#no i did not body block several leons

[little-pondhead]

[inspired roughly by this post. My brain snails started going nuts so I thought it'd be easier to post this separately :)]

…

It was a lovely day in Gotham. Well, as lovely as it could be. The sun was up, peeking through the overhead cloud cover and making the buildings gleam in the rare sunlight. The air was fresher than usual, and faucets ran clear of strange and unusual toxins.

Somewhere in the Upper East Side, in a little neighborhood tucked away from the rest of the city, marched around the new boss of the area. She was a young girl, just barely in high school. But despite it being the middle of a work day, she wandered around her chosen streets, content to do whatever she wanted. Above her, a pair of siblings watched on and discussed the unique situation.

"So let me get this straight: that fourteen-year-old goth girl is a crime boss?"

Mia smiled at Leon, her older brother, and his dumbfounded expression as they rested on her balcony. "She's fifteen, actually. Her birthday just passed. We all got together and threw a block party for her!"

"You know how insane that sounds, right?" Leon turned to her, a bit miffed that she dared to say those words to his face. "She's a kid. Why do you all listen to her?"

Mia shrugged and sipped her beer. "She does good work. Holds her own pretty well, and the kid has connections. Good ones, too. That can be the difference between life and death in Gotham."

Leon rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I just don't get it. How did she end up in this line of work? Do child labor laws even apply here?? Why aren't the Bats doing anything?"

"Don't think about it too much, dipshit." Mia crushed her now-empty beer can in her hand and tucked it into a paper garbage bag hanging off of a hook on the balcony rail. A familiar set of green arrows was printed on the side.

"And now you're recycling?!" Leon realized. "When did you start doing that, Mia??"

The woman shrugged and got up, stretching. "Probably around the time Brambles absolutely reamed out Mrs. Zalinski for littering at the park."

"Wait, who's Brambles?" Leon scrambled upright and followed his sister inside.

Mia laughed. "Brambles is our fifteen-year-old crime boss!"

...

"I can't believe you got a cool name right off the bat," Danny grumbled, flopping onto Sam's bed face-first. Sam smirked and shoved him off with her foot. Danny just squawked and let himself ragdoll to the ground.

"It's your fault for not having a better gimmick." She said to his prone body. "Besides, it could've been worse."

"I think Inviso-Bill is the worst possible nickname for anyone." Danny groaned. "But you got something cool immediately. Who even thought up 'Brambles'? That's such a unique name!"

"Well the kids call you Grim; that's pretty cool."

Danny flopped over, twisting himself much farther than any human was supposed to just so he could glare at her face. "They only call me that cause one of the is obsessed with Harry Potter." He grumbled, pouting.

Sam just rolled her eyes and went back to sorting through piles of papers scattered all across her duvet. Since moving to Gotham several months ago, Sam had taken it upon herself to turn the experience into something useful rather than just moping all the time, as she originally wanted to. That 'something useful' had landed her as the newest crime boss in Gotham, with about a third of the Upper East Side as her current territory.

So many problems had popped up in the last year, and the group had decided that taking it on alone would never work. The GIW had been trying to close Amity's borders, Danny's parents had a scientific breakthrough, tensions in the Realms were high, etc. There was a lot on their plate! Sam's solution was to create a foothold in Gotham City. She would lay the foundations for Jazz to work in Arkham and forge a safer environment for the residents of Amity Park to sneak off to if the GIW went too far. She was essentially weaving a cushion for everyone to fall back on.

Danny, using the power of duplication, was splitting his focus between foiling his parent's plans and resolving issues with his rouges to create a united front. He was the main distraction, and Sam's own heavy hitter when she needed help establishing dominance.

Tucker planned to gather intel with the help of Technus and Jazz. They were trying to gather as much evidence as possible so they'd be in the clear when the whistle blew. The GIW would crash and burn, legally speaking. They were the bugs of the operation, spreading themselves thin and hoarding information like it was candy.

Dani was their wild card, their jester. She was keeping the JLD's attention focused solely on her and all the supernatural hijinks she was stirring up. When the time was right, she'd point them in the direction needed and let them loose. After winding them up so much, the hope was that the Justice League Dark would descend upon the GIW like hellfire.

But those were their future plans. Right now, Sam was in possession of specific files from Arkham Asylum and the GCPD. She was looking for anything to give her an edge in the upcoming meeting with a few other crime bosses. Some annual thing they host to renew Goonion contracts, see who's still alive, and examine how much the territory lines have changed. Stuff like that. Red Hood was supposed to be there, and she knew she needed an ironclad defense against him and his nosy colony of Bats.

Danny untwisted himself all of a sudden, making a weird face. "Sorry, got to go." He apologized. "Vlad just showed up to my house."

Sam waved him off. "Go, I'll be fine for today. Just be on time for the meeting on Friday. And I want you, not a double."

"You got it!" Danny did finger guns at her and promptly melted into a pile of green goo. Right on her bedroom floor!

Sam sighed and got up to throw a towel over the puddle. The ectoplasm would evaporate eventually, returning to the original Danny little by little. But for now, this would keep anyone from asking about it until it was all gone.

Sometimes she really hated living in student dorms. People always felt the need to burst into her room for no reason.

Who even made dorm rooms for high schoolers in the first place??

...

Jason couldn't help but stare at the new recruit.

Well, 'new recruit' wasn't exactly accurate. 'Potential to be the most headache-inducing supervillain' was more like it. Standing at a solid 5'10" with platform boots, Brambles, the newest crime lord who had taken over half of the Upper East Side in under four months, was almost tall enough to look him in the eye straight on. Which she tried to do anyways, tilting her chin up oh-so-slightly (in that stupid way aristocrats do when they want to look down at you) and glaring at him with open hostility.

Brambles was young, way too young to be in this line of business. At the start of the annual underground crime meeting (yes, they couldn't come up with a better name), she had announced that she was fifteen, went by she/her, and would snap the dick off of anyone who looked at her funny. Most everyone laughed at her, thinking it was an empty threat. Brambles proved it wasn't by sucker-punching a younger lieutenant who tried to get handsy with her five minutes into the meeting.

When the lieutenant's boss protested and threatened a gang war, Brambles had snapped her fingers and summoned what could only be a fucking pit demon from the depths of hell to threaten the man back. The creature looked like a teenager, just like Brambles, at first. But it was...off. The longer you looked, the worse it got.

It wore a draping black cloak that covered most of its body, with the ends turning to mist when it reached the floor. It had a pale, young face and white hair. Its eyes glowed just like Brambles', except they were a toxic green that made Jason's heart skip a beat in fear. The creature was snarling, with a fucking muzzle on it to keep its sharp teeth away from wandering fingers.

With a nod from Brambles, the creature bounded forward and knocked the guy to the floor, its arm elbow-deep into the guy's chest. The dude looked terrified, and a little sick "Would you rather lose a lieutenant or your life?" She had snarled, sounding almost a bit demonic herself. The other boss had backed down without another word, writing off his subordinate as dead and gone.

Instead of killing the guy, however, Brambles simply banished her little guard dog to a corner of the warehouse to play with its new toy in peace.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Someone whispered.

"They weren't unionized, so the Goonion won't say anything." Another answered.

It was the most awkward meeting in the history of the criminal underworld. No one even died since they were all focused on the newcomer.

Jason could feel a headache forming as the meeting came to an end. Brambles was still sitting in her chair. The creature had grown bored of its toy and was leaning against her, sprawled out lazily and barely flicking an ear at the onlookers in acknowledgment. A few people were idling around her, mostly women, trying to talk some big game and get on the kid's good side. Brambles was humoring them, taking tight control of the conversation when they got too prying.

Jason sighed. He knew he'd have to go over and have a talk with the kid, even if it was just for Bruce's files. He hauled himself upwards and stalked over. "Pardon me, ladies and gents, but I'm going to borrow the kiddo here for a moment."

The creature hissed at him, tensed at his approach. Brambles kept a tight grip on the back of its muzzle, keeping it grounded. The other criminals scattered like flies. They were the only two (three?) left in the warehouse within minutes.

Bramble rose to glare at him. "What." She spat. "If you're here to convince me not to get involved with anything, I will set Grim on your ass after lighting it on fire."

The creature, Grim, growled in agreement. The sound echoed strangely like he was hearing it from underwater.

"Relax, I'm not here to do any of that." Jason raised his hands in surrender, immediately abandoning that possible line of thought. "I'm just here to talk business. You're young, and while you don't want to admit it, inexperienced."

"Stop the fancy words, Red Hood." Brambles' eyes glowed again, and she released her hold on Grim's muzzle. "If you want to make a deal, say it to my face. If you're here to dig for information, either ask me or hit the road. I prefer honesty over flower talk, so tell me what you want before I take over your area, too."

Jason bristled. His vision was tinted green as he snapped, "What the fuck is your problem, kid?! I just wanted to make sure you were safe and not being forced to do this. I was even going to offer my support and protection if it was too much! I know you aren't going to stop, but that doesn't mean I want a kid to die just because they got into something they shouldn't and they think their fancy guard dog will always be there to protect them!"

Brambles' eyes stopped glowing, and her stare softened a bit. Grim went deadly still, just floating there, staring at Jason. His heart beat like crazy in his chest. What was he saying? It was all true, but he could've been nicer about it. Dick would've found a way to be nicer.

-krrrk- "Ibis, reporting in. I think you can trust him, guys. Even if he's a Bat, his connections and experience would be useful in our plans. Ibis out." -krrrk-

Jason flinched from the sudden noise, looking around to find the source. It sounded like it had come from everywhere, even inside his own helmet. Brambles immediately switched out her hostile look for an annoyed one, tapping an earpiece he hadn't noticed before.

"Ibis, you really have to stop opening up our comm lines to the public." She snapped, but there was no real heat to it. "And I thought I told you to stop eavesdropping!"

-krrrk- "Sorry, can't help it. I'm everywhere now! You shouldn't have given me this power." -krrrk-

Grim hissed.

-krrrk- "Don't hiss at me, young man! You were the one who suggested this!" -krrrk-

"I'm sorry, time out!" Jason made a T with his hands. The green from his vision had completely disappeared now. "What the FUCK is going on now?"

Brambles sighed, rubbing her temples. "You know what? Fine. We'll trust you. My name is Sam. Nice to meet you, Jason Todd."

Jason stepped back, immediately reaching for his gun. Grim darted forward and promptly flew through him, stealing all his weapons in one go. "I'm Danny!" Grim-Danny?-chirped in a human voice, giving him a shit-eating smile. "Sorry for the act, Mr. Hood. And sorry about the name drop, I'm the one that told them."

-krrrk- "I'm Tucker! There are more of us, but they're busy. I have literally so many questions for you, Mr. Hood." -krrrk-

"Now that introductions are over-Danny don't eat his smoke bombs, you're not gonna look like Dorathea-we'd like your help."

Jason squinted at them. "You understand this is all suspicious as fuck, right? And how did a pit demon find out who I am?"

-krrrk- "Yeah, we know. But lives are on the line here, and I think you'd really be a help!" -krrrk-

Brambles-Sam-sighed and pulled out a flash drive. "I was going to use this as leverage, but I guess it'll have to be useful in other ways." She tossed it to Jason, who numbly caught it. "Look over it if you want. If you don't, then just burn it. Do not try to plug it into the Batcomputer. Don't try to send it to the Batcomputer, either. A virus will target that specific IP address as soon as it makes contact. Any other computer is fine."

"Look it over, and we can go from there," Danny added, spinning in midair while chomping on one of Jason's knives. (His good one, too!) "And I'm not a pit demon, but I am dead. That's how I knew about you. Whatever brought you back to life gave the Realms a real headache for a while. It wasn't hard to look you up in the records."

"This is so much information. Lives are on the line? And two, three kids are dealing with it? By becoming crime bosses?"

-krrrk- "Technically, Sam's the only crime boss here. And that was kind of an accident. She was supposed to create a safe foothold in Gotham in case we needed to evacuate our town. But we all got cool nicknames out of it! And you're the only adult we've told this stuff to!" -krrrk-

"I'm what?"

"The only adult." Sam's unwavering gaze seemed to pierce his soul. "There are quite literally no other adults that can help, Red Hood. None that we trust, not really. Any adult intervention needs to be planned carefully so it doesn't backfire on us. We're trusting you here, Jason. Not only are you like us, which technically puts you in danger too, but you have power and connections to support a whole town of people the government wants to eradicate."

Jason looked at the little green flash drive in his hand. He didn't want to ask. "And this...?"

"A fruit basket," Sam said simply. "Originally, it was supposed to be blackmail. But instead, this is a present to show our goodwill and faith. To show you our skills. That drive contains information on other gangs, upcoming rogue attacks, chemical breakdowns of Joker Venom and Fear Gas, unfinished antidote formulas, etc. Tucker and his team scoured the underbelly of Gotham and gathered dirt on every single prominent figurehead. Including Bruce Wayne, should you choose to use it."

"I would never-"

"But you've thought about it." Danny cut in and scratched his neck. Jason's hands shook. "It's not a bad thing. It's just the nature of the dead. Wanting to right the wrongs left over from their time with the living. Even if you walk and breathe now, that doesn't mean desire disappears."

"The point is, we need help. Even if I'm loathe to admit it." Sam rolled her eyes, and suddenly, Jason didn't see a potential supervillain in the making. He saw a teenager trying her best, shouldering the responsibility of hundreds of people, both in Gotham and her hometown. Danny looked the same, no matter how other-worldly he was. What battles were they facing? Why weren't there any adults to turn to? What kind of lives were they leading if they immediately trusted a known crime lord with their lives upon the first meeting?

"I'll think about it." Jason finally said. Danny trilled in excitement, and some tension bled out of Sam's shoulders. "If the situation is bad enough, however, I'm calling in someone else for help."

Danny shrugged. "As long as it ain't Batman! I don't think he'll appreciate us smuggling a town of liminals into his city."

Sam poked Danny's shoulder, prompting him to look at her. "Let's go, before you break his brain with more info-dumping. Bye Red Hood!"

"Uh, yeah. Goodbye!" Jason stuttered. He watched the two kids walk towards the exit door, before shimmering out of sight before they even touched the handle.

What the fuck.

[cheesus-doodles]

Star-Crossed by Choice: Chapter 3

Yandere Raihan & Leon with Champion Darling

Pokemon SwSh and SV Crossover

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<< Chapter 1 | 2

Masterlist

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apologies for the sudden hiatus yall ;-; i've been pulling midnight days almost every day for the past month for work on top of dealing with quite a severe writer block - things has been calming down somewhat so I look forward to ramping up my writing again! thank you for your patience :3

“You ungrateful little whore,” Raihan all but snarled out, the whites of his gritted teeth glinting in the dim street light as he stared you down.

Your body instantly reacted, attempting to stumble back and away despite having collapsed on the ground, your trembling gaze all but locked on Raihan’s icy teals, unable to turn away. If looks could kill, you wouldn’t be dead, no - the fate that awaited you was so much worse than the kind embrace of death. Your Cinderace let out an uncertain trill as it looked back at you, quickly followed by an annoyed one as it shifted to block your view of the gym leader. The astute Pokemon you had the honor to call your partner was more than well aware of the situation, though its efforts did little to stop the shivers that wrecked your body as you tried and failed to force yourself to get up and move.

Raihan was hardly deterred. “After all I’ve done for you, after all you’ve put me through-” The taller man took a step forward, his towering shadow falling over you, eyes almost seeming to glow in the dark and he stared you down. “This is how you repay my love?” 

It was as if your Cinderace barely existed between the two of you, those narrowed eyes piercing straight past the Pokemon and into your soul, a shot from a harpoon that hooked into your flesh and froze you in place. There was no right answer to his question, even if you could muster the words to reply, because there wasn’t supposed to be one; you were never right. Only wrong. 

The town of Cortando was predictably quiet at this time of the night, with residents and student visitors having long retreated into their beds to prepare for the coming day. You envied them - and you always had - having the freedom that the new dawn would bring to look forward to. And even though you treasured every day you could roam the rolling hills of Paldea, free from the shackled throne you were forced to sit upon in Galar, it wasn’t without needing to constantly look over your back for the monsters that lurked in the shadows.

And now, the freedom you had so carefully constructed for yourself was threatening to shatter before your eyes. 

You gulped, pleading eyes sliding to glance at Nemona, who was still staring blankly at the whole ongoing shitshow. What now? Could you simply give all this up? Go back to the safety of what you knew? You had to, your mind screamed at you. Concede now, surrender and return peacefully before it’s too late, and you could maybe still enjoy some semblance of the miniscule comfort you had before your abrupt escape.

But it was your heart and the sinking feeling in the base of your gut that told you the truth. That it was already too late for you: you had forced the Hammerlocke gym leader into giving up all pretense of playing the persona he was so loved for, and like an awakened dragon, the man you faced was now one usually reserved only for you and your transgressions against him. Allowing others to lay eyes on such a private side of him would hardly be kind to you if Raihan got his way.

“Hey! Eyes here while I’m talking to you,” the man snapped, and your gaze immediately jumped back to meet his, the hair on the back of your neck standing as you realized that you had been too obvious in allowing your attention to waver away from Raihan. If Cinderace hadn’t been between the two of you, you were sure around your neck was exactly where the other’s hands would be at this precise point in time. “Do I mean so little to you now, princess? Just trash to be cast aside, huh?”

What now? What else?

‎

Yet that was hardly the whole sum of your issues at the moment. Allowing your eyes to slide away from Raihan once more as the man continued to vent and rant to himself, and there in the dim yellow light waited another patient pair, Leon looking deceptively relaxed from where he was leaned against an unassuming lamppost lazily scanning his surroundings, just a stone’s throw behind the hoodie-touting gym leader. And as if he could feel your wide-eyed stare, the ex-Champion looked up, catching your eyes lingering on him. Smirking as he dropped whatever it was that he had been tossing from one hand to the other, the purple-haired man leisurely strolled over, clapping one hand over an unusually agitated Raihan’s shoulder. “Calm, Raihan,” Leon smirked, golden eyes having never left yours. “She’s still here.”

Raihan let out an annoyed tsk, shaking Leon off of him, though the gym leader did take a deep breath and calmed down. 

I’m still here, you repeated mentally. So close where they could almost grasp you, your eyes flickering between the two as their shadow only seemed to grow longer and longer, swallowing you up and dragging you further from the light, yet so far away. Your chances to get away were only getting slimmer with every passing minute. Having to shake Raihan off was one thing, with the blue-eyed man’s seemingly dragon-like senses and his ability to read you like an open book, but adding Leon into the equation was a whole different ball game.

But you had to try. Giving up and returning to that life that awaited you, it simply wasn’t an option, if not for you, then for your beloved Pokemon friends. You’ve already beaten them once, you tried to reassure yourself. All that time ago, when you had become Galar Champion, and then again and again every Championship. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, you shifted your hand, dipping into your pocket to pull out a small clicker, all the while wrecking your brains to come up with a plan. You just had to beat them again this time. Give up, those nagging voices at the back of your mind urged again.

Far from the rage that Raihan had worked himself into, Leon was still calm and collected, the tanned man with a mob of purple hair reaching out towards you, offering one ungloved hand as if an olive branch. “It’s time to come home, love,” he reassured. “It’s not too late. Everything’ll go back to normal, same way it always was, if you come home with us now. I promise.”

A lie. You know better to fall for those honeyed words - that hadn’t been a question but an order. You closed your eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. It was all too much for you.

Those amber eyes moved to lock onto your Cinderace. “And you. Return to your Pokeball.”

Your partner pokemon bristled, letting out a warning growl.

‎

Leon had always frightened you, more than Raihan ever did. The Dragon gym leader had always been very obvious, very deliberate with his actions, never bothering to hide his intentions, to the extent of making it public to his leagues of fans the moment you were in his grasp. But you hadn’t even noticed the once-undefeated Champion’s claws wrapping around you until he already had you trapped.

The glimpse of purple hair you kept catching from the corner of your eye had you momentarily thinking of Hop, your oldest and dearest friend that you had left behind in Galar. You wondered how he was doing, whether he still thought of you like you did of him. Whether he had already achieved his goal of researching rare pokemon. Whether he still looked up to his older brother after what Leon had done to him the day you toppled Goliath and became reigning Champion.

You thought about writing to him from time to time, especially during those lonely nights when you camped out in the far corner of some field, stoking a crackling fire under the twinkling stars with your Pokemon fast asleep around you. You remembered when Hop would join you to feast on curry when the two of you were kids, when neither had any worries beyond homework and whether the channels would have the latest episode of your favorite show. But you had always decided against it at the end of the day, worried about being tracked down should Leon get a hold of one - and you could only offer simple wishes up to whatever deity was listening that Hop was doing well. 

Fat load of good that did you.

Your hand moved fast, tapping away on the converted morse paddle key hidden to the side of your body: non-verbal instructions to your Cinderace. Not only was it a system that both you and your Pokemon were well accustomed with, having practiced it again and again throughout the course of the Galar Championships and beyond, but it also took advantage of Pokemon’s natural heightened senses and your two self-established “guardians” inability to understand. And you knew your partner heard you loud and clear, the bunny Pokemon’s ear twitching in acknowledgement despite keeping its back turned to you.

Though despite your best attempts, your unspoken communication didn’t go unnoticed. Leon’s face darkened, in step with Raihan snarling. “Not going to use your words?” “What did I say about clicking?”

Fortunately, right on cue, Cinderace took a quick swipe at them, forcing the two men back a few paces to avoid the tip of its feet before your partner retreated back to stand guard in front of you. 

The breeze had picked up once more, carrying with it the calls of Hoothoot and the rustle of grass from outside of town, the fields alive with nocturnal Pokemon. You shivered in the warm wind, your mind racing. One step down, countless more to go. Could you pull it off?

‎

‎

It was far too obvious that you weren’t giving up the fight just yet, Raihan mused, sharp eyes lasering in on you as you kept your gaze downturned and focused on the ground, his grin only seeming to lengthen with the shadows that danced in the night. Sure, you had always been on the timid, shy side, even to the point of being a selective mute, but he could tell this was one of those rare times where your instinct to struggle against the current bubbled to the surface. You had always been a crafty little thing when you needed to.

Yet the scales were still tipped in his favor.

“Fiery,” the Hammerlocke gym leader all but purred out, pulling your attention out from your thoughts. “You sure you wanna do that though?” He reached into his pocket, and you flinched on instinct. Good.

 Pulling out an all-too familiar Pokeball, the orb was clutched in one tanned hand held halfway out, just enough for the light to catch its top. 

You turned pale, staggering to your feet immediately, your eyes locked on that ball. No doubt you would easily recognise the Pokeball he now held as your own: the once-glossy red surface painstakingly decorated with cute little details that he imagined you carving with the tip of a knife in the light of a campfire once upon a time, far out in the Wild Area and away from prying eyes. “You know who this is, don’t you, lil champ?”

You couldn’t tear your eyes away, tears beginning to well in the corner of your already swollen eyes as you tried to shake your head, attempting to plead silently to spare you the pain. 

Ah that helpless, what a sight for sore eyes indeed. If only you could voice that plea.

And with a quick toss, it was clear to the hooded trainer that he had only confirmed your worst nightmares, Lapras bursting forth and manifesting before Cinderace with a cry. Back when he had let his guard down and allowed you to escape from his grasp back in Galar, you had managed to slip away with just six of your Pokemon - your prized Pokemon to say the least, given those six formed the core of your Championship team. But, Raihan smirked, casually sliding both hands into the pockets of his hoodie, it was no secret you cared deeply for all your Pokemon, and those you left behind were still in his and Leon’s possession. 

Even your Cinderace seemed uncertain of the evolving situation, breaking its fighting stance to glance between you and its former ally. 

Now, what were you going to do next?

‎

‎

Your world felt like it was on the brink of imploding, the very air just a wrong touch away from collapsing around you. That wretched thick black collar that hung from Lapras’ neck, one you were all too familiar with - you could barely bite back the whimper that you felt threatening to escape from your throat. Whatever you did, one wrong move and you would once again be the sole cause of the world of suffering Lapras would be put through.

You shaking met Lapras’ eyes, to which the Pokemon let out a mournful sigh, and Cinderace returned a sad trill. It wasn’t the first time both had found the other on opposing sides since you had your living arrangement forcibly updated at the end of the Galar Championship, but neither liked the outcome. Maybe Leon and Raihan were right. Maybe you should just give in and end the pain. 

“Just leave her alone already!” A sudden interruption that sliced through the silence of the night like a hot knife through butter, and Nemona came stomping over from behind him, an uncharacteristically furious expression painted across the usually cheery girl. “She doesn’t want to go with you!” With a distinct lack of fear in her eyes and a lack of care for who your two pursuers were on the world stage, your friend marched past them without a second glance, putting herself squarely on your side and in your corner.

The Champion-ranked trainer turned to you. “Don’t get me wrong, I most definitely want to have a battle with you once all this blows over,” she declared, pausing for a moment before continuing on. “And I want to know everything. But I’m on your side. Got it?”

You simply nodded.

There was little question that Raihan and Leon would be angry, and you didn’t need to look to know just how downright pissed they were. Instead opting to turn your gaze to Nemona then to the ground, it was as if your mind had connected the dots faster than you could have realized, and you had to take a second look at the uniform-clad girl. Right before it hit you like a charging Rhyhorn, the sudden realization instantly shaking your entire perspective and turning your world upside down. 

You were no longer in Galar. 

Yes, there was no doubt that Raihan and Leon were still Master Class trainers that have conquered the World Coronation Championships, and were most definitely famous even here in Paldea as the famous Dragon Gym Leader of Hammerlocke and the former Galar Champion. But missing were the leagues of women who would throw their weeks away to comb every inch of grass for signs of you on Raihan’s command. And gone were the nosy trainers who would be more than happy to turn over information on your location just for a word of praise from Leon, or the crowds of your self-declared fans who could recognize you turned inside out from a yard away.

They were as good as nobodies here, and so were you.

‎

And now all the wheels began to turn. The modified morse paddle key that served as your clicker went into overdrive as you tried to get your thoughts out to Cinderace as fast as your fingers could go.

You could get away. There was still a way out for you.

Raihan seemed to have caught on to the sudden hope that surged in your veins, the toothy grin on his face dropping as he narrowed his eyes. “Lapras, Hydro Pump,” he ordered.

Lapras resisted, letting out a defiant cry as it rebelled against his orders. Your countdown has started.

Two clicks, and your Cinderace leapt forward, foot extended to land a Double Kick.

You didn’t look to see if the attack landed, attempting to turn out all external sounds from your buzzing ears; the butterflies in your chest already made it hard enough to keep breathing. Instead, you cleared your throat, your mouth moving as you tried to force a word, a sound, anything from your vocal chords. “S-St-” You exhaled, shuddering, your efforts going unnoticed amidst the chaos of the moment.

The Dragon Gym Leader had withdrawn a small remote, a promise, not a threat. “Lapras, use Hydro Pump,” he ordered again.

It wasn’t enough. A full word. All you needed was a single full word. If not for yourself, then for the hell that your Pokemon had been through - there was no other choice. You had to do it.

Nemona’s eyebrows were furrowed as she watched the battle go down, the other three trainers paying little attention to you as you carefully tiptoed over to retrieve your backpack off the ground, the clock in your head ticking down slowly but surely. Tick tock, the nagging voices in your head whispered to you. Tick tock.

There was little time to decide what the right move was, whether you did the right thing; you simply rationalized that you should pick whoever you wouldn’t mind being stuck with again should you have to return to Galar. Raihan did treat you like royalty whenever he wasn't angry at some unspoken rule that you unknowingly broke, and would only increase should you pick him, with the downside being the numerous eyes and constant spotlight that followed the popular trainer around. While no doubt that Leon’s treatment of you would improve greatly if you picked him, the man had always been very demanding, holding you to an impossible standard.

Reaching into your backpack right for your Pokemon as Cinderace dodged the jet of water aimed at him, everything that happened next took but a blink of an eye.

‎

All you could muster the strength to mutter was a single word, yet it was enough. A broken whisper of a single syllabus, mumbled by a hoarse voice that didn’t seem to see much use. “Raihan-”

Both men instantly startled, amber and aqua eyes snapping straight to yours as their jaws dropped. But it was all the distraction you needed.

Click. Your Vileplume manifested, instantly using Stun Spore, with both Vileplume Cinderace being recalled to their respective balls before the yellow dust even touched the ground.

You grabbed Nemona’s arm, yanking her backwards with surprising strength as you clutched your backpack tight to your chest. Another shrill song as Gardevoir manifested, the Psychic pokemon lightly touching its green sleeve-like arms to you, using Teleport.

And in under a minute, your little group was gone, vanishing without a trace from Cortondo.

‎

‎

“She-she said my name,” Raihan mumbled again and again, sounding very much star-struck. “My name. M-”

“Shut the fuck up,” Leon snapped back, annoyed.

Being left sprawled on the ground waiting for the effects of the paralysis to fade didn’t help much with the former Galar Champion’s mood, even less so when you had been just an arm’s length away. One grab away from going back to how life had been with you. And now, Leon had to live with the fact that after years and years of patience, waiting eagerly for a chance to hear your elusive voice. Soft and gentle, like the trickle of a river, your voice had been everything he ever imagined and more - and it was his rival’s name that left your lips first. 

It must be her, the purple-haired man fumed, a soft glow of red as an equally paralyzed Lapras was recalled to its ball by a giddy, giggling Raihan. That stupid Champion-ranked girl with the green highlighted hair. All his time and effort, taming and training you into his love - and she had broken his perfect you the moment his back was turned. All his work for nothing, gone like sand art at high tide.

Letting out a groan as Leon finally felt control of his body return, he could only slam the back of his head into the dust once in frustration before standing. 

Raihan had won this fight, but Leon sure as hell was going to make sure he wins the war.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 11: Anthropophobia

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

Splinter is the first to meet April as she walks in. She's carrying several bags that hang from her wrists and arms. Apparently she went grocery shopping before she got here.

Splinter walks over to her and nods his head in greeting.

"Ah, April. Good to see you again..." he sniffs the air, his demeanour immediately changing from composed host to excited foodie. "Ooooh, is that tiramisu I smell?"

April laughs as she reaches into one of the bags.

"All for you, Splints," she says, handing the box of cake over to Splinter, who grabs it with a huge grin.

"Aha! Come to big papa! Thank you, April, this is very kind of you."

"Anything for you and the guys," she says with a smile. "Speaking of which, how's Mikey doing?"

Splinter pauses.

"...How much have they told you?"

"You know Donnie, he likes to be vague and build up suspense for dramatic effect. But he texted me last night to say how the mission went."

"Did he?"

"Sometime at like, midnight or one AM," she grumbles. "Just to say that the mission was a success and they got Mikey back. I asked how he was, and all he said was that he was alive and conscious. But I haven't known Donnie all these years to not know when he's hiding something. So, how is Mikey, really? Is he okay?"

"It's difficult to say," Splinter mumbles, walking back into the lair with April. "He's... he's awake and can communicate, to some extent. He can walk and even run. But... I'll let you decide when you see him."

April is unsure what he means by that, but lets it slide. She's sure she'll find out in a bit.

The three other Hamato sons come into the room to greet them. Leo is first, rushing in with haste. Raph comes in after him, his pace quick but not as swift as Leon's. Donnie meanders in last, his stride slow and somewhat sluggish. He looks exhausted.

"Hey, family!" she says, leaning in for a hug from Leo, who takes half of the bags from her as Raph takes the rest. "How're you holding up?"

"Well enough," Leo mutters. "All things considered. At least, I haven't had a emotional breakdown yet!"

Raph looks embarrassed. Apparently he can't match that boast.

"Where is the man of the hour?" April asks. "I got some new paint pens for him."

Leo looks uncomfortable.

"Uhh... we left him in Donnie's lab. I think he's still asleep... let's get these groceries into the kitchen for now; we'll tell you about everything."

April nods sadly as she follows the guys.

.

.

.

"Hold him still!"

"Stop struggling!"

"Get me 20 Cc's of the mandrill, the boa, and the -- crap, he's gotten loose again!"

Mikey shrieks as he jumps down from the operating chair and dashes to the exit. A guard blocks his path, a cattle prod in his grip. He flicks the switch on it and a loud grinding sound ignites as blue sparks fly from the end. Mikey makes a quick turn and dodges him, running to a corner of the room and cowering. The doctors surround him angrily.

"Where's that frost gun?"

"Over there by the table!"

"Antagonizing little cretin! You'd think he'd have learned his lesson from the last time!!"

One of the men in white comes back, brandishing a long thin airgun with a blue stripe down the middle. A special weapon made specifically for him, for when he acts out. The doctor points it at Mikey and pulls the trigger. A gust of icy air shoots out directly at Mikey. He screeches in pain as the shock of temperature causes his body to go rigid. He falls to the ground convulsing and shivering, painful stabbing sensations prickle across his entire body. He almost feels like he's dying. He can't move.

The guards grab him roughly. He can't move to fight back. Mikey sobs and screams.

He hurts so much, there are so many hurting places on his body.

Needles that have broken the skin to inject what Mikey can only assume is poison because of how much it hurts.

Bruises from where he has been forced into places with other animals to see how they interact. They are never friendly. Mikey is the only one to ever walk out of the room again. Instinct is efficient and ruthless.

There is no love in this room. Only hate. Only pain.

Mikey is taken back to the chair and strapped down. He howls.

"I'd advise you not to do that again," a doctor says with anger burning in his eyes. "Or else there will be consequences."

Consequences worse than what is happening now? He doubts it.

Syringes prick his arms. Oozes and slimes and ghastly liquids are shoved into his veins and bloodstreams. He can feel it doing painful things to him, he feels his bones shift and crack and grow and shrink. His teeth snap into new formations and his fingers start to elongate, the nails splintering and curving into talons.

Mikey sobs. Why is he here? Why do they hate him? Where are the other ones?? Where is Red, and Blue, and Purple? Where did they go, why have they left him behind? Did they escape this place? This place is all he can remember, apart from them. He only recalls needles and linoleums and cages and cold and pain and tears and hatred and fury and longing and loneliness.

Why did they leave him... didn't they love him, once?

Didn't anybody love him once?

No. No one could ever have loved anything from this place.

No one could have loved whatever it is that Mikey is.

.

.

.

Mikey's eyes snap open, tears streaming down his cheeks.

He doesn't recognize this room. It's another cage? It's a small white tunnel, he's stuck inside, he needs to get out!

Mikey clambers around, whining and crying like a puppy stuck in a kennel. He somehow manages to make a backwards shimmy out of the tunnel.

He is in Purple's lab. He wants to leave, now. Right now.

Purple and Blue and Red aren't in here. Where did they go?

The door is open. Mikey rushes out, calling for them.

He howls, long whining hoots that anyone within the lair could hear. Why don't they respond? Where are they?

They left him again...? They left him. They left.

Gone. Gone. Gone.

Mikey starts to whimper.

Should have known they would leave...

No, they wouldn't leave!

Then where are they?

Somewhere... Brothers are somewhere... He'll find them eventually.

No trust. Something bad. Smell something bad.

Mikey smells it, too. Where is the bad smell coming from?

It's not a disgusting scent. In fact, it is, in some ways, very nostalgic. There are traces of coconut oil in it. Sweet scents. But it is a bad smell.

Something dangerous is in the home.

It's coming from the kitchen...

Mikey goes into hunting mode. He digs his talons into the cracks between the bricks in the wall. As he climbs, the pads on his palms shift, tickling sensations that give pins and needles on his hands. Miniscule hairs create Van der Waals forces, causing a suction effect as Mikey starts to scale the wall and crawl to the ceiling.

He sneaks along the top of the hallway, following the bad smell.

Mikey cranes his neck down to peer into the kitchen. Everyone is inside, unloading bags and boxes and containers of food and supplies.

Rat is in the corner of the room, wiping his eyes. He was crying. The human who made breakfast is also in here, quietly rummaging through the pantries and cabinets as he places things away. He looks like he might cry, too. Blue, Red and Purple are holding someone in their arms. She is making a lot of noise, weeping and wailing and sobbing in their embrace. Apparently everyone was crying.

They must love her.

But she smells bad. She has the bad smell. Why trust bad smell?

The bad smell is human.

We don't like humans.

No... we don't... but the male human made the food for us! We trust male human?

NO. No trusting humans! Bad humans! They do terrible things to us. Mikey must not trust humans. Only Instinct. Instinct kept us alive.

Instinct kept Mikey alive...

The male human seems to sense something is watching them, and looks up. He yelps in surprise.

Red, Blue, and Purple turn to look at him, then at what he's pointing at. The girl looks up at Mikey and screams in fright.

He hisses back at her, growling loudly as his tail whips underneath him. The scales and scutes start to lift, the ridges on his shoulders and thighs raising high. His tail becomes a spiky bludgeon.

Let Instinct take over. Instinct will keep us safe.

Mikey can do it. Instinct Might hurt brothers.

Instinct is better. Stronger. Instinct is --

MIKEY CAN DO IT, he snaps back in his mind. His tail cracks like a whip again as he snarls angrily.

The human girl yipes and hides behind Red.

Mikey starts to creep along the ceiling, watching them. Making sure that the evil humans don't do anything to hurt Rat or brothers.

Red follows him around the room, raising his hands and guarding the girl.

"Mikey? Hey Mikey, come on down, bud..."

"How... how is he doing that?" the girl asks.

"Lizards can climb on walls," Blue mutters. "Remember we said he has lizard DNA now?"

"I can't believe... that's really Mikey?" the girl whimpers quietly, grabbing Blue's arm.

"It's him," Blue says. He sounds sad.

"Mikey, come down?" Red begs.

Mikey sneers at the girl.

"What? April? You remember April, right?"

Mikey snaps at her, baring his teeth. The canines are growing longer and longer.

"Mikey, she's your sister," Red enunciates.

Mikey's expression softens. Sister? Like brothers?

"Yeah, mi hermano, she's cool! It's big sis April!" Blue joins in, patting her on the head. "See? She's one of us!"

Mikey croaks at her, cocking his head in confusion.

Don't trust her. Don't trust them. Humans are evil. Humans did this to us. They hurt us, and kept us from brothers, and made us sad and scared. She will hurt you!

Red walks directly underneath Mikey and holds his arms out as far as he can. Mikey lowers himself into his embrace, dangling upside down from the ceiling for a moment before readjusting and wrapping his torso around Red's forearm, his spine twisting with flexibility that surprises his brother.

"Boa constrictor?" he asks, looking at Purple.

"I guess," Purple answers with a tired shrug.

Mikey keeps his eyes on the human girl. She cautiously starts stepping closer, holding a hand out to him.

"Mikey? It's me, April. Please say you remember me...?"

Her voice wavers. She sounds so sad.

Humans can be sad?

Humans only cause sad. How can this human be sad?

Her eyes become glassy and blur over. She sniffles. Her nose is red and her cheeks are rosy. She was crying. She was very sad. Why is she sad now?

Did Mikey make her sad??

Mikey mews at her. He feels bad now. Her fingers touch his beak. He takes in the scent on her hands... lotions, perfume, coco butter from her curls. Mikey doesn't remember her face, or her voice. But he remembers these scents. And they do smell safe. He loves these smells, though he can't remember why. His eyes water, the scents activating some distant and foggy recollection of a warm embrace and a soft hand against his head and the feeling you get when laughing too hard.

She might be human... but he loved her once. He can love her again.

Mikey purrs, closing his eyes and leaning his face into the touch. He hears her stifle a sob, stroking her hand across his forehead and down his cheek. Tears pool in his eyes and seep through. Soon enough, she's wiping the tears away.

The humans were never gentle like this in the other place. They never loved him. But she loves him.

He was loved once. He is loved again.

Prev || Next

[rat-typewriter]

Clumsy - Leon Kennedy x Reader

proofread?: I will soon,,,, i promise

summary: You injure yourself; Leon wishes you'd be more careful.

You wished you had been looking where you had been going. Maybe then, you wouldn't have had to experience the horrible moment of free-fall as you realise that you've overstepped slightly and are about to tumble down the stairs. On your way down, not only did you smack your head into the wall - giving yourself a nosebleed - and crack your phone screen, but you landed on your ankle at an awkward angle.

Which really fucking hurt.

For a moment, you lay in a pathetic heap at the bottom of the stairwell - stunned by the whole experience. It was only when you heard Leon’s voice from several flights up that you snapped out of your daze.

“Y/N, Have you got the keys?” You quickly heaved yourself up into a sitting position, rummaging through your pockets - which contained no keys.

Shit.

You could picture them, still sat on your coffee table - now locked inside your flat.

Even from there, you could practically hear the teasing grin on his face as he added. “You always forget them.” 

Sighing, you moved to stand - using the handrail to heave yourself up. 

“I don’t have them.” You groaned. “God, I’m sorry, I’ve got to stop-”

Pain shot up through your leg - forcing a surprised yelp out of your throat. You veered sideways, grabbing the handrail for support as you doubled over in agony.

“Y/N?” 

Leon’s footsteps echoed as he thundered down the stairs, calling your name again. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. Ow, fuck.

Blood dripped out of your nose - the warm wetness running down your chin - clumsily you wiped it away, smearing red across your hand. 

“Y/N!” 

The panic in Leon’s usually steady voice made you feel a little ill (or maybe it was the way your head spun after daring to peer down at your ankle, which seemed to be at an interesting angle). You were by no means squeamish; in your line of work there simply wasn’t room to be. But in that moment - at eleven forty-four at night, in the stairwell of your flat - you weren’t feeling so brave.  

Leon rounded the corner and took the last flight of stairs three at a time - practically skidding to a halt beside you. He wrapped an arm around your waist, allowing you to lean on him as he slowly lowered you to the ground. 

“What happened?” He scanned your body; swearing quietly as he took in the blood (which although was only from your nose, you realised looked quite worrying when it was smeared across your shirt and hands). “Shit, Y/N. I’m going to call someone-”

He moved to stand and you grabbed his shoulder. “I’m alright!” You blurted out, your voice shaking a little. “Seriously, I’m okay.” You smiled in what you hoped to be a reassuring fashion - but Leon stared back, unimpressed. Admittedly you were not even remotely okay, but hearing your level-headed boyfriend panic filled you with anxiety.

“Yeah - no you’re not, sweetheart.” 

You laughed flatly. “Yeah, okay.”

---

You had never thought your city had many potholes, before making the drive to the hospital with a broken ankle. Leon did his best to avoid them all - but for each one he hit, you swore loudly - earning a flinch and slightly alarmed apology from him.

Now you sat in the Accident and Emergency waiting room, alone - save for a drunken girl who had called five (or was it six?) friends to cry about something unintelligible. According to the clock hung on the sterile white wall, an hour and twenty minutes had passed since the receptionist told you that someone would be “right with you” (before disappearing to god knows where). 

Despite your best efforts, sleep was out of the question - even when you tucked your head under Leon’s chin, successfully blocking out the garish white lights - the angry throbbing from your swollen foot was too hard to ignore. From time-to-time you felt Leon begin to drift off, before jerking awake; you felt terrible for dragging him out, just because you were so clumsy. 

Despite his snarky remarks - rarely did you ever have a legitimate disagreement. You had playful spats and often pushed each other's buttons - but Leon always knew where to draw the line.  

You knew he put up with a hell of a lot from you. Even the time your cat died and you refused to leave your flat for a month. He patiently came over and sat with you every single day until you felt ready to come out again. Even when you came back from missions and were too afraid to sleep. He’d sit awake with you watching every film under the sun until you fell asleep. Even the times where you did something genuinely stupid - touching an oven tray with your bare hands, locking yourself out for the millionth time - he’d just sigh and tease you for being such a ditz. But every time his voice - through the speaker of your phone would say:

It’s okay, don’t worry about it.

I’m on my way; I’ll see you soon.

Hang tight, sweetheart.

He was everything to you. You glanced up at him, the movement enough to disturb him from his bored trance.

“I’m sure it won’t be long now.” He squeezed you gently, tightening his arm around your waist and you smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry." 

He cocked his head at you, giving you a tired smile. “You haven’t got anything to apologise for. Those stairs are far too steep - they’re an accident waiting to happen.” 

They really weren’t. And you both knew this. It was just a regular flight of stairs and you hadn’t been looking where you were going. 

You looked down at your foot, which had contentedly settled as an angry shade of purple. You were clumsy. A great officer - you kept up with Leon on missions easily, but you had a tendency to misjudge. It drove your boyfriend mad - your undying (perhaps foolish) confidence that I can make that jump or I'll be able to outrun those guys. His exasperated sighs and swearing under his breath often misled others. It always seemed to come as quite a shock that - although you spent a fair amount of time bumping heads, that not only did you work together - but you also loved one another.

After being separated in missions - no matter how much ranted about how you were too reckless or unprofessional or infuriating - he'd always squeeze your hand.

You didn't know what you did to deserve him. You wished you knew.

Pulling you from your thoughts, Leon pressed a kiss to your temple.

"You're thinking too hard." He spoke quietly. "That's never a good thing."

You shifted in your seat, thinking carefully before you spoke.

"Please don't leave me," 

You felt Leon sir back a little and - even though didn't move to look at his face - you felt him almost spluttering; buffering through various expressions as he scrambled for a response.

He started to speak a couple of times, cutting himself off before he could even form the first word. Finally, he let out a breathy laugh.

"What?" He said, craning his neck slightly to get a better look at your face.

You stared at the floor still, afraid to move. God, you sounded pathetic. So attention-seeking; so whiny.

"I-" You paused to suck in a breath, your throat beginning to shut. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Leon."

He laughed again, this time more firmly, shaking his head. "Do I look like I could function without you?"

What is he talking about? You took deep breaths and tried to steady yourself and focus on him. 

He had turned to you, propping himself up with his elbow on the back of your seat. Leon wasn't a massively touchy person - not in public at least - but you noticed how suddenly there were mere inches between you. Even now, you could see a glimpse of yourself, a gangly twenty year-old at the Police Academy in Racoon City - as the boy who sat next to you asked for your number.

He raised his eyebrows, pushing a strand of hair out of your face. "I had no idea I seemed so put together."

"I-" Your voice came out as a sort of hollow whisper. "What?"

He smiled, leaning closer as he laughed again. "M'not going to leave you, sweetheart. I thought it was obvious, but you're going to have to try a little harder than a broken ankle to get rid of me." 

A weak laugh forced its way out of you - even when you were a teenager, you had been a nervous-laugher. In the back of your mind, you were vaguely grateful that the drunken girl had now passed out across a row of seats - right then, it was only Leon.

"Really?" You said.

"Mhm." He nodded, barely a hint of his usual smugness remaining in his voice. "I mean - as long as you still want me around - I'm going to need you."

He sat back, raising an eyebrow at you. "I wouldn't want anyone else watching my back."

You giggled again, a memory of your time in the academy appearing in your mind.

"Even the time I tripped us both up in front of Officer James?"

He nodded, laughing. "Yeah, even so."

Leaning into his side again, you felt a little silly. Leon never let you feel unloved, it was just your own insecurity that got the better of you from time to time.

For a moment you sat in silence, comfortably nestled against one another. 

Leon sighed.

"Do you think they've forgotten us?" You asked, watching the empty reception desk carefully.

"Probably." He said. "Oh well,"

After another mind-numbingly dull forty minutes, a nurse appeared - taking you for x-rays and various tests. By the time you and Leon finally left the hospital, the sky was beginning to lighten. 

Leon watched nervously as you struggled with your crutches, limping through the car park. He made sure to never be more than a pace or so away from you, his hands poised so he could leap forwards and catch you whenever you stumbled.

“I’m not going to break, Leon.” You laughed watching his wide-eyed expression as you faltered slightly - but caught yourself easily. 

“I know,” He said, swallowing - but still not taking his eyes off of you. “I’m just here-” you slipped again and he grabbed you around the waist, supporting you. He let out a sigh before continuing. “I’m just here in case that happens.”

“Who would have thought it, stoic Agent Kennedy - all worried, just for little old me.” you grinned, raising an eyebrow - earning a huff from Leon.

“Well, clearly, you need my help.” 

“Oh do I?” you stumbled again; Leon caught you. 

This time it was his turn to raise his eyebrows, his signature cocky smile speaking for itself.

As much as you hated to admit it, that smile never failed to make you weak at the knees. You rolled your eyes, turning away - there was no way you’d ever give him the satisfaction of knowing that. “Shut up.” you huffed.

“I didn’t say anything.” he said, feigning innocence. You could hear his smugness.

“You were about to.” you gently shoved him with your hip - causing him to playfully lift you an inch or so off the ground. 

“I’d be careful, if I were you, agent L/N. I might just drop you.”

With a fake gasp you responded. “Oh you wouldn’t dream of it.”

---

A/N: Aaa I love leon so muchhh if anyone has only more re4 or re8 requests pls send them!!!

[mackjlee9]

|Part 2|Leon Kennedy x Male!Reader [?]

Warning; I struggled with this one so- I apologize in advance! I was thinking between Vendetta!Leon or Death Island!Leon, so either one is fine. 3.2k words.

Masterlist.

«««

Resident Evil 4

With ragged and rapid breaths, (M/n) collapsed inside the lift hoping the wooden roof of it would work as some sort of barrier, but even without it, (M/n) had already given up on making it out the island alive. He hates that he wasn't able to keep his promise, but at least... He knew he would remain a part of Leon's life, even with him gone.

He sighed, hearing the explosions going off everywhere, watching pieces of the mountains fall to the bottom of the ocean, and feeling the heat of the fire despite not being extremely close to any.

(M/n) stayed conscious for as long as he could, observing how his body was consumed by those black veins, and he sighed again, a long, drawn-out sigh as he thought of Leon. His eyes, his hair, his smile, his laugh, his voice... His lips.

His sight started getting blurry and his eyes stung with tears at the image of Leon in his mind, making him close his eyes, feeling those warm teardrops falling down his face.

"Goodbye, Leon..." Now that he said it, the knot in his throat got tighter, and he just let the tears freely make their way down, his body shaking with every sob that left him, his fists closing as he took in his reality, his final moments before everything turned black.

//////

Hours later, a few rescue helicopters find their way to the island, barely anything of it left standing above the waterline, collapsed on itself.

These people had been assigned there just to make sure the evidence had been destroyed, and that's where the land team comes in. All of them are walking around wearing suits and masks as a way to prevent any kind of direct contact with la plaga or any other virus that could linger in the air, they take careful steps where the ground feels more solid and stable, moving away pieces of rubble from the buildings that blocked their paths, kicking some small rocks that they found bothersome.

The more they walked in, the more things were found. Including bodies. Many of them actually, and most of them were unidentified corpses, with signs of bullet holes in their rotting bodies, leading them to assume this was Agent Kennedy's doing.

There were finding most of the buildings destroyed, the floor that hold them up had caved in and now they were submerged, and they were unable to go anywhere inside them, with the top of the mountain collapsed and chunks of it burying them further. They were about to leave when there was nothing useful and everything seemed to be gone, when one of the men that had wandered off on his own recognized one of the bodies.

"Captain! I found something!" He called through their radio, and the captain stopped before any other men could head over.

"What did you find, kid?" The man asked with severity, he was tired and wanted to leave, so he wasn't in the best mood to deal with any kind of "funny business".

"I found Lieutenant Colonel (L/n)!" He hurried to explain, kneeling and pressing his fingers on the male's pulse. It was there. "He's still alive!" He exclaimed before his superior told them what everyone already knew.

(M/n) was dead. He died saving Agent Kennedy, they were informed of that... But also ordered to bring his body in case they found him. Be able to give him and proper burial and say their final goodbye to the men that helped rescue the President's daughter, they weren't expecting that he would survive such an explosion.

But the moment they ran to where he was found, they understood why. Four foreign claw-like appendages had spurted out of his back, the flesh pulsing and twitching, black veins throbbing all over (M/n)'s skin.

For a moment they were scared of getting closer to him, but the way the claws were struggling to get him out and failing made the youngest of them run toward him, holding onto the slimy claw and pulling, groaning at the strength he had to use to move him barely an inch.

"Come on...! Come on!" He yelled whilst getting a better stance, "I won't...! Abandon you here, Lieutenant...!" The kid's will shook other soldiers that had served under (M/n)'s command or had the pleasure to meet the man, and they ran to help him.

They carried (M/n) on their way to the helicopter, meeting with the medic unit as they brought out a stretcher so they could carry him easier into the chopper and back to safety. But they couldn't help but think about what would actually happen to him when others see the appendages that grew on his back...

He would be safe, but he won't be treated like a human anymore. Only like a test subject. Like they've seen had happened to other infected soldiers.

The whole team got back onboard, and the medics hurried to stabilize (M/n) enough for him to receive a more adequate treatment.

Their captain turns on his radio to inform them of the situation, they had explored the remains of the island, made sure evidence was destroyed, and how they had found Lieutenant Colonel... Alive. But barely, explaining how (M/n) was in critical condition, holding a thin thread as he fought to stay alive, but left out the changes that occurred to his body. He didn't want to deal with that for now.

//////

Rushing through the halls of their base, they took (M/n) to the hospital room they had, equipped with anything (M/n) could need to make sure he stays alive.

While the doctors rushed around to get everything they needed when a man in a suit walked in. He looked at (M/n)'s body laying on the hospital bed, the claws coming out from within him catching his attention.

"Take him to the laboratory for testing once you make sure he's alive," he said, his voice not wavering even for a moment and the doctors looked at each other before nodding at the orders they received.

Everyone watched as he left, in complete silence they observed him walk out, but they still had stuff to do and a life to save.

A few of them had discussed the removal of the claws on his back, but before that, they had to do a full body scan of him to be able to see if the surgical removal was possible. And it didn't seem like they could.

All four of them were working as an extension of his spinal cord, and the parasite was still moving inside him, very slightly, twitching around and curling on itself, it appeared... To be dying.

For now, they just made sure (M/n) survived, only to later be used as a test subject.

It didn't sit right with either of them, but they had orders.

//////

When (M/n) finally woke up, he was surrounded by machines, locked in a completely white room that didn't have anything other than a metal door and a one-way mirror. He wasn't stupid, he knew where he was or had an idea of the facility he was being kept in.

He had never liked being on the other side of the mirror, observing an infected patient, a friend, or even a family member, and now he was the subject.

That was something he always feared, but it didn't make him as scared as the thought of losing Leon... Speaking of...

Where could he be?

The people in the monitoring room got a reading of (M/n)'s heart picking up, signaling he was awake, and soon, one of them rushed to his room, followed by armed guards, clipboard in their hands, ready to write anything that (M/n) could tell them or they could notice about him.

But it was useless.

Despite the physical changes he had gone through and being awake, he never responded, still as a rock, completely unresponsive to anything external from his own mind. He was lost. Whether it was temporary or permanent, they didn't know, the only they could do was wait for a signal of human behavior.

And just like that, years flew by, but it's not like (M/n) knew how long it's been since he woke up. He never responded to any questions or external stimulation used to get a reaction, he never moved aside from the automatic body movement like breathing and blinking. (M/n) didn't even sleep either, the first week they had monitored when he woke after six months he had spent the whole week awake, so it resulted in them giving him sleeping medicine through his IV.

He somehow ate, but no one was sure why or how, but one of the appendages had a mouth far behind the claw, and they weren't sure if it was moving on its own controlled by la plaga, or if (M/n) was doing that.

But the truth is, (M/n) didn't know either, he had moments where he was somehow conscious and then he was gone for long periods of time. Many had wondered why this happened, and someone had decided on checking the state of the parasite.

It was dead. Everyone knew that, but (M/n) should be somehow aware of his surroundings, nothing they had tried worked to "wake him up".

They discovered that, not only had the parasite died inside him, but while they had been waiting for it to shrink or shrivel up, it had expanded, and it managed to fuse itself with (M/n)'s spine and skull, as if it was still trying to control (M/n) during its last moment, and even after it died it refused to let go of its host. Removing it was impossible before and it was even worse now.

Many had given up on helping him, but someone was interested in his case and wanted to help an old friend back to life.

While scientists and doctors tried their best, (M/n) has short periods of lucidity he just sees flashes here and there, people going in an out of the room, talking and yelling, the feeling of foreign substances being injected into his blood, but he's not entirely sure what's happening, and when he starts to panic at not being able to understand what's occurring to him, his mind takes him to Leon and he's calm again. He's sure he has never thought of him more than he has done for as long as he stayed there.

He just wants to see him, or at least know that he's okay. That he's still alive.

Even if there was nothing he could do in this room where he was monitored 24/7 with specialized equipment to treat and investigate his case. One of the rarest cases of infection.

And of course, one of his close friends had found out about his current situation.

Rebecca had stumbled into this laboratory room he was kept in after six years of his "death" and for years she has tried doing everything she could, and even if a cure wouldn't fix the damage to his nerve system it could someone give him his consciousness and motor control back.

Of course, her superiors had other motives and those were getting more information about las plagas, despite what Leon had told them and what Tricell had done to it. But when ten years had passed since the day (M/n) was found, the hope she had vanished. And she couldn't keep the secret from Leon either.

Every time Rebecca sees (M/n)'s state, she remembers all the times Leon had talked about him, always with a sad look in his eyes, and yet, they were full of love for him.

She had done everything everyone had already tried a handful of times, holding more determination than others to help him, because it would only hurt Leon more to see him like that, but after being a test subject to many scientists and doctors for a decade, if a treatment or a cure hadn't been found by now, the chances of finding one later were even lesser than she previously thought.

So deciding this was something Leon had to know after years of keeping it a secret, Rebecca stood outside of the facility, waiting patiently for the roaring of Leon's bike, and after twenty minutes of anxious waiting, there it was. Leon arrived in his red Ducati and got off, showing a small smile toward the brunette who tried to smile back but couldn't, and Leon realized.

With a frown on his brow, he walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything alright?" She took a deep breath and looked up, staring into Leon's blue eyes, full of concern for her.

"You remember why I called you here, right?" Feeling more confused, Leon nodded, watching her sigh and turn around, "Follow me."

Well, Leon was certainly weirded out by this, she wanted to show him something... What could be so important to cause this behavior in her? Although he'll rather not come to conclusions on his own.

Walking around a laboratory facility always had him on edge, especially when he was aware of the things that were in it, but being with Rebecca made him feel more at ease about the place he was currently walking into. He followed Rebecca down many halls and down the elevator, where he tried to come up with something to say, but the tension made him unable to, so he kept quiet, taking steps behind her as she approached a door labeled "R.Chambers" so clearly it was her office.

All the equipment he saw there made him question what it was for, but some X-rays on the board caught his attention. Front and side view of someone's torso, specifically their spine. A weird fusion of a parasite on the spine and skull of the patient, and placed on a nearby table was a picture that showed the person's back, the claw appendages they had brought grotesque memories of Spain, of Saddler, of Ashley, of Luis and... Of (M/n).

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" He turned toward Rebecca, who glanced over her shoulder as she input the code on the automatic secured door.

"Not exactly..." The door opened, but there wasn't a light on that could make anything visible inside it, and from where he was, Leon could only see the heart monitor attached to whoever was in that room, "The day you and Ashley escaped the island, a rescue and research team arrived at what was left of it, to... Make sure there was no lingering evidence of la plaga," Leon remained quiet, but his frown got deeper, the gears in his brain moving frantically as he processed every word Rebecca was saying, "Everyone had their orders-"

"What are you trying to say, Becca?" He said in a rather harsh voice, and she reached her hand to the panel, where she could control the lights in the room.

"The rescue team found a survivor among the remains of the island," she pushed the green button at the bottom of the panel, and the lights started turning on one by one, as if making fun of him, "They found (M/n) alive."

That was all he needed to hear to run toward the opened door, stopping in place when he witness what had become of (M/n). He was connected to all sorts of machines, his heartbeat slow and steady, his body completely immovable. He didn't look alive at all. But the claws coming from his back that were slowly moving against the restraints around them told him that he actually was alive.

"After all these years..." Rebecca placed her hand on Leon's shoulder, like he had done before entering the facility, and her eyes glanced from (M/n) to Leon over and over again.

"He has remained unresponsive for the past ten years, and I took his case fours years ago, trying to find a way to bring him back to normal but... Nothing worked," Leon decided to not comment on the fact that she knew (M/n) was alive for so long, but he couldn't blame her for not telling him, only recently they had gone back to being in contact, "I've been informed that... He will be disconnected from the life support that keeps him alive for now, so I-... I had to let you see him one more time."

Rebecca felt a knot in her throat as she watched the tears falling down Leon's face, and she blinked her own tears away.

"I will leave you with him for a while..."

Rebecca walked out and the door closed behind her, she sat down on her desk and watched for a moment as Leon slowly approached (M/n), before looking away and she tried to distract herself.

Leon stood next to (M/n)'s bed, unsure of what he should do, but there was only one thing he wanted to do at that moment. Hug him. He wanted to hug him and cry in his arms, like the old times when he was still a rookie in the academy, where he met (M/n) and fell in love with him.

"(M/n)..." He whispered and leaned down to wrap his arms around him, and his ears picked up the sound of his heart monitor going crazy, the claws on his back wriggling erratically. Both Leon and Rebecca worried for a moment, but Rebecca saw something that had never happened before.

(M/n) moved his head back, blinking a few times and looking around the room he was in, before he felt the familiar feeling of Leon's warmth, leaning against him and sighing in contentment.

"Hey, Leon..." This was the first time he had spoken since he was practically brought back to life, and Rebecca almost couldn't believe it. She tried to think of a logical explanation, there had to be a reason as to why now, so suddenly, he was able to act as if a decade hasn't gone by to him.

But maybe... He just needed some sort of closure, knowing that Leon was okay. The loud and rapid beeping of his heart monitor reminded her of all those days when (M/n)'s heart rate would suddenly go crazy, and yet he wasn't reacting at all, it was almost fairytale-like to think that all he needed was Leon.

But not to (M/n), who was only able to think about him and miss him, everything had been like a dream to him, as if he was in a constant loop, trapped in his mind, as if... La plaga had done this to him.

But he couldn't think of that right now, not when he felt Leon's hot tears wetting his neck and shoulder, his body trembling as his sobs echoed in the room. (M/n)'s arms slowly lift up, wrapping around Leon's waist, stroking his back to reassure him that he was there.

That he was still alive.

++++

Tag list; @jnyuan, @soulsnipr, @sw1tch3roo, @iwanttittes, @bigdickbruce, @burningglitterphantom, @doomdragon999, let me know if you didn't wanna be tagged and I'll remove it!

[weliveinapokemonworld]

Self-indulgent fic based on my headcanons. A bit AU. I projected my musings about Eternatus onto the characters. (Not betaread.)

---

Sonia lets Raihan absorb the photographs and document's content. He has his head cradled on his hands, propped up on the table where he stands, as his eyes go wider and wider with each second.

It's such a relatable feeling that she bought several cans of beer: Both for her and for him once he needs something to distract himself. Her first one was open when he entered her home in Wedgehurst, setting the mood as he got an impression how bad her news are.

"Sonia."

"Hmm?"

"Sonia, what the bloody hell?" He sweeps a hand across the papers as if they've personally offended them. Which they might have. The whole deal with the second Darkest Day is bad enough.

Everybody, if they didn't experience their own struggles, knows at least one other person who was affected - injuries from a rampaging wild boltund and a partner slurpuff; secondhand injuries and deaths from the energy grid failing, thus life support failed; homelessness because a giant tail smashed through the street-facing wall or an earthquake destabilized an entire apartment block.

Raihan spent hours evacuating Hammerlocke, and battling along other people to fend off Dynamaxed and Gigantamaxed pokemon. It included several heart-stopping minutes in which his pokemon couldn't Dynamax on their own for some reason.

Once the chaos stopped, his team was left so exhausted they slept for two days at the pokemon center. He would have slept for just as long right after, if not for the need of his help as the current highest ranking League member. Previous leadership either had fled or resigned instantly; the Champion was unconscious in the hospital.

He organized the immediate aftermath: interviews to reassure the public, postponing the Championship match to a later point, reaching out to organisations, etc. etc.

Raihan did collapse onto a couch in the ex-Rose Tower once he believed the worst was over, badly scaring Nessa and Kabu. He was damned lucky he didn't need an extended hospital stay liked Leon.

The consequences could've been worse, but they were and are still bad enough. That's just the most visible of the fucked-up shit that Rose, Oleana, and whoever else in Macro Cosmos was involved got up to.

"Trust me, I've felt the same." Ugh, she's left this can open for too long. Metal clinks as she sets it onto the tray on the side.

"That's- that's a skeleton. They have always been a skeleton, not just a distortion because of Gigantamaxing?"

"I know."

"And you're saying that testing showed a dual Dragon and Poison type?"

"The experts at the institute repeated the tests three times. Victor had to bribe his dragon with a lot of treats to keep going."

"But-!" Raihan throws his arms up. Again, relatable. He inhales deeply. "How does that make sense?! Is that just... their body, how they look like?

"Pokemon biology is weird as bloody hell, and there's tons of exceptions. I'm not an expert. But when a pokemon looks like that, it always has been a Ghost type. Whatever connects the vertebrae looks more like some kind of energy than anything organic."

Raihan has several Dragon types he raised himself. He sounds doubtful for very good reasons.

Sonia opens another can, and the folder she has held back until now, hiding it under a notepad. Tiny droplets spray on the retyped papers. The culmination of this fucked up iceberg and why she needs a drink. Or several. She's held them back because he needed that context first to understand everything else. He's among the many who have the right to know.

"It doesn't explain everything, but I've found a lot of information in Oleana's notes. You are correct but you won't like the why and the how."

He gives her a startled look.

"It gets worse-?"

He drops into the chair next to her as she keeps sipping. "Wait, how am I right?"

"Depends on your definition of 'worse'. Before you say anything, I'm upset about this whole thing, too. But I already had my hours of mixed anger and anxiety. I've simply tired myself out."

He gives her a dubious look. Her and the beer can.

"I guess Hop and Victor also know already then."

"And Leon." Another sip. At least it's good beer when it hasn't gone stale. "Hop was the first to suggest to have the testing done to be certain. Victor supported him when he pushed to dig deeper and got Leon on board with me. All three of them battled Eternatus, after all."

He reluctantly reaches for a can on his own, his face making a complicated expression as he pulls the tab open. But he doesn't take a drink yet. She slides him a coaster over as he reaches for them. "You and Leon are smart. And he does have access now to most of Macro Cosmos' documents." A grimace. "What they didn't manage to destroy or hide, that is."

Sonia considers clarifying that Oleana handed over all of her notes to Leon without hesitation when he asked once she resigned.

Raihan does have a big point. A good point. The company did compile a lot of the information connected to their ill-adviced project and hid them well. Telling anybody that they are?- were?- willing to start an apocalypse like their boss is not a good look.

Trying to destroy incriminating documents is just as bad a look. Leon forwarded what he could find to organisations who are reliable and will use it to help Galar heal.

He couldn't bear to read the information tied directly to Eternatus - including Oleana's handwritten papers, locked away in a drawer in his apartment's office - or anything closely related to the pokemon. The betrayal, the trauma were too big. He had to find a therapist he clicked with and needed several months to pass before Leon folded under the force of two pairs of eyes who begged him to help a few days ago.

It's funny how vehemently the teenagers still deny making any such expressions, when two people witnessed them.

"You are right when you said how strange it is that Eternatus is the typing they are." Pages rustle as she thumbs the folder open, letting them fall until she's found what she's looking for. Raihan leans over to get a better look at the photographs as well as the sketches of the site, then nearly stands up.

"That's Eternatus, right? Or their skull. Where did they find this?"

A sigh leaves Sonia.

"Several potential sites exist that could qualify. Macro Cosmos staff secretly transported every part of Eternatus' skeleton into the basement they were digging under Hammerlocke Castle for the energy plant- This was before your time! Two years before you took over as gym leader, so sit down! You were not at fault for this shit."

He glowers down at the pictures.

"I still can feel betrayed and uncomfortable about how long this has been going. Ugh." He removes his snapback and draws his free fingers through his locs. She doesn't believe that he's not blaming himself. She'll also not say anything, because it would only make matters worse. He loves Hammerlocke and the gym, and he takes his responsibilities seriously. "Fuck, I have to look into the gym's past years. Expenses, money flow, building orders... Worse, if the previous leader knew of this...

"Not that it's matter. It'll reflect badly either way on the whole city if this becomes public. Even if I prove she knew and maybe even received some kind of bribe or was blackmailed into hiding everything. I'm the gym leader now and present in everybody's mind."

Unsaid goes that the public is already facing him with scrutiny because Eternatus was hidden slash trapped under Hammerlocke Castle. She won't say anything. She will wrap an arm around his back as he slumps in his seat and hides his face behind his hand. They stay like this for several seconds. Her grandma's old clock - from Magnolia's own grand-grandfather - ticks away.

Raihan puts his snapback on and straightens. She lets him go and ignores it as he builds up his composure again with a cough.

"Sorry for that. Also, thanks."

"No problem, Raihan." She twirls a lock of her hair around her index. "I wish I had better news, but you have to look at the pictures again."

He does as she asks, grumbling. He pulls out a magnifying glass out of his belt pocket, with a sudden frown. He inspects the fossil - the lightning at the dig site isn't that good. It was probably a chance find, maybe in some mines. But it also makes it easier to spot the same details she's found. He taps on a spot next to what seemed to have been a skull, not yet pressed flat from the pressure of the earth and rock collecting above.

"I see an outline of a body around the bones, which are blue. Not much, but the earth is colored with a slight purple tinge, probably from residual poison." He shifts the magnifying glass. "There's also... some glowing pieces? They look a bit like crystal growing over the bones. Wishing stars? Did they fill in and replace the organic material, like it happens with opal?"

Wordlessly, she flips to the next page. The table rattles as he plants his palms on the surface, shoving his chair behind and over.

"Watch the beer!"

She winces when the chair clatters to the floor, holding both cans securely in her hands. Not that she can blame him fo his reaction. The chair will only need some polish.

"What- is that a hide? Is it breaking into-?!" He brings his face close again, squinting through the glass even though he doesn't need to. This picture shows a close-up of the ribcage, still covered by what seems to be magenta scales and skin, with flesh below. Strange but not unheard of for some species. Their bodies tend to resist the decomposition process better than that of others, among which are often steel types, but also dragon types. These specimen don't care if somebody pokes a rib with the handle of their shovel.

Usually. Usually, they don't crumble and transform upon a slight touch into a different material: glowing crystals and shards. Those were-

"Wishing stars," Raihan says, a hand over his mouth. "The wishing stars didn't crystalize in the gaps of the bones. The bones disintegrated into them."

He looks at her.

"And so did probably more than the bones - hide, flesh, organs, sinews, am I right? Is Eternatus- They don't generate them, or not only. All wishing stars are remains of their body. Why didn't we discover that earlier?"

"For the same reasons Eternatus is likely what they are. Rose's plans were bad enough without the experiments, so everybody hid that part separately."

"They didn't wake up when they were found or after, right? You only mentioned their remains, the bones. Are they a clone?"

"If only-"

"Sonia, stop beating up the bush for the sake of my nerves, please. I'm already on edge, and you're driving my anxiety higher and higher."

Raihan- Oh. He's not- Yeah, he's looking tense, expression too flat. One hand is clenched into fist, lying on the table and subtly shaking. She stares down at the cans she's still holding. Did she delay that much? Her eyes flit to the clock. It's later than she's thought - it shouldn't have taken this long to bring him up-to-date-about everything. Carefully she puts the beverages onto to the tray next to the empty one. She didn't realize-

The pit from before threatens to open in her stomach again. Looking at the beer now makes her feel ill. She might not have tired herself out from the shock as much as she's thought.

"Okay- No, not okay, you're right. I've been stalling and making you worry." She pats her cheeks twice, focusing. It doesn't do anything against the tension in her stomach, but fake it till you make it, right?

"Please just humor me for moment. You might figure out yourself first. Do you know of Cara Liss?"

"Scientist specializing in fossil species revival. Developed a revolutionary new approach that minimizes the impact of fossilisation, thus minimizing changes in the DNA that shift typing to Rock. It also works on whole fossils rather than making modified clones. Other scienstists as well as investors refused to take her seriously because of her age and gender. She never got opportunities, so she could never could show what she could do. A downward spiral." He taps on his fingers to stress each point, frowning harder with each second.

"She got frustrated at the unfairness, and took matters into her hands, in a bad way.

"Currently facing charges of alleged fraud, selling made-up information that could cause harm to other pokemon, and proven abuse of the pokemon she created. Galar doesn't tend to have many complete fossils or big ones. She mashed two different species together who would make one whole body, to have an impressive proof of concept. Never mind that those pokemon face chronic health issues because their body parts are incompatible with each other."

Raihan's last words hang in the air as he trails off. More seconds pass. Turning around, he pulls up the chair and sits down in reverse direction, elbows leaning on the backseat. Slowly, dramatically, he slaps a hand over his eyes.

"What the fuck." He groans. "What the fuuuuuuuuck..."

She can't help it. She snorts, loudly. "Relatable. You sound like I did a few hours ago."

"Don't you quip at me, Professor Sonia." Brown eyes peek out between the gap of his index and middle finger. "Is that what other regions had to deal with when they made the news because of domestic terrorism and their own near catastrophes? Did those include instances of unethical scientists experimenting on powerful pokemon?"

She can only shrug, although she's wondered about that, too. It feels like somebody, somewhere, is laughing at them.

"Maybe? Not that I'm going to ask. I don't know how to explain how our former League Chairman and his former Vice President at Macro Cosmos both failed so badly at their plan to revive Eternatus and succeeded at the same time. If I even should explain. This is dangerous information."

"So, they did- What, exactly? Did they stuff the bones into that big sphere to stop them from disintegrating further? And adapt Liss' method to work on fragile not-fossils?"

She rubs her temple.

"Not quite. Some of the workers found their Dynamax bands depleted within minutes whenever they were around the bones. This happened roughly about the same time Oleana figured out from new data that the energy supply would run dry in a decade rather than in a millenium like others had calculated.

"Rose put two and two together that the bones passively absorbed the energy from wishing stars. She theorized that they could reconstruct a larger part of Eternatus if they'd immerse their skeleton in hundreds of them. It'd allow them to revive the dragon as close as they could get to what Eternatus used to be, using both known methods."

"But they failed to consider just how damn powerful the dragon is, right? Either process has been streamlined in the last years, but both still need large amounts of energy to just bring back an omanyte. Isn't Eternatus even bigger than the largest recorded wailord?"

"I'll look it up when my brain isn't leaking out my ears. And yeah. They've theorized that they didn't have enough energy, too, but didn't come to a clear conclusion. We can't know."

It's the most vexing puzzle. Several pieces are missing. And the gaps between what they have is so big that they can't rely on guesswork what used to be in-between.

"We have to little information about what happened when Eternatus started the first Darkest Day, why they did it, and how and when they died except that the Wolves were likely involved. On top of that. People back then thought everybody knew what happened because it affected the entire region. Why should they need to record it in any way?"

The pitfalls of history research - how do you reconstruct events when the surviving physical objects are not enough? Sonia feels like putting her head on the table. The table cloth rubs against her forehead. Raihan won't mind. It's not the first time either of them were around for the other to just be done with the current bullshit and show it.

"Point is. They brought them back, but not even close to complete. You were right about the vertebrae. Dyna- Um, their own energy is running through their middles like spinal marrow? It forms discs, although I have no idea yet if they're cushioning the vertebrae or just separating them. It's also forming their brain and eyes, somehow."

"... So, they're actually a ghost? They didn't adapt like the dreepy line to survive?"

"Leon asked the same question. It distraught him so much that his own dreepy swarmed him to comfort him."

More seriously, she continues, "Again, we know too little. I don't know why they died, didn't form a ghost when they were so powerful, but now have come back. Or maybe this isn't the ghost of the original pokemon, but rather an echo with their own personality left in the bones."

She pulls her ponytail to the side so she can lay her head on her cheek to face him. He seems like he's having a crisis, mouth dropped open. Probably at the idea that such a powerful Dragon type returned as a ghost, in pain after being awakened so abruptly and incompletely. It's the stuff of legends- and horror stories about the vengeful death. It nearly became true.

"Hop has a hypothesis that Dragon and Poison were their original typings. Death came so quickly that they were not aware of it. It didn't affect whatever more esoteric causes affect typings.

"Sounds as possible as other hypothesis there could be at the moment." Raihan's voice is tight. His shoulders tense up. He stretches those and his arms backwards, groaning with pain. His mouth pinches as he rubs a spot on the back of his neck. "Say. Would it be okay if I stay for a while? This was a lot. I don't wanna travel all the way back to Hammerlocke alone, yet."

"Of course, you can! I was the one who dumped all of that on you!" She would've asked if he didn't. She worries about him after dropping that bomb onto him and will feel better, knowing that she can support him if he should need in the few hours. She has dragged up painful, still too fresh memories. What an awful host she is! She hasn't even offered him snacks to the beer.

She shoves away from the table to stand up. "Would you like-"

His stomach growls; her own follows in sympathy, apparently having overcome - or forgotten - her nausea. She pats it, which earns her a snort and a smirk. It's not quite truthful yet, but it is amused.

"-Something to eat? If you're offering to cook, I'll accept gladly."

"Sorry, not sorry, I don't have the energy. I do have a large pot of pumpkin soup left from yesterday that we can heat up." Oh dear Sword and Shield, it sounds tasty when she just says it. Her stomach growls again. He follows her into the kitchen, playfully needling her.

"But your cooking is so good! You could whip up something extra to go with the soup."

"The only thing I'll whip is some unsweetened cream to top it." Sonia hands him the cutting board she's fetched from the counter. "You can cut that loaf into nice slices, about an inch each. We're going to toast them, add some butter, rub some garlic across, and add whichever herbs we like from Gran's garden. We're going to eat that with the soup and talk in front of the telly to get our minds off of this clusterfuck for now. Sounds good?"

She's getting hungrier with each word she says. Raihan is probably not better off. His eyes take on a dreamy quality he gets whenever when he's around and invited to when she cooks. He shakes his daydreaming off with a cheeky salute.

"An autumn meal made by yours truly for the afternoon? Sounds good!"

The tension does not dissipate as much as it drops to a lower level? She's too experienced in the kitchen to need her entire focus on whipping the cream. Her arm goes through the motions automatically. She knows herself enough to anticipate a potential spell of insomnia this night once the distractions have stopped.

With some distance and having talked about the whole topic again? It ties so easily back to the consequences of the second Darkest Day and the event itself. What does it say about Rose and his allies who were involved that she has to make a disctinction which one it was? Did he ever even consider just at what risks he put Galar and the region's people? What were his plans if Eternatus had managed to kill people directly, like they nearly did Leon? Or Hop or Victor? Or Raihan as the next potential line of def-

No. No. She shakes her head and resumes whipping. She'll only drive herself to the brink of an anxiety breakdown if she pursues horrible "What Ifs" that didn't happen.

She has a machine for big amounts of batter and eye whites. But doing it by hand just makes them taste better. The sames goes for cream. She might have made a bit too much, even. Oh well, she can add some plums to the rest, a bit of sugar, and have dessert, too. The familiar movement soothes her, making it easy to be aware of the kitchen, her friend, and the sound of the knife as he meticulously cuts through the bread, slice for slice. She removes whisk from the bowl and drops it into the taller one she used this morning for her scrambled eggs.

"Hey Raihan," she calls over her shoulder. He pauses for a moment. He might not be the best cook in their friend group, but he always remembers his kitchen safety. "Do you have any appointments in this evening or tomorrow morning? I'd like your company and not be alone today if you'd like to stay longer, too. I have still one of your overnight bags in the closet."

"Nope, not anything I remember. Rotom, if you would?"

Rotom flies out of his back-pocket, unfolding the phone. "You are correct, sir. You have no appointments until the day after tomorrow."

"Then I can stay! Lucky you to be graced with the presence of the Great Raihan, huh?" What. What in the Sword and Shield. Did he just wraggle his eyebrows at her? What a dork.

"I'd say you're the lucky one because you love my cooking so much. Oh, how much mature, sticking your tongue at me."

And because she's just as mature, she does the same. Raihan sticks his tongue out again, she retaliates, which makes him retaliate in turn. They continue like this for some more rounds, her grin growing larger and more uncontrollable, until he breaks. Yes, he does laugh first, not Sonia as he later will claim.

"Let's just say we're both lucky, okay? Before we start again." He giggles faintly, leaning against the cupboard. His long arms, stretched back, prop him from where they grab the counter's edge.

"Yes, please let's do that."

He had the good sense to put the knife down on the top and a foot away from him. Sonia cannot claim such foresight, but at least she didn't drop the bowl? Or spilled the cream? She puts the bowl down and ducks to a drawer for the spatula, holding onto her own giggles. She has to remember her own kitchen safety. But. Raihan is right, she thinks, as she watches his grin remain when he fetches the knife again. With his head mostly turned, he can't know that she's looking. At least in this moment, the two of them are probably very lucky.

[billy-cockblock]

REV AU one shot: Chris finds out

Crawls out of my hole covered in blood and mold: I don't know why this was so hard to write, but the writer's block is hitting me hard. I could see several parts of this scene so clearly in my head, but my brain just really didn't want to put words to paper. Once my brain's better I'll probably come and edit this a bit, but I hope y'all enjoy it. It's definitely one or the favorite scenes I've come up with.

He quickly lifted heavy limbs, picking them up from the ground. Leon’s vision had gone dark, but his rapidly came into focus. 

He fumbled for the gun dropped when they went flying, foreign hands finding familiar purchase against the metal. Taking aim, he let off a volley of shots at the monsters encroaching on them. 

They were tougher than infected he’d faced before; the center body of the strange knife-whipping tentacles needing to be basically shredded before they died, and bullet holes slowly sealed over with black tendrils if it wasn’t killed completely. 

He felt like he was wasting ammo, but it just took so many bullets to drop the monsters. The larger one that’d flung them across the room and slammed Leon’s head into a desk was getting closer, lumbering steps slow. He tried to shoot its head like the rest of them, but the gun only clicked.

He swore under his breath and pulled Leon’s knife out; he hated close-quarters combat, but he didn’t have time to reload. Diving past flailing, dangerous limbs, he buried the knife in its main body. It grabbed and sliced at them, but he kept stabbing and cutting until it was too shredded to keep moving. He shoved it with more strength than he was used to, and it fell to the ground, dead.

Head still on a swivel, he made sure there were no more infected. The room looked clear, but there were a few desks and filing cabinets something could hide behind. 

While he checked the room over, Ethan took a breath. He felt bad for having to break his promise of not taking control, but Leon wasn’t waking up in time. He’d pull back once Leon woke up, but it felt like he’d gotten a concussion with how hard he’d gotten his head hit. He spread his mold, stitching closed the scratches and scrapes Leon’s body had accrued. Skin and muscle was easy to regenerate, then pull his network from, and it’d almost become second nature since he’d gotten permission from Leon. 

Nerves were a little harder. The mold naturally liked to cling to the nervous system, trying to take control and upload a person’s consciousness to the megamycete. It preferred to envelop or take over nerves, and that took more coaxing from Ethan to get it to untangle. 

That’s why he was hesitating trying to do something about the concussion. He’d done his best to take control of Leon’s motor functions without getting the mold too tangled with his brain, but he’d have to root even deeper if he wanted to heal it. He subconsciously felt along his connection from the megamycete to the brain-

He froze. Damaged cartilage, more mold present, fractured vertebrae, and frayed nerves. A lot of frayed nerves. 

He reached for the back of Leon’s neck, both with the body’s hand and his mold. The joints in the spine felt like they’d been misaligned before snapping back into place, nearly severing Leon’s entire spinal cord. His brain still sent and received continuous waves of signals to and from the body, impulses carried across the gap by Ethan’s mold network tangling with Leon’s nervous system. 

Ethan felt like he was going to be sick. Or, as sick as he could feel in the state he was in. He didn’t think Leon hit his head that badly, but he guessed his neck did snap in a weird angle when they hit that desk. 

After the horrific stories Leon had told him, a desk is what would have done him in?

He tried to pull the nerve fibers back together, but the mold that had taken their places was stubborn. It had locked itself firmly in place to keep the cord from coming detached and shutting down Leon’s body functions. He’s glad it obeyed when he tried to program it to protect Leon without his input, but he needed the mold to move if he wanted to heal it enough that he could remove it. He’d have to work to remove his network from his nerves anyway, so he might as well work on healing the concussion. He could practically hear the megamycete sing in joy as he spread to repair the battering Leon’s brain had taken-

“Close call, huh?” a familiar voice asked from behind them, making him tense up. 

“Y-yeah, no kidding,” he replied, trying his best to speak like Leon. He nearly enveloped the man’s brain to speed his healing; he needed Leon awake now. 

“I got worried when I saw one of them toss you, but I knew you’d have it handled,” Chris Redfield continued, none the wiser that he wasn’t talking to the real Leon. Ethan could hear him do that dumb slow pace he does while talking, where he wouldn’t look at him; dramatic asshole. Leon would’ve been dead if he didn’t have the mold. “You aren’t hurt too bad, though? Or infected?”

“No, I’ve had worse,” he replied, echoing what Leon said every time he’d close his wounds. He did his best to keep casual while hiding every inch of skin he could. His dark veins under Leon’s skin were visible even on his hands, and Ethan was sure his face was worse. 

“True, but this is my case,” Chris stopped his pacing and sighed. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t lost control of E-003.” A bolt of white-hot anger flared through Ethan’s entire network, and he felt a tingle from Leon’s brain. “Someone got to her, and-“

“What did you call Rose?” a voice, distinctly not Leon’s, left his mouth. Ethan whirled around without thinking, face pinched in anger, before freezing, rage forgotten. 

He met Chris’s eyes for the first time in sixteen years, and it was like the horror and dread never left them since that day in Europe. 

Without breaking eye contact, Chris pulled his pistol from its holster but kept it trained on the ground. With his other hand, he clicked the radio on his shoulder.

“Redfield reporting,” his gravelly voice didn’t give anything away, but Ethan couldn’t let him finish. “Kennedy’s been-”

A pillar of mold extending from Leon’s arm slammed him in the shoulder and enveloped the radio. He rolled with the force and raised his gun. The bullets aimed straight for Leon’s head harmlessly embedded themselves in a thick, carapace-like shield formed on his other arm.

Ethan had to get them out of there. The door was behind Chris, but the windows behind them were busted. They were on the second floor, so climbing to the roof would be better.

With half a plan, he tried to form tendrils to drag them back while he kept guarding their front. The mold twisted up in the space the megamycete laid in and instead formed four long, spider-like legs from Leon’s back. 

Whatever, I can work with it, he thought, sending a tendril off his arm to pull Chris’s feet out from under him. He lifted them off the ground, pulling them back to the window. He found it with the limbs and hooked them outside the frame. He grew claws over Leon’s hands to scramble up the side, earning him a bullet to leg once his guard was dropped. He ignored Chris’s shouts as he climbed over the edge of the roof and jumped for another.

He strengthened his legs and used the spidery limbs to get him as far from Chris as he could. He wouldn’t let Leon get found out, he wouldn’t let him get killed, and he’d only stay until he knew Rose was safe. Now he just had to find a place to settle down enough to finish Leon’s healing.

A sudden stab of pain to his consciousness nearly sent him careening off a roof. He thought it might’ve been something from the megamycete trying to fight its way out before he heard him.

What the hell was that?! Leon mentally shouted; he was wrestling for control back to his body, and was doing a damn good job of it. You promised! And why did you attack Chris?!

Ethan pulled any mold back back from his skin and shoved control back so fast, Leon fell to his knees.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… he said on repeat. He felt Leon’s shoulders loose a little tension as he shakily stood to find cover behind an air conditioner. Once he’d gotten settled down, he laid a hand on his chest over where the megamycete rested.

“Hey,” he said, tapping his chest to get Ethan’s attention. “I feel like I missed something while I was out. Mind filling me in?”

[zarcsobsession]

Leon Headcanon

These things came to me while chatting with @coffeebrownn ! I only ask one thing! If you don't like how I see the character, please leave! don't comment with hate and other nonsense just because it's not the way you want it! Thank you! If this behavior continues, I will have no qualms about blocking anyone! ______________________________________________________________

-Its "origins" are all Italian 100%, but when he was a small child he was kidnapped, by people who wanted money from his parents. By these people it was moved to different countries, until it arrived in America! where his "parents" changed his name and surname so as not to be chased back, suffering something like Stockholm syndrome towards his kidnappers, starting to call them parents and thinking that they are his real family, he doesn't remember the real one , and no longer cares about them, if anyone ever discovers the truth.

Leon is an excellent cook, who is interested in cooking and knows how to cook a really good Italian dish, if he is not drunk and has nothing to do, he could spend whole days on the sofa scrolling through videos of recipes and how to make them. - he has always been a motorbike enthusiast, but he had never had the funds to fix them up, or buy one of his own... if you remember the motorbike from the Vengeance film, great! know that it is in one of his garages to be fixed and refurbished, he felt guilty when he literally threw it at Arias and zombies in general.

Leon owns several houses spread across America! Many are completely empty, and unusable. The house he uses the most is in Alaska! and it's a gift from President Graham, to thank him for bringing his daughter back safely! it is one of those villas that on the outside you wouldn't give it a cent, but on the inside it leaves you stunned, with a modern design, but always taking into account the place where they are located, therefore using original materials, such as wooden parts etc.

Leon remained friends with Ashley! Often if she feels like talking about letting off steam etc, Leon will offer to listen and support her, when he's not in the middle of a mission.

Leon suffers from depression and alcoholism! Chris is there to help him take all his medications and get him to stop drinking!

When he returned from Spain the government forced him to take other medicines, such as suppressants and hormones, due to pieces of plaga left in his body from Luis's machines.

Because of these drugs, Leon trains a lot in the gym to stay in normal shape, without pumping himself up too much, becoming Ethan's training tutor for a short time.

Ever since he returned from Spain, Leon began to have a greater interest in sweet foods, when he was in company with others, he often stole Rebecca's coffee and drank it without being noticed, he was always ashamed of this thing which left him the plague.

If alcohol makes him irritable and angry, and on missions he seems to joke about everything, Leon's true character is a quiet boy, who listens, taciturn, but always ready to support those in need. He uses the jokes and pranks during the mission as a defensive weapon for his psyche. - He's not attracted to sex! but only sentimentally!

Owns a Maine coon cat! a gift from Claire when they met again, and as a joke she gave him the name Albert Whiskers (sorry but I love this idea too much and I want to have a cat with that name too). also owns a dog, named Luis in his honor.

He remembers every date when people dear to him died, often taking days off work to go to their graves to put new flowers and talk to them for a while.

After he argued with Claire, Leon felt guilty for not telling him the truth, and that he did it to protect her, he still regrets the fight, and often when he is sad, his mind takes him back there.

He has a strange relationship with Chris and Ethan! Chris and Ethan are a couple (now it's canon for me!), Leon is also in this relationship, Chris being the one who has to take care of him and remind him of his medicines (Ethan once he saw the medicine cabinet of Leon made a joke like: "but are they in a pharmacy or in a bathroom?!", to help him with his alcohol addiction. Leon is not interested in them in a sexual way! Except that he gets along well with them and is afraid of losing them.

He always sleeps with a duvet or two, lots of pillows, and if he's hot he turns on the air conditioning, but he will never remove the duvets from his bed.

Minimalist in home decorations, meticulous in cleaning weapons! He has a room with all the weapons he found in his adventures, and he takes Krauser's knife and Luis's red nine into great consideration.

He's fucking pissed at Ada, ever since he discovered that the mercenary, sold his favorite sheep's coat to the merchant, Leon loved that coat and it was his favorite!

[munchbuddi]

Spent most of my day making a roster for a hypothetical Marvel vs. Capcom game where none of the playable characters from any of the other games in the series are allowed on the roster. So like, no returning characters at ALL. A fun lil exercise.

25 characters from each Marvel and Capcom, and honestly isn't as awful as I would have expected (but would still be the worst MvC roster, lol)

(The cast isn't imbalanced, I just have Reed and Sue as a single character, where Reed does the main attacks, and Sue comes out for Blocks/Grabs and some other animations. I played too much Mortal Kombat as a youth to let an invisible character exist on the roster. PLUS, combining Reed and Sue let's you make a 3v3 team with the whole Fantastic Four, which is cool)

my main takeaways are that:

MvC has already used most of the good villains from both companies. (and the remaining villains are either very passive trickster types, or too massive and cosmic to exist as a fighting game character outside of a boss fight)

It's fucked up trying to make a roster for an MvC game when basically all the Avengers and Street Fighters are off the table. I ALSO did not want LUKE as the main SF protagonist representation, but he's definitely the closest to a "main Street Fighter character" that hasn't already been used in MvC.

A lot of the popular Marvel heroes that are not already a part of MvC are fucking LAMEEEEEEEEE. I don't care how obscure we have to get, I'm not putting fucking Namor and Ant-Man on my fucking fighting game roster.

It was really hard to narrow down the Street Fighter cast, but I feel pretty good with Hugo as our big body grappler and 3rd Strike rep, and then having Juri from 4 and Rashid from 5. I like these Street Fighters a lot.

The fact that MvC hasn't had Punisher, Fury, Luke Cage, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Nightcrawler or honestly just a LOT of these characters on their rosters yet is a lil mind blowing. I like these characters, I think they rule. ALSO FUCKING BLADEEEEEE. I think Capcom hates money.

Capcom has a lotta good fighting game rosters that have never popped up in an MvC game as well. The designs for the Red Earth cast, as well as the casts for Rival Schools and Power Stone are fun as hell. Also, Picking Darkstalkers representatives is hard as hell, because despite MvC already using like, half the DS characters in other MvC titles, the remaining half of the DS roster ALSO kicks ass.

It was really hard to find enough Marvel characters I liked to keep up with how many Capcom characters I wanted to add, forcing a few heart breaking cuts on the Capcom side. I would've really wanted another Rival Schools/PJ character, Victor (or honestly any other remaining DS character), Saki (using her TvC moves), as well as one of several SF characters. Ultimately I couldn't really add more to the Capcom side without having to start adding some real duds to the Marvel side (like fucking Namor)

No Dead Rising characters because all their characters outside of Frank suck ASSSSSS. I do not like Chuck. I almost cut Ace Attorney as a series as well because I had a hard time imagining a character who would work as well as Phoenix and Maya. Ultimately I thought having Ryunosuke and Herlock (who would unintentionally attack people while showboating) felt like the best option. (Although Franziska would have been fun too, or an Apollo & friends character)

Mr. X, Birkin, Lady D, Saddler, and Salazar are nowhere as cool as Nemesis and Wesker (I kinda like Berkin mutation #2, but 🤷🤷). Ultimately I could not think of another RE character that fit the roster as well. I thought about having Leon as a gun mcshooty like Chris, and then having Rebecca or Claire with a missiles/zombie summoning moveset like Jill in MvC2, but that felt like a copout to just have MvC2 Jill again. +Although I kinda still like the idea of Rebecca with a healing support assist type thing, since she's a medic.) Ultimately I just went with Leon as the lone rep (with Regina acting as a second survival horror representative character, summoning Dinos the way MvC2 Jill does with Zombies)

Gene Godhand is finally on the roster (as he always should have been) as the sole representative for all the Clover Games, since Amatarasu and Viewtiful Joe were already used. If you haven't played God Hand, please do, it is very good.

I could not imagine good enough movesets for JJ Jameson and Edgeworth to justify adding them, despite thinking they are both very funny. I also cut Moon Girl because I didn't wanna imagine any of these characters beating the shit outta a lil girl, no matter how smart she is or how kick ass her dinosaur is. Also couldn't think of how Xavier would fight, since even whenever he does take a rare combat role, it's all telepathic tricks and such. Same with Mystique.

Also, no Red Skull because his ass is just a nazi, and I didn't want to imagine any of these characters collaborating with his nasty ass. Which is a shame because he would definitely be a much needed additional villain, and I think he could have a funny moveset of constantly summoning goons like his fellow fighting game nazi Parasol who summons her egrets.

Black Cat, JJ, Kingpin, Kraven, Spider Gwen, and honestly every member of the Sinister Six because I did not want the whole Marvel cast to be "Oops, All Spiderman". Spiderman really has a monopoly on all the great marvel villains who aren't either cosmic level deities or X-Men villains.

Some characters just don't feel right without their counterparts. Like, I feel like adding Red Hulk without Hulk would be a bit fucked up. Or Hercules without Thor. JJ without Peter Parker. Killmonger without Black Panther. Franziska or Edgeworth without Phoenix. Ya know?

I thought about adding The Arisen and a Pawn from Dragon's Dogma, but I don't know how interesting the moveset could be. Also, the main feature I always think about from the DD games is climbing like a jackass on all the enemies, and I cannot think of a way to add that to a fighting game that wouldn't be miserable.

lastly, some characters were totally chill to add, but went against the SPIRIT of the exercise. Stuff like Evil Ryu, Violent Ken, Captain Carter, Red Hulk and Carnage (who are both way too close to the secret characters Orange Hulk and Red Venom), Zero (from the Mega Man Zero series, as opposed to Zero from the Mega Man X series, even though I really think Zero from MMZero is very cool in SvC Chaos), the very cool and mysterious Paper Bag Man, and the 10000 cases of "character takes up a mantle that used to belong to a other person". Obviously I ended up making exceptions to this thought process for Miles, Gwenpool, and MegaMan Volnutt, but I honestly think these characters would end up having different enough movesets to differentiate themselves from Spidey, Deadpool, and Rock or X. (and also I just really like them so boo hoo)

Ultimately, I think this would be a pretty terrible roster when compared to the other MvC titles, but it was a fun thing to think about. Thank you for reading all this if ya did read it, lol.

[c1a1r3r3df1e1d]

Why would you do that?

This is for my friend @thelovelywarriorsheart please enjoy!

The house was up in flames, smoke pouring through the windows, crackling noises filled the air as he stood outside with Leon. His vacation house that he and Claire had loved so much wasn't exactly a house anymore. "Chris, Sherry is still in there I have to g-" The blonde stopped mid sentence when he stuck his hand out to stop the man from running. “I’ll go.” He didn’t give Leon a chance to reply when he broke out into a run toward the house. Leon's cries and pleads for him to stop were soon muffled as the crackling of the fire filled his ears.

Having enough momentum he was able to jump through the window, using his hands to block the smoke in his way. The smoke was thickening by the second as he made his way further into the house, his eyes burning from the fumes. Where the hell is she? "Sherry, where are you?" He heard faint coughing coming from the living area. She must be this way. "Sherry?" Making his way into the room he saw the woman was huddled in the corner, hands covering her mouth as she coughed harshly into them before her eyes met with his. "Chris!"

Closing the distance he ran over to her, grabbing her wrists to start pulling her away. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He didn’t know if his palms were sweaty or if Sherry’s arm was but he had a hard time getting a good grip on her. Am I really that scared? “W-Where’s L-Leon?” The woman was having a coughing fit as she tried to speak, grasping onto his arm to steady herself. “He’s okay, he’s outside.” The smoke was getting stronger now, making his vision blur from the sting.

I need to get out of here. “Chris, I’m so sorry. I should have never left the candle by the curtains. What was I thinking!” The woman let out a squeak as he scooped her up bridal style to rush back over to the window. “Are you kidding? The only thing I care about right now is making sure you and Leon are safe.” He felt Sherry resting her head against his shoulder as he stepped out of the room. “You're a good man Chris. Leon will be lucky to have you.” 

There was no stopping the way his body jolted at her words. How did she know? He never told Sherry about his crush on the blonde, was it that obvious? Or did Claire open her mouth? “You two will be cute together, and I would love to have another father figure.” He didn’t know what made his heart ache more. Hearing Sherry say that him and Leon would be cute together or hearing her say that she would look up to him as a father.

He couldn’t do too much thinking though because he finally made his way to the window, climbing through it to plant his feet on the grass. His head was starting to get foggy, eyes getting heavy as he attempted to just keep walking. I inhaled too much smoke. He didn’t know where Leon was nor did he open his eyes to look but hearing Sherry scream the blonde’s name meant Leon was close.

Footsteps made their presence as he collapsed to his knees. He couldn’t take it anymore, didn't have the strength to hold the woman, and he was so tired. His lungs filled up with too much smoke. “Chris! Sherry!” Leon must have taken Sherry away from him because the weight in his arms were gone, causing him to collapse onto the grass. “Chris! Chris! Oh my god. You're going to be okay.” The last thing he felt was hands stroking his cheeks before he lost consciousness.

-Several Minutes Before-

“Chris! This is a cute little house!” He turned to see Sherry coming over to the jeep, grabbing her suitcase. “Yeah, I bought it a couple years after our parents died. We used to come here every year during Claire’s summer break before moving to Raccoon.” He reached a hand out to pull her bag out, making it easier for her to lift it out of the jeep. “Claire has mentioned it before but I didn’t think it would be this cute!”

A small chuckle made its way up his throat as he watched the woman skip up the stairs of the porch. “Thanks for letting us come early Chris, I didn’t know Claire was coming tomorrow.” I think she somehow did that on purpose. Leon stood next to him, helping him grab the rest of the bags. “No problem. I like the company.” His sister had convinced him to invite Leon and Sherry, saying she was going to hang with Sherry while he gets his chance to steal the blonde man’s heart. Little did she know he was terrible at it. 

He sneaked a glance at the blonde, seeing Leon’s pretty blue eyes looking right into his own. A small smile was on the man’s lips as Leon grabbed the rest of the bags before heading inside. His eyes automatically watched the movement, never breaking as he watched the blonde’s hips move almost… teasingly? Brushing it off he turned back to the jeep to close the truck before heading in himself. 

As soon as he stepped through the door he inhaled the sweet scent of lavender, looking around to see where it was coming from. "Chris, is it okay if I light a candle? Get the dampness out of the air?" Sherry was in the living area, candle in hand already lit as he looked at her with a smile. "Oh course." There was a mildew kind of smell in the room. Probably for the best. After setting the bags on the floor he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. 

His heart beat in his chest when he saw Leon washing his hands in the sink. This is my chance. Taking a deep breath he made his way over to the blonde. "Hey Leon." Those pretty blues looked up into his as the water stopped running. "What's up?" Reaching over toward the stove he grabbed the towel hanging to offer it to Leon. "I um, would you like to go for-" A loud beeping sound cut him off. Is that the fire alarm? 

Not soon after there was a very strong smell, almost like smoke. Is there a fire?! He went to take a step into the living area but the wallpaper near him went up in flames, causing him to step back in panic. "Chris!" Leon gripped his bicep tightly, he tried to ignore the spark that ran through him from the contact. What am I going to do? Taking a look around he eyed the kitchen window. We can climb through! 

He ran over to the table to pick up a chair before throwing it through the window, glass scattering everywhere in the process. "What are you doing?" Leon was standing right next to him, eyeing up the mess that now occupied the floor. "Go!" Reaching out he grabbed the blonde by the shoulder, pushing him toward the window. He leaped out right after Leon, pulling the man by the arm further away from the house before turning around to take a look.

The house was up in flames, smoke pouring through the windows, crackling noises filled the air as he stood outside with Leon. His vacation house that he and Claire had loved so much wasn't exactly a house anymore. "Chris, Sherry is still in there I have to g-" The blonde stopped mid sentence when he stuck his hand out to stop the man from running. “I’ll go.” He didn’t give Leon a chance to reply when he broke out into a run toward the house. Leon's cries and pleads for him to stop were soon muffled as the crackling of the fire filled his ears.

Having enough momentum he was able to jump through the window, using his hands to block the smoke in his way. The smoke was thickening by the second as he made his way further into the house, his eyes burning from the fumes. Where the hell is she? "Sherry, where are you?" He heard faint coughing coming from the living area. She must be this way. "Sherry?" Making his way into the room he saw the woman was huddled in the corner, hands covering her mouth as she coughed harshly into them before her eyes met with his. "Chris!"

Closing the distance he ran over to her, grabbing her wrists to start pulling her away. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He didn’t know if his palms were sweaty or if Sherry’s arm was but he had a hard time getting a good grip on her. Am I really that scared? “W-Where’s L-Leon?” The woman was having a coughing fit as she tried to speak, grasping onto his arm to steady herself. “He’s okay, he’s outside.” The smoke was getting stronger now, making his vision blur from the sting.

I need to get out of here. “Chris, I’m so sorry. I should have never left the candle by the curtains. What was I thinking!” The woman let out a squeak as he scooped her up bridal style to rush back over to the window. “Are you kidding? The only thing I care about right now is making sure you and Leon are safe.” He felt Sherry resting her head against his shoulder as he stepped out of the room. “You're a good man Chris. Leon will be lucky to have you.” 

There was no stopping the way his body jolted at her words. How did she know? He never told Sherry about his crush on the blonde, was it that obvious? Or did Claire open her mouth? “You two will be cute together, and I would love to have another father figure.” He didn’t know what made his heart ache more. Hearing Sherry say that him and Leon would be cute together or hearing her say that she would look up to him as a father.

He couldn’t do too much thinking though because he finally made his way to the window, climbing through it to plant his feet on the grass. His head was starting to get foggy, eyes getting heavy as he attempted to just keep walking. I breathed in too much smoke. He didn’t know where Leon was nor did he open his eyes to look but hearing Sherry scream the blonde’s name meant Leon was close.

Footsteps made their presence as he collapsed to his knees. He couldn’t take it anymore, didn't have the strength to hold the woman, and he was so tired. His lungs filled up with too much smoke. “Chris! Sherry!” Leon must have taken Sherry away from him because the weight in his arms were gone, causing him to collapse onto the grass. “Chris! Chris! Oh my god. You're going to be okay.” The last thing he felt was hands stroking his cheeks before he lost consciousness.

-Several Hours Later-

He felt a comforting warmth in his hand, as he slowly blinked his eyes open. Where am I? The bright lights in the room made him screw his eyes shut a moment later. The warmth in his hand held tighter in the process. Is someone holding my hand? Slowly opening his eyes again he blinked away the light as best he could before squinting to see who was next to him. Leon was sitting in a chair next to him looking at him with a small smile. 

Where am I? Looking around the room he saw he was situated in a bed, white sheets thrown over his body as well as a gown. Am I at the hospital? His hand was squeezed again causing him to look over. Leon was the one holding his hand, intertwining their fingers together. "Chris!" Sherry popped up on his left, looming over as she looked at him with a happy smile. "I'm so glad you're okay! Thank you for coming back for me!" 

The woman put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Sherry, I'll always come back for you." He saw her eyes well up with tears before she surged forward, wrapping him into a tight hug. There was a brief moment of shock that passed before he slowly wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Placing a small kiss on her head he turned his attention to Leon, seeing the man looking between him and Sherry with a loving look. 

The blonde's eyes held so many different emotions that Leon's lips slowly tilted up into a smile. He couldn't help but squeeze the man's hand gently, making that cute little smile tilt more. They were like a little happy family right now. Just as he was about to part his lips to say something Sherry pulled away from their hug. "I'm going to go down and get you some food, I'll be back." He didn't know If he was reading too much into the little smirk she had on her face or not but the woman was soon walking out of the room.

"You know, it was really sweet that you chose to run in instead of me, and very stupid… Why did you do it?" Even though the words were a little judging, the look in those blonde eyes said otherwise. "I couldn't let you risk your life." The hand in his jolted a bit as Leon scooted to move closer to him. "Why? You risk yours instead?" He stared at the smile on the blonde's lips for a moment as he thought about what to say next. Did he see right through me? 

"I-I just had this feeling run through me at the moment. Something that I just knew I needed to make sure that you and Sherry were safe." He watched as Leon's free hand came up to run along his arm, fingers playing with the hair that was there before the man looked into his eyes, tone becoming very deep. "Chris, watching you run into the flames like that, risking your life to save Sherry. It means so much to me but I was so worried for both of you… I don't know how I could ever repay you." 

A small smile broke out on his face as he wiggled his hand out of Leon's to bring it to the blonde's cheek. Now he didn't know what possessed him to say what he did next but he loved the outcome. "Kiss me." He saw Leon's eyes widen as the man parted his lips before closing them. Then all of a sudden a smirk formed on the blonde's face before Leon slowly leaned down to meet him. Of course Leon had to be a tease and only gently brushed their lips together as the man spoke. "How bad do you want it?" His lips twisted into a smirk, brushing along Leon's lips as he brought a hand around to cup the back of the blonde's neck. "You tease me then I'm just going to take it." The man's breath was puffed onto his lips as Leon finally pressed their lips together. He would have never thought the feeling of the blonde's pretty lips against his would be this good and feel so soft. He wanted more. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss the door opened. A loud squeal made them break away from eachother as Sherry ran over to them. "About time you guys!"

@yaskie

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

While I do agree with that last ask that Ada's outfit is truly not appropriate as a spy, I kinda wanted to put in my own little input. For one thing I totally agree with the fact that her outfit is something I could very much see a woman dressing for herself choosing. Not that women don't choose to dress super skimpy, but Ada's outfit in RE 4 Remake is, in my opinion, a pretty popular Fall/Autumn outfit among feminine presenting people (I mean people even joke on Tiktok about how Autumn is stylish black boot season lol) Other than her stilettos, her outfit is not that out there, in terms of comfort even. It's a knit dress top. Those are some of the more comfortable dresses, even if it is body con. It might be tight, but it's not modeled so tightly that it's "weird" if you get what I mean, and it's knit, and it can have some stretch, and it's moveable. (I feel like I can say that as someone who has worn a very similar dress and had to walk for several blocks in the winter) Respectfully, I really disagree that her current outfit is "less appropriate than her original outfit." If you've ever worn a maxi dress, one can know how impractical the long length/can be unless you were to like, tie it to the side or whatever. Shorter dress can be out of the way of your legs. I feel like if you removed her stilettos and gave her more practical boots, it's really not that crazy of an outfit. Frankly, just because a woman dresses femininely, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Also honestly....? Just because someone has a cold personality doesn't mean they can't be stylish? Like....Wesker's new outfit is pretty stylish as well if we're going to be fully honest. As a female-presenting person, I don't think Ada's outfit has so much overt sex appeal. It's just something I've seen so often as an outfit for this season, and something I've seen other female presenting people reach for when it gets cold. Her boots are kind of doing all the legwork if you'll excuse the pun. I dunno! Maybe I'm just delulu, but yknow?

I also just wouldn't think it'd be Ada if her design didn't communicate some level of flair. RE 4, despite now having a more serious undertone compared to its original, I feel has always been the kind of silly and unrealistic game anyway compared to the others. I mean the Merchant throws a rave when you do well at target practice. You eat raw fish and eggs....? There were Ganados that wore Leon's jacket and Krauser's hat for some reason???? There's a request where you literally are just told to egg a portrait of Ramon Salazar. Ashley is secretly a scene/emo kid???? Me personally, I appreciate this design compared to the past of game design. Could it be better? Yeah, sure. But it's SOMETHING imo. I totally get that we want to go from point A to B, and that we shouldn't accept the bare minimum, but sometimes things also take baby steps. I've noticed the slow shift in other games as well. Mortal Kombat's female characters had people upset because they looked "too" practical and "not sexy enough." League of Legends has been slowly updating its designs (i.e. Janna and Nidalee in their recent Legends of Runeterra art) Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn is designed to look like a realistic person. I dunno!

One thing I will agree on is the game's camera with the ass shots. I can only really remember one (that scene where Ada sees Ashley being taken by one of Salazar' bug guard) but yeah, that was unnecessary. I don't think they did entirely bad by Ada in my opinion because there were several scenes where this male gazey shot did not happen.

Anyway sorry that this ask is super long. I had a lotta thoughts lol.

Respectfully, I really disagree that her current outfit is "less appropriate than her original outfit." If you've ever worn a maxi dress, one can know how impractical the long length/can be unless you were to like, tie it to the side or whatever.

yeah i think i struggle a lot with trying to understand how her original outfit is more appropriate than her remake one. it's COLD, there was no reason for her to be in that type of dress. and the long skirt of the dress is also impractical as hell. i agree that the changing of her boots to a more flatter boot would make her outfit fairly appropriate. we're also kind of assuming that her tights are fairly well fitting since she's not constantly pulling them up lol

but yeah i agree that i think her outfit isn't overtly sexual. it's provocative sure?? the heels are mostly the thing that makes it not practical.

i think that there's a bit of an interesting push for more realistic depictions of women, and the horizon zero dawn reaction was insane to me, but entirely not unexpected. in another case, people were mad that ada's heels were removed in dead by daylight lol. EVEN THOUGH her flats were more practical, people wanted her heels anyways

i feel as though the shots that they used were also not so terrible in terms of male gaze-y. we also got ✨⛓the chain scene ⛓✨ for leon which was literally on the tiktok fyp for just horny video game scene that like SO MANY MEN JUST DID NOT GET.

but the singular ass shot of ada i think was, sure a bit much. but it wasn't so much that i was like, WOW THAT'S SO SEXUALIZING HER, cause i was also like oMGGGADA ADA ADA ADA ADA ADA so maybe im no better than a man lmao

but yeah! i mostly agree with you ty!

[dotster001]

Not long ago, a friend and I were discussing the actions of the elders that led to the overblow. She thinks that Riddle, Leon, Azul, Jamil, and Vil should be treated. The only innocent characters for her are Idia and Malleus, because Shroud didn't know about the dorm leaders being brought to STYX, and Draconia put everyone to sleep so she wouldn't lose anyone. In the beginning, I thought it was unfair that the friend favors these two and hates the others.

I think the worst things Leona, Azul, and Vil have done, as Leona almost got people killed, Azul turned students into slaves, and Vil almost poisoned Neige. Riddle didn't hurt anyone, and neither did Jamil. The former just put a magic-blocking collar on students, and the latter wanted to become dorm leaders and turned students against Kalim.

I'm interested in your opinion. Are Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil and Vil really guilty? Or at least Riddle and Jamil might not fall into that category? Are the actions of Malleus and Idiah harmless?

Oh boy do I have opinions on this! Thank you for asking! (A collective groan is heard from the audience)

This is going to be long, and also have major spoilers for books 1-5. Remember these are just my opinions. I'd like to hear everybody's thoughts!

Riddle Rosehearts

So when I first met Riddle, I thought he was extra as hell. I hated him, thought he was so annoying. Then he overblotted, and I was like, damn, okay slay, cause his overblot outfit was soooooo cool! His outfit is definitely my favorite of the seven, and I want to cosplay it one day. Any way, then he went into his back story, and it was like I was slapped across the face. Because, at least to me, it was clear that what Riddle had just experienced was gifted child burnout, which I live with everyday. He just experienced it at a later point in life than I did. So after that, I was heavily projecting onto him, so it was hard for me to hate him. Trey has this line that he says to Riddle that when I get an apartment I'm going to put on my wall so that I can remember it.

So it may not be fair, but I project too heavily onto Riddle to really be upset or angry about it. It felt like something inevitable, and he has deep trauma he's had to bury, so unless I want to dig into my own psyche (which I don't) then I can't say that I think what he did was wrong or his fault.

Leona Kingscholar

I remember the day I met him. It was the mirror chamber at NRC, and my first thought was that he was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen...*sighs dreamily*

Then I started reading book two and he was a total asshole. I hated him and Ruggie for soooooo long. Like, Leona doesn't deserve to be as pretty as he is. The way I live my life, is that as long as what you're doing doesn't hurt someone (yourself included) then I don't care what you do. Leona and Ruggie were actively severely injuring people (my sister still hates Ruggie, because Trey is her boyfriend). And then, even before his overblot, Leona tried to kill people. The way I judge characters, is that, in a state of overblot, they are not in control. Attempted murder at that point is less their fault, and more the demon controlling them. But Leona tried to turn Ruggie to sand pre overblot.

Let's just say, it took a ridiculous amount of fanfiction for me to like Leona and Ruggie.

Azul Ashengrotto

This one is hard. Obviously, he was a capitalistic asshole pre overblot. He's also another character that doesn't deserve to be as pretty as he is. I'm not going to overly defend his actions. But! I will say I did project on his overblot as well, especially cause I definitely hate myself 😎✌️ and have had poor body image for nearly my entire life. Also, I was the weird kid until I started to learn how to "pretend to be human" better, so his overblot was relatable. I think of overblots as the equivalent of a panic attack.

In short, I find his actions understandable, but that doesn't mean I approve of them.

Jamil Viper

Okay, this one is gonna have a lot of hypotheticals so bear with me. Jamil was the second character that I was like "that is the most beautiful man I have ever seen" and to this day I desperately want to run my hands through his hair.

By the time I'd reached this book, I was voraciously inhaling fanfics like Kirby, so I'd been spoiled of his overblot, ss, and his reason for overblotting.

So, freedom, and the concept of freewill are the most important things to me, so I went into this book expecting to 100% back Jamil up. But as I was reading it, I noticed that Kalim offered a lot of options to make Jamil's life easier

So here's where the hypotheticals come into play. Is Kalim like this because of how he was raised and his environment, or is it just cause he's Kalim?

If it's the former, that doesn't make Jamil's feelings less valid, but it does imply that a lot of his burdens are self made (which is something I heavily relate to, but we won't talk about that now 😭) in which case, if he asked to leave, the Asim's would probably let him.

If it is just that Kalim is like that, then yeah, eat the rich and what not. No one should be forced into a position just because of where, and to who, they were born. We all deserve freedom.

Which brings us to the great irony and hypocrisy of Jamil's overblot! In striving for his own freedom, he used his signature spell to enslave the entire dorm.

I think everyone deserves freedom and freewill, but if you steal other's free will in order to achieve that, you are no better than the people you are trying to get away from, and are continuing the cycle.

But that was during his overblot, so it's not like he was in control, so we can just ignore that, but it is an interesting debate. Anyway, Jamil deserves freedom just like everyone else, and a lot of times sacrifices have to be made to achieve that.

TLDR: I don't know how I feel about Jamil's actions. It's a very complicated issue, and at this time I don't feel I have the information needed to properly assess the situation, but it is a lovely philosophical debate to have.

Vil Schoenheit

Another beautiful man. I'll make this short. I like Vil and a lot of his beliefs. I like that he's comfortable in his masculinity, and isn't afraid to point out that gendering movement is dumb as hell.

When he talks about changing your diets, it's about pimples, not weight. In fact, Rook is the only one in the game so far who makes comments about people's weights, giving Vil a little bit of a complex (but we won't talk about that now)

But Vil tried to kill Neige pre-overblot, which as I said before means he is 100% liable for his actions.

I've done theatre for 10+ years, and yeah it sucks when you can't get roles you want, or when one person always gets the role you want, but not enough to kill them.

I didn't feel like his little monologue justified enough for me to be okay with his actions. So Vil is guilty, in my head.

Idia and Malleus

I haven't finished book six, cause depression, but I know what his overblot character looks like from spoilers. So I don't have an opinion on it yet. But I'm probably gonna think he's innocent

I'm on the English server, so I haven't had access to book seven yet. But I heavily project myself onto Malleus (maybe I'll make a deep dive post about it someday) so his overblot will destroy me physically mentally and emotionally. Also, his overblot look is underwhelming. Not a serve.

Anyways, those are my opinions. Again it's okay if you disagree! These are fictional characters, we are allowed to have different theories on them 😂

[realtaoism]

As regards influences in my life, I can categorically affirm that training at the Earlham Street Dojo with Steve Morris1979 - 80 was a one of several wake up events. All contact with remarable men will open up a challenge and set you on a certain path of discovery or one of denial. Steve Morris broke the mould in many respects and set me on a course that fuelled a lifeling interest in functional movement over form practice. The so called Internal systems are just as flawed as the Karate that Steve dissects so well in the article below. For me whole body function and natural movement are really in dire straights in the world of compliant martial arts practice, including the so called internal arts. How I met Steve Morris as a 19 year old. I saw a sign in the window of the Steve Morris's 1st floor Earlham Street Dojo every time I came and went from Victor Kan's Wing Chun basement school, which was ditectly opposite. For personal reasons Wing Chun did not impress me, so on my final day of frustration with Wing Chun, I ascended from Kan's coal cellar and onto the pavement, pausing, staring for a few moments at a hand written sign in the window opposite that simply said Kick Boxing, a sign that had beckoned for many months, I marched across the street, through the open door, headed up a flight of stairs, doubled back and up a few more steps into a small entrance that had a window on the right. I stopped dead, the atmosphere was intense and I looked at photo's on the wall of a long haired bloke bare chested wearing Gi trousers smashing huge concrete looking blocks, like a reversal of scene in the movie Leon, I was about to meet someone very very serious. I glanced through and caught the eyes of the man himself and walked in to be greeted by a martial arts genious, what he showed me in that first meeting blew my mind. His story is below: and be warned Martial Artists, it is not for those who are attached to their organised/ compliant martial art practice. Magnificent read.... http://morrisnoholdsbarred.com/archives/pedigree/ #mma #nhb #karate #kungfu #gongfu #internalfamilysystems #taichichuan https://www.instagram.com/p/CpYflblIi_4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[redfxeld]

me @ ALL Leons,

sIR WHO ALLOWED YOU TO BE SO ATTRACTIVE? u are under arrest, ok.

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Hello, I loved your fics on Vivienne. So I want to request a Vivienne fic where MC is pregnant, and she with the Poppy is having dinner in a restaurant. But, she got served with spoiled food, so she got food poisoning. Make it a bit angsty and end it in fluff as possible. Thank you!!

“So, whatcha say, MC? You’ve been craving shrimp anyway, so this is as good of a chance as any!” Jett stares at you expectantly, chocolate eyes practically sparkling.

“Yeah MC, you didn’t go to Dinner Club yesterday, so you absolutely need to come today!” Zoe follows, and her smile is as sweet as a midnight drink.

You roll your eyes, laughing.

“Eager, huh?”

“Not our fault Vivienne’s been hogging you all week,” Leon says, dimly amused.

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll go today.”

The cheer than erupts draws in Vivienne, Remy, and eventually Nikolai, all three of them curious. After a brief explanation — and Vivienne’s feline satisfaction at monopolizing your attention — the Poppy agrees to go a restaurant Zoe had found recently.

All in all, the restaurant has a calm ambience, filled with little decorations here and there: a fish tank by the corner, a myriad of colors you had stared at in awe for a good minute; several paintings adorning the walls, charming and simple; the light warm and relaxing.

The food? The food ended up being a different story all together, though you discover that later.

Both Remy and you had started feeling weird as soon as you got back to the Poppy’s hideout. Remy had shrugged it off as exhaustion, and you had done the same at first, waddling towards the bedroom, ready to nap for a while.

Vivienne had gone with you, not willing to admit it to the others but eager for a cuddle. She had noticed how clammy your skin felt, how strangely warm it was — even under the covers. Her first instinct had been to hover a hand over your bump, as if wanting to check on the baby first, but then she had moved to whisper your name against your skin, gently shaking you awake.

It had taken a worryingly amount of time for the world to focus once you opened your eyes, and the first thing you had noticed was the startling pain in the back of your mind, that seemed to multiply once you had acknowledged it until your head was throbbing.

“I think I have a headache,” you mumble, miserable, and Vivienne’s body slumped against yours in a second of pure relief.

“For a second I feared…” She trails off. You can feel her shaking her head, as if trying to shrug off some wayward thought. “Never mind. Is there anything specific you’d like for dinner? I’ll bring you an aspirin while I’m at it.”

“Oh, I—I’m not really hungry.”

“No?” Vivienne’s voice is filled with disbelief. “Not even a craving? Nothing?”

You laugh, teasing at first. “You make it sound like I’m always hangry. No, I’m fine for now.”

You can tell her worry returns in the tell-tale way she falls silent; in the way she tenses again, fingers curling around your shoulder, squeezing briefly. “You’ve been hangry all month.”

“Pff, not all month, just—”

It’s a dull sensation, still faraway, but your stomach feels off. You can feel the contents swirling angrily, like a wave about to crash. The image stays with you for a second, and you frown, because what is this sensation, why are you thinking about water, hadn’t the morning sickness stopped already? Why…

“Oh. Oh my god.”

“What?” Vivienne whispers, panic rising in both of your chests like a rocket.

“I—the food—something must have been spoiled, I—I think I’ll—the nausea is not strong yet, we should go to a…”

She is already moving before you can finish, moving to the door like a madwoman to yell out the news, before returning to you and helping you up. Her hand presses reassuringly at your lower back, her expression frozen by worry and fear.

Jett announces Remy is also feeling nauseated, and the Poppy splits like they had planned it beforehand, like they weren’t just improvising. Leon drives Vivienne, Remy and you to the nearest hospital, while Nikolai and Jett go back to the restaurant to go full Karen against them. Zoe stays behind to make sure all records from the hospital are wiped afterwards.

The car makes the nausea worse. Remy slumps against his seat and groans, while you close your eyes and focus on taking deep breaths, occasionally rubbing your temple and wishing for the headache to disappear. Vivienne alternates between checking on you and Remy, though he insists that she only watches you and the baby.

And the baby, God, the baby. You rest a hand on your bump and hope against hope that the baby doesn’t kick, that they will be okay. There are a few moments where you feel your stomach is about to empty its contents, the desperation you feel churning inside you like an icy blade and making everything worse.

Vivienne puts her hand over yours. You don’t need to open your eyes to see hers deep with worry, shining like a shattered jewel.

Two blocks away. One.

It only ends up being okay because Vivienne had noticed as quickly as she did. If you had waited until you got more symptoms… well. That’s a thought you’d rather put away.

As expected, Vivienne is ready for anything you ask, be it more water or more cuddles. She’s patient and attentive, her relief palpable in the way she sighs against your bump and gives it a loving, feather-soft kiss.

[miss-kittys-magical-library]

Alright, nothing like being down to the wire to force a choice. Request if it works: Casual Affection Prompt #16 for Honey x Leon and if not that one Touch #22 for them 💙😘

Don't Leave Me This Way

Word Count- ooooff 2800

Warnings- as always language, fingering, penetrative teasing, creation of pornographic (or artistic!) photos between consenting, married adults, romantic fluff, mention of drugs, alcohol and miscarriage

A/N- With Honey and Leon's marriage redemption arc coming to a close, they settle into a bath for some fun and sexy polaroids. #16 taking a photo of the smiling or in their element (close enough 🤣) For my lovely @forenschik and the love of my life @magic-multicolored-miracle

Part 3

Honey was surrounded by candles in the bathroom as the storm raged on outside the window. She worried about The Littles at her parents’, but knew if anything Selina would be huddled up under the blankets with Sunny. His little fists probably glowing blue in the darkness. Because sometimes Sunny used his power, or the odd ghost, as a flashlight.

Realizing there was nothing she could do from several blocks away, Honey lifted her leg and let her ankle rest on Leon's shoulder. He lounged on the opposite end of the bathtub from his wife. His own stick of a leg draped over the side of the tub. Soap and water dripping onto the bath mat.

“Leon?” she put her hand on his leg and pushed bubbles up towards his knee like she was pushing up a pant leg. “Can I shave your legs?”

He studied her plaintive face from across the water as she sipped from her wine glass. She placed it back on the bronze shelf that lined a turquoise wall their candy pink bathtub was against. Her free hand just casually stroked his shin.

“I cannot fathom why.” It was more a statement than a question.

“Curiosity? Sometimes I want to do you up like a woman is all. Shave your mustache and goatee off. Maybe put your hair in an updo of some kind. Let some of those curls hang down. I would have to pad your hips and tits though because you are.. well.. shapeless.”

Honey slid forward to wrap her other leg around Leon's waist. Her fingers touching the parts of him she mentioned then got lost in his hair. Her body sat a such strange but erotic angle that she willed her husband to penetrate her with his unanticipated erection.

“Have you lost the plot, woman? Me in drag? I'm dodgy looking as a bloke, I'd be a right minger of a woman. Blimey. Klaus would love that. Give him a go.”

“Did you just imply you're ugly?”

“If not, at the very least remarkably unattractive.”

Leon pulled Honey into his lap. Her leg dangled down his back from this position. Her bent knee on his shoulder where, just moments before, it was her foot. His hands on her ass drew her back and forth over his cock without entering her.

“Are you.. taking.. the piss?” Her moans accentuated every word. “Faster, baby.”

He complied. The water around them created a little tidal wave that splashed over the side. The following words of disdain about his appearance struggled to leave his lips as his breath came out ragged and heavy in the crook of his wife’s neck

“I'm not. My nose is all wonky with these massive nostrils. I'm built like a living stick figure. My eyes go all puff-”

Honey cut him off with her lips. She rode him faster without guidance. His cock settled along her slit rather than inside of it. She snaked her tongue as far in his mouth as he allowed. Like she was trying to force the words inside of her husband.

The couple ceased what they were doing simultaneously. She caressed the back of his neck and left light kisses on the apples of his cheeks. She let her lips chart a course down from the bridge of his nose to his mustache where playfully pecked at his nostrils.

Leon giggled; he couldn't help it. Honey leaned back to search his eyes. “The moment I saw you I thought to myself, ‘Oh, he's beautiful.’ That's the first time in my life I have ever been nervous around anyone. Just fucking you was fine with me.”

“Then you were interested in what I had to say. I got freaked out because I wanted to see you everyday. Forever. Being with you made me feel safe. You take care of me and love me and have never once asked me to be less. Leon, you are still the most beautiful man I've ever seen. And whatever number of you there are, or will be, they will also have someone get their breath stolen just by looking.”

Honey took a breath and kissed her husband again passionately. For the second time tonight they simply held one another. Leon, speechless as he embraced his wife. She, comforted by hearing his heartbeat under the ear she pressed against his chest.

After a while of contented silence, Leon instructed his wife to stand up in the tub. “I want to do something for you. That's all,” he let her know whenever her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

She did as she was asked. Leon took soap down off the shelf to cover his hands. He got up on his knees, kneeling in front of his naked wife. He looked at how strangely vulnerable she appeared with the bubbles sliding slowly down her hips. Leon leaned forward to kiss her stomach. His tongue dipped into her navel.

Honey curled her arms under her breasts to cover them from that sudden cold we experience going from a hot bath or shower to the night air. She bit her thumbnail and felt weirdly sheepish exposed to her husband like this.

Her husband, who had put his mouth and fingers and tongue and penis inside of her thousands of times. Now that tongue and mouth were on her stomach in her belly button and she laughed and held him to her. She wasn’t sure where the nerves came from at this moment, but could tell Leon appreciated them.

Leon who sat back on his haunches now put his soap covered touch on Honey’s shoulders. He moved it steadily. First the left side and then the right and down both arms. He held her hands each by the wrist to clean them before flattening his palms on her chest.

Honey tried to touch him; tangle her fingers in the wet ringlets that stuck to his neck. Her husband dodged them and placed them back at her sides so he could continue. And he did.

Leon placed his hands on her chest. He ran them over her collarbone then each cupped a breast. His wife was amused by how comically large they seemed to her tiny hands and shoulders. But her breasts.

Honey's breasts had swollen with pregnancy and milk and never deflated like so many breast feeding mothers’ did. Her hips plumped and softened because of Selina and the inevitability of her heritage.

Self conscious at first, Honey embraced it because her lover delighted in the new shape. Indulged himself between her thighs and cleavage. Now he took special care of them.

Leon held Honey’s breasts. He kneaded them in circles to cover them in soap. Frowning with concentration, he pinched her nipples both with the lightest touch of the index finger and thumb. Satisfied they were as erect as he was, his fingers worked clockwise down her stomach.

Honey giggled and bit her thumb again. Her body quivered under his movements that traveled over her hips. Gooseflesh raised on her arms, the air hitched in her lungs and a solitary moan escaped her lips. Leon was washing the downy hair spread in a upside down triangle that preceded her sex Her heartbeat followed.

She faltered only to anchor herself on Leon's back after he rinsed his hand before plunging forward. He stroked her slit until evoking the desired wetness. A finger or two dove inside of Honey up to the second knuckle. They hooked with expertise to stroke the spongy muscle of her sex before taunting her clit a few times. Honey thought her lip would bleed, she chomped down on it so hard.

As if he wasn't just edging his wife close to another orgasm, Leon stopped. He switched gears once more to work suds down and around the shape of her hips. His mouth not far behind.

“Leonidas,” Honey dared to speak. He bent her leg (which he washed from the back of her thigh down to the ankle) at the knee to hold her foot (which he stopped to kiss) “Let's go somewhere impossible."

"Difficult to reach?" He repeated with her other leg.

"No. Unexplainable. Like our impossible children. And the infinite amount of love we have for you."

Leon's eyes finally met Honey’s. "Sounds like that requires one of those Commission holdalls. I don't think we should mess about with those. You and I are liable to get back and the Littles will be all grown. We don't want to miss all the messy bits that come in between"

Honey felt a lump form in her throat. She would take her babies with them before she and Leon ever imagined using one of those damn briefcases. How devastating it would leave them to lose out on watching Selina and Nicklaus become a woman and a man. Despite his origins, Honey knew in her heart Sunny was destined to become his own man separate from Leon. And Selina, stubborn and whip smart and selfless, would shake up the world.

“You could've just said Stonehenge!” Without provocation, tears uncontrollably spilled down Honey’s cheeks.

“Whot? Easy poppet. It's alright. Didn't mean anything by it.” Leon used his thumbs to wipe the saltiness from his wife’s face. “Course we’ll see them grow up, love. I promise. You alright? Your eggs doing that thing.. Ovulating?”

He knew better than to ask if it was her time of the month.

“You've been awfully horny and a wee bit cranky. I'm trying to take care of you. Get you to relax. Look at you.” Leon held Honey back at arm’s length. “You're so sexy like this. All bubbly and sudsy and,” his fingers inside of her again, “wet.”

Honey rolled her eyes, “Leeonn.” Her whinging covered up strangled erotic sigh. “I just love having sex with you. You know this. When do we get to fuck again? You've been a cunt-tease this entire escapade.”

“CUNT TEASE?!” Leon’s laughter echoed off the walls. “I'm just being cheeky until you're begging for it. Why not compromise?”

“You cum in me, and I get pregnant?”

“You want to go through all of that again? I thought we decided it’s best not to put you through another miscarriage?”

It was Leon’s turn to caress his wife’s face. He looked up at her with sympathetic eyes. His lips grazed her inner thigh for the hundredth kiss that evening. They made their way up towards her hips, but Honey’s palm on his forehead halted the journey. He let out a frustrated groan.

“I want another baby that looks like me. I trust this bargain is not your jizz?”

“She’s so filthy with that gob. I want to take pictures of you. Dirty ones.” The corner of Leon's mouth turned into a smirk. His brow arched as if he was challenging his wife.

“Why?” Honey was skeptical, but intrigued.

“What if we have to be apart? I can’t shag you from a distance. Can’t be dirty over the phone with the young ones around. Not properly. So that leaves a wank. I want secret, dirty photos of my wife so I can wank to them.”

“We've been together every day for a decade.”

“Let me take a picture of your fanny so I can look at it whenever I want!” Leon sounded like their children on the verge of a tantrum.

Before she could protest, Leon dashed out of the tub without drying off. He came back with their new Polaroid camera. Honey, bemused by the look of sheer rapture on her husband’s face at the prospect of taking these nude pictures, rolled her eyes. He waved the camera around excitedly.

The next half an hour involved Leon directing and modeling his wife in their bathtub. Then photographing Honey until she was irritated and no longer as turned on as her husband. His cock swelled and twitched so much while he clicked away at the camera buttons, she thought he would quite literally explode.

At first he positioned Honey sitting in the tub. Her long hair, dry by now, flowing over the edge behind her. Some drifted along the surface of the water where her breasts were partially submerged. Leon had drained the water enough that if she leaned back, Honey would float with her pubic bone dangerously close to the surface. So he strategically covered her nudity with bubbles. He stood at the foot of the bath to capture her from above.

“Bellissima, mia cara.” Leon took the film and shook it before placing it carefully on their vanity beside them. Honey flushed.

Now he knelt on the shaggy mat next to where his wife was turned to face him. She propped herself up with arms outstretched the length of the porcelain. Her soft, fleshy breasts with their deep pink nipples were resting on the sides. Leon arranged her hair just so, stopping only to push his mouth to hers while she posed like a seductive siren. Another flash of the polaroid.

“Now stand up, poppet. I want to see every inch of you.”

Honey obeyed and pulled herself out of the bath. It suctioned and swirled around her shins but she stood over Leon now. His angle from below as the water and suds cascaded off of her wide hips. He held the camera inches from her chest to get a shot of her full frontal. She held up her middle fingers in front of her nipples, blocking them. She sneered with one eye clamped shut and her tongue out.

“Love it, very Joan Jett isn't it? Might to share this one at the club.” The flash brightened the bathroom.

Honey relished in it now. She lifted her and out as if she were the crucified lamb. They bent at the elbow, palms turned out facing the ceiling. Her hip popped to the side ever so slightly, and hair tumbled over both shoulders and covered her biceps. She lost count of every snap that matched the several slight poses she took from this one.

“Ok, Kostas that's enough!”

Honey was over it. Tired and hungry and still horny but it waned. She held a towel to her chest and put a foot towards Leon to step on to the dry floor. Her legs spread enough that he pushed the camera in the middle of them to take a picture of her sex.

“Yes. This one. This one is wank material. I might get it pregnant first.” He blew on the polaroid to help it try and looked simply gobsmacked. “Like one of those O'Keeffe orchids.”

“Gross!” Honey clutched the towel which merely covered her pubic hair and nipples. “You pulled Selina out of that.”

“Too right, and it was lovely. AND I love ya all the more for it. I love everything about your vagina. Life goes into it and grows and a new life comes back out. Your body is brilliant.”

Leon manages at least two more photos of his wife: one as she lingers on the rug. She bites her finger again. There's a false naïveté to his temptress. His Honey trap

The second of her walking away. Bare ass exposed as she slinks like a cat to the vanity and leaned in to gaze at her reflection. Leon gets one of her bent forward with her ass in his direction.

A small silhouette of a lion and lioness tattooed on her hip with their foreheads pressed together. One that her husband shares on his shoulder blade. It freaks them out to know Klaus has a tiger that he wants molded into a lion of his own. A family symbol.

Leon comes up from behind his wife. He curls his long, lanky body so that he can quite literally kiss Honey’s tattoo and her ass. One last photo of the two of them naked in the mirror. Exposed to each other but comfortable as they nuzzle.

“SOOOO PRIZE!!!” a tiny voice screams after popping into the doorway to the bathroom. Honey and Leon screamed.

“NICKLAUS IT'S SUR PRIZE NOT SOO! You ruined it and we even practiced!! MAMA TELL HIM I'M HELPING!”

Honey's mouth hung agape. Both Kostas parents shocked, speechless. Until Leon muttered a “Fuck.”

The kids bounced or floated into the room and started to strip before splashing and giggling into the tub. They poured far too much bath gel in and made a frenzy with the faucet on and their arms until bubbles piled nearly higher than them both.

“Papa that's a swear! Oh! We're home!” Selina forgot to breathe. Only her large brown eyes, and Sunny’s bright green ones next to her peered out from the mounds of suds. “Sunny got scared and ghosty and we came home. Nonno brought us. Topo is asleep and smells like grown up juice one the couch. Are you coming in too?”

Honey and Leon burst into laughter, disappointed but joined their kids nonetheless. This was married life.

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