#so yeah wild's wings do finish coming in

[hopepetal]

Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it?

@applestruda, @periwinklemoonlight, and I have been working on arc three of the boatem knights au for quite a while now. We hope you enjoy it :)

At the moment, the second chapter is not ready for posting, so it won't be out for a while.

Boatem Knights AU fic masterlist

Read on AO3!

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated :)

His nightmares hadn’t gone away.

Feathers rustling in the wind, Grian gazed up toward the night sky. Sighing heavily, he glanced back toward Pearl’s tent. She had offered for him to join her many times– avians were highly sociable after all, and often slept in the same nest– but he’d refused. He wouldn’t want to wake her up as well.

It didn’t make sense. 

Dreams of a desert, of cold silver skin, of red eyes and names and flowers and blood. And every day they’d gotten worse. More vivid.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t something Grian had the energy to figure out right now. He needed sleep.

He stood up and walked back to his own tent, and settled down for what would be another restless night.

And he hadn’t woken up the next day. 

Or the day after that. 

Or the day after that. 

The first day Grian slept through, Pearl hadn’t been too worried. With how bad her brother’s insomnia could get, it wasn’t a rare occurrence for him to not get enough sleep during the night and then make up for it during the day. She’d checked in on him, of course, and smiled softly at the sight of him curled up in his blankets, wings resting on either side of him as he smushed his face into the pillow. 

���He probably just had a rough night,” she mentioned to the others during lunch, “I wouldn’t bother him.”

Mumbo looked up, frowning slightly. “Hasn’t he mentioned having nightmares for a while now? Maybe that’s what’s been keeping him up.”

Pearl nodded, wings fluttering anxiously behind her. “Yeah. The last few months have been rough on him.”

“I think it’s from all the building we have to do,” Scar piped up. “Trying to finish the lodge has been a nightmare.”

“We’re almost done!” Pearl argued, optimistic as ever. “Just a little more, then we’re all set!”

Mumbo slumped back in his seat, letting out a soft huff. “Can’t we just leave it as is? I think it’s perfectly well done.” 

Scar raised an eyebrow, leaning back with a smirk. “I think you just don’t like building, mister.”

Mumbo rolled his eyes, though he was unable to hold back a grin. “Well, it’s certainly not my favorite activity. I’d much rather be–”

“–working on your redstone, we know.” Impulse chuckled, shaking his head. “Unless you want to be buried in snow by the time winter comes around, we probably shouldn’t be calling the lodge ‘perfectly well done’.”

Mumbo grumbled a little at that, much to the amusement of the others. “Look, I’ll do my tasks and everything, but I’m not happy about it!” 

Pearl laughed, leaning against the table. “You gotta weigh your options, mate. Either build the lodge now, or be wet and freezing during the winter. Which one would you prefer?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

The knights quickly finished lunch after that, making small talk as they cleaned and put away the dishes. The leftovers from lunch were stored away for later, placed in the shed they had built a while back so that the wild animals wouldn’t be able to get into their food.

“Same duties as earlier?” Impulse asked Pearl as they all made their way to the half-finished lodge. 

Pearl nodded, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “I don’t see why we would change them. I’ll take on Grian’s duties on top of mine, though I can’t promise I’ll be as fast.”

“Good thing we’re so ahead of schedule, then!” Scar piped up. “It’s a lot easier to focus on one thing instead of a whole bunch of tiny tasks.”

Pearl laughed, her wings fluttering in amusement. “That, and we’re all insanely fast builders. Who would’ve thought?”

Impulse grinned. “Well, I’m just naturally good at everything I do, so I’m not surprised.”

Laughing and joking, the four went about completing their tasks. The sounds of construction filled the air, conversation occasionally popping up alongside it. As the day progressed, it began to get hotter and hotter, construction slowing down as it did so.

Finally, the sun began to set, and their long day of work was called to an end by Mumbo. It was just routine at this point– the knights would work until the sun began to set and then they’d all gather at the west end of camp to watch the sun go down. Mumbo was always the quickest to put away his tools, and today was no different. Impulse and Scar went to join him, while Pearl slipped off to go check on her brother. Just as she had expected, he had barely moved from his sleeping position, only shifted slightly in a likely effort to get more comfortable. She pulled up one of the ottomans, settling down next to his bed. 

Reaching out, Pearl gently brushed some hair out of her brother's warm face, smiling slightly. “Heyyy, Griba,” she murmured, softly so that she wouldn't startle him if he wasn't fully asleep, “you doing alright, mate? You've been asleep all day.” No response. He must've been really out of it. “Well, I brought some food and fresh water. It’ll be on the side table for when you wake up– you must be pretty hungry.” She sighed softly, leaning back. “Well, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow, Griba. I love you.” 

Standing, Pearl quietly left the tent and joined the other knights to watch the sun finish setting. She settled down next to Scar, leaning against him with a sigh. The grass was soft against her skin as she sat and tried to relax, breathing in the fresh air and exhaling the anxiety that was building in her chest. Her whole body ached from the exertion of a day spent building, and the cool night air that brushed against her skin and wove through her hair was a welcome relief from the end of summer heat. 

Scar glanced over at Pearl, giving her his signature crooked smile. “How’s our sleeping friend holding up?” he asked.

Pearl sighed softly, closing her eyes briefly. “Still sleepin’ the day away,” she answered. “I dropped off some food and water in case he wakes up and needs something. I'm glad he’s getting rest, though. I think I’m gonna keep him from helping us work on the lodge for a bit, though. It can’t be good for him to be exhausted and pushing himself like that.”

“Agreed.” Impulse stretched before running a hand through his hair, carefully avoiding his horns. “It’s hard work we’re doing here, man. Kinda wish Skizz could’ve stayed a little longer to help out, but I guess a man’s gotta do his job.”

“And Tango’s been busy,” Scar added, “apparently he's workin’ on a super secret fly-ification project, whatever that means.”

“Sounds terrifying,” Pearl laughed, Impulse nodding along in agreement. Mumbo’s attention seemed to have been caught by that, and he perked up.

“A project? Do you think he’d let me take a look? I know he had mentioned a few things about combining redstone and engineering and really, it was quite fascinating and we had a truly intriguing discussion on…” Mumbo trailed off, noticing how Pearl and Scar were just staring at him. “...well, Impulse gets me!” he flusteredly got out, and the others began to laugh. 

Impulse smiled, chuckling. The light from the setting sun reflected off his piercings, causing them to shine when they caught the light. “That I do, buddy. That I do.”

Mumbo blinked. “Well. Alright, then.”

Pearl stood as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, stretching her wings as the shadows began to grow over the land. “I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely exhausted. I’m heading off to bed. Good night!” She spread her wings and took off, flying low over the ground until she reached her tent. She landed softly, ducking into her tent and changing into her night clothes– soft blue pajamas with stars and little crescent moons. 

Sleep called her name, and Pearl felt the weight of exhaustion pulling her down. She climbed into bed, settling on her stomach and wrapping her arms around the soft pillow. She’d just barely closed her eyes before sleep descended like a soft blanket, and she drifted into unconsciousness.

Grian didn’t wake up the next day. 

When Pearl woke, her limbs still somewhat sore from the day before, she went to check in on Grian before she started her morning chores. He wasn’t up, which meant he hadn’t woken up during the night and stayed up until dawn (again). Pearl was still a little concerned nonetheless, and rushed through her morning chores so that she could go check on Grian. 

When she peeked into his tent, her worry increased at the fact that he hadn’t touched his food or water, and had barely moved from the sleeping position she’d last seen him in. “Griba?” she called softly, “Griba, hey. Are you up?” Upon receiving no answer, she carefully crept forward and placed a gentle hand against his head. 

Oh, no.

Grian had a fever. 

“Griba.” She gently shook him. “Griba. Grian. Grian. Wake up.” Her voice became more frantic as her brother continued to be unresponsive, anxiety spiking in her chest as she tried to wake him. “Please. Don’t do this. Don’t do this, Grian. Please.” 

Still, nothing. 

Pearl’s gaze went to the side table, and she stumbled over, grabbing the pen and some blank paper that had been sitting there. Quickly, she wrote down a message to Cub, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she did so. 

Cub,

I’ve been sending quite a few letters lately and I hate to bother you once more, but Grian is sick. He isn’t waking up, and he slept all through yesterday as well. When I checked on him this morning, he was burning up. I’ve tried waking him up, but he hasn’t even responded. 

Please come as soon as you can. 

Pearl

She began folding the paper as she ducked out Grian’s tent, almost running into Scar as she did so. “Ah! Oh, mate, careful!” 

Scar laughed softly, pressing his hands to his chest. “You scared me, Pearl!” he retorted, taking a moment to calm himself down. He caught sight of the paper in Pearl's hands. “Sending another letter, are we?” he asked. “More moth mail?”

Pearl, despite the anxiety she was currently feeling, had to smile. Rolling her eyes, she responded, “We’re not calling it moth mail, Scar.” She closed her eyes and breathed out, pushing her magic into the paper. It took the form of a moth, glowing with enchantments, and flew off. She was quiet for a moment with Scar as they watched it fly off, before sighing. “Grian’s sick,” she told him, “and he’s not waking up. I was just sending a letter to Cub to ask him to come up and check on him.”

Scar frowned, humming thoughtfully. “And this isn’t just Grian being Grian?” he asked, but Pearl shook her head. 

“He’s not waking up, and he’s running a fever. Which, if he was even responding a tiny bit, would be fine, but he’s not even– it’s like he can’t hear me at all. Normally he’d at least have woken up a little and smacked me away or something, but…” Pearl shook her head. “Nothing. He was just… sleeping.” 

“Should we let the other two know?” Scar asked, gesturing with his head over to where Impulse and Mumbo were. They were working on the lodge once more– Mumbo, struggling to walk with the heavy materials and Impulse, carrying as much as he could and encouraging Mumbo on with a smile and kind words. 

Pearl nodded, already starting to walk toward them. “Absolutely. C’mon, mate!” 

Scar jogged over until he was walking by Pearl's side. “Hey! Mister Mumbo Jumbo! Impulse! Hey!” he shouted, waving his arms over his head. “Over here!”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head slightly. “Scar, no need to shout. They’re right there.” Her wings fluttered anxiously behind her as they approached Mumbo and Impulse. “Hey, you two.”

Impulse set down the logs he had been carrying, and Mumbo did the same before collapsing into the grass. “Heya Pearl,” Impulse greeted, “what’s up?”

“Not good news, unfortunately.” The mood sombered up as soon as those words left Pearl's mouth. “Grian’s sick, and he’s not waking up. I sent a message to Cub, but I’m gonna run to the village real quick to grab some general medicine and such. I meant to get some on the next trip, but…” She trailed off. “Clearly, we need them now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Impulse offered, to which Pearl shook her head. 

“I’ll be flying. It’s faster that way.” Pearl glanced over at Scar, who had joined Mumbo in the grass. “Can you three keep watch over Griba and the camp while I’m gone? Oh, and keep an eye out for a response to the letter I sent to Cub– it’ll be coming back as an enchanted moth, you know what they look like. I don’t think he’ll be sending you a response this quick, but better alert than caught sleeping.” She coughed slightly. “Uh. Excuse the irony of that wording. It’s just a phrase.”

Impulse nodded. “Don’t worry about a thing, Pearl. We’ve got things handled here. Go and get the medicine.”

Scar stood, helping Mumbo up as well. “Yeah! We’ll stop working on the lodge for a bit while this whole thing is goin’ on. Grian’s more important than a building, anyway.”

Pearl heaved a sigh of relief, smiling softly. “Oh, thank you all. This means a lot.” She stretched, spreading her wings and fluttering them slightly before relaxing. “Right. I’ll be off then. Stay out of trouble, ya hear?”

Scar saluted. “Aye aye!” 

With that, Pearl took off, flying over the camp and toward the village. Worry settled uneasily in her stomach, squeezing her chest as she tried to not spiral into an anxiety attack. It would not be good to do that while flying, she figured. 

Grian would be fine. Grian would be– he was fine, he was just sick and once he got rest everything would go back to normal. They’d continue building the lodge and get it done before winter and then they’d move on to their next adventure. 

Yeah.

Everything was going to be fine. 

In a house surrounded by much more greenery than the canyon that it sat in, Cub was working on a very dangerous project. 

Well, it wasn’t dangerous– as long as he took proper care when he was around it and made sure to wear protective gear, of course. A mask fit snugly over his mouth and nose, and he wore elbow long gloves with his lab coat sleeves tucked into them to make sure there was zero possibility of the subject of his experiment touching his skin. 

Holding up the blue-green mold (sculk, the book had called it) up to the light with a pair of tweezers, Cub squinted. It appeared to almost have a sort of heartbeat, he noticed, as it pulsed rhythmically. It might’ve grossed some out, but it made Cub grin. This was so exciting. He had only heard of sculk before, from ancient books and harrowed miners who had narrowly escaped death. To be able to study it like this, up close… it was a dream come true.

Cub jotted down some more notes with one hand, holding up the sculk with his other hand. His attention divided, focus solely locked in on the things he was writing, it was no wonder he got startled by the enchanted paper moth that landed on his desk. He dropped the tweezers with a loud swear, the sculk landing in his lap. No matter– he simply picked it back up with his gloved hands and put it back into its container, sealing it away. He then carefully unfolded the moth, recognizing instantly Pearl's handwriting. 

He frowned as he read the letter, before sighing heavily. “I really can’t leave them alone for five minutes, can I?” Glancing back down at his desk, Cub bit his lip, weighing his options in his head. He really had to finish this current experiment in a certain time frame, and Grian was a healthy man (and a Watcher, besides!). He’d be fine if he had to wait for a little while longer. 

He went and wrote a response on the back of the letter Pearl had sent, chuckling slightly at how his handwriting compared to Pearl’s. 

Pearl,

I’ll be there as soon as I finish up what I was doing. I assume it’ll take me quite some time, so I’ll head out early tomorrow morning. Keep an eye on Grian, give him some medicine and try to get some fluids into him. 

Don’t panic. Remember what I’ve been telling you in our letters– take a deep breath, calm yourself, and try not to let your thoughts spiral. You’re doing a great job. 

Cub

He carefully folded the paper back up, watching as the magic Pearl imbued into it activated, and the moth sprang to life before fluttering off in the direction it came from. Cub’s sharp eyesight caught the moment it burst into purple sparks of magic and sped off into the distance– “moth mail” always fascinated him. It was clearly a concept Pearl had either made up or been taught, and he’d have to ask her some more questions about it later. 

But for now, the sculk called his name. 

It took a little longer than expected to finish up the experiment, but Cub always stayed true to his word. The next day, he woke up with the gray light of dawn and gathered his things, taking care to lock his door before leaving. 

The sun began to rise as Cub started down the familiar path to the camp.

You know how this story goes, by now. 

Grian didn’t wake up the next day. 

Pearl did her best to follow the advice in Cub’s letter– give Grian fluids, take deep breaths, try not to spiral, try not to spiral, try not to–

She was fine. She was fine. 

…which was why she ended up breaking down into tears when Scar asked her how she was feeling, and felt his arms wrap around her and pull her close. “I’m– I’m sorry, I just–” She gasped for air, squeezing her eyes shut tight as hot tears cooled on her skin. Her hands were trembling as she wrung them together, trying to lean into Scar’s calming presence. 

Scar gently shushed her, carefully patting her back between her wings as he tried to soothe her. “It’s a stressful situation, Pearl,” he murmured, his voice quiet and comforting. “It’s okay to be scared. Did you wanna send a letter to Jimmy or something? I’m sure he would be more than willing to come on up for a little bit to help out.” As he spoke, he pulled away from the hug and summoned Jellie, setting the furry blue familiar on Pearl’s lap. “Pet the Jellie. You’ll feel better.”

Pearl smiled weakly through her tears, beginning to gently stroke Jellie’s fur. She felt the tension begin to leave her body as Jellie started purring, her breathing evening out as the cat curled up on her lap. “No… no, Jimmy worries more than I do, I don’t think it would be good to stress him out over this… because it’ll be fine. It’s going to be fine.”

Scar nodded. “Right you are, Pearl. It’s gonna be just fine. G’s just taking a big ol’ nap right now, sleepin’ off that nasty fever of his. Give him a little longer and he’ll be just like new. Cub will help him out and then he’ll get rid of that darn sickness in no time!”

Mumbo, who was sitting nearby, leaned forward. “Scar is right, you know. This isn’t the first time one of us has come down with a nasty illness of some sort. Grian just needs a little care and rest, I’m sure!”

Pearl nodded, taking in deep breaths as she continued to idly pet Jellie, wiping stray tears from her face. “Thanks, Scar. Mumbo. I needed that.”

Scar smiled reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up. “No problem, Pearl.”

Mumbo simply nodded, smiling. “Of course, mate.”

It wasn’t long after that Cub finally walked out of Grian’s tent, his expression kept carefully neutral. “Hey, you three. Pearl, could I speak with you?”

Pearl nodded, anxiety spiking once more as she prepared herself for whatever Cub was about to tell her. “Yeah. Of course. Scar, do you mind…?” She gestured toward Grian’s tent with a slight nod, standing up from where she had been sitting next to Scar in the grass and handing him Jellie.

Scar jumped up as well, brushing off his pants before taking Jellie and quietly dismissing his familiar. “Of course, my dear Pearl! I’ll keep a close eye on G.” Scar ducked into Grian's tent, going to take a seat on the ottoman that had remained pulled up next to Grian’s bed. He settled himself down, letting out a soft sigh and leaning forward. 

There was a moment of silence. 

“Y’know, G, this isn’t funny anymore.” Scar swallowed dryly, licking his cracked lips. “I’m all for pranks and stuff, but this is going too far. Pearl’s upset, Mumbo is worried, Impulse is trying to keep the other two calm, and I’m…” He shook his head. “C’mon, G. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Please.” 

No response. Of course. Grian was asleep, why would he respond? 

“I mean, really. It's like you’ve been cursed or something,” he weakly joked, before the thought really hit him. Could Grian have been…?

Scar closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shifted into his vex form. 

The smell of magic, powerful and wrong, was so strong Scar nearly gagged. He stumbled back, eyes widening as he realized that the magic was coming from Grian, wrapping around his body and curling around his throat. 

Slowly, hesitantly, Scar approached Grian and knelt by the bed. Reaching out, he carefully opened one of Grian’s eyes with his hand. 

Purple. 

Grian’s eyes were glowing purple. 

Scar felt the magic suddenly recede, drawing into Grian like the water being pulled back into the sea. With a sharp inhale, he stumbled back, shifting out of his vex form as he burst out from the tent. “Guys!” he yelled, “guys, something's wrong with–!”

Grian’s magic exploded outwards.

Pearl screamed, lunging forward as she shifted into her Watcher form, wrapping her arms around the only person close enough for her to protect– Mumbo. The two fell to the ground, surrounded by a translucent magic shield that glowed in blue and silver hues. All around them, purple magic swirled and raged like a storm, and all they were able to do was watch as Impulse and Scar collapsed. 

Cub was pushed to his knees, vex form flickering as his own shield began to crack around him. The magic howled in a screeching voice, swirling around Cub’s shield in an attempt to break through and take him as well. 

“Pearl–!” Mumbo cried out, clinging to her tightly. He was pressed against the ground and could hardly see past Pearl, but what he could see terrified him. Pearl’s shield was beginning to give under the incessant pushing of Grian’s out of control magic, and there was nothing he could do but watch.

Pearl bit out a sob, holding Mumbo close. The strain of fighting against her brother’s magic had her gasping, grabbing for any and all energy she had to pour into the shield around her and Mumbo. Raising her head, guilt and fear filled her chest as she caught sight of Impulse and Scar, limp on the ground. She could only pray that they were okay. That they were alive. 

The magic like raging wind reached a peak, screaming so loud Pearl’s sensitive ears ached. And just like that, it was over.

Pearl, Cub, and Mumbo were the only ones awake when their shields came down.

All across the realm, Grian’s magic reached out and pulled others into a deep sleep. A king and his hand, alongside his best soldier. A huntsman. A time wizard, armorer, and a friend of the nearby innkeep. A man who guided others through the mountains. An avian, netherborn, and a man who sold flowers. 

One by one, they were surrounded by purple magic, angry and screaming and wanting. And one by one, they all fell asleep. 

Grian woke up to impossibly familiar faces and one objective: survive. 

He pushed himself up from the ground, shaking his head slightly to clear the fuzz as he looked around at the gathered group. “Welcome to Third Life,” he greeted in a voice that wasn’t quite his own, with words he wasn’t sure how he knew. “You all have three lives. Once you lose your last life, you are out.”

Confusion and concern echoed from those around him, and Grian raised his voice. “When you are on your last life– your red life– you will become hostile. All previous alliances will be broken.”

A deep breath.

“Good luck.”

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 21

Hey guys!! The story is starting ramp up to the finish line! I hope you guys are still enjoying it as much I enjoyed writing it.

In this we have Steve taking back his agency, Eddie and Jeff having a little chat and Abbadon leaning on his friends.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

~

As soon as Abbadon grabbed the mic, the audience knew they were going to be in for a ride.

“Las Vegas!” he roared to the crowd, who roared back. “There seems to be some confusion about how naughty I got with Eddie Munson in Denver.”

The crowd went wild, screaming and jumping up and down.

“I never do anything without prior consent,” he grinned. “I’m a gentleman, until you tell me you want it otherwise.” He winked and the crowd screamed back. “I’m not saying I’m coming for Asmodeus’s job,” Abbadon said, draping himself over his guitarist’s shoulders, “but I’m no innocent. I don’t need protection.” He walked across the stage to Astraeus. “I’ve always been affectionate. But I think it’s time to be put the rumors to bed.”

“Oooooohhhhhh!” Asmodeus and Astraeus shouted and got the crowd to say it with them. Once they were loud enough, Azrael started rapidly tapping his drums to further build up tension.

Just when Abbadon was sure the tension couldn’t stretch much further he said, “I’m not a slut. I’m the slut!” The throng of people roared back. “And I’m not going to hide who I am to make myself palpable to people I’ve never met or no longer have any connection to me. I am Abbadon! I AM THE FALLEN!”

Waiting in the wings was Jeff and Eddie. They had gathered to watch Steve do this in person instead of watching it live in the green room.

Jeff cocked his head to the side and clicked his tongue. “Whatever else you think of Abbadon and the rest of the band, you have to admit the man has charisma.”

Eddie pressed his lips together and nodded. He was proud of Steve. Of course he was, but it did sting a little that it took Shane to get him to talk about it. Not him, Not Robin. Hell, not even Simon, whom Eddie thought was unhealthily close to Steve. Shane. Of all the band members, Shane had the least in common with Steve. Spence had the EMT thing, Simon, the upper class upbringing. Other than them liking metal, they couldn’t be further apart then if God planned it that way.

Shane came from a middle class liberal family with an older sister he was close with. Hell, he even still talked to his parents while Steve definitely did not. He was a giant nerd who loved history and myths. Steve struggled in school and only made it out alive because he was on three sports teams and captains of two of them. Shane even slept around to Steve’s search for ‘the one.’ Which Eddie really, really hoped was him.

But maybe that was it. Maybe the reason Shane could get through to Steve was because they didn’t have much in common. Maybe their connection were their differences. That they were friends in spite of the gap between them.

Eddie almost wanted to get Steve into therapy like Gareth was. Because even though it always seemed to him that Gareth was one drink away from destruction these days, the therapy did appear to be working.

Steve could really use something like that.

They watched the set a little bit longer.

“Are you sure you’re okay with Abbadon flirting with Gareth?” Jeff asked.

Eddie blinked for a moment wondering where the comment was coming from. Because, sure, Gareth had talked non-stop about Abbadon being his favorite member, even going as far as to tattoo Abbadon’s mask on his left bicep. But Gareth didn’t seem interested in Abbadon as a person.

And it wasn’t like Steve was really interested in him that way before or after becoming a rockstar.

“Gareth and Abbadon both say it’s fine,” he murmured after a moment or two. “And I trust Abbadon.”

Jeff hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah okay. So this time it’s not going to be the duet?”

“No, I don’t want a repeat of last time. Abbadon is going to be taking the lead vocals on ‘Might as Well Fly’, I think he’ll lend a haunting quality to it.”

Jeff pursed his lips. Steve definitely had the pipes for it, but it wasn’t the song out of their discography that he would have chosen for Abbadon to shred.

Eddie huffed beside him and crossed his arms in front of him. “Let me guess, you have other ideas?”

“Can Abbadon play guitar?” Jeff asked rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Eddie shrugged. “I mean, I guess. He’s like able to play piano, violin, and guitar. Can he play the song you’re thinking of is the real question.”

Jeff turned to him with a grin. “Oh, if I know our friend as well as I think I do, he knows it.”

Eddie frowned at him and cocked his head to the side. “Which one?”

Jeff told him and Eddie rubbed his lips, skeptical. It was a good song. Harder than ‘Might as Well Fly’ and faster too. It had an extra guitar to it because it originally featured a famous guitarist. But it was also the lead guitar on that song.

“Do you really think he can do it?” he asked, licking his upper lip slowly.

Jeff scoffed, “Why? Do you think he can’t?” Eddie just shrugged. “Because holy hell, dude, I was talking to Asmodeus and he was telling me they formed their band over their love of our music. I’m betting if you asked Abbadon he could list his favorite albums alphabetically, chronologically, or which one is best musically. Even before you guys got together, before their band, before we even got a record deal, he’s been your number one fan. And he’s got the chops for it. You know he does.”

Eddie looked around to make sure no one had heard Jeff’s impassioned speech. He ducked his head. “Have Abbadon meet us before we go on to discuss the change while they setup our equipment.”

Jeff grinned and licked his lips. “You won’t regret this. And neither will they.” He jutted his chin out at the roaring crowd.

And yeah, Eddie knew he was being ridiculous about the song. He was trying to play this safe, but Steve didn’t need safe right now. He needed to take back his agency and Eddie knew that this song? It was fucking perfect for Steve. They would be able to feed off the roar of the crowd and give Steve a chance to really show them how good he is.

~

Steve loved the idea of the change in song. Don’t get him wrong, he loved ‘Might as Well Fly’. It just wasn’t the vibe he was trying to send today. Steve already was flying. Now he was raging at the people who were trying to clip his wings. And fuck them.

It meant that he couldn’t start on Gareth’s lap, but that was okay. This was going to be better. A hell of a lot better.

He pulled on his Corroded Coffin logo lined coat and swapped his mask for the lighter everyday one. He was going to need the extra movement for these vocals. He started in the middle again, this time in front of Corroded Coffin instead of between them.

“Hey, Las Vegas!” Eddie cried. “You bitches ready to rock?”

The crowd screamed back and Eddie laughed. “We’ve got a treat for you tonight!” The crowd screamed even louder. “We don’t usually play ‘Nightmare Killer’ because we don’t have that third guitarist.”

The audience went wild, screaming and whistling and stomping their feet in excitement.

“We asked Asmodeus,” Eddie continued. “But he’s too cool for us!” The crowd made teasing booing noises and oohhed. “But that’s okay, we found someone else willing to play.”

The room fell to a hush as Abbadon’s spotlight came on. There was some uneasy wrestling from the audience as he stood with his ear mic and white guitar. Something that eagle-eyed fans would know about Eddie and Jeff was that they didn’t own a white guitar. And all The Fallen fans knew that all of Asmodeus’s guitars were red and vaguely devil themed. This wasn’t his either. This was clearly Abbadon’s.

Abbadon began the opening riff and the crowd took a massive intake of breath as he sailed perfectly through the chunky bits of the original artist’s style. Then he began to sing, the haunting quality of his voice filling in the gaps of the silence that seemed to stretch on from the audience.

Eddie didn’t even bother trying to hold back the look of admiration on his face as he joined Abbadon for the chorus. Their vocals mixing beautifully to the backdrop of a hell beast looking for more from life than the violence it was weaned on.

Throughout the song the only sounds from the crowd were clapping in time to the beat. Eddie had never seen anything like at their concerts before. It was like there was this reverence for what was happening on stage.

Abbadon ate it up and played it up as he enticed the members of Corroded Coffin to him. Each of the members resisted. Then Abbadon handed his guitar off to a roadie and climbed the stairs to the platform that Gareth was on. He straddled Gareth’s lap and drumming cut out as his bandmates played on. From behind it looked like they were kissing, but with Abbadon’s mic off they were making fun of each other. Then suddenly he whirled on Gareth’s lap and hit the drums right on the last note with a crash.

Then in an instant the crowd thundered to life, cheering and stomping and clapping.

Abbadon blew Gareth a kiss and leapt off the platform to take his bows. The flutter of the coat revealing the Corroded Coffin logo again and the crowd screamed even louder. He blew kisses to the crowd and continued to bow. Eddie whistled loudly and Abbadon laughed.

Eddie grabbed the microphone. “Abbadon everyone! One very talented son of bitch! Another round of applause everyone!”

The crowd continued to go wild. Abbadon let out a whoop and jumped up and down, laughing. It was exhilarating, everyone just feeding the energy back to Abbadon and just feeling high off that. Eddie and Jeff shared a glance and Jeff winked. Eddie shook his head. Because yeah, Jeff won that bet.

Abbadon waved goodbye and walked off the stage. Once he was out of view of the audience Hopper swooped in and immediately threw a cool, damp towel over his head and Steve nearly sank to his knees in relief. Because try as they might, the hoods were still fucking hot. Hopper lead him to the dressing room where the rests of The Fallen were waiting.

As soon as the door closed tightly behind Abbadon, Steve pushed back the hood and ripped off the mask. His hair was wet and sweat clung to his face and neck. He let himself sink slowly into the soft cushions of the sofa and laid his head back.

A bottled water was being pushed into his hand and an ice pack was placed on his brow. He let out a small shuddering breath. He opened the water and dumped half of it on his face and the rest into his mouth.

“Thanks, guys,” Steve muttered, his eyes fluttering shut. “How did I look out there?”

Simon huffed a little a laugh. “Like fucking rock god.”

“I’m with Simon,” Spence said. “It won’t silence the naysayers but it’ll drown them out which is even better.”

Steve laughed. “Fuck that was so much fun. Gareth called me a queen. So I called him a bitch. I honestly don’t know if he likes Abbadon more now, or less!”

“Considering how little time you had to prepare,” Shane said, sprawled over an armchair instead of on the floor for a change, “I say you kicked ass. You’re going to get people saying you weren’t really playing but, they can suck your dick!”

Steve lifted his head, the ice pack sliding into his hand. “I hate doing this without you guys, though,” he admitted. “But as Shane pointed out, I’m already super affectionate with you already and short of French kissing Simon, they aren’t going to believe shit.”

“Nothing against you, Steve,” Simon said with a wince, “but I really don’t want your tongue down my throat.”

Shane raised his hand. “I volunteer! I volunteer!”

They all laughed. Then Robin as Celeste slipped in and sat next to Steve. She grabbed the ice pack and pressed it to the back of her neck. They all waited as she let her defenses slowly come down. She pulled off the wig and tossed it Spence who caught it deftly.

“Vickie has been working tirelessly tonight to keep an eye on social media,” Robin began, “she even has two of her assistants watching all the accounts, constantly refreshing.”

Steve turned on the couch to face her. “And what are they saying?”

Simon and Spence immediately moved over to her to sit on either side of her and Steve. Shane sprawled over the back like some Renaissance painting. He rustled her hair and she huffed out a laugh.

“You’re getting the trolls from both fans shit talking about how Abbadon is better than Corroded Coffin and should have turned them down like Asmodeus,” she continued, pausing only for Simon’s huff of laughter. “The Corroded Coffin fans were whining about how Abbadon’s vocals ruined the song and that he probably faking the guitar playing for the views.”

“I’d like to see them fake that bridge,” Steve scoffed. “It’s insane.”

Simon nodded. “I don’t think I could do it.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s what I’ll do. I’ll post a Tiktok of me trying to play it.”

“Wait!” Spence said. “Have Steve do it first, showing a close up of the hands dancing on the frets. Then you stitch it with your version. That should kick them in the ass.”

Steve and Simon fist bumped each other. “Hell yeah!”

“But the rest of the tweets and shit coming in is overwhelmingly positive,” Robin finished. “So that Tiktok should silence the Corroded Coffin fans.”

When Simon did his stitch of Steve’s video he made sure to admonish their fans about thinking who’s better than who. He was friends with the boys in CC and the being ‘too cool’ was a fucking joke.

Then Eddie did a stitch of both of their videos and showed them again how complicated the riff was for Abbadon to play by playing it himself. Abbadon and Asmodeus’s videos racked up a lot of views and shares, but Eddie’s really did the numbers. It blew up and completely overshadowed all the haters.

Steve made sure to thank Eddie for that later in the privacy of Eddie’s hotel room.

~

Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

[arc-misadventures]

Vtuber au ask. So we know that Weiss, Ruby and Cinder so far all have feeling for Jaune. Will be be seeing other members of team rwby, jnpr and cmen?

The VTuber: The Dragoness

A blank screen was all that was scene, an empty void of nothingness. Until a single spark flared to life in the centre of the screen before all was engulfed in flame, as the shadow of a burning heart stood alone before all faded to ash, and dust. Revealing a woman with vibrant violet eyes, and a dazzling smile. Wings stretched out, behind her, as a crown of horns rest upon her golden locks of hair.

For this was the dragon girl VTuber, DraGunShow.

And, the show was just beginning.

~~~

DraGunShow: Hello, chat~! How’s everyone doing this fine day?

DraGunShow show gave her chat a dazzling smile showing off her sharp canines as she watched chats replies come trickling in.

~~~Stream Chat~~~

ViciousDoggo: It begins!

Helios6291: Hello Dragon!

KnightsBannana: Our queen is here!

IdentifiableMistake: Hello girls~!

Quintix: Hello!

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: Hi everyone, it’s nice to see you too. Okay chat, for today’s show I have a special treat for you~! Well… more of a treat for me, but all of you will get a kick out of it!

Her radiant smile was infectious as her body moved about, letting her wings flap as her ‘girls’ jiggled to, and fro as she went in with her little plan for today.

DraGunShow: Okay, my dear friend, SushiandShibari gave me a challenge the other day, and it’s one that I must say I’m all fired up to do! My challenge is to flirt with everyone’s loveable knight, ErrantryPaladin. And, see if we can get him to blush! The nina cat bet I couldn’t do it, but I’m sure as hell bet I could! So, who’s ready to see their favourite knight blush up a storm?!

~~~~~~

FshOnLand: Oh hell yeah!

RubberDucky98: Let’s do this!

Venger: 5000 bits says she can’t do it.

Rightotheleft: I’ll take that bet.

Yenta: Another 5000 says she blushes first.

Tallai37: Gonna pass that to Errant’s stream then?

Venger: Sure, why not.

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: Ohh~! Do you have no faith in me chat? Please, this is going to be a cake walk~!

DraGun opened up the stream to show she already had, ErrantryPaladin’s stream playing in the background, he was playing another round of, Deep Rock Galactic, and had just finished a mission when, DraGun decided to call, VTubings most infamous heartbreaker.

Errant’s model look to the side as his eye brow shot upwards in an inquisitive, yet cautious manner.

Errant: Hello, DraGun. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?

DraGunShow: Okay chat here we go!

DraGunShow: Hey, Errant~! How’s to going?

Errant: It was going well, but now I have a sense of foreboding. Do you need something, DarGun?

DraGunShow: Hey, my name is, DraGunShow, but you can call me tonight~!

Errant: Eh?

DraGun was met with the lovely sight of, Errant looking at her with an utterly bewildered expression across his face. It was cute, but not what she wanted.

DraGunShow: Do you know what’s on this years Valentine’s menu?

Errant: What?

DraGunShow: Me-N-U~!

Errant face contorted into an array of wild facial expressions, varying from the confused, the pondering, to the clarification, and then back to the confused.

DraGunShow: Uhhh… I-I’m no photographer, but I can picture us together~!

Errant: W-What are you doing?

DraGunShow: Uhhh… shit… O-One moment.

Errant: Okay?

DraGun quickly muted herself as she turned to face her screen as he face fell as panic, and embarrassment set in.

DraGunShow: I fucked up!

~~~~~~

RohanasStalion: That was horrible

AledenTheon: crash, and burn baby

VicuousDoggo: abort abort abort!

Venger: So, do I pay Errant the 5000 bits then or what?

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: No! I can still do this! It’s just a little mess up! The bets not over yet! I CAN DO THIS!!!

Fire erupted from, DraGun’s model as she pumped herself up, she roared at her chat as her chat started to hype her up, and she quickly unmuted herself, and…

Errant: So what’s this bet of yours all about?

Stopped dead in her tracks as, Errant’s simple comment blindsided her.

DraGunShow: H-How did you know about that?!

Errant: Someone on my chat decided to make the same bet; ‘5000 bits says, Errant can’t make, DragonDeezBoobs blush.’ Is that why you were flirting with me earlier? To get me to blush?

DraGunShow: Ah-hahaha haaa… SushiandShibari made bet with me that I couldn’t get you to blush, and I bet I could. So…

Errant: And, what is the prize of you winning this bet; bragging rights?

DraGunShow: Uhh… Yeah pretty much. Bragging rights, and gloating that I could get you to blush.

Errant: Hmmm… Would you care to make this more… interesting~?

The way, Errant purred that last word sent a chill down, DraGun’s spine. On that filled her with excitement, and desire as he stared her down.

DraGunShow: Interesting how~?

Errant: Simple: We both tell pickup lines until the other pleads uncle, and the winner wins both the smug satisfaction of making the other blush, and admit defeat. And, the promised 5000 bits their chat offered. You game, or is the dragon afraid to be burned?

DraGun let loose a growl deep within her throat as she took the Paladins challenge with earnest gusto.

DraGunShow: I’m game! Ready to become a blushing mess when I break you down!

Errant: we shall see. Alright! Chat we are about to have our little duel. You shall be the ultimate decided on who the winner is. And, you also allowed to tell us any of your clever pickup lines in the chat. Unless that is a problem, Dragun?

DraGunShow: My chat vs yours? Sounds like fun, what do you say chat, up for a challenge?

~~~~~~

RubberDucky98: Yeah let’s do this!

Tallai37: We’re gonna wreck them!

Yenta: Anyone want to add to the betting pool?

Penguinwithagun: I’m down for 500!

Kachina: I can do a 100.

Venger: Let’s take them for every bit they have!

~~~~~~

Dragun smiled deviously as she stared at the wandering paladon as they prepared for the games to begin.

DraGunShow: Seems my chat is upping the wager.

Errant: So are my; hopefully they can forck over the bits when you lose.

DraGunShow: In your dreams pretty boy~!

Errant: Ladies first.

DraGunShow: Alright, I’m not feeling myself today, can I feel you up instead~?

Errant: Weak. Treat me like I am a pirate, and give me that booty.

DraGunShow: Arrgh me captain, der be dog shite over the starboard bow!

Errant: Oh, tough croud.

DraGunShow: If you were a flower you’d be a damn-delion~!

Errant: What are you some sort of cocky sixth grader? Hit me with something good!

Errant: Ahem, my turn. Do you know how to play, Titanic?

DraGunShow: There’s a game associated with the, Titanic?!

Errant: Yeah, it’s a simple enough game to play too; You be the iceberg, and I’ll be the, Titanic going down you~!

DraGun’s eyes flared for the briefest of moments. She cooed softly to herself as she watched how he could play with fire. No things we’re getting exciting!

DraGunShow: Tell me, do you have extra room in your mouth for an extra tongue?

Errant: Do you like bacon, DraGun?

DraGunShow: I love me a slice of bacon.

Errant: Wanna strip then?

DraGunShow: Eh? Ohhh… That’s bad. That’s really bad.

Errant: Yeah, it took you too long for you to realize it.

DraGunShow: My turn! That shirt looks good on you, as a matter of fact, so would I~!

Errant: Speaking of clothes, while you look absolutely gorgeous in yours, I bet you’d look divine without them~!

Dragun’s cupped her face with her hands as she reeled back, even if she tried to hide it, errant could see the red of her blush blooming across her face.

DraGunShow: You threw that back on me! That’s not fair!

Errant: Alls fair in love, and war my dear dragon.

DraGunShow: EEEEEIIII?!?!!

~~~~~~

Venger: I think we’re gonna lose this one pals.

Zathrian: the pool is at, 6380 bits.

TraiqKanti: He’s breaking her down.

AledenTheon: I expected her to be better at flirting.

IdentifiableMistake: Always the flitter, never the flirted.

Quintix: She is absolutely adorable though.

Rightotheleft: The clips that have been made will be fantastic!

Asrid: Here’s a flirt you can use, DraGun!

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: I recommendation?

DraGunShow: Hmm…

DraGunShow: Oh~! Fufufufu~!

Errant: Should I be nervous chat? I feel like I should be a little nervous.

DraGunShow: Hey, Errant~?

Errant: Yes?

DraGunShow: I’m no watermelon, but I have something pink, sweet, and juicy that I’ll know you’ll like. Oh, and it’s seedless, would you care to change that~?

Errant gave a low whistle as he looked away, a faint blush, but a noticeable blush spread across his face. She may be losing their little challenge, but that little blush was a win, and all wins in her book.

Errant: Now that’s quite the spicy pickup line. Better step up my game then.

DraGunShow: Bring it on, Loverboy~!

Errant: I will, but can you remind me later to hang up a photo that I have of you first?

DraGunShow: Y-You have a photo of me?

Errant: I do, but I keep forgetting to put it up; Can you make sure I remember so I can nail you against the wall~?

DraGunShow: Eh…?

The cold unwavering confidence he carried as he said that to her face broke her. She thought she was a strong girl who could make any man fall to their knees before her. But, he wasn’t any ordinary man now was he?

DraGunShow: O-Okay! A-Are you…?!

Errant: Hey question: You ride a motorcycle right?

DraGunShow: Y-Yeah…?

Errant: And, you of course grab the handle bar to ride it.

DraGunShow: Yeah, that’s how you drive any bike.

Errant: So, should I grab you by the horns to ride you then~?

DraGunShow: EH?!?!

And, with those few words. DraGun’s face erupted into a display of red as her hands swiftly covered her face as she become flush with embarrassment. The bastard was smooth, smoother than she exercised expected him to possibly be. And, as much as she enjoyed flirting with him, it was embarrassing as all hell.

DraGunShow: I give! I give! I-I-I can’t do this anymore! You win!

Errant: And, victory is mine! Pay up chat.

Errant hummed to himself as he say the donations from the looser flood in. This had been a fun little diversion in his opinion. However, he thinks he did more harm than good.

Errant: Uhh… DraGun…? Are you okay? Did I take it too far with the flirting? If so I’m…?!

DraGunShow: I’m fine?!! Great even! Congrats on winning! Goodbye!

Errant: Uhh… Okay, good…

A soft chime sounded as the call disconnected as, Errrant’s hand that was about to wave goodbye slowly fell, as DraGun’s swift, and sudden departure.

Errant: …

Errant: I think I have done irrevocable harm to her…

Errant: …

Errant: Okay… back to rock, and stone then.

~~~

DraGunShow had swiftly cut the call as she now hid with her face in her hands, and she screamed in embarrassment at what, Errant had done.

DraGunShow: If you were going to make a girl blush you could have least be a gentleman about that.

~~~~~~

Penguinwithagun: Isn’t that why everyone likes him though?

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: S-Shut up chat!

~~~~~~

Venger: Best 5000 bits I’ve ever lost.

TraiqKanti: Did she really lose the bet?

AledenTheon: Considering, Errant flirted with her, it’s a win.

Asrid: SushiandShibari’s bet was a fantastic idea.

~~~~~~

DraGunShow: NyanNinja?!!

DraGun’s model shot straight up, while her face was still flushed red with embarrassment, her eyes held a blazing bloody red. A setting for her model where she can make her models eyes change from their usual violet hue, to deep crimson to show that she was angry. And, right now, she was pissed.

~~~

Meanwhile on another, VTuber’s stream, SushiandShibari was playing a horror game when she got a sudden call from her friend.

SushiandShibari: Hmm? Oh, DragonDeezBoobs is calling me~! But, why?

SushiandShibari: Hey, DraGun, what’s up, do you need something?

DraGunShow: You’re a bitch!

SushiandShibari: Eh…?

And, as suddenly, and unexpectedly as she called she left, leaving a bewildered, and confused cat behind, leaving her with, but one question.

SushiandShibari: W-What… What the fuck was that about?!

\\\

Haaa… I lnew what, and how I wanted this done for days… but, it took me days to write it?!

Haa… enjoy everyone.

Oh! It’s AI art if you’re curious. I would have found a photo, but I couldn’t find one that fit. As sad as that is, I did get the, Dragon Slayer prompt out of it.

[brokenpieces-72]

Recover-

CoD Hybrid AU | Navigation

Note: This is a continuation from Sick Day and a spin-off, so none of this actually happens, but it does include @diejager ‘s reader character Hunter and is inspired by the AU created by @bluegiragi

You eventually do recover, your hunger returning to normal. Johnny is relieved and hugs you when you come shuffling out of your room.

However you’re still tired and weak. Hunter had given you your flu shot which basically put you out of commission for almost a whole day. The rest of the team is leaving for a mission, and finishing with gearing up. Hunter would stay behind to help keep watch over you. They aren’t taking any chances with your safety. You find Johnny in his tact gear. You’re wearing one of his hoodies so it’s oversized, but warm.

“Johnny?” You say, your voice returned somewhat. He turns and big brother mode kicks in again.

“Aye, back to bed.” He orders.

“Are you leaving soon?” You ask, not obeying. Not the first time he’s gone on a mission without you. You try to occupy your mind with helping on base or doing your hobbies. This time is different and you don’t know why. Seeing your big brother off feels important. Johnny sighs and picks you up in a bear hug making you giggle before setting you back down.

“Yeah I am.” He says.

“Do you want help with your collar?” You say before yawning. The collar he uses for coms. Usually he lets Simon do it but if it puts you at ease he doesn’t mind. You do your best and make sure it isn’t too tight. Once you finish you wrap your arms around him tightly. You make a small noise

“Aye… I’ll come back I always do.” He says trying to soothe you.

“I love you.” You say.

“I love you too. Keep the hoodie on, it’ll help.” He says. He gives you a tight hug, before carrying you back to your room. “Be back soon.”

Your door shuts and you wait, text Macho a bit, and continue to wait. The mission is going to be a few days or so. Hunter keeps you company, and you keep them company as well. You're patient. You don't have a choice.

Hunter does some training of their own with you, providing you with more insights into each of the hybrids. You’re feeling plenty better by now, just tired. You’re eating much better too. Hunter gives you some free time, running time to go to explore the wilds around base. It’s freeing, and seeing the spirits of other animals roaming around brought an odd sense of peace.

One day you go out and find a few rabbits hopping around each other. You giggle as they hop over each other, and chase around trees. You start to sketch them when you hear something overhead. Your head flicks up at the sound of propellers, and you saw two choppers overhead. You don’t hesitate to take off running as fast as you can, startling the rabbit spirits. You’re in full tilt, vaulting and leaping over any obstacle in the way.

Once you get close to the landing pad your excitement changes to something else. There are medics moving quickly and stretchers being laid out. No. No it can’t be. You run harder, crying out for your team, seeing damaged wings, and roughly bandaged limbs. Ghost hears you crying out, and acts fast. He’s quick to catch you, moving through the other soldiers and reaching you first.

As you reach out Ghost catches you, getting to your level. You can smell the blood on him, hear him trying to give you orders but you don’t listen. You’re fighting him as much as possible, desperate to reach your team. What the hell happened?! You’re calling for Johnny and König, but Ghost is just trying to keep you from running in. You’re tough, and you don’t make it easy, as you try to shove him away. It’s useless though as he just puts his arms around you, and holds tightly as you start crying. You keep calling their names, waiting for someone to respond with something, anything. Your fight weakens as emotions take over. You can’t lose them now. You just can’t.

Ghost doesn’t let go until everyone is back inside, and even then he lets you cry it out. Your face buries into his shoulder. He’s worried about Johnny too, and everyone else. Crying and running in isn’t gonna solve anything. He doesn’t need to be with them if you’re out here sobbing and fretting over what you have no control over.

“It’s gonna be okay.” He says. “They’ll pull through.”

You continue to soak the fabric of his uniform with your tears. Simon isn’t the most tender of people. Never has been really. But you’re hurting and afraid. He lets you settle down for a bit before letting you go.

“Deep breaths.” He reminds you, holding your head to focus on him. You sniffle and nod, taking deep unsteady breaths.

“They’ll be in post op soon. Price’ll tell you what happened when he can.”

“Yes sir.” You said, swallowing the lump in your throat. Ghost gives a half smile under his mask. He stands and walks with you inside. Your tears are still visible, and he thinks for a moment.

“Hey. You ever try to catch fog?” He asks.

“N…no.” You reply, confused.

“I tried to but I mist.” He says. It takes you a second but you smile at him.

The mission had fucked up in many ways. Price nearly got his tail torn off. Rudy would have been a thrall himself if Alejandro hadn’t taken most of the bites. König had to fight a blood rage, with Horangi getting caught in the crossfire. Gaz got tangled up with some sirens which didn’t go nice with the number of feathers that had been ripped out. Soap wasn’t fairing much good himself, having plenty of injuries from silver bullets. Plenty of bite marks amongst them. You watch from the doorway with Ghost behind you, hands on your shoulders.

Ghost feels a sense of guilt. He was there, and should’ve done more. Right now he knows you feel the same sort of guilt, wishing you had been there.

Hunter is tending to Rudy when a couple other medics shout for them. You hear growls from both Johnny and Alejandro. Ghost holds your shoulders a little tighter, as you try to take a step forward. You can’t see much, but there’s definitely some struggling, you can hear the bed rattling and creaking from the two men trying to fight something. The noises you hear shift and change from human to beast, mixed with panicked and commanding shouts.

“Come on kid.” Ghost says, having to pull you away from the scene. You don’t fight this time, only lean forward to see as much as you can before more soldiers file in to help. You finally look away once Ghost starts leading you down the hall. The noise is muffled as you walk away. It gets quieter and quieter an until you can only hear the sound of boots on the floor.

You sit in the locker room while Ghost gets out of his tactical gear. You sit on the bench where you can’t see him, and thankfully no other soldiers were walking around. Once Ghost finishes his shower and gets changed he comes out with the balaclava on. You’re quiet, more quiet than usual. He sits down next to you.

“Don’t fault yourself for not being there.” Ghost reminds you.

“I’m not… but… what happened?” You ask.

“Shit hit the ceiling. We thought it was only supposed to be thralls and instead we were faced with far more than we could account for. There were creatures in blood rages, which threw us off. König got out of hand as well, I think someone stuck him with something. Thankfully he calmed, but keeping him from destroying everything and everyone wasn’t fun. Honestly kid, if you were there it would have been more difficult.”

“I could’ve helped König.” You argue. Ghost sighs.

“Yeah you could’ve… or you could’ve passed out from sickness.” Ghost says. You know he’s right. You don’t want him to be but he is. Without asking you lean against his arm.

“Do you like him?” You ask, not looking at Ghost. Ghost takes a moment to process the question.

“Yes. I do.” He says. You look at him, and you can see he’s struggling as well. It’s not as obvious.

“You did everything you could.” You tell him. The way you say it almost sounds like a question, even if you don’t mean it to be. He doesn’t have anything to say in response.

“You hungry?” He asks instead. You nod and he takes you to get something.

“Is it quiet?” You ask from the counter, looking around the kitchen. Ghost hadn’t taken much notice, focused on making you some food. Simple sandwich would do fine. Now that you mention it, it was strangely quiet. He was aware of some leave from other soldier but not that many. Surely not all of them were needed at the infirmary.

He offers you the plate, saying it was probably nothing.

Ghost joins you on the counter knowing the cooks would give him a hard time later on about it. You see his scarred face under the balaclava, and stare until he turns his head towards you.

“You can look I don’t mind. The mask is just a comfort thing.” He says.

You eat your food, trying to focus on Ghost than what was going on. It would be okay. You suspect Ghost is trying to distract himself the same way. The two of you sit at the counter and you kick your legs a little. You hear a message over the PA system.

“Attention! We have an emergency in the medical wing. Rouge Hybrids! Repeat! Emergency in the medical wing! Rouge Hybri-fuck!” You and Ghost share a single look before getting up and rushing to medical wing. You half expect it to be Soap or König, but you are soon proven wrong. At least partially.

After shoving through doors with Ghost close behind you, you come across the bodies of two soldiers. You rush to them checking for a pulse, asking if they can hear you. No pulse, and even worse, there were blades stuck in their vest. Ghost approaches the other body, which looks like it’s been clawed into and torn apart. He suspects König or Horangi, until you speak up.

“Ghost… are these…” you hold up one of the blades and something drops in Ghost’s stomach. They weren’t blades, they were feathers. Kyle’s feathers.

“Take their vests.” He orders. You don’t question it, and work quickly to remove the soldier’s vest. Ghost keeps watch, but doesn’t for long, when he sees what cut off the announcer. Price stood at the end of the hall, eyes vacant, and body slouched. In his hand was a charred corpse, or rather his claws were inside of it. Ghost’s eyes widen as he steps back in shock. You freeze in place your focus on your captain’s bizarre state. His head turns towards the two of you, as he lets go of the body. When it doesn’t fall from his hand being so deep he slams it down on the ground. The sound is enough to make you snap back into focus. You had to go, and now. You get up and grab for Ghost’s arm, tugging.

Simon steps back, taking a quick glance at you. He makes sure you’re behind him as Price moves closer towards you. His eyes once vacant were now very focused, and on you and Simon.

“Price? Price!” Simon yells at the captain. Price doesn’t say anything, just keeps moving closer. His wing stretches out, still ragged from the mission. It’s a threat, a warning. You start to smell smoke.

“Ghost!” You shout, and Ghost is moving quicker, turning and shielding you, shadows forming around you and his as fire is blasted at the both of you. Ghost looks towards the door, ready to pick you up and run. He notices something in the small window, that makes him look for another way.

“Close your eyes.” He orders, and you obey. You feel yourself being picked up and rushed out of the room. You feel something sharp drag across your arm and Ghost grunt in some pain as he keeps running. You don’t let go, and you keep your eyes squeezed shut. You hear Ghost muttering names, and you even hear some familiar noises. You hear voices you should recognize but something is wrong. Something that makes your blood freeze and your body stiff. You hear some sounds of a struggle from Ghost, keeping you close with one arm, and fighting with the other. You hear some squelching noises before he continues, having to stop a few times.

It feels like an hour of the horrible noises and sounds, concealed by the darkness of your own eyelids. He finally reaches a room where he shuts the door tight and is able to lock it. You recognize the scent of tobacco and smoke as he sets you down on the desk. He checks the door again, ensuring it was locked tight. You’re trembling when Simon looks back at you.

His clothes are torn in places, and you look down to see your arm was scratched. He checks it thoroughly, unbothered by his own state. Nothing serious, a simple cut, with some blood. Blood.

Something pounds on the door to Price’s office. Fucking hell, there’s no other exit. You look at Ghost awaiting orders but he honestly doesn’t know what to tell you. Ghost points to you and then points under the desk. You know what to do. Ghost makes his way slowly to the door, before he opens it. He’s ready for anything, but relieved it’s Rudy falling through. Ghost tenses shutting the door and summoning shadows, ready if Rudy tries something. Rudy is coughing and panting, looking exhausted. He still has bandages on. Slowly he turns and moves backwards seeing Ghost ready to strike.

“What did you say about my mask in Las Almas?” He asks. Rudy takes a minute to steady himself, and Ghost is nice enough to give him a chance to breathe.

“You would fit in well.” He answers, and Ghost offers his hand to help him up. “I came to help when the announcement came on. When I saw the damage…”

“What happened?” Ghost asks.

“I’m not entirely sure. Alejandro started having these seizures, and then Soap started having them too. They got me out of there so they could focus on them. As for the rest… as soon as I saw Gaz on my way back there, I made a run for it. The cadejos have taken a lot out of me already, seemed the safest option.”

“Whats wrong with Gaz?” You ask popping up from your hiding spot, making Rodolfo nearly have a heart attack.

“We’re not sure. I have a feeling those bullets were more than just silver.” Rudy explained, once he steadied his heart rate.

“I got shot, and I’m fine though.” Ghost comments.

“Maybe cause you’re not alive?” You suggest. Simon considers it as a possibility. Then you look at Rudy. “But why doesn’t it bother you?”

“Still mostly human. The cadejos are ghosts.” Rudy tells you. That makes some sense. Your mind then goes to the rest of the team.

“What about Johnny?” You ask. Rudy’s face looks unsure and grim.

“I don’t know Mija.” Rudy admits. The room is eerily quiet, and there’s no sound outside. Even you can't pick up much.

“What of the human soldiers?” Ghost asks. Rudy shakes his head. That’s all Ghost needs. If there were any still around they were either fighting for their lives or hunkering down the same as the three of you. You come out from behind the desk, and sit on top of it while Rudy and Ghost wander and pace around the room. The burning question among the three of you.

Now what?

Taglist: @yourlovely-moon @kaoyamamegami @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @sans-chara @1mommyrose4ever29 @smitten-haematite-quartz @talia-the-gemini @yuki2129 @whitetiger846 @graystorm444 @chibiduck @reaperxxxxzz @danielle143 @sobbingnshtting @cringeycookies @cryingpages @dcnocap207 @reaper-chan666 @bestbookfriends @thriving-n-jiving @cutiecusp

[sturniolo04]

Madison Beer invites Y/n to go on tour with her as her photographer, they are very close friends and Madison loves y/n’s work so she had to ask.

The triplets go to the Boston show and hang out backstage later…Chris and y/n really hit it off and end up having sex

A/N: hope you like it love <3

Chris x Fem!Reader

You were a well known photpgrapher. you took photos of almost celebrity you could think of. You also happen to be childhood bestfriends with Madison Beer as well. Growing up with her was definitely something, you both always knew she was going to end up blowing up in her music career seeing that she was getting ready to go on her third the Spinnin Tour.

"oh my god theses are so fucking good dude"

Madison exlcaims scrolling your photography camera sitting on your couch.

" eh there okay"

" are you serious no you have to go on tour with me next month and shoot some shots"

"wait are you serious Madison"

"so for real dude"

Which brings you to now being on tour for about a month with Madison which has been so far the greatest experience of your life one not only being able to take photo for photography but also being able to spend time with your best friend.

It was now the Boston show and you were backstage with Madison the afternoon before the show since we had to be here early for stage prep and run-throughs.

" okay so i have some friends i want you to meet'

"okayy"

you trail off uncertain

"dont worry they are super nice i promise"

she states walking you two to the group of identical boys

" hey madison"

"hii"

madsion exclaims bring the three in a warm hug

"how have you been"

"great okay so this is my best friend she is taking photos of this tour we practically grew up together"

"hi"

"this is matt nick and chris"

she states pointing to each one them waving in response

"nice to meet yall"

you reply shyly as you caught the attention of the last brother, chris. Just something about the way he carries himself. he's just so attractive.

"nice to meet you too"

Time Skip

"you ready"

you ask madison who was standing beside you getting ready to walk out on stage

'yeah ready as i'll ever be"

she states simply shaking out the nerves bouncing up and down as matt asks coming up to the pair with nick back stage.

"have you guys seen chris"

"nope no idead"

madison states to consumed in running lyrics through her head.

"hm thats weird he said he was actually looking for you"

nick chimed in pointing at you

"me? did he have a sepcific reason"

"not that he specified to us no"

matt shrugged as madison got her cue to start the fans started going wild.

About halfway into the show you ending up leaving to just go the bathroom or so you thought. You guys have had yet to see Chris reappear, must have gotten lost of something weird, right.

You heading into Madison's dressing room to grab something before heading back to the right wing of the stage to finish watching the show.

"OHMY GOD"

you scream walking in finding Chris sitting on the couch with his hands in boxers, as you cover your eyes.

" im so sorry um"

you exclaim trying to find a good explanation to make this not as awkward as it already was.

" you can be so naive sometimes"

he huffs out getting up from the couch walking over to you grabbing your hips pulling you inside the dressing room and closing the door.

" what what do you mean"

you state flustered, seeing he had walked bot of you back against the now closed door

" im obessed with you you are so god damn attractive and it is killing me that I couldn't get you alone but"

he trails off as he brushes his thumb across your cheek

" now i got you alone all I want to do is make you feel good would you like that princess"

he questions you bumping his nose into yours as you squeeze your thighs together as you grow wetter, now needing him in areas you didn't know you needed him in.

"mhm"

you respond to him staring up at him standing on your tipy toes to connect your lips due to the height difference, as chris clowly back aways from your lips not giving you a chance to connect your lips as you slightly and quietly gasp still maintaining eye contact with him.

"words sweetheart, do you want me to make you feel good"

he asks again looking down at you.

"yes chris please"

you whine out as he brushes his lips against yours as he finally collides your guys lips finally in a slow make out, him proceeding to pick you up by the ass as you wrap your legs around his torso as he pressed you back against the dressing room door again, letting his tongue pass through your lips intertwining your guys tongues.

Considering the position you found chris in with his hand in his boxers, his pants already thrown on top of a chair in the room and you wearing a brown skirt provided easy access for what was about to go down. While you guys were still making out chris slips his hands to caress the side of your face distracting you as he took the other the hand to help guide himself inside your slick walls, quickly, focusing on your face to catch your reaction to his action.

" fuckkk oh my god"

you exsaperate out gripping his shoulders with your freshly manicure french tip acrylic nails, tipping you head back hitting the door he had you pressed against.

"god your so perfect"

he breaths out kissing your cheek, as he begins to slowly thrust his hips upwards meeting yours, gazing into your eyes taking in your fucked out features. Chris slightly changed the angle of his hips as he brushed against your g spot making you tip your forehead to touch his in the process, fluttering your eyes closed.

"godd youre so deep holy shit"

you groan out pressing your lips together trailing your hands through the back of Chris hair on his head.

" yeah taking me so well princess"

chris groans out still focusing on your face, feeling a sense of pride that he is the one making you feel this good. And it was true chris was making you feel so good from thee way he grips your hip to the way hs dick delicately kisses your walls with each thrust.

"mhm oh im gonna cu-chris"

you moa out as your orgasm crashes over you and chris with out warning.

" oh my god yess atta girl"

chris groans out stilling his hips as you and him ride out your orgasms. As you a finally calmed down, chris set you back your feet as you guys both got dressed again, walking back the the right wing of the stage. Luckily the show was not over just yet.

" Chis where the fuck did you go"

"bathroom"

chris states casually shrugging his shoulders standing next to you.

"you fucking liar and where did you sneak off to for 20 minutes"

"uh i went to the bathroom and grabbed something for the dressing room- I needed another storage card for the camera"

you uttered out quickly looking down at your feet.

"oh my goodness you guys did not"

"did not what"

matt asks trying to catch on to what is happening.

"noo you didnt chris"

"chris"

"dude no god no why would we-"

he trails off as they hear a loud applause signaling that the show was finally over, as madison runs off stage, examining you and chris' face.

"oh my god did you guys fuck in my dressing room"

"oh they totally did"

nick states matter factly crossing his arms over his chest.

[thegamingcatmom]

Helloooo, you asked for RE village asks.

What kinda pampering do you think Miranda likes? (Especially from an s/o)

I think she'd like having her wings massaged but only if she really trusts the other person.

YES HI HELLO

I meant to answer you right away, but then I got distracted writing a lil smt about Miranda and her housewi-I mean assistant. It´s a one-shot, so it shouldn´t take all too long to finish, hopefully. 🤭

...And then I got distracted writing a lil smt about Miri the Workaholic, which you will find further down. 🤭

SPEAKING OF-

(Someone´s very much looking forward to this one...)

First of: It is crucial to understand that I view Miranda as a rather...practical being. She´s not big into all that lovey-dovey stuff, simply because she prefers getting straight to the point. Everything else is a waste of time in her opinion, and while she does technically have all the time in the world (perks of being immortal), she quite lacks the patience for it.

Besides, she´s a workaholic. Ynow what has her undead heart soaring? Seeing her papers neatly organized in separate stacks. Bonus points if they´re labeled. 😩🤌

So, when it comes to actual pampering (as in: things you do to her), what immediately comes to mind is preening because that actually has a use, yknow what I´m saying? Yknow, plucking those loose feathers (gently, if you know what´s good for you), and keeping the good ones nice and clean. That may or may not include a bath.

(She does quite enjoy those, it has to be said. With or without feathers...)

But yeah, it´s not so much about what you can do to her, and more what you can do for her. (That also includes looking pretty for her btw.) Therefore-

Pampering Birb Momma would include:

keeping her lab nice and clean

just like her feathers

taking notes for her so she can do other stuff in the meantime (she´s a sucker for proper time management)

keeping her jewelry spotless (mask, handchains, etc.)

handing her tools, adjusting the light, anything she might need when she experiments on someone (that one might get a satisfied smile out of her)

awaiting/welcoming her when she gets home like a good little waifu

that will do wonders for her mood, especially when she´s had a rather tiring day with her "children"

bonus if you´re wearing an apron (they just...do smt to her, it´s all about that domestic stuff I´m telling ya)

polishing her cutlery (she has no use for it, but she loves shiny things)

(...she´s part bird yall, cmon)

luring ppl into her lab for her to experiment on so she can take care of other things in the meantime (it´s all about that time management, ppl)

bonus if you wrap them up like a present, bow and all

that will actually get a laugh out of her

(Miri has a rather dark humor)

applying her makeup (not that she´d ever admit it, but...that one drives her wild)

So ye, any kind of pampering is more related to how you can help her with her work because that IS all she does, basically. That´s what she lives for. However-

She could be persuaded into taking a break now and again. Perhaps. If you ask real nicely. Apron and all.

What I´m saying is: Don´t use words. She´s not listening anyway because she´s already knuckle-deep in her next specimen, mumbling to herself as if possessed. If you wanna get her attention, you have to demand it. Be the aggressor, yknow?

...Meaning:

HOW TO APPROACH A WORKING BIRB MOMMA 101:

(Participate at your own peril.)

Start by grazing the tips of your fingers against the feathers located at the very edge of her wings - known as the primary feathers. Go nice and slow, so as not to spook her. (Failing to do so could result in fatal consequences.) A light ruffling of wings or a flitting of eyes in your direction typically means your touch has been accepted. (Should you find yourself faced with neither of those things, don´t let that deter you! You´re still standing, which means your presence is tolerated regardless.) Proceed with firm but gentle precision as you slowly work your way to the base of her wings. You may apply slight pressure here and there, but make sure to keep your eyes trained on her face and posture at all times to avoid missing any signs of discomfort or unease. (Failing to do so could result in fatal consequences.)

Those signs could include:

a furrowing of eyebrows

a twitching of her jaw (typically a result of chattering)

a puffed up chest

a sudden and strong ruffling of wings, usually accompanied by a puffed up chest (a defense mechanism to appear bigger and more threatening)

a strong release of air through mouth or nose (resembling a hiss)

a low humming sound (resembling a growl)

in extreme cases: loud, harsh squawking or screaming

Body language is a primary form of communication for many species, and knowing hers is essential for survival.

By now, you should have reached the feathers located midway between the base and the outer wings - known as the secondary feathers. Those are more sensitive to the touch, so start by softly running your fingers along the plumage towards the base - your goal. Now, the same strategy applies: Be on the lookout for any signs of discomfort or unease as you move along. (Failing to do so could result in fatal consequences.) If you find neither of the aforementioned signs, you may also try and slip your fingers between the feathers. As those are more sensitive, your touch might evoke a stronger reaction, such as a violent twitch or a strong ruffling of wings. If that happens and it is not accompanied by a puffed up chest: don´t.panic. It is vital to understand that this isn´t a sign of discomfort, and showing fear or hesitation in such a moment could trigger a fight or flight response. Given the nature of her species, fight is the more likely reaction. (Which will most likely result in fatal consequences.)

This is why I cannot stress this enough: understanding her body language is crucial.

If you´re able to read this: good job! You´ve made it to the base - known as the tertiary feathers. Those are the most sensitive, so it is strongly advised to proceed with caution. (Failing to do so could result in fatal consequences.) If any pressure is being applied at this point, lessen it until the mere tips of your fingers are resting against the feathery coat. Due to the sensitivity of that area, you might notice a slight tremor - let it guide you! Tremors are a telltale sign of victory, so continue feeling for more as you draw closer to where wing and body meet. The trembling might become increasingly more violent the closer you get, so don´t let that deter you. On the contrary: you´re nearly there, so keep pushing forward! (Failing to do so could result in fatal consequences.)

You will know you have reached the spot when her wings begin to droop, as if gravity is gently pulling at them. Once that state has been achieved, initiate the ultimate checkmate by dancing your fingers along her spine - pressure optional. Proceed to watch in a mix of awe and self-satisfaction as her head tilts back and her eyes begin to close in complete and utter bliss. If you listen very closely, you might be able to perceive a low humming sound.

Got you.

Your hand finds purchase on her shoulder, but before you can apply the slightest pressure, she yields, sinking into the chair behind her with an irritated sigh that more resembles a hiss.

Someone´s angry.

If there is one thing she detests more than failures, it is resting when she could be doing something instead.

You saunter around the chair with a little more sway to your hips than usual before claiming all the space her lap provides to make sure she stays resting. Her muscles ripple beneath you, and you choose to ignore the fact she holds enough power to obliberate armies.

If she wanted to, she could throw you off with a mere flick of her wrist. But, alas...

Her icy blue eyes glint dangerously as she opts to stare at you with a mix of resentment and irritation, eyebrows furrowed and full lips flattened into a thin line. In fact, her gaze is so vicious that you almost believe she wants nothing more than for you to drop dead on the spot.

Almost.

If it weren´t for the fact her arms had wrapped around you as soon as you sat down.

"And what, pray tell, do you think you´re doing?"

How she manages to sound calm despite the storm clearly raging within her never ceases to amaze you. It used to terrify you.

A long time ago.

"Sitting," you reply with feigned innocence, even going so far as to throw your arms around her shoulders as far as the halo adorning her back would let you to settle in further.

"I see that."

...

"Cool."

Conversations with her are always so fulfilling.

"Why?"

Ah, there it is.

"...Why what?"

You can´t help it. Pushing buttons and testing boundaries has become your favorite way to pass the time. You blame the endless spiral of cleaning, and cleaning, and some more cleaning. You get that you have to contribute something, but your mind craves stimulation.

Hence you being a massive pain in her ass from time to time.

"Dove..."

Sigh.

She´s no fun when she has the patience of a boiling pot.

"You work too much…" you admit meekly, avoiding her piercing gaze as your fingers gently bury into the feathers closest to them.

"I wasn´t aware this was for you to decide."

Fair point.

"Well..." you sigh dramatically, making no move to untangle yourself. "If my presence causes such pain and misery for you, then I guess you can always just...let me go?"

Both of you are aware that you aren´t merely talking about her arms currently wrapped around you. They tighten their hold at the mere mention, causing you to risk a peek.

...

It takes everything in you to keep from grinning like the Cheshire Cat as the fold between her eyebrows deepens and the glint in her eyes transforms into an ominous glow.

Got you.

Again.

With slow and deliberate movements, your right hand shifts from the feathery prison of its own making to her face, where your index finger begins to smooth out the persistent crease between her eyebrows with gentle precision.

"I´m bored," you whine, uncaring of the fact you sound like a petulant child.

Now it´s her turn to let out the most dramatic sigh in history. "I´ve given you tasks-"

"Yeah, cleaning. Which I´ve done, by the way. Everything´s spotless."

A moment of tense silence passes.

"Don´t interrupt me, little bird."

Sometimes, you forget that she still scares you. And then you go and do something stupid.

Like interrupting her.

"...Sorry," you mumble, your finger trailing down the bridge of her nose, focusing on how perfect her skin is rather than acknowledging the weight of her judging gaze.

Another sigh fills the air before her hand catches your wrist, stopping your fidgeting and drawing your attention back to her words.

"As I´ve said..." she emphasizes, throwing you a pointed look that makes you want to go back to admiring her flawless skin. "I´ve given you tasks. Tasks that go beyond cleaning, as you well know."

You do know. And you’ve tried your damnest to avoid them since she gave them to you weeks ago.

"I...I don´t wanna..." you admit meekly before letting your gaze drift down to her necklace.

Her chest rises, lifting you slightly as she takes a deep breath - probably to keep herself from tearing your head off in sheer frustration over discussing this topic at least once a day.

You brace yourself for the worst, as always.

...

But it never comes, as always.

Instead, a finger rests against the underside of your chin, applying slight pressure to force you to meet her gaze.

It´s not the all-consuming fury you expected, nor the silent judgement you had grown accustomed to. Instead, it´s something far worse:

Disappointment.

"You don´t wanna?" she mocks you, the crease you fought hard to smooth out now back in full force as her eyebrows furrow in irritation. "Are you truly so selfish to deny me? To deny The Black God? We all must make our sacrifices, little crow. I have told you this time and time again, and I am tiring of this conversation. My patience is but a flicker, and you have long since extinguished it."

And yet, it's been weeks since she tasked you with the ultimate betrayal.

Or the ultimate proof of devotion, in her eyes.

"...Sacrifices?" you echo in disbelief, the temper you fight so hard to contain in her presence starting to rear its ugly head. "You´re asking me to send innocent people straight to their doom! People I´ve known my entire life! People I love!

You try to break free from her grasp, fully intending to storm to your room, lock the door, and remain there for the rest of the day.

You barely manage to stand before her arm shoots up, forcing you back down as it curls around you in a vice-like grip. You begin to thrash and push against her, but her other hand surges up to seize your throat in a firm hold, yanking you back towards her in one swift movement.

Her hold doesn´t hurt much, but it serves as a reminder that it could.

"Was it not you who wished for variety?" she hisses, her breath hot against your cheek. "Was it not you who wailed about setting foot outside again? Was it not you who wept for those pests to quench your thirst for companionship?"

Her grip tightens at that, reminding you of her possessive nature. She doesn´t show it often, but you know it´s there - lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed.

"That is what is due," she snarls. "That is your sacrifice."

She releases your throat, but her arm remains firmly wrapped around you. You feel her piercing gaze drilling holes into the side of your head, daring you to oppose her again.

You say nothing in response as you keep your eyes trained on a speck of dust on the floor that you somehow missed, stubbornly refusing to meet her gaze. You know how much she despises that.

Being ignored, that is.

"Perhaps I´ve made a grave mistake by placing my faith in you, hm?" she continues in a low hum, trailing the back of her finger along your cheek. "Perhaps it would serve me better to have you strapped to my table? Transformed into my next specimen? Perhaps then you will discover a sense of gratitude for the position I´ve so generously offered you."

It´s not the first time she´s playing that card - trying to bend you to her will by threatening to make good on the promise she made all those months ago, when you first stepped out of line. Maybe that´s why, instead of fearing for your life as you probably should, all you feel is exhaustion.

You refrain from opening that can of worms, however. Despite all evidence to the contrary, you´re not that stupid.

Just like you refrain from addressing the fact that you were never really offered anything. An offer implies having a choice.

Instead, you continue to ignore her, your eyes idly scanning the floor for any more dust particles you might have missed. How can such a small space get dirty so quickly? It feels like once you’ve reached one end, you could start all over again. It´s ridicul-

A finger on your jaw interrupts your thoughts, turning your head to face her once more.

Her eyes are the only sign that you´re getting under her skin - that ominous glow is back.

"Don´t tempt me, dove..." she warns. "My tolerance for your perpetual insolence is tied solely to your more appealing qualities as a potential vessel, should I ever find myself out of options. Keep testing me, and that day might arrive sooner than you think."

You know you shouldn´t. You didn´t merely poke the bear today - you speared it. The best course of action now would be to keep your mouth shut, nod in humbled defeat, and hope you look convincing enough doing it.

But you´ve never been one to follow your own advice. If you were, you wouldn´t be stuck with the Devil today.

"...You think I´m appealing?"

...

There is a moment of silence.

And another.

And another.

The silence stretches on as you watch her watching you. Her eyes take their time mapping your face, scrutinizing every inch with a precision usually reserved for the unfortunate souls strapped to her table. You´ve yet to feel the hard wood pressing against your back or the cold leather cutting into your wrists and ankles, but you very much feel the raw power she radiates.

And then her eyes stop.

Her finger trails along your jaw towards your chin, where it lingers - tapping once, twice, thrice, as if considering something - before your jaw is seized between her pointer and thumb. She uses the hold to pull you closer, stopping only when the tip of your nose nearly brushes hers.

You can´t stop your eyes from mirroring hers as they dart down, fixating on her plush lips.

The breath catches in your throat.

"I think you have tasks to complete."

And just as quickly, it´s released again as you sink into her, your body deflating in a frustrating mix of relief and disappointment.

Only to feel disappointed in yourself for feeling disappointed in the first place.

And then you take the time to acknowledge her words, and a new wave of frustration washes over you. You know she won´t yield on the matter, but you can´t stop yourself from pushing it one last time.

"...Can´t I just...sacrifize a goat or two?" you sigh, fingers starting to fiddle with her necklace. A nervous habit of yours.

You´re surprised when, instead of finding yourself on the receiving end of one of her outbursts, a low, melodic chuckle reaches your ears. It´s a beautiful sound, and one you´ve managed to evoke only a handful of times since she bound you to her service.

You´re unable to stop the hope from blossoming in your chest-

"Insolent little bird..."

She says nothing more in response, and that hope wilts again like a dying flame.

This conversation is over.

With a heavy sigh, you release her necklace and begin the process of untangling yourself-

Her grip tightens.

You glance at her in confusion for a moment, taking in the slight curl of lips and the lidded eyes, before you realize-

They have yet to leave your lips.

The realization barely has time to settle before her thumb begins tracing your lower lip. Her touch is no more than a whisper, nearly prompting you recoil from the ticklish sensation.

Her icy blue eyes snap back up to yours then, keeping you rooted to the spot as her thumb continues to drive you mad.

It´s clear what she wants, but she makes it your responsibility to provide it. She always does.

Another way of proofing your devotion to her.

Your eyes stray downward in response and, at this point, you´re no longer ashamed to admit that the tantalizing sight clouds your mind almost instantly, pulling you in like a moth to a flame.

She always does.

Just before your lips brush hers, you´re hit with the compelling urge to seek out her gaze once more.

Her eyes are burning.

Then, suddenly, the world around you darkens, and your eyes just so manage to catch a glimpse of feathers before you´re plunged into total darkness.

Save for those burning eyes.

And then, you´re burning. Your lips have barely grazed hers before she´s consuming you, the restraint she´s shown until now discarded as she takes what is due.

...

It´s not the stimulation you had in mind, but you´re not about to complain. Lest she does make good on that promise...

At least you got her to stop working.

.

.

.

Any mistakes you might find: keep em. I was too lazy to read it back. 💀

Besides-

Since this will become the 1st part of (hopefully) many of my planned series (which is really just a way for me to indulge in my obsession for Birb Momma without having to worry too much about the plot), this version will probs undergo some tweaks and adjustments first before it´s released on ao3 too.

Hope to see yall there! 🐦‍⬛🖤

(The next part is already in the works. 🔥🤘)

.

THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR ASK! 💋

(Btw: I´ve been rewatching the part of Shadows of Rose where Rose meets Miranda to get some inspiration, and DUDE-

Miri´s eyes are positively crazy, I cant- 🫠❤️‍🔥

Also the way she breathes the words?? Yknow what I´m saying?? 😩🤌

Also also: TALL. 🫠)

[twst-drabbles]

Lilia 7

Summary: You have finished taking Lilia a bath. The little bat greatly enjoys you toweling him off.

(Ah yes, here I go again, saying I will write a request or work on my novelette for the Ko-Fi shop but instead I write about Lilia. I hate my brain. Wish it would work with me.)

“Seriously, why do you always come to me to get you clean?” you murmured, annoyed as you carefully dabbed at his leathery wings fully outstretched towards the sky. “How did you even manage to fly here when you were covered in all that pond scum?”

You’re not kidding when you say that bat was covered. You don’t know of any bogs around your area but Lilia looked like he crawled right out of one, with links of rather nasty algae hanging off his head and wings. Not to mention the foggy green slime that was soaked into his usually delicate fur. It was gross to hold him but you’d rather he not track whatever he had on him one you floor.

Little bat was dirty. You had no choice but to give him a bath. Well, at least he’s a very calm pet that takes baths pretty well. Though he does like to go wild with the bubbles, but who are you to stop him when he’s having fun?

So, here you are, drying Lilia off as he nibbled on your fingers when he can. Little clicks sounded in his throat as his wings shook the slightest bit.

“Almost done,” you gathered him up in your hands, snorted as Lilia melted further into the towel, reminding you of Silver’s first attempt at a steamed bun. A little too fat, little too moist, but comforting nonetheless.

You opened your closet. Placing the sleepy Lilia on the upper shelf, you flicked on the heating lamp, as it’s second nature by this point. Moving the coat hangers out of the way, you grabbed a wooden one that you’re pretty sure belong to Crowley at some point. You grabbed the old bat from his towel, shushed him when he made a deflating, protesting squeak, and nudged his feet onto the hanger.

He grabbed and hung upside down, letting his wings flop down to catch as much of the lamp’s light as he could. He wasn’t dripping but you placed the towel under him just in case. Lilia has not once opened his eyes.

“Alright, just stay here for a bit. I need to call Silver.” Lilia twitched at his owner’s name but you pushed the hanger, making him gently rock in the way he likes it. “Just nap.”

Now where did you leave your phone? Oh right, the bathroom. Maybe you should take a picture of Lilia? Yeah you should. It’s fun, having a collection of these pets while they’re drying off.

[raceweek]

Hey what happened in the 2020 season with Alex? (Sorry new fan and still learning)

omg you never need to apologise to me for not knowing things i literally know nothing

the 2020 season from the alexnation perspective was like being in a hamster ball being hurled around for 5 months straight basically but here’s the breakdown:

so for context 2019 was really really good for alex he was promoted as a rookie and he shunted a fair few times and most of the time wasn’t on maxs quali pace but red bull were the third quickest team so he wasn’t expected to win or anything. alex ultimately beat pierres points tally from his 12 races in the red bull within 7 as a rookie so like. whilst it was insane behaviour for red bull to promote him in the first place he did perform phenomenally

then we turn to 2020 pre season testing. mercedes was dominant as per (dreamy sigh) and the red bull was quick but looked. edgy. for both alex and max but ferrari were fucking nowhere so it was still like really positive for red bull bc it was basically two extra places gained and then. global pandemic. and then as a footnote to the whole you know. global pandemic. sebastian vettel was dumped from the love island villa (ferrari (everyone gasped))

and then! triple header one and the first race in austria had max running an upgraded front wing and none for alex and it was like understood i think like it wasn’t a big deal at the time

and then everything that could have possibly happened. happened. in the race and alex and lewis…yeah. but the world did in fact keep spinning!

and then alex got p4 in the second austria race (altho. significantly off of maxs pace in p3 for sureee) and everyone was like if only max had a rear gunner (wistful) which in my opinion is an insult to lewis and the w11 but whatever. nothing else really happened here other than horner and marko making kissy faces at seb during this time but that’s just contextfkdkd

so then the next race in hungary alex qualified p13 and even though max only qualified p7 and it was the third race of the season alex was getting eaten alive and george was on live tv like red bull are making him look like an idiot and he’s not an idiot and they need to fix it for him and it was like fucking hell what is going ONNN we haven’t even made it to the third race yet (like imagine anyone coming out and declaring this after australia quali this year like. wild scenes)

so then one week break and then triple header two started and during the races at silverstone they start talking in the media about when the best time to demote alex is even though the only times he’d finished outside the top six was brazil 2019 and austria 2020 which. pls consult youtube if you need further info here

they also changed alexs race engineer in silverstone so More turbulence altho completely welcome this time (simon rennie come back we love u, ur so sexc haha x)

then during the final triple header 2 race in barcelona he gets put on the most ass strategy known to man like with context this was criminal behaviour actually

and then one week break and then triple header 3 starts (do you feel like a hamster yet) at spa and unbeknownst to us all at the time but later confirmed by will buxton and dts horner is in the mf pitlane in spa propositioning seb like one more year and then you can come home which. have some decorum alex is behind you in the garage. but anyway in the general media everyone was gagging for pierre’s red bull return so there were bigger fish

anyway. SPA. they did this to my boy

and alex made the best out of it but as per the comeback kid episode of dts that everyone loves (🙃) alex was made out to be useless and it was like. wtf did you expect

THEN between spa and monza helmut marko was like oh btw alex hasn’t actually had the same parts as max for most races this year okay bye and alexnation was like…wtf. but then no one else really cared and it was like UMMM OKAY

and then monza happened and alex was in a first lap sandwich involving pierre and then second lap crashed into grosjean (alexs fault - live laugh love x) and had a huge chunk of his floor missing so finished p nowhere and then. pierre won and good for her i guess but then ex drivers were on live tv demanding alex step down for pierre which like no one has ever done this in the history of the sport as far as im aware so it was fucking savage especially when this was the first race alex had finished outside of the points for red bull in (with the exception of the two aforementioned events)

and then mugello wooooooooooooo!! alexs first podium!!!!!! i was gassed at the time but it was sort of sad looking back like if you listen to his team radio across the line from getting p7 in canada and then compare it to his first podium in mugello it’s. yeah! we were enduring it!!

and then sochi happened in its own weird bubble and alex was nowhere really got caught behind carlos hitting the wall at the first corner after a poor quali and that was that

then. triple header number four starts with horner giving alex an ultimatum of we’re backing you but we want results in the next three races or ur finished hunny which. okay

then first race of the triple header max ends up blocking alex in his quali run (live laugh love 2.0 x) and then:

YEAH

nurburgring was the they race me so hard incident. available to view elsewhere bc god knows im not reliving that!!

imola was again nightmarish. red bull media team said alex was working with a mental coach (patrick his trainer had got mental health qualifications basically) and was supporting him etc which. here comes paul di resta live on air laughing about how max wouldn’t need mental support. it was once again. brutal. especially bc he was getting a load of xenophobic abuse online already like fuck off

back on the track alex basically spun on his own but thought he had been hit and no one thought to tell him before he went into the media pen that he hadn’t actually been hit so it was fucking awkward and yeah twitter was brutal again

then istanbul happened. red bull looked promising but both max and alex finished well off so it was just whatever really lewis did a madness no one really cared about red bull

then final three races of the season started with the grosjean crash in bahrain which ended with alex on the podium and then checo won sakhir and alex wasn’t really there and then we were at the final race in abu dhabi where red bull officially signed checo (as confirmed by will buxtons analysis of the curtains. god i can’t believe this season was real)

but alex didn’t find out for like two weeks later when the season was well and truly over and was taking drinks to the factory for everyone and it was heartbreaking and then he didn’t have a seat and spent the next year saying it killed him so. yeah…TA-DA

[decembercamiecherries]

20 questions for fic writers

No one tagged me to do this lol but I saw it on someone else's blog and thought it was really cool! And I'm trying to get better at being proud of my writing so here I am doing it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

125

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,205,862......wow that is a lot more than I expected

3. What fandoms do you write for?

It's mostly hxh, but this year and last I've been dabbling in other fandoms like MDZS and Hazbin Hotel

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Words That Water Flowers - HxH, killugon, hanahaki au

Running Start - HxH, killugon, high school soulmate au

Sleepover x At x Wing's - HxH, killugon, post-canon au

Match Point - HxH, killugon, high school au

Make x It x Everlasting - HxH, killugon canon & post-canon au

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to but I have a hard time staying on top of them so I mostly just respond to comments on fics I've recently posted haha ^^; but I love comments it always makes my day to receive one!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For HxH, it's probably: The Soulmate Phenomenon - modern soulmate au in which Killua rejects Gon being his soulmate Time x Bomb - canon au in which Killua is taken by Pitou instead of Kite For non HxH, I would say Statues which is a she-ra fic in which Adora dies and Catra ends up living at Bright Moon with her grief.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh gosh the happiest??? I write a lot of happy endings but purely happy fics are a little harder to come by so I'm just going to focus on HxH fics: After x Glow - post canon aged up au of Gon and Killua cuddling nothing else but you - modern au in which upcoming musician Gon visits his long distance boyfriend Killua during the holidays Shotgun Lovers - modern au in which Gon proposes to Killua after a month of dating

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not often but there's been a few comments here and there about elements in my fics that some people didn't like. A lot of people were unhappy with Time x Bomb so that's probably the one I've gotten the most hate for.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Lol yeah I have but only with friends as an rp sort of thing and that was yearsssssss ago.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't write a lot of crossovers but I think my daemon au series is the closest I've got? It's basically just HxH but with daemons from the His Dark Materials series.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of and I hope I never will!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've had a couple of very nice people reach out to me, I'm honored that people liked my fics enough to want to translate some of them.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Only in an rp sense

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Killugon, obviously haha XDDDD the only other ships I would consider to be my otps are usuk (Hetalia) and gamkar (Homestuck)

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Wild Card and Gold Stained Blue TTT^TTT The Wild Card is a hetalia cardverse au that was my first attempt at a multichapter fic and I just don't have the energy to continue it any more. I'm planning to post a final summary of the ending so at least it will have some closure for readers. Gold Stained Blue is a killugon musician au written out in like bullet point form across three different google docs because it's so ridiculously long. I never got to post any of it because I was too tired after typing all the bullets out so rip. Maybe one day I will post the rough draft just for fun lol.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good with dialogue and also one shots. I love writing requests too because I get to create a whole story that has to be told in just a few paragraphs.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not too great with worldbuilding or coming up with non-prompt ideas. I always feel like my more original stuff doesn't make sense and it's too exhausting to flesh out.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it's cool but I wouldn't do it again for a fic of my own because I can only speak english and I do not want to butcher another language haha

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Maybe....sharkboy and lavagirl??? I loved that movie a ridiculous amount haha. But the first fandom I posted anything for online was Hetalia.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is so impossible to answer aaahhhhhh! I have a soft spot for all my long multichapter fics (Words That Water Flowers, Graffiti, Swan Feathers, Waiting On You) but my the most fun one shots were the most indulgent ones (5 Times Gon Was Jealous, steal x your x breath) and I also like how painting flowers for you turned out since it was a very different fic than my usual ones.

I'm just going to tag all the fic writers on here that I know! So @xyliane, @cyberflamingo, @storybookprincess, @fireolin, @autumnxsunflower and @murderkitten666! No pressure of course if you don't want to do this ^-^

[just-some-random-blogger]

School Of Rock

Orpheus & Sister!Reader, Dream of the Endless & Daughter!Reader + a bit of dream x reader

Summary: "YEAH!" he makes an sheesh face, "THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!" "ORPHEUS QUICK, DREAM'S COMING." "SHIT," he grabs his sister and the guitar, "SCRAM!" "SHIT!" "NO, DON'T SAY THAT!"

Word Count: 2k+

Warnings: a smidge of mom!reader x dream, literal baby girl!reader, angsty teen!orpheus, dad's not here so let's go wild 😎 -orpheus, babysitter!matthew, being emo is genetic, fluff, typos, etc.

A/N: I am currently mourning (update: eternally) orpheus because i finished book 7 and now i dont know what to do with my life. I had an ask for this, and honestly, i regret answering like that cos idk if that nonnie will ever see this T_T COME BACK NONNIE Tagging: @pinksirensong @aralezinspace @sloanexx @deniixlovezelda @shadow-pancake9

"That went well!" I grinned as I turned to Dream, who was vibrating in anger as he watched the 'impudent' boy storm off. He turns over to me with a shocked and hardened expression. He growls, "my son just threatened to curse you. I do not take that lightly." I furrow my brows as I chuckle and pull Dream in for a hug, "nah. That was a bluff. He likes me," I sigh through a smile, "he held back his laughter to my jokey-jokes a couple times." Dream stiffens as my arms go around him. He looks and thinks there was a foolishness to this optimism; it was borderline denial. Still, he says nothing and returns the embrace.

"Who goes there?"

He tilts his head up to the three gatekeepers, "Orpheus," he flares his arms out, making the fringes on the sleeves of his leather jacket wobble with the air, "prince of the Dreaming."

Wyvern brings its face close to the figure clad in black, looking at him for a good few seconds, and finally recognizes him. "So it is. Apologies, your grace. We did not recognize you because of your attire."

Orpheus pushes his shades down and tilts his black cordobes hat back. His distressed black eyeliner made his blue eyes appear even bluer. His black painted lips curve into a grin, "no harm done."

"I must inform you that we were instructed by our master to disallow your entrance if you are to be hostile with the princess child; as she is currently here in the Dreaming," Griffin speaks.

"What?"

"Do you swear that there shall be no hostility toward your half sister from you?" Hippogriff questions.

Orpheus chuckles dryly and clenches his jaw.

The three gatekeepers ask at once, "do you swear it?"

He sucks in a deep breath then pulls a smile, "I swear to the gods of Olympus, and on my mother, Calliope, I will not be hostile to the girl."

Needless to say, Orpheus was grumbling the whole time he walked down the halls of the Dreaming. His eyes twitched when he heard an echo of girlish giggles from the throne room.

He huffs through his nostrils and crosses his arms when he sees a raven flying low around the room and a little girl chasing after it with an open mouthed smile.

Both creatures freeze when the bard barks out the girl's name viciously.

She squeaks and comes to an abrupt halt, falling on her hands and knees because of this. Her keeper, Matthew the Raven, swoops down next to her in concern. Undeterred, she ignores Matthew and looks to her approaching figure with wide eyes.

"Where is father?" Orpheus asks.

Matthew answers, "he's out doing some errands."

He raises a brow, "and her mother?"

The black bird raises a wing, "I would assume she is the errand."

Orpheus chokes on his spit and begins to cough violently.

"I'm taking care of her for the meantime."

He heaves as he attempts to level himself. He scoffs and points, "you?" He walks over to the child, "insanely irresponsible to leave a child to a bird, isn't it?"

"Hey! I'm a great babysitter," Matthew argues, "and between me and the Pumpkin, I'm wayyyyy better."

Orpheus watches the girl push herself up and look up at him with wary eyes. He notices the way she flinches back and how her hands fidget, and somehow the reaction makes his chest tighten. How... dare she?! His emotions bubble into anger. He imposes upon the tiny thing and leans forward, hands, with painted glittery red polish, coming to his knees. He pushes his shades down and raises a thick brow, "what's wrong, little girl? Scared?"

The girl takes a look at his darkened eyes, and Orpheus is certain she's about to cry.

Yet, instead, he, himself, flinches when the girl breaks into a squeal and jumps into him. Orpheus pulls back in surprise, but she still manages to dart her arms out to his shoulders and very nearly choke him in an embrace.

His hand comes to the girl's back, intent on exaggerating injury for effect and pry her off. But then she rubs her face into his shoulder and shrieks, "Orphy!" She mutters sweetly against him, "missed you."

He glares at Matthew when he coos at the manipulative toddler's words.

Against himself, the hand which meant to yank her away rubs her back gently. He feels a blush creep on his face as he slowly pulls away from the seemingly unwilling child. He adjusts his glasses as he straightens up and looks down upon the beaming little sister he regretfully has and clears his throat, "whatever. I don't care."

Matthew chuckles at that, making Orpheus snap at him, "beat it, bird."

"Hell no," the bird croaks, "I'm her babysitter. My eyes will be on her the entire time, which means now, they'll be on you too."

Orpheus rolls his eyes, "ugly."

If Matthew had eyebrows, he'd raise one of them for the emo child's random insult.

The series of events that play out after was, in Orpheus' eyes, truly indicative of the conniving nature of the girl. Somehow, she managed to make Orpheus allow her to not only redo his makeup (as in wash it off and do it all over again), place stickers on his bare arms (he removed his jacket and was left in his makeshift muscle tee) and put clips and ribbons all over his hair (he may go bald now), but she also made him cook for her (and Matthew) and steal his confiscated electric guitar from the vault (all her idea)! The fact her parents were blind to her evil was astounding.

Orpheus was even encouraged by the raven to continue with the shenanigans, so if anything, it was clear that even Matthew was unsafe to her mind games.

Right now, he had his mint blue guitar plugged to some effects pedals and an amp, and he was intent of blowing the brains of this kid off with his sick guitar riffs.

Unfortunately for the Master of Riffs™, she was most impressed by his rendition of Ba Ba Blacksheep, and not even a rock version with cool distortions and wah effects, just... just babablacksheep.

Matthew croaked in approval as the girl clapped her hands after Orpheus finished singing.

Ever the rock star, the guitarist pushes his instrument back and bows, a few plastic clips falling to the ground as casualty. At the ready, the girl darts up from the floor she was sat and grabs the clips, raising her hands up to put it back on her beloved brother's hair.

Orpheus instinctively gets down on his knees and lowers his head to her. Matthew so very much wanted to tease him in this moment, but he didn't want him to suddenly snap at him and her because of it.

She shakily, as toddlers do, clipped the pink gel accessory back in his dark hair. Orpheus has to readjust it so that it wouldn't fall off. He smirks, his cheeks covered in way too much red power blush and his lips overlined with sparkly lip gloss (he has no idea why this child has makeup to begin with), "thanks kid."

Said kid, eyes lined with matte liner, cheeks drawn with crooked hearts (what? If she can put makeup on him, he could put makeup on her), exclaims, "think yew!"

Orpheus laughs. But then he catches himself when Matthew joins in, so his face falls.

He clears his throat and shifts onto his butt, removing the guitar strap form his body, "c'mere, let me teach you how to play Ba Ba."

"BA BA BLACK SHEEP?!" she excitedly jumps to his lap.

He grunts at the impact but only adjusts her on his thigh and places the electric guitar on her.

She excitedly grabs onto the neck of the instrument and begins to strum with her little fingers.

"Ouch," she gasp, pulling her hand back at the unforeseen snip her soft finger received from the sharp steel strings.

"Shit," Orpheus mutters, taking her hands and inspecting it before handing her the pick in his hand, "here." He places the pick between her fingers and guides her arm into a slow strumming motion.

The girl's jaw drops at the sound she was able to produce. She looks back at her brother and lights up, stars in her baby girl eyes.

Orpheus chuckles instinctively, "yoooo, you did that! Gnarly bruh."

"NARY!" she squeals and makes sudden attempts to stand from his lap.

" 'M ORPHY!" she calls, just as Orphy leans in and adjusts the straps on her, so that she could carry the guitar easier.

Orpheus' stomach drops as the girl struggles to her feet, but with a little help, she gets up and slowly turns to him, smiling from ear to ear as the guitar slowly slipped from her grip.

Once she had a better grasp on the electric instrument, she slowly walks to the pedal board and steps on one of the knobs, just as she saw her older sibling do. The thing was, she was too light to actually turn on the effect, and so Orpheus presses down on it to enable it.

She begins to sing Ba Ba Black Sheep in a high key, and skids the plastic magenta pick back and forth over the pickup. With one hand pressed firmly on the neck, she effectively mutes out most of the sounds she would have produced, and yet, it could not be denied that her performance was stellar.

Orpheus thinks it must run in the family (she gets it from him).

"BRAVA!" Matthew calls from the side, making her turn to him and smile bright.

The way she looks at the raven in delight makes Orpheus scowl at him. This was why he shifted on his knees and clapped his hands, cheering much louder, "BRAVISSIMA!"

Matthew flutters upward, "STUPENDA!"

Orpheus turns to the bird as he flies over the girl, making her squeal in glee. Drats... his Italian was stunted.

So, he rains her with Greek compliments, but she was too busy watching the bird fly around to notice.

Stupid bird.

By the time they're caught, Orpheus had successfully and impressively taught her how to do a C chord, as well as an Em chord. Baby girl tried her best to shift between them to actually play a progression, but her little fingers could barely hang on, so in the end, Orpheus magicked the chords (sat behind her and did the chords himself) as the girl did her darndest to strum, and she gratefully giggled as the two doting on her cheered for her performance.

It was Dream that caught the children playing together. Well, in truth, they weren't really caught, because he knew everything that was going around in his realm. He had felt a disturbance from within the vault and knew it was his son stealing his confiscated object (confiscated precisely because he was nasty to his sister once before) even though he was preoccupied. But since he had better things to do, he let it slide.

Dream took me by the hand and lead me quietly down the hall, intent on showing me something. I was really nervous to see what it was, considering the fact he kept rubbing my knuckles and muttered I should try not to react too much.

Needless to say, I had to bite him on his shoulder to shut myself up.

Dream broke into a smile as he felt me wrap my arms around him from behind. He brushes my arms gently and turns to me from over his shoulder, "they've been together ever since Orpheus arrived. He has been teaching her to play his instrument"

I muffle my mewl and feel my bottom lip quiver at the sight of my beaming little girl, giggling with her older brother.

Dream looks back at them and whispers, "shall we join them?"

"No!" I mutter quickly, "let them-" I choke on my words as I feel myself begin to sob, "let them have their moment."

"WOW KID!" Matthew coos, "YOU'RE PROBABLY THE BEST GUITARIST IN THE WORLD!"

Orpheus eyes him for that, knowing he was trying to egg him on, but then he melts when the girl giggles. He cannot contain the gasp that leaves him when he hears her say, "I fink Orphy iz- his GREATEST!"

The raven laughs, "hear that?" He turns to tease him, "she th-- ... ... are you crying?"

"NO! THERE'S SAND IN MY EYE-" sniffle- "M-MY DAD'S A JERK!"

Dream makes a hmp sound and feels me laugh against him before I start crying even harder.

[astral-skyes]

to forget, you need to understand

a/n- this one is pretty long and dialogue heavy but I need to flesh out annabeth and piper’s dynamic. Also I need help. Cuz I don’t wanna use friends to lovers two times so what trope should I use for Pipabeth help

chapter 3

masterlist

Piper

Piper was guilty as heck. Her being the daughter of the goddess of love should’ve made her good at breakups. But she messed it up. Not wanting to use charmspeak on Jason, she winged it and didn’t even get to tell him the most important part. Piper checked her phone again, before getting out of bed and making breakfast.

She had sent a few texts to Jason apologising but she hadn’t gotten a word back. She had also sent a few texts to Leo, he hadn’t answered too.

Sitting down with the fried egg she made, she texted the only person that could make her feel better right now.

‘Hey Annabeth! Wanna meet up? Grab coffee maybe?’

A few minutes passed by and Piper’s phone buzzed.

‘Hey Piper! Yeah, I’m up for it. Where should we meet though. I’m checking out a new school in LA btw’

‘Good! I live there lol. I have a really nice coffee shop I like thats close too. The address is *********.’

‘K, that’s gonna take me like 30 mins to get there. I’ll leave now. See u there?’

‘Yea! I’ll be there’

Piper smiled. She needed someone to talk to about the breakup, and who better than Annabeth? She was one of Piper’s best friends and a person that Piper had gone through a lot with. Putting that aside, she put on a pair of baggy jeans, a white shirt and a dark green jumper she had decorated with lots of different patches.

She left the house and in her excitement, didn’t notice a text from Leo: ‘Hey Beauty Queen. Dw, everything’s ok, Jason’s w me and he’s safe. Calm down lol’

~~time skip~~

Piper arrived at the cafe and Annabeth was already sitting at a table in the corner. The blonde waved to Piper.

“Hey Piper! I haven’t seen you in a little while”

“Same! How has life been?”

“Eh, it’s kinda boring. Ever since the Giant War I’ve just been at camp and school. It’s dull” Annabeth said dejectedly, swirling her coffee.

“Damn. I mean I had a wild day yesterday”

“What happened?”

“For one, I broke up with Jason”

“What? Why? What did he do?” Piper noticed Annabeth said that last sentence as if she was going to make Jason pay for what he ‘did’.

“He didn’t do anything, don’t worry. It’s me. I’ve had a hard time trying to say this, and I didn’t even tell him yesterday but I don’t think I like guys at all”

“Oh. Well congratulations. One for figuring it out and two for being brave enough to tell someone”

“Thanks. Only you and Leo know. I know I need to tell Jason but I’m scared.”

“Hey” At this Annabeth took Piper’s hands in hers. Piper blushed. “You have done harder things than coming out to your best friend. He cares for you, that will never change.”

“Yeah, thanks” Piper said, still blushing.

“I’ve finished my coffee, wanna pay and leave”To Piper’s relief, Annabeth changed the topic.

“Yeah sure. I’ll pay.” Piper said and took out her card.

“Nu-uh. I’m paying.” Annabeth took her card out too and pushed Piper’s away.

“No.” said Piper simply. She called over a waiter who took her card and scanned it.

“I will get you back” Annabeth joked and stood up. Piper stood up after her and they left.

“Anything else new in your life? Maybe something positive?” Annabeth chuckled.

“Yeah actually” Piper said. “I’ve been learning how to draw.”

“Really? Can you show me some drawings?” Annabeth said inquisitively.

“Oh… sure.” Piper took out a small book filled with sketches of houses and people and furniture.

“Whoah!” Annabeth exclaimed, startling Piper. “These are amazing. The only sketches I can do are ones for blueprints and stuff.” Annabeth then started looking through all the sketches. “I can’t believe how lifelike these look, these are amazing!” The blonde lifted her head up to find it was inches away from Piper’s. She pulled away quickly and turned red. “Sorry…”

“It’s fine” Piper felt herself blush too. “I didn’t think they were that good though”

“They’re amazing. Hey, do you mind sketching me?” The blonde had a hint of shyness in her voice.

“Sure! You’re just gonna have to sit relatively still for a few minutes” Piper said excitedly, opening up her notebook to a blank page.

Piper took out a pencil from her bag and began sketching.

After around 3 minutes, Piper sat up and put her pencil away. “Okay, I’m done! What do you think?” Piper showed Annabeth her sketch.

“It’s amazing! I look better here than I do in real life” Annabeth said, smiling.

“Come on, you look amazing in real life too.” Piper answered and Annabeth blushed, then her eyes widened. “Thanks. Wait, do you wanna get ice cream?”

“Yes”

“Alright, what flavour?”

“Choc chip”

“Same! Alright, I’ll go get it” Annabeth stood up and went towards the ice cream van. She bought the ice cream and returned.

“Wanna start going back?” Annabeth asked and handed one cone to Piper.

“Sure” Piper stood up and both walked back to the coffee shop.

“Okay, well this was so fun. We should do this again.” Piper said.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to move here for school. The one I visited was really good.”

“That’s amazing! Well then we should definitely see each other again” Piper said excitedly

“Yeah. Sun’s going down so we should go.”

“Yeah. I’ll text you”

“Not if I do it first!” Annabeth laughed and waved to Piper as she left.

Piper waved back and started moving back to her house.

~~another time skip~~

At her house, Piper was bored again. Annabeth had taken her mind off of her breakup. She sat on her balcony and checked her phone. She’d missed the text from Leo earlier so she answered: ‘Hey Leo, thanks for telling me. How is Jason taking the breakup? I handled it so badly I can’t’

‘Girl it’s not as bad as u think. He’s fine, he told me everything. U should talk to him tho.’

‘Bro ik. I wanna give him a bit of time alone from me.’

‘Sure, we’re alone in the countryside on Festus’

‘Ooohhh so romantic!’

‘Why does everyone say that?? I’m not in love with him’

‘Or are you??’

‘I’m not!’

‘Sure…’ with this, Piper was left on read. Annabeth was all Piper could think about after. She would soon live here and Piper saw a real future where they were really close friends, or maybe more.

[hazbmymhotel]

Zzt Zzt Zzt!!

Chapter 10 is out

Chapter 10) Breaking Bonds

Husker hadn't slept so well in years.

His body was held in plush warmth, even as he was pushed to roll over.

It was so comfortable, Husk stretched out in the warmth of the sun. He purred noisily, feeling the wind waft over his fur. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a field of wildflowers.

“Maybe fifty years?” He said to himself.

Husk rolled onto his stomach, stretching his full wings behind his back. Life was pretty good. He glanced around as he saw a fat little bumblebee.

Zzt…Zzt…Zzt…

Husk started breathing fast. There was something wrong with the bee…Husk moved to stand, stumbling forward. The sky was quickly adjusting, the blues turning blindingly yellow.

Husk turned, trying to find where the strange insect had flown to.

Zzt…Zzt…Zzt…

Husk took a step back, falling back into concrete. He'd expected his wings to catch his fall, but instead the harsh coldness of the floor seeped through his shirt.

Husk stared at the ceiling with his one cat eye, the other covered by a makeshift blindfold. Grunting, he pushed himself to sit up. “Angel?” He asked, feeling like he swallowed hot iron.

In front of him was a set of metallic stairs. Feathers littered the steps where he'd tumbled.

Zzt, tk…Zzt, tk…Zzt, tk…

Husk realized what the sound was. It was metal on metal. kicked into the floor and scrambled onto all fours, running into the new hallway before him.

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! Husk desperately ran, but the hallway stretched out in front of him. He remembered now, his wings were gone! He finally rounded a corner, panting to catch his breath. He perked beyond the wall, back towards the distant stairs.

Zzt…Zzt….Zzt…

The sound was just as close as it had ever been. A shadow lumbered and wobbled, shuffling its way towards the man.

Husk's ears flattened. He couldn't explain the utter fear that creature brought to his middle. It was the worst terror he'd ever known.

Keep running! He internally screamed, turning heel and dashing into the unknown.

The zipping sound filled his ears with dread. Husk's eyes pricked with tears. He was running so hard, he worried his lungs would burst!

A door!

Please, he begged wordlessly, please don't be empty.

Zzt!...ZZT!...ZZT!!!

But as he opened the door-

Husk fell out of bed with a yell, startling Fat Nuggets in the process.

Angel screamed, too, one of his boots falling to the floor. The other had been properly zipped to the top. “Jesus, Husk! You sure do sleep like an asshole!!”

Husk scrambled beneath the bed, working on hyperventilating in the comfortably tight space. He scrambled back further as Angel dropped his face down to the floor.

“Kitten?”

Husk let out a loud breath and hid his face into his paws.

“Uh…you good?” Angel asked. “Wanna come out? And apologize to Nug?”

Husk gripped his head before relaxing his hands. “That was embarrassing,” he complained, shuffling back out from the dark.

“You've been off morphine for a few days now…do you just normally have wild and crazy dreams?” Angel asked, tugging his boot back on before Husk could comment on his foot.

“No..” Husk held his hand out, letting the pig walk back up to him. He relaxed more as Fat Nuggets climbed into his lap. “These dreams are weird.”

“Yeah? Weird like fuckin’ Pamela Anderson through a hole in her head or weird like talkin’ pizza?” Angel shuffled back, leaning against the side of the bed next to Husk.

Husk dropped his head to rest on the pig. “Neither. I'm constantly being haunted by-AH!” He leapt back beneath the bed, making Fat Nuggets roll unceremoniously onto the floor.

Zzzzzzzzt!

Angel looked around in confusion as he finished zipping his boot. “Husker, are you seein’ ghosts?”

“No,” Husk growled.

Angel tapped his fingers on the floor in annoyance. Nugz was trying to climb after Husk to comfort him. “I'm gonna assume my pig knows better, cuz he says you're scared, but you're actin’ insane…dare I say, a scaredy cat?”

Husk groaned and reached out to scratch under Fat Nuggets’ little chin.

“Well?” Asked Angel. “You gonna let me in on these fuckin’ nightmares?”

Husk was slow to climb back out, looking tired and rough. He accepted his cane as Angel offered it to him, and he stood.

“I need coffee, first.”

“That makes sense,” Angel agreed, “you look like shit…” he got up, keeping his gaze fixed on Husk. “Maybe we got too rowdy last night with the anal beads?”

Husk cleared his throat. “No…that was fine. Fun.” He smoothed his ears back.

Angel grinned and opened the door for him. “I mean, I thought so. You're really responsive.”

Husk waved his hand a little, blushing into his ears. “It's been a long time!”

“Hope you stay so sensitive,” Angel said, dropping his voice to a hush as they walked through the hall. “I like gettin’ to play top sometimes.”

“You have a one-track mind,” Husk turned his head away, feeling more relaxed as they walked through the hall. As they approached his kitchen, Husk tilted his head back and sniffed the air, sighing happily, “coffee.”

“Yea, yea, sit down and Mommy will get you a cup,” Angel offered.

“Good morning, boys!!” Charlie said excitedly, sitting at the kitchen table with her own mug covered in rainbows. “How's it going?!”

Vaggie looked up from buttering a piece of toast. She gestured aggressively with her knife, “You both are getting loud!”

“It's not like the whole hotel hasn't heard your pipes singin’ to the lesbian gods, Vaggie,” Angel said, pouring two mugs. He tried not to giggle at how Husk enjoyed a full half cup of cream in his coffee. He wondered if Husk could get fat in Hell, and the idea made him squirm in a good way.

Vaggie blushed and scowled. “That’s not true!”

Charlie only giggled, refusing to say anything but, “Well, Vaggie…”

“All of you are disgusting,” Alastor stood in the corner of the room, holding Lucifer’s mug to drink from. “I assure you, you are all far too loud.” His half ear flicked in annoyance.

Husk took his mug with both hands, lapping at his coffee with his tongue.

Angel waved off Alastor and sat across from Husker. He took a sip of his own black coffee. “You feelin’ a little better after getting up?”

Husk breathed in the smell of coffee and licked his lips. “A bit… But these dreams are fucked.”

Charlie turned her body towards them both. “Dreams?” She batted her big eyes.

“Husker’s havin’ nightmares,” Angel answered, and Husk rolled his eyes.

“Not every night,” Husk said.

“I'd have nightmares sharing a bed with Angel Dust,” Alastor slurped his drink. “Husker never had nightmares under my control.”

“I didn't have dreams at all,” Husk said flatly.

Alastor lifted his mug, “exactly.”

“What happens in your dreams?” Charlie asked. “Is it the same one over and over?”

Husk grumbled and lapped at his drink. He didn't want this to become a whole thing. But with Angel staring him down, he figured he wouldn't escape it. “It’s more like the dreams pick up where they left off.”

“It's always in this empty place…it's all yellow and confusing. No doors lead anywhere…”

Vaggie set her toast down and listened more intently.

“And there's this thing.” Husk shuddered as his fur stood on end. “It's always following me.” He stared into his half emptied mug. “I can't explain it, but I know it's going to kill me.”

“What's it look like?” Vaggie asked, tone serious.

“...Tall? Dark?”

“Handsome?” Angel supplied.

“No,” Husk shook his head. “It sounds like something zipping, over and over…like someone standing and zipping a jacket up and down.”

“I could go get my dream interpreter!” Charlie announced excitedly.

Vaggie shook her head. “Husk.” She looked at him with a fierce expression when he met her eyes. “When did these start?”

Husk looked at her in confusion. He shook his small wing. “After we went to the Spider's Nest. It started off bland and boring…”

“But it's ramping up.” Vaggie said.

Husk tilted his ears back. Angel frowned at Vaggie, “listen, sugar, it sounds like you know somethin’.”

“Yeah, and what I'm gonna say is you can't sleep anymore, Husk,” Vaggie told him.

“That's not…very reasonable,” Charlie pursed her lips.

The doorbell rang!

Husk jumped out of his skin, all of his fur completely poofing out now.

“Oh! I got it!!” Charlie hopped to her feet, rushing to the door. “It could be more sinners!!”

Angel scoffed, but Vaggie kept staring Husk down.

“You're in danger,” she told him. “The labyrinths are nothing to fuck with.”

“Uhhh!!!” Charlie called out.

Vaggie sighed and got up. “Don't fucking sleep while I'm gone.” She left the kitchen. “ANGEL IT'S FOR YOU.”

“Damn. Right when this was gettin' intense…Husker, you okay?” Angel stood up.

Husk breathed out shakily, trying to smooth his fur back down with his hands. “Yeah. I'll be right there. It's probably Cherri.”

Angel kissed his cheek, smoothing a tuft on the back of his head. “Probably. Be right back.”

That left Husk and Alastor alone.

“You're going to die, Husker,” Alastor insisted gleefully as he sipped his drink. He loved how Husk bared his teeth at him. “What? I'm not the one who cursed you to purgatory.”

Husk pressed his palms into the table, pushing himself to his knees on the stool. “What do you know?!”

“That beast is ancient. He's built of shredded souls, held together through whatever means necessary.” Alastor tilted his head, pleased to see pinpricks of fearful tears forming at Husk’s eyes. He was always easy to frighten. “He longs to become whole, devouring souls as he strolls about limbo!”

Husk stayed still, processing the information. He breathed heavily, his heart slamming in his chest. He leapt five feet in the air when he heard gunshots.

“Mm. You'd better check that,” Alastor looked over his fingernails.

Husk scrambled to grab his cane and made his way to the foyer.

“You fuckin' piece of shit! After what you did, you think I'm gonna hear you out?!” Angel was holding his favorite tommy gun.

Arackniss sighed. A series of small x’s covered the left side of his face. “No, but it's not really a negotiation. Dad said you're comin’ home whether you'd like it or not. I don't wanna haveta unravel your belly again, Anthony.”

“Fuck you!” Angel shot again, laying out at least two of the guys behind him. “I'm about to grab shit that's gonna actually kill!!”

“Come on, Tonyyy, baby brother! None of that! Your little hubby could even come!” Arackniss reasoned. “Dad says he's impressed with what you did!”

Angel scoffed. “Obviously you think I'm stupid, but that stupid?!”

“Boys, boys, we don't have to fight! Maybe you fellas could join the hotel!!!” Charlie tried. Angel and Arackniss gave her a look that said: shut up. So she did!

Alastor stood next to Husker, smirking. “You're not going to get involved?”

Husk hated the lump formed in his throat. He wasn't a coward…he wasn't that much of a coward. He willed his feet forward, but knew he felt as useless as he looked.

Angel dropped a hand down, a clear motion for Husk to stop. Angel had this. “Nickie, I'm gonna give you one last warnin’ to get the fuck outta here.

Arackniss barked a laugh. “Yea?!” He jumped back as Angel made a grab for him, pushing one of his goons, a fly, in front of him.

Angel grasped at the fly’s stomach and yanked back, expecting guts to spill onto the floor.

But they didn't.

Everyone stared at Angel, hands triumphantly yanked back with nothing in his grasp.

Everyone saw nothing, save for the brothers.

“Um,” Angel hummed a little, confused by the string in his hand.

“See?! You's don't even know what you're doin’!!” Arackniss shouted. “Now put it back, and let's go.”

Put what back? Husk frowned, trying to make out what they were looking at.

“No!” Angel stamped his foot, winding the string in his hand. The fly let out a yell as he was tugged forward by a seemingly invisible force. “I'm gonna take everythin’ that’s yours and Dad's!!”

Angel tried very hard not to look surprised when a soul contract unfurled next to his face. He grit his teeth for a moment, trying to make a decision. “What the fuck is your name?!”

The fly looked as shocked as Angel felt. “Uh, Uh, Roberto??” A black chain appeared around his neck, trailing back towards the center of the city.

The name Roberto appeared on the scroll.

“Good. Guess what…You're stayin’ in this Hazbin Hotel! And you, Roberto, are gonna…uh…Participate in the Redemption Program!! That's my fuckin’ order!”

It stunned everyone into silence when a pink chain closed around the black one on Roberto’s neck, causing it to disintegrate.

Arackniss stared at Angel, dumbfounded.

“You wanna be next?!” Angel loomed over him.

Arackniss took a step back, too stunned to answer. “Let's…let's go, fellas.”

“And you know what…Leave the bodies!” Angel held his gun high, waiting to shoot. “I'm takin’ those assholes, too!”

Alastor grinned wickedly. He used his shadows to drag the corpses into the hotel to reform.

“Angel, what the FUCK?!” Vaggie felt like this was becoming a new catchphrase!

“Charlie,” Angel ignored the angel in favor of her girlfriend, “got you some guests. Roberto!”

Roberto snapped to attention.

“What're these fucker’s names?” Angel strolled over the men, leaning down and yanking strings from both of their bodies.

“Uh…Taser and Anchor?” Roberto asked.

Angel snapped his fingers in annoyance. “Their human names? Do you know em?”

“Oh…Giovanni…and Angelo?”

“Good. Uh… Thanks. I'm handin' you over to Charlie.”

She squealed excitedly and took Roberto's arm. “Is that what you normally go by? I'm Charlie, great to meet you!”

“Um…They call me Flyboy…but I prefer my name?”

“Perfect! Roberto it is! So everyday we start activities at nine am…” Charlie led him down the hall, Vaggie following with her head in her hands.

Alastor waited behind Angel, grinning like a cat who swallowed a canary. However, the actual cat looked frazzled and frayed.

“What?” Angel finally asked as chains formed around the men on the ground.

“You don't even have to have them conscious!” Alastor said excitedly. “You're just stealing their contracts.”

Angel looked unsure, but he kept his pose strong. “What of it? Don't fuck with me, Alastor.”

Alastor looked gleeful regardless. “I knew you'd start your overlord journey, but this is exciting.”

Angel stomped past him, crossing his arms.

Husk was startled out of his daze. He turned and followed at Angel’s heels. “Baby?”

“I want better coffee. Let's meet Cherri in town. I'm not fuckin’ doing the program today.” Angel gripped his arms, storming out of the back doors to the hotel. “I don't wanna fuckin’ talk about it.”

Husk walked at his side. After several minutes of walking in silence, he said, “you know, I had a pretty good time with those anal beads.” He offered a hand for Angel to take.

Angel snorted and laughed. He reached out and intertwined their fingers. “We should try ‘em with the vibrator on next time.”

“We're trying that on you,” Husk said.

“Fair enough.”

[sunflowerrosewood]

Comfort in the Rain ~ Pokemon! Silver

Author's Note: Since my other account @cheekyredwillow got deleted. I am adding some of my favorite fanfictions to this account and revamping this one with new ones. I hope to make an actual list of fandoms I am still a fan of! NO requests for the time being.

On to the one shot!

You had finished the pokemon league and defeated the champion this past week. With your partner Typhlosion by your side and the rest of your team, you tore through it. Something that worried you was that you had not seen your rival Silver in a while. He fought you on Victory Road and put up a good fight. He took half your team down but when you defeated him, you could see the anger and hurt behind his eyes. You actually began to fall for him as soon as you met him and now you care about him a lot.

You really didn't know that Silver began to change for you. Lance told him after his battle to treat his pokemon better, if not for him, for you. That's why he wanted you to visit him in Dragon's Den. To prove it. But did you have to come on his birthday? A reminder of being born evil. A reminder how he isn't enough. A reminder of his mistakes. 

It seems as if a storm seemed to follow. It was pouring down and you were lucky you added Tropius to the team so he could protect you from the rain. You walked into the Dragon’s Den to find Silver and noticed he wasn’t around. You wondered where the red firecracker of a rival ran off to. It’s a Tuesday so he is usually here. Even if it was his birthday, he would be here. You continued to walk around the Dragon’s Den area and saw Lance standing there.

“Lance? Have you seen Silver?” You asked.

“I just saw him running to the Lake of Rage a while ago.” Lance said. 

“Shoot. It is pouring out. Thanks Lance.” You said quickly as Tropius ran after you. 

“Young love.” Lance muttered and laughed. 

You began to run to the Lake of Rage and were hoping he stayed in that one area. You saw his wild red hair and his partner Feraligatr sitting beside him. Silver looked drenched to the bone so he must have been out here for a long time. Your Tropius already began to move over to him to use its wings to cover. You walked over to him.

“Silver, is everything okay?” You asked as you saw him shake. “I know you don’t like to talk but please talk to me.”

“I’m fine. Go off being the perfect champion.” Silver snapped as his Feraligatr looked at you with pleading eyes to stay.

“I know you are not fine Silver. I’ve been your rival for far too long.” You said as he sighed and you watched him make himself smaller.

“Today’s my birthday.” He grumbled.

“Oh yeah I got you a gift!” You said as he sighed loudly.

“It’s not supposed to be a great day.” Silver said as you finally took a seat beside him in the wet grass.

“Why do you say that?” You asked. 

“Remember what I told you about me?” Silver asked.

“You were born into Team Rocket. So?” You asked.

“It’s just a reminder how fucked up my past is. An evil past. Being a part of such a weak yet vile team.” Silver growled.

“Silver, I hope you know I never thought bad of you after that.” You said softly.

“You should.” Silver growled.

You decided to reach out to hold his hand that was on his knee. You felt him flinch at your soft touch and not make eye contact. 

“Silver, when I first met you, you were arrogant and rude. Ruthless with your pokemon.” You felt him sigh. “But, you changed. It is obvious when we team up against Lance and Claire for fun. You actually are having some fun battling.” 

“It is still a reminder.” Silver grumbled and coughed. 

“Why don’t we go back to the room I have at the Pokemon Center and I help you have a good birthday? At least you shouldn’t get sick on this day.” You said as Silver shrugged his shoulders.

Luckily Silver did follow you back to the Pokemon Center. You two called back your pokemon and you got your room. You noticed Silver was waiting in the doorway of the room as you walked in.

“Well don’t just stand there. Come on in.” You teased as he rolled his eyes. “Do you have any spare clothes?”

“One in my bag.” Silver sighed as he opened his bag.

“Why don’t you take a shower? At least get warm from being outside in the rain?” You offered as he slowly walked into the bathroom. 

While Silver began his shower, you began your work. First you ordered a birthday cake that Nurse Joy would prepare plus a warm meal. You let out your Typhlosion and his Feraligatr to also help with things. Silver had just finished his shower when Nurse Joy came in with food. When she left, Silver opened the door. It was a surprise to you to see your crush in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. 

“You didn’t have to do this.” Silver grumbled.

“Well if you think your birthday is so terrible, I’ll make it better.” You said as Silver looked away from you.

You did not know that while Silver was in the shower, he felt such love for you. He felt honored that you were willing to make his birthday better. He had never been hopeful before but he was hoping you would stay by his side after this. Knowing you, you were dating your next door neighbor Lucas rather than him.

“Silver?” You asked. 

“I guess I can enjoy it with you.” He sighed as you smiled and brought him over. 

You two ate a large meal together. It was some pasta and of course a birthday cake. The pokemon got their own special meal as well. You noticed Silver was lost in thought again. 

“What’s wrong Silver?” You asked.

“What’s your real reason for doing this?” He asked. 

“I care about you a lot and maybe...I like you more than a friend.” You mumbled.

“Y/n, come here.” Silver said as you got up to walk with him to sit on the edge of the bed. 

“Silver, you can ignore what I said.” You mumbled as he turned your head to his.

You felt his lips press against yours. It was fiery yet soft when he was kissing you. It felt like a missing puzzle piece. You tangled your hand in his while you kissed back. When you two broke the kiss, you both were panting a little.

“I have loved you for a while Y/n.” Silver confessed. “Way too long.”

“Does this mean this was your best birthday Silver?” You asked.

“One of the best birthdays I can have.” Silver said as he began to lean back. “Lay down Y/n. I’m tired.”

“Probably from being in the rain for hours.” You teased.

“How did you find me?” Silver asked as you chuckled.

“Lance was in the Dragon’s Den and I was wanting to see you for your birthday.That reminds me!” You said before laying down.

You went over to your bag and pulled out a box from your bag. Silver’s eyes widened as you handed him the box.

“Sure getting a girlfriend on your birthday helps but I did get you a gift.” You said as you handed him the box. 

“You got me a razor claw?” Silver asked as he opened the box.

“Well I figured you could level up your Sneasel with this. I know you have been wanting one for a while.” You said as you got beside him in bed. “I hope that’s okay?”

“This is more than okay.” Silver sighed as he put the box beside the bed and leaned to you. “But you are much better.”

You two fell asleep in bed. Silver had his arm around you and pulled you close while you were curled into his side. Both of your partners were so happy to see you two finally together. The next battle against Lance and Claire was going to be tough for them because when you two were together, you two were a powerhouse. 

[corvidares]

okay, so i just finished re-reading Any Way the Wind Blows and this feels so blatant as to be smacking me in the face: simon is disabled.

now, the reason why that makes itself even clearer in this book than in wayward son (where he, of course, also has the wings + tail) is because simon is once again in the world of mages - despite doing his best to leave it behind. compared to wayward son, where hes basically and literally in the wild west. where theres magical beings everywhere, where simon practically fits in because he is one.

but ill get back to that.

ive seen a lot of really interesting points about what simon's wings represent and mean, and i'm not disagreeing with those. but in a very literal sense, they are a disability.

think about it like this: the world of mages (and Normals) is not built for humanoids who have giant webbed wings and a tail. simon constantly struggles with controlling these limbs, and their size makes it ten times harder. spaces are too small, furniture and objects are broken when he spreads them, and many a shirt or jacket are ruined.

he struggles to find a good way to deal with this - spell them away? wear them out by cutting holes in things? fold them extremely painfully into his shirt? even though this last one is treated like a solution for a little while, its far from ideal. who is simon doing this for? himself, or everyone around him? yes, of course Normals cant see them. and yeah, hes expressed discomfort about baz and penny spelling them hidden. but thats not the point. even with this botch job of a way to "wear" his wings, which succeeds at hiding them from Normals, simon still states a couple times that he knows people stare at him and his seeming hunchback. i mean, thats blatant.

(he eventually, with shepard's help, realizes a good way to work around this - zippers or buckles on shirtbacks - which very much feels like an aha! disability aid moment)

im not saying disability is based in how people look at you, or it only being a societal thing. (as in, when he wasnt in the world of mages, he wasnt suddenly 'not disabled at all') disability is a huge spectrum. but those things absolutely can be a part of the disabled experience.

but all of that doesnt even get to my main point: simon has no magic anymore. and in the world of mages, thats a huge deal. magic is like living and breathing, especially for baz and penny. its not something they question or have to worry about not being able to call upon. hell, even before simon lost his magic he was disabled, just to a different extent.

before awtwb, we dont hear much about mages whose magic is weak. but they come to the forefront now - which just solidifies that solid magical ability = able bodiedness.

smith is promising a miracle cure. a cure. think of it like bullshit orgs such as aut!sm spe@ks, wanting to "cure" autism - he wants to cure people. (and hes just as full of shit) why? because weak magic is seen as a disease, a problem, even subhuman.

take daphne, baz's stepmom. her quality of life is fine, great. her weaker magic doesnt seem to put her at a disadvantage. she manages her disability well. but in comparison to the norm, to what is expected of the average mage, shes got nothing. less than nothing. she feels shame over what she cant do.

smith's case becomes even more blatant when we see, at the end of awtwb, that he wants to essentially cull weak magicians. that they're holding back society. that theyre better off as powerless as Normals - who are blatantly seen as subhuman - than as weak mages. much like how ableist rhetoric puts forward that disability is a fate worse than death.

which brings us back to simon. he insists hes a Normal, now or always has been. baz insists hes the most powerful magician to exist. both of them are wrong.

and right. and right and wrong.

simon is some third thing - not a mage, not a Normal. akin to how disability is its own minority aside from race or ethnicity he has a foot in each world, and he always has. but now he cant achieve blending into either.

this is why the increasing presence and humanization of other magical beings beside mages is so important (thank you shephard!) how mages tend to seem magical beings is very ableist. theyre subhuman, theyre not to be trusted, theyre freaks, theyre dirty, etc. except oops, how can you keep thinking that penny, when this very nice one works at a cafe and helped you translate shephard's engagement terms?

even baz and the events of wayward son play into this - yeah, some vampires are horrible people. but plenty, like baz, are just people. with a range of experiences and morals and ways of living life. (take nicodemus) (i could make a point about how simon's stalwart acceptance of baz's vampirism helps baz comes to terms with it and how this is also super disability coded, but thats another essay)

in the beginning of awtwb, he decides to go to the extreme opposite of his chosen one powered life - to live as a Normal, and the second step (after cutting himself off from baz and penny) is getting his wings removed.

except he cant do it. and even having his wings touched is horribly uncomfortable. now, this partly has to do with how much theyre sensual parts of his body - same as his tail. but its also, separately, very intimate. theyre treated very clinically, like a fascinating specimen to pore over. im not trying to give niamh shit here, just saying what i saw.

but theyre part of him. people with disabilities often deal with being stared at and poked and prodded by the medical field (if theyre not ignored or waved off. maybe both.). even every day folks feel the right to touch disabled folks, or their mobility aids.

for a lot of people, mobility aids are a part of them - its like a stranger touching your face and thinking theyre doing you a favor. when instead theyre being weird as fuck.

simon's status as previous chosen one even plays into this sort of thing - people see him more as a figurehead, for what he can and cant do (including his wings!) than a person. hes a tragedy, hes a hero. hes inspirational, hes to be pitied. sound familiar?

the end of awtwb doesnt spell out whether simon ends up deciding to keep his wings (frustratingly). but they spell out that he would absolutely would, in my opinion.

simon increasingly treats them as a natural extension of his body. think of the scene where he flies about the watford goats. how he expresses his feelings with his wings and tail. and of course, how he learns to let baz loves each and every part of him: including his dragon limbs.

baz loves him, and loves them, not in a fetishistic way, but because its simon, and he loves everything simon is. not just what he represents or can or cant do.

[cheolism]

Hiii I recently became a Carat and as an avid fanfic reader, I was wondering if there are any stories you can recommend!! I have no member preference, as long as there is an interesting story (longer the better, if there are chapters even better). And i love me a good smut 👀

hi sweetheart!! first and foremost, i recommend checking out the other authors of svthub. here you'll find a variety of svt writers!!! as of right now we're doing our spring collab, so def check that out!!! note that i only have a few members on here (gyu, joshie, hoshi, kwannie)? i didn't realize until i finished that i only had these four???? idk if this is my subconscious trying to tell me something but i'll continue to ignore it!!!

my personal faves are all reblogged under fic rec, but here's some that have stood out to me since reading~

spoiled by @wonusite ; KMG

"summary: you have never been spoiled, but that changes after you meet the man your mother is going to marry."

it's got four parts and is so fucking disgusting and wonderful it's ridiculous. it's seriously a marvel to humanity tbh and when aliens come and ask for a relic to prove that humans deserve to be spared from their alien wrath, i'll give them these fics <3

acouasm by @angelwoozi ; HJS

"n.) a ringing noise in your head — and it's just three words of promise whispered by yours truly during moments of sorrow, or moments of joy. the whisper also lives in the crevices of your mind during moments of pleasure, when he makes love to you, his true love."

it isn't necessarily long, but it is so fucking sweet and artful? in my tags i described it as truly belonging to the golden hour, and tbh i still stand by it. it's incredibly tender and freya's way with words reminds me of ancient greek and roman statues; there's an era in art called neoclassical, where artists mostly focus on depicting mythos and creatures from greek, roman, and christian lore. like, an angel with outstretched wings, her shawl expanding and wrapping around her, heaven's spotlight surrounding.

to the brim by @toruro ; KMG

"description: all your sweet husband wants is to put a baby into you—is that so bad?"

LISTEN mika writes some of the filthiest shit, i'm not even kidding. idk how her brain comes up with some of this stuff? somehow she KNOWS all of my deepest kinks and secrets and just writes them like they're NOTHING? truly a menace to society and we should all be on our knees thanking her.

bluff and nonsense by @thepixelelf ; KSY

"

“Soonyoung? Yeah I know him, you should too. He’s on the uni’s dance crew, and ever since he joined them, their popularity’s skyrocketed. I’ve met him a few times, great guy — got a tendency to run his mouth but hey, no one’s perfect. He’s smart anyways, probably knows how to deal with the consequences, right?”

or

Soonyoung never thought one bluff could lead to so much nonsense."

this fic fuckign RUINED ME. the others don't have as much plot as this, but even months after reading it still remains one of my favorite fics. i've been meaning to reread it? but i just haven't gotten to it, but i know i'll still feel the heartache and betrayal all over again, it's just that good. like it's so good you can feel the stabbing in your heart and tummy :(

vanilla by @milfgyuu ; HJS

"Summary: Joshua has a secret but perhaps it’s not really a secret at all. Maybe you’ve just refused to see it in an effort to keep your feelings at bay."

probably the dirtiest fic on this list. it's absolutely wild. there was NO preparing for everything in this fic? it's insane. absolutely insane fr. like -- even reading the tags can't prepare you. reader wasn't prepared and i really don't think ANYONE ever could have been.

stay-at-home husband/dad mingyu by @celestiababie

it's what it says! stay at home gyu who is willing to help his darling breadwinner spouse with whatever they need :) it's got multiple parts and such, and it's so cruel that it exists because it'll occupy my thoughts every once in a while and then i just have to stand there thinking about desperate little gyu whining while a teacher is talking. will change your life, 10/10 recommend

pussy sport by @duhnova ; BSK

"synopsis: leave it up to boo seungkwan to almost suffocate between your thighs, eat you out till you’re crying, and to figure out a new kink of his."

when i turn 108 and am getting ready to walk off the edge of the earth, and they ask me my secret to living so long i'll think back to this fic and smile, and then suddenly i'll be brought back to life. it's this serious. every once in a while someone on the svthub server remembers it exists again and goes feral. and i completely fucking agree, we should be going feral over boo seungkwan 24/7. to not be feral over boo seungkwan and this fic is a cardinal sin, and not the sexy kind.

[nikethestatue]

Unimportant but holy shit you unlocked a core memory by mentioned the wild swans fairytale??? Sisters knit the nettle shirts to transform them back to human??? I can’t remember the whole story but holy fuck I remember reading that as a kid!

Haha, yeah it was one of my faves, when I was little, so I remember it pretty well.

this is the summary:

In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed king with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry, but marries a wicked queen who is a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into magnificent swans who are allowed to temporarily become human only at night and forced to fly by day. When their sister Elisa has reached the age of fifteen, the queen tries to bewitch her—but Elisa's goodness is too strong for this, so the queen has her banished after making her unrecognizable by dirtying her face and ripping her dress. Elisa finds her brothers, who carry Elisa to safety in a foreign land where she is out of the reach of her evil stepmother.

There, Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather stinging nettles in graveyards to knit into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill herself and her brothers. The handsome king of another faraway land happens to come across Elisa, who cannot talk, and falls in love with her. He grants her a room in his castle where she continues her knitting. Eventually he proposes to crown her as his queen and wife, and she accepts.

However, the archbishop is chagrined because he thinks Elisa is herself a witch, but the king will not believe him. One night Elisa runs out of nettles and is forced to collect more in a nearby church graveyard where the archbishop is watching. Ghoulish spirits that devour the bodies of the dead are also in the churchyard, and the archbishop believes that Elisa is in league with them. He reports the incident to the king as proof of witchcraft. The statues of the saints shake their heads in protest, but the archbishop misinterprets this sign as confirmation of Elisa's guilt. The archbishop orders Elisa put on trial for witchcraft. She can speak no word in her defense, and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake.

The brothers discover Elisa's plight and try to speak to the king but fail, thwarted by the rising sun. Even as the tumbril bears Elisa away to execution, she continues knitting, determined to continue up to the last moment of her life. This enrages the people, who are on the brink of snatching and ripping the shirts into pieces when the swans descend and rescue Elisa. The people interpret this as a sign from Heaven that Elisa is innocent, but the executioner still prepares for the burning. When Elisa finishes the last shirt, she throws the shirts over the swans, and her brothers return to their human forms. The youngest brother has a swan's wing instead of an arm, as Elisa did not have time to finish one sleeve of his shirt. Elisa is now free to speak and tell the truth but faints from exhaustion, so her brothers explain. As they do so, the firewood around Elisa's stake miraculously takes root and bursts into flowers. The king plucks the topmost flower and places it on Elisa's chest. She is revived by the white flower, and the king and Elisa are married.

There are definitely many Elain/Elriel hints within the story. Sorcery, turning humans into birds who can be human at night, accusations of witchcraft, sacrifice, hurting one's hands with plants...There is just a lot that I think SJM will 'borrow' from.