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salty-scars01 · 9 days ago

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Dancing With My Phone • Mammon x GN! Reader

Part 2- long

This fic contains minor spoilers for Obey Me! and will be two parts, angst and fluff

Disclaimer: I altered the events just a little bit because I can

It's been a year since you started living in the Devildom which means that your year has been completed and you've returned to the human world.

What will your favorite demon do now that you're gone?

-•-

You never ever thought this would happen.

You were walking about on the street in the human world, in the city where you're from, when suddenly a familiar face found yours.

Solomon had made a surprise appearance and very suddenly announced that you'd be returning to the Devildom and pushed you quickly into a portal he created.

Now, here you are, happily sitting alone in the House of Lamentation while you waited for the brothers to return from their student council meeting that you fell into. Literally.

When you fell through Solomon's portal, you tumbled from the ceiling and landed directly on top of Satan, but to your surprise, no one in the room was upset at your and Solomon's intrusion. Not even Satan, whom you fell on, was upset that you were there.

Now you prepared yourself as you heard the doors of the House of Lamentation open. It seemed as though Diavolo had ended the meeting early, and you could hear the excited yelling of your name as the seven demons you had grown to love quickly made their way to you.

Forget taking turns, Levi, Asmo, Mammon, and Beel all rushed over to hug you tightly, earning groans from Asmo, Levi, and Mammon as Beel was far stronger than them.

You squeaked out yourself, as the weight from all these men was crushing you. "I missed you all- so much!"

"I can't believe you're here!!" Asmodeus sang excitedly.

"I was worried you'd leave me with these normies," Levi added with a smile.

"I missed sharing meals with you," Beel smiled softly at you. "It was hard for me to eat without you around."

Mammon opened and closed his mouth many times, trying to say something, but he took too long. "I-"

"Welcome back, we all missed you," Lucifer gave you a very rare soft smile and a pat on the head after his brothers cleared from your person.

"It was really boring here without you, honestly." Satan said through a sigh, "But I hope things will be different now that you're back."

"I'm glad I get the chance to spend more time with you," Belphie added in, "I never got as much time with you as my brothers, being stuck in the attic for all those months."

Mammon tried to say something again, but Asmo leaned in front of him and cut him off, "How long are you staying?! You dropped in so unexpectedly, surely you have a plan!" The strawberry blonde-haired man exclaimed.

You reached for your clothes, now that you were free, you could fix them from all the hugging, your hair too. "I don't know. Solomon kind of just pushed me in here, not that I mind."

"So you'll be staying for a while?" Beel asked quickly.

"I guess so!"

The two of them cheered happily and Asmo engulfed you in another hug.

"Alright already, get off of 'em!" Mammon shoved his way through Asmo and replaced his brothers hug with his own.

"Aww, boo! Why do you get to hug them and I don't?!" Asmodeus whined.

"Mammon, surely you can learn to share," Satan sighed at his older brother.

"Yeah, I haven't even gotten a hug yet..." Belphie complained.

"I'm your elder brother, elder! Ya can't boss me around like that!" Mammon retorted.

"Mammon." Lucifer boomed at him.

"Ack-!" Mammon shuddered and reluctantly pulled away from you, only to cross his arms and pout.

"This is their first day back and they said they'll be here for a while. You'll have plenty of time to spend with them later," the eldest continued once Mammon was situated.

"Yeah fine. Whatever." He continued to pout as Belphie came up to give you a hug.

"It's so good to see you again," Belphie whispered to you.

"It's good to see everyone again." You hugged Belphie back and gave him a gentle pat on the head.

Mammon watched you with sad eyes.

You looked over at him when Belphie broke the hug and you held your arms open for him.

He blushed and looked at Lucifer, who nodded. "Well? Don't keep them waiting now."

Mammon threw himself into your arms and hugged you tight. He practically melted when you put your hand in his hair and ran your fingers through it.

Asmodeus sighed and shook his head, "I want that too, you know."

You gave a chuckle and looked over at him, "I can brush your hair later if you want?"

His eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously, "Yes please!!"

"Oh, by the way," Levi started, "I got a few new games we could play! And there's talk of a new game featuring Ruri-chan!"

Mammon began to pull away now as his brothers took their turns pulling in your attention, and he watched as you offered to play games with Levi, cook for Beel, go shopping with Satan, catch up with Lucifer, and take a nap later with Belphie.

"Yo," He finally managed to catch your attention after a moment, "Will you come to my room later?"

All of the brothers turned to him in shock, he usually wasn't so forward when it came to you.

You nodded happily, "Of course! I can come see you before I hang out with Belphie?" Your statement was worded as more of a question.

"Yeah, that's fine. I just- I just need a few minutes. Of- W-With you."

You cocked your head at him as he stumbled over his words.

"Just! Be there? A'right?" His face flushed as he closed his eyes and leaned back on one leg with crossed arms.

"Of course," You gave a soft touch to his arm which didn't help his blush at all.

-•-

The brothers had all dispersed after some time spent all together with you, and it was time for you to meet with Asmo to brush his hair.

You made your way to his room, knowing the halls of the House well.

Once you were inside, Asmodeus was sitting at his vanity with all the necessary equipment and products for his hair care.

"There you are!~" He chimed when he saw you in the mirror.

"Hi Asmo! It's been too long since I've been here."

"In my room?" He gave you a devilish smirk.

"No, in the House of Lamentation, with everyone's company." You made your way over to his vanity where he handed you a brush and turned back around.

"You know, we all missed you," he started to say as you began working the brush through his silky locks, "That much is obvious, but as much as I hate to say it, Mammon missed you the most."

You tilted your head slightly at his words, "Mammon did?"

"Are you surprised?" He sighed and raised his hands in a shrug, "He was always wanting to be with you, always claiming to be your 'first man' or whatever."

"Well, yeah, but I thought that was just him being clingy."

"He is clingy." The fifth-born sighed. "The whole first week after you left, he was in such a bad mood. He locked himself in his room and kept looking through his phone at pictures of you. And he would read through any messages the two of you sent to each other."

You stood in silence, still working with Asmo's brush as he relayed to you all of Mammon's troubles.

"And it honestly got really annoying to deal with at some point. Like, he wasn't the only one who wished you were still here!" He huffed and crossed his arms before he continued. "When he finally came out of his room, he would just mope around. When we had problems, he'd just say, 'This wouldn't happen if they were still here.' Seriously, he's so attached to you that it drives me crazy sometimes."

You felt a blush rush to you face, which was exactly what the fifth-born brother was expecting.

"He even would play with that chocolate lizard thing that you, Satan, and Lucifer have. Where did you get those from anyway?" He slyly changed the subject.

"I uh- When Lucifer and Satan switched bodies, we went to London in the human world to find the witch who could break the spell." You smiled remembering the memories. "Mammon saw them first and kinda geeked out about it. Lucifer bought them for us as souvenirs."

"What?! You went to London?!" Asmo cried. "I wanna go too!"

"Shh! Not so loud! I don't even know if Lucifer would be happy that I told you." You shivered thinking about how he got when he was upset.

"Then it'll be our little secret!" Asmo whispered with a finger to his lips and a wink as he watched you in the mirror.

"And Lucifer's, Satan's, and Mammon's," You added with a wink of your own.

Asmo huffed, "Well, it's our little secret that you told me!"

You chuckled at his reaction and handed him his brush back. "That I suppose is true. As is the fact that I'm done brushing your hair."

"Whaaaat? Already?" Asmo pouted as he took the brush back from you. He sighed as he reached for one of his product bottles and prepared to style his hair. "I guess it's time for you to go see Mammon then?"

You blushed lightly, thinking of the things Asmodeus just told you. "I- Yeah, it is."

He sighed again as he started to work. "Don't let him take up too much of your time. Belphie is waiting to hang with you too."

"Don't worry, I know." You smiled and began to head for the door. "It's good to see you again Asmo."

He smiled softly and turned from the mirror to look at you, "And it's good to hear your voice again, doll."

You gave him one last smile before you left his room and headed towards Mammons.

-•-

Once you reached the second-borns door, you hardly had the chance to knock before the door swung open and you were pulled inside.

The door shut behind you and you were pulled into a hug.

You paused for a moment, trying to recover from the shock of getting yoinked in the door.

"Mammon?"

He said nothing and didn't move.

"Mammon.~" You sang his name and gently placed your hands on his back, which made him flinch.

Another moment of silence passed before you called out to him again.

"Mammon?"

"...Is it really you?"

You blinked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I- You're not some weirdo trying to get to me right? Or some trick my brothers came up with?"

You smiled at him and took out your phone. "Not at all. See?" You pointed to your chocolate Harrison Porter lizard keychain that you had hung on your human world phone, as you hardly used your Devildom Device while you weren't there.

Mammon pulled away just enough to see your lizard, and he hesitantly reached a hand to touch it.

"We went to London, remember? And you were the first one I made a pact with. You got stuck in the labyrinth under Diavolo's castle with us, and you told me, if I were in danger and you couldn't make it in time, I should just die because no one else should save me from danger but you."

He looked into your eyes now and you could see his emotions swirling in them. A rush of denial, confusion, recognition, relief, and happiness.

He pulled you into another tight hug and buried his face in your neck.

"Y'know, Asmo told me you checked our messages a lot and looked at our pictures."

Mammon practically launched himself as far away from you as he could in one motion and stared at you with a blush and a look of blashpemy on his features. "He said wh- That little bastard! He ain't gonna get away with this!"

"So it's true?"

Mammon's fit was immediately neutralized when he heard your voice. "I- uh..." He straightened up and kicked his feet. "Maybe."

This only made you smile at him, which made him blush harder.

You walked through his room and sat on the edge of his bed.

"H-Hey! What do ya think you're doin'?!" He looked rather silly standing with his arms and legs tensed, like a little gremlin.

"You're the one who wanted to see me," you said with a slight smirk. "Won't you come sit with me for a bit?"

He stood there tense for a moment before he relaxed and made his way to you.

Once he was seated next to you, you spoke up. "Is there something you wanted to say? I feel like you almost never invite me in here." You chuckled quietly, remembering the few times you were let in here.

"I-" He paused and began to fidget, repositioning himself a few times. "I missed you, y'know." His words came out as a near whisper.

"I missed you too Mammon. A lot."

He glanced over at you, "Like, more than my brothers?"

You gave him a playful smile and shrugged, "Maybe."

He simply watched you for a moment, his eyes soaked in your face, your hair that always smelled so nice, your clothes that he'd never seen you in before, and your hands that were so close to his on the sheets.

He huffed and closed his eyes before he sharply turned his head from you and placed his hand on yours, his fingers curled under your palm.

"I ain't takin' any chances with you, a'right? I-I'm just gonna say it."

You let your fingers curl over his as a smile spread across your lips. "What is it, Mammon?" You spoke softly as he did, which only made his face flush more.

"I- I..." He scrunched his face up and gritted his teeth. He seemed to really be struggling. "I like you. A lot, okay?"

"Okay." You paused and gave him a moment of suspense. "I like you too."

"Augh, you're just sayin' that..." He looked down at the floor with his eyes still closed.

"I wouldn't be holding your hand if I didn't mean it."

His eyes shot open and he turned to look at you. "Are you bein' serious right now?"

"Mammon..." You sighed and picked up your interlocked hands. "I'm serious."

He stared at you, still unsure if you understood what he was getting at.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Not one bit."

You rolled your eyes and let go of his hand so you could use both of yours to grab his face and place a kiss between his eyes.

"Does that clear things up?"

You watched as his face turned red, first his cheeks, then his nose, his ears, then across the spot where you kissed him.

"Y-you, I- uh... w-what?"

"Mammon?" You spoke softly, while your thumbs rubbed his cheeks. "Can I kiss you? For real?"

He fumbled with his hands, like he couldn't figure out where they should go, until they landed gently around your wrist. He nodded vigorously as possible without breaking your contact with his face, his mouth hung open in shock. "Y-Yes please."

You both leaned in now and you gently placed a kiss to his lips.

Before you could pull away, his hands moved to your shoulders and he pulled you in for another deeper one.

One became two, and two became three, and after the fourth you lost count.

The two of you only broke apart when your lungs pleaded for air.

"Damn it..." Mammon swore as the both of you pulled away. "This better not be a dream."

You laughed softly at his distress and pulled him into a hug. "It isn't. I promise."

"So, d-does this mean we-" He cut himself iff as his eyes caught yours.

"We're dating?" You finished his question.

"Yeah..."

"Yeah. If you want to."

"O-Of course I do!" He noticed your smirk and stammered over his words, "Er well, I mean- Yeah. Sure. That'd be- fine..."

You leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made him flush harder if that were even possible.

"Then it's settled. You are my first man after all."

Mammon groaned and flopped onto your chest, practically with steam rolling off of his head.

Sure it took him long enough, but with the way he held his arms around your waist and breathed steadily now, you knew he was waiting for this.

-•-

Part 2 End

You can find Part 1 here!

I LOST THE SONG I WAS GONNA USE ACK-!

Edit: I found the song!

It's okay I'll update it if I find it.

Thank you for reading!! I'm realizing it's really fun to write a bunch of characters interacting all at once, so maybe I'll do that more often if people like it!

#obey me mammon #obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me lucifer #obey me leviathan #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me x mc #obey me x reader #obey me otome #Spotify

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dailyaudiobiblechronological · 2 years ago

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6/17/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Proverbs 25-26

Welcome to Daily Audio Bible Chronological. I'm China. Today is the 17th day of June, welcome. We made it. We're here at the end of our week and tomorrow we celebrate Father's Day. And a happy early Father's Day if you are father in any realm may you feel celebrated today and maybe also just take some time to recognize Heavenly Father. Maybe he has maybe you don’t really know him as Heavenly Father, maybe you're still you know getting to know him, but I just love that because we get to really like we get to celebrate the dads in our lives right and then also just recognize that however great or lacking we have in the natural the Lord is just perfect in all of his ways. And I will not sing good good father to you at all- that song is just gone, it's gone. But he really is and so I hope that you feel his comfort and whatever emotions come up for you tomorrow. But we're here at the end of this week and we are in Proverbs. We are in the book of Proverbs chapters 25 through 26 finishing off with the Christian Standard Bible for this week.

Commentary:

That's interesting to explore but the theme here today is wisdom out of being in the wrong. There's many examples that are given today and just about making sure that the I guess really like the person, the body, the temple is willing and is clean and is desiring the things of the Lord and isn't in this place of man I just I just want wisdom because it'll make me look cool. That's what this person was praying for. I don't really know what that means still got all this going on in my life that I don't want to deal with or that I'm not going to address, or like I'm going to pray for wisdom but I just want it to you know make me look good. And the Lord knows we just can't trick him you just knows our hearts and that's why I think that scripture is so like pungent to me is when we first meet Solomon in the scriptures and the Lord is impressed with his heart that he's asking for wisdom but he was prepped like his body his temple was ready for it ready to receive it and ready for the Lord’s wisdom, of the Lord to dwell in it.

Prayer:

And so Lord I pray that we would be people who would first and foremost just say Lord what in me needs to go? What in me needs pruned, pulled back, weeded, thrown out, burned, refined? What in me needs to grow? What in me needs watered, cultivated and to be better stewarded? And Lord I pray that we would ask for the things of you that we would realize that you want to give us those, that you'd want to give us those gifts. And I pray that we would steward them well- that we would be people who use them to point everyone around us back to you, even ourselves. So I pray that you would sanctify us or refine us. Lord make us like you. I thank you for Solomon’s words today that greatly impact our hearts and just remind us the importance of living clean and living righteously. And God I thank you that we don't have to do that on our own. We don't have to figure out what that looks like or what that means. We just get to ask you and watch how you refine us. And so Lord that's kind of a bold prayer because that means some things are gonna go, but Lord I pray that we would be willing to die to ourselves, pick up our cross and follow you. It’s in Your name we pray. Amen.

Announcements:

Well this is where I leave you for this week. This is a great week of reading Solomon finishing or building and finishing the temple- consecrating it to the Lord. Solomon had been praying and asking the Lord you know would you dwell here? Praising the Lord, giving him thanks and honor and reminding us to give thanks to the Lord in all things. And then the Lord's saying yes I will be here and this is also what I want from you. And then just learning further about wisdom and so I'm excited for what you will read, what will stand out to you next week. And then coming together again at next week and and finishing out the month of June and starting the very first day of July together. So that is all for today. I'm China. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here next week

Community Prayer Line:

Hi DABC family. This is His Light in Tennessee. I'm just giving a call to ask for prayer. I know this is going to play after the fact I'm not sure if I had called before or not but about this particular court date for my sister Genie. But she is going to court tomorrow and I just am asking for the Lord's favor so whatever it is that the judge will allow the case to move forward because it just hasn't been resolved and it needs to be and Genie needs to have justice. She did nothing wrong, someone hit her from behind and it's been almost 3 years and it's just rather ridiculous that it has taken this long to get this case heard and taken care of but anyways just morphed into a whole lot more. So I'm just asking for your prayers to continue to please let the doors open for Genie so she can become self-sustaining again and just the Lord's will be done. Thank you all I appreciate it, love you and look forward to hearing from every one of you. And I do pray for you on a daily basis every time I'm listening to the prayers, listening to unspoken prayers- a lot of people that don't call in. I am just praying and asking the lord to bless each and every one of you. He knows your needs, he knows your requests and he's our daddy. So I love you and you make it a great day as my brother Daniel Johnson Jr says. Bye.

Hey DABC fam, this is Carrie, AKA Jesus girl. I had recorded a request of prayer for my friend Selena and I'm not sure if that was the one that got played, or the one that did not get played. I only heard one of my two recordings, but my friend Selena I had requested prayer for her a year ago. Her husband had stage four cans pancreatic cancer and he passed a couple weeks ago she just called me and her mom just passed away and in talking to her she informed me her father-in-law they just buried him six days ago. So if you could please hold my friend Selena up in prayer- she's got a 10 year old daughter and a I think 7 year old son. And she's…God has held her up through all of this her faith has been strong, but needless to say right at the moment she she feels like she's about to lose it. And I just know that you guys will actually hold her up and I thank you. I thank you so much for being there for things that we can all just call and share each with each other I pray God blesses each and every one of you. I love you. Have a great day.

Hello my DABC family. This is New Envision Growth out of New York. I'm calling in response to Ashley from Texas who was calling and response to someone who called from the addiction of pornography thank you both for sharing your testimony there are plenty of people and women but knowing that I am set free I say it because the truth shall set you free as you spoke Ashley yes you got to keep busy and that doesn't just go for pornography where anyone who may be suffering from addiction you got to keep busy and it is in the Bible actually when it says that idle time is the Devil's Playground and that can include anything his playground is plentiful so continue to keep busy and continue to pray sometimes which I found out there are things and you want to renounce them and divorce from them in the name of Jesus also you want to keep them busy in your god-given purpose and Ashley you are not in remission I love just to say that you are completely healed just as all believers we will take on certain things I'm blessed and highly favored we don't say we're kind of blessed no we say it and declare it so it's a clear your healing and that is my prayer for each and every person who is dealing with any type of addictions. We are healed.

Good morning DABC. This is His Redeemed Daughter and I want to come on and be an agreement and pray and praise God. First praise God that China and Jill and Brian and Ezekiel are all better right now or going to. Thank you and we praise you in the name of Jesus. I thank you for the warriors that called in and prayed. I prayed to myself I didn't call in, but you know we all are praying for you guys. And what a beautiful family you are to step in for each other. I love that about you all. Kingdom Seeker Daniel and Lady of Victory thank you for calling in. And the other lady with her mighty mighty prayer for the Hardin family. I believe God heals us all. I’m also in agreement with Mary who just called in from AK about a little girl who’s 5 years old Lord God, named G and she has leukemia Father God and she's been fighting for over a year. And father God we know that only you can you can heal her miraculously heal her. We’re asking in the name of Jesus. Lord God please heal this little girl G. I would love to hear Mary come back on and we can praise you and thank you and hear how God that the doctors had the wisdom and the and that you you were in this Lord. Only you can heal a little girl like that only 5 years oldo, she has her whole life. but you know God, you know what they're going through. Please be with these parents Lord. I can't even imagine. I just thank you and I praise you. I ask you for one prayer and that is for me to get better with my words let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight oh Lord because sometimes I get a little too angry. Help me with that. In Jesus…

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daisies-and-buttercups · 3 years ago

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Day 14: Shooting Stars - Alfie Solomons x reader

Summary: You and the little girl you’re taking care of always spend your days on the beach, bumping into a grumpy old man and his dog. Days go by and all Ellie wants to do is watch the shooting stars with you, the grumpy man and Cyril, and who are you to say no to her?

A/N: Now, I love Alfie. Love him with all my heart. But writing for him terrified me lol But I decided that I’d try, ‘cause this idea would not leave me alone, so here it is. Fair warning, I probably, very possibly, butchered his accent, but I tried 💕

Words: 2k

September prompts here

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Margate was…something. Something you needed. You had all but ran away from your city, leaving your job behind, and not much more. You didn’t have many friends, and none of them were close, no family, no lover, no relationships worth staying for, so you left. You didn’t even say goodbye, disappearing overnight, suitcases in hand, leaving only a note on your table with the month’s rent for when the landlord would come in. You needed a new start, and Margate seemed as good a place as any.

The first week went by slowly, with not much to do but set your new (small) apartment up, hang the few pictures you had on the wall and let some of your neighbours know that you were looking for a job. It was then that someone told you about Ellie, a little girl that lived down the road. Her mum needed someone to take care of her, take her out, after she had fallen ill and couldn't move much anymore. Ellie had spent many weeks indoors, waiting for her mum to get better, but eventually gave up on the idea. She needed someone to take care of her, and you were up for the task.

“I wanna go to the beach!” She loved the beach. Even if it was freezing now, she still loved to go, running on the sand and playing with the seagulls, and you had no problem going there with her. You met a few people on your walks, helping you fit in more and more with the people of Margate. “Let’s go then.” She skipped along with you all the way to the beach, waving and greeting every person she met. You reached the beach, running after Ellie as she sprinted towards the dog she had sighted not far away. She’d never learn. You told her many times to wait for you before approaching dogs, since some owners didn’t like kids around them, or some dogs could be afraid, but she loved them so much, she just couldn’t resist. “Ellie!” you shouted when you reached her, trying to pry her away from the dog, who was licking her face, making her laugh at the gesture. “He don’t bite.” You turned at the voice, seeing a man sitting not far from you. You nodded and stayed, watching the two play, until it was time to go. “Well, thank you…” “Alfie.” “Alfie. See you around?” He didn’t answer, standing and calling for his dog, Cyril, lifting his hand as he walked away, a quick wave, you assumed. He was weird, but interesting. Something about him. Just like Margate, something you needed. “Why was his face like that?” “Hmm?” “His face?” “Oh. He…” you didn’t know what to say. You weren’t sure what had happened to him, and you weren’t one to make stories up, so you just went with the truth. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask. But maybe you could try asking him next time? If he doesn’t mind he might tell you.”

It had become a habit to meet him on the beach. Same time, same place, same play buddy for Cyril. So you weren’t surprised to see him on the beach again, today, at the usual spot. Cyril spotted you and ran towards you, his tongue out and his tail wagging, ready to greet you and Ellie as he always did. You caressed him and played for a moment, before heading over and sitting with the big grumpy man. “‘Ello, lass” “‘Ello, you.” you mimicked him, sitting by his side, eyes fixed on Ellie, how she ran around, chased by Cyril, her laughter loud, bringing joy to the gloomy day. You shuffled closer, feeling your leg brush against his. You liked him, you couldn’t deny it, and you loved spending time with him. He didn’t talk much, not when Ellie was around, anyway. Too afraid of swearing or scaring her. You remembered the second time you saw him. “Mister?” “Aye?” “Why is your face like that?” “Ellie!” you sent her a warning glance. It wasn’t the question, the problem, but the phrasing of it. You had gone over polite ways of asking delicate things, but she was so focused on the answer that she forgot all that you taught her. “Alfie, I’m sorry. She means-” “Ah, this? Right, I got shot right in the fuckin’-” “Alfie!” Sometimes having both Ellie and Alfie around was like dealing with two kids, not one. You looked at him and pointed at Ellie, hoping he’d get it. He didn’t. “What?” “No swearing.” “Ah.” You closed your eyes, waiting for him to carry on. “Got shot. In the face. Ah... yeah. ‘s all.” Ellie walked closer to him, her hand gently grazing over his scar. He didn’t flinch, but nodded when she walked back, thanking him before running back to Cyril. “Fuckin’ ‘ell.” “I’m sorry. She was curious.” “Nah, it’s good. She’s a lovely little lass. Just don’t know how to be with kids.” “You’re doing good. Minus the swearing.”

“There’s going to be shooting stars tonight.” Ellie announced, holding her book up proudly. The wonders of Astrology were written in big golden letters on the front of the old blue fabric. You took it from her, reading from the page she had marked. “Indeed. Shall we ask your mum if you can stay up just a bit later so that we can see the stars together?” “Can we go to the beach?” “Sure.” “Can Alfie and Cyril come too?” “I… I can ask them to. You’ve got to stay with your mum this afternoon, yeah? She wants to spend some time with you since she’s feeling better. I’ll go look for Alfie and Cyril and let them know about tonight, alright?” “Yeah! Please!” “Good. I’ll see you later then, dear.”

The walk to the beach was a quiet one, for once, your footsteps being the only sound. You reached the beach in no time, without stopping to greet everyone for an absurd amount of time. Adults were different. A simple “Hello” and they were on their way. Kids had all the time in the world, and they’d tell you about their favourite book, or how many worms they found in the garden, or what weird dream they had. You spotted Cyril and Alfie and, before he spotted you, you could’ve sworn that Alfie was pacing around, looking for you and Ellie. You were late today, and maybe he thought you wouldn’t show up, but when he saw you he sat again, pretending not to notice you approaching them. “‘Ello.” you teased, plopping down next to him, giggling when Cyril came over you to fill you with kisses. “See, this is the kind of welcome I like, lots of kisses and cuddles, right Cyril? Your owner could learn a thing or two from you.” His tail wagged quicker, but his owner grunted at your comment, shuffling away from you ever so slightly. “Where’s the kid?” “Ellie’s home today. But she asked me to come and invite you and Cyril here tonight. We’re watching shooting stars. On the beach.” He scratched his beard, looking ahead. You really hoped he’d come. You liked him more and more each day, and a small part of you wished that something more would come from this… friendship. “Right, I’ll come. But only ‘cause Ellie asked.” “Sure.” He looked at you to make sure you knew that he was joking, that you were the main reason why he wanted to come, but you had already started walking back home, your hand lifted in a wave. He cursed under his breath, scratching his beard again. “Women.” he muttered, shaking his head.

The sky was covered in clouds, but you told Ellie that she could make a wish anyway, the stars were there, waiting for her. So she did. She wouldn’t tell you what she wished for, but she jumped happily afterwards, eying you and Alfie every few minutes. She played for a while, but eventually fell asleep on the small blanket you laid out for her, snuggling to Cyril while she dreamt. “We could make a wish.” You whispered, breaking the silence when you knew she had indeed fallen asleep, her snores loud enough to startle Cyril, at times. “Hmm?” “Shooting stars.” You pointed up to the sky, attempting a smile. You knew that the grumpy man sitting next to you wouldn’t smile back, but you wouldn’t hide your own. He’d warm up to you, eventually. “It’s fuckin’ cloudy, though, innit?” “Yeah. But they’re there. Just ‘cause you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” He nodded, his eyes trailing up to the sky, glancing then at you, your eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “The fuck are ya doing, lass?” You looked at him and laughed at his confusion. “I’m making a wish!” “Well, that’s a dumb fuckin’ face to make. No one’ll grant you a wish like that.” “Did you make a wish?” “Don’t believe in wishes. What’s your wish?” “Ain’t telling. Won’t come true if not.” “I’ll tell ya what. You tell me yer wish, and I’ll wish for the same.” “That’s not how it works.” “I don’t believe in wishes, right, but you do, so two wishes are better than one, aye?” “Aye.” “Then tell me.” “It’s…” You couldn’t tell him. You couldn’t tell him that your wish had to do with him, and you, and more time spent together. Alone. You just couldn’t. So you made up the first thing you could think of. “I wish you would smile more.” “I smile plenty.” “You’re a grumpy old man. You’ve never smiled for me.” “Never given me a reason to.” “Ah, fuck off. Let’s make my wish and go.” You closed your eyes, feeling him looking at you, but you ignored it, nodding and standing up. “All done.” “Aye.” he confirmed, looking up to the sky once more. “Good night, Alfie.” He didn’t believe in wishes. Maybe you didn’t either, but something inside you gave you the courage to chase what you desired. Why did men always have to be the ones taking the first step? If you had to wait for this one to realise where you stood, you’d both be long dead before he even asked you out. You leaned down, placing a quick kiss on his cheek, feeling his beard tickle you as you did so, before turning away and kneeling down, scooping Ellie up from the ground and wrapping her in the blanket. He walked beside you, not saying a word, but taking Ellie from your arms, deeming it right to at least help you take her home. It was the least he could do. Her mother opened the door, ushering you in and leading you upstairs so that you could place her in bed. “I’ll come by tomorrow.” you whispered, covering Ellie as you spoke. “Thank you.” said her mother, walking you back down the stairs. She was feeling a lot better, rest and medicine helping her a lot, but she still wanted you around. You were kind, and Ellie loved you, and she couldn’t ask for a bigger help than what you were giving her. Walking out of the door, you didn’t expect to see him still there. “You can go home, Alfie. I know the way to my place.” you joked, waving, but he was back by your side, still not talking, but always there. You lived just behind the corner, so the walk was short, but you still enjoyed the extra time together. “Good night, then.” you said again, looking for your keys. He waited until you had opened the door to reach for your arm, stopping your entrance and coming higher up the steps to face you, his face inching closer to yours until he found the courage and kissed you, his hand cradling your cheek before falling back down, taking a step back. You stared at him, waiting, but he just smiled, offering a nod before walking away, following Cyril back to their home.

He turned one more, his smile still there. So your wish did come true.

And maybe he didn’t believe in wishes, but his came true too.

#alfie solomons x reader #alfie solomons x you #alfie solomons #peaky blinders fanfic #alfie solomons fanfic #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x you #peaky blinders #Liza's attempts at writing

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amor-immortalem · 3 years ago

Text

Replaced

Genre: Heavy Angst, Angst with a somewhat happy ending.

Warning: The following piece is my take on the replaced! au with Arella. Dark themes lie ahead. If you are triggered by feelings of abandonment, suicidal ideation, or outright suicide, this mini fic is not safe for you to read. Please continue at your own discretion.

A/N: I did it guys! I actually managed to break myself with this mini fic by digging into my own abandonment issues. It was fun- cathartic almost. Please enjoy! Also, spoilers for the lesson 16 incident.

What does it feel like to be replaced? If you were to ask Arella, she’d say it felt bitter and painful. Like someone was holding a white-hot branding iron to her stomach and pushing it in to the point it ate through all the layers of her skin and was now searing through her stomach or like someone was rubbing salt into a open, festering wound.

When Diavolo had announced to the other student council officers that a new exchange student would be joining their ranks, Arella was excited- especially when she found out the new student was a female- there was only so much Arella could talk about in a house full of men and one genderless individual that they would understand, all of them having been assigned male at birth and whatnot. So, another woman among their ranks would be a breath of fresh air for her. And it was for a time being- until the brothers had taken favor to this new human.

It started within months of this new exchange student arriving. One by one, her favorite demons started hanging around her more often. It wasn't like Arella could be mad at them. This human was novel and oh so different from Arella. She was everything Arella was not, from her blonde hair to her well-developed body- even her height, which matched closer to the brothers. She was everything human world media told a girl she should be. She even looked like she fit in with them- having taken to the Devildom like a duck to water even without being able to use magic.

Arella wants to be angry with this girl, but she can’t. This girl, named Melissa, was so sweet it was almost enough to make Arella sick. She was smart, innocent, and -above all else- selfless. It was apparent the boys adored her immediately. One by one, Arella was losing them to the charms of this new girl. The first to go was Satan, clearly smitten by her love of books and knowledge of obscure but very talented authors. The second to go was Asmo, often taking her out to clubs or on long shopping trips that often lasted well past curfew. And just like that the other brothers started to follow suit. Game nights between her and Levi? Gone. Drawing up budgets with Lucifer? Not anymore. Going out with Beel to cafes? Not in her wildest dreams. Naptimes up in the attic with Belphie? Hah! Fat chance. The last and most painful to pull away was Mammon- her first man. The one who swore he would always be there for her when she needed him. And oh how she needed him.

Just like when Arella had first come to the Devildom, Mammon was given the task of watching over Melissa by Lucifer. At first Arella tried to justify it as Lucifer worrying about the girl’s safety as even though his brothers had gotten better at controlling themselves, they still had their moments.

As time went on however, she started to notice the little things. Missed movie nights between them, date nights often forgotten about in favor of showing Melissa his favorite spots around the city, the loss of any physical intimacy. Soon, he stopped seeing her all together. Things that she and Mammon did together were now reserved for Melissa: casino trips, movie nights, pranks on Lucifer that would have the eldest chasing after them, running around the city until it was nearly what could considered to be the Devildom’s equivalent of dawn. She knew he was completely gone when she walked down to the dining room for supper one evening and overheard them just casually flirting. Mammon didn’t even make any attempts to dissuade Melissa’s advances. He remembered he actually had a girlfriend, right? Right?!

Or were they even a thing anymore? It had been months since they’d spent any substantial time together outside of classes and even then, he’d moved seats to sit closer to the new human. He’d either ignore her texts or straight up just ghost her altogether. As she listened to them, she had to push down the possessive tendencies that tried to force their way out of her. She pushed them back down into the flimsily locked box they had always been contained in and burying them down in the deepest parts of her mind, forcing herself to accept that she was no longer wanted- no longer loved by the family she thought she’d found. She returned to her room for the rest of the night and for the first time since the initial weeks after arriving here on her first visit, cried herself to sleep.

The next time she interacted with any of the Avatars, it was Lucifer ordering her off to school telling her that she had better not be late and tarnish the good name Lord Diavolo and the exchange programme. Arella only nodded and promptly left the house, not even bothering to finish her morning cup of tea. The walk to school was lonely, Mammon had left earlier with Melissa and it was then, with a broken heart, Arella decided she would leave them all to their new toy. They wouldn’t bother her. They didn’t need her. At least she had Solomon and the angels, didn’t she? No, it didn’t seem to be the case either judging by the mass of unanswered texts.

As she entered class, Arella took her usual seat only hoping Mammon would choose to sit with her for once, would just choose her for once in general. But it wasn’t meant to be. Of course, it wouldn’t. Why would he bother to choose her when there was someone who was much better for him than her? Someone who wasn’t selfish or possessive or... or... worthless... She subtilty looked over her shoulder to watch as they cracked jokes and laughed together and she felt tears pool in her eyes- heart aching at the thought that she would never have that again and the sweet memories she’d made with the demon. The spot she once saved for him was now taken by another demon.

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Two months more of this- it had been eleven since Melissa joined them. None of the brothers even looked Arella’s way anymore- often forgetting she lived in the house with them in the first place. When she tried to reach out to any of them it was Melissa needs this or Melissa and I are doing this, so she just stopped. She stopped eating, stopped taking care of herself save for basic hygiene needs. No one came to check on her. There were no texts, no calls, nothing. They’d gotten all they wanted out of her and now she was like a cast aside doll. She thought about reaching out to any of them but decided against it. They were demons and she was just an insignificant human. It's not like they actually cared and Arella was a fool for allowing herself to entertain the thought.

She should just go home. But where was home? The human world held nothing for her to return to. Sure, she had that degree in biochemical engineering to fall back on but after having a taste of true happiness, would she even enjoy a life doing that? Maybe she could just go back to her original plan. The plan she had made when she first signed on to the exchange programme. 23 years was certainly long enough to experience everything life had to offer, right? She always did tell herself if the year on the exchange programme didn’t work out, she’d end it all. The idea was sounding more and more appealing by the minute.

With her mind made up, Arella swung her legs over the side of the bed. A smile was painted on her face. Her cheeks stained with tears; emerald-green eyes bleary from all the crying she’d done over the past two months. No one would miss her. They left her- abandoned for the better human like she was an unwanted pet. What did she expect though? No one ever stayed. No one ever cared. No one ever loved her enough to begin with. She was always thrown away like the trash she was after her purpose was fulfilled.

With what little strength she could muster, Arella stood as she uttered a spell and a portal opened. She gladly stepped through it, finding herself in her childhood home as it closed- a place filled with nothing but suffering and pain for her. What a fitting place for her own painful end.

“Hello, Mum, Myles... I’m... home... Isn’t it lovely... that you were right after all? I’ll be with you... soon...”

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Missing his call on her D.D.D. was the first thing that Mammon noticed. He knew he hadn’t been the best boyfriend ever since the new human arrived and the demon felt guilty for that. He’d put so much energy into helping Melissa get a date with his younger brother that he hadn’t realized how much time had actually passed- how it had been almost a year since he’d done literally anything with his girlfriend. She was probably pissed at him and rightfully so. Now that he had actually looked at his calendar, there had been so many planned dates and movie nights he had missed with her and all he wanted to do was make it up to her somehow. She probably thought he didn’t want her anymore which couldn’t have been further from the truth. He missed her- missed hanging out with her, missed the dumb jokes they would crack and the laughter that followed, missed the pranks they would play on Lucifer that often ended up with them strung up from the ceiling together. He missed the late-night cuddles and having her tucked up under his arm at night as he held her close. The bed they had once shared was considerably colder now that she was no longer there.

Mammon made his way down to her room. That was the only place she could be. Arella never left her room anymore. She always left for school earlier than anyone else too, choosing to skip breakfast outright, so Mammon couldn’t even catch her to talk then. He thought about reclaiming his seat next to his human but every morning he found her chatting up another demon that had taken his old seat. He often felt his possessiveness spike most during those times but did he even have the right to feel that way after neglecting her for the past eleven months?

As he drew closer to her room, he could see Beel knocking at her door, asking if she’d like to go visit that new café she had mentioned a couple weeks ago. When there was no answer, the Avatar of Gluttony would frown, unsure if she was just asleep or just actively ignoring him. That was the second sign something was wrong. No matter what happened, at the end of the day, Arella was always happy to entertain their whims.

“She’s not answerin’ ya, is she?” The second-born asks as the sixth-born shakes his head, looking like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road. “I’ll go in ‘n see if she’s awake. I have to talk to ‘er anyway.”

Beelzebub nodded as he left back to the kitchen- likely to eat his hurt feelings away. None of them really had the right to feel this way after they’d just ghosted their favorite human though. As he opened the door, Mammon stopped dead in his tracks. She wasn’t there, her phone lay on the bed lit up with missed texts from Asmo and Levi.

Immediately, he took off for Lucifer’s study. If anyone would know her whereabouts it would be Lucifer, right? The family patriarch had the uncanny ability to know exactly where every resident of the House of Lamentation was at any given time so long as they were still in the Devildom.

-------------------------------------------------

After considering her options, Arella was left indecisive. There were a number of ways she could end her own life. She wouldn’t lie, before the exchange programme she would fantasize about the many ways she could kill herself. Would it be by hanging like she found Myles? Or perhaps she could slit her wrists like her beloved mother. If the car in the garage still worked, carbon monoxide poisoning was a valid option too. There were sleeping pills up in the medicine cabinet- a large handful of those would definitely do the trick... Ah choices, choices. As she smiled to herself, the human wondered if any of the brothers had noticed she wasn’t in the house anymore. The chances were unlikely as they were all too busy with their new human but if they had, who was it?

Would it be Asmo, Levi, Belphegor? Surely, it wouldn’t have been Mammon. He’d long since moved on, probably enjoying the start of a new relationship with Melissa. It hurt that he couldn’t have been bothered to even break up with Arella in the first place. What happened to forever? Had it all been the honeyed words of a liar?

She shook her head. It was best not to think too much on it but she still couldn’t help it. Once she was gone- once their pact faded away- would he regret this? Would he regret losing the person who loved him so unconditionally that it was almost embarrassing?

With her mind made up, Arella grabbed a knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen and carried herself up to the master bedroom where she had found her mother four years prior. As she lie on the bed, she pressed the knife to her wrist deep enough to cause substantial bleeding. She drags the blade up her arm, watching as the crimson liquid gushed from the from the wound. She thinks it’s beautiful- a fitting end for a vile creature such as herself.

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“Lucifer!”

“What, Mammon?” The eldest didn’t even bother to look up from the ever-growing stack of paperwork on his desk.

“Did Arella have plans tonight?” The Avatar of Greed asks as his brother finally looks up at him.

“Not that I’m aware of, but I also haven’t seen her all day. As her mate, you should know, shouldn’t you? As far as I’m aware, Arella hasn’t left the house and is still in her room probably practicing her mag-”

In that moment, both demons felt a sharp pain shoot up their arm as if someone had taken a knife and was drawing a line up the inside of their arm. The same pain was radiating from the places where their pact marks were located. Mammon clutched at his chest as he fell to his knees, the symbol representing his girlfriend radiating with pain that reached down to his heart. If the screams of the others were anything to go by, they felt the same thing.

“She’s not in her room!” The white-hair demon manages to gasp out. What scares him most is that he can feel their pact fading away.

Lucifer’s heart leapt up in his throat as the realization hit him. It wasn’t her practicing magic that he had sensed earlier, it was her casting a spell. She opened a portal to the human world and had gone through. He now realizes the mistake they’ve made as he remembers back to the confession she had made to him over a year ago one night when neither of them could sleep and opted for a late-night cup of tea. She had told him that he and his brothers had saved her life that first year during the exchange programme. That if things hadn’t worked out so well, she had planned to take her own life. Back then, he thought nothing much of it since the problem had resolved itself. But with how they had essentially pushed her aside in favor of Melissa, she would have felt unwanted bringing the suicidal thoughts back full force. They had to get to her and fast before it was too late.

Always fast on his feet the eldest, opens a portal of his own, knowing of only one place she would go to take her own life. Both brothers would hop through, landing in the dusty house with a thud. The smell hit them faster than either of them could process it. Blood. And a lot of it at that.

Mammon was the first to scramble for the stairs while Lucifer made a break for the phone, having forgotten his D.D.D. on his desk in the rush to get through the portal. The second-born knows the layout of Arella's house too well, having been here with her multiple times before this. Back in better times when she knew just how much he loved her. As the smell of fresh blood grows stronger, he finds her resting on the bed, a smile on her face as the knife lay between her body and the arm that was still slowly losing blood.

Faster than a flash of lightning, the demon tore his belt off and was on the bed immediately. He took her arm, fastening his belt around the upper part in a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. He shook her frantically, tears spilling down his face freely.

“Arella! Arella! C'mon, baby, wake up! Please!” His voice came out in a scream and he could only vaguely hear his brother speaking on the phone with emergency services. “We’re sorry! Don’t leave us! Don’t leave me!”

With every passing second, Mammon could feel her life slipping away through the pact that was still searing his heart. This was the price of his actions- of all their actions. Her blood was on his hands, literally. He should have done more. He should have been there. He could have called or texted or even just picked up the damn phone when she had called him, but instead just like the blood that had slipped from her arm, the Avatar of Greed let her slip through his fingers. She was gone and there was no bringing his human back this time like they had when Belphie threw her body down the stairs after he’d strangle her to death. He and his brothers had spent all that time protecting her from other demons but they couldn’t protect her from themselves.

Once the EMT’s got there, the demon stepped back from the blood-soaked bed in a state of shock- a state of disbelief. There was nothing they could do for her now. She had no pulse, no signs of life. He dropped to his knees unable to believe that his human was truly gone. His throat felt tight as more tears came. He was only just able to register the feeling of the Avatar of Pride’s embrace as they cried together- something they hadn’t done since the fall, since Lilith passed.

The two demons were informed that the coroner would arrive to collect her body shortly as they left the room. Slowly they got up, Mammon taking her body in his arms as he fought back the urge to sob. The pair returned to the House of Lamentation with Arella’s body in tow, cradled carefully in her mate’s arms. As they stepped through, they were met by their brothers and Melissa. Even the Angels, Solomon, and the Royals were there waiting.

“She’s gone,” The eldest’s voice cracked as a pained grimace formed on his face, more tears slipping down his face. Mammon couldn’t even lift his head to look them in the eyes as the crying, wailing, sobbing started.

“We didn’t deserve ‘er.” The second-born chokes on his tears, feeling utterly broken inside. “We did this to ‘er. All... All seven of us did this... She reached out to alla us ‘n we ignored ‘er.” He’s the angriest with himself.

The prince and his butler only watch on, tears in their eyes. Diavolo remembers all the good times they’ve had with Arella. The way she made the lives of the Avatars better, the fun she brought to the student council meetings, the beautiful light she’d brought to the Devildom. She’d made such an impact on the lives of all of these demons and angels. As selfish as it was, Diavolo didn’t want to let any of that go.

“Bring her back, Barbatos.” He orders and his loyal servant steps forward.

“Place her on the ground, Mammon.” Barbatos says calmly, almost as if he’s done this a thousand times and for some reason the Avatar of Greed obeys the order.

Once she’s on the ground, the green-haired demon pulls open her mouth and takes Mammon’s hand in his, producing a dagger and slicing the white-haired demon’s palm tipping it to side and allows the blood to drop into Arella’s mouth. As the crimson liquid flows down her throat, the effect is immediate- Arella's body convulsing violently before she gasps for breath as the gash along the inside of her arm heals.

Everyone- demons, angels, and humans alike- stare wide-eyed at the scene. Lucifer looks up to his longtime friend in disbelief. He had just...

“Let this teach you all a very painful lesson. I’ve given her life as a demon, do not take this chance for granted. You will not get it again. She needs rest for now, but in a day or two, Arella will reawaken.” The prince’s voice is stern as he peers down at the former human who would now become a very powerful demon. “Treat her right this time.”

It’s with that that Diavolo and Barbatos take their leave. The rest was up to the brothers now to care for her and right the wrongs they’ve made.

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The Bad Ending

Find more on my masterlist

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #obey me! shall we date?#obey me angst #mammon angst #replaced!mc au

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x-heartofthecards-x · 3 years ago

Text

@numberoneduelist

Hmm.

So Yugi has been about as much of a recluse as he has. He’s not exactly surprised - the Pharaoh had been connected to him in a way that Seto still can’t entirely fathom. He prefers being in his head by himself.

He side-eyes the shorter for a moment, trying to determine if or how he should respond. It’s not as if this one comment indicates alcoholism in particular - Yugi could potentially just have the occasional drink at home. Something in the way he says it, though... The executive decides to set it aside for now. His words would be more or less scathing at this point, and he just got here - he’s not about to end this conversation now. He’ll say what’s on his mind later.

The character select screen flashes in front of him and he thinks for a second before deciding on Chun-Li. It’s been long enough that he doesn’t feel terribly confident with any of the better meta characters. Dhalism used to be his go-to.

“Surprised the place is still open. There have been a lot of stores popping up around town; I would’ve guessed the competition wiped it out.” His awareness is a little fuzzy at the edges already. “Good for you.”

At the question, he tenses.

His trip had been mostly secret. He hadn’t announced anything to the public - or most people in the company, either. The plan hadn’t included being gone so long, so there have been a couple of issues with the press, but for the most part he’s been able to keep it under wraps. Because of its fantastic failure, he would rather sweep the entire thing under the rug.

“I’ve just recently returned from a... sabbatical, of sorts.” Plunging yourself through the atmosphere a terminal velocity just to punch through dimensions with the help of a magic cube in order to play a card game with a dead man counts as a sabbatical, right? “We’re still working on updating some tech for the duel disks and holograms. There have been a few advancements with Mokuba in charge, so it might be time to branch out.”

Yugi hummed in thought at Kaiba's explanation. He didn't have any reason to question the sabbatical that the man had taken. He had enough money to make King Solomon blush, so he could have gone just about anywhere. And honestly, the guy probably deserved a vacation.

He was a little jealous, actually, that Seto could just up and leave this place whenever he wanted. Yugi deserved a damn vacation too. But he was definitely missing the means for it.

He was broke enough to almost regret continuously giving away all of his prize money from tournaments to friends who had needed it more in those moments. Of course, he didn't really regret doing those things. He definitely didn't need millions of dollars to fuel his year-long bender.

But, at the mention of a new duel disk model, his brows raised with just a moment of excitement. It was short lived though, as he remembered how long it had been since he actually competed. So, he replied, "That's cool. I'll be excited to watch the new tournaments with the updates. Bet it will be really rad. I do hope that it translates well on TV. Some of the broadcasts really did the holograms dirty."

The shorter man then shifted his attention toward the screen of the game as his player, Ibuki, appeared on screen. He had lost quite a lot of his spark in many ways, but he also didn't plan on giving Seto Kaiba an easy match against him.

He had his pride, after all.

#numberoneduelist #seto kaiba #closed roleplay #(lmaoooo. no worries! tumblr is fickle at the very best of times! you are all good friendo)#numberoneduelist1

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jasthelazyelf · 4 years ago

Text

Everything is fine

I think we can all agree that the angelic event made everyone uncomfortable. But weirdly it gave me inspiration to try and write something, making a little twist to the whole event. I am a beginner writer, so please keep that in mind. ^^;

GN MC Word count: 2800-ish Angst-y with a good ending WARNINGS: none that I know of outside of somewhat following the angelic event. Let me know if I should state something.

At first it felt like it was supposed to be like any other student council meeting. No one knew what it was about, the notification having been sent only a few minutes sooner. But Solomon has also been called over. That was rather unusual. After a bit of usual bickering among all the brothers, the door into the room opened and Diavolo entered the room alongside the two angel students.

'Huh, I wonder what this is all about, this doesn’t happen often…‘ MC thought to themself.

„I’m happy that you all could join me here,“ greeted Diavolo everyone in his cheery voice as he always did.

Diavolo took his usual seat above everyone else, looked at Simeon and gave him a little nod. The angel explained the situation with audible excitement in his voice. The angels wanted to host a party for the exchange students and the brothers. They felt like everyone deserved a celebration after their hard work.

The reactions… varied, to say the least. Mammon already had his doubts, but Beel was obviously happy to have the opportunity to eat Celestial food again. MC was looking forward to getting to know the angels better.

Belphie groaned. „What a pain… We don’t have to dress formally, do we?“

Asmo, on the other hand, was extremely excited about this. „I’ve got an idea! While we’re at it, why don’t we all dress up like angels?“

„Asmo, I am not really sure that is a good idea,“ complained MC.

„And that’s precisely why I’m rejecting that idea now,“ agreed Lucifer with MC immediately.

„Aw, come on, it doesn’t have to be anything complex! A pair of cute angel wings would do!“ exclaimed Asmo.

„No,“ entered Diavolo the conversation. „If you’re dressing up, you’re going all out.“

Before anyone could further complain, Diavolo quickly cast a spell and all the brothers’ clothes transformed into magnificent Celestial clothes. MC was shocked how fast everything happened and didn’t really know how to react. Diavolo was obviously in awe, he hasn’t seen the brothers in these clothes for such a long time.

„Wow! You all still look as beautiful as ever! Seeing you all like this sure brings back memories… What do you think of their angel forms, MC?“ Simeon turned to MC with an expectant look in his eyes.

„This… this doesn’t seem right…“ they answered, worried.

„That’s because there’s nothing right about this… I never imagined myself living another day in this form…“ added Lucifer. The only one who didn’t really seem to care was obviously Asmodeus.

„Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot. Michael sent you all presents as thanks for taking such good care of us angels,“ remembered Simeon. For some reason, MC started to feel extremely anxious. This wasn’t supposed to be happening, why would they be forced into opening old wounds? Was there a way to stop this mess? They didn’t want to be seen as rude, though, so they kept quiet.

The presents happened to be small nicely ornamented bangles. Even with their simple design they looked quite fancy.

„Whoa, this is pure gold!“

„And they’re so pretty!“

One by one, each brother put on one of the bangles. Once everyone got theirs on, the air around started to feel a little different and the bangles shone brightly. A cracking sound was heard, and the light of the bangles went out again.

„What just happened?“ wondered MC loudly.

„Well, this is a rare occurrence. It seems that whatever spell Michael put on the bangles reacted to my magic, meaning the spells combined into something new!“ exclaimed Diavolo. If nothing else, he seemed rather excited about how things were unfolding.

„… Meaning?“

„It has some sort of effect now, but we still don’t know what it is.“

Since no one knew what they were dealing with, all the brothers collectively decided to get out of these clothes once and for all. They all found they were unable to. MC furrowed their brows. This situation was getting weirder by the minute.

„Oh, I forgot to mention that the bangles have a special spell cast on them,“ said Simeon somewhat guilty. „The bangle makes the wearer behave in a more… righteous manner, if you will… Your hearts will be overflowing with kindness and purity!“

Lucifer got visibly uneasy by the words of his former brother.

„Why would he do such a thing?“ asked he.

„It’s so our party will be full of elegance and grace!“ cheered Simeon, guilt suddenly completely gone out of his voice. This wasn’t very typical of the angel. This wasn’t the angel MC knew.

„We will need some time to find a way to get rid of the spell, until then, you will have to stay like this,“ explained Diavolo quickly and that seemed to be the end of that conversation. So, MC went home to the House of Lamentation with their new angelic demons squad.

They decided to help the brothers however they could. After processing what just happened, they made the plan to check on Lucifer first. He seemed to be… not that much different at first. He let MC know he didn’t have many happy memories from when he was an angel. And how he felt so much better as a demon. MC could understand him, even if maybe a bit distantly.

Lucifer suddenly grabbed MC by their waist and pulled them harshly to the mattress of his bed. In that same moment something seemed to click in him. As fast as he surprised them by his action, he got slowly up and apologised profusely for what he just did.

‚Okay, that is different, he wouldn’t suddenly pull back like that. Maybe the bangle finally had an effect on him?‘ thought MC. Lucifer advised them to leave the room, he wanted to find a way to break that spell as fast as he could.

As they stepped out, they immediately ran into Satan. He invited them to the library and MC decided to follow him there.

As they made themselves comfortable, Satan described his unease with this situation. The one thing that gave the initial spark to his very being was now… gone. All that wrath he felt all the time has vanished. He was left only with peace. An inner peace, that was so foreign to him, he didn’t know at all how to react now. MC tried to calm him down. And he just stood up, apologized himself and left to his room in embarrassment.

At that same moment MC got a text from Levi to meet him in his room. Already feeling sick but wondering how he was doing, they cautiously opened the door to his room. As soon as they did so, they had him around their neck.

He was so energetic. And his room was completely spotless. MC gulped. This wasn’t their Levi. This wasn’t the adorable otaku who was slowly coming out of his shell. This wasn’t the sweet Levi who always invited them to play games together or binge watch a new anime.

„Levi, this isn’t like you at all! What happened to our resident otaku?“ cried MC out as he handed them one of his most precious Ruri-chan figurines.

„What? Did my whole personality resolve solely on being a shut in otaku? There’s no need for that now! I don’t have to endlessly hide anymore. I can finally properly express my feelings towards you, MC! I love you so much, MC, you’re the best thing I stumbled upon in my entire life!“

MC stared at him, shocked. Tears made their way into his eyes. As much as they wanted him to admit his true feelings toward them, this was not the way they wanted it to happen. This was all too sudden, and Levi wasn’t his true self. They clutched the figurine tightly yet carefully to their chest and ran out of his room to their own as fast as they could. They made sure to place it somewhere safe so that she could return the figurine to him once he was back to his old self.

Their D.D.D. pinged again. They were all supposed to meet in the dining room.

Once they got there, they were met with quite few dishes that looked delicious. Simeon, who was there among the brothers with Solomon and Luke, announced that these were dishes to be given at the party and if it was okay to leave it like that or if there were things to be changed. As Solomon saw MC, he discretely made his way towards them.

„Hey Sol,“ they greeted sorrowfully.

„My, my, this doesn’t feel right, does it? This isn’t the true House of Lamentation without all the bickering…“ Solomon sighed. This conversation made MC ironically feel a little better. At least someone had all their senses together.

„They don’t even realize it…“

„They sure don’t and it’s making me uneasy.“ At the same time, Mammon appeared before the two of them with an excited expectant smile. „Oh, that’s right, Mammon, we’re supposed to go shopping for the party now, aren’t we?“ asked Solomon and already started to make his way towards the door, giving MC one last worried look once Mammon got in front of him.

Everyone went to do their own thing and MC visited Beel in the kitchen. He was happy MC was there with him.

„I’ve got something for you,“ he said as he showed them a plate of what he cooked.

„For me? Let’s share it together!“ they were touched by this gesture. And they wanted to share with him like they always did. Maybe the bangle didn’t have an effect on him after all? It would make sense; he has always been so nice to them.

„No, I want you to have all of this. I realized it’s much better to make stuff for others than just eating everything myself. When I’m hungry, I want to think of other people and make them happy with my food!“ He smiled with that big puppy smile of his.

MC dropped their fork. It affected him after all. And it was clearly making him suffer, making him not eat.

They ran out of the kitchen and went for the attic immediately. They hoped they could hide there until this nightmare of a day was finally over. Only they found Belphie there. Surprisingly awake. And surprisingly active. It looked like he was cleaning the attic on his own.

„Oh, hey MC! Look, doesn’t it look so much better now?“ he asked excitedly. MC stopped in their tracks right by the door to the room and couldn’t believe their eyes. „I am not going to waste another eternity sleeping. There’re so many things to see, so many people to meet, I don’t even know how I could just sleep all of the time! But I finally found my motivation. And I will start by properly spending time with my family.“ He smiled brightly.

MC quickly apologized to him and ran away again. It almost looked like they couldn’t hide anywhere. But they knew who was always good when they were feeling stressed. Yes, Asmo was always willing to spend time with them and making them relaxed by a spa day.

As they entered his room, they saw him standing by the table with all his different beauty products on it. As he heard his door opened, he turned around. Seeing MC, his eyes sparkled up as he sat them on the chair by his table.

„There you are, sweetie! I’ve been waiting for you! Here, this is for you!“ he said as he shoved almost everything into their hands.

„Asmo, what are you doing?“ they could barely fight the tears falling down, but somehow they still managed. Asmodeus didn’t seem to notice the state they were in at all.

„I have no need for these products anymore! I realized that it doesn’t really matter how I look like on the outside!“ explained Asmo.

„… Because it’s what’s on the inside that truly counts,“ added MC. This was Asmodeus, though. The demon who always took extremely good care of himself. Even though it was sometimes hard to see through it, MC knew there was so much more to him than just his looks. Under that seemingly confident face was a fragile soul that needed someone to love him for who he truly was.

And MC loved him for everything he came with. This was unnecessary.

„Exactly. Oh dear, look at your hands! They’re so dry! Wait a moment, I have a cream that will work wonders on your skin type.“ He found the cream and they let him massage it into their hands.

MC couldn’t respond anymore. To not upset Asmodeus, they quickly took all his things, thanked him and hurriedly exited the room. Once they took his stuff to their room, they had one more brother to check up on.

They entered Mammon’s room and saw a lot of boxes full of expensive and valuable things on the floor. They looked up and saw Mammon going down the stairs with another box.

„What is this all about?“ MC asked, practically emotionless by now. The light has gone out of their eyes by now, depression setting deep in their heart. Mammon didn’t seem to notice, though.

„I don’t really need all of this stuff. There are people way less fortunate than us and I want to help them. So, I decided to sell my stuff and donate to the people in the human realm to help those less unfortunate ones. I can’t live anymore knowing I do nothing for them.“

This was finally their breaking point. MC turned on their heels and headed towards their room, head low, tears falling freely before they could hide in their last only place of peace. They decided to wait there until it was time for the party. They decided to take a nap for now, hoping it’d make them feel a bit better.

It did not, but they decided to attend the party anyway. They decided to stick with Solomon and Luke who were standing more on the side of this whole event.

„They’re so nice to each other, it’s making me uncomfortable,“ Luke broke the silence first.

„Yes, it is making me physically sick to look at them like this,“ added Solomon. You were glad there were at least two other people who stayed sane.

Diavolo soon joined them and enthusiastically watched the six demon brothers feast, as Lucifer joined Diavolo a few seconds later.

„It is quite a sight, isn’t it?“ said Lucifer, with a rather sad look on his face.

„Oh, Lucifer? You’re not with them? I take it you managed to break the spell?“ asked Diavolo curiously.

The demon, still stuck in his angel costume, sighed. „Yes, but I still can’t take off these clothes on my own.“ He suddenly smiled sadistically. „Let’s bring them to their old selves, but let’s first watch them for a little bit more.“

Their vision suddenly went blank and they jolted awake. They gasped for air, panicking about what just happened. As they realized where they were, they eventually managed to calm down, realizing it was all just a bad dream. But what a dream it was.

It felt both so real and unreal at the same time, as dreams often do. They looked at their D.D.D. to see what time it was and saw that it was time for breakfast already. Even though it was Saturday, they learned very soon during their stay that even on weekends it was a tradition to eat breakfast together.

MC slipped slowly out of their bed and headed towards the bathroom. They were pleased that the breakfast already smelled in the hallway. Once they splashed some cold water on their face to properly wake up, changed their clothes into something comfortable and brushed their hair, they headed downstairs to eat.

As they entered the room, they saw that the usual chaos ruled the whole room. Mammon and Levi were arguing over Mammon owing him yet more money, Satan was giggling with Belphie while provocatively eyeing Lucifer, Asmodeus was trying to take a selfie with his breakfast and yelling at Beel, who just stole the very good-looking sandwich right out of his plate and Lucifer was just trying to enjoy his morning coffee and newspaper, while his usual headache was slowly settling in.

They couldn’t help but smile as they entered the room and took their usual seat by the table. They sighed in relief. Everything was fine.

#obey me #obey me!#shall we date obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beel #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me diavolo #obey me simeon #obey me MC

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prrplwtch · 5 years ago

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A/N: Part 1 here.

Concubine. Part 2. Diavolo x f!MC

One, two, three, four, five, six.

MC took a deep, shaky breath as she submerged her hands into the cool waters of the basin. It was the second week of her confinement in her rooms at Diavolo’s castle – and she had paced around her bedroom so many times that she knew exactly how many steps were between her bed and the basin. Six to the basin, ten steps from the bed to the fireplace, and thirteen more to the window.

She had spent the first few days crying, unable to get out of bed. Her world – the life she imagined she would have with Diavolo – swiftly came crushing down when he’d announced that he intended to take a demoness for a legal wife and keep her as a mistress. A concubine, MC thought, wincing. The word stung like a slap to the face.

Now sadness was replaced by anger – anger at herself for being so naïve, for thinking that she could have a happy family with the Prince of the Devildom himself, but also, anger at him for thinking he could do with her as he pleased. No man has that right.

MC let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head – she should have known better. She trusted his warm smiles and his charisma and did not think to question whether the man standing in front of her was indeed her prince charming – or a monster, masquerading as one. Still, in her heart she did not know if she was capable of truly hating him – it seemed the love she had for him had seeped into her very soul.

But I must steel my heart to do what needs to be done.

MC splashed cool water onto her face to distract herself from her thoughts before sitting down on a low chair by the basin.

A cruel irony of fate, she thought bitterly, just a few short weeks ago I would have given up quite a lot to live with him – and yet, here I am now, yearning for my freedom.

She was grateful at least that, since Diavolo moved her into the castle, he hadn’t tried sharing a bed with her. Not yet. Still, she feared that it would only be a matter of time before he’ll grow tired of her refusals. She hoped that she was wrong, but the events of the last two weeks have convinced her than anything was possible. He’s used to getting what he wants, after all.

How could I be so blind? How could I love a man I did not even know?

Or did I? Perhaps, the signs were there all along, and my infatuation blinded me to them.

She knew she needed to get out of her confinement before Diavolo lost his patience. He’d come to check on her daily, but every time he’d knock on her door MC refused to see him. Though mere door could hardly stop the Prince of Devildom, he hadn’t gone against her wishes – at least for now. Who knows how much longer this will last?

MC was getting desperate – she’d spent the last week considering all her options. She knew she could not turn to the brothers for help. Not without putting them at risk, at least. They cared for her so much and were hot-headed enough where if they knew about her situation, they’d come to the castle to demand that she’d be freed at once – without regard for their own safety.

No, she needed to protect them, just like they have been protecting her ever since had arrived to the Devildom. That’s why she went along with Diavolo’s command to tell the brothers that she was moving to the castle willingly.

“We would not want anything bad to happen to them because of their rash actions, would we, my love?” Diavolo told her before she had the conversation with the brothers, and so she told them what she was instructed to tell.

Sometimes, as she lied awake in bed at night, MC found her mind overcome with…darker thoughts, but she quickly chased those away. No one can steal my life from me, she told herself firmly. Besides, she was certain that her soul would end up in the Devildom anyway if she were to go through with it – and then there would be no escaping Diavolo at all. And even if my soul did go to the Celestial Realm, the brothers would still be here, within his grasp…

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that there was only one person she could turn to – Solomon. He’s shrewd and cunning beyond measure and a powerful mage. Besides, there’s hardly anyone I’d rather rely on in this delicate situation than a fellow human.

Though she was not permitted to leave the castle, she still had her phone. MC was certain that Diavolo had some way of monitoring her calls and messages, and thus she was reluctant to reach out to anyone. I need to find a way to get the message to him without anyone else being able to understand it.

It took her almost a week to think up a perfect one – she’d went through countless possibilities in her head, too afraid to write down any of them, worried that someone might come upon her writing.

MC unlocked her phone and took a deep breath. I need to be brave if I want to get out of here. She typed up the message and read over it three times before sending it. I hope this works out.

Her phone was silent for the longest while, and MC tossed it on the bed in frustration as she began pacing around the room. What’s taking so long? Did he not understand her message? Did he not want to help her?

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, distracting MC from her thoughts. Immediately she rushed to it, picking it up with trembling hands. Solomon’s message was brief, and, as she read it, a smile spread across MC’s face.

He’s going to help me.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me diavolo #obey me diavolo x mc #honestly i’m excited to write part 3 #because i stan humans being bros #concubine

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im-not-looking-for-forgiveness · 5 years ago

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Hi, I’ve seen requests are open so I decided to write to you :) I thought about a reunion one. Alfie Solomons x gangmember!Shelby!reader. Few years back they had an affair and Alfie was secretly in love with her. Then he thought she was killed but she was actually deported to USA by her brothers for protection. Now, she is back in London looking for him and finds him in the arms of another woman in the club with whole Peaky Blinders. Everyone is shocked. I'm leaving the ending to you!

Violent Reunions - Alfie Solomons x Reader

A/N: I loved this request! I'm always a sucker for a gangmember!reader hehe. Also, it's Alfie so... duh. The request didn't imply that the reader got hurt, but it makes the lie of her being dead more believable.

Taglist: @sweetiekokkiri @imagine-richards @hxnky-cat

*****

"Was the smell always this bad?" you muttered to yourself, shaking your head.

You limped onward with your custom cane, boot scuffing the muddy gravel with every lopsided step. Your leg still smarted from the attack, but you were mostly used to it now. Recovering on a calm American farm had helped significantly, but the limp and the ache always remained. It was a small price to pay for staying alive. When everything went south, your older brother Tommy had sent you away to recover in hiding. You had been under strict rule to remain dead to the rest of the gang and to England, but not anymore. It was time to come home. It was time to be resurrected.

One more block to go, and you'd be in your old stomping grounds. Thomas had made contact and said to meet in one of the many Shelby owned clubs in London. Your whole family would be there and the few allies the gang had left. You couldn't be sure if Alfie would still be on that list, but you hoped like hell he would be there.

You'd be lying to yourself if you said you hadn't thought about him since leaving. You had a friends-with-benefits relationship with Alfie, and while the sex had been great you had definitely grown strong feelings for him. Hoping he would reciprocate but fearing he wouldn't feel the same, you had locked that knowledge up and buried it in your chest. Being alone in the States had changed your mind about keeping that hidden. But all of that depended on many different factors. Was he in good health? Was he on good terms with the rest of your family? Had he moved away from England? There was so much to catch up on that you almost felt like giving up before you began.

But, no. You were a Shelby. You did the tough thing, even if you didn't want to.

"Name." an unfamiliar guard at the entrance demanded. You figured he was previously staffed here, and that your family had just taken him as well.

"Y/N Shelby." you answered, tilting your chin up. It was the first time you'd said your real name in over two years.

"Yeah, right. Move along." he dismissed you instantly.

"Move aside or I'll cut you where you stand." you snapped impatiently, free fingers twitching. You were already preparing to snatch the cap off your head with the hand not using the cane.

"You won't."

You swung the cap fiercely at his face, leaving a satisfactory cut across his cheek. You snarled as you shoved past him, "Fucking won't I?!"

Immediately, the sound of overlapping conversations and music spilling out of the ballroom threatened to overwhelm you. You still weren't used to the city after living in the countryside. You felt exposed and vulnerable, especially with your limp. It made you a fraction slower, but you had worked hard to make up for it. Besides, you permanently had a weapon in hand now. You had to remind yourself that you were ready to come back. It was time. You had believed so, and so had Tommy.

You pressed on and into the dreaded ballroom, your cane sounding extra loud on the polished flooring.

"Hey! You have to leave! This is a closed event." the guard ran in after you, a hand pressed over the bloody mess of his cheek.

His shouting got the attention of some of the nearer guests, and immediately their conversations died down as the scene unfolded. You noticed with some relief that Tommy was among them and was making a beeline for you. Thank fuck.

"She's one of us. Go back outside." Thomas ordered, taking you by the free arm. He glared at the guard until the poor boy scrambled back out the door.

"Tommy." you got out, throwing your arms around him. You hadn't thought you would be so emotional about seeing your brother, but you'd had a rough go of it. You missed your family.

He gave you a tight squeeze before pulling back, "Hey. Come on, let's bring you back to life."

After the shock, some of your family grew angry. It was a giant mess of fury and relief, but you hoped mostly relief.

"Thomas Shelby, you will never cease to amaze me." Polly stated, and then slapped him across the face. You winced.

"You deserve that." Ada muttered to your brother, before throwing her arms around you. You hugged her back, letting her support your unbalanced body.

"How did you survive?" Michael blurted out from beside you. You knew that was coming.

"Tommy knows some really good doctors." you shrugged, releasing Ada but still holding her hand.

"But we all saw your leg..." he trailed off, shuddering. You watched him take a large swig of the drink in his hand.

You admitted honestly, gesturing to the black cane in your hand, "Yeah, it was quite the wound. I'm still surprised I got to keep it. I've got this now for my troubles."

"Well, we'll take you back no matter what limbs you have. Cheers!" Arthur announced in his booming voice, and placed a glass in your hand. You all clinked glasses and took a celebratory drink.

You smiled with Arthur's arm around your shoulders, feeling like a proud Shelby once more. That is, until you finally saw Alfie.

The older man stood rigidly, not even blinking as he stared at you. You drank him in, heart dropping at the state he appeared to be in. Since when had he gotten so sick? And there was a woman wrapped around him! You were still trying to process what his appearance could mean when she leaned up and kissed him. And he kissed her back.

You flushed with anger and shame, and wrenched yourself from Arthur's grasp. You got out, "I need some space."

Painfully, you forced yourself to run back into the hall without use of the cane. The fresh night air spilling in helped revive you slightly, but you were still in agony. You leaned your back against the wall, trying desperately to catch a full breath and full balance. Hadn't you guessed this might happen? Hadn't you known he had also assumed you were dead? He had every right to have moved on, but it didn't stop you from hoping he hadn't. Besides, it wasn't as if you had actually told him how you felt!

You heard Alfie's cane striking the floor before anything else. You stood up straighter, moving away from the doorway of the ballroom as if it had burned you. You threw the empty glass still in your hand at his feet.

"Y/N." he called, an unreadable expression on his face. He hadn't even flinched.

His woman followed, worry blatant on her own face. You knew somewhere in the back of your mind that she wasn't the one to take it out on, but you couldn't look at her without seeing red. Your fingers subconsciously tightened around the cane.

"Who is she to you?" you asked Alfie, voice colder and sharper than you thought possible given the state you were in.

"Who are you?" she responded, but you didn't pay her any attention. You only had eyes for Alfie.

He growled out, ignoring your question, "Ah, hello, Alfie! Sorry for fucking off to America! Sorry for letting everyone think I was fucking dead!"

"You know damn well it wasn't my idea!"

Alfie snarled, "It may as well have been! You Shelbys are all the same! You don't care about anyone or anything! All I was to you, right, was a good fuck."

"That's not fucking true." you snapped, voice trembling.

"You're a Shelby?" the woman questioned.

"Yes."

"The pack of monsters has another daughter?" she turned to Alfie with a smug grin.

"Monster, eh? Do you know the man you've taken as your lover? I do. I know all the mad and monstrous things he's done." you turned on her, taking a step forward. How dare she call your family monsters!

"Liar!" she argued.

"Ooh, you really did a number on her." you cocked your head at Alfie, feeling a little too proud of the accurate assumption you made. You were in pain, and so pain you would wreak.

"Now, listen-"

"Is it true? You're like them?" she interjected, turning on him.

"Yeah, alright. It is. I lied about my involvement with the Shelbys." he answered, looking over her head at you.

"Alfie." she whispered, trying to get his attention one last time.

"Leave before this monster fucking kills you." you got out, pulling your coat aside to show her the gun strapped to your side. You wouldn't be able to stand it if he looked back at her.

"Go on. We're done." was all he said, still watching you.

Once she was gone, you turned away from him. You didn't know where to go from here. This wasn't what you wanted. You didn't want to fight with him! You just wanted to be with him!

"I am sorry." you finally managed to speak.

"It was Tommy's idea?" he asked, taking a step closer.

You nodded, "I went along with it though. I was the target. With me dead, they wouldn't come after you."

"Two years." he stated, standing behind you now.

"My leg was nearly torn off. It took a long fucking time for it to heal." you spun around to look at him, and miscalculated your momentum.

Alfie caught you easily, and wrapped his free hand around your waist. You flushed slightly, embarrassed. Did you have any chance with him at all? Was he really done with her?

Taking a steadying breath, you told him, "I would do it all over again to keep you safe. I love you, Alfie. I know we agreed not to catch feelings, but I couldn't help it. I fell in love with you. With all of you, the bad and the good."

Instead of answering, he just leaned down and captured your lips with his. His mouth was warm and firm on yours, and it took everything in you not to burst into tears. You kissed him back as fiercely as you could.

When he finally pulled back, he answered, "I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you."

"Then what the hell were we doing?" you asked, feeling ridiculous.

"Trying not to get hurt." he said, being more honest than you expected.

"Great lot of good that did. Now we just have matching canes." you joked half-heartedly.

"There are worse things to have." he murmured, and led you back into the ballroom.

Another time, you'd ask him what he meant. For now, you just wanted to enjoy being alive once more. You got your family back. You got Alfie back. Tonight, this would be enough.

#alfie solomons #alfie solomons x reader #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders #peaky blinder au #tom hardy #fanfic #fanfiction #imagine #imagines #request

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qm-vox · 4 years ago

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Updates Ride Again

Been awhile since I posted an update here on that Lancer 3pp project, eh? Luckily the team is still getting along grea-

(MOI NIMUE, DFG LUST, & MO & S RASPUTIN. Art credit goes to the incomparable Moid)

Ikiryo, Psybomb, & I have continued to edit and tweak our manufacturers to ensure that once 3pp licensing is online they’re as good as they can possibly be. Alongside this we’ve been ordering art ahead of time, working on flavor sections to help incorporate our manufacturers into the world of your game, and the incomparable Ikiryo’s been busily creating new NPCs with which to challenge your players! Major updates in terms of balance and flavor will be upcoming for all three manufacturers Soon(tm) in response to feedback from Lancer’s discord, so keep an eye out.

If you want updates faster than whenever I have enough will to live to post them, check out Iki’s Twitter. Otherwise, it’s been awhile since we did one of these updates so let’s hit ya with the Land of Full & Complete Context:

What Is Lancer?

Lancer is a ‘mud-and-lasers’ RPG following mechanized cavalry pilots in the far future. Old Humanity, the cultures we know today, suffered a terrible Fall, and the children of New Humanity have spread through the stars to ensure that they can never destroy themselves again, and in the hopes of building a more just world. Along the way we’ve had some mighty triumphs, some horrific mistakes (nothing like re-inventing capitalism am I right), and have grown to contend with the birth of artificial intelligence - which is more alien than we could have ever dreamed of. Your pilots might work for Union; as Liberators executing slavers and tyrants to build a better world from their bones, as members of the Navy defending the weak, as UIB agents up against alien horrors from worlds we know not. Perhaps you swear your service to vast corpro-states, looking for the beautiful and true things at the heart of their cancerous search for profit and empire, or maybe you’re a mercenary from the Long Rim, just trying to die another day. Whoever you are, you have been granted a unique relationship to violence in the form of a mech, and must now decide what that means in your life.

Lancer is produced and published by Massif Press ( @orbitaldropkick) and its player-facing rules are available for free on their store. Our project is third-party; not in any way affiliated with Massif Press, but made to be compatible with their excellent system and slot into its setting.

Our project introduces three mech manufacturers with their own goals and needs. They are...

Downfall Group (by Psybomb)

(DFG GLUTTONY. Art credit goes to Domochevsky)

“What happens when you make a promise to someone who doesn’t want you to keep it?” Like the other two corporations here, DOWNFALL Group did not start out looking for a fight. They just found one. In this case, their mission led them to figure out that what they were meant to do was at odds with what they should, and the final decision was probably not what their bosses intended. Still, when your avowed enemies control nearly everything, including you if they found out, you have to get creative with your solutions.

An intelligence agency that’s gone rogue from the corpro-state that founded it, DFG’s pattern-groups utilize stolen technology in their fight to sabotage the rise of interstellar capitalism. They could be a rebellion’s best friend, the backers of suspiciously armed pirates and, now and again, even an army unto themselves.

Magnum Opus Interstellar (by Ikiryo)

(MOI SOLOMON. Art credit goes to Moid.)

Magnum Opus Interstellar are voyagers among the stars, seeking to map the routes across the depths of space. Magnum Opus tends to dislike personal conflict, as it interferes with business and exploration; but the Aun attack on the Cornucopia blink gate has left them shaken and reeling. Shocked out of neutrality, they are now gearing up for war with frames that tear the firmament asunder and demonstrate that a lack of interest in war was a dramatic difference to a lack of capability.

An ancient and respectable, if small, corpro-state, Magnum Opus Interstellar used to manufacture mechs as a luxury good on the side for the sorts of people who make war into a game. Now awakened to a terrible wrath they have not yet known, their corporate techno-sorcerers ride to war with the codes of summoning at their fingertips. Their work has been undone; worlds will burn for this. And, of course, rich boys making a game out of war still buy what they’re selling.

Marley, Oz, and Silver Lending And Consultations (by Vox/Yours Truly)

(MO & S FRANKENSTEIN. Art credit goes to Domochevsky, as does credit for the INSPIRED addition of the vending machine).

Smith-Shimano Corpro offers unparalleled quality, custom-tailored to each unique customer, with service plans that can’t be beat. Marley, Oz, and Silver are the other end of the market; whatever they make, they make it at the absolute lowest price point possible and at the highest quality they can provide you for that price. Having trouble getting your revolution off the ground? Dreams of glory as a mechanized gladiator doomed by your pocketbooks? Sick and tired of fancier frames jamming up or shutting down? Come see Marley, Oz, and Silver - it’s for a good cause.

MO & S are very small. They have no money. You can imagine the kind of stress they are under. It’s not that they like being arms dealers; it’s that being arms dealers funds them helping the real people that are in front of them here and now. Thankfully, between the Ungrateful conflicts, partisans in the Dawnline Shore, and other hotspots flaring up in the Galaxy, they’ve found some markets that don’t hurt their conscience. Need a war machine but all you have is a junkyard full of retired school buses? Call Marley, Oz, and Silver.

Questions, comments, and feedback are more than welcome! Keep an eye on this post for the announcement of those major changes I alluded to, and because I have terminal writing disease & will probably slap some fiction on it in a reblog.

Catch ya on the front lines, friends.

#lancer rpg #marley oz & silver #downfall group #magnum opus interstellar #3pp publishing #feedback welcome

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 5 years ago

Text

Blue Eyes Part 25

Summary: After the Garrison is shot up, the youngest Shelby daughter finds a new home in London. She strips herself of her last name and tries to live a peaceful life far away from her brothers’ chaos in Birmingham. But fate leads her right back into it after she runs into Alfie Solomons.

Part 25: Ella becomes acquainted with another MP and instantly regrets it.

“Tommy, can we talk?” Ella knocked on the door jamb before stepping into his office. She often visited her brother at the House of Commons because it was closer than having to go to Birmingham or Warwickshire.

He cleared his throat and held a hand out to the empty chair across from him. “Didn’t know you’d be coming ‘round. How’s the arm?”

Ella glanced down at her broken arm, still wrapped tightly in a sling. “It’s alright. I’m managing.” She sat down and shrugged off her coat. “I was hoping to talk to you about something Alfie said to me earlier this week. I’ve been thinking a lot about it.”

Tommy took off his glasses and set aside the speech he was penning for his next session. “What were you talking about?” After everything the siblings had been through, they were both trying to wave the white flag. Extending peace treaties and an open hand. Though, it was mostly formal, if anything. It had been quite some time since they were as comfortable around each other the way they used to be as kids. Ella could remember so many times telling Tommy things she wouldn’t even tell Ada or Polly. She trusted him so much back then. He was her hero, her protector. But trust was difficult to grow back and as far as Ella was concerned, her trust for Tommy hadn’t even begun to bud again.

“I may be worried about the things you’re planning to do to help our family.” She tilted her head to the side. “But Alfie’s a bit more concerned with your dealings in Parliament.”

“Why am I not surprised that your husband has a problem with politics?” Tommy opened his box of cigarettes and offered one to his sister.

“Do you have any sweets?”

He chuckled and opened one of his desk drawers. “I’ve got peace babies for when Charlie and Ruby stop in.” He handed her the bag. “But go easy, those are Ruby’s favorites.”

“Oh yeah? Or are they your favorite?” Ella teased. “I’m sure you don’t just keep them in your desk for your kids.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “They get stuck in your teeth; it isn’t worth the trouble.”

“So, you have tried them.” She pointed out coyly, picking out the strawberry flavored gummy candies. "I knew it, you always had a sweet tooth when we were younger. Pol had to hide chocolate from you."

“You came on an important matter, not to discuss sweets.” He diverted the conversation away from his childhood habits.

“Yes, well-”

“Shelby.” Someone came interrupting their conversation, strolling into the office without so much as a knock.

Ella twisted around in her seat and locked eyes with the man who would haunt her for some time after the fact. There was something about his eyes and smug expression that made her subtly shudder in uneasiness.

“Pardon, I wasn’t aware you were in a meeting.”

“Mr. Mosley, this is my sister, Ella. Ella, this is a colleague of mine, Oswald Mosley.” Tommy introduced the two even though Ella was more than happy being unacquainted with the man.

“Please, Miss Shelby.” Mosley smiled and nodded politely.

“It’s Mrs. Solomons actually.” She replied, eyeing him suspiciously.

The fact didn’t appear to bother the man. He still had a predatory look about him. “But of course, a beautiful young lady like yourself would be married.”

Appetite lost, Ella folded over the bag of candies and placed them on her brother’s desk. “If you two need the room, I should be on my way.” She stood up, almost afraid to let Mosley in her blind spot or to turn her back on him.

“I’ll ring you soon, El?” Tommy called after her as she gathered her things.

“Mhm, sure.” She replied and took her leave. There was something severely troubling about Oswald Mosley and Ella was afraid Alfie was right to worry about Tommy’s dealings in Parliament.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After visiting her brother, Ella stopped by the bakery to talk to Alfie. Cyril and Anthea greeted her by the door. “Hi, lovelies.” She cooed and patted them. “Where’s papa? Huh?”

Anthea barked and started loping down the hallway towards Alfie’s office. Ella followed with Cyril plodding along by her side.

“Oi, what’s all the barking about, aye?” Alfie grumbled from his office as Anthea came careening into the room, nails skidding across the floor. "You mutts are gonna do me head in with all that noise."

“She was just excited to see me is all.” Ella walked in. “Sometimes she gets more excited to see me than you do.”

Alfie smiled when he saw his wife. “That right? Well, why don’t you come over here, yeah, and I’ll make it up to you?” Grinning playfully, she rounded the desk. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close. “Oh, love, I swear you get more beautiful every fucking day.” He murmured softly, his eyes locked on hers.

Ella’s cheeks flushed and she grazed her fingers over his cheek. “I think your eyesight is going.” She teased.

He laughed. “You calling me old?” He squeezed her sides, where he knew she was the most ticklish, making her double over in giggles.

“A-Alfie, stop!” She squealed and wriggled away from him.

There was a knock on the doorframe and someone cleared their throat. Alfie grimaced and let go of his wife. “Ollie, lad, come on in.” He waved in his assistant.

“Sorry to disturb you. Hello, Ella.” The younger man greeted.

“Hello, Ollie.” She smiled and maintained a more professional distance between her and Alfie, much to her husband’s dismay.

“You’ve got a meeting soon, sir. You asked me to let you know when they’ve arrived.”

“Meeting with who?” She wondered.

“Business as usual, love.” Alfie groaned and stood up using his cane. “Tommy, yeah, wants me to look for possible places of cash income. I’m particularly good at that, ain’t I?”

Ella sighed and straightened Alfie’s collar. “Unfortunately.” She made a face of displeasure.

“It’ll be alright.” He promised and kissed her forehead comfortingly. “Business as usual, right, nothing’s gonna happen.”

Ella looked to the doorway and noticed that Ollie had left. “Alfie, wait.” She reached out and grabbed his arm. “I think you’re right.”

“I’m right ‘bout a lotta things.” He chuckled. "What was I right about this time 'round?"

“I mean about Tommy and Parliament.” She clarified. It knocked the smile right off his face. “I was visiting him and…a man came in. I don’t know what it was about him but he just gave me a bad feeling.”

Alfie knew that his wife was more sensitive to her intuitions and signs. And as much as he wanted to discredit it. He knew he couldn’t. His gut had saved him plenty of times. “What’s his name?”

“Mosley. Oswald Mosley. I don’t know his party or what he’s about but there’s just something in his eyes…I don’t know.”

Alfie sighed. Leave it to his brother-in-law to attract trouble even in the House of Commons. “I’ll talk to Tommy about it.” He promised. “Make sure he innit getting himself into trouble. This family don’t need more trouble.”

“This family.” Ella smiled knowingly. “You mean the Shelby-Solomons family?” She inquired.

He blew out an air of discontent and shook his head. “That ain’t what I meant.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Nope.”

“Alfie, admit it!”

“I’ve got a meeting, love.” Alfie skirted around her before she could tease him anymore about the slip of tongue.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Michael’s back home in Birmingham,” Tommy announced to his sisters.

“I knew I had a bad feeling when I woke up this morning,” Ella mumbled and wrapped her arms around herself as if there were a draft in the room. “What’d he say, then?”

“That he didn’t betray me. He’s also brought along a wife.” Tommy stood up and gathered his notes for the session that was to start in a few minutes.

“A wife?” Ella asked in disbelief. “What is he trying to play at?”

“Maybe you two are being too distrustful. He is our cousin.” Ada played devil’s advocate.

“The black cat doesn’t lie, Ada,” Ella replied to her sister.

The older Shelby threw her hands up in disbelief. “You two have gone on for years saying you aren’t gypsies. You wanted to be respectable members of society, not just seen as gypsies. Now you two have turned into drabarno.”

“Some things you can’t ignore, Ada,” Tommy said and took his leave. “I’ll see you two after.”

“I worry about you two sometimes.” Ada shook her head and started toward the door. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, just give me a second. I need a sweet.” Ella snuck behind Tommy’s desk and began rifling around to find the bag of peace babies he’d given her a few days before. Instead, she found three vials stashed away.

Frowning, Ella popped the rubber cork of one of them and sniffed the liquid. It wasn’t alcohol so that left only one more possibility. Disappointed, she pocketed the vials before leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After listening to Tommy speak from the gallery of the House of Commons, Ada and Ella joined their brother for a drink as planned. But Ella made sure to stop him as they entered.

“I need to speak with you privately,” Ella told him as they walked into the high-end bar. "Before we sit down."

“Ada, go and find a table.” Tommy waved his sister on and remained behind with Ella. “What would you like to speak about that Ada can’t hear?”

Ella reached into her purse and produced one of the vials she found in his desk. “What is this?”

An angry look passed over his face. “Haven’t you learned not to go fucking snooping?” He demanded, knowing full well that he hadn’t left any of the doses out in the open.

“What is it?” She repeated.

“It’s none of your business. Now give it back.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked the small bottle away with a significant measure of force.

She didn't react in pain. Instead, all she found was disappointment. Just as their relationship was starting to improve, he was going off to do something else to damage it. “I’m meant to turn a blind eye then, aye? What is it, Thomas?”

His eyes were shifty and his jaw visibly tightened. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

“I’m worried, Tommy. I’m very worried about what this has done to you. It was a blow to us all but if you are struggling-”

“I’m struggling with the fact that no one will fucking listen to me.” He hissed agitatedly.

“When can I worry about you then? When you’re passed out on the floor? When you’re foaming at the mouth? When you’re dead?”

“When I’m dead, everyone can rest. But until then, there’s fucking work to be done and I’ll fucking do it how I see fit.” And with that, Tommy went to join Ada at the table.

So angry she could spit, Ella reluctantly followed. She wanted to scream at him for being a hypocrite. Scream at him how much his family cared about him and how she wouldn’t let him waste away. But she was complacent and sat quietly.

“Mr. Shelby, I must say, you sing like a songbird in the House.”

The sound of the man’s voice made the hairs on the back of Ella’s neck stand up. Mosley approached from behind her, and he rested a hand on the back of her chair causing her to tense up.

“And you’ve got two pretty finches with you. Ella, lovely to see you again.” He greeted with a chilling smile.

“Mr. Mosley, this is my other sister, Ada.”

“Who’s pregnant,” Ada jabbed in response to keep the man a good distance away from her.

“And dangerous,” Tommy added.

“Mr. Shelby, you had a horse of that name,” Mosley remarked and took a seat at the table beside Ella.

She bit her tongue and forced herself to stay seated even when instinct told her to get up and leave immediately. Leave and go back to the warm embrace of her dear husband.

“How do you know about the horse?” Tommy asked coolly.

“We have a mutual acquaintance.” The other man answered. “May Carleton.”

“Huh.” Tommy nodded as if the news didn’t bother him. Just like everything else, it was hard to tell if it did or not.

“Mrs. Solomons, I’ve done a bit of research on you.” Mosley turned his attention to Ella without warning.

“Have you. I’m sure you found it unremarkable.” Ella replied.

“Actually, quite the opposite.” He smiled and studied her face. “You married to Alfie Solomons…two years ago, was it? Right before your brother John passed away.”

Ella’s eyes flicked to Tommy but he didn’t say anything. Ada looked ticked off but she was silent as well. “That’s right.”

“A quiet ceremony, purely legal circumstances as far as I’ve heard. This man, your husband, a Jew isn’t he?”

“I don’t know what my husband’s religion has anything to do with this conversation.” She replied venomously.

“Well it does and it doesn’t, Mrs. Solomons.” He gave her a faux friendly grin. But she could see the malice in his eyes.

“My husband has no dealings in politics. Therefore, he has nothing to do with this conversation.” She reiterated firmly.

“Not in politics, no. He has dealings in many other things. Very…questionable things. Isn’t that right?”

Ella realized if Tommy wasn’t going to listen to her then she wasn’t going to hang around and play the weak woman. She stood up suddenly. “I’ve lost interest in this.” She announced to the table. “You two can play your games but you keep Ada and the rest of the family out of it.” She asserted and turned on her heel to leave. Fuming, she stormed out of the bar. The nerve of some people.

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997

Tag list: @deaflikehawkeye @octaviareina @mylovelykelsifer @doubletriplepowerbomb @ramblingbaby @fuseburner @kaetastic

Masterpost

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mxpseudonym · 5 years ago

Text

Hell or High Water: Part II

Pairing: Tommy x OC

Summary: Having a detective as a partner pays off when you’re a gangster.

Length: 1704 words (allegedly)

Warnings: Swearing

Ask: Hell or high water is amazing ! can u write a 2nd part where she talks to polly and the rest of the family and maybe something happens so that they learn to trust her ? - Anonymous

A/N: I hope this is up your alley, anon! I was writing this and was lowkey scared for Sara’s future and may make a part III, but I don’t really know.

Part I: Hell or High Water ; Masterlist

It had been nearly a year since Polly had declared Sara what she was: not a Shelby and never to be one. Sara moved back to London for more pressing assignments, and, to her absolute delight, Tommy kept his promise. He got a reasonably sized apartment for himself when he bought Ada's house. Sara would stay there with him when he visited, lovely suspenders and trousers already in the drawers.

"How did you manage all of this?" She asked as she looked into the wardrobe. Tommy wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her shoulder.

"I've got my ways, Miss Miller. One day I'll convince you to move in here too," he mumbled that last bit.

"But then it wouldn't be very inconspicuous would it," she pointed out. Instead of an answer, Tommy tugged her button-down from her trousers and continued her undressing.

Even for a short amount of time, you learn more about someone when you live with someone. Sara already did an impeccably good job at reading him, but she had gotten too good. She never let on, but Sara knew what flour on his pants leg and the lingering smell of illegal rum meant. She also knew that it was only a matter of time before it happened.

"Fuck me," she murmured to herself when she opened the file that was waiting on her desk after lunch. She sat and read up on the man she would surely be in bed with that weekend. "Thomas Michael Shelby, decorated veteran. At least it's interesting." There was a knock at the door, and her boss's pageboy was standing there a folder in hand.

"Chief Harrington would like to see you at the half-hour, Miss," he said. Soon enough, she was sufficiently annoyed with her love and standing in front of her Chief Harrington, file in hand.

"Miller, give me a good reason to not arrest those Peaky Blinder scoundrels right now," Harrington said so calmly. "They've scurried up the river and into Camden and brought a few boatloads of workers with 'em. If nothing else, they're poking at the whole Jewish Italian gang nonsense. Inciting violence, all of 'em." The balding man placed his pipe in his mouth and stoked it.

If she were honest and good at her job, she'd tell him to do it. There was a multitude of sins committed by the razor gang that couldn't be taken back even if they wanted to, which they didn't. The Shelbys were agitating the already war-like street corners in the city. But that's not what she said. Because Sara had been hired by Chief Harrington for her "magic trick." But she was too good. There were things she'd found that he'd tell her to hide. These cops weren't on the straight and narrow, they were all in somebody's pocket. And men like Harrington wanted to be in good graces with the right people. She deserved acting in her best interests sometimes.

"Sir, we can't arrest them," Sara said. "It's out of our jurisdiction until we have evidence. More importantly, your contract is being revisited this year," she said. Harrington looked up in surprise and intrigue. He loved power indeed.

"And?"

"While the Peaky Blinders may be moving into London, it won't be as impressive to stop them as it would to stop, say, Charles Sabini. Also, the Peaky Blinders' leader, Thomas Shelby, is a decorated veteran, Sir. A tunneler. He's been of help to Winston Churchill in recent years."

"Bloody hell," Harrington coughed on his smoke. "Why haven't I heard about this before?"

"It's not well known. I had to do some work to find it," Sara responded vaguely to which he smirked.

"That's right, your little parlor trick. Alright, that's your professional opinion?" He looked her over. Still not happy he couldn't make out her curves, it seemed.

"Yes, that's my professional opinion."

"Bury it then. We'll only revisit if we have to," Harrington told her then promptly shooed her out of the office.

After work, she packed a small bag and took the train to Small Health. The whole time she thought about her relationship with Tommy. Where was it going, and could they actually get there? Their paths would keep crossing like this until one of them stopped. But when would that be? When Tommy went above board? She laughed at that one. That would be a sight to see. But she wouldn't leave her job until she was booted, which didn't seem that unlikely with the way corruption was going. Still, unlikely. She sighed and let her eyes close until it was announced she was at her destination.

The Shelby's had family meetings when needed, and lately, that had been more. Tommy checked his watch in the dim light of his office and began putting his work away. He had reports from London that would, hopefully, shut the worriers up a bit. This was good. A knock sounded at his door, and he told them to come.

"Sara?" He stood as she walked in and looked around.

"This is nice," she commented on his office, picking up a decorative paperweight on her way to him.

"Couldn't wait 'til Saturday?" Tommy moved to the front of his desk and leaned against it. Sara avoided answering any question and decided to kiss him instead. She was even surprised by how passionate it was considering her frustration.

"You're so stupid," she murmured between kisses. Tommy's brow furrowed, but his arms wrapped around her to pull her closer anyway. She sighed into the embrace. "I love you."

"What's wrong," he asked once they were forced to breathe once again. Honestly, he half expected this to be another lecture about him smoking three packs of cigarettes a day when he was supposed to be down to two. He couldn't figure out how she could tell. Maybe it was his shoes?

"Tommy, what have I always said about you and my work?" She asked. The flicker of realization told Sara that Tommy knew exactly what she meant. "The ABC, Tommy? Alfie fucking Solomons?"

"It needs to happen. Don't worry, we won't unionize," Tommy chuckled but stopped when she shook her head.

"I don't just work on unions, Tommy. That was just one assignment. Your file came across my desk today. 100 men shipped to Birmingham doesn't just go under the radar in a gang war," she explained.

"Okay, so what do we need to prepare for? A raid?" His arms left her waist to cross over his chest.

"No, I took care of it. You're okay for now. But you should know this happened." Sara stepped away with a sigh

"What do you mean, took care of it?"

"You have a family meeting in 10 minutes, don't you?" She asked and checked his watch.

"I do. What gave it away this time?"

"You don't just stop working at 8pm. Your lights are off, and you were putting things away when I got here, but you're not tipsy, so you'll be speaking later." She waved off the process and motioned for him to stand. "I'll walk with you and tell you what happened." She only planned to walk to the doors of the betting shop and wait in the Garrison after, but Tommy swept her inside.

"You deserve to be here," was all he said. He never expected Sara to use her job to help them out. Had he hoped? Of course. But she did it on her own. Sara's attempts to object were ignored as he sat her down. His family came bumbling in a moment later, conversation stopping when they saw the young detective at the table.

"What the fuck is this, Tommy," Polly spat, pulling out a cigarette.

"Just listen, Pol. We have some news about London," Tommy told her then motioned them all to sit. It didn't take long to explain, and Sara was there to answer questions about the cops and the law. She told them which policemen were working for Sabini, and who was susceptible to bribing as well. It wasn't her intention, but she was already in deep.

"Good to know, Sara," Arthur nodded, taking a drink of whiskey. It was the first time she'd heard any of the Shelby's positively utter her name.

"I'm always here to help." She smiled and let Tommy wrap up the meeting. Polly still didn't look entirely happy with Sara, especially when she was invited to the Garrison. While Tommy went to talk to his brothers, Sara sought out the Shelby matriarch.

"I won't deny what you're doing for my family. That doesn't mean I'm opening my arms to you," Polly said before taking a drag of her cigarette. "And if you think,"

"Polly," Sara stopped her. Polly was about to snap for being interrupted, but the young detective continued. "I know that Tommy wants you to take me in, but I want you to know it's okay if you don't. I promise. You have a family to protect, and I think you also have yourself to protect."

"I don't need your pity."

"I don't have pity to give," Sara said. "I respect you a whole lot, Polly. I happen to love Tommy a lot too, so I'm not going to stay away from him unless he wants it. But, I'm not going to make you like the law when I think they've hurt you more than some of the others know." She gave Polly a sympathetic smile. "Not that I could force you to do anything anyway."

"You're damn right," said Polly, though her eyes were a bit misty.

"If you ever want to talk, I'm here. I think I, unfortunately, understand what you may have gone through." Sara pulled a card from her pocket and handed it to Polly.

It was a tense situation, but with a little time, things between Sara and the Shelby's worked out. Sure, things got a little less honest at work, but there had to be a trade-off somewhere. Sara liked to think being invited to family dinners by Polly and the few lunches they had in London even warranted some trust. And Polly Shelby's confidence in any person went quite far.

Original ask: May I request something for Tommy Shelby where he falls for a woman who is very unique (wears suits instead of dresses, but still has long hair, is quite like Sherlock Holmes yk knows how to deduce and is a detective, insanely intelligent) and he smiles a lot more etc and his family is a little skeptical since he's a detective and they think she's like Campbell but they both really love each other? - @midwinternightz

Tommy: @soleil-dor

#Tommy Shelby #Peaky Blinders Imagine #Tommy Shelby Imagine #tommy shelby x ofc #Tommy shelby x oc #tommy shelby x reader #request fulfilled!

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annaliseharlowe · 4 years ago

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right of succession ;

- — the events in this post occur twelve hours after [ restlessness ].

No matter what has transpired in the moments before dawn crests the horizon, the sun still finds a reason to rise.

Even now, the sun rises somewhere. But it is not here. No light filters in through the gaps in the curtains and no birds can be heard immersing themselves in singsong conversations. Instead, the darkness subsides due to candles flickering on the table, bathing the padded room's interior in ambient light dissipating at the stairwell. It is comforting, and it is not; though warm and lively, this place is cold, the silence that comes to fruition chilling Annalise to the bone. She does not know what to make of it yet— drowsy and fraught with a headache that will not show her mercy, she rubs the sleep from her eyes and looks down the table to the woman at its head.

Dressed in her typical finery, Morrigan sits with her chin cradled in her palms. She watches her daughter with a comforting expression on her face, the smile serving as a thinly-veiled guise that occludes the dourness that has manifested on beguiling features stretched taut with mild concern.

"Good morning," her mother states, voice cutting through the palpable quiet. "I hope you slept well."

"Is it morning? I cannot tell," Annalise counters. Her stare becomes steely, her jaw set in indignation. "Such dramatics were not necessary, mother. Had you given me notice of your need for my presence, I would have come of my own volition," the young woman admits, kneading the space between her index and middle fingers where the needle had plunged through flesh.

Morrigan chuckles, settling back against her chair as a hand flits through the air dismissively.

"Please. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I am afraid, and we have little time to waste."

"Since when do you act in desperation?"

"When circumstances call for it," the elder answers swiftly. "You have been gone long enough. Do you not think it is time for you to return home to fulfill your duties? Or will you continue to run from them as you have everything else in your life?"

Annalise's countenance turns pensive, then neutral as a calm fit of anger blossoms in her chest. She clears her throat, tilts her chin up, and retorts, "You know why it is I ran. Furthermore, you are avoiding answering why it is you brought me here. Surely you would not go to such lengths without reason, given what has kept me from this place."

Her mother shakes her head, bringing a hand to her cheek to brush a thumb across its peak. "I apologize," she mutters with a sigh, "I am just... worried, though I am sure you can tell. You have always been able to see right through me and my various defenses."

"An astute observation," comes Annalise's response, a breathless laugh following in the wake of her words. She leans forward, propping her elbows up on the table to assume a relaxed position opposite her mother. "What is it that has you worried, then?"

"Your father."

"I cannot say I am too surpri—"

"He is missing."

For some reason or another, Annalise suddenly finds it hard to breathe. She takes a moment to collect the thoughts that begin to intrude at a pace that matches the rapid beat of her heart, absent logic and steadfastly defying reason. Only when her tongue can work properly does she ask, "When?"

"He and his retinue headed north to assist House Tybalt on the homefront. I was supposed to hear from him after they stopped at an encampment to rest, but no contact has been made. Given the route they took, it is believed that they were intercepted along the way by the Horde or worse," Morrigan explains.

"Intercepted," the woman repeats under her breath, tearing her gaze away from her mother to focus on trembling digits. A pregnant pause, then, "Am I to assume that you are about to go looking for him?"

Morrigan tucks a strand of ivory behind her ear, offering her daughter a small shrug as she returns, "Your assumption would be correct. What wife would I be if I left my husband to the dogs?"

A smart one, the young woman very nearly states. She inhales deeply, holds the breath in for a long moment, then exhales through her nostrils, hastily regaining some measure of composure. A minute crawls faithfully by, and she looks back to Morrigan.

"Very well," she announces, tone clipped. "There is this nagging thought, however, that you would not have me... brought here as you did unless you needed something from me. Dare I ask what it is?"

A gesture is paid to a small wrapped package on the table, set within reach of unsteady hands.

"It has been mandated that should both of us ever be absent, our responsibilities fall to the next of kin."

“But I— The tradition—" Annalise protests, tripping over the words.

"As I said, little crow, desperate times call for desperate measures. Provided you do well, your position will not be contested upon our return," Morrigan promises, minding not the interruption. "I have faith, too, that continuing the tradition will not be necessary. It is in your blood to exceed expectations. You are a Harlowe, after all."

Her daughter gulps, running her hands down her face before she reaches to take the package into her grasp. She does not open it yet, electing to bring it close to her chest like a well-guarded secret as a hoarse inquiry slips from off her tongue.

"Does this mean what I think it means?"

"It does." The elder gives her a curt nod. "Solomon will be in shortly to debrief you. Following the conclusion of this conversation, you will be installed as the head of house."

#writing.#morrigan harlowe #moon guard alliance #mg a

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hazelenergy · 4 years ago

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What happened that final night.

One year ago today was my last Elysium in Atlanta. And in a mere 48 hours, I will have betrayed and killed my adoptive sire, blood bonded myself to the wild sister of two famous Malkavians, and lost two people I loved.

A few days prior to this night was the beginning of the end. A bloodhunt was called in Atlanta. Not for me. Not for the other thinbloods. A salubri had entered the city. Our adoptive sire, Mary Andrews and primogen of the Tremere (and the only Tremere in the city..I dont know actually why she was alone but I have theories) ordered her children, myself and my two shovelheaded broodmates to bring this man to her alive. We complied. At first.

Solomon had been working closely with Reverend Clancy, the primogen of Clan Brujah. We never knew Solomon’s bloodline, but he vibed with the righteous and nonviolent nature of Clancy’s leadership. Clancy told us the other half of the history of clan Tremere and the Salubri. We were devastated. And now our adoptive sire wanted this man and would probably experiment on him like she did to us. And it would be worse. He can heal. He’d be able to endure what she did to us. So Clancy asked us, two lowly thinbloods, to help him and his clan free this man and get him out of the city. We said yes without questioning the consequences.

Long story short we put our ability to blend with humans to the test at Airport security. We managed to slide through the TSA check with ease- without tipping off the inquisition either. Solomon and I had intercepted the international flight by getting the plane to dock in the incorrect port, allowing the Salubri to slip past the sheriff and his hired guards. Things didn’t go as well as we hoped- as the Sheriff caught on to someone was messing with the radio tower and hopped over to where we were hiding. We had already called the brujah boys to the airfield to intercede the sheriff’s men. A huge fire fight broke out. The brujah were losing so Solomon and I made a rash decision. We used far reach together and launched a fuel tank at the gun fight- fire engulfed the scene. Solomon and I fled into the night- starving, but unscathed. Cue camarilla media blackout and clean up.

The next night we were ordered to return to the chantry. We refused and gave pitiful excuses saying things like keeping face by going to a night job or Solomon had a legit excuse of needing to write his Yom Kippur service. Instead we tracked down Clancy and the brujah and high tailed the Salubri out of Atlanta. Clancy handled the money for the dark flight and I wore less clothing to convince the guy to bypass security. Our Salubri was in the air and out of Atlanta. But the sheriff was on our trail. Someone had to take the blame. Clancy knew how hard we had worked. He was the only kindred who knew about the safehouse project. He took the fall for freeing the Salubri and let himself be staked by the sheriff as we fled unseen into the night.

The following night, we did go to Mary’s Haven. She immediately shoveled us into the car and took us to Elysium. She knew we had something to do with this. Or just wanted to see us squirm. Regardless. Clancy had been placed on trial for his crimes against the Prince and the brujah were ready to Throw. Down. The air was tense and violent choleric resonances dominated the room. There is one brujah in particular, Jamal. He was basically an anarch. The only reason he wasn’t a Baron and fighting the Prince was because of his faith and trust in Clancy. He was nearly going to free Clancy then and there- if it wasn’t for Solomon. Sol begged him to let him play the political game first. Solomon offered himself to the prince as the duskborn primogen. He advised the prince that Clancy’s life was the spindly thread that kept the brujah from rioting. Solomon ruled that Clancy should be exiled but allowed to live. The Prince agreed. The brujah and Jamal backed down- begrudgingly. Clancy was still staked and was to be driven out of the city once Solomon achieved a few goals as his new primogen. Mary was furious. Was it because her ex had arrived in the city and had gotten close to her other child? Oh that was a part of it- for sure. Somehow this night really did not go according to plan and the car ride home was AWKWARD.

That night Mary tried to get me to drink from her again- which uhhh no. Idk what you all know about Tremere who follow Carna- but they can still blood bond. And that made her even angrier. She was willing to try anything to get either myself or Solomon to comply. We resisted. That’s when I figured out Mary had slipped on some control over us and wanted to reclaim it. So, I left the haven that night and went to get some sweet distractions at Atlanta’s Asylum chain. That’s when I decided to stop being careful and took that final drink- as a huge fuck you to Mary and to give myself the edge I wanted. I’d have the swirling madness and premonitions in my system for a while and could be thinking ahead of her. I didn’t realize how loopy I’d get. I felt higher than ever before and couldn’t keep my thoughts from spilling out of my mouth. I stumbled back into the chantry and told my adoptive sire this:

“I reject your blood.”

and

“Any kindred that bothers with me is up to something. You. You chose me. YOURE Up to Something And I wont let it happen.”

She looked me in the eye and said, "tell the truth."

I babbled about everything. The page from the book of Nod and how I copied it. The alchemy I kept from her. The thaumaturgy I tried and made a mess. How she blood bonded Tommy. Letting the Salubri go. How I knew about her plan to usurp the Prince- the madness told me what she’d do. We argued until the sun came up. I went to bed, thinking that I’d have to continue the talk in the evening. I didn’t expect to find myself warded into my own room, windows loaded with explosives, security cameras installed, and my girlfriend Lisa trapped with me. Mary had called an emergency Elysium- excluding Solomon. They were planning our executions. I made it out, barely. Mary’s ghoul and Lisa were killed when one of the explosives went off. There was nothing left but her necklace. In a fit of grief, rage, sorrow I don’t know what emotions I was feeling but it was a lot of them. I obliterated the wards around Mary’s private lab and took whatever I could carry.

We drove off, thinking we’d lay low for a few hours before Mary could use trail of prey on me. We could beg borrow and steal to get our things and get out. I had just parked the car when I vomited the first time. My blood began bubbling and boiling and oozing out of every open surface it could. I had three bullet holes in my stomach- the bullets were pushed out as my blood gushed. I spent the next fifteen minutes in agonizing pain as Mary called my phone. She heard every gag and wretch- and laughed. The ultimatum was to bring me before the Prince to be put out of my misery, and return what I stole. I told her to go fuck herself. Within seconds, my blood was boiling again and I was a mess on the sidewalk.

The next few hours were agony waiting. I didn’t know if she’d do it again. But the clock was ticking. The Prince had ordered a hunt for us. And Mary’s ritual to dominate the Prince and the entire court was already ignited. We could have just fled right then. Fuck the Camarilla of Atlanta. Fuck everything about this place. Lets leave and never look back.... But Solomon still had too much to lose in Atlanta- and was willing to fight for it. And Cass had old wounds from Mary (they were an item at one point omg). And I wanted to go so badly- but what I wanted more was to see her vitae spilling out onto the floor as I drove my knife through her. So after cleaning myself from the third wave of dagons call and alleycat hunting for the first time- we took what little time we had left in the city to put an end to this.

We used the first hour before sunset to gear up. I immediately drove out to the few spots to where thinbloods were hiding and told them to RUN. Find a new city or something- just get out. A few times they looked at me with power hungry eyes. It was a perfect opportunity to take a wanted kindred to the Prince and move up the ranks. I reminded them that they are not known by the prince. And to take me in was to also announce themselves- amidst a time when they are using thinbloods as scapegoats for anything gone wrong. And BOY. Is it going wrong. The last stop I made was to my alchemical dealer. I drained my bank account and bought some of the most powerful brews I’ve ever drank. As a parting gift, or grift if you ask me, he let me have his best brew: Potence.

Solomon went to free Clancy with a group of the brujah boys. A minor fire fight broke out. Solomon was a bit roughed up- both physically and spiritually. I think he had broken one of his own oaths and it was weighing heavily on him.

When we met up at the edges of Mary’s Haven- we didn’t realize how quickly she had redone the wards. As one of the Brujah boys drove up the path it kept twisting and winding to steer us back to the front gate. Eventually I crawled into the drivers seat. Even though I wasn’t welcome anymore- I was the last one to drive this path and now armed with malkavian whispers. It wasn’t my best driving. Certainly creative. But I got us to the bottom of the hill and we could see the lights to the haven. Mary had laid tons of traps as we made our crawl up to the porch. Landmines specifically. Seriously, where the fuck did she get these? Were they always here?

When we made it to the porch, the sheriff sat illuminated by the single flickering light. That certainly explains why it was so easy to bust Clancy out. Solomon took the diplomatic approach and tried to reason with the sheriff. I knew it wasn’t going to work and hovered one of the explosives over him. If anything happened to Solomon I’d-- two gunshots. Solomon clutched his chest and fell to the ground. There goes the second person I believed was actually good in this world. Thats when fresh vitae rained from above. Yeah, this is where I get frenzy bombs. The brujah boys immediately attack each other. Clancy and I keep our cool.

I dropped the explosive and the sheriff flies back into the haven. I go to enter the door, and am met with Mary’s hell cat. Far reached the cat aside. I didn’t care. Nothing was going to stand between me and ending this. The sheriff, his skin singed and peeling, turned to me with frenzied eyes. Far reach again. He’ll never lay a hand on me again. I held him still as Cass drove the stake through his chest. We tossed him aside.

Thats when we realized the basement was warded. It sent Cass flying back everytime she got close. Even Clancy couldn’t get closer than five feet to the doorway. So I pulled out that potence brew and drank it. I slammed my fist into the mahogany floorboards and crashed through two levels of the haven. I fell to my knees surrounded by rubble and looked up to see my adoptive sire performing her ritual- the circle nearly illuminated. “Mom, I’m home.”

When it came down to it, my hand shook and I couldn’t pull the trigger. At first I tried to far reach her out of her circle, but my hunger had gotten the best of me. So instead, Cass took my hand. She fired at my adoptive sire. The Tremere collapsed and fell to ash. I hadn’t seen someone suffer final death before. I stared at the wispy grey ashes fluttering around the room. Suddenly, the house began to crack and crumble. Clancy grabbed both me and Cass and leaped out of the rubble. When we got back to the ground level- the sheriff was gone. Jamal had taken all of him-the last drop. He told Clancy that Atlanta won’t be the same without him- but its going to change in a way he didn’t like. Clancy looked so disappointed. Without a word, He turned and picked up Solomon’s corpse. Sol was now warm. He was dying. He breathed his last breath in Clancy’s arms. The old brujah carried him to his family that night and they got to give him the proper funeral for his faith.

I told Jamal my dark secret and it’s why I couldn’t stay in Atlanta. He told me to get moving and come back when I’m zeroed. “I need a chameleon that can put on charm and take a punch like you.” I was still chased out of Atlanta by a few kindred who wanted that sweet sweet blood hunt boon- but Jamal used it to his advantage. He took them out as I sped away with Cass to Miami. I don’t know what the affairs of Atlanta are like- a mere year later. I know Jamal was going for the Prince since was now without a sheriff missing his two heavy hitting primogen. But regardless of who is in charge- the duskborn trio perished in that haven that night. And we keep it that way.

~HB

_____

Here Jackie, this is the sob story. @ventrue-in-control

#vtm #thats what happened #most of this is canon...in the chronicle the third drink didnt happen but hazel was still loopy af #vtm chronicle #vampire the masquerade v5 #vtm rp

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pengychan · 5 years ago

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[Good Omens] Winging It - Song of Solomon 8:6

Summary: Shockingly, attempting to destroy an angel without consulting God first comes with consequences. There is more than one way to fall, and a thousand more ways to inconvenience an angel and a demon who just wanted to be left in peace. Characters: Gabriel, Crowley, Aziraphale, Beelzebub, Michael, Uriel, Sandalphon Rating: T

Prologue and all chapters are tagged as ‘winging it’ on my blog.

A/N: Well, now they know.

***

Gabriel did not sleep that night.

He went through the motions to undress, shower, towel himself dry, brush his teeth and all that before he lay down under the sheets and turned off the light, but he did not sleep nor he expected to; what he did expect was for Beelzebub to pay him a visit, and demand he repay his debt.

He had found Lawrence Brown, met him, passed on the message; the deed was done and it was time to repay the Prince of Hell for their help. Repay them by bringing up memories of a time long gone, of beings long gone.

“I know you,” he’d told Ba’al a long time ago.

“No. You do not.”

Gabriel stared at the ceiling in the dim light coming from the window, the same thoughts running in circles through his mind. What good would knowledge of what had been bring them? Seeking knowledge had caused humanity’s fall in the first place, clearly it was not a good idea. And yet…

"Thank you for bringing Daniel back to me,” Lawrence Brown had said.

It has been a long time, Gabriel had thought, he doesn’t know him at all. Why would he care to see the photo of a stranger?

“Here he is, dear. My little brother, all grown up.”

The boy Lawrence remembered was no more, then sister Daniel had known had never been, and yet they cared. Yet it mattered. There was the regret for never being reunited, the nostalgia, the fondness, the eagerness to know more about the other, what they had been through all those years and the people they had become.

“He was looking for Alison. That was not me.”

But he was looking for him, in the end. Looking for someone he’d cared about, whatever their name. Gabriel held onto that thought, and waited. He didn’t need to wait long: soon enough the room was brightened by a sudden flare, a smell of sulphur in the air.

Gabriel opened his eyes and lifted himself up on his elbows to glance over.

“I have come for you to hold your half of the bargain,” Beelzebub announced, sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. “You found the man you were seeking. Now I demand you give me the answers I want.”

Gabriel stared at them a few moments, and finally lifted himself up, sitting across the Prince of Hell. Their expression was unreadable, and they were very still. They did, however, blink when Gabriel took their hand.

“What are you-- how dare you presume you can touch--” they began, but paused when Gabriel bowed his head and pressed the palm of their hand on his forehead.

“Here. You can see all I remember. And all I have not yet remembered, I suspect,” he told them, his voice barely more than a murmur. The perfect loophole, because what kept Beelzebub from trying themselves was the literal hellish pain their attempts would cause - but seeing someone else’s memories was another matter entirely.

For a few moments, Beelzebub stared. “The deal was that you’d try and remember so you could tell me--”

“There are things I cannot quite recall. There is-- a block.”

A brief silence, the briefest touch on the very surface of his mind causing the hair on Gabriel’s neck to stand on end. “Fear,” Beelzebub stated. “You are afraid of what this may bring back up.”

Gabriel saw no point in lying, mostly because Beelzebub would see right through it the second they searched his mind. “Yes. But you can force your way through it. I will know, and so will you.”

The hand on his head gripped some of his hair a moment, but it was a loose grasp, and no intrusion in his mind happened just yet. The Lord of the Flies kept staring at him in the dim light, their eyes… ah, they looked completely black. Above them, a few flies buzzed weakly. “What do you think we’ll see?”

“... The truth. Things I may not know how to put into words.”

A scoff. “Not knowing how to put something into words? God’s messenger?”

Gabriel gave a weak smile. “I am only human. And, as you frequently remind me, also an idiot.”

The derisive expression turned into a mildly surprised look, and then something that almost resembled a smile. “I shall not hold back. We made a deal and I will have what I am owed. Do you understand that?”

“I do.”

“Do not attempt to keep me out. It will be easier if you yield.”

Be still. You’ll make it easier, Gabriel.

He'd struggled, then. He would not now. “I don’t plan to resist.”

Another moment of silence and yes, Gabriel could see it now - Beelzebub, Prince of Hell and Lord of the Flies, hesitated.

I am not the only one who is afraid.

He almost remarked on that, but with Beelzebub’s hand resting on his head it would be akin to asking for a third-degree burn to his scalp, so he decided against it. Instead he closed his eyes, and spoke quietly. “Ba’al,” he said, and immediately yielded to the intrusion when the grip on his head tightened, and the one who’d once been Ba’al dove in, searching the shelves of his mind for memories of what had been.

***

They saw it all, from the beginning - not the Beginning of Earth, but the true start of everything.

When God willed light and dark into existence, and then created the angels to build more, filling up that vast nothingness with stars and celestial bodies tracing intricate patterns according to laws of physics that would have been kept together with tape and spit, if not for the fact tape did not exist yet and angels did not spit.

Or so Gabriel said. Angels simply Did Not Do a lot of things, in his opinion, which he never ceased to offer whether or not he had been consulted, whether or not the angels he spoke to outranked him. Ba’al found it annoying, at first. Then it was… still annoying, but amusing. When you see an Archangel trying to lecture a Seraph who is very clearly holding back from slapping said Archangel with all six wings, it’s hard not to admire the sheer nerve. Or idiocy.

That had made him stand out; not all angels knew each other all that well - twenty millions of them, spread out across the universe to carry out God’s mysterious will - but soon enough, Ba’al and Gabriel knew each other rather well. Kept each other in check, sort of. And they got along, oddly enough.

Beelzebub saw it all through Gabriel’s mind, old memories tucked away, unraveling before their own eyes. The stars and galaxies they created, the discussions over projects, more banter than would be expected of angels turning into arguments when Ba’al began growing frustrated with the work, the blind obedience as God dished out orders and barely looked their way.

Gabriel was fine with it. Ba’al found they were not. It drove a wedge between them, as Ba’al began to hang with what Gabriel believed to be the wrong crowd. He tried to talk them out of it, they tried to talk him into it, neither would budge and the rest was history. Those were the facts; Beelzebub had been prepared to see the facts.

What they had not prepared for was that which Gabriel feared to bring back. That which he may not know how to put into words. It hit them like a wave, causing them to recoil, the hand clenching on Gabriel’s hair - not what he had done, not what he had said, but what he had felt.

Love was what they struck them first, so foreign after so much time they didn’t even recognize it at first. It clung to their throat, almost made them choke, cloying and all-encompassing, the brush of a wing over their head and the rumble of thunder, the light of countless stars and celestial bodies imploding and crashing and coming together into new galaxies. Beneath it all an affection that was milder, quieter, the gentle hum of the vast emptiness of the universe yet to fill.

And then had come the worry. Then had come the confusion, the alarm. Some anger - the despair, some helplessness as war broke out and they were on opposite sides. Fear, short-lived relief. Hope, the last-ditch attempt to get Ba’al back on God’s side, and then the pain like the scorching agony of a dying star. Then regret, then numbness. Relief again, when the memory began to fade. The focus on God’s Great Plan, his mission, the only thing that had meaning.

We willed ourselves to forget. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt.

HURTS. IT HURTS.

Beelzebub let out a hoarse cry, and let go of Gabriel’s head as though it had just burned their hand or, rather, wet it with holy water. And for a moment they almost believed there had been holy water involved, that it was where the pain came from, because as Gabriel kept his head bowed something dripped down from his face, onto the crumpled sheets beneath.

No-- no, it couldn’t be holy water. It would have destroyed them, or harmed them far more severely. But they were still there, they were whole... as long as they ignored the space aching cold inside them which was not, after all, caused by holy water.

A brief pause, and Beelzebub slowly stood. They forced themselves to smother any expression, allowed themselves no thought on what they had just learned. Not now. Nor later, possibly, or ever. Never to wonder what they had felt, if that sickening wave of love from that idiot’s part had been returned in any capacity. They suspected they could guess the answer, if they tried to, and it was an excellent reason to never try at all.

We’re not the same beings we were then.

I am Lord Beelzebub, not Ba’al. Thank Satan for that.

“... Stop leaking. You fulfilled your half of the bargain, and we’ll speak no more of this,” they said, giving Gabriel their back and preparing to return to Hell, where they could busy themselves torturing some newcomers, or--

Something grasped their wrist to keep them from leaving, a desperate grip, and the ache in their chest grew worse. Beelzebub snarled, seething fury and something else beneath it, a sort of sudden terror. “If you wish to keep that limb you’ll unhand me now, human.”

For a moment, nothing happened; then the grip grew slack, and Beelzebub tore their arm away from Gabriel’s weak grasp. He said nothing, did not argue. The Prince of Hell did not turn to see if he was still weeping. It did not matter. It could not matter.

“You were right,” was the last thing they said, voice cold, before they disappeared in a cloud of fire and sulphur, to return to Hell where they belonged. “This changes nothing.”

***

“What questions do you have for the Almighty?”

The Voice of God spoke quite pleasantly, no thunder to it, and even so it seemed to reverberate all around them. It must be their nerves, Michael reasoned. Or maybe the almost completely empty room they were in was not helping matters with its echo.

… No, it was definitely her nerves. They all were nervous, but Metatron had been summoned and they couldn’t backtrack without looking… rather stupid, which was a prospect Michael was not overly fond of. Not quite as dreaded as the wrath of God, but still one she’d rather avoid.

It was Uriel to speak for all of them. It had been her idea to ask for that meeting, she’d said, and she would ask.

“We wish to talk about the punishment visited upon the Archangel Gabriel,” Uriel said.

Metatron raised an eyebrow. “There is no Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Uriel,” he said.

There are no back channels, Michael, Gabriel had once told her in that exact same tone. Willfully blind, was how they called that kind of thing - angels never did, in theory, lie ; they may imply and omit, but lie - but that was hardly relevant. Whatever Gabriel said, however willfully blind to it, there had been back channels.

And there had been an Archangel Gabriel. The Voice of God uttering otherwise did not change that, blasphemous as the thought may feel.

He never forgot him, unlike us. Of course he would not. He must know all which God knows, or almost, to answer on Their behalf.

Standing by her side, Uriel replied without missing a beat. “My apologies. I mean, the one formerly known as the Archangel Gabriel,” she corrected herself.

Metatron nodded, like she’d uttered a different name entirely. “Ah, I see. Him. What of his punishment?”

For a moment, none of them said anything; Michael steeled herself, Sandalphon folded his hand, Uriel stood a little more rigidly. They were still on time to turn back, to stop questioning, to be safe. One moment, to give any of them a chance to do just that and leave.

None of them moved, and Uriel finally spoke up for all of them. “We were wondering if you may share with us the reason why. He always served God loyally.”

Metatron frowned. “Have you not heard me declaring his crimes? He was prideful, and attempted to extinguish the existence of another angel out of anger, without permission, without consulting with God through me. Destroy him for good, erase his very existence. Think of it and tell me, does any of you truly believe he did not deserve his punishment?”

To say that she did would mean calling God’s judgment into question, but Michael had no intention to do it; not least because she knew otherwise. Their question, after all, was an entirely different one. “He did,” she said instead. “But what we do not understand is why he, alone, was cast out on Earth. You know - God knows - he did not act alone.”

Metatron was silent for a few moments, eyeing all of them. He seemed to be listening to something he alone could hear before he spoke. “... He did not,” he finally replied. “But he led you.”

Michael was just… a touch annoyed that he’d say that like she’d blindly followed orders - none of them had - but as a warrior angel she had learned how to pick her battles and that was not a battle worth picking. Not right now, anyway. “Even so, we actively aided him. Shouldn’t we have received a punishment as well?”

“Have you not?” was the reply, and Michael paused, rather lost, as the Voice of God spoke again. “Here you are, unable to move on, quite literally arguing for your guilt. When have you last been at peace, any of you?”

None of them said anything. They all averted their gaze. It was enough of an answer to Metatron.

“See? None of you escaped punishment. God simply decreed it would be different; the kind you’d inflict upon yourselves.”

“Not as severe as Gabiel’s.”

“Not as severe?” Metatron seemed thoughtful. “At first, perhaps. But he adapted quite well, did he not? He is doing rather well for himself, and learning quite a few things. Humility, first of all. Of course there is the unfortunate matter of meeting with Beelzebub far more often than it’d be wise, which would be not at all - but all in all, he’s not doing too badly. There is something to be said about being human, it seems, or else they wouldn’t be so immensely attached to their mortal life. Last he was checked on, he seemed more at ease with himself than you are, to be entirely frank.”

That was true, Michael supposed. And yet... Gabriel’s screams etched in her mind, the ripping noises, the blood - it was hard to think of it and believe their discomfort matched that pain in any way. “Why did we not receive his same punishment--”

“Because we didn’t choose it.”

Uriel’s voice rang out suddenly, causing Michael to trail off and Sandalphon to blink. They both turned to see her looking directly at Metatron, her expression hard to read. The Voice of God looked back at her.

“And what choice do you believe you had?” he asked, not unkindly.

“More than we thought we did. We have been looking at it from the wrong angle all along, haven’t we?” Uriel said, stepping closer before speaking again. Her voice was even, sure; the voice of someone who hasn’t come to a sudden realization, but rather has thought long and hard over what to say. Uriel had understood something, Michael saw it now; that was why she had wanted them to speak with Metatron. Not so much to ask - just to confirm what she knew.

Sandalphon’s head almost whipped towards Michael, who could only return his gaze with a silent shake of her head.

I got nothing, either.

But clearly, Uriel had done the math for all of them.

“It was a test, am I correct?” she was asking. “We assumed our choice was to either cast out Gabriel as ordered, or refuse and Fall for challenging God, into the eternal fire.”

To be entirely honest Michael had not seen much in the way of flames during her visit to Hell, but saying that the rebellious angels had been ‘cast into eternal fire’ just had a nice, intimidating ring to it, so she said nothing.

Plus, that… really wasn't the important bit of what Uriel was saying.

“But there was a third option,” she was going on. “Not obey, not refuse, but argue that we deserved his same punishment as Gabriel, for we were guilty of the same crimes.”

Oh, Michael thought. Oh.

Sandalphon’s mouth fell open, but he said nothing; only later would Michael know he’d told Gabriel something very similar, last time he’d seen him on Earth.

We could have refused and-- gone with you.

It was something that had crossed Michael’s mind as well, but they both had thought of it in terms of rebelling to God. What they’d never thought was that perhaps, that had been an option they had been expected to choose. One they ought to have chosen.

It was a test, am I correct?

And we failed, Michael thought. God tested us and we failed.

As the thought rang through her head, a deep sense of shame in her chest, Metatron tilted his head on one side.

“You obeyed God’s order. Surely, by definition, that is a correct choice.”

“We didn’t do as we were told out of obedience only,” Uriel replied. “We had doubts. But we followed through because we did not want to suffer his same fate, even if we knew that if he deserved it, then so did we.”

“Out of fear. Fear of God is not unwise,” the Voice of God pointed out. “Had you made the choice to share his punishment, God would not have intervened to spare you as They did when Abraham didn’t get the joke and tried to truly slash his son’s throat on Moriah.”

“Ah, that,” Sandalphon muttered. “Gabriel told me he got there just on time. Didn’t think the boy would be right in the head ever again.”

Metatron gave him an unimpressed look, clearly about as fond of being interrupted as Michael was fond of coming across as foolish, which was to say not at all. “As I was saying, had you requested to share his punishment, all of you would have been stripped of your wings and cast to Earth as mortals along with him. Quite inconvenient.”

“Inconvenient, but fair. It would have been the right choice, wouldn’t it?” Uriel insisted, and Metatron fell silent for a few moments; then slowly, solemnly, he nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “It was indeed a test, and submitting yourself to his same punishment would have been the right choice.”

“But we didn’t,” Sandalphon spoke, his voice oddly weak.

“No. You did not,” Metatron replied. “But no one is infallible except for God.”

“What can we do to set things right?” Uriel asked, only for Metatron to shake his head.

“Nothing. The choice has been made and cannot be unmade. Gabriel received his punishment, and you received yours. As far as the Almighty is concerned, this matter is closed.”

Having done wrong was a novel, unpleasant concept to Michael; having done wrong and knowing they couldn’t fix it was even worse. It wasn’t something they were equipped, or even meant, to cope with.

“We didn’t know it was a test!” Sandalphon protested, gaining himself a long look from Metatron.

“... One could argue that is the point of a test,” he said flatly.

Sandalphon had the good grace to blush in mild embarrassment, but tried to argue again. “We would have never done such a thing if we hadn’t been given an order and-- it was-- how were we supposed to know what the right thing to do was by ourselves?”

“The same way humans are expected to, every day,” was the reply. The Voice of God turned his gaze back on Uriel, then on Michael. “Do you have any more questions?”

Michael swallowed. “Is there any real chance Gabriel may return to Heaven one day? Perhaps after his mortal life has ended?”

The Voice of God smiled. “As per every mortal,” he said, “that will entirely depend on the choices he makes.”

***

It was early morning when Gabriel walked into St. Joseph’s Church.

It wasn’t the first church he’d come across since he’d set out wandering aimlessly through the city, but he was partial to Catholic ones for purely esthetic reasons. That, and the deep reverence towards Maryam which he rather appreciated, as giving her the Good News was his most well-known accomplishment.

Looking back now, he was rather sorry for how badly he’d freaked out. The PR department had taken care of that in the Scriptures, though, and the portrayals of the event had since widely matched the official version. Although, looking at the statue before him now, Gabriel had to wonder how come she was always so pale in all of them.

The church was seemingly empty, and he almost walked up to the pews in the first row before hesitating, staring at the altar. He’d been cast out of Heaven, did he truly have the right to be there?

But the consecrated ground did not burn him, nor did the holy water when he dared dip his fingers in it. It was heartening, and in the end Gabriel stopped at a bench midway, to the side, and knelt. He clasped his hand together, bowed his head until his forehead rested on them, and prepared to pray.

Except he did not, because he couldn’t find the words to. The sense of loss was overwhelming, ancient and yet so new, as though it had only just happened that night; a wound he'd forgotten was there had been ripped open, and it made the pain of losing his wings and identity almost pale by comparison. And, as for his wings, there could be no getting back what was lost. Ba’al was no more.

This changes nothing.

And not just Ba’al, either. Many others who’d Fallen were angels he’d known by name, cared about. His brethren, like Michael, Uriel, Sandalphon, everyone else. Half of the Heavenly host gone, the loss unimaginable; he hadn’t known all of them, but still so many. Of course they’d needed to forget; of course Satan had decreed there would be pain for any demon attempting to recall what had been. If this was how it felt like, how could they ever have picked arms against each other again as per God’s Great Plan?

“Is that the Ineffable Plan as well?”

“ Well, they're the same thing.”

“You don’t know.”

Gabriel swallowed and tried to muster enough voice to speak - to pray, beg for relief, for guidance, anything - but someone else spoke before he did, causing him to recoil.

“Gabriel.”

It was a voice he knew, though not one he had expected to hear. He lifted his head and drew in a long breath before he looked up. “Uriel,” he greeted her, quietly. He managed a smile; he’d met and spoken with Michael and Sandalphon since his exile, but not with her. “It’s been a while.”

“Too long,” she replied, and knelt next to him. She hesitated a moment, gaze lingering on the dark shadows under his eyes after a sleepless night. “How are you?”

Gabriel shrugged, knowing he was… not prepared to speak of it. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. “... Holding up,” he finally said.

“Ah.” A brief silence. “... Your message has been passed on to your friend. He was pleased.”

The smile that curled Gabriel’s lips was a little more sincere, this time. “I’m glad.”

“He has some… colorful language.”

A chuckle. “Heh. Should have warned you.”

Another brief silence, then Uriel let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

He glanced back at her, taken aback. “What?”

“For what we did to you.”

Right. That. Gabriel ignored the faint ache where his wings should have been, and shook his head. “God ordered it. You had no choice.”

“But we did.”

“You’d have Fallen. It was no real choice.”

“It was a test, and we failed it,” Uriel spoke up, her voice not as firm as it usually was. Under Gabriel’s surprised gaze, she drew in a deep breath, gaze fixed ahead, on the altar. Every word she spoke seemed to leave her mouth with great effort of will, like a shameful confession. It was, in a way: angels do not fail. Angels are not supposed to fail.

“We knew that if you deserved what you got, then so did we. We should have argued we deserved the same. We should have been cast out on Earth with you.”

Something gripped Gabriel’s throat, a different sort of pain. “Uriel…”

“We should have faced the consequences with you, and we didn’t,” she cut him off, and sighed. “We failed the test, we failed God, and we failed you. We’re sorry.”

For a few moments Gabriel said nothing; he remembered the terror, the incredulity, their grip on him and the plea not to make it harder than it already was. He remembered the blinding pain, the weakness that pervaded him as he walked through the night seeking shelter, bleeding from wounds he dared not think of. All of it still filled his nightmares, from time to time.

And he found he could not bear to wish it on anybody.

I would have failed that test, too.

“... I am glad you failed,” he found himself saying, his own eyes turning to the altar. He realized the truth of it only as it left his lips. “I am glad you were not cast out with me.”

He didn’t glance at her, and he didn’t know if she looked at him at all either, but then her hand was resting on his own joined ones, and squeezed. Not a gentle squeeze by human standards, but Gabriel knew it was hard for her to dose her divine strength in a way that wouldn’t shatter bones, so he clenched his teeth and said nothing of it.

“There is a chance for you to come to Heaven, after your mortal life runs its course. It has to do with choices.”

Ah, of course. The old-fashioned, mortal way. Taken as he was searching for Lawrence, Gabriel had almost forgotten about that entire spiel about making the right choices, whatever those choices were. He still did not know what God wanted of him.

“Don’t wonder what’s in it for you, mortal,” Metatron had said. “That way of thinking taints your every choice, and leads to Hell and Hell alone.”

“I think you have figured out more than you think,” Aziraphale had told him. He still had no idea what he was even talking about.

“Well. I suppose I’ll try my best,” he said in the end, smiling weakly. It was all a mortal could do, after all.

Uriel nodded. “... I am aware that Beelzebub has been bothering you. They want to claim your soul. Any moment, you only need to call our names and we’ll come to chase them away from you.”

The weak smile on Gabriel’s face faded. “... There may be no need. Perhaps I’ve seen the last of them,” he said, and the thought gave him no relief whatsoever.

***

"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame." -- Song of Solomon 8:6

***

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