#now i just have to turn this energy back to vision awry right

[walkingstackofbooks]

Phew. Wow. It's far too late, but Keiko's chapter is done, now I've just got Julian's final chapter to do tomorrow and editing and I'll have finished it? Sounds easy when I put it like that 😅

Not quite sure how this has ended up spanning into a 10k word fic in the last 3 days, but sure, I'll take it. Keiko appeared and just started running the story, and who am I to say no to her, y'know?

[shadowphoenixrider]

(A bit of a rough fic I wrote out after doing the Elisande’s Retort questline, which I proceeded to forget I had. I’ve tidied it up as best I can, but it’s still a little rough around the edges. Enjoy!)

“I don’t like dis.” Draggka said, watching the elven forces advance up the promenade, feeling the tension in Spike’s back. “I gotta bad feeling about dis.”

“A bad feeling? How so?” Khadgar asked, glancing to her with one silver eyebrow elegantly arched as they walked several paces behind the main invasion force.

“Don’t ya feel like it’s been too easy?” She asked, turning to the archmage. “Maybe dat not be da right word, but…Everyting has gone well, better da I expected. When do we be hittin’ da snag?”

“Hmmm.” The mage hummed, rubbing his chin. “I have wondered that myself. But maybe just this once things will go our way?”

The Huntmaster said nothing, her mind ticking over. Her gut told her something was going to go badly wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. Maybe Khadgar was right; maybe she was so used to things suddenly going awry that she was worrying about nothing?

And yet…

Suddenly the image of Elisande appeared at the far end if the promenade, and immediately she was on guard. That was new, and unexpected, although from what the troll could hear, the Grand Magistrix was more concerned with disparaging the other elves than anything else. Yet she was openly boasting, and she’d not done that before; Lyleth had been mentioning that-

Wait. We haven’t heard from Lyleth since we stormed the city.

“Khadgar, it’s a trap! We need to go, now!” Draggka cried, the mage looking back at her in alarm.

“What? Say it in Common, I-” He was interrupted by Spike’s urgent bark, more like a shriek, and they whipped their gaze back down the promenade. A wall of arcane energy was thundering down the walkway, a tsunami bearing down upon them.

RUN! Draggka’s body screamed instantly. But she started to turn, she saw Khadgar staring at the magic in frozen shock. No!

Draggka continued her turn and lowered her body, all but charging into Khadgar. She struck him just low enough to topple him onto her shoulders, thumping the breath out of him. The magic was gaining fast, her fur prickling. Looping an arm around his legs to keep him secure, Draggka ran, summoning the aspect of the cheetah to lengthen her stride. Thas’dorah’s power lightened her feet, her vision narrowing to what was right in front of her - run, run, RUN.

Draggka encountered the stairs sooner than expected, and she tripped. She tumbled forward, only just managing to catch herself with the arm that held her bow, her bones jarring with the impact. She was scrambling up the rest of the way, when the sensation of lips against her ear broke through her foggy mind.

“Draggka.” The voice was deep and vibrated against her skin. “We are safe, love. Stop running now.” 

Though the Zandali was basic, it cut though the fear, and Draggka finally relaxed, slumping against the stairs. It was only then that Khadgar’s weight began to make its presence fully felt on her shoulders, her back starting to complain.

“You can let go now, love.” Khadgar said, now in Common, but no less gently. The hunter resisted a moment, before she sighed, releasing her grip around his legs and letting the Archmage clamber off her shoulders. He sat heavily beside her on the steps, and she pulled herself up to sit with him, turning to look at the devastation they’d fled from.

The wall of arcane energy was now a field across a good three quarters of the promenade, the entire elven army frozen within like flies drowned in amber. Some of the siege engines were caught hovering in mid-air, cast aside by its  before the magic locked them in position.

A dread chill sank into her bones at the sight, and Draggka looked to Khadgar at the same time he looked at her. He glanced behind them briefly before pulling her into a tight embrace. She went willingly, pressing an ear against his neck so she could hear and feel his pulse beating under his pale skin. That could have been us, she thought. Spirits above, I could have lost him. If they’d been leading the charge, like they’d wanted to, they would have had no chance. Draggka tightened her grip, clenching her teeth against the need to cry with relief. She really didn’t care if anyone saw their embrace right now; they needed each other, and anyone who thought otherwise could piss off.

“Are you alright?” Khadgar asked softly.

“Not really.” Draggka admitted, taking a deep, shaky breath before she pulled back. “You be alright?”

“Been better.” The mage agreed, smiling slightly. “Thank you for saving me, my dear.”

“Dere no need to tank me, love.” Draggka said. “I would never be leavin’ ya behind.”

“Good to hear.” He rubbed at his side. “As much as my spleen disliked being so intimately introduced to your arrows, I would have much preferred that over what has befallen our allies.” Khadgar frowned as he looked over the sight before them.

“What’s happened to dem?”

“Elisande has stopped time on our entire army.” He explained. “I knew the shal’dorei dabbled in time magic, but this is simply incredible…” Khadgar sighed. “You were right. It was too easy. We underestimated Elisande’s power.”

“Hmm.” Draggka hummed sadly. “What do we do now, Khadgar?”

The Archmage paused a moment, before looking to her.

“We have to investigate the spell,” he said. “Perhaps there is a way to break it, or least we can discover how it is being maintained.”

It took a moment for his words to really sink in, which was when Spike rejoined them, nudging Draggka with his nose.

“Ya got to be kiddin’ me!” She exclaimed. “Khadgar, we almost, almost...I was dis close to losing ya!”

“I know, my love.” He reached over, squeezing her hand. “I know. But,” he sighed, “but we cannot sit idle. Every moment we take is another that Elisande uses to marshal her forces. Or formulate even worse magics.”

Draggka sighed with frustration. He was right, but the wound was raw. Spike rumbled sympathetically, rubbing his head next to hers, and she returned the gesture by cupping his jaw with her hand.

“Our allies have suffered the brunt of the enchantment, but I can protect us from the residual energies for a time.” Khadgar said softly, rubbing his thumb over her fingers. “As you have protected me, I will protect you, my dear.” He leaned close, heedless of observers. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. I would not ask this task of you if I wasn’t sure of myself.”

The troll gazed into his pale blue eyes, seeing nothing but earnestness in the pain and sympathy, but also the familiar thread of determination. It was a reckless thing to do, which she had come to expect from her lover after their time on Draenor. Yet he was confident that he could protect them. Or at least exhaust himself trying, and in that case, he would need someone by his side.

“Alright.” Draggka acquiesced. “I hope ya be right ‘bout dis.”

“Me too.” Khadgar squeezed her hand one last time, before he released her, climbing to his feet. “Come, let us get a closer look.”

The hunter followed the archmage back down the steps to the shimmering field of magic, her fur prickling at the sheer power she sensed radiating from it. It made her skin crawl and her gut uneasy, every primal sense she had telling her to avoid it at all costs. The tense line of Spike’s body showed that he too shared his partner’s anxiousness, and was only by her side because he trusted her.

Khadgar, however, either did not have the innate danger sense or he was very good at ignoring it, as he walked straight up to the arcane field. And proceeded to lift his hand up to it.

“Khadgar…” The warning slipped from her before she could stop herself.

“It’s alright, I’m just…feeling it out…” He said, his hands lighting up in a glow as he ‘felt’ over the magic, like one would inspect a wall for a secret door. “This temporal magic rivals that of the bronze dragonflight!” He said, a note of excitement to his voice. “That does mean I must concentrate on maintaining our defences, least we end up the same way.”

Khadgar gestured, murmuring a soft incantation that despite the situation made Draggka shiver pleasantly to hear, and this time when he put his hands to the shimmering wall of arcane, he pushed, forming the beginning of a bubble into the magic.

“Stay close to me,” he said as he pushed all the way in, forcing back the enchantment until eventually they were inside of it, protected only by the shield at flowed from the Archmage’s glowing hands. “Alright, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

A flicker of motion in Draggka’s peripheral vision made her tense, and Spike growled, hackles raising.

“I thought I saw someting.”

“I’m not surprised.” Khadgar said, looking about. “Hostile entities will probably have been drawn to this disruption of time. Take care in dispatching them. If you step outside my barrier you’ll feel Elisande’s magic firsthand.” The single glance he gave her was all Draggka needed to know his entire feelings on the matter. Please stay safe. “Let’s go.”

Progress was steady, Draggka and Spike guarding Khadgar’s flanks closely as he navigated a way through the arcane field, passing frozen elves with their eyes wide and mouths ajar in silent screams. The Archmage’s protective shield could not undo the temporal damage once it was done, even as it passed over them. The Huntmaster realized that the magic was literally being held back by Khadgar; were he to falter, they were doomed entirely.

It was only when they reached a familiar blood elf did Khadgar stop.

“Liadrin!” He looked the time-frozen elf up and down, assessing, before his lips set into a grim line. “I’m going to attempt to pull her out, but doing so will require my total focus.” He glanced to the troll. “Be on your guard, my dear.”

Draggka nodded, taking up position against the Archmage’s back, Spike close to his side, bowed low with his teeth bared. Usually the raptor would charge any opponent that threatened him or Draggka, but to do so here would be deadly. Draggka, too, could not fight as she usually would. Her arrows would freeze mid-air as soon as they crossed the threshold of the barrier, becoming useless decorations that she wouldn’t even be able to retrieve afterwards. 

The mage’s power washed over her, disturbing her hair and fur, and the troll took comfort in it, even as it twisted thickly in the air around her, like the air of a fetid swamp in the middle of summer. The dark forms that had been slowly gathering outside Khadgar’s shield surged towards them, revealing themselves as elementals, made up of some dark, chaotic energy, their spindly limbs reaching out with clawed hands.

Draggka snarled, having to resist her natural battle-instincts to let them close in before she attacked, shooting at the mystical bindings that held their form to make them dissipate into the air. Spike did similar, holding still for a while, before striking fast like a serpent, snuffing the elementals out quickly and easily.

The magic built even more around them, and the hunter began to sense something deeply, utterly wrong. Like someone was tampering with reality, trying to twist and twist to get it to do something, but getting very close to tearing it asunder. The troll felt the natural reaction to call out to the man her back was against, but she caught it in her throat. If she could tell what was going on, Khadgar was probably keenly aware. Her panicked distraction would not help matters.

The sensation tightened, thickened, and Draggka felt that something would give at any minute. She briefly wondered what the catastrophe would feel like, if it didn’t obliterate her outright.

And then, suddenly, it did. Not in the snap of everything suddenly exploding, but instead as if a knot had been pulled undone, releasing the tension in a wave of relaxation, the thickness of the magic lifting like mist on a breeze.

“That was close!” Khadgar’s voice with thick with exertion. “I nearly shattered the flow of time itself…but I think it’s better now. Are you alright?”

Draggka looked around to see Liadrin fall to her knee, gasping in a breath as if she’d just woken from a nightmare.

“I couldn’t get my shield up in time,” she said, shaking her head. “What happened?”

“No time for that now.” Khadgar interrupted her brusquely. “Let me get you somewhere safe.” With an easy cast, he teleported her to safety, but Draggka noticed the strain deepening around him, and she swore their shield shrank slightly. He gave a grunt. “I can’t maintain our protection any longer. We need to go.”

She nodded, gathering close to his body with Spike, and closing her eyes. She felt his magic wrap itself around her, plucking them to safety as his barrier collapsed around them, the troll only opening her eyes when she felt the stone floor under her bare feet once again. 

She looked up at the human mage to see sweat glistening across his face, fatigue clear in the deep lines around his eyes, but he seemed no worse for wear. He noticed her gaze and glanced back at her, a slight smile curling at the corner of his lips at made her heart skip a beat. Yet its humour soon faded.

“We got lucky that time,” he said. “But trying again could risk all our lives for nothing.” A sigh, and he glanced back to the time lock. “We must find another way.”

"We will." Draggka smiled up at him. “If ya pulled Liadrin out, dat means it can be reversed, right? We just be needin’ to find a better way of doin’ it.”

Her heart skipped another beat as Khadgar smiled properly this time, its spark reaching his eyes.

“Hearing you say that makes me believe we will,” he said, leaning in to kiss her, before movement in their peripheral vision halted them, as did the voices of the Nightfallen. “Good luck, Huntmaster. Come back in one piece.”

“Lok’tar ogar, Archmage.” Draggka nodded, before she turned to the other elves. 

“What do ya be needing me to do?”

[getouswh0re]

Howdy!! Could I request Yandere Gojo and Geto from jjk, with a special-grade sorcerer reader? Ty in advance, I really like your writing!✨

an; thank you for the love ˊᗜˋ💕 here are some drabbles for them separately, hope you liked it :3

warnings; yandere, gore, blood, unhealthy relationships, obsessive behaviour. do not condone such actions in real life, and please kindly read at your own discretion.

THE night was quiet, almost serene, totally at odds with the glowering menace in Geto’s eyes. Gone was the subtle gentleness in those inky slits you had grown to adore; in its place, inscrutable darkness bore holes into the back of your skull as you shuddered beneath the curse user’s glare.

It was still Geto in the flesh: the same face, unique hairstyle and robes he’d wear just like any other day. Yet it was no longer the special-grade sorcerer whom you once knew and loved. You never knew what caused such a drastic change in him; all you wished for, was for the old Geto to return, hoping that all of this was none other than another nightmare.

“Suguru? W-What are you doing at my door? It’s already late, you should be taking some rest ...” A hint of dismay — maybe sadness, ghosted his expression when the raven picked up the quivers in your tone. Nonetheless, a gentle smile adorns his face, emerging from the shadows to reveal himself as the raven explained himself.

“Why? Can’t I come and visit you?” He cocked his head, a playful smirk evident. Geto never ceased to make your heart flutter; perhaps it was his flirtatious nature and mellow personality that drew you towards him, but even after being one of his closest friends for a long time, at times you felt like you couldn’t understand him at all, with this being one of the occurrences.

You chortled, about to invite the raven into your apartment when warning bells started to ring incessantly in your head, warning you that there was something awry about him once you caught a glimpse at his clothes imbrued with crimson splatters.

“Sugu ... what is that on your clothes?”

“Oh this? Satoru splashed me with red paint, it’s not much of a big deal.” You knew he was lying, instantly picking up the revolting metallic stench from the stains. Dread filled your mind while you staggered back, keeping a distance from the male who gave you a perplexed look in return.

“You and I know a smell like this isn’t red paint ...” Trying to be as calm as you could, you retracted a step backwards with every stride Geto took. “Be honest with me. What on earth have you done?”

“Sharp as ever, y/n.” A condescending look took over as Geto finally revealed his true colours. “The world needs to change. All these monkeys are the reasons why curses exist. They can’t even control their cursed energy properly, and we sorcerers have to battle with death every time a curse poses as a threat to them. Their ignorance is revolting in its core, and I believe to make the world a better place, it would be better off to remove all of them out of sight. Don’t you agree —“

“What the fuck are you thinking?” Unable to withhold your seething rage, you snapped at the curse user. “This isn’t what sorcerers should do! What you are doing is of no difference from a brutal murderer Geto! I can’t fucking believe you!”

“How can you think of me like they y/n? That hurts my heart you know.”

Before you could even scream, he was already inches away, blood-stained hands caressing your cheeks tenderly as if you were made of fragile glass. “I just want to make life easier, there’s no need for us to put our lives at stake every time we exorcise curses. Right? We could be enjoying peaceful days together, free from the dangers of this world ...”

“Stop! Your delusions are sick, this isn’t you at all Geto! I don’t know what is wrong with your brain, but it’s never too late to turn back —“

Suddenly, your vision darkened — your consciousness sinking into a bottomless void as the raven carried you in a bridal style, the two of you vanishing into the tenebrosity of the night.

“And I thought you were the only one who’d understand me ... love.” He shook his head in disapproval, but the disappointment in his eyes were eventually replaced with glee as Geto stared at your limp figurine in his arms.

“But don’t worry, what needs to be done will be done. For our sake, for our future together.”

EVERYTHING would always be uglier up close.

At first glance, one might find Gojo Satoru a perfect man: with talent, looks and wealth all in one package. Men envy the greatest sorcerer of all time, and women grovel at his feet, desperate for a sprinkle of the man’s attention. Despite living the life everyone dreams to be in, the heir of the Gojo clan couldn’t care less about how the world spins around his axis. For the sorcerer has his eyes set on something much more worthy of his time and effort. 

He is a man of determination, willing to achieve his goals with whatever means possible — even resorting to dirtying his own hands. It is such an irony that underneath the charming façade, such a disgusting soul exists.

“For the last time Satoru, I am not interested in dating anybody.” Heaving an exasperated sigh, you politely shoved the lavish presents piling up at your front door back into the man’s arms. 

“I feel really flattered that you have feelings for me, I truly do. But I’m sure you know as sorcerers, we fight with death every day. If there is any regret that I’d dread to have ... it would be to leave everything I love behind. And I would rather die alone than leave my partner suffering on their own.” 

“That’s what I love about you y/n.” 

A loving sigh slipping from his tongue, Gojo took a step forward, cupping your face with utter delicacy. Yet you felt more than revolted by his sudden intimacy, struggling to writhe away from his tightening grip.

“You are always so kind, so considerate ... something I cannot find in anyone else other than you. But think about it sweetheart! You and I are both special-grade sorcerers, but I can protect you from the curses — at the same time giving you the moon and stars. We could move in together, you wouldn’t even need to work anymore. Why make your life harder when I could simply provide for you? Seriously —” 

“S-Satoru, I hate to tell you this but you’re pushing the boundaries right now.” Trying to reason with the sorcerer, you spoke with a harsher tone, praying that Gojo would get the hint and respect your choices. “You’re out of your mind! And why would you force 

Nonetheless, your words fell on deaf ears. 

“Now this is not how you should react when someone offers you their heart and soul.” The light in his cerulean eyes darkened, cyan hues glimmering beneath the penumbra of nightfall. “And I know you are a smart young woman, so you’d come to realise what is in your best interest. I really don’t want to do this to you y/n; but if you are trying to push me away from your life again, I would have to keep you to my side — the hard way.” 

With that, he pulled down his blindfold.

You were aware of how dangerous Infinite Void was; still, experiencing it first-hand was one hell of a terrifying experience. Fleeting images flashed across your vision as if all of this was in fastforward motion, depicting your fate in the past along with future. As certain blurred vestiges showed up, your heart sank in indescribable despair; moments of you and none other than Gojo were portrayed — blood splattered across the labyrinth of streets in Tokyo, your trembling hands intertwined with his, platinum bands wrapped around both of your ring fingers, adorable kids that were exact replicas of both of you. At this point, you could feel the will to fight back dwindling to fickle embers. 

No matter what you did, Gojo would always find his way back to you.

Even if he had to tear the world apart with his hands. 

[kachuuyaa]

i’m too nervous to make a request but ummmm i love how yuta is SO loyal+good to those he cares for and does his op thang if said person is in trouble. so maybe yuta!reader x childe 😭 idkkkkk hopefully i did this right 😟

a/n: U DID IT RIGHT DW its just the same event from last yr n I'm so excited about it

1 year link!

YUTA!READER X CHILDE

gaining confidence in yourself was never really fruitful, if anything. treating yourself as an outcast to the citizens of liyue and inazuma would only be for the better, you think. and while people try to make conversation with you, the dark figure emitting from behind you always makes them second-guess their sympathy towards such a timid being as you.

your nature of being moody was showcased to every person you have met, although, with the curse inside your body, you met quite a handful of eccentric people who allowed you to be yourself, regardless of your unknown capabilities as a combatant.

rika, the spirit who haunted you most of your life, and one of your closest friends in your early childhood, has always been bold enough to protect you in any way she can, despite being such a terrifying spirit. though thankful, you wished she would refrain from being as violent as her nature was, which led to your spiral in insecurity.

the first time you met childe was on a personal mission overseas, in snezhnaya. the general public did not know of the true extent of your power, thinking that you may be a part of the abyss order. no one with a vision would have the ability to conjure such a horrifying spirit in a blink of an eye, more so have the ability to copy powers unheard of and unseen. it was as horrifying as seeing a vengeful god reign upon the mortal world. you've grown nervous at their assumptions.

now apathetic, a great contrast to your previous personality, you strolled through the streets of Inazuma with boundless energy coursing through your veins, noticed even by the passersby that walked past you. and, well, naturally, they reported such sightings of a so-called "bygone god" on the streets of inazuma, clad in such normal streetwear.

they just had to report it to childe. seeing the sparkles of excitement and of bloodlust was enough to send the messenger into contemplation. of course, before childe could swarm you with the persona he puts on, another harbinger intervened, telling the messenger to send some lower-ranked fatuus to monitor your behavior. it wasn't long for you to take notice of their advances. the apathetic persona you wore upon arriving in the snow-covered nation was enough to make your appearance unsettling, especially with your boundless power energy emitting from your form. nevertheless, they tried attacking you for the sake of information, the only thing they hope was to interrogate you.

you did not want to hurt them, however, as their attacks were relentless, you quickly knocked them out with such expert moves you learned from a green-haired student you worked with. rika appeared and told you to kill them, however, you waved her off with a smile. the fatui now thinks you have the face and the movement of a cold killer with no remorse.

upon receiving the news, childe happily took on the mission-- with no hesitation as he met you, seemingly gazing up to look at the moon. you brandished your sword with such precise movements, turning to look at the harbinger that appeared behind you. you smiled at him, taking him back, as the rumors only described you as a murderer who has no remorse. the atmosphere was friendly, and as much as you liked to sit and chat, you knew what he was here for. seeing his face contort in surprise and confusion, you sweatdropped, smile dropping and muttering an apology for making him uncomfortable.

a skilled fighter, not a murderer, was what he thought about you as. hell, you even provided him with information! although he was known to be ruthless as he was, such friendliness cannot go awry. you spent your days in snezhnaya with a smile and tales from where you were from. he piped in sometimes, providing comments and such, while you seemingly listened intently.

there were times when your moodiness shows itself, and childe was more than capable to nurse you back to your original self. you thank him for that.

your bond with him was more than platonic, it was obvious. childe, bold as he was, asked you out. he knew the consequences of such things, and he made sure he was going to cut them short. you cared for him, sympathized with his position as a harbinger, and dedicated yourself to fighting alongside him. although your morals get in the way, which leads to some disagreements; although childe admits your statements are more valid than his. rika, uncharacteristically, grew fond of the harbinger yet there are more times when she insults him. this always elicits a glare and a click of your tongue. she does it when you're not looking, now.

a bond that would never be severed, in fact. you once found him covered in blood and rushed to his side, asking profusely who did that to him and once you received your answer, the energy emitting from your body manifested more times than he's seen. a sight rivaling the Zapolyarny palace, your movements were fierce and calculated as you maneuvered through the attacks of the perpetrator. even the attacker would agree it was a show to behold, yet the bloodlust and determination hadn't wavered, your rage was a great contrast to the person childe thought he knew. he made a mental note to never anger you to reach this state, especially with a plus one-- that being rika.

[rendevousz]

sick

avengers x gn!teen!reader

platonic!peter parker x reader

requested by @sunflowerbecca : "hey! a request with the whole teen avengers thing you got gotten on haha, anyways something where the reader gets hurt or faints etc etc and then the rest of the avengers are all worried and frantic as they care for them"

summary: there was a consequence of going on a mission while you were sick

warnings: mentions of throwing up and a tiny fight with bestfriend!peter, avengers babying you as usual

word count: roughly 5k words of utter bullshit me thinks but pls do give this a read LMAO

notes: i'm sorry this took longer to write i was unexpectedly busy on the weekends but here i am i hope you enjoy this <3

"stark, you sure about this?"

"of course i'm sure, capsicle. the kids have been bugging us to let them go on a mission together. i know it's because they just want to mess around without being scolded but this is the easiest mission we've ever gotten since the avengers. besides, they've been pretty good lately so i think they deserve it. don't you guys think so?"

his question was met with approving looks all over the room, except from steve. the whole team except the teens —you and peter— were having a meeting about a simple mission that was supposed to happen that night. you and peter weren't in the meeting because you two were still at school.

it had been months since you and peter started asking the team to let you guys go on missions alone without "adult supervision". it was true that you guys wanted that just so you could do missions without feeling like you were being babysat but it was also because you guys thought that you weren't kids anymore; you could handle simple missions.

"c'mon cap, don't you want to see their face light up when we tell them they can go on this mission together, without us?" clint urged. he knew steve loved the kids, especially you, and he especially loved seeing the way your eyes would light up first before you whole face did.

"okay, fine. but if anything happens to them, you guys are to blame for."

–

school had just finished and you were walking back to the tower with peter. you've been having a killer headache all day and you felt nauseous. you even went to the washroom to throw up twice today. of course you didn't tell peter because he was that type of overprotective best friend who would make you get home if you sneezed more than three times that day. all you wanted to do today was get home quick so you could sleep the sickness away.

yes, you knew you were sick. but you didn't want to tell anyone because like peter, the whole team was overprotective over you and they usually did too much when you were sick. so you avoided that by just acting like you were okay. that was going well so far since all you had to do when you get home was go to your room and tell them you stayed up late last night and needed to catch up on sleep.

of course that didn't go well.

"y/n!" you groaned when peter entered your room uninvited, immediately jumping onto your bed. "yes, pete?" you croaked. his joyful expression turned into a frown when he heard you. "what's wrong? are you okay?"

"yes, pete, i'm okay. just super sleep deprived." you lied, cringing when you felt your head throb once again. "oh.. did you..did you want to sleep? am i interrupting?" he asked, feeling bad. "no, no. it's fine, what did you want?"

"i just came to tell you that mr stark and the team are finally gonna let us go on a mission without them! there's one tonight and they're letting us go alone!" he announced excitedly. you couldn't help the small smile that appeared on your lips when he said that. his happiness was just so contagious.

"but if you wanna sleep then i'll just go with any one of them, i guess," he shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant face but you knew he was internally begging you to come with. after all, you guys have been asking for this for the longest time.

you look at his hopeful face —one that he thought he was concealing very well— and sighed, flashing him a small smile. "fine, it's friday anyways so there's no school tomorrow. but you're buying me food tomorrow for postponing my catchup on beauty sleep," that is, if you can stomach the food, considering how you've thrown up almost anything you had for the past two days.

the thought of this mission going awry because of you being sick was almost immediately forgotten when you saw the huge smile on peter's face. he pulled you into a tight hug before letting go to jump on your bed. "we're finally gonna go on a mission alone!"

you laugh at his excitement though you wished he could lower down his volume because it was making your head hurt.

later that evening, you were in your room, sitting on the bed after having just finished putting on your suit when a knock was heard. after telling the person to come in, you met eyes with a certain blond haired super-soldier.

"hey, y/n." he greets, sitting down beside you. "hey, steve," you responded with a weak voice. he turned to you with a frown and you knew what was coming. "i'm fine, steve. i already had this conversation with pete. i just need sleep but i can get that after this mission. i'm not gonna be fine though if you wake me up at the crack of dawn to train when you know i just had a late night mission." you sassed, causing him to chuckle.

"okay, fine. i'm just worried about you two. you sure you're gonna be fine? don't need me to come along?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

"yes, steve. pete's been wanting a mission without you old folks for the longest time and i'm not gonna disappoint him by making you come along. we'll be fine, stevie. we're not little kids, we're avengers. we can handle finding a random chip in an abandoned building," you reasoned with him.

"it's not a rando— you know what? just be back home safe, okay kiddo?" he ruffled your hair, earning him a playful glare from you.

-

the swing trip to the mission location had you even more nauseous than you were earlier today and earlier today was worse than yesterday when the symptoms of your fever all started. you almost let go of peter because your body felt weak and now you were getting an earful from the boy.

"y/n, what were you thinking?! you could've gotten hurt!" he scolded you. you only looked down in guilt, biting the inside of your cheeks. "can we not do this now? let's talk about this back at the tower tomorrow," you waved him off, already beginning to feel the pounding headache getting worse. you started to walk ahead but then he gripped your upper arm, effectively halting you in your steps.

"y/n, if i hadn't grabbed onto you tighter the last minute, you could've plummeted 100 feet down to your death! did you know how scared i was?" his voice cracked and you immediately felt bad.

"you know you need to hold on too when i'm swinging us both! why'd you do that?" he yelled at you and you had to press onto your temple because of the headache that was steadily getting worse.

"look, pete, i'm really sorry about that, okay? that was unintentional but if you're gonna berate me over that, can you do that back at the tower?" you sighed, trying to shrug his grip off your arm but he kept it.

"you don't know the true weight of your actions, do you? you could've died, y/n! how do you think i would feel? being the reason my best friend died? having to go on with life without you? i can't lose you, y/n!" at this point, you could tell he was crying under his mask.

you felt bad. you knew you shouldn't have agreed to go on this mission knowing that you had been sick for the past two days. but you couldn't have let the opportunity pass. you couldn't bear to see peter disappointed after waiting for this moment for the longest time ever. but standing here, looking down as peter yelled at you while crying, you were starting to think that it was better to just see his disappointment. anything was better than seeing your best friend cry.

"pete, i truly am sorry. i love you and i would never leave you. but can we please get this mission over and done with so we can get back to the tower as soon as possible? we'll talk about this later," you told him and you immediately felt him let go of your arm.

"okay, fine! since you wanna get the mission done so bad, let's do it! i'll take the east side of the building and you'll take west. we'll split up so can find the goddamn chip quicker. that's what you want right?" and before you could say anything, the boy was already out of your sight.

you tried to keep your tears at bay but when that was the first huge argument you had with your best friend, it was kind of an impossible task.

so with your weak muscles and a breakdown that caused your headache to get even worse, you slowly trudged the west side of the building, looking for that stupid chip that the team wanted you to find.

you were beginning to think that the only reason the team sent you both here was because to find a tiny little chip in a huge abandoned building was like finding a needle in a haystack; definitely not something adults like them could bear to do.

but it obviously wouldn't have mattered to you and peter since you guys could do it peacefully without being pestered every two minutes about your whereabouts during missions. it obviously wouldn't have mattered to you and peter because if that argument hadn't broken out, you two would be enjoying each others company as you looked for the chip together. you could've been singing and joking around like you two wanted to. but of course that couldn't happen because of you.

you stopped in your tracks when a particularly harsh wave of migraine hit you, causing you to lean against the wall. your vision blurred as you tried hard to clear it but it wouldn't. your throat was dry and it made you think; when was the last time you drank water? you barely had energy in you from skipping meals due to your inability to stomach them.

now you were actually regretting coming on this mission. the last thing you saw was the dirty walls decorated with spray painted graffiti.

-

"oh my god, is this it? KAREN, is this it?" peter asked his built in AI. "yes, peter, this chip matches the picture that mr stark sent you."

"yes!" he cheered, grabbing the chip and storing it safely. "this mission probably would've been a lot more fun if y/n and i weren't fighting. we would've had so much fun. these walls had countless of stuff we could've laughed and joked about." the boy sighed before pressing a finger to his comms.

"hey i uh, i found the chip. where are you? we can go now." he said, waiting for you to respond. but you didn't. "c'mon, y/n, it's been two hours. you can't still be giving me the silent treatment, are you?"

silence.

"look, i'm sorry for lashing out on you but like you said, let's settle this at the tower. tell me where you are. i'll come get you and we can swing back as soon as possible."

silence.

"goddamnit, y/n! answer me!" he huffed out in annoyance. and when he was met with silence once again, he decided to have KAREN do a scan.

"y/n is at the exact same spot you landed on two hours ago." KAREN showed him the scan of the building and highlighted where you guys landed on two hours ago. he felt his heart race when you seemed to be lying on the ground, motionless.

"what's wrong with them, KAREN? why is y/n lying on the floor?" he asked in concern as he sped up to where you were. "y/n seems to have lost consciousness. according to FRIDAY, they have been showing symptoms of a high fever since yesterday."

peter cursed as he ran towards you when he saw you from afar. how could he have not noticed that you were sick? and it wasn't a simple cold but a high fever. now he was the one who felt bad. he should've suspected it from how different you had been acting since yesterday. that must've also been the reason you couldn't hold on to him properly.

he immediately crouched down to you when he reached you, examining your body for any external injuries. he cringed when he saw dried blood on the side of your forehead. you must've scraped it upon impact on the rough concrete.

"how long have they been out?" he asked KAREN as he picked you up. he proceeded to web you onto his body as extra precaution in case he accidentally let go while he swung. "approximately 2 hours, peter. right after you stormed away angrily."

"okay, KAREN, there's no need to make me feel bad. can you call mr stark?" peter asks the AI as he frantically swings you both back to the tower.

"kid? what's up? did you find the chip?" peter could hear the background rock music being lowered down and from the metal on metal clanking, he could tell tony was in his lab.

"i did but can you, uh, please get medic ready?" he was breathless as he kept swinging from building to building all while holding onto your unconscious body. immediately the metal tinkering sounds as well as the music completely stopped.

"what happened, kid? are you alright?"

"i'm okay, mr stark. it's y/n. they fainted." he told the man. "fainted?" the man exclaimed. "what happened? how long were they out?" he urged the boy and peter could hear that he was walking quickly and he assumed it was to get the medic team ready and to inform them of the situation.

"2 hours," he admitted quietly as he landed on the tower's hangar. "i'm here. i'm bringing them down now." he ran down towards the hospital wing with you in his arms.

once he reached down, he was met with the team waiting, worry etched onto their faces. wanda was the first to notice him and peter saw that her eyes were teary. before he could say anything though, the medic team appeared and proceeded to cut off his webs wrapping you to him. they immediately put you onto the stretcher and they wheeled you into the room, peter's gaze lingering on your unconscious self once he took off his mask.

"what happened out there, kid?" sam asked softly when peter slid down against the wall, staring expressionlessly at the wall across of him. "peter."

"we had a fight, okay!" he let out, taking the team by surprise because he was always such a calm and patient boy. they had never seen him this angry or upset since they first met him.

"we were swinging and their grip on me loosened so i got mad at them. but they kept pushing the matter aside like it wasn't a big deal, like it wasn't a life or death situation so i lashed out and decided that we should split up to look for the stupid chip since they wanted to get back to the tower so bad." he explained, eyes red as he had been crying a lot that night.

"i tried apologising like ten minutes after but y/n didn't respond so i assumed they were giving me the silent treatment but i found them unconscious two hours later. i'm so sorry," he apologised, breaking down as he put his face in between his knees to avoid looking at the team. they were probably mad at him for letting this happen to you.

"kid, why are you apologising? it's not your fault,"

he slowly lifted his head up, to meet the kind smiles of the team. "because the only reason y/n probably went on this mission was because they knew how much i wanted this. they put their own well-being aside just to make me happy and all i did was lash out at them."

"how were you supposed to know y/n had a high fever? we all didn't know either. it's not like we spend every waking hour with th—" clint was immediately cut off when nat nudged him with her elbow. peter had an unamused expression on his face. everyone knew you and peter were practically attached at the hip, always having training, and not to mention, school together. you two even spent your free time together.

"what clint means," nat glared at the archer. "is that it doesn't matter how much time or how little time we spend with y/n. that kid is stubborn as a bull. they could literally have been shot and we wouldn't know until we actually see the wound. my point is, y/n's the type that doesn't want to worry us. and you're their best friend, they knew how much you wanted this mission so that's probably why they didn't tell you. you can't blame yourself for this, peter."

"i know but they did this for me and i got mad at them. they're a much better friend to me than i am to them." peter dropped his head back down between his knees.

before any of them could respond, doctor cho approached them. "as you all know, they have a high fever. i suggest you all come visit tomorrow because they most probably won't wake until then."

"okay, will do. thank you, doc." the doctor smiled before excusing herself. peter then got up to go back to his room to wash up after handing tony the chip.

tony could only sigh when he looked at the boy's back that was growing smaller as he walked farther away.

-

the next day, you woke up with a terrible headache but you had gotten used to it from the past two mornings.

"good, you're awake. how do you feel?"

you squinted to get used to the bright lighting and your gaze settled on the female doctor by your bed with a clipboard. "like shit." you croaked out. she chuckled. "that's expected. your fever has calmed down now, do you feel anything else?"

"this headache makes me want to rip my head out and i feel weak." she nodded, jotting down on her clipboard. "okay. that's all i needed to know. you should come to us if you're ever unwell, y/n." you gave her a guilty smile before nodding.

"there's a glass of water on the table if you want. the team wants to see you so i'll send them in?" you nodded and she left to bring them in. you looked at the bedside table, seeing the glass of water she mentioned and only now you realised how dry your throat had been. how you managed to verbally respond to doctor cho, you didn't know.

you slowly reached out for it, struggling because your whole body felt weak. "y/n! stay in bed, i'll get it for you." you heard a stern voice scold and you immediately fell limp on the bed.

before you knew it, steve was already by your side with the glass of water. he held your face in one hand while the other held the glass near your mouth. you smiled gratefully and took your time drinking the water, having been dehydrated before you passed out.

"you're still burning up," he noted, settling down on the chair beside you. the rest sat down too and you couldn't be bothered to ask how the heck were there so many chairs in the room. "how are you feeling, y/n/n?" bruce asked, sitting down across steve.

"like shit." you repeated your answer to doctor cho. before steve could open his mouth to tell you to watch your language, you turned to him with a bored look and a raised eyebrow, causing him to close his mouth immediately. boy, were you scary when you weren't about to take anyone's shit.

"why didn't you tell us you were sick, bubs?" wanda pouted, fixing your hair that you were sure looked like a bird's nest at the moment.

"i didn't want to worry you guys. you're adults who have much more important things to worry about. a kid throwing up and experiencing headaches shouldn't be your priority." you admitted, subconsciously playing with nat's fingers. she had gotten used to you doing that when you were nervous or overwhelmed so she let you.

"what are you talking about, y/n?" she held onto your hand, stoping your movements. "anything related to your safety and well-being is a priority to us. you had us worried sick last night, bub." she looked down at you with soft eyes, releasing her grip on your hands so you could continue playing with her fingers.

"yes, you worried us lots, y/n. wanda would not stop crying last night when she heard what happened." vision said, prompting a smack from said woman and a hushed 'vis!'.

"i'm sorry, guys. i initially was just going to stay in my room until i got better but when peter told me about the mission, i couldn't bear to say no to him. he was so happy about it and i didn't want to disappoint him. and i thought i could take it because it literally was the simplest mission ever. but the breakdown i had after our argument was physically draining and i guess i couldn't take it. i'm sorry. god, i only didn't want to disappoint peter but now i've disappointed you guys too." you bit the inside of your cheek to control your emotions, not wanting to seem even weaker in front of these adult superheroes.

"you didn't disappoint us, y/n/n," bucky started. "you've done so well, you've made us proud and you keep making us proud. we just wish you would tell us when you're sick or you just need someone. you don't have to keep everything to yourself. what are we here for? we love you and we're willing to do anything for you. you're our baby." he ruffled your hair and you give him a tired smile. "i'll keep that in mind."

"do you want anything to eat?" sam asked and you paused, trying to figure out whether you would be able to stomach some food or not. "you know what? i'm gonna go and make you some porridge right now. don't move." he told you, as if you could move with these overprotective heroes surrounding your bed.

almost immediately after, wanda got up too. "i'm going to make sure he doesn't burn the kitchen down." she said, leaving the room after a small peck to the side of your head. vision then left too after wishing you a speedy recovery. only bucky, steve, natasha and bruce were left.

"y/n, you know you can come to us if you're sick, right? i know you and you probably think you're troubling doctor cho if you go to her despite it being her job. but we're family, you can come to us anytime. you always help me when with 'the other guy' and you help everyone with basically anything they could possibly need so why wouldn't we do the same for you? you out of everyone in this tower deserves the most." your eyes watered at his speech. you pouted and looked at him with your doe eyes, making the rest of the team internally coo at how adorable you looked.

"bruce," you lower lip jutted out even more as you opened your arms for a hug which he happily accepted. "hey where's clint, tony and pete?" you asked them once you let go of bruce.

"clint went out to get your favourite smoothie from that place you always talk about even though i told him already that you probably don't want it since you're sick." natasha explained. "aw, i think i'm gonna drink it solely because clint made an effort to get it for me."

"you're too nice, bub. but expect it in an hour or so because i know for sure that idiot somehow got himself lost trying to find that shop." you chuckled at this, leaning back against your propped up pillow. "what about tony and pete?"

"peter feels really bad about this whole situation so tony is trying to cheer him up. wait," steve stopped mid-explanation, turning to the rest. "stark told us to get him when y/n's up..." he trailed off and bucky's eyes widened. "he's gonna kill us for him not being the first person y/n sees when they wake up."

"FRIDAY, inform stark that y/n is awake."

"oh yeah he has an AI why couldn't he just tell the AI to inform him instead of us forgetful humans?" bucky questioned rhetorically and before they knew it, they heard frantic screaming and thudding of footsteps before the door was open.

"my baby! you're awake!" was the first thing you heard when the door slammed open. tony rushed in, pushing bruce away as he immediately pulled you into a hug. "you're still burning up, cupcake. have you had anything to eat yet? drank any water yet? here have some water," he grabbed the glass of water steve helped you drink earlier and did exactly what steve did. you had no choice but to drink.

"sam's making them porridge," nat told tony and he turned to her with an incredulous look. "wanda's helping." she added and he sighed out in relief before turning back to you.

"cupcake, you had us all worried last night. please don't ever do that again, okay?" he said, gently caressing your cheek. you gave him an awkward smile. "where's peter?"

"he's taking a swing. he says it helps clear his mind," tony said. "how are you doing here? nice room? comfy bed?" he pointed to the bed you were on.

"i'd much rather be in my own room, on my own bed." and without a warning, steve already had you in his arms while tony went to go tell doctor cho that you were being moved. the blond super-soldier started walking while natasha walked closely behind, dragging your IV drip along so it doesn't get ripped out of your arm.

when you reached your room, you were gently put down on your bed and steve fixed your blanket so it was covering you. "comfy?" he asked and you nodded with a big smile.

"i have to finish some stuff up down the lab," bruce said and you nodded at him with a pout. "i'll come back sometime later, though. you better be resting up all day." he warned jokingly. he ruffled your hair, planting a kiss on your forehead before leaving your room.

"can you tell pete that i want to see him when he comes back?" you told tony and he immediately sent out a text to your best friend.

after about an hour of just steve, nat and tony entertaining you, sam came back with wanda with the porridge and tony insisted that he feed you or you he wasn't going to let you see peter.

"alright, bub, i think you should really get some rest now. you can barely keep your eyes open," nat says, already getting up with your empty bowl of porridge. "we'll tell spiderboy you're asleep."

"okay," you mumbled, eyes already fluttering shut. you felt every single one of them give you a forehead kiss and then you were out like light.

when you woke up later that day, you felt much better than you did the last time you woke up. you decided that you now had enough energy to take a quick shower so you did. once you were done, you dried your hair while humming to a random song before the door opening interrupted you.

your eyes met with peter's guilty ones. "h–hey, you're awake," he stated and you nodded with a small smile, sitting on your bed and peter doing the same.

"look, y/n/n, i'm really sorry about what happened. i shouldn't have lashed out on you witho—"

"pete," you cut him off. "don't apologise. i'd be mad too if you did something as stupid as that." you reasoned. "yeah but it's not like you did it on purpose! you had a valid reason and i got mad at you for it." he spoke in frustration.

"dude, stop. i'm the one who's supposed to be sorry. i should've just told you i was sick. but i didn't want to upset you because you've been waiting for this for the longest time. but i ruined it for you. i'm sorry, pete." you rested your head on his shoulder and he rested his on top of yours.

"i wanna say that i'm the one at fault but then this conversation won't end until like next week so let's just say we're both at fault, yeah? you need to start telling people what's happening with you and i need to be better at reading you." he said, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you into a hug. you hugged him back. "okay."

the door then opened, revealing bucky with his stupid shit-eating grin and you knew what was coming. you let go of peter and immediately you were lifted off the bed and over bucky's shoulders as he excitedly chanted about team movie night.

the night was spent watching a movie with the team you considered your family and them pampering you even more than they usually did (which, frankly, was still too much) since you were sick.

and right when the movie ended and everyone was preparing to head in, the door to the common room slammed open and a disheveled clint entered, holding a single cup of smoothie.

"got your smoothie, y/n/n!"

[sinkix]

Haikyuu!! │Boys reaction to you calling them ‘Daddy’│ Ft. Daichi, Iwaizumi, Kuroo & Kageyama

Okay SO, I took inspo from @animewh0re ‘s  ‘Kuroo Tetsurou x Accidental Daddy HC’  post so big shout out to her ly bb - be sure to give them a follow <3

For this post I picked some of the characters I felt would be more likely to have a daddy kink so their reactions would be the most interesting/comical whether the reader was doing it was intentionally or not. There were some others I had in mind that I may make into a second part. I got a little carried away writing these as you will see lmao, oopsie.

! All characters are 18+ - Contains NSFW content !

My Ko-fi  - Because a caffeinated Kix is a productive one.

Without further ado, enjoy ! ~

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ *:･

Daichi:

I feel like Daichi low-key already knew he had a daddy kink

Like somewhere deep in that dudes soul he just had a fuckin hunch.

However he never brought it up to you because he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, being the kind and considerate dude he is.

One night you were both just relaxing and watching a movie, he was tracing his finger along your thigh because let’s face it he is 100% a thigh man.

At some point you began getting restless, so you shifted yourself to face him, propping yourself up against his knee as you leaned down to kiss him, cupping your hands around his cheeks. He grunts in approval, cheekily sliding his hands down to squeeze your ass, using the moment of surprise to slide his tongue in and deepen the kiss. He’s pretty crafty when he wants to be.

After a few minutes you could feel yourself growing impatient, raising the hem of your baggy shirt and grinding your clothed slit against the ridges of his thigh. 

Daichi’s weakness #8 activated, thigh riding.

He drags his palms against your hips, taking control of your vigorous movements and forcing more pressure against your cunt and causing you to whimper. Lowering your head next to his, soft moans grace against the shell of his ear in wisps that send shivers down his spine.

You can sense Daichi’s own dwindling patience as the momentum becomes desperate with the way he’s now hastily grinding your hips down onto him, groaning at the sensation of your juices dripping through the thin fabric and cooling against the skin of his thigh.

All of a sudden a long and breathy “Mhmmm~ daddy” escapes your lips, and this dude is so taken aback.

Snapping your head up to face him, his eyes are glazed over with an intensity enough to make your core tremble, your cheeks flushing at the realisation of what you just blurted out starts to sink in. 

“Fuck, I want to hear you say that again baby.”

Without warning he flips you over and on to the couch, hovering over you as his hips buck against the wetness covering your clothed core, eliciting more moans as he sucks on the tender skin of your neck.

“A-ah daddy...” 

“more.”

His tone was desperate and commanding, only further igniting the pleasure growing between the two of you.

Trailing his hands down to the edge of your underwear and slipping them inside, his fingers find their way to your clit and rub the area in soft, circular motions, sucking harder against the skin of your neck and streeling his tongue along the bruised aftermaths.

“Daddy..”

“Again.”

You didn’t pay any mind to the rest of the movie, and you both had a lot of fun with this new found kink the two of you shared.

Iwaizumi:

Since Iwa radiates big dom energy and you cannot convince me otherwise, I feel like he is also one that just has a hunch that this is something he’s into.

You already have a hella Dom x Sub relationship sexually so this experimentation was probably long awaited. A slip up no less, and an embarrassing one.

It was a late Friday evening after school, the sun was already long gone yet you were still helping Iwa and Oikawa practise by tossing for them as many times as they requested. How they weren’t already beyond the point of burn out you didn’t know.

Glancing at the wall clock which read ‘8:23pm’, Iwa huffed and rubbed the back of his head. “All right, it’s time to call it a night.” “But Iwa-chaaaann--” Oikawa interjected. “No. Plus, I’m sure (Y/N) is exhausted by now hm?” He whips round to face you and you nod in agreement, eyes hooding from fatigue at the long days events. “Fineee.” Oikawa grumbles, pouting his lips playfully and sending you a wink, rolling your eyes and sticking your tongue out at him in response.

A few minutes later, most of the balls and club equipment are packed away. You’re tossing the last few balls into the basket when Iwa saunters up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist which sends the ball tumbling across the floor. 

“Ah, daddy don’t-” 

silence.

Pure. utter. silence.

The words had escaped from your mouth before you could stop them.

The sound of the ball rolling echoes throughout the room and you can feel Iwa’s entire body tense up while in his hold, hands digging into your hips as he lets out a low grunt. You sheepishly look in Oikawa’s direction, who’s shooting you both a glance as if to say ‘so this what y’all get up to?’ Attempting to stifle his snickers and the sudden light his face has been brightened with.

Little did he know this was the first time you had actually called him that, and it was raging a lustful fire through his body. The body now roughly thrusted up against you.

You had a feeling Iwa would never hear the end of this.

Walking a fine line between pressing against your body and full on grinding, he utters his next few words as abruptly as possible. 

“You can head on out Oikawa, me and (Y/N) will finish up cleaning.”

This only furthers his amusement, the cogs in his head turning as he gives a quick nod, strolling toward the gym doors painstakingly slow as if savouring every last ounce of tension brewing in the air. “Ooookay, have fun, daddy-chan.” The howls of his laughter can be heard even after the doors swing shut, you two stay rigid until his voice fades off in the distance.

“Follow me, now.” 

Without waiting for a response, he grabs you by the wrist and drags you into the storage room, slamming you against the locker, he stares down at you hungrily as his lips crash against yours, hands ravaging every curve of your body. Pulling away, a string of saliva connects as his lips brush against the crook of your neck. “I want you to say that again, little slut.” Snaking into the waistband of your shorts and dragging a digit against your slit, the words flow out effortlessly. “D-daddy please...” 

“Fuck, I’m going to have so much fun with you, kitten.”

And fun with you he did.

Kuroo:

Y’all are always clowning and pulling some buffoonery on each other so this time you figured you’d kick it up a notch.

Kenma and Kuroo were talking while the rest of the team were doing warm-down stretches after practise. 

Cue operation ‘Make Kuroo squirm’. Commencing stage 1.

Lingering behind Kuroo, you rest your chin on his shoulder and fold your arms around his waist, pulling him in for one of your behind-hugs that he adores.

oh how naive he was.

Swaying lovingly from side to side, you take the opportunity when Kenma looks away. With the most innocent of tones you could muster, you tilt your head upward, dragging your teeth gently against the lobe of his ear, and strike.

“Daaaaddy?”

When I tell you homeboys body freezes up, I mean that shit is like an iceberg that could cause Titanic 2.0

Kuroo whips his head round to face you, wide-eyed and eyebrow cocked as if to say ‘damn you really just went there?’ 

You smile sweetly, fluttering your lashes and feigning an innocence which you know drives him up the wall, a ‘try me bitch’ expression darting in your eyes.

He smirks at this, huffing under his breath so quietly it’s barely audible. 

“You’re so in for it later, kitten.”

You knew this, but it was more than worth seeing him suffer for the time being.

Kenma’s attention is now directed back to Kuroo after watching Lev get tangled in the volley net like a fly done dirty by the Darwin theory.

Commence stage 2.

They continue their conversation, all the while your hand is roaming stealthily under his shirt, trailing along every line, curve and crevice of his abs and pectoral region. 

Kuroo is whipped for the sensation of you feeling him up, he won’t ever admit to it but he caves under your touch.

You feel his posture stiffen as your hands hover above the region of his crotch.

Gotcha.

“What’s wrong, daddy?” Your voice is only loud enough for Kuroo to hear, and judging by the way Kenma looks at him next you can imagine his face is nothing short of priceless.

Pudding head senses something awry with Kuroo because my guy looks well and truly stumped.

“Uh, excuse us a sec.” 

Kuroo without warning flings your body over his shoulder and strolls toward the gyms entrance. You playfully whack his back with your fists and flail your legs, barking at him to let go. The whole team turns their attention to you and laughs.

“Get some (Y/N)! Lev hollers, and the last thing you see is Yaku slapping him up-side the head before the doors close.

Placing you back on your feet, he doesn’t give you a second to adjust before kabe-donning you against the building wall, the rain only further adding to the steamy atmosphere you had created.

Grabbing your wrist and guiding it to his shorts, your fingertips brush against the tent straining against the crimson fabric.

“See how hard you’ve made me princess? I can’t go ahead with the team meeting like this. Be a good slut for daddy and get on your knees, I’ll gladly make a mess of that pretty little face.”

You comply, shivering as the damp grass caresses the skin of your knees.

“You like calling me daddy, huh? That turn my little whore on?” Kuroo grunts, thrusting himself repeatedly into the back of your throat until his balls touch your chin. Tears well in your field of vision and start streaming down your cheeks which he wipes away tenderly. “Well, I’ll make sure you call me that more often.”

10 minutes and a very sore throat later, you both finish up and Kuroo looks more than satisfied, running his fingers through your disheveled hair and marvelling at the mess he made of your makeup.

“Clean yourself up in the restroom princess, I’ll see you back inside and we’ll continue this later. I’m far from done.”

With a sly smirk and a peck on the cheek, he walks back into the gym.

Needless to say he’s definitely going to make you call him daddy from now on, and you got many suggestive stares when you made your embarrassing debut back into the gym.

Kageyama:

Okay so the thought has probably never crossed Kags mind since his head is filled with like 98% volleyball.

The other 2% being the undying love he has for you. But hey, 2% is still 2%, I’ll take it.

Your sex life was although very satisfying, pretty vanilla. The only time it got really intense was if Kags had a bad day or was bubbling with jealousy, in which case a surprising and un-tamable dom side of him emerges. 

This often made you ponder what would happen if you addressed him under a title with said connotations. The curiosity of how he would react was slowly ebbing away at you.

So one day, being the scheming little shit you are, decided to test the waters.

The day had started off pretty well, it was a Saturday and you were taking a walk around town. 

Kags wanted to grab some snacks so you headed to the store, agreeing to wait outside. 

A few minutes go by and he still hasn’t come out, however the roaming eyes of a guy opposite left you feeling incredibly uneasy.

You shifted in place awkwardly, until he decides to approach you.

Up close he was sleazy, with a menacing glint in his eyes that made you recoil.

Resting his elbow on the wall beside you, he leans in way too close for comfort.

“Hi baby, you’re not with anyone are you? Mind giving me your number?”

His voice was low and threatening, as if daring you to decline his order than was snidely masked as an offer.

Mustering up all the courage you had, you raised your chin and stared up at him defiantly. “No, I have a boyfriend.” 

He chuckles at this, leaning in closer and challenging you further.

“Well, I don’t see him.”

“I’m right here.”

There Kags was, standing outside the entryway to the store, bearing the most livid expression you had ever seen. You’re pretty sure there were flames surrounding his aura.

The guy backs up, letting out a causal whistle before wordlessly turning in the other direction, leaving the two of you alone again at last.

“Tobio wha-”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fi-”

“We’re going home.” 

The walk was silent and you could sense the tension in the surrounding atmosphere.

After opening the door and tossing the bags to the side, Kags pins you against the front door and pulls you in for a fervid make out, intertwining your tongues and fighting for the dominance which he easily obtains.

He runs his hands ravenously over every inch of your upper body, making his way down south until he reaches your underwear, using one hand to grind his digits along your folds while the other fondles your breasts.

Suddenly, you have a lightning bolt moment and decide to put your thoughts to the test.

“Mhmm-..Daddy..”

What you just did flipped a switch on inside Kags he never knew existed.

He pauses for a moment, staring at you with wide eyes and heated cheeks, he actually looks choked up.

“w..what did you just say...?”

“...Daddy?”

At this point he straight up loses it.

Picking you up bridal style, he carries you to the bedroom and bends you over his knee, hastily unbuckling his belt and folding it into a make-shift whip.

“Count each time I spank you, and fucking thank me when you do it.”

Stunned, you nod feebly, still processing this side of him you have never seen before.

whack.

“A-h! One. thank you...”

“Thank you what?”

“Thank you, daddy.”

Kags traces the red mark decorating your ass lovingly with his finger before raising the belt again for a second blow. “You belong to me and only me, I’ll mark up your pretty body beautifully.”

You had belt marks on your rear for over a week and couldn’t walk right the following day lololol.

[hawksward]

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing Ch. 1: Push/Pull (Childe/OC)

Since being granted a vision at the tender age of 10, Irina has owed her life to the Tsaritsa and dedicated herself to rising through the ranks of the Fatui. In becoming a top-ranking diplomat she's received her easiest assignment yet: ensure the 11th Fatui Harbinger remains ignorant of La Signora's plan to obtain the gnosis of Rex Lapis. A simple task for someone who's made a career out of lying.

Unfortunately, even the simplest tasks can go awry when feelings get in the way.

Rating: E (For eventual smut)

Warnings: None that I can think of for this chapter, there will eventually be smut

Banner credit goes to @shinsotired because I'm incapable of art.

Prologue:

Cold. She couldn’t remember the last time she wasn’t cold. At first, the nerves in her fingertips were screaming, the skin exposed through the holes in her worn gloves. But now it was different.

The cold had faded into warmth as she laid on the ground in the alley. At first, it was uncomfortably hot. So hot she wanted to strip off her already thin winter coat and hat. But now it was pleasantly warm. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way.

But it wasn’t right. It couldn’t be.

The snow seemed to fall in waves, flakes occasionally falling into her eyes. The girl flexed her fingers before closing her eyes, they were becoming harder and harder to move.

I’m dying

The thought echoed in her head. She couldn’t decide if she was scared or relieved. If she died there would be no more suffering. Tears slipped out of her eyes, freezing on her cheeks.

I can’t. Not here. Not like this.

She curled herself into a ball. Clenching her fists as tight as she could to stay awake. She desperately tried to conserve what little body heat she had left.

The voices were faint at first, two men engaging in idle chatter as they strolled through the alley. One man’s footsteps stopped short when he saw her, much to the dismay of his partner.

“Leave it Misha. Street kids die every day here.” His foot pushed her from her side onto her back. She could barely open her eyes, any energy she had for defiance long gone. She immediately knew the man by his mask. Fatui.

“She’s holding something.” Misha reached down to pry open her clenched fist.

Her palm was soaked in blood around an object she knew she wasn’t holding before. Although she couldn’t quite make out what it was from her angle, she noticed the man’s eyes go wide.

“How many street kids do you know who have been blessed by the Tsaritsa?”  He plucked the object from her hand and held it to the lamplight. A cryo vision.

“What’s your name, child?”

Her voice came as a whisper

“Irina”

Ch. 1:

The wind in Liyue Harbor was far milder than the chill winds in Snezhnaya. The boat journey was amicable, albeit long, and she would be in Liyue for the foreseeable future. Even from the docks, she could tell. The whole city was in chaos.

Only a day passed since the Rite of Descension, a disaster of epic proportions, and it was clear there were still no answers.

Irina leaned over the side of the boat, watching the fish scatter as the anchor plummeted into the sand below. Men hurried into the boat the moment the gangplank fell, eager to unload the crates of liquor shipped from the motherland.

Pushing herself off the rail, Irina made her way down the gangplank. She knew next to nothing about her assignment. Only that Rex Lapis was dead and there was now a sea of red tape between the Tsaritsa and the gnosis.

“I trust you’re our new diplomat?”

Her attention was brought to the man before her. He had half a head of height on her with bright auburn hair and even brighter blue eyes. It was clear from what he was wearing that he was Fatui.

“Yes. I’ve been sent by Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa, to aid in the issue with the exuvia.” She held out her hand for a handshake only for the man to hold her hand to his lips, placing a small kiss before releasing.

“I’m Childe. We’ll be working closely together while you’re here in Liyue. Not like I needed the assistance, I have the situation under control.”

She wasn’t surprised that he was less than excited for her arrival, she didn’t climb through the ranks to take easy assignments.

“Aster.” It was an alias of course, she couldn’t remember the last time she used her real name. “You must be Tartaglia then. Don’t mind me. I’m here to help grease the bureaucratic gears. I won’t be interfering with your bank loan operation.”

Irina knew that the Northland Bank was a large source of revenue for the Tsaritsa in Liyue. She also knew that their interest rates and collection practices were less than ethical. Not like it was any of her concern.

The smile on Childe’s face faltered for only a second, but it was enough to betray his false hospitality. He was a harbinger, most Fatui agents and diplomats alike wouldn’t dare talk to him in that manner. But most diplomats weren’t hand chosen by the Tsaritsa herself.

“Well Aster, I’m sure you’re tired from the journey but why don’t I show you around and get you acquainted with the members of the Northland Bank, where you’ll be stationed. As your superior officer allow me to give you the grand tour”

His words weren’t lost on her. Although she wouldn’t be reporting to him on her assignment she needed to appear like she was. She couldn’t have him asking questions.

“Of course, Lord Tartaglia ” the words rolled off her tongue like venom “Please lead the way.”

——

It was clear from the endless amount of stairs he had her climb to the Yujing Terrace that he was looking to torture her. Nothing about the tour was optimal and only served to exhaust her further.

“Don't tell me you’re getting tired already!” Childe was beaming from ear to ear

She wanted to stab him. They had gone back and forth to a new landmark, each somehow across the city from the other, for the better part of 3 hours. And while she was in shape, she didn’t have an elite soldier’s stamina. Nor did Childe have to make the trek in heels.

“Of course not, I’m ready to experience all the city has to offer” She put on her most charming smile. She wouldn’t let him best her, especially not so early in the game.

Childe laughed before waving her over to the nearby railing. The view from the terrace was beautiful. From the top of the city was a view of the harbor. The streets below just beginning to light the lanterns for the night.

“I see you know how to make an impression” Irina smiled to herself as she drank in the view.

“What can I say? I have many talents.” He leaned against the rail, his eyes trained on her. “One of them is sensing bullshit. So why don’t you tell me why you’re really here.”

Irina raised an eyebrow, turning her attention to the man before her. “I’m here because the Tsaritsa is unimpressed at how long it’s taking you to complete your mission. Signora obtained her gnosis within a week of arriving in Mondstat.”

“Signora didn't have to contend with a dead Barbatos.” He countered

“If you think you can do this on your own then by all means be my guest.” Irina pushed herself off the rail, “But as of today all matters dealing with the Liyue Qixing will be handled by me. If you take issue with that you’re free to look through the paperwork I brought with me.”

Childe had no retort, but it was clear that she struck a nerve by comparing him to Signora. It didn’t matter. She would complete her mission as soon as possible and then leave Liyue for her next assignment. which would hopefully not involve the 11th harbinger.

“Well then. Allow me to escort the lady to the Northland Bank. Ekaterina has prepared the small office for your arrival.”

——

Childe didn’t lie when he said the office was small. Her office was a glorified storage closet on the upper level of the bank, barely large enough to fit a reasonably sized oak desk already stacked with paperwork. She knew when she wasn’t meeting with the Qixing she would be expected to help out with administrative work for the bank.

She didn’t expect for her superior  to drop all of his work on her as well.

Before he left for the night he tossed a map her way, a large red x marking where her accommodations would be. She was mildly surprised he hadn’t offered to walk her to the inn to keep tabs on her. Then again the Fatui presence in the city was nothing to scoff at, someone would see her eventually and most likely report back.

Thankfully the inn wasn’t difficult to find, centered in the middle of the merchant district. Accommodations weren’t large by any means, but the warm wood and red bedding were lush and inviting.

What little luggage she brought on the boat was tucked away in the corner, next to a small bathroom. She never carried much, even a small suitcase seeming excessive after growing up with nothing.

Irina glanced at the clock sitting on the dresser. Currently 11 pm. She needed to be at Liuli pavilion in 3 hours. She changed out of her clothes for something that didn’t scream ‘Fatui agent skulking around at all hours of the night’.

—-

Liuli Pavillion definitely looked closed. Irina passed maybe two people on her way from the inn to the restaurant, both of whom were definitely too drunk to remember anyone who passed them by.

Irina checked her surroundings before knocking on the door twice, followed by a brief pause, followed by four more times. She could hear footsteps coming from inside before unlocking the door.

“Can I help you? We’re closed” a middle-aged man looked her up and down, a scowl on his face

“I’m here with the jueyun chili order.”

“Already got it last week.” He barked

“Yes, but this order is a special delivery from Qingce Village.”

The man gave a curt nod before stepping out of the way. The windows in the restaurant were tightly drawn shut, locking in the dim candlelight. Irina made her way to the voices coming from the adjacent room.

The room held a small square table, one seat was filled by a dark haired man in an expensive looking suit. The other was filled with none other than the 8th harbinger herself.

Signora.

“You’re late.” She didn’t bother to look up as she took a sip from her glass of wine “Sit down, we don’t have much time.”

Irina sat down as the man from the door placed a glass of wine in front of her. She took a small sip, locking eyes with the dark haired man across the table. Was Signora going to make an introduction or not?

“This is my subordinate, Aster. She’ll be your point of contact for all things related to the contract” Signora began “Aster, this is Zhongli, you may know him better as Rex Lapis”

Irina nearly choked on her drink. She knew the anemo archon, Barbatos, had taken on a human form before having his gnosis taken. But she never imagined she’d see another archon in the flesh. The Tsaritsa living among her people wasn’t exactly common.

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” She wasn't sure how to respond. Clearly he didn’t want many to know if he was going by a different name. But was it alright to treat him like a normal person?

“None of that. In this form, I am simply Zhongli, consultant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.” He gave a small, polite smile before sipping from his wine “Not to mention going forward we’ll be colleagues.”

“Listen closely because I’m only going to explain this once.” Signora reclined back in her seat, her fierce gaze not once leaving Irina, “The Tsaritsa has signed a contract with Rex Lapis for procurement of the gnosis. Since I can’t be in the city without drawing attention, you will be my proxy. You will tell absolutely no one of the contract nor about Zhongli’s identity. Do you understand?”

“Of course Lady Signora. I will maintain the utmost discretion.”

“Good. Since you’ll be doing it anyway, I want a report on anything you can discern from the Qixing as well.” The tall blonde woman stood from her chair, turning her back momentarily before returning her focus to Irina. “One last thing. If Tartaglia so much as develops an idea of what’s happening here consider yourself out of a job.”

Irina rose from her chair to give her a nod and a salute before the other woman left the restaurant. She had no intention of failing a mission, but it was clear that Signora would rip her entire life out from under her faster than she could blink if she did.

“Please, enjoy the glass of wine with me before you leave.” Zhongli motioned for her to return to her seat “We should get to know each other since we’ll be working closely together. Not to mention it is a vintage.”

[wordstro]

[3:08 PM] + naruto/ninja au + “thank you, for everything.”

note: shinobi = ninjas, chakra = energy reserves, yunho x gender neutral reader x mingi implications

-

your team was always dysfunctional. you should have known you’d never grow out of it. you started out as barely teenagers after all, made to train your asses off since you were toddlers in order to protect your village. they’d left your team under the supervision of some twenty something year old shinobi with unprocessed trauma of his own and expected you to come out unscathed. it’s almost laughable to think your team would end up as anything but dysfunctional.

not to mention the ghosts each of you carried with you from the very first day. you’d grown up orphaned and ostracized, with a cursed demon sealed into you that had been responsible for the destruction of your village and the death of your parents. he liked to speak to you, remind you that that was also why your village ostracized you. sometimes the demonic fox spirit would curl its teeth back and remind you that you’d killed people because you harbored him inside you. frankly, it was fucked up.

then there was jeong yunho, kind faced and handsome and infuriatingly good at everything. you’d developed a small rivalry with the boy, only because he’d grin and call you idiot and you knew if you could beat him then all the whispers would cease. he was the last of the jeong clan. yunho sat there on the first day of training with your team and activated his clan eyes, red swirling eyes born of anger and death, and he said he was going to avenge his clan. he would take his brother’s life for killing his clan in front of his eyes. and you thought your life was fucked up.

last was song mingi, with his jokes and clumsiness and heart eyes directed at absolutely anyone who would treat him with kindness. he’d lost his parents to the demon fox spirit’s attack on the village. he looked at you sometimes like he knew exactly what you harbored. or rather exactly what you’d done, as the fox spirit liked to remind you. he was perceptive, but determined, and he could have been the strongest of the three of you if blood techniques and fox spirits did not give you and yunho an advantage over him.

years passed since that first day, and you are all more dysfunctional than ever. perhaps, you are worse off now then you were before. perhaps it was the invasions from enemy villages, the kidnapping and demon extraction attempts made on you, the broken limbs and broken hearts, the reappearance of yunho’s brother and the deep seated anger that reappearance brought out of yunho. with the realization that he was still not strong enough to avenge his family and kill his brother, yunho’s kindness melted into a rage that ate away at everyone and everything. mingi tried to keep you all together. but yunho tried to tear you all apart.

maybe your team's destruction was inevitable.

it’s why you find yourself here now, at the great valley of shinobi, face to face with your self proclaimed rival-turned-best-friend, the demonic fox spirit inside you keening for the chance to be unleashed.

yunho stands across the valley, tendrils of inky black spreading across his skin, over his face, down his arm, reddening his eyes. the curse mark. he’d gotten it during your first exam years ago. you still had no idea how it happened. one moment he was fine and the next he was knocked unconscious over mingi’s shoulders, and when you’d asked mingi what happened, mingi merely curled his fingers into tight fists at his lap and shook his head, wordless. the only explanation you had was watching yunho nearly murder neighboring shinobi during the exam's second round matches.

now, mingi stands at the bottom of the valley, his head tilted upwards, watching both of you. he kept a distance, but he could hear them. he needed to watch them, even when you'd selfishly suggested he stayed back.

he’d mentioned once, in the quiet of an evening post-mission when the three of you were settling into bed with bruised limbs and a deep exhaustion, that he hated how useless he felt in your presence. it wasn’t fair that you had seemingly endless chakra reserves and yunho, well, he was merely perfect in every way. it wasn't fair how weak he was compared to both of you, how he would always be a step behind no matter how strong he got. yunho with his clan techniques and clan eyes and you with your endless chakra and strength. this was before yunho had gone mad for his vengeance. he’d reached out and pressed a hand to mingi’s and said, “you could never be useless. without you i would have died in that forest.”

you’d nodded, whispered, “if anyone’s useless it’s yunho. what kind of shinobi almost dies in a forest?”

yunho tossed his pillow at you and mingi let out a small, choked laugh at your shriek. you’d wiped at his tears, patting his cheek, and yunho rubbed his back, with that kind smile you’d started to mind a lot less.

you tear your eyes from the mouth of the valley, from yunho, from your thoughts of the past, focusing on the here and now.

“you’re really going to desert the village? after everything?”

yunho tilts his head and there’s a familiarity in his smile. he’d look at you like that sometimes, when you’re all trudging back from a mission or after a particularly grueling training session where you’d sit up from where you lay on the dirt, making grabby hands for water, and yunho would toss you his water bottle, laughing quietly when it’d slip past your fingers and hit your chest. he’d look at you with affection. like he was fond of you.

“it’s the only way i can get stronger and achieve my goal.”

yunho’s voice echoes, the curse mark growing larger as it encompasses his face.

“this place is a distraction.”

“bullshit and you fucking know it. we’ve been good for you. if you'd just take your head out of your ass for one moment, you'd see that.”

“let me specify,” he bites out, “you are a distraction.”

“yeah fucking right.”

“and useless,” he spat, unkindly, uncharacteristically. his eyes darted to the mouth of the valley, where mingi crouched, close enough to listen, “both of you.”

he hadn’t thought that when he’d take you and mingi to eat ramen after a long day of training. he hadn’t thought that you were useless when he learned of the beast inside you and his eyes changed, for both better and worse, when he decided he needed to surpass you too. he spent years building mingi up, holding his hand after missions gone awry and reminding him that he was everything but useless, that it was hardly fair for him to compare himself when his strengths lied in chakra control. he spent years sparring you and nodding appreciatively whenever you’d thoroughly kick his ass. if he really thought you useless or a distraction he would never have taken his time to bandage up your wounds after particularly bad missions. he was destroying everything he had here, at home, for his futile vengeance. you could imagine mingi's hurt at his words, even without looking at him. the same feeling, the same hurt, coursed through your veins, consuming you. the demon fox spirit inside you fed off it.

“i’m not letting you do this, yunho. once you step out of this valley, they’ll put you in the bingo book. you'll have a reward out for your head. you’ll be a deserter...a traitor. they won’t let you come back, yunho. you'll ruin your life.”

“you won't let me?" he ignores everything else you say and you notice. he glares, "who are you to make decisions for me?”

“your best fucking friend.”

“that’s useless too. it’ll just make me weak. it's already made you weak. look at you, on the verge of tears. look at mingi.”

you grit your teeth. you want to yell at him, tell him that you and mingi have made him stronger, just as yunho and mingi have made you. friendship, bonds, were not weak. it was not useless. love was not weak.

but you were always bad at speaking your feelings. you worked better with your fists. every disagreement you've ever had with yunho was resolved on the training fields, with well placed punches until you were both too exhausted to move. there was a reason why mingi was the heart of your team.

you clench your fists, before raising them, steadying your chakra, readying yourself. you bite, “i’ll drag you back if i have to.”

yunho laughed, and it was still the same loud laugh you’d grown accustomed to. you glare as he calls, “i’d love to see you try, idiot.”

the demon fox inside you jeers in anticipation. you shoot forward and yunho laughs as he grabs you by the neck, shoving you down and into the mouth of the valley. he moved faster than he ever had before. you vaguely hear mingi shouting at both of you, blood rushing to your ears. you fight, and you bleed, and yunho does not back down. he gathers electricity at his hands, striking midair, and you gasp, tumbling before you steady yourself, moving just as quickly. yunho does not relent, even when mingi steps in.

mingi gathers chakra, eyes determined, but yunho is too fast for him. with his cursed mark energy, he moves faster than even you can track, and his clan eyes make it worse. yunho clamps his hands around mingi's throat and you don't hear what mingi says to him, you just see mingi's mouth moving and yunho's brows furrowing as he stills for a moment. and then yunho blasts mingi into the side of a cliff with a sickening crunch. mingi crumbles into a heap and that spurs you into another wave of anger as you pummel yunho, screaming at him. how could he hurt mingi? he swore he never would. you were fair game, but mingi was different. you both decided that from the moment your team was formed.

he turns into a cursed beast with skeletal wings and black eyes and fangs. his clan eyes spin. he is ruthless. you turn into the demon fox spirit. it salivates at it's chance to be released.

still, in the end, you lose.

-.-.-.-.-

your vision is a blur as you heave for air, your sides burning with each breath. the demon fox inside you growls at you to get up but you’ve used up all you chakra. you vaguely make out yunho slumped over you. he stumbles to his feet, dragging an unconscious mingi to your side.

he looks between you both, the moon framing his slumped form.

“don’t,” you breathe, voice raspy, stilted, “please yunho, don’t go.”

he looks down at you as if he is committing you to memory, even like this. his gaze flits to mingi and he does the same, before he tilts his head up, closes his eyes. his jaw clenches. then he looks at you.

“thank you, for everything,” he says with a quiet finality.

your vision blurs, and you’re fading, but you still try to get up, to move. you’re too weak for any of it. he watches you struggle for a moment, before he turns and he walks away. he leaves you.

later, mingi sits by your bedside in the hospital and you murmur to him, “i swear i’ll bring him back.”

“no,” he reaches out and squeezes your hand, “we’ll do it together.”

[piccolini-cuscino]

Domesticity

An SVR operative, you’ve been tasked with taking out a Danish businessman who specialises in organ harvesting after several Russian nationals go missing in Denmark. But when the mission goes awry – thanks to a wiry looking man in a Savile Row suit – you’re well and truly at the mercy of MI6 to stay alive. They have an interesting proposition for you...

Pairing: Neil x f!Reader Warnings: Guns and murder and stuff I guess 😂 Notes: I wrote a short thing super quickly, because Neil’s now living rent-free in my brain for the last effing week. Let me know if you’d like a little continuation of this!

“…And be careful. This place is crawling with CIA, MI6…”

“I can handle myself,” you said, yanking out your earpiece and stowing it in your bag. After all, you had done this a hundred times before. Taking out seedy little men. Drug traffickers and arms dealers, mostly. Small-time.

But this job landed on your lap utterly by chance. You were in the area, and your organisation wanted intelligence and a clean kill. Your target was Klaus Møller – a Danish billionaire who ran a clean energy company as a front for his black market organ harvesting operation. When several Russian nationals disappeared in Denmark, dispatch traced it back to Klaus and called you in.

Walking into one of Klaus’ lavish parties was like entering another world; chandeliers and marble and gold overwhelmed your senses for a moment. The foyer bustled with servers in penguin suits, doling out glasses of bubbles from magnums of Moët. Still, you thought, with this much going on, killing Klaus would be easy.

See, Klaus didn’t mingle. He preferred to patrol the upper levels, glaring down at his guests until it all became too much and he retreated back to his study. This would be too easy.

You gave a cursory glance around the foyer for anything suspicious and came up blank. It was now or never.

Taking the winding marble staircase step by step, you kept your eyes lasered in on the crowd below. But casually so. You couldn’t afford to arouse any suspicions. About halfway up, you carefully screwed the silencer on to the end of your pistol through the fabric of your bag. And when you reached the top, Klaus’ study was only a few paces away.

But three armed thugs guarded the tycoon, sitting lazily around the room.

“Gentlemen,” you nodded, wandering inside, your presence urging them to their feet. Clearly, they didn’t think you were a threat – a pretty girl in a pretty dress wasn’t uncommon in Klaus’ mansion. But then, you whipped out your pistol and sent the three men to their death. You didn’t even bat an eyelid.

Klaus, on the other hand, looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack. His portly face had turned the shade of a beet and glistened with sweat. “I suppose you have come to bargain?” he heaved.

Just as your lips parted for a clever retort, the look of terror on his features intensified. A bullet almost grazed your nose as you whipped around to look at the intruder. And then your own heart raced when you realised that Klaus was dying, and you hadn’t extracted a single piece of useful information.

“He was mine,” you seethed, marching up to the man in the Savile Row suit. “I bet you’re fucking MI6. Why are you here?”

“Actually,” he smirked, jabbing something into the side of your neck, “I’m here for you.”

A fluorescent strip light buzzed above you, burning its way right through your eyelids. As groggy as you were from the sedative, you quickly realised that your hands and legs were bound, and you were in some sort of shipping container. And you weren’t alone.

“Now, Little Miss U.S.S.R,” the familiar voice began. The bastard from MI6 broke into the periphery of your vision and sat on the seat opposite you. “As far as MI6 sees it, you’ve botched your mission.”

“And what was that?” You sneered.

“Let me finish,” he smirked. “Tell me, what does the SVR do to agents who fail?”

“They’re eli–“

“Eliminated, aren’t they?” he asked, getting to his feet.

“Let me guess. You’re going to offer me freedom in exchange for intelligence?”

“No, my dear. I’m offering you a new mission.” He kneeled down in front of you and eyed you for a moment with his tongue subtly grazing his lower lip. “I’ve studied you for months, and no one kills like you. Personally, I don’t care too much for bloodshed and that’s why I need you. And in exchange, protection. No intelligence exchanged. Russia’s secrets, as gruesome as they are, die with you.”

His voice seemed to soothe, and you hadn’t realised how far forward you had leaned, subconsciously trying to close the gap between you and your adversary, until you sat up straight again. “What’s the mission?”

“I’m glad you asked,” he chuckled. “We’re to pose as man and wife, and await further instruction back in London.”

“And what’s the catch?”

“No catch,” he said. “Killing comes quite naturally to you, so I don’t imagine what lies ahead will be too difficult. It’s probably better than dying.”

“Alright.”

“Good,” he said, moving behind you to undo your restraints. “For the purposes of this mission, you can call me Neil. And you, are my darling wife, Margaret. Together, we are Mr and Mrs Harris. We don’t have children yet, but we do have one dog, Hugo, who bites. You’re a school teacher and I’m a lawyer. How’s your English accent?”

“Good enough.”

[nightmaretyrantvantas]

When tensions break too often- a dark side au story

So I got my ideas back for some angst and some tension in this au, and I just couldnt resist writing it. Plus its a good way to warm me back up into doing things for this au.

This is also a bit of a deeper dive into the dynamics of darkside! Virgil and the other dark sides and how they all bounce and thrive off each other, as well a some backstory and peeks at the full effects of Deceit leaving( jealousy is with the dark sides but is only mentioned, he currently doesnt make much of an appearance in this one in particular, he gets his own angst later)

This was fun to write, not gonna lie. Its been awhile an this is gonna be long so buckle up with me

I also got alot of inspiration to finally write this out(and revise parts of it) due in part to @aimasup ‘s recent comics and writings about their kid sides(which I love, like alot alot and I hope they dont mind me getting super inspired by it!)

ships: Past prinxiety, past anxciet, implied intruxiety, implied intrulogical, implied intruloxiety, implied one sided remus x wrath, implied past demus, implied current roceit

Im putting a trigger warning here for cussing, fighting(verbal and physical), descriptions of panic attacks and emotional breakdowns, violence, gross and inappropriate language, some body horror descriptions, as well as implied unsympathetic sides(all sides are morally grey but the perspective is biased towards the dark sides as its seen from Wrath’s view- keep that in mind)

Things are about to get angsty my friends but i promise it ends happy(for once in this au)

I hope you guys enjoy

~~~~~~~~~~

Wrath Sanders had a lot more patience then almost everyone gave him credit for. Most considered him the biggest hothead there was, going off at the first irritation. But, the truth was he was eerily patient...Sure he may simmer and seethe and hold onto things in unhealthy grudges, but he never lost his cool as often as some would want you to believe.

Wrath Sanders kept his cool during many things, even if that was the last thing he wanted to do.

He had sat back through many things, biting his tongue to hold back the venom and yelling and grinding his teeth together in anger and forced himself to sit through many many things that happened around him out of respect- out of a deep fucking respect- for Virgil’s Fear’s Anxiety’s authority. Instead, he watched shit go down over and over again and held himself back from reacting towards the problem, focusing his energy on the recovery. 

But, the most recent event was his last fucking straw.

It had happened seemingly out of nowhere, Wrath had been slumped down on their shitty lumpy couch boredly watching some dumb movie. It was getting later in the night, around 10 maybe 11 and he had one of Remus’s crappy beers partially drank in his hand. He was just getting up to change the movie or turn it off all together when the whole house seemed to shift violently, the walls seeming to tremble. There was a moment of confusion before he heard it.

“ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

His whole body jolted to its feet unsteadily as the sound of Anxiety’s pain wreaked scream filled the house to an almost deafening volume as it distorted and deepened. His body moved before his mind, lurching over the couch and running for the source of the scream as another one wailed out even louder than the first, the sound muffling the breaking bottle and violently shaking the walls with their reverb. He heard other sounds too underneath, glass shattering heavy objects banging and wood splintering, wallpaper shredding. A third screech rang out, cutting itself in half with echoing high pitched sobs. 

He hadnt been the first to make it to his room.

Wrath watched as he turned the corner in time to see Remus destroy Anxiety’s door with his morning star, a wild and desperately freaked out look to his glowing eyes as wood splintered and gave out under the weapon, some sending cuts into his cheeks. The creative side was then out of sight in a flash, forcing his way into the room yelling as to be heard over the screams.

Remembering the pain, the fear the absolute panic in Remus’s normally confident voice sent a deeper chill down his spine than the screams had.

“ Virgy??!! Fuck fuck fuck fUCK!! Virgy no no! Its me dammit!! Fuck FUCK FUCK!! No no NO! Virgy virgy virgy storm cloud creepy cryptid no no nnonononono look at me no no look at me cmon honey look at me not those at me. me me me me..” His voice continued, shaky and softening as the screams faded into heart wrenching sobs and high pitched hyperventilating gasps. Remus continued to speak, morning star thudding against carpet and a softer thud sounding.

“ Hey hey hey hey hey hey...hey hey hey I got you I got you I’m here im still here....i’m always here for ya honey...I got you now I got you see? Yeah yeah thats me....just focus on me....cmon cmon stormy cant pass out on me now...follow my breathing lets breathe together...in...out...in out...now....tell me five things you can see....cmon honey you got this just look up im here right here...” 

The sight through the broken door haunted him, made his chest throb hard and bile burn his throat. 

The bedroom before him was completely trashed. It was as if something feral and destructive had ripped it from its very foundation. Every piece of furniture, big or small, was broken and smashed apart, the anxious side’s bed and couch ripped into multiple pieces. Every shelf  or flat surface had faced an even worse fate, thrown around and shattered into various pieces that had been strewn around the room along with glass fragments from anything unfortunate enough to have been made of glass. Papers and books were severed and torn apart viciously, and the wallpaper was slashed in huge wide cute, some of the slashes cutting deep into the wall underneath. And in the middle of the disaster was Remus and Anxiety. Long, protruding limb like dark shapes sprouted from the purple side’s back, twitching and trembling with adrenaline along with his heaving, hunched over shaking form. Remus was there in front of him, knelt down to the balled up figure and slowly but surely coaxing him up enough to pull him into his arms and rock him back and forth as he kept speaking to him. It took Wrath a few seconds of his vision adjusting to the room’s darkness to realize Remus had more cuts on him, and why.

Strings.

Millions of purple tinted, tautly pulled strings, like a tightly woven and intricate sickening spider web filled the room from top to bottom as if trying to shield the two in its depths. He could see parts of them hanging limp, likely from Remus forcing his way through to the other. He watched in a horrified shock as Anxiety’s body lurched and jerked with his piercing sobs, hand harshly digging into his scalp through his hood and shadowy claws threatening to rip said hood open. He could see many of the strings connected directly to various parts of his body and to the eight extra things on his back and it made him shudder. The room radiated a sort of fear and panic that was infectious, suffocating even. But he refused to leave the doorway and abandon the two there, in that too dense darkness. 

He watched Remus manage to gather up the shorter side into his chest and rock him more, practically curling into a ball over him. He was still talking, his voice softening to the point he couldnt make it out anymore from the door. But he could see his expression. God his expression mightve been what pushed him past his bullshit accepting limit.

Remus’s face was grim, any traces of his grins and normal attitude gone. His eyes were glowing in a dark, dangerously violent fury but the way they stayed trained on Anxiety kept them, for the time being at least, soft and remorseful. There was so much pain there in that focused gaze, pain regret sorrow a disturbing amount of fear and understanding. His mouth moved with words not meant for Wrath to hear, soft gentle coos and reassurances too intimate to be heard by anyone else but the one trembling harshly in his strong arms. Brows furrowed and it made Wrath feel even colder to realize his hands, hands that were holding the other up and petting his hair through that black hood and rubbing between the spidery appendages, were trembling. 

Remus was trembling.

After awhile the strings seem to fade away into nothing, those shadowy limbs following them scarily slow. Once that happened and the worst of the darkeness seemed to dissipate was when Wrath dared to take a few stiff steps into the room, debris crunching too loudly under his boots. He saw Remus stiffen and his eyes flicker up like a cornered, ready to attack animal before relaxing, glow never leaving.

“ W...wh..r...R-remus...” 

“ Des...Dessy brat...h-hey spitfire do me a solid and go open my door ok? Dont worry itll lead to my bedroom...just...go open it for me...will you...?” Wrath’s voice failed him after that and he nodded, backing out of that suffocation and away into the brighter lit hall rushing from the room to push open the dark stained door further down. He turned around to go back, to try to help somehow...anyway he could, when he watched Remus instead picking his way out of the mess and into the hall, their leader cradled in his arms limply like a small sleeping child. Not a sound came from either of them as he stalked through the hall and into his room, a single nod dismissing Wrath before the door swung shut in front of him...

That was where he was drawing a line. Enough had been enough.

Wrath had sat back through many things, too many fucking things than he should have. He held back his doubts when Virgil and Roman had first started seeing each other when they were younger and dumber, had held himself and barely held Remus back from mauling the so called “good” creativity when things had gone awry and he had broken Virgil’s heart and left him in bitter, resentful pieces for them to pick up and help mend back together. He held back every time Thomas had, intentionally or unintentionally, slighted and undermined their jobs as a part of him, of their importance, of Virgil’s and Remus’s importance to him. He had sat back through the aftermath of ever fight with the “light” sides and with thomas, through every dismissal and banishment and arguement and accusation. He had helped and been there through countless sleepless nights and previous breakdowns and panic attacks between all four three of them, and he had been here, had been forced not to retaliate as per Virgil’s simple request.

“ Dont Des....dont go after them...Im forbidding it got it? Dont do it. it isnt going to be worth it...please...” 

It had always been the please, soft and defeated that made him obey. Not the angry snaps and lashing out, not the cruel words and push and shove they all did for so long, but the plea in that word...the vulnerability it revealed. 

He had sat through Deceit’s slow distancing from the rest of them...and his eventually leaving them for the light sides and the ensuing pain and breakdown that his leaving left behind.

It had splintered them, had struck both Virgil and Remus harder and more painfully than either side would verbally admit. Wrath had been forced to do nothing but helplessly watch it break them and break himself too, and try to clean up the aftermath best he could.

But this breakdown, seeing the side that had always stubbornly refused to buckle or back down reduced to a screaming sobbing wreck on the floor, seeing the other side he had always seen be nothing but strong and indifferent to everything thrown with a grin shaking in fear and softly pleading was too much.

He had stayed down, seething, resentment festering for years. too many years without an outlet.

He remembered the hand that had been held out to him all those years ago. Remembered coming along a little bit before Deceit ever did...and looking up from where he was angrily crying on the floor to see two figures before him. One was shorter, with two sets of brightly glowing purple and green eyes and a big black hoodie that was too big for him and messy hair that fell into his face. Behind him was someone much taller, with wild hair and a single streak of white in it, eyes feral and gleeful i a way that made him tense and made him mad through his tears. He was dressed extravagantly, like a prince or even a king grinning unnaturally wide. But his focus narrowed on the purple one, whose dark claw tipped hand stretched out in front of him in an offering. When Anger had put his head back in his knees to cry more he felt an arm drape over him. His head snapped up and he saw the princely one next to him with a softer expression, hand rubbing his back a little.

“ Hey....hey its ok Anger. Whatcha crying for? You did your job! Pretty damn well too! You were amazing the way you had Thomas screaming at that bully!” A clawed hand smacked him making him yelp and he looked in front of him to see Fear knelt in front of him with a look of understanding, a bitter smile on his face.

“ He’s right you know? You were only doing your job...you didnt realize how out of hand things would spiral and thats ok. How they reacted isnt your fault...” 

They offered him a place to go, a place to thrive. Screw the others that refused to understand and stay with them. And Fear led them both deeper down the halls by the hand, making sure he didnt get lost

He was done standing down.

Someone needed to pay. 

~ ~ ~

If he was honest, Wrath wasnt sure how long he sat outside the intrusive side’s shut door, sitting slumped against the opposing wall in a thick, deafening silence. It mustve been long enough for him to drift into an uneasy, restless sleep. His dreams filled up with memories of younger years, of pranks and scuffles and violent roughhousing the three of them got up to being on their own, of Remus making meals and running around frantic to keep both Anger and Fear from accidentally killing themselves or each other on something. Of Deceit hazily joining their trio, hesitant and quiet but able to snap back just as viciously and able to rough house back just as good as the rest of them after awhile. Of days filled with shrieks, squeals, bickering and shrilly laughter, of restless nights where they all broke into Remus’s room and dog piled on his bed to sleep. Of slowly growing up and watching Virgil come out of his quiet observance and transition from Fear to Anxiety and taking charge as a leader among them, of Remus stepping back and letting him with full confidence as his right hand and partner in crime in most cases. Of seeing Deceit come out of his terrified shell and blossom into a belovedly bitchy and...supposedly self assured side...of Virgil’s echoing screams that seem to reverberate through his very core...

He jolted awake at the sound of a door creaking, and sluggishly lifted his head to see a pair of familiar scuffled riding boots, laces fraying if you looked close enough. He lifted his gaze higher and soon locked onto tired green eyes that were dark and dull from exhaustion. Lifeless was a term he could describe those eyes with and that fact made him briefly queasy and cold. He looked tired, so very tired, and older. He was older than them both....but right now he looked much older than he was...There was a silence between them for a few moments that allowed Wrath to rouse himself up a little more.

“ Dessy....for all thats unholy...what’re you still doin out here dumbass? Did you stay there all night?” 

‘Dessy’...‘ Des’ the nickname eased some of his shot nerves. Ever since they were kids they had joked that his name shouldve been “ Despair” instead of “ Daniel Williams” because of his very present pessimism and negative outlook. And soon it became so much more fitting that his nickname became “ Des” short for despair...or in Remus’s case “ Dessy” as he oh so enjoyed calling him. The annoying nickname was familiar though, and it helped him relax enough to speak. His voice was rough and awkwardly quiet in the small hallway, as if he’d been the one screaming. 

“ I....wanted to make sure he’d be ok...” He trailed off, voice faltering with a clear shake. It sounded pathetic and weak to him. 

But maybe, just this once pathetic and weak wasnt a bad thing. Because at the sound of his voice, and his dumb reason, Wrath saw some life flicker back into the older side’s eyes, some of their glow returning. Remus let out a tired, exasperated sigh and gave him a small sad smile, his expression softened into something sorrowful yet fond. That fondness, that softness sent warm tingling butterflies fluttering through his chest like it always did despite the grim circumstances. Remus let out a strained chuckle and shook his head, pulling his door shut with a quiet click.

“ He’s asleep now ya little Tasmanian devil...let him rest and we’ll check on him in a bit...now cmon, lets go make some breakfast and watch some movies or something....lets go up up.” With a grunt Des allowed himself to be heaved up by the armpits to his feet and didnt protest Remus wrapping an arm around him and guiding him down to the living room. He didnt want to see that pained exhaustion on his face...he needed to do something

and had a problem he was finally going to get rid of. 

“ No Des you cant.” 

There was that feeling as familiar to him as breathing bubbling in his chest, that hot smoldering feeling of anger or irritation igniting. It flushed out the cold he had been feeling in an unpleasant way but he ignored that part, pressing his palms flat on the table with a bit of force as he narrowed his orange eyes at the one across from him. He felt something like acid stinging his mouth and begging to be spilled free but he did as he usually did and grit his teeth to hold the worst of it at bay. Pushing it down. Holding back again.

“ Not again Remus. I refuse to just fucking sit back and do nothing again. They need to be taught a lesson! This is all their fault- all his fault--”

“ Even if it is so fucking what?! You blindly lashing out at them is only going to make things worse I can promise you that--”

“ Like hell it will!! They act like they can just walk all over us and treat us like fucking trash and cause things like last night and you think im lashing out blindly when--”

“ --When youre temper is as violent as a fucking feral mongoose--” “ Dont call me a fucking mongoose beetlejuice reject!!” “ Oh shut up and sit back down you twerp!!” 

They went back and forth across the table, both their tempers and volumes raising as they fought. That bubbling feeling was twisting into a boiling, growing burning that began filling his chest and core. Why was Remus not agreeing with him for fucks sake--

His vision started tinging red.

“ Look brat you think I fucking like this?! You think im not pissed the fuck off?! Because I am! I’m beyond pissed off about this!! About the fact I know exact who and what caused Virgy’s breakdown and about the fact it happened at all!! I fucking get it!! But even I know you shouldnt just storm in there to take off trying to take off their fucking heads when youre too upset! Youre not thinking clearly enough for that kind of confrontation dammit im trying to protect you in this too!!” Remus’s words were loud, ruthless, and hard hitting. There were angry and forceful and made sense.

Plenty of sense. 

And somehow that made him even angrier.

“ Oh? Ooooh! I get it, I fucking get it! Now that youve been sweetening up fucking logic youre suddenly the first to fucking defend them hurting our fucking best friend--”

“--oh for fucks sake bitch Logan has nothing to fucking do with this!! Im not fucking defending them either!! I swear to god im just trying to--” “ --to what huh?! Keep on his good side so you can get in his fucking pants?! Or so you can fucking push it aside and laugh about it later like one of them?!--” “ Goddammit you fucking stubborn brat you dont know what youre even talking about--” “ I dont know what im talking about?! I DONT KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT?!?!” His voice rose much louder, his own trembling distortion coming out and getting spat at the side who had helped fucking raise him like venom.

“ I dont know what im talking about?!!  You mean like how I NEVER seem to know what the fuck im talking about?! Like how Virgil  never knows what hes talking about or how you never seem to know what youre fucking talking about when your talking to them?! God now youre even starting to sound like those pretentious bastards!! Dont know what im talking about?! What part do I not know what im talking about Intrusive Thoughts?! huh??!!” His breath was coming out in ragged, squeaking pants as his eyes began to burn “Which fucking part do I not fucking know?! The part where ive had to sit back and bottle up my rage at being pushed aside and degraded and judged and dismissed or having to sit back for fucking years and watch you and virgil get hurt and hurt and ignored and dismissed and talked down and insulted and broken and having to swallow my protests of it?! Or of knowing last night fucking happened because Deceit decided to fully live up to his fucking name and abandoned us for those bastards and left us alone without a second thought and got away with it?! Or the fucking fact youre too busy trying to bone down logic to even fucking care--!!” 

Smack!

It came so fast he hadnt had time to prepare for it before his head was snapped to the side and pain exploding in his face, on the cheek near the jaw in particular as he staggered to the ground a good foot and his eyes eerily slow dragged themselves from looking at the kitchen cabinets to Remus, who still had his fist outstretched near where it had collided with his face, his chest heaving almost like his own was, eyes wild and just as angry before a flash of realization went through them.

“ ....Des....fuck...i...you...” Nothing too coherent came babbling out Remus’s mouth, he was still way too hoped up on anger fueled adrenaline. His fist was starting to tremble and Wrath watched his pupils dilate a few times in his attempt to calm down.

And then there was something like an explosion as that burning feeling warped into a raging fire and Wrath let out a infuriated, inhuman shriek and lunged for Remus with a full intent to rip out his stupid fucking throat as his rage consumed him.

The two fighting sides went crashing into the living room loudly nearly knocking over the couch in their wake, both of them screaming and Wrath inhumanly screeching in an almost reptilian manner as he clawed and punched wherever he could reach. Remus wasnt just lying down and taking it either, yelling in loud angry spats of soon unraveling nonsense as he fought back mercilessly, throwing the other into walls, into furniture, throwing punches and kicks of his own. But nothing seemed to slow the orange side down and he struck back with slowly growing claws and fangs and something sharp growing out of his hair, angry tears burning his eyes and his voice too warbled and distorted to even be understood anymore, both their forms twitching and subtly shifting and glowing as they tried to rip each other to shreds, things fluid dripping and twisting lashing out from Remus’s back. Remus was stronger, he always had been, but Wrath had a seemingly endless stream of fury and adrenaline that kept him getting back up and charging in for more, the room being wrecked between them. Maybe things would have gone too far if it hadnt been brought to a hard, screeching halt.

By the time they could both blink they were ripped away from each other, both now uselessly struggling as they were entangled in roughly restraining strings that glowed a eye straining, furious purple color and seemed to tighten and wrap around them more the more they fought and struggled for freedom. Their indecipherable words and incoherent screams where just as ruthlessly cut short as strings wrapped warningly around their throats, not tight enough to actually choke or hurt them, but firm enough to be very present and felt, their voices being quite literally silenced the moment it touched looped once and touched the spot over their vocal cords. There was a horrifically tense silence as their mouths moved in spat insults and screams that never made a sound.

“......that....that is enough out of both of you.”  

Virgil’s voice cut through the room like a cleaver, the tone dead, cold, and just as pissed off as they were. At first they couldnt see him, manic eyes darting around until Wrath saw the Duke’s eyes trained on top of the stairs near the hallway, pupils down to small pinpricks. When he glared over in that direction he fully understood and felt all that anger draining and quickly turning into a queasy, cold dread that made him want to cower.

That radiation of fury, or bone chilling fear and a kind of suffocating anxiety that made it hard to breathe and a panic that made them both feel like they were perpetually falling and simultaneously drowning swept over the living room like a flood, the corners and ceilings slowly developing intricate pulsing webs or strings that seem to absorb the rooms light as Virgil stepped, no, half crawled down the stairs and into view. Both sets of eyes were visibly, the whites dyed a void like inky black where his brightly burning purple and green irises cut into them coldly. Something sharp and gleaming poked from his scowl and revealed themselves as fangs as his snarl curled his lips. His hood was up hiding most of his pale skin but couldnt hide the flecks and scatterings of void like, inky and purple spots dusting parts of his slowly purple tinging skin. His hands, snapping out from his sleeves to grip the stair railing were fully blotched in that void, fingers curling into razor sharp claws that strings hung stickily too. The eight dark appendages, opaque and gangly half carried him down faster than usual, the ends digging into the carpet as if for stability. A shrill hiss whistled through Anxiety’s teeth and the panic inducing feeling of being stared at at being excruciatingly examined came from every corner, growing worse and worse as he stalked closer with silent movements. 

“ What....the actual fuck are you two doing.” The words with sharp edged and cold, tone flat and tired. They both just stared helplessly, unable to move or speak and both beginning to mindlessly panic. Virgil blinked and a gust of air like an exhale swepted through the room and....left no traces of those fearful horrified feelings in its wake. Both of their feet thudded mutedly against the carpeted floor as the strings released them and retreated back into nothing, disappearing from all around them as if they had never been there to begin with...the room never dimmer than it had started in the morning light and the three of them stood there in silence. Any hints of inhumanity were gone from Anxiety’s form, leaving his two still glowing eyes losing their luster and leaving dull annoyance behind, no fangs, no extra limbs, no claws, no void dotting his skin. When he spoke he took a slow breath, as if unable to breathe just like them.

“....I...I mean it you two...what. the actual fuck did you two wake me up with.” Even his voice had returned to normal, if not for a bit shaky and hoarse from last nights screaming. Wrath saw his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was tinged with blotchy pink and was puffy from crying and something clenched in his chest, thudding hard. He looked at Remus, who was panting from lack of breath, eyes dull and exhausted and pain filled again, injuries from their fight blaring from the blood decorating his body and clothes.

He had done that....he’d lost control again...

“ Im dont want to repeat myself a third fucking time. What the fuck did you--” 

“ I...This is my fault I started it...” Both of them looked at him, gazes drilling into him. But he let his head drop as shame took over, choking him a little. This was his family and they were already hurting and look what he’d done-

“Oh piss off Dessperato. It aint only your fault I fucked up too. Look virgy we were both tired and coming off that dumb worry adrenaline shit and we started arguing...and we got waaaaaay too heated and decided to beat the living shit out of each other...sorry we woke you you were suppose to sleep later.” Virgil let out a sigh and rubbed his temples, pulling off his hood and shaking out his messy bedhead. 

“ Is that all that happened? Im not deaf and the doors arent sound blockers...” “ Then why are you asking.” Virgil and Remus as a bit of a stare off before finally, for the first time that morning all the life slowly returned to his eyes and he gave a toothy, blood streaked grin and started to laugh. The other two looked at him like he had fully lost it. Then Virgil’s lips twitched up and Des rolled his eyes and failed to stop the grin spreading across his face or the chuckles that he managed to choke out. Within a few minutes all three of them were laughing on the messy living room floor  half sprawled over each other and Jealously bemusedly deciding they werent capable of making breakfast and making it for them all instead. Des watched half delerious from his exhaustion as Remus cackled and kicked his leg, just to laugh more when he kicked back.

“ I swear to god no more violence out of you two or I swear I’ll...” Remus let out a snort and gripped the other’s chin between his fingers sensually tugging their faces closer with a smug grin

“ You’ll what Hot Topic? Lock me in the closet again? Or send me reeling with nightmares and hallucinations~ Oh please virgy baby I dare you too~” His tone was light and suggestive, quirking his eyebrows up teasingly for added effect. Virgil snorted and and grinned back leaning close as well.

“ Oh dont start teeempting me with those sweet talkins about hallucinations dr. Hideous~ I might just take you up on that...” Then he flicked his nose and shove him away, both of them laughing. Des was about to try to give them the time to themselves when Remus yanked him between them waggling his finger disapprovingly, making him whack the other’s shoulder with a affectionate “ fuck RIGHT off” and for awhile, in that growing morning light, things felt ok. 

It had taken alot of talking, and another arguement almost breaking out between himself and virgil to convince him to back down from confronting the light sides violently. Virgil brought a surprising amount of identical points to remus, while also reminding him that reacting to violently will only make them ignore and dismiss him further. Des was very reluctant, and stubborn, but ultimately he trusted Virgil’s and Remus’s judgement. He trusted Virgil’s reasoning and that he was looking out for him- protecting him. So when he asked him, softly, to refrain from trying to handle it on my own and let him deal with it Des had agreed, obeying his request.

And then a real tipping point pushed him back over the edge.

It was a few weeks later. He remembered distinctly because the mindscape was abuzz with excitement, even the dark sides were effected by Thomas’s unbridled joy. But Virgil had said he was getting a bad feeling...and headed off to the main part of the mindscape that morning. Things were quiet after, calm even. At some point him and Remus had started playing cards, though Remus was blatantly cheating and they were bickering.

Things were fine...things were calm...

Then Virgil crashing into the living room breathing harshly and in the midst of a bad panic attack. 

They both jumped up and Remus caught the other in his arms, trying to calm him down and figure out what happened. It took a long time and for awhile they only got bits and pieces out

Thomas

A callback, a big important one he and Roman were thrilled for

Patton, something with both Patton and Deceit

Neither of them agreeing but both of them fighting Virgil

some kind of important friend event on the same day

they had argued, they had fought, there had been yelling by the climax of it

Him and Roman went at each others throat despite the fact he had been trying to help roman’s cause

Deceit fought him alot too, trying to cut him off at every chance in a form of fear response, out of defense

Him and patton argued and fought badly for the first time since Thomas’s last breakup

He thought logan would try to see his side and be a neutral party

Logan was getting tug of warred into agreeing to arguments to push him out

They kept trying to shut him down and dismiss him, they stopped listening fairly

Virgil had to pull out a form shift in front of thomas

He had to use his influences and fear to get them to stop talking over him and twisting his words

it only made things worse, and arguments harsher

They rejected him and his attempts to help more

He started having a panic attack mid argument

He thought logan and patton tried to help but they were getting drowned out by Roman and Dee

There was so much yelling, things that should never be said got thrown

They told Virgil he never does anything but make Thomas worse

Thomas finally nearly screamed for them all to stop and half asked half pleaded for Virgil to just leave until everyone calmed down

He lashed out and hit someone, he wasnt even sure who before he fled, not hearing them yell after him. It mightve been patton, or thomas, or maybe logan

And then his panic attack got worse and neither of them could get another understandable word from him. 

In the end Remus eventually got him called down, after a good couple hours of trying, and it took everything in Wrath not to scream and destroy the room.

All Virgil did was try to help, and look what their....their bullshit left him. He was beyond seething at this point, he was fuming he was downright practically breathing fire and shaking from the effort to keep himself still. Remus gave him a cautious warning look, as if he was sizing up one of his many monsters in the imagination and debating if it would kill him or not and Virgil lifted his head to choke out for him to stand down, and to not do anything. Wrath had nodded silently and waited, watching Remus help him upstairs to his room to grab his headphones, and hopefully calm down more. Once they were out of sight he made a decision. He knew the consequences of it, knew theyd both be furious and Virgil would make hell for him for it. But none of that mattered to him

For the first time in many many years...he disobeyed Anxiety’s direct request.

It took a few days to find an opening, but once he saw one he took it, rising up in the big main living room, unknowingly in the middle of a video brainstorm.

Wrath always seemed to appear near the couch, between Roman and Thomas. Just seeing them made his blood boil more than it had been.

It was easy to say he scared the shit out of most of them by just appearing, his entire presence sucking the air from the room and making it hot and tense, a cracked dam waiting to break. Itd been months since he’d seen them face to face, and for a moment his senses got overwhelmed by everything.

But he let that fuel his anger further and he growled for them to fess up. Which one had said it. Roman had of course jumped to the defensive of his friends and that was all Wrath needed.

He lost it, pointing and yelling and accusing Roman. Blaming him for it. Roman didnt back down and fought back, and the fight only seemed to worsen. The others tried to interject, and maybe if Wrath’s vision hadnt been blood red from his fury he wouldve seen they were trying to diffuse the situation and calm things down, talk things out. But he ignored that, whipping around and lashing out at them too

“ Wrath you need to step back and take a deep breath! Youre getting irrational!”

“ Wrath kiddo please we dont have to yell and scream about this Logan’s right lets all take a deep breath ok?”

“ Like hell! Im not going to just let him force his way in here and yell and scream and pretend its ok and we can talk!”

“ Roman please!” “ro stop getting angry back is just making all of it worse the others are right we need to be calm or we’ll never get through to him.”

That voice. Silken and soaked with caution. He whirled around on Deceit and snarled pinning him to the wall without thinking.

“ This is all your fucking fault! Youre the reason they keeping hurting and virgil has breakdowns that put him out of commission for days!! Youre part of the reason Remus locks himself away beating himself up. they trusted you!! We all trusted you and you decided to fuck us over and throw us out like trash!! Was it worth it?!?! Was being here worth breaking the people you grew up with you and loved you?! Well?!” There was yelling around them, and he thought briefly he heard Remus’s and Virgil’s voices behind him as well. But now all that anger, that pushed down bitterness and resentment finally had a target and he couldnt focus on anything else. He didnt even heard Deceits struggling answer as he tried to claw him off, his different eyes wide and his mouth moving in words that werent registering.

“ -youre right ok?! Fuck youre not right at all--fuck fuck I get it youre angry and I fucked up with this, this isnt my fault and I havent been trying to figure out ways to fix it! I totally havent been beating myself up for what happened a few days ago with virgil and I dont regret it ok--” THe words blended together in his head, there were hands on his shoulders ripping him away the the freaked out snake and shoving him into the couch. He snarled but froze when he realized He was staring at the very formal business end of Remus’s morning star, inched from his nose and Remus standing over him with a dark look over his face...dark and upset The red faded from his vision and he blinked rapidly, eyes burning again and jaw aching from how hard he’d been clenching it or from yelling he honestly couldnt even tell anymore. From behind Remus stood both Logan and Virgil, side by side speaking in rapid low voices he couldnt decipher. Behind them he caught of glimpse of Roman and Patton both kneeling on the floor, fretting over a still freaked out Deceit as Jealously offered to help him up. Wrath was struggling to breathe, his body twitching and shaky from the quickly fading adrenaline. Soon he was left feeling cold and sick of himself, staring at Remus with just as wide and wild eyes. 

“ Easy....easy spitfire....youre...just breathe for me ok?” He couldnt even nod, he couldnt move. He vageuely noticed Virgil and Logan both looking at him before the morning star was gone and Logan was in front of him, hands palm up in a non-threatening manner. 

“ Wrath can you hear me? Good...just listen to my voice...I need you to name me five things you can see.” He blinked rapidly and barely heard Remus’s and Virgil’s murmurs of reassurance. Or maybe Virgil’s was more quiet talking, as he was standing at Patton’ side  like the normally bubbly side’s shadow. 

“u...uuh....y..youre tie...r-remus’s outfit....the stairs...the others...and the Roman’s s-sword...” Logan gave a nod, slowly kneeling in front of him with a calm, leveled expression that helped him focus more.

“ Good, now four things you can touch. Take your time Wrath.” He flexed his fingers, more of a twitch really as his breathing began to even out slowly. “ Um...My jacket...the couch...my jeans...uh...t..the carpet?” He nodded again through his faltered stammering as the deepness faded.

“ Three things you can hear?” He blinked again and listened for a moment.

“ .....your voice...Remus’s voice...the others...” “ Two things you can smell, remember take your time.” “ Bacon...from breakfast...and someones cologne..” A small smile came to his face as he adjusted his glasses in slow noticeable motions.

“ Just just 1 thing you can taste.” He managed to smack his lips once and his face screwed up at the taste lingering in his mouth.

“ ....acidic bile...” Both their brows furrowed a little but when Logan looked over his shoulder Remus shrugged at the silent question.

“Probably needs to puke Dr. Maywhoo.” Logan sighed at the nickname and turned back to him, holding up his hands a little.

“ Now, Wrath Id life for you to unclench your jaw, roll and relax your shoulders, loosen your posture if you can, uncurl your fingers and exhale please.” He blinked and slowly did as instructed, not realizing until then that he was wound up like a jack in the box. His jaw ached as he unclenched it and his shoulders slumped heavily as he relaxed, fingers sore from apparently being curled into firsts for so long, small red lines in his palms from his nails. He felt calmer, drained and upset, but calm. 

“ Logan, Remus.” He looked past them to see virgil standing up tall, if not awkwardly, besides Roman and watching them with a hard to read look.

“ I...think sitting down and calmly talking...is now long overdue.” 

~~~~~

Hours later Wrath Des found himself on the mindscapes main couch tiredly nestled besides a dozed off Jealousy Jacob and a cheerfully talking Patton. They had spent hours haphazardly strewn around the very room, just...talking and discussing and airing years worth of grievences. It wasnt easy, and things were no where near fixed or completely repaired. But, there were many small positive steps taken in that direction...and things were lighter and better as they stood at a better understanding of each other. Things werent perfect, and in the back of his mind he could list everything that could fuck up and send them back spiraling. Yet he didnt want to ruin what...whatever it was happening as dinner was cooked. Logan, Remus, and Virgil all sat together on the other side of the couch chatting among themselves and with Patton as they tried to decide on a movie and played candyland. In the kitchen he could hear Roman and Deceit cooking and giggling with each other, trying to outdo each other with some dumb food based pick up lines. But they sounded happy, so many it wasnt that dumb...Des watched them play candyland, staying relatively quiet aside from answering questions and jabs sent his way. It was comfortable and relaxed, and Des couldnt help but yawn. Without noticing , he ended up resting his head on Patton’s clearly unoccupied and underutilized shoulder as his eyes drooped shut. He felt Patton jump a little before slowly relaxing, and he didnt even need to open his eyes to flip Remus off as he let out an overly exaggerated coo at the motion letting himself relax. Patton smelled good he decided. Like fabric softener and baked goods and some kind of spice...Des also decided that the blurry sight of the trio next to them, with Remus’s legs draped across Logan and Virgil’s laps and one hand playing with Virgils messy hair as he sat on Logan’s right and Virgil contently and fully relaxed into Logan’s left side, head resting in the crook of his neck and his hand laced with the logical side’s unused hand as they played was also good. The sound of Jacobs soft snores was soothing and the joyful flirty voices in the kitchen blended into it well when combined with Pattons soft humming. If this was how things would be more often....he’d learn to add a little more patience to his supply of the stuff....

And maybe for once he didnt have to be negative, with no more tension for now to be broken.

The end.

 Ok holy shit its finally finished!! This was over 7k goddamn words of emotion and holy shit was it a rollercoaster to write

THis is what happened when I wake up before 5 in the morning after not being able to sleep much...I apparently bust out 15 whole pages worth of words

Now....to go do my chores real quick and go pass the fuck out for an hour or two of sleep

I hope you guys liked it!!!

taglist

@phantommoonpeople @sweetsweetemo @leesacrakon @amazable01 @strawberryjellystuff @heyhelloitsk @jemthebookworm @max-is-tired @seriously-a-dragon @sar-kasstic @soupspam @riarities @yalltookmyurlideas @unsocialchapeau @hyperions-stallion @aqua-mazing @pancakewithamace @dee-ree-vee @sensibleghost @ro-roowo @baby-duck-boy @wack-ismygender

[kumeko]

Title: goodbye my hopeless dream

A/N: For the Sylvgrid BB, for watercolorvigilante’s heartbreaking work. I love the angst of separating the Faerghus Four.

Summary: Five years ago, Sylvain had thought they could fix it all. That they could bring Dimitri to the Alliance, that they could end the war and save everyone. Yet…Felix lay face down, Ingrid sobbing on her knees, and Dimitri frozen forever mid snarl. He wasn’t sure how he could pick the pieces up after this, but he had to try.

…

…

…

…

Something was burning. Sylvain stuck his lance in the dirt carelessly, ignoring every lesson he’d ever learned about proper weapon care, and closed his eyes. Something was burning. Possibly someone, the air was full of fat and smoke and his throat grew drier with every breath. There were dozens of small fires nearby, the only outcome in the middle of a battlefield, where mages scorched the earth and fiery arrows rained down on their ashes.

 He opened his eyes. Before him spread a war-torn field, survivors picking dragging themselves off the fields and to their respective armies. Something bitter filled his mouth as he saw the bodies strewn across the field, blood pooling in the mud. Crows cawed as they perched on bare trees, their beady eyes taking in the field, and vultures circled above as they eyed their food.

 Five years ago, the Battle of Lion and Eagle had been nothing like this. Five years ago, they had all been just kids fighting for bragging rights and victory letters to send home, for stories to seduce strangers and that shiny glory that had seemed all too important at the time.

 Five years ago, he had been in with the Kingdom, not the Alliance. Now his Golden Deer family were scattered across the field, helping each other back. The Empire was long gone, Edelgard leaving behind the wounded and the dead alike. The Kingdom was torn apart, shredded into pieces. And Dimitri…

Sylvain shivered at the memory. The one-eyed, raging monster he’d seen hours ago hadn’t been any friend he’d known. The only thing that had motivated him was a long-nursed hatred, one that Sylvain hadn’t seen for all the years he’d known him.

 Or maybe he had avoided seeing it, just like how he was now avoiding the dead spread around him, trying not to look at their faces. He didn’t want to see another classmate he used to sneak out with, another beauty he’d flirted with in the shadows.

 He was certain Ingrid was doing the exact opposite. She’d always had a masochist streak and unlike him was probably all too intent on memorizing every person she’d killed.

 Sylvain looked up. It had been hours since he’d seen her Pegasus. “Ingrid?”

 Dread filled him and he yanked his lance out of the dirt. This was Ingrid he was thinking of. She was unkillable. Even Felix’s hardest glares and Sylvain’s worst lies hadn’t done the job.

 “It’ll be fine,” he muttered. Whistling, he waited impatiently for his steed to gallop over. His horse’s silken mane was matted in blood and dirt. Grabbing the saddle, Sylvain slung himself over. “I bet I look just as bad,” he murmured, patting his horse’s neck once before squeezing his thighs. “When we find Ingrid, I’ll make sure she gives you her special mixture.”

 His horse nickered and quickly trotted through the field. Sylvain scanned his surroundings as they moved, searching for the pure white Pegasus or even just Ingrid’s blonde hair. As he looked, he avoided checking the bodies, refused to check the bodies.

 There was no need.

 Ingrid wouldn’t be lying in the dirt like that. Not after all the times she’d yelled at him for his slovenly room.

 Instead of blonde, he spotted pink. He turned his head.

 Ingrid would have stopped.

 Sylvain gritted his teeth and guided his horse across the field. A tired, limping Hilda looked up blearily. With her stockings torn, hair awry, and a nasty cut along her chest, she looked as bad as he felt. She even dragged her axe instead of carrying it. “Hey.”

 “Hey.” He slipped off his horse, wrapping an arm around her waist as he helped her out of the ditch. “You’ve looked better.”

 “I’d say you’ve looked worse, but that’s a lie.” Hilda grinned crookedly as she leaned on him. She felt impossibly small, nothing at all like the mischievous woman who was Claude’s right hand. “Glad you made it.”

 “Me too.” Sylvain swallowed. “Did you see Ingrid?”

 He held his breath as she frowned and shook her head. “No…not for a while.” Noticing his face, Hilda squeezed his arm reassuringly. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s a strong bitch.”

 Sylvain couldn’t laugh at the old joke. They’d exchanged it many times after Ingrid had scolded them or knocked them on their asses during practice. “She’s really strong.” His voice came out more of a whisper than he’d intended.

 “The strongest,” she agreed, pulling away. Leaning on her axe, she patted his back. “You go find her.”

 Sylvain hesitated. “Your chest—”

 “Needs Marianne’s loving attention,” Hilda interrupted, winking. Though, with the dirt streaked on her cheeks and her pale skin, she didn’t look half as flirty as she acted. “I can make it back from here.” She forced herself to stand a little straighter but for all her acting, she couldn’t hide her wince. “Who knows, maybe Ingrid’s there already. She’ll be too busy nursing me to health to take care of you.”

 Hilda waggled her brows. He wanted to smile but he couldn’t muster the energy.

 Ingrid would have helped her regardless.

 For all of her faith in him, he’d never been half as good as she’d hoped and not even a quarter as good as she was. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, letting his guilt and fear chase him as he vaulted onto his horse once more, spurring it through the field as though death itself were after them.

 Hilda wasn’t critically injured, at least. She could stand and she could joke and one of the others would find her in no time. They’d laugh about it later and she’d tease that he had tunnel vision when it came to Ingrid. The dense idiot that she was, Ingrid wouldn’t understand until maybe years down the road, when he told her everything.

 He clenched his fist. “Ingrid? INGRID!”

 The only response were the grunts and moans as other survivors crawled, hoping someone, anyone could come to their rescue. He’d save them all after he found Ingrid. He’d personally pick them up, carry them to Flayn and Manuela. He’d even wrap their bandages himself.

 He just had to find Ingrid first.

 “Sylvain!”

 A familiar gold caught his eye, and for a moment Sylvain thought Ingrid before realizing it was Claude’s torn cloak. He pulled his reins tight, heels digging into his horse as he came to a stop just beside the tired leader. Byleth wasn’t by his side for once. Maybe she was out there, picking up her former students.

 Maybe she’d already found Hilda.

 “Claude.” Sylvain tried to smile. It came out like a grimace. “Have you seen Ingrid?”

 “Straight to the point, huh?” Claude chuckled wryly, pulling his gloves off his fingers. His arms had small burns on them, the attacks of enemy mages, and Sylvain tried not to think how much that must have hurt as he loosed arrow after arrow. “No, not yet.”

 “Hilda’s that way,” Sylvain blurted out, unable to stop himself. He jabbed over his shoulder. “She’ll need help.”

 “Oh.” Claude blinked, resting his hand on the flank of Sylvain’s horse as he looked. His dragon wasn’t with him. Sylvain tried not to wonder why. “I’ll get her then. Thanks.”

 They stood there a moment, neither of them moving. Sylvain’s horse panted, nostrils flaring as he caught his breath.

 “I…I didn’t think it’d end like this,” Claude admitted quietly, barely audible over the wind. “Edelgard…I knew she wouldn’t listen, but Dimitri?”

 It was like a gut punch, remembering Dimitri. When he and Ingrid had heard Dimitri had survived his execution, they’d sworn to bring him over to Claude’s side. Dimitri had been a reasonable person, after all. He should have been reasonable now.

 Goddess, why hadn’t he been reasonable now? Sylvain thought, looking away. “I thought he’d come around.”

 “Me too. We could have avoided so much…” Claude trailed off. It wasn’t like simple bloodshed could describe everything they’d experienced here today.

 “Maybe next time,” Sylvain croaked, licking his chapped lips nervously. The air was still far too dry. It was hard to breathe. “We can talk to Dimitri again. Maybe after he’s had time to calm down.”

 Claude snapped his head to him, his expression unreadable. After a few, heart-pounding seconds, he pointed to his left. “Is that a Pegasus?”

 Immediately, Sylvain jerked his head up. Further up the hill, almost at the treeline, he could just make out a white horse. A pure white horse, sitting on the ground.

 It had to be a Pegasus. It had to be Ingrid’s. He squeezed his thighs, urging his horse into a gallop as he hastily shouted, “Thanks!”

 He really did have tunnel vision. Sylvain couldn’t tell anyone, even himself, how he got to Ingrid, what the route was like, anything really. He just kept his eyes fixed on the white horse, watched as its sides became wings and the saddle on its back took on the familiar markings of Ingrid’s. There was no blood on it, as far as he could tell, no injuries at all aside from a few ruffled feathers.

 That was good, right? It must have been tired after the long fight. Maybe Ingrid was letting it rest before heading to camp. “Ingrid?” he called out as he reached, jumping off his horse without even waiting for a response.

 The silence worried him. She wasn’t beside her steed and she’d never abandon her partner. “Where is she?” he murmured, patting her Pegasus’s nose. Her partner whickered, turning to his right and further up the hill. A bright green cloak stood out amongst the bushes, a familiar coil of blonde braided hair crowning it.

 Ingrid.

 She was kneeling next to someone. He could just make out their legs, still and unmoving. Of course, she was taking care of an injured solider, the bleeding heart she was. He’d bet the farm that she hadn’t even thought to look for him before doing that.

 And if she was doing that, she couldn’t be that injured. Sighing with relief, he jogged to her. “There you are.”

 Ingrid looked over her shoulder, cheeks stained with tears. “Sylvain,” she rasped, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

 “Sorry for—” He couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe after he saw Dimitri lying in front of her. His chest squeezed and he stumbled the final few steps to her side.

 Unlike the raging man he’d seen hours ago, Dimitri was utterly still and calm as he lay there. His bright, blue eye stared unseeing at the sky, his mouth half-open as though mid-way through a roar. Ingrid whimpered and Sylvain stared at the lance stuck in Dimitri’s chest.

 Luin.

 Bile rose in his throat and Sylvain barely crawled forward more than a few steps before he vomited in the bushes. Oh no. Oh no no no. He could just picture it now. Dimitri and Ingrid. And Felix—Sylvain couldn’t stop himself before he looked for a familiar fur-lined jacket.

 There was a sword in his hand. He’d died as he’d lived. Sylvain vomited again.

 “It’s my fault,” Ingrid sobbed, curling into herself. “I’m sorry.”

 His heart broke a second time at the sound. Wiping his mouth, he forced himself to his feet and stumbled back to her side. Sylvain forced back his uneasy stomach, forced back his growing numbness and pain, and gathered her in his arms, crushing her to his chest. “It’s not.”

 “It is,” she repeated, apologizing over and over even as she pressed into him. “It is.”

 And he couldn’t argue with that, not when her lance was in Dimitri’s chest. It wasn’t like five years ago, when she’d been crushed after they’d changed houses—no one could have predicted the looming war, the fact that they’d be disowned by their own families for something as simple as following their beliefs.

 It wasn’t like years ago, after Glen’s death, when Dimitri had broken down, Felix had hardened, and Ingrid had holed herself in her room. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault then. They’d been just kids, taking on more than they should have.

 Now, there was only Ingrid.

 And Dimitri’s blood was on her hands.

 Bile rose once more, pricking his tongue, but he forced it back down. She’d break if he said anything else. She’d break and then he’d break with her. Sylvain buried his face in her hair and shook his head. “Not true.”

 “I…I did it,” she sobbed, her fingers digging into his sides.

 “He would have killed you.” He realized the truth of his words as he said them. Dimitri would have killed her. The others from their house might not have. Annette and Mercedes and maybe even Dedue could have been talked down, but not Dimitri.

 Dimitri hadn’t been himself for a long while.

 Maybe he’d always been like that. Felix had been right, calling him a boar.

 “He would have killed you,” he repeated, stronger now, hugging her tighter. Sylvain could hear her breath, hear her heart beat like a frightened rabbit. She was alive. She was in one piece. She’d made it through. “You had to protect yourself.”

 “I could have injured him,” she mumbled, pressing herself closer as though to hide away from it all. “I could have knocked him out.”

 “Anyone else, sure, but not Dimitri. Never Dimitri.” Sylvain closed his eyes. Even before it all, Dimitri would never let himself get captured. Killed, sure, but never captured. “He’s too strong. Was too strong.”

 The was stung, burned on his tongue like an ember. Felix had been loyal. Dimitri had been a friend. They’d never be anything else anymore. They might never be anything but the two, angry bodies on the grass. It was hard to remember their smiles when all he could picture was their pale, frozen faces.

 “I should have tried,” she insisted, shoulders shaking as she cried. “I should have…I…he’s dead, Sylvain. Dead. They both are and I…”

 “I know, I know.” Sylvian stroked her hair, pulling back just enough to press a tender kiss on her forehead. Years ago, she’d done the same for him when he’d killed his brother; he wasn’t sure when he’d started looking at her differently, but he was certain the roots of it had been then. He hoped it brought her twice as much comfort as it had given him, this warmth, this forgiveness and love and gentle acceptance.

 She wailed, a wordless cry that sounded more animal than human. He remembered the maids talking about banshees and their mournful screams, and it had to sound something like this. Still stroking her hair, he let her cry it all out, his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see Dimitri or Felix. There was probably a better way to help. Mercedes and Annette had been good at it. He should have learned from them when he had the chance.

 He should have done so much more before this all happened, but he’d been barely able to help himself for years, let alone others.

 And now it was just them.

 No, not just them. Sylvain bit his cheek. That was what had caused this war in the first place, this stubborn belief that they had to stand alone. That was why he and Ingrid had left the Blue Lions in after all, for Claude’s vision of unity. There was Raphael and his hugs, Hilda and her jokes, even Marianne and her quiet companionship.

 He could try again. Better this time, in fact. Ingrid hiccupped and he pulled away slightly, still keeping her in the circle of his arms. Now that he was looking at her properly, he could see the cuts on her arms, the gash on her side. Small injuries, for fighting Dimitri, but injuries nonetheless. Sylvain knew every trick in the book when it came to convincing Ingrid to do something that was good for her, even if it was something as unrelenting as guilt.

 “Let’s go back to camp together,” he suggested gently, brushing her hair out of her face. Her puffy eyes, still red from her tears, started to slide away from his, to where Dimitri’s corpse grew colder with the passing minute. Before she could, he carefully cupped her cheek, forcing her to stay still. “We need to get patched up.”

 “But…Di…Dimitri and Felix,” she mumbled, not fighting him for once.

 “We can get them later.” Sylvain didn’t even have to try this time, he just smiled. She’d always been able to draw those out of him, even if she never realized it. “I’ll come back.”

 “Me…Me too.” Ingrid shook her head. “I’ll help.”

 He bit his lip before reluctantly nodding. There was time to argue about that later. “Okay. Can you stand?”

 She nodded. Sylvain wrapped an arm around her waist, slowly hoisting her up as he stood. Keeping his grip firm, he called for his horse. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to fly, so let’s take my horse, okay?”

 “Sure.” She sounded distracted, but he didn’t think much of it. With everything that happened, it was hard to focus. As his horse stopped beside him, he let go and quickly adjusted the saddle bags and straps. “You get on first.”

 Ingrid didn’t reply and when he turned around, she was beside Dimitri once more. Silently, he cursed himself as he ran back to her side. “Ingrid!”

 She didn’t respond, unbuckling her cloak instead. Gently, she spread it out over Dimitri’s body, covering him like she used to put blankets on them as kids, all tired out from practice. Leaning forward, she pressed a chaste kiss on his cold forehead. “Could you give me your cloak?” she asked, her expression unreadable.

 Sylvain didn’t hesitate before yanking what was left of his off and draping it gently on her shoulders. Ingrid shook her head, pulling it off. “It’s not for me.”  

 She moved a little further into the forest, to Felix this time, and tucked the cloak around him. Her fingers shook as she brushed his hair out of his face. Kissing him on the cheek, she whispered something he couldn’t hear before getting up.

 “Let’s go back.” Ingrid grabbed his hand now and this time he didn’t let go.

 “Yeah.” He didn’t ask her what she said. Sylvain had his own, private words for them, things he’d never repeat to anyone. When they reached his horse, he still kept his grip tight as he hopped on first. She raised a brow, the closest to a positive expression he’d seen so far. Not bothering to explain, he helped pull her up, settling her on his lap in a side-saddle manner.

 “I haven’t ridden like this since we were kids,” Ingrid commented, a little stiff as she looked at her dangling feet.

 “Not since you realized knights had to ride on their own.” He waited a second before asking. “Just this once?”

 “It’s silly.” Yet, she didn’t jump off, didn’t protest, just leaned against him.

 He released the breath he didn’t know he was holding as he wrapped his arms around her, taking the reins and urging his horse into a gentle trot. “That’s not a bad thing.”

 “No, it’s not.” She closed her eyes. “Thanks.”  

[the-voltage-diaries]

I’ll Stay by Your Side, Every Night - Soryu Oh

For our very own, @joaxotome​; one of the sweetest, kindest, and most amazing humans I have had the honour to meet. I don’t think I write Soryu that well, because the last Soryu piece I wrote was over a year ago lmao, but I tried. I hope you like this, Joanne. Thank you for being such an amazing ball of energy who can cheer anyone up in a mere few seconds. Love you. <3

Also, since you said you love yourself some angst to love, I tried to make it come true. Cheers to me writing better Soryu fics, hahaha.

This one’s for the discord exchange, and I’d just like to take a moment to thank our very own @voltage-vixen​ for hosting this beautiful event <3!!

TW: Angst (with fluff... or so I hope.) This work is based around the ideas of abuse; mental, emotional, physical. If you are in any way uncomfortable with that, do not read this. 

“Are you going to cry now?” He smirks, his eyes glinting in a way that make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

All I see is black as my eyelids force shut, not wanting to look at his face for a second longer, too scared to think about what will happen to me if I do.

“Hahaha,” he laughs and I sense him bending low, his face coming closer to mine. “Look at you, scared and shivering like the mess you are.” I shift uncomfortably, feeling his breath creating warm spots on my neck as his voice lowers, almost down to a whisper, “You asked for it, baby.”

“Ugh!” I jolt, my groan muffled against the cloth stuffing my mouth when I feel his fingers stroke the sides of my waist, teasing, testing the waters.

And then, before I know it, his palm comes to rest on my chin and in one swift motion his fingers pull out the dirty piece of fabric gagging me. My eyes burn with unshed tears at the pain in my mouth, caused by the sudden pull, and I take a deep breath, refusing to admit defeat in front of this bastard.

It’s okay. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. I’ll survive. I know I will. At least I hope I will.

“Baby,” he purrs, almost as if coaxing me, “Open those beautiful eyes of yours for me, won’t you?”

My breathing shallows and goosebumps show up on my skin at the nickname, the way he calls out to me in that god forsaken voice.

His rugged fingertips graze the corners of my jaw, almost as if luring me back into him, back into that web of pain, lies and suffering. “Look at me,” he whispers, and I shiver at the tilt in his tone, reminding me of the days when things between us started to go awry. “Don’t worry Joanne, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Just as his fingers tighten around my jaw, I hear the sound of a mobile ringing. He clicks his tongue in annoyance, and my sigh of relief goes unnoticed. I hear his footsteps as they back off and walk in the direction of the device which refuses to stop ringing.

My guess is that he picks up the incoming call, because no sooner than his feet stop do I hear him let out a muted, “What is it?” Again, I hear his footsteps move away, and then a door opens, and then it shuts. And then? Complete silence.

My uneven breaths echo in the silence so eerie you would hear it if a snail moved.

As I try to calm myself down, my mind chooses the worst distraction it possibly could have; my past with this man.

When did we become like this? Why did we become like this? What went wrong?

We had started off on such good terms. Both of us were madly in love. He was the perfect boyfriend; he would take me out on dates, message me constantly, shower me with his love, call me nicknames, spend time with me... or so I thought.

About a year into our relationship I realised how badly had I fucked up. I realised how blind I was to the changes in his behaviour; the way I didn’t notice how him taking me out on dates turned into him forcing me out when I didn’t want to go, just to show me off as his trophy girlfriend, how his constant messaging turn into something obsessive, how him showering me with his love turned into showering me with his abuses, how calling me nicknames turned into calling me a whore or a slut whenever I so much as even looked at someone else, the gender didn’t matter, how him spending time with me turned into him gluing himself to my side, never once leaving me.

Always on the look-out for when I’d commit even the slightest of errors. Because then he would unleash all his names, curses, abuses at me; making me feel like I didn’t deserve to be loved.

Well, maybe I didn’t.

Over time, those curses and abuses turned physical as he turned more violent, slapping me or beating me up for even the most minor of mistakes. Those verbal slurs turned emotional, making me feel like I didn’t deserve to be alive. Hah, what a cheeky little failure.

“Heh,” I scoff at myself, laughing at how naive I was to not realise when our love turned into something that would make most people sick to their core.

What makes me feel the most miserable about our past is that I allowed myself to be used and abused. Even when he didn’t reply to my texts, ignored me for days sometimes, and clearly had stopped even so much as glancing my way... I still hadn’t given up.

Not until that one fateful day when I saw him. In my bed. With not just one, but two bloody women.

Silly girl, one of his sex friends had said, smirking in all her naked glory, can’t you see the truth right in front of you? This is his little kingdom, and you’re not the queen anymore.

“Argh,” I groan, my thoughts coming back to the present when I feel my bound wrists numb with pain at a tear in the thin skin that covers them. Rolling my shoulders to forget about the pain for the time being, I pull at the rope tying my wrists behind my back, in futile hopes that it would come loose.

“Ah, I always loved the feisty side you hid underneath all that cute drama.”

I jump and my body freezes in its spot, my eyes widening at the proximity of his voice.

In my peripheral vision I see his face, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder with him standing right behind me.

When did he come back?

“While you were too busy reminiscing about the beautiful bubble you had created for yourself with me,” he chuckles, as if reading my mind. Looking at the way my eyes refuse to un-widen, he continues, “You were always easy to read. Now weren’t you, Joanne?”

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper, my head bent, refusing to stay up any longer.

“Because, Joanne,” he starts, a lewd smirk lining his face when I let out a choked sob on the use of my name, “I want you to have your epiphany.”

“My what?” I ask, looking up at him, wondering if I heard him right.

“Your epiphany,” he repeats. I feel the throbbing in my wrists relax as the ropes slowly come undone, surprising me. He slowly walks around me, coming to a stop just in front of me. My heart only pounds faster when I catch the glint of the knife in his hands. “I want you to realise what a useless little bitch you are without me in your life. Nobody loves you, kitten. Nobody did, nobody would.”

“Stop...” I whisper, bowing my head in defeat, trying to mute out all his words in an attempt to stop them from having their effect on me.

“You, Joanne, are a pretty little good for nothing.” He smiles, his palm resting on my shoulders. “Your friends run away from you, your peers refuse to talk to you. Ever wondered why?”

No, Joanne. Don’t listen. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Every thing will be fine. Just breathe.

“Because, oh darling,” he murmurs, dragging the knife’s tip up my neck, slowly, “you are so very broken and no one cares to notice.”

“I trusted you,” I say, finding the courage to meet his eyes from god-knows-where. I meet his challenging gaze head on, trying to sound as angry and frustrated as I feel, “I trusted you so much.”

“Well then you can’t exactly blame me, can you? It was your mistake.”

“What the fuck do you want?!” I yell, immediately regretting it when I see how his smile turns from teasing to predatory.

“What do I want?” He mutters, bringing his face so close to mine I can feel his disgusting breath on my lips. He drags the tip of the knife lower... and lower... and lower, until it reaches my abdomen.

I can’t think.

“You want to know what I want, Joanne?”

I can’t breathe.

"I want so many things," he whispers. "I want your mind. Your strength. I want to be worth your time." 

His eyes hold me still, as if commanding me to stay where I am.

His fingers graze the hem of my top and he says, "I want this up." He tugs on the waist of my pants and says, "I want this down." He touches the tips of his fingers to the sides of my body and mutters, "I want to feel your skin on fire. I want to feel your heart racing next to mine and I want to know it's racing because of me, because you want me. 

And then I hear the sound of something sharp piercing skin, and the sound of blood oozing out. My eyes slowly travel down to look at my waist where the knife rests, buried deep in my body.

Because you never, " he breathes and pulls me up to him, and looking up, in the depths of his eyes I see the formation of something that makes me lose my mind, "never want me to stop. I want every second. I want every inch of you. I want all of it." He smirks, pushing the knife deeper into me as his fingers come to rest on my chest, where I feel my heart pound, "I want your soul."

And I drop dead, all over the floor.

“Joanne?” I hear a voice call out my name. It’s almost distant. Almost.

All I see is pitch black as I feel my heart pound out of control and my body grow hot.

“Joanne, love,” The voice says, insistent, and it’s as if my body automatically relaxes a little at the familiarity of it. “Can you hear me? Wake up, baby.”

I feel the urge to reach out and grab at the voice, and so I do. I stretch out a hand into the darkness that surrounds me, in the hopes of grasping on to something, not knowing what it is.

“JOANNE, WAKE UP!” I sense someone’s fingers curl around mine, grabbing my outstretched hand, and pulling me towards a strong, warm chest, immediately jolting me awake.

“Wha-What?” I whisper, not quite catching up with what is going on. All I see in front of me is a navy blue hoodie, covering a broad, strong frame, and I look up to meet a familiar pair of eyes, as calming and deep as the ocean.

“Hi,” he says, giving me a relieved smile. But for some reason, while my body calms down, my mind delves right back into the state of panic as I feel my nightmare overlapping with my reality.

“Get away from me!” I yell, pushing him away, and jump away from the bed, running to the opposite end of the room.

“Joanne?” He calls out, his eyes widening in surprise, maybe not expecting me to run away. Oh no, maybe I angered him. Maybe he will beat me up now. Oh no.

“Don’t take my name!” I say, covering my ears. I can still hear his voice ringing in my head, letting my name out from his sickening lips.

He gets out from the bed, slowly, steadily, and looks at me with a warm, comforting gaze, “It’s me, Joanne. It’s Soryu.”

“S-Soryu?” I murmur, slowly looking up to meet his eyes. I try to calm my ragged breathing down as I gradually start registering what is going on. But the moment he takes a step towards me, I immediately jump back.

“Love,” he coaxes, “at least let me clean you up. You’re all sweaty.”

Wait. I am?

It’s when he says that do I notice the state I am in; my face wet with tears, my body sticky with sweat and my fingers trembling with fear.

‘... Joanne, I’m not going to hurt you.’

“Come here,” Soryu says, opening his arms for me.

“Why?”

“Just come here,” he mumbles, taking a step forward.

“No!” I shout, stopping him in his tracks as I flinch away. “You’re going to hit me.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Joanne.”

“I’ve heard those words before.”

He looks at me, his hair still a mess, and in that moment in the pale moonlight he looks more handsome and more human than I have ever seen him. “I guess I’m asking you to trust me,” he says, opening his arms wide, once again, for me to fall into. 

I stand there, shaking in fear for a moment, but when I see his deep, grey orbs look at me with so much longing and care, I finally start to take slow, deliberate steps towards him.

Within a few steps, I fall into his strong embrace, letting it consume me and make me forget about whatever I dreamed of.

When his fingers comfortingly start stroking my back with extreme patience and give me that sense of security I was so desperately searching for is when the dam breaks and all the tears I had been holding in rush out.

He stands there, silent as a graveyard, patting my back in a rhythmic pattern, not once judging.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask not being able to think of an answer myself.

“Doing what?” He murmurs, his voice muffled by my hair as he rests his mouth against my head, kissing the spot before staying there.

“Treating me like a person,” I whisper.

“I’m doing this because,” he starts, pulling away to look in my eyes. His fingers gently grab my chin, guiding my face towards his, to make sure our eyes are locked, “I love you, Joanne.”

My lips form a smile when I realise how much he means every one of his words. “I love you too, Soryu.”

He smiles, his fingertips stroking my cheek, patient. His other arm wraps around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“What are you thinking?” I ask, my fingers reaching up to play with the soft fabric of his hoodie.

“I’m thinking of how I want-” he stops when he sees my face go pale.

‘I want your soul.’

“Never mind what I want,” he whispers, effectively stopping me from going too far into my nightmares again. “What do you want?”

“You.”

I suck a breath, surprising myself at how I don’t even waste a second to say it to him.

Always you.

“Love,” he brings his face closer to mine, his voice low, “You already have all of me.”

I gasp at the amount of emotion in his voice, the ineffable level of care those eyes hold for me, and he bends lower, his lips almost touching mine.

“May I?” he asks...

... when he doesn’t need to. I smile, gently standing on my tip-toes and pressing our lips together.

[pandastern]

Gravity (Bakugou x OC)

Part 7: A Soldier’s Strength

Bakugou x Vigilante!OC

Warnings: angst, explicit language, violence

Word count: 3488

Genre: enemies to lovers ; angst ; romance, slow burn

When a new student makes an entrance, Bakugou has a real bad feeling. There is something about this girl that just doesnt feel right. From the flaming hair to the calculating glint in her green eyes, everything about her just pisses him off.

Little does he know that his fate is intertwined with the person he despises so much, defining his future path in a way he would have never expected.

“That should be all of them,” Kirishima said, wiping the sweat off his brow as the last of the villains that had attacked them fell unconscious to the ground.

“For now, anyway,” Bakugou growled.

After their attack on the portal villain had gone awry, they’d been sent here, straight into the middle of a group of waiting villains.Bakugou and Kirishima had fought hard and managed to overpower them, though even Bakugou couldn’t deny that it had taken a good chunk of energy out of him. His arms hurt from using his quirk so vigorously. He was well aware that they needed to be careful with their strength. God only knew how many more of those villains were around. Not to mention that wispy bastard. 

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” said Kirishima. “I’m guessing since we’re still here, the others must be inside the USJ. Now that we’re finished here, we should try and find them. They probably need our help, especially since we’re the reason we ended up in this mess. If we hadn’t attacked that portal guy, Thirteen could have just sucked him up... Yo, Bakubro, are you listening?”

Bakugou was, in fact, not listening. His mind was running over the events leading up to this fight. After their failed attack, the black clouds of the portal had engulfed them and dragged them away. He remembered clearly how the wispy villain’s tendrils had wrapped around Artemis’s body, whisking her away by herself.

He looked around. The five villains that had waited for him and Kirishima were still down on the floor. What if Artemis had had to face similar odds? Bakugou could feel his own exhaustion clawing at him, and Kirishima didn’t seem to be much better off. Even though the villains hadn’t exactly been the strongest, it was the amount of them that they had to keep on eye on. Shit. If Artemis really was alone, this could mean serious trouble for her. The image of her face popped up in his head and something in him tensed. Would she be okay?

He shook his head. Of course she’d be okay. As angry as the memory made him, Artemis had wiped the fucking floor with him in their fight. That girl was a force to be reckoned with. Of course she was okay. She had to be.

Unease rose within his stomach. Why was he even worried about her? Perhaps he felt responsible for her in a way, since anything that happened to her now would be indirectly his fault. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Bakugou shook his head. No, Artemis would be fine. She was strong and fierce. Not that he cared, obviously.

The sound of a bullet hissing through the air past his ear and hitting the wall just inches away from Kirishima’s face ripped him out of his train of thought. Hearing his classmate yelp in surprise, he whipped around, ready to blast the next enemy to kingdom come. He spotted a man dressed in black leather gear in the broken window of the rundown room they were trapped in. The barrel of a gun pointed directly at his face. Shit. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, making his skin prickle. He may be fast, but not faster than a fucking gun! No use in stalling his attack. He needed to hurry. He raised his gauntlet hand and got ready to fire.

With a slam, the door burst open and something sharp hissed into the room. A long ice arrow buried itself into the gunman’s left shoulder. The momentum of the shot knocked the villain off his feet with a pained cry.

Bakugou’s red eyes flickered to the direction from where the arrow had come.

Artemis stood in the doorway, swirling water bow in hand, a wild look in her eyes that sent a shiver down his spine.

For a moment, silence fell over the room as Bakugou’s brain tried to process what had just happened. He realised that she’d shot that man without so much as a hesitation to save them. 

“Whoa, Artemis! Are you okay?” Kirishima’s voice pulled him back to the present.

Kirishima was already on the way to the door. He caught Artemis just before her knees buckled and she sank down to the ground.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, pushing his hands off her.

“Artemis, you’re… you’re covered in blood,” Kirishima gasped as he looked her over.

Bakugou stepped closer, taking a closer look at her. Kirishima was right. Artemis had several blood splatters across her PE uniform. Her clothes were ripped in several places and bruises covered her skin. He noticed a particularly nasty cut on her cheek and right upper arm.

Artemis pushed Kirishima off her again and rose to her feet. “Don’t shit yourself, Kirishima. It’s not my blood.”

“Is that supposed to calm me down? What the hell happened?”

“Villains. Would you rather it be my blood?” Artemis snapped at him.

“Wha- Of course not!” Kirishima gasped.

Bakugou stayed in the background as he observed the situation. A surprising wave of relief washed over him. Artemis was fine. She couldn’t be that bad, considering how she was yapping about again. A few bruises and cuts didn’t usually kill anyone, right? But something about that wild look in her eyes was… alarming.

Ignoring Kirishima’s protests, Artemis walked over to one of the villains lying on the ground and poked them with her foot.

“They’re out cold,” Bakugou growled, crossing his arms. “I made sure of that.”

Instead of answering, Artemis closed her eyes and kept still for several seconds. A familiar anger bubbled up in Bakugou’s gut. He really didn’t like being ignored. “Oi! I said-” he barked, but Artemis held up a hand to stop him. “I can see that,” she said before looking up. “Kirishima, help me out.”

“S-sure.”

She started to strip off her PE jacket. What in the hell was she doing now, Bakugou thought. There were no snide undertones, no cockyness in her voice anymore. Just clear-cut seriousness, like a veteran soldier emerging from his latest battle.

“What exactly are we doing?” Kirishima asked as he helped Artemis put her jacket onto one of the unconscious villains.

“There’s someone on the roof of the building next to us. I want to check something,” she replied.

“And how would you know if someone is on the roof? You came from the back, genius!” Bakugou protested. “Have you got an x-ray vision quirk now, too?”

“No, you idiot. I sensed him,” Artemis replied.

“Sensed him? How?”

Artemis sighed deeply, as if she were having to explain something simple to a child. God, he hated it when she got like this. How the fuck was he supposed to know what kind of stealth wizard magic she had?

“My quirk, Bakugou,” Artemis replied calmly. “I can manipulate and sense water molecules. That means I can read heartbeats. My quirk picks up on water molecules in a person’s blood and can read how fast it’s circulating by the pressure of the heartbeat”

Silence fell as both boys tried to process what she’d just dropped on them.

“Wait, hold on.” Kirishima laughed nervously. “So, what you’re saying is that… you can feel how fast water moves through the body by the pressure of the heart?”

“Exactly that. There’s someone on the roof and their heartbeat is slow and steady. In other words, they’re pretty confident of their position. And since it’s unlikely for one of our classmates to be this calm, I’m pretty sure whoever that person is, they’re bad news.”

The gears in Bakugou’s head had already started turning. It made sense. Blood was essentially water, after all. He remembered how Artemis had drawn the moisture out of the vegetation around them as they’d fought, how the grass and plants had turned to dust, dried up and dead. A shiver ran down his spine. Was she able to do that with everything? Plants and the air was one thing, but what about animals and...  people?

As quick as that thought entered his mind, he pushed it away. No. Who did he think Artemis was? Jesus, or something? No way. While she wasn’t someone to be taken lightly, she certainly wasn’t that strong. UA wouldn’t let someone that dangerous loose among them, would they?

Bakugou watched as Kirishima helped Artemis dress the villain in her uniform jacket and drag him towards the door.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” he asked in a gruff tone.

Kirishima just shrugged. So, Crazy Eyes hadn’t told him anything, either? How annoying. 

“Don’t pout, Bakugou. You’ll see soon enough,” Artemis grumbled before turning back to Kirishima again. “On three, throw him outside the door.”

Kirishima frowned in confusion. Bakugou’s fingers itched for his quirk. Even injured, she still had the strength to look down on him. To think that he’d been worried for her safety just a moment ago…

“The body should be visible from the roof there,” Artemis said.

Bakugou watched as Kirishima shrugged and followed along. A slight suspicion started to grow inside him. Was she gonna use that villain as bait? Begrudgingly. he had to admit that this wasn’t the worst plan he’d ever heard of.

Artemis grunted as she helped Kirishima pick up the body. Bakugou narrowed his eyes. Had she just flinched, or had he imagined it? With a groan, he stepped closer and pulled her off the villain.

“Hey!” she protested, but he ignored her and took her place.

“Just fucking admit that youre tired, woman! You’re gonna kill yourself like that,” he grumbled.

He sensed Kirishima raise his eyebrow, but one glare made him look away quickly. He wasn’t doing this because he cared. Of course he didn’t care. He was doing this because should Artemis overexert herself, he’d be the one who’d have to protect her and that was absolutely not on the goddamn table. 

Bakugou took a deep breath to steady himself. Giving Kirishima a nod, they counted to three and threw.

The body of the villain, clad in Artemis’s PE jacket, hadn’t even hit the ground before a gunshot echoed through the air. The bullet pierced the villain through the neck. Bakugou’s blood froze. Looking over to Kirishima, he could see him pale as well. 

“Tch.” The sound of a tongue clicking in annoyance made him whip around.

Artemis stood unfazed, her brows furrowed as if she’d just encountered a minor inconvenience in her plans. How was she not scared? There were people out to fucking kill them. With bullets!

And here she was, acting like this was just a normal, everyday situation. 

“Of course it would be a sniper.”

“You knew,” Bakugou said flatly. “How did you know?”

Directing her attention back to him, Artemis crossed her arms and took a deep breath.

“I didn’t know, but I had a suspicion,” she replied in a calm voice that sent shivers down his spine. “No one in combat is that calm on a roof during a battle. In my experience, it’s usually snipers.”

“Your experience?” kirishima asked, his voice laced with disbelief. “What the hell did they teach you at that school in Europe? That’s crazy!”

That seemed to catch her off guard a little bit. Artemis shook her head and crossed her arms. “Let’s just say my education was… thorough.”

Thorough, huh? Bakugou could tell that wasn’t entirely the truth. Again, Artemis was hiding something, being vague with who she was. It irked him to the point where he just wanted to grab and shake her.

“So, what exactly are we gonna do now?” Kirishima asked. “I mean, I can be bulletproof for a period of time, but I don’t think I’d be able to shield both of you to get out of here.”

“Just point me in the direction of that sniper and I’ll blast him right off,” Bakugou growled, cracking his knuckles.

“You’d both be dead before you could even reach them,” Artemis interjected.

God, Bakugou hated it when she was right. He turned towards her, eyes narrowing. “What do you propose, then? You seem to have something cooking in that freaky brain of yours.”

For a moment, Artemis froze in place, as if he had managed to catch her off guard.

“Well…” she started tugging at her bottom lip, a habit he’d noticed she did whenever she was deep in thought. “I may have a plan, but I’m not sure either of you is gonna like it.”

“Just spit it out, man,” Kirishima said, flashing her a toothy grin.

“Fine. Kirishima, I need you to get out that door and distract the sniper. Meanwhile, Bakugou and I will take the stairs up to the second level.” Her eyes set on Bakugou with an intensity that froze him in place. “I need you to blast yourself into the air while holding me. If I get high enough to take a clear shot, I can take out the enemy without us having to engage in any further combat.”

“You want me to do what?” Bakugou scoffed. “Carry you? What if you miss? You’d leave us open for attack, not to mention give our location away to any other villains in the area.”

“I don’t miss,” Artemis deadpanned. “I never miss. I know this plan isn’t optimal, but it’s the only possible way to get us out of here. I need…”

Bakugous eyes widened as she stepped closer and grabbed him by the wrist. He could clearly feel the trembling of her fingers. “I know you hate me, but just this once, please… trust me.”

Trust her? Was she joking? Every second word that came out of her mouth was a lie! Bakugou was ready to go off on her, when the look on her face made him stop. This girl looked nothing like the calculating soldier he’d seen when she’d first entered the class. Artemis almost looked… vulnerable and human.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Let’s do this.”

He gave Kirishima a nod and waited until Artemis had explained the precise details and timings of her plan before taking the lead up the stairs. He cursed himself for not taking both of his gauntlets to the dome, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

When they reached the second floor, Bakugou opened the window and climbed onto the sill. He held out his hand to Artemis.

“Are you going to be okay? You only have one shot.” Her face was so pale. She really was running on fumes. But he couldn’t let that stop him if he wanted to live. He couldn’t help but feel respect for her for willing to push herself that far.

Taking his hand, Artemis let herself be pulled against him. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna miss. Just blast yourself up and throw me up as high as you can. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Her determination was unbroken, and Bakugou hated that he liked that about her. Taking a deep breath, he waited until he heard Kirishima’s loud voice taunting the villain on the roof and the sound of bullets ricocheting off his hardened skin before jumping. Using as much force as he could possibly muster, Bakugou blasted himself upward with Artemis clinging to him.

“Now, throw me!” Artemis shouted in his ear. He shifted, placing his hands beneath her foot, and launched her as high as he could.

Bakugou watched as her small body twisted in the air, water collecting around her hands to form her bow. She took aim and shot. The loud  thud of an arrow successfully hitting its target echoed through the area. Then she fell.

Quickly blasting upward again, Bakugou caught her in his arms. Now falling together with her, he prepared to lessen the fall with his quirk, but before he could gather his energy, water started to draw towards them and encased them in a bubble.

The moment their bodies hit the ground, the bubble burst, taking most of the blunt force of the impact. Bakugou rolled onto his back, coughing. The landing had knocked the air out of him.

“Well, I gotta say, that went better than expected.” Kirishima’s voice called out to him.

He was right, Bakugou thought. He almost couldn’t believe it himself. He got back onto his feet and looked for Artemis, who’d been unusually quiet since the landing.

Artemis lay on the ground, curled up, writhing slightly. His stomach dropped.

“Artemis!” Bakugou knelt beside her, grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

“I’m fine,” she hissed, her breaths ragged.

Clearly, that was a lie. So, she’d taken a bigger hit than he’d suspected at first. “You’re not. You’re close to collapsing! For fuck’s sake, Artemis, you should have-”

She grabbed his arm with a strength he hadn’t expected, shoved him off and forced herself to her feet again. Was she trying to kill herself? 

“I can still fight! Don’t worry about me. We need to get to the others. The rest isn’t important,” she snapped.

White hot anger bubbled up Bakugou’s gut, setting his veins on fire. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re done! Look at you. If you keep this up, you’re going to fucking die! You won’t be able to help anyone,” he roared.

How could a single girl be so stubborn? Didn’t she care about her own life? Just earlier on the bus, she’d been so arrogant about being a liability in a fight and now here she was! God, he just wanted to smack her.

But before he could snap at her and vent his own anger, a huge explosion made the whole USJ tremble in its foundations.

“What the hell was that?” Kirishima gasped as finally he caught up with them. “There must be a huge fight going on.”

“We need to help them.” Artemis gritted her teeth and started walking.

“No, you dont!”

Bakugou jumped to his feet and went after her with big strides. Enough was enough. He wasn’t about to let her push herself to a point where she’d lose her life through her own stubbornness. If he had to grab her and knock some sense into that thick skull of hers, so help him God, he would.

Artemis had put quite a lot of distance between them when she started to wobble. Bakugou noticed the dangerous sway in her step and sped up, catching her just before her knees buckled.

“Fucking told you, dumbass,” he hissed.

He pulled her into his lap, alarmed at just how hot her skin felt.

“No… I need to…” she mumbled, her speech becoming slightly slurred.

“The fuck do you mean, you need to? You can’t do shit like this! You’ve done enough,” he growled.

A strange wetness spread across her back, soaking through her black shirt and seeping into Bakugou’s glove. Confused, he pulled her closer, his free hand pulling up her shirt to expose the area.

What he saw turned his blood to ice and made his anger simmer down to fear.

There was a deep wound on her back, just below her kidney. The flesh around it had turned an unnatural greenish blue tint. The weaker Artemis grew, the more blood seemed to seep through.

“What the…” he whispered in horror.

When had this happened, and why hadn’t she said anything? How had she just now started bleeding?

“F-fuck,” Artemis whispered weakly, her eyes becoming glassy. “A villain… stabbed me. I held it in… I think… poison.”

Bakugou stared down at her in disbelief. “Held it in? How did you… How the fuck did you even fight with that?”

“Quirk… I controlled my own blood flow.” She coughed weakly. “I had to. It was either fight… or die.”

Artemis struggled in his arms, trying to get up again, but he pushed his arm under her legs and picked her up, putting a stop to her struggles. He needed to get her to the teachers. She was dying. Even he could tell that much.

“Shut the fuck up,” he barked and started walking, Kirishima trailing after him.

Every few steps, he looked down at her, making sure she was still awake. Fear made his head pound. More and more blood leaked from her, soaking his clothes and leaving a trail of droplets.

“You stupid woman,” he growled. “Why didn’t you say anything? You’re fucking dying, goddamnit.”

Why was it that she looked so small and broken in his arms? As if all her walls had finally crumbled.

“I’m… sorry,” Artemis whispered, barely audible. “Thank you… for trusting me. No-one has ever…”

Her voice trailed off and her head fell back. Artemis had lost consciousness.

“Shit! Fucking hell, Artemis, dont you dare!”

In that moment, more shots echoed through the USJ and the loud scream of Present Mic told him that help was here at last. His steps picked up the pace. He needed to get her to the teachers. Now.

[theskyeandsea]

A Seal Out of Water || Ariana & Skylar

Timing: September 28th

Location: Coffee Plus

Tagging: @letsbenditlikebennett & @theskyeandsea

Description: What was intended to be a calm chat over coffee goes slightly awry when a certain unwelcome visitor makes another appearance. Skylar and Ariana inadvertently learn some new secrets about one another.

After her conversation with Ariana online, Skylar had shut her laptop and spent a long time staring hard at her hands. There was so much pain and loss going on in this town. So many people were losing so much. Losing the people they cared about, losing the things that mattered the most, even losing themselves. And… she’d resolved to do what she could to try and stop some of the pain. Which is why she was at the coffee shop now, hoping that Ariana would show. The girl had no obligation to meet with her-- she was an adult, she could make her own decisions and, after all, Skylar didn’t have any real kind of authority over the students at the school. She took a sip from the mug and rubbed her face tiredly. She’d had a long day at work and her wrists hurt a little, but she wanted to be here. She wanted to help. As the door of the coffee shop jingled, she saw Ariana walk in and offered a small wave. “Hey, Ariana.” She said with a soft smile.

In hindsight, maybe dumping the bomb of what happened to Celeste on Skylar had not been her smartest move, but it was no surprise that she’d been kind about it all. Ariana had graciously taken her up on the offer to meet for coffee. While she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to tell her more about what happened, she still couldn't place the different scent that Skylar carried that led her to believe they were more alike than not. If she could just sniff her out again, she could figure it out for sure. Maybe even place it. A small knot of guilt twisted in her stomach. Skylar was being genuinely great, but still, her curiosity was in full swing. She was quick to spot Skylar in the coffee shop and gave her a small wave, “Hey,” she greeted with a small grin that felt out of place somehow, “Thanks for inviting me. I know… Well, I know that was a lot to randomly dump on someone. So this is really cool of you.” 

“It’s okay, really. I’m just glad that you wanted to meet up.” Skylar said her expression warm. She wasn’t sure how best to broach the subject, or if it was even something that Ariana really wanted to talk about. Maybe it was better to just… talk about something else? To pretend that things were normal? But, her sister had died, that sort of thing wasn’t normal. She’d never met the woman before, but she knew that Ariana’s sister was young. Far too young to have died. Then again, she had a feeling that most people thought that they were too young to die. Lifting her coffee mug to her lips, Skylar took a sip before speaking, “Are you-- well,” She paused, shaking her head, “I was going to ask if you were okay, but that’s not quite right. How have you been doing? This summer, but also in general?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I think I had just missed you that time Winston was in the hospital… Not that it would have been a happy visit either way, but you know,” Ariana responded still feeling somewhat in an odd place. Skylar was different, that much she could smell out, and she wasn’t great at just ignoring these things. She liked Skylar and didn’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable, especially not when she was being so kind. She took a sip of the latte she grabbed on the way in and pondered how she wanted to answer that question. The truth was bleak and even more so after having seen some fake version of Celeste. She shifted in her seat and reluctantly answered, “I’ve been… getting by pretty much. Things just keep getting crazier somehow. I just-- I don’t know. I want to keep the people I care about safe and be someone my sister would be proud of, but things just keep-- I feel like I can’t get a grasp on anything outside of class and coaching lately. How’ve you been okay though? You haven’t seen anything strange lately, have you?” 

Swallowing, Skylar nodded wordlessly. She’d heard all about Winston’s trip to the hospital, had tried to visit them when they were there. But, hospitals, they still made her a little uneasy. And, knowing that she wasn’t human didn’t make being there any easier. “Getting by is sometimes all we can do, you know?” She said with a small laugh, rubbing the side of her coffee mug with a rueful expression. It wasn’t much comfort, she knew that. But, it was the truth. Sometimes just waking up and facing the day was a milestone. “Mmm. That’s really noble of you, Ariana. To try and live your life that way. But, you know it’s okay if you’re not there yet, right? It’s okay to take your time, to give yourself time to heal.” She said. As the younger woman asked her about herself, about seeing anything strange, a lump formed in the back of her throat. What hadn’t she seen in this town? The Hall of Mirrors came to mind, the awful… horrible vision of herself curled up on the ground. She’d seen her greatest fear, the ocean, well up from nowhere and drown people in the middle of the town. And just the other day… she’d seen a man emerge from the fog, his chest a caved in mass of bones and gore. “Ah… Not really. Just your usual White Crest forecast. It rained dog toys this morning.” Skylar deflected with another laugh, this one more forced. “My roommate’s dog had a great time with it, though.”

Maybe Skylar was right. Maybe getting by was enough for now, but Ariana hated the feeling of it. She missed feeling excited to take on the day. She missed feeling good. Hell, she’d settle for even just feeling okay at this point, but she’d been on edge ever since she saw Celeste at Kaden’s. As much as she missed her sister, she was so afraid she’d see her again and have to watch the same scene play out all over again. The thought alone made her stomach twist into unsettling knots so she set her coffee mug down on the table. “Yeah, I think you’re right about that. It’d be nice to just be past that part I guess,” she explained as she looked down at the patterns the foamed milk made in her drink. Skylar spoke of how it was okay to give herself time, but was it really? Winn had just died and Ace could be shortly behind him if she let herself take a break from all of this. Then the grieving process would just start all over again and someone else would probably die from something she could have helped with. There was no taking time, not when she had the means to protect others. Still, she responded quietly, “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She didn’t quite believe it, but it was better than discounting the sentiment entirely. Skylar was only looking out for her after all. While she’d noticed the raining dog toys herself and Luna had an absolute field day with them, that wasn’t entirely what she’d meant. Still, she let out a small laugh. “Oh yeah, I saw that. My dog was having an absolute blast. Brought a few of them home so her toy basket is extra full. That’s not entirely what I meant, but if that’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen recently, then I’ll count that as a win.” She wanted to question further, figure out just what Skylar was, but she wouldn’t push it. 

“That makes sense. It’s kinda cheesy, but there’s that old saying “this too shall pass?” It’ll get better. Things won’t be this way forever.” Skylar said with a hopeful nod, though she wondered if the person who’d said that ever had to deal with the supernatural. If they did, maybe they wouldn’t have said that. As the conversation turned to the talk of dog toys, Skylar couldn’t help but brighten at the way that Ariana’s smile spread across her face. It was good to see her smile, to hear her laugh. If you were still smiling through the hardship, that meant it hadn’t beaten you yet. At least, that had been her perspective through all the rough times. “Aw, that’s really cute. I saw Dundee dragging this giant squeaky toy across the yard, it was about the same size as him. I have a picture, actually.” She said, reaching for her phone. As she reached into the pocket of her jacket, Skylar glanced out the window of the coffee shop. Her eyes widened, phone slipping from her fingers and hitting the ground as she stared in shock.

Emerging from the fog was the young man from before, the one she’d seen with Mina. He looked the same as he had that night, his wet hair plastered against his forehead, dressed in the same soaked, oversized clothes. Though she turned her head away, it was too late. She’d seen the cavern of his chest, a mass of gore and blood, his lungs shredded and destroyed. “Nonononono.” She muttered under her breath, tears springing to her eyes as she fumbled to grab her phone. Skylar looked at Ariana with a panicked expression-- she’d almost forgotten why she was here, who she was here with. “I-- I need to go-- I can’t.” Her eyes flicked back to the window. The man was still standing there. 

“Yeah, everything passes eventually,” Ariana agreed though it only made her want to hold on more tightly to the good times. They seemed to slip away far too easily for her liking. Raining dog toys was a pretty good time though. Seeing Luna so excited on their morning walk had brightened her mood for the day. There had to be something supernatural going on there, too. She sure as hell hoped they didn’t turn into like little cow monsters or giant tennis wrecking balls, but only time would tell. As Skylar pulled out her phone, she cooed over the picture of Dundee toting a squeaky toy bigger than he was. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed with a bit of a giggle coming across, “That is too freaking cute. Love a small dog with some big dog energy.” She related in a way. Small wolf, big personality. It was nice relaxing a bit and actually laughing. She’d been needing to disconnect from everything that had been weighing her down recently. 

As she found herself starting to feel a little bit lighter, Ariana was shocked to find that Skylar looked alarmed. She tilted her head, questioning the change in demeanor and the mutters under her breath, but her gaze quickly followed Skylar’s. “Holy shit,” she breathed out. There was a bloodied man standing outside the window looking straight at Skylar. Was he okay? He definitely didn’t look okay and neither did Skylar. “Wait, Skylar, don’t-- Do you know that guy or something,” she pressed. 

Skylar’s hands were shaking at her sides as she shoved her phone back into her pocket, her coffee long forgotten. How had he found her? Why was he here? She’d assumed that he was like the cultists, that he was bound to the lake in some way. But, he’d come into town and he was staring straight at her. Just as he had that night. “I don’t know who he is-- he…” Skylar bit the inside of her cheek, unsure how to word things. She didn’t want to lie to Ariana, but how could she explain that she’d seen him rise from the lake in the middle of the night, how he definitely should be dead, how he kept asking for someone she didn’t know? “He followed me the other night. I thought I lost him, but he’s back now-- I have to go..” She said, distraught. But, how was she going to get away? The only way out was the front door and he was standing just outside the shop. “I need-- there’s got to be another exit, right?” She said, looking around with desperate, eyes. She didn’t want him anywhere near her, she didn’t want to be forced to look at him for another minute longer. 

The panic in Skylar’s eyes definitely had her worried. Ariana had never seen her quite like this and her protective instinct kicked in. “Hey,” she said soothingly, “It’s okay, we’ll get away from him and if he tries anything…” How was she supposed to explain she could bring the claws out if it came to that? She could tell Skylar was different, so in her usual fashion, she decided to go with the fuck it and tell her what’s up route. “If he is dangerous-- Let’s just say I’m tight with the moon and that comes with some advantages in the strength department,” she explained as she quickly scanned the place for another exit. It was past the employee area, but she pointed anyway. “Over there, it looks like there’s an employee exit around back. Probably not allowed back there, but some rules are meant to be broken.” Probably not what Skylar wanted to hear, but she urged, “Come on.” She led the way to the back exit ignoring the protests from some of the employees with a wave of her hand. When they emerged into the alley, she was shocked to see how quickly Mr. Spooktastic made it to the alley. She narrowed her eyes and let out a low growl. “What do you want, creep?” 

“Tight with the moon?” Skylar repeated, confused by what she meant by that. But, she didn’t really have time to ask any more questions-- she just wanted to be away from the man. She didn’t like the way that he kept asking her about someone she didn’t even know. She didn’t like the way he stared at her, as though he kept waiting for her to recognize her. She’d never seen him before, she didn’t know him. She wasn’t even sure what he was. “The exit, yeah-- let’s… let’s go.” She said with a nod before following close behind Ariana. But, as soon as they were out of the building, the man was there. Stock still, hands at his sides, palms facing them. He looked… as though he was trying to keep them calm. “Eliza-- why don’t you recognize me? It’s me. It’s Ben.” He said, gesturing to himself, hands pointing to the gore-slick cave of his chest. “Please, I spent so long looking for you. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. That everyone’s safe.” His expression turned pained at those words and, not for the first time, Skylar wondered what had happened to him. How had he gotten those wounds? And what, what was he?

Another time, she could answer questions about being tight with the moon, but right now, Ariana was far more concerned with making sure Skylar was safe and okay. Why was this clearly very injured guy calling her Eliza? That was definitely not her name. Her eyes narrowed as she did her best to keep herself between Skylar and this obviously very confused man. There was the hum of a low growl on her lips as she did her best to stand between them. “Listen, dude, I don’t know what your deal is, but her name’s not Eliza and you need to leave her alone.” The injury on his chest was pretty alarming though and she almost felt bad for him, but Skylar was way higher on her priority list than whoever this stalker was. She looked to Skylar concerned, “You don’t know him, right? Because I’m definitely not above punching stalkers.”  

First Mina, now Ariana-- both of them had put themselves between herself and this strange man. And Skylar, she didn’t want that. She didn’t want people jumping between her and danger, putting themselves in the line of fire. They didn’t need to do that for her, they didn’t. She could-- she should-- hold her own. She had to be braver, had to be stronger. She wanted to be everything that she was supposed to be, instead of everything she was. Swallowing, Skylar put a hand on Ariana’s shoulder, squeezing gently. She hoped that would be enough to convince the girl to let her slip past without a fight. And, before she knew it, Skylar found herself face to face with the drenched, bloodied man. He studied her, stared at her face for a long hard moment. His eyes were just as blue and inscrutable as before, the color of the sea before the storm. In any other circumstance, she might have liked his eyes, but not now. “I’m not Eliza, please. Who is she? Can you tell me more about her? I could help you find her, just tell me who you are. Maybe I can help.” She said, pleading with the man, with… Ben, that’s what he’d called himself. “Ben--” 

At his name, the man’s face contorted, an expression of pain and frustration on his face. “Don’t say my name! If you’re not Eliza, don’t say my name!” He howled. Skylar flinched, taking a step back away from her. But, as she did so, the man pressed forward. His hands curled around the front of her jacket, holding her still. “Where is she? You look, you… How are you not her? How are you not my Liza?” He said, still staring at her, hand reaching out to touch her face.

Every instinct in Ariana was screaming to not let Skylar go around her, but she could smell she was different. She had to trust she knew what she was doing even if this whole situation seemed off. Her eyes remained glued on the man as he spoke. His body language didn’t seem like he was ready to attack, not that she was sure he could in his condition, but she still felt inclined to make sure he didn’t try anything shady. With some concentrated effort, she took some deep breaths to keep herself calm. She was always so ready to hop right into a fight, but Skylar was ready to help this man if she was able to. Skylar was kind like that, but Ariana was still hesitant. He seemed so troubled, but Ariana couldn’t find it in her to trust him. As he reached his hand towards Skylar’s face, a barely audible growl rumbled in her throat and she gave him a glare that screamed he better watch himself. 

Skylar was only able to pick up on the strange rumble that rose from the back of Ariana’s throat thanks to her hearing aids, the receiver barely picking up the sound. It was a sound of warning, one that implied violence. But, the man didn’t seem to notice it. He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb against her cheek, brushing some of the hair from her face. “You look so much like her. Who are you? Where’s my Liza?” He repeated. Unnerved by how close he was to her-- and very aware of the bloody mess of his torso-- Skylar took a halting step back from him. “I don’t know who she is, but my name’s Skylar. Please, I don’t know who Eliza is. Are you from White Crest? I can help you find her, if you can give me her full name.” As she spoke, she noticed that his eyes were focused on her lips, watching the way she formed words. Was he… Holding her hands up in a tentative sign, she signed while she spoke, “Are you hard of hearing?”

The man stared at her, staring from her hands back to her lips. Tilting his head, he pointed to her teeth. “Are you… are you one of the sea folk?” He asked, lips parting in a jagged smile, his mouth full of curving sharp teeth. Teeth that looked just like hers. She hadn’t imagined it. He was like her

It was hard to tear her eyes away from the man’s battered torso. Was he real? Was he a ghost? Was this another weird White Crest illusion? Ariana had no way of telling, but she let Skylar handle this. When he smiled, she noticed his teeth were jagged just like Ricky’s and suddenly pieces started coming together. The way Skylar had a similar scent to Ricky and how she was hard of hearing just like him. It brought some clue as to why the man was following her, but not a full picture. “You’re a selkie,” she said to both of them plainly. Maybe she had been unnecessarily defensive earlier, but her protective instincts were in high swing as of late. “Sorry, I,” she started unsure of where she was going with this. “What do you need? How can we help you,” she asked.

At the sound of the word selkie, Skylar flinched. How did Ariana know about selkies, how did she realize what they were? Was she a part of this supernatural world too? Was that why she’d said that strange thing about the moon? Her fingers gripped the long sleeves of her shirt tightly, her knuckles whitening. She didn’t-- no. No, no. She was trying to accept this, trying to accept what she was by being the best… selkie she could be. Swallowing, Skylar nodded. “I’m a selkie.” She said. The words sounded more steady and confident than she felt, which she was glad for. She didn’t want them to know that some part of her still hated what she was. The man stared at her, his confusion only growing. “White Crest? No… I don’t know where that is. Where am I?” He asked, shaking his head. “I need,” The man, Ben, growled grasping his head with his hands. “I need to find her.” 

Before Skylar could say another word, the man backed out the alley, the fog closing around him. Though she wanted to go after him, to see where he’d gone, her legs had turned to lead and refused to move. Instead, Skylar glanced over at Ariana, despair on her face. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I didn’t-- I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

The pieces of the puzzle came together and Ariana realized maybe that this had been an inopportune moment, but the injured man in front of them was clearly also a selkie. Were they connected somehow? It was hard to tell with the current level of White Crest bullshit going on. Then again, when was there not something crazy going on here? As much pain as it caused her, she wouldn’t trade the connections she’d made for anything. “Cool,” she answered, letting Skylar know that she was totally okay with selkie. She quickly added, “I’m a werewolf and practically Walking Dead dude over here is clearly also a selkie so we should probably--” She cut herself off as she realized how confused the man was and let Skylar take the wheel. Whatever their relationship, this felt like something personal so she took a step back. However, it seemed useless as more fog started rolling in and he faded away. She frowned and reached out though it wasn’t of much use. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath and took a step closer to Skylar. “Hey,” she assured calmly, “You don’t need to be sorry. That wasn’t your fault. Are you okay though?” 

Still staring into the fog, Skylar didn’t process what Ariana had said until the man had completely faded from view, not a trace of him to be found. Werewolf? Startled, Skylar immediately turned to face the girl. “Wait, what? You’re… you’re a werewolf?” She asked, taken completely off-guard by the revelation. “That’s-- mmmmmm.” Skylar hummed nervously. She tried to steady herself, taking measured, careful breaths as her mind raced. Ariana was a werewolf. And that man, he was a selkie, just like she was. But he wasn’t really, he was… dead? Walking Dead-- no, he wasn’t a zombie, he didn’t look like Remmy or Morgan, they’d never looked like he had. Not even the night that Skylar had seen Remmy get torn to pieces, the black blood flecked across their face, their organs-- Shutting her eyes tightly, Skylar backed up against the wall of the alley. Her head was spinning, her breath coming in quick, sharp gasps. It was too much, it was all too much. She felt lightheaded and the collar of her shirt felt suddenly too tight around her neck. “Mm mm.” She shook her head at Ariana’s question. She wasn’t alright, none of this was alright.

This whole experience was clearly overwhelming to Skylar. Ariana thought revealing herself since Skylar had been revealed would bring some comfort, but she was wrong and she wanted to smack herself for it. “I am,” she answered more quietly this time, looking down at her feet momentarily. The fog was coming in quick, but by the rapid beat of Skylar’s heart and how her breathing sounded, Ariana knew she wasn’t in fact okay as she stated. “No you’re not,” she started, keeping her voice low and even to calm her down. “Deep breaths,” she instructed, “It’s going to be okay, just keep taking deep breaths, alright?” She wanted to reach out, but was unsure if that would make her more or less tense. 

The wall was cool against the back of her head and Skylar did her best to focus on her breathing like Ariana was telling her. She was trying, she was trying so hard to be… okay with everything. But how could she be okay with what she’d seen, with the revelations that seemed to occur on a near daily basis? How could she ever feel okay about any of this? How would any of it be okay? Ariana… was a werewolf. And, and, she’d lost her sister earlier this year. Had a hunter done it? Had her sister been like her? Had she been hunted? Had her sister stared down the barrel of a gun, just as Skylar had, and been unlucky? Bile filled the back of her throat as Skylar remembered that night, the way that man had signed at her. How he had used the language she loved to promise her death. Shaking her head back and forth, Skylar forced herself to open her eyes and look at Ariana. “I-I-I--” She stammered, her rapid breathing ruining her train of thought, “I’m s-sorry.” She managed.

From what Ariana could hear, Skylar’s heart was still racing even as she tried to focus on her breathing. There was no telling what was going on in Skylar’s head and how she could help, but she tried to just be there and take the lead by doing deep breaths alongside her. Her eyes widened at the apology and she shook her head. “You don’t have to be sorry,” she stated calmly. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and took out a bottle of water and handed it to her. It was something small that could maybe help. “Here,” she offered as she handed the water to Skylar, “This might help, too.” Whatever the hell just happened had left her own head spinning, but it seemed to be resonating more deeply with Skylar. Somehow all her other worries seemed to fade away realizing a good person needed her help. “Look, I don’t know what that was or what’s going on, but everything will be okay again eventually. Just gotta keep breathing.” 

Ariana’s deep breathing provided a calming rhythm that Skylar forced herself to follow, syncing her own breaths to it like a metronome. She had to calm down, she needed to… to just think. She needed to process everything that had happened. The man’s return. Ariana’s identity as a werewolf. The horrifying confirmation that the man, that Ben, was a selkie too. And that he’d met some kind of gruesome, deadly fate. Just gotta keep breathing. Ariana’s words echoed in her ears. Just gotta keep breathing. With a hum and a nod, Skylar did her best to calm herself. In. Out. In… Out. 

Skylar just had to keep her head above water, had to keep breathing. It would get better, things would be okay eventually. She knew that. But everything this town threw at her, it was weighing her down, filling her pockets with stones that dragged her further and further down. How could she keep breathing when it felt like the world wanted to see her drown?

[gasp-iwrotesomething]

Hey could I maybe request Helena stopping mc from losing her temper and turning to the dark side? If you know what I mean. Like Helena manages to calm her or do something to help mc regain control of her temper

I think I know what you mean, anon! Basically, MC has the Witch Queen’s powers and she almost loses control of her temper and wreaks havoc; do correct me if I’m wrong though lol! Thanks for your request and I hope you enjoy, lovely!

Side note: This was a lot of fun to write in terms of experimenting with pacing and tone. I got to explore on how to convey the panic and rage that MC felt as the Witch Queen attempts to convince her to join her; and it’s helped me a lot! Thanks for giving me that chance, anon!

Summary: After a battle with the Witch Queen’s henchmen goes awry, Helena is faced with the dangerous task of bring MC back to her senses... before it’s too late.

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It was all too much for MC. First the illusion and now the mental taunting by the Witch Queen herself... Birthing a fake vision of Helena dying in this battle was hard enough but to hear the Witch Queen jeer about how worthless Helena was, how she’d be much happier serving the Witch Queen again... It had blood vessels bulging from her neck out of sheer fury. She could feel a cold chill rise in her chest, hungry to devour, making her heart beat with the desire for carnage--desire to spill blood, to shed power, to just devour...

“MC!”

The Chicagoan didn’t hear her lover’s desperate cry--drowned out by the Witch Queen’s dark words that wove a crown around her head; thorns of power that stung and nettled MC beyond what pain her skin could perceive. She wanted to thrash, to lash out, to scream in the Witch Queen’s face until she could no more but she couldn’t do anything at all. Paralyzed and engrossed in magic--magic that kissed her fingers blue and singed the air swathing her hands. Compulsion to release it, to flood the world with her cold abilities and avenge the hollowness within her--the hollowness that has been cursed to her for years and years... MC could sense the Witch Queen slithering within her head, gifting her perceptions that weren’t her own--ones that quivered a tale of lifelong loneliness. Of revenge, stained the color of blood from thousands and thousands. Like a drooling wolf about to sink its teeth into its prey, MC was famished without the treat of revenge--the cold, cold, callous feeling that made her head spin with gratification born from the sickest of minds.

Soon, MC wanted to see the world in shambles, painted maroon to match the fury that pattered and pattered and pattered within her chest--a hardened organ, colder than the most freezing winters--!

MC had to escape. She had to break free--fight off the Witch Queen. Don’t give in.

“You and I together could ruin the world, MC. Consider all of the power you could have if you just gave in--give in to me.”

But the Witch Queen’s alluring purr infected every thought and every space of her mind, blotting out the world around her and the thoughts that begged her to move. Feelings never felt by MC unfurl in her and the desire to wreck--to kill--grows unavoidable. Her teeth grit as she struggles to withhold herself, struggling to restrain the tense ball of ability that writhed and screamed to be released. Her eyes stung as they glared into nothing but air, her eyelids unable to shut despite the frivolous cold that bit them. She felt like her jaw would snap at any second with all of the pressure she instilled into it, her gums beginning to ache with the harsh press of teeth against teeth. MC couldn’t see what surrounded her beyond the illusion of the Witch Queen’s throne and the wiseacre herself seated cockily on the very throne. The battle encircling her became white noise in the face of the Witch Queen’s voice; asserting thoughts of beauty and wisdom and eternal power that weren’t ones MC would ever think in a right state of mind. The Witch Queen had her collared--bound to her very hands like her most loyal of pets--and kept a vice grip on the leash that kept MC there, kneeling before a woman too vile to worship. MC wished she was actually in the throne room--so she could deflect these feelings and be the karma that would inevitably bite the Witch Queen where it hurt most; her nobility. 

“Haven’t you ever wondered what it feels like to be feared by all? A simple glare would have the weakest falling to her feet, begging for forgiveness. You could be what they hide from--what they see in their nightmares and hope they’re asleep. Join me and you’ll never feel inferior again; you’ll be the one who makes everyone else inferior to you, MC.”

The Witch Queen taunts and MC cracks under her fierce ministrations--a splinter flutters away from her self-control and that’s the invitation that lures the Witch Queen in, her icy face of cruelty materializing in MC’s conscious-!

“MC! My love, please come back to me! Don’t listen to her--don’t let her fool you!”

Helena’s voice--a harp strung over the roars of a raging storm--fills MC’s ears and her hands--the softest remedy to harmonize MC’s skin--grip MC’s forearms desperately. Tears shimmer in her blue eyes as she shakes MC; first gently, then more aggressively as her fear amounts. “No! Come to me, MC, listen to me--your queen!” The Witch Queen shrieks as her grasp on MC begins to slip--the subservience of her prey chipping away into dominance and reign. MC felt her senses unravel and loosen, kissing away the numbness that plagued her body and the lost perception of the world around her is recovered. When her eyes lose their clouded shine, MC finds herself face to face with an ocean of sorrow, of empathy--of love that hurt to glare at. Helena’s ivory fingers were cupping MC’s face, her fingertips grazing the inches of skin just behind her ears. Her mouth--the color of bruises a day after infliction--is avidly moving, her teeth glimpses of white flashing that seemed to match the snow around them. Words fell on MC’s deaf ears as the Witch Queen shrieks once again, her presence an insect wandering around the depths of her head. MC shuddered as the Witch Queen, finally, withdrew and she crumpled; frail and bleak in comparison to Helena’s tall solidity. “MC, my love, are you-?!” Helena’s sentence doesn’t finish as her arms tighten around MC, dragging the sorceress down into the snow along with the weakened MC.

Her grey eyes had no shine; rather glimmered from the sun’s holy rays as snow soundly fell around them--gentle feathers falling to the ground. “MC, MC! Stay with me, darling, hold yourself to the sound of my voice!” The sorceress demands as a hand leaves her face to cup the back of her head, her pale fingers engrossed in strands of raven that were satiny and glossy like that of a raven’s plucked feather. Helena’s eyes glinted with tears and she clutched MC close like she was the antidote to a disease yet unknown--hugging her as if her warming presence was the sole barricade to isolate MC from the Witch Queen’s cruel grasp. Around them, the battle had ceased and no longer was the snow complimented with the icy blue armor of the Witch Queen’s soldiers. It was only Helena and MC, curled in with each other, allowing their clothes to soak up the snow’s moisture. Now that she can perceive the world around her, MC notices that her breathing is ragged and hoarse and heaves her chest each intake and exhale she did. She felt weak--defeated and seamless--only held together by the adhesive of Helena’s certain arms. “Can you hear me?” Helena croons, desperation clawing her voice, roughening the silk into rags. “MC, do you hear the sound of my voice? Has she taken you from me?” The skips of her heartbeat turn into scuffled hops, the metaphorical knees of each beat scratched raw with the emotion that paved the organ’s staccato.

Weakly, and with every ounce of energy MC could muster, MC whispers, “No one... can take me from you, Helena.”

Immediately, the sorceress’ channel of helpless sorrow purls into a charging river of rejoicing blue and she meticulously gathers MC against her chest in a solemn yet relieved embrace. MC’s arms limply sling around Helena’s back, sensing the hiccups that wrack her body as she cries--her depression harmonizing into intense joy. “Thank you, my love,” Helena murmurs into the wetting patch of fabric on MC’s shoulder, the words all pouring from her like a fountain of love all wished to life by a prayer, “my strong, strong, wonderful love.”

MC’s eyes sting and she grips Helena tighter, wishing the Witch Queen would fuck off for the rest of eternity so that she could stay enthralled in Helena’s arms, safe from harm...

Forever.

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Thank you again for your request! I really, really loved writing this for you and i hope you enjoy reading it!

If you want to request something, here’s the Prompt List, here are the Guidelines, here’s Who I Write For, and here is where you can Request me.

[vision20revie]

Vision 20 Reviews

Vision 20 Reviews - Groundbreaking New Report on Vision 20 for Eyesight

Vision 20 by Zenith Labs is an eye care supplement that, by its ingredients, tries to protect your eyesight.

Vision 20 is a dietary supplement that helps protect your eyes' lens and retina from harmful blue radiation. This radiation is commonly emitted by phones, gadgets, and other things that have monitors. It uses natural ingredients that are found in nature to keep our eyes from going into eventual decline. It contains carotenoids, which are substances that help keep our eye’s lens, retina, and macula healthy.

This, in turn, gives us an abundance of good eyesight, which is essential in our everyday lives. Vision 20 supplement was inspired by the humble Marigold, whose orange coloration was a clear indication of abundance in carotenoids.

Vision 20 supplement can help us see in different ranges, whether near and far. It can also make us see better during nighttime, which is a clear indication of healthy eyesight. According to the official website, it is used by around 9,000 Americans right now, and the testimonials show that the product works full-time. This latest review will show you the supplement's ins and outs and how it came to be. Vision 20 is based on the Bible, and even though you are an atheist, I suggest you continue reading because these are parts of the Bible that are backed up by scientific facts and data. Without further ado, let us jump into it.

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Vision 20’s Biblical Relation?

Vision 20 was inspired by the Bible. In the book of Isaiah, a prophet of the same name, helped King Hezekiah by giving him figs. While initially used to treat the boils, this also affected his eyesight. It became blurred as he was consumed by sickness.

King Hezekiah, upon being put and spread upon by mashed figs, not only cured his boils but also improved his eyesight. Why? It is because figs contain high amounts of Retinyl Palmitate, a form of Vitamin A. This has let him see again in not just the spiritual sense

but also the physical sense. This is awesome. Now, we can see how the Bible is relevant even though it is a tool of religion. It is still a historical account, and we know that these document types are dependent on the writer's interpretation. Of course, this makes this Holy Scripture awry the credibility, but it is safe to say that science backs this manuscript up.

Vision 20 Manufacturer

Doctor Ryan Shelton made vision 20. He is currently the Medical Director of Zenith Labs, a company that makes dietary supplements for a living. If we can even observe further, we can see that he is a man of God since he injects lots of biblical sense into his studies.

Zenith Labs comprises health professionals who manufacture a variety of supplements that cater to older people. Other supplements that Zenith Labs make include joint health and anti-aging supplements, which are rich with antioxidants.

Being the head of the whole operation, Shelton is a researcher whose job is to look for progressive, natural health solutions for everyone in the world. While that is a fancy way of saying it, he is a testimony of others' goodwill, having helped hundreds of people already through personal means. Also, being a naturally-inclined researcher, he publishes papers during his pastime. He also puts in dozens of credible sources to the Vision 20 supplement, which means that it should be useful since it was based and made through scientific methods and means. Overall, Doctor Shelton and his team at

Zenith Labs are considered to be reliable, trustworthy, and credible among all accounts. They show their faces in public too, which is a plus sign since they are willing to bet themselves for the product that they made. Now that is commitment and honesty in one.

How Does It Work?

Vision 20 works by bombarding our body with antioxidants and other substances that are beneficial to the eye, such as Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and different forms of Vitamin A. We know that Vitamin A is extremely beneficial for our eyes, so this is a good sign already that this product indeed works. Just take one capsule a day, and you are good to go.

The supplement works by repairing and protecting your eyes against blue light radiation. Now, blue light radiation is commonly found everywhere. It is commonly emitted by technology that we have now. Any monitor that we are looking at right now emits blue light radiation. You might be thinking this is an exaggeration, but don’t you wonder why

your eyes feel tired and itchy after staring at a monitor for long periods? It is because your eyes are being constantly harassed by this radiation that is slowly eating away your eyesight.

Vision 20 takes a step further by protecting your eyes and repairing your eyes with the help of antioxidants found in different sources. Not only does this help our eyes, but it benefits our body as a whole since antioxidants are the essential substances that we need to keep ourselves healthy in the long run. This, in turn, can help us see nearer,

farther, and in the dark. It is beneficial, considering that the sense of sight is one of the most important things that a human must have to live a full, happy, and contented life.

By taking this supplement, you can protect and repair your eyes through natural and organic nutrients. Either these nutrients come from figs or carrots, it does not matter. What matters is the nutrient itself. Dr. Shelton and his team carefully came up with a formula that will help revolutionize your eyesight, and trust me when I say it is useful.

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Vision 20 Ingredients

Vision 20 is not necessarily made from figs. Looking back, no pun intended, it was figs that made King Hezekiah well again. If we are to look at this from a scientific point of view, figs are antibacterial fruits rich in antioxidants and Vitamin A. They are a well-rounded fruit to begin with. While King Hezekiah in the Bible primarily suffered boils, Dr. Shelton and his team noticed that his eyesight also improved based on the Second Book of Kings' writings.

Channeling his inner scientific side with his religious optimism, Shelton went on to take the critical component that makes figs good for the eyes – Vitamin A. This vitamin, for the knowledge of everyone, has many forms. Thankfully, Shelton is a research buff and has this knowledge in mind. He went for two of the most potent forms of Vitamin A – Retinyl Palmitate and Beta-carotene.

Once getting these facts laid down, he combined support elements for Vitamin A, and the rest is history for this particular dietary supplement. With a backgrounder on how figs and Vision 20 came to be, let us jump into Vision 20 ingredients' specifics.

The main ingredients are:

Retinyl Palmitate is a form of Vitamin A, which is more suited to the cell

regeneration side. It is commonly used to boost the amount of Vitamin A that a person has in his/her body. Vitamin A deficiency is a thing for people with

weakened eyesight, and having regular dosage of this substance can keep your eyes healthy in the long run.

Beta-carotene. Perhaps the most famous form of Vitamin A, is a carotenoid commonly found in many fruits, vegetables, and whole grains! While Retinyl Palmitate is focused on repairing our eye’s integrity, Beta-carotene is focused on making us less sensitive to light changes and preventing our eyesight from

declining faster than you can say eye degeneration. What is more, studies show it can reduce the risk of breast cancer!

These are the two main ingredients, but our bodies do not absorb vitamin A and its several forms. This has been the case for many years, and with increased exposure to blue light radiation, this rate of less absorption is taking a toll on our precious eyesight. This is why Dr. Shelton added Zinc.

Zinc – This mineral encourages our body to absorb Vitamin A. By taking in Zinc, we can increase Vitamin A absorption rate by three times! Other than that, the primary function of this mineral is to repair and maintain our cells and boost our immune system, hasten our healing process, and boost our overall health.

The next ingredients that I will show you are the support ingredients for Vision 20, all put in to make your eyes better by the second.

Lutein – this is also a carotenoid that is usually found in our eye’s macula and retina. These parts of the eye are responsible for taking in images reflected by the lenses of our eyes. Thus, adding Lutein can strengthen it and prevent

age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is common among old folk. It is also used to treat cataracts and early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Zeaxanthin – this is the carotenoid that actively fights off high-energy light

waves inside your eye. By adding Zeaxanthin, we have an active contender against the blue light radiation that continually bombards us in this modern world. It is Lutein's partner, whereas Lutein fights of the harmful effects of

oxidization while Zeaxanthin fights off outside threats such as mentioned above.

Lycopene – commonly found in tomatoes, this heart-smart ingredient is a potent antioxidant used to protect cells from oxidization and other related damage.

Lycopene is used in Vision 20 to serve as an antioxidant buffer to regenerate the eye’s degrading cells quickly. With nothing to damage them, they can focus on recovery.

Taurine – people say Taurine is only used to make you smart, but that is not the case otherwise. This amino acid can also help produce more cells, which is beneficial for losing his/her eyesight. Lycopene is the shield, while Taurine is the concrete used to build stuff.

Grape Seed Extract – this extract can boost good cholesterol levels and improve

overall blood circulation. It can also boost your immune system thanks to the presence of Polyphenols. While this seems to have no relation to eyesight

improvement, a study from the Molecular Vision Journal suggests that grape seed extract can also protect your lenses from outside threats.

Bilberry Extract – last but not least, there is the Bilberry. This extract is excellent

for blood circulation, gout, urinary tract infections, and more. It is mainly used as an antioxidant, which means it can fight off eye damage from internal sources.

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EyeSight Benefits

For one, the Vision 20 supplement has high amounts of antioxidants on it. Why is this the case? It is because Vision 20 also focuses on getting your past eyesight back. Think of it as something that protects and heals at the same time. It is a cool supplement overall. Antioxidants help our cells regenerate and feel young again. By chugging in significant amounts of antioxidants, we only not help our eyes get better, but we also feel better in general since these nutrients will be circulated throughout our whole body.

Secondly, Vision 20 is aimed at making our eyesight crystal clear. Carotenoids such as Vitamin A, Lutein, and Zeaxanthin paired with Zinc can work wonders, and as King Hezekiah’s eyesight got better with vitamin A-rich fruits, yours can be like that too! Overall, Vision 20 gives benefits to our eyes and our whole body as well.

Vision 20 Ingredients Side Effects

With tons of benefits and pros come easily unavoidable cons. We are just going to backtrack a little. The recommended dosage for Vision 20 is one capsule a day. Keep this in mind, as overdosing can undoubtedly show signs of side effects one way or another.

To start, Vitamin A overdose is a nasty thing to have. It is called Hypervitaminosis A.

Isaiah only gave King Hezekiah an ample amount of fig. You should only get an ample amount of Vision 20 too. It can cause bone pain and skin changes. If you do not want

these symptoms, only take the recommended dosage of one a day. We understand that you want your real eyesight back, but please do it in moderation.

Other than this nasty threat, you can also experience other mild symptoms such as

dizziness, headache, nausea, stomach pain, and flu-like symptoms if you overdose. In short, do not overdose, and you will be fine in the long run.

To inform you, too, there is an infrequent side effect from ingesting Lutein and Zeaxanthin. It is not harmful, so it is okay unless you are vain. Your skin can occasionally turn yellow. You should be fine if you are following the recommended dosage. In summary, Vision 20 side effects are only prevalent if you are hard-headed.

Where do you Buy Vision 20?

You can buy Vision 20 right off the Vision 20 official website, which is below.

Official Website of this Eye Care Supplement

There are tons of things to see on their website, and this Vision 20 review just summarized it for you so that you will not have the hassle of going through all those marketing stunts.

How Much Does It Cost Vision 20?

Vision 20 is relatively cheap for an optical dietary supplement of its degree! Typically, each bottle costs a whopping price of $79! This is a shocker, but it is a great supplement to begin with.

However, they are generous enough to give people a discount! Right now, each bottle of Vision 20 only costs $49! That is $30 off than the regular price.

If you feel that $49 is still too much, they also offer 3-bottle and 6-bottle packages worth $117 and $198, respectively. These are super low prices compared to other dietary supplements in the market!

However, shipping is relatively high, at $19.95. If you go for the 6-bottle pack, though, you can have free shipping, so that is cool in its regard. Each purchase of Vision 20 helps a charity named Vitamin Angels, which helps kids overcome their vitamin deficiencies.

Overall Verdict for Vision 20

Vision 20 is one of the best dietary supplements to take if you look for something to make your eyesight better overtime. The blend of the ingredients is outstanding, and it can make your quality of life much better as you get older.

Nevertheless, it is still a dietary supplement and should be taken with a healthy and balanced diet to be fully utilized. Always consult your physician and listen to the professional advice of your doctor. Other than that, always remain vigilant and check the labels first before taking a supplement like this!

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