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stillebesat · 4 years ago

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Fanged (3/4)

Detective Conan: Hattori Heiji, Kudo Shinichi Blurb: It wasn’t quite how Heiji had imagined their first meeting would go. But when you’re setting out to find your missing rival, things hardly can go as you expect them. Especially when the supernatural gets involved. Fic Type: Supernatural Overall Fic Warnings: Blood, Injuries, Fighting, Death Talk, Murder Case Talk

To Catch Up: Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Heiji tried to keep from staring at Kudo. To focus on something else besides the half-vampire drinking blood from his arm.

Why had he ever thought that a minute would be a ‘short’ amount of time to do this? He should have picked thirty seconds instead.

He silently exhaled, chewing on his bottom lip as his mental clock ticked past forty seconds.

Did Kudo think this was disgusting at all? Did he feel conflicted? About taking blood? Sure, being out here in the middle of nowhere meant he probably hadn’t killed anyone...yet. But did the once-detective even remember his quest for truth? For justice? His need to solve the mystery and bring the real killers to light?

He really hoped giving Kudo his blood wasn’t a mistake. He’d been told a vampire could drain their victims dry in under ten minutes. But those were the experienced ones. How experienced could Kudo really be in a month? How much blood could he draw from Heiji in sixty seconds? It couldn’t be much. Right?

His fingers twitched. In either case, he was prepared to get the vampire to let go, forcefully if need be. At least he only had ten more sec--

Heiji blinked as Kudo lifted his head, withdrawing his fangs from Heiji’s arm so smoothly if he hadn’t been watching, he wouldn’t have felt a thing.

“Ya, still have ten more seconds, Kudo.” He said blankly, arm still raised. Of all the scenarios he’d considered, the half-vampire voluntarily stopping before the time was up hadn’t been one of them.

Kudo smirked, licking the last drops of blood from his lips as he opened his eyes, looking up at him. “I know.”

Heiji raised an eyebrow as he caught a flicker of blue swirling in Kudo’s red eyes. No scratch that, it looked like the red within had been disturbed revealing the detective’s original blue eyes underneath.

Kudo ran his tongue over his teeth as he sat back. “Thanks.”

Heiji lowered his arm, rubbing his wrist. Surprisingly the wounds had already closed over, leaving two red marks where Kudo’s teeth had been. A healing factor? That didn’t seem quite right. Other victims of vampire attacks had had deep puncture wounds, some to the bone. Those hadn’t healed. Was it because they’d been dead before the vampire had stopped?

Again, Kudo created more questions than answers.

“Ya welcome, maybe.” It was yet to be seen if this was a mistake or not. At least it was looking like Heiji had been right in his theory that giving blood to Kudo would make him more verbal. Time would tell for sure. He rolled down his sleeve, studying the vampire. “Ya look a bit better.”

Some color had come back to Kudo’s face, not quite a healthy glow, but he didn’t have the appearance of a corpse at least. His eyes too, looked a little less feral, and while the red swirling in his eyes had settled once more, there was now a ring of blue around his pupils.

“Your blood took the edge off.” Kudo said, looking away, but not before Heiji caught him grimace.

“How much of an edge?”

Kudo exhaled, his limbs twitching. “I can focus on talking to you, but I still want to tear your throat out.” He glanced to Heiji, his eyes glittering. “It’s a nine and a half instead of a ten on a scale if you need that.”

A nine and a half? His heart skipped a beat. “That’s very slight, Kudo.”

He blinked, glancing up from Heiji’s chest. “Yes.”

Great. But if that was enough to give Kudo his ability to converse in a more normal fashion...what would his rival be like if he was fully sated? If he wasn’t bound?

Heiji scratched his cheek, humming. “How long has it been since you last….ate?” He asked, curious despite himself.

Kudo frowned, glancing up to the sun, not flinching at it like normal newly turned vampires should. “I’m not sure. A while...the animals left this part of the forest...thinking is rather hard when I’m thirsty….” He shook his head, and shot Heiji a look again seeming to pierce his soul. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

Heiji snorted at the sudden change of subject. “Why didn’t you fight harder?” He asked, keeping eye contact. Though with that stare, it was difficult. No wonder criminals confessed to Kudo when he confronted them. It was like his rival already knew every thought that Heiji had ever had, seen every action he had done. It was quite creepy with the red eyes. Would it be better or worse when Kudo’s eyes were fully blue?

“Because…” Kudo faltered, the soul piercing gaze losing its edge, as he struggled for an answer. “I didn’t….I didn’t want to...kill you.”

Bingo.

Despite the instinct to kill, Kudo was still a detective at heart.

Heiji scoffed, rubbing at his neck. “Coulda fooled me with tha way ya were attacking me.”

Kudo shivered, his eyes taking on a haunted look. “Sorry.”

Heiji dropped his hand leaning forward. “Why did ya attack then, if you didn’t want to?”

Kudo raised an eyebrow, eyes flickering to his chest and back.

Right. Heiji sat back, waving his hand. “Neva mind. Your new instincts are rather strong, I’m guessing and I was the one to disturb you.” If Kudo actually had been sleeping then. Normal Vampires didn’t need it, did Kudo?

“Yah, basically.” Kudo exhaled, arms twitching. “Why didn’t you kill me?” He repeated. “You were going to.” His eyes flashed as he frowned. “With--with thi--how I...feel...need--It may have been better off if you did.”

“And miss tha chance ta talk ta ya?” Heiji shrugged, adjusting his position to sit cross legged in front of Kudo, out of easy reach. He didn’t totally trust the half-vampire. “I came out here to find ya and bring ya back.” He smirked. “I wasn’t expecten ya ta be a vampire when I did.”

“A...vampire?” Kudo asked as he leaned back, glancing out to the forest again. “Is that…” He ran his tongue over his fangs, eyes growing wide. “No. Impossible.” He whispered.

Interesting. Heiji leaned forward. So Kudo hadn’t known exactly what he’d become. Did he even remember the change? His sire? Did he realize he wasn’t a true vampire?

“Well yar not exactly like da others, Kudo. And tha’s a good thing.” He would be dead otherwise. “I only figured tha out when ya kept breathing afta I knocked ya out. Vampires don’t do tha. Nor do they have a pulse either. I checked tha too.”

Kudo returned his attention to him, red eyes growing sharp “Others? You’ve met real…vampires?”

With most of the world unaware of the supernatural, it wasn’t surprising the detective was skeptical. From what he’d seen of Kudo’s cases, his rival had managed to avoid encountering anyone who wasn’t human.

Heiji smirked. “A fair few. Neva talked ta one before though.” There really wasn’t time for chit chat when the blood suckers were set on taking off your head. “They don’t think about much beyond their bloodlust.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Glad to see ya didn’t lose yar cognitive abilities when ya grew yar fangs. I woulda been disappointed.”

Kudo made a face, arms twitching again. “Starve me, and I will.”

“Well then I won’t starve ya then.” Heiji replied back easily. “And I doubt tha statement. Ya were able ta talk before I gave ya my blood. That ain’t normal for yar kind. Betcha still would be able ta if I hadn’t.” He’d probably have been stuck with one word answers, but Kudo could still talk.

His rival scoffed, fangs flashing in the light as he shifted his position.

“I’m not goin ta starve ya, Kudo.” Hattori repeated glowering at him. “Ain’t gonna kill ya either. Not when I can see ya’re not a true vampire. Besides if Ran-chan, is anything like my Kazuha--”

Kudo recoiled at the mention of his best friend’s name. “She’s not here is she?” He asked, twisting to look around and nearly falling over in the process.

Heiji reached out to steady him, noting that Kudo didn’t try to attack him this time, though his eyes did flicker to his wrist before returning to search the forest. “Nah, I haven’t met her...yet.”

“Yet?”

Heji shrugged a shoulder. “She’s probably at the resort by now, searching for ya.” If their places were switched, he knew Kazuha would have been out here in a blink of an eye looking for him as soon as she figured out where he’d vanished. She’d done so multiple times before. So if Mouri Ran was as close to Kudo as Kazuha was to him. She’d be here looking for him too.

Kudo growled under his breath, pulling out of Heiji’s grip as he looked up to meet his eyes again appearing to stare into the depths of his soul. “You can’t bring me back to her.”

Not yet obviously. Heiji snorted. “If ya trying ta hypnotize me, it ain’t working.”

If he could manage it, Heiji would reunite the two of them, but only after he was certain his rival was safe to be around humans. He wasn’t that much of a fool. If there was too much of a risk, he would ensure that Ran-chan would never see her best friend again.

His rival leaned forward, fangs fully bared. “She has to stay away! I’m not--I can’t!”

Heiji shook his head, breaking eye contact as he too glanced about the forest. “I’m gonna bring ya back ta her, Kudo. Ya can’t convince me otherwise. Though,” He gestured to Kudo’s eyes as the half-vamp glowered at him. “I can’t really bring ya back like ya are now. Nine and a half on yar scale isn’t a good thing for us humans.”

And if Heiji didn’t return to the search party soon, they would come looking for him. He needed to find a solution quickly before anyone else stumbled upon this rather unique situation.

“So leave me. Tell them you never found me.”

Heiji frowned. Kudo said it so quickly, but it wasn’t right to leave the ‘Saviour of Japan’ to live like an animal in the forest. He may be a new kind of vampire but there was still the human Kudo within. A human with people missing him. “Have a little faith in me, Kudo. I can’t just leave ya here afta finding ya!”

How much longer would Kudo have been able to resist hunting for human blood if Heiji just turned around and left right now? He’d given him a taste of it already. It wouldn’t be long before he would seek out more. “And I ain’t lying about not finding ya.” He added as Kudo opened his mouth to protest. “I’m a terrible liar in the first place, so don’t try ta convince me ta for ya.” Most of the time. When it came to the supernatural, Heiji could lie through his teeth easily enough. You didn’t live long otherwise.

Kudo growled under his breath, struggling with the bonds. “You have to. I can’t go back...not like this.”

“Exactly. Not like this.” He gestured to his rival. “So, Kudo. Let’s getcha more presentable.” If the blue ring in Kudo’s eyes meant what he thought it did, then this should work out.

“Presentable?” He scoffed. “I’m hardly that.”

Heiji chuckled. “Oh sure, Kudo. Bloodstained shirts and torn pants are the latest trend, didn’t cha know? Ya’ll fit right in. Just need ta getcha some shoes is all.” He pushed to his feet, stretching.

Kudo shifted, leaning back so he could look up at Heiji. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

Kudo twitched his shoulders, again testing the wear on the belt as he growled. “You’re the first person I’ve met since...since...this happened, and talking to you is already getting irritating.” He opened his mouth slightly, running his tongue again over his fangs.

Heiji smirked, his heart speeding up again as he noticed how much the belt was giving. So he was the first human Kudo had found.

“Pretty sure I’m irritating in general. But good ta know fifty seconds of blood doesn’t last too long.” Fifteen minutes or so it looked like. He could see that the blue ring around the pupil already becoming obscured by the red in Kudo’s eyes.

“Exactly. I can’t…come.” There was terror in Kudo’s body language. An instinct to flee that was as strong if not stronger than the bloodlust. An instinct to avoid causing harm to another. An instinct that he was sure, Kudo would use to triumph no matter what.

Heiji crossed his arms, taking a step closer to his rival, who flinched, baring his teeth at him.

But not attacking. A nine and a half and Kudo could resist his bloodlust enough to react defensively instead of offensively. “Don’t give up so quickly, Kudo. Doesn’t seem like ya from what I’ve heard. There’s a solution ta tha problem. Ya know there is.”

Kazuha would kill him if she ever found out about this. But it was his best solution at the moment. A stupid one, granted. But he had to trust that the right instinct would win out.

Kudo’s gaze flickered to Heiji’s pounding heart before moving back up to his eyes. “To this? There’s not.”

Heiji glanced down to the now obviously frayed leather belt, noting the silver buckle already off Kudo’s skin, before he silently took a deep breath and turned, despite everything within him screaming to not turn his back on a predator. Purposely he moved a couple of steps away from the half-vampire, studying the forest. “There’s a solution ta every problem, Kudo.” he repeated. “I’m not gonna leave ya until we figure it out. And if ya try ta escape. Well, I found ya once, I’ll find ya again.”

“Baka.” Kudo growled.

No, he wasn’t stupid. Kudo would need more blood in his system before he would be ‘presentable’ to be around other people. But it wasn’t like Heiji could just summon a herd of deer to come running past, nor did he have the weapon or the skill to kill one. He dropped his arms, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Trying to catch the half-vampire some food to drink from beyond himself would be laudable at best. Pointless and a waste of their time at worst with how quickly his belt would be giving out. Who knew where the animals even were in the first place? Nor would he want to bring any humans out here to help him. That could just lead to more trouble if Kudo didn’t just vanish on him in the meantime.

Now came the tricky part. Getting his rival to stick around. Heiji mentally steeled himself. “No matter what, Kudo, since we’re both detectives I know we’ll find a solution. I’m sure if we get ya some more foo--” He turned back and stiffened, his heart speeding up like a jackhammer.

Kudo’s smile could only be described as feral as he straightened. Heiji’s belt falling to the ground with a muted thud, snapped in two, while the shoelaces fallen in a loose circle around his feet. “You made a mistake.” He said as the last of the blue in his eyes vanished.

Heiji cursed as Kudo struck him in one smooth blurring motion, knocking him to the ground. Right. Mistake. Don’t ever turn your back. Especially on a vampire.

Kazuha would throw a fit if she ever found out he’d done it on purpose.

He saw stars as his head smacked against a tree root, but that didn’t stop him from having the presence of mind to jerk his knees upwards, throwing Kudo off of him before the semi-vampire could get his gleaming fangs anywhere near his neck.

Kudo’s hands shot down, gripping Heiji’s shoulders as he flew over his head. He jerked Heiji up and over, sending him flying across the hollow with the ease of throwing a baseball.

Heiji grunted, barrel rolling as he hit the dirt once more, his cap landing a good two feet away from him as his fingers tangled in the shoelaces he’d used to tie up Kudo’s ankles. He groaned, clenching his hands as he tasted blood from a cut on his lip. That was going to hurt in the morning. He pushed to his knees, only for Kudo to slam into him, knocking him flat.

“Leave me here.” The half-vampire hissed in his ear. “And say nothing.”

He was rather vocal for being back at a full ten.

Heiji threw his head back, smashing into Kudo’s face as the half-vampire yelped, relaxing his grip. “How about...No.” He flipped onto his back and kicked him hard in the chest.

Kudo choked off a yell, falling back, but not far enough as he still managed to grab Heiji’s foot before he could pull back, grip painfully tight on his ankle as Kudo stood. He spun, dragging Heiji across the ground like a broom until Kudo’s momentum lifted him up into the air once more.

Heiji could only brace himself as his rival let go, sending him sailing across the hollow. Only, before his feet could touch dirt, Kudo was there to catch him and slam him into another tree.

Okay...he may have miscalculated how much this would hurt.

Heiji groaned, feeling blood dripping from multiple lacerations on his back, and looked up to the heavily breathing Kudo. “Ow.” He said and smirked at the half-vampire, who seemed to be more than a little distracted by the cuts on Heiji’s face. “A little tired there, Kudo?” He licked his lips, tasting blood there. “Maybe a little thirsty?”

Kudo’s eyes blazed with hunger even as he grimaced, his fangs fully exposed as his grip tightened on Heiji’s shoulders. “Leave. Me.” He said breathlessly, focused on the blood.

“Nope. Though ya’re looking a bit green there, ya know, Kudo” He grabbed Kudo’s wrists looping the shoelaces around them as he pressed the silver aglets directly against his skin. “Something not agreeing with ya?” He tapped the silver, causing the metal to chime.

Kudo glanced down, distracted by the sound.

Heiji braced his feet against the tree and shoved outwards, sending him and Kudo rolling once more in the dirt. They came to a stop at the bottom of the hollow, almost exactly in the spot where he’d first spied his rival.

Kudo shook his head with a soft groan, only to smirk upon realizing he’d landed on top of Heiji. “That didn’t work.” He smirked, keeping Heiji pressed firmly against the ground.

Didn’t it? Heiji gave a one shoulder shrug and grinned back. “Wha can I say? It was worth a shot.” His eyes glinted.

Come on Kudo, he chanted silently, as his heart raced. This had to work. He had to keep him here. Keep him from fleeing.

Kudo’s own eyes narrowed, but the call of Heiji’s pounding heartbeat was too loud to ignore in favor of thinking right now. Not when he was thirsty.

Not with Heiji right there.

Trapped.

Injured.

Weak.

Easy prey.

The perfect victim for a starving vampire.

Heiji lifted his chin slightly, making himself appear more vulnerable.

Come on Kudo.

With a frustrated growl, the half-vampire struck, his fangs aiming for Heiji’s neck.

At the last possible second Heiji jerked his arm up in time for Kudo to bite down in the exact same spot as before.

His eyes widened in surprise and he jerked, obviously displeased that his teeth hadn’t hit the artery in Heiji’s neck he’d been aiming for.

“Check.” Heiji muttered as he pushed upwards, moving with Kudo as he tried to disengage his teeth from his arm.

“Mhmmhhm!” Kudo released his shoulders and grabbed onto his arm to pull it away, the aglets swinging from his wrists.

Heiji reacted quickly, snaking his free arm around to grab onto the back of his rival’s head, where his fingers pressed down on the lump he must have given Kudo earlier. Using his remaining strength Heiji kept the half-vampire’s fangs firmly implanted in his arm.

Kudo struggled against him, snarling as he worked to pull free, only to freeze and then relax as the first drops of blood finally hit his tongue.

Come on.

His rival made a soft sound, nearly a whimper as his eyes closed, a shudder running down his body before Kudo grabbed Heiji’s arm, pulling it closer to him to hold it steady as he gave into the instinct to feed.

“And Mate.” Heiji exhaled, dropping his hand away from Kudo’s head, instead using it to support himself as the half-vampire drank from him. “I can’t believe you fell for that.”

Of course, he hadn’t expected to be attacked quite in that fashion. Making yourself appear weak was one thing, but being tossed around the clearing like a baseball had not been ideal. But getting injured, having blood freely flowing had ensured that Kudo’s desire to feed would override his desire to flee.

Honestly, Heiji wasn’t one of the most sought after Supernatural Detectives for nothing, even if his methods weren’t the most...conventional. He grimaced. Like letting a half-vampire drink from him not once, but twice in one day.

Still. Heiji shook his head watching Kudo with a careful eye to ensure the half-vampire remained focused on his blood and nothing else. He’d set out to find his missing rival and bring him back. There was no way he’d come back empty handed now. Not when Kudo’s mysterious disappearance had created more questions than answers.

To Be Continued Chapter 4

#Fanged #stillebesat #Detective Conan #Hattori Heiji #Kudo Shinichi #Kudo #Hattori #Vampire!Kudo #DCMK #blood tw #injuries tw #fighting tw #death talk tw #murder case talk tw

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emotionalsupportfiction · 5 years ago

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Something really bummed me out so when life gives you lemons… write stuff about it right? I admit this is more of a... “I just want to comfort myself” fic or Drabble but I still wanted to share

How would RGB comfort their crush in certain situations. Scenario is overthinking another person’s reaction. I have a preference for writing scenarios where the reader is the crush rather than an established relationship (BECAUSE I LOVE THE PINING. Its my favorite trope flavor!!), hmmmmmmmmmmm….

Also warning... I give really stupid nicknames, you’ll know what I’m talking about soon.

Python

Python tried as his best to read the message displayed on your screen as objectively as he could. He didn’t know your childhood best friend personally so there was hesitation on his end to say anything negative about them. He glanced at you sitting on the bleachers, then returned his focus on message.

—

You: sent an image

You: BESH! BESH! remember that competition I joined??? the writer’s thingy! well I WON. i thought i’d get an honorary mention but i got first place!

Their response came after thirty minutes

Besh<3: oh that’s great congrats

—

A bit dry, even for him, but he wasn’t about to jump to conclusions. You on the other hand rode that overthinking train hard and fast. More tears started streaming down your face, your sleeves could barely keep up with their flow.

“Maybe I’m overthinking things. I just I don’t know…” you managed to say through the stream of tears. “Ya expected a different reaction?” you nodded at his input.

He rubbed the back of his neck, he hated seeing you cry, double this time around since that writer’s competition meant a lot to you. Python witnessed how much effort you put into your submission, you even asked him to read it. You had talent, he’d told you time and time again but you always second guessed yourself.

Getting you to join the competition was a collective effort from him, Forsyth, Lukas, and your best friend, so even he was stumped with their flat reaction. He handed your phone back and pulled out a few more tissues, wiping your tears with them. “Geez sunshine, I ain’t gonna pretend I know what’s up with your bestie.” He sat himself right beside you on the bleachers, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets. “Maybe you could ask them later? Get their side of the story first, I get that this stings. This is your big win and you wanna celebrate it with them.”

“Am I being selfish? I want them to be happy with me, for me. Maybe I’m asking too much? Maybe… my win means nothing…”

“Hey.” You turned your attention to him, more tears streaming down your face. Python reached out and wiped away the waterworks as best he could while a sigh escaped his lips. “You worked your butt off for that piece, its your time to shine, and shine you did. A victory party is in order, enjoy yourself, easier said than done given the situation but sunshine… don’t let one person rain on your parade m’kay?” he opened his arms slightly, motioning if you wanted a hug. You went in for a quick side hug then pulled away. “Sunshine…” he lightly tapped his knee against yours a few times “I ain’t the best stand-in for your best friend but I’m here for you. We could grab a bite to eat after class. Let’s drag Fors and Lukas into our little celebration if you’re up to it eh? Whaddya say?” he tapped his knee against your while wiggling his eye brows at you.

Hard to refuse that offer, seeing how much effort Python put into cheering you up. Your schoolmate always looked overworked and tired, a bit grumpy too. Like if you wasted his time he wouldn’t hesitate to tell you off but after getting to know him, he really did care about his friends and was supportive in his own special way. “A little party sounds like a great idea Py…” talking to him lifted some of the anxiety and sadness you were feeling, its nice to be reminded that there are other people out there who are rooting for you.

—

Later that night, after the victory party, you followed Python’s advice and calmly messaged your best friend.

You: hey besh, i want to talk to you about something , its been on my mind for awhile

It took a while for them to respond

Besh<3: what about?

You: remember when I texted you about my win? i don’t want to sound demanding but i just want to be honest. i was kinda disappointed with your response. kinda expecting you to be happier for me but something tells me you have something on your mind… you wouldn’t reply like that to me.

Besh<3: …

Besh<3: oh besh… i just didn’t want to ruin your moment. i really am happy for your win but a lot of things happened around the time you messaged me.

You: hey… talk to me okay? what’s going on?

Besh<3: well… we rushed Gouda to the vet cause he just refused to eat anything

Now that made sense, Gouda was their cat they’d had for as long as you could remember, no wonder they weren’t as enthusiastic.

Besh<3: vet said it could be old age and we might have to put him down

Besh<3: i really wanted to be happy for you. i’m so sorry, i should’ve tried to be happy for you. please forgive me…

You: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?

You: OMG BESH, Gouda is family! No! No! don’t apologize, you had a lot going on. i should apologize for not checking up on you first

Besh<3: i’m sorry…

You: i’m sorry too… i felt like something was off with your message but i went ahead and started overthinking things

Besh<3: i don’t want to play blame games besh but i am happy you opened up to me about your feelings. this could’ve been avoided if i’d been more open about what was going on my end

Besh<3: i just want you to know i’m so happy for you

Besh<3: you worked hard on that and you deserve first place

You: ;A; BBBBBEEEEEEEEESSSSSH!!!! i’m sorry for not checking up on you first

You: i want to give you a hug so bad right now! is it alright to ask about Gouda? its totally fine if you don’t want to talk about him. wanna FaceTime? i’m here for you okay, need to cry it out over the phone id gladly listen okay?

They FaceTimed you, you both had a good cry and talked for over an hour. That call made you feel a lot better and they promised to keep you updated on Gouda’s condition.

—

AAAsunshine: hey py-py thanks for cheering me up. talked to my bestie, they had some stuff going on but we sorted it out

mightyanaconda: glad to hear it sunshine and happy to help

AAAsunshine: ill see you at school tomorrow, night cobra

mightyanaconda: ugh… i have to see your face again tomorrow??

mightyanaconda: JK

mightyanaconda: ait see ya and sweet dreams sunshine 😘

mightyanaconda: btw just wanna say this. congrats on your win sunshine. ya worked hard and you deserve the win m’kay? yar a winner sunshine

AAAsunshine: ooooh praise from you??

mightyanaconda: heh savour it, praise from me is worth more than bitcoin 😎

AAAsunshine: 😒😒😒

AAAsunshine: wow such praise much wow. anyways, thanks again cottonmouth. night night

mightyanaconda: happy to serve… i guess. Sweet dreams 😉😘

Forsyth

Fosryth couldn’t have been happier for you, while you didn’t win the school talent show both the Glee club and Chorale group were battling it out to convince you to join either of them. All you wanted to do in that moment was to savour your accomplishment. Stage performance had always given you anxiety but their was this desire in you to perform as well. Fosryth, your sister, Lukas, and even Python had advised you to give it a shot, you had talent after all and that was worth sharing with the world.

You couldn’t help but smile at both the Glee and Chorale leaders but “I’ll have to think about it” was your response to their passionate invitations, Forsyth had to politely ask them to leave after they’d begun heckling you once more.

Once your “recruiters” left you poked Forsyth on the cheek “Thank you Fors.” You said in a sing-song manner, he came in for a big hug “Congratulations! I haven’t the clue why you didn’t win first place!! But you were amazing on stage!” he released you and took the guitar case from you.

“Oh you exaggerate! But I’m glad that’s over with, it wasn’t so bad.” You giggled to yourself “I might even try it again.”

You could feel Forsyth beaming with excitement “If that’s the case, the next time we have school event and in need of an intermission number you’ll be first on the list! I promise that! Why I’ll even plan more school events so you can perform more!!” he balled his fist in excitement. Without skipping a beat Forsyth changed the direction of the conversation “Oh! Do you want to stop by the café before going home? Just a small celebration, I know you must be tired but I’d really like to celebrate…” he paused for a bit, a very faint blush painting his cheeks ”… This with you.” He finished his sentence sheepishly

Either you were too dense or didn’t want to color Forsyth’s thoughtfulness. He treated everyone cordially and was always happy to help so you had assumed he was this nice to everyone. You felt your phone buzz in your pocket, making you focus elsewhere.

—

mightyanaconda: sent a video

mightyanaconda: here’s a short video of your number bubbles, its got all the good bits in it

mightyanaconda: if ya want the full vid let me know

bubz: thank you python~

—

Your sister had always been your supporter ever since you were children. She wasn’t musically gifted herself so when you picked up singing and guitar, she backed you up by 2000%. That video would thrill her

You: sent a video

You: hey sis eat your heart out, your younger sibling’s a star!!

Focusing your attention back on Forsyth who’d been waiting patiently for your response, he gripped the handle of your guitar case nervously “I’m so sorry Forsyth.” you rubbed his arm “Python just send me the vid. I just had to send off to my sister right away about the café thing, I’d love to but don’t you want to drop off the guitar case at my place first?”

“Oh oh! Don’t you worry about me! I can carry this around.” He lifted the case like a dump bell. You silently admired how he had just flexed his rather toned arms at you but you more worried about accidentally breaking the guitar.

“I’m sure you’ve lifted heavier things Fors but I’d like to keep that as safe as possible? Minimize chances of damage.” He turned beet red. “I didn’t mean to-! Your things are important and I’d want to avoid anything that would damage-“ you pressed two finger on his lips “I get it Forsyth, its fine.” You smiled to reassure him

—

You set your case at the corner of your apartment’s living room and decided to check your phone as you made your exit. “Weird.” You thought, your sister had seen your message but no response came. Was your performance so dazzling that it left her speechless? You were sure the green haired bouncing ball of energy outside would agree but something about this didn’t settle well with you. Flipping through your contacts, you dialed your sister’s home phone right away but there was no answer. Your face began to dark as you stepped out the door, greeting Forsyth with a serious expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe I’m just overthinking things but she hasn’t responded to me, I wonder if she’s okay?”

“Your sister I take it?” you nodded in response while you gave her cellphone a ring. Your call went straight to voice mail that prompted you to give her a call a few more times. After six called she finally picked up

“What do you want?” that’s not the greeting you had hoped for, she sounded really irritated

“Uh…” there was a negative vibe that seeped through the call but you tried your best to remain chipper “I sent you the video of my number for the talent show. I did it! Finally –“ you heard an exasperated sigh from the other side, stopping you from saying anything else.

“Look… you picked a really bad time. I’m just not in the mood right now okay?” that broke your heart, you were expecting her to be happier and excited like Forsyth but that wasn’t the case. Sadness and disappointed slowly began turning into mild anger.

“I don’t get you… you’ve been pushing me to do this since we were kids and now you just…”

She cut you off with another sigh that was much louder “I told you now is a bad time okay? Just leave me alone for a bit okay!?” and with that your sister hung up.

Forsyth tried his best to fish out his tissues to catch your falling tears but you’d already started crying a river.

—

He wasn’t sure how to comfort you, he had no words and he was careful not to say anything mean or negative about your sibling. The only thing he could offer you was a hug and you clung to him, crying it out into his shoulder.

“I shouldn’t be this upset!” you were a blubbering mess “Its just a stupid performance, I’m blowing it out of proportion like a spoiled brat!!”

“Its understandable that you’d be upset. Your performance is NOT stupid or unworthy of praise! Don’t discredit yourself like that!” he hugged you even tighter, he could feel you getting hiccups from crying so much.

You pulled away, wiping both tears and snot off your face with another tissue. Your living was now littered with used tissues and another one was added to the pile “Was it wrong for me to expect her to be happy for me?”

“NO!” he shook his head furiously “I don’t know what’s going on with your sister but…” he took a long pause to gather his thoughts “You were amazing while you were performing. You’ve got both the talent and the passion for it, it really shows. The way you put so much effort when you practice and the emotion your voice carries when you sing. A voice like that should be shared with the world if you ask me so I’m really happy you went ahead and performed in spite of your nervousness. I’m really, truly proud of you.” He hugged you again, it was warm, sincere, and comforting. “I’ll… always be one of your adoring fans.”

Forsyth realized how over the top and mushy what he just said was, his face burned. “I-I-I know what else we can do to help you feel better! We never got to go to café, I’ll step out for a bit and grab some food there! I’ll come back of course!” he quickly let you go, grabbed his jacket and made a mad dash for the door. He was redder than a tomato, heart drumming rapidly against his chest.

—

You had very little time to process what had just happened, right on cue your phone started buzzing. You checked the screen and saw your sister’s name, you took a deep breath before answering the call.

“He-hello?”

“Hey… I’m really sorry about earlier. You could tell I was angry but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

You felt the tears well up once more “I should’ve been more sensitive to you, I could tell by your voice you weren’t in the mood, should’ve just given you sometime and talked to you once you were ready.”

“Nope kiddo, this is all on me. I suck at being your number 1 fan but I’m proud of you. You’ve moved on from singing on top of the bed to singing on an actual stage.” That was fond childhood memory, you both would pretend your parents’ bed was a stage or stadium, and you lip sync to your favourite songs while your sister pretended to be a fan in the crowd. “I watched the video, its not the full video so you better send me that so I can put that on repeat! You did an even better job at the song than the original artist! Can I put it on my tiktok and make you famous?” you could tell she was doing her best to make up for her outburst a while ago.

“Aw c’mon that’s laying it on too thick.” You breathed in deeply as you held the phone closer to your ear “Hey… I am worried about you, you know that right? So what’s up on your end?” you heard her scoff on the other side

“Don’t worry about that for now, I’ll fill you in later. I don’t want to think about anything negative and just want to celebrate this with you!” a beat passed “Also… I’m really curious who that green haired guy is in the video… your boyfriend? When did you learn to keep juicy secrets from me?”

Boyfriend? Green hair? Only Forsyth came to mind and then the memory of him holding you close and getting all sappy a while ago rushed through head. A hot blush raged across your face “He-HE isn’t my boyfriend!” you managed to sputter out

“Hohoho! He seems quite taken by you!” the relentless teasing continued

“What makes you say that?!” you tried to fan yourself to calm down the blush.

“Seriously? You saw the video right?”

Actually, you hadn’t watched the video of your performance. You swiped out from the call and checked the video Python had sent you. It started normal enough, you in frame, the video would cut out to a different portion of your performance but one segment really stood out. Who would’ve guessed that Python would mischievously add a clip of his best friend gushing about you.

“Oh…” you heard Forsyth sigh affectionately in the video “They sound like an angel Python. I can’t take my eyes off them… I could watch and listen to them all day and night…” the video transitioned back to you on stage.

You could hear your sister making kissy sounds on the other side of the line while laughing hard. Embarrassed beyond reason, you tried your best to clear things up with your sister. Forsyth could come back any minute with the food and you didn’t want to get caught talking about him. Your sister continued to tease you and ask you to call her back once you were done with your “date”. Circumstance must’ve been playing tricks on you, Forsyth so conveniently returned at that moment with food.

“Hoh? You left the door unlocked? I’ve returned with food though, sorry I took so long. I passed by another shop and bought you something from there as well.” You could hear your sister cackling maniacally before hanging up. Keeping calm after seeing the video was going to be challenge but you managed to have a small food party and update Forsyth that you and your sister were okay now. As it was getting late, he said he’d have to go but not before giving you one last hug. You bonked yourself on the head for being so oblivious to the possibility of him having feelings for you.

—

Superman: Happy to announce I’ve made it back home! I’m glad I was able to cheer you up even a little bit. I’m even happier to hear you’ve spoken to your sister.

You: Glad you’re home safe! Thanks Forsyth, I’d probably be sulking all night long if it wasn’t for you

Superman: I’d do anything to cheer you up. I’ll even act like a clown if it means putting a smile on your face!

You: Don’t over do it green bean.

You: Oh, I spoke with my sister. Apparently, she lost her job that’s why she was all bummed out.

Superman: !!!

Superman: Maybe I could help her out with job hunting? Although my contacts are from around our area, is she particular about the location?

You: Thanks Fors but my sis has a plan and sent her resume to several prospective employers. I appreciate the effort and concern though

Superman: Well anything to help you out

Superman: I mean anything to help someone in need out

You: I’m heading in for the night. Forsyth, thank you so much for being there for me, you’re the sweetest and the best. Night night. 😙

Superman: 😳

Superman: Sleep well and sweet dreams, can’t wait to see you tomorrow!

Superman: UH I mean, its always great to see you because I know you’re okay and not sick… and… and

Superman: You know what… I’ll just stop talking… Good night.

Lukas

“I wouldn’t lie to you.” Lukas gave you a gentle smile “I read your paper, your passion and grasp of the topic shined through. Professor Evans echoes my opinion, you wrote an excellent paper.” You couldn’t help but stare at the post-it your professor stuck on your hard copy.

“Your final research summary paper was an excellent application of all the concepts we’ve learned in class. I want to congratulate you on your effort and dedication, you’ve earned the A+ and, if you’d allow me, I’d like to add your work to a journal I’m working on. You will be fully credited of course, its just my personal collection of student’s work.”

You’d lost count at how many times you’d re-read the note, how many times you’d replayed the commendations. The high you were feeling was difficult to complain and you found yourself tugging Lukas’ sleeve “You helped me too! You proofread my drafts and pointed out areas of improvement. Professor also commended your paper!” he shook his head in response

“My input was probably only worth two-percent of your mark, everything else was your hard work. With that being said our A’s could only mean we’ve passed the course with flying colours.”

“That calls for a celebration! So another coffee party or…” you fished out your phone and hurriedly looked up something up “Do you want to try this place out?” he inched closer to you to look at your screen “This place has started selling coffee jelly but they’ve got other items on the menu.”

His eyes perked up at the word “coffee”, his favourite “drug” of choice “I do like the sound of that, I’ll just drop off something at the learning center and we can head out. I believe you don’t have anymore classes for the day?” you gave him a thumbs up in response and told him you’d wait for him outside the school. Perfect opportunity for you to text your cousin about your “little” academic victory. You’d always been close with your cousin, granted that you grew up together. Both of you lived in the same area, so you’d alternate sleepover parties in each other’s houses. For college though, you’d gone to different institutions, you’re cousin chose a place in your hometown while you went to a busier city’s university. Though you’d gone different paths, you still texted each other almost everyday

—

YouAbu: Cuz! I got an A+ on my final psych paper! When I visit for break you better treat me to pizza!

kingkong: What’s new? You’ve always been the smarter one so that isn’t news to me heh 😜

YouAbu: LOL What’s with that? You can’t weasel your way out of treating me with pizza!

kingkong: uh 🤨 why would I reward something that comes naturally to you? Learn to drive stick then come back to me xD

YouAbu: whatever 😒… you owe me pizza🍕🍕

—

What was that about? Everything your cousin said just irritated you for some reason. Granted they always had a certain “edge”, as you would describe it, in the way they talked that didn’t really bother you because you’d gotten used to it through the years. But something about this situation coupled with what they said irritated you.

—

Lukas was far too preoccupied trying to read your mood than enjoy his coffee jelly. He watched as you playing with the metal straw in your mouth as you drummed your fingers on the table. He cleared his throat to break the silence “Something’s bothering you I take it, I’m all ears if you’re willing to share.”

Pushing the metal straw away with your lips as you let out a dry laugh “Last time I checked I’m the one studying therapy…” he quirked an eyebrow at your response but continued to observe you, the way Lukas would look at other people, it always seemed like he was putting others under a microscope. You’d grown used to that habit of his, you didn’t find it off putting at all. “Have you told your family about you’re A?” you quickly changed the subject

“I doubt they’d care. You know my older brother wants nothing to with me, my father on the other hand would simply respond with something along the lines of getting good marks are what’s expected of me.” He gave a smile, the kind that was all show, the kind that masks something underneath.

You could relate to his situation at the moment “I know how that feels…” you took a long sip of your drink “I thought this person would celebrate with me but their reaction simply irritated me.” Stirred your drink with the straw

“Sounds like we only have each other to celebrate our personal victory.” He leaned in a bit “If it helps you take the edge off things, I don’t mind you venting to me.” You slid your phone to him, the exchange between you and your cousin on the screen. Lukas read through it, took a quick glance at you before closing his eyes with a sign. That was your cue, he signalling you to start venting.

“I just… everything they said rubbed me the wrong way. Especially that bit about me getting A’s expected, I don’t just sit down ,write a test or paper then manifest an A.” you tapped the table as you spoke “Good grades don’t just ‘come naturally’ to me Lukas neither does it ‘come naturally’ to you.” you crossed your arms in front of your chest with a huff.

Lukas would be lying if he said he didn’t understand how you felt. “You don’t like it that people have a certain expectation of you.” You nodded in response “But you did expect your cousin to react in a certain way, did you not?” you flashed an angry look at your companion. Did he just defend your cousin? “I don’t mean to exacerbate your irritation. What your cousin just said, that good grades come naturally to you and are to be expected of you, failed to consider all the hard work and effort you put into your studies. As you said, we don’t just sit down and conjure up A’s.”

“What are you getting at Lukas?”

“I don’t know your cousin as personally as you do but I think they’re unaware that you find such comments disagreeable.” He tilted his head

“They’ve known me since we were kids.” He noticed your shoulders tense up as you said this

“You thought they’d react in a certain way and they thought you’d be okay with a comment like that.” He took a bite of his coffee jelly “The best option to take is to talk to them and let them know how they made you feel. The fact that you’re reacting this way, I can only wager a guess that your cousin means a lot to you and you put a great amount of trust in them.”

“Lukas… you’d make a good counsellor.” To which he shrugged “You don’t believe me? Would I lie to you?”

“You wouldn’t… I trust you a great deal, so my expectation is you wouldn’t say anything to deceive me.” He glanced at you before flashing a faint yet genuine smile. This was a rare occurrence, Lukas was showing vulnerability. Though he was very popular and well-liked in school, he didn’t have many friends and had trouble connecting with others. Something you’d observed was that he kept a lot of people at arm’s length and never truly opened up to anyone.

He looked at your sincerely “I think you need to hear this again. Don’t let the words of others undervalue your effort. You are a responsible, intelligent, and a hardworking person, I’m witness to those virtues and I admire you for them. All your successes happen by your own hand and not because you were born to succeed.” After speaking, he clinked his glass to yours. “So for now, let’s ignore those people who don’t understand and let’s celebrate our hard work?”

A smile cracked through your face, Lukas was right. It wasn’t fair to yourself, letting the words of others get you down and spoiling your day. “Thanks Lukas, I’m glad you’re here to celebrate with me.”

—

YouAbu: could we talk for a bit? You said something awhile ago that didn’t settle well with me

kingkong: yeeesh I treat you to pizza m’kay?

YouAbu: its not that, you said good grades are expected of me and that really irritated me for some reason

kingkong: but you’re smart

YouAbu: Cuz… I’m not just smart. I study really hard and put in a lot of work into my schooling. It really hurt me that all my effort was just swept under the rug. I might be coming off as sensitive but I just wanted you to know how I feel

The text bubbles below kept appearing, as if they were typing and re-typing what they wanted to say. Took a minute for them to respond

kingkong: just… growing up you always got good grades and made it look so easy but now I realize its not easy. You were always reading books or going over school stuff

kingkong: and I gotta admit… I was kinda jealous of you’re A+ and let the green-eyed monster talk for me… I’m sorry

YouAbu: Hey… we’re cool and if you ever got the impression that I was showing off or something, I’m sorry for that

kingkong: I don’t mean anything bad with what I’m about to say but cuz, you were born to stand out ya know? You’re smart, killer work ethic, and have a way with words. You’re not showing off, you’re just dazzling peeps by being you

YouAbu: You are laying it on thick there cuz, you might just get away from treating me to a pizza

kingkong: HAHAHAHA that was the plan! But, when you get another A+, what should I say to you?

YouAbu: nothing, just gimme a pizza

kingkong: that’ll break the bank cuz, maybe for every four A+’s I’ll treat you to a pizza

—

You: Hey Lukas thanks again for cheering me up and offering a different take on the situation

LukaJava: That’s no problem, I’m always here for you. How are you and your cousin if you don’t mind me asking?

You: We talked things through and they understood where I was coming from. We had a good laugh after

LukaJava: (“⌒.⌒”)

LukaJava: Glad to hear it

You: Hey Lukas, I didn’t get to say this cause I was so caught up with my troubles

LukaJava: ( ・◇・)？

You: I’m proud of you for getting that A+. We both put our blood, sweat, and tears into our final papers and got our hard earned grades. I know you have a complicated relationship with your family and you don’t open up to a lot of people but I’ll always be here when you need someone to share your achievements with okay?

LukaJava: ೕ(˃̵ᴗ˂̵ ๑)

LukaJava: That’s music to my ears. I don’t open up to a lot of people, that’s correct, but I consider you to be one of my closest friends. Your support, friendship, and understanding is worth more than gold to me.

LukaJava: Its getting late though, if my memory serves me well, you have a class tomorrow morning. Best we call it a day. Good night and sweet dreams

LukaJava: |[(*´ｪ`)]|zZＺ

You: Okay Lukas! See you tomorrow, good night and sweet dreams

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sharpnothashtag · 4 years ago

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The Good Ship CrushWay, Chapter 30

Author’s Note: I needed some time away from that last story. Call it a mid-season break, if you’ll allow it. Now, for something I’ve wanted to do for literal years. (Yes, the stardate is going to be inaccurate because as much as I want to care about it, I don’t. Two years have passed since chapter 1; six months have passed since chapter 29. That’s all you need to know.)

Seven is walking through the corridors, nodding at doctors who smile at her.

Seven: Personal log, stardate 97770.33. Admiral Paris has called myself, Captain Janeway, B’Elanna Torres, Tom Paris, the Doctor, and a few people I have not yet met to an early morning meeting. It is rather inconvenient timing, as I was beginning to incorporate a new aspect to the filing system that would improve its efficiency. Now, until I am permitted to return to my duties, the system will remain in its current state of disarray.

Seven walks up to a door. She rings the chime.

KJ: Come! Seven: (enters, it’s a conference room. KJ is seated near the head of the table. Seven nods in acknowledgement.) Captain. KJ: Good morning, Seven. Seven: How was your sleep? KJ: Beverly woke me up snoring. (drowning her yawns in coffee. ...) Since when do you care? Seven: The Doctor and I have been talking about little talk. It seems an inefficient way of communication, but the Doctor tells me it is seen as polite. KJ: It’s called “small talk,” Seven. And I am perfectly fine to sit in silence--my restless night has left me rather cantankerous this morning. (Seven nods in acknowledgement. They have one more moment of silence before Tom and B’Elanna enter. They see the way the Captain is chugging her coffee and decide not to comment. They have a seat as well. AP enters, smiling warmly.)

AP: Good morning, all. Tom, would you mind bringing the Doctor up on this panel so we can begin? Tom: Yes, sir. Will there be anyone else joining us, sir? AP: Yes, but I need to brief you all on your mission first. Tom: Understood, sir. (He goes to the panel, presses a few buttons, and the EMH appears.) EMH: Good morning, Lieutenant Paris. Tom: Good morning, Doctor. AP: Good morning, all. I’m so glad to see you all again. You all know I don’t like to beat around the bush, and there isn’t much time before you need to leave. I’ll be brief. We’ve managed to narrow down the location of the Voyager crew to a section of M class planets toward the border of the Delta and Alpha Quadrants. We’ve not been able to communicate, but the homing signal they sent finally reached us. According to his report, there were several minor injuries, but the planet they landed on had a benevolent species that took pity on them and helped them get to a stable position. They, as far as I know, are waiting to be rescued, as the escape pods were very badly damaged in the landing. We’re giving you a ship to bring back your crew. (brings up an image. smiling) Friends, this is the USS Ohana. KJ: (smiling) Family. Family means no one gets left behind. AP: She’s intrepid class, just like Voyager. She should have more than enough space to get all of you back in one piece. KJ: She’s beautiful. When do we leave? AP: Well, as soon as your new crew members get here. Seven: New crew members? AP: Yes. First, (pulling up a headshot) your head of security and first officer, Lieutenant Commander Tasha Yar. KJ: Yes, she can cover that and tactical until we get to Tuvok. That still leaves Ops, assuming that Tom will be covering the helm. AP: Your new Ops officer, Ensign Ro Laren (headshot). I will warn you, Captain. Both women are extremely opinionated and headstrong. KJ: Outspoken, are they? They’ll fit it well. (as if on cue, the doorbell chimes.) AP: Come! (Tasha and Ro enter.) KJ: (to Tasha) Commander Yar, yes? Tasha: Lieutenant Commander, but yes. Tasha Yar. AP: Report to cargo bay 4 in 2 hours. Dismissed. Tasha: (to KJ) Good to meet you, sir. KJ: Just “Captain” is fine. I’ll be calling you “Number One.” (They all walk toward the Turbolift together.)

Tasha: I am honored. Captain Picard used to call Commander Riker that. KJ: You served aboard the Enterprise? Tasha: Yes, many years ago. I left for another position on a smaller ship that had the opportunity of advancement; Captain Picard gave me his blessing, as he and Captain Anton Farley were in the academy together. (smirking) He said I could learn a good deal from him. KJ: It’s a long story, but I became “Number One” after Commander Riker left for his position aboard The Excalibur. Ensign Ro, is it? Ro: Yes, Captain. Thank you for using my proper name. KJ: No need to thank me for common decency. Commander Chakotay taught me well. B’Elanna: Speaking of Chakotay, where is he? Seven: He is on an extended spirit quest. He left messages with Starfleet Command that he would be back in a few months. Admiral Paris felt it best to respect his religious practices and appoint you instead, Commander Yar. Ro: Now, Chakotay, why do I know that name? B’Elanna: It’s been a long time, but he and I fought with the Maquis against the Cardassians. Ro: But you aren’t Bajoran. B’Elanna: But Starfleet sure as hell didn’t give a damn. We knew what needed to be done, and so we went to help, no matter what that meant.

(Tasha and Ro share a look. They’re uncomfortable and that is clear. They certainly aren’t going to acknowledge what’s bothering them here. The turbolift comes and we are back with KJ and Bev.)

Bev: You’re going to call me every day at lunch, right? KJ: Of course. I looked at the coordinates briefly--it doesn’t seem like it will be that long of a trip as far as navigation goes. The species Tuvok has befriended seems docile and willing to learn from us according to his report. I’d say I’ll be back in a month. Bev: Every day, Kate. KJ: 1200 hours. We’ll keep up. And when I get back, you’ll get to meet my crew. Bev: When you get back, can we tell your mom about us? KJ: (stopping dead in her tracks) Tell my mom? Bev: I don’t have parents to tell that I’m happy. My closest friends and family already know you, especially since Wesley finally came to see me and you met him. It’s time for your mom to know. KJ: I know it’s time. I’m just worried that if we tell her, she’s going to fall apart. It’s only been 6 months since Phoebe died. Bev: Her daughter is happy. How could she “fall apart” over that? KJ: I don’t know. I guess I’m just scared. Bev: We’ll make a trip to see her and tell her in person. It’ll be fun! Plus I’ll finally get to meet Molly and Rocco. I’ve been excited about that for a long time. KJ: Molly and Rocco will love you, and so will my mom after knowing that you’re my girlfriend. (leaning in to kiss her) Just like I love you now. (in each other’s arms) You’re the most loving, loyal, positive, funny, and sarcastic person I’ve ever known. I love you. Bev: I love you, too. KJ: I need to go. Bev: Do you have to? (starting to go in for another kiss) KJ: I might have 15 minutes or so...(going in for a kiss on the neck) Bev: Good. That’s just enough time.

Tasha is packing. Ro enters.

Ro: Tasha, are we not going to talk about this? Tasha: There’s nothing left to talk about. Ro: Yes, there is. We’re going to rescue some former Maquis. Tasha: Former Maquis who then became Starfleet officers. Ro: (sitting down on the bed) Tash, I need a friend right now. Tasha: A Maquis wanting to befriend a Starfleet officer? Ro: Will you just shut UP about that?! (Tasha takes a deep breath and sits down next to her.) I defected to the Maquis, yes. That’s only because I saw my people suffering. I saw myself as a little girl again. I couldn’t watch other people watch their fathers die like I did. I just couldn’t. Tasha: Listen...I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I was hurting for a long time. You and I were really happy, and then you defected. It felt personal. Ro: You know it’s not. Tasha: I saw the way you were looking at that Kira Nerys. Don’t tell me that had nothing to do with it. Ro: That’s just it! Kira had nothing to do with it. Tasha: Bullshit. Ro: Ok. But not in the way you’re thinking. She understood my passion for Bajor. She knew that Starfleet couldn’t help me with that. Tasha: And that’s where the problem really is--you think that I didn’t understand, or that I couldn’t. I grew up outrunning rape gangs, Ro. I know what it’s like to have an unsafe, miserable childhood. Ro: But you don’t know what it is to have someone else understand that and be able to help you through that. Be able to give you something to do about it. Tasha: ...I thought I did. I really thought I did. (Tasha gets up from the bed and starts to finish up her packing.) Ro: Tasha. Tasha: Dismissed, Ensign. (Ro sighs. She looks at Tasha longingly one more time. She leaves.)

Seven is in the Medical facility. It’s clear she’s stressed out. Erin: Annika, just let me take care of that while you’re away. Seven: My name is not Annika any longer. Erin: What should your designation be, then? Seven: Seven of Nine is more than appropriate, even if it is a bit vague. Erin: Seven, please. Just let me take care of the records while you’re gone. Seven: You won’t know what to do. Erin: Yes, I will. Seven: (stops what she’s doing) Show me. (Erin does the same sequence of events Seven has been doing.) You have forgotten to capitalize Biquv’s name under “assigned counselor.” Erin: But is the rest of it up to your standards? Seven: It is...passable. Thank you, Erin. Erin: You’re welcome. (Seven starts to walk away.) I was wanting to talk to you. Seven: (Stops, turns on her heels. slightly annoyed.) Proceed. Erin: We didn’t get the time to be mother and daughter. When you return, could we start getting to know each other? Seven: When I return, I will have many things to do. Erin: But you have to eat. We could at least eat together. Seven: (taking a deep breath) We will attempt conversation once a week. Erin: Five times. Seven: Three. Erin: Sold. Now hurry--your mission can’t wait.

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sundry-whovengerslocked · 5 years ago

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Let Me Know, Tonight And Evermore - Chapter 1

Prompt and Post that inspired this fic

Special thanks to @crowleysansweringmachine and @ineffable0husbands for helping me with ideas and editing for this fic! Without you guys this would be... not so tickety-boo.

Warnings: mentioned war, mentioned genocide, angst, self-doubt/anxiety, some mutual pining

Tag list: @crowleysanwseringmachine @ineffable0husbands @idkimbadwithusernamesandstuff @elrilsf @askazfellandco @dystopianinterstellar @ampyrsandrya @chaosfandombeing @butttteeerrrrrr

It was the first of October, 1941, when the Principality Aziraphale opened the door to his bookshop to see the demon Crowley standing there, smelling of alcohol with tears in his eyes.

Now, dear reader, God at the time had been very busy, so I was in charge of watching over these unlikely friends during World War Two. You may ask who I am, and how I was there, but my story is for another time.

This tale is what we shall focus on: one of despair, one of War and Death, and one, ultimately, of hope and love.

Are you ready?

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It had been about five months since the two immortal beings had stood in the ruins of a church during the Blitz; it had been just as long since Aziraphale finally realized he was completely smitten for Crowley.

Aziraphale had been reading, or at least trying to. He was absentmindedly leafing through one of his prophecy books (one that had been saved by a little demonic miracle), subconsciously fussing with his hair. The bookshop was quiet, as it had been since the beginning of the war.

So when he heard a rapid knocking on the door, after the sun had gone down, the man nearly jumped out of his chair. Shuffling to the front of the shop anxiously and opening the door, his eyebrows raised at the scene before him. The very being he had been thinking of was on his doorstep, in a sorry state: he was drunk and crying, sunglasses folded into his shirt collar.

"Angel... I need your help."

After a moment of staring, Aziraphale ushered Crowley inside - nervously making sure the sign said closed - then handed the distressed man a cup of just-miracled tea. He sat down across from him in his armchair, but Crowley reached out his hand to him. Aziraphale didn't think he had ever seen such desperation in his eyes before. He let himself be pulled over to sit next to him on the sofa before speaking.

"My dear, whatever is bothering you so much?"

Crowley took a single sip of his tea out of politeness before placing it down on the table. He took a deep breath, a moment to put his sunglasses back on, then lightly grabbed Aziraphale's hand.

Aziraphale swallowed, silently scolding the butterflies in his stomach.

"There... there was a massacre," Crowley said, voice breaking as he looked at the floor. "The 29th and 30th, in Kiev."

Here, allow me a brief digression. This slaughter of approximately 33,771 people at the ravine of Baba Yar was indeed real, and unfortunately I find myself knowing far too much about World War Two. I have known War for far too long, even if she does not remember me.

Now, throughout history, Aziraphale and Crowley found themselves taking tragedies among humans to heart. They would try to distract themselves, or hide themselves away, or would lean on each other, all while fearing deep down the way their actions may have ill affect on humanity. World War Two, and in turn, the massacre of Baba Yar, were some such instances.

Crowley exhaled slowly. He squeezed Aziraphale's hand, for he knew the pain that would be coming for his friend. "Tens of thousands dead."

The angel looked at him sadly but intently, urging him to go on.

"Aziraphale... some of the wounds... there were burns. I've been hearing rumors through the grapevine, and..." Crowley turned his head to him, swallowing. "Angel, they have your sword."

The Guardian of the Eastern Gate of the Garden of Eden, the one who gave away his flaming sword to the very first humans, felt his stomach plummet very suddenly. For what was at the very least a solid minute, he stared at his bookcases, processing what he had been told, all while attempting to anchor himself with the feeling of the messenger's hand on his own. Then, hesitantly, with his voice no louder than the squeak of a mouse, he spoke.

"What if I did... a bad thing?"

Crowley's eyebrows shot up, and he shifted on the sofa to face Aziraphale, nearly falling off as he did so. Huffing, he took a moment to sober up before talking. "No, angel, not at all! Remember what I said, all those years ago? You can't do the wrong thing."

Aziraphale frowned, tears forming in his eyes as he shook slightly. He took a sharp breath, pulling back his hand. "But what about what you said after that? If you did the right thing and I did the wrong thing?"

Crowley tried to interrupt, but his voice was louder now, sentences faster.

"I mean the apple, the apple gave them knowledge, it gave them creativity, it gave them this-" he gestured broadly to the books around him, "but the sword? The sword taught them violence, made them fight! The flaming sword might have been what gave birth to War in the first place!"

(War had not, in fact, been born of the Principality's flaming sword. She was created earlier, of the first Great War between Heaven and Hell. After all, there can't be war without War. So you mustn't worry there, reader.)

"Azir-Aziraphale!" Crowley finally managed to speak over him, placing his hands on his shoulders to get his attention. His expression was intense, even with his eyes hidden behind dark lenses. "You know as well as I do that the humans thought this all up on their own, even if it is horrible." He swallowed, not wanting to share with the angel the things he had seen recently. "Your sword falling into the hands of the wrong people is simply bad luck."

(It really was. I could go on to explain how some toast and a handful of careless magicians were involved, but let's continue with this story.)

The angel took a few deep, shuddering breaths, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. He felt hurt, deep in his soul. Something had to be done. "We have to get it back," he said, voice filled with conviction even as it wavered.

Crowley choked on his words for a moment before protesting: "Wh- No! No, angel, it's far too dangerous." He gripped his friend's upper arms, trying to get his point across. "That's a dreadful, stupid idea."

Aziraphale shook his head, not taking any of it. "No, Crowley, we must. We have to get it away from them." The demon began to speak again, but he cut him off. "You're a spy, for Her sake. You know how to infiltrate them. We can get it, and... and hide it away!"

Still hidden behind sunglasses, serpentine eyes widened until there was no white left. He was nervous, thinking not only of all the horrors he had seen in this war, but also all the close calls he's had in saving the life of the man he loved.

The two men stared at each other for a bit, letting the conversation sink in.

What Aziraphale put together, taken aback, was that Crowley had been using the word you, and that this demon really was concerned for an angel's safety. For Aziraphale's safety.

What Crowley realized, in the moments between, was that Aziraphale had been using the word we. Even with Crowley being adamant, he was determined that they could do this together. Maybe they were closer friends then he thought.

No matter what they felt, they were a team.

At least for now, they were on their own side.

"Dear," the blond man said, tone softer now as he tilted his head: "we can do it, I know we can. You can ask your fellow intelligence agents to help."

Crowley's breath hitched, and he dropped his hands back to his lap. "Angel... you don't understand how terrible it is out there... even without the sword."

Aziraphale kept eye contact. Or rather, eyes-to-sunglasses contact. "We can do it. You know I can handle it. And if I can't, well..." he smiled slightly, "I'll have you to protect me."

A blush spread across Crowley's cheeks, and he briefly wondered if his skin was turning the same shade as his hair. "Uh... oh, ngk..." He sighed deeply, frustrated, before whining: "Ugh... okay, fine."

Aziraphale grinned widely, even with sadness still evident in his eyes. "It's settled, then. We're going to get the sword away from them."

The bookshop was silent once again, this time filled with anticipation and determination for the decision that had been made. And if any angels or demons had cared to listen in... Well, I made sure I was the only one to remember the conversation.

#let me know tonight and evermore #Good omens #ineffable husbands #otp: ineffable #my writing #fanfic #fanfiction #angst #mutual pining #Sundry writes #6000 year slow burn #mystery narrator #flaming sword #apple #eden #original post

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writingamongtheroses-archive · 5 years ago

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Showtime, Chapter 8

Lights Out

"Aaaand done!"

Liza stepped back from the speakers, grinning proudly. She and Bun watched as she flicked the switch. Treasure Cove erupted in sound. "Yar har har! Welcome crew, to Captain Bun's Treasure Cove! Load your token in and let the adventure begin!" She chuckled at the recorded voice lines, watching Bun grin.

It was the second night of Liza's new project. After she finished cleaning up the office with Bun's help, she had set to work. "Okay, stripped wires are fixed..." Liza said, checking that off her list as she turned it off. She grunted when her scarf fell in her face- she hated this scarf, it always came undone too easily. "I'll have to stop by the hardware store to see if I can find some better rope." She finished redoing her scarf to make a grabby motion. "Hand me that broom, will ya?"

Bun handed over the broom. "What are ye gonna do, lass?"

"Sweep! It's really dusty in here." True to her word, Liza started sweeping. "I mean, does the cleaning crew even clean? This whole place looks..." She looked around, trying to find a word that wasn't insulting to the animatronics.

"Nothing like how it used to?" She nodded. The depressed tone was back in Bun. "Aye, I know what you mean lass." The rabbit sat on a nearby box. "I remember how it used to be. Children would come, laughing and playing. They would win tokens while enjoying their food and listening to the Captain and Kitpup. It was bright and it was beautiful."

Liza had stopped sweeping. "I wish I could remember it."

"Ye don't?"

She shook her head. "The first thing I remember...is waking up in the hospital. The doctors told me I have retrograde amnesia." She didn't notice Doll wince.

"Wha?"

"Memory loss caused by an injury. They told me I was in a really bad accident- they had to sew parts of my brain back into my head and replace part of my skull with this fake skull stuff. There was also a bit of a brain bleed..." Liza made a face at the dust pile she had made. "Seriously, have they never cleaned here-?"

The lights went out.

"The ovens!" Kitty yelled from the kitchen.

"NOT US! I don't think..." Liza grumbled, trying to stumble out of Treasure Trove. She heard Bun move before a fake fur-covered hand wrapped around her wrist. If she focused, she could feel the metal under it. She made a conscious effort to not focus on that. Bun led her down the hallway, opening a door.

Her eyes had adjusted enough to see Kitty pulling what looked like a pizza out of an oven that was still glowing. Liza looked around, wondering if she would hear the lullaby...she shook her head. No. Because of Puppet, Ted couldn't hunt her down.

"-the generators."

She blinked at Kitty's voice. "What? Sorry, just trying to get my bearings." Liza attempted a sheepish grin before something plastic was stuffed in her hand. She turned on the flashlight, making sure to shine it on the floor.

"I need you to turn the generators back on," Kitty repeated slowly as if talking to a small child. She gestured to the pizzas. "Bun will help me with this." The rabbit nodded.

The generators, right. "Those would be..." Liza asked with a tiny wince. "Where exactly?" Something niggled at her brain, saying You know this.

"Oh, sorry! They're on the south side of the building. You can get to them by leaving the back way I think? We're not allowed outside, and I really don't want to upset Ted more than he already is." Kitty winced, matching her own.

Was this a trap?

It felt like a trap.

"...so I can leave? It's okay?"

"Yep!" Kitty chirped, turning to her ovens as Liza headed out of the kitchen. "As long as you come back." Liza paled at the tone, speeding up. "Be careful!" she heard before the kitchen doors shut. She sounded friendly, so she decided to leave that alone.

Liza opened and closed the door behind her, humming the lullaby absentmindedly. The flashlight bobbed in front of her as she walked. She turned the corner, training the light on the wall. She could see that the light outside was still on, so there must've been another circuit box for outside lighting. But why just the front?

Something clicked.

She froze, feeling Doll's fingers clench on her shoulders.

There was nothing but silence as she stood there. The crescent moon shone down on her while crickets chirped. She could see fireflies dancing around. While the flashlight was helpful, it just cast shadows and shapes of the thin forest sitting on the edge of the back parking lot. Nothing but underbrush and trees.

There was another noise and Liza ran.

By the time she stumbled across the fenced area, her feet hurt and any other noise was drowned out by the blood rush in her ears. The door was open. Annoyance washed out the fear when Liza realized why she lost power so fast.

There was a gauge.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Liza said to it as she started poking. Sure, it could save a few pennies, but it also seriously messed with the restaurant's electricity. She could remember Rafael raging whenever he found something like this on his latest repair project. She ended up wedging the flashlight in her shoulder to stick her arm half under the generator, but she flipped a switch. She was awarded a crunch of machinery as it rumbled to life. She unlatched the timer, examining it in curiosity. She ended up sticking it in her pocket- it looked homemade. She was honestly curious about why it was made and how it worked.

She headed up to the side door, intent on saving time. She regretted it when she heard another noise. It sounded closer this time. She paused in the doorway, taking a breath and turning to the night's darkness. "Hello?" She called out, wincing at her volume as Doll gripped her shoulders tight. "Is...there someone there?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Liza let out a shriek, swinging out. Rex dodged easily, grabbing her collar and hauling her into the safety of the restaurant in one smooth motion. His brow raised as she peered outside. After a minute of silence, she straightened. "Did you hear something outside?" she asked.

"Other than you sulking around? Not a thing."

"I wasn't sulking around, I was turning the power on." she snapped. "You're welcome."

"I didn't ask you to turn on the power, Elizabeth," Rex said. She glared at him, but the motion was half-hearted. "You seem jumpy."

There was a testy "I'm fine." Liza stuck her hands in her pockets for something to do with her hands. She probably needed to take another pill soon- her thoughts veered off when her hand brushed against something. "Actually, one more question." She pulled out the gauge, showing it to the dog. "This look familiar?"

"Uh...no. What is it?" Rex was telling the truth- he sounded confused.

"It's a gauge," Liza said, sticking it back in her pocket. "It cuts off the power to whatever it's hooked onto. It was set up to run from midnight to 6." She started walking to the kitchen, intent on telling Kitty she could use the oven again.

The dog followed, staring at her with narrowed eyes. "That's why this place runs out of power at night? Ted said it was because the pizzeria needed to save money."

Liza shook her head. "What it does is seriously mess with the restaurant's electricity and make us miserable."

"It wastes money," Doll said with a nod. "I remember...someone telling the construction company to not do something like that."

"Yeah, exactly!"

Rex let out some type of hiss. "Kitty's gonna have a fit. She hates not being able to bake. You should tell Ted."

She screeched to a stop. "W-What?"

"He's the boss. He should know somebody's been rigging stuff around here." She felt sweat roll down as she tried to give some excuse so she didn't have to talk to the animatronic who would take any excuse he had to stuff her... "Are you scared?"

Liza felt her hackles rise. "No! Look, I'll tell him tomorrow. I wanna take a look at this, see what I can find out!" She said when a frown appeared on Rex's face. "It looks homemade, so someone went to the trouble of making this!"

"Oh, you're scared."

"I am not! Look, I'm not trying to keep stuff from him-"

"What makes you think I won't tell him? In fact, I'll bet he'll be even more annoyed when I had to tell him."

Liza opened her mouth. She stopped when she recognized the tone. She sighed, staring at the ceiling and mentally wondering why me? "What do you want?" There was a chuckle and Rex nodded in a gesture that said: "Follow me."

She followed him, stiffening when they entered the dining hall. There was no sign of Ted, which made her relax. The dog made a beeline for Kitty's guitar, sitting on-stage and waiting for its owner. "You sound pretty competent with electronic stuff, right? At least, you didn't screw up with the generator. I guess you can't be too useless."

"Geez, thanks," Liza said with a roll of her eyes. She stopped when she took in the clearly broken lavender guitar. "What did Kitty do?"

"It wasn't her, it was some clueless cleaner." Rex held it out. "Tech doesn't work on us, so she can't get it fixed. You fix it and I won't tattle to Ted." Liza took it, considering the damage. Both age and the incident had caused clear damage.

"Deal."

"Good girl."

Liza rolled her eyes. She ignored the sarcasm to instead focus on the bigger issue. "Seriously, they don't work on you at all?" Rex winced, giving her his answer.

She only had the tools she could scrounge up. Rex was was surprisingly helpful, running to get the tools she needed. His clear desire to help his twin was a little refreshing. Liza couldn't help but wonder why the twins didn't act like this. The guitar was oversized for Kitty, meaning she didn't need any fine tools. Doll draped herself over Rex as they watched her in the working groove.

Half the issue was some pressure points where the guitar had been smashed. She would need to find a new casing. But, she told Rex, if Kitty was careful and didn't put too much pressure on certain areas, it would hold up. He nodded eagerly and she couldn't resist a smile at the cuteness.

"Kitty really needs to clean this more," she said when she took a rag to the inside. Much like when she swept Treasure Trove, she made a face at the dust she pulled out.

"She does!"

"The inside."

His ears flattened against his head. "Oh."

"But if nobody's working on you, I guess you guys won't know how to take care of your instruments." Tio Rafael was going to throw a fit six ways from Sunday when she told him. "I'll leave Kitty with some cleaning stuff. Tell her that if she keeps the dust out of here, it'll last longer!"

"Okay!"

Finally, she sighed. "Done!" Rex took it, batting Doll out of his lap, and played a few notes. Liza let out a weary smile at the noise, stretching in her spot. She froze when she heard music coming from down the hall.

"What are you still doing here?"

Liza scrambled to her feet when she saw Ted glaring at her. "I don't, it's only-" Exhaustion made her trip over her tongue. She glanced at the clock and paled, suddenly much more awake. "It's seven?!"

"Go on and get!"

"I'm going, I'm-" She fell with a grunt. Sitting up, Liza glanced behind her.

"Well?" The bear demanded.

"I'm stuck," she said, a little too calmly for the present situation. Ted took a look. The edge of her scarf had started to get loose and had gotten stuck under a floorboard that had been sticking up for ages. Liza stood and grabbed her scarf to try and yank it free.

"Just take off the scarf!"

"No!"

"Maybe you should just-" Rex said, moving to help her.

A tad bit of hysteria struck her. "I said NO!" she screamed, giving one hard yank.

Several things followed.

There was a very loud RIP! She staggered back at the sudden freedom, her foot catching on the end of the stage. There were several cries of "LIZA!" when she fell. She groaned when her shock cleared, looking up.

Ted stared back. Then his eyes moved up and she realized that her head was bared. Liza scrambled out of the bridal carry, falling on her butt with a grunt. She snatched her scarf off the stage where it must've fallen and wrapped it, a little too tight, around her scars. All the animatronics were staring at her. "I'm going," she said finally, pushing past Ted to disappear into the office. She came out a minute later with her stuff and disappeared into the early morning.

"She's not too bad nowadays," Rex said, handing Kitty her guitar. She squealed quietly. "I mean, she really was influenced by-"

"Not a word," he said. Rex shrugged as Ted stalked out of the room. He ignored the little girl that replaced his reflection.

"Blaming yourself for what happened to Elijah will not make the past heal." Of course, he would wander by here. The Puppet was still working at the crossword, considering the boxes. Instead of the calavera paint their creator had carefully done, it had a face full of tears and a red chin. "We need to get to work. Your twin has already warmed up to her."

"Would've preferred someone else, anybody else. Instead, you chose another night guard." Ted looked around the office. The kids' pictures were dulled with age. He chose to stare at one in particular. "You chose her."

"Time is running out."

"Hasn't she suffered enough?"

"We needed someone."

Ted nodded at the awful truth, turning to take his place on-stage. The Puppet huffed, disappearing into the box.

On the wall, a picture of a girl in yellow, standing next to her bear, stood staring.

#wip #heartbeat #heartbeat series #writblr #writeblr

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thecandywrites · 6 years ago

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Zorroku and Peaches Part 5

And here is part 5! Because I just couldn’t wait to post it tomrrow. @royale-skeleton-key hope you like this just as much as part 4.

Part 5

But by the next morning, you were woken up by the sounds of Fang and Claw screaming as they circled above the village.

“What the hell?” You groused as you got up and opened your tent and glared at the sky before you groaned as you realized Shuzug was already here before you purred and called Fang and Claw to you as you wrapped your arm in a blanket before they dove down to you and landed on your arm.

“Oof, good morning to you too,” You greeted them sleepily before you heard Ori stir and put the pair on the stand with Razor and went and got your cloak on, that was still too big on you but you kind of liked it being that big, and your shoes on before you bundled Ori up and put her under your cloak with you and invited the birds out and told them to find Shuzug before you followed them to the gate of the village where the guards had stopped Shuzug who was arguing with them to let him in as all three eagles came and landed on the mane of his horse.

“Hey! He’s with me, let him in.” You ordered them.

“You know him?” They asked you.

“Yes, that is Shuzug, youngest son of Warchief Khagra of the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, who is coincidentally also your warchief’s nephew, Warchieftess Yotul and Shuzug’s mother Warchieftess Bula are sisters, and he’s my friend, I’m sure the rest of the family is only a few hours away, let him through.” You vetted before they let him through before his horse practically pranced through the gate as you could see a few somethings squirm in his large bag across his chest.

“Did you really ride all night to get here?” You asked him as he strode his horse over you before he got off.

“Yes, I couldn’t wait, I left the moment the crow came back, the rest will be leaving right about now.” Shuzug answered before he noticed you were holding a baby under your cloak

“So who’s this?” He asked curiously as he peeked inside as he gave you gentle hug so as not to squish her.

“Kinda sorta my daughter?” You giggled as you opened the cloak up more to show her to him.

“Aw, how did you manage that?” He asked curiously.

“Dude, how did you manage that?” You asked as you gestured to the bag before three wolf pup heads popped out, a white, a gray and a red wolf pup before it continued to squirm and two mountain lion cubs who were the same age poked their heads out too.

“Well hello there!” You cooed to them as you pet them as they sniffed you.

“It’s a long story.” He ducked his head as you noticed he also had some fresh wounds on his head.

“May the gods have mercy.” You snickered. “Come on, my tent is this way.” You nodded as you started walking back to your tent.

“Wow, this is really nice! You get this all to yourself? When the crows said ‘big tent’, I didn’t think it would be this big.” Shuzug praised as you let him in and he looked around after he put the pups and cubs down to explore your tent.

“Thanks and it is all mine, this little girl’s father got it for me.” You answered with a twinkle in your eye as you took your cloak off and hung it back up.

“Holy shit, what happened to your boobs?!” Shuzug asked as he noticed the change in them before you smacked him upside the head.

“Really?” You deadpanned before you got back in bed just as Ori started to stir before you unceremoniously took out a breast and started nursing her.

“What the hell Bella?” Shuzug asked as he watched on in surprise.

“Dude, pull up a chair, do I have an epic tale for you.” You began before you got comfortable and propped up by all the pillows on your bed and started telling him everything that happened from the moment you left his sight until that moment in time as the wolf pups explored your tent as Shuzug listened and watched you nurse Ori with awe as the pups and the cubs ate the already dead rabbit carcasses at the base of the eagle perch as Razor, Fang and Claw also ate rabbits too.

“So any idea of who you might want?” Shuzug asked you.

“Well, that’s a tricky question to answer, because clearly, I’m connected to Zorroku, and come to find out, he has no other wives, how does the first born, that handsome, his age not have like five by now?” You asked rhetorically.

“I mean yeah I see where you’re coming from.” Shuzug nodded.

“My only other viable option is the youngest Nar, not to be confused in anyway shape or form with Yar, he’s 12, just now getting some whiskers and facial hair. He has no wives, no kids, and he’s young enough that I might get him to myself for a little while at least and he’s a lot like you and we get along pretty good but I’m still getting little brother vibes, like I really gotta push myself to view him romantically.” You shrugged.

“Well have you talked with any of them about what they want from you and what you want from them and see if you’re compatible or can come to an agreement or an understanding?” Shuzug asked.

“Not yet, I’ve only been here for two days, I’m hoping once everyone is together and once all your sisters and your mother especially gets to meet all of them and gets feels for them, they’ll give me some insights.” You hoped.

“So are they really treating you well? Like really really?” Shuzug asked a little skeptically.

“Dude! I have more freedoms and rights here than I do at home, I am servant to no one, no one bosses me around and I basically get to do whatever I want which is actually cook because I want to not because I’m expected to which is odd but really nice and I’m cooking with joy instead of fear and I’m finding myself wanting to make everything I make really good instead of feeling like I need to or else I’ll face the consequences. Like if Yotul and Crowthu aren’t calling me Peaches they’re calling me daughter and they really mean it. Like they have completely adopted me and accepted me and it really is like one big happy family that I’m a full fledged member of, like I’m on first name or even nickname basis’ with everyone, like the moment I came into the village, Crowthu introduced me as his new daughter before I even got to his tent and practically showed me off to the whole village who greeted me respectfully and just accepted me with open arms and ease and have no issues with me at all and it’s weird but really nice and they have all completely upheld their half of the oath but it’s not that they have to really try or work against themselves and their own nature to uphold it. It’s like that oath and those conditions are just the way they are and it was a given that they’d be good to me even the little kids call me Auntie Peaches and adore me just as much as I adore them. Which the ‘Peaches’ thing took a little to get used to but Zorroku made a really good point on how it’s a fitting name because I’m sweet when I want to be but I’ll be a poisonous killer like the peach seed itself when I want to be too cause I’ve gotten to hunt and fish since I’ve been with them so that was actually a really nice compliment.” You explained with a bright smile.

“Wow, I mean, yeah that makes total sense and you kind of look like a Peaches too.” Shuzug teased you and you playfully stuck your tongue out at him.

“So no creepy rape-y vibes then?” Shuzug asked.

“Well, there is still two of your cousins that give me the creeps, Silug and Winug, but as long as I stay away from them, I’m good, otherwise, there’s three that are trying really, really hard to woo me and it’s...again, weird.” Is all you could say with another giggle and a shrug.

“And which three are those?” Shuzug asked.

“Zorroku, obviously, Yalak and Nar. The oldest, a middle and the baby.” You specified.

“Is there any you like back?” Shuzug asked.

“Yeah.” You sighed but a bit wistfully as you looked down at Ori and her baby blue skin and when you looked back up Shuzug was just grinning ear to ear.

“Well I’m happy for you, relieved mostly but happy for you,” Shuzug grinned.

“Thanks, well when everyone gets up I’d imagine at least three of them will want to be your new best friend and honestly you and Nar would be like brothers from different mothers, like he may only be two years older than you but he’s literally the same size as you and his personality is really similar, did you get a chance to read my message about bringing the book of riddles?” You asked.

“Oh you mean this book?” Shuzug grinned as he reached into his other satchel and pulled it out.

“Yay!” You cheered.

“Peaches? You ok? Who’s in there with you?” Glasha asked as she woke up and heard talking and didn’t recognize the male voice coming from your tent.

“Yeah I’m ok, come over and meet your cousin,” You invited. “Well kind of, she’s not a blood cousin, she’s the eldest daughter from Crowthu’s first wife, Sharn the Magnificent of all women and Glasha is awesome, she’s my best friend here.” You murmured to Shuzug as Glasha came over.

“Be careful, don’t let the pups or the cubs out.” You urged as she carefully came in and noticed three wolf pups and two mountain lion cubs chewing on what was left of their individual rabbits as all three eagles stood regally on the perch.

“Good morning, sorry to wake you up.” You offered as she came in and made sure the flap was closed so the pups and cubs wouldn’t escape.

“Hi, I’m Shuzug.” Shuzug introduced himself as he held out his hand for her to shake as she did.

“Hi, I’m Glasha,” she smiled brightly as she shook it before she sat on the bed just as Ori got done lazily drinking her breakfast and finally woke up for the day before she rolled over and noticed Shuzug.

“Well good morning Ori.” Shuzug cooed to her as she gave him a look that clearly said ‘I don’t know you, who are you and why are you talking to me?’ that cracked all of you up before she looked at you questioningly.

“This is...your uncle Shuzug.” You cooed to her as Shuzug nodded in agreement to that before you sat her up so that she laid against your stomach with your thighs and breasts propped her up kept her sitting up as you made sure she was completely covered up so she wouldn’t get cold as you still laid on your side, propped up yourself. Shuzug got down on his knees next to the bed to get closer to her.

“She’s really small for being four months old.” Shuzug noticed as he reached out and gently let her reach out to take his hand before he got his face next to hers and started playing with her and cooing to her and trying to make her laugh.

“Well that’s because her birth mother died giving birth to her and she didn’t get her first milk and started nursing from my half brother’s wife who already had a six month of her own and the milk is different as babies grow.” Glasha explained from her spot next to her niece on the bed as she sat by your feet.

“And she’s super sensitive to onions and garlic, and they eat those with every single meal here and Rek, Yalak’s wife and the one who was nursing her, didn’t want to give them up for Ori’s sake so I told Mama Arob, Warchief Crowthu’s mother, the sorceress, that I would nurse her if I could and that I was willing to give up eating those things for Ori’s sake and that’s when Mama Arob made me that special drink and boom, huge milking boobs just to nurse her and that’s how I’m kinda sorta her mom now.” You explained.

“She’s allergic to onions?! Also you’re not kinda sorta her mom, you are her mom.” Glasha affirmed and you found yourself grinning and nodding along with that.

“Yeah I guess I am, but she’s so sensitive to them she’s borderline allergic to them and would have been for life.” You explained gravely.

“If you hadn’t stepped in.” Glasha realized. “Well thank you, very very much for stepping when you did, I know Zorroku especially is very thankful and grateful you did.” Glasha thanked you graciously.

“You’re welcome, I’m happy to help and she’s a sweetheart, obviously.” You gestured to her.

“Which before you came along all she did was fuss, poor thing, now that she’s drinking milk that’s not making her sick and not hurting her, we finally get to see her for herself. She’s never been so happy and content before.” Glasha praised.

“Well Bella has always been great with kids, she’s a natural mom and obviously a very good one.” Shuzug praised with a wink to you which got you to smile appreciatively back. “I wonder if Mama Arob would have a special spell or something for Yar since she was able to do that to you.” Shuzug wondered as he gestured to your bosom and you and Glasha both burst out laughing as he couldn’t help but laugh a long too.

“You told them didn’t you?” Shuzug laughed.

“I may have gotten a little drunk, tipsy at least and may have let a few family secrets loose and I swore them to secrecy.” You playfully accused as you nudged Glasha’s back with your foot.

“You did, I’m sorry,” Glasha admitted.

“It’s ok, I’m not mad, I was just hoping there was something out there because he’s done nothing but mope and complain about how he’s lost his chance of finding anyone to help him on his quest. Because ‘you were the only one who understood him and sympathized with him and was his only friend and he’ll never find that again’.” Shuzug snickered, imitating his older brother.

“Oh gods,” you groaned as you rubbed your eyes tiredly which got them to laugh more. “You mean I was the only one with enough patience to put up with him and his bullshit. I’m not going to ask Mama Arob for anything for him, it’s ridiculous and not worth her time or energy, like I don’t even want him to know she’s a sorceress just so that he’d leave her in peace. Not unless he learned to be more than his appearance and his muscles and be nice just for the sake of being a nice and good person and not because he’s being a manipulative piece of shit. If he wants it so bad, he’s grown, he can ask himself.” You spat.

“Hey! Look at you speaking your mind so freely!” Shuzug congratulated you. “This place must be good to you if you’re being yourself so much.” Shuzug smiled proudly.

“It is.” You nodded with a grin as Glasha beamed so happily, she nearly became sunshine herself.

“Peaches?” Zorroku asked as he noticed a regular horse tied to a tent pole outside your tent and heard a male voice he didn’t recognize.

“Come on in Zorroku, just be careful not to let the pups or the cubs out.” You invited him.

“Pups or Cubs?” Zorroku repeated in confusion before he came in and saw wolf pups and mountain lion cubs on the ground and stared in shock and a little bit of horror that they were so close to you and his daughter.

“It’s ok, they’re babies, they mean no harm, close the tent flap.” You reassured him as he closed it and carefully came forward as Shuzug got up and turned to face him.

“Hi, I’m Shuzug, I came early ahead of the rest of my family.” Shuzug offered as he shook Zorroku’s hand.

“Oh, hi, welcome.” Zorroku greeted warmly back before he sat down in the chair and noticed all three eagles before the wolf pups came over and sniffed his legs before he felt inclined to bend over and pet them as the mountain lion cubs climbed up the bedding that was spilling off your bed.

“Well hello there, aren’t you such pretty kitties!” You cooed to them as you kept them close to you and your face rather than going near Ori as you pet them like they were normal kittens and started purring to them and nuzzling them as they curled up with you happily as Zorroku picked up a wolf pup and held it and started petting it, marveling at how soft the fur was and how adorable the pup was before one of the others went over to Glasha as she picked it up as Shuzug got the third as you all continued to talk as Zorroku and Glasha got to know Shuzug more before there was another tap on the tent flap.

“Peaches?” Nar asked curiously as he eyed the normal sized horse curiously.

“Come on in, it’s a party in here.” You laughed before he came in and saw everything.

“Meet your cousin Shuzug, Shuzug, meet your cousin Nar, again.” You introduced as he came over and sat down next to Shuzug on the ground before you handed him one of the mountain lion cubs.

“Oh my gods it’s so cute! And so soft!” Nar gushed as he held it to his chest and neck as he nuzzled it and pet it as Shuzug told the story of how he stole these baby animals from their dens and you just shook your head at how positively foolhardy it all had been as Zorroku watched your reaction to Shuzug’s story closely, greatly amused by your reactions.

“Ok so my question is why did you do this? What could have possibly possessed you to do this?” You asked him when he was done.

“Well I wanted to surprise you with gifts.” Shuzug tried smile charmingly as you just narrowed your eyes.

“No gift to me or anyone else is worth your life Shuzug, you, very easily, could have died, you didn’t take my advice and actually run any of this by anyone did you?” You leveled and he ducked his head a little out of embarrassment.

“No.” Shuzug admitted and you clasped your hands together like you’re praying as you squeezed your eyes shut as your face showed a very wide range of emotion.

“Are you actually praying?” Shuzug asked in a chuckle.

“Yes, for the gods to give me strength not to strangle you right now because of how short sighted you’re being.” You said through gritted teeth as Zorroku, Nar and Glasha snickered a laugh before opening your eyes and fixing Shuzug with a look. “Shuzug, there are no cows here, not even goats or sheep or even pigs, there is nothing to milk here, where would I get the milk to nurse them? They may be eating some meat now but they’re still young enough they need milk still. And I sure as hell am not going to be nursing them, all my milk belongs to Ori and I am not going to be having her share it with anyone or anything. You’re going to have to take them home with you and do what you can with them. Because you are trying to give me a gift I can not sustain.” You pointed out as Zorroku blew out a breath of relief as he had worried about that.

“Oh,” Shuzug realized. “Well my family should be bringing those with them.” Shuzug said hopefully.

“Yeah and they’re still, by my estimate, seven hours away, these babies should be needing milk now, it’s not like I can take a wheel of cheese and miraculously turn it back into milk.” You argued.

“Well we could try to milk the horses.” Nar offered as Shuzug lit up at that.

“Yeah!” Shuzug agreed.

“Ok fine, go try, just try not to get kicked to death and mares have two teetes, if it only has one, it’s a stud and do not feed whatever comes from “milking” that to anyone.” You teased as everyone laughed at that before Shuzug and Nar got up and left the baby animals with you.

“Great, now I’m a mother of six.” You sighed tiredly as you put the mountain lion cub back on the floor with it’s litter mate before finally sat up and put put Ori against your bent legs as you played with her a little.

“Your uncle is driving me so crazy, yes he is! Because he doesn’t think things through, no he doesn’t! He is so sense stupid yes he is!” You cooed to Ori who cooed as you tickled her and laughed back at you as Zorroku and Glasha chuckled too as you felt around Ori’s tummy to see if she still had any issues and was surprised when she didn’t have any at all, but you’d still be feeding her more medicine today just in case just like you had done the day before.

“She looks so much better now that she’s with you. Her cheeks and limbs are getting chubby now.” Zorroku praised as he watched you softly as his heart swelled with so much pride and love and affection. His dreams and visions of you washing over his mind again as his instincts were to climb into bed with you and hold you and Ori.

“Well it pisses me off that once Rek found out Ori’s sensitive to onions and garlic that she wouldn’t give them up for Ori’s sake. Like she flatly refused.” Glasha admitted.

“Oh me too,” you agreed as you played with Ori.

“Wait, what?” Zorroku asked, not having known that.

“Yeah, when Peaches found that out first and asked, very nicely if Rek would give them up for Ori’s sake Rek outright refused and said that Ori would just have to get over it and get used to it like every other baby does.” Glasha informed her brother as his eyes went wide while his jaw clenched as did his fists. “And then after you gave her your medicine, and Mama Arob was finally able to give her a good once over and really inspect her like she should have months ago, Mama Arob agreed and said that Ori was so bad that she’s practically allergic to them and that if she had continued to nurse from Rek and Rek continued to eat them, Ori would have been allergic for life.” Glasha revealed and Zorroku’s stomach dropped as his anger and rage began to boil.

“If not- probably would have died because she was not wanting to eat at all because she couldn’t stand the milk.” Zorroku realized as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and ran his hands over his face before looking and catching your small nod of confirmation and he just felt like going on a rampage he was so angry. His sister in law had been so selfish and so opposed to being inconvenienced she would have killed his daughter.

“Hey, Zorro,” you softly pulled him from his dark thoughts so that he looked at you instead of at the ground. “It’s ok, the good news is, Ori’s ok, Ori’s fine, see? Sure she’s a little small now, but she’s doing better today than she was yesterday and leaps and bounds better than she was the day before that. Three days ago was the worst she’ll hopefully ever be and as long as I draw breath, I’ll take care of her. I know you’re angry at Rek, I am too, but I’m not going to dwell on the past or torture myself with thoughts of what would have happened to her if I hadn’t intervened, thank the gods I was able to come and help, your grandmother said that the gods and that the fates themselves wanted me here, and I believe her and it’s because I believe I was brought here for Ori’s sake and I’m perfectly happy and content with that. She’s obviously a wonderful baby, she’s happy and she’s getting healthier and healthier and better and better every day and I’m happy and grateful and thankful for that and you should be too. So don’t think about Rek, life has a way of giving selfish people what they deserve, I mean you’ll be meeting the epitome of that in Yar later tonight. So let it go, it’ll do you no good making a fuss about it now. There are some orc clans out there that if any wife gives a son of the warchief or heaven forbid the actual warchief daughters, the daughters are immediately given to the other families in the clan, the lowliest families of the clan and the mothers never even get the chance to give those daughters their first milk or get to hold them at all and if they put up a fight and actually want to hold, let alone keep their daughters who they spent ten months carrying, they’re instantly demoted and replaced within seconds, to the point their fathers fuck their new replacements in the very same room right next to the birthing bed, as their former wives are still birthing the afterbirth or if their husbands don’t want to demote their wives for wanting to keep the baby, the fathers then smash their daughter’s head in so that there is no daughter and it’s announced that it was a son that was still born to “save” the family honor because daughters are seen as a dishonor. That is truly horrific.” You informed them as Glasha and Zorroku looked so horrified they could throw up.

“What clans do that?” Glasha asked.

“The Infamous Hand Clan, The Beserker Clan, and the Nightmare Mammoth Clan, that I know of and those three clans are actually run by a set of triplets and the Infamous Hand Clan was the original clan and the warchief’s other triplets formed their own clans and none of them have warchieftesses, all their kids are sons from slaves who are kept on literal chains, it’s horrific, even my warchief Khagra will have nothing to do with them and they invited him and his sons there for an alliance and once Khagra and his sons saw the conditions there, they immediately backed out and that’s what started a the last war, Khagra’s eldest two sons died trying free those poor slave girls and save the baby girls because they had been invited to a birth and that’s what happened because the slave could not be demoted any further and so when she weakly pleaded for mercy, the warchief killed her by smashing her own head in after he smashed his daughter’s head.” You revealed sadly.

“Oh I’m going to be sick.” Zorroku groaned as he held his stomach as Glasha wiped her tears away.

“Yeah, so I’m just eternally grateful you guys are nothing like that. I mean it’s a pretty good sign if the warchief himself is playing with his own granddaughters.” You allowed as you kissed Ori’s cheeks before pretending to eat her little neck as she squealed in delight and giggled.

“Is that what you thought we were like though? Before you came?” Glasha asked carefully.

“Honestly I didn’t know, granted I’m one of those ‘hope for the best but prepare for the worst’ kinds of people and three days ago all I knew, all anyone in the Black Wolf White Rock Clan knew of the Thunder Herd Clan was that you were especially fierce in battle and that you rode draft horses, that’s all, no one knows your customs, your eating habits, your traditions, nothing. Khagra has an old book, it lists all the original orc clans and he updates it every time there’s a new alliance or we hear news of new clans forming or old clans getting decimated and all that’s in the book is a list of your conquests and where all the other clans estimate your lands to be, that’s it, there’s not even a list of warchief family lines in it. So I had no clue what I was walking into. And come to find out, you’re literally the best clan I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and actually family. So hey, it’s worked out great.” You smiled brightly which got them to nod and smile in return as you continued to love on Ori and got her to continue to coo and babble at you as she reached out and grabbed your face and tried to ‘kiss’ you back which was a very open mouthed slobbering kiss to your cheek as you laughed so hard as the feeling of her little tongue licking the apple of your cheek as Glasha and Zorroku watched on, their hearts warmed and their spirits lifted again as they took comfort in knowing how good they really had it and how downright lucky they were to have you.

Zorroku was making plans in his head, you were deserving of at least four horses for adopting his daughter as your own. He wanted to give you everything he owned, you deserved even more than what he could ever give you. You deserved to be completely and unreservedly and unconditionally loved and adored and if you chose him, as his one and only wife, you would be- especially as warchieftess. you absolutely would be loved and adored by the whole clan before he realized what he should be giving you but it wasn’t his to give, yet.

He left your tent wanting to give you space to get dressed as he went to the herds and went through all the horses he had, noting how Shuzug and Nar were trying to milk a mare who was not having it before he picked out four of his best horses along with his wife’s two favorite horses, that were his gifts to her when she found she was finally expecting before he realized that one of them was actually a very fitting horse for you, it was a black horse with a white mane and tail and considering you were from the Black Wolf White Rock clan, he couldn’t help but smile at the correlation as he brought them over to your tent just as you were leaving it to go about your day.

“Hey Bella,” Zorroku called out which got you turn around and then blink in surprise when he was carrying six lead ropes with six huge draft horses behind him.

“You know you almost make me nervous when you use my name like that.” You tried to point out to him in a slightly teasing tone but smiled nonetheless.

“Well, you didn’t ask to be called Peaches, you just rolled with it because you didn’t think you had a choice in the matter and I want to make sure you know you have choices and that you shouldn’t go along with things just because you think you should or you feel you have to, you should have a say in everything, you need to make sure that your voice and your opinion is heard and understood and accepted just as much as mine is. So since you’ve chosen to adopt my daughter, and that she is now just as much yours as she is mine, you deserve the reward that comes with that. Now you don’t have to accept any of these but if you want them, they’re yours. In particular this one, because you are from the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, I thought a black horse with a white mane would be fitting.” Zorroku explained, having rehearsed that in his head so many times and muttered it to himself to make sure he emphasized the right words the right way as he gestured to that particular horse as you had to cover your quivering lips with your hand even as they spread into the widest smile as your eyes glazed with tears because of how moved you were by not just his gesture but especially his words before you closed the distance between you until you were looking up at him with so much adoration it bordered on love and you just wanted to kiss him.

“Ok, I’ll level with you, I like the way you say ‘Peaches’ when you talk to me. And this horse is, absolutely perfect and it’s a perfect fit and I can only hope he’s as nice, gentle and tame as he is beautiful and the rest of them are outstanding I want all of them but I don’t want to take them if you feel you have to give them to me because I’m now the mother of our daughter. But I don’t want to disrespect a tradition if that’s what you’re following when you give them to me either.” You explained.

“Then consider them string free gifts, because I want them to be yours, they’re the best that I have and I’ll always want to give you my best, no matter what, even if you don’t end up choosing me because being Ori’s mother means just that much to me.” Zorroku returned and you just wanted to kiss him even more because a part of you wanted to them to have strings and you wanted to tie those strings so that you were tied to him both literally and figuratively.

“Then I will happily accept all of them and I wouldn’t say no to a few strings at least.” You grinned mischievously as his heart soared with hope. “Could I walk with you back to the herd?” You asked before he nodded and you walked side by side with all the horses following you.

“Can I ask you a question and could you please answer it as honestly as you could and not give me the kind of answer you think I want to hear?” You asked bravely.

“Anything.” He invited.

“How many wives do you want in total?” You asked and he nearly choked on his spit because you just went right for it.

“One.” He answered.

“Why only one?” You furthered.

“Because Yotul and my mother fought all the time and were constantly in competition with each other for my dad’s favor and attention and trying to one up each other and when he favored one it embittered the other and only after my own mother died after birthing the twins and Yotul became warchieftess and my dad didn’t take on any more wives- did he finally know peace in his own house, but I want a wife who likes me for me, not because I can make her warchieftess. I want peace in my life and in my home and I have yet to meet a warchief who has that. It’s like our lives are destined to be plagued with war and we can’t escape it, ever, there’s always conflict wherever we go and I’m hoping that with the right woman, that’s possible.” Zorroku explained. “My first wife, Sharog, she had a very, very hard time becoming pregnant and lost a few babes before she could even get half way through her pregnancies but I never blamed her for that, it wasn’t her fault that her body was like that even though she blamed herself for it and pushed me to get another wife or even two or three more, ones that would give me more sons than I had fingers but I didn’t want that, I only ever wanted her and I just wanted her to be happy. She had to be in bed for the whole pregnancy and my grandmother had her on a very special diet to keep the pregnancy going but it was too much for her and she still died pushing Ori out because she just bled and bled and bled like it was just a river of blood and it was horrible.” Zorroku revealed and your heart completely melted and you felt it wanting to leap out of your chest to go to him.

“So if I chose you, how many kids would you want?” You asked as you tried to keep your grin from becoming too scheming because you sensed he was really telling you the truth and you realized that was offering you what you really always wanted and this was literally a dream come true.

“Well we already have one, I’m good and happy and perfectly content with just Ori. Besides, you may be strong but I know everyone has limits and I also feel that children are gifts from the gods themselves but if your body can’t handle carrying that gift, that’s fine, like you said, ‘no gift is worth your life’ and I would never ask you or want you to give up yours just to give me a gift you think I want.” Zorroku explained and you never thought in a million years that he would have used your own sentiment like that and part of you wanted to pin him down to grass itself and fuck him hard and fast yet slow and savoring and give him so many sons, he would run out of fingers and toes trying to count them all.

You were about to kiss him before you heard Shuzug get kicked by a horse which got both of you to recoil and turn to see Shuzug on his back, trying to get the air back in his lungs.

“Hold her, I gotta make sure he doesn’t die before his parents get the chance to kill him themselves.” You sighed tiredly as you handed Ori to Zorroku and walked over to Shuzug before turning him over to his side to help him breathe again.

“And what did you learn?” You asked him as you crouched down next to him as he gasped and recovered as Zorroku and Nar both snickered a laugh.

“Not to milk that one?” Shuzug winced.

“Ok first of all, did you just pick a random mare and try to milk her or did you look for one with a nursing foal?” You asked before Shuzug and Nar gave each other a look that told you the answer to that was ‘no’ and it just made you groan again.

“Now you boys should know that only when a mother has a nursing child will she produce milk, otherwise, the milk dries up and she won’t produce it anymore because her body doesn’t have to. Or did you forget that detail?” You asked before they both looked away guiltily.

“Really? Ok, I’m going to have to just do this myself.” You huffed before you marched back to the garden and got a bunch of apples in your skirt before you marched back to the herd and snatched the bucket from Shuzug and found a mare who was nursing it’s foal.

“Come on, you’re gonna help, take the apples, you two are gonna feed the mare the apples as I milk her.” You said as you gave Shuzug and Nar the apples from your skirt before the four of you went over to the mare, you greeted the mare first, cooing and petting it and making sure it felt at ease with eat least your presence before you had Shuzug and Nar both kept feeding the mare apples as you gently stroked it’s sides as you made your way back to where the foal was still nursing before you started milking from the other teat as you prayed to all the gods you knew of to help you and once the foal was done the mare side stepped away from you and you didn’t try to milk her anymore, instead you pet your side and back up her body while praising her and thanking her for her help.

“There, I think I got enough milk for either one cub or one pup. Now you two know the process, Shuzug I know you know how to milk livestock, repeat to process.” You ordered them before you handed the bucket back to Shuzug and took Ori back before you and Zorroku left the field together.

“You’re amazing you know that?” Zorroku praised you as you passed his brothers that were carrying their saddles out to their horses in the fields.

“Where are you guys going?” Zorroku asked.

“To get Peaches some livestock.” Yalak beamed and your stomach dropped because they were dressed for raiding, they were going out to steal you some livestock and that’s not what you wanted.

“What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?” Zorroku asked you, expecting you to be happy about that as were his brothers.

“I prefer bought or fairly traded livestock and if you really wanted to please me, you see that idiot with Nar? That’s Shuzug, your cousin, ask him why he’s trying to milk mares right now and when he’s done telling you that, he’ll tell you where to go to get the best livestock on the continent that’s even relatively close by. People do better business and have better and long lasting relationships with clans who do that and you won’t loose your lives. Because no gift to me is worth your lives, your lives are worth more to me than livestock or anything else you can imagine giving me. So go talk to Shuzug then take off your raiding armor because you won’t need it and get proper funds from your treasury. You guys want to be known as The Great Thunder Herd Clan? That’s how you earn The Great part of it by those around you. If you trust Mama Arob’s words about me making this clan greater than it’s ever been, then heed my words now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have breakfast to make and you all should eat breakfast before you go. You can’t do business on an empty stomach.” You excused yourself as you marched through them with your head held high as they stared after you in awe.

“Anyone else have any lingering doubts she won’t make the best warchieftess this clan has ever seen?” Zorroku asked with a beaming proud smile once you were out of earshot as his brothers nodded no.

“Ok let me get my saddle and I’ll join you, we’ll take Shuzug and Nar after they do what they gotta do and see what else we can learn about her from him.” Zorroku ordered like the natural born leader he was as the other brothers went and put their saddles on their horses before they greeted Shuzug and got to talking with him before they walked back to their tents to take off their armor but still kept their battle axes and their swords just in case and Shuzug helped advise him on how much money to take after they met with Yotul and Crowthu and Mama Arob who took on the wolf pups and the mountain lion cubs for Shuzug as everyone gathered around the table to have breakfast again.

“Can Shuzug ride one of my horses please? His poor horse has been through enough for one day already.” You requested of Zorroku who agreed as Nar volunteered to let Shuzug borrow his spare saddle since they were similar in size as Shuzug was so happy they were being as welcoming and friendly as they were, Shuzug took all three eagles with him, and once they were gone, you used that moment in time to pull Mama Arob aside into your tent.

“So, I have a really big favor to ask of you. My heart has chosen Zorroku already and I wanted to see if I could trade or purchase a special blessing from you.” You began feeling a little nervous.

“What kind of blessing?” Arob asked as she beamed with so much happiness at your decision.

“Is there a blessing that will allow me to have good, healthy pregnancies, good, non complicated births and for my body to be able to take in all of Zorroku’s manhood comfortably? And if there is, I want you to go through my tent and take whatever you want for it. I talked with Zorroku this morning about his first wife and how she died and if I’m going to be with him, I don’t want him to have to worry about me, because I’ve seen blended families and sometimes the human women can handle it and some can not and I want my body to be able to handle it and handle it very well.” You proposed as you gestured around to your tent and Arob was so touched by your thoughtfulness and your noble heart and intentions and even your own sense of honor that she was near tears. You were such a treasure because of it.

“Of course, now I’m sensing you have some “medicine” that is in reality peach whiskey, give me one of the jugs of that and I’ll make you a blessing that no other witch or sorcerer or sorceress will be able to top.” Arob proposed and you immediately got the best one that had been aged longer than you had been alive, the best one you had and gave it to her and Arob was touched even further that you’d gladly give up the best of what you had for Zorroku’s sake, that was a very good sign.

“Ok, now, we go to my tent.” Arob said and led you to her tent where another cauldron was sitting over the fire pit and you nursed Ori and sat down patiently as she put in what she needed and wanted to put in before she ran her fingers through your hair to catch the loose ones to throw those in to it.

“Come and see,” she invited you before you saw a vision of Zorroku granting you your freedom from the oath sworn by his father and yours and Khagra and yet that would only make you more dead set on him and then it showed yourself laying with Zorroku and how your womanhood would take his cock to the hilt and how you would always reach your satisfaction every time you laid together and how he would always be gentle and reverent when you wanted but give you the bone rattling, earth shattering slightly rough sex you could crave without ever hurting you and you would bear him child after child with ease and even a few of sets of twins easily and how great of a mother you’d be and how he’d make the best father and he would never strike you or mistreat you in any way shape or form. Even your own parents and siblings would be there with you and how they were taken into the family and recognized as equal members of it which got you to cry and how Zorroku would never stray from you and how you’d always have all of him, his whole mind, heart and soul and his loyalty and fidelity and love and devotion and how happy you would be and how your children would be the most beautiful and handsome of their generation and how you would make the Thunder Herd Clan known as The Great Thunder Herd Clan and how you would be flocked to and your clan village would become a great city and your garden would be famed and how your lands would prosper and your village would become so advanced because you embraced the new and it would become so fortified that it wouldn’t be possible to be laid siege to and how you would make sure all it’s citizens were in good health and educated and happy and prosperous and peoples of all kids would stop calling you warchieftess, but rather, the queen in your old age and how you would help Zorroku retire from being Warchief at forty and his eldest son would take over and you could get him to 78 years old. The oldest male orc in memory and that you would both die together, holding each other tightly in your sleep, satisfied and happy and that neither his death or yours would hurt. And how all of your children and their spouses would share the same fate.

“Sold.” You giggled through your happy tears before you rewind-ed it to the point where he gave you your freedom and you paused it and noticed a blue dot in the corner.

“What does that blue dot mean?” You asked as you pointed it out.

“It means you have an idea about it, press it and see your idea play out.” Arob invited you so you did and you saw yourself telling Crowthu and Khagra your idea that was just now springing into life in your head once Zorroku asked for your freedom that very night then you saw what would happen if they said yes as you and Arob gasped as you saw what would happen and looked at each other excitedly as you saw just how the Thunder Herd Clan would have the means to become a city.

“OK, can we show this vision to Khagra and Crowthu again when Khagra and his family get here?” You asked hopefully.

“Oh yes. But I’ll blur out Zorroku so that they still think all their sons have a shot and I’ll say it’s blurry because you haven’t made up your mind and that it’s open still.” Arob grinned mischievously.

“Perfect.” You mirrored her grin before you hugged her as tight as you could while still holding Ori and once you let go of each other you picked Ori up above your head and cooed to her and promised her that you would be the best mother to her that you could be and that you would always love her forever which made her so happy she squealed and kicked as you also noticed she really did start filling out nicely already as was starting to get some rolls on her limbs, which most orc babies looked like they were mostly fat rolls and so round, they were often just as wide as they were long at a few points in their babyhood before major growth spurts.

A very strong, lasting happiness then came to you and refused to leave you and you had a smile you could not shake off the rest of the day, even as you took the cocks and balls off the horses killed for the noon meal and the feast at dinner and started to prepare a special soup with them just for Yar for when he would get there at dinner time because you knew he’d appreciate it as you told your ‘sisters’ in the kitchen about the food tastes of their cousins and family before you helped put up a special dining tent with enough tables and space for not only both of the warchief’s family but also your own since Shuzug told you they were coming too and you knew that today was the last day your own family would ever be viewed as servants, that they would be getting their freedom tonight too. You just wanted to kiss Zorroku until your lips would fall off, it’s because of him and his love for you and his support that you’d be able to do so much. You’d do all you could to please him that very night if you could get away with it. Lazgar got done with with a few of your outfits just after lunch and you spent the afternoon with Yotul and her daughters and daughters in law again in the bath, getting your hair specially braided with beads and ornaments in your hair just like Yotul and the other girls and women did as you all got dressed in some of your best outfits.

Zorroku and his brothers returned shortly before Khagra and his family did and when they returned you surprised them and yourself by kissing each of them on the cheek in thanks for listening to you and giving them a happy pleased smile that seemed to wrap most of them around your fingers and were delighted when they told you about how they, thanks to Shuzug, told the cattle baron that these cattle and other livestock were for you and how you insisted that they buy the livestock and what had happened between both clans and what had happened to you because of it, the baron gave them the best deals he could with the promise that if you ever needed anything livestock wise, you would go to him first and that the Thunder Herd Clan would now have an alliance with him to never steal his livestock which they agreed to. Shuzug agreed and promised for you which you readily agreed to as well before Shuzug took you aside and told you that the whole way there and back had did nothing but tell all of them all he could about you before he sidled up to Zorroku and gave him the best insights and information for you and what your favorite everything was and how to best woo you and make you happy, which you greatly appreciated before you gathered to officially greet Khagra and his family.

Once you caught sight of your eldest brothers though and the rest of your family you couldn’t help but run to them first, hugging and kissing them and crying happily as you held each other as Yotul and Bula were in the same state, hugging and crying before they went around and introduced all their kids to each other as you introduced your own family to your daughter, the granddaughter of Sharn the Magnificent, that you adopted who your family, especially your mother, fell in love with, all of them taking turns holding her before your mother outright took Ori and playfully refused to give her back which Ori didn’t mind at all, Ori thought your mother was awesome and so entertaining.

However Zorroku and his brothers noticed that back in the dining tent it was your family that took the lowliest table, having thought that table had been set aside for the little kids who could eat on their own, thinking that you and your family would be sitting with the rest of them because you all were Marfu to them after all, weren’t you?

Zorroku shared a look between his brothers as they were seated at their table, for the men while the wives and the daughters took up another table while the little kids got their own but your own baby sisters weren’t sitting there, instead you guys got the little table in the corner, all of you squeezing tightly around it as you talked a mile a minute with everyone in your own family’s native tongue. And as the meal progressed, Zorroku and his brothers and especially his sisters noticed how Khagra and his family still requested you and your family members, especially you, your mother and your twin sister Grace to go get them refills on their wine or beer or whatever throughout the meal. Yar especially seemed smug that you made him his special soup just for him and Zorroku and his siblings found themselves not only embarrassed but offended. They agreed that you and your family were their equals. Thankfully, Glasha took the lead in correcting this behavior.

“You know Aysha, since we, the Thunder Herd Clan are really your hosts, we should be getting this for you. Bella and her family have traveled really far too to see Bella again and since they are Marfu to us after all, which means, to us, that they are equal members of our family, they are not our servants so we really shouldn’t expect them to be such especially while they are our guests with us too.” Glasha insisted, and while she was smiling there was a bite to her words and a fire in her eyes that was shared by her whole family as they all grinned to their Black Wolf White Rock Clan counterparts in such a way that they were daring them to argue before Glasha insisted that you and your family sit with them before Zorroku and his brothers readily got up and had your father and your brothers sit with them while Yotul and the rest of her daughters and daughters in law readily got up and brought your mother and your sisters to sit with them while Rek made sure your baby sisters got room made for them at the kids table.

“Honestly we really didn’t need a fourth table did we?” Yotul reminded her sister Bula as she and her daughters and daughters in law blinked in surprise before their cheeks burned in embarrassment before Crowthu grinned as he put your father on the other side of him, Crowthu himself being between your father and Khagra protectively.

“You know I was just curious, what does the term Borgan really mean anyway?” Zorroku asked as one of your twin brothers sat on the other side of him before giving a meaningful look to his dad who repeated the question directly to Khagra.

Khagra cleared his throat before he quickly cast a slightly worried glance over at Bula who did her best to appear as calm as she could despite her own nerves starting to fray a little before Khagra humored Crowthu and gave the theoretical definition of the word for fear Crowthu and his sons would take offense otherwise.

“Oh that’s good! I’m really happy you view them in a similar light that we do.” Crowthu grinned before he turned to your father Micha. “Now I’m not going to put you on the spot by asking if that definition goes into real life practice but since you are, free to choose, I want to give you and the rest of your family the same invitation we’ve extended to Bella, because she has been an absolute delight to have but she has missed you, she hasn’t said as much but when you care about someone the way we all care for Bella, we notice these things, so here’s our situation, my sons, upon Bella’s request made an alliance with Baron Gonk and he has sold to us so many cattle I couldn’t hope to count them, and since Bella has informed me that your sons are the best of the best at keeping track of herds, making sure there’s no inbreeding and keeping them healthy and well taken care of and since Bella has been so generous with us so as to share your absolutely delicious whiskey, really the best I’ve ever had in my life with all of us and that I understand you are a professional at making it and wine and other spirits and that your wife is a master gardener and while your daughter has started a garden here, she really wishes she had her mother’s expertise, that your daughter Grace is a medicine woman and healer and that your youngest daughters have every opportunity to be whatever they want to be, I would be a fool to not offer you and your family an equal spot here, doing whatever you’d like even if it’s not the gifts I’d mention and my family and I would even love to escort you back to your home and help you get everything you wanted packed up to make sure you’d move back here safe and sound. After all what kind of clan would we be if we didn’t embrace our next warchieftess’ family as our own?” Crowthu explained and nearly everyone from the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, even your own family nearly choked on their spit except for Shuzug who just beamed proudly.

“What?!” They all asked in astonishment as everyone form the Thunder Herd Clan beamed proudly.

“Here, let me show you.” Arob invited as she levitated her own cauldron through the room and set it over the fire pit which got everyone in the Black Wolf White Rock Clan to breathe in sharply as they realized the old woman was actually a sorceress before she took what would normally be on the surface of the clan and brought it up to show on the tent wall as you turned around in your seat next to Glasha as the two of you held hands.

“Now this is why we came and got Bella, because she shows up as this when you look at her through a magicked lens on the magical plane.” Arob explained as she showed you the vision of yourself, being made out of treasure with a mountain of treasure behind you and an even larger mountain of glory, honor and food behind that. “And she will turn our clan from this to this.” Arob then explained as she showed what the clan was three days ago and turned it into the great sprawling city she had shown you earlier.

“Now I see two blue dots, you see them in the corner, it looks like one but that is because if Zorroku will voice his idea and you all accept it without qualms or questioning or arguing with him, that Bella herself will get an idea because of it that will bless everyone. But she has to hear Zorroku’s idea first. So Zorroku, I’ve given you all night to bring it up and you are officially out of time, so speak now.” Arob invited before everyone looked to Zorroku.

“Well, uh, my idea was that since Bella brought our family together like this and since we are now sister clans, that Bella and her family should be given their complete freedom that Bella especially is free from the oath father and Warchief Khagra has pushed onto her. She deserves that much, as does her family who raised her.” Zorroku finally spoke up and you still cried tears of joy just hearing him say the words with your own ears before Zorroku’s blue dot faded and your own blue dot seemed to glow so brightly it cast everything in a blue glow.

“So, Warchief Khagra,” you called out once you wiped your tears away.

“Yes?” He immediately answered you, his tone much more respectful now.

“If you will honor your word and give my family the whole meaning of Borgan which you yourself just dictated and if my family will be free to decide whether or not to be free persons here in the Thunder Herd Clan with me or they can choose to be completely free persons and stay back in the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, I mean I would prefer them here with me but they’re free to decide that themselves, I have an idea that will give you and your family and the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, your fair compensation for us either way.” You proposed as you stood up and let your hand hover over the large blue glowing dot, the outline of your hand cast over the tent’s other wall.

“I will,” Khagra immediately answered, his own curiosity killing him before you pushed the dot and a giant pile of treasure appeared, so large it went from the floor of the tent all across the roof it was so big.

“My idea is to help unify both clans and how we do that is in a months time, we invite every clan we have an alliance with to the celebratory feast of our two clans becoming sister clans in honor of our warchieftesses. But here is where the treasure comes in. If both of you will officially recognize me as a daughter, I will go to every witch, every wizard, every sorcerer, every sorceress, every magical practicing person that has ever blessed me which there are over a dozen of them, all of them will show the vision of me being made out of treasure with the mountain of treasure behind me with the mountain of glory, honor and food behind that and they can show the potential of all your own daughters as well if you want to include them in this or not and they’ll be free to choose whoever they want too if they want to that is. We then hold the biggest gamble ever, each clan can bring as much or as little of their loot as they want however we show them what I’m capable of, what my real true worth is first and then let them place a bet or a bid in for me and let whoever from the clan who wants me will write down what they are prepared to give me if I choose them, your own sons included since I still have yet choose any of them but none of them will show their written bids- which will all be numbered- to anyone until at the end of the feast and the entire feast I will spend talking and getting to know all the clans and give them a chance to woo me and I will make sure each of them has an equal chance. That’s the only way we will get away with this but I will only talk to them after they meet with both of you as warchiefs to make newer, better alliances that can not be undone or gone back on or less they will disqualify themselves and they forfeit their token treasure that they’ve brought and put into my treasure pile. We will make a really big deal about the fact that I’ve been blessed by 15 magic practicing people who will compile a list of all the blessings that have been bestowed upon me, we will add that I’m a certified virgin by Warchieftess Bula, Warchieftess Yotul, Mama Arob, Mama Borba and Mama Gak as well as my own mother if you want to to really sweeten this deal. At the end of the feast, I will then take each suitor up on stage and have them put their written bids in front of them and I’ll read each bid out loud, and the crowd can cheer as little or as loud as they want after I read each bid and I’ll go down the line and read them all and then I’ll pick my favorite which I can guarantee you all- will be someone in this room right now so don’t worry about that. But I will make sure that none of the magical practicing people will show that, all they’ll allowed to do is show potential as well as give as many blessings to individuals as they want which will mean guaranteed business for them and we will use Baron Gonk’s livestock to feed everyone and make sure each clan enters an alliance with him too so he will have guaranteed business and guaranteed protection as well. Then after I make my decision and everyone goes home. I will split my treasure pile evenly between you Warchief Crowthu and your family and clan, you Warchief Khagra and your family and clan and then of course my own family since they will be equals in all this too and in one night, we will all get more wealth than we ever would have using the old ways of pillaging, stealing, raiding and war combined. And that is how both clans will then have the term Great in front of it and it’s with those funds that we will lay the foundations for the great city that will stretch from the furthermost eastern edge of the winter grounds of the Great Thunder Herd Clan to the western edge of the lands of the Great Black Wolf White Rock Clan’s land and all that will separate us when the city is complete is a single road, us on one side, you guys on the other and everyone will be free to move throughout the city as they please.” You proposed.

“Hell yeah!” Everyone cheered, Zorroku, Nar, Shuzug and Grecko doing so the loudest.

“You know, we’ll help you move too, you really should be with your daughter, thank you so much for all you’ve done for us, really.” Warchief Khagra very graciously said to your father who laughed and graciously accepted that offer and agreed to move there which relieved everyone in your family as everyone else came up to hug you in congratulations for your brilliant idea that had filled in as you talked, showing it all, Arob making sure she blurred who was on stage and who you would chose completely but that everything else was completely clear before the twins brought out their dancing drums as you all engaged in the traditional songs and dances of not just the Black Wolf White Rock Clan and the Thunder Herd Clan but of The Great Storm Breaker Clan too. Bula and Yotul dancing together like they had when they were really little and even some Silver Snow Clan songs and dances too that you and Glasha and Zorroku knew along with songs and dances from your own heritage. Shuzug being the only one who spoke your native tongue and knew the songs and dances only because you had shown him, Yotul and her daughters and daughters in law also learning these too. That night however you pulled Mama Borba aside.

“Ok, could you please pull Zorroku aside privately and tell him all the ways to please me sexually without actually putting his cock in my pussy? Because I can already tell it’s going to be one hell of a long month because I want to lie with him right this second for giving me my freedom but you can not tell anyone about this. Please.” You pleaded desperately as you walked around the tent in one of the dances.

“Yeah I saw the way you looked at him all night as opposed to anyone else. And as my gift to you for being sister warchieftesses with my own daughters because I know you’ll be good to them, I will use the utmost discretion and you have my word I won’t tell a soul, I’ll take this to my grave.” Mama Borba swore and you breathed in relief before hugging her tightly just as the dance ended.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” You thanked her before she used the next dance and started coaching you and giving you tips on how to please Zorroku with your body except for pussy although she did give you tips and tricks about that too, all of which you took to heart and committed to memory before she also went to Zorroku for the midnight meal and made it sound like she was giving him ‘how to run a clan’s funds’ advice but in such a way that Zorroku knew exactly what she was talking about and listened with rapt attention.

That night you let Ori fuss a little so that Zorroku would come to you under the guise that he would be coming to settle his daughter down and you practically pounced on him. The moment he was in your tent, you had put Ori to your breast to nurse before jumping up into his arms. Zorroku caught you with ease and finally got a chance to really kiss you the way he had wanted to since he first laid eyes on you.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, I love you too,” you whimpered so softly that only he could hear you.

“You’re welcome, how did you know?” He rumbled back as he held you as tight as he could without squeezing his daughter between you too hard before he carried you to the bed and extinguished your fire until it was only embers so that there wouldn’t be shadows cast onto the walls before laying you down reverently onto the bed before he kissed and stroked down your body before he gently pushed up your nightgown and bent down and licked your slit with his tongue and you nearly had to bite your lip in half to not cry out in pleasure as he seemed to push between your folds and whole body seemed light up.

“Because only someone who loved another would want each other to be free. There’s a saying that, ooh, that goes, a free bird will always come back to it’s roost while a caged one will always fly away if ever let out of it’s cage. And from this moment on, you’re my roost.” You explained before you couldn’t help but let a soft moan leave you as Zorroku’s hands went to your ass and squeezed it and kneaded it along with your hips as your legs spread as wide as they could before he very carefully pushed in a single finger, his pinky, careful not to tear your maidenhood but you were so hot, and so tight and wet. He didn’t know how he was going to not fuck you senseless tonight but he had to try.

“But, oooh, you can’t...say anything, it has to stay...” You tried to tell him.

“Between us, I completely understand.” Zorroku rumbled into your sex which you felt the reverberations which only added to your own pleasure as Ori looked at you a little curiously.

“I think your daddy’s done this a time or two.” You whispered to her as you smiled brightly at her as she smiled back before she went back to nursing.

“Nope, first time for everything but that Mama Borba knew what she was talking about.” Zorroku chuckled before he curled his finger and found your g-spot and your whole pelvis rose to try to get more of that touch.

“There?” Zorroku whispered as he pushed into it and got the same reaction from your body which tried to writhe on your bed.

“Uh huh,” you nodded emphatically as you tried to keep your gasping breath as quiet as possible as your free hand that wasn’t around Ori- went to his hair and ran your fingers through it before grasping a pretty good chunk of it as Zorroku sucked on your clit while his finger tapped and rubbed and pushed into your G-spot until your whole body tensed as your pussy clenched around his finger and fluttered and even more of your delicious essence flowed into his mouth from around his finger as you silently screamed your release, your pelvis riding his face as his own tusks were planted on the junction of your thighs and center but in no danger of scraping your delicate flesh and by this point Ori had fallen asleep so you carefully put her in the little bassinet next to your bed.

“Your turn,” you purred and pulled him up. “I can’t fuck you the way I want to just yet but you could fuck my tits if you wanted to.” You offered before he kissed you and groaned.

“Gods you turn me on when you talk dirty to me.” Zorroku grinned as he got his cock from his pants and got into position. His cock was large, even for an orc and thick and heavy but thanks to your now ample cleavage he reached down and gently pushed your breasts together over it, the underside rubbing against your breast plate as the head nearly hit your jaw. “Fuck this next month is going to be so fucking long.” Zorroku growled as he looked down at you in awed amazement because even in his dreams, he never hoped to dream this.

“Tell me about it, so much to do, but it’ll be worth it.” You whispered as your hands stroked up his huge strong thighs before scratching down the outside of them as you watched him with lidded eyes. His whole body looked sculpted from blue marble. He was even more magnificent up close.

“Come on Zorro, I want your seed around my neck like a necklace.” You purred as you reached under his balls and gently fondled them before you gently and carefully scratched them and that was enough to do him in and much faster than he wanted to cum, he came, and unloaded so much, it was like someone dumped a can of opaque white paint on your chest and neck.

“Fuck, you gotta be careful with that mouth of yours, I usually last much longer than that.” Zorroku tried to explain, embarrassed by how quickly and easily you were able to finish him.

“Oh I know, when we really get a chance to lie together, I’ll go easy on you.” You winked up at him and giggled as you both wiped up the mess he made. “I just needed to finish you quick tonight before we got caught.” You whispered as you sat up as he moved off of you before kissing him sweetly again.

“Well, yeah, that would suck.” Zorroku nodded in agreement. “Thank you Bella, for everything.” Zorroku murmured gratefully before he tucked you and Ori into bed and left your tent to go to his own again.

But the moment he left your tent, Glasha was waiting at the entrance to her own tent since her bedroom space was right next to yours to the point that if she were to put a door in her own bedroom space and yours she could walk from your room to hers in a single stride.

“Oh no.” Zorroku breathed when he saw her and knew he was caught.

“Hey, I didn’t see or hear nothin,” Glasha whispered as she put her hands up in surrender but winked before she went back to bed.

#orc #orc love story #orc romance #orc lemon #there it is that good good lemony goodness #Zorroku and Peaches part 5

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thisspaceintentionallyleftblank · 6 years ago

Text

Try, Try Again (pt. 3)

Guess who saw the Lego Movie 2 again today?? I’m hoping the residual excitement will be enough to fuel a burst of writing, so that I can post stuff despite needing to complete approximately 12 billion assignments for school. We’ll soon see how idealistic of a notion that is...

Anyways, here’s the chapter.

(Chapter 1) | (Chapter 2)

Chapter 3 (3001 words)

Lucy was currently perched in her favorite spot in all of Apocalypseburg. Up on Lady Un-Liberty’s torch, with her legs hanging over the edge and the cool wind ruffling through her hair, everything seemed to slow down momentarily.

On the city streets, which stretched out far below her feet, everything was constantly rowdy, chaotic, and loud. It was excitingly surely, and all wrestling and fighting could be fun, but sometimes, Lucy just preferred coming up here instead.

Of course, it also made an excellent spot for brooding.

For Lucy, brooding was an art form. It was edgy and mature and, if you did it right, people would recognize that you were edgy and mature as well. On a basic level, brooding was a bit like poetry. It all came down to the words that you used, and the way that you said them. It was a skill that Lucy had in bounds, and was one of the reasons why she’d been such a good songwriter when she was younger.

Reaching up, Lucy absentmindedly pulled at a strand of her hair. It curled around her finger, the dark color shimmering in the sunlight. She had moved on from her pop star career a long time ago, but sometimes she found herself expected to see a different color in the mirror. The dye job had been necessary, as she reminded herself frequently. She’d had no choice but to change herself in order to be taken seriously by the other Master Builders. When they’d first seen her, looking like the preppy idol on a Business-brand record label, they hadn’t seen a rebel or a freedom fighter. All they’d seen was a symbol of the establishment. They’d seen her as the girl she wasn’t anymore - the girl that she couldn’t be anymore.

With a quick glance at her phone, she checked the time. Emmet would be arriving any minute with their morning coffee. If she started brooding now, she probably wouldn’t be finished by the time he got here, meaning that he’d likely try and join in again.

Emmet had… tried brooding with her a few times, but usually those attempts just devolved into him talking about a random topic in a slightly more gravelly voice. To be fair, the approach had worked reasonably well the time he’d aired his grievances with Jeff, but the rest of his topics, such as his views on toasters and hi-vis vests, had been significantly less successful.

Lucy sighed. She wasn’t really in the mood to brood today anyways, and had basically resorted to waiting up here for Emmet to show up and help take her mind off things. She liked it here in Apocalypseburg, much more than she had ever liked living in Bricksburg. There, she had been forced to choose between either being a cog in the Business machine or a criminal constantly on the run for her life. In Apocalypseburg, she felt like she could be more herself than she had been for a while. Despite the newfound sense of freedom, the city could still get overwhelming sometimes.

Whenever it did, sitting up here with Emmet was like coming up for air.

She checked the time again. At some point during her ruminations, the clock had shifted well past eight and begun closing in on nine. A sharp sense of worry started seeping into the back of her mind. Emmet had never been late before. Ok, well, he had, but it had only been the once, and even then it was because he had fallen into the sewer baby pit and had taken over an hour to pick out all the little spikes.

Not for the first time this morning, Lucy caught herself peering over the edge of the torch platform, down towards the base of the statue. Below her, a well timed tumbleweed trundled past, clearly signifying the lack of any happy-go-lucky ex-construction workers.

Uugh, she thought with a deliberate roll of her eyes, I’d better go find him before he gets hurt. The dread that had started building settled slightly at the thought. In a flash, she turned from the edge and started running down the statue. With a little under an hour left before she needed to meet up with Batman and patrol, she ought to have enough time to ask a few folks around town if they’d seen anything.

As usual, the streets of Apocalypseburg were populated with crowds of people, clouds of desert dust, and the odd barfight or two that had gotten wild enough to spill out onto the street. Lucy strode confidently through, easily sidestepping groups of wrestling people and hopping over the several prone figures that littered the ground. Emmet’s favorite coffee shop was down this way, just past Benny’s shop, which made him a good first candidate for her search.

Predictably, Benny was out front of his shop, working as always on improving Metalbeard’s new body. His workshop consisted mainly of a fenced-in platform, which had been lofted for the twofold reason of avoiding the madness of the street below, as well as preventing Benny from accidently setting another passerby on fire.

“Hey Benny,” Lucy called out, as she expertly leapt up onto the platform.

“Lucy!” Benny cheered. He whirled around to greet her, dropping the wrench he’d been holding in his excitement.

“Yar!” Metalbeard cried out as the tool tumbled down into the construct of his body, ricocheting off various components before clattering to the ground.

“Oops,” Benny laughed. “Sorry about that...” Turned back towards the pirate, he floated up slightly, such that he could rummage around, searching for his wrench.

“So Lucy,” Metalbeard addressed her while staunchly ignoring the spaceman mucking about in his guts. “Are ye just popping by for a visit, or was there something ye needed?”

“I was wondering if you guys had seen Emmet yet today.” Lucy stepped forwards as she spoke, picking up the wrench from where it had fallen and passing it to Benny. “He was supposed to meet me at the top of the statue a while ago, but never showed up.”

“Thanks,” Benny took the wrench from her and twirled it absentmindedly in his hands as he spoke. “Yeah, Emmet came by this morning. He had his coffee, was listening to his music, and told me that he appreciates our friendship. You know, the usual!”

Concern creased Lucy’s brow. “Do you know when that was?”

“Earlier than usual,” Metalbeard grumbled. “Much too early for that accursed ‘pop song’ he insists on playing...”

Benny chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, the line at Larry’s must have been pretty short. It was maybe a quarter to eight.” At the thought, Benny frowned. “Do you think something happened to him?”

“I’m not sure,” Lucy sighed, unable to keep the worry out of her voice. “Just… let me know if you see him, ok?”

“Can do, lassee.”

“Sure thing!”

“Thanks guys,” Lucy gave a weak grin and leapt over the fence, falling to the street and leaving the two to their work.

In an attempt to follow Emmet’s footsteps, Lucy continued down the street, occasionally pulling someone aside to ask them increasingly worried questions. The sewer babies had seen him, but didn’t know where he’d gone. Similarly, neither Chainsaw Dave, nor Crazy Cat Lady, nor any of her cats had any idea where Emmet could have gotten off to.

She had just finished questioning Battle Debra, who hadn’t even actually seen Emmet at all, when a dark shadow engulfed them both. In the next moment, Batman swooped down beside them.

“Hey Lucy,” he growled, leaning against a nearby wall in a calculated effort to appear nonchalant. “You ready to go, or whatever?”

“Yeah,” Lucy sighed. “Let’s just make this quick, ok?”

Hurt by her dismissive tone, especially considering how cool his entrance had just been, Batman’s permanent frown deepened even further. “Uh, why?”

“It’s just that Emmet didn’t show up this morning. I’ve been trying to find him, but...” She trailed off momentarily, before adding bruskly, “I’m sure it’s nothing, but you know.”

Batman grunted. “He’s probably just working on his little house.”

Lucy snapped her head up in surprise. “His what?”

“His little house. You know, the one he’s building out in the wasteland.”

“No, I don’t know.” Lucy pulled at her hair in frustration. “What, did he tell you? Did you see him this morning?”

“Pshh, no.” Batman smiled. “It’s like, supposed to be a surprise, but I am the world's greatest detective after all.”

Lucy scowled at him, and his smug expression drooped slightly.

“Uh,” he faltered. “I also have like, a super huge telescope, so it was pretty easy to find.”

Lucy groaned. “Ok then, fine. It's just… weird that he didn't mention it earlier. Usually he tells me everything.”

Batman shrugged. “I mean, I think it was supposed to be a surprise, uh, for you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

“Um,” Lucy coughed into her hand, trying to clear her throat and in no way trying to hide the blush blooming on her cheeks. “I mean, I guess he’ll just tell me about it when he's ready…”

Noticing the emotion steadily creeping into her voice, she hastily changed the subject. “Uh, we should definitely stop talking about this and go patrol, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Batman said. He pulled out a remote control from his belt and, with the click of a button, the Bataclysm shot out of a nearby alley, screeching to a halt beside them. In a fluid motion, the two flipped up their respective doors, leapt inside the vehicle and clicked the doors back into place. With a gratuitous squeal of the engine, the sleek black custom vehicle revved up and took off into the wasteland.

The process of “patrolling” usually entitled driving around aimlessly and fighting any random aliens that showed up. Whenever she patrolled with Benny or Metalbeard, they would routinely get distracted combing through the wreckage for cool pieces. But Batman had long since had collected all the black and dark gray pieces that he needed, and as such, he now went on patrols mainly to beat up the alien creatures. He was, as he described it, simply “working out his inner rage and turmoil through meaningless physical violence.”

Lucy wasn't really sure why she went on patrols. She wasn't really looking for supplies or a fight. It just felt like… the right thing to do. Like something that she had to do it, so that someone else wouldn't need to. In a way, it made her feel like she could protect their new home.

It made her anxious, the way that Emmet kept asking to tag along. She'd told him multiple times that she'd bring pieces back for him, and she knew that he didn't like fighting, but still, he kept asking for some indiscernible reason. Glumly, she looked out the Bataclysm’s tinted windows, watching the ruined skeletons of shattered skyscrapers as they slipped past. What was it out here that Emmet found so alluring?

Regardless of his motivations, she already knew that Emmet would likely never get to run patrols. He was just… too sweet. He always had been. The way that he greeted everyone so cheerfully? The way that his grin never seemed to falter? The way that he still liked fun popular music? Like, who did that?

Not Lucy, that much was for sure. Lucy was cool and tough and edgy now.

And Emmet? He just wasn't.

She had loved that about him, but at some point it had just transformed into a source of worry. The world had made it abundantly clear that everything fun and colorful was in danger here and, instead of changing himself accordingly in order to stay safe, like any totally sane and rational person would, Emmet had just stayed Emmet.

Lucy sighed, pressing her forehead into the cool glass of the window.

“Are you brooding right now?” Batman asked, turning to glower in her direction. “Because it’s my car, and the rule is that only the driver gets to brood.”

“I’m just… thinking.” She mumbled in a half-hearted reply.

“Oh, good. I wasn’t planning on thinking, so you can do that if you want.” Turning his focus back to driving, he cranked a dial on the dashboard, sending a shockwave of pulsating heavy metal music blasting out of the back seats to help fill the awkward silence between them.

Ignoring him, Lucy went back to staring listlessly out the window. Maybe they'd encounter some aliens, and she could try distracting herself from her myriad concerns and personal insecurities with violence, like Batman always does.

Come on, she thought for perhaps the first time in the five years they'd been under siege. Come on, let's see some aliens.

There weren't any aliens.

In the end, all that Lucy had accomplished was sitting in a testosterone and leather scented car for two hours while listening to Batman talk about the power of abs or something. All in all, the experience had done little to help ease her thoughts on Emmet.

To make matters worse, her stomach had begun growling something fierce. Caving to her body’s demands, she decided to postpone her search for Emmet until after a quick stop at her favorite lunchtime cafe - Le Pain.

“Hey, Lucy!” As she entered, a familiar voice shook her out of her thoughts.

“Emmet!” She cried, a fond grin forming on her cheeks. “I’ve been looking for you!”

Emmet laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in that nervous way he does. “Sorry about this morning...”

“But! Um,” He gestured towards the table he was sitting at, which had been clearly set for two. “I was hoping that I might be able to make up for it with some lunch?”

“Sure,” Lucy said, taking the seat across from him.

“How was your patrol?” Emmet asked.

“Eh, pretty uninteresting.” Lucy replied. She reached for one of the menus resting in the center of the table, and began perusing through the lunch items. “Apparently Batman has a kid now, but other than that nothing really happened.”

The waiter, a former french mime whose face had been repainted so to resemble a skull, walked up to take their orders.

“I'll have an abnormally large croissant and a black coffee, please.” Lucy ordered, passing her menu back to the waiter.

“Same for me,” Emmet added, earning him a skeptical look from Lucy.

“Are you sure?” She asked, doubt apparent in her tone. “I thought you didn't like black coffee?”

“Well,” Emmet said, with a crooked, almost shy smile. “I’ve decided to take it up recently. So that I can be tougher, like you guys.”

“Oh?” Lucy’s expression reflected her pleasant surprise. “I'm glad to hear it.”

After a minute or two, the waiter brought back their food, and the pair started to eat. As usual, everything tasted fine, but had a rather gritty texture. Living in a desert, there wasn't much a chef could do to keep out the sand - which, as everybody knew, was coarse, rough, irritating, and got everywhere.

“Hey Emmet,” Lucy said after a moment. “Was there… a particular reason you couldn't hang out this morning?”

“Oh,” he replied. “Well, I was going to tell you later, but I've actually started training. As part of becoming tougher, that is.”

“Training?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, like lifting weights and doing backflips and stuff. You know, tough guy stuff.”

“Ok, right. That makes sense.” Lucy chastised herself for worrying. Here she was, worrying over Emmet for being too soft and vulnerable when in reality he was off working at becoming better and stronger. She felt almost foolish now for having run all over town looking for him.

Across from her, Rex continued to pick at his food. He hadn’t really eaten much since… before everything, and he was finding the experience more uncomfortable than he remembered. Logically, he knew that he should be making more conversation, asking Lucy about her day and her thoughts, and a billion other things like Emmet always had, but he was struggling to think of any conversation topics. He knew what kinds of questions he really wanted to ask her… but this Lucy wasn’t the one that had left him in Undar that had foiled his plans… so he knew he'd never get a satisfactory answer.

A moment ago, he’d seen the worry on Lucy’s face when she’d asked where he’d been that morning. Then, as he explained that he was training, that he was tough now, her concern had vanished, replaced with a soft smile. And now, as he finished his coffee, her smile had only grown bigger.

She seemed overjoyed… ecstatic that “Emmet” was finally acting tough, just like she’d wanted him to be.

Rex understood, of course. His time in Undar had been educational in that way, constantly hammering in the fact that being tough was the only way to protect yourself. Emmet needed to learn that; he needed to see that his cheerfulness and his optimism were idealistic, unsustainable, and paving the path towards suffering.

But, for some reason, the thought was still upsetting. Anger roiled in the pit of his gut, turbulent and boiling hot, making it harder and harder to maintain Emmet’s constant dopey grin.

For a moment, it almost felt like he was resentful at how ready Lucy was to accept that Emmet was changing, how excited she was for him to totally overhaul his personality. Obviously, he couldn't be upset about that though, since he agreed with the sentiment. Rex had been responsible for sending Emmet away for training, after all.

He was just… still upset that she had ruined his plans last time.

That was all.

Confident in his identification of the feeling’s source, Rex could then manipulate it, burying it underneath layers of swagger and machismo. He had years of practice dealing with these kinds of emotions and had long since perfected the art of hiding and ignoring them. As such, his disguise remained perfect, his painted smile never wavering.

#lego movie 2 #tlm2 #rex dangervest #emmet brickowski #lucy tlm #wyldstyle #not really sure how to tag lucy tbh #anyways tune back in next week for chapter 4 #which is my personal favorite so far because unikitty shows up!

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ims-monbebe · 7 years ago

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Heavy Dirty Soul

A/N: Hello lovelies I am back and better than ever (not really). Anywho I just wanted to tell you that this chapter is a little bit different. It has 3 different character point of views. I’m not sure how it will blend together but I hope you all like it. Feed back is appreciated.

You can read chapter 6 here.

Chapter 7: Without You My Direction Is No Ways

Jade's POV

After the bar settles down I send the girls home early for the night, doubt settles into my stomach as Celeste begins master locking down the entire bar for the night. Jooheon and the others are waiting in my office until we leave. I rub my temples as a big sigh escapes my lips, what a night.

"Everything okay Jade?" Celeste asks as she putting in the password for the security system.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just a strange night that's all."

She laughs as the usual steel covers take over the glass windows. She sets the remote down in the safe and locks it. "If our nights were anywhere near normal, we would have gone crazy long ago."

"You're right about that." I shake my head. "After you drive us to my house, I'm gonna need you to run errands before you report back to me tomorrow morning dropping off all their things. Got it?"

"Of course, you can always count on me."

I smile as I squeeze her shoulder. "I know I always can, thank you."

"It's just my job." She smiles as she begins walking away, "You know I can never thank you enough in my lifetime. Are you ready to leave?"

"Ready or not, I got to get tonight over with. How are you gonna get their addresses for me?"

"I'll have them write it down for you before you leave my place," She mumbles as she finishes putting in the last of the code into the security system.

"Ready?" Celeste looks at me as we both begin walking to the back.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

We walk into the room and see the others staring down at the floor, not say anything to each other. I can't tell if they're upset or scared, and to be honest I'm not really sure if I feel the same way.

"Ready you guys?" I clap my hands together to at least bring their attention to me.

"We're sorry Jade." Wonho gets up. "We're all just really tired."

"That's understandable, you all are really tired, and probably have seen some questionable things." I laugh.

"So the thing is," Celeste pipes in. "Since you, all will be at Jade's house from now on, it's best if you don't know where she lives."

"So that means?" Shownu looks over at me.

"I'm gonna have to blindfold you all." I look over at Celeste who's walking to my desk and taking out some things to restrain their eyes with.

"Wait, why is it important if we're blindfolded Jade?" Jooheon asks me.

"It's just that if anyone comes after you, you can't show them where I live because you wouldn't know where it is. I want it to be truly a safe space."

"Wouldn't they think we're just lying and cut off our toes as torture methods?" Changkyun looks up at me.

"Possibly," Celeste's hands me silky blindfolds.

"Hanna, you haven't said much. How are you feeling?"

She looks at me, eyelids a little hooded as she yawns slightly. "A little weird, but mainly tired."

I look at everyone and see the tired looks in their eyes except for Jooheon. He sighs as he gets up. "I'll be blindfolded first."

I only nod as he steps in front of me, back turned to me. I swallow slowly as I begin to place the black blindfold on his face. His scent lingers around me and I can't help but shudder slightly. Fuck Jooheon for being so damn attractive.

"Can you see?"

"It's a little blurry, but I guess we wouldn't really be able to when we step out in the dark."

"That's good then." I look over at Celeste as I finish tying up the blindfold on Jooheon. "Can you get that on some of them too?"

"Sure, Changkyun and Wonho come here please?"

Changkyun instantly gets off the couch and runs towards Celeste, I shake my head as laughter escapes my lips slightly.

"There." I tap Jooheons shoulder. "You're ready to go."

I look over and see an excited Changkyun spinning around as the blindfold is being placed over his eyes. I laugh at myself. Changkyun kind of reminds me of a little brother that you want to smack all the time but can't help wanting to protect him.

"Alright, when everyone is blindfolded let's get them all into the car."

_______

Jooheon's POV

Being blindfolded in Jade's car feels like we're trapped inside it for hours, everyone is quiet and I hear soft snores beside me. I'm sure everyone fell asleep but me. When we were leaving Jades bar the time was 2 am. That's late enough for people to be tired. The car is quiet, nothing is being spoken of, nothing is being heard. All we can hear is the sound of the wind going against the car. I can't help but to still feel guilty. If it wasn't for me everyone would be going home right now and would be able to rest in their own beds, and Jade wouldn't have to be dealing with us. All I do is create a big mess, now I understand why things happened and they are the way they are right now. It makes perfect sense. Minhyuk and the others must be furious with me too. First, we didn't even start the gig because of me, and they won't see Wonho, Changkyun, and Shownu for who knows how long because of me too.

When did life get so messy?

I remember when life was simple and the only thing that mattered to me was if I got to play with Changkyun outside in his front yard. We would play for hours and hours and my mom would have to drag me inside our house for dinner. I never did want to leave his side. His household was always so much warmer than my own, I always liked his parents more than my own too. I would always beg Changkyun's mom to adopt me and she would just laugh and go on about how adorable I was and how I was like her son already, maybe she thought I was just kidding.

I always took more of a fondness towards my mom even though she was not the loving type. Maybe it was just automatic from when I would see Changkyun's mom rush to him over every breath he took. It would always give me a glimpse of hope that maybe one day she would finally show love like that towards me, but she never did. After my mom passed away and it was just my dad and me, things were hard because my dad never spoke a word to me when my mom was alive. He reminded me every day after her passing that I was not his son and to never address him as my father because he wasn't mine. At first, this was hard for me to understand and I always blamed myself, but eventually I got over it.

This really drew me more towards Changkyun and his family, especially when my mom died. I practically lived at his house. I wonder if his parents ever minded and if they did, they were really good at never showing it and making me forget my life at home. They would take me everywhere with them. On their family vacations, the movies, amusement parks, and everything else in between that you can think of. They celebrated my birthdays with me, I was with them during Christmas, when I got a good grade on a test I'd show it to his parents and they would praise me for it. If it wasn't for Changkyun and his parents I wouldn't have had a great childhood. I've never told Changkyun how grateful I am for him and his family and how they helped me over the years, and this is the thanks I give him. I really am something else.

Changkyun and everyone else in this car deserve better than me.

I feel the car come to a slow stop and hear the car doors open. The one on my side opens and a gush of cold wind fills my body.

"You all can take off your blindfolds now." Jade's voice echoes throughout the car.

I slowly take off my blindfold and look around and see everyone but Changkyun taking off their own. I slightly shake him and he stirs a little.

"We're here you can take off your blindfold."

He groans but removes the blindfold. We all step outside into the cool night. I look around and notice that we really are in the middle of nowhere. I look down and see a long road that leads down and a forest behind this building, and the city lights in the distance.

"Welcome to casa Jade." Jade points to the gated building in front of us.

My mouth slightly drops as everyone looks in shock as well.

"Jade this house is huge." Wonho looks at her. "You really live here by yourself?"

"Yeah, it's usually me and the security outside." She nods. "Before we all go inside though, I'm gonna need you guys to hand your phones to Celeste, you shouldn't keep them with you. It's possible for Namjoon to hack into them and track them and find you all here."

"Wait we can't have our phones? What are you gonna do with them?" Shownu looks at Celeste.

"I'll probably burn them." Celeste shrugs. "We'll get you new ones when this is over with."

"You say burn with enjoyment in your voice." Hanna raises an eyebrow.

"I'll probably enjoy it a little, who doesn't like burning shit?"

"God," Changkyun whispers in my ear. "I fall in love more and more each second."

I look at him and roll my eyes. "You're hopeless kid."

Celeste comes around and I take out my phone from my back pocket, handing it to her slowly. She goes around and gets everyone else's and a gloomy atmosphere takes over.

"The rules are simple. You can not leave my house. You are allowed to go into the woods, and an area I own, but you can not go into the city unless accompanied by Celeste or myself. I will give you guys an allowance weekly for personal stuff like hygiene and anything else you guys will need. I don't want you guys to think you're in prison or something. Other than that I don't have any other rules. Just be nice to each other and make this more enjoyable. We'll be going inside now." Jade looks at all of us. "Any questions?"

We all look at each other and back forward. "None at all then? Good, Celeste will be leaving us here and will be back tomorrow morning. Other than that follow me now."

Jade begins walking forward and we all follow her lead. She puts a passcode for the main gate and it opens slightly. She pushes it forward and we enter her front yard. I look around and see how big it actually is. Her grass is really green and is covered in beautiful flowers. I wonder if she's planted these all herself.

"Alright, here we are," Jade says as we reach the front door. "Here it is."

She puts in another passcode and the door makes a clicking noise. Jade turns the door handle and we step inside. The entire house is dark at first as we all make our way through the door. Suddenly the lights turn on and the entire house is lit up.

"Wow, so this is the house of Jade huh?" I mumble as my eyes look around.

"This is huge," Changkyun says as he looks around. "How many rooms did you say this place has?"

"Ten."

"This is really a nice house. Is this what you did with the cars we stole from Kai?" Hanna looks over at Jade.

"Half of it, yeah."

"Wait you stole cars, Hanna?" Changkyun looks over at her. "You're more badass than we are."

"Like I said, there's a lot you don't know about her." Jade says. "Anyways I'm too tired to give you guys a tour, I would but I'm gonna head off to bed. Find a room and make yourself at home. I don't care which one you stay in, as long as it isn't mine."

"Goodnight Jade." We all say in unison as she begins to walk up the staircase.

"Should we pick out our rooms then?" Shownu yawns.

"I don't care where I sleep, as long as I sleep," Wonho grumbles under his breath.

"Guys!" Changkyun calls as he's down the opposite end of the hall. "This is a game room. I call this one, goodnight!" He slams the door before any of us can protest.

"Well, I'm glad he was able to figure that out fast." Hanna laughs as she begins to walk away. "I'll be off to claim my own room too, goodnight."

"I'll follow her lead." Shownu rubs his eyes. "Goodnight you two."

Wonho and I are left standing in the middle of Jade's hallway. I let out a small sigh as I look up at him.

"Wonho about earlier I'm-"

He holds up his hand, cutting me off. "I'm too tired to talk about anything right now. Talk to me in the morning. Goodnight Jooheon."

He begins to walk down the hall and I just nod my head. "Right, goodnight hyung."

Talking about it tomorrow is the least I can do for him, I've brought him into a fucked up situation after all.

----------

Wonho's POV

I open a door and turn on the light. This room seems to actually be a bedroom with a bed inside it, and not just for recreational use. I sigh as I close the door and throw myself onto the big bed. I inhale the aroma of the sheets and sigh, what a crazy night. I look around the room and see a dresser with a mirror attached to it. I sit up and stare at myself, my brown hair is slightly frizzy and I frown. I take off my shirt and throw it onto my bedroom floor. If Jade has all this stuff in her house I wonder if she has an exercise room? I'll probably ask her about it tomorrow. I can't really skip a day without working out it's really not in my nature. I lay back down and look around. The bedroom has a flatscreen TV mounted on the wall and there's a walk-in closet. I guess this room is already better than the room I have at home.

I hear the door to the room open and I instantly groan as I sit up.

"Fuck off this room is already cla" I stop mid-sentence and look at the person standing in the doorway. "Oh Hanna, did you need something or were you trying to find a room still?"

"I already found a room, I was actually looking for you."

"For me?"

She nods as she looks away. "Do you mind if I come in?"

I shake my head. "No, it's fine."

She closes my room door and makes her way to my bed. She sits on the edge of it and sighs.

"I'm sorry to bother you Wonho, I just couldn't sleep. I know you must be tired."

"Don't worry about me, are you okay?"

"No, not really. I can't stop thinking about earlier and the mess I got us into. This isn't entirely Jooheon's fault. If I wouldn't have shot that guy in that bar." Her eyes tear up. "We probably wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't have put your guy's life in danger."

I sigh, leaning back on the bed. "Stop Hanna, don't blame yourself for any of this. We're here and we can't change that. Don't make yourself miserable by beating yourself up about it."

"But-"

"We can't change the past Hanna." I sigh as I look into her eyes. "If we could, I would have changed mine a long time ago. Don't you think we all would change something about it?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Jooheon would have ended up in the same situation. You honestly saved his skin back there probably. Don't feel too bad about it, kid." I ruffle her blonde hair roughly and she laughs.

"Wonho how come the things you say, always make me feel better?"

I smile at her. "Maybe it's just a charm I have."

"Maybe, another charm you have somewhere making people fall asleep? I can't fall asleep for shit."

I scoot over on the bed and pat the spot next to me. "You're just in luck because it so happens to be one of my charms."

Her eyes widen as she looks away. "What no I was kidding."

"No you weren't, come here."

She gulps as she walks forward and lays down next to me. "I'm sorry it's just you're not wearing a shirt and I don't want this to be weird."

"It won't be." I laugh. "But if it makes you feel more comfortable I can put my shirt back on? I'm just the person who always sleeps shirtless."

"No no, it's your room do whatever you want I don't want you to feel uncomfortable because of me."

"Well," I open my arms. "I, Shin Hoseok will make you Hanna fall asleep like a baby right now."

She only laughs as I wrap my arms around her and bring her to my chest. "This okay with you?"

"U-uh yes it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I'm only doing this because I hear body heat makes you fall asleep faster." I nervously laugh. "So I'm doing this for the sake of science."

"Kudos to science then." Hanna laughs as she wraps her arm around my torso. "Maybe I should fall asleep next to you every night if this works."

I feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I look up at the ceiling. "Just maybe."

The room falls silent and I look down to see that Hanna has already fallen asleep. I smile as I brush a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"You were more tired than you thought weren't you?" I whisper to myself.

I close my eyes as I lean further into my pillow. "Lets both get some good sleep."

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writingonjorvik · 7 years ago

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The B Team Druids - Chapter 6 - Pecking Order

Rocking back into her seat, Carrie fidgeted with the menu in front of her as she waited for Saoirse to sit down. There was a nice breeze out, but the sun was overcast, leaving a chill over the terrace cafe where the two were eating. For a moment, Carrie wondered if Saoirse might have anything to do with it. The weather seemed to tilt around the young mage.

Wow, that was a doozy.

“I haven’t been here before,” Carrie said, pulling up her menu to hide her expression. After last night, Saoirse turning up to find Carrie collapsed outside Jon’s tomb, she didn’t know how much she could stand Saoirse thinking she was such a noob at this whole magic business.

Though she kinda was.

“Neider have I,” Saoirse replied, unfolding her menu. “Bi’ overpriced for jus’ a burger dough.”

Carrie gripped the edges of the menu a little tighter, offering after a moment, “Split a pizza with you?”

“Done,” Saoirse answered, setting her menu down. “So, wha’ is i’ ya were wantin’ to talk abou’?”

“Right, um, where to start?” Carrie paused, pressing her arms down on top of the menu as she pressed it to the table. “Well, Raven might have been on to something that day on the beach.”

“She usually is,” Saoirse replied. “Did ya find ou’ yar Sign den?”

“Sort of,” Carrie answered, pursing her lips. “Um, Aideen chose me.”

“Yeah, she chose us all.”

“No, no, I mean, she chose me for her, uh, gifts? I don’t know what to call it. I guess her sign, her circle, whatever you want to refer to it as,” Carrie said. “Specifically Aideen, like a fifth Circle.”

Saoirse slid down in her chair, folding her arms. “If I hadn’ of found ya in dat cave, I’d dink dis was some kind of revenge for de hill. Bu’ alrigh’, Aideen chose ya. Wha’ did she wan’?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. Jon didn’t know either,” Carrie explained. “He said he was waiting for a Champion of Aideen or something, for the Soul Riders to open his tomb. But I’m not that Champion, I don’t have all of Aideen’s gift, just one of them. He said maybe I could use my dream magic or whatever to commune with the goddess, but I would need my own ‘Soul Riders.’” She motioned with air quotes for the last part of her sentence.

The red-head paused, her lips tight as she thought over the information Carrie had just given her. Saoirse sighed and shook her head. “I owe i’ to ya to believe ya, even if I’m strugglin’ to. It’s no’ easy. I asked the leader of the druids, Fripp, if he ha’ heard of any library of Jon Jarl. He hadn’.”

Carrie opened her mouth to respond, but Saoirse rocked forward, continuing, “Still, ya were ou’ cold las’ nigh’. Ya and yar horse. Doub’ ya would have done dat to yarself. No’ to mention wha’ happened las’ week. Normally folks who are blessed only get dis little fuzzy feelin’, no’ full on-- whatever i’ was dat happened to ya.

“I don’ know. It’s a tall tale, bu’ I’d like to see wha’ happens,” Saoirse replied. “And I owe ya one for draggin’ ya into dis in de firs’ place.”

“Thank you,” Carrie said, leaning over the table.

Shrugging, Saoirse returned, “No’ a worries. Bu’ dat does leave us in search of two more druids willin’ to help us. And ya still need to be invited into the order yarself if ya wan’ to look for any books from de Jarl.”

“Two more?”

“Yeah, ya’ve already got Raven and me. Dat’s Star and Lightnin’ covered,” Saoirse stated.

Of course, Saoirse and the Lightning Circle. That should have been obvious after the storm clouds that followed Saoirse wherever she went. “Ok, do you know anyone from the Sun and Moon Circles who might be willing to help us?”

“Moon will be easier,�� Saoirse admitted, looking off over the terrace as she thought. “Scholars migh’ like bein’ alone, bu’ dey all know each other. Sun will be...difficul’. Dings are a bi’ tense dere a’ de momen’, wha’ wid de Sun Soul Rider missin’ and all.”

“Missing?” Carried asked.

Saoirse nodded, a grim expression on her face. “No’ normal wha’ happened to her, Anne. One day she was in France, some fancy contes’, nex’, no one can find her.”

“Should we be worried?”

“Nah, we’re no’ of interes’ to nobody,” Saoirse said, shaking her expression away. “Bu’ all the oder druids in de circle are wonderin’ if Anne wasn’ de real Soul Rider because she’s missin’. Few are tryin’ for her position. Problem won’ be finding a Sun Circle druid to help us, it’s finding one who won’t be distracted with stealin’ someone else’s job.”

“You think Anne was the Soul Rider though?”

“No’ my business, but I dink Aideen knew wha’ she was doin’ when she picked de Soul Riders,” Saoirse stated, a very confident tone in her voice. Carrie wondered if Saoirse knew any of the Soul Riders. Or maybe this Champion. Saoirse pressed on though, “And no’ a one of dem is wordy of de spo’ if dey’re lookin’ at stealin’ it in de firs’ place. Bu’ I wouldn’ know where to star’ lookin’ for Sun druids. Can’ say I ge’ along wid dat sor’.”

Carrie started to ask why, but she remembered what Conrad had said about the Sun Circle. They were the Keepers’ spies, and Saoirse was a rather straightforward kind of person, barring her reasons for taking Carrie up that hill. She could imagine Saoirse having trouble with the Sun Circle. “Alright, well, who would be able to give us a recommendation?”

“Imagine Linda migh’ know one or two,” Saoirse said, glancing down at the floor. “She’s downstairs, doing research a’ de Baroness’s library.”

“Awesome, is she free?”

Holding up a finger, Saoirse pulled out her phone and started texting. And kept texting. She barely looked up when the server came over to get their order, slouched back in her chair, preoccupied with her phone. It was only as the pizza was being brought over that she pulled herself out again. “She’s free in abou’ ten minutes.” After taking a slice, she pulled her phone back out, returning to her conversation.

Alright then, Carrie thought as she took a piece of pizza. She decided to focus on her half of the pie over dealing with Saoirse’s absentmindness. She was getting help. That’s what mattered. She wasn’t joining the Keepers, not seriously. She had a job already, a few friends left in Moorland even without Justin around. The point was to get answers, not to take up with a bunch of cultists in the woods. Those two could remain separate, right? Conrad wasn’t tied up in all this.

Carrie barely ate two slices of her five, and Saoirse nearly ate those if Carrie hadn’t asked for a box. The brief “Oh, right” across Saoirse’s face worried Carrie, but she didn’t comment. Still Carrie held the box close to her side as they two climbed down the stairs wound up the mansion.

As they rounded the front of the building, Carrie noticed a young lady walking out the front doors. She pushed up her wide, round glasses as she walked down the stairs towards them, waving briefly to Saoirse as they walked over. Linda, Carrie assumed.

“Hey, Saoirse,” Linda said, smiling brightly as they approached. “What did you need help with?”

From the side of her eye, Carrie caught Saoirse pointing at her over folded arms. “We’re lookin’ for some druids who migh’ be free for an experimen’.”

“What kind of experiment?” Linda inquired, excitement in her eyes. Carrie started to smile before catching herself. A wave of static knocked the expression out of her.

“Need some magic from each of de Circles,” Saoirse explained. “Raven and I can’ figure ou’ wha’ Sign dis one is. She suggested getting’ group togeder migh’ help us figure i’ ou’.”

“Like as an amplifier?” Linda asked.

Carrie felt a bit of a knot in her stomach. Exactly that, though she hadn’t expected anyone to have figured it out. Not that there was anything wrong with Linda knowing, it just felt strange for someone to have worked through it so quickly. “That was my idea, yeah.”

“That’s a really clever idea,” Linda replied, smiling at Carrie. She leaned forward, taking Carrie’s hands. That bristling feeling ran up Carrie’s spine. “I’m impressed. Have you had any experience with magic before you ran into the Keepers? Most people don’t think of proximity magic, but it’s really a very useful tool. It can even bridge Circle lines, allow for cross magic casting-- I’m getting carried away.” She grinned. “Sorry, it’s nice to be able to talk about something less serious than, well, what I’ve been researching.”

“No luck then?” Saoirse asked, notably vague. Keepers’ business.

Linda shook her head, letting out a brief sigh. “Not yet. But something has to turn up though. Either in there or, well, out here somewhere.”

Saoirse set a hand on Linda’s shoulder. “He’ll show up. We’re all looking.”

Pressing down on Saoirse’s hand, Linda nodded. She pulled herself free, turning back to Carrie. “But to your theory. I think it’ll work. How many people do you have?”

“Jus’ me and Raven,” Saoirse answered.

“Well, if we can find a Sun druid, I can probably help--”

Saoirse shook her head, stopping Linda. “Ya’ve go’ how many people ya’re lookin’ for? We can find anoder Moon druid who doesn’ have so much to deal wid, one who isn’ goin’ to ge’ have to go sleepless anoder night for someding dis small. I’ll bring ya de results myself, since I know ya’re curious, bu’ ya’re no’ comin’.”

Pushing up her glasses again, Linda nodded with a weak smile. “Thank you.” There was an awkward pause before the three before Linda said, in Carrie’s direction, “I know Bree is free. She just wrapped up a big data entry job for Elizabeth, and she really deserves some field work after that. They had her log fifty scrolls last month.”

“Fifty!” Saoirse exclaimed with a short whistle. “She make someone mad?”

“Ha, no, just drew the short straw. It’s not that bad,” Linda replied. “All of those books, so much information. I wish I had the time to sit down with them all.”

Leaning towards Carrie, Saoirse added, “Sounds like i’ is.”

Carrie managed to chuckle. “Some kind of conservation effort?”

“The Keepers have so many old books,” Linda stated, that sparkling coming back. “So much history. And the findings on magic is amazing. But the books are old and--” Linda cut herself off, looking at Saoirse. Carrie expected the red head to motion “no,” but Saoirse looked just as confused as Carrie did. Linda swallowed. “With recent events, we wanted to have a better library that’s...easier to find.”

“Makes sense,” Carrie said, glancing at Saoirse. Sore topic?

“I’ll find Bree. Wha’ abou’ for de Sun Circle?” Saoirse asked, not noticing.

“Um, that one’s harder,” Linda answered. Saoirse nudged Carrie’s side, but said nothing as Linda thought on it. After a moment, she made a glance westward. “Arabelle might be interested. I don’t think you know her?”

Saoirse shook her head. Carrie risked a joke, “Nope.”

Linda laughed, shaking her head. “Sorry, not meaning to keep you out of the loop. I think Arabelle is training at the Baroness’s riding hall with one of the local dressage teams. I saw some riders headed down there, but I didn’t notice anyone. I’d check for you, but,” she tapped the side of her head, “I’m busy elsewhere.”

Again turning to Saoirse, Carrie tried to hide her confusion. Elsewhere? What was she talking about? If Saoirse noticed, she didn’t notice. “Don’ burn yarself ou’, no good if ya fain’.”

“I’ll try,” Linda answered, sighing. “See you later?”

“Yeah, I’ll le’ ya know how dis goes,” Saoirse replied. “We’ll star’ wid huntin’ down Arabelle. Send me Bree’s number later.” After Linda nodded, Saoirse grinned back at the Moon druid. “Deadly. Later.”

Saoirse waved. Carrie started to say goodbye, but she felt a hand on her shoulder tugging her away. With a snort of a laugh, Linda waved goodbye to them before heading back towards the stairs where she had come from.

As Carrie and Saoirse walked towards the stables, Saoirse commented, “Ya’re awful casual wid people.”

“I thought I was being friendly?” Carrie said nervously, feeling it turn into a question as she spoke.

“Firs’ de Jarl, and now Linda,” Saoirse said.

“What’s special about Linda?” Carrie inquired, glancing back over her shoulder.

As she turned back, she caught a look on Saoirse’s face that just said “Everything,” but all the fiery rider replied was, “She’s the Moon Soul Rider.”

Carrie looked back over her shoulder. That was a Soul Rider? Then that meant-- “Was she using magic or something?”

“Glad ya noticed,” Saoirse answered, grinning. “Linda can scry, see dings and places she’s nowhere near. She uses i’ to read when she’s talkin’ to people.”

“So she was doin’ something else while she was talking to us?” Carrie asked, wondering how someone would even have the mental fortitude to be in two places at once, and to be good at both of those things at the same time. She hadn’t even noticed Linda pausing or struggling with their conversation. Saoirse nodded. Carrie blinked, shaking her head in disbelief. “Wow.”

“Isn’ dat deadly?” Saoirse grinned, pride brimming in her voice.

“Yeah,” Carrie answered, a little nervous to say anything else. Had Saoirse been the source of the static? Between the fawning and being protective, Carrie wondered how the two knew each other. Was Saoirse like this with all of the Soul Riders? She seemed to believe strongly in their positions based on what she said about Anne. Maybe it was a religious thing.

The two rode down the slope to the large riding hall adjunct to the vineyards. It’s two massive rooms made it larger than any buildings Carrie had ever seen. And were those people riding on the roof? She craned her head back to see, but she and Saoirse had already ridden into the standing room before she could get a good look.

Most of the riders had dismounted outside, or were riding in the right hand room’s jumping course. Saoirse rode left, not stopping to dismount, so Carrie followed with a lowered head. “This feels kinda impolite.”

“Oh, don’ worry. It’s no’ a real dressage team,” Saoirse returned as they trotted along the edge of the room. “Aren’ any Silverglade.”

“Why not?”

Saoirse paused, her brow furrowing tightly. “Couldn’ tell ya. Jus’ stopped havin’ dem one day.”

The two continued along until they reached the viewing benches on the far side of the room. Seemed like something that would have been added closer to the door, but Carrie didn’t know a lot about dressage, or big fancy buildings dedicated to riding. She’d always been in outdoor competitions.

“Um, we’re riding here.”

Someone tapped Carrie on the shoulder as she stopped by the stands. Before Carrie could respond, Saoirse waved her hand. “And we’re watchin’. No harm in dat.”

The seated observed pulled their hand back, sitting down with a grumble. As gossip passed between the other dressage riders, Carrie turned to Saoirse. “Should we be here?”

“Ya can’t force anyone to leave. Besides, we are jus’ watchin’. We can ask around when dey’re done. Enjoy de show.” Saoirse tilted her chin towards the rider in the middle of the ring. Carrie followed the gesture.

The rider presently riding appeared to have some Middle Eastern heritage, a stark contrast to the pale complection of most native Jorvegians. Burgundy streaks cut through her black hair like ribbons. It wasn’t red like Saoirse’s orangey-red ginger. It was definitely artificial, too purpley to be natural. But not purple enough to truly match the purple suit the rider was wearing, a notably different color from the black riding uniforms of the other riders. Her frisian was dressed to match, with burgundy ties in his braided hair. Still, it didn’t match the purple saddle blanket he was wearing.

After finishing their set, rider and mount walked back towards the stands. With a flip of her hair, the rider tilted her head up like faux royalty. “Pretty impressive, right?”

The other riders in the stalls applauded her, a few giving out critiques, but most adoring praise. Carrie was a little surprised that the rider didn’t cringe at the criticism, instead she seemed to respond to it the most, sending genuine smiles towards those who noted her mistakes.

“Eh,” Saoirse muttered, rocked back in Copper’s saddle.

Carrie risked a golf clap and a small smile. She didn’t know much about dressage, but the two had been beautifully in sync. She barely noticed the things others had noted, but she guessed that was likely because she didn’t have the same trained eye to notice those details.

The rider turned towards Carrie and an uninterested Saoirse. She smiled towards Carrie, batting her hair back. The streaks turned-- pinker? Carrie blinked, wondering if she was seeing straight. Saoirse must have noticed it too, because she sat up straighter in her saddle, a little bristled.

“Would the two of you like to join our drill team?” the rider asked, gesturing to the others as she and her frisian turned with a bouncy trot. They stopped, the horse pawing the ground. Ash snorted and tossed her head beneath Carrie, glancing back as if to say “Showoffs.”

“Ya ever heard of de Keepers of Aideen?” Saoirse asked, bitterly.

The rider laughed, the briefest sideways glance, and the briefest moment her streaks got redder. Actual redder, not a return to her burgandy. A rather giving tell, Carrie thought, supposing you caught it. “Aren’t they those old dudes who live in Valedale? Wearing those ugly robes around.”

There was a collective “ew” through the benches. Carrie was reminded of a distinct Bobcat girl vibe. She blinked as the rider turned to gossip with the other riders, an idea coming to mind. “Arabelle?”

With a toss of her hair, the rider tilted her chin up again. “That’s me. Call me Ari.”

“Yeah,” Carrie murmured, pressing her lips together. “I, um, I work at Moorland Stables. They’re looking for a dressage instructor.”

“Why would Moorland need a dressage instructor if there’s not even a dressage league in the region?” one of the riders on the bench asked.

Carrie shrugged. “I’m not the boss, I’m just here to ask for volunteers.”

Ari blinked, studying Carrie for a moment. There was no way she didn’t know it was a lie. Saoirse did, Carrie could feel her side eye as she waited on Ari’s response. But it didn’t matter if it was true. It was an out for the conversation. Whatever Ari’s reasons were, she was keeping her connection to the druids private. That was her business, and Carrie wasn’t going to out her.

“You want to talk outside?” Carrie offered, pointing back towards the doors.

“Yeah,” Ari replied, a wary eye on Saoirse. She picked up a perkier voice, “Yeah, we can talk outside.” With that, she tapped the sides of her horse, trotting off towards the door.

Saoirse nudged Carrie’s side, giving her a wink, but there was still a dark look in those eyes as she and Copper followed after. Carrie let out a long sigh. She was not looking forward to whatever fight she was about to wander into.

Outside the building, Ari had pulled off out of view of the windows, practically hiding behind the building. Based on her expression and her horse’s ears pressed flat back, she was not happy with how Saoirse was leaned forward over her saddle, scolding her. Carrie urged Ash to catch up with the other two.

“--know ya can’ be walkin’ around like dat, showin’ off wid dat hair of yars,” Saoirse chided. “Dey can’ know ya have magic.”

“Um, Saoirse,” Carrie asked, butting into the conversation. “You literally flew the day we met.”

“I was savin’ yar life, would ya rader I le’ ya die?” Saoirse returned, turning so she could stare down Carrie. After a moment, she rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll leave i’, bu’ she knows better.”

Carrie shook her head and turned back to Ari. “Nice to meet you.”

Ari shook her head, her streaks turning orange-ish. “Did the Keepers send you or what?”

“I’m not even in the Keepers,” Carrie replied.

“You’re not?” Ari asked, turning to look at Carrie, then Saoirse. “So why am I being chewed out? You’re being super public with this muggle.”

Carrie almost snorted a laugh, but she caught herself. Saoirse didn’t seem to notice, responding, “She’s go’ magic, she hasn’ joined is all.”

Ari opened her mouth to respond, but Carrie started to talk first, cringing a little for interrupting, “We need help from someone with Sun Circle magic for a bit of an experiment. I might be chosen by Aideen for some kind of quest, but I need help to ask her.”

“Someone whose no’ goin’ to use i’ to try for Anne’s job,” Saoirse added.

“Why would I want Anne’s job?” Ari returned, laughing. Her hair returned to its burgundy state. “Who wants teleporting magic when you can have cool illusion magic? Lame person, that’s who.” Ari ran a hand through her hair, flashing one of the streaks, showing them off as if the others hadn’t already noticed and that wasn’t the whole reason she’d been scolded a moment ago.

“Fair enough,” Carrie said, glancing to Saoirse, then back to Ari. “So, will you help us?”

“Sure, but not during drill meetings,” Ari answered. “I’ll text you my schedule later.” With that, she and her horse headed back for the stable. It was only when she was about halfway there that she paused and looked back towards Carrie and Saoirse, realizing what Carrie was about to call out. “Oh, right, you need my number.”

#sso #star stable #star stable online #the b team druids #woj writing

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fandommash-up · 7 years ago

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Raphael x Reader (2k12 version)

A/N: Hey, so here’s one of the fics I promised, and for some reason I just chose to do a Raph x Reader... This is my first fic I’ve published and if it’s not very good, I’m sorry, please forgive me! Also request me an imagine or headcannon or x reader for any fandom. ENJOY! Photo credits to owner.

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

You walked down the grimy New York sidewalk, on your way home from a study session with your friend April. You thought it fairly odd that she had pushed you out the door so forcefully, telling you that it was important that you took this exact route home. But oh well, it was April, she was an odd one, you thought.

You turned into the alley that would take you only a few blocks from your house, thinking nothing of the Your back hit the brick wall as a hand clamped over your mouth, the attacker keeping you pressed tightly to the bricks. They bent closer to you, their companions snickering in the background. “Ooh hello there darling,” the Foot Clan Ninja holding you hummed. “How are you tonight?” A thought hit you. These are men. You are in a dark alley. You are alone. Naturally, fearing your for your safety, you what every person knows when presented with a male attacker; you kneed him in his gonad berries. Letting out a yelp, he released you and bent over groaning.

You took off, not wanting his friends to think about coming after you too. Sadly, it didn’t work out that way as another foot clan ninja appeared in front of you. You skidded to a halt before turning to look behind you at the other Foot Clan members. Oh fudgenuggets, I am so screwed, you thought. Swinging back around to the one in front of you, you saw their fist coming straight at you. You squeezed your eyes shut, bracing for impact. THUD! Your eyes shot open as another, much larger figure was suddenly in front of you, the black clad leader crumpled on the ground. "Didn’t nobody teach ya that it ain't nice ta be pickin' on lil girls?" The figure asked. The Clan members stepped back. One hissed. "Y-you!"one shouted, pointing at your rescuer. A car passed the alleys mouth, shining light onto the previously unidentified hero. It was a motherfrogging TURTLE! A huge turtle with forks in its hands and a red bandana on its head! I mean, new York got pretty weird sometimes, but this was a whole new level. The creature smirked, giving him a dangerous, almost sexy cast on his face, "Me." Then he attacked, throwing the Foot ninjas around easily, huge muscles rippling under green skin seamlessly, taking on at least 4 attackers without breaking a sweat. After they had been rendered unconscious, the large turtle turned towards you. You stayed where you were, still frozen in shock. Its bright green eyes regarded your own (Y/E/C) eyes, their own as wary and hesitant as yours. "Hello." You squeaked.

"Hi." They responded gruffly.

"Um, thanks?” You cringed , “I-I mean thank you. F-for saving me.”

He nodded at you, "Yar welcome."

The two of you continued to stare at one another, he in apprehension, you in curiosity. Eventually you realized what you had been doing and blushed, looking down at the ground. “Um, I’m- I’m (Y/N). You kn-know,” you stuttered, “just in case you w-were wondering.”

He smiled at you, “I’m Raphael.”

“Raphael?” your eyeborw quirked, “That’s a bit of a mouthful isn’t it? Can I call you Raph?”

Raphael laughed, “Everyone else does.”

You nodded your head. Raph it is then, you thought. Once again your staring contest began again, but this time, Raphael looked down first. “Ah figure ya maybe,” the large turtle glanced up at you quickly before his gaze returned to the ground again, “that ya prob’ly wanna get home.”

“Oh crud, I completely forgot about having to get home,” You laughed, “Kinda slips your mind after something like that.”

“Ah bet,” he smirked.

You smiled back before a thought struck you. Those Foot Clan goons could have friends looking for them, or what if there is something else you could run into? You looked off down the rest of the dark alley, wary to continue down the alley you had previously been fine with.

Raph noticed your look and said, “Ah could always walk ya back home, if ya want.”

You looked up at him, and quickly nodded, feeling much better at having someone- especially a buttkicking someone- walking with you. You two began the trek back to your home, talkig and laughing with one another. It seemed that Raph had 3 other brothers like him and that they all knew April. You gasped, “No way.”

“Yes way,” he nodded, “We met her not too long ago. Ah was actually going ta her house to check on her before ah found you in that alley.”

“That’s why she rushed me out so quickly!” you exclaimed, “She probably didn’t want me to see you!”

You both looked at each other and laughed at the irony of having seen him. Yet sadly you both quieted upon reaching your house. You could see your mom with a book in her hand reading and your dad sitting at the table with the newspaper. As you slowed, so did Raph, before the two of you stopped entirely.

“Well...” you scuffed your foot against the sidewalk, feeling extremely awkward.

“Yeah, I’ll uh, see ya ‘round?” he rubbed his large hand against his neck.

You nodded, “Totally. Maybe you’ll see me next time I go over to Aprils?”

“I hope so,” he said, before widening his eyes when he realized what he said, “I-I just meant-”

You pressed a flower against his lips, shushing him. He simply stared at you, taking the flower gently from you. You simply laughed at your green friend and began walking up the stairs to your front door. You turned back around and told him, “Night Raphie,” before slipping through the door.

"Night (Y/N),” he whispered before turning and walking back down the alley, disappearing into the dark, staring down at the little flower in his hands, smiling sofly.

Little did you or Raphael know, was that 4 figures had watched you two the whole time.

“Aren’t they adorable together?” April cooed, “thanks for letting me know he would be coming this way, or else she may not have seen him.”

Leo nodded, “Sure thing. You really think she will chill Raph out?”

“Definitely,” April begain walking back home, “Didn’t you see how he was with her? And how he kept the flower?”

The three turtles nodded, smirking. This plan of theirs might just work.

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

A/N: So hey!!! This is my first fic that I’ve ever posted, so if it sucks I’m sorry. But I hope you like it, and you can send me requests for any fandom you want.

#tmnt imagines #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt x reader #tmnt raph #raph x reader #raphael x reader #tmnt donnie #tmnt april #first imagine

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thisspaceintentionallyleftblank · 3 years ago

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Try, Try Again (pt. 13)

(Cpt 1) | (Cpt 12) || (AO3)

Chapter 13 (2594 words)

A metallic claw latched itself solidly onto Emmet’s arm and, with a hydraulic hiss, lifted him into a bone-crunching hug.

The dull, leaden feeling in his limbs was quickly receding, but Emmet was still glad for the solid arms wrapped around him, unsure how well he would have been able to keep his numb, noodly legs underneath himself without them. With jerky motions, he looked around at his rescuers.

“Catastrophe? Nova?” He asked breathlessly, a dopey grin smeared across his face. They hadn’t parted on the best terms previously, but his earlier anger paled in comparison to the joy he felt seeing them now. “But how did you guys find me?”

“We saw the whole thing,” Nova explained. “Our glasstroid wasn’t too far from where your ship exploded.”

“KA-BOOM!” Catastrophe added very helpfully.

“But,” Emmet frowned, still swaying slightly in the Major’s grip. “I thought the Gemini couldn't fly?”

Nova’s face darkened. “O-oh, we um,” her voice petered out awkwardly, and her gaze fell sharply from Emmet’s face, as though she had suddenly become fascinated by the abstract shapes her boot traced in the dust. “S- Some parts of your ship landed near our crash site. We uh, we used them to repair the Gemini.”

Catastrophe’s grip shifted slightly, enough that they could face Emmet eye-to-eye. “WE ARE DEEPLY SORRY FOR TAKING YOUR PARTS, HAZMAT. ”

Emmet tried to laugh, but found himself wheezing instead, due the Major’s vise-like embrace. “I don’t think you guys need to apologize for saving my life.”

“No, it’s- ” Nova sighed, her boot pausing halfway through its current line. “We’re also sorry about before.”

“Oh,” Emmet breathed.

He could remember that night on the Gemini well, each moment of hurt and betrayal having been preserved in his mind clear as crystal. But now, try as he might, he couldn’t summon up any of those old emotions. Like paints dried in the bottle, they retained their shape, but not their function. He was simply too happy to be able to move and speak again, to be able to leave.

“We just got so excited about finally fixing the Gemini.” Nova continued, oblivious to Emmet’s thoughts. “We never really considered that you might not be excited too. But still… we should have asked.”

She looked up at him, stretching out a gloved hand. ”We’re sorry that we didn’t ask, and we’re sorry that we hurt you.”

Emmet took her hand in his own. Hearing the aliens’ intentions didn't technically change anything in the past, but it felt good to know that they hadn't meant to hurt him. He wriggled slightly, and with a gentle touch, pulled himself out of Catastrophe's arms, turning to face both of the aliens.

“I’m sorry too.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the pair jerked back in surprise.

“UH,” Catastrophe’s expression was hidden under his mask, but no doubt it was as contorted with confusion as Nova’s. “W-WHY?”

Emmet thought back to that night, to the empty way the aliens had stared at the dark broken engine, like a light had gone out of them as well.

“I was upset at you guys but… I didn’t have to break your stuff. I could have just taken the fuelcell back, or heard you guys out, but I… I felt hurt and I wanted to hurt you too. So, I’m sorry for that.”

Nova’s smile was small, but genuine. “Thanks Emmet,” she murmured.

“WE CAN ALL BE SORRY TOGETHER!” Catastrophe bellered enthusiastically. “SHARING IS INTEGRAL TO OUR ABILITY TO FUNCTION AS A TEAM AFTER ALL!”

“A team?” Emmet chuckled.

“Oh...” Nova paled. “Yeah, so um…. There might be a little bit of um...”

“AN IMMINENT WAR.” Catastrophe interjected eagerly.

Emmet’s laughter faltered awkwardly. “That’s funny... I could’ve sworn you just said ‘war’.”

“I DID!” The lights on the Major’s mask lit up, pleased with themself.

Dumbfounded, Emmet to Nova for clarification.

“It’s the Queen,” she explained. “We heard her on the comms once our ship turned back on. It…. We don't know why but there's a fleet of warships heading directly to Bricksb- er, Apocalypseburg, I mean."

“Okay…” Emmet strained to keep his voice level. “That’s probably not good...”

From the back of his mind, the remnants of his nightmare on the Gemini lurched forwards. The images of Apocalypseburg shattering replayed in a horrible loop, set to a soundtrack of Lucy's terrified scream.

He forced himself to take a deep breath. “What are we planning to do?”

Nova and Catastrophe exchanged a quick look. “We... we’re not sure."

"WE'RE CLOSER TO BRICKSBURG THAN THE FLEET IS," Catastrophe stated matter-of-factly. "SO WE COULD PROBABLY BEAT THEM THERE IF YOU WANT TO GO HOME."

Nova nodded. "Or," she added, "we could try to meet up with the fleet before they ever even get into range of the city.”

"OR WE COULD RUN AWAY, GET CONCEALING FACIAL HAIR, ADOPT NEW NAMES AND ACCENTS, AND BEGIN A NEW LIFE AS NON-TRADITIONAL COLLEGE STUDENTS."

This suggestion was met with a pair of blank stares.

"I'M NOT SAYING WE SHOULD, BUT IT IS TECHNICALLY AN OPTION."

Emmet groaned. Saving the world had been hard enough the first time, and now his Systarian friends' world hung in the balance too.

“Gosh," he muttered. "This sure is an important decision that I should definitely make right now, in order to avoid any potential ambiguity.”

“OF COURSE,” Catastrophe nodded solemnly. “SO, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?”

---

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Unikitty’s form shifted rapidly, her size and color fluctuating as her rage intensified.

“Guys, listen,” Lucy begged. She’d finally confessed to the others about letting Rex go, and needless to say, they weren’t taking the news well.

“We’ve been listening!” Batman groaned. “We listened the whole time you were saying ‘hey, I let the prisoner go!’”

“AGAIN.” Unikitty tacked on with a growl.

“I be starting t’ think we oughtn’t let Wyldstyle guard the brig anymore,” Metalbeard added, crossing four of his robotic arms in double the disappointment.

“Just let me explain,” she continued, trying to speak over their protests. “Rex is… he is Emmet. Just… just from some kind of awful alternate future.”

The others stared at her with concern, but Lucy could see understanding dawning in their eyes.

“Let me guess,” Batman started, “he’s from a future where some big-chinned, superpowered alien tried to wipe out half the universe in a weak attempt at a Hegelian tragedy?”

“No,” Unikitty interjected. “I bet it’s a future where scientists bred a new kind of super dinosaur that inevitably escaped and ate everyone in an elaborate allegory for the folly of man.”

“Mmm-mm,” Metalbeard hummed in disagreement. “He probably got trapped in the worst hell of them all - a career in government bureaucracy.”

“NO!” Lucy felt her face growing hot. “He’s from the future where… where he listened to me.” Ashamed, she sank to the floor, ducking her face into her lap and pulling her arms up to hide the hot tears that had started spilling out. The other Masterbuilders exchanged concerned looks.

“Wyldstyle,” Unikitty shrunk back down to her normal size. Her voice was much calmer now. “What do you mean?”

“He,” her voice caught in her throat, the sound threatening to become a full sob. “He got tougher. Like I’d told him to. And… and now he’s come back to protect Emmet from that fate. To protect him from us.” Now her voice did break. “To protect him from me.”

There was a moment of silence. Lucy struggled valiantly not to disturb it, to remain composed.

“Ugh,” Batman eventually broke the silence with a groan. “Morally complex villains are not really my thing. More of a Marvel trope to be honest.”

“So, what?” Unikitty ignored him. “We’re just not supposed to rescue Emmet?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy whispered. “I just… I never realized that I was hurting him, so like, how can I take that risk, knowing that I could hurt him this badly again?” She lifted her head from her hands slightly, but still couldn’t bring herself to meet their eyes. “Would we really be rescuing him, or just hurting him more?”

The three other Masterbuilders stepped forwards, each taking a seat on the ground near Lucy. Something about the presence of her friends eased the tension in her chest, making it just a bit easier for her to breathe.

“Do you really think the best possible future for Emmet is for all of us to just leave him all alone?” Unikitty asked, her face serious.

"Well no, but-”

“You can isolate yourself out of fear of being hurt, but the loneliness doesn’t hurt any less.” Batman added. “Uh, so I’ve heard... From my many friends.”

“He- He wouldn’t have to be alone!” Lucy stammered. “He could have better friends! He deserves better friends.”

“The ability to hurt others isn’t something that only bad people have.” Unikitty replied. “Absolutely everyone has the capacity to hurt the people they care about, even unintentionally.”

“Yar, indeed our actions have a tendency t' outrun or exceed the ends through which we attempt to govern them.” Metalbeard added, nodding sagely.

“Wuh-" Lucy couldn't help but stare at him blankly for a moment. "What?”

“Tis just the basic principle of impropriety. Ya know, the concept defined by philosopher Patchen Markell in order t' describe the fallacious idea that we have any kind of control over the consequences of our actions, much less their reception or interpretation by others."

Now the others stared too.

“Oh, so the pirate can’t know philosophy huh?” Metalbeard scoffed. “I have lotsa interests, ya know. I’m not some kinda bilge-ridden, one-dimensional, side character!" He huffed to himself grumpily, but remained firmly planted at Lucy's side.

"Wyldstyle," Unikitty began softly, "do you really think that Emmet would rather never talk to you again?"

Lucy shook her head. “But... I’m scared," she replied, her voice low and ashamed.

"I know it sucks to think that you can hurt your friends without meaning to, but that doesn't mean that you should stop being their friend. It just means that you need to try and pay closer attention to the things that they say, and the way that your words and actions affect them. It's hard work sometimes, but it's the right thing to do."

Unikitty rested a comforting paw against her friend's knee. "I think it's something that we've ALL been failing at recently," she finished.

Lucy looked up, meeting Unikitty's eyes and seeing the same shame reflected there. Glancing to the other two Masterbuilders, she could see that they also shared the same guilt, and the same conviction.

With a deep breath, Lucy rubbed her face dry and pulled herself to her feet.

"Emmet deserves better than how we’ve been treating him, but he also deserves better than being alone. You guys are right - we need to find him."

Her newfound determination was contagious, and the others leapt to their feet beside her.

"I want to do right by him," Lucy resolved. "No matter how many tries it tak-”

“UM GUYS?!”

General Mayhem burst into the room, completely out of breath. “Benny and I… huff… just got the long range scanners back online.”

For the first time in years, Lucy felt hope leap in her chest.

"Did you find Emmet?" Unikitty bounded towards the alien, stars literally glimmering in her eyes from excitement.

Mayhem grimaced. “Not exactly...” She fidgeted for a moment, trying to work out what to say, before giving up with a shrug. “It... it might just be easier to show you.”

The Masterbuilders nodded, and followed the General back towards her ship or, at least, what had originally been her ship. Repairing it was a much more difficult task now that her control device had been broken, and since they were starting from scratch anyways, she and Benny had decided to change the design in order to increase the occupancy load.

As the group entered the half-finished thing, they could see the blue spaceman tucked under a panel of bright blinking lights. He seemed to hear them enter, and pulled himself out in time to greet them. Mayhem strode over to the console and pressed a combination of controls. The screen flashed to life behind her, and glowing lines began to crawl across it, scrawling out a rough map.

"Okay," Mayhem gestured up towards the lower left corner of the screen. "This green spot here is Apocalypseburg. And this bit," her hand trailed up across the length of the screen, "is the Stairgate."

“And what are all those little red triangles coming out of the Stairgate?” Unikitty asked, reaching up to paw at the blinky lights.

"Um... well," Mayhem stammered.

“Oh!" Benny interjected. “That's the Systarian War Fleet!”

“Heck yeah.” Batman cracked his knuckles in anticipation of a fight.

“Heck NO.” Lucy replied, shooting him a quick glare before turning to look at Mayhem helplessly. “Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is there a WAR FLEET heading towards us?

“W-Well, remember when I said that Queen Whatevra might um, possibly, maybe retaliate for you guys um…. kidnapping me a little?"

“But!" Unikitty exclaimed. "We totally un-kidnapped you right after!"

"They don't know that!" Mayhem explained. "We've got the scanners back online, but the communication array is still in pieces. I haven't been able to send them any messages yet."

Lucy had a bad feeling about this. She stared at the ships on the map, burning the image into her retinas. The screen blinked, and they all moved about a pixel closer to the green splotch at the bottom.

“Mayhem,” she started, “if you aren't able to send a message before the fleet arrives, will… will it be…”

The General nodded grimly. “It could mean Ourmomaggedon.”

“How long will it take to fix?" Unikitty asked nervously.

“I don't know." Mayhem looked tired and close to tears. "I've always had my remote control, so I've never had to build the ship myself. Benny can help some, but apparently this technology is not his 'thing'."

Benny nodded. "Definitely produced after the 1980's."

Lucy cupped her chin in her palm, deep in thought. There was an idea growing in the back of her mind, but it would definitely be risky.

"Okay guys," she broke the tense silence, "hear me out."

"Oh no," Batman groaned. "How are you gonna one up ‘I let the evil Emmet clone go’ this time?"

“Sorry," Mayhem interjected. "What was that?"

"Uh, nevermind!" Lucy pressed past the question. "I have a plan!" She turned to the spaceman beside her. "Benny, how long would it take you to get this ship flying?"

He shrugged. “Probably not too long. I've already been building our rescue ship, so we could just pull the engine off of there. Why?”

“Um, could we go back to the part about letting the evil guy go?” Mayhem's question fell on deaf ears.

“I think we'll have to deliver this message ourselves.” Lucy finished. "We'll meet the war fleet head-on and try to explain everything."

“It be worth a shot!” Metalbeard agreed. "I'll be stayin' here though t' rally the crew. If you landlubbers get blown to tiny heroic smithereens, the rest of the city needn't be caught unawares."

Mayhem looked unsettled at the implication, but couldn't deny the possibility that the Systarians might shoot first and ask questions later.

“But what about Emmet?" Unikitty asked.

The other Masterbuilders fell silent. On the screen, the red ships moved another space forwards.

“Well,” Benny broke the silence. “He’s in space, we’re going to space... maybe we’ll just bump into him!”

Batman scoffed. “Right, like that will happen.”

#lego movie 2 #tlm2 #took me year to get back to this but by god Im gonna finish it #eventually.....

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