#shoulders back arms dangling chin up feet stomping

[infantilevice]

Madonna is just such an impressively bad actor. The way she can't even manage to make walking down a hallway look natural is awe inspiring.

[celabi]

hm.. dad scummy mouche…hm I’m going to get him pregnant hm.

i feel like, no matter how many years have passed since scaramouche has evolved into a proper man and has some what [not really] outgrew his scummy teenage and early adult years, he still gets a little embarrassed around you. like, no matter how long you’ve been married, or how many times you’ve seen him nude, he can’t help but look away shyly when he catches you staring, or sigh shakily when you compliment him. so, he’s glad that he’s got his little helper to help him express his love to you on the days where he’s feeling just a little embarrassed.

thirty years old. no longer this scrawny teen with pimples and greasy hair, no. he has stubble on his chin, tattoos on his arms, piercings in his ears…and yet he gets nervous around his wife, and bribes his daughter with ice cream, to compliment her for him.

scaramouche hums when he feels a little tug on his pants, and when he turns his head down to see what it is now; he meets the eyes of his little girl, who stares back up at her dad with gleaming cheekiness. he smiles, and wipes the dish soap off his hand and on the fabric of his shirt before bending down and scooping her up into his arms. she beams happily, reaching up to tug on his purple hair. “daddy! mama told me to say to you… ‘thank you’ and that she thinks you’re very um, gor—jus? as well!” her little grubby hands tug on his locks with more force then she probably realises, and he can slowly start to feel a headache coming along from how hard she’s pulling. “she’s right! you are gor—jus daddy!” she swings her feet, twisting and turning the strands of his hair between her little fingers.

“hm, not as gorgeous as mommy, though…” he sighs wistfully, staring blankly at the wall. the little girl in his grasp playfully gags at the look in her fathers eyes. “dad! that’s so gross! don’t you think you love mommy a bit too much…?” her chubby fingers moves to poke at his cheek, which drags him back down to earth.

he shakes his head in slight, “no, mommy likes it.”

“are you sure? mommy probably thinks you’re weird with how much you look at her…”

he frowns, “yeah, okay… that’s enough of that.” and bends down to place her back to the floor, making her huff and puff in disbelief. he sighs, rubbing his temples: “how about instead of poking fun at daddy… you go and tell mommy that I think she looks pretty, and that i’ll make dinner for us tonight.” he shoulders sag, making him chuckle as he lightly pats her head. “aw again? your cooking blows, and mommy is gonna get sick of you if you tell her that all the time…”

he tuts, and shakes his head. “yeah right… she had all of her life to get rid of me, i’m not going anywhere, anytime soon… so suck it.” he teases lightly, flicking her forehead, which has her scowling.

“ugh, dad you stink so much!” she stomps her little feet as she runs off. “this is why mommy always stops to say hi to mr.capitano at school!”

“huh?! she does what now?!”

scaramouche likes to think he’s a good influence on his daughter, but his wife digresses.

scaramouche watches as his daughter pulls you by the hand and towards the front door, where she carelessly flops on her behind and raises her legs up into the air, shoes dangling off her feet. “please tie my shoes mama!”

he sighs, leaning his cheek in his palm. a cozy little home with both of his favourite girls… life is good, he thinks, and mentally pats his past self on the back for having such amazing rizz… [stealing your underwear and chewing your gum had really paid off]. the sounds of tiny feet padding along the floor pulls him out of his thoughts, makinghim look down, where his little girl is beaming back up at him with her arms stretched, waiting for her hug. heof course does, and bends down to pick her up, where her head flops onto his shoulder. “bye papa, see you after school!” so energetic, so early in the morning… scaramouche doesn’t know how she does it. either way, he huffs, and moves his hand up to smooth down her hair, ridding the knots and strays caused by her excitement.

“have a good day, baby… and remember what I told you? if any of those nasty boy teachers smile at mommy when she drops you off… tell them that your daddy kills people.”

“got it, dad!”

[r3starttt]

ON YOUR SIDE

PAIRING: blue collar! abby anderson x reader

CW: comfort. mentions of stress, and lots of insecurities, sad Abby!

SUMMARY: Abby comes home after work, exhausted, worn out and feeling insecure for it.

DON'T BUY TLOU | PALESTINE MP PALESTINE LINKS | DAILY CLICK

TAGLIST | - abby taglist: @imdrowningindispair @rkivedpages

Entirely opposite to her silent exit this morning to not wake you up from your very comfort in betweenthe pillows and blankets and Abby's warmtheventually fading next to you, Abby returns quite late, at night along the crickets who started to chirp. You heard the ingeniere of your- her, shared car, but didn't really bothered on standing from the chair you've been sitting for half a second if not less. Households aren't as peaceful as you've expected

With a stomp, a huff, and the interruption of your dinner, she doesn't even bother on taking her jacket off- Slowly and lazily but very much desperately walking to you. She embraces you with her arms around you, slumping over you from behind like a heavy blanket. Clothes and face slightly covered with an old layer of building grime.

"Hey babe," she grunts, hugging you loosely around the neck, chin on your head moving down your shoulder and over her arm to press the smallest kiss on your cheek. You could be mad at her, you could, but... she's so pathetically tired and all she wants is to smoosh her face into you and be with you. "You look exhausted. nice day?" Her response comes out a soft hum, following you with her same closeness as you look for a clean plate to serve her dinner as well.

"Go sit on the couch baby, have some rest" The vibrations of her groan on your neck tickles you, elicting that smile its for her and her only. You turn around, leaving the smallest kiss on the corner of her lips who weakly mock that smile on your face.

She grumbles, but her muscles have no fight left even to hold her own body weight. Abby obliges to your directions, though she's slower to reach the couch than you're sure she used to be. She lays down face-first, her long legs dangling off the edge, and mumbles something into the pillows. It doesn't take any genius to know that she's completely wiped out.

You, on the other hand, not as exhausted but surerly tired ,make your way to the table once again to serve her plate and enough food for her to end perfectly full. The second you catch a glimpse of her body from the kitchen, there's that smile again; she'd never come home this exhausted, and as much as you know this means she'd been busy- which makes her happy, for you it's like your heart breaking a little. All she does for you.

With quiet steps you go back to her, making sure the plates are served, the glasses are full- with some ice for her- You stand next to her, your fingers caressing her shoulders over her jacket for her to help you take it off- which she obbeys, taking the arms first. Then you go back to her feet, undoing the lace of her boots and taking them off with ease. Abby lets out a groan, blabbering something you'd asume was a 'thanks' as usual. your attention makes her melt.

And the moment you're right next to her scrunched sleepy face, kneeling into the carpet you just cleaned today- your eyes met, as if speaking with your minds. "I love you," she murmurs, lifting her face just slightly, just to look at you. She reaches a hand out to pet your hair lazily. "You're my favorite."

"Yeah, I know," you smile back at her, a proud shrug. Not like she had anyone else to take her boots and her jacket off, let her lay in the couch you also just cleaned today, make her favorite dinner because at the absence of any message today you knew she had been busy and what else than receiving her with that dish she adored. "Need you to go eat something, then shower and finally go to sleep." You just look at each other in silence, her eyes blinking, clearly struggling to keep herself awake- for you, mostly.

"Can't I just skip the eating part?" She tries to bargain with you, a small smile on her face to try and pull your heartstrings. "I'm not hungry. I'm just tired."

"Eat something, please," you lay your head nex to hers, the couch feeling a bit too comfortable the second your breathing mingles and your hands on her face- who were originally cleaning some dirt from her face- end pressed against her cheek and under her own hand. Abby cuddles closer to you, her face into your hand, and closes her eyes. You can feel, even without her saying it, how much she craves your touch on her. She's just plain worn out.

"I promise once you're back on your feet you'll have enough strength, you can still make it." your voice a murmur to give you both the last strength to finish the day properly. To have a decent rest and put on your alarms for next day. To go bed an cuddle for the most lovely five seconds before you both get lost in sleep.

Abby huffs at that, a very 'I know you're right so I'm going to do what you say' kind of thing. But she reaches up with her hand and grabs your chin between her fingers, which you follow, with wide eyes open once again.

"You're going to shower with me then," she mutters, very matter-of-factly. "I will," you nod. "Just hurry, don't want you sleeping too late."

For a few more seconds, she lingers on the couch, gathering her last remaining ounces of energy before she pushes up into a seated position, then a standing one, and finally walks herself over to the table.

-

You open the taps, releasing a cascade of warm water that immediately fills the space with a comforting steam. You step into the shower first, letting the heat embrace you.

Abby follows soon after, shedding her clothes and stepping into the shower with you. The moment the water touches her skin, her eyes flutter shut, and she lets out a sigh of relief as the grime and exhaustion begin to wash away. She stands there, letting the water rejuvenate her sore muscles and stiff joints, her body slowly relaxing under the soothing stream.

You watch her, a smile playing on your lips at the sight of her finally finding some respite. Her tired face reflects the strain of the day, but also the pleasure of the warm water. Your eyes meet, and without a word, she moves closer, resting her head against your shoulder with a lazy sigh. She mumbles something against your skin, her arms wrapping around you for support.

"Mhm?" you murmur, encouraging her to repeat herself. The pads of your fingers gently run through her braid, undoing it as the water cleans away the dirt. She hums in satisfaction, the tension in her body melting away.

"I said," she grumbles more clearly, "I smell awful. I'm gross to touch right now, and I'm sorry about that." She closes her eyes, leaning more heavily into you. "Everything kinda hurts when it didn't before. I need to stop working so much... and I hate that."

"Oh, Abby, baby..." Your hands leave her hair to cup her face, her cheeks flushed from the warmth. "You're never gross," you insist, shaking your head. Her sleepy eyes and furrowed brows mirror your own concern. "I just want you to shower because I know it helps you relax, okay? Nothing else." You press a small kiss to her lips. "If you're too tired, you can always take a break. I don't want you overworking. You know I'd love to be the one going to work while you stay at home, yeah?"

Abby pouts at your kiss, clearly wanting more than just a quick peck, but she doesn't argue. Instead, she lets her eyes flutter shut and nods slowly, listening to you as she always does.

"I know... it's just, this is my job, it's what I'm good at, and it'd hurt my pride to give it up." She shakes her head, burying it in your shoulder.

You nod, understanding the weight of her words. "It's not worth it if you overdo yourself every day... you've been coming home exhausted this week." You press a kiss to her shoulder, the water cleaning away the final remnants of dirt while your fingers work through her hair, now growing damp.

A weary sigh escapes her. She knows you're right, but it's hard for her to shake the mindset that resting means weakness. She wraps her arms around your waist, leaning her full weight against you.

"I know..." she mumbles into your neck. "I just- I hate being tired at the end of the day. It makes me feel useless."

"You're never useless, baby," you reassure her, your fingers gently massaging shampoo into her scalp. She forgets everything else as your touch works its magic, her groans of pleasure filling the space. "Oh my god, that feels good..." she murmurs, her whole face a picture of bliss and relief. "You're so good to me."

"Shhh, relax, yeah?" Your heart melts at her praise and her vulnerable state.

Her breath comes out in a shuddering sigh. She nods obediently, closing her eyes and allowing the water and your fingers to work away the tension in her muscles. Soon, she's practically boneless, leaning her body into yours for support.

"Fuuuuck," she moans quietly under her breath. "You're so good to me." Every praise she utters is met with a tender kiss.

Once you’re done with her scalp, you run the shampoo through her hair, giving it all a thorough massage. You let the water rinse the soap from her hair, quickly washing your own as well.

All she can do is stand there and lean on you. She's far in a state of bliss from the combination of hot water and your tender touch, making quiet noises occasionally that could be interpreted as moans if you felt inclined to. There was no need of more for you to understand she was head over heels for you.

After a few more moments, she finally seems to find her voice. "Babe?" she mumbles into your shoulder.

"Yeah, baby?" you mutter, letting the water run to clean the shampoo off your hair. You grab the soap and washcloth, passing it gently over her shoulders first.

"I love you," she mutters. The words come out as easily as she can summon them, and there's a hint of vulnerability in them, in the way her body leans on yours and how she stays still for you. "I love you. You know that, right? I... I never want to disappoint you."

"I'm pretty much aware of that, yeah," you nod, your words accompanied by a small laugh. She's far too tired and sleepy to realize it's not her heart but her mind talking, the fear and stress and overstimulation of life mixing with her genuine care.

You have her turning around to clean her back now, the pads of your fingers hugging her arm to do so. "You could never disappoint me. Never."

She goes easy against your touch, leaning back in your direction as you get to her back. Once the muscles are nice and loose from your touch, she turns back around to face you again, though her eyes don't open.

She doesn't want to sound insecure or doubting, but she can't help the words that leave her mouth. "I feel like I'm lettin' you down by being... tired."

"Oh no, baby," you whisper, taking a deep breath before pressing a small kiss right on a spot on her shoulder where the water had cleaned all the soap. "Don't ever think that again, Abigail. I'm so proud of you, and it breaks my heart to see you exhausted like this, but... it makes you happy, and you enjoy it so much? And that's just admirable."

Everything - your sweet kisses, your soft touch, your kind words - all of it makes her feel a little more vulnerable and a little more in need of you. She lets out a sigh against your kiss and shudders faintly.

"I do," she mumbles against your skin. "I love it. But... it's killing me, babe. And I'm not used to feeling so weak."

"Yeah, I guessed," your words another effort to change the weight of her words, trying everything to give her any comfort. "But it's fine, baby, it'll pass. I promise."

This comfort, however, only reminds her that you're right. You are - she does feel weak, vulnerable. But she loves it. She's safe here, and she'll be each day she comes back from work. There's at least one hour at the end of the day with comfort, love, calm- warmth assured for her.

"Yeah, I know," Abby mutters, reaching a hand out to run through your hair. "But I still hate it. I hate feeling so dependent."

"Dependent?" Your hands move down to scrub at her arms, down her stomach, her lower back. You can feel her muscles taut and sensitive from exhaustion and tension. Abby nods faintly as you say the word. "Dependent. Vulnerable. Weak. I need you to wash me like a... baby right now. I hate being like this."

"There's nothing wrong with it," you shake your head, pressing another kiss against the skin of her shoulders. "I'll never expect you to come back home after work with all the energy- we're both working on this."

The exhaustion is still winning over, though, leaving her muscles slack and her mind weak as she tries to process what you're saying.

"I just hate feeling like this, is all," she says quietly. "I should be able to... like, take care of myself and wash my own body. I shouldn't need this much from you."

"But you do, and I'm so in love with it," you shrug. "You know, the idea of the day ending is horrible for me too because I feel like I never do enough for you, or myself?..." you pause, giving her enough time to interrupt. "You do plenty, babe- Probably too much."

You shake your head. "Anxiety eats me alive, and then I see you and I realize I get to take care of you, cook food we'll eat together... shower with you and clean the dirt off your body, massage you... kiss you, hug you. And then I think, I feel so at peace, we're both doing it just perfect," each word that brushed past your lips soft and soothing. Your hands finish cleaning her body, letting the water take the soap and dirt and sweat and anything else with it.

"Thank you for... being so damn good to me." She lets out a quiet sigh as the water starts to rinse the soap off of her body, her muscles still slack and relaxed just where you left them.

"Always," you murmur, your lips brushing hers in a tender kiss followed by small pecks. She responds with quiet, satisfied little moans, her mind too blank for conscious thoughts; she's relying solely on pure instinct and emotion at this point.

"Babe...." her mutter in between kisses makes you stop. It's the only word she can summon in her exhausted brain.

"Yeah?" you reply with a small nod, your hands moving to her cheeks, thumbs making small circles over the freckles adoring her pretty flushed cheeks.

It doesnt take long before Abby’s almost leaning into your hands as her eyes flutter shut again. She can't seem to form a single coherent thought, only able to respond in vague hums. Her own hands finally move up to your body as she leans in for more kisses, her body still lax from the combination of hot water and your gentle touch.

You smiled in between, her lips were sloppy and vague, and she couldn't stop but reminding you how much she's so grateful, how much she loves you each time the space between your bodies allowed her to speak.

It was such an intimate moment, so vulnerable.

It's almost like she's worshipping you with every little moan and sigh that leaves her mouth and the constant, almost desperate way she tries to respond to your kisses. There's a vulnerable honesty in her words, and also in her sounds and her body, as she clings to you like a lifeline. Every touch makes her shiver a bit, and she can barely speak as her brain is reduced to mush by your touch. "I love you," she whispers, like a mantra. "so much."

"Love you more," you whispered back.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Prey 2

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, includes violence, noncon/dubcon, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: while out on a hunt, you become the hunted.

Characters: Kraven the Hunter (viking AU)

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself💜

Voices stir in the air with the taste of salt. The coast isn’t far. It hardly matters where you are. You know it’s far from your mother’s hovel. What’s more, you are trapped. Bound and draped over this man’s shoulder like a slain deer. 

You writhe, trying to kick free of his grasp. He keeps his arm firmly hooked around your legs. In response to your struggle, he strikes your haunch. You grumble and exhale against his hide jacket. From his other shoulder, a bunch of rabbit dangle; the ones he stole from your traps. 

He is silent still. He grunts but it is not angry. It is dulcet, as if he is amused. 

You wiggle again, trying to see past him as the murmur grows louder. There are others near. The mulch of dirt beneath boots and the stakes set between lengths of rope suggest a camp. A figure approach but you are blinded by the back of your captor. 

“We discovered scavengers near the forest. They have been dispatched.” The man informs the one who carries you. A similar grumble meets the news. “They are rampant in these parts.” 

Yet another dull rumble. He proceeds past the other with undaunted steps. By your measure, he is deferred to, if not a leader, at least a feared warrior. 

You turn your head this way and that. Pits burn beneath boiling pots or simply amid the cluster of bodies whetting blade or carving bone. A whole horde of warriors like the one who ensnared you. They glance back at you and several give pause as they linger. 

There are women too but they pay little mind. They are dressed as the men are, sat beside shield and blade. You bend your knees in an attempt to ram them into the man’s ribs. You know it would do little to truly free you but as fate closes in, so too does desperation. 

On and on. Men look over and dip their heads or avert their gaze. Their reactions all but assure you of the sort of beast that carries you. 

He bends and enters a tent behind a pit. In an instant, you are swung up and back. You land on the ground so hard the air rushes from your chest. You wheeze as the man snickers. You cough and roll onto your side. Your fingers tingle from the tight binding around your wrist and your legs chafe in your leggings. 

He moves around you to sit on his pack. You watch him unsling the rabbits and unsheath a short blade from his belt. He diligently begins to skin his stolen game. For a moment, you wonder if you should be next. 

Silently, he carries on in his task until he is done. The prepared hare are laid in a wide wooden bowl. He stands and wipes the knife on his jacket. He comes close and squats as he presses the tip to his calloused finger. 

You stare at the knife then look at him. You lift your head and stare him down. He chuckles and slips the knife back into its sheath. 

He reaches for you and you scowl. He touches your cheek, his roughened fingertips brushing down to your chin. He cups his hand under your jaw and squeezes firmly. He makes you sit up as he examines you. He turns your head this way, then the other. 

He lets go and flips his hand. He brings his other up to pull apart the collar of your tunic. He clucks in his throat and yanks until the laces snap. You tense and try to shake him off as he stretches the fabric to look past it. He moves one hand to fondle you. He grunts as you do the same and stomp your feet towards him. 

He makes a noise between his teeth and taps your cheek then points in your face. You still. He feels along your chest and your torso. He kneads your stomach and frames your waist. You growl and gnash your teeth. He shoves his hand between your legs and hums. You twitch. 

“Healthy,” he appraises. The first word he speaks. His voice is silty like the shores. His blue grey eyes meet your glare and he smirks. “Could eat.” 

You’re not sure what he means. If you could do with a good meal or he could. He flutters his fingers before drawing away. He goes back to the bowl of rabbits and lifts it. He leaves, knowing you can’t do the same. 

You gulp. There’s no mistake to be made. It’s certain why you are here. You are game too but your end is not so swift as the hare. 

The warm of his hand clings between your legs. It makes you shudder. You look down at the slack tunic. Your heart pounds against your ribs. He felt that too. 

You curl your fingers but not all the way. The straps are too tight. Your legs ache from the friction between them and your spine throbs rigidly. You shift up onto your knees and wobble. You try to shuffle forward on knee and toe. You fall over with a thump and a groan. 

The man laughs from outside. You know is at your expense, that he can hear you through the hide walls. It is all futile, he knows it as well as you. But it isn’t funny to you. It is terrifying. 

You lay on the floor, beside the disposed pile of fur. You smell the blood. You close your eyes and shudder. You are not used to being the one caught in a trap. 

[axiro]

Through the Dragon's Eyes || Talon AU Hanzo Shimada

Chapter Four - Malevolence

A new home.

Chapter Master List || AO3

Any underlined text signifies background music/ambiance is linked. :)

Sight draws to a wooden hallway ahead of him. Lanterns hung off to the side like flickering tears from the roof above. He examines the walls, the ground beneath his feet, and then, a sliding paper door at the opposite end. Wait. This feels... familiar. It's deathly quiet, a chill in the air rising his hair to peaks.

He's been here before. Seen this before. As if his body is puppeteered by a force not his own, he begins to move familiarly as well, slowly treading down the walkway. A prisoner in his own form, he can only watch as once again events repeat themselves like the previous instance, only this time, it seems to drag by even slower. His running. The violent shaking of the floorboards. The blue haze. Turns out, the pace isn't the only thing different. Out of the corner of his eye, as he's dashing through the self-destructing area, he notices the lanterns that dangle ominously have changed color. Instead of a normal warm, orange glow, they're a chilling, icy blue. The walls also bleed black, the substance seeping from the top edge.

His mind fights to free itself, to grab the controls of this train before it hits the end of the tracks. His efforts are fruitless when his body simply will not respond to his mental commands. Once again, he finds himself staring down into the blue abyss in front of the doorway, it's distance seeming closer than before as if it's teasing him, making him believe he has a chance to reach it.

The stomping can be heard through the hissing vapor around him, sending a chill up his spine. Again, he's left with the same choice. Yet, another thought crosses by. What if he faced it? He doesn't even know what it is, how could he know the choice he's about to make is the right one?

His body chooses for him, and in the same motions as before, a few steps back are taken. Harsh running steps forwards. Arms slamming upon the other side. 

The same misfortune. 

The same end.

-

Hanzo wakes with a start, a gasp tearing down his throat. His body aches from the hard surface he had to settle for during the night, the vivid imagery of the dream still haunting his mind.

It rained all night. The splashing upon the concrete emitting a strong smell of petrichor throughout the clouded twilight hours. He isn't sure how much sleep he actually got, but it certainly wasn't much, telling by how heavy his body feels. Upon a rooftop underneath a solid metal platform is where he lie upon his back, his quiver used as support for his head. The sky's tears still trickle down, yet much less so than before. He was able to stay mostly dry, making it to this spot before it had really started to turn to a downpour prior to settling down for the night.

He tiredly drags his right arm up to rest on his chest, his heartbeat pounding through his fingers. He takes slow, deep breaths to center himself for a few minutes. Eventually, he rolls over onto his side to face his bow that lies next to him, reaching out to grab and drag it closer while he forces himself to his knees.

Picking up his quiver by it's strap, he swings it over his shoulder, situating it upon his back before doing the same with his bow, it's string belting across his chest. He stands, ducking out from beneath the metal platform, the light rain tapping gently on his body. Now that he's chosen this path through Talon, he suspects there will be many sleepless nights to come. His chin tilts upwards and he gazes into the dark clouds above, letting the liquid patter on his face. For a moment, eyelids shut, returning his amber hues to darkness. He feels the gentle breeze, listening. Soaking in the atmosphere of the city around him, the hum of hover cars, the music from shops and distant chatter below, he finds his resolve and levels his head. Reaching into his pouch, he pushes past the generator fuse and his phone to grip the small metal disk, pulling it out in his palm.

With a press of his thumb to it's center, it emits a soft beep. A few long seconds later, it spits out a small blue light cone, a form fizzing into view within it.

"Well. Made your choice, have you?"

The digitized face of the assailant from the day before stares right through him. Despite it's non-physical form, it still makes Hanzo want to launch his fist into it, his grip tightening on the small device.

"Just tell me where to meet." Hanzo spits.

"Right to the point. Commendable." The masked man replies, rather dryly.

"We'll come to you. Just stay put."

Tracking device confirmed, just like he suspected. Sucking his teeth behind his lips, Hanzo simply glares at the hologram before pressing the center of the disk again to hang up the call. He's only a couple buildings away from his estate and since he confirmed they operate from there now, they mustn't be long. He was right again as he saw a hovercraft emerge from the direction of the Shimada home not ten minutes later. It's much smaller than the dropship that left the night before. It's booming jets grow closer and closer until it cuts the rainfall from above, slowly lowering. He steps out of it's way, allowing it space to land. As it touches down, a door on it's side flushes open, revealing a solid white interior.

He takes one last look out towards the city. He mentally promises to return, finally taking his first steps towards the aircraft, once again, leaving everything he's known behind.

-

Hours pass.

Sitting with his arms crossed, belted into a seat in the back of the craft that's cut off from the cockpit, he tries to determine where he's being taken. The time that's already gone leads him to believe he won't be in Japan anymore. Despite his exhaustion, there's no way he can sleep. No way he can let his guard down. His hand grips his upright bow tightly, so much so his knuckles turn white.

More hours pass.

He occasionally rises from his chair to pace the thin seating area, which luckily has enough space for him to do so. He also fiddles with one of his arrows, spinning it around in his hand, sometimes holding his fist around the metal head and dragging the pad of his thumb across it's point with increasing intensity by each minute. He hadn't even realized he broke skin until he noticed a drop of red liquid rolling down the arrow's shaft.

He then returned to pacing.

Back and fourth. Back and fourth. Back and fourth.

Finally, he feels the decent of the craft, his head hanging as it touches down. He fishes out his phone. Seems it's already adjusted to the time difference as the digital numbers display 12pm. Feels like he's literally gone back in time when in reality, in this part of the world it's simply a different hour on the clock. He remained awake the entire time, luckily able to stave off passing out on a few occasions as almost an entire day passed him by in a windowless heap of metal.

He stands from his seat, eager to get off this damn hovercraft and see where he's been dragged off to. The door hisses open, splitting from center and slipping off to the sides allowing sunlight to flood in. He squints and cranes his neck away from the sudden direct light for a few moments as his eyes adjust. Once the initial pain of his pupils constricting subsides, he relaxes his eyes to look around. It seems to be just a relatively normal, yet very large helipad. Once he pans his eyes just a little more up, he finally gets to take in the city past it's edge. He steps out, taking several strides as he trains his eyes on the city in the distance. Rounded rooves, unlike the angled nature of the ones he's familiar with. Based off the rest of the architecture he can see, it's one hundred percent an entirely different country.

The hovercraft's door slides closed once more before it begins to power down. He turns, silver sash curling through the air behind him as he observes two soldiers marching their way over. The uniforms are the same ones as back home. Black base, red and white accents, pulse rifles in hand. Hanzo stands tall as they approach, sharp eyes shifting to one, then the other. Once they reach him, they step opposite of each other, splitting an opening in between them and keeping their bodies facing him, signifying they are there to escort him. He's silent. He remains still, staring past them to catch the sight of someone with a few more guards alongside them in a large doorway across the helipad. From where he stands, the first thing that catches his attention is their hair. Red. The figure is also rather lanky and their hands are behind their back.

He then begins to walk, bow in hand, striding gracefully towards the entry to the facility with the two soldiers tailing close behind. It feels like an eternity of a thirty second walk, though he now finds himself face to face with the figure in question. It's an older woman with features rather gaunt alongside heterochromia. One blue eye, one red. 

She speaks, her voice sultry and level.

"Welcome to Talon, Mr. Shimada."

[unknownjpegs]

run rabbit

He slips around a corner, feet sliding on the polished marble tile. It shines here and there with the reflection of the ugly fucking sconces dotting the ballroom. He nearly upends as he pulls himself into the connected hall. A quick glance at the double doors at the far end tells him that it leads towards the kitchen. The servants quarters. Maran drops his head back against the wall with a deep, shaking breath that burns his lungs. He’d been running for so long, it felt like. 

And honestly, he really didn’t want to go out in that rich fuck’s ballroom; an empty, echoing chamber that functioned less for hosting and more as a gratuitous wealth display. Head still tilted, Maran glares up at the glass chandelier dangling high above. He imagines the cord snapping, imagines watching it fall in a glittering, chaotic storm. He imagines it shattering on the marble floor. Imagines that it scratches the shine. Would someone just be made to buff it out?

“I k-know you’re in here, fucker.” 

The voice comes from the far end of the ballroom, the threshold  that Maran scrabbles back into the corner, tucking his legs up to wrap arms around his knees. 

He listens, empty-lunged but not daring to draw another breath because his pursuer will hear, as heavy footsteps stomp across the ballroom. 

Suddenly: a sharp, shattering crash. Scares the fucking daylights out of him. Another. Another. Two more, all coming closer and closer to his shit fucking hiding spot. Maran realizes, with a sinking feeling in his gut, that the masked figure that has been chasing him has a weapon — that the grand floor to ceiling mirrors circling the ballroom are being shattered one by one as they draw closer, closer.

Fuck, he thinks, squeezing his eyes shut. Fuck, Benji, fuck. Where are you, mate? Bit short on time and luck, here.

“I know you’re here. I know wh-where you are.” Crash, step, crash. “Next time you go fucking with somebody’s hard work, maybe think. Think, hey, this guy might know wh-what he’s doing. Might be setting these traps in specific places because he did his research. Because he had a map of the whole estate. And he knows —“ two mirrors shattered in rapid succession, spraying shards underneath the doorway to the hall Maran occupies. His chest tightens with desperate anxiety. Maran reaches for a big piece, makeshift weapon with a knife-like edge that glints prettily. He clutches it tight, pointed away from himself, ready to swing. Ready to fight. He’ll get in one if he needs — just, usually, he prefers to have Benji at his back.

Benji. 

Maran takes a sharp breath, makes it as quiet as possible. He tries not to let the panic overtake him. Not at the approaching opponent, but the idea that Benji might need help, too. If he buys just a little time, he might be able to make a break for it. Might be able to find his way through the hellish maze of a mansion, back to where they’d agreed for rendezvous.

Fuck the prize, Maran thinks. Fuck the fucking prize. Fuck the money, fuck that rich bastard, fuck figurin’ out who killed that smarmy academic loser with the funny name. I wanna get out of here. 

The shattering of mirrors comes closer and closer. Maran makes the decision in the moment — planning has never been a strength of his. He waits. He waits. He waits—

When the footsteps pause just around the corner, he bursts into motion.

Rolling himself to his hands and knees, he squeezes his eyes tight and tosses himself blindly forward.

From luck or instinct, he feels himself connect bodily with his pursuer.  Shoulder to hip bone, Maran cries out at the sting but keeps moving, keeps his momentum. He rolls forward, chin tucked to his chest, and springs to his feet. Eyes popping open to get his bearings, he whirls around with raised fists.

“Fucking —“

The rabbit-masked man kicks himself backwards. He’s on his ass, knocked off-kilter by the force of the collision. Now it’s him pressed back against the wall, long legs and combat boots kicking to put more distance between them. There’s desperate in that movement. Terror, Maran thinks. He’s scared. All this time, the last thirty minutes chasing Maran through every 

“Prick.” Maran spits. His foot kick out and knocks against the stranger’s knee, making him cry out. It sounds pained, but also deep and thick with anger. 

He’s still out of breath from the sprint, from the scare of being cornered, and now finally being face to face with the bastard that chased him all this way. Maran feels a bit of that anger well up in him, as well. He lashes out again, messy with it. 

And the stranger lifts an arm with surprising speed, catching Maran in the crook of his elbow with a crowbar. 

It’s heavy. It’s what he’d been using to shatter the mirrors. And Maran feels similarly shattered. He stumbles back with a loud and sharp cry, clutching at his arm. The pain races a throb up and down, radiating from the spot it’d caught him. 

“Prick,” Maran seethes again. His chest is proper tight now, mouth fish-gaping as he tries to draw air. The panics starts to settle over him like a blanket. Loud, tumultuous rush of noise in his ears — blood pumping the last bits of adrenaline his body can’t provide.

Maran reaches up and wrenches his own devilish mask off, tossing it to the side with a clatter. It slides across the marble ballroom as if the floor is made of ice instead, pushing shards of glass around. With it gone, Maran feels like he can breathe again. He takes two massive lungfuls, then stops abruptly when he sees the rabbit pushing slowly to his feet.

Likewise, Maran takes two exhausted, stumbling steps back. 

“Fucking hell. Fuck you.”

“Fuck you. Asshole. H-How’d you even —“

Maran can’t see much in the ballroom. The glass bits on the ground reflect meager candlelight in dizzying, confusions rainbow arcs. He might have a concussion from a fall he’d taken earlier. His eyes blur, too, as the stay up, stay moving chemicals slowly wane. 

And yet, as the masked man lifts his head to glare at Maran, something energetic and alive crackles silently through the air. Silent, because both of them cease their snarky, angry banter. It’s a strange quiet. One that shouldn’t exist, between the two of them. They should be growling, howling, cursing, yelling as they fight to the death. It is, after all, the only way Maran is going to make it back to Benji — getting this one out of his way.

The exhaustion becomes a physical force in the wake of that strange, crackling energy. He slumps forward, hands braced on his knees. But he doesn’t let the rabbit out of his sight: keeps hooded, mistrusting eyes aimed ahead under narrowed lids as he tries to catch his breath.

“The traps?” Maran pants, laughing breathlessly when the enemy nods. “Oh, those were yours, huh? The absolute fucking dogshite, shoddy ones? Yeah, Figures you’d be mad. Pulled the fuckers apart like they were nothing.”

The rabbit bristles, broad shoulders drawing up.

And then Maran finds himself suddenly on his back, legs kicking as he’s held to the cold ground by one very strong hand in the center of his chest. The crowbar raises, arcing gracefully up into the air, and Maran finds himself staring up at— 

“Didn’t even get a chance to let me catch my breath. Dickhead.” Maran offers a laugh, both hands rising to lock around the man’s forearm. He sucks his teeth in resigned disappointment. “You’re such a cheating loser, y’know that? Fightin’ dirty, not giving me a chance.”

“I—“ 

The weight lifts. Maran is freed, his shirt released, the crowbar dropped with a clang to the ground. He kicks himself backwards, eyes wide with shock.

Another lingering, dragging silence. Maran is given the opportunity to catch his breath as the two of them stare at one another. Both of their chests heave, their eyes unblinking, andMarna’s been given the opportunity — 

So he takes it. 

With a final burst of energy, he rocks to his knees and shoves the rabbit-mask backwards. Then Maran kicks himself upright, nearly slipping just as he had darting into the shit, gaudy, ugly, awful now-destroyed ballroom.

“Thanks mate!” He throws the goading comment over his shoulder as he makes for the door. To the hall, to the servant’s quarters, to the rear exit into the gardens. Maran had looked at a map. And he’s looking forward to a rematch in the dense, confusing maze. 

With an opportunity, with a little extra time, he can set some traps of his own. It isn’t until he stands outside the towering every green archway that leads into the depths of foliage that he realizes that he could have won that fight easy. His hands are empty. The ragged glass shard, his potential makeshift weapon, had been tossed away at some point.

He doesn’t remember doing that. All he remembers as he disappears into the misty depths of the maze is two electric-blue, pale eyes peering at him from beneath that strange mask.

[scriveyner]

always summer #18

always summer #18: intercrural | bungou stray dogs |👿🐯 | #kinktober 🔞| ~1100 words

“I see that your evasive maneuvers still lack quite a bit of finesse,” Akutagawa said, having caught Atsushi in a tangle of Rashomon just inside the tree line. Atsushi had hit the ground hard and managed to lose his water gun in the ground cover at the same time.

Continue on ao3 or:

“Oh, come on,” he groaned, chin in the dirt. “Using abilities is cheating.”

“I recall no such rule,” Akutagawa said, arms folded and water still dripping from his hair. Atsushi had gotten the drop on him—literally—and he was going to make a big deal out of it, so Atsushi kicked his legs and started to roll to his feet, only for Rashomon to whip around Akutagawa, producing the cooler that had been sitting by the grill, and proceeded to dump its entire contents over Atsushi’s head.

“COLD!” Atsushi shrieked as half-melted ice cubes went everywhere. He transformed his legs without even thinking about it, freeing himself from Rashomon and going straight up the very large, very old tree they were underneath. Akutagawa smugly collected Atsushi’s abandoned weapon and stood at the base of the tree, looking up.

“That,” Atsushi yelled, barely visible several branches deep, “was a massive overreaction!”

“On the contrary,” Akutagawa said as Rashomon closed the cooler and Akutagawa perched atop his new seat, still looking quite smug, “it is well within the rules of engagement to exploit any known weaknesses.”

Atsushi said, straddling the tree branch, “I know where you sleep.”

Rashomon shot up the tree and severed the branch from the trunk. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Atsushi said in the split second before gravity won the day and he crashed through the trees and back to the forest floor.

“Now then,” Akutagawa said primly, as a shower of broken twigs and leaves rained down upon them both, “what lesson have you learned today, weretiger?”

Lying flat on his back, and with all ten claws dug deep into the severed branch hugged to his chest, Atsushi said, “I hate you so much right now.”

“And here I thought cats landed on their feet.”

“I am going to make you eat that water gun!”

“Oh, you are, are you?” Akutagawa allowed Rashomon to dangle the plastic weapon above both their heads. “I would dearly like to see you try to retrieve it, first. Or,” he added, legs crossed at the knee and foot bouncing, “you can have it back for the toll of…hm. One kiss.”

He lifted the foot he had been bouncing illustratively, a smirk on his face, and Atsushi turned in one motion, springing straight into the air, tiger claws flashing toward Rashomon. He had intended to slash through the ability; but while Atsushi was fast, Rashomon was faster, and Akutagawa’s control kept the gun deftly from Atsushi’s hands.

“Two kisses,” Akutagawa said without moving, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

Atsushi snarled and leaped for it again. Akutagawa rested his elbow on his knee and put his chin in his hand, watching Atsushi leapfrog through the trees after the ability, snaking around the trees and through the branches. “If you’re going to be so difficult about this, I will up the ante to an orgasm.”

That distracted Atsushi just enough that he clipped a tree trunk with his shoulder and hit the ground hard. After a moment of inventive cursing—again, passively absorbed from Chuuya—he stomped over to Akutagawa and glared down at him, chest heaving.

“Just one?” he said, and Akutagawa’s smirk grew.

“Are you offering me more?”

Akutagawa clearly intended for there to be some form of negotiation to this; but Atsushi was clearly in no mode to accommodate. He grabbed Akutagawa by the shoulder, and he put up no defense, roughly turned over, hands braced on the cooler automatically to keep him from slamming his chest into it.

“Oh, weretiger,” Akutagawa said mockingly as Atsushi yanked down his shorts—but didn’t get a chance to complete the thought as Atsushi slapped his hand over Akutagawa’s mouth, muffling him.

His other hand went right around Akutagawa’s dick, and Akutagawa made a muffled noise against Atsushi’s palm as he stroked Akutagawa to erect.

Atsushi had fitted himself against Akutagawa’s back, one knee between his legs and breath harsh on his neck. “You just like riling me up,” Atsushi grunted into his skin, and Akutagawa rumbled against his hand and then bit him. Atsushi yanked his hand back, swearing again, and Akutagawa hung his head, mouth open.

“Make it hurt, weretiger,” he panted, braced on his elbows against the cooler’s lid.

Atsushi released his dick and Akutagawa groaned in disappointment, Rashomon rippling from his shoulders until he felt Atsushi rest his own cock against his backside, and he exhaled again, this time eager for it. Atsushi wasn’t really interested in giving him that, though, as his cock slipped lower, tucking into that tight space between Akutagawa’s thighs, and the slick head nudging against the back of his balls. “What are you,” Akutagawa grunted as Atsushi began to thrust in the narrow space. “Ah, fuck, weretiger—that’s not enough…”

He rocked back against Atsushi though, kept his legs tight even without Atsushi’s hand on his hips, and Atsushi sank his teeth into the juncture of neck of neck and shoulder, exposed by the slide of his open shirt. Akutagawa shuddered, groaning appreciatively at the flash of pain; but then Atsushi let out a soft grunt, hips moving quick and uneven, before Akutagawa felt fluid coat the inside of his legs.

“Did you just come?” he snapped, stunned, Atsushi’s breath still being panted into the back of his neck. “Going off so quickly, just like a child—”

Atsushi’s hand slipped down his side as he pulled back, and Akutagawa waited for his fingers again, firm and familiar, to wrap around his aching cock…but that relief did not arrive.

“The toll was only one orgasm, you didn’t mention whose,” Atsushi breathed into his ear, a level of self-satisfied in his voice that Akutagawa was going to have to remove limbs to recompense. Rashomon immediately stabbed the air where Atsushi had been behind him, but punctured nothing, and by the time he whirled, pulling his shorts up one-handed, Atsushi had scooped up the forgotten water gun and bolted.

~*~

Chuuya was smoking on the balcony, having locked Dazai in the master bedroom for the quiet. Movement caught his eye in the distance, and he watched with detached interest as Atsushi bolted out of the trees like a rabbit startled by the shadow of a hawk; several seconds later an enormous wall of Rashomon tentacles followed.

He got a fair distance across the grass before Rashomon reached him, catching him by the ankle and wiping him out. Akutagawa stumbled out of the tree line in its wake, and there was faint yelling that he couldn’t make out from here—but then Rashomon yanked Atsushi off his feet, spun him once through the air, and flung him off roughly in the direction of the lake.

After several seconds, there was a distant splash.

“Huh,” Chuuya said, and blew smoke into the afternoon.

[descendantofthesparrow]

OUAD - deleted/alternate ending

=

You hit the floor with a smack, coughing as Viktoria’s hand curled around your neck and squeezed. You frantically hit at her arm, pained tears in your eyes as you tried to free yourself “(y/n)!” Evie called, grabbing a vase from a pedestal and throwing it at Viktoria’s back, swallowing as the enraged vampire turned on her, tossing you to the floor and turning on Evie, smacking her to the floor with a swift swing from her clawed hand.

You coughed as you regained your stolen breath, sitting up with wide eyes as Viktoria grabbed Evie and shoved her against the wall-hard, Evie’s head smacking with a harsh crack. If Evie had still been human-that probably would’ve killed her. Evie kicked Viktoria back with both feet-nearly crumbling to the ground as Viktoria hit the stairway.

“Stupid girls” Viktoria hissed, her eyes nearly demonic under the dim light of the room, cracking her neck as she got back to her feet-her dark dress trailing across the floor as she stalked you and Evie like prey. You glared back, feeling your necklace warm up against your skin, red glowing energy gathering in your palms “you really think you can change, the last 500 years, just like that?” Evie huffed, grabbing your shoulder and pulling you back towards her-hoping to protect you.

“I killed him” you frowned, remembering when Evie had taken one of the candle sticks and stabbed your beloved in the chest-she hadn’t known the plan between you and Harrison to save her-and ended up trying to kill him. “it’s over.” Viktoria just laughed, showing off her still present fangs “Silly girl, if he were dead-I wouldn’t be able to do this~” within a flash she was on the two of you, her arm reared back to stab Evie in the chest-only to be caught by your magic. You bared your teeth at her, tossing her back in a fluid motion.

“How-” Evie breathed-eyes wide as she took in your abilities, your eyes and necklace glowing red along with your hands. “Evie-get out of here, now.” You hissed, pushing her to the side as Viktoria leaped back at you, swiping at you with her claws-some catching on your exposed skin and face. Evie froze for a moment, wanting to help-but you pushed her towards the doors with your magic and she ran off-telling you to be careful as she did.

You hissed as she cut into your cheek and you pushed her back again-hoping somehow Harrison would pull through the wound Evie had given him and help you take down Viktoria so you could end this nightmare once and for all.

You let out a low huff, bringing your hands up and grabbing at her wrists with your magic-eyes widening as you saw something dangling between her fingers. “No-“ she had your necklace, and her eyes were glinting with vile intention “stop-you don’t know what you’re doing!” Viktoria just cackled, dropping the necklace and stomping on it, turning the crystal to dust beneath her heel.

You released her, hands covering your mouth as you felt your heart crack-something within you breaking as Viktoria stumbled back, suddenly feeling very weak. “What-“ she muttered, bringing her hands up, eyes widening as she only saw her human nails, and her fangs were gone-her inhuman strength no longer coursing through her veins “What-“ she looked up at you, seeing you crumble to the floor, tears streaming down your face as you looked down at the destroyed crystal.

“What was that?” Viktoria screeched, suddenly feeling as if she had only doomed herself instead of winning a battle. You shook your head slowly, your chin dropping to your chest. “WHAT WAS THAT?!” Viktoria screeched again, running up to you and grabbing your neck, barely able to force you to your feet.

“That-that was Harrison’s soul” you whispered, voice cracking with grief. You had lost him, again. Your beloved Harrison was taken away from you once again, and you had a feeling you couldn’t bring him back this time. “The gem was what bound him to this earth…and what gave him his powers, and in turn…yours.” you were dropped back down to the floor, letting yourself fall nearly limp as Viktoria whispered horrifying words to herself, gasping as her skin began to crack, turning to dust before her very eyes.

“no-no, no-NO!” she tried to grab you again, attempting to kill you but her hands disappeared before they could touch you, and with a final scream she collapsed, leaving nothing but ash that wisped away with a wind that seemingly had no origin.

You sat there for what felt like hours-but was maybe only minutes, staring at the precious necklace that had been so easily destroyed. “Harry” you whispered, your jaw clenching as you sobbed, you curled into yourself, your forehead pressing to the polished tile. Everything felt so cold-even with the fire Evie had started clawing at the insides of the manor. “I’m so sorry my love, I failed you”

You could hear Evie call for you, her voice cracking with the effort to scream over the chaos-fire slowly spreading through the manor. You felt eyes on your back and you slowly sat up, turning to see Harrison’s butler-Mr. Fields-glaring at you with a spear in hand, eyes burning with hatred. “I should’ve slit your throat when got the chance” he hissed, walking towards you. “but now is better than never-and I’ll kill that little nig-“

“watch your mouth!” before the butler could utter that horrid word-his neck was snapped, his body dropping to the floor in one quick motion, the spear clattering away from you. You looked up, sobbing as you reached out-Harrison’s hands grabbed your arms and pulled you into his chest. He looked as he did the day he died, his hair falling into his eyes a-which were alight with the soul he had lost so long ago. “How-“ you whispered, not really caring but needing to know. Harrison shook his head, picking you up with ease and swiftly carrying you outside, and you noticed his chest was soaked with his blood-but the wound was already sealed and scarred over. “I don’t know how to explain it my love” Harrison muttered into your ear, dodging a flaming support beam that crashed to the ground across the threshold of the main doors. “but I’ve been given a second chance-now let’s go-Lucy is already outside.”

Lucy-she was alive? But then-why did Viktoria die if the destruction of the gem turn Harrison and Lucy, and possibly Evie, back into humans? You shook your head, taking a deep breath of fresh air as Harrison stepped out of the manor, quickly rushing you towards the other end of the driveway-away from the smoke and embers of the burning manor.

It really didn’t matter-you had your beloved back; truly back and alive-Evie was safe-and Lucy had also been given a second chance it seemed. You could happily forget how it all happened in favor of having Harry back. “(y/n)!” Evie screamed your name, rushing up the driveway towards you, Diya a few feet behind her, both freezing as they saw Harrison. He held up his hands, shedding his red-velvet jacket and tossing it over your shoulders.

“I mean her, nor you any harm Evie-I’m sorry for what I did, we actually had a plan to get you back to New York but” he gestured to his chest-where Evie had stabbed him “you took matters into your own hands-which, bravo” Evie still looked extremely confused-not knowing the backstory between you and ‘Walter’. You just shook your head, turning to Harry and grabbing him-pulling him into a kiss, hearing him let out a shocked noise, his body freezing for a moment as Evie and Diya quickly turned to give you both a moment-Evie’s cheeks flaring with heat.

“Alright then” Evie muttered, crossing her arms and rocking on her heels-perking up as Lucy came running about the corner, huffing as she looked up at the burning manor. “is-is it over-oh” she covered her mouth seeing you and Harry locking lips. You pulled away, giggling as she glanced away, looking a bit embarrassed-Harry falling back on his heels as his cheeks flared bright red.

“I should probably explain huh?” you croaked out-letting Harry help you up, your free hand reaching out to Evie, who took it and nodded frantically-Diya nodding behind her. “yes!? Because-the fuck?!” Evie gestured between you and Harrison “you and Walter?”

You smiled, looking up at your beloved, his bright blue eyes looking right back. He smiled, that smile you had gone to inhuman lengths to get back all those years ago “His name is Harrison, actually” you told Evie, and like that-a lightbulb went off in her eyes.

From there, as the manor burned to nothing but ruins-you explained everything to Evie, Lucy, and Diya; Harrison watched as the manor was destroyed, an odd sense of satisfaction in his chest. He held your hand, feeling your wedding ring push against his skin-and he pulled out his from his pocket, slid it on, and took your hand again. You smiled at the feeling of it, looking up as it began to rain-the five of you staying put as the manor slowly burnt out.

“so, what now?” Evie asked, curling her hands around her knees, and pushing her chin into the soaked fabric of her dress. You hummed, tilting your head into Harrison’s shoulder, squeezing his hand. “let’s get back to New York first” you muttered, frowning as you realized all your stuff was still in the manor-including your passports “fuck.”

“What?” Harrison asked, tilting his head, his brows furrowed. You explain the situation you just realized and he laughed, getting to his feet and running back into the manor-which had stopped burning now thanks to the rain, and disappeared into the smoke; soon returning with a stack of passports-wallets, and your phones. “when did you do that?” you asked, taking your respective items as Harrison handed them to you and Evie, keeping a passport and wallet for himself.

“After you came up to my room this morning.” Harrison muttered, pocketing the items and wrapping his arms around you “had a feeling they would need to be protected, so I put them in the safe, in my study.” You hummed, smart.

“Well” Evie muttered, standing and looking towards the rising sun, you had spent far too much time here “let’s go, shall we?”

-end of deleted/alternate ending-

Yeeee this was the first version of the final chapter(well, not first) and I ended up going with the dragon ending instead~! Small explanation-but as for how Harrison survived/came back to life-his soul-thanks to the spell, is tied directly to (y/n)’s life, he can only die if she does first. All Viktoria did was destroy the spell that turned Harrison into a vamp. As for why Lucy’s alive?....she deserves it, and fuck Viktoria. Also Lucy wasn’t the one to destroy the spell, Viktoria was-there that’s a better explanation lol. Everyone’s human again-and (y/n) got her Harry back~ Anyways this was just for fun~~ happy new year yall~ first fic post of the 2023 year!

@sessediz

[vquacki]

It's My Fatherly Duties!

It's My Fatherly Duties!

Short DAD Scenarios 

Characters: BONTEN - Rindou Haitani, Ran Haitani, Sanzu Haruchiyo

~ Inui Seishu, Kokonoi Hajime, Izana Kurokawa, 

~ Souya Kawata (Angry), Nahoya Kawata (Smiley)

Warning ⚠︎︎ : Mature content, cussing, MINORS DNI

Note : requested, I added some characters. Hope ya don’t mind! These are pretty short, just little things I put together. Word barf kinda..? Anyways- I hope you enjoy :))

R I N D O U 

His lashes fluttered open when he heard a loud crash coming from the hallway, along with a string of cuss words sounding like his daughter's voice. 

“What the hell was that?” You groaned, not a single word was uttered from your husband when he sprung out of bed, bolting to the bedroom down the corridor.

“Tohru?!” Rindou yelled, flinging open the door. Revealing your teenage daughter fully dressed, half way through her second story window. A facade of pillows under her blanket seeminging meant to be her ‘sleeping body’.

“Oh dad, I-”

“What the hell are you doing” The man was fuming by the ears, pajamas ruffled when he jolted out of his slumber. 

“Is Tohru okay?” You peeked from behind the broad shouldered man. 

“I was just going to get fresh air!” Your daughter lied, making up a somewhat excuse to appease her angered father. 

“Hey Tohru! Hurry up and get down here!” You heard a boy's voice call out, looking over at Rindou’s face to see the man's darkened expression.

“Who the fuck is down there? Is that a boy?!” He growled, stomping his feet over to the glass. Pushing past his daughter to take a look. 

“Oh shit- her dads here. Let’s book it!” The kids whispered, but loud enough for Rindou to make out, hastily running down the dark street. 

“You little shits! Don't you dare come back here!” Rindou growled, slamming the window shut in the process. 

“What! Dad!” Tohru whined, 

“You're so grounded young lady!” Rindou shouted, not caring for the sleeping neighbors beside his shared condo at three in the morning. 

“Rin, she was just having some fun!” You defended, you were also like her when you were her age, trouble makers run in your blood. Actually Rindou couldn't even talk- he was running roppongi at her age.  

“No! She's just too young to be hanging out with boys!” Rindou’s brows joined together as he withered in front of you. 

“But we dated when we were her age-” You deadpanned at him, 

“Grounded! My final answer!” 

R A N  

Ran was coming home from a late night bonten meeting, mouth agape when he saw his daughter’s feet dangling out from her window. 

Fearing the worst he sprinted to the ground below his child, hands outstretched to catch her if she were to misstep. 

“Mitsuri!” His voice boomed,

“Eh? Dad?!” His daughter stuttered, slowly slid out the window, climbing down like she had done this many times prior to this awkward occurrence. 

Toes easily touching the grass with ease, not a scratch upon the females porcelain skin. 

“Ran?” You yawned, cracking the door ajar. It was late, you waking up to your husband's screams outside your house. 

“Mitsuri, what are you doing climbing out your window like a maniac?!” Ran scowled, hands running through his messed up hair. Sweat dripping down his temple from the not so pleasant adrenaline rush. 

“I was just gonna hang out with some friends..” your daughter answered, fingers gripping the edge of her shirt, scarily waiting for her dad’s reaction. 

“At this time of night? .. out your window?”

“Ye-”

“Phone privileges. Give me it.” Ran demanded, palm stretched out. 

“But-” no question she was a tad bit spoiled by her father. You being the bad cop, while your husband played the good cop for his beloved daughter. 

“If you want to go anywhere all you got to do is ask!” Ran plucked the phone from his daughter's hand, a wave of relief washing over him. Secretly thanking whatever being watching over him that it wasn't some sort of gang related subject. 

“This is what you get for spoiling her!” You laughed from the sidelines, hand clutching your stomach.

“This is your fault too ya know!” Ran argued. 

“I’m the one who tries to discipline her! But someone always lets it go!” You emphasized the special somebody. 

“Whatever” Ran sighed, This was a lesson for the usual carefree man, a special lesson he wouldn't forget in the many years to come with his unborn future children. 

S A N Z U 

It was Sanzu’s best day of his life when his daughters were born, the two only being about one year apart. They were spoiled to the core, anything they wanted their money liberl father blessed them with. He thought they were the sweetest things ever, them both being a daddy's girl after all. 

He never would have expected to see both of his daughters outside his humble abode, standing beside two boys, most likely a double date. 

He stared in shock, hands pressed firmly against the glass, teeth gritting. 

“Huh? I tucked them into bed an hour ago” You rubbed your eyes, riding yourself of the sleepiness threatening to drown you. The pink haired only tutted his teeth, swifty twisting the door knob to confront the four children outside. 

“Oh you better run” your oldest daughter whispered, gesturing for the boys to make haste from her deadly father. 

“You better not come back here, unless you want trouble you fuckers!” Sanzu yelled, red in the eyes from anger. Not bothering to chase after the two scoundrels. 

“Dad, mom! What are you guys doing awake?” Your youngest asked, sheer panic in her eyes, watching her insane fathers unpleasant smile. 

“I swear you two will be the death of me” Sanzu uttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. A irked gleen in his orbs as he stared them down. 

“They were just friends dad, stop overreacting” the older daughter said, 

“I- You little shi-” He bit his lip to suppress his anger fueled words, knowing well it would definitely hurt his precious children's feelings. Having regretted it later if he were to say those sinful words. 

“Now now Sanzu, let's head to bed” You wrapped your arms around your lover, dragging him inside the house. 

“You can sort out their punishment tomorrow, after a good night's sleep” , coating him with reassuring words. That day he learned how misjudged he was of his children, even so he still loved them with all his heart.

I Z A N A 

Izana had his feet kicked up, relaxing in his office while he watched the moon. He had a clear view, the street lamps positioned next to the sidewalk, the side of his beautiful house facing his office window. He was enjoying his free time, mind taking over his body while he thought about his life choices. He was in ease until he saw his son's window light up, a long string of rope being tossed out the opening. 

Sitting up from his chair, he rushed over to his clear casement. Throwing his window open, a boy and girl standing beneath his son's window. The two holding the rope still as your child tried to slid down. 

“My my Yuki, where are you off to?” Izana laughed, nerves finally relaxing when he figured out what was going on. Calmly settling into the frame, head leaning on his chin. It wasn't like he had the right to be upset, he did much worse when he was his son's age. Robbing, fighting, killing. You name it, Izana’s done it. 

Sneaking out was nothing compared to what he did, but he wasn't gonna just let his son go. He was more wise now, he knew for a fact he didn't want his son to end up anything like him. Sure, he wanted the boy to have fun, but in a normal kid way. 

“Dad! Um- I”

“You better get your arse back up that window before I drag you around with that rope” Izana smiled, Totally different from the sentence he was portraying. Not forgetting his manners, giving a nonchalant wave to the other two kids. 

“Zana? Who are you talking to?” You asked, placing a cup of tea you had prepared for Izana on his desk. 

“Oh no one doll” Izana answered, closing the window before walking over to you. 

“Let's go to bed, yeah?” He proposed, trailing his hands around your shoulders, guiding you to the door.

“But the tea I made”

“Im tired~” 

Overall the male wouldn't want to talk further about the situation, nor would he discuss it with you. Trivial matters held no place between you both, as long as the child did not dare do it again. 

I N U I 

Inui wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead, the AC wasnt working at the motor shop. Him, draken and yourself were sweating bullets, the hot material around you not helping. You had decided to help the pair around the shop, cleaning what you could. Or helping with cashing every customer out, it would've been an easy task if it wasn't blazing hot. 

Leaving your daughter home alone, obviously thinking she’d stay and do her teenage things. You couldn't be more mistaken, astounded as you watched her fiddle around with a boy across the street at the ice cream parlor. 

“Y/N please don't tell me that Kagura..” Inui’s jaw dropped, the wrench that was once in his clasp dropping to the ground. Startling the concentrating Draken that was crouched over a motorbike. 

“What's wrong Inui? Y/N” Draken twisted his body around, raising a brow when you two just started muttering to each other like two creeps. 

“Is that... a boy” Inui held his chin between his fingers, squinting to get a better view of his kid. 

“You trying to catch flies with your mouth Inui? Close your yap” You whispered, 

“Y/N! She's too young, I feel like I just held her in my arms not too long ago. She can't get married just yet!” Inui argued, he would've been on the verge of tears if he didn't have a reputation to uphold. 

“What? The fuck are you on Inui? She's probably just with a friend!” You patted his back, reassuring the man. 

“Boys and girls can be friends ya’know” you added.

Cueing the two children across the road from you, feeding scoops of ice cream to each other.

“I don't think friends do that..” Inui looked over at you, eyes widening when you swung the motor shop’s door open. Hands coming around your mouth to amplify your words,

“Kagura, is that your boyfriend?” 

“WHAT?” Inui almost fainted, the ledge behind him holding his wobbly frame up right. 

“I didn't know you guys would be here!” Your daughter jogged across the street, leaving the boy sitting by himself. 

“And no! Just a friend” She answered your embarrassing, blushing as she stared down at the ground.,

“I sense some lies” you wiggled playfully at the flustered girl. 

“What! Anyways, Sorry I left the house without telling you” Kagura apologized, 

“Just don't do it again, without my permission..” Inui stated, 

“Especially not with a boy.”

K O K O N O I

Bribing people is his forte, and if they did not obliged? Threatening always did the trick. 

And that's exactly what he did when he saw his descendant out with a male. All was dandy until the boy came running back, babbling about how his girl was the so called ‘love of his life’.

“Hey brat, you got a death wish?” Kokonoi asked, leaning against the door frame. 

“Koko go easy on him, he’s just a kid” You nudged the man, a mischievous grin plastered on the males face. 

“And I kinda think it's cute” You said, a small smile erupting from your daughter that was not so far behind her parents. 

“I approve, kid! I like your romantic drive!” You clapped, 

“Y/N!” Kokonoi pouted, 

“You better not try to bribe him with money again” You threatened, waving a finger at the whiny man. 

“Yeah! I like him too, dad!” Your daughter agreed. 

“You're like twelve, go play chess or something” Kokonoi barked, crossing his arms in disapproval. 

“Dad, I'm sixteen!” 

“That's what I said” 

S O U Y A 

He almost had a panic attack at the sight, having to shield the man from the scene playing out. Your twin daughter saying their goodbyes to their dates, followed by a kiss. You removed your hand when the boys were no longer in view, riding off in their motorcycles. 

“Shira, Nihra” You held Souya up by the shoulder, the light headed male limping towards the worried kids.

“What's wrong with dad?” Nihra questioned, eyeing her ghostly pale father. 

“He's out of it” You giggled, 

“I'm not crazy am i?” He stood tall, letting go of the arm you had draped around him. 

“There was boys-” His voice cracked. 

“You saw that dad?” Shira sweat dropped, watching as her fathers should leave his body. 

“Next time ask before you go out” You smiled, you weren't too strict on the two. They were Souya’s children, earning most of their adorable traits from him. Even his fighting skills. 

“This better not happen again, i'm trusting you” Souya grumbled.

“Sorry pops” The two girls remorsefully sollied the man, both hooking onto one of Souya’s arms as they helped his shell into the house. 

N A H O Y A 

Nahoya was beyond pissed, infamous smile widening. Taking fast steps towards your daughter and her significant other. 

“Look boy, I don't know who you are. But my daughters not up for grabs” Nahoya grinned, cracking his fingers. 

“O-okay sir” the boy was jittering, body trembling from the males intense arua. 

“If I catch ya here again” he used his finger to slash his neck, motioning to the death that would happily greet the boy if they were to ever meet again.

“Yer dead meat kiddo”  Nahoya laughed, watching as the boy ran for his life. 

“Dad, that was really extra!” Your daughter sneered, a pout on her lips. 

“Shut up!, you're grounded rat!” Nahoya shouted. 

“Yeah Nahoya, there was no need to threaten the poor kid. He looked like he was gonna piss himself.” 

“Exactly the effect i wanted”

End Note : as I said this was a word barf T-T, so it’s quite short.

Reblogs & Notes are always appreciated! Take care! ♡︎♡︎

[chiwhorei]

wick(ed)

pairing: dabi x fem!reader

genre: smut, 18+ mdni

word count: 2.3k

tags: very, very sacreligious themes, trespassing, (pink) waxplay, blindfolds, bondage, public sex, oral

a/n: this is my contribution to the sewer’s valentine’s day collab: two in the pink, one in the kink. check out everyone else’s pieces here! valentine’s day was on a sunday this year, so as far as sacrelige goes, my hands were tied. this is dedicated to @undermattsun, as all bastardization of the catholic faith should be.

hymn: take me to church by hozier

For there shall be no reward to the evil; the candle of the wicked shall be put out. -Proverbs 24:20

The smell of musty wood and a subtle fog of smoke traps you as soon as you’re guided blindly. From the sound of creaking and the loud slam behind you-- the door you’ve been pulled past is tall and heavy. The sound makes you jump backwards into the body of your captor.

“Dabi, please just tell me where we are. You’re freaking me out.” You try to reason with the man escorting you, careful to ensure you don’t trip as you walk forward into the undisclosed building. You slump forward slightly, every sense trying desperately to piece together what’s covered by satin fabric.

“If I told you where we were, wouldn’t that ruin the surprise?” You let out a shaky huff, Dabi has never been one for romantic displays of affection, so you’re doubtful there’s a bouquet of roses and chocolate written into the night’s activities. You feel his breath fanning in hot puffs against your neck, he’s close enough to graze the shell of your ear.

“And don’t call me Dabi. That isn’t who I am to you when we’re alone,” Your skin prickles at his touch, one arm snaking its way to circle around your neck. He presses his pointer finger and thumb into the skin, dragging the pressure upwards to tilt your chin, “What’s my name, princess?”

Even blindfolded, you can feel the scorch of blue eyes on your face. A warmth that burns if you get too close. No matter how many times Dabi tried to push you away, whether with actions or sharp words, you always remained fireproof.

“I’m sorry, Touya.” Your voice is little more than a whisper, words filling the still secret space around you. Dabi hums, pleased at the way your body is reacting. Without being able to see, you’re sensitive and jumpy. Every sound, every movement, every feeling is amplified.

“Just a little farther, princess.” You lean against his chest, the feeling of rough skin and hard muscles calms the fraying ends of your nerves. You know Dabi-- Touya, he’s not even close to a good person. Under purpled scars and blue flames, he’s still a villain. But you know at least one thing for certain, he would never hurt you.

At least not in ways you wouldn’t like.

Wherever he dragged you probably didn’t come with a formal invitation, that much was obvious in the sounds of metal instruments against what you could assume was a lock. The tight little dress he had “bought” for you does nothing against the cold air assaulting your uncovered skin. Your teeth chatter, skin icey and hyper-sensitive. Dabi notices the way you bristle, and runs his warm hands over your arms. His fingers press into the skin, pushing you forward.

You can feel the drag of carpet under your shoes, the heavy footsteps directly trailing yours are muffled where Dabi’s boots usually stomp loudly. You’re stopped abruptly, his hands finding the fat of your hips, turning you around to face him. Your own come up to brace against his chest, the clamoring in your heart calming slightly at the comforting smell-- sage and freshly struck matches.

Dabi drops his grip onto the skin right below your ass, squeezing slightly as his lips hover over yours. You feel his mouth an inch from you, lifting up on the balls of your feet to connect them. The man above you laughs as you try to catch a kiss like a carrot dangling on a string.

“Hold on tight, kid.” Dabi rewards you a chaste peck before hoisting you up, your legs circle around his waist, instinct guiding where your sight can’t. The overwhelming anticipation for what he has planned ignites in your core. It’s not lost on him, with the damp fabric of your panties pressed right against his abdomen. Dabi can already feel his cock straining in his boxers, pressing obnoxiously against his zipper.

You nuzzle against the crook of Dabi’s neck, careful not to rub against the staples lining his collarbone. He braces you, holding on to your ass tightly as he walks up three short steps.

Rough linen hits the back of your thighs as he sets you down. Your fingers come down to your new perch, crinkling the farblic in your fingers. From what you can feel, it seems like wood covered in some kind of table cloth.

Dabi steps away, his warmth dissipates but you’re still trapped under his stare. From this position, you realize you’re propped up higher than where Dabi stands, His eyes burn in a trail from your face to your slightly parted legs.

“My beautiful girl.” He marvels at where you sit perfectly on display, his voice now loud enough to eccoh against high ceilings. The sound startles you, every inch of skin submerged in a fresh flight of goosebumps.

“Touya, p-please,” Your voice sounds like a stranger’s as it reverberates around the room before it hits your ears. What are you pleading for?

You’re not sure if your begging for less of his torture, or more.

“Patience, princess. Don’t you trust me?” His question is loaded, knowing full well that you absolutely shouldn’t be trusting the villain before you. It’s almost funny how easily he crept into your heart; staking claim on your body, seeping into your blood.

“I trust you, Touya,” Your voice is barely above a whimper, your words feel like a salve dripping down his scarred shoulders, “always.”

He stole your heart, he’s probably ruined you in more ways than either of you would like to admit. But in exchange, unlike anyone who has come before, unlike any other person on the planet-- you have his heart too.

Dabi lets the backpack on his shoulders fall to the ground, you can hear the rustling of whatever he brought with him. He’s quiet as he approaches you again, reaching up to rub his thumb over your lips. Upon the contact, your mouth falls open to capture the digit, closing around it to suck lightly. Your temperance is a stronger hit than any drug Dabi could find.

He pets your cheek before bringing the satin rope in his left hand up to your lap, you feel the soft fabric against the top of your thighs.

“Give me your hands, princess.” Dabi almost coos when you put your wrists together and lift them towards him as an offering.

The silken rope snakes around your wrists, just tight enough so you can’t move them. He sets your hands to lay comfortably back in your lap. You’re now robbed of sight and touch, all you can comfortably do with your hands is fidget with your fingers.

“You’re always so agreeable, kid, shouldn’t you be worried? All alone with a big bad villain.” His words are desperate confirmation, poking at your resolve to see if this will be the time you cry out and demand your freedom back.

“Never.” One word reads like novels, your tone clearly extending past tonight. Not an ounce of duress to be heard even as you bristle with anticipation. It’s true. The touch that no one else has ever found welcoming is one you lean in to.

The hands that could turn buildings to ash have never scared you.

Dabi leans in to capture you in a kiss, his teeth grazing your bottom lip in the way he knows will make you gasp. His tongue slides into your now open mouth, desperation pushing in to explore you. Dabi tastes like Seven Stars and mint gum-- you swear the nicotine seeps right into your nerve endings. Fingers tangle into the straps of your dress, pulling them down your shoulders. You jump at the cool air against your exposed chest, nipples hardening immediately. Every new sensation is acute when you aren’t given any forewarning.

His hands come up to either of your cheeks, anchoring himself to the earth. The world seems to stop on its axis when it comes to you. The moment frozen, suspended in time. He would live in your orbit every available moment if you let him.

Dabi snaps out of the spell you have on him at the sharp whine that leaves your lips. His forehead lands against yours, catching each other's unsteady breaths in the small space between you. Dabi looks down to see the way your thighs are rubbing together, laughing lightly at how worked up you’ve become. You can’t see it, but he’s fairing just the same.

“You always submit so sweetly, princess,” Dabi bites your lip with a playful growl, turning away to grab the last of his surprises, “but the fun hasn’t even begun.”

The first notable sound your ears pick up is a light crackle. Your brows crease under the blind, trying to place the small pop and flicker. Dabi brings a small flame towards your body, you can see the smallest outline of blue past the silk barrier covering your eyes.

Flickering fire is an inch from your skin, but you don’t flinch away. When it comes to Dabi, all you ever seem to want is to be closer.

The next thing you notice brings realization crashing against your skin like a bucket of cold water: the smell of a burning wick. All of your senses still available piece together the remaining puzzle. The cold echoing, the feeling of scratchy linen against your ass, the smell of wood and perfumed smoke and candles.

“C-church. You brought me to a--” Your realization is cut off with a sharp prick of heat dripping down your chest. You yelp at the feeling of melted wax trailing around the swell of your breast.

“Clever little girl,” Dabi punctuates each word with another splash of hot wax. It runs down your now sweaty skin and hardens in lines on your exposed chest and stomach, pooling in the bunched up fabric of your dress.

“You look so beautiful like this.” You hang on his words like they’ll save you from the onslaught of a melting candle.

“Please, Touya I--”

But you aren’t begging for mercy. You’re begging for more of his touch, for more of anything he wants to give you, even if it’s searing hot.

“You’re gonna want to see this, kid.” Dabi’s fingers are at the back of your head, loosening the blindfold so it drops around your neck. Even in the dead of night, you wince at the moonlight spilling through large stained glass windows. You look to where Dabi stands before you, a mix of lust and adoration flashes in the blue of his eyes. Your own gaze comes down to the lashes of pink splotching your skin.

“This is definitely your color, princes.” Dabi stares for a moment longer. You look equally angelic and depraved like this, almost naked and glistening in an onslaught of melted pink, positioned like the most holy sacrament. He’ll take you.

Dabi pushes you gently so your back falls against the altar, pulling both legs so they’re propped against the table top and spread for him. Your bound arms fall to lie above your head.

It’s so irrefutably evil-- both the breaking into a place of worship and the sick joy he gets from making you a mess below a god he doesn't believe in. Dabi pulls your panties away, the fabric almost matches the pink he dripped against your overly sensitive skin.

“So wet for me,” he muses, kneeling down to be eye level with your sopping cunt, “you like being on display like this, don’t you.”

Your eyes roll back at the feeling of Dabi’s tongue against your lips, your cunt all but quivers at his attention. Dabi wouldn’t be caught dead in the stiff wooden pews on any given Sunday, but he still kneels before the closest thing to religion he has ever known.

Both of his hands come up to either of your thighs to keep you from squeezing them together. There’s no escape from the devil between your legs, there’s nowhere to run from the whip of his wicked tongue.

His pace gives you no time to breath, lapping against your folds like a man dehydrated. Every long swipe against your skin ends in his lips closing around your painfully hard clit to suck harshly. You’re hurtling towards orgasm, twitching in Dabi’s hold.

“Oh fuck, oh my God.” Your chanting of prayer makes Dabi chuckle against the puffy skin, pulling back only slightly to slap your clit with a wet pop.

“Not quite, princess.”

His prodding is relentless, slurping at your pussy with no care to how you’re definitely dripping against the white cloth under you. The knowledge that your arousal is crisiting the altar below you should be mortifying. Instead it’s driving you higher.

Dabi can tell you’re close, the shaking begs for him and the way you clench around his tongue is warning enough. He’s well familiarized with how your body stiffens before the final--

“T-Touya, I’m gonna cum.”

Your warning is almost screamed, muffled only by a series of whimpers. You contract every muscle in your body tightly, it feels like your spine could snap in half before relaxing limply against the wood below you. Your eyes are squeezed shut but fall open as bliss consumes you, your body feels boneless and limp.

The first things your gaze can focus on is the cross behind you, from your position bent over the altar, it’s upside down. You shiver at the blaring symbolism but are quickly pulled from any impending guilt at the feeling of Dabi’s cock against your cunt. All you can, all you want, to do is let him have anything. Body and soul and whatever could exist of you.

As Dabi presses the head in, you welcome him like home. He has to steady himself with a rough grip on your hips as you suck him in inch by thick inch.

God doesn't exist, Dabi thinks to himself.

But he’ll take you like communion.

all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️

[yelenasdog]

rebel girl (vic de angelis x fem!singer!reader)

𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 REBEL GIRL  𝐁𝐘 BIKINI KILL

(listen while reading for best experience) 

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff with a sprinkle of angst for .0000002 seconds

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: a kiss during a shared performance turns into something more.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 2.3k

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: cursing, kissing, drinking, my attempts at writing roman dialect and italian, and i believe that’s it.

𝐚/𝐧: ok so i know not a whole lot abt måneskin so if anything abt this in terms of the band or how they perform is inaccurate forgive me! but i think vic is hot and this song makes me think of her LOL. thanks for reading, and enjoy the fic!! <3

(all translations will be linked at the end of the fic)

♀~♀~♀

The cheers of the crowd were deafening, but it seemed the beating of her own heart was even louder. Lights flashed a plethora of neon colors, and those on the stage looked liked silhouettes moving about freely.

Ethan nodded at Thomas, quickly bringing down his stick to the tightly spread plastic.

Thomas bobbed his head, starting to play the opening riff.

Select members of those in attendance began to cheer, just the opening notes being enough to give away what was about to be performed.

“For our last song tonight, we’d like to bring out someone you all know and love.” Damiano spoke into his mic, wrapping an arm around Vic’s neck and allowing her to lean down into the microphone in his hand.

“She’s someone that everyone, including myself, heavily admire as an icon of the generation and a true Riot Grrrl.”


Her eyes closed, a deep breath inhaled and exhaled through her painted mouth. She jumped up and down in her heeled boots, face pointed towards the rickety ceiling of the venue as she did so. She ran a ring adorned hand over her earpieces and made a funny face, making sure they were adjusted to her liking.

A stagehand appeared to her right, handing her a microphone and wishing her good luck. She smiled, responding with a quick “thanks” and a smile.

Victoria looked over from her place on the stage with Damiano, a devilish glint in her eye.

“Here for one night only, London let us introduce” he yelled, leaning down to Vic’s level once more, allowing them to both speak at once, “Y/n Y/l/n!”

A roar erupted from everyone in the building as the aforementioned strutted on stage, lifting the mic to her lips.

“That girl thinks she’s the queen of the neighborhood, she’s got the hottest trike in town.” She started, finding her mark in the center of the stage.

“That girl, she holds her head up so high, I think I wanna be her best friend yeah.” Damiano’s raspy voice let out next, both of their voices mixing together like honey as they started the chorus.

“Rebel girl, rebel girl, rebel girl you are the queen of my world.

Rebel girl, rebel girl.”

“I think I wanna take you home” Y/n began, Damiano then taking over.

“I wanna try all your clothes.” He finished, both him and Y/n groaning in unison to the song.

Vic would be lying if she said she didn’t have to clear both her throat, and her mind. Thomas’ fingers worked skillfully and quickly on the neck of his guitar on the small transitional solo, his focus staying on the cool steel.

Damiano held up his tattooed hand, making a talking motion as he sang and rolled his eyes, “When she talks, I hear the revolution.”

Y/n came up behind Vic, one hand running across her hip, the other on her own as she chose to lean into Vic’s mic over her shoulder, “In her hips, there’s revolutions.”

The lead singer then strutted across the stage back to Ethan, propping a leg up on the base of his kit, and then walking back singing, “When she walks, the revolution’s coming.”

Knowing what line was coming up next, the bassist held her breath, and looked down. It was short lived, though, as Y/n picked up her chin with her pointer finger, forcing her to look her in the eyes. She moved his slowly to Victoria, their lips nearly brushing, her touch feather light.

“In…her…kiss…” she slowly sang, dragging it out longer than in the original song and than in rehearsal. She quickly turned her head, falling to her knees with one side to Vic and one to the audience, her hair cascading over her features.

“I taste the revolution!”

She smiled at Vic as she pushed herself up, a goofy grin plastered onto her face as she allowed Damiano to take the chorus. Victoria replied with only a small smirk, her dark eyeshadow glittering under the colorful lights, making her look like some kind of gothic angel, or celestial being.

Resuming singing, Y/n walked back to the front of the stage, her and Damiano switching every verse. She sat down on the edge, letting her legs dangle over the high surface, feeling fingertips barely touch her unclothed thigh.

“That girl thinks she’s the queen of the neighborhood.”

“I got news for you,”

They both pointed their mics into the audience as the screen behind them flashed “she is!” Allowing the crowd, as well as Thomas, Vic, and Ethan to all scream the two words loudly and in sync.

“I know she is,” her and Dami both sang, as he wrapped an arm around Vic’s neck,

“My best friend yeah”

The chorus continued for a final time, Victoria stomping her heavy platforms on the wooden stage, biting her lip as she performed.

Y/n made her way over to Thomas’ side, jumping to his left and swaying her hair, a knowing smile appearing on his face upon seeing Victoria’s gaze falling upon her movements.

Victoria made rounds to Ethan and then to Thomas, passing Y/n and lightly tapping her hip with her own.

Y/n skipped over to Damiano as he did to her, the pair meeting in the middle briefly for the “love you like a sister, always.”

Victoria returned to her spot from the start, and Damiano found his way to Thomas. Y/n continued on towards the ethereal bassist. The both of them were simultaneously singing to the aforementioned in harmony, nearing the end of the song.

“Soul sister, rebel girl,

Come and be my best friend,

Really, rebel girl.”

Y/n dragged a hand across Vic’s chiseled cheekbone, and in that moment Victoria had taken on the title of a muse for the woman standing in front of her.

“I really like you” she sang to her, lowering her mic as they looked into each other’s eyes, her chest heaving. It was like the music had been reduced down to a slight buzzing, and the thousands of peering eyes meant nothing. They were untouchable.

Y/n resumed for the last line, never breaking her eye contact.

“Be my rebel girl.”

It seemed like a question, a proposal of sorts from one to another, as Y/n’s hand dropped once more.

Victoria quirked a brow as if to ask “are we really doing this?” To which Y/n muttered “fuck it” with a laugh.

Victoria’s hands found either side of Y/n’s face, her calloused fingers rough, yet gentle. Y/n’s own hands found one lazily draped over waist, the other over her shoulder to pull her close.

And in what probably the entirety of the building could have guessed would happen (maybe just not on stage, in that exact moment) they closed the gap between themselves, their lips connecting in a sweet kiss.

Chants and yells of encouragement were whooped by the band and crowd alike, as Damiano raised the mic and the final notes played.

“Y/n Y/l/n everybody!”

They pulled apart, sweaty foreheads against each other’s sides as they turned towards everyone, waving. They were quickly joined by the rest of the group, and Y/n stepped away, leaning into the microphone still hooked on the stand in the center of the stage.

“Let’s hear a huge round of applause for the wonderfully mad Måneskin!” She shouted, the roar of the crowd even louder. She raised her hands in the air, then moving one to her ear, gesturing for them to be louder. They complied, and Y/n took out her earpiece for a moment, soaking in what the band had created.

Vic shouted to Y/n over the noise, waving her over.

“Come on, bow with us!”

Y/n shook her head, not wanting to intrude any further to which Thomas reached out an arm, pulling her over. A bright smile covered her face as Vic reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist only for a second.

Hands joined, they all leaned forward in a dramatic bow, coming back up and waving.

All in sync, they all yelled “thank you, London!”

They looked around for a small period of time afterwards, still having a hard time believing that this was their new reality.

Looking to her right, and seeing Y/n doing the same, Vic decided that Y/n was a specific part of said “new reality” she didn’t quite want to let go of.

So after saying one more goodbye and exiting the stage, the bassist remained silent. It slightly worried Y/n, who had noticed the girl’s lack of communication while she had been thanking the rest of the band members for allowing her to share the stage with them.

“Is Victoria alright?” She asked Damiano, to which he only chuckled before replying.

“She’s fine, trust me. Give her a little bit of time and she will be back to normal.”

Y/n just gave him a tight lipped smile, not completely convinced.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed as Victoria slipped into her dressing room, locking the door.

The rest of the group, already having had a few drinks, was out the door, waiting on a cab.

“Y/n? You and Vic coming?” Ethan questioned.

She nodded, though she was unsure if that was the case, doing her best to cast a reassuring smile in his direction.

Once she made sure they were gone, she knocked twice on the heavy door. Before she could even announce it was her, Vic’s voice rang out.

“Vattene, Damiano!”

“Victoria?” Y/n’s tone floated through the door to the other side, and Victoria face palmed and silently cursed herself. She quickly got up and unlocked the door, regretting her harsh tone.

“Y/n, hi.”

“Hi.” She responded, slight uneasiness about her. Victoria picked up on this immediately, her brows furrowing and her eyes softening.

“Are you alright, Y/n?”

The other girl scoffed and looked at her feet. Scared to break any boundaries now that they weren’t on stage, Victoria cautiously lifted a hand towards her chin, softly picking it up like Y/n had before.

Her voice sounded wavy as she spoke, her jaw slightly hanging slack.

“Actually, I came here to ask the same thing.”

Victoria tilted her head like a confused puppy, leaning up against the doorframe.

“Why? What happened?”

Struggling to find the right thing to say, Y/n began to trip over her words.

“Well, I just, you know, on stage and everything- we were super, y’a know, close and everything and I didn’t wanna, I don’t know. Make you uncomfortable or overstep any boundaries or anything, and if it was just a kiss I didn’t wanna overthink it or read into but, I mean, I really liked it but you seemed to go quiet so-“

Victoria cut off her painful rambling with another kiss, taking firm hold of her arms and moving her inside with her and closing the door with her foot.

“Wow.” Y/n said when they finally pulled apart, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and her pupils the size of the moon.

“Yes, wow.” Vic chuckled, moving a piece of Y/n’s stray hair behind her ear.

“You’re very different when you’re on stage, Y/n. You know that?” She asked, admiring how the fluorescent lights above illuminated Y/n’s features in the most wonderful way.

Victoria had decided she liked her most like this. Vulnerable, sweaty, and with the biggest heart eyes she’d ever seen.

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She laughed.

“No.” Vic frowned, taking her hands. “It’s not a bad thing. Not at all.” She brought her over to the velvet sofa in the corner of the room. “It’s admirable.”

“How?” She asked with a small smile.

“Easy. Because even though your stage persona is lovely,” she laughed, “I think I like this Y/n even better. She seems like she’s kind, and has a big heart with lots of love to give.”

Stunned, the other girl just smiled like an idiot, leaning forward and pecking Vic’s lips.

“Well, what about you?”

“What about me?” The bassist replied, enjoying the banter forming between the pair.

“Why’d you go all radio silent? I’d never heard of Victoria De Angelis from EuroVision winning band Måneskin to do such a thing.” She exclaimed in what was the worst accent Victoria had heard in her life.

(Though, it was endearing, she’d admit.)

“Truly? I was thinking about how to ask you out. If you even wanted me to ask you out, all of that.”

Y/n’s eyes somehow got even bigger, and she laughed, tucking her legs beneath her.

“How is that even a question?” She exclaimed.

“Like I said, you are different on stage from off it. I didn’t know if it was just a front, a performance.”

This time it was Y/n’s turn to roll her eyes and lean in, encapsulating Victoria’s lips with her own.

“It wasn’t just a show, I’d love to go out with you, Vic.”

They both giggled like school girls hidden under the bleachers, leaning in for another kiss. It was hot and heavy, yet slow and sweet. It was everything either girl had hoped for. 

And thanks to a certain Italian doofus, or 4, it would be momentarily put on pause. Mid-make out four loud knocks startled the girls, causing the two do them to pull away.

“Victoria! Daje! Perché non rispondi al telefono, eh? Stiamo aspettando- oh. This makes sense.“ Damiano burst through the door, Ethan and Thomas stood behind him with not-so-surprised looks painted on their faces.

“Realmente? Realmente, Damiano?” She scoffed. “Stai manzo!”

“Sorry, guys. Enjoy yourselves.” He turned over his shoulder to the rest, slowly shutting the door.

“Sicuro di dire che non verranno con noi.” He snickered, as did the others.

“Eccallà!” Ethan remarked, to which, not that Vic and Y/n knew, Thomas shoved him to the side.

Victoria sighed, returning to face Y/n.

“So. Where were we?”

♀~♀~♀

i hope yall liked that!! mwah make sure to reblog if u did <333 take care of urself!

translations 

[darling-i-read-it]

KAZ'S ENDING (from your power part 2)

“You’re damn lucky I want to come back,” you said harshly. You turned to Inej. “Ale-The Darkling is waiting in that room for me. I hope you have a damn good plan.”

“Don’t we always?” she said. You nodded curtly and Jesper grabbed your arm. You looked back at the door and saw Aleksander standing in the doorway. You met his eyes as Jesper started to drag you away.

His jaw locked and he raised his chin at you. You felt a tug. You loved it here. But your home was in Ketterdam. You let Jesper drag you away and lit the courtyard on fire until you couldn’t see the Darkling any longer.

You got on the ship within the hour. You sat down, watching Ravka float away from you. Jesper looked out as well.

“He let us go didn’t he?” Jesper asked.

“Yes,” Kaz muttered. “Why is that Y/N?” You rolled your eyes and stood up.

“Let’s have a talk alone Brekker,” you muttered. You grabbed his coat covered arm and dragged him down to the captain's quarters. He let you. You shut the door hard behind you. You leaned against it.

“I’m sorry you had to come and get me. I’m sorry I failed your job. You didn’t have to come,” you said bitterly. Kaz shook his head a bit.

“What did you do with him?” he asked. You rolled your eyes.

“That’s what you're worried about?”

“What did you do?” He stomped his cane down. You straightened your back and crossed your arm.

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth.”

“He kissed me. He held me. He made love to me. There. Are you happy?” Kaz tried to convince himself that was better than him torturing you but his heart wasn’t in it. He hated the thought of it. It made him feel sick. A familiar sickness, the one he felt when he touched someone skin to skin. Your eyes watched him as he went through the range of emotions.

“Did you like it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you think of me?” You looked down at the ground sheepishly.

“Yes.” You met his eyes again. He was suddenly fueled with a readiness he had never quite felt before. He walked up to you briskly, taking his gloves off as he did so. He kissed you timidly, one hand on your cheek.

It was brief. His lips were off of yours just as quickly as they had been there. But his hand remained a second longer so he could see your face as he held it. Your stomach erupted in butterflies, more than the Darkling had ever given you.

You wanted to kiss him again but you didn’t. That was enough for him.

You grabbed his wrist that was covered by his sleeve. You stared at each other, eyes locked. He crumbled a bit under your gaze.

“I missed you,” he muttered.

“I missed you more.”

The door opened and Jesper peaked his head in. You and Kaz didn’t bother backing away.

“I want to play cards with you Y/N,” he muttered.

“Can’t you see we’re talking?” Kaz asked. You rolled your eyes and let him go, starting to walk over to Jesper. Before you could get a step Kaz grabbed your arm with his bare hand. You froze, looking back at him. His eyes pleaded for you to stay.

“I’ll play cards in a minute. We have plenty of time,” you told Jesper. He raised an eyebrow, watching big bad Kaz Brekker hold your arm so you wouldn’t leave. He nodded.

“In a minute.”

Jesper shut the door. You turned back around to Kaz.

“There’s enough of me to go around,” you teased. He rolled his eyes.

“I just want you to stay here for a minute. Then you can steal all of Jesper’s money.” You laughed a bit and sat on the table beside him. Your feet dangled below you. You put your head on his shoulder. He held your hand with his gloved one. You breathed in his scent.

“I love you Kaz,” you whispered. His breath hitched. You wondered suddenly if you made a mistake.

“I love you too,” he whispered, so quietly that you barely heard it. You smiled warmly and closed your eyes. You wouldn’t be leaving his side again anytime soon.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Bound Together

Sweet Treats AU Masterlist

A bit of drama and old grudges but a good time.

Please let me know what you think <3

🧁🧁🧁

You wave goodbye to Darling before she’s turned away by Loki. You linger near the elevator as they find their suite door. The night was supposed to go better than this. She wasn’t supposed to be trapped in the corner with Loki and there wasn’t supposed to be a fight.

The thought of the violent scene draws you back to Thor as he tugs on your arm, “it’s late, pet, let’s go.”

You shrug him away and cross your arms. You could be thankful he stood up for you but frustrated at his anger. He said he was over that. That he wouldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Even if Steve is a big fat jerk, Thor could’ve stopped sooner. The first hit was justified, the second was ego.

“What is it?” He settles his hand on your back instead as you walk along the hall.

You yawn and signal that you’re just tired. He sighs and you do too. He takes out your room card and opens the door, holding it open for you to enter ahead of him. The door clicks behind him and you quickly scurry away from him.

“I know you don’t like it when I get…”

“I don’t,” you say as you play with the charm at your wrist, the ruby that dangles from gold.

“It was on your behalf. To protect you.”

‘And what about Birdy? You didn’t care until he pushed me.’ You signal angrily with your fingers.

“Out loud,” he demands as he shoulders off his jacket.

You stomp your foot and face him, “you won’t help Darling, you won’t help Birdy, so why should I trust you’ll always help me?”

“I will always defend you. You are you. The only you.” He insists as he approaches you, loosing his tie and pulling it over his head.

“And they are my friends,” you cross your arms and pout.

“You hardly know them,” he tisks as he stops before you, making himself seem even bigger, “Bucky took care of Birdy. Darling makes no protests towards my brother–”

“Because he won’t let her,” you throw your hands up.

“Why should I bother? She is not my wife.”

“And neither am I,” you huff, “not yet.”

His brows drop down and his jaw clenches. He places his hand on the console table beside you and lets out a dangerous breath. He slowly looks away.

“Muffin…” he drags his hand off the silver frame and turns his back to you, unbuttoning his shirt as he paces the room, “there are certain things I haven’t explained.”

“What–” Your chest thumps at his mysterious tone, “things?”

“Asgardian ways. Rites.” He peels off his shirt and balls it up before hurling it into the armchair against the wall, “acts that cannot be taken back.”

You frown and sidle to sit on the velvet bench, your feet aching from the hours on them. You have a bad feeling. That sort you got the day before Thor took you away. That something was wrong. That you missed something dire.

“I’m not your wife,” you whisper and he winces as he faces you. The red stone at your wrist glows as you play with it.

“By Asgardian authority,” he exhales as he unbuckles his belt and nears the bed, “you are incorrect.”

“Asgardian…” your voice fizzles and you squint in confusion as the ruby gleams brighter, burning hot between your fingers until you hiss and let it hang from the chain. “Take it off.”

“I cannot,” his pants rustle as he steps out of them.

“You lied to me,” you lift your chin and raise your hands, as your jaw locks up. You continue with your signs. You jab your finger hard in his direction, ‘you lied. You! You promised me you would never–’

“I didn’t lie,” he ignores your gestures as he snarls. You drop your hands as you gulp. “I only couldn’t tell you because it kept you safe. You have my protection, as my wife. It is what you needed.”

You blink as your stomach lurches. How could he not tell you? He tricked you? What acts had you committed that bound you to him? That he didn’t coerce you into. How often he begged until you crumbled, coo until you agreed.

“And with my protection comes authority, so do not wallow and come to bed,” he demands.

You look at him, hollow and horrified. The stone sings against your wrist and you hiss, looking down at your flesh. The mark there startles you, a rune glowing gold in your flesh. His mark, Mjolnir.

[watermelonlipstick]

Back

School has been kicking my ass lately, but I found some time to write this little warm and fuzzy nothing. I’d love any advice or critiques!

Title: Back

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 1915

Summary: Getting back to find the reader has been waiting for the Winchesters to get home from a hunt, Sam is a little nervous and more than a little happy.

Warnings: mutual pining fluff only!

           Sam and Dean walked down bunker stairs slowly, their bones aching with the work of the last week. They had changed into clean clothes to drive through the night back to Kansas, but their hands and hair bore the telltale mud and blood of a hunt, and they badly needed to shower. Walking into the library, Sam took his duffel bag off his shoulder and dropped it unceremoniously but quietly.

           Curled up in a chair on the other end of the table, you slept wrapped in a blanket and draped over the old wood. Your hair ground into your folded arms and the huge book you had been reading, and the pressure of your head on your cheek pouched your lips out a touch. Sam brushed his palms on his jeans somewhat fruitlessly in an effort not to dirty your face as he brushed a chunk of hair back from your temple.

           “Hey,” he whispered in a low voice, his hand hovering over your shoulder. “We’re home.”

           You woke with a small jolt, peeking open one eye to look up at Sam. A sleepy smile spread across your eyes as you arched back to stretch. “Hey, handsome,” you answered in the croaky voice of a nap. “How’d it go?”

           “All good, no major injuries. You should be in bed,” he said, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

           “Carry me?” you asked. The shy smile on your face betrayed you as only half joking.

           Sam chuckled as Dean came over to them. “He smells like sweat and swamp monster ass,” Dean offered.

           “Thanks Dean,” Sam said sarcastically, his voice still low. “He’s right though. Still want me to?”

           You nodded with closed eyes, your contented smile showing through even as you yawned. “Dean, there’s lasagna in the fridge if you want it.” As an aside to Sam you mouthed, “vegetarian.” Sam’s eyes crinkled at the edges as he offered his arms out to you. You got up and put your arms around Sam’s neck, letting him ease you up into his chest. Your calves and socked feet dangled over his forearm.

           “You’re the best,” Dean insisted, gripping an invisible fist of victory. He gathered up the blanket and stacked it on top of your stomach.

           “Don’t stay up too late,” you hummed to Dean while nuzzling your head into the crook of Sam’s neck.

           “I won’t, kid. I promise.” He leaned over and kissed you on the cheek. “Goodnight.”

           Sam nodded to Dean over you, jerking his head toward the kitchen to show he’d meet his brother in a minute. He carried you back to your room and lowered you down onto your bed before spreading the blanket out on top of you.

           “You didn’t need to wait up for us,” Sam said.

           “I know, but I wanted to see you.”

           “Well I won’t lie, it feels a lot more like home to come back to you than an empty bunker,” he smiled.

           “Oh yeah?” you asked with a sly grin.

           “Definitely.”

           “Will you come sleep here?” Your eyebrow crooked up in question. It was loaded, definitely a pretty big step further down the tightrope you and Sam had been walking. But it had felt right to ask, and you fought back the impulse to take it back or turn it into a joke. Sam’s eyebrows lifted in soft, hopeful surprise, and it changed his whole face.

           “I can if you want me to,” he answered, running a hand through his hair. “Are you sure?”

           “Yeah, I think so.” The hesitation in your voice made his pulse race despite his fatigue.

           “Uh, ok, yeah. Just let me eat something and shower and I’ll be here, I promise. Don’t wait up though.”

           You nodded, trying to fight a smile by biting your lip, then pulled the blanket up under your chin and closed your eyes. Sam lingered in the doorframe for a moment, watching the light from the hallway fall on the swells and angles of your body before going to the kitchen with Dean.

           Dean was already halfway into a plate of lasagna by the time Sam got there and took off his jacket.

           “Dude, she’s outdone herself. This is awesome,” Dean said through the last third of a mouthful before swallowing.

           “Yeah, she’s pretty great, isn’t she?” Sam asked as he walked to the fridge.

           Dean looked up smugly over his fork. “What’s going on with that anyway?”

           Sam closed the microwave door on a plate of lasagna and turned toward Dean. “Uh, I mean, I don’t know. She asked me to sleep with her.” Dean half-choked on a bite, coughing and grabbing at his beer bottle. His brother realized his mistake, making an exasperated face before correcting himself. “Not like that, Jesus. Like literally sleep in her room.” Dean pounded his chest with a closed fist and fought through a hoarse throat.

           “Are you going to?”

           “I mean, yeah. Why, should I not?” Sam’s eyes widened.

           “I don’t know what you should or shouldn’t do, man. Just seems awfully boyfriend-experience to me,” Dean said, his hands up in faux surrender.

           “Well, yeah,” Sam conceded, getting his plate out of the microwave.

           “So you’re her boyfriend?” Dean looked incredulous.

           “Dean, I don’t know,” Sam whined as he sat down across from his brother.

           “Fine, whatever, I’ll leave you alone about it. But know that I’m going to be pissed if things get weird between you two and she leaves. Aside from the extra backup, I can’t go back to Marie Calendar and beef jerky after this.”

           Sam nodded placatingly.  

           You had dozed off, waking up when some lizard part of your brain realized the light had shifted in the room. Sam filled the doorway in an old t-shirt and flannel pajama pants slung low enough on his hips to expose a little sliver of skin when he walked. The smell of shampoo crossed the room as if being unfurled from his still-damp hair, the clean familiarity of it making your joints relax even further than they had in sleep. He saw the heavy lids of your eyes for the second time that night, and felt a pang of nervous affection.

           “Do you still want me to, ah..?” Sam whispered like a gravel road at dusk.

           You nodded, folding back the comforter next to you. He walked over, messing with the hem of his shirt like a shy teenager before crawling gently into bed. He didn’t know what to do. It felt like the first time he’d ever slow-danced with a girl at some stupid school formal—Mandy Jacobsen, freshman year of high school, wearing a shirt Dean had outgrown but was still too loose to be tucked in properly and his dad’s shoes—not knowing where to put his hands or whether it was better or worse to press against you. You waited a beat before rolling to your back to mirror him.

           “Is this too weird?” you asked.

           “No, no. Sorry, I just—I’m just a little keyed up from the hunt I guess.” Sam cursed himself in his head; you knew they’d driven over 7 hours to get back, it made no sense that he’d still be on an adrenaline rush. He was grateful when you didn’t say anything.

           “Was it gross? When you guys had me look up bunyips I was so glad I didn’t come with on the stomp-around-in-the-swamp job.”

           He chuckled quietly. “You would’ve hated it. We had to change before Dean would even unlock the car.”

           “How’d you get back to the motel to change if he wouldn’t unlock it?”

           “No, like out on the side of the road.”

           “So you and Dean were naked on the side of the road in—where was it?”

           “Stringtown, Oklahoma.”

           “In Stringtown, Oklahoma, and didn’t get arrested?”

           “It’s pretty rural.”

           “Well thank God for that,” you giggled, turning onto your side to face him. “I would’ve had to take that stupid little Volkswagen to come and get you. You’d have needed a double knee replacement by the time we crossed the state line.”

            “Then I’m even more glad.” Sam’s profile was fuzzy in the dark but you could hear his smile. When he turned to face you the tiny amount of ambient light glinted off his teeth. “I missed you,” he added, so quietly you almost couldn’t hear him from inches away.

           “I missed you too,” you breathed.

           Sam shifted to his side and tentatively reached out to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, you should go back to sleep.”

           “Are you going to leave if I do?”

           “Not if you don’t want me to.” His thumb was gentle and callused against your cheek, brushing absentmindedly.

           “I don’t want you to.” You twisted away from him to curl back against his chest. Sam got those same heart-thumping sweaty palms he had with Mandy Jacobsen and hoped you couldn’t feel the thrum of his pulse against you, suddenly aware of how thin the fabric separating you two was. He felt gangly and awkward in his filled-out 32 year old body, and kind of stupid for it; less than an hour ago he’d held you in his arms and he couldn’t even estimate the amount of times his hands had roamed your skin, feeling for broken bones and shards of glass or stitching up a gash. He was trying to remember what the natural thing to do here was when you reached behind to his side and pulled his arm over you, laying his palm out below your sternum and lacing your fingers in his. His hand spanned a wide swath of your torso and made you feel delicate, like something precious. After a moment, Sam let the weight of his arm settle over top of you like a cloak, the pressure soothing and protective.

           You smelled like warm skin, fresh sheets, and the orange blossom soap you loved from the farmer’s market in the next town over. Sam inhaled deeply, nestling his face against your hair and feeling the heat from you and your body-warmed comforter seep into him, so opposite from the freezing bog water he’d been up to his thighs in earlier that day. He was having a hard time coming up with something that would be better than this and thought it might actually be ramping up his nerves, comfortable as it was. Instinctively he pressed his lips to your hair, feeling a jolt in his chest when it made you lean back into him.

           Seems awfully ‘boyfriend-experience’ to me ran through his head and he felt an overwhelming ache. If this was the boyfriend experience, he wanted nothing else in the world. He felt your breath deepen under his palm and the weight of your body began to sink a bit in that telltale way that told him you were falling back asleep. Sam listened for a long minute to the rhythm of it.

           “I love you,” he breathed, just to hear what it sounded like.

           “I love you too, Sam,” you murmured, barely opening your mouth.

           Sam had no time to feel embarrassed you’d heard him, hadn’t been fully asleep, as his chest swelled with helium. He shifted his calf to cover your cold feet and smiled, all to himself, into the darkness. It took him hours to drift off, but he didn’t care. There was no place he’d rather be.

-

Thanks again for reading! If you liked it, check out my Masterlist or send me a request!

Tags: @sams-sass @vxnderlindes @deanwinchesterswitch @akshi8278 @itsjensenanddean @flannellover67 @weepingwillowphoenix @tj-drinks-tea @whatareyousearchingfordean @winchest09 @winchestergirl2 @samwisethegr8 @nobxdy @nurse-sarahrn @lovers-in-japan-reign-of-love @deanwanddamons @stressedoutkitten @winchestershiresauce @tatted-trina6 @percico-heronstairs @downanddirtydean @queenoftheunderdark​ @lyarr24​ @wonder-cole​ @that-one-gay-girl​ @fairlyspnfanfic​ @treat-winchesterswith-kindness​ @mimaria420​ @huntheimpossible​  (s)

And as always, if you want to be on my taglist, were on the taglist and changed your handle, or I lost track of it, please let me know!

[jordanstrophe]

Hope you don't mind but what if basement whumper’s partner decided to pay another visit to whumpee? While whumper is out? And whumper comes back mid torture session and stops it?

(I don’t mind at all! Sorry if it’s taken me some time, but I really wanted to do this one right. In fact, I’m going to have to cut this into a part 1/2. This one is the hurt, next one is going to be the comfort.) (Update: I need comfort myself after writing this)   Masterlist 

CW: Torture, knife cuts, salt water, restraining, held captive, hair pulling, dragging, escape attempt, protective whumper, hurt. It’s a whole lotta hurt. 

Whumpee heard the front door open from above as they perked up against the pole. They watched stairs, waiting for the familiar socks that would descend, usually with a hint of clumsiness to them.

Instead, it was the stomp of heavy boots, confident with pride. Whumpee's heart dropped to their stomach when they saw Whumper's partner... A heartless, ruthless being who lacked any sense of humanity.

The larger of two evils.

"There you are! How's our little hostage today? Whumper keeps you well I see." They watched as Whumpee recoiling with fear in their eyes, slowly shaking their head with disbelief. 

"Why are y-you here? Where's Whumper?" Whumpee failed to hide the nervous wreck behind their voice. "Not here, little bird. They're far far away doing me a favor. Thought I would drop by and see the goods." They belted a laugh. "Y-you... You shouldn't be h-here. Does Whumper even know?"

They slowly cranking their head back with cold eyes, digging a handful of Whumpee's hair, slamming their head against the pole as they let out a gasp.

"Little birdies been in the basement for so long they think they run the little corner, hmm? Now, when did Whumper let that happen." They hissed. Whumpee tried to pull themselves from the grasp, but every tug pulled at their scalp.

"It's just... Whumper's quite... Possessive." Whumpee whimpered.

"Possessive?" An amused smirk painted their face. "No no, darling. I think the correct word is protective, don't you think? Now I know they  went soft and all, but you're nothing but their property." They spat, throwing their head to the side. They followed the wall, their eyes tracing every shiny tool until they fixated on a knife innocently dangling from a nail.

Whumpee wrangled their wrist against the ropes, desperately trying to pop an arm out, or even a thumb. Each breath became more jagged than the next as panic built in their chest. 

A cold tip of a blade touched underneath their chin as they instantly flinched up, only to come face to face with its wielder. The knife dug into their throat, just enough to break skin as they winced. 

“Wh-why... Why are you doing this? You took me from my own home... What more could you p-possibly take from me?” Their glossy eyes didn't hold back as they stared at their attacker. If they were going to get an answer, it was going to be to their face. 

“Simple. It's to keep you in your place, little bargaining chip.” They rose the knife, slicing a line along their cheekbone. Whumpee’s breath hitched as they jolted away, feeling blood trickle down their cheek. 

They didn’t get a moment before another cut was struck, right above their collarbone as they fell back against the pole. “Aah-! Stop! Please stop!” Whumpee begged, their shirt collar was torn as a long slash was made from their neck to the end of their shoulder. Whumpee gasped as their head fell forwards, thrashing against the pole from their bound wrists. 

“Y-your... You're insane!” Whumpee hissed, gasping for air. 

“Am I?” They whispered, holding the blade up to their arm. They hardly pushed it in, letting Whumpee’s own flinching movements cut themselves against it. After each dreaded minute that passed, Whumpee had dozens of cuts painting their body as they sobbed hysterically. 

“You know, I was really against Whumper keeping you. But now, I think you’re just fun.” They flicked the blade to let the blood drip off. “Why don’t I make this a little more interesting? Be a dear and wait for me a minute, won’t you?” They smiled almost sweetly before spinning on their heel back up stairs. 

Whumpee’s wrists were rubbed raw, but something had loosened. They pulled and pulled with a desperate cry until they ripped their wrist out. They inhaled with unbelievable relief, adrenalin pulsed through their body as they stumbled to their feet. They wiped the blood from their face, as they shakily climbed the steps. 

They could hear haunted humming and running water from the other side of the door. Whumpee glanced down at their bleeding hands, forcing themselves to grab the handle despite the cut down each one. 

The partner was on the far side in the kitchen, their expression instantly turning pale. “HEY!” They hollered, leaving the sink running as they sprinted after them. Whumpee managed to get the front door open, but it slammed shut before they could make it out. Their arm was grabbed as they were thrown back against the floor, shuffling away in panic. 

The partner stood between them and the door almost tauntingly. “Well well! Looks like I was right after all! Little birdie couldn’t sit in their cage like a good little thing.” They spat. Whumpee scrambled back until they were behind the couch.

They advanced closer, but Whumpee would then run behind another piece of furniture further away. “How long are you going to keep this up for?” 

“As long as i-it t-takes!” Whumpee barked, ducking a swipe as they tried to each across. “Takes till what? Till Whumper comes and saves you?” They mocked. 

“Y-yeah! Yeah I guess I am!” Tears instantly poured down their face. The partner finally grabbed the chair, shoving it on its side with a bang. There was nothing left between them and Whumpee, they gulped as they took a step, their back hitting the wall hopelessly. They cried when their arm was taken and drug to the kitchen, the sink long overflowed as the tiled floor was soaked in water. 

They used their foot to pin Whumpee to the ground as they took a box of salt and poured it into the overfilled pot. “Get off of me! Ple-ase! What are you doing!?” They cried, fighting to get out from underneath their boot. Their eyes went wide when they saw the pot hovering over their head, their expression freezing as they shook their head pleadingly. 

“No... No no no.. Please don’t.” They quietly begged. 

The door slammed open, Whumper about breaking the door from its hinges. Both of them stared guiltily at them wide eyed, their partner still holding the pot,  Whumpee still covered an uncountable amount of cuts. 

“Don’t you dare, you bastard.” Whumper hissed, their face seething red, they clutched their car keys in hand like a weapon. There was silence for a moment, you could almost see the gears turning in their brain as they weighed the consequences.

“... You’ll thank me later.” 

“PARTNER NO- 

There was a splash of water, then a shattering scream filling the room. Whumper dropped the keys in shock, watching Whumpee’s body convulse. Their partner smirked with satisfaction as they stepped over them, shaking their hands dry from the salty water. 

As if they thought they could slip out the door unharmed, Whumper instantly grabbed their collar as their fist hammered their cheek with such force they slammed into the wall. They even flinched when they opened their eyes, expecting another blow to the head, but instead, they found Whumper crouching over Whumpee trying to sooth them. 

“Weak...” They spat out blood before slipping out the door, listening to Whumpee’s screams getting quieter and softer the further they went. 

Masterlist

(we’re coming back with a part 2 if you like comfort) 

o(^∀^*)o Thank you for reading! @grizzlie70  @alien-octopus @lave-whump @amethysts-sideblog  @whump-it-like-its-hot  @thingsthatgowhumpinthenight @yet-another-heathen @princessofonward @whatwhumpcomments  @ill-eat-you-if-you-cross-me @mascmasochist @hamiltonwhumpdump  @as-a-matter-of-whump @whumpasaurus101 @starnight-whump @lonesome--hunter @chartreusephoenix

[rosiehunterwolf]

rainy days

Prompts: Storm

Word Count: 10,561 (i KNOW i'm sorry)

Characters: Jay, Nya, and Lloyd

Timeline: Snapshots throughout the series

Trigger Warnings: Brief mentions of nightmares, brief PTSD, Grief/Mourning

Summary: There are many reasons why people may dislike storms. Maybe, like Kai, they find few things worse than being cold and wet. Or maybe, they dislike the eerie sounds of the whistling wind and booming thunder, like Cole. Or maybe, like Zane, they are concerned about the safety hazards. But for the other three members of the ninja team, storms offer a much more pleasant experience.

Read on FFN.net

Read on Ao3

Tumblr work under the cut (RIP your browser, click at your own risk XD)

Jay should have been sleeping.

He didn’t know what time it was, but it was late. The rest of his team had gone to sleep hours ago. He could tell by the sounds of their breath- Zane’s clear and even, Kai’s with a rougher edge that came from years of breathing in smoke at the forge, and Cole’s deep with a light snore to it.

The sounds brought him comfort, and Jay felt the tension in his shoulders from hunting down Serpentine all day ease up. It was funny, how, less than a year ago, he had slept in a trailer home in the middle of the desert, no one but his parents for miles around, and even then he had slept in his own room. But now, he was crammed in a small bedroom on the Destiny’s Bounty with three other teenage boys, and he couldn’t imagine life any other way.

Although, that life also included waking up early every morning and spending the better part of the day training and hunting Serpentine, meaning one ought to get a full night’s rest.

It wasn’t that Jay didn’t want to sleep. It had been a long day, and he was tired.

But he couldn’t. It was one of those nights where the wind whistled in the trees and the rain pattered against the windows. There was a dull ache in his left shoulder, the one that usually alluded to-

A flash of light illuminated the room, casting long shadows across the wall for an instant before it grew dark again.

Jay smiled. Lightning storm. Never failed.

Now he was even more awake though, the hair along his arm standing up. He sighed, pushing himself into a sitting position and dangling his feet over the edge of the bed. Groaning, he rolled his shoulders, and they popped. Making his way over to the ladder, he climbed down and tiptoed across the room, easing the door of their room shut behind him.

Thunder rumbled from outside, and as Jay reached a window, lightning lit up the dark ship again. He smiled, feeling excitement bubble in his chest. Storms had always given him an odd elation- although he guessed it wasn’t so weird now, knowing he was the Master of Lightning.

Not that he had succeeded in summoning any lightning without the Golden Nunchucks yet, but the point still stood. This was his element. This was where he was meant to be.

Peering out the window, he saw the rain looked to be fairly light, and decided to go outside. I’m already awake, why not?

As he walked down the hallway towards the doors leading out to the deck, he paused as voices filtered towards him. Curiously, he stepped forward, and froze at the sight of two figures.

Nya had a bath towel in her hands, wrapping it around Lloyd as she tried to dry him off. The kid was scowling, attempting to pull away from her and grumbling something about buzzkills.

“What are you guys doing up so late?”

“Jay!” Nya jumped, dropping the towel and giving Lloyd the opportunity to slip out of her grasp. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t sleep, ‘cause of the…” he waved his hand at the window, “‘cause of the storm.”

She smiled. “Me neither. And apparently,” she added with a grimace, “not this little guy either. Found him standing out in the rain looking like a drowned rat.”

“I did not look like a rat!” Lloyd insisted, stomping his foot.

“Oh, so the drowned part was right then?” Jay snickered. Lloyd shot him a hot glare, and Jay held up his hands. “Geez kid, I’m just joking.”

Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just wanted to be out in the storm. I like watching them.”

“I get that,” Jay told him. “I love watching the storms too. Especially when there’s some killer lightning bolts. I’ve got some great lightning pictures I’ll have to show you sometime.”

Lloyd’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“He can show you tomorrow,” Nya insisted. “It’s two am, and it’s way past your bedtime.”

Jay winced. Geez, he really was going to be tired tomorrow morning, wasn’t he?

“But I didn’t even get to see the storm!” Lloyd whined. Turning to Jay, he added, “You’ll let me watch it with you, won’t you?”

Jay laughed nervously. Great, now the kid was trying to rope him into this to gain an advantage on Nya. No thanks.

…He did have a point, though. From the sounds of it, this was a big storm, and Jay wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep until it passed.

Nya must’ve guessed what he was thinking, because she sighed loudly. “I’ll let you stay up for half an hour more if you watch it from inside.”

“It’s not the same!” Jay and Lloyd burst out at the same time, then froze, glancing at each other. Jay broke into laughter at the look on the kid’s face, and, after a moment, Lloyd tentatively joined in too.

“C’mon, Nya, I’ll be with him. The Bounty is mostly sheltered, anyway. We’re not even flying! Let him out for a little while.”

Nya glared at him. “I don’t know how you talk me into these things.”

“Alright!” Jay whooped, high-fiving Lloyd.

“If he comes down with a cold, I am never forgiving you,” Nya muttered, reaching for her rain poncho. She handed Lloyd a spare one of theirs. “At least wear this.”

Lloyd wrinkled his nose at her, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Wear it, or don’t go at all.”

Lloyd sighed, slipping it on, and Jay had to bite back a laugh. The poncho was much too big on him, coming down to his ankles like some sort of strange dress. Lloyd didn’t look very happy about it though, so Jay refrained from the teasing.

As the three of them trekked out onto the deck, gentle rainfall pattered across their ponchos, and Jay immediately felt himself relax, the stiffness in his shoulders easing. Lloyd perked up too, skipping over to the railing to peer over the side, trying to spot lightning in the distance. Even Nya began to smile, tilting her face up towards the rain.

“See?” Jay teased, elbowing her. “You like it too!”

“I like the rain,” she told him. “It doesn’t mean I have the sense to stand out in the middle of a thunderstorm.”

“I told you, we’ll be fine! It’s perfectly safe here! Stop being such a grouch and come on!” Hooking her by the elbow, he pulled her over to where Lloyd was standing at the railing.

“See any cool bolts, Lloydster?” Jay asked, leaning his elbows on the railing next to him.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. “Not yet.”

“Well, keep looking. It’s when you’re not watching carefully that you miss all the cool ones.”

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrowed as he squinted at the sky, almost as if he was commanding it to do something. Jay laughed. “You have to be patient, Lloyd.”

“Lloyd doesn’t know what that is,” Nya snorted.

Lloyd bristled at that. “Hey!” he snapped as Jay burst into laughter. He elbowed Nya, hard, and she flinched back with a whine.

“Ow! Kid, that hurt!”

“Hey, don’t think just because I’m smaller than you, I’m not strong!”

“Duly noted,” Nya muttered, rubbing her side.

Lightning crackled down not too far off, leaping across the sky in spindly strands, the flash blazing across the sky. Lloyd’s eyes widened, but he didn’t flinch, not even as thunder boomed loudly, practically shaking the Bounty.

“Never seen a big storm like this, bud?” he asked, grinning up in awe at the light blazing in the sky.

“We weren’t allowed to go out without permission at Darkley’s. And the teachers never let us go at night. Some of the older boys snuck out anyway, but they never let me come with them.” Lloyd sighed, resting his chin on his hands. “I missed all the best storms.”

“Well, you’re in luck, bud, because I come out here to watch storms all the time! And you can join me anytime!” Nya shot him a look, and he quickly amended, “Well, before a reasonable hour, at least. This is a special occasion.”

Lloyd had an odd look on his face, but he smiled tentatively. “Thanks, Jay.”

“You’re pretty brave, out here in the storm like this. When I was your age, I remember always running to Kai’s room every time there was a storm.” She smiled, but her eyes were sad as she gazed off into the distance.

Lloyd shrugged. “I dunno, some of the other young kids at Darkley’s were scared of storms and tried to hide it… but I don’t think that’s me. I’ve never been afraid of them. I can’t really explain it, I just feel a connection.”

Something odd tingled in Jay’s chest, and he sensed a spark coming from the boy, a warm glow, like a soft, green-

Jay blinked, and the sensation passed. He must’ve just been imagining things again. Maybe it was his supposed “elemental powers” reacting to the storm. Jay didn’t understand what the point of feeling them was if he still couldn’t use them without his Golden Weapon.

“It’s dumb,” Lloyd muttered, kicking the ground sullenly.

“Hey, it’s not! I feel some sort of pull to the storm too!” Jay assured him.

“But you’re the Elemental Master of Lightning! That makes sense for you.”

“What about Nya?”

Lloyd turned to look at her, gaze questioning. “You feel it too?”

Nya closed her eyes. “The rain- it calms me. It patters across my skin, wiping all my thoughts and worries away, leaving just me and the storm, the gentle rumbles of thunder filling my mind.”

Lloyd smiled shyly at her. “You do get it.”

“I never thought it was an elemental thing, anyway,” Jay told him. “I’ve always felt this way- long before I found out I was an elemental master. Granted, we didn’t get many thunderstorms in the middle of the desert, more dust storms than anything… but when we did, it always felt special. Every time it stormed, I would always run to sit on the steps of our trailer- my mom wouldn’t let me go any further- and watch the lightning. I had a notebook, where I would sketch it, and once I got a little older my mom got me a camera and I started taking pictures. By the time I was seven, I could name pretty much every type of lightning formation and storm there was.”

Nya smiled. “I remember being pretty intrigued as well. Like I said, when I was young I was scared, but after a little while I realized that the things I feared were the things I didn’t understand. I checked out like, pretty much every book from the library on storms. And I made those little raincatcher things to measure rainfall, and placed them all over the place whenever we travelled to the city. Kai got annoyed whenever I dragged him all the way down there again the next day to check them all. He never understood my “experiments.” I mean, technically it was more of an analytical study, but… tell that to him.”

Lloyd looked out at the storm again as another lightning bolt flashed. “I wish someone had taken me out to see the storms when I was little.”

Nya elbowed him lightly. “You’re still little, silly.”

Lloyd puffed out his chest. “Am not! I’m getting taller and taller every day, and-”

“Okay, okay,” Nya laughed. “Cool it, big shot.”

Shortstack, Jay mouthed above his head, but apparently Lloyd still caught it, he realized quickly, as he was delivered a kick to the shin.

“Ow,” Jay whined. “Will you stop doing that? It’s a good thing you’re not a ninja, sheesh, or you’d be pummeling all our enemies before we could even get them to speak.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, I’d be a great ninja!”

“Let’s not put that idea into his head,” Nya said hastily. “What I was trying to say was, your childhood isn’t over yet, Lloyd. We can take you out to see storms now.”

“Really?” He perked. “Like, all the time?”

“Well…” Nya hesitated. “A good night’s sleep is important. But it’s okay to stay up late once in a while.”

“Aww, I’m gonna get to watch so many cool storms from here! It’s a way better view than my tiny window back at Darkley’s. Or trapped in the Serpentine tombs, I couldn’t even see the sky then. Or when I was alone in the city streets-”

Nya and Jay exchanged a glance of horror. Jay swallowed. “Hey, um, Lloyd, maybe now isn’t the best time to discuss, uh… childhood trauma?”

Nya facepalmed, and Jay shot her a glare. Like you can do better. Sure, he knew he had all the tact of Kai high on Venomari venom, but what else was he supposed to say? ‘Sorry your childhood sucked so bad?’ Somehow, he didn’t think Lloyd would appreciate that.

Lloyd didn’t seem to be listening to them anyway, still babbling on even after Jay and Nya finished their intense glaring match. “D’you think Kai would like to watch the storm with us?”

Jay snorted. “Hard no, bud.”

Nya grinned. “He hates getting wet, Lloyd. You couldn’t lure him out here with the green ninja gi itself.” She paused. “Well, maybe you could with that. But not with anything else! He wouldn’t like it. And he would complain about it until you wanted to chop your ears off.”

“The others aren’t too big on storms,” Jay told him. “Kai’s a hydrophobe, Zane would just spend all his time harping about ‘safety’ and ‘taking proper shelter’ during a storm, and Cole complains that they’re too loud and throw off his focus, although- and you didn’t hear this from me- I think he’s just a big ‘fraidy cat.”

“In short, they think we’re weirdos. It’s their loss though, they’re missing all the cool views from out here.” She waved her hand at the sky as a barrage of lightning bolts showered down across the horizon, paling the sky as Lloyd gasped in amazement.

“Oh, that’s a sweet one!” Jay whooped, raising his phone and snapping a picture with it.

Nya eyed him. “Jay, if you keep that out in the rain, you’re going to end up wrecking it.”

“If I put it in my pocket I might miss all the cool pictures!”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Okay, but I’m not buying you a new one.”

“Can you show me all your lightning pictures when we go back inside, Jay?” Lloyd asked, dangling his arms over the edge of the railing.

“Can I? Oh man, I’ve got hundreds in there to show you-”

Nya cleared her throat, and Jay glanced down at the time on his phone. 3:12? Had they really been out here for over an hour already? He grinned sheepishly at Lloyd. “Maybe just a couple photos tonight. We can look at more tomorrow.”

“Alright, but you hafta promise to show me all the good-” Lloyd broke off in a big yawn, revealing his small, gleaming fangs, and Nya smiled softly at him.

“Think that’s our signal for bed, kid.”

“No! No, I’m not tired at all-” Lloyd slapped his hand over his mouth before he could yawn again.

“Hey, we let you stay up way past your bedtime, mister. You don’t get to complain now.”

“But I’m gonna miss the storm,” Lloyd whined, although he let Nya drag him back towards the doors by the arm.

“The storm’s beginning to pass now, anyway,” Jay assured, stretching a hand out as the raindrops began to lighten. “It’ll be back though, eventually.”

Lloyd grinned at him. “And we’ll be ready to watch it?”

“That we will, bud.” Jay reached forward, ruffling Lloyd’s hair. “That we will.”

---

After long days of stifling, dry heat, the evening rain came as a relief to everyone. Lloyd sat on the roof of the Brookstone residence, watching and feeling the rain pour down. He hoped Mr. Brookstone wouldn’t mind him sitting up here, he had been kind enough to let them stay with him until the repairs to the Destiny’s Bounty were complete, and Lloyd didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

Lloyd felt like this cool summer storm was just what the city needed, not only because of the dryness, but because of the darkness that had scoured the streets here only nights before. The Overlord was gone- he had made sure of it- but he couldn’t shake the feeling of grime left in the city, and hoped the rain would be enough to cleanse it.

“We thought we’d find you up here.”

Lloyd glanced behind him to see Jay and Nya gingerly picking their way across the rooftop behind him, before plopping down into a sitting position beside him.

“See any cool lightning?” Jay asked.

“Not yet. All I’ve heard is a little thunder. It seems to be mostly rain.”

“Good,” Nya sighed, turning her face up to the sky as rivulets streamed down her face. “We need it.”

“How you doing, bud?”

It took Lloyd a moment to process that Jay was talking to him, and he turned to him, blinking. “What?”

Jay grinned. “Y’know, great and mighty ‘Master of Gold’ and all that- or have you already gotten over that? Too insignificant for you?”

“It’s ‘Golden Ninja,’ not ‘Master of Gold,’” Lloyd grumbled.

“Yeah, whatever. How you doin’? You just fought like, the biggest battle of your life a few days ago. You can’t tell me you’re not at least a little tired.”

“Speaking of which,” Nya frowned, tapping lightly at his bandaged leg, “You’re still supposed to be resting that for another two weeks. You shouldn’t be climbing up here. Or letting the cast sit out in the rain.”

“Here.” Jay pulled off his jacket, tossing it over Lloyd’s cast to keep it dry. “That’ll help. That way, you can stay out here for a little longer.”

Lloyd shot him a weak smile. “Thanks, Jay.”

Jay didn’t return it, watching him carefully. “You sure you’re okay?”

Lloyd lowered his head. “I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Sure is,” Jay whistled, rubbing at the gold silk of Lloyd’s gi. “It seems like just yesterday you were a little bratty, messy haired kid we were dragging, kicking and screaming, onto our ship.”

Lloyd rested his chin in his hands. “Feels both like yesterday, and a million years ago. So much has changed since then. I feel like a completely different Lloyd, now.”

“One thing hasn’t though.”

He looked up at Nya. “What’s that?”

“You’re still our heart-of-gold little brother.” She slung an arm around his shoulder. “Nothing, not some prophecy, not the tea, not the Overlord, not even your special, shiny new powers are going to change that. Ever.”

“I know,” he whispered, leaning into her. He felt Jay wrap a hand around his other side, and, for a moment, just let himself be held.

“We’re proud of you,” Nya murmured after a moment. “I know it hasn’t been easy getting this far, but now, thanks to you, all of Ninjago is safe.”

He leaned back slightly, elbowing both of them. “Yeah, well I couldn’t have done any of it without you guys.”

“You big sap,” Jay laughed, ruffling his hair.

Lloyd felt a grin split his face, shoving Jay’s hand off. “Well, it’s true! If it weren’t for you guys, I’d probably be in Pythor’s stomach right now.”

Nya choked a laugh. “Thanks for that grim reminder.”

“What, you forgot about Pythor?” Jay teased.

Nya shrugged. “I didn’t forget, just… compared to the Overlord, Pythor seems much less intimidating, now.”

“That could partially be due to the fact that he’s probably half-digested inside the gut of a giant, dead snake.”

“Ewww!” Nya jabbed him, hard. “Lloyd, that’s disgusting. Ugh, now I’m not going to be able to get that image out of my head all night.”

“Hey, better him there than here,” Jay said, leaning back to lay on the roof, letting raindrops sprinkle his face. “After all the training and fighting we’ve done over the last few months, I just want a break from villains.”

Lloyd shot him a glare. “We’ve done? Last time I checked, it was me doing most of the training.”

Jay sat up again, sputtering. “Hey! The rest of us weren’t exactly sitting on our bums, were we? Back when you were just a little sprout, we were the ones busy saving Ninjago! And who taught you everything you know, hmmm? You weren’t an easy student, you know that, right?”

Lloyd laughed. “Okay, buddy.”

“Don’t you ‘okay, buddy’ me! If it weren’t for me, you’d still be shattering all our lightbulbs! Remember who taught you to control the lightning!”

Lloyd blinked at him, pretending to look thoughtful. “I thought that was Nya.”

“Nya?! I’m the Elemental Master of lightning!”

Nya laughed, knocking her leg gently against his. “Stop messing with him, dude. Let him have this one.”

Lloyd mockingly rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright.”

Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one. Lloyd closed his eyes, cherishing the feeling of rain dripping through his hair and the warmth of his friends at his side.

It was funny how something so horrible had brought him to these people, this moment- something he would never give up for the world.

“Do you think the Overlord’s really gone?”

That remark earned him two very shocked glances.

“Where did that come from?” Nya spluttered.

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Jay agreed. “You defeated him. We all saw it.”

Lloyd shook his head. “Yeah, I know, it’s just… if the Overlord’s dead… my father is cleansed of the venom… and the Serpentine are good now… where does that leave us?”

Jay and Nya exchanged a glance. “What do you mean?”

“Things are so different, now. I’m not even the green ninja anymore. I’m wearing-” he tugged at his golden gi, “this. Being a ninja is the one place I’ve felt like I really belong, but if the world is at peace now, where are a bunch of ninja and a Samurai supposed to fit into it? It’s crazy, how we’ve spent the last months- the rest of you guys, over a year- training for this one big moment. And now it’s over. What happens next? What happens to us?”

“There’s no way to tell the future, Lloyd,” Jay murmured. “We won’t know until it’s here. The world is going to change around us- people will change, circumstances will change, our lives will change. But do you know what won’t change? Us. We might look different in the future. Act different, live different, I don’t know. But this group- this family- is never going to change. This-” he gestured at the sky above them, “is never going to change. Do you remember how, before your green ninja training got so intense and demanding, we would always go out to watch storms together? And yet, even after all those months, your first instinct was to come back to it again. Those kinds of things don’t just go away.”

“Jay’s right,” Nya agreed. “This is always going to be our special thing. Just like we are your special people. Time can’t erode memories. It can’t erode love.”

Lloyd smiled, as lightning cracked across the sky in the distance. “You’re right. The future is open to us. No matter what happens next, nothing can change who we are.”

---

Nya flopped over on the armchair, sighing.

It had been a long night.

After a villain had been defeated, Nya always looked forward to coming home, back to the Bounty, and just sleeping for about fourteen hours straight.

That hadn’t happened this time.

Even just coming home to the Bounty hadn’t been as warm and welcoming as it usually was. The hallways had felt empty, desolate, the rooms lifeless, and their bedroom bare except for the few things her and Lloyd had left behind- the rest of the guys’ beds made unnaturally neat and spotless, as if no one had slept in them for months.

Which, they hadn’t.

As the guys had filed in, she had tried to focus on the fact that they were here now, not the emptiness they had left behind in those months after Zane had died. Even Lloyd, who had been the only one to stay with her, had felt distant and standoffish in those days, hardly speaking to her or anyone else.

Ushering everyone off to bed had been a whole other fiasco. All the guys that had left had taken a moment to adjust back into the Bounty again, but Zane had been the worst. He had spent a long time just walking around the ship, staring at things and saying nothing. Poor Lloyd had been shaken about losing his father- after a while, Cole had insisted on sitting with him instead so that she could go check on Kai- who had still been trembling from Chen’s staff. It had taken her hours to get him to drift off.

She knew that she better head to her bed soon- if she didn’t sleep herself, Cole would come to chew her out- but she wanted to make sure everyone was staying asleep before she did. It would be just like them to get out of bed as soon as she was asleep.

She must have drifted off at some point though, because when she blinked open her eyes again, the gentle patter of rain sounded against the side of the Bounty. Lightning illuminated the room, and she stretched, getting out of the chair and walking over to the window.

As she reached out to close the curtains, though, she noticed the deck lights of the Bounty were on. Frowning, she pulled open the doors and walked outside.

Jay and Lloyd were leaning on the railing, staring at the sky. Neither of them spoke, but their elbows bumped together comfortingly. Nya felt a flash of frustration that Lloyd had managed to sneak out of bed already.

“Hey, I can’t believe you guys came out here without me,” she teased, walking over to stand on the other side of Lloyd. “This is our thing.”

Lloyd shrugged. “Sorry. You were sleeping.”

Nya narrowed her eyes. “You were supposed to be, too.”

“I was-” he yelped at the glare Nya shot him. “I swear! I was! But the storm woke me up.”

She sighed, letting it drop. For now.

“What are you guys thinking about?”

Lloyd shifted on his feet. “My dad-”

“Griffin Turner,” Jay said at the same time.

Nya and Lloyd looked at him. “...What?”

Jay blushed slightly. “The Elemental Master of Speed? From the Tournament?”

Lloyd snorted, and Nya rolled her eyes. “We know who he is, Jay. Why are you thinking about him?”

“Speed is a dumb element. Y’know, I wouldn’t even really consider it an element. Like- he can run fast. So what? The elements are supposed to help you create stuff. Speed isn’t a tangible thing you can make.”

Lloyd laughed. “You’re still upset about that, Jay?”

“What? It doesn’t make any sense! Like, speed isn’t an element, it’s an ability. Like, you know how Cole’s the Elemental Master of Earth and has super strength, right? Makes sense. So, shouldn’t, say, an Elemental Master of Lightning, be super fast?”

“Oh, I see what this is about,” Nya grinned, leaning over to poke Jay in the arm as Lloyd dissolved into giggles. “Someone’s jealous.”

“I am not jealous! I just think that it makes a lot more sense that an elemental master who possesses the power of lightning, which is made of light, literally the fastest thing in the universe, should be the fast one, not some random dude who claims his element is ‘speed.’ Like, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard! He’s not a true elemental master if you ask me.”

“Someone’s still upset about my father saying he wasn’t special,” Lloyd whispered loudly into Nya’s ear, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughter, as Jay kicked Lloyd’s ankle.

“It is interesting, though,” she admitted after they had all calmed down a little bit. “That there are others like you. I thought you five were the only ones in the world with powers like this… but elemental masters of Shadow? Metal? Nature? It’s crazy to think how many people there were that were just like you guys living in Ninjago with us, and we never even noticed.”

“Well, not just like us,” Jay muttered. “We are the four elements of creation… and Lloyd’s the Elemental Master of Energy, so we’re hardly comparable to their sub-par elements…”

Lloyd elbowed Jay in the ribs, and he yelped. “Yeah, it is kind of crazy… and it makes me wonder. Did every elemental master in existence decide to come to the tournament? What if there were more, ones that saw through Chen’s tricks and didn’t attend?”

Jay’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sure there aren’t more-”

Nya grinned, winking at Lloyd. “Oh yeah, wouldn’t that be awesome? What do you think they could be? Maybe Master of Space? Wood?”

“Maybe Silver! Or Plasma! Water?” He paused, frowning. “Actually, I’m surprised there wasn’t a Master of-”

“Let’s not get outrageous, here,” Jay insisted. “What do you need those for? Lightning is plasma, and frankly those others just sound useless-”

Nya snapped her fingers. “What about a Master of Crystal? Or, I know, a Master of Thunder!”

“Okaaaay, people, now we’re just laying it on me!” Jay snapped. “Thunder is stupid! Storms are my thing!”

“I dunno, Jay, I think it could be cool. What do you think, Lloyd?”

“Oh yeah, that would be awesome-”

He was interrupted by a loud bang of thunder, and Lloyd and Nya burst into laughter.

“Looks like the universe agrees with us, Jay!”

“Are you kidding? If anything, that was showing that it disagrees with you!”

Lloyd smiled, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Relax, big shot, we’re kidding. No one could ever replace you.”

“Hey, you don’t get to call me that! Only we can call you big shot.”

Lloyd looked at Nya, and she nodded. “He’s right. You’re the only big shot around here.”

Lloyd whined. “You guys keep saying that like it’s a good thing but I feel like it’s supposed to be offensive.”

Nya laughed, and Jay ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, big shot.”

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at him. “Stop that.”

“Make me.”

Nya pushed the two apart as they broke into a scuffle, rolling her eyes. “Guys, stoppit, you’re going to miss the lighting.”

They stopped at that, turning their gazes up to the sky as a bolt shot across the night, fizzling out at the end. Smiling, the three of them leaned forward on the railing, watching as the light show commenced.

---

Nya loved the rain.

The rain was carefree, playful- it took away a need for words, for thoughts, for worries. The rain didn’t bother with such frivolous things. It just was.

She hadn’t understood the tingle under her skin, however, every time rain was about to come, the slight ache in her bones leading up to every storm. These things had finally been made clear when she had found out that she was the next Elemental Master of Water- but everything else had become foggier.

Now she didn’t know who she was, what she was meant to be, what was supposed to become of Samurai X, if she would ever be able to truly fit in with the ninja group-

And most of all, she didn’t know how she was going to get her little brother back.

Right now, she hated the rain.

It was cold and heavy and grim- it only served as a reminder that she had failed. Her element was the one thing that could get Lloyd back, and she couldn’t even control it.

“Hey. I’ve been looking for you.”

Nya jumped nearly a foot in the air at Jay’s voice, and he put a hand on her shoulder, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The smile quickly faded as he got a better look at her. “Geez, Nya, you’re trembling.”

“Am I?” She hadn’t even noticed.

“Here.” Slipping off his jacket, he wrapped it tightly around her, before pulling her into a hug. For a moment, Nya let herself relax against him, the steady beat of his heart soothing her.

“How’s Cole doing?” she asked after a moment. She had hoped her talk with him earlier had helped- although the Earth Ninja had still seemed to be upset about his new, ghostly form. Not that she blamed him.

Jay was quiet for a moment. “He’s hanging in there.”

Nya squeezed her eyes shut. Wasn’t one teammate to worry about more than enough? Why did destiny seem to throw everything on them all at once?

“Hey, you’re wearing your gi.”

“Huh?” Nya blinked her eyes open, glancing down at the maroon and blue garment she was wearing. “Oh. Yeah. Sensei said I should wear it now.”

Jay grinned. “I take it your training is going well, then?”

Nya shrugged, looking away.

“Hey.” Jay took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s going okay, I guess. I’m a lot better than I was. But I’m still nowhere near the level of you guys.”

“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t expect you to be! Nya, it’s only been a few weeks since you started training. Me and the guys have been at it for years, and were training for several months before we even got a decent handle on our powers. You’re doing great so far.”

“Yeah, but, it’s not enough. And we don’t have months. I need to be a good Master of Water now.”

Jay’s expression softened. “Nya… we’ll find a way to save him. With or without your powers.”

“I just…” she stopped, gulping back a sob. “I just wish I could be more useful.”

“Me too.”

Lightning spit the sky overhead, followed by a mighty rumble of thunder. They watched it, but there was no joy in it this time around.

It wasn’t the same without Lloyd.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Jay wrapped an arm around her, murmuring, “Nya, you’re freezing. Let’s get you inside.”

She went without any protest. After all, the storm had nothing to offer her, anymore.

---

The storm that night was gentle, which Lloyd was grateful for.

Nya and Jay had assured that they’d be perfectly fine not going out- in fact, they didn’t want to- a lie, they just didn’t want Lloyd to feel left out.

They thought he didn’t want to go out. They thought he was forcing himself to go just because he wanted them to go and he wanted to go with them. But that wasn’t the case. Lloyd really did want to go outside. Morro had stolen so much from him- his family, his mind, his control, his own body- he wasn’t about to allow him to take his love for the storms, too.

So what if storms were filled with the same howling winds that reminded Lloyd of him, the sensation of the breeze reminding him of the chill across his spine as the ghost slipped into his body?

Lloyd wanted to do this. He really did.

He was just… scared.

“You sure you wanna do this, green machine?” Nya’s voice, a hand on his shoulder.

Lloyd nodded stiffly. “If I don’t step out of these doors now, I never will.” Without giving himself any time to change his mind, he leaned forward and pulled open the doors.

Immediately, he was sprinkled with rain, and stepped further out, letting the droplets wash over him.

Then a breeze hit him, and he clenched his teeth, curling his fists into balls.

It’s okay. You’re in the rain. The rain will protect you from ghosts. Jay and Nya are here, too. They will protect you from ghosts.

As if to solidify his point, Nya slipped her hand into his, and he squeezed it back, forcing himself to take long, slow breaths- in and out, in and out, in and out.

“Bud?” Jay put a hand on his back. “You good? You don’t have to do this. We can go inside. Try another time.”

Lloyd shook his head. Breathing out slowly, he took a shaky step forward- then another, and another. Winds tickled past him as he walked, but he ignored them, every step his confidence building until he stopped in front of the railing of the Bounty.

He watched the dark sky, holding his breath, waiting.

Nothing came.

He bit his lip. He needed this. He needed to know that the spark was still there, that Morro hadn’t taken it away-

Suddenly, a blazing warmth glowed in his chest, and Lloyd smiled- just as a mighty burst of lightning shattered the night sky.

He still had it.

A warm weight pressed in on either side of him as Jay and Nya joined him at the railing, the lightning illuminating their faces so that they almost seemed to glow.

They were here now. They would keep him safe.

Things weren’t okay, not yet. Far from it. But he had taken a step today. And he would continue to take steps until things were okay again, and his family was going to be beside him every step of the way.

Morro was gone now. It was about time Lloyd stopped letting him win.

---

Lightning flashed.

Nya, in his arms, limp and weak, the light fading in her eyes. The green venom splashed across her dress.

Thunder boomed.

Nadakhan, standing over him, laughing as he waved the Djinn Blade at him- the one that had trapped all his friends, the one that had left him all alone. He was the last one left.

No, he reminded himself firmly, squeezing Nya’s hand tighter. I’m not alone. Nya’s not dead. She’s right here next to me. All the others are safely sleeping inside the Bounty. I stopped him. He’s gone now.

Nya glanced at him. “You okay?”

He sniffed, wiping at his nose with the hand that wasn’t firmly gripping Nya’s. “Honestly? Not really.”

Nya looked up at the sky. “Me neither.”

“I’d thought I’d lost you.”

She turned back, letting her fingers skirt his jawline. “I know. I’m sorry. But you didn’t. I’m here now. It’s all over.”

Jay breathed out, leaning his head on her shoulder. For a long time, they just stood there, staring out at the storm, saying nothing.

“Beautiful night for a stargaze, isn’t it?”

He turned to see Lloyd walking towards them, grinning as he gestured at the stormy skies above them.

Nya rolled her eyes at him, and Lloyd tossed his head in her direction, his sopping wet hair spattering her with water. Not that it made a difference in all the rain.

“Normally I’m the one who has insomnia-inducing nightmares and doesn’t sleep,” he teased, pushing his way between them to lean on the railing.

Jay caught Nya muttering something about “joking about childhood trauma” and “we should all go see a therapist,” and the alarmingly cheerful grin Lloyd shot her made Jay think she might have a point.

“Who told you we had nightmares?” Jay asked.

“Jay, most people don’t come outside in the pouring rain, in the middle of a thunderstorm no less, at three am in the morning just for the fun of it.”

Jay grinned. “Yeah, well we’re not ‘most people.’”

Lloyd shook his head, smiling. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I just thought I would join you.”

“What about you,” Nya probed. “Why are you up this late?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said simply, his lips popping on the p. When they stared at him, he blinked. “What? It’s because of the storm!”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, If you don’t have to talk about it, I don’t either. Besides, that wasn’t a complete lie. Look.” Lloyd held out his arm for them both to see. It looked like a perfectly normal arm to Jay, but Lloyd was looking at them expectantly. “Feel it.”

Nya raised an eyebrow at him.

“Just do it,” he insisted.

Jay reached forward, pressing his fingers against Lloyd’s forearm-

And promptly jerked back as it vibrated beneath his touch.

“Woah.”

Seeing the look on his face, Nya quickly reached forward, her eyes widening as she pulled back. “What is that? Why are you buzzing?”

“I think it’s the storm,” Lloyd said. “My powers must be reacting to it. Sensing the lightning.”

“Does it hurt?” Jay asked.

He shook his head. “No, just tingles a little bit.”

“I didn’t even know you could do that,” Nya whispered, running her fingers along his arm again.

“I couldn’t. Not up until recently. This only just started happening.”

“Woah. Like a built-in storm sensor. Now you’re like us! I can feel a bit of a tingle when there’s a lightning storm on the way, and I know Nya can feel the rain coming. Ours aren’t quite as obvious as yours, though.” He gestured to Lloyd’s arm.

Lloyd examined his arm. “That’s awesome.”

Nya snorts. “Not so awesome when it wakes you up every time there’s a thunderstorm.”

Lloyd gave her a gentle shove. “Stop trying to blame it on that. I know you were already awake anyway.”

Nya snorted, looking away.

Lloyd frowned. “You guys sure you’re okay?”

Jay nudged him. “We’ll be fine, green bean. We always are.”

Jay watched him, wondering if he would probe further. But he simply nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”

Jay smiled. That was one of the things he liked best about Lloyd.

Sometimes, silence said more than words.

---

Rain pattered against the glass doors. Lloyd glanced up from where he was sitting on the too-large bed.

The royal family’s hospitality was greatly appreciated, but the room was so big. Lloyd wasn’t used to having so much space, or such fancy things- he wasn’t even used to having his own room. The six of them crowded into the little cabin on the Destiny’s Bounty was the only thing he had known for a long time.

He wanted to get out.

Walking over to the balcony doors, Lloyd pushed them open, quickly pulling them closed again behind him, so as not to let the rain in.

Walking over to the railing, he hopped up, sitting on it and letting his feet dangle over the edge. The bedroom might not have been his taste, but the view of the city from here was absolutely breathtaking. Lights were scattered throughout the dark landscape like reflections of the stars above, and the rain created a light, pooling mist that shrouded the city in an air of mystery and wonder.

He couldn’t have been sitting there for more than half an hour when Jay and Nya suddenly dropped in next to him from seemingly out of nowhere. Lloyd jumped, gripping the railing below him tightly as he narrowly avoided falling the very long drop to the city streets below.

“Geez, guys, don’t sneak up on me like that. How did you even get here?”

Nya winked at him. “It’s a ninja’s secret.”

Lloyd felt his nose wrinkle. That doesn’t make any sense. “I’m a ninja, too. Doesn’t that mean I should get to know the secret, too?”

Nya shook her head. “Sorry, green machine, that’s not how it works.”

Lloyd sputtered at her. “What do you mean that’s not how it works? How else would it work?”

“That part’s a secret.”

He threw up his hands. “You’re impossible.” “Nya Smith,” she grinned, shouldering him playfully. “Tormenting brothers since the day I was born.”

“I’ll say.”

“Hey, you weren’t even there for most of it! Kai had it way worse than you.”

“Trust me, you’ve more than made up for it.”

“Oh, come on, I know I’m actually your favorite sister.”

“You’re my only sister.”

“Ouch. Hit it where it hurts, why don’t ya?”

“You walked right into that one, and you know it.”

The three of them burst into laughter, and even as the sounds faded, they still sat with massive grins on their faces, swinging their legs back and forth gently, occasionally kicking at someone else if their feet accidentally knocked against each other. Jay got a little too aggressive in one of his attempts and nearly knocked Lloyd off the balcony for the second time that night. Lloyd shot him a glare, and Jay at least had the sense to look sheepish.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done this,” Jay murmured after a while. “Just the three of us, standing out in the rain, watching the storm.”

Lloyd sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s been a long couple of years.”

“You can say that again,” Nya agreed.

They fell silent again, and Lloyd felt bad for pitching the air into a grim mood. He was struggling to think of something more lighthearted to say, when Jay suddenly spoke up.

“So… about the princess…”

Lloyd immediately changed his mind. The grim mood was fine.

“What about her,” he mumbled, even as he felt his face turn cherry red.

“Oh, he totally likes her,” Jay gushed, reaching a hand behind his back to give Nya a gentle shove in the shoulder. “I told you!”

Nya snorted. “Have you even talked to her yet?”

“A bit,” he insisted, indignantly. Then, realizing he had answered too defensively, he quickly amended, “But it’s not like that.”

“Suuure,” Jay laughed. “That’s what they all say at the beginning.”

“She’s the princess! Even if I did have feelings for her, it’s not like something could ever work between us.”

“Yeah,” Nya agreed. “The stuffy, rich type? Not a fan. She’s probably not good enough for you. You can do better.”

“What?” Lloyd sputtered. “No, that’s not what I meant- not like that! I mean, she’s not like that!”

Jay snickered at how flustered he was getting, and Lloyd elbowed him in the ribs.

“How do you know? You’ve known her for like, what, a day?”

“Ooh, she got you there, green machine.”

Jay’s remark earned him another jab in the ribs, and he yelped. “Would you stop doing that?”

Lloyd ignored him. “It’s not like you’ve known her any longer than I have. You have no more idea what she’s like than I do.”

Nya shrugged. “All I’m saying is that she’d have to be one hell of a girl to even come close to being worthy of you.”

“Nya!” Lloyd cried, ducking his head as both of his friends went for a hair ruffle. “Stop it, you guys! I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“You’re right, you’re not,” Nya sighed. “I could hardly believe my eyes when I got back from searching for Master Wu. You were a good two inches taller than the last time I saw you, at least, and your hair was longer, done differently-” “Don’t forget his deep, manly voice,” Jay chimed in. “I’m so upset I missed the voice cracking phase!”

“I’m not,” Lloyd muttered.

“Jay, look at this boy,” Nya gushed, grabbing Lloyd’s face between her hands. “Can you believe this is the nine-year-old we snatched up off the street all those years ago?” “Never in a million years,” Jay laughed. “Look how handsome he’s gotten.”

“Guys!” Lloyd cried, pulling away from them. “Stop being embarrassing!”

“Lloyd, you’re our baby brother,” Jay teased. “It’s our job to embarrass you.”

Both of his friends leaned against him, laughing- only to jerk back a moment later with a yelp.

“Lloyd!” Jay shrieked. “What was that?”

Lloyd blinked at him. “What was what?”

“Didn’t you feel that?” Nya stared at him with wide eyes. “It was like we were shocked or something!”

“Oh.” Lloyd lifted his hands up from where they were resting on the railing, holding them up for Jay and Nya to see- revealing the small zaps of green energy sparking from them, occasionally arcing between his fingers. “I guess that was me. Sorry.”

Jay blinked owlishly at his hands. “What the… you’re not doing that on purpose, are you?”

Lloyd shook his head. “It’s happened before, while you guys were gone. I think it has to do with the storm.”

“Your powers really are getting stronger,” Jay murmured, taking one of Lloyd’s hands- prepared for the small shock this time- and examining it.

“And your eyes,” Nya breathed.

They both looked at her. “What about them?” Lloyd asked.

“They’re flickering.”

“What?”

“Lemme see.” Lloyd turned his head to look at Jay, and the blue ninja sucked in his breath. “They are.”

Lloyd frowned. “That is new.”

“It’s cool,” Jay gushed. “I wish I could do that.”

Lloyd shrugged. “I’m not sure it’s really that great. Now I can accidentally shock all my friends, hooray.”

“But think of using it on enemies! You’d be like, a human taser!”

“Jay, you’re our human taser.”

He grinned. “Oh. Right.”

“It does look pretty cool,” Nya admitted. “Kind of like those glow-in-the-dark star things you would stick on your ceiling as a kid.”

“I had some of those!” Jay yelped. “They were awesome.”

“Of course you did.” Nya rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “I wanted some, but we never really had a budget for it, so I checked out some star atlases from the library instead.”

“When did your eyes turn green, by the way,” Jay asked. “I had gotten so used to them being red.”

Lloyd shrugged. “I dunno, sometime while you were gone, I guess. I wasn’t really keeping track of the days.”

“How convenient for you.” Jay poked a finger near his eye. “Are you sure these aren’t just colored contacts? Is someone trying to bluff about his powers?”

“Jay!” Lloyd suddenly tried to lurch towards him, but he felt something grab him from behind.

“Run, Jay! I can’t hold him back forever!” “No one’s holding me back!” he muttered at her, but Jay was already vanishing over the roof’s peak, nothing but a blur of blue on the dark night sky.

“This isn’t over, Jay! No one calls me a fraud and gets away with it!”

“Settle down, Killer,” Nya giggled. “You know when you’ve been bested.”

“But I’m the green ninja,” Lloyd pouted.

“Yes, and you’re also the baby.”

“Am not!”

“Are so! Now, get to bed. It’s late, and you don’t want to be too tired to guard the princess tomorrow.”

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m too old for bedtimes. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Maybe not, but you’re going to listen to me anyway.” Darting forward, she snuck in a quick hair ruffle before darting up onto the roof.

“That’s only because I care about the princess’s safety!” he called after her.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.”

Before Lloyd could reply, the thunder boomed loudly, drowning him out, and by the time it passed, she was gone.

“Traitor storm,” Lloyd muttered, and the sky rumbled cheerily back at him.

---

The rain was heavy that night, so much so that Nya was soaked within seconds, her long, black strands of hair sopping wet, the dampness causing the ends to curl. Her dirty, worn, battle-stained gi was plastered to her skin, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

After all, how could such a small discomfort even hold a candle to the scalding pain in her chest?

How could any of this had happened? How could she just have gotten Lloyd back from the icy grips of death, only to lose everyone else to those same, prying hands?

She hadn’t wanted to believe it. When Lloyd had come back, soaking wet and shivering from the rain, the most defeated look on his face Nya had ever seen in her life-

She had been angry with him, at first. How could he tell her something like that? How could he send her whole world crashing down with a single sentence? How could he have watched as everything had gone so wrong? She had known that it wasn’t his fault, not at all. But she hadn’t known what she was feeling or how she had been supposed to handle it.

And as quickly as it had come, the anger had vanished, giving in to horrible, nauseating despair. They were gone. They were really gone.

She had hugged Lloyd tight, crying into him until Misako and Pixal had dragged them away, bringing them to a small, abandoned warehouse where they had spent the night. And the next night. And the next.

Not that time really felt to be passing anymore. It was so quiet, with only her, Lloyd, Pixal, Misako, and Dareth- and Pixal and Lloyd had hardly spoken a word, to her or anyone, since that night.

She knew they were grieving too- but maybe the thing they all needed most right now was someone to talk to.

She tilted her face up slightly, letting the raindrops slip down her face and mingle with her tears, washing them away.

“You shouldn’t be up here.”

Nya glanced over her shoulder, letting out her breath. “Lloyd.”

“We’re trying to stay hidden, remember? We can’t risk standing up here and being spotted by the Colossus or the Sons of Garmadon. You should come inside.”

“I will in a minute.”

They stood there in silence for a moment, nothing but the sound of rain splashing against the concrete and the distant rumble of thunder between them.

“Come here,” Nya waved at the empty space beside her. “Watch the storm with me.”

Lloyd hugged his arms over his chest. “Nya, we really shouldn’t be up here.”

“Just do it for a minute. Then we’ll go inside, I promise.”

Lloyd sighed, before reluctantly walking over to join her, resting his elbows on the railing of the rooftop terrace. The view of the storm wasn’t anything special from here- in fact, it was rather poor, with several tall buildings blotting out the view of the sky- but they weren’t really in a situation to be picky.

She liked this better, anyway- looking directly at the storm would be too painful.

“How can you do it?”

Lloyd’s voice startled her- based on the way the last couple days had been going, she hadn’t expected him to speak to her unless absolutely necessary.

“What?”

Lloyd grimaced, as if he was anxious to elaborate. “Why do you still want to be out here? Why do you still want to watch the storm?” He dropped his gaze, carefully avoiding her as his voice faded to a soft whisper. “Everything just reminds me of them.”

Nya turned her gaze back towards the city. “Exactly, it reminds me of him.” Softer, she added, “It’s all I have left.”

Lloyd was quiet for a long time after that, and when she finally turned her gaze back to him, his eyes were hard. Pushing back from the railing and blinking back tears, he snapped, “Jay’s gone. Forever. They all are.”

Before she could respond, he was darting back inside, and Nya put her head down, sighing.

Jay, I wish you were here. You would know how to make him feel better.

But he wasn’t. Lloyd was right, they were gone. All he had right now was Nya, and, standing there, drenched and shivering and pathetic, she wasn’t sure how much help she could really be to anyone.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and Nya glanced up. She hoped, if he wouldn’t listen to anyone else, he would at least listen to the storm.

---

Three pairs of footsteps drummed against the deck of the Destiny’s Bounty. Jay leaned his head over, letting the wind blow his wet curls, as he whooped happily, his cry echoing in the night air.

“Aww, girl, it’s so good to have you back,” he sighed dreamily, brushing the side of the ship with his hand.

Lloyd grinned at him, rolling his eyes. “Alright, Jay, we’re as happy as you are to have the Bounty back, but don’t make this weird.”

“He’s just anxious for the next repair,” Nya laughed. “He’s been driving me crazy trying to fix random things around the Monastery. The training bots, the mechs, even the toaster. And nothing’s even broken! He’s just making it worse.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault there’s nothing for me to do! I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing.”

“Well, hopefully, she won’t need any fixing for a long, long time,” Lloyd said. “The Bounty’s been damaged enough to last a lifetime. After the Colossus, I thought she was gone for good.”

“I know,” Nya agreed. “I’m so impressed that the city was able to rebuild it exactly the same!”

“Well, I’m sure it’s not exactly the same,” Jay argued. “There’s gotta be some issue somewhere, right? Something I can fix?” Nya waved a hand at him, laughing. “Don’t worry, Jay. We’ll find something for you to do.”

“Well, it will have to wait until later,” Lloyd announced, pointing towards the clouds in the distance that were sparking with lightning. “We’ve almost arrived at the storm!”

As they got closer, Nya locked in the steering, and the three of them headed towards the front of the ship as the Bounty sailed deeper into the storm.

Quickly, the rain began falling harder, and thunder echoed in their ears.

“Now this is how you stormgaze right!” Jay cried, laughing as rain fell on his face and lightning illuminated his bright blue eyes, his powers sparking between his fingers.

Glancing back at Lloyd and Nya, he saw both were sporting large grins. Lloyd was also sparking, his green eyes glowing, and as Nya reached her arms out, raindrops swirled around her.

After a bit of the adrenaline had worn off, Lloyd leaned against the railing of the Bounty, throwing his head back to toss the strands of wet hair out of his face.

“The others are not going to be happy about us taking the Bounty for a joyride right through a storm when they’re trying to sleep,” he laughed.

“It’ll be the last time they sleep in the Bounty for a while,” Nya agreed. “I bet they’re wishing they decided to stay back at the much more peaceful Monastery right about now.”

Jay put a hand over his mouth, sniggering. “I bet we only have like five minutes before Kai comes storming out here, demanding that we turn the ship around this instant.”

Lloyd shot him a sharp grin. “No, he’d never want to come out here and get all wet.”

Nya giggled. “Yeah, he’ll just stare at us through the windows, giving us death glares.”

Lloyd choked so violently that he doubled over, grabbing onto Nya’s shoulder for support. The water ninja tried to help him, but she was laughing hard herself. Jay grinned at them, struggling to breathe in between laughs.

“Can… you… imagine… the look on his face?” he wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes.

The hair standing up on the back of his neck was the only warning Jay had before a lightning bolt whizzed down less than ten feet away from him.

Shrieks sounded from the others as they leapt back, just as the edge of the Bounty burst into flames. Nya quickly directed two jets of water at the fire as Lloyd and Jay scrambled out of her way. When the last spark was gone, she stopped, breathing heavy, staring at the burnt area in shock.

Suddenly, she whipped around, glaring at him. “What the heck, Jay? You were supposed to be warding off the lightning!”

“It’s not my fault!” he shrieked. “You’re the one who distracted me!”

While the two of them shot each other smoldering glares, Lloyd walked over to one of the storage crates being kept on the deck, and pushed it over to the burned area, trying to cover up the charred floor the lightning had left.

“If one of us gets struck by lightning,” Nya warned, “Zane will never let us outside again.”

Jay waved her off. “It’s fine. I’m probably like, immune to lightning or something, and I’m willing to bet Lloyd is too, since he’s shown connections to my powers and the storms in the past. So long as you don’t get struck, we’re probably fine.”

Nya rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s reassuring.”

“Yeah, Jay,” Lloyd agreed, scratching the back of his neck. “There’s a few too many ‘probablys’ in that statement for my liking.”

“Oh, come on,” he grinned. “I’ve already got Zane and Cole on my back about everything 24/7. You guys are supposed to be the fun ones!”

“Hey,” Nya said, “I’m not making you do anything. You’re a young man. You can do what you want. Just don’t blame me if you end up comatose in the medbay because your brain got fried by lightning.”

“That would be ironic,” Lloyd snorted, and Jay elbowed him.

“You’d at least visit me, right?”

Nya shrugged. “Maybe. If you were stupid enough to get struck by lightning, I don’t know if you’d deserve that.”

Lloyd laughed. “Better luck next time, buddy.”

“You shut up. You could jump off the side of the ship right now, and she’d spend a week crying over you.”

Nya bit back a smile. “Maybe. But don’t,” she added quickly, pointing a finger at Lloyd.

He stared at her incredulously. “How dumb do you think I am?”

“Mmm… depends on the day.”

Jay burst into laughter, and Lloyd shot him a glare. “Thanks, Nya. That was a rhetorical question, by the way.”

“If you didn’t want an answer, you shouldn’t have asked the question.”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at her, and Nya stuck hers back. Jay laughed, elbowing her. “Real mature. I’d expect that kind of thing from Lloyd-”

“Hey!”

“But you?”

“Like you’re any better yourself, sparky. Don’t you still sleep with that weird zebra thing-”

“His name is Mister Cuddlywomp, and he’s a bear-”

“Guys!”

“What, Lloyd?” Jay snapped, turning towards him. “Can’t you see- woah.”

Lloyd was pointing towards the horizon. Dark clouds formed in swirling shapes, gently disturbed by the winds of the storm. Arcs of lightning flashed between them in an almost rhythmic fashion, casting a gentle light on the clouds that made them appear to glow. It was like something out of a fantasy.

“Holy crap,” Nya breathed. “It’s beautiful. How lucky is it that we get to see this?”

“It’s because we’re willing to come out so late,” Lloyd smiled, bumping against her shoulder lightly. “The others may be warm, dry, and cozy in their beds, but they’re missing out on this natural beauty.”

“Their loss,” Jay said. “It’s the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen. And we’ve been all around Ninjago- even in different realms- so that’s saying a lot.”

“That’s okay,” Lloyd murmured. “I like doing this, just the three of us.” He glanced at them. “It’s our thing, y’know?”

“Aww, Lloyd,” Nya smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. It’s our thing.”

“It’s special, in a way the others wouldn’t understand.” Jay beamed at him, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “I wouldn’t trade these moments for the world.”