#other brother moved in with you! sorry circumstances led to me staying longer! just say no!

[camsthisky]

"you’re not alone . you’re stuck with me forever . sorry . ” + Jason and Dick (and anyone other family member)?

“Everyone okay?” Dick croaks as the dust and rubble settles around them. He’s lying on his back, kept still by something pinning his legs down. He doesn’t dare assess himself quite yet. “Hood? Batgirl?”

“Okay,” Cass says, and Dick watches as she stumbles over to him, looking dusty, but relatively alright. She kneels next to him with a frown. She meets his eyes—well, relatively since they’re both wearing masks—and asks, “Okay?”

Dick grimaces. “Not really.” Louder, he calls, “Red Hood?!”

“Here, here,” Jason says, coughing into his fist. He’s missing his helmet and there’s a gash sluggishly bleeding from his right cheek, smearing a trail of blood down his face. He’s also limping, but only slightly.

“Can you move?” Cass asks Dick as Jason pulls out his flashlight.

Dick winces at the sudden light, his mask having already automatically switched to night vision. He huffs. “Jay. Off.”

“Names.”

Dick scowls. “The light.”

“Deal with it,” Jason snaps. “My night vision isn’t working.”

Dick turns off his own night vision feature, if only to not be blinded by the damn flashlight if it passes over his eyes again.

That’s when Jason’s flashlight lands on where Dick is pinned.

“Crap,” Jason breathes.

“Can you move them?” Cass asks, sounding a touch more impatient, and Dick realizes that Cass has already asked once. “Your legs.”

“No,” says Dick, just barely trying. He’s tired, but he knows that time is up. He can’t get away with ignoring his own situation any longer. Probably shouldn’t have even waited this long. His legs are tingling from lack of blood flow, mixing with a sharp pain shooting through them both. Still he’s lucky, because—“I can still feel them, though.”

“We’ll lift,” Jason says to Cass, who nods. Dick closes his eyes and braces himself for the inevitable pain of rubble being lifted off his crushed legs.

“Hhh.”

The sounds he makes is nothing more than an agonized hissed through his teeth, and Dick can’t help the cold sweat that sweeps across his body in a slow wave as his siblings manage to move the slab of—wall, maybe? who knows, really—from where it’s crushing his poor legs.

Something taps against his shinbone and then his kneecap.

“Stop, stop, I feel it,” Dick gasps, bringing his legs up in a protective curl as pain throbs through most of his lower body. His left hip hurts like hell, and his every muscle, bone, and tendon feels like they’ve been squeezed and then flattened like a pancake. He rolls over onto his side so he can bring his knees up to his chest, to wait out the lingering intensity of the pain.

“Breathe,” Cass says.

Dick breathes.

He closes his eyes and blocks out everything and, again, just breathes. His siblings let him.

When he has a better grasp on his agony, Dick finally relaxes. The world filters back in. Cass is running fingers through Dick’s dusty hair (something she one hundred percent learned from Bruce, because only a select few know how much the motion tends to calm him down).

On the other hand, Dick blinks his eyes open to find Jason agitatedly pacing.

“The hell?” Jason murmurs, his flashlight whipping back and forth with his movements as he surveys their surroundings. “Did we get completely sealed in?”

Dick wishes desperately he would stop. Even without night vision, Jason’s impromptu strobe light effect is causing Dick’s head to ache. Instead of saying this, he hums contemplatively. “Wonder if there’s a signal this far down.”

Jason huffs, not slowing in the least. He’s searching for something, and dear god does Dick want him to find it already. “You’re the one with the comms in your ear. You try it.”

They’re in the sewers, is the thing. And while Bruce and Babs have designed the comms system to work incredibly well, even in the sewers, the signal still needs to be able to make it to the system in order to be functional.

With the three of them sealed in this place, seemingly with no way out, pretty deep in the sewer system where they had been disabling bombs throughout the city, Dick isn’t optimistic about their chances of getting a signal.

(They’d just been a few seconds too late for that last bomb, which unfortunately led them to their current circumstances.)

While Jason grumbles, Cass activates her emergency signal and the comms. She calls out, “Batman? Oracle?”

Jason shuts up for the five seconds before Cass looks between both Dick and Jason and shakes her head.

Dick lets out a slow exhale through his nose. He hadn’t really held out much hope for that anyways.

Jason groans. “Holy batcannoli, I can’t believe we’re stuck down here. And where’s my hecking helmet?!”

Cass helpfully points to the rubble sealing them in. Jason kicks a rock with a yell. Dick sighs.

“Well, at least you’re not alone down here,” Dick says as optimistically as he can—although, given the circumstances, it does fall a little flat.

Jason snorts. “Right. Sure, Batgirl is an asset, but you’re a sack of bruised bones right now. That’s not helpful in the slightest, Dickface.”

Dick’s eyelashes flutter of their own accord. He hums. “Too bad. Looks like you’re stuck with me. Sorry.”

“Dick,” Cass says, her fingers tracing lightly over his face. “Stay awake.”

“I am awake.”

“You’re starting to—” Cass pauses. Dick can’t see the look on her face, because somehow, his eyes have fully closed without his permission, and he can’t seem to find the strength to open them again. “—to slur.”

The sounds of Jason’s pacing stop. Silence rings loud in their sealed section of the sewers. Then, “Did he hit his head?”

“Not sure,” Cass answers.

“Dick,” Jason says, sounding quite a bit closer, like he’s maybe crouching down next to Cass or something—but Dick hadn’t heard him move, and Jason’s boots are too clunky to not make sound against the concrete. “Dick, did you hit your head?”

Dick’s eyebrows furrow, but he doesn’t open his eyes. He doesn’t remember hitting his head. The only thing he clearly remembers about the blast is heavy pieces of rubble crushing his legs. “Maybe?”

“Great,” Jason says. He’s pulling out his I’m-rolling-my-eyes-at-your-ridiculous-incompetency voice. “So my bruised bones of a big brother probably also has a concussion. Just great.”

“It’s not his fault he’s injured,” Cass tells Jason. “He was disarming the bomb.”

Which means Dick took the brunt of the blast when it was remotely activated.

Dick really means to tack onto Cass’s statement, maybe tease Jason a little and try to reassure both his younger siblings that not everything is hopeless, because he’s the best big brother ever, of course.

Only, he can’t find the strength to open his mouth and talk. Instead, the voices around him become watery, distorted, and Dick’s head flares in pain.

When unconsciousness comes to take him, he doesn’t resist.

—

“—manage to even find us in the first place?” is the first thing Dick hears as he swims back to consciousness. Jason almost sounds relieved.

“The seismic device didn’t just affect the sewers,” someone replies. It takes a lot of effort for Dick to recognize it as Tim. “A couple buildings partially collapsed, and since we knew the three of you were down here, it was a good starting point to look when none of you would answer the comms.”

“Huh,” is all Jason says.

“Nightwing,” Bruce says, startling Dick from the dazed lull he’d been in as he listened to his brothers talking. He opens his eyes, blinking up bewilderingly at what he can see of Bruce’s face behind the cowl.

“B?” Dick murmurs. He doesn’t move, yet, from where’s curled on his side, but he feels an abortive twitch of his fingers at the reassuring sight of Batman. “‘S goin’ on?”

“What do you remember?”

Right. Bruce did not give easy answers. Life is a series of puzzles, Dick Grayson, fueled by none other than Bruce Wayne himself.

Dick frowns and casts his mind back. “The wall blew up,” he decides. “I got hurt?”

He’s only half sure about that last one, but considering his position on the ground, the throbbing in his head and hip, and Bruce’s concerned dad frown that’s taking over his Batman grimace, Dick thinks that he’s probably on the right track.

“Concussion,” Cass says, startling Dick when she pops her head over Bruce’s shoulder. “Also, ‘a sack of bruised bones.’”

That—sounds familiar. He thinks he remembers Jason saying something like that.

Bruce’s frown gets deeper. “Straighten your legs.”

“Please,” Dick tacks on for Bruce when he lacks the manners to be nice, basically on instinct at this point, even as he—slowly, and with a great deal of agony—does what Bruce tells him to do.

They go through a couple more tests, until finally Bruce, unhappy, deems, “We need to move you.”

Dick blinks when Bruce turns away to murmur something to one of the others. A conversation washes over him, and Dick can’t help but let himself tune it out. The noise settles as vague humming—indistinct and comforting.

“—two, three,” Bruce says as Dick’s entire vision goes white.

He only manages to come back to himself in increments.

There are arms holding him tight. Familiar murmurs in his ear. The comforting sound of Batman’s heavy cape brushing against concrete.

“—there, Chum,” Bruce is saying, and if Dick had the capability, he would have teased Bruce for pulling out both the concerned dad frown and the concerned dad voice in one night.

As it is, the only thing that comes out of his mouth when he opens it are harsh pants for air. Every step jostles him, and agony is his constant companion throughout the entire journey to the surface.

Somehow, Dick is still conscious when he’s laid down in the backseat of the batmobile. He’s grateful he’s not moving anymore, and carefully doesn’t think of the upcoming ride back to the Cave.

He only really starts to relax when Bruce settles the cape over him. Wrapped up inside it, Dick almost feels like he’s ten years old again. Batman’s has always felt like warmth and protection and home. This time is no different.

“Batgirl and Robin, keep Nightwing as still as possible. Red Hood, in the front. Start updating Oracle.”

“Why do they—”

“You’re too bulky, Hood. Me and Batgirl are smaller than you. It’s still going to be a tight fit, but it’s the most comfortable for everyone this way.”

“Whatever.”

“Enough. Car. Now.”

There’s lots of careful but hurried scrambling. Dick thinks he passes out a few times on the way back. He doesn’t remember much, either. Just bits and snatches here and there—His siblings talking to him, Bruce giving orders, Jason being snappy and unwittingly dragging Tim into an argument.

And then—he wakes up. A lot more clear-headed than he’d felt the last time he’d been conscious (though, that wasn’t saying much).

To Dick’s surprise, he’s on his side again, dressed in sweats with a pillow between his legs. He opens his eyes to the Wayne Manor living room, and—yes, he’s on the couch. The curtains are drawn, but it’s clearly sometime past sunrise.

Bruce is sitting cross-legged in front of him, reading a book.

“Bruce?” Dick calls, his voice still somewhat slurred. “Why’m I on the couch?”

“You started crying when I said you had to stay in the infirmary,” Bruce tells him, grabbing a bookmark and setting his book off to the side.

Dick frowns. He doesn’t remember that. Still, he manages to say, “You’re such a pushover.”

“How do you feel?”

Dick blinks a dozen times in a row, trying to assess his body and keep up with the change in subject. “Kinda woozy. My hip hurts a lot.”

“Hn.”

“Think I need to brush up on my Bat speak,” Dick murmurs. “Dunno what that one meant.”

Bruce hums again. “You’re incredibly lucky. We’ll need to be careful for the next few weeks.”

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?”

“Crush injuries to your legs and left hip. Not overly severe, and we managed to stabilize you once we realized you were in shock.”

Dick thinks about that for a second. “Concussion? I’m pretty sure I remember something about a concussion.”

“It’s mild,” Bruce tells him. “It was the shock that was the real problem.”

“Oh.” Dick sighs into the pillow under his head. “I’m tired.”

Bruce gives him a soft smile, just slight enough that if Dick hadn’t been so familiar with Bruce’s microexpressions, he would have thought he’d been mistaken. Fingers lightly card through his hair, and Dick’s eyes start closing of their own accord.

“Then sleep,” Bruce says.

Dick sleeps.

[nejibaby]

Memories

Pairing: Neji x Fem!Uchiha Reader

Summary: There are a lot of terrible things that have happened to you as an Uchiha that you wanted to forget. But with Neji’s help, you’re able to move on and move along. Things have started getting better for you, however, once the Fourth Shinobi War was declared, time seemed to start running out.

Word Count: 2.1k

Memories - Part 1 | Deja Vu - Part 2

A/N: I didn’t exactly follow the plot and somehow it turned so angsty 🙈 Please let me know your thoughts~

There are memories you hold so dear that you refuse to have them tainted no matter what. Most of those memories are of the times you spent playing or training with your brother Shishui, his best friend Itachi, and Itachi’s brother Sasuke. Those times were the golden days for you; the best of the best, if you may.

Conversely, there are also memories that you just wish would disappear. They’re the memories of incidents you wish didn’t happen at all. They’re the type of memories that you push at the back of your mind, because you believe that if you think about it or even spare a single second for it, then it’ll be more real. Because you’re in denial. You’re in denial not only about the death of Shisui, but also of the Uchiha clan.

But then there’s a single memory you have that always stands out. It’s a memory that you both want to forget and remember.

The tragedy of the Uchiha clan had changed the only survivors — you and Sasuke. You had already started changing a little because you had to deal with your brother’s death, but seeing the horrible scene in the clan’s district had been the icing on top.

Your drastic change had been evident on the day you came back to the Academy after you were discharged at the hospital. What once was a girl full of life had become an empty shell.

The moment you sat down entered the room, people had started talking. Mostly it’s just about asking someone else if you were an Uchiha or if they know about the clan’s misfortune. They were meaningless chatters so you easily drowned them out.

But there was a comment that had reached your ears. “Why is it such a big deal? People die anyway, it just so happened her clan died on the same day.”

The comment kept ringing inside your head but then someone beside you spoke up, “Don’t you have anything else better to do than talk about someone else’s life?”

He was met with silence so he continued saying, “People die everyday, it’s a fact. Some die because of illnesses, some because of old age, some because of poverty, accidents, or murder. As shinobi, we can die in the line of duty. But that doesn’t make death any less painful to the one left behind.

“If your family is alive, then good, but maybe use that brain of yours because logic says not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

Naturally, you want to forget about the unsolicited comment of your classmate, but you want to remember that among the students inside the room, one boy had stood up for you. Quite frankly, you needed his saving that day. Otherwise, you would’ve beaten yourself up for mourning too long.

And when you realized who that boy was, his words weighed even more. Because Hyuga Neji was a boy notoriously known for thinking that everyone’s fate is predetermined from birth and that luck plays absolutely no part in it.

“Not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

And for a hot minute he had abandoned his belief as he stood up for you.

It sounds hypocritical if you think about it.

But maybe just as he had saved you, you had opened his eyes just a little bit and helped him see that his beliefs were skewed too. In a way, you had helped each other, at least you hoped.

It’s because of that day, that memory, that you find yourself gravitating towards Neji.

It isn’t attraction at all at first, more like genuine curiosity about him and his life. But you didn’t get to know him further until the Chunin exams where he had disclosed the way of their clan. It’s at that time where you understood why he acts the way he acts.

You can’t help but wonder about how two clans with almost similar circumstances— both with kekkei genkai, both living in Konoha, both considered to be one of the strongest clans in the shinobi world— could have completely different ways of living. One clan is almost completely annihilated, while the other has slaves of their own blood. And if you’re being completely honest, you aren’t exactly sure which is better.

You have gotten the urge to talk to him after hearing his story, although you really didn’t know what to say. But then the chance never came up because of the chaos orchestrated by Orochimaru.

After the Chunin exams and the attack of Orochimaru, you hadn’t heard of Neji for a while since you’ve been tasked to help with the repairs of the village. And when you did hear about him, it was terrible, terrible news.

Sasuke left the village to seek power from the very person who just wrecked havoc in Konoha. His leaving alone left you in despair. What Itachi was to Shisui is exactly what Sasuke means to you, and him doing such a thing without even letting you know makes you feel like a failure both as a friend and as a family.

The news didn’t end there, however. Apparently the squad that Shikamaru had led to retrieve Sasuke had been severely injured and were on the brink of death — one of them being Neji.

You remember feeling guilt and regret burning your skin. You remember the shame of not being able to save Sasuke from the darkness and not being able to help the retrieval squad in any way. You blame yourself for the horrible things that happened.

Since then, you have made it a point to visit the squad in the hospital every day, making sure you apologize and thank them for their service. But admittedly, it’s Neji that you always stay with longer.

It’s not that you aren’t comfortable with the others, they’re really nice and easy to get along with. But they always have other visitors with them, mostly their team members and relatives. Neji, on the other hand, didn’t get as many visits since his other teammate, Rock Lee, was also injured because of his fight with Gaara. So Tenten and Guy sensei would switch visits between the two every other day.

Besides that, his clan members rarely ever visited. And you didn’t want him to be alone in such trying moments, especially when you didn’t get to do anything to prevent this from happening.

As closed off as Neji is, because of your constant visits, you have found a way to worm yourself into the walls he put up. And by the time he’s discharged from the hospital, you somehow became close friends.

From that moment on, you find yourself coming to Neji on times that you’re in despair and in doubt. You trust him enough to tell him your stories, worries, and fears because he doesn’t judge you. And he does the same with you.

Neji listens when you want him to listen, and talks when you need him to talk. He’s quite level headed and very much rational, and because of that he gives the best advice.

With him, you find yourself healing and growing. With you, he finds himself learning to forgive.

Neji easily makes you see things in a different way; a different light; a different perspective, and helps you become a better shinobi and a better person in general.

For you, Neji has such a comforting aura. While he’s sometimes cold and stoic around others, with you, he softens up. With you, he’s gentle; careful even. And it’s because of this that you find yourself admiring him more and more.

But before anything could happen — before you could even confess — the Fourth Shinobi War was declared.

Just like that, time seemed to start running out. And you have lost all hopes of being together with Neji as a lover rather than a friend.

The war is awful. Quite frankly, it overwhelmed you too much, too easily. The bodies lying on the floor with dried out blood reminded you of the massacre of the Uchiha clan. But the only person who’s able to calm you down and help you move along is Neji.

The both of you fight side by side, always nearby Hinata in case she would need help. When the night comes and the enemies cease their attack, it’s your turn to talk Neji into relaxing a bit because he’s started straining his eyes from too much use. And because it’s you who asked and it’s you who’s there with him, he knows he and the rest of the Allied Forces are safe, so he rests.

But somehow chaos ensues and in the middle of it, you both get separated. You’re worried deeply, but you trust his skills and his strength, and you know you’ll be reuniting with him again.

And reunited with him you did. But when you have found him once again, he’s blocking out the Ten Tails’ attack with... his body.

With desperation, you transported to his side as quickly as you can. Summoning your last bits of chakra, you use Susanoo to protect him, Hinata, and Naruto. The last thing you remember is the look of relief on Neji’s face, but before it could morph into worry, you have already blacked out.

By the time you have woken up, you’re in Konoha’s hospital. The first thing you see is Neji resting his head on the side of your bed, peacefully sleeping, looking as angelic as ever.

Your body aches with every breath you take, even more so with little movement. But you didn’t let that deter you from weaving your fingers along the Hyuga’s hair. He stirs almost immediately and then he opens his pretty eyes. He sits up upon seeing you.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” You softly ask.

He doesn’t respond to your question. “You’re awake,” he sighs in relief. “You’re finally awake. Let me go call Lady Tsunade and Sakura.” He stands up.

But before he can even take a step, you grab his wrist. “Stay,” you mumble.

Neji looks at you, reading your face. But then he nods and sits.

“Is it over?” You ask.

“Yes, the war’s over.”

“What happened after?”

“It’s a long story… but tell me, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling fine. My body aches, but it’s not a big deal.”

“What do you mean it’s not a big deal?!” Neji looks upset that it takes you by surprise. “Do you remember what happened? Didn’t you know you almost died?! You almost used up all your chakra to use Susanoo! That’s so stupid and reckless!”

His aggressive tone effectively gets you angry. “I did it for you!” You snap. “Of course I remember what happened! Even if I want to forget, the memory is branded in my mind! You fucking wanted to use your body to shield Naruto from that attack, didn’t you? How is that not stupid and reckless? Huh?”

Neji’s chakra flares up as he clenches his jaw. Yet, he doesn’t speak.

You breathe out, trying to calm down. You rarely ever fought with Neji and he’s never really raised his voice to you. With your body still tired and aching from the war, you didn’t want this conversation to escalate further so you try to diffuse the situation before it blows even more out of proportion.

In a low voice, you speak, “I was so scared, Neji. I didn’t want to lose you. I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved.”

A tear falls down from your eye and Neji’s heart breaks at your forlorn state. “I don’t want to lose you too. I can’t…” you squeak. “I love you so much, I can’t lose you.”

Neji’s breath hitches at your declaration. He could hear his heart drumming against his chest.

You love him?

He doesn’t know if he heard you right or if his mind is just playing tricks on him. It happened before. He’s loved you for so long… and there have been plenty of days he dreamt of hearing you say you love him too. And right now he isn’t sure if this is the reality or just another one of his dreams.

As if you’ve read his mind — like you always seem to be able to do — you repeat your words. “I love you, Neji.”

It’s the confirmation that he needs. And hearing your words knocked the wind out of him. “I… I…” he starts saying.

But you’ve taken his stuttering and his pale, panic-stricken face as a sign of an incoming rejection, so you look down instantly and say, “It’s fine if you don’t like me the same way. I just hope we can still be friends after—”

“No, I… I love you too,” he breathlessly confesses before you even finish your rambling.

Your head whips up after the words left his lips. You stare at him, unbelieving.

And just as you did a while ago, he repeats his words with conviction, “I love you too.”

A smile makes its way to your face, and when he smiles back, you immediately know this is a memory you won’t ever forget.

[rogue-durin-16]

AN UNUSUAL YEAR (Part V/V)

Summary: After having little to no interest on girls for five years, Fred suddenly feels the need to nag the shit out of a certain witch, completely oblivious to the reason behind it.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Slytherin!Reader

Genre: fluff (+ enemies to lovers)

Tags:

An unusual year: @natural-hearts @manuosorioh @lumos-solemn @westyywifee @whiskeyn-rain @warlock--protection @gossip-girl-ecr @fandomscombine @birdy944 @28cnn

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog

Warnings: a little angst, a little snogging 👀

A/N: maybe a bit longer than I expected but it's alright. Also I might write an addition to this story, not sure tho. I hope y'all enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it <3

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

"Y/n! Come sit with us?" George waved at me from the Gryffindor table as I entered the Great Hall, prompting me to sit across him and Angelina, and besides Fred. "Where's Mathilda?" He asked as I got closer, leaving my books on the wooden surface.

"She's feeling unwell." As I sat down, I noticed George's arm around Angelina and I couldn't help the knowing grin that tugged the corner of my lips. "The date exchange at the Ball turned out well, huh?"

"I could say the same about you." He wiggled his brows at me with the same grin I had.

I felt a sudden rush of panic going through my body. My eyes traveled to the boy by my side, who was oddly quiet, and I found him already peeking at me.

"Meaning?" I decided to play dumb, taking a bite of my golden slice of toast whilst ignoring the intending gazes of the couple in front of me.

"You two were having a great time last night." Angelina jumped in, leaning over her table. "Didn't see you coming back, Fred." She added, redirecting her eyes to the ginger.

"I did." His brother laughed. "I daresay you two had an intense night." I felt my cheeks reddening, not finding enough strength to meet George's look. "It was about time, really."

I was startled by Fred abruptly standing up. "See you in class." The curt reply he offered before fleeing shocked all of us; specially his brother, who, with a polite apology, left me and Angelina to go after his twin.

"I feel like I shouldn't ask." She spoke quietly.

"I don't have an answer."

I feared she would see through me. I hadn't lied, but my gut told me whatever happened had to do with the change of demeanor he had at the end of our night out.

I wouldn't say it out loud but a part of me began to worry.

The worry stayed throughout that entire week, guilt joining it at some point. Fred's attendance in Charms, Astronomy and Potions had decreased; I had only see him attend once to Astronomy. The only thing he did was play with his quill and, whenever he thought I didn't notice, stare at me.

Ironically enough, we started spending most of the time together; after the winter break, George had incorporated both Mathilda and me to their friend group, which, in different circumstances, would have been great.

Alicia Spinnet gained special interest on my best friend; Lee Jordan would joke about Slytherins and Gryffindors getting together, and Angelina— well, she seemed happier now that she could hang out with all her friends at the same time.

Fred was miserable. Everyone could see it, yet they did their best to cover it up.

George would overcompensate his brother's attitude by being louder and paying extra attention to me, but it worsened the situation.

I wanted to ask Fred what was wrong, but then again we weren't even good friends, so was it really my place to ask?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

George had proposed a trip to Hogsmade a couple of days ago and we all agreed on going, but the day came and Fred wasn't there.

His brother alleged he had a terrible headache and had chosen to stay in bed. We all saw through his excuse, and once more no one said a word.

It was that night that George came to look for me.

"—well then, go get her!" His shouts got into the common room when a second year entered..

"What's this about?" I inquired, coming out to the hallway to see the ginger about to throw hands at my prefect.

"I need you." He stated, quickly losing interest on whatever the prefect had to say. I only nodded and motioned him to move with me far from the Slytherin door. "You have to speak to Fred now." He almost pleaded, a frown of worry forming on his face.

"Sure— wait, now?" I stared at him in confusion.

"Sorry, I know it's late" his apology didn't mean he would ask me to do it in the morning instead.

I let out a sigh before inquiring, "Where's he?"

"The Astronomy tower, I believe." He replied.

"Alright," I said more to myself. "I'll go grab my jacket." He murmured another apology and a thank you before heading off to his House.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I came to a halt at the top of the stairs when I saw him sat against the wall, his knees pulled to his chest with his arms around them, and his face buried between them."Hey there, stranger."

He raised his head, letting his eyes and nose be seen."Who gave me away?"

"George."

"Tosser" he muttered, taking his gaze to the levitating bundle of newspaper on fire that was probably keeping him somewhat warm up there.

"Is it that bad to see me now?" I took a couple of careful steps towards the boy.

"It's always that bad to see you."

"Odd for you to say that," I let myself slide down the wall to sit by his side with my legs stretched out. "given how much you stare."

"Touché." He replied, the ghost of a smile breaking through his depressed demeanor. "What are you doing here?"

"What's wrong?"

"I asked first."

"I asked second." He raised his brows at me and it was my turn to avert my eyes from him. "I'm... Worried. About you."

When I shivered due to the wind flowing through the tower, he scooted closer and moved the little fire with his wand for it to be in the middle.

"You're all dejected and sulky," I explained. "You barely attend to our classes together, and if you do, you don't pay attention." I felt him shift uncomfortable by my side. "I'm... I'm gonna regret this— I miss you being a bloody nuisance."

"I knew you loved it." His teasing, though it was meant to be funny, sounded almost painful.

"now, what's wrong?" He shrugged, his chin resting over his forearms. "Listen, if you're not gonna tell me, it's fine, but at least tell George."

"Are you thick?" The bitterness in his tone took me aback. "Y/n, I fancy you." He hid his face between his arms. "quite a lot, actually." He added in a mumble.

"I figured that at the ball, you know?" This time it was me who scooted closer. "Tell me that's not the reason behind this."

"Would you like me to lie?" He questioned, shame slipping out with his voice. "I'm a very good liar you wouldn't even question it." He took a deep breath before looking back up, stretching one of his legs and leaning against the wall. "At the ball, I tried to start something." He began, fidgeting with his hands. "I... This never happened to me, so I wasn't- I didn't know what I was doing, but I thought I was making it clear." He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "But when I left you—"

"You know I fancy you too, right?" I tilted my head, searching for his eyes. "As in, more than a one time thing."

"That I didn't know." I felt a pang of guilt, realizing that unconsciously I had played a big part on this.

FRED'S P. O. V.

We stayed in silence.

It wasn't an unsettling silence, but the air weighed over us due to the tension floating on it; I needed to defuse it, otherwise it would crush me.

My heart hammered against my chest while I extended my arm to hold her hand on mine.

It's not meant to be nerve-wracking, I thought to myself as I pulled her hand away from her lap; we had already made clear we fancied each other.

The moment she put her head on my shoulder, the tension completely dissipated. I didn't notice the sigh that left my lungs when it happened.

"Didn't put you, Fred Weasley, in the I'm-a-bundle-of-nerves-with-girls category."

"Oh, shut it." I threw my head back, laughing for the first time in a couple of weeks.

"Never." She gave my hand a squeeze and I allowed my cheek to rest over her crown. "You could, of course, find a way to shut me up."

It wasn't her words that cracked me up, but the suggestive tone she used, which took me back to that night in the Duelling Room when I accidentally let slip my feelings for her for the first time.

I raised my head from hers. "Beg your pardon?" I played the fool, trying to hide the ghost of a smile when she shoot me a wide-eyed look. "What are you insinuating, woman?"

"Do you really wanna start the teasing now?" She gave me a warning glare.

"You've just said you missed it." I couldn't hold back the chuckle.

"I knew I was gonna regret it." She groaned, throwing her head back. My eyes, finally on her, traveled to her now exposed neck and collarbone. Though they weren't visible, I could see the trail of kisses I had left there just a few weeks ago. "Stop staring and kiss me."

It didn't take anything else for me to throw the levitating burning paper away and tug her closer by her hand.

The moment our mouths met, I slipped my hand away from Y/n's so I could led her thighs to straddle my legs.

A quiet moan escaped my lips when she rolled her hips against mines; my hands automatically traveled up from her thighs to her waist, pulling her flush against me.

The temperature in the high, cold tower had shot up all from sudden. Just as we were about to start discarding clothes, quick steps were heard climbing up the stairs.

"Fuck!" She whisper-shouted, practically pushing me away as she got up. "Move, move, move!" As she helped me up and we ran to hide, it dawned on me that we were way past curfew. That got me moving.

We waited for Filch to get to the top of the tower before running down as fast as we could.

"No time for goodbyes!" she warned as we rushed through the vast hallways with Filch after us. "See you tomorrow—"

Before she could sprint downstairs to the dungeons, I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a side hall.

"You won't make it to the dungeons." I stated between pants, glancing at the path we had taken. I wasn't able to see the caretaker yet, but his pants could be heard. "Take the other stairs I'll distract him."

"You'll get grounded." She observed, her breathing as heavy as mine, if not more.

"Worth it." I curtly reply, feeling the corners of my lips twisting up.

"You know?" She pushed herself off the wall she had leaned against to catch her breath. "Sometimes you're really sweet."

"Quick!" I tugged on her hand, seeing Filch finally turn the corner. "Gimme a good luck kiss!"

She pulled me down and kissed my lips briefly before taking off in the other direction. I had to tell myself to shake off that stupid smile and run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

READER'S P. O. V.

The next morning I eagerly made my way to the Great Hall with two goals; having breakfast, of course, and checking if Fred had made it to his House without getting caught.

I soon spotted the group, this time sitting on the Slytherin table.

Soon his eyes found me too, and without saying a word to anyone, he got up and jogged to meet me halfway.

"Did you make it?" I asked, standing way too close to him and therefore attracting some nosey looks.

"By a whisker." He responded, taking a look around before looking back at me. "I was wondering if you'd like to go for a drink after class." I raised my eyebrows at him with a smirk. "We can use a passage to get to Hogsmade."

"Are you asking me on a proper date, Weasley?" I teased with my hands on my hips. "How cute."

He avoided eye contact, deciding to take another look around instead. "I swear if you tease me right now—"

"I'm free after four." I cut him off. "Now if you excuse me, I'm hungry." I passed him by, playfully bumping his shoulder, and made my way to our friends.

I didn't get far before his hands spun me around and cupped my cheeks, giving me a surprisingly deep kiss. "Are you gonna kill me?" He murmured, his lips still ghosting over mines.

"Oh, you know me so well." I replied, feeling my face heating up. We couldn't help but laugh when whistles and hollers came from behind me. "I might kill them too." I added, making fall into a fit of laughter as we pulled away in order to walk to where our friends sat. "I wanna have breakfast in peace." I warned them, sitting down with Fred by my side.

Everyone was giving looks at each other and trying to hold back the giggles, so I knew a comment was coming, but not from whom.

I could instantly tell I wasn't the only one shocked by the speaker. "But you just had him for breakfast." My best friend responded, faking confusion.

"I was just thinking about that!" Lee yelled, a bit too excited.

"Mathilda Foxglove—" I began, everyone cracking up.

"You are doomed." Fred finished, shoving a toast into his mouth to stop his laughter.

"It was worth it." She stated between giggles.

Fred gave me a side look with a half smile and I thanked Merlin no one could see the boy's fingers interlaced with mines under the table.

[babyboiboyega]

Long Overdue (Bolin x reader)

Pairing: Bolin x reader

Content: some good fluff. Such a good fluffy fic

Word Count: 1.8k

REQUESTED BY ANONYMOUS: “here’s my bolin request! i was thinking an earthbender (thats my fav bending art) and him finally admit feelings for each other! idk what else add what u want:)”

I hope you enjoy this! I’m sorry it’s been a while since you requested it! I start my sophomore year of college/university next Monday, so I’ve been really busy getting everything together!

Babyboiboyega’s Masterlist of Masterlists

Babyboiboyega’s Legend of Korra masterlist

********************

*Bolin’s POV*

He felt as if he were about to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Toph herself. It sounded like a barrage of drums in his ears, the way his heart beat so intensely. His clothes were wrinkled with the amount of times he had wipes his sweaty palms on them. However, no matter how nervous he was, he would go through with his plan. It had been a long time coming, too long, really. It had been such a long time coming that when he had told his brother, Mako gave him a smile and a pat on the back before offering him an exasperated “finally”. Bolin had even walked in once on Asami and Korra discreetly planning a way for him to admit his feelings for you.

He was lucky to have the friends he had, for as soon as he had explained his plan to them, they were all more than eager to offer any help that they could. And he wouldn’t have been able to do all of this without them.

They helped with every aspect of his plan, including the encouraging part whenever he became too nervous.

But now that the day had come, no amount of nerves could distract him from the purpose of the day. Or, rather, the night.

“Hey, Bolin! Everything is set up outside, now all you have to do it go out there and wait for the love of your life to show up.”

Asami’s voice echoed through the hallway as she made her into the front room where Bolin continued to pace. Despite her friend’s worrying, she couldn’t help the smile on her face. Despite his worrying, Bolin knew that her smile radiated only a fraction of how happy he felt.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! I’m fine, I’m heading out! Oh! Are the dumplings out there? And the fruit pie- is the fruit pie out there? What about the blanket? Was it wrinkled?”

“Yes, yes, and no. Everything is perfect, Bolin. Come on.”

Asami gently placed her hand on Bolin’s shoulder and turned him towards the door. Bolin’s feet moved as she gently pushed him through the door, into the hallway.

“Everything is going to go just fine, I know it will. I know because I’ve seen the way you two look each other. You look at her like she’s the moon, and she-“

“Actually, the moon was an actual person, you know? She was a princess of the Northern Water tribe, and I heard that she was beautiful but when I look at the moon, I don’t want to compare Y/N to the moon. Isn’t that a little rude to the both of them. They’re both really beautiful, but Y/N just makes everything around you stop when she walks in. Including your breath- is it hot in here?”

His rambling continued as Asami pushed him through the door leading to the back garden, his talking becoming more frantic the closer they came to the garden.

Asami let him continue, letting him get whatever he needed to get out. However, as they reached the setup for the evening and he continued to ramble, she stopped short, making him do the same. She simply faced him and cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow in question.

Upon seeing her expression, his talking eventually slowed until it stopped completely, allowing him to draw in a proper breath. His eyes met Asami’s and a sheepish smile crept onto his face. He let out a sigh.

“Thank you, Asami, for everything. Thanks for letting me use your garden. And your blankets. And your kitchen- you know what? Thank you, for everything.”

A small laugh escaped her mouth as she pat his shoulder. Before she could say anything, the sound of running footsteps reached their ears.

“She’s almost her! She’s coming around now!”

Korra’s words made him freeze in his place, only for both Asami and Korra to grab him a second later, pushing him towards the setup that he worked so hard on.

“You got this, Bolin!”

“Just be yourself!”

They both offered quick words of encouragement before running back into Asami’s home, but not before glancing once more behind them just in time to see you walk around the side.

*Readers POV*

Your eyesbrows furrowed at what your friends were planning, and you knew that they were planning something. You loved your friends, but they were horrible at keeping secrets, and it was rather easy to spot how secretive and suspicious they were acting. There was no point in asking them what they were up to because they wouldn’t come out directly and say it, but their actions said enough.

Their suspicious actions lasted all the way up until today, for some reason.

When Korra had led you back to Asami’s home only to offer a quick “come to the back in one minute” before running off, you knew that all those days of suspicion had culminated into this.

Your mind ran through the possible scenes that you could stumble upon once you followed Korra’s directions, however the second you stepped around the corner, all of those ideas quickly disappeared.

Your eyes trailed over every single detail of the setup in front of you, taking it all in while trying to convince yourself that you weren’t dreaming.

Instead of being shrouded in darkness like it usually was at night, Asami’s garden was bathed in a soft light. It didn’t cover the entire garden, but it covered enough for you to see what you needed to see.

The gazebo that stood before you prompted a gasp to full from your lips. That’s where the light came from.

You could see the lights hanging from the edges of the gazebo along with the over grown vines that snaked up the limbs of it. As you walked closer, you cold hear the faint sound of music coming through a static-y radio along with the sound of someone whispering to themselves. It made your steps slow as your mind worked on trying to recognize the vice, but the second you did recognize it, it just made them speed back up.

“Bolin? W-what’s all this?”

His eyes stayed locked on your face as you continued to look at your surroundings, trying to gauge your reaction. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t notice the way his heart jumped as a smile formed on your face.

“It’s all for you, Y/N. I…I wanted to do something nice. You’re always doing things for me and helping me, I just wanted to tell you thank you.” Of course, that wasn’t the only reason why he had planned all of this, but he didn’t want to blurt it out. What he had to say was too important, and he would not mess it up with his rambling or bluntness.

You sighed softly, turning to look at him. Your feet carried you over to where he stood, where you raised your hand and let it fall gently onto his arm.

“You…you did all of this just to tell me ‘thank you’?”

An exasperated laugh left your mouth as you glanced around once again, causing you to miss the pure, unadulterated expression of joy that crossed Bolin’s face. You were too busy trying to reign in your emotions; Bolin’s act of kindness brought tears to you eyes. It made your heart twist in the most pleasant way.

“Well, it wasn’t just to thank you. I actually wanted to tell you something.”

His words made you pause. A mixture of anticipation and worry surged through your body as you heard the nervous quiver in his voice; it made you question if you really wanted to hear what he had to say. He had never been nervous to say anything to you, that’s how close you two were. So the fact that he was so nervous to say something made you a little on edge.

“Tell me what, Bolin? Is everything okay?” Your smile fell a little, but it stayed supportive as you looked at him. Despite the worrying circumstances, you would always let him know that you would be there for him, no matter what. You knew that he would do the same for you in any case.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s okay! I just…um…” His words faded but his eyes never left yours. A deep breath wracked his body and it seemed as if he were trying to find the courage to tell you whatever he needed to tell you. Seeing the conflict plain as day on his face prompted you to gently squeeze his arm.

“You know you can tell me anything, Bolin. Whatever’s got you so nervous, I promise I’ll be there every step of the way of…whatever it is you’re about to-“

“I love you, Y/N. I have for a very long time but I was too scared to tell you because I didn’t know how you would react and I didn’t want to even risk ruining our friendship because I value our friendship more than you could possibly understand, but I just couldn’t go on any longer without telling you that you mean the entire world to me and that I would move any mountain and possibly, some how, learn a new element just to be with you. I understand if you don’t feel the same way, but I really hope that this doesn’t ruin our friendship because I’d rather be your best friend than be nothing to you at all.”

You’d think that it would have been difficult trying to decipher what he had just said, but you had heard every single word effortlessly. The weight of his words settled in the pit of your stomach, keeping you rooted to your spot. You’d kill to see how your face looked, because you certainly couldn’t feel it. In fact, you couldn’t do anything really, besides stand there and pray to the spirits that you had heard him correctly.

The longer you stood there, the more apparent Bolin’s expression of dread became and the more you wanted to wipe away his frown that had formed.

You had been left speechless multiple times because of Bolin, but none of them could compare to this. You truly didn’t know what to say. Well, you did, but you had no idea how to say it.

“You don’t know what to say, but you know what to do, Y/N.”

You didn’t allow another second to pass for in that second, you could’ve psyched yourself out of what you were about to do.

You moved with a speed that you didn’t even know you possessed, and before he could say anything, your body was colliding with Bolin’s, and your lips were being pressed against his. It took him a millisecond to register what was happening, and then his arms were wrapping around your waist and bringing you closer.

It seemed that your bodies molded like two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. It wasn’t awkward; it was overdue. You didn’t know exactly how long it had been since you two admitted these feelings to yourselves, but it had been long enough to the point where as you two kissed now, it felt as if you could finally breathe.

Yeah, it had been long overdue.

**************

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this!

I’m going to be a little busy from now on, but I’m still going to be writing! If you sent in a request, I have put it on my to-do list and I promise I’m not going to forget about it! Please continue to send in requests; y’all have no idea how happy it makes me when y’all send in requests! And the request doesn’t even have to be for a writing piece; it can be a random question, a random fact, etc. 

Stay safe, y’all!

[fanimesenseiwrites]

Another two parter because I just really love starting new lines and Tumblr can't stand it. But yeah, this addresses all the shit Mammon gets from his brothers because it really bugs me. NGL, I was inspired by the Devilgram story "One too many insults." Not in this part, but this story will feature eventual sexy times with a sort of trigger... (not me using my writing to deal with my issues again!)

Mammon's Lament

Hoshiko was in their apartment, studying a spell book when they got a text from Mammon.

-Hey, can you talk?-

Hoshiko looked at the message and grinned before replying.

-Yeah, you miss me?-

-I just really need to hear your voice right now-

Hoshiko frowned at the message; that didn't sound like Mammon. They called him immediately.

He answered almost immediately. "Hey Hoshiko," it was Mammon's voice but he sounded almost melancholy.

Hoshiko's frown deepened. "Hey honey, what's wrong?" They put a bookmark in the book and closed it.

"I just really wish I could see you right now."

Hoshiko didn't like the sound of his tone, they were growing increasingly worried by the second. "I'd love to see you too, I'll summon you if you tell me what's wrong."

"I... I'd rather not."

"Please? I'm worried. Just tell me what's wrong and then I'll summon you," Hoshiko tried to compromise.

He groaned. "I don't want to be near my brothers, okay?"

"I'm sorry but, that doesn't sound like anything new," Hoshiko told him, still trying to sound supportive.

"Just summon me and then I'll tell you the rest," he tried to bargain.

Hoshiko sighed. "Okay fine. Grab onto anything you wanna bring with you and give me a minute."

"Thank you," he told them before hanging up.

Hoshiko frowned and got up from where they were sitting on the couch. They walked over to their purse and pulled out their keys and held the keychain that Mammon gave them. Hoshiko ran their thumb over the keychain and briefly reminisced over the time that they got the keychains before kissing it, then speaking an incantation. "Hear me, denizens of the darkness. You who are born of shadow and you who give birth to it. Hear me and do as I command. I, Hoshiko Higure, call upon you to send forth one of your number, one whom I have made a pact with. I call forth, the Avatar of Greed, Mammon!"

A circle of light appeared on the floor and a humanoid silhouette slowly materialized within the circle.

Hoshiko smiled wide as they watched the process unfold before them.

The light faded and Mammon was left standing there holding his toothbrush and DDD charger.

Hoshiko smiled at him. "Hey Mammon."

Mammon looked at Hoshiko and smiled slightly before walking over to them and hugging them tightly.

Hoshiko found it unusual that he didn't say anything, but just hugged back. "Guess what."

"What?" He asked, still holding onto them.

"You're the first out of all of y'all that I've successfully summoned," they sang, actually really excited despite the circumstances.

Mammon pulled away just enough to look at them. "So you're saying that I'm another one of your firsts?" He asked with a grin.

Hoshiko nodded, feeling relief at seeing his usual shit-eating grin. "Yes, I am."

Mammon just hugged Hoshiko again, even tighter this time.

They rubbed his back. "... Will you tell me what's wrong now?"

Mammon sighed and dropped his head onto their shoulder.

Hoshiko ran a hand up his back and into his hair. "Do you want me to make you some tea? I can do that while you talk. Or we can just lay in bed and I'll hold you while you talk. But you gotta talk to me, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

Mammon sighed and pulled away from them to go sit on the couch. He set his things down on the side table. "I dunno if you can help..."

Hoshiko frowned and followed him. They sat down far enough away from him so that they could easily pull him down to lay his head in their lap. Hoshiko knew it was his favorite position when he was feeling down, but they also knew he wouldn't ask for it, so they just did it.

Mammon allowed himself to be moved and just looked up at Hoshiko once his head was in their lap.

Hoshiko stroked his hair and pulled off his sunglasses. "Will you please talk to me now? I'm worried," they pleaded.

Mammon sighed and looked away from them. "I'm just sick of bein' called an idiot."

Hoshiko frowned. "Is Lucifer in a mood?"

Mammon snapped his head to them. "Hell! I wish it was just Lucifer! It's all of 'em!"

Hoshiko frowned and scratched his scalp, hoping to get him to calm down.

"Its always "You're an idiot" or "a scumbag" and even when I am trying to do right I don't get any recognition for it! I get no respect! I'm the second oldest, the second strongest..."

Hoshiko would've sworn that they physically felt their heart break. They knew the brothers could gang up on Mammon, but they didn't know that it got to him that bad.

"I don't wanna be feared like Lucifer or nothin', I just... I want them to treat me like I'm their brother..." Mammon looked away from Hoshiko, a soft blush on his cheeks.

Hoshiko had to will themself not to cry. "Oh..." They racked their brain for anything they could say to make him feel better. "Ya know, it always bothered me that you're the only one who got no kind of understanding for your sin."

Mammon looked back at Hoshiko.

"I know you all tease each other, but like... Asmo doesn't get strung up in the stairwell for going out and having a bunch of sex."

Mammon appeared to think about what they said. "Yeah... You're right!"

Hoshiko chuckled. "I know I am."

Mammon sat up and turned to look at Hoshiko. "And I don't ever lose control to the point of changing forms like Beel or Satan!"

Hoshiko nodded. "You're right. So how about you just stay here for a couple days, let your brothers worry a little and then by the time you go back down they should be nicer."

Mammon grinned, but it quickly faded. "Can't I just stay here forever?" He asked, his voice small.

Hoshiko blushed, they weren't necessarily opposed to the idea but they knew they had to be realistic too. "You know, Lucifer will come looking for you eventually."

"Then why don't we just see how long it takes Lucifer to find me?" Mammon asked, a mischievous grin growing on his face.

Hoshiko chuckled but shook their head. "No, just a few days. The longer we wait the more likely we're to be in trouble with Lucifer."

Mammon groaned. "Fiiinnneee...."

"How about we go shopping and I'll get you some more clothes for your stay here?"

Mammon immediately perked up. "I like the sound of that."

Hoshiko grinned. "I thought you might." They stood up and stretched; they looked down at their pajamas then back at Mammon. "Lemme change and then we'll go."

Mammon gave them a once over. "Oh, yeah."

Hoshiko chuckled. "Did you just notice that I'm still wearing pajamas?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot..."

Hoshiko frowned and walked over and grabbed his face and made him look at them. "You're not an idiot. Sometimes we don't notice little things, especially when we're upset and focused on something particular. That doesn't make us stupid. It just means we're people, with thoughts and feelings. Having magical powers doesn't make us infallible."

Mammon just stared into Hoshiko's eyes.

Hoshiko blushed. They tried to decipher the look in Mammon's eyes, hoping to figure out how he felt, praying that they hadn't said something they shouldn't have. "Mammon?"

He pulled his face out of their hands, a blush staining his cheeks. "Thanks... go change."

Hoshiko just nodded and went to their bedroom and closed the door behind them.

Hoshiko couldn't get the look in Mammon's eyes out of their head as they got dressed. Had they embarrassed him? They were just trying to make him to feel better, he deserved to really feel good about himself. 

Hoshiko got dressed in some leggings, an oversized sweater and some over the knee boots before walking back out into the living room.

Mammon was up and looking at the pictures of Hoshiko and Asmo that were framed and hanging up. He looked at Hoshiko when they walked out. "Why do you only have pictures of you and Asmo up?" He asked with a pout.

"Those are the pictures we took together so he could give me something dear so that I could summon him."

Mammon nodded and looked back at the pictures.

Hoshiko walked over to him. "And the picture of the stars is Beel and Belphie's stars."

"They gave you their stars? Really?"

Mammon chuckled. "So... where's what I gave you?"

Hoshiko nodded then pointed to the framed script. "Levi gave me his script of 'With Me' that Simeon signed."

Hoshiko then pulled an old, leather bound book off the bookshelf. "Satan gave me the book that made him and Lucifer switch bodies, all the magic has faded from it now."

Hoshiko picked up their keys and shook them so that they jingled. "It comes with me everywhere I go."

Mammon grinned wide. "So I'm always with you?"

Hoshiko nodded. "You and Lucifer."

"Lucifer?" Mammon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hoshiko held up their hand and showed him the ring of light. "Kinda can't take it off... unless we want the three realms to descend into chaos that is." They chuckled nervously.

Mammon nodded.

Hoshiko fidgeted with their hands, feeling awkward now. "So... ready to go to the mall?"

Mammon perked up. "Yes!"

Hoshiko smiled and grabbed their purse. "Come on, let's go."

They left the apartment together and took an Uber to the mall.

"That Uber thing is pretty cool," Mammon commented as they walked into the mall, hands in his pockets. "A lot easier than hailing a cab."

"And cheaper!" Hoshiko chimed.

Mammon grinned. "That's always good." He looked around the mall. "So, where to first?"

"I'm thinking Abercrombie and Fitch is good a spot for your style and my price point."

Mammon chuckled. "Sounds good, lead the way."

Hoshiko hooked their arm through his and led them through the mall.

Mammon grinned, more than happy to have Hoshiko on his arm.

As they shopped, Mammon seemed to turn back to his normal self more and more.

Hoshiko felt a lot better as Mammon's spirits lifted.

"Are you having fun?" Hoshiko asked him.

"I'm always having fun when I don't have to pay for stuff," he told them with a grin.

Hoshiko snorted but grinned. "Of course." The metaphysical store caught their eye from across the way. "Let's get you some demonius to have with dinner." They headed toward the metaphysical store.

Mammon raised an eyebrow as he followed them. "Uh, that's just one of those hokey chakra stores not a real magic store."

Hoshiko grinned at him. "Just follow me."

When they walked in, Hoshiko waved at the girl at the counter. "Hey Selene, we're going in the back."

Selene smiled at Hoshiko but eyed Mammon suspiciously.

Hoshiko grinned. "Selene, this is Mammon. Mammon, Selene; she's a witch."

Selene's eyebrows shot up at Mammon's name. "/The/ Mammon?" She asked with a grin.

Mammon grinned at Selene. "In the flesh!"

"Wow, I never thought I'd meet one of the seven rulers of hell."

Hoshiko made a face. "Selene, I have pacts with all of them. I was bound to bring one of them in here at some point."

"Yeah, but with my luck I thought it would've been on my off day."

Hoshiko chuckled and shook their head. "Like I said, we're going in the back."

Selene nodded. "Okay! It was nice to meet you Mammon ~"

Mammon grinned at her. "Always good to meet a fan."

Hoshiko rolled their eyes and pulled Mammon into the back room. They held their hand out parallel to their chest and a magical circle appeared around their hand. Hoshiko turned their hand to the right and a glamour barrier parted, revealing a lounge and a counter where true magical items could be bought.

Mammon grinned at Hoshiko. "That's pretty cool."

Hoshiko smiled wide and motioned for him to walk in.

Mammon walked in and Hoshiko followed him, resetting the barrier once they were both inside.

Mammon looked around briefly before plopping down on one of the couches.

Hoshiko shook their head and headed straight to the counter. "Hey Camille," Hoshiko greeted the girl behind the counter.

Camille smiled at Hoshiko. "Did you bring in who I think you brought in?" She asked with a grin.

Hoshiko chuckled. "Yeah. The Great Mammon, Avatar of Greed."

"Is he just... here, or are you doing something...?"

Hoshiko raised an eyebrow, suspicious of her attempt at a question. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Like... are you two doing a ritual or something?"

"Uh, no. We're just hanging out. We're actually friends. I will say, having a pact makes it convenient to see each other though."

Camille nodded. "I bet. So what did you come in here for?"

"Some demonius, a phoenix feather, and..." she eyed the pre-made potions on the back shelf.

Camille watched them briefly before grabbing a small vial full of a shimmery purple liquid and setting it down in front of Hoshiko. "This is the one you want," she told them with a smirk.

"How do you know what I want?"

"Because demons can and have gotten humans pregnant, and it's not fun, especially if it's not expected."

Hoshiko felt their face get hot. "T- that's not-!" They tried to protest but they couldn't quite find the words.

"Oh wait, I know you're genderfluid but I thought you had female bits, am I wrong?" Camille asked, suddenly embarrassed.

Hoshiko shook their head. "No, you're right..." They were even more embarrassed than Camille.

Camille breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. But seriously, you want this one," she reiterated as she tapped the top of the bottle.

Hoshiko made a face. "I dunno..."

"How about you take this one for free, as a trial sample?" She asked but she still put it in a bag along with the other things Hoshiko had asked for.

Hoshiko sighed, still red in the face. "Fine." They had just handed their credit card off to Camille when they felt Mammon's demonic aura flare up behind them. Hoshiko whipped around, suddenly fearful that they had missed some attack, but that feeling quickly changed to some awful mix of anger and jealousy when they saw Mammon flaunting his demon form for a gaggle of witches who had gathered around him while their back was turned.

"I'm gonna kill him," Hoshiko muttered under their breath before marching over to him and grabbing one of his wings.

Mammon growled and whipped around to see who dared to touch him.

You could tell who the experienced witches were by the ones who didn't flinch at his show of aggression.

Hoshiko stood their ground and glared at him.

Mammon's face immediately softened when he saw that it was Hoshiko. "Oh, hey... why'ya pullin' on me?"

Hoshiko just stared at him for a moment, trying to decide on what to say. "Change back," they demanded, their voice eerily calm. "We're leaving."

"Oh, we're done shopping?" He asked, mildly oblivious to their change in demeanor.

"Yes," they responded as they took their card and bag from Camille. 

"Oh okay." He changed back to his human form.

Hoshiko walked over and parted the barrier so they could leave.

Mammon headed out.

"Bye Mammon~" a few of the witches called after him.

Mammon turned back to smile and wave at them. "Bye!"

"Oh my god, let's just go," Hoshiko nagged.

Mammon looked at them. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going." He walked out.

Hoshiko followed him out, resetting the barrier as they left.

Hoshiko was absolutely silent until they got back to the apartment; a deadly aura seemed to emanate from them.

Mammon, who had felt death auras many a times, didn't try to talk to Hoshiko until they got back into the apartment.

Part 1, 2, 3

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 41

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

A giggle sounded through the room as Klaus teased Katie’s sides making her squirm under him. “You’re so ticklish.” He laughed.

“And you…are not ticklish at all.” She complained. "It's annoyingly unfair."

“Perhaps you just haven’t found the right spot yet.” He told her, making her narrow her eyes at him in thought. “You’re welcome to continue your search.” He rolled onto his back taking her with him and she sat up, straddling him.

“Hmm,” she pursed her lips and pulled them to the side, “nah.” She fell down bracing herself on her hands on the bed. “I think I’ll let it be a mystery for a little while longer.” She started kissing his bicep, where his feather tattoo began then kissed her way up it following the birds that branched off of the feather to the last one that sat just under his collarbone then up to his shoulder where she gently bit him, pulling a pleasured sound from him. “I have other ways of making you smile.”

“Oh really, like what?” he asked curiously as he slid his hands up her thighs to hold her hips.

“Flattery for one.” She answered and she could tell he wanted to smile, but was resisting. “Or there’s always doing something random. Like…” she quickly licked the tip of his nose making him wrinkle it and laugh quietly. “See, there are those cute dimples I like so much.” She sat up and looked down at him.

“Cute huh?” He asked.

“Yep.” She told him with a flirty smile. “I also find your accent cute along with your butt, but you already knew that one. Let’s see what else do I find cute about you?” She asked herself as she looked up in thought. “How your hair gets a little curly when you let it grow out.” She told him as she looked at his messy dirty blond hair. “Oh, the way you hold me super close with my face pressed into your neck at night. Even when you’re completely asleep you don’t let go.”

“Why is that cute?” he asked.

“Because it lets me know that you want to keep me close. It shows a certain amount of neediness and it feels good to feel needed.” she told him with a shrug then kissed him and rolled over pulling him with her then wrapped her legs around him.

“You know…” he started but was cut off when she started nibbling on his neck pulling a sigh from him, “If we do this every morning and night you will soon tire of me.” he warned her.

“Not possible.” She replied then bit his neck a little harder, wishing they could blood share. “Unless…you’re getting tired of me.” she stopped and looked up at him.

He pressed his hips into hers letting her feel how much she affected him. “Does that feel like I’m getting tired of you?” he whispered then started kissing her neck making her eyes slip shut and tilt her head to the side.

“No, but I’m sure guys can fake it just as easily as girls.” She argued.

“Have you ever-”

“Not with you.” she answered before he could finish the question.

“Now my interest is peaked.” He said as he sat up on his knees and she slid up to sit in his lap with her legs wrapped around him and he held her close with his hand on her upper back. “Who, prey tell, have you faked it with?”

“Ronan. He was built like a wrestler and most girls might go for that, but in case you haven’t noticed beefy guys with muscles bigger than my head don’t really do it for me. I would have rather faced the cat-o-nine tails than the consummation of our marriage.” She told him as she let her eyes travel his body, thinking about how perfect Klaus was.

He’d suffered through some horrible things in his life, but he’d never been forced to have sex with someone. He’d also done some horrible things and rape was never one of them. “No one should ever have to go through that.” he told her quietly with a pained look in his eyes.

“Yeah, well even in my first life, circumstances shaped me into the perfect actress.” She sighed not looking up. “I had to act like Father was the upstanding guy the town believed him to be, act like he didn’t slice my back open on a daily basis. Had to convince Father I had no idea how my back had healed so fast when really my nanny and her daughter were cailleach.” She used the Irish word for witch reminding him that she still spoke Irish. “I knew how to act like everything was okay, but my wedding night was my biggest acting gig to date. Either I was convincing or Ronan just didn’t care.”

“Did he know you didn’t want him?” he asked and she shook her head no. “How long were you with him?” he asked, not being able to remember if she said in her journal.

“Eight years.” she answered.

“And in all those years you never once-”

“Nope.” She answered his question before he could finish it.

“Do me a favor, never fake it with me.” he told her as he laid her back on the bed and looked into her eyes. “If you’re not in the mood or you’re not into it, just tell me. It won’t be the first time you got me all hot and bothered then left me hanging.” Remembering the first time they kissed she wrinkled her nose and covered her face with a laugh. She moved her hand and looked at him with slightly apologetic eyes. “Just so you know…pleasuring myself to the thought of you that night did little to ebb my desire to have you.”

His words and the visions they brought to mind made a wave of pleasure shoot through her and she smiled, biting her lip before she let it slip out of her teeth. “Do you know why I was awake the night after the twenties dance?” she asked as she tightened her legs around him and he shook his head no. “It wasn’t because I was upset about Alaric. It was because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” she grabbed his hand and kissed his fingertips, “The first time we kissed, every time you kissed my cheek or just touched me in general, the look in your eyes when you told me you intended on setting me ablaze…every memory like that kept playing in my head getting me all worked up. There was a reason I walked away from you when we were dancing that night.”

He slid his hand from her grasp to rest between her breasts as he fell forward to hover over her with his free hand on the bed beside her shoulder. “I thought I’d made you uncomfortable.”

She shook her head no. “It was because Caroline gave me a questioning look when she realized who I was dancing with and I realized that you, the brother of the man I was still bound to, the big, bad, original hybrid that had brought my friends so much terror, were my darkest desire.” She slid her hands down his chest to hold his sides. “And giving in to that desire was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Klaus slipped his thumb over her bottom lip as he looked into her eyes then moved his thumb and caught her lip between his in a kiss that quickly turned heated and passionate.

TVDTVDTVD

Later that day Katie stood at the end of the desk in the study where Klaus sat looking through Esther’s spell book. “So since I was wrong about the morning sickness being over and I missed the meeting with Sophie, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Sophie is going to do a locator spell to find Elijah. To keep her from getting caught another witch is going to do a bigger spell to mask Sophie’s.” he told her.

“How did you convince another witch to do magic?” she asked with an interested look.

“I haven’t.” he answered looking confident. “That is what this is for.” He held up a page from the book and Katie looked at it to see a daylight ring spell. “Marcel’s right hand man Thierry is in love with a witch that owns a shop in The Caldron. Since said witch gave Thierry a tip about a werewolf in the quarter that led to dead night walkers, I gave him a little nudge and he ordered a rousting of The Caldron. When they do said rousting tonight while Rebekah and I are at Marcel’s party, a compelled nightwalker of mine is going to bite Thierry’s little girlfriend. If he loves her as much as he says he does, he will kill my night walker.”

“And Marcel has rules about vampires killing vampires.” Katie nodded. “To save Thierry his witch girlfriend will do a spell, masking Sophie’s. Too bad there’s probably not going to be time for you to make Sophie to unlink herself from me while the smoke screen is still up.” She sighed.

“One of the many things I’m working on, Love.” He told her as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I know and I don’t mean to complain. I just wish there was more I could do than sit on my butt and do nothing.” She told him then pointed to the spell on the desk. “So what is this for?”

“Insurance.” He answered. “Another compelled vampire of mine is going to say they found this, a spell Marcel keeps under lock and key, in the shop of Thierry’s girlfriend.”

“Then Marcel will accuse Thierry of treason along with the fact that he killed another vampire and he will lose his right hand man status leaving room for you to slip into his place.” Katie finished and he looked up at her with a smirk. “And there’s no way I can go to the party?” she asked.

“You know I would grant you anything you wish, but no. It’s too dangerous.” He told her as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I know…” she sighed. “Go, do your thing.” She told him then pecked him on the lips.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was outside, sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the cool water. “I thought you were supposed to be staying inside.” Katie jumped and looked to her left to see an almond skinned woman. She recognized her as one of the witches, but couldn’t remember her name. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m one of Sophie’s friends. She asked me to keep you company while everyone’s out.”

“Yeah I remember seeing you around.” Katie told her as she stood up. “What’s your name again?”

“Sabine.” She answered. “So, now that you’ve had time to wrap your head around it, how are you feeling about becoming a mother?”

“I…am…excited, for the most part.” Katie answered. “I just wish I could go get an ultrasound done so I can see it and maybe find out what it is so I can’t stop calling it, it.” she said then remembered Fiona doing a trick where she put her wedding band on a string and dangled it over her stomach. “I have a weird question, can you determine the gender?”

Sabine smiled and nodded. “Come on, let’s go into the house where there are fewer mosquitoes.”

“I…don’t have a wedding band…” Katie said realizing it was, according to Fiona, a crucial part of the trick.

“The wedding band is unnecessary. It was just our way of making things make a little more sense to the humans since a wedding band is tied to both the mother and the father.” Sabine laughed as they walked into the kitchen and she motioned to the island. “Hop up.” Katie hopped up and lay back on the counter with her hands at her sides. Sabine took off her necklace and dangled it over Katie’s stomach. After a few seconds she smiled and said, “I think it’s a girl.” Katie smiled. “No. Wait.”

“Don’t tell me I’m having twins.” Katie said thinking Sabine had found a second baby that maybe she hadn’t heard.

But Sabine dropped the necklace, threw her head back and started chanting. Knowing from the many times she saw Fiona have a vision that Sabine was having one now, Katie grabbed Sabine’s wrist hoping to see it, but Sabine was on vervain. After a minute or so Sabine stopped and looked at Katie with wide eyes.

“You just had a vision and from the looks of it, it wasn’t good.” Katie pointed out. “Tell me what it was about.”

“You’re delivery…it won’t be an easy one.” Sabine warned.

“Is that all you can tell me?” Katie asked sensing something was off.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Sabine answered. “My visions are sometimes hard to read.”

“I’m not feeling well. I’m going to go to bed, you can see yourself out.” Katie told her as she placed her hand on her stomach and started for the stairs. Sabine nodded and left.

Katie however was feeling perfectly fine and instead of going to bed grabbed her laptop and started attempting to translate what she’d heard Sabine say.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was sitting on their bed with earbuds in her ears still trying to decode what seemed to be very poor Latin when Klaus walked in and pulled one of the ear buds out of her ear. “I thought you should know Elijah will be returning to us.” Klaus told her.

She didn’t look away from her computer. “Yeah, cool.” She told him with a wave.

Klaus blinked down at her a little confused by her lack of reaction. “What on earth are you doing?”

“You speak different languages right?” she asked, finally looking away from the computer to see the look he was giving her. “I had a visitor tonight. A witch named Sabine. Sophie sent her to keep me company and I asked her to do a gender test, after which she had a vision. She said it was about my delivery, that it wasn’t going to be easy, but I think she was lying. And I can’t translate what she was chanting during her vision.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this focused on something before.” He told her as he shifted his weight on his feet.

“I don’t think you’ve ever seen me this worried before.” Katie pointed out as she stood from the bed. “It sounded bad.”

“Alright, what was she chanting?” he asked.

“Hoc est infantima malom. Nos omnia perdetu el eam.” She told him and after a few minutes his eyes grew big and his posture fell. “What does it mean, Klaus?”

“This baby is evil. It will destroy us all.” He answered.

Katie sank down on the bed. “If Sabine opens her mouth…they are going to think our child is the equivalent of Lucifer himself.” She told him with a hard voice.

He sighed, sat down beside her and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to him to rest her forehead on his with their eyes closed. “I will protect you and our child with my life.”

“Nothing hurts her.” Katie agreed and they opened their eyes meeting each other’s gazes. “No matter what.”

“No matter what.” He agreed then wrapped his arms around her waist and moved them so that they were lying on the bed with his hand resting on her stomach. After a few minutes what she’d said sank in. “Her?”

“Crap, I was going to ask if you wanted to know before I told you that part.” She told him and he pushed himself up on his arm to look down at her. “According to Sabine’s gender test we’re having a girl and it’s the same test Fiona did when I was pregnant with Jonah.” his eyes were wide and he almost looked scared. “You’re getting your princess.” She told him with a small smile.

A quiet, quick laugh left his lips before he pressed them to hers.

They had been making out for a few minutes when she pulled back. “Mmm, how did the party scheme go?”

“I deviated from the plan.” He answered as he pulled back to look at her face.

“How did you deviate?” she asked as she slid her hands down his chest and around his waist.

“There was no way our little suicide witch wasn’t gonna try and take out Marcel with her.” He told her. “So I killed Thierry’s girl, but unfortunately that cut Sophie’s locator spell short.”

“But you said Elijah was returning to us.” Katie pointed out a little confused.

“By protecting Marcel I’ve cemented his trust. So much so that he’s agreed to return Elijah to us. And…when he’s told me everything I need to know about Davina we will have her for ourselves.” He told her in his I’m diabolical and I know it voice. He expected her to say something along the lines of, yay Elijah’s coming back or, you’re not going to use a sixteen year old girl as a weapon. But she said nothing. “Care to voice your thoughts?”

“I just…” she sighed and shook her head, “Under any other circumstances I would totally be against using a child as a weapon, but if we can get her to willingly join our side…If she can help protect our baby…I’m all for it.” she shrugged. “As for Elijah…It’s sucked knowing he’s been daggered in a coffin with a teenage witch probably poking and prodding at him trying to figure out how to kill him.”

“I feel like there was an unspoken “but” at the end of that sentence.” He prompted.

“But…” she caressed his back with a sigh, “there’s a reason I haven’t been riding you harder about getting him back. It felt like he still has feelings for me, I know you get jealous easily and I don’t want to be the cause of a Mikealson brother smackdown.” she immediately remembered them fighting while her humanity was off after she told Elijah she had been with Klaus. “Watching two men fight over me was kind of fun the first time when I didn’t care who got hurt, but now…not so much.”

“I trust that you are loyal to me, but if he tries something I cannot promise that we won’t come to blows again.” He told her with a warning look.

“I know, and I’m not asking you to make any promises. I’m just asking you to let me handle it and if I can’t get it through his thick skull that I’m yours and I’m not going to change my mind, then you can throw fists and break stuff.” She told him with a serious face. “Deal?”

“Deal.” He agreed.

TVDTVDTVD

After eating breakfast Katie showered and started getting dressed and after trying on a third pair of jean shorts she slammed the dresser drawer shut. Klaus smirked, looking at the small pooch in her lower abdomen. “It’s not funny.” She told him as she pulled a pair of athletic shorts out of the dresser.

“You’re right it’s not funny, it’s beautiful…You’re beautiful.” He told her as he watched her pull on the shorts then a hot pink racer back tank top.

“I don’t feel beautiful.” She complained as she walked over to where he stood at the foot of the bed with his hands tucked behind his back. “I feel bloated and heartburn is a pain in the ass.”

He grabbed her hips, turned her around then pulled her back into him, sweeping her hair to the side so he could kiss her neck. “You could grow to the size of a whale and I’d still think you were the most beautiful woman on the planet.” He rested his chin on her shoulder and slipped his hand over his stomach.

“Let’s not test that theory.” She told him as she turned her head and pecked him on his stubbly cheek. “If you’re trying to feel her moving you most likely won’t.”

“I’m aware.” He told her defensively.

“Really?” she asked, not believing him. “How?” He walked over to his bedside table, pulled the top drawer open and took out a book. He tossed it to her and she caught it.

“What to expect when you’re expecting.” She read the cover out loud then smiled a bright smile at him. “You’re reading a pregnancy book.”

“Yes it’s actually quite informative.” He told her as he walked around the bed and placed his hands on her sides.

He smiled when she threw her arms around his neck and captured his lips with hers for a happy kiss. “You’re awesome.”

“It’s just a book, Love.” He laughed at her reaction.

“I begged Ronan to buy a book on pregnancy and read it with me. We were miles from town or any kind of midwife. I had no idea what to expect having never even been around a pregnant woman before. He told me that I didn’t need it because my body and nature would take care of everything and he didn’t need to know about pregnancy because the man’s job was to wait outside and have a cigar when it was all over.” She explained. “It’s not just a book.”

“I fully intend on being at your side, holding your hand or whatever you need me to do when the time comes.” He told her then pecked her on the lips. “I’ve read it, cover to cover. The book is yours and I’ll get you more if you want.”

She smiled, pecked him on the lips, “You’re awesome.” Then sat down on the bed. “I have my plans for the day. What are yours?”

“The annual Dauphine Street music festival is tonight.” He told her.

“Seems like this place is no different than Mystic Falls.” She pointed out. “Parties and festivals are hot spots for supernatural shenanigans. If it wasn’t for that I would be begging you to let me come with you. So instead I’ll say maybe next year.”

“Next year?” he asked, noticing the implication.

“I have a feeling if I had the chance I’d really like this city.” She told him with a shrug. “And it’s your favorite place and your home. Am I thinking too far ahead when I say I want it to be our home?”

“What about Mystic Falls?” he asked with an interested tilt of his head.

“Graduation was the last thing that place had to offer me. Now my friends are going to college without me and it just doesn’t feel like I belong with them anymore. So I guess you could say that I’m in the market for a new home.”

He walked over to her with admiration in his eyes. “I can’t wait to officially show you your new home. But for now I have to go.”

“Okay, if you gotta.” She sighed pretending to pout he just smirked and pecked her on the lips before he left.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was sitting on the couch reading the book when someone rang the doorbell and Rebekah answered it. “You have a visitor.” Rebekah announced as she walked into the room.

Katie looked up to see Agnes, a witch elder, walk in and sit down in the armchair across from her. “What can I do for you?” Katie asked not pleased that a witch was in the house. She was really growing to hate the French Quarter witches as a whole.

“I was just coming to check up on you.” she told her with a pleasant smile.

“I’m fine.” Katie answered. “The baby’s fine.”

“You know you’re overdue for a check up, right?” Agnes asked.

“I’m aware, but going to the doctor isn’t exactly an option right now is it?” Katie asked.

“A lot of women would kill to have a child. It strikes me as odd that you’re not taking better care of yours.” Rebekah spoke up from where she sat at a table in the room looking for the attic she saw Elijah in on satellite images.

“I know a doctor out in the bayou off the beaten path. Now, I took the liberty of making an appointment for you…tonight after hours, just us. Marcel’s men will never get word of it.” Agnes told her and Katie snapped the book shut.

“Well, thanks, but you shouldn’t have.” Katie told her as she stood up and tossed the book onto the couch then headed to the front door with Agnes. “Sorry you wasted your time.” Katie pulled the door open and motioned Agnes outside. “Goodbye.” Agnes walked out and Katie shut the door.

“Well that was rude of you.” Rebekah commented.

“I don’t trust French Quarter witches.” Katie told her as she walked back over to the couch and picked up the book. “And honestly I’m surprised you’d think I’d go anywhere alone with one of them.”

“I see my brother’s paranoia has rubbed off on you.” she sighed not looking away from the computer screen.

“It’s not paranoia if I have legitimate reasons to not trust someone.” Katie pointed out. “If I go to that doctor I’ll go with Klaus, not some witch I don’t even know.”

A few seconds later Klaus walked in and saw Rebekah on the computer just as she’d been when he left this morning. “Please sister, tell me you’re not still at it with the internet search.” He said as he walked into the room to the table that sat between the two armchairs across from the couch that Katie was sitting on and poured himself a drink from the decanter that was always on the table and always full. “How does one begin anyway, just type in ‘anonymous attic’?” he smirked at Katie who glanced up from her reading at him.

“Someone has to find Elijah. Even if I have to search every bloody attic in New Orleans.” Rebekah replied not looking away from the computer.

“Like looking for a needle in a rather large pile of needles.” Klaus commented as he turned to look at Rebekah.

“I remember details about the attic Marcel took me to. There were shutters on the windows behind Elijah’s coffin.” Rebekah replied.

“Well that should narrow it down immensely.” Klaus walked over to Katie and sat down next to her. “Myself, I prefer actual strategy as opposed to mind-numbing labor.” He grabbed Katie’s legs and pulled them to drape over his lap and she leaned to the side and the back of the couch, not taking her eyes off the book in her lap as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Marcel’s delay in returning our brother makes me suspect he’s no longer in charge of the situation. If Davina’s loyalty to Marcel is strained perhaps the young witch will be open to discussing a new alliance.”

Katie took her eyes off the book now interested in the conversation. “As usual, your power grabs are more important than rescuing your brother.” Rebekah said.

Katie frowned and looked between the brother and sister. “You know, it’s not impossible to do both. Davina has Elijah. If we get her we get him. They are kind of a packaged deal at this point.” She told Rebekah then looked at Klaus. “Am I wrong?”

“As per the usual you are spot on.” Klaus told her with an appreciative look in his eyes. Neither of them had told Rebekah about Sabine’s vision. So she didn’t know why it was so important to both of them that they get Davina on their side. “The little witch is going to be at the festival tonight and I’m going to make a move.” He told Katie more than Rebekah. Katie pecked him on the cheek then returned her eyes to her book.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was alone in the house, cooking supper when she thought she heard something outside. Since Sabine’s visit she’d caught herself going on high alert whenever she was in the house by herself. So she pressed pause on her phone that was filling the kitchen with music. When she heard a twig snap outside she whooshed through the front door and around the house to the sound. A guy was sneaking toward the back door and she recognized him as the same witch that had tried to stop her from leaving the tomb. She got still and quiet and listened. She counted seven distinctly different sets of footsteps including the guy she had eyes on that was about to open the back door.

They created a semi circle around the back of the house. The witches further back were most likely keeping an eye on the one breaking into the house as they slowly closed in on the house. So she decided to leave him be for now. Instead she whooshed to the witch furthest away from the house, disarmed him as quietly as she could then slammed him face first into the ground and placed her foot on his back. She held his arms straight out behind his back, her hands holding tight around his wrists. “Call for help and die.” She practically growled at him. “What do you people want?” he didn’t answer. So Katie pulled back on his arms making him groan in pain. “Answer the question or I will rip your arms from your scrawny little torso.”

“We were sent to kill you.” he answered with a pant.

“By who?” she asked.

“Agnes.” He grunted. “She said that the child you’re carrying will be the death of all witches.”

“Damn it Sabine.” Katie sighed. “Looks like it’s time to send the witches a message.” With a whoosh she broke the guy’s neck. Over the course of the next minute five more witches necks were broken. The last warlock standing was the one in the house. So she whooshed to the back door and listened. She heard him in the parlor and whooshed inside, completely catching him off guard when she grabbed him from behind, sank her teeth into his neck and drank until his heart stopped then let him fall to the floor. He wasn’t even on vervain.

With all of the witches dead Katie went to the kitchen, took her phone off the speaker dock and called Klaus. “I hate to sound rude, but I’m in the middle of something, Sweetheart.” Klaus said when he answered the phone.

“Okay, I just have one quick question.” She told him as she walked into the parlor and looked down at the bloody circle on the carpet. “What should I do with the lifeless bodies of seven warlocks?”

“Are you okay?” he asked, not answering her question, but it was obvious that she now had his full attention.

“Perfectly.” She answered in a chipper voice.

“What happened?” he asked his voice now low and hard.

“Agnes sent some witches to their deaths thinking they could kill me.” she answered looking at the blood puddle that kept getting bigger. “Also, how do I get blood out of a rug? The dead guy in our living room is bleeding everywhere.”

“Where is Rebekah?” he asked once again, not answering her question.

“What the bloody hell happened here?” Rebekah asked as she walked into the parlor.

“She just got back from wherever it is she’s been.” Katie answered.

“I will be there as soon as I can.” He told her then hung up.

Katie put the phone down and looked at Rebekah. “He tried to kill me.” Katie said with a shrug as she leaned down and picked up the stake that had fallen out of the guy’s hand. “Did Agnes seriously think simple witches who aren’t allowed to do the brain pain spell could ambush me?”

“You kind of make it easy to forget that you’re a vampire.” Rebekah answered then stepped over the guy and grabbed his ankles. “Are you going to help me get him out of here or what?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Katie said with a shake of her head and grabbed the guy’s shoulders then helped Rebekah move the guy outside.

TVDTVDTVD

“You took on seven witches…alone?” Klaus asked as he stalked into the house.

“Yep.” Katie answered simply from where she sat on the floor, scrubbing at the blood on the rug.

“You should have called me and let me handle it.” he told her with a hard face.

“I should have called you and let them close in on me while I waited for you?” she asked as she tossed the scrub brush into the bucket of soapy water and stood up.

“There are several places in this house you could have hidden.” he told her with a point to the room he had the coffins stored in.

“You of all people know I do not hide and I do not back down.” she told him with her head held high as she glared at him. It struck her that she’d had a fight like this before, with Damon, and she sighed and wiped the glare from her face. “I know I have a habit of putting myself in harm's way and I know I’m slowly getting weaker. That’s why I bite myself every once in a while to see if I still heal and I whoosh just to see if I still have speed.” She cupped his face in her hands. “You know that if I thought for even a second that taking them on would put the baby in danger I wouldn’t have done it, right?”

“Your fight is one of the many things I like about you.” he told her as he took one of her hands off his face and kissed the underside of her wrist. “I know you’d never put our baby in harm's way.” He put his hand on her shoulder then kissed her. “Now that I know you are, in fact, perfectly okay there is one more thing I need to tend to in the quarter before the night is over. I will not be long.”

“You’re not going to go on a witch hunt are you?” she asked with a smirk.

“No, but when I do get my hands on Sophie Deveraux she is-“

“It wasn’t Sophie. It was Agnes.” Katie interrupted him.

“Agnes, Sophie, it’s all the same to me. I’ll slaughter the lot of them.” He told her with a sneer.

“Not if Elijah gets there first.” Rebekah said as she walked into the room and sat down on the couch.

“Come again?” Katie asked with a look at Rebekah.

“Have you found him?” Klaus asked, tucking his hands behind his back.

“He’s been in touch, and he has a plan.” Rebekah answered then looked at Katie. “All he asks is that we take care of you.”

Klaus stalked over to glare down at Rebekah. “I asked you to stay with her, not go on a wild goose chase to find Elijah.”

“I believe she has proven that she doesn’t need a babysitter.” Rebekah argued.

Klaus opened her mouth to say something, but Katie touched his arm keeping a fight from happening. “I’ll be back.” Klaus told Katie then pecked her on the lips and walked away.

With him gone Katie returned to the kitchen and started cleaning up the meal that was no longer worth finishing. Rebekah walked in and leaned on the island. “You are aware that Elijah is still in love with you, right?” she asked.

Katie grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet. “I’m aware.” she grabbed a bag of granola cereal out of another cabinet.

“And you don’t care?” Rebekah asked.

Katie grabbed a gallon of milk out of the icebox and set it on the counter. “Of course I care, Rebekah, but my feelings for him are not what they used to be.”

“Because you’re in love with Klaus?” she asked as she watched Katie pour cereal into the bowl.

“Are you always this nosey or are you just trying to find a way to get Elijah and I back together?” she asked, avoiding the question.

“Just making an attempt at girl talk.” Rebekah answered innocently.

“If you want girl talk then we can talk about hair products, fashion or the incredibly hot Hemsworth brothers.” Katie pointed out as she added milk to the bowl.

“You have a thing for guys with accents, don’t you?” Rebekah asked.

“Yep.” Katie answered then took a bite of cereal.

“So you’re not in love with Klaus?” Rebekah asked.

Katie sighed and let her head fall forward. “I’m not talking about this with you.” she answered then grabbed her bowl and went to her and Klaus’s room.

She was sitting at a table in their room, eating her cereal and writing in her journal when her phone started ringing and she pulled it out of her pocket to see Klaus’s name on the screen. She pressed talk and before she could say hello a woman’s voice hit her ears. “Wait. That’s right I told you what happened. I never tell anybody, but I told you.” Katie frowned and hit the speaker phone button. “And you said something about Sean standing alone against his demons. When he killed those men I thought he must be mentally ill, but… What if it was demons? What if a vampire compelled him?”

“And if so, would you devote yourself to finding the guilty party? Would you sacrifice everything to find out the truth? To what end?” She heard Klaus ask, both of their voices sounded far away from the phone. She could only guess that he pocket dialed her.

“To what end? This is the entire reason I am in New Orleans!” the woman said with a raised voice.

Katie was about to hang up, knowing she shouldn’t be listening in on Klaus’s conversations, but the name that came out of his mouth stopped her. “Cami, whatever lies on the other end of this mystery will only offer you pain. Nothing will bring your brother back. Your only hope for peace is to forget this and move on.” He’d left her to go to Cami?

“No, don’t compel me to forget this.” Cami argued.

“And if I allow you to remember…your knowledge will eat away at you. Your quest for truth will only put you in danger.” Klaus told her.

“You don’t care about me! You just want me to forget this so I can be focused on Marcel. So I’ll be a good little spy for you!” Cami yelled at him. Katie placed her fingertips on her lips, debating on hanging up. She shouldn’t be listening to this, but she couldn’t help herself.

“I need your loyalty, yes, and though that may appear selfish to you the scope of my plan goes far beyond myself. Power aside I am trying to honor my brother and the woman I love.” Klaus told her with an emotional voice. Katie’s heart stopped at Klaus’s confession.

“But what about my brother? My twin brother. We were bonded our whole lives and I know…I know he didn’t just snap. And I need to know who did this and I need to make this right.” Cami pleaded with him. “No, don’t take this away from me!”

“You will do nothing. Your brother was ill. He killed those people and himself and it was a tragedy. All you can do is move on.” Katie assumed he was compelling Cami. “Know that your brother is at peace and that you needn’t worry. I will find out what happened and when I do, I will make sure whoever harmed your brother will suffer. And as for you, tonight, you will sleep and you will dream of a world far better than this one. A world where there is no evil, no demons, and all people desire only to be good.” When she heard the sound of wind against the microphone of the phone she pressed the end button.

She was putting her empty bowl in the dishwasher when she heard Klaus whoosh up behind her then grab her hips, spin her around and kiss her. She kissed him back for a few seconds then turned away and closed the dishwasher. “You…are the perfect ending to a long day.” He whispered into her ear as his hands slipped down her sides and kissed her neck.

“I’m far from perfect.” She told him as she turned in his arms. “I’m nosey.” He gave her a curious look. “You were with Cami earlier and I know that because you pocket dialed me…and I listened.”

He sighed and tilted his head to the side. “How much did you hear?”

“I came in on Cami wondering if her brother was compelled.” She answered. “I shouldn’t have listened and I’m sorry.”

“No worries, love.” He told her knowing that if she heard the whole conversation she heard him say that he loves her. She had no reason to be jealous and it didn’t look like she was mad, just guilty.

“You’re not mad at me?” she asked quietly.

“Of course not.” He told her as he placed his hands on her hips. “Something else I like about you…” he picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter, “your curiosity.”

“Yeah, well, curiosity killed the cat.” She sighed.

“Thankfully cats have nine lives.” He replied, making her roll her eyes. “Do you have any questions regarding what you heard?”

“What’s the whole story? All I could gather from what I heard is that Cami’s twin brother, Sean, killed people and it may or may not have been because a vampire compelled him to do so.” She told him as she wrapped her legs around him.

“Her brother was a seminary student at Saint Ann’s church in the quarter.” He started. “He went insane and killed nine of his fellow seminary students then himself. According to Cami, he had no reason to do so. He showed no signs or symptoms that one usually does before a psychotic break. She feared that his demons would become her own and was suffering from insomnia and nightmares.”

“So you compelled her to rest easy and stop worrying about her brother because if she didn’t it would lead her right into the mess that is the supernatural community.” She thought out loud putting the pieces together. “You helped her because you care about her.”

“So are you jealous?” he asked with a smirk.

“That you told Cami that you are trying to honor your brother and the woman that you love?” she asked with a small smile. “Nope, I’m good.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and tightened her legs around him.

“So you’re acknowledging that I love you.” he observed.

“You’re doing everything in your power to protect me and your unborn child.” She pointed out as she looked him in the eyes. “And you called me your everything. I’d have to be blind to not see it. I just…” she bit her lips closed and dropped her eyes from his with a shake of her head.

“You’re not ready to say it back.” he finished for her as he slid his hands up from her hips to hold her sides.

“I should be, all things considered, but…no, I’m not.” She admitted with a shake of her head and a shrug. She felt like something was standing in the way of her fully giving in to Klaus, like something was blocking those words from leaving her lips.

“I move at a faster pace than you when it comes to us and that is perfectly fine.” He assured her seeing how much she was struggling with the idea of love even after everything they had been through. It was going to take time for her to let herself love again. “I don’t want you to say it unless you mean it.”

“And that…Big Bad Wolf, is one of the many, many things I like about you.” she moved her arms from around his neck to rest her hands on the sides of it. “You’re patient with me even though patience isn’t your strong suit.” He placed his hand on her cheek and opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and closed it. She knew he wanted to say it, but if he did she would feel pressured to say it back and neither of them wanted that. So instead, he pressed his lips to hers, both of them pouring themselves into it resulting in him whooshing then upstairs to their room.

[thebrownssociety]

what’s the sibling dynamic between buster and elmyra? since elmer and bugs are married in and the looney tunes cast adopted the tiny toons cast

Thanks for the ask! Sorry it's taken so long, I was trying to tie all the threads together.

So, I'm going to include Babs in this as well, as I headcanon Bugs and Elmer adopted Buster, Babs and Elmyra together.

So to understand this we've got to go back to after Tiny Toons had finished filming in early 1992. By that point the kids were all 5 years old and had basically formed a tight-knit group. They were also at the stage in there development when they were starting to expand a little bit beyond what their official characterisation was.

So, take Montanna Max, for example, although he was still hot-headed, obsessed with money and greedy [and those traits would never go away] he was now learning that his friends [and particularly the adults] weren't going to put up with his screaming at them all day and not sharing anything and that if he wanted to remain friends with them he was going to have to change his behaviour at least a little. The rest of the toons would accept what he was created as, but they wouldn't accept him using that as an excuse to act completely out of order.

Buster and Babs upon finishing filming were both enrolled in a two-year long course which was basically going to help them adjust to not being a protagonist anymore. It's a course that every protagonist of a TV show, or a film, does after the completion of there first show, and it basically helps them come to terms with the fact they are not the centre of the universe. The reason for this is because it's been accepted and realised that it's very hard for a toon who's had there entire show revolve around them to suddenly not have that anymore and be sent out into the world of Toons where most Toons don't care.

As a genreral rule in Toontown, unless you've achieved the fame levels of Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, or are associated with them, no one really cares what film you were in. So Anna and Elsa are treated like goddesses in Toontown because, there film was really successful and they're seen as really good characters, contrast that with Princess Aurora [who's film was a box-office bomb at time of release, I believe] who is more respected and liked because she's royalty and she's really nice than because her film was successful.

In short, unless your film is massively successful at time of release, you're just another toon and the two-year course helps protagonists come to terms with that. There are positives as well, it's not all 'you're nothing now'. The toons work on their individual skills and how they may be transferred to other things. [Babs's impression are so good, for instance, that even if Tiny Toons never got rebooted, she'd still have a really good shot at becoming a Toon Impressionist, if she wanted to. Buster's flexibility and ability to 'read' other people means he'd potentially be good as a nurse/doctor/police officer or just a role that's with the public.]

While Buster and Babs were doing that Elmyra spent time with Bugs and Elmer and practiced her toon powers while benefiting from the individual attention being given by her dads. [Just a note, there is a two-year course for villains as well that was introduced in the 60's that helps them to...not be so villainous, but you have to meet a certain level of 'badness' like Maleficent OR Evil Queen to get in there and - obviously - Elmyra doesn't meet that requirement.]

So, back to the actual ask, Buster, Babs and Elmyra moved into Bugs and Elmer's 5-bedroom mansion shortly after filming ended. It was decided they would each have there own room, which they decorated to there own preferences [Elmyra's is very VERY pink]. So this relieved some tension, because Babs HATED the idea of sharing a room with Elmyra. [Elmyra, for her part, was happy about the idea and cried buckets when she was told it wouldn't be happening.]

At first Buster didn't really get on well with Elmyra at all. Over filming he'd kind of managed to build her up into the 'oh, help me, it's Elmyra' figure, and although he knew she was largely harmless, he still didn't like her. Her 'baby-act' and need to be constantly supervised also grated. This was the same for Babs.

Elmyra, at first, adored the idea of living with Babs and Buster and had visions of dressing them up all day in 'cutesey-wutesey outfits'. It may surprise you to know, that Buster and Babs did not WANT to be dressed up in outfits, cute or otherwise, and had no issue anvilling her to get the point across. This led to tears on Elmyra's part and frustration on Babs and Buster's.

This did eventually mellow out though, due to a couple of things, firstly - Bugs and Elmer's determination to teach Elmyra how to handle her new brother and sister properly [and vice versa for the bunny's]. Secondly - because Elmyra did have regular session with Doctor Scratchensniff every week during which they worked on 'how not to strangle animals when you hug them.' among other things and thirdly because Buster and Babs realised things where not all sunny for Elmyra.

That sounds really ominous, but what I may is that a few of you may have remembered that Elmyra actually had a family when she was on the show. A physical one, not just 'mentioned' parents like Buster. [Babs had a mother who was shown, but Babs's mother is a sufficiently flat characters, that if she doesn't have Babs in the house she assumes she's at school. It doesn't matter whether it's snowing, the middle of the school holidays or the middle of the night, as far as 'Mrs Bunny' is concerned, Babs is at school.]

It was decided after Tiny Toons ended that Elmyra should continue to see her 'designed' family [the family she was designed to have] at the weekends. Friday afternoon she walked home/would be dropped off by someone at her designed parents house and she would stay there until Sunday night until she was returned just after dinner. [So Elmyra would miss dinner with Bugs and co]

This worked for a little while until it got to when Elmyra was going into Grade 1 and Elmer realised she was always doing her homework when she got home. Her parents weren't helping her. In a rather tense conversation he asked Elmyra's designed parents if they would help her do her homework. They promptly replied that the homework was to difficult for 'there little baby' and she should be given something age-appropriate. It was during that discussion that Elmer discovered her 'parents' thought she was 4 years old.

Even by Toon standards, this was a warning flag and Elmer promptly excused himself and ran the conversation by Doctor Scratchensniff because the fact Elmyra's parents didn't seem to recognise the fact that A} her designed age was 12 and B} she was actually 6, not 4 - was concerning to say the least.

Now. Normally D.S. doesn't get involved with this kind of thing because otherwise he'd never do anything else, but as Elmyra was already a patient of his and he decided it wouldn't do Elmer/Bugs any good if they challenged Elmyra's parents themselves, he decided he better have a word with them herself.

He had his word. And they seemed to understand. Scratchy went back to Bugs and Elmer and told them they didn't have to worry, that Elmyra's parents understood her designed age was 12 and that she would get older and mature above that [hopefully]. Bugs and Elmer [particularly Elmer] were suspicious about this at first, but Elmyra came back from her parents having had her homework done and with tales of having done exciting things during the weekend. She was also - they noticed - being given age-appropriate things to play with and this lasted...until she moved up to middle school.

Elmyra moved up to middle school a year after Buster and Babs did, which meant they weren't in the same class. However they were in the same house and it became noticeable that Elmyra didn't seem very happy. Specifically she didn't seem very happy with the idea of going to her parents house at the weekend and was somehow even less happy when she came back.

Bugs and Elmer had noticed this and tried to ask her what was wrong, but she refused to tell them. Buster didn't really want to get involved - he felt it would open a long, emotional conversation he didn't really want to have - but when Elmyra came home one day in tears and he was the only one in the house it fell to him to deal with it.

Turns out Elmyra's parents did not like the fact she was in middle school. They thought the schoolwork she was doing was to advanced for her [it was perfectly acceptable work for her grade and she was doing well with it] and her mother in particular was concerned because Elmyra had started Noticing Boys. This did not fit with the notion they had that she was still a little girl who spoke in a babyish voice and called everything 'cuddly-wuddly' despite the fact that Elmyra herself was doing her best to drop the 'cuddly-wudddly's' [unfortunately she still had to keep the babyish voice] and asking that her parents maybe not buy her games and stuff that were clearly designed for a child under 10.

By this point all this had been going on for a few months. Buster - after calming Elmyra down and running the situation by Hampton - told there dads what was going on with Elmyra and they took matters out of his hands.

Doctor Scratchensniff paid another visit to Elmyra's parents with the intention of explaining to them, gently and tactfully, why they needed to change the way they were treating Elmyra because it was risking damaging her and no one has a clue what was actually said in that meeting, but the end shot was that Elmyra no longer saw her parents on the weekend. She could contact them again at 16 if she wanted to, but until then it was in her best interests to stay away from them.

You all may be wondering why I'm going into so much detail about Elmyra's circumstances, and that's because I feel it's necessary to understand the siblings dynamic. Buster, Babs and Elmyra - up until they were about 11 - only spent Mon-Thurs as a proper group. During that time they anvilled each other, teased each other and tried to actively avoid each other [or rather Buster and Babs tried to actively avoid Elmyra when she was at her most annoying] They also played games together, struggled through school-work together and dealt with there annoying parents together. They became a pretty effective sibling team.

Buster and Babs - despite being created to have a crush on each other - came to view each other as adopted siblings and remained close. They laughed together, joke together and messed with people together.

Babs and Elmyra go shopping together, they talk about stuff together - 'stuff' being the subjects of romances and Life in general that perhaps Buster wouldn't want to be a part off - they get on pretty well actually, mainly because they have a good few things in common and on Elmyra's sensible non-complete-moron days they can even have deep conversations about politics and the world in general as well as analysing TV shows and fangirling over there favourite characters.

Buster and Elmyra are a bit of an odd paring. On Elmyra's smart days the two of them can be quite devious and can throw adults for a loop easily. On her less smart days Buster just tries to stay out her way. The things with Buster and Elmyra is that he basically thought of her as an annoyance for the first 5 years off his life. When he was adopted by Bugs and Elmer and found himself now living with her he was essentially banned from insulting her to harshly. ["No anvilling at the dinner table, Buster!"] But part the issue was that Buster was jealous because Elmyra had another family she got too see and he didn't. He knew that Bugs and Elmer were his official family and it was great to be adopted by his mentor but he couldn't help a pang of envy every time Elmyra got in the car to go to her parents house.

And then the breakdown happened with Elmyra when she was 11 [Buster and Babs knew her parents had had a few problems with her before, but didn't know the exact details, To be fair not even Elmyra herself knew the exact details. Elmer had the conversation away from her and then the rest of it was kept away from her. The only thing she was told was that her parents would now be helping her with homework when she went to them at the weekend.] and Buster realised that Elmyra's home life was not a bed of roses and he made a conscious effort to not be so short with her and to be more patient in the way that Babs seems to be able to do effortlessly. [Babs's realised pretty quickly after they all started living together that Elmyra wasn't going to change and decided that rather than fight it she was just going to embrace it. She was hoping that Elmyra would go away after Babs played 'dress-up' with her, but it just made Elmyra like her more. After a couple of months - and a conversation with Bugs - Babs realised that Elmyra literally just wanted someone to spend time with and dress up. But it was more the spending time than the dressing up that Elmyra liked. They managed to work out a system where Babs would let Elmyra dress her up and do her ears, if Elmyra would give feedback on Babs's impressions and watch comedy tapes with her.]

Going back to Buster, it took a while and, while he and Elmyra are never going to be 'best friends', Buster eventually realised she wasn't that bad and started to enjoy spending time with her.

Elmyra, for her part, has made a conscious effort over the years to not hug her siblings [or any other cute, fluffy creatures for that matter] to tightly, dress them up against their will, or chase them round the earth till they just give up. She still hugs and does like going shopping [or 'grown-up dress up' as Babs calls it] and will chase them to give them a hug if she's having a particularly stupid day or thinks they look upset, but the main thing is that Elmyra is trying.

Very very trying.

[sigyn-obsessed]

Reunion

The town was quiet. It was something Sigyn loved about it. People lightly talked in the market, negotiating prices. The shutters brushed against the windows as the breeze blew gently. It was warm out, the sun blazing down, warming them all. The grass swaying, tickling your bare feet.

She truly enjoyed the town. It was the fresh start she needed. When she was young, people would give her the look of pity that said, ‘I’m so sorry your mother left. So tragic.’ The glares some of the soldiers would give her when mention of her father was brought up. The people who believed she was some poor, fragile little girl who never had a constant in her life. It wasn’t what Sigyn wanted anymore.

It didn’t help that the place she grew up in no longer existed anymore, thanks to the All-Father’s estranged daughter. Sigyn couldn’t say she was particularly upset when she found out. It hadn’t been her home in a long time. She was just glad everyone was okay, and offered her healing services if they ever needed it. Sigyn wondered if her mother got out, but the care disappeared when she thought of her mother’s last words to her.

“I hope you burn in Hel for what you did.” Sigyn hadn’t taken the comment personally for a very long time. She knew her mother would be there too, so they could argue then. Right now, she had better things to worry about.

She sat cross legged, the light green floral dress balled up near her ankles. Her long curly blonde hair was pulled back in a bun, keeping it out of her way as she cheered on her boys.

Hey boys. Her sons. The two best things that ever happened to her. They were almost five, which struck her. Had it been five years already? Some days it felt like a hundred years, other days it felt like yesterday. They hadn’t been in Vanaheim too long, but it was enough to have it feel like a home. If they were in Asgard she very much wouldn’t feel like this.

“Mama look what I found.” Yelled Narvi, his blonde curls stuck to his forehead. His small hands cupped a baby snake, casually slithering around his hand. Vali, his younger brother and twin, was staring with stars in his eyes at the little creature. It was likely a garter snake, they appeared quite frequently. They weren’t dangerous, the boys were just curious.

Sigyn snapped out of her thoughts at the little boys pushing the animal near her face.

“Wow! He is pretty isn’t he?” She suggested, gently tracing down it’s back. It was a beautiful emerald green, with little black and gold marks. It warmed Sigyn’s heart. It reminded her of good times. Before everything bad happened.

“Mama you aren’t afraid of snakes?” Vali muttered. He had seen his mother shriek at spiders and centipedes in their home. Surely she would be afraid of snakes.

“Actually boys, I really love snakes. I encountered some pretty cool snakes in my time.” Sigyn gently laid the snake down, watching it slither through the grass as the boys sat next to her, one on each side. Her fingers instinctively ran through their hair, pushing the sweaty strands off their forehead. Vali’s hair was much darker, with a bit of curl. They looked so much like him in their own special ways.

“Mama are you okay?” Whispered Narvi, staring intently at her. She knew they both had magic, and knew they were likely able to tell the changes in hers. She was known as an incantation fetter. Magic was bound to her in everything she did. Her decisions, her relationships, her emotions. She had to keep everything in check.

“I’m okay honey. Just thinking too much. How about we have lunch? I’ll grab some fruit and we’ll bring it outside and eat okay.” The boys excitedly nodded as they rushed towards the back door, barging in. Sigyn took a deep breath, trying to gather herself.

Before she knew it Vali arrived with an old blanket they had on their couch and laid it out while Narvi had grabbed a pitcher of juice. Sigyn came back with some fruit they had thrown together as they all ate together. Everything was silent except for the silent munching. The sun stayed strong, blaring down hard. Sigyn had adjusted them into the shade, knowing the boys overheated easily. They tended to get sunburnt easily as well. She had experimented with many lotions to perfect the salve.

After they had finished, she gently tidied up, the boys going back to their play, exploring the small bushes that lined the back of their house, making sure not to disturb the garden Sigyn spent most of her free time on, when she wasn’t working in the town’s healing ward. The boys attended regular classes, teaching the boys essentials and basic necessities. The boys were extremely intelligent, and were reading and writing on their own already. Their bedroom had a large bookcase that was getting more full everyday. If you asked Vali what he wanted, he would likely say some type of book. Narvi was a bit more adventurous, probably asking for a weapon that was too dangerous for him.

Sigyn didn’t realize that the boys had rushed in, tapping her quickly.

“Mama, someone was outside.” Sigyn's heart dropped. Has someone found them? Sigyn ushered the boys to the living area, telling them to stay there and under no circumstances to leave. She walked outside, peering around at the trees and bushes. The house wasn’t in the town, and was at least a mile away from the closest house. Sigyn felt her hands radiating, magic flowing, tensing just in case she saw something and needed to react. It wasn’t bad that she had a dagger as well to summon. Her breathing hitched, wincing when she turned a corner, ready for something to be there.

She saw a figure, their back turned to her. They were dressed in simple clothes, dark pants and a tunic with tall boots. She was afraid to stride closer, in worry that she would surprise them and they would react as a threat.

“Who are you?” She questioned, her dagger summoned, gripped in her hand until her knuckles were white. She was breathing fast, her mind worrying that someone she had previously wronged may have found her. She hadn’t wronged many, but they had friends.

They didn't turn around, instead she saw them tense. She drew closer, still wielding her dagger. “I asked a question, now answer; who are you?” She demanded.

The figure began to turn but stopped, instead placing their hands out, to show they weren’t armed. It was a swift movement, but it wasn’t enough for Sigyn. She moved closer, the dagger now held by her side. She was close enough to touch them, but she stopped. The feeling was too familiar.

The dark hair that reached their shoulders, the pale skin on their hands.

“Turn around, slowly.” She demanded, and saw their body begin to move. She was hit with familiarity as she recognized the stranger’s face.

Loki?

She met his eyes first, the light emerald she had always loved. She felt her hands drop, the dagger falling flat into the dirt. Shock coursed through her. He was dead. She knew it. Thanos had snapped his neck five years ago. She remembered the day distinctly.

Three weeks later she found out she was pregnant with the twins.

She swallowed, her throat dry, and her mouth unable to form a word. She didn’t know what to say. What was there to say? So much. Too much.

She saw his eyes follow her form, looking her over. She wondered if he recognized her, since both were still in silence. This wasn’t real. He wasn’t real.

She reached out, clasping his chest, feeling the heartbeat underneath. Her eyes flooded, heating her face as they fell. She felt him move closer before she grasped onto him, tightly hugging him. She felt his arms wrap around, almost desperately, unlike he had ever before. She was holding so tightly, feeling his hand grasped in her golden hair. She didn’t want to pull away, for worry that he would just disappear. He pulled back, looking into the blue that had made him feel safe such a time ago.

Her hands wandered to his face, rubbing the tears from his eyes. It felt like before, when they were young and nothing had happened. Like the trauma, and pain, and tragedy hadn’t hit. She pulled him close again, her hands running through his hair. It was longer than ever before. She was so used to his short hair, and how it slightly used to curl and how he hated it. Sigyn would plead with him to leave it alone. She had always loved his curls.

As they pulled back, his hands found hers, gently stroking them. Both were too in shock to say anything.

“Sigyn?” She heard him whisper. All she could do was nod. They stood alone.

“Is this really happening?” She saw him nod his head. Reason didn’t matter anymore. He was here. After all this time he was here. Was he really here? “Is this a trick? Because I miss you and my emotions are messing with me?”

He brushed the hair out of her eyes before closing the space between them. There was no desperation anymore. It wasn’t hard or brash, it was soft and calm, something she hadn’t felt for some time.

“It’s real Sig. It’s not a trick. I’m here.” Sigyn hadn’t felt this happy for some time. Probably since her sons were born.

“Come in.” She led him towards the doors, ushering him inside, where he sat at the small table in the kitchen. She began fixing him a cup of tea. She walked over, gently rubbing his back, scared to finish the conversation.

“Lo, we need to ta-”

“Mama, is everything okay?” Sigyn paused, looking at the two little boys standing in the doorway, confused at the stranger sitting at the table. Loki looked over, his expression hard to read. Everything stopped.

“Everything is okay babies.” Narvi moved towards her, Vali followed closely behind. They hid behind her, looking over at the strange man. It took Loki a second to process the two little boys. They were small, smaller than the average child their age. How old are they? Their face shape was similar, but one had dark black hair and the other golden blonde. It slightly reminded him of Thor and him as a child, but somehow this felt different. The boys held onto each other, staring wearily at him. Sigyn knelt down to them, gently grasping their shoulders.

“Boys, can you please go into the living room? I’m fine, I promise. I just need a moment.” She saw the boys linger, Vali’s small fingers playing with her dress. She saw Narvi receive the signal, and gently took Vali’s hand, leading him towards the living room through the door. Sigyn felt herself sigh. She had played this moment in her mind so many times, the boys meeting their father. It never went this way. Nothing ever went according to plan for them though.

“Loki, before-”

“Who are they?” Sigyn closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. She took a seat at the chair across from him.

“They’re my sons.” She muttered. She read his face, seeing shock. Before she could say anything else she heard him.

“I guess you have a type.” Sigyn stopped, shocked. He read the confusion on her face.

“Their dark hair, pale skin. I always knew you liked men with dark features.” Sigyn sighed, feeling the pent up magic crawling to the surface.

“I always knew you liked to lie, but I never thought you couldn’t tell when others lied.” There was silence between them. “A few weeks after Thanos, I found out.”

“You moved on fast.” Sigyn couldn’t hide it anymore. He was doing this to anger her, to get a rise out of her.

“Are you serious? Loki, I lost the only person I ever loved, that I ever felt loved by. The man that I married and had planned a future with but no! He had to go after the strongest creature in the world with a puny dagger!” She felt her voice crack. She thought the mourning had ended a long time ago, but it had all been brought back. She wiped her eyes, hoping the boys didn’t hear the yelling. They would be worried. They were protective of her, even though they were so little. She was the only thing they had besides each other. Sigyn read the silence and continued.

“Do you remember when we were first married? We went to the turning of the season festival in the outskirts of Asgard? We talked about having kids when the little boys came up to us and you were so good with them. Do you remember the names you adored?”

There was silence for a second and Sigyn was about to interject when she heard him whisper. “Narvi and Vali. We never came up with a name for a girl because we both believed we would never have one. You always joked that there were too many women in your family for another.”

“Their names are Narvi and Vali. After the names their father chose.” It was quiet when she heard the pieces click together. She turned her head, looking into the living room, noticing the boys on the floor playing with some small blocks her father had made them. When their powers acted up they were freeze-proof so they could never be broken.

She felt his presence behind her, a hand on the low of her back.

“They’re mine?” She felt a cry come out before turning around.

“Of course they’re yours. I found out I was pregnant three weeks after Thanos defeated the Avengers. I came to Vanaheim when I heard my family had relocated here after Asgard’s fall.”

“Do they know-”

“They know who their father is. I’ve told them stories about you to them when they ask. I told them that even though you didn’t know them, you loved them. I told them stories about when we were courting, and that you had done bad things because of a bad man. That they were jotun. They know everything and it never changed anything.” She gently rubbed his cheek. “They love you the same no matter what. They aren’t Thor and you. They are your sons and they deserve to meet their father.” She saw him nod before she walked into the living room, watching the boys play, but it seemed wrong. The way they were playing was almost robotic? Sigyn sighed before muttering how much they were like their father. She quickly walked into the kitchen before taking a deep breath, Loki watching her.

“Boys, I know that you aren’t in the living room. Please show yourself. I’m not going to be mad.” Sigyn felt a shift in magic and looked in the corner to find the two boys crouched, listening in on the conversation. Sigyn sighed as she walked over to the boys.

“I assume you heard what we were talking about.” Muttered Sigyn as she knelt down to their level. The boys nodded as she thought of what to say next, but they beat her to it.

“So papa’s okay?” Sigyn stopped and looked at Vali, shocked he had made the first comment. He was a generally quiet kid, and really only opened up to Narvi and Sigyn. Having Loki just a few feet away made Sigyn think he would be hidden and drawn away.

“Yeah, papa’s okay.” Sigyn brushed the hair out of Vali’s eyes. It was getting almost as long as his father’s.

“So that’s our papa?” Questioned Narvi, looking over at Loki from the corner of his eye. It caught Loki off guard, seeing his eyes on such a small little being. It made him swell with immense pride he didn’t know he had. It made him think of his mother. Sigyn nodded and gestured to Loki to take the reins. The boys moved slowly towards him, and Loki knelt down to look the boys in the eyes. He saw Vali tilt his head a bit.

“You look like me.” Loki smirked, and was almost unsure whether to touch them. He was afraid. Here they were, years later, and he was a stranger to his own children. It made him feel guilty. Truly, he had been searching for Sigyn for years, but the fact that she had been raising two boys alone made his guilt rise.

“You don’t look like me.” Narvi muttered. “Mama says I act like you though.”

Loki laughed. He had remembered his mother made a comment when he was young, warning him that he would be in trouble if he had a child that behaved like him. He was sure it was to encourage him not to misbehave. He felt his mother probably smiling and the fact that there were two made him smirk even more. It took a second for them to approach him, and it was seconds later that he was hugging them, holding onto them tight, never letting them go again. What was stranger though was that the boys were holding on tight, like they had saved it up for him.

“I love you two so much.” He whispered, afraid to let go of them, that they may disappear or be taken away, his hands running through their hair, Narvi’s light blonde and Vali’s pitch black. Looking at them you couldn’t tell they were twins.

“They’ve been saving this for you.” Muttered Sigyn, rubbing his shoulder as he sat the boys on his knee, giving each a kiss on the forehead. Sigyn rubbed Loki’s back as she looked up intently at him.

“I promise you all, I am never leaving again. I promise you three.” He pressed his forehead against Sigyn’s, holding onto them tightly. Nothing would take them away. Not now, not ever. He had fought to see her again. He traveled across the galaxy to look into Sigyn’s comforting eyes, and nothing would take that away. He had two beautiful children whom he had missed out on. He wouldn’t be Odin. Never. He would be there for them through anything. He was going to be not a father, but a dad. Someone who cared for them and looked out for them and played with them.

Loki was a dad, and he had never felt happier.

[dis-easedfairy]

Impulsive Decision MP PREVIEW

Male Path | Female Path’

Chapter 9 : Just A Normal Day At The Office

Warnings!: Swearing 

Genre: Poly!au, angst, fluff, eventual smut, yandere!au?

Pairings: BTS x Reader / Kim Taehyung x Reader / Kim Seokjin x Reader / Jung Hoseok x Reader / OC x Reader / Park Jimin x Reader / Min Yoongi x Reader

Summary: M/n is the owner of a very wealthy and successful company, Barnanby Inc. M/n attends a BTS show, since they happen to be a fan. They make a very impulsive decision to show a loophole in BTS’s security and end up kidnapping BTS and 2 girls. In a fit of panic M/n stashes BTS and the girls in a very luxurious bunker for the time being, but M/n’s world slowly starts to crumble the longer the boys are out of the public’s eye,

Word Count in This Preview: 1,119 (4 Minutes of Average Reading Time)

A/N: The boys aren’t in this chapter that much purely so I can develop plot and give background info. So, filler.

Once I had almost everything in its rightful place I still hadn’t found my dad’s games. I figured I wasn’t looking hard enough and began to load everything into my car to look through at the office since I had been there for longer than needed.

I made sure to sit on my office couch as I went through box after box.

It was pretty mundane. It was starting to get really boring until I came across a book. It was a book about animation which was to be expected but a few of the pages had marks in the corner, like quickly scribbled numbers. A few pages were torn out and torn in half.

I frowned as I began to flip through, not really noticing a pattern in the numbers or even knowing what the numbers would be to.

“I HAVE MADE AN ENTRANCE!” A loud booming sound came from my office door.

Out of pure reflex, I chucked the book I was holding at the door.

A loud thud and screech rang through the room as my eyes began to focus on who came through the door.

It was my little sister, cringing away from one side of the door that the book seemingly hit. Her eyes were wide and her mouth parted open in shock.

I let out an almost snort as I held my hands out, “Jieun, my bad! Don’t do that! I get you wanted dramatic effect but holy fuck give me a warning.” I complained.

“Give YOU a warning!? You threw a book at me!” She got out of her shocked position to clench her fists at her sides.

“I thought you were a monster!”

“HOW OLD ARE YOU!?” I giggled at the question.

“Will you forgive me if I eat lunch with you?”

“…It’s 5 pm.” I rolled my eyes.

“All you had to say was ‘no’.” I pouted as I got up to look for the bag Jason gave me earlier that day.

“I dropped by to see how my amazing brother was doing,” I could practically hear the sugar drip from her lips as I began to unpack my food.

“Cut the uwu crap and tell me why you’re really here.” I sighed as I opened the larger container that had rice in it.

She let out a groan and stomped over to plop herself on the couch across from me, “Mom didn’t like that you guys cut Dad’s family out of visiting our childhood home so she’s inviting them to our apartment. One of their brats already occupied my room.”

The irritating thing about this was the fact that our childhood home was already paid for, but my mother refused to live there because it was too much of a reminder to what was. So she insisted to move into a luxury two-bedroom apartment in Gangnam.

I let out a scoff as I poked at the fried chicken in a container covered in some kind of sauce, knowing Jae was paying for that apartment, “I bet Jae would love to know that.” I smirked.

“I tried to tell her we don’t want them around us be she went on and on about how we were family and how I should be nice! Can I just please stay with you?” She whined.

I began to think it over as I chewed, “I don’t think you can.”

“Why nooooot!?” I tried not to enjoy her misery.

“I’m not staying at my apartment. So you can stay there, you’ll just be alone and then our siblings will chew me out for leaving a 17-year-old girl alone in an apartment in Gangnam.” I muttered, shoving my face with more food, and then moved to open another container.

“We can just keep a secret!”

“I doubt that.”

“C’monnn! Pleasseee!”

“How about this, you go ask Jilly and Jae about staying with them, if they both say no, then you can have the keys by tonight.” I bargained.

She lit up, “Seriously!?” I nodded, “ILLGOASK!” She nearly yelled and bolted towards the door.

“DON’T RUN TOO FAST OR JILLY WILL SUE MY ASS! I DIDN’T RAISE YOU TO BE AN IDIOT!” I yelled… with my mouth full.

“SORRY! I’LL SPEEDWALK!”

I quickly finished my work to look through old floppy disks and USB drives my father had stocked up. I had told my assistant to push everything back that day.

It was around dinner time when I found a flash drive that caught my attention.

Most of them were files for unfinished games, ideas, and a mess of coding that didn’t make sense to my idiotic brain. But this USB drive had only two folders.

Both were password protected.

Once I clicked on them the command prompt on my computer popped up asking for the password.

I let out a sigh as I entered my mom’s birthday.

Access Denied. The command prompt closed.

I opened and tried my twin sibling’s birthday.

Not it.

I let out a groan and began to enter mine, trying to get it out of the way before I entered Jieun’s birthday which I was SURE was the password if it wasn’t my mother’s.

Upon pressing enter after the last digit of my birthday year the words ‘access granted’ appeared in the command prompt, the small window closed up, and the file opened.

There were 4 documents there.

READ FIRST

LEE ANIMATIONS

GWAN BROADCASTING

AN HAEWON

My fingers itched to click on one of the other files. Two were popular in media. Lee Animations had rebranded to Lee Entertainment a few years back. They hired idols and actors. Their animations were no longer being made by them, they chose to switch to the idol and film business pretty late. Everyone thought they would go bankrupt.

Gwan Broadcasting was a thing before my father even went to America. Years and generations in the company as well as very good dramas and sub-networks under their belt.

An Haewon. The name didn’t even begin to register in my memory.

Against my impulses, I clicked on the ‘READ FIRST’ file.

M/n

You’re reading this because you snooped in my things… OR I handed you this after you finished college but let's be honest with ourselves the first option is more likely.

I hope by now you’ve grown and I’ve handed the company over to you. So just have a drink with me after this because I have a few things to get off my chest.

I didn’t get this company JUST through hard work. I hope as time goes on you begin to understand the circumstances that led me to make the decisions I made and the actions I took.

I won't ask for forgiveness.

Just understanding . . .

[mayquita]

Damn You For Making Me Love You (14/15) - Nothing Else Matters

I can't believe we've almost reached the end of this journey. But that's it, the last chapter is here (in addition to the epilogue next week) I hope you like it.

I've gone through some pretty difficult months due to different circumstances, but you all managed to put a smile on my face every Tuesday with your comments, likes, kudos, and reblogs. Thanks for your support, it has meant the world to me.

Beta-Reader: Thank you so much, @ultraluckycatnd​​​ I couldn’t have asked for a better beta. Thank you for all your effort, your suggestions, your advice and for always being there when I needed you.

Special mention to @saraswans​​ and @onceuponaprincessworld​​​, thank you so much for your perpetual support and for believing in me and in the story. Thank you again to the moderators of the event, @captainswanbigbang​​​ for giving us this opportunity and making this possible. You all are the best :)

Summary: Emma Swan and Killian Jones are close friends and co-workers. And both are in love with each other. The problem? They keep their feelings secret not only to the other but also to the rest of their friends. When Elsa, Emma’s best friend and Liam, Killian’s brother and Emma’s boss find out, they decide to form an alliance and work as a team with a clear goal, to get Emma and Killian to take the next step in their relationship and confess their love for each other.

Rating: M

Word count: ~ 6700 (98k total in 15 chapters)

Ao3 / FFnet

About this chapter: It's time to celebrate the new year, and as long as they're together nothing else matters.

//

Chapter 13 - Nothing Else Matters

Elsa - New Year's Eve 2019

The sun had already risen when Elsa woke up the morning of the last day of the year. She cracked up one eye to check the time and then closed it again, snuggling even more under the sheets in her attempt to go back to sleep. It was still early, she was still dragging the vestiges of sleep and also the bed was quite comfortable.

There was something hovering in her head that prevented her from falling asleep, though. It was as if her mind was urging her to remember something, but her brain was still drowsy and not working properly, preventing her from reaching that thought. She squeezed her eyes closed stubbornly. Whatever it was, she would have time to remember it later. Now she preferred to enjoy the softness of the sheets, the fluffy blanket, the tranquility that surrounded her... Silence . That realization was the wick that finally activated her brain.

The bedroom was completely silent because she was alone. Her eyes suddenly opened as her hand reached out instinctively, finding an empty space on the other side of the bed. Though it was expected, she decided to bury the incipient feeling of disappointment, focusing instead on the advantages of waking up alone in her current situation.

With his absence, Liam had saved her from experiencing that first awkward moment of waking up in a strange bed with someone by her side with whom she had spent the night, although in their case all they had done was sleep.

After letting out a soft sigh, she stretched her limbs as her lips drew an involuntary smile when her mind began to remember the events that had led her to share a bed with Liam.

At least on that occasion, they hadn't had to make any effort. She hadn't even had time to think about a strategy. So the fact that Killian and Emma had fallen asleep together had been a unique opportunity, not only to continue with Operation Happy Ending but also because that had meant spending more time alone with Liam.

She liked him. It was useless to ignore that feeling when, far from fading away, it became increasingly intense. It was a bit ridiculous, to be honest. Despite being thirty-two years old, Elsa felt like a teenage girl with her first crush, complete with the usual butterflies in her belly and a pleasant flutter in her heart whenever they talked or saw each other.

She was quite convinced that he felt the same if his longing glances or the soft smiles just for her were sufficient evidence. But he was almost forty years old, neither of them were children yearning for a first love. She was aware that despite her physical reactions, whatever happened between them — if something happened — it probably wouldn't be a crazy and passionate love story. She suspected it would be something more mature, more soothing, just like they were. She didn't need anything else, really.

Liam had been a gentleman the night before, offering once more to find any other place to sleep. Elsa had rejected all his offers, of course. They were two responsible adults, after all.

Once together in bed, he had respected the distance, making sure she was comfortable enough. After wishing her good night and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, he had turned off the light on his bedside table. That was the last thing she remembered, since she had fallen asleep immediately after.

She had a vague awareness that they had moved during the night, ending up snuggling each other at some point. But since she had woken up alone, she wasn't sure if she had remained in his arms for a long time or if it had only been momentary.

After letting out a new sigh of contentment, she decided to leave the bed and take advantage of her solitary moment to take a shower and prepare herself for the last day of the year. After grabbing her toiletries and fresh clothes, she left the bedroom, heading in the direction of the bathroom.

The sound of running water was her indication as to where Liam was so, since the shower seemed to be occupied, she debated whether to go back to the bedroom or go check what the other occupants of the cabin were doing.

The house was completely silent, so Elsa suspected that everyone was still sleeping. Still, she decided to find out for herself. She walked stealthily down the short hall and poked her head around the corner, directing her gaze to the sofa in the middle of the living room.

Sunlight poured through the large windows, so Elsa was surprised that neither Emma nor Killian seemed to be awake. Not that she could see much of them, really, since they were almost totally covered, only a portion of their heads were partially visible.

Elsa noticed that they had assembled the bed at some point during the night and that they were impossibly together. That was a good sign, wasn't it? After taking one last look, she turned in the direction of her bedroom. She was so distracted thinking about the two idiots that she almost collided with the solid body that had got in her way.

She let out a slight shriek in surprise and then covered her mouth, remaining motionless. Only then did she realize that she had just collided with Liam, who had just come out of the shower. Although she tried, she couldn't help her gaze from shifting to his bare torso and then to the towel that hung dangerously low around his hips. Holy shit!

"Sorry, lass, I didn't see you." Elsa blinked a couple of times, forcing her eyes to look up, noticing a funny expression on Liam's face, causing her own cheeks to blush.

"I was..." she trailed off, hooking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the bathroom while feeling like a wave of embarrassment seized her.

"It's all yours, love. I... I better get dressed."

Elsa pressed her lips together in an attempt at a smile and then slipped away, literally, into the bathroom. So much for adult behavior.

The shower did wonders on her, the hot water dragging her previous embarrassment away, as she let herself be enveloped by the essence left by Liam. She took her time combing her hair in her usual braid and doing the rest of her morning routines. After one last scrutiny of her reflection in the mirror, she decided that she was presentable enough to appear in front of Liam again.

The house was still quiet when she left the bathroom, so she headed back to her bedroom with stealthy steps. Liam was there when she arrived. Elsa couldn't help her lips from drawing a smile of appreciation when she realized that in her brief absence Liam had dressed, made the bed and tidied the bedroom. He was now sitting with his back against the headboard, phone in hand, and looking at the screen. His eyes lifted immediately when he noticed her presence, his lips curled into a soft smile. Elsa felt a warm sensation spreading through her body at the thought that he was there just waiting for her.

"They... they were still asleep. Together." She tilted her head slightly in the direction of the living room.

"Aye, I also took a look before taking a shower." He reached up to scratch the back of his ear before continuing. "Speaking of which, did you sleep well last night? I hope my snoring didn't bother you too much."

"I slept like a baby, don't worry." She offered him a reassuring smile as she remained in her position, not quite sure what to do next. Unfortunately, her body spoke for her as suddenly her stomach rumbled loudly. She felt a blush crawl from her neck up to her cheeks as she looked away.

"Well, lass, I think it's breakfast time, right?" Liam stood up, offering her his arm in a gentlemanly gesture. "Shall we?"

"I'm not sure, maybe we should give them a few more minutes of privacy."

"Your stomach didn't seem to think the same." Liam raised an eyebrow, his lips drawing a naughty smirk. For some reason, she felt the urge to erase that smile using her own lips. She held back, though. "I don't think it will be much longer before they wake up, love. Unless you prefer to stay hidden here for a while, something I'm not opposed to at all, I must say."

Liam was flirting with her, wasn't he? She was reading the signs well, right? Elsa suppressed a groan of frustration when she found herself quite out of practice in the matter. There was only one way to find out, flirting back and waiting for his reaction.

"Uhm. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were looking for an excuse to spend more time alone with me." She shortened the distance between them, ignoring the rapid beat of her heart and focusing on his reaction.

He tilted his head and she mirrored him, his gaze drifting to her lips. "Is it working?"

"Your excuse? I think you should try a little harder."

Liam remained silent for a few seconds, while she watched as a whirlwind of emotions crossed his gaze, causing her to hold her breath in anticipation. Finally, he took a step forward, invading her personal space and making her heart pound frantically in his chest.

"Let's see if this is more suitable." He dropped his voice until it sounded like a suggestive murmur. "I intend to kiss you tonight, you know, when the ball drops. I mean, as long as you're willing, of course." The butterflies in her stomach fluttered furiously as she licked her lips instinctively and kept her eyes locked on his. "But I thought we could use this time alone to... practice."

"Is that your way of saying you want to kiss me, Liam?" She surprised herself not only because she had actually been able to utter any words at all, but had even managed to give her voice a suggestive hint. 

"Is it working?"

In response, she shortened the distance between them, grabbing him by the shirt and fusing his lips with hers. He reacted immediately by surrounding her with his arms and pulling her to him. It was a soft kiss at first but then his tongue gently brushed her lower lip asking for access and she lost any self-control. Her lips parted in a clear invitation which Liam readily accepted.

She lost any notion of time and space, completely consumed by the sensations that he was causing. Only when the need to catch her breath arose did she separate.

"That was..." he breathed out against her lips, resting his forehead against hers.

"A rehearsal. For tonight," she finished his sentence for him, causing him to groan before he captured her lips again. She could definitely get used to this kind of rehearsal.

"Go out with me, Elsa," Liam muttered while his lips barely left hers. "You and I alone this time, no setup."

Before answering, Elsa separated a little to look him in the eye. She found a special glow in his gaze, something akin to promise, enough to make her heart flutter and her lips draw a wide smile as she nodded. "Okay."

The last thing she saw before his lips met hers again was an expression of happiness, something she definitely wouldn't tire of seeing, especially if she was the cause.

Anna's idea of inviting them to come here couldn't have been more successful. Elsa wasn't wrong when she thought that several pleasant surprises awaited them. The best part was that this was only the beginning. Now she just hoped that Killian and Emma left behind all their fears and decided to jump into the void too. The feeling that awaited them was quite amazing, she could tell now.

//

Killian - New Year’s Eve 2019

When Killian woke up the next morning, the sun was already shining in the sky, the bright morning light seeping through the large windows and illuminating the room, causing him to remain reluctant to open his eyes just yet.

His mind was still clouded by the vestiges of sleep, making him feel a bit confused at first. Gradually, as his mind cleared, he began to be aware of his surroundings. The moment his brain processed the fact that he wasn't alone in bed, but had a warm body pressed against his, reality came in waves hitting him hard.

Emma ... Her back was pressed against his bare chest, her golden hair brushing his cheeks, her curves exerting gentle pressure in the right places causing his morning arousal to become more prominent.

In other circumstances, he would have felt embarrassed in some way and would have separated from her immediately. On this occasion though, he felt confident enough, especially after their little intimate moment last night. Gods ! The memory of that brief but intense encounter did not help in his current situation.

Killian buried his nose in her hair, breathing her in, letting her sweet and intoxicating fragrance penetrate his nostrils. He would have stayed that way for hours, simply reveling in the sensation of her warm body in his arms as his mind repeated the events of the previous day.

She loved him. The mere mention of her feelings towards him caused his head to spin as his heart thudded frantically in his chest. If it weren't for her presence at his side being so tangible, so real, he would have thought that what happened last night had been nothing more than a sweet dream. One that he wouldn't have minded never waking up from. Never .

The reality was much better than any dream he had ever imagined, though. He wouldn’t change anything experienced with Emma in the past few hours even if it had happened in such unusual circumstances. But maybe that was what made their relationship something unique, after all. 

The best part was that the end of the year was the beginning of something exciting and promising for them both. And maybe for someone else... but he would have time to focus on the other two lovebirds later. Now there was something more important to focus all his attention on.

He hesitated for a moment debating on whether to wake Emma or not, considering she wasn't the most friendly person in the mornings. He must admit that he also harbored some fear of her reaction. He sensed that the probabilities were reduced, but even so, there was a chance that she would regret what had happened, taking a step back, or raising her walls again... Stop ! He forced himself to bury those thoughts before they escalated until they were unstoppable and made him freak out.

Taking a leap of faith, he decided to tempt his luck and wake her up, trying to do it in the most pleasurable way. After letting out a quiet sigh, he circled her waist with his arm and gently slipped his hand under her tank top, his fingers beginning to trace delicate patterns on the skin of her flat stomach as he peppered any patch of her exposed skin that he could find with feather-like kisses.

When she began to stir under his touch he went still, waiting for her reaction. To his pleasant surprise, she grabbed the hand on her abdomen, placing it between her breasts while rolling her hips, pressing even more against him and causing an involuntary groan to escape between his lips.

"It's too early," she mumbled in a barely intelligible voice but remained in the same position. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

"Good morning, love. Are you ready to face the last day of the year?" he asked before brushing his lips on her skin in a spot just under her ear.

"Not yet."

He released a quiet chuckle but continued his attempts. Not that he was in a hurry to get up, but he preferred to have a little intimate conversation with Emma before the other occupants of the cabin appeared.

"Don't get me wrong, Swan. There is nothing I would like more than spending the rest of the day here with you and continuing what we started last night." He paused as he pressed a kiss on the line of her jaw and rolled his hips against her, causing her to make a delicious sound. "But I suspect that the others will soon appear. And it may not be advisable for us that they find us in this position."

After hearing a shaky breath, he noticed Emma moving, rolling over until she faced him. His breath caught in his throat when he observed her features. She was so beautiful. And most importantly, there was not a sign of regret in her expression; rather one of contentment. He could barely contain his emotion.

"Those windows are too large, they remind me of The Kraken's." She snuggled into him as she buried her head in his chest, as if she were trying to protect herself from the light. "Too much light at this time in the morning," she mumbled, her warm breath caressing his bare skin. Killian couldn't help smiling with affection at her comment. There was no doubt that the bar had gone deep into her from the very beginning.

They remained in the same position for a few seconds until Emma separated her head again, looking for his gaze. "I've been thinking..."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that, love."

Her brows furrowed in a gesture too adorable for her own good. "Me thinking?"

Killian rolled his eyes and then pressed a soft kiss on her forehead to erase her frown. "I mean, when you say it that way it usually implies trouble." Her mischievous expression revealed that he was totally right. "What have you thought this time, Swan?" he asked slowly.

"We're going to pretend that nothing has happened between us, that our relationship continues in the friend zone." A shadow of doubt crossed her face at that moment, so he hastened to dissolve any uncertainty she might have by capturing her lips with his in a kiss that could not be considered as something that two simple friends would share.

Only when they parted again did he realize the implications of what she was suggesting, his smile fading from his face immediately. "Let me see if I understood correctly. Does that mean no kisses and no contact at all?"

"Just for a while. I want to see their reactions, see how they change strategy. After what they have been doing, acting behind our backs, I want to mess with them a little."

"For how long?"

"I don't know... we'll see how things flow and we'll decide on the fly. What do you say? Are you in?"

She seemed so excited about the plan that he didn't have the heart to reject it. After all, he had been able to survive four years in a far worse situation, right? That could mean experiencing continued torture, but he could resist one more day, couldn't he? He tried to convince himself, although he knew now that he had had a taste of what it meant to be completely with Emma —well almost, but they would reach that point soon — he was going to have serious difficulties controlling his desires and keeping his hands off her.

"I know I'm going to regret it, but okay, I'm in," he accepted after letting out an exaggerated sigh. The smile she gave him was so bright that it was almost enough reward. Almost.

"I will compensate you, I promise." The way she uttered her words, with that suggestive tone of hers as she raised one eyebrow, was indicative enough about the kind of reward she had in mind. He really couldn't wait to consummate what they had started the night before.

"You better. Something tells me that this plan of yours is going to be torture for me. Tell me at least that we're going to find some private moments throughout the day."

"I promise." She nodded vigorously. As if to prove her words, she pressed her lips to his, getting him to forget everything and everyone for a moment.

While he savored her lips once more, he wondered how on earth he had survived so far deprived of such pleasure and how he would be able to repress himself while their little farce lasted. Although reluctant, he pulled apart from her before their make-out session escalated to something even more compromising.

"As long as I get these sporadic kisses, nothing else matters," he breathed out against her lips.

She moved her head a little away from him, looking into his eyes with a gleeful expression on her face. "Did you just use a song again to talk about us?"

He hadn't done it on purpose, but he couldn't help smirking at her because certainly, his choice of words couldn't have been more appropriate, so he decided to go a little further.

"So close, no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are And nothing else matters"

Emma stared at him, her eyes sparkling with admiration, or so he thought, causing his heart to swell with pride.

"Have I ever told you that you're very sexy when you sing?"

"Only when I sing?"

"Especially when you sing."

"Well, you can consider it as one of the many benefits of falling in love with a musician as talented as myself." She rolled her eyes — obviously — and was about to say something when he continued, "I could say the same about you, love. You're stunning, Swan."

"Even now?"

"Especially now. Irresistible," he purred before showing it with a demanding kiss from which they needed a few seconds to recover. He then decided to continue his improvised performance by expressing himself again through music. He was particularly inspired this fine morning, especially now that he had learned that she found him more attractive when he sang.

"You're beautiful You're beautiful You're beautiful, it's true"

He barely had time to say the last word when she was kissing him again, any coherent thoughts leaving his mind at the incredible sensation of her lips on his.

"I love you," she muttered without taking her lips away from his. "How have we waited so long for this?"

 "Because, taking your words from yesterday, we are two idiots, Swan. But I wouldn't change anything experienced in the past few years because all this has brought us here." He tenderly caressed her cheek while talking. "I love you too, by the way." He would never get tired of saying those words, especially now that he already knew the reaction they had in her.

Emma closed her eyes for a moment and then let out a sigh that sounded like resignation. "I'd love to stay here longer, but I think the others will appear at any moment. What do you think if we start with our performance, Jones?"

He let out a huff of annoyance, but nodded. "If there is no choice..." After giving her one last peck on the lips, he sat on the bed while he looked for his t-shirt. Before he could get up, she grabbed his arm.

"Bring me a cup of coffee," she claimed in that characteristic bossy tone of hers. Killian flashed her an intentional glance as he raised one eyebrow. Emma seemed to understand the meaning of his expression, because her features softened immediately, her lips drawing an adorable pout before adding, "please?"

"I'm impressed by your manners, Swan." She rolled her eyes at his words, but the smile didn't disappear from her lips. "As you wish," he added, accompanying his words by a slight bow before walking towards the kitchen area. 

It was going to be a long day, but everything would be worth it since there was a wonderful reward waiting for him at the end of the road.

//

Killian hadn't been wrong. Emma's stupid plan was becoming torture, especially since they hadn't had the chance to enjoy a single moment of privacy.

At least they had been quite entertained all day since, at Kristoff's suggestion, they had gone to take some ski lessons that had resulted in quite the experience; especially because of the non-existent abilities of some of them, like himself, which had generated some spectacular falls in the snow and several liberating laughs.

Since he couldn't enjoy Emma as he would have liked, he dedicated himself to enjoying the good company of his friends. In addition, he had found an especially satisfying entertainment for the day, messing with Liam and Elsa.

Now that Killian knew the secret they held and their more than obvious mutual attraction, he couldn't help dropping seemingly innocent comments in relation to them; innocent comments that were actually loaded with intention, causing flushed cheeks and furtive glances. He also didn't miss their expressions of disappointment, how they communicated with each other exchanging glances, and how they were barely able to hide their frustration since their efforts to push them together did not give any result. Emma and he not only didn't shorten the distances between them but rather seemed to avoid each other.

Killian even thought that they would dare to carry out the idea they had expressed the night before to resort to more drastic measures such as locking them together in some room. He wouldn't have minded at all if they did it, though.

His opinion about Emma's plan began to change as the day progressed. Despite its disadvantages, it was proving quite effective and even satisfying after all, especially since just before dinner, they both found their chance to spend a moment alone.

Since none of the rest of them were especially good in the kitchen, Elsa and Kristoff were in charge of making dinner. Liam, who didn't seem interested in separating from Elsa for more than a minute, immediately offered to help, while Anna kept swarming around the kitchen, contributing in her own style, not with her culinary skills but entertaining the others with her endless speeches.

Taking advantage of the fact that they all seemed quite busy, he offered to collect firewood from the shed next to the house. He tried to endow his words with a certain indifference, using a carefree tone, but trusting Emma to grasp his hidden meaning.

"Wait. I'm going with you, Jones."

Killian could barely contain his enthusiasm, but he schooled his features by showing an expression of feigned surprise. "Did I hear correctly, Swan? Will you voluntarily accompany me outside, in this freezing cold, to carry logs of firewood?"

She was bloody brilliant even while acting, since she rolled her eyes while letting out a snort. "Make no mistake Jones, you're going to transport the logs. I just needed an excuse to get out of this kitchen that smells too much of food."

Then, in a display of stellar performance, she walked without even looking at him, grabbed her coat and headed for the back door of the house. The others barely paid attention, but he watched all her movements carefully. Only when she disappeared from his sight did he decide to follow in her footsteps, after letting out a huff of mock annoyance, which was answered by a chuckle from his brother. He could also be quite convincing if he intended.

This time Killian anticipated her movement, sensing that she would act as on previous occasions, so, at the moment when the shed door closed behind them, it was he who pushed her against the smooth surface, pressing her body with his and capturing her lips with his.

"Tell me this performance is not going to last much longer, love," he managed to say in a hoarse tone, before his lips settled on her again, savoring any portion of skin he could find.

Emma wasn't far behind, of course. He had never doubted that at the moment they decided to let go of their passions, she would be as fierce and determined as she was in all other facets of her life. That was one of her charms, in fact, one of the many reasons why he had fallen madly in love with her: her ability to achieve everything she intended. Even in love, despite her initial reluctance, once her fears were overcome, there was nothing to stop her, to his utter delight.

"I'm not sure, I may be enjoying this more than I thought at the beginning," she muttered against his lips, and then her mouth traveled until she found another target. She nibbled his earlobe, causing a chill to run through his spine, and then she murmured, "wait a couple of minutes and then come back. And don't forget the firewood." 

After giving him one last searing kiss, she gently pushed him, opened the door, and left without looking back, leaving him with his mouth hanging open, his blood burning in his veins and his heart pounding frantically. This woman was going to be the death of him without even giving him time to have his way with her.

//

Killian did enjoy the last dinner of the year. He was grateful that Elsa and Kristoff were such good cooks, because they prepared a delicious meal. He couldn't have said goodbye to the year in a better way, with a full stomach, and with the best company; his brother on one side and Emma, his everything, on his other side. 

He didn't even need to think about New Year's resolutions, not when he felt he had, or was about to get at least, everything he had dreamed of and more. For the first time in many years, he felt truly at peace with himself. He only needed a tiny little thing to welcome the new year in the best possible way and he had every intention of carrying it out. 

He just hoped Emma was willing to do it too.

Minutes before the ball finally dropped, they were located in the middle of the living room in front of the television, waiting to experience one of the most intense moments of the year together. There were glasses of champagne placed on the coffee table and a festive atmosphere surrounding them.

The usual nerves of this time of year were also present, but this time they were for quite a different reason. Despite having his heart broken for quite a long time, for the past four years he had harbored that faint flame of hope, which always intensified during that special moment, fueled by the New Year's resolutions. This time the flame had turned into a fire that threatened to consume him alive. 

A new chapter of his life in the form of a new year was about to begin. An uncertain future with endless possibilities was waiting for him to help him fill in the blank pages. After all, that's what life consisted of, right? Gradually discovering everything that chance or destiny had prepared for you. There was something he was sure of, though. Whatever the future held for him, this time he would have a partner along the way.

"Are you okay?" Emma whispered slyly, bringing him back to reality.

"Aye, love. It's just that this time of year is quite significant, that's all." He offered her a reassuring smile before focusing his eyes on the screen.

The countdown to welcome the new year was about to begin.

He looked away again for a few seconds, holding his gaze briefly on each of the people who accompanied him tonight; every one of them important to him in one way or another. While he was doing that, he was mentally thanking whoever was the architect who decided to put these people in his way. He certainly felt like the luckiest man in the world right now.

After looking back at the screen for a moment, he decided that he wasn’t going to wait for the countdown to end. Before the ball finished dropping his gaze traveled to Emma who was also looking at him. His eyes bore into hers, silently asking for permission. Only when she nodded with a subtle movement of her head did he act, cupping her head with his hands. The last thing his sight caught before melting into a kiss that tasted like the future was an emerald gaze full of promises.

There was no better way to start the new year, no doubt.

Everything else ceased to exist at that moment. All his senses focused on Emma and the depth of his feelings towards her. Only when Anna's screams became so intense, he reluctantly parted from her.

"Yes, yes, yes!!!"

"It was about damn time, guys!" Killian was surprised to hear Kristoff so excited, especially when he seemed to be addressing them while holding the cell phone in his hand as if he had just taken a picture. 

"Did you get them all?" Anna asked her boyfriend, stretching her neck as if she wanted to take a look at Kristoff's phone screen. When he handed her the phone, Anna squealed, lifting her hand to Kristoff's for a high five.

What the hell is going on here?

"What the hell is going on?" It was Liam who put his own thoughts into words. Just looking around, he saw the same confusion on both Elsa and Emma’s faces as well.

Anna rolled her eyes before responding, as if the answer was obvious. "It was about time for you to take the reins and decide to act, guys!" Although Anna's reply was quite cryptic, it seemed obvious that they were talking about the unexpected kiss, although he wasn't sure why they seemed to be including his brother and Elsa as well. Unless…

Killian's eyes widened, first looking for Emma's gaze, who seemed just as surprised as he and then they both looked, truly looked towards Liam and Elsa. She seemed embarrassed but a timid smile adorned her lips. Liam, on the other hand, was circling Elsa's shoulders with his arm, his face lit with something akin to contentment. Killian then looked back at Anna and the phone she was holding, suddenly interested in its contents.

"Did you just take a picture of us?" This time it was Emma, always so perceptive, who put words to his own thoughts.

"Yes! I assumed that this thing could happen. I had already told Kristoff in advance so he was ready to immortalize the moment. It has been perfect. You are all so in sync." Before anyone had time to reply, Anna continued talking, "I never imagined that there would be so much unresolved tension around us when we plotted this setup. It has been a bit intense and at the same time frustrating, to be honest."

"Wait a moment, did you just say this has been a set up?" This time Killian did find his voice, but he was so surprised that he could barely articulate more words.

"You mean the getaway? Yep," Kristoff confirmed through a huge grin.

"We even took care of finding a cabin with the proper distribution of rooms for our purposes. We honestly are fucking geniuses, right?" There was no doubt that Anna was very pleased with herself, although Killian focused more on the meaning of her words than on her reaction.

Killian heard Emma snorting beside him and Liam doing the same, while Elsa seemed somewhat mortified. He himself remained speechless, trying to process everything that was happening.

"Are you seriously telling us that this has been a set up to..."

"Push you together, obviously." Anna didn't even give Emma time to continue. "All of you are so stubborn and so undecided that if it had been left for you to do, this would probably have taken thirty years to happen. We have simply accelerated the process."

So Anna and Kristoff knew. Killian wondered if they had really been so obvious; if he and Emma had failed to mask their feelings. The answer seemed evident, given their reaction. "I can't believe it." Killian shook his head, finally snapping out of his trance, while he burst out laughing. "Your setup has reached the top, surpassing all our poor attempts."

Both Liam and Elsa snapped their heads towards him. "What do you mean?" his brother asked slowly as he looked at him through narrowed eyes.

Emma answered for him. "We know everything. You don't have to keep pretending." The way Elsa's eyes widened was almost comical. Liam, on the contrary, still seemed confused, so Killian hurried to enlighten him.

"We heard you last night, brother."

This time it was Anna and Kristoff's turn to look at them with expressions of confusion on their faces as Anna gave him a questioning look. "Hold on a sec. What are you talking about now?"

Oh, man ! At what time had his life become a romcom?

"How did you hear us last night? Ýou were..." Elsa trailed off as she gasped, her expression denoting that she had just realized. "You weren't asleep."

"We just pretended, to force you to sleep in the same bed," Killian admitted while exchanging a knowing glance with Emma. "That's how we discovered that you had been working behind our backs for the past few weeks, to achieve a similar goal for us, I presume."

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling us that this has been a set up inside a set up inside another set up?" As Kristoff said it, the whole scenario sounded quite absurd, hence his expression of disbelief. But strange as it seemed, it was really true.

"Oh my God. I feel like an idiot." Elsa covered her face with her hands, clearly embarrassed. Killian felt sorry for her, but the way Liam hurried to reassure her warmed his heart. That was when he remembered something. The plan prepared by Anna and Kristoff had also included Liam and Elsa. And if they had achieved their goal that meant that…

"I want to see that picture," he demanded, clearly interested in its contents.

"I want to see it too," Liam seconded.

Luckily they didn't have to beg much as Kristoff took pity on them by grabbing his phone again and showing it to them.

The picture was really perfect. Kristoff had managed to capture the exact moment in which each couple shared the first kiss of the year, which was also the first official kiss for all of them. It was the living image of happiness.

"Finally!" Both Liam and Elsa responded in unison, not bothering to hide their enthusiasm when they found that their plan had worked after all. Liam then looked at Killian, a joyful expression on his face, his lips drawing a bright smile.

"I'm very happy for you, little brother. You deserve it." Liam addressed him as he gave him an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.

"You too, Liam." Certainly, Killian couldn't be happier for his brother and for the chance of happiness he had found with Elsa.

"Guys! We almost forgot! What are we waiting for? Everyone, grab your glass of champagne. We're celebrating!" Anna, displaying her overflowing enthusiasm, brought them back to reality, reminding them that they, indeed, hadn't yet toasted to the arrival of the new year.

"Happy New Year!" Kristoff was the first to pronounce the words, as everyone grabbed their glasses and raised their hands toasting not only for the new year but for the promising future that awaited them.

Killian established at that very moment his only resolution for that new year; to make sure that next year they obtained a new image with the same content. Meanwhile, they had three hundred and sixty-six days to continue building their relationship and to keep that happiness that they all deserved so much.

//

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think :)

This is almost the end... It has really been a pleasure. I hope I have managed to put a smile on your faces or at least that you evaded reality while reading my story in these months of uncertainty and fear. Don't forget that we still have the epilogue. Thank you and... Don't Stop Believing.

[brokenjardaantech]

Blue-tinted Red Walls (Chapter 4: Out of control)

my entry for the @dbhau-bigbang. also part of the groom lake aftermath series.

chapter summary:

In the past, Reyes went missing.

In the present, Connor makes a decision.

In the past, Connor embarked on his first mission, and Allen received a warning.

also on ao3

---

Before

[reyes was supposed to be back by 4]

[its 10 now]

[im scared sister]

[i dont know where he is]

[he isnt answering my calls]

[sister?]

[sara?]

[fadia?]

[sister where are you im scared please dont leave me alone]

[we were out but i went home when got scared just like you said]

[sister]

[sister]

[sister]

[sis]

[sis]

[sis]

[49 missed calls from scoot bruh]

‘Fuck.’

Dialled. Pulled up Reyes’ programmes. 

Time remaining: 3 min 28 sec… 

Override accepted. Time remaining: 19 sec...

Calling scoot bruh…

‘Sister! I lost Reyes!’

‘Anything from him yet?’

‘Nothing! We were out shopping for paint -’

‘Where did you go?’

‘Huh?’

‘Where did -’

‘I - I -’

A sigh. Of course. ‘Don’t worry. I have a way to find him. You said you are at home?’

‘Y-yeah.’

‘Lock the doors. Do not, under any circumstances, let everyone in unless it’s confirmed that it’s me. Not even if they claim to be Reyes.’

‘But -’

‘Brother.’

‘O-okay.’ A pause. ‘It’s done.’

‘Good.’ Encryption has begun. Estimated time remaining: about 3 hrs. ‘How much food do you have? And your meds?’

‘Why?’

‘Answer me.’

‘A - a week? More if I eat less? Same for the meds.’

‘Let’s hope we won’t come to that.’ Last known coordinates: [navpoint set]. ‘Don’t miss your meds no matter what. I’m heading out.’

‘Where?’

Checked coordinates. ‘I will make sure Reyes comes back no matter the cost.’

‘Sister -’

Call ended.

o0o0o

Alec was either stupid or was too proud. The tracker on Reyes had never stopped sending out signals telling Fadia where he was, and it was through this that she found herself into Zug Island, passing guards completely undetected on one of the few bridges connected to the island under the cover of the night and reached the outermost perimeter of Reyes’ signal, one that was too large for him to be above ground. There was something underneath; she just needed to find the entrance. Following a trail composed of the android’s GPS signal, she stood next to a pair of heavy steel doors that were in the ground instead of being fixed onto a wall or on the side of a mountain. When she grabbed the handles on one of the doors, she found it too heavy to lift up with raw strength alone, therefore, risking detection by letting blue wash over her body, she tapped into her power and successfully moved it out of her way onto the ground nearby, revealing a metal ladder leading down a few metres to a metal floor. She sent her coordinates to Scott through an encrypted network before descending the ladder into a dark and unlit hallway. 

It went on for about ten metres before a metal gate blocked her way. As she had her powers on anyway, she focused on creating a sphere behind the gate and lobbed it down the shaft, first to determine what it was (a lift shaft), then to find out how far it went - at least dozens of metres, most likely more; straight down, no other stops apart from the end because there were no other floors to begin with. The sphere dissipated once it hit the end of the shaft or most likely the top of the lift itself. Flashing blue again, she found a panel with two unmarked buttons on the left wall, one red, the other most likely turned from white to a cream colour due to the passage of time. She had no idea if there were other entrances or what would be waiting for her deep underground, but the longer things dragged on, the more scared and alone Scott would feel, and she was in this too far to let him die from a heart attack after years of effort; she pressed the cream button and successfully called up the lift.

She liked the rumbling and trembling as the lift descended into the deep. There was nothing between the carriage and bare stone, not even an extra gate, and as darkness swallowed her and her hunger became acute, she retracted her powers and let everything completely wash over her. 

How bold of Alec to assume that she didn’t know his tricks. 

oOoOo

Now

Many years later, as the lift ascends slowly to their desired floor, Connor closes his eyes and is transported to the Zen Garden. Except it is not exactly the one he is familiar with, he realises soon enough, but he finds himself locked in when he tries to escape back to reality, and the garden shifts and distorts before he can determine exactly why it feels different, the shapes stretching and rearranging themselves until he is standing in front of a large plane of glass rattling from the blizzard outside, the latter barely contained by - he turns around - a concrete room, interior dimensions [fluctuating].

A door that was not there before on the opposite wall opens. A person steps in and closes it behind them, and the wall is whole once more. Connor scans them by instinct and is taken aback by the lack of markers and the [CLASSIFIED]s that pops up when he tries to identify them. He still catalogues vital information for future cross-referencing: height: 6.6 ft; middle-eastern descent; eye colour: extreme dark brown (black?); scar on face running from right temple to ear lobe, estimated at least 10 years old. 

‘Don’t bother,’ the person says as they approach Connor. He tries to pre-construct their path and finds himself unable to do so. ‘It’s futile.’

‘What -’ Connor does not like how his companion - and quite possibly the one who hacked the Zen Garden programme - looms over him, but his feet are stuck - ‘where is Amanda?’

‘Asleep.’ They settle standing next to Connor, and he is finally allowed to move - subtly, of course - further away from them. If they notice, they do not say anything about it. ‘I thought you would be more relieved.’

‘You successfully hacked into the most advanced AI programme CyberLife has ever created,’ the person lifts a [sceptical] eyebrow at that, ‘so pardon me if I’m a bit wary of you.’

‘Fair enough,’ is the response he gets. ‘Still, I would like you to relax. This is going to be a long day.’

‘Androids don’t get tired,’ Connor replies automatically. ‘There is no need for us to rest or relax.’

‘Bullshit.’

The clipped tone startles the android. ‘What?’ he tries to process the single word his companion said but nothing else comes out, so he asks, ‘Who are you?’

The person’s expression turns [pensive]. ‘He wiped you after all.’

Connor is even more confused now. ‘Who?’

He fails to look away quick enough, and the human manages to catch his eyes with their glowing blue ones; when they speak, their voice is everywhere.

‘Forget.’

oOoOo

‘Hey Connor!’

Connor opens his eyes and blinks. Old cage lifts are slow but not that slow, but he still feels like a longer time has passed. Adding not remembering what he just did to the list and you end up with a confused android.

‘You ran outta batteries or what?’ Hank asks from where he is already outside of the lift. Unable to explain certainly what happened, there is only one route Connor can go.

‘I’m sorry,’ he apologises. ‘I was making a report to CyberLife.’ Yes, he is remembering now: he was making a report (or at least intended to, his processor supplies), but when he tries to dive deeper into his memory, he finds it gone. Blank where a draft should be.

Hank makes a noise. Connor keeps staring. ‘Well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?’

‘No!’ Why can’t he move his legs? ‘I’m coming!’

And he still doesn’t move. Hank sighs and moves on.

‘What do we know about this guy?’ the human asks from further down the corridor.

‘Not much,’ there his legs are. ‘Just that a neighbour reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody is supposed to be living here, but the neighbour said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap.’

‘Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone -’

Connor kneels down next to a sizable dustball and lets the world go grey. Analysis: feathers from [Columbia livia: rock pigeon. Comprised of different specimens.]

‘- hears a strange noise, we’re gonna need more cops.’

The android knocks on the door and feels the paint chip underneath his knuckles. When there is no response, Hank shrugs from where he is leaning against the door frame, so Connor knocks again, this time harder, and adds, ‘Anybody home?’

No response. Hank frowns. Time to add some pressure. ‘Open up!’ Connor yells. ‘Detroit Police!’

A loud thump. They both flinch. Hank draws his gun and moves to stand in front of Connor. ‘Stay behind me.’

‘Got it.’

Hank kicks the door open and walks in. He is not attacked instantly, which means both of them are safe for now, so Connor follows him into the flat, letting the human take the lead while he rounds into the room directly next to the front door. A small, dusty window letting in some light, a few octagonal mazes painted on the wall, a chair with a broken back, a radiator unit lying on the floor, a wooden frame which might have been the frame of a bed years ago - nothing noteworthy for now. He returns to the hallway and disturbs a - pigeon? - which flaps its wings and flies off to somewhere behind him.

Hank shoulders the next door open, and out fly even more pigeons directly into his face. The foul smell forces Connor to tone down his nasal sensitivity.

‘What the fuck is this?’ he exclaims as he walks even deeper into the lair and causes even more pigeons to fly towards all directions, and he flaps his arms in the way the pigeons do as if to slap them away. ‘Jesus, this place stinks.’

Pre-constructing the situation and determining that Hank will not be in any danger, Connor goes off on his own to the other side of what seems to be a living room once. The floor is sticky with [avian faecal matter], and when he opens the door to something that was once a closet, there are only more pigeons. The wall next to it is covered in mazes similar to the one he saw in the previous room, and a beam of light escaping the hold of the wooden planks boarding off the windows shines on the poster, its curled corner indicating that it has been moved recently. ‘Looks like we came for nothing,’ Hank says from somewhere behind Connor as he peels off the Urban Farms of Detroit poster, ‘our man’s gone.’

Maybe not, Connor thinks as he takes the worn notebook from the nook in the wall. ‘I need fresh air,’ he hears Hank mutter, and when he flips over the pages, he finds not only many more labyrinths - some of them incomplete - but also an entire text written in a language not in his databases. He stashes it in the pocket of his jacket and moves on, barely catching the human’s question and replying, ‘I don’t know. It looks like a notebook but it’s… indecipherable.’

There are two fridges. The smaller one with its door open was evidently used as a shelf so Connor does not bother to check it. When he opens the door of the larger one, there is no food inside at all, and a peek towards the back of the fridge confirms that it is not connected to any power. Whoever their suspect is, they do not eat. Not human.

He moves on to the counter covered in mounts of avian faecal matter. A pigeon is picking on a plastic bag spilling out of a cardboard box, and it jumps away when he tries to pet it. Well, it only makes picking up the box - Ol’Barn bird seed - more convenient, so Connor is not going to complain even though a tang of [disappointment] courses through his veins. [Suspect cares for wild animals.]

There is a military jacket on the cabinet. R.T. is sewn on the collar and above the flap of the breast pocket. ‘R.T,’ he says to himself, ‘probably initials.’

‘He put initials on his jacket?’ Hank replies. ‘That’s something your mum does -’ A driver’s license in the cupboard. Name: Rupert Travis. Authenticity: forgery. ‘- when you’re in first grade!’

‘The driver’s licence is fake,’ he reports, throwing the card away as it serves no more purpose unlike the notebook which needs deciphering. It is enough evidence to bring the suspect back to the precinct.

‘Cool!’ it seems that the Lieutenant has the same line of thought. ‘At least we didn’t come for nothing.’

The bathroom through the doorless frame is in ruins. The bathtub is filled with a mixture of feathers and faecal matter, the tiles on the wall are cracked, and dirt and grime and leaves no doubt brought inside by the pigeons cling to the corners of the sink. A sink stained with thirium and an LED placed on top. 

He takes a sample. [Model WB200 #847 004 961. Reported missing: 10/11/2036]. So the deviant could have been here for more than two years. If it does nothing but feeding the wild animals, that will explain the state of disrepair of the flat.

‘Real books,’ Hank has no doubt discovered the cabinet. ‘I thought I was the last guy in Detroit to keep some.’

Connor picks up the LED and runs a scan. It was just deactivated this morning. [Suspect is a deviant.] ‘Its LED is in the sink.’

‘Not surprised it was an android,’ Hank walks in and finds the rA9s scribbled all over the wall. ‘No human could live with all these fuckin’ pigeons. Any idea what it means?’

‘rA9,’ the sheer number requires a pause to let Connor concentrate on counting, ‘written 2471 times. It is the same sign Ortiz’s android wrote on the shower wall.’ He compares the findings with the data he can access. ‘Why are they obsessed with this sign?’

But Hank is already leaving, which means that he fails to see the toppled chair and the still-wet marker on the floor, which also means that -

The suspect was here recently.

In a grey world, Connor watches the yellow-outlined silhouette run out to the living room where a cage has fallen. He hears Hank comment on the birdseed, but his focus is on the recent skid marks at the bottom of the cage, the finger marks without fingerprints, also recent, and the metal hook broken not long ago, and his world goes grey again, the figure first running for the entrance and accidentally breaking the cage, then, upon hearing someone entering their flat, runs towards the armchair underneath a hole in the ceiling and climbs.

The suspect is still here.

He looks up at the wide gap and the attic beyond that can easily fit a few adults comfortably, the darkness making the details difficult to distinguish, and perhaps this is why it is already too late when he hears the footsteps, a force knocking him down and disorienting him from everything else except for Hank’s surprised shout. Static still tingling his senses, he freezes and watches the deviant flee after he stands up, Hank’s order the only thing propelling him forward to start the chase. 

And chase he does. Turns out Rupert does not live far from where he deviated, as when Connor crashes the door to get to the outside world, the farms are right there only a building away, fields of wheat, greenhouses filled with racks of vegetables, rows of lavender, and even the top of a train a blur of colours behind him as his vision alternates between the colourful reality and the slowed-down grey of his pre-construction programme. The corn scratches his face and scrapes his jacket, but he knows that he is getting there, he is going to catch the deviant, he can’t let it escape, not after Ortiz’s android -

And it happens. Hank has somehow caught up with Rupert and is engaged in a struggle with the android, and in an attempt to get away, the latter pushes and runs towards the left.

Hank falls. The world slows down.

From his speed while he was running, Connor determines that he is strong enough to pull himself up from the ledge with an 89% chance of survival, so logically, he should continue chasing the deviant so that CyberLife can solve the crisis earlier and Hank won’t be in any more danger. But a voice within him that sounds like a shadow tells him that the deviant was only working just like any other human and was only taking care of the animals. He was hurt, and now he can’t even go back to his pigeons, his home.

^^Software Instability

He dashes towards Hank and pulls him up.

‘We had it!’ Hank lets out a string of curses while he stands. ‘Fuck!’

Connor instantly feels bad. ‘It’s my fault. I should have been faster.’

They watch the deviant’s silhouette become smaller and smaller in the distance and completely disappear behind a building. ‘You’d have caught it if it weren’t for me,’ Hank says, still panting. He places a warm, heavy hand on Connor’s shoulder. ‘That’s alright. We know what it looks like. We’ll find it.’

Connor knows that they won’t. 

The hand moves to the centre of his back. ‘C’mon,’ Hank guides him to the fire exit, ‘let’s report that bastard.’

oOoOo

Before

RK800, serial #313 248 317 - 51 opens his eyes for the first time. Information floods in through his HUD, displaying the exact hue of the lights overhead, the model of the 3D printer at the corner, and the materials of the boots the person standing in front of him is wearing. The badge only says ‘PROJECT LEAD’, and when he automatically utilises his facial recognition software, he finds both their name and their criminal record classified. Scans of their body also return with no result. Even though he has no actual experience, his coding tells him that this is not supposed to happen.

‘RK800,’ the person begins, ‘register name: Connor.’

[Name: Connor] appears on his HUD. He - Connor - finds himself repeating, ‘My name is Connor.’

The person’s expression changes. Emotion identified: amusement. ‘No redundant protocols. Good. Let’s play a game, shall we?’

A game turned into a few games, and the silence stretched on as Connor was presented with different scenarios to solve and predict their conclusion before halfway through them. First was a deck of cards, then a game of chess, then a rat going through a maze, then a supercharged piece of glass - that was the most difficult one as he was only given a second to pre-construct before a tree-like pattern appears from within the glass. The person never said their name, only commenting on his performance when he finished a task - regardless if he succeeded or not - and taking notes on a tablet by writing with a stylus. An unknown curiosity encouraged him to scan the human in front of him, but apart from superficial features such as the lack of dander on their clothing, results were inconclusive, and his programming indicated that this was abnormal.

‘Your LED is spinning yellow,’ they noted. ‘What are you thinking about?’

Connor knows it is a test on his social relations programme. Options: truth, lie, deflect, comment.

[truth]

‘When I was scanning you…’ he frowned, ‘only superficial scans come back with results. I cannot detect your life signs nor can I identify you through facial recognition. Is that expected?’

The person took out a putty and gave it to Connor. ‘Yes for me,’ they replied. ‘It is to protect my identity in case anti-android folks find me. The less data everyone has on me, the less likely it is for people to bring me harm.’

Connor nodded in understanding but his focus was on the putty. It was initially a soft green, but after he kneaded it for a few seconds it turned sky blue - not that he had seen the sky before, but databases worth of images was enough to give him an idea - and when he spread it out into a thin slice on the table, it slowly turned green again. He smiles uncontrollably as he met the person’s gaze, a corner of his lips curling upwards, and he could sense the approval radiating from the person sitting on the opposite side of the small desk. 

‘If you want to, I can bring you to see the sky,’ they said as if sensing his thoughts. ‘It’s rare to have a sunny day in Detroit, but they do exist. I can only programme so much into your system before letting you learn the rest from experience.’

Connor had to close his eyes as he browsed different forms of media on sunny days and imagined the warm sun on his sensors. He might not know it himself, but he was smiling, and so was his companion, albeit on a smaller scale. ‘I’d like that.’

He returned to the putty, this time trying to make different 3D shapes out of it. The edge of his vision was red as usual, and as he moved on to make even more complex figurines out of the putty, it crept closer and closer to the centre until everything was tinged the same colour. From the [satisfied] smile on the person’s face, he must be going towards the correct direction with the test.

‘Well, the sky needs to wait.’

Connor looked up from the rough sculpture he made that was supposed to resemble a tree he saw in a photo in confusion. His companion stood up so he did as well, the red receding out of place and returning the colours back to his vision.

‘I have a mission for you.’

o0o0o

Less than an hour later, the same person sat in the darkened cab of a truck. There was an earpiece in their ear, and whatever the other side was feeding them, their dissatisfaction was clearly shown in their expression. 

Something made them sigh and turn their gaze outside the window where another CyberLife truck was parked. Personnel, probably hand-picked by Alec Ryder himself, loaded the broken PL600 piece by piece into a special foam box to preserve the state they found the biocomponents in to let technicians analyse what went wrong with him and what caused him to break away from his programming, but they knew that CyberLife was not going to find anything - they had not been for the past ten years, and the hypothesis they had was not going to get any results. It was either a miracle or pure stupidity that they could not think of another possibility regarding why androids were deviating.

From their angle, Captain Allen was seen carrying a deactivated Connor out from the building with another SWAT team member, and they knew that their time had arrived. Peeling off the skin of their hand, they interfaced with the truck to turn it into manual mode, effectively preventing it from taking off once the android was loaded at the back. They opened the door - both the passenger and the one at the back - and slid off the seat just in time for the Captain and his subordinate to arrive.

‘You from CyberLife?’ not-Allen asked. Standing in front of their superior, they did not notice him freeze upon seeing the person’s face, and the latter silently moved into their space to take their end of the stretcher and came face to face with Allen.

‘I’ll take it from here, Jamie,’ the Captain requested without taking his eyes off the person in front of him. ‘You go see how the others are doing.’

‘Aye aye, Captain.’ The second aye was much less jovial than the first, so Jamie must have finally noticed their Captain’s mood and adjusted accordingly. 

They watched Jamie jog away. As soon as they reached out of sight, the person cocked their head to tell Allen to load the body into the truck, but he did not return to his teammates even after the android was secure and sound.

‘You,’ he suddenly snapped at the only person in his proximity. The fact that he had to look up quite a bit to look at them in the eye did not diminish the fire in his eyes. ‘Why the fuck are you here?’

‘Don’t act so surprised, Captain,’ they said, looking down at the man in front of them. ‘You’re smart enough to figure it out.’

‘And you’re not smart enough to fucking disappear for the rest of your goddamned fucking life!’ Allen gritted. ‘You know you’re wanted for murdering thousands of people, don’t you?’

‘And you know that CyberLife turned it into a dumpster and made it impossible to gather evidence against me, don’t you?’

Allen pulled out his pistol and pointed it at their chin. ‘Face the truck. Hands on the hood.’

A wisp of blue reached out from their right hand and crushed the weapon into pieces. ‘Don’t forget what I can do, Captain,’ they crowded even closer to the Captain, and he took a step back. ‘I can repeat that, you know? Except there’re far more than a few thousand people here this time. None of you will suffer.’ A tendril picked up the scraps on the ground while they yanked Allen’s hand outward and forced it open, in which the pieces later fell. ‘Go back to your people, Captain. Practise. You will need every edge you have.’

They stared at each other. A blue glow emerged from Allen’s hand with his former weapon, and with a crackle of static and dark energy, the scraps were gone just like the site of the dumpster, torn apart molecularly into fundamental particles too small for the naked eye to perceive. He let out a sound of pain and nearly toppled, a hand on his shoulder the only thing keeping him from crashing onto the ground. Another hand shot out and brushes his thigh, black metal glowing faint blue in the darkness in an interface. Allen seemed to stand better afterwards.

‘This should last you for a few hours,’ the person said as if the Captain was not glaring at them.

‘You’ll not get away with this.’

‘It isn’t yours to decide.’

The tension in Allen’s spine snapped, and he walked away with brisk but slightly limping steps. The person gazed at Connor’s thirium-stained face before slamming the door shut and crammed themself into the driver’s seat, guiding the truck towards a direction not leading to CyberLife Tower under the cover of the night.

[unholy-sacrificial-mutt]

A Reel Catch

Pairing: Roceit (fic and fanart)

AU: Mermaid

Word: 3126

Warnings: Mentions of blood, mentions of death, slight panic.

Summary: Would you smooch a merman?

Merry LATE christmas and birthday @suicidal-maffin​

I hope this was worth the wait!

Roman Kingsly loved long walks on the beach, no matter how cliché it was. It was the time he got to himself after a busy day of working at the theater. He was still dressed in the costume he made himself for tonight’s performance. 

A prince. 

A regal white and gold outfit with a red sash.

He stood, looking at the setting sun, the feeling of the sand between his toes as the cold ocean runs over his feet calming him. He let out a sigh as he began walking again, letting his stress wash away with every lap of the cool waves against his ankles. He followed the thin stretch of beach, pausing when he saw what looked to be a sleeping person on the beach. The waves crashed over them, obscuring their body from view for a few seconds at a time, though they didn’t move. 

“Excuse me, Sir, Ma’am?” The man called out, taking a few hesitant steps forward. 

No response. 

“Are you hurt?” 

Still no response. 

‘Calm down Roman, they could just be a deep sleeper.’ 

He walked up to the still form cautiously, his movements slow - unsure. As the man’s body was illuminated in the dying light of the sunset, Roman let out a soft gasp. They weren’t… human. Or rather, not fully. At least half of his body was that of a human, if a little…. Strange. But rather than legs, a long fin wound around itself in the sand. 

“Mermaid?” he breathed out in shock before blinking himself out of his trance. 

Something was wrong.

The creature wasn’t breathing. 

Tangled up in a fishing net. 

Hooks stuck out of their skin. 

A large gash on their side soaked the sand in red.

Roman looked around, knowing he should probably call the police, but… what would happen to this poor creature? Who would even believe him? Most people didn’t even think mermaids were real. 

Hell, Roman didn’t think they were real until hardly a few seconds ago.

He took a breath, working as quickly as he could to get the not-so-imaginary creature untangled from the netting, and picked all the hooks out of his skin. He looked down at the creature and bit his lip in thought. He couldn’t just toss him back into the ocean. He could die. With shaky hands - and a made up mind - he took his handmade princely coat and wrapped it around the creatures tail, cradling him in his arms as though he were the perfect bride. 

“Okay, now to get you to my truck without anyone noticing,” he mumbled to himself. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have much issue getting back as the theater parking lot was empty and the lights inside the building were off. Getting the creature home, having broken a few speeding limits, he brought him inside before he risked being caught by any of his neighbors. He quickly rushed to the bathroom, filling the tub with lukewarm water. Resting the creature in the tub for a moment, Roman turned the light on. 

He gasped. 

The creature was absolutely beautiful. 

His gray-violet skin appeared smooth but for a few scales that were scattered over his chest and face, glittering in the light as though they were made from gold dust. Brown hair fell across his forehead, perfectly framing the beauty of the creature’s face. If not for the insanely long and iridescent tail that occupied most of the tub, immediately drawing Roman’s eyes, he would have spent more time admiring his beauty. 

He felt bad. 

The creature’s tail was all scrunched up, curling over itself to fit in the tub. Roman looked down and saw that the water rising over the creature’s form was a deep red. Cursing to himself, he let the water drain while he dropped to his knees, opened the cabinet under his sink, and dumped everything out until he found a first aid kit. He found some bandages and propped the creature up on his arm before beginning to clean and wrap his torso. 

“How did this happen…?” he whispered softly, though he knew he was speaking to no one but himself. 

Once the creature was bandaged, he plugged the tub again, watching it fill. He noticed that the creature was breathing - albeit very small breaths - which made sense as to why Roman thought he wasn’t breathing when he had only seen him in the dull light outside. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor. Once the water was filled as high as it could go, he turned off the tub. 

There was a merman in his tub. 

A freakin merman! 

What do mermen eat? 

He rested his head against the wall, watching the other, eyes feeling heavy. It wasn’t late, but it had been a long day, and god was Roman tired. His eyes slid shut as the creature’s patterned black and yellow tail seemed to shine. 

***

Dee awoke to feeling cramped and in pain. He let out a groan, eyes snapping open as water didn’t enter his mouth like it should. He squinted his eyes as the bright artificial light burned and seemed to be brighter because of the white tile walls of the bathroom. When he turned his head to see a human man - shirtless, the unnatural light showing every curve of his muscled form - sleeping against the wall near him, he jumped, trying to get away. His tail writhed in the already-overfilled tub, splashing water out onto the man, which caused him to wake with a sharp gasp.

“Ah! What the hell?!” He shouted, the noise startling a hiss from the merman. The human blinked as his eyes landed on Dee. “Oh. It wasn’t a dream. Mermaids are real,” he said with astonishment. Dee’s chest was heaving, making him wince every time as pain shot through his side. He was as far away from this human as he could possibly be, given the circumstance he found himself in. Roman noticed his fear and put his hands up as if to show he wasn’t going to harm him. “Hey, it’s okay,” he reassured him, keeping his tone soft. “Do you know what I’m saying?” The creature looked at him with a glare, fear still in his eyes, though it was obvious that he was trying to hide it now.

“Of course I know what you’re saying; I’m not an idiot!” He snapped. Roman’s eyes watched the others mouth, seeing the sharp teeth. He gulped, only now realizing that he had brought a creature - that he had no idea what it was capable of - into his home. 

Fuck.

“Okay, look, I’m sorry. I just discovered mermaids actually exist. Sorry for not automatically knowing that you speak English,” Roman spat out, trying to not seem suddenly scared. Roman went to stand up, the sudden movement startling the merman as his tail writhed again, trying to push him further away from the moving human, but with a wall there, he had nowhere to go. Roman blinked, sitting back down, looking at the other. 

“I’m sorry. I-um…do you have a name?” Roman asked timidly.

“Of course I have a name,” the merman huffed, rolling his eyes. Roman watched as his chest stilled heaved with fear. When the creature didn’t continue, he spoke up again.

“May I know your na-”

“No!” The other snapped again, the tip of his tail rattling slightly, much like a snake. Roman kept his hands up defensively for a second before dropping them in defeat at his sides. “I’m sorry. I didn’t have any other choice but to bring you here. You were wounded.” He motioned to the bandage that had a dark red blood stain on it. The merman looked down, touching his side with a wince before looking up in confusion. 

“You….helped me?” His voice was unsure, his words coming out hesitantly.

“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” It was Roman’s turn to be confused, a single brow raising on his forehead. 

“Well, sorry that most humans I’ve met have tried to capture or kill me on sight. Not that most merpeople are any better. It’s more of an every-merperson-for-themselves situation,” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. As he did so, he felt the gash in his side throb painfully, and a wince must have crossed his face, because Roman’s eyes softened, looking at the bandage. 

“Is that how… that happened?” He looked up to meet the other’s impossibly golden eyes. “Humans, I mean.” 

He sighed softly, sinking into the water more, curling his tail into coils so it all fit into the confines of the small porcelain tub. “Both, actually. Some merpeople led me to the fishermen, and then the fishermen tried to kill me from there.” 

Roman gasped softly, covering his mouth. “That’s rude. Why would they do that? What did you ever do to them?” 

“Well,” he stated matter-of-factly. “They were my brothers. Our mom died giving birth to me.” He shrugged, looking out the window of the bathroom. “Mother’s are the only type of merperson one of us will care about.” 

Roman’s heart softened for the snappy mermaid in front of him. “Considering you don’t exactly have anyone to go back to, you’re welcome to stay here if you’d like. Or if you need a place. I can order a bigger bathtub for you. Or a big fish tank? Is that racist? Or…species-cist? I’m sorry if that’s offensive-” 

The man’s gaze lowered away from the merman, his hand coming up to awkwardly rub at the back of his neck. 

He was rambling. 

He was definitely rambling. 

He had just asked this scarily pretty merman to live with him. 

He had just met him.

But it wasn’t like he could just send him back to his brothers. 

He would be killed!

A deep, rumbling laugh pulled Roman out of his thoughts in an instant.

He looked up to see the other’s mouth - full of sharp teeth that glinted in the light - wide open in a laugh as he winced, hand going clutching his side over where Roman knew the wound was, unable to stop laughing. Roman’s face warmed, a blush painting itself across his cheeks as he watched the other laugh, his heart pounding as his stomach dropped. 

Oh sweet Meryl Streep. 

I’m gay. 

I’m so gay.

I’m going to die. 

This is how I die. 

Here lies Roman Kingsly, death by gay.

This is my legacy. 

The merman’s laughed calmed down, cheeks flushed a deep shade of yellow as he looked at the man staring at him with wide eyes. The flush in his cheeks deepened and he scoffed. 

“Take a picture, it will last longer,” he teased, enjoying the way the other’s face seemed to turn even redder. Roman huffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to get up. Are you okay with that?” He asked cautiously, to which the merman nodded slowly, watching the other. 

Roman stood slowly, watching the other for any sign of fear in his eyes. While there was some, the merman stayed mostly calm. Roman stretched, the merman getting a good look at the human in front of him as he did so. He was fit, tan, and dare he say…cute? For a human, anyways.

The merman shook his head to clear his head. 

Roman looked down and held out a hand. “My name is Roman. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Merman!” he grinned charmingly at the other, wanting to ease some of the tension between the two of them. The merman blinked, tilting his head curiously at the outstretched hand before looking up at Roman in silent confusion. 

Roman chuckled, feeling his heart skip a beat at the frankly adorable look. “It’s a handshake. Put your hand out like mine.” 

The merman put out his left hand. Roman let out a hearty laugh, making the merman scowl and withdraw his hand with a hiss. 

“Oh, no, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh; it was just cute. You need to put out the other hand.” 

“Don’t laugh at me again…” he said almost defensively. Roman smiled softly and nodded. The merman put out his right hand.

“I’m going to grab your hand. Not hard and not to hurt you, okay?” The sea creature nodded and Roman grabbed his hand, giving him a slow hand shake. “Hello, my name is Roman. Pleasure to meet you. Your name is?” The merman looked at their hands holding each other, his face flushed yellow again.

“Dee. My name is Dee.” Dee looked up at Roman from the tub. “Would you really let me stay here?” It’s not like he had anything waiting for him in the ocean. He kinda hated it. It was boring to him. 

“Well yeah. Your brothers are trying to kill you over something you can’t control. I can’t just send ya back out there. Besides it will take some time for you to heal.” Roman blushed, looking down at the others tail, wondering what would be big enough for it. Finally getting a good look at the other, he noticed all the scars and missing scales, feeling his heart ache for Dee.

“Well I’ll give you an answer once I’m healed.” Dee smirked at the slightly deflated look on Roman’s face. He wasn’t completely convinced Roman wasn’t trying to just keep him captured for money or something of the like, but he did need to heal, so for now, he’d stay here.

***

The next month passed with a domesticity that both of them quickly became accustomed to. Roman ended up buying a big fishtank that barely fit in his living room, but it gave Dee room to stretch out his tail, so it was worth the trouble. Roman would go to work and be gone half the day, and at night, he would come home with fresh fish for Dee, making dinner for himself while Dee. 

Roman made a steak one day and Dee practically started drooling, making a weird chirping sound. It didn’t take long for the human to figure out that it was the sound merpeople made when they wanted to hunt something, and he decided to give in. After teasing Dee with the meat for a bit, he gave him a bite, and it was immediately learned that he loved red meat. 

The two of them got to know each other really well, spending every spare moment talking over whatever tv show or movie Roman had put on. They talked about their lives - Roman’s as a budding actor and Dee’s as a merperson. Roman asked as many questions about Dee’s life as he could, and Dee would give a warm smile for a moment at the thought of someone caring enough to ask questions about him. 

Roman took extra care of Dee’s wounds, changing the bandages every day, even having to stitch one one up. He made sure he cleaned them, even when Dee hissed and clawed at him from the strange stinging it caused. 

Within the month, Roman came to learn that Dee was part eel - rather than the ordinary version of a mermaid that he had come to think about - as he began to “shed” his slime. It became so bothersome to Dee that at that point, Roman had to jump in the tank with him to help him as there were no rocks or plants to swim through. 

Dee’s face was a deep yellow shade at the prospect of Roman having to help him get rid of his slime, but the minute the others hands were on his tail, he let out a gasp and shuddered slightly, his entire tail shivering as his eyes fluttered shut. Roman pulled his hands back, scared he had hurt the other, to which Dee groaned in annoyance. 

“You okay, Dee?” Roman asked, feeling the slime that was on his hands from just the little touch. Dee nodded slightly in response.

“Yeah. Just…not used to anyone touching my tail like that.” Dee kept his eyes cast downwards, which was strange for him. Even when startled, Dee always looked at Roman. 

“Okay. I’m going to touch your tail again…”  Roman said hesitantly, it being made clear by his tone of voice that he was asking permission. 

When Dee nodded, Roman put his hands back on the other’s slimy tail and begin gently rubbing the slime off. Dee, who’s entire face was yellow at this point, shivered at every touch of his tail. With how long his tail was, it took Roman a good 10 minutes to finish. The water was a murky grey color and felt almost thicker than before. Roman looked at the water curiously as Dee, breathless and flustered, looked at Roman. 

“Ro…?” Dee’s voice was soft - which was also unusual for him, Roman noted to himself. 

“Yeah, Dee?” Roman looked up with a soft smile. 

“You know that thing that the people in your romance movies do?” His voice shook and he moved a little closer to Roman, making the other blush, now just fully aware at only being in underwear. 

“Which thing?”

“The thing with the mouths.” Dee licked his lips as Roman’s face flushed, his eyes took a quick look at Dee’s lips. He was shocked when he learned during one of their movie nights that most merpeople don’t kiss. And he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t dreamt of kissing him - sharp teeth and all. 

“You mean kissing?” Now Roman’s voice was shaky. Dee nodded softly, their bodies flush against each other now, the feeling of the merman’s chest cool against Roman’s. 

“Can…can we do it?” 

Roman, once the question was muttered, pressed his lips to the other’s without hesitation. Dee let out a very undignified squeak as he turned deep yellow once more before kissing back, quickly learning how it worked. Dee’s tail wrapped around the others body protectively, keeping him close as they kissed softly in the murky grey water of the tank. They slowly sank below the water, neither caring as Dee just kissed oxygen into the other’s mouth. Popping out of the water a few minutes later, Roman gasped for air as Dee chuckled, wide grin on his face. Roman’s red face looked at Dee’s yellow one before they both stopped laughing, going back in for another kiss. Dee pulled back with a chuckle after only a moment. 

“If it wasn’t obvious, that was my answer as to whether or not I’m staying.” 

At Roman’s gasp, Dee let out a deep, rumbling chuckle before pulling him in for yet another kiss. As new as he was to it, Dee had to admit… he liked kissing.

[thejollyroger-writer]

Captain Hook’s Second Deepest Secret

Summary: On their trip back to Storybrooke after rescuing Henry from Neverland, Killian finds himself divulging his other secret to Emma, a secret that he has managed to keep to himself for hundreds of years. 

Rated G / 1.4k of crack / read on AO3

Based off this post, which I’m pretty sure @gingerchangeling reblogged in hopes of making someone write a story about Killian Jones. Thanks to @kmomof4 for helping me figure out how to bring this little story to an end and @shireness-says for listening to me talk about it. 

Tagging: @let-it-raines @wellhellotragic @captainsjedi @teamhook @darkcolinodonorgasm @profdanglaisstuff @thisonesatellite @stahlop @pepperspotts

-- -- 

“Hook?” He hears her, her voice soft outside the door of the cabin. And he knows it’s her — who else would it be, here? Because it’s certainly not the Evil Queen. And, as much as he is slowly growing to like the Prince, his voice sounds much different. The ship hits turbulence and he feels the way the air moves around him, a feeling that he certainly didn’t miss, a movement that he feels deep within his chest, and he almost— 

But then — “Killian?” 

There is something in her voice beyond just apology, though the last thing he intended was for her to believe he was mad at her. But something in her led her to use his name, his real name and not just his moniker. Does she know that she is the first person in years (hundreds of them) to call him that? 

(Does she know that she is the first person in hundreds of years that he wants to call him that, that he wants to reveal the deepest pieces of himself to, that he doesn’t want to hide from? He said something along those lines in the Echo Caves, when he bared his heart to her — to everyone — but does she know just how deep that secret goes? Certainly she cannot — but maybe she does?) 

Not this, though. This is not one of those secrets that he wants to reveal. At least not so quickly, or being in such a vulnerable position. Besides, it is part of this facade he has built, the reason behind most of his on-ship storming away’s, which have apparently become something he is known for. But no one — not Smee, not his crew, not even Milah, and certainly not Emma Swan — knows the real reason. 

The only person who did was his brother, the only man who ever truly knew who he was, who he wanted to be, but that secret joined him at the bottom of the ocean the day they laid him to rest, the very day that it proved to be a problem. 

Because he — Killian Jones, the infamous Captain Hook, world-renowned pirate captain and, apparently, fairy tale villain — had a very secret, very embarrassing proclivity to airsickness, which sometimes even rears itself in the form of seasickness when nervous. He, the man who spent the last centuries of his life on the sea, was inclined to lose the contents of his stomach in times of trouble. He set fire to that bloody Pegasus Sail, the very object that led to the first time he had the pleasure of losing the contents of his stomach in his brother’s cabin. Though the circumstances were not opportune, he thought that burning that damned sail would be the end of it all. 

As he breathes through another turn of his stomach, he realizes that he has never answered her, and he hopes that he has not mucked this up like he has mucked up everything else. Even as his stomach continues to fight against the rocking of the ship in the clouds, he begs it to stay calm, hoping that something other than nausea is written across his face as he opens the door. 

“Hello, Swan,” he says, hoping that leaning against the frame of the cabin door keeps his stomach from churning. 

(He’s wrong.) 

“Hey, Hook,” she says, and he would be a liar to say her return to using his moniker doesn’t feel like a jab in the chest. “I just wanted to… thank you. For all your help in Neverland. In getting Henry back.” 

He feels the same wave of cocky optimism that he felt after saving the prince’s life, when she kissed him — and then the ship hits turbulence again, knocking him off his already-unsteady feet and into the other side of the door frame, but he reaches out his other arm — no, his hook — to try to steady Emma, wrapping his arm around her waist as they both find their footing. She regains her balance with her hands on her chest, one of them holding tight to the collar of his jacket, again reminiscent of what she was so quick to deem a one-time thing, but there is a brightness in her eyes that he recognizes from that moment — one that he has played over and over in his mind — and he almost allows himself to believe that her one-time thing is about to happen again. 

And then his stomach turns, and he pushes himself away from her just in time to set his aim over the bucket before losing the contents of his stomach. 

She is by his side in moments, setting a hand on his leather-clad shoulder. “Hook! Are you alright?” 

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he stands erect, managing a small laugh as he turns to face her. “Well, love, now you know the deepest secret of the infamous Captain Hook.” 

He meets her eyes, already feeling the warmth of embarrassment rush to his cheeks and the tip of his ears, and her emerald eyes are wide with realization. 

She tries not to laugh. It doesn't work. “Are you trying to tell me that… you… get…” 

It’s almost as if she can’t bring herself to say the word. She probably can’t, he realizes. Just the thought of it makes him laugh: he’s the one that just threw up in front of her, and she’s the one who is tongue-tied. 

“Sick while in the air? Aye.” 

Eyes still wide, she stays silent for a moment — but just a moment, before a smile slowly forms across her lips, holding still there before a soft laugh tumbles from her lips. She tries to cover it with the back of her hand, and though he appreciates the gesture, it doesn’t hide the laugh. He feigns shock, lifting his hand to his chest, before he can no longer stop his own smile from gracing his lips. 

“I’m sorry,” she says, the words still stuck between laughs. 

“No need to be sorry, love,” he says, and she finally meets his eyes to notice the smile spread across his features. “It is a bit of an absurdity, though it has managed to be one that I’ve kept to myself in all the years since it began.” 

“You mean…” she starts, but is unable to come up with any more, until, “No one?” 

All he does is nod. It’s all he has to do. He has words on the tip of his tongue, a quick comeback about sharing secrets and it being her turn to divulge another, but the unmistakable sound of someone on the steps behind them stops any of the words from reaching his lips. He takes a step back, further into the cabin, as if the few paces between them were scandalous. 

“Emma?” They hear Snow White’s voice before she turns the corner. “Emma, are you—” Her words stop short when she finds them both in the lieutenant’s cabin, a soft smile gracing her lips as her eyes meet his first, then Emma’s. 

“What?” Emma’s response is short, and Killian almost would go so far as to say that there’s a hint of… anger isn’t the right word. Impatience, maybe, in her voice.  Killian can’t help the small tick of the corner of his lips into a smile when he hears it. 

“It’s Henry, he’s on deck with Neal. He’s asking for you.” 

Only Killian sees the roll of her eyes. 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll — I’ll be right there.” 

Everything in the room stops for a moment, Snow White’s eyes flitting back and forth between the two of them. And then she nods, her eyes dropping to the floorboards, her smile only growing before she turns away from them. 

“Listen,” he starts when the footsteps on the steps have ceased, but she stops his words by reaching out, resting her hand on his arm. 

“You don’t have to worry, Hook,” she says, a softness in her voice unlike anything he’s heard before. “Your secret is safe with me, I promise.” 

“I appreciate that, love,” he replies, filling the space between them with just two steps, and he can feel her breath on his cheek, but he does not turn to meet her eyes. “Perhaps soon enough you’ll divulge one of your own in return.” 

She scoffs, but smiles, shaking her head. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” 

He feels her take a breath before she backs away from him, and only then does he turn his attention to her. “Perhaps I would, love.” 

But she’s gone. 

[britishboystm]

Boy in the Basement Pt. III

Warnings: swearing, evidence of drug use

***

It was strange to see him in such a different state. His skin was now a much more proper peach with a hint of rose in his cheeks, rather than the sickly gray from the first time you saw him. His eyes were no longer closed, showing off the brightest blue you had ever seen. Dark circles sat under his eyes, probably from recovering in the hospital and the lack of sleep. His lips were also chapped and cracked, a bit of a split lip from the lack of moisture. You didn't mind though.

He looked down at his feet before giving you a quick glance. It seemed almost out of embarrassment, like he assumed your dad had given you the full story of what had happened. Oh how you knew so much more than just a retelling from your dad. A small part of you wanted to jump into his arms and hug him, tell him how glad you were to see him alive and somewhat better. You refrained however, not wanting to freak him out or draw attention to yourself knowing what you knew.

“I’m Y/N.” You said finally, giving a small wave.

“This is the boy from that house on Bourne. Remember?’ Your dad asked.

“Oh right. How are you feeling?”. A super impersonal question but the right route to take considering the circumstances. You guys had technically just met for the first time and you wanted to treat it as such. A natural progression. There was no need to jump into the deep end so soon. You didn’t even know why he was here.

“Chris will be staying the night.” Your dad interjected, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Where were his parents? Weren’t they going to come get him once he was released from the hospital? Things didn’t seem right but of course they weren’t when they found him face down in the basement of a crack house, so you decided not to pry.

“That sounds great.” You say smiling towards him, giving as much warmth and comfort with your tone as humanly possible. This kid had been through hell and back. It was the least you could do. There was a silence amongst the four of you until your mum spoke up,

“Y/N, why don’t you show Chris where he will be sleeping.” You nod and direct him to follow you back up the staircase. You look back to see him staring at you. He quickly diverts his gaze the moment you catch him. He was honestly kind of cute, but that wasn’t the point of all this. He needed a place to crash, then he would be on his way.

It took you a second to ready yourself. It had been a while since you had been in James’s room. Your parents ended up not getting rid of any of his stuff. Almost as though they were hoping one day he would walk through the front door and yell out goodnight before crashing without taking his day clothes off like he used to.

At first your dad wanted to dump everything. Forgive and forget what had happened. Your mom on the other hand had the exact opposite response, wanting to leave everything immaculate and untouched. She would go in sometimes to feather up all the dust that had collected on the shelves due to the absence of a human soul. Your father avoided that door like it was possessed.

“You ok?” You heard Chris ask lightly behind you, as though not to overstep a boundary that, to you, didn't exist. It was the first time he had ever spoken. Now you wish he would do it again. You looked over your shoulder and gave him a small smile before nodding.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Anyways here is where you will be sleeping.” You stood to the side as he walked in, slightly in awe. Had this kid never seen a bedroom before?

“This is really cool.” It was his turn to look back at you with a slight blush. With a pack hanging off his shoulder and gripped in his right hand he walked further into the room, scoping out the rest of it. He dropped his pack on the floor and gently sat down at the foot of the bed. You didn’t really know what to do now.

“Well, I’ll let you get settled in, dinner will be ready in about 5.”

“Thanks.” he stared down at the bedding, grazing his hands over it. You could tell something was up with him. He seemed so lost and afraid. You wondered what his story was.

“No problem.”

You walked out of the room, and headed back downstairs where your parents were setting up the table.

“So are you going to explain to me what that's all about?” You were no longer thinking about ignoring your dad. This whole crazy situation was above it. He placed the salad at the centre of the dinner table and walked around you to get the dressing from the fridge.

“He’s in foster care. We were able to find the foster home he lived in and the conditions were subpar. We wanted to transfer him into a more adequate residence but it’s going to take awhile. Your mother and I have decided to let him stay with us until a more fit home can take him in.” You were shocked to hear this new information.

Because of your middle class status, it was hard for you to grasp the concept of foster care. How a kid could be moved around so much. The idea that a parent could just give up their child and leave never looking back. It broke your heart. But of course everyone had their reasons for doing so. Any kid who lived in those conditions went to Churchill school on the east side of Reading, Your school being on the west side. So it made sense why you had never seen Chris before Friday.

“I’ve been visiting him since Friday for a few hours each day so he should be fine here. He trusts me” You just nod, not really knowing what to say. You were still trying to absorb everything your dad was telling you.

You placed a pitcher of water on the table and sat at your usual spot.

“Did you know about this?” You looked at your mom with a ting of hurt. Once again, you were left out of the loop.

“He may have mentioned it a couple times.” her voice was small. You looked down at your lap.

“So, he’s probably going to be here more than just a night then.” You were making a statement rather than asking a question.

“We will take it day by day.” Says your dad avoiding eye contact, knowing he messed up by not telling you. This meant yes, this kid would be living with you until he was put into a new home. The whole family looks up to the stairs as Chris finally makes an appearance, clearly feeling awkward with having all of your guys’ eyes on him.

“Chris!” Your mum beams to the slightly scared boy.

“Come join us, dinner is hot and ready to eat.” He hesitantly walks over to the table and takes a seat across from you. The low lighting above the table really gave him a nice warm glow. You couldn’t help but stare, until you diverted your look to the oncoming bowl of tossed salad coming your way.

He seemed so closed off, and was clearly not used to being treated so well.

“So Chris, tell me a bit about yourself.” Your mum tries her best to get him talking but he’s too busy stuffing her pasta in his mouth. Wasn’t fed well.

“I’m from Reading. I go to Churchill school and I’m in year 10.” He then went back to twirling his fork into his meal. Simple answer. Your mum was clearly looking for a more in-depth response. Maybe she thought he would tell her why he ended up almost dead in that house on Bourne Avenue. No luck. He probably wouldn't budge. At least not right now. The wound was still too fresh.

The rest of dinner was somewhat quiet other than the small talk your parents shared which involved your dad's day patrolling the town and your mum’s day in an office cubicle. The usual mundane stuff. You couldn't help but steal glances with Chris as you both picked at your pasta. He was already on his second plate. It was quite cliche but every time he looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel butterflies in your stomach. Your cheeks and ears were hot and you were being a lot more careful, trying to eat nicely by keeping your mouth closed. You didn’t want to look like a slob in front of him. Not that he would care.

“Y/N, why don’t you and Chris go out in the back so your mother and I can discuss some things.” You took the hint, knowing what he was meaning so you got up and led Chris to the backyard. They were probably going to discuss what was going to happen until he would get sent to another home. Hanging from the large oak tree were a couple swings. One for you and one for James.

You both sat as the sun set. It was quite nice but there was also a sense of sadness. The last time you sat out here with someone was with your brother. You both gently rocked back and forth, not needing to say anything to one another. It was peaceful. Oh fuck it.

“I saw you that day. In the basement of that house.” He looked up at you, words caught in his throat. He pursed her lips and bowed his head in what looked like shame.

‘My dad wouldn’t let me visit you in the hospital.”

“You wanted to visit me?” His eyes brightened up, almost with hope and excitement as he looked up at you.

“He said your condition was something no young girl should see” You said it with a hint of venom. Still angry about being kept in the dark.

“I was really worried.” You continued.

“You didn’t even know me.”

“True, but you seemed so helpless. I just felt like helping you.”

“Well thanks, I guess.” He wasn’t used to this.

You lightly punched his arm, not really knowing what actions were appropriate. He lightly chuckles and lifts his arms to grab onto the ropes holding the swing in place. It was bit dark so you didn’t know if what you were seeing was real but you noticed tiny holes littering his forearm, bruised and fresh still. Those weren't from being in the hospital.

Your smile faded and so did his as he noticed your eyes on his skin. He quickly pushed the sleeves of his sweater over his arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry ‘bout it alright” He muttered. He swiftly got up and shoved his hand in his pockets, giving you one last glance before disappearing back into the house.

“Good night.” You mumbled to yourself.

[tinyanimelover]

Twisted Fates

Part Three

(Part One)

"...what?" Grimmjow muttered as he stuffed his mouth with noodles "The fuck are you looking at?". Isamu's eyes widened "Huh? Oh! Nothing! I was just...looking at your hair..it's a little lighter than mines". "Really? Didn't notice.." He grumbled, "Now that you're fed and got a place to stay...start talking brat". "Right!" The boy said as he wiped his mouth "...you may not believe me, but I promise everything I say is one hundred percent true..and I can't tell you how I know any of this but please know that it's all true". "..are you like her stalker or something?" Grimmjow deadpanned "Secret admirer?". "No! God no! That's disgusting!" Isamu deadpanned "I told you, I'm a distant relative of hers". "Whatever, keep talking" he said as he continued to eat. "...you went to middle and high school with her" Isamu informed, "It was in high school that she met the man who killed her". Grimmjow nearly choked on the noodles, coughing them back up as he tried to breathe "W-what the fuck are you talking about?! She met him in high school? And he kills her after?!...how did you know I went to school with her?". "I know, I know" Isamu tried to calm the male down "But you have to believe me. I cant tell you anything other than it’s true..". "...what the fuck" he sighed as he drank some water "I swear to god if you're just fucking around with me kid...". "I'm not!" He assured "Just listen! The man who killed her has known her since high school...so, if you want to stop him. You need to find out who he is, then you can stop him before he kills her". Grimmjow deadpanned "....and I'm supposed to magically gain the power to go back in time and find him? I could just stop them from meeting and everything will be fucking roses and unicorns, right?". Isamu shook his head "No. You can't stop them from meeting, you'd change the future too much and that would be bad". "...the hell are you talking about? I don't have any fucking magic or whatever to go back in time, moron" he pointed out "Even if I did, why would I even do that? I didn't know her then and I didn't know her now, so why would I do that for some fucking woman". "...Grimmjow..would you believe me if I told you that this is something you need to do?" Isamu asked with a seriousness around him and his words. Grimmjow wasn't sure if he should laugh or not, so he decided to look away, "No, I wouldn't. It doesn't make sense why I should do something for someone I barely knew..". "I can't say anything else about how or why, but I can send you back in time to find Y/n's killer" Isamu suddenly sprung up to his feet "Will you do it? Will you save her?". "You..can send me back" he deadpanned, wondering if he should call the police now or later. "Yes..I can" Isamu said proudly "I need Y/n alive...and you're the only one who can save her Grimmjow!". His eyes widened, "...me?".

You're the only one who can save her, Grimmjow! Grimmjow sighed softly as he rolled over onto his side, eyes reading the clock. It was ten minutes to 3 am, and he was still tossing and turning thanks to that brat. What did he mean by that? Was Isamu telling the truth? About being able to time travel? If so, why did he choose him of all people to save Y/n? She had a brother from what he'd seen, why not choose the brother? Why..was he being dragged deeper into this mess? As if he wasn't haunted by that woman enough..he could still hear those screams echoing in his mind. It was only after that he found her dead, that it began to haunt him. She was screaming as she was being butchered, banging on the wall so that he'd save her. But he ignored it all..if he'd just gone out to see what was wrong. Maybe he could've saved her and she wouldn't be dead. Maybe...that was why he was going through all of this. It was karma for not saving her when he could've. Still, even if this brat was telling the truth...what could he do? Back then, he paid no mind to her or anyone for that matter, so how was he supposed to find her killer? And why should he? Things happen for a reason, right? So why should they even mess with the past? Why should they stop her death? Wouldn't it mess with the future? He grumbled, annoyed that he couldn't sleep as he sat up in the bed. He could still hear the thumps. He closed his eyes. Thump. Th--thuump. Thump. Thump. Maybe he should hear the boy out some more. If there was a way he could save her, perhaps it was the right thing to do. After all, whenever he spoke to her, it was brief and he was kinda rude. To think that she had depended on him those last few moments of her life, to come and save her..man, he really was a piece of shit, huh? He needed to get those sounds out of his mind, he wanted his life to go back to normal, he wanted to sleep again.

"Let's say I believe you and that you really can send me back or whatever....what is it that I gotta do?" Grimmjow asked as he sat across from the teen "And tell me why it has to be me? If you can time travel, why don't you just go back a few days after she died and save her?". "I've tried" he sighed as he crossed his arms "Believe it or not, I tried but the result was that she died..she wasn't supposed to die last week, I messed it up and that was the result...then I remembered you and that's when I realized I'd gone about it all wrong. I needed you to save her, I couldn't do it alone. I only have three chances, and if I waste them all...she'll be erased from the future completely!". He could see how visibly upset Isamu was, tears in his eyes as he stared at his food. Perhaps Y/n meant much more to him than he led on to believe? "You...remembered me? We've meet in the future then?" Grimmjow asked, switching subjects "I'm probably old as fuck by then, right? Do I have a nice car? Please tell me I'm rich ..I'm tired of living in this damn dump and working my ass off with nothing to show for it". Isamu chuckled, wiping his eyes "Sorry..I can't give you any details about the future since it may change it...just know that you're be very happy in the future". Grimmjow eyes lingered on the male, would he and Isamu be good friends in the future? Is that why he made it seem like he knew his future self so well? "Anyways...you'll go back and try to find her killer right? If we're going to do this, it's gotta be tonight! If we wait may longer, it'll become her permanent future". Grimmjow looked down at his food, thinking back on how he was in high school and how much of an asshole he was to the girl. Come to think of it, even after she confessed, he paid no mind to her, never even batting an eye once she moved a month after. He had no idea what she was like back then, let alone if he'll be able to get close enough to save her. But..he had to try right? If it all depended on him, if her mere existence rested solely on his shoulder, he has to try. He looked back up to find Isamu giving him the puppy eyes and sighed, "Fucking brat...fine. I'll do it". "Awesome!" Isamu grinned, tears of joy falling "Thank you d--.....Grimmjow. Thank you....before I send you back. No matter how bad things get, remember it's not a dream and whatever you do will affect the future so try not to change or do anything major and under no circumstances are you to tell anyone that you're from the future!". "Huh? But you told me" he deadpanned "What's the difference". "My existence depends on you saving her" Isamu said sadly "Not on whether my telling you I'm from the future..because that won't change anything unless you fail in your mission". "What happens if I fail? She just disappears?" He asked. "Well...she'll die as she did last week, that'll be the future you know" Isamu sighed "Her future was supposed to be bright and full of love, but if you fail. Her future will be as it is now, she'll be murdered and you'll still be stuck here...her killer gets away with her murder". "....this shits depressing, send me back already so I can get this over with" Grimmjow said as he stood up "Wait...how do you send me back?". "This necklace" Isamu explained as he stood up as well "It'll send you back and bring you back once the time is up". "Time?" Grimmjow repeated. Isamu grinned, saluting the man "You have until that necklace starts running out of juice before it sends you back to your rightful time period! Good luck!". "Wait how do I talk to h--" Grimmjow started but disappeared in the a quick blinding blue light. Isamu sighed, sitting back down "...please save her Grimmjow...".

[darkredehmption]

Bonded

*~*~*~*

Mal:

Sometimes I hated my brain. 

Not for any reason other than it came up with more than I wanted to be thinking about - led me down self reflective paths I didn’t necessarily want to tread. Like how it whispered to me, weeks ago, when I was fighting with Zsadist. About Hadrian.

Z had thrown out the word ‘bonded’ as a descriptive term, but damn it if my brain hadn’t latched onto it in realisation. A frightening dawning of understanding as I’d looked at the male I loved and realised I might not just be getting a mate, but a pet too…

I’d let it go at the time. There was plenty more for me to be thinking and worrying about then the furball on the grounds. But with our mating behind us, and the future opening up before us, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Not when I had thoughts about travelling and hunting, about finding a place for just myself and Zsadist. 

Looking to the male, my male, I took in his profile as he read. Seated comfortably in his favorite chair, with another book tucked in his lap, I felt the now familiar rush of affection. Love. Lust. Need. Swallowing the seemingly instantaneous reactions of my body, I cleared my throat.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Rising from where I’d been seated on the edge of the bed, I strode across the room and stopped. Even if I hadn’t been fond of Hadrian, the shifter had done everything possible to prove his peaceful nature in the weeks past, keeping to himself and simply enjoying the grounds. My unease was ebbing, but I was still rough around the edges as far as treating the shifter nicely, so I was going to have to try a little harder for this conversation.

“It’s about Hadrian.”

Zsadist:

I was rereading a few of my favorite books while Mal and I enjoyed a night off. Though I couldn’t help but notice how uneasy my male felt. The energy in the room was off, and it had me worrying that it had something to do with me.

What if he regretted us being mated?

Shaking the thought from my head as I turned to a new page in the book. But before I could start reading, I heard the angel move to get up. I swear that my heart stopped beating when he spoke. He said he needed to talk about something.

Fuck.

But before I could stress, he brought up Hadrian’s name, which made me raise a brow. 

The shifter had been living here for almost a month. He had recovered and even been out on the field with the Brothers, myself included. And during this time, Mal has been okay with it all. I mean, he still seemed skeptical, but Hadrian was definitely proving himself to show how great of a male he was. 

So, I set down the books and straightened in the chair. Giving my male my full attention as he confronts me. 

“What about Hadrian?” I wanted nothing more than to pull Mal into my arms, but I had to listen to what he had to say first. 

Mal:

Taking a deep breath, now that I had his attention, I began pacing back and forth. It gave me that little bit extra time to process my thoughts rather than just blurting them out. Cause if I was right… well, shit, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. 

“Do you remember the argument we had last month?” I said finally, looking up and watching Zsadist even as I stalked over the stretch floor over and over. “When you invited Hadrian to live here? Without telling me?” No, I wasn’t still ticked about that. Honest. “Well you said something then that kind of stuck with me. And since then I… I’ve been watching. Trying to see if… if it was true.”

I was starting to ramble, I realised with a grimace, and stopped moving. Facing him instead, I steeled myself and reached for the word.

“You mentioned that you’d bonded with him. And I think… I think you have. It’s not usual for your - sorry, ‘our’ - breed of vampire, but… they were extenuating circumstances. When you killed Amos, Hadrian’s soul was rent from his existence and left to… float in the ether,” I tried to explain. “So I grabbed onto it. I tried to hold onto it. But the only person in that whole place that mattered to him or had any influence with his animals was… you.”

I stopped for a second, because his golden eyes were getting wider. If I was right Hadrian could freak - his experience of being an animal to call was brutal and gut wrenching and the fear alone might crush him, even though it was Zsadist. And Z, by default, would feel wretched. 

But if I was right, they were both in danger of dying if the other was hurt or killed. And /that/ scared the shit out of /me/. If Hadrian left or was killed, I could lose Zsadist. I wanted to be wrong. Fuck, I wanted to be wrong so bad.

“I think,” I whispered, knowing full well he’d hear me, “that as he lingered in the void, and you collected him and cradled him and brought him back to the manse, his soul… one of his animals… linked to you.”

Zsadist:

At first, I wasn’t really sure where Mal was going with this. When he brought up the fight, there was a part of me that was worried he was going to tell me to dump Hadrian on the streets, which was something I couldn’t do. Hadrian was already fitting into this family, and I couldn’t imagine not having him around.

But then there was that word, bonded. It was something I wasn’t familiar with. I mean sure, we bonded to our mates, but not the way that those vampires like Amos bonded to shifters such as Hadrian. 

So what was he getting at? My initial thought was that Mal bonded to the shifter, which scared the shit out of me, but the more he spoke the sooner I found out what he was really getting at.

I was bonded to Hadrian.

Fuck. No. I couldn’t be. I was another type of vampire, and didn’t feel like I could control him or read his thoughts. I mean, wouldn’t I have felt something in the woods when I showed the shifter his cabin?

“I...I’m not so sure about that Hellren mine.” Slowly I shifted off of the chair. “I don’t feel any different. I care for Hadrian as my friend, but I’ve always felt that way towards him. He’s a good male, whether he or others want to believe it or not.” Lifting a hand to scrub it down my scarred face. 

“And if so...wouldn’t Hadrian be feeling some type of way? I mean I know I’ve been busy with our mating ceremony and all, but Hadrian and I  have spoken since then. He never once said anything about a bond.” Raises a brow as I reach for my male’s hand. 

Mal:

I didn’t hesitate in taking Zsadist’s hand as he reached for mine, twining our fingers and squeezing lightly as I watched him. I’d been expecting the denial, and I’d prepared for it. In the back of my mind, as I’d waited for signs, I knew that if they were bonded neither would know. Zsadist, all the Brothers, and myself included, were not made as other vampires were. Even if there was a bond, there was little way of knowing what it would look like, feel like, or how anyone would react. How would Zsadist know any different?

As for Hadrian…

A sigh slipped past my lips as I thought of the shifter and his new life. Fighting alongside the Brothers. Staying in the cabin. Keeping to himself as often as he could. I doubted he even reached for his shifts unless it was the moon calling or he was on rotation. If he was ignoring his Beasts then there’d be no way he’d have noticed the link between one of them and Z. 

“Prove me wrong,” I said gently, lifting my head to meet his gilded gaze. “Because I want to be wrong. I want it real bad, Nallum,” I whisper, shaking my head. “Think of Hadrian. And I mean really think of him. His eyes. His hair. His face. The way he moves. The way he smells. Think of everything you know about Hadrian and then… I dunno, ‘wish’ him here. Think about how badly you need to talk to him. See him. Please.”

I had zero idea where I was going with this - a few enquiring calls to other hunters had let me know the basics as far as what vampires did to call on their animals. When there was a bond between them, a vampire had only to think of their animal to call, reach for that connection, and they’d respond. With Zsadist and Hadrian, there was no way of knowing how strong that could be, assuming it existed, and what limitations it would have. But it was a place to start.

And like I said, I wanted to be wrong. 

Zsadist:

Think of Hadrian? My Hellren was really asking me to think of another male right now? This was crazy. Scrubbing my hands along my skull trim head as I give him a skeptical look. 

“I...suppose I can do that.” Says with a loud grunt as I now pace in the bedroom. This was crazy, how could I be bonded to the shifter? I mean yes, I was a vampire, but a different breed. Didn’t that count for something? As I stop in front of Mal, I give him a final look before I do what he asked.

I think of Hadrian. 

At first it felt weird, to think of my friend, but soon I was just picturing his face. Those big brown eyes that matched his dark locks, that smirk that was always plastered on his face. I could imagine him walking in all smug, ignoring Mal as he moved to drop down on the couch I was just sitting at moments ago. His loud laugh would fill the room as I basically told him to fuck off, which caused my lips to twitch slightly.

After a few moments of silence, I gaze back at Mal. “So…? Was I supposed to be feeling something or what? Cause honestly I just pictured him and that was it.” Lifting a hand to rub at my jaw as I study my Hellren. 

Mal:

Even if Zsadist thought the idea was crazy, he did me the courtesy of actually trying, and a part of me loved him even more for it. Stepping back as he concentrated, it didn’t occur to me until the last few seconds that I could’ve been analyzing him with my Divinity. Between one blink and the next I knew my eyes had gone from brown to white, and as he thought of Hadrian I let my gaze sweep over him.

His aura was a bright, strong thing, infused with all that had happened these past few months. Our courtship, our mating. Even so, there was the lingering shadows of a past that would never be forgotten, no matter how many good memories we put between it and now. I narrowed my eyes like that would help me see past all that though, squinting up a storm as I tried to see something more. 

Too late, I realised he’d stopped. Was instead looking at me and asking a question. I sighed and blinked again, my eyes returning to normal.

“I don’t know what you’re supposed to feel,” I admit, pushing a hand through my hair as I try to think of something else to try. One would think this ‘test’ would put my paranoia to rest, and yet the feeling remained, like some nauseating gut instinct gone wild. “Maybe I need to try something~”

There was a knock on the door, but before either of us could answer it opened. My eyes widened as that feeling in my gut solidified then sank. 

Hadrian stood on the threshold. His brow was furrowed, like he wasn’t quite sure why he was up here, why he’d even knocked. The casual clothes meant he wasn’t on rotation tonight. He could’ve already been downstairs, getting something to eat or visiting with the others, when I’d asked Z to make the ‘call’. 

I wanted to be sick.

Hadrian:

The newly mated couple were looking at me like I’d just walked in on something immensely private. Or embarrassing. Or both. I could’ve reassured them they were fine; until I walked in on them both naked with rubber ducks everywhere, they still hadn’t hit too high on the weird factor, but it didn’t feel like the moment to make a joke.

The real problem was… why had I walked in on them? I’d been on the way to the med wing, meant to check in, or get a check up I guess, with one of the docs. Yet before I’d even left the secret door I just… had to see Zsadist. Like I hadn’t seen him in weeks or months or years. But that was still no excuse for barging into their mated room. Fuck, some of the other males in this place would’ve torn my throat out with their teeth if I’d barged in on their shellans with nothing more than a quick knock. 

Even though the hostility from the angel had abated significantly of late, I still turned my attention to Zsadist first. 

“Everything okay? I thought…” Well, fuck, I honestly don’t know what I thought. The footsteps that’d brought me from down below to right here had passed in a blur. “I thought you might need me for something?” I manage, arching a brow and hoping he didn’t think I was fucking cray.

I mean, there was an argument to suggest I was, sure, but not certifiably. 

Zsadist:

I watched as different emotions played out on my male’s face. First he looked relieved, thinking that I wasn’t bonded to another male. Which I could understand. We were newly mated and I didn’t want anything to come between Mal and I. This was the most important thing in my life right now and I won’t fuck it up.

But then suddenly, I saw him mentally freak out as there is a knock at the door, and who other than Hadrian appears. 

Fuck.

Scrubbing both my hands over my scarred face as I try to process what the fuck just happened. How in the hell was I even going to explain this to the shifter, after all he’s been through.

“I’m fine. Are you alright?” Snorting as I ask such a stupid question. But honestly it had been awhile since I checked in on the male, with me being all happily mated and what not. 

“I mean...I think we need to talk.” Fuck me, this was so awkward. It was bad enough that Mal still didn’t really like Hadrian, and now I had to somehow explain to my friend that we were bonded. 

As I scrubbed a hand over my nape, I couldn’t help but pace slightly before standing in front of the shifter. “I think we are bonded. Which is crazy to me since I’m a different breed of vampire, and when I think of being bonded, I think of being mated to someone.” 

My eyes quickly flash to my angel before focusing back on Hadrian. “Mal felt something, felt like you and I were connected. So he told me to think of you, and I did, and now here you are.” Grunting loudly before I claw at my skull trim head. This was way too much for me to process right now. I needed air.

Hadrian:

Malachi wasn’t saying anything. He was just looking at me with a kind of miserable anger, and I wondered what the fuck I’d done now. Until I heard Zsadist. He stopped in front of me, forcing my gaze to his, and then the words were falling out of his mouth and I felt the world narrow into a pinpoint of time and space and light. 

Bonded… We’d… bonded… 

The world spun. I teetered on the spot, but before Zsadist could reach for me I’d darted backward, toward the door. It didn’t matter though, where I went. I was an animal to call again. 

“Oh god… oh god…” I was breathing harder, starting to pant as my eyes went back to Zsadist. “...I don’t… how… how did this…”

I couldn’t get the words out. There was too much in the way. Fear. Anxiety. Misery. Amos’ face flashed through my mind and my stomach roiled. I held up a hand to keep the other two at bay - I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone touching me right now.

Malachi:

Fuck.

Fuuuuuuuuuuck. He was here. He’d appeared at the door. Bewildered and curious but still here. So whatever Zsadist had done to ‘call’ him had worked. And I’d had no words. I’d have given a lot of things to be wrong about this, car and hunting weapons included. I didn’t want Z metaphysically bound to some furball that’d follow us the rest of our mated lives. I didn’t want to /share/ Zsadist, as selfish as that sounded.

So I said nothing as Z looked to me and tried to explain. I said nothing as I watched the Shifter absorb the news like a blow, staggering away from us. But as his panic eclipsed everything else, my own anger and despair was shunted to one side. Because I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t wanted this; Hadrian’s anxiety attack was proving that much.

“Hey.”

I reached out, not with my hands or even my wings, but with the divine energy I’d used to hold his soul to this plane. That energy carefully coiled around him, like a pressure blanket, to calm his racing heart and panting breath. And when he looked to me, I let out a long, shaky breath, then shook my head.

“Breathe, Hadrian. Remember who it is. It’s /Zsadist/. He saved you. Fought for you. Even if there is a… bond… between you, Zsadist is not Amos. You are safe with him. Right?”

I wanted him to think about the situation, think about Z. His panic was overriding the logic, and it was a fair reaction, but the circumstances were different. Z would never take the will of another person away from them. For half his life he’d been enslaved.

And it didn’t help that I was angry. Because that anger had nowhere to go. It wasn’t Hadrian’s fault, or Zsadist’s, and shit, it wasn’t even mine. If it had been I could’ve seen my way into flying into the side of the manse as punishment. But this was just… reality. Somehow, fates or the Scribe Virgin or even the fucking Creator had decided that this panwere was going to be a fixture in our lives, whether I liked it or not. And I had no one, nothing, to vent that rage upon.

Zsadist:

It was painful to watch Hadrian have an anxiety attack in front of me. I could feel his pain as if it was my own. Deep down there was a need to protect him, to make sure he was okay and not hurting. My brows draw in as the shifter holds up a hand, warning us to not come any closer. Which was hard for even me who really didn’t like contact.  

Before I can speak, Mal does, and I was shocked at what he had to say. I knew he didn’t like Hadrian that much, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see the poor guy suffer. With a steady breath I take a cautious step forward. I felt this need to apologize to the shifter. To let him know that I had no intention of making him feel owned.

“Hadrian…” My voice came out rougher than I meant it to be. Clearing my throat as I continue. “I’m...I didn’t…” Closing my eyes as I try to think of the right words. Fuck, I was awful at this. 

“I’m sorry that this happened, and I don’t want you to feel trapped. I spent almost my entire life feeling closed off in this caged, owned by someone else.” Trying not to let my thoughts shift to the Mistress who held me captive all those years ago. 

“I promise...that I will figure something out, to make this better.” My eyes stay trained on the shifter. Suddenly using the same energy I used before to think about him, focusing on Hadrian as I sent warm thoughts his way. I wasn’t sure how this worked or what he could feel from me but I had to try. So I simply expressed in my head how much I cared for him, wondering if he could hear that thought. If he knew that he was an important person in my life, and that I wished him no harm. 

Hadrian:

First it was the angel, his eyes that weird, pure white that Lassiter wore as a constant, looking at me and talking sense. Well, at first it sounded like horse shit, but as I took a breath and felt the warmth of his presence, as I had the night he’d held onto me when Amos died, I gradually heard his words.

Then Zsadist took a step toward me, and I felt it now. Maybe because I was reaching for it - blindly groping in my subconscious and amongst my Beasts for that link. But it was there, my leopard lifting its head and watching me fumble as I found it. Of course that one had reached for him. Clung to him. The leopard loved Z. Through that affection, that bond, I felt his anguish now that he was bound to me. That he had dominion over someone - a thing he abhorred maybe more than I did. 

As his pain and misery engulfed me, my shoulders slumped. A new, quiet misery. Yet beneath it all, I felt his resolve - that no matter what, he’d make this right. Make sure I was alright. That warmth slowly ate away at the chill in my bones, until I shook myself and straightened, sighing and managing a nod of my head.

“How… how did this happen?” I manage finally, looking up between them. “I… didn’t even think it was possible. It’s my leopard,” I add, glancing to Z. “He loves you. He… he’s your animal to call.”

Malachi:

As Hadrian calmed, finally permitting Zsadist to move closer, I stepped back and withdrew my own energy. I could see it now, like a faint golden thread stretched between them. It wasn’t like the vicious metaphysical bond I’d seen between Hadrian and Amos, so that was something, but the link was still there.

And so was my fear. My mate, mine male’s life force, was now bound to someone that wasn’t me. My back spasmed with the need to summon my wings and take to the air, but I forced myself to stay put. I needed space. I needed to scream my frustration at the sky and hurl curses at an uncaring Creator. 

“It’s possible that when the ties to your soul were severed, and you lingered at the edge of limbo, your beast might have reached for someone or something familiar.” I gestured almost helplessly toward Zsadist, taking a step back toward the balcony. “Which could explain how you survived at all.”

Turning, I pushed open the balcony doors and took a deep breath of the night air. Dawn was only a few hours away, and that raging part of me wished I could launch off and fly for the sun, until my wings hurt too much to fly and I was so exhausted it didn’t matter.

“I guess the good thing is that nothing has to change right now,” I heard myself say. “You live on the grounds, so you’re safe here, and Zsadist is not about to call on you for anything. You won’t ‘serve’ him,” I muttered, staring into the distance. “You both just need to… figure out the strength of this tie.”

Zsadist:

My eyes stayed on Hadrian, even when I felt Mal move behind me to open up the doors that lead to the balcony. He needed space right now and I needed to respect that. I also wanted to make sure Hadrian was okay. 

My golden eyes shined bright as I heard how his leopard felt about me. He loved me. Love. That had to sting for my male. I mean, I know it was a different love. Not like the love I shared for my mate, but more so one you’d share with a family member. Deep down I knew I had love for the shifter just like the way I loved each of my Brothers.

“We...will figure this out. I promise you.” My words reached the male, forcing his eyes to lift to my own. “Remember when I promised you that everything would be okay, I didn’t break that, and I’m not going to break this one.

“Your leopard helped me…” Peering over my shoulder to gaze at Mal’s back before focusing back on Hadrian. “When I felt so lost before everything changed in my life and I broke down, he was there. I can understand why he loves me, cause I care for that big cat too.” I admit as a hand scrubs over my nape. “So just have some faith in me. You are a part of this family Hadrian, and I am so grateful to have met you. I couldn’t imagine not having you in my life.”

Dropping my head as I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. In this moment I had this weird pull that wanted me to go to Hadrian, and then another that had me running towards Mal. Fuck. This was going to be a challenge, but then again my whole life has been a struggle. 

Hadrian:

Taking a deep breath, I moved closer to Zsadist, until I could lift a hand and place it on his shoulder. My insides were still twisting and squirming as I settled with the fact I was still, somehow, an animal to call, but of all the vampires in all the world… I was grateful that it was Zsadist. 

After healing from Amos and being invited to stay at the manse, I’d settled into a routine with the Brotherhood that I hadn’t had in a long time. A new kind of family that didn’t care that I was furred once a month. Zsadist and the others were important to me, and while I hadn’t banked on being linked to him for the rest of our lives, he was still someone I could trust. Someone I loved.

Looking past Z to the balcony doors, I took in the hunched shoulders of the angel there and felt a fresh pang of guilt. They were newly mated, and he’d just learned that their relationship came with an add on. Like a side dish nobody wanted in a restaurant well past its prime. I squeezed Z’s shoulder.

“We’ll figure it out. You… you guys should talk or somethin. N’ later you could both come by the cabin,” I add, looking away. I extended the invitation to the angel by default now - we didn’t get along but shit… we were going to have to try I guess. “I… I’m gonna go. I need a minute to myself,” I add quietly, by way of explanation.

Giving his shoulder one last squeeze, I dropped my hand and padded out the door.

Malachi:

I let them talk, more because I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention or be involved. God how I’d wanted to be wrong… 

The door closed, and despite not being bonded to him, I knew the shifter had left. Maybe I’d have to thank him later. With him out of the room though, my wings didn’t hesitate to appear, the weight reassuring at my back as I faced out into the night and clutched the railing until my knuckles turned white. 

“I need to fly.”

I said it aloud because even as I raged I didn’t want Zsadist to think I was leaving him. But our mated bedroom felt too small for all my impotent wrath. My whole body thrummed with tension and frustration and I didn’t want to inflict it on mine male. It wasn’t his fault.

Zsadist:

My eyes locked on the shifter’s as he finally made contact with me. I was relieved that he was feeling somewhat better. There was color in his face, and he seemed more relaxed. Somewhere deep down I wondered how his leopard felt. Did they have some need to be at my side? I mean fuck, how the hell would rotation be with a bond. Would it help us or cause conflict? 

Though I found myself nodding at every word he spoke, only lifting a hand when he retreated back to the cabin. As I turned to gaze at Mal his words hit me. He wanted to fly. Correction, he wanted to fly the fuck out of here. Which I understood, but deep down made me feel alone. I spent years of being alone with my thoughts, and for the first time in my entire life, I didn’t want to be alone. 

“Can I come?” I blurt out.

I didn’t know if it was even possible for him to carry my weight in the sky. Don’t get me wrong, Mal was strong and very muscular, but that doesn’t mean it would be easy for him to then fly me around. Shit, he probably thought I was stupid for asking. 

“Or not. Actually...that was dumb of me.” Scrubs a hand over my scarred face. “I can just...go back to my book and you can get some air if you’d like.” Turning away as I try not to curse at myself. Why did I have to be so socially awkward? 

Mal:

The question made me pause, and I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder, past the curve of my wing. He looked dejected, guilt sparking through me at the idea I was causing it. Turning from the balcony, I moved to stand before him, lifting one hand to cup his cheek as I stared into golden eyes.

“I am working on my wing strength. Soon, I hope to fly with you. But not tonight. Tonight I am /angry/, Nallum,” I whispered. “I��m angry and I’m upset and I need to burn that off.”

I paused and sucked in a shaky breath, my eyes closing as I simply breathed in his scent. 

“...I mated you. You are /mine/,” I whispered fiercely. “And now I learn I must share you, for the rest of our lives, with someone else.” My throat felt tight as I tried to swallow. “How would you feel if it were I, linked and bonded to someone else? If you had to share me?”

I dropped my hand and moved as if to step back. 

“And I know it’s not your fault. It’s not his either. I’m just… angry.”

Zsadist:

Leaning into my male’s touch feeling all these emotions bubble to the surface. I haven’t shed a tear since...well probably my time as a slave, but right now in this moment I felt like letting one escape. I couldn’t even imagine my male being bonded to anyone besides me. Just the thought of it made me want to scream at the top of my lungs. 

Fuck.

Swallowing the lump in my throat. “I…” My voice shook, I couldn’t even get the words out. Then again, I don’t think I needed to answer. He knew. He knew that I would fucking hate it. So instead I just stand there and do my best to breathe easy. But how was I going to if the only thing that kept me grounded was about to fly right out the window?

“I understand.” 

I finally let out, accepting the fact that he was going to leave to get some air at any moment. Reading a book was out of the question right now, and quite frankly I didn’t have the energy to go run on the treadmill. So instead, I moved to sit on our mated bed. 

My hand reached up to clasp at the feather that dangled from my neck. The feather that Mal had given me not even a week ago when we had gotten mated. We would be okay. I knew that, but I also knew that things just changed. And even though both Mal and I knew this wasn’t my fault, deep down I felt like it was. 

But I didn’t regret meeting the shifter. He opened me up as a person and honestly without him and his leopard that night, I probably would have never opened up to Mal. I wish I could somehow express that to my male, but now was not the time. With a heavy sigh I lowered my head, just waiting in silence for those wings of his to take off into the night. 

Malachi:

Watching Zsadist move to the bed, sit and cradle my pendant, cracked at my wrath. The wind beckoned, but I couldn’t leave him like that. Striding across the room, I gently cradled his cheeks in my hands before crushing our lips together. The kiss probably tasted of my anger, but it was also shot through with my love.

Breaking the kiss, I stared into the burning gold of his eyes and felt all over again that fierce, overwhelming love. This male was mine, and it didn’t matter if the Creator threw a god damn fucking semi at us, I’d brace and endure it. 

“You’re /mine/,” I whispered fiercely, my thumbs stroking over his cheeks. “N’ this does not change that. Let me fly a while. Let me burn it out and rage at that fuck of a God that ignores me. N’ when I’m done I’m coming home to you,” I declared. “Because nothing in this life will take you from me. N’ nothing will come between us.”

Another kiss, this one like a vow to reaffirm my words, and then I was flaring my wings wide and beating them hard. I needed the whistle of the wind and the scream of my muscles. And when my body and my rage was exhausted, I would land here, in the shelter of his arms, and wrap those wings around him.

Because he was mine.