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thatdeadaquarius · 2 years ago

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Genshin Impact Sagau/Isekai:

You still have acces to characters! ...by possessing them. 👻

PART 2 (you're here!) / Part 1

All art by me! :] leave me a iced coffee?? :0

HEY!! REALLY QUICK PLEASE READ!

STOP tagging my posts as "Yandere Sagau", "Sagau Cult AU", "Sagau Imposter AU" or other related dark content tags.

I'm sick of seeing reblogs that tag my work as dark content, when I'm specifically trying to LIGHTEN UP THE SAGAU TAG 😭😭??

Please be more respectful of this. Actually read the work before you just tag it incorrectly. Tags do matter.

/nm /gen

☆

Sun: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them)

Planet: Misc. Genshin AUs

Orbit: Headcanons, Scenarios

Stars: Tighnari ft. Cyno, Alhaitham, Collei

Comets & Meteors:

Content Warnings: Mild violence (bandit attacks/non-graphic), Reader/you possess people non-consent (mild/consent given eventually)

& Trigger Warnings: Reader/"you" possess people non-consenually for short times, but given consent eventually.

(pls comment if any more!)

Edit 9/7/23: 1,000+ NOTES?? WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY- THANK YOU???

Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:

☆

My goofy ass forgot to put this here .-.

Anyway this is a full length fanfic now ;)

…mistakes were made.

bad decisions were had, and okay, mayyybbbeee you could’ve taken more precautions against people finding out you were “real”.

afterall, you did see the Eremites reaction, even if it was only two guys (one from each camp) that you possessed :/

word spreads quickly amongst the Eremites groups, you guess, bc next thing you knew, after you’d moved closer to floating around Gandharva Ville,

they’d called that entire bit of forest haunted.

BUT IN YOUR DEFENSE-!! how were you supposed to know they’d blab to the whole camp they didn’t remember the past 20 minutes after you unpossessed them?? and immediately be on guard and jump to possession?? (Irminsul works hard but eremites/sumeru people work harder u guess)

And by the time you were happily patrolling with Collei, the forest rangers were just so chill you didn’t really expect anybody would think a ghost was possessing them (or whatever you were now… maybe,, just code?? it’s unclear)

so when u start to see Tighnari squint at people who’ve technically just “woken up” after you possessed them, mumbling under his breath more and more as a file he carries around gets thicker and thicker-

you start to think,,, maybe.

okay, mayyybbbeee,

you’ve fucked up.

◇

You really can’t help it, first it was making sure Collei got back safely from patrols (she’s ur skrunkly okay, you can’t help it, you’re still aware she’s capable but- the urge to skrunkle overpowers you- )

but then-!! You managed to spot Cyno! :D its ur boy!! ur little meow meow, who can throw people over his shoulder!! He really doesn’t need you, hovering around, but eh ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

what could it hurt! …it’s not like he can see, hear, or feel you anyway…

(unless u possess some animal/machine he thinks is friendly, which. sumeru is not exactly known for cuddly creatures. you don’t feel like experiencing death when possessing stuff just yet-)

imagine ur panic and shock as the General Mahamatra takes on a camp of criminals on the run, only for one of the old ruin machines (the ones that are just LEG and DEATH)

to hear the ruckus and come stomping around a thick patch of trees, it launched missiles!! You can’t warn Cyno, he can’t hear you!! No one can!!! The criminals are unconscious, there’s no other wildlife nearby they all ran off!!! FUCK-

You look at him and try to imagine his perspective as vividly as you can, he’s looking over the criminals, but now he’s turning, so people passed out and the tree-line got it-

Congratulations! You’ve possessed Cyno. 💀

It completely disorients you for a second, but then the panic of dodging the missiles comes back in time for you to make his body dive and roll off to the side, for as long as you can manage a roll too since you remember that’s the best way to dodge missiles in the game

…which works really well! bc he’s so fit and agile tbh

It was weird to finally run again after so long (two months now in teyvat?? wow)

with your feet suddenly in sandals, and feeling the breeze chilling your bare chest (Cyno’s chest??)

yeah its a shock considering most of the ppl you’ve possessed lately have been fully clothed rangers lol

you quickly imagine your ghostly form again, and just like that you’re drifting out of Cyno in ur “ghosty” form, having floated out and away from his back

Poor guy looks so fucking confused, and immediately is wielding his spear again, and is about to get out the crouch you put him in behind the dilapidated stone wall (dammit he better not waste ur efforts to keep him alive-)

until missiles slam and explode against it, he ducks back down (thank fuck) and Cyno just looks around one last time before hopping the wall and running to fight the thing

you notice that when the electro user goes to use his powers, they seem stronger than they were in his fight with the goons??

Maybe he was just going easier on them, since they are only human?

…so why does even Cyno look surprised when he goes to make a simple swipe with his charged spear and a bolt of lightning cracks out from his spear instead…?

…weird.

◇

Tighnari knows you’re here.

You figure he must have collected the reports of people “blacking out” or “sleep-walking” or whatever else and begun to suspect the worst.

…to be honest, you’re not sure what to do.

on one hand, it would be great to have someone know you actually exist, as yourself,

but on the other…

What would Tighnari think?

Of you possessing his rangers?? Temporarily taking ownership of someone without permission??? You’re afraid he’d think the worst of you…

tho u didn’t do so often, as u realized how messed up this could be, and u never did more than make them walk or talk normally for a few minutes before leaving them alone!

… afterall, you missed interacting with people. You were honestly a little worried abt going crazy, which is the only reason u were desperate enough to possess human people in the first place and continue doing so, just to talk to someone and have them look you in the face again like you really did exist as a person here-

(u thought u remember reading somewhere back on Earth that someone can only last 3 days of no other human contact until they start to lose it? but even if that’s not true, at the very least, u dont think talking one-sidedly to yourself all the time is healthy…)

so when Tighnari seems to get that file you’ve seen him adding onto, and gather up supplies, mentioning a day trip to Collei and the others to Sumeru City for some

“further research into these ‘blackouts’, and also contacting some of my colleagues who might know something…”

there’s no way you’re not going with him.

you feel increasingly anxious all day, and at one point when you were sure Tighnari was walled-in by books at the House of Daena, decide to go blow off the anxious energy by possessing an animal to get some food!

…you’re not really feeling comfortable enough to possess a living being into eating yet, that seems hella nonconsensual, and u kinda would be taking the joy of the meal from them tbh-

so u possess a cat!

a ginger cat, bc u like to think if u do anything weird, that ppl in Teyvat have the same type of cats back on Earth and excuse it as just:

“unhinged ginger cats being unhinged ginger cats yep makes sense” lol

you’d managed to be really cute (and wasn’t that weird, having to mimic animal behaviors like rubbing ur side against a person’s legs..)

and convince one of the cooks of Lambad’s Tavern to give u some leftovers, and been about to go off to try out sunbathing before the chore boy, little shit he is, tried to chase you off with a broom!! >:( the audacity!! you clearly have a little plate and everything!!

luckily, you’d finished eating, but still! Ouch!! those bristles fucking hurt-!!!

…you look and see a Sumeru-ified version of a skateboard, and u just know ur little cat face is just ✨v✨

and u steal the little shit’s skateboard as revenge! HAHA thats what you get animal abuser!!!

The kid’s yelling at you as you speedily skate away with ur little cat paws (LMAOO), but the cooks are calling him back in so he can’t pursue, (oh good u hear them get onto him for chasing u off)

and as u slow down to coast along the Sumeru streets,

you feel someone’s eyes staring you down.

You assume it’s just people being amused at a cat skateboarding, obv

but when you look just ahead of you to see a smiling Sumeru citizen or eremite-

Oh. It’s Alhaitham.

and he’s just… watching you.

he’s stopped reading whatever he’s got in his hand, and is slowlyyyy turning his head as you pass by…

You decide to just keep skating away. LMAO

◇

it’s already sunset by the you’re accompanying Tighnari back from Sumeru City, floating along behind him

and you’d been expecting a calm walk back, tbh you’d been feeling a little better bc the ranger hadn’t found much to identify you, yet, luckily-

but bc u can never catch a break:

Tighnari didn’t see the bandits dropping from the goddamn trees BEHIND HIM- and they had like claymores out- those were definitely gonna be killing blows-!!

so yeah.

You possessed Tighnari.

turns out ur pretty good at dodging bc this is second time now you’ve helped dive away for someone in an ambush, ur kinda proud of urself tbh💀

and as you make him take a few leaps back, ur ears twitch in the wind as you duck behind a tree, then float away and out of his body

The poor hybrid ranger visibly sways, then shakes his head out of it, and he flicks his ears in different directions, squinting into the woods, he’s pulled out his bow, so you’re at least reassured he’s aware there are enemies

Like Cyno last week, he too gives up and rolls for the next tree for cover and begins to shoot and take down the bandits

the rest of the week is kinda a blur after that, bc it’s mostly filled with Tighnari running in circles around the camp checking for blackouts, writing letters to Alhaitham and Cyno apparently, and you not possessing anybody out of paranoia :/

Most notably however,

you’ve unfortunately discovered one of the few drawbacks of ur possessions

(y’know, besides not existing essentially, what with no one being able to sense u outside of possessions)

apparently, if someone walks thru you, they accidentally force you to possess them 💀??

while it’d already happened once with a random ranger that you didnt notice was walking up behind you,

you didn’t want to test it again just yet bc it kinda made YOU nauseous and incredibly dizzy when this happened

(as in, u stumbled like a drunk after this poor ranger woman ran thru u, until you were so dizzy and the world spun sm u had to make her sit on the literal ground, luckily she just thought she was just really dehydrated when she came back into herself 😭)

so obviously, you’ve avoided crowds to keep this forced possession thingy from happening all the time

like at the Forest Rangers meetings or something, ur watching off to the side, instead of standing with them or beside them

so needless to say, after about a week and half since possessing Tighnari,

you definitely did not mean to possess Collei.

She’d been in her wheelchair today, the Eleazar flaring up and tiring her body out

so her wheels had been entirely silent when she rolled up to where you and Tighnari were leaning over some strange experiments of his- you were just trying to figure out what all these mirrors were for, didn’t he do plants more-?

you didn’t even know what the hell happened, you just felt that familiar dropping sensation, like a small drop on a rollarcoaster, blinked, and then suddenly you were sitting instead of standing/floating???

Oh god-

before you could even begin to process that Tighnari was in front of you instead of beside you, the world was shorter,

The fox-eared ranger yelled in triumph, grinning with sharp fangs and spinning around to look at you (Collei)-

“Ah-ha! It worked! Finally, I saw you! I saw you, I-?? Oh gods, Collei, NO-!”

And with quick reflexes, Tighnari’s summoned his bow, but he’s clearly confused on what to do about this situation, taking aim, but also holding the air glowing with dendro not as taunt as you’d seen him in the battle with the bandits

You scramble to raise your hands up, brown poofy sleeves rise to your command, light green hair you can feel on your shoulders, everything is familiar, but not-

“WAIT! I’m sorry!! This was an accident, I promise! I don’t intend to hurt Collei, or you!! Please, just, don’t shoot me, I think you’ll just hurt Collei instead…”

You talk him down and decide, that if he’s put this much effort into finding out about your existence, is an incredible leader and friend to everyone around him, and was able to accept the traveler and many other strange things that’ve (probably? maybe?) already happened in Sumeru (god fuck u dont even know where in the timeline you are)

that you can probably trust Tighnari with your existence, and your powers.

…He nearly passes out.

◇

Life has gotten a lot funnier, and happier, since you told Tighnari (and some of the more trustworthy rangers and Collei by proxy) about ur existence (or really, confirmed it)

He’d been wary at first, appropiately cautious and demanding answers, of which you were happy to give and explain yourself

luckily, after a whole lot of “hmm, I see, no, I think I’m understanding-” , finger on his chin and everything

he’s said it’s okay to hang around the rangers, so long as you don’t possess anyone anymore without them knowing about you/with permission (outside of emergency situations that is)

tho he did seem surprisingly understanding and accepting of you doing it before after you explained how u were just unbelievably lonely and were lowkey paranoid of going crazy-

The rangers seem to believe you’re some kind of god/spirit thing, as you had no explanation yourself as to what you were ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Tighnari’s also given you the rule to help out around here if you’re going to “ghost-laze around”, as he puts it lol

you’ve redirected ruin machines/feral animals away from rangers many times by now, to the many thanks and gratefulness of the rangers

you’ve even managed to even figure out how to push Collei’s wheelchair around when she uses it!

mostly by possessing tree after tree and using vines, or occasionally a fungi that can fly so you can nudge her along

she has insisted that you possess a ruin guard and carry her just to try it… however, Tighnari overheard her talking to the forest rangers’ dog (you) and immediately knew shit was up and banned you from doing it (at least not yet)

While most rangers are okay with you possessing them for a few minutes (and they’ve developed this bandana wrapped around their upper arms policy of “red = no possess, green = go ahead”)

Collei is the most okay with it and for longer, so you “won’t be that lonely ever again!” :’)

Tighnari is busy with stuff, so you can’t possess him as often, but the ranger has developed a theory that the more you possess someone, the more they can sense your feelings during possession/while floating around in ghost form too,

so he’ll occasionally feel you in the room with him, and start talking out loud in some one-sided convo to make you feel more included to make up for not being able to interact with him sometimes :)

(after taking you off his list of worries he’s still pretty swamped, not that he’ll tell you that, as he’s still not quite sure why he’s so, warm and safe feeling when you’re around, so willing to trust you so naturally, that it makes him want to at leats pretend to be worried abt a possessing ghost god/thing hanging out with the rangers now)

◇

basically everything is great!

the rangers are okay with you, they got a system to interact with you consensually, Tighnari and Collei are fond of you, you get to finally have something to do instead of floating around all the time (joining ranger missions)

and look!! they’ve even been kind enough to build you a little shrine or altar of sorts! Notes about Sumeru life, recipes for you to try, occasionally some books for you to read, and even some snacks/desserts for you to try out the next time someone possesses you and gives consent! (you leave them a little note stuck on their hand with your question for specific actions like that, if there isn’t another ranger there to ask for you when you unpossess them)

and everything is so cool, and everyone is so sweet and accepting

��Until Alhaitham shows up in Gandharva Ville, knocking on Tighnari’s door.

☆

AHHHH idk if this is any good! sorry it took so long, it was mostly the art 😭😭

anyway its not the best (the writing or the art) but i hope it’s at least some content to look at and be entertained for a minute!

also figured it was a good day to post what with the attack on our beloved Ao3 (tho i think it’s back up now?)

anyway, feel free to leave critiques on this one! (which I’ll probably turn this into a real fic one day soon, but not sure what to do with the plot/do a diff setup than this or what)

☆

sorry abt the radio silence! I just needed to close my mailbox bc i had a lot of stuff to answer, ur welcome to send submissions to chat/non-requests!

and also this took time to make (once again, mostly the art, bc thats how it always is with art isnt it 😭)

☆

Safe Travels Stranger,

💀♒

☆

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @justlostintheinternet / @assassinsnake101 /@sun-wokung

If ur tag is here and didnt work, idk why!

Maybe see if your listed as a "searchable blog"?

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harpersdragons · 2 months ago

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New Fic!

Theft in the Family...By Jason Todd

Talia tasks Jason with taking Damian to his father, and a few things change

Primary Tags: jason and damian met in the league, mainly fluff

I've written through half of chapter 4, i'm expecting 5-6 chapters

Chapter 1 under the cut:

word count: 1327

Jason’s life changed (for the third—fourth? Fifth? Fuck Jason’s lost count—time) the day Talia burst into his room in the league headquarters.

Jason snaps to attention, drawing the knife from under his pillow.

Talia may be like a mother to him, and he may love her little boy more than anything, but this is still the league. If you’re not hypervigilant, you’re dead. Threats are everywhere, even where you don’t expect them.

“The clown is dead.” She announces.

Jason relaxes, then tenses up again once the words register.

“You’re not kidding.”

“No. I have personally ensured it.”

“What…what about the plan?”

“It has been changed. You will still go to Gotham, but you must take Damian with you.”

“What.” He didn’t mind Damian coming with him, but taking him from Ra’s was declaring war on the league.

“I need you to deliver him to his father. It is not safe for him here.”

When Jason agrees, she hands over a letter.

“Give this to my Beloved. Come, you leave now.”

“I’m—I’m not packed.” He didn’t want to see Bruce, maybe he could keep Damian for himself?

As soon as the thought pops in his head, he dismisses it. He wouldn’t be able to give Damian a fulfilling life, he’s barely 17 for fuck’s sake. (He thinks, anyway, the whole being dead thing makes knowing his age difficult).

“You will find everything you need on the plane.”

They weave through the labyrinth of corridors, eventually reaching the plane Talia’s arranged.

Damian is already there, sitting primly in one of the chairs in the cargo hold.

Talia exchanges a tearful goodbye (on Damian’s side, Talia is as immovable as ever) with her 6 year old, and Jason readies for takeoff.

When they arrive in Gotham, Jason lands at a private airstrip just outside of Gotham. Bruce would probably find out about it, since he seems to know fuckin’ everything, but that’s really not Jason’s problem right now. Talia had provided a small car, so he packs Damian into the backseat and drove off towards Bristol.

“Alright, Princeling, the rules are different here. Your father has two other kids, and you need to get along with them. No killing, no maiming, no trying to assert yourself as the rightful heir.”

“But I am the rightful heir, am I not?”

It still shocked him how formal Damian was. No matter how many times he heard it, hearing a six year old talk like he’s an old monarch or some shit is something you never get used to.

“It doesn’t work like that here. Bruce…Bruce loves his children equally,” Jason may not believe it—the Old Man has favorites, and you can never convince him otherwise—but Damian needs to. Bruce needs to accept Damian, and that won’t happen if the kid is trying to kill his siblings. “No killing and no maiming are the main rules, but make sure you listen to whatever Bruce and Alfred say, alrigh’?”

“Ok, Akhi.” Damian’s voice is sleepy, and Jason can practically hear him drifting off.

He smiles softly, having Damian around helped tremendously with getting the Pit Rage under control, and he’s sure that’s what Talia’s plan was. The rage is useful for some things, but if she wanted to get Damian out of Nanda Parbat for his safety, she had to make sure he wouldn’t be overcome with pit rage and kill the kid.

The drive passes pretty quickly, though he does catch a few glimpses of Bats on rooftops on his way to the manor. He makes sure they haven’t followed him, and then parks in the woods about a mile from the manor.

“C’mon, Habibi.” He grabs Damian out of the backseat and settles him on his hip.

“I can walk, I am not a child!” His voice is still sleepy, but the exclamation is still there.

Jason couldn’t help but snort.

“Actually, by definition, you are a child. I’m not making you walk a mile, I can carry you.”

“I can walk, Todd!”

“Quiet, Habibi. You’re not walking.”

“Tt.” Damian huffs but settles down.

The walk passes quickly, if you ignore Damian’s annoyed grumbling, and then they’re standing before the gates of the manor.

Well, kind of.

They’re standing off to the side and in one of the camera blind spots.

Jason takes a second to analyze the fence line, and finds a shorter tree they could climb and hop over.

Hopefully Bruce didn’t drastically change the security measures on the grounds.

He carries Damian over to the tree and prompts him to grab the lowest branch. Once he is safely sitting in the tree, Jason climbs up after him.

”Can you jump over the fence and land safely?”

Damian tosses a scathing glare (well…as scathing as a six year old can be) at Jason and prepares to jump.

”That wasn’t an answer, and I really need one. The ‘safely’ was the most important part of that.”

”Tt.” Damian throws himself off the branch, flipping in the air and lands softly on the ground.

”You’re gonna get along so great with Golden Boy…” Jason mutters before following. He doesn’t flip, but he does manage to land almost as softly as Damian. He eyes the yard for a few seconds, trying to spot the security triggers.

He scoops Damian up again and picks his way across the yard, heading for the Manor.

He stops a little ways away, within view of the driveway and front door. “Ok, I’ll stay here until you’re inside.”

Damian furrows his brow and turns his inquisitive gaze on Jason. “You are not coming with me?”

”This isn’t my home anymore, Princeling.” He smiles sadly, “Your father won’t want me around, this is somewhere you have to go alone.”

”I do not want to live there without you! Why can’t I stay with you?”

”You need to stay with your father. He can keep you safe.” Jason crouches to be eye level with him, and runs a hand through Damian’s soft hair. “I will always come if you call, Habibi. I promise you.” He tugs two letters out of his jacket, one for Bruce and one for Alfred.

He wrote the one for Alfred specifically. Damian needs to know how to contact Jason, and therefore someone in the family will too.

“Give these to Alfred Pennyworth when he opens the door.” He hands them to Damian, “Go on now.”

”No! You can’t leave me.”

”Damian.”

”Why do you have to leave me?” Damian’s eyes started watering.

”I don’t belong here, ok? I can’t stay.”

Damian huffs and glares at him, tears still leaking out of his eyes.

“I’m sorry, but you need to go.” Jason pulls him in for a quick hug. “I love you, Habibi. If you need me, tell Alfred, alrigh’? He’ll be able to contact me.”

Damian doesn’t respond, just buries his face in Jason’s chest, in an uncharacteristic show of affection.

Eventually, Damian pulls away and wipes his eyes. “I do not want you to go, Akhi.”

If Jason stays any longer he just might stay, damn Damian’s convincing.

“I can’t, Dami. Bruce doesn’t want me!”

”How do you know?”

I’m not your father. I don’t have to deal with your teenage rebellion.

I’m not your father

”Because he fuckin’ told me so, kid.”

”Tt.”

”Dami…” Jason sighs, “I’ll visit, how ‘bout that? I’m sure we can figure it out.”

”That is acceptable, I suppose,” Damian’s tone is sullen, and he refuses to meet Jason’s eyes.

”Good. Now go on, the bats will probably be back from patrol soon.”

Damian darts in for another quick hug, then makes his way towards the door.

Jason watches as he knocks, then a few seconds later Alfred opens the door. Damian hands over the letters and is ushered inside.

Time for Jason to head out, then.

“Bye, Habibi.” He murmurs, then leaves the way he came.

#fluff #my fics #jason todd #batfam #batman #bruce wayne #jason todd fic #damian wayne fic #young damian wayne #damian wayne joined the batfam early #jason and damian met in the league of assassins #fic writing #fics #and sweet jason

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mythicalmagical-monkeyman · 3 months ago

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Why yes I am procrastinating, under cut like always @fruity-legos

Summary:

Brain: hey so… we never see Cooper’s dad in the show and Beau/Night Hunter’s barely been around so don’t you think it’d be funny if he was also Cooper’s dad? Me: ok no, but they’d totally do that for a prank

Additional Tags:

Pye is only there for a few seconds. April Fools' Day, Pranking. Prankster Beau, headcanons. Cooper being silly. T for swearing and a quick suggestive mention. no beta we die like beau and cooper will after this. Family Shenanigans. Aunt Jenny is so done. Burritos used as projectiles, No one should ever prank Zoey and here’s why /lh. Crack.

Most of April first had come and gone and Zoey had yet to be pranked but she couldn’t shake the feeling someone was still planning something. So maybe when she returned home after her shift at Mrs. C’s to find her dad’s truck parked outside she was a little suspicious, especially since her dad and Aunt Jen were still on rockier terms.

Hopping off her vespa Zoey hurried inside and made a beeline for the kitchen.

“How do you suppose she’ll take the news?” Zoey stopped short as she heard her Aunt Jenny speak softly as if she was whispering.

“I don’t know,” her dad responded.

Take what news? Zoey wondered and without another thought she surged into the kitchen and headed over to the counter to place down her paper bag of leftover burritos Mrs. C had sent home with her.

“Hey Aunt Jenny, hey dad,” Zoey offhandedly greeted trying to act calm even though her heart was pounding at the thought that these two adults seemed to have some news they had yet to share with her. Were they even talking about her? They had to have been right? Why else would her dad and aunt be gossiping to each other about something?

“Oh, hey chum!” Her dad responded, offering her a polite smile.

Aunt Jen blinked in surprise at Zoey’s sudden arrival but she was quick to hide her shock and waved at Zoey, “Welcome back dearie.”

Zoey eyed her aunt and dad for a second as a wave of awkwardness settled over them. The two adults were sitting at the kitchen table, across from each other, and four cups of what looked like tea were set on the table in front of them. One cup for her aunt, the other for her dad, but why were there two others? One for herself maybe and one for… Pyewacket? No, cats didn’t drink tea.

Her dad coughed, disrupting the awkwardness. Her aunt hummed in return and picked up her cup to take a sip before setting it back down so she could reach across the table to punch her brother in the shoulder.

Her dad yelped and rubbed at his shoulder, “Ok, ok, I’ll tell her,”

Zoey narrowed her eyes, “Tell me what?”

Aunt Jen went back to sipping her tea which left her dad gapping for a few seconds to find the words, “So… Zoey, how would you feel about being an older sister?”

“Hu?”

All at once Zoey’s world seemed to come to a screeching halt and in an act of confusion she ended up knocking the paper bag off the counter where it dropped to the floor and spilled forth the burritos contained within.

“Oh dear,” her aunt muttered.

By the time Zoey had come back to her senses the five second rule had all but passed and Pyewacket had come out of his hiding spot to start poking at the burritos to see if they were edible or more of a play thing.

Zoey knelt down and shooed Pyewacket off. She then shoveled the burritos back in the bag. Once they were in she abruptly stood up and chucked the bag at her dad who barely reacted in time to catch it before it hit him in the face.

As her dad set the bag down, Zoey tried to restrain herself as she asked, “What do you mean older sister!?”

A million thoughts and questions swarmed around in her head so she almost missed it as her dad responded with, “So is it bad I brought him here?”

“What!? He’s here!? How old is he? Where did he come from?” Zoey stopped herself before she could overload her dad with questions but it didn’t stop her mind from spinning.

Her dad smiled sheepishly, “Oh, it’ll make sense in a sec,” he then tipped back in his chair, while holding the table with one hand, so he could glance around Zoey and at the pantry behind her.

“You can come out now,”

Zoey turned, half expecting a smaller version of her dad to come waltzing out but instead as the door swung open she took in one of the last people she ever would have suspected.

“C-Cooper!?”

The blond haired teen Zoey had slowly grown fond of winced as Zoey yelled out his name but other than that he seemed very calm for the current situation, in fact he even had a baggie of flaky dried fruit in one hand and was snacking on it.

“‘Sup Zoey,” Cooper said, stuffing a handful of dried cherries in his mouth.

Zoey stared at him, her confusion growing.

Cooper swallowed and forced a smile, “So siblings? That’s cool,”

“You have parents-“ Zoey couldn’t keep herself from blurting out.

“So about that,” Cooper started, chuckling slightly, “So you know how my dad is like … a total deadbeat and I barely see him?”

Zoey nodded.

“Ok so it turns out there’s a reason for that,” Cooper mentioned, tilting himself to the side so he could frown at Zoey’s, wait no, their dad.

Zoey turned slightly so she could see their dad too, who simply gave an amused half shrug and smile.

“Had a suspicion when I first saw him, emotionally distant white man and all, finally got the DNA test results back and surprise, we’re half siblings!” Cooper explained.

“Half? So…” Zoey trailed off, not able to finish her question.

Cooper tapped Zoey’s elbow and gestured towards the table, silently seeing if she needed to sit down as he continued to explain, “My mom and Beau, they had a threesome with your mom,”

Aunt Jen choked on her tea as Zoey slumped down into one of the chairs while Cooper stayed standing. Her dad hid a laugh behind his hand.

Cooper stuffed another handful of dried fruit into his mouth as her, their? dad started to snicker.

Oh god, she had a brother. Cooper was her brother! Did that mean his annoying asshole brothers were her half siblings too?

Zoey stared down in dismay at her empty tea cup, what the fuck.

Aunt Jen reached over and patted her on the shoulder, “Dearie… I feel like now would be a good time to remind you that my brother was quite the prankster as a child.”

Zoey looked up, “What?”

Aunt Jen nodded in her dad and Cooper’s direction and Zoey turned to see the both of them struggling to hold back laughter.

“Happy April Fool’s kiddo,” her dad got out around a number of chuckles.

Cooper finally caved too and bent over clutching his stomach in a fit of laughter.

“I told them not too,” Her aunt Jen muttered with a small snort as she herself behind her tea cup.

It took Zoey a second to find the words but eventually she did, “IT WAS A PRANK!?”

Her dad wheezed, “Once upon a time I was the prank master at my school, I’ve been waiting months for us to finally be comfortable enough with each other for me to be able to pull a big one on ya kiddo,”

A plan of revenge was already starting to form in Zoey’s mind.

“But seriously you got Cooper in on it? He can’t even lie,”

“I’ve been rehearsing this for months,” he admitted, smiling cheekily.

“But you still agreed to it?” Zoey asked in bewilderment, “I thought you hated my dad,”

Cooper chuckled, “I do, but I needed a gift for Izzie’s birthday so I agreed on the terms that your dad would voice act some lines for me as Macaque,”

“I still can’t believe you voice act for a kids cartoon,” Zoey heard her aunt mutter.

Her dad shrugged, “Just fits my personality I guess,”

Zoey shook her head, her mind finally starting to stop reeling which allowed an idea to fully form. She grabbed the bag of burritos and stood.

Her dad leaned back, “Kiddo what are you-“

Zoey opened the bag and turned towards the two, as she plunged her hand inside she blankly stated, “Start running,”

Cooper was already halfway to the front door by the time Zoey threw the first burrito.

#Headcanon in their universe Night Hunter actually voice acts Macaque from Lego Monkie Kid!!!#Trust #i have proof /hj #Lego Dreamzzz #Dreamzzz #dreamzzz cooper #dreamzzz zoey #dreamzzz night hunter #dreamzzz beau #cooper lego dreamzzz #zoey lego dreamzzz #night hunter #lego dreamzzz fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction

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thetriumphantpanda · 2 years ago

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HELLO PANDA DARLING <33 Firstly, I'd like to give you a HUGE congratulations on your 500 follower milestone!!! It's so incredibly well deserved!! We're all so proud of you <3 May you continue thriving and never suffer from writer's block 😎

SECONDLY I have a smut request for all the slutty bitches out there (it's me. I'm slutty bitches 💅). I would please like “Shall we put that mouth to better use?” with Javi P because we all KNOW he's the absolute KING of brattamers.

THANKS BABE <33 I SEND LOVE, STAY SPICY ❤‍🔥

HELLO YOU PERFECT DARLING 🧡 Firstly, thank you so much - you have no idea how much this means to me! I'm so happy that you're hear and you're enjoying what I'm producing, it means the world to me!

I'm sorry it took a while to get round to this request - I've had a mental week - but it's hot here in London and I can't bring myself to anything else so I'm working on more of these prompts! I'm not great at brat tamer!Javi, so this is ROUGH. I AM SORRY. But I hope you enjoy it still.

I LOVE YOU 🫶🏼

Pairing | Javier Pena x Female Reader

Word Count | 562

Warnings | Spicy language, allusions to oral sex and fucking, but nothing explicit (I know, who else is shocked, I know I am)

This is part of my 500 followers celebration. If you want to request a 500 word Drabble, check out this post and head into my ask box. The more the merrier. And you can read the previous drabbles here.

Main Masterlist

She had a smart mouth. Javi assumes that’s probably why he likes her so much. On her first day at the admin desk, Javi had ambled down after hearing about the ‘pretty new administrator’ – those had been Steve’s words and their types were very different, but he couldn’t resist a look, and damn Steve had been right. He’d been smitten almost immediately. He wasn’t used to being told no, so when you’d repeatedly turned down his advances, he couldn’t lie, he was frustrated.

“I like your nails, querida, the colour suits your eyes.”

“I think I heard flavour of the week last week telling you hers would look good around your cock,” You replied, dry tone, “You’ll not get that from me, so hurry up and tell me what you want.”

That had been the first time you’d left him speechless; you were always so blunt with him. He was used to women playing coy, making him chase but giving in anyway. This was different. You were different.

“Can I buy you a drink, hermosa?” Friday night, embassy staff bar night.

“I can buy my own and not feel obligated to fuck you, so I’m okay thank you, Agent Peña,” You were going to turn away from him, “But maybe if you ask Intern Number 4 over there, you’ll have more luck, she’s been practically deep throating her straw whilst watching you.”

Intuitive too, he had to hand it to you, he hadn’t noticed the intern at all, more focused on the curve of your ass in the bar stool and the shirt that was unbuttoned down to the neckline of your vest underneath.

He was starting to lose the will to live. He’d never really wanted anyone so badly in his life, all because you never really gave into him. So, when he’s stuck with Murphy and you, grounded from field work as some sort of punishment, organizing the embassy archives, he knows this is his chance.

He curses Steve silently all day for taking your side, the both of them make comments all day – Steve starts with, “I think this is the only time I’ve been in a room full of women Peña hasn’t fucked.” Then a little while later, when he’s confused with the filing system, you’re rolling your eyes with a “They’re sorted alphabetically, Javier, how the hell did you pass basic and end up here?”

Steve dips out at five, if he’s not needed for fieldwork then he’s not staying in the filing room past hours – he leaves with a shot over his shoulder for the two of you to behave. Javier is looking at you as he says it and there’s a smirk across your face. Bingo.

“You don’t wanna behave, do you querida?”

He’s walked up behind you, catching you between his two arms that he has placed on either side of you, resting them on the desk. He stifles a groan as you press your ass back into him, “Depends what you had in mind, Peña?” You’d turned to face him, body impossibly close to his own.

He moves a hand and tilts your chin up to look at you properly, his lips just millimeters from your own. He wanted to press a kiss there so badly, but now was not the time.

“Shall we put that smart mouth of yours to better use?”

#pedro pascal #javier pena #narcos #javier pena Drabble #javier pena smut #javier pena fanfic #javier pena fic #javier pena fan fiction #javier pena x you #javier pena x female reader #javier pena x reader #javier pena x f!reader #panda 500

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kaihuntrr · 7 months ago

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part nineteen: a new friend.

Skizz makes an 'uneasy alliance'.

Their two horses trotted along the forest path, the busy city now behind them as Skizz and Tango slowly rode back to their base. Skizz had gone back to get a new basket of baked goods, even paying for it despite Zed’s protests, and neither commander wanted their new set of snacks to fall on the ground. Skizz glanced to his right, seeing Tango in a huff as Skizz shook his head and smiled.

“Ah, don’t be so annoyed, Tango!” Skizz tilted his head. Tango huffed again, glaring off at some point in the trees. Skizz tapped the basket tied to his horse’s saddle. It’d been bundled up and attached there so Skizz could still control his horse properly. He just couldn’t have it move at a gallop, otherwise that would be food wasted. “We got our goods, and now we’re going home.”

“We would have been gone a lot sooner if it weren’t for those two jerks.”

Skizz grit his teeth. It was inconvenient, but Skizz tried to rationalize with himself. He didn’t know the situation for those two, maybe they needed it more than he did. That girl looked a bit confused, maybe she was new to the concept of the navy. It sounded… strange, but Skizz didn’t know her long enough to deduce her situation.

“Don’t worry about it,” Skizz shrugged nonchalantly, pushing his own thoughts aside. “We have other things to think about–”

The communicator in Tango’s pocket began to blink rapidly, the blonde going wide-eyed before grabbing the device.

“Tango! Skizz! You there?” Impulse’s voice sounded a bit like static, crackling in almost all of his pauses.

“Impulse!” Tango put the device near his mouth. “What’s going on?”

“El, Sniff, and Olive got the drones to work!” Impulse’s voice rang with excitement. “We caught something on audio!”

Tango and Skizz looked at each other. The drones weren’t busted– at least, if they were somewhat functional? Tango would likely have to give it a look-over later with Impulse, but that was an issue for later. The fact that they got something recorded was fascinating enough.

Just audio? Skizz thought. No visuals? Was there something the drones couldn’t catch?

“We’ll be there soon,” Tango grinned. “Give us some time to get back!”

“Got it!” The crackling noise immediately shut off as Impulse clicked the device shut on his end. Tango placed the communicator in his pocket, turning his gaze towards Skizz. His eyes burned bright with giddy excitement and interest, “Can’t we go any faster?!”

Skizz shot a glance at Tango. “If you’d want all this to get dirty, be my guest,” he laid a protective hand over the bundled pastries and shook his head. He could see the eagerness on Tango’s face, so Skizz reassured him with a nod and a small smile. “We’ll head there as fast as we can.”

Skizz gently tapped his horse’s sides with his legs, causing it to trot a little faster. They couldn’t run, but it wasn’t like the recordings would run anywhere.

Besides, Skizz’s mind burned in thought. What caused him to forget?

—————

The familiar, salty air of the sea wafted through Skizz’s lungs as he breathed it in. He and Tango rode through the tall walls of the naval base, saluting other soldiers as they entered. Everything looked the same, despite the place looking less populated than usual. Skizz sighed as Tango looked at him in worry. How many people were still bedridden, still shocked by this morning? They likely were just as clueless as he was. What would’ve happened if no one snapped themselves back to consciousness and they’d all drowned in the sea? Skizz shivered at the thought.

I could have died today.

Skizz and Tango got off their horses, walking them to the stables. It was a fairly large building and it was one of many. Skizz pushed the door open slowly, the light of the sun gently filtering in from the door as some passed through the upper windows. There were multiple horses inside, as expected, resting as they laid against the comfortable hay beds. Some stalls were empty, their occupants likely with other soldiers going in and out of the base. Skizz led his horse to its stall, removing the saddle and placing it on the gate of its pen. He took out a brush and combed its fur. The horse whinnied in enjoyment, bobbing its head and pawing at the ground.

Skizz stroked the horse’s head, “You did great, bud.” The horse nickered, almost in reply to the words of affirmation. Skizz smiled, getting the towel next to the saddle and wiped off any sweat before closing the pen’s door and grabbing the pastry basket from the saddle.

“Let’s get a move on!” Tango raised his fist in the air, already done with his horse. He was still buzzing with excitement as he looked at Skizz eagerly. Skizz nodded and the two left the stables, closing the doors behind them.

Tango ran ahead, his head buzzing with ideas as he followed the path to the tower. Skizz followed behind, trying to keep up with his friend’s pace as he carried the basket full of goodies with him.

Tango lifted the communicator from his pocket. “We’re here!” He stopped and waited for Skizz, then began to briskly walk. “What exactly did you hear?”

There was a moment of static silence before Impulse answered. “It sounds like… humming.” Confusion rang in his voice as he continued to speak, “I think it’d be better if Skizz gave a listen.”

“Maybe you should be the one carrying this,” Skizz leaned over to Tango and held the basket out. He spoke clearly so the communicator could catch his voice. “I’ll be right there.” Tango clicked the communicator shut to end the conversation, then fumbled it as Skizz unceremoniously dropped the basket in the blonde’s hands. The communicator landed on a soft patch of dirt.

“Aw, come on!” Tango leaned down to pick up the device. He dusted it off on his clothes and shoved it in his pocket.

Skizz rolled his eyes. “It’s not that heavy!” He gave Tango a friendly nudge. “Just don’t let anything fall out!”

With a loud, boisterous laugh, Skizz ran ahead, Tango mumbled and complained incoherently as he ran after him, being careful enough to not drop any of the baked goods. It smelled good, but both of their focus was on the information. But he was glad Skizz was acting like himself again. Without having seen it, no one would’ve known that Skizz had almost drowned today.

The two arrived at the tower, hearing the waves push against the shore in a rhythmic, almost hypnotic pattern. Trees nearby rustled their leaves against the strong noon gusts. Skizz shielded his eyes for a couple of moments to prevent any stray sand from entering his vision.

Skizz looked back to see Tango catching his breath, shooting a glance of annoyance at his friend. They shared a nod before entering inside, trying to get back into a more professional mindset as they walked up the steps to start climbing the ladder to the top.

Skizz pushed the trapdoor open. “We’re here!” He stretched his arms above his head as he reached the top, watching Tango ascend the ladder and walk up to the table. “We got you guys some food, too!”

Skizz could see the hunger in his team’s eyes as they gazed upon the baked goods. Impulse and Etho walked up first, taking a cinnamon roll and a muffin respectively, and beckoned for the Herons to join in. Owen walked up first, taking a neatly made sandwich held together by a piece of paper and rope, then Water picked up a muffin. Soon, the rest of the Herons followed suit, taking something to bite down on and enjoy.

“Dig in,” Tango chuckled. He glanced at Skizz and gave him a small smirk. “Skizz spent a lot of money on this.”

“Anything for the team!” Skizz rolled his eyes and smiled, nudging Tango forward. “You go on and eat, too!” Tango shook his head with an amused sigh, picking a cinnamon roll taking big bites out of it.

El took a bite at a muffin, closing their eyes and savoring the taste. “Aw, thank you both!” she nodded at the two commanders, “These are really good.”

“A good friend of ours runs a bakeshop nearby,” Skizz motioned behind him with his head, tilting it towards the city. “It was a nice visit.”

Except for the part our first basket got stolen, Skizz bit his tongue. It didn’t really matter, so there was no point in bringing it up. The good parts were being out of the base, seeing the city life, and meeting Zedaph again. It lifted his spirits knowing he was protecting the people he cared about, even if they don’t see him as often. He hoped they would picture him protecting others all the time!

“You should eat too, Skizz,” Impulse looked up at his friend, motioning to the basket. “We’ve got something to analyze, after all.”

Right. The audio from this morning.

Would listening to the recording trigger some kind of memory? Skizz hoped it did. He couldn’t just forget something as crucial as almost dying in the blink of an eye. What if it was magic? Skizz chuckled to himself.

Yeah right, as if magic exists.

Skizz blinked, snapping himself out of his thoughts. “Of course,” he spoke slowly, nodding to Impulse’s words. He walked up to the table and leaned close to Etho and Impulse, picking up a muffin and biting into it. The taste was good. The pastry melted in his mouth before he chewed and swallowed. “So… humming?”

“Sounds like it,” Etho nodded. He took a bite out of his muffin, “We’ll let you two listen to it and see what you think.”

Etho walked over to one of the monitors. He pressed a few buttons on the controller and on the monitor, the screen lighting up to respond to every motion. It was quiet for a moment, then the room rumbled to life, filling with a powerful sound that almost shook the walls.

That voice.

Hazy details slowly came into Skizz’s mind as he closed his eyes. He was on a sandy beach, following the sound of that voice. The floors rumbled in the sounds, a slight tremor in the earth that Skizz couldn’t remember. Each image that flowed into his mind was of the blurry sea and the feeling of cold saltwater against his skin. He could feel himself slip away at the sound, as if wanting to drift away to an endless sleep.

“Haunting….” Skizz was breathless, opening his eyes as Etho switched the sound off.

Water walked up to Skizz. “Isn’t it?” she stared into the distance, a wistful sigh escaped her. “At first we thought it was some kind of mating call, but I don’t think it was.”

Etho turned his head to Skizz and Tango. He beckoned the two closer, “Most of the video got corrupted, but we salvaged this from the near shore drone.”

With another set of clicks and button presses, the screen changed into a blurry recording. It wasn’t perfect, nothing close to replacing human vision, but the glimpses were enough. The audio of someone– something singing played again, but this time, the rushing water of the beach overlaid the sound. Skizz expected to see someone standing far off the shores, but to his surprise, it was just more ocean. More water. It was an average early morning.

Until Skizz heard the sound of footsteps.

One. Then two. Then three. Multiple sets of footsteps approached and passed by the drone, soldiers walking slowly and sluggishly into the water. Nothing was forcing them, at least nothing physically, and none of them would budge as they began to tread into waist-deep waters.

Then the screen went blank and the audio stopped.

Skizz felt a shiver up his spine.

“We think it’s some sort of lure.” Olive placed a hand on their chin, their words soon became mumbles as they crossed their eyes in thought. “I mean- clearly.”

“For humans?” Tango popped the last of his cinnamon roll into his mouth, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. Olive nodded eagerly at him and he looked at the ground, thinking as he chewed and swallowed. “That’s… strange.”

Owen nodded. “It is. We have reason to believe it could lure sea monsters too but…,” she sighed, her eyes narrowing as she spoke, “The singer was too far out of sight for us to get any visuals.”

How could a voice stretch that far…? Why was it singing? They had never seen anything about a singing monster in all their times at sea. The Herons had never mentioned anything about one either. There was nothing like that. Nothing that was… magical? Skizz attempted to wrap his head around in his thoughts. How was that possible? What was possible? What kind of monster would…?

A single thought crossed his mind.

Could a sea prince sing?

Skizz paused. His eyes slowly gazed over his friends. “You don’t think….”

Impulse’s eyes widened, understanding it as he stared blankly at the black screen. Etho leaned closer to the screen, as if the darkness might be hiding something.

Tango spoke, but his voice was quiet. “That should be impossible, shouldn’t it?” he mumbled. He shook his head, looking at Skizz with curiosity and worry. “Then again, we were advised the monsters here acted strangely. Do you think this could be why?”

It had to be, hadn’t it?

Skizz looked over at the Herons, trying to see if one of them was going to object, to say something to disagree with their commanders’ dawning conclusion. Nothing. No one said a word.

Did they find a new kind of monster, or did they just find themselves a sea prince?

“We should leave the island soon.” Skizz’s voice was stern. They had to act quickly. The thing was around a few hours ago, there was no way it could leave that quickly, right? Maybe this was its territory. It could be why the monsters were acting so strangely around here. “If that thing– that beast is still nearby, we could trace the voice to its source.”

“We still have time, I think.” Impulse broke his silent stare at the screen to look at Skizz. “Maybe a quick patrol out in the waters would–”

“Commanders!” All four of TIES’ communicators lit up in surprise.

Etho was quick to answer. “What do you need, soldier?”

“A ship is requesting to dock in the base. Its captain wishes to speak with you four immediately.”

“What kind of ship is it?”

The soldier paused, taking in a deep breath. “...A Watcher’s ship, sir.”

A Watcher? Skizz narrowed his eyes. What are they doing here? Why would they want to dock at a naval base?

“Just a moment,” Etho said into the communicator. Then he turned to the rest of the room.

“Those guys?” Sniff raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “What are they doing here?”

Skizz wondered the same thing. They could ask for a myriad of things, and Skizz wasn’t sure he’d like any answer he got.

“You can all come with us, if you’d like,” Skizz motioned to the trapdoor behind them. Maybe if they were really friendly and approachable, maybe this meeting with the Watchers would work out well for everyone… maybe. “You could share your research with them.”

Water narrowed her eyes. “Not in a million years,” she shook her head adamantly. She leaned against the table next to the monitor. “I’ll stay here, the rest can choose whether or not to go.”

“I’m not a big fan of those weirdos,” Owen smiled awkwardly, deciding to sit on the table. “I’ll stay here too.”

“I think it’ll be good to go, we might be able to get something from them, so I’ll go.” Sniff shrugged, but he looked uncertain as he glanced between Owen and Water, then looked at Skizz and walked to stand by the commanders.

“I’ll go too, just- hang around in the back,” Olive walked forward, standing next to Sniff as they gave him a friendly nudge. The two shared a friendly glance. “Though I’m not sure if they’ll start asking any of us for anything.”

El waved their hand dismissively. “I’ll stick around Owen and Water, we’ll check over our notes and see if anything aligns with this… anomaly,” they glanced at the monitor, their eyes squinted at the screen. They looked back at their commanders, “I must recommend that none of you mention this to them, sirs….”

Skizz, Tango, and Impulse looked at Etho expectantly. “Alright,” he said into the communicator. He glanced at his friends then back at the device. “Let the ship through, we’ll join them at the docks shortly.”

“Of course, commander.” The soldier clicked the communicator shut on his end, and the tower went quiet.

“Watchers,” Olive muttered to themselves, shaking their head in thought. “Just as creepy as their namesake.”

Skizz sighed. “Well, get ready to see them soon,” he gave Olive a reassuring smile, “We’re leaving.” Skizz waved at the remaining Herons and opened the trapdoor, exiting first.

The group was silent as each descended down the tower. Skizz assumed they were all in their own heads, trying to assess the situation. He was thinking too. The Watchers never showed themselves too often. Always busy. Always doing something. They had highly advanced technology, as far as he’s heard. But the fact that they were so secretive about everything felt strange. If they had things that might benefit all of humanity, why wouldn’t they want to spread that knowledge to everyone?

Skizz led the group down into base, eyeing up the Watcher’s ship as they passed by saluting soldiers and the sounds of training. More soldiers were moving around, on horseback, marching, training their weapon and melee skills, the works. Some soldiers pushed around carts of weapons while others periodically went to check in on the wounded. Surely, most of the people who nearly drowned should be alright by now. An uneasy breeze blew through him, and Skizz took a deep breath as he continued to walk forward.

Impulse walked next to Skizz, looking at the Watcher’s ship as a chill ran up his spine. “What do you think they want from us?”

“I’m not sure,” Skizz looked at Impulse and shrugged. “But let’s hear them out.”

Another round of heavy silence, and the group had arrived by the docks. Docked next to the pristinely white, elegant, and sea-green navy ships was a black and purple ship. Its darkened colors likely used to hide the ship as it sailed across the night but it was clearly visible in the daylight. It was blatantly obvious to tell that this was a Watcher’s ship, what with their symbol marked on their mainsail.

“Greetings, naval officers, Herons.” Skizz looked up to see the cloaked figure speaking to them. “I hope my arrival hasn’t disturbed anything.”

A gangplank dropped from the ship, and the cloaked figure walked down, pulling back his purple hood to reveal a warm gaze staring back at the commanders. He didn’t look like anything Skizz expected- usually, Watchers were these cold, masked figures that hid their identities from the world. The man had warm brown eyes and dark skin with his hair short and neat and a five o’ clock shadow.

This one casually revealed himself as he smiled softly. Though… it felt more hollow than it was soft. Despite not wearing a mask, his smile felt like one.

Skizz raised an eyebrow and looked at his friends to check their reactions. Olive and Sniff looked wary while his friends glared. Don’t mention the weird singing. “Nothing you need to worry about,” he shook his head. “Are you the captain?”

The Watcher motioned to the boat behind him with his hand, “For this ship? Yes.” His face barely showed any emotion. It was unnerving. “I would like to inquire about one of the Canary’s captains, Grian. You know him, don’t you?”

Grian? Why would they–

“We do,” Tango spoke quickly. He put a hand on his hip, cocking his head to the side as his eyebrows furrowed, “But why are you contacting us and not the Canaries?”

The Watcher shrugged helplessly. “Grian’s signal was lost, and the rest of the Canaries' crew along with him. The last known location was near the south, close to the world border,” he glanced away and waved his hand, “We haven’t been able to track him since.”

That was a first. Since when were the Watchers tracking Grian? He’d never mentioned anything about the Watchers. Then again, Skizz didn’t know much about the guy. And that wasn’t exactly something you mentioned to your… acquaintance?

“What do you need him for?”

“All you need to know is that the Watchers wish to speak to him,” the Watcher tilted his head. “I’ll remain in contact, so you can update me when he’s done with his little… royal assignment.”

That didn’t sound creepy at all. Skizz looked warily at the watcher as he continued to give him and his friends a blank stare.

His thoughts ran free. ‘Royal assignment’. How did– did the Watchers know about the king’s commission? How? Why? Since when were they involved in a mission that was only meant for the navy and the Canaries? Maybe they were meant to be extra backup when it came time to actually hunt a sea prince, but…

The Watchers? Skizz shook his head. Too many questions, too little time.

A name, Skizz thought. A name would be a good start for now.

“...What’s your name, Watcher?”

The man’s expressionless face finally cracked as he smiled, a dark expression slowly spreading over his face as he looked down at the commanders with piercing eyes.

“You may call me Big B. It’s nice to meet you.”

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forkanna · 4 months ago

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NOTE: Well, I can't even say what happened, other than that my mental state has been trash. Not that I'm unhappy; I just have little creative drive of late. Trying to get back to work, though, and hopefully someone will enjoy the update.

CHAPTER THREE

Around the time Veronica was exiting her luxury vehicle, Betty was climbing out of her clunky old Beetle. She loved that car - and it wasn't just because it was still her first car, or that it was sunshine yellow like her personality, or that she had forged so many good memories inside its cramped confines.

She was also proud of how she had managed to keep it running for the past year, almost entirely on her own. While Veronica and Reggie had the money to take their cars into the shop when any little thing went wrong, or just get a new one, Betty was distinctly under the cut-off line for Middle Class; her parents told her when they helped her get the car that she would have to be the one to find the money for any repairs, because they could barely maintain the upkeep on their own Studebaker. Therefore, she had no choice but to take her passing interest in how cars worked and make it a life skill. Riverdale High did offer an auto shop class, and that went a long way toward teaching her what she needed to know - and her dad had taught her enough of the rest that she could manage to figure out everything else. By now, she had done almost as much work on Archie's old Mustang as she had on her own mode of transport, and kept both of them purring like kittens.

Not that she wanted to make it into a profession. No, Betty's heart would always belong to the written word. Still, maybe when she finished college and started her life as an aspiring author, she could work as a mechanic on the side to help keep the lights on.

Betty was startled out of her thoughts by seeing Archie make a spectacular play, spiking the ball in the end zone and hooting and hollering with his teammates. It may have just been practice, but Betty smiled as she leaned her elbows against the railing on top of the chain link fence, watching him like a hawk as he celebrated. He was honestly her oldest and dearest friend, and when he was happy, she was happy. Part of her missed cheering him on in a more official capacity - but she was fine with the way things had turned out.

Then she heard some hooping and hollering from behind her, and I found herself completely distracted. It wasn't so much that someone else was cheering, but the loud, brash tone of the one doing the celebrating.

"WHOOO! GO, ANDY!"

Cheryl.

Looking between Archie out on the field and the stands, she could see both of the redheads had eyes for no one but each other. Archie looked like such an All-American Boy Scout in his football uniform, grass stains covering the front of the jersey and sweat running down his temples, beaming up at her as if she were the light of his life. And Cheryl's little green dress left nothing to the imagination, hugging her voluptuous curves as she whooped and bounced up and down - and Betty found she had to turn away for a second.

Which only frustrated her further. She knew her parents had raised her conservatively, and some of her friends had always teased her a little about that. But was she really such a shrinking violet that she couldn't even handle the sight of a pair of breasts jiggling without needing to blush?

"What's your problem, Townie?"

Betty was shocked to find Cheryl was standing right next to her. She yelped and tried to jump backward - except there was no backward to jump to. Instead, she just felt the back pockets of her jeans cutting into her behind due to pressing right up against the fence. She was trapped.

"Huh?"

"You're acting like I'm Medusa," Cheryl shot at her with a confident grin. "Can't look at me without turning to stone, hmm? Not that I blame you; I am pretty stunning."

Betty's mouth flapped for a few seconds. It was Cheryl laughing at her that made her clear her throat and find her voice again. "I'm fine. I just had something in my eye."

"Like my gorgeous features?" When Betty started to shake her head, she rolled her eyes. "Give it up, Daisy Mae. I saw you checking me out before that, and you couldn't stop almost-glancing at me afterward."

"Wh- excuse me? Wait, what do you mean, 'checking you out'? In what way?"

Rolling her emerald eyes, Cheryl snapped, "What, is this a put on? What other way is there to check somebody out? You're playing for the softball team."

Betty wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she definitely didn't like the way the rich girl said that. "I… well, yeah, I am. I'm their best pitcher."

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Don't even worry about it; it's not like I care anyway." She reached out and patted Betty's cheek, and didn't even react when the blonde flinched. "You just keep being oblivious, sugar. It'll catch up to you someday. For now, why don't you try acting like less of a square around me? You'd be surprised what a difference it makes."

Betty scowled at the antiquated insult. "Square?!"

"And don't interfere with me watching Andy practice anymore," she commanded as she turned and walked back up the bleachers, hips swishing all the while. "That's our time, for just the two of us. Go play in a sandbox somewhere, Li'l Orphan Annie."

Every part of Betty's inner being seemed to shrink two sizes. What was she supposed to do? Cheryl had just cut her to ribbons and she hadn't been able to do anything about it; she couldn't even form one rebuttal. Every single one of her responses had been completely pathetic.

"Hey!" One of the cheerleaders called out to her as she stomped away. She actually had to run after her before she got too far away to catch. "Betty, wait!"

Betty swallowed hard and looked over the fence at her, then sighed, "Oh, hi, Midge. What's, uh, what's up?"

"I was watching that happen," the cheerleader continued a little breathlessly, running her fingers through her dark pixie cut. "What did you say to her?"

"Nothing! I just… um…" Betty hated that she was still blushing. She hated that even now that her reaction had been called out, there seemed to be nothing she could do to bring herself under control.

"Just what?" When she got no answer, Midge sighed and reached over the fence to rest her hand on Betty's shoulder. "Listen. I know we haven't talked much since you quit the squad, and I'm always going out with Moose. But you know I'm here for you, right?"

Betty felt helpless to do anything but glance back over at where Cheryl was still smirking at her, and where Nancy had broken off from the rest of the squad to start toward them. This whole thing was getting more and more conspicuous. So she finally just whispered, "Yeah, thanks," and ran off as quickly as she could.

~ o ~

Problem was, Betty didn't know where else to turn. She would have considered speaking to either of her former Squad mates - except that Cheryl had been there. Once upon a time, she would have turned to Archie, but everything was so complicated with that now. Her parents were out - they would never understand this. And Veronica…

She didn't even want to think about Veronica. That pampered little princess never had a problem like this, she was reasonably certain.

"Uhhh… back so soon?"

Betty hurriedly wiped her eyes when she realized the journalism classroom wasn't empty. Tomoko had been hunched so low over her keyboard that she couldn't even see her over the back of her chair. "Oh, I… hey."

"Burning the midnight oil, as well? I can relate. This story about school lunches might seem like a puff piece, but I think I found an angle that can… can make it- Betty, are you all right?"

What else could she do but break down and tell her everything? She might not have been terribly close with Tomoko but she found that all of her defenses have been so depleted by now that she couldn't fight it anymore. All of the tears and all of the conflict within her heart just burst forth, and all she could do was try to control how fast and hard it erupted.

The thing that shocked her was when she heard herself say words she didn't even know had been inside her: "It's been this way for two years!"

"Two years?" Tomoko asked in mild surprise as she handed her another kleenex. By this point, they were seated on the little couch in the corner of the classroom, and Tomoko had been petting her back to help soothe her. "But I thought you didn't know Cheryl until she moved here."

"No, I… I just meant…" What did she mean? Betty blew her nose and wiped her eyes to give herself time to reflect. "I meant I've b-been noticing these feelings trying to show up that long. But it's never been, like… I don't know. Cheryl saying that made me think about it, and now I don't like what I'm thinking."

Her fellow reporter nodded a few times, rubbing her free hand up and down along her own thigh through her leggings. Just a nervous habit while considering her words. "Liz… do you feel up to a critical opinion? Or do you prefer support and for me to keep my opinions to myself?"

Still thrown off by being called "Liz", Betty blinked a few times before she said, "Um… I guess that depends. Opinions about me, or about Cheryl? Because I don't think I'm-"

"Message received," she cut her off immediately, closing her deep brown eyes for a moment as she took a breath, then opened them again as her hand came to a stop on Betty's shoulder. "Cheryl really messed with you. That much is clear, even without you telling me details. Why don't you tell me what really bothered you?"

"I… the whole thing, Tomoko. What do you mean? She was being so cruel!"

"Ehhh…" When Betty looked thunderstruck, she held up her other hand to forestall her. "Listen, she was clearly provoking you on purpose, but what did she really say that was so unkind? That you like women?"

"Well… yeah!"

"And that would be… bad?"

"Well, not… I didn't mean…" Betty frowned down at her lap. "I know it sounds bad, but I promise, I'm not like that. I just don't think I could be… like that . Y'know?"

"Actually, I do know. And I know that attitude is very common, and it can make admitting something like this to yourself very difficult."

"I don't have anything against people like that, I promise. But me? I like boys! I've never had any desire to… to try anything different, or be any different. I really haven't."

Tomoko was still watching her like a hawk, and Betty found herself wishing that she wouldn't. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Well, you told me you didn't want to hear my opinions about you, so I'll leave it at that."

"…You think I really could be like that. Don't you?" Tomoko shrugged, and Betty shivered all over. "Oh my God. Just because I looked at Cheryl's boobs for more than one second?"

"No, because you had to look away. And because you can't even say the word , Liz - you keep saying ‘like that’. There's a lot of fear lurking there. Why would you be afraid if there was nothing to be afraid of?" She shrugged and withdrew, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "Not that you really need to be scared of this, since it's not something negative… but I get it. It's scary to be different, to have to accept that you aren't just a blonde, blue-eyed girl next door. Which you might be. But if you weren't, you would have to challenge a lot of your perceptions. Anyone would be at least a little bit nervous."

This was overwhelming for poor Elizabeth Cooper. She could feel herself breathing faster, more shallow, panic trying to settle into the middle of her chest. Tomoko reached out as if she were about to comfort her - but she shot to her feet, out of her friend's reach.

"I, uh… I just remembered, I need to get home. It will be dinner soon." She swallowed to coat her dry throat before she said, "It's been… interesting, I guess? I don't know. See you."

"Liz…" But Tomoko seemed to rethink what she had been about to say and simply said, "Okay. Just try not to be too hard on yourself. See you later."

"Yeah."

Only once she had achieved the safety of her little yellow Beetle did Betty break down again. She knew someone might see her crying but it was really the best she could do; she just kept it short before she started the engine and drove off, fighting to keep her brain from thinking too much. Right now, her thoughts were the enemy, and she didn't want to imagine what would happen if she lost this battle.

#unattainable #betty and veronica #archie fanfic #forkanna writes #jess the writer

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siriannatan · 1 year ago

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A Way Out - ScfWhip

I had no energy to write today, but I wanted to post something so I found a dropped idea and made it a one-shot.

The hero paid barely any mind to the regular guests. Grimlands did use a fancy jazz club as its cover after all. He did not like being here. The dark wood and deep crimson satin interior of Grimlands held too many memories. Memories he'd rather forget, of what some would call an easier time. He'd never call his time with fWhip easy. The man was more fickle than stormy seas. And his accursed influence still hung heavy over Scott.

If he could he'd avoid ever seeing fWhip and his smug smirks ever again. Unfortunately, fWhip happened to be the most informed person in town and Scott needed help. The kind of help only fWhip could provide him with.

He barely made it halfway to where he remembered the secret pass to fWhip's office was, before one of the guards intercepted him. "Boss would like to speak to you," the man said in a thick accent. Scott just nodded and followed him. Feeling stares of fWhip's more villainous acquaintances on his back. It wasn't like they could do anything to him here anyway. fWhip liked his club a lot, and would not forgive anyone for messing it up. Even his own family.

fWhip's office was right where Scott remembered it being. And after a short knock, he was in and alone with fWhip. In his finely tailored, unfairly well-fitting suit. Hair as ever slight mess. Eyepatch was new, unlike the way he eyed Scott up and down. "Hello Scott, or should I say Major?" he asked, leaning back in his seat. Taunted even. Hands folded together. His good eye not leaving Scott for a second. "What do I owe the visit to?" he fWhip grinned as Scott silently took a seat and stood up.

Scott took a deep breath in as fWhip slowly approached his personal minibar. He didn't even ask what Scott wanted. He didn't have to, he already knew. "Why won't you just say what you want since you already know why I'm here?" Scott scoffed at the game he was being dragged into. Or was he already in it since he walked into the club? fWhip set his drink down. Gin and tonic, he didn't forget.

"No fun, as always," fWhip sighed, leaning against the desk. "You want out. Being a hero's not what you thought it'd be and you have no other way to quit. You want your freedom back," he mused with a cold stare not matching the amused tilt of his lips. "Sadly there's no freedom for you, little birdie. It's just another cage."

A shiver went down Scott's spine. He expected quitting would mean becoming a villain or dying. But what fWhip seemed to mean would be even worse. "You don't..."

fWhip chuckled as Scott's back bumped into the door as he took a shocked step back. "Think about it, Scott. Who else can keep the government dogs away from that pretty head of yours? All you have to do for that protection is be pretty for me," fWhip's smirk was far too self-satisfied for Scott's pride. "And other villains too I guess, they're not too happy with you," he mused, almost as if he just recalled how much information.

Honestly, other villains were even more trouble than the heroes and government. They didn't have to follow any rules. Except for fWhip's... The damned bastard was right. Accepting his deal was Scott's best option. And even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted. It was the best fWhip was going to offer him. He had a weird feeling this was just what the other was waiting for. Asking for a favour.

"Only looking pretty? That's pretty tame for you," Scott hummed, bravely approaching fWhip behind the desk. He might as well get as much protection as he can out of fWhip. He thought as he planted himself firmly in fWhip's lap. Wordlessly accepting the deal. And maybe offering a bit more. Luckily fWhip was very handsome. Even with an eyepatch.

Especially with the eyepatch.

#my stuff #my stories #empires smp #fanfiction #empiresshipping #empires fwhip #empires scott #scfwhip

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babyarmybabbles · 8 months ago

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Run ARMY! (Arrival Part) a3 d2

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Reader won the opportunity to film a spin off of Run BTS! celebrating the boys return from enlistment, called Run ARMY!, over the course of seven days.

Word Count: 1,862

Notes: I did some major overhauling during the baggage claim part, and decided on a different direction for the travel to the company. This took me hours and somehow I've only added 26 words? lol at least it reads a little better now.

I changed the formatting up quite a bit too. I wanted this to be an Addition instead of an Attempt, but every time I look at it I struggle so hard to move it forward. I'll probably go back to the games next time I work on it.

Took Inspirations from Run ARMY! series on Tik Tok by _yamanika_ and Guess The Bias! by HelloMyAlien7 on Ao3

Warnings: Reader is a bit of an anxious mess

Masterlist Link <3 | Prev Part Link c: | Next Part Link :D

It wasn’t until your plane was landing on South Korean soil that the reality of your situation really started to sink in. Namely, that your situation was reality at all. Really, who could blame you? With the 15 hour flight behind you there were less than 24 hours between you and meeting BTS.

Less than 24 hours between you and filming with BTS.

It still felt like a dream as you disembarked from the plane and started heading to customs. Quite frankly you were still in shock about the whole thing. It felt like everything was progressing way too quickly, even though it had already been nearly two months since your name had initially been drawn from the Weverse raffle.

Honestly, even entering the raffle had been no more than a matter of rote to you. A notification from Weverse had announced a special new season of Run BTS! to celebrate the group's return from enlistment.

The twist that made it special? They were going to pick one lucky Korean-speaking ARMY to film the series with BTS. Of course you'd entered the raffle. Hell, you're sure ARMY that didn't even meet the Korean speaking requirement had entered it.

It's just that you had never expected to win. You'd never even entertained the possibility. It had been just another of those things you did because you'd be wasting your fanclub membership otherwise.

And also because you'd be insane not to.

You'd giggled and done the whole "but what if?" routine with your ARMY friends, of course, but you'd never, ever, in a million years, believed your name would be picked. Never thought that one in ten million chance opportunity would be yours.

You make it through customs relatively unscathed and once more think that time is passing way too fast. You are maybe having the mental breakdown that had been pending since you'd received that fateful email from Hybe. You're not sure if you'd been able to hold it off until now through the sheer power of disbelief or if you'd simply been too busy.

And you really had been busy. Although a lot of the planning, and all of the expenses, for this trip were handled by Hybe you'd still had a pretty short window of time to sort your life out for a 9 day international vacation.

Submitting your PTO request, finishing projects at work, dusting off your rusty Korean skills, making sure your passport was up to date, getting your visa sorted, finding someone to water your plants for you, corresponding with a freaking Hybe representative about details.

It had been a lot. Still was, actually.

You move slowly through Incheon airport toward the baggage claim, taking your time to make sure you read the signs correctly. You always got anxious about getting lost in airports, no matter how many you'd been in. You were always convinced you were heading to the wrong place until you got there.

You’re sort of still sure you’re in the wrong place, actually. Just- in general. Not because of the airport specifically.

Being in Korea, about to be carted off for last-minute paperwork and interviews, with intent to spend a week in the presence of your idols. It was surreal at best, and you couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t meant for you.

You know you being here was a matter of random chance, but you can’t help but feel unworthy and out of place.

Mostly out of place.

You’d never been the sort to do everything in your power to cross paths with your idols, and yet here you were. In fact, you’d maintained for years now that if you’d ever come across an idol in the wild you’d turn tail and run.

You’re not sure how you’re going to handle being in close quarters with seven of them. You might faint. Actually, scratch that, you can almost guarantee you will.

You scoff at yourself a little bit. Here you are, about to live every AMRY's dream, and you're driving yourself into a panic attack at the baggage claim instead of enjoying it.

Your luggage makes its slow and tottering way around the carousel, and you make no move to reach it any faster. As if you can hold off your anxieties by just not moving.

Your bag doesn’t care for your troubled mind and mercilessly continues on its journey.

You swear that when you’d boarded your flight you’d been appropriately giddy. It's just that you're realizing some things right now.

Like the fact you'll be spending a week in a house with seven strange men. Men you know of but have never met before. Men who are most assuredly stronger and more fit than you in every way. Men you've admired for years now. Men you are 100% sure to embarrass yourself in front of at some point.

You know that once everything is actually happening you’ll be fine. You'll realize that everyone there are just people. That they're not so different from yourself. You'll be far too busy being in the moment to pay attention to your anxiety. Everything will be fine.

Those facts don’t really help you at the moment, though. You’re still breathless with the force of your worries when your luggage finally passes in front of you. You heave it off of the conveyor belt, feeling as if it weighed twice as much as when you’d dropped it off.

You don’t feel ready to face what’s ahead at all. You're not really calm, but you’re not panicking either, stuck in a limbo of excitement, apprehension, and anxiety.

Someone grabs their bag next to you and bumps you in the process, jolting you from your thoughts. The two of you quickly apologize to each other, and you move away from the luggage claim.

You suck in a stuttering breath and let it out smoother than it came in. The easy parts of this trip - the flight and the freaking out - were over. It’s time to find your ride.

You turn on your heel with a bit of determined flair. Dramatic? Maybe. But the animated movement makes you feel better and refocuses your attention to the task at hand. You let that energy carry you as stomp your way toward the loading area.

It doesn’t take you long to settle down and walk like a normal person again, but you cling tightly to the momentary confidence. You'll need it to bullshit your way through the next nine days.

Finding the loading area you’d been told you’d be picked up from doesn’t take long either, and soon you’re paused off to the side to double check your instructions.

Well, you say instructions, it was more just a kind email explaining what to expect when you made it to Korea. Aside from a description of the person picking you up (the same Hybe representative you’d been corresponding with the whole time, thankfully) they’d also informed you that there would be some last-minute paperwork to take care of.

You’d also be meeting the PD in charge of the show before being taken for a few interviews and photos. You’d get your post-travel rest after all of that.

It was a good thing your flight had landed in the early morning, you definitely had a busy day ahead of you.

You alternate between glancing at your email and surveying the crowd for several minutes before you spot her.

She’s clear across the loading area from you, because of course she is, that’s just your luck. The bright red hairband on her head combined with the sign with your name written in bold English in her hands tell you you have the right person, so you begin to make your way over.

She’s intimidatingly pretty, all sharp features and stylishly dressed. You suddenly feel very underdressed and small in your baggy hoodie and paint-stained sweats.

You start picking your way through the crowd, filled with anxiety. It sort of feels like you’re attempting to approach a celebrity as you dodge and weave through other travelers and their luggage to the best of your ability. Good practice for later, you suppose.

You come to a stop in front of her and find yourself lost for words. She’s very pretty, and you’ve just remembered that you find pretty people incredibly intimidating.

You fall hard on your manners about it and timidly call for her attention before introducing yourself and asking if she was who you were supposed to be looking for.

She smiles gently at you and her entire face softens with the expression. You’re suddenly a lot less nervous. Her smile makes her look kind and approachable and you’re immediately put at ease.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Cheong Haneul, and I'll be your liaison with Hybe for the duration of your stay." She finishes off her introduction with a neat bow, which you clumsily copy.

"Thank you for taking care of me." You reply awkwardly, wanting to be polite. Hopefully she’ll forgive your lack of social graces. Hurriedly, you push the conversation onward. "Uhm, sorry to be asking questions already, but what do you mean by liaison?"

Haneul waves a hand in dismissal of your apology and explains, "It just means I'll be in charge of you. Make sure you get to where you need to be, you have all the information you need, that sort of thing. Answering your questions is definitely part of that."

Her charming little grin endears her to you further and stalls your nerves. You give a small smile back and soon enough the two of you are making your way to a black SUV parked nearby.

There’s a man in business attire waiting by the driver’s side door as you approach. Haneul introduces him briefly and you give him a nervous smile and profuse thanks as he helps load your suitcase and carry-on bag into the trunk. Your bulky backpack finds it’s way into the backseat with you as Haneul motions you ahead of her, following shortly after.

You can’t help but notice she’s about 20 time more graceful than you as she climbs into the vehicle. You resolve to take notes.

Surely getting a good grade in entering vehicles is normal to want and possible to achieve. Surely.

Soon enough all bags and passengers are safely loaded, and the SUV lurches into motion as you begin to leave behind the airport at last.

Hannuel spends the 30 minute drive to the Hybe building explaining various things to you. How the pre-interview will work, what to expect from the shooting, why you were meeting with the PD before hand, all sorts of little things you hadn’t even thought to ask about.

Your head is spinning with the onslaught of information by the time the vehicle pulls to a stop inside the underground parking garage. You can’t even bring to bear the nerves you’d been grappling with as you try to process Hanuel’s impromptu lecture.

The other woman must notice your dazed expression, because she kindly reminds you that she’ll be around for any questions. She then mercilessly ushers you out of the SUV, tutting about tight schedules.

#w.i.p #w.i.p fic #Run ARMY! AU #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts x reader #bangtan x reader #bangtan fic #bangtan fanfic #New Attempt

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varteeny1234 · 4 months ago

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I LOVE THE CHERRY KINGDOM VERY MUCH! HERE IS A FAN FICTION :DDDD

Summary:

The more time passed, the more things Vintage noticed about Ruby that were different. It was beginning to freak her out, to be honest- and more than that, it was incredibly frustrating, not knowing what to do to help their wife and feeling thus helpless because of it! She- she loved Ruby. She loved xem so much, but felt utterly lost. Or Ruby isn't Ruby. Vintage wants to know why.

Warnings: There is one tiny non-graphic injury but I don't think there's anything else

Words: 4954

Ship: Sakura Spouses :3 (Rubyco/VintageApplesauce)

(full fic under cut)

The more time passed, the more things Vintage noticed about Ruby that were different. For one thing, they were much more stoic. They used to laugh at everything- now they only let out a quiet chuckle and even then that was rare! She showed less outward, physical affection than she used to. More notably, ze was obsessed with safety and OSSHA compliance, all the time. Vintage didn't remember the last time ze'd gone a day out of uniform.

It was beginning to freak her out, to be honest.

Ruby was also forgetting things that he shouldn't have been forgetting. Important conversations, plans for the Cherry kingdom, happy moments they'd shared together. Vintage would always remind fae about anything fae forgot, no problem... but faer memory was spotless when it came to business. It was like she was blocking out everything except OSSHA!

But Vintage still had no idea how to help hir. She could ask if anything was wrong, of course, but she had a sinking feeling that Ruby would either not answer or not even know itself. So, they were stuck.

It was incredibly frustrating, not knowing what to do to help their wife and feeling thus helpless because of it! She- she loved Ruby. She loved xem so much, but felt utterly lost.

They turned over in their side of the bed. Ruby was asleep next to them, like ze always was, softly snoring. Vintage's heart ached; when Ruby was asleep, it was as if everything was the same as it had been before.

She could let herself pretend it was... just a little longer....

~~~~

Vintage had a plan now.

A week had passed, and only yesterday, Vintage had had the final straw. Ruby was not Ruby.

She'd seen them working on the handrails for the side of the island, and had decided to pop over and bother them a bit. Maybe somehow rope zir into cuddling- she was feeling a little clingy at the time.

But when they had wrapped their arms around Ruby and happily murmured 'I love you' in eir ears, instead of returning it, Ruby had hummed and smiled before going right back to building. Vintage had been shell-shocked. As much as Ruby liked to build, it'd never been the type to turn down spending time with Vintage because of it!

Her shock had been quickly replaced by some combination of emotions that felt bad. Really bad. They were mad, at first, but then had become immediately suspicious. Ruby had been acting so out-of-character compared to how xe normally was, for a while. Vintage had thought it was strange but had never considered that Ruby could have been changed against her will, or worse, replaced with a fake Ruby. That felt like something so outlandish that they'd never even considered it, but they'd had had enough of pretending like nothing was wrong with their partner!

She was going to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to them.

But first, she needed to trap Ruby somewhere that ae couldn't run away and hide.

If Vintage found a way to get aer somewhere they could question aer quickly, then it would go smoother than if they just randomly cornered aer. There were outlines of future buildings scattered around the top of the Cherry kingdom- but even if she broke the jump boost beacon, Ruby could cut through the woolen walls. The storage rooms were too open.

The sewer systems were the chosen location.

She'd put obsidian blocking off some of the exit paths, and flooded the tunnel even more than before. The vines and leaves on the walls and ceiling for at least two tunnels over (spanning all directions- Vintage was thorough) had been lowered just enough to make it almost impossible for anyone who was flying to get through, in case Ruby tried that.

"Ruby!" Vintage's call echoed through the tunnels. They knew that Ruby had been hanging around nearby, so it would definitely have heard. Her heart was jittery in her chest, the anxiety threatening to take over, but Vintage kept her voice steady. "Can you come down to the sewer system? I want to show you some new stuff I added!"

Tucking a sword underneath her coat, just in case, she stood so that she was just visible behind the corner. All the water around had completely drenched her clothing and her wings. At least she hadn't been planning on flying anywhere.

As expected, Ruby responded soon after. "Vintage? Hello, which way did you go? It's harder to see with all the plants, is that what you added?" Splashing sounds in the distance gave away faer location. Come on, just a little closer!

"Um- some of it! I want to get your opinion on the tunnel over here, though!"

More splashing. Ruby was almost there, only one more corner left to turn... Vintage held their breath.

"Vintage? Oh, there you are! So, what was it you wanted to show me-"

He was cut off as Vintage grabbed them by the wrists and threw him into the tunnel behind her. She drew her sword, and held it to Ruby's chest as she glared at xem. But unlike what they'd been expecting, Ruby's expression only showed confusion and panic- nothing to show that ze'd been hiding anything or that hir act was up. Vintage narrowed her eyes... Ruby had either managed to become exceptionally good at putting on an act, or there were more memory intricacies at play.

"Vintage, what are you doing? Did you want to show me something? Why do you have a sword?" Exclaimed Ruby. Ze put zir hands up in alarm. "Did I do something?"

Vintage took another step closer. "Yes, you did. You're not Ruby at all- at least, you're not the Ruby that I know. You're not my wife," she spat. "What happened to aer? Were you once my Ruby, and aren't anymore? Or were you never her at all?!" They stopped. They gasped; they'd forgotten to breathe. Hot, wet tears ran down her cheeks.

"What do you know? Who are you?" The tip of the sword cut through Ruby's crisp blue shirt, and blood began to show through it. The same shirt that Vintage had lovingly sewn for them, back when she still knew who they were. Ruby wasn't even wearing zir clock anymore, keeping it hidden away somewhere Vintage didn't know rather than hanging around zir neck like she had thought ze preferred.

He was crying, too. Ruby hadn't moved- except for eyes wider than Vintage had ever seen and shaky shoulders. Its hands were still raised, and she could hear its panicky breathing.

"I- I..." She stuttered. Vintage moved forwards.

"Tell me."

A guilty glance to the ground. "I don't know!" Ey cried. "I'm Ruby!"

Vintage frowned. "But you're not, though. I know Ruby, and you're not the same person- right now, anyway."

"I'm Ruby, and you're Vintage! That's what I remember. That is all that I know. Am I someone else? Am I not Ruby?" Their voice broke. "I don't want to not be Ruby!"

"Then why have you taken faer place? Were your memories altered, or something? All this OSSHA business has changed you, and I don't like it! I need to know where my Ruby went!" Vintage stomped her foot, the sound of both the splash of the water and the yell she let out echoing faintly through the tunnel.

Ruby fell to xyr knees.

"We need to stay compliant. It's important!"

"Not so important that you completely change everything about yourself! I work there too, and even I am completely in the dark! Something happened to you, something that I don't know! Please, I just want Ruby back!"

"But I am Ruby! I- I have to be! There's no one else I could be! Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you act like a totally different person!"

"I am only doing what I have to do, to keep everyone safe. Why is that so bad?" She sniffed.

Vintage thought her heart had already been broken, but it felt like it was shattering into even smaller pieces. "All of the little things that make Ruby Ruby are disappearing before my eyes. You've been ignoring me in favor of making your bridges safer, or whatever. It's like OSSHA is the only thing that matters to you anymore."

"But... it does matter! We have to keep everyone out of the void, it's too dangerous!"

Whatever Vintage was about to say next died on their tongue.

Keep people out of the void? That wasn't the mission when they signed up. Had something changed when she wasn't looking?

More, that is, than Ruby hirself?

Last she'd heard, they were just trying to keep people from dying because dying was inconvenient. Although, others had been saying that the void needed to be fed. Even then, there was still nothing actually dangerous about falling into the void! What was Ruby on about?

She let her sword fall to her side. She held out a hand to Ruby, who looked up through teary eyes like Vintage had gone mad.

"We're going to OSSHA. If it's that organization that did this, then I'll find some answers there. You clearly know about as much as I do, but I still don't fully trust you, so you're coming along with me," they explained. Secretly, they were wishing that they'd gone a little bit easier on the leaves.

~~~~

Ruby, surprisingly, didn't argue or complain. Xe was willing to just fly along with Vintage the short distance to the OSSHA building. Of course, Vintage was watching xem closely to make sure that xe didn't try and escape, but they both made it to their destination without any trouble at all. The small injury on xyr chest had taken only a moment to patch up.

"Alright, Ruby." Vintage landed near the building entrance. "I'm going to go and look around for anything weird, you stay by me but I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you poke around too. Just... don't leave. Alright?"

Ruby nodded.

"Okay."

Vintage led Ruby through the queue and up to the second level, and then began to rifle through drawers and chests. She found a lot of random loose papers, fines, and the OSSHA violation severity manual, but nothing at all related to the void other than falling there kills you. Digging up some of the floorboards only revealed a lot of dust and even more blank papers.

She tried looking closer at things. Context clues, reading between the lines. But still, they weren't able to see anything suspicious.

Eventually, there came a soft sound from behind her, the creak of the wooden floor underneath someone's footsteps.

Turning around, they were met with a still teary-eyed Ruby, but now with a more haunted look.

"Ruby? Did you find something?"

Ae shook aer head. Vintage huffed in frustration. There wasn't anything here of use. She'd come so close to discovering something big, she knew it, but it was hidden too well.

"I didn't either. I don't think it's inside this building. Let's try and look somewhere else... maybe it's in the space station?" When Ruby didn't answer, she gently grabbed their hand to lead them back out of the building. If there wasn't anything in here, then there wasn't much point in staying longer than necessary. There was a timer ticking somewhere, and when it ran out, Vintage might lose Ruby forever.

Once the two of them went outside, Vintage was only a little startled by how much time had passed. While they'd been searching the building, the sun had nearly set, and the sky was dark.

A faint glimmer of light from the pool of water next to the OSSHA building caught their eye, just before they flew away.

Without any hesitation, Vintage ran over. There was definitely something in the water- it looked like a tunnel that led down to a place inside the body of the island. More than that, it looked red.

This... this was definitely what she was looking for.

Stepping to the edge of the pool, they looked at Ruby. Fae appeared much more uncomfortable than before.

"Ruby? What's wrong? You're coming down here with me," said Vintage.

Ruby shook faer head. "I don't think I should. H-" Ze cut hirself off. "I shouldn't, I'm not supposed to go down there."

"You should, though. I still need to keep you within my sights, and even if you're scared, this is important. You don't know why you're here? Well, we're about to find out. Come on, let's go." Vintage splashed into the water- she really couldn't avoid getting in water today! Luckily, Ruby followed, albeit with some hesitance in their actions.

Vintage swam through the gap.

She turned around, and what she saw sent a wave of nausea directly through her gut.

There, just in the corner, were three stasis chambers, glass containers filled with liquid. And inside one of them was Ruby. The real Ruby, the one that Vintage loved. The Ruby that they missed so much...

The tears came back as she stumbled over to her. As Ruby was floating there, she looked almost peaceful, even with that awful-looking mask over her face. But he'd been trapped there against his will, most definitely. Vintage steeled herself, grabbing her sword again. She pushed the thoughts of she guessed right Ruby was a fake ae's not her wife KILL AE as far into the back of her mind as she could. They could deal with that later, the real Ruby needed their help now.

She swung her sword against the glass, making a horrible clanging noise that echoed throughout the tiny room. The glass didn't crack, but it looked like it scratched, even if it was just a little bit.

If it could scratch, it could shatter.

Vintage swung again.

And again.

And again, and again, and again, until a spiderweb broke across the smooth transparent barrier and the liquid began to leak out. It sprayed everywhere, making a puddle on the floor.

One more hit with the sword, and the glass broke away completely in a shower of tiny shards. Without the liquid there to keep vem suspended, ve fell forwards, limp, right into Vintage.

By reflex, they dropped their sword to catch aer. Ruby was unconscious, of course. Vintage slowly set it down, and all but tore the mask off its face, letting it breathe properly for the first time in who knew how long.

Ruby looked exactly the same as how xe'd been when they'd first started the Cherry kingdom together. Xe was wearing xyr colorful jacket, and xyr clock was around xyr neck- it was still ticking away. Vintage cried as they stroked Ruby's hair, moving the wet strands out of her face. Her head rested on their lap.

With the steady rise and fall of zir chest, she could almost pretend ze was just asleep.

"Ruby... Ruby, please, wake up! I need you, please wake up! I- I found you! You're safe now! Please!" She begged.

Ze didn't respond. Ze didn't even move.

Vintage held Ruby's unconscious body to her chest, sobbing. Whoever did this to him took his glasses, too, she thought absentmindedly.

She didn't know how long she'd sat there crying, but eventually Ruby- Fake-Ruby? Clone-Ruby? Whoever fae were, came over and kneeled down next to them both. Vintage sniffed, wiping her face, still cradling Ruby's head.

"I'm not the real Ruby, after all... am I?" Fake-Ruby whispered. "You were right- you were right all along, I'm just something someone made to keep you distracted, so you didn't notice the real one was missing. But I failed at that- I wasn't good enough to stop you!"

"What? No, you-" Vintage stopped. Fake-Ruby was, technically, correct- she had only been made, originally, to take the place of Ruby. They couldn't say that that wasn't true, even if it was an awful reality. Just that simple fact alone made the angry side of Vintage want to kill vem, even though based on all current evidence, ve'd never known the truth either. She was not going to kill Fake-Ruby! She tried again, taking a deep breath. "Even if you didn't fulfill your original job, that doesn't mean you're automatically a failure."

"But I was never supposed to be anything other than a replacement. Look at me!" Ae gestured to aerself. "I'm- I look exactly like Ruby. The real Ruby. Hell, I have most of hir recent memories, too. All I knew was that I was Ruby! But if I'm not Ruby after all, then who am I? There's nobody else for me to be!"

Since Vintage didn't know how she could possibly respond to that, they both fell into a tense silence. Fake-Ruby was sniffling, and xyr shoulders were shaking. Vintage herself was crying again. In their arms, Ruby still hadn't woken up yet, but was, at least, steadily breathing. It was just the three of them, sitting in a red room beneath a pool together.

"You said I was like a different person than Ruby. But now, I don't feel like a different person or Ruby..." Fake-Ruby's talking to themself faded into the background.

What would they even do, once Ruby woke up and they were able to get out of here? The Cherry Kingdom wasn't far away, but adjusting to a new permanent inhabitant (and a clone of Ruby, at that) would be difficult- not impossible, but difficult. Not to mention that Fake-Ruby would have to re-introduce themself to everyone else...

A quiet noise interrupted Vintage's train of thought. They gasped, their gaze instantly snapping over to Ruby, whose eyelids were now fluttering open and shut.

"Ruby!" They exclaimed. When Ruby flinched, they lowered their voice. "Oh, Ruby... you're awake! It's all going to be okay, I've got you now. You're going to be okay. It'll all be okay." They whispered. She didn't know if she said the last line more for Ruby or for herself.

"...Vintage?" Ruby croaked. It was obvious ve hadn't used ver voice in a long time, the sound was raspy and hollow. But it was still Ruby's voice. "What happened to me?"

"You were trapped in a secret room inside OSSHA. I don't know how long it's been, but if I had to guess I'd say weeks. Whoever did this to you made a clone of you, to take your place. I'm so, so sorry I didn't find you sooner..." She helped her to sit up.

"A... a clone? Like, a copy?" He asked. He blinked, looking around. "I don't have my glasses, everything's all blurry... but is that them?" Ruby gestured towards Fake-Ruby, who flinched but nodded.

"Yeah. That's me... I'm Ruby. Well, I was supposed to be, anyways." Ze hung zir head. "I'm sorry."

Ruby looked confused. "What? Why are you apologizing?"

Both Rubies looked confused. Fake-Ruby sounded like she'd accepted some sort of dreadful fate. "I'm a clone of you! I was living in your place for weeks! I'm the only reason no one noticed that you had disappeared!"

"Huh? But none of that was your fault! You still don't have to apologize for anything- well, did you know I was missing? Or that you were a clone?" Vintage's heart suddenly filled with love. She knew where Ruby was going with this.

"Um, no. Why?"

"So to your knowledge, during all that time, you thought you were just me. You didn't do anything to hurt anyone- including me, might I add- on purpose, so you're fine!" Fae coughed; Vintage rubbed faer back, fae giving her another grateful smile and leaning into her chest.

Unfortunately, Fake-Ruby still looked sad. "But aren't you, like, upset that someone who's you but also not you took over your life? You should be furious at me!"

"I'm not."

"I'm- I don't understand... and what about the fact that there's now two of you? Two Rubies? We look so similar, even if you aren't mad at me, I'm bound to cause more chaos! We look like the exact same person- we practically are the exact same person!"

"I have no idea how similar you actually look to me, but if Vintage could figure it out, we're definitely not the same person. Even a slight difference is still a difference."

Fake-Ruby (they really should think of something else to call him) sobbed into his hands. Vintage couldn't help but start crying again, too. Ruby pulled both of them into a hug. "It's been a hell of a night for me, I can't imagine what you both have been through. I mean, there's still more stuff we need to do, like talk to- wait a second, did you guys forget about that other tube? There's someone in there, but I can't see who."

Vintage's head snapped up from where it had been tucked into their shoulder. "Oh no, we forgot about Trog!" She gasped.

Yeah. As soon as she saw Ruby suspended in that damn tube, she'd forgotten that there was somebody else also trapped. The third tube was broken already, at least?

"I'll get them." Fake-Ruby stood up, taking Vintage's sword that she'd left lying on the ground, and after a few seconds was able to break the glass keeping Trog in place. Ze dragged them over to the group, after cutting off the cables to their mask. Ze sat down again, next to Ruby this time.

"Thanks." Vintage smiled. Xe gave a slightly awkward smile back- it was still a smile! Yay, progress!

Ruby started coughing again, but fae recovered quicker this time. "So... do we just wait here for Trog to wake up, and then all four of us go back to Cherry to figure stuff out? Vintage, I'm assuming you had at least some sort of plan?"

She blushed. "Well... technically, the plan was 'find out what happened to Ruby and then fix it,' even if I didn't expect Trog to be here... yeah, that should work still- are you good with that?" She asked Fake-Ruby.

Ae nodded. "I don't mind. If I'm honest, I'm glad you're bringing me back to Cherry at all."

"We told you, we hold nothing against you. You might have to have one or two more uncomfortable conversations about... well, your existence, but we're not kicking you out!" Ruby declared. Vintage nodded enthusiastically.

"You can stay as long as you want to! As far as we're concerned, we just have a third island partner now!"

"You mean it?" Fake-Ruby murmured.

"Of course! Although..." Ruby frowned.

Fake-Ruby looked scared. "What? Is something wrong?"

Quickly, Ruby backtracked, shaking hir head. "No, no, I was just thinking- you should have a name!" Ze exclaimed. At Fake-Ruby's blank look, ze elaborated. "I mean, up until, like, very recently, you thought you were me, so everyone just called you Ruby. But I'm Ruby, and you're someone else, so you should have your own name!"

Realization dawned on xyr face. "My... my own name?"

"Yeah! Well, I suppose that if it was important to you, you could still be called Ruby too, but I thought it might be nice for you to pick something different. Choose your own identity... I don't know. Would you like that?"

Fake-Ruby (they REALLY, REALLY needed to find something else to call her, as evidenced by this conversation) was silent.

Vintage decided to chime in. "You don't have to pick anything right away- and if you change your mind later, that's always fine too! But I agree, you deserve to choose the name that you want to have." She grinned.

"...I think I will. Eventually. I want to think about it," they finally replied. "After we go back, and-"

"Mmmmh? Wha's going on?"

"TROG! You're awake!" All three of them spun around to see Trog, who had rolled over onto their side and was covering their ears. Their eyes were open just a peek, but their triangle-shaped pupils were clearly visible.

"Oh, sorry!" Vintage held out her hand. "Do you know what happened to you?"

They blinked. "Um. No. Sorry."

Ruby opened ver mouth to explain, but Vintage spoke first. "You got stuck in a weird glass tube underneath OSSHA, and I think there's a clone of you running loose around the server- I only just realized, there's a Trog clone too- we're going to go back to Cherry kingdom, and sort out what exactly happened to you guys, and I don't think you have a choice in coming along with us, actually."

Trog stared at her for a few seconds. "I think that's fine. I- why not, I'll come along. Are we going now?"

"Do you think you can walk? We're definitely not flying back, Ruby doesn't have her glasses right now. Original Ruby, that is."

"I might need help, but if you give me a minute, I'll be fine," they waved a hand. They squeezed some of the tube-water out of their sleeve. "Do you have an extra pair of glasses back in your house?"

"There should be some somewhere."

"That's good. We like it when Ruby can see stuff." They laughed.

Ruby laughed too. "Hey, I saw you before either of these two-" he gestured to Fake-Ruby and Vintage "-remembered that you were here too. Even if I couldn't actually tell it was you, but we don't talk about that part."

Trog snorted. "Right," they said. They sneezed, cutting off whatever they were going to say next. After a second, they continued. "I can probably walk now, if we go slowly. Let's get the hell out of here. Other-Ruby, could you give me a hand?"

It nodded, moving to help Trog to their feet. They slung an arm around its shoulders, and coughed twice once they were fully upright, but they didn't say anything. Vintage did the same for Ruby, and they took it in turns to climb out of the room, through the pool of water, and eventually they were all standing on the bridge.

They started the walk back to Cherry. It was the middle of the night, but no phantoms had appeared yet, thankfully. The long path looked almost daunting, but it was one of the safest that existed so far- Vintage had already decided in her head that even if Trog wanted to go back to Acacia, they weren't allowed to yet, since their bridges were too dangerous for someone with poor coordination and especially during the night.

Soon, they were almost at their destination. Trog then stumbled, almost falling over and breaking into a coughing fit. Fake-Ruby caught them, helping them to sit down on the ground. "You should rest for a moment. You seemed much too eager to leave, even though you're still recovering." Vintage and Ruby sat down across from them; Vintage agreed with Fake-Ruby that stopping for a little bit could only help them.

"Ugh," they groaned. "Fine, I'll take a breather. Thanks, Other-Ruby."

"Spinel," xe whispered- xyr voice was much quieter than it had been only a moment ago.

"Huh?" Vintage asked. "What's that?" She leaned forwards.

Fae clarified. "Spinel- that's what I want my name to be."

"Oh! Sorry, thanks, Spinel," said Trog.

Vintage raised her eyebrows in curiosity. She could feel Ruby tense up, a small amount. "Oh, that's great!" She exclaimed. "I'm happy for you! I'm glad you picked a name. Um... what exactly is it, though? What does it mean?"

"It's a gemstone," responded Ruby. In the dim lighting of the bridge, she could see aer grinning softly.

Spinel (not Fake-Ruby anymore!) nodded. "It is. You now how I have some of Ruby's memories. One time, he did a lot of reading on different minerals and crystals and similar stuff... red spinel gemstones, specifically, look super similar to rubies, but they're actually really different!" They shrugged. "I, um... I thought that since I look a lot like Ruby, but aren't actually vem, I was like ver spinel gem. It felt right. Since I'm still connected to Ruby, and I still liked having a name that was also a type of gem." She bit her lip, shyly glancing away.

Vintage smiled. "That's a good name. I like it! I think it suits you, Spinel," she said.

"Thanks," he said. He visibly relaxed.

A sniffling sound from Ruby had Vintage moving to worry over them, but the goofy happy-sad look on their face made her chuckle instead. "Aw, Ruby, are you crying?" She teased.

"No," they said, covering their face. "I'm not crying. Of course not. Why would I be crying?"

Out of the corner of their eye, Vintage saw Trog facepalm, and Spinel trying to muffle zir laughter. "Because Spinel chose a name that means a lot to zem, that has a metaphor for your relationship to each other, showing that ze might look like you but ze's still zir own person, and you're proud and can't keep the emotions in?"

"I'm so-" sob "-happy for Spinel!" Ruby cried. "It chose a gemstone name and everything! This is a very emotional time."

Vintage hugged aer. "You're very sweet, Ruby," she murmured softly. "I'm so happy I have you back."

"I'm happy to be back! Being stuck in some sort of glass tube wasn't fun, even if I don't actually remember much of it."

Giggling, Vintage kissed xyr forehead. "Whoever did it won't ever do it again, if I have anything to say about it!"

"Of course, of course," Ruby closed xyr eyes. "All shall fear the wrath of Vintage."

"Mhm." Vintage cupped xyr cheek, and xe nuzzled into their hand.

"I love you," said Ruby. She whispered it in Vintage's ear, for only them to hear.

"I love you too."

#my stuff #skyblock kingdoms #sbkshipping #rubyco #vintage applesauce #rue sbk #sakura spouses

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legacy-by-darkryuu · 2 years ago

Text

Remaster: Step Toward the Future, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Discovery

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harvest Moon.

Rating: M/Adult

Also available on Archive of Our Own

2023 Notes: Cliff most definitely would not be like this in game. My boy has issues off the wazoo here. Also, my first what we old ones call ‘flame’ was over the personification of the well-loved Mary here. As I’ve aged, I have less problems with her and Ann who also was a way more antagonist in the old version. Neither are my favorite bachelorette by any means but they’re still a little antagonistic here.

XXX

Jill, after having slept on it, figured that Cliff had been something of a figment of her imagination. Either that or some random person passing through. No one like that could survive in this environment, this…country town. She sighed as she finished her cereal. Oh well, probably for the best. She pulled her black overalls and a Tool shirt with a baggy hoodie on before heading out to get to the chores.

She stood over her field and gaped some. How did boulders get there? Was there some kind of...land slide? She shook her head and started to shove them around, seeing as she couldn’t really do anything else with them. After this, she was going to be ready for a very long nap...but there were just those branches and tree stumps. Their poor great-grandpa had been in bad shape for a few years so this must have been the result. She groaned. What had she gotten herself into?

“Mm, nothing like a good day of work” said a friendly voice.

She turned in shock and there, sure enough, stood Izumi Cliff. This time he was attired in a red shirt with crazy black designs. It was odd, everyone seemed to dress like they were in a time warp but him and anyone within maybe three years of their age. He smiled and tilted his head.

“What’s wrong? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She gulped and shook her head rapidly, “I just...thought you were a...traveler.”

He brightened, “Oh, generally I am. I’m just posted up here for a while.”

She chuckled, “Oh.”

He sat on a tree trunk and looked around before whistling in awe, “Man, I don’t even think an army of giants would take this on. You could build a whole neighborhood in this field.”

She sighed, “I know. I don’t see why my family wants to save it in the first place.”

As the story went, this was her mom’s grandfather’s land. He vacationed here by himself prior to marrying into his wife’s family and always intended to come back. Of course, her mom’s grandmother and continuing spawn were probably pure evil. When he was able to provide two male heirs and two daughters, his wife kicked him to the curb. He’d been here ever since and, as far as Jill knew, they were the only portion of his family that associated with him. Still, it…it was kind of a sad story, him dying here alone. Maybe it’d be better to let it go.

Cliff seemed to study her face carefully before he smiled reassuringly, “Well, c’mon. Don’t they want to build an amusement park here? There’s like all of two kids and a bunch of stuck up adults. It’d be a waste of nature.”

She nodded slowly, “I suppose.”

“Aww, you just got here. Don’t get discouraged so easily. You’re just what this morgue of a town needs. A breath of fresh air.”

She blushed, embarrassed about this compliment, especially since she wasn’t used to getting them often from men, “I’m far from...a breath of fresh air.”

“Sure you are! You and me, we’ll turn this town upside down. Now, how about lunch? You look hungry.”

She accepted gratefully and she followed behind him, wondering exactly what he meant by ‘turning the town upside down’...

XXX

Almost two months passed and, confusingly, she had to say those were some of the two best months of her life.

Cliff came by every day and hung out or took her places. On rare occasions, he’d even help her with the farm work. Cliff had quite a mischievous streak, often dragging her off to play pranks or loiter in the supermarket, really about the extent of the trouble they could actually make there. But, all the same, they were deemed the two troublemakers. And she loved it. And most of all, she liked being around Cliff. She liked having made a friend in this place. And a hot one too.

One day in early April, at 5 a.m., she heard a knock at the door. Groggy and disoriented, she stumbled to answer, swinging it open sleepily. It was, of course, Cliff. She stared at him, confused.

“Cliff? Wha’ are you doing here so early?” she mumbled.

“Aww, I’m loving the bunny pajamas” he grinned, commenting about her black pajamas with cute white bunnies all over it.

She smirked at him, rubbing her eyes. He shooed her inside and closed the door behind him.

“Get dressed. We only have an hour” he said quickly.

“Come again?” she grumbled.

“You’ll see, get dressed!” he exclaimed.

She shook her head and pulled on her normal clothes, wondering what his deranged mind was plotting up now. And why she had to be up at five in the freakin’ morning for it, even with farm work she got one more hour...

When she came out, he grabbed her arm and dragged her from the farm. She was just letting him drag her along before she snapped out of her daze. They were at Duke’s house. Oh dear. “Cliff…” she said wearily.

He pressed his finger to her lips and pointed to a flag on top of Duke’s house.

“We’re taking that and replacing it...” he started.

Then he pulled another flag out that read ‘Supermarket’ and smiled pleasantly.

“With this one.”

She raised an eyebrow, “...Um.”

“Hey, these people love to start rumors. Just wait, they’ll have some about Duke and Sasha having an affair or Jeff and Manna or they’ve become one huge super store because Karen’s in debt to the winery because she’s supposedly an alcoholic. We’d be doing these people a favor, giving them stuff to talk about” he informed.

She chuckled, “I guess? But why am I here?”

He looked up, “Well, I’m not ten feet tall...”

She flinched back, “Oh my God, no.”

He hugged her waist, whining cutely. “Aww, pwease? You’re the only one here for these types of things.”

She blushed but sighed, relenting. He grinned happily then lifted her up by the waist. She yelped and hugged his head, startled by the sudden movement.

“U-Uh…” he commented after a moment.

She looked down and gasped in horror. His head was pressed against her chest pretty hard. Her face lit up completely and he smiled, embarrassed himself. “Don’t fret. Here.”

He rested her on his shoulders and she bit her lip, her heart beating heavily. If Duke caught them, well, he’d…yell. But still. She switched the flag out and Cliff whispered.

“Hold on.”

She was confused until he started running down the street toward the store. She gasped and clenched his head, resisting the need to scream in terror. But they arrived safely and she placed the winery flag on the grocery store. They were home free until they heard Duke screaming and cursing. She squealed and he grabbed her hand, racing down through the square past Barley’s Farm before ending up at ‘Lillia’s Chicken Farm’. She gasped and clutched her chest and Cliff wiped his forehead of sweat.

“Whoo...”

She shoved him, “Ugh! Next time you come up with some crazy plan like that, tell me first! This is a violation of property!”

He hugged her, sighing, “I’m sorry.”

She sighed and rested her head on his chest, basking in the feeling. She couldn’t really be mad at him for whatever reason. This was her brother’s territory, just doing reckless things for a swift giggle but, right now, it felt fun because it was with him. She flushed and wondered why she was feeling this way about someone she really just met…

A moment later, she felt someone was behind them. She gazed around and jumped, fearful. Cliff looked over his shoulder and jumped a bit too before he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Jeez, Popuri, God, you scared the living crap out of me.”

Jill inhaled sharply. Popuri? The Popuri?

She had straight pink hair and scarlet eyes which were embellished with black mascara and black eyeliner. She had on a white blouse with a black lace-up corset, a red ruffled skirt that came to her knees, and black leather boots. Around her neck was… a black leather necklace with a half a heart.

Jill rubbed her arm, smiling awkwardly as she looked down. Oh boy. This was going to be tough. Popuri had a smile on her face as she clucked her tongue. “More trouble?”

Cliff smiled back, “Of course. We’re the troublemakers.”

Popuri blinked at Jill, “Oh?”

“Oh, you two haven’t met? This is Yamachi Popuri. Pu, this is Yagami Jill.”

...Pu?

“Hi! I’m the one who harbors this fugitive when he’s running from the law” Popuri said happily.

Jill had to laugh some, “I guess someone would have to, as much trouble as he gets in to all the time.”

Cliff pouted, “I’m not in trouble that much.”

Popuri smirked, “Uh huh.”

Suddenly, Cliff slung his arms around both of their shoulders. “Well, this has been a fun morning. I mean, well, it’s only 6. Why don’t I get you ladies breakfast, eh?”

Popuri chuckled, “You sure it’s not too early for you to show your face?”

He grinned, “It was a clean crime, no one saw us!”

A ‘clean crime’. The crime part was the issue. Jill warily looked at Popuri, a little confused. Why…why was she still wearing the necklace though? Did…did she still think about him? What had he seen if Popuri still wore it?

Cliff led them off to the Inn where they were just starting to open up. Cliff went up to the counter after they had gotten a table and Jill stared after him. She blinked when she saw a girl had caught his attention. Jill frowned and stared over the apparent waitress. She had orange, reddish hair wrapped in a white ribbon, wearing a yellow tank top and a pair of overalls. She looked exactly like her little brother’s best friend, Ann, except that Ann had beautiful freckles. Jill raised an eyebrow at her and Popuri sighed. “That’s Ann.”

How even? Jill turned to Popuri who had made the comment, mystified how Annaliese Robins had…or was a doppelganger to another woman not an hour from where she lived with the exact same name. Popuri groaned. “She’s a little stuck up. But...”

She stopped for a moment, then glanced at Cliff. Jill glanced at her then to him. He was still looking at Ann...

“I guess he likes that in a woman. He swears that’s the love of his life.”

XXX

It wasn’t like she meant to avoid Cliff after hearing this little bit of info on his love life but it just kind of happened that way. In some fashion of irony, Popuri hung out with her more and when she finally seemed to figure out Jill’s growing infatuation with Cliff, she was apologizing every moment of the day.

“I’m so sorry!”

Jill laughed despite herself, “Popuri, really, I’m over it!”

Popuri sighed, “I know but it’s difficult. You want to be supportive but when you have feelings, it’s just not easy.”

They were walking to Jill’s house after doing some shopping. Popuri smoothed her red skirt and sighed once again. Jill smiled softly. Popuri would definitely be on the counter-culture side of things outside of Mineral Town. Peppy but a little on the ‘dark side’. Koji and Popuri even liked somewhat similar music. Jill wanted to call her older brother to be nosy but…it pretty much changed him over entirely. She just wished she could ask what the deal with the necklace was.

“You should talk to him though!” said Popuri.

“I will, I will. I just need a little time away from him, tis’ all.”

“I see...”

Jill sighed, changing the subject, “Wanna watch a movie tonight?”

Popuri nodded, “Sure, sounds cool.”

Then she suddenly clapped, “How about a sleep over?”

Jill blinked. It had been a while. Most of her girlfriends from school generally had sleepovers with their boyfriends after they hit fifteen. Her family would spit fire first. But Popuri was a little older than her so she figured she’d be over that sort of thing too.

“Um...sure.”

Popuri seemed excited and broke off away from Jill to her house, yelling. “I’ll come at 7!”

“Okay!”

Yea, she was up to something.

Jill stretched out on her bed, eating popcorn, as Popuri sat cross-legged, pointing poignantly, “Truth or dare?”

Jill laughed, “You should just take out the ‘dare’.”

Popuri grabbed her soda, “So I take that’s ‘truth’?”

“Yup” said Jill, sipping her drink.

“Have you had a lot of boyfriends? I feel like you’d have to knock ‘em back with a shovel.”

“Ha!” Jill snorted, grabbing a slice of pizza, “No freakin’ way. I have—well, I have a lot of brothers and they are overprotective as hell. And my dad pretends he’s not but he is too. I’m the only daughter and I guess ‘big bad men’ are scary. I’ve only gotten to even entertain two boyfriends and they almost pissed themselves thinking my brothers were around the corner so they broke up with me.” Popuri groaned, “I guess that is one thing about my brother: He doesn’t care about what I do. I don’t know what he cares about though.” “O-Oh. Well, um, I turn the question back on you. Have you had a lot of boyfriends?” “Eh, more like ‘beaus’. I was seeing this guy when I was fifteen, sixteen. He was only here for a year but we weren’t serious. None of them around here are” she shrugged. “O-Oh” Jill smiled anxiously. So…should she tell him…? Popuri suddenly grinned, “So since it’s just ‘truth’, let me ask this next: have you ever--” A timid, soft knock came at Jill’s front door and she stood, grinning as well. “Maybe it’s fate you didn’t finish that question, eh?”

Popuri winked and Jill left her bedroom to answer the door. Opening it slowly, her eyes widened when she saw a demure Cliff standing at her door, his arms behind his back and staring at his feet.

“Hey, Jill...”

She felt her heart pounding but she said calmly. “Hi, Cliff.”

He coughed softly, “Um...I dunno what I did but...I’m sorry. I-It probably was that crazy flag stunt, right?”

She laughed nervously, “You didn’t do anything! What would give you that idea?”

He frowned, “Haven’t you been...you know, avoiding me?”

She shook her head, lying. There was no way she could tell him that she was jealous…that she liked him. Juvenile at best. “I’ve just been busy, that’s all.”

“Oh...”

She frowned when she saw he was upset. How could she say that? That she was too busy for him…“Um, but I’m free now! You wanna hang out with me and Popuri?”

He looked up, a hopeful glint in his eyes. “Really?”

“Of course, silly. Come in” she smiled.

He blushed cutely for a second and handed her some daisies he had behind his back.

“Um, just in case you were mad at me” he said sheepishly. She blushed, not used to non-relatives giving her flowers. Her boyfriends didn’t want to leave evidence, after all. “T-Thanks...but I’m not.”

“Oh well” he said happily.

She let him in and he followed behind her into her bedroom. He looked a bit freaked out when he came to her door. “Um, should I? We’re not discussing our feelings and boys, are we?”

She shoved him, laughing, “Just go in!”

Popuri waved to Cliff, looking smug. Yea, she probably set this up. “Hi, Cliff!”

“Hi!” he waved back.

He sat on the floor and then looked a bit scared. “Oh my God, this is one of those girly things.”

Popuri giggled, “Of course!”

Jill watched with amusement as Popuri put Cliff’s hair up into pigtails with two big pink ribbons. He even let her put blue eye shadow on him. Jill laughed, leaning back against the bed. “Oh my God.”

He walked to the mirror and his eyes widened, “Wow...”

Popuri giggled, “I’m jealous, Cliff, you make a better-looking woman than I do.”

He chuckled, “I’ll attempt to take that as a compliment though hardly. I look like a very masculine ‘Oops, I Did It Again’ era Britney Spears.”

Then he went into an off-tune, improvised version of “I’m a Slave 4 U”, sending them into hysterical laughter. Jill chuckled when Popuri looked through her albums, gasping when she would recognize a song she hadn’t heard in a while. She started to sing A.D.I.D.A.S by Korn. Yes, the more time she spent with Popuri, she was starting to feel like maybe she was very much Koji’s type...

Jill’s cheeks were red from consistent laughing with the variety of karaoke the two went through. Her high school friends had all went to college or abroad and, while she still kept up with two of them, for the most part she got left behind after high school graduation. She…did miss this. When she took the dishes to the kitchen, she glanced at her clock and her mouth fell open in shock. 4 a.m.? She winced. She’d lost track of time and there was no way she could wake up in two hours to start farm work. She sighed and headed to her bedroom and Cliff noticed her stressed look. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s already 4 and I have to wake up at 6” she groaned.

“Oh, well, don’t worry! I’ll help you in the morning” said Cliff brightly.

“Me too!” Popuri added. Jill smiled, touched. “Really? You guys are the best...ready to sleep?”

Cliff frowned and fidgeted, uncomfortable, “Um, I guess I should--”

Jill glared, “I am not letting you walk to the inn at 4 in the morning! Here, sleep. We promise we won’t do anything to you.”

Popuri giggled at the priceless look of astonishment on Cliff’s face. She went and pulled out a futon she had brought when she hadn’t known the house would be fully furnished. She set it on the floor for him and he looked relieved.

“Oh, I thought you wanted me to sleep with you.”

She pushed him, hiding her extreme embarrassment, and Popuri laughed, climbing into one of the twin beds that was in the room for some reason along with Jill’s big bed which she hadn’t moved yet, maybe originally for a child. Jill climbed in and smiled.

“Night, guys.”

“Night...” yawned Cliff sleepily.

“Night...” sighed Popuri.

Jill fell asleep for a moment, then woke up to stare at the sleeping Cliff. He looked so sweet. She’d missed him. So perhaps in the end...his friendship meant a lot more to her.

XXX

“So, who the fuck have you met?” “Koji Yagami.” Jill rolled her eyes as they sat around the table, waiting for hotpot at the restaurant. Yagami Shaun, the baby of the family, graduated from high school, currently May. She had gotten her work done early today to venture home to Hondo. It was…a bit surreal already, weirdly enough. Their mother glowered at her older brother who had made the remark at the celebration dinner, the surly fellow a bit tipsy on sake. Koji looked nonplussed. “I just wanted to ask if she had met anyone in her new location.” …It wasn’t like they were anything. In fact, Cliff didn’t even seem slightly interested in her. That ‘oh, I thought you wanted me to sleep with you’ relief solidified it to her, in fact. But, well…she wasn’t certain SHE could talk about Cliff without making it sound like it wasn’t something. The icing on the cake was that Izumi deal she hadn’t looked any further into but, boy, would it be ironic. Opening her mouth, she was about to announce she was good friends with the infamous Popuri. Alas, she paused. Of course, Koji…might not like THAT either. Staring, she drawled, “…The mayor wears a top hat?” “Uh, what?” With a giggle, the pink haired woman seated beside her swatted her arm, “Unless he’s a cute man with a top hat, Jill, I’m not sure that’s what interests the crowd.” Jill snickered, “Nee-san, he is the most INTERESTING thing about that sorry town.” Yagami Lyla sighed, “Oh, that’s a shame.” “Is it?” leered Shin in response to his wife. Shaun pouted, “Hey, I graduated today! Stop grilling nee-san about nonexistent boyfriends.” “Thanks, Shaun…I think” Jill drawled. Nelly snorted, readjusting the buttons of his dress shirt, “We already know all about you, punk. You’re going to fucking Keio University and are renting a house in the Azabu district because that’s where SAILOR MOON was set.” Biting her lip as Shaun beamed about this, Jill stammered, “A-And Ann is going with you, right?” “Yep!” Ann…really, Jill imagined the two had to be related, they were both blue-eyed redheads. Shaun’s good high school friend though, her name was Annaliese Robins and was mostly American and European. As far as she could tell, Ann in Mineral Town was Japanese alone but…her dad was named Doug so maybe not? She…couldn’t see being on good enough terms with her to ask. Koji stared at her absently before sighing, reaching into his pocket, “…Anyway, Jill, my school is pretty close to one of the docks near Mineral Town so, if you ever need to stop by or something, here’s a key.” Jill frowned as he handed her a spare to his apartment. “Oh, all right. Thank you, nii-san. You should be done this Summer, right?” “Probably Autumn” Koji yawned, “Just a few classes, I was a bit behind.” She saw out of the corner of her eye the way Shin looked a bit dismayed. Oh. Koji had to take time off to help him, the plan was a full year early. Lyla rubbed Shin’s arm, smiling, “Well, that’s still a full semester early, Koji, that’s great.” “Yea, overachiever” sulked Nelly at his twin. Koji was unbothered, “Yea, yea. I…I’m a little torn on some things but I guess I’ll hit that road when I come to it.” Hmm? Their mama smiled, waving toward the door, “Yama!” Her dad briefly had to run to the hospital to manage some things right after Shaun’s ceremony, greeting everyone with a smile as he approached, “Hello, everyone.” “Hey, pops. Jill’s got some dude with a top hat.” The hell. While she meant to be angry at Koji, she was honestly more amused by the look on her father’s face which was most likely more the reason the idiot made the comment: to get a reaction. “Who wears a top hat??” “Dad” Jill giggled, “It’s the mayor. The MAYOR. He’s old and he’s short, you have nothing to be concerned about. He might be involved with some guy from Wasaba named Kano too.” “Kano?” Yamada echoed, sitting beside his wife, “Kano…” Dana smirked at her husband, pouring him a drink, “Dear, I don’t think you have to have known EVERYONE in Wasaba.” “He’s a photographer” Jill added. Yamada tapped Dana’s shoulder with the back of his hand lightly, his eyes brightening, “The Photographer.” “God, we knew everyone in Wasaba” Dana groaned heavily. ‘The Photographer’? Nelly laughed, rubbing his hands together when the pots of broth were brought over with trays of meats and veggies to cook, “That’s a very uncreative street name. What was yours again, dad?” Shrugging, Yamada sighed, “Something stupid, I’m sure, if I even had one.” “Hey, sorry I’m late, I HAD to finish that stupid exam.” Her twin sauntered up, at last, also having been present at the graduation but taking off to take an exam in class. He settled between Shaun and her. Dana smiled, “You’re just in time, dear.” “Yea, we were talking about how Jill only thought to mention some old man in a top hat with a boyfriend” Koji teased. She stuck out her tongue at him as she gathered chicken and nabe in her basket. Tony snorted, starting to build his portion, “Isn’t that a good thing?” “Like, how do you KNOW the guy is his boyfriend? Maybe he just needs a place to crash. Me and Ann are gonna live together” Shaun replied. Generally everyone paused, looking to him slowly. “…Um, what now? ANN is going to live with you?” Nelly droned. Shaun nodded emphatically, “She only gets money for tuition for school, she wouldn’t have enough for a place so she’s going to pay our utilities while I pay the rent at our place.” “…Are you sure her…dad is okay with that, dude?” Koji questioned slowly. “Eh? Why wouldn’t he be?” Dana leered, “They are FRIENDS. I think it’s fine.” Their dad gave her a strange ‘seriously?’ look. Bleh, they sucked, that’s what was wrong with them anyway. No one of opposite genders could POSSIBLY just be ‘friends’. Sure, Lyla and Shin were ‘friends’ at one point too and were now married and so were their parents but that didn’t mean EVERYONE. …Of course, Jill…slightly saw the ‘concern’, Shaun was obliviously smitten with Ann to a degree. Just Ann didn’t see him that way! So, it was fine. Jill…could commiserate.

Cliff and Jill were walking from the river after a long day of fishing. It was just one of those boring days where she’d finished up early and Cliff had nothing to do...which was just about every day. She glanced at him as it seemed his eyes were locked to his feet. She raised an eyebrow. Cliff and distant were two words that never went together. Finally, after a couple minutes, he asked quietly. “So, who ya’ going to the Goddess Festival with?”

She blinked, “The ‘what’ festival?”

He looked up, that vibrant look she was more used to appearing on his face. “You don’t know!”

She shook her head and he turned around, grinning. “It’s this huge shindig where all the girls of the village get together and learn to dance this whacked out 16th century dance but it’s, like, tradition. They dress up in these pink gowns and wear these flower veils and stuff--”

“Sounds like hell!” she exclaimed.

He laughed, “Maybe to you but it’s still kind of fun because after you finish your little dance, you get to eat then dance by yourself. It’s like a high school dance.”

“...Oh.”

“So, who ya’ going with?” he said suddenly.

“Going with?”

“Yeah” he said slowly.

“I guess no one. I don’t know if I’d even want to go” she frowned.

He looked mortified and grabbed her hands. She blinked up at him and he said happily.

“No way! Come with me!”

“Um, sure, if you want...”

“Really? Sweet!”

He released her hands and hummed happily. She raised an eyebrow, not understanding why he was so pleased. When they came to her door, he winked. “Hey, you know this is kind of considered a date, right?”

Her heart leapt and she gaped at him as he grinned.

“See ya’ Saturday. Might wanna see Pu on the details on dance practice” he said as he walked away, leaving her gawking at him.

She clasped her heart and blushed. A date?

XXX

“That Cliff. Such a romantic” sighed Popuri.

Jill lied on Popuri’s bed, staring at the wooden ceiling, still astonished, “I guess...” Popuri smiled, “Got your dress?”

Jill pulled the packet out of her bag and unfolded it. “Haven’t looked at it--”

Her mouth fell open in horror as it unraveled. It was a pink…frock. “What the hell is this?! I wouldn’t wear this to my own funeral!”

Popuri laughed, “They aren’t very creative, are they?”

Being that her mother was now a world-famous designer, she expected a certain level of…quality. This was not the quality of Yagada so she was probably being a little snooty.

“Well, in all the years I’ve done it, you can add little things. I wouldn’t go making it a tube top or anything unless you know what you’re doing.”

Jill walked to Popuri’s desk and cut the sleeves off with a mischievous grin. “I have to know what I’m doing with who my mother is, Popuri.” Popuri snickered, “Yea, I’ll leave that fancy stuff to you. I usually just add some flowers. I make this thing a tube top, the girls are busting out to party too.” Laughing, Jill folded the dress back up, “Oh no, I understand. You have a lot more to account for than I do.” She was quite busty. Like, very busty. Popuri was curved like an absolute hourglass too. It was crazy how much she was Jill’s brother’s type. It was just…unnatural. Somehow, she hadn’t had the heart to ask if Popuri…actually remembered though.

“Well, you’re not that flat. I’m sure Cliff will love it” Popuri teased.

Jill blushed and glowered at her, pouting. Cliff…he’d seemed rather depressed when he thought she had a date to this thing and then he’d been so happy to ask her. What did it all mean?

Did Cliff…somehow feel the same way she did?

XXX

Popuri came and practiced the dance with her all day that week up until the day before. On Saturday, Jill woke up extra early to get her chores done so she’d have extra time to get ready. She pulled on her dress, pleased with the sewing and extra embroidering she did to make the top more like an empire style. Maybe even her mama would be impressed.

She placed flowers through her hair before staring at herself in the mirror and chuckling. She should take a picture and send it to her brothers to freak them out.

A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts and she rushed to get it. Her eyes widened.

Cliff stood there wearing a black dress shirt and a pair of dark colored jeans that didn’t look like he’d just thrown them on. His hair was down and his neck was accented by a leather necklace with a tribal symbol. So, Cliff could look hotter. He ran his fingers through his hair before he looked down. His eyes widened. “O-Oh.”

She smiled shyly, “I look okay?”

“Okay...?”

She stared at him in confusion before a large smile crossed his face, “Okay isn’t good enough. But you should know that.”

He grabbed her hand and winked playfully. “Ready to go stir up some trouble?”

“Oh no...” she groaned.

“I don’t mean that kind of trouble, silly.”

...Oh no.

XXX

The traditional dance went over well enough. She kind of became the center of attention, unwittingly, which angered some of the other girls. It wasn’t intentional. Oh well, the important part was…time to party!

Both her and Popuri were grinding against Cliff, who at first was a bit sheepish but lightened up, of course. What she liked most about him, really. The older adults scolded their little spectacle out on the dance floor but it wasn’t like their kids weren’t doing similar. She guessed that was kind of the issue with local events: everyone was present.

Jill’s eyes caught Ann’s, who was giving her a rather strange expression. What? Popuri giggled suddenly, leaving from behind Cliff. Jill blinked at her then noticed a slow song had come on. She blushed and Cliff took her hand.

“Come on. You’re not shy, are ya’?” he teased lightly.

“Of course not” she scoffed, still blushing.

He placed an arm around her waist and she fought back blushing more. She carefully put her arm around his waist. It was one of those magical moments she hadn’t believed in up until that second. She rested her cheek on his chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his heart. She felt his chin on the top of her head.

At that moment, she was sure she couldn’t get any happier.

Popuri watched the two happily as they danced, sipping some of the punch. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ann and Mary, standing close enough for her to hear them.

”Look at that” scowled Mary.

“Hmph” muttered Ann.

“Why are you letting her steal your man?” questioned Mary.

“My man? You know best I’m not interested in Cliff though” said Ann, cutting her eyes at Mary.

Popuri was relieved. That just meant that Jill could pursue now that Cliff was interested too. Mary rolled her eyes toward her own mother, Manna, who was chatting in the corner.

“…But, just for the hell of it.”

Eh? Popuri watched in shock as Ann started to walk toward Cliff and Jill. Alarmed, Popuri started to go after Ann when Mary stopped her.

“Now shouldn’t you be getting home? I wouldn’t want Rick to worry.”

Popuri gaped at her, knowing she couldn’t really smack the woman out of the way in this crowd, but…she gritted her teeth. Damn.

It was all too perfect. Jill wanted it to stay like this forever, if…it were allowed. For once, her brothers weren’t…here to just shut this down, to terrorize. Yes, they would find out there were far more interesting things here than a man in a top hat, but…she wanted to be allowed to have something too. And…if it were with Cliff, if…he wanted her too…

“Cliff?” she murmured softly.

“Hmm?” he said, his voice calm.

“What do you t--”

Her question was cut off by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, sort of expecting Popuri, but instead…Ann? Ann pretended to smile at them, the gesture almost too fake.

“Hi, Cliff” she said, completely ignoring Jill.

“Um, he-hey, Ann. Wh-What’s up?” he faltered.

“Oh, nothing. Just a little confused, usually you ask me to dance” she pouted. “O-Oh yea, th-that’s true.”

Jill glanced at him as he got all shy with Ann who was literally just smiling at him. She gulped and blurted, “Um, why don’t you two dance? I’ll...I’ll just go home. I have work to do and I have to get up early, so...um, you can have him.”

She winced at her own words and Ann smiled, “Why, how generous of you.”

“Jill--” started Cliff.

She rushed off, not wanting to hear anything he had to say. She wasn’t mad at him. He hadn’t asked her to give him up to Ann. She panicked. She…she wasn’t used to opposition, especially when the opposition could get him tongue-tied. She blinked back tears and ran as quickly as she could from the square. No, Jill, it…wasn’t even opposition. She guessed they were just friends.

She ran blindly past Barley’s farm and Popuri’s home, taking a shortcut to avoid people, just wanting to get back to her farm and never leave, absolutely embarrassed. Following that intention alone, she ran right into what felt like a brick wall. She gasped and started to fall back. Heels weren’t good for maintaining balance.

Arms reached out and wrapped around her waist, catching her. She winced and touched whomever it was’ chest. She gasped.

“I’m...I’m sorry!” she apologized.

She looked up and breathed, startled. He had warm, tanned skin with chocolate eyes, wearing a purple bandana around black curly bangs that hung randomly on his forehead. Dressed in a white t-shirt, a pair of blue violet cargo shorts, and flip flops, he looked like a lifeguard. He tilted his head and stared down at her.

“It’s cool. You good?”

She straightened up and patted at her dress, mostly because she was embarrassed. Her cheeks were flushed and she mumbled. “A-Ah, yes. I’m sorry...”

“Jill!”

She didn’t turn her head to even glance at the owner of the voice. Cliff... she felt his presence behind her and felt him huffing for breath.

“Jill, wha...why’d ya’ leave?” he wheezed.

“Dunno, don’t you want to be with Ann?” she said, more sardonic than she meant to be.

“What?? No! I-I mean, not-not really--”

He stopped and she finally turned to glance at him. She was surprised by the look on his face. It was a mixture between irritation and...territorial? The expression was rather disturbing as it went directly against what she understood about him. She backed away slowly. The guy behind her laughed.

“What an idiot. Letting your date run off so you can be with that chick that doesn’t give a fuck about you. This one is way hotter than Ann too.”

She blushed some at his comment, turning to glance at him and suddenly wondering exactly who he was as she hadn’t seen him around before. Cliff growled.

“Shut up and mind your own business, Kai.”

Kai, she guessed was his name, waved his hands, “Well, excuse me! If you did let her bounce for Ann, that is an injustice. But I’ll stay out of it.”

He continued back up the route in the direction she came and winked. “If you want a man with eyes and common sense, miss, I live on the beach during the summer. Drop by some time.”

Jill just kind of stared at his back in shock. Wow. A sound beside her interrupted her thoughts and she turned to glance at the source. Cliff’s eye was twitching. She gulped and turned away from him. She started to feel extremely uncomfortable. Who was this? This wasn’t Cliff, was it? His angry features melted suddenly then he turned and gave her a serious look. “Stay away from him.”

Her eyes widened before they narrowed and she stepped closer to him, staring directly into his face. “Who are you to tell me who to stay away from?”

He frowned and shook his head, “Just listen to me! He’s a bad guy! I’m trying to protect you!”

Oh, hell no. She had FIVE of those back home. “And who asked you to protect me?”

She stomped past him and he followed her quickly. “Where are you going?”

“Home” she grumbled in response.

He caught her elbow and at her current level of stress, that was not a smart move. She swung around and slapped his hand away. His eyes widened, startled. All her senses told her to beg for forgiveness. She didn’t mean to. He released her, rubbing the back of his hand.

”What’s even going on, Jill? What’s the problem?” he asked slowly.

She gulped. “Problem…?”

She felt tears sting her eyes. At least this much was a little too new to her. Even the two boyfriends she’d had were more basic than this. They just passed a note asking her to be their girlfriend, really. Here, she didn’t know if she was supposed to confess to him her feelings or wait for him to do so. If she confessed, she knew he wouldn’t feel the same. He liked Ann. But, of course, if he did like Ann, he wouldn’t ever confess to her. It was a lose-lose situation. She turned on her heel, walking away. Cliff stopped following her and finally murmured. “Jill...”

She stopped and glanced back at him, not knowing what to expect. She hoped…

“...Really. Stay away from him.”

Her mouth fell open, shocked. She turned her head back forward, biting back the stinging tears of heartbreak, and ran off again, screaming, “Go to hell!”

That was the beginning of Summer and the end of the best Spring of her life.

XXX

End Notes

Aww, they are so eighteen/nineteen year olds.

So there’s this band from the 90s, they fell under this category called ‘nu-metal’. Very screamy, very heavy in guitar—not the hardest but harder than, say, most current popular rock. They’re called ‘Korn’ and they have a song called ‘A.D.I.D.A.S’ which stands for ‘All day I dream about sex’, not the shoe. Popuri sang that one.

I don't own Britney Spears 'Slave 4 U', which, uh, seems like a bit of a touchy name now, I guess? But I was a jam when it came out, believe me.

#story of seasons fanfiction #harvest moon fanfiction #darkryuu #writing #fanfiction #step toward the future #claire x cliff #story of seasons #harvest moon #bokumono

0 notes

ellana-ravenwood · 3 years ago

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50 years with you - Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader (x Batfam)

Synopsis : 50 years being married..Surely, this calls for a party ? Except of course, said party is planned by your children, who never ask for your permission. And they drag poor young Terry McGinnis (aka “New addition to the family”) along with them...

This was requested by @legendarylearner18, been a while since I wrote a request haha. Also, first time I write something with Terry in it ! :o I really wasn’t planning on writing this, as I didn’t have time but..Sudden burst of inspiration right before bed. Anyway I hope you’ll like this, comments and/or reblogs are of course, as usual, very appreciated :

my masterlists : @ella-ravenwood-archives

_________________________________________________

************

It’s early in the morning, and a warm hand caressing your cheek is slowly taking you away from your deep slumber.

Too bad. You were having such a pleasant dream.

Well, more of a souvenir, really. Of a day long ago. A beautiful, beautiful day.

Full of love, laughter, and maybe a little sibling rivalry...How nice of your subconscious, to recall such time to your mind, and to turn it into dreams.

That beautiful beautiful day, was it the last one you spend all together ? Yeah. Yeah, you slowly realized, nostalgic and a little sad.

You were dreaming of a day spent with all of your children, and your Bruce, and Alfred...oh Alfred...

Yes. Yes this was the last day you all spend together, before Alfred’s passing, and before your children were all grown up and so, oh so busy.

Of course, you still saw them. But it wasn’t like before. It could never be, like before. First because Alfred wasn’t around anymore. And second, because you never quite managed to gather them ALL together again. It was always too difficult, their schedules were so different...

Your pleasant dream was, as you were waking up, fading into a nostalgic feeling. Damn. You missed your kids so much. Getting old sucked. And-

“Morning, my love.”

Ah. But everything didn’t suck. No. No some things were constant. Like love. Love for your children, of course. But also love for that man...Ah that man.

Bruce Wayne.

Your Broosh, the love of your life. Still here, after all this years.

After all this years ? Those words made you feel like you had to remember som- OH !

Of course. This was why he woke you up. Today was special. And he’s never been a patient man. You had to admit that lately, you did sleep in a little too much. Being old sucked...

But him ? Even at 80, he had a hard time getting rid of his old habit of not sleeping lots, and would always be up early, even while it has been a very long time since he last wore the Batman suit.

Today. Special. Was it really already 50 years ?

Wow. Fifty years married to that man.

Your strong, shared love was one of the only thing, you knew it, that got you to go this far. There really were difficult times, along those years. But you two stuck together. Never giving up on one another.

“Hello, my Heart.”

A kiss. Soft. Right on your lips.

“You know what today is ?”

“Um, Friday ?”

He chuckles, knowing full well you’re teasing him. And as he looks at you, you’re, for the millionth time, struck by the adoration and love you’re seeing in those eyes. Were those really just for you ?

Yes. Over fifty years ago, if someone would’ve told you you were going to still be as in love with him as you were then, you weren’t sure you’d believe them. After all, at the time, you sort of lost hope for “true love”, and although your feelings for him were already strong, nobody could’ve guessed you’d go this far together.

Well, by nobody it really meant you two. Because anyone who ever saw you together knew instantly you were meant for each other. Clark told you that many times. “At first I was shocked he had a wife, and a damn family. But once I saw you together ? It all made sense” he said. And you understood him, for sure the Batman he knew at the beginning was certainly not portraying himself as a family man.

But Clark, and many others, learned to see past his shell. Although you were the first to do so. And he was the first to teach you what real love was, too. You knew that he could decipher the same love and adoration in your eyes, too.

It’s emotions you were never able to hide, when it was just you and him.

And as your eyes lock, you’re once more reminded of how wonderful those past fifty years by his side were (although sometimes rocky), as nostalgia rushes over you when you think about how long ago it was, that you adopted Dick. And how all your children were grown, now. They didn’t need you as much...

************

Tim took care of Wayne Enterprises, and was overbooked all the time. He did come by to see you two though, and would fall asleep at the dinner table...Some things never change ? You did tell him to slow down though. Him too, wasn’t getting any younger, and though he could endure the lack of sleep as a teen, but now ? Mmmm. That boy will always worry you.

Dick retired from being Nightwing after too many wounds, including one leaving him paralyzed for a while (how fortunate, that Barbara always stuck around him, right ? And oh, how history unfortunately repeats itself sometimes). He was still living in Blüdhaven, and had his own little family now. He was always so busy with so many things, although he did come by too.

Jason was probably the one who came to see you the most often. He stayed in Gotham, and made quite a nice career out of writing books (like you, which surprised NO ONE given his love for literature). Although it was often a source of tremendous pain for him, your boy (now a man...Well, he’s been a man for decades actually) has never been able to leave it behind. He would visit at least once a week, if not more, and was probably the one making sure to see everyone in the family the most. Not surprising really, family has always been important to your Jaybird. That’s why it was so hard for him to accept, and forgive, the fact Bruce never went after the Joker and killed him. He knew now, though. That was one thing you were glad was in the past.

Damian left a year ago, on a grand mission. He wanted to reform the League of Assassin. He took up the Batman mantel for a while, but then found a grander calling. If he could achieve his plan, then the League could truly turn into something that could save the World in so many ways. You missed him. Lots. Especially since you knew that it would be a while before he would come back. He warned you about it. You didn’t try to stop him. This was something he needed to do. He wanted to finally put the final touch to his redemption. Unbeknownst to you, your son was going as fast as he could, so he could come back to Gotham. His greatest fear was that you or his father die while he’s not there...You were getting old.

Cassandra didn’t retire from her vigilante days. She was probably the only one actively still working. Gotham didn’t really need “Bat-people” anymore... Although lately, things took a turn for the worst again. She opened her own ballet school. Your only daughter came by whenever she could, which unfortunately wasn’t as often as you wished.

Duke was extremely involved in Gotham’s social work life. After what happened to his parents, and finishing his teen years growing up with you, he took a great liking to helping people. In every way he could. He was the one, nowadays, bringing forth charities he thought Wayne Enterprises should support. He also didn’t gave up The Signal mantel, and was often seen around town too.

Yes. All of them still came to see you and Bruce. But it just wasn’t the same, you know ? Getting old...It really did suck. You just ended up being more and more alone, as your children grew up and went on to have their own lives.

Oh. Oh you wished you could turn back time if only for a moment. You think you’d go talk to Alfred first. And ask him to help you put together a feast for your entire family...

“A penny for your thoughts ?”

************

Bruce’s voice brings you back to reality. You shake your head and smile at him. Living in the past was never good, that’s something you definitely learned from growing old with Bruce.

Ah. Growing old with someone...yeah, it wasn’t all bad.

Sure, you couldn’t gather up all your babies at once. But he was still there. He was always there. Bruce never left your side, and you his. And yes, growing old with him was honestly not too bad. You never felt lonely, that’s for sure.

How many people on this earth could say : “I found the one, that person that always knows how to cheer me up, that listens and cares. I found the one, that person who understands me like nobody ever did. I found the one, with whom I can just sit in total silence, and still feel utterly comfortable. I found the one.” ? You knew : not many.

Finding the one, one real love, love of your life, life entirely spend together. How precious. To never feel alone, because you did find your genuine other half.

Plus, the existence of people like Diana, or John Constantine and his mystic powers, sort of proved to you there must be something after Death. Everything pointed to it. And you were sure that you’d find everyone there once this was over, and that he would still be here, too. Somehow, you don’t think you’d have to wait for him too long.

This was maybe a little morbid of you, but you always thought that if Bruce died first, you would follow after quickly. And vice versa. It didn’t feel possible, that one of you could go on living without the other much longer. Especially not now, at your age.

“A penny for your thoughts ?”

You didn’t want to tell him you wished all your kids were here, and that Alfred wasn’t gone. You didn’t want to tell him you were feeling suddenly too nostalgic, borderline sad. You knew it would hurt him, too. So you just said :

“Just that fifty years is a long time, yet I’m still not tired of you waking me up with a kiss.”

To be fair, you were together for more than fifty years. But you sort of didn’t pay attention at the beginning (and there was that infamous long months you “broke up” and Dick and Clark managed to patch things up with you two), and your wedding day became when you two started to actually count the years.

He kissed you once more, one of those soft kisses you liked so much, and caressed your sides, slowly lowering his head to your chest and resting it there, right above the beating of your heart.

As the years went by, both your libido went down. It was all rather biological, really. Most humans lost it, and to be fair right now, at 80 ? Definitely couldn’t do what you used to do...You almost blushed, at your old age, thinking about oh, oh all the things he did to you over the years.

But the cravings for physical contact ? Hugs ? Kisses ? Just holding hands ? You don’t think this would ever disappear. If Bruce was in the same room than you, it felt weird not to touch him in some way. Whether it was your legs across his. Your head in his lap, his in yours. Or simply sitting shoulders to shoulders... Across those 50 years, the need to be close never died down.

And so you reveled in him putting his head on you, arms around you, lying down right next to you (there used to be a time, he would lay on top of you, as you always loved how safe it made you feel...but he was a little too heavy for your old bones, now).

You were running your hand through his hair, a motion that always had a soothing effect on him, as he said :

“Happy anniversary, my Love. Fifty years by your side went by too quickly.”

“Happy anniversary to you too, my Heart. Should w-”

BANG, the door to your bedroom opened suddenly.

“IS THERE ANYONE IN THIS HOUSE ?! HELLOOOOOOO !! Been calling for you guys for ages, guess old age makes you DEAF. Oh no look I knocked but I opened the door at the same time, how does it feel ugh ? Y’all better not...oh god, you really better not, you’re way too damn old for doing the nasty !”

What ?

************

“Jason.”

Bruce said simply, as indeed your son was the one who barged in your bedroom. He was wearing one of his infamous shit eating grin, clearly very pleased with himself about his little surprise.

“Damn you’re old. Once upon a time, you would’ve heard me coming and thrown something at m-HEY !”

A pillow to the face is what he got. Bruce still had good aim. Jason threw back said pillow to you and Bruce and...

Laughter.

What else could happen ?

This scene was very reminiscent of a lot of moments Jason just barged in (eyes close, always, just in case...it was always quite funny, to see him come into your room, no knocking of course, with his eyes close to avoid any further trauma). A definite scene of déjà-vu. This has happened before.

From the day he came into your life, to now.

Aaah, this was a nice feeling to have. A sense that yes, some things would never change. Like your son’s laughter, his voice was much deeper yes, but it still had the same tone than when he was younger.

Imagine that. Forty-five years old, and yet he still acted like such a child sometimes.

“Always a pleasure to see you son, but what are you doing here ?”

“Wha-What am I doing here ? What ? You didn’t think we were going to miss the show, did you ?”

************

You are...so touched.

So much so, that you’re crying. In fact, you really can’t stop crying, as you hold onto your husband’s shirt and hide your face in it.

They’re all here. They’re all here ! Well, except for Damian. He was too far of course. He called you just a few days ago, saying he still had so much work. But the rest of your children were here. All of them.

And in the middle ? Terry. Evidently, he had been dragged out of his home by Dick, and brought here. His hair were still disheveled, and you could see on his face he had no idea what was going on.

It was almost comical. You were sure that you would laugh about it later, thinking back on the scene. But right now, you were a crying mess as they were (almost) all reunited, for the first time since a very, very long time.

You were starting to feel better when-

“Mom, where do I put this ?”

A voice you didn’t expect to hear resounded in the living room. You turned around and...There he was, with a cake in his hands.

“DAMIAN ? WHAAAAT ?!”

You exclaimed, and you ran to him, forgetting your bad knees and joints, and your cane, as you jumped in his arms.

“My baby ! My baby, you’re here !”

Terry wasn’t sure to understand what was going on. He never saw you have such a strong reaction (of course, he rarely saw you interacting with your children...life got in the way of you seeing them way too much). Evidently, you were happy to see that man.

That man he recognized as one of your sons, Damian. He never met him, but he saw pictures of him all around the house. Damian was the only one of your children he hadn’t met yet, because he left right as Terry started to interact with Bruce.

“You little rascal, I can’t believe you lied to me !” You screamed, squishing your son in your arms. And it was actually really funny, how he was tall and big like his father yet you almost manhandled him, at your age.

“Grayson made me !” Damian answered, pointing a finger at his oldest brother.

“What-Hey ! How dare you put that on me ! -short pause- It was Jason’s idea !”

“...EXCUSE ME ?!”

It was odd to Terry, to witness all those people, people he admired for year and looked up to...fight like children.

The mighty Nightwing. The fearsome Red Hood. The kind (Y/N) Wayne.

He never expected to see them act that way. As if they were kids again. And in a way, when you were around, they were.

So what if they all were well in their forties now ? They would forever be your babies, as your reaction upon seeing Damian proved it. And this...Was very soothing for Terry.

It was proof that you were all humans, after all. When he first met Bruce, and talked to him, the man appeared so bitter, cold and harsh.

But then...Then Terry started to come over the house (well, to the Batcave specifically). And he met you for the first time, as you brought tea and biscuits to him (you weren’t about to give up a habit given to you by Alfred).

And slowly but surely, over that past year, Terry really got to know you and Bruce. And your children. But just a bit. He would see them pass by quickly, or leave just as he arrived. It was clear you were a tight knit family, but he never realized how tight up until now.

And how weird it was, to see Jason, right now, grab his brother (Dick) in a chokehold and say :

“Snitches get stitches !”

“Why are you attacking me, Damian is the one who-AAARGH MY BACK !”

Jason, knowing of his brother’s old injury, immediately let go...only to be viciously tackled by Dick who said :

“Can’t believe you always fall for it, you big softie.”

“HEY DO NOT RUFFLE MY HAIR, I’M NOT A CHILD ANYMORE !”

“Not even two minutes together, and you guys can’t even act properly.” Tim sighed, looking at Cass and Duke and...All three of them rolled their eyes, as if they were used to this kind of antics.

Terry felt strange. A warmth was spreading from his heart to...Every where. The sort of warmth he rarely felt during his short 16 years on this Earth.

It was carefree, pleasant, and-

He couldn’t help it. He bursted out in a huge fit of laughter, and all of you turned to look at him, curiosity in your eyes.

“I’m sorry but-HAHAHAHAHA-I-I-HAHAHAHAHA-I always saw you all as such a stoic and serious family this is just-hahahHAhahHAHAHaHAhahah.”

He couldn’t even breathe, because of how much he was laughing and-

None of you needed more to follow in his laughter.

************

Damian did lie to you on the phone. He always had the intention of coming back for your anniversary. How could he miss the celebration of fifty years of love ?

Jason and Dick were the masterminds of it all. They carefully planned everyone’s scheduled months and months in advance, making Tim do an excell spreadsheet so nobody would have an excuse to not come !

But of course, they’d all find the time for their family. And it had been so long, since the last time they were all reunited.

In fact, ever since Alfred was gone, they were pretty sure that-

Ah. But of course. Alfred had always been a good planner. He always managed to get everyone together, and it’s a talent none of you quite inherited...Nobody could be like Alfred. Nobody could fill his shoes. And you weren’t sure anybody wanted the spot anyway. Alfred was one of a kind, and he had to remain so in all of your hearts.

When he passed away, things really got harder. He was such a pillar in your family. But in the end, and that counted also when you and Bruce would be gone..You’d always make time for one another.

As your children showed today. And as they showed you by coming by whenever they could.

You were happy Terry was here too, he became a full time member of your family in your mind, and he reminded you so much of your sons. It was nice, to have a kid around once more...

************

You’re happy. So happy.

This was the kind of memory that would last. A core memory.

As you were sitting around the dining table you always used, you took a little time to look up. A metaphorical gesture, because you knew he wasn’t actually in the sky but...You took the time to send some thoughts to Alfred. To thank him, as he was one of the reason you were here today.

Somehow, you knew that wherever he was, he was always keeping an eye on you all. And you knew he would be so proud.

Bruce caught your gesture, and took your hand in his, giving it a squeeze that you knew meant : “I love you.”

You squeezed his hand back, as a response, and turned to your family.

“Thank you all for being here. Really. This means...So much.”

************

It was a grand day.

Full of dramatic retelling of all your best memories.

Silly memories, like that time Bruce lost Dick in a mall and kept yelling “HAVE YOU SEEN MY DICK ?!” to everyone (a classic). That time you and Damian stole an elephant from a circus, because he was mistreated. That time Bruce thought it was a good idea to let Jason, 9 years old, choose what he wanted to eat for dinner and he decided that two full bucket of vanilla ice cream would do...and how he got sick for three days straight (and the subsequent hour long sermon Alfred and you gave Bruce). That time Tim had a science show and his project was so brilliant they thought Bruce and you made it for him, and your outrage when they refused to give him the first place prize !

And more serious memories, like that time Duke discovered his powers, freaked out, and thanks to you all managed to calm down. The moments you discovered Jason and Damian were alive (you hit Bruce and Tim on the head saying : “and the moments you guys faked your death I swear I could’ve actually killed you”). The moment Cassandra was so afraid to hurt you guys that she ran away, and you tried to find her, in a downright panic, thinking maybe her father took her back...

Precious memories. Your life, really. And its meaning.

Terry learned so much, that night. About the “Batfam” (he didn’t even realized yet that he was part of said family now), but also about himself, and about what he wanted in the future.

This.

This is what he wanted. A loving family getting along (most of the time at least). That were able to put aside their differences because that’s how much they love each other.

This.

A family who would always be there for each other, no matter what. This is what he wanted.

************

The evening went by so fast. Too fast. Terry got introduced to Bruce’s family (and in a way, his family too). All of them now. He knew all of them.

And he understood why, sometimes, he would catch you looking at pictures with a fond smile on your lips. It was obvious, even if distance and time kept you away from each other, that this family was all about love.

The young man felt so welcomed in your family. Even by Damian, of whom he heard (mainly by Tim) that he wasn’t always an easy child (which honestly implied that the rest of them were, and you could say a few words about how : nu-hu, they were all trouble at some point. And you wouldn’t have it any other way).

“Drake ! What did you tell him about me ?!”

“The truth Damian. The truth...”

Tim kept his flare for the dramatic, and the way he said those words just made you laugh. He was always so great, at teasing his little brother. And said little brother always fell for it. Ah but one had to look deeper, to actually understand that this constant teasing between the two of them were only their own love language, and that they’d be lost if their brother would disappear...

Painful memories of when Damian died came to mind, Tim’s reaction was so strong. And when Tim faked his death ? The maddest one was Damian, who never gave up on him and wouldn’t admit his brother was gone without seeing a body.

This, Terry would learn a little later. Right now, he only saw two adult men bickering over nothing, and he found it very amusing. But one day, one day, he would realize what brotherly love truly is. In big part thanks to Tim and Damian, who were a little closer in age with him (at least, compared to Jason and Dick).

************

It was already late at night, and time to leave.

Dick was going to drive Terry back home when-

“What are they doing ?” He asked innocently, looking through the window at you and Bruce standing outside, only lighted by the moonlight.

“Oh, right. We never did tell you what we came to celebrate. Sorry about that buddy.” Dick said, and continued : “It was their fiftieth wedding anniversary. And they’re about to do one of their little tradition, on such a night...”

Curious, Terry turned back to look at you and your husband. You were- turning on music ? From an old-what was that ? A “gramophone” right ? Terry never saw one in real life before. And he was sure this type of technology was old even for you two. So why-

The music turned on. They could hear it faintly from the Manor.

And then...

Then Bruce caught you in his arm, letting go of his cane. And you did the same. You were each other’s support, after all. And slowly, you started to waltz.

Not as fast as you use to, not as vigorously. But it was beautiful. Terry felt captivated by the spectacle you were giving. Slowly, your children gathered up around him, looking at you two fondly.

************

Seeing you and Bruce dancing slowly in the moonlight, brought many memories to your children’s mind. Memories that were a little bittersweet, of times that none of you will ever live again, but that none of you regretted.

DICK

Dick found himself in his eight years’ old body, feeling sad and hopeless, not long after his parents’ death. He just had an argument with Bruce, and became so angry he broke a vase that used to be Bruce’s mother’s...Neither you, nor Bruce or Alfred yelled at him. But Dick couldn’t help feeling guilty as he saw the hurt in Bruce’s eyes, and in yours too. He knew you wanted to help him. He knew. But he was always so angry...So here he was, sat on the floor in his bedroom, knees to his chest, head down. But then...

A song resonated through the manor. It was faint, from his bedroom. And it lighted his curiosity. He followed the sound, and- That’s when he saw you two. You were dancing in the living room.

It was raining outside, so you didn’t go out that year. But you still had to dance. It was an important tradition. And Dick found himself looking at you two swirling around, smiling at each other.

The song ended, and Bruce wrapped his arms around you. You rested your head against his shoulder, and you stayed just like that, close to each other. For some reason, Dick felt all warm inside, looking at you two.

You never knew he was there, that night. And you never knew how much this event meant to your son. That night, a little slither of hope came back in his heart. Because the love he witnessed ? His little eight years old self didn’t quite understood it yet, but he knew it meant something. It meant that everything wasn’t all dark. It meant that, yes, he lost his parents who were his heroes...but he was one of those “lucky ones” that managed to find a new family in which there was just as much love as he used to have.

JASON

Jason had a flashback of the first time he came with you to a charity ball.

He was so awkward and uncomfortable, wearing a suit he really hated. He kept pulling on his bow tie, trying to readjust it and to not make too much of a mess of his clothes because...He was wearing the exact same suit Bruce was. And the man he came to see as his father seemed so comfortable and at ease in that damn suit, that he was trying really hard to imitate him.

But it was tough. He wasn’t used to that. And he wasn’t used to all eyes constantly being on him, Bruce Wayne’s new son.

He knew those people saw him as a charity case, although he also knew he wasn’t. No. Bruce and you showed him what true parental love was. So he knew. He knew you didn’t adopt him just because you had pity on him. He didn’t care what they thought. All that mattered what what YOU thought. But yes : This evening, Jason wished he could be somewhere else up until- A song. A song started to play.

A song he never heard before, but that from that moment up until the end of his life, he will always associate with his parents. And with love.

It was as if he was in a movie. Maybe his memory of the moment was a little warped, it was, after all, almost 40 years ago. But the way he remembers it, this is how it happened : The song started. You and Bruce immediately went to each others, without concerting. As if you knew, even though you were both talking to different people at different places of the room (charity events were lots of work). It was as if people moved to make a path and lead you to each other. Nobody else was dancing. Just the two of you. You captivated the room. And then the song ended, and it was as if everyone came out of a dream. Was this really what happened, or did Jason romanticized the moment in his mind ? It didn’t matter. Because that’s when he knew.

And that’s when Jason knew. That’s when he knew he could endure anything, as long as he had both of you there.

Tim

Tim remembered an evening very much like this one.

The moon was shining, and he couldn’t sleep. Sleep (at least at night) had never been something easy to come to him. He thought too much.

Ever since he was a child, nights were just not when he could properly sleep. And so here he was, on the roof that he could access from his room’s balcony, looking at the moon. That’s when he noticed something unusual.

Bruce was in the garden, probably just home from patrolling. And, you were too ? What were the two of you doing ? Tim had always been a curious boy, so he followed you two discreetly, thinking you didn’t know he was there (but of course Bruce knew all along).

And then, the strangest thing happened. You turned on an old gramophone (which had sentimental value to both you and Bruce), and a song started. A song which had this peculiar grain to it, due to being played on a gramophone.

You walked towards Bruce, who was smiling at you. And ah, this was the first time Tim saw him smile like that ! He felt flabbergasted. What was going on ?

The song went by, and Tim felt things he never felt at ease for what felt like the first time in his life. He had always been a stressed individual. Always felt like he had to be productive, or else !

He was always on the move, always had to keep his mind or else his thoughts would consume him. Yet here, hidden in those bushes, basically spying on you dancing...he felt relaxed.

Peaceful.

There was a vibe coming off of you and Bruce, that just made him feel like everything was going to be alright. He almost felt like your swirls and such were hypnotizing him but...No.

It was the serenity radiating from you and your husband that touched him. Tim and Bruce bonded quickly, because they were both always so anxious. You were pretty sure (except for you), nobody understood better your son than Bruce, and vice versa.

They had the same OCD moments, the same worries, the same need to work constantly. The same disregard for their own safety, and health. They were more alike than anyone seemed to think.

So maybe this was why your boy felt like that right now ? As if Bruce’s own comfort spread to him ? If even Bruce, who had so many issues, could sometimes let it all go just to dance with his wife in his garden....then surely, he could do, right ?

Yes. This simple dance gave hope to Tim. And was a good reminder that he could, and would get better. It’s funny, how impactful something in appearance so small can be, right ?

Tim only talked about the impact it had on him seeing you that night to one person, nobody else. , . Not even to Kon, or Stephanie, nor you. No. Tim only talked about it to Bruce, a few days after the event.

Your son felt so relaxed, that he fell asleep in the bushes. Of course, Bruce found him, and took him back to bed (and he was so adorable and tiny at the time ! Well, not that he grew too much, out of all your children, Tim definitely never quite hit that growth spurt they all went through).

Tim guessed that Bruce brought him back when, the next day, he woke up in his bed. And he told him. He told him what he saw, and how he felt. Although he didn’t understand those feelings quite yet. And Bruce ? Bruce help him understand. Because the were more alike than anybody seemed to think.

Damian

Damian’s memory was short, but one of his favorite memory ever.

He came down one evening, unable to sleep and trying to sneakily get some ice cream from the freezer (Alfred was utterly exasperated whenever he found the locks he kept putting on this damn freezer crack or simply cut...worst thing is, he could never know who was stealing the ice cream, because you all did it).

And that’s when he saw you and hid father, dancing slowly in the kitchen. He wasn’t even disgusted by the display of affection, more, intrigued.

“Hey my little buddy, can’t sleep ?”

You asked casually, your head on your husband’s neck and his face buried in yours.

“Um, yes. Yes I couldn’t sleep.”

“Neither could we.”

And there, came the important memory. The day he realized he loved you and his father so damn much. As if your minds were connected, both you and Bruce took a step away from each other, and you said :

“Do you want to dance with us ?”

Damian didn’t really know how to react, but he approached and-

“LOOKS LIKE DAMIAN SANDWICH IS BACK ON THE MENU BOYS !”

You grabbed him by the shoulder, and squeezed him between you and Bruce. It made the Dark Knight chuckled, and Damian made a mental note that his dad wasn’t always the same person when around you (or his kids).

Your son didn’t even remember he should protest, and resist this force hug ! Because he felt so warm, safe and loved all of a sudden. So much so, that the slow swaying you were doing, dancing with him, put him to sleep.

Bruce carried him to his bed. And that’s it. That’s when Damian realized how strong love could be.

Cassandra

Cassandra was lost in the memory of one of her favorite day ever.

She loved ballet as a child, and kept the hobby up until it became too hard physically to dance...Although you were pretty sure that even know, past forty, she could still do amazing dance moves.

She liked ballet. She didn’t have to speak and could let her body express her feelings, without hurting anyone. Bruce built her an entire dancing room in the Manor, so she could practice.

And that was it. Today was one of her biggest recital yet. She was so nervous. But what stressed her the most, was whether you would be there or not.

You and Bruce were busy. So busy. And honestly, finding free time just to come see her silly dancing ? Meh. Of course, that’s was what she thought. Cass, although many people didn’t realize it, had the bad habit to self-deprecate. This was unfortunately how she was raised, feeling like she was never enough.

Up until last minute, she didn’t know if you were there or not. She was too afraid to look at the room, and see the empty seats she reserved for you.

And then, finally, the curtain rose, and she jumped on stage and...

You were there. And Bruce too. Sitting in the front row. Ah ! And her brothers were here too !! They were clapping so much for her, it reminded her of that scene in The Addams Family movie...And it made her radiate.

She was so happy. And she gave it her all, to make all of you proud. Proud, was a euphemism. Her brothers swarmed her and if you didn’t stop them you were pretty sure they would’ve thrown her into the air like a cheerleader.

Bruce, of course, was the proudest of them all. And you ? Well, of course. You too. Most of all, you were so happy she found a hobby. Something she loved doing, and that always seemed to take her mind off of her troubles. You told her :

“I like to dance too. Waltz though, I think I’d be bad at ballet.”

“Waltz ?”

“Yes.” You smile at her, and a little shyly, she asks :

“Show me ?”

Ah, you were never able to resist that cute little face. And so you nodded, and without even having to ask, Bruce stood up too and..You waltzed.

Cassandra was mesmerized. Your movements were in perfect synch (which she knew wasn’t that easy to achieve), and you were twirling around so gracefully. Oh, and the looks you exchanged...probably the only time she wasn’t grossed out by your love.

Waltz, was something she taught her students at the ballet school. Because she realized it helped with coordination, and synchronization. And because...it reminded her of you, and that mere thought always put her in a good mood.

Duke

Duke couldn’t help but be thrown back to decades ago, when he first came to the manor and came in to see...You and Damian dancing ??

You were waltzing with your son all around the room, and laughing together. He was clearly imitating Bruce, and his impersonation was spot on and made you laugh so much.

When you noticed Duke, you asked if he wanted to dance, too. Not particularly a waltz, just...Dance. You had a date night with Bruce, and while he was getting ready, you and Damian were making fun of him (as you should, why was he always so long to pamper himself ??).

Duke joined in, he too, had some wicked Bruce impersonation. “Hey, look at me, I eat my burgers with a knife and fork because I’m so fancy !” and you and Damian were bend forward, laughing too hard. Duke pushed the caricature even further, further and further up until-

“This is NOT how I sound.”

Oh oh. That was Bruce. Coming down the stairs adjusting his bow tie, and not looking amused at all. Damn. Duke was afraid he upset him, it’s true that it was quite the impersonation, and he didn’t think The Batman was too kin on humor.

“This, is how I sounds.” And then, Bruce cleared his throat and said, in a perfect gentleman way, and that smirk you loved so much on his face :

“May I have this dance, my Love ?”

And as you took his hand, and Bruce took the lead, Duke remembers thinking, right at that moment : “that’s what true love looks like.”

It was a flash, an evidence. This was it. True love. Wow. He hoped he could find it one day.

“Oh ew, here they go again...Come on Duke, let’s go play “Cheese Viking” before they start -gagging sounds- kissing !”

Not only did Duke discover what it was like, to find your one true love. But this moment also became a bonding moment for him and Damian. The first time he called him “Duke”, and not “Thomas”. And the first time he started to view him as his brother...

************

The song ended, but you didn’t leave your husband’s arms. This was your moment. The one where you would just hold each other, for as long as you wanted. As long as you needed.

Inside the manor, your children were all smiling.

This was it. This was what those 50 years represented.

Love, in its purest form.

How not to feel touched ?

Their hearts were filled with the same emotions. They knew it. Because they all lived this before. And they hoped they would live this a lot more times...because a world without their parents ?

They already lost Alfred. Their parents HAD to live longer.

Ah, maybe this was why they felt so at ease right now ?

Whenever they saw them dance, and remembered all those times they saw them dance, it felt like you and Bruce were young again. Like they were children once more.

And those memories ? They’d make you live forever, if only in their heart.

The end.

_________________________________________________

Ok here ! Just a short story (compare to usually haha) that I did NOT plan to write (didn’t have time, but I wrote this in an hour right before bed so like, bonus story hehe), but was fun to. Hope you liked it. Don’t hesitate to leave a little comment or(/and) to reblog ! :)

Important to anyone who is surprised about what I wrote about Damian + certain things if you read the comics (especially most recents ones) :

I don’t care about what they did with Damian in some recent Batman Beyond comics. It’s like, literally a renewal of when he first came at Wayne Manor and I hate it. Please. Stop constantly annihilating Damian’s hard earned redemption and making him a villain, to then give him a redemption arc again, and doing this again and again and again it’s getting old...So in my version, he chose to leave the Batman’s mantle behind not to continue Ras’ “legacy”, but to go to the League and deeply reform it so it would become an organization good for the World...right away. He didn’t first try to see if Terry was “worthy” (please, he did basically the same fucking thing when he was ten with all the Robins................STOP WRITING STORIES WHERE HE REGRESSES) and never had any intention of following The League of Assassin’s goals. Like, none of that : “oh I changed my mind I’m not a bad guy again now” bullshit. He’s directly not a bad guy, and just has higher/other inspirations.

+ I also changed Dick’s future, because...I didn’t like most of it...mmm...

+ Same for Tim. Sue me.

+ Jason appears almost never and whenever he did I was like : “no” so...Hahahahahahaha.

+ Same for Cass.

+ Duke doesn’t appear at all, but in my world, he does. Because Bruce would never just ignore any of them if he could. ALSO most of those characters don’t exist in that world anyway but you get my point.

+ Ok not gonna lie, the only future I like is Barbara, only because it makes sense that she becomes commissioner. Other than that...MEH.

+ Ok maybe I really like Terry’s character, and his relationship with Bruce, but honestly what they always do to other characters I love in this universe are very meh.

Long story short : in the world of fanfiction, you can just change whatever you hate and pretend it never happened.

I’m a sensitive bitch, I made myself cry when I talked about Alfred because I couldn’t stop thinking about Batman Beyond’s Bruce having to live without him at his sides...Haha. Also. No spoiler but if you ever decide to delve into Neo-Gotham territory, be ready for quite a lot of heartbreak. Not too much in the TV show Batman Beyond, but certain comics ? Oof (SPOILER : I’m still not over Bruce saying goodbye to Terry, my dudes...And especially how it happened and aaaah)

PS : If anyone knows the “Metal Gear Solid” game saga, y’all know why I love Terry McGinnis haha. The MGS are some of my favorite video games EVER, and a major plot point is shared by both those stories hehe...No spoilers for anyone who never watched/read anything with Terry. Highly recommend (both MGS and the animated series + some comics).

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maybege · 2 years ago

Note

Ooo okay okay 222 and 223 with either Paz or Boba? 👀

Marital Favours

Summary: You ask your husband for a favour.

Pairing: alpha!!Paz Vizsla x omega!fem!Reader

Wordcount: 3.0k | Rating: E (18+ only!)

Warnings: A/B/O dynamics, marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers vibes (but really it is just idiots to lovers), dom!Paz, sub!Reader, vaginal fingering, dirty talk, size kink, pet names (some of them a tiny bit degrading, but all of them loving)

Prompts: #222 “No one can ever find out about this.” + #223 “For your safety I'll be gentle.”

Thank you so much for the prompts, anon! And shoutout to @ayybtchch for giving me the idea to pair these prompts with etl!Paz and to @galacticgraffiti for sending me thots when I was supposed to write my thesis. As always, let me know what you thought in a comment or reblog!

masterlist | crossposted on AO3

This was one of your lowest moments, you decided, as you stood in what you had dubbed the Throne Room.

Your husband still insisted that it was merely a gathering place but the prominent chair at the end of the cavernous hall made you think differently. Especially when you saw him sitting there, bare-chested, fur cape on his shoulders, thick legs spread wide as he rested his chin on his fist, listening to his advisors.

It could not be anything less than a throne, not with the way he was sitting on it.

Paz had made a comment, once, about how his wife ought to have her own chair next to his. You had put it off as a joke, knowing that the Vizsla clan would never accept an outside like you. And you did not want one either, happy to hide in your rooms or the archives or the childcare quarters when it came to the weekly storytelling sessions.

But whenever you had thought about spending more time with him, you could not help but feel a flutter in your chest. You had tried to blame it on you being an omega at first. After all, your husband was an alpha and a giant one at that, it was only natural to find him attractive. But after weeks of your marriage had passed and the tingling in your fingertips and between your legs had grown stronger with every gentle word, every discussion, every teasing remark he made, you had to face the fact that maybe … maybe you were attracted to him.

Great.

So here you were, heart hammering in your chest as the moon took residence in the sky, its light shining through the windows high up on the ceiling.

“So, what can I do for you, my wife, that you seek me out in the middle of the night?”

You debated turning around and leaving. The alpha’s voice was deep, playfully posh and you knew he was in a good mood when he chose to tease you. That didn’t make it easier though. You shifted on your feet, the hem of your nightgown barely brushing the cold stone floor. You remembered when he had wordlessly handed it you. (“It’s colder here than your home, omega,” he had said, “No need for you to get sick.”)

“No one can ever find out about this,” you started carefully, your voice echoing around you and you found yourself thanking the stars that even the guards had retired at this hour. You two were probably the only people awake in the entire covert.

He leaned forward, clearly intrigued. “You have my word.”

“I was thinking about what you said today when we were going over the inventory plans,” you admitted shyly, “About making me feel good with … with your fingers.”

He hummed, the epitome of relaxation in front of you. “What about it?” he asked.

You took a deep breath, steeling yourself for what you were about to say.

“I want you to do it.”

“What?”

If you hadn’t been so nervous, you would have laughed at the shocked expression on his face. You had seen Paz Vizsla display many emotions but shock was never one of them. Maybe because he had seen so many things already, saying of himself that “there is very little in the universe that can surprise me anymore.”

But his silence, the way his eyes had widened and his whole body had tensed had not helped you in your insecurity. You avoided his eyes, following the lines of the grout on the floor and shifted on your feet. “I want you to, uh, to finger me,” you repeated shyly.

His laughter made you flinch and for a second you feared that perhaps he was laughing at you. Rejection burned deep in your belly, the fear of him rejecting you even brighter in your chest.

“C’mon up here then,” he grinned, patting his thighs and you took a tentative step towards the dais he was sitting on.

“Don’t worry,” he grinned, his legs spreading, “For your safety I'll be gentle.”

You rolled your eyes and he laughed, warm and full. His hands were warm and slow as he bunched the fabric of your up around your hips. You hissed as the cold air touched your bare skin and the desire to hide away from his gaze – from anyone’s gaze – was stronger than ever. But then his hands landed on your thighs, running up and down as if to calm you.

“Has anyone ever touched you like this?” he asked, his voice surprisingly gentle. You put your hands on his shoulders, spreading your legs so you could open up for him. His fingers brushed over your inner thighs and you took a deep breath, allowing yourself to enjoy the way he was touching you. Yes, this was the enemy of your birth clan, the man your parents had warned you about again and again. But this was also your husband and the only alpha you ever dreamt about.

You nodded, avoiding his heated gaze as you thought back to one of the first intimate encounters you ever had. A large hand came up to your chin, tilting your head so you had to look at him.

Seeing him like this, in the half-dark, dressed like the alpha leader he was, you remembered how scared you had been when you had first seen him. How intimidating he could be, still, when someone crossed him. But he had never hurt you, never even touched you unless you had indicated your consent. No, Paz Vizsla was an alpha clan leader through and through but he was a good one.

“Another alpha?” he asked, his lips tight. For a moment, you imagined seeing a furrow between his brows, his scent a little sharper than usual. Was he jealous? Of the man you had been intimate with before him?

You shook your head. “He, uh, he was a beta.”

For some reason, that seemed to relax him and you melted into his touch when his hands reach around to your back, pulling him closer to him.

“A beta, hm?” he echoed, his nose brushing against yours. You could feel his breath on your face and your heart started to race. Was he going to kiss you?

The thought made the blood run into your cheeks. Somehow you hadn’t really expected a kiss to happen. You hadn’t expected him to want to kiss, well, you. You had never thought he wanted to kiss you.

“My parents never allowed me near alphas,” you burst out, trying to distract yourself from how nervous you were, “You know that.”

“I do,” he nodded, his mouth landing on your neck and you shuddered when his lips brushed over your unmarked scent gland. It had been your decision, your condition, that he wouldn’t mate you upon your marriage, something that Paz had never questioned but at that moment, you wished he would just sink his teeth into your skin and mark you as his. “I remember how they locked all of you princesses away when it was time for negotiations,” he rumbled, his nose nudging that space just under your ear, “Only got to see you at the dinner, that one time, remember?”

You did. What surprised you was that he remembered. But you did not dwell on it when his fingers rubbed softly over your pussy. “Oh, you’re wet,” he chuckled, pressing a quick peck to your neck before leaning back, clearly admiring the view of his hand on you. You squirmed, trying to close your legs but his spread legs kept you from it. That and his disapproving look.

“Keep them open for me, omega,” he instructed, “I want to see how pretty you look, all stretched out for me.”

“Paz,” you gasped at his words, yet you could not keep your hips from bucking towards him when two of his finger sought out your clit. It did not

“Is that all for me?” he asked you teasingly, nipping at your bottom lip and it was instinct, to lean closer to him, to chase his lips, to whimper for just a taste of him.

“Ah,” he breathed, brushing his mouth over yours, “I think it is all for me. Your pussy is weeping for me, little one.”

“Uh huh,” you nodded eagerly, moving closer to his fingers, to his mouth, to him, “Just for you.”

You could feel his fingertips at your entrance, gathering the wetness there, and you wished you were brave enough to ask him for more. Wished you could put all that you desired into words. Without shame, without fear, without that dreadful feeling in your stomach every time you thought of something that you wanted just for you.

Paz pressed his mouth to yours just as he slowly pushed one finger inside you. It should not have fried your brain but it did and your walls closed around him. He was much larger than your own fingers and despite the many nights you graduated from two to three fingers (especially when your heats neared), you felt the stretch of his finger inside you and you could not shake the nervous feeling from you.

Here was your husband, the first alpha who touched you like this and you didn’t even particularly like each other – or at least you tried to tell yourself that – but then why did it feel so good, the way he touched you, the way he pumped his finger inside you slowly, as if he was just as nervous as you were?

The little peck quickly developed into a kiss that had your toes curling and your hands tightening on his shoulders until the need to breathe became too strong. With a gasp, you parted from him, your heart skipping a beat when it was Paz that followed your lips, breathing into you. His eyes were impossibly dark, looking into yours, and his scent of woods and fire and something sweet burnt itself into your nose.

“Relax for me,” he whispered, his thumb circling your clit and you shuddered, trying to ignore how your legs were trembling, perched on top of him. You could feel your slick on his finger, easing his way into you even more and you tried to relax your thighs, resting more of your weight on his lap.

“There we go,” he murmured, his mouth brushing against your ears, “Good girl.”

“Oh,” you whimpered, your pussy fluttering around him again.

“Can you feel how you open up for me?” he asked you quietly, his voice just a whisper in the wide halls and as if to prove his point, he sunk his finger into the knuckle. He hit something inside you then, a spot you had never felt before but that made you clench even harder. Pleasure overcame you like a wave, and you fell forward, trying to find something – someone – to hold on to.

“Steady, ‘mega,” Paz warned you, his other hand gripping your hip, while he crooked his finger inside you, “You’re meant to enjoy this, are you? Enjoying it?”

You wanted to slap him for how smug he sounded but all you managed was a weak attempt at grabbing his shoulder. You could barely put two words together and he made it a point to ask you something? Insufferable.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he grunted, rubbing the heel of his hand against your clit, causing another moan to escape your lips, “Stars, you’re so pretty like this.”

The blood was burning in your veins and you could feel a kind of knot in your core that seemed to get tighter and tighter with every brush of his fingers over that spot inside you. And Paz seemed to notice it, too.

“One finger and you’re already so tight,” he hissed, slowly pulling out of you, “Sure you can take more than one, little wife?

Stars, how could the pet name that used to infuriate you to no end suddenly make you want him even more?

“P-Paz,” you whimpered, feeling painfully empty. You ground against him, trying t create some of the friction that was missing when you felt something hot and ... hard underneath you. Paz’s groan was so loud it seemed to surprise you both and your entire body heated up even more when you realized that he was aroused … by you.

You did it again, rubbing your folds against the bulge in his pants and in the

“Good thing I haven’t mated you yet,” he growled, moving his hips up against yours, “I don’t think my cock would even fit in that little pussy.”

You whined, rubbing your pussy against his crotch again; the thought turned you on more than you would ever admit. The image of him above you, driving his cock impossibly deep inside you again and again and again –

Two fingers pushed inside you and you moaned, trying to move your hips even more so you could chase the high that had been building ever since he had started touching you. “Look at that,” he marvelled, running his nose over your scent gland, “My little wife riding my fingers like the good omega she is.”

Your cheeks warmed up with embarrassment but when he carefully scissored his fingers ever so slightly, you decided you could not care less. You needed

“C’mon,” he growled, his mouth opening over your neck, sucking at your scent gland and a whole body shudder went through you, “be a good girl and come for me, ‘mega, you can do it.”

“I – I can’t,” you shook your head, whimpering when his thumb brushed over your clit again, “Please, Paz, I – “

“Yes, you can,” he murmured, “I got you, love, I got you. What do you need?”

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to think, trying to feel, trying to –

“I – I don’t know,” you shook your head, continuing to bounce up and down, “It just all feels so good and I –“

Paz growled, surging forward and kissing you, his teeth clashing against yours, nipping at your bottom lip. You gasped in surprise, your arms tightening around his neck as you continued to grind against him. His free hand went to your neckline, pulling it down until you heard a rip and you felt his fingers on your pebbled nipple.

You arched your back, overwhelmed by the new sensation that made your entire body tingle.

“Omega,” he grunted, rolling your nipple between his fingers, “If you don’t come right now, I’m gonna have to knot you and then you will have the entire night to get used to my size.”

“Fuck,” you cursed, clenching even harder, “A-Alpha!”

“Oh, shit you liked that, huh?” he chuckled breathlessly, his mouth moving over your neck down to your tits, “You like the idea of letting this dirty alpha claim you? What would your parents say? Their pretty little daughter whoring herself out to the next best clan leader, she can find? Melting at the thought of a thick cock stretching out those walls?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” he hummed against you, “I am the only alpha who ever felt the way your pussy clamps when you’re getting close,” he sucked your nipple into his mouth, “And I am going to be the only one who knows what it feels like when you come for me.”

It was the image of him mating you, of spending all of your nights in his arms, that finally broke you. You came around his fingers with a gasp, your walls clenching so tightly it almost hurt as your hips moved against him.

“There we go,” he whispered, his fingers slowing their pace inside you, “Good girl, let it all out.”

You whimpered at his gentle words, burying your head in the crook of his neck, your entire body feeling numb and tired and relaxed in a way you had never experienced before. Your pussy was still pulsing around him and only slowly did you become aware of the wet mess between your thighs.

Feeling so vulnerable was not something you were used to and before you could even try to calm yourself down, you tried to shimmy out of his lap, avoiding his eyes. Stars knew if you looked into his eyes, it would all be over.

“Not so fast, love,” Paz grumbled, his arm keeping you close to his chest. You could feel the heat of his body against your bare skin and your eyes fluttered closed when you felt his heart beat against yours – it was just as quick.

“B-but your pants,” you mumbled, feeling shame and insecurity build up once again, “I made a mess, I’m so –“

“Don’t you dare apologize right now,” he interrupted you, his voice still so calm, his nose still at your neck and you could feel the way his scent imprinted on your skin before he pressed the lightest of kisses just under your ear, “You just came apart in my arms, little one, aftercare is non-negotiable.”

“After what?” you repeated with furrowed brows, tilting your head so he had more access to your neck.

His large hand ran over your back, to the side of your thighs until it reached behind him, closing around one of yours. “Aftercare,” he whispered, pulling your hand to his lips, his thumb brushing over the scent gland on your wrist, “I am making sure you are feeling okay, that you have enough time to come down and that you are comfortable.”

You had never been more comfortable than right now, resting against his chest. But you would never tell him that. At least not yet.

“So, who was that beta?”

“Is my husband jealous?” you joked, a small grin on your face and you turned your head, resting your chin on his chest.

Paz’s face was serious and he was looking far away as if he was lost in thought. “Maybe he is,” he grunted, his lips absentmindedly pressing a kiss against your wrist, “Maybe he is.”

(You hoped he was.)

#maybege writes #paz vizsla x reader #paz vizsla x fem!reader #smut #etl!paz vibes

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lulusoblue · 2 years ago

Text

BioFluff Week 2022, Day 1: Early Mornings

My first entry for @biofluffweek ! So I'm posting this technically on Day 3?? depending on timezone but screw it, I'm participating, here it is! Some soft Elizanor fluff that I hope is good because I haven't written properly for years. SO!

Lost and Found

Characters: Elizabeth Comstock, Eleanor Lamb

Pairing(s): Elizanor (Elizabeth Comstock/Eleanor Lamb)

BioFluff Prompt: Day 1, "Early Mornings"

Summary: Elizabeth and Eleanor have found each other, and spend their days doing whatever they want, together. However, though their pasts are left behind them, there are still the ghosts that linger.

---

Elizabeth finds it odd that she's grown so used to Paris. It isn't a bad thing, nor is it that she's getting bored of the sights, the sounds, the smells - she would never get bored of anything on this street especially. Today is so bright and clear, and the light buzz in the air makes Elizabeth almost giddy. It's just... odd.

For as long as she can remember, she's dreamed of Paris. Of the many, many books in her tower, the ones most worn and read through had been the ones that contained so much as a mention of the city. So many daydreams she‘d had to pass away her time, made all the more enjoyable when she had put them to her canvas.

So many times had those paintings disappeared overnight.

Now she's here . Now she's free to walk its streets, meet its people, browse its markets and venues and try its foods and wear its fashion. And while it's this freedom she absolutely cherishes, she also finds it... mundane? Average? Normal? She's not quite sure which word to put on it. They all make it sound boring, and for all her time spent reading, the right word for it escapes her now.

Maybe it's 'routine'? Maybe, after all, it's what she's doing right now. A morning routine for days when they visited Paris. And the first thing in this routine is a quick favourite - buttery croissants and coffee to go.

The sun is rising slowly in the sky as Parisians slowly and steadily rise themselves. Shopkeeps prepare their storefronts as Elizabeth walks past them, heading straight for one little cafe on the street corner; the best coffee she and Eleanor had ever had.

Pascal spies Elizabeth as she steps into Elise ’s, his hand over the counter and ready to take her thermos as she steps up to the counter. "Bonjour, Elizabeth."

"Bonjour!" She almost sings it back to him, a little loud too. Walking here seems to have that effect on her.

Pascal gives her a warm smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling, as he puts together her order without asking what it is. "Haven't seen you around here in a while. How are you?"

"Amazing! What about yourself?" she asks back in French. (Another reason she will never get bored here is just how much her French has started to flow in everyday chatter.)

"As well as I can be." He carefully picks out croissants from the display and slips each one into a paper bag. "So where’s your friend today?"

"Sleeping in. That's why I came for your coffee, Pascal. I need it to work its magic."

He shakes his head as he checks on said coffee. "From what you've told me, I'm shocked to learn it can raise the dead."

Elizabeth smiles, but she feels just the slightest waver in it. Pascal doesn't see it in time before the smile steadies and she's digging for her purse. "What can I say? It’s one of the few things that can wake Eleanor up."

With a full thermos and a bagged breakfast in hand, Elizabeth sneaks a generous tip into the jar before leaving. But as much of a hurry as she feels she should be in, she still finds distractions along the way.

A small little flower shop, run by a sweet elderly lady. Mme Bellamy's flower display is exquisite, colours so vibrant and full of life. Elizabeth can't resist the urge to buy a small bouquet of pink roses from the elderly woman, which leads to a brief talk about recent events she's missed, before Elizabeth skips on her way.

Maybe she doesn't have to hurry - as far as she's tested her limits, it seems she's got as much time as she wants - but there's still that pull to get back home sooner than later.

She cannot, however, resist her second distraction.

Œuvers Distinguées , a bookshop with the mixed scent of old and new books that Elizabeth loves as she helplessly lets her feet walk her inside. The shop owner looks up and waves from where he’s organising one of the bookshelves. “Bonjour, mademoiselle! I was wondering when you’d be back here .”

“Bonjour, monsieur!”

The visit is fairly quick. Elizabeth scans the shelves for anything unfamiliar, when her eyes fall on one book in particular. The Age of Innocence . She's been meaning to read this one for a while. She plucks it from the shelf and steps over to the owner.

"I’m sorry to interrupt you, how much is this one?"

"I'm sorry, cherie, but that has not been written yet."

Elizabeth's head snaps up. A chill rolls down her spine as her words take a moment to catch up. "I... I'm sorry, I don't think I caught that. "

The clerk repeats himself. " That will be 10 F, mademoiselle."

She buys the book nonetheless, but the moment hangs over her as she leaves.

The mood for window browsing is gone, as Elizabeth opts to take a route along the riverside home. She tries to relax, ease her mind by taking in the familiar beauty of Paris around her, the place of her dreams… but instead it keeps going back to the bookshop.

“That has not been written yet.”

She had heard that somewhere in Paris before.

Elizabeth reaches her destination and finds the stairs down to underneath it. Something tells her not to look over the guardrail into the water, and she hastily makes her way to the wall before she can do just that. Curiosity has unsettled her enough today. She takes the knob of the door that manifests on the wall and enters a small foyer. When the door shuts behind her, the sound of the river is gone. She kicks off her shoes and sets them neatly by the door.

The first stop is the study. It’s dimly lit when she walks in, with just the tablelamp on next to Elizabeth’s reading corner. She pulls out her new book, her eyes lingering on the cover for just a moment, before placing it in her chair and moving on.

In the dining room, there’s already the plates and mugs she’s set up for breakfast. All that’s left is to transfer the food from paper bag to crockery and pour out the coffee. She leaves the bag, the bouquet and thermos on the table. Much as she enjoys her quiet morning rituals, she feels the need to haul her accomplice out of bed before setting things up proper. So, it’s up the stairs she goes.

The bedroom door is exactly as Elizabeth left it, slightly ajar. She pushes it open and peers in to find that Eleanor is also as she left her, soundly asleep in their bed. Elizabeth walks in quietly as she can as she moves to Eleanor’s side of the bed, the soft blue light of the window behind her, and watches the other girl snooze just a little longer. Things had been out of sorts with Eleanor’s sleeping lately. Sudden starts waking her in the night, too withdrawn to talk until the middle of the day when she would apologise and say it was just a bad dream. It was good to see Eleanor having some rest undisturbed.

Then Eleanor begins to stir. Her eyes don’t open, but she mumbles, “You’re staring again.”

“Sorry,” Elizabeth half-laughs, reaching to brush hair from Eleanor’s face. “I know, but it’s nice seeing you so peaceful.”

Eleanor grumbles as she props herself up on her elbow, rubbing at her eyes and looking past Elizabeth to the window. “Might have something to do with that .”

Instead of a sunny day outside their bedroom window, there was instead a view of the deep blue sea. Aquatic life swims by the glass and there’s the sound of whale calls somewhere in the distance.

Elizabeth feels her smile turn sheepish. “You seem to sleep better with this view. Hold on, I’ll change it back.” And with a wave of her hand, the ocean is gone and replaced by a forest and a rose-filled flower box the window sill again. She feels the change spread out around the room and the rest of their home, and Paris and the sea were gone. Reality had shifted back to their private little woodland clearing in the middle of nowhere.

Eleanor sits up properly now and stretches. “You’re up early. You already been out for breakfast then?”

“You know me well.” Elizabeth leans down to give her forehead a light peck. “ Elise ’s, 2008.”

Eleanor feigns an impressed “ooo” and receives a light push on the shoulder for it. “Anything exciting happen on the way?”

“I bought a new book!” Elizabeth sits on top of the covers next to her lover, feeling the excitement as she explains. “The Age of Innocence. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while, and I saw it passing through the bookshop and had to get it!”

“Ah, another one for the shelf. Was that in Finch Books?”

She shakes her head. “ Œuvers Distinguées, and I got to be the first customer of the day!”

Eleanor’s brow furrows a little. “ Œuvers Distinguées ? …Wasn’t that shop the one that burned down?”

There’s a little twist in Elizabeth’s gut. “...What?”

“Mmm,” Eleanor hums, thinking. “We heard from Jeannette that it had burned down when we visited her in-”

“1996,” Elizabeth finishes. She remembers. “R-right. I must have got them mixed up.” She shakes her head. “Anyway, I’ll go get breakfast ready while you get-”

Eleanor gently takes her hand before she can get up. “Liz, are you alright?”

“Fine!” She winces at the pitch of her own voice, and can’t bring herself to look Eleanor in the eye. She settles back down on the bed and fidgets. “I mean, I’m fine. I just… got them mixed up.”

Eleanor doesn’t look convinced. She swings her legs out from under the bed sheets and shuffles up next to her. Even while sitting, she’s a good few inches taller. She takes both of Elizabeth’s hands in hers. “No. Something happened today, didn’t it?”

Elizabeth meets her gaze, looking into her bright blue eyes. They made her think of the ocean. “I…” She sighs. “Do you… you said before, your nightmares… That they don’t feel like they’re yours?”

Eleanor shakes her head. “No, they aren’t. They’re from the ADAM, I'm certain of that.”

“Well…” Elizabeth breaks eye contact, focusing on the patterns in the floorboards. “I’ve been having some moments lately where… where things happen that are familiar , but they’re not . They’re not mine … my memories, that is.”

“Mm-hmm.” She feels Eleanor lightly squeeze her hands. “I definitely know that feeling. But, mine are from ADAM… are yours from… your tears?”

“I don’t know.” She looks back to Eleanor’s face. “It’s not like it’s anything hindering or I don’t- I don’t feel anything wrong.” She shrugs. “I think it’s just from where I’m spread out.”

“Spread out?”

“I'm not sure how to explain it. I’m seeing or… experiencing moments that don’t belong to me, but happened to me somewhere else. Behind another door.” Elizabeth shakes her head. “I don’t know if I just imagined that shop or if I… I made it appear.”

“Without you knowing it?” When Elizabeth shakes her head, she feels Eleanor’s arm move to wrap around the back of her shoulders. “That does sound like something that would shake you up.”

“I wish it didn’t.” Elizabeth leans into her. “For all the things I can do now, I wish I could have more control. When I went in to buy that book, I could have sworn the owner said, ‘That hasn’t been written yet’.” She closes her eyes as though it might help, might bring her the answers she wanted. “Something about that… wherever it’s from, it feels wrong.”

Eleanor hums into her hair, rubbing Elizabeth’s shoulder.

They stay like that for a while, the sound of birdsong and a gentle wind in the trees coming from outside. Somehow, being together like this helped Elizabeth just forget. Short of following Lutece’s advice on loneliness, she and Eleanor felt like the only two people across a sea of doors who could truly know each other, understand what the other must have been through. It was comforting after their lifetimes of isolation.

Their peace is broken as Eleanor sits upright first. She takes Elizabeth’s shoulders and softly turns her so they can face each other. “Right,” she says, her face bright, “how about you change back into your pyjamas and we have a lazy day? Breakfast in bed, and you can read me your new book.”

“You could just read them yourself, you know.”

“I could , but I love to hear the sound of your voice.”

And in spite of her unease moments ago, Elizabeth laughs and playfully pushes Eleanor away. “Stop!”

Eleanor laughs too, nudging her in return. “I mean it! Come on, you’re always up early. Let’s just relax and have a lay-in, hmm?”

She looks up into Eleanor’s eyes and smiles, really smiles, and says “That sounds perfect.” And she takes her love’s face in her hands and kisses her, slowly, so Eleanor knows how much this means to her - how much she means - before she gets up from the bed and goes back downstairs.

#bioshock #biofluff #elizanor #elizabeth comstock #eleanor lamb #biofluff week 2022 #fanfiction #hey *I* wrote a thing #it's a halloween miracle

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red-archivist · 3 years ago

Text

Not quite part of the liveblog but, lil post-092 hc fic :3

As he leaves Elias’ office, Jon’s feet automatically take him down the stairs leading to the archives.

It is a habit that his long absence hasn’t managed to break but he stops himself from walking straight into his own office.

To do so, he would have to pass the open space where the assistants work, and call him a coward but he just isn’t quite ready to see the state that Elias’ little reveal has left the others in.

He retreats to the breakroom instead, keeping the lights off and taking a moment to take a few steadying breaths in the cool darkness.

As soon as he stops moving, the injuries he has been ignoring loudly make themselves known.

The constant ache of his burned hand provides a low steady hum of contrast to the staccato pulse of his throbbing throat.

He needs to clean them both up in order to avoid infection, and if he doesn’t want some concerned passer-by to call an ambulance on him when he leaves, he will have to bandage his neck as well.

He walks to the nearest press and begins rooting around for the first aid kit. It doesn’t seem to be where he last saw it months ago and a stumbling search in the dim light reveals nothing to him.

Jon is about to give up and just try to give himself a bit of a rinse in the sink when suddenly the door creaks open, and the lights click on behind him.

He whirls around with his heart in his bloody throat expecting something to pounce on him. Perhaps it is Tim come to take his weary anger out on him? Or Daisy aiming to finish what she started? Or maybe Elias with some other unsolvable puzzle to dump into his lap?

The fright only lasts an instant however, when he sees who is standing in the doorway looking even more surprised to see him.

“Martin,” He sighs with relief.

Martin’s mouth opens and closes a few times before he manages to find his voice.

“Uh, h-hi?”

“…Hi. Did you- Ah. W-Was the first aid kit moved?” Jon points to the mess he has made of the open presses.

Martin jumps in place before rushing forward.

“Oh! Uh, y-yeah, sorry!”

He crouches down to pull the kit out from under the sink and when Jon raises a questioning eyebrow, he shrugs meekly.

“Melanie moved it,” He says, “She said we all had to be able to reach it in an emergency.”

“Right.”

He takes the box from Martin with just one hand, keeping the bandaged one away from his body at an angle so it won’t bump into anything.

It’s a heavy, clunky thing and hoisting it onto the counter makes his joints sting. Ignoring the pain, he flips the latch and starts rummaging through it. A thin roll of bandages, antiseptic cream, gauze and dressing are placed in a pile on the counter as he mentally goes through the half-remembered steps of cleaning an open wound.

Just as Jon starts to unravel the hand bandage, the side of his face burns with awareness. He looks over to find Martin staring at him.

His gaze lingers on his hand, taking in the old bandages and his cracked nails, both still caked in grave dirt. Jon does his best not to squirm under the scrutiny.

When Martin’s eyes dart to the mound of medical supplies Jon is compiling, he also realises he is taking up most of the counter space.

“Am I… in your way?” He asks, about to sweep it all to the side.

Martin starts, as if he just remembered where he was and stammers as he turns away from him

“N-No! Sorry, sorry!”

He fusses with the kettle, taking out mugs as it boils, and does not face Jon again.

Jon is glad for the privacy. He doesn’t want to look at his own hand any longer than he has to, no-one else needs to see it.

As he peels the rest of the dirty wrappings off, they catch on his ruined skin and he can’t quite hold back a pained hiss. The burn is still dreadful to see, blistered like bubbling wax and so red it’s almost black. It weeps a clear discharge, making the whole thing reek a fluid, animal smell.

He rinses it off in the sink, pats it awkwardly dry, smears the whole thing in antiseptic cream and clumsily wraps it up again. It’s a messy, slow process and he barely remembers to clean his other hand as well.

Martin stays stock still as he works, standing guard over two brewing mugs and, as he glances at him, Jon can practically see the questions he wants to ask in the stiff line of his shoulders.

Jon feels both grateful and guilty that Martin holds his tongue. He owes him answers but his mouth is so tired of talking.

Tentatively, he starts prodding at the cut on his neck. It is long but shallow, already clotting. He can feel the skin around it is tender with a blossoming bruise. Daisy wanted it to hurt.

Jon pries his mind away from that thought. If he thinks about how close he came to dying today, he won’t be able to keep himself standing, nevermind clean up.

He just needs to get through the next few steps, and then he can go back to Georgie’s, lay down somewhere quiet and try not to have a complete breakdown. Laying out gauze and dressing, he wets a clean tea towel. He is halfway to raising it to his neck before he realises his mistake.

“Damn.”

“…Jon?”

Martin is peering over his shoulder at him, concern drawn in deep lines around his face.

Jon blinks back at him. He had almost forgotten he was there.

“I… uh,” He waves the tea towel, “I need two hands, should have done this first.”

He is going to ruin the clean wrappings on his hand. He will either have to do them again or wait to get back to the house and hope Georgie won’t be too pissed off to help him. Clucking his tongue, he weighs up his options.

“Um… Do you…” Martin’s soft voice cuts across his thoughts, “I mean, I can… i-if you want?”

“What?” Jon turns and sees him holding out a hand for the tea towel, “Oh.”

“O-O-Only if you, y’know, you’re comfortable with…”

Jon stares at him for a moment and regrets flickers across Martin’s face. He starts to draw his hand back.

“Uh, yes, no, I mean, I-I appreciate…” Jon stammers, “You don’t have to. I-I don’t want to interrupt… what you’re doing…”

The sheepishness fades from Martin as he chuckles slightly.

“I just came in to get a bit of a break from everyone else, really,” He immediately winces, “God, that sounded bad, didn’t it?”

“No… no, I understand.”

Martin smiles slightly and Jon’s feels his lips twitch upward in response.

“So, uh,” Martin holds his hand out again and Jon passes him the towel, “Might be easier to sit.”

“Right.”

Jon brings the gauze and dressing to the rickety coffee table while Martin wrings out the towel in the sink. They sit facing each other, and Martin scoots close enough that their knees brush.

“Can you lift your chin?” He asks, “And please tell me if I hurt you?”

Jon raises his head and stares into the yellowing florescent light embedded in the ceiling as Martin starts delicately dabbing at the cut.

It stings, of course. He can feel the edges of the wound prickle with pain as the meagre scabbing that covered them is wiped away. He hopes he isn’t letting it show on his face.

It is a little uncomfortable, letting someone else touch his neck. Especially someone he hasn’t seen for over two months. He peers at Martin out of the corner of his eye.

He looks exhausted. There are heavy bags under his eyes and the light from above washes him out terribly, making him seem even paler than usual. His hair has grown a bit, more from neglect than choice. His fringe droops over the frame of his glasses.

Guilt bites at the back of Jon’s mind. Without him here, he is almost certain Martin has been doing the lion’s share of the work in the archives. Melanie is only new to the position and Tim… Jon is doubtful Tim has been working at all.

Martin mumbles a pre-emptive apology as he moves the towel slowly over the cut. His touch is soft but steady, gentle in a way that is completely alien to Jon.

Martin’s gaze is focused on Jon’s neck, intent on washing away every speck of pain scrawled onto it. Instead of the sting of the wound, Jon feels something in his chest ache.

He can’t remember the last time anyone was this careful with him. That thought, more than the pinch of physical pain, makes his eyes water.

He blinks rapidly and rattles his brain for anything that will keep his mind off of how tender Martin’s touch is.

His mouth runs ahead of his head and he tries not to swallow too hard as he speaks.

“Martin… ah…”

“Sorry, am I pressing too hard?” The pressure on his throat eases slightly and Jon wills himself not to chase after it.

“No, no, I just, ah, I wanted to-” Jon bites his tongue in his haste to speak, “H-H-Have you been getting on alright?”

The pressure disappears entirely as Martin reels back to gawk at him, his mouth hanging open in shock. Jon might be offended at his surprise if he wasn’t too busy kicking himself.

He keeps babbling before Martin even has a chance to respond.

“God, that’s stupid- stupid question, of course you’re not-!” He sighs, “Just- Ignore me. Apologies.”

He looks back up to the breakroom lights, his face burning hot.

Martin chuckles.

Jon dares to glance at him.

The surprise has faded into something softer, a not-quite-there smile lingering on his lips.

“Yeah…” He agrees quietly, “That… is pretty stupid.”

“Well-! Pardon me for asking,” Jon snaps.

Martin’s smile grows.

“I’ve… I’ve got a pretty stupid answer for it though?”

“Uh,” Jon leans forward in his seat, “Yes?”

“Despite um, well, all of it…” Martin swings a hand around the room, “It’s… It’s really good to see you, Jon.”

He stares.

It’s Martin’s turn to try and hide from the scrutiny. Jon watches with fascination as he starts to turn a blotchy red.

He doesn’t understand. The last time they spoke, Jon gave him nothing but a weak apology after suspecting him of murder and invading his privacy for months. Martin should be angry at him, or maybe even afraid. Jon doesn’t want him to be, but he would understand if he were.

Instead, Martin sits in front of him with a shy smile and soft hands, helping him, missing him. Jon can’t possibly understand that.

He opens his mouth without any clue as to what to say.

“That… doesn’t actually answer my question?” He says weakly.

Martin laughs. Not a chuckle or a giggle but a full-throated belly laugh. It is a sound Jon has never heard from him before. His face feels even warmer.

As soon as he calms down, Martin shakes his head before delicately placing his fingertips on Jon’s chin and tilting his head upward.

“I guess not.”

He finishes cleaning and dressing the wound in silence. When he presses the dressing against the cut to make sure its smooth, Jon can’t help but shudder.

A frown crosses Martin’s brow.

“Don’t suppose I can convince you to see a doctor about this?”

“You suppose correct,” Jon sighs.

Martin clucks his tongue but doesn’t push him any further.

Jon is overcome with the sudden desire to sit in this chair for the remainder of the afternoon, resting in Martin’s half-joking disapproval with their kneecaps just about touching.

He is also keenly aware that that desire isn’t something he can afford to indulge in.

With a weary groan, he hauls himself upright.

“I… appreciate the help.”

Grabbing the now-stained tea towel, he turns away to toss it in the sink.

“O-Oh, uh, sure, anytime,” Martin says automatically, “Well, n-no, not anytime- I didn’t mean- I don’t want you to get hurt again or a-anything!”

“It’s fine, Martin, I know what you meant.”

He puts the first aid kit back under the sink and pats his pockets to make sure he has all the things he came in with. It’s not much.

“Right, I won’t be back today, but I’ll be in the office tomorrow.”

“You’d better not be!” Martin exclaims, suddenly loud.

Jon blinks at him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re hurt! You need rest!” Martin squeaks indignantly, “Proper rest, Jon not just a half-day off!”

“I- Wh- You can’t stop me coming to work!”

“I bloody well can!”

Jon boggles as a memory suddenly strikes him full-force. He had tried coming back to the archives early after Prentiss’ attack as well, hadn’t he? Martin had practically carried out of the building. At the time, it was just another reason for Jon to be suspicious of him. Now, he can see it for what it was.

Martin cared.

He still cares, whether that care takes the form of washing his wounds or scolding him for his poor work-life balance. It’s not a feeling Jon is familiar with.

Martin still sits at the coffee table, arms crossed over his chest, colour high in his cheeks. With a wistful smile, Jon decides to let him have his way. It’s paltry thanks for his ministrations, but it is all Jon has.

“Alright.”

Martin’s glare vanishes under his shock.

“Alright?”

Jon nods.

“Alright. I’ll rest.”

“Oh! Oh. …Good!”

“It’s what, Friday now?” Jon says, “Maybe I’ll even take the weekend off.”

“Wow, let’s not go overboard,” Martin grumbles.

Jon snorts, hiding his laughter behind his bandaged hand. Martin smiles brightly and somehow, gets even redder.

“I’ll see you Monday.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Jon heads for the door. His feet are like lead weights and he already knows he is going to have to stop himself from napping on the tube. He can sleep properly once he is back at Georgie’s. It might even be nice to rest, for once.

He pauses in the doorway, glancing back.

Martin has stood up, his arms still crossed even as he flicks a hand up.

“See you.”

As he stares at him, Jon’s chest aches again. He is overcome with the urge to speak, as if that will ease it.

“For what it is worth… It is really good to see you too.”

Martin’s face goes slack with a look as soft and tender as his hand was on Jon’s throat. It makes the ache worse.

Jon turns away without another word, knocks once on the doorframe and walks away.

As he heads for the stairs, his hand still throbs, and his neck still stings but it is the hurt in his heart that distracts him. The sound of Martin’s laughter echoes in his head and Jon thinks that this particular pain is one he doesn’t mind keeping.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartin #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tma 092 #tma fic #the great tma relisten #listen. has this scenario been written about more than once? yes. do i care? no.#you will get my interpretation and you will like it #the boys are PIIINNNNIIINGGGGG

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