#of course giant monster sharp teeth are scary

[aka-indulgence]

So... me and @llamagoddessofficial have been cooking up an au for a while... let me show you our hmf!Sans :> (Horror Mafiafell Sans)

You're a waitress working at a bar/restaurant, and a certain skeleton has been coming back again and again. You can't help but wonder... why?

---

“He’s all yours, babe.”

You look up from notes on the wall. You’d like to ask ‘who?’ but both you and Lisa know there was no use. You already knew who it was. You didn’t even have to look out the circular window to check. You just stare at Lisa helplessly.

“Really?” You try, “can’t you just… a bit longer?”

Your words come out a perfect mess. Lisa understands anyway.

“Look… I don’t know how to tell you this (Y/n),” She puts a hand on her hip, “you know I can’t go back out there to him.”

“But…!”

You bite your lip. You know she’s telling the truth. You wish you could tell her to suck it up and go back there, no matter how scared she was but… you’re not taking chances with the current patron sitting in the corner of the bar. No one would.

For Lisa’s… and everyone’s sake, you’re not going to see what he might do if you sent her out to tell him that you won’t be serving him tonight.

You sigh, and take a peek through the window. Though elusive nowadays, it was unmistakable who the man- the skeleton in question was.

Sans was built like a tank, his form hunched over the table. Even sitting on the wide, plush red sofa, he looked like a giant, dwarfing the table and chairs like they were playsets. Monsters were already bigger than humans in general but him… he grew bigger than he used to- at least from what you’ve heard. Not like you knew the mob boss years and years ago before he got his infamous skull injury, and the blown eye in his left socket that was soaked in the blood of those who had crossed him. His mouth was set in a frown, filled with razor sharp teeth- one of which was golden.

The same scary face you saw shrouded in shadows in the alleyway, a sharp bone gripped in his large hand, dripping red.

You fled that night, not quite believing what you’d saw. That you’d just saw a skeleton kill a guy in the back of the restaurant? That it was the mob boss Sans?! He didn’t chase you then, and you hoped that’d be the end of it but then… he showed up to the bar as a patron one night.

You were almost certain then, that he had come to kill you. Especially when your dear friend Lisa had so helpfully told you that he’d asked for you in particular.

“her…” his bony finger had pointed at you. She DID tried to save you, to err on mistake- which one did you mean sir?

But every time you moved, his phalange followed. There was no mistaking who he was asking for.

You remember her panicked voice.

“He asked for you! Specifically!”

“W… huh? Why’d he ask for me? Can… are you sure-”

“YES! And I don’t know WHY!”

As reluctant as you were, you still went to serve him. You asked for his order while your grip on your pencil and notepad got slippery as your palms got sweaty. He took his time ordering, perusing through the menu with great attention, while you were praying that your legs didn’t looks as shaky as they felt. You’d never rush him, of course, even if you hadn’t seen him towering over a dead body.

You took his order, served it (stuttering), and… then he left.

… And came back. Again, and again. Every time, he’d ask for you to serve him. He always stares when you weren’t at his table (and actually, when you were at his table too). You could feel that red eye staring a hole into your back from behind. It was unnerving.

It’s a wonder why a man of his infamy would choose a bar like this. You’ve seen your fair share of criminals in this job- it was an alright-sized bar, and not exactly in the best place in town. You’ve learnt to turn the other cheek whenever they were around (and you were sure you didn’t realize just how many of the patrons were gangsters), pretend you were blind to their… occupation.

None of them had been as scary as Sans, though. In fact, his presence alone was enough to drive away most petty criminals.

This place was nothing special. It’s a wonder why he’d choose this place out of all places, especially for a guy who doesn’t like being seen much.

… Ok, that was a lie. Everyone working knew that he was here for you. But that didn’t explain the why.

It was clear to you now that he wasn’t coming here to kill you for witnessing… what you witnessed (Why was a man like Sans doing in that nothing alleyway anyway?). But if not for that then… why did he keep coming, to keep asking for you? Maybe he had… business around here and he liked the place enough to keep coming?

Whatever it was, he was here for a reason and you just… don’t get it.

You don’t get why he wants you to be the one serving him every time he was around, but you did anyway. It’s been a couple of nights now, but you can’t say you’ve become less nervous over time.

After a small inner pep talk to yourself and wringing your hands, you push open the door, walking into the dining area. There isn’t a lot of people inside, a common occurrence whenever Sans visited. Even if it had been busy before, some people would hurriedly finish up whatever they were doing, paying all at once and leaving. You’ve even seen someone stop before finishing their meal. The rest that stayed sat uncomfortably, trying their best to ignore the menacing air that the skeleton brought with him everywhere he’d go.

It didn’t work, of course. A presence like that wasn’t you could easily ignore.

(You wish you could ignore him.)

You smile awkwardly as you walk to his table, setting his drink down. At least you had a little bit of your work cut out for you, with Lisa taking his drink order. His eye zeroed in on you as soon as he noticed you, and though you’ve been taught it’s rude to not make eye contact, with him it felt like looking him in the eye would be the wrong thing to do.

“Is there anything else you’d like?” you ask, your voice sweet and soft as ever, hiding the sound of your beating heart.

He stares.

He always stares.

You see his pupil dilate a little, then he opens his mouth.

“want…”

Sans was a man of few words. He only said his order, and nothing else. It kept your meetings with him brief- even when it looked like he wanted to say something else, he wouldn’t.

This time, he spaces off for a moment, eye looking away from you. You watch his brows draw together, pinched as he concentrates on a thought. You wish you knew what he was thinking of, especially when his frown starts to peel back into a snarl, like he was angry.

You definitely weren’t expecting a hand around your waist, snatching you a second later.

You squeaked, notepad and pencil clattering to the floor, bumping against his sturdy chest. Everyone heard and turned to look, and as soon as they saw tiny you, sitting on the giant’s lap, practically all of them pointedly turned away. You wish they were still looking now- you were pleading with your eyes, help me I don’t think I’m supposed to be here!

He pushes you here and there, so that you’re sat more comfortably on his lap. Your mind goes blank, your body freezes. You could feel his chest expanding and contracting as he breathes. He sounds much calmer now that you were on his lap. Your breaths are shallow, and stop completely when you feel one arm wrap around your middle, like a restraint. His free hand raises, calling for Lisa, who you’ve just noticed is watching from the corner, clutching her apron, as clueless as you are. She approaches, trying to keep her eyes on the skeleton instead of you.

“... burgers.” he says, simply. She nods, and gives you a glance.

You furrow your brows, and you want to hiss Lisa help me! But as soon as she sees your expression she turns around, avoiding eye contact. You could almost hear her say sorry babe, can’t help you there!

You almost call out to her when a hand lands on your head. You go stiff, and after you take a quick peek at him, you look straight ahead. The monster’s phalanges start petting you, slowly, sinking into your hair, scratching your scalp. Sans let’s out a long breath, brushing your hair. A shiver runs down your neck.

… Well. I think I’ll be here for a while…

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

Sitting on the lap of a giant skeleton was certainly an experience. You tried distracting yourself, but it was impossible when you could feel every time Sans breathed. There was nothing you could do but sit there, playing with your apron until it was a crumpled mess, sweating a puddle onto your uniform… and maybe onto Sans’ expensive suit. You couldn’t relax, even though taking away big scary skeleton aside, he was comfortable to sit on, and he was warm… and smelled of rain and embers of a dying cigar.

He ate carefully, always leaning forward (squishing you against his chest) when he took a bite of his burger, making sure the crumbs wouldn’t fall on the top of your head, wiping his hands and his mouth before he leaned back. You could feel him sighing, and since he was the only thing you could notice, it felt like this was the most relaxed he’s ever been while in the bar, his breathing slow. Apparently he really liked your hair, with how his claws kept carding through it, even while he was eating. When his hands were clean, he’d let his hands wander all over you- but nothing untoward. You could feel him tilting his skull forward to look at you, while he thumbed your cheek, and his other hand roamed around your waist and belly. Though you were nervous, you could feel when he rubbed your thigh that it didn’t feel particularly… heated.

He sighs, and you feel the pressure of his skull on the top of your head. It took everything in you not to hunch over and avoid it. You screw your eyes shut when you feel him turn his skull, and it felt like he was… rubbing his cheek on you? Like he was snuggling you? Is… is that what he’s doing?

You’re not sure and your nerves are too frayed to call it that.

He didn’t stop after he finished either, his plate clean. He was still there- and subsequently, you stayed sitting on his lap- even after they closed the bar. It was just him now. Your coworkers kept the lights on just for him, and even most of them have gone.

He’s leaning back on the cushions, and he brought both his arms around you to pull you plush against his chest, almost tucked into his neck. You wondered if this was what a teddy bear would feel like, being hugged.

The bartender was cleaning up in the kitchen. It was just you and him in the dining area.

You swallowed… wondering what he wants to do. It’s past closing, late at night, just the two of you, and his hands were still (gently) rubbing you. They haven’t gone anywhere private but- what if he wanted to? … What if he wasn’t here to kill you but.. wanted you to… you don’t know, service him or something? Did he have unsavory requests for you?

You think that thought might’ve scared you even more than the thought of him killing you.

You startle when he grunts eventually, like he’s addressing you. A giant hand cups your cheeks and against your will they turn pink. Even though you were frightened, even if his touches were unsexual they still felt… intimate.

You squeak for the second time that night when both his hands pick you up, and sets you down on the sofa. You feel a ball form in your throat when he stands up and turns to you, thoughts running with all sorts of ‘what-ifs’. He takes your hand, opening it up, and then…

And then he places a thick wad of cash in it.

“... thank you.” He says, quiet.

You stare at the stack of paper on top of your hand, blinking once, before turning to the skeleton, jumping in your seat.

He was gone, just like that.

He was always quiet, wasn’t he?

You sit there dumbfounded, for what felt like minutes, your lips parted, money still sitting innocently in your hand. You think no one can blame you when the only thing you said after you sat there in silence was a very emphatic “... Huh?”

[lord-owlsnake]

Just noticed your "Bird in Hand AU" tag on bird monster River...care to elaborate?

You have no idea how much i want to talk about this weird little AU that's kind of gotten out of hand. Initially i was like haha im gonna make a monster form for River because that's usually what i end up doing for any character i like but now it's become it's own thing lmao.

Anyway, A Bird In The Hand is an AU where River is actually a giant bird monster because Frank was cursed to be one. So he's just. Born that way. River's mom still leaves him with his grandparents, but what she leaves them is not a very human looking kid. They love him anyway. Take it upon themselves to teach him to fly after he tries by himself and ends up busting his leg. He's really bad at landing. Eventually he learns how to make himself look like a people (because he wanted to be like his grandparents. David comes home one day to find a regular kid with too sharp teeth in the living room). He can't quite get the hang of making his teeth look normal. He doesn't smile when he's out in public, but he can be anything he wants at home.

No one really knows about this fully until like, in between seasons 2 and 3. And it's just the people at Slough House who do for now. Things get dicey in the Graybooks, but it's somehow still managed to be kept mostly a secret. There's absolutely an outing at some point where everyone goes out into the countryside to have a nice day and Louisa, Marcus, and Shirley get up to shenanigans in a field trying to teach River how to land properly. Catherine and Lamb watching from the sidelines of course. (Lamb says it's strictly because of security concerns but Catherine catches him smiling a bit when River finally sticks that landing)

Patrice, Yves and Bertrand are all also monsters. Definitely more beasts than people. I've decided that in season 4 Patrice swoops down outta the sky to cause that car crash and he actually takes River away and River ends up stuck back in Les Abres for months. (He does get rescued, don't worry. Louisa just almost gets eaten about it it's fine.)

Basically it's just an au to go ham with the entire thought of "People don't love/want me when I'm Normal, how could they ever want me when I'm Not?" Being a huge scary monster but your friends loving you anyway. Scared to lose yourself to it.

Anyway that's the gist haha. Thank u so much for asking!

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Making Fiends Halloween Headcanons 🎃 💙 💚

🎃 Original headcanons 💙

💚 Ao3 version 🎃

Charlotte 🎃💙:

• This year for Halloween she’s going as a rainbow unicorn fairy candy princess! 🌈 🦄 🧚 🍬 👸

• Buttons, her small hamster, is dressed as her noble steed, and Buttons 2, her “puppy”, is dressed as a cowboy.

• Charlotte helps her grandma bake Halloween cookies and carve pumpkins!

• The blue girl is blissfully ignorant as to why the people of Clamburg are so terrified on this holiday.

• While trick or treating, she encounters a group of not so friendly fiends who don’t look too happy to see her. The creatures growl in anger, showing off their massively sharp teeth as they slowly approach Charlotte, ready to attack her. Instead of running away like most would in a situation like this, the blue girl decides to happily feed the monsters her clams, beef jerky, and grape punch candy, turning them benevolent.

• When Charlotte spots Vendetta “trick or treating” (she’s really just taking candy from the other children) with her giant hamster, the blue girl’s eyes sparkle in excitement as she rushes over and asks Vendetta if the three of them can go all trick or treating together. Vendetta, of course, says no, but Charlotte continues to ask, pestering the other girl to no end.

Vendetta 🎃💚:

• She LOVES Halloween! It’s the one day a year where she gets to take and devour all the free candy she wants and terrorize the stupid people in town.

• She sends her fiends and giant hamster off to go decorate her home with evil and scary Halloween decor.

• IF she’s feeling generous, which isn’t likely, she might give a piece of candy or two to her tiny parents.

• This year, she will be a witch and her hamster will be a vampire.

• She tells he fiends to take people's candy and deliver it to her.

• When Charlotte comes and starts bothering her, Vendetta decides to create a Halloween-themed fiend to destroy the stupid girl. What happens is the same old same old - Vendetta makes the fiend, but Charlotte somehow finds a way to make the fiend friendly or have it do something to her benefit.

[onestepbackwards]

💙anon is back and with one hell of an au idea!

Little Nightmares submas. Stay with me here. Forgive my shitty writing and grammar I’m on mobile.

The Station promises to bring you to your wildest dreams, treasures and power untold! All you have to do is step on the train.

That’s right, just buy a ticket from your local station, pack you bags and prepare for the journey of a lifetime!

But you didn’t buy a ticket, you didn’t step onto the train at least you don’t remember it.

Waking up in the caboose you’re suddenly tossed into fear as you watch a depot agent grab a passenger they had been escorting by the neck before the passenger crumbles to the floor.

Silent as a mouse you watch the agent stuffs the body into the cabinet of a serving cart and roll the cart into the next cabin.

Wait wait wait, how did a grown person fit into such a tiny cabinet? And where is the agent taking them?

Something isn’t right here. That’s the conclusion you jump to as you look around, constantly glancing at the door the agent exited though. There are suitcases that would fit you standing up, cages of creatures you could never dream of. And…. Is that a person in that cage?

The door to the next cabin rattles and you dive into a gap between two suitcases, praying to whatever god is out there that the agent didn’t see you.

The smile on its face is too large, too much mussel, too much emphasis on its teet- Those teeth why are they so sharp? Does it has razors for teeth? It’s teeth are just to defined- scratch that, it’s smile is too defined.

And where were the rest of its features? No eyes, no nose, everything above its unnatural mouth was smooth, like porcelain. Like a child had scribbled a smile on a blank face, but ran off before the rest could be completed.

Face to smooth, but it’s body was too large too wide for how little space-The caboose was large. Large enough for the monster of a human in front of you to easily reach the of the ceiling without effort.

Standing amidst the people sized luggage the agent looked so giant, like the fairytales grandma used to tell you…

What if it looking for-. It’s looking at you. Right at you.

Run.

Long story short. Gear station promises it riders whatever they could possibly dream of. All you have to do to achieve it is buy a ticket, pack your bags, say goodbye to your loved ones, and board your train. The destination? Whatever you want! For a cost. Of course.

Reader would get around the train by hiding it food carts the agents steer around, climbing through the vents, and/or hitching a ride on or in suitcases.

Depot agents have porcelain like faces with only one feature, a smile or frown. They are easily double the size a normal person. I have multiple ideas for this, and three endings based on the readers choices.

1. Conductor of chaos

2. Silent Steamroller

3. Precious Pest

Each of those endings will change our meeting with the twins. Please please please, ask me for on this.

-💙 anon who has been locked out of their laptop for three weeks with serious brainrot.

Little Nightmares my beloved

It would be so cool to see the little nightmares scenarios through a train like from Submas.

The scary, unnerving depot agents, and the two Masters who run the show.

Maybe even other scary, familiar faces, like Elesa, roaming the train halls, or perhaps a car to herself. Careful though! There are electric traps all around!

What a neat idea 👀 definitely send more if you think of any more stuff!

[karmawonders]

U know what's always made me mad?

Mike not getting into the scare program in Monsters University.

🌸Sorta a brainrot, not my usual content, the family was watching Monsters University and inspiration struck. Also sorry I've been ~busy~ 🌸

Listen weird thing to be mad about but bear with me here oki?

He spends all his time reading his textbooks, looking and examining other scarers, and tryning to be like them. To scare like them.

And when he tries to scare like that, it just. Doesn't work. It looks silly. Like he's trying to hard.

All those monsters, the reason they are scary is because they are accentuating the features they have.

And Mike simply doesn't have those. He's not big, with tons of sharp teeth, with giant hands and huge claws.

He is round, and small, twiggy limbs, with an enormous eye, which is mostly his entire being.

He sees all the ways to improve others scaring techniques because everyone at that point has only had ONE scaring technique.

Big, loud, and quick.

What Mike needed to do is just. Open the closet slowly. And slowly peak out, and put his most notable feature to work.

His eye.

He needs to make some noise opening the closet door, enough to wake the child. He needs to just barely peer out of the closet once the kid moves their attention away, and be visible.

Unmoving, unblinking, but very much staring.

How many times have you woken up and your brain makes you think the pile of clothes on the chair is like a demon about to snatch you?

Of course your not screaming off the bat, but my GOD do you feel spooked right?

Now imagine that with an giant fucking eye. And ofc it's not moving and you know what, it is probably just your imagination.

You turn to go to sleep..

And you hear a scuttle.

You quickly turn back to your closet where that thing, that eye was.

But it's not there. It's under your desk now.

It's still too dark to see clearly. You spend a few minutes even more creeped out, but at this point exhaustion is starting to hit and you can't help but start to nod off.

Fuck it, your insane, its not there. Nothing is ever there.

A few moments go by, you feel your heart rate slowing a bit.

A creak, a weight on your bed. You panick, turning back over to see what is happening.

And right in front of you is the huge eye you hoped was merely a side effect of sleep deprivation, right infront of you, and slowly it grins, drool dripping, weight on your chest, a single word rasping from its mouth.

"Boo."

You can't help but scream.

[repentarium]

the truth is i've been dreaming of this tired tranquil place tag 6/?

ao3

Robin has told Steve about a hundred times that he needs glasses. 

The fancy government doctors who saw to him after the last jaunt in the Upside Down (which left him with his seventh and eighth concussions, at least of the ones he could remember) said he might have problems with his eyesight as he got older, maybe his hearing too. They also said the migraines he got would probably be a lifelong companion, and prescribed him an as-needed med that he was supposed to keep filled. He was usually pretty good about it, but the thing with collecting concussions like trading cards, at least in Steve's case, is that he doesn't remember things as well as he thinks he should, his head gets a little foggy and it just slips away. 

All this to say, as right as Robin probably was about the glasses and how they might help with his migraines, he never remembered to set up an appointment, and it was easier and less scary to deny it was a problem than to admit it was probably a result of the long term brain damage. Also as good as he tries to be about it, he doesn't always refill his prescription as often as he needs, especially because it's not like they're constant. 

He wakes up one morning and he can't even move his head it hurts so badly. The sun sneaking in between his curtains hits him like a knife as it rises, and he feels hot. His brain feels sticky between his ears, and there is a pounding sharp pain blooming from behind his eyes. 

He hears Eddie moving around and getting ready and every small noise is like a nail scraping against the inside of his skull. 

Steve should have left already. He should have been gone before Eddie even woke up. He's going to get fired from his damn job if he can't get to the phone to call Keith, so with frankly impressive motivation to not have to move back in with his parents, he throws the blanket off of his head and sits up as slowly as possible. He stands even slower, and grips the wall as he works his way to the kitchen to lean against the bar and call in. 

He hasn't had to call out of work for this in months. 

Keith isn't as big of a dick to him as he could have been, just says that he'll call the new kid in after school lets out, and tells him to feel better and to let him know if he won't be in tomorrow. 

One thing at a time. 

Steve goes and fills up a glass with water to sip at slowly and makes his way to the bathroom for his pills. 

Of course he has half a dose rattling around in the bottom of the bottle. He takes it anyway, presses his fingertips into his eyes for a minute to chase away some of the trails of color that keep blinking into his vision. 

By this point it's a little after noon. Everyone he knows is going about their day, and the meds are a controlled substance or whatever so he has to be there to get them anyway. He pulls his way back to the phone to call the doctor so they can call his prescription into the pharmacy in town, then makes himself eat a piece of dry toast and more water so the meds don't make him nauseous. 

He doesn't know if it's ever been this bad, not since actually healing the head wounds from the Upside Down. He'd love to cry his way through it and be miserable in bed about it because it isn't fucking fair that his brain got scrambled by monsters and the people around them, but he knows if he gets started he won't stop. He also knows that if he thinks it's bad now, he'll want to crack his head right open again if he can't stay still and silent and dry-eyed. 

He doubles up with an over the counter painkiller and hopes it'll help get him through, then pulls on some boots and a giant sweater, his jacket and a hat and the darkest glasses he's got, and walks into town.  

It's awful every step of the way, like each time his foot hits the pavement his bones and his teeth all shake, but he eventually gets to the pharmacy, even smiles at the lady who fills it and hands him the bag. He buys a Coke too, pops open the pills as soon as he's outside and hopes that another half dose and some extra sugar will do him well, but when he tilts his head back to drink it's like all the blood in his body pounds into his head and he barely keeps it together, manages to slide down the wall of the store instead of blacking out and falling on his face.  

He's sitting there for what could be seconds or forever, head in his hands and Coke bottle broken across the sidewalk beside him, a tiny rivulet streaming down to soak into the knee of his pajamas and he can't even be bothered to move it. 

He thinks that he just has to wait for the meds to kick in, actually, he'll be fine then, but he hears a 'what the fuck.' above him and the jingling noises of someone heading towards him.  

'Stevie, man, what's going on?' Eddie is sliding down the wall on the other side of him, jostling Steve's leg so it's propped up out of the sticky Coke. 

'Migraine.' Steve grits out. He leans his forehead into Eddie's shoulder with a wince, blocking out the light and putting a little pressure. 

'Yeah no shit. Why aren't you at home? You look awful.' One of his hands is up at his shoulder in an attempt to further blot out the early October sun. 

'I'd love to be. Meds.' He jostles his little paper bag. 

'Okay pal. Hang on a sec, I am gonna go tell Jake I'm taking off for the day.'

'You don't have to do that, I can walk home.'

'Yeah and you're gonna, and I am too. I just gotta drop off his sandwich and tell him, it's slow today anyway.'

Steve pouts about it but it's not like he can force him to go restock records or whatever. 

He honestly doesn't even realize Eddie has left and come back again until he's carefully hoisting Steve up and leaning him against the wall, pushing another cold bottle of Coke into his hands and grabbing his meds to shove into his jacket pocket. 

'Alright, big guy, take a sip and let's blow this pop stand.' 

'I'm fine, you don't have to walk me home.'

'Stop. I am helping you.'

Steve grumbles about it, but it's kind of nice to have him at his shoulder, there to lean on if he needs and pay attention to where they're going so he can keep his eyes down. 

Eddie gets the doors for him when they get home, pops the meds on the counter, and asks if Steve needs to take a dose now. He asks if he's eaten, if he needs water, if he needs help getting his shoes off. 

Before Steve can answer, Eddie's pulling the strings and loosening them so he can toe out of them.

'Will a dark bath help? I feel like a dark bath will help. Robin said once that it helped.'

Steve was going to turn it down but he's distracted by the idea that Eddie and Robin have talked about ways to help him through a migraine, and then Eddie's walking away from him and down the hall. He hears the bath start running, and he shrugs out of his jacket and sweater, puts his hat and glasses on the end table. He finishes the rest of the Coke and tosses the bottle.

Eddie comes back in and Steve notices how concerned he looks. He thinks again about he and Robin caring about him, doesn't think about how his parents didn't even give a shit if he came home bleeding and actively concussed as long as he didn't make them look bad. 

He's leaning hard against the counter, head too swimmy to climb onto a stool still, and Eddie is on the kitchen side looking back at him. 

'Hey.' He says quietly. 'Are you okay?' 

'Better. Feeling a lot better than before at least. You didn't have to-'

'I know I didn't have to, I wanted to. I'm here to help. Lemme help.'

Steve sighs. 'Thank you. I'm just. Not used to the… fuss, I guess.'

Eddie frowns at him, then turns around and puts a pan on the stove full of water. 'I'm making you some of this ginger tea, Jake swears by it, I stole some from him.'

'You don't need to be stealing stuff for me Eds.' 

'I'm joking, he gave it to me. I'm a recovered criminal.' He clicks on the stove and watches the pot for a minute. 'He said he hopes you feel better.'

'I don't even know him really.'

'No, but I know you, and he knows you're feeling shitty. It's not a big deal.'

'Feels like a big deal.' He might not have been so forward with the feeling if his head wasn't so fucked up. 

Eddie is shaking his head, but he sets up one of the novelty mugs Wayne gave them with a tea bag and some honey. He pours the water in even though it's not quite boiling, and carries it and a fresh glass of water into the bathroom. 

He comes back out and says 'You're all set up in there. Go chill out until your meds kick in, and I'll make us some food.'

Steve doesn't know what to say so he just says 'thank you' again. Eddie gives him a small and serious salute, then starts rummaging around in the cabinets as Steve carefully mosies his way back to the bathroom. He really is feeling a little better, and a bath usually does help. 

Eddie has a couple of little candles lit, so he can keep the lights off as he undresses and slips into the warm and sudsy tub. It's small and cramped, but it's still soothing. He puts a washcloth over his eyes and sips at the tea, which is hot and a little spicy. 

He's actively trying not to dwell on how taken care of he's feeling, because every time it tries to push to the surface his chest starts to feel tight. 

He doesn't know how much of it all is the placebo effect, but he really does feel better by the time the water has cooled. 

He's just starting to muster the effort to climb out when he hears a gentle little knock on the door and Eddie says softly 'just making sure you didn't fall asleep in there. There's food when you're ready, but it'll keep!'

'I'm still alive!' Steve calls back. 

'Nice.' 

'I'll be out in a few. Hey Eddie? Thanks. Seriously. I don't. I'm not used to the, you know. Being taken care of, so I appreciate it.' It's a little easier to say it sincerely with the door between them, but he's still staring into the surface of the water as it starts to drain and trying not to cry.

'That's what friends are for, asshole, we care about you.' Eddie says kindly. 

'Wow. Me in my time of need, being called an asshole. Real rich.' He pulls himself to standing as he hears Eddie's responding cackling disappear back to the kitchen. 

He throws his pajamas on from earlier and just runs a towel through his hair so it's not dripping, then he goes into his room and pulls another sweater on for the comfort of it all. 

When he gets back out into the kitchen, Eddie is dishing soup into some bowls, setting the bowls onto plates with little cut grilled sandwiches on them. 

'Soup's on, Stevie!' he comes around the bar, sets both plates on the coffee table and sits on the floor. He pats the space next to him and smiles, then picks up the remote to flip through the channels. He's stopping on an episode of Transformers when Steve lowers himself to the floor, and he lightly shoves his shoulder against Steve's. 

They sit and watch the cartoon robots, and eat their grilled cheese and chicken soup, and it's the nicest afternoon Steve thinks he's ever had actually, even with the last grips of his headache still clinging pretty tight. 

'I need to get glasses.' Steve murmurs over a commercial, mouth full. 

Eddie looks at him thoughtfully, chewing. 'I think you'd pull em off.' 

'Eh, I'll look like a dweeb, but I think it'll help with the migraines. Robin says so at least.'

'I think you'd look like. Professorial. Like a hot teacher.' 

'Pfft.' Steve blushes, but he decides to lean into it to keep himself from feeling self-conscious about the inevitable frames he'll have to choose. 'I could get like. A tweed jacket.'

'Stevie, if you do that we'll have to fight the ladies off with your nail bat so you can get a moment's rest.'

'Well, it's about time they start noticing me again. Maybe it'll help.' He's really forcing the optimism. 

Eddie is just looking at him thoughtfully. 

'I just need to make a call I guess.' He puts the last bit of crust into his mouth and slides his plate away from him so he can rest his head on his arms in front of him. 

He leans his head to the side to look at Eddie again because he's still quiet, and he shakes his head like he's waking up and finally looks away, back at the TV. 

Steve is watching the light play off of Eddie's profile as he drifts off, and the TV is off when Eddie carefully nudges him awake and makes him go lay in his actual bed. 

He dreams about camping, about fishing at a lake he's never actually been to and peaceful waters. 

[oflgtfol]

like how did the human teeth era turn into the sharp teeth turn into the neon green drool turn into the long prehensile tongue. where did that all come from

[kandy-sticks-zaza-blogs]

S/O turned into a Mutated Giant Snapping turtle! Raph x Gn!Reader

Imagines/scenario /Headcanons

SFW/Romantic/Fluff

Friends to crush

No pronouns

~~~~~~~~~~~

+He would be happy that your the same species like him but bigger and darker scales

+He always loves being a little spoon while you being a big spoon

+His brothers would teased him that he’s the height of your plastron chest

+If you kissed his forehead he’s will kicks his feets smiling and becomes a blushing mess +He want to be your cuddle buddy/teddy bears 

+Would blush in embarrassment and covered his face when you picked him up in bridal style +Your to big to fit in the blanket but Raph would cuddled you for comfort,scary movies and stress

+He would get exhausted and you let him piggyback ride him

+He shows affection like holding your sharp clawed fingers around his or bites it but you don’t feel anything 

+You both protect each other saying ‘I’ll protect you!’ multiple times while in danger

+Would be shock if you beaten up Shredder or the Kraang to pulps

+Both of you would be gentle with eachother

+He’ll just gush about you carrying him and his brothers

+You were twice stronger than him and he loves it

+Wearing matching bandanas?Absolutely he would like you that red is his favorite color! …………………

You were tired.

Hanging out with the Hamato brothers all night.

You went home as you flopped down on the bed,the Ozziesquito flew buzzing around your room.

You were a deep sleeper as the Ozzesquito bit onto your skin.

You grow bigger than your ceilings.

You rubbed your eyes sun shone through your windows as you got out of bed pass by your mirror finger gunning right at the-

GIANT SNAPPING TURTLE?!

You looked at the spikes,the sharp teeth,sharp claws,a powerful tail and scales.

You began to panic ,sweats running down your head,your heart beats faster than the race car.

You:It’s ok!calm down it just a dream....maybe I should...slap my self?!OUCH! OK THIS ISN’T A DREAM!

Raph! OH GOD MY HANDS ARE TO BIG!

OK....now that I am wearing my kitchen gloves so I won’t ....break my phone....

(RING!RING!RING!)

Raph:Hey Y/N!what’s up?

You:RAPH I NEED YOU TO COME OVER IMMEDIATELY!

Raph:OH GOD NO! DON’T I’LL COMEOVER RIGHT NOW!

His voice sound panicked as he hanged up.

You tried to breathe slowly but you were scared that will freaked out about your mutation.

Raph arrived in front of your department door that the spare keys he got.

He unlocked the front door as you locked your bedroom door.

Raph:Y/N…please open the door I could help you-

You:NO! I mean I’m good! I’m ok right now I just need some space!-

You tried covered yourself with your blankets and pillows.

But your tail and big body was in the way.

Raph:Y/N!There’s nothing you can do that change my mind!I’M GONNA GO IN!

You:Nonononono!Raph you don’t have to-

To late Ralph breaked your door as he saw you with a surprised face,holy shoot you were bigger than him!

You:DON’T LOOK AT ME RAPH I’M A MONSTER!

You cried covering your face as Raph approached your figure.

He hugged you against your plastron and Collar bones.

Raph:Y/N….I would never be scared of you…your still you..but after the mutation of yours I kinda….can’t recognise your new face you know…but I still love you…

You:Y-you sure you don’t mind about….the new me…and…you love me?

Raph:Of course I would not mind about you!I’m glad that I’m not the only species around NYC!A-and yes I love you I have a crush on you….

You both kissed feeling butterflies both of your stomach as you two rub the back of your head.

You cuddled him breaking the awkward silent.

You: Love you

Raph:I love you too Y/N

Bonus:

You carried Raph on your shoulders as your friends jawed dropped at your height bigger than Raph. Raph:Hey guys! I’m back!

You:Yo whats up Leo,Donnie,Mikey,April and Splinter!

Leo:OH MY GOD IS THAT Y/N?!

Donnie:OH NO NOT ANOTHER RAPH…..I DON’T WANT TO HUG ANOTHER….

Mikey:Woah!You are big just like a building! Well they are taller but damn!

April:Ohhh….boy

Splinter:Hmmm….maybe you two should have babies your the same species after all….

All: DAD/SPLINTER!

#Raph #Rise!Raph #ROTTMNT #rottmnt x reader #x reader #raph x reader

[kuromitos]

How do you think Gintoki would deal with a s/o where they and the kids go to a haunted house, they’re having to all stay the night and Gintoki’s so jumpy, there does seem to be some creepy noises and voices going on, and s/o’s like just having a blast being in this creepy place with the kids and asks if he wants to leave and it’s ok if they leave. They end up staying cuz Shinpachi or Kagura actually got taken. Suddenly, a creepy amanto jump scares them wanting to actually kill them while holding one of the kids and while Gintoki and the other kid run away cuz ghost, s/o‘s fight reflexes kick in and they crush the amanto with one of the chairs in the room, grab the child and then run away?

This is really something for a request. I'm going to do my best here. Hope you like it!

Why did Gin even accept this job in the first?

You would think this man would know not to mess with anything haunted or scary after the "ghost ryonan" adventure but no...

Here he is spending the night in a creepy house, in a creepy forest away from town, on a creepy full moon.

All because he doesn't want to look bad in front of you. He wants to be the brave heroic boyfriend and comfort you when you get scared

But you're over Here having a great time while he having a mental breakdown and Shinpachi and Kagura are to control their boss down

You notice him freaking out to every little noise but even you check on him it's always 'I'm fine.' 'It's nothing.' 'That scream was obviously Kagura, not me.' In response. So you decide to leave him alone

You were ready to leave til you notice you missing someone. A pair of glasses actually.

'We can leave til we find Shinpachi.' Kagura was ready but Gintoki looks like his soul was trying to leave his body.

The search was shirt lived when a fist punched a hole out of the wall shattering it. An amanto came out to scare you guys with Shinpachi in their grasp.

It's as a big as a gorilla. With giant razor sharp teeth dripping in saliva. Covered in matted fur and looks resemble a monster you see in a kids nightmare.

"You humans are trespassing on my home. I thinks the best punishment for you is to become my dinner!" "I don't think so!" You grab the closest thing to you and smash it against their head.

That hit knock them out and they let go of Shinpachi.

"Are you okay,Shin?" "I'm fine. I don't know how they got me but I'm happy you saved me."

"Of course! We wasn't going to leave you alone in this place by yourself. " "y/n-San? Who 'we'? It's just you."

When you were doing your heroic act , Gintoki, the moment the wall came down, grab Kagura and ran away. Screaming "may Shinpachi rest in peace" I don't about you but I think he's getting a earful from everyone when you guys came back alive.

[kryptsune]

World Building Wednesday!~ Wiccafell

🌼 Due to demand here is Wiccafell! This out of all the AU is the smallest as it is exclusively a RISK (Red x Frisk) central AU. Please keep that in mind. Any questions? Feel free to ask away C: 

Wiccafell AU

Classification: RISK   Nicknames:  Red- Litch

Main Plot Synop: Frisk is a witch that lives in the woods away from humans. Monsters exist in this world but they were nearly hunted to extinction. Poor little Red is chased into the woods from a mob of humans that are looking to either kill him or make him into a sideshow. The little guy trips and just as they are around to grab him a giant beast leaps from the shadows and scares them away. It turns out this is Frisk who is able to shape-shift. It is one of her main magical abilities. She scoops him up and takes him home and takes care of him. A few years later and he works as her little helper and apprentice learning all the good magic can do and that light magic is about give and take. She also warns him about dark magic and how it twists and corrupts.

What magic can do: 

Light- Light magic revolves around the natural order and uses the earth and nature to perform things like healing. These kinds of magic users are mild mannered and gentle to those they interact with because their souls are filled with light. A pure light witch is a rarity as they can harness more power than that of a practicing light witch.

Dark- Dark magic is the kind of magic that breaks the natural order like necromancy for example. Anything that toys with fate. Dark magic also twists and alters the physical appearance. The users gain more demonic traits such as slitted pupils, sharp teeth, claws, tails, wings, and the like. It is different for each warlock/witch. These warlocks or witches have the ability to use elemental magics as well though they are in a corrupted form.

Fire - Shadow flames that consume for long periods of time and difficult to put out. They are destructive at their core.  Air - Poison magic is either liquid or miasmic. It can kill thousands if desired spreading like an airborne plague. It is uncommon even for dark casters to deal in this magic since it could potentially also backfire on themselves.   Earth- Death magic that can be attributed to necromancy. This also includes curses as well. Anything that can tamper with the soul or body.   Water- Blood magic is a form of physical manipulation. A highly skilled warlock can turn a body into a puppet just by taking control of the blood within the body. It is a terrifying ordeal as the victim is powerless and subject to the casters every will while still remaining conscious.  Soul- On of the most taboo of the magic. It is manipulation of one's very being. It is what can be used for bend the mind of one to the caster. Soul chains bind the victim leaving them with free will unless the caster desires a different outcome. It is like making the victim into a kind of puppet. They cannot resist and are bound to the spell for all eternity until the darkness corrupts their own soul or death.  Shadow- A mix of the two both light and dark. This is a middle ground in which dark magic has been performed for noble causes or in desperation. It is the same if a dark caster preforms light magic. It is rare that shadow uses exist just due to the strong traits of both light and dark. Light magic with burn a dark magic user and vice versa. Those physical burns cannot be healed and an easy identifier. They are weaker than the other two having no allegiances to either a light deity or a dark one. 

Frisk is a kind and gentle soul she tries to negotiate peace with the humans so that she and her little apprentice can be left alone. After a while, Red begins to develop feelings for his witch caregiver and doesn’t want to see her hurt anymore. He wants to be a big scary monster so he can frighten away anyone that wishes her harm. There is only one problem. He is not all that scary. She tells him that the only way to become scary and menacing is through the use of dark magic because it not only twists your soul but also your physical appearance. She goes out to gather ingredients and does not come back which obviously worries Red. 

He finds her being burned alive by the townspeople that she was trying to sell her wares too. Nothing magical more medicinal but they didn’t care. As the flames die down he is left holding her charred body in tears (yes I know it’s sad). He vows that they will pay for what they have done and boooy do they. The only way to bring her back, and he knows this, is if he uses dark magic in the form of resurrection/necromancy. The whole idea of what is dead should stay dead applies here. 

He doesn’t care at this point so he reads from the book and as her body starts to come back with the warmth of life he starts to change physically. He basically goes berserk and burns the entire town to the ground. Now he is a scary monster… and a killer ... and a warlock of darkness and evil. *whoops* 

Frisk awakens only to see what he has done and it breaks her heart. She can barely even recognize him anymore, even if he is still sweet and kind to her. He tries his darndest to get her to love him again too. The evil now whispering in his skull tries to get him to force his hand to get what he wants but he pushes it away. He is just constantly struggling with it especially when it tries to coerce him into taking the pure soul of light which surprise is Frisk's soul. They are basically opposing forces now but in the end, they still end up together she just has to keep his horrible thoughts at bay. 

Alternate Outcome:

Being bound by a soul chain Frisk’s pure light soul is constantly under strain. Red of course does not know how much as his ability to separate his own desires from what is right is skewed. He vows that no one will ever hurt her ever again but due to his nature he goes about it all wrong. Frisk’s gentle nature helps the corruption stay at bay for a while as he rarely forces her to do anything against her own will, however, that does not last. The more pure the soul the quicker the corruption so the two cancel each other out. Eventually it sets into her soul twisting it just like him and when he finally realizes it is too late. That is where the sketch above depicts. Frisk goes dark side staying with her warlock and they cause havoc for the rest of the human villages. 

Here are some design sketches that I have wanted to share of the characters. 

[ratsoh-writes]

Ihavebeenwaitingfortherequeststoopenagainiaskedthewrongpersonthislasttimeandohmygodthe𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Anyways, The Skele-dads kid is basically a big ol’ gentle giant, this kids probably in like middle school and they are like 6’4 with a bunch of “scary/intimidating” features (Ex. being Sharp Teeth, Ominous Eyelights, A Resting B*tch Face, Really angular bones, Even a few scars from some simple childhood injuries, this kids got the whole package) but they are the sweetest monster on the planet (they would have a kindness soul if they were human) and they really hate their appearance.

Then one day they come home from the bus, and they are worryingly quiet and have a pensive look on their face. The Skele-dads get all concerned and ask what’s wrong, and the kid responds with ...Usually the kids in my class are to scared to aproach me, but today I had a group of them ask me for my help in dealing with some bullies...I said yes, and agreed to follow behind them when they got approached so I could sneak up on the bully’s. Eventually when the bullies cornered them, all I had to do was put my hand on their shoulders and smile and they scattered away from me like I threatened to dust them...”

Their kid then genuinely smiles and laughs a bit, “I guess I don’t mind my scary appearance after all if it means I can help my classmates out a bit”

I’m fine with you doing whatever Skeletons you want to react to this, but I would especially love to see how the Underfell Bros & the Horror Bros would react!

With extreme embarrassment over my first failed attempt, -🌻?Anon

This isn’t a failed first attempt. This is an extremely well thought out ask sunflower anon.

Red: red sees no issues with this. Especially if the little bully buggers got a good fright. Plus now his kid can maybe get a reputation for being a protector. Red is happy they’re learning to use their looks, but worried about his kids lack of friends

Edge: he’s very proud of his child. It’s a noble thing to protect classmates even if they weren’t exactly your friends. Yet. Emphasis on the yet. Edge gives his kid some pointers on using this to maybe weasel their way into that friend group.

Oak: he’s both sad for and proud of his child. It hurts that oaks kid suffers from the same scary looks as him. In some ways he feels as if it’s his fault. Oak will never chide his kid for using those looks to protect someone else.

Willow: he’s actually happy for them. Maybe this is the chance his kid needed to make a few friends. He can send them to school tomorrow with some extra sweets from the bakery to “help things along”. That should do the trick.

Rhythm: having a dance studio and a child means that his kid has to at least be friendly with the other dance students. So they aren’t completely friendless outside of school. Rhythm is happy to learn that other students are warming up to them. Although he wishes being intimidating wasn’t the way to go.

Wine: he’s seriously considering tutoring his kid in the ways of manipulation. After hearing them talk about scaring the bullies off, wine’s decision is cemented. Is it a rather sketchy to teach your kid how to manipulate others into liking them? Sure, but now his kid is making friends so wine doesn’t care.

Butch: of course his kid got all thier looks from him, but the gentle nature just came out of nowhere. He feels a tad guilty for encouraging his child to embrace thier intimidation skills, but butch figures they’d have to do that eventually.

[yandere-sins]

18 with sea monster Levi from the supernatural prompts list (if your still doing it)

I am really glad you guys enjoy these prompts so much :3 And I get to regularly write for Obey Me too, that makes me quite happy ^.^ Please enjoy!

“Don’t worry, the water is much less scary once you dive in.”

»»————-———— ♡ ————————-««  

No one could blame you for the fear you felt as you woke up from your uncomfortable slumber. Coldness and wetness only added to your discomfort, as did the pounding in your head and the dry throat you were experiencing. You remembered the last thing you did before passing out, sitting at home, drinking the new herbal tea you bought from a fisher offering it to you.

You weren’t usually someone who gave money away easily, but the man looked so poor and shabby, you thought he must have done everything he could to collect the herbs and make his wares that he offered next to the even less appetizing fish that he sold. You quickly exchanged money for a bag for his tea, but when you arrived home, you didn’t feel right with throwing it away. After all, it was only a herbal tea and just one bag at that. It might not have been your usual go-to, but you prepared it for yourself and sipped away happily on it as you read your book.

After that... was only darkness.

Like a hole in your brain, the memory slipped from you of what happened, but there were other dire matters to attend to now. Wherever you were now, it wasn’t your cozy home, nor any place in the village which you knew like the back of your hand. It was awfully dark here too, the only company you had was the faint sound of dripping of water.

With your hands outstretched, you guided yourself through the darkness by keeping to the wall closest to you. Even though it made you shiver, you tried to ignore the things you were touching. It could have been moss or similar things, you just hoped it wasn’t anything like mold, considering how damp the place was. Occasionally, you’d hit your head by a low hanging ceiling, and it made an impression on you that this wasn’t any kind of housing, but instead a dark cave. But what were you doing in a cave?

For a long time, there were no answers to be found. You weren’t sure if you were doing yourself a favor following the only path you could find and pursue, but when a crack in the wall in the distance came into view, you were never happier to see it was illuminated. If only darkness had continued to be on your way, it might have driven you mad the longer you stayed in it.

The squeeze was tight, but not impossible. Taking a deep breath, you reveled in some wind that came through an opening in the ceiling, together with what seemed to be rays of the sun. They reflected in multiple spots in the cavern, especially the water surface of a pond, which took up almost half of the grotto.

Though you approached with hesitation, once you stood in front of the water, you were eager to kneel down and wash your hands. The feeling alone, of being clean again, made a tremendous amount for your mental health. With a splash in your face, you finally felt like you could take rational thoughts again, not just being driven by your feelings and survival instincts like when you woke up.

You stood up, ready to think about a way to get out of wherever you were when your eyes fell back into the water again. Strange, you thought to yourself. Isn’t it supposed to be calm?

Before you could even approach it again, you were greeted by scales breaking through the surface, a body like a tail winding in and out of it. It was so big, you couldn’t think of a creature that would explain its mass, despite thinking to yourself it almost looked like a sea serpent. Those were, of course, only myth, but you were clueless about what else would be an option.

Gasping in shock, you stumbled back, unfortunately tripping over a stone on the ground that brought you to a tumble. Falling to the ground, you felt the shock of hitting the cold ground, your body complaining about your clumsiness, as a loud sound caught your attention.

A head that you could only describe as one of a moray, but as big as a dragon's finally broke out of the water. Its orange eyes must have had your size, and they focused on you eerily. Before you knew it, you had stumbled to your feet, ready to bolt back to the darkness, which now seemed much more welcoming than ever before.

But before you reached the gap, a strangely familiar voice echoed through the whole cave, and you turned your head to the only possible thing that could have used it — the sea monster.

“You are finally awake,” it noted the obvious, and you were so sure that you knew the voice from somewhere, despite the distortion that laid over it. When the monster talked, it showed a couple of terrifying sharp teeth, and it scared you even more, despite feeling intrigued to find out the mystery.

Lucky for you, your body was wiser than to stay, slipping you through the crack that would bring some space between you and the giant monster, even though you could still watch it from behind there. “Aw, that’s no fun,” it complained, and you watched in awe as its body began to glow in a bright, purple light. It was so flashing, you had to look away for a moment as it illuminated even the dark corridor behind you.

But when you finally managed to look back again, the monster was gone, and your curiosity was picked by its sudden disappearance. Sticking your head back out into the cave, you slipped halfway through the crack in the hope of finding out where it was. Perhaps it had lost interest and just gone somewhere else? Had it been real or just your imagination? What the hell kind of herbs had you consumed to even think this thing up--

“Boo!”

The way your body was stuck in the gap still made it very painful as you jumped in surprise, a wet hand gripping for your wrist as you tried to get back into the dark safety. “What?! W-Who?!” you tried to ask the face you were looking at as a man jumped out in front of you. “Come on out, I’ve been so eager to have you over.”

“Have me- woah?!”

Surprised by how strong a simple tug coming from the man was, you got torn out of your hiding spot, landing ungently on your knees before him. “Where is this even? Who are you?!” your voice grew louder and louder as he pulled you up and to your horror, towards the water, which was a place you absolutely did not want to follow him.

“What do you mean ‘where is this’?! Home, of course, you Idiot!”

“That...” your brain needed a second to register his words before you could properly answer him, your head shaking quickly as you tried to pry him off. “T-That’s not my home at all! And who are you?!”

Finally, he stopped, rolling his eyes. “You’re no fun at all. Do you know how long I have been watching over you and your little village? Shouldn’t you be a bit more grateful towards your super awesome deity?”

At least, you finally felt able to hold a conversation with him, though you shivered under his cold touch and strange words. “I... I don’t understand...” you admitted, and you could see his shoulders sink in disappointment.

“Ah, how unfair... All my brothers always get recognition for their doings, but I am always stuck with the ungrateful little fisher villages...” You were relieved when he finally let go of you, in between his mumbles. It wasn’t even as if he was talking to you anymore, much more so to himself. “They don’t even know how lucky they are that I bring the fish to them... I do everything...”

Slowly, you began to back up, ready to make a run for it again and hide in the shadows, when his head suddenly snapped up again, eyes piercing through you coldly. Only now you realized they were as sharp and orange as that of the sea monster, and a bad thought came up in the back of your mind, but you banished it quickly.

“Hey, you,” he called out to you, and you gave him a nervous glance and bit your lip. “You’re the child of the major, right?”

At this, you stopped, looking at him with confusion in your expression. “How would you know?” you asked him with almost naive curiosity.

“Listen to me, I told you I’ve been watching you for a long time. You were promised to me by your father if I kept the fish coming and your boats safe.”

“That’s... That’s impossible!” you managed to gasp. “I never heard anything about that.”

“It doesn’t matter, you are here now.” He turned sideways to point at the water behind him. “It’s not like your tiny, human lungs can get you out of here. You are mine now.”

Though you felt a sting in your heart, doubting your own family over a stranger’s words. Could you have been set up? Were you really promised to this... person... creature... whatever he was? But even so, shouldn’t you have a say in this?

“I will find another way... I definitely won’t stay here, and I absolutely don’t belong to you!”

His mouth opened in surprise about your refusal, watching you as you darted back to the gap, disappearing in the shadows. You heard him shout after you, his voice carried by the hollow cave, “There’s no other way out.”

There had to be. There must be.

You sprinted the way back that you had come from, earing a few more bumps in the head from not seeing the ceiling. But when the smaller cave opened up again, you couldn’t find any wind telling you about another way out, nor did you anticipate to only find another body of water, this time, in a pool maybe as big as your body was. It was so pitch black, you couldn’t make out if this was only a hole in the ground or another way to get out, but you began to panic when you heard tapping steps behind you.

“Come on, don’t be such a killjoy. I am sure we can have fun together once we get used to each other! It’s not like I want to hang out with you, but it’s better than watching fish all day. Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

You didn’t see him, but it was almost as if you felt his presence as he reached your cave. And after an initial blink he made, you knew he could see you too, judging by how his eyes glowed in the dark as the only thing there was. “Found you!” he chuckled, clearly happy about his victory as if you were two children playing.

It was only then that you were ready to throw hands if you had to. Perhaps you’d just chase him back and forth, but you did not want to stay in his proximity like a trapped mouse. But when you decided to storm forward, you felt something eerily, slimy and wet around your right ankle, gaining your attention. A long tentacle - or perhaps, the end of a tail, it was hard to make out - wrapped around your leg tightly, glowing purple, but not enough to actually illuminate the room.

It did one tug to try, before you were swept off your feet with a scream, pulled towards the man-big hole filled with water. “New game,” he announced. “You want to get out here so badly, we will see how long you can hold your breath first, okay? If you win, you get to swim away. But if I win, you stay.”

“N-No!” you disagreed, but you were already soaked up to your chest in the water, clawing at the unforgiving stone ground as the man approached, leaning down to you. “Don’t worry, the water is much less scary once you dive in.” 

He watched you disappear, leaving only bubbles behind as he simply pulled you back to the main area with his tail coming from his back. This water path was merely a connection to the main pool, his home, but it would be enough for your human lungs to not want to get back into the wet yet again.

Going back to the grotto slowly, knowing you were occupied below the water at the moment anyway, he thought how terrible tiresome and unnecessary your struggles were. So what if he had turned himself into an old fisher, giving you herbs that would knock you out for a while? And so what he did all of it just for his own pleasure? Being a sea monster was hard. He deserved a human of his own for a change since he did so much for them in return.

“Hey, let's play something different now, okay?” he demanded, poking you with the tip of his big toe, as you held on to the edge, panting. You were shivering, terrified both by your deep-sea dive, as well as all that happened around you and the sea monster, clad in a man's skin, as you coughed up water while climbing back onto solid ground slowly.

“I’ll teach you to say my name in all languages I know, alright? Listen well, I don’t want to repeat myself!”

All you could do was watch as he began to say his name over and over in languages you shouldn’t be able to understand even. Tears formed in your eyes as you looked down to your ankle, still wrapped by the tentacle, and you imagined what would happen when you couldn’t keep up with his definition of fun.

At the same time, only his voice kept ringing in your head, over and over.

Leviathan, Leviathan, Leviathan.

You were already his.

[corpsentry]

ao3 mirror

fandom: age of calamity, botw rating: g starring: prince sidon and mipha note: spoilers for both games

"You know, Daruk’s my idol,” Yunobo says. He pumps his fists in the air like a kid at a fun fair in line for the big pirate ship ride. “They say he was the coolest Goron there ever was. Plus he had a beard. I think beards are awesome.”

“Great,” Sidon says. He stops peeling the mandarin in his hands for long enough to look up blankly at him. "Mipha was my sister."

the age of calamity, side b.

The thing about time travel is, even if someone stands in front of you and tells you point-blank that there’s a way to bring your dead sister back to life, you’re probably not going to believe them.

“I don’t believe you,” says Sidon.

“Okay,” Teba says patiently, fluffing his feathers with an absent glide of his wing. “Try harder.”

Sidon stares at him. He tries harder, though he’s not sure what that entails and so doesn’t end up really doing anything. “I don’t get you.”

“Which part don’t you get?”

“I get to see Mipha again?”

Teba’s eyebrow twitches. “Let me put this as simply as I can, Prince,” he says, a little too loudly. The soldier stationed at the bottom of the staircase turns to look at them. “We’re going to go back to the point a hundred years ago at which the four champions were killed in their divine beasts. We’re going to save them. We’re going to make sure they defeat Ganon before he can send Hyrule into ruin. And then we’re going to leave.”

By now, they’ve caught everyone’s attention. It’s been a long time since a hundred years ago, but here in Zora’s Domain it still feels like the events of last Tuesday, to be recounted over salt tea and fish skewers, to be mourned over an empty coffin. Everyone’s staring at the big white bird with the angry eyebrows, a little curious, a little apprehensive. For what he’s worth, Teba is indifferent. This much will not faze him.

Sidon twiddles his thumbs behind his back, where Teba cannot see them and the guards at the bottom of the staircase can point and laugh all they want. To be honest, he heard nothing. His heart stopped when he heard ‘killed in their divine beasts’, at which point a watery monster punched its way into his skull and crushed his brain. The monster is nothing concrete, nothing crystal-clear, just what little Link has told him, bits and pieces of a history he was prevented from taking part in. It’s been several months since the kid dragged his beaten-up body halfway across Hyrule and kicked Ganon’s ass, though they’re still feeling the after-effects of that particular calamity today. Mipha’s statue still looms over their heads, a reminder of what it means to die alone and far away from home.

“So,” Sidon starts, hearing his voice echoing in his ears like metal slicing through air. “What you’re saying is, I get to see Mipha again.”

Teba looks like he wants to grab one of the guards’ spears and stab Sidon in the face, but for what he’s worth, he reigns it in. “Yes.”

“Okay.” He grins. “I’m in.”

::

He tried to fight a lynel when he was fifteen. The domain had been overrun with monsters who had arrived for the pre-party to Ganon’s return, including an outstanding number of wizzrobes, several moblins, and a tall, intimidating figure which spat electricity from its pink-tongued mouth and whose name he couldn’t recall. While his father, the king, and his sister, the princess, breezed through the area like a lightning strike, reclaiming keeps and stabbing moblins with silver teeth so their generals could forge a path ahead, Sidon reveled in the wonder of being left unsupervised at four a.m. in the morning. And then heard the familiar, haunting roar of a lynel. And then decided to go and say hi.

It was a mistake, of course. The lynel was so tall he couldn’t make out the gear on its back. Its face was all squished up, like a birthday cake that had been stepped on, and its horns were too big for its thick, blocky nose. This was funny for all of five seconds. Then the lynel extracted a bow from that unknowable space behind it and aimed the sharp end of an arrow at his face, and it became a problem.

“H-h-h-hi,” said Sidon, holding up his Kid Spear, which was strictly for Kid Use Only, and had the offensive capabilities of a stick.

“RHOOARHGHHGHH,” said the lynel.

He jabbed the Kid Spear at the lynel’s leg. The lynel spat at him, though probably unintentionally, as it seemed preoccupied with the arrow it was trying to send into his face. It was stuck. The big scary lynel’s bow was stuck.

Emboldened by the stupid scary lynel’s broken bow, Sidon decided to try again. “Please go away, Mr. Lynel,” he said in his best and most charming Kid Prince voice, twirling his Kid Spear like a sweet jellyfish skewer.

“RHOAHOARHAGHOGHHHH,” said the lynel, who sounded significantly angrier than before.

“I understand,” Sidon said politely, and then closed his eyes and sent a prayer to the goddess Hylia (the way he had been taught to since he was old enough to speak, the way every child in Hyrule knew that there was a place for them to go to after they left this world behind). He braced for impact, which he hoped would be of the violent sort, earth-shattering and brisk enough to break his bones and leave nothing breathing in its wake. He was fifteen, not five. This was Ganon’s era. Every living creature in Hyrule knew this, the way their ancestors woke up and knew which direction the sun would rise from. Not if, but when. When the Calamity strikes. When your people die. When the knight emerges from the woods with the sacred sword in his hand, and saves you all.

But none came. When he opened his eyes, and he did so reluctantly, adrenalin coursing through his veins like thunder, the world was pitch black. In place of the cool blue moon was his sister, her ceremonial gear glittering darkly, the Lightscale Trident glowing like a star in her right hand.

“Holy shit,” whispered Sidon the kid. Mipha stabbed the lynel in the face.

She hugged him when it was all over and they had put the moblins and the wizzrobes and the electric moblin (so that’s what it was! Terrifying) back to sleep. Their father was upset, but he was frequently upset at Sidon and so it didn’t bother him as much as it could have. Sidon was not Mipha. It was all right if he got things wrong, as long as his sister never did. Coincidentally, the Hylian princess had been in the area at the time of the attack, accompanied by a knight with blue eyes and a Sheikah warrior who looked like she would throw a knife at a fish for sport. It was a good thing Mipha had been at home, and not visiting one of the other tribes or hunting for crabs near Lurelin. It was a good thing she had intervened when she had, lest the pre-party become the real thing.

“Thank you,” said the Hylian princess, trying her best to smooth her brow and failing. She looked anxious, though she had only come to pass on her father’s word, though the word that she had brought was victory.

Mipha smiled at her with a face full of sun. “It is my pleasure.”

::

He wishes the egg could talk. If the egg could talk then Teba would have less reason to talk, and if Teba talked less then Sidon would have less of a raging headache, which which would make him less of an asshole, which would make their discussions go much more smoothly than the janky, sputtering mess they’ve been all week.

“As I was saying,” says Teba, continuing whatever train of thought he picked up on their way up to Goron City and then dumped unceremoniously by the side of the road. As he does this, Death Mountain spits a chunk of lava out of its steaming gaping top, which lands a few inches shy of his breastplate. He hops backwards without missing a beat and begins fanning himself with one wing.

Riju stops fiddling with the diamond circlet in her hands for long enough to give him a look of inquiry. “As you were saying?”

“I can’t wait to see Daruk.” Yunobo scratches his arm. It makes a sound like two large boulders grinding together. Riju drops the circlet.

“You’re only going to see him for a short while,” Teba comments over the sound of the egg blowing its top at Riju and Sidon plugging his ears with his fingers. “No point getting all worked up about it.”

“You’re just as worked up yourself,” Riju counters. Patricia barks. Teba flinches.

This is true. There are two things Teba won’t shut up about. In ascending order of importance, they are 1) when they should depart for the alternate timeline in which they will prevent their respective ancestors from getting their spirits trapped in giant mechanical monsters for a hundred years, and 2) how incredible Revali is. Because Revali was the most powerful Rito warrior that ever walked the land (or flew over it, or blasted bomb arrows at it, whatever). Revali singlehandedly invented an entire style of aerial combat which involves launching yourself into the air with an updraft that defies the laws of the universe and then setting your surroundings on fire. Revali killed god.

Teba looks like he wants to go back to his wife and kid in Rito village. Good for him. Not all of them have bodies to put in coffins. “I just want to meet him once,” he says quietly.

Yunobo laughs, and it sounds like two extra large boulders grinding together. “Me too, brother.” He picks up the diamond circlet from the floor and puts it on his head like some kind of weird hat. “I’m going to tell Daruk how great he is. And then I’m going to go home.”

::

One time when they were much, much younger, before he woke up one morning and Mipha was three times his height, one of the guards brought back some durians. The durians were misshapen and spiky and smelled intimidating, though Sidon wouldn’t go as far as to say that the smell was unpleasant. The guard had obtained them from a merchant in the Faron region. He hadn’t meant to purchase them, but they were the last of her stock and she said she could only head home once she had sold everything. He empathized her.

At first they tried to open the durians with their hands, but this only produced several pricked fingers and left ominous and eerily substantial bloodstains everywhere, so someone brought out a spear, almost drove it through the table, and someone else brought out a carving knife. Halfway through the spectacle of watching one of the guards, who was thirty-seven and enjoyed collecting glowing stones as a hobby, attempt to de-spike an entire durian, the crowd parted abrutpyl.

“What are you all doing?” Mipha put her hand absently on Sidon’s head. He had been watching the ongoing debacle out of some kind of morbid curiosity, standing on tip-toes so he could peek over the top of the table, though now he had apparently been relegated to armrest.

“Trying to open this durian, your highness.”

Mipha laughed. His sister’s laugh was a delicate, heartrending affair, like trying to pull weeds from the bottom of a lake without breaking them at the stem. The weather at home was always more or less divine, but whenever Mipha laughed, Sidon swore it blasted a hole right through the clouds. If there were no clouds, then the hole appeared in the fabric of the sky instead. Mipha, at her brightest, was a walking catastrophe of sun.

Still chuckling a little, like she’d been made privy to a secret that none of them knew about, Mipha stepped up to the cutting board. “You have to do it like this,” she said cheerfully, digging her fingers into a seam in the durian’s shell like she’d been dealing with danger all her life.

Cue gasping. Cue the horrors of childbirth.

The durian was sweet. It was also a little goopy, but Sidon was no stranger to things which stuck to your fingers and refused to let go (he was one of those objects when it came to his sister, who he could rarely be found more than an arm’s length away from on any given day), so he felt for the little spiky fruit, and decided that he would make an effort to bring some back home when he went traveling himself in the future. While he examined the inside of the durian’s shell, which had been hollowed of fruit and had the texture of rough sandpaper, the guards crowded around Mipha and demanded that she share her secret to not getting stabbed to death by the fierce and terrifying durian. But either she didn’t know how to explain it to them, or they weren’t very good at listening, because she remained the only one capable of cracking open a durian with her bare hands for many, many years, up until she died while fighting a watery manifestation of Ganon inside the divine beast she had been told by the king of Hyrule to pilot to victory’s end. Then it was someone else’s turn to take over.

::

Painkillers for fish are a tricky affair. To begin with, charmingly little research has been conducted into the biology of the fish-person because the Zoras simply aren’t interested in how their bodies work, and while others have offered to do so in their place, among them several enthusiastic Sheikah researchers and one Hylian with a thing for huge glowing orbs, his people have never cared enough to give their consent. It’s a unique kind of apathy, one which stems from a place of privilege, or denial. They are, as a general statement of fact, very good at both.

“This will help.” Yunobo hands him a rock roast. Where did Yunobo get a rock roast from? Sidon frowns. They’re in the middle of the desert.

“Thanks,” Sidon says. Smiles. Kind of, like, holds the roast up to his mouth and gives it a sniff. It doesn’t smell half as good as durian. He puts it down.

It takes him several days to make sense of the convoluted sequence of events that Teba presented to him that day on the front door of the world he had rebuilt from scratch, surrounded by mystique and glamor and promising, in a breath of cold air, to bring his dead sister back to life. This makes it sound like he’s finished making sense of it all and will thus never be confused ever again, but if he’s to be entirely honest, he still doesn’t get it. He wants to. He’s scared to. He won’t look Teba in the eye.

“We should get going soon, don’t you think?” says Riju, who is twelve and somehow more put-together than all four of them combined. She pulls another book from the shelf and leaves it on the pile on the desk.

Yunobo shrugs loudly. “Doesn’t make a difference when we leave, does it? We could leave for Hyrule in twenty years, and we’d still end up at the same place.”

“But I want to save them,” Riju says earnestly. The pile behind her has been growing all afternoon, and will soon overtake her in height if she is not stopped. Mission preparation looks like archaeological excavation when you’re traveling backwards in time, and not forwards to some yet unknown destination. Ancient Sheikah records. Research journals. The writings of people who were obsessed with the events of a hundred years ago despite having no personal investment to speak of, and whose words carry with them a hint of reverence, even as they choreograph the funeral song of the old king. This is all that’s left of those ruins, aside from Link, who they’ve all quietly decided to keep uninformed of the current proceedings. Hyrule itself has been kept in the dark. No need for them to know about the maybes and the what-ifs and the could-have-beens. No need for more people to go crazy.

Sidon shuts the book in his hands with a thud. “But why?”

Riju’s eyes go wide. Drama queen. “Why what?”

Sidon opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again. There’s a heat rash on the back of his neck which he can’t quite reach on his own. The elders had warned him about the desert, but the charm he received from Link has proven to be effective in all areas except for maintaining good skincare. He blinks dumbly at Riju, who has begun to flicker like the glassy surface of a pond. His eyes hurt.

“I mean, why do you.” His eyes hurt. His throat hurts. There’s something large and horrible stuck in his chest, and he can’t get it out. “Why do you want to save them?” There’s a durian in his rib cage. It must have lodged itself there when Teba glared at him like he was an idiot as he came face to face with the cruel reality of the universe, and it dawned on him like a dead body falling out of the sky that he would get to see Mipha one last time, and then he would have to come back. To a Hyrule without her. To the stupid stuck-up world that had to try again and again and again, coughing up blood and dragging itself through the dirt on bruised knees, before it could defeat the monster. “It’s not like they’ll come back to life,” he says, each word a silver knife in his mouth. “They’ll stay dead here. They’re already dead.”

Silence.

Riju has let everything go, including the diamond circlet, the topaz earrings, and three volumes sheathed in gold. Yunobo’s mouth is open so wide, you could stick your head inside and take a look around if you leaned in close enough. For the first time since he met him, Teba is at a loss for words. His chest rises and falls erratically, his hand on the bookshelf quivering, his eyebrows doing a little dance on his forehead. He’s sweating. Of course he is. They’re in the desert.

Riju, Hylia bless her soul, is the first to speak.

“It’s the spirit of things,” she says softly. She looks sadder than any twelve-year-old should ever have to look. But then and again, Sidon was barely old enough to hold a spear with both hands when his sister died and everything went to shit. Then and again, everything goes away eventually.

Sidon stares at her helplessly for a moment, gulping the humid air of the library like a fish out of water, then gives up and walks out of the room. He spends the rest of the afternoon blowing bubbles in the pool beside Kara Kara Bazaar while the other three continue their work, and then buys a durian from one of the vendors and hacks it open with his spear. You can’t crack open a durian with your bare hands, unless you’re Mipha, in which case you can do anything. It’s a good thing, then, that she’s gone.

::

When they were children and they got into trouble, his father would always scold Mipha far more harshly than Sidon. Mipha was the older sibling, after all. She should know better. This dynamic remained firmly established between them even as Mipha grew into her role as princess, future ruler, and eventually, champion. Of course, the reprimandings grew less stern, but Sidon had a penchant for winding up in places he wasn’t supposed to be in and Mipha had a penchant for being with him whenever this happened. He secretly resolved to pay her back when he got older and was finally able to stand up to his father, and therefore explain that most of the things they got into trouble for were his idea. He would be the one to weep at his father’s feet while his sister looked on with a horrified expression, and in that moment she would understand how much he loved her.

Then she died. You can’t tell the story of Mipha without this part. Mipha was a humble, kind girl, and then she died. Mipha could crack open a durian with her bare hands, and then she died. Mipha was the pride of their people, and then she died, and she died, and she died.

You can’t change the past with the wave of a hand. You’re not a bird. You’re not a fortune-teller. You’re a fish-person with an empty coffin for a sister, and in a few weeks’ time, you’re going to save her specter.

::

“...What if I brought her back with me?”

“Huh?”

“Hahajustkidding. No way I’d do that. Not a chance.”

“Um. Do you need painkillers?”

“Thanks, but they don’t work on me. I’m over a hundred years old, you see. Us Zoras, we’re different.”

::

The day before departure. They’re back at Zora’s domain. It’s raining. Teba is running through a checklist of items to bring with them which is so long, he has to hold it above his head to prevent it from touching the floor. Riju is feeding Patricia mandarin peels.

“You know, Sidon.”

Sidon looks up from his mandarin. “Mm?”

Yunobo grins at him. “Daruk’s my idol,” he says proudly. He pumps his fists in the air like a kid at a fun fair in line for the big pirate ship ride. “They say he was the coolest Goron there ever was. Plus he had a beard. I think beards are awesome.”

“Great,” says Sidon, as enthusiastically as he can, because he genuinely wants to be happy for Yunobo who is finally going to meet his idol and has clearly dreamed about this moment for some time. He wants to be happy for all of them. He fucking wants to. This is a rescue mission, not the imprisonment Princess Zelda walked into in Hyrule castle, not the hundred-year nap Link took on the Great Plateau. This is a happy ending, even if it’s not theirs.

Daruk the idol. Urbosa the warrior. Revali the bird. Sidon pictures them in his head, the way Link described them to him once, his voice carrying across the water like beams of light.

“Mipha was—”

He stops peeling the mandarin in his hands, his nails still embedded in the soft skin of it, the white-tinged flesh peeking out like a wound. Outside, the rain keeps falling. A river of tears from the sky.

Yunobo tilts his head to the side. “Mipha was?”

Mipha was the pride of their people. Mipha was the first person he wanted to live forever. Mipha was the only one he knew who could crack open a durian with her bare hands, like she was peeling open the heart of a monster, only to reveal that it had been something soft and scared all along. Mipha was a flesh-and-blood person. Mipha was the light of their world. Mipha is an empty coffin with a name inscribed on the lid, a house with the lights off, a memory drenched in ocean.

Yunobo prods his shoulder, though he barely feels a thing. “Mipha was?” he repeats kindly, herding him along to the end of the line, to the boat at the edge of the water.

Sidon puts the mandarin away. He stares long and hard at Yunobo, and hopes that his eyes will convey the wound his body no longer knows how to carry.

“Mipha was my sister.”

::

Let’s say you’ve been entrusted with the future of your kingdom. There’s a bad guy coming, and everyone’s scared to death, so you learn how to pilot this big robotic elephant which shoots turrets of water like a machine gun, and you get really good at it, and when the bad guy arrives on your new friend’s birthday suddenly you can’t do it anymore. You’re trapped inside the giant elephant. You’re bleeding out all over the floor. Your chest hurts like something awful, and your vision is beginning to blur. Sensing your despair, the monster closes in on you, wielding that big blue trident like fury. It holds the sky up over your head, and as it does so you close your eyes. You send a prayer to the goddess Hylia (the way you have been taught to since you were old enough to hold your little brother in your arms, the way every child in Hyrule knows that there is a place for them to go to after they leave this world behind). You brace for impact, which you hope will be the gentle sort, a slap to the wrist that’s conclusive enough to break your bones and leave nothing breathing in its wake. You’re twenty, not five. This is the end of all things as you know it. Every living creature in Hyrule knows this, the way their ancestors woke up one day and knew that this world would come to ruin. Not if, but when. When the Calamity strikes. When everyone you’ve ever loved dies. When you walk into the mouth of the elephant, and the elephant changes its mind, and decides to keep you in its belly forever.

None arrives. You open your eyes slowly, hesitantly, fear a living memory in your bones, but you are not faced with the stinging end of a trident. In its place is a boy almost three times your height, his eyes glittering darkly, the spear in his right hand shining like a star.

He is not your brother. But, Hylia bless you all, he is.

So what can you say, when the evil has been defeated and you are standing on the balcony of the castle, smiling up at him through tears while this big overgrown baby stares at you like you’re the answer to the universe, except:

We’ll definitely meet again, won’t we?

He flinches, but you don’t ask, and he doesn’t say why. He pulls you into an earth-shattering, bone-crushing hug. It’s a beautiful day to be alive, the sun shining like sin, Hyrule’s beaten but stubbornly breathing carcass laughing up at you from the fields below. He takes your hands in his. He’s shivering. He’s shaking from head to toe.

Of course, he says in the kindest, saddest voice you’ve ever heard, though he has only come to pass on someone else’s words, though the word he has brought is salvation. From now on, I’ll always be by your side.

: : : : :

You smile at him with a face full of stars.

[theprincesslibrary]

#26: Quid pro quo

She had a plan. A good plan, flawed of course, but a good plan nonetheless. She would march into the Azure dragon’s lair, offer him a deal he could not refuse, and spend the rest of her days in relative peace. She would not be burned alive, nor have her body desecrated postmortem. It was a good plan, albeit a bit of a crazy one.

She had carefully designed said plan for months, spent countless hours with her nose buried deep in obscure literature, practically harassed the head of the royal guard into telling her every tiny detail of his encounter with the sand dragons - the man used to boast about his tale of glory, now he couldn’t bear to utter the word dragon - but for all her effort she still wasn’t ready for the Azure dragon himself. There were a few key elements about the beast which were not accounted for in those dusty grimoires: for one, he was a man rather than a scaled monster; and two… he was incredibly handsome. He had ordered her to sit opposite him, and she had since spent a stupid amount of time staring at his face, which wasn’t all that smart considering her current predicaments. Yet, one could hardly blame her; she had been expecting a blue lizard - a giant lizard, with wings, and teeth, and claws - and she was now sitting in front of the most gorgeous man she had ever met. Nothing during her months of research had prepared her for the day's events, and she was a bit lost and quite unsure of how to proceed.  

 *****

When she had walked past the entrance on the north side of the snowy mountain, she had expected a cave or an abandoned mine; a place dark and humid, where the air would be stale, almost putrid. There would be spiderwebs on the walls and maybe a few rotting corpses lying in the shadows of a dusty corner. The place would be grim, quiet - save for the few drip drops of a leaking roof - and extremely scary. But the halls she was wandering in looked nothing like old collapsing tunnels. There were sculpted columns where she expected old support beams, and vast rooms with smooth walls instead of rough rock and loose stone. It looked more like an underground palace than it did the belly of a mountain, and she couldn’t help but be a little bit in awe of the craftsmanship required to achieve such a feat. Her father’s castle could never compare to the dragon’s lair, nothing could.

As she made her way from room to room, she found no pile of gold or shiny jewels, not that she hoped to find any, she had specifically chosen the Azure dragon for its peculiar taste in treasure. She had however expected a few rotten corpses, maybe some dead knights, or discarded armors, but again she was pleasantly surprised: not a dead body in sight. Just books, shelves after shelves for as far as the eye could see. They occupied every surface of the place: wooden tables covered in parchments, rare volumes piled up on the floor. Some piles were so high, she had to crane her neck up to see the top and almost lost her balance more times than she’d admit to. Some books were torn or half-eaten by mice, soot-stained or with missing their spines, others were brand new and carefully ordered by author and date. And everywhere the dry scent of paper mixed with the faintest bit of charcoal, a good indication that she was in the right place. Which might sound confusing to some: what kind of princess would willingly seek out a dragon? But she was desperate, and desperate times called from desperate measures. Crazy measures, some might even say. 

Now that she was deep into the beast’s lair, she was faced with two issues. One, for all her planning, she hadn’t come up with a solution to prevent the dragon from killing her without hearing her plea. She had a proposition for the creature, one that required some explaining, and she could hardly do so once reduced to a fuming pile of ashes. She had thought she’d come up with something eventually, but as her twenty-first birthday grew closer things accelerated, and now she was here, with no idea how to speak with such a being. Maybe she should send words in advance? Did Dragons get mail? And If so, who would be brave enough to deliver such correspondence? There wasn't any protocol on how to converse with a dragon. She was taught how to politely greet foreign emissaries, but somehow her etiquette lesson didn’t cover “how to greet a mighty dragon without being toasted”. Clearly a gap in her royal education. Most people - knights in search of gold and glory - marched into a dragon’s lair with two goals in mind: kill the beast and steal its treasure. They either succeeded or died, adding to the long list of nameless fools no one remembered. There was hardly any tale of them having a civil conversation with the beast. 

And either way, if she knew how to politely engage the Azure dragon, she would first need to find him. One would think a creature this size would be easy to spot, but so far she only passed by empty rooms (saves for the mountains of books) and deserted halls. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the place to be abandoned.

As she continued her discovery of the underground palace, she stepped inside a dimly lit room, more vast than the rest, that looked like a library. There had been books in every room she visited so far, but this one looked like it was meant to hold paper and manuscript. It was dark, save for the few candles and the fire roaring in the hearth.

“Excuse me.” She called out to the shadows, not expecting an answer. She had been doing so in every room, and only got an eerie silence as a reply. So when the shadows moved in a corner of the room, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The shadow was in fact a man sitting in a chair with a heavy book in his hands. Her heart was in her throat, and it took her a few minutes to regain her composure. 

“Forgive my intrusion,” she started, “I'm looking for the Azure dragon.” 

The man barely lifted his eyes from the books to give her the most unimpressed look. He was handsome, almost painfully so: silver-white hair, high cheekbones, a jawline that could cut through glass. But his most striking features were his eyes: icy blue, pupils slit in the middle. And then everything clicked: the hair, the pointed ears, the haughty look... 

“You're one of the Elezens” she whispered dumbfounded, “It was said that your race had passed into legend.” “Sorry to disappoint.” 

Panic ran through her, insulting the very being she had come to beg for help was a mistake, insulting one of the Elezens was a death sentence. She quickly dipped in a graceful bow, knees almost touching the ground, and lowered her head as much as her spine would allow. 

“Forgive me, your grace, I spoke out of turn.”

She did not dare look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her. She could sense his disdain and perhaps a hint of curiosity. She kept her head low and her knees bent, waiting for him to speak, to dismiss her, or worse, to kill her. Her muscles screamed at her, and she secretly thanked her mother for her rigorous etiquette lessons. Lya might look frail and delicate, but she could curtsy for hours, her body well-trained to the princessly art of lowering oneself (literally) to please powerful men.

“Sit.” He finally said. “And pray tell, why is a princess seeking me out. That ought to be an interesting tale.”

For a brief moment, as she sat opposite him, nervousness overwhelmed her. Her hand clenched into her skirt, her fingers tugging at the fabric. She had not planned for this, hadn’t even considered the possibility, his kind was supposed to be extinct. This changed everything. Elezen were stronger than most dragons, smarter too. Knights didn’t kill Elezens, they simply ceased to exist; or hid in the heart of a snowy mountain, it would seem. Still, she couldn’t help but stare, he looked so… human.  

“Speak.” He ordered, “all the fidgeting and staring is deeply annoying.” “I’m sorry, your grace, I expected you to be…” “Taller?” “Bluer actually, with more scales perhaps?” “I can hardly read with a full set of claws,” he pointed out with a haughtily condescending tone.   

She swallowed heavily and nodded.  She had been willing to face a beast breathing fire, surely she could converse with a man reading a book. She hadn’t escaped her father’s dungeon and portaled all the way up north to give up now. She brushed off her skirt, took a deep breath and raised her head to meet his gaze. 

“I've come to request the honor of being your captive.” Words stumbled out of her mouth so fast she wasn’t sure she had been intelligible.  “Do I look that feeble that you’d rather be my prisoner than some baron’s wife?” He said, weary and just a little bit sharp. “Do you not fear me?” “I do, very much fear you, your grace. Even more so now that I know of your true lineage. But I wish to live, and being held captive, given the proper circumstances, seems rather small compared to losing my life.” “I don't follow.” “I was born under the blood moon, your grace…” 

She didn’t finish her sentence, didn’t need to, they both knew what it meant. Silence stretched between them, only broken by the sound of a log cracking in the fireplace. When the dragon spoke again his voice wasn’t thunderous nor loud, it wasn’t “ dragon-like ”; it was soft, barely a whisper, with a hint of sadness to it, and something else. Empathy? Pity? Most people pitied her. 

“I didn’t realize humans still followed the old ways. And they call us beasts… Very well, I can see how this agreement would benefit you, but what's in it for me?” “It is my understanding that a dragon’s reputation among his peers is correlated to the size of his hoard and his ability to keep a princess captive.” She started, glad her voice didn’t betray any of her fear. “Your hoard is rumored to be quite impressive, but you never…” 

She hesitated for a while, she needed to be careful with her words, she had insulted him once, it would be a mistake to do it again, dragons weren’t known for being magnanimous. Still, there wasn’t exactly a pleasant term to describe the situation, ‘prisoner’ seemed a bit excessive considering she was offering to be locked away in a tower of her own free will. Well, maybe not locked away, and there was no tower…but ‘guest’ would be most inappropriate. Hosts had duties towards their guests, she could not insinuate that he’d owe her anything. 

“You’ve never ‘harbored’ a princess before”, she finally settled on. “I suppose you find the task bothersome, fending off knights can be quite tiring, believe me, I know.” 

He laughed, barely a huff, but she heard it, and she liked it. It spurred her on, and she smiled in return. Maybe their shared disdain for knights could bring them to a quid pro quo. 

“I'm the thirteenth princess of the sand kingdom, hardly the golden prize, and even if a knight wanted to risk it all, well, rumor has it your hoard is made of books…” she let her eyes wander around the room, her stare landing on yet a precarious tower of volumes, minutes away from collapsing on the ground. “Not exactly the type of treasure knights tend to seek out. They're not very well-read. So you see, this agreement would benefit both of us.”  

His eyes narrowed at her as he studied her. His stare was neither cold nor disdainful, but calculating. He was appraising her, measuring her worth and deciding whether she was worth the hassle; and for those interminable seconds, she held her breath in anticipation of his response. 

“I can clean too. And sing.” She hastened to add. “I'm fairly good at enchanting animals. I could sing the rats away from your books.” 

He huffed once more, amused at her outburst.  

“No need to oversell it, Princess. You have yourself a deal.”

[aka-indulgence]

Hmmmmmmmmm, for the game thing, do the word Snack!

You walked around in the dark, waving your flashlight this way and that way as you stumble blindly through the cave.

It was pure dumb misfortune that literally landed you here. One second you were having a leisurely hike in the woods with your friends. the next you stepped on some roots covering up a hole and tumbled down into earthen tunnels. You heard something crunch in your bag when you did, but thankfully, when you went to check, nothing important had been lost- just a bag of snacks you’d been carrying around. You checked your phone- you must’ve separated from the others some time back, and when you tried to contact them you found no signal. You attempted to climb back up the way you came from, through the same roots that dug into the ground, but to no avail. All you got was some rope burns (root burns?) for your trouble.

So here you were, wandering around aimlessly, hoping that these tunnels would lead somewhere out.

You thank the itinerary list for telling you to bring a flashlight, even when you thought you wouldn’t need it. You gulp as the occasional wind blew through the tunnel, creating moan-like sounds that sent shivers up your neck. The beam of light shuddered along with your hands, less because of the cold and more fromt he eerie silence, the suffocating feeling of being alone.

But where there’s wind, there’s an opening! You try to tell yourself optimistically. If there was only one entrance, there wouldn’t be such a draft.

After what felt like hours of being alone with your thoughts and fears (occasionally wondering if anything else lived down here... something you quickly shoved away before the thoughts turned to paranoia), you stopped when you saw a hint of moss on the ground. You had been walking alone in the dark, with some patches of light here and there from above, but this moss wasn’t near any of those patches. To your delight, you saw the tunnel, where it bent, is starting to get brighter the more you advance.

Please be an exit please be an exit!

You smile when you turn, seeing at the end of the tunnel... light.

Your way out.

You almost squeal happily at the sight, after being alone and afraid for so long- you’re finally going to be out! You don’t know where, but, it’s better than being down here!

You make haste towards the light, your steps echoing all around you as you run towards it-

Only to stop as you get closer, your heart almost stopping in your chest when you see what’s in your way.

A giant spider web.

You freeze in your spot, the chill from before nothing like the icy cold that grips your heart now. You felt as if someone had just doused you in freezing water as your eyes trail the patterns shaped by the web, tangling, intricate... giant.

This... this couldn’t be made by any ordinary spider... could it?

The web was thick, like a rope, and there were big spaces in between the silk, something a bug would easily fly through... like this web was made for bigger prey.

And it definitely didn’t look old and abandoned like a cobweb... it looked relatively fresh. Used.

A lump forms in your throat as you look behind you.

Was a giant spider walking around back there and by luck you missed it?

You looked around the web again, expecting to see the monster...

... and you don’t.

But you see a crevice on the side, gaping and as dark as the tunnels you were walking around earlier. Your hair stands as you search for any signs of something terrifying, eyes watching you...

... nothing.

... Phew.

You look at the web. Was there a way you can get through that..? Could you maybe walk through one of its holes and cross the other side unnoticed? Trying to cut it sounds like a very bad idea...

You take a few tentative steps closer, wondering if you just moved your body like this you could maybe slip through, and...

Ok, nope, that’s not happening. You’ll touch the web, and who knows how strongly it’d stick to you if you touch it.

You were desperate to get out but... not desperate enough to risk getting trapped on a large web.

I just hope I won’t meet anything scary on the way out... You think to yourself. This can’t be the only way out, can it? You take a step back...

... and cringe when you feel something sticking to your shoes. You look down to see fibrous webbing on the ground, thicker at the base of the web and thin as it spreads out on the ground. It isn’t thick enough to keep you in place, but lifting your feet pulls strands of it off the ground, almost like when you’ve got gum under your shoe... a lot of gum.

The image grosses you out a little and fills you with an amount of dread you can’t quite place, and you struggle as quietly as you can to get it off your shoe, but it’s much stronger than it looks and you squirm a bit as you try to get it off you.

Distracting you from the creature that was slowly crawling out of the crevice, awoken by the minute shudders you made when you stepped on the webbing.

It crawls out one leg at a time, its legs latching onto the web, eyes focusing on the cute little thing wriggling at the base of its web.

The nervousness on her face.... it’s adorable.

You only get more webbing on your hand when you try to lift it off your shoe and you’re trying to get that off when you’re suddenly keenly aware of the feeling that someone’s watching you. A shadow skitters out of the corner of your eye... and you look up.

Your face blanches at what you see. A giant spider, with 8 sharp legs perched on the giant web above you. And not only that- where it’s head should be sprouted a spine, forming the upper body of a skeleton similar to a human’s, except these were thick like muscles, and its skull was much rounder. Two eye(light)s pierced yours, and below it was a set of teeth... two huge fangs catching your attention almost immediately.

Your body stiffens.

“well well well... what do i have here? it looks like a little snack has wondered her way towards my web...” The spider speaks, his(?) smile widening when you flinch at his voice. He starts crawling towards you, and icicles form in your heart. You don’t know what to do- you want to run away but you’re shaking so much you don’t think you’d be able to stand up.

“aww... what’s the matter? you look a bit... tangled up...” he chuckles, and you squeak when you realize he’s halfway across the web, and he’d be upon you any time. You dig your hands into the ground and pull your legs with all your might- a move that the spider quickly zeroes on, and instantly, he jerks his abdomen, and out of its end shoots two webs at your feet, gluing you into your spot. You gasp, eyes as wide as saucers as you look at the quickly hardening web, almost wet when it first lands on your feet (and a bit warm...), but dry when you reach out to touch it. You’re still looking at it curiously (and terrified) when two spindly legs land on either side of you, and you look up when the monster straddles you. You press yourself into the ground as tears well up in your eyes, scared out of your mind.

The monster tilts his head and smiles again, and starts bending four of his legs to get closer to you. He plants two hands on either side of your head and you turn away, gritting your teeth when his skull gets close to you.

“trying to leave so soon, dear? why- we’ve only just met!” he teases, grinning so wide, showing off his fangs to you. You shudder, wondering what you could do to try to get away-

You make a little eep! sound when his claws find your face, digging into your hair and scratching your scalp in the slightest. “what’s your name, little thing? i’m sans... it’s such a pleasure to meet you.” His sockets crinkle, as if he was curious enough to know the name of the human he’s probably going to eat soon.

Your mouth feels dry as you stutter your name. “P-please, Sans...” you almost whisper, “d-don’t... eat me... I didn’t mean to disturb you in your home.”

“ahahah... no one stumbles into a spider web on purpose, my darling.” Sans says, idly running his thumb across your cheek. “i must say... you are quite soft... softer than anything else i’ve caught here.” He says almost absent-mindedly. “and of course you don’t want me to eat you. but i must eat nonetheless, and you were unfortunate enough to walk into my home.” Sans says, almost sadly(?), and he starts to grip your back, and panic sparks in your chest.

“N-no wait please!” You hold your hands out in front of him, “t-there must be a way! Isn’t there something I can do?”

You shake and shiver as tears well up in your eyes, terrified for your life, your heart thumping wildly in your chest. You don’t see how Sans’ sockets widen when a tear spills out of your eyes, your breaths shaking your whole body.

“Please...” you beg under your breath, squeezing your eyes shut.

“...” Sans is silent. and when his other hand brushes your waist and goes under you, you think he’s not going to hear you and is going to bite your neck out any second now. So you’re surprised when he lifts you up carefully in his hands and says “very well.” 

His hand grips your middle (his thumb reached half your stomach, and his back fingers could cover your back no problem!) and he lifts a leg towards where you’re caught in the legs, slicing the webs with the end. Your hair stands thinking about how sharp his legs must be to cut it so easily, but Sans only chortles when he sees your face.

“it’s magic, little thing. i can manipulate it to my will.”

His tucks you into his arms as if you were a baby, and your breath hitches as he climbs up the wall sideways, never looking away from you.

“i am... lonely. it’s not often i get to talk with my prey... you seem pleasant. why don’t you and i... have a conversation? just for a while. if you convince me, i’ll let you go.” Sans says slowly, as he reaches the crevice.

“but if not...”

His grip turns hard, more like a trap than a safety net. “i’ll get to keep you.”

Sans looks deranged when his grin widens, the only thing you could see other than his eyelights as he slowly drags you into his little hiding hole in the wall, and you frantically look for a way out of this to no avail, as the darkness swallows you and you’re trapped with the spider.

[tripleaxeldiaz]

happy 2nd day of halloween!! this is @hearteyesforbuck​‘s fault

(also on ao3)

“Buck?”

“Yeah buddy?”

“Do you know any scary stories?”

Buck sighs as he leans back against Chris’ headboard, Chris burrowing a little deeper into his side. They’ve already read two chapters of Harry Potter, but maybe one more story wouldn’t hurt…

“Are you sure you can handle it, bud? It’s pretty scary.”

“Yes! It’s Halloween tomorrow, Buck, please please please.”

The issue was, he really didn’t know any scary stories. He was never into them as a kid, didn’t really care for horror movies, so his ghost stories were pretty limited unless he made something up on the spot. He and Eddie were in the middle of binging a supernatural TV show, so...maybe...

“Okay, okay. It actually happened here in California, right before you were born.”

Chris was already enthralled, sitting up straighter to look at Buck, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. There was a big search going on for a missing girl, and two teenagers heard about it and wanted to get in on the action.”

“They went looking too?”

“Uh huh, in the darkest part of the woods, on the night of a full moon, when all the creepiest monsters come out.” He was trying to keep it as PG-13 as possible, but Chris looked more excited than scared, so he figured he was doing okay. “They spent all night looking, surrounded by strange noises getting louder and louder, like something was closing in on them, ready to pounce.”

“Did they find her?” Chris asked.

Buck nods solemnly. “But not all of her. They only found her,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “from the waist up.”

Chris gasps, nervously giggling as he wraps his blanket tighter around him. Buck is fully prepared to make it an it was all a dream story, but Chris just pushes forward. “Then what happened?”

“They screamed, of course, and  ran away as fast as they could, so they didn’t get cut in half next. But they got separated in the dark, and while one of the boys kept running, he heard the strange noises again, right behind him, like he was being chased.” Chris is in full blanket burrito mode now, but bouncing where he sits in excitement.

Buck really hopes Eddie doesn’t kill him for this.

“He started running faster and faster, through trees and mud, when all of a sudden…” Buck lets out an almighty roar, tickling Chris who is, thankfully, blessedly, laughing like crazy. “A giant wolf, eight feet tall with rows and rows of razor sharp teeth, tackled him to the ground and bit him, right here,” he says as he pretends to take a bite out of Chris’ stomach. Chris laughs breathlessly a little longer before settling down again. He’s still smiling slightly, but he does burrow back into Buck, who runs a soothing hand through his curls. 

“So what happened to him? Did he die?”

“No, he didn’t die. He turned into a werewolf, doomed for the rest of time to be half man, half wolf, and uncontrollable under the light of the full moon.”

“Whoa,” Chris whispers. “Did he bite people too?”

“Not on purpose. He mostly kept his friends and his town safe from bad guys.”

“Like a superhero?”

Buck chuckles. “Yeah, a furry superhero.”

“What about the other boy? What happened to him?” Chris asks through a yawn, eyes falling shut and head dropping onto Buck’s arm.

“He helped his friends too, as much as he could as a human. He also met another werewolf with very broody eyebrows and they fell in love.”

“That’s nice,” Chris says, right before he starts snoring softly. 

Buck settles Chris into bed, shutting the door quietly behind him as he leaves. He almost jumps out of his skin when he hears a throat clear behind him, turning to see Eddie, glowing eerily in the moonlight and looking less than impressed.

“Jesus, how did you sneak in like that!”

Eddie just stares back. He doesn’t need to say anything — Buck knows he must have heard at least part of his story.

“Look, in my defense, he asked for something scary. And it’s Halloween tomorrow! How could I say no to that?”

“You couldn’t have thought of anything better than the plot of Teen Wolf?”

“That first episode is creepy and you know it!”

Eddie rolls his eyes as he turns toward their bedroom. “If he has nightmares about wolves and can’t sleep alone, you’re sleeping on the couch.”

Chris does wake up in the middle of the night, claims he heard howling outside his window. Eddie doesn’t actually kick Buck out, just settles Chris between them, an arm securely over them both.

“Buck?” Chris whispers. Buck hums back, eyes still closed. “Can the werewolves get us here?”

“No, buddy,” he says, wrapping his own arm around him. “They’re a few counties over, they won’t come all the way here.” He smothers a yelp when he feels Eddie pinch his side.

“But if they do come here,” Chris pushes, “you’ll protect us, right?”

Buck opens his eyes at that, sees Chris looking at him earnestly and Eddie looking at him in that soft way he always does when Chris asks him things like this, things that remind them that they’re a family. Buck smiles at Chris, leaning forward to press a kiss to his forehead while his hand drifts to Eddie’s hip, squeezing lightly.

“Of course I’ll protect you. Both of you. Always. I promise.”