#sorry i am once again blogging from my own pocket reality where the characters are canonically in a feedist relationship

[blorboresidue]

still insane about this btw. doumeki is normally SUCH a feedee and it's so sweet seeing him dote on watanuki. like the instant he learns that watanuki is physically capable of tasting it he leaps into action cause he wants watanuki to experience the same pleasure he does. I'm so fucking normal right now

[slutinacan]

Black Sheep

envy adams x fem!reader

Warnings: kinda suggestive, not too heavy. (Sorry) ((kinda out of character for my kind of blog (((uwu horny sideblog))) but i just felt like writing this idk)). Swearing. A droplet of angst in the beginning but iT DOESN'T LAST TOO LONG I PROMISE.

Prompt: You've seemed to make it away from the heaviness of the group's troubles with Ramona's evil exes, and in an angered fit after getting in a brief argument with Scott due to his sheer recklessness, allowing not only himself to be put in danger, but everyone around him, you clasp Wallace's hand and race downtown to a local venue in high annoyance, only wanting to get away and enjoy the night away from all of this havoc in a flood of rock bands. Of course, everything starts out fine, as it always does, but as soon as an unexpected guest performer arrives onstage, you begin to receive more attention than expected.

Note: I'm aware that there is a shit ton of magical realism in this entire franchise, especially in the movie seeing as it was derived from a very vibrant comic series, so I'll try to incorporate as much of that in it as I can, promise. I'm not very good with magical realism/fantasy yet but I'll give it my all! Enjoy!

---

"You know what, Pilgrim? Fuck you." You let out an angry breath after his previous remark, tears flooding into your eyes.

You stood with nothing but sad anger running through your system, watching his face slowly cloud down into regret at his words, the room physically deflated at the broken atmosphere.

"I get that you want to be happy, and I am in full support of that, I just want you to be happy, Scott. But, when it comes at the cost of the people who want nothing but the best for you? Your friends? The people who have had it up to here with your shit but have always loved you too much to ever mind it because that's what pals are fucking for? You're too reckless. You always have been. Keep your head screwed on right for once and fucking look at what is in front of you, Pilgrim. Wake up." You ranted with a huff, fist clenched tight.

Scott made a move to step forward and take your hand, his own eyes teary, but you pulled back. Making a move for the door you grabbed your keys, and coat, without even taking the time to listen to his pleas. Your insides were boiling hot with rage but the exterior of your body stung cold with bitten ice that practically chilled the room below average temperature.

"Wallace. You want a ride or not, nerd." You asked, stepping outside and already finding yourself halfway to your car already as the wind kicking beneath your feet only accentuated your angry swiftness through the bitten evening.

With that, Wallace sprung up from his seat, grabbing his jacket, house key, and scarf. Ramona let out a quiet scoff of disbelief towards the brown haired boy, seeing as he was actually following you. Though, he gave nothing but a shrug to the group with a small, apologetic, look in return; then, he was out the door after sending one knowing look to Scott that said it all: When we get back, you're fixing this. All you, guy.

---

"Tickets please." The front attendee asked, his voice bellowing in your ears, breaking through the burning ice and sadness clouding your senses, chipping away at the practically frozen armor you guarded yourself with. Falling back into reality, you maintained your focus.

"Oh yeah, sorry, here you go." You refocused on his outstretched hand, placing both your ticket, and Wallace's into the presented palm. He tore off the stubs, grabbing two identification wristbands, and handed you both which you took with a small thank you.

Wallace took notice of your form, chilled and quiet. Soft and small and entirely too timid to be considered normal. You looked present but as if your brain was drifting far, far, away from the current scene. He nudged you with his elbow, sending a reassuring smile as you were cleared to enter the venue, being the lucky few to get there first at that. That alone chipped away at the frosted armor encasing your haunted form once again.

"Look, hun," he leaned against you reassuringly as you two snagged a spot near the front, his hands deep in his own pockets seeing how unusually cold the night was. His muscles tightened up to constrict any warmth in his body and keep it there, now feeling the bitter, unwavering, depressive, frost radiating from you.

"I think you were totally right back there. He's been really reckless as of lately, more so than usual, and yes, it has put a damper on things and, yeah, it has put his loved ones in danger. Also, yeah, its not really an ideal situation at all, completely unruly in fact. It is completely messy and depressing and unfair and it has put everyone he knows, we know, in harms way-" "Wallace is this supposed to be helping me? Because, I love and appreciate you and all, but you are absolutely shit at pep-talks-"

The two of you paused seeing the room already crowded with punk teens, adults, and misfits of the kind all murmuring and diving into their own conversations as the lights dimmed, one spotlight on the host of the venue who stood in the middle of the stage. He was all that could be seen, the light focused on his warm yellow jacket and his matching scarf. He was usually very peppy but seemed just as cold as everyone else on this frosted evening, legs visibly trembling as the ice chilled his scrawny form.

"Welcome everyone! Thanks for coming out tonight, we're real excited to show you what treats we have in store tonight because boy do we have a surprise." He grinned through his chattering teeth, tossing a thumbs up.

You watched intently, not as phased as all the screaming teens beside you had been. You toned him out. In fact, you toned everyone out. The host, Wallace, the screaming crowd of one hundred around you, all became muted. Your eyes honed in on the silhouettes that could not be identified in the shadows behind the current announcer. It seemed as though your concern for everything began to wear thinner and thinner as the cold night caressed your face to numbness, the fortress of ice around your body stilling the need to express, slowing you down and leaving you haunted.

You felt as though you could only bring your eyes to move, watching as the once obnoxious host started backing up off stage into the sidelines. You followed his mouth, watching every shaky trace of a pronunciation through chattering teeth mouthed something that visibly brightened the room and completely tore through your brain as the crowd began an uproar of excitement.

"Please welcome, The Clash at Demonhead!" His lips touched together slowly to form the words and you watched every second of it until he ran offstage, your eyes darting to the main portion of the venue to see the lights flicker on into a warm orange and red hue. Wallace, the crowd beside you, was long forgotten and you stood still among the chaos, relapsing the events that occured throughout the day. You shut your eyes to block it out, and reopened them to meet burning hazel. Your bitter, iced, armor suffered a severe blow at that, those hot eyes tearing right into your chest.

(Oh yeah)

(Oh yeah)

(Oh yeah)

Hello again

Friend of a friend

I knew you when

Your eyes were focused on one thing, the blonde who stood tall and confident in the middle of the stage, bright, pouty, red lips clouding your vision as she sung the opening words strictly, her own eyes on you.

Time moved faster and faster yet it felt like she was all you could see. A flame huddled in the cold dark, chipping further and further at you. You stood still, enjoying the music at that, but only standing to watch her while the excited chaos ensued around you as the music picked up.

She only broke your gaze to dance around the stage, completely strong in her movements and unwavering under the still present ice within the evening. She remained untouched.

During a small instrumental breakdown she strutted closer to the edge of the stage, right where you stood. You watched her, all of her. Her mouth and the way it moved as she sung intimately into the microphone, the way her warmth enveloped you and brushed across your paled face, completely melting any icy exterior you had left, any fight you had left.

Send you my love on a wire

Lift you up, every time,

everyone, ooh,

pulls away, ooh

From you

She was face to face with you now, on her knees in front of you like a panther while her aura burned into you unforgivingly. You gave in, sending a small smile and nodding your head along with the music which contrasted your haunted, frozen, stilled persona from before. You let go, and gave into the warmth. You were sure that there were tons of fans seething in jealousy and in simultaneous excitement seeing her so close to you, and of course they were probably screaming and jumping into chaos, but she was all you could see. With the next few lyrics, you mouthed the words along with her.

Send you my love on a wire

Lift you up, every time, everyone, ooh, pulls away, ooh

It's a mechanical bull, the number one

You'll take a ride from anyone

Everyone wants a ride, pulls away, ooh, from you

She smirked widely once the song slowed, then leaned forward and just managed to catch your mouth in a heated kiss as the lights faded into darkness. You melted completely, kissing back with fever at how overwhelmingly, comfortably, numbing the warmth was. She grabbed your collar, pulling you close so her mouth was at your ear.

"Meet me behind the venue in 20"

[hazthediv]

Here’s to New Friendships

Hey guys! So I received this request like a year ago or something on my main blog but I wasn’t taking requests at the moment so I never wrote anything... but yeah hope you enjoy!

*The picture is not mine, I found it on google

Request:  Can you write a Harrison X reader? The reader is a new roommate to a friend of Harrison. He first meets the reader at a coffee shops where she introduces herself, because she's new in town. Later in the day he goes to his friends place unaware of that she's his new roommate. He starts to talk about her to him and she comes out of her room and listens to him talking about her with his back turned against her, you can continue from there. Thx!<3

Requested by: @my-unique-mind

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: An awkward meeting and some alcohol consumption

-

The rain’s splattering on the coffee shop’s windows was the most soothing thing you had experienced in the last few days. Moving to London had been a tough decision but so thrilling at the same time. You loved London. Everything about it: the people, the architecture, the life of the city… but you didn’t have much friends. Yet. You planned on making friends, lots of them. Where you came from you had been a loner with only two or three friends from work but that was over. It was time to open up to the world and make some real friendships. Not that fictional characters weren’t good friends but whatever…

Your name was called and you moved to get your coffee. The cup was warm, the cold in your fingers finally going away as you looked around the room to find an empty table. Only to realize there wasn’t any of them.

You began walking towards the door but when the rain doubled up you decided to wait until it calmed before going outside. You turned back around to search for a place, hoping maybe someone would be kind enough to let you sit with them. Your eyes landed on a handsome guy, about your age, who was sitting alone at a table for two, a laptop in front of him.

You took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to go sit next to the guy. That’s when his eyes looked up from his laptop and you could feel your heart stopping in your chest. Never in your life had you seen such a striking gaze.

You looked down to your coffee cup, taking a sip, trying to act as if you hadn’t been caught staring. When your gaze trailed back to the guy, you noticed he had resumed his attention on his laptop. It was now or never.

You hesitantly began walking towards his table, mentally rehearsing what you would tell him. Only to realize then that didn’t have a single clue as to what to say. But it was too late, you were now next to his table and he was looking up at you.

“Hey there”, he said, a smile softly spreading on his lips.

“Uh, hi”, you replied, blush creeping its way on your cheeks as you stuttered the rest of your sentence. “Do you… uh you… do you mind if I… I sit here?”

The guy raised his brows. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Can I sit here?” you asked, this time not stuttering. “There isn’t any other free place so…”

“Yeah, of course.”

He smiled as you nodded and sat down, resting your cup on the table. You took your phone from your pocket, hesitating between asking him his name or to just ignore him. You could feel his burning stare on you though, so you figured you should strike a conversation.

“So uh, what are you up to?” you enquired, looking up to meet his gaze.

He glanced at his computer. “Just reading the script of my new movie.”

Your eyes went round as you realized what that meant. “Oh! You’re an actor.”

The guy chuckled. “Well, yeah, I am.”

Your curiosity was piqued. “Have I seen you in something?”

The guy took a sip of his own drink, shaking his head no. “I doubt you did, I haven’t been in anything big yet.”

“Oh”, you let out. “But you’ve been cast in a new movie? That’s good news.”

“Yeah! It’s actually a bigger role for once, I’m really happy I got the part.”

“What is it?” you enquired, taking a sip of your coffee which was still a little too hot to be drunk but you didn’t mind the burning. It made you forget how his gaze was burning in yours right now.

“Unfortunately, I can’t talk about it”, the guy admitted.

“And yet you’re reading the script in a public space.”

He laughed, the sound sending shivers down your spine. An awkward silence grew between the two of you and you looked down at your coffee.

“So, new here?” he enquired.

You nodded, a chuckle falling from your lips. “What gave it away?”

“I recognize pretty much everyone that comes to this coffee shop”, the guy explained. “Didn’t recognize you.”

“Well, I moved here just a couple of days ago”, you said.

“Oh, you did! Where from?”

“Manchester.”                    

Another silence grew as both of you took sips from your coffees. The guy than spoke again.

“And what’s bringing you to London?”

You thought about it for a moment, not really knowing the answer. “I don’t know, I’ve always wanted to come to London and uh… I just decided to give it a shot.”

“You made a good decision, London’s fun”, the guy smiled. He glanced at his computer for a moment and then his gaze found yours again. “Actually, I have to go but it was really nice meeting you.”

Your heart sank a little in your chest as you watched him get up. “Uh, yeah, nice meeting you too.”

“I’ll see you around?” he asked as he put his laptop in his backpack.

“Of course”, you answered, your smile finding its way back on your lips.

“Lovely.”

You watched the guy leave, only realizing then that you hadn’t asked him what his name was. Crap.

You finished your coffee as you scrolled through your social media, the guy still on your mind. He was handsome, definitely really handsome, and you couldn’t believe that you had had the courage to actually speak to him. And he had said that he would see you around, so that was a good sign, right?

When your coffee was finished, you returned the cup to the barista and then made your way outside, where it still was raining but not as much as before. You watched your feet as you walked, shivering when a cold gush of wind caught in your hair. You were lucky the walk to your flat wasn’t a long one or else you’d have turned to a block of ice before getting there.

“Hey, I’m back!” you yelled from the hall as you took off your shoes.

Your roommate, Tuwaine, walked out of his room. “Took a shower in the streets, I see.”

“Shut up, T”, you laughed. “It’s raining.”

You moved to your room, knowing you had to change if you didn’t want to catch a cold.

“Hey, some mates are coming later tonight, we’re thinking about going clubbing, wanna come?” Tuwaine yelled from somewhere else in the flat.

That was the perfect occasion to make some friends. “Yeah, of course!” you yelled back.

If you were to go clubbing, you had to take a shower. You foraged through one of the boxes you hadn’t unpacked yet, knowing your “clubbing” clothes were in there somewhere. You found a pink crop-top with a low V-neck, your favourite actually, and a smile stretched your lips. This was going to be perfect.

You grabbed a pair of black leggings too and then went through your underwear box to find something somewhat sexy just in case you were to maybe meet someone special. You then made your way to the bathroom, taking a long warm shower to suppress the cold you had been feeling from walking in the rain. When you stepped out of the shower, you could hear some muffled talking from somewhere else in the flat, most likely from the living room.

You got dressed, walking the short distance to your room before putting some make-up on. You wanted to be your best self when you’d meet Tuwaine’s friends. Once you were done, you plugged in your phone so it’d be fully charged when you’d leave and you walked out of your room.

You made your way to the kitchen, the voices you had heard earlier becoming louder as you were closer to the living room. You could clearly hear what they were saying now. You warmed up some leftovers as you inadvertently listened to the conversation.

“So I was reading the script and I saw this girl standing alone”, a male voice said, somewhat familiar.

“Was she hot?” another familiar voice asked.

“Shut up, Tom, let Haz speak”, Tuwaine said.

“Sorry, sorry”, the second voice, probably Tom, replied.

“So”, the first voice resumed. “I didn’t really look at the girl but like not even a minute later she came up to me and asked if she could sit with me. It was kinda really awkward but we talked a little. She seemed nice but I had to go so I didn’t really get to talk to her a lot. It’s only when I left that I realized I didn’t even ask for...”

The beeping of the microwave brought you back to reality and you stopped listening to the conversation, taking the meal out of the microwave instead. You burned your hand on the plate so you put it down on the counter, rinsing your hand with cold water to make the stinging of the burn go away.

“Y/n!” Tuwaine’s voice yelled from the living room. “Come ‘ere.”

You noticed an opened beer pack on the table and you realized that Tuwaine and his mates had already begun drinking. You took a beer and grabbed the plate and a fork before making your way to the living room.

“I’m telling you, she was really pretty but…” the first voice was saying but he stopped when you walked in.

It was the guy from the coffee shop. And he had been talking about you. You stopped in your tracks, your mind going blank as your gaze got caught up in the guy’s gaze.

“So, this is Y/n, my new roommate”, Tuwaine said. “Y/n, this is Tom and uh, this is Haz.”

There was a moment of silence until you looked away from the guy from the coffee shop, Haz, to look at the other guy, who was none other than Spider-Man. Better known as Tom Holland.

“Hey guys”, you said as you felt your cheeks burning.

This was a lot to take in. You knew Tuwaine was friends with Tom and Haz, he had talked about them before. Never in a million years would you have thought that Tuwaine was going to invite you on a night out with them.

Your eyes trailed back to the guy from the coffee shop, who had a pink tint on his cheeks.

“Hey, Y/n”, he finally said. “Nice to actually know your name now.”

Tuwaine and Tom turned to look at Haz, their brows knit together.

“What did you just say?” Tom enquired.

“Wait”, Tuwaine said at the same time. “Y/n’s the girl from the coffee shop?” he asked.

Haz chuckled, nodding. “Didn’t know she was your roommate.”

“No way”, Tom said and he burst out laughing. “She probably heard everything you just said…”

Haz hit Tom on the arm as his cheeks turned a dark shade of red. “Shut up, you dickhead.”

The guys playfully started fighting and you sat down on the only empty couch, which was the loveseat your grand-parents had given you when they had learned that you were finally moving out of your parents’ house.

You started eating, your plate monopolizing your attention as you didn’t want to look up at the guys who were now talking about something else but you weren’t following the conversation at all.

You opened your beer, taking a sip and finally you were able to relax a little. You looked up from your plate to catch Haz’s gaze and your cheeks burned but you didn’t look away. You smiled gently and Haz smiled back as his own cheeks turned red.

Actually, you were happy that he was here. Because now you knew his name and you even were going to go out with him. Here’s to new friendships, right?

Later that night, somewhere between 1 and 2 am, you found yourself sitting alone next to Haz. The night had been fun, really, but Tuwaine had thrown up a little earlier and Tom and he had left to go to the bathroom and hadn’t come back yet.

“Didn’t expect to see you at Tuwaine’s”, Haz said, his pretty eyes finding yours.

“Me neither”, you laughed. “Was kinda startling to see you sitting in my living room.”

His laugh echoed in your ears, a sound so beautiful you made it your mission to make him laugh as much as possible.

“I was shook too”, he admitted. “You look great, by the way.”

You turned into a blushing mess as you looked down at the empty drink you had been holding for the last fifteen minutes. “Oh uh, thanks, you too actually.”

Haz chuckled. “Need a refill?”

You looked up at him and he was already looking at you and his eyes were so pretty and was he leaning to kiss you or was that just you?

Your eyes fluttered close as his face got closer to you and when his lips touched yours, it was like a firework had ignited in your heart. He cupped your cheek gently, kissing you softly. You kissed him back. His lips tasted of alcohol and of something sweeter, something like honey.

He deepened the kiss and you boldly bit at his bottom lips. He let out a soft grunt and suddenly, you became very aware of his hand on your thigh. When had it gotten there?

“Get a room”, Tom yelled as he came back from the bathroom to the sight of th two of you kissing.

You and Haz pulled away and you tried to catch your breath as Haz mumbled something about Tom being a div.

For the rest of the night, whenever you and Haz were alone your lips found his as he pulled you closer. Each time that gained you a snarky remark from Tom or Tuwaine but you didn’t mind, not one bit. Haz was the sweetest thing you had tasted in your whole life and you sure as hell weren’t going to stop.

Here’s to new friendships, right?

-

Hope you enjoyed! Leave some feedback or a request of your own here!

I’m going to start a taglist for the fics/requests I post on here so shoot me an ask if want to be on it! I’m tagging some people to make sure it doesn’t go unnoticed!

@h-osterfield | @stealth-spiderr | @hazhasmycoffee | @hazownsmyass | @the-quackson-claxon | @starksparker | @madmadmilk | @hollandroos

[petri808]

Zero Degrees of Separation

AU Story, FT Next Gen.  Jerza kids.  4300 words.  I wrote this story for a school assignment. Pics of the kids are on my side blog @petrischronicles

It is summer break before Identical twins Andesine & Azurite Fernandez will be leaving for college on opposite sides of the country. Their family takes their annual summer vacation to the mountains but both brothers are troubled about breaking their connection.  ​

The breeze coming off the crystalline lake was something Azurite Fernandez always appreciated when they visited the summer cabin.  It had that typical rustic quality of earthy scented pine, mixed with warbling birds and chattering squirrels, a beautiful serenity and today was no exception as the warm kiss of mountain sunlight blanketed the family from powder blue skies. He stood there with his eyes closed letting the calming peace and quiet sweep him away for it might be years before he’d be back again.  This was perfect, he mused to himself.  Someday building a house and raising a family in a place like this appealed to his inner nature.

“Azurite, could you help your sister with her bags?”

He opened his eyes and released the fresh moist air from his lungs, “sure mom,” before turning towards his family’s SUV.  Azi clicked his tongue, chuckling as his sister struggled with her oversized suitcase. Grabbing it from her and setting it on the ground he teases, “did you pack your entire room?”

Amethyst huffs, picking up her smaller carry-on and purse from the ground, “not all of us loves this place as much as you do, I needed things to keep me busy.”  

“I’m with Amy on this,” their brother Andesine, Azi’s twin, throws his arm over his brother’s shoulder. “I’d much rather be hanging out with Sage and the others, considering most of us are going to different parts of the country in a couple months.”

“Tch,” Azurite crosses his arms, “then I would just as much prefer to spend time with my girlfriend then you.”

“Alright, alright boys,” their father Jellal chides them as he walks past into the house, “it’s family time, not friend time so just deal with it and make your mother happy for a couple of weeks.”  With a sigh, Azurite simply grabs his sister’s suitcase and along with his sullen siblings makes their way into the house behind him.

That evening as Andi and Amy hole up in their rooms with their phones or laptops, and their parents enjoy the rest of the night in the den, Azurite ventures out onto the spacious wrap around deck, propping himself atop a railing.  With his long legs easily balancing on the beam and his back against one of the pillars, he had chosen the spot because it was a clear vantage point of the nighttime lake.  Dark and ominous waters like at any moment some creature could walk out of its depths ready to strike at the unaware and yet, with the shimmering moonlit surface, instead of a creature, maybe a beautiful water goddess come to grant you any wish you desire.  A slight uptick around the corners of his mouth are the only indication when a few fond memories begin to flow through.  

Such supernatural creatures were common topics when they were little.  Nights like this one spent on the shore sleeping under the stars, trading story ideas, or dreams of heroes and villains come to life.  Just a lot of imagination packed between the Fernandez twins and the seeming link they shared was evident.  One would start a sentence and the other would finish it, an idea for a character would come to mind and the other would simply nod and agree as if they could see it too.  Like words never spoken aloud but through the spirit became secrets only they could share driving their sister crazy because it left her out of the loop.

They used to love fishing with their father, sometimes competing with each other on who could catch the biggest fish, campfire smores with their mom who made sure they didn’t burn their hands, and tag teaming scares upon their little sister.  On sunny afternoons the boys would swim out to the middle of the lake where a platform had been anchored, jumping off or sun bathing.  Hikes with the family in the surrounding forests were a treat to find bugs and other critters or make forts amongst the trees to search for dragons.  

It was quite an enjoyable childhood, but like many kids, as they got older, and their individual personalities developed, different interests and friendships pulled them in separate directions.  They were still brothers that got along for the most part, but no longer peas in the same pod.  Azurite closes his eyes, ‘and the distance is only gonna grow wider when we leave for college.’  It wasn’t that he wanted to be separated from his brother or family, but when one receives a full-ride scholarship to M.I.T, they’d be a fool to decline. Unfortunately, that meant he’d be attending school in Massachusetts clear across the country from Santa Barbara where Andesine had opted to go.

“Will you cheer up Az?” the warm hand of his brothers upon his shoulder, rouses Azurite from his reflections only to look over and see the smug smirk of his twin staring back. Andesine taps his temple, “is the distance really bothering you that much, cause ya know eventually we had to cut the cord.”

“I wasn’t thinking…” Again, Andi taps the side of his head and cocks an eyebrow.  “Okay, sure, maybe I was but that wasn’t the only thing.”

“A…” searching his pockets, he pulls out the only thing he had and holds it up with a goofy grin, “piece of gum for your thoughts?”

Even Azurite had to laugh at the silly antics of his twin, “It’s nothing,” waving his hand, “maybe I’m just nervous about being so far away from everyone.  I mean, aren’t you?”

“Mmm,” Andi tips his head, “not really, kinda excited to see all them California girls!” singing out part of the Katie Perry song.

Azurite rolls his eyes, “You are so bad!”

“And you are too good!” Andi retorts and laughs out loud, “I feel like I need to balance out this dynamic duo!”  Azurite tries to hide the amusement but fails miserably since his brother can read him. “Come on… grumpy gus,” he playfully punches Azi’s arm, “just get some sleep and maybe you’ll feel better.”

After his bother moves out of the way, Azi slides off the railing and stretches out his stiffened back. “Mom guys crash yet?”

Andesine nods, “fell asleep on the couch.  I think Amy too, cause her light was off.”  He pulls out his phone, “I don’t think you realize but you’ve been out here for several hours, see,” showing his brother the time, “it’s almost 2 am.”

Azi frowns, “I didn’t. But why are you still awake?”

“I wasn’t, just woke up when I felt something bothering you.”

“Sorry.”

“‘so���kay man, I’ll see ya upstairs.”

“Be there in a minute.” Azurite watches his brother walk back into the house and takes one more look at the lake...

To the outside world, Andesine Fernandez was the quintessential jokester who never took life seriously.  He did decently in school, had his own aspirations, tons of friends, and fashioned himself a lady’s man, though this last notion might be more in his head than reality.  But just because he lived in the realm of humor, wasn’t to say he didn’t care or pay attention, he simply preferred to live by the YOLO ‘You Only Live Once’ motto.  This stark contrast in personality from his more reticent and bookish twin, was along with their different colored hair, the most noticeable distinctions.  

A few nights later, the family sits around a small campfire in front of the house, relaxing after a long day of hiking around the forest and lake.  Amy and their mother Erza chatter about a Korean drama they both watch, and Andi is only half listening to Azurite and their dad discuss the latest MMA fight in the UFC.  Maybe Azi had a point about the distance, it wasn’t something he’d really thought about until now, probably because, well, ‘I didn’t want to, I mean, it’s only a physical thing!’  But as the dancing flames of the fire crackle and send wisps of burning embers floating into the air, Andesine’s thoughts go with them. His eyes dilate, focusing on the red-orange glow, mesmerized and sending his mind into a distant timeframe.

‘Don’t even think about it, Andi,’ his brother blocks him, ‘mom already gave you a Hershey.’

‘Ugh!  It’s so irritating that you know what I’m thinking!  When we get older, I hope this stupid twin thing stops too!’

‘I don’t really like it either, cause dealing with you is frustrating.’

But their mother had stepped into the argument, chiding her sons, ‘there will come a day when you’ll regret saying that stuff.’  Pulling them into a hug on each side of her body, ‘that special bond means you’ll always have each other to fall back on, even when you’re far apart.’

‘Why would be far apart?’ Azurite asked their mom.

‘Well…’ squeezing them tighter, ‘one day you’ll grow up, go to college, meet a girl, maybe settle down and have a family.  As much as I’ll miss my boys, I want you to be happy and independent in the future.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Andi shrugged, ‘I can’t wait to grow up!’

She chuckled, ‘don’t worry, before you know it, you will be…’

Andesine’s brows furrow at the memory, sometimes he hated to admit when their mother was right, but damn was she ever.  A night exactly like this one, settled around a campfire, eating smores, except now they were all ten years older.  Amy only two years away from graduating high school and the boysabout to start their adult lives.  Was he really ready for it like he had bragged about?  Did he want to admit that he’ll miss his twin? He snaps out of the reflection, looking around to see if anyone had noticed it, but everyone was still engrossed in their conversations.

He stands up, dusts off his pants and kisses his mother goodnight.  “Are you okay?” she asks.

“Just tired, think I’ll shower and head to bed.”

“Alright, good night sweetie.”

“Night mom.”

He knew from experience that the best thing to do was let his brother process whatever was bothering him in his own way, so Azurite pretended not to pay attention while Andi zoned out or even when he said he was tired.  But as he watched his twin trudge into the house, he had to wonder what it was about.  A smug tugging on his lips, could Andi be just as nervous as he was about the whole separation?  Now that would be an interesting flip.

Andesine tossed and turned.

“Noooo!!!” he screamed as he raced towards his brother on legs that suddenly seemed uncooperative, reaching out and stumbling along the asphalt. The scene blurred through a tunneled vision while the sounds of screeching tires echoed in his ears.  But no matter how fast he ran, the distance remained the same.  

His brother’s head turns seconds before the impact, a tear trailing down one cheek, “I’m… sorry Andi…”

“Azzziiiiiii!!!!!”

Andesine pops up in his bed screaming out of the dream and frantically looking at the other side of the bedroom for Azurites bed.  “What the fuck?”  Because there was no bed, only an empty space where it should be.  He throws off the blankets and hops off his, wildly circling the barren floorboards.  “What the hell is going on!  Where is Azurite?!”

The door swings open and his parents rush in, “Andi, what’s wrong,” Erza asks, “what are you yelling about?”  As Jellal grabs his son’s shoulders to stop his hysterical flailing, “did you have a bad dream?”

“Where’s my brother Azurite?  Why is his bed gone?”  The poor young man is on the verge of tears.

“Azurite?” Erza questions, looking to her husband with concern, “but honey, you don’t have a brother.”

“What!!  Of course, I do, he’s my identical twin!”

“Son, you need to calm down,” prompting the young man towards his bed and sitting him down, “there’s only you and your sister, remember?”

“No, this doesn’t make any sense,” Andi shakes his head, “it felt so real, He felt so real!  W-we were so close, we could feel each other, read each other’s thoughts, I—I…” cradling his head in his hands, “but our…”

“Sweetheart it was just a dream,” Erza kneels in front of him, “we promise you, you’ve never had a brother…”

“No!” he pushes them away and scrambles to get out of the room. This was all wrong!  Why were they lying to him?  There was no way he’d just make up a brother!  Andi bolts down the hallway, stumbling a few times in an effort to reach the front door while the walls seemed to sway and fold inwards on him. He had to get out there now!

As he turns the knob and flings the front door open, a blinding light stops him in his tracks.

His eyes snap open and he sits up in bed.  ‘What the…’ turning, Andesine looks to his left and notices his brother still asleep in their darkened room.  He checks the alarm clock, 3:30am, it was all just a nightmare?  With a groan, he drops on to his back, ‘it was all just a friggen nightmare!’

The following morning, Andesine is still a bit unnerved from the dream.  It was the first time he’s ever had one so disturbing involving his brother and he couldn’t fathom what it was supposed to mean.  Was it a premonition that his brother would die from a car accident?  He’d never had one of those before, or more than likely a subconscious reaction to the whole idea of separation and distance.  No matter what it all meant, if he didn’t get a handle on these emotions, the rest of this trip would be a miserable one.

Andi finds his parents in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, “Is it okay if I take a hike to the bluffs?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jellal puts another dish in the rack before turning to address his son, “is Azurite going with you?”

“Nah, I kinda wanted to go alone.”

Erza frowns, “That’s not really safe honey…” but when he gives her a sad, puppy expression she sighs, “just make sure you take your phone with you.”

“Thanks mom!” he hugs her then his dad and takes off out the door with a small back pack of water and of course his cell phone.  

He waves at his sister and brother who were lounging on patio chairs and heads north of their rental towards the trail leading up to a mountain peak he enjoyed.  Andi takes a deep breath, ‘Im’ma sort out whatever the hell it is that’s bugging me!’ pumping a fist into the air with a grin, ‘It’s time to go zen!’

The trail itself was moderately rated, mostly because of the final leg up a steep incline to the bluff, but it was completely worth the effort.  Twenty-five minutes later, as he broke through the tree line and made his way up the final ascent, Andi knew he had made the right decision to come here. There were a few fluffy white clouds passing by and the heat was mildly tolerable due to the higher elevation. The ground was thankfully dry since it hadn’t rained for at least a couple of weeks and the bugs seemed to be taking a day off, so he finds a flat-topped rock and sits down ready to get this load off his mind.

Why was all of this bothering him so much now when it hadn’t even crossed his mind before this trip? Sure, he had realized that picking a college thousands of miles across the country would probably make his parents sad, but it never donned on him that it would upset his brother, or himself. They would be in different states not different countries and thanks to today’s technology, distance wasn’t such a burden anymore.  Andi had friends all over the world on social media, and he was excited to finally meet a few of them when he got to California.  Besides, it’s not like he was the only one, Azurite chose a college away from their home state, granted it was because of the scholarship, but still, it was a choice that he made.

Andi closes his eyes and tilts his head back knowing he was skirting around the real issue that none of this had to do with a normal leaving the nest syndrome.  He exhales, both brothers were quite ready and capable to venture out on their own because their parents had done a phenomenal job of making sure they would be.  No, this all came down to their twin connection.  Will it feel weird when they are so far apart from each other?  Will there be some strange feeling like a part of him was missing?  It was this uneasiness that was at the heart of it all.  

‘I’m sure we’ll be fine,’ he finally concludes, ‘nothing to worry about.  I bet we’ll be too busy with college and everything to even worry.’ He was sure that he’d simply let his subconscious and imagination run a little too amok this time and it was time to reign it back in.  

“Yosh!” he stands up, stretching out in a full, arms above his head motion, twisting his midsection and legs.  “Bout time for lunch anyways!”

In a better mood now, Andi slings his backpack over one shoulder, shoves in his earbuds and cranks up his music, starting the trek down the steep zig-zag trail of loose stones and dry pine needle covered dirt.  Dense foliage made a few portions along the path harder to make out and unfortunately one of those spots was a narrow, stepped ledge, carved by the elements into a natural staircase.  Andi slowed down because he knew going down was the most dangerous part.  

Suddenly, the flapping of wings and a stirring of feathers from a startled pheasant takes Andi by surprise just as he is about to set foot on the next step.  The bird scuttles off into the forest, its squawking mixing with his scream as he slips, hands flying up, bag along with his legs going airborne like in a slow-motion scene.  His brother’s name is the last thought in his mind as his back hits the ground and head bounces-off the stony surface knocking him out cold…

Down at the lake, the family is relaxing near the water’s edge with Amy and Erza sunbathing on the shore. Azurite and Jellal dangle their legs off the short pier fishing for dinner while discussing last minute things the young man needs to secure before he leaves for college.  All in all, a relaxing sight despite the glaring midday sun. But just as Azi casts his line again, a cold breeze sweeps through, normally welcomed on such a heated day, but for him, the chill it shoots up his spine catches him off-guard and if he didn’t know better, his name had been funneled along with the wind.  

The fishing pole he holds clatters to the ground as Azurite shoots to his feet, “Something’s wrong with Andi!”

Jellal looks up bewildered, but knows not to question it, “we’d better go then!”

The two men race up the forest trail while Amy and Erza wait at the house ready to call emergency if necessary.  They had no idea what they would encounter but if Azurite was right, and Andi was too injured to have used his cell phone to call for help, they needed to be on standby. Azurite tore up the path like a man both panicked yet guided straight to where he just knew his brother would be and his father simply following, trusting his son’s instincts.  It took them 15 agonizing minutes to reach the spot.

“Andi!”  Azurite clambers up the steep grade, crawling the last couple of feet to where his brother lay prone.  Panic sweeps over his whole being, “Aw, Fuck dad there’s blood coming from his head!  Andi!” he’s about to reach out and pull his brother up but Jellal grabs his shoulder.

“Don’t move him yet, we don’t know how badly injured he is.  Check his pulse and breathing while I call your mom… and see if you can wake him up but gently.”

With his father on the phone telling their mother to call 911 and giving them directions to where they were, Azurite is using every ounce of willpower he has not to cradle his brother’s limp body in his arms.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, Andi was usually so careful whenever he went hiking but as he scans the area and notices a few stray feathers and his brothers bag lying above and off to the side, he could surmise what had happened in those last seconds.  But all that didn’t matter, whether or not Andi had been spooked or simply slipped, what was important was getting him medical attention as quickly as possible.

Azurite pats his brother’s cheek, “Andi wake up!  Please,” tapping it a few more times, “wake up Andi!”  Moisture pools and clouds his vision, tears leaking down his face in salty rivers.  “Damn it, Andi wake up!”

After ending his call, Jellal slowly lifts his sons head to check the injury and see’s that despite the blood, the wound doesn’t look very deep.  He pulls off his shirt, folds it, and tucks it under to cushion Andi’s head. “Emergency services are on their way so, all we can do is wait.  I’m going to head back down to meet them at the beginning of the trail, will you be alright here?”  The young man manages a short nod.  Jellal puts his hand on Azi’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay son,” and with a second half nod, the man starts his descent.

Left alone, Azurite retrieves his brother’s bag, so it didn’t get left behind, sitting back down and checking his brother’s vitals every couple of minutes.  It was so frustrating not being able to do anything more, but his dad and their Eagle Scout training were clear on this, Andi was best left for the professionals to handle.  He hangs his head and while his tears had slowed, they were still like droplets of rain along a window pane, dribbling down in irregular waves.

“I swear you really are an idiot Andi, you know how dangerous it is to hike alone!  I don’t know what it was that was bothering you, but it better be a damn good reason for scaring me half to death!  Do you know how it feels, every time you do these foolish things and I have to worry about you…”  Azi lets out a long exhale, “But maybe you’ll get it now?  I hope you’ll see why I was so worried about the distance, I mean if something happened to you and we’re miles apart, I can’t come running like I did today.”  He lays down on his side next to his brother, just like they would as little kids when they were scared during a storm and takes hold of his brother’s hand, so limp and lifeless, bringing it to his chest.  “It feels like… like a sinking weight on my heart…”

“Could you be…” Andi’s voice is groggy and muffled, “anymore… melodramatic…”  He squeezes Azi’s hand back, “I ain’t dead yet.”

“I ought’a knock you back out for that!” Azi half snorts half laughs, for as frustrated with his brother as he was, it felt amazing to hear Andi’s voice again.

“I love you too bro,” he finally opens his eyes, half lidded because of the pain.  “And to answer your question, I do know how it feels.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had the most screwed up dream last night, that’s why I came out here to think…  I dreamt that I suddenly woke up and you weren’t there, mom and dad told me I had dreamt you up.  It hurt so bad like something had been ripped out of me…”  Azi looks up when he hears the sounds of footsteps approaching but is drawn back as he brother keeps talking.  “I do worry too but today I realized that it’s going to be okay.”  He squeezes his brother’s hand again and closes his eyes, grimacing through the pain, “we’ll always be brothers, and even if we’re far apart nothing will ever change the bonds we share.”  

“Just promise me you won’t do anything crazy out in California, because if I have to fly there, I really will kick your ass.”

Andi tries to chuckle but gives up when another wave of throbbing pain rushes over him, “you could try...”  

On the final night of the family vacation, Amy and their parents lounged on the porch playing a board game while the two brothers settled on a log beside the lake shore. Andesine’s head was still wrapped with gauze to protect the stitches he received, and Azurite was teasing him. “Remember,” Azi turns his gaze over to the lake, “When a full moon casts its luminous glow beckoning to any fools that dared to breach its darkened waters…”

“… a creature may arise to strike you down, or maybe a beautiful goddess will appear to grant you your desires.  Forgive me but I don’t think I qualify as a goddess.”

“You’re right, you’re more like a creature from the abyss.”

A companionable silence falls between them, each lost momentarily as the placid nighttime waters soothes their psyches.  Azurite exhales and holds up his arm in a 90-degree position, Andesine sighs, grabs his brother’s hand, squeezing and nodding his head for their zero degrees of separation.  This trip had been long and fruitful and now they were finally ready to move into the next phase of their lives, together.

[lnicol1990]

Isn’t It Obvious?

Okay, here’s the first story that needs to find its writer. It is for @squigglydigglydoo‘s Toon Henry AU for Bendy and the Ink Machine.

I am respectfully asking people not to like this post. It is not my work and I don’t deserve the credit! The rightful owner is @caspersthefriendlyghost, and as soon as they put this for their own blog, I am deleting this post.Everything below the keep reading is their work and I make no claim to it.

Everything below the keep reading is their work and I make no claim to it.

Alright! It only took forever but I did it! I’m a little rusty since I’ve had no time to write at all but I gave it my best shot!  (Marianna belongs to @upperstories!)

Being cornered by your former boss from thirty years ago in a different dimension was not how Henry wanted to spend his Friday night. Well, his date he had planned was the least of his concerns right now.

Joey limped closer to him. His back was already against the wall and he didn’t trust the toon logic to work in his favor. Shouldn’t his gimp foot not be affecting him anymore?

It didn’t matter. Not now at least. He still wasn’t exactly sure how cartoon logic would play out at the moment since technically speaking he is the good guy, but so far nothing has been going in his favor. Well maybe not good but not exactly bad either. How was he to know that if he tried to make a break for it that a banana peel wouldn’t show up out of nowhere?

“Henry, Henry, Henry. What to do with you.” Joey said with a smile. He was absolutely drenched in ink. At least his body wasn’t actually ink like Sammy. That poor son of a bitch…but he can’t think of that now. He can worry about him later.

“Joey…Joey please…don’t do this.” Henry begged. What could he do to get through to him?

His eyes quickly scanned the room. If Joey were to try something he needed a plan. Wait, is that Bendy? His eyes were wide and…scared? Alice and Boris had a hand on both of his shoulders. Wait a minute, cartoon logic. Bendy is the star of this show. Maybe since Bendy perceives Henry as the villain that’s why he’s always the one getting the short end of the stick. If that were the case he just needs to get him to see the truth, but how?

Wait. The hero being trapped by the villian. All the toons and even that fucking machine right there in all its glory. Evil genius with a master plan. Getting Joey, the evil genius, to tell him his master plan shouldn’t be too difficult.

This better work.

“Before you…you do whatever it is you plan to do with me…I need to at least know…why?” What was he thinking? Of course this wouldn’t work! Joey may be toonified, but he’s still Joey! And unfortunately Joey isn’t an idiot.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Never mind.

Henry saw the toons slip out of the door frame from the corner of his eye. Good. The last thing they needed was for Joey to catch onto his little plan.

“No? You brought our characters to life. What more do you want?” Henry tried to calm himself down. He was in no position to be yelling at Joey.

“What, them?!” Joey began to laugh. “Of course I want more! They’re only alive because I needed to make sure that I could actually pull this off!” Joey gestured to his beloved machine. “Yeah, I mean I they’re cute and nice to keep around but they’re nothing compared to what I have in store!” Henry refused to move. This couldn’t be right. Joey loved them when he still worked with him! They were his whole world! The reason he woke up in the morning! What happened?

“This machine is more then you think! Not only can it our bring cartoons to our reality, but it can bring us here! To this world! Where I am the god here. I can literally bend reality to my liking!” No. No this wasn’t the man he once knew. How could someone change so drastically? “One day I will have our world collide with this one. I will-”

“We really mean nothing, huh?”

Bendy’s voice caused Joey to jump at least a foot in the air. He turned around to look to the small toon. He was still surprisingly in his normal state. Well, he was dripping a bit.

“Bendy I…I just..I thought.” Joey stuttered.

“You created us…you promised we would one day leave! That we would be a family.” Bendy said. Henry’s heart hammered in his chest. He was just waiting for Bendy to snap, but Bendy kept calm. A little too calm.

“But Bendy I though that maybe you liked it here! We could still be a family I just need more time to figure out how to make this world merge with reality! You just need to wait.” Joey rambled. Bendy began to walk out of the door frame and into the room. Joey took a step back with every step Bendy took in.

“This was the place everyone walked out on me. This place is nothing but bad memories…I can’t stay here any longer. You promised we would leave soon!” Bendy stopped walking and stared at the ink machine.

Joey knelt down in front of Bendy and began to wipe the excess ink out from Bendy’s eyes. “We still can. You, me, Alice, and Boris can all live somewhere far away from here! We can still be the family you’ve always wanted! I just need more time and we’ll be okay.”

Bendy leaned forward into joey for a hug. Henry saw his eyes. They were void of all emotion.

“we can even rebuild our studio somewhere else. You can still become famous again.” Joey said. Bendy and Henry didnt break eye contact. What was Bendy thinking?

“Yeah…” Bendy murmered.

Poor Joey, he didnt even see it coming.

Bendy pulled away from the hug gently enough but he grabbed the collar from Joey’s shirt and pushed him back as hard as he could. Joey’s head made a sickening crack once it connected to the ink machine.

Henry couldn’t look away. No matter how badly he wanted too he just couldn’t. He just barely registered Alice getting in between Bendy and Joey. Judging by the starts swirling around Joey’s head, he was still alive.

He pushed himself off the wall. How dare Joey do this to him? To everyone? Didn’t he mean anything to Joey? What about Sammy? Oh god, who else did he bring down here that ended up worse then Sammy?

Henry’s fists clenched. He didn’t know whether it was the fact he was in a cartoon world or not, but nothing felt real. He had to keep Joey alive though.

“Bendy, don’t kill him.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Bendy’s voice was the softest he’s ever heard it. “Not in front of them anyways.”

Henry let out a breath he did even realize he was holding. What now? Was Bendy still hellbent on getting revenge on him? Would Bendy be okay? What will happen to them all when he leaves? When would he be able to leave?

Could Henry even get home?

No…no he had to be able to get back to his family, right? He couldn’t just be stuck here, right….right?!

One look at the toons and he knew that now was maybe not the best time to ask. Boris and Alice were tying up Joey with some rope they must have grabbed from the pocket dimension they all have behind their back while Bendy just stared at the ink machine.

This had to be the first time Henry ever seen Bendy drip without him being pissed at him and honestly? It hurt seeing Bendy like this. Sure, Bendy has been getting his kicks by messing with the old man, but he was…mostly harmless. Okay maybe mostly harmless is a stretch since Bendy got quite a few blows to him, not to mention Sammy, but still. If Joey hadn’t kept everything a secret from everyone and hadn’t been feeding the toons lies then Bendy wouldn’t be acting like this!

“Henry…” Bendy’s voice snapped Henry out of his thoughts. Out of instinct he blocked his face from the demon.

Bendy gulped and pushed back the excess ink out from his eyes. “You…you gotta get out of here…you….” Bendy walked up to Henry and sat down next to his feet. Henry soon followed his lead and sat with him.

“What are we gonna do?” Henry asked.

“what do you mean? I’ve seen Joey work that machine more times than I can count. You’ll be able to get outta here in no time.” Bendy whispered. His dripping only got worse. “you can go and live your life and…forgot about us again.”

Henry couldn’t help but laugh. “F-forget? Bendy, not a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about you!”

Bendy could have melted into a puddle right then and there. He’s honestly surprised he didn’t. “Then…but why…you didn’t…”

“Come back?” Henry finished. “I wish I could have. Joey told me if I took one step out the front door that I would be sorry if I ever came back…and I planned on coming back, I really did but…the war really fucked me up. I couldn’t function…would have been homeless or worse if it weren’t for my wife.”

Bendy shuddered. “but..but you’re better now, right?”

“well…not exactly. But I’m working on it…being here hasn’t exactly helped though.” Henry said. “But we can talk about this later. You said you can work this contraption so we can maybe have a cup of coffee and all of us can have a much needed heart to heart conversation. I’ll have to figure out all of our sleeping arrangements though. I’ll try to get everything situated to you can all have your own rooms, but for now would you all be okay if two of you had to share a room for a bit until Marianna get everyone’s rooms set up?”

Alice’s head snapped at attention. “wait.. all of us? At your house?” Alice looked over her’s and Boris’ work and they both sat in front of them, leaving Joey in the far corner of the room.

“Well yeah? I won’t just leave you here with Joey. I can’t just abandon you all.”

Bendy couldn’t take it anymore. Tears formed in his eyes before he crashed into Henry’s side, sobbing. Henry tensed. He already felt awkward and anxious about inviting Bendy to live with him since he was just terrorizing him not even ten minutes ago, but this was too much to handle.

“I-I’m so sor-sorry!” Bendy wailed. Henry relaxed a little at the state Bendy was in. It was sobering to see him so upset. Of course he feels guilty! He’s still the same little dork he once animated! He was just misguided. Maybe misguided isn’t a strong enough word. He was manipulated by the asshole currently tied up…who could wake up any second now.

“Hey Boris? Do you know how to use the machine to bring us back?” Henry asked while picking up Bendy and himself off the floor. He was in no condition to be doing anything.

“Uh..yeah I think so! Alice, could you help me just in case I forget something?”

“Of course.” Alice smiled weakly at Henry before running over to the machine with Boris.

The two managed to get the machine on with only a few hiccups here and there which Henry was surprised with. Joey must have worked on it with them more then he thought. It took Henry forever to turn it on in reality!

“Alright, y'all ready?” Boris asked, looking quite proud of himself and Alice.

“You two should go first. I’ll meet you out there with Bendy.” Henry said. Bendy pushed his face into Henry’s chest and wailed. The poor guy…but Henry didn’t have time to worry just yet.

Alice and Boris hesitated, but went anyways. First Boris, then Alice were sucked up into the nozzle of the ink machine. Henry couldn’t help but feel a bit sick. Would it hurt him to go through it? Would Bendy be able to go through it with him or would something happen? He wasn’t really in the mood to be molded together with the demon…but he had to try.

“Hen-ry.” Oh of course. Right when they were about to be home free Joey just had to wake up!

Against his better judgement, Henry turned around to look at him. He had his hand gently placed on the back of Bendy’s head so he wouldn’t have to look at the monster that created this mess.

“What do you want?” Henry all but hissed. He could feel Bendy’s body melt even more. His breathing started to get faster. He couldn’t stay here much longer.

“Please…Henry..my best and dearest friend..you can’t just leave me here.” Joey began to cry. “Please…you can’t…don’t leave me here.”

Henry’s grip on Bendy grew a little tighter. “Thirty one years ago i wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving you, you know that, right? I cared about you so damn much.” Henry felt his eyes sting. “But after all this shit you put us through?”

Henry turned around.

“I hope you rot in hell.”

He stepped up to the machine with Bendy securely in his arms and was sucked up back into reality.

They didn’t think twice about unplugging the machine.

Well, Marianna’s always talking about how she misses having children in the house. Hopefully three traumatised cartoons to raise will be enough for her. He just hopes she isn’t too angry with him for missing their date.

[writernotwaiting]

Fallen Angels -- ch. 21

Chapter 21 – After: Emotional reinforcements

Chapter Summary: In which Loki and Sigyn have some unexpected visitors. This chapter picks up right after chapter 20 (oh my heavens – continuity for once!). Rating: E for the story overall. If you are under 18, go read something else! Characters: Loki, Sigyn, Thor, Anna (ofc), Balder (might-as-well-be-omc), Amora (a might-as-well-be ofc), Odin, Elli (a stone giantess and might-as-well-be-ofc), Cyril (omc) Story Description: a post-apocalyptic, MCU-Norse mythos mash-up; science fiction/fantasy

I will re-blog with the tags.  I would be glad to add to or remove from the tag list at your request.

Thank you again and again (and again), @icybluepenguin , for your help and encouragement and editing. You are an angel. Thank you also to @pedeka for being an unfailingly patient sounding board and for listening to my whiny writer complaints.

Ch. 1: Walking with unblest feet

 Ch. 20: Up from the Bottom of a Well Ch. 22: Never say that I was false at heart

[I borrowed this image from an actual rectory in Pembrokeshire that is now a B&B -- pretty, isn’t it?]

Unfortunately, Sigyn’s initial giddiness didn’t last. All her life, as long as she had remained ignorant, it had been easy to construct romantic fantasies about her parents — dreams of a persecuted race, or tales of forbidden love. The reality was decidedly less romantic, and much more baffling. Immaculate conception, apparently. An asexual creation from blood fished out of a well, and magically implanted into the womb of some unsuspecting (or complicit? The book was frustratingly silent on this point) fire giantess, who had then been hounded out of her realm by a fiery father — pun intended, thank you very much.

And why?

Certainly, it wasn’t because the Norns had suddenly gotten a maternal urge to cuddle a baby, sing lullabies, and change diapers, because they sure as Hel hadn’t done that. They created her, and then abandoned her. More than abandoned her — placed her precisely in harm’s way by leaving her mother vulnerable to the wrath of Surt, lord of all fire giants and first-class grump. Then they failed to intervene when she was dumped on Asgard, orphaned, with no hint of who her father was. It made no sense, and she felt more alone than ever, to think the Norns had created her, watched her grow, carved the runes that hinted at her fate just as they would for any other soul, re-arranged those runes as Sigyn had taken control over those the pieces of her destiny that she could — yet they had never touched her, never reached out to soothe, or forewarn.

Was she a chess piece?

An experiment?

An instrument of spite?

If it were the latter, she had certainly had success there, at least.

But why?

Sigyn lay awake night after night trying to understand it. Failing utterly.

Loki pulled himself out of his own distraction to try and push Sigyn through hers. Working on the theory that inertia would either be their greatest asset or their worst enemy, he scheduled her days — a body in motion will stay in motion. He invented seidr exercises, concocted ways for her to practice her fire magic, sparred with her — fire against ice. For this, they quickly discovered that they needed to reinforce the walls of their attic practice room. It turns out that the action of super-heated air on ice is, well, explosive.

On the other hand, it was also cathartic. Sometimes, you really just need to blow something up.

Late one afternoon as they sat in the bedroom nursing a few wounds from their latest session, Sigyn finally felt ready to talk pragmatically about everything. She dabbed a salve on Loki’s neck where he’d been burned. “I’m sorry, dearest. I let that one get away from me.”

“No, it’s my own fault. I got distracted when I saw your frostbite. I let my guard down.”

She snorted. “We are a pair, aren’t we? It’s a wonder we don’t simply cancel each other out in a great chaotic conflagration.”

“At this rate, we may yet manage it.” He reached around to caress her rear. “But it will be a glorious end.”

She sniggered but kept her focus on the wound while she talked. “I suppose we should tell Thor, eventually.”

“If we expect his help, yes.”

“And we shall probably have to do that sooner, rather than later.”

“Yes. We will need his help in speaking with the old bastard, and we need to take care of that soon if we are to get rid of that stone properly.”

Sigyn straightened briefly so she could look her husband in the eye. “Do you think Odin ever suspected what I was? Do you think he knew?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, honestly. It might explain his unreasonable hostility. Of all the bastards he fathered, you are the only one sired without his consent. They stole something from him when they created you. I can see where he would resent it, and resent you as a reminder of it.”

She turned to begin putting away her supplies. “I wonder if the Norns planned for him to take me in, and that somehow Odin sidestepped the path they had written for him.”

“That would be like him. He likes only the rules he imposes himself.”

She snorted. “Like father, like daughter!”

“That’s the spirit.” And he caught her around the waist to pull her into his lap.

They were startled then by a sharp banging on the kitchen door. They knew exactly who it was — “Elli.” Loki braced himself for a confrontation as they went downstairs.

When they opened the door, though, Elli just barely stepped inside before insisting they come out. “You must come and meet someone” was all she would say.

“Can they not come here?” Sigyn asked suspiciously.

“He is here, little one, but he cannot come into the house.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because he’s too hulking big to fit through the door, girl, and bless his heart, he’s never mastered shapeshifting, just a bit of camouflage. Come on, Loki. This is important!”

The couple found their boots and Sigyn her coat before they followed Elli around the side of the house. There they came face to knee with one of the oddest giants they had ever seen. He was 15 to 20 feet high at least, and looked as though he were carved out of solid rock, rounded smooth at the edges, and he sat with his knees drawn up practically to his chest while he peered at a tiny bird on the side of a spruce trunk, sunlight glinting off the golden rims of round spectacles that perched on his earnest face.

Elli led them right up next to him and gently tapped his shin. “Cyril.” And when this failed to elicit a response she raised he voice, “Cyril! Here he is!”

The giant scrunched up his surprisingly expressive face in frustration as the nuthatch flew off.

“Elli, you scared her off!”

“Cyril, he’s here. Can you do the bird thing later?”

He immediately looked chagrined, and turning toward the couple, rushed to apologize, “So sorry. I just . . . their lives are so very short. I feel as though I have to get to know them as best I can when I see them, because there is so little time . . .” He turned to face them fully, blushing slightly. “You understand, don’t you?” and a look passed over his face that seemed to plead for comprehension while fully expecting rejection.

“Um . . .” Neither Loki nor Sigyn quite knew how to respond, and they turned to Elli in search of an explanation.

An awkward moment or two passed, before Elli looked back up at the giant. “I apologize, Cyril. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to forewarn them of our coming.”

“So, they don’t know . . .” And he was clearly a bit embarrassed by this news. Elli shook her head. “Ah. I see.”

He seemed to buck himself up a bit, and straightened his shoulders. “Well then, we should get on with the introductions, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes.” And here Elli turned back to the waiting couple. “Loki . . . Sigyn? This is Cyril. Cyril, this is Loki and his wife, Sigyn.”

Cyril bobbed his head a bit as he replied, “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Nice to meet you, as well,” Sigyn replied.

Another awkward pause followed. Cyril seemed unable to speak, but just stared intently at Loki, eyes darting over every detail of his face, his brow sinking further and further into melancholy the longer he looked. Eventually, Loki broke the silence. “So, to what do we owe the pleasure of his visit?”

The question clearly left Cyril flustered once again. His brow scrunched with emotion as he turned a set of pleading eyes on Elli. “Could you, Elli?” as a little tear gathered at the corner of his eye. “I’m not sure I will be able to explain — he looks so much like her.” And here he produced an enormous pocket square out of who-knows-where, dabbing at his eye before blowing his nose in distress.

Elli sighed with a strange mixture of frustration and affection. “Loki, before your mother was contracted to Laufey, she was a bit of a romantic.” Cyril sighed and became intensely interested in his shoes. “She and Cyril apparently carried on a very long correspondence. They were, may I say it, Cyril?” He nodded sadly, another tear trickling down his cheek. “They were very much in love.”

Cyril heaved another great sigh, turning his gaze onto Loki once more. “She was so beautiful, like river stones washed in the rushing water of spring. Her laugh was like listening to smooth pebbles being poured into a clean clay dish — hair as dark as the deepest cavern, eyes as green as bright moss on the mountain.” He blew his nose once more and Elli took up the tale again.

“For years, their correspondence remained secret, because they knew they would never be allowed to marry — her parents preferred to play politics, and Cyril never showed any talent in that area.”

“Alas, no.” He managed a melancholy laugh.

“So, when the contract was drawn up, they were forced to part. When the war started, Cyril did his part, but he proved to be as poor a soldier as he had a politician, though he did show some talent at reconnaissance.”

“Yes, that seemed to be my only useful talent.”

“Reconnaissance?” Sigyn couldn’t help but snigger as she took in the giant’s enormous frame. “How is that possible? You would be spotted immediately.”

Cyril looked offended. “I’ll have you know, I was considered a top notch intelligence agent, young lady — and my eyesight is still particularly keen, even without these glasses.”

Elli intervened. “Cyril can, indeed, give a stunning impression of a boulder — it’s amazing what people overlook when they have fixed expectations. Despite this skill, however, the warrior’s life was never one he was suited for, and at the conclusion of the war, Cyril preferred to remain here — away from politics, and away from any reminders of . . . other things.”

“I see.” Loki nodded, more than a little effected.

“At any rate, Loki, I thought, perhaps, you should like to talk to Cyril a bit. He knew your mother better than anyone, including myself, and maybe you would like to hear a bit about her from someone who cared for her as she deserved.”

Loki looked slowly from Elli, up to Cyril, down at Elli once more and up to Cyril again, mouth open like a netted salmon. When he once more looked up at Cyril, the giant pulled a packet of papers from somewhere (do giants have pockets? Where was he keeping those handkerchiefs?) “Would you like to see a picture of her? To look at you — there is no question at all whose son you are. No one could doubt.”

Elli tugged at Sigyn’s sleeve to pull her back toward the house. The younger woman hesitated, however. “Elli, what about The Watcher? Heimdall can see everything outside of the house. He will tell Thor that Cyril in on Midgard.”

“The time for hiding is over, little one. We cannot defend you and stay in the shadows both. Let the Aesir come. We are not afraid.”

Sigyn slowly brushed her hand down Loki’s arm in question, but he barely registered her touch, swallowing hard and staring wide eyed at Cyril’s packet, his head barely moving as he nodded agreement, signaling both to Sigyn that he was ok, and to Cyril that, yes, he very much wanted to see what was in that packet. Sigyn let her hand fall and turned to walk back to the house with Elli.

Inside, the two women remained silent for a long while, keeping busy, but hardly registering what it was they did —just waiting and listening. Occasionally the murmuring of the men’s voices outside would be punctuated by a percussive sound when Cyril felt the need for another of his endless supply of handkerchiefs, otherwise nothing, until the women ran out of busywork, and sat together staring into the fire, Sigyn playing cat’s cradle with a seidr thread while Elli dozed.

“Elli, I found out what I am.”

The older woman raised her eyebrow at that. “Have you now? I’ve had my own theories for ages, but nothing sure. What did you find out?”

“As it turns out, my grandfather is Surt.”

Elli chuckled at that. “Well that certainly explains a great deal. I wondered about the fires.”

“It does make a lot of sense, doesn’t it?”

“And what of the other side of the family?”

“That part is a little more difficult to explain. There seems to have been a bit of deus ex machina involved.”

“Oh — someone was messing with the fabric of things?”

“On one of his quests for knowledge, Odin traveled to the Well of Urd. He made a blood sacrifice of himself. Afterward, the Norns pulled his blood from the water and did something. And then gave the seed to the youngest of Surt’s daughters.”

“You are Odin’s child?” Elli clapped her hands and cackled wildly. “Oh my great goddess! How beautiful! The symmetry is perfect!” She actually stood and whooped with glee. “We must celebrate the irony of the universe, little one! How glorious! Oh I shall take such joy in hearing every detail of your next encounter with old one-eye! It is too sweet! Bastard that he is — you know he’s half giant himself, the execrable hypocrite!”

Sigyn smiled at Elli’s antics at first, but gradually grew more sober until the giantess finally settled a bit. Elli stopped celebrating and turned to face Sigyn directly with an empathetic look.

“Oh but, little one, it can’t have been easy for you to discover this, was it? I’m sorry. I will calm myself.” She took a deep breath and sat down once more. Then her eyes crinkled once more and she sniggered again before she finally contained herself, and put a hand on Sigyn’s knee. “Are you ok, little one?” Sigyn nodded. “And Loki? How did he take the news that he has been married to his sister all these years.”

“Elli!”

She snorted. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I shall stop. It’s all as the Norns would have it, I’m sure, at least mostly. It never is exact, is it? We are always mucking about with their work.” Elli finally sobered. “But are you ok? It is much to take in, I’m sure.”

Sigyn shrugged. “I’m getting better. It’s hard not to be angry that he has any claim to any part of me. I don’t want him to be my father, thank you very much. But there you are. We control some things, and others we do not.”

“And Loki?”

“He seems to have taken the news better than I, actually. He has gleefully concocted a dozen ways to tell Thor that I’m his sister — all of which involve embarrassing references to Thor’s attempts to flirt with me when we were young.”

“I would love to see that!”

Just then, a sharp rap came at the front door.

“Who the Hel uses the front door?” Mumbled Sigyn as she peered carefully through the casement trying to see who it was before she answered.

“Elli!” came a voice from without. “Are you there, Elli! Goat’s piss, I’m sure she said this was the place. Elli?”

“I’m coming, Logi, keep your shoes on.”

Elli opened the door to her young cousin while Sigyn peered over her shoulder. But Logi didn’t bother trying to fit through the door. Instead, he delivered his message from the porch. “Elli, we have to know the plan. The dolls are moving and there are more of them than we thought. They will be here in a week at most.”

“Oh great goddess’s tits!” cried the old woman. “Sigyn, go out back and tell your husband.”

They were interrupted just then, however, by the great BOOM of the Bifrost opening up. Sigyn ran to the window just as the shouting started out back.

“Odin’s balls!” and she turned to run out the door. “It’s Thor! Piss. Did he have to show up just right now?!?