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novamirmirsblog · 3 years ago

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I am not a woman, I'm a God (17+)

If I can't have love I want power pt 2

If I can't have love masterlist

Word Count: 1640

Genre: dark I guess?

Request: no

Warnings: none? (atm anyways)

A/N: I'm not too happy with this chapter so it's subject to change BUT the next couple chapters should pick things up a little :3 OH and the next chapter might contain smut (Idk yet - I'll try to edit this when I've written the next chapter)

1737 - The middle

The revenge was sweet and drawn out. The redhead and her long-time friend had made sure of that. They let you finish the duke off but not before they had their fun. The two women were gorgeous, both with red hair that would make any woman jealous. The green-eyed woman had hair like a wildfire and the blue-eyed woman had hair the colour of a deep red sunset. Liking women was wrong but you weren’t sure these two counted as women – they certainly weren’t human. Wanda, the one with sunset hair, tortured your husband mentally, angry whisps the same colour as Natasha’s hair crawled in through his ears and buried themselves deep within his brain. While this was happening, Natasha was peeling layer after layer of skin off him with her razor-sharp nails. You weren’t sure if you could even call them nails – not when they looked so much more like claws. While Wanda was exploiting your husband’s deepest darkest fears, Natasha was calmly explaining to you which tools to use where so you could cause the most pain. Apparently pain and torture was an aphrodisiac for them because the two demons decided to show you what you had been missing out on due to your husband’s lack of skill.

That was almost 200 years ago. Wanda and Natasha had given you great gifts, allowing you to have a much longer life, giving you cat-like reflexes and godlike powers. Perhaps your favourite was the enhancements they gave to your voice. People were suddenly compelled to do whatever you suggested they do and the rush it gave you was unexplainable. These gifts were not free however and yet the price was one you willingly paid repeatedly. Especially because it meant spending extra time with your two favourite demons. You were there to cause chaos and have fun which was ironic considering Wanda was a chaos demon and Natasha was a succubus but perhaps that’s why you did what you did. Perhaps it was because you were made by them and therefore must serve them in every way imaginable.

~~~~~

You had watched your siblings grow from afar and made sure every single villager who ever even looked at them wrong suffered. When you were with Wanda and Natasha, it felt as if everything just fit into place. It was strange and you felt as if you shouldn’t miss them – they killed and tortured your husband in front of you, gave you gifts that meant you couldn’t live a normal life and coerced you into sex that you weren’t sure you wanted; yet you still wanted them.

Your story was told countless times and the more times it was told, the deeper the truth was twisted into a legend, a tale mothers told their children to keep them away from the forests late at night. You were turned into a martyr, a victim of the horrible cruelties the evil creatures of the world could bestow onto innocent girls.

You were anything but.

If the storytellers could see you now, they would burn all mentions of your story. You were a problem child, a bad example and you had two of the most powerful demons wrapped around your little finger.

A few years ago, you had mentioned to Natasha and Wanda one evening that you were bored. That’s how you found yourself currently being shot at.

“Natty I’m bored.” You whined, throwing yourself dramatically over the bed. History was going through a dry spell; people weren’t doing anything interesting and there weren’t enough opportunities for you to wreak havoc.

“Natty” Wanda mocked “Our princess is bored.”

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we?” Natasha moved to hover over you, Wanda placed your head in her lap. Natasha’s tail flicked with a cat-like manner before it slithered between your legs.

You grabbed her tail and she let out a moan “Not now Natasha. I’m serious. If I knew living forever was going to be this boring, then I wouldn’t have done it.” That wasn’t quite true, you enjoyed being theirs to use but you were getting restless.

Natasha rolled her eyes, leaning up to kiss Wanda instead. You waited a few moments for the two demons to stop their make-out session, but it didn’t look to be ending any time soon. You rolled out from underneath Natasha and untangled Wanda’s fingers from where she was massaging your scalp.

“Awe come back baby.” Wanda broke the kiss and made grabby arms at you. For a supposed demon, she sure was soft. “I promise we’ll make things more fun.”

Natasha rolled her eyes again “You’ve gone soft Wands.” Although Natasha huffed and puffed about how ‘soft’ Wanda had gotten, she seemed to have a slightly less hardened heart when she looked at you.

You were no longer bored but you were being shot at and while it couldn’t kill you, it sure did sting. Perhaps going after Dick Turpin’s loot was a bad idea but what can you say? You wanted to live a little. All you had wanted was a pretty horse you had seen him steal but nooo – he had to keep them all for himself. You had managed to escape Mr Turpin himself but one of his lackeys just wouldn’t give up. Rather than continuing to run, you decided you may as well get a quick meal.

“Hello darling.” Your voice echoed from all around, you watched as the man trying to kill you frantically whipped his head around.

“Who are you? Come out now!”

You let out a low, predatory chuckle.

“I’m the poor little martyr in all your stories.”

“No. You can’t be- that’s impossible! You should be dead!” You watched as the man continued to spin around and around in circles, watching him trip before revealing yourself.

“I am ancient. I have seen empires rise and fall. I have seen kings and queens and holy men enter the world and I have seen them leave; and yet I am nowhere near as old or as powerful as the women who made me the person I am today. While I watched preestablished civilisations crumble, they were reminiscing the time they created them, all while burning them to the ground. Some call me the end but they are mistaken. They are the end. I am your warning. I am the only kindness they will show you. Trivial things such as death do not concern me.” As you finished your speech, Natasha and Wanda’s comforting aura surrounded you, the dark mist embracing you before forming the two women.

“Couldn’t let you have all the fun now could we dove?” Natasha’s voice rumbled out against your neck, biting it lightly.

“You have to share.” Wanda cooed, lifting your chin up to face her as she captured your lips with hers.

The idiot who you were about to kill and feed on decided now was a good time to make their escape. Luckily, Wanda had other plans as her red magic bought the squirming meal back to you.

“Go away. I want to eat. It’s been so long.” You pouted, making your way back to your meal. It was a little annoying that to continue living in your young body that you had to drain the soul from another person, but it was worth it.

“But if we leave then who’s going to do all the heavy lifting?”

“And who will dig the hole in your garden?”

“Or put the body in the hole?”

“Or-”

“Okay! I get it. Fine. But just hush, okay? I like to eat in peace.” You grabbed the man and kissed him hard, feeling his soul merge with yours before it was consumed by the darkness.

“I don’t know why you always have to kiss them to feed” Natasha bit out, moving away from you with Wanda, voicing her unhappiness at you kissing someone else when only she should be kissing you- her and maybe Wanda.

“Well, it wasn’t me who made her feed that way.” Wanda whispered back

“Are you suggesting this is my fault?” Natasha’s voice got low and dangerous, and you felt the forest drop about 10 degrees.

“Well that’s how you feed isn’t it?” Wanda’s eyes glowed and a wind picked up.

You pulled away from your meal, the faint glow of his soul swirling around your mouth and eyes. “Want to share?” The forest rose back to its original temperature and climate as Natasha kissed you, absorbing small remnants of the soul. Wanda wrapped one arm around your waist while the other snaked up to your neck, her teeth lightly biting and sucking along your shoulders.

“I think you forget dove” Natasha broke the kiss to growl at you

“We’re in charge here. If we wanted to share, then we would share.” Wanda finished off for her.

It dawned on you that perhaps this was about more than just the meal. They were jealous.

“Are you two jealous?” You laughed, not at the situation but at their reactions. Wanda bit you harder and Natasha just glared at you.

“Of course not. Why would we be jealous of some silly insignificant dum-”

“Baby…” You reached up and placed one hand lightly on Wanda’s horn and the other on Natasha’s cheek, effectively stopping Natasha’s rant about how unjealous they are. Wanda moved from where she was standing behind you to stand next to Natasha. “You both know that if I could live off Demon energy then I would, but I can’t.”

Natasha and Wanda shared a look, having a silent conversation in the space of seconds before turning their attention back to you. “That’s not necessarily true love.” Wanda said.

“It will be painful but…well demons aren’t born. They’re made.” Natasha explained.

“And if you wanted to…”

You didn’t even hesitate before giving your answer. “Yes.”

Taglist:

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klbwriting · 3 years ago

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Unexpected Allies - Chapter 7

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader - its almost here you guys, getting so close

Summary: after a confrontation with the Darkling a discussion needs to happen

Note: so I went ahead and put in the first of four songs that inspired this fic. ‘Summertime’ by My Chemical Romance, give it a listen if you haven’t it is a masterpiece

Tags: @mcntsee

Kaz had never seen the Darkling before and he was surprised now that the man who had created the fold, lived for hundreds of years, barely looked a day over 25. He glanced over at Jesper and Y/N, watching her get down from the horse and start walking towards the Darkling. He panicked for a moment, getting off his own horse and handing the reins to Jesper. He pulled out his cane, not sure what he could do with it against a man who was considered the most powerful Grisha in existence, but he would go down fighting to protect Y/N.

“What were you thinking Y/N? Running off with these two?” Aleksander asked, motioning a dismissive hand to the Dregs. Kaz glared. He looked to Y/N and saw her looking at him. When their eyes met she shook her head and he knew what she meant. Now that she had spilled her secrets to him he could see more in her eyes. She wasn’t hiding herself from him anymore and right now she was clearly telling him to not start a fight, that she didn’t want to have to take on the Darkling now.

“Aleksander, I couldn’t stay anymore in your shadow. Not when we both know that with the parem I would be more powerful than you. I want your throne,” she said, lying through her teeth. Kaz could see the obvious falsehood there, but apparently the Darkling didn’t know her as much as he thought.

“Is that why you stole it? The only useable vial of parem we had?” he asked. Kaz froze. So she hadn’t told him everything. He looked over at her and watched her as she stared at Aleksander.

“I couldn’t let you have it, not why I needed it,” she said. “Leave now or I will use it. I’ve already taken it.” She was lying, Kaz had seen first hand when parem did to Grisha, there was no one she had taken it before they left. He just hoped the Darkling believed her lie. Aleksander scowled.

“So this is it, another betrayal by a trusted friend? Well, you may have taken the parem but your friends haven’t,” he said, gearing up to perform the cut against Kaz.

“No!” Y/N screamed, reaching out with both hands and closing her fists. Aleksander stopped, falling to his knees and groaning in pain.

“What…is this…how…” he stammered out as she constricted his airwaves and his heart. Kaz looked at her, seeing the desperation in her eyes, but he also saw the vengeance beneath it. She wanted to kill the Darkling, make him suffer for everything he’d taken from her and for a minute Kaz was going to let her do it. Then he remembered the look on her face when she talked about how many died at her hand, how much the pain wrecked her. Aleksander had once been her friend, could she really handle killing another friend and not break entirely. Kaz didn’t want to find out.

“ Y/N!” he yelled, running over to her. “Stop, send him away, as far as your winds can take him, but don’t kill him. You’ll lose yourself more if you do.” What was he saying? Kaz Brekker didn’t care who got hurt. Saints or whoever, damn this woman for what she was doing to him.

Once the Darkling was unconscious Y/N finally stopped. Kaz was right, she couldn’t kill more people she once cared about, it would take another piece of her soul and she didn’t know how much was left at this point. She mustered up all the Squallor ability she could and sent Aleksander away, making sure that the wind would set him down softly. When he was gone she turned to the other two. Kaz looked relieved and Jesper was shocked.

“How can you do you more than one thing?” he asked. “Did the parem really do that to you?”

“I lied about the parem, I didn’t drink it. I took the vial, and I smashed it right after we left the prison. No one is taking the parem as long as we keep Kuwei away from the Second Army. I’ve always been able to do multiple Grisha skills, but my Inferni skills were the strongest so I chose to train in that and hide the rest,” she explained. Jesper nodded and smiled.

“Well, looks like we have a valuable weapon in our midst,” he said. Y/N rolled her eyes, hating that she was once again being relegated to a tool for these guys.

“No,” Kaz said softly. “She’s not a weapon, she’s our friend and we need to get her to the resistance and help them.” Y/N couldn’t hide her surprise at him. She was sure once he knew that she had kept one last secret from him he would be furious, instead he was planning to help them. She knew it could have been a lie, something to get them moving again, get her out of their hair quicker, but it didn’t seem like it.

“Kaz can I talk to you alone for a minute?” she asked, needing to sort out some things with him before she kept going. He looked aggravated at the delay but nodded. Jesper took his cue and walked the horses to a nearby stream to drink. “Look we have to at least address some part of this, whatever this is.” She motioned between them and he scowled. She knew he didn’t want to talk about it, but she had to make him. They at least needed to establish some form of trust between them, something solid that they could stand and fight together one. In Ketterdam Kaz and his group fought together as Dregs, but Y/N wasn’t one of them, she needed to establish something else with Kaz to make this work.

“What do you want me to say? I said you were our friend,” he snapped, not looking her in the eye. Y/N sighed, looking at the ground.

“Alright we are friends. But you know there’s more to it, I know you feel it,” she said.

Kaz hated all of this right now. This whole conversation was making him want to leave her here and just travel on without her. He would get his crew and get the hell out of Ravka, let her face the Darkling on her own. Dammit he knew he couldn’t do that. This woman made him soft for her and he wanted to rage against it, but what use was it?

“Why in the hell would you want anything more with a crippled bastard anyway?” he asked, feeling his self-loathing seeping from his pores. He could keep up his façade in front of anyone, pretend to be more than he was, criminal mastermind, leader of the Dregs, the Bastard of the Barrel, but for some reason she broke down that defense and here he was that sad boy that lost his brother and was still searching for a way to be whole again. He saw her reach a hand out before stopping and clenching her fist.

“Kaz Brekker, you are single handedly the most amazing man I have ever met. Capable of the most intense torture yet still willing to dance with me, you don’t let anything stop you from getting what you want. You sir, are a criminal king in a blood soaked crown and personally I have never wanted to be anything more than a queen standing next to you,” she said. Kaz looked at her seeing that her face was flushed red, embarrassed to have gotten so honest with him. He quirked his mouth into a smirk and she groaned. “Dammit, why can I never just keep my mouth shut around you.”

“O please don’t, I love to hear you heaping praise on me. I like that bit about the crown,” he said, smirking more. She glared at him and folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a queen, not in the way you would want me to be…”

“Kaz I want you exactly the way you are. Whoever you want to be I will want you,” she said. He could hear that she meant it. He didn’t have to fix himself or be more than he was with her. “You could never touch me again and I will be fine, you never have to smile if you don’t want. I’ve felt your hand and seen your smile and I will keep that memory fresh in my mind forever.”

“I had my gloves on when I touched you,” he said softly. She smiled at him.

“I’m alright with that. I’m alright with you.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for a queen still, but as soon as I am you’re the first person I’m going to find,” he said. He meant it, his heart was making a room for her to live there and once it was ready he would get a bloody crown to match his and give it to her. He lifted up his gloved hand and put it against her lips. “I promise.” He felt her lips kiss his gloved finger and pulled away. He took a deep breath, surprised that nothing had happened, no images of death or feelings of disgust. She kissed his finger and he had just walked away to get Jesper and the horses.

As evening fell they decided to make camp near a stream. The group filled their canteens and built a small fire, eating some rations and donning their coats as the weather was starting to get colder as they moved further north. Y/N built a small item out of her vest pocket and focused. Soon her guitar was in her lap and she was strumming it.

“How did you do that?” Jesper asked as he took a seat next to her. Kaz sat down on the other side of her, giving Jesper a look that said not to get too close. Y/N almost laughed. He had been jealous the whole ride here, clearly wanting to hit Jesper with his cane again. She knew it must irk him that others could get so close to her and he couldn’t. She hoped the smile she gave him, one he almost returned, made him feel better.

“I just focus on the material and will to be smaller or bigger, I’m not sure how it works honestly,” she said, strumming a little.

“You going to play us something?” Jesper asked. Y/N thought for a minute, trying to pull a song out of her head that they might know, but she couldn’t think of one. Then she got an idea.

“I wrote a song a little while back, something I used to sing with Alina when I would visit her followers to give them messages,” she said. I think it applies now, to all of us.” She started the cords, stumbling at first as she tried to remember the exact notes she played before. Once it came back she found a good rhythm.

“When the lights go out, will you take me with you And carry all this broken bone Through six years down in crowded rooms And highways I call home?”

She could see Kaz listening intently, leaning forward to see her fingers move and hear her voice more. She wasn’t a master singer she knew but no one had ever complained about her voice and seeing the look on his face she knew he liked it. Jesper bopped his head to the music she made and she smiled at him before looking back at Kaz as she sang.

“If you stay, I would even wait all night Or until my heart explodes How long until we find our way In the dark and out of harm? You can run away with me Anytime you want”

She finished the song and found that Jesper had laid down during the singing and was fast asleep. She chuckled and shrunk her guitar, putting it back in her pocket. She moved to put out the fire when Kaz waved his hand at her.

“Not yet,” he said softly, looking at her. She nodded and moved to cover up Jesper before laying down herself, watching Kaz in the firelight. His features were more pronounced like this, his edges sharp, eyes deep with depths she had just barely began to swim in. She knew she shouldn’t take his words to heart, that she didn’t fully know that he could be believed. He was an excellent liar, had duped almost everyone he had ever met, but she wanted to believe him so she did. She would live this lie with him for as long as he let her. Let him destroy her, she would die with a smile on her face.

“I love you Kaz Brekker” she whispered softly, not caring if he heard her. He didn’t move so she assumed he hadn’t and she rolled over to fall asleep.

Kaz watched the fire and heard ever word she whispered to him. He felt the last piece of resistance waver and flee from his heart. He heard her breathing steady beside him and knew she was asleep. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder, testing again to see if the revulsion arose. When it didn’t, he actually smiled.

“I love you too Y/N.”

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kkeidawrites · 4 years ago

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Castlevania spoilers!!!! If you don’t want to know how the show ends in season 4 please refrain from reading the rest of this post because I’m not holding back! Also I’m writing this as I watched so, this is my raw review!

Okay, so first off I want to say personally, I loved how season 4 brought heat to the finale of the show. Although I’m sad as hell that this is the last season for a great show.

Episode 1: Murder Wakes It Up- I thought that it was cool to see Trevor and Sypha fighting again after what happened in S3, obviously they are tired from the long four week journey of fighting night creatures, skeleton zombies, vampires from different countries, etc. but clearly the end game is that humans and vampires alike are working together to bring back Dracula. Like seriously, y’all might not know this but I hate, HATE when children become involved in stupid shit like human sacrifices like I can’t. Not the children. Please, not the babies. Sypha complaining she’s becoming like Trevor, and she’s so cute when she curses lol. Then when they arrive in Targoviste we have some new faces as potential enemies. I thought they were lame honestly lol I couldn’t take Barney-Larney whatever his dumbass was; he was mad annoying.

Then they shift over to Alucard…I have never seen a more broken beautiful drunk man in all my life. Like I had S3 flashbacks. He’s asked for help from a messenger who ended up dying on the way to the castle but his horse made sure he continued the journey and Alucard received the message for help in Danesti. Alucard fights with the horse, I thought that was funny. He was thoughtful enough to bury the rider, that was very sweet of him.

Also, shirtless Alucard will be engraved in my mind for life. Whew, chile that’s one fine man. He’s beginning to talk like Belmont and I can’t help how hilarious that is.

Episode 2: Having the World: Quite honestly this episode to me was meh. Hector talking with Lenore about how he needs this and that to create his hammer to continue forgemastering then Lenore talks with Carmilla and the white haired bat talks about how she is going to rule the world and what not, clearly losing her sanity.

Then it shifts over to Trevor and Sypha and they are fighting in a barn and new character Zamfir. Her character for me was also meh, but it’s nice to see more PoC in the show.

Episode 3: Walk Away: I liked this episode a lot. Issac altogether was nice enough to sit down and talk with a night creature and tell him/them that they were free of their original program, which was: eating humans, causing destruction, used as tools to forge masters. But man when he received that berry from Issac he realized that there is still some kind of humanity in them.

Issac is contacted by Varney to bring back Dracula but, Issac wants no business with that; he doing his own thing and seeing him being sassy again is so refreshing.

Morana and Striga scenes!!! I loved them, and then there was Striga’s day armor, man listen…I have never felt more closer to watching Berserk again than in that moment. They are hesitant to return back to Styria when Carmilla calls them, and it puts them in a bind to return home to continue through with Carmilla’s plans.

Sypha being annoyed by Zamfir was me the entire time. How you gone run a kingdom again with out a kingdom. Like girl, help the people instead of the royals, my god.

Episode 4: You Must Sacrifice: A cute little Trevor and Sypha scene. They decide to investigate Targoviste more before helping Zamfir. The scene shifts and Alucard is riding towards Danesti, donning a shield and a longer cape. Monsters are attacking the walls of the village, villagers are on the other side waiting to defend themselves. Some Castlevania popular screenshots appear here.

Then we meet Greta…Miss thang…that’s one beautiful woman okay. And she’s the chief of the village, cares for her people? Y’all I present. Her. And the fact that she is sassy too? I rock with her heavy as hell.

Saint Germain meets Alucard and I have a weird vibe coming from him. We see Saint Germain’s backstory or what little it will show us; he had a whole girlfriend, she a baddie too. Apparently she was like him? And she was the silhouette we saw in S3. Cool scene, inside the Infinite Corridor and I liked the library scene a lot too. Now he’s on a rampage trying to find access to the Infinite Corridor again to find his girl and he also wants to bring back Dracula? The fuck?

Refugees arrive at Danesti, and Saint Germain is acting very strange indeed. Like he’s desperate to go to the castle to help with the village “defenses”. Alucard agrees I guess? And he says another Belmont comment which I was happy to see again in the season.

Episode 5: Back in the World: Alucard leads Greta, Saint Germain and the villagers to his castle but, encounter a couple of night creatures on the way. Greta does Saint Germain y’all and I’m with her 100%. Alucard’s powers have definitely improved from last season. It was kind of interesting how Alucard willing told Greta what happened with him and you know who, kind of early in my opinion. Greta is bisexual?!!!! I love her 1000% now! I sense some chemistry between Greta and Alucard. I like that a lot.

Lenore really like annoys my soul, I do not like this mini bitch. I didn’t really care what Lenore and Hector talked about🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️sue me. Bruh Greta, beating that monster’s ass with just a hammer and a sword?! And Alucard impressed by it?! I’m here for it!! Some cute moments between Alucard and Greta got me gushing over here😝😝. Poor puppy😢😢. Alucard decides to “grow up” which I think is a nice step forward. Saint Germain is really making me mad.

They arrive at the castle and here goes Saint Germain acting like a fan boy, I mean who wouldn’t but you know…Greta killed me when she said the castle was ugly as hell lol. Another little cutesy scene between Alucard and Greta. Like I really like their chemistry y’all I’m sorry.

Trevor and Sypha demand that Zamfir take responsibility to help the people and I forgot what it was called but, before that they are attacked and Zamfir has something placed on her neck by a night creature.

Then Issac, he’s ready to fuck some shit up. And I’m here for it. Get em, bitch!

Episode 6: You Don’t Deserve My Blood: Carmilla’s castle is attacked by Issac’s night creatures. Lenore old punk ass running away does not surprise me in the slightest. Hector betrays Lenore and locks her in a cage. Hector has contact with Saint Germain like what? I don’t understand but, Issac comes in and it looks like Hector has given up, wanting to die honestly. Issac decides against killing him and Hector asks for his knife. This boy cuts his ring finger that the Lenore placed the ring, in front of her. That scene was meh, I thought he would get pissed at her for what she’s done to him in S3 but, I guess not.

Issac literally stole this episode, from his fight with the vampires and night creatures to Carmilla that shit was -chef’s kiss- magnifico! I loved the animation the fight scenes, yooo I was hyped the whole episode.

Morana and Striga make their decision to go their own way, living their own lives in the west so, bittersweet ending with them, I wanted to actually Striga fight the main trio but, whatever I guess.

Hector still has plans to bring back Dracula and asks Issac if he’s doing the same. Issac has other plans obviously, and tells Hector that they need to find their path in their lives. I feel Hector never knew where he was supposed to be placed in the world but Issacs words are very inspiring in my opinion. May have woke Hector’s dumbass up a bit.

Episode 7: The Great Work: Varney and the other guy, I really forgot his name found out about the catacombs and head there. Trevor and Sypha demand Zamfir take them underground, which to me I think it’s nothing there but her shit. Sypha gets mad at Zamfir and I’m with her, how you part of the royal guard when the people above need your help girl my god.

The cutest scene ever in this episode, was when the kids from Danesti wanting to play with Alucard and this boy jumps off the highest part of the castle just to show off. There should be more scenes of soft Alucard with children. Saint Germain is placing these weird stones it looks like in the castle walls. What is going on with him?

More Alucard and Greta moments please and thank you. The artwork in the castle is fucking phenomenal work. Saint Germain just gave the location to a vampire it looks like, from episode 4 maybe? He looks familiar.

There is a freaking army coming to the castle…lord Jesus. Like can they catch a break please? The kids just got settled.

Trevor and Sypha go to the catacombs and it’s just as bad as the people above grounds. New weapon acquired for Trevor, pretty dope. The king and Queen are dead and Zamfir is officially insane. She really thinks that the king and Queen will come back alive and protect their people like she’s done them. Sypha tries to talk to her, that puts her in a weird daze, Trevor is just being Trevor. Varney and his lackey, come to the catacombs looking to kill I really do not know that man’s name y’all so I apologize for not giving a damn about him lol.

The castle is about to be under siege, I’m not ready. Having a whole heart attack over here from nerves.

Episode 8: Death Magic: Varney and his partner attack the people in the catacombs, Varney is looking for a giant mirror? Why I don’t know. Poor Trevor and Sypha they are soooo tired, I feel so bad for them. Zamfir is actually not bad of a fighter, I like that. Sypha still the goat, no cap.

The castle is under attack, it’s actually nice to see how diverse the vampires are in this show, you can tell what countries their from and I think that’s dope as hell. And then every time a human dies their souls are transferred to Saint Germaine? So is this another S3 human sacrifice crap again? Omg…I’m so sick of that. Saint Germain uses the key he received from the woman in the Infinite Corridor and it creates the symbol of the corridor’s portal.

Here goes Alucard being a badass again, I never tire of him being one. Greta holding it down too is really cool, I don’t care what nobody say, she is that bitch. Her and that hammer, a force to be reckoned with.

Everyone is overwhelmed and have no choice but to evacuate to the castle, right before those doors closed Alucard nods to her to leave him out to fight and she looks at him like boy bye. Get yo ass in this castle. Greta pulling Alucard in just shows they are compatible for one another. Even the playful banter between them is cute.

The discovery of the stones in the walls leads Greta and Alucard to his childhood bedroom and they find Saint Germain where he reveals he’s opening the Infinite Corridor to bring back Dracula by using death magic. Petty Saint Germain, I do not like him bro.

They have to deal with him later though to fight off the night creatures that got into the castle. Greta still holding it down.

Trevor and the vampire guy is still fighting but, Trevor being so tired he’s slowing a bit, and honestly I don’t know how he’s still able to function at this point. Sypha shows off her powers like a G that she is and Zamfir is doing some great damage with the knives she’s got and that’s crazy how little knives can do to the body.

Did Sypha always have lightning powers? I don’t remember. If it’s new I love it! Trevor’s almost killed but a woman and child save him in time but, unfortunately Zamfir is stabbed in the stomach when the vampire moves to kill them both. I’m going to be honest I didn’t really care for Zamfir’s character she was just…there lol.

Then that scene with Sypha basically incinerating the rest of the monsters is fire!!! No pun intended lol. Varney finds the mirror and steps through it where Saint Germain is. Trevor and Sypha goes through the mirror as well but in a different location in the castle.

Episode 9: The Endings: This whole episode was literally the best of the best in any other seasons. The fight scenes, the banter, the main three…oh my God I loved it all. Noooooo, the dolls!!!!!! You bastards!!!! Trevor and Sypha’s entrance was perfect. Muah! Perfecto! The rock monsters really confused me on how they were killed but you know what who cares?

Alucard has wings?!!!!! What?!!!!!!!!! The general of the caravan have brought in the man woman thingy to Saint Germain. Death has appeared. His character design is dope af. Noooo not mom and dad!!! Nooo! Poor Alucard had to witness his parents literally in pain and of course Trevor ends it again, somehow Saint Germain redeemed himself almost?

The four vampires fighting the main trio had me running for my money. I liked the whole scene it was nice to see at least one or two vampires almost have the upper hand on the main trio.

That general vampire? His fight was wild, throwing his arm as it was about to explode and use it against Trevor was genius. And main trio…they don’t need to have a plan to fight they just work so well together that it works out in end.

Trevor vs. Death. Also was that the first time Trevor told Sypha he loved her? I can’t remember. Anyway, back to the final battle. The quality of the fight, the sheer power between both characters, and then he goes and sacrificed himself like Trevor are you deadass? You deadass died? Unacceptable. And then episode just ends.

Episode 10: It’s Been a Strange Ride: Lenore died so lame, and she was drunk as well when she died. I really won’t be missing her because she was just a character I very much disliked. Hector is finally free, little dumbass.

I wanna see what Issac is up to and Morana and Striga seems appropriate. But oh well, I hope they are happy wherever they are.

Tombstone for Trevor, it’s not real. He ain’t dead, I don’t believe that. Omg, Greta and Alucard are together?!!! Whoooooo!!! And the village kids are calling him father? Yasssssssssssss!!!!! I’m here for it. Alucard saying he’s not used to people is 100% me in public I don’t like being around a lot of people and it doesn’t help I have anxiety either. Sypha being pregnant was a given she looked a little thicker in the hips from episode one. She can’t leave…we need her. Really Castlevania creators? Y’all gone play with all our hearts? Thinking Trevor was dead and he gone pop up on a horse?

And look at this⤵️⤵️

He’s smiling, happy, soft, has a boo thang I’m….😭😭😭I’m so happy.

Y’all….all in all this was a great ending to the show…a great ending…

Oh wait…wait…wait wait wait, mom and dad are alive?!!! But how? You know what I don’t care their going to travel to England and their heart shaped embrace is everything. Oh no I’m crying again….

#castlevania #adrian tepes #Alucard #trevor belmont castlevania #castlevania spoilers #castlevania season 4 #issac castlevania #hector castlevania #sypha belnades

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tothemeadow · 4 years ago

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Serendipity [Chapter 1]

When the kingdom of Ainamoryp falls, a motley crew of unlikely allies must come together to save the country.

warnings: swearing, mentions of death, mentions of blood

words: 3.8k

(a/n): All characters range from 19-20. Reader insert, reverse harem.

Dinton Keep, Ainamoryp, May 3rd, 492, 00:43

“The king! The king is dead!”

As soon as the declaration is shouted, there’s a growl of pain, then the unceremonious thump as a body hits the ground.

All around, flames lick at the stone walls, set the sky ablaze. The inky hue of the night is abruptly ruined by a brilliant orange, the smell of burning wood and bodies drifting along with the night’s breeze. The clamoring of swords crashing against each other rings throughout the air, seemingly traveling for miles. Horrified screams and blood-thirsty growls make for a gruesome, twisted melody, one that imprints itself on the brain and promises itself its unholy stay.

Heavy pants, cloudy eyes, a desire for murder.

This is what keeps Prince Shouto pressing forward.

Flanked by two guards, the three scramble through the narrow halls – the hidden passageways hidden behind the castle walls. A mere torch is their only source of light, a pitiful flame compared to the hellstorm raging through the city’s streets. Their movements are rushed, silent; there’s no time to be discussing the finer details of the invasion when the only thing playing on their minds it escaping. Gods be damned if more royal blood be spilt on the stone, seeping through and leaving a burgundy scar.

Despite the silence cloaking them, Shouto grits his teeth, the urge to turn back and fight ever present and growing. That’s his kingdom who’s suffering, hundreds of innocent people dying, suffering. And for what? Power? Wealth? If it were up to him, he’d go back and slaughter those intruding the lands, planting their flags and proclaiming their victory.

This isn’t how things were supposed to go.

“Please, my prince, we must keep moving,” the guard in front throws over his shoulder, as if sensing Shouto’s inner turmoil. “We have to get you away immediately.”

Funny how this works, how simple guards think they can control their prince, a member of the royal family. He could easily rip them a new one, put them in their place and insist they stand their ground, but he knows they’re right. There are too many enemies, even by Shouto’s standards. Even if he stayed around and fought, there isn’t a doubt in his mind that he would be slain right there on the spot.

Up ahead, a rickety wooden door comes into view, a heavy bolt holding it shut. The metal creaks as the frontmost guard slides it loose and opens the door. Heavy smoke hangs in the air, slowly spreading towards the surrounding woods and farmlands. Shouto’s heart clenches at the sight, at the putrid odor of death, the sounds of petrified screams. Closing his eyes, he tries to calm his rapidly beating heart, the anger boiling in his blood twinging the outlines of his vision red.

He’s a complete and utter fool for abandoning those who need him most.

Still, he allows the guards to lead him to an awaiting horse, a brilliant beast the color of ivory. Swinging up and onto the saddle with graceful ease, his cloak flutters behind him.

“Go! Now!” the guard with the torch bellows, eyes latching onto a group of enemy soldiers scaling a wall. “Get out of here!”

“You’ll be killed, dammit!” Shouto proclaims, his anger finally boiling over. “I refuse to have anybody else shed their blood!”

“You’re the prince, your highness,” the guard shoots back, both he and the other one drawing their swords. “There’s a watchpoint south of here, hidden away in the woods. Get there, seek for help. The soldiers there will lead you to safety.”

“Bastards, the lot of them,” Shouto hisses, “I can stay and fight.”

“No! You must go!” Before Shouto is given a chance to say anything in return, the guard strikes the horses rear. Letting out a shrill whinny, the horse rears up, landing back down heavily and taking off at a breakneck speed.

Cursing under his breath, Shouto watches over his shoulder as the two guards confront the enemy soldiers. They soon disappear from sight, leaving only the smoldering haze and raging fires encompassing the silhouette of Shouto’s childhood home. As the castle and surrounding city grow smaller and smaller with each impounding trollop of the horse, he can’t tear his eyes away, even long after it disappears from the horizon.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Levalon, Ainamoryp, May 3rd, 492, 10:14

Easy does it now, easy does it… Don’t get too close… And… Gotcha!

Snatching his hand away, Zenitsu quickly stashes the pigskin coin purse underneath his cloak. Heh, suckers, the lot of them. Most of them couldn’t tell the difference between their right hand and a horse’s ass, much less when someone steals their coinage. Briskly turning on his heel, he walks away, whistling casually.

It’s so easy.

On the market streets of the town, a large sea of people roam from stall to stall, buying smoked meats, freshly baked breads, the farmers’ latest pickings. It’s a jolly scene, the constant chatter of patrons and high-pitched yelps of young boys trying to direct potential customers to their father’s stalls. Zenitsu grew up on these streets, raised right alongside other peasant boys with no home or family to call their own. Perhaps it’s a sad story, one meant for lonely nights and listening ears, but it’s Zenitsu’s lineage. It’s what made him into what he is today, a thief with deft fingers and a pair of legs that could challenge a horse in a race.

An easy smile comes to his face. He’s long since grown used to the smell of piss and sweat clinging to the cobbled street, the hollow-eyed children staring long after the people carrying baskets and sacks of food. Everything is so horribly imperfect, but this is home. Hell, although he’s making his living in a dishonest way, it’s enough to keep a roof over his head and food in his tummy. And maybe, if he saves up enough coin, roll around in a bed of hay with a large breasted whore.

Sidestepping the crowd, he makes way towards the local tavern (Ye Olde Wife, can you believe that?), breakfast and busty barmaids on the mind. If possible, the patrons inside the tavern are nearly as loud as the ones outside. Kicking the door shut, Zenitsu heads for his usual spot at the bar, sliding onto the wobbly stool and shucking his hood down. Ale and body odor permeate his nose, the smell foul yet welcoming. Nothing is more greeting than sweaty men and alcohol.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” the owner’s crackly voice says. A stout old man with wild hair and a bushy mustache, he’s about as rough as they come, but to Zenitsu, he’s probably the closest thing to family that he’s ever had.

“Oh, come on, Gramps,” Zenitsu says, tapping the bar top with his fingertips. “You love seeing me, eh? I bring you plenty of service-“

“You flirt with the girls in here more than you order anything,” Gramps spits. Even so, he starts to step away, already heading to the kitchen to fetch Zenitsu something to eat. “Ungrateful bastard – it’s a wonder you’re not a father yet.”

“Yet!” Zenitsu calls after him. “Don’t jinx me, Gramps!” Easing back, he turns around, resting his elbows on top of the bar. Now that he’s closer to the kitchens, the smell of succulent meat turning on a spit makes his mouth water and his stomach growl. Gods, he is hungry. While he could easily steal something from the stalls lining the market street, he normally comes to Gramps’ tavern for a proper meal. And yeah, maybe he ogles the barmaids while he’s at it, but it’s merely a dinner and a show for him.

“Oh, shit,” some random man sitting at a nearby table says. “You mean you haven’t heard about the capital?” Along with him sits another man – they’re most likely miners, if their builds and dirty fingernails say anything. Knocking back his cup, the other merely shakes his head. “Them bastards from the north – Nialliv – they stormed it. Took Dinton Keep as their own.”

Now, it’s usually polite to not listen in on others’ conversations, but this is Zenitsu here. For as long as he can remember, his sense of hearing is astronomically better than the average human’s, and it’s actually quite a useful tool when it comes to his particular jobs. But this… The capital city being taken over? How come he hasn’t heard anything before?

“You’re telling me that Dinton Keep isn’t ours? Watch the shite spilling from your mouth,” the other man grumbles.

“Aye, it’s true. Took in the wee hours of this morning, I tell you. Apparently, the king is dead.”

At that, Zenitsu stiffens. The king? Dead?

“Fuck,” the companion curses. “And they haven’t said anything yet?”

The first one shakes his meaty head. “Only a few know, I guess. The messengers probably all got their throats slit. Gods bless their souls. It’d be a miracle if we’re all not dead by the end of the month.”

“How many are dead?”

“Hundreds, I take it. Mostly guards and members of the royal court, probably. No point in killing civilians if you don’t want to clean up the mess.”

“And the prince?”

“Disappeared. Haven’t heard if they found his body or not.”

“Oi,” Gramps barks, slamming a plate down on the bar before Zenitsu.

With a jolt, Zenitsu yelps. Whipping back around, he flashes Gramps with wide eyes. “Gramps,” he whisper-yells, “is it true?”

Cocking a bushy brow, Gramps leans forward, arms crossed over his chest. “Is what true?”

“That the king is dead,” Zenitsu says, slowly. He can hardly believe the words are coming out of his own mouth.

Pointing a thick finger at him, Gramps flashes him a warning look. “It’s not your damn business spreading the news around. People are gonna be in a panic when it goes public.”

Zenitsu pales. “No way…”

“I had a carrier pigeon come in this morning,” Gramps continues, voice tight. “Unless they kick them bastards out of Dinton Keep, Ainamoryp can kiss its ass goodbye.”

Glancing down at the steaming meat and eggs in front of him, Zenitsu’s body immediately says that his appetite is gone.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Roman Sea, off the coast of Ainamoryp, May 3rd, 492, 12:39

“Captain! Land clear up ahead!”

“Well, what the fuck you waiting for? This ship isn’t going to dock itself!” you screech.

The sky above is a limitless blue, not a hint of a cloud in the sky. The sun itself seems in a good mood, as does the waters. Your ship heads towards your homeland gracefully, the waves slapping against the sides in a hello, welcome back. As much as you love sailing and exploring new lands, home forever beckons for you, calls you back with welcoming arms. There’s nothing as relieving as setting foot on familiar land.

Although you’re young, you’re powerful. Already a captain of your own crew, the proud owner of The Pearl Lady, you’re meant to go places and the gods are surely smiling down at you. Granted, the overexposure of sun and salt water may have left your skin permanently freckled and mind scrambled, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re a force to be trifled with, and all be damned if they dare challenge you.

Hands settled on the wooden railing, you watch as the rest of your crew scrambles to prepare for docking, lowering the sails and readying the anchor. The coast of Ainanomyrp glimmers under the afternoon sun, truly a sight to behold, but something feels… off. Normally, other boats come to and from the mouth of inland, the capital city of Endeavor being a major port. However, there’s not another boat on the water, not even the small dingeys for fishing.

Your ship glides in smoothly, coming to a gradual stop by an open dock. Your crew pushes the anchor overboard, the salty water giving a final splash as your boat jolts to a stop. Hell, even the docks are unnaturally silent, not even a single ship hand or merchant in sight. All other vessels are docked, their decks bare of any people. Your crew shifts uneasily, clearly noticing the strange lack of other human beings.

“Uh, Captain?” the quartermaster asks you, hand instinctively landing on the butt of his pistol as he glances around, “Should we lift anchor and sail to another port?”

“Like hell we are,” you grunt, narrowing your eyes. Something’s coming. You can feel it.

Stepping away from the railing, you saunter down to the main deck, heading to the side where your crew set the bridge down. The clunk of wood striking wood echoes into the air; instead of it being a relieving sound – a sign that you’re truly home – it’s ominous. It’s only a matter of time before disaster hits.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” you tell your crew, “Something isn’t right.”

“Halt!” an unknown voice calls. Straining your neck forward, you catch sight of a small patrol of guards in dark gray armor clamber down the cobblestone steps leading from the streets to docks. While it’s somewhat of a relief to see actual human beings, you’re immediately on edge, body stiffening. Those are not the given uniforms of Ainamorypan soldiers.

“Fuck,” you grumble, biting the inside of your cheek.

Metal clanking against wooden boards fills the tense atmosphere as the patrol comes up to your ship. The group stands ramrod-straight, faces stoic, eyes sharp. The leader steps forward, neck craning as he looks up at you. “Who goes there?” he barks.

Clicking your tongue, you lean over the side of the ship, elbows resting on the weathered wood. “A bunch of merchants returning home. Everybody’s got to make a living somehow, eh? Now, if you’d kindly fuck off, I’d like to step on some actual dirt for once.”

The guard sneers, expression turning ugly as he flashes yellow teeth. “All incoming and outgoing ships are to be registered. And, as far as I’m concerned, your shitty dingey isn’t on the list.” With a metallic snap of his fingers, one of his followers hands him a clipboard and a hunk of charcoal. “Ship name, captain’s name, date of arrival and planned dismissal.”

At that, you bark out an incredulous laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me? When was this instilled?”

“Just this morning, actually,” the guard snips. “Since I’m feeling merciful, I’ll let you off with a warning just this once. Follow these orders or we’ll have no other option than to imprison you.”

Prison? Seriously? Just who did this dickhead think he’s talking to?

Scoffing, you draw yourself to a full stand, placing your hands on your hips. You could easily pull out your pistol and try to shoot one of the damned guards, but lead balls aren’t going to do much against a full suit of armor. “And I’m pretty sure I told you to fuck off.”

The same guard who gave the leader the clipboard and charcoal steps close and leans in, whispering something into the leader’s ear. The leader spares you a single glance, his eyebrow cocking in interest. With a wave of his hand, the rest of the patrol storm the ship, drawing their blades. Your crew readies their own blades and brandishes their pistols, murmuring unsure words.

“Captain (l/n) of The Pearl Lady,” the lead guard says, scribbling it onto his parchment. “Such a pleasure to meet a wanted criminal.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Dinton Keep’s dungeons, Ainamoryp, 492, May 3rd, 13:00

“Oi, oi! Keep your grubby hands off of me!” you bark, shoving yourself against the guards holding you by the biceps.

“Shut your damn trap, you filthy pirate,” the guard on your right seethes, his putrid breath clogging your nostrils. “Thinking you can just waltz right into Endeavor? What are you, an idiot?”

“Far as I was concerned, Endeavor used to be leagues more friendly than this horse shit.”

“I told you to shut up,” the guard barks. Lifting a hand, he cracks up alongside the back of your skull, leaving a thrumming ache. The other guard merely stays silent as he shoves you into the other’s arms, fishing a set of keys from his side and opening the door to a cell. “Fucking rot for all I care,” the guard spits, pushing you into the dingy space.

You sputter as you crash onto the jagged rock, your palms scraping against the surface. You hiss in pain as the guards slam the gate shut and lock it. The one who mocked you takes off with a bark of laughter as the other simply follows behind. “Bloody bastards,” you grunt as they disappear from sight. “I oughta wring their necks and hang them from the bow.”

“Are you alright?” a new voice speaks.

With a screech, you fling yourself to the side, your hip screaming in pain as a sharp rock digs into the flesh. You instinctively reach for your sword, only to be left blubbering curse after curse after remembering that the guards confiscated all of your weapons. Perched on the windowsill sits a boy no older than you, head topped with messy green curls and a face adorned with a sea of freckles.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” the stranger proclaims, waving his hands frantically before him. Hopping down from the wall, he holds his hands in front of him, much like he’s encountering a vicious wild beast. Which isn’t totally wrong, but still.

“Bullshit you didn’t! I’ll kick your ass, mate!” Scrambling onto your feet, your press your back against the cold stone wall, bloody hand clutching your bruised hip.

“I swear it! It’s just… Well…. Look, your hands are bleeding,” the stranger says, turning his hands so his palms are facing upwards. “Let me treat them.”

Your face curls into a snarl. “And why would I do that?”

“I’m a healer,” he continues, stepping forward and snatching your wrist. You yelp at the sudden contact and try to rip your hand away, but his grip is strong. Now that he’s up close and personal, you can’t deny the fact that he’s tall and muscular, the sleeves of his tunic rolled up and exposing the veins and scars riddling his forearms.

Holding your wrist with one hand, the other hovers above your scraped, bloody palm. A golden light emits from his hand, casting a warm glow over your own. Ah, so this guy is a magic wielder. While it isn’t uncommon for people to practice magic, you yourself have never taken an interest in it. Magic can be a finnicky force to deal with, and one who cannot rein in its power may be subjected to a world full of hurt.

With a sigh, you keep your emotions under control and allow this stranger to continue his treatment. For one, this guy is healing you for free, and secondly, he appears as though he can easily throw you through the stone wall with little effort.

“There,” he says once he’s finished, gingerly retracting his hands and flashing you a tiny smile. “It’s all better now, see?”

Staring down at your hands, you flex them into fists, noticing how whatever tension that was in them had disappeared along with the scrapes. Magic can truly be a wonderous thing, but in the wrong hands… Well, things don’t turn out as pretty.

“I don’t get it,” you say, sidestepping the stranger and planting yourself on the pile of dirty hay strewn about the floor, “why is a healer in a dungeon, of all places?”

At your question, the stranger visibly perks up. He follows your movements, getting onto the floor and sitting across from you. “I guess a proper introduction is needed, huh?” he says, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. “My name is Izuku. Izuku Midoriya. It’s a pleasure!”

“I didn’t ask for your name,” you snap. “I asked you why you’re here, not who you are.”

At that, Izuku huffs and physically deflates. “You remind me a lot of Kacchan…”

“By the gods, do you know how to answer a simple question? You know what, don’t even answer that-“

“The king is dead,” Izuku says, cutting you off. His large eyes don’t hold their friendly glow anymore, but rather one of determination and anger. “He was killed last night.”

You blink rapidly at him, your mind throwing itself in for a loop. Wait, wait, the king is dead? How is that even possible? The king isn’t a weakling, and you’ve heard stories of him being a powerful fire sorcerer. But now that you think about it, it would explain the change in guards, the lack of people filling the once busy docks and streets…

You inhale sharply. “How?” you ask, voice small.

“Forces from Nialliv intruded the country last night and took Dinton Keep by force. People were…” Izuku stops, wets his lips. “People are gone,” he finally forces out. “The king is dead, the prince is nowhere to be seen, and all of Ainamoryp is going to lose hope.” Wringing his hands, his gaze drops. “I was here when the intrusion happened. I was fighting off enemy soldiers with all my might, but I couldn’t save the city. People are dead because I didn’t work hard enough.”

“And then you were captured,” you say. “But why not killed?”

“They found out I was a healer – well, I specialize in herbology, but the point still stands. They had men and women on their side who needed medical attention, and I was simply another pair of hands to them,” Izuku answers dryly. “They threw me in here once everybody was treated.”

“Then why’d you help them? They’re the enemy, you fool. You wanna know what I would’ve done? Slit every single last one of their throats.” Shaking your head, you lean back against the wall and laugh, but there’s no humor to it. “When you have the opportunity to fuck your opponent over, you take it.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Izuku snaps, clenching his fists in his lap. “I can’t stand seeing others hurt. I’m a healer, for gods’ sakes. Not everyone is some filthy, selfish pirate like you.”

Snapping your attention back to him, you send him a steely glare.

“Wait, wait,” Izuku hastily says, reaching up and smacking himself on the forehead, “I didn’t mean that-“

“You said what you said,” you interject. “And you know what? You’re right. I’m so fucking filthy and selfish that I’m the captain of The Pearl Lady. I bathe in blood and gold, you pathetic little twat. And I like it. So, do us both a favor, shut your damn trap, and leave me the hell alone.”

Izuku audibly gulps, his hands falling limp in his lap. You almost want to laugh at him; whenever somebody hears of your infamous title, their reactions are all the same. Despite the stigma towards pirates, you’re still pretty damn powerful, and your crew voted you as captain for a reason. Turning away from Izuku, you settle onto your side, willing for either sleep to take over or for Izuku to magically disappear.

Your quartermaster was right – you should’ve lifted anchor and docked somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #mha #bnha #ny hero academia #boku no hero academia #kny x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #demon slayer x reader #kny bnha crossover #serendipity fic

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philosophicalparadox · 4 years ago

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Dark Headcannons for the Demon Bois, part 2.a : Physiological Adaptations and Defense Mechanisms (physical)

I continue this ideology with more horror HC's (kind of) detailing some of the physiology and physical defenses of our boys - HOWEVER there is quite a bit of science invested in this particular post, so there's a little explaining to do first.

Note: I have removed Iblis from the list for the next few rounds because we really dont know anything about her, and I've also removed Egyn because I have zero idea what kind of adaptations he has since no one's ever seen his body. Azazel is floating in kind of the same boat. We seen his clones, but not him, and we have only really seen two of his kin - from that alone its hard to tell. We haven't even seen Beelzebub except in Gehenna, and for all we know they are stuck there. Im basing all this off hypothetical and mythological sources as well as my knowledge of animal and human anatomy.

Onward!

But first! (Yep, scientific Exposition Time Baby! I promise it won't be long) Something that strikes me odd is that all demons seem to be stronger physically than their non possessed counterparts, and so for the sake of not repeating myself where unessessary, we will assume this is due to increased muscular density, as a default which is the same thing that allows much smaller primates to be much stronger than ourselves.

However, be aware that there are MANY factors that influence physical strength alone - efficiency of respiration, bodily waste management (aka, kidney and liver function) and efficiency of metabolic processes (digestive system, pancreas, and again liver). I'll touch on all these things in their own right, but just to let you know, everything is interconnected.

Onward!

Samael

Is, in everyday scenarios, about 7x stronger than the average human. In times of high adrenaline that can shoot up to 10, due to possessing a unique respiratory system, detailed below.

Samael has a physique designed to be an ambush predator, with a body that puts nothing to waste, but he is also built for bursts of speed and agility, both skills vital for his hunting strategy type, detailed in part one, to be effective. Standing out in a crowd may lull prey into a false sense of security, but it also draws a lot of attention from competitors, as well as parasitic predators like Chuchi and Coltars.

Samael is a demon often depicted with avian wings, and for his body to put out the strength it does and be able to at least glide requires an avian-modeled respiratory system. In other words he breathes with lungs, but has additional air sacs in his chest and abdomen to draw as much oxygen from the air as possible. For a demon optimized for bursts of speed and high agility, being able to metabolize large amounts of oxygen very quickly is vital.

More vital still though is having the kidneys and liver to be able to handle it. I suspect he would have a lobed liver akin to a rabbit, and kidneys much like a cat. Technically speaking, if he eats right, he never actually has to drink any water. His kidneys are that efficient.

Now onto the fun one: bones. High density muscles put out huge forces on the bones they are attached to. There are two ways to fix that: make the bone harder and denser, or make the bone softer and flexible with cartilage. Samael does the former. The most efficient way to have denser bones without adding weight is to make them hollow, at the sacrifice of not having much bone marrow. This works out perfectly though, since to metabolize high rates of oxygen you need specialized red blood cells with lots and lots of hemoglobin, and hollow bones allow for the production of just enough of these cells.

Now that the basics are out of the way, Samael has some other unique adaptations, including a ratcheted tendon system in his forearms, like those found in raptors. This gives him a virtually unbreakable, iron-strong grip from which escape is virtually impossible. Combine that with talon-like claws and long fingers that can really dig in, and you're screwed from the word "go".

Making that escape even more impossible is his highly flexible joints, which make twisting out of his grasp before he has a chance to bite damn near unheard of. Remember, it only takes one bite to kill. If he catches you, you're dead already.

As far as defensive abilities go, Samael hasn't got any besides evasion. So much of his body is devoted to being a specialist that there isnt any room for special physical defenses - in fact his hollow bones, while very good at handling internal stresses, are no less brittle than a birds when it comes to some external forces. A sledgehammer to the side of his thigh (impact) would absolutely shatter his femur bone, though he can land on his feet from a great height (compression) and barely bruise.

Lucifer

Is maybe 5x stronger than the average human, on a really good day. He has a bit of muscle, but he is a magic user, not a berserker. On his bad days he can dip below a 1.

Physically he isn't too different from a human mostly, other than having an ultra efficient heart and lungs that are 20% larger to compensate for his increased muscle density.

Except that he has very strange cells. To all appearance his body is mostly human, but one look under the microscope would tell you instantly that something is odd about this duck, because his cells have tiny crystals in them. These crystals are of unknown composition, but they are thought to assist with fluorescence, or the production of the stuff mentioned below.

Also odd about his cells is that they're filled with an almost cellulose like substance instead of normal cytoplasm. Its a bit denser and is THE most heat resistant organic substance on earth. It also makes his cells completely immune to all forms of radiation - this boy could literally survive a nuclear explosion as long as he was in a shelter where he couldn't be impacted by debris or the shockwave. Heat and radiation from it would be like a sunburn at worst.

However, he is not fireproof. While this substance is resistant to heat, it is not resistant to oxidation, so it WILL burn. Not well, and not fast, but it will burn.

Which leads me to the fact that he has some very unique organelles. Multiple types of mitochondria, Golgi bodies and ribosomes help manufacture the weirdness.

Part of that weirdness is of unknown deadliness though. When fully charged up, the light he emits contains dangerous wavelengths, and further study has yet to be done on whether and what types of radiation he may emit. It is known that his dense cytoplasmic substance can hold onto nuclear radiation, but does so very briefly.

As far as defenses go, he does actually have a pretty interesting, but accidental one, for the dense cytoplasmic substance of his cells naturally permeates into his blood plasma. This substance is extremely bitter and even potentially toxic at high enough doses. A mouthful of Lucifer's blood is enough to induce severe nausea, vomiting, cramping of the intestines (colic), and if swallowed, diarrhoea.

The strange substance of his cells also mediates the use of Elixir that is specific to himself. Elixir used for other purposes are rejects of the ones formulated just for him, and are effective at treating a wide variety of things.

On a related but unrelated note, though, the elixir has nasty side effects on humans and demons alike, often triggering the onset of various cancers and cysts, though it's not clear why this happens to some and not others. It is not known why Lucifer is seemingly immune to these side effects, but he could, potentially, be immune to cancer altogether.

Amaimon

Amaimon is a fucking draft horse, with a baseline strength of 9x that of a human. That's somewhere slightly above a pissed off gorilla and/or an attacking tiger, for reference. In high adrenalized mode, that number shoots up to a 12, which is about as high as biology will let anything go, courtesy square cube law.

His muscles are SO dense and heavy, in fact, that he is incapable of floating in water. He also isn't very fast for long distances. He has high stamina at low energy output, and low stamina at high energy output. He can walk for days on end, but in a dead sprint he can't go more than a kilometer at best before his muscles start to rip him apart.

Which leads to : bones. Amaimon takes a very reptilian approach to the issue of having super powerful muscles, and has fibrin and cartilage reinforced bones that bow rather than break. However, these bones have many sharp angles for muscular attachments, and as a result are very poor at resisting torsion (twisting) and high rates of compression. The last thing he wants to do is land on his feet from a great height, for he is likely to fracture his long bones.

But those are not the only bones he has - much like monitor lizards, including komodo dragons, he has ossicones embedded in his skin, forming a chain-mail mesh of steely bone just below the dermis that makes his skin very resistant to slashes and cuts, but very weak to stabbing and thrusting. Cleaving into him wont do much damage, but impaling him on a pike works great.

His organs are strange, made stranger by his blood, which has a pH value of 7.8, far more alkaline than most viruses or bacteria can survive, making him virtually immune to disease. Unfortunately that also impacts the bacteria in his gut, which as a consequence can exist nowhere else on earth.

On the flip side, his stomach secretes acid that is so caustic it dissolves bone in hours, and also destroys even the worst of pathogens. As touched upon before, he can regurgitate this acid onto attackers in self defense, even going so far as to spit it at them from a distance of two meters. It has a patently unpleasant odor too, adding to its defensive quality.

Amaimons claws are semi retractable and grizzly-like, making them excellent tools for digging and prying things apart. They're also really good at ripping people apart, and there is no armor that can really do effective justice except for one: spiky. His skin isn't super resistant to impalement, remember, so the pricklier the better. That is assuming he cant chip away at it. Good luck with that.

Another organ to mention is his tail. It's not exactly prehensile, but it is flexible and very, very powerful. One whack across the midsection could kill a man. In fact his tail is often his first line of defense against attackers; it's so robust and armored that it's almost impossible to injure, and it hits like a truck. Good for offense or defense, or even just lazing around.

Astaroth

Fungi boy has an average strength of just twice that of a human. But when pushed to his limits, he can use hydraulic musculature to increase his strength to 9x that of the average human.

Speaking of which, Astaroth has some weird musculature- or lack thereof. Rather than having ordinary, dense tissue, he instead has a hydraulic system of movement akin to that of a worm or slug. Not only that, but his muscles are not his own - rather they are controlled by slime molds, with which he has a symbiotic relationship. The muscles are very little muscle tissue and a whole lot of mycellial fibers. His body is literally made of fungus, controlled by fungi and microorganisms, and is fed and defended by these things.

He is, in light of this, able to turn his body temperature on or off in any area he needs to at-will, giving his slimy friends the home they need.

He has a perfect mastery over the simple organisms he controls, and can exchange them at will. This combined with the ability to live without body heat means he is completely immune to all but the most severe of environments. As long as he has access to moisture, he can survive and thrive at sub zero temperatures and well into the triple digits. However he can not live without his slimy friends, and so can not endure drought very well. Deserts are the bane of his existence.

When it comes to defenses, Astaroth is nothing but. Toxic spores, all colours of miasma, foul smells, and even sharp needles and thorns when necessary. Nothing with a lick of sense would dare try to eat him, with the exception of microorganisms and parasites thereof - but it's not him they consume, but his symbiotes, which again he can simply discard or exchange as need be.

He is however very slow moving, typically, and doesn't really have a 'flee' or 'fight' response. Instead he freezes, exuding and oozing his more unfriendly companions to deter attack. If this should fail though, however unlikely, he is remarkably fragile and slow to heal, though virtually impossible to kill.

His only real weakness is well established: fire. It is the great sterilizer, though light is also not something he can easily defend against either. Neither are vacuums and immense air pressure. Basically if it's not within the realms of ordinary natural phenomena he has no ability to escape or defend. This gives him an edge against the younger of the Kings, but makes him powerless against the older half.

Whew! That was a lot. This post took FOREVER to make!

Questions and comments are welcome, reading with a grain of salt in mind is recommended.

#ao no exorcist #blue exorcist #demon kings #headcannons #this is just the a.#theres a b. coming

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kelyon · 3 years ago

Text

Golden Rings 19: A Friend

The Storybrooke sequel to Golden Cuffs

Rumpelstiltskin receives a visitor

Read on AO3

A family stands before him, more terrified than they want to show. The man holds a top hat in both hands. The woman keeps her arms over their daughter.

“Is it true?” the man asks. “What Regina is threatening, can she do it?”

Slowly, Rumpelstiltskin steps toward the huddled family. It is unlike Jefferson to be so serious, unlike Leona to show anything less than brazen self-confidence. The girl may be too young to know what is happening, but she knows that her parents are afraid and that is enough to make her terrified.

Belle comes up behind him, her hand extended to the child. “Grace,” she says gently, “would you like to visit my horse? Perhaps we could go for a ride.”

The girl looks to her parents. “May I, Mama? Papa?”

“Of course, luv.” Leona releases her grip on her daughter. “Make sure you mind Belle, and don’t get yourself into any trouble you can’t get out of.”

Nodding obediently, the child takes his wife’s hand. Belle gives him an encouraging smile before they go out to the stables. She trusts him to handle the situation on his own. She knows he can assuage their fears.

Once his daughter is gone, Jefferson leaves his wife and comes up to Rumpelstiltskin. He puts his hands on his shoulders and looks him in the eyes. “I’m serious,” he says.

“I know you are, my boy.” Delicately, he extracts himself from the other man’s grip. “This is a serious matter.”

“This queen lady told everyone she’s going to destroy the world.” Leona says what they all know but cannot utter. “Does she really have that much power?”

He cannot face them. He turns away, takes long, slow steps around his dining room before he answers.

“Yes.”

Jefferson crushes the brim of his hat in one hand. After a moment, he gathers himself. “We’ve seen worlds destroyed before, Dark One. It is a terrible thing.”

“Yes,” he agrees. “Yes, you were with me when proud Atlantis sank beneath the waves. A million lives lost in fire and water and lightning. But Regina’s curse is… different. Her purpose is not to destroy the world, but to destroy happiness.”

Leona’s mouth drops open. “And how is killing everyone not the same as all that? Who would be left to be happy, when it’s all over?”

Rumpelstiltskin shakes his head. “No, she wants us alive. Everyone in this world, everyone she considers her enemy. She wants us alive and miserable and trapped in our misery for the rest of time.”

“Gods.” Jefferson collapses into a chair and hangs his head. Leona stands by him and takes his hand into her own.

“Regina will end this world, and take us all to a new one--a land without happy endings. We will all be severed from the people we love, or even if we are near them, we won’t be able to love them.”

“But why everyone?” Leona asks. “Why us? I never did anything to this woman! What’s she got against me?”

Walking over to the couple, he places his hand over where theirs are joined. “You are happy,” he says simply. “The two of you have a love that she will never know--and the love of your child besides that. Regina believes that she will never have happiness as long as anyone else does.”

Leona nods, understanding. “So she’s mad, is she?”

“Yes,” Jefferson answers. His blue eyes look out at nothing as he speaks. “I’ve worked with Regina, before I met you, Leo. Once, she commissioned me to take her and a servant girl to Wonderland. Didn’t tell me that this was going to be a rescue mission to save some old man. You know the rules of the hat, only the number of people that go in can come out again. That was why Regina brought the servant girl. She killed her. Ripped her heart out of her chest and crushed it. As easily as blowing her nose. We left the girl’s body there, in the forest of giant mushrooms. So yeah. As they say in Wonderland, Regina is mad as the March Hare.”

Leona holds her husband in both hands, standing over him as she had stood over her daughter earlier. Wincing at the memory, he rests against her bosom

“What do we do?” For all her comforting posture, Leona looks at Rumpelstiltskin with steely determination. “Can you stop her?”

He raises his hands in a show of helplessness. “Regina is a powerful magic-user and she is on a war-path.”

Hands balled into fists, Leona breaks away from Jefferson and begins to pace. “If my mother were here, she’d hit that woman upside the head with a cauldron, queen or no!”

“Yeah, well Nanny Ogg is from a different world than this one.” Jefferson stays seated in the chair. His hat hangs loosely in his grip.

“It is not hopeless,” Rumpelstiltskin says. “All curses can be broken.”

“Broken after they’ve been cast!” Leona marches up to him, wielding an accusatory finger. “I want to know if you can stop her, stop this curse from ever happening!”

“Leo,” Jefferson stands behind his wife. Gently, he puts his hands on her ample hips and pulls her close to him. “The Dark One is our friend. I’m sure he’s doing everything he can.”

He says nothing. He lets Jefferson’s faith do the talking for him. Jefferson is a clever man, but less shrewd than his wife. The poor boy wants to believe in him, but Leona Ogg has no such sentimentality. She is wise enough to know that if he wanted to stop this curse, it would never have been able to start.

“You should leave,” he tells them quietly. “The three of you should go in the hat, find some world far from here where you can live out the rest of your days together.”

“If Regina can destroy one world, she’ll find a way to destroy others,” Jefferson points out.

He shakes his head. “After the curse is cast, Regina will be stopped. A Savior will come, a force of goodness who will destroy her evil forever.”

“But only after we’ve been cursed?” Leona crosses her arms.

He nods. “Yes. The only way to avoid it is to flee. Leave this world before it leaves you.”

Slowly, Jefferson turns his hat over in his hands. “That makes sense.” He looks to Leona. “Where do you want to go?”

“Lancre, of course. If we can’t live in the home we made for ourselves, we might as well go to Mum’s.”

Jefferson nods. “What do you say, Dark One? Can I offer you and Belle a trip to Discworld?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t know what form my magic will take on a world like that. There is a risk I’ll transform into something horrible and the good people of the Disk World will have to try to slay me.”

Leona snorts. “And it’ll take a few weeks at least to find any ‘good people’ around. We’re not as black and white with the ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ as this place.”

“All the more reason for me to stay here and face this curse as it comes.”

“And Belle will stay with you?”

He gives his friend a rueful grin. “I couldn’t make her leave me if I tried.”

Jefferson looks down at his hat and then looks up again. “Do you really think if we go to Discworld the curse will pass us by?”

He puts his hands over Jefferson’s around the brim. “The best I can promise is that you will be safer.”

Leona’s dark eyes narrow. “‘Safer’ isn’t ‘safe,’ Mister Dark One.”

“No.” Jefferson steps back, away from Rumpelstiltskin and toward his wife. In a motion born from years of practice, he twirls the hat to put it on his head. “But sometimes safer is the best you can hope for.”

“I hope you do get away from the curse,” he tells them honestly. “For it will be a very long time before any good can come out of all this. ”

****

It was strange, to wake up in a bed without Belle. Without even Mrs. Gold’s body, warm and soft beside him. In the month since they had started sleeping in separate bedrooms, Rumpelstiltskin still hadn’t gotten used to waking up alone. It had been a bittersweet torture to spend that much time in bed with a woman who wasn’t Belle. Being without was a milder ache, but an ache nonetheless.

That morning, he met her going up the stairs as he was coming down. Mrs. Gold was still in her pajamas--a new pair he hadn’t seen before. She had a plate of toast in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. So she would eat in her room before she got dressed. That was the opposite of his routine. Ever since their new arrangement, Mrs. Gold had been going out of her way to avoid him.

He wanted to speak to her. He wanted to say something innocuous, even just “Good morning.” Something to make her turn and look at him, say anything in response. He just wanted to see Belle’s face, hear Belle’s voice.

But Mrs. Gold turned away, pressed herself against the banister, and brushed past him as quickly as she could.

Rumpelstiltskin sighed. How strange that he would miss that woman, that he would feel their estrangement so keenly. Before, he had taken for granted that Mrs. Gold wanted to please him, that she sought him out and tried to talk with him. But now she would only speak when he asked her a question. Now she kept to her room when he was in the house. She stayed away from the shop during the day. Wherever he was, his wife made a point to be somewhere else.

Considering how he had treated her, it was no less than he deserved.

After making his breakfast, he sat alone at the far end of a long table. In silence, Rumpelstiltskin read the newspaper and tried to push from his mind how familiar a situation this was. Not with Belle. Once he had her in his castle, she had never avoided him, even when it would have been in her best interest. But before Belle. During those long centuries of isolation, when he had been an enemy of love. When his life was nothing but magic and deals and endless searching for a way to find Bae. When people were nothing but tools to be used, locks to be picked, pieces to be arranged upon a chessboard that stretched out for decades.

Then, he had spent many mealtimes at the head of a table set for one.

When it was time to leave for the day, Mrs. Gold came down to join him. Every morning he gave her a ride into town. She usually kept her face to the window and didn’t make a sound for the whole trip.

She wore charcoal today, a sweater-dress that wrapped snugly around her body. Gold would have sent her out in that with nothing underneath, but she had put on layers of camisoles and blouses. Most of her clothes were flimsy and skimpy, so she wore the pieces on top of each other in a haphazard effort to cover herself.

At least she looked warm.

The clashing dark colors washed out her face, made her look even paler and sadder. She wasn’t wearing cosmetics, or any jewelry besides her wedding ring. Her thick, curly hair hung limply over her shoulders, like a shroud.

Again, Rumpelstiltskin wanted to speak to her. But what could he say? Any comment on her appearance would seem like an attack, any inquiry to her wellbeing would be an invasion. What do you say to someone you’re no longer even pretending to love?

“What do you think you’ll do today?” he tried once they were in the car.

She shrugged and sank further back into the seat, her arms folded over her chest.

“Do you need money?” It seemed a heartless, mercenary solution, but it was all he could safely offer her.

And it worked. Straightening up, Mrs. Gold spoke: “Sure.”

At Storybrooke’s only stoplight, he pulled out his wallet and handed her a wad of bills.

She put them in her purse. “Since you’re paying me, I guess that means you’re satisfied with what you’re getting out of this new deal.”

Rumpelstiltskin gripped the steering wheel. No, he wasn’t satisfied at all. But he wouldn’t be satisfied until Belle was sitting next to him, talking to him. Lonely as he was, he couldn’t ask for Mrs. Gold’s time or attention. It would be too cruel to demand any devotion, when he knew he had no intention of doing the same. He couldn’t love Mrs. Gold. It would be too unfair to ask her to love him again.

He parked the car next to the shop.“You’re doing everything I expected you would, Mrs. Gold.”

“Great.” She zipped up her purse. “That must be why we’re both so fucking happy.”

By the time he turned to look at her, she had already unbuckled her safety belt and slammed the door.

Rumpelstiltskin watched Mrs. Gold walk away. He could go after her, even on his cane. He could shout to get her attention. He could drive up to her and insist she get back in the car. He could make an effort to talk to her, to get her to talk to him. He could try to understand this woman, this curse-creature who occupied Belle’s body, but who seemed to have a mind of her own. He could try to get inside that mind. He could try to see who she was, now that she wasn’t pretending to be what she thought her husband wanted.

But he did nothing. Rumpelstiltskin was a coward down to his bones. No good would come of getting to know Mrs. Gold. He couldn’t risk finding out what she thought of him, what she wanted out of this relationship. They didn’t have a relationship, they didn’t relate to each other.

He had made sure of that.

So Rumpelstiltskin did what he had been doing every day since he’d been let out of the jail cell: He opened the pawn shop, and conducted his business, and waited for the Savior to break the curse.

****

It was dark outside, when the bell rang over the shop door. A spring storm was picking up. Wind sent leaves and debris skittering over the road and sidewalks. Thunder rumbled and heavy clouds pressed down upon the town.

Rumpelstiltskin was polishing the collection of silver on the side counter. At the sound of the bell, he looked up.

And froze.

Jefferson.

It was Jefferson. The tall, broad-shouldered young man who had transported him from world to world for a handsome fee, who had accompanied him on dozens of adventures, who had reminded him that physical pleasure could come with personal affection. The boy who had paved the way for Belle to enter his heart.

How was he here? Hadn’t he taken his family and escaped to the Disk World? Wouldn’t they have been safe there? Gold had no memories of the man who stood before him. He had no idea what Jefferson’s life had been like under the curse. Where was Leona? Where was Grace?

The longer Rumpelstiltskin looked at Jefferson, the more he saw the changes in him. He wasn’t smiling. The boyish good humor was gone. There was no dancing light in his slate blue eyes. He used to stand with his head jauntily cocked to one side, but now he looked straight ahead, level and deadly serious. The man before him looked burdened, weathered and hollowed out.

He was dressed like himself, as much as Storybrooke fashions would allow. He wore a scarf at his throat, as he used to wear a cravat over the leather collar that matched his wife’s. The clothes were well-tailored, expensive. His gray, rain-soaked overcoat had gunmetal leather lapels, very much like a coat Rumpelstiltskin had given him as a gift back in the old world. Jefferson’s scarf, shirt, and waistcoat were all different patterns, all in gray and black.

He wasn’t wearing a hat.

The first time Rumpelstiltskin had met Jefferson, he had entrusted him with a magical hat. The boy had been running away from a woman he didn’t want to marry, a life he didn’t want to live. In his hopelessness, he had sliced a line across his throat with a knife. His dying wish had been to find a world where he could be happy.

That was when the Dark One had made himself known. He had healed the boy’s wounds and given him a hat that would take him to every world with magic. Surely somewhere there would be happiness for a young man who had never fit the mold he had been made for.

And ever since then, Jefferson had been at his service.

Brow lowered, gait heavy, the man approached the counter. He set both hands upon the glass top. A few of his fingers wore wide, silver rings. But no wedding ring. Was he not married in this world? What had happened to Leona Ogg?

“Are you Mr. Gold?”

Quickly recovering from the shock of seeing Jefferson--and seeing him so changed--Rumpelstiltskin returned to his work. “That is the name on the front of the building.”

“But is it who you are?” Jefferson’s voice was different too. His tone was pointed, accusatory.

If he was Mr. Gold, he wouldn’t put up with being spoken to that way. Rumpelstiltskin braced against his side of the counter, arming himself in businesslike courtesy. “And who might you be?”

Jefferson’s face changed as though someone had flipped a switch. He put on the mask of a wide, toothy smile that didn’t meet his eyes. Pushing back from the glass case, Jefferson took exaggerated steps around the shop.

“They call me Dodgson around here.” His voice was too bright. “Chaz Dodgson. I’m a pilot. Normally I fly out of Boston, and I go all over the world. But lately--almost for as long as I can remember--I haven’t been able to leave this tiny town in Maine. Do you think that’s strange, Mr. Gold?”

He made his introduction with rapid-fire delivery. A machine gun, that was what they had in this world. That was the image that came to mind. Wild shooting that blasted forth in short bursts of dazzling, horrible, light.

Then you waited for the smoke to clear, to see what would happen next.

Rumpelstiltskin kept his composure. He made a show of looking down at the silver platter he had been polishing. He saw Jefferson’s reflection in it, warped and distorted.

“I suppose you could say that Storybrooke is rather a strange place, Mr. Dodgson.”

A laugh then. No, a cackle. Rumpelstiltskin had done enough cackling in his time to know the difference. Jefferson let out an agitated, throaty sound that had nothing to do with humor.

“You’re very right, Mr. Gold!” He pointed at him with a manic grin. “Maybe righter than you know!” Then his expression darkened and he turned serious. “Or maybe you’re exactly as right as you know.”

Putting down the polishing rag, Rumpelstiltskin looked up at Jefferson. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Dodgson? Is there something you’re looking for?”

“I’m looking for a lot of things,” he whispered. “And if you can’t help me, I don’t know who can.”

What kind of game was being played here? What did “Dodgson” want with Gold? Obviously, Jefferson was speaking in a cipher. But was it his code? Or was it the curse’s? How should he respond?

He held the man’s gaze and didn’t look away. “What are you looking for?” he said softly.

Jefferson took a step closer. He didn’t look away either. “I hope to every god it’s here, but I just don’t know.”

Finally breaking the gaze, Rumpelstiltskin began to put the polished silver away. “Do you need a gift for someone? Your wife perhaps?”

With a smirk, Jefferson shook his head. “No, this is something I need for myself. What made you think I was married?”

“Oh, aren’t you? I apologize for the assumption.”

“No, I am.” He brought his hand to his throat. “But my wife is, uh, out of town, for now.”

“Traveling?”

“Living with her mother,” Jefferson said. “At least, I hope she’s still there. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”

Leona Ogg hadn’t been born in the old world. Jefferson had met her on an absurd flat planet called the Disk World, where her mother was a powerful hedge witch. Rumpelstiltskin had told them to go to that world, he had thought they would be safe there. If he could believe what Dodgson was telling him, he had only been half-right.

Or maybe two-thirds. One of Gold’s memories flashed into his mind: A little girl, plump and blonde, with merry dark eyes. The very image of her mother. Grace. But in this world she was Paige Lewis, the adopted and cherished daughter of Tim and Mia Lewis.

Why did he have no memories of Dodgson? Where had Jefferson been all this time, while his daughter was being raised by someone else?

“So is this an item for your children, perhaps?” He asked carefully.

Jefferson looked at him, his blue eyes steel and stone. “No,” he said. “I told you before, this is something I need for myself, Mr. Gold.”

Shrugging, Rumpelstiltskin locked the silver behind the case and limped to the other end of the store by the cash register. “Tell me again what it was?”

With a heavy tread, Jefferson moved to the middle of the store. “Tell me what you have.”

Rumpelstiltskin raised his hands and grinned like Gold would. “The shop’s inventory is rather extensive,” he said. “If I were to go through an itemized list, we’d be here for quite some time.”

“Alright then,” Jefferson said grimly. “Tell me what you think I need.”

He looked him over again, more than willing to play this game. “An umbrella, perhaps? The rain looks quite nasty.”

“Oh, it’s mad as a March hare, as they say. But I don’t need an umbrella.” He took a step forward. “I need something quite personal. Long-lasting, durable.”

“Maybe a set of luggage then. Didn’t you say you were a traveler?”

“I haven’t gone traveling in a long time.” Jaw clenched, Jefferson took another step closer to Rumpelstiltskin. “For a long time, I wasn’t even able to leave my house.”

Not able? For how long?

“Were you ill, Mr. Dodgson?”

“Yeah.” He grinned without humor. “I was sick in the head. An absolute nutter. I suffered from delusions. Memories that weren’t mine, a life that I had never lived. Can you imagine that, Mr. Gold? Can you imagine?”

“No,” Rumpelstiltskin lied. “Though it looks like you’re doing well now.”

“You trust your eyes?” Jefferson let out a short, stuttering laugh that sounded like he did actually find something funny. “I thought you were smarter than that!”

He straightened up. “What are you looking for, sir?” After a moment’s hesitation, he added, “I can’t help you if you aren’t honest.”

The last few steps to the counter were a stagger. Jefferson almost fell against the display case and stayed bent over. “Don’t you want to know how long I was trapped in my house?” He looked up at him. His eyes were soft now, teary. “How long I was trapped in my own double-mind?”

Rumpelstiltskin’s mouth opened. It couldn’t be. Surely Jefferson couldn’t have suffered like that. Surely even this curse was not that cruel.

He set his hand next to Jefferson’s, not quite close enough to touch. “My boy,” he whispered. “Tell me what you need.”

“Not a spouse, I have one of those.” He seemed exhausted, breathless. “Not a child either. Not a lover or an employer or a benefactor.” Desperate eyes poured into him. “I don’t need a loan shark or a pawnbroker or a landlord.” Still staring, Jefferson took Rumpelstiltskin’s hand and gripped it with all his strength. “I don’t need a genius or a wizard or the fucking Dark One!” That last phrase was said in a gritted whisper. It seemed to take everything out of him. “So you tell me,” he panted. “What do I need?”

For a moment, Rumpelstiltskin said nothing. For the second time in just a few minutes, he felt the shock of seeing Jefferson again. And this man was Jefferson, inside and out. He was awake. He was suffering. He needed…

“A friend,” he answered the question at last. “Is that what you came in here to find?”

Slowly straightening up, Jefferson nodded. “Is there one here?”

“Yes.” If it weren’t for his cane and the glass case between them, he would have embraced the boy like he used to. “Yes, Jefferson. I’m here.”

He covered his face with his hands and broke down sobbing. For a moment, Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t move. How should he respond to this? What could he do?

He could do what he couldn’t do with Mrs. Gold. He could comfort this man. His friend.

Ankle throbbing, he walked to the other side of the counter. Jefferson looked up, his blue eyes brimming with tears. This was the Jefferson that Rumpelstiltskin had known. The boy he had rescued on that fateful day in the forest. One of the rare souls whose desperation filled his dark heart with pity, and not contempt.

“My boy,” he whispered. He opened his arms and Jefferson embraced him.

Though Jefferson was taller than Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One had always wielded the power in their relationship. It was the only way he had felt safe. Their physical dimensions hadn’t changed, but marrying Belle had rearranged Rumpelstiltskin’s perspective on safety and power. He let the bigger man hug him, envelop him in his need. He drew strength from Jefferson’s strength. Even though Jefferson was younger and bigger and fitter than Gold, he had come to him for help.

And Rumpelstiltskin would do everything he could to help him.

When they parted, he held Jefferson’s face in his hands. Coarse stubble prickled against his palms. Full lips parted slightly. Rumpelstiltskin wiped away his tears with his thumbs.

“How did this happen?” he asked softly. “Why didn’t you go to the Disk World?”

“We did.” Jefferson sniffed. Rumpelstiltskin took the silk pocket square out of his suit coat to give him. “We left as soon as we could. We lived there for months. But one night, I went to sleep next to Leo in Nanny Ogg’s cottage, and the next morning I woke up alone in a massive house I couldn’t leave.”

“You said that before. You couldn’t leave?”

He shook his head. “For twenty-eight years!” His face twisted and he pulled away. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t lower his hands. “You were locked in the curse, but I was locked in that house. I knew who I was, I remembered everything, I remembered too much!”

He rested his hand on his damp coat. “So that’s where Dodgson came from?”

Jefferson nodded, took a breath. “I had two lives in my head,” he whispered. “They both seemed impossible to the other. There were… months where I didn’t know what was real. In Discworld there was a poet who dreamed that he was a butterfly, and when he woke up, he didn’t know if he was a man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly who was dreaming he was a man. That was my life. For a very long time.”

“Jefferson.” He squeezed his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

He looked at him, his expression drained. “No one else in this town was like that. Believe me, I had a lot of time to look around. Any theories as to why I was so lucky?”

He shook his head. “It’s Regina’s curse, maybe she--”

“It’s your curse,” he interrupted. “I’ve had some time to think about that. Regina is powerful, but she couldn’t have made something like this. That had to be you.”

He took a step back, resting both hands on his cane. Twenty-eight years of isolation, of knowing that time wasn’t moving, but being aware of every moment. Twenty-eight years in a world he didn’t understand, separated from the people who mattered most to him.

Utterly alone.

No wonder Jefferson had changed.

He couldn’t fool him anymore. He didn’t want to. The poor boy deserved better than that. He deserved the truth.

“It was my curse,” he admitted. “Regina cast it, but I created it. That doesn’t mean I have any control over it.”

“How is that possible?” Jefferson growled. “How can you, of all people, not have control over everything?”

“Because, my boy, all magic comes at a price. The curse that destroyed our world and created this town is the most powerful piece of spellmaking I’ve ever touched. Part of casting it was sacrificing the heart of the thing you love most--and there are more prices yet to pay. I’m not willing to lose everything, but Regina was. So it is her curse. She rules this land until it breaks.”

Jefferson’s jaw clenched. “You said something like that before, back home. You said something about a Savior. It’s that Sheriff, isn’t it? The woman with the yellow bug?”

Rumpelstiltskin blinked. “How did you know that?”

“She came to town in October. That’s when things started changing around here. The clock on the library started moving, people started doing things they haven’t done before--not in twenty-eight years of living the same lives. Now there are people in town now I’ve never seen before.”

“Who?” Rumpelstiltskin asked. “The only new person I’ve seen is Emma.”

Jefferson shrugged. “There’s the guy carrying on with the schoolteacher, I don’t know who he is.”

“That’s Prince Charming,” he explained. “He was in the hospital until just after Emma came to town, in a coma.”

“Weren’t you all?” Jefferson said dryly. “Okay, I’ve got another one for you. Around New Year’s, a guy rode in on a motorcycle, definitely an out-of-towner. He stuck around too. Do you know who he is?”

Rumpelstiltskin’s lips parted, but he said nothing. A stranger came into Storybrooke? That shouldn’t have happened. This place was supposed to be isolated from the rest of the Land Without Magic. The only people who could enter were people who were already connected to the old world, people who were born there.

But if there was a young man who could enter the town freely, who had willingly stayed in this cursed place...

Before he could ask Jefferson more questions, the bell over the shop door rang again.

“My God, it is cats and dogs out there!” Mrs. Gold stood on the front carpet. Water dripped off the plastic shopping bags in her hands. The rain had plastered all her thin layers against her skin. She looked bedraggled and cold, and Rumpelstiltskin’s first desire was to get her out of those wet things and into a bath, to give her hot chocolate and wrap her in a blanket.

It was only when Jefferson took a step back that Rumpelstiltskin realized how close they had been. Too close for any two men to be standing together in this world, and far too close for Gold to allow anyone who wasn’t wearing handcuffs.

Mrs. Gold’s crystalline eyes took in the sight of them. Jefferson clutched Gold’s pocket square in his fist. Rumpelstiltskin’s hands still held out in mid-air, reaching for the younger man’s body. In an endless instant, he saw the shock on her face, the realization, the anger.

Then he saw her close herself off. It was like the turn of a lock, or the extinguishing of a flame. She went dead behind the eyes. When she spoke, her voice was thin.

“Sorry to interrupt your business, Mr. Gold. I just needed to come in out of the rain.”

“Of course,” he said automatically. He was too stunned to move. “But you weren’t interrupting anything, Mrs. Gold.”

Her lips pressed together at that. She said nothing, but looked up and down the length of Jefferson’s body. Then she moved past them both to get to the back of the shop.

Once she was behind the curtain, Rumpelstiltskin allowed himself to sigh. Closing his eyes, he shook his head. Though that was not the worst way this situation could have gone, it was still far from optimal.

Jefferson let out a low whistle. With a meaningful glance to the back office, he said: “So can I expect your call about the merchandise I requested?”

Limping back to the cash register, Rumpelstiltskin pulled out a notepad and a pen. He passed them over the counter to Jefferson. “Certainly, Mr. Dodgson. If you’ll give me your address, I can have it delivered to your house.”

He wrote down a series of numbers and an address: 316 Angus Drive. “Just let me know when it’s ready.” His voice lowered. “I’ll be waiting.”

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. “As soon as I can, my boy.”

#golden rings #rumbelle #mad gold #rumbelle fic

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friendlylocalwriter · 4 years ago

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The Quiet Stranger

Pairing(s): Geralt of Rivia x fem!reader

Warnings: Slight mention of violence, mild language, bit of a meet-cute, nothing too bad

Requested: No

Prompt: You live a quiet life in the forest with your mother after the fall of Cintra, selling grains and produce to keep enough coins for survival. When your mother leaves for a long journey to the market, you're surprised to meet a white-haired stranger in dire need of help, and even more surprised by how you feel about him.

Word Count: 2452

Chapter: 1/?

A/N: Hello friends! I have decided to do a multi-chapter Witcher fic because like,,, have y’all seen him LMAO. I’m hoping to actually get on a schedule and post every Saturday for this fic, so I hope you all enjoy! And, I’ve decided to stray away from writing real person fics (like my timothee chalamet fic I posted earlier this year) so there will be no part three to that, so I apologize! Pretty please comment/reblog if you enjoy, because that’s what keeps me goin! This is also posted on my AO3 @/violettaren. Enjoy loves! <3

Your back is aching.

You turn over on your poorly constructed wooden bed to see your mother opening the curtains to your shack, letting the bright light of the morning shine into your eyes. You groan and let your head fall back onto the cheap fabric that works as a makeshift pillow.

“Get up urgently, young one. We’ve much to do before I leave for the market” your mother says as she gathers various tools from the main table in your home. Well, home is generous. Nilfgaard had taken your home in Cintra many years ago during the war, robbing you and your mother of your father, your home, your livelihood. You were so young that any memory of Cintra escapes you, but you see it on your mother’s eyes every time she looks out onto the large acre of land you two now occupy deep in the forest, alone. This isn’t where she’s meant to be.

It’s this thought that forces you out of bed to help your mother gather the grains and berries you grow in your garden to sell in the town miles over every few months. The coins your mother makes isn’t much, not nearly as much as your father made in Cintra, but it’s enough to keep you alive. Enough to allow you to stay home while your mother is gone for many weeks and study the books your father left behind.

“I’d appreciate it if you actually put the grains in the bag,” your mother grins at you, looking down at the empty rucksack that should be full of the tall brown plants cascading across the field. You drop your head and apologize, quickly feeling around to see which are ready to be picked. You feel your mother’s hand on your shoulder, forcing your gaze up to see her expression.

“I was only kidding, dear. What has you so disquieted?” her voice was soft and plush, enveloping around you like a warm cotton blanket. Christ, you were going to miss her.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave, Mother. At least not for so long.” You sighed, pressing the pads of your fingers into your hands. “I feel so lonely here, all I can do is tend to the garden and read Father’s books. Can I come with you, just this once?”

You already knew the answer, but it didn’t hurt to try.

“Now, dear, you know it’s much too dangerous for you to leave here,” her voice stopped as she took in a deep breath, looking into your eyes with a sad smile.

“I’ve lost- I’ve lost too much to take the chance. I’m sorry. And with Lav’s sickness, the journey will take even longer since I must go on foot. You have to understand.”

Lav was your family horse who’d been with you for many years, but her age was starting to catch up with her. She could barely walk, let alone carry pounds of produce.

"I do, I do understand." you sigh and carry the bags of food to the front of a trail where a barrel stands, and you begin the load to load the produce. Once the last of the bags are set, you grab your mother tightly, and you drink in her laugh, hoping it'll stay with you for the coming weeks.

"I'll be just alright, dear. Just make sure Lav doesn't eat any of my damn berries."

•••••••

Lav’s loud neighing woke you up as the sun was just starting to rise over your shack. You assumed it was just your old horse coming across some little rodent in the garden, and snuggled back into your blanket, thinking nothing of it. But her sounds got progressively louder and more shrill, and you sighed, ripping the blanket off of your body and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You glanced in the mirror next to you to see your sheer pale nightgown outlining your body. No one comes around even miles close to here, you thought. Shrugging, you make your way outside to the garden to see Lav and … nothing. Like you thought.

“What is it, girl? What’d you wake me up for?” you pet her brown mane, looking around to see if there was anything out there.

“You get scared so easy, Lav. Make no more noise, please, Lord knows I need the beauty sleep.”

You give her a few more head pats and yawn, turning around to walk back to your bed when you are met with two amber eyes looking at you.

It takes you a few moments to realize that there is an actual person, a massive one at that, staring at you with no expression on his face. Once your brain decides to work, you remember what you’re wearing and your hands immediately fly to cover your chest.

“I am - I didn’t know anyone was around here. I’m sure you’re just passing through, I’ll get out of your way,” your voice comes out much quicker and more child-like than you would’ve hoped, and you try to speedwalk past him. You only get maybe two steps in before a calloused hand grabs your arm, turning you back around to face him again, forcing you to get a good look at him.

Funnily enough, his amber eyes are the least striking thing about this stranger. His long locks are a dusty white shade, with a few sparse strands framing the front of his face. He’s wide, god why is he so wide?, and he easily has at least 6 inches on you. He has three or four fresh scars on his face, and what looks like the handle of a sword is peeking out from behind him. Your eyes fall down his heavily dressed chest only to see a large hole at the bottom, right above his pelvis. Your brows furrow, and you quickly realize that it is a knife wound, noticing the dark dried blood. Your heart stops and you run through all of the things your mother told you to do if a Nilfgaardian came to your home.

“Listen,” he says almost immediately after feelings your pulse quicken under his touch. “I am not here to hurt you. I am Geralt, of Rivia. I need attendance.” His voice is deep and ragged, with such a severe intensity that you hesitate to reply. He lets his grip loosen on your arm but still keeps it there, ghosting over you.

“Please, I will give you no trouble.”

“I don’t know, a wound of that caliber kind of indicates to me that there’d be a bit of trouble,” you joke, lightly gesturing to his abdomen with your free arm. He says nothing, his eyes scanning your face.

Yeesh. You haven’t seen another person other than your mother in years, but you didn’t think your jokes were that bad.

Once the silence begins to verge on uncomfortable, you slowly remove your arm from his grip and move back a bit, crossing your arms over your torso.

“I can try and help you, Geralt, but I’ve no magic nor any healing powers. I can possibly stitch that wound you’ve got and give you some fresh ale to help with the pain?” you propose, even though you had quite shoddy sewing skills. You swear you see his rock hard expression falter quickly, but it goes right back before you could figure out if it truly happened or not.

“I would appreciate that, uh…”

“Y/N, my name is Y/N, of, well formerly of Cintra,” you smile tightly, forcing those thoughts out of your head.

He simply hmmed, and you spot his eyes trailing down your collarbones to fall onto your chest. You feel the heat come onto your face and you turn around, trying to concentrate on anything except the amber of eyes of the stranger.

“Come inside. I’ll get changed quickly and then hopefully get you back to health, and on your way.”

•••••••

He was bad at talking. Or rather, he just didn’t want to talk to you.

Once you two were inside, you tossed on a large tattered poncho over your nightgown and grabbed the old sewing kit on your nightstand, praying that you had the skills to hopefully help this man. He was sat on your bed, constantly fidgeting around to try and get comfortable.

“I know, it’s quite hard, isn’t it? I wake up feeling ten years older every night,” you look up to smile at him while you try and get the thread through your needle. It feels like hours pass before he says anything.

“I am used to discomfort.”

You try to rack your brain to think of what to say, because who the hell says that, but you come up short and decide to work on the pressing task at hand. As soon as you prepare the needles, you stand up and walk towards the back of your shack where all of your food and drink are stored, and grab the beer you and your mother made with the fresh grains.

“Here,” you hand it to him, ignoring the electricity that runs through your arm when his fingers brush against yours. “Hopefully this will help with the pain.”

He gives you another hmm and takes a large swig while you sit next to him, being extra cautious to make sure there is enough space between the two of you. He quickly finishes his drink with a sigh and places it on your nightstand, looking back at you with expecting eyes.

“I, um, need you to remove your dressings. For me to work, of course,” you sputter, mentally kicking yourself in the head.

You notice Geralt’s lips rise oh so slightly into a little smirk as you stuttered, and he wastes no time tossing his bag with his weapons onto the floor and then slowly removing the many articles of clothing on his torso. You feel an odd pull in the bottom of your stomach when you see his shirtless body, his arms veiny and riddled with scars, his chest muscular and equally as blemished. That same heat rises to your cheeks and you look down at his wound, wincing as you examine the gash.

“Lean back, please,” you murmur, cringing at how weak you sound. “I can’t properly stitch you in this position.”

He obliges wordlessly as he splays his half-naked body onto your cot, closing his eyes. You realize how much effort you’re putting into just breathing, and you get to work on closing the wound, getting into a rhythm with your sewing. His abdomen clenches but he lets out no audible indication of pain, his mouth sealed in a tight frown.

“How did this happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I do.”

Shocked at his rude candor, and embarrassed, you say nothing as you press your head down, hoping to make no further eye contact with him. He hisses as you work towards closing the largest part of the wound, and you thought of apologizing but decided against it due to his track record when it came to talking. You continue to stitch in silence until the wound was closed, and you sigh in relief as you looked at your finished work. Wasn’t great, but wasn’t going to kill him.

“It should heal soon, hopefully,” you stand up, moving to rub your hands on your thighs until you notice the bloodstains all over them. With a shiver, you grab a wet cloth and roughly scrub at hands. You couldn’t stand the smell of someone else’s blood any longer.

You hear a creak and turn around to see Geralt standing up with his clothing in his hand, and you immediately feel anger cloud your head.

“What the hell? You’re going to pull the stitches, you idiot,” you grab the clothes out of his hands and toss them back on the ground. “I did not just cover my hands in blood for God knows how long for you to mess up my work minutes after!” you exclaim, putting your hands on your hips. Geralt laughs in such a condescending way that you can’t even begin to hold back the fury in your voice.

“You asked me for help, remember? I should be hearing ‘Wow, thank you Y/N for helping me, a random stabbed stranger!’”

Geralt’s smile falls as he stares into your eyes, and you feel that same discomfort from when you first found him outside. He just did everything with such intent and passion that when it was directed at you, you felt like jumping out of your skin.

“Thank you, Y/N, for what you’ve done, but I will be fine. I must be on my way,” he grimaces as he takes a step, and you can almost feel the pain with him.

“Geralt, listen. I get it, you’re a strong guy,” you step in front of him and try and remove the anger from your voice. “But you’re going to need to relax for at least a day. Give the stitches some time to settle.”

“I’ve no place to stay. It’s just forest, for miles.”

“You can stay with me.”

The sentence leaves your mouth before you can even recognize what you’re saying. Geralt’s eyebrows raise and he tilts his head slightly, eyeing you as one would to a lost puppy. Any confidence you had immediately dissipates when you realize what you just suggested, and you open your mouth but nothing comes out.

“I mean, only if- if you’d like. If not, I’m sure you can make it to a town on foot by tomorrow. I’m sure your fast,” you finally choke out with a scratchy laugh, and you shut your eyes, wishing this entire situation would just disappear.

Geralt laughs again, but this time it’s much more earnest and kind of … adorable? Not that you should think of this strange man who’d been knifed and wandered through a forest as adorable, but he kind of was.

“Y/N, open your eyes,” he says, his voice surprisingly stern. You look up at him, preparing for another blunt response, but are met with much softer eyes.

“I wouldn’t wish to overstay my welcome.”

“You wouldn’t be,” you breathe, shyness creeping up under his gaze. “I- I would like for you to stay. Just so I can make sure the stitches are okay.”

You didn’t notice it until now, but Geralt’s fingertips were so lightly touching yours that there was almost no contact, but just close enough to get that same pull in the bottom of your stomach. You’d never felt anything like this before, and as much as it terrified you, you didn’t want it to end.

"Alright, then it's settled, Y/N. I'll stay."

#the witcher #witcher x reader #witcher x y/n #the witcher fanfiction #geralt #geralt of rivia #geralt of rivia fanfic #the witcher fandom #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill fanfic #fanfiction #reader-insert #fluff #witcher fluff

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cylonalyna · 4 years ago

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Alyna watches Xena! S01x01 – Sins of the Past

Beware. For the road is long and full of spoilers… I mean, if a 25 years old show can be spoiled. But fair warning.

I was never a fan of Hercules so when I watched the pilot I didn’t know what Xena’s back story was and that it was Hercules who convinced her to change her ways. And because I didn’t know that, I thought Xena was just this ex-evil warrior who changed her ways because of some reason known to her. Anyway, I remember watching this episode out of boredom and thinking it’s just a female version of Hercules, but oh boy, was I wrong. Thankfully. And this thing here was supposed to be short but I made a very long recap of the episode. Sorry not sorry, I’m gonna be making recaps of the series. Yes, every single episode… Not regularly... And it's gonna be long… Deal with it.

And maybe read it and let me know what you think. :)

Oh, and if there are any grammatical or punctuation errors also let me know. English isn't my first language so there might be some things to fix. :)

We start with Xena is going through some burned village reminiscing on her past when she was just killing, pillaging and burning villages… And people too, I guess. And then there’s this boy coming out of a burned house asking for food. And when Xena asks him where his parents are, he says Xena killed them. He describes her attack as if the goddess herself showed up and fucked the village up for no reason and Xena is all like:

And it’s really one of the best moments of a pilot, because we’re shown flashback of the attack so even without watching Hercules and meeting Xena there we can see she used to be a bad bitch. So before leaving she gives the kid some bread and cheese so he could hide in his burned house and eat something before he dies of some sickness, gets killed, is eaten by wild animals in search for food etc. Brilliant plan boy, you’re a prodigy.

So then we have the scene where Xena digs a hole and puts her armor her sword and chakram there and frankly, she’s not really a clean lady since there’s still blood and some meat pieces on her chakram.

*rule #1 - wash your weapons from enemies intestines*

And suddenly, a whole bunch of villagers is chased by some warlord taken straight from Mad Max movie. Xena observes the situation, the Mad Max warlord says he’s gonna get the girls (men, smh) and then this blonde girl is all like “take me and leave everyone” and warlords are like “lmfao, nope” and Xena is all like:

*Carless Whisper saxophone solo intensifies*

Because frankly, who wouldn’t be? I know I had the same reaction to Gabrielle so I get Xena. I totally get it.

So when the warlord wants to whip Gabrielle for being insubordinate Xena suddenly jumps into action and starts kicking ass. We get backflips, kicks, punches and a really awesome action sequence until Xena is hit in the head (because she was watching if Gabrielle was safe and it got her distracted. Again, totally understandable).

Men are standing there groaning “argh, grr, rghhg” or something like that and then BOOM! Xena takes out her sword from the hole and with a laugh starts fighting them. And you can see how much fun she has. She kicks warlords’ asses and realizes they’re from Draco so she tell them to say hello from Xena. But who’s Draco? What does he do? Is he more evil then Xena? We don’t know! And… opening!

In a time of ancient gods, warlords… Well, you know it.

So later on Xena is in this small village surrounded by the villagers and Gabrielle is fawning over her and the whole situation, and Gabrielle’s father comes in being all like “thanks for saving us, but now GTFO” and this tall dude behind him wants to take Gabrielle. But Gabrielle is all like “dude, I know I’m supposed to marry you against my will and then die in childbirth or of boredom, but I’m not gonna listen to you. GTFO”. So when he leaves, Gabrielle begs Xena to take her with her. Xena being stoic and supposedly unmoved by Gabrielle words of course disagrees, because “she works alone” and… Then she tells Gabrielle she’s going to Amphipolis, because OF COURSE Gabrielle wouldn’t try and follow her. Nope. Not at all. And she goes like “don’t follow me, you don’t wanna make me mad, do you?” and of course Gabrielle is all like “yeah, no sure, I get it” but then is of course “meh, she’s not that scary. I just need a plan!”

So we move to Draco’s camp where he’s without shirt exposing his bare chest, being all handsome and shit, and being badass when catching almost four arrows at once. But then he’s sort of colorblind… I mean he notices the color of the arrow that wounded him but can’t see who has green arrows when the dude’s arrows are visible from behind his back...

*seriously Draco…*

Anyway, later he’s alone and Xena sneaks in and they have the whole who's tougher bitch, which is Xena of course, and she asks him to leave the village alone (because of her future wife or something) and Draco’s all like “yeah, sure… If you join me” and when Xena says she can’t join Draco, being a typical man he asks why. And we get this really awesome scene where Xena dramatically turns her back, stares at nothing and says she’s going home. OH, DRAMA!

So Draco becomes even a bigger drama queen than Xena and tells our warrior saying he’s dreamt of being in love with her or… fighting in battle or whatever, can’t remember, but Xena turns and Draco goes all soft and says he’ll spare those villagers. But he also asks Xena what's she looking for at home. Being still in drama mode he tells her that when he tried to come home his dad beat the shit out of him with a blacksmith’s hammer. And he survived that. Damn, he IS badass! I mean, have you people ever seen a blacksmith hammer?!

*10/10 wouldn't recommend this an educational tool*

Meanwhile, Gabrielle wants to escape home in the middle of the night and while sneaking out she… Hits strategically placed table waking up her sister Lila. Gabrielle explains to her she needs to follow Xena because she’s in lo… She wants to be a warrior like her and that she doesn’t love Perdicus and it’s her destiny. So Lila being a supportive sister is all like “Go, chase your girlf…. Dreams! Just do it!” and Gabrielle leaves.

*Lila being a supportive sister*

It’s daylight and Xena is riding Argo when suddenly her horse stops all afraid. So Xena gets off the horse that suddenly runs away and… The Blind Cyclops shows up with Draco’s dad’s blacksmith’s hammer! (I honestly don’t know if I used Saxon Genitive in the right way, but I hope you get the meaning). Xena is all like “Fuuuck, that’s a big hammer!” which makes the Blind Cyclops even more badass than he already is, but she stands to fight and humiliates him by dropping his pants. He starts bawling like a baby and Xena leaves him and continues her journey to Amphipolis, because she has no time to deal with Cyclops drama.

But Draco is plotting against Xena. He decides to attack Amphipolis and pretend it was Xena who told him to do it. Plot thickens, you guys.

Gabrielle is afraid of bridges… And gets caught by…Yes, you guessed right. The Blind Cyclops. But being a smart girl she says she’s out here to find and kill Xena because… And here we have very subtexty dialogue:

C: “How’s the young thing like you is gonna kill Xena?”

G: “That’s the point. She’d never let a man get close enough to do her. At least not that kind of do her. But a young, innocent looking girl like me, I’ll catch her totally off guard…

*You sure will, Gabrielle. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)*

At the same time, Xena is being followed by Draco’s warlords. They’re dumb enough to think she doesn’t know so she goes all ninja on them, fingers the Mad Max warlord… I mean, she cuts the blood to his body… Pervs. ;) And when she learns about the plan she leaves to stop the invasion.

In the next scene, Gabrielle is chilling out on the road when some old dude stops and tells her to GTFO, because she’s blocking the only route to Amphipolis. So Gabrielle convinces him to take her with him and the old dude agrees.

So while Gabrielle and the old man are traveling on the only route to Amphipolis, Xena is taking a detour through the hills for dramatic effect or something. Basically, New Zealand… I mean Greece is a beautiful place so why not show it, right? Right?

She meets those peasant women singing Bulgarian… I mean Greek chants and rides through them, but they don’t give a shit being too into chanting and putting on stacks of… Hay, I guess. Meh, whatever.

So Xena reaches Amhipolis and goes into a tavern to drink wine and sleep with beautiful women. But unfortunately it’s not that kind of a tavern and there’s no wine and beautiful women to sleep with. All she meets are angry people, silence and… wait for it… her mother, Cyrene!

Cyrene grabs Xena’s sword and tells her she’s not welcomed there and she should GTFO. Xena wants to rally people against Draco but Cyrene is against and she tells Xena she’d rather die and that she’s not her mother. And it’s a rather powerful stuff, because we only know glimpses of Xena’s past so we don’t really know how big her crimes are. Of course burning one village and killing peasants is a big no no, but Xena is too big of a character to be hated for such a minor offense. Anyway, villagers in the tavern also tell Xena to GTFO so she does.

Draco is pissed that Mad Max warlord told Xena about his plans and tells him to pick a weapon. Sadly it’s not Draco’s father’s blacksmith’s hammer because that’s been stolen by the Blind Cyclops, but a simple spear. Still, Draco proves to be truly awesome by kicking Mad Max warlord’s ass and killing him while telling new plans to his people. Truly, he was a great choice for a pilot.

In the morning, Xena comes back to the tavern looking around hoping to find some wine and beautiful ladies to sleep with, but to her disappointment there are still none. But her sword is there. And her mom is there. Oh boy, this tension between them could cut diamonds in half. But we get a bonding moment where Cyrene and Xena open old wounds so they could heal, and Xena tells her mother she might not be able to set things right, but she’s gonna spend the rest of her life to try. It’s another great moment in this show where we see Xena in her vulnerable state and not all powerful and strong. And this moment is ruined by villagers coming into the tavern saying Xena’s army is burning fields to which Xena answers they’re lying, Cyrene feels all hurt thinking it was all a ruse and leaves, and villagers start throwing rocks at our warrior princess.

But then Gabrielle comes to the rescue! Because Gabrielle has a natural talent to talk her way out of troubles, she uses it to save Xena. She uses a cunning bluff of “if you hurt bad guy’s girlfriend imagine how pissed he’ll be”. So the villagers reluctantly agree and decide to not commit murder. After a small talk Xena takes Gabrielle on her horse and takes her to her dead brother. Because, you know, there’s no better start of a romance than a visit at the crypt.

So Xena is talking to his dead brother saying she’s lost but that she’s gonna be ok, but that she’s alone and then Gabrielle shows up saying she’s not. And by the way that they’re looking at each other we’re to believe these two weren’t into each other from the beginning? Please.

*they’ve known each other for like 1 hour and we get those looks already? So straight indeed*

Meanwhile, the villagers are waiting for Draco to make a deal, but when he shows up he’s threatening to destroy everything and kill everyone unless they tell him where Xena is. And this is another great moment for Draco, because he really is a scary and ruthless dude and I really wish he was more in this show then just 3 episodes. It was a wasted character, imo.

Anyway, while threatening the leader to kill him, Xena shows up and Draco makes fun of her asking about the homecoming. Again, he tries to convince Xena to join him and goes all Palpatine saying she should “celebrate her dark side”, but Xena is all like “pfft, fuck off and let’s fight to the death”. Draco tells her to choose weapons, but Xena leaves the choice to Draco. Now, Draco being a really smart guy and someone who knows how good Xena is with swords, chooses staffs. I’m sure he believes it’ll give him advantage or at least even oit the odds. Xena chooses the conditions and her conditions are to fight on a scaffolding. The first person to touch the ground is gonna die. Draco agrees and tells his people that whoever falls first is to be killed.

Doing a flip with the help of his people he gets to a scaffolding and grabs his staff. Xena is way more of a showgirl. She hits the dude with his staff and when he leans down she jumps on his back and then on a head of another warlord and jumps to meet her opponent.

They start fighting. It’s an even fight and Draco proves to be a worthy opponent. Soon Xena has to fight to stay on the bamboo scaffolding as it starts to fall off. The archers prepare to shoot, Cyrene shows up and everyone is thinking if she’s gonna fall. But no, Xena standing on one bamboo stick starts hitting bamboos under Draco’s feet to make him back out and leave him vulnerable. But Draco stands tough and very soon he manages to make Xena almost fall again. She manages to hang on her staff, her legs barely touching the ground. Cyrene starts panicking, being all teary, because, come on, she’s a mom. No matter how pissed our moms are at us, they worry 24/7.

Draco starts hiting Xena’s hands wanting her to let go and fall, asking her why she would die for the people that hate her. But Xena grabs Draco’s staff with her feet and doing a truly awesome backflip she manages to stand on the scaffolding again attacking him. Draco almost falls but jumps on people’s heads and give Xena a signal to join him.

And the same villagers who earlier denied Xena her wine and beautiful women to sleep with, and wanted her dead are now supporting her… Literally. She manages to stand on the arms of one person and attacks Draco. They do backflips, kicks, punches and all that for a few minutes and then with one swift kick to the chest Draco falls down on the ground and Xena jumps on his chest looking down upon him to let him know he’s just a little bitch and not a match to her skills. Xena promises to spare Draco if he leaves the valley and he agrees.

But one of his warlords decides to sneakily attack Xena from behind. Gabrielle’s warns her, but before the warrior can react Draco throws his knife at him. After all, Draco may be a ruthless warlord, but he’s honorable.

After the fight Xena is preparing to leave when Cyrene shows up and hugs Xena, who asks again for forgiveness and is, of course, given that. It's a truly awesome moment in this pilot.

But, and honestly I have no idea why, Xena doesn’t stay in the tavern for wine and beautiful women to sleep with. Maybe there is no wine and beautiful women to sleep with after all. Instead, Xena starts a fire near some woods when she hears some noise and goes into a warrior mode. But, as it turns out, it’s just Gabrielle saying she wanted to follow Xena without her noticing, but she couldn’t start a fire and it’s cold and there are mosquitoes looking lkke eagles or something.

Xena wants to send her back home, but Gabrielle says she won’t go. There’s a talk about not belonging there and Xena seems to understand Gabrielle completely. So when she gives Gabrielle a blanket we get one of the most beautiful moments in the pilot.

*couldn't find gif so you're stuck with bad screenshot*

And in the morning we see Xena and Gabrielle travelling to new adventures to right wrongs, drink wine and… Oh forget it.

This episode is all kinds of awesomeness. It’s a great introduction to a character of Xena even to those, like me, who didn’t know her from Hercules. It has tons of very well choreographed fights, amazing music and it’s a rreally strong pilot that makes you wanna see more.

10/10

#xena warrior princess #xena #gabrielle #xena and gabrielle #lucy lawless #renee o'connor #sins of the past #01x01 #alyna watches xena

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lovemalecforever · 3 years ago

Text

Chapter 15

Let's have some Madnus

*Morning- the time when Alec and Catarina left for New York*

"Alec, we should leave now. It's time." Catarina said knowing that the soon they'll get this done, the better.

Alec nodded in response as Catarina opened the portal for them. Alec gave Magnus a quick goodbye kiss before stepping through the portal, then vanished into it.

As soon as the swirling vortex closed a depressed look crept over Magnus' face, Alec wasn't even gone for a second, and he was missing his husband already. It's the first time after that incident that Alec left Idris, that too for days. He didn't know how he'll manage to go through these three dreadful long nights without his husband. The days were fine, his work will keep him occupied, but nights...

A tugging at his jacket broke him out of his thoughts. "Maagnus? What happened? You look sad. Are we not going to party?" Madzie asked innocently.

Magnus bent down and took her in his arms. 'How can I be an idiot! How can I forget about my favorite warlock staying with me.' he cursed in his mind.

"Oh, sweet pea, yes, obviously we're going to party. It's just that I'm missing Alec, nothing more."

"I miss him too." She said with a sad tone.

"Okay, come on now, what do you want to do?" He asked her to light up both of their moods.

"Party! Party party party," she kept screaming.

"Stop it, sweet pea, I got that. We'll party in the evening, it's only afternoon. What else you want to do apart from partying, young lady?"

"Teach me new magic, potions, I want to learn how to brew potions, mom doesn't let me. And, and cooking I want to learn cooking, no baking, choco chip cookies, yes, teach me how to bake cookies. I want cookies. Teach me, teach me, teach me. Pleeeease." She said excitedly, showing him her best puppy eyes.

"Oh, hush, you bundle of energy. One at a time. Let's teach you some new magic first." He put her on the floor then took her to his study room, or his workroom to be specific, where he keeps all the stuff.

Madzie might be a kid, but she was really powerful at her age. And a quick learner too. Magnus always suspected that she's going to be the most powerful one in the upcoming generation of warlocks. He taught her some new things and made her practice more what she already knew. Taught her some new spells and little Chthonian.

If he'll be honest with himself, he did teach her things Cat would never approve of, she was still a child, but a powerful warlock in Magnus' opinion, so he wasn't able to help himself. But he was sure that if his best friend would find out she'll ban him from meeting Madzie for a month or worse put a body swap spell on him or maybe a gender change spell, he shivered from the thought of it, Catarina Loss could become unpredictable when she's angry. He didn't want to think about the consequences right now.

"Magnus, Magnus, look! I did it. Yay, I did it."

Magnus looked at the miniature silver projection of a man or a prince charming as Madzie called it, riding a horse visiting the small town, having a women's crystal heel poking out of his leather bag clinging at him. He stopped in front of a house, dismounted himself from the horse, and started walking towards the door.

"Good job, sweet pea, now focus on the story, the next scene of the story, use your mind, and focus on your magic, let your mind guard your magic. Focus on the events and details, concentrate." He softly whispered.

After a few efforts, Madzie was able to project the whole story with every detail, and now she was exhausted.

"Yay! I did it. Magnus, I'm tired and hungry, cookies, let's bake cookies now."

"No, not cookies, they are snacks, not lunch. We'll eat lunch now then you'll rest because you're exhausted then we'll bake cookies. Understood?"

"But-"

"No, but, young lady, lunch now." He said sternly looking at her.

"Okay, but can I do the summoning? Pleeeease?" She looked at him innocently with her best puppy eyes.

"Do you even have energy left in you for the summoning, Madzie?" He asked her with concern.

"Yes, I do. Please let me do it, please Magnus." She pleaded.

Magnus sighed, he can never win any arguments with her, he was never able to resist his favorite warlock.

"Okay, fine, sweet pea. Let's head to the dining area first."

They both walked towards the dining area and sat opposite each other.

"Okay, sweet pea, now what do you want to eat? Think about it and concentrate."

"Okay." She said sweetly and closed her eyes, then waved her tiny fingers in the airs.

After a few seconds, two plates full of spaghetti with meatballs, two strawberry ice creams, and a glass of orange juice appeared on the table. Magnus sighed but smiled at her, then put the ice creams in the fridge for later. After eating their lunch including the deserts, he noticed her tiny eyelids getting heavy.

"Maagnus, let's play something, come to my room."

"Isn't someone tired, young lady?"

"No, I'm not *yawn* tired." She said softly.

Magnus laughed at her innocence. "Okay, sweet pea, let's head to your room."

He knew she was exhausted, but she wasn't ready to rest at all. It took him a hell of a time to win over the arguments with her, some convincing, but she eventually fell asleep, and he went back to continue his work.

___________________________

*After few hours*

"Maaagnus, where are you?" Madzie yelled while running towards the living room after checking Magnus' bedroom and finding that he wasn't there.

"In the study, sweet pea!" Came his reply.

Madzie ran towards the study and peeked her head inside from the slightly ajar door.

"Maagnus?"

Magnus stopped whatever he was doing and looked at her peeking face then sighed.

"Now what can I do for you, your highness?" He said playfully.

Madzie giggled then ran towards him, he caught her by arms and swung her in circles then held her in arms. They both were laughing by the end.

"Cookies, I want cookies, teach me how to bake them, after that we'll paaaaarty."

"Okay, okay, my lady. Go to the kitchen and wait for me, I'll be there in five minutes. And no use of magic."

"Okay." He put her down on the floor and kissed her cheeks then she ran out of his office.

After five minutes when he reached the kitchen, he saw the slab filled with a flour packet, baking soda jar, salt jar, melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar packets, a vanilla extract box, some eggs, a packet of choco chips and the measuring tools. He looked around and found Madzie sitting on the floor waiting for him. He sighed and shook his head.

"I think I said no magic, Madzie!"

"Oopsie!" She said innocently trying to hide her giggles.

"Someone's really impatient. Now come here." He conjured a chair for her, so she can be at a proper height.

"First, we are going to measure everything. Listen carefully, two cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, 1 cup of brown sugar,

1/2 cup of white sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. We need 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, and 2 cups of chocolate chips." While she was on it, he put the oven to preheat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then explained to her what he did, and helped her with the eggs.

"Good, now in one bowl we put the measured flour, baking soda, salt, and mix them well." He said and guided her wherever needed. He noticed that her tongue was slightly out and there was a slight frown on her forehead because of the concentration and a light smile formed on his lips.

"Now?" She asked excitedly.

"Now, we're going to take a large bowl, then put the melted butter in it, and beat it to a certain amount of consistency." He showed her how to do it. "Now, we'll add the brown sugar and white sugar in it and mix it well. After that, we're going to add the vanilla extract and mix it again." He guided her throughout, the smile never leaving his face.

"Yay! It's looking good. Now what, Magnus?"

"Now we'll add eggs in it and mix it again."

"Done!" She exclaimed.

"Now add all the flour mixture and chocolate chips in it and mix them all together. The dough should be soft."

"Done, is it good?"

He poked his finger over the dough to test the texture, it was smooth and soft. "Perfect!" He smiled at her.

"Yay! What's next, Magnus?" She said while clapping her hands.

"Now," he bent down, and from the lower cabinet he took out a large sheet and a huge plate. "This is called a cookie sheet, and this one is the baking tray." He kept the tray on the table and spread the sheet evenly on the tray with the help of Madzie.

"Now, we'll take a spoon and scoop up ball-sized pieces of dough, and then carefully place them on the cookie sheet, at an equal distance." He handed her a spoon and watched her doing her stuff.

"Done!"

"Now, after five minutes we're going to put this in the oven for 10-15 minutes."

"Okay!"

They put the tray in the oven and waited for the buzzer to went off. In the meantime, Madzie told him all the stories and gossip she got to know from her classes held in New York.

That was something Magnus liked, not the gossip, but the new system of classes held for warlock children, more like a school, led by powerful warlocks to help them control and teach the right way to use their magic, which was starting to spread all across the globe. It wasn't just a school consisting of classes but also an orphanage for those poor warlock kids whom those terrified mundanes thinking they bore a monster, left them to rot in the streets. He was really grateful for the warlocks who led this orphanage/school and partially proud because this was the idea of his husband, and he did everything he could to make sure it happens. His chain of thoughts suddenly broke by a loud buzzing sound.

"Is it ready?" Madzie asked excitedly.

"Yes, sweet pea." He shut the oven, wore the baking gloves, took out the tray, and kept it on the slab.

"Yay, cookies! Cookies!" She went forward to take one when Magnus slapped away her hand gently.

"It's too hot right now, sweet pea, you'll burn your mouth. Let it cool down a little."

"Okay." She said in a fake upset voice.

When Magnus went to keep the gloves away, she waved her fingers over the tray and cooled it down a little in an instant.

"Madzie!" Magnus exclaimed when he saw what she did. "I said no magic, miss. You're way too impatient, huh!" He went towards her and started tickling her all over. Soon the whole kitchen was filled with her laughter.

"Ma... hehe... Mag... hehehe... Maaagnus... stop!"

"Fine, young lady!" He said when he himself was exhausted.

He then picked up a few cookies from the tray, took her towards the living room, sat on the couch with Madzie on his lap, and gave a few cookies to her. He took a large bite of his own cookie savoring its delicious taste, it was baked perfectly.

"It's yummy! I'll try making it at home!" She said with a mouthful of her own.

"You can, but with your mom, you won't step in the kitchen alone. Understood?"

"Okay." She said sweetly. "Maagnus? Can we party now?"

Magnus sighed. "Yes, sweet pea, we can."

"Yaaaay! Party! Party!" She started jumping in her place, making him uncomfortable.

"Calm down, you bundle of energy! What do want to have at this party?"

"Can I summon the party decorations?" She asked innocently with her puppy eyes.

"Okay, sweet pea." He said defeated.

Within a minute the whole loft was decorated with pink and white balloons, the floor was filled with light blue balloons, the table in front of them was covered with different kinds of chips, popcorn, and soft drinks, and some party music was playing on high volume.

"Oh my, sweet pea." He clicked his fingers and lowered the volume of the music. But what caught him off guard was the sudden pouring down of rainbow-colored glitters in the whole apartment. He looked at Madzie in disbelief.

"Yay! Yay! Glitter rain!" She started bouncing on the couch with laughter.

"Madzie!" Magnus exclaimed. "You know Alec will punish me if he'll find out about this, right?"

"But you love glitter, Magnus!" She said trying to hide her giggles but failing miserably.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you, you naughty girl." He caught her and started tickling her all over again. Suddenly his doorbell rang making both of them stop with what they were doing.

'Weird! There shouldn't be any client at this time.' he thought then clicked his fingers and vanished all the glitter from the apartment and from both of their bodies. As much as he loved glitter this was actually too much.

He went to open the door and found a woman standing there, with long black hairs wearing a deep blue colored formal dress. What caught his eyes were her pointed ears, dog ears to be specific. A warlock mark.

"Yes?" He asked firmly.

"You must be Magnus Lightwood Bane, I'm Aurelia Rose, Madzie's teacher. Catarina told me she's staying here."

"Yeah, she is, come in!" He said while shaking hands with her. "Sweet pea, it's your... Madzie! Again!" By the time they reached the living room, she started a glitter rain again.

"Miss Rose!" She said excitedly and ran towards her, putting Magnus in trouble completely forgotten.

"Hey, bumblebee!" She bent down and hugged her tightly. "Looks like you both were having a party!"

"Yeah, she was excited about a party since morning. What brings you here, Aurelia?" Magnus asked, confused, and curious.

"Our New York school is hosting a world tour for all the children including the orphan warlocks so that they can explore the world, meet more warlocks around the world, and interact with them. Learn new things as much as they can. I came to pick her up. If that's what you want, bumblebee!"

"Yay! A trip! A trip! Magnus, I'm going on a trip!"

Magnus smiled fondly at her excitement then looked at Aurelia. "When she has to leave?"

"In an hour if possible. All the kids will be at the school in an hour, we've created a permanent portal room at the school so that they can travel easily."

"Oh, okay, there are a few of her stuff is here, but the rest is at Catarina's. I'll talk to her." A wave of disappointment crept over Magnus, but he hid it with a smile.

After talking to Catarina and preparing Madzie for the trip, who was head over heels for the trip the whole time, he waved her goodbye then came back to his apartment.

As soon as he stepped out the portal into his apartment, a wave of sadness and disappointment washed down on him. He looked around the room which was still decorated with balloons, he suddenly felt really empty. He clicked his fingers and cleaned the whole apartment, then sat on the couch, a feeling of loneliness crept over him. The house felt too empty and suffocating to him. He wanted to leave the house as soon as possible. He got up and created a portal and stepped into it.

When he stepped out of the portal, he found himself standing outside a bar in Germany. After taking a deep breath stepped in and ordered a Dry Martini, eager to clear his head filled with disappointment and loneliness. He kept ordering a refill of his drink, completely oblivious to a pair of eyes watching his every move.

#asaab #angst with a happy ending #angst #fanfic authors #alec lightwood #fanfiction #lightwood bane family #malec forever #malec fic #fantasy #fanfic #happily married #magnus bane #malec

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pocket-luv101 · 4 years ago

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Across Time || Chapter 27

Fandom: Servamp Ships: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht

Summary: Mahiru falls into a well and is taken to a new, fantasy world. He comes across a half-blooded cat demon trapped in a tree. After he frees Kuro, he helps him collect the shards of the sacred jewel. (KuroMahi, InuYasha AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || Ch.6 || Ch.7 || Ch.8 || Ch.9 || Ch.10 || Ch.11 || Ch.12 || Ch.13 || Ch.14 || Ch.15 || Ch.16 || Ch.17 || Ch.18 || Ch.19 || Ch.20 || Ch.21 || Ch.22 || Ch.23 || Ch.24 || Ch.25 || Ch.26 || (Ch.27) ||

A bright light filtered through Mahiru’s eyelids and it pulled him out of his sleep. As he slowly regained consciousness, he became more aware of how stiff his body felt. Mahiru opened his eyes and he was confused when he saw the industrial light above him. He had become accustomed to seeing a blue sky whenever he woke. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming.

Mahiru moved his hand and he felt a light grip around it. He turned his head to find Kuro sleeping beside him in a chair. He also realized that he was in a hospital room and they were in his era again. Kuro must’ve taken him back through the well after the fight with Mikuni. Memories of the night came back to him and he tried to sit up. His body refused to move and he groaned slightly.

His voice woke Kuro and he jumped to his feet. He leaned over him and carefully ran his fingers through Mahiru’s brown hair. With his era’s advanced technology, he thought it was best to take him back to his time to treat his wounds. Kuro couldn’t remember the last time he had been so scared. Even now, he was afraid that the slightest touch would hurt him.

“You’re awake.” He whispered as a reassurance to himself more. Kuro brushed his bangs from his forehead and then pressed a soft kiss to the spot. His uncle drove them to a large building and Kuro didn’t understand what they intended to do to help Mahiru. The doctors didn’t allow him to see him until an hour after they took him to another room.

“How long have I been sleeping? Are Tsurugi and the others safe as well? I purified the castle but I don’t know if it was enough to break the spell over them. Touma was there and—” Mahiru paused when Kuro placed his finger against his lips. His warm hand calmed him and Mahiru took a shaky breath. He closed his eyes and leaned into his hand. “He took my jewel shards.”

“We’ll get them back. Don’t think about the sacred jewel or Touma and focus on recovering instead, Mahiru. You used too much of your spiritual energy and I was worried that it would damage your heart. The doctor said you’re fine though.” He made a weak smile. Mahiru stretched out his arms to him and Kuro climbed onto the bed to accept his silent invitation. He hugged him and rested his head against his chest to listen to his heart beat.

Mahiru reached up to touch Kuro’s cat ears but he had a hood pulled over his head. He understood that he had to hide them because doctors would question why a man had cat ears. He slipped his hands beneath his hood and threaded his fingers through his hair until he could scratch his ears. Kuro started to purr and Mahiru chuckled lightly at the sound. His laughter ran through his chest and Kuro could feel it.

Kuro sat up and his bell rang between them. The sound drew Mahiru’s attention to the pouch he wore and the jewel shards glowed through the fabric. They had fought countless battles to collect the shards yet Touma took them from him so easily. He was already injured and he couldn’t use his spiritual power at the time. Mahiru still felt guilty.

“Are you thinking about what happened? Mikuni made that trap to take all of our jewel shards but you were the one who stopped him. Your arrow broke his spell and he ran away after that.” Kuro knew how Mahiru took on too much responsibility and he wished he would acknowledge his own strength. “We’ll go back and make a plan with Hyde and Licht later. For now, rest.”

“I don’t know if I can relax.” Mahiru admitted and laid back against the pillow. “Who knows how many shards Touma has now that he had stolen my half? He might have a majority of the sacred jewel now.”

He thought of what Touma told him before he took his jewels. He called him weak like his mother. What kind of relationship did they have and why did he resent him? His mother briefly appeared with a pinkish glow around her. He didn’t know if she was truly his mother or the version of her that lived in the past. He recalled how she also protected him from the centipede demon.

Mahiru was pulled out of his thoughts when Kuro took his hand. “I asked your uncle if there was anything that I could do to distract you from what happened and help you feel better. He said I should take out on a date so you would have a break from collecting the jewel shards. I don’t know what a ‘date’ is but I’ll take you anywhere you want.”

“A date isn’t a place. People in your time would call it a part of courting where you take your lover somewhere for fun. It doesn’t matter where as long as we’re together.” He explained. They spent a lot of time together while collecting the jewel shards but they haven’t been able to go on a conventional date. Mahiru wanted to spend time with him on a date, he didn’t know if it was the right time.

Kuro placed his finger beneath his chin and he turned his head to face him. His red eyes were earnest and Mahiru felt his heart quicken. Kuro could see how hesitant he was and he moved his hand to hold Mahiru’s. He gave him a tender squeeze before he said, “You uncle also told me that you like simple dates like going to the movies or eating out.”

“I know a local place that has great ramen and somen where we can eat.” Mahiru said. “But I need to be discharged from the hospital before I can leave. They’ll probably want to do a few tests and speak with me. I don’t know how to explain to them that a wind sorcerer threw me against the wall.”

“Your uncle told them that you fell off your bike. He’s in the cafeteria right now and I’ll go tell him that you’re awake. I’m sure you want to talk to him after being gone so long.” Kuro stood up and kissed his forehead before he left. His consideration touched his heart and Mahiru glanced at the chair beside his bed. He had likely stayed beside him the entire night.

Mahiru called to Kuro as he opened the door. “I’m looking forward to our date, Kuro.”

Licht studied the strange contraption that he often saw Mahiru use to travel. He had never seen something similar before. Mahiru called it a bike and it was unique to his village. He didn’t explain much about the bike and Licht wondered if it was a demon in disguise or a strange wagon. He touched the cold metal and closed his eyes to listen for a heartbeat. “What are you, Mr. Bike?”

Something tickled his neck and Licht instinctively flinched away from the touch. He almost fell into the bike but an arm caught him before he could be hurt. Licht wasn’t surprised after he heard Hyde chuckle in his ear. The demon seemed to enjoy sneaking up behind him to play small tricks. He was more confused with himself since he hadn’t sensed him approach him.

Kirara hadn’t warned him about Hyde behind him either. Instead, the cat demon reached out its tiny paw to him and purred happily. He reasoned that she didn’t warn him because she trusted him after all the time they spent together. Licht petted Kirara and he hated to admit that he felt the same. They were so accustomed to Hyde’s presence that they didn’t react to his approach. Despite everything he learned as a demon slayer, he considered Hyde a new comrade.

“Are Kuro and Mahiru back from their mysterious village?” Licht asked and moved out of Hyde’s arms. Kuro had immediately taken Mahiru back to his village and he forgot to bring the bike and backpack in his rush. He brought the two items back to Toru’s village for them. “I wonder if Mahiru is also from a village of demon slayers for Kuro to keep their location a secret. He didn’t allow anyone to follow him and he destroyed his tracks.”

“Who would believe a lazy bastard like my brother would go through so much trouble for a human? Even though he was panicked, he thought of Mahiru’s wish to keep his village a secret. I was curious about the place since Mahiru is different. I considered tracking him but I’m sure Kuro would be mad if I did. Mahiru must be something.” Hyde joked but Licht started to feel strange. He was jealous of how he spoke of Mahiru. Licht respected Mahiru and he knew Hyde only saw him as a friend yet the feelings turned his stomach.

He looked away from him and flicked the bike pedal. Licht wanted to push aside the confusing feelings to focus on the twirling pedal. Then, he felt Hyde’s large hand on his head and he tousled his hair. He looked back to see him grinning. “As strange as Mahiru is, he can never be as unique as an angel. I’ve never heard of a demon slayer with a pet nekomata.”

“I didn’t know Kirara was a demon at first. She wandered into my crib when I was a toddler and I assumed she was a regular cat. I adopted her. According to my mother, I cried loud enough to attract demons when they tried to take her away from me.” Licht slipped the cat from his shoulder and cradled her in his arms. “She’s my family and I didn’t want to be separated from her.”

“Kirara adores you too. She’s not fully grown and intelligent like other nekomata but I can understand her when she purrs.” As Hyde petted the cat, he leaned closer to Licht without thinking. “I heard you talking to ‘Mr. Bike’. This thing is probably a tool for travelling though. It doesn’t have a demon presence and Mahiru doesn’t talk to it like he would a pet.”

“Mahiru sits on it like a horse.” Licht picked up the bike and he imitated how Mahiru would sit on it. He swung his leg over the seat but he found it difficult to balance on the bike. The wheels were thin and the ground was uneven. “Mahiru places his feet on these two stirrups. Will it go forward if I press on them?”

The moment he took his feet off the ground to press the pedal, the bike started to tilt sideways. Hyde reached out to stop the bike from falling but then he felt a sharp pain on his feet. Licht had hastily placed his foot on the ground for balance and he accidentally stepped on him. The spikes on his boots made the pain worse. He saw him wince but he didn’t become angry like he expected. Hyde only laughed.

“Maybe we should wait until Mahiru comes back so he can properly teach you how to ride that bike.” He playfully ruffled his hair again. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly interested in the bike. You already have Kirara and she’s faster than this contraption.”

“Kirara is wonderful. She’s the fastest nekomata alive and she can even fly.” Licht agreed and nodded proudly. He petted the cat on his shoulder but his smile became tainted with regret. “We weren’t fast enough to reach the castle before Kuro and Mahiru were attacked by the wind sorcerer. I’m supposed to be the fastest in my family but I was too slow again.”

Hyde knew that he was thinking of his father who had also died in one of Touma’s traps. He didn’t know what he could say to comfort him. He placed his hands on the bike and Licht sat in the loose circle of his embrace. “In a fair fight, angels always win. Touma doesn’t fight fair though. When Mahiru sent that familiar to us, it couldn’t take us to the castle because of the barrier.”

“That’s what I hate most about demons. They can never be honest and resort to tricks when fighting us. Demons already have an advantage with their power and we tried to fight back with our numbers. We worked so hard but that demon…” Licht looked up and his words trailed off. He was a demon and he would feel offended that he had insulted his kind. Hyde was different from the demons he fought and he forgot that he was an oni. “I was talking about Touma.”

“I’m a demon and I’ve used cowardly tricks too.” Hyde snapped his fingers and a wind circled them. He let go of the bike but his wind kept it from falling again. Licht cautiously placed his foot on the peddle and pushed down on it to make the bike crawl forward. Hyde walked beside him. “With my knowledge as a demon and a monk, I’ll strip Touma of any tricks he could use. The only thing left is for an angel to purify him. Then, we’ll both have our revenge.”

“A demon slayer, an oni monk, a priest and a half demon. We make a strange team, don’t we?” Licht chuckled and the subtle tilt of his lips was surprisingly attractive. He rarely smiled and Hyde wondered what he could do to see the expression more. An eccentric demon slayer shouldn’t affect him so much when he already promised that he wouldn’t become attached to a human again.

Kirara jumped off his shoulder and shifted into its larger body. He was confused when it growled at them since it was rarely aggressive. Licht stepped off the bike and he walked to the large cat. He reached out to it but Kirara walked past him to the bike and picked it up in her mouth. He watched Kirara carry the bike towards the river and he realized its intention too late.

Kirara dropped Mahiru’s bike into the water.

“Bad girl, why would you do that?” Licht ran into the lake to retrieve the bike before it could be carried away by the current. A small tug on his shirt stopped him and he looked back to Kirara. She whined softly and he wished that he understood what she wanted to tell him. Kirara rarely misbehave so he couldn’t guess why she would throw the bike into the lake. “What is it, Kirara?”

“She got jealous that you were riding on the bike instead of her.” Hyde told him and he had chuckled at the situation.

“You should know that I could never replace you. You’re my family. But Mahiru’s also our family and he’ll be sad if something happens to his bike. Let’s get it and then we can take a ride around the village.” Licht reassured the cat and stroked its fur. Hyde imagined if he held him and he found that he was the one to feel jealous. He didn’t want to be a companion to Licht like Kirara was though.

“You need to catch the noodles, Kuro. I thought you would be better at this since you love ramen and you have cat-like reflexes. Here, you can have this one.” Mahiru used his chopsticks to catch the cluster of nagashi somen that slid down the bamboo shoot. He dipped the noodles into the broth and then brought it to Kuro’s mouth to feed him. He took Kuro to a restaurant that offered a variety of noodles for their date. “How does it taste?”

“Good. You said you were a cook for a restaurant. Did you make dishes like this? The food at this restaurant tastes different from yours. I would like to taste yours since the food you make back home has a different seasoning. It’s simple but good too.” While Mahiru brought him cup ramen to eat, Kuro also enjoyed when he would cook for them.

“I actually work in a curry shop but I know how to make noodles like this. Once we have an opportunity like this again, I’ll make somba from scratch for you. It would be difficult for me to carry all the supplies I need to make homemade noodles to the past.” Mahiru offered. “My uncle bought this toy version of a bamboo shoot where you can slide down noodles like this. Maybe I can find it for the occasion.”

Mahiru had a bright smile whenever he spoke of his uncle and Kuro couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to him in that moment. He brushed his bangs from his forehead so he could see his brown eyes better. His casual touch caused Mahiru to pause as if he were spellbound. They were always together in the feudal era but his touch felt more intimate now that they were on an official date.

“Is there something on my face, Kuro?” Mahiru tried to hide that he was blushing by rubbing a napkin over his cheek. The action only drew Kuro’s attention to his lips and he forced himself to turn back to his bowl. He was tempted to kiss him but he didn’t know if he should with so many people around them.

“Pardon me,” A voice came between them and Kuro leaned away from Mahiru. A waiter held up a pitcher of water and asked, “Would you like me to refill your glasses?”

“Yes, thank you. We’re finished eating so can you get us our bill? The food was great.” Mahiru said and reached for his wallet to pay for the meal. He was a little confused when Kuro stopped him by placing his hand over his.

“I’ll pay for the food. Your uncle said that it’s my responsibility to take care of you as your mate.” Kuro told him. Mahiru didn’t know how he intended to pay the bill when he didn’t have money from his era. He was happy that his uncle supported their relationship but he hoped he didn’t give him money to pay for their date. Then, Kuro said: “I have a rare mummified kappa claw and that should be enough.”

“Wait, you have what?” Mahiru saw him pull a claw out his pocket and he started to panic. He could only imagine the panic that would occur after they saw the claw. He needed to stop him. “Sit, Kuro!”

“Sorry about using the incarnation on you, Kuro. The waiter would’ve freaked out if they saw a demon’s hand. I might’ve caused a bigger scene by using the spell though.” Mahiru and Kuro held hands as they walked home from the restaurant. It was night and Kuro was surprised by how bright the street was with the lanterns lining the path. Mahiru moved closer to him and leaned his head against his arm.

“Are you cold?” Kuro took off his red robe and placed it over Mahiru’s shoulders. He slipped his arms through the sleeve and drew the fabric to his nose. Mahiru wasn’t cold but he liked the opportunity to wear his jacket and walk close to him. No matter if they were exploring the feudal era or having a simple walk in the modern world, he was happy to spend time with Kuro.

“We ate a lot. How about we burn off all those calories by playing in the park?” Mahiru took his hand and led Kuro into the park across the street. Most would find the park childish but he wanted to see what his reaction would be. The feudal era didn’t have playgrounds with swings and slides. He experienced new things in Kuro’s time and he wanted to give him a similar experience.

Since it was late, the park was empty and they were the only two in the area. Mahiru sat on a swing and lightly kicked off the ground. “I don’t know if you have something similar to playgrounds like this. There are forests next to the village where kids can play and explore. We don’t have as many vast landscapes like you do. Sit on the swing next to me, Kuro.”

He accidentally used the incarnation and he jumped forward to stop him from crashing into the dirt. Mahiru hugged him but the power of the spell was stronger than he expected and he was pulled to the ground as well. He fell onto his back but he wasn’t hurt by Kuro. Kuro caught himself before he could fall on top of Mahiru.

They laid on the ground but Mahiru found himself laughing. He reached up to play with the bell hanging from his neck and rang it lightly. “When we have the chance to speak with my uncle in the past again, we should ask him how to break the incarnation. He cast the spell so you wouldn’t try to steal the jewel from me. We don’t have to worry about that so you don’t need this.”

“The incarnation is troublesome but I want to keep the bell. It’s the first thing you gave me.” He said and sat up. Mahiru had his arms around his neck and he moved with Kuro. He tightened his hold around him lightly and thought of how well they fit together. His arms made him feel safe and protected and Mahiru didn’t want to let go of him.

“You know, Kuro, when you said that you talk to me uncle, I was a little scared. I thought you two would’ve said that I should stay in my time here. Touma was able to take my jewel shards from me.” Mahiru placed his hand over his heart where he would wear the necklace that held his shards. “Without the shards, I can never go back or see you again. That scares me more than Touma.”

“I can never leave you behind again.” Kuro took off his jewel shards and slipped it around Mahiru’s neck. He cupped his face and leaned down to kiss his forehead. The fight before them was dangerous but he understood Mahiru’s wish to face the challenge together. He was the strongest person he knew yet he would fight for him and future together. “I won’t let Touma or anyone else hurt you again.”

“Touma didn’t hurt me and I think it was because my mother was there. She also protected us from the centipede demon the night we met. At first, I thought I hallucinated her but there could be a chance she’s still alive. Touma wasn’t surprised to see Mother so he must know something. I want to talk to him.” Mahiru decided. “It’ll be more difficult to defeat him than simply killing him.”

“It’ll be troublesome but we’ll find a way.” Kuro agreed to his plan quicker than Mahiru expected but his answer warmed his heart. “We should head home before demons come out. It’s night. I don’t know what kind of demons live in this park but I would rather not fight them.”

“My time doesn’t have demons but it is rather late. I wanted to enjoy the park but I think there’s something you’ll enjoy more. I like sleeping under the stars with you but you haven’t tried sleeping in a bed. It’s more comfortable then the ground.” Mahiru hugged Kuro’s arm and grinned up at him. “I don’t usually have sex on the first date but I’ll make an exception for you, Kuro.”

“There’s no rush to go back so we can stay the night.” He leaned down and kissed him softly.

#servamp #kuromahi #lawlicht #sloth pair #greed pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #servamp hyde #licht jekylland todoroki #fanfiction

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green-eyed-whumpster · 4 years ago

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My OC Universe: Rowan 101

Chapter 101 Summary: Peter introduces Rowan to a new skill and a visitor comes to the cottage. (Tags: @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi, @much-ado-about-whumping, @abitefullofeverything, @whump-me-all-night-long, @sky-or-something-idfk and @tears-and-lilies)

Trigger Warnings: PTSD whumpee, knives

Peter was struggling to find a job that he wanted Rowan to do, he didn’t want to give him anything too hard, but he didn’t want to patronise the boy. After he finished eating he asked if Rowan would do the dishes, which he had finished before Peter had even begun his work.

“You bought a sewing kit, didn’t you? Wouldn’t you like to adjust your clothes?” He finally asked, feeling Rowan’s eyes boring into his skull as he pulled his tools out.

“I-I would,” Rowan murmured. “But my hands are shaking too much to thread the needle.” Peter looked up and his shoulders slumped slightly at the look on Rowan’s face. He had asked for something to do, he wanted to help, and he couldn’t even help himself fix his clothes.

“Well, I know…I know it might be a bit difficult for you to begin doing, but would you be at all interested in carving wood?” He asked, piquing Rowan’s interest and making the boy’s eyes dart up.

“Could I?” He asked excitedly. “How would I do it?” Peter straightened and moved around his work bench to be closer to Rowan.

“Come here,” He felt the boy race to his side and picked up a small cut branch. He had stripped it of the bark and his fingertips roved over the smooth, pale timber. “This is pine,” He explained, showing it to Rowan. “It’s a softwood so it won’t be hard to learn with, I’ve marked out the approximate shape of a spoon, what you can do is thin out this end and round out this area before caving in the bowl of the spoon,” He paused in showing Rowan the dimensions of the wood to glance at him, expecting understanding, but the boy was dumbfounded.

“Sorry,” He muttered, resettling his shoulders. “We’ll start easier, you see the outline, don’t you?” He looked to Rowan, who nodded. “Just follow the pattern, start with the handle, whittle down the length of it until it’s barely touching the outline, and then we can move on.” The boy nodded and his hands moved eagerly towards the lump of wood.

“Can I try?” He asked and Peter nodded, releasing the timber as Rowan took it.

“Absolutely.” He smiled and looked at the way Rowan turned it over in his hands. “The tools are here, use the medium knife to start, don’t be afraid of just working slowly, it’s easier to just take off small bits at a time, and when you’re new, it’s better for control.” He held the knife to Rowan, waiting until his fingers closed around the handle before letting go.

“You’ll stay and watch me, right?” He asked and Peter nodded.

“I’ll be just here, don’t be afraid to ask if you need any help.” Rowan nodded and looked at the wood inquisitively as Peter returned to his place where he was carving a comb from the cleaned bones of one of his kills.

Rowan tested out a few different ways of holding the tools to find the most comfortable, he would glance up to Peter, but he wasn’t hovering over Rowan, invested in his own work. There was a rough bowl beside him that held more of the combs, higher quality the closer to the surface – it was a new talent he was practicing, and improving with every finished product.

It was slow going, morning was over and Rowan had barely carved down the outer layer of the wood, but he wasn’t rushed, and it was good being able to do something with his hands. The curls of wood fell onto the table like huge snowflakes and he would pick them up sometimes to crush them between his fingertips. Olivia figured out that he wasn’t interested in doing much and had lain down at his feet, snoozing under the cool shade of the table. Peter was impressed with how easily Rowan was finding the work, he didn’t expect the boy to keep at it, after a while the action was repetitive and straining. He wouldn’t have blamed Rowan for getting bored.

Olivia’s head lifted but Rowan didn’t respond, she would shift every once in a while and resettle herself on the grass. She hauled herself to her feet and turned her head towards the path they had taken to the village, Rowan glanced over when she moved away from him, but it wasn’t strange. It was only once her sharp and powerful bark echoed in his skull did he question something. Both Rowan and Peter looked over to her and noticed someone coming from the path.

“Olivia, come here,” He said calmly and she looked over her shoulder, cantering to his legs and snuffling his calves.

“I wonder who it is,” Peter commented, lowering his tools to stand up and move towards it. A man emerged with a bag slung at his hip, he was on a horse that was trotting lazily towards them. As he saw the pair he reached into the bag and pulled out an envelope, waving to Peter with his other hand.

“Hey!” Peter grinned, returning the wave as he drew alongside the man. Rowan couldn’t hear their brief conversation, Peter looked at the envelope and responded to the man before waving him off again.

“What was it?” Rowan asked as he came towards the work table again.

“The postman,” Peter smiled, standing against the wood. “There’s a letter for you.” Rowan’s eyebrow raised and he looked at Peter with confusion.

“For me?”

#whump #medieval whump #my writing #oc #Rowan #Olivia #Peter #PTSD whumpee #therapy animal #coping mechanism #bone #knives #carving #wood carving

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lorei-writes · 5 years ago

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Kenshin x Witch!MC

For the readers of the series: No, the ending isn’t sad. None of the endings in the series will ever be.

Content Warnings:

Background: animal attack, near-death experiences, war, death, torture, blood, human trafficking

Kenshin x Witch!MC: food, alcohol mention, war, severe injury, pain, death, anxiety, blood

Background:

It was said that she was blessed by gods themselves.

When she was still a little girl, maybe three or four years old at most, she was attacked by feral dogs. Her parents thought they wouldn’t get to her in time, that she would be bitten to death. However, her injuries started to heal before their eyes - that, they could not believe.

Fearing what would happen to her, her parents decided to move out of the city instantly, leaving behind their previous lives.

They decided to live in the village from which her mother came.

To her parents’ relief, she didn’t seem to be aware of her ability, the dog incident being nothing more but a nightmare to her.

That was meant to change, as the war swept through their region.

She was fifteen when the village was pillaged. They tried to escape.

Her parents were killed - and so, she was meant to die as well. Yet, to her and the soldiers’ disbelief, the lethal injuries inflicted upon her healed within seconds, not even scars left behind.

She would not die. Once the soldiers realised that, she was brought back to the encampment with them.

The commander found her to be quite a curiosity. Carefully, the extents of her ability were examined.

Her body would heal itself from any sort of injury. Even lethal wounds would close themselves up, although she did feel exhausted after that.

The commander was interested in whether he could use her to somehow gain advantage over the other side of the conflict. However, she could not heal other people at will. Seeing that, his irritation grew.

In his mind, she was a mere object, a tool - a tool that did not fulfil its duty, at that. Unbothered by the state of her health, he demanded for another experiment to be conducted.

The injuries of soldiers that drank her blood healed almost instantly.

Soon, the rumours of a woman with blood of eternal life spread.

Throughout the years, she was stolen away, sold off and kidnapped multiple times. She couldn’t find it in herself to care - in the end, she was not able to protect a single soul dear to her.

Kenshin x Witch!MC:

The shouts of fleeing soldiers filled the air, yet she couldn’t find it in herself to move. Why would she, after all? She attempted to escape multiple times, always to no avail. At worst, she’d change her owner, for she was just a tool. Not that it meant much - she had a very limited understanding of who her previous captors were.

The wet smacks of hooves against the blood-soaked ground, the agonized screaming, the sweet scent she knew all too well, for all the wrong reasons - but oddly enough, she just sat calmly, awaiting her fate.

The flaps over the entrance to the tent moved, the bright light causing her to squint. A man flickered in her vision, just to be gone the very second she blinked. She could have sworn she saw a tinge of regret in his eyes.

By the time the soldiers came for her, a couple of hours had passed. Within week, she was transported to Kasugayama castle, where she was granted a room of her own.

She couldn’t do anything, but wait, like she did so many times before. In her mind the time was frozen still, the seconds melting into a greater body of eternity - was it the day or the night? Had she even slept - and if so, why was she waiting in the dreams as well? She didn’t know the answers to those questions.

Although reluctantly, Kenshin’s vassals had to finally inform him of her state. She hadn’t eaten anything at all, hardly moving from her place. Hearing that, a strange mixture of feelings bubbled inside of him - regret? Guilt? Shame? Rage? Who knows. Maybe something else entirely.

Seeing as nobody could do anything about her condition, Kenshin took it upon himself to force her to eat.

She recognized him as soon as he entered the room. “ What is your name?” he asked and she replied, like she did for all those years, utterly compliant.

To her surprise, he didn’t come to appoint her as “a healer”. Instead, he sat across from her, demanding her to finish her meal. She obeyed the order.

Kenshin would come to make sure she wasn’t starving everyday. Unsure of what would happen to her, she asked: “ My lord, when will I be used?” “ If you want to be of use, you can work with the other maids.” She clenched her jaw - he wasn’t aware of her ability? Possibly so. Fearing of what would happen to her, had it been discovered, she didn’t say a word. Hope welled inside of her. Perhaps that time would be different.

As soon as she found it in herself to take care of her basic needs, he stopped visiting her. With a new purpose given to her, she began working as a servant.

Having been more of a human doll than a person, she had hardly any experience at tasks she was performing, her movements clumsy and slow, rusty at best. Other people seemed to have pitied her, but that she wasn’t concerned with - she didn’t exactly feel as if she belonged there either way.

At times, she’d get lost in the labyrinth of her mind. A burning sensation was eating at her fingers. She blinked fast, returning to reality - her hand was enveloped by the hot flames of the furnace. She retracted it immediately, seemingly not bothered by the fact, the injury already starting to heal. Only then did she realise that all the people around her were watching her.

Two men gripped her by the arms and brought her before Kenshin. Terrified, they forced themselves into his private quarters, claiming she was a witch. One of them lifted up a sharp knife, aiming to demonstrate her ability, yet was stopped by the lord of the clan himself. They were dispelled.

The anxiety sneaked into her soul, causing her legs to collapse under her. She stumbled to the ground, but managed to lift her gaze. Kenshin was staring right back at her. Assuming it was the end of her, she began explaining her origins, hoping honesty would save her. Did she see compassion on his face? She wasn’t sure.

Regardless of that, her situation changed. She was assigned to care for the castle’s bunny population.

Initially, it tasted like bitter humiliation, her task being both simple and meaningless. However, with the passing of time, she realised something: the other servants were looking at her with suspicion and resentment. It was safer for her to look after the animals, than to work with humans.

The job had another benefit to it as well: at times, she could witness how the bunnies surrounded Kenshin, nuzzling into his legs and arms, effectively enveloping him in a fluffy embrace. It was endearing. Every now and again, she managed to exchange a word with him, maybe chat for a while. Finally, she found a courage in herself to ask him to drink together.

Something started to sprout inside of her heart - something she couldn’t name, still lost in her confused state. However, she didn’t fight it either.

The rumours of her whereabouts have spread and not even a notion of her being in care of the God of War himself could ward off the greedy hands of other lords. United, they attacked Kasugayama.

She begged to be put in care of the wounded, hoping it would get her closer to the battlefield, the emotion stirring inside of her. However, her request was denied. She was dragged out of the bunny garden and hidden away in the depths of the castle.

Against her will, she was locked in one of the rooms, the guards keeping watch by the door. The memories of war flooded her mind, the very thoughts that haunted her everyday life licking at the borders of her consciousness. “ You brought it upon them,” the voice inside of her mocked. “ And you won’t be able to save anybody this time either.”

Her own doubts and intrusive thoughts were drowning her alive, the sheer panic causing her to tremble.

Shouts from the corridor forced her back into her body. She looked up, realising the enemy had entered the castle. Determined, she gazed outside, the prospect of falling terrifying her - yet, a second later, she flew through the air, blood buzzing in her ears.

She winced in pain, as her legs broke on impact from landing, bending awkwardly, the bone piercing though the skin. She bit on her arm, silencing herself while her body regenerated. Healed almost completely, she hurried towards the battle.

She dragged her feet through the reddened mud, the bodies of soldiers scattered around the ground everywhere. The fears in her head started to take over, urging her to run.

Finally, she saw Kenshin - or much rather, the God of War himself. The arrows seemed to avoid him on purpose, the rifles trembling at his sight. Yet, the enemy outnumbered them gravely, flooding them wave after wave. Blood seemed to have seeped into Kenshin’s sword, as if it was slurping each and every droplet of it. Perhaps it was a sentient entity of its own - how else could one explain the way that blade moved? However, even for a God, he was painfully human. His troops vanishing before his eyes, he had to issue a retreat.

The time broke, as Kenshin disappeared from his horse, the animal bravely moving onward. She dove forward, screaming in herself that it couldn’t have been too late, that she had seen him well just a couple of seconds ago, that he couldn’t have perished.

She found him on the ground, seemingly untouched, had it not been for the red staining his clothes, the colour moist and hideously metallic in smell. Gathering all the power she had, she pulled him into one of the emptied houses, praying nobody would find them.

Why was he quiet? Was it because of the fall or the injury? She knew nothing of medicine, she didn’t know the answer. She reached for the blade at his side with trembling hands, preparing herself to open her arm to heal him.

Seemingly awoken by her intention, he stopped her, placing a hand over hers. “ Don’t,” Kenshin rasped. “ We need the God of War now,” she tried to reason with him. “ Don’t,” he repeated, the words struggling to leave his lips. “ Please, let me protect you. Just this once,” she begged. “ I can’t fail again.” A glimmer of hurt lit up in his eyes. Perhaps he shared her feelings? “ I am the one who failed to protect you. Flee immediately.”

She refused, tears spilling over her cheeks. She wasn’t able to keep them from flowing anymore. Conflicted, she threw herself at him, the droplets from her face sneaking behind his collar.

He was the first human in years that didn’t treat her like a tool, yet she couldn’t bring herself to disobey him and save him. To her surprise, he embraced her back, his arms moving to hold her. Desperate, she bit on her tongue, until she felt the blood pooling in her mouth - and then, she bit on his shoulder, clinging to him with whatever power she had left. He struggled against her, yet to no avail.

Having completed her goal, she moved away from him. “ I’m sorry. I can’t lose anybody else.” He gripped her hand. “ Never do this again. You are not the woman with blood of eternal life anymore,” Kenshin uttered, looking away from her, his wound burning, but closing up.

Kenshin mounted a discarded horse. She promised to wait for him, this time obediently, hidden in the emptied house.

Not bothered by any injuries he sustained, the cuts closing up as he swung his sword, Kenshin cut through the enemies, collecting his scattered troops. By the end of the day, the opposing army was pushed back.

Kenshin rode to her hiding. She waited for him inside and stood up to greet him. He clenched his jaw, holding her in an embrace mere seconds later. “ Never do that again,” he spoke. “ Thank you,” was all she could muster, the words turning into sobs. Perhaps she gave a different ending to one of the stories of his past.

On the following morning, they received a notice of reinforcements arriving.

Note: I may write those again one day, I’m not sure I did Kenshin justice.

#kenshin uesugi #ikesen kenshin #ikemen sengoku kenshin #ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikemen series #my hc

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alynawatchestv · 4 years ago

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Alyna watches Xena - 01x01 Sins of the Past

Beware. For the road is long and full of spoilers… I mean, if a 25 years old show can be spoiled. But fair warning.

This thing here was supposed to be short but I made a very long recap of the episode. Sorry not sorry, I’m gonna be making recaps of the series. Yes, every single episode… Not regularly... And it's gonna be long.

Comments and reblogs are appreciated. 👍👍👍

*rule #1 - wash your weapons from enemies intestines*

*Carless Whisper saxophone solo intensifies*

Because frankly, who wouldn’t be? I know I had the same reaction to Gabrielle so I get Xena. I totally get it.

In a time of ancient gods, warlords… Well, you know it.

*seriously Draco…*

*9/10 parents wouldn't recommend this as an educational tool*

*Lila being a supportive sister*

But Draco is plotting against Xena. He decides to attack Amphipolis and pretend it was Xena who told him to do it. Plot thickens, you guys.

C: “How’s the young thing like you is gonna kill Xena?”

G: “That’s the point. She’d never let a man get close enough to do her. At least not that kind of do her. But a young, innocent looking girl like me, I’ll catch her totally off guard…

*You sure will, Gabrielle. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)*

*They’ve known each other for like 1 hour and we get those looks already? So straight indeed*

After the fight Xena is preparing to leave when Cyrene shows up and hugs Xena, who asks again for forgiveness and is, of course, given that. It's a truly awesome moment in this pilot.

*couldn't find gif so you're stuck with bad screenshot*

And in the morning we see Xena and Gabrielle travelling to new adventures to right wrongs, drink wine and… Oh forget it.

10/10

Edit: I got the gif. Thanks @girl4music :)

*there’s nothing gay here. nada. zero... mhm...*

#xena warrior princess #xena #xena and gabrielle #lucy lawless #renee o'connor #alyna watches xena

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deamabilisworld · 4 years ago

Photo

The first thing a gay person should do is find a community.

So blue is the warmest colour.

First things first, Emma's outfits make me fall in love.

We oftentimes understand genres from superficial features. Horror for instance by threatening situations, death, etc.

But once in a while a radical author arrives into the scene and triggers all the emotions related with the genre, without actually repeating any of its tropes.

It is easy to classify lesbianism as girl on girl relationship. And the relationship with sex, and so lesbianism with a girl on girl sexual relation.

It is more difficult for a trans lesbian such as myself to understand what it means and why was I not satisfied with relationships with women who saw me as male, even disregarding penetration and the assumption that I should be the dominant partner.

So when I try to realize what it means, I try, like many of us, to reflect on lesbianism in media. And throughout the past few months it helped me understand what I was missing, even though I'm yet to theorize or put it into words.

The first hour and a half of the movie was all that for me. I connected what was going through Adele. Especially when she sees Emma for the first time. Having a confident butch wrap her hands around you as you walk in the streets, seeing it from afar and longing.

As for her sex with men compared to the sexual fantasy, that's also interesting.

Men tend to be very focused on penetration. What's more interesting is that they almost have no discussion about their own personal enjoyment in sex.

Think about it: the market for male sex toys is very poor, and men freak when you discuss penetrating them, even though the anal region is filled with nerve endings which guarantee enjoyment.

This leads to their sexual interaction begging technique-driven. Very linear and centred on specific tasks in an almost mechanical way.

I obviously also talk from my own personal experience.

Maybe I'm not the right person to speak about it, but I couldn't find much pleasure when having sex as a guy. The experience was stale, repetitive and motionless. I was not driven by my sensations, rather by my imagination and the need to please the other. It reached to situations where I used to throw my used condoms as fast as possible since I didn't really climax in these interactions.

Which obviously also limits the other's capacity to enjoy the interaction.

The most affirming first experience in my transition was when I was treated as a woman in sex, and I actually reached orgasm for the first time in my life.

Having said that, the first actual sex scene with Emma also bothered me.

When I think of lesbianism and sapphic, I think of things I can actually do as a woman, and to what I relate. Which is obviously very gay scenarios, but rarely penetrative sex.

I imagine cuddling in the middle of the night, a dildo pulled out, we both climax and low key going to bed as if nothing.

I imagine looking her in the eyes as she plays with her fingers inside of me, her dominant eyes give me comfort.

Eating her up.

But having said all of that, vaginas gross me out.

I mean penises gross me much more.

I love breasts and buttocks.

But I really find it difficult being attracted to the vagina, playing with it, kissing it.

One time in the army, I sat with someone as she guarded the base entrance and she told me she usually finds the penis appalling, but when she has sex, it becomes the most beautiful thing in the world.

Dejana once made me insert my fingers to her in the shower, but I couldn't find joy in it.

Let's talk about Dejana for a second.

While she saw me as a hetero and despised lesbians, BITWC was one of her favourite movies. And I could see a reflection of our dynamic in that relationship.

I was stronger in that dynamic. I came from abroad, I had more money, I was her boss's daughter.

I read more, especially and of course philosophy.

Our relationship was a form of escapism.

She wanted the classical type of romance, that which doesn't exist in the rural parts of Serbja. Love, warmth, real human affection deeper than sexual lust.

I was looking for a simple relationship. Cooking together, travelling, I didn't want to think about the fact that I was a lonely outcast in an unfamiliar country.

We laid in bed. She was playing some game on her phone, I was reading for a philosophy essay. In truth, I was avoiding the need to interact with her. Because when we didn't do recreational activities, we didn't have a connection.

For someone who often speaks about the need to hear as many narratives as possible, to understand and relate to the earth, and to understand emotions rather than thoughts, I failed miserably connecting with her.

Dejana would have probably been content with such a relationship. She is used to male detachment, and she is very willing to deny issues in a dynamic, but I couldn't go on with it.

I didn't feel guilty when I broke it up. I felt relief.

Emma tried to change Adele, to educate her. But in so doing she clearly doesn't understand her.

Which comes to an analysis of the movie itself.

It is a classical rich-poor romance story. But instead of the American-dream infumed version of the story, we get a cynical, french depiction.

Emma tries to connect with the rural schick. Her last exhibit is presented in very oriental streets, that almost remind me of Jaffa.

Emma uses Adele to relate with this simpleton lifestyle. In all of her relationships, she is strong, in control, and she uses her girlfriends to tell her story.

Emma is open with her sexuality because her family is embracing, Adele hides her true identity because in her society she would be isolated and categorized.

Emma can study whatever she wishes, Adele needs to be practical.

She has the time to educate herself and discuss many worlds, Adele cannot, she has only her own experience to reflect upon.

And Emma doesn't understand why is she content with these lives, how can she live like that.

But is it better for Adele to dream big and see it get crushed?

Well sorta yes.

After all, when they break up, Emma bounces back but Adele is lost. Without anywhere to sleep, no one to love her or to understand her.

And yea, it is partially because of circumstances. Emma is far richer. But with these circumstances came the fact that Emma is groomed to live free.

And let's talk about grooming and praying in the gay community and why Emma is an awful person.

When I started to come out, I immediately joined the BDSM community.

When I had to move and lost my family, I digressed a lot.

I returned to my horse only when I met my rugby community.

A gay community gives you power, a place to discuss, to understand yourself better, friends to relate with and gossip who is dangerous within the community.

Two days ago I woke up a mess after 5h sleep and a lot of packing to do for my new flat.

Right in that morning, I received a message.

I met that girl in the philosophy common room.

She was an economics student. Like many other Bulgarians, she knew her way and got the code for the room from a friend to steal coffee, tea and food.

We became friends. She was always a powerful person, one of those Nietzchiens who understand everything as a power dynamic.

I told her my radical feminist theories and she was dazzled.

She graduated, moved to London, found a boyfriend and started dating.

It wasn't a common relationship.

That person was her feminized slave. I suggested to her that perhaps he was actually a she, but the person denied it. Until recently.

But she messaged me not to ask for help with her transitioning. The opposite, she was overwhelmed by the fact that her bae wants to transition and she wanted confirmation that her transitioning is wrong. I was horrified. That day, the Bulgarian convinced her bae not to go on hormones so she won't hurt her, and so the Bulgarian won't leave her.

In a society where people discover their sexuality and gender only in sexual surroundings, natural predators would abuse them as a means of gratification.

Adele could only discover her homosexuality in gay pick up bars. Emma naturally picked her up and raised her.

Adele, who didn't know anything gay other than Emma, relied on what Emma was willing to teach her.

Becoming Emma's toy, she was dependent upon her.

The first thing a gay person should do is find a community.

Although Emma tried to pamper Adele, pushing her to express herself in writing, she never introduced Adele to friends or to the community.

The only way Emma knew how to pamper Adele, was to try and make her a copy of herself. Which failed.

While the film attempts to escape the male gaze upon lesbians, it flirts very directly with the burgeois-gaze upon the poor and oriental.

Can that power dynamic be non-abusive? and if so, how?

We want to say that Emma should understand Adele's culture and embrace it as much as Adele needs to embrace Emma's.

But Adele's culture has unavoidable ugly aspects. It is grotesque, not refined, narrow-minded and closed. And it is a central aspect to her cultural as much as the other, beautiful, aspects are.

Do gays have any choice? Can you be gay and poor, gay and be part of the ethnic 'simpleton' culture? or are these aspects inherently negating?

My answer was to escape. I lived in poverty in the streets, away from my home, where I could define my own culture as a mix of orientalism, punk and classical beauty.

But not everyone is as lucky to do that.

When I write that 'hetero culture is boring' I fully say that I find it difficult to relate to Dejana. And part of me is sad because there are some morals and beauty in her world which I couldn't connect to.

For while I was attracted to my representation of her culture, I was not attracted to her, she was just a canvas for me, a cynical tool beyond my comprehension.

I could have found beauty in her only when I painted her in my own likening.

#blue is the warmest color #lesbianism #sapphic #blog #analysis #social critique #marxism

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