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nyantry · 3 months ago

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"If I say something, do I get to see something?" He joked, but nodded. "I'll let you know if anything."

Dmitry took the coins, stacking and unstacking them, rearranging them just to keep his hands busy while Nico asked his questions. He noticed how Nico kept touching him in some way or another and scooted closer so there was less space between the two of them. His own energy compounded with Nico's anxious worrying, and Dmitry found himself flagging Jeff down for refills and to order that cocktail he'd wanted earlier. Jeff did his job and promptly left the two alone again, not forgetting that they had asked for privacy.

"I know you can shoot without killing," he whispered, queuing Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi, followed by a few other songs from his usual 80s rotation. "You should teach me, or Nova can teach me, whatever," he ate another mozzarella stick, "but that's not the point. I know you can do that, it just wouldn't have been—" Satisfying. It wouldn't have been satisfying. It really was the heart of what Nico was asking, wasn't it? What were you after? What satisfies you? What went wrong? These were not easy questions to answer, though the answers themselves were simple. He looked at Nico's chilly-blue eyes, remembering that one poem:

I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.

If there was one thing Dmitry knew how to do, other than love, it was to hate — despite his reluctance to admit it. Both emotions came from the same intense passion with which he viewed the world. They were simply flipsides. It wasn't that love and hate were opposites; he did not believe that. But love and hate were the same thing, approached differently. Dmitry knew, as quiet as he held onto it, how to hate. He knew how to deal in ice.

Still in a whisper, only for Nico to hear, and for Nico to hear it better, he continued. "Anyway, it depends." He kissed Nico with a giggle, emotions all over the place, erratic. "I didn't really think shit through, I think, I didn't, like, not like I shoulda done anyway, that's why— I'm really not sure what I thought I was gonna do but normally I'm a lot less like that about it, I mean the only reason you know is cause I told you and no one's caught me, I'm careful. Sometimes I talk to them, sometimes I don't bother, but if they realize they're in trouble, they always start saying shit. Why do you ask?"

Still, he didn't wait for an answer to that. "None of them ever answer why, like... The one question, and yeah I can think of any number of reasons, starting with they obviously like the fact that someone's suffering at their expense, but still, I don't... I don't get it. I guess I just wanna understand why. Some of them, I ask. Others, I don't even bother, not everyone's got useful answers and I don't always feel like talking to them anyway. I either get rid of them, or sometimes I just want— They deserve to suffer, they deserve every second of it. They deserve more than I'm willing to do, even I have lines I won't cross, even I have things I won't do, but they deserve what they get, and worse. Sometimes, I just. Shoot." He held a finger gun to Nico's temple, looking at him intensely and with his lips pulling into a grin. "That's how I killed my father."

He dropped the finger gun and looked around at the other tables, assessing how many people had come and gone since they'd arrived at Jeff's bar. Then he kept talking.

"Other times I make them beg. Take them away somewhere they can scream without being heard, somewhere they won't be found in this century, and take my sweet time. I like knives, but... I've tried different things. It's strange how much you can get away with before it's actually deadly. This one deserved something more like that, long and slow, and painful. I can't do it like this, though, it's gonna have to wait, and that's worse. I might have to just shoot him, after all."

He was angry. Nico's unspoken guess was right, too. Dmitry was avoiding retelling the words because the words had triggered the PTSD and that had been what caught him off-guard. It made his blood boil that something so simple could fuck shit up that bad. That's what he had been stewing about before calling Nico.

It was personal, too. The general idea he'd been conveying without saying it in such exact words was that it was personal, and it was revenge. He could give any number of excuses, and it could fulfill any number of purposes —even God-give ones, as Sammy had suggested previously— but ultimately, it was very personal. This was his way of getting the upper hand and trying to reclaim something he couldn't quite put a word to, something he'd felt had been forcefully ripped away from him and never returned. In speaking, he had said a lot of nothing, sparing details because he felt so intensely the actual emotions behind what he was trying to describe he'd do. Nico was right, Dmitry still had fight mode in his veins, and he wasn't able to filter much through that. He was also bitten by the intensity. Half of him wanted nothing more than to ditch the conversation and tend to the seemingly more urgent need for fucking Nico and expending all that energy that was keeping him uncomfortable with sitting still for so long. The other half wanted to screw it all, find the asshole that had gotten away, and make him pay. He was willing to die for it.

"So it depends. You could help me," he offered. "Or you could distract me. You're good at that too," he pointed out.

"I will take that raincheck."

As for his ribs and him saying it hurt to breathe Nico hemhawed his head back and forth. "We'll just keep an eye on it. If it starts to get worse just say something." They were more die and start over people than treat and save this body people, so Nico more just wanted to be on alert.

"I would. I'd wear the Croc Martins for you."

Nico swiped one cheese stick from the plate when it arrived munched while he settled in. "Oh, Ripley. Good one." He was impressed with that idea on the spot. Then he fished around in his pocket for more juke box money while Dmitry told his tale.

Nico listened. Basically he was getting the stake out wasn't too planned. He approached at random and winged it. Nico was a little disappointed Dmitry left out the dialogue. Just because asshole talk was bullshit didn't mean Nico wasn't curious how the negotiations for the actual altercations went down. Suffering as far as he was concerned usually wasn't in the physical. Dmitry even explained a gunshot would be too nice. Nico was more of mind game person but he also knew Dmitry's end goal. So, he was trying to understand what Dmitry's goals were since he never got to witness this stuff. Was it going to be slow and intense physical torture or what?

He liked the moment the guy realized Dmitry knew what he'd done. He liked the idea of picturing the guy's shocked face. Nico wished he knew details of the conversation. All the vagueness was diluting the story just a bit but he understood his partner's mind was still fired and fresh on fight. Dmitry was in fight mode. He was tuning everything else out.

"So hivebrain got the drop on you with a pair of kicks and ran." He shrugged. It sounded about right to him. That's what a good heel on a boot was for.

He did want Dmitry to understand. "Damn babe. There's more than one way to use a weapon though." He shook his head at the whole concept of a bullet being too merciful. He was sure that point of view was missing the point of having the weapon. "You don't have to use it for the killshot. That's what Mom used to train us to do. Our drills were to learn to gain control of a situation or incapacitate. You put someone in a check. Then you can play with your food all you want. Not saying you have to, just saying if you want to learn the Nova method, I got you covered."

He still believed a weapon would have done him some good. However, he wasn't the sort to linger on the shoulda, woulda, couldas. He was more about what Dmitry needed now.

"So, okay explain to me something just so I understand the goal. Do you talk to them at all? What kind of shit does hivebrain say? Or do you just try to get them alone to kill them slowly? How much torture are we talking? Because this seemed like you just pinned him against the wall with no weapons, so when you say a gunshot would be to nice for him, what kind of ends are usual punishment for this assholery of a crime? How drawn out are these deaths? Do you drag them to a designated location? Or what?" He kept lowering his voice not that anyone was listening. "But it sounds like you're insinuating you're doing more than just eliminating them from repeat offending."

He wondered if questions like this is why Dmitry never talked about it. Maybe hivebrain triggered his ptsd? But, Nico was just trying to a full grasp on what was actually happening on usual hits, versus this hit gone wrong, versus an ideal hit.

"Sorry, not trying to make you relive too much. Just trying to grasp here."

He kept swinging his feet under the table and rubbing his ankle against Dmitry's and leaning his calf against him. Throughout the talk Nico would do that, keep finding ways to stay connected. If his leg moved off a hand might move across and touch a wrist to make up for it, or a palm on the back of his shoulder blade. He was always doing things like wiping the water ring if Dmitry moved the glass on the table to make sure his space was clear and tidy.

#iconoclast infidels

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tragicsbled · 3 years ago

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⸻　⅋ * live life with 𝙽𝙾 𝙵𝙴𝙰𝚁 [ . . . ] except for the 𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑨 .

◜ * : dominic fike . cis male & he/him . life on mars? by david bowie . ━━ the legend surrounding london’s l’academiae furorum would not be complete without VINICO ‘ NICO ’ BISHOP . the academy's TWENTY FIVE year old SET DESIGNER has been with furore for THREE YEARS , oft described as BLITHE , ESTHETIC , DISORGANISED , IDIOSYNCRATIC & has proved utterly indispensable to the company. in passing , they’ve come to be associated with PALMED HERBAL CIGARETTES, BLENDED WITH SMOKY WOODS AND CHEST, A SENSE OF EASE WELCOMES YOU & growing up listening to rock for as long as you can remember; teenhbood is bled red , there’s an artistic maddening to your ideas; dreams; aspirations —— is it true that an artist’s purpose is to suffer? a nihilist walking through a sea of optimists but hold so much admiration for the beauty in the world , how you ended up where you are is one of the world’s own mysteries; it’s hard to say you don’t stand out amongst others

◜ * : PROFILE

full name. vinico bishop. nicknames. only goes by nico, vinico was used by his grandmother. date of birth. first of june, 1997. place of birth. naples , florida. sexuality. open, doesn’t label it. occupation. l’academiae furorum set designer. height. five foot, eleven inches. eyes. hazy dark brown, often with a tinge of high ( high on life, of course ! ). hair. bleach blonde with natural inherited curls, sometimes shaves and dyes it bright colours depending on the mood. tattoos. a small apple tattoo under his eye, a few on his arm and a portrait of his favourite artist on his hand ( see here ) piercings. ears. parents. roberto bishop ( father ) , maria bishop ( mother ) significant others. none. pets. none.

◜ * : BIOGRAPHY

triggers: death , cancer , parental abandonment , drinking / smoking benders

A SIGN FROM HELL BELOW, nico was born to be something of a problematic child. the day of his birth, a hurricane had begun to take form on the coast as he bellowed in his mother’s frail arms. a matrimony between an optimist and a pessimist, both took it as a sign of what was yet to come.

NOT MUCH IS PROMISED in florida for nico; he’s loud, reckless and so eager to question everything, the kid is anything but easy to handle. it was rare to see the two together at home, both of nico’s parents working overtime to handle their finanical failures from a life before. his father spent early mornings and late afternoons out in the florida sun, working as a contractor for a company that leapt through loopholes to underpay workers. while nico’s mother worked as a waitress, spending nights on the graveyard shift and mornings painting to distract both herself and her child.

IT ISN’T UNTIL MIDDLE SCHOOL where things take a bitter turn. nico is found with a rough crowd — minor stealing and early age smoking to prove he wasn’t some kind of coward ( god forbid, how temperamental a growing male’s ego is ). parents were late to meetings with teachers and counselling, absent from nights brought home by the local officer — too busy with work and bills to properly reprimand his reckless soul.

NICO IS DECLARED AS A BURDEN, a johnny rotten that needed guidance. a reluctant plea, the teen was sent packing to london to live with his grandmother ( an act of betrayal by his father, like saturn refusing to devour his son ) with the hopes of some kind of miracle. his grandmother was no saint, like anyone in his family could truthfully qualify, the first time he meets the elusive figure is with a hug and a sharp smack in the back of the head.

LONDON WAS SUPERBLY DIFFERENT TO FLORIDA, nico found himself floating between friend crowds and spending time in his room filling the void with weed, and stolen alcohol. but at such a young age, tough love from his grandmother slowly swallowed him whole. nights were spent less running away from police and more with his grandmother at work — banging hammers and drilling nails into set pieces. she had a feeling the same kind of cynicism that ran through her son’s blood ran through nico’s, and she could’ve been more right.

LATE INTO THE NIGHTS, his grandmother often snuck him into her workplace and helped finish set pieces that she couldn’t do by herself ( there was very little she could do, really ). a single cigarette dangling from her lips, nico watched with an unfamiliar kind of admiration for the woman — a feeling he rarely held for authoritative figures, but as he grew older the two grew closer. if only she stayed for longer.

A PART OF NICO DIED THE SAME DAY SHE DID. lowered into the ground with rain spilling from the sky, cancer, they said. some kind of complicated medical term married with the label terminal. she hadn’t had much longer to live, the same kind of kick nico had was dying in her. a few unfamiliar faces showed up to the funeral, the entire attendance wearing suits and dresses that hung with skeletons in closets. nico had never so alone, and had never felt so angry towards his own absent parents.

BEING RECOGNISED AS AN ADULT, there was very little that he could besides live. nico couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments of his grandmother’s home and watched the bank claim it all. his parents hardly spoke back to him whenever he tried to call, blaming timezones and work being unbearable. for a few months, nico went on benders to numb the feelings that strangled him — working jobs as a bartender as a quick way to alcohol and drugs, becoming close friends with the dealer on the corner, couch surfing until he was more of a parasite than a friend.

AT TWENTY ONE, realisation hits on the first anniversary of her death. sitting alone with a bottle in one hand a pack of her favourites in the other. it’s something of a mix between liquid courage, a little misery and desperation for something more — an echo of her voice reminding him there is beauty in nihilism. it certainly helps to have connections and the ability to lie, but like the principal dancers and corps, nico pulls his finest performance and earns a job as a set designer at l’academiae furorum.

#furore.intro #˛ * ♡ 𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘 —— v bishop.

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happyandticklish · 4 years ago

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Take A Break

Notes: For the ask by @ticklish-sidekick who requested a Percy and Nico fic. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: Nico needs to take a break, but is being stubborn as usual. Luckily, Percy knows just how to handle obstinate demigods.

“Hya!”

Nico lunged forward suddenly, his sword clashing with Percy’s. He grunted, attempting to untangle the block, but Percy was too quick for that. He brought their swords up suddenly, flinging the weapon from his hands. Emptyhanded, Nico dodged around Percy’s sides, attempting to wrestle the sword from him physically instead. Percy kicked his leg out from under him, causing the other to stumble and fall backwards onto the grassy field. Before Nico could regain his bearings he found a sword brandished neatly at his throat.

Nico swallowed, a hearty flush coloring his cheeks from the exercise. “Okay. You win.”

“Ah, you’ll get it next time. It just takes practice.” Percy lowered the sword, offering him a hand up. As Nico grasped his hand however, he jerked him forward suddenly and Percy yelped as he fell to the ground beside him.

“What were you saying?” Nico teased. Percy threw a handful of grass in his face, prompting the other to duck with an amused chuckle.

When Percy had first approached Nico about combat lessons, he had refused him. He figured he was already decent enough with a sword, and he had fought off enough gods and monsters to be fairly self-sufficient. Eventually though, after a humbling conversation with Hazel, he ended up taking him up on it.

He had quickly realized that it wasn’t just swordsmanship that Percy was offering to teach either, and soon Nico was learning different hand-to-hand combat maneuvers and sparring at least once a week with the other. It became almost a challenge for the two, each trying to come up with new strategies to best the other. It was fun. For the first time in a long while, Nico was genuinely enjoying himself.

As with most things though, he had thrown himself completely into it and found that he was quickly overextending himself with each session. Percy watched as Nico flopped down on the grass, throwing one arm across his face. He could see the rise and fall of his chest as the boy attempted to regain his breath and took in the other’s obviously sore features.

“Exhausted yet?” Percy questioned, raising an eyebrow. “You want to take a break?”

“Not on your life,” Nico mumbled through the skin of his arm. “I could do this forever.”

“Right...” Percy crossed his arms in skeptical disbelief. There was no way Nico could go another round, especially training as hard as he had been. Still, he knew that simply saying that to the boy would have the exact opposite effect. He had to make him come to the conclusion himself. As he watched him, splayed out and vulnerable on the grass, an idea on how to do just that slowly started to form in Percy’s mind.

“Another round, huh?” Percy repeated, leaning forward on one knee to smirk at the boy. “In that case, maybe we should take it up a notch. A new level of training, something you’ve never experienced before.”

A thrill of excitement and worry trilled through Nico’s spine at the words and he slowly removed his arm to give Percy a curious look. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s a surprise.” At Nico’s unimpressed glare, he quickly added, “It only works if you don’t know about it in advance. Trust me.”

“Trust you?” Nico scoffed, but he didn’t resist as Percy shifted to face him, grabbing both of his legs in an armlock. Experimentally, he tugged at his legs but found them to be truly stuck. Due to his playful and silly nature, Nico often forgot how strong Percy genuinely was after years of training. There was no way he was getting out of this.

Noticing the worried look on his face, Percy asked, “Nervous?”

Nico flushed, averting his gaze. It didn’t help that Percy’s physical proximity was doing strange things to his heart, either. “No, of course not. Bring it on.”

“Okay. Just remember that you asked for this.”

Percy’s other hand was obscured from Nico’s vision, so he was only able to watch in confusion as Percy readied his attack. One finger, quick and sudden, slid down the length of his left sole, and Nico was unable to stop his leg from jerking back at the touch.

“W-What the hell?” Nico asked uncertainly, but soon the finger continued, tracing soft and lazy spirals all over his soles. “P-Pfft, h-hey! Jahackson!”

“Hmm?” Percy shot him back an innocent glance. “What’s wrong? I thought you said you could handle it?”

“Y-Yeah, combat t-training,” Nico gritted out, stuttering over his words as he tried to hold back the laughter quickly bubbling up in his throat. “Nohot t—” he broke off suddenly, a blush spreading across his cheeks like wildfire. He cleared his throat, trying again. “Not tickling.”

“This is combat training. A form of it anyway.”

“T-Thihis isn’t trahaining! This is stuhupid!” A reluctant grin had begun to form across his features and Nico quickly covered it with one hand, using the other to prop himself up.

“It’s endurance training,” Percy corrected, changing tactics and scribbling all five fingers over his soles now. Nico choked over a laugh, attempting to cover it up as a cough. “You said you were up for the challenge. Maybe I was wrong though.” As he spoke, he spidered blunt nails all over the ball of his foot, causing Nico to squeak and fall back onto the grass, covering his face with both hands. “What do you think? Can the dark, ferocious ghost king not handle a couple of tickles?”

Nico tugged frantically at his legs, giggles spilling unwarranted from his lips. “Ihihihi cahahahan hahahahandle ahahanything—eep! Nohohoho, stahahahap!”

Percy scratched at the sensitive undersides of his toes, prompting the latter to go into a squirming, babbling fit. “How did I not know you were this ticklish? It’s adorable.”

“Nohohoho ihihit’s nahahahat!” Nico screeched with a violent blush, curling his toes uselessly. “Ahahahahand I’m nahahahat tihihihicklish!”

“No? Then why are you laughing?”

“B-Behehecause… behehehecause… behehehecause shuhuhuhut uhuhuhup!”

“I’ve got to be honest, that’s not a very convincing argument, Nico.”

Percy grinned, and before Nico knew what was happening Percy was sitting on top of his legs, effectively holding him still. With both hands free now, he quickly set to work raking nails up both feet and sending Nico into a new level of hysteria.

“Wahahahait nohohoho, hohohold ohohon ahahaha sehehecond!” Nico burst into a round of squeaky giggles, attempting to both hold himself up and cover his mouth to stop the flow of laughter from escaping, as well as somehow sit up and pry Percy off of him. “Dohohon’t!”

“You know how to make this all stop,” Percy reminded him. “All you have to do is admit that you need to rest and I’ll let you go.”

“Ihihihihihi dohohon’t neheheheed tohoho—gahahahaha, ohohoho gohohods!”

Deciding that it appeared to be his most sensitive spot, Percy had moved his focus back to his toes. Nico squeaked, launching forward to try to pry Percy off of him. Eventually, he settled on merely wrapping his arms around the other for support, burying his face in the back of his t-shirt. “A-Ahahahaha, Pehehehercy!”

“Yes?”

“Ihihihihit tihihihickles!”

“I am aware of that,” Percy agreed, biting his lip to hold back a smile at the adorable nature of his protests. “Your point?”

“Stahahahahap!”

“Are you going to take a break from training?”

“I dohohon’t neheheheed a breheheak!”

“Then no. I wonder what would happen if I did this?” Experimentally, Percy held back his toes with one hand, using the other to scratch the taut, exposed skin. The muffled shriek into his t-shirt said all Percy needed to know on how effective that particular method was.

Nico himself was just as surprised as Percy was at his apparent sensitivity. The only person who had ever tickled him before was Bianca, and after that everyone he knew was too afraid of the consequences to try. Now though, he found himself grateful that no one had, or he never would have been able to save face around any of his peers. Electric shocks seemed to shoot up his legs as Percy trailed devastating fingers over his soles in a manner that was far too ticklish to be fair.

Yet even as he protested and even as his composure trembled, he found that he was almost having fun. There was something nice about being able to freely laugh and squirm under someone else’s touch and not worry about being some tough, dark war hero.

That didn’t mean it didn’t tickle like hell though.

“I hahahahahate yohohou sohohohoho muhuhuch!” Nico giggled, legs jerking in their attempts to free themselves. “Ahahahah, ehehe, stahahahap!”

“Are you going to rest?”

“Thihihihis ihihihis stuhuhuhupid!”

“Are you?”

Percy scratched the spot right under his middle toe that had him howling, and suddenly Nico found he couldn’t take it anymore, even if his pride suffered. “Fihihihine, fihihihihine, I’ll rehehest! Juhuhuhust stahahahap!”

Finally, Percy let up and allowed him to breathe. For a couple of moments Nico stayed like that, fingers gripped tight around his t-shirt as he hugged the other from behind. He knew intellectually that he should let go of him. However, another, larger part of his brain wanted to stay curled up against him, soaking in the other’s body heat.

Eventually, Percy coughed, a faint flush tinging the ends of his ears. “Um, Nico? Are you okay?”

Nico’s eyes snapped open and he shoved Percy off him in a sudden, fluid motion, rolling over into a standing position. He brushed grass off himself, blaming the heat on his face from the tickling. “Uh, I’m going to go take that rest now. Thanks for… thanks for the training.”

“Oh.” Percy blinked at him, startled. “You’re welcome, I guess?”

Nico whirled around, picking up his sword and starting to head back down the hill towards the cabins. He paused after a second, turning back to glare at him. “Oh, and Percy? If you ever tickle me again I’ll decapitate you, got it?”

Percy opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Nico was off again.

Needless to say, Percy did tickle him again and though the other complained vehemently, he found that he didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would.

Not that he would ever tell Percy that.

#tickling #tickle fic #fanfiction #pjo #hoo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #percico #fanfic #fic requests #requests

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darthkvznblogs · 4 years ago

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Saw the new chapter, nice! BTW, how would the various characters celebrate Pride Month?

Apologies, I've been busy with last chapter's reviews!

Wowza, that's a huge ask - I've made a conscious effort to normalize LGBTQIA+ identities in my stories, so there's a lot of ground to cover here! There's also a minor issue in that most of the current stories are set in 2012, which is quite a different landscape in regards to the acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community compared to nowadays.

With that in mind, I'll try to go for the "ideal" celebration (and I'll throw in the characters' gender identities and sexual preferences, since I've already got those in my ongoing character database). Obviously, this only applies to the characters as portrayed in the Kryptonverse!

(This is a long one, so I'll add a "read more" thingy for the sake of those who aren't interested.)

- I think Luz would take Pride Month as an opportunity to more overtly explore her gender noncomformity; much like was showcased in the Grom episode, she might try on different outfit combinations, different pronouns - whatever makes her feel closer to her ideal self. I think her stint in the Boiling Isles would only make it that much clearer how truly silly it is for other people to try and dictate what she should look or behave like. Luz currently identifies as a bisexual, cisgender woman, but she has found comfort in identifying as nonbinary in the past, and there's really no telling how she might feel in the future.

- Kryptonian society had a great many issues, but a resistance towards gender variance and non-heterosexual preferences wasn't one of them - as long as you followed the strict life path set up for you by the Empire, of course. Kara is still confused about the human attitudes towards this subject, and angry that they affected Alex and Lena negatively in their youth. I think she'd celebrate Pride Month by pushing the Avengers to champion causes that protect the LGBTQIA+ community - not that they need much convincing. Think parades, lobbying for legislation, impassioned speeches, and million-dollar donations to worthy charities - whatever it takes to make sure people know where their heroes stand on this issue. Kara is a pansexual cisgender woman, Alex and Lena are lesbian cisgender women, Tony is a pansexual cisgender man, Steve is a (closeted) bisexual cisgender man, Natasha is an aromantic, bisexual, cisgender woman, Clint is a biromantic, heterosexual, cisgender man, and Rhodey and Bruce are both heterosexual, cisgender men (the Hulk himself is pansexual though).

- Not that Ben was against it before, of course, but I think gaining the ability to swap bodies (and genders, depending on the transformation) at will would give him a much greater appreciation for people who suffer from dysmorphia or otherwise don't gel with the body they were born with. I think he'd champion trans causes specifically during Pride Month - much to the anger of his parents, both conservative politicians. Ben is a bisexual, cisgender man, Julie is a bisexual, cisgender woman, Kevin is a heterosexual, cisgender man, and Gwen is a (currently questioning) bisexual, cisgender woman.

- It's kind of a spoiler to talk at length about Chloé's relationship with her own preferences. Suffice it to say, she would be very much opposed to Pride celebrations initially, but may or may not radically change her attitude as her journey goes on. Chloé is a lesbian, cisgender woman. Adrien is a bisexual, cisgender man (with GNC tendencies as he grows up), and Marinette is a bisexual, cisgender woman.

- Nico obviously didn't grow up in an environment conducive to the acceptance of his being gay. I think there's still a lot of internal self-loathing there, even as his boyfriend and his friends have greatly helped to coax him away from it, and that might manifest as his reluctance to participate in Pride celebrations. I think once he's convinced to attend a Pride parade once, though, it would make a world of difference going forward! Nico is a gay, cisgender man.

- Ellie has never given much thought to her own identity or preferences. She's felt attracted to all kinds of people, but never enough to want to act on it. It's possible that she's aro/ace, or somewhere on that spectrum, but even that feels like an ill-fitting piece of clothing. She is fiercely protective of Danny, though; poking fun or attacking him for being trans is a surefire way to make her go all out against you. She'll happily celebrate Pride with Danny and friends, too. Ellie doesn't currently subscribe to any romantic or sexual preference, but does identify as a cisgender woman. Valerie is a bisexual, cisgender woman. Danny is a heterosexual, transgender man.

- Pidge used to comfortably identify as a straight, cis woman, but her stint as Pidge Gunderson and the subsequent massive expansion of her knowledge of gender identities and sexual preferences due to her travels as a Paladin of Voltron have let her more solidly (ironically) identify as genderfluid and pansexual. She'd have a blast teaching Allura and Coran all about Earth Pride celebrations, and I'm sure she's eager to teach the people of Earth just how little they know about what's out there. Pidge is a genderfluid, pansexual individual (identified as female during Close Encounters, but don't let that fool you!).

- Saiyans have a weird relationship with gender and sexual preference. The average Saiyan is mostly free to do and be whatever the f*ck they want in this regard, but there is definitely a culture of male superiority, and a stigma towards trans Saiyan men, specifically - it's seen by traditionalists as "women trying to rise above their station", much in the same way as marrying between Saiyan classes is scorned. Caulifla and Kale don't have that kind of baggage, though, growing up on Xandar - their dithering about being with each other is just your classic awkward teenage romance, nothing to do with their both being women. Caulifla and Kale both identify as lesbian, cisgender women.

- Dipper may be a straight man, but he's the best damned ally you could hope for - fiercely protective of his pansexual twin and bisexual girlfriend. He's got every opposing argument memorized, and a counterargument ready to go - you do not want to debate him, and he will track your ass down if he catches you trolling/hating online. Mabel becomes even more of a living vortex of glitter and gloss during Pride - sweeping away the more muted Tulip, who'll happily settle for a little bisexual flag pin or sticker on her computer. Hard not to find Mabel's enthusiasm infectious, though! Dipper is a heterosexual, cisgender man, Mabel is a pansexual, cisgender woman, and Tulip is a bisexual, cisgender woman.

That was a lot! I hope it was an enjoyable read, though! @the-literary-lord

#ask box #kryptonverse #supergirl #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #danny phantom #trans danny #the owl house #miraculous ladybug #dragon ball super #gravity falls #infinity train #percy jackson #pjo series #voltron #vld #ben 10 #happy pride 🌈

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i-am-a-reader-fear-me · 4 years ago

Text

A Percabeth AU where they keep their relationship secret in fear of what their parents might think. (Warning: this goes over both PJO and HoO so it's very long):

The beginning of TLT goes as it should but after Percy is claimed, Annabeth is suddenly meaner and colder.

He remembers the Poseidon/Athena rivalry but doesn't see why they have to hate each other bcuz of their parents.

But Annabeth doesnt relent.

They still go on the quest together bcuz "you are so going to fail without a daughter of Athena."

But they still argue a lot and give poor Grover a satyr migraine.

When they have that bonding moment on the truck, Percy thinks maybe they're sorta friends, but Annabeth proves that wrong later by calling him a "Seaweed Brain" bcuz he's so stupid.

Percy fires back with "Wise Girl" but Annabeth seems to take that as more of a compliment than an insult.

(He doesn't stop calling her that tho)

After Luke betrays Percy, Annabeth's the one that found him after the dryads and she drags him to the infirmary but completely denies caring about him afterwards.

By SoM, Percy is so done with this and goes over to her asking if they could be friends.

Annabeth, who actually would like to be his friend, agrees with reluctancy, saying, "We have to keep it a secret though, or who knows what our parents might do."

Percy agrees.

Grover knows they're friends now cuz of the empathy link, but doesn't say anything.

In TTC, when Annabeth falls off the cliff, he blames himself more than ever, bcuz if they hadn't been fake arguing she might not have been distracted and fallen.

Thalia blames him even more too, and he has to keep his cover and can't tell her he knows it's all his fault.

Nico asks if Annabeth is Percy's girlfriend.

He says no, but he has a funny feeling in his heart.

He goes to the attic to ask the Oracle about Annabeth.

It doesn't answer.

When he thinks Artemis is about to ask Annabeth to join the Hunters, he knows he has to tell her something, even if it meant blowing their cover.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Artemis asks Thalia, and Annabeth is waiting for him to talk with narrowed eyes as if trying to figure out what he wants to say.

He chokes. (~Like doesn't say his feelings, not actually choke lol~)

In BotL, they are totally going out on a secret unofficial movie date but ofc the fiasco with Kelli at Goode happens.

Annabeth gets really jealous when Rachel appears. (Especially since Rachel has more opportunity to go out with Percy bcuz Annabeth and Percy have to pretend to hate each other.)

Percy, ofc, does not realize why in Hades she's acting like she really hates him even though they're in private.

At camp, they're playing Capture the Flag when they stumble on an entrance to the Labyrinth.

They go down to hide from monsters and end up stuck.

It's so dark Annabeth grabs his hand to keep from being separating. (~this is canon, they were holding hands I checked~)

When they find their way back out, it appears almost an hour had gone by when they were sure they were down for a couple minutes.

The campers were searching for the two of them and are immediately suspicious when they find the two alone. Together.

But they forget about that when Clarisse comes and asks about the "hole" they fell into and Annabeth suggests they continue talking in private.

It is then that Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson go on their quest.

When Annabeth and Percy reach Mount St. Helens they are quickly found out.

Percy tells Annabeth to escape saying he has a plan. (He really doesn't)

She kisses him. (~whaaaaaaaat~)

When she leaves, Percy apparently decides to cause a volcano to erupt. (~ya he doez~)

He lands on Ogygia, while Annabeth, thinking he is dead, goes back to camp, alone.

When she returns, they ask where Percy, Grover, and Tyson are but she refuses to say anything.

They realize what happened.

They have a burning of the shroud ceremony where she doesn't say anything, sitting, her face emotionless, but her heart in turmoil as she listens to Chiron.

That's when Percy crashes the funeral.

Annabeth is outraged.

She pretends it's because "THE WHOLE QUEST IS BEING HELD UP BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING, ENJOYING A VACATION AT PARADISE ISLAND?!?!"

It's really because she was head over heels with worry and grief (while he's off with sOmE imMorTal gOdDeSs) but she can't let anyone know that.

She is certainly not happy when Rachel joins their quest.

(Percy still doesn't get it.)

Before TLO, they are playing Capture the Flag, and the two are on opposite sides. (~in The Demigod Files, the story they find Festus for the first time in~)

Annabeth and Silena capture Percy and Beckendorf and the boys suffer an utter loss. (Were the myrmekes part of the plan? They'll never know.)

Beckendorf and Silena totally know they like each other no matter how much Percy and Annabeth fake it and try to get one of them to ask each other to the Independence Day firework show.

Annabeth does end up asking Percy and they watch the fireworks secretly next to the woods so no one sees them.

They hold hands or something else just as cute idk.

In TLO, when the Battle of Manhattan starts, everyone is surprised when Annabeth let's Percy take the lead.

When she takes the blade for Percy she says it was bcuz "I didn't know it was him!"

"So you would take a blade for anyone if it wasn't Percy?"

"...yes."

But by this time everyone secretly ships Percabeth so no one questions it.

After the war, Percy gives up immortality mostly for her but only those two know it. (And maybe Grover).

Annabeth asks him to meet her in the woods and when he does, she brings him a lumpy blue-colored cake which Tyson helped make. (Bcuz of course Tyson knows that they're secretly friends but Grover told him not to tell anyone).

They kiss, duh.

But then a monster comes out from the woods and they don't want to fight it after they just had a war so they run.

They end up by the lake and Percy pulls Annabeth in to get away from the monster.

Cue best underwater kiss ever.

They date in secret for two months but Percy's mom knows.

When Percy goes missing, Annabeth freaks.

She searches for him everywhere and if anyone asks why she's searching so hard for someone she doesn't even like, she just replies, "He probably just disappeared bcuz it's his turn to do the camp chores and I will not let him slack off," or "Who else am I supposed to use for target practice???"

(None of the campers who'd been in the Titan war buy it.)

In SoN, the only thing Percy remembers is Annabeth, but for some reason, he has this instinct to not tell anyone about her so he doesn't.

In MoA she still judo flips him and acts all mad (which she is) but he still laughs it off and says all sarcastic, "Oh, did the smartass daughter of Athena miss me?"

But he missed her too.

When they go to eat lunch Annabeth and Percy excuse themselves to "go to the bathroom" but they really snuck off to have their own private reunion.

"I missed you so much, Seaweed Brain. Don't ever disappear like that again."

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl. I missed you too."

*kissing*

Later, when Annabeth and Percy sneak off to the Pegasi stables on the Argo II and sleep next to each other.

Frank finds them.

They swear they didn't do anything and threaten Frank into silence.

He can never look at them the same way again though.

When Annabeth has to get the Athena Parthenos, Percy paces the deck of the Argo but says he's not worried about a daughter of Athena.

When she finally gets the statue, he goes down to meet her but she trips and falls into the Pit.

He catches her, but now he's hanging on a ledge.

"Percy, let me go. You can't pull us both up." She whispers, knowing they're too low for the others to hear.

"We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again." He whispers back.

"As long as we're together."

At least in Tartarus, they don't have to pretend they don't absolutely, utterly love each other.

In Blood of Olympus, Percy, Annabeth, and Piper are walking underground to the monster's base in the Parthenon when they see a trident mark in the ground.

Annabeth says it's the place where Poseidon struck the ground.

At this point, Percy turns to Piper and asks, "Can you keep a secret?"

Piper nods.

That's when Percy kisses Annabeth.

When he pulls away, he says, "This is where the rivalry ends….for us, at least."

Piper acts surprised but on the inside she is rAGING bcuz now Leo owes her ten bucks but she can't tell him.

After the Giant war they consider telling their friends, but they're not sure…

Idk how to end this just keep going

Sort of a bonus:

The Hephaestus and Athena cabins worked together to make everyone monster-proof phones (which also correct their dyslexia) and Annabeth and Percy use them all the time to text each other and no one knows.

Jason asks Percy to come to a cafe with some of the others, and Annabeth and Percy are texting the whole time.

Their convo goes something like this:

'hey Annabeth, me, Jason, Frank and some of the others r going to that cafe on 31st street'

'*Jason, Frank, some of the others and I' 'Really? Piper, Hazel, and I are going there too. They mentioned Jason, Frank, and Leo might be there, but not you.'

'weird, they didn't say anything about u either' 'hey wait a sec, Jason's texting on some gc called Operation Get Them Together' 'the other guys' phones r ringing everytime he sends something…'

'What? Operation Get Them Together???'

'yeah'

'....'

'what'

'Oh no.'

'what??? Annabeth????'

'They're trying to set us up.'

'wdym set us up'

'I MEAN, they're TRYING to get us TO GET TOGETHER'

'huh?'

'THEY WANT US TO GO OUT PERCY! YOU KNOW, TO BE A COUPLE???'

'ok okkk u don't have to yell'

'🤦‍♀️'

'so what do we do'

'I think we should go along with it.'

'wait hold on, Jason's asking me who im texting'

'Wait, tell him it's your girlfriend. Just to screw with them.'

'haha yes ur a genius'

'I know.'

Percy tells Jason that he is texting his girlfriend, to which Jason replies by "What?!" and frantically starts typing on the group chat to tell everyone that 'YOU GUYS PERCY SAYS HE HAS A GF ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION!!!'

To which Piper is the first to reply, saying, 'Nah, trust me, keep going with it'

At this point, they reach the cafe, and the boys and girls meet up at a table.

Annabeth, immediately going into acting mode, says, "What is he doing here?"

Percy fires back with a scowl and says, "You didn't tell me she was going to be here. I'm leaving."

Jason stops him tho

Percy and Annabeth sit down at the table, but everyone is still standing.

Piper and Hazel say they have to go to the bathroom and leave.

Jason and Leo say they're going to go order (even tho it's a sit down with a menu and order type of cafe???)

Everyone seems to have some kind of excuse to leave until Percy and Annabeth are left alone.

The two pull out their phones again.

'Seriously? This is their plan? Say we're all going out to eat and then leave the two of us alone?'

'ig' 'what do we do now'

'I don't know.' They're probably spying on us…'

'um is that Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso in the bushes with mud and green war paint on their faces?'

Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso were indeed hiding in the bushes (with binoculars) with mud and green war paint on their faces.

'Wtf?? How'd they do that so fast???' 'And is that Leo and Piper holding newspapers with eyeholes cut through???'

'lol yea...then that eagle flying above us is prolly Frank'

'Jason is hiding in the clouds to your six.'

'where r Nico and Will?'

'I think that's them making out in the bushes.'

'lmaoo im so gonna tease them for that' 'so what do we do now Wise Girl'

'...' 'Follow my lead.'

'k'

Annabeth puts away her phone and stands up.

Percy follows her lead.

She says, "We know you guys are there, just come out. It's not going to work. And we see you too, Nico and Will."

The other demigods come out of their hiding spots (the two who had been called out looking especially sheepish).

"Why not?" Piper says, knowing perfectly well why not.

Percy looks between Annabeth and Piper, and seems to come to a decision.

"Because," he says and goes over to Annabeth and kisses her, "we're already together."

The responses were very diverse.

"What?!"

"I knew it!"

"Leo! My ten bucks. Now."

"Yeah, I walked in on them sleeping together…"

"So we did all this for nothing???"

"Wait, did you say sleeping together?"

They arguing stops as two flashes of light almost blind everyone and two gods appear.

Poseidon and Athena.

For several seconds, the two gods just stare at Percy and Annabeth (who are now holding hands just bcuz)

Then, finally, after what seemed and EXCRUCIATINGLY long time, Poseidon turns to Athena and says:

"I was right, you were wrong, I was RIGHT, you were WRONG, I WAS RIGHT, YOU WERE WRONG, YOU OWE ME FIFTY DRACHMAS BIRD BRAIN"

This was not the reaction the demigods was expecting if you couldn't tell

Athena just scowls and makes a pouch filled with drachmas appear, and throws it at Poseidon.

Poseidon catches it, bringing out what appears to be a phone and starts calling someone.

Athena goes over to Percy and Annabeth.

She looks mad, and Annabeth tries to let go of Percy's hand, panicking, trying to think of a lie, but Percy doesn't let go.

"My daughter is the smartest and best of my children, and as much as I don't approve of this, if she chose you, sea-spawn, she must have a good reason. But if you step one foot out of line, I will have you punished, understood?"

Athena addresses this to Percy, who nods fearfully.

"Good."

Suddenly there are a bunch more flashes of light as more gods appear bcuz apparently, Poseidon wanted everyone to see that he was right and Athena was wrong.

Ofc chaos ensues.

But Percy and Annabeth are still holding hands and look at each other and feel overwhelmingly happy for the first time in a long time because now they don't have to keep their relationship a secret anymore.

THE END~

WTF HAVE I WRITTEN.

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way-too-short-formysoul-corazon · 3 years ago

Text

Here’s section 2, all wrapped up for you guys to enjoy!

1: "What is she doing?" Keons asked from the control room.

"I'm not sure, but it seems she's up to something, she's not taking the drone with her. We should go check this out for ourselves," Nico replied.

"But what if she's doing it in order to not look suspicious to the rebels? She's a really smart girl -"

"And I'm not saying she's not, all I'm saying is that it's unusual. If she didn't want them to be suspicious, she could have told the drone to fly in stealth mode, could she not?"

"Well, I guess that's right... But can't we just wait a few more minutes for her to give us some indication if there are rebels in those woods?" Keons replied, starting to feel like he's been betrayed by the one whom he loves the most.

"Alright, we'll have it your way, Keons. I'll give her two minutes. If she doesn't turn up in that time, you will be the one to find her and execute her."

"Yes, sir." Keons replies, deflated, a knot welling up inside his stomach.

2: As I was walking through the thick woods, I began to think of what the people back home were saying about me. Were they proud that I went off in search of these "rebels"? What was my father thinking about behind those palace walls?

Does he even miss me?

A few minutes into my walking around, I heard footsteps. Careful, soft footsteps, and I got excited.

They're here, they're here!!! Real Banditos, I get to finally see them, finally talk to them!!!

"Hello?! I know you're out there, I can hear your footsteps! Come out, please! I promise I won't -"

"Won't what, Savanna? Won't turn them in like you said that you would?" My father said, hurt encompassing his voice.

"Th- that's not what I-! Bu- But Dad! I- I wasn't- !"

"I'm sorry, Savanna, my daughter. I never meant for this to be this way. Just don't fight, and there won't be any pain." My dad said, a tear running down his face.

He's gonna kill me, feed me to the vultures, I thought, adrenaline pumping through my veins, I need to run.

And so I did. I ran at the fastest speed I could go, running through shrubs and prickly bushes, running for my life.

3: When I finally got to where I thought was a safe place, I collapsed.

I'm done running, I can't run anymore. I'm done.

I just sat there, thinking about my life, if I would make it out of this forest alive, and what they would do if they caught me.

Shall I be made to suffer the same fate as that man back in the city? Or will a worse fate await me?

I fell into a reluctant and fear-ridden sleep. A sleep in which I never wanted, yet needed immensely.

4: Suddenly, I awaken from my nightmare sleep to find two people, Banditos, hovering over me. One of them has short, shaven hair while the other has somewhat curly hair and a pair of yellow drumsticks. I attempt to utter out the words "Who are you guys?", but nothing comes out of my mouth, and I'm stuck trying to speak and making no sound.

"It's alright, don't strain yourself. You're safe now," promised the one whose yellow duct tape was around him in an 'X' shape.

I nodded, and they helped me up. We started walking into the camp.

When we got into the camp, the Bandito beside the one with the mask suggested that I should have a tour of the camp, and his friend agreed.

"I'm sorry, we really haven't introduced ourselves, have we. My name is Tyler Joseph, this is my friend and head of the Banditos, Josh Dun," Josh waves and smiles, and Tyler motions towards the camp, "And this is our camp. Make yourself at home, please,"

I nod my head.

"Do you have a name? I mean, if you're able to talk, that is. If not, we can get you something for that," Josh inquired.

Before I was able to try to speak, a flood of Banditos, young and old, came flocking towards me, Tyler, and Josh. All I remember of what happened next is that everything went black and I collapsed.

5: A young Bandito is patrolling the perimeter of the Bandito camp. As he walks, he scans the tops of trees and the edges of the beaten path below. Something catches his eye from the ground, beckoning him to take a closer look. As he stoops down, he finds a stranger's belongings. What lies there is a red robe and an identification card. The red robe smells of death and hurt. The name on the identification card reads Savanna Keons. The face seems familiar to the young Bandito. He knows this woman, but from where? He decides to put the red robe and identification card in his carrying sack and continue patrolling the outskirts of their small camp. He goes home and realizes who the young lady is and how he recognizes her. There will be a time to show this information, but now is not it, the Bandito thinks.

6: When I awaken, I seemed to be in an infirmary of some sort, and all I see in front of me is Tyler and something else. The "something else" was small and round, with a circular head, horns, and long ears. Its eyes were like deep chasms, vast and expansive. Its color was a silvery grey. At first sight, I was frightened. I'd never seen something like this before.

"What is that? What does it do?" I asked Tyler, frightened by the newness of the being.

"Oh, him? This is our little buddy, Ned!", Ned waved at me shyly, "He's a nice companion to have, not really used to new people though. I'm sure he'll grow to like you, though!"

"Oh, ok! Well, hi, Ned!" I said while sticking my hand out towards him.

Ned just takes a couple of steps back, like he’s frightened of me.

Tyler looks confused towards Ned, asking, “What’s wrong, little buddy? What is it?”

He turns to me, saying, “He’s not usually like this, I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why he’d be like this.”

I start to get nervous, “Is there any other times when he’s like this?”

“Yea, actually, he’s usually like this when there are Bishops around, but I don’t see any, and he’s doing it only towards you, oddly”, he says, scratching his head.

I had to make an excuse, and quick, “Uh, well, I got tackled by a Bishop, and I fought him and ran away,”

Tyler looked quite unimpressed, but just said alright and left it at that, “So, how was your day so far?”

“Boring, seeing as I have to stay in this hospital bed til you guys decide what to do with me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, we’re going to have a meeting tonight, that’s one of the topics we’ll discuss,”

“Alright. Well, stay safe!”

Tyler kind of chuckles and says, “Alright, I will, Logan. You stay alive now, ok?”

“Ok,”

“Promise?”

“Promise”

7: “So, have we all came to a consensus?” leader Josh Dun inquires.

“Wait!” a young bandito exclaims, “I forgot about something important”.

“What is it, Jake?”

“I found this while I was walking the perimeter of our camp. It’s a Bishop’s cloak and a Dema identification card for a Savannah Keons,”

The entire crowd gasps,

“If you look closely at the picture, you’ll see it’s the newcomer”. Jake hands the cloak and card to Ned, who then hands it to Tyler.

Tyler and Josh take a while looking at it and debating what to do with the newcomer at this point, with all the new information that was presented just seconds ago.

“But Josh, she’s one of them! What if she came to spy on us? What if?”

“And, what if she was captured or found out the truth and is coming to start anew?”

“But, But what if-”

Josh puts his hands on Tyler’s shoulders, “Ok, ok, calm down, it’s all alright. Remember, my friend, everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what they’ve done,”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Tyler sighs.

“Now, go tell Logan to meet us at the bonfire tonight,”

“Alright,”

8: I was sitting on a stump fidgeting when Tyler and Josh came out. When I heard the flap of the makeshift tent door, I jumped up, terrified of what would come next. They already know, they already know, I’m gonna get fed to the vultures, or worse!!!

Tyler comes up to me while Josh hangs back, observing.

“Hey, Logan?” Tyler says when he gets closer to me. I start to get nervous and tremble

“Y-yes?”

“Uh, do you know what these are?” he shows me my past belongings: my cloak, badly damaged and worn, and my (former) id card, which insists on keeping me prisoner in my own skin.

I say, trying to keep the twang of fear in my voice at bay, to no avail, “Why are these here?”

“One of our Banditos picked these up patrolling the perimeter of camp. Are these really yours?” he inquired softly.

Terror runs through me as everyone’s eyes lock onto my frail being. I can’t keep it out as I yell, “It was never meant to be this way!!!” I fall onto the ground, my head forcing itself into my hands, curled up like a child.

I hear gasps, then silence.

After a while of this silence, I feel something touching my arm, like a kitten wanting affection. At first, I flinch at this new contact and yank myself up to a cradled sitting position, face wet from the salty tears that have striped patches of oil from my face, leaving them feeling like bandages.

When I look at what or who was touching me, it was Josh. He whispers to me, “It’s alright, we’ve accepted you into our crew. You’re safe from those who wish to do you harm here.”

Baffled by his actions, I say, “But I was one of them. I was sent to harm you guys,” I give a tear-filled inhale and exhale, “Why are you letting me in?”

He just smiles and says, nodding at Tyler at the end, “Because everyone deserves a second chance.” Everyone starts cheering and clapping, and Josh sticks his hand out to me. I grab his hand and he helps me up, “C’mon, we need to get you cleaned up, or else Ned’ll never warm up to you!” Josh says with a laugh. I laugh along, hearing everyone clapping and cheering me on. Me, not that dema kid who supported the murder of all those innocent people. That person was long gone, and I am what remains.

9: After everything goes quiet and all the applause stops, I inquire, “Hey, Josh, where are we going, exactly?”

“East, to where your past wrongs will be righted, to where you can be free to start anew.”

“Alright,” I say, and continue following.

When we finally get to where Josh was taking me, all I can say is wow. The place looked magnificent, like the angels themselves carved this place from the earth and put their hearts and souls into creating it.

There was a shallow, burbling waterfall trickling softly into a pond lined with several light-colored rocks, some sparkling and some not. This wondrous sight was lit by the vivid green lampshade of the trees, the leaves deflecting the sun’s rays here and there. There was greenery and assorted berry bushes and shrubs around the pond, and the entire place looked like it came from the garden of Eden.

After I was done taking in the awe of this mystical and magical place, Josh turned around while I bathed in the healing waters of this pond.

When I was done, there was a towel and a pair of Bandito attire in the tree next to me. I say thanks and josh replies with, “Don’t worry, I didn’t look,”

When we got back to camp, Tyler and Ned were waiting on us. Josh went up to Tyler, did a secret handshake, and introduced me as the new member of the crew.

He started the bonfire, and for the first time in a long time, I was with family, with people who wouldn’t hesitate to die for my sake, and for who I would die for in an instant. I was with people of my own kind. At that very moment, I could care less about what they were saying about me in the city, cause they’re talking about someone who never was.

10: My first week at camp, and I already feel at home. I’ve gotten better acquainted with our leaders, Ned too, and found a couple of friends among the crowd. A couple of notable ones I met early on; one of them happened to be the first Bandito I ever seen, remember him? Well, it turns out his name is Rodney Garron, and he’s an aroace enby who’s in a platonic relationship with his straight adhd counterpart George Evergreen. When I first saw them both in camp, Rodney almost had a heart attack, shouting, “You’re that Bishop kid! Don’t take me back! You can’t take me!!!!” Now that I’m thinking about it, their friend had to calm him down.

Oh! I’m sorry about the confusion, Rodney likes to be referred to as he or they. Anyways, back to it then.

After their friend calmed him down, he explained everything about himself, how he grew up watching Good Day Dema, how they came to the camp in the middle of a snowstorm, and how seeing a Bishop take off their hood and offer their hand took several hours of heavy meditation to get over. I laughed and said sorry to that last one.

On another note, I got to see someone I haven’t seen since I was in training up in the city. he used to be my teacher, he was my teacher for all of my training, and I was wondering what happened to him…

“I thought you were dead, teach?”

“Miracles happen, my young one,”

“But, they said you were exterminated! They said tha-”

“They say, they say, they say. They say one thing, but what does your heart say?”

I hesitate, give him a big hug, and demand him tell me how he escaped.

This is Logan Slife, and this is my story.

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theartofimaginaryfriends · 4 years ago

Text

Sleepless Nights

Character: Percy Jackson

Premise: Percy can't fall asleep, and thinks about the friends he had lost in the battle against Kronos

Content warning: grief and loss, dealing with trauma

Masterlist

Word count: 1,067

A/N: This shit hurt to write and I'm absolutely not okay, so I gotta share it with the world. I do, however, really love this piece. We as fans often get so stuck in fanon that we forget how traumatized Percy actually is, and how he has never actively worked through everything. Song used for the fic is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Misérables

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

There's a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables,

Now my friends are dead and gone.

Percy found himself unable to sleep for the fifth night in a row, not being able to stop thinking about the sacrifices each of his friends made. He carried the burden of the prophecy so that Nico wouldn't, and was named the hero at the end of the day. Glory was supposed to come along with a title like that, but all Percy felt was hopeless and tired.

The Gods expected Demigods to do their dirty work, causing their children to be stuck with a heavy burden on their backs for the rest of their lives. Such grief and pain never truly goes away. That's why Percy turned down immortality. It wasn't worth it if he was going to be carrying that burden while he watched his friends die one by one. Instead, he found a wish that could be easily done. Now, the camp was filled with new demigods and more arriving every day.

Still, he couldn’t help the dread that came along with waking up every single morning, and facing the camp again. Every day, he didn't see the future of Camp Half-Blood, he saw loss everyone had to face collectively. The damage that the war caused both physically and mentally, not only on himself but on his fellow campers.

Here they talked of revolution,

Here it was they lit the flame,

Here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow never came.

Staring up at the underside of the top bunk, he thought of Luke Castellan. The son of Hermes wanted to be recognized by his father, he wanted all the Gods kids to know who their parent was. Luke's anger towards the Gods drove him down a path that caused him to lose himself along the way. Percy knew that Luke understood a long time ago that he had made a mistake by helping Kronos, but he couldn't help but still feel angry with him.

Luke was a hero in the end. That was what Percy had told the camp. Did he believe it himself? He wasn't completely sure. His first friend at camp became the cause of countless people he considered to be family to fall to their demise. He was the reason Percy carried a burden that – quite frankly – no one wanted.

He recalled the months leading up to the final battle. The demigods were scared, but many were also excited for a battle. A motivation to win sparked through the whole camp, overpowering the general worry every kid had around death. Many were confident, and some had died because of it. These kids never got to see the success of the battle, and Percy hoped they were all in Elysium where they belong.

From the table in the corner,

They could see a world reborn,

And they rose with voices ringing,

And I can hear them now

The very words that they have sung

Became their last communion

On this lonely barricade, at dawn.

Voices were haunting him constantly. Of Luke, Beckendorf, Silena, and many others. Percy often felt like his friends would join him in the Dining Pavillion, despite them not physically being there. He remembered their voices vividly, as if he had just wished them a goodnight before heading to his cabin with Tyson. It worsened his pain, the demigod wishing to forget the sounds of their voices.

Visions of them training at camp wouldn't leave his mind, and he kept seeing their ghosts wherever he went. It made Percy feel even more lonely than before, reluctant to get close to anyone else at camp. In front of Annabeth and Grover, he put on a brave face. There was no way he'd admit to his true feelings, especially to his two best friends. Worrying them was the last thing he wanted to do.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me

That I live and you are gone

There's a grief that can't be spoken,

And there's a pain goes on and on.

The worst part about the sleepless nights was the guilt that ate at him constantly. He felt like he didn't deserve to live, that he didn't deserve the title of hero. The people he cared about were in the underworld while he got the luxury of continuing to live. A luxury he hated having.

Training at camp was supposed to help the Demigods learn to keep going if a family or friend died in battle. It was supposed to teach them how to move on when experiencing a loss that great. What it didn't help the Demigods prepare for were the flashbacks and the nightmares. The fear that went along with the guilt. The pain that never left no matter how hard they tried to push it down. It was an unexplainable pain, one that Percy knew he would never be able to describe to anyone outside of the camp – especially his mother.

Phantom faces at the window,

Phantom shadows on the floor,

Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more.

Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friend will sing no more.

The few hours earlier when the campfire took place, Percy felt the pain and suffering that the campers experienced collectively. He could picture Beckendorf and Silena cuddled up as they sang along, and even Luke's smile as he tried to get the Stoll's to be at least somewhat serious. He could see the ghosts of the kids who's shrouds they burned that night, watching as the campers tried to hold back tears as they mourned for what felt like the millionth night in a row.

The Apollo cabin sat closer together than usual, the pain apparent in their voices as they led the camp through melancholy tunes. Even Percy joined in on the singing, too depressed to care that he sounded like a dying cat. The ghosts of his friends began to sing along to the songs with everyone, but Percy couldn't hear them. He wasn't even sure if what he was seeing was real.

He couldn't tell the difference anymore, but he didn't care. Percy just wished he could slip away, and forget about everything for a while.

#percy jackson #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #pjo #percy jackson fanfiction

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maledictusad · 1 year ago

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CHARLOTTE BRENNAN our PHOEBE TONKIN is looking for their TWIN. They are 34 and looks like CHRIS WOOD, NICO TORTORELLA, CHACE CRAWFORD, UTP . They are currently OPEN and the writer DOESN’T NEED to be contacted. ( @cfhiraeth )

The Brennan come from a long line or Silverkeep werewolves and they have been leading the pack for generation. Charlotte was always reluctant toward the pack and her place within it, wanting a life of her own. But one year ago, their father fell to an illness that destroyed him and he begged your muse to release him from the suffering. Your muse was unable to do it and it was Charlotte who stepped in, making her the Alpha in the process. How your muse feels with all of it is UTP.

#appless rp #dark rp #city rp #mature rp #lsrp #mumu rp #oc rp #supernatural rp #tvd rp #original rp

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irresistiibles · 4 years ago

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the master plotting post is below the cut. it’s kinda long so good luck fam. it’s really more about where my character are and how they’re doing but i am hoping that will help us both brainstorm some ideas together. i have put trigger warnings next to each individual blurb so that way if you’re worried about anything you can read the rest while skipping any that are potentially triggering. this is just where characters are starting a few of them i may still update, especially for characters who fears i haven’t completely worked out. toss this a like if you’d be interested in plotting and i will come to you! i will get another call out specifically for starters closer to the event

level 1: windstorm

asami sato / the legend of korra / unaware

girl is not really phased by the windstorm and will be pushing through and probably wind up leveling up. she’ll also be offering to help where she can so like if any characters need help to level up or just get by she will be around we can def do something. she’ll probably be getting pieces of her memories back in the storm but nothing concrete. probably one of my characters who realistically has a chance of making it to the safe zone. definitely open to teaming up

leveling up: probably

plots: anyone else trying to level up she can work with, someone to help out

blue sargent / the raven cycle / aware

not entirely sure what my plan for her is tbh. she’s seen like all the wild shit washington has thrown and honestly might try to find somewhere to bunker down and wait it out or maybe level up but either way she’ll be a fun mixed of chill yet pissed while on this level. not freaking out but annoyed after all of the things that happened her. a potential reluctant teammate

leveling up: a reluctant maybe

plots: someone she winds up working with for a bit even though teamwork and being nice is not her strong suit

lily evans / harry potter / aware

let’s be real after everything she’s been through in washington the windstorm does not feel like a big deal and she’s charging through to get through to the next level. she will ultimately wind up losing all of her memories as a result

leveling up: no

plots: teammates, people she knows who can find her after her memory loss, some help after her memory loss, someone she helps, since afterwards she’ll be bunkering down and helping people out

max caulfield / life is strange / aware

my one character? who is terrified for storms? caught in the windstorm? asdlfkjad incredible. anyway max is going to be freaking out and almost definitely stuck here the whole time she is terrified of storms and will be hoping to find a nice corner to crawl in and stay in with her hands over her ears

leveling up: no

plots: someone to help her please she will be screwed on her own,

melody pond/river song / doctor who / awareish

she will absolutely be leveling up. river is a high energy adventurer who is so shit at sitting still there’s no way she’s not moving up. honestly will be pretty unbothered in this level at least. i may give her some flashes of her parents from the windstorm to kind of set her on edge. down to team up though she’s always out for herself first and will ditch partners as needed

leveling up: probably

plots: let her be a chaotic teammate for someone, an injury she reluctantly treats as she tries to get out of there

pansy parkinson / harry potter / aware

honestly she’s mostly just tired and pissed. pansy, though obnoxious, is logical and focused on her own survival first. she’ll probably wind up finding a save space to be and see this thing out. if anyone needs some slightly less chaotic plots she’s probably someone good to hit up. she could be open to being the obnoxious teammate someone has ever had.

leveling up: no

plots: teammates in the sort of self serving way, bunkering down buddies, drinking buddies, a calm party crew

persephone / percy jackson / aware

she’s a goddess she’s vibing and almost definitely leveling up tbh she doesn’t know what’s going on and her main priorities are finding hades and reluctantly nico but will try to offer some help where she can

leveling up: probably

plots: some people she helps out to either safety or level up,

level 2: nightmares come to life

ben hargreeves / the umbrella academy / aware

his nightmares are p limited ngl since being dead kind of takes away a lot of fears. i mean his main one was passing on and he did that last season so, i guess it’ll kinda be his powers. of course he’s mostly afraid of losing control and hurting people, but he’ll probably just be seeing/dealing with vague eldritch creatures. could maybe deal with his fear long enough but that’s really the only way he’s potentially leveling up. potentially open to teaming up

leveling up: doubtful

plots: some people he helps, teammates, maybe someone he accidentally hurts cause he does have powers and he may lash out when spooked so could cause an inury,

jang man wol / hotel del luna / aware / level 2: nightmares come to life

her fears are complicated. like ? she mostly fears and hates herself lmao. i suppose she has some fear of the gods in her world but they aren’t really violent and can only hurt her if she hurts a human so she might be seeing them and getting freaked out and jumpy and convinced she’s gonna do something that ultimately gets her destroyed. honestly though, she’s at the second most stable she’s been in a while (a step down since chan sung’s memory loss) so she will be making her way to level 3 at some point.

leveling up: yes

plots: uh, maybe someone she almost lashes out and hurts but manages to last minute hold back, someone she helps/protects to avoid her own problems, though she wouldn’t be nice about it rip

jaskier / the witcher / unaware / level 2: nightmares come to life

this is my emotional support idiot he doesn’t really have any tangible fears not because he’s strong he’s just dumb, will be running straight into things trying to help people out. i would say he should get hurt but this man has survivridiculouslysly well on luck and charisma so far and i don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. if i think of a fear for him i will update this. will probably find someone who looks strong to leech off of and feel safer around. you just know this idiot is writing a song about the whole experience as it occurs.

leveling up: maybe

plots: someone more powerful than him he follows around for safety

karolina dean / runaways / unaware

aaah um i’m not entirely decided on what her fear is yet at the moment but she’ll be doing her best to deal with it. honestly i don’t think she’ll be leveling up karolina is strong but struggling without her memories in terms of fighting. i might have her see her dad a bit even though she won’t recognize him she’ll feel the fear

leveling up: no

plots: any sort of teammates cause she works well in groups, maybe someone who sees her attempting to use her powers to fight things off

kyoshi / avatar the last airbender / unaware

so kyoshi is not afraid of much. she’s a seven foot tall beast of a woman/nerd so of course she isn’t, but, i’m saying she’s afraid of clowns, because kyoshi is gonna panic and wind up bending in defense. of course she has no memories so she’s gonna spend the rest of the event like ‘hey what the fuck was that????’ honestly she may be able to level up but she’ll probably be focusing on helping people in level 2 as best she can

leveling up: no

plots: a teammate would be fine though she’ll probably only want one, she’ll have just discovered her bending so someone can be around for her to yell about that, any people she attempts to protect/get to safety

lavender brown / harry potter / aware

werewolves! she’s scared of them! because of course she is! and she’s absolutely flipping out! she’s probably stuck here ngl i do not think lavender is conquering this anytime soon. she’d fight a little bit but i imagine she’s mostly going to wind up hiding out. could probably use some help or support ngl. i debated saying she could get injured but i feel like this is already going to be rough enough on her ngl

leveling up: no

plots: anyone to help her out she could use it, i would offer her as a teammate but she’s going to be pretty freaked out so idk how much she can do, but maybe someone she likes hides out with and just tries to survive with

michiru kaioh / sailor moon / aware

death tw welcome to lesbian suffering. her biggest fear is going to end up in her seeing haruka’s dead body and uh, she’s definitely not recovering from this one she will be staying on this level the whole time probably losing her mind a little bit and not knowing what happened and blaming herself and it’s all going to be rough.

leveling up: no

plots: she may attempt to team up with a person or two but her mood is going to be awful and she won’t be a great teammate, honestly anyone around to try and keep her slightly grounded

sam giddings / until dawn / aware

hello happy children it’s wendigo time! exactly what it sounds like. she’s not leveling up. this is a monster that eats people and can only be killed with fire. sam is running. going to be terrified but not freaking out at least not externally. might go for a minor injury with her. down to team up with anyone

leveling up: no

plots: lmao survival buddies, despite everything she will try to be helping people out so there could be something for that

toph beifong / avatar the last airbender / aware

so toph’s fears will probably include not having any earth around or below her. honestly this fear is less about her seismic sense and not being able to tell where things are around her. her other senses are still good even if it’s really not ideal and that will be partially upsetting, it’s more about feeling like she lost her earthbending. she’s also terrified of heights after dangling off of the warship in the finale so i might do something with that. i doubt she’s leveling up. down to reluctantly team up.

leveling up: no

plots: would be willing to team up but she’s feeling a little useless and stressed so how great she’d be as a partner would be mixed, she could cause an injury if anyone wants since she can’t sense any earth but i’m assuming there’s still going to be things she can bend around, so maybe some sort of an accident with that, honestly let her make a friend she’s not against help from friends will hold onto their arm most of the time

level 3: poisoned supernaturals

ciel phantomhive / black butler / aware

gun tw: this boy has already had bad experiences with supernaturals so he’s not in a good mood about any of this. he’s got a gun and his concerns are himself and lizzie and that is about it. he knows physical strength is not his strong suit and has no intention of trying to fight his way out. may try and play the small defenseless boy card if he needs to in order to get some help and protection from actual nice humans on the level. not available to team up. available to trip another character while they’re both fleeing from the same thing.

leveling up: no

plots: someone who he injures, someone who injures him, a human he partners up with and could betray cause he’s a selfish little shit if that’s something someone’s interested in, or some human who’s physically strong who he pays to be around him as some sort of safety

dominique weasley / harry potter / aware

not a huge chance she’s doing anything but staying here and going ape shit. does not really have the willpower to manage to fight off the poison. is solidly in the middle between barely dangerous to destructive beast.

leveling up: no

plots: a feral crew, someone she hurts, someone who tries to snap her out of it, anything

elsa of arendelle / frozen / aware

ice queen time babey! will be pretty destructive and very dangerous. open to her killing someone’s character if anyone wants since i’d love her to be upset about that after the fact. she already thinks she’s a danger let’s prove it!! she might wind up fighting off the poison but idk it would take a hot minute since she’s had a lot of stress and frustration lately and it’ll be coming out!! she’s ready to do some damage

leveling up: maybe

plots: someone she hurts and can feel real guilty about, someone who tries to snap her out of it

entrapta / she-ra / unaware

not nearly as concerned about danger as she should be. probably out here purposely trying to approach supernaturals to get a blood sample i hate her. not looking for her to die but could be open to a semi-serious injury. might level up ngl if she finds decent tech she will be able to defend herself. open to team ups but she’s not a great team partner

leveling up: maybe

plots: teammates. maybe someone who teams up with her to use her more than anything since she can build attack bots with really any scraps she can find so she’s good for people looking for defense and will not be able to tell she’s being used

glinda upland / wicked / aware

me realizing just this second glinda probably counts as a supernatural cause she’s got magic: 👁👄👁 so yeah uh this one is difficult i think she’ll be working to fight it off. even with poison she would not be good at being violent fam.

leveling up: maybe

plots: uuuh poisoned people trying to push her to the dark side, someone trying to help her fight it off, maybe a human she fights but doesn’t hurt, or if so it’s something minor, anything

haruhi fujioka / ouran high school host club / aware

does not know what’s going on and isn’t sure they want to. tbh slightly similar to entrapta in the sense that they can manage self defense alright. they’re going to pepper spray a supernatural so fucking hard i swear to god. they aren’t like a super amazing fighter and sometimes they’re too reckless and stubborn for their own good, but haruhi is smart, and will probably mostly be hiding. they could be available for trying to help out other humans on the level

leveling up: maybe

plots: single teammate or group of humans getting by, a not too strong supernatural for her to fight cause i don’t want her getting too hurt, but could be up for a small injury, anyone she helps

ji eun tak / goblin / aware

lmao so technically eun tak has powers but they aren’t fighting powers she can just see ghosts but technically this still counts as powers so she’s affected. this doesn’t make her any stronger though she’s just angry but like not a threat. here is a picture of eun tak as provided by kasey (x). like the worst shes gonna manage is to mug someone and honestly, that is probably her goal. my girl has lived her whole life poor and she’s ready to make some bank

leveling up: no

plots: lmao please give her a strong supernatural that she’s hanging around so we’ve got destructive power plus baby with knife, someone she tries to, or successfully mugs, if you need a weak supernautral to fight to level your character out of level 3 she’s a good pick, anything

rita skeeter / harry potter / aware

rita will probably go crazy stupid for a day and then start fighting it off. tbh she doesn’t care too much about if she’s hurting people. it’s not something she likes to do but it doesn’t freak her out a ton either, but she doesn’t like being out of control, and that sheer stubbornness might be enough for her to break through and level up. down for her potentially hurting or killing someone’s character if desired. will still be taking tik toks through it all the poison is not enough to stop that. she can hunt and film at the same time

leveling up: maybe

plots: feral crew, any other supernaturals working to fight it off at some point, i’m not saying let her film ur supernatural hurting an npc but like do it, anything

tessa gray / the infernal devices / awareish

so technically she’s part shadowhunter part demon but homegirl does not know it so it’s going to be a fucking interesting time for her. honestly destructive power is mixed cause she’s certainly got some but the lack of awareness will make it weaker. will probably use this as an excuse to trigger a few more of her memories. open to her injuring someone.

leveling up: probably not

plots: uh, someone she can freak out to in the first 24 hours before the poison hits because she doesn’t even know she’s supernatural, someone she gives a minor injury to maybe, someone trying to snap her out of it, anything

#hwevent10 #hw: plot call #hw: ooc #death mention tw #injury mention tw #gun tw

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ofcecilia · 4 years ago

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⌠ DAISY EDGAR-JONES, 20, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, CECILIA CASIRAGHI! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in SEDUCTION & FLIRTATION + LINGUISTICS, CULTURE & ASSIMILATION; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (pink satin sheets, the warm glow of a sunrise, the first pour of a bottle of red wine, unflinching doe eyes). when it’s the (capricorn)’s birthday on 1/13/01, they always request CANNOLIS from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ deanna, 25, she/her, est ⍀

NAME: Cecilia Anastasia Casiraghi

KNOWN AS: Cecilia, Celia, Cissy

BIRTHDATE: January 13, 2001

ASTROLOGY: Capricorn sun / Virgo moon / Pisces rising

HOMETOWN: Tuscania, Italy

RESIDENCE: London, England

GENDER: Cis female ( she/her )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

HEIGHT: 5'7"

HAIR COLOR: Dark Brown

EYE COLOR: Dark Brown

TATTOOS: None

KNOWN LANGUAGES: English, Italian, Russian, French, Spanish

IMMEDIATE FAMILY:

Allegra Casiraghi: Mother, currently in jail

Federico Casiraghi: Father, currently in jail

Salvatore Casiraghi: Eldest brother

Niccolo Casiraghi: Second eldest brother

Anya Casiraghi: Elder sister

ABOUT:

Born Cecilia Anastasia Casiraghi, the baby of the Casiraghi family. You know them and you hate them, real asshat parents who value money and prestige over actually being nice to their kids. It's hard not to grow up despising your parents in that setting, though Cecilia would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the being rich part of it all. Still, it wasn't worth the pressure and scrutiny she received from her parents.

She grew up in a giant castle in Italy where she liked to pretend she was a princess trapped in the highest tower waiting to be rescued. Cecilia watched her older siblings seem so put together and polished, exactly what their parents wanted them to be, and couldn't help but feel isolated from the rest of her family ( though her older brother Nico was her fave ) . The older she got, the longer she waited for things to snap into place, only to be met with disappointment.

She got more rebellious as she got older, which didn't bode well in the Casiraghi household. Her father tried to break her spirit, which in turn only made her angier, causing her to run away when she was sixteen. She didn't leave so much of a note to her family, but she knew if they wanted to find her, they'd have the resources to do so. They didn't.

She struggled once moving to London, because a rich girl isn't exactly great at not being rich, but she had been saving up stolen money from her parents for a few months before leaving, so she had enough to find herself a place to live while she worked odd jobs here and there. She wanted to focus on art, her passion, the one thing her family had always told her she was good at ( though they also said it wasn't practical ) . But, surprise surprise, art is NOT practical, and nobody wanted to buy paintings from an actual nobody.

The story goes that she struggled for about a year before making connections with a local art gallery to hold a week-long exhibit of her work. There she made a few sales on her art, though the most noteworthy one had been selling a self-portrait to a wealthy older man who took a liking to Cecilia and decided to fund her art career, and her lifestyle. From then on she lived the glamorous city life she had been destined for, only realizing recently that art and partying can only get her so far. She had begun to miss the world she had been born into, even if she didn't miss the family that came with it. So Celia reached out to a few old contacts, and was able to secure herself a spot at Gallagher Academy in the fall. Despite the drama of her parents being arrested for tax evasion and fraud, she found that the name Casiraghi still holds some weight in the spy world.

WARNING: TOP SECRET INFORMATION

The reality of the situation is that even with the money Celia had stolen from her parents, her life was nowhere close to the one she used to live, and being poor kind of got old. Plus she still had this BURNING anger towards her parents, partly for letting her leave so easily.

She had been living on her own for almost a year, and what little money she had left was slowly depleting. She had been one level above rock bottom when a faculty member of Caledonia Institute found her. Though she had no interest in returning to the spy world, they had fed into her ego that her being a part of their team was IMPERATIVE, and in return they would give her back the life she once had, while making her parents suffer. How could she say no to that?

At only seventeen she was one of the youngest to enroll in Caledonia, and she became a professional spy in the process. She'd have to sit through two years of training and schooling before getting an active mission, but training at Caledonia -- while strict -- was unlike the harsh treatments she was used to from training with her family. With a new outlook on the spy world, Cecilia began to enjoy it once more, and it helped that she was good at it.

Mr. Stewart of Caledonia had promised her that her parents would pay for their sins, and in the spring he had upheld his end of the bargain. Her parents were caught and tried for tax evasion and fraud, and she heard through the grapevine that they'll be going to jail for a long time. Though she wasn't sure what this means for her siblings, Celia was just glad karma finally bit them in the ass.

Conveniently after they're arrested, Mr. Stewart gave Cecilia an assignment for the fall : everyone knows about Cole Conner's Gallagher Academy assignment from last fall, and how he's garnered less-than-stellar results. So she’s been enrolled as an incoming first year, returning to the spy world with a story weaved of her glamorous life in London, ready to pay off her debts to Caledonia without hesitation.

PERSONALITY:

Celia is a total chameleon, able to morph her image and personality when needed in social situations. It's how she makes herself easily likable and gets people to let her in easily, though her doe eyes certainly don't hurt. She makes it easy for people to get wrapped up in her storytelling and the lies she spins for the sake of getting on other's good sides. Not only is she good at it, but she gets off on the thrill of it, because it's fun pretending to be someone you're not ! Whatever you want her to be, she can be it.

Underneath the surface, Cecilia is truly a spoiled brat who likes getting her way and winning, and once in a while parts of that haughtiness will break through the cracks of her facade. Caledonia had worked hard to take the rebel out of the girl, but parts of it still appear on occasion, though never against her agency.

Above everything, she's trying not to make waves while in Gallagher, to go by undetected, so the easiest way to describe her would be Nice. ( This might change while I play her so we’ll see welp. )

TL;DR: She's Nico's younger sister ! But ran away from her family when she was sixteen because she hates them, and at her lowest point Caledonia Institute swooped in and saved her ( and also got her parents arrested and made them lose their money whomp whomp ) and now she's a double agent working for them. She’s looking to make friends with everyone who’s anyone at Gallagher. Two-faced bitch but ya gotta love her ? Or don't, you probably shouldn't.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

She’s going to be meticulously crafting her own inner circle of friends for her own enjoyment at Gallagher, a mix of people from influential families and those who are deemed “popular” or worth having around, please send headshots and a resume if ur interested xoxo

Family friends of the Casiraghi family, who she hasn’t seen in at least three years.

Other students who trained with her siblings in the super super exclusive training program her parents ran.

Those she's crossed paths with living in London for a year: friends, flings, fellow artists, coworkers at her crappy jobs, etc.

Fellow first years she can glom onto for automatic friendships right off the bat, regardless of who they are

Legacy family students she can cozy up to for the sake of her job

Someone who is reluctant to trust her, despite her attempts to befriend them/get on their good side

Someone with a crush on her that can sorta see how malleable her personality and is like? But show me the real you?

A no-strings relationship that’s purely physical

Someone she’s stringing along for the sake of getting close and getting information out of them

An upperclassman mentor figure to show her the ropes of Gallagher and help her acclimate

A ride or die that she feels a kinship with, where they click enough that she can be more like herself ( aka a little bitchy )

Someone with a really optimistic/romantic outlook on life that truly tests Cecilia’s efforts to match their enthusiasm

Fellow artists she can spend her free time painting in the gardens with and help her get back into it

Fellow LCA + S&F majors who she’ll either have in her classes or that can give her some class pointers or offer their old notes to her

Someone she got drunk with and maybe let something slip that she shouldn’t have and now it’s awk

Someone weak-willed that she can easily take advantage of/manipulate into doing things for her

Fellow smokers even though I don’t condone the habit!

I have some things on her pinterest page here for inspo, also this tag

Lit rally anything please hmu !

#gallagher:intro #sorry this is the worlds longest intro #there's a tl;dr at the end that's worth it i promise #leaving this here xx

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mhsn033 · 4 years ago

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70th Anniversary Grand Prix: Losing is something Lewis Hamilton cannot accept

The 70th Anniversary Colossal Prix is dwell on BBC Radio 5 Live from 14: 00 BST

The anguish of shedding oozed out of every section of Lewis Hamilton’s being after qualifying on the 70th Anniversary Colossal Prix.

Hamilton had been overwhelmed to pole situation by his Mercedes group-mate Valtteri Bottas by correct 0.063 seconds, the first time the Finn had headed the Briton on the grid for the reason that first flee of the season in the starting up up of ultimate month.

Afterwards, Hamilton’s answers in the put up-qualifying recordsdata conference were quick and to the level, as they so progressively are in these conditions.

“Valtteri did an unheard of job on the present time,” Hamilton stated. “He changed into as soon as correct a chunk of too swiftly for me. The first lap changed into as soon as rather first rate and the final lap wasn’t spectacular. In the end, he did a better job.”

Right here’s frequent Hamilton fare when he is second. It eats him up. Shedding is something he simply can no longer ranking.

It is occasionally delight in this that the starting up air world will get a activity of the indispensable dedication and pressure that, allied along with his skill, has pushed Hamilton forward to the level where he is nearby this season of becoming the most winning driver in the historical previous of the sport.

Hamilton is on 87 wins, correct four unnerved of Michael Schumacher’s all-time legend, which unless nowadays had felt impregnable. Nonetheless if he is to trail closer in Sunday’s flee, the second at Silverstone within every week, he’ll bear to dash Bottas first.

Right here’s never an effortless activity in a gaggle that tries to operate as rather as imaginable.

Bottas takes 70th Anniversary pole – full document

Pay consideration: Chequered Flag podcast particular with Lewis Hamilton

How qualifying for the 70th Anniversary GP unfolded

Unless he can dash Bottas on intention, a worldly build a take a look at to in vehicles of the same high-tail, Hamilton’s alternate choices are the originate up – and it’s onerous to gape him backing off in the kind Bottas did final weekend when the Finn bought a better originate up and changed into as soon as alongside Hamilton into the first corner – or to spend a take a look at out at something on strategy.

Nonetheless Mercedes has thus a long way been reluctant with Hamilton and Bottas to permit them to spend a take a look at out on the form of off-put strategy – taking assorted tyres at assorted times – that led to primary fights between Hamilton and Bottas’ predecessor Nico Rosberg corresponding to that at Bahrain in 2014. That competition created a toxic atmosphere in the group, which Mercedes would rather no longer repeat.

One factor to be a long way from, even supposing, is that Hamilton will strive to uncover a capacity, correct as he did when he qualified second in the raze twelve months’s British Colossal Prix.

“We aloof bear a prolonged flee,” he stated, “and I will attain all the pieces I’m in a position to to spend a take a look at out at and beat this guy.”

Bottas, meanwhile, is conscious of this is his opportunity to in the reduction of into the 30-level lead Hamilton opened out as a results of the dramatic halt to final week’s flee, when both Mercedes drivers suffered unhurried punctures.

“Indubitably mentally can bear to you are ranging from pole you’ll be ready to most productive intention to spend,” Bottas stated. “The high-tail is there. First job is to fetch off the line, and the mentality is strive to spend it. That’s it.”

Verstappen in the wild

Verstappen tweeted after qualifying: “Cannot recount I’m elated with P4, nonetheless starting on the onerous tyre compound might perchance fetch it a animated flee the next day.”

One minor surprise in qualifying changed into as soon as that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen changed into as soon as overwhelmed to his earlier school third situation in the aid of the Mercedes by Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg.

In the flee Verstappen might perchance successfully present the best hobby, starting up air the combat for the spend between the Mercedes drivers, no longer least for his resolution to originate up on the toughest tyre.

This name changed into as soon as suggested by a dash F1 has made in an strive to spice up the action for this second consecutive flee at Silverstone. Pirelli changed into as soon as requested to raise a tyre different for this flee one step softer than changed into as soon as provided for the British Colossal Prix final weekend.

Meaning that final weekend’s ‘onerous’ tyre – the favoured flee tyre for everybody – is no longer obtainable. This week’s onerous is final weekend’s medium, and this week’s ‘medium’ final week’s gentle, which everybody tried to steer a long way from for the flee.

On these softer tyres, everybody appears to be predicted to bear to fetch two pit stops, as a substitute of the considered one of ultimate week. Would possibly well even this raise Verstappen into play in the flee? He absolutely wasn’t going to predict he might perchance instruct the Mercedes.

“I felt strongly for that tyre,” Verstappen stated, “because we are already operating softer compounds so we can’t exhaust the onerous delight in final week. So I wanted to dash for the toughest likelihood we had.

“The gentle changed into as soon as falling apart so changed into as soon as no longer an likelihood. The medium changed into as soon as final week’s gentle and that changed into as soon as additionally no longer an unheard of tyre.

“This might perchance depend on about a issues – how my first lap goes to be and if there might be a security car. It felt delight in a pleasant tyre so as this is why I am going to present it a dash.”

Hulkenberg brings some pleasure to Racing Point

Hulkenberg (sharing a fist bump with aged Renault group-mate Daniel Ricciardo) is having a take a look at out to seal his first ever podium originate in System 1

Since the originate up of the season, it has been apparent Racing Point were difficult Red Bull for the second quickest car, nonetheless issues bear no longer come collectively for the group at any flee thus a long way.

Nonetheless on Saturday Nico Hulkenberg underlined what the auto that has been dubbed the ‘purple Mercedes’ in F1’s “copying” row is able to with a unheard of third on the grid.

The German, out of F1 for the reason that halt of ultimate season, is subbing for the second weekend in succession for Mexican Sergio Perez, who has coronavirus. And Hulkenberg has been by the mill a chunk of.

His return final weekend might perchance no longer had been extra final-minute. And after he failed to fetch even the originate up of the flee as a result of a mechanical instruct, Hulkenberg has had yet any other turbulent week because the group tried in pointless to fetch Perez support in the auto.

Hulkenberg has been working with Racing Point all week, making willing for the flee, nonetheless it changed into as soon as most productive when Perez failed a Covid-19 take a look at on Thursday evening that he knew he might perchance be support in the auto again this weekend.

Meanwhile, the group administration were underneath strain on two fronts.

Many were no longer impressed that they were pushing so onerous for Perez when, from a PR stand-level, given the efforts F1 has made to fetch the season underway amid the pandemic, they might had been better informed correct to commit to Hulkenberg for the two races.

On the identical time, they were mad by the autumn-out from Renault’s winning roar against their car, after the publication of the stewards’ ruling that they’d illegally copied Mercedes’ rear brake ducts.

On Saturday, Hulkenberg changed into as soon as a vision of aloof in the storm.

“I’m correct going with the circulation,” he stated. “We couldn’t take a look at too great final week. The high coming support Thursday, Friday after which Sunday the big low and now coming support, it has been a pretty wild week in a certain intention.

“Bodily, it has been tough. These vehicles are brutally snappily in the replace of route and no gym on the earth can put collectively you for that.”

Verstappen stated: “It clearly reveals the auto is terribly sturdy nonetheless additionally Nico did an unheard of job in qualifying.

“They did a extremely correct job over the cool climate nonetheless I essentially hope this is in a position to additionally back Nico for his seat for next twelve months because he positively deserves to be in F1. There are about a drivers who don’t appear to be as correct as him.”

Hulkenberg is most animated identified for preserving an unenviable F1 legend – that of the most races with out a podium originate. And it’s one he would essentially rather relinquish.

“I knew that will come up now,” he stated, after qualifying, when someone requested whether he might perchance eventually fetch the monkey off his support.

“To be correct, or no longer it’s very difficult and advanced conditions nonetheless I know I bear a snappily car beneath me. So or no longer it’s correct attempting to be clear that to attain all the pieces correct.

“Obviously or no longer it’s starting lap one. Or no longer it goes to be additionally contemporary for me nonetheless I mediate I will correct strive to fetch it correct along with your total ride that I bear after which we are going to flee. I’m a pair of races in the aid of the other guys nonetheless I aloof be conscious what it feels delight in.

“Exact strive no longer to mediate too great, defend my head down and bear a correct flee.”

Racing Point group indispensable Otmar Szafnauer stated after qualifying that they were hopeful Perez might perchance be support for next weekend’s Spanish Colossal Prix. So it is most likely to be Hulkenberg’s final likelihood.

In the previous, when he is been in a situation to destroy his duck, he has dropped the ball. And the final time that came about, in Germany final twelve months, changed into as soon as the moment that convinced Renault group boss Cyril Abiteboul that he might also aloof let him dash.

Can Hulkenberg eventually correct the legend, while putting himself firmly support on the agenda for a permanent pressure next twelve months?

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0idril0 · 6 years ago

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Before 6

Thanks @whumpywhumper for fixing my terrible punctuation and pointing out horrible holes in my story

Link to the rest of the series

———————————————————————-

Nico rocked, slowly, rhythmically in his cell. Holding his broken and cracked ribs tightly. One, two,three, four, sideways. One, two, three, four, forward. He flinched as yet another specter floated across his vision. The gory images haunting him in his personal hell. They’d started after the Irishman and the Boss had left. His only company in the darkness.

Hunger and thirst gnawed at him. How long could someone live without water? Three days? His eyes burned, gritty and dry behind the blindfold.

“Niiico.” Dizzily, Nico lifted his head. He slowly stopped rocking as the voice of the reedy man came across a crackling speaker. “Thirsty yet, mutt?” He winced at the squeal of the speaker, dehydration making his head throb.

The sound of a stream followed it and Nico swallowed convulsively. He twisting his manacled hands into his torn shirt, trying to stifle the urge to rip at the contraptions strapped to him. They knew when he did, shocking him until he was limp and panting for air.

They shocked him for anything. When his rocking stopped and his breath evened out. When exhaustion won and he finally slept. When he hit against the walls in fury. When he pulled at his hair, feeling like madness was encroaching on him.

He pulled at his hair now, rocking harder, trying not to scream his frustration. YES! Please, fuck, please give him water, anything.

“Awww. The little mutt is frustrated, isn’t it? Makes you want to scream, doesn’t it? Get angry.” The voice echoed in the cell, coming from multiple directions. There was a hiss, like air escaping a balloon. Nico shivered, pushing back into his corner.

“What would you do for water, mutt? Hmmm?” The door creaked, echoing through the damp room. Footsteps echoed off the stone walls and Nico gathered himself. The reedyman was smaller, if he had the remote he might be able to stop the man long enough to get the collar off.

There was a quiet laugh, it echoed around the room, in his head. Nico shivered, shaking himself roughly. What the hell was going on? “You’re so transparent. You really think you can take me fool? You’re in my domain now.” The words echoed through the room, making his consciousness vibrate with terror.

The room seemed to grow colder and Nico tensed when he felt something like spider webs caressed his face, his arms. He rubbed at them viciously. Nonono-whatthehell? Nico lashed out, gripping the walls to ground himself. The chains attached to the ceiling swayed through the air, pulling at him. He couldn’t feel anything, there shouldn’t be anything there. The laughter continued and Nico bit his lip, containing a moan of terror.

“Come on, mutt. Come closer, I have water for you.” The voice sang, inviting in the darkness. If Nico was hydrated enough for tears he would have cried. He swallowed roughly, trying desperately to gather saliva in his mouth. God, was he hallucinating?

He shook his head resolutely. Fear sticking him in place.

“Mmmmm.... that’s lovely. Your fear has an.... exquisite...taste, mutt.” The sound of booted feet shuffled closer, making Nico flinch, mean laughter biting at him. The sound of water being poured pulled at him and some of Nico’s fear was dampened by feral need.

“Hear something you want, mutt?”

Nico gritted his teeth giving a reluctant nod.

“Ah, I can’t hear you, mutt.”

He bared his teeth behind the muzzle, feeling how his lips stuck to his teeth. Talk, get shocked and possibly get water, or stay silent and not get shocked. Die of dehydration.There wasn’t a fucking choice, these people didn’t make sense.

“Such a terrible conundrum, isn’t it, pet?”

Nico yelped in surprise, causing the collar on his neck to shock him. Groaning, he braced himself against the current. He could taste blood in his mouth, lips cracking. He hadn’t heard the Boss enter the room, preoccupied with the reedyman and the water. The reedy man snickered, echoing through the room and Nico hid behind his arms trying to breathe through his dry sobs.

The feeling of spiderwebs grew more distinct. He rubbed at his arms again, convinced there were spiders climbing on his arms, in his shirt and pants. Nico’s terror grew when he found nothing. He gasped as his heart pounded in his chest. This couldn’t possibly be real, he couldn’t possibly be this scared.

Nico tried desperately to breathe, to form rational thoughts.

“Ain’t no use, Love.” The Irishman’s breath was wet against his cheek and Nico jerked against the stone wall. He’d come in too?

The sound of water distracted him again, superseding his terror. Please. “What’s the mutt willing to do, hmmmm??” The reedy man laughed again, and Nico felt cold fingers trace the collar on his neck. He swatted at the fingers, don’t touch me, don’t, no.

The Irishman grabbed his collar, the grip distinctive, choking him as he pulled him from the corner he had hidden in. His palms skidded along the floor as he fought the irresistible pull on his neck.

Nico shuddered as the stout body settled against his back, forearm pulling against his throat. The man settled on his calves, pinning him, breathing against his neck, and he shivered, clawing at the arm. Nico pushed, unable to budge the stout man, hunger and dehydration making him weak.

Something wet trickled against his cheek and Nico bucked, desperate to get to the liquid. Panting against the muzzle. “Ple-“ he jerked, grunting at the jolt of electricity.

“Do you begin to understand pet? You thirst for water. My friends for blood and fear. Your friends thirst too.” The bosses voice was cold, the stated fact making Nico shiver.

“Your friends are supernatural, higher beings than you, pet. You are what they thirst for.” Cold wet glass pressed gently against his wrist and Nico trembled as he raised his hands to it. It jerked away as his fingers brushed against it. The Irishman adjusted his grip, roughly pulling Nico’s arms behind him.

“You make them suffer due to your very proximity. Deny them, and they could do anything, reveal themselves, hurt themselves, break themselves. For you.” Scorn infused the man’s voice.

Please, I wouldn’t hurt them, please, I’m sorry. He wondered briefly if they even knew he was gone. Even cared.

“So, you will be the perfect pet for them. You want water? Yes?” Nico nodded fervently. Yes, yes please. The man’s slender hands settled against his face, the leather straps on the muzzle loosening until it peeled away from his bleeding lips.

Nico flexed his jaw, panting. “Mmm.. yes you do look a little dry, don’t you?” Fingers traced his lips, making him cringe. Blood smearing against his cheek as the man cradled his face in a soft palm.

“Now, pet. You get to drink-“ Cold glass pressed lightly against his lips and Nico strained, trying to get to the water. The glass hovered, barely touching his lips. “-if my friend gets to drink.”

Terror flooded him, a tight whine rumbling through the grip on his throat and he bucked as the collar went off. The man gripped his jaw tightly, tilting his head back until it pressed into the Irishman’s shoulder. Nico bucked again, panting for air,unable to break the man’s grip.

He shook his head in the man’s grasp. No, no, he didn’t agree to that. No.

“No?” The man hummed in consideration, and pressed a moist thumb against his lips, teasing the dry membrane. Nico shuddered, mouth opening involuntarily. The collar slipped from his throat barely noticed, his attention fixated on the cold glass beginning to press against his lips.

The Irishman nuzzled against the hollow of his neck, nudging his head back further. Fear pumped through him, conflicting with the overwhelming want.

Daniel’s voice whispered to him, the memory sharp in his desperation. “It’s not shameful to do what you need to to survive, son.”

A few stray drops of water splashed against his tongue and Nico broke. “Ple-Please...”

The vampire licked his neck softly before pain sliced into him. He gasped, moaning against the pain. The pain dulled as the Irishman suckled, Nico’s body going lax against him. He could feel his heart beating dully in his chest and he shuddered as pleasure replaced the pain.

The glass pressed against his lips again and he choked as the first stream hit his dry throat, a rough cough momentarily dislodging the vampire. The glass returned, flooding his mouth and he drank greedily. The world felt far far away and Nico whined weakly when the glass emptied. God, he was so thirsty.

The vampire licked the wounds on his neck thoroughly, rutting slowly against him before pulling away. The implication was clear and Nico trembled at the silent promise.

“Hmmmm. Very good, Nico.“ The use of his name made Nico flinch. “I think you learned this lesson well.”

What fucking lesson? Confusion gripped him, exhaustion making it difficult to think. His head flopped uselessly on his neck and he groaned when someone shook him.

“Can’t have that, can we now?” His captors hands left his face, letting his head drop.

“Tie him.” The Irishman moved, pulling Nico’s forearms together behind him. Rough rope pulled tight against his arms, bending him backwards until his hands were able to be fastened to his feet.

A cold palm pressed against his forehead and Nico screamed as a green light burned through the blindfold. He ground his teeth together,body burning. His back bowed against the onslaught, heart galloping in his chest as energy poured into him. “Stop... make.....it stop.” The words were muffled behind his clenched teeth and Nico groaned as the burn abated.

“There we go, pet. Can’t have you sleeping just yet.” His tormenter’s voice held an icy glint, freezing Nico where he knelt. The collar encircled his neck tightly, mechanism clicking on. “After all, we still have plenty more training to come.”

—-

#nico series #poor nico #whump #vampires #bogeyman #mystery power from main whumper #oooh what is it #ok i kind of broke nico a little in this one #but he's still defiant #i think you'd break a little too after 3 days without water #dehydration

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devil-may-write · 6 years ago

Text

Day off [Fic, DMC, One-shot.]

I've had the word "writer" on my blog description for a while now so I figured that I'd start sharing some of the things I've written for once :> I originally posted this on ao3 and ff.net as the second chapter of a series comprised of fan-servicey oneshots that I intended to be 90% lighthearted. Looking back, I realized that this and the first chapter were haphazardly written, so I decided to retouch them and went for this one first as I felt that it was the one that shamed my Creative Writing teacher the most :--( The title's also kinda meh as I never really intended for each chapter to have a title hnnggg

I took a reaaaally (*cough* years *cough*) long hiatus from creative writing for personal reasons so there's obviously quite a lot of rust for me to shake off :--( Granted, I do think that this was a marked improvement from its original version and I know that the only way to get my groove back is to keep writing, so write I shall. Oh and I edited this meticulously but I still have a habit of missing small errors so I'm sorry if you still find any ;_; I'm just a headass ;_;

If anything, I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it :--)

-----------

The Orphanage was as quiet as a mouse today. Kyrie had taken the kids out to the zoo, caving into their demands after weeks and weeks of begging. Meanwhile, Nero and Nico took another job, leaving without so much as a whisper. With mentions of illegal devil arms being sold out on the streets, it seemed that the up-and-coming devil hunter wouldn’t be back for some time.

For Vergil, it was a rare moment of solace. With all his housemates out for the day, the older Son of Sparda took the opportunity to read and meditate on his poetry in peace. While he didn't necessarily despise companionship, he was unable to lie to himself and say that all the wild antics his companions kept getting themselves into didn't disturb him. As someone who was used to being alone, he enjoyed the solitude; it gave him time to be alone with his thoughts for he certainly couldn’t do so when the children kept asking him to "do the thing" with Yamato again.

Everything was proceeding according to plan. As he was busy soaking up William Blake in the living room with the refreshing sounds of silence in the backdrop, he was starting to think that perhaps this was going to be one of those rare, peaceful, uneventful days.

Until he heard someone ring the doorbell.

Vergil was many things, but impolite wasn't (mostly) one of them. With great reluctance, he slammed his poetry book shut and moved to see who his unexpected visitor was.

The local couriers had already finished delivering the latest batch of newspapers around Fortuna, and neither Kyrie nor his son were expecting any packages to be delivered today. He had encountered what the humans called "girl scouts" at one point, but they fled in fear when he demanded to know which master they served, furthering his suspicion that they were simply demons donning the guise of little girls in order to get closer to their prey. Perhaps they had returned to exact their revenge. If that was the case, then it was fitting that the children weren't present today. He could go all out without worrying about major collateral damage.

However, what greeted him when he opened the door was worse than any demon.

"Heya, 'Verg!”

It was Dante. His brother; his arch-nemesis. The smell of pizza, alcohol, and broken dreams oozed from his unwashed coat and shaggy hair, while his face wore the same shit-eating grin that haunted Vergil in his deepest, darkest nightmares. After what happened in Redgrave city, they were mostly on better terms with each other, but his little brother’s wild shenanigans and extroverted demeanor still annoyed Vergil to no end. He was like a 12-year-old child living in a 40-something man's body.

His reaction was immediate and decisive: he slammed the door shut in his face.

Vergil was about to turn around and return to his poetry when the doorbell rang again. And again, and again, and again. The utter buffoon was mashing the doorbell. To his annoyance, his younger twin brother was nothing but persistent. He didn't know why he was here, or what he wanted from him, but he decided that he'd rather get it over with as soon as possible so that he could return to his peace and quiet. The sooner he was gone, the better.

“What?!” Vergil threw the door open, almost causing his brother to get knocked off his feet.

"Really, Vergil? Really?" The devil hunter regained his balance. "Is that any way to greet your brother?"

"No, but it is how I greet pests who interrupt my peace and quiet." Vergil seethed. "Why have you come here, little brother?"

"I wanted to hang out with my big bro.” Grinning, he held up a plastic bag. “I even brought snacks."

Vergil observed that the bag his little brother carried was full of goodies: junk food, and bottles of what he assumed to be alcohol, all of which were most likely stolen from a nearby convenience store considering Dante's current financial status. He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if law enforcement would arrive to raid the orphanage later.

"Then I am afraid that your journey was in vain, brother," he said. "For I am currently not in the mood to entertain any guests on this wonderful, peaceful morning, especially not ones as disruptive as you."

Vergil closed the door again, this time a little slower. Halfway through, Dante suddenly stopped it with his foot.

"Come on, Vergil." He pleaded. "I came all this way just to hang with ya!"

"Then our souls are once again at odds, Dante!"

The older sibling pulled on the door with as much strength as he could muster, but his little brother had the same idea. They were locked in a battle of wills, with one side refusing to give way to the other.

Just like always.

"I don't have any new jobs today and Nero told me that the kids weren't around!" Dante responded. "When was the last time we sat down and talked or laughed over our jokes, or just drank some orange juice?"

Vergil made a mental note to hit his son the next they met. The fool, his own flesh and blood, had inadvertently betrayed him.

"And can you please just open the door?” the younger sibling yelled. “My goddamn foot hurts!"

Vergil fully intended on making him suffer, but relented and complied with his request.

"The last time we sat down and talked was when we were children," he said with a stern, as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "And if my memory is correct, it ended with both of us having a fistfight outside of the house."

"Oh yeah." Dante gave his big brother a friendly tap on the chest. "That was definitely your fault, though. I was supposed to get that last slice of cake."

Vergil glared in response.

"Okay, okay, fine.” The younger sibling threw his arms up in exasperation. “The point I'm trying to make is that you were gone for a long ass time and since we're not trying to off each other anymore like we used to, I figured that it'd be the perfect time to start acting more like normal siblings, you know?"

"And how certain are you that I won't sever your head when your attention is elsewhere, little brother?"

Awkward silence suddenly fell on both parties like a bomb had been dropped between them. The wind howled, as if waiting impatiently for Vergil to drop the punchline to his joke, but none came.

“T-t-that was a joke, right?” The devil hunter stammered.

"Yes.” Vergil nodded. “That was my attempt at humor."

"You should really work on your jokes."

"Perhaps I should."

"So are ya”-Dante clicked his tongue-“gonna let me in or not?"

Vergil sighed. Deep down, he knew that should he refuse, Dante would pester him until he gave in. Perhaps he was a 12-year-old child stuck in an old man's body. Either way, his hopes of having an entire day all to himself would be ruined, and he supposed that there were worse things that could happen today that didn't involve his dear little brother.

"Very well.” Vergil stepped aside, allowing his brother passage. “Make yourself at home."

Dante gladly accepted the offer. Unbeknownst to his big bro, however, he had ulterior motives today.

While he wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted to spend time with Vergil, there was one question that was always on the devil hunter’s mind: who was Nero’s mother? It was a topic he always brought up whenever he could, but it was also one that Vergil loved avoiding. Every time their past conversations would lead to that, the older twin shot it down faster than a bullet, mostly by changing the topic. Call him an insipid gossip, but his big brother’s peculiar reactions only threw more gasoline into the unquenchable blaze that was his curiosity. He wasn’t even close to getting him to confide his secret, but today was going to be different; Dante felt it in his old, aching bones. He had the entire day to find a hole in his bro’s armor. Plus, this time he brought a secret weapon: alcohol.

Walking into the living room, he wasted no time in picking a spot on the couch to plop down on, with Vergil following suit. The older twin made another mental note to ask Kyrie to give the couch a proper scrubbing when she arrives home later; it would be unfortunate if any of the little ones would sit on the spot his brother infected with his filth.

The younger twin promptly opened a fresh bag of junk food from his loot bag. As he devoured his prize with loud, disruptive crunches, his older brother could already tell that he was going to regret this decision.

“Want some?” He held out the bag to his brother.

Vergil was perplexed by the illustration of a large, triangular object that was displayed on the front side. He had heard of this 'junk food', but was never able to try any on account of Kyrie's insistence on keeping them away from the orphans.

Dante noticed his big bro’s quizzical expression.

"You haven't seen a bag of Doritos before?" he asked.

“My son often keeps these junk foods away from the children at Kyrie’s behest." Vergil answered. “I have seen him eat in secret, but I did not have any interest in asking for any.”

"Go on." His little brother urged, shaking the bag for good measure. "It won't hurt to give it a try."

Vergil hesitated at first, but slowly placed his hand in the bag and fished out a single Dorito, nibbling on the piece as a way of testing the waters. The moment it made contact with his tongue, Vergil felt as if a wave of colors washed over his mouth, painting his grey and colorless palettes with a captivating myriad of bright colors. It was the first time he had tasted such a thing and already his taste buds were in ecstasy from finally being given the honor to behold this hallowed object.

"Good, right?" Dante asked

"Indeed." Vergil chewed. "I am in awe at how exquisite this 'Doritos' tastes. May I have some more?"

The devil hunter tossed his big brother an unopened bag of Doritos, which he caught effortlessly and wasted no time in tearing open like a starving wolf descending upon an unsuspecting deer in the wilderness.

“See, isn’t this just perfect?” He moved closer to his brother, reaching out to casually place his arm on his shoulder. “The sons of Sparda, finally not trying to kill each other, just chillin’ like two normal dudes.”

“No.” Vergil slapped his arm way. “You are an eyesore. To add to that, you smell like the corpse of an animal who has been left in a garbage bin for too long.”

”I don’t smell that bad, do I?” Dante sniffed at his own coat. “Nah, you’re exaggerating. I took a shower before leaving.”

“In the sewers, perhaps.” Vergil scoffed.

Ignoring his brother’s scalding remarks, Dante scanned his nephew's living room. It was a little messy, but that was expected when you were living with a gaggle of children. To her credit, Kyrie was clearly doing her best to make the place look as spotless as possible despite the circumstances.

His attention fell on a framed picture of Nero, Kyrie, and his brother, taken in what he surmised to be the wreckage of one of the old Hell Gates during his run-in with Sanctus and his insane doomsday cult. From the looks of it, it seemed that the new governing body that replaced the Order of the Sword had converted it into a tourist site, almost as if they conveniently forgot that it was responsible for the deaths of thousands and cost the city millions in damages after it unleashed a horde demons on them.

"I see that the photo has caught your attention.” Vergil said between bites "That was taken last week when Kyrie insisted that they bring me along for shopping."

"How’d it go?"

"Horrible." Vergil answered bluntly. "I wanted to use the Yamato to procure a piece of jewelry that Kyrie could not afford, but Nero punched me with such strength that I was knocked out."

Dante bit back a laugh.

“He does have a mean right hook, I’ll give ya that,” he said. “Say, did they really turn what’s left of the Hell Gates into tourist sites?”

“It appears so.” Vergil answered. “They have become quite the popular destination here in Fortuna. Nero tells me that what happened in Redgrave caused demon-related phenomena to become quite popular, especially on what young people call ‘social media’.”

“Facebook, huh?” Dante walked over to the photo, examining it further. “I never really liked using it. Kyrie tried to make me an account once, but the first thing I clicked on was a link to a virus or whatever and it crashed Nero’s PC.”

“Then we share the same sentiment.” Vergil nodded. “All this new-fangled technology and the babble that comes with them confuses me to end. To this day, I still have no idea what a ‘hashtag’ is or how exactly one uses it when they wish to type in a message.

“I remember a time when this hashtag was just a sign used to connote numbers. Now, it is in tags or trending pages. Bah. I will never understand this new generation. They enjoy making simple matters complicated.”

“Simpler times, bro. Simpler times.” His younger brother concurred. “They even have this website where they limit the amount of words you can put on a post. How dumb is that?”

“About as dumb as you are, little brother.”

Stealing a glance at the booze he had smuggled in, Dante decided that now was the perfect time to attack. The ice had been broken. Operation: Nero’s Mom was just given the greenlight to proceed.

“We’re getting old, Vergil.” Dante returned to his seat. “The world’s moving on without us.”

“Perhaps.” Vergil licked off the bits of cheese that were stuck on his fingertips. “If anything, I simply wish to understand what a hashtag is. I cannot rest until I find out how it turns a text blue when it is used.”

”But you know what doesn’t get old?”

His older brother stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to give the answer to his own question.

“Booze,” Dante said.

“Specifically, whiskey.” He held up one of the bottles that he pulled out of the plastic. “I brought more than enough.”

Vergil sighed. He knew exactly what his little brother was suggesting.

“No,” he said without a hint of hesitation. “No drinking.”

“But I can’t help but feel that something’s missing.” He insisted. “My heart says that this moment of brotherly bonding is enough, but my soul yearns for more!”

“Your soul is in dire need of an exorcist, it seems.”

The regret that was creeping up on Vergil was now at a full-blown sprint. He knew not what shenanigans his little brother had in mind but knew enough to predict that, as always, it wouldn’t end well for either of them.

“Little brother, it is far too early for alcohol.” Vergil rubbed his temples. “Unlike you I do not require alcoholic beverages to enjoy my moments of leisure.

“Too early? It’s eleven o’clock!” Dante replied. “C’mon, pull that stick out of your ass, big bro. You gotta live a little!”

“I would rather gouge my eyes out with a spoon than live like you.”

“You know what they say: alcohol is what turns a boring ol’ conversation into a party.” He stood and began to pace around the living room in a dramatic fashion. “How can our souls attune with one another if we don’t take a little drop of alcohol to loosen up?”

“Whoever said that is a fool and you are an even bigger buffoon for quoting such drivel.” Vergil placed the bag of Doritos on the empty spot beside him. “You are free to consume as much alcohol as you wish so long as you clean up, but leave me out of it.

“I’m sure you are well aware of Nero’s temper. Attracting his ire would be unwise.”

“Come on, ‘Verg.” Dante moved closer to his brother, jokingly putting on his best puppy-dog-eyes expression to poke him further. “Just one glass?”

Of course, Dante had been in enough drinking sessions to know that the “just one glass” mantra was a load of crap. “Just one glass” always turned into “Okay, another one but for real this is the last one.” and the cycle repeats ad infinitum. If his gamble paid off today, Vergil would fall into that same vicious cycle, which meant that he’d be more than likely to spill the details about his old flame now that he was a little loosened up or just outright drunk as a skunk. The devil hunter always had shit for luck when it came to gambling, but he legitimately felt that lady luck was on his side today. He was going to bet high and win big.

On the other hand, Vergil recoiled in horror. Terrified, annoyed, disgusted, and angry were just half of the words he’d use to describe his catharsis. Seeing the face his brother was trying to put on was akin to staring into the nebulous maw of the void itself. He wanted to throw-up on the spot, but that would mean amplifying his brother’s already pungent smell of decay, so he opted to hold it in as best as he could despite his feelings of utter disgust at the sight.

His brother’s persistence bothered him greatly; the fool would never stop bothering him about it until he conceded. His presence was already an annoyance as it is, but just as he did not wish to amplify the smell of death by covering him in vomit, he also did not wish to be annoyed even further by his constant bugging. Besides, as he much as he hated to admit, he did miss the feeling of having a drink. He wasn’t a heavy drinker by any means, but he still enjoyed a little alcohol from time to time, and part of him wasn’t opposed to tasting even just a single drop. In a strange, twisted way, Dante was correct: it had been some time since he had a drink.

Perhaps it would be best to humor him for now

“Fine-” Vergil let out a long, deep sigh- “I’ll have a glass, I suppose.”

“Alright!” Dante’s expression brightened. “Does Nero have a bottle opener here somewhere or are we going to use Yamato?”

“Left cupboard.” Vergil replied. “The glasses for drinking are on the right.”

Dante disappeared into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with two glasses of whiskey. Vergil was surprised that he didn’t hear the contents of the cupboard crash into the floor. Taking into account of how much of a buffoon his little brother was, he half-expected him to leave a trail of destruction in the kitchen the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

“Here ya go, big bro.” Plopping back down on the couch, he handed him the other glass. “Fresh from the bottle.”

“How much did you pay for this?” Vergil examined the brown liquid. “I am surprised that someone with such gargantuan debts was able to afford premium alcohol.”

“Hey, the grocery I bought it in was selling it for half-off.” Dante shrugged. “Wanna go ahead and draw first blood?”

“If you insist.”

The older twin started with a small sip. It had been some time since his last taste of alcohol, but the feeling was just as he had remembered: warm, somewhat calming, like something was slowly lifting away the burdens that weighed heavily on his shoulders. Unlike his taste test earlier with the junk food, this was him reconnecting with an old friend, repainting the sections of his palette that were otherwise left neglected through years of disuse.

“Well, well, little brother." He smirked. “Despite your constant buffoonery, it seems that you aren’t completely devoid of intellect.”

“Quality stuff, I know.” Dante took a swig from his share. “It’s expensive as hell, but it’s worth it. Hits you like nothing else on the market.”

“I must concur.” His brother replied. “As much as it pains me to say so, you have fine tastes, brother.

“The last time I tasted alcohol this exquisite was somewhere in the east prior to my visit here in Fortuna all those years ago.”

“This sounds fun.” Dante raised his eyebrows. “Wanna tell me all about it?”

“If I must.” Vergil took another sip from his whiskey. “I would prefer not to, but I presume that I have no say this matter regardless.

"So, it all began when..."

Vergil recounted his tale, with Dante listening intently. As the two brothers were getting lost in their banter about the older twin’s untold experiences, they found themselves drinking more than they intended to, pouring glass after glass after glass. It was a stark contradiction to Vergil’s initial proclamation, who was already on his third refill. Eventually, they started branching out to different topics, which ranged from the mundane to outlandish. This went on longer than they expected, with time wordlessly evaporating in the backdrop.

Dante was beginning to notice that Vergil was a little loose now, to say the least; he was acting less haughty and more candid. He swore that his older sibling was even turning red as a tomato, but he couldn’t tell. After all, he wasn’t one to talk: he was already the feeling the hit of the booze himself. The devil hunter fancied himself to be a pretty decent drinker, but this stuff was no joke. He bought this solely to get the elephant in the room drunk enough to spill his guts out. Vergil didn’t drink as feverously, but he was still going at it more than he probably cared to notice. On certain occasions, he would become lost in thought and start droning on about things outside of the current topic. Hell, he was even starting to smile a little more than usual, which was a weird thing to see from someone whose default facial expression was a frown.

Before they even realized it, the sun was already beginning to set on Fortuna, and their faces were already flushing red from how much they had been drinking up to this point.

“In the end, we lost both the cake and the money.” Finishing his latest tale, Vergil poured himself another round. “It caused quite the ruckus.”

Dante burst out into fits of uncontrollable laughter. His brother wasn't an airhead by any means, but his attempts to reintegrate into modern society always resulted in utter hilarity.

”Don’t sweat it, big bro.” He wiped away a small tear in his eye. “Being a dad’s tough.”

“It is.”

"How is that workin’ out for ya these days?”-The devil hunter gulped down the last of his current round-“Being a dad, I mean.”

Vergil was silent for a moment. He stared off into the distance, combing his brain for a response that seemed distant to him. The older half-demon never really considered himself a ”father”, by any means; Nero would call him dad or pops and he would occasionally refer to him as son but from his perspective, their relationship was more akin to close housemates than family members. It was still an awkward topic for the both of them, to say the least.

Seeing this kind of reaction from his brother was a rarity, but it was a good sign, nonetheless. Lady luck was truly on Tony Redgrave’s side today.

"It is still a very foreign feeling to me." Vergil finally answered. "As always, Nero tries to act like we are a normal family. However, even now I still find it very perplexing that he is my son. He is loud and brash and has no sense of subtlety.

"I wonder why?" He shot his little brother a dirty glare.

"Don't look at me.” Dante shrugged. "The kid was already like that when I first met him. Angry, hot-blooded, always looking for a fight. He punches really hard, too."

"Yes." Vergil nodded. "But at the same time, there is something about that boy that I cannot explain. It's as if there's a part of my soul that resides inside him. I am unable to see it, but I feel it."

“You two couldn’t be any more different, but the kid’s definitely yours, big bro.” He gave his brother a wink. “He even has your eyes.”

Vergil was silent for a moment, as if lost in contemplation. He suddenly found himself feeling wistful. It was odd for him to be this sentimental about a past he barely cared about at the time and as sure as he was that this was simply him being debilitated by the alcohol, he still wasn’t able to stifle these almost alien emotions he was starting to uncover.

He finally said, “Brother, may I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“How did you find my son?”

Dante refilled his glass of whiskey before beginning his tale.

"To be honest? By complete accident," he said. "When Lady tossed me a job about some serious stuff that was goin’ on down here that involved Devil Arms, I sent Trish to infiltrate the Order and get some dirt on 'em before moving in to do business. On the way, I saw this white-haired kid take care of a bunch of demons before going to some ceremony. It was good stuff.

"I barge into the said ceremony and killed the old dude who was running the show. There was obvious panic, a lot of screaming, but I didn't expect him to jump out of the crowd and start attacking me. We had a bit of a tussle, and he beat my face in with that arm of his which, by the way, hit really hard, but I got away. He started chasing me, though. Nero was an angry son of a bitch, so I had to knock some sense it to him more than once but like you said: spirit. I saw a lot of you in him."

Vergil smiled. Perhaps Nero has taken after him more than he initially thought, especially with how much he manhandled his uncle.

"I never even knew I had a son before I departed Fortuna," he said. "In truth, I never expected that one would confront me the way Nero did atop the Qliphoth. Perhaps I wasn't as resistant towards the desires of the flesh as I thought I would be back then."

There it was again. That sullen expression, as if his very soul was plucked from his body by an unseen force. He looked lost in thought, dreaming of someone or something in a distant memory that he could no longer attain.

"Yeah, well even you were young once, big brother.” He patted him on the back. “Don't let it get to ya."

This was it. The path was now open, and Dante wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip his grasp; he was going to ride this sudden burst of good luck all the way to the jackpot.

"Since I answered yours, do you mind if I pop a question of my own?" he asked.

“If you must.”

The devil hunter scooted over towards his brother. Vergil tried to move away, but found himself pressed against the couch’s armrest. His little brother was so close that he feared his coat would melt the moment it touched his on account of all the filth that had most likely accumulated on it from weeks of being unwashed.

“So, who was the lucky lady?” Dante whispered.

Vergil choked on his whiskey. At that moment, he realized his fatal error: he had been droning on so much that he inadvertently opened pandora’s box once more.

“What’s wrong, Vergil?” Dante placed his empty glass on the floor. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Er, I cannot seem to recall.” Vergil crossed his arms. “It did happen a long time ago, after all.”

“Come on, I know you’ve got something for me.” Returning to the photograph, Dante held it up towards his brother. "Who did you hook up with to get this kid?

He stalled by pretending to recall his memories in silence, but he knew that he was starting to run out of time. He needed to think of something right now.

In most cases, Vergil would find a smooth way out of this situation. He would take control over the conversation and shift it towards something else, gradually burying the original topic in a pile of mundane ones until it was laid to rest for the time being. Dante would exhume it in preparation for their next meeting, but the outcome was always the same either way. However, this case was different when one considers the copious amounts of alcohol coursing through his veins that clouded his train of thought. Hijacking the discussion was exactly what he planned on doing right now, but what he had in mind was far from eloquent.

“Before I give my response, allow me to retort with mine." Vergil answered. “What about you, little brother?”

“Excuse me?” Dante blinked.

Vergil’s expression unnerved him. His grin was unsettling, like it was full of malice and scandalous intent.

“Where is your child?” His older brother sneered.

“A kid?” Dante put the photo down and shrugged. “Never had one, never even thought of having one. My job doesn’t really give me time to settle down and raise a little rascal, does it?”

"So, you are surrounded by a gaggle of beautiful women." Vergil continued. "Lady, Nico, and perhaps others you have crossed paths with inside and outside your line of work, and you still have not conceived a worthy heir to our father’s bloodline?”

“I get that." Dante sighed. "But I’m too busy, okay? I’m supposed to be the one protecting the human world or whatever, so a kid’s definitely out of the question.

”I mean hey, we have yours and he already has Kyrie, so the line is saved. There’s no need for another kid.”

“I see, I see.” Vergil nodded. “A fine answer, dear brother, but I believe that you are simply hiding a much, much more different truth that you do not wish to admit.”

"And what would that be?"

“Perhaps the truth is that”-Vergil walked over to his little brother, stopping at an arm’s length away from him.-“You are yet to pop your cherry, so to speak."

With that, lady luck had packed her bags and left for the nearest ferry out of Fortuna. The heat rushed to Dante’s face as he found himself on the receiving end of a topic that he was not keen on discussing, especially with his big brother. He tried to dig up a cool comeback, which was his supposed specialty, but found nothing except the cold, hard realization that his composure was completely broken.

Normally, a shallow, off-handed question like that wouldn’t bother the devil hunter in the slightest, but the booze in his system made it hard for him to think rationally, and he wasn’t just going to let the fact that his brother called him a virgin slide. They were both too drunk to even think about how petty starting an argument over this issue was for men of their age.

“O-o-of course I’ve had sex.” He stammered. “I just don’t have a kid, that’s all!”

Vergil, however, was having none of it and was already consumed by laughter. You didn't this see him this jovial much and, admittedly, in other circumstances, Dante would have felt a small trickle of joy to see his brother this happy. It was rare, like seeing an albino animal in the wild, or a Riot with a stubby tail: there was a sense of wonder that was attached to it; a once in a lifetime find that you'd treasure for the rest of your life.

But right now, all he wanted to do was bash his goddamn face in.

"Oh, dear brother." Vergil was wiping away tears. "Don't tell me that you're incapable of charming a woman?"

“I’ve been on dates before!”

“Then how about satisfying one?” Vergil sneered.

The sight of his little brother becoming flustered pleased him greatly. Dante's face was an even redder shade now as he struggled to mask his embarrassment. Oh the poor fool. Vergil was loving every second of this.

"I see how it is." He gave his brother a hard shove. "You had a one-night stand and got a kid out of it, so now you think you can act all high and mighty, don't ya?”

“Mother always said that I was the more handsome brother.” Unfazed, Vergil retorted. "It appears she was correct."

“We literally have the same face." Dante shot back. "We're twins, dipshit!"

"But I am the more charming sibling." Vergil responded. "With your face and that odor, it is not surprising that women are not attracted to you whatsoever."

"You're delusional." Dante seethed. "Living in the underworld for decades does that to ya."

"And you are in denial, little brother."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Admit it, Dante." Vergil flaunted. "I have inherited our father's charm more than you have, and I am much better at pleasing my partner in bed."

"Are you implying that I'm bad at sex?!"

Dante felt a nerve pop. He wasn't just going to stand here and take this shit from him. The younger brother wanted nothing more than to wipe that his smug expression off his face and make him choke on his words.

"It's not an implication." Vergil locked eyes with his sibling. "It's a fact."

They were both acting like children, but were too drunk on expensive whiskey to care. There, in the living room of the orphanage, a stand-off was taking place. Mirroring what happened atop the Temen-Ni-Gru all those years ago, the sons of Sparda stared each other down, neither willing to give the other ground. The tension was palpable. The silence was deafning, in a way: there was a calm before the storm where one could hear the drop of a pin even if it happened across the street.

Dante conjured his Devil Sword out of thin air. Its blade pulsed in a sickening red glow, signifying that it was ready and able to carry out its wielder's wishes. Seeing nothing but red and the blue hue of his brother's coat, he was determined to make him choke on his words.

The younger son of Sparda raised his weapon and pointed it at his older brother.

"You take that back." He threatened.

Vergil was unfazed and turned to retrieve his own weapon. Yamato was leaning snugly beside the couch, but now it was in its master's hands, unsheathed and poised to cut through whatever Vergil wished to destroy. He didn't intend on using it for the entire day even just for travel, but a change of plans was in order. Holding on to his staunch pride as the eldest sibling, he was determined to teach this insolent little pup a lesson.

"Empty threats mean nothing to me, Dante." Vergil retorted, assuming a battle stance of his own. "But you already knew that."

With the powder now lit, it was only a matter of time before it exploded.

-----------

The Devil May Cry van was steadily rolling down the streets of Fortuna with its proprietors at the helm. Nico took the next right, passing by the pizza place that served as their landmark; they were already a few blocks away from home.

On the front seat, Nero had just finished counting the cash they hauled in from their latest gig. Another day, another devil arms deal busted. This kind of job usually entailed a big fight with someone who knew how to use their new toy (to some degree), but in this case they were lucky that the thugs didn't know how to use their stuff and ended up killing themselves before the fight even started.

"Easiest paycheck ever." He slammed the briefcase shut.

"You bet your ass it was." Nico blew a puff of smoke out the window. "Those dumbasses didn't even know what the hell kinda heat they were packin'!"

"Yeah well, that just means more cash for us." The young devil hunter leaned backwards. "If all the jobs we took went down this smoothly, we'd never have to worry about getting hungry ever again."

He was glad that things sorted themselves out when the dumb bastards started to slice themselves in half by accident. He needed the money, but he hated this kind of job; it always made him feel more tired than he should be after everything wrapped up. Getting to go home with the sun still up was rare for them nowadays, but he welcomed it all the same. Kyrie and the kids weren't going to be home soon, which meant that he had the house all to himself. His dad was the only one left holding down the fort, but he'd sooner eat his own shoe than consider that Vergi of all people would be the one to cause any trouble.

"...in other news, a local grocery store has become the victim of a robbery that took place earlier this morning. Witnesses and CCTV footage have all confirmed that the criminal, who appeared to be a shadowy humanoid wearing a long coat, ran straight into the establishment and started stealing various junk food and several bottles of alcohol in plain sight, leading many to speculate that demons wer-"

At the mention of demons, Nero shot out of his seat and turned off the radio.

"I was listen' to that, shit-for-brains!" The mechanic snapped, tossing the burnt-out cigar to her partner out of spite. "What the hell do you think you're doin'?"

"Look, can we just not hear anymore talk about demons today?" He sighed. "I wanna block all that shit out from my head and just relax for once, okay?

"Whatevuh." Nico rolled her eyes. "Can I at least switch to the music station?"

"Sure, go ahead." Nero flicked away the burnt-out cigar that landed on his jacket. "It'd be nice to hear something that ain't your annoying accent for once."

"Hey, fuck you, asshole." Nico cursed. "Your jus' jealous cause your voice sounds dumb an' borin' in comparison."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

With music starting to flood the van's atmosphere, Nero drifted off and began to imagine all the things he could do without the children or Kyrie around. Maybe he'd go to the rec room first to boot up a videogame, or he could relax on the couch with a cold can of beer to help ease his nerves a bit. He usually wasn't allowed to drink any liquor, but there wasn't anyone there to stop him now. Oh, maybe he could do both. Both would probably be the best. Drinking some good beer wh-

A sudden brake snapped him out of his dream world, causing his skull to collide with windshield.

"Nico?!" He rubbed the spot on his head that had hit the glass.

"Don't lose your tits, hotshot." The artisan tossed another cigar out the window. "Get off your butt and look a' this."

Nero was back on his feet and peering outside through the windshield. He immediately saw what caused Nico's distress: the front door to the orphanage was open. Not just open, but it hanged from its hinges, like someone had forcibly done so during a struggle. Not only that, some of the windows were broken, and pieces of furniture were scattered along the street.

Frustration started to bubble inside him. He was looking forward to having peace and quiet and leisure greeting him, not the face of whatever ugly son of a bitch had decided to sniff around their home.

"What happened here?" Nico wondered out loud.

"Definitely wasn't a girl scout, that's for damn sure." He removed Blue Rose from her holster. "And here I thought that I'd get the day off."

"What the hell are ya talkin' about?" Nico pointed at the carnage "Your dad probably killed whatever knocked on your door, dumbass!"

"Maybe." Nero got up from his seat. "We won't know until we find out and I'm not gonna leave things on a gut feeling when we're living with a bunch of children who'd follow a stranger if he had candy."

Turning to his partner, he grinned.

"Hey, driver? Keep the meter running, will ya?" the half-demon teased.

"Just get the fuck outta here and do what you need to do." Nico flashed him a middle finger.

Dismounting the van, Nero revved Red Queen to life. With Blue Rose in hand, he slowly approached the orphanage, taking care to assess the situation properly and avoid any surprises that may have been left for him if there were any.

"This is your fault, you idiot!"

"You were the one who provoked me!"

No, I didn't! You did!"

"Foolish little brother! How dare you place all the blame on me?"

He heard bickering from inside. It was his dad's, for sure, but he swore that he also heard Dante.

The young devil hunter threw caution to the wind and made a beeline for the doorway. Upon entering, he felt an artery pop upon witnessing the horrors that had transpired inside his own home while he was gone.

A Category-5 hurricane had ravaged the orphanage. Leaks had sprung everywhere; holes dotted the walls and ceilings like they were blocks of cheese. As with the scene outside, pieces of broken furniture were thrown around everywhere, and the wall that seperated a portion of the living room from the corridor was no more. The ceiling above the dining room had collapsed completely, causing everything in the guest room to scatter all over the ground floor, including the bed. It was one hell of a ruckus.

"Dad?! Dante?!" He called. "You guys okay?!"

"In the living room, son!" Vergil answered.

We're upstairs!" Dante shouted. "Don't believe him, he's tired!"

Vergil and Dante began to bicker again, but Nero was too focused on the matter at hand to make out what they were saying. He dashed towards the living room with urgency, worried about the safety of his dad ad uncle, and...

He stopped dead in his tracks. This time, he felt all his arteries explode at once as pure, unadulterated rage began to course through his system.

The living room was a right and proper mess, but the highlights of this destruction were his dearly beloved father and ever-reliable uncle. Dante was sprawled on the floor, impaled with Yamato and looking like he had been fighting an entire army of demons by himself the whole day. Vergil, also looking like absolute shit, was high up on the wall, held in place by the Devil Sword Dante that was embedded in his chest. They looked utterly exhausted from their fight. Nero could spied a bottle of whiskey, as well as several broken ones that were scattered around the scene. They got drunk and had a fight while everyone had their backs turned.

The two brothers immediately ceased their bickering and turned in sync to see Nero, their precious little boy, with an expression of pure hatred that would make even Mundus himself turn around and run back to his mother.

"Oh shit." Dante uttered.

"Welcome home, son!" Vergil faked a smile. "How was work?"

Nero was in hysterics. He laughed at the absurdity of it all. This was much, much worse than he imagined it to be. The orphanage was beyond trashed. They were already in the red with the finances as it is, but now all the money they had left was going straight to fixing the mess that these two had left behind.

"Hey dad, hey Dante." He pointed at the still-intact bottle of liquor. "Watcha got there?"

"Er, a smoothie?" His uncle let out a weak laugh.

"Wrong answer, motherfucker."

Nero's voice was calm, but his maniacal grin said otherwise.

With a bright flash of purple, the young half-demon shed his humanity and assumed his Devil form, opening his ethereal wings to their full wingspan.

"Alright, assholes." The arms that grew out of his wings cracked their knuckles in anticipation. "Which one of you is payin' for all this shit?"

Dante raised his right hand.

"Okay, okay. So, here's how this is gonna work." Nero approached his loving family, making sure that each step was slow and deliberate. "I'll be using my left hand on ya and only my left so that after I'm done, you'll be conscious enough to pay me from your fucking hospital bed. We clear on that, old man?"

"Please don't kill me, Nero." Dante begged. "It was your dad's fault."

"Show me mercy, son. I beg you." Vergil chimed in. "It was your uncle who started this."

"Oh, it doesn't matter which one of you did this or that." Nero cackled "'Cause as far as I'm concerned, you're both gonna need more than just a Gold Orb when I'm through beating both your asses!"

With that, the arms on Nero's wings reached out and grabbed both brothers by their collars.

-----------

Nico was enjoying her 'cigs when she saw Dante fly out the window and land hard on the pavement.

"Nero, please!" he pleaded, trying in vain to crawl his way out of the carnage.

One of the arms from Nero's wings reached out to grab him by the ankle, slamming him around the street like a toy before pulling him back in through the same window he flew out of.

"Who told you I was done?! Get your fuckin' ass back here, old man!"

The mechanic took one last whiff of her cigar. Tossing it out in the street, she rolled up her window and turned on the radio again.

"What a bunch o' weirdos." she mused as the music began to fill her ears, drowning out the anguished wails of Nero's father figures.

#devil may cry #devil may cry 5 #vergil #dante #dmc nero #fanfic #dmc fanfiction #oneshot #writing #creative writing #one shot #fan fiction

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