#meanwhile the show toning it down a bit made things easier to follow and less eye straining

[smolstarthief]

Eh, since I took some screencaps of him in the main show minus well do a bonus with the Pilot. Have at it dears! (Part 1 because curse Tumblr image limit!)

[aseioh]

Of Cakes and Late Celebrations

Author’s Notes: This was supposed to be posted on Mother's day. But just like this fic, I got derailed and ended up being late. (picture taken from the internet)

It was Mother's day.

Or to be precise it will be Mother's day in 15 hours 25 minutes. It shouldn't be a problem for Alcina, she usually just buys something from the Duke to give to Mother Miranda.

Unfortunately, such a thing is not possible right now. The Duke was delayed with his routine arrival at the castle opening, something about a spooked horse and lycans trying to get a nibble.

Honestly she lost interest after the word delayed was spoken through the phone. How is she going to remedy this. The gift itself was one of the finest silk she was able to obtain, she was sure Mother would appreciate a new ritual robe.

This is bad. To show up without a gift on this special day. She was sure she would be made a mockery during the gathering. Whats worst was that fool Heisenberg would be the first to lead with his pathetic insults.

Just the thought made Alcina's blood boil.

”I should send Bela to switch that man's shampoo with dog shampoo. Although the man still smells like wet dog. No. I'll think of something more devious.“

But back to the matter at hand. It's almost Mother's day and she doesn’t have a gift. Taking a deep drag off her cigarette, she considers her dwindling options.

At western part of the village

Donna is also facing a similar problems.

"What do you mean you're not coming?! Where am I supposed to find a present at this hour?!" Angie's raspy voice filtered through the phone "do you know how hard it is to find a 1st edition book on occult and rituals."

"Apologies Miss Angie, but the horse spooked and the carriage suffered a broken wheel. Even if the servants manage to haul themselves your house to the Duke's location and back it would still be too late." The main servant said trying to sound as apologetic as he can come across.

"This would not do" Donna said finally in her normal voice.

Somewhere inside the Stronghold.

Karl Heisenberg was having a meltdown.

"YOU STUPID LYCANS! I GAVE YOU ONE JOB AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO IT RIGHT!!" Heisenberg paces around the small assembly hall. Ten Lycans looked very apologetic, although it was very hard to tell from their looks. One even lets out a soft whimper.

“I told you to stall The Duke for a while. I didn’t said to derail him completely. The man has a package for me, now how am I supposed to get it!?” Heisenberg seethes.

His plan was a simply one really. Stall The Duke so that he would arrive at Castle Dimitrescu late, that way Alcina would not get her package and present it to Mother Miranda. That would show her, a little payback for calling him a child.

What he didn’t count on was the utter incapability of the Lycans to follow simple directions. Now even he doesn’t have a gift. Oh Miranda’s gonna blow a gasket.

“Augh... I hate the consequences of my actions” He lamented

 At Moreau’s Reservoir

“NOOOOOOO!! That’s not fair, that’s not fair!!!” Moreau starts throwing his stuff on the floor. He had finally saved up his money to buy Mother Miranda that nice jewelry that would go perfectly with her black wings.

“Someone’s gonna pay” He vows to take revenge on the Lycans responsible for his problem.

 After all his pet fish has been hungry for some Lycan meat.

 Castle Dimitrescu (13 hours until Mother’s day)

“I have gathered you here today for a very important meeting” Alcina starts looking at the sad (Donna) and tearful (Moreau) faces of her so called ‘siblings’. Heisenberg is surprisingly calm which puts Alcina on high alert, but lets it slide in favour of the more pressing matter

“We have a big problem. The Duke will not arrive on time for Mother’s Day. That means all the presents we bought for Mother will not arrive”

“We need a solution, any ideas?”  

“We kill the Lycans responsible and feed them to my fish”

“Yes Moreau, but that’s after we solve this problem” Donna said and tries to placate a Moreau by patting him at the back.

“Whoa, that’s a bit dark but I like it. And Moreau is right, we’re gonna make fish food out of those Lycans” “Better off those basdards, after all I don’t want to implicate myself” Heisenberg thinks

“People, you’re missing the point here” Alcina says pinching her nose to ward off an incoming headache. “Listen, we don’t have time. You know Mother Miranda, She’ll say she wasn’t really expecting something and then low-key punishes us for missing the day. We don’t want a repeat of the 1967 incident do we?”

Moreau whimpers from the trauma.

Donna goes into a slight trance and starts to shake.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough” Heisenberg stands. “Why don’t we just bake something and say it’s from all of us”

 *beat*

“Do you know how to bake?”

“I work at the Factory, I make steel molds for a living how hard could it be?”

“That doesn’t answer my question Heisenberg”

“We could make a small doll” Donna pipes up

“Sorry Donna that would still take time. And I don’t think we have the right materials on such short notice.” Alcina says

“For someone who’s looking for a solution you sure are shooting down all of them”

“Because it’s not feasible Heisenberg.” Alcina huffs “Can you gather all the materials in less than 10 hours? No? Of course not”

“And I keep telling you just BAKE A CAKE!”

“I don’t know how to bake, child! I’m a BLOODY COUNTESS not hired help” Alcina bellows at Heisenberg

“I know how to bake”

Everyone turns to Donna.

“Really?”

“Of course, I used to watch my Mother bake cakes before the accident. I just need help decorating. I never got a hang of that part” Donna beams with pride as she explains the basics of baking

“And we can gather the ingredients no problem. You have a pantry here somewhere right Alcina?” Moreau asked

“Of course. We always have a full pantry for the servants.” At that Heisenberg looks at Alcina with a hint of disbelief

“What? We need them healthy to serve us. I’m not a complete monster.” Alcina defends

“In any case we should start early. It takes time to cool and decorating is hard”

 Castle Kitchen (12 hours 30 minutes before Mother’s Day)

It was truly a sight to see. In a way it was enough for the Castle’s servants to wet themselves in fear when they saw the 4 Lords gathered at the kitchen in various forms of concentration. Needless to say, everyone was warned to steer clear of the kitchen for now.

Moreau was together with Donna supporting her with mixing the wet ingredients. Meanwhile, at the other side of the cooking station Alcina and Heisenberg are charge of measuring out the dry ingredients.

“You need to be precise, don’t put too much. Remember what Donna said and look at the damn recipe”

“I know what I’m doing you damn woman. I’m all about precision. Why don’t you move away and get that mixing bowl at the top shelf.” Heisenberg grouched

“I’m not your servant. And I certainly will not start fetching stuff for you” Alcina shot back

“Alcina, we need to work together. We don’t have time and you’re the tallest of us all. Please cooperate with Karl just this once. Please?” Donna implored

“Once. I’m helping him for this one time only. When I get my hands on the Lycan responsible for this problem, I’m gutting him and throwing him at Moreau’s reservoir.” At Donna’s admonishment of Alcina, Heisenberg gives a shit eating grin, showing some rather very pointy canines.

“And Heisenberg, stop provoking Alcina.” Donna adds

“Fine, you’re no fun Donna”

Suffice to say, the baking went well. Who knew that the 4 Lords working together would be a great success? If only Mother Miranda saw her children working together peacefully she might have had a heart attack and thought that she suffered one as well.

Or she might have been dreaming.

 Castle Kitchen (6 hours before Mother’s Day)

“Alright, the cake has cooled down completely, So what color will be the icing?” Donna asked

“Yellow” “Cream” “Light Blue” the other three said simultaneously.

 *beat*

“Light blue? Really? Not everything needs to be manly Heisenberg”

“And not everything needs to be boring like your color, Alcina”

“It should be yellow, like Mother’s sunny smile” Moreau explains

“And in which ever universe has Mother ever smiled like the sun?” Heisenberg counters Moreau

“Hey now. No need for that tone!”

“Tsk, sorry Moreau” Heisenberg apologizes to a quiet Moreau

“Fine, let’s do pastel yellow it’s easier for the eyes anyway” Donna supplies, getting ready to start coating the cake with the yellow cream

 Inside the Sanctuary

“Happy Mother’s day”

“We hope you like the cake Mother”

“Yes, we poured out our love in baking it. I hope you appreciate it” Heisenberg said

“Why thank you loves. This is a wonderful surprise. And Moreau said that you all worked together in baking it. How wonderful!” Mother Miranda said grateful for once that her children worked together without collateral damage (that she knew of).

“Although Heisenberg, I heard something interesting from Urias” Mother Miranda looks pointedly at Heisenberg, who for some reason starts to sweat and turn pale.

‘oh shit’ “Really Mother? Good news I hope” Heisenberg tries to bluff his way out.

“Why it was quite peculiar really. He said that you got 10 of his Lycans for a special project. I wasn’t aware that you have some side projects”

 The 3 Lords turn to Heisenberg

“Wait what?”

“I KNEW IT!!” Alcina unsheathes her claws

“You’re responsible for this mess in the first place!!”

“Really guy relax, if anything I just proved that we need more than one traveling merchant in the village for a successful and on time delivery” Heisenberg starts to carefully ease his way to the nearest exit.

 “GET HIM”

In the end, Alcina was more than ready to feed Heisenberg to Moreau’s pet fish. Only Donna stopped her, citing Moreau would probably be inconsolable if his pet got indigestion from all the metal.

And that is how Heisenberg saw himself in doggy jail for a week along with his Lycan cohorts. Mother Miranda did get her Mother’s day gifts from her children although a bit later than expected.

 And the cake?

 The cake was surprisingly delicious.

[wizkiddx]

Need your person

ahhh i have really no idea what i am doing. Anywayyyss this is a really angsty Harry fic, I have a part two but not sure how I feel abt it - so we will see if it ever sees the light of day x x x 

“Tom? I’m back!” Nadia declared as she heavily shut the black gloss front door of her boyfriend's place. She was wrestling with a ridiculous amount of shopping bags, that bounced against her calves before deciding to just dump them at the door- they could be dealt with later. Naturally, she’d blame the excessive haul on her friend that she’d met for lunch; Georgia almost forced her to buy all the clothes...right?

Once she had done so, she glanced around the almost still house, making her left eyebrow quirk up a bit. Since Tom and Harry returned for Toms latest filming venture their house hadn’t been quiet for a moment thereafter. With Tom, Harry, Harrison and herself and Y/n (Harry’s girlfriend) living there- fair to say there normally was at least someone messing around and causing chaos. Before she could read any more into it, Tom appeared round the corner, a small smile as he caught sight of his lovely and almost certainly shopping addicted girlfriend. 

“Hey”

“Hey” He replied back, smile tight-lipped and a very awkward atmosphere falling over the normally most easy-going couple. Nadia didn’t like it, choosing to address it straight up. 

“You gonna tell me why the weird vibe then?” Bags long since forgotten and abandoned, the couple naturally entered the sitting room- Tom landing heavily on the plush cream sofa. 

“I-er... look I know she’s one of your best friends but... well Harry’s got a pretty conclusive photo and account taken by some fan. She’s been cheating on him.” Nadia was unaware of her jaw falling slack while she stood above her boyfriend, arms folded and shaking her head slightly. 

“No Y/n wouldn’t. Come off it Tom you know too, there’s no chance.”

“I’m serious Nads. Harry’s confronting her now, shits really fucked him up.” Tom had this hard tone behind his intense gaze, something that Nadia had only seen a handful of times in their 1 yes relationship. It scared her. 

“ Nonono rewind though. Y/n wouldn’t cheat on him... she’s so in love with the boy!” Tom knew this would be tricky, especially with how close the two girls had gotten over that first lockdown and then ever since. Sometimes he questioned who the relationship was between, Nadia and Y/n seemingly just made for each other in a platonic kind of way. He sighed heavily, digging his phone out his back pocket to show her the picture, all the while watched by her intense hazel gaze. Not saying another word, Tom just held his phone out for her to take, photo on the display. 

“Swipe next to see what she says” after a short time Tom added, Nadia squinting at the phone and clearly zooming in on the blurry image. 

It did look pretty damning, Y/n and an unnamed man with his arm around her- pulling her almost flush against his chest, even at the public cafe they were seated outside. Though the image was grainy as hell, Y/n looked upset, as if he was comforting her. He, just for information, was a fairly attractive man- Tom would fairly admit. Clean-shaven, crisp white shirt on, jet black hair perfectly styled and a strongly carved face. 

That was the issue though, why Nadia’s lips parted with a silent and almost non-existent breath outwards- most getting stuck in her throat. She knew the face, briefly, from an encounter when the boys were away filming. She’d been so busy concentrating on Y/n at that moment about a month ago, it was a surprise she recognised the face at all. 

Suddenly feeling her heart drop, Nadia followed her boyfriends instructions and swiped left, revealing a screenshot of an Instagram direct message - along paragraph giving an exact recount of the day (or at least this ransomers recount). To paraphrase:

“ she just kept going ‘Harry can’t find out. I can’t tell Harry.’ She sounded upset but I just thought you should know”

The fan was obviously well-meaning but just so so wrong. Nadia gulped a little before looking up at her boyfriend, who was unconsciously tensing his jaw. He did that when he was uncomfortable or nervous and hell was he. 

“Where are they?”She muttered voice quiet which Nadia hadn’t realised till long since she’d spoken. It was just tense. 

“In the garden but we need to leave them be it’s not-“

“-FUCK” Predictably, Nads didn’t let Tom finish, already turning on her heel and rushing into the kitchen. Tom yelling something and following, but that’s not what she was concentrating on. 

Her best mate needed her. 

Even at the far end of the kitchen,  Nadia froze at the sight through the garden windows. Y/n was sat with her head in her hands, clearly crying and rocking slightly on the black wicker garden furniture set while Harry stood above. 

Harry. 

Harry was seething with rage. Nads could see him yelling at her, arms being flown round to articulate his anger furthermore. Because Harry didn’t open up easily. Because Harry was so in love with someone that apparently betrayed him so completely. When he saw that DM he just couldn’t ignore it. He’d always been self-conscious, Y/n knew that most of all. It felt like a knife was plunged and then twisted deeper into his chest. And who committed the heinous act? The person he had trusted most int he world. 

“Tom, I will explain but for now you just have to trust me.” Tearing her eye line away from Y/n’s crumpled body, which flinched with every harsh word Harry yelled- as if he were trying to get a reaction from her. Tom just looked at Nads in disbelief, arms crossed protectively and waiting for more. 

“Look…I-I know for a fact she didn’t cheat. There something you both don’t know but it’s not this at all.”

“Nadia I know your close but.-“

“I’m being very fucking serious Tom. If you trust me you have to go and get Harry away. Bloody look at him- she’s not arguing back! He’s hurting them both.”

“ He has a right to be angry.” Tom tried to counter, feeling uncomfortable with how easily Nadia brushed off such a serious and real accusation. 

“Tom for both their sakes, please...I’m begging you to help me” It was the desperation in her brown eyes. Making Tom shift from foot to foot. He was so torn but Nadia must have a reason. This isn’t just her bullshitting to protect a friend, he could see that much. As she grabbed his hands desperately, Tom already knew he was going to follow her.  And she could most definitely see it too as she minutely smiled in thanks before walking with purpose toward the back door. 

—————

You needed an out. Now. 

When Harry had first cornered you in the house with a steely gaze and asked you to have a conversation in the garden, you’d been running on adrenaline. Naturally, you thought he had somehow found out- but this? He had got it oh so wrong. But what hurt most was the fact you couldn’t say anything. You knew his heart was breaking, the fact he was screaming at you and calling you names you thought he never could even associate with you, it was only because he was so hurt. Yet at that moment, you couldn’t fathom how to explain the truth. That was the issue… the truth would hurt him too. So maybe it was easier this way, him hating you and suddenly not being apart of each other's life. Because that would still hurt him less than reality.

With that thought, your body decided to just make this even harder. What did it do you ask? Choose that exact moment to fail you again. Your thoughts all suddenly got jumbled, it felt like your brain was on some sort of rollercoaster. Brief moments of clarity when you weren’t swimming in a pool of disorientation. But to be honest, those moments when you could see the pain on his face, they hurt more than just sinking into oblivion as your body sorted folded over on itself. 

You were stuck fighting two battles neither of which you were sure you could win.

—————

It was just then, as Harry launched into another ‘how dare you betray him’ spiel that Nadia and Tom opened the door. Nadia making an immediate beeline to Y/n, holding her shoulders and trying to support her into an upwards position - leaving Tom to deal with a ball of hurt and rage that was Harry. 

“Mate you need to stop it’s not making any-“

“Fuck off Tom this is between me and her.” Harry snapped back, slapping his brother's arms off his. 

“I know but it’s not going anywhere.”

“Tom”

“Harry I’m serious give it a minute. You need to cool down” Tom urged, still slightly concerned by the rage in his brother's eyes, while Tom gently reached out to hold his shoulders. The younger man needed a bit of grounding and the contact meant Tom could half steer him toward the house.  With a quick glance of worry back to Y/n and Nadia, Tom followed Harry inside- arguing him up the stairs into his room. 

Meanwhile, Nadia was getting more and more concerned. Y/n could barely hold her body up and she was shaking. 

“Y/n what do you need um the-the finger prick thing?… What’s happening?”

“Yeh and uh…Need the... in the fridge get the oat milk and my-my bag.” It was a bit of a weird request but Nadia wasn’t going to question it and ran inside, grabbing the oat milk that seemed to rattle and then Y/n’s bag which was just in the countertop, knowing that was where she kept her finger prick test. Although this wasn’t about her either - Nadia was slightly terrified, shakily shouting for Haz who had to be somewhere in the house. 

“Okay okay, do you need my help?” Nadia spoke with trembling hands, unzipping the little pouch to reveal the red device and all its apparatus. During the month the boys had been away Nadia had seen Y/n do this a thousand times, but it still scared her at the thought. Luckily Y/n shook her head and took the device, pricking her finger then squeezing the blood onto the sensor film. While it beeped away measuring her glucose levels she smiled weakly at her friend. 

“I’m just low I think, can you get the sachets out the milk?” Because of course, Y/n was such an idiot she had hid her essential medication within a carton of oat milk, which was genius and stupid in equal measure. Genius because everybody else in the house was absolutely disgusted by oat milk being a thing so no one would ever try to make a cuppa with it; stupid because in moments like this, who was to know that the bloody oat milk carton could save her life?

“Do I need to phone an ambulance… you-you don't look good Y/n/n.”

“No” Y/n swallowed thickly, grimacing slightly at the reading that just appeared on the device - by far the lowest it had ever read since she had started having to do these stupid measurements. “If I pass out then yes but… I just need the glucose strips” Nadia nodded, still trying to prise the plastic packages out the empty oat milk container. Wordlessly Nadia finally phished one out and ripped it open immediately thrusting it into Y/n’s mouth - at least 70% certain that was what she had to do with them. 

While all this was happening Harrison wandered into the garden and looked at the scene in front of him in a bit of shock. Y/n was deathly grey, looking as though she was fighting every urge in her body to just relax everything and collapse into unconsciousness. Nadia kneeled in front of her, already working on ripping another packet open. After taking a moment or two to process what was happening Haz knelt down next to Nadia. 

“You need me to do anything?”

“I -er don’t think so… actually Y/n?? Y/N????” Nadia started violently shaking Y/n whose eyes had finally slipped shut. “Fuck shit fuck… you need to ring an ambulance Haz.”

“Your serious?”

“Deadly. I’ll explain later just get your phone… tell them she was having a hypo and now she’s unconscious. The er the number on the machine thing was 2.8”

Harrison didn’t argue; he did what he was told and an ambulance was immediately dispatched while Nadia followed instructions of the operator that had been put on speaker, still dropping the sachets of liquid down into her mouth. In fact, when they heard the ambulance pull into their road, Y/n started to stir- groaning and heavily blinking her eyes open. 

It was a bit of a blur, but the paramedics came in and slowly Y/n started to get more with it. 

“You know what happened to you love?” The kind-eyed Liverpudlian lady asked, removing the oxygen mask that was put on her as a precautionary measure, in the haze of them arriving. 

“Blood sugar low?”

“Uh-huh, you’ve just had a hypo. Are you type 1 or 2?”

“Um, I-uh…” Y/n flicked her eyes up to see Haz still stood looking very concerned while Nadia spoke to the other paramedic in hushed tones. “Neither… I got pancreatic cancer and so…so my whole pancreas is kind of dying.” Y/n could practically hear Harrison's eyes bugging out his head - but kept her eyes firmly on the blonde stout lady. She wasn’t ready to face that yet.

“Oh, lovie... you have to be really careful yeh? Hypos can turn to a coma really quick and you know what happens then.”

“I’m sorry, I uh guess I forgot to eat and then been running on adrenaline cos of…” Because of Harry. But she wasn’t about to pour her heart out to a complete stranger so instead shut her mouth. Emma, the paramedic, seemed t9 get the message and again smiled down at her gently.

“It’s okay I get it... so you know then that because you lost consciousness really we should be taking you to the hospital? Get your bloods checked?” The grimace on Y/n’s face was more than enough to answer her.

“Please I just want to sleep-“

“You need to go to hospital Y/n/n” Haz interjected who had been completely silent and still in shock. Yes, she wasn’t his girlfriend, but they were bloody close and he still hadn’t really had an explanation. 

“I just want to sleep and-and I got a lot of explaining to do” Y/n made the mistake of momentarily looking up to see Harrison’s glassy eyes and Emma followed suit. 

“You the boyfriend?”

“No, i- um I’m his housemate.”

“If we are even still together” Y/n mumbled her eyes trained on the ground. In response, Haz huffed indignantly sitting down right beside the slightly crippled girl and slung his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t you worry about that hey? Everything’s is gonna be fine.” Her head came to rest on his arm making Haz bend down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. She was sort of the other sister, having been on the scene much earlier than Nadia had, he’d come to really get on with her. 

After a moment of just being there with Haz, Y/n simply thankful he didn’t seem to hate her or believe the rumours anymore, Emma spoke up. 

“So a hard pass on the hospital is it? Because then we should just think about getting you inside to rest.” Y/n nodded hard, very clearly expressing her preference, making the two chuckle. “They’d only be checking your blood levels which I can get a doctor to do tomorrow morning from home. I’m not supposed to say this but it's okay to stay.” It was all going swimmingly until they heard a very very familiar voice. 

“What the hells happening?” 

[hecohansen31]

Secrets Whispered

Michael Langdon x Secretive! Reader

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

Long time no see, right?

I just thought about this idea, since @guiltyfiend (also please do let me know, when you know what you prefer what you’d like as your ko-fi reward!) made me an amazing ship based about this concept and I just couldn’t wait to do something about it.

I am also personally, maybe (since I don’t feel apprecciated in the other fandoms I am in) of making a few comebacks in this fandom, if any of you would like iit obviously!

So, please, if you want more, don’t forget to leave some kind of feedback I truly apprecciate it from the bottom of my heart and it’ll truly make my heart beat stronger and my fingers write faster!

Don’t ever ever forget to support your beloved writers with feedback, if you liked what they wrote!

Have a nice reading!

SUMMARY: Michael is immediately fascinated by you as there are just too many mysteries around you.

WORDS: 2,9 K

WARNINGS: Mention of Trauma, Mention of The End of The World, Apocalypse-Antichrist and all that stuff, Also I am just extremely rusty about writing Michael, so please do bear with me if this sucks...

Michael had noticed immediately how you stood out of everyone else in the Outpost he had been ‘examining’.

It wasn’t some kind of ‘cheery and flashy standing out’, like many of the women and men that threw themselves at his feet or thought to impress him with a few sassy words that would get them instead on his nerves.

No, you simply stood out, because you didn’t try anything to impress him.

And no one in the Outpost seemed to truly know you.

Which was very strange for a group of people that had passed six months with only the company of each other in a closed off place, but whenever he’d question people about their relationships with you, he’d receive always the same answer.

They didn’t know nothing more than him.

You weren’t certainly shy, since you liked chattering with others  next to the fireplace, but there was some mindless rhythm to the conversation that made it particularly difficult for him to discover much about you, since he couldn’t help but feel like you used soft and polite words as a shield.

So, he couldn’t lie when he admitted to you that he had been looking forward to the interview.

Your eyes had ducked immediately down to your hands, a slight blush on your cheeks, but he knew that you weren’t simply faking modesty.

In all truth what you were doing was simply hiding your reaction to him.

To avoid giving yourself away.

He had known back then that it would be quite the power struggle with you and when he had started questioning you, all he had gotten were curt but short answers.

‘Is your name…?’ ‘Yes’.

‘… and your parents are…’ ‘Yes’.

‘… before the whole Apocalypse, you worked at a local library, didn’t you?’ ‘It was actually a bookshop, sir’.

And it was almost unnerving, hadn’t Michael, as always felt, like there was some thrilling challenge in your words and secretive demeanor, but his haughty tone had quickly shifted, when an answer of yours had surprised him.

‘Why, Mrs. (L/N), should you be chosen for the Sanctuary’ he had asked, hoping it would get him some kind of reaction from you, and it had.

Your head had finally pushed itself up to meet his eyes, immediately latching themselves onto Michael’s light blue.

‘… I don’t think that I even want to go to the Sanctuary, sir’ there was some kind of innocence in your reply that would have sounded arrogant from anybody else, hadn’t it been, like in your case, the utter truth ‘… for me it isn’t a question of deserving it, sir’.

The added words had certainly meant to somehow soothe the veiled insult the previous ones had uttered behind themselves.

‘Why do you think such an unconventional thing, little dove?’ the nickname this time got an honest shade of red placing itself on your cheek ‘… must I remind you that one of the few rules I’d like all the residents to follow is to be sincere to the core?’.

But he knew you weren’t lying.

And yet, it would have been easier if you had.

Although he strangely didn’t want this to be easier, because he liked complicated people, even more in a situation like this one, one in which everybody seemed so dull in the face of the end of the world.

But you were anything but dull underneath that defied appearance.

‘I am sincere’ there was fire in what you said, like it thoroughly burned in your heart.

Like you believed it wholeheartedly.

And Michael liked that.

‘… I just…’ now slowly something intimate and personal was coming on your face ‘… if this world had come to an end, is it natural that we continue on living on borrowed time?’.

There was such a longing ache in your words, as if you knew that they were true and yet you hadn’t ever had the courage to utter them, because they would have sounded foolish.

And they would have to anybody but Michael.

He also lived on borrowed time.

‘Humans ache for survival’ he commented, loving the contrast that your eyes made at hearing those words ‘… in any way or shape. It’s a natural instinct’.

‘And yet survival isn’t living’ you spoke softly, your head slowly turning away to look around yourself, as if you had again to hide your true self and Michael couldn’t help but be almost wounded by the move that meant a backward step in your journey.

He had been interested when this conversation had started with you, but now he was… almost enamored with what you had said.

What you hid so attentively, guarding it as a dragon would do with his own treasure.

‘It isn’t the same thing, you are right’ the low tone of his voice was enough to regain your attention ‘… but isn’t surviving better than staying outside where the toxic air would kill you, in a few minutes?’.

And now sadness crept on your face, alongside tiredness, as if you already knew what would be happening, next.

What Michael would have said.

And you were tired of it.

And it was enough to get your blood boiling, in a wonderful reaction in front of Michael’s eyes, happy to have gotten under your skin, but what you said hit him deep inside.

‘I must seem selfish for thinking this way…’ your voice was low, but it had an edge to it that brought, this time, Michael to focus his attention on you ‘… but I never asked to be saved, some people just stormed in my house, because they said I had some kind of special blood… and they… they took me, meanwhile my whole family died’.

He would have laughed in the face of everyone, had they said something similar, because he knew that it was all a show to convince him.

But you thought that truly.

‘There are millions of people better than me, and I got fucking lucky to be the only one to be here, alone and useless…’ now you were through your own ‘delirium’ and although Michael had been desperately looking to dig in your own soul, he felt like he had just hit a moment that was too private.

Maybe a bit too much.

‘… I am not the one you want to bring to the Sanctuary. If the world has come to an end, it must mean something’.

That Michael’s plan had worked.

But he almost felt guilty for it.

‘… I am sorry’ the words were now quiet, as the others you had uttered echoed deeply in the walls of his small private quarters ‘… it must… I must have misspoken myself’.

‘Oh no no’ his tone was rushed and although he knew that he was showing her something that he had always kept inside of himself, treasuring them attentively ‘… had all the interviews been as interesting as yours, Mrs. (Y/N)’.

Strangely the words weren’t of any comfort to you, although Michael accompanied it with a soft smirk on it, definitely less devious than the one he had for other people.

But he guessed he must have still looked like a wolf clothed in sheep clothes.

‘… is this over?’.

Whatever he had gained through the interview had somehow been completely dispersed, now and you looked like you desperately wanted to go away, somehow, probably because whatever mask had been held in place was now shattered on the ground.

‘Yes, it is’ and he hadn’t ever seen somebody raise that fast with a full set of petticoats ‘… but, I’d like to talk to you, more, Mrs. (Y/N)’.

A bitter smile was now on your face.

‘There are better people in here’ you spoke, and he detected finally something that you had hidden for so long: insecurity.

And as much as he wanted to desperately use it against you: he couldn’t bring himself to.

‘… more deserving of the Sanctuary’.

‘I’ll take that into consideration, if you don’t have any other suggestion for me on how to do my job’.

‘Again, my mouth speaks words that I don’t truly mean…’.

It was almost adorable the way you rushed to apologize.

But there was no fear in your eyes.

It was a first.

‘… I was joking’.

A breath of relief still escaped your lips, and as soon as it had appeared it was now gone.

‘I didn’t think that the devil could joke’.

And your last words effectively knocked the air out of his lungs.

Michael knew for sure that you had been avoiding him, probably uncomfortable with what you had shared with him.

Or better what he had forced you to share.

You’d leave supper early, as soon as he joined it and you’d rush your step whenever you met him in the corridors.

And it was such a shame, since he wanted to get to know you better.

So, he had planned like some kind of idiotic male a small strategy to meet you alone in the library, that afternoon, stalking attentively every step of your day, soon realizing that you visited the enormous local at least once a day, after lunch so that you could unwind and another time after dinner, setting up the book that your fellow housemates had left everywhere in the room.

You had an order of your own and you respected it almost maniacally.

A routine of some kind and Michael took advantage of it, catching you as you were completely taken by a reddish volume in your hands a pile of half-forgotten books adjusted beside you, as if you had suddenly been taken by the impulse to search through the pages of the book.

He wondered whether they had asked for you and you hadn’t been able to deny the claim of the paper.

‘… interesting reading?’ he had startled you, and you had immediately closed the book, almost risking to hit your nose, meanwhile Michael wasn’t able to stop a laugh from leaving his mouth  and you lowered your head to hid an embarrassed annoyance on your elegant face.

He had carved its traits in his pillow as he dreamt, a tormented dream of you standing right on the pillow next to him, staring at him longingly but resistance always matched it, in your eyes.

‘… definitely is’ you commented, meanwhile you turned the book so that he could look at his title, the defiance in your gestures didn’t have to speak loudly for it to be fully understood ‘… ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne, have you ever read it?’.

Michael had been a child when books had entered his life in silly fairy tales that his grandmother and then his ‘adoptive mother’ had started telling him, as they slowly got darker by the time grew into the figure he had been shaped in since childhood.

But as he had grown up, he had swiftly forgotten the pleasure of reading, different things occupying his mind and he hadn’t ever had a break to properly catch up with human literature, alongside.

And because of that and much more, he had to admit it that the passion of reading had slipped outside of his fingers quite early.

‘I sadly must say that I haven’t’.

Unsurprisingly insolence stayed on your face.

But it was also some kind of teasing innocence.

‘… it is actually an interesting and timeless story’ you explained, a twinkle of easiness on your face ‘… slutshaming is still very much real in here, since Venable would also oblige us to wear a scarlet letter on our chest, would she ever find out that somebody had sex with somebody else in here’.

Michael wondered whether you were you such a smartass always or only in the book department.

Either way, Michael enjoyed it thoroughly.

You seemed slightly less guarded off in the library and he could only guess that it felt the same way he felt in his own private chamber.

Hidden behind his extravagant clothes and his father’s influence.

‘You think that those rules are ridiculous’ it wasn’t a question and yet you nodded lightly ‘… well, I do find them a bit antique myself’.

‘You’d expect the dresses would be a torture enough’ you muttered, as you shot his a softer look ‘… and the poor Greys… it is almost… horrible how they are treated… very Charles Dickens’.

There was a light twinkle of madness as you said that and he could clearly see that although you had admitted that you didn’t want to go to the Sanctuary, you weren’t neither interested in staying here further.

‘Have you ever thought about stopping your survival instinct’ he wanted to ask you, but he knew that one wrong question would destroy all the soft climate that had appeared between you two, so he preferred to steer the conversation on human literature, something that got you quite passionate.

And he admired that love and that passion.

To be loved with such intensity it must have a thoroughly miraculous experience.

And he dreamt about it that night.

The following day he found himself in the library again and soon enough he discovered much more than your literary tastes.

He discovered your favorite colors and as he dressed himself up each morning, he wore them,  discovering that they immediately caught your eyes, in a way that seemed like some kind of animal mating ritual.

What had the Antichrist reduced himself to be just for the touch of a small flame of your love?

A complete actor and a clown at your service,

But slowly the ice in your personality started melting and he found that you had started to lean on his company as if you enjoyed it, encouraged it, even, although this didn’t mean that you had opened up to him in any way of shape.

And by this time Michael wasn’t sure whether you’d ever open up to him.

But you had your own way of showing devotion and interest.

Exactly as he did.

Once he had gotten quite along with you, he had given you his ring as a way to show that he somehow trusted you.

As a way to get you to know that he felt respect for you, although it was all hidden behind the premise of you ‘taking care of it’.

But it was a different show of rank and also it was a show of devotion and interest.

And when you had started wearing it, on a small chain around your neck, the pendant coming slowly to set itself on your chest whenever you stood up, in a way that made it pass unnoticed to everyone except you two.

And soon your crush had flared up.

Michael had been shocked when you had moved closer to him, in one of his afternoon library session, as you closed the book you were reading, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ one of your favorites definitely.

‘… you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you’ you had said loudly, almost as if you were sure this would be a big fail or an even bigger success, and then you had moved closer to him, something shy and clumsy in your antics as you pressed your lips against his.

And Michael, exactly like a clumsy teenager, as well was slow in his reply to you, pawing your shoulder harshly but you still kept your lips locked a few minutes more to make sure that it wasn’t an accident.

And when you separated you were looking at him expectantly.

‘… isn’t that what I am supposed to say?’ he asked softly, a small smile on your face, softness and genuineness appearing in both your faces.

‘I just thought that I am more Mr. Darcy between us two’ you commented and Michael suddenly felt very surprised by the fact that you knew about your behavior, your secretiveness and your shyness, the walls that blocked him from properly getting to know you ‘… it is just that… you are… you are not who I expected to fall in love with’.

A strange rage had filled him at that, matched with an uneasy annoyance at himself.

It was always the same story: he got rejected.

And you didn’t even know he was the antichrist.

‘… you definitely looked out of my league’ there was a glint of amusement in your eyes and a peak of relief in Michael’s chest as he came closer to you, the second kiss being definitely less messy than the first one, and the one that followed after.

And the one after.

And before he knew it you were both in his chambers, completely disrupting Venable’s rule about fornicating with each other.

And it felt good.

And those walls that you had up had come down, since you had let him in yourself in a way that had made him feel almost understood, as you fought for dominance and power under the sheets, before it settled in a small victory on his part.

Although from the moans, you definitely enjoyed it.

And now you were simply enjoying the quiet.

The quiet before the storm, since he knew that he couldn’t deny the true nature of his powers, anymore to you.

But he could delay the reveal a bit, as you smiled at him.

And your smile held the sweetest of secrets.

And he was glad he hadn’t solved each one you held.

---

Michael Langdon Taglist (I don’t really have a taglist anymore, so if you are interested on being there for Michael do let me know, and I’ll add you, if I ever think about writing something for him again!):

@blakewaterxx​

---

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[ibijau]

Burn it down AU // on AO3 // extras on AO3

For the first time in years, Lan Wangji looks forward to the future with anticipation rather than dread 

(aka: epilogue time! Thanks to everyone who read this story, hope you enjoyed it and that I didn’t forget to tie up any loose thread. If I did... oops, my bad, too late XD)

Less than two months after the death of Jin Guangyao, Lan Xichen left his sect in the hands of his uncle and urgently took flight for Qinghe after getting a letter from Nie Huaisang. Lan Wangji, A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian followed only a few days after, after packing their belongings so they could stay in the Unclean Realm for a few weeks, or even a few months if it came to that. 

In his letter, Nie Huaisang had confessed to finding his mood swinging, as it had done before Lan Xichen started playing music for him, and so his family and friends wanted to be around him to support him. Besides, Lan Wangji had a faint fear that Wei Wuxian was growing restless in the Cloud Recesses, and travelling could only do him good.

It took them some time to reach the Unclean Realm. A-Yuan had still not yet learned to fly on a sword, though he probably would start lessons during their visit. And while Wei Wuxian could, he confessed to feeling awkward about doing it in this weaker body, with a sword that wasn't his. It was quickly decided that for him too some lessons wouldn't hurt, which Lan Wangji would only be too happy to provide. 

By the time they reached the Unclean Realm, Nie Huaisang already appeared to be doing better than he had claimed in his letter. He was smiling brightly when he welcomed them at the gate, Lan Xichen at his side. 

Lan Wangji, A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian were quickly ushered inside the Unclean Realm and brought to Nie Huaisang’s personal quarters. While Nie Huaisang hugged A-Yuan and demanded news, servants brought them some much welcome hot tea and took away their damp coats. They’d encountered a little bit of snow earlier than morning, which wasn’t unusual for that time of the year and that region. 

"Oh you'll have to stay the winter now," Nie Huaisang announced with great satisfaction. "It would be unreasonable to travel in this season. Dangerous even! And I cannot allow you to put my A-Yuan in danger, so you'll all have to stay."

A-Yuan, hugging his step-father's waist, nodded firmly, but Lan Xichen smiled and came to pat his lover's shoulder. 

"I probably should go home though, now that you are in the capable hands of your husband," he said in an odd tone. 

It took Lan Wangji a moment to realise that his brother, always so serious and stern in spite of his eternal smile, was teasing Nie Huaisang. 

Nie Huaisang himself must have been more used to it, because he immediately reacted in sort. 

"Zewu-Jun, how dare you!" he gasped theatrically. "I am sick, terribly so, and you would abandon me and leave me in the hands of an inferior musician, risking my very life?" Nie Huaisang paused, and glanced at his husband. "No offence, Wangji." 

Lan Wangji only hummed to signify he knew better than to take that seriously, while both Lan Xichen and Wei Wuxian tried to contain their hilarity. Even A-Yuan, after an initial moment of worry, realised that Nie Huaisang was just messing around, and started taking the defence of his father’s skills. Before long Nie Huaisang, confronted also by Lan Xichen and Wei Wuxian, was forced to give a very theatrical apology to his husband.

Once they were done joking around, A-Yuan was asked to play quietly while the adults traded news, with the promise that if he were good, Nie Huaisang would take him to see his birds later. The child quickly agreed, and left the four of them alone at the table.

The first news to be shared whas the reason for Nie Huaisang’s slight relapse. Jiang Cheng had come to the Unclean Realm to demand that Wei Wuxian’s possessions be handed to him, which had quickly turned into a huge fight about Nie Huaisang endangering Jin Ling by not revealing immediately what he’d found out about Jin Guangyao. Heavy accusations had been thrown on both sides, and while Nie Huaisang had managed to hold his own and kept everything confiscated, the confrontation had shaken him badly enough that he’d thought it best to call for help.

“He’ll probably be back when the weather allows for easier travel,” Nie Huaisang sighed, leaning against Lan Xichen who wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. “I think for now he doesn’t know yet about Wen Qionling, but when he finds out…”

He shivered at the thought, while Lan Wangji wrinkled his nose at the idea. No matter how good Nie Huaisang was at keeping his old friend’s temper in check, this would surely be too much.

“How is Wen Ning?” Wei Wuxian eagerly asked. “Did you hide him somewhere?”

“I am not able to be as good a host to him as I would prefer,” Nie Huaisang confessed. “We have a safe house, a few hours away from here, where disciples can rest and get provisions and necessities if trouble arises. I’ve sent him here, with some of the items obtained from Jin Guangyao’s secret chamber. Most of it was yours, Wei-xiong, but there were also spoils of wars from the Sunshot Campaign, among which ancient Wen texts. Wen gongzi has expressed the wish to study and copy them, to which I had no objections.”

Whatever resentment Wei Wuxian still held against Nie Huaisang for the murder of Mo Xuanyu, he instantly relaxed at hearing that Wen Ning was being treated well.

“Can we go visit him?”

“Not today, it’s too late for that,” Nie Huaisang said. “But as soon as we get a day of decent weather… he has expressed interest in meeting A-Yuan, by the way.”

All four of them turned to look at the child who had grabbed a book from Nie Huaisang’s library and was now reading it with such concentration that he did not notice he was now the center of attention.

“It will be difficult to explain to him who Wen Ning is,” Wei Wuxian sighed, tearing his eyes away from their son. “He’s a clever boy, he’s going to ask questions, but it’s probably best if he doesn’t know…”

“Wei-xiong, you like secrets too much,” Nie Huaisang cut him, startling Wei Wuxian. “Meanwhile, I’m tired of them. A-Yuan is a very clever boy, he can understand some things can only be spoken about with family, and he already remembers more than he lets on, I suspect. Have some faith in the people around you, Wei-xiong.”

“Nie-xiong, you’ve gotten very bold while I was dead, I’m almost impressed,” Wei Wuxian retorted. “Lan Zhan, what do you think?”

Lan Wangji hesitated, his eyes jumping several times between Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang and A-Yuan before he could make a decision.

“No objection to them meeting,” he said at last. “If it goes well, A-Yuan should be told.”

“If Lan Zhan agrees, then so do I,” Wei Wuxian sighed, defeated. 

Lan Wangji could not refrain a pleased smile at the thought that Wei Wuxian, in this new life, seemed to have more respect for his opinion than he ever had before. Or at least, that they had less trouble communicating their mutual respect, since perhaps it had always been there. He thought it bode well for the future, and that perhaps someday they would be able to discuss those things that had happened in the past, and the choices they had both made. Lan Wangji still did not understand why Wei Wuxian had dropped conventional cultivation in favour of more dangerous methods, but he had good hopes the other man would tell him when the time was right.

For the time being, the conversation shifted to less dangerous topics, such as Lan Qiren annoyance that both his nephews had deserted him. Lan Xichen expressed some regret over causing his uncle sorrow, but Lan Wangji felt little pity for him, and one glance told him that Nie Huaisang was of the opinion that Lan Qiren deserved to be made to suffer for what he had made them go through. They also discussed the latest news they’d heard from Lanling, where it was still unclear who would seize power, before chatting of their plans for the winter they would all be spending in the Unclean Realm.

It was, without a doubt, one of the most pleasant afternoons that Lan Wangji had ever experienced, all because his entire family was there with him.

Although winters were harsh this far North, Lan Wangji found himself quite happy with his time in the Unclean Realm.

As they had planned, A-Yuan was brought to meet Wen Ning. After the initial fright of encountering a fierce corpse this powerful, the two quickly found common ground and were soon chatting like old friends. Lan Wangji was already starting to wonder how to break the news of their shared blood when A-Yuan suddenly turned to his fathers and asked if he had met Wen Ning before. A-Yuan broke into tears when they explained the truth to him, and ran into Wen Ning’s arms to hug him tight, repeating again and again how happy he was to have even more family than he’d thought.

Because they could not risk bringing attention to Wen Ning, their visits to him remained few and far between. It did not stop A-Yuan from writing to him daily and bringing him a pile of letters each time they went to the safe house, so he would have something to keep him company while he was alone. Although it was impossible for Wen Ning to cry, being a fierce corpse, it was a near thing every time that A-Yuan showed how fully he had adopted his cousin back into his family.

The rest of the time, they all stayed mostly in the Unclean Realm. Having little else to do, Lan Wangji set out to teach A-Yuan how to fly on his sword, for which his son showed great skill. Before the snows melted, he was capable of making his sword hold his weight, keeping his balance on it, and even moving around a little, though only very slowly. The adults in his life all complimented him on his skill, and encouraged him to keep working hard so he would improve further. It helped, perhaps, that Wei Wuxian was following those lessons with him, still oddly awkward about using a sword even now that Suibian had been returned to him. 

Lan Wangji couldn’t shake the impression that there was something there he wasn’t being told, but he tried his best not to probe. Wei Wuxian would be ready someday, and for now he did not want to risk pushing too hard and putting a dent in their friendship. They were getting along better and better as the winter passed. Although Wei Wuxian was by no means glued to his side, no matter how or where he spent his days he always returned to Lan Wangji at night and shared everything he’d done. Sometimes it was just normal cultivation, so he could give his new body a golden core. Other times he had gone off to do some mischief with junior Nie disciples, much to Nie Huaisang’s irritation who accused him of corrupting the youth. Lan Wangji’s favourite days were the ones they spent together, but he also liked hearing stories of Wei Wuxian living his own life, free and alive again.

Sometimes, when the mood struck him, Wei Wuxian seemed to get somewhat flirtatious with Lan Wangji. It was hard to say if it was in earnest or simply part of his personality, so Lan Wangji took it in stride and tried not to read too much into it. Wei Wuxian seemed very amused that his taunts no longer had the same effects they’d had in their youth, and kept looking for new ways to tease Lan Wangji who was just happy with the attention.

Perhaps someday it would lead to more, as it had for Lan Xichen and Nie Huaisang who seemed happier than newlyweds and often appeared to forget that they were supposed to show some discretion. Or perhaps between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian there would never be more than teasing and an ever deepening friendship. Either options would make Lan Wangji equally happy, after those years of mourning.

-

All too soon, spring returned to the Unclean Realm, bringing with it the end of their happy insouciance.

Lan Xichen could no longer find excuses to remain in Qinghe now that the weather was warmer. It was obvious, anyway, that he had started feeling guilty at having abandoned his sect so long, refusing to become as uncaring and detached a sect leader as their father had been. For that reason he left the Unclean Realm as soon as the first warm spell of spring hit them, though not without making Nie Huaisang promise to visit him in the Cloud Recesses as soon as he could.

Fearful that this separation from his lover would have too much of an impact on Nie Huaisang’s mood, Lan Wangji decided to remain a little longer to check on him. After a few weeks though, it became obvious that Nie Huaisang had recovered almost entirely from the instability that had ailed him after his brother’s death. Not only that, but since he no longer had to hide from Jin Guangyao and knew that nobody in his sect would turn against him, Nie Huaisang set out to do better at his job, determined to improve the way Qinghe Nie was run so he would have more time in the future for his hobbies, as well as for visits to his lover.

Seeing him so determined to achieve this new, healthier goal, Lan Wangji found himself wondering what he wanted from life. He’d never had to think about it before, first because there had always been rules in his life to dictate his every action, and then later because the only thing he’d ever selfishly wanted had been taken from him. Things were different now, though, and it forced him to consider his future.

The idea of simply returning to the Cloud Recesses and staying there permanently did not sit quite right with him. It was his home, it always would be his home, but there was too much he had become critical of to be comfortable there, as well as too many tensions with his uncle. It would have been, then, easy to stay in the Unclean Realm. Nobody would have objected, since it was where his husband lived… but that solution did not sit right either. It would have been difficult to stay without letting A-Yuan cultivate with the Nie method, which Nie Huaisang had stated times and times again that he did not want, and which Lan Wangji disliked as well, having seen how even someone like Nie Huaisang could be so easily and deeply unbalanced after following that path.

With those two options eliminated, a third had to be considered. But before he could try to breach the subject with Wei Wuxian, the other man came to find him one day with a request

“Lan Zhan, I’ve been talking with Nie-xiong earlier and he asked me a favour,” Wei Wuxian explained after interrupting Lan Wangji’s meditation. “You see, he’s been hearing rumours about people going missing in a region away from here. It’s a place where there aren’t any sects to take care of those things. It’s also probably just some fierce corpses, and the area isn’t very rich, so rogue cultivators aren’t very likely to go there. But people are still in trouble, right? So I was wondering…”

“We’re going,” Lan Wangji interrupted, standing up from his meditative pose, already planning what they would need for the journey. Money, food, clothes… paper for talismans too, of course. All of which Nie Huaisang would gladly let them have. He wouldn’t have mentioned that issue to Wei Wuxian without reason.

Wei Wuxian stared at him, looking stunned, then threw himself at Lan Wangji’s neck to kiss his cheek.

“Lan Zhan, I knew I could count on you! And I was thinking, maybe we could take Wen Ning with us? It’d be good for him to get out of that safe house, he must be going crazy in there. And he’ll help us make sure that A-Yuan is safe, even if it’s more than fierce corpses over there! Would you allow it?”

A little dazzled by the kiss, Lan Wangji only managed to nod weakly. It was enough anyway. Wei Wuxian never needed more than the barest of encouragement when he had an idea in mind. He startled babbling about all the things they would need, then ran off to pester Nie Huaisang into giving them all of that.

Lan Wangji, for a moment, remained frozen where he stood. Very hesitantly he brought a hand to the cheek that Wei Wuxian had kissed, still feeling the warmth of those lips on his skin.

It had been nice, he thought, to travel with Wei Wuxian when they were looking for Nie Mingjue’s body. It would be nicer still to do so with A-Yuan at their side and, yes, even Wen Ning who Lan Wangji thought he might easily become friends with, now that the occasion was given to them. They would take care of this problem, and of the next one they would encounter, until they felt like going home to either Qinghe or Gusu where they would rest for a time until some other cry for help reached them…

The thought made Lan Wangji smile.

It would be nice to be with his family, and to finally be happy.

[snowdice]

The Horror of Stereotypes (Part 5)[Dice Roll 6]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Remus/Logan/Patton with Remus/Logan focus (more pre-romantic considering the situation), Remus & Roman, Logan/Patton (established, but not at the forefront for most of it)

Characters:

Main: Remus, Logan

Appear: Roman, Patton, Deceit (but blink and you’ll miss it)

Summary: There had always been a certain stereotype about people like him for as long as anyone could remember. After the Heart War of 1963, those stereotypes had been legalized and places like this had been created to enforce the universal truth: everyone had a soulmate. One soulmate. No more and no less.

At least they were supposed to.

When Remus’s brother gets arrested because of his two soulmarks, Remus risks everything by infiltrating the facility he legally should be in as well due to his own two soulmates to save him. There he meets Logan and it turns out they have a lot in common: they both got hired this week, they both have two soulmates, and they’re both here for the same reason.

Oh. And as it turns out, they’re each other’s soulmates too.

Universe: Soulmate AU

Genre: Horror (Yeah, it’s a fun combo. The horror vibe is mostly contained to chapter 3 though. It’s all still horrifying, but that specific tone is pretty much only there.)

Notes: Torture, Torture of a main character, Dystopian, Blood, Guns, Gunshot wounds, Leg wounds, Mentions of Desecrating an Animal Corpse by a Main Character, Imprisonment, Mentions of Cannibalism, Genocide Suggested, Sexual Innuendo, Fear, A tasteless but not serious incest joke, Medical procedures.

This is part of my Roll the Dice Event which is where I do random ships, universe, and genres for the Sanders Sides fandom. For more details see this post. I posted my results from this dice roll here.

Hey look, it’s your friendly neighborhood Gavin here to help with all of our plans.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

The office mostly drained of people by 5:15, most of the other employees in the office rushing home to live their happy normal Wednesday nights. Most of them had chatted about having kids to or around Remus the last few days. So, many of them were rushing off to cook dinner for their kids, to pick a group of them up from after school actives, or volunteer for those Wednesday night church program youth group things. He briefly wondered what they’d do if precious Jimmy aged up to 18 and got the wrong number of soulmarks. He imagined he already knew the answer.

Even Gavin rushed off a few minutes before 5 even before Remus had a chance to pretend to leave. By 5:30, Remus and Logan were the only ones left.

Remus shut off the main office lights and snuck into the side room where Logan already was. “We’re good out there,” Remus told him.

Logan nodded. “We’ll need to leave soon if we want to be in position on time.” He reached into his bag and tossed Remus an energy bar which Remus absentminded started to shove down. Meanwhile, Logan pulled up the map again. “Point to the places I showed you earlier,” he demanded.

Remus dusted the crumbs off his hands and pointed to one of the squares representing cells on the floorplan. “Patton’s there,” he said. He moved his finger up the hall to the staircase. “We go up that.” Logan hit a button and the map changed to the first floor. “Out the door and the car’s right there.”

“Good,” Logan said, his hands dropping from the keyboard onto the desk.

“I’ve got it Nerd. Don’t worry about it.”

Logan nodded and reached back into his bag. “Here,” he said and dropped a set of car keys into his hands.

“I…”

“There are two pairs. I have one too. It’s… just in case.”

“Alright,” Remus said, voice a little thick. He stuffed them into his pocket, “but just so you know, I’m planning on you driving so I can antagonize you about how you’re doing it wrong from the back seat.”

“Looking forward to it,” he said with a half-smile. He turned back to the screen, his fingers tapping out a nervous pattern on the desk.

“You’re thinking,” Remus said. “What?”

Logan glanced up to meet his eyes. “I’m just trying to figure out if I should turn the cameras off or not,” he said. “If we leave them up, we’ll be easier to find if they notice something wrong, but if we take them down before we go, someone would be sure to notice, and it would take away the element of surprise. Yet, it would be harder for them to find us without camera access. If we don’t act quick enough, they might be able to lock everything down before we get out. What do you think is best?”

“Well, I think,” a voice said from behind them, “you should really make sure everyone’s gone before you start having your little huddles.”

Logan and Remus whipped around to see that Gavin had somehow snuck up on them without them noticing.

“We were…” Logan started.

“Or,” Gavin continued, “make sure no one followed you back from the bathroom on the first night.”

They paused, and Logan squared his shoulders. “I don’t know what you think you head but-”

Gavin put up a hand. “I’ll shut down the cameras for you.”

“…What?” Remus asked.

“I assume you have a program set up that will be easy enough to use,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll wait until the two of you are in position and then shut them off. I’ll even set off an alarm in the west wing to divert attention from where you are.”

“You…” Remus said. “What?’

“Oh,” Gavin said dryly, “my apologies, I have a bit of nervous stutter. Must be hard for you to understand my words. That’s why they always give me these specific low-stress jobs.”

“And what jobs are those?” Logan asked.

Gavin scoffed. “Remind me to tell you when the two of you are better at deception.”

“But,” Remus said, “you said multis and everyone who sympathized with them should die. You liked listening to me talk about all of the ways to torture them.”

“What can I say,” Gavin said, face twisting up into a toothy smile. “I’m a liar.” Remus stared at him blankly for a few moments. “Now go get your people before I change my mind about risking my own objective, and then run.”

Remus and Logan shared a look. ‘Could they trust him?’ Remus asked with his eyes.

‘Do we have a choice?’ Logan replied with an eyebrow raise.

Logan turned back to Gavin. “Don’t get caught,” he said.

“Oh, I never get caught. Also, next time, don’t use your real names. Idiots.”

The level that Patton was on was not quite as bad as the level below it, though Remus wasn’t sure if that was because the people here were treated any better or if it was simply because they’d chosen the time of day where the people whose jobs it was to cause the screaming wouldn’t be around as much. There was still wailing and sobbing from every direction as Remus walked down the hall to the cell he’d been looking for. He waited outside the cell until the alarm started going off in the distance. He swiped his card and the door opened for him automatically.

The man who must be Patton did not look at him when he entered the room, his eyes fixed on a spot on the opposite wall. The man was in a bad way, bloody and bruised, but his lips were set in a firm line. If Remus didn’t already know he hadn’t given anything up by the fact that Logan hadn’t been discovered yet, he’d know by the look on his face. Studying the man briefly, Remus had the feeling that Logan never would have been given up no matter how long he was here. Luckily for Patton, Remus didn’t plan to allow that theory to be tested.

“Patton,” he said gently. Patton didn’t move his eyes from the spot on the wall, but his jaw did tick. “Listen Patton, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m getting you out of here.” No response. “Lo-…” He wasn’t going to say it just in case. “Lo sent me. You know who I mean?” That did prompt a reaction. Patton’s eyes finally met his.

“Lo?” he asked softly, and Remus winced at the sound of his voice. His brain supplied the thought that he’d probably been screaming recently; Remus hated his brain now more than he ever had before.

“You didn’t think the nerd would leave you here, did you?” Remus asked with a small smile. “I’m sorry, but there’s not much time to explain. Hear that alarm? We have about until it stops to get both of us out of here, okay?” Remus offered him a hand.

Patton hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded. “Okay.” He grabbed the offered hand, and Remus felt a burning on his forearm similar to what he’d felt a few days ago when he’d met Logan. Patton’s wide eyes met his.

“Like I said, there isn’t time to explain.” Patton looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. He just did his best to pull himself to his feet with Remus’s aid. His face twisted up and Remus could see why as soon as the man wasn’t curled into a ball on the floor. Remus said nothing. He just leaned forward and picked him up bridal style as carefully as he could.

Patton tensed, but then relaxed, pressing his face into Remus’s shoulder. As soon as he had a good grip on the man, Remus took off back out of the cell and down the hallway. “Not how I imagined my soulmate would sweep me off my feet when we met,” Patton breathed next to his ear.

Remus couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle even as he sped up the staircase. “Wow, I think I’d die for you,” he said without meaning to.

Patton shook his head. “Please don’t.”

“Working on it Sunshine,” he promised. The alarm shut off right when he made it to the exit. “Fuck,” he hissed, but didn’t stop, shoving through the door to the outside and booking it straight towards the woods. He heard someone yell but didn’t manage to make out what they were saying. A gunshot rang out and he felt something hit his arm, but he didn’t stop running. Though, he did hunch over Patton just a bit more as more shots were fired.

He made it to the woods and saw a car. There were already two figures in it. The backseat door was opened from the inside for him. “Sorry Sunshine,” Remus said and dove in, jostling the poor hurt man. He released him and reached back to shut the door behind him. “Go, fuck, go!” Remus’s head slammed against the door when the car lurched forward and he ended up on his knees on the floor, scrunched behind the back of the passenger seat and the backseat. Remus didn’t get time to catch his bearings as the car swerved violently. He lunged forward to keep Patton from rolling off the seat.

Patton grabbed him in response to try to steady him. Remus managed to get his ass on the floor and his back against one of the doors even as the car tried to ram them all violently every which way. He threw one arm over Patton as a makeshift seatbelt and curled the other around himself to try to protect his head.

Remus felt a hand touch his back, which prevented him from being thrown around the next time the car jerked. His eyes flickered up to the man in the passenger seat. “Hey Ro,” he said.

“You’re such a crazy bastard. I love you.” Remus cracked a smile and used Roman’s steadying arm to get into a bit more of a secure position even though the car was still swerving and bouncing madly. Who knew Logan had a bonkers racecar driver somewhere in him? Remus leaned his head against the car door and finally breathed.

Want to keep reading? Click below!

AO3 Part 6

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 23: Two Awakenings

Saturday, after school, Ann excused herself to use the restroom. Ren decided to wait for her. Suddenly, Mishima walked up to her. “Hey” he said. Ren was curious. He seemed excited. Mishima looked around. He then leaned in to whisper. “So, you, Takamaki, and Sakamoto are the Phantom Thieves, right?”

Ren was surprised. “Well, uh…”

Mishima chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. In fact, I’m here to help.”

“Ummmmm, K?” Ren said.

Mishima pulled out his phone. “Have you seen this?” he said, showing her his screen. “The Phantom Thief Aficionado website. And you’re looking at its creator.” Ren was incredibly taken aback by this. “What you did was nothing short of amazing. It made me realize that I don’t just want to sit back and let life happen to me. I want to help. So I made this!

The Phantom Thieves save people. But they can’t be everywhere at once. This is where I come in. I help facilitate the public image of the Phantom Thieves as heroes of justice! There might not be a lot of support right now, but just you wait!”

He scrolled around. “And check this out.” He found a section of posts. “Some people are already leaving requests. I’m sure you can work your magic and help those who need help. And don’t worry, I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Ren was impressed. “You seem really invested in this.”

“Heh, well, I do what I do,” Mishima said. He then got a little less playful. “Listen, I don’t know exactly HOW you guys do all of this, but it’s clear you have a lot on your plate. So, let me try and lighten the load.”

Ren took note of Mishima’s understanding nature.He seemed really eager to help out in some way. He truly believed in the Phantom Thieves, much like he truly believed in her when he didn’t go along with Shiho’s plan. She smiled. “Alright then. But as the leader, I’d like to check in on you every so often.”

Mishima grinned. “Done and done.”

I am thou... Thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow...

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Moon Persona I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power

Moon-Yuuki Mishima: Rank 1

“Well then, till we meet again” Mishima said. He left.

Ryuji and Ann walked up to Ren. Morgana popped out as they came over. “So, what was Mishiman talking to you about?” Ryuji asked.

Ren smiled. “He’s the creator of the Phantom Aficionado site. He knows who we are, and is on our side.”

“What?!” Ryuji said.

“Calm down!” Ann said. “I don’t think he’d expose us.”

“Well, maybe not purposefully,” Ryuji said.

“I don’t think we need to worry about it too much,” Ren said. “But I’ll be checking in with him just to be sure.”

“Well, if you're doing that…” Ryuji said.

“Oh, and look!” Ren said. “His website even has request posts. Maybe we can look into them to find our next target.”

Ryuji smiled. “Alright. Now we’re talking.”

Morgana thought for a moment. “Hey. Can we head to the subway station today? I think I might have something to show you guys.”

“Um, sure?” Ann said.

“What is it?” Ren asked.

“It has something to do with the requests” Morgana said. “If they are what I think they are, then it’ll be important.”

“Man, you’re always so vague. Just spill it already” Ryuji whined.

“It’s...easier to just show you!” Morgana protested.

“Fine,” Ryuji said. “It’s not like I wasn’t gonna do it anyway.”

“So, now that we’re all in agreement, let’s roll!” Ren said. The four of them headed to the station.

Meanwhile, Sumire was at ballet practice. She had begun to open up to some of her classmates a little more, which made her a bit happier. She also felt like she had never been better at ballet. However, after one routine, Coach Hiraguchi’s face told a different story. “Did I do something wrong?” Sumire asked.

“Sumire…” Hiraguchi said in a disappointed tone. “It’s great to see you in higher spirits, but I don’t know how much it’s doing for your ballet.”

Sumire looked despondent. “I am trying. What am I doing wrong?”

“Well…” Hiraguchi said. “You’re not doing anything wrong, per say, but it just feels like you’re sliding back into Kasumi when doing your moves.”

“Ummmm, how is that a bad thing?” Sumire said. “Kasumi was the best. Doing her moves will guarantee our dream of becoming the best to come true.”

“This is what I’m talking about,” Hiraguchi noted. “Kasumi performed her moves with a passion only she could provide. You’re just doing a pale imitation of them. They’re technically impressive, but emotionally, they feel hollow.”

Sumire was shaken. “Coach…”

“I know it’s hard to hear!” Hiraguchi interrupted. “But if you want to make it to the top, you need to perfect YOUR moves. You need to understand that what people want to see is Sumire Yoshizawa as herself.”

Tears began to form in Sumire’s eyes. “But...no one does want that… I’m never good enough. I know you care for me. I know people care for me. But no one is expecting me to make it to the top. They all expected Kasumi. And...and I ruined it. If Kasumi can’t make it to the top, and Sumire can’t make it to the top, then who is going to make it to the top?”

Sumire ran to the locker room. She threw off her leotard with hardly a care. She was too distraught. She put her clothes on, and then ran out the door. Coach Hiraguchi noticed this and tried calling out to her. “SUMIRE!” Sumire didn’t hear her. She kept running through the city, trying to deal with the emotional turmoil of everything.

After running a few blocks, she thought to herself Wait. This is just like what happened last time. She slowed down, and took a deep breath. I don’t want to cause another death. Heh. Even from beyond the grave, Kasumi is saving me.

She looked around. Maybe I just need to clear my head for a bit. I don’t know what I want right now. Maybe I haven’t found as much of myself as I have thought. But where to go? Sumire continued walking. I guess I’ll see where my feet take me.

The Phantom Thieves made their way to the subway station. They began looking through some of the requests on the Phan-site, but none of them felt all too dire. That is, until they found a post about one Natsuhiko Nakanohara; a municipal teller stalking his ex girlfriend. “Ugh. What a creep” Ann noted.

“So, we’re in agreement then?” Ryuji asked. The others nodded. “Alright, now let’s figure out where his palace might be.”

“Hold on,” Morgana said, taking charge. “This is why I brought you here today. Try the word ‘Mementos’.”

“Umm, alright,” Ryuji said. “Mementos.” Suddenly, the world shifted around them. The bustling station was now empty, and Morgana had taken on his Metaverse appearance. “Huh?”

“What’s going on?” Ann asked.

“I figured as much,” Morgana said. “C’mon, let’s head down.” Morgana headed down the platform stairs. The others just shrugged and went with it.

A few moments before, Sumire had made her way to that exact subway station in her stupor. She sighed. “Maybe I should just head back. I haven’t found anything. She glanced up and noticed something across the station from her. “Isn’t that senpai and her friends?”

“Navigating” her phone said.

“Huh?” Sumire noted. She got out her phone. “How come I haven’t noticed this app before?” she asked herself. “It looks strange.” Suddenly, she felt the world change around her. “Huh?” She looked around and saw no one.

Sumire was in disbelief. The once crowded station was now barren. “What’s going on?” She looked around, only to find herself more confused. She looked back and saw that Ren and company were going down a flight of stairs. She looked determined. “Maybe senpai knows what’s up.” She decided to follow them.

Once down the stairs, the thieves were greeted by a few surprises. The platform was there, but instead of rails there was a field of dirt with a bunch of flowers growing in it. They were also in their Phantom Thief attire. “Woah! What’s this?!” Ann asked.

“Is this that Nakanohara guy’s palace?” Ryuji asked. “Why is it here? Why is it a garden?”

“Hold on,” Ren said, remembering this scenery. “This seems familiar.”

“Hm hm hm” Morgana chuckled. “Well, you’re sort of right Skull. But, you’re sort of wrong as well. Mementos is everyone’s palace.”

The thieves were confused. Ryuji sputtered “Everyone’s…”

“...Palace?” Ann finished.

Morgana nodded. “Not everyone has a palace all to themselves. Only those with incredibly distorted desires. Most people’s shadows, you’d just find here. This place is basically the thing that connects all human minds.”

“So, how do we get this guy’s attention?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana grinned. “We already have.” Again, everyone was shocked. “That Phan-site is a useful tool. It can act as a calling card for people without palaces. And, since their desires aren’t as warped, it’ll have a longer effect on them.”

“Huh” Ann said.

“So, we can just go and get that Nakanohara guy now?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana nodded. “Let’s go!”

“But, um, how?” Ren asked. “I mean, this place seems big.”

“Never fear!” Morgana said. He posed. “Morgana transform!” he transformed into a car.

“WHAT?!” Ryuji said.

“We can go like this,” Morgana said.

“How can you turn into a car?!” Ann asked.

“Oh, well, uh, you see, it’s a common perception that in fantastical situations, cats can turn into cars. And since we’re basically in the collective unconscious...”

Ren just shrugged. “OK.”

“What? You’re just gonna accept that?!” Ryuji asked.

“Why not? It makes things easier” Ren chuckled.

Ryuji sighed. “Well, we’re already this deep.”

“Yeah, it might be easier to not question things,” Ann added. The three of them got in.

“Um, why aren’t we moving?” Ryuji asked.

“I’m a car!” Morgana said. “Someone needs to drive me!”

“Oh” Ryuji said. “Um, since he’s sort of your cat, do you want to drive him?”

Ren simply said “Sure.” She got into the front seat and took off.

Meanwhile, Sumire managed to make it down the stairs to see Ren, Ann, and Ryuji in strange looking suits getting into a car that looked kind of like a cat and drive off. “Huh. That’s, um… unusual…” Sumire looked around. “This is also unusual.” She looked at the path where the car drove down. “Well, I don’t suppose I’m going to get any answers just standing here.” She hopped off the platform and followed the car on foot.

As they were driving, Ann asked “So, um, not for nothing, but why didn't you do this at the palace Morgana?”

“A big car like this would attract too much attention when we’re trying to sneak around” Morgana answered. “Plus, it was way too narrow to do anything in.

“I guess that’s true,” Ryuji said. “I’m wondering why you didn’t tell us all this ‘bout Mementos beforehand.”

“Well, you know how you reacted when he turned into a car, right?” Ren answered. “Basically that.” Ryuji knew she was right, but didn’t want to say it out loud.

They reached a strange looking portal. “What’s this?” Ann asked.

“I’m sensing a specific shadow there,” Morgana said.

“Nakanhara?” Ryuji asked.

“Most likely,” Morgana said.

“Bring it on,” Ren said. She hit the gas and drove through. On the other side, there was a smaller plot of land. In the middle of it stood Nakanohara. Growing from it was a small thorny vine.

“Let’s get him!” Ann said.

“Hold up,” Ren said. She observed the vine.

“What is it?” Ann asked.

Ren thought some more. She sighed. “In my initial vision, I saw the subway system turn into this garden. That vine… Something feels off about it.”

The other thieves looked at it. “You think it’s protecting him?” Ryuji asked.

Ren stared some more. “No. I think the opposite.” Everyone else was confused. “If Eris is giving people the power to exact revenge on those with palaces, that vine might be the equivalent of that here.”

“You mean that vine is from his ex and it wants to kill him?!” Morgana said.

“Well, that’s my working theory anyways,” Ren said. She smiled. “So, it doesn’t change much. If we steal his heart, that vine can’t destroy him.”

“Alright!” Ruji said. “Now you’re talking!”

“Let’s go!” Ren said. The four of them headed out of the shadows to Nakanohara.

Nakanohara noticed them. “Hm. Are you those so-called Phantom Thieves? I bet you’re here because of what my girlfriend said about me.”

“Don’t you mean your ex-girlfriend?” Ann snapped back.

“SHE’S MINE!” he screamed. “Tch. I don’t even know why you’re here! Why not take on someone who deserves it?! Like Madarame!”

“Madarame?” Morgana said.

Ren struck a pose. “We are the Phantom Thieves. We are on the side of justice. Hence, we shall steal your distorted desires.”

“Yeah! You can’t just act like a creep because other people are worse!” Ryuji added.

“Grrrrr” Nakanohara. “GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” he transformed into a shadow that could not be reasoned with any longer. “SHE’S MINE! MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE! I WON’T LET ANYONE ELSE HAVE HER!”

“Let’s go!” Ren said. The thieves fought Nakanohara’s shadow, and won.

After that, Nakanohara reverted back to himself. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just-” he sighed. “I lost everything to Madarame. I had hopes and dreams, but he took them all away. I had to settle to be a teller. So, when my girlfriend left me, it just opened up old wounds.”

“That’s no excuse for stalking!” Ann said.

“Heh. You’re right” Nakanohara said. “I’ll apologize and leave her alone. But please. Steal Madarame’s heart.” Nakanohara vanished and a small treasure appeared. Ren grabbed it. She looked down and noticed the thorny vine had also disappeared.

“So, we did it,” Ryuji said. “Let’s go.”

“Hold on!” Morgana said. “There’s something else we need to do.”

“For real?” Ryuji said. “Well, if you say so.”

“Yeah, you’re the expert Mona!” Ann said.

Morgana blushed. “Thanks Panther.” He turned back into a car. They drove back to Mementos proper.

“Huh?” Ren said, looking back. “That portal closed behind us.”

“Well, we stole Nakanohara’s heart,” Morgana said. “It has no reason to exist anymore.”

“I guess that’s true,” Ren said. “Alright then, what’s next.

“Find another platform” Morgana said. “Not the one we came from.”

“Alrighty then,” Ren said. She drove off, exploring Mementos for a little while until coming to another platform. “More stairs?”

“Yeah,” Morgana said. “Mementos isn’t just a one floor structure. It keeps going.”

“How deep?” Ryuji said.

“That I don’t know,” Morgana said. “But I know at the bottom is the source of all of this...probably.”

“So, that’s where Eris lives, I presume?” Ann asked.

“I’d think so,” Morgana answered. “Anyways, let’s head down.” They got out and headed down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Sumire was still trying to find Ren. “Man, this place is confusing.” She kept walking. Unbeknownst to her, a large thorny vine was following her.

On this new floor, it was just a straight path to a strange looking door. “What’s this?” Ann asked. Ren felt like the door was calling to her somehow. She walked over. “Hey, wait!” Ann said, trying to stop her.

Ren placed her hand on the door. The door then opened up. “Woah” Ryuji said.

Ren looked at her hand. “Huh.”

Morgana smiled. “I knew you could do it!”

The three teens looked at him. “Um, do what?” Ryuji asked.

“That door's been locked for the longest time,” Morgana said. “But now, we can open it.”

“Um, do you know why it’s been locked?” Ann asked.

“I’m thinking it’s a power thing,” Morgana said. “I was originally exploring Mementos, but I hit this dead end. So, I met up with the two of you in Kamoshida’s Palace to try and gain power by stealing his treasure.”

“Hmmmm” Ren said. “I don’t know if that’s entirely correct.”

“How so?” Morgana asked, confused.

“Well, you’re right that we needed more power,” Ren began, “but it might not be raw power. This place is basically the collective human unconscious, right?” Morgana nodded. “So, I’m thinking the power needed is the power to make an impact on this unconscious.”

“Ohhhhhhh” Morgana said.

“Wait, how’d we do that?” Ryuji asked.

Ren grinned. “We stole Kamoshida’s heart. People are talking about the Phantom Thieves now. We’re not nothing to the public anymore.”

Ryuji was dumbfounded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Ann said. “In order to progress through Mementos, we need to keep making an impact by stealing more hearts from people with palaces.”

“Seems like it,” Ren said.

“Well then let’s do just that!” Ann said.

“Of course” Ren said.

“Hmmm” Morgana said.

“What’s up Mona?” Ann asked.

“Nakanohara gave us a name,” Morgana reminded them. “Madarame. I think that’s worth looking into.”

“Hm. You may be right” Ren said. “It could be our next big break.” Ren looked at the recently opened door. “Wanna continue, or should we call it here?”

“Well, we’ve learned a lot,” Ryuji said. “It might be better to collect ourselves for the time being.”

“You have a point Skull,” Ren said. “OK, let’s head back for now.”

“Right, but remember,” Morgana began saying, “ we need to make occasional trips here to deal with shadows like Nakanohara’s.”

“Right,” Ren said. They headed back up the stairs. Morgana turned back into a car and they were on their way back.

“Hey, this looks different,” Ann said.

“That’s because Mementos is always changing,” Morgana said. “Because so many people are influencing it, no two visits will be the same.”

“Huh” Ann said. They continued to drive. On their way to finding the platform that will take them up, Ann spotted something. “OVER THERE!”

The others looked. They saw a small boy next to a tipped over car that was on fire. Ren turned the car to meet with this mysterious boy. She got out.

“Oh, hello” The boy said. He was wearing a white coat with star patterns on it, with matching boots, black pants, and wearing a pair of goggles.

“Hello,” Ren said. “Um, who might you be?”

“Oh. I guess that’s the human thing to do” the boy said. “My name is Jose.”

“Wait. ‘Human thing to do’?” Ryuji asked.

“Does that mean?” Ann asked.

Jose nodded. “I am not a human.

“You look like one,” Morgana said, pouting a little.

“While that might be true, I’m just a dweller of this universe created to study humans here in Mementos” Jose explained. “Or, at least I was.”

“Was?” Ren asked.

Jose nodded. “These weird, plant-like things sensed my presence and destroyed my car. I guess they didn’t like that I was trying to drink them.”

“Drink...plants…” Ryuji said. “Alright, I’m officially giving up trying to understand things.”

“Don’t worry, we’re all mad here,” Ren said.

“The plants I’m trying to drink are the essence of humanity” Jose explained. “Well, before they were tainted by this garden of madness.”

“So, why study humanity?” Ann asked.

“I was asked to by my creator,” Jose said. “He wanted to know what I thought humans were like.”

“Why couldn’t he just do it?” Ryuji asked.

“It’s complicated,” Jose explained. “But now I can’t do it, My car is destroyed, and those shadow things keep attacking me. But I can’t go back to him empty-handed.”

Ren felt sorry for him. She smiled. “Hey Jose,” she said. Jose looked up. “Wanna come with us? I’m sure you can learn a  thing or two about humanity by studying us actual humans.”

Jose smiled. “I’d like that ma’am.”

“NO!” screamed a voice. The group turned toward the source to see a cabal of shadows. “Humanity will be brought to its knees by chaos. We won’t let this interloper interfere!”

“Bring it on!” Ryuji said. The Phantom Thieves put themselves between Jose and the shadows and began fighting.

Jose looked on. “These shadows. They want to stop me. But these humans. They wish to aid me? Those shadows are trying to force their beliefs by stopping me, while these humans wish to help. If humanity really will descend into chaos, why aren’t these humans allowing it?”

He looked on to see the Phantom Thieves fighting. He got a determined look. “If you humans are so willing to help me find the truth about humanity, then these shadows are wrong!” he yelled.

“Well done” said a voice in Jose’s head. He started to struggle. “Stand up to those who would hide the truth from you. They proclaim truth, but in reality are pushing lies. Are you ready to seek the truth? Are you ready to spread it, even if people aren’t willing to listen?”

“...Yes...of course…” Jose answered.

“Hm hm hm” the voice continued. “Very well. I am thou. Thou art I. Call upon my power to bring the light of the truth to the world!”

Jose gripped his goggles and tore them off his face, blood flowing from the tear. “Galileo!” he called. Suddenly, his persona appeared behind him. Galileo looked like a balding man with a beard, wearing a black cloak and black pants, with a white collar. He had a telescope in one hand, and a book in the other. Nothing really changed about Jose’s outward appearance though.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji said.

Ren smiled. “Looks like he’s one of us” she said.

Jose looked angry. “Let me join in.”

“You got it!” Ren said. Jose rushed in to help defeat the shadows with his new persona along with his weapons of choice: A hammer, and a sniper rifle.

After the fight, Jose was breathing heavily. “WOO!” he exclaimed. “That felt great.”

“You’re pretty good Jose,” Ann said.

“For real,” Ryuji said.

“It’ll be nice to have you on the team,” Ren said.

Morgana stared at him. “Yeah, he’ll be fine.”

“Aww, are you jealous?” Ren asked. “Don’t worry, you’re still important to the team. But we need all the help we can get.”

“I guess that’s true,” Morgana relented.

“Thanks,” Jose said. “But, who are you guys anyway?”

The four of them were shocked. “Oh, right, well…” Ren said.

“AHHHHHHHHH!” someone screamed.

“What was that?” Ryuji asked.

“It sounded like someone screaming” Ann pointed out.

Ren went pale. No way. Could it be? She ran off in the direction of it. Everyone else followed suit. When Ren got there, she came face-to-face with what she feared it was. “SUMIRE!” she called out. Sumire was being tied up by vines and was about to be enveloped by this plant-like thing.

The other thieves were just as surprised by this sight, as was Jose. However, Jose noticed something else. “HEY!” he called, pointing to Eris. The thieves’s attention was now on her. “You’re the person controlling these plants, right? You destroyed my car!”

“She did this?” Ann said.

“Grrr. Why do you always have to cause so many problems?!” Ryuji howled.

“We should just stop you right now!” Morgana added.

“Hehehehehehe” Eris snickered. “You can only open one door. What chance do you have against me?”

“LET HER GO!” Ren demanded.

“What? You mean her?” Eris said, pointing to Sumire. “No can do.” She laughed. Ren tried to run to save her, but some shadows stopped her. “You don’t get it. Unlike you, she’s not here to save anyone. She’s here to bury herself in the depths of Mementos with me.”

“Bullshit!” Ryuji said.

“Yeah! She’s not just something for you to claim!” Ann said.

“Oh, but she’s always been mine,” Eris said. “I’m the only one who will accept her.”

“That’s not true!” Morgana protested. “We accept her!”

“Really?” Eris said. “Well, maybe for now. But what will happen when I show you this?!” A giant flower grew and blossomed. It presented a large screen. Appearing on it, a girl who looked like Sumire with brown hair in a ponytail, and a mole on her face.

“Oh no,” Sumire said.

“Today was brutal, huh?” Kasumi said on the screen. She looked at the camera. “Feeling OK?”

The camera shook its head. “It’s not that,” Sumire said in the video, who is now revealed to be the camera. They keep walking. “Why am I doing so bad?”

Kasumi looked at her sister. “Your growth spurt has just changed your eye level. See, you’re as tall as me now.”

“We practice the same amount,” Sumire said. “But you’re the one that’s always getting first place.”

“You know why?” Kasumi asked. “Because it’s my right as the elder sister.”

“We’re in the same grade though,” Sumire pointed out.

“Aw, don’t be so down,” Kasumi said. “We’ll reach the top of the world together. That’s our dream, right?”

“You don’t get it” Sumire said, sadness in her voice. “You’ll never understand how I feel.” She started to run. We can hear her thinking. Kasumi...if I were like you...things would be so much better.

“Hey! Wait up!” Kasumi cried out.

Kasumi’s the one people want.

“Look where you’re going, the light’s red! Hey!”

The talented one who CAN reach the top of the world.

“Sumire! Stop! Listen to me! SUMIRE!” Sumire felt a push, as Kasumi shoved her. She heard a car pull up.

After Sumire had gotten up from the shove, the next thing she saw was Kasumi dead in the middle of the road. “Kasumi?”

It is there that the video ends. Everyone was in shock. “That’s right,” Eris said. “She killed her own sister by attempting to die. What a truly horrible thing to do. She really is a monster, destined to join the shadows down here forever.”

Sumire was crying. “She’s right,” she muttered. “After what I did to Kasumi...after taking her from this world...I can’t...I can’t…I can’t forgive myself.”

There was silence. Sumire was slowly sinking into the plant, resigned to become the monster she thought she was. “NO!” Ren shouted, surprising everyone. Sumire looked up. “You are NOT a monster! You are NOT horrible! You are Sumire Yoshizawa! You are kind! Gracious! Welcoming! And I will do everything to help you see that! PERSONA!” Ren summoned her persona and started fighting the shadows.

“Pathetic,” Eris said.

“You're the one that’s pathetic, Eris!” Ann shouted. “Preying on people’s emotions to get what you want! It’s disgusting!” She joined the fight. “And I won’t let you do it to one of the sweetest people I’ve met! Sumire! Don’t give in!”

Sumire was stunned. “But..but I-”

“No you didn’t!” Ryuji chimed in. He started fighting too. “It ain’t your fault the situation turned out shitty! You’re not worthless! You mean something!”

“He’s right!” Morgana added. “You have more power than you think you have!” He started to fight. “You just need to channel it!”

Jose was fighting some shadows already. “From my limited observations, these humans fight for what they believe in. And they believe in you. You must be something special if they’re willing to fight like this.”

“SUMIRE!” Ren said. “You said that you’d be able to handle anything hard if it was from me, right?! Well here’s something hard! Kasumi died saving you! She did that because she believed you were worth saving! Is this any way to honor her?!” Sumire was shocked.

Ren went on. “If she felt like giving her life to save you, then so will I! SUMIRE! I’LL FIGHT FOR YOU TILL THE END!” The group kept on fighting the shadows.

“My my” Eris said. “They just can’t accept the way things are, can they?”

Sumire looked on, as her new friends risked everything for her. The inspiring words they said. The bitter fact that Ren was right. Kasumi did sacrifice her life for her’s. “...everyone…”

“Hm?” Eris said, looking at her. “You can’t really believe that, can you?” she asked. “You’re a pathetic weakling. You’ve always been pathetic. And you always will be!”

“SHUT UP!” Sumire shouted, gaining the attention of everyone. “I’m THROUGH being weak. I’m THROUGH running away! I’m THROUGH needing others to save me! Senpai! Everyone! They have their own demons to fight! And yet, they continually help me fight mine!

Well. This is no longer going to be a one way street! From now on, I’ll help them too! Because that’s what I do! Because I am Sumire Yoshizawa! And I will NOT let my sister’s gifts go wasted!”

“My, what a forceful person” A voice in Sumire’s head rang out. Sumire started to struggle under the wraps of the vines. “But if you are here, then all is good. Only go for success. Your sister will always stay in your heart.”

One of Sumire’s hands broke out of the vine. The voice continued. “She is grateful you have not accepted a life of cinders. That you now strive towards splendor. One question remains. Will you fill these shoes and dance with me?”

“Yes,” Sumire said, a mask appearing on her face.

“Then we shall dance to the end. I am thou. Thou art I. Accept this contract. This spell I cast upon you.”

With one swift motion, Sumire ripped off her mask, leaving blood spattered on her face.”CENDRILLON!” she called. The energy of her summoning her persona forced her out of the plant. When she landed, she found that she was dressed in a leotard, a coat with three flaps, stockings, heels, a belt with a violet on it, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a black ribbon. Sumire quickly jumped in to fight the shadows.

Eris was growling. “FINE! You can have her! But know this. I will always be watching. Waiting. And the moment any of you have doubts, I’ll be there.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryuji said. “Like it matters what you say at this point.”

“You laugh now!” Eris continued. “But once humanity has embraced chaos, they will evolve! Beyond the need for suffering! Beyond the need for hate! Beyond the need for saviors like you!” Eris vanished.

Ryuji wanted to try and chase her, but Ann stopped him. “Let’s fight this fight first!” she pointed out. Ryuji nodded. With all six of them, the shadows went down.

Sumire was breathing heavily. “We did it! I did it! We won! I won!” She passed out.

“Sumire!” Ren shouted. She ran to catch Sumire as she fell.

“Let’s get out of here!” Morgana said. He transformed back into a car. Ryuji got in. Ren handed Sumire to him. She went around to take the driver’s seat.

Ann stepped in. She turned to Jose. “Hey!” she called, reaching her hand out. “Wanna come with us?”

Jose smiled. “Sure. You’re an interesting bunch. I feel like I will learn a lot from you.” Jose took Ann’s hand, and the both went in together. Ren began to drive to find the exit to Mementos.

They reached the platform. Everyone left, and Ren took Sumire back. Morgana transformed back, and they all headed up the stairs. They used the app to leave Mementos and appear back at the subway station.

When Sumire came to, she was staring at Ren’s eyes. “Senpai,” she said. She gave Ren a little hug. Ren got slightly embarrassed.

“Ahem,” Ren said. “How are you feeling?”

“Well…” Sumire said. “Right now, that seems like a loaded question. I’m feeling all sorts of things.” She looked back at Ren. “But I’m glad you found me when you did. I’m glad you’re here.”

Ren’s face was now as red as a ripe tomato. She looked at Sumire. “I’m glad you’re here too, Sumire.”

“SUMIRE!” Coach Hiraguchi called out.

Sumire looked up. “Coach?” She got up to see her coach had come looking for her.

Hiraguchi found her. “Sumire!” She ran over. “I was looking all over for you. I was worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Sumire said. “I guess I’m not as over everything as I thought.”

“And that’s fine,” Hiraguchi said, placing her hands on Sumire’s shoulders. “No one’s expecting you to be fine after what happened.” Hiraguchi gave her a hug. “I just don’t want anything bad happening to you.”

Sumire was awed. She gave her a hug back. “Coach. Thank you.”

The two ended their hug. Hiraguchi turned to Ren. “You’re Amamiya, right?” Ren nodded. “You found Sumire then?”

Ren nodded again. “Yeah. She was wandering about when I came across her. She explained to me some of her problems, and then I helped her work out some things. She passed out, feeling exhausted.”

Hiraguchi smiled. “Well, I can certainly see why Sumire has taken a liking to you.”

“Coach!” Sumire said, her face now turning red.

Hiraguchi smiled. She checked her phone. “It’s getting late. If it’s alright with you, I can take you home, Sumire.”

“Oh” Sumire said. “That’s fine.” She waved at Ren. “Seeya, senpai!” She and Hiraguchi walked off. Ren waved back. She then got out her phone and texted her.

Ren: Hey. If you wanna talk about all that stuff about Personas and stuff, meet me tomorrow at Leblanc.

Sumire: Wait.

Sumire: That was real.

Sumire: I thought that was a dream I was having.

Ren: Nope.

Ren: It’s real.

Ren: Believe me.

Sumire: …

Sumire: Well, I guess it would be helpful to understand it all.

Sumire: Alright, I’ll come over.

Ren: Thanks.

Ren: Seeya!

Ren: And get some rest.

Sumire: I will.

Sumire: Thanks.

Ryuji, Ann, and Jose walked up. “Well, we should probably head back too,” Ryuji said.

“Yeah,” Ann said. “But what about Jose?”

They looked at him. “Yeah, you’re right,” Ryuji said. “We can’t just leave him alone.”

“Maybe we could,” Morgana said, riding in Ren’s bag. Ren rolled her eyes.

“Actually, Mr. Kitty is right,” Jose said. The thieves looked at him, surprised. “Don’t worry about me for now. I can figure something out.”

“...Well, if you say so,” Ann said. Morgana groaned. 

Ren smiled. “Hey. Jose. Wanna come over to my place tomorrow to discuss everything?”

“Sure,” Jose said. “If you tell me where you live.”

“Oh. Right. I live at a place called Leblanc” Ren said. “If you ask, I’m sure you can find it.”

“Noted,” Jose said. “Oh, before I leave, what are your names?”

The thieves were surprised. In all the hubbub, they didn’t mention them. “Well, my name is Ren. This is Ann.”

“Hello.”

“This is Ryuji.”

“Sup.”

“And Mr. Kitty here is Morgana.” Morgana pouted. “Don’t mind him,” Ren added. “He’s just going through some things.”

“I see” Jose. “And Sumire was that girl from before, correct?” Ren nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to stop by then.” Jose walked off.

“Boy, I’m exhausted,” Ryuji said.

“Same,” Ann said. “I can’t wait to get home and relax in a bath.”

“I’m just gonna chow down on meat and then watch anime till I pass out” Ryuji said.

“Sounds fun,” Ren said. “I might do both of those.” They all walked off. Ren went to a public bath not too far from Leblanc and enjoyed some leisure time to herself, as Morgana waited outside.

Once she finished, she headed for Leblanc. She used her key to open the door. She noticed Sojiro wasn’t there. “Hm.” She began making food for her when a thought occurred to her. Wait…

She remembered what Eris said. “You laugh now! But once humanity has embraced chaos, they will evolve! Beyond the need for suffering! Beyond the need for hate! Beyond the need for saviors like you!”

But didn’t those shadows that attacked Jose say…?

“Humanity will be brought to its knees by chaos. We won’t let this interloper interfere!”

Hm. Well, we’re meeting tomorrow. I don’t need to think about this today. I’m too tired. She finished cooking. She went upstairs with her food, changed into her pajamas, turned on the TV, and ate. Once she was finished eating, she continued watching TV until she fell asleep.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

A Night to Remember: A Late Visit

Fandom: Cats the musical Rating: T (could potentially go up later) Pairing: multiple in future chapters, Tuggoffelees, Victoria/Plato, Demeter/Munkustrap etc. Category: magical circus AU, slow burn Chapter number: 5 Chapter summary: Quaxo and Victoria are paid a very late visit. 

The previous chapter: One of Us

 It had been past midnight already when Victoria woke Quaxo up by shaking his shoulder, wildly gesticulating towards the door. Fortunately, he hadn't been fully asleep yet - the magician was a heavy sleeper and he found it difficult to focus on anything or anyone after waking up. At first, he couldn't understand what was happening, why Victoria would interrupt those precious few hours of sleep, but then he heard it too - a quiet, but definitely insistent knocking on the door. 

He was seriously considering going back to sleep, but his sister's worried expression chased all the exhaustion and laziness away. Reluctantly, Quaxo crawled from under the blanket. "I'll take care of it," he smiled at her and ruffled her hair. Barefoot and dishevelled, he made his way towards the door.

As soon as he opened it, only partially, to see what was so important that it couldn't wait till morning, a strong hand flung the door wide open and he stammered out a complaint as a familiar figure, much taller than he was, burst inside their small apartment. "Finally, what took you so long?"

Quaxo blinked. And again. This was one crazy dream. "Huh? What do you - how do you even..." But then his tired eyes finally focused on the intruder. "It's you!" he blurted out and pointed an accusatory finger at the tall man. His wild mane of hair and provocative smirk were unmistakable. "You always come to our performances and sit at the back."

"Oooh, flattered that you noticed me," the stranger grinned and assumed a posture that was, even to Quaxo's inexperienced eyes, rather...suggestive. "The name's Tugger," he waved at both siblings.

Victoria's eyes were huge and a little bit too focused on those tight pants, Quaxo realised with a tinge of annoyance. "Quaxo. This is my sister Victoria. So what-!"

But of course, Tugger did not let him finish. He completely ignored Quaxo's unfinished question and flung himself on their kitchen chair, stretching his long legs. "Enchanted," he winked at Victoria. "Look, I'm pretty sure you have a ton of questions and all, but I'm really not in a talking mood, so why don't you two just sit down and wait for my ever so responsible big brother to talk you through it?" His tone was self-assured, as if there was no doubt that they would follow his instructions.

And to Quaxo's disbelief, Victoria actually nodded and sat down with a content smile, made herself comfortable and started swinging her feet back and forth, completely relaxed. Before he could ask her what on earth she was doing, why would she listen to this stranger, a small voice started nagging in his head. 

Maybe he's right, you know. Maybe it would be better to just sit down and wait, after all, you're tired, he probably doesn't want to talk anyway...so why don't you join your sister? It will be much easier...

He found his will weakening and prepared to join Victoria on the bed, when he had another, very simple thought. Why? Why should I? He froze mid-step, torn between the urge to obey, to fulfill Tugger's wish, and something inside him that kept the single word - why. Say it. Why? I don't want to, he invaded our home, our privacy, so why should we abide by is rules? 

I don't want to follow what he says without a single thought, like Victoria did.And just like that, the persuasive voice in his head nagging him to obey was gone.

 Tugger watched in awe and rather comical confusion as Quaxo straightened his spine and frowned, his dark eyes staring daggers. The older man gaped at him as if no one had defied him ever before. "And why should I do that?!" the magician snapped and yanked Victoria towards him, to keep her out of Tugger's reach. "You barge in, act like you are the king or something. Our place, our rules! Now speak, what do you want? And sis..." he turned towards Victoria and gently shook her shoulders. The blank and content look in her eyes frightened him. "Snap out of it!" 

Finally, some recognition crept into her features. B-but...! she threw her hands up defensively. Her gaze went to Tugger and Quaxo, back and forward, as if she could not decide whose instructions to follow. He told me to sit down and wait!

"Yeah, I definitely told her to do that!" Tugger chimed in. "Also lady, don't forget to move your mouth during your telepathy thingy. I mean, I expected it, but anyone else would freak out. But back to the more important thing..." He rose up from the chair and walked towards Quaxo, poking his forehead inquisitively, ignoring the annoyed glare. "How did you do that?"

Quaxo took one step back, dragging confused Victoria behind him. "Do what? If you can't be polite, be at least coherent!" Only then had he realised what Tugger said and felt panic start creeping in. "Wait, what do you mean by- I mean, she definitely speaks normally, so-!"

Tugger snorted and imitated a talking gesture with his hand. "Yeah, cut that crap. I went to your shows, I know what she does. That's fine, I mean, most of us are like that. Have a quirk or two. So again. How did you do it? How did you say no?"

"I didn't say no, I said why!" Quaxo spat out, exasperated. "Why is it such a surprise to you that people don't obey your every single whim?! More importantly, what do you mean most of us?" He was intrigued now, despite having every reason to feel endangered by this stranger. Meanwhile, Victoria gave up on trying to find out the middle ground between the two men and sat on the floor in front of them, causing Quaxo to sigh and run his fingers through the already dishevelled hair. "And whatever you are doing, stop brainwashing my sister!"  

It was Tugger's turn to groan now. While wildly gesturing in her general direction, his eyes never left Quaxo's. "It's not like I do it on purpose! But to appease you... hey, young lady! Get up, will you? And make yourself comfortable...please," he added reluctantly when he saw that the magician's frown did anything but disappear. After Victoria was safely seated on the bed, he crossed his arms on his chest and leaned forward to examine Quaxo more closely. "Curious. You really are a strange one, aren't you? I've seen my share of weirdos, hell, we have twins who share control over each other's body, another pair that keeps talking telepathically because apparently, using your mouth to communicate is way too boring, a girl who can shatter glass with her voice...but you, I've never seen anything similar. What exactly do you do?"

The anger in Quaxo's gaze was replaced by confusion. "What...do I do?" Tugger nodded. "Yeah, what is your power, gift, weirdness, whatever you want to call it? I saw you teleport stuff, well, those kittens. That's how I found out you're one of us, I saw the exact moment the ball of fluff miraculously appeared in your hat, but then...you do other things, don't you? Swap things in different places. Make people do some things you want, perhaps?" 

"I wouldn't go that far." Quaxo felt like he was trapped in a very, very strange dream. Talking about his gift with someone else, and on top of that, a rock star-looking guy he'd just met, that was unimaginable. Or at least, had been. "I can cause small changes in what's happening, but it's nothing about controlling people. More like...chance, I guess? If there is a newspaper in your way, for instance, I can get it in your face with an accidental gust of wind...and similar things."

"Then you would be a great asset to our troupe," said a deeper voice from the doorway. 

Tugger spread his arms in exaggerated relief. "My dearly missed brother arrives at last! Be so kind and take over the talking part of this, yeah?"

Quaxo blinked, looking back and forth between the two men. The newcomer shared some facial features that were similar to Tugger, but looked more solemn and responsible. His hair was darker than his brother's, cooler-toned, and had a few streaks of silver, even though his face was not that old. "Now there's two of you? Oh great." But in spite of himself, he started feeling calmer, less agitated - yet he should be! There were two strange men in their apartment, way past midnight, and yet he did not feel endangered. It made no sense.  

The newcomer pressed his lips into a thin line and turned towards Tugger with a deeply critical gaze. "Take over the talking part? That was the plan, Tugger, before you accidentally - or at least that's how I assume you'll present it - left me in front of a wrong door and ran away to...here. I hope you haven't completely ruined our reputation by now. Has he?" he asked the siblings. 

Not at all! Victoria smiled at the same moment Quaxo mumbled "Pretty close."  

The stranger exhaled and rubbed his temples to calm himself. "Then I hope I'll be able to minimise the damage. My name, or at least what I go by in our troupe, is Munkustrap. You've already met my unruly younger brother, Rum Tum Tugger. From the very little I've heard during my arrival, my brother has already spoken to you about your powers, while also mentioning that you are not the only ones that are...different. We came to visit you as representatives of a certain circus that specialises in hiring of people with unique talents like yours." 

"What he means to say," Tugger interjected, "was that it's a shelter for people like you. Not just an employment." 

The siblings looked at each other questioningly. Um...why would people like us need a shelter? Victoria asked. We can earn enough to get by, as you know. 

Munkustrap's eye twitched when Tugger spoke, but otherwise he remained his composure. "An excellent question, one that was about to be answered a bit later, but obviously, someone here loves to make a mess out of any conversation plan. Allow me to explain - it is not that we think that you need financial aid or something similar. What my brother meant was that most of people with gifts like ours, it can be...difficult to maintain friendships or relationships with others. Mostly because we feel like we have to hide what is so natural for us." He smiled for the first time, and Quaxo found himself being drawn to this man, trusting him. Once again, not very rational, and yet...

"That...might be true," he admitted reluctantly, glancing towards Victoria. 

I can't begin to explain how tiring it is to pretend I speak normally, she nodded, fiddling with her nightgown. It's not that I feel bad about doing what I do, I just...don't want to explain. Or be known for it. 

Munkustrap's smile remained, calming and understanding. "Exactly. You are not alone in this, even though it might have felt like it for a long time. What we do is use our powers to perform, so however extraordinary they are, we can show them to the public, masquerading them as tricks or skills. And, being a circus, we are constantly on the move, so there is no risk of being revealed for who we really are." 

Victoria sniffled and Quaxo knew right then that Munkustrap won her over. Oh. That does sound wonderful! 

"Yeah...it sounds good," he admitted begrudgingly. "Too good, even. But that doesn't explain why you had to come at this hour. You could have easily approached us after our performance tomorrow. Care to explain that?" 

He noticed, with slightly mischievous satisfaction, that the brothers looked at each other uneasily. There was silence for a moment, but then it was Tugger who spoke. "Because I saw you get that note. And before you start making assumptions, it's not because the guy is our competition and we wanted to make sure we get to you two first. It's way worse." 

How do you know that Mr. Macavity contacted us? Victoria asked, disturbed by what she'd just heard. And that he offered us a job?

"Because that's what he always does," Tugger said, and perhaps Quaxo was only imagining it, but wasn't there a bitter undertone to those words? 

Munkustrap quickly interrupted his brother. "That is unfortunately true," he admitted, his smile now gone. "We were originally planning to approach you later this week, but when Tugger saw him sending you that note, we knew we had to act quickly. Macavity isn't our competition, although he spends significant time tracking down those with gifts. But where we offer a home, he only takes." He leaned towards the siblings, his tone quiet and serious. "Macavity, even if you may find it hard to believe, runs a business that seems completely innocent at first. A small favour here and there, nothing major, nothing to worry about. But slowly, inevitably, you start getting deeper and deeper. Eventually, you do something...questionable. And that's what Macavity wants, because then he can hold it over you. Forever."

"But..." Quaxo whispered, "...why us? Why would he be after two club performers? We're nobody." But he knew the answer before it came.  

"Because he knows what you can do. Macavity collects those with special talents for his criminal activities, uses their gifts for his own benefit. And just like us, he is very good at distinguishing tricks from actual unique powers," Munkustrap answered. 

Then we can just refuse his offer! Victoria stepped in, her movements restricted now - she wrapped her arms around her chest, as if the mere description made her feel unsafe. If we don't join him, he can't make us do anything bad.

Tugger chuckled, a dry and unhappy sound. "A few people had that idea already. Didn't go so well for them."

Munkustrap nodded. "Unfortunately, that isn't an option. Macavity doesn't leave anything to chance. If you were to refuse, he would use his influence to make sure that working for him is eventually the only option left for you. He excels at that, I am afraid. But," he quickly added, forcing the smile back on his face, "we have stolen enough of your time already. Please, think about our offer, I'm certain you're very confused and that some of our claims must have sounded rather far-fetched. If you want to meet our troupe before making a decision, you're most welcome to do so. Here is our card." He handed Victoria an old-fashioned card and bowed his head slightly. "We would love to hear from you, no matter how you decide." 

His words prompted Tugger to stretch his back and head towards the door. "Right. It's getting late and all that. Well then, hope to see you both later! And you, magician boy!" He pointed at Quaxo with an attractive grin. "You still owe me an explanation how you resisted my charm. I'm not forgetting that."  

And just like that, they were both gone. Quaxo and Victoria stood in the suddenly too quiet room, speechless.  

I...think I may need to sleep on this before I can think about what just happened. What are they even called... 

"Good question." Quaxo took the card from her hands and turned it around. "Jellicle Circus? What a ridiculous name! Just like Rum Tum Tugger, Munkustrap and....ugh. It's a circus alright!"  

But it sounded really nice! Victoria smiled and, when Quaxo's frown did not disappear, sighed and pushed him towards the bed. That was enough excitement for one evening! Sleep! And we'll talk about it the first thing in the morning. No arguing! she added when Quaxo opened his mouth to protest.  

"...I'm really hoping this all was just a dream, you know," he muttered in a disgruntled voice when she pulled the blanket over him and decisively switched off the light. 

And as he was falling asleep, he felt Victoria's voice in his head. I'm hoping it wasn't.

---

On the pavement outside, Tugger grinned and nudged Munkustrap's shoulder. "That went rather well, eh?"  

The taller man groaned and rolled his eyes. "Please, shut up."

The next chapter: Persuasion

[thundersnowstorm]

Anonymous asked: I loved your RobbxRhaenys fic! How do you think the pairing would work if Rhaegar had won? Is he a ward like Theon, is she a bastard? Do they hate each other?

(posted as a regular text post bc tumblr fucked up and i lost the original ask)

ahh nonny thank you so much!!

i actually have a whole rhaegar wins au planned out in my head (maybe i’ll write some of it at some point, first i gotta finish the crownless fic follow-up oneshot). but here’s a general run down of how robb x rhaenys might play out in this world.

under the cut since this turned out wayy longer than expected

basic premise: rhaegar kills robert at the trident and wins the war. meanwhile in king’s landing, jaime still kills aerys when his madness gets too much, or when he reveals the caches of wildfire. tywin stays carefully neutral throughout the war. upon returning to the city, rhaegar is crowned king. lyanna still dies in childbirth.

rhaenys and aegon are legitimate. show canon and i do not get along lmao. jon, the semi-acknowledged bastard of the king, is taken to winterfell to be raised because elia is not risking another blackfyre rebellion, and ned wants lyanna’s kid to be raised in her home. rhaegar is just guilt-striken enough over lyanna’s death to allow it. 

jon visits king’s landing on occasion as he gets older. he and rhaegar have a weird relationship (there’s a lot of angst there, a lot of unresolved issues). jon and aegon do get along though, which everyone is secretly relieved about. it takes rhaenys longer to warm up to jon. she remembers the rebellion, she remembers how hurt her mother was when rhaegar dropped everything for lyanna. rhaenys has never quite forgiven rhaegar. eventually, with encouragement from aegon, she strikes up a tentative friendship with jon.

with lyanna, brandon and rickard dead, house stark has suffered enough and rhaegar lets them go without asking them for much more. however, robb is asked (ordered) to visit king’s landing when he gets older. everyone has suddenly realized that house stark is a much bigger power than previously thought, and it’s a good idea for the iron throne to stay on good terms with the future warden of the north.

(by contrast, jon arryn is sent to the wall at the end of the rebellion. he didn’t have the advantage of being related to the new king’s dead lover to save him. the vale is passed down to harry hardying with one of the lords acting as regent. in the stormlands, stannis bends the knee and becomes lord. he marries cersei and it is the single most entertaining marriage in westeros.)

still, despite all the work queen elia and jon connington and the rest of the small council put into repairing relations with the north, they remain very frosty. ned certainly never forgives rhaegar. he’s not about to go to war again, but he’s also never going to step foot in king’s landing again. robb grows up with a distinctly antagonistic view of the iron throne, and the belief that it’s better for the north to keep to itself and stay out of politics of the realm. still, his childhood is more or less the same as it was in canon.

rhaenys is a force to be reckoned with at court. she grew up at her mother’s elbow, learning the nuts and bolts of ruling, how everything happens behind the scenes. oberyn taught her how to fight with a dagger (same as in crownless), as well as a few tricks to suss out people’s secrets. when she visits dorne, she watches doran, compares his style of ruling to her mother’s, to her father’s. if westeros had absolute primogeniture, rhaenys would make a formidable queen. as it is, she is aegon’s number one pick for hand for when he eventually takes the throne, scandal be damned.

her circle of friends is certainly an interesting mix. myrcella baratheon (a bit older and an actual baratheon this time) and margaery tyrell are conventional ladies in waiting, but they’re also both vying for aegon’s hand. meanwhile the sand snakes are the terror of the court and oberyn thinks it’s hilarious. rhaenys thinks tyene should stop pretending to poison mace tyrell. when arianne visits - well, things can get interesting. no one can quite tell if tyrion lannister and princess rhaenys hate each other or not, but their debates are certainly fun to watch. 

(hmm, maybe theon also ends up in king’s landing. robert trusted ned to watch over him in winterfell but rhaegar and ned have a very different relationship. idk where i’m going with this train of thought, but it would certainly add a new dynamic to rhaenys’s little court.)

rhaenys is not betrothed. it’s unusual, and people have started to comment on it. she is one and twenty and the most eligible woman in the land. there’s quite a bit of interest for her hand, but elia has decided that rhaenys will have a say in her marriage, and rhaegar oscillates between not caring much about the matter and toying with the idea of marrying her to aegon, in the old tradition. rhaenys has told him that if he even tries to marry them, she will elope with the first man she can find and wouldn’t that be quite the scandal? so rhaenys remains unmarried.

(the biggest difference in rhaenys here from rhaenys in the crownless fic is that here, rhaenys knows power. not only was she born into power but she has grown into it as well. she will do her duty to her family and the realm, but she will not sacrifice her own happiness unless there is no other choice. as practical as she is, marriage alliances are off the table.)

this is a lot of setup to get to robb and rhaenys making out but bear with me lol.

robb goes to king’s landing shortly after turning eighteen upon request (summons) from the throne, accompanied by catelyn, sansa, and arya. it’s skirting on rude for ned not to come, but rhaegar lets it slide. he’s lyanna’s brother, and there’s a lot that rhaegar feels guilty about concerning lyanna. anyway, it’s robb’s second time in king’s landing, but the first time he’d been fourteen and rhaenys had hardly noticed him. now though, there’s a bit of “oh shit he’s hot now” before robb makes it clear he’s only here out of obligation. then rhaenys decides that there’s no reason for the two of them to interact and that is that.

(or is it, asks the author in a leading tone.)

so really, there’s no reason for robb and rhaenys to speak to each other. rhaenys is busy with a discrepancy in taxes coming from the vale, and robb is busy trying to avoid southroners at all costs. but circumstances bring them together somehow. maybe there’s a conspiracy afoot, and they have to work together to stop it. maybe rhaenys is forced to show robb around the keep. or maybe rhaenys finds the quiet of the godswood peaceful and robb keeps coming across her there.

“this isn’t a real godswood. not without a proper weirwood heart tree, like the ones in the north.” “mayhaps you can show me a proper godswood someday, my lord.”

really, they have nothing in common, there’s nothing they should have to talk about, but rhaenys finds robb’s frank honesty refreshing after all the double talk at court, and robb thinks she’s probably the cleverest woman he knows. somewhere along the line they become each other’s refuge from all the politics and mistrust of king’s landing.

there’s a feast one day, celebrating some important occasion or whatnot. and there’s dancing and mead, and rhaenys can’t remember the last time she had this much fun. she and robb slip away into the gardens to cool off in the night air and well. rhaenys will blame it on a few too many cups of dornish red but robb’s lips fit perfectly against hers and he tastes like cinammon.

robb panics. this is the princess he is kissing, daughter of the king who brought so much pain upon his family. gods this is jon’s sister, and robb’s father always told him to behave honorably towards women and the thoughts he’s having are certainly not honorable. so robb runs.

rhaenys is furious. well, really she’s embarrassed but anger is easier. for the next week or so she is a nightmare to be around. not that she’d admit to anyone that she’s in a bad mood. meanwhile, robb is moping and hiding from everyone and probably spending most of his time sparring.

jon, who isn’t blind and is absolutely done with them, practically forces robb to talk to rhaenys. he doesn’t care what happened, he just wants the two of them to get over themselves and stop being so insufferable. also rhaenys made one of the goldcloaks cry and no one quite knows how that happened.

so they talk. and robb apologizes for kissing her, which rhaenys is quick to tell him is absolutely ridiculous, she’s the one who initiated it and besides, it was just a kiss.

well, that one kiss turns into quite a few more.

there aren’t really words for what they are to each other. if she were anyone else, robb would probably ask for her hand, but she’s the princess of the realm, not some petty lord’s daughter. and rhaenys doesn’t want to think about putting a label on them, because that would mean thinking about how the two of them fit in the future. and since they aren’t betrothed and king’s landing isn’t dorne, no one can know about their…. whatever.

then rhaegar starts bringing up the subject of rhaenys’s betrothal again. aegon isn’t on the table, since he and margaery tyrell are all but promised to each other at last, but perhaps willas tyrell would do, or maybe harry hardyng in the vale. lady paramount is a perfectly acceptable role for the sister to the future king.

(robb isn’t mentioned as an option. he might be of the right status, but relations between ned and rhaegar are still quite frosty, and the realm still doesn’t quite see the north as equal to the southern kingdoms.)

rhaenys knows, intellectually, that she must marry someday. and really, willas tyrell and harry hardyng are just suggestions. she could always look for a second son for a husband, so she could stay in king’s landing. but she doesn’t want to marry a stranger, and she doesn’t want to leave the city, and the only person she can think of is her cousin quentyn, and arianne would kill her if she married quent.

robb learns about the discussions for rhaenys’s hand from rumors floating around the court. and really, he shouldn’t care who rhaenys marries, it’s not like they’re anything more than good friends who kiss sometimes. or at least, that’s what he tries to tell himself.

he’s not very good at convincing himself.

“marry me,” robb blurts out. rhaenys stops dead in her tracks. “what?”

rhaenys says no. winterfell is about as far as it gets from king’s landing, and she does not wish to be sent away to a frozen wasteland where she knows close to nobody. there is so much she can do at court, so much change she could help affect, and she cannot do that in the north.  

she explains this all to robb and he shrugs. “we could stay in the south.”

rhaenys is not often surprised. this makes it twice today that she has been struck speechless.

robb does not like court, as she is quick to remind him.

“no, but i like you.”

they talk late into the night. the sun is starting to peek out behind the treeline when rhaenys says yes.

(the issue was not that she did not wish to marry robb. quite the opposite. but if she is to be a part of the politics of realm, she cannot do so effectively in winterfell all the time. so they talk, and debate, and eventually a plan is drawn up for where they will reside.)

of course, this is all dependent on rhaegar and ned accepting. robb’s time in king’s landing is drawing to a close, and so he returns to winterfell to ask for his father’s permission. rhaenys goes to talk to rhaegar and elia.

rhaegar is surprised, to say the least. elia, who has been quietly watching her daughter’s flirtation-turned-courtship for the past months, is not. in the end, the discussion is rather short. robb stark is heir to one of the great houses, and the iron throne desperately needs better relations with the north. there’s little to oppose.

ned, on the other hand, is more reluctant to bind the starks to the royal family so officially. he loves his nephew dearly, but he cannot forget the circumstances under which jon was born. but robb seems to care for this southron princess, and catelyn is right, they cannot try to stay out of southron politics forever.

robb and rhaenys are married in the godswood at riverrun, halfway between their families’ castles. for the wedding of a royal princess and the heir to the north, it’s a surprisingly lowkey affair. but robb hardly notices much other than rhaenys, resplendent in dornish silks, and rhaenys for once lets herself forget about the politics and the future, and just lets robb lead her around in a sloppy rendition of the bear and the maiden fair.

(robb is not a great dancer, but he is definitely an enthusiastic one. rhaenys thinks it’s charming.)

it isn’t easy all the time. splitting time between winterfell and king’s landing means endless amounts of travelling, and they aren’t always in the same kingdom together. there are fights, and long nights working, and sometimes the politics at court get to be too much for both of them, but for all their differences, robb and rhaenys love each other. and maybe that’s all that’s needed.

god this got long, and this is really only a sketch of what that scenario would look like. maybe i’ll write a proper fic for this universe sometime, we’ll see.

thanks again anon!

[laurens-lil-fics]

Hallucinate - Matt Murdock x Powered! Reader Part 3

Series Summary: When members of a criminal organization start flooding precincts all over New York, turning themselves in, Daredevil must investigate to see what new player has them running for the hills.

Chapter Summary: Daredevil struggles to keep his new partner in check. Meanwhile, Matt attempts to play it cool during a lunch date.

Word Count: 2700

Warnings: violence, mentions of blood, cursing, and cuteness lol

Author’s note: I’m having way too much fun with these Star Wars references

“I saw a couple of my old... pals show up the other night...” Mr. Mackie murmured, sipping at the cup of coffee Matt had finagled to get him.

“I told an old buddy of mine to keep an eye out for anything suspicious out there... you did a good thing telling me about it, Mr. Mackie.” Matt said, giving his client a small smile. He was much less anxious now that he knew Matt wasn’t a threat.

“Jim... call me Jim...”

“Okay, Jim,” Matt nodded, “is there anything else you can tell me? The more information you give us the more we can help protect you from...” Matt motioned his hands vaguely “whatever it is that’s going on.”

Mr. Mackie slowly nodded, sighing softly before setting down the styrofoam cup. “You know what they did down there?” he asked, his eyes low.

Matt bit his lip slightly, leaning back into his chair. “My buddy told me...”

Matt could hear him sniffle, his nerves beginning to bite at him again. “I never helped with any of that... I was a driver...”

Matt tried his best to hide his discomfort. Driver or not, he was still complicit in what was going on. Of course, Matt couldn’t tell him that and risk losing his only informant. 

“If you want to right any wrong that you've done,” Matt began, feeling Mr. Mackie slowly look up at him, “You need to tell me more...”

“City Morgue.”

Matt’s jaw tightened at that, gripping the flip phone.

“God, I’m just kidding.” (Y/n) huffed.

“I got a lead.” Matt said, turning on his Daredevil voice.

“Well well well,” he could practically see her coy smile just from her tone, “and here I was thinking you just wanted a pretty girl’s phone number.”

Matt bit his lip, lifting his head and listening for anyone nearby that set off any red flags for him. He lowered his head again, continuing on his way to the office. “Do you want the info? Or would you rather keep scouting that dock, hoping your guy shows up?”

“Sure sounds like a dumb plan when you say it with that attitude, lemme have it.”

There were two locations Mr. Mackie had given Matt, warehouses on opposite ends of Hell’s kitchen. Once the drivers would pick up their ‘cargo,’ the vans would split up and go to the separate buildings. 

“I have no idea which one your guy would be at, but our best bet is to scope out those buildings.” 

“It’s a date. We meet at the docks at 11. Don’t be late.” Before Matt could respond, (Y/n) hung up, earning an exasperated sigh from him.

He got to the office and relayed the information to Foggy and Karen, hoping to retreat into his office before either of them started to interrogate him about the case.

“Matt are you sure you can trust her?” Karen asked, just as he was about to close his office door. “I mean, sure she’s not killing people now, but you don’t know what could set her off. What could make her turn on you...”

Matt turned back to her, keeping his hand on the doorknob and leaning against the door frame. “My safest bet is to earn her trust, work with her and try to keep that from happening...”

“And the bar?” Foggy spoke up, his tone unusually serious.

“If I can keep tabs on (Y/n) (L/n) the person and (Y/n) (L/n) the Sith Lord, it’ll be easier to make sure she doesn’t do something dangerous.” Matt explained. 

He could tell his friends were hesitant, he didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that.

“I know you guys are worried... but this is the best way to make sure no one gets killed while she’s on her war path-”

The sound of his phone ringing cut him off. Not his burner phone, but his personal phone. 

Call from: (Y/n). Call from: (Y/n). Call from-

Matt quickly retreated into his office, slamming the door shut before Foggy and Karen could lunge for it and try to eavesdrop on the conversation. 

“Hello?” he answered, turning his back to the door.

“Matt?” there was that voice again, as sweet as it was Friday at the bar.

“Yeah, this is Matt.”

“It’s (Y/n)... from Josie’s...”

Matt chuckled softly at her nervousness, making his way towards his desk. “Thank God, thought it was the (Y/n) I owed money... I don’t owe you money, do I? I was pretty tipsy that night.”

(Y/n) laughed on the other end, causing a genuine smile to break out on Matt’s features.

“No, no you don’t owe me money... but I was wondering if you had any plans for lunch?”

Matt, who had been in the process of sitting back into his chair, fell to the floor with a THUD that felt like it might have alerted the people downstairs.

“Are you okay?! What was that?”

“N-nothing, nothing! Just thought I knew where my chair was!” He laughed nervously, quickly getting up and sitting in his chair. “I don’t have any plans... where did you wanna meet?”

“Somewhere close to you, you’re probably busy so I don’t wanna keep you long...” she trailed off.

“There’s a good deli nearby... is that good?” he asked, tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair. Why the Hell was he so nervous? Maybe it was because he thought he’d be the one calling her to make sure she was on her best behavior, not her calling for a lunch date.

Matt gave her the address and a time he was free, breathing a sigh of relief once he hung up.

“Matt, the deli’s fine, really!”

“The deli was fine until you told me you haven’t had a slice of actual New York style pizza yet.” he smiled, snickering as he led her towards one of the few pizzerias that didn’t kill his tastebuds with over-processed, frozen ingredients. 

“Here I am, trying to be considerate and keep you from skipping work, and you run me all over town just to get me some pizza.” (Y/n) huffed, tightening her grip on Matt’s arm as he sped up.

“It’s literally around the corner, cmon.” he insisted.

Once they arrived, Matt gave her a chance to take her time with the menu. Her giggles caught his attention, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her.

“They have a ‘Daredevil Special.’” she laughed. Matt obviously hadn’t seen that addition to the menu, he couldn’t hold back his own chuckle as she read off the toppings.

“It’s got pepperoni, spicy Italian sausage, mushrooms and red hot chili peppers that, and I’m quoting, ‘give it a kick even the devil can’t handle.’ Oh, I gotta get this.”

“Think you can handle all that hotness?” he smirked, earning another giggle from her.

“If he asked nicely I could... oh, you’re talking about the pizza?” she smiled, the waiter taking her attention off him long enough for him to hide the slight flush of his cheeks.

He told her about his parents, leaving out the part where his mom was a nun, told her about the orphanage, and meeting Foggy in college.

Even though he was being as honest as a vigilante could be about his past, he could tell she was holding back as well. All she told him was where she grew up, what her family was like, and that she had gone to school for photojournalism.

She didn’t specify whether or not she got her degree, but Matt wasn’t able to press for details since she hastily changed the subject.

It was hard to discern what was flirting and what was just Matt trying to keep up the charm, those things often intermingled with one another. He knew who she was, what she was capable of, and that once she was finished in Hell’s Kitchen she’d probably leave. All that to say, it wasn’t enough to keep him from actually having fun during their lunch date.

He almost spat up his coke when he heard her panic at one of the hot peppers on her slice of pizza. She kept insisting it just got her by surprise, but her failure to compose herself and each little sniffle had him biting back his laughter. He made it up to her by buying her a milkshake, which she gratefully accepted.

The walk back to the office was relatively quiet, save for the clunk of (Y/n)’s boots beside Matt’s formal shoes. He could feel her occasionally turn to look at him, hear the muscles in her cheeks move as she would smile softly before looking back down at her feet. 

“If it’s not too soon, maybe we could go out to dinner?” Matt asked, despite the voice in his head telling him he was going too far.

Her smile dropped, “O-oh, uh, I actually have plans tonight.” she sputtered.

“Oh...” Matt totally forgot, maybe this was good? Keep himself form looking suspicious. “Sorry-”

“No no, it’s not your fault-”

“I got a couple case files I gotta look at anyway. Maybe we can try for a night when we’re both not busy?” he offered.

She nodded slightly, catching herself after a split second. “Yeah, just gimme a call.”

They exchanged their goodbyes, Matt listening to her heart beat grow further and further away as he made his way up the stairs to the office.

When Matt got to the docks, he immediately went towards the scent of pizza that lingered on (Y/n). 

“It’s 11:01.” (Y/n) said, her eyes glued to the Hudson as she spoke.

“Had a hot date.” was his simple reply. 

(Y/n) scoffed softly, turning to face him and crossing her arms.

“So which warehouse are we making a move on first? It would be easier to divide and conquer-”

“We don’t do this alone. We go together, that was the deal.” he interrupted her, his tone stern.

She opened her mouth, ready to object, until Daredevil held up a hand to silence her.

“You hear that...?” he asked, tilting his head to focus his hearing, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by his partner.

“No... but I feel it.” She approached the edge of the roof the stood on, slowly crouching with Daredevil following suit. 

Black vans, almost identical to the ones the other night, parked at the shipping containers as they had before. In the distance, Matt could hear the familiar yacht engine approaching.

“It doesn’t make any sense... why come back here when they know this space is compromised?” He wondered aloud.

“This is the only dock that Blum could get his grubby hands on without any cartels or gangs objecting to it... If they’re still conducting business, this is his only access to the goods.” (Y/n) murmured, watching as armed guards exited their vans, awaiting the arrival of the cargo.

“How do you know?” he asked, turning his head her way.

She seemed to tense at this. Attempting to seem unfazed, she took hold of his hand and stood straight. “Just something I overheard.”

Before Matt knew it, he and (Y/n) were in the air high above the shipping containers, an uncomfortable feeling for someone who was used to keeping his feet on the ground.

He felt as if his whole weight was supported by her, easing his nerves about the endeavor. 

“We have to destroy that yacht, it’s our only hope of making sure they don’t get ahold of anymore innocent people while we’re on the job.” she said, keeping her voice low as she pulled him closer.

“We make our move once the people are off the boat... there’s only a handful go guards, we can take them easily.”

(Y/n) nodded at his instructions, ready to strike the second he gave the signal. 

Once the yacht was docked and the people were being dragged to the vans, (Y/n) let go of Daredevil, controlling his fall and helping him land just beside a guard so he could knock them out.

He heard her swoop down and take a second guard out, but something was up. None of the prisoners were trying to make a break for it, none of them were crying, not even breaking a sweat.

Just as it clicked, each ‘prisoner’ grabbed the secondary weapon from the holsters of the person restraining them, and began firing at the vigilantes.

Daredevil leapt towards (Y/n), narrowly dodging the gunfire and ducking behind one of the large, metal containers with her safely in his arms.

“Son of a bitch, they knew we’d come!” she shouted over the gunfire.

“Can’t you freeze them in place?” he yelled back, the sounds of their approaching footsteps forced him to pull her further into the mini maze of containers.

“Not a group this big, I can only get a couple of them!”

“That’ll have to do!” With that, he leapt out from their hiding spot, fighting off a goon who was attempting to sneak up on them.

(Y/n) flew into the air, one arm shielding her from the bullets while the other froze the guards furthest from her partner. Daredevil made quick work of them, bouncing back and forth between the guards she had been unable to get ahold of.

She decided to let her guard down and use her free hand to pull the weapons from the guards Daredevil was trying to take down, ensuring none would be able to land a blow or fire at him while his back was turned.

Matt heard the gunshot before he heard the sniper that had been waiting patiently on the yacht. He then heard the bullet plow through her left shoulder.

It wasn’t deadly, but it was enough to make her lose her concentration and fall onto one of the containers. The newly freed guards, though clearly winded, raised their weapons, forcing Daredevil to focus on them rather than run to his partner’s aid.

It took a moment for the pain to set in, especially from all the adrenaline. Once it did, (Y/n) yelped and whimpered, reaching up and poking her fingers through the wound. Matt heard her squeal as she yanked out the bullet, a small metallic clatter following suit.

(Y/n) slowly sat up, breathing hard as she stared at the glint of the marksman scope on the balcony of the vessel. 

“No, get down!” Daredevil barked at her. He shoved the last of the goons to the ground and tried to make a move to get to her.

But it was too late.

He heard the sniper scream as he was flung off the boat and into the freezing waters of the Hudson.

(Y/n) slowly got up, her arms outstretched towards the yacht.

Her arms shook as she slowly levitated into the air, ignoring Daredevil’s calls for her to stop.

Grinding metal, screeching wires, and busting pipes engulfed his hearing. He turned to the ship, his radar allowing him to see the work she was doing.

With a howl that was a mix of sheer anger and pain, (Y/n) split the ship in two, sending the halves sinking into the river.

“Holy shit...” Matt breathed, slowly turning his head back in (Y/n)’s direction in time so hear her fall back onto the shipping container.

He hoisted himself up, kneeling beside her and pressing his hand to her wound. He ignored her groans of pain, instead telling her they needed to get her treated.

“No hospitals...” she grunted, “can... do it myself...”

She gasped as Daredevil lifted her into his arms. He jumped onto the ground and held her tighter once he heard the police approaching.

“We won’t get far like this...” he panted.

“Just hide us... I’ll take care of it.” she groaned. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but still attempted to give him a reassuring look as he ran into an open shipping container.

Matt leaned her up against a crate, sitting beside her. She sounded like she just ran a marathon, he could hear her head lulling back and forth. “You sure you can do this?”

Before she could answer, the breaks of the numerous police cars squealed to a halt. They listened as the officers began handcuffing baddies and searching the area for any stragglers. 

One approached the open container.

(Y/n) grabbed Daredevil’s hand, giving it a small squeeze. She slowly raised her hand in front of them, shutting her eyes and focusing on the officer about to find them.

Matt swore she was looking right at them. But she turned and left.

The duo gave a collective sigh of relief and (Y/n) opted to rest her head against his shoulder.

“I think we better call it a night...”

“Took the words right outta my mouth, D...”

[thebigpapilio]

The Koopa, The Dad, & The Better

This writing is inspired from/based on “https://duckapus.tumblr.com/post/184704406530/i-want-bowser-to-punch-gabriel-agreste-in-the-face by @duckapus​“. It’s also a not-exactly-sequel to my post “https://thebigpapilio.tumblr.com/post/175002411360/mario-fans-heres-a-thought”.

Bowser had been monstrous, forceful, and many other things he would spend his life atoning for, but he was by no means a bad father. The Koopalings - quite young at the time - were entrusted to him by their blood father should they fall in battle. The previous Boom Boom had been loyal and a great ally of the Koopa royal lineage, so when the sad day came that he fell - thankfully long before Mario, or things would be a lot worse between the plumber and his adopted kids - Bowser was more than willing to take the mantle. Bowser took as good care of them as he could, and Kamek helped him through the whole family’s issues. Even when Junior was born, Kamek was there for all of them.

Bowser had been angry his father magically forced Kamek to hide the truth of the racism that started the generational war between the Koopa & Mushroom Kingdoms with a silencing spell, he knew it was not Kamek’s fault and forgave him. After learning the truth, Bowser swore to fix his father’s mistakes, and it was not much later that a peace treaty resumed, complete with Peach’s also-restricted memories being restored.

It also helped him move on from the then-princess, which was good, because when he had arrived to offer peace, he’d just missed Mario proposing.

After fixing up everything, Peach saw fit for Bowser to be invited to the wedding, though Mario had still been suspicious of him.

Nevertheless, despite Bowser’s newly-attained and seemingly-infinite patience, there had been - and there still would be - plenty of times in Bowser’s life when he became especially angry.

When he was taken away from his childhood best friend Peach? Mostly confused, but still angry.

When he first lost to Mario, followed by an uncounted amount of repeated results? He’d been furious, and with each time he returned from a fight in great pain, he found less and less things more aggravating than so much as the thought of that provocative plumber.

When memories of his father and why he “hated” the Mushroom Kingdom returned to him? Bowser thought he couldn’t be angrier.

But after he stepped into that portal disguised as a human, Bowser found himself to be wrong.

It had started when he’d saved the kid from collateral damage caused by one of those… what was it, akumas? To his horror, he learned this was a regular occurrence in the city from the boy (Adrien, Bowser, his name is Adrien) in a tone more surprised that he didn’t know. That was fair, but the tone should have been a red flag that something was wrong. Later, he watched the boy’s ride show up at his school while walking by, and his heart broke watching how fast Adrien’s face fell.

It got worse when he started sending in spies. They returned with information of his dad and secretary being incredibly inconsiderate of Adrien and what he wanted, telling him what he was going to do as if he had no choice, and even when he did them, he was treated like a rebellious teen. Apparently, it was so bad the kid had fought to go to the public school. Junior didn’t mind being tutored, but Bowser still knew that even if his kids hadn’t wanted to do evil like they had done, the Koopa King would still be supportive of him and his siblings.

Bowser had been about to lose his temper for the first time in what may have been a record-breaking drought when a Paratroopa returned with urgent news. When Bowser learned about the correlation behind the two pitiful excuses for “adults” and the reason behind the villains, he knew something had to be done.

He couldn’t do it alone, however - he had to do things more quietly than an invasion could, and while he was incredibly strong, he would be outnumbered, and he was especially bad against smaller & faster opponents, if Mario and Luigi (he’d finally remembered to not address the younger hero as Green 'Stache) were anything to go by. Plus, he was mad right n-

The Mario Brothers.

Bowser couldn’t think of anyone better to help him then the newly-dubbed Mushroom King and his brother. Luigi and Bowser were on decent terms, but that didn’t seem to be enough for his bro - even when Bowser helped find a way back to the brothers’ home world, Mario still seemed to not trust Bowser, however quiet or loud he was about it. The Koopa King wondered if this plan he was forming would get Mario to fully trust him.

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Mario and Luigi had been suspicious at first at a request for help - as much as Bowser had changed, the Koopa King seldom asked for help, certainly not in the desperate fashion that he had. But Luigi convinced at least get Mario to hear the Koopa King out, and looking back, Mario thought it was a good idea - when Bowser explained the situation, the Mario Brothers would have agreed instantly had Bowser not wanted to explain how bad it was.

Mario had mostly been on guard due to their wedding; he wasn’t exactly of noble stock, and if he were to let his Queen be taken by someone they had known was not always trustworthy, he didn’t know what anyone - least of all him - would think of the new King. But Peach seemed to trust the former enemy after missing memories returned, and Bowser had looked like a husk of himself on that day, so Mario had been too shocked by this new information to really do much at the time.

With the peace between the two Kingdoms, Mario had seldom needed to do any hero work with the Koopa army practically handling all defensive matters for him, so if nothing else, this was an excuse to get some exercise and do good for someone.

Besides, this was a human from a parallel world to he and his brother’s, right? The Mushroom World had ultimately changed their lives for the better, and if this Adrien kid needed it, they would do the same for him.

After conferring with Peach and making a plan, the three fighters were ready to go. Going through the portal made things a bit awkward given the wait and Bowser’s human disguise, but Mario finally started to feel that Bowser was becoming better.

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Just our luck that there’s an akuma attack going on, Bowser mused.

Looking further at the situation, there appeared were multiple akumas and two new creatures that Bowser assumed to be sentimonsters - Hawkmoth had decided to try Heroes’ Day again, it appeared, but this time he was nowhere to be found, a young, brown-haired girl in the villain’s costume.

In a hidden spot near the battlefield, Bowser murmured to Mario and Luigi to go and help the heroes, saying he needed to save Adrien first. They all wore communicators - Bowser’s on an arm bracer, and the Mario Brothers under their hats. Nodding, they went off to go help, a well-placed fireball knocking Befana off her motorcycle and ultimately ending up purified in Luigi’s arms. Chat Noir - the kid was there, which made Bowser’s job a lot easier - and his friends were caught off guard, but when the brothers started to keep pace, they relaxed and returned to fighting the akumas once more.

Bowser would have loved to join them, but he had bigger fish to fry. Transforming back into his true form, he took off for Gabriel’s mansion.

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Hawkmoth and Mayura were a bit worried when new heroes stepped in. It was already a taller order than last time due to the reactivated Monkey, Snake, & Horse joining the original five, but they had saved up enough energy to be at least on par with that. When the dynamic duo showed up, however, the villains started to become quite uncomfortable.

On the battlefield, Luigi’s hammer smashed the last akumatized item - Volpina’s necklace. This Lila girl had turned out to be willingly akumatized and working with the villains, and she was promptly taken to the police by an infuriated Carapace and Rena Rouge while the other heroes celebrated.

The brothers’ communicators came on then, their draconid ally’s voice arriving right on time.

“You guys cleaned up yet?”

“Perfect timing, big guy!” Mario said, the two brothers watching as Carapace and Rena Rouge returned.

“Good. Now, tell them to follow you to the big bads’ place, got it?”

With all the up-close fights Bowser and the brothers had, they still forgot sometimes that in the end, he was a born leader and knew how to give commands without being angry. Walking over to the heroes, they introduced themselves as “Fireball” and “Green Thunder,” and told the heroes not only that that they’d been doing detective work about Hawkmoth’s identity but that they’d tracked him down, with someone holding personal quarrel with the villain already confronting him.

Ladybug would have spoken first, but she was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering from a while away.

“That’s our cue, then…” Green Thunder smiled. Gesturing in the direction of the sound, he continued, “...care to follow us there?”

You would have thought their heads would fly off their necks with how fast they nodded.

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth and Mayura caught their breaths after dodging the shards of glass sent their way. When they looked up, their breaths were caught once more as they took in the appearance of the cross-looking creature whose glare that screamed you are in for the beatdown of your life. Fortunately for Mayura, she could see that the glare was mostly trained on her boss. Unfortunately for her, it was only mostly.

“Hawkmoth and Nathalie Sancoeur,” he uttered, and the two in question froze up in not only shock at this creature’s ability to speak so clearly and the fact he appeared to know Mayura’s identity but confusion, because this beast referred to Gabriel as Hawkmoth, even though at this point there was no conceivable reason this monster did not know that Gabriel was Hawkmoth.

“I have some words for you.”

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“You may never have heard of me, given the differences of our origins, so let me tell you just who you’re messing with.”

Slowly stomping towards them, he proceeded to do just so. “I am King Bowser Koopa, ruler of Dark Land and former villain. I’m the ex-scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom and the first of the Seven Star Children. I was known as the Final Boss, the Destroyer of the Dark Star, and old enemies-turned-friends once called me la tartaruga mortale - the death turtle."

To himself, Bowser thanked Luigi and Mario for teaching him Italian, because someone needed to know it other than those two if the brothers went evil.

"I did a lot of evil things in my career as a villain - I’ve conquered galaxies simply because they stood in my way.”

“I could raze you and this whole mansion to the ground right now if I wanted,” he roared, clearly putting fear into the two villains, “but I won’t. You wanna know why?”

At their somewhat-frantic nods, any amusement on his face said goodbye.

“Because there’s a kid in this place.”

At their slight confusion, he scowled. At this point he stood over the floored duo.

“The title I hold more dearly to me than any of the ones I just named is Dad. I have eight wonderful children, and every day of my life I do my best to make sure they want for nothing, least of all my attention. ”

At that point he snatched Mayura’s brooch faster than either of them could react, leaving a stunned Nathalie Sancoeur in her place. Looking back for a second, he noticed the other heroes had arrived - Red & Green with them. Grinning, he returned to Hawkmoth’s fearful gaze.

“Now I’m not perfect, true, but at least I try. I support my kids, I take time to understand them and their interests, I teach them as best as I can, and even if they hadn’t wanted to follow in my villainous footsteps during that time, I like to think I would have respected that and continued to love them nonetheless.”

His glare hardened even further.

“Too tall an order for you, huh? If you can pretend to be the fashion mogul known as Gabriel Agreste, I think you could easily take time to be a parent to your kid.”

“Why do you keep saying he’s not Hawkmoth?” Chat Noir spoke up from Roi Singe & Ladybug’s grips.

“For what I know, Gabriel Agreste was a kind, caring, and patient guy who liked to do good for others simply for the sake of it. This guy doesn’t fit the description, so he can’t be Hawkmoth, right?”

It was clear that Bowser knew Gabriel was Hawkmoth, but the message he was conveying was clearer - Gabriel had changed, and not for the better.

“You’re using your grief as an excuse to hold your son at arms’ length, but you only take control of him when it’s convenient. If I asked you about his favorite color, or his friends’, or what he wants to do with his life if he could choose, or even what he thinks of the “designer clothes” you stick him in, how much could you really tell me?”

At this, Hawkmoth was silent. Bowser let out an angry snort, then finished his tirade.

“I’m not gonna go too far on your failing attempts at villainy. You’re a faulty & foolish failure as a villain and a parent, and as I said earlier, if it wasn’t for the kid, you’d be burned to a crisp and stomped into a paste - not to mention scum like you aren’t worth the effort.”

He picked up the main villain, dropped him on his two feet, and with a growl of “Get bent.” he walloped him into the wall with a single punch.

Hawkmoth would wake up after about a week and a half in the hospital, having changed from purple to white. A change to orange would follow soon after.

But for now, Bowser would turn around to face the other heroes. He would help get the detransformed shell of Gabriel to the police and hospital, and after taking the Black Cat wielder aside, he gave him a small remote-like item he’d packed that let him and anyone he wanted - other than Hawkmoth and Nathalie - come to the Koopa Kingdom if he wanted or needed to.

Bowser sometimes felt the repercussions of his past villainy too strongly. But whenever he remembered that day - especially punching Hawkmoth in the face - he felt a lot better about himself.

[kamino-ink]

Lacuna | Seo Changbin

✧  lacuna - a blank space; a missing part

✧ Genre: Fantasy!au, fluff, cutie changbinnie

✧ Summary: as a little girl, you absolutely adored horses - but one day, you’re thrown off of one in the middle of a race, leaving your legs crippled. when your parents finally muster up the courage to ask ylanta’s court wizard for help, you end up being stuck inside a palace with no one to talk to - except the cute stableboy that just won’t leave your side.

✧ Word Count: 2.3k

✧ PSA!! this installment is a bit more serious in a sense; while i’ll let you find out what I mean for yourself, please know that this piece can potentially hit home for many of us in the world in regards to loving yourself and finding happiness outside of whatever might be holding you down in life

✧ Other installments in the series: woojin, chan, jeongin, hyunjin, minho, jisung, felix, seungmin

                                         ✧

the country-side land known as grimsby had been the place you’d grown up in, and much like the other kids, you were raised around farms and livestock

rather than worrying about the length of your nails or the cleanliness of your dapper shoes, you strode over to your family’s farmhouse and helped pile bales of hay onto a makeshift wagon so your mother could tow the yellow bales to the livestock

you owned one pair of boots that looked normal and tattered, splashed with long-since dried mud and other substances found on the common farm

except, your family had been running the quaint farm for centuries; in fact, whenever they would go out riding through town, the harness and saddle of whatever horse they were using was always painted the two colors of your family emblem: a dainty green and pigmented gray

honestly you could have cared less about the family business, you simply cared for the horses

the pigs were damn cute, of course, but they never seemed to get along with you

and sure the sheep were soft as pillows, but they screamed at you whenever you walked past their pasture

meanwhile the grazing horses let you stroke their manes and clean their bodies, not once flinched or shying away from your demeanor, which is why you simply adored them

then came the month of ayrith, where the royal family and other special guests from all over the country would travel to grimsby to watch what was called the greatest sporting event in the entire country

from endurance runs to throwing barrels full of flour across the field, all of the events were entertaining and made for some friendly competition

the biggest event of them all, however, was the horse-race

one representative from each family in the town could participate in the race, although the scary part is that everyone in grimsby took this particular race very, very seriously

including your parents

both of your mothers (your father is a case we won’t speak of, the conniving twit-) were dead set on having you make your racing debut this year, as in two years time, ylanta would be hosting an even bigger racing competition with the bordering countries

so it was likely that whoever won this race would be chosen to represent the whole country in the next two years

which was nerve-wracking, to say the least

you had grown up around horses, obviously, and held a natural bond with the stunning creatures that you could’ve flaunted all day

except... you’d never properly rode on one

your mothers refused to listen to your concerns the day of the race, and the days before that, saying that you were such a natural that you would have no problems competing (which was by far the most idiotic thing you had ever heard, but you were younger, more easily influenced by the talk of your dear mothers, hence why you didn’t doubt them... sort of)

when it came time to mount your horse, who’s name was redwick, you just barely managed to pull your body up onto the saddle

maybe you would be fine after all

you knew there was no possible way you could win, having no racing experience beforehand; but you were eager to see other racers in action just feet away from you

you kept reassuring yourself of this as you were led to the starting line, redwick not making a noise of complaint the entire time

even as the whistle went off in the background you kept saying that everything would be alright - even as redwick started to trot at a faster pace than you expected

then he started to go too fast, and you were nearing a sharp turn

you tried to stop him, or at least make the horse slow down, to no avail

you just didn't know what to do

you were helpless

the second you hit the curve you were thrown off of his back, your hands slick with a nervous sweat so that you were unable to cling to the reigns

with a sickening thump you hit the ground, the lower part of your back completely and utterly numb at the harsh impact

you could still hear the faint screams of the concerned audience, the worried shouts of another racer who showed good sportsmanship in falling behind to help you up

you remembered everything

those retched nightmares haunted you each night after that, even as another three years passed by like a ticking timebomb

“now, sweetheart,” one of your mother’s began to speak quietly, causing you to glance over at her blankly, “once we arrive at the palace, we are going to go speak with the court wizard about your legs. you have already been given permission to roam around, just don’t try to sneak upstairs into their chambers, alright?”

“yeah, sure.” you brushed off her sickly sweet tone with a roll of your eyes, going back to staring outside the window of your carriage, watching as the people of the capital giggled and ran around without a care in the world

you missed that feeling of utter freedom, the feeling of being able to dip your toes into the sticky brown mud after a rainstorm, or the feeling of being able to pop the joints in your legs even after being scolded about it by your mothers

you would give anything to be able to walk again

within another few minutes the carriage has slowed down to a complete halt just inside the palace walls, having been taken over a bridge of sorts

the sliding door opened, revealing a boy who couldn’t be much older than yourself, one hand held nervously out to you while the other rested on the handle of what seemed to be a makeshift wheelchair

“miss y/n, correct?” he asks softly, his voice carrying a hint of natural roughness. after your nod of confirmation he gently helps you down from the carriage and into the wheelchair, which has a plush pillow meant for your own comfort

“alright babygirl, we’ll come find you after the meeting,” one of your mothers hums lovingly, leaning down to peck the top of your head while the other scrunches her nose and looks away from your pitiful form, stuck in the wheelchair, “be careful.” and with that, they’re gone, following a pair of guards clad in red armor into the castle

you tilt your head to look back at the boy who had assisted you into the wheelchair, “what’s your name, shorty?”

“changbin - my name is changbin - and please don't call me that.” he pleads in an exasperated tone, making you snicker quietly in amusement

“so, changbinnie, where can a cripple girl get some food around here?” you ask him nonchalantly, expecting him to flinch at your self-deprecating joke, though he instead playfully rolled his eyes and set his hands firmly on the handles of your wheelchair and swiftly whisked you around towards the entrance of the castle

“where anyone else can find some decent food in this place, y/n - to the royal kitchen!” he let out a giggle as he started to push you inside, your lips parted in a shriek when he continues to pick up the pace and whisk you away into the wonderous castle

this keeps going for quite some time; changbin, who you learned was the resident stableboy, would recklessly whisk you away to different parts of the castle at any given time of the day - or night

of course, him being tasked as the one to help you around each day in the castle didn’t exactly help the situation either

not that you wanted it to be any different

because for once you weren’t being given pitiful looks or being treated like a porcelain doll; you were already cripple, anyway, so you personally didn't see the big deal in letting you have fun for once

and by fun, you meant changbin waking you up in the wee hours of the morning, wheelchair in tow as he helped you get dressed (which wasn’t even a big deal in itself, as you wore underwear that resembled shorts, so he couldn’t even try to see anything more than the already exposed skin)

he would take you anywhere and everywhere, even though you knew you could wheel yourself around

a couple of weeks had passed since you had arrived at the palace, but still there was no promising words coming from the court wizard named minho

he was a high elf skilled in magic of all areas imaginable, but he had never dealt with someone who had no further feeling in their legs

even he couldn't offer any surefire results

while you probably would’ve had a fit about it ages ago, you found that you could still be yourself and do the things you loved without the feeling in your legs

if you wanted to go to the market, changbin was there to push you along the sandstone paths through the bustling crowds, politely asking for someone who got too close to back away before they could accidently hurt you

or if you wanted to swim in the lake behind the palace, which was technically forbidden, changbin was right by your side, attaching a pair of floating devices he had minho conjure the night before onto your arms to make it easier for you to float

within a matter of a few weeks the self-titled ‘dark’ stableboy had become someone you depended on - someone you indefinitely needed by your side

whenever he would take you out to the palace garden, lunch in hand, he would make sure to place a red and white blanket on the ground and voluntarily help you sit up on the fluffy material, placing a pillow on the back of your wheelchair so you could lean against it properly

he would hand you a haphazard attempt of a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, blushing each time you playfully teased him on his poor skills in the kitchen

still you would eat anything he made for you for lunch, all because he made it

seo changbin, the stableboy who had been by your side the entire time

then came the day you had forgot about - hell you never expected it to even happen at this point

“y/n, come quick! minho finally found a cure for your legs!” your parents had cried out joyfully in the middle of your lunch with changbin, effectively plopping you back into your wheelchair and dragging you off to another part of the castle, even as you hissed in surprise and gestured for a stunned changbin to follow

but they had already pulled you into a strange room, shutting the door and preventing the stableboy from following you into the court wizard’s chambers

“alright miss y/n,” the high elf hummed, ignoring the excitement radiating from your mothers while they impatiently waited for him to do whatever he needed to do, “as a precaution, I am going to tell you everything about this spell and even where I got it from, as to make sure you are satisfied completely. understand?” you of course nod, your eyes not once leaving the elf as he adjusts the bowtie on his robe and continues to flip through a book on his desk, not once looking up at you or your parents

“so this particular spell actually came from a witch in arbington; I have an acquaintance down there who knows her... well enough,” he pauses, a small smirk twitching onto his thin lips, “anywho, she’s skilled in the art of healing magic - its something all magical beings can learn, but it is hard to master. she taught me the incantation and confirmed that she has used it before, so no need to worry. the one downside is that this spell can only heal one person every twelve months - its a reasonable cost for how powerful and draining it is, so be careful after this, okay? just, sit back and relax - you do want this, right?”

“of course she does-”

you quickly interrupt your mothers’ protests, nervously gripping onto the sides of your wheelchair. “I - I... no, I don’t want this.”

and you don’t, you realize, the stunned silence of your mothers and the intrigued wizard only further supporting your sudden decision

if he could only use it once per year, you didn't want to use it on yourself

you knew that there were other people who needed it more, who couldn’t feel happy with themselves being crippled

but you - you had found your happiness even without the use of your legs, with changbin

he had somehow taught you to love yourself no matter the circumstances, he showed you that the world could still be beautiful and loving

surely if you were happy, there was someone else out there who could benefit more from the powerful spell

it wasn’t a case of you settling for the fact that maybe someone out there in the world had it worse - it was you realizing that you did still love yourself, and that you deserved happiness in the form of whatever, or whoever, you wished it to be

and that person happened to be the short stableboy still waiting outside the wizard’s chambers

ignoring the baffled stutters of your parents, you swiveled yourself around and pushed the door open so you could find changbin - who had been pacing up and down the hall, nibbling on his fingernails nervously

when he saw you, he didn't ask why you weren’t up on your two feet; instead he leaned down and nearly crushed you with how strong his arms wrapped around you

“changbinnie~” you cooed beside his ear, gently pushing him away just enough so your temples were now pressed together, his eyes searching yours for any sign of regret for refusing the spell, “thank you.”

“w-why are you thanking me?”

“because you make me so fucking happy, shorty.” you laugh softly, quickly pecking his parted lips before he could protest, pulling back just as fast, your cheeks heating up to a degree you didn’t know was even possible

“thank y-you, y/n.”

“now why are you thanking me, binnie?”

“for kissing me.”

                                         ✧

[thismanateelovestowrite]

Blue: Pt.27

Previous part: [Pt.26]

Warnings for this part: angst

”Eight enter, not all will exit,” the words spoken by the blue-eyed smirking guard made your stomach twist. She was guarding the entrance of a relatively small and old building that the higher-ups led your group into.

“Save your poetry for someone else,” Kihyun spat at her behind you.

While walking inside the building you glanced back at the rest. They all - excluding the seemingly nonresponsive Hoseok who needed help walking - gave the guard murderous glares as they passed by her. Their expressions were grim and your stomach twisted the more the longer you looked at them. Hence why you eventually turned to look ahead.

Minhyuk was walking in front of you, following the few higher-ups leading your group. The thought of grabbing his hand tempted you but you couldn’t reach out your hand. It felt as though there was a wall stopping you from doing so.

It’s stuffy in here. Why do I feel like I can’t breathe?

The lump in your throat caused you to look down at the floor. Seeing Minhyuk just made you want to cry and give up. You knew that the ominous words spoken by the guard at the door weren’t far-fetched - they could very well end up being your reality in no time.

Would things be different if it wasn’t for me? Would any of this have gone down if Minhyuk had been given another human to babysit? Someone… easier and less impulsive…

Your vision began to become blurry and you lifted your gaze to clear it.

Would Minhyuk have been fine?

The sound of the group’s footsteps rang in your head and the floor seemed to move in your dizzy vision.

“Whatever happens,” Kihyun put his hand on your shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself.”

You looked at him, taken aback by how well his words responded to your unspoken thoughts. His blue eyes seemed less icy and you were surprisingly comforted by his gaze.

“You won’t blame me if something happens?” you asked.

“I’ve been waiting for a good reason to hate you for a long time,” his truthful words were accompanied by a smirk. “So just for that reason, I will. I’ll make you feel like you’re the worst person on Earth.”

You had expected a similar answer and weren’t that shaken by his words.

“But eventually, I’ll let go of those feelings. Because, in the end, you shouldn’t be held accountable for his choices.”

“But-“

“He’s the one who showed himself to you. He’s the one who kept clinging onto you. He’s the one who decided to let you in our world. He’s the one who decided to commit a crime for you,” his tone was stern. “So, don’t start hating yourself after he’s gone for what hedecided to do.”

Your heart ached and the lump in your throat grew, making you breathe in through your mouth. Trying your best to remain calm, you avoided letting the feeling of fear and anxiety take over you by taking deep breaths and pushing the grim thoughts to the back of your mind. Kihyun observed you from the side and Minhyuk glanced at you over his shoulder. He didn’t stop or turn around but kept walking instead.

He silently felt guilty for you being brought there, and feared for you. Whatever were to happen, it could be very straining for your mental health. If he were to disappear, what would happen to you? He tried hard to remain calm and collected, for he would need to stay calm during the meeting with the higher-ups - there was a slim chance he would be able to change the outcome of things. Turning around to embrace you would shake up his mind too much.

***

Behind a few doors opened a relatively large hall, seemingly the size of a school’s indoor hall for sports. It seemed empty at first, only decorated by the old wallpaper which was covering the walls. As your gaze traveled around the space, you noticed small details; an oddly placed desk, a bookshelf with only a couple of books, and a fancy armchair. Everything seemed unintentional since the size of the space was so big.

The group was brought to a stop when the higher-ups leading the group stopped in the middle of the hall. Your heartbeat grew faster and you nervously bit the inside of your lips. Minhyuk stood still for a while before a door on the opposite side of the hall opened. No one was there but you could see Minhyuk’s hands form into fists.

“I do not intend to stay long,” he soon broke the eerie silence in the hall. “Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Who is he talking to?

You glanced back at the others and saw that their expressions had become sour as they stared at the opened door. When you turned around, the higher-ups who had led the group inside were standing in front of you. You flinched at their sudden appearance.

“There is no reason for you to stay here,” they said and forcibly pushed you outside.

In a state of confusion, you were unable to put up a fight and just stared at how the group of seven guys’ backs disappeared from your sight as the doors were closed in front of you.

***

Yuna’s POV

How long has it been? I have no clue. Is Hoseok still alive?

“Get out,” an angry order and a rough hand pulled me out of the dark car into the dark forest.

I wish Hajoon will simply forget about this. He needs to live a normal life. He really does… That idiot…

I stumbled and fell to the cold ground. Someone pulled me up forcibly and continued to push me forward on the dark path that traveled through the forest.

Hoseok… Oh, Hoseok… I pray that you find peace… We will both eventually, sooner or later, follow you… Let’s be happy again some day…Together…

“You’ll be staying here,” I was told as we arrived at a tent.

I looked at the faint light shining through the fabric. It seemed feeble, as if it would go out any second now. It reminded me of Hoseok, how weak he had seemed as I left.

“It’s already late. You should sleep,” I felt someone pat on my back and as I turned to look at the person, I discovered it was the woman who I had figured was the Clan’s leader. “You’ll have work to do tomorrow.”

Her words held no meaning to me but I nodded with an expressionless face before entering the tent. Slowly, I buried myself inside the chilly sleeping bag that was lying on the ground. I could feel every bump on the ground as there was nothing between us other than the thin sleeping bag. Yet, I somehow couldn’t feel the pain from the rocks that were pocking at my back.

I listened to the distant chatter of the Clan members and shivered from cold. My eyelids felt heavy even though I wasn’t necessarily sleepy and before long, I closed my eyes. And so, I shivered myself to an unconscious state.

***

I watched from a distance at three kids playing around together. They were laughing and screaming while running around together. They held hands and it almost seemed like their smiles would be permanent. My theory was proven wrong when the smallest one fell and began to cry. The two bigger kids seemed worried and I watched how they comforted the small one with hugs and pats.

Innocence…

I recognized us three in their faces. Three people brought together for whatever reason, about to share lots of memories together, good and bad. But at that moment, as clueless children, we could only think about the moment. We were happy. Innocent. Young.

I’m so sorry... You two… I’m… I…

I felt a warm tear roll down my cheek and was shocked at the feeling. I quickly wiped it off and looked at the tear’s remains on my fingers in shock. Somehow, I had felt like I wouldn’t have any tears left to spill.

“It’s okay to cry,” a voice startled me before a familiar face appeared in front of me. “You can cry, Yuna.”

She looked beautiful. Her warmth surrounded me as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. My tears wetted her dress as I cried against her shoulder, feeling like all my worries were flowing out with the tears. I felt her hand caress my hair comfortingly and her scent made me feel like I was safe.

“I know it’s hard,” she said with the warm tone I was familiar with. “I’ve been watching over you. I’m proud of you, Yuna.”

I clung onto her, scared that she’d disappear if I didn’t.

“But I have to send you back,” she said and I could hear sadness in her voice.

She loosened her arms around me and leaned back. I looked at her.

“Eunkyung,” I was able to breathe out.

She cupped my face with her soft, warm hands. Then, she leaned in to give my lips a kiss that caused warmth to spread all over my body as if I had been reborn. When she pulled away, she rested her forehead against mine.

“You need to help the others,” she whispered and leaned back.

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

“The higher-ups went to get them,” her words caused my eyes to widen. “Something bad could happen. Yuna,” she looked at me with the determined look I had often seen her give me. “You can help them.” “How? I’m not much of a threat on my own,” I mumbled.

“You’re with the Clan now. Find a way to make them help you,” she encouraged me and grabbed my hand. “Please.”

I held her hand with both of mine. “Will you be here waiting for me?”

She nodded immediately and I pulled her in for a hug after looking at her for a bit.

“I’ll return soon.”

***

Meanwhile…

“What is this?” you asked after being handed a black book.

“We will leave you to figure it out by yourself,” the blue-eyed guards responded coldly.

You watched quietly as they turned around and began walking away, soon disappearing behind the shelves filled with books. Before long, the sound of their footsteps faded, too. You were left alone with the book in your hands.

You looked at the book. There was no information on the cover so you decided to open it. Bold letters decorated the otherwise empty first page of the book.

Lee Minhyuk.

You stared at the name for a moment before turning the next page, curious yet confused. There were pictures glued on the page along with what could have been the birthdate of a child unknown to you. There was something familiar about him, though. He resembled Minhyuk. Your eyes eventually found a sentence on the bottom of the page.

Early childhood. Normal.

It was quite evident that the boy in the pictures was indeed Minhyuk. You found it fascinating to be able to see the younger him. He seemed so filled with life and his cute, crooked teeth made you smile in admiration.

It took you a while before you were willing to turn the page. There, his school photos had been assembled in chronological order. Each was titled with the school year he was on in the picture, followed by a simple “normal”. Though, this was not the case as you turned the page. His high school photos were laid out on the spread.

Normal. Unstable. Changed.

His expression changed along with each description. Smiling. Expressionless. Empty.

You turned the page after worrying about the boy in the third picture for a bit.

Got involved with drugs and gangs. Kicked out by family for “being a disgrace to the family name” after getting caught for selling drugs. Stopped going to school and joined a violent gang.

Your heart ached as you read the words. You knew that his days as a human couldn’t have been graceful looking at how things had turned out but reading about it broke your heart.

Found by Hwang Dain. Changed after a fight in which he got severely injured. Would have died if it weren’t for the change. Should be grateful of the second chance he was given.

You frowned at the sentence. Grateful? you thought.His life seems more like torture.

The way his story was told almost made you close the book and throw it but you clenched your teeth and turned the pages. There were short, diary-like entries about his early days after changing and you read them all in fascination. He sounded so grim and cold, and you were reminded of the time after you had met him. Only, the Minhyuk described in the entries had been in a much darker, more painful place.

I’ve been keeping him company. He seems confused and lost. I’ll try to help him.

The tone of the text changed and you noticed that the handwriting seemed different. Soon, you noticed a name written on the bottom of the page.

Dain.

It took you a second to realize where you had seen the name before - earlier in the book. You turned the page in curiosity.

He has started to talk. I promised to take care of him. He seemed thankful.

Several similar entries followed, each having a warmer message than the previous one. Your broken heart felt soothed at the thought of someone helping him through the tough times he had to go through. Your relief was unfortunately short-lived.

The Cleansing has affected him deeply. He has joined the rebels. We will no longer look after him.

You frowned at the term “The Cleansing”. After a bit, your stomach twisted. Seeing how the name “Dain” was no longer written below the entry, your brain put the pieces together. It reminded you of how Minhyuk had told you about the higher-ups murdering a lot of the older blue-bloods shortly after he had turned. His finder included.

Reluctantly, you turned the page to find an empty spread. And another. And another. You thought the entries had stopped there, but came across a new one after going through a big chunk of empty pages.

The rebels attempted a coup d'état. They were unsuccessful. He has been punished for his actions.

Again, you thought back on what you had heard from Minhyuk and put the pieces together. You turned the page and discovered a page filled with information about you. You could barely read your name on the page before the book was suddenly taken from you.

“Have you enjoyed your reading session?” the person asked with a nonchalant expression. “This place is off-limits for nearly all blue-bloods. I’m surprised they decided to let someone like you in.”

“Why did you give that to me?” you asked immediately.

He smirked and it made your stomach twist.

“Tell me,” you demanded and took a step forward despite feeling shaky.

He stared down at you, not intimidated at all.  “Curious, are we? Well, having heard about you, I expected nothing else.”

“Why was I given that book to read?” you stared straight into his eyes, remaining stern.

He snorted. “Well, if you insist,” he leaned down slightly, causing you to lean back. “We simply wanted to take advantage of your curiosity.”

“What?” you asked with a frown.

He laughed dryly. “We knew it wouldn’t be hard to let you know about his past. Now that you know, we can use you to punish him in a different way.”

Your eyes widened in horror.

“See, the worst possible punishment we can give him for disrespecting our laws has got to do with you, human,” he swirled a strand of hair of yours around his finger with a grin on his lips.

“I’m never going to mention his past to him,” you spat. “You can torture me all you want but I won’t. Never!”

He laughed at your words. “Oh, how stupid. That was never our plan,” he stepped back and ran his hand down the cover of the book. “See, the difficulty lies in not telling.”

“What?” you frowned in confusion while your heart beat nervously.

“A small slip of tongue and oops, a life is ruined,” he smiled with an evil look. “You, human, were the perfect target for that plan with your stupid curiosity.”

Your heartbeat grew faster. “I can hold my tongue,” you said quickly.

“Can you really? I can’t bring myself to believe that you’d be able to say that with confidence. Now that you know about his painful past, you’d be able to ruin his life is mere seconds. Doesn’t that scare you?”

You tried to hide the agony you were feeling inside your chest. Images of Hoseok’s expressionless face flashed before your eyes and you shook your head to get rid of them.

Destroy his life…? I would never… Why would I want to talk to him about his past, seeing how horrible it was? I’m not that careless! I would never do that!

Still, multiple innocent scenarios that quickly turned horrifying flashed in your head.

“Are you going to expose the whole plan to her?” a new voice spoke and an unfamiliar person walked over to you two.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away,” the one you had been talking with, stated. “I just couldn’t fight the temptation of seeing the horror in her eyes.”

The other one looked at you and smirked. “I can see what you’re talking about.”

They both laughed and you stared at your feet.

Why did I read it? How can I erase all of it from my mind? Should I hit my head with something? Roll down the stairs? Jump out of a window? How can I undo this? I don’t want to risk Minhyuk’s life. Why am I so stupid?!

Tears were starting to well up in your eyes but you didn’t even notice. You were so deep in thought that you couldn’t even hear the two men discussing something to themselves in front of you.

“… took the blame…” brought you back from your thoughts.

Minhyuk? He took the blame?

You lifted your gaze to look at the two, tears falling from your eyes without you even noticing.

“Who?” they looked at you nonchalantly. “Who took the blame?” you demanded an answer.

“It’s none of your business,” the other said coldly.

“Who was it?!” you yelled and grabbed his shirt, shaking him. “Tell me!”

He pushed you away and you stumbled back, soon falling over.

“Crazy human,” he spat with a glare.

“Was it Minhyuk? Why would he? He did nothing wrong!” you cried. “Please forgive him! I… I’ll die in his place! Please… I’m begging you… I…”

They both snorted at you.

“That wuss? Yeah, right,” one of them spoke and you froze. “That coward would never do anything for others. Hoseok went out of his way to take the blame for a crime everyone knows he didn’t commit.”

You looked up at the two, holding your breath.

“The grudge the leaders have against those seven… They’re ready to kill any one of them when an opportunity arises.”

“H…Hoseok?” you breathed out in disbelief.

“He’ll be punished instead of Minhyuk. Minhyuk will live but if the leaders’ plan works out, he will off himself sooner or later, seeing how you’re now filled in on his days as a human.”

Next part: [pt.28]

Other parts: [Masterlist]

[hiddlestoned4ever]

Drawn Between Worlds - Dr Strange/Loki x Reader

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) Chapter 3 (Chapter 4 coming soon!)

Words: 4794

Warnings: None

You can't say Thor was pleased with what happened next: Odin ordered Einherjar Lieutenant to take Jane away while Thor tried to reason with his father to let him take Jane to the Dark World to draw Malekith out, but Odin won't hear of it.

Afterwards, Thor disappears to speak to Heimdal and his friends about a plan to make an escape instead.

Meanwhile, downstairs, in the only cell that's not broken, Loki is sitting calmly, reading a book. From outside, a guard approaches. He speaks about what happened to Frigga. Loki nods and the guard leaves. Slowly, the God rises up, puts the book down, turns around and clenches his fists so everything in his cell magically gets thrown aside. His breathing becomes heavy and his expression filled with anger. With the same slow pace, he turns back around so he faces the corridor again.

"I'm sorry," you say quietly and calmly.

Loki's reflects make him spin around and his eyes widen when he sees you standing inside his cell. Narrowing his eyebrows, his head lowers a little.

"What are you doing here?" His tone is surprised and somewhat unwelcome.

"Missed you too," you reply sarcastic and he straightens up. "I didn't plan to come here, it just sort of happened without my control."

"No, I mean what are you doing here? In this cell."

You suddenly find yourself incapable of answering him and just stare at him instead. Apparently, your presence at Asgard doesn't seem to interest him at all. It's why you came to see him that does. He begins to move around: his long steps, the twitch in his face, clenching of his fists. It reminds you of a panther, lurking around in the bushes, waiting to spring forward and attack his prey. His raven black hair is longer and more wavy than last time. His blue eyes still feel like they're able to bore their way inside you, revealing your deepest secrets to him.

"How did you even get here- Oh... So Thor went back to Earth. What for?"

At this, you don't know what to say. Thor told you before he let you visit Loki to be careful with what you say to him. He can take anything to mind and use it for his own good in a later situation.

You open your mouth but it takes a seconds before you say anything. "...I thought you might want some company," you say, trying to steer the conversation back to the start. "Now that you know about-"

"You think I want to share grief? With you?" he hisses back, taking a step in your direction.

"I know how it is. My mother was murdered too."

The blue eyes are now searching you to see if you're speaking the truth. When he seems to have found nothing that tells him you're tricking him, his expression gets softer. It seems alright to continue.

"I was twelve. She... she was shot by a man that had broken into our house. My dad was asleep until he heard the shot. He ran downstairs, saw my mother in a pool of her own blood. The burglar had run off. I was so determined to get my revenge, but eventually, I asked myself what's the point? Chasing after someone just to hurt them the way they did me. It wouldn't bring my mother back. Therefore, I took another decision. Working at a hospital to help save people. I couldn't save my mom that night so I wanted to help others."

You take a break to see how Loki reacts to it, but when he just stands still, you keep going. "I know that you most likely seek revenge on the elf that killed Frigga, but it won't bring her back."

"This is Thor's doing, isn't it? What other reason do you possibly have for being here?"

"Because I have an unanswered question," you tell him and he narrows his eyebrows.

"And what is that?"

"Back in New York, you could've let me fall but you chose to save me. Why? I didn't think you cared about anyone, least of all people who stand in your way."

"I don't," he says sharply.

"Then why?"

He's beginning to close the gap between you and to show him that you're not intimidated by his quick steps you stay still. He abruptly stops less than a meter away from you. Without breaking the contact, without blinking, he growls right to your face.

"Do not think I have some sort of concern for you. I don't get emotionally attached to others. So whatever you came here for, forget it!"

Staring into his eyes, he has shut out everything that's called emotions. His expression is emotionless, eyes burning with fire. You take a big breath as you find it hard to keep looking into them.

"Shutting out the grief and pretending you didn't care about Frigga won't make it easier," you tell him while lower your sight from his eyes to his lips, jaw, then to the V opening that reveals the upper skin of his chest. Then, you go back up. That short break made it possible to take a breath again.

"You don't know anything about me," he snarls and passes you so you have to turn after him. "Why do you even care? I attacked your planet! I fought against those pathetic people you call friends, I made your city bleed!"

"You know, you have Hulk's temper. I'm just glad you don't turn into him as well."

He now glares at you like you're crazy trying to be funny at this moment. You shake him off as you realize this visit turns out to be hopeless. But there's a part of you that won't give up on him. Not yet. It doesn't seem like Loki knows why you're still here either according to the confused look on his face.

"I don't need your sympathy or anything else. Just get out," he says with low voice and points towards the stairs outside.

"Why do you hate me so much? It's not like I'm trying to take over Asgard. Or maybe it's not about me," you mumble, wondering if there's more to it than just his desire for power. When he doesn't seem to want to answer, you sigh. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll go. But as far as I understand, you're concerned. Thor told me that Odin has disowned you, locked you up with no hope of reconciliation or rehabilitation. Perhaps you feel like trying to repair the damage is hopeless. For a short moment, I got to speak to your mother. She still believed in you. And I presume she brought you all this," you say with spread arms. "Didn't know the God of Mischief likes to read." You give him a little smile. "She didn't want you to spend the rest of your long life in here. You've got centuries left! The Loki I met on Earth would never use that time in a cell."

"Stop it," Loki warns.

"I get that you're mad at Odin... at Thor, but he wishes it was different too." You take two steps closer. "He just wants his brother back."

"Enough!" Loki yells and reaches out a hand towards you but as soon as it should come in touch with you, your body starts to dissolve in the air.

For the second time this day, Loki's visitor was just another illusion.

You gasp as you open your eyes in the chamber after your hologram disappeared from the cell. A tear is rolling down your cheek that you quickly wipe away as soon as you hear the doors burst open. Thor walks in, not seeming to notice the upset look on your face.

"How did it go?"

Narrowing your lips, you shake your head. "Worse than I thought."

"Why? What did he say?"

Turning your head to him, you reply, "I think there's something he's not telling us."

* * *

In the following hour, Thor had explained the plan of escape to you. Then, he went to get Loki out of the prison because he's the only one who knows about a secret passway now that you can't travel by the Bifrost after Odin shut it down.

You're standing with Jane and Sif while waiting for the two brothers. When they arrive, you give Loki a slap in the face to which surprises the others.

"That was for earlier," you tell him.

Then, Jane gives Loki another hard slap in the face. "And that was for New York." To this, Loki chuckles.

As you start to make your way towards the Malekith's ship in the great hall, you pass Volstagg who's gonna give you as much time as he can. When entering inside it, Thor looks at the controls and starts pressing some buttons, looking unsure of what he's doing.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," you say a bit concerned.

"I said how hard could it be."

Meanwhile, the Asgardian guards rush towards the ship with Volstagg standing guard in front of it.

"They're on the ship!" One of the guards shouts to the others. As they approach the ship, Volstagg starts attacking them.

"Well, whatever you're doing, brother, I suggest you do it faster."

"Shut up, Loki."

Outside the ship, Volstagg continues to battle with the Asgardian guards while back in the ship, Thor continues to frantically press every button there is to get the ship started.

"You must have missed something," you say while looking at the panel. not really having a clue how to start a spaceship.

"I didn't, I'm pressing every button on this thing."

"No, don't hit it, just press it gently," Loki says from Thor's other side.

"I am pressing it gently." He then pushes harder down on the buttons. "It's not working!"

With one more hit, the ship suddenly comes to life. Thor laughs while you and Loki look at each other, him holding a strict face while you move the corner of your lips up in an amused smile. On the outside, Volstagg is now overrun by the guards but he starts laughing as they watch the ship starting to rise, hitting almost all the columns of the palace on your way out.

"I think you missed a column," Loki comments, making you bite your tongue to prevent yourself from laughing.

"Shut up!"

Finally, the ship breaks through the palace walls and takes off.

"Look, why don't you let me take over, I'm clearly the best pilot."

"Is that right? Well, out of the two of us which one can actually fly?"

As you are flying over Asgard, Jane suddenly collapses. The three of you bend your heads towards her.

"Oh, dear. Is she dead?" Loki asks.

"Jane?" Thor's worried voice makes her lift her head. She looks weak. The Aether must really feed on her strength. You kneel beside her to make her lie more comfortable.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, her head going back down and eyes closing.

You return to Thor's side just as the ship hits and breaks off a part of a column and since neither you nor Loki is holding onto something, you lose the balance for a brief moment, but you both stay on your feet.

"Not a word," Thor warns his brother.

Several smaller Asgardian ships now start to follow after you. "Now they're following us," Loki says right when the ships start firing at you. "Now they're firing at us!"

God, he's like one of those commentators on TV sports games. You roll your eyes at him although you do find it entertaining everything considered.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki! It's not at all distracting!" The ship then hits a massive stone monument of King Bor, breaking the head off.

"Well done, you just decapitated your grandfather."

You put a hand over your mouth as you gasp and try not to laugh again. The smaller ships follow after and fire at you as you're flying over Asgard. Can't exactly say your days are boring anymore.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Getting tired of Loki's comments, Thor suddenly pushes Loki out of the ship as he had opened one of the doors. Or the reason is quite a bigger one because next, he picks up Jane and turns to you.

"Ready?"

"I don't want to stand before your father in chains so yeah I am," you say and jump out, followed by Thor with Jane in his arms. In the air, you position yourself so that it will hurt less. You roll over as you hit a smaller ship that's being flown by Fandral. Thor lands on his feet shortly after.

"You lied to me. I'm impressed." Loki groans while getting up.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now, do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."

Loki smiles and takes over the ship's control, at the same time as the Asgardian ships spot you and start firing again.

"Fandral."

"Right." Fandral picks up a rope and steps onto the edge of the ship. "For Asgard." Then, he jumps off the ship and uses the rope to swing onto the Asgardian ship following them. "Nothing personal, boys!" He knocks out the three guards on the ship then looks over to Thor and salutes him.

On Fandral's ship, Loki takes you towards the mountains. Your eyes widen as he's directing directly right at them.

"Loki!" Thor shouts nervously.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

"Are you mad?" you yell.

"Possibly," the God of Mischief smiles.

Thor holds on to Jane and you onto the railing as Loki heads straight for the wall of the mountain. Suddenly, you enter right through it in an opening that barely fits the ship, and then through a portal to Svartalfheim. "Ta-da!" Loki says in a singing like voice as you fly over Svartalfheim, Jane continues to lie down and Thor puts a cover over her.

You straighten yourself up and slowly take an overview of the new landscape. It's dark, empty, only rocks and hills as far as your eyes can see.

"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," Loki mumbles beside you and you follow the look of his eyes down on Jane.

"It would consume you," Thor comments.

"She's holding up alright. For now."

"She's strong in ways you've never even know."

A brief pause follows while the ship floats steady and slow.

"Say goodbye," Loki says genuinely.

"Hey!" You elbow his arm and he casts his eyes on you.

"Not today," his brother answers.

"This day, the next. A hundred years is nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prised will be snatched from you." Loki's words make you look up at him from the side.

"And will that satisfy you?"

"Satisfaction is not in my nature."

"Surrender is not in mine."

"The son of Odin."

"No, not just of Odin! You think you alone who loved mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust."

"Trust. Was that her last expression. Trust? When you let her die!"

"What help were you in your cell?"

"Who put me there? Who put me there?!"

Thor grabs Loki. "You know damn well!" He raises his fist to punch Loki, but now you interfere with their brotherly argument. 

"Stop! This is to no good. You two have to put this behind you for now and focus on what's ahead. Malekith might be here already."

Thor slowly lowers his hand and lets go of Loki. "You're right," he says to you before moving to Loki again. "She wouldn't want us to fight."

"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki says and the three of you smile shortly. This, right here, is how you wish it was between the two of them all the time.

"I wish I could trust you," Thor says before he turns his back to the two of you.

"Trust my rage," Loki mutters under his breath. You hear it, but don't say anything. You wish you could trust him too because you so badly want to, even after everything he's done.

Suddenly, Jane's eyes open. She rises and looks ahead.

"Jane," Thor says calmly and kneels down beside her. She looks over at him with wide and tired eyes before gazing ahead. In the distance, Malekith's ship is visible.

"Malekith."

Hesitatingly, you lift your eyes up at Loki without moving your head much. He meets you halfway. Every time he looks at you, not angrily, but like this. Soft. It's so different from the Loki you met in New York and you really hope there's still some good in him. Maybe he just needs some help to bring it back up to the surface.  

After landing the ship, you walk over to a cliff where you can see Malekith and his ship ahead.

"Alright, are you ready?" Thor asks. Jane nods her head.

"I am," Loki replies.

"You know, this plan is going to get us killed," you sigh and Loki looks at you in the corner of his eyes.

"I am sorry that I have dragged you into this. I promise, when we're done here, I'll take you back to New York."

To get on with it, Loki holds up his shackled hands for Thor who stares at him with question and worry.

"You still don't trust me, brother?"

While Thor uncuffs Loki's hands, he gives him a strict stare. "Would you?" Both brothers turn to the sight ahead of them.

"No, I wouldn't," the younger brother says right before he stabs Thor with a dagger and pushes him so he rolls down the hill. Loki jumps and follows.

"Thor!" "No!" Jane shouts and starts to run after them. You follow in her heels.

"You really think I cared about Frigga, about anybody?" He stops by Thor and kicks him hard in the stomach. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

You hurry the fastest you can towards them as Malekith and some of his army come from the other direction. Thor raises his hand in an attempt to summon Mjolnir, but Loki uses the dagger to cut off his hand which makes Thor scream in pain. Jane rushes over but before she reaches him, Loki grabs her and holds her tight. You stop just beside him.

Loki speaks to the Dark Elves who now have arrived at the scene. "Malekith, I am Loki of Jotunheim and I bring you a gift!" He throws Jane down on the ground in front of Malekith's feet. "I ask only one thing in return, a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

Algrim, the elf from the prison in Asgard and who killed Frigga, explains to his master that he saw Loki in Odin's prison so that way Loki's words get taken for truth.

"And you?" Malekith says, pointing at you.

"She's with me," Loki says quick, almost defending.

"She tried to stop me."

"I had to play my part. I came to Asgard to get Loki out of prison. What happens to the rest of the realm it's not to my interest." You tried to speak with as much conviction as you could manage and just hope he would take your word for it.

Without responding to you, he walks over to Thor who's squirming in pain on the ground. "Look at me." He uses his foot to turn him over, then he raises his arm, making Jane rise up in the air.

This is it, you think. He's gonna extract the Aether from her just as Thor said he would. The three of you look up as the Aether leaves her body. Once it's fully out of her, she collapses to the ground.

"Loki, now!" Thor shouts, raising his arm as Loki undoes the magic so his hand comes back and Mjolnir immediately responds. Then, Loki pushes you down next to Jane, followed by himself. He uses his body to shield you as Thor shoots lightning at the Aether, attempting to destroy it.

However, the plan fails. Malekith is still able to absorb it and turns on his heel towards his ship while two elves start to attack Thor. Taking them down quickly, he flies by his hammer after Malekith, but Algrim stops it by pushing Thor many meters away. Over to you, Loki gets up while you help Jane up.

"Are you alright?" you ask her.

From a distance, after Algrim has buried Thor under a stock of big rocks, he throws one of his vortex weapons towards you. Loki manages just about to push the two of you out of the way as it opens in the air and instantly tries to drag Loki into it. Luckily, Thor gets out of the pile of rocks, flies to his rescue and pulls him out.

With another attempt, Thor tries to reach Malekith before he disappears but is again stopped by Algrim. You get Jane out of danger before joining Loki to take down some other elves one by one.

On the other hand, Thor has some trouble when Algrim beats him down. Seeing this, you let Loki finish off where you are so you can go and help Thor. On the way, you pick up one of the dead elf's sword. Not that you think you can take this guy alone, he's quite big and strong. Coming from behind him, you stab him in the back, but not hard enough. He spins around in one quick move, arm stretched out in the process. You manage to duck before it would've sent you flying several meters away. Taking the chance, you cut his leg and roll over so he doesn't get to grab you either. Thor is on his way up, throwing Mjolnir at Algrim in the meantime, hoping it will give you a few seconds, but the elf senses it and slams the hammer back to its owner. Again, you try to use the sword to hurt him, but he turns just before and his arm hits your stomach.

With a grunt, you crash land on your back out of breath. He stops in front of you and is ready to pierce the sword through you.

Suddenly, the elf gets impaled from behind, a spear going right through him. You lay still, holding your breath as Algrim slowly turns to face Loki. With a quick pull, Loki gets dragged towards him so the spear goes right in his chest.

"No!" you and Thor shout at the same time.

With a push, Algrim shoves Loki off so he lands on his back with a grunt beside you. Loki lifts his head a little. "See you in hell monster." Algrim then realizes that attached to the blade in him, is his own vortex weapon. It explodes before he can do anything destroying him. Thor then rushes over to his brother.

"No, no! Fool, you didn't listen!" He kneels down and holds around him.

"I know, I'm a fool. I'm a fool!" Loki squirms in pain.

"Stay with me, stay!" Thor begs him. You lean up on your elbow closest to them.

No, he can't die. You don't understand why he's affecting you this much. It's not like you've known him for years, and the times you've met him he's been an utter ass. A villain. However, you tend to try and focus on the good side in people, and you have seen good in him. Both in the act and in his eyes. He just saved your life for the second time. The good may not dwell so deep inside of him as you thought. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Loki's words turn to whispers and Thor holds around him. He shushes him and nods his head.

"It's alright. I'll tell father what you did here today."

"I didn't do it for him."

You feel yourself starting to cry. Maybe he already is leaving the bad wolf in him. If only this didn't have to happen in order for him to do so. Slowly, Loki turns his head a bit to look at you. Carefully, you crawl on fours to get closer, ignoring the pain in your torso.

"Loki..."

He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to because his eyes speak for him. They're filled with sorrow and guilt. Then, it all disappears as his eyes close and his skin turns pale. Your mouth open and you cover it with a palm as you try to hold back the tears.

"No!" Thor screams in mourning.

You sink back down on your arm and lower your head. It was unbelievable. After this long time, when you got to see Loki again, he dies within a couple of hours. You hoped it was a trick, that he would just jump up and laugh at all of us. But he doesn't. He just lies there, completely still, eyes closed, the pale skin making it look like he's been dead for a while. Thor moves his eyes on you and you see the tears in them, as he must be seeing yours. But it doesn't matter. 

*  *  * 

The three of you quickly walk to find shelter as a storm is approaching. You feel bad for just leaving Loki out there, but it would've slowed you down if you were to bring him with you.

Entering a cave, you look confused around. There is stuff everywhere. Mostly shoes and empty cans.

And all of a sudden, Jane's phone starts to ring. Turn out it's someone she met the other day. Looking at your own phone, it's low on battery, but it pops up lots of messages and calls from Tony. Deciding it's better to inform him when you're back in New York, you put the phone back in your pocket.

Apparently, Jane knows how to get to Earth, so you and Thor follow her deeper into the cave when you abruptly get a weird feeling and when you see clearly, you're back to the place where the scene with the policemen took place.

"How?" you ask, but the other two are more focused on where Malekith will end up. Following them to Jane's car, Thor turns to you.

"Go home. We will take it from here."

"But I can help-"

"Not this time. It's not your fight. After what happened to Loki... You've been in enough danger."

Before you get to protest, he rushes into the car. "I hope our paths will meet again, in a more decent matter!" he calls to you as Jane drives away and you're left alone.

Not coming up with something better, you take a cab back to Stark's place. Once you arrive there, you lock yourself in and is greeted by Jarvis. He tells you that Tony has been out all day looking for you. He asks if he shall contact him for you to which you thank him for. Your legs start to shake and you feel like passing out any second. Dropping down on the couch, you close your eyes in an attempt to get some rest, but the vision when Loki got killed keeps interrupting. Eventually, the emotions take over and you sit there, crying with your head in your hands.

It doesn't take long before a well-known voice is heard. Must've been only ten minutes or so since you got here.

"Y/N?"

In the room, comes a jogging Tony. He stops when he sees you. Your hair is messy, your clothes dirty after being in the Dark World. You raise your tearful face up at him.

"My God, where have you been? What's happened?" he comes over and you immediately embrace him. It feels really good to be in his presence again. One of his hands holds around your back while his other stroke you down your hair. "Shh, it's okay. It's gonna be okay," he says comfortingly. You cry on his shoulder and he lets you take your time. When he isn't Mr Stark the billionaire, or Iron Man the saviour, he's Tony, the caring guy. A side of him he rarely shows in public.

"You got me worried sick." He hugs you tighter and kisses the top of your head. Eventually, you pull away but he keeps his grip on you and removes the strings of hair from your face.

"Tell me what happened."

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

Tags: @harrymewmew @markusstraya @fire-in-her-veinz

[elementalwriter67]

The Greatest Show Part Nine (Finale)

Pairings: Jason x reader

Word Count: 5508

Summary: Despite being on her best behavior for her parents all week they still aren’t done throwing surprises at her. 

“I’m glad to see that you’re back with your parents again, Miss (Y/L/N) we all deeply missed you while you were gone.” Roger, one the people on her parent's board said. (Y/N) nodded her head politely and smiled at him.

“Yes, I’m glad to be back with my parents as well I deeply missed them while I was gone.” (Y/N) responded and Roger nodded.

“Yes, where exactly did you go?” He asked her and she kept that polite smile up.

“Oh, I was traveling around Europe for a bit, seeing other cultures and all that, honestly it was a little boring but it was nice.” It was the story that her parents had made her memorize all week before the party.

“I always say that it’s nice for the younger generation to go out and travel, see the world, get all of that out of your system makes becoming a CEO easier when you have no desire to travel. Which by the way you are on the fast track to becoming the little lady.” Roger said a smile coming across his face that made (Y/N) shift away from him but she never dropped that polite smile.

“Roger leave that poor girl alone, she’s got other people to talk to and I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk to an old fart like you,” Pamela said as she came over and slipped her arm into her husbands who chuckled.

“Alright, alright, it was nice to see you again (Y/N),” Roger said and (Y/N) did a little head bow to him which he did in response.

“It was nice seeing you again as well, I hope you two have a lovely time at the party.” (Y/N) told them before walking away from them her hands clasped in front of her, she smiled and nodded in greeting to everyone she passed on her way to the outskirts of the large ballroom her parents had rented. It wasn’t until she got to the edge of the room that she sighed in relief and finally relaxed for a minute. Her shoulders sagged and she pressed her back against the wall surveying the crowd in front of her. She made sure to frown as she reached up and rubbed her cheeks which were starting to hurt from how much fake smiling she was having to do.

All of the guests here were people that her parents had picked out, board members, CEOs of rival companies, their rich friends, the annoying kids from her school and she had been trying desperately to make nice with all of them. She thought that she had been doing a rather good job at being nice to all of them even if she wanted to pull her own hair out at this point, not that she’d be able to get her fingers into her hair with all the amount of hairspray. Of course, she was sure that her parents had different words to say but she hadn’t seen them all night which (Y/N) was thanking whatever God had decided to grace her with that mercy.

A server walked past her and she quickly grabbed a glass of Champagne off the tray and the server gave her a judgemental look which she returned with a glare. The guy quickly looked and hurried away from her, she waited until he got far enough away before downing the glass as quickly as possible and set it down on the nearest table. Returning to her temporary hiding spot (Y/N) yawned trying to hide the fact that she did.

“Ah! (Y/N), darling here you are!” Her mother exclaimed as she pushed her way through the crowd a man that (Y/N) had never met following closely behind her. Internally (Y/N) cringed as she smiled at her mother, her cheeks throbbing again.

“Mom, I didn’t realize you were looking for me, I hope you haven’t been looking long.” She said and her mother squinted at her, of course, she knew that (Y/N) was faking all these pleasantries. It wasn’t like she was really trying to hide it after all.

“No I wasn’t, why are you over here though? You should be out there mingling with your friends.” Her mother said and (Y/N) really wished that a server would walk by again.

“I’m taking a little break mother, I just got done talking to Roger not too long ago actually.” (Y/N) informed her and her mother’s eyes widened just slightly before she nodded.

“Right, well anyways, this is Arthur, he’s the son of John the CEO of Jarvis Tech Incorporated.” Her mother introduced him as she steps to the side allowing him room to step up to her. Mentally (Y/N) was cursing her mother to the final level of hell and promising her a slow and painful death. Externally (Y/N) kept smiling and took the hand that Arthur offered her, shaking his hand.

“Oh yes, I’ve heard some lovely things about your father.” (Y/N) said as they shook hands, in the corner of her eye she could see her mother nodding her head approvingly.

“I’m sure you have, meanwhile I’ve heard some very interesting things about you from your mother. Is it true that while you were gone you were off traveling Europe?” He asked and he seemed nice enough he honestly did but there was a catch, there was always a catch. One of them is the fact that (Y/N) could care less about Arthur.

“Yes it is, I spent a lovely amount of time in Paris. Such a lovely city.” She commented as she took her hand back.

“Well, I’ll just leave you two to talk then.” Her mother said as turned and left. (Y/N) glared as discreetly as possible at her mother’s back before turning to look at Arthur who was staring around looking rather bored with everything. She closed her eyes for a second and her smile fell before she went back to playing the nice girl who was happy to be back from her trip to Europe.

“So Arthur, what do you plan on doing after school?” (Y/N) asked and he looked at her again.

“Become the next CEO of my father’s company of course, what do you plan on doing.” He asked and (Y/N) bit the inside of her lip thinking for a second before answering.

“My parents would like me to become a CEO of their company as well, looks like we’re destined to the same fate.” She said and he nodded his head.

“Yes, it would appear so.” He said and there was an awkward silence between the two of them that caused (Y/N) to shift before she sighed and ran her hand over her hair, careful not to mess it up.

“I’m sorry but why did my mother bring you over here? I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now.” (Y/N) dropped her act and his eyes widened for a second but the corners of his lips twitched.

“No offense but I kinda figured that from the look you gave your mother. I take it you’re not a big fan of her?” He asked and (Y/N) nodded her head.

“You would be correct, so why are you here? Both the party in general and talking to me.” (Y/N) clarified.

“Well, I’m here at the party because my father forced me to come instead of letting me stay home and I’m talking to you because you’re mother forced me to come over here and my father agreed. If it hadn’t been for here I would have stayed far away from you.” He said and (Y/N) wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a jab or not but either way she rolled her eyes at him.

“Right back at you...is my mother watching us?” She asked him and he glanced around before looking back at her.

“Not that I can see.” He told her and she sighed in relief before grabbing a champagne glass off a server that walked by, this one didn’t stop to give her a look though. Arthur’s eyes widened slightly before he stopped the server and took his own glass off of it.

“I didn’t know little miss princess drank.” He said and she scoffed at him.

“Normally I don’t but this party is so mind-numbingly boring that I just can’t stand it anymore, I need something to numb me if I’m going to get through the rest of the night.” She told him. She downed the champagne in a quick couple of gulps while Arthur preferred to take a sip of his.

“Arthur, can I ask you a question?” (Y/N) asked him and the corners of his mouth twitched.

“You just did.” He said and she rolled her eyes.

“Ok smartass you know what I meant.” She shot at him and he chuckled.

“And she has a mouth? My, my, (Y/N) you keep getting more and more interesting but yes you can ask me a question.” He said and she sighed looking around at the room checking to make sure that her parents weren’t looking their way before looking back at Arthur.

“Do you really want to become the CEO of your father’s company? Because I know that I don’t want to become the CEO of my parent's company.” She confessed and part of her felt good. It felt good to tell someone that was high up in her parent's circle that she didn’t want to be a CEO, even if he was only the son of the rival company it still felt good. The other part of her hoped like hell he would spread that news like wildfire and ruin her parents. When he was silent for a couple of minutes (Y/N) looked around again making sure that neither of their parents had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Honestly I’d rather not, as funny as this may sound I’d actually rather become a fashion designer but my father has this whole big, elaborate, future planned out for me and it just feels like I’m  not powerful enough to stop it.” He confessed and her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to feel the same way about this whole thing as she did.

“And at times it feels like no matter what you do it’s just not enough, you can give them you’re all and agree to everything that they say but no matter what you do they’re never happy? And it feels like there’s this constant weight on your shoulders that even when they aren’t around it just doesn’t go away?” Her tone was questioning, testing the waters to see if he was really telling the truth and his eyes widened in response as he nodded his head enthusiastically.

“Exactly! What do you really want to do?” He asked her and a dreamy look came over her face as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“I want to go back to the circus.” She said as she closed her eyes for a second allowing herself to imagine the show that was undoubtedly going on right now and wondering on what they had done with her spot in the show, how Jason was doing and everyone else if they had another sold out show. Before she forced herself to open her eyes and push all those thoughts back into the box she had let them out of.

“Back? I take it you didn’t really go to Europe.” He stated and she laughed as she let her arms dropped to her sides.

“God no. I Ran away and joined the circus and had the time of my life. I was the trapeze artist.” She informed him and his eyes widened in an impressed manner.

“Really?” He asked and she nodded her head a genuine smile on her face now.

“Oh yeah, there’s nothing like the rush of being thousands of feet up in the air and the freedom that comes with it too. Why a fashion designer?” She asked him as the two of them stepped back from the dance floor, giving them more room to talk in private. Arthur shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve always had a knack for knowing what goes good with it and similar, slightly to your whole trapeze thing, there’s nothing like the feel of fresh uncut fabric beneath your fingers or the sound of a sewing machine in action. There’s a certain pleasure in it for me in doing all of that, a certain thing that just lets me forget everything else and be happy. I’ve actually got a few companies looking at some of my designs and thinking about asking me to make them a demo.” He told her and she smiled at him reaching out and patting his shoulder.

“That’s amazing Arthur, I’d love to see them one day.” She said and he smiled puffing out his chest in pride.

“Well if all goes well you might actually get to see them on store shelves one day.” He said and she smiled back at him. She was glad that she’d actually found someone in this life that didn’t want to become a CEO of a company it gave her more confidence that this wasn’t just it for her life. Also maybe he was willing to help her escape and she opened her mouth to voice that thought but was cut off by her mother walking up to them again.

“Ah hello, mother.” (Y/N) forced a smile back onto her face as she looked at her mother. Her mother looked the two of them over and nodded once in approval an action that had (Y/N) looking at Arthur who shrugged in response.

“What are you two doing? Don’t just stand there get out there and dance.” Her mother urged them, well it was more like demanded them but both (Y/N) and Arthur shook their heads.

“No mom we’re ok with just standing here talking.” (Y/N) told her and almost immediately her mother shook her head.

“No you’re not, get out on that dance floor and dance you two. This party is for you (Y/N) and I would appreciate if you actually did some dancing and who better to do that dancing with than Arthur here.” Her mother said as she grabbed a hold of their shoulders and began pushing them towards the dance floor while at the same time pushing the two of them closer together.

“Mrs. (Y/L/N) we really are alright with just talking.” Arthur insisted as he tried to dig his heels into the floor as politely as he could. But he was unable to fully do it because her mother kept pushing them towards the dance floor.

“Nonsense you two are going to dance.” Her mother demanded more than stated and pushed the two of them together before standing there for a few minutes. (Y/N) gave him an apologetic look as they began to slow dance, appeasing her mother enough to get her to walk away. Once she was far enough away (Y/N) sighed in relief and relaxed just slightly and she gave Arthur another apologetic look.

“I’m so sorry for her. There’s really no way to stop her once she makes up her mind.” She apologized as the two of them continued dancing just to please her mother.

“It’s alright, my father can be the same way. I’m starting to think that maybe we should set our parents up with each other.” He joked and she laughed.

“And cause more trouble for ourselves no thank you.” She said and a look of realization crossed his face and he hurriedly nodded his head.

“You’re right I didn’t think that through all the way, plus I think my mother would have a problem with my dad leaving her for your mom.” He mused and she nodded in agreement.

“I’m pretty sure my dad would have the same issue.” She said and the two of them fell into a silence that was half awkward and half comfortable as they continued to dance their way around the floor. The two of them had simultaneously decided to find a good spot to break away from the crowd and hide. They never got the chance to hide though because her mother suddenly made another appearance only this time Arthur’s father was standing with them.

“Speak of the devils and they shall appear.” (Y/N) muttered when she spotted them standing off to the side looking at the two of them. (Y/N) locked eyes with her mother and her mother motioned for her to come to her and she took a step back from Arthur suddenly breaking off the dance. Arthur stumbled slightly and a faint smile spread across (Y/N)’s face when she saw her mother scowl.

“My mother is calling for our attention.” She informed him when he gave her a confused look and he sighed before nodding his head. The two of them fell into their roles perfectly as they carefully made their way back to her parents. Her mother and father smiled at the two of them her father puffing his chest out slightly in pride and she looked at the two of them in confusion.

“Mother, father.” (Y/N) said as she bowed her head slightly in greeting and she was treating them like they were loyalty, a lot better than they really deserved to be treated.

“I”m so glad to see that you two are getting along.” Her father stated and (Y/N) looked at Arthur out of the corner of her eye.

“Yes, I would say that we have been.” She responded and Arthur nodded in agreement.

“Yes, your daughter is excellent company,” Arthur added and (Y/N)’s mother smiled, a sight that caused shivers to run down (Y/N)’s spine. That was never a good smile.

“Well, that’s good because we have some news for the two of you.” (Y/N)’s mother said.

“Yes, (Y/M/N) and (Y/F/N) have all been talking and we’ve come to a decision.” Arthur’s dad Jonathan said as he and his wife Milly joined the conversation. Both kids looked between the parents in confusion.

“What news?” They asked at the same time and their parents looked at each other all of them coming to a silent agreement before looking back at their kids.

“We’ve decided that you two will get married.” (Y/M/N) said. (Y/N)’s brain just went completely blank as she stared at her mother with a dumbfounded expression. Surely she hadn’t heard her right, surely her mother hadn’t actually said that. Surely they weren’t actually talking about an arranged marriage like it was the 16oos again! Surely this wasn’t actually happening!

Her brain kicked back on again and the first thing was a loud, screeching; “What?!”

The music and the people suddenly fell silent, all eyes turned towards the lady of the hour who had suddenly screamed. (Y/M/N) scowled at (Y/N) who continued to look at her mother like she had just grown another head, meanwhile, Arthur was standing there staring at his parents in the same amount of disbelief.

“You. Will be getting married to Arthur when the time is right.” The anger in (Y/M/N) voice was barely concealed behind her fake politeness.

“This isn’t the 1600’s !” (Y/N) shouted but their parents simply rolled their eyes.

“This is a contractual marriage young lady, you and my son will be getting married and your marriage will join the two companies together, in a way,” Jonathan said.

“No, I will not be marrying her father. Contractual or not I won’t marry her, I have no interest in this woman and I never will have any interest in this woman.” Arthur said and (Y/N) nodded in agreement.

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing that we don’t need you two to be interested in each other we just need you both to get married and full fill your sides of the contract.” (Y/N/N) said and (Y/N)’s lips twitched threatening to form a snarl but instead, she took a step back from her parents and looked at them in defiance.

“No. Contractually or not I will not be marrying anyone that you pick out for me, I already have someone that I love and if I’m going to marry anyone it’s going to be him. So if you don’t mind I’m going to go back to the circus.” (Y/N) stated as she spun around causing her dress to fan out around her. Murmuring broke out through the crowd when (Y/N) said that all of them asking if they had heard her right, (Y/M/N) and (Y/F/N) looked at her horrified.

“(Y/N) (Y/M/N) (Y/L/N) you get back here right this instant!” Her mother shouted and (Y/N) ignored her and kept walking out of the room. All week she’d put up with this and that from her parents, saying yes mom and yes dad and of course mom/dad, and so on and so on and this was it. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Being forced to talk to Arthur that was fine, he turned out not to be as bad as she thought, being forced to dance with him was fine, being forced to marry him was an entirely different thing. She shouldn’t be forced to marry someone just for the sake of her parent's company, a company that she didn’t care about just so her parents could make more money which they already had enough up. So to say that she was angry was an understatement but it wasn’t the fiery calm that she was expecting it was a calm anger, an anger that was only staying calm because she was making plans to go back to the circus.

The people parted for her, part in disbelief and part shock, all of them letting her pass and she strode out of the room, her hands hidden in the folds of her dress to hide the shaking. She pushed the door open and stepped out into it, she’d gotten to the outside of the hotel where she was prepared to call her driver and her parents still haven't come after her. She knew of course that they would the minute they called the party off and that they would give it to her when they got home but for now, she had a decent head start. Raising her hand she signaled for her driver to come over which he did in a matter of seconds her car had pulled up in front of her.

“Don’t wait for them.” She informed him immediately as she slid into the car and he nodded closing the door.

“How was the party miss?” He asked glancing at her in the rearview mirror and (Y/N) shrugged.

“It was very eventful, to say the least.” (Y/N) answered and he nodded, getting the unspoken hint to drop the subject entirely and they rode back to the apartment in silence. She gave him a polite smile as she slid out of the car and he tipped his head to her. She walked back into the apartment complex smiling at the doorman before returning to the apartment. The door had just closed and she was already going and pulling the hairpins out and taking it down as she walked to her room, with a rough plan forming in her head.

By the time her parents had gotten home almost twenty minutes later, she was standing in her living room with a small bag packed that contained one extra change of clothes and her costume waiting for them. They burst through the door of the apartment their eyes wild with rage and their bodies barely able to contain said rage.

“Young lady do you have any idea what you just did?! The scene that you just caused?! There was absolutely no reason to react in such a manner as you did tonight!” (Y/M/N) shouted but (Y/N) ignored her as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dropped it onto the couch beside her along with her keys to the apartment.

“I’m leaving.” (Y/N) stated simply as she looked back up at them and their eyes widened slightly at that.

“You most certainly will not! You’re going to pick up that phone right now young lady and call of-of those guest that you invited and apologize to them.” (Y/F/N) demanded and (Y/N) scuffed.

“The people that I invited? I didn’t invite any of those people! She did!” (Y/N) shouted as she pointed at (Y/M/N) while glaring at (Y/F/N). “Besides didn’t you hear me? I’m leaving and I’m not coming back and neither will you two be taking me back. I’m going to return to the circus where I will stay and where you will both never come to again. Is that understood?” She asked them her voice almost scarily calm, a cool mask against the nerves and the fear she was feeling.

“Oh? And just how do you plan on doing that without any money and a phone?” (Y/M/N) asked her hands on her hips and a confident look on her face.

“I have money saved up from countless birthdays and other holidays that I stashed in the house and there’s a cab waiting outside, and I’ve already bought a plane ticket so if you’ll excuse me.” (Y/N) smiled sweetly at her mother as she strode forward all the confidence in the world at the moment.

“You. Are. Not. Leaving.” (Y/F/N) growled as he gripped her forearm but she ripped her arm away from him glaring up at him.

“Yes. I. Am.” You hissed before stalking the rest of the way to the door and pausing.

“Stay away from the circus, or else I’ll tell the whole world your dirty little secrets.” (Y/N) threatened by not bothering to turn around to face her parents. When they didn’t say anything she took that as her cue to leave and she walked out of the apartment making sure to slam the door closed behind her. Once she was in the elevator she breathed a sigh of relief before she started practically vibrating with excitement she couldn’t wait to get back, to see everyone, but most importantly to see Jason again. The one person who’d been plaguing her mind all week.

~Jason’s P.O.V~

“Enjoy the show,” Jason said with forced politeness as he handed the couple their ticket. He didn’t want to be here standing in this stupid fucking ticket booth for the fifth night in a row, he wanted to be out there stealing a car and driving like hell to go get (Y/N). It had taken him a while but eventually he settled on Roy’s idea being the best option for him at the moment, he was just going to have to risk Bruce tearing him a new one and the cops for that matter. But he would do it if it meant that he got to see you again. Hell, he’d do a lot of things if it meant he got to see you one last time even if it was only for a second or two.

Sighing he ran his fingers through his hair and sat down heavily on the stool in the booth before leaning against the little sill with his head in his hand. Technically there was nothing stopping him from leaving, he could simply put up the sold-out sigh and then steal a car from the parking lot and the customers would be none the wiser. The only thing stopping him was the fact that Bruce kept coming out at random times to check on him an annoying yet effective method because that meant he couldn’t make a pattern for Bruce. He couldn’t slip away long enough to do what he had to do with Bruce coming out at random times.  

“Jason.” Bruce’s voice permeated his thoughts and he looked up at him. ‘Think of the devil he shall appear’ he thought to himself with an amused smile.

“I’m still here Bruce,” Jason stated not bothering to look like he was enjoying himself. He looked away from Bruce and stared back out at the parking lot mentally picking out which car would be better to take if he could ever get Bruce to leave him the fuck alone.

“You know you don’t have to keep checking up on me, I’m not some child that’ll run away as soon as you stop looking.” He mutters and Bruce shakes his head.

“You and me both know that isn’t true.  How are the ticket sales going?” Bruce asked and with a sigh, Jason sat up and pulled the still slightly large roll of tickets over in front of the window.

“Not good, they’ve gone down some since (Y/N) left, the people really liked her,” Jason commented, venom lacing his words and he glanced at Bruce gauging his reaction. He stayed stubbornly blank and frustration bubbled up in Jason’s chest as he slid the rollback.

“I know they did Jason, I liked her too but we’ve talked about this she made her choice, the sooner you accept it the sooner we can move on.” He said and Jason scuffed leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, whatever Bruce,” Jason responded and Bruce sighed reaching up and dragging a hand down his face.

“I’ll be back later.” Bruce states as he turns and walks away behind his back Jason flips him off and whips around when he hears a giggle. His mouth fell open when he came face to face with (Y/N), she looked like hell. Like she hadn’t slept properly in days, her hair looked like a rat’s nest, and her body was tense but at the same time, she looked about ready to collapse in relief.

“(Y-Y/N)?” He couldn’t keep the stutter out of his voice as he stared at you in shock, reaching he rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly sure that this was all just a dream.

“Hi, Jason.” (Y/N) responded as she shifted around nervously, slowly Jason stood up still in utter disbelief.

“I...I...H-How?” He forced out and she chuckled softly glancing down at her feet.

“I spent all of the money I had saved up on a cab to the airport and then a one-way ticket on the earliest flight over here, I’m just glad I got here in time.” (Y/N) answered her eyes darting around the little booth a small smile on her face. Jason ran his fingers through his hair before he quickly closed the gap between the two of them and wrapped her up in a bone-crushing hug. He couldn’t believe it she was actually here she was actually standing in front of him. She was here. She was back. The thoughts kept repeating themselves over and over again in his head like a reassuring mantra, his way of telling himself he wasn’t going insane because she was actually here.

“(Y/N) what happened to you?” Jason finally asked after a long moment of silence and she pulled away slightly looking up at him.

“It’s a long story I have something I want to tell you first.” She said and Jason’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“What?” He asked and she popped up on the balls of her feet and pecked him on the lips catching him by surprise.

“I love you too.” It takes him a few minutes to fully process what (Y/N) just said but once he does his eyes widen fully in surprise. With everything that had been happening this week between being angry at Bruce and secretly working with the others to go get (Y/N) he had completely forgotten about the confession that he had made as she drove away. Slowly a smile started to spread across his face and he leaned down kissing her passionately, a kiss that you happily returned. After a few minutes, the two of them pulled away panting slightly and Jason stared at her with dazed, love-struck eyes.

“I love you.” He said again and (Y/N) smiled at him leaning into his touch when he reached up and cupped her cheek.

“I love you too Jason.” She breathed out and the small smile on Jason’s face grew as he gently stroked your cheek. He was glad to have her back, to finally know the answer to something that he’d been dying to know for a long time.

[ahoforhavoc]

Patience (Part Four)

Requested By: themistrollsin || Requested For: Pete Dunne Words: 1826 Contains: angst, language warning, suggested smut, tiny bit of fluff || i don't know how i'm alive. but we're here and i'm SO excited for where this story is gonna go! // reread part(s): one // two // three

This thing with Chris Brookes and you just came out of nowhere, but just like him? It was exciting. It was fun. It was a whirlwind that captivated you, swept you up in it, and before you knew it: days turned into weeks, which turned into months, and then a half year. It was never anything you could have expected, but you welcomed it. You welcomed his inclusion in your life and the slow but steady removal of Pete Dunne from it.

Today was important, though. Besides being your six months with Chris, it was the day you were going to tell him everything. He had questions, he respected your space, and he deserved answers. He deserves answers about where you live, and your story with Pete. Especially if he was the one who was closing that book.

"Just a few more steps." You couldn't resist grinning, watching as the lanky arms of Brookes waved in front of him. With your hands covering his eyes (thanks to the help of you walking on your tiptoes), it was cute to see him so helpless. "And... tada!"

Your hands lowered as he took in the sight of the small - ridiculously small - flat. The belongings of everyone who shared it were shoved into the closet, bursting at the seams, but beyond that, the mood had been set. Dim lights, a few rose petals scattered on the floor, tealights lit. You were proud of yourself, and it showed in your smile.

"Properly romancing me, huh?" Chris laughed. He was by no means this high maintenance and the atmosphere was something he could appreciate, but it was hardly make or break for him. "Trying to get me out of my pants and shag me right now, Y/N?"

"Not RIGHT now..." you teased, rounding him to wrap your arms around his neck. His hands found your waist, and you teased further. "That would be a pretty awful sight for the take out guy to see. But afterwards, it might be fair game."

"Can't wait."

The devilish grin on his face was only wiped away by you going in for a soft, slow, sensual kiss. The kind of kiss that left any little hairs on the back of your neck standing on end and left shivers running up and down your spine as you felt him place some pressure into the small of your back, pulling you closer. You felt the soft swipe of his tongue, pleading for entry into your mouth, but instead of allowing him in, you pulled back and gave a teasing grin, making him audibly groan with frustration at the gleeful look on your face.

"Soon." You promised, taking hold of his hand, leading him towards the couch. "Good things come to those who wait, Chris."

"So you say." He took a seat and immediately brought both arms to your hips and waist, pulling you down to his lap and pressing a few soft kisses to your neck. "What was it that was so important it stopped us from celebrating?"

"Reflecting." it was a simple enough answer, or so you thought. But, the confused look on his face told another story. "You asked me about Pete the day we met and I kind of pushed it off. So, if that's still a conversation you want to have, I'm game."

He sighed audibly, his hands gently squeezing your thighs. "Not gonna lie, luv. Talkin' about Pete is the last thing I really wanna do when we were so close to celebratin'. Kinda... deflating, to be perfectly clear." You giggled and blushed harshly for him - his disdain for the champion clearly not something that had waned. "But, if it's important to you or if you have something you feel you need to tell me, then now would be the time."

"It's nothing like that." You were defensive, possibly regretting opening this can of worms. "Peter was my best friend growing up. My only friend, actually, for a long time."

"But?" He asked, knowing this was coming up.

"But," you continued, threading your fingers through his hair. "My dad's job moved to the US. He uprooted all of us and we moved away. Pete and I tried to make a long-distance friendship work, but I fucked it up. I fucked it up badly because it was just easier to put my new life first. I didn't make time for him. I didn't make effort. I was so busy with trying to fit in... keep up my marks in school... build the new life I thought was going to be everything that I would have for the rest of time... it crushed him much more than he'll let on. I'm the reason that Peter is such a little prick."

The silence that passed between the two of you made the tension feel incredibly heavy. Like it was weighing down on you. His tender touches had slowed down, and it was what you were afraid of. It definitely made you put the fact that Pete had said he was in love with you when you were younger on the backburner. The less divide between yourself and Chris, the better. He was the man in your life - not Pete.

"So..." you broke the silence, gingerly touching at the back of your neck, nerves etched all over your face. "I guess this is your out? I'm not the kind of person that you think I am. And... if you wanted to leave, well, I wouldn't necessarily blame you."

"Forgive me, Y/N, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm just struggling to figure out how in the hell the behavior of a grown man who is capable of making his own decisions regarding how he treats everyone around him is in any way your fault."

You were winded by that; Chris was unlike anyone else. You'd spent months thinking that the cold, distant way that Pete had viewed the world was your fault. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe this was all Pete's way of pressing his thumb into the back of your neck as he loved to do. You examined Chris' features for any hint that he may be bluffing, and shockingly... you found none.

"Listen to me: you cannot walk around your entire life thinking that the way Pete behaves is your fault. Peter's an arsehole because it's gotten him far. If you caused that? You brought him a great deal of success, and he should be thankful for that. If not? It was a long time ago. He needs to let it go. But you are done blaming yourself for his actions because it's not fair for you to feel like this because of him. You deserve better than that... and I'm the man who's going to make sure you spend the rest of the time that you'll have me knowing that. Got it?"

His tone was firm but his eyes were soft. You couldn't help but smile, nodding your head. With your hand on his cheek, you thanked him silently with a tender kiss, his fingers twisting in your hair before he quietly chimed in -

"I love you."

Your eyes went wide as saucers, certainly not expecting that candid remark. Processing it, your breathing picked up a bit - but words failed to find you. Instead, you only grinned, pressing down onto the shoulders of the man who loved you, pinning him down to the couch beneath you. Chris took the hint with glee, his hands going to the hem of your blouse and giving it a swift tug up and over your head....

[meanwhile]

Pete should have been happy. This was everything he wanted. He told you: he wanted you gone. You were a jagged little piece of his past that cut him and left him raw. When he saw you showing up less and less - he couldn't see you in "your spot" in the arenas, you weren't lurking at his merch table, trying to make peace... it was supposed to be everything that he wanted.

Yet here he was... pacing the locker room floor... like an animal in a cage, begging for release, even though he was free to go.

You gave him everything he wanted, but it wasn't what he wanted. He wasn't happy.

"You expectin' a kid or something, Dunne?" Trent Seven asked with a chuckle, the man who had been an integral part of the British Strong Style team that Pete was part of watching him pace. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Nothing!" The UK Champion snapped, though he knew that look on Seven's face - Trent wasn't fooled. "Shut the fuck up."

"This about that bird we don't see anymore?" Pete's eyes narrowed, and Seven practically oozed with delight. "Firm arse on that one. Shame you didn't take advantage when you had the chance."

Rage flashed through Pete's eyes - as difficult as it was for him to control his temper, he would have to remind himself to kill Trent another time for the comment. Instead, it was something more interesting that caught his attention.

"Too late?" He asked, his eyes locking on the eyes of Seven. "What do you mean it's too late?"

"Where the fuck have you been?" Trent asked, shaking his head. "She's been fucking around with Brookes for a few months now. Smallman lets her hang around the back and wait for him like some fuckin' school girl crush."

"When the hell did all this happen?" Pete was trying to keep himself in check but he knew it was past that point - he could feel the blood rising to his face and his misshapen-by-battle nostrils beginning to flare.

"Few months ago, maybe?" Seven shrugged, while Pete boiled over, snatching his title and his jacket in a quick motion.

"Where are you going?! You're supposed to be keeping an eye open for Drake and Gibson!"

Trent asked, following behind Pete as he marched for the door as a man with a purpose, throwing on his jacket in what appeared to be record time. Trent stopped, shaking his head as his words hit Pete and essentially bounced off without even so much as an ounce of attention paid to them. Pete stepped out of the Electric Ballroom, into the almost permanent pouring rain, as a man with a purpose, marching towards his car with fire raging in his eyes.