#raven beat me in chess today

[avianconcept]

Agency, value systems, and growth: the fate of the Perfect Court tattoos.

Been thinking about the Perfect Court tattoos today, and I’ve finally decided what I personally hope happens to Jean’s. I know there's a lot of discussion about a cover up like Kevin’s, suggestions like a flower, a sun, a fleur-de-lis; and I see that, but I raise you: he gets it completely removed. 

I think it has something to do with what the tattoos mean to each character. More specifically, how each character got them, and what that means to them. Most of this comes from a quote I found on my last re-read of TKM: 

The first time someone asked about Riko’s and Kevin’s tattoos, Riko hadn’t beat around the bush. He was the best striker in the game, he said, and he wanted everyone to know it. The story changed a little when Jean made his first public appearance with a “3” on his face. Riko was supposedly handpicking the future US National Team. He called it the ‘perfect Court’, and even though it was unofficial and unbelievably arrogant, his talent and upbringing gave some credibility to the idea. ‘

According to Neil in the first book, Riko and Kevin had been sharpie-ing on their numbers since they were children. This quote adds some more crucial context to that. It establishes that Riko and Kevin’s 1 and 2 came before the perfect court, and that the perfect court was what Riko decided their 1 and 2 (and newly minted 3) meant. This bit is what changed it for me, I think. 

Riko and Kevin are both referred to as the sons of exy. Both are heirs to the game, Riko through his uncle and Kevin through his mother. They do it to signal their place in the world of exy– heirs, future best in the game, destined for greatness. And then Jean comes along, and Riko changes the narrative. He comes up with the perfect court, and tells the world. The perfect court are his chosen players (read: his property). It furthers his control and possession of Kevin, who is allowed to be excellent, just not better than Riko. Kevin can be good, he just has to be good Riko’s way, subscribe to RIko’s model of success. 

Riko dies with his tattoo on his face. He dies clinging onto the idea of the perfect court, that he is the best, and that the only way to be the best is through pain and abuse. There is no real change for Riko in the series, so it fits that the way he’s marked himself (read: the way he defines himself) doesn’t change either. 

Kevin gets his covered up with the infamous chess piece. For Kevin, the challenge is reclaiming the sport that is also his birthright. He is physically free of Riko and Tetsuji, but mentally, he isn’t. Even with states between them and a new team, he is still understandably afraid of standing up to Riko. It goes against the status quo that has been beaten into him, and it takes him a while to be able to fully leave them and their limits behind. What holds Kevin back is that his greatness has always been defined. It has been defined by Riko, upheld by Tetsuji. He can be second best, a Raven, a prince to Riko’s King. Kevin changes his tattoo right before the final game– in order to beat Riko, he has to first reject Riko’s hierarchy, the limiting belief that was forced onto him that Riko was best, Riko was king. To me, its extremely fitting that Kevin’s evolution involved him putting his own mark on his talent. Instead of challenging Riko for ‘King’, or for that 1, he invents his own symbol. For Kevin, it's a reclamation of a game that was always partially his– just on his terms now. 

Neil���s tattoo gets burnt off by his father’s henchmen. This also fits well in my mind, because in my opinion, Neil’s number one challenge wasn’t actually Riko. Riko was Neil’s adversary, but Neil’s true terror was his father. The tattoos and their removal/evolution appear to be symbolic of the character’s growth, so it makes sense that Neil’s wasn’t on his face for long, and was taken off by (basically) his father. Each of the perfect court members had something keeping them trapped, things that wouldn’t let them grow into who they were supposed to be. Riko’s was the wound of his fathers rejection, and the toxicity created and maintained by Tetsuji. Kevin’s was Riko, and by extension Tetsuji. Neil’s is his father. Unlike Kevin, Neil’s not trying to be the best exy player in the sport. The sport makes him feel less like no one and nothing, and his continued playing is an expression of his will to live and his desire for personhood and a future. Neil wants better than what he has at the beginning of TFC, and the thing keeping him from that isn’t Riko. Sure, Riko is connected to the Moriyamas, and Ichirou owns his contract now, and Neil fights with Riko a lot. But to me, the thing that caused him real terror and stripped him of his personhood and autonomy was Nathan. Riko branded him with the 4, and Nathan’s people took it off, as if to say, “No, Riko isn’t who you have to reckon with, it’s me.” Neil’s internal fight was with being the butcher’s son, not with being number four. 

Jean’s situation is best described by a line in the EC– Jean never asked for this. 

In his own words, he loved exy, and was excited for what he thought was an opportunity to improve, but it doesn’t seem like he was ever vying for greatness. Then his father sold him, he was given the 3, and he was made perfect court. 

Much like Neil, didn’t have a say in his involvement. Unlike Neil, Jean adopts the mentality and hierarchy of the perfect court as his truth. Riko’s estimation of his value becomes his own. 

For Jean, the 3 has a lot to do with pain and self worth. In TSC, the only time Jean speaks positively about himself is when he calls himself perfect court, or when he talks about himself as a backliner. He has been conditioned that the only place he has worth is on the court. Nothing is important about him, just about what he is, the position he occupies. Where his personhood and bodily autonomy is denied over and over, his talent cannot be denied on the court. He is allowed to matter on the court, and nowhere else. In a sense, that 3 becomes the only thing about him that could be his. 

The other thing about the 3 is that he didn’t ask for it, but he has bled for it. So much of his relationship with the Ravens is defined by his rank.  Even though the Ravens do not like Jean as a person, they want to be his partner, to have that 4. The reason someone protects Jean from repeated sexual assault is that 3, and how it could lead to a 4. This is why Zane strikes a deal with him, why Grayson goes all the way to the Gold Court to hurt him. It is what the sexual assault from the backliners is blamed on. The 3 was given to Jean as a mark of something he didn't ask to be a part of, and then he was forced to fight tooth and nail to keep it.  It became the defining part of his identity because he wasn’t allowed to have anything else. He wasn’t even allowed to have his name. 

In my opinion, I think that the ultimate expression of Jean’s growth would be to take the tattoo off. He doesn’t have to subscribe to that value system. Covering it would feel like half assing it. He can change it, but he has to keep a tattoo of some sort, because Riko put one there. 

Note that I don’t think of the cover up the same way for Kevin. For Kevin, exy was likely always going to be important to him, with Kayleigh as his mother. He is inheriting it, same way Riko is, and this inheritance is symbolized by that 1 and 2. Kevin wanted to be the best, and so the ultimate expression of his healing is him becoming the best his way. Jean has his tattoo because he is seen as an object, a talent investment belonging to the Moriyamas. What is a limit for Kevin is a brand for Jean. 

For Jean, I think true freedom wouldn’t be freedom to be the best, it would be not having to be the best. It would be not having exy be the most important thing in his life. To not need to defend something he didn’t want. I hope he becomes so sure of his worth in the world, and so sure of his own autonomy that he doesn’t need the 3 to tell him he’s worth something. I hope he realizes that he is his own before he is anyone else's, and doesn’t need to carry around a value that someone else gave him.  

In TSC, the legacy, abuse, and dehumanization of the Nest is killing Ravens as soon as the Nest is taken away. Without the strict environment and the imposed value systems the Nest and team gave them, the Ravens crumple. They seem to feel they can't go back (I suspect that whether ‘back’ means back to their old lives or back to the Nest is different for every Raven), and that death is their better option. Ravens don’t seem to be meant to survive outside the Nest. It is designed to be all consuming. Jean doesn’t know who he is if he isn’t a Raven, if he isn’t perfect court, if he isn’t ‘3’ anymore. To live again, he has to leave the perfect court and its poison behind. He has to learn himself again, to rebuild and repair and create out of nothing. 

Neil says it about Grayson, that he could have chosen to walk away from Riko’s poisoned legacy, but it applies to all Ravens. To survive, to live a life worth living, they have to chose to fight their way out of that kind of thinking. Taking the tattoo off feels like him choosing to leave the Nest behind. Jean taking it off represents him shedding that entire ideology. No three, no expectation, just him and whoever he wants to be. 

In short, the toxicity that the perfect court represented killed Riko with its symbol still on his face. 

The Moriyama’s never really owned Neil, and they weren’t who he had to overcome. The tattoo was never going to be around long. 

Kevin was held back from his birthright. His potential was conditional, and there was a leash on him. He needed to reclaim the game that would always be his, mark himself in his own image. 

Jean needs to see himself as a person beyond his place on the court. He needs to walk away from the perfect court ideology and reclaim himself, with no one’s mark on him. 

[couldtransitionsaveher]

KEVIN DAY from ALL FOR THE GAME

JUSTIFICATIONS:

"It would fix her <3 (eventually) and she deserves it. She's like Helen of Troy to me. Also because I subscribe to the dayurno daily kevin newsletter lets be honest <33 Transfem Kevin propaganda real and true folks open your eyes." - Anonymous

"I dunno what could be more transgender than the literal second she unlearns the toxic masculinity & obedience that the Moriyamas & Ravens beat into her, going and getting her tattoo changed and labelling herself THE QUEEN. Like was it a chess metaphor. Yes. Does it also radiate trans woman to her very CORE? Yes. Yes it does." - Anonymous

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[mizuki-nautilus]

Checkmate - Leona Kingscholar x Reader

Being a mere mortal in a world of magic presents a host of challenges, from cleaning the house with elbow grease instead of a flick of the wand, to trudging across campus while others soar on brooms. Even in the classroom, non-magical students struggle to keep up with the pace, fumbling with notes as Professor Crewel erases them with a simple spell. And while many exciting extracurricular activities abound, they often require magical prowess beyond the reach of non-magical students. But the most vexing of all, at least for [Y/N], is the inability to deliver a well-deserved punch to Leona's smug face.

Today was a typical day for Leona - lazy and without much excitement. In the midst of his ennui, he searched for something to entertain himself, and somehow, the most amusing thing he could find was to poke fun at the only non-magical person at NRC.

And so it was that we found ourselves at this moment - [Y/N] with furrowed brow and intense focus, striving to outmaneuver the king of the jungle himself at his favored game, chess. Even though the situation was intense and there was an overwhelming amount of stress and pressure, for [Y/N], there was an important prize at stake, making the game all the more crucial to win.

"[Y/N]!!!!!!" Grim's voice echoed across the room as he struggled against Jack's iron-tight grip. "What is taking so long? Just beat that jerk already and take me back home!!! Funya–!!!" Ruggie held Grim's head still, letting out an ominous chuckle. "Shishishishi~ If you don't calm down, we might eat you up before the game is over."

Once again, Grim found himself a captive of some unreasonable dorm leader. However, this time, not everything was his fault. One could argue that he could be an annoying tanuki at times, but it was not a reasonable justification for being held hostage in an all-jocks dorm, but, if abducting Grim was what it took to make [Y/N] take the chess game seriously against Leona, then Leona was more than happy to do so.

In a burst of fury, Leona let out a mighty roar, commanding everyone to be silent. "Shut up!! " He bellowed, locking eyes with the source of the disturbance. His fierce gaze dared anyone to speak up again. "If you don't all quiet down, I shall turn you into sand!" Leona snarled at the rowdy bunch. "Now, make your next move, herbivore" he continued with a mischievous grin, turning his attention to [Y/N].

Despite not being the most powerful student at Night Raven College, [Y/N] possessed a remarkable strength of will and an aptitude for thriving under pressure, particularly when the well-being of her friends was at stake. If she could rescue her friends and the Ramshackle Dorm from someone as brilliant as Azul, then surely she had a chance against Leona. "Blaming a little noise for your inevitable loss?""[Y/N] taunted with unwavering confidence, even though she was trembling with fear on the inside.

"Ha! I'll wipe that smug grin off your face," Leona retorted, his eyes fixed intently on [Y/N]'s next move.

The chessboard lay between them, an intricate battlefield of black and white. They sat across from each other, eyes locked in fierce concentration as they contemplated their next moves.

The game had been going on for hours, and the tension in the room was palpable. Every move had been carefully calculated, every countermove anticipated. The players had exchanged pieces back and forth, their strategies shifting and evolving as the game progressed.

But now, as the endgame drew near, the stakes were higher than ever. They were both in check, their kings under siege from the other's pieces. Sweat beaded on [Y/N]'s brows as she searched for a way out, a move that would save their king and secure victory.

Suddenly, [Y/N] saw it - the perfect move, the one that would turn the tide in their favor. With a quick, precise motion, [Y/N] moved their bishop, capturing the opposing knight and freeing their king from danger.

But Leona was not to be outdone. He countered with a move that had been planned from the beginning, a devious gambit that threatened to take [Y/N]'s queen and secure victory. As Leona watched [Y/N]’s intense concentration and unwavering determination, he couldn't help but be captivated by her every move. Though he would never openly admit it, her fierce expression held more entertainment value than the game of chess itself.

Leona's voice dripped with amusement as he taunted [Y/N], "What's this? The brave hero who was so smug just moments ago now quivering like a mouse in a lion's den?" He chuckled at his own joke, adding pressure to the tense atmosphere. "How amusing," he added with a smirk.

Despite her desire to snap back at Leona, all [Y/N] could do was shoot a dirty look at him, realizing the crucial importance of this moment in the game.

As the players continued their fierce battle, the room filled with the sound of clacking pieces and murmurs of onlookers. The tension was nearly unbearable, each player hanging on the edge of their seat as they fought for victory.

And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the game was won. [Y/N] emerged victorious, having outsmarted and outmaneuvered Leona" YES!!! YEEEEEEESSS!!!" [Y/N] screamed in euphoria, her heart filled with triumph. "Take that, you asshole! Now, give me my cat back!" [Y/N] let out a proud scream as she reached out to Jack to retrieve Grim and hold him tightly in her loving arms. “I’m not a CAT!!” Grim protested.

"Huh ~ Looks like the kitty's got claws after all," Leona remarked with a devilish smirk. "A deal is a deal. You can take the tanuki and go now," he said as he settled onto the couch and prepared to take a nap.

[Y/N] wasted no time in sprinting out of Savannah Claw and running her way towards the safety of the Ramshackle Dorm. She knew that Leona was unpredictable and could change his mind at any moment, so she didn't hesitate to take her chance and escape with Grim while she could.

Ruggie chuckled sinisterly. "Shishishishi~ It's unlike you to let someone win, Leona-san. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" he taunted.

But Leona wasn't fazed. "Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war, Ruggie," he replied menacingly, his eyes closing as he drifted off to sleep. "Now get out of my room before I blast you out of the dorm."

And with that, the contented feline was able to conquer his boredom, his mood greatly improved after spending an afternoon teasing his favorite herbivore.

~✨~✨~✨~✨~

[evewasheretoday]

Heathers Reborn AU -

“Veronica, can I borrow your jacket?” Mac asked, hugging herself to try and retain some warmth.

“I told you you should have brought your jacket with you today.” Veronica replied before rolling her eyes.

She took off her jacket and handed it over to Mac. The blonde girl thanked Veronica before slipping on the jacket.

She immediately felt a tad more at home in the heavy leather jacket that brunette always wore when it was cold.

“Thank you for lending me your jacket.” She said. “What are friends for?” Veronica responded with a smile.

-

“You're cheating.” Duke hissed as she moved her bishop into position.

She and Chandler had been playing chess for the past two hours while waiting for Veronica and Mac to arrive.

Chandler moved her knight and took away Duke's queen.

“Am I?” She asked with a smug look on her face. “Or are you just terrible at this?” She added.

The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes at Chandler before moving one of her rooks back to where it belonged.

“This is stupid.” Duke commented. “I'm not gonna lose to you again.” She finished.

Chandler smirked and shrugged. “I won't be too confident about that, If I were you.” She remarked.

Duke frowned before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” She mumbled under her breath. “I'm going to beat your ass, Heather.” She grinned wickedly.

“Bring it on.” Chandler laughed before taking her next turn on the board.

-

By the time Veronica and Mac arrived, Duke was gripping her hair out of frustration and glaring daggers at Chandler while she just chuckled lightly.

“Sup.” Chandler greeted them with a small wave.

Veronica looked at her confusedly while Mac looked at raven haired girl in concern.

“What's going on here?” Veronica questioned, pointing over to Duke who closed her eyes and huffed.

“She keeps losing to me.” Chandler explained simply.

Duke stood up from her chair and jabbed a finger at her. “You're cheating, there's no way you were able to beat me two times!” She yelled.

“I don't want to get involved in this.” Veronica sighed. “Maybe Heather is just really good at it.” Mac whispered loudly beside the brunette.

Duke turned her head to look at her with a frown.

“Heather, calm down.” Chandler stated softly. “It's just a game.” Veronica commented.

Duke opened and closed her mouth before sighing deeply. “It's just a game.” She repeated softly.

Mac placed a hand on Duke's shoulder reassuringly while the raven haired girl gave her a soft smile.

“It's alright, Heather.” She said. “You're good at plenty other board games than chess.” She assured.

“Yeah, think about it this way.” Veronica began. “If Heather was in fact cheating, you'd be the true winner.” She explained with an amused grin.

“If she wasn't, you lost fair and square to her. No hard feelings, right?” Duke stared at her blankly for a moment before letting out a deep breath.

“I still hate her.” Duke stated. Veronica snorted. “Yeah, of course you do.”

[concrete-beach-party]

BG3 playthrough: where we finally reach act 2

We did it! We reached act 2! I fell a bit behind writing my summaries, so this post is like ... 2 or 3 sessions at once. And I probably forgot important stuff, but who cares, this is mainly for myself.

To start: I knew that "the battle in Last Light Inn" would be the most important thing to happen in this game, but I didn't expect to get smacked in the face by it

Anyways, Isobel is fine (after a reload because we were absolutely unprepared for that).

Jaheira, could you please NOT try to spike my drink? Please.

His Majesty!! Hiss, I say, hiss. I did fuck up his interaction though, so no approval from Astarion :(

My butler visited me again, wanting me to kill ... riiiight, Isobel. How about NO, fucker. (Astarion approves of not killing her, for whatever reason)

Helped a tiefling child beat Raphal in fantasy chess - again, Astarion approves.

Astarion suddenly asked Raphael for help with his scars? Not sure what he's hoping for. If he needs someone who can read Infernal, why can't we just ask Karlach? Still trying to be supportive here though.

The weird ox is ... uh .. a lot like my Durge. That's interesting. His secret is safe with me, I guess? Astarion approves. Guy likes keeping secrets (as do I, I guess).

In another episode of camp drama, Lae'zel wanted to battle my partner's wizard because that's the official gith mating ritual. Yeah, wake me up in the middle of the fucking night, I'd try to fight you too, Lae'zel.

My partner just got themselves a cute gith girlfriend!!

Shadowheart was sad, but oddly supportive of their choice. Welp.

Speaking of "companions waking you in the middle of the fucking night to confess their feelings": Wyll suddenly came to me. I danced with him. Suddenly there's the option to kiss him, I turned my head away and OH MY GOD HE LOOKED SO SAD I'M SO SO SORRY WYLL

Literally like ":("

I will romance you in another playthrough, Wyll

Number of companions who shot me down: 2 (Astarion and Gale)

Number of companions I shot down: 2 (Gale and Wyll)

I guess we're even now?

a creepy tiefling child wanted to play, but I did not get approval from Astarion, but I should have?

Storywise not a lot happened

We did ambush the convoy, sorry Kar'niss (I think that's his name)

the pixie is an asshole and I should have reloaded because she's rude and Astarion disapproves of freeing her anyways

Rescue tieflings (again!!)

find Thaniel (because otherwise Halsin will not come with you)

at least Halsin now has his own tent ...

stumbled upon Arabella, who is now proficient in wild magic and looking for her parents

she's in camp now.

Shadowheart thinks she's so blessed by Shar!! Oh girl, you're in for a rude awakening.

Astarion doesn't want to talk a lot right now. I know that makes sense from a story perspective in act 2, but I hope he'll talk to me once I get his approval up a bit.

(Astarion, I shot down 2 guys for you, please talk to me)

He's got "siblings" though and he's kind of ... worried about them? He was hard to read in that scene, but I think it's some form of worry.

Harpers seemed to torture people, not nice. Still side-eyeing that spiked drink from Jaheira.

Tiefling Sorcerer (oder Wizard?) is very angry with me, because his two friends are missing. IIRC, your plan was to fuck off without the rest of the tieflings, do you really think that your friends wouldn't have been kidnapped if you went alone?

Who's this dude with the white raven? Why does he want to avenge random dead people? He doesn't seem very ... trustworthy.

Sharrans! Sharrans everywhere. And masonry, for some reason.

I intend to boost Astarion's approval today, let's hope it'll work. I heard drinking games are good for that.

[lifeofamarauder]

The Dark Prince 1

Mattheo Riddle x Odette 

Part 1 <3 (it gets more spicy as we go but you first need to SUFFER)

Word count- 1,313 words

I wrote this not from Y/n perspective but let me know if you want me to post that version as well if you prefer it! I tried not to use too many descriptors for Odette, other than her house and family names.

. 

Intro: I had a few quiet first years at Hogwarts. I explored the castle, read books in the library, and even brought a black cat to join me my in fourth year. It was all so quiet and nice. Until he came along.

.

.

.

I'm officially fifteen.

I'm officially fifteen and I have planned absolutely nothing for today. If my mum were here she would be scolding me about not having planned some grand party in the astronomy tower or at the very least invited my friends to Hogsmeade then getting drunk off of butterbeer and pumpkin ale. I couldn't tell her how impossible this was seeing as the only person who knew and cared about my birthday was Luna, a fourth year who would join me and jinx (my adorable kitten I brought with me last year) reading together or playing wizards chess. I also could never tell her how horrible I was at wizards chess and that miss Luna Lovegood beat me every time. I value my life too much for that, though I don't mind either of these things myself. But I am truly the antithesis of her.

My mother is a kind woman, as long as you are one of her party guests or my older brother, Silas. Two years older than me and more perfect than any other Ravenclaw Purebred around, Silas may as well be a Prince according to my mother. He even became Prefect this year. We're all so very thrilled (or so I'm told).

But today, I get to do whatever I want, and I don't need to tell anyone else about it. Today is the one day of the year I can be completely selfish and introverted. I only take this one day to myself, as my mother and my brother take control of my other 364.

I pet Jinx and move her off my chest before I set out some toys for her to entertain herself while I'm gone. Even though I know she will just end up sitting at the window watching ravens fly by the tower, I want to make sure she has anything she might need. I've never met a more spoiled cat and honestly? She deserves it.

I manage to make it all the way to the library without running in to Silas or his Quidditch buddies who would immediately notify him about my whereabouts. I'll count that as my first birthday gift of the day. I'm all prepared to sit in my favorite nook debating for around 30 minutes over which book to read first (I brought 3 just in case) when I notice someone in my spot.

Now, I didn't pick this spot my first year for its comfortable sitting or bright lighting, I picked it solely for it's purpose that it would be the very last place someone else would try to sit.

If this were any other day, I would walk away and decide to read in the astronomy tower or the empty corridor by the DADA classroom, which will most certainly be empty on a Saturday, but today is MY day. So I suck it up and decide to ask him to kindly leave him. I stand there awkwardly looking at his back and impulsively choose to poke him to get his attention.

His dark eyes immediately look up and I take a moment to fully look at his face now. He has a scar forming on his nose and another on his cheek that looks like it's been there a few years now. My breath catches when we make eye contact and I'm struck by how dark and deep his eyes are as they bore into mine.

I realize I'd been standing there staring at him for longer than I should, and shake my head a little to clear my thoughts before I force myself to continue.

"Can you move?"

Smooth.

He just keeps staring at me, his dark curls falling in his face, so I gather what's left of my courage and force out another sentence, slightly stronger this time.

"I need this seat. Can you please move to somewhere else?"

He, again, doesn't say anything, but this time his eyes darken slightly and he has the faintest hint of a smile.

I force myself not to smile back but unfortunately I cannot hide the blush escaping. I open my mouth to elaborate once more when he finally says something.

"What's your name Princess?"

I'm taken aback by the unexpected pet name. Princess? I just met this guys and he thinks its ok to call me Princess? He just keeps sitting in my seat, not acknowledging my request and SMIRKING at me. My desire to smile at him is gone, now taken over by annoyance. Who does he think he is?

"Apologies your highness, you must not have heard me. Honestly." I roll my eyes to give full effect of my annoyance. "I just want-"

"I mean I'm more than happy to keep calling you 'Princess', Princess, I just thought your name might be more favorable to you." he interrupts me while turning back to his book. And wouldn't you know, he's STILL smirking. I'm starting to lose it.

"You most certainly may not keep calling me Princess, my name is Odette and it's my birthday and all I want for this one day is to read in my spot where no one will bother me and maybe if I'm feeling adventurous I'll steal some hot chocolate up to my room and read THERE until I fall asleep and have to wake up and then once again do everything else for everyone else until I can't take it anymore!!!"

I realized my voice was rising and I had begun gesturing quite frantically but I kept eye contact with him. A small win. His smirk was still there, but this time his mouth was more agape and he looked like he was slightly shocked by my sudden outburst. And maybe impressed? I can't tell. I'm too shocked myself at my outburst that I can barely register anything else. I take deep breaths and try to calm my heart.

He slowly closes his book and stands up. I hide my head in embarrassment until I see his feet come almost in contact with mine as he backs me up into the bookshelf. My eyes shoot up and lock instantly with his which does nothing to calm my heart. I swear his face gets closer and I can feel his breath tickling my face but I'm unable to look away. He pulls in close to my ear and whispers, "My name's Mattheo but by all means, please keep calling me 'your highness'."

He pulls back only slightly to look at me, my face flaming by this point. The corners of his mouth lift up once more and he looks down to where I'm clutching my books in my hands. His hand reaches out and I think maybe he's coming in closer and I instinctively flutter my eyes closed. Instead, I feel one of the three books I'd long forgotten being pulled out of my hands. Mattheo steps slightly away from me, making the space he left suddenly feel cold.

He inspects the cover and looks back up at me before simply saying, "This is one of my favorites." He sets the book down on our table and he starts to walk off. I shake my head once more trying to clear it of whatever just happened.

"Happy birthday, Princess!" he calls over his shoulder.

I begin to call after him, feigning annoyance, to say that is not my name once more but he's already vanished.

I look back to the spot I just won back expecting to feel more victorious, though it suddenly looks much less enticing then it did minutes ago.

I sit down across from the book he laid on the table and attempt to pick through the two that he didn't touch but I tell myself I'm only curious as I pick through the one he claimed was his favorite.

I become fully immersed in the story and fail to notice the jealous eyes that had been peaking out at me from behind the shelves.

[starcherryberry]

♥𝕓𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕤♥

All of what I list below are mostly fics that I have read or heavily recommend! Of course, I can’t list every fic I read because I read A LOT, haha but I will try my best to keep this updated ₍꒢  ̣̮꒢₎ 

Last Updated: 05/12/2020 (gosh I spent all of today going through my liked posts to get all the other fics I’ve read posted here, I didn’t realize that I read so much yg/jk fics lmao)

✨If you can’t see the links, click on my fic recs link in my description it should work! I’m not sure about desktop though💜

☪ angst  |  ღ  smut  | ❣  fluff  | ✎ On Going | ✓ Complete | ♔ Favorite

𝒦𝒾𝓂 𝒩𝒶𝓂𝒿𝑜𝑜𝓃:

→  Intro: Her [Series] ✎☪❣ღ♔

→  Significance ღ

→  Oh Baby [Series] ღ✓

→ Tiger Boy ღ

→ Angel ❣ღ

→ Two Years ❣

→ Let Me Hold Them ღ

→ Teacher’s Pet ღ

→ CHARMOLYPI [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→  Hey Mama ❣

→ Plus Forte ❣ღ

→ Hermeneutics ❣☪ღ

→ All Night ❣ღ

→ Begin Again ❣☪

→ Attention ღ

→ Special Package ღ

→ Thou shall not harm ☪ღ

→ In Heat ☪ღ

→ Party ღ

→ Beauty & the bookworm ❣☪ღ

→ 00-Beginning-Shift ☪ღ

→ Inked ☪

→ Just the Four of Us [Series] ღ☪✓

→ Rental ❣☪ღ

→  Wannabe ☪ღ

→ more recs coming soon

𝒦𝒾𝓂 𝒮𝑒𝑜𝓀𝒿𝒾𝓃:

→ Lacuna ☪❣

→ Mine ღ 

→ Don’t Wanna Fall [Series] ❣☪✓

→ Pink ღ 

→ The Devil’s Family ❣ღ

→ Off Limits [Series] ღ✓

→ Ready ღ

→ Christmas Cookies ღ

→ Fall in Hatred ❣☪

→ Black Forest ❣☪

→ Fast Lane ღ

→ Business Affairs ❣☪ღ 

→ CHARMOLYPI [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Peach Parfait [Two Shot] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Bad Kitten ღ

→ Arrogant ❣☪ღ

→ For Love & Money [Series] ❣☪✓

→ Seven Seconds in Heaven ❣☪ღ

→ Lovesick ❣☪

→ The Leather Loafers ❣

→ The NewsCasters ❣ღ✓

→ Made of stardust: Folia ❣ღ

→ Red Envelope ❣ღ

→ Lovely Little Mess ❣ღ

→ Hold On [Series] ☪✓

→ Good Girl ❣ღ

→ Kairos ❣☪ღ

→ more recs coming soon

𝑀𝒾𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝑜𝓃𝑔𝒾:

→ Intruder ❣

→ Act On It ☪ღ❣

→ Tsundere ☪ღ

→ Hate To Love You ☪ღ❣

→ Boseong Breakfast ☪ღ❣♔

→ Unravel ❣

→ Home For Christmas ☪❣

→ Humbug Blues ☪ღ❣

→ Ink Nemesis [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Hidden Stars [Series] ☪ღ✓  

→ Wildest Moments [Series] ღ✓  

→ Punch Drunk ☪ღ 

→ Adore ღ  

→ Three Squeezes [Two Shot] ❣☪ღ♔  

→ Heavy Sugar ღ♔ 

→ Aquiver [Series] ❣☪ღ✓  

→ Three Is Home ❣ 

→ Play Thing ღ  

→ All I Want For Christmas ❣ 

→ The Truth Between Us [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Bonnie & Clyde [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Churro Chumps ❣  

→ I Go *** For You ღ  

→ Neighborly Etiquette ❣☪  

→ Making the most out of a ghost (oh, we’re toast!) ❣☪ღ  

→ Unexpected [Series] ☪ღ✓  

→ Close to You ❣☪ 

→ Restraint ☪ღ  

→ A Brief Story of Time ❣☪ღ 

→ Daegu hold ‘em ❣  

→ Baby Fever ღ 

→ Mi Casa ❣ 

→ Curious ღ  

→ Performance Evaluation ღ  

→ Tongue Tech ღ  

→ Heart Haunting ❣☪ 

→ Somebody Else ☪ღ  

→ The Honeytrap ღ 

→ Arranged [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Enigma [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Catharsis ღ  

→ Unread ❣☪ღ  

→ Closed Circuit ღ  

→ Party ღ 

→ Baby, you can drive my car ❣☪ღ 

→ Basketball Captain ❣ღ 

→ Ceo!Yoongi ❣ღ  

→ The Fishnet Stockings ღ  

→ Daddy’s little girl ❣ღ  

→ Android!Yoongi ❣ღ  

→ Demon!Yoongi ღ  

→ The Early Shift [Series] ❣☪ღ✓  

→ Everglow [Series] ❣ღ✓ 

→ Dreamcatcher ❣☪  

→ Student Council Prez [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ First Date Bait ❣ 

→ Just the Four of Us [Series] ღ☪✓  

→ As We Go Along ❣☪ღ 

→ Kiwi ❣☪ღ  

→ Good Girl ❣ღ 

→ more recs coming soon

𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑔 𝐻𝑜𝓈𝑒𝑜𝓀:

→ Orectic ღ❣

→ Rescue Me ☪ღ❣ 

→ Golden Heart [Series] ❣✓

→ Three Squeezes [Two Shot] ❣☪ღ♔

→ Hot Rod ❣ღ

→ Three Is Home ❣

→ Sonic Rain ❣☪ღ

→ Peppermint [Two Shot] ❣☪✓

→ Trust Me ❣☪

→  CHARMOLYPI [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Night Stalker ❣☪ღ

→ Now or Never [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Heavy ღ

→ Attention ღ

→ Special Package ღ

→ Jealous ღ

→ Suncity ❣☪ღ

→ Magnetized [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Silver Bells and Cockle Shells ❣☪ღ

→ Say no to this ღ

→ Ambiguous ❣☪ღ 

→ Charred [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Party ღ

→ Head Over Heels to Hell ❣☪

→ Jungle Park [Series] ❣☪✓

→ New Year's Eve ❣ღ

→ Snowflake Kisses ❣☪ღ 

→ Ruby Crush ☪ღ

→ more recs coming soon

𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒥𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓃:

→ Star Light, Star Bright ☪ღ❣

→ Last Christmas ☪❣

→ Rescue Me ☪ღ❣

→ Serendipity ❣☪

→ To Be Us [Two Shot] ☪ღ

→ Handyman [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Ragdoll [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Faded Love ❣☪ღ

→ Syndicate ☪ღ

→ Tumble dry ღ

→ Radio Silence ღ

→ Appa ❣

→ Tease ❣ღ

→ Ribbons ❣ღ

→ Beneath the Water ❣☪ღ 

→ Locked in Love ❣☪ღ

→ Lovesick ❣☪

→ Earnestly Yours ❣

→ Memories of Old and New ❣☪

→ Good Girl ❣ღ 

→ more recs coming soon

𝒦𝒾𝓂 𝒯𝒶𝑒𝒽𝓎𝓊𝓃𝑔:

→ First Christmas ❣

→ Heatwave Godless Heatwave Drabbles ☪ღ❣♔

→ Picking Flowers ☪ღ❣♔ 

→ Paper Cranes ❣☪ღ♔  

→ Seoksanhwa ❣☪ღ 

→ Angel ❣ღ 

→ Adore ღ 

→ To Be Us [Two Shot] ☪ღ✓ 

→ Get You The Moon ❣☪ღ  

→ Playful ❣☪  

→ Feline Instinct ❣

→ Curious ღ  

→ Fake Love ❣☪ღ  

→ Greengreengreen ღ  

→ Business Attire ღ  

→ Somebody Else ☪ღ 

→ Everythingoes ❣☪ღ 

→ Stay the night ☪ღ 

→ Insomnia ღ  

→ Stuck With You ❣ღ  

→ Falling in crayolove ❣☪  

→ Catching a Case of the Doctor Blues [Series] ❣☪✓ 

→ Out of the Blue ❣☪  

→ The President’s Son [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ A Matter of Shyness [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Sanctuary ❣☪ღ  

→ Nerves on Edge ❣ღ 

→ Surprise ☪ღ 

→ SweetPea [Series] ❣☪ღ✓  

→ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [Series] ❣☪ღ✓♔ 

→ Ravenous ღ  

→ more recs coming soon

𝒥𝑒𝑜𝓃 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑔𝓀𝑜𝑜𝓀:

→ Kissing Fire [Series] ✓☪❣ღ♔

→ It Ain’t Me [Text AU] ☪✓  

→ The millionaire and his lover ❣☪ღ  

→ Hidden Stars [Series] ☪ღ✓  

→ Beauty and The Beast ❣☪ღ 

→ Since Day One ❣ღ  

→ Don’t Wanna Fall [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Angel ❣ღ 

→ Pink ღ  

→ Noona ღ  

→ Let Me Hold Them ღ 

→ Pen Pals ❣☪ღ  

→ Long Lost ❣☪  

→ The Wedding Planners ❣☪ღ  

→ Ice Prince ❣☪  

→ New Romantics ❣☪  

→ Microwave (Mis)adventures ❣☪ღ 

→ Fire and Ice ❣  

→ Contradict ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Change of Heart ❣☪  

→ Making the most out of a ghost (oh, we’re toast!) ❣☪ღ  

→ Nervous Proposal [Two Part] ❣ღ✓  

→ Home ❣☪  

→ Falling Skies [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Howling For You ❣ღ  

→ Hopping Mad For You ❣ღ  

→ Preydator ❣  

→ One Night, Two Parties ❣ღ  

→ CHARMOLYPI [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Animal [Series] ☪ღ✓  

→ A fallen bookmark on a Thursday afternoon ❣☪ღ 

→ Blizzard ❣ღ  

→ Green Room ღ  

→ High Rise ❣  

→ Shark Week ❣  

→ The Name Game ❣  

→ Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So (Fucking Done) ღ 

→ Itch ❣ღ 

→ Ribbons ❣ღ 

→ Everythingoes ❣☪ღ  

→ Daddy ღ  

→ His Name [Series] ☪✓  

→ Moonlight Melody ❣☪ 

→ Room for Dessert [Series] ღ✓ 

→ Bite Me ❣☪ღ  

→ Rebound ☪ღ 

→ Lifeguard ❣☪ღ  

→ Heartbreak Trials ☪ღ 

→ Chess of Ice [Series] ❣☪✓  

→ Crumbs ❣☪ღ  

→ Krampus for Christmas ❣ღ  

→ Nerves on Edge ❣ღ  

→ 10 Beats Before The Light ☪ღ  

→ Will You Make a Mess Now ❣ღ 

→ Break My Mind’s Eye [Series] ☪ღ✓  

→ SweetPea [Series] ❣☪ღ✓ 

→ Love Alive ❣☪ღ  

→ Picture Perfect ❣ღ♔  

→ Every Breath You Take [Series] ❣☪ღ 

→ more recs coming soon

𝐵𝒯𝒮:

→ Save Me [Series]  ✓☪❣ღ 

→ Thesis It [Series] ✓ Prove It [Series] ✎ ☪❣ღ♔ 

→ Tomorrow [Series] ❣☪ღ✓

→ Uncia [Series] ❣☪✓

→ Safe with me [Series] ❣☪✓

→ Please ღ 

→ Protect Them [Safe with me sequel] ❣☪✓

→ Home [Series] ❣☪✓

→ Peppermint Mocha ❣ღ

→ Cum! BTS [Two Shot] ღ✓

→ The Seven Kinds of Love ❣☪ღ

→ Let Me Hold Them Again ❣ღ 

→ Happy Holidays ❣

→ more recs coming soon

[wreckofawriter]

Focus

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Ravenclaw!reader

Warnings: Slight swearing, bullying

Word count: 4,728 (this is the longest one I've ever written)

Request: Hey do you think you could do a Draco imagine? I was thinking with a ravenclaw reader who’s actually shy and clumsy.

A/n: Sorry this came out later than I anticipated, its regents week for me and I was crushed by exams. I hope to have part one of my Draco series out over the weekend. Hope you guys like this ridiculously long one!

“Ms. y/l/n” You heard an all too familiar voice say.

“Yes Professor?” You asked turning around swiftly to face the raven haired teacher.

“What happened with your potion, it was a complete disaster?” The teacher asked.

You flushed, it was no secret you weren't exactly great at positions, you were too clumsy to measure anything out, you managed to cut your finger and you always messes up the order of ingredients.

“I'm so sorry professor i'm just not very good at positions. I have been studying I swear, it just..” Your voice trailed off. “I'm sorry professor.” You mumbled looking down.

“I want you prepared for the test next Wednesday, you should be able to manage that?” He asked eyebrows raised.

“Of course professor.” You mumbled still quite flush from the whole conversation. You turned to leave walking back towards your common room. About thirty seconds later you saw the last person you wanted to. Mckenzie Clarkson. She was a fellow housemate who unfortunately was extremely popular, pretty, nimble footed and of course, smart. She was basically everything you weren't, in your mind.

“God your pathetic.” The brunett girl laughed, her stunning green eyes narrowing. “You have lost, what was it? 30 points for us today.” The girls behind her giggled whispering things to each other. “You shouldnt even be in Ravenclaw. Your far to stupid. You cant even get into the common room without help, you trip over your own feet and you are practically failing all your classes.” She smirked clearly feeling very good about herself, as you willed yourself not to cry. You hated crying, so you just glared up at her anger rushing through you like a wave, but you kept it down, what could you possibly say to her?

“Can you just let me go?” You asked voice weak.

“I don't know can we?” The hallway erupted in laughter.

“Just let me leave.” You said voice a bit stronger now as your anger grew.

“Fine.” She smirked as she moved out of the way. You quickly began to walk through the group of girls, the embarrassment was suffocating.

Just as you were about to break free of the group, a girl stuck he leg out sending you sprawling to the ground. Your hands, full of books that scattered as you attempted to get your arms in front of you, it was a failure and you landed on your elbow directly followed by you face. You groaned in pain as you felt blood begin to seep from your nose.

“Oops.” The girl giggled before they all turned to leave laughing and joking.

You lay there for a few seconds squeezing your eyes shut, begging the tears to retreat. You eventually pushed yourself up so you were sitting. You were surrounded by books and papers, you had blood rushing down your face dripping onto you shirt and you had had enough. You simply pulled yourself to the side of the hallway drawing your knees to you cest and began to cry. You knew this wouldn't stop. You were far too shy to say anything and even if you weren't the girls were right anyway. Why were you in Ravenclaw when it took you a good twenty minutes just to figure out the password to your own common room?

Just then your heard voices. You quickly moved grabbing your books and sprinting out of the hallway before anyone could see you. You sprinted the whole way back to the tower. You were greeted by the raven statue you had grown to hate. You groaned loudly.

The statue spoke, “How is it possible for you to stand behind your father while he is standing behind you?” it asked, making you groan again.

“Can you please just let me in, im covered in blood.” You grumbled knowing that it wouldn’t answer. You tried to think. How can I stand behind something that is behind me? You racked your brain for an awnser but it seemed impossible. You couldnt help it you began to cry again. Frustration, embarrassment and sadness filled you as tears streaked you cheek. Why were you put in Ravenclaw? What could that stupid, good for nothing, hat possibly seen in you that made him shout “Ravenclaw” like a farmer yelling for his next sheep to slaughter.

You then heard footsteps beside you. You turned to see Cho Chang. She was in the year above you and was everything a Ravenclaw should have been, pretty, athletic, and of course wicked smart. You wanted to hate her for being so perfect but you couldn't.

“Hey,” She said softly, “I heard what Mckenzie did. That's messed up.” She attempted to sooth you.

“It doesn't matter.” You attempted to smile but it was more of a tight lipped grimace.

“She’s wrong you know.” Cho smiled.

You gave a half hearted laugh, “What could possibly make me a Ravenclaw?”

“So much y/n,” she said, “You are crazy good at Wizards Chess for one.”

“That’s just a stupid game.” You grumbled.

“No, it takes strategy and I've never seen a single person beat you.” She pointed out.

You blushed not used to getting praised.

“Also i've seen your artwork, its beautiful, absolutely stunning.” She smiled making you blush more.

“Thanks.” you mumbled.

“Look don't let one girl get you down.” She advised before asking the statute for the riddle. It answered and she stood there thinking for a second.

    “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Your standing back to back.”

    The statue spun open as you hit your forehead onto you stack of books making you stumble, barley catching yourself before you fell. You cursed yourself before ascending the stairs to your room. You had had enough humiliation for today.

    Draco rolled his eyes as Zambini told another terrible joke beside him, “What do you call a red head with no brains?’

    “I don't know, you with red hair?” Draco mocked.

    “Close but no.” the other boy snickered, “A weasley!” He erupted into laughter as they rounded the corner, heading to the common room.

    As they continued talking Draco felt something thump against his foot. He looked down to see a leather bound book which he had kicked a few feet in front of him. The platinum blonde raised his eyebrows before bending down to pick it up.

    “What the..” Balises voice trailed off.

    Draco looked up to see a small puddle of blood at the end of the quoridor.

    “Some idiot probably got hurt in potions or something.” Draco scoffed, though he was a bit confused. They continued walking being careful to avoid the blood. Draco's mind was quickly brought back to the book and he opened it to see what it was. What he saw stunned him.

    They were sketches. Not crappy sketches that was done by some kid, but damn good sketches. Most of them looked like they were for herbology. There were various plants with notes about them scribbled in messy handwriting in the margins, but every few pages there was something different. On the fifth page there was a drawing of a creature he didn't recognize. It was a black horse-like creature with big leathery looking wings. He wondered what it was. They had now arrived at the common room and Draco went directly to a couch sitting down on the black leather, continuing through the book. On the eleventh page there was a drawing of a broom stick. It was read Nimbus 2000 at the handel. There were various other sketches of random objects littered throughout the pages of plants and each was extremely realistic. His thoughts were interrupted by Daphne and Pansy.

    “Did you draw those Malfoy?” Daphne asked plucking the book out of his hand ignoring his protests.

    “No, could I have it back?” He asked glaring at the girl.

    Before she could respond Perkison interrupted, “Who’s is it Dracy?”

    “Don't call me Dracy” the boy groweld, “and I haven't the slightest idea.”

    “Oh, how did you get it?” Daphne asked.

    “I just found it, now give it back.” He stood up snatching the book up before retreating upstairs.

    “Who pissed in his cheerios?” Pansy grumbled plopping onto the couch.

    The next day you had herbology first period, you quite liked herbology you were good at it too. You loved how you could just sketch after you finished the drawing of the plants and of course you love your grade in the class. It made you feel less like a loser. Just a little less. When you plopped yourself into a seat next to a Ravenclaw boy named Casey. He was always very nice and often complimented you drawings. You would be lying if you said you didn't like him a little.

    After sitting down and greeting the boy you opened your bag to look for your sketchbook. It was nowhere to be found. What the heck? You thought as you searched through your bag with no luck. Then it struck you. You must have left it in the dungous yesterday. You cursed yourself quietly.

    “You okay?” Casey asked beside you.

    “Yeah I just lost my book,” You smiled at him blushing a bit.

    “Oh. I could help you look for it later if you want.” He offered.

    “O-oh I wouldn't want to bother you.” you blushed

    “It's no bother, I swear i want to help.” He smiled flashing a pearly set of straight teeth.

    “Ok, s-sounds good.” You stammered, you felt your face grow impossibly warmer.

    The lesson continues and you talked occasionally to Casey, you did your sketch on a piece of lined paper, you would transfer them when you found your notebook. After Herbologioy you and Casey headed down to the dungeons to look for your book. You had never really hung out with him out of class and it was nice. You were fighting a blush the whole time, you weren’t really one who interacted with attractive boys out of class.

    Draco began to make his way down to potions, he was still working through the drawings, there were many creatures he had never heard of before. It was odd, how had he never seen so many of these before? He was halfway through the dungeons when he heard giggling. It wasn't Pansy’s shriek, it was a soft quiet sound that made him think of the patter of rain on dewy grass. He turned the corner to see two figures in blue robes. One was a tall boy with dirty blond hair and deep brown eyes. Next to him was a y/h girl with y/h/l y/h/c hair that shone in the candle light. Her eyes were a stunning y/e/c that shared a soft yet sharp gaze with the world. He was taken aback. How had he never seen this girl before? They both looked at Draco expecting him to speak but he didn't, he simply kept walking brushing past the two, tucking the leather bound book back into his robes.

    As he walked away, he heard the boy mutter something to the girl, causing her to gasp and laugh,

    “Casey!” she scolded him

    “Oh come on y/n that was funny.” He teased back and Draco almost gasped in surprise. That was y/n? y/n y/l/n? No way. You were in his potions class and you never even spoke up, you were constantly messing up positions too. How was that girl the same one whose name he had grown deaf to Snape yelling? I didn't seem possible.

“Shot, I have to get to positions.” you told Casey glancing at your watch. He said goodbye as you walked quickly to your worst class. You were actually unusually excited, Luna one of your best friends had offered to help you out because you had the class together and she was quite good at potions. You entered the classroom quickly and found Lun, sitting next to the girl. As you waited for class to start you chatted about the different potions and what might be on the test.

“Wait for the dragons egg you have to turn it to powder first right?” you asked to see your friends gaze elss where.

“Dracos staring at you.” She said simply as if she hadn't just said an impossible sentence.

“What?” you asked turning around to meet a pair of silver eyes already on you. They quickly dodged away making you blush tremendously. “I saw him in the hallway eairler, and Casey made a stupid joke about him, hes probally plotting my death.” You sighed reality crashing on to you.

    “I don't think so.” Luna said in her usual dreamy tone.

    “What else would he be doing?” You murmured returning to your notes.

    Before Luna could answer Snape entered the room and you snapped your eyes to the front of the class.

    “It has come to my attention that many of you are getting nothing done in this class.” He stated harshly. You cringed this was not going to end well. “And because of that fact I have made a new seating chart,” You groaned, just when you were getting excited about positions.

    “Listen for your name and your partner,” He continued. “Parkinson, Belby. Goldstein, Crabbe. Greengrass, Lovegood.” You glanced at your friend who was as usual, smiling. You are happy for her as well, there were much worse partners to be had. “Corner, Zambini. Boot, Blustrode. Y/l/n, Malfoy.” The rest of the names went out of the window when you heard your partner. This was not going to be good, not good at all.

    When Draco heard your name called, then quickly followed by his he felt like he was going to throw up. And it wasn't because he knew you were probably going to botch whatever potion they made, it was because he wasn't sure if he could focus around you. He blushed madly and tried to think about something else. It's just a pretty girl you bloody idiot. He scolded himself. You just met her today, he reminded himself Well just realized she existed today. He was shaken out of his thoughts by Snape's voice.

“If you don't like your partner, too bad. Move together please.” Draco glanced over at y/n who was already packing up, Zambini moved from his seat apologizing to Draco for his partner and moved toward the back where Micheal was seated.

    He then saw you make your way over to him your cheeks a bit red, the same way they were when you were talking to that Casey boy in the hallway. He grimaced, how was he jealous of someone he had never spoken a word to? He then decided he would ignore every good quality you had and focus on the bad ones. That way it would be easier to pretend to hate you right?

    The second you sat down his plan failed. You smelt like vanilla and roses. He wanted to lean closer to you and inhale your addicting scent forever, but instead he moved over or so he couldn't breathe in your intoxicating fumes.  

    “Hi, i’m y/n.” You said sweetly sticking your hand out.

    “I know who you are.” Draco responded ignoring your hand and continuing to stare at the board, slouching in his seat.

    “Oh ok.” You murmured. He saw a small frown take over your soft pink lips and he felt angry for being its cause.

    Snape explained that you were to make a Confusing Concoction potion and told you you had till the end of class. The potion wasn't too complicated. You thought you might be able to get through this one.

    “I'll get the water you can work on the feathers.” Draco drawled trying not to get to close to you as he stood. You pretend not to notice.

    “Ok.” you nodded. You grabbed the feathers and began to separate the barbs from them. Not but two feathers in you yelped with pain as a barb pierced your thumb. You yanked it out hissing in pain as you saw blood drips from the wound. Draco who was now back and heating the water grimaced at the sound of your pain but refused to show that he cared.

    He sighed loudly, “Look you go clean up and I will finish the feathers.”

    “Thank you.” you whimpered walking towards a sink face red as the blood dripping from your hand.

    Draco let out a breath he didn't know he was holding after you walked past. He then sat down and began to work on the feathers. His fingers moved easily to separate the barbs from the stalk and he couldn't help but wonder how you had possible stuck yourself with one so quickly. He then heard a thump and an apology and looked up to see you stumbling back to your seat face a brilliant red as Millicent and Boot glared after you. He snickered a bit turning back to the feathers.

    Once you had most of the ingredients in you had to wait for 30 minutes for it to boil so Draco sat down and pulled out the book of drawings he had found.

    He was flipping through the pages again when he heard a gasp beside him. He looked up eyebrows raised.

    “Where did you find that?” You asked pointing at the book.

    “In the hallway.” He smirked, “Why do you care anyway?”

    “Because it's mine.” You whispered causing his cheeks to flush.

    “This is yours?” He asked surprise sewn into his voice.

    “Yes.” you nodded, “I lost it when..” your voice trailed off face growing red, “after potions.” you finished voice quiet.

    “You sure this is yours?” It came out harsher than Draco had intended but what could he do about it now?

    “Yes.” you breathed out face growing warmer. “It does have drawings in it, doesn't it?”

    “Well yeah but they are like, really good.” Only after he said it did he realise how it sounded. He instantly was filled with guilt as your face flashed with sadness and anger.

    “Yeah, well, they’re mine.” You grumbled voice quiet.

    “Here.” He handed the book to you, your hands brushed before you snatched the book away and he felt like he was going to burst at the feeling of your skin against his.

    Just then the timer on your position went off and the two of you continued to work.

    That's how it went for two weeks. You and Draco would share very few words as you worked together. Your grade did improve, but you were still quite prone to accidents and Draco rolled his eyes everytime. You went from being sad he didn't like you to being mad. He was always so rude. He would avoid speaking to you, looking at you, hell he avoided you altogether, his seat was always poised at the other end of the desk as if you were some sort of plague. All of this made you angry and frustrated. What have you done to make you so repulsive? You knew you weren't the best at potions but you had only messes up three the whole time and you were improving. You had never been rude to the boy even once, how come he hated you so much?

    “I just don't get it.” You pouted turning to Casey who was walking you down to potions.

    “It's not your fault y/n, he's like that with everyone.” He explained, “He's just a dick, not much you can do about it.”

    “But maybe if I was better at potions the-” you were interrupted by Casey.

    “Y/n its not your fault, you are amazing and sweet and kind, it's just him okay? Don't let him make you doubt yourself.”

    You blushed furiously at his words, “Thanks Case.”

    “Plus if he's really pissing you off just blow a potion up in his face.” he jeered.

    You laughed loudly, “He'd probably kill me with his icy glare.” you teased.

    “He is always glaring at you.” Casey smiled.

    “Thanks for walking me.” You said.

    “Of course, i’ll see you around y/n.” He beamed.

    “See ya.” You said before entering the classroom. You were met with Draco's frozen glare.

    “Hello Malfoy.” You greeted.

    “Y/l/n” he responded his voice vacant of any emotion.

    You sat down and glanced at the board to see what position you were working on. You then looked at Draco who was already looking at you making you blush.

    “I'll get the water.” You said promptly before standing up and snatching a cauldron. Only when you did this you left foot got caught behind your right and you plummeted to the ground. You dropped the cauldron with a clang and you hit the ground. You instantly heard laughter erupted throughout the room and you felt tears well up in your eyes. You then heard a snicker and you didn't have to see his face to know it was Draco. You blinked furiously face a deep shade of crimson. You then pushed yourself off the ground, lifted the cauldron from a few feet away and turned to face the slytherin boy. Your shyness suddenly disappearing in your rage and embarrassment when you saw the everlasting smirk perched on his lips. You felt two tears cascade down your red cheeks as you thrust the cauldron into his hands.

“Screw you Malfoy.” your voice trembled through gritted teeth. You then quickly left the classroom, laughter disappearing behind you. You made it maybe two cordors from the classroom when you saw Mckenzie. You instantly turned to run but were cut off by a few other girls already behind you.

“God y/n, such a clutz.” She snickered. “I think you belong in a physical therapy building not a wizarding school.”

You only whimpered feeling helpless and small.

“Boo-hoo poor, poor, y/n all alone.” She rubbed her eyes with her fists.”You do realize that Casey only hangs out with you because of a dare right?”

Your eyes widened in confusion.

“I made a dare that he couldn't get you to go out with him in a month and here we are, only two weeks in and you are practically drooling over him.”

You felt a sob leave your mouth. You wanted to say it wasn’t true but you knew it was. It sure as hell wasn’t a coincidence he asked to help you find your book the exact day she said she struck the deal with him. You felt angry. Sad. But most of all embarassed. You were always so embarrassed. Why where you always so fucking embarassed?!

“Guess I'll have to go out with him now that I told you about the bet” She smirked picking at her long blue nails.

“Of course.” You muttered tears falling of your chin.

“What's that?” Mckenzie smirked.

“Of course he would want to go out with you.” You began to sob and you saw Mckenzie’s smirk widen and your anger out did you.

“Of course, some douchebag like him would want to date a slutty bitch like you.” Anger dripped like poison from your voice. All of the laughter around you stopped as you felt yourself smile. You looked up through your tears to see Mkenzies mouth wide open in shock, her eyes wide in her sockets.

Anger took over her features and she pulled her wand from her robes with a shriek. “Stupify!” she shouted and you were sent sprawling backward. Your head hit the stone wall and black dots danced in your vision. You groaned closing your eyes but they popped back open when you heard another voice.

“Back off!” it yelled anger knit into its frame. You turned to see Draco heading strait at the girls. He whipped his wand once and suddenly Meckenzi flew into the air. She then dangled there like an invisible rope was tied to her ankle.

She shrieked for the girls below her to help but they just turned and ran fearful of the boy heading toward them. After the other girls disappeared Draco flicked his wand again and Mckenzie fell to the ground and began to cry.

“Get out of here before I do more than hex you.” You heard him growl.

The girl instantly stood up sobbing as she stumbled away. Draco's eyes softened when they landed on you.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he rushed over to you.

“What do you care Malfoy?” you mumbled attempting to get up only to stumble over your own feet and plummet to the ground, well you would have hit the ground if it wasn't for a pair of strong arms wrapping around you. You looked up at the blonde, his grey eyes were set on your lips and felt your heartbeat speed up to extremely high. Draco's face was now quite red as he helped you back to your feet.

“Why do you hate me?” the question rose from your lips before you could stop it. You flushed immediately after it left your mouth. Draco looked taken aback by the question.

“I don't hate you.” he stated.

“Don't lie to me. You avoid looking at me, you don't speak to me, hell you sit as far away from me as possible.” You paused looking at the boy, “I just want to know why.”

He laughed he actually laughed. What could possibly be funny right now? Was this all another joke? Did he really find your misery that funny. You flushed madly turning to leave.

“No wait love, don't leave.” Draco begged his laughter stopping abruptly.

You felt heat rush to your face at the nickname and turned around looking at the ground. Your gaze was turned upward when you felt a finger slowly lift your face upward. You had never blushed so much in your entire life.

“I don't hate you y/n. I would never hate you.” He smiled, not his usual smirk but a genuine smile and it made you go weak at the knees. “I don't think I could ever hate you.”

“Then why do you act like you do?” you asked, “Why do you avoid me? Why do you never talk to me, never look at me?”

He sighed, “I avoid you because whenever I get near you, I smell you. And it drives me crazy.” His hand caressed your cheek bone and you were pretty sure you face was on fire. “Your scent is beyond intoxicating. When I talk to you I lose track of everything else and I can only hear your voice echoing in my head.” He whispered, his minty breath danced across your face making you shudder. “And when I look at you, it's like the world disappears and it's only you standing there. Everytime I look at you I have to battle myself not to lean in and taste your lips.”

You stared at him. You couldn't breath, your It had been replaced with butterflies that were now fluting inside you madly. You were pretty sure this is what death felt like. But then something clicked inside you and your realized this wasn't death it was love.

“When it comes to you, I can focus on nothing else.” Dracos lips were so close you could feel them brush yours and you couldn't take it anymore. You grabbed the back of his head and smashed his lips onto yours.

You had never felt anything like it before, his lips danced on yours with grace you couldn't even begin to fathom. You felt his tongue slid across your lips and your eyes widened in surprise. You then shut them again opening your mouth a slight bit. You ran your hand threw his hair as he explored your mouth with his tongue pushing you up against the wall softly. You didn't want to break the kiss but you felt your lungs burn begging for air and you drew away from him.

You were both panting when you pulled apart. Your face was a bright red, your lips swollen, and hair disheveled but to Draco, you had never looked more beautiful.

“Merlin,” he gasped out, “I'm never going to focus again when I know you kiss like that.”

You flashed a brilliant red and giggled, Draco then decided he couldn't stop himself anymore, he pressed his lips against yours once again.

[hitbythunder]

Among the Gods of Asgard -5

A dark!Thor x Reader, minor Loki x Reader story with all the drama and angst you’re craving. Including Alexander Skarsgard as Balder. –> Read also on AO3

WARNING: dark story, manipulative Thor, heavy rape/non-con elements, no happy ending in sight

____________________________xXx____________________________

Sleep hadn't come easily that night when the maid was finally laying in one of the many beds of the slave quarters. Because while each fiber of her body yearned for rest, her mind wouldn't stop thinking of that just had happened between her and the god in the baths, reviving each moment anew. She could still feel his throbbing flesh on her palms...

No surprise then that _______ felt awfully tired throughout the next day, not to mention the shock and the confusion. Haunted by indecent pictures, the maid fulfilled her duties and tried to remain within Balder's chambers so as not to accidentally meet the crown-prince, knowing that she wouldn't be able to bear to be in his presence today. Would I ever be? And so her mind kept rattling while she polished the wooden table inside the salon, absentmindedly wiping over the same clean spot for the 10th time. Luckily Gerlinda wasn't around, for she would have barked at the girl for slacking. Yet despite the mental efforts she employed - and which began to cause a serious headache - ________couldn't comprehend why Thor showed sexual interest in a mortal,  a slave even, who was far below him.

According to latest rumors, the crown-prince already had a betrothed in spe - Idunn, the goddess of youth, who was known for her divine beauty. So why, in the Nine, break all the rules of etiquette, risk an outgrown scandal and have ________ pleasure him like that? Of course, she had fantasized about the princes sometimes before but in her imagination they had been kind and tender like gentlemen. Last night, in contrast, Thor had shamelessly used his power to force himself on her, to serve only his own satisfaction regardless of how ________ had felt during that all. She had been nothing but a frightened helpless mess but Thor didn't care the slightest, groping her with his large hand which could also end her at ease. The way those hungry dark-blue eyes had rested on her was most terrifying and even now upon recalling, it caused goosebumps to spread all over her skin.

Maybe it was just too much alcohol. Everybody does stupid things when drunk, right? She kept telling herself to calm her sensitive nerves. A one-off not worth fussing about. Probably he has already forgotten about me!

Two days of hiding out later, Gerlinda informed the maids that their master and the crown-prince were sent on a mission together in Vanaheim. When the abigail added that they would be away for at least three weeks, ________ had almost yelped aloud out of joy. Even if the personal slaves would have to work elsewhere during that time, this also meant that _________ needn't worry about running into Thor accidentally and her nerves would finally get a break. Thor would be occupied by other, more important matters than her and perhaps the distance would do one last thing for him to forget about ________. Or so she hoped.

xxx

"Your turn." the raven-haired prince announced as he leaned back in the comfortable chair, his hands folded in his lap as he waited for his opposite to make her next move. It didn't matter though, because Loki had already won - actually he already had two turns ago - but Idunn wasn't aware of that fact. Neither did she realize how bored the Trickster was by her foolish attempts to beat him at this new game called 'Chess'. A few months ago it had been brought over from Midgard and due to its sudden popularity the trendy, stylish board game had soon been introduced to the gods too. The clever sorcerer had loved it from the beginning but unfortunately he ran short of worthy opponents, especially now that Balder wasn't available. So Loki had to come to terms with less challenging sessions and with those gods (still) willing to play with him - Loki could be a mean winner. Admittedly, Idunn hadn't been a good choice but she just happened to be in the library too and she didn't decline. He regretted asking her in the first place.

"There aren't this many possible moves for you to ponder that long!" The youngest prince grew impatient as he watched the goddess, his gaze dripping from those plump lips downwards to land on the showing decollete. At least her sight is delighting...

"Please don't tease me, your highness! You know I haven't played this one often!" she replied and leaned forward, her heavily laden bosom touching the ivory table. "And besides, this whole lot of rules is rather confusing..." The edge of the dark wood pushed her pale flesh upwards, leaving only a narrow chasm between her marvelous hills.

"If you say so." With his usual elegance, the prince tilted his head sideways to rest the most precious part of his body on his arm, his index finger brushing along his temple in order to calm his growing annoyance. So this is why Idunn is famous for her apples, not her wits. He didn't avert his gaze from said fruit though. The seconds ticked by and nothing happened on the black and white square, the chess pieces standing still. If Loki would have kept rubbing his temple it would soon become sore. "You do realize that it is still your turn?" Maybe she was getting senile. Wouldn't be a considerable loss... "I'm concentrating. Please give me another moment, your highness!" Then Idunn finally reached for the bishop, lifting it up determinedly as if she was about to turn everything in her favor, and took one of Lokis' pawns. "So that is the outcome of all this mental effort? Seriously, my lady?!" Loki couldn't believe it, and when Idunn innocently nodded he pinched the bridge of his nose - hard. "Norns help me..."

Of course Idunn wasn't completely oblivious so she noticed how unchallenged the prince was, yet still he needn't be rude either. She could become his future queen after all. Well, if she managed to keep the crown-prince as madly interested in her assets as he was at present, lusting after her at every glance. Idunn was somewhat thankful for the current vacation her womanly parts were granted. Thor was an insatiable beast and far from gentle.

"We can't all have such brilliant minds as you, your highness. So please stop mocking me." she replied and leaned back in her chair, the plump lips showing first signs of serious girlish sulking. "Seidr requires brilliancy, my lady, but this game certainly doesn't! Remember that it was invented by Midgardians so any mortal should be capable of playing properly!" Loki retorted in a harsh tone, his temper getting the better off him as always when he was bored plus annoyed - a dangerous mixture. The goddess took the offense by heart and pouted like the spoiled girl she was, her cheeks slightly aflame by anger. "Really? Let us test that hypothesis!" she said through gritted teeth and glared at Loki for a split second before her cerulean eyes scanned the library for a fitting candidate - in a sense that he or she would loose against the prince and prove Idunn's point. So....which of those looks stupid?

"You there, get over here!" Idunn barked at one of the maids currently busy with cleaning some shelves and a moment later she hurried over. "How can I be of service, my lady?" the pretty maid said and Loki recognized her to be ____________ Haraldsdottir, daughter of the merchant he had tricked recently. What a coincidence... Loki mused to himself while his facial expressions remained an unreadable mask. ________ sensed the emerald eyes on her. "Tell me how to win this game!" Idunn commanded and watched expectedly how the maid surveyed the positions of the chess pieces. It didn't take long for her to conclude the only solution. "With all due respect, my lady, but winning is impossible at this constellation." Loki's eyes narrowed at that, he sensed expertise on the girl. To Idunn the maid's reply wasn't satisfying the least so she decided to take her grudge out on her. "Are you implying that I'm too stupid to play sucessfully?!" "No of course not, my lady!" _________ retorted quickly, but she suspected that this was leading to her being unable to save her neck. I should have played dumb... "Oh yes you do and-" That was when the third party present decided to end this annoying clucking which only made his head ache. "Enough!" his calm voice cut through the air like a blade. "That was simply a satement of facts - which you failed to realize, I might add - and the implying was on your side only.  But yes, you have proven a point."

The Trickster's interference led to the desired outcome: an offended Idunn leaving without comment and making way for another, more promising play mate. "Don't keep me waiting. Sit down!" he ordered the maid with a puzzled look on her face, his rising eyebrows signaling that he wouldn't say it twice. Thus _________ obeyed and climbed the over-sized chair while Loki magically reset the chess pieces. And yet another god I ought to entertain...

xxx

Heavy rain drops fell continuously from the grey misty sky of Vanaheim, their drumming against the canopy of the tent not able to drown out the woman's moans coming from inside. In an iron grip she slid along the thick shaft, his large coarse hands guiding her and keeping her in motion according to his preferred pace. Because his lust demanded to be quenched - at least for a short while - and Sif felt wonderful around him. But it wasn't her cunt that kept the god bucking his hips, no, it was the thought of a certain maid back on Asgard. This small, fragile body....the girl had been on his mind ever since their session in the baths, like a quiet voice whispering dirty ideas for his daydreaming, and so his yearning for her grew each day. Soon his loins would be stirring at the mere thought of her - if not for the current mission he was on - and even now while plunging deeply into Sif Thor imagined how it would feel to have the mortal maid pinned underneath him instead. He would have to be very careful not to crush her with his weight, let alone tear her apart with his cock... Thor came with a low grunt and relished in his apex and the relief it entailed, knowing that this sensation wouldn't last for long. A thought of the mortal's swaying hips sufficed to have him horny again.

[athenril-of-kirkwall]

This is my first self-prompted fic! I’m posting two today.

Blackwall/Cassandra, “Taking the Reins” (AO3)

Blackwall was seated by the fire in the barn, carefully tooling a chess piece.

Dorian had taken his frustration from losing five consecutive games to Cullen out on the board, setting some of them on fire and ripping one to shreds with necrotic energy. Although Josephine had promised to send someone to Val Royeaux to shop for a replacement set, the Warden had taken it upon himself to carve replacements until their envoy had returned.

Besides, since the Inquisitor had decided that she only needed the Iron Bull to hold the line as she explored some recently uncovered ruins in the Emerald Graves, he was getting bored out of his mind, having completed the rest of the tasks he needed to do for the day.

Accompanying Rivka were the self-designated elven expert, Solas, and in what he assumed to be a deliberate provocation of her apostate lover or at the very least a representative of an alternate perspective, the self-designated elven skeptic, Sera. This, along with Vivienne following their envoy to the Orlesian capital and Cole doing…whatever he was doing…left a scarce few of their companions back at Skyhold, including the Lady Seeker, who’d seemed to have been troubled by something ever since settling in.

Speaking of which, that definitely was her coming down the long stairs leading from the main keep. As he turned his attention back to the eyes of the miniature warrior he was working on in wood, he idly wondered what precisely she could be up to down in this courtyard; the surgeon’s tent was comfortingly empty, and it was hardly as though she did much in the way of shopping amongst the stalls which greeted new arrivals.

Looking back up, it seemed to him that she was heading directly to his barn. The breath caught slightly in his throat as he saw her approach him, then dissipated as she went past the barn to look at the stables, leaning on the fence with great consideration, then sighing in that way she usually did.

Putting down the chisel, Blackwall walked towards her, asking from behind, “Is there something in the stables you needed, Lady Seeker?”

Cassandra turned towards him, mildly surprised. “Ah! No, I do not think so, Warden Blackwall. Unless…”

“Unless?”, he asked inquisitively.

“Have you had much experience horse-riding?”, she asked, then shaking her head. “Of course you must have, being a squire in the Grand Tourney and excelling in it, then a Warden alone on the road. Forgive my foolishness.”

Blackwall chuckled slightly, saying, “No need to chastise yourself, Lady Seeker, but yes, I’ve been on the road for quite a fair bit. Surely you also must have needed to ride to wherever you needed for…Seeker business?”

Cassandra sighed deeply, looking distantly. “You would think so, but on the whole I much preferred following a carriage. There have been markedly few occasions where I needed to ride at length, and certainly not in battle. Animals do not tend to react well to uses of Seeker abilities.”

“I can imagine,” Blackwall mused. “I was always much better at the mêlée on foot, but I performed well enough on horseback to get as far as I did during the Grand Tourney. Is there a particular occasion which needs you to ride forth, Lady Seeker? I trust it isn’t an emergency?”

She turned around, sitting back on the fence as she looked in his direction again, noticing the sudden edge of concern in his voice. “Oh, nothing of the kind. Well, not a pressing one. I…have been receiving reports that some malefactors of the recent war are still at large and asked the Inquisitor to inform me if she came across intelligence concerning them.”

“To what end?”, Blackwall asked, filling in the brief silence.

Her gaze steeled. “To bring them to justice, of course. Their victims will never rest easy until they are found and made to pay for their crimes.”

He drew in a breath, responding, “Ah, of course.”

“You don’t approve?”, she asked.

“No, not at all. It’s a worthy creed,” he said carelessly. “But I fail to see what this has to do with my experience riding horses, to be perfectly honest.”

Staring into the distance, through the end walls of the stables, again, Cassandra explained, “I instructed Rivka to send word to me of such intelligence where she went, and I’ve just received Leliana’s raven with a message saying they’ve reached the Emerald Graves. I shall ride to join them upon further news.”

“And you’d be travelling yourself to join them should that happen,” Blackwall finished, comprehending the situation.

“Precisely,” Cassandra said. “However, I had failed to account for the fact that we are high up in the mountains, and I shall be responsible for taking myself and a steed down the mountain paths, and I haven’t had the time to familiarise myself with any of the horses that made it to Haven.”

“I see,” he said, nodding. “Undoubtedly Horsemaster Dennet can give you better instruction—”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Master Blackwall,” The old stablemaster said, leading a large pony from the stables. “I think even the stable boys could get Princess Mairyn here eating out of the Lady Seeker’s hand. Why don’t you give it a shot? Seems to me you’ve been doing nothing but whittling wood all day, anyway.”

Cassandra turned to him, glancing over the fence at the horse.

“With such a glowing testimonial, how can I refuse?”, Blackwall said dryly. “And this is the thanks I get for baling your hay when I’m not woodworking, Master Dennet.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Dennet remarked, “You’ll thank me later, lad. Meant to be reading the latest news from Seanna anyway. Wonder who’s been besting the circuit lately.”

As she approached the Dalish All-Bred, Cassandra asked, “Does it ever concern you that the Inquisition’s stablemaster also organises races on the side?”

“I can’t imagine why it would,” Blackwall said, crossing the fence. “Shall we see how you get on, Lady Seeker?”

Turning to him, she said, “Cassandra.”

“I beg your pardon?”, Blackwall asked.

“If you’re going to be judging my riding, I think you can save on the syllable and use my name, Warden Blackwall,” she said, sizing up the saddle and the stirrup on Princess Mairyn’s left side.

“I’ll thank you to do the same for mine…Cassandra,” Blackwall said, feeling her name roll off his tongue, and idly thinking he liked the sound of it.

Still sensing her smile curling her lip, she stood on the stirrup and, with an effort, mounted the pony, adjusting her seating and getting her to trot, then break out in a gallop after a while as she took the pony around the picket a couple of rounds, coming to a hard stop in front of Blackwall, reins tightly in her hand. She looked down at the Warden, who was scratching his beard mirthfully.

“Oh, out with it already,” she said, “What was so terrible?”

“Well,” Blackwall started, “You’re still in the saddle, so….”

Her eyes narrowing, she said, “Don’t make me kick you from over here, Blackwall.”

Raising his hands defensively, Blackwall said, “I was merely stating a fact, Lady Seek…Cassandra. But I think I do know why it is you prefer galloping to trotting or cantering, although you won’t be able to make poor Princess Mairyn gallop all the way down the Frostbacks.”

“And why is that?”, she asked.

“As it stands,” Blackwall explained, “You’re riding this poor pony hard by gripping her as tight as possible with your legs when she’s trotting and essentially holding on for dear life once she gets up to speed after you’ve kicked her in the sides to get there, and it’s not helped when you’ve got a death-grip on her reins.”

Cassandra bit her lip, exhaling as accepted took the criticism.

He continued, “Well, it’s not as though you wouldn’t be doing much the same in a fight, but…”

“…it’s hardly appropriate for a gentle ride down the mountain path out of here,” she finished.

“Quite so,” Blackwall said. “If you promise you won’t go any faster than a trot, I’ll try to walk alongside you.”

“Very well,” Cassandra said, waiting for him to do so. He reached upwards with his hand, finding her wrist and guiding it gently as she got Princess Mairyn walking.

“Relax your grip, Cassandra,” he said gently, also glancing at her side. “At this speed you don’t need to clutch her tight with your knees either. Same holds for trotting or cantering, really. Just sit back and guide her gently. You can get her trotting with a slight kick.”

The pony started speeding up a little, and Blackwall broke into a light jog, finding the breath to say, “That’s good—don’t forget to relax. Break into a canter when you’re able to, and try that for a couple of rounds instead of forcing our poor Princess into a gallop.”

Moments later, she did that very thing, passing Blackwall thrice before bringing the pony to a far gentler halt than her first attempt, gingerly dismounting before him.

“It seems your prowess is well-earned, Ward…Blackwall,” she said. “Thank you.”

“I think you’ll find the ride down far easier without you attempting to choke Princess Mairyn with your thighs this time,” Blackwall said, before coughing politely and skipping a beat, continuing, “Should you need further guidance and should I be away on other business I’m sure you tear Dennet from his betting book.”

“I’m sure I can manage,” Cassandra said, smiling as she gazed back over to the barn. “Perhaps once you’re done making replacements you could bring them up for a game of chess. I’m sure I owe you that much, Blackwall.”

“I, ah,” he said, scratching the back of his head, “I’m hardly any good at the game, I fear. I mainly find the pieces to look pretty.”

“Oh?”, she asked, genuinely surprised. “Well, that’s even better.”

“How so?”, he asked in return.

“I get to teach you something in return, of course,” she said. “If within a month you manage to make Dorian break the board, I’ll consider it a victory.”

“I believe the pawns you play with in chess are meant to be on the board, not your friends,” Blackwall retorted.

She smiled then laughed a brilliant laugh, nearly a giggle, and turned away, saying, “It’ll be a memory to keep me warm on the mountain path to be sure. Until then, Blackwall.”

With that, she was gone, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the thought of seeing her again across a chessboard, and perhaps the lingering mental image of the Lady Seeker’s thighs astride that horse. No, it surely couldn’t be that. And surely Horsemaster Dennet wasn’t chuckling to himself from across the paddock, having watched the whole thing from his little shack.

Because if it was and he’d somehow engineered the whole damned thing, Blackwall swore that this was the absolute last time he baled hay for the man.

-

@dadrunkwriting

[texanredrose]

War (What Is It Good For?)

Blake watched as the rain fell, another dreary day in a dreary city. Time had lost all meaning about three millennia ago but the monotony never stopped weighing on her soul. She’d grown so… tired.

“You just gonna stand there and brood all night?”

With a small frown, she looked back at the woman who’d offered a bit of a distraction from the repetition- though, not in a good way. Wild blonde hair, lilac eyes that flashed with annoyance, and the build of a fighter, Yang Xiao Long was a human caught up in a chess match as old as time itself.

Barely a pawn, yet worth coming out of the shadows to find.

“I don’t have much else to do,” she replied with a drawl, arms crossed over her chest. “If we’re lucky, the sun will rise before the vampires find us.”

“And then what?”

“Then, we take you to Raven.”

“Who’s Raven?” 

Blake sighed, her teeth turning to fangs for a moment as her agitation grew. “She’s the last true immortal… and your mother.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Yang rolled her eyes. “My mom died years ago.”

“No, the woman who raised you died years ago.” Her expression pinched together briefly as she tried to recall the name. “I think it was… Summer, right? Summer Rose?”

To her surprise, the human didn’t seem swayed. “You hunted me down and kidnapped me, so if you’re expecting me to be surprised you know my mom’s name, tough luck.”

“Whether or not you believe me isn’t my problem,” Blake said, taking two strides to the chair where the woman sat and grabbing her shoulder roughly.

“Hey, watch it!” Yang tried to flinch away but didn’t have much room to go, bound to the chair as she was. “I got shot there, ya know!”

“Did you?” With her other hand, she pulled at the woman’s jacket and shirt, ignoring the blood soaked garments to reveal the skin that should be sporting a still oozing gunshot wound. However, aside from the blood, no evidence of such remained. “Where’s the proof?”

“I… well…”

“You’ve always had this ability- you heal faster than normal, you walk away from things that should’ve killed you, and perhaps most damning of all, you can’t explain why.” She took a step back, once again crossing her arms over her white jacket. “But you’ve always known there was something different about you. And, there is. You’re the latest descendant of the last true immortal.”

“So what’s that make us? Cousins?”

Blake had to hand it to the woman; her defiance, although arrogant, never wavered. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“Well, it’s not like we’re going anywhere until dawn anyway.” With what limited mobility Yang had, she turned her hands. “Enlighten me.”

She had half a mind to ignore the request but, honestly, the woman would likely just continue asking until her patience eroded anyway. “The story changes depending on who does the telling. Long story short, there have always been five races on Remnant: humans, faunus, vampires, zoans, and the immortals. The immortals ruled us all for millennia, with humans and faunus as their servants and vampires and zoans as their armies. They used those beneath them until the vampires managed to find a way to destroy the immortals.”

Yang’s expression pinched. “Sounds like a faulty immortality to me.”

“Immortality just means that you don’t die through natural means, not that you can’t be destroyed outright. Vampires were the first to figure that out.” Blake went back to the window, her eyes unfocusing as she began to relive a memory she’d tried hard to forget. “When they’d destroyed almost all the immortals, the vampires instituted themselves as the overseers. Zoans like myself became their guardians… and their slaves.”

“Then what happened?”

“We rose up,” she replied, and in her mind’s eye, she went back to that day. The fighting, the shouting, the sound of claws on stone and wings beating and the overwhelming need to get away now that propelled her forward- and her last look back. “Then, the war started. Thousands lost on either side, until vampires and zoans were so few, we became myths and legends. That’s when humans and faunus inherited Remnant and we continued our war in secret.”

“Why in secret?”

“Because the truth had already come out; not even the immortals could escape death entirely, and though vampires and zoans can heal the same as you, we still have glaring weaknesses.”

“Like sunlight and silver?”

“Exactly.” She blinked, refocusing on the view outside the window. “We never inherited the immortals’ full secrets. We don’t age and die like humans and faunus but neither are we entirely immortal.”

“Maybe the immortals weren’t either; they just suckered everyone into serving them.”

“That’s possible, too.”

“Then why are you turning me over to one?”

“To gain the edge we need to win the war for good.” Blake turned her head, regarding the human. “You’re not a full immortal yourself but you have healing abilities on par with mine and you earlier fought a vampire to a standstill. You had a fraction of the immortals’ power within you by virtue of being half blood. What Raven offers is her own blood to whoever can find you.”

“Maybe I’m missing somethin’, but if this whole thing started because the immortals were killed off, I kinda don’t see how getting her blood’s going to help.” Yang shrugged- well, as much as she could, all things considered. “Sounds like a hustle to me.”

“The immortals never grew their numbers.” She stepped away from the window again, having briefly seen a flash of movement on the street below. “They bred their servants and their armies but rarely themselves; they would live forever and had no reason to propagate. They waged their wars to secure more resources for their minions, to increase the amount of lives they could throw away. When the fight began, the vampires knew how to replenish their numbers; the immortals did not.” Then, she winced. “Not for lack of trying, from what I’ve been told. For all the years that Raven’s tried, you’re the first of her offspring to survive into adulthood.”

“Guess immortality’s not for everyone,” Yang glibly replied, heaving a heavy sigh. “So, I’m just a bargaining chip. Great. Gotta say, kinda hurts my feeling’s a little bit.” Then she paused, looking over at Blake with something lurking in lilac eyes. “You still up for story time? ‘Cause, there’s something that’s been nagging at me.”

Rolling her eyes, she glanced out the window again. “And what’s that?”

“What’s the deal between you and the vampire chick? The short one with the scar?”

Her expression tightened. “Nothing. Not anymore.”

“Liar.”

Before she could respond to that accusation, she heard sound of a great amount of force smashing into the ceiling above them, amber eyes flicking up to see how the fluorescent lights shook and dimmed while the tiles bowed slightly. A second blow caused the ceiling tiles to crack and split and a third produced a hole and a hail of fiberglass, plastic, and insulation.

Then a figure dropped down, draped in black leather- as ever, a taunt.

“Blake,” she said, voice cold as ice.

“Weiss,” she replied, preparing for a fight. They’d done this song and dance so many times, it had become part of the monotony. A struggle neither could win, a fight neither could end… or didn’t want to… she honestly wasn’t sure which anymore. “Walk away.”

“Funny.” Blue eyes narrowed, the scar across her left eye never fading no matter how many centuries passed. “I was going to suggest the same thing.” At her hip sat a sword, the same one Blake had forged for her ages ago- silver, with intricate designs, the last vestiges of their old world. “There’s no reason for you to die today.”

For a moment, she considered it- walking away. Leaving the war behind, running as far as she could. She’d tried that before.

It didn’t work.

“Wish I could say the same,” she replied before moving forward, using her speed to close the distance quickly. 

Blake could’ve pulled her pistol from its holster; the special ultra-violet rounds designed to specifically kill vampires would make short work of Weiss. But, just as the vampire didn’t draw her silver sword, neither did the zoan pull her gun. 

This battle, they fought honorably, hand-to-hand.

Or, maybe, they were both cowards, unable to make the killing blow. Instead, Blake simply threw her weight into a tackle, launching herself into Weiss’ chest and sending them both crashing into the far side of the room. Thankfully, this particular safe house was in an abandoned office building, so no one would hear their fight. Unfortunately, that also meant no one could intervene. 

This time, only one of them could walk away.

They both rolled to their feet and Blake partially shifted, her fangs and claws coming to bear as her ears became more feline. As a werepanther, she had a good deal more strength available to her the closer she was to her fully shifted form, but would reserve that for later. In response, Weiss hissed at her, revealing her fangs as her eyes began to shine.

Neither at full strength but making a show of it for the sake of ghosts.

The monotony of it killed her as much as it broke her heart.

Then, she had to set aside her feelings, dodging swipes and kicks from the vampire while trying to land blows of her own. Movements too fast for the eye of a human or faunus but it always felt like running underwater to Blake, as if she couldn’t truly put her whole heart into attacking Weiss. Some part of her still remembered when they were small, both born into chains. Then later, when vampires took control, how Weiss became her ‘master’ in name only. Then, later…

She ducked beneath a swipe of Weiss’ claws and took the opportunity for an uppercut that quite nearly clipped the vampire’s jaw. 

There was a time when she foolishly loved Weiss. A time when she foolishly thought Weiss loved her. A time when she thought… that things would change, and they wouldn’t have to keep their love a secret. She believed it, once, and though she’d since learned the truth, some small, stubborn part of her still loved the vampire even after all these years.

After taking a few punches to her gut, Weiss dropped down and swept her legs from under her, sending Blake crashing to the ground, and a kick while she was down sent her skittering across the floor until she fetched up against the wall. Blake thought about getting up. She did. But she was tired of doing this. The fighting never stopped and, if the zoans succeeded in securing Raven’s favor, they’d just do the same thing the vampires did before them, and the immortals before them. There would always be a hierarchy, and injustice, and fighting, and she just… couldn’t do it anymore.

Amber eyes watched as Weiss seemed to realize she wouldn’t be getting up this time. That their battle had finally come to an end the same way it began.

Blake remembered when the uprising started, how the vampire looked at her even as she was ordered to ‘put that beast down’. How she drew her silver sword. How her eyes were cold and distant.

Just like now, the silver sword flashing in the dim light as she drew it from her hip.

After so many years upon years, she gave up and closed her eyes, allowing her end to come.

However, her eyes snapped open when she heard the crashing and metal twang, watching as Yang broke the chair she’d been sitting in over Weiss’ head and the vampire crumpled to the ground.

“No!” Shifting fully, Blake launched forward, skin replaced by thick black fur, but the human seemed to anticipate this. Her hand shot out, catching Blake’s throat, and she didn’t even have to reset her feet even as the werepanther’s superior weight slammed into her, jaws kept safely away from tearing into flesh. Yang didn’t even seem taxed, hardly wincing whenever Blake’s claws tore at her skin, the wounds healing almost the moment they were caused.

Then, her attacks became more like futile flailing as the hand around her throat began to squeeze. Although their longevity could qualify them as immortal, zoans needed air just like humans and faunus; they weren’t like the living dead vampires in that regard. Quickly, Blake turned back to her bipedal form in the hopes that changing sizes would dislodge the woman’s grip, but she was wrong.

With her dwindling consciousness, she registered Weiss’ scream of rage as she charged, impaling Yang with her sword. Unfortunately, the attack didn’t even seem to faze the woman as she threw Blake to the ground and grabbed the vampire by the throat, lifting her clear off her feet. The zoan tried to get up but found a boot stomping on her chest, keeping her pinned to the ground.

“Would both of you stop freaking out for one second?” Yang groused, using her free hand to pull the sword from her stomach, giving it a once over before tossing it aside. “Nice aim; pretty sure that got my liver. Plus a few other things. Ah well, no harm, no foul, am I right?”

“How- are- you-“

“Yeah, quick aside: I fought both of you to a standstill and she only managed to tie me to a chair because I sleep like a rock and just came off a forty-eight hour shift.” The woman nodded towards Blake. “The fact either of you thought handcuffs and rope would work is a joke.” In hindsight, Yang had a point. “So, here’s the deal. I have a bone to pick with this Raven. I only need one of you alive to lead me to her. First one to volunteer lives.”

At that, Weiss became even more agitated, struggling violently to free herself while shouting. “If you harm her, I swear, I will destroy you!”

“Okay, so there is something more going on here.” Lilac eyes flicked down to the zoan for a moment before focusing on the vampire. “Why the soft spot for this one?”

Weiss glared. “Because I love her, if you must know! Now, leave her out of this!”

“Hmmm. Wow, that’s gotta suck. Unrequited love for that long-“

“You almost killed me!” The words burst from her mouth before she could stop them, annoyed at herself for sounding so genuinely hurt. “When your father told you to put me down, you drew your sword and- and-“

“And I missed, you fool, it was the only way to cut your chains!”

That stopped her cold. “You… you were trying to free me?”

“Of course!” And, for the first time since that day, she saw the blood gathering in blue eyes- the only tears a vampire could cry. “I- I can’t kill you, Blake. I never could.”

“Hookay, so, it sounds like you two have some things to work out.” Yang removed the boot from Blake’s chest and set Weiss down on her feet, taking a step back from both of them. “Listen, for what it’s worth, I could definitely tell neither of you were really happy about fighting each other earlier, so it’s pretty obvious there’s some baggage there to unpack. You two should do that now, before any more of your friends show up.” Then she turned around, adjusting her jacket slightly. “Once you two have figured out the whole ‘will we or won’t we’ thing, I’ll be over there, trying to salvage what remains of my jacket. I can’t believe you put another hole in the damn thing. I get it, you two seem to only have leather in your wardrobes, but I kinda try to diversify mine, and I really loved this jacket.”

Blake blinked, slowly getting to her feet. She looked over at Weiss, who seemed equally confused but more concerned with… her.

“Are… you alright?”

“Yeah,” she replied, rubbing at her throat. “And… you?”

“I’m fine.” She quickly wiped away her tears, though blood was always harder to erase. “I’m… I apologize, that you ever thought I was trying to harm you- I never wanted to-“

“No, I… I’m the one who never let you explain…” Her shoulders fell, centuries upon centuries of regrets piling up on her in that moment. “It’s been… so hard, fighting against you all these years.” Tentatively, she reached out, cupping Weiss’ jaw. “I never wanted this.”

“Neither did I… but I couldn’t stop.” Weiss lifted her hand, settling it over Blake’s, and her skin felt as cold as it always did; even after millennia, the zoan never forgot how it felt. “If it was anyone else, they… you could’ve gotten hurt. So, I had to be the one who kept hunting you.”

In that moment, she made a decision, stepping forward and pressing her lips to the vampire’s. Again, her memories proved true, and kissing Weiss hadn’t changed despite how much the rest of the world had. 

How they felt… didn’t change.

“Hey, hate to break the moment, but I gotta ask some pertinent questions.” They broke apart to look over at Yang, who’d taken off her jacket in an attempt to mend the hole in the back of it. However, it also revealed the one wound that had yet to heal- the gashes deep into her left forearm that still trickled blood looking very much like a torn bite mark. “How does a human or faunus get turned into a vampire?”

“They have to be bitten and then drink the blood of the vampire who bit them,” Weiss said, eyeing the wound with suspicion.

“And a zoan?”

“Be bitten and don’t die before the next full moon.” Blake supplied.

“Great!” The woman genuinely smiled. “Well, I won’t hold you two up. If you point me in the right direction, I’ll go settle the score with Raven and I’ll just tell anyone who asks that I killed both of you. Go, run off to the woods somewhere and forget all this war nonsense.”

Although the zoan heavily considered doing just that- after all, running away with Weiss would bound to be different than just hiding herself away- the vampire obviously didn’t like the plan. “And just abandon you?”

“Hey, listen, I’ll be fine.” She nodded towards her arm. “I’m sure the bigger one of you will track me down soon enough; I can probably get some of her blood and the full moon is in two days.”

“Wait.” Blake tilted her head. “Are you trying to become both zoan and vampire?”

“Uh, duh. C’mon, think about it.” She gestured between the three of us. “You said yourself that none of Raven’s kids live very long and there were five races. Why would Raven be interested in me surviving if it wasn’t to see if the races can be combined? Humans and faunus can reproduce, so I figure she’s trying to find a way to breed a new army: half immortal, part zoan, and part vampire. That would give her the edge, right?”

“I mean… I… guess?” She looked to Weiss, who seemed equally stunned by the explanation. “How did you-“

“I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I know how conniving minds work.” Yang shrugged, turning away. “Either way, I’m going to give Raven a piece of my mind when I meet her, so if either of you know how to kill an immortal, that’d be a sweet going away present.”

Blake again looked to the vampire, who seemed to be thinking hard on something.

Then, she spoke. “Do you think there’s others like us?”

“I like to believe so,” the zoan replied, feeling Weiss’ hand slip into hers, their fingers threading together.

“Then, we can’t walk away from this.” Her expression turned serious. “We have to find a way to end the suffering without sacrificing everyone in the process.”

Blake nodded. “Okay. Then, let’s end this.” --- Is there a shit ton of irony in me doing an actual Underworld AU? Yes, yes there is. Is that going to stop me? Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnope.

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

A King Needs His Queen - The Originals (Chapter 2)

“True love is like playing chess the King may be the most important piece on the board however the Queen is the most powerful and dangerous as she performs more moves than any other. The Queen will always protect her King.” Word Count: 4105 Warnings: None

Chapter 1 

Another day is a new day and this one would be perfect to confront my husband to find out exactly why he had me shoved in a box and carted around. As the sun rose, I got up showered and got ready for the adventures of today. I was very grateful for Elijah selecting some change of clothes for me other wise I would still be wearing the old white dress that I wore 100 years ago.

After coming out of the shower I noticed two boxes that were placed on my bed, one large baby pink box and a smaller black box. I lifted the lid to the large box to see white tissue paper, after removing that there was a floral dress, it was black with pink roses I lifted it out and laid it on the bed. Next I opened the black box to find a pair of black strappy heels. I brushed and straightened my raven black hair and added some makeup, then slipping into the dress and heels where I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" I said, to where Elijah walks into my room.

"It looks even more gorgeous then I thought." He says with a smile.

"Thank you Elijah, I adore these." I say to him.

"Are you ready? We have someone to go see" He says with a smirk.

We arrived at the courtyard to hear Marcellus talking on the phone. "You find him, and then you call me. Don't worry, I know how to deal with Klaus."

We turned the corner for everyone to see us ."Is that so? Please elaborate." Elijah said. I un-linked my arm with my brother in law, my heels clicked on the ground as I paced around a small part of the courtyard.

"Elijah and Elizabeth Mikealson" The entourage of vampires that were seated around the courtyard start to rise out of there seats glaring at us, they were ready to protect there master.

"No, I got it. It's all good" Marcellus says easing his bodyguards down. I walk over and take the seat to face opposite him, while Elijah takes a seat next to me to my right. "It's time we had a little chat." Elijah says breaking the silence.

"Well if your going to talk. Talk. I got things to do" He snapped back.

"Marcellus! Watch your mouth, just remember who your speaking with." I growled at him, my eyes looked at him dead on.

"It's ok Elizabeth, but oh my haven't you grown quite confident over the last century?" Elijah says, he raises his hand slightly to calm my temper once more.

"Me? I'd say it's your family who got cocky, coming into my town like you own the place" He says with a smirk.

"But your forgetting something? Right Elijah?" I piped up.

"Well, we did own this place once. We were all quite happy here as I recall. But we never could control those pesky witches of the French Quarter. How do you do it" Elijah says with a smile.

"Your brother asked me the same question. I gave him the same answer, its's my business. Everything in the Quarter is my business. Klaus comes to town all nice and friendly, then he starts looking down my nose at what I've done like it's some cheap knock-off of one of his dumb paintings, then he gets pissed of like a little bitch and bites one of my guys..." Marcellus starts.

But by then my temper had gotten the best of me I sped around to the other end of the table and grabbed the boy by his neck and glared at him in the eyes. The other vampires immediately get out of their seats and start to growl. "DO NOT bad mouth my husband, but I do apologize for Niklaus' poor behavior, I assume you know that bite kill your friend within a matter of days, but of course Niklaus' blood would cure him. Am I right Elijah?" I say sweetly, I release my hold and strut my way back over to my now vacant seat.

"Yes, well apparently the blood of the hybrid will cure a werewolf bite. Quite handy really when one needs leverage in negotiation" Elijah says.

"What kind of negotiations are we talking about?" Marcellus asks us, I for one had no idea what we wanted from him as I was left completely in the dark.

"Return the body of the witch Jane-Anne. Allow her people to put her to rest" Elijah says.

"What do you care about the witches?" Marcellus asks him.

"Well, that's our business, now isn't it?" Elijah says with a smile.

After the interesting debate with the vampire in the courtyard we had the body of the witch Elijah had asked for and we were currently on route to take her back to the witches and the same witches that had woken me from my slumber.

"Before we go and speak with the witches your not going to like what I'm about to tell you" Elijah tells me.

We continue walking while I learn about my husbands betrayal.

"Niklaus was set of breaking his cure, which lead him to the town of Mystic Falls. To which he was successful as you have gathered. He made a small army of Hybrids who were sired to him, but because of his behavior they all rose up to break the bond with the help of Hayley, after the bond was broken Niklaus had slaughtered them all except one Tyler Lockwood. But because of your absence Niklaus was not thinking clear and well once you see for yourself you will understand what I mean" Elijah's explained his words rang throughout my mind.

I was speechless.

When we entered the tomb I heard it, the soft rhythmic sound of a babies heartbeat. My husband had done the worst act of them all.We appear back at the tomb and I can hear a church bell ringing in the background.

"I bring proof of our intent to help you, the body of your fallen friend, which I have procured from Marcel himself" Elijah says. I had taken a step back and quietly left the tomb my head was swimming, I was confused but that soon turned into anger to which turned almost into my sobbing my heart out.

I left the cemetery in an emotional state, leaving Elijah and the witches still in the cemetery, tears flowed down my face I was in daze I had spotted a gang of teenagers vandalizing a nearby wall with spray paint and whatever good that was still left in me vanished. I killed them all snapped their necks and drained them of their blood. It wasn't long before Elijah had found me and he knew it was time to face my husband. I was heartbroken and angry and I wasn't going to feel any better till I had my say.

We arrived to see Niklaus holding a bottle of bourbon taking large swigs before speaking to Elijah without turning around.

"Have I not made it clear my desire to be left alone?" Niklaus spat.

Once again I lost my temper and stormed over to my husband. "Oh, you demand to be left alone at least once a decade... Your words have ceased to have an impact!" I shouted.

Niklaus turns around he drops the bottle and it smashes on the ground. "Surprised to see me Nik? Bet you was expecting for me to still rotting away in that box" I spat.

"Elizabeth love..." My husband started.

I glared at his and with a swift moment I slapped him around the face. "DON'T YOU DARE! If I had left you I would have understood your moment of weakness, but I was never gone Nik I was always there! Always with you. You had every chance to wake me and yet you decide to throw our marriage away for some dog!" I shouted tears filled my eyes and I had started to shake with anger.

Niklaus had also lost his temper when he reaches for another bottle of drink to just throw it at the wall. "Why must everyone keep harping on about this baby? That child will never be born. In fact Hayley is probably dead already." Nik shouted

"OWN UP FOR YOUR ACTIONS NICKLAUS, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS BABY WHETHER YOU WANT TO BE OR NOT!" Elijah had shouted, stepping in before our argument got too out of control.

Nik had taken a step back he knew he lost this fight.

"You will not walk away from this!" He threatened, speeding over to grab Nik by his throat.

"Let. Me. GO." Nik replies voice dripping with anger and hatred.

By this point Elijah is also very angry with his brother and raised his voice. "I WILL NOT!" With the last word leaving his lips he throws my husband against the floor, then grabs him with both hands to pick him up again to only repeat the motion another time.

"Don't make me say it again" Nik says.

"I will not let go, I will never let go." Elijah says to him brother.

I stand in the background my facial expression was blank, no emotion. I had turned my humanity off. I sped over to my husband once move and I shoved Elijah down and out of the way. I grab Nik and throw him around the room like a rag doll I walk over to a chair and break one of the legs and stabbed him in the chest, it wouldn't kill him but it would hurt.

"If I have to beat you as your father used to beat you, to remind you of your own humanity then so be it" I growl at him.

I lean over him and removed the make-shift stake and stab him again and again him his legs, arms and chest.

"To remind me of my humanity? Look at you love, you've just turned yours off" Nik laughs blood leaving his mouth.

"You left me no choice dear husband, you have broken my mind, body and soul, with you unfaithful act and selfish ways, you have two choices Niklaus so choose wisely. Accept you are the father to Hayley's baby and protect them both with your life, and in return I will help you care and raise the child. Or will I go to the ends of the earth to find a white oak stake and plunge it into my heart and you will lose me forever. Your call." I snap as I move away from Nik.

"Elizabeth you really are beyond pathetic." Nik says as he spits blood onto the floor.

I turn my head and looked at him coldly "Well who is more pathetic? The one who sees hope to make her family whole, or the coward who only sees the world through his own fear?" " I haven't cared about anything for centuries, why should you?" Nik asks me slowly getting up.

"I could tell, do you know how? Because the very man I call my husband. MY HUSBAND! Had a witch desiccate me and you placed me in a coffin to forget about me, tell me while on your adventures did you still wear your wedding ring? Because I see right now your not wearing it." I spat pointing at the engagement finger on his left hand that was missing a gold wedding band.

"You deal with him Elijah because if I stay much longer I will rip his heart out." I say to him coldly as I storm out of the building.

I loved the man so much I really did, I would always stand by Niklaus. I told him this forever and always. But how is acting right now, that isn't the man I married or was it? Was it finally after 500 years of marriage his true colours were showing? I needed to talk to the werewolf carrying his child. I didn't hate her, she was not at fault. But I know this could be the start to something beautiful our twisted and crazy family could have the happy ending we desired. I understand that Nik wanted his empire back, but is now truly the best time to be fighting the person who was once part of our family?

The Queen makes the most moves on a chess board, and right now New Orleans is the battlefield we are playing on. But right now the one things that's for sure I will protect my King.

Even if he won't protect me.

After leaving Elijah and Nik, I went in search for the werewolf carrying my husbands child my rage had calmed down there was still the part of that will filled with regret and betrayal but as I said before and I'll say again this is chance for our family to be normal. Well as normal as we're ever going to get. After thirty minutes walking in the brisk cold I found Hayley walking the streets, she hugged her form obviously trying to keep warm. I sped over to her and offered her my thin cardigan, she looked at me confused by my actions.

"Please take it, you need to keep warm" I say softly.

"I thought you would be one of the first people to kill me if I'm honest" She chuckled.

"Maybe at first? But this is a chance for us all, I want to help you, Elijah and anyone else to protect you and your baby, Niklaus will come around Hayley." I reply to her with a smile.

"If it's ok, what's the deal with you and Klaus? Are you guys still together?" She asks me.

"Because of the era I am from I was raised to believe that a marriage is for life, it has it's ups and downs and at present it's taking a course for a downward spiral. Things for me and Nik will improve, I will always love him no matter how angry we both can get. I'm sure he had his reasons for his actions and when the cloud of dust settles that is when we will talk." I tell her.

What was said was the truth. Nik had said Always and forever to me when we were married, and I will stick by his words for as long as I shall live.

After our small conversation Elijah had found us and took us to a familiar large white house, back in 1820 we were guests to this house but Elijah had informed us that this would be the perfect place for us to stay while we had business in the Quarter. I had made my way up the stairs running my hand up the wooden oak banister it was covered in a thick dust. This house is where we all felt happy and safe and this was the house that held memories that I could never forget.

1820 In one of the large dinning rooms the floorboards polished to perfection is where I was currently dancing with my husband the love of my love, he hummed a song for us to dance to in my ear and it sent shivers down my spine. My heels clicked on the floorboards I was in pure bliss and I relished every moment.

"I love you so much Nik" I say softly. Nik stops his humming and plants a soft kiss to my lips.

"Always and forever my love" he replies.

"Please know that I will always protect you even if my actions say otherwise." He adds.

With that he spins me, my dress twirls because of the motion and a smile plasters my face.

After recalling the fond and most favorite memory of this house I overheard the sound of sheets being taken of items of furniture. I continued walking upstairs to see Hayley and Elijah in one of the rooms which held a baby's wooden crib. Hayley let's out a small cough when Elijah immediately puts a hand out to her back to support her.

"Are you alright?" He asks her.

"Just dust, this place is ancient" she says with a smile.

"What your mouth missy, we may be old but not that old" I laugh. The room is filled with a small chuckle from everyone, Elijah clears his throat.

"Yes, it should serve our purposes. It's a sanctuary from our business in the Quarter. Right now, you are the most important person in this family. You need a good home."

I start taking the sheets off other items in the room "Everything has seemed rather frantic, but how are you feeling? I've been in your situation before so I can offer some advice" I say. Hayley stood dead in her tracks, I offer out my arm and we excused ourselves from Elijah I led us outside through the back door.

"Back when I was a young girl before I worked in the castle I had met someone, they turned my world upside down I thought he was the one, but by the age of 14 I had fallen pregnant. I was still a child myself and had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Multiple times I had fallen unwell. I was at risk of losing the baby but every time I had fought through, even back then I was a fighter." I say.

"I had no idea, when did you meet Klaus, Elijah and the rest of the crazy family?" She asks me.

"Well I had met them years afterwards, they set me right helped me become the 'lady' I am today" I chuckle.

"Did you carry full term?" Hayley asks.

"I did yes, the labor was painful, looking back now I would rather be impaled with a stake or have my neck snapped, I believe that modern medicine will be graceful on you." I tell her.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened to your baby?" She asks me sheepishly.  

"I had a baby boy, he had a powerful set of lungs on him came out kicking and screaming. Those gorgeous emerald green eyes and brown locks he looked so much like his father. I had no idea how to care for him so I gave him up to a family I had known who couldn't conceive" I say a few tears spiked in my eyes.

"How are you feeling though?" I add.

"About having a miracle baby with a psychotic one-night-stand? No offence." She says.

"About being a mother" I laugh.

"I...I was abandoned when I was born and my adoptive parents kicked me out the second that I turned into a wolf. So... I don't really know how I feel about being a mother because I...I never really had a good one." Hayley mumbled.

I offer out a hug to her and give her a kiss to the side of her cheek and we walked back inside.

"We will protect you, you have my word on that" Elijah says as we enter the house.

"Eavesdropping are we Elijah?" I teased.

"No dear sister, just happen to have supernatural hearing" He replies. Niklaus enters the house to see us all standing in the large and open hallway. We all turn to face him, when his eyes connect with mine his expression is guilty one, I offer him a smile ~ not sarcastic nor a spiteful one it was a genuine smile towards my husband.

"And noble Elijah keeps his word." Nik says. Elijah sands and crosses his arms.

"Is it done?" Nik nods his head.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Your underhanded deal worked quite well. Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies. His man, Thierry yet lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French Quarter. My only concern now is this coven of impudent witches."

I run my hand through my hair to rid any forming knots.

"Maybe we can trust the witches, I mean they have kept Hayley safe and they woke me neither of us are hurt?" I ask.

"I also believe them to be honorable. They did release Hayley to us. Although they haven't been entirely forthcoming. Marcel obviously has something that they need. They don't want him dead. There must be a reason why." Elijah says as he straightened his tie and smoothed down his suit jacket.

"Maybe it's worth I go make Marcel a special visit, he wouldn't try and hurt me but he would be a fool if he did." I add.

Once upon a time when we raised him, he had grown very fond of me I remember helping him with his reading we shared a love for Shakespeare maybe I can use that to my advantage?

I had continued to help my family remove the dusty white sheets off the bits of furniture around the house, I was in one of the upstairs bedrooms with Nik we had taken a short break to sit on the edge of the bed to talk.

"Do you remember what I told you once love?" He asks me.

I sat and thought. "That you would always love me, even if your actions said different?"

Nik reaches out and touches my cheek and I lean into his warmth. "I am very sorry what I had put you through, but after what happened with my father I saw how frightened you were and I vowed to myself I would never put you in that situation again." He says.

"But regarding my wedding ring I've always had it with me" He adds as he pulls a chain from underneath his clothes, my eyes well-up again and I cover my mouth with my hands.

"Nik..." I start to sniffle.

"Always and forever love, we are strong without each other but stronger together" He pulls me into a hug, he wipes my face with his hand and plants a long and passionate kiss on my lips.

We walked down the stairs hand in hand towards the study to see Elijah looking through some documents.

"In addition to the secret weapon he uses to control the witches, Marcel has assembled a small army of vampires. Working together as a family, we can destroy them from the inside." Elijah says putting the papers down and looking at us.

"And what of Rebekah? Has she stopped her pouting long enough to join the fun?" Nik asks.

"From the phone call Elijah has with her it appears she has no interest in joining us, so it's just us three" I reply.

"One too many times daggered and shoved in a box, I gather? Or perhaps she doesn't share your unwavering belief that I can be saved." Nik jokes.

"Oh hush now Niklaus" I snapped. I hated it when he spoke ill of himself. Nik just pulls a face at me and I wave him off.

"Rebekah may surprise us yet. After all, we all swore the same vow." Elijah interrupts. I nod in agreement to Elijah's statement.

"I hope she stays far away. Because in my desire to reclaim this town, to steal from Marcel that which he holds most dear, I have realized one massive vulnerability. One weakness that Marcel could exploit." Nik says.

I cross my arms unsure what he had meant. "And what is that?" Elijah asks him.

"You" Nik sneers and with a flash before my eyes Nik plunged a silver dagger into Elijah's heart his groan rings throughout my ears.

"ELIJAH! NIK TAKE IT OUT! TAKE THE DAGGER OUT!" I scream at him as just about to take a step closer he looks at me.

"Unless you wish for the same fate, don't move another step Elizabeth. I don't want to do it to you but if you leave me no choice I will return you to your coffin." Nik says to me.

"Forgive me. There is no power in love. Mercy makes you weak. Family makes you weak. If I am going to win this war, I have to do it alone." Nik says unclear whether this statement was meant for me or Elijah who is now rested on the floor his whole body is grey.

"No Nik, we are stronger together! You told me that don't destroy this family anymore then you already have!" I plead with him, tears return to my face unable to help Elijah who lies helpless on the floor.

It's time to act like a lady and start making decisions and that I will do... Starting with Marcel and then my husband.

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

A Terrible Babysitter Chapter 5

Unfortunately the next morning they were still children. Rena was the first one to climb out of the fort at dawn. Add watched her silently. She climbed into one of the chairs at the table next to him and grabbed a chocolate out of the bowl. He was beginning to notice that individually, none of them were so bad. It was just when they were all together that the chaos started.

“What’re you working on?” Rena asked curiously.

“Stuff,” Add shrugged. He motioned toward the kitchen, “There’s cereal or lunchables or whatever in the kitchen.”

“I want eggs.”

“I’m not making eggs.”

“I can make them,” Rena stated confidently.

“You can’t even reach the stove,” Add reminded her.

“I can ask the wind spirits for help!”

“No.” Add shook his head. “No eggs until you can reach the stove.”

Rena pouted but quickly cheered up. “Are we still going to the library today?” She asked the question over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen.

“When everyone wakes up,” Add responded. He was reluctant to take them all out again but Aisha was likely to get argumentative after he promised her they could last night. He didn’t feel like dealing with that. While the dinner outing wasn’t the worst, wrangling the kids was a lot harder in more open spaces. Besides, last time they went out the kids picked up two stray cats. He didn’t want them picking up anything else.

When Rena finished breakfast she went back into the fort and started to get the others up, much to Add’s annoyance. He was hoping at least one of them would sleep through the day so he had an excuse to not take them anywhere. With a heavy, exhausted sigh he dismissed the screens and wandered to the fridge for a drink. Today was gonna be a long day.

“I wanna bring Snowball!” Elsword picked up the fluffy mostly white cat and held her close to his chest. The cat looked annoyed, hanging from his arms, her tail swishing back and forth. Of course just as they were about to leave, something had to happen.

What kind of a name is Snowball? Add gave Elsword a flat look, “Put her down.”

“But I wanna bring her with us!” Elsword insisted.

“Why can’t she come?” Ara asked sadly, “She lived outside before.”

“Yeah!”

“Cats aren’t allowed in the library,” Add transferred the flat look to Ara. He shoved his hands into his pockets, “The cats will have to stay here until we get back.”

“All alone?!” Chung’s eyes flew wide open anxiously. “Are they gonna be okay?!”

“They can’t take care of themselves!” Elsword yelled.

Add bit his tongue. They literally found the cats outside, taking care of themselves just fine but okay. He took a deep breath, “They’ll be fine. We’ll leave food out for them before we go.”

“But what if something happens?” Ara asked.

“Fine,” Add threw his hands in the air in defeat. “If you’re so worried about the cats you can stay here with them.”

“Elesis will stay right?” Elsword turned to his sister hopefully.

“Actually, I’m going to the library,” Elesis shrugged. “I wanna see what’s there.”

“Who’s gonna look after us?” Ara’s voice became high pitched with worry. Tears gathered in her eyes.

Add took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Here’s what’s happening. We’re going to the library. The cats are staying here. They were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves outside, so I’m sure they’ll be fine in the house. The house is a lot safer than being outside after all. Okay?”

“You’re sure they’ll be okay?” Ara sniffed.

Add nodded, “Yes. Now, Elsword, put her down and let’s go.”

Elsword reluctantly put the cat down, muttering about how he was certain he could’ve brought her to the library.

Add sighed in relief. Dynamo removed the lock on the door and the kids filed out and gathered in front of the house. He replaced the lock and led the way to the library. It was a challenge keeping the kids on track with all the distractions around them but they managed to arrive without too much trouble.

Add sat at a table and watched the kids scatter through the library. It might be irresponsible of him but he wasn’t going to police them. With all the different directions they went it would be impossible anyway. If they needed him, he was in an easy to find spot. Besides, one of them would probably just scream for him instead of bothering to find him.

As predicted, only a few moments passed before Raven called, “Add!”

Add groaned as he slowly got to his feet. Dynamo tracked Raven down via his nasod arm and Add made his way over. He couldn’t say he was surprised when he found Ara, near tears, sitting by a ladder in between a couple of bookshelves.

“Ara fell off the ladder,” Raven pointed up towards the top.

“How high?” Add asked.

Raven climbed up the ladder and touched the rung fourth from the top, “She was on this one. I told her to be careful and when she turned to acknowledge me her foot slipped and she fell.”

“I didn’t mean to fall again.”

Add snorted. Despite his annoyance he assured her, “You never mean to. It’s fine.” With a quiet sigh he knelt down in front of her. Dynamo scanned her and reported that she somehow managed not to break anything. “Try to stand up,” he ordered.

Ara hesitated but didn’t argue. Slowly, she got to her feet. Raven offered his arm to help steady her but she seemed determined to do it on her own. She did manage to stand but kept most of her weight on her right side.

Add stood up and looked at the shelf, “What were you trying to get?”

“The big brown book about deities,” Ara pointed up toward the shelf.

Add reached up and pulled a brown book with grey letters on the binding and showed it to her, “This one?”

Ara nodded.

Add held it out to her, along with a chocolate just to be sure she didn’t start crying. He looked at Raven, “Stay with her.”

Raven nodded, “I will.”

Before Add could say anything more Elsword’s voice echoed through the library. Add blew air into his cheeks. He turned on his heel and stalked out from the bookshelves. Dynamo located Elsword and Add walked up to him, “What are you yelling about?”

“I found a game Chung and I can play!” Elsword declared excitedly, holding up a beat up box for an old chess set.

Add took a deep breath and tried to sound calm, “That’s great. But you’re not supposed to yell in a library.”

“Oh,” Elsword covered his mouth with his hand, muffling his whispered apology.

Add waved his hand dismissively, “Go play your game.”

Elsword nodded and scampered off to the nearest table.

“Wait for me!” Chung called. He cringed and quickly lowered his volume, “I-I mean. Hold on.” He hurried after Elsword.

Add sighed and returned to his table. It took all of his effort not to doze off in the library.

“Add.”

Add looked to the side.

Aisha stood next to him, holding a book close to her chest, looking frustrated, “The lady said I had to return the book in a week!”

“Okay?” Add rolled his eyes. He didn’t see how that warranted frustration.

“Tell the lady I’m keeping it! She won’t listen to me cuz I’m a child!”

You’ve got to be kidding. “You didn’t realize you couldn’t keep library books?” Add asked irritably.

“I want to keep it!” Aisha insisted.

Add growled quietly, “You can’t. If you aren’t gonna be happy if you can’t keep it then put it back.”

“But I want it! It’s important!”

“Then we’ll just go to a fucking bookstore,” Add snapped. He held out his hand, “Let me see it.”

Aisha beamed and gave him the book, clearly pleased.

Add only glanced at the title so he could have Dynamo locate a bookstore that had the book in stock. After a moment he looked back at Aisha, “Go get the others and we’ll go.” He shoved the book back at her, “And put this back.” He watch Aisha skip away and ran his hands down his face. Now he was just turning into Ciel but trying to tell a kid no was so annoying.

“Hey, Mr. Ancient. How come we’re going to a bookstore?” Ain asked curiously.

“Because Aisha didn’t realize she couldn’t keep the books from the library,” Add explained irritably.

“That’s weird. How come you can’t keep them?”

“I don’t know-”

“Add!” Elesis called.

Add turned to her, “What?”

“Aisha’s fighting with Elsword.”

Add let out a long sigh. He got to his feet and walked over. Almost immediately he heard the two bickering while Chung desperately tried to mediate. He really missed Rena being her normal self. Now he had to try to mediate the argument instead of instigating and laughing at them, which was much more fun. “What are you two doing?”

“I tried to tell them we’re going to the bookstore but this dummy,” Aisha pointed at Elsword, her motions sharp with anger, “Doesn’t want to pick up his game!”

Add looked at Elsword without a word.

“She ruined it! We were playing and she came by and just started putting it away! In the middle of a game!” Elsword shouted.

“I thought I said no yelling in the library,” Add reminded him flatly. He looked at Aisha, “It wasn’t gonna kill you to let them finish their game. Now you have to wait while they start a whole new one over again.”

“What?! Why?! That’s not fair!” Aisha stomped her foot.

Add pressed his lips together and more forcefully said, “I just told Elsword no yelling in the library. Or were you not listening?”

“Make them stop playing! We have to go the bookstore!” Aisha continued to pitch her fit like he hadn’t said a word.

Add gave her a hard look, “Or we won’t go to the bookstore at all and we’ll just go straight home and you can pitch your fit there.” He whirled around but before he left he looked back at her, “Let them finish their game.” Without another word he stalked back to the table and flopped into his chair.

“Are we really going to the bookstore?” Ara asked anxiously.

Add glanced at her, “Maybe. Depends on Aisha’s attitude.”

“Oh…” Ara looked down but didn’t say more.

“What?” Add asked.

“Well, I just…my leg hurts a little bit…” Ara trailed off. She shook her head quickly, “But it’s not bad enough to go home! Promise!”

Add rolled his eyes. She kept downplaying her injuries when making sure she didn’t get hurt worse really wasn’t that complicated. He barely managed not to snap at her to be selfish for once. Instead he sighed, “Dynamo can carry you if we do go to the bookstore, alright? It’s not a problem.”

“Can we buy stuff at the bookstore?” Lu asked cheerfully. She climbed onto the chair and stood up on it. With her hands on her hips she surveyed the area around her and cackled, “I’m taller than all of you!”

“You each get one thing,” Add answered. He didn’t bother telling Lu to get down but he did keep an eye on her in case she fell.

“I wanna be tall too!” Lu helped Ciel climb onto the chair to stand next to her even though he didn’t really need it.

“Look at me! I’m Scar!” The tiny demon returned her hands on her hips and gave a mock villain laugh, “Now bow before me you puny beings!”

Add laughed.

Once Elsword and Chung finished their game they moved on to the bookstore, since Aisha had calmed down and was back to being reasonable. Or as reasonable as a child could be.

Add found a nice spot near the middle of the bookstore and sat cross-legged on the floor. He watched the kids scatter into the store to look for their one thing he was letting them get.

“Hey Add!” Elesis called. “Look what we found!”

Add lifted his chin from his hand. Elesis, Rose, Lu, Ciel, and Elsword were working together to carry a gigantic plush rabbit. His eyes widened, “What is that?”

“A giant bunny!” Lu grinned. “Ciel wants it!”

“It takes five of you to carry it,” Add commented.

“Of course,” Lu nodded matter-of-factly. “We can’t let it drag on the ground and get all dirty!”

Add hesitated. Finally he shook his head, laughing weakly, “Get something a little smaller alright?” Before they could argue he added, “We’ll come back for the bunny later.” He had absolutely no intention to come back for that rabbit, but if he bought time for them to return to their normal selves then 1. it wouldn’t take five of them to carry it and 2. Ciel could buy it himself.

“Okay…” Ciel mumbled dejectedly but he helped the others carry the rabbit back.

As they went, Add heard Lu offer to argue if Ciel really wanted it and groaned. Luckily Ciel assured her it was fine and he would just get a smaller rabbit instead.

Ara trotted happily up to him and sat down next to him. She excitedly held out a book, “I found an origami book!” She proceeded to explain how her mother had tried to teach her but she only managed to make paper cranes.

“Neat,” Add commented. It was weird to hear Ara talk about her mother. The only family member she usually talked about was her older brother, but he wasn’t going to comment on that. He laid his chin back on his hand to continue waiting for the others to come back.

When all of the kids had picked their thing Add paid for it and walked them all back to the house.

[itsaboutbee]

Jokes For You - (Pretty Bad) Jaya One-Shot

I don’t even know... I just turned some silly incorrect quote idea into a fic. I honestly don’t really like it, but you guys wanted to read it so I’m posting it! And I’m honestly kinda scared too, please don’t be mean... I know it’s bad. The ending is stupid and cut of... I don’t know what I did with the dialog... I don’t know how timeskips work... Why am I posting this?

Title: Jokes For You

Fandom: Ninjago

Pairing: Jaya

Word count: 879

Summary: Jay has been grumpy all day and Nya tries to cheer him up.

Jay had been rather down today. He wasn't his usual hyperactive happy self, instead he was just... kinda grumpy. Maybe it was because Kai broke his favorite mug or Cole literally threw him across the room during training or maybe because Zane had beat him at chess for the trillionth time today.

No one really knew why he was so grumpy today and no one really liked seeing him like that either. Especially Nya didn't like seeing her boyfriend with a frown on his face, she really hated it.

And after only a few hours she couldn't take it anymore, so she decided she should at least try to cheer him up. While trying to come up with things he would enjoy the most she settled on puns and science, in particular chemistry.

After spending most of her day trying to come up with a fitting joke, the girl finally decided it was good enough and started to look for her boyfriend. She found him in the garage, where her samurai mech was currently strung up for repair. The ginger was sitting at one of the workbenches, facing away from the door. He was sketching out ideas for new inventions or more like angrily drawing on a piece of paper and immediate crumpling it up afterwards. The raven haired girl started to walk over to him, but stopped midway taking a deep breath and rehearsing the joke in her head again. She walked up to Jay from behind, making her steps slightly louder trying to not scare the boy to bad and started the conversation: “Hey Jay, do you want to hear a chemistry joke?”

Jay completely ignored her and kept scribbling on his paper.

“Uhm... Jay?”, she stepped to Jay's side.

He still ignored her.

Nya pulled on his sleeve and talked louder: “JAY!”

The boy finally reacted: “Oh! Sorry, did you want a reaction from me?”, he smiled for the first time today.

Nya's face went completely blank.

Jay's smile faded and he started to stutter: “N-Nya? Are y-you-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN MINE! AND I'VE BEEN WORKING ON IT ALL DAY TRYING TO CHEER YOU UP!! AND YOU JUST COME UP WITH THAT ON THE SPOT!!! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!!”, she jumped up and down like a child having a temper tantrum.

The boy's face lit up and he stood up. “You spent all day trying to come up with a joke? To cheer me up? LET ME HEAR IT!”, he had the biggest smile on his face.

“YES! YOU WERE SO GRUMPY ALL DAY SO I THOUGHT A PUN MIGHT CHEER YOU UP! AND YOU JUST RUINED IT ALL!!”, Nya's rambling was silenced by Jay pulling her into a hug.

“That's literally the sweetest thing ever! Oh my gosh, I love you so much!”, he hugged her tighter, mushing her face into his chest.

The girl's voice was muffled: “I love you too.”, she wrapped her arms around him.

After staying like that for a few seconds Nya spoke up again, “Babe? Are you crying?”

~the next morning~

Jay and Nya were having breakfast together while the others were either already out and about or not awake yet, when Jay remembered.

“You never told your joke.”, he muffled through a mouth full of cereal.

Nya looked up, “What? No, I'm not telling you, it's really bad.”

The ginger swallowed his cereal and pleaded, “Pleeease?”, he put on his best puppy dog look.  

The girl sighed, “Fiiine.”

“YaaaY.”, Jay's face immediately lit up. He reached over the table putting his hand over his girlfriends.

Nya first looked at their hand and laced their fingers together, she looked back up at Jay, who looked at her in anticipation. She sighed again.

“Yeah, yeah, okay I'll get started.”, she swallowed and rehearsed the joke in her head, “So, uhm, are you made of Copper and Tellurium? Because you're CuTe.”

The boy snorted. “Okay, first of I'm not cute. I'm dark and mysterious and very dangerous!”

The raven haired girl grabbed Jay's hand with both of hers and lifted it to her lips, “So cute.”, she kissed it and placed both of them back on the table.

Jay grumbled, but didn't pull away. “Second, that was really good!”, he put his other hand over Nya's.

“Really?”, she knitted her brows together.

“Yes!”, he looked at their hand, “And thank you.”

They stayed like that for a while, before Nya broke the silence, “I love you.”

Jay looked up. “I love you, too.”, he smiled.

Suddenly a voice rang out, “You two are just to cute together.”

Both of them instantly turned to the voice, only to see Cole leaning against a door frame. He was holding a bowl of cereal and just took another bite.

“How long have you been standing there?”, Jay looked shocked and let go of Nya's hands.

“Dude, I literally went over to the fridge and made my cereal while you two lovebirds were ogling each other.”, Cole held the bowl up, when suddenly a saltshaker flew towards his head. He managed to dodged it in time.

Both Jay and Cole looked at Nya in shock, she looked like she was about to murder him.

“You better run.”, she smiled.

[wokeastroke]

Plains seared and charred and cracked beneath the relentless, red-black sun. The great, too large orb in the sky pulsed, a distant heart beating the tattoo of adrenaline-soaked blood. And on he walked, brushing past the catch-me’s with inch long spikes for claws. Past the swarms of bot flies, some as big as an apple. Past the great bovine herds, endlessly charging and warring with one another, though none could ever truly perish. It was so in those that dragged themselves to the fight, on two, one, or no hooves. In halves, splaying ropey intestines behind.

The Bull had made himself comfortable, and this would not stand.

The things he saw did not, could not, touch him. Whatever did flashed with great heat before returning to ash. Only to be reformed once he had past. Unmoved and caring only for the next morsel that strode by. His will was a great blade, aflame and scything as he walked over cracked earth. The Burning Plains, named for the constant wildfires, quenched only by the great clouds that spilled hot blood to the ground. It was an ecosystem of war, of hate, of his quarry. If something so great could be hunted.

He grew closer, he could tell by the spells carved into the cracked and abused soil. Some had worn over time, others were fresher. He came to this spot often, cataloguing a new spell stolen from someone. They took their magic lightly, but he was stuck rereading and pouring over recollections of every incantation. One to move, another to heal, a third to create. In the real, his eyes refused to acknowledge this new magic. The words and syllables like chicken scratch, squiggles to his glossed over eyes. He has only time to gaze upon his newest, a spell to… turn shoes invisible. Useless, it seemed, but beggars could not choose.

A great Hoof set down before him, larger that the towers great cities built to god and vanity and project security over their denizens. It appeared he was not the only thing hunting in these Plains.

“Beast.” He began. Old spirits- if indeed this could be called a spirit -greeted equals by name. He’d come to rankle, to burn pride hot, and by the superheated air huffed by a gargantuan snout, he’d done just that.

PAWN.

As it was with each encounter, the Bull enforced his will upon the man before him. An avalanche of Sound and existence to crush the very drive from his body. But these tricks were known, and he’d weathered this onslaught of Being before. His own will was like a great spear, a wedge of cavalry piercing legions of footmen to reach the heart. The Beast greeted by attempting to subsume. It was no wonder why there were so few of these things left.

When the tide had been weathered, he stood, nude and singed, before his adversary, and he spoke.

“Your pact broke our own. I was to live without control, to forge my destiny until the end. Instead, you’ve brokered with a power I would sooner be done with.”

Another snort. This one amused, or the closest something could be to amused when lost in the throes of flaming madness.

AND? YOU ARE NAMED FOR YOUR PLACE. THE PAWN DOES NOT CONTROL THE KING, ONLY PROTECT IT AND DIE TO FURTHER IT’S GOALS.

“Chess, daemon? You have no patience for it, that you’d quote such a slow game. You would eat the pieces before the third turn.”

YOU ARE NO BETTER. NOT ANYMORE.

“Be as that might, I have come. You’ll remember, in the very same game, the king cannot escape his confines unless the pawn moves. Here I am, threatening stagnation. You will make another accord, today. By force or-“

Both paused. A ripple. The grounds of the plain broken, like waves of dust and ash. Distant, yet the reasoning was clear to those that could read this place. Echo had been shattered. The man could only brace himself.

The jealous bray left the lungs of the ancient beast, the God amongst warlike creatures. Leagues of grass disintegrated, hordes of ravenous killers breathed their last, turned to red and black jelly by the very force of this primordial scream. It lasted seconds. It lasted eons. The bull ranted and raved, it’s words cutting swathes of fire and brimstone through the soil, canyons miles long opened, magma shot forth. And there the man stood, cursing the very day he’d met the crack-skinned shrew who had just made his job a few degrees harder.

Or easier. He called over the noise, silencing the cacophony of rage until not but a near-disappointed rumble remained. Order, or what could be called order, was restored. The grasses grew, the blood-clouds rained crimson sheets to feed the predatory flora, and new hordes formed of the slurries and began their battle once more. All was wrong, in this wrong place. Peace in pain.

“Enough, Bull. I have come to be heard, not to hear.”

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!

“It would have never been you. You spectate, you watch. And I care little for your own pact. Instead, I offer a choice.”

Rage flared anew, hooves stomped, but the Bull was listening. The man could tell by the way his great, bleeding, maggot infest ears flapped. Murdering thousands of bot fly larvae, but there was always more to replace.

“You intruded upon my kingdom. My realm. I should lash a thousand chains upon you, and be done with you for years. Instead, you will accept my own intrusion. You power. Give it to me.”

I TRIED, MANY MOONS AGO. YOU WHINED, YOU BLED, AND YOU CAST THEM ASIDE.

“I am aware. As you Are aware that you gave to me in such a way to create this pain. You are selfish. You never wished to work together. Now the decision is made for you. You will infect me, and I will remain whole. Through my body, you will feel. Through my eyes, you will see. In exchange, I will allow this blood pact between you and Echo.”

WHO HAS DIED.

“Nothing that angry at life remains so forever. You know this.”

AND IF I REFUSE?

“Then we return to the beginning. Sealed. Dark. The plains barred to you, and you blind. Until I die, and I give the chains to my successor. A hundred lives, a thousand years, you will be sealed. But you remember what that was like, don’t you?”

He could watch and see the Bull deliberate. It’s pawing of the ground, it’s horns tossing, it’s great and unknowable eyes narrowing. But there was no choice. The man had long since learned you gave no choice to things like the Beast. Finally.

IT WILL HURT. THERE WILL BE CHANGES. DAYS OF THEM.

“I have days to spare. A body to spare. You will ensure these changes are hidden when I wish them.”

IT WILL HURT MORE.

“Living with you is pain. I can see nothing worse.”

But the Bull laughed, horrible chuckles of insanity made clear in one of its favorite past times. That was, hurting the man and everything it could gore with its horns.

And so Tirian learned about the word. Worse. He’d thought himself steeled. Hard as rock and cold as ice. He thought himself a master of pain in heart and mind and flesh. He was not. For there is always something much, much worse than what one faces at a time. Only death is the end, and even that was assured to begin something worse still. Tirian learned, as he screamed until his throat ran raw and bloody. He learned as his own blood dripped down his throat, into his stomach. He learned as he dug channels into the dusty earth until his fingernails tore free, and his fingers themselves broke. He learned as his fists became broken and bloodied, as he ran until his muscles tore and he crawled until his arms gave way.

There were pains so much worse than death, than living, and his Bull knew every. Single. One of them.

[convoy914]

Okay here it is. I…don’t think I’m fully satisfied with this tbh. I think I may have rushed it a bit. In that case, treat this as a rough draft that will possibly never get finished cause I’m lazy:

(Open with shots of Ironwood from Volumes 2-4, progressively getting worse in his whole thing)

Will you hold the line? (“If Oz had just listened to me from the start”)

When every one of them (Ozpin looking down after the Lost Fable)

Has given up and given in (Raven being pushed aside by Yang and Lionheart looking defeated)

Tell me (“And if that becomes the case…”)(Not the full quote, obvs)

In this house of mine (Ironwood in his office, possibly the intro shot)

Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost (Amity in the air, robot soldiers in Mantle, and Nora telling him off)

Tell me (Sitting down after Nora pointed out his terrible ideas)

Will the stars align? (POSSIBLY showing off his plan to the group)

Will heaven step in? (Looking at the Vault with Oscar)

Will it save us from our sin? (After being told the truth about Salem)

Will it? (Telling RWBY that he’s no longer trusting them w/the lamp)

Cause this house of mine (shot of Atlas as the ship approached at the end of Volume 6)

Stands strong (the fleet in front of Altas and all that)

That’s the price you pay (People throwing stuff at the screens)

Leave behind your heart and cast away (Acknowledging that he’s leaving Mantle to die and looking dead inside after shooting Oscar)

Just another product of today (Being taunted by the chess piece and Salem in the office)

Rather be the hunter than the prey

(Going all “LOYALTY ALWAYS MATTERS” and how we last see him in Volume 7, shouting)

And you’re standing on edge face up cause (Dragging Watts over the edge and assuring him that he’ll sacrifice ANYTHING to stop her)

You’re a Natural (Glaring at Ruby)

A beating heart of stone (Leaving the office after ordering RWBY’s arrest. “I know”.)

You gotta be so cold (Pulling his arm out of the forcefield)

To make it in this world (Shouting at Oscar in the Vault)

Yeah you’re a Natural (“Everything that follows will be on your head”)

Living your life cutthroat (Preparing to shoot Ruby before she runs behind him and shutting off the scrolls after she does)

You’ve gotta be so cold (Walking away after shooting Sleet)

Yeah you’re a Na-tu-ral (The shots from the V7 Intro where we zoom into his eye & he shoots & stuff)

Will somebody (Turning around in the chair after summoning RWBY and the Ace-Ops after the chess)

Let me see the light within (Holding Robyn’s hand during z broadcast)

The dark trees shadowing (“I have one bomb. That’s all it will take”)

What’s happening? (Hearing the 2 council members barging in)

Looking through the glass (Looking down at Watts during, y’know)

Find the wrong within the past (“The moment I let my guard down, that’s when she had her opening”)

Knowing (The second shot of glaring at Ruby)

Oh, we are the youth (The shot from the V8 intro with Penny flying up above RWBY/JNR/O as they face down the horde)(LOOK the shot with the kids on the buildings from the V7 intro was already used)

Cut until it bleeds inside (“Still afraid, I see” and adjusting his tie in Volume 8)(LOOK WHATEVER)

A world without the peace (Atlas being attacked by Grimm)

Face it (Ordering the civilians to be put in the subway)

A bit of the truth (Being grilled by the Council about his actions)

The truth…. (Robyn offering her hand and asking him, well)

That’s the price you pay (I’m thinking Winter delivering the dramatic finishing move slice)

Leave behind your heart and cast away (Smashing the table and then chuckling as he realizes that he can hold Mantle hostage)

Just another product of today (Panicking as Salem’s Grimm lake thing breaks the shield)

Rather be the hunter than the prey (First up charging the gun gun, + “It’s z only way Atlas can survive”)

And you’re standing on edge face up cause (Looking up as Winter’s summon charges at him and then grabbing Oscar’s cane)

You’re a Natural (Executing Sleet)

A beating heart of stone (“Do not return to this office until you have Qrow Branwen in custody”)

You gotta be so cold (The nod for Watts to hack Penny. Make sure to include Penny’s reaction)

To make it in this world (“I would hate to have to try motivating you. Again”. That whole thing)

Yeah you’re a Natural (Marrow being tacked out of the way and we see Jimmy with the gun)

Living your life cutthroat (“I will not make that mistake again”)

You’ve gotta be so cold (Atlas ships shooting down the relief ships and it cutting to him)

Yeah you’re a Na-tu-ral (“I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it earlier” leading to “Leveraging the lives of her friends” to “You…what?”)

Deep inside me (Getting up from his chair upon realizing that he can hold Mantle hostage)

I'm fading to black (“But one of us is willing to do it”)

I'm fading (Being led into the cell by Winter. Look how far he’s fallen)

Took an oath by (“I hope you won’t try to talk me out of it”)

The blood of my hand (Examining his new metal arm)

Won’t break it (Getting up after smashing the table)

I can taste it (“She will return…”)

The end is upon us (“They have the staff” he realizes)

I swear (Seeing Monstra explode)

Gonna make it (Walking out the cell after Watts shut it off)

I'm gonna make iiiiiiiiiiiiittttt (Winter getting blown back in the vault and “I know what’s best for Atlas, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get that staff”)

Natural (The beginning of the Ultimatum. Specifically the bit with the light cutting through)

A beating heart of stone (“I believe I was clear in the broadcast”)

You gotta be so cold (“If anyone tries anything other than what I’ve ordered; Mantle is gone”)

To make it in this world (Not at all reacting to Marrow calling him out)

Yeah you’re a Natural (Aiming the Gun-Gun at Not-Penny/Emerald)

Living your life cutthroat (“I didn’t think you’d actually come alone”)

You’ve gotta be so cold (“I chased a lot of shadows over the years”)

Yeah you’re a Na-tu-ral (Grimm gathering around his broadcast and also “sure thing”)

(Fight scene stuff with Emerald, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Winter, Oscar, and then collapsing on the ground)

Na-tu-ral (“And no one is grateful”)

(Fighting with Winter in the vault, plus watching Salem and Cinder)

Yeah you’re a Na-tu-ral (Lowering his gun in defeat and giving up)

Anyways, if no one’s gonna make a full AMV for Ironwood that’s Natural by Imagine Dragons, then I’m going to have to write down how I would do it if I had any talent or editing software myself. Honestly I’ve had the idea for over a year now, might as well put more hypothetical thought into it now that Volume 8’s given me more hypothetical material. To write out ideas for and…that’s about it