#one day Other!Valen will have a name

[mylittleredgirl]

thinking about sinclair again this fine day:

delenn continuing to say "in valen's name" with just as much reverence for the rest of the series, even though he's conclusively some guy named jeff that she personally knows

BUT HE ACTUALLY DID ALL THAT STUFF. SO IS SHE WRONG???

"you talk like a minbari commander" surprise! you all talk like HIM!!

remember marcus's little bit about "the only way to get a straight answer out of ranger one is to hang upside down in a mirror” or whatever? what if "minbari never tell anyone the whole truth" is just because sinclair likes to fuck with people and they made it a cultural tentpole of their society

i'm actually really quite invested now in the alternate universe sinclair & delenn relationship, because imagine her discovering AFTER the fact that her husband is Literally Valen. and she's her own distant ancestor somehow as well

delenn might actually roll with that but lennier's face in the background like O_O

i had a coworker who, anytime some new crazy shit happened, used to take a deep breath and say "this, too." not like 'this too shall pass' or anything, just acknowledging that This Too is a thing we're dealing with today, on top of all the other things. that's lennier ten times a season.

sheridan and delenn are theeee het couple of all time, i think we can all agree on this, i would NOT want to trade them for anything

but i keep thinking about how because sheridan missed season one, he never knew her as a minbari

it just seems so sad for her!!! and for me because i’d like to see him navigate that

i'm having a hard time this go-round watching her get isolated from her people :( :( i mean she IS a religious zealot just Doing Crazy Shit, they're not wrong about her, but the randos calling her a freak need to meet me in the parking lot

ALSO i just watched the dreaming episode, where it's strongly implied that she transformed herself specifically in order to be able to have children with a human (to fix the soul gap or whatever), and she's Destined For Sheridan and all, but she hadn't met him yet

and they weren't even an item when sinclair went into the past to start writing prophecies

soooo do you think she and sinclair were pen pals while he was on minbar and he read between the lines that she was super into this guy?? i think so.

jeffrey valen sinclair in the past writing prophecy about uniting the two halves of our souls: delenn bestie this one's for you <3 go get that blonde man

[mosaiclobster]

Pecking Order (Farmer x Hayden)

I haven't posted fic on tumblr before, but people have been so unexpectedly lovely about this silly fic on AO3 so I thought I'd share it here too 🐔🐣

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

House chickens must wear many hats. To Henrietta’s relief, those hats were figurative; she never much cared for the indignities of clothing. Ribbons were another matter, especially ones bestowed on award podiums. She wore those with pride.

But Henrietta was more than a show chicken. She was a house chicken, and that meant she was a pest controller, a therapist, a taskmaster. A friend.

Well, not a friend to all. Hayden was her person, and she didn’t see much need for the rest of them. At least Ryis had a healthy admiration for birds - she let him pet her, on occasion.

The others were hopeless. Balor, Valen, and Errol gave her a wide berth, which was respectful, but none of them ever bothered to bring her treats. Celine did, but she was too nervous to feed Henrietta by hand now.

She hadn’t meant to peck the girl. It was a simple misunderstanding, one a flattened palm would’ve solved.

March was the worst of all. He didn’t address her by name, only as “chicken.” When she pecked him, she meant it.

But then, there was this new person. “The Farmer.”

Henrietta considered the nickname an impertinence. Hayden was the farmer in Mistria. His people had worked this land for generations.

Henrietta Jubilation Featherbottom knew something about legacies. She was a part of the most award winning lineage to ever grace chickendom. She’d raised a whole brood of blue ribbon birds, and she had Hayden to thank for that. Any affront to his honor was an attack on her own good name.

Hayden didn’t seem to mind the other farmer, though. He even let the interloper join game night. He broke the news to her over a bowl of popcorn, as if it was only natural to include this fraud. “Used to be an adventurer before settling down here. Imagine the stories!”

An adventurer indeed. Sounded like a rootless, chickenless existence - more of a rogue than a farmer, if you asked her. When their new guest arrived, Henrietta clucked with all the derision she could muster.

In return, she received a handful of wild berries. Palm flat, and steady.

“Nice to meet you, Henrietta.”

Well mannered. That was a surprise.

Hayden gave Henrietta an encouraging pet. “Isn’t that thoughtful?”

She kept a wary eye on the stranger while she plucked and pecked at the ripened fruit. Hayden rubbed at the back of his neck - a nervous habit.

Why should he be nervous? Henrietta studied his kind face, the one she’d known since she broke out of her egg. He was blushing.

“Ah, she’s made a bit of a mess. Sorry about your hand.”

Henrietta trilled, indignant. She was a dainty eater. Juice stains were to be expected, and his embarrassment degraded them both.

The so-called farmer smiled at Hayden, and gave him a rakish wink. “Better berries than monster blood.”

The cheek! But Hayden seemed quite charmed - he hardly noticed their other guests arriving, and the color never quite left his face. Valen even asked if he was feverish.

Amusing jokes, exciting anecdotes, nice manners… by the end of the night, Henrietta had to concede that this new human was well socialized.

Over the next few weeks, a routine took shape. Sweetwater was the fastest route to the museum from the other farm. On the way, offerings were made: berries for Henrietta, and coffee for Hayden. Not every day, but close. Henrietta often joined them at the kitchen table - gossip was her secret joy, and there was plenty to go around. Apparently, Valen was spending an awful lot of time with that witch who ran the bathhouse.

Hayden took a sip of coffee. “Good for them. Life’s meant to be shared, isn’t it?” Henrietta watched his warm brown eyes widen. Hayden coughed, and set his coffee down so hard that it sent a spoon flying. The clatter ruffled Henreitta’s feathers, but she smoothed them for his sake. Poor Hayden was blushing enough already.

“That’s why ranching is so rewarding. I’m glad you decided to get a coop - how are the girls doing so far?”

“They’re great. Thanks for setting up the see-saw, it’s been a big hit.”

Henrietta had met the girls once, under Hayden’s watchful gaze. It was clear they needed a strong matriarch, but Hayden scooped her up before her beak could do its work.

That was alright. Henrietta could be patient - they’d be joining her flock soon enough.

After all, Henrietta was nothing if not perceptive. She knew a courtship when she saw one, even if it lacked the usual dropped wing and dizzying dance. The gifts, the fleeting touches, the lingering looks… honestly, she couldn’t understand what they were waiting for.

Once the leaves began to turn, Hayden confided in her. Not just her - Ryis and Valen were there too. They didn’t equal her in wisdom or tact, but such gatherings were good enrichment for humans. She listened politely, and cooed in agreement when Ryis stated the obvious: “Hayden, we know. Everyone knows. You’ve been attached at the hip all summer.”

More blushing. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Valen shrugged, and swirled her glass of wine. “What’s there to say? We all thought you were already dating.”

Hayden rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, we aren’t. I don’t think so, anyway.”

They all laughed. Or clucked impishly, in Henrietta’s case. Once Ryis recovered, he put a gentle hand on Hayden’s shoulder. “You’d know. The next time you’re together, just speak from the heart. Trust me.”

The four of them were halfway through a fiendish jigsaw puzzle when Errol burst through the front door. Henrietta dropped the piece she was nibbling on and nearly fell off the table in shock - such an entrance!

The man’s face was as white as his beard. He looked absolutely stricken. “Please, come quickly. The mines -”

Henrietta trilled in alarm. Only their semi-retired adventurer would be so foolish. So brave.

The others charged off without her, leaving Henrietta sick with worry. She tore open a bag of premium treats, but the tasty morsels did little to soothe her.

Finally, Hayden returned with Valen and the intrepid patient. Henrietta was ready with a lecture about the dangers of monster hunting, but she received no promises of hanging up the blade. Just a pat on the head, and a crushed berry.

“As your doctor, I can’t advise you to hand feed livestock right now. You’re more prone to infection if she-”

“-she won’t. Here you go, Henrietta. I plucked this off a bush as they were dragging me out of the narrows.”

It was the nicest one she ever tasted.

Naturally, Henrietta was an accomplished nurse. She set to work, nestling at the patient’s feet on the couch while Valen gave Hayden instructions.

“This one has to be taken with food, twice a day. Something simple, like toast.”

Eggs and toast, surely. Henrietta began to doze.

When she awoke a while later, she wasn’t surprised to find another set of feet to warm. The two of them were laying in each other’s arms beneath her favorite checkered blanket.

They were mindful not to disturb her, but Henrietta allowed them their cooing and preening and kissing. Humans were such soft, silly creatures.

And now she had two to look after. Henrietta drifted back to sleep, and added another figurative hat to her collection: matchmaker.

[mrsmikaelsxn]

His Obsession

masterlist

pairing: tom riddle x female reader

warnings: somewhat stalking, obsession, possessive, kissing, fluff

summary: you were a new student and you have taken the interest of tom riddle, he decides he wants to know everything about you

a/n: i'm a sucker for obsessive tom, what can i say

song: we belong together - ritchie valens

Tom Riddle. A name that brought fear to most students. He was powerful, and had intelligence that the professors admired. He excelled in all of his classes with flying colors.

He knows most things about all the people in his year, and a good amount of stuff about the students in higher and lower years as well.

So it was a bit of a shock when he saw you stroll into the great hall. Headmaster Dippet had called you up to the stool to be sorted into your house.

After a short while, the hat called out Slytherin. He couldn't be more grateful, seeing as how you were a sight for sore eyes. Many people must agree seeing as there were many others that seemed to be checking you out.

He quietly observed all of your movements from where he was sitting, trying his best to read you.

His 'friends' noticed his almost zoned out gaze and called his name. His attention was brought back in front of him as he looked at his followers with an annoyed expression.

The day was over as quick as it started. The next day, he noticed you were in most of his classes, allowing him to study you more. He had his followers do research on you and your family's background. He had them around the castle to keep an eye on you.

He felt a sort of pull towards you, he wanted to know everything about you.

In the potions class, he saw you sat in the back. Normally he would sit in the front of his classes, but he took the seat next to you today.

"Hi," you greet with a nod, looking at him take out a quill.

"Hello, I'm Tom RIddle," says, voice like silk.

"Y/n," you smile at him.

"What brings you to Hogwarts?"

"My family moved, I used to go to Beauxbatons," you explain. He hums and turns his attention to the professor.

Since then, you have become almost friends. He began to tutor you for potions, the one class you did not have an outstanding in. You still had high marks for that class, but you wanted to try and get all O's.

He had taken a great liking to you.

He most likely wouldn't admit his feelings, he thought it was impossible for him to feel such things because of him being conceived under a love potion. Yet, you come along and prove him wrong.

He wasn't really one for public affection, but he was different in private.

Even though he didn't necessarily do things such as holding your hand, or having an arm around your shoulder, people would say he was obsessed with you. His eyes and attention were wherever you were.

There was something about you that was so ethereal to him.

Whenever someone looked at you for too long, or in a bad way, he dealt with them when you were somewhere else in the castle.

Today was the day of your date with him. He had finally decided to ask you to accompany him on a 'picnic' as you called it. He said it was just a meal outside but you discarded that.

He used his wandless and non-verbal magic to quickly set up the secluded area as you got ready.

A bit later you met him there and couldn't stop a bright smile from forming. He loved your smile, it was one of his favorite things about you. He would always find a way to make you smile, and if you weren't with him, he already had it engraved in his mind for him to imagine.

"Hello, y/n. You look lovely, as always," he greets you kissing your hand.

"Tom," you blush and avert your eyes. "I think you look dashing as well," you smile and pat his chest.

"Well, come sit," he says as he goes to sit in the spot set up. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and the Black Lake.

"This view is stunning," your eyes shine, taking in the phenomenal scene in front of you.

"Mine is too," he says gazing at you.

"My goodness Tom, stop with your flattery," you laugh covering your face to hide your even more reddened cheeks.

"I am only speaking the truth," he replies, bringing his hands to your wrists and pulling your hands from your face.

"You are the most exquisite person I've met," you pat his cheek.

"I know," he grins. You roll your eyes and go to resort, when you felt his lips on yours.

You recover from the temporary shock and kiss back. You had fancied him for some time now. You knew he was different with you, but never would you have thought he would return your feelings. No kisses have ever felt this intimate before, the way he kissed you was as if he was trying to show you how much he cared for you.

You had to pull back for some air after a minute.

"Tom," you mutter as he looks at your swollen lips and jovial face. This is, in fact, his first kiss. He has never felt an attraction to any other person before. On top of that, he was always so focused on his education and plans for the future.

"Y/n," he breathes out.

"What was that for," you whisper playfully.

"For you being perfect," he whispers kissing you again. When you two break apart, he asks you to go to hogsmeade with him. To which you replied with, "I would be a fool to ever turn you down, Tom," as you look at him with such love that had his heart beating so fast he thought he would have a heart attack.

[matttgirlies]

Matt & Me🎀

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

a story heavily based on Priscilla Presley’s Book “Elvis & Me” based in the 1950’s - 1970’s.

fem! reader x singer! matt

disclaimer!! - in no way am i saying matt would ever support or do these kind of things, for the sake of the book certain unethical things do happen at times.

warnings - death of loved one,, age gap

Chapter 2

The fog was so thick on the Autobahn back to Wiesbaden that I didn’t get home until 2 a.m. My parents had waited up, wanting to know everything that had happened. I told them Matt was a gentleman, that he was funny and entertained his friends all night, and that I’d had a wonderful time.

The next day in school, I couldn’t concentrate. My thoughts were entirely on Matt. I tried to recall every word he’d said to me, every song he’d sung, every look in his eyes as he’d gazed at me. I went over and over our conversation. His charm was captivating. I told no one. Who would ever believe that just the night before, I’d been with Matt Sturniolo?

I never expected to hear from him again. Then, a few days later, the phone rang. It was Steven. He said he’d just got a call from Matt, who wondered if it was possible for Steven to bring me over that night. I was ecstatic. “Steven, you don’t mean it? He wants to see me? Why? When did he call?” Unable to answer all my questions, Steven said calmly, “You want me to ask your father?”

My parents were as surprised as I. They reluctantly acceded to Steven’s request.

The next visit was very much like the one before—small talk, singing, Matt playing the piano, and everyone eating Grandma’s favorite dishes. But later, when Matt had finished singing, he came up to me. “I want to be alone with you, y/n.”

We were standing face to face, staring into each other’s eyes. I looked around. The room was empty.

“We are alone,” I replied nervously.

He moved closer, backing me against the wall. “I mean really alone,” he whispered. “Will you come upstairs to my room?”

The question threw me into a panic. His room?

Until that moment, it hadn’t crossed my mind that Matt Sturniolo might be interested in me sexually. He could have any girl in the world. Why would he want me?

“There’s nothing to be frightened of, Honey.”

As he spoke, he was smoothing my hair. “I swear I’ll never do anything to harm you.” He sounded absolutely sincere. “I’ll treat you just like a sister.” Flustered and confused, I looked away.

“Please.”

Standing there looking into his eyes, I was drawn to him almost against my will. I believed him; it wasn’t a difficult thing to do. I had discovered by now his intentions were warm and sincere. Moments went by and I still couldn’t do anything. Then I nodded. “All right, I’ll go.”

He took my hand and led me toward the stairs, whispering which room was his, and said, “You go on ahead, and I’ll join you in a few minutes. It looks better.”

He headed toward the kitchen as I slowly climbed the stairs, wondering, What would he demand of me? Expect of me? I will be completely alone with him for the first time. Since meeting him I had dreamed of this moment, sure that it would never arrive, and now I was in the midst of a reality I’d never expected.

I reached the second floor and found his bedroom. It was as plain and impersonal as the other rooms of the house. I went in and sat down primly on a stiff-backed chair—and waited. When Matt didn’t show up after a few minutes, I began to look around. It was an ordinary room with nothing unusual, certainly nothing to imply that it belonged to a famous rock-and-roll singer. There were books, a collection of records, his uniforms, and his boots. There were several letters from girls in the States on his night table. Many were from someone named Nicole. Matt rarely mentioned Nicole, but everyone knew he had a girl back home. I wanted to read the letters but was afraid he’d catch me. It was another twenty minutes before he finally appeared. He came in, removed his jacket, turned on the radio, and then sat down on his bed. I hardly looked at him, petrified of what he might expect. I imagined him grabbing me, throwing me down on the bed, and making love to me.

Instead he said, “Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me?” I was reluctant, but he assured me that I had nothing to be afraid of. “I really like you, y/n. You’re refreshing. It’s nice to talk to someone from back home. I miss that. It gets a little lonely here.”

I sat next to him, saying nothing, but I was touched by his vulnerable, boyish quality. He went on to say that our relationship was going to be important to him and that he needed me. It was October and he was scheduled to return to the States in six months. He knew lots of girls, he said, and many had come to visit as I had, but I was the first girl with whom he felt a real closeness.

I cuddled into his arms, certain he would not move too fast. He held me closely, saying, “I just wish Mom could have been here to meet you.” He sighed and a troubled look came over his face. “She would have liked you as much as I do.”

“I wish I could have met her,” I whispered, moved by his sincerity.

I was to learn that Matt’s mother, Mary Lou, was the love of his life. She had died on August 14, 1958, at age forty-two, of heart failure following a long siege of acute hepatitis.

He expressed how deeply he loved and missed her and how in many ways he dreaded returning to Graceland without her there. It had been his gift to her, a private estate that he’d purchased for $100,000 a year before she died.

Matt believed that his mother had eventually given up on life. Her health had begun to deteriorate when he was drafted. Her love for James and Matt was so great that she could never face the loss of either of them and often said she wanted to be the first to go. In Mary Lou’s naive, country way she assumed that Germany still represented war and danger. She could never comprehend that peacetime conditions now prevailed.

It was Matt’s habit to phone Mary Lou every day. I was surprised to learn that up until the time he began entertaining, he never spent a night away from home. He told me of the time his car caught on fire while on the road and he barely escaped with his life. Although she was miles away, Mary Lou sat straight up in her bed and screamed his name—the intuitive link between them was that strong. Her concern for his welfare while he was away from home was so great that she would spend sleepless nights until his call came, telling her he was safe.

When he was in basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, he rented a house off base for James, Mary Lou, and Grandma. I felt that her death affected him more than anyone could fully understand. He blamed himself for not being with her when she fell ill and had to be sent back home to Boston under a doctor’s care.

In time he realized that Mary Lou had resorted to drinking, and he was very concerned that this could become a problem. As much as he consoled her, assured her that he would return in eighteen months, and even begged her to join him, Mary Lou’s fear of losing her only son drove her to her grave.

Matt’s unrelieved depression over Mary Lou’s death was intensified by the conflict in Matt’s mind over Angela Stanley, who James had met in Germany. Angela and his father had become inseparable shortly after Mary Lou’s death, too soon to Matt’s liking. An attractive blonde in her thirties, Angela was in the process of divorcing her husband and was separated from him and her three children when she started dating James. The thought that his father could ever conceive of replacing Mary Lou upset Matt terribly. He also had doubts about Angela’s intentions and whether they were in his father’s best interest.

“What’s Angela trying to do?” Matt sometimes asked suspiciously. “Make him into some dude he’s not? Why can’t she just accept him the way he is? I’ve never seen him so lovesick. She meets him at some restaurant and exchanges love notes all day.”

My heart went out to Matt that night as he confided his problems and worries. He was a world-famous entertainer, a great star, and yet a terribly lonely man.

Again our visit seemed to end too soon. He kissed me goodbye, my first real kiss. I had never experienced such a mixture of affection and desire. I was speechless but closely tied to the reality of where I was—locked in his arms, my mouth against his. Aware of my response—and my youth—he broke away first, saying, “We have plenty of time, Little One.” He kissed my forehead and sent me home.

By our fourth date, Dad had laid down the law: “If you want to continue seeing Matt, we’re going to have to meet him.” My parents weren’t so enthralled with his celebrity status that they were willing to compromise their principles. In the beginning it was convenient for Steven to come for me and bring me home, but by now my parents were asking why Matt didn’t do this himself. One Saturday night I said to Matt, “My parents want to meet you. They want you to pick me up.”

He bristled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” I said nervously, “I can’t come see you anymore unless you come and meet my parents.”

He agreed—provided he could bring his father along.

That day I went through my usual routine except instead of being ready one hour in advance it was two. I waited by the window, looking for his car as I played his records“Old Shep,” “I Was the One,” and “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You”—nonstop until my father yelled from the kitchen, “Do you have to play those records now? My God, the man will be here in a few minutes and you see him practically every night. I’d think you’d want to take a breather from each other.”

I was nervous. I knew that Dad wanted Matt to both pick me up and bring me home himself—and he planned to tell Matt this.

I didn’t know how Dad was going to approach him—whether he planned to be friendly or stern—and I knew only too well how stern Dad could be. I sat there, anticipating the worst.

About an hour later, I spotted Matt’s BMW and saw Matt and his father emerge from the car. Matt had come totally prepared; he was wearing his uniform to impress Dad. He knew that the service was their connection, and he played on it. He looked great.

He took off his hat and kissed me on the cheek. I asked him and his father in and led them into our living room, where Matt fidgeted and seemed, for once, at a loss for words. “Are your parents here?” he ventured. I could manage only a nod and he continued, “I know we’re a little late, but I had to get cleaned up—and we had some trouble finding the place.” I was amused—imagine, Matt Sturniolo making up excuses. I was now sufficiently aware of his habits to know that it took him three hours to change, chat with the boys, enjoy one of Grandma’s huge meals, and sign a few autographs along the way. Except when he was working, he had a stricter attitude toward time.

While James settled on the couch, Matt pointed to our family portraits on the wall and said, “Look here, Dad—here’s y/n with her whole family. I think she looks like her mother. Can’t see too much resemblance with her brothers or sister—they’re still a little too young.” “Don’t cut your hair, Baby. I love it long like this. You’re one pretty girl. How’d I happen to run into you? Must be fate.” The last few observations were uttered in a whisper to me as my parents came in.

Instead of saying, “Hi,” as most young men would have done, Matt put out his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Matt Sturniolo and this is my dad, James.”

It sounded silly to me, they knew who he was, as did the whole world. But Matt was the perfect gentleman. My father was visibly impressed, and from that moment on, Matt always addressed him as Captain y/ln or Sir. This was characteristic of Matt, whatever a person’s position in life—whether doctor or lawyer, professor or motion-picture director, unless someone were in Matt’s immediate circle, Matt rarely used first names, even in dealing with people he’d known for years. As he once explained to me, “It’s simple. They’ve worked hard to get where they are. Someone should respect them.”

The conversation with my parents that night was just small talk. Matt said that he’d spent a busy day at the Kaserne and this led to an exchange about the service.

“What did they assign you to over here?” Dad asked, implying that it had better be a solid job if Matt wanted to take out his daughter.

“Sir, right now I’m basically driving a jeep for the Fourth Armored Division in Bad Nauheim.”

“That can be tough this time of year.”

“You’re not kidding, sir. We’ve had some pretty cold nights out there already. I have to be especially careful. I battle tonsillitis when my resistance gets low, which isn’t good for my voice.”

“I guess you’re looking forward to going home.”

“Yes, sir. Only five more months.”

Then Matt asked my parents how they liked being stationed in Germany.

“Very much,” Dad said. “We plan on being here for three years.”

There was a sudden silence. Then Dad offered dinner, but Matt said they didn’t have time. I sat attentively, observing Matt’s uneasiness and remembering his relaxed manner in his own home. He was on his best behavior and it was endearing. Mother was reserving judgment about this rock-and-roll star she had professed to dislike so much. I could see that his Southern charm was winning her over.

Finally, my father got around to explaining to Matt the y/ln dating rules. If he wanted to see me, Matt had to pick me up and bring me home. Matt explained that by the time he got off duty, went home, cleaned up, came to Wiesbaden and back, the evening would be gone. Would it be all right if his father would collect me?

Dad mulled this over, then expressed his concern. “Just what is the intent here? Let’s face it: You’re Matt Sturniolo. You have women throwing themselves at you. Why my daughter?”

Both Matt and James were caught offguard. James shifted from one side of the chair to the other, probably thinking, Okay, Matt, how are you going to get out of this one?

Matt said, “Well, sir, I happen to be very fond of her. She’s a lot more mature than her age and I enjoy her company. It hasn’t been easy for me, being away from home and all. It gets kinda lonely. I guess you might say I need someone to talk to. You don’t have to worry about her, Captain. I’ll take good care of her.”

Matt’s honesty disarmed Dad, just as it did my mother. I joined Matt as he stood, picked up his hat, and added, “Well, sir, we’ve got a long drive.”

There was one stipulation: Matt himself had to bring me home. He agreed, reassuring them that I would be well taken care of, that there were a lot of family members at his house. He could have ridiculed Dad’s request, yet he agreed to take me home every night. I was thrilled but contained my excitement. He really wanted to be with me.

The next night, when Matt brought me home, we parked in front of the pension. He poured out his heart to me, as he would continue to do throughout our time in Germany. He was lonely. He was unsure of how he would be received by his fans when he returned to the States.

When he’d entered the Army, he had been at the pinnacle of his fame. He’d recorded seventeen straight million-selling singles and had starred in four films, all of which had become box-office hits. When Matt was drafted there had been talk of him possibly joining the Special Services, where he could have sung and retained some rapport with the public. But Colonel William, his manager, and RCA were convinced that he should serve his country as a regular soldier, claiming that the public would respect Matt as a man if he went in as a buck private. Now Matt was afraid he might have lost the support of his fans.

While we were parked, one of the Frauleins who lived in the pension passed the car. She greeted me and then, when she glanced at Matt, her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

a/n - i know this is a slower paced story but its solely based off the book. there will be quite a lot of chapters and time skips so don’t worry too much! 🎀

Excerpt from: "Elvis and Me" by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. Scribd.

This material may be protected by copyright.

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - Mafia AU - Family Business

After my last post about the Blouin family in the Mafia AU for Something's Wrong with Sunny Day Jack I wound up going on a little extra ramble over on my twitter (calling it X is too weird for me) about how the family business got started. I figured I'd post it here too to make it easier to read and reference later.

It all started with a small business run by the beautiful Alma Blouin and her husband ???

I'd call him [Redacted] but that alias is taken already, so let's stick with what was written in the family tree, shall we?

I was inspired by Makes me Smile, an engaging story written by Sauce that takes place in the SunnyTime Town AU, that it actually started as a family-run traveling carnival that was a cover for more shady business. The family name and business wound up taking up some permanent roots in St. Valens because of Marceau.

There were more opportunities in that crime-riddled city to do backrooms deals, score illicit substances, and other stuff like that. St. Valens was a city rife with crooked cops and people with dubious morals. Sadly, this hasn't changed in present day. If anything, it's only gotten worse. It just can hide behind a shiny new coat of paint and colorful smiles thanks to the Blouin family taking over so many local businesses under their brand name of SunnyTime LLC.

Lucy Connolly is actually responsible for the SunnyTime brand, which is one reason why she kept her last name even after marrying Marceau Blouin. Since she was young, she wanted to make it big in the city, really clean up the town. She succeeded in making it big, but somewhere along the way she got sucked into a world full of sin and vice where her formally black and white view of morality was blurred with many shades of gray. She's still trying to do the right thing, particularly for her family and people she wants to protect, but sometimes she found it was necessary to do morally questionable things to do it. It was a slow corruption of innocence in a sense.

In a way, Jack gets his more twisted view on right and wrong from Lucy, as Marceau is a bit more up front about how messed up the criminal underworld is and their involvement in it. Jack tries to keep things as "friendly" as possible if he can help it, so to speak.

Marceau started off the business in St. Valens with an entertainment club. You had to know the right signs to get access to the good stuff they didn't show on the menu, stuff that could get you thrown in jail if you didn't have the money to pay off the cops.

One night, Lucy stopped by the club that had suddenly got so popular, thinking it was entirely legitimate, and it led to that fateful first encounter between her and Marceau.

Marceau didn't think he'd be staying in St. Valens long, even if he was trying to take advantage of the place for as long as possible, but Lucy was invested in the city, as it was her hometown. She was friendly and outgoing, and she knew a lot of people there. She grew up with them.

Lucy had a good sense for business, which places would be good to snap up for a song. She knew about the issues with many local gangs and how they intimidated local businesses into giving them a cut of their earnings to not get roughed up. She wanted to stop that sort of thing from happening so that innocent people could live their lives without fear.

Which is why the Blouin family in the present does take care of the citizens of St. Valens and stomp out more unsavory practices like human trafficking. Essentially Lucy wanted justice and went vigilante. (Insert Joker reference/joke here.) When it became clear that not everyone she tried to save was good, well…

That led into her corrupted world view and a more "ends justify the means" approach.

Marceau had been taught to watch his back and stand on his own, not having the best home life. In a sense, Lucy taught him to care more about others, that he could have someone he could trust to watch her back, and he taught her how to not let others take advantage of her and those she cares for.

Really, in the present day, the Blouins own a lot of businesses in a variety of sectors, from entertainment to scientific research to home electronics to weapons manufacturing. They're spread out across not just the SunnyTime LLC brand, but plenty of sub-companies with different names that the average person might not realize is owned by them. The SunnyTime brand has become a known trustworthy across the country and are spreading out slowly internationally.

Well… technically the family business is known internationally, just not in any public circles, and not under any brand name. Marceau alone has committed quite a few international crimes, though no one has been able to pin anything on him publicly. Lucy does a good job of keeping their public facing image squeaky clean, and she won't anyone hurt or take away any of her family.

Now that Jack is in charge, it's his turn to take care of the family and the business. Despite his issues with human touch, both them, and his sunshine, are in good hands.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

[rorywritesjunk]

Oh, go to sleep, Little Skylark. Fly up past the stars

After breaking your heart, Buggy is cursed to be a kid again. The last thing you want to do is be involved with this.

Rating: PG-13ish. Warning: A crying kid. Mentions of kidnapping. Reader is not nice to the kid in this chapter either, gets fed up, but also owns up to it, so a heads up. Also an adult lying to a kid because what else do you do in a situation like this? This story and how the Reader deals with Kid Buggy is different than the other Kid Buggy story. Reader probably just needs therapy or something I'm realizing. A/N: I'm almost done with this story, just working out some things with the end of it.

Title comes from “Little Skylark (safe at home)” by S.J. Tucker.

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 + Chapter 7 + Chapter 8 TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @fluffybunnyu @plethora-of-fickleness @ane5e @valen-yamyam16 @lavanderdreamve @jollycandyruins

Chapter 5

You managed to convince Mohji and Cabaji to let you off the ship the next day so long as you had the pepper balls Buggy once made for you to defend yourself. You could fight if you needed to, preferring to use punches and kicks instead of weapons, so initially you didn’t think the pepper balls would be important until you both got drunk at one point and tested it out between the two of you. The gasps for air, burning eyes, and the painful stinging on your lips and face told you how effective they were so you made sure to carry a few with you at all times.

Buggy was excited to be off the ship with you. He tried to dart ahead of you but you grabbed his hand before he could disappear. The two warned you again about the risks before you left, but you needed to find the witch. Buggy needed to be changed back to normal so you could move on with life. 

It was only the third day and you were exhausted. Neither of you cried yet today but it was hard not to at times when the kid looked at you with a smile, reminding you when he would smile at you whenever he saw you, but the last few months that smile wasn’t there, or it wasn’t really a smile, more like he was just tolerating you at that point. 

Every time you thought of how the last month was in particular it was hard. You were starting to pick up on the little details of how the relationship was failing. He would shut you out whenever you tried to talk to him, stopped kissing you and if you tried he’d turn away. And when he started nitpicking your meals, saying that nothing tasted good, that hurt the most. 

Now here he was as a kid, wanting your attention, needing to be close to you, and thinking your meals were the best ever. It was weird for you to deal with.

You two walked along, the kid’s head turning every which way as he looked at everything. It was kind of cute and when the crowds thinned out, you let go of his hand to let him run on ahead, but he only walked a few steps ahead, keeping you within sight as you gave him directions on which way to go. Cabaji told you how to find the house again and you hoped this trip would be a success. 

“Hey, look, wanted posters!” He pointed out as he hurried over to the wall. You swore softly and followed after him, managing to get there a few steps ahead of him to rip one down off the wall. He looked at you funny before turning his attention back to the wall with a frown. “I don’t recognize any of these faces. Where’s Captain Roger’s poster?”

“Maybe someone took it for a souvenir.” You said as you rolled up the one in your hand. Buggy looked back at you, narrowing his eyes before he snatched the poster from you and unrolled it. “Wait, Buggy-”

His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open in shock when he saw the face smirking back at him. The bright red nose stood out on the poster and Buggy looked up at you. Was this a relative he didn’t know about? He looked so much like Buggy, and when he read the name, he almost dropped the poster. 

“W-Who is this?!” He demanded. “Why does he look like me?! We have the same name!”

“That guy? Oh, uh…” You had to think quickly as you picked the poster back up and tried to stick it back on the wall out of his reach. “Buggy, everyone has someone who looks like them in the world, and they aren’t always related. You just… happen to look like him.”

“We have the same nose!” He exclaimed. “He’s an imposter!” Then, without missing a beat, “Where’s your wanted poster?

“Who knows, but Buggy, we have to get going, we’re going to go meet someone.” You said as you tugged him along down the road. He followed after you, keeping his eyes on the wall, specifically on that poster of the one that looked like him. It was unsettling to see someone who looked just like him, from the hair down to the nose, but that man was older. “Come on, we don’t have much farther to go.”

He fell quiet as he followed, eventually looking away from the wall and to the path ahead. Occasionally he’d look up at you, but you weren’t looking at him, but you were alert, looking around at the people you would pass. Your hand tightened around his when a group of men walked by and he noticed you pulled him a little closer when he saw one of them look at the two of you with a smirk.

Finally you came upon a row of little houses. You spotted the house immediately, seeing the abundance of flowers throughout the front yard. There was a spot of upturned soil and some dying flowers nearby. That was it. You sighed and pulled the kid along with you as you opened the gate and went up to the front door, knocking as politely as you could. A young woman opened the door and your brain short circuited for a moment. If this was the witch then she had every right to curse Buggy for calling her old. She looked younger than you. When she saw the kid she smirked, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

“Can I help you?” She asked, looking between the two of you. “You must be the girlfriend he was stealing flowers for.”

That stung. You glared at her as you pushed Buggy’s hand away from picking his nose and pulled him in front of you.

“Change him back.” You demanded. “Fix him, please!”

Buggy looked up at you, feeling insulted. “There’s nothing wrong with me!”

“Why should I change him back?” The witch asked with a raised eyebrow. “He acted like a child so I found it fitting to change him back to one. What, you don’t want to care for your boyfriend now?”

“He’s not my boyfriend! Stop calling him that!” You snapped. “He’s got someone else now but I’m the one stuck having to take care of this kid, so please change him back!”

The witch frowned and looked back at Buggy. He was glaring up at her. “Does he? Hm, well, I don’t want to.”

“What?!”

“Well, not so much as I don’t want to in that this will stay in effect for a while. I can’t just change him back because you don’t want to take care of him.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Now is it two days, two weeks… two years?”

“Two years?!” You shrieked. “I can’t even do two days! And… and it’s been over two days! Why won’t he change back?!”

The witch shrugged. “Maybe it’s four days, or four weeks? Maybe four years.” She looked down at Buggy. “Hard to remember since I’m old.”

“She’s older.” Buggy pointed at you. You swatted him on the head for that. “Hey!”

“Please, I can’t take care of a kid. You have to change him back to an adult.” You begged. “What do you want? I’ll do anything!”

The witch shrugged. “He’ll stay this way for a certain amount of time, just don’t know how long.”

“No, you can’t do this to me!” You cried as you grabbed her by the shoulders. “I can’t take care of him any longer, do you understand?! He broke my heart and I’m having to take care of him! Please please change him back so I can move on with my life! This isn’t fair!”

The witch shoved you back. “It wasn’t fair that he tore up my garden for you.”

“He didn’t do it for me!” You shot back as tears started rolling down your cheeks. “Are you even listening?! He has another girlfriend! Where is she, why isn’t she here dealing with this kid?!”

“Not my problem.” The witch told you. “Now go away or the curse will be permanent. I’ll make it so you can never leave him.”

She slammed the door in your face, leaving you crying on the front porch. Buggy pushed away from you as he began storming down the path to the gate. You wiped your eyes on the back of your hand as you followed after him. He got to the gate and struggled to open it for a moment before getting out of the yard.

“Buggy-” You reached for him but he jerked away from you.

“Who are you?!” He demanded as he spun around to face you. You were a little surprised to see tears in his eyes, but this was different. He was upset, yes, but it wasn’t what you saw before. He looked angry. “What’s going on?! What do you mean I got turned into a kid? I am a kid!”

“Buggy, it’s… it’s complicated.” You said as you tried to stop your own tears. “I don’t know where to even begin.”

“Stop lying to me!” He shrieked. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time, haven’t you?! Does Roger even know where I am?! Did you kidnap me?!” He took a step back from you. “Where’s my captain?! I want to go home!”

This was it. You couldn’t do this anymore.

“Captain Roger has been dead for over twenty years!” You snapped, startling him. The witch pissed you off, the situation pissed you off, and you couldn’t deal with this any longer. “You’re a grown man who pissed off a witch and was turned into a child! And I’m surprised it didn’t happen earlier with the way you act!” 

Buggy stared at you in shock. “W-hat do you mean h-he’s dead?”

“I’ve been telling you a lie this entire time because I was trying to protect you! You-you don’t know what time you’re in because you were cursed to be a kid again!” You told him, not caring that he was growing upset with what he was being told. “And I’m pretty sure I was apparently cursed by the universe to have to take care of you, which was the last thing I would have ever wanted, Buggy! As an adult you broke my heart and I got dragged back into this mess by Mohji because you don’t know when you keep your damn mouth shut!”

He took another step back, words sinking in. You didn’t want to take care of him? He didn't understand what you were telling him. How could his Captain be dead? This had to be a lie. What was this nonsense about being an adult when he was a kid. 

“Y-You’re crazy!” He shot back. “My captain is alive and waiting for me to come back!” He glared at you, stomping his foot as he clenched his fists. Tears were rolling down his face now. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend since you’re this crazy! Are you even a pirate captain or just pretending?!” He shook his head. “I gotta find Roger.”

He turned away from you and started running. 

Swearing, you got up to go after him but he was faster. 

Shit. Why did you say those things to him? You turned back to look at the house. The witch opened the door and glared at you.

“Close the gate behind you.”

You did as you were told, glaring back at her. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I’m not doing anything to you.” She snapped. “It’s your stupid boyfriend who caused all of this. ‘Oh, she’ll like these flowers. I better apologize for being an ass to her.’ Pathetic man.”

“He’s not my boyfriend! Stop saying that!” You stomped your foot. “H-he broke my heart for no reason! I left him because I couldn't be around him anymore! I hate him!

“No, you don’t hate him.” She chuckled. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be taking care of him.” She crossed her arms. “Better go after the kid or he’ll end up kidnapped. There’s some unsavory pirates about.”

“Yea? Maybe it should happen. I can’t deal with this any more.” You rubbed your eyes, sniffing loudly. “I hate him.”

“Yea, the adult, not the bratty kid.” She told you. “Go find him.”

She slammed the door after that while you glared in her direction.

[rosaharazu]

Merlin Mysteries

This is the most genius title, I swear you guys, Im so proud of it.

Anyways....Magister Merlin.

First off, let's just appreciate the premise given to them.

A powerful, well-respected, legendary mage for as long as history can remember. But the twist is...they're amnesic. I think it's such a high stepping stone in making AFK Journey's MC a standout to other MC's of games alike.

Thanks to that, we aren't even Merlin's actual form, hence being able to customize our character to our liking as Merlin is using disguising spells.

But let's see their past shall we. Second:

So like, have you ever looked at the very tiny text at the bottom whenever you load into the game? There are like, two things about Merlin. I'm sure someone else has pointed these out, but I'll list it anyways. (i think there's three, but I've seen to have forgotten the third one and I ain't checking it out)

Merlin harnessed the leftovers of powers from the War and named it 'magic'.

Merlin was a part of the council in discussing terms of after the Immortal War.

So from this....Merlin may or may not be immortal themselves. Or, if we take a look at the opening sequence of the game, someone pointed out that Merlin may be reincarnated throughout time over and over again. Someone on youtube even thought Merlin could be a hypogean.

If that's the case...it's really tragic.

Merlin is a...wait, lemme check from AFK Arena. WAIT-DIMENSIONALS WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!

There's also a huge plot in Arena's Merlin, but none of this makes sense to me. Let's ignore that~ O-O

Furthermore, whatever they are...they must be immortal or something like that. And that's harsh.

You know that one storyteller in Holistone? He describes Merlin as, some feared them, some respected, but their journey is a lonely one. That's just...implies that Merlin's missing something.

I'd like it if Merlin's quote is, "I feel like I'm missing something."

I'm in Remnant Peaks, and like, I have two more areas to go. It may or may not have something to do with Merlin, so as of I'm writing this, I have no idea.

Third. Now, what I would like to write is....Merlin's relationships.

I mean, yeah, you can ship them with Valen, Mirael, and so on. But...considering Merlin's possibility of being immortal, it would be sad really.

I feel like Merlin won't engage in romantic relationships because they know so well that her partner won't be able to stay as long as they do. Maybe that's why she has Chippy and Hammie by her side, which I searched up, that familiars live as long as their masters live.

I'd like to think that Merlin chose familiars to love, and while it's only platonically, I think that love is the most special thing to have for Merlin. Because at the very least, Merlin won't have to wake up one day and find that their familiars are gone.

Maybe she's lost a loved one before, and over and over again, and they're traumatized by it. You know, at this point you can just assume I'm talking about my version of Merlin.

Even if Merlin were to engage romantically, they would probably sought for immortals like them, hence Celestials or...Hypogeans, maybe. (for me at least)

(I mean, Wilders and Maulers also probably live for hundreds of years, but they still die- WHY IS THE LIFESPAN AND TIMELINE SO CONFUSING?!)

The idea of Merlin not wanting to lose their partner is kinda engraved in my mind and you can't stop me.

What I'm saying is, Merlin has done so many things over the years. Being recognized as Esperia's greatest mage. One of the professors at Casseedee's Academy. Their stories go all over the lands....

and in return....

Merlin lost something more valuable. Possibly their mortality and memories. I dead set that Merlin may have traded those in order to become the most powerful, and before they know it....they've lost quite a lot.

And as of present day, Merlin forgets again and again, and deep inside them, an immense sense of regret, longing, lost and hopelessness. So they try to focus on the present, and the people around them.

You know, it would be nice if Merlin's amnestic side is shown sometimes, but I guess that's too much work. Oh well. Would be a little interesting, though. Like, maybe more of Chippy and Hammie comforting us. Yes, please. I'd like that.

Man...the game started a few months ago, so Merlin's lore isn't exactly much...why did I even do this...?

Thanks for your time! Have a lovely day!

[obsessedwrhys]

Your headcanons are soo good istg 😭😭😭 im love you

Feel free to answer anytime, can I request Hogan (afk journey) dating/married headcanons? He's my husband and my wife both at the same time <3

|| HOGAN DATING HEADCANONS ||

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ major fluff, reader is gn!! (OMSHD I'm so happy to hear you like my other work, that really makes my day, I hope you enjoy this one ☺💕)

This man gives me hubby vibes ngl.

If you managed to get his attention, you must be something special because it takes a lot to get even his respects.

Once he falls for you, trust him to get you flowers everytime he visit you. Even if he just happens to be passing by, he will always take the time to stop to say hi.

Valen once made fun of him for having a crush but that ended up terribly.

Dude had to run laps around Holistone 💀

The crush between you and Hogan was mutual, to be fair it was hard for you not to fall in love when he treats you like you're the single most special person in the world.

The way he gives you his hand when you need help getting down...

The way his eyes lingers on you longer than any person should...

The way he goes out of his way to make sure you're always okay...

It all just made you love him ever more.

That's why the urge to confess your true feelings to him grew day by day.

Scenario ↴

You were in Holistone, to be more precise, inside one of the castles towers. It wasn't that you were in trouble, it was more like your friend Hogan needed to see you about an urgent matter.

With nothing much to do, you were poking your head out of the open window to admire the view below.

"I apologise if I've made you wait. One of the guards needed my help with something..." A familiar voice spoke from behind and you turned just to see Hogan approaching you. Somehow just seeing him made you smile.

"At least you didn't forget... so what's so serious that you needed to see me?" You questioned and you can see his body going stiff for a split second.

"Ah that..." He chuckles lowly, an attempt to ease his nerves. He has fought countless battles and yet the idea of confessing his love to you is nearly sending him to shambles.

"It's nothing urgent really... it's more of a personal matter..."

"Personal matter?" You repeated, seeming puzzled.

"Yes... of us" He said and the moment those words left from his mouth, you had a clear idea of what he was hinting at. Your eyes went wide as your face burned.

"I know I may not be like the prince from the stories you read but... I'm certain that I've fallen for you... and this love I feel for you feels like the ones in a fairy tale... it's as though I've been captivated by you... I'm sorry if I'm pouring all my emotions at once, I just can't keep this a secret anymore" He expressed with his eyes locked on yours.

"I don't mind... to be honest, I feel just the exact same" You slowly formed a smile on your face and the joy was contagious enough that a smile eventually appeared on his face as well.

Literally when the townsfolk found out he was dating you, everybody was fast to congratulate you both. If you weren't given any context you would assume that the town was celebrating someone's marriage 😭

Hey, the people are just happy for him since he does his job of protecting everybody's safety.

Plus he deserved to have somebody look out for him.

Now dating this man is full of fun and excitement. He does not welcome any bad vibes even though how serious he can get sometimes.

I'm talking lots of trying new things together.

For example that time you guys went to try out this super fancy place for dinner and you guys had a thrill trying to pronounce the names of some of the dishes.

Not to forget, his kisses would be full of love and desire. Everytime he kisses you he just doesn't have the strength to pull away, it was the kind of passionate kiss that would always leave you two breathless.

Even when leaving a kiss on your cheek or forehead, he always needs to kiss you a couple of times for you to get the memo that he loves you dearly.

However, I'm sorry to break it to you but sleeping with this man can be kind of a struggle.

He snores.

I don't mean like those light snores.

I mean those snores that slowly builds itself up until it's as loud as a train.

Not only if you're the type to not be able to handle that, sometimes he can also take all of the blanket from you which results in you two fighting for it almost every night 😭

But the cuddles? Trust me when I say it's the most comforting experience in the relationship. It always makes you feel like you're on cloud nine.

When it comes to nicknames he's more on the traditional side, he calls you dear the most.

Would he be fine with PDA? Yes, very much. He does not care what anyone thinks. Okay maybe a little but still he's not embarrassed to show everyone that he's yours.

Jealousy doesn't faze him that much, that's because he thinks he's set for life with you. Any man or woman could try to flirt with you but he trusts you a lot that he's sure you know how to handle it.

But if the person doesn't take no for an answer? He'll just have to step in to get that message through their head.

If you want to, he's totally fine with you wearing his clothes. That's because he finds the sight of you not being able to fit in his shirt adorable.

Did I forget to mention how he knows all of your weakness? Whether you're more sensitive in the neck or you're ticklish on your sides. He knows.

And he's not afraid to use it against you.

Fyi, he's the type of person to act like he's full and give you his leftovers because he knows those are your favourite 🥰

Honestly? 100/100 MALEWIFE

[wolveria]

The Raven's Hymn - Ch 43

Pairing: SCP-049 x Reader

Series Warnings: Eventual smut, dubcon, slow burn, violence, horror, death, monsters, human experiments, dark with a happy ending

Chapter Summary: “I regret it has come to this, my dear.”

AO3

Perhaps knowing you were “safe” for the remainder of the day, 049 waited to enact his plan. You were grateful to have at least one more night with him. You didn’t know what would happen when it started. You didn’t know what you’d do it if went wrong.

Dread settled in your stomach worse than any time preceding. You’d thought waiting for the humiliation of Leahy’s program was like waiting for an execution. You’d been sorely mistaken. At least you’d had an idea of what he wanted. This was... unknowable. Dangerous. Terrifying.

All you could do was wait for 049 to make the first move. But for now, you laid in bed with him, pressed to his chest and listening to his heartbeat against your ear. It was a steady, soothing rhythm you hoped would continue beyond tomorrow.

Or maybe his plan wouldn’t happen tomorrow. You didn’t know when he would cause the distraction. There was too much you didn’t know, and no way to discuss it with him. There was, of course, the possibility of another shower, but you knew if you held him close like that one more time, you wouldn’t be able to let him go. The thought of what the guards would do to him tomorrow was enough to stir the borderline panic in your veins.

As if sensing your distress, 049 stroked his gloved fingers along your hair. It hadn’t escaped your notice how often he touched you now. Whatever barrier had previously kept him at a polite distance seemed to have vanished. Your own defenses had been brought down, and 049 had always been effective at getting around them anyway.

The morning came too soon from restless sleep. You didn’t move at the slot opening to deliver breakfast, you simply pressed yourself closer, breathing in deep the hollow space between his neck and the edge of his hood.

049 shuddered and wrapped his arm more firmly around your waist. You closed your eyes, taking another breath to steady yourself. It would be so easy to keep going, to surrender to your new normal. You might even have considered it, if not for the whole point of the program. The possibility of a child, and then of letting them be taken by the Foundation, wasn’t something you could accept. Not if there was a chance of escape.

But deciding to escape didn’t mean you wouldn’t miss this part of your captivity. You were too scared to think of the possibilities of “after.” Just surviving and leaving the facility was impossible enough; trying to imagine life afterwards was like trying to imagine what it’s like to live in the aphotic zone. You had no point of reference.

You both remained that way, quiet and secure in each other’s warmth. 049’s fingers caressing slowly up and down your back, your own tracing along the subtle wrinkles that marked his robes. Underneath the layers of hide was a human skeleton, the only marked difference in the skull. His brain casing was larger, but more startling than that was the beak that grew directly over his mouth. His human teeth could even be seen by X-ray, trapped behind the chitinous structure that protruded from his face. It was why no one could figure out how he ate or drank when he chose to, as no one had seen the beak open before. Hell, no one was even sure how he spoke.

Perhaps if you survived, you’d ask him. You didn’t know if he was human once, or if he had always been this way. Had someone given him the name Valens, or had he chosen it himself? There were still so many questions, but despite that, you liked who he was, what he was, and you wouldn’t change anything. Your only regret was that you would never be able to kiss him properly.

The intercom clicked.

“Tonight.”

You winced.

049 drew you closer, which you didn’t think was possible, but he managed it by slipping your leg between his. He didn’t need to say anything. You knew it had to happen today. There would be no tonight.

Unwilling, and after a time, you sat up first, your body sluggish with reluctance. 049 did the same, leaving the bed so you would be able to follow. He always positioned himself between you and the door, and it was probably the reason you slept at all these days.

Going through the motions of breakfast, you kept 049 in the corner of your vision. Not just because you wanted to be ready for his distraction, but... you couldn’t help it. The dreaded sense at the back of your thoughts that told you this would be the last time you ever saw him.

You hit the shower after, half-hopeful you would be joined, but you washed alone. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for you to finish, not wanting 049 to be out of your sight for long. Drying off swiftly, you got dressed in the usual smock and leggings. Most days, you didn’t bother with the bandeau bra, finding it pointless. You wore it today—your laughable attempt at gearing up for war.

By the time you returned to the middle chamber where 049 waited when you needed privacy, something had changed. He paced along the floor in front of the observation window, his head bowed as if in thought, wrists held at the small of his back.

After giving him a worried glance that wasn’t part of the act, you went to the lab counter where you kept your research journal. You had the idea of staying there as a vantage point, your back to the corner that divided the middle and inner chamber. You had a clear view of everything, including the outer containment doors, and the doctor’s bag was...

...missing.

Where was it? It wasn’t on the counter or on the autopsy table. You were sure you’d spotted it just this morning—

“Dalliance!”

You looked up, blinking dumbly at the shouted word.

049 stopped pacing; he stood in front of the window, his shoulders stiff in an intimidating hunch. If you hadn’t known this was the plan, you’d have believed it. He slipped back into form a little too easily for comfort.

“We waste time on the Site Director’s frivolity while the Pestilence continues to thrive amidst your very ranks!” 049 snarled at the darkened glass. “You believe I had forgotten? That I could be preoccupied by a warm body? Your mockery is as offensive as it is pitiable.”

He leaned close to the glass, his voice dropping to a growl.

“I see you, wretch. Beg your Site Director for forgiveness. He will hold you accountable for this.”

049 turned away, strode to the autopsy table, and pulled out the bag from beneath his robes. You’d forgotten he could do that, and your spine shot straight when he reached inside and pulled out a gleaming scalpel.

“Come here, assistant.”

He seethed the words, and for a moment, real fear curled around your neck. You obeyed, moving off the stool with stiff limbs, your heart racing at the appearance of the predator you hadn’t glimpsed in weeks. He placed a hand on the space between your neck and shoulder, squeezing you. Not harshly at all.

His back was to the observation window, and they couldn’t see his face. His eyes shone with urgency and clarity. Your good doctor was still in there, playing the role they expected of him.

“I regret it has come to this, my dear.”

The sharp edge of the scalpel shone within the corner of your vision.

“But nothing can sway me from my duty. Not even you.”

He brought the blade up to your neck.

Dispensers hissed overhead. 049 whirled you around and pulled you close, an arm going around your chest as the scalpel remained pointed at your throat. Even as the lavender mist drifted over you both, he remained upright.

“Old tricks, Director. And not so effective with the aid of my assistant—”

049 went stiff, his limbs frozen, and you were close enough to hear the hum of the contact between the shock collar and his flesh.

He opened his shaking fingers and dropped the scalpel, giving up the instrument so as not to cut you with it as he convulsed. You gripped onto the arm holding you, helpless to do anything to stop his torment.

The containment doors slid open, no less than four guards storming inside with their rifles raised.

049 pushed you away and to the side, giving them a clear shot at him.

“No!” you cried, forgetting you were supposed to play the role as 049’s shaken victim. But the guards didn’t fire; 049 staggered to the autopsy table, and in his weakened attempt to grab onto the edge, sent his bag toppling to the floor.

Instruments, glass jars and beakers, and copper tubing spilled from its depths, creating a chaotic mess of shattered noise and aromatic liquids. Between that, and the shouting men, you ducked down beneath the autopsy table and hunched as if cowering in terror.

With the table blocking the view of the observation window, you scrambled for the lip of the bag now lying on its side. Taking a deep breath, you jammed your arm inside.

Give me what Valens wants me to have.

Something rested atop your palm, lightweight but with a familiar shape. You curled your fingers around it, small enough to fit inside your fist, and quickly pulled it out. Making as if to clutch your chest, you slipped the object down the front of your smock into the depths of your bra.

Peeking over the top of the table, you watched as 049 was dragged half-unconscious from the room. The doors closed and you stood the rest of the way, your fear genuine as you held a hand over your stomach, breathing hard.

You hardly had any time to think before the door opened, Kenneth’s lanky form slipping through the door before it completely opened.

“Hey, you okay?” His eyes were a little too wide, his face pale. “Did he cut you?”

You shook your head, leaning against the autopsy table for support in the haze of post-adrenaline jitters.

“I’m fine, just—"

The door opened a second time, two men stepping through. One you didn’t recognize, an older man in a lab coat and white hair. The second one, you knew very well.

He was fuming.

“What the hell did you do to set it off this time?” Leahy growled, stalking past you as he took in the disaster of the floor. Antiseptic fumes and other odd smells from the spilled liquids made your stomach turn.

You opened your mouth, but no response was forthcoming, caught between confusion and indignity.

“Excuse me?” you finally said.

The doctor began examining you, but you shied away from his touch. Not only had the staff members instilled a sense of aversion in you, but you didn’t want him to find what you’d hidden.

“Did you say something?” Leahy pressed. “Do something?”

“You tell me. You watch everything we do.”

Leahy’s glare turned from the broken beakers to you, his eyes dark behind the rim of his glasses. He moved forward with deliberate steps, and you backed away until you bumped into a warm barrier at your back. You didn’t know who it was, and it forced you to remain in place as the Site Director towered over you.

“I know it was you.”

He gripped your jaw and turned your head upward, forcing you to meet his eye when you looked away.

“And I’ll scour every second of footage to prove it.”

Your chin trembled, but your voice held firm.

“I bet you’d enjoy that.”

His lips curled into a silent snarl, and you thought, this was it. You’d reached the limits of what the Site Director would tolerate, and he would order one of the guards to shoot you.

Instead, he released you with a rough jerk of his hand.

“She can’t stay here. Put her in another room until this shit’s cleaned up.”

He walked past you and out the door without another word, the doctor following after him. That left Kenneth, the person you’d been trapped against when the Site Director had thrown his tantrum.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, as if this was all somehow his fault. He rubbed the back of his neck, taking in the rest of the room. “He is right, though. That’s a lot of glass, and, uh... whatever that green stuff is. I think it’s eating through the tile.”

You nodded, too tired to argue, especially when it would amount to nothing. Something reflective caught your eye; the scalpel 049 had mock-threatened you with was under the autopsy table just of reach. You entertained the idea of grabbing it and smuggling it with you, but hiding a surgical blade in your brassier wouldn’t be one of your better ideas.

Leaving the scalpel was the right choice. As soon as you exited the chamber, two guards were at your flank, one of them patting you down and forcing your arms straight, palms open as he hooked you into shackles.

Kenneth, followed by the two guards, led you a few corridors over to a door that wasn’t the high security mechanism of a containment chamber. It looked closer to a D-Class cell, and you realized that’s exactly what it was, a temporary holding pen for one of the wayward cattle. The guards took off your shackles and ordered you inside. You followed their instructions in silence, glancing blankly at the single bed and toilet melded to the wall.

When you turned, you were surprised to find Kenneth lingering in the doorway.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” he asked. “Not that there’s a whole lot of—"

“Where did they take 049?”

His lips pressed together, and he unhappily glanced at the two guards, but they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the conversation.

“I don’t know.”

“When will we be returned to his containment chamber?”

“I don’t know that either.” He avoided your eye as he backed out the door, mumbling one last apology, “Sorry.”

The door slid shut, leaving you alone in the small room. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been truly alone, and you sat on the edge of the thin mattress. Impatience nipped at your thoughts, but you forced yourself to wait until you were sure they wouldn’t come back for you anytime soon.

Once a few minutes had passed, your anticipation got the better of you. You reached down your bra, grateful the guards hadn’t thought to search your cleavage, and retrieved the object you’d smuggled out of the containment chamber.

A USB flash drive. It seemed ordinary on the outside, a matte grey color that didn’t seem particularly special, but it had to be. You refused to believe 049 had risked his limited freedom for you to retrieve something that didn’t matter. He’d said this would help you escape, and it made sense now why he’d wanted you to be taken to an office.

It wouldn’t do any good here. You slipped it back into your bandeau, hoping you would have an opportunity to use it soon.

It wasn’t long before anxiety got the better of you. Pacing the small room, all you could think about was 049 and what they were doing to him. You tried not to imagine the worst-case scenario, but considering Leahy’s threats, there was an endless supply of them, each worse than the ones before.

You alternated between pacing and sitting hunched on the bed, tapping your foot with nervous energy. When was someone going to tell you what was going on? What had happened to 049? Would you ever get to return to the containment chamber?

As if in answer, the door slid open. You froze and eyed the entrance without breathing. No one stepped through.

You waited. And waited. The doorway remained empty, and the hallway beyond was unusually silent.

You slowly rose to your feet and approached the door. You edged past the threshold, expecting a guard to grab you by the scruff of your neck like an unruly kitten, but the corridor remained empty. There was no one here, but the keypad kept a steady green bar to indicate the door was unlocked.

For whatever reason the door had opened, this was your chance, and yet... your feet remained glued to the floor. Your breathing was shallow, confusion turning into fear. As terrible as your life had been the last few months, it had been structured. Controlled. Someone always telling you what to do, even if it would lead to pain and misery.

When you stepped outside the room, there was no guarantee of what you would find. You could be caught. You could be killed. It was enough to leave you frozen, fingers gripping the door frame.

The only thing that shook you free was the knowledge that you weren’t doing this just for you. 049 had no one else. If you surrendered now, there was no hope of rescue for him. He would be at the mercy of Leahy’s punishment, a situation he found himself in only because he wanted to save you.

You didn’t have a plan, but you had a destination. Get to a computer, insert the thumb drive, and the rest would follow.

Steeling yourself, you stepped outside the cell.

Next Chapter

[fbfh]

you're mine (and I'm yours) - scott mccall x witch!mate!reader hcs

wc: 4k

genre: soulmate au sort of, lowkey a sabrina the teenage witch au (hilda and zelda are your aunts) bc I'm in my 90s witchy whimsigothic era,

summary: trying to balance your newly realized powers as a young witch with a social life and starting at a new school is a lot to handle, and you're thrown for a huge curveball when the hot werewolf on the lacrosse team forms a mate bond with you, dragging both of you into each others secret worlds

warnings: not proof read, some predator/prey dynamics bc scott is a literal werewolf, scott realizes he's being kind of creepy towards you but you can tell he's not human so you get it yk, you pass out bc you're a tad overwhelmed, scott is very posessive, scott is very clingy, scott is so fucking down bad for you, implied size difference (specifically he has bigass hands), astral projection/eavesdropping through dreams, awkward mate talk with Derek and Scott, mention of future conversations about ruts but otherwise sfw, your Aunt Hilda and Salem both make dog jokes at Scott but he takes them in stride, I think that's it??

song rec: we belong together - ritchie valens, wereowl - sj tucker, wolf bite - owl city, head over feet - alanis morissette, also here's an outfit but it's totally optional lmao

a/n: had this in the works for a while!! It spiraled out of control lol,, I was debating using this as an outline but it's already pretty long and I'm coming out of a slump so I'll take what I can get lol but if yall like this def expect more of scott x whimsigothic witch reader bc I have SO many ideas lol ALSO for your consideration chris flemming's take on witch summer, and scott introduces himself to you like skunk from a diy basement show ((also tagging people on the movie/tv show au tag list and the omegaverse tag list bc of the genre so if you don't know why you're getting tagged in a teen wolf fic that's why lol))

@yesv01 @almostjollypizza @fictionalcomforts @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @urmum-xoxo @raajali3 @paige-creates @lubsana @demirunner @almostjollypizza  @mystic-writings  @babiesimagines  @lizziebitch33 @jacksondeeznuts @hopefullhearts @justbookworm @Asunnyhunny @cowboylikekelsey

You and your family have always been somewhat quiet, kept to yourselves

In spite of some family members more… flashy joie de vivre

And in spite of the fact that you’re all at least a little eccentric 

You really do try to keep to yourselves

You just want a chill, peaceful existence 

You’re not looking for trouble 

Do no harm take no shit kind of energy

A lot of this is due to the fact that almost everyone in your family are witches 

You have a cousin who’s a sorcerer that lives out in tallahassee 

But besides that

You’re pretty much all witches

Your mom and dad live in michigan, often visiting family in the hudson valley or up in northern new england 

Quiet places where no one will look too closely at private lowkey eccentric people 

Once your magic and clairvoyant powers started to develop on your 16th birthday, you move in with your two aunts in northern california

A small town called beacon hills

Everyone knew figuring out a balance between learning about your powers and heritage and maintaining a normal social life was going to be hard

Your aunts arranged a split schedule for you

You’d homeschool half the week to give you more time and freedom to learn your craft

And go to the public high school half the week 

Hybrid schooling isn’t exactly conventional, but nothing about your family really is

The school board apparently weren’t very pro on this but your aunts managed to convince them

So for the first half of the week, everything goes fine

You’re doing your homework as fast as you can and learning so much about your powers

You’ve been studying auras and energy reading

Once you get the hang of it, you find it’s hard to shut it off

The second half of the week surprisingly also goes okay

At first

Your first day at beacon hills high, you get a tour from a guy named Stiles who is either taking way too much or not enough adderall 

He seems a little sidetracked and you get the impression he has a lot going on outside of school

You’re also approached by a girl named Allison and her friend Lydia

Allison tells you that she’s somewhat new to beacon hills too, and you form a sort of bond over that

You wonder if she’s a fire sign, you immediately pick up on a strong warrior/fighter type of energy from her 

Lydia is really nice too, and you can tell she’s a lot smarter than she lets on

You pick up an unusual energy from Lydia, something tugging at your gut and poking the corners of your mind, but it doesn't feel threatening so you brush it off

You sense Stiles nearby and turn your head, seeing him talk with a lanky blonde dude

Your stomach drops 

There is something very weird about this guy 

You can feel a really distinct energy but you can't put it into words 

You squint, wondering what his name is

You're getting a lot of vowels, something sort of old, biblical??

Eventually your attention is pulled back to Allison 

"Were you staring at Isaac?"

Isaac

That makes sense

"Uh, yeah no, I just spaced out for a second…"

You get that bubbling feeling that something is coming really quickly

"Come on, we should get to class." You drag them away, walking in front of them

You're right once again, as Scott McCall rounds the corner looking for Stiles and Isaac

"Hey we need to-"

He cuts himself off, distracted by the scent he picked up

It's different from any other scent he's ever encountered 

It's sweet and electric, like the first sip of your favorite soda 

"Scott?" Stiles asks 

He picks it up again, this time on Stiles 

He leans closer, sniffing him like a bloodhound 

He shoves his nose in Stiles neck, then makes his way down his torso and over to his wrist as Stiles protests

Stiles’s scent immediately overwhelms the new one and Scott recoils

"Dude, don't do that in public!" He hisses, catching the strange looks from the students passing by them

"Or in private- or ever!" He corrects 

He looks back at Scott, whose pupils are super dilated 

"What… what was that?" Scott wonders regarding the intoxicating scent 

"Yeah, I was going to ask you the same thing," Stiles grumbles, thrown off by the odd (and almost intimate) gesture 

For the rest of the day, whenever he starts to clear his head, he'll catch that scent again, completely pulling his focus away

Meanwhile, you've found at least 3 people with that same weird energy as Isaac

It doesn't feel bad, not right away at least 

But it's really really strong 

It’s strange and overwhelming

Between how exhausted you are from all your magic lessons and how hard it was to keep your powers under control at school

AND the fact that you spent basically all day half blinded by people’s auras and energy 

You’re totally exhausted

And you don't have time to unpack that today

So naturally as soon as you start to sense that weird energy

Especially that one particularly strong source of it

You pivot and head the other way

You're sure Lydia and Allison must think you're crazy by now but they don't seem to be too phased

Much like with Stiles, you get the sense they’ve seen a lot of weirder shit

And your instincts are never wrong

You know, the whole psychic clairvoyant witch thing

So by the end of the day, you’ve avoided it thus far, and you start to head with Allison and Lydia to the parking lot

You stop suddenly,remembering you forgot your wand in your locker

There’s no way you can leave that at school, so you run back inside, telling them you’ll be right back

Meanwhile, Scott has spent all day chasing down every hint of that scent he possibly can

He’s about to give up when he smells it at the end of the hallway, just around the corner

He was on his way to lacrosse practice

But honestly he couldn’t care less about that right now

He starts running, desperate not to lose the scent again, or lose control

You tuck your wand somewhere safe, then you feel it seconds before it happens

The hair on the back of your neck stands up

Your stomach drops and you get that feeling that something is about to happen

And you feel the strong as fuck super intense energy barreling towards you 

A strong chill runs down your body

You turn around right as Scott pins you to your locker, eyes glowing red and as big as the moon, pulse racing

He’s breathing hard, fanning warm over your face

And god, the world shifts and everything makes sense

A shiver runs down his spine, and yours in tandem, and he has to physically hold himself back from kissing you everywhere, from pressing his face into your skin to breathe in your intoxicating scent

The logical part of his brain, the human part is screaming at him not to scare you, stop being weird, at least introduce himself and ask for your name

But the primal part, the wolf part, is too loud

He didn’t know he could feel so protective, so possessive over someone without knowing them

His wolf brain insists he does know you, you’re each other’s…

Each other’s…

That’s it

You’re each other’s

You’re his and he’s yours

God, he’s yours

And he is drawn to you

It’s like you shoved a bear trap in his chest and are pulling him closer and closer by the chain

And he’d let you

He wants you to

Fuck he wants to kiss you

At the same time, you’re trying not to fall over from the sudden force of emotions this guy is feeling for you

You can physically feel how badly he wants you

How much he desires you

Like you’re the only thing that matters

And fuck that weird energy is radiating off of him so close to you

It’s definitely not bad or malicious

You can tell that much

But it’s really really fucking powerful and needs to be treated carefully

The combination of all these things is making you kind of dizzy

And when you look at him

Really snap out of your thoughts and look at the guy pinning you against the wall

Fuck

He’s hot

He’s really hot

His breath over your face in little puffs is hot

It’s all too much

You feel yourself start to fall

You pitch sideways into his arms, blacking out before you can say something or sit down

Scott catches you as you begin to slump against him

Everywhere you touch, he lights on fire

He holds you gently, nuzzling his face against you, finally allowing himself to bask in your addictive, intoxicating scent

You don’t respond to his touch, and he can sense your pulse slowing down

“Fuck!” he growls, snapping out of it and realizing you passed out

He sniffs you closer 

You smell okay, so it's probably nothing serious 

But he has to get you somewhere safe

“Scott?”

Stiles’s voice echoes down the hall

“Scott!” he sees Scott clinging to your unconscious body, eyes glowing and teeth bared

A low growl emanates from his throat as a warning and Stiles freezes in his tracks

He doesn’t think Scott has ever growled at him like that

He barks at Stiles to stay away from you on instinct

A moment passes and you still haven’t woken up yet

He starts to worry

“We need to get to a doctor,” he mutters, suddenly charging past Stiles, with you still in his grip

Stiles chases after him, making a mental note to talk to him about how fucking weird he’s being right now

One very tense jeep ride to Deaton’s later, you’re laying on a table slightly too small for you as Scott rambles, explaining how you passed out

Deaton’s not exactly sure why he’s examining a human and not an animal or supernatural creature, but Scott is way too worked up for him to be hung up on details

Derek had somehow gotten wind of what happened, and is waiting for Deaton to confirm you’re okay so he can give Scott the lecture of a fucking life time

He got a panicked call from Scott’s stupid friend, and now he has to clean up another one of their messes

He’s so ready to yell at Scott, but the second he walks into the building, he smells it

His stomach drops

He runs into the back, throwing open the door, and is overwhelmed by the smell of the mate bond freshly formed between Scott, and you, who’s still lying unconscious

He tries to drag Scott out of the room to talk, but Scott refuses to leave your side, growling and snapping at him

“Okay,” Derek says, “I really didn’t think I was going to have to give you the talk so soon, but…” 

Stiles and Scott protest, while Deaton looks even more uncomfortable than he already had

“Not that talk!” Derek snaps, “...The mate talk.” 

“The mate talk?” Scott asks, “Like…” his words hang unspoken in the air

Derek nods

“Yeah.” 

Using every ounce of willpower in him, Scott manages to tear himself away from your side to step out of the room and talk to Derek, but he insists on standing right outside the door so he can watch you through the window, Stiles following behind him

He’s barely able to pay attention to what Derek is saying

He’s so preoccupied with you

You look so vulnerable on that examination table

It’s not like he thinks Deaton wouldn’t take great care of you or anything, he just wishes he was there to make sure first hand that you’re okay

He doesn’t like that he’s not next to you right now

It brings on a heartache, a devotion he hasn’t ever felt before

“For fucks sake, Scott, pay attention!” Derek snaps, realizing he’s been spacing out

“I’m listening!” Scott counters, and tries to focus on what Derek is telling him

He’s glad Stiles is there to retain the information he’s missing 

It’s like his brain is a sponge that’s been soaking in a bucket full of you, it can’t hold on to anything else

He just wants you to be okay

In the depths of your sleep, you make a mental note to thank your aunts for giving you that book on astral projection (among many other witchy texts and spellbooks) for your birthday 

You flex your hands, feeling them tingling warm with magic, then wiggle your feet, tingling the same way

You continue to gently separate your astral form from your corporeal form, and the dream you had been  having shifts

You’re in what looks like the back office of a vet’s office, a guy in a lab coat stands near you looking concerned

Gently, slowly, you get up and creep towards the door

You watch a rugged looking man with dark hair, and that same energy, explain something seemingly important 

“For fucks sake Scott, pay attention!” 

You look over at Scott, who’s looking back at where you’re presumably still asleep in the back room, and the guy keeps explaining what’s going on

Mates are a rare connection, usually made by alphas, and it’s even more rare for an alpha to have a mate that’s not a werewolf, he tells Scott and Stiles

You look up at Scott

He’s a werewolf

And an alpha

That makes sense, you think, it confirms the feeling you’d had before but couldn’t put into words

With a fresh mate bond (which is what you have) being separated can be painful, and even fatal, so until this calms down you’re basically going to be joined at the hip

You’ll form a deep connection, possibly even some sort of telepathic bond, but most likely you’ll just need to spend enough time together, make sure you’re both doing okay

He’ll probably feel possessive and territorial over you, that’s normal, but it’s also important to keep those feelings in check

Scenting can help with that too

“There’s also the issue of, uh,” Derek looks around awkwardly

He knew he would need to explain ruts at some point, and now that Scott found his mate, he needs to tell him before he gets his first rut

But he feels like now is really not the time or place

“What?” Scott asks with a blank stare

He really has no idea what he’s getting into

“Come by my place this weekend, I’ll tell you then.” 

“Okay,” he says, clearly antsy, glancing back at you, “if that’s everything can I-”

“Fine,” Derek sighs, warning him not to scare you, “and don’t come on too strong!” 

Scott opens the door, rushing into the room

In an instant, you feel yourself getting pulled back to your body as the scene goes dark

You open your eyes, lying on the table, Scott right next to you

“Oh, you’re awake,” he says, breathing an obvious sigh of relief 

“I’m… Scott, by the way,” he beams down at you, utter adoration obvious on his face 

“I know,” you smile, turning to the others, “Can we have the room?” 

It’s more of a statement than a question, and Stiles, Derek, and Deaton awkwardly shuffle out

You’re sure Derek will be able to hear everything you’re saying with the whole werewolf hearing thing, so you choose your words carefully, wanting to keep at least some cards close to your chest

You know there’s not much you’ll be able to hide from him, what with you being mates and all, but you’d like to be a little strategic about how you break some of this to him

He’s still gazing at you, beyond enamored, and it’s like his whole world has shifted

His center of gravity no longer rests an inch below his navel, now it’s wherever you are, and he feels himself swirling and orbiting around you 

You’re the center of his universe

You take his much larger hand in yours and his chest squeezes as the breath is pulled from his lungs

He smiles again, he’s been doing that a lot more around you 

“I know you’re a werewolf,” you start slowly

His stomach drops

“But it’s okay, I’m not freaked out or anything. I actually have something kind of weird to tell you too, but,” your eyes flick over to the door, “I don’t think this is really the ideal time or place.”

“Okay,” he breathes, waiting for you to continue so he can hear more of your voice, sweeter than honey and as soothing as a cozy blanket

“I know we can’t really be far apart because of the whole…” you motion between you two, “mate thing, so if you want we can go back to my place and catch each other up a little?” 

He stares at you as you talk, focus split between your words and how wonderful it is to be around you, and a moment after you’re done he agrees

“Yeah, there’s probably a lot to talk about,” he says with a chuckle

On your way out to the car, you send an incoming spell to your aunts with a quick flick of your wand

It’s a simple spell that tells the recipient something’s coming, mixed with a little bit of the sender’s intention and sometimes a short message, so they can tell if it’s anything dangerous or not

The message you mutter under your breath is “big news, we’ll be home soon, get ready” 

You tuck your wand back into your boot as Scott opens the door of Stiles’ jeep for you, helping you in and buckling your seatbelt for you

Your heart flutters a little at the gesture

Stiles gives you both a ride since he had been your ride over, now under significantly less stress than he had been during your previous drive to Deaton’s clinic

Scott is glued to your side the whole time, radiating heat against you

You’re both sitting in the back, and Stiles grumbles something light hearted about Scott already ditching him for you

A while later, Stiles drops both of you off at your house

It looks slightly out of place in beacon hills, with its looming victorian frame and tall turret protruding into the otherwise clear sky

Various lawn decorations and ornaments made of heavy metals and deep jewel tones (all enchanted and serving a purpose) decorate the yard, kept company by the occasional gnome 

The inside, as Scott will soon find out, is decorated in a similar fashion

Deep, rich jewel tones with eclectic prints and patterns, heavy velvet drapes, and a lot of celestial imagery and detailing cover every room, with books and nicknacks tucked away anywhere there’s space for them

You can sense your aunts freaking out a little, catching a spell book flying across the room through the window

They’re not sure what kind of trouble you got in so soon, but they’re ready to do whatever needs to be done to help you out

You open the door, and everything stops in its tracks

Most of it was out of sight, but you see a few things that had been floating about drop to the floor or skitter to their place on a table in a way that your aunts hope is inconspicuous 

They pause in their tracks about to greet you, when they see Scott

Both of your aunts, and the black cat sitting on the couch in front of a soap opera playing quietly on tv all stare at him curiously

After a moment, aunt Zelda’s eyes go wide in understanding, and she nudges Hilda, who catches on as well as you greet each other

Aunt Zelda addresses you, happy that your home, “and who is this?” she asks, motioning towards Scott

You smile

“Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda, this is Scott. He’s my boyfriend,” you say

Scott almost feels dizzy

He really likes being called your boyfriend, much more than he thought he could

He wishes he could hear you say it again

“He’s a werewolf.” you state simply

Scott’s eyes flare, and he looks down at you, what the fuck, dude?? Written all over his face

“Oh,” your Aunt Zelda says, trying to sound surprised

“Is he?” Hilda says rhetorically 

“So, he’s already familiar with all kinds of magic and supernatural stuff. It’s nothing new.”

They let out a sigh of relief, and all the magic that had been ground to a halt flies back to life

A pot in the kitchen starts stirring itself, the items that had been flying around make their way back to their places on shelves and drawers, a broom in the hallway begins to sweep up by itself 

Scott is sure the shock is evident on his face and you giggle, sounding like music from the heavens 

“Scott, these are my aunts, Hilda and Zelda. They’re witches.”  

“Oh,” he says, nodding

That makes more sense

“And I am also a witch. So,” you turn between Scott and your aunts, taking out your wand and flicking it with a swish. The book on the table in front of them flips a few pages, and the letters rearrange themselves with a glimmer into the word mates. Their eyes widen in understanding. “Now that all the cards are on the table, Scott and I have some homework to do, so we’re going to catch up a little and take care of that.” 

“Sure,” Zelda says with a smile, “let us know if you need anything, Scott.” 

“Peanut butter is in the pantry, and I think we have some bone broth in the freezer if you want to-” Hilda says, starting to make a gnawing motion before Zelda smacks her arm

You’d expect nothing less, and you’re relieved as Scott chuckles at the dog jokes

You start to bring him through the living room past the couch to go up to your room and talk a little

You’re a witch

You have a wand and (presumably) spell books and can do literal magic 

Okay, he can totally handle that 

He’s dealt with weirder stuff 

Honestly, he can feel deep in his bones that nothing can pull him away from you

This is nothing more than a slight curve ball

And he actually thinks it’s really fucking cool

He’s processing what he’s seen since entering your house, and it makes sense, he thinks

He’s sure he can handle this, he doubts after all that there’s anything else in the world that could shock him

You pass by the couch, and he hears a deeper voice let out a petulant whine

He turns his head, seeing the black cat who’s been sitting on your couch the whole time

“Is he going to make the whole house smell like wet dog?” 

The cat just spoke

“Gag me.” he groans with a roll of his eyes

“Salem!” you exclaim, dragging Scott away

Okay, maybe that will take some getting used to 

“Sorry about him,” you say as trails after you up the stairs. Your voice is low and intimate, and he feels that deep connection to you again

Everything in him pulls him towards you, towards you warm embrace

Then you gently hold his arm to guide him into your room, flashing a sweet smile his way that makes his chest squeeze and his stomach flip

He’s sure he can handle anything as long as he has you

[not-a-space-alien]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 9

Part nine of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

Sorry I've been slow getting these out--I've been suffering some writer's block due to some personal stuff I've got going on IRL. I'll admit that I'll probably be putting a liiiitle less effort into polishing the crossover fics from hereon out, but we got a lot of enthusiasm for them so I'm going to keep them coming even if they're a bit messy! There's still a lot of fun stuff in there imo :)

Also this ch is pretty long just because I couldn't find a good place for a chapter break!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Capture, dehumanization, nonconsentual bondage/restraint, gag/muzzle, mentions of rape and torture

In this chapter: Valen's fear of getting hatecrimed creeps towards plausibility, but even moving doesn't save Valen from an unexpected nightmare. Luckily this time, he has people looking for him.

***

It's unheard of for anyone to escape vampire territory after years of captivity, and a pretty big shock that another vampire helped him do it. Though it doesn't garner quite the response an inspirational solo escape story might, it's still an incredible tale of something really unusual and an unlikely alliance between humans and vampires, and the media eats it up. Jim does do several interviews about it, wearing the turtlenecks that have recently become his regular wear.

He's purposely vague about Valen, knowing that he doesn't want to be in the limelight. He doesn't even mention him by name. He doesn't mention Kane or any other vampire by name either, worried about Kane being able to find him somehow if he got access to human media. He's given a writer permission to write a book about his experience. She's not pushy like a lot of other journalists, and is intent on getting it right.

Life goes on. Jim helps Valen collect mushrooms. He goes vegetarian. Liz is back to patrolling. Liz makes Jim try therapy, but his preferred method of dealing with it is thinking about it as little as possible, so he drops it fairly early on. Talking with the writer is already pushing it.

Reporters will sometimes come to their house.  Valen is thrown into anxious spirals every time, terrified there’s going to be an incident.  But the visits die down over the first half a year. Jim doesn't reveal that Valen is living with him, but it's figured out anyway. People who know Liz and see her change from constant anger and depression to actually having some life back in her are grateful to Valen.  But many people who don't know Jim and Liz are more hostile: this is an area where a lot of people have been affected by vampire attacks, to boot. They're getting left angry notes.

Valen goes out with Jim during the day, since Jim is still nervous about leaving the house at night.  Valen is also nervous about leaving the house, so he doesn’t go to human stores or anything.  He either asks Jim to get him things, or goes back to vampire territory and just nervously looks over his shoulder for anyone from the Kithrara estate.

He goes out to get mushrooms, though. He keeps working on his project.  He avoids the media, unless someone contacts him directly and is really polite.  If humans approach him, he's very polite and doesn't dodge them, but he does excuse himself before too long.  He's not antisocial, but he is shy.  He likes spending time with Laken, Liz, and Jim, and will socialize with people they deem safe.

One day, Jim and Valen are getting ready to go gather mushrooms while Liz is fast asleep. It's getting hotter out now in the summer. Jim tosses Valen the keys to his car, since Valen is already ready to go. "Hey, can you start the AC running so we don't cook in there while I finish getting dressed? If you're cool with that."

"Sure thing, Jim, dear."  He secures his mask to his face, doublechecking that he's completely covered, and heads out, approaching the car in the driveway to unlock it and turn it on.

A man and woman are chatting idly while walking their dog on the other side of the street. When Valen comes out, the man hands the leash to the woman and encourages her to go home, crossing the street and approaching while she leaves.

"Hey!" he calls, looking pissed-off. "It's bad enough there's a vampire in our neighborhood being supervised, now you're out in broad daylight on your own?!"

Valen stops in his tracks and starts to back away.  "I apologize, sir, I'm not doing anything nefarious.  My-my associate is coming out shortly."

"Yeah, yeah, you saved the Lieberman kid. Well guess what, he's not the only one who lives here! You're scaring my wife, my kids won't play outside anymore!" He pushes Valen.

Valen stumbles back, scrambling back towards the house.  "I-I assure you I pose no threat to your family, sir, I've done n-nothing to pose a threat to them."

"You're a fucking vampire! You being here is a threat! Thought the hunters were supposed to protect us!"

Jim comes downstairs shortly, pushing the door open. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Keep that thing on a leash." The man spits and walks off.

"F-fuck off!" Jim shouts, but it loses its impact since the man is already leaving and Jim's voice always wavers when saying anything defiant. He runs to Valen, hugging him. "Are you okay?"

Valen's face is downcast, eyes on the ground.  "Um...Yes, I'm not, I wasn't in any physical danger..."  He sounds extremely disheartened.  "That man said his wife and children are afraid of me.  I-I wanted to say he should let me speak to them, so they could see there's no danger, but I doubt that would have been very well received."

"That's not the kind of okay I mean." Jim sighs. "I've been kinda... thinking. That maybe we should move or something. Somewhere more secluded, where you wouldn't have to worry about shit like that. Not too far away from Liz obviously, but y'know. How would you feel about that?"

Valen rubs his arm.  "That's probably for the best...but it feels bad they won't even give me a chance.  Is there really nothing I can do to win them over?"

"Prolly some people, but not all. Some people are always gonna have their heads in the sand." Jim wonders if his parents would've approved of him and Valen. He's pretty sure they would- Valen brought him back, after all, and they were wonderful loving people, but he can't know for sure. They hated vampires. He doesn't even know for sure if they'd approve of him being gay. He never got a chance to ask.

"You don't need that asshole's approval. I was thinking we could wait 'til the book comes out, Mindy said it'll only be a few more months. And then we could use money from that to find a place. Or we could use some of the stuff you took from Priscus, if you wanted to do it sooner, but that's your call."

Valen still seems downcast.  He wants to try and show everyone who he really is, but there is no way to do it without putting himself at risk and making everyone even more uncomfortable.

They end up buying the house and moving sooner rather than later, when Jim finds Valen crying over the latest hatemail he's received one too many times.  When he starts being too afraid to leave the house even at night, that's how he knows it's time to go.

Moving is easy with Valen's superior strength and Liz's truck.  The house isn't huge, but it's nice and cozy, and it has a basement with no windows.  Valen doesn't expect Jim to want to be down there at all, but it's nice to know it's an option if Valen ever wants to rest somewhere where there's no chance the sun can get him.

***

Their life there is cozy, until one day Valen doesn't come home.

Jim freaks out fast. Valen doesn't ever just not come home. And when Jim didn't come home, it was the worst thing that ever happened to him- even though it led to meeting Valen, one of the best.

He calls Liz first, of course. She has connections with other hunters, and the first thing he wants to rule out is that Valen's been killed. The worst-case scenario, and unfortunately, what he thinks is the most likely one. He can't stop crying. He wants to go to Liz, but he doesn't. He has to be home if Valen comes back.

Liz calls around, asking if anyone in various branches have seen a vampire matching Valen's description in the last day. The last two days. The last three days. She ends up on the phone with the director of a branch a day-trip away, who finally confirms that Valen has been seen. And he's alive. He's been captured, and he's being... experimented on for weapons testing.

Liz informs the director who Valen is, and politely asks to please let them pick Valen up today.

"I'm sympathetic to your story, but are you quite sure this merits release?" the director asks her.  "Live capture of vampires is quite a difficult feat."

Liz's heart pounds. There's no way she's leaving Valen there, but it would be a lot easier if he'd hand him over. "He's never hurt a human in his life. The opposite, he's actively saved a human from capture. He's accompanied me or my partner on hunts on a few occasions, when one of us was out of commission. He's working on synthesizing artificial blood vampires can live off of out of mushrooms. Hell, he's an innocent person. Those should all... merit release, right?" She's trying really hard not to blow up on him.

The director puts her on hold.  Then, a few minutes later, he asks if he can call her back, because he needs to discuss it with some other people in the branch.

"Yeah, of course. I'll- I'll be here. Please call back."

Liz calls Jim immediately- she doesn't stay on the line long, giving a quick summary and a location, wanting to keep the line open for when the director calls. Jim is on his way the second Liz gives him the info, gathering two blood packs and a spare change of full-coverage clothes and a mask in case Valen's own have been compromised. He needs to get there right now. He needs to save Valen.

He doesn't know whether he'll get there to people willing to give Valen back, or hostile hunters refusing to. He can't stop crying, hasn't been able to stop crying for days, but now it's making driving harder. Despite it, he goes as fast as he can.

The director calls back a while later--an annoyingly, stupidly long time later--and he says that he's talked to some people from Liz's branch of the hunter's guild.  There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Valen is not dangerous--but there are also testimonies from neighbors who lived in concern for their safety for quite a long time, and the director says that he has an obligation to protect the innocent people whose safety he has been entrusted with and can find no strong basis on which to support the release of this vampire.  He does say that Liz is free to appeal, which would start the process of gathering a committee to draft a resolution outlining under what circumstances a vampire can be released, since this is such a rare issue and there is no precedent for how to handle it.

Liz wants to pull her hair out. "Valen doesn't- he hasn't been neighbors with those people for years. He moved away when the concerns were initially raised. He keeps away from humans. But, yeah," Her voice breaks. This is the second time someone she loves has been kidnapped. "I wanna start an appeal. Can you at least just... not hurt him? He hasn't done anything. Please."

The director puts her on hold again.  Then when he comes back:  "I've phoned the hunter's base where he is and told them not to start any new experiments.  Thank you for your patience through this irregular situation."

"Thank you." She doesn't want to thank the bastard who approved Valen's torture, but being cordial to this man is now the most important thing. "Um, one more thing. My brother, he and Valen are, obviously close. He's kind of already on his way. Can you at least let him see Valen?"

The director hems and haws.  "I suppose that should be all right, as long as it's supervised."

"Thank you. Please keep me updated."

Jim arrives a few hours later. The things he brought are stuffed in his backpack, and he knocks hard and fast on the door until someone opens it. His eyes are red and puffy. When someone opens it, he cries, "Please don't hurt Valen! Please, he didn't do anything, please let him go!" before the other person can get a word in.

The person who answers is a gruff-looking woman with spiked hair.  She opens the door, is yelled at for a few seconds, and then looks bewildered.  "Wha-  Who are you?"

"My name's Jim Lieberman. Please. He didn't do anything, please let him go." Jim begs. "I swear to god, Valen is the kindest, most harmless person on earth, human or vampire. Please."

She huffs.  "Ah, shit.  Okay.  All right."  She opens the door and lets Jim in.  "Lex!" she calls into the building.  Her leg is in a boot, and she drags it across the floor into the next room, where another woman with bandages over her nose is sitting on a couch.  "Lex, I knew something was up with that fucking vampire.  Listen to what this guy is saying."

"I'm Jim Lieberman, Valen, the, the vampire you- kidnapped-" He's on the verge of tears, again. "He saved me. And he's never hurt anyone, ever. Please, you can't just- this is supposed to be what hunters are against. Kidnapping random innocent people. Please, where is he?"

Lex's face falls.  "Oh my god.  Okay."  She stands up and comes over.  "I'm sorry, Jim, we--We thought something was strange, so we brought him back alive, but then Nick wormed his way into the situation.  Has anyone talked to the director about this?"

"Fuck the director," Ari says.  "I'm making an executive decision of fuck the director."  She walks to the basement door with an unsteady gait and turns the knob, opening the door.  "He's downstairs."  Through the now-open door, Jim can hear Valen sobbing miserably and wordlessly calling out hysterically.

Jim runs down the stairs and straight to the horrible fucking cage with the love of his life inside. "Valen!" he sobs, tears spilling over again. "It's, it's gonna be okay, I'm here, I've gotcha."

Valen's tear-stained face breaks into an expression of relief at seeing Jim, and he sticks his hands through the bars as far as they'll go before the chains stop him. He is topless, wearing a muzzle, and already covered in burn marks.

There's a man at a desk catty-corner to the cage with the hysterical vampire inside of it. He looks up, irritated, as Jim enters. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Jim takes Valen's hands in his, holding them tight. "I'm taking him home. You- you need to let him go. Please." He takes a shuddering breath and repeats his story that worked on the hunters upstairs. "My name is Jim Lieberman. This is Valen, the vampire who saved me from spending my life as a bloodbag." He's so much more than that. "He's never hurt anyone. You're torturing an innocent person. Please fucking let him out of this thing."

"This creature is capable of killing me with a word. I think it will be staying right where it is."

Valen lets out a pitiful whine and tugs on Jim's hand.

There's a clomping sound on the stairs, and Ari appears coming down. "You're so full of shit, Nick. You're not even the one who got your ass beat bringing that thing here. We didn't take him here for you to play with, we wanted answers, and you're done dodging the issue."

Nick looks stormy.

Jim keeps holding Valen's hands. "He's not a thing or an it! Stop treating him like he's not a person! Of, of course he fought back, Valen wouldn't hurt a fly even if someone was screaming in his face, you were kidnapping him! Wouldn't you fight back? If you were him?" He looks up at the spiky-haired woman tearily. "Please help. Please let me take him home. Please, I love him."

Ari sighs and rubs her temples. "All right, I've spent the last two days sitting upstairs trying to decide how I feel about this situation, and this raving lunatic showing up here rabid about this vampire being innocent is enough to push me off the fence. Nick, give him the keys."

"I beg your pardon," Nick says, eyes narrowed.

"Give him the keys, let him take the vampire home."

"You have no authority to tell me to do that," Nick says hotly.

"Oh! You're right. Sorry." She unholsters her revolver and points it at him. "How about now?"

Nick narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Lex makes a "cut it out" motion across her neck to Nick, but Ari has already pulled the trigger and put a slug in the floor inches away from Nick's foot with a huge BANG, causing him to jump.

Jim screams and flinches hard when the gun goes off, eyes wide. He's not as terrified as Valen, but he's still terrified.

"The keys," Ari says brusquely.

Jaw set with hatred, Nick comes over and hands a keyring to Jim. He takes the keys from Nick and shakily unlocks the cage, reaching in and pulling Valen out.

"I've got you. I've got you. It's okay, we're gonna go home." He goes to take the muzzle off.

"Do me a favor and take that off after you get outta here," Ari says. "I'm sure this guy is safe for you, but he's none too pleased with us." She reholsters her gun and moves between Jim and Nick, staring Nick down.

Lex comes over and helps Jim lift Valen out of the coffin. "I'm sorry," she says tearfully. "This was a huge mistake, I shouldn't have let this happen."

Valen shakily stands between them on wobbly legs, tears streaming down his face

"I at least need to take the cuffs off so he can get dressed, it's still light out." Jim protests, holding Valen close. "What- what did you do with his clothes? I brought an extra change, but..." But you're fucking monsters. Even Kane didn't strip me.

Jim sniffles. "Valen's the gentlest soul on the face of the planet." He doesn't know if even Valen might be pushed to his limit by this and fight, but he wouldn't blame him if he did.

"Absolutely not," Nick says. "Throw a blanket over him or something. That's a safety hazard."

"Shut up, Nick," Ari snarls. "The keys for the cuffs are on that keyring too. Unlock him if you want." She pointedly does not answer the question of where his clothes went.

"I'm sorry," Lex says. "I didn't realize how messed up this was. Here, let me help you get them off."

Jim takes the hint that they've destroyed his clothes. Even Valen's cute plague doctor mask. He similarly avoids responding with anything meaningful to Lex's apology- it's not okay. None of this is okay. A teary "Yeah." is all he says to her.

He takes the cuffs off with Lex, swings his backpack around, and takes out the change of clothes he brought. "Here, lemme help you get dressed. You're gonna be alright. Goin' home." Jim maneuvers Valen into the clothes until every inch of him is covered, putting the mask on over the muzzle. "Brought some blood packs, too. You can take that thing off and drink in the car. Won't even be- won't even be light for long."

Valen allows himself to be manhandled in Jim's hands, safely bundled up back up, covered, armored, eyes glazed over and distant, barely responding.

"I really don't know what the director will have to say about this," Nick says maliciously.

A growl rips from Valen's throat, and he suddenly comes to life, ripping the mask off, hands fumbling with the straps of the muzzle.

"Shit," Ari says, and Lex backs away nervously.

Valen repels all the hands on him and rips the muzzle off with an animalistic snarl. Then he does something Jim has never seen him do before: he uses persuasion.

"Tell them what you did to me last night," he barks at Nick, eyes aflame, face crunched with his fangs bared.

Nick's gaze goes soft and distant, hypnotized. "I raped you."

"See what the director has to say about that," Valen snarls, and he grabs Jim's wrist and drags him up the stairs.

Jim cries out in anguish at the confession, horrified. He wants to go right back down there and sock the guy, but getting Valen as far away from here as possible as fast as possible is more important. "You f-fucking piece of shit! I'll kill you!" he screams back downstairs Valen drags him out, sobbing.

He hands Valen the backpack. "I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry it took me this long to find you. Fuck, I can't imagine- why would they do this?" It's not a real question. It feels like the universe is determined to have as much horrible bullshit as possible happen to him and the people he cares about. I don't know how Liz can believe in a loving god in this world.

Ari, it sounds like, is way ahead of Jim, because she also shouts "You fucking what?" And as they rush out and away from the scene, the sound of fists meeting face sounds out loud and clear from downstairs, accompanied by more enraged shouting.

Valen's enraged mask falls as soon as he's upstairs, and he lets go of Jim's hand, sagging against the wall and bursting into tears. He slides down to his knees, strapping his mask back on with fumbling hands.

Footsteps from behind them as the sound of Nick getting the shit beat out of him downstairs continues. Lex comes up, also in tears. "I didn't know he did that," she cries. "I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea he would do that."

Jim goes to stand protectively in front of Valen. Now that he has the damn muzzle off, they're safe. He doesn't need to hold back. "No, when you kidnapped him to torture him, you had no idea you were handing him directly over to a rapist! That makes it all fucking okay!" Jim yells at her. "What's wrong with you?!"

Lex shrinks back. "I didn't --it's compli--I'm sorry," she finally settles on. "I didn't--I thought he was, like, like--come on, you know what vampires are capable of, you know most of them are monsters!"

"Get- get away from us." Jim sobs. "You've done enough. Valen's not the monster here. You're the ones torturing people in an- in an evil lab."

Lex looks like she wants to defend herself, but before she can do so, Valen snaps,"Go back downstairs."

Lex's eyes go distant and she impassively turns and goes down the stairs.

Valen clings to Jim's knees. "Can we please go home now, Jim? Please?"

Jim's glad Valen can just use persuasion to make their exit smooth, even if the distant look he remembers from Kane's party still gives him the creeps. "Yeah, we're going home. Goin' home right now."

Jim helps Valen up and to the car, opening the passenger side door and ushering him in. "There's blood in the backpack, if you can get it under the mask. Here, actually." Jim takes off his flannel and hands that to Valen, too. "You can make a little tent if you don't wanna wait for sunset. We're going home. I'm taking you home. Not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again."

He gets in the driver's seat and pulls onto the road.

"Thank you, Jim. Th-thank you." Valen takes the flannel and curls up on the floor on the passenger's side, jamming himself underneath the glovebox and using the flannel as a blanket to cover himself. "I'm, I'm very grateful you thought to bring food, but I don't think I can eat anything right now."

"Yeah." Jim wipes his eyes as he drives, but more tears keep coming. "I thought, thought you were dead. That you might be dead. Liz's been calling all the hunter branches looking for you. I left as soon as we knew where you were. It's over now. He's not gonna get away with what he did t'you. I'm so sorry, Vale. W-what do you wanna do first, when we get home?" He hopes thinking about nice things like sleep in our own bed or take a bath might help him feel better. Grounded. Knowing he got out.

Valen sobs. "C-call Liz, I suppose. I was just walking, Jim, th-they didn't even give me a chance to talk, I know that's smartest for them so I didn't just use persuasion, but, but they didn't even give me a chance, Jim."

"They're awful." Jim agrees. "They're fucking awful. You're a damn teddy bear. You've never been a threat to anyone. I can't believe they just- they just took you."

He never wanted Valen to feel this way. What it feels like to get taken. And on top of that, the burns, and if that wasn't bad enough, the rape. As if Valen wasn't traumatized enough already, he can't be safe from it in vampire or human territory.

"We're gonna go home, and I'll treat your injuries, and you'll get all cleaned up and into some nice soft pajamas, and you'll be safe and sound." he promises.

Valen trembles on the floor of the car.  He's never felt this threatened by humans before.  Hunters, a little.  The bad neighbors, the potential for an angry mob to form--yes.  But he's never been so thoroughly terrorized by humans that any human feels like a threat.  He's...a little scared of Jim, somehow, inconceivably.  This must have been how Jim felt when Valen had saved him from Kane.

When they get home, Valen wordlessly goes down into the sunless basement, curling up underneath the stairs, still crying.

Jim calls Liz and lets her know what happened, and she immediately goes to come over. Jim puts the untouched blood packs back in the fridge, grabs a big fluffy blanket, and goes to the basement he seldom enters.

"Knock knock." he says softly. "Liz is coming over. She's gonna stay over a bit, make sure you're nice and protected." Since they weren't exactly supposed to take Valen. "Can I come down?"

Valen lets out a strangulated sob.  "Can--can you just give me a few minutes?  Can you maybe come back in twenty minutes?  Can you--can you lock the door and come back later?"

Jim is fucking heartbroken by how scared and miserable Valen sounds. "Course, whatever you want. Blanket incoming." He tosses the blanket over the side of the stairs. "I'll knock in twenty minutes, and if you don't want me down then either, it's okay. Lemme know if you need anything." His lip wobbles. He wishes he could take all the pain away, but he can't. "I love you." he says before he goes.

Valen just sits there, thinking about Jim, replaying in his mind the few days when they first met.  Valen saving Jim, comforting him.  The fact that the door is locked makes him feel secure--no one can get him.

He gradually starts to come down, and then he starts to want Jim.  He slowly gets to his feet and drags himself up the stairs the next time Jim knocks and opens the door.

He walks straight into Jim's arms, plonking his face in Jim's shoulder, sniffling.  "Thank you, Jim," he says, voice muffled.  "I love you too."

Jim holds Valen close, rubbing his back. "You will always be safe here." he promises. "I can't make the world less fucked up, but I can promise you'll always be safe in this house." Valen's made him feel safe for years. He's determined to do the same. "Liz'll be over in like, ten minutes. You want me to get some cream for your burns? Or you wanna just leave it to heal?"

Valen sniffles.  "Yes, please.  I would like it if you rubbed the burn cream on me.  I would like to see Liz.  Thank you."  He accompanies Jim to the bathroom.

Jim goes to take Valen's clothes off so he can see the injuries, but hesitates. "Can I see?"

Valen whimpers.  How had he not thought this far ahead?  This is Jim.  Jim is safe.  Jim has never been anything but safe.  But...it's going to take a while for this to wear off.  "I-I changed my mind, I don't want the cream that bad, I want to keep my clothes on.  Please don't take them off, I want to keep them on."

"Then they're staying on." Jim agrees. "Do you wanna put it on yourself?" But there are burns on his back, they'd be difficult to reach. "Or- if, if it makes you feel safer, you could hypnotize me and have me do it." It's Valen. He trusts Valen enough for that. "Or we can just forget about it and go wrap you up in a burrito on the couch."

Valen shakes his head.  The thought of using persuasion on Jim for anything but the most dire circumstances repulses him.  "Let's just leave them.  I would.  Would like to be a burrito."

"Then a burrito you'll be." Jim leads Valen back to the living room and bundles him up all nice and cozy, sitting right by his side.

Liz arrives shortly, bursting through the door and rushing over. "Valen!" she wails, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She thought it was going to be another someone she loves is taken away forever situation.

Valen hugs her back.  "I'm so glad you were able to f-find me, Liz, thank you so much."  He hiccups between words.  "I-I don't know what I would have done w-without you."

Without us you never would have been in human territory in the first place. "Well, you got us. You got us for as long as we live. I'm your own personal bodyguard for the next few days, 'til we're sure everything's settled down. I don't think anyone's gonna come after you, but if anyone does, the great thing about silver bullets is they work even better on humans."

Valen clings to Liz and Jim both a lot over the next few days.  They get word that Nick has been fired, apparently at the pushing of the two women who had met them at the compound, who reported to the director what they'd found out when Valen had used persuasion on Nick.  Those two hunters also try to contact Valen--they eventually get word to Jim that they want to talk to Valen to apologize, but Valen says he doesn't want to talk to them, and tells Jim not to give them their number.

Valen still doesn't eat for a few days, and only breaks his fast when Jim and Liz finally force him to sit down and eat something.  It's a long, long time before Valen works up the courage to go outside again, and the only time he does it by himself is at night, when he has to make his weekly trip back to vampire territory to buy blood.  He continues to work on his project--at one point, the formula is far enough along that he can cut down on his trips to load up on blood to once a month.

The work is slowed down by Valen's newfound fear of leaving the house that Jim had promised is safe. But it is safe, safe and secure and still more than he ever thought he could have.

***

@barebarb

@cc1010foxy

@emcscared-whumps

@gt-daboss

@hurtpluscomfort

@jakersdaboss

@lolrpop

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@pigeonwhumps

@secretwhumplair

@some-thrilling-heroics

@t0rture-me

@thecyrulik

@thejinglingcourtjester

@vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff

@whuarri

@whump-cravings

@whump-my-heart-away

@whumpycries

@wolfeyedwitch

@whump-addict

@why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists Discovered Roman Floor Mosaics in Bulgaria

Archaeologists discovered floor mosaics with early Christian designs and nearly 800 artifacts in the archaeological reserve of Marcianopolis in Devnya, in the northeastern part of Bulgaria.

The Roman town of Marcianopolis (present-day Devnya) in northeastern Bulgaria appears to have originated as a Thracian settlement. It was later inhabited by Hellenized settlers from Asia Minor and named Parthenopolis.

Roman Marcianopolis was established around 106 CE, following Trajan’s campaigns in Dacia to the north. The settlement was named after his sister, Ulpia Marciana. At the crossroads between Odessos (modern Varna), Durostorum, and Nicopolis ad Istrum, as well as the location of plentiful springs, Marcianopolis became a strategically important settlement.

Diocletian’s administrative reforms in the late third century CE divided Moesia Inferior into Moesia Secunda and Scythia Minor, with Marcianopolis serving as the former’s administrative capital. Marcianopolis experienced its most prosperous period during the middle of the fourth century CE. From 367 CE to 369 CE, the eastern emperor Valens used Marcianopolis as his winter quarters during campaigns against Visigoth incursions in the region. During this time, it served as the Eastern Empire’s temporary capital.

Floor mosaics with early Christian designs were found in the remains of a building. Archaeologists are not yet sure whether it was a public building or it belonged to a rich Roman citizen.

The tentative dating of the mosaics is in the first half of the 4th century AD.

The finds from the current archaeological season in Devnya contain another thousand bronze coins, several clay lamps and two clay vessels, which are awaiting scientific processing and restoration.

During the past archeological season, researchers restored bronze vessels discovered in the 1990s in a brick-walled tomb dating to the late 2nd – early 3rd century.

The vessels had a ritual use and were related to the personality of the person buried, Mosaic Museum director Ivan Sutev said in a statement to BTA.

They are richly decorated and the workmanship is exquisite, he added. The find includes a vessel for pouring liquids as offering to a deity, and a wine jug with a trefoil mouth (oenochoe). A simple kitchen pan was also found along with these. All this leads archaeologists to suggest that a Roman citizen of Marcianopolis may have been laid to rest in the tomb, but that he may have had more specific functions: a soldier, a cook, or even a priest, Sutev said.

Pottery that was discovered in the basilica’s environs during excavations in 2023 has since been restored. Among these are a mortarium vessel for liquids and an exquisite crater-shaped pot for liquids. These were located in the structure with the mosaic floors. Coins from the time of Emperor Theodosius II were also found scattered on the floor.

In 447, Attila’s Huns captured and destroyed Marcionopolis after conquering the entire Balkan Peninsula but failing to capture Constantinople. That is determined by 20 gold coins scattered on the floor of the building being studied. On one side of the coins is an image of Theodosius II, while on the other is the patron goddess of Constantinople. Among the coins discovered during the Marcianopolis excavations were those from the city’s founding in the second century. The latter are dated to the sixth century, around the time of Emperor Justinian.

By Oguz Buyukyildirim.

[katsigian]

𝔐𝔶 𝔇𝔞𝔶𝔴𝔞𝔩𝔨𝔢𝔯 𝔏𝔬𝔯𝔢 001. 𝔅𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔗𝔦𝔢𝔰

(Please keep in mind this is my lore specific to my original characters and is my own headcanon. It is not meant to be taken as canon or used for other instances)

First things first imagine this is how I look typing this:

Are you imagining it? Good, now picture Valen and Vesper, the two brothers, my two babies. Both daywalkers on their father's side, but in my worldbuilding, they maintain a lot of usual vampiric abilities. They're really more of a threat to full-blooded vampires, hence why you'll rarely, if ever, see a daywalker within a coven or family of vampires. Daywalkers are also sometimes called 'shadows' - outcasts and outsiders from regular vampire hierarchy. Daywalkers tend to be outcast early on in their lives, usually around their mid to late teens when their abilities begin to reach their strongest point [there's a whole storyline of why Callen had three whole daywalker children, but that's for a different post].

Anyways, one of those traits that are retained is the need to feed. Daywalkers, in my lore, still need to feed from a live source. Not as often as vampires, though, only about once a week rather than once a day, though some can hold off feeding for two weeks [but risk inducing a type of madness - again, for another post]. So, daywalkers won't heal without feeding from a live source, meaning they can actually die from their injuries if it's serious enough [I am getting so ahead of myself but y'all need background lore gjfjehdks].

That being said, daywalkers can still blood bond with their chosen donors just like full blooded vampires can. It's a highly intense emotional, physical, and mental connection that ties the two together for as long as they're alive. It works namely on the basis of hormones and brain chemicals tying the two together through shared releases of endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin. Although, there is a supernatural side to it that isn't fully understood - it's believed that daywalkers and vampires have so-called "special" platelets within their blood that, when provided to their mates, sustains that bond. There's a hint of mysticism to the entire process that research has yet to determine.

Blood bonding is a very deep, meaningful connection that affect both the donor and daywalker, though the donor usually takes on the title of 'mate' instead. Once the mate and daywalker have decided to bond, not only will the daywalker drink from the donor, but the donor will also drink from the daywalker. This process of sharing blood begins the bond and the more it's carried out, the stronger it becomes. The donor/mate does not need to consume the same amount of blood as the daywalker - a small swallow every couple weeks is plenty for a human mate, though a non-human mate [like a werewolf] can do it more often.

If either the daywalker or the donor were to pass away before their time, it would destroy the other; it's been noted in past cases that if the daywalker's donor were to pass away, the daywalker will soon follow. Usually by starving themselves, not wishing to ever drink from another.

Valen and Vesper both have their mates [non-human], their bonded donors. They can't feed from another without it tasting bitter and metallic. They can't be apart from their chosen lovers for very long without beginning to physically ache. They can pick up on their chosen lovers' emotions and sensations - they'll feel their anger, happiness, joy, sadness, adoration. They both can always tell roughly where their mate is, for example, they can sense when they're getting closer on the way home.

One of the more potent aspects of a blood bond is that Valen and Vesper can feel the enjoyment and pleasure from their mates during sex, including faint physical sensations. Their mates can also feel the same from them. The act of lovemaking is another way for them to strengthen that mental and emotional connection between them. [As a side note, sex is a great way for Valen and Vesper to scent mark their partners; having their partners smell like their natural, sweet/spice musk is very important to a daywalker as it marks them as 'theirs'] It happens very often that Valen and Vesper will feed from their mates during sex because the increased endorphins make the process more pleasurable.

Sex is great for enhancing blood bonds as it comes from a deeply primal and instinctual place which accounts for a lot of how a daywalker lives. Daywalkers are naturally very aggressive when it comes to baser instinctive actions and Valen and Vesper are no exception. Valen especially - he's an apex predator who tends to choose aggression first in any situation. Vesper has that same ability, but was not raised to be a weapon the way Valen was, and is much gentler.

The importance of all this is that when a daywalker blood bonds, they are choosing to open up the most sensitive and delicate parts of them to their mate. My daywalkers soften immensely in the presence of their mates, that blood bond made in such complete trust and loyalty and love that they have no fear being vulnerable with their mates. When Valen's and Vesper's mate/mating instincts kick in, they want to do the equivalent of rolling over and showing their stomachs to their mates. The blood bond opens up the doors to that emotional attachment and makes it very real for these predators, activating those mate instincts and helping them to be better partners for them.

[saibug1022]

Two Birds On A Wire

Word Count: 1.7k

Lincoln McQuoid/Aquino & Valen Ebony (ILITW MC), background mentions of Lincoln x ILW MC and Lucas x ILITW MC

A/N: Fun fact for those who don't know, for the second half or so of ILW I was actually on the dev team, first as a senior tester and then as a junior writer. As a result I got to program some scenes into my person copy of the game, one of which is this one! I finally turned it into a proper fic and I plan to do the same with a Dan x MC scene later so stay tuned

“Which reminds me,” Lincoln said with a small smile and a sidelong glance at Val. “I actually legally changed my name just a few days ago.”

“You did?” Abel replied.

“Yeah. I took my mom’s maiden name,” Lincoln nodded. “So I’m Lincoln Aquino now. I didn’t think I could handle that name following me around after all my father did, so…”

Val’s eyes fell to the ground at the reminder. ‘My’ father. Just a few weeks ago he wouldn’t have blinked an eye. But now it came with a bit of sting. Not that it wasn’t honest. Matthias had him only to be used. He’d never considered Val a son. Never kept an eye on him, probably didn’t even know his name. Only led Val’s friends to resurrect him to further his own plan. He wasn’t even the man on Val’s birth certificate. But that was why it stung. Technically it should be ‘our’ dad. But it never really was.

But if he was honest with himself, the lack of the word ‘our’ hurt less in relation to their father and more in relation to Lincoln. Val was no stranger to absent parents, so that wasn’t anything new. Siblings? Val was still wrapping his head around that. Lincoln was his brother. And neither of them had said a single thing about it, at least not to each other. They just kept dancing around each other and honestly? Val was perfectly happy with that.

If they never had a conversation Lincoln wouldn’t say the things Val was sure he was thinking. Val wasn’t just his half-brother, Matthias had him via an affair with Val’s mother (which they had a very spirited conversation about that involved some screaming, some crying, and threats of divorce). Val was a reminder of what a horrible person his, their, father was, and especially the horrible things he’d done to the mother Lincoln adored. Lincoln was a great guy. Val didn’t think Lincoln would blame him, even if Val would get it if he did. But he imagined it must be hard to look at him.

No matter Val’s own feelings, Lincoln seemed to be shedding his past, and Val couldn’t help the pride that overtook that little sting. It honestly sounded like a great idea. Not that Val really had anything to change his last name to. For just a moment he caught the eye of a certain ex-class president across the yard and couldn’t help a small smile. Maybe he would one day.

But for now, Val looked over at Lincoln with that same smile. 

“I think Lincoln Aquino is a great name,” He said.

“I agree,” Abel said. “You don’t need to carry something around that reminds you of him, especially not after what he did."

Lincoln’s smile turned sheepish as he looked at the ground. “Thanks.”

Abel paused abruptly, craning his neck and looking around. He must have found whatever he was looking for because a smirk appeared on his face for a split second before he hid it, clearing his throat and standing.

“I think Amalia is calling me over,” Abel told them. 

“What?” Lincoln glanced over at Amalia who was mid-conversation with Castor and Jocelyn. “No she’s not.”

“You two have fun!” Abel grinned. Oh that little shit. Val and Lincoln must have figured out what Abel was doing at the same time as they both spoke up.

“Wait-” Val objected as Lincoln simultaneously protested “Abel-!”

But Abel completely ignored their pleas and wandered off to Amalia, Jocelyn, and Castor, leaving Val and Lincoln alone at the fire. 

They sit there in an awkward silence, Val just messing with his necklace praying Abel would come back and give him an excuse to leave. He couldn’t just get up when it was just Lincoln, it would make it so obvious he was avoiding him. He switched to lightly biting the ring pendant on the necklace as he thought. He had to say something, right? Unless Lincoln was avoiding him too in which case maybe he should stay quiet for both of their sakes? Well unfortunately this silence was eating him alive

“So uh,” Val cleared his throat. “How’re you and Julian?”

Val knew the answer. He’d talked to Julian not even ten minutes ago.

“Good,” Lincoln replied. “We’re good.”

“Great.”

More silence. 

Eventually Val sighed. Obviously avoiding each other was getting nowhere and he had a sneaking feeling Abel not returning was on purpose.

“He’s probably right,” Val pointed out. “We should talk about this at some point.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lincoln admitted. “But what do you even say about this kind of thing?”

Val snickered. “What, you’ve got a secret bastard brother three days before your father dies trying to kill you both?”

“Don’t call yourself a bastard,” Lincoln snapped. Val’s eyebrows raised in a mix of shock and confusion.

“Why not?” Val wondered. “I mean, I am. Matthias obviously had me while he was still married to your mom. It was an affair, plain and simple. I, I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me for it.”

“Why would I hate you?” Lincoln questioned, genuine confusion on his face. 

“Because I’m living proof of your dad being a cheating asshole?”

“No.”

Lincoln turned in his chair to fully face Val and Val turned to meet him, the awkward tension of his shoulders turning to anxiety as he waited for whatever Lincoln wanted to say. Lincoln met his eyes and Val found he actually wanted to meet them. Whatever Lincoln said he wanted to truly absorb it.

“Look, I don’t really know what I’m doing here,” Lincoln confessed. “I have no idea how to be a brother. I screwed up the closest thing I had to it, bad. But I don’t think you’re a bastard.”

Lincoln’s face shifted from solemnity to rage. “If anyone’s a bastard it’s him. He had you just to use and then throw away when it suited him. It;s messed up and wrong and…and you deserve better.”

For a moment, Val didn’t know what he wanted to say. Even if he did he had a feeling the words would get caught on the emotions clogging his throat. This hadn’t been how he’d expected this conversation to go. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting exactly but he’d considered anything from indifference to disgust to full on hate. But what Lincoln was looking at him with felt more so like affection. Protectiveness. 

Lincoln leaned over and after a moment of consideration put his hand on Val’s knee and Val froze. Something felt fragile about this. Rather than two adults navigating a complicated a difficult family secret they felt like two hurt boys who more than anything were scared. Scared of their dad, scared of the monsters in the woods, and scared of the big feelings too complicated to understand. One wrong move could send one or both of them running but there was a gravity pulling them together and blocking out the rest of the world.

“This whole thing is messed up and weird,” Lincoln said.

“Us being messed up and weird too doesn’t really help,” Val commented.

“Not really,” Lincoln agreed. “I want to be part of your life, and I want you to be part of mine. We may not have grown up together but he took everything else from us, I don’t want him to take our chance to be brothers too. But only if you want that too.” 

Val was grinning so wide his face hurt, his vision blurred from slight tears. Val had never had a sibling, hell he’d never had family that wanted him. Connor was the closest thing he’d had. But here was Lincoln telling him that even with everything that had happened and their origins he still wanted to try to be Val’s brother. 

“I’d like that,” Val said. “I’d really like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Lincoln grinned too. 

“You being in Vegas might make it a pain though,” Val remembered. “Give me your phone.”

Lincoln unlocked his phone before handing it over. Val opened the contacts and entered in his name and his new phone number. Connor had helped him get a new phone finally, one that didn’t die fucking constantly. You handed Lincoln his phone back.

“There,” Val said. “And you better actually text me. I know technology isn’t your strong suit.”

“You talk to the twins too much,” Lincoln sighed.

“I’m gonna be talking to them way more now.”

“We’ve been brothers for five minutes and you’re teasing me.”

“I have twenty-two years of it to catch up on!”

“You have a point,” Lincoln hummed in consideration and glanced toward the cabin with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You’ve known your friends since you were little, right?”

“Oh no, no no no no,” Val shook his head. “This is backfiring fast.”

Lincoln barked out a laugh and Val joined him. The sound broke the fragility around them and Lincoln sat up, his hand falling off Val’s knee. But neither of them ran. Now the silence was comfortable and easy.

“You know,” Lincoln spoke up. “I don’t go back to Vegas until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Are you asking to hang out with me?” Val grinned.

“Maybe I am,” Lincoln smiled too.

“We’re definitely hanging out now,” Val declared. “I know where we’re going too. If you really want to learn about me as a kid we’re going to Pizza Mega.”

“That sounds like a place middle-schoolers hang out.”

“That’s because it is.”

The two of them conversed a bit about their schedules and picked a time, including some logistics before Val spotted Abel on his way back over so he stood up but Lincoln stopped him before he could walk away.

“I’ll see you around, buddy, okay?” Lincoln said and Val’s heart soared at the casual nickname.

“You’re damn right,” Val agreed.

With one more wave to both Lincoln and Abel. Val returned to the rest of the memorial.

[park-jimin-isnt-real]

𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝓶𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝓷

♡ pairing: jimin x reader (established relationship) ♡ rating: PG ♡ genre: fluff ♡ au: diner ♡ tw: very light swearing, some suggestive themes towards the end ♡ wc: ~1.1k ♡ track: Willow ~ Taylor Swift: “Wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark. Show me the places where the others gave you scars. Now this is an open-shut case, I guess I should’ve known from the look on your face, every bait-and-switch was a work of art.”

♡ summary: You texted your boyfriend in the middle of your workday, telling him it was going to be an emergency date kind of night. Jimin easily agreed.

♡ an: i created this one for myself with one of those online randomizers, and i love it. it may or may not be based on my actual life and dates with my actual husband (who, alas, is not park jimin). happy (late) valentines day everyone!! 14 Valen-tans Days masterlist ♡♡ main masterlist

"I'll meet you there, order my usual for me?" Jimin asked you over the phone. Technically, you were both supposed to be off of work at the same time, but while you had left on time tonight, he needed to stay after for a few more minutes.

"No problem, babe," you answered. "Love you!"

"Love you too! See you soon!" The call ended and you tossed your phone onto the passenger seat of your car.

You had texted him earlier telling him that work today was already going down the drain and you were going to need an emergency date tonight. Jimin responded quickly enough, agreeing with you and making fast plans to meet up at your usual date spot.

The diner was small, but their burgers were delicious. You had found it one night while walking around downtown and decided to take a chance on it. You dragged your loving boyfriend there the next night and you both agreed to make the diner your new take me out now place.

The food was good, the price was decent, and it didn't require much planning to go out there. Other dates you and Jimin had were more planned affairs, with reservations and fancier clothes that were usually on the floor by the end of the night.

Burgers were fast and easy and comforting.

You ended up parking a block away due to the limited parking space near the diner. You didn't really want to walk, your feet hurt from all the running you had already done around the office today. Sighing, you kept a firm hand on your shoulder bag and forced yourself to trudge through the pain.

One of the workers greeted you with a smile as you walked in. You and Jimin had been here enough that most of the employees were on a first-name basis with you two, and knew at least Jimin's order. When you originally found the place, you both explored the menu to see what you liked the most. Jimin quickly found his preferred meal, but you had a few you rotated between.

"Hard day at the office?" Minsu, the cashier working tonight, asked as you approached the counter.

"Is it that obvious?" you responded. She gave you a sympathetic smile.

"Is Jimin coming?"

"Yeah, he'll be here in a few minutes." Minsu nodded and keyed in his usual. "I'd like a mushroom swiss burger tonight, please, with bacon." You reached into your bag to pull out your card.

"Wow, you really had a bad day today." She swiped your card. "You only add bacon when you want to treat yourself. I'll have the guys throw in some extra fries for you, too."

"Minsu, you are a saint, thank you." She handed you your drinks and you went to place your bag down at your usual booth. A moment after, another worker, Eunjung came and dropped off a platter of french fries for you. You thanked him and began digging into the plate of carbs and starches.

You were tired, and hungry, and very much wanted Jimin to just arrive already. You had only gotten off the phone with him a little bit ago, and he was probably on his way to you right now, but you missed him.

Between both your work schedules and your school schedule, you didn't see much of each other even though you lived together. It had been a while since you'd actually spent time together, and part of you thought that might've been part of the reason why you requested this emergency date.

You needed him, and you knew he needed you.

(Part of you also wondered when he was going to pop the question, but that was a daydream for another day when you weren't so tired).

"Hey, beautiful," a familiar voice said, drawing you from your thoughts. You looked up into the sweet eye-smile of your loving boyfriend. His eyes left yours to glance down at the table. His smile quickly turned into a pout. "You ate all the fries."

"Nuh-uh! I left you some!"

"You left me five!"

"That's some!" Jimin rolled his eyes at your antics and sat down on the opposite side of the booth from you. The burgers arrived a moment later, each being placed in front of you.

"More fries, please, Eunjung," Jimin asked the waiter, who nodded and headed back to the kitchen. Your boyfriend sipped his drink, then smiled at you again. "Alright, tell me about this shitty day you had. I assume it started with Jiyeong?"

"Everything starts with fucking Jiyeong!" You burst into your story, food nearly forgotten, as you told Jimin about the office drama. He listened intently, as he always did, as he took bites of his burger and snacked on the second round of fries.

He was nearly finished with his food by the time you were finished, and you swapped roles as he took his turn telling you about his day and you finally ate. You listened just as closely as he had to you, along with being grateful to get some actual nutrients into your body.

You both fell into comfortable silence when Jimin finished with his tale, each of you finishing the last few bites. You felt significantly better than you had before you'd arrived, and you wondered how much of your frustration was fueled by hunger. "Dessert for our troubles?" Jimin asked you playfully.

"Depends," you answered, returning his look, "do we have to share it?"

"No, I am definitely getting my own after what you did to the fries."

"I left you some!"

"You left me five!"

"That's some!!" You both dissolved into fits of giggles, all of the earlier tension from the day having completely melted away. After a moment, you caught your breath and simply looked at him. "I love you."

Jimin smiled brightly, his eyes turning into the crescents you loved so much. "I love you too, beautiful. Come on." He stood up and offered a hand to help you, which you graciously took. "Let's pick up something on the way home, and then cuddle and watch a movie together, yeah? Finish this emergency date off with something comfortable?"

You walked hand in hand out of the diner, waving goodbye to Minsu and the others. "We could do that," you said. "Or, you could pound into me for three hours." Jimin laughed at that.

"Is that so?"

"You did promise me last week that you would."

Jimin met your eyes with a mischievous gleam in his, and a wicked smirk set upon his lips. "Well then, beautiful, I suggest we get home rather quickly."

tagging: @daydreamer-writing

thanks for reading!!

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Friday, August 16, 2024

august 3_august 16

VENERABLER ISAAC, DALMATIUS AND FAUSTUS ASCETICS OF THE DALMATIEN MONASTERY, CONSTANTINOPLE (5 th.c.)

Saint Isaac (May 30) was a soldier before he became a monk. After he was tonsured, he attained such a degree of spiritual perfection that he was accounted worthy of beholding divine visions.

When Saint Isaac heard about how the Emperor Valens had fallen into the Arian heresy and was persecuting the Orthodox Christians, he left his monastery and traveled to Constantinople to confront the emperor. At that time Valens was planning a campaign against the Goths. Saint Isaac tried to change the emperor’s mind several times, but was unable to convince him. He prophesied that Valens would die in flames because of his actions. The emperor ordered that Saint Isaac be thrown into prison, and promised to deal with him when he returned from his expedition. On August 9, 378 Valens was defeated at Adrianople and died in a fire after hiding in a barn, just as the saint had predicted.

Emperor Theodosius the Great, who had a great love for the saint, released him from prison and banned Arianism. Saint Isaac attended the Second Ecumenical Council (381), where he defended the Orthodox Faith against the Arian heresy.

Saint Isaac hoped to return to his monastic life in the wilderness, but a wealthy man built a monastery for him at Constantinople, and he became its first igumen. The monastery was later named for his disciple Dalmatus.

His son Faustus supported his father in everything and, after a godly life, died peacefully in that community.

HOLY MYRRH-BEARER SALOME

Saint Salome (Salómē) was the first cousin of the Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. She was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James (April 30) and John (September 26). She was one of the women who followed Christ and ministered to Him from their own means, even until His Crucifixion and Burial. On the third day they went to the tomb to anoint His body, they did not lose their faith in Him, nor did they fear the Jewish rulers.

It was Salome who asked the Lord to let her two sons sit, one at His right hand, and one at His left (Matthew 20:20-21), for she thought that Jesus was about to restore the throne of David at Jerusalem. During the Lord's Passion, when His disciples and friends hid themselves from fear, Salome and the other faithful women remained by the Cross, beating their breasts in sorrow (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Mark 16:1-8).

Salome was also one of the Myrrhbearering women to whom the Angel revealed Christ's Resurrection. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Salómē continued to distinguish herself by her zeal and her almsgiving.

The persecution of the Jerusalem Church caused Salome great sorrow. Her final heartbreak was when Herod beheaded her eldest son James (Acts 12:2). But Christ strengthened her, and in the hope of resurrection to everlasting life, she surrendered her soul in peace.

Source: All texts Orthodox Church in America_OCA

 1 CORINTHIANS 11:8-22

8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. 13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. 17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

MATTHEW 17:10-18

10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. 14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.