#nyssa is saying thank you for me

[riordanness]

sparks fly — [p.jackson]

pairing: percy jackson x reader

wordcount: 1.0K

warnings: percy is hot

“Wait,” I hold up both hands and stare in delight at my half-sister. “Beckendorf actually asked you?”

“Yes!” Silena is a flushing mess, sitting cross legged on her bunk as our whole cabin is getting ready for breakfast.

There’s a short round of squeals, and I skip over and sit beside her, throwing a playful arm over her shoulder.

“I’m so glad for you,” I say, a pleased little smile on my face. Charles Beckendorf, or just Beckendorf, as we all called him, had been the object of Silena’s crush for ages. Like, long enough to be frustratingly annoying. But it seems the boy had finally caught on, as he’d just asked her last night to attend the Fourth of July fireworks show on the beach with him. Oh, and by the way, that’s like the biggest dating event of the year at Camp.

“Thanks, girl.” Silena smiles, and then nudges me knowingly. “Has he asked you yet?”

“Huh?” I play innocent. “Who?”

“Percy Jackson,” everyone choruses. Okay, maybe I’m not the subtlest when it comes to liking someone. Everyone knows about it. Except, apparently, Percy.

“No,” I say, shrugging. “He probably won’t.”

“Girl, then you ask him.” Lacy throws a pillow at me, which I catch and throw back. She laughs when it hits her and falls to the ground.

“I am not doing that,” I say indignantly.

“Why not?” Delia chirps up. “Girls can do the asking, that’s not even weird these days.”

“I know that,” I argue. “I just like the traditional ways. Boys ask.”

Delia shrugs. “Okay, whatever. Just don’t be surprised if you end up going to the fireworks alone.”

I don’t answer, just shrug on my pink jacket and head to the dining hall for breakfast.

I wasn’t surprised when Percy ended up finding me later that morning, sitting on the canoe lake pier and gazing out into the sparkling water.

“Hey, you,” he says easily, swinging himself down to sit beside me, our legs dangling. I notice that we’re both wearing our converse today. No surprise there in my case; I’m always wearing mine. They’re old and battered and doodled on to death, but they’re my comfort shoes. Percy’s are blue, naturally, and slightly less worn out.

“Hey,” I say back, nudging my best friend’s shoulder good-naturedly. “Where were you at breakfast? Didn’t see you.”

Percy shrugs, his sea green eyes fixed solidly on the water. His eyes are just as sparkly as it is.

“Yeah, sorry, I, um. Slept in.” Percy runs his hand through his dark hair, messing it up even more than it already was.

I raise an eyebrow. “Slept in? Dude. Come on, what’s really up?”

Percy kind of half laughs. “Okay, yeah. I wasn’t asleep. I didn’t sleep much at all last night, actually. I was… thinking about something.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I wait, but Percy doesn’t seem to wait to elaborate. “Cool. Well, anyway, the fireworks are tonight.”

“You excited?”

“Of course I am excited,” I say, giving him a smile. “I love the fireworks show. And, Nyssa told me it’s their best display yet this year. I can’t wait.”

Percy is quiet, his gaze still lingering on the water. “Hey, y/n?”

“Mm?” I reply, my gaze still lingering on him, as it always seems to.

“Are you going with anyone tonight?”

I hesitate, my heart pounding. “You mean like on a date?”

“Yeah,” Percy says, his voice hushed. He finally meets my eyes.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “Not yet.”

Percy stares at me for a second, seemingly trying to form the words. Gods, he’s such an awkward idiot.

Finally, he pushes out a stumbling, “Will you go with me?”

“Yes,” I say immediately. “Absolutely, yes.”

“Yeah?” Percy looks surprised, which makes me laugh.

“Yes,” I repeat, reaching over and lacing our fingers together. “I wouldn’t want to go with anyone else.”

Percy half smiles, and half laughs, and says, “And here I was, all scared and nervous about asking you.”

I nudge him playfully, squeezing his hand. “Don’t be silly.”

There are campers everywhere, on picnic blankets and deck chairs and towels, or just simply sitting on the sand. Most people are paired off in couples, and for the first year of my life, so am I.

Percy runs over to me, a stupid grin on his face. His dark hair is messy and windswept, like he’s been running on the beach for hours.

“Hey, you,” he says, arriving at my side, a little breathless. He laces his fingers easily through mine, and I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t speed up, the heat spreading to my cheeks.

“Hi,” I say back, suddenly shy in his presence. Which is ridiculous. We’ve been the bestest of friends for years, why am I suddenly nervous now?

I know why.

It’s because I’m hyper aware of the fact that before this moment, I’ve never had to worry about the fact that any second, Percy might kiss me.

“Come on.” He tugs on my arm gently, leading me through the crowd, until we reach a blue and white checked picnic blanket. Percy has brought strawberries, chocolate, and a six pack of Coke cans. I turn, and his glittering sea green eyes are staring into mine, a little nervous.

“Is it okay?” he asks softly. “I’ve never taken anyone on a date before.”

My heart swells with love and gratitude and pure, pure joy. “Percy, gods, it’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

His face breaks into the biggest smile, and I swear, he’s never looked more attractive than right now.

“Gods, I could kiss you right now,” he says, then flushes awkwardly. “I—I mean—“

“Do it,” I whisper, cutting him off.

“Huh?” Percy looks at me, mostly confused.

“Kiss me,” I reply, my heart beating fast. Where is all this bravery coming from? Inside, I’m a nervous mess of emotions.

“Okay.” Percy grins, and doesn’t hesitate to pull me towards him, his mouth on mine without a second to lose.

Would it be incredibly cliché to say that sparks flew as we kissed? Yes, it would be. But it’s true. Literally. Because at that exact second, the fireworks display began, explosions of gorgeous colours lighting up the sky around him, so my first kiss was kind of insanely unforgettable.

[mathitas]

Heyy!! Hope you're doing well, I have a request for a Leo x reader fluff where it shows that Leo's kind of a loser bc people tend to forget about that but I absolutely love that about him

No because I'm always saying that like, that guy's a loser and I love him for it. So sorry I didn't answer to some requests sooner, I checked it now.

Leo Valdez x Gn!Reader

You haven’t seen your boyfriend, Leo, in days. He’s locked himself in his cabin for days, only going out to grab something to eat.

Needless to say, you were worried sick. You knew your boyfriend and his habit of overworking himself, so of course you wanted to check on him. So when he didn’t show up for dinner, you decided to sneak some of his favorite food to make sure he would eat properly.

You were walking towards Leo’s cabin, holding a tray of hot food attentively. You switched all the weight of the tray on one hand as you knocked the door. You hoped one of his siblings was awake, since you knew Leo’s habit of being too absorbed in his work not to hear anything or anyone else.

Luckily, Nyssa opened the door for you.

“Oh, hi,” she says, “are you here to see Leo?”

You nod, showing her the food. 

“He didn’t show up for dinner so I thought I could do something nice for him. I haven’t seen him in some days.” She smiles softly, and it’s barely noticeable. She leaves the door open for you and lets you in as she keeps tinkering with something on her bed.

You close the door behind your back and go check on Leo’s bunk bed.

As expected, he was working.

So you go downstairs, where you knew Leo would be, but you’re surprised when the lights are off and only a slight blue light is visible. Other than that, a faint dialogue can be heard.

You peek slowly, and suddenly you hear the name “Anakin!” being yelled.

Wait– was he?!

You enter the room, and you’re not surprised at what you see.

You knew Leo was working on a new projector; you just didn’t think he’d skip dinner just to watch a Star Wars marathon with it. 

Well, you thought that was relatable.

You smiled at the sight of him; he didn’t notice you were there, as he was too absorbed in the movie.

You sneak up behind him and say:”Revenge of the Sith, huh? Haven’t you seen it at least 10 times already?”

He jumps on his seat and lets out a squeal.

“You scared me!”

“Thank you; I missed you too.” He’s about to say something else, but he just pouts.

“You didn’t eat dinner yet,” you smile, holding out the food for him.

“Oh, dang it! Really? I didn’t even notice…!” He panics, and you laugh.

Then he blushes as he mumbles a soft ‘thank you’.

“Wanna watch them with me? I kinda missed you, you know…” He looks at you, hopefully.

You want to be mad at him; you really do. But how can you say no to this?

So you cuddle up against him as the movie keeps playing.

Then you noticed something by his side.

“Are you watching Star Wars with a Baby Yoda Funko Pop?!”

He laughs too now.

You knew Leo was a true nerd at heart, and you were basically the only person he pulled, ever.

And you loved it, except when he would rather watch Star Wars with a Funko Pop than you.

At least he’s holding you close now, planting soft kisses on your forehead as he eats the food you brought him. 

And you had to admit, you loved moments like this.

[satinoflowers]

Hey! What are your thoughts on Satin being a Reach lord’s bastard? I think GRRM kinda left it open for himself, but there’s seeds of being a lord’s son for sure. Or do you have other theories?

Thank you so much for the ask!! <333

Textually theres a decent amount of suggestion to me that satin is a lord's son. He uses the formally educated "my lord" instead of the common "m'lord" when addressing jon, which rly stands out to me as grrm seems to be consistent with this. Satin is a crackshot with a crossbow despite minimal training, and i like the reddit user muflonlesli's point about tyrion's line about "i never thought to feed the fire, that had always been a servant's task" in regards to satin not being as diligent with lighting jon's. That one always stuck with me because as fanficable that that character trait is within satin, in the context of the chapter it does seem a strange bit of coloring to add. Satin is proved diligent, so by pointing out his negligence in that aspect i think grrm is purposefully and specifically hilighting it.

One of my favorite hints to him having the surname flowers (which is an incredible reach and is so so sodelusional of me. I mean seriously take this with a pound of salt) is the line from acok, dany iv where she has the vision with the "sweet-scented blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice"... hear me out, instead of having blue roses be represntative of lyanna, think of them as being a symbol of love within lyanna's line. If r+l=j and satin SPECIFICALLY has a line about the "sweet-scented oil" being registered by jon in the godswood on an icy day,, satin is the sweet smelling blue FLOWER (bastard surname in the reach) and jon is courting him just as rhaegar courted lyanna. And if u think about it. Jon does need a nyssa nyssa so like how far of a reach would it be to say that by comparing jon+rhaegar and their need for a cute person to fulfill a prophecy,, u get sweet smelling satin flowers???🤪🤪🤪

Realistically i dont think theres much of anything to be gained by having him be a lord's bastard, though. It serves as explanation for his mannerisms and character traits for sure (theres also the littlefinger's spy theory but again i dont see the need for him to have one that far from kl and having nothing to do w the current events in his story. Maybe he is a jonsa stan idk) but... the only addition would be to his role within the story on a meta level, if grrm is hinting at a parallel between satinjon and another pairing of characters, which is rife with opportunity for sure.

One more thing to add would be that since empathizing with and aiding those in marginalized groups/ different walks of life from jon's own is so vital within his story (including satin being a prostitute), having satin be a fellow bastard in a much worse position than jon would be a decent addition. Does that set jon up for empathizing with those whose bastard-ry leaves them in positions in which they must make (in jons judgement) immoral choices? In satins case, prostitution, but in aegon vi blackfyre's case? If satin is as important to jons story as i hope he'll be, then a conversation/ philosophic monologue in a jon pov about discrimination being different across class division with those two could be poignant in regards to jons development and future actions.

[phoenix--flying]

things my friendgroup has said while playing roblox games but its just titan army characters (canon +my hcs and a couple aus)

Chris: Not pump up the music box. What is is? Luke: Wind up??

Ellis: It's 5:07, we might not even need to wind up the music box. Cecil: Did you just say its almost seven???

Chris: Watch them all come into the room at 5:50. bonnie appearing at the end of the hall Al: CHRIS. CHRIS! Chris: OH GOD BONNIE-

Drew: Ethan is just SO homophobic he'd rather die then deal with lesbians. Ethan: Uh...yeah true

Luke: What if we did a reverse Five Nights at Freddys where the animatronics had to spend five nights at our house and then we literally like smash them in with a baseball bat.

Lee: Yall I have no idea what I'm doing. Silena: You can do it Lee! Lee: dies

Lou: I think that was Foxy leaving his home. Cecil: uh..nuh uh.

Lou: Oh. I don't like that sound. Ellis: No neither do I.. Cecil: Run.

Lee: Ventilation sys-... *phantom puppet standing directly behind him doing nothing* HI?? CAN I HELP YOU??

Silena: I've never seen him on the first night. Luke: I have. Lee: ....I feel like Lee is about to tell us me a horror story.

Ethan: Hes alive. Al: *walks into the room and stares at him.* Oh shit.

Silena: He's still in here? Don't tell me to come closer bitch.

Al: Please distract him. *jumpscare noise* ...by distract him I didn't mean throw yourself into his arms.

Chris: Luke your head just flew off of your head for a second."

Luke: I'm dead by the way so I am...no longer living. Lee: wow i wonder...

Silena: He's by Lees corpse 🤗 Lee: Thanks Leens😒

spooky noise Cecil: What was that?? *runs off*

Lee: If you do die I will to. I'll die with you.

Chris, Al and Ethan: *incoherent yelling and screaming about balloon boy* Luke: .....what??

Nyssa: Yea Foxys like eating your ass right now.

Luke: I hate Balloon Boy, I hate his stupid round eyes and his frickin balloon sign. Get outta here. Silena: His like free balloons take one I love you sign? Luke: Yea. Chris: Like I don't care. Go burn. Lee: How about we just burn the whole place to the ground.

Al: If I don't see him, he doesn't see me....he might see me. He might see me. Ethan: He sees you.

Cecil: What if it's really fun. Like what if we go to fun land after this. twenty minutes later Cecil: NO WE HAVE TO SLIDE INTO FUN??? Lou: NO KING WHY DID YOU SAY WE WERE GONNA GO TO FUNLAND??

Lee: Wait thats a seven? Silena: Its a two for me! Luke: ITS DIFFERENT NUMBERS!?

Ethan: Is this Sirenhead?? Chris: Do not even start. DON'T even tell me that.

Lee: So just hang left? Silena: Yup. Luke: Just always go left. Chris: Hehe. That's what I thought too. Silena: Oh..

Al: Chris I can't believe your profile picture isn't a cat. Chris: Al I can't believe you're GAY.

Mitchell: Why is your face purple?? Ethan: You're purple too?? Drew: WELL. YOU'RE FACE IS PURPLE TOO.

Chris: But I can see really well, I don't know what's wrong with you. Ethan: Cause you...cause you died. Al: Cause you fucking walked into Bonnie??

Chris: Oh my god I did it guys! All me. Silena: YOU DIDN'T!? You died like immediately. Luke: You died before the animatronics even started moving.

Cecil: Why would you say that? Chris: You trusted the person who walked into Bonnie on the first night? Cecil: I don't trust you, Luke: And he wasn't even off the stage yet. Cecil: I'm just gullible.

Lou: Oh my god this is so much better I can actually see them....actually nevermind it's not better. It's not better. I see too much.

Lee: Do you wanna play FNaF 4 :D Luke: NO??? (they played fnaf 4)

Drew: Oh come on lets get out! Car! OH IS THAT A KIA SOUL!? EUAGHGHHH

Cecil: I kinda wanna go down there. I really wanna go down there. I'm going. Ellis: Don't die. You're probably gonna die what am I saying?

Chris: Oh Foxy's in the garage?? Foxy's about to drive that car bro

Drew: Is Freddy in this game?? Yeah he is. Silena: Yeah Freddy's in the room. He's under the bed. Drew: Oh! He's under the bed! That makes me feel really safe! That's really- I don't like that. I wish you didn't tell me that.

Lee: I feel like I'm being chased in a horror movie or something. Silena: Me too. Lee: Except I'm surrounded by JOSH HUTCHERSON and I can't be serious about that.

Luke: I'm heading there. OH nevermind I just got hit by a military tank.

Al: Why am I coughing so much?? Chris: Because you're gay. Al: Yeah its a sickness.

[nox140497]

The Waynes

Authors Note: So this is my first male reader insert..... and it's pretty bad....... so if you don't like it, don't read this one.

Summery: Dick and the others are slightly ooc (maybe not though) in this one. Ok, Dick's vvveeeerrryyyy ooc..... sorry... not sorry.

Warning : uhhh, language cause Jason's in this one.

Also, really long, sorry

Info: I mean you could be female but I'm gonna be using he/his/him if you guys want I'll do the female one of this too, let me know if you guys want that.

Background: You are m/n Queen son of Oliver Queen and Nyssa (spelling of that please?)Al Ghul. You, like your dad, 'brother' and 'cousin', are an archer however you have other powers too.

Control of all ellements including shadow and light.

Shapeshifting like Beastboy, you're not green though, all your animals are black.

Your favourite form is a large wolf that people believe is a dog when in civvies.

You are also half demon... thanks alot Ras...

You also have super speed like Barry who is your Godfather.

Your Suit is similar to Dick's though it is just black.

Nobody knows the batboys' secret IDs yet except for m/n in this one. Also Dick and m/n have been dating for 4 years and m/n is very protective of not just Dick but of all the batkids. The team doesn't know this though 'cause they don't show it as Nightwung and Ghost (if you have a better hero name for him please let me know cause i'm thinking he's going to pop up in alot of my other oneshots, pehaps another book, and I can't come up with anything better than that so please help), though they are close.

Dick Grayson is a clingy, cuddly teddy bear. .

They will sometimes flirt with one another.

Bruce trusts him with the birds 'cause he's technically Damians causin and part demon.

He is the only 'meta' allowed in Gotham.

Also the boys all listen to him and like to cuddle when they seek comfort or warmth. (He runs hotter than a normal human and can adjust his body temperature)

Also Dick has an accent that he hides as Nightwing and m/n absolutely adores it, Dick has no idea why.

Ages:

Batgirl:19

Nightwing:18

Red Hood: 16

Red Robin/Robin: 14

Robin: 10

Ghost: 19

Kidflash: 20

Artimis: 20

Miss Martian: 20

Supperboy: 21

Aqualad: 22

Beast boy: 15

Lagoonboy: 16

Wondergril: 14

Bumblebee: 21

Zatana: 21

Masterlist

Prompt List

-------------------------

Nightwin's P.O.V.

It's a normal day at the cave. We were all doing our own thing when the Zeta beam lit up.

'Recognized Batman 01'

Everybody groaned as the big bad bat entered and ordered us to the mission room.

I groaned softly as I looked at the screen and saw a family photo of us on it. I could hear 'Red' Robin do the same slightly behind me and m/n snickering softly beside me. I nudge m/n in the ribs rather harshly and hear him grunt softly in response and I smirk.

"Team, as you probably know, this is the Wayne family. Recently, the oldest, Richard Grayson-Wayne, has been receiving death threats..."

Out of the corner of my eye I see m/n get a dark look on his face as he glares darkly at the wall behind Bats. I also see a slight green glow behind the lenses of his mask. How others don't notice it is beyond me but whatever.

"and Bruce Wayne has asked for our help in protecting his kids." Bats finishes.

"So what? We have to babysit a bunch of rich brats?" Lagoonboy growls in question. Batman and m/n twitch slightly.

"Yes." Batman says blandly. "And Nightwing, Robin, and Ghost will not be joining you." He finishes, and all three of us do a doubble take mostly 'cause Ghost wasn't going on the mission.

"Excuse me?" M/N growled, stiffening beside me the glow behind his lenses intensifying slightly. I descreatly take his hand and squeeze before letting go.

"You have a more important mission." Bats said. M/n raised a questioning eyebrow. Bats just gives him a look, and he relaxes beside me and nods once. The glow of his eyes lessened but not disappearing.

"What, why do they get to sit this one out?" Wally whines childishly

"Because Nightwing and Robin are comming with me to try and find the source of the threats and as I said Ghost has a more important mission to attend to" Batman growled making the others take a step back. Wally just pouted. I heard m/n snort in amusement at his godbrother (godcousin?).

With that, batman walked back to the zeta tubes, and the three of us followed him out and to the batcave.

Recognized Batman 01

Recognized Nightwing B01

Recognized Ghost B02

Recognized Robin B12

"So what is this ever so important mission that I am supposed to have B?" M/n asked curriously, tilting his head slightly to the left as we all removed our masks.

"You're going to make sure that my boys don't kill each other before whoever this is gets the chance, as well as making sure that they don't kill the team." Bruce said as he sat down at the Batcomputer. M/n nodded, and mock saluted before turning to me and Tim with a smile.

I smiled back as we headed to the changing rooms and then upstairs. Tim slipped upstairs and into his room as we headed into the kitchen for a small snack ( he is a speedster after all) and then headed to the living room and calapsed onto one of the coutches, to cuddle and whatch tv until dinner.

At some point, I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, I'm being lightly shaken by my boyfriend.

"Dinner time, Dickiebird." He said softly, gently brushing hair out of my face.

I hum softly as I start getting up and stretch slightly. I hear a soft chuckle from beside me, and I blush lightly, looking over at the dark-haired boy.

"What?" I ask with my accent shining through earning a soft smile and a kiss from my boyfriend. He loves my accent. I don't know why.

"Nothing, my love. You're just cute when you wake up, that's all." He says in a soft voice, causing me to blush more. I hear another soft chuckle before I am pulled up along with him. That's one of the things that I love about him, despite almost being as tall (cough taller cough) and almost as muscular as Bruce he's always so soft and gentle with my brothers and I. Unless absolutely neccessery like when breaking up a fight and even then he never uses his full strength.

"Comon before Jay eats all the food." He says in an amused tone, and I chuckle slightly, following him into the dining room and the chaos that is a normal dinner at Wayne mannor.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

M/N P.O.V.

I woke up the next morning with my beautiful Bluebird cuddled up to me still blissfully asleep. I noticed a while ago that he sleeps better when he's with me, so I come over as much as I can. I mean, I do have my own place in Gothem and have been thinking about asking him to move in with me.

Buuuttt.......

He is only barely 18, and I really don't want DaddyBats breathing down my neck. Thank you very much.

Anyway I do need to go get some clothes and stuff at home but I'm so comfortable and I really do not want to get up and besides Dick's finally getting some sleep and I know if I move he will most likely wake up.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Still M/N P.O.V.

It's about an hour later that Dick starts to stir in my arms.

I smile and lightly run my fingers through his hair. He moans softly and snuggles closer to me.

"Good morning, my love." I say softly into his hair.

"Morning." He mumbles back.

"We should probably get up and go to breakfast before Alfred sends one of your brothers to get us." I say gently, rubbing his back.

"Mmhhnmmm." He hums back. I chuckle slightly and nuzzle his hair again before starting to move to get up.

"Mmmmm." He whined in protest, clinging to me like a koala and trying to keep me in bed with him. I chuckle again and run my fingers through his hair again.

"Com'on Dickie you need to get up and eat, and I need to go to my apartment to get my stuff." I say in a soft voice.

"Nnnoooo." He whines.

"Yyyeeesss." I say in the same tone. He lets go of me and crosses his arms with a pout, and I smile before pecking his lips.

He sighs dramatically and grabs my hand before following me out of bed and then downstairs to breakfast, where all the others already are. Bruce smiles at us from over his newspaper as everybody else just looks up at us. I smile back and thank Alfred as he places coffee and breakfast in front of Dick and I.

"The team will be here in about an hour, and then I will be leaving and leaving you boys in m/n's hands. Please behave and don't kill anyone." Bruce says once he puts the newspaper down.

"They know better than to try B. Don't worry, we'll be fine." I chuckle softly while being glared at by 3 sets of eyes. I turn to the three younger boys and raise an eyebrow at their glares. They flinch and turn back to their food. I spot an amused smile on Dick, Bruce, and even Alfred's faces.

After breakfast I peck Dick's lips and leave the manor to go and collect my things from home.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

By the time I return to the manor and slip in the front door unnoticed, I notice that the team is already here seeing as I can hear the chatter comming from the lounge room. I slip over to the door of the room after placing my things at the foot of the stairs to take up later and lean against the doorframe whatching silently. I notice a set of teal eyes as well as a set of steel blue eyes (Jason and Tim who are facing the door) flick up to see who was in the doorway. I also saw the other two birds stiffen a bit before relaxing when their brothers did nothing but return to watching the team.

Most of the team looks somewhat annoyed at having to be here, or maybe it's just Jason or Damian annoying them who knows. I smirk, waiting for someone other than the birds to notice me.

They do not.

I stand there for 10 minutes before clearing my throat and taking satisfaction in whatching them jump. I know the boys noticed me the minute I walked into the doorframe, and probably when I walked in the front door, but the rest definitely did not. They really do need more training.

The team stares or glares at me as Dick jumps up and practically throws himself into my arms.

"Some protection you lot are. If I wanted to kill you all, I could have." I snarled as I held Dick to my chest, and he snuggled into my neck.

"Ghost, what the hell are you doing here? Batman is gonna kill you when he finds out you aren't on that important mission he sent you on." Artimis growled through the now established mind link. I meerly raise an eybrow and scoop Dick up, making him squeak, and carry him inside and sit on the couch with Dick in my lap and the other 3 boys get up to curl up either beside me leaning on my shoulder (Tim and Dami) or sitting on the floor leaning on my legs (Jason).

"You can talk to me outside the link they know my secret identity." I sighed as I ran my fingers through Jays hair.

"THEY WHAT!!' The team exclaims. I feel Jason and Tim flinch a bit, and I run my hands through their hair to calm them down slightly. I meerly glare at the team.

"I've known them since Dick was adopted, so what? 10 years? 11? And as you can see, we're really close, so yes, they know my identity." I say slightly annoyed.

"11." Dick murmers softly, still snuggling into my chest, eyes closed. I smile softly and kiss his hair.

The team just sits and stares at me.

"Does Nightwing know your new plaything is a rich brat?" Wally asks through the link again.

"Yes." I drawl cooly. Sneering and glaring at the fact that he just called my boyfriend a brat and implying that he is meerly a plaything, an object.

Only I get to call him a brat.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Still M/N P.O.V.

It's been a week, and I want to stab something. Peferably someone on the team. They are infuriating. They won't leave the boys alone. It's getting on their nerves as well as mine, and worse, Zatana won't stop flirtting with Dick. Because of their frustration, I've had to break up more fights than I normally have to, and Dick's become even more clingy, not that I mind that, though. We have resorted to hiding in the cave, and I have considered taking them to my place instead, but that would result in DaddyBats breathing down my neck, and again, I don't want that. It doesn't help that they can't go out on patrol to let out their anger either.

I really hope Bruce finds this guy soon.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

M/N P.O.V

Ok so I swear to God if B doesn't hurry the hell up and get his ass back here soon I'm gonna cut a bitch or I'm gonna let Jason or Damian kill them. I can see that Dick is close to thinking the same thing. And THAT'S saying something because he's probably the most sensible of us. So if they continue this they're doomed.

We've taken to hiding in the Batcave more often because otherwise there's gonna be blood and alot of it, and it helps seeing as we can try and get a lead on the guy threatening my bird.

--------------------------------------------

The team being so invasive has messed with the boys' sleeping schedule, not that they had a very good one to begin with (Read, don't have one at all). They've all become more clingy because they're tired and while I don't mind the boys being clingy the snotty and down right rude comments from the team over the mind link are starting to get to me, to the point where if Dick isn't with me at all times I fear I might go Demon on them and nobody wants that. I know I won't hurt the boys if that happens, but still not something I want to happen.

Currently, the boys and I were cuddling on the couch while the team sat around the living room chatting over the mind link. I wasn't paying them much mind instead focusing on my own mind conversation with the birds, something the team didn't know I could do. Then again, the team doesn't know my full power . Not even my 'cousin' knows. Anyway, I wasn't really paying attention to the teams conversation until a comment caught my attention, and I tensed under Dick who was again in my lap.

"I don't see what n/n sees in that brat. I mean look at him I bet he can't do anything without n/n holding his hand. I mean he can do sooo much better than these rich fakers, the kid probably doesn't even love him and is using him, I mean look who raised the kid, Bruce Wayne is a playboy and his brats probably take after their father." My 'cousin' said through the link obviously forgetting that though I was not participating in the conversation I was still connected to the mind link and could infact hear them.

Dick looked at me when I tensed and noticed that my eyes were starting to glow green. He quickly shifted in his spot and wrapped both arms and legs around me to try and calm me down. Once I was calm enough I turned to the team and gave them a glare so powerful all of them shrank away from it.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe instead of judging them based on what the danm press says about them, do the intelligent thing and get to know them first." I snarled coldly through the link, and they all flinched. I got up with Dick still being a koala bear on my waist and walked out closely, followed by the other three birds.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Hello! I just wanted to say I can't stop thinking about your 'watching the show' fic, it's one of my favorites dw fics and actually made me want to dive fully into the eu and classic who, little by little, but still and what got me back into the fandom. So, thank you! I adore your portrayal of the Doctor and their different bonds with the companions, River and The Master (these two being my prefered ships) and even with the Tardis. Also the most non-humany aspects of their character and the weight of how long The Doctor has lived, loved, lost and forgotten. Just love the way that you portrayed Thoschei and the complexity of their relationship.

Gotta admit I kinda squealed when you posted that you were thinking in adding classic companions, bc thinking about their reactions to the messes and adventures The Doctor got after would be great.

Would love to see them react to The Doctor's Wife, mostly bc I adore the interactions with the Tardis.

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for your kind words! 🥹

I'm glad you're back in the fandom! And very happy to hear you're interested in classic who and the EU. As always, if you have any questions about anything at all, feel free to ask me! 😃 The EU is very precious to me, but it can be a bit difficult to navigate at first.

The Doctor's inhumanity is one of the most fascinating things about their character to me. It's something I value quite a bit! The differences in morality are very interesting to dissect. Their relationships with others are also equally fascinating...They've had so many over the years, and all of them are unique. But of course there are some that last much, much longer than others (like with the Master, River, Jack, etc) that are just 🤌.

I'm happy to hear you're excited about the idea of adding classic companions! The very first draft of the fic I wrote actually had only the companion support group in it. So it had Ian, Jo, Tegan, Mel, Ace, etc but no Clara, Amy, Rory, Rose, etc. Basically, I made the choice to add new who characters to react to what happened, but ever since, I've been kind of wishing I kept a couple classic companions. I'm particularly leaning towards Tegan, Nyssa, and Ace since they're my favorites, and I can add them in without disrupting their own timeline (like it would be difficult to add a living Sarah Jane when she would have to watch them talk about her death, thus giving her inappropriate foreknowledge of the future).

And I also love the Doctor's Wife! I love all Doctor/TARDIS interactions, and that definitely has a lot of it. He also takes such a dark turn (understandably) in that episode, and then there is the Corsair! There's so much potential there lol.

Thanks so much for typing all of that out! You have no idea how much it makes my day when I see something like this in my inbox. ❤️

[gay-dorito-dust]

do you have your own batboys fancast? Also who do you picture as Bruce any fic with him I just picture Christian Bale, sorry I love asking people this to try help me with my own because for the life of me I cannot place jason I just picture him as a comic drawing, I cannot unsee Brenton Thwaites as dick and I don't want to because he was perfect imo And Anna Diop was the perfect starfire! I want a starfire movie with her 😩 I LOVED the Gotham Alfred but also Michael Caine forever also, I think David Castañeda would be a good older damian especially a Batman damian. Idk if you've watched any arrowverse stuff but I freaking loved their Nyssa!! Also do you have a Talia fancast, I also just picture Talia as a comic drawing because I cannot place her although I sometimes picture her as Tarja Turunen because I think Tarja is so cool! Sorry for all my rambling I hope I'm not being annoying apologies

Totally unrelated but I am forever in love with the arrowverse Laurel Lance, she also needs her own movie 😭 on the verge of rewatching that entire ass longgg show/crossovers for any Laurel scraps I can get, she was actually perfect 🥰 All the canaries were so cool esp when Sara became the white canary

I don’t usually get into the whole fan cast stuff as if probably suck at it tbh but when it comes to Jason I’ve seen Jensen Ackles come up along with Matthew Daddario, both of whom I love but just don’t see as Jason Todd in the slightest.

Like yes Jensen did voice Jason in under the red hood but I don’t think that’s a plausible excuse to have him play as the live action version. I love him but no.

The guy they had as Jason in titans brought a lot of emotion to the character as Jason practically wears his heart on his sleeve, but he just didn’t fit, I love him but he didn’t work.

Dick I’m not too certain tbh

Anna Diop, love her, gimme more of her as Starfire plz and thank you.

Michael Cain was amazing as Alfred, would love to see him as the character for a small part but I don’t think he would tbh.

Damian Wayne, all I can say is I hope they don’t fuck his character up bc people already do that enough with mischaracterising him to be someone he isn’t, I haven’t read comics and even I know half of the stuff ppl make up about him are bullshit.

So I just hope they get him right for DC’s sake.

There is a lot of dc characters that I don’t see a lot of actors being able to fully embody bc no one is ever going to be happy with the outcome, everyone is hard to please as they want the casting to be perfect and that’s just not possible.

I don’t watch much of the arrow verse but the actress for Laura lance? Love, love,love her. Gay as fuck for her ngl.

Now for Talia? I’ve got no clue, none at all, as I’ve said before fancasts aren’t my thing and I haven’t seen many ppl talking about how they would like as Talia tbh. If they ever do I hope it’s faithful to the comic character and not a watered down version of her but that’s asking too much apparently.

[headcanonsandmore]

'Stand and Deliver!' Chapter Six

Summary: A new arrival appears in Crofters Lodge in dire circumstances, and Tegan finds herself travelling to London once again. The phantom keeps appearing and Tegan finds herself slowly growing to like the mysterious masked figure. Will a death-defying chase alter things between them? Read on, dear readers, and find out…

~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone; my apologies for the delay with this chapter. I know I'm normally very regular with my release schedule but this has been a weird time for me; I bought my first house! Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are XD Hence why I've barely had any time to write over the last few weeks.

Anyway, my apologies again for the delay. Today is my birthday and I finally have some time to myself, so I've been able to get this chapter finished. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take nearly as long to write but we'll have to wait and see.

~~~~~~~~~~

Read on AO3.

~~~~~~~~~~

Monday had always been a calmer day for the inn, but there was still work to be done. Luckily, the weather had stayed dry, although it was still cold, with overcast skies and dim sunshine peeking through.

Tegan spent most of the morning sweeping the courtyard, and cleaning out Dan’s stable. The donkey looked sheepish, as if embarrassed that she needed to clean out his muck. Tegan chuckled, and scratched Dan fondly behind the ears, which elicited a happy honk.

After all that hubbub from the previous evening, the inn felt very quiet. Tegan ignored the acceleration of her heartbeat as she remembered dancing with Nyssa, although she couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It was a very good memory, after all.

Although… Nyssa had quickly left after the Lethbridge-Stewart had made his introductions. The pastors daughter had quickly curtsied to the man, before squeezing Tegan’s hand in goodbye and heading off, explaining that her father would be expecting her arrival back home soon.

Tegan let out a sigh, and leaned against the door of Dan’s stable.

She had hoped to have danced the rest of the evening with Nyssa, but she supposed that was too much to hope for. After all, Nyssa’s father did rely on her for help around the parish, not to mention the various charitable collections that Nyssa organised for the poorest in the community. Nyssa was a busy person, and Tegan was glad to have had at least one evening with Nyssa to herself.

It had been lovely, dancing with her. Feeling the happy beat of her own heartbeat, and the warm gentle brush of Nyssa’s hand against her own. Now that she thought about it, Nyssa had a surprisingly strong pair of arms, given that she had been able to effortlessly dip Tegan whilst the two of them were dancing. Tegan wouldn’t have expected it but, then again, she had been away for a long time; it could easily be that Nyssa’s physicality was due to her busy schedule, not to mention living in a small village where, when heavy things needed to be moved, the entire community came out to help.

Now that she thought about it, she wondered if she would get to see Nyssa’s bare arms in the summer months-

Tegan felt her face suddenly flush, and she cast that thought aside. She gave Dan one last scratch behind his ears, and headed back across the courtyard to the inn.

Too dangerous to think like that, anyway.

When she came back inside, she found Adric and Joy sat at the long table, pouring over the inn’s accounts. Adric had always been good with numbers, and his skills had grown significantly since Tegan had last stayed at home.

‘Where’s dad?’

‘In the cellar,’ Joy said, looking up from the long rolls of parchment. ‘Doing a stock check with the barrels.’

‘Right. Did you say earlier about me delivering something to Barbara?’

‘Basket’s in the kitchen; thanks, love.’

Tegan pressed a quick kiss to her mother’s forehead, and ruffled Adric’s hair. Ignoring the grumble that arose out of the boy, she headed into the kitchen, picked up the basket and headed out of the side door.

As she walked along the road, Tegan breathed in the fresh country air. Hmmm. Bit too fresh, that morning. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction, bringing with it the pungent odour of manure. Lovely.

Still, Tegan found it hard to complain. She had grown up on Sutton Common, after all, and the smell of manure was not new to her. She supposed she had grown used to the smells of London which -while very unpleasant at times- didn’t tend to include cows mess.

Tegan headed off of the main room, and up the small side-street, passing a couple of cottages along the way and coming to a stop in front of door, painted in a blue that was beginning to fade.

She knocked politely and took a step back, holding up the basket.

Barbara Chesterton opened the door. Her hair was looking slightly messy and her cheeks were slightly flushed. The top few buttons of her blouse had been hastily done up.

‘Hello, Barbara.’

‘Er, hello, Tegan,’ Barbara said, as she stepped forward. ‘Oh, the basket? That’s so thoughtful of your mother-’

‘Fun night with Ian, eh?’

The older woman’s face bypassed red and turned maroon.

‘Ssshhh!’ she exclaimed, waving her other hand in mortification. ‘You don’t need to draw attention to it.’

‘Draw attention to it? You spent half of the dance with your hands on his buttocks!’

Barbara giggled.

‘Yes, it was rather an enjoyable evenings dance. What about you? I saw you with Nyssa; are you teaching her to dance?’

‘Er, sort of.’

‘That’s very sweet of you, Tegan,’ Barbara said. ‘Nyssa is rather shy with public events, bless her. I think she really appreciates you doing that.’

Tegan shrugged.

*

After politely declining Barbara’s offer to stay for scones (she knew that Barbara and Ian would want to continue whatever had been interrupted), Tegan headed back down the lane, and then stared up the main street that headed past the inn and out of Crofters Lodge.

There was a coach, stood at the side of the road, just before the bend in the road.

Tegan felt a strange feeling of foreboding. Looking around, she saw that the main street through the village was deserted aside from herself, no doubt due to the early hour.

Hurrying up the road, Tegan headed around the other side of the inn (Dan the donkey giving a happy honk as she passed) and took a shortcut, making her way across the muddy ground, ducking from tree to tree as she went.

She came to a stop amongst the trees nearest the road, and peeked out towards the coach stood on the opposite side.

Her eyes widened in horror.

There were two figures next to the coach.

One was a man, dressed in a long black cloak and a tricorn hat. His build was bulky and gruff. One hand was holding onto a horse that was presumably his own. The other hand was pointing a pistol at the second figure.

The second figure was a young girl; she couldn’t have been older than thirteen. She was probably a few inches shorter than Tegan, and had short dirty-blond hair. Her bonnet was lying abandoned on the ground beside her.

She was kneeling beside someone who was lying, collapsed, on the ground. It almost looked like-

Tegan felt her breath hitch in her throat.

There were several red stains on the man’s shirt, and his skin had a horrible ghostly pale look to it. He was dead.

Tears were streaking down the girls face, as she glared up at the highwayman.

Now that Tegan looked at it, she could see the forms of several other passengers lying about in the coach. The coachman was lying on the ground nearby, with the same pale look to his skin.

They were all dead.

This had been a massacre.

‘Well, young lady,’ growled the man irritably. ‘Can’t have you around, can we? Otherwise that’s me for the gallows.’

He raised his handgun.

Tegan felt a sudden search of panic. She needed to do something! Maybe she could distract the highwayman so the girl could run for cover? Or-

There was a load bang.

Tegan flinched, but the girl did not fall. Instead, the pistol had been blown out of the man’s hand.

Tegan’s eyes darted along the road from where the sound had come.

The phantom, sat astride their horse, was barrelling up to the coach.

‘Get away from her!’ exclaimed the masked figure.

The man turned, eyes widening behind his mask.

‘You again!’

Without a second thought, he scrambled backwards, jumped onto his horse, and galloped away, heading onto the common.

Instead of following, the phantom slowed their horse to a gentle stop, and climbed swiftly to the ground. The girl stiffened as they approached.

‘I mean you no harm,’ said the phantom, kneeling down in front of the young girl. Their voice was exceedingly gentle. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘N-no,’ stammered the girl. ‘I… my father…’

The phantom looked over the girls shoulder, and their gaze seemed to rest on the body laying a short way away.

‘I’m so sorry,’ the phantom said, very quietly.

The girl’s lip began to tremble. The phantom leaned forward, and put their arms softly around her. The girl began to cry into the phantom’s shoulder, and the figure patted her gently on the back.

Tegan’s mouth hung open. There it was again; the phantoms predilection for kindness that Tegan wouldn’t have thought possible of a highwayman. Why did it intrigue her so? Was it simply the gap inbetween the figure of the masked bandit and the kindness that they seemed to extend to everyone? Or was it something… else?

No -Tegan waved the thought aside- that definitely wasn’t possible. Tegan knew that her feelings for any man would never be that.

She bit her lip thoughtfully.

The girl had, by this point, wiped her nose messily with her sleeve, and pulled away somewhat from the phantom.

‘The village of Crofters Lodge is just along the road,’ said the phantom, gesturing behind them. ‘There is an inn there; the innkeeper and his wife are good, kindly people.’

‘Can… can you take me there?’

The phantom nodded. They took the girl with one hand, using the other to lead their horse.

‘Good, kind people, you say?’

‘Yes,’ the phantom replied. ‘I know their daughter.’

‘Is she nice?’

‘She is the loveliest person I have ever met,’ replied the phantom. ‘Tegan, her name is. You’ll like her, I’m sure.’

Tegan froze for a moment. Why did the phantom think she was lovely? They’d only met twice before, and on the first occasion Tegan hadn’t exactly been full of the milk of human kindness. Where would the phantom have-

Nyssa. Of course, Nyssa had apparently been mentioning Tegan whenever she crossed paths with the phantom.

The innkeepers daughter smiled. Nyssa was too good for this world.

Tegan turned and hurried away, taking the long route around. Her boots beat softly against the dull winter ground.

She arrived back in the courtyard of the inn, and hurried in the back door.

‘Mum, there’s been a hold-up on the common!’ she exclaimed, bursting into the common room. ‘The phantom managed to stop the robber but… oh…’

The door opened, and the young girl from the coach entered, looking terrified out of her wits.

Tegan hurried forward.

‘Hello,’ she said, gently. ‘My name is Tegan.’

‘The masked man mentioned you,’ said the girl. ‘My… dad always called me Vicki.’

Her eyes glistened miserably with tears.

‘Oh, you poor dear,’ Joy said, coming up to stand next to Tegan, before bending down to Vicki’s eyeline. ‘Come along; let’s get you somewhere to sit and I’ll get you something to drink.’

‘T-thank you,’ Vicki said. Joy placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and guided the young girl over to a table nearby.

The door opened again.

‘I came as soon as I could!’

Tegan startled at the familiar voice, and turned round, her heartrate suddenly increasing again. She hurried across the room.

‘Nyssa?’

‘The phantom threw a stone at our front door,’ said the pastors daughter, face flushed from the exertion of running. ‘He said that there had been a hold-up on the common, and a poor young girl who needed somewhere to stay.’

‘O-oh,’ Tegan said. ‘Right. Yes, her name is Vicki. She’s still in shock, poor thing. I... I wouldn’t go to the coach, if I were you; it must have been pretty horrible, by all accounts.’

Nyssa nodded.

The two young women crossed the room, to where Vicki was sat. Joy had placed a glass of milk in front of her, but she wasn’t drinking from it. Tegan’s heart clenched in empathy. No doubt Vicki could barely focus on anything at the moment, given the circumstances.

‘Vicki,’ -Tegan gestured to Nyssa- ‘This is Nyssa Traken. The pastors daughter.’

Vicki stared at Nyssa for a moment, and her eyes narrowed slightly, as if in thought.

‘Hello,’ she said, slowly. ‘How do you do?’

Nyssa hurried forward and knelt down beside the girl, giving a small, kind smile.

‘I’m very well,’ Nyssa said. ‘Er… Vicki, was it?’

The girl nodded, morosely.

‘Do you have any family in London?’

Vicki shook her head.

‘There was only dad,’ she said, quietly. ‘I… I don’t have anyone now, it seems.’

Nyssa’s eyes seemed to glisten with tears. She reached out and took Vicki’s hand in her own.

‘That’s not true, Vicki,’ she said, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke. ‘I assure you that no-one will force you into an orphanage or a workhouse. You are more than welcome to stay with my father and I in our home, for as long as you want to.’

Tegan felt her heart well.

‘Thank you, Miss Nyssa,’ Vicki said, giving a watery smile despite her tears. ‘That sounds wonderful.’

‘Come along, love,’ said Joy, placing a gentle hand on Vicki’s shoulder. ‘Let’s get you some food, help you get over the shock…’

Vicki nodded, and followed Tegan’s mother away. The kitchen door closed behind them.

Nyssa wiped her eyes, and gave a sniff. Her eyes landed on Tegan, and she tried for a watery smile.

Without thinking, Tegan strode over and put her arms around the younger woman. Nyssa stiffened slightly but did not pull away, and leaned into Tegan’s shoulder after a moment. Her hands came to rest around Tegan’s back. She wasn’t crying anymore but there was a curious fragility to her. At the moment, Tegan wanted nothing more than to support Nyssa as best she could. It wasn’t even due to her own feelings for the parsons daughter; she simply knew that she would be there for Nyssa, no matter what.

Nyssa’s hands were soft and gentle against Tegan’s back, and her head had a warm weight as she rested on the shoulder on the innkeepers daughter. Tegan decided that she liked this feeling far more than she would ever feel comfortable admitting to Nyssa. The feeling of knowing that Nyssa could rely on her, whatever the circumstances, was truly wonderful. Or maybe Tegan was just hopeless. Either way, she didn’t care.

Eventually, Nyssa sniffed again, and gently pulled away.

‘Better?’

The parsons daughter nodded. 

‘Thank you, Tegan,’ she said, with a smile. ‘You are too kind.’

Nothing is too kind for you, Tegan thought. She dare not say it; she knew that Nyssa was just brush it away, assuming that Tegan was just being overly sweet.

Instead, she simply returned the smile.

‘You were… very sweet to her.’

Nyssa seemed to freeze, her eyes darting to Tegan’s face, as if trying to salvage some deeper meaning from her expression.

‘How do you mean?’

‘Suggesting she live with you,’ Tegan explained. ‘That was really lovely of you, Nyssa.’

‘O-oh, w-well…’ Nyssa stammered, waving a hand. ‘I just wanted to help. The poor girl has had a harrowing day.’

Tegan leaned forward, and took Nyssa’s hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

‘I wasn’t kidding when I said you were the loveliest person I’ve ever met,’ Tegan said, smiling softly.

Nyssa’s cheeks turned a pretty pink of pink.

‘T-Tegan,’ she stammered, blinking quickly. ‘I… oh, I’m really not as lovely as you think I am.’

‘I find that hard to believe,’ Tegan replied, very quietly. ‘You sure you aren’t hiding a halo under that bonnet?’

Nyssa let out a flustered giggle, and tried to cover her mouth with her other hand. Beautiful. Tegan felt her heart jump into her mouth; whenever she thought Nyssa couldn’t spellbind her, the pastors daughter would prove her wrong.

‘An angel?’ Nyssa chuckled, skin crinkling around her eyes. ‘Are you simply trying to flatter me, Tegan?’

‘I thought I was stating facts,’ Tegan cheeked, grinning. ‘And I will keep at it until you finally stop underestimating how wonderful you are.’

‘That’s a little rich coming from you, isn’t it?’

‘That reminds me, I think you need to stop mentioning me to the phantom,’ Tegan said, with a chuckle. ‘Apparently, they’re now under the impression that I’m lovely. You’re flattering me, Nyssa.’

Nyssa blinked quickly, cheeks flushing again.

‘W-well, it would be discourteous to lie when describing you,’ she stammered, grey-green eyes meeting Tegan’s brown. ‘And… you are lovely, Tegan. I hope you do not mind.’

Tegan smiled.

‘Of course I don’t mind,’ she said, quietly. ‘You know me, Nys; I couldn’t be upset about you saying that about me.’

‘Really?’ Nyssa said, voice barely above a whisper. ‘Why?’

There was a beat of silence. Tegan felt her throat go very dry. Her heart hammered painfully against her chest, and she was sure that her palms were sweaty.

‘Nyssa… I-’

But there was then a creak as the front door of the inn opened, and Tegan lost her nerve.

Benton stepped into the common room, followed by Nyssa’s father. The parson’s daughter startled slightly, but did not remove her hand from Tegan’s.

‘She’s in the kitchen, father,’ she said, quickly. ‘Mrs Jovanka is getting her some food.’

‘Much needed, I imagine,’ sighed the pastor. ‘Come along; let us help the poor thing.’

Nyssa followed her father and Benton across the room to the kitchen door. However, she turned to look at Tegan.

‘Sorry, we were interrupted; what were you going to say?’

‘Er… n-nothing.’

Nyssa frowned, as if she had been hoping for a different answer, but nodded. Tegan swallowed as, hand still clutched around Nyssa’s, she followed the pastors daughter across the common room.

Would she ever be able to tell Nyssa why?

*

‘Tegan!’

Stumbling down the stairs as she did up her pinafore, Tegan hurried into the kitchen. It was the next morning.

‘Mum?’ she said, coming to a halt just inside the door. ‘Whatever’s the matter?’

‘Vanessa’s been taken ill,’ Joy said, eyes worried as she looked up from the letter in her hands. ‘This came with the morning post carriage; her nurse is worried sick.’

‘Right. I’ll collect my things and hop on the mail carriage heading to London,’ Tegan said, already grabbing a loaf of bread from the table. ‘Don’t worry, mum; I’ll stay with her as long as it takes.’

Joy pressed a quick kiss to the top of Tegan’s curls, before nodding and letting her rush back upstairs.

*

‘Hold on!’

Tegan recognised the voice and turned where she was stood. Lethbridge-Stewart was striding pointedly in her direction. The innkeepers daughter frowned, before passing her bag up to the coachman, and then turned around to face the military man.

‘Hello, Miss… Jovanka, was it?’

‘Yes,’ Tegan replied. ‘Good morning, sir.’

‘And to you, miss. Are you heading to London?’

Tegan nodded. The man frowned, his moustache prickling on his upper lip.

‘There are highwayman abroad, Miss Jovanka. I would advise caution when travelling across the common to London.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Tegan replied, stiffly. She knew that she had no reason to be so cold to the man, but his presence at the dance had disturbed Nyssa. ‘But I must travel nonetheless; family emergency, you see.’

Lethbridge-Stewart nodded, in apparent understanding.

‘This phantom may still be around, hence my warning.’

‘I have met the phantom on several occasions,’ Tegan said, frowning. ‘They have caused me no harm thus far.’

‘You are very lucky indeed, in that case.’

Lethbridge-Stewart tipped his hat, and strode away.

Tegan rolled her eyes at the man’s back, and turned around, climbing into the carriage. When she had initially heard that a higher-up was arriving in Crofters Lodge due to the highwayman situation, she had hoped that the official would be similar to Benton in outlook. This had clearly been a forlorn hope, given Lethbridge-Stewart’s rather pompous manner. She understood that the man was simply carrying out his assignment, but anyone who caused Nyssa Traken discomfort was not to be trusted, in Tegan’s mind.

She really was hopeless for that woman, wasn’t she.

The coach left Crofters Lodge a few minutes later. Aside from Tegan, the only passengers were an elderly couple who had been on the coach since it had set off northwards earlier than morning. They did not speak, content to quietly sit, and Tegan was more than happy to join in.

Tegan looked out of the window. Through the morning mists, she could see a familiar-looking figure on horseback, gliding between the half-visible trees like a guardian angel.

Smiling slightly to herself, Tegan sat back down. She had a sneaking suspicion that this coach wasn’t going to get held up on the common.

*

Several hours later, Tegan climbed out of the carriage, her boots making a soft squelch against the muddy pavement. London’s sanitation hadn’t changed much since she had been away. It was always worse in the winter, when the heavy rains combined with the dirt of the streets to form a disgusting layer of sloppy mud.

She bit back her desire to wrinkle her nose, and collected her bag from the coachman. Giving a quick thanks, Tegan headed down the street.

It had clearly rained here more than it had back home, and there was a wet tinge to the air, mixed with the general odour of unwashed bodies, animal mess and human waste. Lovely.

Eventually, Tegan arrived at her aunt’s home, and knocked swiftly on the front door. It was a respectable house, in a street mainly made up of the strange social strata where the upper working class bled into the lower echelons of the middling sort. Office boys, young families of army sergeants, shop assistants, trade apprentices, and the like.

Vanessa’s front door was as well-cleaned as it always had been. A few moments later, it opened, revealing the harried-looking nurse that had sent Tegan the letter that morning.

‘Thank goodness, Miss Tegan!’

‘Hello, Mary,’ Tegan said, smiling kindly. Domestic service was a difficult job, and she bore the woman no ill for trying as best she could, despite such an isolated and difficult job. ‘How is my aunt?’

‘She has improved somewhat,’ continued Mary, letting Tegan into the house and closing the door swiftly behind her. ‘But I was most concerned.’

The house was much the same as ever, albeit with a slightly less airy feel than when Tegan had lasted lived there. Mary had kept the place clean and tidy, but there was undoubtably a sense that the place was now more a place of care than of a home in its own right.

Tegan placed her bag over to the side, removed her overcoat, and followed Mary up the stairs, the steps creaking slightly under their weight. It was warmer inside than out, and Tegan was glad to be out of the cold air.

The two young women came to a stop in front of Vanessa’s bedroom. Mary opened the door, and Tegan entered. With another smile, Mary closed it behind her.

Vanessa was sat up in bed. Her eyes lit up as Tegan hurried over.

‘Hello, my girl,’ she said, voice accented with a slight croak. ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘And to see you too, auntie,’ Tegan said, bending down to kiss her aunt on the forehead before sitting down in the chair left next to the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Much better now, Tegan,’ Vanessa said, smiling. ‘I’ll be up and about in no time at all. You know me; tough as an old turkey.’

Tegan grinned.

‘Mum will be pleased,’ she replied. ‘She was worried about you, as were we all at home.’

‘My apologies,’ Vanessa chuckled. ‘I do worry that my maid may have inflamed concerns with her letter. I was simply feeling a little under the weather, and yet she seems to think that I was at deaths door.’

‘She means well. And we do not mind being informed as to how you fare.’

‘Anyway, how are things back home? Is Adric still helping out with the accounts?’

Tegan smiled, and began to reminisce.

*

‘My apologies for bringing you away from Crofters Lodge,’ Vanessa said, smiling. ‘I take it that you are enjoying your time back in the village?’

Tegan nodded, smiling.

‘Very much so. It’s great to see all the old faces again. Barbara, Ian, Ben, Polly-’

‘Nyssa Traken, perhaps?’

Tegan’s mouth fell open.

‘How did you-’

‘You’ve mentioned her about five times in the past half hour,’ Vanessa chuckled. ‘I take it that you enjoyed dancing with her.’

‘Er… yes,’ Tegan said, very slowly. ‘I did. She is… a good friend. Kind, sweet, intelligent. She will make a wonderful wife, no doubt.’

Vanessa smiled.

‘Not every woman needs to marry,’ the older woman said, gently. ‘Some of us… find comfort in other things. Other people.’

Tegan stared at her.

Was… was it that obvious? She could have sworn that her expression hadn’t changed when mentioning Nyssa. And… what on earth did the older woman mean? Other people? Did… did that mean what she thought it meant?

‘Yes, Nyssa is a wonderful friend,’ Tegan said, softly. ‘I… I do care a great deal for her.’

Vanessa smiled.

‘That does not surprise me,’ Vanessa said. ‘Our family are good judges of character. It is no great shock that a woman as good as Nyssa Traken had become such a close friend to you.’

Tegan’s fingers bunched into the material of her dress. It felt as if Nyssa occupied a space in her mind constantly these days, regardless of what else she was doing. But she supposed that was to be expected. By the sounds of it, Ben and Polly had felt the same way about each other for a long time before they had begun courting.

Could she court Nyssa?

Was that even possible?

But… Nyssa had been very happy whilst dancing with her. She had repeatedly mentioned that she found Tegan lovely, and there had been moments between them -when the two of them were alone- where Tegan could almost have hoped that maybe her feelings were not entirely unrequited.

Tegan swallowed. It was all so very complicated.  

‘Do… do you wish me to stay, auntie?’ she asked. ‘Mum isn’t expecting me back for a while.’

‘No, dear,’ Vanessa replied, kindly. ‘I’m perfectly fine; I think Mary just got a little scared on my behalf when she sent the letter. Bless her, she is so caring.’

Tegan smiled.

‘In that case, I will leave you to it,’ she said, standing up and pressing a kiss to her aunt’s forehead. ‘I will catch the coach back home.’

‘Goodbye, Tegan.’

Tegan smiled.

‘Goodbye, auntie.’

*

‘Tegan; jump!’

It was several hours later. Tegan’s coach -which, aside from her, had been empty- had been hijacked by a highwayman. The coachmen had been thrown off the side. Realising that the robber hadn’t noticed the carriage was occupied, Tegan had climbed out of the window, and started wrestling with the masked man for the reins of the horses. In the scuffle that had followed, the highwayman had been thrown from the seat, knocking himself unconscious on the ground.

Tegan, trying desperately to slow the horses down, had been left atop the rickety coach. The horses, by now terrified by all the yelling and shoving, were now incapable of stopping, no matter what Tegan did. The next fifteen miles (or thereabouts, it was difficult to judge) were the longest of Tegan’s life.

It was just when Tegan was at her wits end that a horse, carrying a very familiar-looking masked figure, had appeared, galloping alongside the carriage, with their hand outstretched towards her.

The phantom had tried to climb up on the coach but, due to the horses terror, was unable to get close enough. Thinking fast, Tegan first threw her bag to the phantom, who nimbly caught it and attached it to their saddlebags behind them, keeping their horse on-course with one hand.

Heart in her mouth, Tegan leapt from the carriage. She landed behind the phantom and swung her leg quickly up over the horse, clutching her arms around the waist of the masked figure to steady herself. The horse’s hair was wet in the night air.

The carriage, horses still braying in terror, continued down the road and was swallowed up by the inky black night around them.

The phantom slowed the horse to a gentle stop by the side of the road, next to a grassy patch. A barn was stood a few hundred feet away. Tegan and the phantom were both breathing heavily, the exertion hitting their bodies with a sudden shock as the danger had passed.

The phantom reached out to help Tegan down. As Tegan made to reach down, her wobbly hold on the horse broke, and she fell.

The masked figure made an attempt to catch her, but the momentum of Tegan’s fall caused the two of them to fall onto the grass, tumbling over each other before coming to a halt in a jumbled heap.

‘Ow…’

With a sudden shock, Tegan realised that she was now straddling the phantom’s waist. The highwayman’s cloak had ballooned out behind them, and was now acting the part of a large blanket, protecting both of them from the we and muddy grass. The buttons of their shirt beginning to gap, and their legs squirmed slightly underneath Tegan. A strand of curly brown hair escaped from under their hat, trailing down over the mask that covered their eyes.

As Tegan’s brown eyes met the grey-green orbs below her, she was suddenly aware that, up close, the phantom didn’t look like a man at all. In fact, with the way their chest was heaving in and out, and their face flushed a delicate pink colour, they almost looked like a-

Tegan’s face flushed.

‘S-sorry!’ Tegan exclaimed, feeling her heart pounding against her chest. She was suddenly aware of her own thighs pressing into the legs of the phantom, and she made to stand up. Her dress had bunched up somewhat during the events of the last half hour, and it took her a while to scramble to her feet. ‘I-I didn’t mean to-’

‘N-no problem at all,’ the phantom replied, looking away as Tegan made to arrange her petticoats into something less salacious-looking. ‘Are… are you hurt, Tegan?’

‘Just a little shaken,’ she said. She realised that, in the heat of the moment, the phantom had dropped the honorific of “Miss Jovanka”. The way they said it… why did it sound so familiar?

‘I-I best get you back to the village,’ the phantom said. ‘Are you able to ride behind me?’

Tegan nodded, trying desperately to calm her breathing. No doubt she looked a complete mess, with her dress torn and her petticoats still showing underneath. For some reason, the thought of the phantom seeing her in this way was strangely… exciting.

For a moment, Tegan’s gaze came to rest on the phantom’s shirt, which was still expanding in and out as the masked figure tried to get their breath back.

A sudden warmth sputtered into life between Tegan’s thighs, and she hurriedly averted her gaze to stare at the horse instead, feeling her cheeks flush with heat. What on earth was she playing at? This was the phantom after all. While they were a decent enough sort, they were still a highwayman.

Wait… since when had Tegan started referring to the phantom as “they” instead of “him”?

But was the phantom a man? Judging from the way Tegan’s eyes had lasciviously lingered on the phantoms chest, she wasn’t sure. She had never seen men in that sort of way, after all. There had only ever really been…

Nyssa.

Tegan felt a sudden spasm of guilt in her gut. It was wrong of her to stare at another person in this way, given the feelings she knew in her heart would always belong to the pastors daughter.

 And yet… Tegan could not ignore the giddy delight that came with being around the phantom. The feeling of their cocky-yet-gentle gaze on Tegan was… rather exciting. The sputter of warmth between her thighs continue to kindle softly, lapping slightly over her skin.

Tegan was not a stranger to those sorts of feelings, of course. Her adoration for Nyssa had been an early indicator in that regard. But she had always tried to repress those sorts of feelings when it came to the pastors daughter; she somehow felt that to think of Nyssa in that sort of way was… unfair to the woman. After all, Nyssa saw Tegan as a good friend.

Admittedly, these sorts of reservations tended to disappear from Tegan’s mind during sleep, and she had woken from various dreams breathless and covered in sweat. Those moments had always been followed by bouts of shame and remorse, the latter directed at the young woman who, in the depths of Tegan’s dreams...

Well, Tegan tried not to think too much about it. Good grief. Her unconscious mind had a habit of bringing hidden desires out into the open during those nocturnal hours. It unnerved her.

The phantom looked up. A drop of rain landed on their cheek.

There was a crash of thunder, and the heavens opened. Rain poured down, bouncing off Tegan’s overcoat and bonnet. Within seconds, she could feel the cold water permeating to her skin.

‘The barn!’

Breaking into a sprint, Tegan and the masked figure (who had grabbed the horse’s reins) charged over the wet grass. The horse didn’t seem that bothered by the rain, so Tegan reached the doors before the phantom. She pulled up the large plank keeping the doors closed, and pulled out one of the doors.

The horse strolled inside and shook itself, soaking the phantom in a second shower of rainwater. The masked figure gave a groan.

Tegan followed the phantom in through the door.

The masked figure tied their horse up against a nearby wooden wall, and the animal shook itself again before snorting.

The phantom walked back over to Tegan, and the two of them stood, shivering, staring out into the rain; it was getting worse by the minute, although mercifully there weren’t any strikes of lightning.

‘Guess that puts paid to getting back to Crofters Lodge.’

‘You never know,’ the phantom said, pulling their wet cloak off their shoulders. ‘It may just be a short heavy shower.’

Tegan stared sideways at the masked figure out of the corner of her eye. Their cloak had kept the worst of the rain off, but their shirt underneath was damp in several places. Where the rain had soaked in, the material had become half-translucent, and Tegan could make out several patches of pale skin-

The innkeeper daughter turned away quickly. Her heartrate had increased again. The heat between her legs sparked. Rabbits.

‘Er… Miss Tegan?’

‘Hm?’

‘Your overcoat looks soaked; you’ll catch a chill if you leave it on.’

Tegan reluctantly removed her outer layer. The layers underneath were mostly dry, but there was an uncomfortable dampness nonetheless.

The phantom was staring at her. Their eyes met hers, and a flush came to the face of the masked figure as they turned away sharply.

‘Er… Miss Tegan, your blouse is…’

Tegan looked down. With a start, she realised that her blouse was a lot more transparent than she had initially realised.

‘Don’t stare!’

‘I’m not!’ the phantom exclaimed, sounding very flustered. ‘Why did you think I turned away?’

‘Er… yes,’ Tegan said, lamely. ‘Sorry.’

‘No need,’ the phantom said. ‘I’ll just…’

They gestured to the open doors, and Tegan nodded.

‘Yeah; best to keep the warmth in.’

A few moments later, the phantom had pulled closed the door.

They headed across the barn (still avoiding looking at Tegan) climbed down onto the ground underneath one of the haylofts, leaning back against a heap of hay, and placed their hands behind their head, knocking their hat slightly forward to cover their arms. They crossed one leg over the other.

Tegan sat down a few feet away, and leaned back against the side of a barrel of hay.

‘Nothing to do but wait until the rain clears, I suppose.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ the phantom replied. ‘You can rest assured that I will not harm so much as a head on your head, Miss Tegan.’

‘Not much for the literal roll-in-the-hay, then?’

‘Not without a maidens consent, certainly. I am a gentleman.’

‘Gentle… man.’

The phantom went very still.

‘What?’ they said. ‘What are you implying?’

‘Nothing,’ Tegan replied. After all, it wasn’t any of her business, regardless of her own flusteredness when it came to the masked figure laying a short distance away. ‘Just thinking how you really are a gentleman, aren’t you?’

‘I am not an aristocrat, if that is what you mean,’ the phantom said. ‘Besides, I doubt you’d be interested in a roll in the hay with me.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

The phantom, to Tegan’s surprise, let out a giggle.

‘Because, knowing a certain pastors daughter, you’ve got someone already trying to find you, despite the rainstorm. Can’t imagine you’d want her to turn up whilst you were in an intimate situation. The poor girl would probably faint.’

‘Cheek!’

Before Tegan knew what she was doing, she had got to her feet, closed the distance between them, and gave the phantom a hearty shove. The masked figure, still giggling, went sprawling into the hay.

‘Bit of a short fuse, eh?’ grinned the phantom, dimples showing in their cheeks. ‘Goodness forbid I say anything untoward about “Nys”-’

‘Oh, do be quiet!’

Tegan found her heart hammering against her chest.

‘I can tell Nyssa that you propositioned me in a barn when I was vulnerable, though,’ Tegan said, grimly. ‘You’d never hear the end of it.’

‘I don’t doubt that,’ the phantom replied, with a shrug. ‘She has rather a soft spot for you, doesn’t she. Bet you’d be happy if she propositioned you for a roll in the-’

Tegan shoved the phantom again. The highwayman was ready for her this time, though, and gently placed their hand on her arm. Tegan froze where she was leaning over, her brown eyes meeting the green eyes that peeked out from under the hat. She was aware that the phantom could probably see quite a lot of skin through her half-transparent blouse, but the idea did not alarm her. In fact, it felt almost… enjoyable.

There a very pregnant pause.

‘Er….’ Tegan said, not quite sure what she was even going to say.

‘I think the rain’s stopped.’

They both looked towards the door. Sure enough, the sound of the rain had completely disappeared.

‘Back to Crofters Lodge,’ the phantom said, gently letting go of Tegan’s arm and climbing to their feet. ‘We best get moving; your parents will be worried sick.’

‘Er… yes.’

Tegan put her still-soaked overcoat back on, and followed the phantom outside.

What on earth had just happened?

*

Tegan climbed down from the phantoms horse, her boots landing with a soft thud against the stones of the inn’s courtyard. It was a good hour later, and the weather had remained mercifully dry. Both Tegan and the phantom were now dry, although Tegan felt a chill coming on and knew her mother would insist on drawing her a hot bath once she got inside.

The phantom also climbed off the horse, and came to stand next to Tegan, at a companionable distance.

‘You’re sure you’ll be safe from here?’

‘Oh, I’m not sure,’ Tegan said, with a chuckle. ‘I imagine after almost being kidnapped, a quiet courtyard with a sleeping donkey may be a step too far.’

The phantom smiled.

‘Fair point. Dan is rather a handful, isn’t he.’

Tegan raised an eyebrow.

‘How do you know he’s called Dan?’

‘Er’- the phantom’s face blanched for a second, before regaining its prior confidence-‘Miss Nyssa told me.’

‘I’m starting to think Nyssa tells you a lot,’ Tegan said. ‘I hope you have no designs on the pastors daughter?’

‘Why would- no!’ the phantom exclaimed, startled. ‘Obviously not!’

Tegan let out a laugh.

‘Oh, I’m only messing with you,’ she said, still chuckling. ‘I like to think Nyssa has better sense that to get mixed up with highwayman.’

The phantom stared at her for a second, before letting out a small laugh of their own. The highwayman then climbed off the horse, and stood in front of Tegan.

‘But… you do not?’

‘Apparently not, no,’ Tegan cheeked back, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. She took a step closer. ‘Thank you for the rescue; I must admit, I can understand why you are considered something of a folk hero around here.’

The phantom smiled, and gave a short bow.

‘No thanks needed,’ they replied, smiling as they straightened up. ‘The least I could do. I hope that we can become… friends, of a sort.’

Their grey-green eyes glistened in the half-light.

Tegan smiled.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, smiling softly. ‘You have a way of sneaking into people’s hearts.’

Without thinking, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the phantom’s cheek.

The phantom froze, and Tegan’s brown eyes met the grey-green. Their breath seemed to catch in both of their throats.

‘E-er, anyway, thank you!’ Tegan exclaimed, stammering as she turned away. ‘M-much appreciated; have a good night!’

As she hurried to the side door of the inn, Tegan found her face beginning to flush. Her heart was pounding against her chest, and she was certain that she was perspiring. The mind of the innkeepers daughter was aflutter as she desperately tried to understand what she had just done.

WhydidIdothatwhydidIdothat-

The door closed behind her.

The phantom stood, in the empty courtyard. There was silence aside from the gentle snores of Dan the donkey, and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind. The evening air was cool. The village had turned in for the night.

The masked figure reached up to the spot on their cheek where Tegan’s lips had brushed. A slight blush began to coat their skin and, behind the mask that covered her eyes, Nyssa Traken stared up at the first floor window of the inn that housed the young woman she adored.

~~~~~~~~~~

DUN-DUN-DUN XD And the identity of our mysterious highwayman is finally revealed (well done to everyone who was able to guess correctly).

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you enjoyed it; I always love a good cliffhanger!

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I'll take a break to focus on the actual book I'm writing, but don't worry, I promise the final book will be the best one of all. See you in August! -Danny Words: 2,203 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Book Listen to: 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' -by U2

LXIII: Which Boss Do I Have to Fight to Get Some Validation Around Here?

She knows all the people in this room, but the way she thinks about them, and how they interact with her now that she's physically different, is kind of off.

"We talked to Apollo," Ara starts explaining. "He said Gaia reawakened the Python, keeping the Oracle of Delphi prisoner—that's why Rachel can't see anything now."

Ella the harpy, Tyson, and Rachel will leave with the Romans, they'll try to rewrite the Sibylline books, which is why Ara called for a meeting.

"But Gaia is permanently asleep now," Will reasons. "That means Dad can kill the Python now!"

Ara grimaces. "But your father angered Zeus. We might not see him a while, or worse—"

"Wait, if we stop getting prophecies, that's completely alright," Nyssa replies. She's the counselor for Cabin Nine because Jake refused to step back in. "We lost two great inventors already, and it's not like Hephaestus goes out of his way to have tons of kids, our numbers are thinning—"

"I'm perfectly aware of it, Nyssa, thank you." Ara silences the girl. "But we should be worried about Apollo."

"Why? No more prophecies means peace!" Percy argues.

Ara gives him a look. "No more prophecies means we'll face our future problems blindly, and trust me, there will be problems. We've been stripped of our advantage, and that's not all that worries me."

"What is?" Piper asks reluctantly.

"Zeus will punish Apollo for his delulus of greatness, and he has a special way of humiliating Apollo... I'm pretty sure he'll use it again."

Will's face loses color. "That's terrible news! We could be left powerless! Our whole cabin!"

"I'm aware of that too," Ara sighs. "If this doesn't end well, you might lose them forever..."

"Hold on, time out," Percy intervenes. "I'm lost."

Annabeth explains. "Zeus once punished Apollo by stripping him of his godly status. He turned into a mortal, and was forced to do a series of trials until Zeus considered he'd humbled him enough."

Jason looks concerned. "What could've happened if he'd failed those trials?"

"He would've died, most likely," Ara says. "None of his descendants would've kept their powers, maybe. Some traits at best, whatever they could've learned in training, but stuff like—"

"Magic healing, music powers, perfect aim, the light..." Will shudders. "All gone."

"Your job is important," Ara turns to Rachel and Ella. "The books have information concerning what's next, maybe it'll tell us if we need to prepare in case Apollo's absence causes another conflict in Olympus. We mustn't get too comfortable in our peace."

She scans the room and sees the campers' good mood dying before her eyes. Ara's expression turns guilty, but she keeps going.

"Keep your eyes open. Apollo might reach out to any of us, he could show up at camp and have no memory of who he is—Gods, he might not even look like himself at all! But balance is needed whether we like it or not, if you find him, bring him to me."

No one is happy with her lecture, but Ara ends the meeting and sends the group of Romans away. Nico approaches her and nudges her arm. "You didn't need us after all. You kept them under control the whole time."

She smiles a little. "I thought they would fight me more on it."

"You're too scary now, but don't worry," Jason grins. "You'll get used to being almighty."

Almighty raises her myth. 

What if that line was about her as much as it was about the sword? She's powerful nowadays, but hardly a myth. She would need to become history for that, and her death doesn't feel any closer.

"Ara?"

"Hmm?" She gives a start.

"I said, can you do me a favor now?" Nico asks, his eyes fixed on the Big House's entrance. "Stay near."

Ara is intrigued, she follows him out and sees what he'd been staring at from inside. "Hey, guys," Percy smiles at them. "Annabeth just told me some good news!"

"We're going to spend our senior year together," Annabeth beams, "here in New York. And after graduation—"

"College in New Rome!" Percy punches the air. "Four years with no monsters to fight, no battles, no stupid prophecies. Just me and Annabeth, getting our degrees, hanging out at cafés, enjoying California—"

"And after that..." Annabeth smiles sweetly at the boy. "Well, Reyna and Frank said we could live in New Rome as long as we like."

"That's great," Nico says, sounding genuine. "I'm staying too, here at Camp Half-Blood."

"What?" Ara looks at him with shock.

"Awesome!" Percy exclaims.

"So," Nico clears his throat, "since we're going to be spending at least a year seeing each other at camp, I think I should clear the air."

Percy hesitates. "What do you mean?"

"For a long time, I had a crush on you." Nico shrugs. "I just wanted you to know."

Percy looks at the boy blankly. "You—"

"Yeah. You're a great person. But I'm over that," he smiles a bit. "I'm happy for you guys."

"You... so you mean—"

"Right."

"Wait," Percy frowns. "So you mean—"

"Right. But it's cool. We're cool. I mean, I see now... you're cute, but you're not my type."

Ara snorts, not believing her ears.

"I'm not your type..." Percy blinks. "Wait. So—"

"This is gonna take a while," Ara guides Nico away with amusement.

The boy snickers. "See you around, Percy. Annabeth."

If that isn't surreal enough, Annabeth and Nico high-five, and then the boy openly smiles at Ara and pats her shoulder. Even if it's a closed smile, it's enough to bewild her. Nico makes his way down the porch steps and shouts at someone to wait for him. Will Solace, out of all people. Almost immediately, both boys glow in the same bright yellow light.

"Holy shit," Ara breathes.

"Huh," Lily says, coming out of nowhere. "Yeah, I can see it."

Ara jumps. "Gods, Lily, stop doing that!" She lowers her voice with confusion. "Did you see that, though?"

"What?" Annabeth grins at the girls. "Don't tell me you couldn't tell! I'm sure you were the first to find out!"

Ara looks at her smiling. "Yeah, what an idiot, right? But no, I meant..." She hesitates, it's still not her place to tell others what she just saw. "Nevermind. You know where Reyna is?"

"Talking to Piper by the lake," Lily responds. "Need me to come along?"

"Nah, it's fine, I gotta feed Pollo anyway," Ara shows her a lighthearted smile before walking away. "Go waste time with your elf."

"Don't call him that!"

"Don't forget Mom picks us up in an hour!" Percy shouts, coming out of his dazzled state.

"There you are!" Ara finds Reyna and Piper. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. Again, thank you for letting us stretch our stay."

"You're always welcome here," Piper says. "If you need to take a break, get away... you've got Frank now—he could assume more responsibility for a while. It might do you good to make some time for yourself, when nobody is going to be looking at you as praetor."

"Would I be expected to sing that odd song about how Grandma puts on her armor?"

"Not unless you really want to," Piper grins. "But we might have to ban you from capture the flag. I have a feeling you could go against the entire camp solo and still beat us."

"I'll consider the offer. Thank you." Reyna pauses. "I wonder... You two are children of Venus. I mean Aphrodite. Perhaps—perhaps you could explain something your mother said."

Piper and Ara share a look, and the younger girl crosses her arms. "Go ahead."

"Once in Charleston, Venus told me something. She said: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart. I—I have struggled with that for..."

The answer comes easily to Ara. "Don't have to be scared. Love is a vast concept and its fulfillment comes in many forms, rarely is it ever another human. Before Leo, love would come to me by helping people and not dating. It really is in the most random places."

"You are an incredible person," Piper adds. "And you have friends, sometimes that's even better than a partner."

"I can attest to that," Ara nods, then adds playfully. "But if you ever feel like giving dating a try, I'm available until my boyfriend comes back from the dead."

Reyna stares at her. "I can't tell if you're being serious."

"This is a special offer with a deadline," Ara retorts half-joking. "I find you frustratingly attractive."

Reyna laughs and Ara feels like she just accomplished a great deed. She perks up at the sound but then something hits her across the face. The girl groans and looks around in confusion. "What the..."

Ara looks down and it takes her a moment to understand what she's seeing. She picks up the item and Piper gasps. "Is that—?"

"Oh my gods," Ara's hands are shaking. "Oh, gods! What do I do?"

"What is that?" Reyna asks.

"That's Leo's!" Piper says. "It fell from the sky!"

Ara feels like maybe she should sit down before she opens it, but her impatience gets the best of her and she opens the scroll with trembling, clumsy fingers.

"Hey, guys!" Leo's tiny projection comes out of the scroll. Ara makes a bizarre noise with her throat and holds tighter onto it, unable to look away. Reyna and Piper get closer."Sorry to leave you like that. Bad news: I died. Good news: I got better! I had to help my bud Cal. We're taking Festus to—" 

The image glitches and Ara shakes the scroll impatiently. 

"Back as soon as—" 

More glitching and static.

"Cook tacos when—" 

More static. 

"¡Vaya con queso! Love ya!"

The scroll turns off and Ara gets angry. "That's it?!"

"Leo's alive!" Piper hugs her. "It worked!"

"Smart," Reyna hums approvingly. "Seems like our date will never come to be, Strategus."

Ara twists the scroll in her hands. "An entire freaking week where we both almost died and all he has to say is Vaya con queso?" She's fuming. "Well, good for his bud Cal! I hope they bring me a shirt from whatever stupid countries they visit on their super fun holiday away from everyone else!"

Piper steps back. "I should get Lily."

"I should leave," Reyna says promptly.

The girls hurry away while also spreading the news about Leo. Soon enough, Ara is surrounded by an eager crowd that wants to hear the message. Ara plays it back, glaring at the projection. 

Lily sees her expression and nudges Nico, both taking her away from the congratulating crowd that calls her boyfriend cool and intelligent before she can kill them.

Steam is practically coming out of Ara's ears. She's forgotten all about her duties, her hurt ego stops her from thinking clearly while she paces around her room.

"Look at the bright side, Queen B, he'll be back soon and you won't mope for months like with Percy!"

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!"

"No one's saying that," Annabeth replies, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Ara keeps throwing her tantrum. "This is the same boy that used to send me weekly scrolls to my apartment to tell me I looked pretty in a dream he had—and now I get nothing!"

"For all we know that 'Love ya!' in the end might've been just for you," Nico pokes fun at her.

"I'm gonna strangle you," Ara warns him.

"Dude, why are you angry? He broke the curse!" Lily insists. She had to catch up quickly with Annabeth's help to understand the full context of what was happening.

"I'm happy but I'm angry that he kicked me out of the ship like I was getting on the way, and now he's taking his sweet time to talk to me!" Ara glares at the pinboard in front of her, packed with pictures of the boy. "Ugh, look at this! Oh, you should've seen the way I cried for him—Ugh, I hate him!"

The group shares a roguish look. They know Ara can't handle big emotions, especially when it comes to Leo, so right now she's fighting to regulate herself. But if Leo doesn't get there fast, Ara's high will suffocate her until it knocks her down and leaves her unable to get out of bed.

"Birdy," Percy approaches and places a hand on her shoulder. "Leo's probably saving his romantic speech for when he sees you in person. He knows you love it when he makes a show out of it."

"The scroll was a perfect opportunity to show off," Ara argues with a pout, but she's calming down.

"Yeah, but he had no way of knowing you would be the one to get it and have it slap you across the face," Nico replies. "Besides, you know he worships the ground you walk on—What's the big deal?"

Ara takes a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "The big deal is that the curse is broken," Her fingers skim the picture of him in the bunker's platform, smiling big while showing a thumbs up to the camera. "And he's traveling with a goddess whose sole purpose is to tempt men so they stay with her..."

"Hey, Calypso isn't like that," Percy tries to defend the girl's honor, but Annabeth pulls him back and shakes her head, now is not the time to try and reason with a frightened Ara.

"You're saying you don't trust Leo?" Lily questions with disbelief.

"I'm saying I have no way to contact him, and if something happens mid-journey, or Apollo shows up and I'm not here..." Ara scowls at the drawing of the Argo II in the middle of her pinboard. "Without the oracles here to guide us, anything can happen."

Next Book –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[lunareclipse39]

The Princes' Whore (Pt. 9)

Aemond still searches for Sameria, getting more and more desperate as time goes on. Aegon starts to improve in his recovery. Daemon grows more and more attracted to Sameria, causing jealousy in Rhaenyra. Sameria is ordered to prove her loyalty to Rhaenyra in a most unimaginable way. Sameria charms another man.

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Sameria

"Wait, Aemond is in love with Alyonna?" Daemon smirked.

"Indeed. He denied it, but made no effort to hide it." I shrugged.

We were having dinner, me, Daemon, Rhaenyra, her son Jacaerys and his betrothed Baela Velaryon. I was telling them about why I ran away, but left out parts of course.

Rhaenyra chortled, nearly choking on her wine. "I never thought Aemond would be the kind to fall in love."

"And with Alyonna of all people. She is a beautiful, innocent thing, with an ethereal voice, but my is she the most dull, boring creature alive." Daemon huffed.

"She's actually quite sweet, and well-read." I said.

"Yes, but still boring." Daemon said.

"And you insulted Aemond?" Rhaenyra started to grin.

"Yes, multiple times." I nodded.

"I would have liked to see that." She smiled.

"It was either living in fear of his violent mood swings, one moment he would be sweet and caring, the next he was trying to kill me, or run away. The fact I called him an inbred, sister-fucking cunt didn't help." I shrugged.

I earned myself merry laughter. "That was a good one." Daemon smirked.

Dinner was over and I headed to my room, exhausted. I undressed and slid on a nightgown Nyssa had left for me on the bed. My eyes drooped close as soon as they felt the softness of the bed and the warmth of its sheets.

The following morrow Nyssa burst into my room, opening the curtains, the blinding sunlight making me wince. "Apologies, princess." Nyssa said, hurriedly placing a pile of dresses, undergarments, and shoes. I groaned, sliding out of bed and stretching, yawning. Nyssa helped me get dressed in another black dress, this one wholly black, a silver dragon finely embroidered in the lower right side of the skirts.

Nyssa fastened my black leather boots, and sat me at the desk to style my hair into a braided ponytail. She proceeded to fasten a silver locket with the sigil of House Targaryen, well, the black faction. I thanked Nyssa, as she proceeded to make my bed and I left the room, going down for breakfast. Nobody was in the dining hall, and I was served porridge, bread with butter, and apple slices. I thanked the servants when I finished and started roaming about, hearing voices coming from one of the rooms. I see Rhaenyra has a small council as well. Of course she does.

I entered the kitchens, deciding to bake. It would keep my mind off things.

"Princess, if you'd like something you need only ask." A cook told me.

"It's quite alright. I am a cook and baker myself." I reassured.

I looked around the kitchen, and noticed loads of lemons. I shall make lemon cakes.

Daemon

"We need more dragonriders. I'd say we storm the capital with as many dragons as possible." Jace said.

I snorted. "The Greens may only have four dragons but one of them is the largest and strongest of the bunch."

"Then we find a way to lure Aemond and Vhagar out of King's Landing. The king is injured and in no shape to ride his dragon, who is also badly injured. Queen Helaena has gone mad, and cannot ride her own dragon, Dreamfyre. The Greens really only have two dragonriders, Aemond and Daeron. With Aemond lured away we can take on Daeron, who is not even in King's Landing from what I've heard." Lord Corlys crossed his arms.

The doors croaked open, and Sameria waltzed in, carrying a tray of what looked like lemon cakes. I smirked. She gingerly placed the tray on the table, as we all stared at her.

"Thought you could use the sugar. I certainly can." She winked, taking a lemon cake and taking a bite, leaving the room.

"You should eat them. Sameria is the best cook and baker I have ever come across." I spoke.

"And how would you know?" Corlys frowned.

"I had the pleasure of tasting her creations in Harrenhal, with limited resources. Now imagine what she can do with an arsenal of as many ingredients as possible." I smirked.

The others made impressed expressions, and dug into the lemon cakes. Jace moaned in pleasure, making me laugh. "This is so good."

"Of course it is." I smiled, reaching for a lemon cake.

I savored its citrusy taste in all its glory. Sameria has a touch for food like no other. "While these lemon cakes are delicious, let us focus on the matter at hand." Rhaenyra spoke.

"We have one new dragonrider, Nettles, in the Vale. Little minx claimed Sheepstealer by feeding him, well, sheep." I grinned.

Rhaenyra tightened at this, giving me a glare. She thinks I have feelings for Nettles, and I do, but they are purely of admiration. The girl has no magical blood yet managed to claim a dragon. This is both, a good thing and a bad thing, and impressive.

"Yes, but we need more. Seasmoke is still riderless, as is Vermithor and Silverwing." Rhaenyra crossed her arms.

"No one that is not of Velaryon blood will claim Seasmoke." Corlys said.

"None of your grandchildren or my children with Laenor are available, Lord Corlys, so we have no choice but to have Seasmoke be claimed-"

"No." Lord Corlys shook his head. "My wife and son are dead because of you. You will not take away my son's dragon for your own gain." He hissed.

Rhaenyra gulped, looking down. "I regret not sending anyone else to help Princess Rhaenys, Lord Corlys, and it is a guilt that will haunt me to the end of my days but please, we are at war, and we need all the resources we can muster."

"You'd do well not to speak such treason again, Lord Corlys." I warned.

Corlys clenched his fists, glaring at me, and stormed out of the room. Rhaenyra sighed. "I already have someone in mind to claim Seasmoke."

"Who?" I asked, curious.

"Ser Steffon Darklyn. He has Targaryen blood, however diluted, but he can certainly try." Rhaenyra said.

"Mother, I don't think risking one of our best knights is wise." Jace spoke.

"I agree." I said.

"We are all risking ourselves here, Jace. I myself will attack any suspected Green supporters soon, perhaps the Lannisters of Casterly Rock. We need to weaken my craven half-brother and do so soon. They are starting to gain strength and we cannot let that happen." Rhaenyra said.

"Then let us move. I shall go back to Harrenhal. Don't want any of the greens knowing it is unguarded." I shrugged.

"Will you be taking the princess Sameria with you?" Rhaenyra asked, crossing her arms.

Great. Will she be jealous of Sameria as well? "No, my Queen. I shall leave her here, or perhaps she would be better off in Driftmark. Poor thing will get so bored here, and I don't want her to be a burden on you. I am sure Lord Corlys won't mind hosting her." I offered.

Rhaenyra scoffed. "Leave her here for the time being. I'd like to keep her close. I am not entirely convinced we can trust her."

"I assure you, she is harmless." I promised.

"She stays here." Rhaenyra decided.

I sighed in defeat, nodding.

Sameria

I have spent three days on Dragonstone, and am already bored. Thankfully it is an island so I can amuse myself by taking long walks on the shores and even swim, but I was looking forward to visiting Driftmark. Rhaenyra doesn't trust me at all, and while I do not blame her, I wish I could do something to earn her trust. My cooking and baking doesn't seem to be doing the trick.

Right now Ser Steffon Darklyn was in the process of claiming the dragon Seasmoke. I was nervous for him. Seasmoke was a relatively large dragon, pale gray in color with blue-gray scales. The dragon roared, making us all jump, save for Rhaenyra, who watched intently as Ser Steffon tried to tame the dragon, dragon keepers at his side aiding him in calming Seasmoke down. Lord Bartimos Celtigar was in our company as well, and he was as uneasy as I was.

"I think I've got it!" Ser Steffon grinned, but in that instant Seasmoke rose his head and roared, fire raining down on Ser Steffon. I screamed, watching in horror as the poor knight roasted alive, and widened my eyes in even more horror as he unsheathed a dagger and slit his throat.

My entire body was trembling, and I made haste to leave but Rhaenyra stopped me. "No, Sameria, stay." She spoke, turning to me. "I think you should try and claim Seasmoke next."

I blinked, staring at her, and burst out laughing. She's joking, right? "Oh, my Queen, you're funny."

But Rhaenyra wasn't laughing. In fact she was very serious, not at all amused at my laughter. "My Queen, I cannot possibly claim a dragon. I've no Valyrian blood, much to the disappointment of my father." I shrugged.

"Your father thinks you have Valyrian blood?" Rhaenyra raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, but he's a highly imaginative person." I shrugged again.

"You don't need Valyrian blood to claim a dragon. A girl in the Vale named Nettles claimed one just recently, and did so by feeding it sheep. Though the dragon is called Sheepstealer, because it feeds on sheep. Perhaps you can feed fish to Seasmoke, charm it, or, better yet, cook fish for him, entice him with your cooking." Rhaenyra smirked.

"My Queen, why, exactly, are you so insistent on me claiming a dragon?" I wondered.

"Because I need dragonriders, and you must prove your loyalty to me. This is how your queen asks you to do it." Rhaenyra said, her violet gaze boring into my sapphire one.

"There must be another way for me to prove my loyalty. I can't claim a dragon, I've no skill in battle, I am absolutely useless to you." I pleaded.

"Then make yourself useful." Rhaenyra insisted.

A squire came through suddenly, bowing to Rhaenyra. "Your Grace, Lord Corlys Velaryon is back, and in the company of a young man. Your audience is urgently requested."

Rhaenyra sighed, nodding. I sighed in relief. Rhaenyra is no better than Aemond. All Targaryens seem to be quite horrible, save for Aly and Helaena, and perhaps Aegon. Daemon might not be so bad either, but I hardly know him. It's too soon to say. I don't understand what I've done to upset her, but I know one thing: I cannot stay here. I hastily ran up to my room, opening the dresser but that is when Nyssa entered my room, standing in the doorway.

"Princess, her Grace requires you." She announced.

I gulped, nodding. I followed her out, my hands shaking. I curtsied before Rhaenyra. "Yes, my Queen?"

"Looks like you are in luck, princess." She spoke, her tone a bit snarky. "My husband insists you go to Driftmark, and Lord Corlys here accepts your presence."

I widened my eyes, then smiled. "Thank you, Lord Corlys."

"The pleasure is mine, princess." Lord Corlys nodded.

I went back to my room and packed my dresses and jewelry, coming back down to join Lord Corlys outside, where he waited for me. "You will enjoy Driftmark, princess." Lord Corlys said as he helped me onto a boat.

The island of Driftmark was very close to Dragonstone, considering it was a very short ride. High Tide, the seat of House Velaryon, stood majestically under the scorching sun, its ivory walls glittering, its silver roofs shining so bright they blinded you upon looking at them. Lord Corlys helped me down from the boat, as his guards led us to the gates of High Tide. The pearly gates made no sound as they opened, and I was admiring everything around me.

"Lord Corlys, may I ask why I am suddenly here on Driftmark? Because Queen Rhaenyra was not so keen on me coming here before." I said.

"Daemon vouched for you, princess. He worried her Grace might mistreat you the same way she mistreated Nettles, out of pure jealousy. She thinks Nettles and Daemon were having an affair, and now she thinks you and Daemon are having an affair." Lord Corlys sighed.

At this, I let out a merry laugh. "There is nothing going on between me and Daemon. He hardly spoke to me in Harrenhal."

"Yes, but her Grace is paranoid, and sees betrayal everywhere. This war has been tough on her, on all of us." Lord Corlys looked down, as we entered the castle.

The interior of High Tide was the perfect representation of its house's connections to the sea. A massive anchor hung on one wall, ropes dangling from it. The skeleton of a shark hung on another wall, little white sea shells were embedded into the marble floors, and there were many windows, providing great sources of light.

"You may settle in any empty room you find, princess. After that you are free to roam as you wish, including visiting the nearby town of Spicetown. I do request, however, that you do not use your real name, keep a low profile, and do not reveal your royal status." Lord Corlys instructed.

"Of course, Lord Corlys, and thank you." I nodded. I watched him leave and in that moment I picked yet another room. This room was smaller than the one at Dragonstone, but still spacious enough and had a large window that overlooked the sea. Oh, what I would give to permanently live here. The dresser was made of pale oak wood, as was the desk and the vanity. A small, seashell-framed mirror stood on the vanity, as well as a comb made of pearls. The posts and headrest of the bed were also made of pale oak wood, and the bed covers were blue-green with a seahorse embroidered in gold thread.

A painting of a sea horse hung on the right side of the bed. I undressed, planning on wearing my pale green, layered dress, but in that instant a servant girl burst into my room. "Oh!" She covered her eyes. "Apologies, princess. I didn't know you were here."

"It's quite alright." I nodded.

"Would you like me to bring you dresses? Princesses Baela and Rhaena have dresses they don't want anymore, and surely wouldn't mind you having one." The servant girl offered.

I bit my lip, pensive for a moment before nodding. "Yes, and thank you."

The servant girl disappeared and came a while later, holding two dresses. One was ocean blue with white, shimmery outlining, the sleeves long and pointy, the other was blue-green, like the bed covers, with pearls embroidered into the bottom of the sleeves, the waistline, the shoulder areas, and a pearl necklace went across the collarbone. A seahorse made of seashell was embroidered into the bodice. I chose that one.

The servant girl, whose name is Shella, fitting name given where she resides, drew me a bath. The bathtub was made of pearl, and shone with the few rays of sunlight bursting through the tiny window of the bathroom. I smiled in bliss at the feeling of the water, and I washed myself thoroughly, emerging from the tub smelling like lemons. Shella came back to help me dry myself and get dressed in the dress I had chosen, the fabric feeling smooth and cold against my body. Shella combed my hair and I just let it down.

While the sun was scorching outside still, I remained in the castle, wandering about, thinking of how grateful I am to Daemon for insisting I be brought to Driftmark. I heard voices talking, and Lord Corlys was conversing with a young man that looked somewhat like him. When Lord Corlys saw me, he beckoned me over.

"Princess Sameria, that dress suits you. Baela hates dresses." Lord Corlys complimented.

"Thank you, Lord Corlys." I smiled.

"Addam, this is Princess Sameria Martell. Long story." Lord Corlys said, then turned to me. "This is Addam of Hull, my nephew."

"A pleasure to meet you, princess." Addam lifted my hand and kissed it.

"The pleasure is mine." I smiled.

"Are you enjoying your stay so far?" Addam asked.

"Yes, very much. I am very grateful to be here. Driftmark is lovely." I beamed.

Lord Corlys and Addam chuckled. "Princess, we are about to have lunch. Why don't you join us?" Lord Corlys suggested.

"I would love to." I nodded.

The dining hall was a room full of windows overlooking the sandy beaches and the sea, the dining table long and easily fit about fifty people. I sat across from Addam and on Lord Corlys' right side. Servants came scurrying through, carrying trays of food as well as plates and cutlery. We would be having fish cooked in lemon juice and butter.

We said a prayer and began to eat, and the fish was delicious. "Princess, I am told you are a great cook yourself." Lord Corlys spoke.

"I try to be, my Lord." I nodded.

"You must make us something one day." Addam grinned.

"I shall like that." I grinned back.

After lunch I wandered about again, deciding to visit Spicetown once the sun went a bit down, since it was too hot. Addam approached me, clearing his throat. "Are you looking for something, princess?"

"Please, call me Sameria, and yes, is there a library?" I asked hopefully.

"Certainly." Addam led me to it, and like the dining hall, the library had many windows that overlooked the sea, the floors made of blue marble and columns of pale oak wood bookshelves lined one after the other, filled to the brim. I grinned widely.

"What do you usually read, Sameria?" Addam asked, curious.

"Romance novels, adventures, books on history and philosophy. Right now I am trying to discover more about Valyria's extinct families, and my possible connection to one of them." I admitted.

Addam raised his eyebrow. "An intellectual I see. And you have Valyrian blood?"

"My father insists we do, through my mother. He is obsessed with the Valyrian Freehold, as well as with the Empire of the Dawn. He insisted I accept the marriage offer to Aemond Targaryen to continue my supposed Valyrian bloodline, and to look further into our ancestry, which the Keep has." I shrugged.

"I heard about your marriage to the prince. I am so sorry, princess." Addam said apologetically.

"It's in the past, so let's leave it there." I shrugged again.

"Indeed. Why does your father think you have Valyrian blood?"

"My mother had a Valyrian name, Rhaessa, and she came from Volantis, a known former colony of Valyria. She had sapphire eyes like mine, and silvery white hair. She claimed to come from lower nobility, and to be a descendant, far removed, of a Valyrian noble, but nothing more. She didn't like to talk about her family or its origins." I looked down.

"I see." Addam nodded. "Interesting."

"She passed away three years ago."

"I am sorry." Addam said.

"House Dayne of Dorne also has Valyrian features yet they are not necessarily Valyrian, which is why I am skeptical of my father's insistence we have Valyrian blood. It doesn't matter. It's probably so diluted it makes no difference." I said simply.

Addam and I talked a bit more, and I learned he is from the nearby town of Hull, and his mother's name is Marilda. He is a sailor and has a vast knowledge of the sea, which I find fascinating. He also claimed the dragon Seasmoke, just very recently, which is the reason Rhaenyra and I were interrupted.

"Rhaenyra tried to have me claim Seasmoke." I blurted as Addam accompanied me to my chambers, books in hand.

Addam widened his eyes in horror. "Why would her Grace do such thing?"

"She said she didn't fully trust me, and that I must prove my loyalty." I scoffed.

"Surely there are other ways to prove your loyalty. Only Valyrians can claim dragons." Addam pointed out.

"Would have been a good way to find out if I am in fact Valyrian." I joked, and Addam laughed.

I entered my chambers and set the books down on the desk, planning on reading them tonight. I also noticed small pieces of parchment paper were neatly stacked on the side of the desk, an inkwell with ocean blue ink next to them as well as a quill. I have never seen ocean blue ink before. Wow.

When evening came Addam took me to Spicetown, and I had changed into my pale green, layered dress. I had wrapped the matching scarf around my head, to keep a low profile. Spicetown was a lively little town, filled with market stalls, fishermen, sailors getting drunk with said fishermen, dancers, harlots, and children collecting sea shells and making jewelry with them or painting them. I smiled.

"How much for the seashell necklace?" Addam asked a little boy.

"One gold." The little boy replied.

"How about two gold?" Addam winked, and the little boy grinned widely.

He paid for the necklace and turned to me, beckoning me to turn. I widened my eyes. "No, Addam, I couldn't-"

"Yes, you can, and I insist." Addam placed the necklace around my neck, making me smile.

"Thank you." I nodded.

"It suits you." Addam smiled.

He led me further down to the town of Hull, his home. Hull was not as lively, but still charming.

"My mother and brother are not home, but perhaps tomorrow you can meet them. They'd be delighted to meet you." Addam smiled.

"Of course. I better head back. It is getting late." I said.

"Allow me to escort you back." Addam offered, and I accepted.

Once back at the castle I took another bath, slid on a pearly white, silky nightgown, and snuggled into bed. It was a long, but fun day.

The following morning I was abruptly awoken by Shella, who frantically shook me awake.

"Princess, wake up. You must leave." She urged.

"W-What? Why?" I yawned, sitting up.

"War is here, my Lady." Shella said.

I widened my eyes in horror, jumping out of bed. "Prince Viserys was captured on his way to Pentos, and his brother Aegon escaped on his dragon. The Triarchy, allies to Aegon the Usurper, have attacked." Shella informed, frantically starting to get me undressed but I stopped her, going over to my window.

Dozens of ships sailed this way, making me widen my eyes in horror, sending a chill down my spine. We really are at war.

[blazethecheeto]

what are your arrowverse rarepairs?

okay so this is gonna be fun especially as i'm not sure what counts as a rarepair

ARROW

lauricity (laurel x felicity) <- the first words she said to laurel was 'gorgeous laurel' ok she was crushing hard

shasladiver?!?! (shado x oliver x slade + please tell me if they have another name) <- domestic. cute. island. trio. before. the. incident. "what's the worst way your ship has ever died" "oh so slade fake-died and then oliver accidentally murdered shado and then he appeared just as she died and she never knew he was alive so he held her dead body in his arms as oliver was forever shrouded in guilt then slade became corrupted from a drug and oliver had to kill him too but he wasn't really dead and came back for revenge"

smoaksiren (siren x felicity) <- i already ranted about this one i LOVE THEM.

terrificdog (rene x curtis) <- they're so gay and chaotic x nerdy duos are the best even dinah agrees

constanqueen (oliver x constantine) <- why was constantine so flirty to him in that one episode they probably hooked up let's be honest

smoakingcanary (felicity x sara) <- 'YOU'RE STILL CUTE'

alicity (felicity x alena) <- they were actually adorable oh my god

lauryssa (laurel x nyssa) <- supposed to be canon you can't convince me otherwise

(gotta love how much felicity ships are in there girlie has chemistry with everyone)

FLASH

coldflash (snart x barry) <- does this even count as a rarepair they're so popular i mean thematic parallels, red x blue, enemies to lovers, homo-erotic flirting

snowwest (iris x caitlin) <- lauricity coded also the entirety of 4x05

balph?!?! (barry x ralph) <- the entirety of s4. that's all.

blackfrost (frost x siren) <- they're each other in a different font just IMAGINE THE FUCKING POWER.

bulian?!? (barry x julian) <- enemies to lovers and just very sus moments in s3 that made me say 'hold up fruity'

snowfrost (caitlin x frost) <- new ship but oh my god its growing on me they're smoaksiren in a different font

(gotta love how barry is half of them he's so shippable)

SUPERGIRL

superwire (leslie x kara) <- dude they're so coldflash coded

agentreign (alex x sam) <- i still can't believe they're not canon

psiwire (psi x leslie) <- that one episode in s3. got me thinking thoughts.

superlane (kara x lucy) <- i shipped them so much in s1 oh my god

monwinn (mon-el x winn) <- bro has a thing for aliens

scholson (james x winn) <- nah bc this could lowkey work

superbat (kara x kate + is there another name?) <- kate was 1000% flirting with kara in the elseworlds crossover

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

coldatom (ray x snart) <- snart has a type and it's self-righteous red coded dark haired boys

lovebirds (kendra x sara) <- this was so unexpected but like hello they trained together and she got sara back from the league

timehex (jonah x rip) <- actually no way u can convince me they aren't exes

whiteatom (sara x ray) <- they're so sweet and they're the time parents and so underrated

steelatom (nate x ray) <- bromance.

hellcanary (sara x constantine) <- hhhh i could rant so much bro but they get each other and they are friends with benefits and both have ties to demons and can understand each other's hurt and are chaotic bisexuals and-

atomhawkcanary (sara x ray x kendra) <- they lived together for like a year ok things probably happened.

thanks for asking!!!! damn there's a lot lol

[sailforvalinor]

Val, my dear friend, you been on my mind the whole night. I can't get your words out of my head. I heard your heart ache, and was reminded of my own. While I haven't been in the exact place you're in, I remember that longing, hoping for my life to start. Hoping that I wouldn't be relegated to just an unfinished side quest. There are so many words I wish I could say, but in many ways life is meant to be lived. I do know, and can hear in your story, that your Storyteller is calling out to you. And I know, that is for something special. I can only be that friend from far away, and pray my little heart out for you.

May your storyteller always remind you just how loved you are. Prayers always, Nyssa PS: And because I can't help myself here's a hug gif from one my all time favorite movies:

Thank you!!! 😭😭😭 That’s so encouraging to hear, and I appreciate it so much 💜💜. I know I’m probably being a little dramatic, so thanks for putting up with me 😅

[taintedsoul-if]

Deep in T's revenge route will Mc never find love with anyone? Because getting together with someone else after breaking T's heart as if to say "You never meant anything to me at all" sounds sweet. And it's kinda sad that only the Mc's in this route never get love even tho I think its kida fair.

If we can't, in the deep revenge route is there any possibility that we can at least end up with someone else as a main lover and T as the side piece? (Not in a cheating way, more like T's never first option for Mc) Bc I wanna make T suffer with the same poison they wanted Mc to have, wich means that they can be with Mc but by being no more than a bedwarmer on the side never the main lover for Mc. Like a plan B of sorts.

"If you want my attention you can have it... If you beg enought on your knees I might give it as a pity prize" <- That's the only tipe of "love" or "affection" | want my Mc to have for them (As you can see T is my favorite Ro haha)

Does Mc gets so deep in their revenge that they can't love anyone else while in T's route? Or does the Ro's simply wouldn't accept Mc's plans if it meant getting intimate with T for it to work? In the other Ro's routes would we still be able to get our revenge on T?

Hey. How are ya? I hope all is well.

So before getting deep into this ask let me just clarify something. As you can all see we have two different revenge routes. And each route will be different. For the hard core revenge route MC is unhinged. They're adamant on taking revenge on the "ones" who murdered the OH in cold blood. MC would stoop to the lowest of the lowest just to destroy these people lives. And their first act of revenge is having a secret illicit affair with the ex of the original host. For this route Trysten/Trista will be like a hedgehog. The feelings they locked away all those years ago will resurface and deepen even more. This route will cause alot of problems for the imperial family and the OH father's family as well. (Let violence Rain/Reign!!! 😈😈)

The soft core option is the one where MC doesn't really give much thought to Trysten/Trista's existence. This route is a mixture of indifference and confusion. MC knows that they shouldn't fall for them yet they can't stop themself from seeking them out when they enter a room. While on the other hand MC wants to punch the daylight out of them. So for the soft core route there will be two options as well. Indifference/throttle to death or turn a blind eye to everything Trysten/Trista did to the OH. For this route Trysten/Trista pigish ways will be on full display. (Hope I didn't confuse you.)

Alright so on to the ask.

If the MC choose the hard core revenge route they'll be automatically locked out of the other ROs route. The ROs wouldn't be comfortable knowing that their spouse is using their body to enact revenge. The ROs wouldn't accept the MC having a "side piece" with them. MC is better than that, why would they stoop to trysten/Trista level? That's would be the first question they would ask. So that is a no but for the soft core there will be a bit of redemption for the MC's love life.

Most certainly. Even if the MC has no entanglement with the slangman/woman Trysten will still sway infront of them. They won't be able to accept that the MC feelings for them has died and that the MC wishes to live a good life without them.

Also getting intimate isn't the only way one can enact revenge from this slag. The royal family has alot of secrets. Grabbing the Montholon family's handle will be the best revenge.... but I would advise be careful.....

Remember Trysten/Trista is hated by the other ROs. Emphasis on the hate when it comes on to Nyssa/Nyala. 😏. The MC doesn't have to use their hands to get revenge they can always leave the hard work to Cadmus, Atticus and Nyssa/Nyala..... but hey that's food for thought. Right?

**********

Thank you for the ask and have a wonderful day. See ya! 😋

[cabinofimagines]

The Haunting of Camp-Halfblood, part four; epilogue

An epilogue to my first official SFU mini-series on this blog! Who knows, might the a start or might be the last I sure don’t know * stares at piles of WIPs * thanks to my ex for proofreading everything! 

Pairing: Poly!Solangelo x reader, Will Solace x Gn!Reader x Nico di Angelo Request: this time my ex went “time for nap, love it. yes we do need an epilogue” Warnings: None? I think, fluff, my plushie make cameos (thanks to my ex) Word Count: 1.2k

< prev - mlist 

-Asnyox

It had been a week or so since all the ghosts were eradicated. After you passed out Will had with the help of Chiron moved everyone who was not previously possessed to their respective cabins. The people who were possessed had been put in the infirmary, together with Nico and you. After this, Will promptly fell asleep on a chair in the infirmary.

You wished you could say that it was the end of the story- the ghosts were gone, and everyone was fine. Most of the possessed did not have any repercussions from their possession- although Paolo and Alabaster both had stable duty for the month for setting the ghosts free and Harley’s motaur plans got busted when Will told Nyssa.  

However, every so often you had cold shivers down your spine. Some days you felt the hands of the ghosts on you- holding your arms. Your dreams were haunted by their empty eyes, their cold breaths, and the incorporeal shapes. You wanted to just sleep, but when you closed your eyes to blink you saw flashes of the ghosts. Some nights you woke up staring at yourself in the mirror- except, you didn’t remember getting there.  Was the ghost still moving your body? Were you maybe still possessed?

You had tried to get over it- maybe it was just left-over adrenaline or something. However, as the week progressed you got more and more tired, and you could no longer shake the feeling that something more was up. You did not want to alarm the entire camp, much less your boyfriends, so you figured the safest bet was to approach Nico alone. He was the only one who could help you if you were right about your fears.

You figured you could seek Nico out after dinner, hopefully before Will sought both of you out. It was not that you did not want to see Will, but he would worry much more and you felt you just needed Nico for this. Of course if you were still possessed you would inform Will, but for now you wanted to keep it on the down low. You still weren’t sure how you were going to avoid Will to speak to Nico alone, given that after dinner the three of you would always meet up.However, before you could come up with a strategy an opportunity presented itself about halfway through your infirmary shift.

“You need rest, and I am not taking no for an answer,” Will cupped your cheek as he scolded you. You leaned into the warmth of his hand, closing your eyes for a second.

“Alright,” you whispered.

“Don’t be stub- wait,” Will furrowed his eyebrows, “you just agree?” realization flashed over his face, and he quickly pulled you into a hug, burying his nose in your neck.

“Please take care of yourself. You know you can tell us if something is bothering you,” Will whispered in your ear. He pressed a kiss on your neck and moved away. Your soft smile made his brain pause for a second, as he felt his heart beating fast. He had been worried, you seemed constantly tired and on edge since the haunting. You normally would object at least once when he tried to take over your shift, so for you to just agree made him worried. Will took a step back.

“Can you spend the day with Nico? If you are feeling up for it, I know he misses you.” Will asked and you nodded.

“I will look for him and,” you quickly looked around seeing no one, before you pressed a kiss on Will’s lips, “thank you for looking out for me Will.” Will smiled, his brain still catching up to the kiss.

“Anytime, (Y/n),” Will said, “now go, and remember I love you!”

──────────────────────

Nico was sitting by his lonesome in the Hades cabin. Will had just left after voicing his worry for you, and Nico could not agree any less. He was waiting for you to show up, genuinely hoping that Will could get you to come to him.

When you entered his cabin, he had to contain himself from jumping up and dragging you down into his bed. You looked almost sickly. As you made your way closer to him, Nico petted the spot next to him on his bed. Somehow, Nico had acquired a collection of pillows and plushies perfect for cuddling in. (The way how being presents from Will, you, Reyna, Hazel, Jason- every time Nico’s eyes would sparkle a little when he was presented with a new plushie. His latest addition was the Ikea shark gifted to him by Percy.)

You did sit down next to Nico, but much to his disappointment you sat rather far apart and refused to lean down into the pillows. Instead you grabbed a weighted goose plushie (dubbed Beanjamin by Will) and set it on your lap, finding comfort in its familiar weight on you. Nico slowly sat up, putting down the round cat plushie he was holding, trying to get a good look at your face. As he did, you took a deep breath and turned to face him.

“Am I still possessed?” Your question sounded blunt, but also made Nico’s heart drop into his stomach.

“Why would you be?” Panicked, Nico tried to focus on the  life energy in your body. It was there, just there. The familiar feeling of your soul touched him and calmed his heart.

“I keep seeing them- and shivering and-” you failed to describe the feelings as you got lost in them again. Nico’s hand on your own pulled you out of the spiralling feelings.

“It’s okay to still be scared of what happened,” Nico squeezed your hand, “I can assure you that there is only one soul in your body- and that is yours.” Nico’s concerned eyes scanned your face.

“I  keep sleepwalking and I have nightmares.” you felt yourself deflate under Nico’s gaze, “I am tired, Nico. I have barely slept since then.” Nico hummed softly.

“Do you want to try sleeping now?” he slowly rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb, “I can give you some nice dreams as we cuddle.”

Your shoulders sagged, your body already relaxing at the thought of a good nap with Nico.

“And you’re sure I am not possessed, or in any danger?” You asked and Nico nodded.

“I am entirely, one hundred percent certain.” He affirmed, “Maybe we can have a talk with Chiron about the aftereffects later? Or with Mr. D. when he is back.” Nico’s eyes lit up, “Have a fun little duo therapy session.” He did jazz hands to bring out the teasing tone he had. You laughed softly, appreciating the effort from Nico to comfort you.

“We will see when Mr. D. is back but thank you.”

Nico looked you in the eye, before slowly moving in and pressing a short kiss on your lips.

“Let’s nap, shall we?”

And with that, your fears were slowly replaced by comfort and love

[ace-malarky]

Breathe

In which Olizaar has a perfectly understandable reaction to his future being yanked violently out of the direction he thought it was going

(pertaining to things I Have Not Yet Written in the main story of this because it's really hard to have focus when your co-writer thinks the thing is dead lmao)

~~

 Olizaar sits in the corner of the closet and has to remind himself to breathe. Maybe he’d breathe anyway, but it gives him something to focus on.

 Anything other than the fuss happening above his head.

 Distantly, he hears a dragon roar. Promithio, probably. He’d always been more vocal about – everything.

 Olizaar had thought he’d resigned himself to this reality, if not accepted it.

 The door of the closet creaks open. Olizaar tenses but it’s only Kiri poking his head in.

 The kid spots Olizaar – he hasn’t made much of an attempt to hide himself – and slips in, closing the door behind him. Mihin isn’t with him, and Olizaar is grateful for the drake’s absence. He doesn’t think he could take looking at a dragon right now.

 Kiri clears himself a space to sit at an angle to Olizaar, feet close to touching.

 Olizaar watches him, flinches at another roar, waits. Focuses on his breathing. Feels like he should be moving. He’s always moving. Olizaar never stops, normally. But here he is.

 “He wasn’t pleased when they found me, either.” Kiri offers him a lip bitten smile. “I think I made the concept too real.

 Olizaar frowns. “I didn’t intentionally do this. It was Nyssa’s cliff raptor that brought the egg out of its – whatever that was.”

 Kiri shrugs. “And I didn’t intentionally bond with Mihin, but there you go.”

 Olizaar shoots him a narrow look. “You’re different on your own.”

 Kiri hesitates, then smiles. “Fewer people make it easier.”

 “I meant without Mihin.”

 “Ah.” Kiri looks down. “Well, that…”

 “I don’t think Ishal – well, I can’t imagine her any different. I’ve only known her after she had Mals.”

 “And now–”

 “Don’t say it.” Olizaar cuts him off, holding up a hand. “Please.” His breath catches in his throat and Olizaar coughs like that would clear it.

 “Sorry.” Kiri draws his knees up to his chest. “Maybe I’m not… I just thought…”

 Olizaar flicks a glance at him and suppresses the flicker of irritation. He’s tired of – it isn’t fair.

 Kiri shakes his head before Olizaar can say anything else, which is perhaps just as well.

 One of the dragons roars. Not Promithio, Olizaar thinks. One of the others. They don’t roar nearly as often so it’s hard to say who it is.

 “It doesn’t have to change you,” Kiri says. “But I think we change anyway. Having a dragon doesn’t make it out of nowhere, not… not really.”

 “They just make it a different sort of change, right?” Olizaar laughs, the sound bitter. “And you can’t say no.”

 “Maybe you could.”

 “That would please Promithio.”

 Kiri snorts. “He’d be affronted you didn’t want it.”

 Olizaar tilts his head back against the wall. “Contrary son of a fuck,” he says, almost fond.

 Kiri laughs.

 Olizaar smiles in his direction. “Thanks.”

 Kiri shrugs. “Anyone would’ve.”

 Olizaar snorts. “You think the best of people too easily.”

 “Isn’t it better too?”

 “Don’t you get… disillusioned by people proving you wrong?”

 Kiri tilts his head as he thinks. “People haven’t, on the whole.”

 “Maybe you’re just a good judge of character then. You can tell who’s good for you.”

 Kiri laughs. “Maybe.” He reaches out a foot to tap Olizaar’s. “That includes you, you know.”

 Olizaar wrinkles his nose. “Sure.”

 “No, listen, you can’t say my judgement is good in one breath and then doubt it in the next.”

 “I said good, not infallible.” But Olizaar is laughing, and it finally feels as though the tension releases itself.

 It’s at that moment, of course, that Ishal pokes her head around the door.

 “There you are. Kiri was supposed to bring you back.”

 “You didn’t specify after how long,” Kiri replies.

 Ishal scoffs, clearly amused. “You two have spent too much time around each other.”

 Olizaar forces a grin. “Bad influence, right?”

 “No,” Ishal says. “It’s a good thing, Oli. You always will be.”

 Olizaar avoids looking at anyone by using the moment to get to his feet.

 Kiri scrambles to his feet. “Have they…?”

 “Reached a decision?” Ishal asks. “Not exactly.”

 “What does that mean?” Olizaar asks.

 “That when the egg hatches, it will be the hatchling’s choice to be wild or bonded.”

 “That’s… insane. So I just have to not be there when it hatches.”

 “Have your eyes on a penta like mine?” Ishal reaches out as if to ruffle his hair, but Olizaar is just out of range.

 Olizaar laughs at her. “Every boy’s dream, right?”

 Kiri taps at Olizaar’s elbow. “And – listen, Promithio is – well, he’s not all bluster, but – I can stand with you, if you want.”

 Olizaar does ruffle his hair, and Kiri submits to it with a sigh and a grin. “You really are the best of us.”

 “Well–”

 “No, he’s right,” Ishal says. “Now come on. They’re waiting.”

 Olizaar steps close enough and grabs Ishal into a hug before she can instigate it. “Thanks,” he says, face pressed into her shoulder. He has to bend slightly, but it’s worth it.

 “It’s Kiri did everything,” Ishal says into his arm. “Hey, Kiri, c’mere.”

 He stutters out some kind of half-hearted excuse that doesn’t stop him stumbling in easily when Olizaar tugs him.

 “Thanks,” Olizaar says into his hair.

 “I didn’t do much,” Kiri mumbles.

 Olizaar snorts and claps him on the back as they disengage. “Sometime you’re going to have to accept a compliment, you know?”

 Ishal laughs and steps back out of the closet. “Come on.”

 “Yeah,” Olizaar says. “Yeah, we can do this.”

 Kiri bumps shoulders with him and smiles. “Just remember to breathe, right?”

 Olizaar nods, squares his shoulders. “Right.” He leads the way back up the tunnels to where the dragons wait.

[lazaruspiss]

your ship, character and fandom opinions are so based. i'm also a poly robin shipper so it's nice to see there are more of us here. anyway, i'd love to hear what are your all time favorite dc ships and why, and if you have any headcanons (sfw and nsfw) about them. or you can just ramble about any fic ideas you have, the ones you've mentioned already are very interesting.

thank u for the compliments and also the many things to talk about!! <3 mwah! (readmore added bc of length)

picking a favorite ship is so hard, because im a multishipper and real big on leaving my options open so that i have the most opportunity in any given story!! like, brudick and sladick are both ones i love for dark stories, but they each give such different angles and paths that you can take. all combinations of robins are dear to me for different reasons. and even within the context of one ship, i can usually come up with a lot of different directions that they can go it!!

i can't even say "X is my favorite for Y types of stories" because with a good pairing theres so much you can do with a variety of types of stories!! so. def cant pick a favorite, but i can list some that i like! they mostly involve Dick, bc my biases are quite obivious, lol.

Dick ships: Bruce, Slade, Talia, Slade/Talia, Tim, Jason, Steph, Damian (but it depends a lot on context, i see Dick as being very careful about not taking advantage), any poly robins combo, Slade/Rose, Tara

other ships: Slade/Rose, Slade/Talia, any robins together, Bruce/Talia (but only if Talia is having daddy issues about it), Nyssa/Talia (Nyssa repeatedly kills and revives her to make her understand her anger at Ra's. the rituals. they're intricate i swear-)(but also in arkham knight Nyssa compares her love for Talia to Bruce's explicitly romantic love for Talia and i've never been normal about that), any combo of the Al Ghuls tbh they're so mentally ill about each other

so uhhhhhh. really you could pitch any Dick ship at me and get me talking. if anyone wants to ask about that list ur welcome to lol

fic ideas!!! i have some shorter ones, like a Blackfire/Robin non-con based on that one scene from tt03, but i kinda wanna take this chance to ramble about my longer ideas!

u may have seen some of these, but i have a series called "days without incident" which is a bunch of shorter than usual fics stringing together random semi canon compliant scenes of Dick being in dangerous sexual situations, which are eventually going to end in a rlly angsty fic of Dick being assaulted and just accepting it. it sounds dark, and it is, but due to the length and format they really just serve as quick writing warm-ups more than anything.

DIDick AU. a friend of mine has been on the receiving end of so many DMs of me fleshing out these alter OCs, to the point that it would feel weird if I didn't write anything for it. the problem is that when I think about it, it all revolves around characters and there's no real plot line to use for it. I could just rant about it, bc figuring out what I want to do for a story about them is really tricky. it's also tough bc it's a teeny bit more personal than I usually go for. do /I/ have DID? unclear. I probably wouldn't tell you either way. anyways, it's an idea i want to more with but it's just more complicated to work on than most others.

suicide fic. "Where The Dead Stay Dead", title in reference to this being in a "Jason Stays Dead AU". i want to take a sort of dark comedy direction, but i have trouble controlling how the tone ends up when I write. Dick tries to kill himself post Jason's death + many other bad times but Slade just happens to pop in to try and bother him that day, and is uh. he doesn't know how to feel about it, the kid dying in front of him, but he drags Dick to a safe house and does some made-up comic book science fuckery to give Dick his healing factor. Dick is not very happy about this when he wakes up. the rest of the story follows an arrangement where Dick searches for a way to perma die and is generally a depressed grumpy bitch about everything, and Slade secretly tries to get him to stop doing that while trying to figure out a way to revive Jason. whichever ends up being easier. a lot of it would probably just be about Slade feeling lost with this "new" version of Dick, as well as the two of them swapping stories about dead loved ones and learning how to mourn.

timcel fic. that was the placeholder title, before i settled on "Nature's Order (As Told From Alpha To Beta)", but i still call it the timcel fic for short <3 the alpha in that title is Ra's, and the beta is Tim. the kick off for the story is that Ra's kidnaps omega Dick to use as a human incubator bc he and Talia had a spat that's left him heir-less, and he kidnaps Tim to make Dick more compliant. it's a really extreme take on "right wing alpha male pipeline, but omegaverse". it's gonna be a lot of bad times for Dick <3 i've talked about it so much with my friend that one time they mentioned basing smth partially off of Nature's Order Tim, and I think that's a good sign that I should really be writing this properly at this point. I have started chapter one! but bc it's gonna be a long one I want to get three chapters done before I start posting, bc having a few extra chapters written will help with my nerves a bit.