#look at how she's not even flinching when she looks at vel

[spaceprincessleia]

You are the knife I turn inside myself; that is love. That, my dear, is love. – (Velcinta + Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena)

134 days until andor s2

[sankta-starkova]

BURN IT DOWN

008; YOU JUMP I JUMP

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summary: the one where harlow kaz goes into a new mission with her best friend to help the rebellion but ends up meeting a man who changes her life completely

warnings: mentions of suicide, main character death

wordcount: 1.4k

Harlow sat on the chair next to the operating table. She held onto Nemiks hand as the four handed doctor began to operate in him. Her leg was shaking up and down and she could feel tears burning behind her eyes.

The doctor had asked her to step away but she had demanded that she sit with him the whole time. She wasn't going to leave him for a second. What if he woke up and needed her? What if something happened?

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there holding his hand and watching as the doctor tried to save him.

She would flinch every time she heard a bone crack into place or when the metal would meld to his spine but she was there for him, whispering things even though he couldn't hear her.

Harlow tried to hold in her tears as she brushed his hair out if his face, "I'm here, you're gonna be okay," she whispered, more to herself than to anyone else

She was one of the least emotional people you'd ever meet but here, with her best friends life in the balance she was an emotional mess. Harlow had cried more in the last day then she had in the last 6 years.

"He means the world to you doesn't he?" Vel said and Harlow turned back to look at him, tears welling up in her waterline.

"If Cinta doesn't come back, he's all I got left," she said, her voice cracking at the end.

She tried to hold her tears in as she remembered all the times with Nemik, knowing that it may not ever happen again. But she held in hope that ge would

"I never told you about what happened in coruscant, how we met. He saved my life and I wouldn't be here without him so I'm gonna do anything for him," she said, wiping the tears away with her free hand.

The doctor looked up at Vel and shook his head and Harlow looked up, knowing that it was the end.

"No, no, he's okay isn't he?" She questioned and looked over at Vel.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said and she let out a sob, watching as Vel wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back

Harlow let out a scream and Vel tried to hold her tears back, it was the most pained she had ever heard her friend.

She had to hold her back as the girl kept yelling, holding a hand out as she tried to reach him, almost like it would be able to save him.

"You've got to let him go," Vel whispered and Harlow went limp, stopping her struggling.

Vel let her go and Harlow knelt on the ground, her hand reaching for his and feeling how cold he was. Her yells turned into sobs as she sat there, trying to hold on.

He was some of the only family that she had left and it had all been ripped from her. He wasn't supposed to die.

When Cassian heard the screams he ran in, his blaster held up and they all looked at him.

She turned around, her eyes red and puffy and something clasped in her left hand, her other resting in her lap as the man covered up Nemiks dead body - he looked like he was sleeping. 

"It's not what you think," Cassian said as Vel gave him a suspicious look before he turned to the doctor, "I'll give you 40,000 credits for the ship in the barn,"

"Where's skeen?" Vel asked, the two ignoring Harlow as she sat on the floor, her mind in a different place.

"He's dead, he wanted to take the money and leave you here," Cassian explained, his voice almost erratic.

"He wouldn't do that," Harlow whispered, realising that another friend was dead.

"I'm taking my cut, the number I was promised and I'm leaving with the freighter," he explained, still holding the gun in his hand. Vel nodded, allowing him to leave. She knew Skeen would betray them.

"Cassian," she said, standing up on shaky legs, holding something in her hand, "I'm coming with you,"

Vel didn't even flinch when she realised that man's name wasn't Clem, she had always expects it was an alias.

"What do you mean?" Cassian and Vel said at the same time, looking at the grief striken girl.

"I can't come home right now Vel, I can't go back to an empty apartment without Karis," she said, shaking her head as she tried to hold in the tears.

"I have room," Vel said, protesting against the idea of her going off with Cassian.

"I'll call you if anything happens, the money will go to your account for now, transfer it over to me in Coruscant," she said, holding the tears back, "Give Nemiks to charity, one to stop slave trades," he always been passionate about the subject after his mother was killed in slavery.

She walked over to Cassian, putting the necklace in her pocket as she held Nemiks manifesto in her hand.

"Thank you, and tell 'pa that I'm okay, that I'll be home soon," She said shakily before turning around and walking out the door, leaving Nemik behind.

Her and Cassian didn't say anything until they were in hyperspace and that's when she ran off and he heard sobbing echo through the ship.

When he walked out, he saw her sitting in the only bedroom there, tucked in a ball as she cried into her knees.

He sat down next to her and even though he wasnt the biggest fan of physical contact, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, letting her cry it out.

Once she calmed down, she looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy and dried tears down her cheeks.

"I live on Coruscant, after my family died I was adopted by that man you met, me and my sister," she explained, her voice shaky.

Cassian nodded, he wasn't expecting her to explain her life to him now but if it made her feel better, she could talk all night.

"I was 12 and I met Karis Nemik a year later," she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks, "He was intelligent, a little too intelligent and we were instant best friends,"

"How did you meet?" Cassian asked and she shook her head, her smile fading.

"I was on the roof of our school, 14 stories High and I was going to jump and he saw me and didn't panic, he just stood next to me and smiled," She explained.

Harlow sighed, a sad smile on her face as she remembered how he looked at her on that day and held his hand out, helping her down from that ledge.

"He told me it was a lovely view and asked if I wanted to grab a coffee with him sometime, I couldn't refuse," she said, holding back the tears.

Cassian looked down at her, watching as the tears spilt over her eyes as she looked down at the new necklace around her neck.

"God I miss him," Harlow said, the words getting caught in her throat

Cassian narrowed his eyes at her neck, "You've got his necklace," He stated, watching as she toyed with it.

"In my culture, you wear different necklaces to symbol hardships," she explained.

Harlow pulled out a black circular necklace with a red symbol on it from inside of her top before wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"This is from my family village, it means survivor," she explained, her voice going quiet, "Me and my sister were the only ones to survive,"

She looked down at the new addition to the collection, the necklace was a golden symbol that he had created. It was like a circle but not, with one spike coming out of the middle - he had always wanted to make it a symbol of the rebellion.

"This is Nemiks, he always told me I could have it one day and I told him he shouldn't give it up," she said, shaking her head, "This symbolises everything I've lost,"

They just sat there in silence, the only thing breaking that being her occasional sobs. But he just sat there as they floated through the expanse of space, looking for somewhere to go.

Just the two of them, orphans, Survivors, villains, heroes. One day they'd be able to get over it all but tonight it was just the two of them, unsure where they were going but knowing that they were going down together..

[rebelcourtesan]

Hey thank you for your portrayal of the other Vees. Something that bothers me is how they tend to make either Velvette or Vox the victims of Val or genuine nice people in shitty circumstances when that's not the case. Both are in Hell for a reason.

Velvette maybe isn't as violent with her employees as Val but she still abuses them in verbal ways, hurling undeserved insults, ordering them around like dogs or a sargent barking orders and demands. Heck her employees flinch when she calls them out on minor mistakes and protect themselves from her as we saw the demoness do in her intro in ep 2 and in Chrysalis she intimidates Rachel enough without even talking to her directly and when she does, Vel makes sure to let her know she's not the greatest thing in the industry and drives her to tears when she admonishes her for not giving the right look.

And Vox may be the lesser of two evils but he's still manipulative as fuck, even if the contract implies better conditions to what Val would offer he still takes advantage of Rachel to give him an ego boost and he has no regard for her privacy as he watches with delight as Val SAd her and he's just manipulating her by giving her gifts and not overworking her like Val would but he's more than willing to let Val mistreat her if Vox thinks she's misbehaving.

All 3 Vees are evil. Thank you for respecting that and giving us amazing content

I love the Vees because they represent the dark side of the entertainment industry such as adult entertainment, social media, and television. They are each nasty pieces of work and we have yet to see any redeeming qualities in any of them.

While I was disappointed they didn't play a bigger role in the first season, I am super excited about the second season where they'll be the main villains.

[happyhappyfantrolls]

dracoinfernous

"Heh, don't worry. I... I know how easy it is for that kind relationship to get brutal. Vel's ex left a pretty huge example." Velcor winced a bit, glancing to his back. He knew it all too well. 'Huge' was a pretty good descriptor of the scar too, in his opinion. "Anyways, I should let you two get back to your fun. It was great hearing from you, bestie!"

Velcor rolled his eyes a bit. Well, he wouldn't be against holding off a little longer before heading back. He'd look at Herbig's scar, moving a hand to trace at the edge a little. Given hat she'd said to Ein just a moment ago, he suspected her scar was a similar story to the one covering his back. Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her scar, at a portion just between her eyes. Realizing very quickly what he'd just done, he blushes a bit. Well, he did always have more confidence in his actions than he did his words.

"Yes... it was nice... hearing from... you, too." Herbig decided to not ask about Vel's ex as she understood, it could hurt to talk about it. When the conversation ended with Eingal, she was ready to hand his palmshuk back, but suddenly she felt his hand touching her face. Herbig flinched, almost dropping the device on the ground. Her whole face flushed in blue from his soft touches.

"What are.... you-..." But she couldn't finish her sentence when soon enough she felt a soft touch of his lips on her skin. Herbig froze, trying to process what he did. Her face became even more blue after the realization. "You... always make... me blush..."

Herbig mumbled under nose, lowering and lowering her head and then, suprising even herself, Herbig grabbed his collar and pulled him down into a kiss... on the lips.

It was a quick kiss, more like a peck as only their lips touched.

"That's...how you are...kissing your... matesprite...." Herbig mumbled shyly. Did she really think he wanted to kiss her at first, but then changed the plan? Who knows.

Velcor stretches a bit, before looking back over to the Cerulean he'd noticed a bit ago. Normally, he wouldn't really pay much attention to that caste. Lot of them tried harming his sister, after all. But something about this Cerulean, her eyes, made him unable to not look at her. He wasn't one for focusing on physical aspects, but he couldn't deny that her eyes were beautiful. A stunning amber color that just drew his gaze. Sighing, he makes his way over to her. Eingal would tease him relentlessly if she found out he chickened out of asking out a girl he felt attracted to.

"Uh, hey." Pinnacle of confidence...

(dracoinfernous)

As soon as Herbig heard an unfamiliar voice, she turned her head to the sound immediately, almost as if she noticed her prey in the near bush. Her ears perked up and fluffy tail swished side to side slowly for a chase, but she quickly realized it wasn’t the case. She was in the town, not in the woods. That was so embarrassing!

"H-hey?"

Herbig spoke out carefully, almost whispering. She lowered her head shyly as she started to play with her fingers nervously. If she only could erase embarrassing memories-...

How suddenly…

Sniff, sniff.

“...?”

Her ears went down as fast as it perked up just a second ago as she held her tail down. For some reason, a troll in front of her smelled like her old friend and it was making her nervous, confused and lost. Her mind was racing. A bunch of questions popped into her head immediately: Who is he? Does he know Eingal? Why is he there? Is he lost?? Why is he talking to her???

So many questions, so little to say...

@dracoinfernous

[tokoyamisstuff]

Scandal Ch. 4 - Loki x Reader

Summary: Nothing can stop the wrath of the God of Mischief, when he realizes he had been deceived by the people he trusted more than his beloved wife.

Warnings: Angst, Violence

Words: ~1700

"But what the world fails to realize is a villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.” - Chris Colfer

I Story Masterlist I General Masterlist I

Taglist: @hi-there-x @haloangel391 @misssilencewritewell @babayaga67 @accioremuslupinn @mochimommy2002 @just-someone-who-likes-to-write @damalseer @bethanystan @loser-alert @star017 @nina1800 @queenariesofnarnia @n1fangirlsblog @vengefulsokovian @lunamoonbby @freyagallileaevans​

A/N: This is a rather boring chapter, but we’re far from done!

“She already left several moons ago. It was her own wish, we did not force her.”

“Where to?” 

“Midgard.”

Loki was long back on Asgardian territory, yet his mind couldn’t find peace. Well, how could he, now knowing what Laufey told him?

His world had already crumbled to dust when he left you behind - but if Laufey spoke the truth, his whole existence had been built on lies from the very start.

Not knowing where to search for answers, the prince sneaked into Odin’s forbidden chambers, walking in the shadows protecting him in the midst of night.

There it was: The Cascet of Ancient Winters - the very relic that doomed the fate of your newborn, revealing it’s shameful blood to all of Asgard.

It just urged him to try and see for himself, even if the truth would shatter his heart.

“STOP!”

Loki wouldn’t even flinch at the Allfather’s words, already tightly holding the cascet in both hands.

“Am I cursed?”

The God of Mischief wouldn’t even dare to turn around and look at the person he always ever thought to be his father - for as soon as he laid fingers on the cascet, he began turning into that same shade of blue your son did.

Panic began to rise in the young god, fearing to be killed by the people he loved so dearly shall they lay eyes upon what he truly was. His chest began to tighten, fastened breath turning into a cold mist.

“No” was Odin’s firm but unsatisfying answer, to which Loki only responded by putting down the cascet.

“What am I?”

“You’re my son.” His words came from the heart, not even faltering as Loki turned around to present his Jotun form to the Allfather.

“What more than that?!” he almost growled in between gritted teeth, appearance slowly returning to his usual self.

At that deepest, darkest day in his life yet, Loki would be too blinded by betrayal and rage to see his father’s true love towards his adoptive son.

“The cascet wasn’t the only thing you took back from Jotunheim that day, was it?” The prince took firm steps towards the man that he had known all his life, but had become a complete stranger towards him through that sole moment.

Again, only a “no.”

Loki’s mind was racing, thinking about what else may have been hidden from himself - and what kind of consequences that revelation had for everything he had done up until now.

“In the aftermath of the battle, I went to the temple -- and I found a baby” the Allfather continued, “Small, for a giant’s offspring. Abandoned, suffering, left to die...”

“...Laufeyson” Loki completed Odin’s sentence. So every word the King of the Jotunns had said was indeed a fact.

“W-W-why?!” he almost whined, voice weak and defeated. “You were knee deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?”

“You were an innocent child-”

“No.” The God of Lies himself had become so sick of being fed those, starting to snap. “You took me for a purpose. What was it???” 

For what felt like an eternity, there was only silence.

The image of that small, blue child in his arms had been painfully burned into his heart back then. But now that he knew the story behind all of this, it held a completely different meaning.

Just like he had been abandoned back on that frozen rock, he had abandoned his own child, as well as the love of his life.

Outcast, abused, left to die...and now, god knows what had happened to you...

That secret had destroyed more than just his own life. It had ruined the only honest happiness he was ever given - you, and his son.

“TELL ME!”

He just needed to know: The reason behind all the pain and suffering he had to endure - and caused to others as well.

“I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day, bring about an alliance, bring about permanent peace...through you.”

That was just too much for Loki to bear. “What?” he reacted with a barely-there voice, every word of his father shooting daggers through his heart.

“But those plans no longer matter.” No matter what Odin might want to explain, Loki wasn’t able to listen to any more, jumping into his own conclusions.

“So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up inside of here until you might have use for me?!” he croaked, afraid of the answer.

“Do not twist my words.”

“You could told me what I was from the beginning!” he now yelled, furious at how virtuous Odin would still defend his own action. “Why didn’t you?”

“You’re my son” he repeated once again. “I only wanted to protect you from the truth.”

“Why, ‘cause I-I-I-I’m the monster people tell their children about at night?!” Loki clenched his fists, fingernails drawing blood to his palm.

“At least when my son was born, you should’ve dropped the charade!” Pure agony was dripping from every syllable, and for a mere second, his eyes were glistering bright red once again. “You’ve forsaken two innocent lives - the most important beings in my pathetic existence - and now you’ve burdened me with their suffering as well!”

That sure was a miracle - how a person so broken from the beginning wouldn’t collapse under pressure that huge.

“It all makes sense now, why you favoured Thor, all those years! Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!”

But who cares about the throne, honestly? Not him. Not anymore. Ever since he knew you.

It all dawned to him now: What he could have, if only he had put his trust in you like so many times before.

All his life, he only ever remembers a shadow. At first, he thought it to be the shadow of his brother, or never being enough for his own father. Maybe the other Asgardians looking down on him, making him feel like he doesn’t belong.

Yet in the end, that very shadow was inside of his own mind.

But you?

You had loved Loki with all of your heart, banishing the darkness from his mind through your bright affection.

It didn’t matter to you what anyone thought of him - or even what he thought himself to be.

Because you saw him for what he really was, and he found peace with that.

And he was certain that it wouldn’t matter to you whether he called himself Odinson or Laufeyson - as had you loved his child dearly, ever since he took his first breath.

He could never make up for that greatest of his sins, Loki knew that much.

Or...?

“Where are you going, my son?”

Reluctantly, Loki made his way past the man he now only considered a stranger. Still, when Odin tried to reach out to him, Loki immediately ducked away, startled and afraid for his true nature to hurt anyone.

More than ever before, the God of Mischief despised himself to the core of his being. He was lost, confused, shocked - and still, determined.

“Creating a Kingdom for my family.”

___

[Earth, 2 months later]

On times like these, you thought your mind was betraying you.

Especially when you catched yourself reminiscing sweet, innocent moments - far back in the past, before everything you ever held dearly got destroyed.

You still felt his touch, feather-light on your skin, as well as his scent haunting your memories. And sometimes you couldn’t help but wonder how life would have been, well...if things were different.

Frantically shaking your head, you clasped the book closed and threw it into a corner of the small one-room-flat SHIELD had provided for you.

Your magical pockets were always almost empty, except for a few necessities - and that book. It held the first flower Loki ever gifted you, and you had dried it in between those pages so it would never lose it’s beauty.

But now, remembering meant pain - because Loki Laufeyson would never come back.

For he is dead.

Fell of the Bifrost, as confirmed by Heimdall, who secretly kept in touch with you all this time. So you knew it all: Of his grief and treason, which slowly led him into madness. 

And what did you do in the meantime?! Nothing at all!

You should’ve tried everything, anything to get back and help him go through that time of need, hel!

“Endure it, Y/N...you need to stay strong...for Liam.” After so many times of telling those words to yourself, you doubted them to have any effect on your broken heart at all.

Yet it would never fail to keep you going. For that wonderful child was proof of your love, and now your last memory of him.

Rocking the small Jotun to sleep, tears found their way to your eyes like so many times before, dropping to the baby’s face unnoticed.

So you tried to sing your pain away as you cooed that little wonder to sleep.

“Å eg lengtar så tidt dette landet å sjå, Og det dreg meg så blidt, når eg langt er ifrå. Med den våknande vår vert min saknad so sår, så mest gråta, mest gråta eg kan. Å eg minnest, å eg minnest, å eg minnest så vel dette land. Å eg minnest, å eg minnest, å eg minnest så vel dette land.”

*Translation:

“Oh I long so long to see this land, And it pulls me so gently, when I'm far away. With the waking spring host my missing so sore, so most cry, most cry eg can. Oh I remember, oh I remember, oh I remember this country as well. Oh I remember, oh I remember, oh I remember this country as well.”

[thosemeddlingsims]

It has been quite a while since the last time I wrote a fic. Well, anyway here's a follow-up to caught and flustered and I guess would lead on to Stake Well Done or Death and Thereafter, or whatever timeline they’d end up going on a road trip and then stumbling into a mystery in some way. This might be my last attempt in writing lengthy pieces for some time unless something pops in my head again and get my groove on.

Anyway, hope y'all would like it. Even though I really didn't know how to end it. 😅

stuttered.

RATED K+ / T (?)

“You two should talk this out…”

Dawn’s words echoed in the recesses of Daphne’s foggy mind. It was easier said than done. It has been a little over a week since then and just a few days after the kiss that Dawn witnessed. And with all that time, she has not even built up the courage to talk to Fred.

“Daph…? Daphne? You ok?” Her contemplation was abrupted by a concerned yet familiar voice. She quickly blinks, only to realize that she has been sitting right across the booth from her bespectacled friend, Velma. She looks around, remembering that they have been sitting for quite some time in their regular coffee shop, Shakey Joe’s. They were waiting for the boys and Daphne had wanted to catch up with Velma after her trip from Washington. But instead, she blanked out on her and feels guilty about it. She softly shakes her head and forces out a smile. “I—I’m fine Vel. Sorry.”

“You sure?” Velma cocks her head and knits her brows. It was obvious that Daphne was not being her normally bright and cheerful self. “I don’t even think you’ve been listening to what I have said for the past few minutes.”

“I guess I’m just tired Vel.” Daphne fakes another smile and sinks herself into the leather cushion on her side of the bench. “Dawn got me really worked up with her fashion line. It’s been hard trying to get some sleep.”

Velma nods in response, unsure if she did believe her. It was not entirely a lie but between catching up with her sister’s exhausting demands and her compromised relationship with Fred, she is not ready to tell her about the latter. A sense of uncomfortable silence started to trickle in the atmosphere but fortunately (or unfortunately), it did not last that long. A soft tinkling of chimes alerted the business space of someone coming in.

“Hey look, the cavalry has arrived!” Velma waved towards the direction of the entrance. Daphne turned around to look as well, secretly hoping it was some other patron or customer Velma knew coming in. In her head, she was willing to prolong the inevitable. She has not played out what she would do or say once Fred arrives. But it was them, the boys.

It felt like a scene from a movie; there he was, soft sunlight shining through the door over him, strolling a few steps behind Shaggy and Scooby. His hair, golden and perfectly coifed. His smile beaming and his eyes, filled with warmth. He was wearing a crisp blue polo shirt and a pair of casual denim jeans. Why does he walk like that? This isn’t the first time he walked in through that door. Why are you seeing this now Daph, why?

“Like hel-lo gang!” Shaggy greets the girls with a wide smile as Scooby jumps onto the bench beside Velma. He continues to acknowledge them with a snobby plummy accent. “See you’ve gone ahead with beverages already. Like, let me pick us up something to eat then.”

Velma and Daphne looked on as Shaggy straightened his posture and headed towards the counter. What could he possibly be so happy about?

“Hey Scoob, what got Shaggy so upbeat?” Velma almost echoing Daphne’s thoughts. “He is aware that we’re off to some haunted place again, right?”

“Ri ron’t know…” Scooby shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. He would like to assume it was because of the food convention they have attended but a few days have already passed since then. “Ri ron’t remember.”

“Apparently, Shaggy got an invite to some celebrity chef’s dinner party.” Fred intrudes, smiling softly as he rested his right hand snugly into the pocket of his jeans. “They bonded during that food con they attended. The chef was impressed with Shaggy’s way of eating food.”

“Jinkies…” Velma clearly impressed. “Is that right?”

“That’s what he said.” Fred cocking his head towards Shaggy’s direction then sits down comfortably on the empty space beside Daphne. Her breath hitches and immediately withdraws to the corner of the booth. She hopes Velma would not notice but her quick glance at her would say otherwise.

Fred felt it too and he turned to take a gander at Daphne. “Everything alright Daph?”

“Yah.” Nope. Definitely not.

“I’m fine. I just told Velma that.” She waves a hand towards Velma. Not really and I’m pretty sure Velma doesn’t believe me.

She drew in a long breath, rested her chin against her right hand, and faked a smile for the third time. She avoids their gazes and looks up at the ceiling, but she could not keep it there. She looks back at her friends, unconsciously locking with Fred’s ceruleans. Nope! Look away! Look. Away.

“So… what about this case guys?” She changes the subject, rubbing the back of her neck. “Is it a missing person or another real estate agent trying to cheapen the price of the land?”

“Daph… you’re the one who took the call.” Velma shoots a side-eye at her. “You should be the one briefing us with the case.”

“Jeepers Velma!” Daphne huffs out a single laugh and shakes her head disapprovingly at herself. “You’re right. I remember it being some –”

“Hold that thought.” Velma interrupts standing from her seat. “I need to tell Shaggy not to get me one of those super-sandwiches he always gets us. Wanna come with me Scoob?”

Daphne furrows her eyebrows looking up as Velma leaves with Scooby and notices Fred was also looking in their direction. She pauses and stares down the back of his head, admiring the strands of his fine blonde hair sitting on the base of his nape. She is reminded of the sensation of having his hair between her fingers and the low growl he made when she mussed it up. But then he turned to face her, she quickly averted her eyes elsewhere. She took in a sharp breath and felt heat creeping through her cheeks.

“Daph?” The way he said her name sounded syrupy and sweet, but he has always said her name like that. C’mon Blake, he’s just concerned. “Are we ok?”

For some unknown reason, that question hit her like a cold splash of water. She felt speechless. Are we ok? Is there a ‘we’? What does he mean by ‘are we ok?’

Fred gazed at her with concern as he tried to reach out to her hand that was softly resting on the table. She wanted to flinch it away, but her mind (or maybe it was her heart) dictated to welcome the warmth instead. She did not move and watched his hand over hers, avoiding his eyes at all cost. And there it was again, that bolt of electricity that has been flowing through them every time they would have skin-to-skin contact. Her breath hitched. “Hey Daph… What’s wrong?”

“I...” she sighs deep with frustration. “I... I just –” C’mon Daph, spit it out! Don’t stutter!

“Like ok guys…” Daphne immediately jerks her hand away from his. Shaggy interrupts their moment, much to Daphne’s relief but to Fred’s dismay. He has been wanting to talk to her, but he was not sure how to start it off either. Shaggy, unaware of what is going on between the two, was carrying trays filled with piles of baked goods with a satisfied smile plastered on his face. Scooby and Velma, each carrying separate trays, following close behind. “Like Velma has your food. And if I do remember correctly, Daphne’s go-to is like, the ricotta and honey tartine and like Fredster, the meat lover focaccia roll. Right?”

“You’re right, Shag. Thanks.” Fred smiles thinly as he laid the tray down on the table. They should thank Velma that Shaggy did not get them some overloaded hoagie. But Fred suddenly did not have the appetite to eat, nor did Daphne. And if they said anything, Shaggy would likely not stop lecturing them for skipping a ‘meal’ he paid for. 

They spent the rest of the morning going through the initial information they have on the case. Unbeknownst to Fred and Daphne, Velma has been observing the building-up tension between them. Daphne did not really say anything about what happened during her week-long absence, aside from working with her sister Dawn. And this has been the first time she has seen Fred since she came back, so there was no chance of really catching up with him. If she knew any better, he would just say that he was working on the Mystery Machine.

Velma could see Daphne’s brows furrowed with an undecipherable expression painted in her eyes and her food was still untouched. She also noticed that Daphne has been trying to keep a distance from Fred for the past thirty minutes. She stole a look at Shaggy as well, observing if he was also noticing something different about the two. But she did not want to pry anymore, she would let Daphne tell her once she is ready. After going through the case and the specifics of their trip, they left heading off to do separate errands before going home to pack the things they would need for tomorrow.

But Daphne contemplated staying behind for a bit.  

“You two should talk this out…”

It was eating at her. Maybe without realizing it, she would implode with this thought ringing through her head over and over again. She bid the others goodbye, coming up with a stupid excuse to go the other direction. She turns around thinking Fred was still behind her, only to realize he has already gone ahead. She takes a few steps towards the parking area deep in thought. Maybe it’s easier not to bring it up for a while, right?

---

Fred stands on the pavement beside the Mystery Machine. He knew he would not get the chance to talk to Daphne, especially now that the rest of the gang have gotten back from their trips. He sighs and mutters to himself as he opens the door on the driver’s side.

“Freddie?” He must have been hearing things and figured that Daphne’s melodic voice was just in his head. He was quite sure that she had left with the rest of the gang, having the van all to himself. But there was a tingling sensation running through his back like someone is watching him. He turns around and finds her standing there, timidly tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Fred was not the best at reading non-verbal cues, but this was quite un-Daphne-like.

“Daph?” He said breathily, trying to catch her emerald eyes. “I thought you left with the others.”

“I– ” She stutters and gives out a soft nervous chuckle. “Well, uhm… I didn’t get the chance to answer your question earlier.”

Fred’s brows furrowed. There were a lot of questions asked in the coffee shop, most of them were about the case, which one of them could it be. “Uh… what question?”

“‘Are we ok?’” She avoids looking at him and Fred’s mind clears. He asked that before Shaggy had interrupted them. She takes in a deep breath. “I– uhm… anyway, I– I do hope that we are ok.”

“Hope? Why just hope?” It confused him. It seemed like there has to be a certain requirement for them to be ok. He would not know what to do if they were in a misunderstanding. He could not stand having the thought of him and Daphne being on bad terms. And she just stood there silently, keeping her eyes affixed elsewhere.

“Uhm…” She bites her lip, warily approaching him. “I feel like we’ve left off on the wrong foot the last time you came to visit.”

“Daph… I’m sorry I kissed you.” It was not the response she needed to hear. She was not asking for an apology, she just needed to clear the air. She wanted to assure him that she does not hate him for that or for anything ever. They have gotten much more intimate than just a kiss before that, and they have not addressed that one either. She hurriedly inched closer, shaking her head and reaching out to cradle his face between her palms. “You shouldn’t be sorry about that. I– I shouldn’t have asked you to leave so... uhm... frigidly.”

He closed his eyes and reveled at the warmth of her hands on his cheeks. He was trying his best to contain the heat that was building up in his chest. And yet, he struggled and gave in. He softly clasped her left hand, lightly taking it from his cheek. She watched as he guided the base of her palm to his soft lips, planting a kiss there. The gesture made her heartbeat quicken and a fluttering sensation has started in her belly.

“Freddie…” He opens his eyes, quite aware that he has done it again, kiss her. At least, it was not on her lips again. He searches her face for some form of disapproval, but she does not withdraw her hand away from him. He lets her go and she slowly curls her hands to her chest, her eyes fixed on him. “I’m sorry again, Daph. I shouldn’t have done that. I should stop doing anything really.”

“Freddie…” She swallows a lump she did not realize that has formed in her throat. I can’t… We can’t... I’m not ready to talk.  “I just said you didn’t need to apologize.”

She slowly takes a few steps back and softly smiles. “Anyway, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

“Don’t you want to ride along with me?” It felt like she was brushing him off again and it made his heart sink. He was hoping they could talk some more and figure out what is happening between them. It is obvious to him that whatever it is, it’s no longer platonic. It never was, to begin with, but they did mutually agree to prioritize their friendship. It was slowly getting harder to honor that though, especially with what happened between them at his place a few days back. It was his validation that maybe, she shares the same sentiment. He just needs her confirmation. “I could drop you off at your place, Daph.”

“Not today Freddie. I’m actually off to see mother. Thanks anyway.” She bites her lip as she hesitantly waved goodbye, trying not to maintain any eye contact. He stood there by the van’s door and looked on as she twirled around and walked away. It reminded him of the way she left that day; briskly and with no chance for him to say goodbye.

He sighs and whispers under his breath. “See you tomorrow, Daph.”

[duckymcdoorknob]

Words Really Do Hurt

Warnings: TW!!!!!: harm (not self but still ouchies) A n g s t

You bitches are going to cry. I’ll make sure I drag this out and not leave out a single detail.

Ships: Jamilton

Prompt: Thomas Jefferson always assumed he would have the upper hand in arguments, from his quick wit and snapbacks. He always made Hamilton cry. But when Hamilton rolls up his sleeves, he realized what he was truly crying about.

He never knew where it came from. It was always just there...

“Bastard!”

Pain

“Whoreson!”

Pain

“Dirty thief!”

Pain.

Young Alexander ran away from the insults of his “neighbors.” Tears blurred his eyes as he ignored the searing feeling in his arm.

He opened the door of his home, seeing his sickly mother setting down “dinner” for them.

A bowl of bland oatmeal and a small apple.

“Mama... the..they di..d it again.” Alexander said wincing.

His mother rushed to his aid, putting their food aside. She drew a bath for him and helped him inside.

“What happened this time my darling?” His mother spoke softly, petting his hair.

“They called me a th..thief and a bastard whoreson.” Alexander mumbled, letting his arm down under the water.

The bathtub tinged red, a sight Alexander’s mother loathes seeing. Her boy had three fresh cuts on his arm.

She never knew how he got it.

The doctor told her that whenever something truly hurts him inside, it somehow hurts him outside too. Something to do with the signals in his brain, eating away a line on his skin. Nameless, yet so distressing to the Hamilton family. No matter how deep or long the cut is, it won’t affect his life. Something that would kill any normal human would only hurt him.

She let him rest in the bathtub as long as he wished, then dressed him in his favorite jammies.

They went downstairs and his mother put the oatmeal back on the fire.

——

Alexander went on through his life covered in scars. A large scar on his chest appeared when his mother died. No one has ever seen it, except him.

“I’m sorry but I don’t think a whoreson deserves any money. His mother should’ve thought about it before she got knocked up.”

Scar

——

“She doesn’t have much time left, Mr. Hamilton. She’s too weak and sick.”

“I love you, Alexander...”

A large scar across his chest formed again.

——

“My son was shot and killed in a gunfight.”

Alexander now has three straight lines across his chest. Signifying the loss of the three most important people in his lives.

Rubesis. That’s what the medics called it. Ovelate Rubesis, (oh-vel-eht Roo-bay-sis) the anatomical consumption of skin caused by emotional distress.

——

The wind howled outside as a chilling rain fell from the sky.

“The things you say might be completely delusional, Hamilton. But this takes the cake. The North and the South are completely different. Why should we have to pay for your debts?” Thomas began in a ramble.

Alexander felt a tiny prick on his arm, “not again.” He thought to himself. He stood tall and angry, ready to take whatever Thomas yelled at him.

“If you make the South pay your debts, It’ll be Yorktown ALL OVER again. And don’t expect to win with your current state. Your son stressing you out that much? I mean God, we could turn you into a candle with all that extra fat.”

A sudden swipe of pain shot up Alexander’s arm. He felt A thin cut develop by his wrist. These were schoolboy level insults. Why did he let it get to him?

“That’s enough, Thomas.” Washington stood between him and Jefferson, “that was below the belt and you know it.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. He wasn’t done yet. “Hamilton I can’t believe they even let your naive, foolish self into the government. I mean honest to God a brain dead toddler could run treasury better.”

A large, deep, gash began to form on his forearm.

“S..stop...” Alexander managed through his searing pain.

“Oh boohoo! What are you going to do? Cry?” Thomas teased. He scoffs and crosses his arms “So weak and pathetic.”

Tears pricked the corners of Alexander’s eyes. “P..please... i-it hurts. S..so bad.” The gash got longer.

“Christ what’s wrong with you? Can’t you just be normal?” Thomas asked, taken aback by Alexander’s behavior.

Alexander winced as blood stained his white undershirt. “J..Je..Jefferson s-stop. Please.” Alexander was breathing hard, tears falling down his face. The gash traveled from his forearm to his elbow by now.

“Jefferson, enough” Washington spoke through gritted teeth. He glared daggers at Thomas, who simply rolled his eyes.

“All I’m saying is this plan is outrageous.”

At that point in time, Washington’s assistant entered carrying a heavy crate of writing supplies. They walked over to where Washington was hovering over Thomas. The wind blew with gusto. Then shortly after, the electricity in their building was out.

The sudden flash caused Washington’s assistant to jump and drop the crate on Thomas’ leg.

“Ah! Son of a bitch!” Thomas exclaimed.

Alexander gasped and rushed to help Thomas. He may hate the man, but his paternal instincts kicked in. He rolled up his sleeves and lifted the heavy crate off of Thomas’ leg.

“Thank you, Washington. Now can we work on those lights please?” Thomas inquired.

Almost on cue, the lights flashed back on.

Thomas saw Alexander carrying the heavy crate, multiple cuts and scars on his arm, and a deep gash bleeding profusely.

“I must’ve been incorrect. Thank you for the help, Hamilton.” Thomas said softly, avoiding to talk about what he’s seen. He figured the last thing Alexander needed was to be upset more.

Alexander put the crate down, realized what he’d done and quickly rolled his sleeves back down.

“Can we get back to non verbally abusing politics please?” Washington spoke up.

“I agree. Let’s continue.” Alexander said, crossing his arms.

“Now Secretary Jefferson. You’ve given a fair view on your opinion. But why do you feel this way?” Washington began

“Lovely” Alexander thought to himself

“Mister President I believe that Hamilton’s plan to assume the debts is unfair to the South.”

“The only reason I asked is because Virginia’s debts are already paid. I just wanted to see if-“

“Shut. your. fucking mouth, Hamilton.” Thomas groaned. So much for not further upsetting him. “I know you can’t keep yourself quiet for more than a minute at a time, but for the sake of all of us in here, shut the hell up.”

“Mr. Jefferson I don’t think you’re being fair to-“ Washington was cut off by a hasty Thomas.

“You’re right. Hamilton, you’re not completely useless.”

A gash on Alexander’s left arm formed, just as his right arm.

“Thomas! That’s enough!” Washington finally raised his voice

“Ugh. Sorry dad didn’t realize we were all offended by everything here.”

“Please just leave me alone...” Alexander thought with sorrow.

“I’ve stated my case. I don’t support this buffoon’s plan. I’ve nothing else to say to his sorry ass.”

The cut deepened and grew longer. Traveling from his wrist to his mid forearm.

“E..end it.” Alexander stuttered as he grabbed his arm. “E...end the.. m..meeting.”

“You don’t get to speak to me, scum. You best run back to your island.”

The gash grew until his elbow, in an agonizingly slow manner, causing Alexander to cry out in agony. “PLEASE!” He cried, falling to the floor. Blood oozed out of the large gashes, the right one having reopened. Alexander sobbed as Washington sprinted towards him. It hasn’t been this bad since John’s death.

“It’s alright. I’ve got you. Don’t let go of me.” Washington said softly, trying to keep Alexander from hyperventilating. He sat down next to Alexander and gently held the hurting man.

“Oh what now?” Thomas’ angry, annoyed face, dropped when he saw the blood seeping from Alexander’s shirt. “Oh Christ- CAN WE GET SOME HELP IN HERE?”

Thomas attempted to rush to Alexander’s aid, but stopped when he noticed Alexander cowering away.

“Get him away from me. Don’t let him say anything to me. Please!” Alexander tried to cover his ears as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Washington moved his arms down, “you know better.”

Thomas searched fantically for anything to pack the wounds with. He was freaking out. When did Hamilton have time to pull a blade on himself?

“How did you-“ Alexander pondered on Washington’s previous remark.

Thomas’ frantic pacing was stopped by Washington.

“Thomas Stop. You’re going to do more damage if you wrap them.” He said softly

“Are you INSANE?” Thomas yelled.

“Go to the shelf, Medical book, Index, Under “O”, near the end. Starts with “ov”

Thomas races to the bookshelf and did as he was instructed. There he discovered... “Ovelate Rubesis?”

Washington nodded. Alexander was too determined to stop his suffering; he couldn’t hear what was unfolding.

“Wounds will widen if bloodflow is stopped by outside force. Expose to air to end bleeding.”

Two and two didn’t click for Thomas. He knew that he needed to leave the wounds alone, but he didn’t realize that Alexander had the condition.

“Don’t cover it. They need air.” Washington replied to Thomas’ out-loud reading.

“How did you know about?-“ Alexander pondered softly.

Washington said nothing and lifted his sleeve to show multiple scars and one healing cut.

——

“Ugh. Sorry dad didn’t realize we were all offended by everything here.”

Washington barely flinched as he felt the cut on his arm develop.

“First in a few years” he thought to himself

——

The two men sat on the dusty wooden floor of the cabinet meeting room. The other members had recessed to help reduce panic.

Alexander looked down to see his wounds closed, but still red and puffy. “Thank you sir.” He said as he reached out a hand to help Washington to his feet.

“Mr. Hamilton.” Thomas said calmly, “will you please meet me outside in the hallway for a moment?”

“I...” Alexander didn’t want Thomas to be suspicious, “I suppose.”

Alexander followed Thomas into his office and closed the door behind him.

The velvet clad man sat on his desk, crossed armed, and glared at Alexander. “I’ve two questions for you, Hamilton.”

Alexander gulped. He didn’t know how much more jolts of searing pain he could take. He mentally prepared himself for the unbearable feeling.

“Why did you help me? After all I’ve done and said to you?” Thomas asked quietly.

“I-it just happened. I guess s..since I have Phillip to care for, it’s j..just instinct.” Alexander managed to stutter out.

“Ah I understand.” Thomas said with a small chuckle.

“I..is that all, Mr. Secretary?” Alexander inquired quietly.

“Don’t get too formal on me now.” Thomas said with a half smile.

“Sorry.” Alexander said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Second.” Thomas began, walking to Alexander’s tense figure.

Alexander met his gaze. It was... sympathetic?

“Would you like to explain these for me?” Thomas said in a low voice.

He grabbed Alexander’s wrist swiftly and rolled up his sleeves.

Alexander’s arms looked ugly. The large gashes were stained bright red, swollen to the high heavens, and tinging the surrounding skin a warm pink. The small cuts puffed up in irritation. It was a sight of horror for both men.

“I-I...” Alexander didn’t know what to say. Did he tell his enemy the truth? Or lie? “It was from the... the c-crate! Yeah the crate.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Hamilton.” Thomas said with a sigh. “I just didn’t expect this from someone like you.”

“I..I’m not cutting myself. I swear.” Alexander whimpered.

“Well clearly it’s from something!” Thomas said defensively, causing Alexander to flinch and put his hands up in defense.

“I..is someone. Is someone hurting you, Hamilton?” Thomas asked as tears pricked his eyes.

“Why... why would y-you want to know?” Alexander said with his own tears falling.

“God damnit, Alexander! I don’t know? Maybe that I care about you, you braindead sheep!” Thomas yelled.

Alexander’s heart panged. Then he winced as a sharp pain slowly sliced across his bare arm.

“Oh- oh my god.” Thomas said as he put a hand to his mouth.

“Just leave me alone.” Alexander mumbled, turning his back to holding his sore arm.

“Alexander...” Thomas said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I didn’t-“

“You don’t even know.“ Alexander responded, not attempting to meet Thomas’ anguished face.

“I read about it, remember?” Thomas said.

Alexander shook his head, “I was more focused on not passing out in front of anyone.”

“Ovelate Rubesis.” Thomas stated matter-of-factly, “Your skin cuts itself when something... hurts your heart.” Thomas slowed his speech in realization. “I feel like such a dick! How could I have not known this?!” Thomas’ eyes widened. “This... this is why you-“

“Begged you to end the cabinet meeting?... yeah.” Alexander said coolly.

“Oh my god that’s why you always cry during... oh my god that’s what happened. And the blood, and Washington saying it’ll heal itself, and you covering your ears and-“

Alexander’s eyes grew large from a sudden shock. Thomas had engulfed Alexander in a hug from above.

“Im so sorry.” Thomas repeated as tears streamed down his face.

Alexander buried his face into Thomas’ neck, letting sobs rack his body.

“I’m so sorry, Alexander.” Thomas whispered, resting his chin on top of Alex’s head.

The two sat in a silent embrace for a good while.

“Alexander...” Thomas whispered.

“Mm?”

“Wha...what happened when...” Thomas sighed, “when Eliza passed?”

Alexander sighed and slowly took off his green vest. “Are you sure you want to see?”

“Only if you’re comfortable.”

Alexander lifted his white undershirt up to reveal his chest.

Thomas covered his mouth as a tear fell from his eye.

Alexander’s chest had puffy lines across.

3 scars, 3 deaths.

Thomas brought Alexander close to him again and rubbed the man’s back.

“I hate to do this but.” Alexander began, lifting his head from its resting position. “Washington probably thinks that you killed me.”

Thomas chuckled “Im so sorry. For everything” he whispered, planting a soft, chaste kiss on Alexander’s forehead.

Alexander laughed through his tears.

“Im sorry I... I don’t know where that came from.” Thomas said sheepishly.

Alexander let out a soft giggle and gazed into Thomas’ soft brown eyes. “It’s okay, Thomas.”

Alexander sucked in a breath, and stood on his tippy toes to connect his lips to Thomas’.

George Washington silently opened the door to the office, careful to not alert anyone of his presence. His shoulders were in a tense position, his teeth gritted. When he saw the two men, he smiled and relaxed his shoulders. He shut the door and walked away from the room.

Thomas and Alexander broke apart, smiling at each other.

“I promise you. I’ll try to see things from your point of view from now on. And I’ll be careful with how I react, going forward.” Thomas spoke softly.

Alexander smiled and a tear rolled down his cheek.

A swift noise caught their attention.

“Meet me back in the room when you’re done. Wink wink.- GWash.”

Alexander couldn’t help but break into a fit of giggles.

Thomas put a hand on his shoulder and led him back out the door.

They both walked into the room, acting as if none of it ever happened.

[bookocd]

Light as Air Chapter 3

Here is the next installment of my Fenrys fanfic. If anyone has any prompts for me feel free to reach out and if anyone wants to be tagged for when I update, just let me know :)

Thank you so much for reading!

Tag List:

@wxstedhexrt

Summary: 

In the aftermath of Kingdom of Ash, Fenrys finds himself connected with a mysteriously powerful fae female. With the confusion of her past and vast amount of power, the inner court becomes weary of Fenrys’s involvement. Fenrys is still reeling after Connall’s death and while joining Aelin’s court has been a dream, his nightmares are still plagued by Maeve. Vel will do anything to get the help she needs, but her past controls her emotions, and her hopes for the future clouds her judgement. Maybe together they can mend what has been broken, but Vel’s strange origins will continue to keep them apart. 

Links:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3:

The cloak, the gods-damned cloak covered everything. Her head was hanging low, engulfing her face in the shadow of her hood, except for a sliver of purple. 

“Remove the cloak,” his growl tore through the silence. He didn’t understand his carnal need to see her, all of her. 

The female’s body stiffened at the command, and Fenrys could tell that she was waging an internal war at whether or not to obey. He hoped she did, prayed she did. 

Slowly, so slowly, her head bowed and deformed fingers reached toward the tie of her cloak. His whole body reacted to the contorted hands. His blood started to heat, red invaded his vision, and his jaw clenched hard enough to snap iron. 

Everything cleared when the hood fell, and the rest of the blue fabric dripped off her shoulders like water, pooling at her feet. 

Not one item of clothing fit her, the pants barely contained her muscles and cut her off mid shin, her shirt was tucked in, but it didn’t stop it from completely drowning out her top half, and the boots were fraying from years of wear. 

All these thoughts ceased to exist when her head lifted. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing. 

Her face was something created in his dreams, all angles, flecked with brown freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her hair was a deep black, with strands falling out of her braid near her pointed ears. Her eyes were even more striking, with sliver flecks shining in the morning sun. She was dark but light, roughly forged but soft featured, withered but flourishing, and he couldn’t take in her fast enough. 

Her eyes dipped down and up, checking out his body, which would have amplified his grin, until she ended her browsing with an unimpressed look that left her shifting to put on hand on her sword. The movement shook him out of his stupor, and he stopped to take in all her weapons. She had a short sword with what looked to be golden bat wings on the hilt, various daggers strapped to her thighs and hips, and a great bow strapped to her back along with a leather quiver. 

He couldn’t help but wonder how she could fight with her fingers and hands so contorted. 

“Yes I know how to use them. All of them.” The female seemed to read his expression. Her voice was calming to him, it melted his bones, his soul.

“Alright golden boy, if you're done staring, can you tell me what you want.” The smirk on her face was delicious, but that voice he could listen to all day long. He actually considered closing his eyes as she spoke. 

Her smirk faded when he moved closer. “What is your name sweetheart.”

She bristled at the term of endearment, like she hadn’t heard it before. 

“I don’t see how that relevant.”

“What. Is. Your. Name.” He didn’t know why it was so important to hear her name, but he needed it.

She glared at him and didn’t seem inclined to tell him. 

Wait, he thought, did she call me golden boy. His cocky grin turned more genuine and she flinched as though he had hit her.  

Her body language turned into one ready to run. He couldn’t handle it, if she left again, so he started to talk. 

“I felt your power the day of Aelin’s coronation, and was sent to see if you were a potential threat.” He didn’t know what made him lie, because is wasn’t power that drew him to this female and nobody had sent him. 

For some reason she seemed to calm at the information, for some reason his lie soothed her. 

She took a step forward and held her hand out. The fury that rose at the vision of her hands was doused the moment their hands met. Her skin was scarred and he could almost feel every bone, but she didn’t seem to be in pain, which made his shoulders sag in relief.

“You may call me Vel.”

He knew that wasn’t her name, he could feel it in his bones that she was lying. Every nerve was malfunctioning as their hands touched, and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

Mate. 

This is my mate. 

It was obvious that she didn’t feel the bond, because she let go of his callused hand so easily when he could have held on for the rest of his immortal life. 

It was also that moment that he felt the vastness of her power. It wasn’t flame, water, wind, or earth, but fluid. It had no form that he could feel, save for her, like it would become whatever she willed it to become. As of this moment, she willed it to be silent, like a slumbering giant. 

His hand followed hers as they disconnected, but she didn’t seem to notice. She started to anxiously pick at her fingernails, unsure what to say next. It was the most perfect awkward silence he had ever been a part of. 

Her anxiety melted away slowly, like she was becoming a different person, or deciding what role she wanted to play. 

A coy smile played at her lips and her eyes devoured him. His physical reaction was sudden and he stopped himself from adjusting his leathers. 

“So golden boy, have you decided if I’m a threat yet?” The innocent sounding question caught him off guard, but he hadn’t made a decision yet. 

“Not yet.” With a pointed look to her various weapons. Her grin widened and he braced himself for her response. 

“Well at least you’re smarter than you look.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said a feline voice that came from behind him, with laughter in every word. Fenrys froze, knowing exactly who had spoke, and to her credit, Vel didn’t baulk at the female and male walking down the street. She did however, seem to radiate power, and he suddenly got very nervous. 

Turning toward his queen and brother, he tried to block their view and gave them a warning look. 

“Why don’t you introduce us to your friend?” Aelin apparently didn’t understand his warning gaze, but he could feel Vel behind him, feel her power slowly seeping into the ground and air surrounding them. 

“I wouldn’t call us friends, so you can go now.” He tried to give the look to Rowan, but he was busy surveying the scene past his shoulder and ignoring Fenrys entirely.

Aelin looked as though she was going to responded, but Rowan put a hand out and halted their walk. Suddenly both their eyes widened and Rowan went slack jawed. 

Fenrys saw the darkness slowly impeding his vision and turned. 

Vel was standing, violet eyes shining and whole body shaking, in the middle of self-made darkness. Her hands were clenching and unclenching in a panicked motion. She looked physically sick, with sweat starting to bead on her forehead. 

Fenrys took a step forward with her name on his lips, but was suddenly frozen. 

—-

Vel’s shoulders were rapidly moving up and down, unable to stop the hyperventilating. She hadn’t been prepared for it. To see the queen. 

As the darkness spread from her uncontrollably, spasms coursed through her body. It was as though her power was trying to protect her from any outside forces it deemed to be dangerous. This hadn’t happened with the golden male, who was staring at her, terror coating his gaze. The white haired male had a sword in one hand and the queen’s flames were covering her arms, both ready for a fight. 

Stop, please stop, she tried to tell her self, tried to tell the others. It wasn’t until he took a step toward her that her power exploded from her freezing everything in sight, but not with ice, but literal time. She was the only one that could move, not any of the court members, not the crowd who had heard the commotion, not even the fucking queen. 

Breathe, in and out. You control it. You own it. Her fathers words came crashing into her mind. His wrinkled tanned skin and big brown eyes, flashed before her. His smile, his laugh. Him sitting in the cellar with her, reading on the floor, because there was no room in the bed. 

The darkness started to dissipate and dissolve, and one by one the people gained the ability to move once again. 

She didn’t have the energy to feel scared or mortified by her lack of control. Gold flashed in her vision as her legs started to give out. She passed out with a warm hand on her cheek and onyx eyes peering into her soul, she couldn’t help but smile. 

[petitprincess1]

Good Evening Ch14 (Game is Set)

AO3 Link Summary: The three figure out what to do with the body, while Al gives a bit of insight to Angelo. Words: 1,117 Warning:Gore and blood ~~~ Cherri’s foot bounced as Pentious and Baxter were bouncing back-and-forth ideas of what to do with the body and how to properly hide the smell. Despite the two coming up with plans, they were just about as on edge as Cherri was, but they were trying to be a bit level-headed. Angelo just felt odd about being a bit calmer than the rest of them as he ate the grilled venison that Alastor brought. Although, if anything made him feel apprehensive, it was Al staring at him as he ate. It was as if he was watching the tiniest movements that he made, making him wonder if he had the same watchful gaze that he gave to his victims.

Luckily, Alastor’s attention was placed elsewhere as Cherri suddenly stood and questioned, clearly pissed off, “What the hell are you doing just sitting on your ass? You’re the one that caused this shit in the first place! You...You fucking psychopath!”

Alastor just chuckled as he leaned over, causing the spunky girl to flinch, and then booped her nose. He grinned, “No need for such insults, my dear. You don’t see me saying such abhorrent things about y-”

Before he could finish, Cherri smacked his hand away from her face and grabbed Al’s collar. She yanked him out of his seat and yelled, “Don’t you dare fucking touch me! You think this is some kind of joke? You just shot someone, there’s blood in our house, a weapon, others probably heard the gunshot, and we have a fucking dead body in our house! We all are all FUCKED if we do nothing about this!”

The creole didn’t say anything as his smile shrunk a bit on his face. However, Cherri didn’t want to back down from the man, no matter how dangerous he was. She was about to shout at him again, but stopped after hearing him mutter. “She would’ve killed Anthony,” he practically whispered. The spunky girl was about to say that wasn’t the point. Though she ended up getting halted by Alastor grabbing onto her wrist, squeezing it tightly in his grip and causing her to wince at the sharp pain. He mumbled, “...Let go of me...”

Sir Pentious quickly came behind Cherri and said nervously, “Uh, Cherri, perhaps you should come over here. We’re going to need help with the body.” She winced more at the last squeeze Al gave to her wrist- she swore she heard her wrist give a few pops -and then the man finally let go of her. Cherri held her wrist close to her chest as Pen escorted her away from the two. The Brit whispered, “Are you stupid? Don’t bother with that bloody nutter!”

Cherri asked, looking at the skin on her wrist turn red, “Has he always been like this?”

Pentious glanced at Al, who was staring down at the table at nothing in particular and had his hands folded properly, and mumbled, “No...I don’t think so.”

Angelo had just sat through all of what happened, feeling like his mind was telling him to do multiple things at once. He wanted to punch and yell at the man for hurting his friends, framing him, and just putting him in this mess. However, he knew that that would just make things worse. He also wanted to make some jokes or even thank Al, but both of those felt inappropriate. Plus, his body was still in a shit-ton of pain. There was just so much going on at once. 

“Well, that was dramatic,” the mob-child got pulled back into reality by hearing Al speak. He turned his head to see the light-brown man smiling happily at him. It made him feel kinda at ease to see Alastor smile...in a very weird way. He was just happy for some form of constant in his life…even if it was from a deranged man.

Alastor looked at Angelo with a raised eyebrow and questioned, “Are you okay, Anthony? Is the steak cooked to medium rare as I hoped?”

Angelo replied, rubbing his arms and wincing at the dull pain, “It’s, uh...fine, I guess. A little gamy, but nothin’ too bad. Uh, Al, ya didn’t have ta shoot the broad. Ya know that, right? She put the gun-”

“Don’t listen to those people.”

“Wh...What?”

“Don’t listen to dolts like Cherri and Pentious. They make it seem like you’re dispensable, replaceable, and someone that can be left unchecked when clearly you were attacked by your own gang! You can’t trust any of them, Anthony. Those idiots would give you up in a heartbeat if it meant saving themselves, but I never would. Never. ...Do you believe me?” Alastor questioned, sounding quite timid, which oddly clashed with his whole speech. 

Angelo tapped his fingers on the table, unsure of what to say. He definitely did believe that Alastor would kill anyone that even looked at him wrong, but he also knew that….Cherri would absolutely have his back. He glanced back up at Al, seeing the man’s smile twitch in nervousness, and was about to speak. Unfortunately, he got cut off by Cherri asking, “Alastor, I’m sorry for interrupting your way too casual convo, but how do we get rid of this body.”

The mob-child looked over at Al, who had an ecstatic, ear-to-ear grin on his face as he practically purred, “I have an idea in mind~” ~~~ The next morning in the warehouse, Vox was counting out some money that he collected from Val’s porn studio, sighing at the man’s absence. Velvet was on his lap and was doing her nails, humming a small song. A knock was heard at the door and Vel was quick to take out a knife, but Vox just lowered her hand slowly. He went towards the door and saw one of his men, holding a box. The grunt shrugged as he spoke, “It was addressed to you. Don’t know what’s in it.”

Vox stared at the box and he snapped his fingers, making Vel throw a knife to him that he easily caught. He sliced open the box, opened it up, and the sight was enough to make the goon drop the piece of cardboard, dry heaving. Velvet looked from behind Vox and gagged, “Ewww, nastyyyy!”

She still took a picture of it to make a post though. Inside the box held Traci’s head that had all the teeth pulled out, eyes gouged, and a taped letter on her forehead, reading, “Nice to meet you again…”

Vox just stared at the bloodied container and chuckled amusedly at the note, recognizing the handwriting. He muttered as he took out a cigarette, “Message received. ...Game on, Alastor.”

[kanalesha]

Elsylynn’s Daggers

Some mornings the fog over Duskwatch was dense enough to obstruct visibility.   Even as the first rays of the sun began to crawl across the sky, it was like the light just got eaten inside of the haze.     In the morning when the winds were calm, it could be nearly impossible to see a few feet ahead.     Only when the breeze swept through did the morning haze start to lift.    

Such a fog made slipping through the shadows much easier for K.    She’d been taking walks the past few weeks.   Slipping off in the early morning at hours that she normally would never be awake just a month ago.    These little detours were private affairs, a secret she kept to herself.   

Behind the old town hall building was a small training ground.   It wasn’t maintained well, and so far as K could tell it rarely was even used.   It seemed entirely forgotten about.   The wooden practice dummies were covered in vines.   The grounds were overgrown with grass and weeds.    It was private though, which is what K wanted.     

On one such foggy morning K found herself struggling more than usual to squint through the haze to make out the wooden dummy.    Her fists clung tightly around the hilts of blades that once had belonged to Elsylynn.    Blades that Elsylynn had told K to get rid of.     Yet K couldn’t.    She couldn’t just get rid of them.   So she’d taken to trying to teach herself to make use of them.   

Her motions lacked any grace, or fluidity.   There was an erratic nature to her movements that made her attempts at stabbing, slashing or slicing seem uncertain.   Though it was not due to hesitation.    In these quiet and solitary sessions K was swelling with anger that she hadn’t known until recently.    

She’d first tasted it when Elsie had been given a slug.    She’d learned to shoot then.    A skill she did not hold back in making use of that skill not long after.   K never really processed what had happened that night in the bell tower.  It was only when she’d been battered to the point of blind fury that she shot through the shadows to empty the chamber of her revolver point blank at the source of her pain.     She’d passed out not long after.    She had never realized that some of the blood splattered on her wasn’t her own.    She was far from alone in striking out at the target, and so it never really felt like she was a killer to her.    And it was all a blur now.     

With each clumsy motion of the blade though, a similar fury burned inside of her.    A darkness stirred in her now.  Born out of a desire to keep those she loved from harm.     She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Elsie like she saw her before.   All burned up, laying in the dirt, as rain poured onto her.    No.    She wouldn't allow that to happen.   And if Elsie wasn’t willing to make sure her safety was ensured, she was willing to do it herself.   

With each slash and slice she kept thinking the same sorts of thoughts.  Though for all her anger, it didn’t translate into anything but wild, unfocused strikes.   She didn’t pay attention to how she moved she just stabbed.   And sliced.   And chopped.   Quickly and erratically.   Until with a thud of her hand against wood, one of her strikes landed so sloppily that that blade itself was rattled from her hand and fell into the knee-high grass of the yard.   

“Fuck!”    K grunted as she squinted down, unable to see through the thick fog, let alone the sea of overgrown grass beneath it.      She bent down to blindly reach through the grass for the blade.     Even her keen eyes could not help her navigate the oppressive haze.    As she fumbled in the grass, her ear twitched.   Clear and distinct.   A sound that seemed out of place.   She’d gotten used to the chirping of birds, insects and frogs.    But this was something different.  

Chime.    

K quickly stood up straight and began to try to peer through the fog.      She stepped around to see if she might find a pocket of visibility.    A gust of wind brushed by and stirred the fog around her slightly.   

Chime.   

Then another gust, stronger than the last seemed to sweep the fog directly towards her with a biting chill.    K lifted her hand to cover her eyes and turn away from the onslaught of wind and fog.    

Chime.

The winds suddenly went still and she lowered her hand.  Her eyes opened and a figure stood before her obscured by the fog, standing not but mere inches from her.   She flinched and jumped back.    She whipped around quickly - as if to flee, only to spot the same figure in her path.    She jumped again, stumbling into the tall grass.     

Chime.

K stood back up quickly, and glanced around in front of her.    The fog had lifted slightly, and some sunlight had managed to spill into the dilapidated training yard.   She exhaled in relief.   Only for such relief to be stolen from her quickly.   

A hand gripped her shoulder from behind and a chill ran down her spine.   Her heartbeat quickened and instinct took over.    She was prepared to sprint.    Until she heard the voice.   

“K, you dropped something.”    It was Vel.   Which was a mild relief.    At least she knew who it was, though she had not wanted anyone to spot her out here, or know what she’d been doing.    Vel’shand was firmly on K’s shoulder.    More firm than K realized the monk was capable of squeezing.    She winced and turned around to look at the woman.   Vel was holding the blade K had dropped.    K figured if anyone was capable of navigating a haze of fog and winds - it was likely Vel.   

“What are you doing here?”    K asked quietly as she tried not to show that she’d been rattled by the mistweaver’s antics.    

“I train here from time to time, it is out of the way, as you seem to have discovered.”   

“The sun is barely out.”   K muttered in response.   

“That is when I usually wake up.   And traditionally that is when I train.    Though as surprised as you may be to see me, I am more surprised to see you awake at all at this hour let alone seeing you hack and slash with all the grace of an ogre.”

K glanced away, but Vel’s grip tightened on her shoulder.   K nodded.    She tried to pull back slightly and Vel let up, releasing K from her grip.    K took a breath.   She wasn’t sure what that was all about.    But she didn’t expect to fully understand Vel.    

“I was just messing around.”

Vel tilted her head to the left, then to the right.   

“Conventional wisdom would suggest messing around and daggers do not mix well.”    She paused and eased up on K’s shoulder, “but I am not a conventional creature….   besides, blades are preferable to guns… though may not in -your- hands based on what I’ve observed.”   

Vel paused, “What are you trying to accomplish?”

Had the monk seen her do this before?   K wasn’t sure.   And she did not want to ask for fear of revealing herself.    She also didn’t know how to respond to Vel’s question.    So she just blurted out the truth.   

“I don’t want anyone to hurt Elsie, and there are still others like Fleuretta.   Elsie says they hate her but she doesn’t want to kill them.”   K cut herself off.  

“And -you- do…?”   

Vel’s eyes felt piercing.   As if she were staring through K’s skull.    She hated the way she asked questions and trailed off towards the end.    She was never sure if she was done or not.    Never sure if it was rhetorical or the start of another thought.     

“You’re not…. made for this kind of thing K.”    Vel stated before K could answer.   “Play to your strengths.”    Vel tossed Elsie’s blade upwards and caught it by the blade, she offered the hilt towards K.    

K couldn’t help but let her irritation show.    The monk sounded so dismissive.   Who was she to tell her what to do.   To tell her what she was good at.   

“I can’t.    I can’t just let it go, there was a void elf that the person at the bar mentioned.   For all I know they could be another Fleuretta.   I need to make sure no one else comes after her over who she used to be.   What do you think they are going to do if they realize she killed Fleuretta?”   

K stared at Vel.   The fog had nearly lifted now, and the sun was starting to actually illuminate the little training yard.   A few flickers of light bounced off the bells in the monks hair making her face impossible to even see let alone read.   Not that K had ever had much luck in trying that.    

“Tell me K.”    She stepped closer and her voice softened.   “What do you think you’re going to do?   For all you know this other creature at the bar has no relation to Elsylynn or her past.   And even if they did, how do you intend to find them?”   

She actually sounded genuinely curious, so K offered up her answer.   She had come to learn that Vel appreciated things that were given thought and K had given this matter some thought.   

“I am going to steal her military records, that way I can see who was in her unit when she was on the Broken Shore.   I will see which ones are still alive, and then…”.   K trailed off.   

“You will hunt them down?   One by one?   Like some assassin that can’t even keep a dagger in her hand when hitting a stationary target?”    Vel didn’t sound mocking in her tone despite the words feeling mocking.

“I can’t let them come for her.   I can’t see her like that again.   What would you do?”    Desperation crept into K’s voice.   

Vel didn’t answer right away, she turned away.    “You will get yourself killed K.    And that would be a massive waste of your actual talents.    Though to answer your question, my plan likely would not differ much from yours.   Getting her military record is a good idea by the way.   In order to identify possible threats.   But it’s presumptive to assume them to all be like Fleuretta.   And even if you were a murderer K, which, I do not think you are, all of those creatures served in the military and all have more training in combat than you do.   They will kill you.    Not the other way around.    And some may understand her situation.   You can’t just assume they are all - problems.   Though, if it were me, I probably would too…”.  Vel trailed off.   

K glanced at Elsie’s blades in her hands.   She couldn’t help but notice just how awkward it felt to hold them.    She tightened her grip on them and shook her head.   “I have too.   I have to do it, to help her.    I will get better at this.”    

Vel sighed and began to drift through the bits of fog that still lingered.    She turned her head back to glance  over her shoulder at K.   Those mismatched hues again seemed to peer straight into K’s skull.    

“I do not want to lose a promising assistant.  But K, you are not an assassin, at least…. not as you are now.   You are not a killer, and that’s fine.    You are sharp, and have good eyes and ears and can get along with most creatures.   You can even understand them, and relate.   There is a warmth in you, that is a rare sort of skill…”.  The monk trailed off and closed her eyes for a moment.   

K waited.   She knew the cadence of Vel’s voice well enough to know more was coming.   

“But I am not going to tell you which path to take.   If you believe this is what you must do, I only ask that you don’t get yourself killed…”.  

Vel opened her eyes again.    K lowered the blades to her sides as she listened.   But Vel only left her with one last bit of advice.   

“And try to make sure that you don’t become so lost in your desire to keep Elsie safe that you become the part of herself that she hates.”    

Chime.

Chime.   

She could hear the monk’s bells chime as she walked back into the town hall.    K was left standing in the little training yard, holding Elsie’s daggers.    Vel’s words weren’t entirely lost on her, but a darkness gnawed at her from within.   Her mind replayed the same moment over and over - where she saw Elsie laying in the mud out in the Wetlands.    She couldn't live with the idea of having to see that again.     

She could hear Elsie’s request still ringing in her ears from the night she woke up.    ‘Get rid of them’, she’d said of her blades.   K gripped them harder.    She realized she wasn’t good at this, and self-education wasn’t likely the best approach.     She would seek out a tutor if she needed to.   For now though, she slipped the two blades into her pockets. 

@elsylynneverbright

[newcaptainofsquad9]

Home With You Again~Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau-Part 1 (Avengers Endgame) Spoiler Warning!

Paring: Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Talos, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Peter Parker, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Nick Fury

Summary: (SPOILER WARNING) After Carol returns to Earth she finds out that both Maria and Monica were lost in the snap. She and the other Avengers successfully kill Thanos, but Carol goes overboard in a fit of rage. She manages to calm down, going into space to help out those who were affected by the snap. She now helps planets whenever she can, while drowning herself in her own sorrows and self pity. Abruptly, the Avengers need her help with Thanos from another timeline and she realizes that they reversed the snap, giving her a chance to see her lover and daughter again. 

Word Count: 1,923

Writer’s Note: Lot’s of angst, a sad Carol but there will be fluff too :). It’s a bit disjointed, but we all needed this in Endgame people I hope I delivered. 

Carol glances down at the grass as she watches Tony and Pepper embrace. She would have flown through the galaxy, battling the stars, Kree and rogues all over again just to take Maria in her arms. But, all she came home to was dust, ash and a burnt pan where she assumed Maria was cooking. Tears escaped her, along with the glow of her hands that can with the frustration and anger she felt. She grabbed Maria’s cellphone, calling Monica, yet she didn’t answer. Her boyfriend, Tom picked up, frantic about Monica crumbling to dust in front of him. Carol let the anger consume her wholly, firing a photon blast through the ceiling of Maria’s kitchen before leaping into the air with a bone curdling scream. 

...

“You didn’t have me,” Carol says to the Avengers numbly. 

“Look, new girl,” Rhodey starts, “we’re all about that superhero life but what-”

Carol cut him off.

“You think I wanted to be out there! Away from my family while they disappeared? I’m getting that son of a bitch whether you’re with me or not.”

Steve’s jaw tightens but he nods.

“She’s right, let’s get the son of a bitch,” he agreed. 

...

They caught Thanos alone. He was cooking something when Carol busted through his hut. All fire, hardly waiting for the avengers to catch up with her. A few photon blasts knocked him to the floor and Carol was on him again, arms firmly around his neck. Steve, Rhodey, Natasha, and Thor arrive. 

“Where are the stones?” Steve asked.

Carol’s grip on Thanos tightened, nearly strangling him to death.

“Answer. Him,” she growled. 

“Gone- I-I destroyed them,” Thanos said, “i-if y-you’re here now then, I was successful-”

“Damnit!” Carol roared.

It happened quickly. Thor tried to rush in first, eyes glowing blue with the lightning of Stormbreaker around him. Carol’s move was swift, snapping Thanos’ neck before Thor could reach. She let the titan’s lifeless body drop, as Thor chopped off his head. 

“The fuck was that!” Rhodey shouted.

“He’s better that way,” Carol said bluntly, “I avenged our family, friends, half of the world.”

“Carol,” Steve started.

Carol didn’t listen as she flew back into the air.

...

Talos found Carol in a bar on planet Krylor, drowning herself in the sorrows of whatever fine drinks she could get her hands on. He cringed when he found her, hunched over the bar with a friend, in silver armor, Brunnhilde. 

“To the new Queen of New Asguard!” Carol beams as she downs her drink in one gulp. 

Brunnhilde gives Captain Marvel a small smile. 

“I’m worried about him,” she says, “all he does is drink and play-- what are those things you mortals use to?”

“Video Games,” Carol bellows.

She finally notices Talos glaring at her. 

“If you needed me you could have--”

“Paged you. You’re always in between planets, even got a new hair cut,” Talos says as he sits next to Carol.

Carol runs a quick hand through her now short hair. 

“I had that hair for over twenty five years, it got in the way and I needed a change,” she says. 

“I like it,” Talos says before looking to Brunnhilde, “you’re in company of a Queen, eh?”

Carol nods, “Talos, Brunnhilde. My best friend, saved him back in ‘95. Brunnhilde, Queen of New Asguard, met her back--”

Carol cut herself off, staring down at the bar. 

“Five years ago,” she whispers.

Talos glares between the two women. Brunnhilde takes the hint and rises from the bar. 

“Well, New Asguard isn’t going to govern itself,” she says.

Before Brunnhilde leaves she puts a hand on Talos’ shoulder. 

“Good luck.”

Talos gives her a sharp nod before stalking out. 

“Seriously, is everyone all right?” Carol asks. 

“We’re hanging in there Carol, better than we were a few years ago. Thanks to you,” Talos says.

Carol shrugs.

“It’s all I can do now. Krylor still needs supplies-- I’m so close to finding more harvests for them. I need to.”

She rises, but Talos stops her.

“Carol. Breathe,” he instructs. 

Carol gives him a hard look and sits back down, twirling the drink in her cup around. 

“You lied you know,” he says, “I’m not your best friend.”

Carol scoffs, “just take the complement.”

“I think you know where I’m getting at,” he banters, “remember when I went through that head of yours? Fogged up memories of flying aircrafts, cart racing and long karaoke nights with--”

“Don’t,” Carol warns, cutting Talos off. 

Talos purses his lips.

“You’re gonna have to talk about her eventually,” he suggests, “my wife and daughter miss them too-”

“Talos,” Carol says, voice teetering on the edge of cracking, “Please all I can think about is--” 

Carol cuts herself off with a silent sob. She puts a hand on her face and exhales.

“Say it, tell me,” Talos whispers. 

Carol chuckles, wiping her damp and red eyes.

“Why are you making me do this?” she asks.

Talos’ eyes soften as he squeezes Carol’s hand.

“You may be the strongest I’ve ever known Carol, but you’re still human. Still flesh and bone, you don’t need to hold your emotions in anymore. I thought you got Yon-Rogg out of your head already?”

“I thought I did, but I could never stop thinking about them. I loved Maria, fuck I still do but--”

Carol cut herself off again.

“Go on,” Talos urges, “what are you thinking?”

“I have this dream of seeing them again,” Carol reflects, “God, Lieutenant Trouble’s really grown now, I didn’t even get to formally meet her boyfriend yet-- and Maria-- I just want her in my arms again. I want to be home with her again.” 

“Will you ever go back?” Talos asks, “to Earth, I mean just as a temporary stay?”

Carol shakes her head.

“I doubt that Talos, the Avengers have Earth covered and I have the rest of the galaxy there’s no need to--”

Carol gets cut off by the beeping of her phone, Natasha lent her one when she last visited Earth. Her eyes widened as she took it out. 

“I have to get to Earth, now,” she says.

Talos is up with her. 

“Be careful, Carol,” he says.

She doesn’t need it, they both know that. But, Carol accepts it anyway and embraces Talos tightly.

“Thank you, Talos.”

...

Carol went binary in a millisecond while crashing through Thanos’ warships. She surveyed the battlefield, looking for this Thanos from another timeline. 

“Danvers, we could use an assist,” Steve says. 

Carol nods, swooping down and spotting Spiderman, clutching onto the gauntlet for dear life. 

“Hi there, I-I’m Peter Parker,” he croaks.

Carol’s eyes softened for a moment. Here was this kid in the middle of a battlefield, bruised and afraid. God, he reminded her of Monica when she fell off of her bike years ago. 

“Hey Peter Parker, got something for me?” she asks.

Peter gets up and hands the gauntlet off to Carol, eyeing her in a mixture of admiration and concern. 

“um, uh ms--what’s your name?”

Carol grinned at him as she took the gauntlet and tucked it under her arm.

“Captain Marvel,” She declares.

Peter frowns, “ah, of course you used the fake name-- Cap, how are you gonna get through that alone?”

Carol turns toward the battle field, all of Thanos’ army waiting and Thanos himself. 

“Well, Peter--”

“She’s got help,” a voice says.

Carol turns as the other heroines joined her. 

“Go ahead, we’ve got your back,” Okoye says.

Carol nods and flies forward, eyes glows as she pushes through. 

Thanos collides with her, the gauntlet flying from her grip as Carol recovers slightly. The titan goes for it, but she stops him, gripping his arms tightly in an act to subdue him. Thanos cringes and headbutts her. Carol doesn’t flinch before aiming to knock Thanos across the field. 

“Captain Marvel look ou--”

Peter’s plea didn’t get to Carol in time as Thanos peeled the power stone from his gauntlet, using it against her.

...

“Vel--Captain Marvel,” Peter pleas, shaking Carol helplessly.

Carol hops up, taking notice of Peter. His eyes were red, and face tear stained. 

“Parker, what happened,” Carol demanded, softly, yet firmly.

“M-Mr Stark he-- he used the stones h-he’s--”

Carol’s face grew white with shock and pain. Her fists clenched. She could have saved Stark again, but she was reckless. Again she couldn’t keep the ones she cared for safe. She watches Peter break down in sobs. She’s seen this before. Monica always ran to her while growing up, searching for her mother’s comfort. She does the only think she knows how to do in this situation. She brought Peter into her arms, rubbing his back and soothing him as he cried into her chest.

...

Carol watched from Stark’s porch as the eulogy ended. She kept her hands clasped together to keep them from trembling. 

“D-Don’t lie to me, Fury,” she growled.

Nick walked over to her.

“I���m here aren’t I,” he said in a matter of fact fashion, “everybody Thanos snapped from existence has returned.”

Carol’s eyes glossed as the tears rose up again. She put her fist against her mouth to keep her composure.

“F-Fury--”

“Go see her,” he said, “I’m sure she’d want some explaining, especially with that haircut.”

Carol laughs and wipes her tears.

“Thank you, Fury,” she said. 

Nick shrugged and gasped when Carol pulled him into her arms. He returned it fully. 

“Anytime Avenger, we could road trip for old times--” 

Carol shot up into the air.

“Sorry Fury, but I’ve been dreaming of this moment for five years,” Carol shouted before zipping off. 

...

Carol landed awkwardly, her black suit a little scorched and tattered from the trip, but she didn’t care. Maria’s house was in fine condition, even the hole Carol blew in the roof five years prior was gone. The door swung open and there she was, Maria Rambeau. Her fellow pilot, partner, best friend, lover. Her home. 

“C-Carol-- oh God--” Maria cried.

Carol ran up to her, taking the woman up into her arms in a warm embrace.

“I-It’s you, I missed your hugs,” Carol whispered into Maria’s neck.

“Carol, I-- I thought you were--”

Maria broke down as Carol pulled back to see her face. Her hair got longer, now coming down past her neck. Carol admired the muscle in her lover’s arms as well, noticing how tight she held on. She almost came to tears too, but she had to be strong now. For the both of them. 

“I’m here now,” she declared, “and I won’t leave and let anything like that happened again.”

Maria put on a weak smile and that was all it took for Carol to kiss her. Her hands found themselves around Maria’s waist, while Maria ran her hands through Carol’s now short hair. 

Maria pulled back breathlessly and gazed fondly into Carol’s eyes.

“Haircut?”

Carol chuckled, “Do you like it?”

Maria touched Carol’s cheek and gave it a quick once over. 

“I do, but it’s going to take some getting used to,” Maria said before betting her lip. 

Carol caught the hint and slyly grinned.

“Oh, I see,” she said before capturing Maria’s lips again.

The kiss grew more heated as Carol’s hand went to Maria’s thigh and Maria’s went to Carol’s chest.

“C-Carol, Carol, baby--look at me,” Maria said.

Carol pulled away, eyes screwed shut before opening them again. 

“I-I need you,” Carol whispered.

“We’ve got time, OK?”

Carol nodded and threw her arms around Maria again. 

[weaveroftruth]

Coming Undone

[Part 1][Part 2][More to come soon!]

ft. @velarishiku​

Rather long so I’ve broken it into a couple of posts. Contains snippets of Vel’s backstory!

The trip home was spent in silence, with Jade occasionally petting Ban'nin. Her silent praise for him being a good boy. The only thing she could rely on at that moment and one that she would lose if this were to be the end. She wouldn't take Ban'nin away from Vel and leave her with nothing, she had Kuu after all…

She paused for a moment to stare at their home, wondering if it would become a house again before she moved inside, placing Ban'nin down as she took a seat on the couch downstairs. She frowned slightly as Vel tried to snuggle up against her, but she couldn't deny the slight relief that came at the woman's warmth… 

"U-u-um... S-s-s-so..." Vel tried to start before stopping as if she noticed the frown on Jade's face.

"So?" Jade raised an eyebrow, her voice still terse to keep herself from crying. She watched as Vel seemed to pull away, standing before her instead, which caused her to switch her seating position, leaning back into the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.

"S-so.. I-I... I'm... actually... U-Um... o-o-over.. 150 y-years old... I-I've seen l-lots of th-things, a-and... I-I.... I-I've never t-told anyone..."

"Seems like you have a lot to tell me then, hm?" 

As Vel continued to talk, almost rambling and stuttering all the while, mentioning Alexander and working for him, Jade stood as well, nodding to Vel to continue as she made her way into her office, sneaking into her stash of alcohol to pull out the bottle of whiskey which she returned to the couch with, taking a sip. 

"W-w-where.. did you get that...?"

"Do you really think that's the important issue right now..?" 

She winced as she noticed the flinch from Vel. She could tell how nervous the woman was, and she was sure the anger coming through in her voice wasn't helping, but it felt like everything she had built was crumbling down around her. There was another sip taken from the bottle before Jade focused her eyes on Ban'nin sleeping on the floor nearby.

"I don't think you're lying... You haven't shown me any signs of this being bullshit..." Her eyes misted over as she frowned slightly. "When were you going to tell me, Vel? When I finally noticed that you didn't seem to age?" Another sip from the bottle. "Or would you run away from me before then so I wouldn't need to learn the truth?"

"I-I-I d-don't know... I-'ve... I've never told anyone... E-ever... I-I d-didn't know how... O-or when... I-I'm sorry..." 

Vel's last word came out almost like a sob as tears began to stream down the half-elezen's cheek. Jade took pity, patting the seat next to her. "Here, sit." Jade continued to drink from the bottle for a moment or two, just sitting in silence. She was unsure how to process everything, and her emotions had shut down.

 "Explain it more to me, Vel... How'd it even come to be?"

Vel rambled some more, talking about a noblewoman that she helped while she was still in the Flames, that asked for an escort to the Dravanian Hinterlands, leading to Alexander, almost as a test of sorts. It sounded crazy, and Vel seemed to think the same when she asked if it did to Jade.

Jade almost didn't want to believe her, but Vel… Vel wasn't the type to make up something like this, was she..? She was lost momentarily, unsure of what was even real anymore. Taking another sip from the bottle, the whiskey burned at her throat. She went over everything she knew about Vel in her head. The woman's knowledge, her strength, her aether. She wondered if that was the reason Vel's aether was messed up. 

It was known to both of them that Vel had an immense aether pool, but no way of using it properly, even teleporting was difficult for the half-elezen. She'd noticed how Vel could only teleport between aetherytes and aethernet shards, never to an aetheryte from somewhere in the wilds, and she always seemed fatigued from it… She questioned her on it, only to discover Vel wasn't sure and her mind continued to overthink for a while, thinking over their entire relationship… The last year… Her fingers tapped against the bottle.

"A year... Vel... A year. We're engaged..." Jade's voice was hollow, almost devoid of all emotion as her emotions shut down. Everything was too much to take in, and her old coping strategies were coming back into play. Numb was always easier. Alcohol helped with that. 

"I.. I-I'm.. I'm s-s-sorry..." came the reply from Vel, but she didn't want apologies right now. She didn't know what she wanted except to be alone, to drink, to allow herself to cry… If she could even allow herself to feel enough to cry right now. She looked away as Vel began to openly weep, unsure how to deal with it. Instead, her eyes focused on the clock on the wall, taking note of the time.

"I think you should go up to bed and we'll talk some more tomorrow... I need some time to think..."

She could feel Vel's eyes look away from her, although she was unsure where they focused before returning to her form until Vel spoke.

"I... I-I d-don't want to leave y-you.. w-with that..."

"Vel... Please... Take Ban'nin and go." Her voice cracked slightly, realising it sounded like she was telling Vel to leave, but she didn't want that… Did she? What did she want right now..? She wasn't sure… She didn't know. She just wanted time to think, to make sense of everything…

"P-Please... P-please d-don't m-make me go... I-I d-don't want.. t-to leave..." The begging almost broke Jade into pulling Vel into her arms and telling her that it would all be okay. She wasn't sure if that would be a lie though, and she didn't want to lie to Vel, not about this.

"You don't have to leave the house, Vel, and I haven't decided what the outcome is going to be here... But for now, I need to think... So please... Go upstairs." 

She could feel Vel move off the couch before she watched as the woman picked up the puppy and made her way up the stairs. She took a huge swig from the bottle, relishing in the burning in her throat, a feeling of sorts. Something that reminded her that this was real… She could hear Vel begin to shuffle around in the kitchen upstairs as she continued to drink from the bottle, trying to come to terms with what Vel had told her…

Over a hundred and fifty years old..? Working for Alexander, a primal..? In different timelines..? Was her partner tempered..? Was this even real..? Was Vel lying to her to hide something else..?

It was all too much, and the alcohol was beginning to hit her hard now as the room started to blur, whether from tears, or whiskey in her system, or both, she wasn't sure. Refusing to think about it anymore, she curled up on the couch, falling into a restless sleep.

[i-writing-is-hard-i]

Blood Traitor pt4

Summary:  You are Draco’s older sister.  A pureblood Witch, without the prejudice and anti-muggle beliefs of your family. Who just so happened to fall in love with none other than a blood traitor, just to complicate matters more Voldemort has returned.  What will you do?

okay, I suck at writing descriptions,

[Disclaimer] Mentions of sex, violence, and hints of torture, I may have screwed up the timeline somewhere along the way, and no one dies, because, thats sad

[Begining]  - [Previous] - [Next]

Part 4:

It was nearing the end of school, the last challenge was a week away.  You and George were sitting in your private room, talking about the holidays, about how you two would keep in contact with each other.  You agreed your owl would be the delivery owl, and you two came up with deliberately stupid fake names for each other, it was a bit of an inside joke.

“What about next year” you asked after a while of comfortable silence,

“What do you mean?”  George asked in return, a first he thought the worse.  

“All this sneaking around, it’s a pain” you replied. “Well, it will only be one more year, right?.  After that we won’t have to hide it, Fred and I are getting our own place, if we can ever get our bloody shop opened” George explained, he tried to sound more cheerful, but he didn’t really feel it, it would be a rather awkward conversation to be having with his family.  

“Just one more year” you placed your head on his shoulder, hiding your face.

“Just one more year” George repeated.  You felt him press his lips against your hair, and his arm tightening around you.  It only just occurred to you that, you were both talking about being together in a year's time, after school.  It made you happy, in such a short time, you couldn’t imagine not being with him.  

“What’s brown and sticky?” George suddenly asked you lifted your head up.   “Dunno’ what?” you asked back, already smiling.

“A Stick” George looked pleased with himself.

“That was terrible, Weasley” you giggled.

“Made you laugh though” he winked, he pressed a kiss on your nose, making you giggle more.  You gave him a playful slap, before resting against him again.  The subject changed to a much lighter topic.  The champions.  George was the only one that knew that you were rooting for Harry.  You two speculated what the last challenge could be, of course, George came up with ridiculous things, making you laugh.

You noticed it was starting to get dark, it was time to go your separate ways.

“We should go” you pointed out.  George’s gripped around you tightened,

“Yeah I suppose” he finally said, but he didn’t let you go.  

“Georgie” your tone was light.  Sighing he finally let you stand up, getting up himself.  As you bent down to grab your bag, George grabbed you, pulling you into a deep kiss and a tight hug.

“Just over a year, then we can see each other anytime we want,” he said.

“Something to look forward too” you smiled in return.  After another kiss, the two of you went back to your dorms.  

It was finally the night of the final challenge.  All the students sat excited looking over to the maze.  Your eyes kept drifting over to George who was sitting with his family.  That didn’t stop him looking over to you though.  You were a little concerned that you wouldn’t have time to see each other before the end of the school year.  A bright light drew your attention back to the maze, someone was wanting to escape.  There were a few speculations on who is was, a lot of those around you hoped it was Harry Potter.  It was Fleur, it seemed like no time at all when another light shot up, moments later Viktor’s name was called.  There were a few cheers from the Hogwarts students,

The last two seemed to be taking ages, you could see the teachers getting anxious.  Dumbledore was talking to one of them, they kept looking over to the maze and sky, waiting for something.  They weren’t the only ones looking concerned, the crowd had gone silent.

“Wonder what’s taking so long?” BFF/N asked

“Dunno”

“You don’t think something bad happened?” she continued.  

“Nah, there’s a load of regulations now”  you turned to her, without meaning to your eyes drifted to George he was already looking past Fred at you.  Giving you a wink, making you smile.  BFF/N hadn’t noticed, thankfully she was too busy looking out at the maze again.

Suddenly there was a popping noise.  There on the ground sat Harry, lying beside him was Cedric.  He wasn’t moving,, something wasn’t right.  Teachers charged towards them, crowding him.  You could hear Harry say something, ‘He’s back?’

The stands around you buzzed with questions, suddenly there was a scream.  Cedric Diggory was dead, but how? you watched as Cedric’s father ran down crying, denying it.  It broke your heart to watch.

“He’s back, Voldemort, He’s back” Harry Cried, you barely caught it, doubting it was what he actually said, but those closer gasped,

You watched as Harry was taken away by Professor Moody.  While you and the other students were ushered back to the castle.  Some students were crying, others speechless, wild speculations were being thrown about.

Back in your common room, most of the students stayed to talk, sharing crazy ideas of what really happened.  Some believed Harry was the guilty one, lying about Voldemort’s return.  You may not have known Harry personally, but you didn’t see him doing what they were accusing him off.

The next morning everyone was talking about last night, there were no classes for the rest of the week, but most weren’t in the mood to celebrate.  In particular the Hufflepuff students.  You watched them from your own table, you knew

There were some missing, others looked so said, it wasn’t just them, a lot of the students were sad, Cedric was pretty popular.  You turned your attention to the Gryffindor table, but you couldn’t see any of the Weasleys.  ‘They must be with Harry’ you thought.  After breakfast, you headed back to your room to pack everything you could.  After that, you went for a walk alone, while BFF/N spent time with her boyfriend.  

You walked around the grounds for a while, everyone was talking about what had happened, what really was happening, more crazy ideas.  

Without meaning to you had walked to yours and George’s meeting spot, you knew he wouldn’t be there, he had more important things to be dealing with.  So why did you end up here?  It was a good place to be alone, so you decided to stay pulling out your book.  You had hoped that you would see him again before the holidays, but you understood was busy.  You tried to read the novel in your hands, but your mind wasn’t there.  You couldn’t help but think about if Voldemort was back.  Your father was a death eater before, even though he lied saying he was under Voldemort’s control, you knew he had voluntarily joined his mad crusade, and he would most likely join again, was the one of those who brought him back?.  Did he know this was going to happen?  Would he even of told you if he did?.

You tried reading again, but the door swung open, your heart hit your chest, thankfully it was only George. “Y/N, Did you know?” he suddenly asked.

“What?” you asked,

“That he was coming back?” he asked again.

“He’s really back?” you asked in return, worried.  George heard the sincerity in your voice.  

“Harry says so, I believe him” George calmed down, approaching you.

“How is he?” you whispered,

“He's alive, at least”  George replied.  He had stopped in front of you, but there was still an unusual distance between you.  Did he think you were lying?

“Y/N, I, Uh” he stuttered, but you knew what he was going to say.

“I’m not my family” you stated. “If they choose to follow Voldemort again, I won’t be joining them”

George flinched at Voldemort’s name.

“Even if it means going against your family,” he asked skeptically.

“I love them, I know you don’t like them, and most of the time I don’t like them, but I do love them, but I also know what the right thing to do is, and what Voldemort want is very, very wrong” you explained.

George believed you.

“I am sure Aurors will stop him before it gets out of hand” George smiled, you nodded in agreement.  He finally wrapped his arms around you holding you tightly, which you returned happily.  You felt him press his lips against your hair before he pulled away.

“This will probably be the last time we see each other” George’s tone was sorrowful

“We can write” you smiled, feeling sad yourself

George pulled away setting himself down, dragging you with him.

“Don’t you need to get back?” you asked  

“Not right now”.

The two of you simply cuddled for a while in silence, before George had to leave again, pulling you into a long kiss first/  he pressed his forehead against yours, catching his breath.  Just before he pulled open the door, he turned to you.

“What do you call birds that stick together?” he was smirking,

“Don’t know what?” you smiled, ready for the cheesy joke.

“Vel-crows”

“Weasley, that was terrible” you giggled,

“Made you laugh though” he smiled at you, then left.  You really were going to miss him this summer.

You swear you had just blinked and you were already in the dining hall for the last time, Dumbledore gave a speech, but it wasn’t like his normal, cheerful speech.  This one was about Cedric and Voldemort.  He pretty much confirmed his return, then he mentioned Moody.  Who turned out to be Barty Crouch jr, a former Voldemort ally, who everyone thought was dead.  The night before leaving was already a sad one, this time though, was far worse.  There was a heaviness in the air.  

[aotig]

The Royal Hunters and the Mysterious Bacteria

It drew close to mid day when the sunlight shines brightest into the Reef. Felwinter and Lilith were preparing to head out back into space after a night’s rest as they began to slot on the new armour they acquired from their night in the trials of Osiris. Felwinter smiled to himself as he held the Cobra’s Vigil Hood in his hands. He caught Lilith staring at him in the moment and they both exchanged a wide smile to each other as Felwinter adjusted his hood onto his head. It has been far too long since Felwinter slipped into any of the Pariah gear he has owned and the feel of the soft shimmering silk of his robes fitted him just right. He considers it one of his more sacred garments and Lilith knew it too. As the duo stepped into the light with their new gear sets, The gold fabric on Felwinter’s robes shone so brightly, it reflected the light onto Jolder’s face as he waited patiently outside the Reef for the both of them. Irritated by its reflection, even Jolder couldn’t help but admire the majestic beauty of the Cobra’s Vigil Robe. It was a rare day to see a Warlock decked in gear, inspired by the rulers of ancient Egypt. A desolated part on Earth, whose great civilisation was now only a thing of the past. Only spoken of in the books of Earth’s history.

Echo and Paskin, a wolf baron were also in the Reef as they glanced towards Felwinter and greeted him in the middle of their conversation. Out of no where the skies darken as a ship came to a screeching halt as it flung Rogue Vex onto the Reef. As it docked, Vel Castro’s ship came seconds after Rogue Vex made it on the ground. Rogue Vex look distressed and dropped to his knees moaning in pain. Echo was the nearest to him and rushed to his aid. Rogue Vex’s pain became worst by the second as he tried to contain himself, he let out a second cry as Echo held him still as she did a diagnostic scan on him. This time Vel Castro and IDA teleported out of his ship once he set it to auto-docked. “Do you have any antidotes on you?” Vel Castro asked quickly.

Echo was already scrambling through her inventory frantically for any semblance of healing essences or medicinal agents she could find. In her panic, she blurted back, hoping that it might take his mind off the stress that was already settling in. “Err...maybe?? Did you manage to find out the identity of the Exo stranger??” Unfazed by her question, Vel Castro shot back a quick “no” as he knelt down beside Echo and tried to help Rogue Vex sit down properly. But the pain kept persisting and Rogue Vex went into shock as he fell onto the ground. Just then, a voice in the shadows shot out towards Echo and Vel Castro. “What did you do to him?!” as the figure slowly revealed herself as she stepped out into the light. Vel Castro’s blood red eyes widen as Echo shouted “nothing!”, still frantically searching her inventory. “YOU?!” Vel Castro shouted as he let go of Rogue Vex. He leaped towards the figure and did a quick manoeuvre to pin her down. It was the Exo stranger! Placing his hand cannon to her head, he aggressively asked why she was here but the Exo stranger didn’t answer him nor did she put up a fight. Echo pulled the both of them apart and IDA backed Vel Castro up to a corner. Echo signalled to the stranger to stay back while Vel Castro composed himself. The stranger showed her hands where she could see them but stood still as Rogue Vex held his arm tightly, he tugged onto IDA’s leg as she backed near him. He conjured with all he could muster as IDA placed her ears near him...”I can’t move...” he whispered.

A new ship entered the Reef’s atmosphere and out came two men, as their feet touched the ground an unmistakable clink sound caught Echo’s ear. With her quick reflex, she shroud everyone around her with an invisibility cloak. “Royal hunters!!” she thought to herself. And true enough, they walked down the Reef in their signature cloaks. A Vanguard insignia on the crest of their hoods and flowing off on the back of them. “They’re here for us!” She hissed at everyone looking confused as why they started to turn invisible, not knowing there were two royal hunters on the other end of the Reef. Echo pointed straight in the other direction as everyone’s senses heightened and they quietly crouched down and moved quietly towards her. It was in those moments that the stranger saw an opening and teleported out of sight, out of mind.

On any other occasion, Echo could roam freely in her invisibility but with the extension of her abilities it was taxing on her physical strength and made it almost impossible for her to move. With her arms focused outwardly, she could only shake her head to signal to everyone to move closer to her. Echo quickly realised that she missed Rogue Vex who was lying in plain sight on the floor among the people that blocked her sight from him. He was visible to the royal hunters and the commanding officer called his comrade to apprehend Rogue Vex. As the royal hunter approached, Rogue Vex pleaded with his life and his responsibilities to his family back at home but not a care was given to him as the royal hunter picked him up.

Echo felt his pain and gasp as Rogue Vex was manhandled by the royal hunter, she flinched and lost her concentration for a split second, along with her ability to shield herself from the commanding officer. In a fit of anger, the commanding officer was in fumes, how could he could be fooled by such optical trickery?! He fired a tether in her direction as everyone saw the tether a mile away and leaped behind a pile of crates, dodging the radius of the tether. Echo was weakened by the tether and everyone lost their invisibility but were safe from the enemy’s sight.

“Get her!” The commanding officer yelled. The royal hunter took six steps towards Echo as she struggle and fought her way out of the tether but to no avail. Echo tried dodging the hunter’s grasp left and right which annoyed the royal hunter quite a lot. He threw on a mechanical device which locked her wrist together immediately as cuffs would and dragged her to the officer by her wrist. “Leave that filthy body, we have no use for him.” the commanding officer ordered. Dropping Rogue Vex on the ground med way, Rogue Vex couldn’t help but imagine a world of hurt for Echo if she were sent to the Tower with no allies. He shot back with all he could muster, “YY..YYE..SS YOU..UU DOO!! ZZ..ZAVAA..LA WAA..ANTS ME!!”. The two royal hunters looked at each other and without taking any chances, the hunter walked back to retrieve him struggling on the floor and slung him over his shoulders as he march back to their ship.

Meanwhile when Echo was tethered to the ground, this gave Paskin and IDA enough time to to slowly sneaked inch by inch closer to the commanding officer. Trying to get a better look at what was happening behind all the crates, lucky for them the crates were scattered all the way to the other end of the Reef and they were almost close enough to execute an attack on both the royal hunters. Just as both the hunters readied themselves to be transported back to their ship, Paskin and IDA jumped out of cover to attack the hunters! In a fit of shock, both royal hunters let go of Echo and Rogue Vex in an attempt to shield themselves from their attacks...leaving them teleporting back to their ships thinking harm would come to them and empty handed. Both Paskin and IDA’s intentions all along was to surprise the royal hunters to drop their prisoners before they left the Reef. A success! “Kawaii!!” Paskin cried! “Senpai!” IDA shouted towards Vel Castro.

But the worst was not over as no one knew what was wrong with Rogue Vex! Paskin slowly rolled up his sleeves only to reveal a glaring white bacteria formation on his arm. “Paskin, help him!” IDA cried out in shock. No one has ever seen a growth like that on an Exo-Vex in recorded history. It did however bear similarities to a Vex’s genetic structure, IDA was sure of it and using her Exo sights magnified on a cellular level...it seems like the Vex bacteria has been spreading in Rogue Vex at a rapid pace! Vel Castro quickly shape shifted into a dire wolf and sat beside Rogue Vex as he agonised in pain. He knew he couldn’t do much but he knew his fur could soothe Rogue Vex’s pain while the others scrambled to find a solution. Rogue Vex held Vel Castro tight as MrMostwanted11 approach the lot in the Reef. “What happened? What’s wrong with Rogue Vex” as he looked at IDA. MrMostwanted11 kept his distance until he saw the royal hunters of the Vanguard left. It was a smart move on his end, and his timing reaching the Reef couldn’t be better. He carried Rogue Vex with both arms as they teleported to the Medical Bay in the Reef.

The medic that attended to them was equally puzzled by the white bacteria affecting Rogue Vex, he quickly helped MrMostwanted11 to lay him on a medical table as he ran to get a doctor. Everyone knew no standard doctor would be able to treat Rogue Vex’s symptoms, and it was spreading further to his chest by the second! J17yog was the go-to man on all things Vex related and MrMostwanted11 knew it too. He quickly took out his comms and sent an emergency beacon to J17yog once the medic ran out of the room. There was just no time to waste.

2 lightyears later, everyone heard a ship warping into the Reef, and J17yog came rushing into the Medical Bay with his comms in his hands checking on the coordinates of MrMostwanted11. “Found you!” J17yog thought. IDA used her eye to project Rogue Vex’s cells to get J17yog up to speed. He noted that it was also an aggressive bacteria and the Exo cells in Rogue Vex were quickly taken over. J17yog ran out of the Medical Bay and teleported back to his base to retrieve the one weapon that he modded with Vex technology. A long blast from this literally ate into the cores of 3 Minotaurs once when J17yog was cornered, imagine what a pinch could do for the Vex bacteria!

J17yog quickly teleported back to the Reef and held Rogue Vex down, he quickly adjusted the blast of the Vex technology to a finite needle point. “Steeeeady” he muttered as he aim down Rogue Vex’s arm, and a white light engulfed the room as the weapon went off. Everyone was blinded by it but as it settled, everyone saw a faint smile on Rogue Vex’s face as the blinding light started to fade...

[weaveroftruth]

Coming Undone

[Part 1]

ft. @velarishiku​

Rather long so I’ve broken it into a couple of posts, with more to come from our next RP session. Contains snippets of Vel’s backstory!

There was an eagerness in her eyes as they travelled towards the Mists. Vel had mentioned wanting to take her somewhere, but wouldn't give her more information than that, other than requesting she bring a bikini.

At Vel's teasing that they were nearly there, her excitement bubbled over, and she pestered to know where they were going, causing Vel to cave and hand her a flyer.

The first thing she noticed was the words mentioning 'Seaside Aquarium' and then a lot of information about the fish they had and other things causing Jade to grin.

"An aquarium? I've never been to one! Come on, let's go!"

They made their way around the aquarium slowly, taking in all the sights and talking about the fish. Jade pointed out the ones she liked and ended up poking the top of one of the aurelia polyps, giggling all the while. The half-hyur was practically bouncing with excitement.

As they left, making sure to leave a message in the message book, Jade needed to burn off her excess energy and grinned cheekily at Vel before making a run for the nearby beach, stripping off her clothes in the process to reveal her bikini underneath before dumping them in the sand. Ban'nin, always the excited puppy, followed eagerly behind.

Vel was beside her a moment later, a smile on her face as she poked fun at how excited Jade was. Jade teased her back in return by splashing her with a cheeky grin on her face. She then embraced the woman.

"You're a meanie. But... I love you." Vel murmured.

There was always a sense of joy that filled her whenever Vel said those words to her. Almost like she could do anything with the woman by her side. Despite that, there was this worry that Vel preferred being away from her that ate away at her. The lonely nights lately hadn't been helping.

"I love you too, Vel-bell." She smiled, her eyes twinkling as she gazed into the bright green eyes of her fiancee.

"I'm glad I got to come here with you."

"Really, love? I sort of figured you'd prefer to be off adventuring or something..." She wanted to bite her tongue, almost kicking herself for voicing her concerns to Vel. Vel didn't need to hear them.

"Mm... You really think I like being away from you...?"

"I worry sometimes that you prefer it... I don't think I make a very good partner."

She was caught off-guard when Vel's hand was placed against her cheek.

"You're... You're the best thing to ever happen to me, you know? You're a wonderful partner." Vel's voice was soft as she spoke, causing a weak smile from the half-hyur.

"Do you truly think that, my love?"

"I've been alone for a long, long time, by choice. Do you think I would lie to you about this...? You're worth it... Worth everything. I-I'm so happy with you, Jade..."

Jade leaned in to place a soft kiss against Vel's cheek, nuzzling against her for a moment. "I'm so happy with you as well, Vel... So very happy..." Then there was a pause, as her mind kicked into overdrive, taking in Vel's choice of wording as she analysed the woman for a moment. "What's a long, long time..?"

"A-ah... W-w-well... It's... a-a long, long time, you know...?"

Vel's stutter was back. It was a clear sign that Vel was nervous. It caused her to detach from the half-elezen and swim back just a little bit as she raised an eyebrow, watching the woman flinch under her gaze.

"Your stuttering's back in full force, dear... That means you're nervous..." There was a frown curling onto her lips. "Are you hiding something from me, Velari?"

She watched as Vel averted her gaze, staring into the water as the half-elezen started making excuses. This wasn't right… It couldn't be… It couldn't be happening again, could it..? To form a connection with someone and watch it all go up in flames after discovering they were lying..? Granted, her only previous relationship, both of them had spent a year lying about their life… But she thought it would be different this time… She'd been honest from the start about who she was, who she'd been… Why was Vel hiding something..? And something that seemed to be significant from the "I'm not even sure you would believe me" that came from Vel's lips.

She wanted to get away, but she couldn't. She didn't want to face this. With a silent beckon to Vel, she made her way out of the water, making sure Ban'nin followed behind.

"Do you want to talk here, or at home?" There was a terseness to her voice, as her mind filled with chaos… She didn't want all her fears to be real, but she would push it down for now. The second Vel mentioned home, she dressed before picking up Ban'nin and beginning the journey home. She didn't look behind once for Vel, buried too deep in her anger and hurt.

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