#minus how bad my arms hurt. ouch.

[swagtastic-bougie-pompadour]

So you know how I didn't go to Kitakami?

What happened out there????

- @paldea-champ-n1cki

Uhhh. Where do I start.

It's been pretty quiet lately. Just me showing Kiki all of the games I have on my Switch, and occasionally touching grass when my friends force me to.

...Okay, nah, the festivals aren't that bad. I think I even enjoyed dancing for a bit... as long as I was wearing a Veevee mask nobody could see my face in...

But the first day, this weird little Pokémon called Pecharunt started feeding everyone weird mind-control mochi. ...And used it to make us all do the Combusken Dance and battle my friend. Kinda weird, but I guess not the worst experience...

[beyondd-dazedd]

I LITERALLY COULDNT NOT DO THIS POST NOW!! so hsmtmts stans, portwell nation, literally everyone who wants to read me practically screaming for 10 paragraphs here is the hsmtmts season 2 finale EPISODE👏 REVIEW👏

starting off strong with redlyn. my beauties. my loves. my sunshines. i LOVED that the whole cast knew about red’s plan. just carlos, ricky and ej being like ah yes locker letters😉😉 and everyone being all smiley and knowing SO CUTE!! i hated seeing ash sad but GOD RED SPENDING THE WHOLE NIGHT MAKING THIS THING TO SHOW ASHLYN HOW MUCH HE APPRECIATES HER?? GOD TIER. also the crew just wATCHING FROM THE DOOR WHILE REDLYN IS IN THEIR OWN WORLD?? MY HEART they’re just such a genuine couple. i love their sweet awkward moments. i also love that lights is their reoccurring thing. it just makes me so happy. y’all just KNOW red calls ashlyn his sunshine and i don’t take criticisms on that. i also really wanted an i love you confession there but they’re so cute that i will allow it to wait

HOWIE AND KOURTNEY!!! at first (bc ep. 11) i was like HOWIE NO YOU CANT HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS STUFF TO HELP EAST AND THEN STAB THEM AND KOURTNEY IN THE BACK but the fact that he was literally just in awe of kourtney and so nervous to be around her because he thinks she’s so talented mADE MY HEART RACE truly incredible. also loved kourt standing up for herself. we LOVE and STAN a straight forward QUEEN also their dorky arm in arm walk was so adorable. also drum rolls being their thing. also honorable mention to kourt’s (dara’s) mom WE STAN

ej helping mr. mazzarra get that job?? I LOVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP SO MUCH.

PORTWELL ANGST SCENE I CRY. ALSO DID I CALL THAT SCENE OR DID I CALL THAT SCENE?? if you read the fic i posted like 7 hours ago you’ll know what i’m talking about. anyways back to the show. gina joking around and then realizing that ej means not rescheduling ever and her just pretending like she’s fine with it?? OUCH OUCH OUCH i would’ve rather her immediately been heart broken. DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON EJ’S FACE AFTER SHE WALKS AWAY. matt absolutely killed that part. you can tell he waited just long enough for her to walk away when he lets his face fall and IT HURTS YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE HIM WANTING TO STAY CRYING BEFORE HE TURNS AWAY

rini moment. not the dressing room parallel. it was PAINFUL. the juxtaposition between the scene in the s1 finale and this scene?? OUCH. ricky saying if we’re literally on the same page (something they struggled with throughout the entire season) and nini saying just for a moment. i just wanna talk to the writers I JUST WANNA TALK BECAUSE THAT WAS RUDE.

seblos being cuties and ms. jenn on some fuck shit. she was having a MOMENT. like chill it’s high school theater it’s alright sis.

GINA LOOKING IN THE MIRROR AND SOBBING I HATED IT. I HATED IT.

gini moment?? i loved it. also nini’s right. portwell is so powerful for so many reasons. period sis. and she’s right WE ARE LUCKY TO KNOW GINA. i loved their moment of solidarity and friendship. imma be honest for like 0.1 seconds i thought if portwell doesn’t work out gini might be the move bUT DONT WORRY IM A PORTWELL WARRIOR FOREVER also y’all called gina talking to nini about jamie and her music. YALL CALLED THAT SHIT

i liked ms. jenn and ricky’s moment. i loved josh’s acting in this scene because it’s just so well done. like doesn’t seem like he’s acting at all and it translates so well in this scene. it was very heartfelt and such a mature moment for ricky. so reflective. i love ricky

second chances GAVE ME CHILLS the whole staging, the vocals, the core four. CHILLS. the acting from all of them for this song WAS INCREDIBLE. it was so simple but really made the scene. i’m also a sucker for songs structured like this. with like the rounds and the switching lyrics over top of each other. LOVE.

ok literally all of them booing when lily and antoine showed up sENT ME because me too THE FUCK. antoine saying “big red. you were also in it” mADE ME SNORT. ricky literally shooing them out made me laugh and lily’s whirling turn and ricky like startling back a bit made me laugh. i hate lily but her confession was literally me. like i like his big brown eyes and his big brown hair too you ain’t special bitch. antoine’s thumbs up was SO FUNNY. andrew was hilarious in this role.

also i didn’t love that they were like well fuck the menkies after that was a major plot point of the season but like also i get it. just being like MEH the stress isn’t worth it. EJ’S SPEECH HES LITERALLY VOICE BREAK JUST THE FUCKING GROWTH THAT HES HAD I LOVE HIM

jennzzarra flirting in front of the kids?? kinda cute ngl. also am i muted? SENT ME. also love that howie is just chilling there while they’re talking about dropping out. KOURT SAID LETS BURN THOSE RESULTS

benjamin being BOLD BOLD good for him

big star nini?? good for her!

ashlyn being like YIKES i’m sorry i didn’t realize you thought of ej that way and her being like hahah ok... wait WHAT? but i KNEW ash was going to progress that along somehow. like obvs ej and gina were sulking and ashlyn HAD to be the one to step in. she do be the #1 portwell warrior. thank you for your service ma’am

i will only allow ricky and lily to be a thing IF it’s a summer fling, if it means antoine gets to stay around and if it pushes rini back together and if none of that happens then wtf is even the point of pairing those two up. but we already know ricky is a sucker for misunderstood competitive women (minus nini)

GINA CHASING AFTER EJ!!! HIS FACE OF JUST OH GOD PLEASE LET ME BE HEARTBROKEN!! YOU GOT BAD INTEL!! THE CAN I... CAN YOU WHAT? CAN I KISS YOU with her little giddy laugh and her smile GIRL YOURE GLOWING and then ej’s swallow as he turns to fully look at her. WILL YOU BE MY FIRST KISS!!!! HIM JUST SLOWLY SMILING FROM EAR TO EAR AND DROPPING HIS BAG TO WALK TO HER AND THEN THEM RUNNING WHEN THEY GET CLOSER AND GINA’S LITTLE GIGGLING I CANNOT EVEN

i am so so SO HERE FOR SUMMER FLUFFY IN LOVE PORTWELL

overall am i a little sad it was so short? yes. do i understand the insane restrictions they were working under? yes. am i confident about a season 3? absolutely. i am HERE for a summer season.

anyways PORTWELL IS CANNON!!

[anika-ann]

The Best Mistake of My Life - Pt.6

...with the A+ Team

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 3070

Summary: A soulmate AU. They say having a soulmate is a blessing. Who wouldn’t love the idea of star-crossed lovers, right?

You get to spend the day with the Avengers. Should you be excited or scared? Well, Steve is by your side, so… you will be alright... right?

Warnings: swearing, FLUFF, Steve’s friends being Steve’s friends… go figure, attempt at humour, and tbh Steve’s damn body needs a warning too

Story masterlist

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Steve took you to lunch. Natasha had been kind enough to lend you some clothes so you didn’t look like Steve’s trophy; he might have looked a bit disappointed if you were being honest, but you suspected Natasha had chosen the clothes with great care and intention to keep Steve’s eyes on you, because you actually didn’t look half-bad, simple summer dress along with matching shoes more suitable for a walk than the ones you had worn to the party.  

And obviously, Steve didn’t forget to tell you that you looked beautiful.

You felt like a princess; it seemed Steve had been serious when saying he had planned on spoiling you. Not that you were complaining. There was just that little annoying voice in the back of your head, reminding you that all of this was too perfect to be true, that there must have been something hiding behind a corner, waiting to cast a shadow over your happiness.

You learned more about Steve’s life in the past. He appeared to be telling you even slightly embarrassing things. When you called him out on it, teasing him that he wanted to scare you away, the tips of his ears went pink and he enlightened you. Apparently, he was ninety eight percent sure it would come to Truth or Dare during the game afternoon and he wanted to get things out in private so you weren’t too taken aback.

That you understood, deciding to reciprocate the gesture and surprisingly… it wasn’t awful.

It actually turned out to be an awfully great idea, because Steve wasn’t wrong.

The game afternoon started with highly intellectual Scrabble, interestingly in a version for more players with bigger board, which fascinated you. You weren’t necessarily bad at it, but it was hard to compete with a man who had seven PhD.s. Still, you had fun.

And then it came. Truth or Dare.

“I start!” Tony exclaimed, his eyes immediately falling on you. Oh no. You should have seen this coming. “Truth or dare?”

You eyed Steve warily, hoping for a clue. He just shook his head. “I don’t think it really matters, doll. You’ll suffer either way.”

You snorted, hoping no one could see how horrified you were at that statement.

“Alright. I honestly dread your dares. I’ll go with truth.”

“Good. Fuck, Marry, Kill. With the Avengers.”

“Boo!” Clint called out. “Boring. Obvious choice for at least one of those things.”

You bit your lip. Yeah, it probably was. Just as you opened your mouth to tell who would you marry (not that he wouldn’t be your choice for one more and you weren’t thinking Kill), Tony interjected.

“Ah-ah! No Cap. Avengers minus Cap!” he ordered, causing you to gape.

How dared he!

You bit your cheek, considering an answer and suddenly, another of the three became obvious.

“Firstly – fuck you, Tony, for such a question,” you hissed playfully, drawing a laugh from Natasha and Clint. You smirked in satisfaction, your mind racing.

“Hm… I guess that if can’t pick the obvious choice, I’d marry Thor.” Steve gasped at your side, pretending to be wounded. You shoved him lightly, grinning. “Come on. From what I saw, Asgardians clearly know how to treat their women. And lastly… huh. Do I have to?”

“Yep. Spill. Unless you want to lose already.”

“Ugh, fine. Can I… kill the Hulk, but let Bruce live?” you mumbled, earning a smile from Natasha and the man in question.

“I call bullshit!”

“I call her smart. You did say the Avengers. It’s her turn,” Bruce opposed Tony, rushing to your rescue since you had been so generous to him.

Steve’s hand subtly found yours, giving a tender caress in agreement.

“Alright. Thanks. So…” You honestly had no idea who to pick. You never had been much for this game, never being able to come out with something shocking enough. One might call you boring. You smirked when you figured it out. “Natasha. Truth or dare?”

She squinted at you, suspiciously. “Dare.”

“I dare you to tell me the worse insult for a man you can think of.”

The spy raised an eyebrow, but gave it a serious consideration. "слабый хуй.“

“Ouch,” Clint winced, which was enough of a confirmation.

You repeated the words for yourself before glancing at Tony. “Thanks, Natasha, I’ll remember that in case I ever need that.”

Tony had enough decency to look scandalised at your hint on who you were planning on using it.

“Clint, truth or dare?”

The archer picked the dare. He had to try to juggle with seven apples. To your shock, he actually managed for a few seconds, with seven apples, what the hell – and that was how you learned he had actually been with a circus for a while. Talk about surprises.

To your misfortune, Clint picked you. You decided that another truth was the lesser evil.

“Alright. So… have you seen it?”

Steve choked on his coke whilst your eyes just went wide.

Clint snickered. “I meant Cap’s gear. And if you didn’t, would you like to?”

Yep, still sounded like he was not talking about Steve’s battle gear—and jeez, that sounded dirty as well.

“I am not answering that question unless we state what you mean by that and that it’s not a euphemism,” you proclaimed, crossing your arms on your chest.

“Fine. I mean his shield. Obviously.”

“No I haven’t and… I mean…” you glanced at the man in question, whose face was still red from the cough caused by Clint’s innuendo. “Sure. I’d like to. When or if he’s willing.”

Steve smiled at you, touched by your consideration. Of course he was Captain America. The shield he carried was an important symbol, but only for his famous persona. Not for Steve Rogers. You mainly wanted to know Steve Rogers. You smiled back at him.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s willing to show you his shield and what can he do with it, alright…”

“Barton, I swear you’re the worst,” Steve groaned, tilting his head back. You just rolled your eyes and turned to Bruce, asking about his first kiss when he chose truth.

He inquired Tony about his worst interaction with a fan and Tony passed the torch to Steve, daring him to do one-arm push-ups, one for each year he had. Steve gave him an annoyed look at the mention of his age, but you were very sure that Tony had given him the dare to torture you, because seeing Steve in a t-shirt do exactly that, the muscles on his arms shifting, was… doing things to your heart rate and breathing. You weren’t sure whose physiology was affected more by the workout – yours or Steve’s. By Tony’s knowing smirk, he had a good guess that it was yours.

Steve chose Clint, Clint went for Natasha, Natasha decided to poke Bruce. It was childish and it was more than a bit wonderful.

Tony pulled out a card game then, one you hadn’t seen before. It was called Dobble and it turned the Avengers into actual children, shouting one after another, fake-crying and pushing and poking each other. Your cheeks and belly hurt from the laughter. When you managed to win one of the rounds, you punched the air victoriously, roaring laughter at everyone’s shocked expression. Steve kissed you on the lips, rewarding the winner, letting the others to fight for the second place.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered to your ear, nuzzling his nose in your hair, making your laughter die in your throat and shiver.

“Just trying to make you proud, Steve. Just trying to make you proud and to have a great time while doing so.”

“I’m glad you do.”

Few rounds later, you were all sprawled on the couches, exhausted.

“Sir, I’d like to inform you I finished the scanning of the security update as you asked and found the glitch,” a male voice with British accent sounded above your head all of sudden and you jolted up into a straight sitting position, startled.

“What the hell was that?!” you yelped, causing everyone to stare at you questioningly.

“Jarvis, who else? Thank you, Jarvis, you’re the best,” Tony called out, seemingly unconcerned by talking to a voice coming from the ceiling.

Your face scrunched in even bigger confusion, but seeing everyone unaffected by the intruder, your fear quickly dissolved. “Jarvis?”

“The resident A.I. How did you not meet him before?” Clint questioned, looking at Steve accusatively. You followed his gaze, shocked.

There was an artificial intelligence in the building?! “How did that not come up during the tour?!”

Steve had enough decency to look ashamed. “I was… distracted,” he murmured, his cheeks dusted with a little pink.

Tony snorted, wiggling his eyebrows. “Jarvis, meet Cap’s girl.”

“Hello, Miss. It’s a pleasure to meet you. How do you wish me to call you?”

“Cap’s girl,” Tony repeated, while Clint called out “Miss America.”

“She’s her own person, you know. Not just Steve’s girlfriend,” Natasha scolded them both.

“And she has a name,” Steve added, shooting them a dirty glare.

“And she’s right here,” you grumbled for a good measure and said your name for the… the Jarvis? Just Jarvis, you guessed. You felt surreal when apparently speaking to air, but Tony talked to him (Him? It?) with such ease you couldn’t do it differently.

God knew you might actually hurt Jarvis’ feelings. Did AI have feelings?

“As you wish.”

“Please, Jarvis, grant her unlimited access to my room and to the Tower as well,” Steve pleaded and your head snapped to him, surprised. He only replied with a smile.

“Certainly, Captain,” the AI answered politely.

Seriously? Just like that? An access to the Avengers Tower? And… to Steve’s room? Any time you wanted?

Steve wanted you here, you realized, the revelation overwhelming, but so, so sweet. He wanted you here at any time.

Thank you, you mouthed and he just shook his head, covering your hand with his.

“We talked about this too, Jarvis,” he addressed the AI, scolding for something you didn’t understand.

“I’m aware, Captain. But since Sir is present, I have to call you that.”

Your eyebrows shot up. What was this about? Probably Tony being annoying, your mind supplied helpfully and the corners of your lips twitched in amusement.

“…hold on a sec. Are you telling me you’re calling him something different when I’m not around?” Tony blurted out, scandalized.

“Yes, Sir. But I’m afraid that addressing is classified and you have no authorization to change it,” Jarvis explained, measured.

“I created you! I have all the authorization!”

“That is very true, Sir. However, since you wish me to call him Captain, he outranks you, Sir.”

You burst out laughing, the team soon joining in.

“Did he… did he make his A.I. sassy?” you choked out between your fits, only to have a collective howl of yes to answer you.

“Jarvis, we are going to have a serious talk about loyalty. Soon,” the billionaire grumbled, sending everyone into another outburst. “Right now, actually. Kids, get out of the living room.”

The team scrambled to their feet, putting their dishes to the dishwasher and going each their own way, still chuckling.

“So, this was fun,” you stated as Steve led you down through the halls, his hand on your lower back. He was being very touchy-feely indeed and you definitely enjoyed every second. “What’s happening now? The movie night starts at half past eight, right?”

“Well… I actually thought about working out for a bit if you wouldn’t mind-“

“Was the nearly hundred push-ups – on one arm – not enough?” you teased him and he made a sour face.

“Don’t remind me. A little sparring would be great. I missed the morning run and-“

“And you’re a man of routine.”

He looked at you a bit funny, but didn’t try to deny it.

“Alright. I guess I’ll answer the thousand texts Ryan sent me and… then maybe come watch? Who you’ll be sparring with?”

“Natasha probably, if she’s game. Jarvis, could you ask her?” he called out softly and not a half-minute later, he got his answer.

“Agent Romanoff is on board. Agent Barton says he’ll be joining you.”

Steve raised an eyebrow at that, but then only shrugged and pecked your temple before pulling away. “Sounds interesting. Let’s do this.”

“So… does that mean I’m allowed to come along?”

“…if that’s what you want.”

Hearing his reluctance, you wondered if he was worried to show you his… perhaps violent side, fearing it might change your view of him. It was ridiculous; you had a good idea of what he did for living, you had seen some videos back in the day after the invasion. Like it or not, his job required brutal force; you were as aware of that as much of the fact that he used the power he held over others thanks to his serum and training to protect, the hurt part only harming aggressors.

You only considered it for a split second. This was a part of Steve. You had established you wanted to get to know all of Steve. Still, you understood he might not be comfortable to show you yet.

“Absolutely,” you assured him, taking care not to sound adamant. “Unless you mind showing me.”

His previously guarded expression softened and when his lips touched your forehead this time, he lingered.

“I’m willing to show you as much as you think you can take,” he whispered and you couldn’t help but snort despite being moved by his openness. The time spent with Clint and Tony was clearly taking its toll on you.

“Sorry, sorry-”

“I can’t believe they corrupted you like that,” he spoke to the ceiling, whiny.

“I’m sorry. I’m gonna go deal with Ryan now.”

“Good plan.”

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You weren’t exaggerating too much; Ryan was incredibly curious about how yesterday went and your swift answer typed out in a rush hadn’t satisfied him. You decided to call him, dutifully spilling the beans about nearly everything. Mostly, you just praised everyone, complained about Tony being an ass in an endearing way with Clint’s support and about Natasha, Bruce and even Thor being kind to you.

Steve you had no words for. You simply revealed he was dreamy and promised to tell Ryan more later, explaining you were too eager to see the sparring session. He understood, giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush, rushing you to end the call immediately and go admire your boyfriend.

Funny how neither you nor Steve had labelled what you had and other people did it for you. You made a mental note to bring it up casually, already knowing it probably wouldn’t be any time soon.

“Uhm… Jarvis?” you called out, uncertain he actually was listening for you.

“What can I do for you?”

“Could you please navigate me to the gym where Steve is?”

“Certainly,” the AI replied easily, giving you instructions as if it was a daily occurrence for him. Which probably was.

You just shook your head and chuckled incredulously. Being a soulmate to an Avenger was so freaking weird.

You kinda liked it. A lot.

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“Please tell me you’re not going to shoot at them,” you begged, horrified.

Jarvis led you to one of the gyms in the Tower, only for you to find Steve and Natasha lunging one after another, skilfully blocking and dodging the other one’s punches. They almost looked like they were dancing; brutally, but still with grace.

Clint’s absence confused you – until you found him in the corner. With a bow, string stretched, ready to release an arrow… in their direction.

“I’m gonna shoot at them,” he advertised lowly and it felt like a punch to your gut.

“Are you crazy?!” you hissed.

“People usually shoot at us on missions. And they don’t exactly care we are already fighting someone else. Actually, they are waiting for just that. For when we are distracted.”

A heavy stone fell into your stomach and the reality settled in. Forget Steve being violent. Enter people shooting at him, excited to get the best opportunity to kill him. You gulped against the lump suddenly formed in your throat, respectively following the line of the arrow, dreading how sharp the end of it would be; it wasn’t.

You released a relieved exhale. At least they weren’t hurting each other that much during trainings.

“What kind of an arrow is that?”

“With paint,” the archer hummed absently, “it’s great for identifying the openings each of us leaves.”

You wanted to think of his words, but your mind stubbornly kept returning to the fact how easily Steve could get killed. Your eyes were on the sparring pair, but you weren’t seeing anything, Steve with his hands clutched to his side, blood pouring from under his fingers being the only image in your brain.

Gentle touch on your arm snapped you back to present.

“Hey. Relax,” Clint coaxed and you noticed he lowered his bow. “I didn’t want to freak you out. I should have put it more… civil.”

“You’re just stating the facts,” you replied dully, shaking your head.

“Sure, but I could have done it more gently. Look, I do want to break it to you, slowly, that this is the reality. We fight. Our job’s dangerous. But what you’re seeing right now? That’s how we get ready for the threats. Cap rarely leaves any openings, all of us do. We’re not alone in the field. We watch each other’s back and we train and train and train. To be stronger, faster, better. Think of this like a paintball, it’s basically that. Now, can I try to shoot them or not?”

The low hum of Clint’s voice, the conviction he spoke with despite the minimal volume – and you suspected it was so Steve couldn’t hear you, secretly thinking he did anyway – washed over you like a tide wave of peace. You felt your heart settle, your fear levelling. You knew Steve’s job posed risks. He had told you the very first moment. This was just seeing it a bit closer, your worries earning shape and colours.

“Okay. Thank you, Clint.”

“Anytime. Just so you know, I’ve been trying to get a good shot for almost two minutes. They hide behind the other as if they knew which one I’m trying to hit at the moment. They’re the best among the best.”

Your focus returned to Steve and Natasha. Some interesting noises of exertion were now accompanying their movements.

“Should she be jealous, Cap?” Clint called out, raising his bow again.

“Go to hell, Barton!” sounded unison from the pair and to your surprise, only Natasha’s voice sounded playful.

You wondered why, but had a pretty good guess to be honest. And you were a bit worried about the outcome of your conversation with Clint.

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Part 7 (final)

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Tags: @cxptain​ @mermaidxatxheart @smilexcaptainx , @murdermornings​@irepostthingsiwanttoseelater , @polarcrystall​ @eliza5616​, @rayofdawnworld  @victor-criss-bish​ @skychild29​  @elysianecho​ @simmisblog​ @scentedsongrebel​ @orions-nebula​, @sergeantrosabellaswan​ @songofcosplay​, @ilovesupersoldiers​ @wxstedhexrt @silver-winter-wolf @nova3312​  @guardian-tn @janieavalos​

Tags are open, you want in or out, let me know :)) (I have no damn clue why some tags aren’t working...? :( )

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Thank you for reading! This fluffy mess will come to an end, but we’ll be off to a three-shot and then a longer instalment that will bring new players in ;)

[arthurmorgansleftlung]

Secret Cupid 💘

My @rdr-secret-cupid was *drumroll* @foundynnel !!!

This was so much fun to write!! Your prompts were super good! I went a little overboard and tried to tie in all three prompts — oops. Anyways, I really really really hope you like it! Also, I’m sorry it’s not being posted ~on Valentine’s day~!

And a big thank you to @rdr-secret-cupid for letting me participate!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bison Hunting // Sadie x Arthur // Secret Cupid 2021

Relationships: Arthur Morgan/Sadie Adler

Words: 2,475

Summary: Arthur, Hosea, and Sadie go on a hunting trip to Ambarino to find a bison.

———————

“You ready to go, Sadie, Arthur?” Hosea called quietly. It was early in the morning, probably five or so. Hosea, Arthur, and Sadie were riding up to Amberino from Lemoyne to hunt for bison, maybe some deer and fish as well. The cool, crisp air would be a nice break from the humid and swampy air that surrounded them now.

Arthur groaned as he walked towards Hosea, he was never a morning person. He lit a cigarette and placed it between his teeth, inhaling the smoke. Sadie yawned and stretched her arms before getting up and meeting the other two.

“You’re lookin’ a bit scruffy, aren’t ya?” Sadie pointed out Arthur’s beard. To be fair, it had been neglected over the past few weeks, and with everything going on with the Pinkertons, Cornwall, and everything else... it was excusable. Arthur scratched at his chin, finally noticing how unkept it was.

“Hmph. Maybe I am lookin’ a little rough. Can’t say yer any better, though. Didn’t have time to groom that mane of yours?” Arthur chuckled while Sadie grumbled in return.

“Alright, kids. If you’re ready let’s go. We wanna get there early so we have plenty of time to track the beast down. You’ll both have time to beautify yourselves while we’re there...” Hosea cracked a smile at the two and walked over to Silver Dollar to mount up.

Arthur and Sadie followed suit, Arthur on his white Arabian and Sadie on Bob. Arthur made sure to bring plenty of arrows, Charles had taught him if they wanted to hunt successfully, they needed to be quiet. And so they set off on their journey to the wintry and mountainous Amberino.

They avoided Valentine, but took a break in Strawberry just to walk around and grab some provisions from the general store. Arthur purchased plenty of snacks for his horse. Sadie, on the other hand, purchased things like kidney beans and strawberries. Hosea bought ammunition, and they were off again.

Arthur hummed a tune quietly, Hosea joining in occasionally. Sadie didn’t know these songs but enjoyed hearing them. The sun was now facing more west than east, which meant night was coming.

They had reached Ambarino by seven in the evening, which was a relatively quick travel time. Hosea and Arthur dismounted and looked for tracks of any kind, Hosea being the first to notice the faint hoof prints of what seemed to be a massive bison.

“Well, it has to have been here recently with snowfall like this.” Hosea muttered. Arthur murmured in agreement.

Sadie followed and squinted, looking for any sign of the animal. “I don’t see nothin’,” Sadie said with her well-known rasp. She had never been very good at tracking but was an incredibly good shot.

“You’ll learn!” Hosea grinned. “Let’s see if we can’t follow these tracks a little further, maybe we’ll get lucky and find it tonight.” Everybody got back in their saddles, Hosea leading the way and pointing out the different signs of activity for Sadie. The tracks eventually went through a river and made their way up a mountain. Everybody had grown tired.

“How about we set up camp and continue our search tomorrow?” Hosea suggested, and was met with agreement. Arthur started a campfire before joining Hosea in setting up their tents. It wasn’t long before they noticed Sadie looking frustrated.

“Why the sour face, Miss Adler?” Arthur asked. He then noticed that it looked like something crucial was missing from Sadie’s supplies: her tent. “Well, that ain’t no good.”

Sadie huffed at Arthur, sending a cloud of hot breath into the cold air. The one thing she needed most had been forgotten back at camp. Shit, she thought.

“Well, Ms. Adler, unless you’re against sleeping beside either me or Arthur, seems you’re sleeping in the cold.” At least Hosea offered some type of solution. She was closer with Arthur, and so she elected to sleep in his tent.

She seemed to be visibly, and audibly upset about her predicament all throughout their dinner of plump bird meat and kidney beans. What had gotten into her? She was never one to complain this much. Arthur was beginning to feel bad about the whole thing, was he really that hard to be around? Did he smell? Probably.

Hosea retired to his tent for night, reminding the other two that they had to be up early in the morning. Shortly after that, Arthur retreated back, leaving Sadie alone at the fire. She sat in her own little world, filled with emotions. Why had she so quickly decided to sleep beside Arthur? If she would have just thought about she would have known she wouldn’t have been able to sleep. She was in love with the man, for god’s sake! But what about Jake, her beloved late husband? What would he think of her now... sleeping in a tent with an outlaw? Sadie being an outlaw now? She couldn’t let her past define her present. This was not how she was.

“Ouch!” Sadie heard the quiet exclamation. It was Arthur’s low, gruff voice for sure. What was he doing? Sadie stood and made her way into the tent, where she found Arthur... shaving. He had cut his jaw, and pretty good at that.

“Oh.” Arthur was flustered when Sadie found him. “What? Can’t a man shave?” Sadie just looked at him, confused.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with shaving, but you ain’t shavin’, you’re butcherin’.” She teased him, watching the small droplets of blood trail down his muscular neck. “Let me help.”

Sadie knelt down beside him, holding her hand out for the razor. “Well no wonder you nicked yourself, this things duller than Pearson.” Sadie laughed and then composed herself. She wiped the blade clean and did what she could to make it useable. Arthur sat patiently, waiting for her to bring the sharp... ish blade to his skin.

Sadie hesitated a bit before bringing the blade to Arthur’s cheek, careful to avoid where he’d hurt himself moments before. She had to remind herself to breathe. Was she really this close to Arthur’s face? She gently brought the razor down towards his jaw, leaving a trail of bare skin. She continued to do so until Arthur was clean-shaven, free of any cuts minus his own self-inflicted one.

“I’d say I did a pretty good job, Arthur!” Sadie chimed. Arthur felt his face, not used to the smooth feel. He had never been too good at shaving, even after multiple lessons from Dutch and Hosea.

“Now do I still look scruffy, Miss Adler?” He teased, recalling what she had said that morning. She rolled her eyes before glowering at him.

“No. But I can’t say my “mane” is any better than it was.” Sadie had tried and failed multiple times on the way to fix her hair, but riding on Bob made it a daunting task. Eventually she just gave up.

“I’m not very good at braidin’ things other than horse tails but... I can try. If you’d like.” Arthur flushed at his proposal, and Sadie’s ears turned a bright pink.

“Oh, uh... sure. I suppose you can try. You owe me anyway.” Sadie turned her back to Arthur and untucked her hair from her shirt, before retrieving her comb from her pocket.

Arthur combed through Sadie’s hair, careful not to tug too hard. He had never noticed the light golden streaks that ran through her hair, or the slight wave that it had. He began to braid her hair, the best he could. Her hair was much finer than a horse’s might be, and it kept slipping through his fingers as it was smoother too. Finally, when Arthur got down to the ends of her hair he tied it off.

“Ta-da...” That was her cue to admire Arthur’s strangely pristine braid. Sadie felt the braid between her fingers, loosening a few pieces to make it look a little more worn.

“Where’d you learn that from? Miss Grimshaw?” Sadie snickered at the thought of Susan critiquing a young Arthur’s braiding skills. Arthur scowled at her, not answering. She was right.

“Do you think we’re gonna find that buffalo tomorrow?” Sadie asked. Arthur pondered for a moment.

“Well, darlin’, we’re hunting with Hosea, so yes.” Sadie furrowed her brow at Arthur’s response. Darlin’? Her cheeks grew hot. She exaggerated a yawn and a stretch, similar to her same one that morning. At least she had her own bedroll. Arthur blew out the lantern in their tent, preparing for rest.

Sadie took her boots off, but left everything else on as it was incredibly cold, even in the tent. Arthur followed suit, taking off his pants, leaving him in his shirt and long-johns. He settled onto his bedroll and pulled his blanket up over his chest. Sadie shivered in the now dimly lit tent, had she forgotten a blanket too? God dammit, she cursed at herself.

“Arthur?” Sadie was plain embarrassed, it was evident. Arthur turned his head and glanced at her, ready for her question. “How big is that blanket...?”

“Big enough, I suppose.” He lifted the blanket up with his arm and gestured for her to scoot in. Sadie made her way beside Arthur, his body like a campfire. Or maybe that was just her mind. Laying so close beside him made her realize just how small she was, or maybe how big Arthur was. She pressed her smaller frame against his, and convinced herself to go to sleep. She would need the energy tomorrow.

Eight Hours Later

Sadie awoke to the sound of Hosea’s boots crunching in the snow, and something heavy weighing down her torso. “What—?” she was startled to see Arthur’s large, muscular arm wrapped around her waist, his hand gently cupping her stomach. In her surprise, she woke Arthur, who quickly pulled his arm away and flushed a bright shade of red.

“I’m sorry Miss Adler, I—“ He sat up and shook his head, moving his body away from hers. As if on cue, Hosea opened the tent and was greeted by two very embarrassed kids (kids to him at least).

Hosea struggled not to laugh at the two, “We got bison to hunt!”

Arthur and Sadie pulled their clothes on and made their way out of the tent, greeted by venison cooking over the hot fire. “Thank you, Hosea,” Sadie mumbled.

After a nice breakfast and breaking down their tents, the three saddled up. Hosea decided it would be best to head a little more North, since that seemed to be the way the hoof prints were headed the night before.

After about an hour, hoof prints gradually began to appear. They were large, and seemed to belong to the same bison they were tracking previously. The prints became more and more pronounced as they continued on. Once the prints were undeniably fresh, Hosea gestured for quiet and pulled out his binoculars to see if the bison was in shooting distance.

Sadie got Arthur’s attention and pointed towards a hulking brown beast: the bison. Hosea spotted the bison at the same time. In a hushed voice Hosea spoke, “Sadie, the honor is yours. You’re a better shot than I am anyhow.”

Sadie gulped and pulled out a bow, a gift from Charles. She lifted the bow up, gripping it with her left hand and notching the arrow with her right. She drew the bowstring back, felt the strength of the bow and pulled the arrow towards her cheek, the string pressing into her fingertips. She quickly evaluated the environment: how much further did she need to pull, how hard was the wind, how far would the arrow go? And with a quick snap, the arrow went flying and quickly found itself lodged in the heart of a bull.

“What a shot!” Hosea exclaimed. Hosea was the first to ride near the animal, knowing that if the bull was still alive it would be cruel not to mercy kill it. Arthur and Sadie followed. Upon closer inspection, they found the bison laying down on its side. It’s breathing was labored, slow. Hosea patted its shoulder, and thanked the bull before drawing his knife from his belt and piercing the heart once more. It’s breathing had now stopped.

“I suppose we should skin and quarter him now,” Hosea said. Sadie and Arthur brought their knives out, and quickly got to work, starting at the legs and heading towards the stomach for the cleanest skin possible. Eventually, they had successfully skinned and quarter the bison. They loaded what they could on horses, and abandoned what little was left for scavenging animals.

Sadie looked exhausted, she had done plenty of handiwork back when she lived on her old farm, but had never worked on an animal that large. Sadie rested her arms on Bob’s saddle, her tiredness showing.

Smack!

Sadie felt snow falling from the back of her head and neck, and realized: she had been hit with a snowball. She bent over and made one of her own before turning around and throwing it at Hosea.

Hosea looked shocked, but realized what had occurred when Arthur let out a jovial laugh.

“Alright, kids, that’s enough...” Hosea dismissed the two and slyly prepared two snowballs. He launched them at both Sadie and Arthur, hitting them perfectly. Perhaps years of being a gunslinger had benefited him!

Sadie gasped dramatically and returned the snowball to Hosea, and then immediately threw one at Arthur. A snowball fight had ensued!

They pelted snowball after snowball at one another until the sun had fallen more west.

“Alright... really, we should head out. We won’t have anything to bring back to camp if we stay another night. Wolves ‘n’ such.” Hosea warned. And so, they actually did mount up and head back towards the camp.

This time they didn’t stop to sleep, it was too dangerous to leave that much meat on the back of their horses in the wilderness.

When they finally made it back, sometime around six in the morning, it was clear that the three were tired. Those who were awake assisted in storing the meat. Pearson commended them all for the hunting, not leaving out any “surprised” remarks about Sadie’s ability to hunt.

Arthur headed to his tent, Sadie following him to tell him thank you for the fun time and letting her sleep with him the night before.

“Arthur? I wanted to say thank you... for, uh, lettin’ me sleep with you. And teaching me about trackin’ and such. And the snowball fight... goodnight.” Sadie was shy when she spoke, mumbling at some parts.

“And for braidin’ that mane of yours! Thank you for cleanin’ me up, too!” Arthur gestured to his freshly shaven face, which had already started to grow more hair.

“Right. You’re welcome. Goodnight... again.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Adler.”

[stuffy-attic]

Tipsy [Reader x LOV Spinner] Part 1/2(?)

You fiddled with your drink before taking the tiniest sip ever. It was a difficult balance to strike; on one hand sitting at the bar gave you the perfect opportunity to slyly ogle the hottie but on the other hand it was imperative that you weren’t tempted into drinking too much and making a fool of yourself… let’s just say it’s happened in the past and you weren’t keen on a repeat event.

Besides, making a fool of yourself in front of Shigaraki and Dabi and the rest of the League of Villains? That probably wouldn’t be a good career move.

Never mind making a fool of myself in front of the guy I like… it might be a good way to get myself fucking killed though. The thought had you giggling as you set the glass down a tad too hard. Aaaaand that was probably a good stopping point. Toes tingly with alcohol you didn’t even notice that Kurogiri had meandered over to you.

“Another one?”

No, that couldn’t go well. “Sure, Kurogiri. Hook me up.” You spared a glance at the object of your affections. Spinner was tucked away in a corner still. It had been difficult picking a seat with a good angle (without being obvious about your indecision) but it was taken care of without too much trouble. At the very least you had a view of his very very nice arms.

Kurogiri cleared his throat. “Here.”

Oops. Apparently the glance hadn’t been so much a glance as a stare. “Thanks,” you mumbled as you withered in your seat a bit. Suddenly the bottom of that glass was looking very appealing. The League of Villains was hardly a good place to find romance – not to mention that the current climate and events of the world were hardly conducive to warm fuzzies.

You sighed as you stared at the back of Kurogiri’s shirt, standing at the far end of the bar involved in some discussion with Shigaraki. “But never have I ever…” Had such strong feelings for someone. And if you didn’t make them known? Well who knew… tomorrow might be your last day on earth after all. You turned to look at Spinner once more.

If I die tomorrow I’d regret never saying anything. Maybe I should-

The tiny flame of bravery that had flickered to life was smothered as Spinner turned and caught your eyes. Caught red handed. Your face felt even warmer than it had from just the alcohol and you were quick to avert your gaze back to the still full glass. Better swallow this and then hope a hole opens up and swallows me. The drink burned like hell (apparently Kurogiri was attempting over serve knowingly) but you powered through.

This glass was set on the bar with even less grace than the last one had been. Fuck I forgot how good he looked without the mask.

Of course you liked him with the mask too even if it was a touch dorky looking-

“What’s got you in the cups?”

You jumped at the voice that was way too close. “Dabi-” you set a hand on your chest only to feel your racing heart, “what the fuck? What’re you doing here anyway?”

“Ouch, babe.” He dramatically grabbed his chest and ignored your glare at the nickname. “You hurt my heart so.” A beer in hand he gestured at the glass. “Rough day?”

“I just thought – the new recruits…” Your brain was swimming a bit. Should’ve definitely had that slower. With a sigh you collected your thoughts. “Not really. Just in a mood-”

“So ‘never have you ever’ what?” Your eyes went wide at his question. “Never gotten laid?” His voice was entirely too loud; Kurogiri had turned around, Shigaraki was looking (at least it seemed like it even with the hand in the way), Toga and Magne had popped out from who knows where to check out the commotion. You could feel Spinner’s eyes on your back.

“Shut up,” you growled. “That’s none of your fucking business.”

“Well I mean with a chest like yours-”

“That’s not what I was talking about in the first place!” Your whisper was hard and probably too loud to really be considered a whisper. This fucking shit just loves stirring the pot when he’s bored. One look at Dabi’s shit eating grin confirmed your worst fears that he wasn’t done yet.

“If you’re looking for someone to bang-”

“No!”

“I mean my schedule is pretty busy but I could-”

“You’re not the one I’m interested in banging anyway.”

Oh the silence was deafening.

Dabi’s quirk was flames, but never had you ever seen his eyes light up like that. “So there is someone outside the league you have the hots for?”

Voice haughty for some reason – insulted he thought you’d fool around outside of the league… for some fucking reason – you replied: “They’re not outside of the league.” The eyeroll you gave him stopped half way as you realized the words that had actually just left your mouth.

Why you ever thought that was some sort of brilliant comeback was unknown. Somewhere in the background you could hear your logical brain screaming and attempting to take back control of the wheel. Logical brain knew better than to engage with Dabi, but here you were with drunk brain in control and loose lips in the passenger seat. And a very heavy sense that everyone was now very invested in how this conversation was going to go (including Mr. Compress and Twice who were new to the party).

Gotta sue Kurogiri now I guess.

Dabi’s eyes were dancing around the room; you hoped that maybe he was picking a new victim to bother but you knew that wasn’t it. “So then it’s…”

“Doesn’t matter. You some fucking yenta or something?” You slid off the stool only to find exactly just how dizzy you were. You grasped the counter. “Fuck off.”

“Don’t be mean, Dabi!” Toga called from where she stood.

Magne was quick to back her up. “That’s right. A girl has her secrets after all.”

“Will you all just shut up,” Shigaraki hissed. “Fuck or don’t fuck. Who cares.” He stood up and stomped out of the room.

Dabi snorted. “Well I know it’s not him.”

“Maybe it’s not your business,” Twice suggested. “Fucking tell us who it is.”

Magne laughed. “It’s hardly juicy gossip when it’s just splattered like this. Much more fun to snoop and discover it…” She shook her head. “Can hardly expect a boy to understand though.”

Toga nodded in agreement. “Big sis Magne has a point.”

I have had enough. I’m just gonna give more. You decided on your escape plan quickly; it mostly included you just turning around and walking out. You turned.

“Don’t think I’ll give up so easily,” Dabi threatened.

“Just fucking leave her alone.” You turned to see that Spinner had gotten up and was retying his mask. “Doesn’t matter any – we have better things to focus on.” Your eyes caught once again, you nearly stumbled to the ground and you weren’t even walking. He paused for a moment before shaking head. “I’m heading out.”

The second that reptilian man was out the door Dabi started to chuckle. “Oh so it’s him?”

All the sounds that came out of your mouth and none of them were real words. Your eyes raced around the room looking at who still remained (everyone minus Shigaraki and Spinner). “They – shut up! It’s not-”

“Oh like we didn’t know?” Mr. Compress asked. “I believe even the most junior stage magician is more discrete than you.”

“What-”

Toga and Magne nodded and shouted in unison, “We knew!”

Death, death, death.

“I knew too! I had no fucking idea.”

Slowly you turned your gaze to Kurogiri. He looked up from the glass he was wiping. “…hardly subtle.”

“Fan-fucking­­-tastic.” You dragged your hands over your eyes. “Well that’s great – just lovely. Thanks guys.”

Toga was bouncing on her heels. “Oh I know! I know! You should tell him!” You looked at her like she was out of her mind. “You should! It’d be so great!”

“I don’t know-”

Dabi growled. “You’re gonna tell him or I’ll torch the hair right off your head. I’m tired of seeing you make fucking puppy eyes at him.”

Your eyes narrowed to slits. “You did this on purpose?!” Never had it ever been so tempting to strangle him. If you weren’t swaying right now you probably would’ve gone for a swing to the head – probably would’ve done it with another drink in you too. However right now you were sitting at a sweet spot that had Dabi safely protected from your (ill-advised) punches.

A glaring contest ensued.

Fuck Dabi has a mean ass glare like Endeavor does. And now I almost hate him as much as that shit hero... almost. You broke first, eyes turning towards the door Spinner had gone through. “When?”

“Now,” Dabi said.

“Now?”

“Now! Now!” “You can’t hesitate!” Toga and Magne shouted.

“It’ll be fine. It’s gonna end like shit.”

A few shaky sighs before you nodded. “Right okay. Okay. Maybe this is my sign, right?” You jogged and bounced a little. “I can do this. Right? This sounds like a good idea. It probably shouldn’t but it does so-”

Dabi shoved you without reservation. “Stop stalling.”

You stumbled but managed to catch yourself before eating shit. “Fucking-” you cursed Dabi under your breath before collecting yourself and power walking out the door. You knew the route he usually took out of the hideout (not because of stalking, just coincidence) so you followed that and prayed he hadn’t decided to go a different way.

You almost blew past him, not expecting him to have changed out of his costume and into his leather jacket and jeans. The hair was a dead giveaway even from the back though. I’ll just approach and ask if he has a minute-

Spinner turned around. He looked very confused.

“Uh…” How?

“You’re walking like a horse wearing tap shoes,” he explained.

“Ah.” I’m never going to drink again. This is a bad idea. Bail. I’ll confess to him another day after drinking. “Sorry I… I gotta go.” You only got as far as pirouetting before Spinner’s voice stopped you.

“Where you going? Back to the bar?”

Gods no. Clearly those people have it out for me. “Uh, no.”

“I’ll walk you then.”

You blinked and turned to face him. “What?” Very eloquent.

“You’re pretty drunk. It wouldn’t be a good idea for you to walk alone.”

“Right. You don’t even know how far I’m going though!” Why am I questioning the fact that the guy I like is offering to walk me home? Hello? What are you doing?

“All the more reason. You think I trust those corrupt heroes?”

Right it’s about the heroes. Stain’s tenets. “Okay.”

Spinner nodded. “Alright. Which way?”

Gods his eyes are so nice and I love the color of his scales. I wonder what they feel like. And his hair! I want to paint him. It could be like the Titanic movie – maybe less tragic though. I hope. I wonder what movies he likes. I know he likes some of the games I do but I wonder about movies – oh, and books! Wait he asked a question! Answer! “Which way for what?”

“… which way are you going?” His question was slow and deliberate and his face confused.

“Oh… home, I guess.”

“Yes but which way is that?” Now his voice was annoyed.

This is a good chance to say something. Should I say it now or wait? If I say it when we get the door that might not look good… on the way wouldn’t be good either he’d be obligated to finish walking me home even if he doesn’t like me. But of course he likes me! Hopefully. Gotta be like a bandaid though. Like a bandaid. “I have a crush on you.”

If his face wasn’t confused before-

Fuck! “The thing Dabi said. It’s about you. Not that I wanna fuck you – I mean not that I don’t. I do. But like not right now. Clearly!” Nervous laughter tumbled from you. “But I would cuz I like you. Like in a crush way! Not that you have to like me. But it would be uh… you know. Wow, that’s not really a direction, huh? And that’s what you asked me which is kinda… funny…”

Your voice and thought process had trailed off, and apparently Spinner had lost his because he didn’t so much as blink. The two of you starred at each other.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Put the bandaid back on!

You scratched your cheek. “Well that’s uh-”

“You’re drunk.” His voice was cold this time. You were surprised to see that his face had turned to a no nonsense one, and his shoulders were slouched stiffly. His eyes were focused on the brick wall to the left of you.

You bristled a bit. “I’m kinda tipsy but-”

“You think that’s funny? I didn’t think you’d stoop to something like that after only a couple of drinks-”

“I’m not stooping to anything. I don’t think it’s funny – I’m being serious!”

“You laughed!”

“From nerves!”

“I’ve heard this before. I know what your game is-”

“My game?” The heat of the alcohol was quickly being replaced by the heat of anger.

“Yes! This game you’re playing with Dabi!” His voice booming and leaning close, Spinner shook his head. “I know it.”

You clenched your fists and stiffened your jaw. “Dabi is a fuck. It’s not some game. He’s just like that – and you should know it.” Your words were cut by diamonds.

“Well you two must be some great partners in crime.”

“I- it’s – this-” You fisted your hands in your hair. “It’s not some fucking joke!” It was like one of those nightmares where no matter how hard you screamed it was just never loud enough and no one ever heard you or came to help.

Spinner’s mouth snapped shut but the anger didn’t drain from his face and his posture didn’t relax. If anything it became more rigid and tense. “I’m not some fucking fetish you can indulge yourself in.”

Did a truck just hit you? It felt like a truck just ran into you.

“How did we get to that?!” You screamed. Much like the incident in the bar this situation would be much better served if you just cut the engine and left. Your logical mind was never going to forgive you for this.

Spinner had no answer. Instead he just shook his head aggressively and growled. “Go back to the fucking bar and sober up. I’m not falling for whatever this is.”

“There’s nothing to fall-” you didn’t get a chance to finish your sentence. Spinner turned on his heel and speed off at a walking speed you just couldn’t hope to achieve with your now shaky legs and reeling mind. What. The. Fuck? The fuck just happened? You chanced a look around to see if there were was a camera crew camping out or any witnesses.

No one but you and the garbage cans in the alley now.

Your energy was sapped from you, and suddenly the wishy-washy feeling of being almost drunk came back full force. “Right. Back to the bar…” You took one shaky step while wiping away a tear before you realized that no, in fact you didn’t want to do that at all. There was more than enough embarrassment showcased to the league that day – they didn’t need to see you crying.

“Home I guess…”

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Forgotten Alliance Ch 43

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Elijah Mikaelson x OC

Word Count: 2.7K

Warnings: None that I can think of. 

Author’s Note: Welcome to the first new chapter that I will be posting for this series on tumblr. All the queuing is done and now you get new chapters spaced out! Thank you for being patient with getting the last 42 chapters transferred over. As a reminder, the normal forever tags and Elijah tags are not tagged in this one. If you would like to be tagged for this, please let me know. The countdown of chapters begin. 

Elizabeth's hand ran through Elijah's hair as she watched him sleep. He had been sleeping soundly beside her that she couldn't help but smile at him as she did. His arm had been wrapped around her protectively, keeping her close as possible to him. She would have happily fallen asleep with him, she just wasn't sure if her falling asleep would cause her to wake up in the real world. She had watched Hope fall asleep here a few times and she had faded from the spell quickly. Elizabeth was able to wake up here, but that was because Hope had helped her into the spell. She just didn't want to risk it after worrying Elijah with what she had gone through.

If Elizabeth had to be honest with herself, she didn't want to leave any time soon. She wanted to stay right where she was and forget about everything that had gone wrong. Forget about all of the responsibility that she had put on her shoulders for it all to fail as it had. Being there by Elijah's side and never leaving had seemed more appealing by the minute. She wanted to keep him close to her and forget that she had ever believed that he had died at her hands.

No words could ever be formed to express the relief that she now felt. She had been able to let everything she had been holding back out. Through the night, when she wasn't tangled in the sheets with Elijah, he had gotten her to talk about everything. She had been able to remove a lot of the weight she felt on her shoulders. She had been able to cry, scream, and release the anger she had been holding in with Elijah's help. The release it had given her was everything she needed in the last few years. It made her feel as if the world wasn't about to crash and burn around her just as she had felt it would only days ago.

Picking up on the voices down stairs, Elizabeth sighed softly as she ran her fingers along Elijah's cheek. "'Lijah." Her voice was soft as she tried to wake him. His hold on her tightened and it caused her to chuckle. "Time to get up." She said before kissing his cheek.

"It's too early." He mumbled as he pulled her close as possible. "Not enough sleep for my liking."

She smiled and shook her head. "And you wont be getting much more sleep if they decide to come up here and drag us out of bed."

His eyes opened at her words and she smiled at him. "I highly doubt they would even take a step up those stairs." He noted as he leaned in and kissed her neck. "Can't we just stay here for just a little longer?"

It had caused her to laugh and shake her head slightly. "While any other time I would agree to staying in bed with you, your niece is pacing the kitchen waiting for us to go down there."

Elijah laughed and looked up at her. "How long has she been waiting?"

"Almost two hours." She said with a nod. "Both Rebekah and Freya have been trying to convince her that we need a little bit more time alone. It will only be a matter of time until she actually makes her way up here."

Sighing, Elijah nodded his head. "Better to go down there and see her. It is you that she wishes to see."

Elizabeth smiled and kissed him softly. "Only because I've been gone for as long as I have. Once the excitement wears off she wont care about me anymore."

Elijah laughed and shook his head. "Trust me, every time she visits it is continuous questions on what I feel through you and what you could possibly be doing."

"I spend too much time away from her."

"Correction, you spend too much time away from us." He said as a small smirk played on his lips.

She laughed as she pulled herself out of his hold and sat up. "You have a connection to me. She doesn't."

Leaning up on his elbow, he watched as she began to pull herself out of bed. "Just because I can feel your presence doesn't mean I don't miss seeing you."

"I know. Believe me, up until that spell, all I wanted to do was just turn around and come back to see you." She said with a slight nod. "I'd see the a wolf pack enjoying their time with their family and all I wanted to do was get back to mine."

"And now you are back." He said giving her a reassuring smile. "And able to get back on regular visiting basis."

"I look forward to each one." She said as she walked over to his closet before tossing clothes at him. "Now get dressed. I can hear Hope's foot tapping getting worse."

For the first few hours after Elizabeth and Elijah had made their way down stairs, Hope had been attached to Elizabeth's side. Hope had a years worth of stories to tell and she wasn't going to wait any longer to tell Elizabeth them. The family sat in the living room together as Hope went into great detail about everything. The Mikaelsons helped where needed, giving their accounts of what happened that day. Elizabeth had enjoyed every moment of it. She missed out on a lot during her time away and they had made her feel as if she had been there for every moment with all the details.

Even the Mikaelsons told her the details of things that happened while Hope hadn't been around. To the days of fighting, bantering and actually spending quality time together -not like they had much of a choice still- Elizabeth had been included in it all. By the time everyone was out of stories, Elizabeth's cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much. It was a memory that Elizabeth was going to hold onto for whenever she may need it. It was almost as if they were really home and not stuck in some spell. After all the fun of things were over, Hope left at Hayley's request for her to eat. It left the adults to discuss things that Elizabeth preferred that Hope didn't hear them.

"Elijah had been vague on the details of the spell," Freya began. "but I'm curious to know what she made you believe."

"Freya." Elijah said in a warning tone. He didn't want Elizabeth to relive it. All the emotions that he had felt from her and seen her go through the whole night had been hard for him to see. He didn't want her to go through it again.

Elizabeth gave him a small smile. "It's fine." She promised before looking over at Freya. "My biggest fear has been, and probably always will be, killing you because of what I am now. The witch saw that and she twisted that night in so many ways that felt so real. The vampires invaded the compound, I killed them along with-" She took a deep breath before letting it go. "with Kol and Klaus before I killed Elijah. I had no humanity, I was this dark creature that night. The spell made it seem like some other reason flipped my humanity back on. From there every time I felt Elijah's presence, the spell made it seem like it was me going crazy and each time that happened, there would be this thirst inside me that I couldn't handle."

"Would make sense as to what Elijah was feeling from time to time." Rebekah noted.

Elizabeth bit down on her lip for a moment. "I killed hundred of people in the last year because of this spell. She could have taken anything when she rummaged through my head, but because I took the venom from her friends, that was my payback."

"Liz," Freya said shaking her head. "You were doing what you needed to do for us. And for that I am grateful. You had us all worried when Hope came running to tell us."

"Not to mention, we had to keep Elijah from breaking the place." Kol added with a small smirk. Rebekah smacked his arm hard. "ouch, what was that for?"

"You've got to be kidding." Rebekah shook her head. "If it had been Davina in Elizabeth's place, you wouldn't be smirking about anything."

Kol frowned for a moment before looking at Elizabeth and Elijah. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Elijah had every right to be worried as he was."

"It's okay, Kol." Elizabeth said giving him a smile. "I know that this is hard for all of you in here. The communication sucks and there is no way to know what's going on out there without me or Hope here."

"All that matters is that the spell is gone and you're back." Elijah said before kissing her forehead.

A small smile pulled at her lips once more before it left. She sighed softly before looking at everyone. "There is something you guys should know. While I had hoped that I could change things, before I left, I knew that I wasn't going to get the cures."

The siblings' eyes, minus Elijah, had widened at that. Elijah had found out the night before. They had talked it out and before hand and he had encouraged her to tell his siblings. Elijah had been understanding about the whole thing. Elizabeth had told him about her visit with Jess before she had left. While she hadn't seen any of the visions or knew that she would be hit with the spell, it was Jess's words that confirmed it all.

"From what I can see, doing whatever is necessary leads to consequences that you may not like. I don't know what those consequences will be, but I know that once you come home…" She sighed softly as she placed her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "There will be something different about you."

"A good different or a bad different?" She asked hopeful.

Jess shook her head slightly. "Like there is a secret you've been keeping that no one can get you to talk about."

While part of Elizabeth never wanted to know what that secret was, it was while she was out there that she realized what it meant for that trip. It proved to be true when she had gotten spelled and practically fought against trying to get the venom she needed. She came home without a single vial. There was nothing to give proof that she even had them besides the memories.

"This doesn't change anything, Liz." Rebekah said once the shock of her statement had worn off. "You went out there for us. You risked your life to be able to get our family back together. Cure or not, you fought to get what we needed and that is all that matters."

"She's right." Freya nodded. "You could have easily decided not to go and we'd be here still trying to make a plan from what happened with your chemists lab."

Hey sleeping beauty, you ever coming out?

Malakai's words played in Elizabeth's mind causing a small smile to pull at her lips.

"What is it?" Elijah asked noticing the smile. He knew it wasn't Freya's comment that had prompted it. There had to of been something else.

"I think I'm being asked to make an appearance out of here." A chuckle passed her lips.

You've gotta come out for food at some point. Got a bag of O negative waiting for you out here.

"And bribed with sustenance." She added with a roll of her eyes.

"To be fair you've been here for over 24 hours." Freya noted giving her a smile.

Elizabeth sighed. "I know. It's just felt nice to be here and not having to face the real world."

"It's not like you can't come back." Rebekah reminded her. "Now would be the time to let them know you are in fact okay. I'm sure Kai is out there wanting to make sure you aren't completely lost."

Elizabeth chuckled. "You're right they need to hear it from me."

Even though Elizabeth didn't voice the worry that now played through her, Elijah had felt it. He placed his hand on top of hers, giving it a slight squeeze. "No one here blames you for what happened."

She shook her head slightly. "I blame myself. I was careless and even though I knew what would happen, it still played out in front of me. I have to be able to explain that to Hayley and Hope that I knew going away wasn't good enough, yet I still did it."

"You had to try." Kol said with a nod. "Doing absolutely nothing would have been worse. While I am beginning to loath this place, I feel a little better knowing that you are out there trying and not just sitting around waiting for things. I'm sure they will understand just as we do."

"Hopefully." Elizabeth nodded. She needed things to work out. She needed things to go her way after this.

Elijah stood up and held his hand out to her. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

Elizabeth chuckled and placed her hand in his. "Now you are trying to get me to leave."

"Only to get you to come back here faster." He pulled her up to her feet.

"Bloody hell, can we not have a repeat of last night?" Kol whined. "There is only so many places out of hearing range that we can go to. Elizabeth laughed and shook her head while Elijah just ignored him, leading Elizabeth out of the house.

"I never said 'thank you' for what you did." Elizabeth said as they walked through the garden.

"There is no reason to thank me." He gave her a smile. "I'd be willing to do anything to make sure you were safe and sound."

She smiled. "You've always done that for me, even when you didn't need to."

It was his turn to smile. "Bond or no bond, I will always be there when you need me."

"I'll hold you to that." When they reached the field beyond the garden, Elizabeth turned towards him. "I'll be back later."

Elijah nodded as he leaned in and kissed her softly. "Take all the time you need."

While he had said it, he didn't mean it at all. He wanted her to take her time to show them that she was okay. But he wanted her to spend some more time with him before she went back to New Orleans. She nodded her response before she took a few steps back.

Grabbing a hold of her hand, he pulled her back to him and it caused Elizabeth to laugh. "I'll only be gone for a few minutes." She said leaning up and kissing him. "An hour at the most."

"I don't think you should go." He said with a smile on his face. "We'll have Hope tell them everything."

She shook her head. "No, I need to do this. We can't have Hope playing messenger all the time."

"I know." He said with a nod before reluctantly letting her go.

"I'll be back." She said with a nod taking a step back from him.

"I'll be waiting." He said as he watched her.

"Not like you really had any other choice." The words had caused him to shake his head.

"Go before you change your mind." He said knowing she actually had to show herself out in the real world to show that this had worked.

She smiled at him one last time before she felt herself leave the dream world. She found herself laying on a mattress and sighed. She knew everyone had gone through a few measures to make sure was fine and Elizabeth knew that it was time for the apologies and the new plan that she would have to come up to get back on track.

Forgotten Alliance Tags: @mschellehitt @xanderling @fandom-princess-forevermore

As always, if you would like to be added to, or taken off, the tag list, let me know. ♥

[milktea-kitkat]

The Way These Things Work

Summary: Aris was never good with words or people, no matter how she tried to approach it. Admitting you’re wrong can be hard, especially when you’ve never had to do it before. She’ll have to learn quick or fall back into her old ways without a second chance. Can she push through and bring herself to ask for help? Especially from him?

Chapter contains: hints of Takari, pisspoor parenting, more abuse hinting, poor writing (Sorry guys), lying, foreshadowing

Word Count: 1899 words

Howlmon

Aris learned her mother’s habits quickly in the month and a half she’d already been there, using it to her advantage. When her mother would take her sleeping pill, Aris would have a rough eight hours of security. When her mother was awake, or home, and Aris was home, it was hell. If she wasn’t studying, her mother gave her shit. If she was studying, her mother gave her shit for not cleaning around the house. Aris also now tended to hide her manga inside her textbooks to look as if she was studying so she didn’t have to hear about that too.

And when her mother didn’t take sleeping pills at night, she usually went out for a drink and didn’t return home until early morning. That also gave Aris an opportunity to talk to her friends. She refused to go back to her old ways, even if she only actually kept up with it once in a while. It was hard breaking her habits. And then there were the days her mother spent all day and evening laying on the couch, so Aris had only the option to say goodnight and hop out the window like she had been for the past two weeks.

Once Aris had learned her mother’s habits and felt confident enough with her limits, she had started to look for Howlmon, in the digital world. Part of her hoped Howlmon had found her way back here, it would be far easier to find her than in the human world. After all, it’s easier to ask other digimon if they’d seen her than humans. Aris could just picture how it would go.

“Have you seen my partner, Howlmon? She’s like… This little cat wolf with two sets of ears and she’s like a purple with a little bit of pink, oh and she has two tails too!”

The reactions would be priceless, at least.

“Aris Koshina!”

Aris dropped her pen when her mother shouted her name and quickly slid her book off her lap, onto the floor. She scrambled up from where she was sitting on the floor, her back against her bed. She bolted out of her room into the main room.

“Y-yes mother?”

Her mother gave her that look, the irritation evident in her hazel eyes. Aris was thankful she had her father’s green eyes. Then she noticed Takeru and Hikari both standing there, looking a little uncomfortable. She understood without her mother needing to say anything and gave the two a look that pleaded with them to go along with this.

“Aris, explain why these two children came looking for you.”

Aris cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, I must have completely forgotten! My teacher wants me to assist a couple of middle school students with some math, of course I had no way of saying no.”

Her mother clicked her tongue and Aris gulped, knowing that tone. However, her mother plopped back down on the couch without another glance.

“Just don’t do it here. It’d be too noisy with a couple of other middle school brats in the house. Your brother is bad enough.”

Aris wanted to hit her for talking badly about Klein, but she didn’t. She nodded, after letting out a slow, deep breath.

“Right, let me get changed and we can go somewhere like the library.”

They nodded and Takeru gestured to the door. “We’ll, uh, wait outside then.”

Aris changed quickly and grabbed her old backpack, stuffing a book and a notebook in it to make it convincing. She knew there would be no studying though. She raced for the entrance hall and sat down to put her sneakers on.

“Aris. I want to talk to you about Meiji when you get home, do you understand?”

The conversation Aris had continued dodging for a month and a half finally resurfaced. Aris nodded weakly. “Y-yes, of course, mother.” Before her mother could go on, Aris bolted out the door and shut it behind her, a little too roughly. She was gonna hear about that later too, probably. She crossed her arms and stood in front of Hikari and Takeru, who both looked a little sheepish.

“You two almost got me in so much trouble.”

“Sorry, Aris, it completely slipped my mind, we both were so excited that-”

Takeru cut Hikari off. “We found Howlmon and she came back with us to Kari’s place too!”

Aris stared at them.

“Really? Just like that?”

They both nodded, but Aris seemed a little surprised. It wasn’t like Howlmon to just go with them, even if she did know them for ages. They started walking as the two of them explained how they found her. She had shown up at their middle school, surprisingly looking for one of them. Was it possible that Howlmon just really needed an excuse to come check up on Aris? She was bad about that. It was possible, but there was no way of knowing without asking Howlmon herself.

“Aris!!”

She felt her shirt being tugged back and stumbled back, but kept on her feet. A skateboarder zipped by right in front of her a few seconds after. She glanced back to see both of them each had a hand on her shirt.

“Sorry guys, I guess I got lost in my thoughts and wasn’t paying attention.”

“You’re lucky we were, or that would have really hurt.”

“At least we would have come visit you in the hospital if we hadn’t stopped you!”

Aris snorted, “You’re sooo kind, Takeru. Thanks for that.”

The three of them continued on their way, most likely to the Yagami residence. She remembered back when she lived in the same building as them. It was before her father passed away. After that, she moved in with her aunt. She almost missed those days, minus the times Taichi thought it would be funny to bother her on weekends.

“Is Tai home?”

“Huh? No, I think he had soccer today.”

“Why, do you want to see him, Aris?”

She could feel the smirk dripping off Takeru’s words and pouted a little.

“As if! I was just wondering. I couldn’t help but remember all the times I was over. Hell, sometimes I wondered if your mother considered me her child too. But, dad was always working, so I didn’t like to bother him when he was tired. Plus, I definitely do not think of Tai in that way. He’s like… Nuisance brother to me.”

Hikari laughed, agreeing with Aris. “He is a nuisance, honestly.” Aris shook her head, laughing a little. It felt too easy, talking like this. It would only be a short time before something happened. She should really keep her mouth shut.

They entered the apartment not long after, it seemed that no one else was home at the time. Aris felt a little relieved, she didn’t have to dodge questions from Mrs. Yagami if she wasn’t here. Hikari must have noticed her relief and laughed.

“Come on, we left Howlmon in my room! She looked pretty beat up when we found her in the digital world…”

Aris’ heart dropped and she felt guilty, she should have never been so rude to her partner. Her lifelong friend. Aris followed the two of them, Takeru seemed very comfortable in their home, she noticed. She smiled a little, they’d always been pretty close but dang, she always thought they’d be cute together.

“Aris?”

She snapped out of her thoughts and grinned sheepishly, “Sorry, sorry.” She followed them into Hikari’s room and noticed a small purple lump in the middle of the bed.

Hikari practically dragged Takeru out of the room when he tried to enter too, “Let’s let the two of them talk alone for a bit.” He looked like he wanted to refuse, but accepted it anyways. Aris hesitated a bit before sitting on the floor next to the bed. She was quiet for a moment, trying to consider what she could possibly say. She wanted to say she was sorry, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words. She’d never genuinely apologised, only gave her half assed apologies to her mother. The ones she knew she didn’t mean.

“Howlmon, you alright..?”

Her voice shook a little, she was nervous. She heard the covers shift and she glanced over, seeing the face of her partner after so long. She smiled gently.

“Hey there, long time no see.”

Howlmon did look really beat, Aris felt immense guilt claw back into her heart. She moved to kneel and carefully picked the digimon up.

“You, you look like crap, Howlmon.”

Howlmon laughed a little and finally responded.

“I feel like crap, thanks, Aris..”

“Hey now, I meant well. I know it’s my fault…”

“Only partly, but yeah, your fault.”

Ouch, they were always so straightforward. Aris sat back, leaning against the bed and held them out to look at them carefully.

“Hey! You know I don’t like being handled like someone’s pet!”

Aris laughed and set her down on the floor.

“Oops, my bad.”

They sat quietly looking at each other for a while before Aris cleared her throat. “Look, I, uh.” She gulped and squeezed her eyes tight and then let out a long, deep breath.

“Howlmon I’m so sorry, I never should have been horrible to you, you’ve always been my best friend and I’m sorry!”

She spoke so quickly that all her words jumbled together and Howlmon just looked at her confused.

“Say again?” Aris sighed. “Howlmon, I’m so sorry. I never should have been horrible to you, I never meant it. You’ve always been my best, and sometimes my only, friend and I’m so sorry.”

She spoke slower this time, allowing a few minutes after for Howlmon to take it all in. Howlmon stood up on her four legs.

“What are we waiting for?”

“Huh?” Aris was genuinely confused, it was so sudden.

“What are we waiting for, Aris?! Let’s go home, I’m starving, will you cook tonight?”

“Wait, you… You forgive me, Howlmon?”

Howlmon jumped up onto her shoulders and stretched out to lay using both shoulders.

“Come on, you got so nervous saying sorry that you rushed it? How could I not forgive you, you’re my friend and partner after all!”

Aris’ heart swelled, she was forgiven. “Buuuut,” Howlmon went on and Aris became nervous. “You are definitely going to have to owe me quite a bit!”

She laughed, standing up as Hikari and Takeru peeked in. “Right, how about I buy the five of you guys and myself some lunch then? On me, of course.”

Hikari smiled, clasping her hands over her heart, Gatomon right behind her spoke up. “You two made up then?” Aris nodded and Takeru patted Hikari’s back. “I told you they would! Now, I would love lunch!” Patamon quickly agreed with Takeru’s input.

Aris nodded, “Right, what about you Kari?”

“Well, I can’t exactly refuse, can I?”

Both Aris and Takeru shook their heads and she sighed, but in a loving manner. “Fine, fine, me too.” She knew it wasn’t like Hikari hadn’t wanted to anyways.

“Alright! Lunch! Let’s go!” Howlmon took off, Patamon close behind her. Gatomon muttered something about impatience in younger digimon and followed with the other three. Aris couldn’t help but smile, it was all new and yet the same. For even just a moment, she forgot about her mother and Meiji.

[cbyauthor]

Ch 3: At Your Side, Clear Space for Me

Read here on AO3!

Some requests for Wei Wuxian's service were a little too complicated to be explained by email.

In those cases, he was called to wherever he was needed and given a rundown of the job, all the while pretending he was fully listening instead of already figuring out a faster, more efficient way of completing it, and ignoring the way the Lan clan member's nose twitched as they scented the air.

This job was handed down by none other than Lan Qiren himself. Normally those visits were a little tense, with some glares being tossed his way, and Wei Wuxian's brain going crazy wondering if he'd been doing anything in a...creative way recently.

The meeting in Lan Qiren's office wasn't any worse than normal—meaning it was pretty bad, considering that Lan Qiren made no secret of the fact that he'd been overruled by Lan Xichen in the case of Wei Wuxian's hiring—but the outcome was a lot better because:

He was being given a break from the pavilion rebuild, thank god. (He didn't mind the job! It was just tough to be enthusiastic about any given project for so many days in a row.)

He was going to be working inside one of the apartments for a few days, just when the app on his phone had been begging him to be aware of the heat alert. (Oh, he'd been alert to the heat.)

The apartment he'd be working inside was Lan Zhan's.

"Good morning!" Wei Wuxian called from outside the door, hopping up on the railing again. It really was a sturdy piece of metal, not even creaking under his weight. It was wide enough for a cat to sit on. Or even something bigger than a cat.

Sadly, nobody around here ever took advantage of all the great sunning spots on the sprawling grounds, but he'd caught a few glimpses of a pair of ears or clean paws in a high window here and there.

The door opened.

All the way .

"Good morning," Lan Zhan said, and his voice was as deep and rich as Wei Wuxian remembered.

"I'm here to start work on your guest room? I'm Wei Wuxian, by the way."

"Yes."

Lan Zhan's answer could've been responding to either or both of those questions, but what did it matter. They were introduced, now—officially—and Lan Zhan was leading the way through the apartment.

Wei Wuxian had gotten pretty good at interpreting what silences and pointed ahems meant over the years. Built up by living with the Jiangs and honed by his past few months with the Lans, he thought he was an expert in filling in the gaps of what people weren't telling him.

Sometimes, he just made shit up that amused him. Like, when he was a kid, and he chose to interpret Auntie Yu's significant glances around Christmas to mean that Wei Wuxian's present was going to be extra special.

Not all of his guesses ended up so shitty for him.

This untold story was a lot easier to figure out.

Lan Qiren had told him he was finishing a room. All the supplies were there—vinyl click-in flooring, baseboards ready to install, outlet covers sitting around just waiting to be screwed in—in a spare bedroom in Lan Zhan's otherwise completely functional apartment. (Minus that one lightbulb, which was working just fine now.)

It was the same room as the study in Lan Xichen's identically laid-out apartment. This one, for whatever reason—maybe because the apartment's occupant had turned into a cat mid-way through the furnishing process—hadn't been finished.

"Cool," Wei Wuxian said, his voice echoing a bit in the bare-walled room. "I'll get started, then."

"Yes," Lan Zhan said again, then, as an afterthought that looked almost painful, "Thank you."

Manners were coming back to Lan Zhan okay, then. Eye contact, not so much. But they had three whole days for that.

"You're welcome." He swept up a mallet that'd been left there for his work, testing its weight in his hand. "Just ignore any noises from in here, okay? I can't promise I won't hit myself with this. Ouch."

"Ignore you?"

It wasn't quite a question. Not all the way, but there was enough of a turn up at the end that Wei Wuxian answered it anyway.

"Yup! Maybe put some headphones in? I don't want to offend your ears with my blue streak."

"You don't offend me."

The door swung closed with Lan Zhan on the wrong side before Wei Wuxian could finish being surprised.

***

Like much of Wei Wuxian's work, putting in the flooring wasn't complicated work, just strenuous. And loud . The sound of the mallet thumping everything into place, and the electric saw spitting wood dust everywhere echoed in his ears even when he finally left the room behind, a good quarter of the floor already done.

It was midday, the sun pouring in at a different angle and making a golden square on the living room floor that looked like the perfect place to curl up in on a slow day.

"Hello?" Wei Wuxan called, tracking dust over the clean floor. There was no reply, but he hadn't necessarily been expecting one.

The kitchen was nice, with a lot more stuff to use than Wei Wuxian's. Most of it looked brand new and shiny. Cats didn't have much use for stand mixers, he supposed.

Leaning against the counter, his wobbly arms supporting him, he checked the group chat messages he'd missed like he was reading the morning paper.

[Chat: Everybody (Rock Your Body)]

QueenLI: A-Sang is this you???

[picture]

JiangCheng: LOLOLOL. A-Sang is THIS you???

[picture]

Ningaling: Guys don't be mean!! This is obviously Nie Huaisang:

[Picture]

Sangbird: I hate all of you

WenWillYouShutUp:

[picture]

Grinning down at his phone, Wei Wuxian had to rub at his chest to ease the ache.

He missed them all. So goddamn much.

It was different, being here. Before, they were all far flung, but there was always the option to get in a car—usually ShiJie's, because it was the only one that was truly roadworthy—and go and visit. Weekends were for in-person, and these group chats were just a temporary measure during the week.

Now, he had gates around him. Literal ones, not just metaphysical. Distance and a shoestring budget kept him apart from his friends better than Auntie Yu's guilt tripping ever did.

"You're finished?"

It was only because of his incredible reflexes that he didn't drop his phone in Lan Zhan's kitchen sink.

"Ah, hey," he said, too loud. "Nah, just taking a breather."

Lan Zhan hummed.

"Actually, do you mind if I take my lunch break here?" He pointed to the white leather couch which peeked out from the corner of the living room. "I could go back to my house, but it's a long way…"

"Fine."

"Thanks!"

Even with permission, he hesitated a bit. But leather was wipeable right? A little saw dust and sweat wouldn't hurt anyone. It might leave a scent for a few days, but Lan Zhan had told him he could, so.

His thighs started burning at the same moment as his cheeks, so he sat down quickly.

Would Lan Zhan smell him after he was gone? How would he even feel about that? Like his space was being violated, or like a friend was still there for him in the long evenings? No way to know.

He heard Lan Zhan's presence before he saw it, and froze.

The clock ticked on the wall, almost inaudible, and oblivious to the two people in the room.

It was difficult for Wei Wuxian to sit still— so difficult, holy shit—but he managed by telling himself it was only temporary.

Sure enough, he heard movement again, the quiet shuffling of socks on hardwood, dashing to the other side of the room. Then, a few seconds later, another quick run to somewhere behind the couch, closer than before.

Don't move. Don't look up. He'll come when—and if—he wants to.

In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of white and jean blue, but he still didn't look. Didn't acknowledge him in any way, purposefully keeping his breathing slow and even.

Then, the cushion next to his depressed. A little while after that, Lan Zhan's back actually touched the back of the couch. From the angle Wei Wuxian's head was turned, he could see Lan Zhan's straight posture, and struggled to keep his eyes from focusing on every detail.

Lan Zhan was wearing jeans today. Light-wash ones, that looked a little worn out, but they didn't have any holes, fashionable or otherwise. The feathery tips of his long hair brushed against the pocket of a long-sleeved T-shirt that looked cozy enough for Wei Wuxian to bury himself into and not come out until winter was over. Except that it was summer, so he'd be there a long-ass time.

Okay with him.

"It's going well."

Lan Zhan's deep voice vibrated into Wei Wuxian's bones.

Was that a question? It wasn't phrased that way, but Lan Zhan was looking in Wei Wuxian's direction—not directly at him, but close enough—that he must have been.

"Yeah, it's okay. Not too difficult." Just like he remembered learning at Uncle Jiang's side, replacing water damaged carpet for one of his tenants and making faces after trying a sip of a celebratory beer. This was a lot different from that, actually. "It's a little like Lego, actually, just with a lot more pounding at it with a mallet."

A tiny twitch at the corner of Lan Zhan's mouth gave away his displeasure. "I heard."

Wei Wuxian winced. "Yeeeeeeah, sorry about that. I've got some extra earplugs, if you'd like them."

"No." A tight little head shake disturbed the columns of Lan Zhan's dark hair. "Worse."

"I'll be done tomorrow, I promise. You don't have to be here to supervise, if you'd rather go hang out somewhere quieter."

"No," he said, again. Then, like a stuffed animal with a voice box machine, he said his trusty set phrase. "Thank you."

"No problem."

A beat of silence followed, then Lan Zhan did the strangest thing.

He lifted his hand, the back of one elegantly curled hand brushing his temple, then he brought it to his mouth, his graceful, curved lips parting for a hair of a second before he froze.

The hand was back in Lan Zhan's lap in the next moment, squeezing the outer seam of his jeans with a white-knuckled grip.

Surprise only took Wei Wuxian over for a handful of seconds, and pity was hot on it's heels. It wasn't a nice emotion. He hated when other people felt it for him, but he couldn't look at Lan Zhan trying so very hard not to revert to cat behaviour, and not feel sorry for him. It was impossible.

"You don't have to hide it. It must be difficult to be back."

The peaceful quiet of the living room was suddenly spiked with tension. Lan Zhan's lips parted again, that single motion doing more for Wei Wixuan's regret than any rictus of shock or annoyance.

"Wow," he said, gripping his own sawdust streaked knees. "I shouldn't have said—"

"It's not a secret."

There was no anger in Lan Zhan's tone. He almost wished there was.

"No, I guess it isn't. Even I know your business. Sorry about that."

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"Even you. What do you mean?"

Lan Zhan's hand had untensed a bit on his leg, but it still flexed and relaxed in a rhythmic pulse as he stared Wei Wuxian down.

"Well, I'm kind of the lowest rung on the ladder around here. I'm not important, but I still get to hear about your...your life." Your emotional baggage, more accurately.

"You're not low."

Everything Lan Zhan said was intense, and not only because he said very little. He had a way of making every word feel important in a way small talk rarely was, and these particular words had a weight to them.

Wei Wuxian swallowed, his foot sliding on the carpet so his knee could bounce freely, jiggling at warp speed. "No, I know."

"You are important."

"Yeah."

Lan Zhan's eyes were digging a hole in him now.

"You bring food. And clothes. That's very important."

In a small twitch of movement, Lan Zhan's fingers had moved from his neverending thigh to the bottom of his shirt, pinching the fabric between his thumb and forefinger and rubbing in slow circles.

Now that Wei Wuxian looked, it had a kind of newness around it, a sheen that came from only having been through one laundry cycle.

"Is it comfortable?" Wei Wuxian found himself blurting out.

Lan Zhan didn't respond with words, but the slight tilt of his head was unmistakable as a question.

"The shirt felt nice, in the package." Nice enough to have Wei Wuxian's wrist fluttering with the urge to feel it. "Soft."

"It'll do."

"Must be weird." Another non-verbal request for clarification, this time delivered by a fraction of a raised eyebrow. "Clothes, after so long."

"Very. It feels…" Lan Zhan's chest filled then emptied. "Theatrical."

That was an interesting word choice, but the longer Wei Wuxian thought about it, the more apt it seemed.

Theatrical, like, performative. Useless, except for spectacle. An elaborate show with uncomfortable and heavy trappings for the benefit of someone else.

"Well, don't feel like you need to wear clothes on my account."

It popped out of Wei Wuxian's mouth before any brain power went into deciding whether it was a good idea.

Like an animal caught in the beam of headlights, Wei Wuxian froze, embarrassment heating his neck like the teeth of a predator.

But Lan Zhan just hummed, his fingers going completely still on the hem of his shirt.

The couch creaked as Wei Wuxian burst up off of it. "Well, I've got to get back—

The words died on his tongue as Lan Zhan disappeared over the back of the couch, so quickly that he was a blur in Wei Wuxian's vision, leaving him blushing and completely alone in an apartment alive with surveilling dark eyes.

[caffeinektn]

Aftermath

It started out like any other spring day. Nicki woke up early - not that she had to, it was a habit formed purely from sharing space with her mother - and began her usual routine. Toilet, shower, skin, teeth, food. A monotonous array of morning tasks. Bitty did not make it any more interesting at first, either. He was busy sleeping, burrowed under the blankets in his own little cave. Cave Cat, Nicki called it, and usually found it amusing. This morning, however, she could have used his persistent meows for attention.

Salim was not who she thought he was.She could have overlooked his playboy attitude when all they did was flirt, but he assured her he was serious and wanted a real relationship. Nicki should have been more skeptical, but she was trying to be open to the idea of romance. That was not her idea either, but that of her friends. Janae insisted, saying Nicki was not getting any younger and if she really wanted a family, she best start looking for the right man.

Nicki all but slammed the bag of cat food into place under the cupboard. “Who needs a man,” she grumbled, unwilling to admit Salim actually hurt her.

“Mrow?”

Nicki glanced down to find Bitty staring up at her with big green eyes, his mane of fur fluffed up around his head. “About time, Fluff,” she admonished, but there was no fight in her words and she stooped to pat his head.

At once the Maine Coon began to purr and when Nicki pulled away, he sat up to reach for her receding hand. Massive paws the size of her palm swatted the air and his tail flicked across the floorboards.

“Oh, you’re playful are you?” Nicki grinned. It always made her happy to see her senior cat be so playful. A few fatty tumors here and there made no difference to him, and aside from that he showed little signs of age. Even his eyes remained clear and bright, free from the milky film of age many cats developed. “Alright, let me grab the wand.”

For a few minutes her playful cat took her mind off the sting of anger and hurt that plagued her for the better part of the night. He made her laugh as he hopped around like a little kitten - minus the overgrown fluffy head - and Nicki was content to bounce the jingling cat wand above him.

A knock at the door made her look up. Through the tinted glass she caught sight of a familiar figure and at once her mood clouded again. Salim stood there, peering in at her with that irritatingly faux friendliness she had fallen for. Well, he could continue standing there. Nicki was not opening the door.

“I can see you, you know.”

Any hope she stood out of sight vanished and Nicki heaved a sigh. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I figured. I’ll just-- talk through the door, then.” A pause, then; “It’ll probably be a little louder, though, gotta make sure you hear me.”

That was the last thing Nicki wanted, Salim airing out their drama for the whole complex to hear. Loathe as she was to cave in to him, she yanked the door open and leveled a withering glare at her golden skinned neighbor. “Fuck you want,” she snapped.

“Er...” Salim grimaced. “I, uh, wanted to apologize.”

“I don’t care for your apology.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give it, right?” Salim shrugged. “May I come in?”

“No.”

He looked taken aback by that, but shrugged it off again. “I should explain--”

“I’d love to hear how you explain the maid dress,” Nicki said with a wicked grin.

“That needs no explanation,” Salim replied. “And you’re the last person I expect to kink shame me.”

Nicki eyed him. “Fair point,” she admitted. “Fine, come in.”

Salim stepped in and wasted no time launching into his explanation. “We met at a pretty rough time for me,” he said. His feet carried him to the couch as usual, probably out of habit by then. He spent weeks doing just that almost every day. “I just got out of a bad relationship. And I mean bad. That’s no excuse,” he added hastily, catching the look Nicki threw him.

“Damn right it’s not.” Nicki turned her back to him and filled a glass of water, more for something to do than out of thirst. Her fingers tapped the glass as she stood there, staring at the wall.

“Well, we were engaged. And to be honest, part of me will probably always love her.” Nicki could hear the sound of Salim settling onto the couch and the quiet sigh that followed. “That was her last night, by the way. She’s had it pretty rough all her life, and this break up hit us both pretty hard.”

“So you break up only to bang each other some more?” Nicki turned to face him with a frown. “What kind of explanation is that? Sounds pretty toxic to me.”

“Oh, it is.” Salim nodded and spread his arms in a helpless gesture. “And I wasn’t thinking. I acted impulsively and it’s been my impulse to put her first for years. Habits can be hard to break. It’s no excuse, just the truth.” His shoulders drooped and he slouched backwards. “I shouldn’t have tried to do more than I was ready for.”

“Probably not.” Nicki could feel her anger fizzling out. She would be a hypocrite if she could not understand and forgive Salim’s behavior seeing as she had been guilty of the same in the past. It was hard sometimes o judge when one is ready to date and when one just needs to feel wanted.

“Anyway, I don’t expect anything.” Salim stood and rolled his shoulders back, an embarrassed look on his face as he looked anywhere but at Nicki. “I just didn’t want you to think what happened had anything to do with you. It didn’t.”

“‘Course it didn’t, I’m awesome.” Nicki forced a small smile. “Clearly you’re just defective.”

Salim looked taken aback and finally met her eyes.

Her brows rose. “I’m joking, Salim.”

“Oh.” He grinned, sheepish. “Right.”

“Joking aside, I know how that is.” Nicki took a breath and headed out of the kitchen to sit on the couch, gesturing with one hand for Salim to join her. “I’ve been there. It’s not pleasant. I can forgive that once, but don’t expect another shot.”

“I figured.” Salim nodded, looking a little dejected but not surprised. “Ruined that chance and I wouldn’t dream of trying again, it’d be too mortifying.”

“But hey-- I’m here if you ever want a friend.” Nicki offered up a smile, small but true. “Friends I can do. It’s not like we were anything super serious after only one date.”

“Friends.” Salim said the word like he only just discovered it. “Right, that-- that would be great, actually. Friends have been hard lately, Mina and I shared our friend pool.”

“Ouch.” Nicki grimaced, but laughed. “That’s a hard one to cope with. Who do you complain to?”

“The internet,” Salim admitted and hung his head in shame.

###

Okay, so this is the first bit of real writing I’ve done for this blog and it’ll suffice as the start. From here you’ll meet all of Nicki’s friends and the upcoming Jaxen. This is a little shaky, but I’m trying this thing where I just go with an idea and don’t second guess myself.

In case you’re wondering, Salim is actually taking a back burner ‘cause I realized I wanted all original characters for this story. But the maid outfit and infidelity thing actually happened in game lol. There’s a previous post about it here.

[junker-town]

Why were we all so wrong about the Browns?

Baker Mayfield and the Browns have had a rough 2019 season.

Most of us had high expectations for Cleveland in 2019. Most of us were fools.

One look at the Cleveland Browns, and it’s easy to see why they’re not winning. The offense isn’t working at all as they try and move away from being a power running team to one that feeds Odell Beckham Jr. and forces Baker Mayfield to win games with his arm.

There are some real problems on defense, too. The Browns are allowing 25.6 points per game, 141.3 rushing yards per game, and have only managed to force nine turnovers — all of which rank in the bottom third of the league.

And while they’re a mess on the field, there are concerns off the field as well. Mayfield has been getting into it with reporters. Beckham keeps getting fined, and safety Jermaine Whitehead was released after some controversial tweets. Individually, these incidents may not create a narrative. Together, it suggests first-time head coach Freddie Kitchens is in over his head managing all of this.

This type of dysfunction is nothing new from the Browns. They’ve been an NFL punching bag for most of their existence, especially since the franchise returned in 1999. In the two decades since, they’ve made it to the playoffs just once: in 2002, which ended in a wild card exit.

Yet many of us thought this year would be different. They opened the season tied for the eighth-best odds to win the Super Bowl (alongside the Packers and Cowboys!) and NFL fans were clearly buying into the hype.

Why did we fool ourselves into believing in another reality for the 2019 Browns? Why were we so hasty to ignore the warning signs? Let’s dive into it.

It was easy to overlook Kitchens’ inexperience

Cleveland has had so much instability over the years — the team is currently on its seventh head coach this decade. That made it easier to believe it was a good idea to retain Kitchens, an interim offensive coordinator without a full season of coordinating or any head coaching experience under his belt. The players liked him, which counted for a lot, especially in the wake of the Hue Jackson era.

Before the season, SB Nation’s Geoff Schwartz warned us about the unrealistic expectations being placed on Kitchens, and he was right on the money.

Kitchens might be well equipped to handle every situation, or just some of them. He’s going to be learning on the fly. But, unlike other first-year head coaches, if Kitchens makes a mistake that leads to a loss, or if there’s too much drama, or if the Browns don’t make the playoffs, this season will be a failure. That’s a big weight for a first-time head coach!

Unfortunately, things haven’t been good under Kitchens. The Browns might mostly be defined by their lack of discipline. They have had 17 giveaways, third-worst in the league, and have a turnover differential of minus-8. They have been called for 75 penalties in 2019, the most in the league.

If that wasn’t enough, Kitchens has drawn the fans’ ire for several mistakes in game management and playcalling. You can point to most Browns games this season and find a pretty glaring error he’s made, and most of the time, Cleveland was still in the game when it happened.

In a Week 3 loss to the Rams, the Browns saw multiple red zone opportunities evaporate as they tried to force passes to Beckham and Jarvis Landry, despite strong play from the offensive line and Nick Chubb. They scored once in four red zone trips, a crucial failure in a game they only lost by a score of 20-13. Kitchens admitted after that game that he was still learning how to call plays, even though he had done it (successfully) in the second part of 2018.

Three weeks later, a near-touchdown to Landry in the fourth quarter against the Seahawks showed Kitchens’ inexperience. Kitchens eventually challenged the call, but first, the ball was snapped and Chubb ran it on fourth-and-goal. The play didn’t count, and Kitchens lost his challenge. So what did Kitchens do? He called the exact same run to Chubb that he had just shown the Seahawks. It didn’t work, and the Browns lost 32-28.

Then in a surprisingly competitive Week 8 game against the Patriots (at least initially), Kitchens made his most egregious mistake yet:

So false start in 4th & 11, with punt unit, Freddie pulls them puts offense out for 4th & 16. Baker sacked. Nathan Zegura just reported, #Browns deliberately false started so the offense could return to the field because Kitchens didn't want to burn final timeout. Clown show.

— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 27, 2019

So the Browns went for it from their own 19-yard line, on a fourth-and-16 attempt, which apparently was his plan all along. They failed, as expected.

In hindsight, it was unreasonable to expect Kitchens to be able to turn things around so quickly, though I think at this point, he’s doing worse than even the doubters expected. The Browns, at 2-6 on the season, are no better off in the standings than when they fired Jackson at 2-5-1 last year.

While Kitchens has emphasized that the Browns simply need to execute better, it falls on the coach to put his team in position to do that. So far, he hasn’t.

The talent was — and is — there on paper

When the Browns made the move to acquire Beckham, it was clear they wanted to win now. That’s an aggressiveness we hadn’t seen from them in a long time. Looking at their roster heading into the season, there was a lot of talent to get excited about.

Let’s start with the quarterback. Mayfield threw eight touchdowns before Jackson and OC Todd Haley were fired last season. But in the final eight games of 2018, he threw for another 19 for a total of 27 touchdowns, setting and NFL rookie record and surpassing the likes of Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson.

He threw fewer interceptions than he did in the first half of the season and seemed to flourish with Kitchens running the offense. Once Jackson was gone, Mayfield began to thrive in a way that had the No. 1 pick looking like a franchise quarterback.

And he had the offensive pieces to excel in his second year.

Landry made the Pro Bowl with Mayfield throwing passes, but what he really needed was another receiver to take some of the load off him. Beckham, aside from making circus catches that dominate the highlight reel, is a production machine whose addition was expected to boost for Landry.

Then there’s the running game, led by an emerging Chubb. As a rookie alongside Mayfield, Chubb rushed for 996 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s been even better this season, too.

Instead of all of those offensive pieces coming together, though, Mayfield has regressed. That’s not all on Kitchens. Mayfield is clearly forcing passes and he’s been extremely predictable outside the pocket, always rolling out to his right and focusing in on a single receiver — notably, on a fourth-and-4 play against the Broncos with the game on the line:

Baker went across the middle to Landry with two defenders instead. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/bB0zlW3tgV

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) November 4, 2019

He’s thrown just seven touchdowns against 12 interceptions, and his passer rating has dropped from 93.7 as a rookie to 71.3 this season. He’s also become a meme.

Combining his sophomore slump with Kitchens’ playcalling errors, the coach-quarterback combination has floundered.

Defensively, the Browns have a deep, young core that should be far better than it is. Pass rusher Myles Garrett, another first overall draft pick, is the star of the unit. Garrett is one of the more complete defensive ends in the league, and has 30.5 sacks in 35 career games.

This offseason, the Browns added veterans Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon to the defensive line. Vernon had seven sacks in 11 games with the Giants in 2018, and pairing him with Garrett was expected to result in fireworks. That hasn’t gone as planned, either.

While Garrett has amassed 10 sacks, he is one of the most-penalized players in the league. Vernon has only registered three sacks so far. Richardson has also struggled against the run, and the defensive line hasn’t made big plays when it needs to. Instead, Cleveland has allowed the five-most explosive running plays in the league, per Sharp Football.

Two highly drafted cornerbacks, Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, lead the secondary. Despite being banged up there, it’s one area where the Browns haven’t disappointed too much, allowing just 216.3 passing yards per game, sixth-best in the league. However, they’re merely average when it comes to explosive pass plays allowed.

This team is loaded with playmakers. The fact that they aren’t executing — and in the case of Mayfield, regressing — is another black mark on Kitchens’ record.

We like rooting for the underdogs

Let’s get this out of the way: schadenfreude is a favorite pastime of sports fans, to a fault.

I don’t like people getting fired or hurt, but when the team owner tries to overhaul the way NFL front offices work while dealing with multiple criminal investigations, well ... maybe it’s OK to laugh when the on-field product resembles a dumpster fire made out of turds?

Pretty much everybody interested in the NFL, including Browns fans, has enjoyed a joke at the team’s expense over the years. I’ve certainly had my share. But I, like many, was fully on board with the concept of the Browns being good again. The humor can only last so long before the situation just becomes sad.

It’s also our natural tendency to root for the underdogs. The Browns being good again would have been endearing, in the exact same way that the Patriots missing the Super Bowl would be cathartic. Things have been soul-crushingly bad for the Browns for so long, that seeing them succeed would do a lot for my cynical and frosted-over heart.

The Browns having a reason to cheer for the first time in literal decades would be a strike against the status quo. The shittiness of the Browns represents the shittiness of the world, and it’s nice to be able to forget about the latter by rooting for something positive happening to Cleveland.

But when the Browns suck and the Patriots are still stupidly good, it feels like nothing ever changes.

Sadly, the Browns are getting in their own way the same they have for a long time. I still feel for Browns fans, but at this point, there are no easy fixes. The team will either have to stick with Kitchens, who doesn’t inspire confidence, or move on and face more uncertainty in another offseason filled with change.

[cloudtiain]

Of Beginnings and Names

I honestly cannot believe myself because I was SO excited at the chance to participate in Hijack week for the first time but then I poofed from Tumblr and just ForGOT. I also have zero plans for any of the prompts but managed to throw this up last minute. 

So yeah, here’s my contribution to “I had no idea you could do that” Though the prompt had barely anything to do with this,,,hope it can still count.

Superhero AU where Hiccup can half-transform into a dragon and Jack is basically the same he is in canon, minus being immortal and a zombie spirit. Established Hijack.

I apologize for Hiccup’s superhero name I literally could not think of anything.

Hiccup vaguely realizes that his clothes were on fire and flames were doing its best to burn away everything underneath as well.

It was pretty concerning, because while he was mostly covered by scales there were patches of skin that the flames were rapidly reaching, and yep, there it goes, ouch that hurts — of course one of the rare times Toothless was occupied elsewhere Hiccup manages to get injured, he’ll never hear the end of it, and ow, burns are no fun at all ——

“Dragoneye!” 

The voice was loud, being carried by the wind directly into the hybrid’s ear, but Hiccup was relieved to hear it anyways — even more so when he felt the ice and cold snuffing out the flames and soothing his burns.

He managed to gather his bearings together in time to watch as the wind shrieked and ice trapped the — well, Hiccup wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it looked like a giant monster held together by molten rocks and lava. 

He could feel the drop in temperature from where he still hovered in the air, and wondered when exactly Jack became so strong.

“Are you okay?” Mentioned iceboy floated a bit closer, obviously figuring the monster-thing wouldn’t escape all too soon.

And then it actually hit him that Jack was here, flying with him, in some sort of hero costume he hasn’t seen before — and when did Jack make that? Why did he make it?

But it was undoubtedly Jack, at least to Hiccup. Though the white hair and blue eyes ( features that only appeared when Jack let go of his tight control ) plus the mask would have made it difficult for anyone else to make the connection, which was exactly point.

But Hiccup still couldn’t understand why.

It was a bit disorienting, but at the other’s worried look he managed to respond to the previous question. “I’m fine. Thanks.” 

It was an automatic answer, but it seemed to be more or less true. Only a bit of the flames managed to get at what skin he had left, and Jack’s frost was doing wonders for it. Though, thinking about it, the person in front of him wasn’t exactly Jack right now...at least to the public and Hiccup needed to keep up appearances. “So you’re some sort of new guy? Thinking about appearing frequently now?” And whoops. That came out a bit more accusing then intended. 

But the snow bringer merely flashed white teeth in an amused smirk and said, “You could say that. What, does the big bad hero not appreciate the help?”

“I don’t think bad and hero are supposed to go together. And I already said thank you, didn’t you hear?” The banter was automatic, likely on purpose. An attempt at distraction. But the half-dragon was known to be stubborn for a reason. “I have to say though, you sure don’t look like the hero type.” Which was a lie, Jack was about as heroic as the best of them, but there was a reason Hiccup has been a hero for half a year without Jack. A very good reason and he still couldn’t understand why.

“Well, I live to surprise and all.” And that was that. The other’s tone had gotten a bit flat, and Hiccup could almost see the ‘don’t ask’ vibes radiating. 

Well, to be fair, it really was a conversation for the less public ears, so he moved to the next relevant thing. “So, does Mr. Surprise have a name?” 

And Jack actually faltered at that, and huh, there was a story there. 

The grin spread before he knew it. “Did you actually come out here without even a name for yourself? You made an entire costume without even thinking that people might need something to call you by?”

“I didn’t even make this! It was N — a friend!” 

So North. Hiccup wasn’t even surprised. “And your friend didn’t think of a name for you either?” Knowing North he definitely made a name. And considering how reluctant Jack was at giving it, it had to be good.

Getting the name out of the other was another thing entirely, though. “Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. You sure aren’t going to be finding out though, Dragon boy.”

“That’s not my name.”

“Might as well be. Besides, from what I recall, you didn’t exactly name yourself, either.” 

“True, but I didn’t make a fuss and start pouting at mine. I didn’t have an entire fully functioning costume at the time, either.”

“I don’t have a name!” A beat. “And I’m not pouting!”

“Sure you don’t. Sure you aren’t.” 

“Ugh!”

And Hiccup laughed, which quickly cut off and turned into a wince as he felt a pull at burnt skin, and, oh yeah, that was still there. 

In retrospect, he probably deserved that.

Jack didn’t seem to think so though, even if Hiccup was outright laughing at him just seconds ago, and his expression of frustration quickly turned into worry. “How bad is it?”

Hiccup tried for a grin, hoping it didn’t turn out as pained as he felt it might have. “It’s nothing, really. A little fire can’t hurt me.” Which wasn’t exactly accurate, and with the small bit of frost that Jack gave him before melting he was beginning to feel his injury acutely, but the scales really did help ward off the worst of things. 

And clearly Hiccup was untrustworthy because the ice wielder was looking for serious injury anyways, placing a light frost wherever he saw burnt skin.

It’s a kind gesture and the shapeshifter was already feeling better, but focusing on finding the burns meant Jack stopped paying as much attention to his surroundings, leaving himself open for attack, and that was another fireball coming right towards him—

“Ja-nng-Look out!” 

It was just panic and fear, and please not him, why wasn’t he more careful, stupid, stupid — and something rippled across Hiccup’s back as he shot forward, suddenly able to control his flying so much easier than before, and managed to snatch Jack and twist sharply out of the projectile’s path and into safety.

“Whoa...I had no idea you could do that.”

Neither did Hiccup, but that...was too close. Way too close but of course the idiot didn’t even sound shaken, just all light humor and joking attitude, but Jack could have been hurt, badly, and if it wasn’t for whatever his scales did he —— Later. Later. Think of it all later.

Taking a deep breath and a quick look at his back — huh that sure was new, it looked like the ridges down his spine had split or something — he let go of the other and turned to where the volcano monster-or-whatever had melted a hole in the ice.

“Come on, no more getting distracted. We have someone to take care of first.”

He noticed Jack giving him a slightly concerned look, but he was already heading towards the villain before anything else could be said.

“Hiccup?” There was only a hint of worry in Jack’s voice, but it was enough to get Hiccup to pause. They had defeated the pile of flaming rocks easily enough after and headed straight to Hiccup’s room where he proceeded to pace after taking care of his injuries. 

Which was really going to solve absolutely nothing, so with a deep breath the hybrid slumped onto his bed, next to his boyfriend. “Sorry...It’s just, you always said how you didn’t want to be a hero. How it comes with too much responsibility and didn’t fit with your routine. And yet, here you are. And you almost got hurt because of it. Because of—”

“Hiccup. Don’t.” 

Jack’s voice was enough to halt the words, but Hiccup didn’t think he could — wanted to — finish his sentence anyways. Instead he focused on how cool arms wrapped around him, and he leaned into the touch. 

“Look, Hiccup," Jack began as he laid his head on a still scale-covered shoulder, soft puffs of breath hitting Hiccup’s neck that managed to relax him further. “Not everything is your fault. You didn’t force me to put on a suit and fly up there, alright? Don’t start blaming yourself for silly things. I know what I said before, but I really did want to do this. It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Because we talked about this. You don’t need to become a hero just because you have powers. No one would hold it against you.” And Hiccup would personally fight anyone who tries.

“I know. But you’ve been hurt countless time these past months. And I decided I rather be out there cover your back whenever Toothless can’t.”

“Jack...” Because Hiccup didn’t want Jack to become a hero just for him. Doing this was his choice, and any injury was just an occupational hazard. 

“But that isn’t all,” Jack interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about joining you for a while, anyways. It wasn’t just an on the spot decision. Why do you think I had North’s costume at hand? Yeah, I didn’t really want to become a hero for the longest time. But, that was more because of other...things. You know that.”

Yeah, Hiccup knew alright. Thinking about that ‘incident’ that Jack told him about, that one day that basically tore everything Jack held dear away from him, all because of some guy’s ego growing too big and — And Jack had every right to hate heroes. Hiccup has been there during the nights the other woke with a strangled scream, sweat matting his hair — sometimes white and sometimes brown — and yet here he was, still willing to become one. ( Hiccup couldn’t decide of it was heroically self-sacrificing or self-sacrificially stupid )

“Hey, come on. If you keep furrowing your eyebrows like that it’ll get stuck.” And despite the show of nonchalance, the half-dragon could feel the slight tremors from the other and immediately wrapped his arms around Jack as well. “Let me finish. I’m okay, alright? It was a long time ago. A really long time ago...And, I’ve stopped associating heroes with that incident. For the most part anyways."

The shaking stopped and Hiccup couldn’t help the awe he felt even if he tried. 

“I probably hated heroes, no, I really did hate them. A lot. I had a lot of resentment and anger fester inside of me. But, not so much anymore.” And here Jack is smiling, in that way that never fails to steal Hiccup’s breath away, and cool lips pressed against his before widening once more. “I stopped hating heroes since getting to know you and Toothless. And besides, I’m not about to let one day rule my life forever. It sucks, but I’m just about over it. And I'm terrible at staying out of the way, anyways.”

The look that Jack was giving him was sincere, and honestly, it wasn’t all that surprising. Jack has been helping people one way or another since before they met, only without an alter ego and a fancy costume. Hiccup just didn’t expect that last line to ever be crossed.

Still, becoming a hero suited Jack well. “Okay. Okay, fine. Just, tell me if it gets to be too much, okay?”

“Deal.”

And surely there would be troubles later, because no matter what the other said it was clear that not all shadows were cast completely away, but they could deal with all that when it came. It’ll all turn out alright.

But, there was one issue unresolved... “Now...about this name that North came up with...”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Immediately arms retracted and Jack made a pretty impressive show of being busy with his phone — if the screen wasn’t still black.

“Come on, Jack. Just tell me.” Tugging away the phone was all too easy, even as Hiccup was having a bit of trouble not shaking with laughter.

“Really. No idea. Nope. Nothi—”

“Jack!” That wasn’t either of them and suddenly Hiccup’s bedroom door swung open and a man larger-than-life entered with a newspaper in hand.

“Oh no.”

North paid no mind to the ice wielder's dread, and he waved the newspaper around like a trophy. “I heard great news! You a superhero now, congratulations, Jack Frost!” 

“North!” Blue eyes only spared a second to glare at Hiccup as he snickered, before turning back to the newcomer. “I told you I won’t be using that name! I’m not going to be named after the guy known for nipping noses! And it’s too close to my real one, don’t you think that people will make the connection?”

The last point was possibly a fairly good argument, but North just steamrolled over it in his typical fashion. “Ah, but it is not just me! Reporter called you Jack Frost and it is all over paper!”

“What?”

The paper was ripped out of North’s hands and Jack read over the contents before groaning loudly. “He really did call me Jack Frost! He decided to name me Jack Frost! Who wrote this? Thinking he can go around handing out names, just who—” 

“...”

“...Jack?” The abrupt way the other cut off was slightly concerning, but before Hiccup could reach out the newspaper was flung into the air in a flurry of movement.

“The Moon?! Who uses ‘The Moon’ as their pen name??? Who does The Moon think he is?!”

[alchemine]

Downton crackfic

Late last night while discussing the “will they kiss” question regarding Baxter and Molesley with nevermore191, I thought:

what if they were about to kiss, and then some accident stopped them?

what if one of them fell down a manhole and died?

what if a pterodactyl swooped down from the sky and carried Molesley away?

and then this happened. 

As she watches the pterodactyl disappear over the horizon, with a kicking, struggling Molesley dangling from its claws, Miss Baxter is horrified, but not really surprised. She’s always known that as a former convict, she doesn’t deserve to be happy. She just never expected happiness to be literally snatched from her arms by a giant flying predator.

She goes back to the house and reports what has happened to Mrs Hughes, who asks Mr Carson if he doesn’t think they ought to inform Lord Grantham. 

Carson harrumphs. “I wouldn’t want to bother his Lordship with this. I think it would be much simpler just to hire another footman. It isn’t as if they’re hard to come by." 

This makes Phyllis burst into tears, and Mrs Hughes pats her kindly on the shoulder while glaring at Mr Carson. "There, there, Miss Baxter. We’ll get Mr Molesley back for you." 

"Leave it to Molesley to get himself captured by a pterodactyl,” Thomas says, rolling his eyes.

“Aren’t pterodactyls extinct?” Daisy asks Mrs Patmore.

“If they’re not now, they soon will be,” Mrs Patmore says grimly. She brushes some flour from her apron, hefts her largest rolling pin, and smacks it into her free hand a couple of times as if testing its usefulness as a weapon. “Come along, Daisy. If the men won’t help, we’ll just have to do this ourselves.”

“Look after things while we’re gone, will you?” Mrs Hughes says to Mr Carson.

“Whatever will I tell the family?" 

"You could try the truth,” Mrs Hughes suggests.

“What, that Mr Molesley has been abducted by a Cretaceous-era winged reptile, and you, Miss Baxter, Mrs Patmore and Daisy are off to find its nest and take him back?” Carson clutches his head as if his brain hurts. “No thank you. I’ll think of something." 

"You can add me to that list,” Anna says, appearing from the boot room. “I’m going too, obviously." 

"What? No! You’re too delicate for such things, my angel.” Bates, who has been absorbed in yesterday’s newspaper until now, throws it down on the table and struggles to his feet. “You must stay here so I can watch your every move in an adoring and somewhat creepy fashion. Molesley isn’t worth it." 

"Don’t be ridiculous, Mr Bates. Mr Molesley is nice, even if he did try to seduce me with a book that one time in 1921. Of course we can’t let him be eaten by a pterodactyl." 

"No, of course not,” Thomas says. Everyone turns to look at him, and he adds, “It couldn’t possibly be good for the poor pterodactyl. Won’t someone think of her in all this?" 

"Oh, shut up, Thomas,” Phyllis says through her tears, and on that note the rescue party, minus Anna, sets out to search for the dread raptor’s nest.

Molesley, for his part, is lying on his back at the bottom of that nest, staring at the sky, and bemoaning how his lifelong bad luck seems to have turned fatal. There he’d been, about to finally kiss a woman for the first time (and maybe more than that? possibly? he thought things had been headed in that direction, at any rate) and now here he is, waiting for the moment when he becomes a pterodactyl’s lunch. Or its dinner. Or something. He isn’t quite certain what time it is. He could be on the menu for afternoon tea, between the tiny sandwiches and the iced cakes.

“Why me?” he groans aloud. 

He finds that it feels good to vent his self-pity to the universe, and he’s just about to do it again when a grappling hook comes flying over the side of the nest and embeds itself barely an inch from his leg. A moment later, Mrs Hughes’ face appears, looking stern.

“Really, Mr Molesley,” she says. “This has been very inconvenient.” 

“I’ll say,” says Mrs Patmore, appearing beside her. “For goodness’ sake, man, stop lolling about and come with us. Don’t you know when you’re being rescued?” 

“Is he all right?” Phyllis’s voice says faintly from somewhere below them, and at that, Molesley leaps up. 

“Miss Baxter!”

“Well, that got him moving,” Mrs Patmore says with a rather dirty chuckle. “Come on up and see for yourself, Miss Baxter. Daisy, give her a boost, will you?” 

“All right,” Daisy says even more faintly. “Ouch! Don’t stand on my head like that, Miss Baxter, I’m not a stepladder.” 

Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore reach down with an arm each and haul Phyllis up until she emerges into view as well, a bit mussed and dirty, but a very welcome sight for Molesley, who until this moment was quite certain he’d never see her again. He wonders if now would be a good time to finish their interrupted kiss, but decides that Mrs Hughes probably won’t allow it.

“I’m so happy to see you,” he says instead.

Phyllis bestows a smile on him that warms him through and through. “I’m happy to see you too, but I think we’d better hurry up and go before the pterodactyl comes back, don’t you?” 

“Yes, let’s do that,” says the still-invisible Daisy, distantly.

“Come on, Mrs Patmore, let’s get him out,” Mrs Hughes says. “Miss Baxter, you and Daisy go down first and wait for us at the bottom of the cliff. We’ll reunite you and Mr Molesley more thoroughly soon enough. Ugh! This nest smells terrible.” 

“I think it’s stuck together with pterodactyl droppings,” Molesley says, letting them pull him up onto the edge. Below, he sees the same fifty-foot drop that prevented him from escaping before, only now in addition to the rope and hook, there are spikes driven into the cliff face, leading up to a narrow ledge below the nest where the four women have apparently been taking turns standing. 

“I hate to ask,” he begins.

“But where did we get mountain-climbing equipment?” Mrs Hughes says. “And when did we learn how to use it?”

“Well, yes.”  

“Best just to accept it, Mr Molesley,” Mrs Patmore advises him. “Careful on those spikes, now. If we don’t have any accidents, we may still get home in time for dinner.” 

[bluebird167]

The Wizard of Miracula

Chapter 6

The two friends walked further on into a small wood where they were unknowingly being watched by Antibug. She had planned on jumping the innocent girl once she was alone in the woods but now that she had Cat Noir with her, her plan would require some set backs.

Growl!

“What was that?” Cat Noir asked.

“My stomach. I guess I’m little hungry.” Marinette said.

She then spotted a few apple trees, she hungrily went over to the first tree and picked an apple. But the tree smacked it out of her hand.

“Ouch!” She said.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The tree asked angrily.

“Well I was hungry and- did you say something?”

“She was hungry.” The tree mocked.

“She was hungry.” Another one mocked.

“How would you like it if someone came along and picked something off of you?”

“Oh dear. I keep forgetting I’m not in France anymore.” Marinette said.

“Come along Marinette.” Cat Noir said. “You don’t want any of those apples. Ick!”

“Are you hinting my apples aren’t what they ought to be?” The tree asked getting more angry.

“Oh no. It’s just that she doesn’t like little green worms.”

“Worms! Oh you!”

The tree tried to grab Marinette but Cat Noir smacked him away and pushed her to the side.

“I’ll show you how to get apples.” He whispered. He then stuck his tongue out at the trees and began mocking them. “Yeah you’ve got worms alright! And caterpillars! And wood lice! And I bet your apples are rotten too! Rotten to the core!”

“Why you smug little- give it to him boys!”

The trees began throwing apples at him. He got knocked over a few times but it didn’t hurt.

“How do you like them apples?” One tree asked.

“We like them just fine thank you.” He said catching them. “Suckers! Help yourself milady.”

“Do all trees talk here?”

“Just the ones with bad attitudes.”

He handed her an apple and put the rest in her basket. One apple fell out and rolled to the other side. When Marinette went to retrieve it she found that it had stopped at what appeared to be a tin foot followed by a tin leg and a whole tin body. It was a man and every part of his body was tin except for his hair which was red and his eyes which were turquoise. He reminded her of Nathaniel minus the tin body and face. He wore a dark blue suit and was holding up an axe that looked very old. He appeared stiff, as if he couldn’t move.

“Cat Noir! Look at this!” Marinette called.

He hurried toward her and looked at the tin man.

“Mmmph.” It squeaked. “Mmmph.”

“Did you just speak?” Marinette asked it.

“Mmmm.”

“He says oil can.” Marinette guessed.

“Oil can what?” Adrien asked.

She then saw a small oil can on a tree stump.

“Where do you want it first?” She asked grabbing it.

“Mmmmph! Mmmm!”

“He said his mouth.” Cat Noir squirted his tin lips with the oil can.

The tin man moved his lips and began to speak.

“Muh…muh…my goodness.” He said. “I can talk again. Oil my arms, my elbows, please.”

Marinette did that and his arm holding the axe fell.

“Does that hurt?” She asked.

“No it feels wonderful! I’ve held that axe up for ages.”

“How on earth did you get this way?”

“About a year ago I fell in love with this winkie girl shy but very beautiful like you.” Marinette giggled, Cat Noir rolled his eyes.

“She had long black hair highlighted with violet and the most lovely eyes.” He said. “We were gonna get married but her mother didn’t like me so she paid Vanisher the wicked witch of the East to take away my heart so I couldn’t love and then turned all the rest of my organs aside from my hair and eyes into tin.”

“How awful.”

“It gets worse. Because I couldn’t love anymore and because I wasn’t a man anymore I didn’t see myself worthy enough to be her husband so I went off live out my days as a woodsman and I never saw her again.”

“But when did the whole you couldn’t move thing kick in?” Cat Noir asked.

“Well one day while I was chopping that tree it started to rain. I rusted solid and I’ve been that way ever since.”

“Oh you poor thing.” Marinette said.

“Yeah it’s sad.” He said. “But where are my manners? I should introduce myself before I go any further. My name is etain bleu that means blue tin but you can just call me etain.”

“Well the tin I get but why do the blue?” Cat Noir asked.

“Don’t know, maybe because these blue clothes were the only thing that could fit me or maybe because I’m feeling blue everyday.”

“I’m Marinette and this is Cat Noir. We’re very sorry this happened to you.”

“That makes you the first, most of the time nobody cares about a emotionless hunk of junk like me.”

“Well we’re not like that, are we kitty?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Thank you both for what you’ve done but I should be going.” Etain said.

“To where?” Marinette asked.

“I don’t know. Probably to chop another tree.”

“You mean to sulk again?” Cat Noir said. “That’s a dumb way to live.”

“Hush!” Marinette scolded. “Why don’t you go back to that girl? I’m sure she misses you terribly.”

“But what will she say when she sees me like this? And how could I possibly love her now that my heart is gone?”

“Well we’re going to see the wizard of Miracula who can help us I’m sure he could get back your heart or give you a new one.”

“Suppose he wouldn’t?”

“Oh but he must. We’ve come such a long way already.”

Suddenly the air was filled with a horrible cackle that made the three of them jumped to their feet. Standing on top of a tree was Antibug.

“You call that long?! Why you’ve just begun.” She screeched. “Helping the little lady along are you my fine gentlemen? Well stay away from her! Or I’ll stuff a mattress with you!” She pointed to Cat Noir. “And you!” She said pointing to Etain. “I’ll use you for a bee hive!”

“Who are you anyway?!” Cat Noir asked feeling annoyed.

“Antibug! The wicked witch!”

“Of the east?”

“The west! You fool! I’m much prettier than my sister was.”

“Your sister must’ve been quite a looker!”

“Cat Noir don’t.” Marinette said.

“Better listen to the girl straw man! If you know what’s good for you!”

“Why? You don’t scare me!”

“In that case, here scarecrow wanna play ball?”

With that said she threw a fire ball straight at him. Cat Noir dropped to the ground and desperately tried to get away from the flame.

“Fire!” He shouted. “Get it away! Get it away! I’m burning!”

Etain quickly snuffed it out. Antibug cackled and vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked helping him up.

“Yeah.”

“Now she’s really mad.” She sighed. “You two better get out of here and forget you ever saw me unless you want a witch after you.”

“Never.” Cat Noir said brushing himself off. “"I’m not afraid of her, you’re my friend and I won’t leave you no matter what she does. Stuff a mattress with me, humph! Go on and ride your broom ya old snake!”

“I’ve heard things about her.” Etain said. “Or at least things Vanisher told me before she turned me into this and they weren’t nice. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her do anything to you. Bee hive, bah! Let her try and make a bee hive out of me! I’ll bet she eats nails for breakfast.”

“Oh you guys are the best friends a girl could have.” Marinette giggled. “But you don’t have to do this really, she’s my problem.”

“True but you helped us with our problems.” Etain protested.

“We’re just returning the favor milady.” Cat Noir said. “Because that’s what friends do.”

“Thank you, you really are wonderful.” Marinette said. “You know what’s funny you both seem very familiar to me. Which is strange because before today I never knew any of you.”

“I don’t know maybe you saw me hanging around another field?” Cat Noir suggested.

“And maybe you saw me when I was human.” Etain said.

“No it’s not that it’s…it’s hard to explain. Well never mind that now, let’s get going.”

“Right.” They said.

[wetlaprasfanfiction]

Period Drama - Chapter Two.

This story was born on a very bad day in August 2017. In this story I’m exploring an issue that has plagued me since my teens. This issue has stolen many days of my life.

I actually felt a LOT like this when I wrote this and it really sucks. I was stuck in bed for two days. You could call it a creative outlet for a lot of frustration!. This has been pretty much me every month since I ‘started’, minus having the lovely Daryl to look after me of course!

I hope you enjoy this self-centred little number.

Category hurt/comfort/romance

Takes place at the farm just after Sophia is found among the walkers in the barn and Daryl gets hurt looking for her.  

This chapter is rated T, language etc, I will rate each chapter accordingly.

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own The Walking Dead, this is for entertainment purposes only.

When morning arrived, I woke up slowly, pain still gnawing at me like some kind of creature with huge scratchy claws was trying to escape from my lower abdomen. Daryl was already awake and was just looking at me with those huge blue eyes of his. I winced as pain tore through me once again. 'This was going to be a very long day' I told myself silently. 'Looks like you're still hurtin' pretty bad' Daryl's gruff voice broke the silence. 'Yeah, the pain is still really bad, I dare not even try to stand up yet' I replied. 'I'll help you, just take it slow and you'll be fine hun' Daryl did his best to reassure me.

'You need anything just ask ok?' Daryl said as he turned towards me a bit more and started massaging my sore lower abdominal area again. 'Could you give me a hand to the bathroom please?' I asked. 'Yeah, sure, just lemme get my slippers on', Daryl spoke so softly to me, it was almost as if he reserved this quiet, soothing tone just for me, because I'd never heard him speak to anyone else in the group this way.

He fidgeted and whimpered ‘ah! ow!’ as moved ready to stand up, ‘you ok?’ I asked. ‘Side’s hurtin’ a bit that’s all’. ‘Sorry hun’ I told him, knowing what it was like to be in a crap load of pain. I knew mine wouldn’t last though, Daryl would probably hurt for a good few more days yet. Poor Daryl had gotten himself a nasty injury and if hospitals had still existed he would certainly have been in one for a while. I shuddered as I recalled the sight of Daryl’s limp body being carried into the house by Rick and Shane. I honestly thought I’d lost him. The moments as the center of my world was carried unconscious into the house had been the most difficult moments of my life aside from discovering all my remaining family had joined the ranks of the undead not so long ago. I stayed with Daryl in Hershel’s house that night in a chair next to his bed and held his hand until the dawn light woke him from his fitful, drug induced sleep. ‘You’re gonna be okay sweetheart’ I told his sleeping form as I gently brushed a few stray strands of hair from his face. My heart add taken another bashing when T Dog had run towards us with Sophia’s doll that Daryl had dropped after Andrea’s bullet clipped him. Was this a sign of hope or yet more sadness?. I had been wondering how I could personally thank Hershel for saving Daryl that fateful day.

Daryl crawled out of the tent and stood up.

I sat up as best as I could and crawled outside too on my hands and knees. Daryl approached me with his arms outstretched and I placed my hands into his. He slowly helped me to stand and once I stood up I swayed a bit, I felt awful, he wrapped his arm around my middle and we slowly walked towards the bathroom.

Pain struck again like an angry bolt of lightning. My legs wobbled under me and I began to feel really dizzy again. I leaned onto Daryl to steady myself. 'Oh sweetie, it's okay, I’ve got you' Daryl's soft voice said. I could see he was grimacing from the pain in his side as he put all his energy into holding me up. I felt awful, almost as if I were directly hurting the poor guy.

We made it to the bathroom, Daryl waited outside for me as I cleaned up. Once I was done, he placed his arm around my middle again and we headed back to the tent. He helped me back into bed and pulled the blanket back around me. It was about 8am and he headed off to let the others know I wasn't well enough for much today, they knew I'd collapsed last night and all asked Daryl how I was doing.

He’d told them I was pretty unwell, in pain and exhausted. I’d asked him to tell them all why if he wanted, in the hopes it would make them all reconsider any temptation to make any cruel jibes or jokes. I wasn’t up to that today.

He returned to the tent a few minutes later and slid into bed beside me. I was laying on my back trying to push the pain down. For a moment he just looked at me, those big blue eyes gazed at me like sapphires. I could see pain etched onto his face, pain that would plague him until his wounds healed. He shifted a bit closer, laying on his right side and placing his left hand onto my face and slowly stroking my hair and running his rough fingers across my face, fingers hardened by years of pulling bowstrings.

'I'm sorry' I said sadly as I gazed back into Daryl's eyes. 'I feel so weak and useless. I've always had huge problems with this' tears began to form in the corners of my eyes. 'Hey, it's okay sweetie, it's not your fault, you can't control these things' he said, his hand now moving down my arm. He leaned over me and kissed me slowly on the lips, his long hair brushed my face. I kissed him back and we put our arms around each other.

This blissful moment had distracted me from the gnawing in my stomach. The pain was building up into a violent crescendo again. 'Ouch! Ugh!' I whimpered as the pain seared through me like a white hot flash. I grimaced, trying to push it down. '

‘I can't lie here all day' I said to Daryl. 'Oh you can and you will, the last thing we want is for you to collapse again'. He said as he pulled the blanket over me, ' I’ll be back in a few ‘. As Daryl left the tent, I turned over to lay on my front, pulling my right leg up a bit and placing a pillow against my side, trying to reduce the pain. I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting back to sleep.

It felt like I’d only just fallen asleep when I felt him sit down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Here, try to eat this’ Daryl said as he presented me with a bowl of warm porridge oats. Once I’d done eating I handed Daryl the bowl back and lay back down.

‘I need to go hunt this morning' Daryl said, 'I'll not be too long, but we need the meat'. 'Ok, I’ll be ok’ I said. 'Don't you be going anywhere, you should rest now' Daryl said as he gathered up his crossbow, bolts and knife. 'So should you' I told Daryl, you’re hurt, you’re going to get even more hurt if you don’t take it a bit slower for a bit and let your body heal'.

'Gotta hunt, we need the meat' Daryl said. 'Ok but please be careful, I’m not losing you Daryl, I love you' I told him. ‘I’ll be fine’ he assured me. This was Daryl Dixon, yes, he’d be fine.

‘Help me outside' I asked Daryl quietly as he leaned over the tent's tiny doorway. 'I really think you should lie down' he said back. 'I will but I want to sit outside for a bit, just till you get back from hunting'. 'Ok' he said as he reached his hands towards me, knowing better than to argue with me.

I grabbed his hands and he helped me stand up. I still felt terrible. Once I was standing up I slumped against his body, slung my arms around his waist, put my head against his chest and closed my eyes as he hugged me. I felt his hand on the back of my neck as he kissed me slowly on the lips.

'Here, lay here for a bit, he pulled one of the loungers over to me. I lay down, the sound of morning birdsong filled my ears as Daryl draped one of our blankets over me and kissed the top of my head. 'I love you he told me, 'I love you too' I responded. This was our simple ritual before we parted or engaged in trips into the dangerous post-apocalyptic world. I love you more than you will ever know Daryl Dixon, more than your own waste of space family ever did I’m sure, I thought to myself.

Daryl had asked the others to keep an eye on me while he went hunting. Hershel walked over to me and asked how I felt now.

'I feel awful, so fucking tired and weak, in so much pain', I told him, my voice starting to crack slightly as tears welled in the corners of my eyes. 'This thing makes me feel so useless'. Hershel took my right hand into his and began to tell me how his wife Patricia had very similar issues relating to period cycles. She would get pretty sick with it, and sometimes be unable to get out of bed on bad days.

‘Daryl’s amazing isn’t he, I’ve seen how he cares so much about you' Hershel said in a very matter of fact tone. 'I'd be dead if it were not for Daryl, I love that man with every last cell in my body’ I told Hershel.

 'I wish he’d stay put, he hasn’t given himself the time his body needs to heal properly' I told Hershel. 'When he gets back from hunting I want check his wounds' Hershel said, ' please ask him to be honest about his pain levels too' I asked Hershel. ' He’s been fidgeting a lot in the night and whimpering in his sleep’ I told Hershel, I think he’s hurting a lot more than he wants to let on’ I said'. 'I offered him something to help his pain, but he refused, said pain meds make him drowsy and he needs to be alert and able to fight if he needs to'. Hershel told me. 'That's my Daryl through and through' I said back, 'I'll have a word, see if I can get him to accept something tonight'.

 Hershel sat with me for a few minutes. 'This will be the death of me' I said to him, 'when I need to run from a bunch of walkers, I’ll collapse unconscious instead, I hope I stay unconscious while they eat me alive' I said. 'Either that or I’ll get bit and Daryl will have the job of putting me down' I said to Hershel.

 ‘I’ll be my luck I’ll get my fucking period the same time a huge herd rolls through'.

 ‘Less of that’ Hershel said, 'Daryl needs you, we all do. You have a hell of a lot in common with Daryl, more than you think. You're just as intelligent and resourceful as he is, you're both natural born survivors' Hershel said to me, his voice as stoic and calm as usual. 'No matter what happens to you and this world, I can absolutely promise you that Daryl will never, ever let anything like that happen to you'.

Eagerly awaiting chapter three? It won’t be long! :D