m kidding! I’m actually fifteen.”

“Whew, you almost gave me a heart attack there. Ah, so you’re fifteen. You are still a kid, see?”

“What?! Well, I’m… I’m not exactly an adult, but I’m not a little kid, either.”

“Tough age to be, huh?”

“What exactly is that supposed to mean? Look, just… whatever. Let’s forget about it, all right?”

I took a deep breath and tried to return my voice to something resembling a normal tone. “I’m not going to be able to use magic for the next few days. So, you’re going to have to do most of the fighting in the meantime, okay? I’ll help out however I can.”

“You can’t use magic?” He was caught off guard, for sure, but he wasn’t as shocked as I was expecting.

I nodded slowly.

“Oh…” Gourry said, deep in thought. “That time of the month?”

“Gourry!” I was blushing deeply.

“What?” He looked me right in the eyes and repeated, “Well? Is it?”

I averted my gaze. “What do you know about ‘that time of the month’?”

As hard as it is to imagine, women with powers have an even worse time during their period than those who don’t. For two or three days during that time, the powers of sorceresses, priestesses, and shrine maidens weaken to the point where they’re unable to use magic effectively. FYI: The old wives’ tale claiming that a sorceress, who loses her virginity during her period, will become an ordinary, non-magical woman is a myth. My real problem was much simpler, though: My magic powers would remain very low for the next day or so; there-fore, if we were attacked, which we most certainly would be…

Oh, never mind all that. My real problem was how to get over the fact that Gourry, who seemed to have the strength of an ogre and the intellect of a jellyfish (I think that’s a fair assessment), figured out that “I can’t use magic” meant “It’s that time of the month”!

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. Of course it wasn’t a big deal— to him! It was a huge, embarrassing deal to me.

“When I was a kid, about five years old or so,” he went on, “there was this old fortuneteller woman who lived near us. She closed her shop for a few days every month like clockwork. When I asked her why, she smiled and said, ‘It’s that time of the month.’ I figured out that women can’t use magic during that time of the month, but I’ve never really been clear on how exactly they know when it’s the right time of the month to be that time of the month. So what’s the story, Lina? Can you explain it to me?”

Unbelievable! Clearly, I’d been wrong about all that “nice guy” nonsense. Gourry was obviously a horrible cretin who got his jollies by making fun of vulnerable young women. Jerk!

“Whoops! Enough playtime.” Gourry’s demeanor abruptly turned serious. “Looks like we have a problem, little lady”

I stopped walking. Dense forest covered our right flank. There was a large clearing to our left. Directly in front of us, however, stood a man resolutely blocking our way. He wore an overcoat and appeared to be around twenty-two. He was also fairly good-looking, if you happen to have a thing for guys with dark-blue stony skin and silvery, metallic hair. (You never know, you might.) He held a broadsword in both hands.

I realized then who he was.

“So, Mr. Zeligaldiss” Gourry spoke first. The big boss finally shows his face….”

Um. Gourry… ? “I think it’s Zelgedes, isn’t it?”

“ZELGADISS!” the man shouted, obviously annoyed.

Don’t you hate it when people get your name wrong? You’d be shocked to hear the many ways that people can screw up ‘Lina Inverse.’ Seriously, the mind reels.

Gourry said nothing.

I said nothing.

Zelgadiss heard us say nothing and said nothing in reply.

The tension hung in the air, thick as gravy. Lumpy, disagreeable gravy.

Someone had to say something! “That’s what I said!” I blurted out. “Zelgadiss!”

“M-me too…” added Gourry, unconvincingly.

My name is not important,” Zelgadiss shouted back. I wasn’t buying it. He seemed pretty pissed. “I have come for the object. If you still refuse to listen to reason, you will leave me no choice but to take it by force. Choose carefully, Miss Sophia.”

Who…?

Gourry and I each looked around and over our shoulder, just in case Miss Sophia was hiding behind a bush.

“Ooooh!” We both figured it out at the same time. There was no Miss Sophia. That was the name I’d given to Zolf, the mummy fellow, that night at the inn. He must have thought I’d given him my actual name, which he then gave his boss. Dumb as he looks, that guy.

“I’m called Lina!“ I shouted.

“What?” Zelgadiss’ voice was sounding progressively more distraught.

“Liinaa! Sophia was an alias I gave to that Zolf guy,” I explained.

Zelgadiss didn’t react at all. We’d succeeded in our strategy of throwing our opponent off balance using only the weapon of incredibly boring repartee. Cool.

Oh, you laugh, but every good warrior knows half the battle is fought in the mind. It’s a fact. You can look it up.

“Who cares what your name is?” a second voice queried. Whoever the speaker was, he was right behind us. I turned around very slowly and found myself face-to-body hair with… a werewolf!

Or… possibly not a werewolf. He might have been half wolf and half troll; it was tough to tell. Anyway, if the term werewolf didn’t technically apply, then try beast man. Or, dork, though that’s not a technical term, strictly speaking. Regardless, the dude had the head of a wolf and the body of a man. He carried a large scimitar over his shoulder, and he was wearing a really dweeby-looking suit of leather armor. Heh, heh.

“So boss, we just need the goddess statue and that’s it, right?” asked the were-dweeb.

“Dilgear!” Zelgadiss snapped.

Uh oh, you’ve done it now, Dilgear.

Dilgear the dork-wolf took a moment to put together just exactly how he’d screwed up. “Oh… oops! Sorry, boss. We were supposed to call it ‘the object’ around them, huh? Well, it don’t really matter, since I was figuring on killing them anyways.”

I took a step forward, insulted. “Uh, excuse me!” I shouted. “We can hear you, you know. And frankly, I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with. You’re not even in my league, Fido.”

Dilgear narrowed his eyes in my direction.

“You have an awfully big mouth for such a little lady,” he harked. “Let’s see what’cha got!”

“Fine. But a two-on-two fight’s not going to be interesting enough for us with you clowns,” I said, “One-on-two’s plenty for the likes of you. Go ahead, Gourry—get ‘em!”

“What?!” He looked at me like I’d signed him up for suicide duty, which, if you ask me was seriously overestimating Dilgear’s abilities. “W-wait just a second, little lady!”

Dammit, Gourry! I told you you’d have to do the fighting….

“What’s this one-on-two nonsense, anyway?” a third voice piped up. This time it was a voice I’d heard before. “Are you trying to leave me out of the fun?”

I knew it!

The old man, who’d attacked my room with trolls the previous night, appeared and stood beside Zelgadiss. This time he was equipped with a formidable halberd. It was so impressive, in fact, that I found myself wondering just where he did his halberd shopping. I decided, sadly, that would be too weird a thing to ask on the battlefield.

“Hey, three against one isn’t fair!” I exclaimed instead.

“Yeah!” added Gourry, witty as usual.

“I don’t know what you did to us last night, but I’m pretty sure it won’t work today,” said the old man.

He was right. We were at a serious disadvantage. Our chances for escape, let alone victory, were looking pretty slim. I had to think of something.

“Enough waiting! Let’s go!” Zelgadiss moved. Thrusting his right hand out in front of him, he formed a dozen or so Flare Arrows out of the ether.

Flare Arrows! Damn.

Gourry and I leapt for cover, but a moment later the Flare Arrows were striking and exploding between us, filling the air with fire and smoke. We lost sight of each other.

Oh, crap. We’re separated. Not good…

Across the flames, I could hear the high-pitched screech of clashing metal. I figured it was Gourry crossing blades with the enemy. I figured one of the swords for Gourry, but I couldn’t make out his opponent through the haze.

“Gourry!” I yelled in the direction where I heard the sc reeching sound. I caught the glint of someone’s sword. Something whizzed by and barely missed me.

“Ah!” I leapt and drew the sword from my hip.

“Let us see—” In the midst of the weakening flames, a form was becoming visible before me.”—how good you really are!”

“Zelgadiss!”

“Haa!” Zelgadiss slashed. I parried.

“Gii!” I couldn’t see. I lost my balance and nearly dropped my blade.

Zelgadiss was a real pro. His every blow displayed ample speed and power. My strength wasn’t going to hold up against him for long.

Right now; there is no way I can beat him.

I figured I had no choice but to run. I spun around and sprinted into the woods. Zelgadiss would follow me for sure. I planned to lose him in the forest, then get back to the action and support Gourry. That was Plan A, anyway. Too bad there wasn’t a Plan B.

Zelgadiss did pursue me into the forest. That much went as I’d hoped. But once in the forest, he overtook me in an instant. Less than a second inside the trees, I felt a knee hit me hard in the gut.

The counter I attempted with my sword was laughable; I swung and hit nothing but air.

My back slammed into a tree. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to,” I stopped for a moment to cough up blood, before continuing, “hit girls?” I was down, but not out.

Okay, I was very nearly out. But I was holding on for the time being, trying to get a fix on the direction of my enemy.

“If you’d handed the object over when I requested it, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this nastiness!” he sneered.

His voice gave me a fix on his general location, if not his exact position. I ran in the opposite direction. Zelgadiss pursued.

“Light!” I shouted, lobbing a feeble sphere in his direction. For no other reason than dumb luck, I scored a direct hit.

“Guaahh!” he shrieked. It wasn’t nearly enough to beat him, but it did distract him for a moment.

In my condition, I could manage a lighting spell, but a fireball was out of the question.

I fled, tucked tail, and ran like my life depended on it, because, well, my life depended on it. I didn’t even entertain the notion of mounting a counterattack. I doubted my sword could penetrate stone skin, anyway.

I sped through the woods to the shore of a small lake. I was trapped and exposed. In a panic, I turned back toward the shelter of the forest.

Zelgadiss stood between safety and me.

There was nowhere else to go. I began running along the shore.

“You won’t escape!” he taunted, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him toss something at me.

I tried moving to my left without turning around. But… I couldn’t. Looking back, I saw the metal blade that Zelgadiss had tossed: pinned to the ground, straight through my shadow.

A Shadow Bind! It was a simple but effective technique used to bind an opponent’s movements from the astral plane.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no!

I tugged at the blade, but it wouldn’t budge. Think, Lina. Think!

I know! I chanted a lighting spell and suspended the sphere directly over the shadow Once I’d eliminated my shadow, my body could move freely again!

Too late! I turned to find myself face-to-face with Zelgadiss.

[asreadbydana]

The Darkest Minds Series | Reading Reactions

Hey guys! I decided that in preparation for the new book coming out at the end of July I would (finally) read The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken. I also thought, hey, why don't I post my reactions while I'm reading it? And so that's what I'm going to do! I'll be adding to this post with my thoughts as I work my way through the series. Feel free to keep up with it if you are interested 😊

The Darkest Minds

Update #1

Thrown right into the story, ok!

I can't even imagine how scary it would be to have children dying at such an extreme rate

The way the children are treated in this is just a little too real.

Alright Alexandra, the powers have intrigued me... I wonder why she chose the colors she did? And why is there never purple? Lol

So far, not too much has happened but I'm excited to see where the plot goes, although I have a good guess...

Update #2

First impression of Martin? DO. NOT. LIKE.

Well if that ain't the sketchiest memory to see when meeting a new person! Like, hi, I'm a murderer???? wtf

Ooohh, new friends!

And now it's time for some action! Finally got a glimpse of some of the powers. Yellows seem pretty scary tbh, nothing like Pikachu

Ok, yeah, definitely not Pikachu. Holy heck! If yellows can do that, I can't even imagine what oranges have done that's made the adults fear them so much (that was an odd sentence to read in my head lol fear the fruit!)

Update #3

Is it bad that I haven't read Watership Down so I don't really know what the significance is? Maybe I'll ask my brother, I know he's read it.

Also the whole sock exchange was very awkward and I'm impressed with the second hand embarrassment it gave me.

I'm glad Ruby and Chubs finally found some common ground! I mean, I understand Chubs' suspicion, but it's definitely a better group dynamic when THE CHARACTERS LIKE EACH OTHER. Just sayin'

The orange power is pretty crazy!

Okay, finally seeing what Ruby did to her parents was really sad, but also frustrating.

Hey look, they found the camp.

Yay, school! I hope if the world turns dystopian children will continue to do what they can to learn.

I was wondering when this guy was going to show up!

Tbh, not really feeling the romance. I think I'm just more interested in reading about friendships nowadays than about relationships. Maybe it will grow on me...

Update #4

This Clancy kid is kind of creepy. I definitely don't trust him.

OK wait, this better not turn into a love triangle, I swear...

Why am I not surprised that oranges are rare and oh so powerful?

Still sad about what happened to her parents

Does anyone else find Clancy's teaching sketchy? Like, yes Ruby, show him all your embarrassing memories and things you want kept private, nothing can go wrong there!

No, Zu is leaving us! Also, did we find out why she doesn't talk and I just missed it??

Fight, fight!! (But in all seriousness, calm down boys)

Give the girl a break, she hasn't had years to train and hone her skills like you, sheesh

Wow, way to bring new meaning to mind rape (p.s. I knew Clancy was a bad egg)

Ruby, sweetie, that's not gonna help

Would Liam have believed her if he didn't see/feel what happened?

Seriously?! In the last 2 chapters?? Dang, Alexandra Bracken. You really know how to play with my emotions!

Well, onto the next one...

Never Fade

Update #1

Right away we've got some new characters, alright cool

Oh, and the League is being sketchy yet again!

Were Vida's looks really that important to Ruby?

Jude seems sweet, kind of like a little brother

And we've got a lead on Liam! Knew he wouldn't be gone long 😜

Can I just say that it's so scary that in these dystopian novels the adults are always so willing to kill children? Like what the heck!?

Very unsure about Liam's brother...

I feel very unclear on what the League actually wants. Are they pro powers or against? Or are they just using the children with powers as a means to an end?

Update #2

Well they didn't stay there long!

I like that Ruby is more open to using her powers in this one. Embrace who you are!

The exchange with Andy is how I hope a lot of the adults in this world are feeling. Fear makes us do crazy things, but you can only justify it for so long.

🎶 Reunited and it feels so good 🎵

Well hello, Vida, you snake! Do I trust her? No. Am I supposed to? We'll see...

Another group of young adults abusing their power? You would think they'd want to stick together and help one another!

Update #3

Ick, do all the leaders have to use people in that way????

Whoa, finally seeing what Clancy was talking about in the last book is pretty crazy. I hope we learn more about what he did to the reds.

Ruby to the rescue! (Again)

Well they knew it would be a trap, but they went anyway

Holy heck, Jude has got some crazy skills and quick thinking! I'll say it again, yellows are not to be messed with!

That went bad fast!

Omg, is that the true power of an orange? Damn, Bracken, you know how to cause some nightmares.

Also, does anyone else get an uncomfortable feeling reading some sentences? Not even gory ones, but like, about digging nails into asphalt for example? When I read that I can picture myself doing it and let me just say, no thank you that is not a feeling I like!

Update #4

I'm curious how Internet and other connections even work when the world is so messed up. And how hackers can navigate them!

Ah, Clancy, we meet again. NOT nice to see you.

"I blew out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding" omg. Bracken has used some variation of this several times so far in this series and let me just say, I have noticed Every. Single. Time. Why is this concept/sentence so popular in YA, my gosh?

Wow that tunnel would make me claustrophobic!

Oh shit! That's the thing about oranges! When you are around them you can never really trust what you are seeing, ahhhh

"He let out the breath he'd been holding" really?? Again?? 😧

Ok, this professor has me intrigued. I can't wait to find out what Bracken set up as the reason the children have developed these powers.

Also, Cole? Didn't expect that!

Dang, who is that kid and where did he find the nerve!? So much for peace!

How was Ruby not smart enough to figure out that's what L.G. was doing as soon as she saw the research? I mean come on, that's pretty obvious.

Thanks for breaking my heart Bracken! The next book just won't be the same...

In the Afterlight

Update #1

Why is it that adults are always obsessed with money? And how come they never want to PROTECT the children who are different

Oh ok, I’m gonna be reminded of the sadness throughout this whole book, aren’t I?

I knew they were in California, but I didn’t even think about those other kids !!!!

Also, can I just say, poor Chubs and breaking his glasses. I feel you, bro.

Update #2

Why can’t Cate just accept that Ruby and the others are right?! Ugh!

I was waiting for Vida to display her true emotions. But to think that Ruby doesn’t care? She’s obviously not very observant.

Brothers, eh? Can’t live with ‘em… that’s about it lol

I wonder what the government hides from us in regards to other countries…

I don’t understand why Cole doesn’t just tell Liam? Would it really be so bad?

Truth: I’m still not feeling the romance. And I could do without the kissing scenes.

There’s that darned Watership Down again

Clancy is still such a mystery. I get why he’d want to embrace his powers, but doesn’t he also want to know why he got them?

Chubs and Vida get to spend some quality time~

Ok, no more sparring matches you two!!

Update #3

Those poor kids. Afraid even to be rescued.

Why did Liam hide this from Ruby???? Maybe she would have been a bit more open to it had he been honest.

Also, don’t like the reporter lady.

Omg! Zu!!!!

I can’t believe people think it’s fake? Why would children lie about those kinds of things?

Ah, yes, the red army.

Again, don’t like Alice.

Finally Cole! Was it really so hard?

Ok, this is sad but I totally care more about the side romantic relationship than I do the main one. I just don’t see their chemistry, honestly. It seems like it’s more a relationship of convenience than feeling.

Man, another one? Come on, Bracken, why you gotta do that to us?

I was wondering why the sleepwalking was relevant… not the answer I would have wanted, but alas

Update #4

Still going through with the plan, huh, Ruby?

I guess it makes sense that you can erase memories but not feelings. And that Sam would have images once Ruby’s influence was gone

Wow that wrapped up quickly

Tbh, even though he was horrible, it sucks Clancy had his ability to choose taken from him

Family reunion ♡ not so sad anymore!

Where do they go from here…?

[hisnanoka]

Nanoka no Kare - Chapter 64

Click “Keep Reading” for the translation.

The following is a very rough translation/interpretation from the original Japanese text to English via Google Translate and is not guaranteed to be accurate. Text will be reviewed and edited when a Spanish translation is available to double check for errors.

Story: Saro Tekkotsu

Art: Miyoshi Toumori

Click here for the RAW scans!

H = Hayata | N = Nanoka | T = Takato | O = Ouji | Y = Yuuko | C = Chisato | K = Kensuke

Page 1 – Cover page

I don’t want to be late anymore. This time I will definitely save you.

Page 2

N: [Is this some kind of nightmare?]

[Why]

[What is going on?]

Page 3

N: [Why is this happening?]

[They’re both hurt.]

[It looks painful----]

O: That reminds me, Hayata-kun has severely injured his shoulder before.

I wonder if that injury has returned?

It’s difficult to hold up two people and Takato is essentially useless.

Page 4

T: I will absolutely…not let her fall…

H: Ayase-san…I will save you…

N: [Stop. No more.]

O: …sheesh, at this rate, all four of us will fall.

Page 5

O: Well then,

Here is my proposal.

Right now, if I grab one of their arms.

Whomever I grab will fall together with us.

Leaving one man standing.

Isn’t that great?

Which one will you choose?

If you want to save Hayata-kun, how about we grab onto Takato?

Page 6

O: I’ll leave the decision to you.

Because, after all, you

Are the catalyst that brought us all here.

N: [I did…?]

O: “Do you really think I’m just some kind of disaster that has befallen you?”

Page 7

O: “Now, as these two stand side-by-side before you, why do you continue to not believe that all the fates are connected?”

N: [It’s all connected?]

[What I’ve been doing – the decisions I’ve made – all of it.]

Page 8

N: [Is connected.]

“The scar I received from my time with Takato-kun is the reason for my current love now.”

[If I had never loved Hayata-kun.]

[Would he not be suffering now?]

Page 9

N: [My first love allowed me to take action by following my feelings.]

[At that time.]

[And that time.]

Page 10

[---and especially that time.]

Page 11

N: [If only I didn’t speak to him.]

Page 12

N: Do not

Grab either of them.

O: Well then

Thank you for this love that is all mine.

Page 13

-no dialogue-

Page 14

-no dialogue-

Page 15

-no dialogue-

Page 16

News: During the cultural festival at the private high school located in Sakurada Town, there was a large quantity of smoke generated by smoke cylinders.*

The crime was committed by two unemployed 19-year-old boys who were trespassing on school grounds. Both have been arrested.

Page 17

News: It appears that two students, one male and one female, had mistakenly believed this to be a real fire. Thus, both students accidentally fell from the 4th floor of the school building amidst the confusion.

Right now, both students are unconscious.

Page 18

Nurses: That boy is here again.

From that incident

Ah

He comes here every afternoon to ask about Ayase-san’s condition.

After which, he just sits here in the waiting room until visitor hours have end.

I wish he would go to her room directly.

Indeed…

K: …Yo

Page 19

K: Are you okay?

H: I’m fine. I only dislocated my shoulder.

How is Takato-san?

K: His whole body is bruised and he fractured a bone.

He’s currently all stupid from pain meds.

Karasuma Ouji is in the ICU.

He was saved  from the plants he fell on.

Page 20

K: Seems Nanoka-chan doesn’t have external injuries.

Still, it’s been 5 days.

She’s still not conscious?

I heard about the incident on the news,

But that’s not the real story, is it?

Takato’s father doesn’t like to make a big deal of things.

So I questioned this whole scenario. Were you questioned about the circumstances?

H: …I was

And yet none of it was reflected in the newscast.

Page 21

K: I see…well, I guess it would play out differently if someone died.

Hey-

They’re all safe

Please don’t hold onto all of this weight yourself, okay?

H: Even so, it wasn’t at all a surprise

[I]

Page 22

H: [Even though I ran with all my might and only looked forward,]

[I couldn’t reach her in time.]

[At that time,]

[If only I had grasped the hands of Ayase-san.]

[Why am I,]

[Always like this.]

Page 23

H: [To the very end.]

K: Hey!

Hayata! Get a grip!

H: Ayase-san falling

…I can’t get the image out of my head…

C: Hayata!

Nanoka has regained consciousness.

Page 24

C: The doctor finished his diagnosis…

Ah- wait a moment.

Um…

Concussion, was it?

That kind of thing,

They believe she may have hit her head on a tree branch as she fell.

H: …what do you mean?

[When she fell, Ayase-san,]

Page 25

H: [Her abandoned expression made it look like she let go of something. Like she gave up.]

[…but what?]

Y: …Nanoka

Her memory from this past half-year, they are all gone.

*I’m not sure if “smoke cylinder” is what the text really means here but the Google app keeps translating it to that.

[lyonface]

Writing Review 2016

I was tagged by @galadrieljones​. Thank you, falon. I haven’t been writing much lately but I hope to jump back on the wagon soon.

Total Number of Stories Completed:

Completed? Sheesh. If my self-contained prompt fills count, we’re getting close to 20. Klexos EV can count as self-contained, but really is just an extended universe for Klexos proper, so I don’t like counting it.

Total Word Count:

All of the fanfiction that currently exists on my AO3 was basically started in 2016 (Klexos was published on 12/22/15, but it counts.)

I docked the first two chapters from Klexos (holy shit you guys those were 8k words BY THEMSELVES) and added unfinished work, the rest of my AO3 wordcount, and my poetry. We won’t even touch rping because that is literally unquanitifiable, but I have no doubt that those blogs would add on thousands of words of just my entries on their own. My written works (fiction and nonfiction) in 2016 total approx. 172,201, minus roleplaying and planning documents.

Fandoms Written In:

Dragon Age, Hannibal, Mystic Messenger.

Looking Back, Did You Expect To Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected?

I had no true idea what I would end up writing, but I can be pretty damn sure that I would never imagine myself writing the sheer volume of work that I have. Although I did anticipate being further in Klexos by this time (it’s over a year old!) I also had no idea that I would write it’s side story, Klexos EV, nor that I would be roleplaying again and getting into other fandoms.

Short answer: I expected to write a shit ton less.

What’s Your Own Favorite Story Of The Year?

Klexos is my darling child, despite my lack of attention to it in recent months. Klexos EV is the first self-contained fictional work that I’ve completed since an original piece of fiction back in high school that we shall speak no more of. Although I haven’t gotten to what I anticipate will be my favorite parts of Klexos, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of creating it and having people see it.

Did You Take Any Writing Risks This Year?

Doing it at all was a risk, honestly. Setting up my AO3, deciding to prioritize my fiction over my nonfiction. My Patreon was also a pretty big risk, which I hope to pay off (literally) soon once I get the hell over this cold and writer’s block and jump back on the bandwagon. So basically I went from making an AO3 to making a Patreon to neaty bookend my year.

Do You Have Any Fanfic Or Profic Goals For The New Year?

Finish Klexos or get damn close. Start an original piece that’s been kicking around in my head since my failed attempt at NaNo this year. Prioritize my time better so I can be productive and still enjoy myself. Push my personal boundaries and make myself write things I may find uncomfortable so I can more thoroughly explore myself and my worldview.

Best Story Of The Year?

I see Klexos is going to be basically the answer to all of these, isn’t it?

Most Popular Story Of The Year?

Still Klexos my dude.

Story of Mine Most Under-appreciated By The Universe, IMO:

The Senris that was never allowed to be on @lyrium-larvae​ tbh. You can check out the #solas tag and start from the beginning to see how it plays out. It hurts me. My friends and I have phrases for certain instances during that whole arc. Good lord...

Most Fun Story To Write:

Klexos is really fun, but it’s getting to where I’m finding gaps that need to be filled up with meaningful content before moving on to the next story beat, which is proving a bit more difficult than I intended. First big work I’ve planned until the end, so it’s bound to have issues.

Story With The Single Sexiest Moment:

I haven’t er...written anything sexy and posted it besides No More Games, which doesn’t actually get into any raunchy bits because I chickened out and couldn’t justify how those two characters would have sex on their first night together that was unplanned.

I have written....a lot of stuff off site though, and hope to stop being a shakey baby and just get to posting it out for the public to see. It’s one of the hurdles I want to overcome in 2017.

Most Sweet Story:

Basically all the prompt fills I have written and will ever write for Galenris (Galaren DuMarc/Fenris) is going to be sweet. Because the two of them together just hit me right in the Good Feels.

“Holy Crap, That’s Wrong, Even For You!” Story:

I haven’t written anything that would make people be aghast. If someone reads Klexos EV and says that, they clearly don’t know me.

Story That Shifted My Own Perceptions Of The Characters:

Binary actually helped me understand Will better even during the process of writing it. It’s short, but it will inform my interpretation of Will Graham probably for the remainder of the time that I write him, in fanfics or otherwise.

Writing Fenris in general has made me realize more and more that he and I have a lot in common, almost to an uncomfortable degree.

Most Unintentionally Telling Story:

Yeah uh...those will be coming in the future I have no doubt. Considering my post not 18 hours ago about having an idea for a fic related to dubcon that made me uncomfortable haha.

Hardest Story To Write:

Mmm. Klexos is difficult because of its sheer scale and demand for organization in order for everything to work properly together. I’ve never written anything this involved or with multiple interactions and arcs going on at once while still trying to remain focused on character development. It’s rewarding, and will be more so I have no doubt, but man it is not easy to stick to it sometimes.

In terms of subject matter... I don’t think I’ll write something as emotionally uncomfortable or compromising as Klexos EV for...a long time, unless Hannibal dredges something out of me I don’t know is there (or goddamn Mystic Messenger, of all things.) I felt actual physical discomfort and emotional anguish while writing EV, especially for Chapters 5, 7, you know just the entirely last half, especially after 6. The experience of basically rewriting Klexos Chapter 6 as Klexos EV Chapter 9 was incredible, and gives me a lot of appreciation for tied together endings like that.

Like, fuck guys, I’m writing a fix-it oneshot for my own fucking fanfic. That is intense, dude.

Biggest Disappointment:

All but abandoning my Wordpress blog is...pretty depressing. Today was the first day it’s gotten no hits in a very very long time, and I guess it just kind of felt...mm, like I’d let it go too long. I’m also disappointed in my own inability to apparently time manage effectively. It was a strength I had during school that has apparently gone flabby with lack of use. I plan to rectify that.

Biggest Surprise:

That I’ve learned so much not only about myself through writing the way I have (a lot, like oh my god) but that I’ve found friends and learned more about writing than I necessarily though I might. I’ve met so many good, varied writers through fandoms and it’s so interesting to see everyone’s styles and processes, even if they’re not so good at feedback or working together (beyond rps, at least.) I’ve found far more confidence in my writing than I thought I would necessarily ever, I think. I mean jeez, one of my poems got published in 2016! That still doesn’t feel real sometimes!

---

Thanks for tagging me! And if anyone feels an urge to fill it out and log their progress, make sure to tag me! :)

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Always you 4

A/n: Finally updating this story. In case a summary is needed this is the beginning summary from chapter 1:  This is a Gabriel AU…Gabriel is a writer and hopelessly in love with Cas’ little sister Emma. After a failed relationship that ended badly in the past, Gabriel is just a shell of what he used to be. Now he has to work on being himself again to get the girl. (Cas in this story is hippie Cas)

Words: 1, 792

Link to Chapter 1

Link to Chapter 2

Link to Chapter 3

Pairings: Gabriel x OFC. Dean x Cas

________

After Emma stormed out the door Gabriel and Cas stood in an awkward silence. Cas finally looked to his friend.

“Well are you gonna go after her?”

Gabriel gave Cas a glare before turning and walking in the opposite direction. Cas remanding looking in the place where his best friend and sister stood a moment longer before shrugging and going back to his and Dean’s room. He couldn’t be the one that fixed everything between Gabriel and Emma. They would have to learn to fix their issues on their own.

“I don’t know why I fool with either one of them.”

He muttered shutting the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Gabriel stormed into his and Emma’s bedroom also slamming the door before beginning to pace. Did he and Emma really just have this argument? Did they really just break up over their stupid tempers getting the better of them? Gabriel yanked at his hair trying to piece together what happened.

It was entirely his fault. That he got. He shouldn’t have let his stupid insecurities come between them and rule over his common sense. Emma wasn’t going to go fuck that doctor. If she had waited that long for Gabriel to make a move on her she wouldn’t go throw it all away for some older man. He had to give Emma credit there. Gabriel couldn’t even remember the last time that she had gone on a date until they had became a couple.

“Fuck!”

There was also the matter of his and Sarah’s son. Gabriel still didn’t know how he felt about that. He had a child that he knew nothing about and hadn’t seen. This also meant that he would have to somehow deal with Sarah! That was the last thing that he wanted to be doing but it looked like that he was going to have to find someway to be able to do so.

“Fuck me sideways I have got to do something!”

Gabriel quickly got his keys and walked out the door. He was thankful that neither Cas nor Dean were in the living room. He didn’t want to deal with a mini Spanish Inquisition at the moment.

Arriving at the hospital Gabriel didn’t know what in the world he would say to Emma. Hopefully winging it would be okay. He didn’t even know where the hell Emma was going to be at. Here he stood in a huge hospital looking for a doctor. Rolling his eyes he noticed the ER receptionist desk a few feet away. That would be a good place to start!

Walking up to the front desk in the emergency room the receptionist looked up from her computer grumpily.

“Can I help you?”

Gabriel looked around the room again before looking back to the woman.

“I need to see Dr. Emma Novak.”

The receptionist looked down at her computer again.

“The reason?”

Gabriel frowned. The fuck was it this bitches business? Did she really want him to unload on her? Gabriel guessed that would be a big hell no. Trying to keep his temper down he smiled politely. Killing people with kindness was supposed to work better than being a complete ass right?

“I’m her boyfriend. It’s an emergency so can you kind of hurry it up?”

The receptionist looked slightly taken back but picked up her phone.

“Hold on.”

The woman turned moving to her phone dialing what Gabriel assumed was Emma’s number. Gabriel turned his back to the woman looking around the emergency room. He didn’t understand how Emma could do this job. After her and Cas’s parents died in the awful car crash he never understood how Emma could look at sick or injured people the same way. Their parents deaths made Cas lose his serious grip on reality and live for the moment while it made Emma more driven. It was Emma that Gabriel had been worried about. Being a teenager and close to her parents should have affected her more than it did. Gabriel guessed in some ways she kept things bottled up where Cas just ripped up the book known as his life and went wild.

When the double doors opened and Emma stepped out Gabriel felt his mouth drop when he saw all the blood on his lover’s scrubs. She looked beyond shocked to see Gabriel standing there…shocked and hurt. Her blue eyes looked at him closely. Clearly searching for what kind of emergency was happening. Gabriel hated that look in her eyes as she walked over.

“What’s wrong?!! Is it Cas?! Is he alright?!”

Gabriel nodded.

“He’s fine. I need to talk to you.”

Emma frowned. She clearly didn’t want to hear anything that he had to say.

“I’m kind of working Gabriel. What is the emergency?”

Gabriel sighed as the receptionist made a loud “uh huh!” He gave the woman a cold glare.

“All right I lied!! Sheesh nosy! Mind your own business will ya?”

Gabriel gave the receptionist another cold glare before physically moving so that he didn’t have to look at the hateful little troll of a woman.

“Emma I need to talk to you about earlier.”

Emma sighed but was amused by his hot headed response. That was her normal Gabriel.

“Want me to call security doctor?”

The troll lady asked again. Gabriel looked back to her again with a sneer.

“Don’t you have some papers to file or something?”

Emma shook her head.

“No. It’s fine. I have a few minutes. Come on Gabriel.”

Gabriel followed Emma to the almost empty waiting room sitting down. Emma sat down across from Gabriel who leaned forward taking her hands in his.

“Sugar I know you are mad. My attitude was awful at home. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m sorry I said all that shit.”

Emma leaned back but didn’t let her hands leave Gabriel’s grasp.

“Then why did you say it?”

Gabriel sighed.

“Why do we do anything we do when we are angry or in my case scared out of my ever loving mind? I was freaking out about everything that happened with Sarah. Realizing that I am going to have to be sociable with her on a kid I know absurdity nothing about. I was…am afraid that it is going to affect us. I finally got what I wanted and now everything is falling apart. Em you know I don’t do well with turmoil or drama.”

Emma pressed her lips together watching his facial expression carefully.

“No, you don’t. You never have. Look Gabe, you know I hate Sarah. I think everyone in our house hates Sarah. If voodoo magic worked….she would be a dead woman. Cas was ready to go pay some random Italian mob boss to make her mysteriously disappear if that doesn’t tell you something I don’t know what will. Gabriel, I am not threatened by her anymore. Worried about how she is going to potentially treat you..yes. I am also concerned about this kid. What kind of lies has been spoon fed his whole life? Because you know as well as I do there has been a ton. Alex seemed fine enough to me earlier but that was just a physical exam. Mentally I don’t know what is stewing up in there. What are we going to do Gabe?”

Both were quiet for a moment. Gabriel moved to sit in the chair beside Emma. He took extra care to not break the physical contact that he had with her.

“Well first things first, I am going to find me a lawyer.”

Emma nodded.

“Definitely a good decision. I know a few from college that are actually pretty good.”

Gabriel sighed before focusing his attention back on Emma. The poor thing looked exhausted as she rested her chin on her hand.

“So what about us?”

He finally asked. Emma looked in his direction again.

“Gabriel if you are concerned about me not wanting to be with you because of the kid that is the craziest thing that you could possibly have going through your mind. If Sarah thinks I am going to step aside and let her destroy you again the bitch better be gearing up for a fight. Look I’m sorry about all the shit I said earlier.”

Gabriel nodded.

“Me too. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

Emma smiled laying her head on his shoulder.

“Well I can totally believe that especially since you came down here to talk to me.”

Gabriel chuckled.

“You know I hate hospitals. How much longer do you have to go before you can get out of here?”

Emma looked down at her watch.

“About 5 hours. I didn’t want to sign up for a full 12 hour go around. Gabriel I don’t want you to worry about Dr. Jones. There is absolutely nothing there. I want you….just you.”

“I know. I trust you.”

Emma stood up knowing that she needed to get back to work before her pager started going off. Gabriel quickly stood wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Darlin I I have to be crazy about you to be holding you all covered in someone’s blood.”

Emma laughed standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

“Always the romantic.”

Gabriel gave her an eye brow wiggle before nuzzling his face against hers.

“I’m about to romance the pants off of you sugar. I’ll be up when you get home.”

Emma smiled looking completely happy now. That was the smile that Gabriel needed to know that everything was okay. He intertwined his hand with hers before walking out of the small waiting room. Gabriel’s attention focused on the troll receptionist who was looking at them.

“That lady wasn’t hugged enough when she was little huh?”

Emma put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle so that lady didn’t realize that they were talking about her.

“It sure seems that way. I’ll see you soon.”

Gabriel nodded kissing her once more before walking out. Emma stood watching until he was clearly out of sight before turning and going back into the ER. Maybe the next few hours would go by quickly!

__________

@greenappleeyes

@tas898

@sumara62

@jannalionheart

@sherala007

@authoressskr

@everyjourneylove