#the updates to the story are slow if not nonexistent

[bittrbuttr]

After baizhu gets his banner will there be any reason to play genshin? Him and Scara were the unreleased characters that were holding the fort down for ages but now that they're both in game what? We're gonna stick around for cat girl number 500? For whatever racist mess they're gonna make out of Natlan? Idk

[littlemisspascal]

Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere

pairing: modern-ish Pero x Female Reader

summary: In which Reader is a newspaper columnist with few self-preservation instincts, Statesman is an insurance company with a catchy jingle, and Pero is the insurance agent assigned to look after you. Except only two outta three of these statements are true.

word count: 3k+

rating: T

warnings: Reader is nameless with no description except for being shorter than Pero, language, blood, violence, guns, non-major character death, Author’s poor attempt at humor, Author knows nothing about insurance and/or a career in journalism, mistaken identity, supernatural elements, worldbuilding

author note: this is what happens when I watch Puss in Boots The Last Wish and then a Statefarm commercial and then random inspiration sparks. It’s borderline a crack fic, but hey, sometimes that’s what the muse wants. I even have more scenes outlined beyond this so...Hopefully someone out there enjoys this 😊 

The story of how you wound up in Wader’s Rest is a rather boring chain of events that can be summed up as follows: you graduate with a journalism degree, spend the next five years trying and failing to convince a major news outlet to hire you all the while typing up fluff pieces for your hometown’s website so you can afford food and other necessities, receive a job offer out of the fucking blue offering you a columnist job in a town hundreds of miles away, decide screw it let’s go and…yeah, that’s about it. For these last six months, Wader's Rest has been your new home.

Wader's Rest is a medium-sized-ish community settled along the southern coastline, perpetually smelling of freshly caught fish and sea salt. It’d be a decent tourist destination, in your opinion, if it wasn’t also a hive of criminal activity, crawling with smugglers and drug dealers and fugitives. The city can be split into two types of people: crime-doers and crime-avoiders. 

Oh, yeah, and then there’s you in a solo category of your own making: crime-seeker. Insert trumpet fanfare here.

There’s a grand total of one newspaper responsible for updating residents on all things Wader's Rest-related. Wader’s Reader has a staff of twelve working all hours of the day in an ugly brick building on the corner of Main Street, right across from a coffee shop you’re 65% sure is a front for black market antiques but it’s also the only place that doesn’t judge the ungodly amount of sugar you pour in your drink so. Until that percentage rises up to 100%, you reckon it’s alright giving them a pass in the meantime.

In a time where a quick search on your phone or computer can answer any conceivable question you have in seconds, the residents of Wader's Rest are strangely protective of their newspaper. Like, Gollum my precious! kind of protective. The most likely reason is probably because the internet access out here is so painfully slow it’s practically nonexistent, but you like to think they actually look forward to reading your column. No more writing about baking contests and music festivals, not when you’ve discovered the addictive adrenaline rush of investigating the many, many, many crimes of Wader's Rest. Nothing else gets your blood pumping as much as witnessing an illegal exchange of weapons in the back parking lot of a Wendy’s. 

So it isn’t uncommon then, to spend your nights crouched behind dumpsters (or sometimes even inside them) or picking locks or doing other shady-as-hell-if-you-had-any-other-job activities in order to gather all the facts and details you need to write the perfect piece for your loyal readers. Insert inspiring quote here like fortune favors the bold or whatever.

It also isn’t uncommon for your nights to end either in the hospital or covered in so many bandages it looks like you spent the night in the hospital. You’re on a first name basis with most of the staff, including Dr. William Garin who’s got such vibrant crystal blue eyes he could’ve been a glasses modeler in another life. Shame he’s got such overwhelming heart-eyes for your boss or you’d be severely tempted to shoot your shot.

Anyways.

See, the problem is, you’re not exactly a master of subtlety yet, and also some of your column subjects don’t always appreciate being watched like they’re zoo animals—they appreciate it even less when you point out that conducting their illegal business in creepy alleyways and abandoned warehouses doesn’t magically make them invisible. Really, any Average Joe could stroll right in and watch the proceedings.

You grunt, head banging against a cement wall so hard you see stars. A meaty fist tightens its grip on your shirt, holding you high enough the toes of your sneakers barely scuff the ground, while the owner of that fist—so massively muscular he’s more of a grizzly bear than a man—glares down at you through narrowed eyes.

Yeah, all those Average Joes really don’t know the fun they're missing out on. Concussions plus bruised, possibly cracked ribs equal exciting times

“Hey Big Mac,” you wheeze, blinking until your vision’s more or less clear and his unimpressed face swims into focus. “Did you get more muscles? You look like you got more muscles.”

If possible, his unimpressed look increases. 

Big Mac’s been a recurring foe since your first week in Wader's Rest when you went out for a midnight McDonald’s run—you have a weak spot for their McFlurries, alright?—and discovered him throwing bricks at the neighboring weed shop’s front window. Where he got the sack of bricks remains a mystery, but upon shattering the glass he was in and out in a matter of thirty seconds with an armful of edibles before disappearing into the darkness of night. You’d been so stunned by the whole ordeal not only had you forgotten to call the police, but your McFlurry had melted before you’d even tasted it.

You’ve lost count at this point how many times he’s been featured in one of your columns. Big Mac’s like a really nasty stain on a white shirt, impossible to ignore, but he’s also smooth as fucking butter, sliding out of cuffs before any charges can stick. You don’t even know the giant’s real name (don’t care to learn it either, the nicknames you hand out like free candy add some extra pizazz to the writing)—just that he likes edibles and that when he’s not breaking store windows he can usually be found working as a henchman for any one of the twenty something crime lords in the city. Apparently they don’t mind sharing lackeys so long as there’s no loose lips. Snitches wind up in ditches after all. 

Tonight you’ve interrupted a clandestine meeting in the factory district between Big Mac and a new fellow you’d decided to call Stringbean due to his lithe frame—you never claimed to be creative with your nicknaming ability. All it took was accidentally knocking over a trash can with a deafening bang and here you are, helpless as an overturned turtle, hoping you can talk your way out of this predicament with as little bloodshed as possible.

The telltale cocking of a gun immediately dampens those hopes.

Both you and Big Mac look to the sound, finding Stringbean aiming a pistol your direction. He’s a nervous-looking thing, sweat shining on his brow, and there’s few things in life as scarily unpredictable as a twitchy man with a loaded gun. 

“What are you doing,” Big Mac rumbles without any inflection in his tone.

“We agreed no witnesses,” is the breathy, slightly nasally response. Nothing about Stringbean–aside from the weapon in his hands–screams bad guy. He’s thin, bespectacled, suit too neatly pressed like it’s his Sunday best clothes. You estimate him lasting about a week before the bigger sharks gobble him up and spit out his—you squint, oh good lord—his bumblebee patterned bow tie as the only evidence of his existence. 

“Witness?” you pipe up. “Witness to what exactly? Care to shed some light–ugh!”

The rest of your sentence ends in another choked wheeze as Big Mac shoves you against the wall again. Yep, something’s definitely broken in your body now. He’s not even looking at you, the bastard, like you’re not even a worthy enough threat to keep an eye on for any devious tricks.

Instead, Big Mac says something to Stringbean, probably some kind of grumbling threat about tearing Stringbean’s head from his shoulders if he doesn’t put the gun away, but the thunderous whooshing of blood in your ears prevents you from hearing if that’s right or not. It’s a good line though, the kind of line that tempts you to sneak it into your draft and hope your boss doesn’t cross it out with that damn red pen of hers, possessing a special sixth sense for sniffing out bullshit.

Stringbean retorts something that’s also lost on you–God, you really need to invest in a tape recorder, or some sort of phone app–but whatever he says has Big Mac dropping you without warning, lunging at the smaller man like a lion after a mouse. You fall on your hands and knees with a faint yelp, gritting your teeth at the instant blooms of pain shooting along your nerve endings. It takes you a second to collect yourself, but it’s a second too long to have wasted, remembering too late how dangerous your situation is—

Bang.

A scream escapes you, cowering against the wall in a scrunched up ball. Big Mac’s lying on the ground, unmoving, a chunk of his shoulder missing and gallons of blood gushing out like a damn river. Oh shit. Oh holy fucking shit. Stringbean’s on the cusp of hyperventilating, seeming unable to process his own actions, and then those anxious, too-wide eyes lock onto you. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“I’m sorry,” Stringbean says, and he actually sounds sincere. But the effect is immediately dulled when he lines up the gun directly with your face.

One would think, being mere seconds from a bullet entering your brain, that you’d have some kind of epiphany about the meaning of life. See flashes from your childhood, hear an angelic chorus, that kinda thing. The odds aren’t in your favor. There’s no healing from a headshot at this close range. You are going to die and the only stupid fucking thing you can think about is that damn catchy jingle.

Squeezing your eyes shut, words tumble out of your mouth at a frantic speed, “Anytime, anyplace, anywhere Statesman is there!”

Stringbean pulls the trigger.

—

Statesman designing a new kind of workers compensation insurance specifically catered for your risky lifestyle had been your boss’ idea. She knew the head guy of the company, some old bearded fellow straight out of a Wild West Eastwood movie called Champagne (no last name, just like Cher), pulled a couple of strings (which is probably code for glared him into submission), handed you a pen, got your signature, and boom—as of three days ago, Lin proudly informed you “You’re completely covered. Cuts, broken bones, rabid squirrel attacks, the whole shebang. Now get out of my office.”

You’d liked your old insurance and had been quite happy with their care, thank you very much. But there’s no arguing with Lin when she gets that glint in her eye like some kind of bird of prey. And besides, forcing insurance on you is a sign she cares, right? That’s what you’ll keep telling yourself anyways.

The commercials are enjoyable, you can admit that at least. Especially the ones where there’s some kind of dangerous situation involving rampaging bison or avalanches or whatnot and the agent, whose uniform includes a leather jacket and cowboy hat, swoops in to the rescue after the poor would-be victims shout out the jingle Anytime, anyplace, anywhere Statesman is there!, then teleports everyone to safety.

Entertaining? Yes. 

Realistic? Hell no.

—

There’s a high-pitched ringing in your ears, rattling around inside your skull. 

“—ime for this. Get up.”

Huh? Who’s that? 

“I don’t like repeating myself. Get. Up.”

Oh no. Eyes still shut, your hands search for a wound, for blood, patting all over your head, then your chest and torso. Nothing. Fuck, you’ve died and crossed over into the afterlife. That’s why there’s no injury or pain. Your life is over. The end. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. You can’t—

Something hard hits your leg. “You’re still alive.”

Your eyes snap open, surroundings blurring into focus. You’re in the warehouse still. Stringbean’s on the floor near Big Mac, sightless blue eyes staring back at you, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead revealing blood and bone and brain matter. Immediately you avert your gaze, tasting bile in the back of your throat, and it’s only then you see the pair of boots by your legs.

A man stands over you, dressed in a leather jacket and jeans with soft-looking, unstyled brown hair and a stubbled jawline sharp enough to give papercuts. The words ruggedly handsome come to mind and stay there, banishing all other thoughts. Brown eyes so dark they’re verging on black stare down at you beneath furrowed brows, the perfect image of silent judgment. What the hell. He might just be the most attractive person you’ve ever seen, beating Dr. Pretty Eyes Garin by fucking leagues.

“Did you just kick me?” you ask before you can stop yourself, rising to your feet. Your head barely reaches his chest—a very broad chest, you can’t help noticing, leather straining at the shoulders to contain him—and you have to crane your head up to continue meeting his dull, half-lidded gaze.

“You weren’t listening,” says the stranger with a voice like the scrape of a butter knife on toast. Your heartbeat stutters, discovering a new favorite sound, and it takes you an embarrassingly long moment to realize you’re staring at his mouth with way more intensity than a person should look at another person’s mouth.

“Uh, yeah, well I-I thought I was dead. He was going to shoot me.” Your eyes drift towards Stringbean again, frowning at the gun in his hand. It doesn’t look like a pistol anymore, metal mangled and warped. “What the hell?”

“Backfired on him. Rare, but it happens.” He shrugs a shoulder, unconcerned, like he’s seen a thousand bloody incidents and he’s numb to the gore. And that’s…a scary thought to consider.

“Right...” You eye him a bit more critically now, taking in the scar dissecting his eyebrow. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“I didn’t throw it.”

Irritation flares, momentarily overtaking the budding apprehension. It brushes against your journalist instincts, insisting you’re missing something here. “Alright, Mr. Nameless, do you want to at least explain what exactly you’re doing here in the middle of the night?”

“Same as you. Work,” he answers curtly, glancing at his wrist where an expensive-looking watch is wrapped around the tan skin. Your fingers twitch with the urge to touch. “When I’m called, I show up. No matter the time or place.” His eyes flicker around the room with thinly veiled disgust. “Even if it means coming to shitholes like this.”

He goes where he’s called? That’s an interesting and ominous choice of phrasing. What is he, some kind of hitman or secret agent or—

Wait a minute.

Dangerous situation. Popping up out of nowhere. Wearing a leather jacket. Your life is saved despite all the odds stacked against you.

Understanding hits like one of Big Mac’s bricks, finally connecting the dots together and good lord it’s so fucking obvious you fully deserve the forehead slap you give yourself. “Holy shit the jingle actually worked.”

His scarred eyebrow lifts. “What?”

“How did I not know this was a real thing?” you half-ask, half-demand, hands settling on your hips. “You’re proof teleportation is fucking real! I feel like this is something more people should be talking about. Unless…Unless not everyone has this kind of coverage. Oh my God, is this some kind of extra health protection bundle attached to my new contract written in the fine print?” 

That stupidly attractive eyebrow lifts even higher.

“Don’t give me that look. Nobody under seventy-five reads all those tiny words, especially when the whole stack is five hundred pages front and back. All those poor trees…Also,” you point an accusing finger, “you’re missing a cowboy hat so I really can’t be blamed for not recognizing you.”

“A cowboy hat?” His face screws up at that, and somehow he makes the expression of someone who stepped in dog shit look attractive. Seriously, how is this guy even real? “I’d rather die than wear one of those.”

You stare at him, slack-jawed at his bluntness. “First of all, too soon, man, too soon. There are dead bodies literally right there. And secondly, wow,” a smidge of awe slips into your tone, “you must have some balls, rebelling against the big boss man like that.”

Oh to have been a fly on the wall seeing Champagne’s reaction to the refusal to comply with the uniform policy. You’d only met the old man for a hot second, but considering his love of westerns it wouldn’t surprise you if he challenged his opponents to quick-fire duels at high noon. Water guns or foam pellets instead of actual bullets, of course. He might gargle with bourbon and use a spittoon, but that doesn’t mean he’s a total heathen.

You snort a quiet laugh, then wince at the ache in your rib cage. Oh, yeah. There’s that fun pain again. The nameless agent turns away with what you think is an eye roll, but it’s too fast to tell, and looks down at Big Mac and Stringbean.

“I-I guess I need to call the police,” you say quietly, stomach churning when a sideways glance reveals a growing pool of blood beneath the bodies. Scary to think how close you’d been to being one of them.

“If it makes you stop talking to me, go right ahead,” your companion quips, uncaring of the scoff he gets for it. 

You find your bag by the trash can you’d hidden behind before Big Mac seized you. Bag is a generous term for the accessory that’s more duct tape than fabric after being dropped, kicked, and run over amongst other unfortunate fates. Still, it does a good job of carrying your stuff so you’ll keep on stubbornly holding onto it until the bitter end.

Pulling out your phone, you open the keypad only for the whistling notes of a song to have you freezing in place. Literally, your body feels like it’s become a block of ice, goosebumps rising along your exposed skin. As surreptitiously as you can manage, you sneak a glance at the agent, and it shouldn’t be fair how someone can look so seductive with puckered lips while whistling such an eerily haunting tune. The sheer contrast is enough to make your brain hurt.

Or maybe that’s a side effect of your skull smacking against the wall.

“Did you forget it’s three numbers?” he says abruptly, startling you, and the way he’s now looking at you gives the distinct impression he thinks you’re an idiot. “Two, technically, since one repeats itself–”

“I know what to do,” you snap defensively, turning back to your phone with a huff. Deliberately you slam your thumb against the three buttons, but find yourself hesitating to press call.

Looking up, you find the nameless agent already staring back at you. His head tilts, displaying the same confusion of a dog not understanding their owner’s behavior. It’s…almost ridiculously cute.

“Thanks for, um, being here and stuff,” you tell him, barely restraining yourself from doing something awkward like giving a thumbs up.

He blinks, a flash of something you think resembles surprise crossing his face, and then he’s back to blankness. “I had to come,” he replies.

“Well, yeah, ‘cause of the magic jingle,” you wave a flippant hand, words tumbling out faster than you can keep up with them, “but still, it’s nice, you know, having someone to watch your back, even if I don’t know who you are–”

The sound of your name has your jaw shutting with an audible click. For a second time you think about the unfairness of the situation. He has access to your file, knows your name and personal details, and what do you get to know about him? Bupkis.

“...Yes?”

“Make the phone call,” he says, an edge of amusement in his voice that produces a funny warm feeling in your stomach. Nausea, you decide, that must be it.

Grumbling under your breath, you look back to your phone and finally hit the button, listening to it ring. 

“See,” you say, purposefully smug, turning around, “I’m not an idiot–”

The man is gone. 

Didn’t even say goodbye, the ill-mannered jerk.

And as the operator picks up, asking what’s your emergency, you can’t help but think your insurance agent is a bit of an enigmatic asshole. All intimidating and sour-faced to ward off unwanted attention. Probably thrives off confusing his clients like he’s some kind of damn Rubik’s cube personified. 

Which is good for you since you thrive off of solving mysteries and inserting your nose where it doesn’t belong. You’ll know his name, his birthdate, hell, his entire history by the end of the week.

You eat Rubik’s cubes for breakfast.

[greetings-inferiors]

INTENSE MINECRAFT SLANDER IS COMING UP

If you like Minecraft, good for you! It just isn’t for me, so I play other things. Don’t take anything I say here as an affront to your video game tastes, nothing I say is objective, it’s just how I feel. I swear I don’t hate Minecraft, but this has been bottled up inside me for a while and I needed to let it out. Please enjoy my dissent into block induced hysteria:

Okay I was going to go to bed but I saw Minecraft mentioned and just had to write this down I’ll sleep I swear

But like

OH MY GOD MINECRAFT IS THE MOST DULL GAME I’VE EVER PLAYED. I’VE GENUINELY NEVER BEEN MORE BORED IN A VIDEOGAME, ON MY OWN, WITH FRIENDS, WITH STRANGERS, IN MINIGAMES, IN CREATIVE, I DON’T KNOW HOW PEOPLE DO IT

At least security breach makes me FEEL SOMETHING. That game is so bad it makes me SAD. It makes me ANGRY. Minecraft just HURTS TO PLAY.

Literally everything combines in a way specifically I don’t enjoy. I hate sandbox games, and Minecraft is a particularly slow sandbox. It’s open world, and I have an inherent bias against open world games - if it’s a ‘just good’ open world game, I won’t enjoy it at all. It’s story is so directionless and nonexistent, and the thing I love the most about videogames as a medium is their unique way of telling stories. I hate Minecraft’s gameplay loop, you get wood to get stone, use stone to get iron, use iron to get diamond, use diamond to get netherite, which would be fine but that’s IT. Like maybe there’s going to a different dimension for netherite but mostly it’s just IT

Like terraria does have kinda a similar progression, especially in hardmode where you mine cobalt to get mithril, use mithril to get titanium, use titanium to get chlorophyte, but calamity completely solved that problem because YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO BEAT BOSSES TO GET TJEM

Oh my god, the worst part of Minecraft is the bosses, or lack thereof. The combat is so kind numbingly dull, they keep trying to fix it but it keeps not working, at least it isn’t just ‘click fast’ anymore but still. And there are only two actual bosses, and they’re both so endgame that most people have never even attempted to fight them. And what do you do once you beat the game? How do people keep playing their worlds? What do you do???? Most people have to make up their own stories because there’s just nothing to do, and that’s well and good, but I specifically play games to be told a story, not to have to make up my own. Like I said, not for me.

Lots of people compare terraria to Minecraft, but they’re not similar in any way except style. Minecraft is a sandbox (my literal least favourite type of game) and terraria is a boss fight simulator (my literal favourite type of game). Every single thing you do in terraria is to get an edge against the next boss. Most things you do in Minecraft… might have a point? Most of the point is just ‘cause I want to’ which works great as a way of viewing life but in a videogame? Where I’m trying to escape? I don’t want to be an optimistic nihilist, I want to do cool shit, and not have to spend two hours building to do that cool shit.

And the drip feed of hardly any content is just insufferable. I get why, they’re the best selling game of all time, they want to make sure everything’s perfect, but that just means that they don’t touch any of the core parts of the game, not saying they have to, because some people do enjoy it, I just don’t. I hate it. But like, the newest update added what? Frogs? It didn’t add fireflies because they wanted to be realistic, and I get why but still it just sucks either way. The actual new content makes me go ‘huh that’s neat’ and forget about it after a day. Every terraria update adds a fuck ton of new content, especially the major updates, which essentially completely overhaul the game every time, stardew valley’s major updates may as well be whole dlcs, the most recent one added A WHOLE NEW ISLAND, Minecraft doesn’t feel any different now than it did three years ago. The only exceptions are the caves, which I must admit are cool as shit, but KNLY IF I CAN STAND TO LLAY LONG ENOUGH TO FIND THEM

It also has no story to speak of. Sure you can show me the game theory videos (I’ve watched all of them) but that doesn’t fucking count, because no one would’ve noticed because it is literally matpat’s job to look over games with a fine toothed comb. My biggest requirement in games is a story. Undertale is a beautiful tale. Omori is similar. Risk of rain’s story of the two brothers and fighting to survive in a planet where everything wants to kill you is so intriguing. Team fortress 2’s characters are some of the best written characters in anything ever. Hollow knight uses environmental storytelling like nothing I’ve ever seen, and it’s lore is of a fallen kingdom, something that I absolutely adore.

Speaking of fallen kingdoms,

A FIVE MINUTE MUSIC VIDEO HAS MORE DEPTH THAN THE BEST SELLING GAME OF ALL TIME

I get why people enjoy Minecraft. it’s calming, maybe they have the patience, enjoy the zen of it, enjoy the grind, but I have never played a game that feels more like it’s designed to specifically make my life a misery with how fucking boring it makes me. The only time I’ve ever enjoyed Minecraft is watching technoblade, god rest his soul, and the dream SMP, but I DIDN’T EVEN WATCH IT. I GOT ALL MY DSMP FIX WITHOUT WATCHING THE STREAMS BECAUSE ACTUALLY WATCHING THEM PLAY MINECRAFT IS SO FUCKING ABYSMAL

I’m so sorry, if Minecraft is even in your top five games I know this is probably really saddening, but it’s just so popular and I really want to like it and I try and I try and every time I almost drive myself to tears because everyone won’t stop talking about this stupid ass boring game that I can’t bring myself to like no matter how hard I try, and it’s all just bursting out all at once. I don’t hate Minecraft, I really respect it, but I feel about it the exact same way I do about sex. It makes me feel nothing, yet I’m still compelled to try it, whether from peer pressure or libido, and everytime it makes me feel like shit because I’m trying to like something that I just don’t.

If anyone even is just neutral about Minecraft can they back me up I can’t be the only person who doesn’t like it right please can I just escape Minecraft for one week I can’t take it anymore

I HAVE MORE FUN PLAYING MINECRAFT IN SUPER SMASH BROTHERS THAN IN ACTUAL MINECRAFT. SUPER SMASH BROTHERS ULTIMATE’S STEVE IS MORE FUN THAN LITERALLY THE BEST SELLING GAME OF ALL TIME. STEVE.

Fuck

Okay I’m fine now. Minecraft just isn’t for me. Clearly it’s for some people, for some people it’s their favourite game. But literally everything it does is exactly the opposite of what I like games to do. And it’s unbearable to play.

[unvergangliche]

unvergänglich.

WHY ? THEY BEGIN TO OVERFLOW . . .

 [ˈʊnfɛrˌgɛŋlɪç; ˌʊnfɛrˈgɛŋlɪç] adj . everlasting, unfadying, undying.

independent frieren from sousou no frieren / frieren: beyond journey's end. penned by lily 25+ / selective, small, and attempting to be spoiler free.

RULES .

mun is over 25 / minors and non rp-blogs do not interact.

any spoilers will be tagged 'frieren spoilers' . mun has finished the manga as it updates as of now , so she'll default her verse to early main storyline and once more active, divide it into the story arcs thus far ! 

manga psd made by me, please do not steal, coloring psd made by animangacaps  , while any other graphics on this blog were made by me as the manga ones were .  border header by petra-rals , divider by @cafekitsune !

standard procedure, no info-modding or god-modding, frieren is a legendary mage of immense power and knowledge presently over one thousand years old. she is incredibly dangerous, incredibly lazy, but at the end of the day she is unbelievably powerful. proceed with caution if you're set on fighting her, as i tend to avoid fight threads, the odds are unlikely anyway given her lazy nature but still. she is incredibly wise and silly at the same time , callous and surprisingly thoughtful ( sometimes) and as her ‘time’ moves so much slower than other people, my writing aims to reflect that.

this rule of my boundaries set also applies to drama , callouts , and vague-posting. alongside homophobia / transphobia / racism and any form of unkind , inhumane conduct or bigotry will not be tolerated here. kindness will, but immaturity and cruel behavior will not.

while not unkillable, all fight scenes or conflict i'd like to plot out with you via primarily dms / my inbox as for now my ims are broken ! frieren can lose in a fight, as mentioned by frieren herself that in her lifespan she's lost at least eleven times , that said, with her hunger for more spells and grimoires, she will only increase in knowledge . 

as i continue exploring frieren, which is a very low key blog, expect slow replies please, and be patient as i will be with you, this is a very easygoing paced space! :) ! that said i will never pressure you into replies, so please go at your own pace too ! in terms of writing length, i tend to match my partner but have no real expectation of length or quantity as long as my passion is matched and i have something to work with. i am perfectly fine winging it and plotting just as much.

at some point, i will be adding verses ex: wha, clamp, mahoyome, ex, series not part of her canon . as of now i am only writing within her own universe , so please be patient with me as i explore her unique character . 

as far as ‘ shipping ‘ goes, the likelihood is nonexistent due to how frieren processes time, her own near immortal lifespan, and frieren herself. i feel sousou no frieren also is more heavy on the emphasis of the bonds of platonic and familial carry many of her new and old relationships. if it happens romantically (?), it's gonna be v rare, v plotted, and another 50 years long, and the only 'ship' i really see would ship is frieren / himmel . tl;dr: it's not the focus.

i do not reflect nor represent frieren , we are two different people, one fictional with her own set of actions and mindsets i don't echo as a person mun and muse are separate packages , my only goal is to write my own insight and thoughts from my vantage point to the best of my ability to do frieren justice in my own way.

i can't really think of anything else right now, but thanks a ton for reading ! can't wait to interact with you .

HEY , CAN I REMEMBER JUST FOR TODAY ?

[wondereads]

Reading Update (05/15/23)

Ratings, statuses, and opinions under the cut

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (10/10)

I love this book so much! I reread it for my book club, through which I recruited to of my friends to the cause. This was my first time rereading since reading The Golden Enclaves, and the foreshadowing is just so insane. El and Orion drive me nuts, I can't possibly be normal about them. READ THIS BOOK!!

Broken Bonds by J. Bree (7/10)

This is technically a reread as well. I really enjoy the premise of this story, even though the plot isn't very strong. It's a great wish-fulfillment romance, especially for anyone who likes a heaping dose of angst. The substance is...nonexistent, but I still enjoyed it and sped through it.

Savage Bonds by J. Bree (8/10)

The second in the series, this one gets into it a little more. It feels like things actually happen in this book, and the cliffhanger is much better! There's significant developments in the romance, and a lot of the previously one-dimensional characters get some death. There's definitely still a lot of round-aboutness and frustration, but it's improving.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (CR)

I'll preface this by saying I normally don't read prequels. I don't like knowing how a story will end. That being said, this is pretty good so far. Collins is amazing at making you almost root for Snow until he says or does something and you remember what a terrible person he is. My big critique is that it is very slow so far, and I have trouble picking it up again once I put it down.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (CR)

I don't really like SJM. While I think she is a technically good writer, her plots and characters are often overdone and lackluster. I didn't much like Crown of Midnight, but I promised my friends I'd read this series, so I will. I'm only around a quarter of the way through; so far, Celaena is...whiny, Chaol is boring, but I've heard a lot about Rowan so I'm at least intrigued, and Manon slays.

[crystalseadragon44]

Going Forward: Early 2025 Plans

Alright, now that we have the last update of 2024 out of the way, let's focus on the near-term...

For one, I have to acknowledge that things could get dicey for me depending on what happens in the next few months. Know that, no matter what, I will continue to work on Behind the Veil and my other stories in any capacity as I can. Even if I'm stuck not being able to post for some reason, I will keep working on it for the day I can.

(Yuck, I hate having to acknowledge that reality... With that out of the way...)

I'm still in rough shape for a backlog. December was a rough month for me, and I need to rethink my plans. As such... I need to slow down new content uploads for a time to really focus on getting some tasks completed.

For one, I need to create covers for all of my current stories for a change. This will allow me to get more content over to pixiv and Tapas. (pixiv is a pet peeve, Tapas is a requirement). Many need their first covers, and the ones that have them need new ones, having missed out on the font updates back in July.

Speaking of font updates, some of my Christmas gifts were prints of my work, which showcased a problem with the font I started using in July: it's too thin to print, getting garbled up when printing comic pages. I picked up a new one while I worked on a new project, one that fits my style well while also being nice and defined for printing purposes. In the last few days, I have been making the switch, not just in the comics but in the character profiles as well! This will take some time to update.

I also have another place to expand my operations: ComicFury. Many I follow use the site, liking its community and creative control. As options go, it's a place that might be beneficial to me for my wider work...

And of course, we have the stalled Shantae fanfic series. Yes, I still want to get in it, but progress has been almost nonexistent. I need to dedicate some time to get that story updated and back in working order... I WANT to finish it. Embra and her story is still important to me, even amid Behind the Veil.

So, here's the rundown: 1. Create new story covers for ALL stories. 2. Update fonts on existing comics, profiles, and stories with new fonts. 3. Update written stories, particularly The Stories of Embra. 4. Join and set up on ComicFury.

With that out of the way, I can start focusing on finishing other novel stories and maybe, just maybe, getting to the longer comics I've long planned for! I itch to start on the Heather's Hope and Crystal Sisters storylines this year, if I can! These will help fill in the gaps I've been leaving in the novels. If I can do this, I'll be happy!

Oh, and maybe releasing actual books to sell for Behind the Veil. I need an income, after all...

We will see what I can do... While I will be posting new covers as I make them and making updates where I need to... There will be limited new content for the next couple of months. I hope to get this work done by March, but I will keep you all updated.

Here's hoping 2025 will be bigger than ever!

[stayinlimbo]

Limbo's Lee Minho Fic Recs

this list is a collection of my all time faves for lee minho. please message me if you want your fic taken down or if a link does not work.

disclaimers: (1) some works are nsfw so minors dni.(2) i will be providing limbo thoughts after the recommendations but they are by no means meant to characterize anyone else's experience. (3) i am not modifying the warnings/descriptions the authors put themselves.

last updated ⇢ 30.6.24 | * ⇢ limbo thoughts | newest fics in blue

return to full skz fic rec list

youngblood | college!au, best friends to lovers!au, angst, fluff. (wc: 17.4k) @changbeanie

* ⇢ this may have been the first lee know fic i read (or at least one of the longer ones). this fic is just amazing. slow burns are my weakness.*

your heart & your headache, too. | stray god au, fluff, humor, angst, action. (wc: 9.6k) @missinghan

* ⇢ another one of my introductions to stayblr and wow. this fic is still one of the best i have ever read. the characters are so funny, relatable (at least mc is for me), and there is a deeper message that just amazes me every time i read it. check out their masterlist.*

Invisible thread - 1, 2 | fluff, angst, academic rivals to lovers, slow burn. (wc: 37k total) @/astraystayyh

* ⇢ sahar, when i catch you sahar. banger right here. i love this so so so much. i'm limiting myself to one fic of hers per member or else i'd be putting everything she's ever written here. oops, what's this? you should check it out: masterlist*

cold as ice | figureskater!minho, fluff, first love, suggestive smut. (wc: 11.7k) @linospuddin

* ⇢ this fic is my roman empire. if you're ever going to choose something from this list, this better be one of the top contenders. oh no, i dropped this masterlist*

We're just friends.. right? | alcohol, truth or dare (barely), they are just stupid, and drunk, confessing, making out, just fluffy, the tiniest bit suggestive at the end. (wc: 4.9k) @/linospuddin

* ⇢ why am i here....just to suffer....from all the yes just friends broooooooooooooooo the confession was chef's kiss omggggggggg pudding i love you and none of this is making sense but i love this fic and i love you*

all you wanna do | fluff, suggestive. (wc: 1.7k) @/linospuddin

* ⇢ LET ME LIVE IN YOUR BRAIN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HOW DO YOU ALWAYS WRITE PERFECTION AHHHHHH*

piece by piece | college au, mutual pining, fluff, angst. (wc: 6.2k) @godslino

* ⇢ take my nonexistent money please. this work is so cute and funny and sweet and i just love it so much. yet another case of i can't include everything or else all of ina's works would be here. this masterlist over here is looking pretty temping rn*

2:45am | established relationship, fluff, dad!minho. (wc: 2.5k) @/godslino

* ⇢ ignore what i said above, i have to include this one omggggggggggggg i'm dying*

hard launch | established relationship. @/godslino

* ⇢ istg ina, not again. don't make me come over there and shower you with all my love. that being said, this fic was just so cute and funny, i love it with all my heart*

orange peels | established relationship. fluff. (wc: 1.2k) @/godslino

* ⇢ i love this relationship, it really hits close to home and reminds me of someone*

the enemies to lovers project | enemies to lovers, college au, slight angst, fluff. (wc: 18k+) @softukiyos

* ⇢ one of the first fics i ever read for skz. i feel it deserves to be shared, the development is so good*

I'm my mother's daughter | fluff, angst, smut. (wc: 29k) @jisungparker

* ⇢ highly suggest reading the warnings before continuing with this goddamn masterpiece. omg this fic is so good and amazing and just so original*

7 days | fluff, best friends to lovers au, college au. (wc: 3.7k) @yyxgin

* ⇢ so much fluff. it's so cute, i love friends to lovers so much*

a marriage story - pt.1, pt.2 | fake marriage au, angst, fluff, suggestive. (wc: ~10.6k total) @scxrlettwxtches

* ⇢ another case of friend to lovers i've caught. i love how there is a sequel that expands upon their relationship*

thirteen percent | established relationship, fluff. (wc: 1.2k) @withleeknow

* ⇢ this drabble is so cute and funny. i'm breaking the self-imposed rules, i have to add multiple of her works onto this list. check out the masterlist pleaseeeeeeee*

my moon and stars | established relationship, (tooth-rotting) fluff. (wc: 1.1k) @/withleeknow

* ⇢ i need tissues stat!!! this was so cute and they're in love and now i'm so happy. i didn't mention this in the previous entry, but jen is literally one of the main reasons i started writing so please check the rest of her works out*

light years | childhood friends to lovers, fluff, angst, kissing, cursing, so much pining i could hurl. (wc: 4.2k) @/withleeknow

* ⇢ let me just summarize what i said when i first reblogged this piece of art: "HUH? HUH? HUH? TF? TF? TF? HOW DID YOU GET AWAY WITHT THIS TF?"*

flower | established relationship, fluff, a teeny bit angsty, minho's pov. (wc: 0.7k) @/withleeknow

* ⇢ leave me alone, i need to process my emotions. okay wait come back i need to be comforted and only this fluff will make me feel better*

not so bad | friend-to-lovers, roommates, college au. (wc: 13.7k) @luvknow

* ⇢ i did not realize the amount of college friends-to-lovers i've read, but i love this one. it is very much worth the read and every time i reread, i feel a little happier*

bunny - one, two | strangers to lovers, neighbors!au, smut, fluff, angst. (wc: 12.7k total) @tasteleeknow

* ⇢ *ahem* ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh read it read it read it. another case of i just have to include one fic or else i'd be putting their entire masterlist. oh, oops looks like i just did*

living in the ruins | best friends to lovers, soft!minho, angst, fluff, jealousy, emotional hurt/comfort, smut with feelings, in a tent. (wc: 2k) @/tasteleeknow

* ⇢ i like how i just decided to abandon my nonsensical rule. anyway...sobbing, tears are streaming down my face, banging my fists on the table. they're in love :(((((((*

everything for your golden touch | established relationship, smut. (wc: 2.1k) @tasteracha

* ⇢ look, this fic really speaks for itself. you should just go read it. maybe you'll discover something new about yourself (or maybe confirm something you already knew). let me just leave this masterlist here*

raspberry stains | smut (wc: 1.6k) @/tasteracha

* ⇢ idk what to say. wtf do i say. this is just another one of those cases you have to read to understand. tw: ATE Minho*

ikigai | angst, smut, fluff, husband!minho. (wc: 12.1k) @straykeedz

* ⇢ this fic tackles a difficult subject very well. i do recommend reading the warnings just in case this is triggering. with that being said, omgomgomgomgomg i loved this work so much. i don't want to give anything away so that is all i will say :)))*

rodeo | cyberpunk, smut, angst, peers to something. (wc: 18,249) @sailorrlino

* ⇢ i love a great action and world-building story. this fic was so amazing and the gradual build of minho's acceptance of how he feels was beautifully done*

What's Mine is Yours | idol au, soulmates, angst, fluff, slow burn, strangers to lovers. (wc: 14.3k+) @mintquokka

* ⇢ oh i loved this fic so much you don't even know. I had never read one like this before so it was so interesting, cute, angsty, original, and just a perfect blend of everything. the ending was so cute it made me want to throw myself onto the floor*

What the cat dragged in | smut, angst, strangers-to-lovers (kinda), 5+1. (wc: 13.5k) @moni-logues

* ⇢ PLEASE i read the fic and it's amazing with great build-up but i also read where the author got inspiration from and "bad sex" was not something i was expecting lmao. that being said, i'm fighting the demons rn and banging my fists on the table because of how much i loved the sexual-tension, frustration, and genuine care between the two*

heavenly | smut, some fluff. (wc: 1.7k) @mingirn

* ⇢ give it back. come on, hand it over. you know that i need my heart to function and my brain is fried (in a good way) after reading this*

trust a feeling that stays | angst, smut, fluff at the end. (wc: 2k) @/mingirn

* ⇢ FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK MY HEART OH MY FUCKING GOD. i cannot recommend this fic enough omg i kid not i was on the verge of tears*

02. sharing a bed series ; skz ; lee know | sexual content. friends2lovers, sharing a bed trope. (wc: 3.1k) @skzdarlings

* ⇢ i'm going to be real here and say that i thought i put this fic on here already. sorry, that was my bad because OMFG this fic was so cute, and angsty and funny and hot af. i feel like the author really got the characterization of minho down too*

untitled | fluff. (wc: 292) @nonranghaes

* ⇢ take all of my money. please, i'm not above begging. this drabble was soooooooooooooo cute omg*

Handle With Care | smut (with feelings), fluff, angst. (wc: 2.5k) @beesspacedotorg

* ⇢ wpfajwpfj'aojf'aoqnwfiabw;ifua;oiwhd;oANDLknaWIhdAKSBf hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm i feel completely, utterly sane and normal. not at all a changed person after reading this, no definitely not*

labyrinth | best friends to lovers, college au, slow burn, angst, fluff, a story on second loves. (wc: 20k) @/soobnny

* ⇢ i thought i already had this fic on here. mb again soz :(. anyway, god i think second loves are a new weakness for me. actually, let me say it with my chest: i know they are and this fic confirmed it. heartbreak sucks, but the relationship (friendship and romantic) between mc and minho was just so good like what do i even say. i love love*

kiss me | established relationship. just fluff and a lot of making out. minho is needy. (wc: 1.4k) @/soobnny

* ⇢ alexa, play literally any song to help me process the absolute adorableness i just read omgggggggggggggggg*

dating him | headcannon, fluff. @/soobnny

* ⇢ :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD*

the making of a morning person | established relationship, fluff. (wc: 1.7k) @/soobnny

* ⇢ i am not a morning person. never will be. BUT I'LL TAKE THIS TO GO PLEASE*

another year with you | established relationship, extreme fluff. (wc: 0.5k) @/soobnny

* ⇢ whennnnnnnnnnn willlllllll ittttttttttttt beeeeeeee myyyyyyyy turnnnnnnnnnnnn*

Vivid | fake marriage au, enemies/strangers to lovers, fantasy au, slow burn, lots of angst with an adequate amount fluff, heavy themes of death and suicide, graphic descriptions of injury, blood, and violence, sparse use of vulgar language. (wc: 62.7k) @chaninfused

* ⇢ HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. i had to make sure i typed the word count correctly because omfg author you are a beast. one of the best, well-thought out fics i have ever read, hands down. criminally underrated so please give this fic some more love. i've read some of the author's other works too and they never miss wtf how can someone be so good at the fantasy and royal genre????*

after the curtain falls | angst, fluff, its just hurt-comfort, university au. (wc: 2.9k) @starseungs

* ⇢ i was smiling so hard at the twist, omg you had me in the first half even though there was a tag for it lmao*

18:22 | tooth-rotting fluff, established relationship. lazy kisses & mutual obsession. (wc: 0.6k) @forlix

* ⇢ you know that meme with the woman silently screaming in the bathroom? yeah that's me rn*

the way things go; lee minho | roommates to lovers, comfort, slight angst, work exhaustion, happy ending. (wc: 3.7k) @37-drc89

* ⇢ RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (now imagine that as the call of duty zombie sounds)*

Laundry | smut. (wc: 8.2k) @ssickmagnolia8

* ⇢ I'M SCREECHING YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO MAKE IT SO GOOD HOW? HOW WAS IT SO HOT BUT ALSO LIKE DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN LIKE JUST EVERYTHING????*

To be alone with you | fluff. (wc: 2.3k) @lieslab

* ⇢ i understand mc's feelings so much lmao. i loved this work like you don't even know how amazing it felt to read it for the first time and then again and again*

Lil' One | fluff (wc: 0.6k) @shu-porang-porang

* ⇢ okay, uh what the flip (sorry i'm laughing at myself for writing that)? why was this SO GOOD????? AND SO CUTE????? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Clingy | angst, fluffy ending, hurt comfort kinda. (wc: 1.1k) @snowyquokka

* ⇢ full on sobbing rn. oh, you're asking why? because of HEALTHY COMMUNICATION. we love to see it (i love to see it). Forgiveness is what makes relationships become stronger*

Call my bluff, call you 'babe' | Childhood friends to lovers, fluff. (wc: 5.5k) @moonlinos

* ⇢ LET'S FUCKING GO (starts waltzing) let's go. sorry fam, an error on my part again for thinking i had already put this on the list. i can't promise it won't happen again, but you should read this amazing writing anyway*

Empty | dad!minho, fluff, established relationship. (wc: 1.2k) @hwangism143

* ⇢ I want everyone to know that I requested this goddamn fluffy masterpiece that healed my heart. okay, well i picked from the prompt list and via (pookie i love you mwah) decided to use her big writing brain of hers to give us all a taste of pure happiness. anyway, I LOVE IT SO MUCH GO READ IT WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE????

mine | dad!minho, fluff. (wc: 1k) @byeoltoyuki

* ⇢ EHEHEHEHHHEEEEEEE SO CUTEEEEEEEEE :(((((((((*

the moving in diaries | friends to lovers, angst, fluff, suggestive, comfort, basically moving in together au! (wc: 2.3k) @/sunboki

* ⇢ this is a new fav of mine fr fr. it's so cute and i can't wait to be like this one day*

two truths and a lie | smut, infidelity. (wc: 9k) @seospicybin

* ⇢ do i endorse cheating? no. good thing this is a work of fiction, right?*

friends forever? | fluff, humour, angst if you squint, brief smut, established relationship. (wc: 1.9k) @outofconcheol

* ⇢ this became a fast favorite of mine, i love it so much! forget wooing the mc, woo the mc's cat!*

series

one last dance | smau, crack, angst, fluff, non!idol au, major character death, friends to lovers, soul mates, first love, roommates. (wc: 37k+) (sc: 271) @feelbokkie

* ⇢ sobbing, i loved this couple and their friends so much. queen of angst for a reason (don't mess with seungmin's wife)*

hello stranger | smut, angst, fluff, soulmate!au, enemies to lovers, jealousy, pining, unrequited love. (wc: 45k ongoing) @/tasteleeknow

* ⇢ i love this series holy.... the character developments are amazing and i'm so excited for the next chapter*

counterpunch | friends to lovers, boxer!minho, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, eventual smut. (wc: 6.1k ongoing) @/godslino

* ⇢ i'm screechinggggg. this series only has one chapter so far but there is so so so much potential here. minho is characterized in the most human way possible and i love it. EDIT: i don't think this fic will ever be updated again. it's still really well written but keep this in my if you decide to go forward*

Force Quit // Episode III: Spider | dystopian, cyberpunk, mutually-pining fuck buddies, smut, angst. (wc: 23.5k) @eoieopda

* ⇢ "limbo, why is this in the series category?" that is because it is part of an amazing series that has outstanding and immersive world building. i just wanted to highlight this specific episode because omfg this is one of the best pieces of writing i have ever had the pleasure of reading. you should definitely read the two episodes before this one to get the bigger picture*

wishful thinking | friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, friends with benefits au, college au, fluff, angst, smut. (wc: 21.6k ongoing) @/withleeknow

* ⇢ i'm crying, i love this series so much but i am also so, so scared for the angst to come. that being said, you should 100% read this series*

who you are, who i am - pt.1, pt.2, pt.3 | fluff, angst, (semi) slow burn, arranged marriage au, strangers to lovers, 4th wall break. (wc: 52k+ total) @hanibalistic

* ⇢ i found it!!!!! omg finally, after searching far and wide, i have found what i had lost!!!! this series is so so so interesting and original and omg i'm so happy i can reread it again*

blue side of the sky | exes to lovers, bestfriends to lovers au, fluff, angst, smut. (completed) @hyunfilms

* ⇢ i think this series is amazing. i don't want to say too much because of spoilers but i really do love the way it ended*

sea may rise, sky may fall | pirate au!, minsung x reader, smut, angst. (completed) @skzms

* ⇢ read the series' warnings before reading! frothing at the mouth, i always looked forwards to friday's because of this series. the world building is insane and the relationship between minho and reader AND JISUNG is sososososososososo good. i'm sad the series has ended but also so happy to see the captain and her crew's journey.

[anonymous-chicken-was-taken]

Greetings!

I'm Chicken! You can call me Ken for short. My gender is yes and my pronouns are all of them. This is a blog for things relating to my ao3, AnonymousChicken. I post random crap related to whatever I'm fixated on at the moment, some extras for my stories here and there, and sometimes updates on what brand of slow my update schedule is. I'm not very good, but I'm having fun. My update schedule is very slow and/or nonexistent.

I write whatever I'm hyperfixated on the moment; right now my repitoire includes Ace Attorney and Gravity Falls. I'm not really a big shipper beyond a select handful (read: only wrightworth), so if that's what you're looking for, you're mostly out of luck.

Ask before crossposting.

I expressly do not consent to the feeding of my fics to AI to get an ending. Or the feeding of my fics to AI in any capacity for any other reason. (seriously who's doing this? stop. it's not okay.)

TAGS I USE:

#anonymouschicken - For general updates on my schedule and fic writing as a whole #halfanounce - For my hiatused BNHA fic, Half an Ounce of Decency #WeatherTheOcean - Planning things for my in-progress Ace Attorney pirate au

If you can guess what game my pfp is from, I'll give you a shoutout in the fic of your choice. Is that a big incentive? No, and I know that. I just wanna see if anyone gets it. @ me or message me or something if you think you know!

[ellitheria]

Heads up! 😉

I am participating in Chenford week, so updates on all of my ongoing stories might be slow and/or nonexistent between this coming Sunday and next Sunday! I will still be posting a new story every day, and will get right back to updating my ongoing stories when Chenford week is over! 😘

[yoonieboonie]

The Substitute Lover (4)

word count: 3k (longest one yet)

genre: fluff, angst hehe

pairing: myg x reader

summary: Finally meeting the college boy you’ve been eyeing on for months, everything goes wrong when you realise what you’re really getting yourself into.

a/n: this is part 4!!! Thank you to hat one Anon that gave me a review on the last chapter :< it really made my heart swell. I hope I’m doing this fic justice because in my head, there are countless of possibilities for this story! If you can, please please please leave me a feedback after reading this chapter. Can you also let me know if you prefer weekend or weekday updates? :> Thank you!!!!

NEXT | PREVIOUS

Yoongi zoomed home to pick up his car. He didn't bother dropping the call, his constant whispers of reassurance ringing through the phone.

"You're going to be alright, I'm coming." He assured. No response was heard on the other line, the only indication that she was still there were soft and steady breathes, enough to make Yoongi weak in the knees. It took everything in him not to floor the gas and attend to her faster. Traffic was almost nonexistent in the wee hours of the night but he wanted to get to her already.

He arrives to his destination and parks. Not bothering to do it properly, at that. He blindly reaches under the pot of plant for a spare key. He entered the apartment, heading straight to her room, only to find her curled up in her bed. Staring into space, not bothering to acknowledge his existence but spoke into the air.

"Took you look enough, Yoongs." Yoongi felt his heart swell at the nickname that left her lips. If there was any confusion as to why he went to the park with you, it was gone now. In his head, there was only one thing sure and one thing only.

It's her.

He took a good look at her, drinking her in. Floods of memories rushing back, making his head spin.

"You know, if you do this more often," he trails off. "You're just proving that you can't really live without me."

The voice has a teasing tone to it but they both knew the gravity it held. She shook her head playfully and motioned for him to come near. He obliged, missing the feeling of her touch. He ran his hand through his hair as he walked near her.

The moment he reached the foot of her bed, she reached out to him. Yoongi lay down, hugging her to his chest. She let her head rest on it, feeling slow and steady heartbeats. She recalls how often she found herself in this position with him. He was her safe place, no one can change that.

"I heard from Mijin that you found a girl to match your stubbornness." she mumbled, tracing circles on Yoongi's arm. He made a sound of denial. Somehow, he didn't think she would have heard of it that quickly, and to be frank, he didn't think she would care.

Yoongi, however, did care. He didn't want her to find out. He huffed as he figured out that it must be her little sister that told her. He started to stroke her hair as he spoke gently.

"Jagi, you know I'd never replace you." He assured.

"It's you and it'll only be you. You know that." She hummed in appreciation and snuggled closer to Yoongi. She knew that. Everything Yoongi was not, she was able to change. Like ice in a hot summer's day, she melted the cold man that is Min Yoongi.

Regardless of how things ended between them, Yoongi feels grateful that she made him come out of his shell. He was no one without her, or so Yoongi thinks.

She feels herself letting go and slowly falling into slumber. Yoongi made sure she's comfortable, hovering the blanket over to her sleeping form and cuddling her closer. He sigh, he shouldn't have went to the theme park. He shouldn't have taken you to get those stupid pink pair of bunny ears. He shouldn't have bought you matching sweaters. An ugly feeling was blooming in his chest, feeling like he cheated on her. He vowed to himself that he would never do it again.

You sure were a breath of fresh air, with your huge glasses and the green cardigan you loved so much. He noticed that you were smart, too. Always carrying a book in hand whenever you have lunch with the trio. Not that he paid attention but he commends how committed you are and dedicated to your studies. No matter how he denies it, you are the type of person who leaves a mark. He's seen it with his two friends, always contacting you for lunch and study groups. Both have seemed to form a liking to you.

He let himself think that if you didn't like him in that way, would you two be friends as well? He did enjoy your time in the park, he didn't even thought of her the whole time. This scared him. He was terrified that with you, he forgets.

He should never, ever forget.

So that whole night, Yoongi tried to convince himself that he regrets spending the day with you. However, there's this voice inside his head countering this. Deep down, he enjoyed himself too. He can still remember the way your eyes sparkled the whole day, beaming at every sight you see. This made him smile to himself.

He shook these thoughts away. He belongs to her. No one, he would let absolutely no one to take his attention away from her. No one deserves him but her.

Deciding to stop overthinking for the night, he snoozed off to dreamland.

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

"Yoongi." a voice awoke him.

"What is your dumbass doing here?" Mijin hissed.

"Where's Eujin?" Yoongi asked, trying to focus his blurry sight. Mijin sighed and sat down on the bed. She liked Yoongi, yes. But every decent human being would be concerned if someone was being used for convenience. That was what her older sister was doing to Yoongi.

"I asked you a question." She repeats. "You were doing so well. Why did you let her wrap her hands around your neck again?"

The statement made Yoongi's blood boil. She wasn't using him. She was under no obligation to reciprocate whatever Yoongi was giving her. The negative image that was painted of her isn't true, Yoongi thought.

"Where is she?" He groggily asked ignoring her question completely. With a defeated sigh, Mijin pointed to their kitchen and exited the room for Yoongi to freshen up.

"Is he awake?"

The voice made Yoongi stop in his tracks to hide behind the wall next to the kitchen. He decided to let the two sisters talk first without intervening.

"Eujin, why did you call him out here? I thought you made it clear to him that you were no longer interested?"

"I know." Eujin sighed. "But since I heard about the girl who asked him out on a date, I got curious." she dragged out.

This made Yoongi's heart leap with joy. His hands reached up to feel his necklace, the ring he gave Eujin as the pendant. He recalled how he lashed out at you when you asked about it. She returned it to him when she called things off. Yoongi has worn it around his neck ever since.

Finally hearing enough, Yoongi stepped in the kitchen, faking a smile. He looked at Eujin, who is eating beside Mijin.

"Nice shirt." Mijin compliments. Yoongi's hand flies up to rub his nape. Due to the urgency to rush there, he didn't bother changing last night. He ignored it and sat on Eujin's other side. The moment he did, she lays her head on his shoulder and looks at his chest. She sighed in relief when she spotted the ring.

It's still her. She still has him.

"Tell me, Yoongs. Is that from your date?" She asks.

Yoongi wanted to deny it. He wanted to say no. Instead, he nodded meekly, his hand holding onto Eujin's.

"It's not a date. I just want the bet to be down and over with." He desperately explained.

"It's okay, Yoongs." She offers a smile. "I don't really mind."

That stings. Yoongi winced internally at how genuine she sounds, hearing that made his heart drop to his stomach. He had hoped that Eujin would at least be concerned with who he was seeing, because he would surely lose his mind if she dated someone else.

That's how much he liked her.

Mijin stood up, tired of the conversation already. She muttered something about leaving early for school and with that stalked to the front door and left.

As soon as the door closed, Yoongi faced Eujin with so much sincerity swimming in his eyes. He looked at her lips, how it beat every ruby in existence with how the red painted them all over. Her nose pointed at the tip but just rounded enough to pass as a button, up to her eyes that light up the whole room. The ones that make Yoongi weak all over.

"What do you want me to do, Jagi? Tell me and I'll do it."

She shook her head. Despite her reassurance, Yoongi didn't believe that she was alright with how he stupidly went on the date. He wished he could turn back time.

"Do you want me to never see her again?" He pleads. "Tell me, Jagi. I'll do anything."

She shook her head but felt water brimming in her eyes. Truth to be told, she was scared. Never once did she feel threatened by anything when it comes to him. She watched him reject every advances made to him, even by her own sister. So when she heard that he agreed to this one specific date, it terrified her.

Yoongi instantly panicked upon seeing her cry. He stood up and hugged her as close as he possibly can. She clutched onto him until it can no longer be identified where one body starts and the other ends. They both knew that it was hopeless, they have tried multiple times to fix what was broken but they both know they would try again.

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

That morning, both of them had class and Yoongi waited for Eujin to gather her things. She was carrying her management book and surveys for her upcoming business plan. She was a Business Administration major like you. Little do you know that it was the reason Yoongi held onto the necklace that day at the park. You and Eujin have so much in common; it couldn’t pass as coincidental to him.

Yoongi and Eujin held hands as he drove to the campus, at every stoplight he looks over her. His eyes turning into crescents as he smiles at everything she says. He was at awe with how good she looks on his passenger's seat. He didn't think he would see her seated on it again. But here she was, in the flesh.

After arriving at the campus, Yoongi had to go to the dorm to change and get ready for classes. She on the other hand is preparing to head to her professor for coaching. Together, they spot Namjoon looking at their intertwined hands.

Namjoon mumbled something to Hoseok who has his back turned on them. He looked over and his eyes trailed at Yoongi and Eujin's hands. He didn't bother hiding the scowl that formed on his face.

Hoseok abruptly stood up to leave, making Namjoon sigh and give Yoongi a disapproving look. They both thought this was over but they were apparently wrong. Yoongi squeezed Eujin's hand in assurance. He doesn't care at this point. It may be them versus the world and he wouldn't give a fuck.

"Jagi, call me after this. Please." Yoongi said, before bidding goodbye. Eujin nodded and headed inside.

Yoongi turned and headed to class where he has to face his two best buds that clearly weren’t impressed by his decisions.

He stopped by a vending machine, buying two sprites. He knew Hoseok couldn't say no to him. He just has to apologise and fix the rift between them.

As he entered the room, Yoongi's eyes searched for Hoseok's bright orange hair. He quickly beeline to them and placed the cans of soda as an apology. He squeezed himself in the middle of the two and mumbled a "sorry" sheepishly. He heard Namjoon open the can and took this as him accepting the apology.

"You made her come home wet and alone. It was freezing outside, Yoongi. I never pegged you to be this much of an asshole." This made Yoongi freeze up. It didn't cross his mind to take you home last night. His head was too clouded to even think about that. All he knew was to get to her immediately.

"Hoba," Yoongi trailed. "You know I never wanted to go in the first place. Why are you getting upset with me?"

"She's I and Namjoon's friend, Yoongi. If you cannot find it in you to be concerned with her, we do. Last time I talked to her, she sounded sick." Namjoon held Hoseok by the shoulder, trying to get him to stop.

"Hoba's just worried Yoongi." Namjoon explained. "Y/N hasn't picked up her phone and didn't go to her classes today."

Yoongi was taken aback by that but didn't show it. He shouldn't be concerned. You were no one to him. If merely being seen with you will make Eujin uncomfortable, he was willing to avoid you like the plague.

"Eujin needed me last night. I couldn't just say no."

Hoseok's eyes darted to Yoongi's necklace; it no longer held the ring. Instead it was now worn on his ring finger, confirming that they had indeed gotten back together.

"Whatever." Hoseok scoffed, not bothering to open the Sprite that Yoongi has gotten for him.

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

You felt like absolute and utter shit. All over.

The moment you opened your eyes, you feel yourself burning as if you're in a furnace. You tried to reach out to your bedside table to get a thermometer and groggily held one to your ear. The moment it beeped, you already know that you are indeed burning with fever.

It must be the weather, you thought. Standing up, you went to the bathroom to get a paracetamol from your medicine cabinet. You fetched yourself a glass of water and gulped it away. You despised taking medicine but you had no choice, it was this or skipping today's lectures. It cannot be the latter since you already missed yesterday's.

Yesterday.

You sigh as you prepare the day. You remember how delicately Yoongi called the person on the other line "Jagi" or how he constantly reassured her that he was coming. To be honest, you didn't even think Yoongi was capable of being comforting and warm but the Yoongi you saw last night was, and sadly, it wasn't for you.

You shook the thought away and attend to your phone, you realised that you haven't responded to Hoseok or Namjoon. You got a call from Hoseok yesterday asking about the date and you told him that you are walking home and would call him after. However due to exhaustion, you fell asleep right after showering.

Glancing at the pink bunny ears at your vanity, you took out the picture from the waterpark and placed it next to it. Yoongi might not care about the date and was seeing another but you didn't care. You'd like to cherish the date as much as you can.

"First and last date." you whispered. "At least it was a good one."

You didn't bother texting Hoseok back, thinking that you'll see them later for lunch. Still feeling a bit under the weather, you went on your usual way to the campus.

You attended class per usual, not bothering to register the information given by the professor. You decided to go home after this, you can feel your fever getting worse and you're getting dizzier by the moment. You stalked to the restroom and went in to wash your face.

The moment the cold water hits your face was a relief. The burning feeling in your face is momentarily gone; you lift your hand up to feel your forehead when a voice spoke beside you.

"Hey, are you okay?" You glanced at her in the reflection of the mirror. You examine her face, she was ethereal. Every angle looks divine and sculpted by the gods. You have to look away because you found yourself staring.

"Yeah, just feeling a bit under the weather." You replied.

"I'm headed to the cafeteria, come with me. Get something to eat before taking a medicine." She offered.

Thinking about how Namjoon and Hoseok might be there, you agreed. Both of you exited the restroom and stalked to the cafeteria.

Students are scattered around making it difficult to spot Hoseok and Namjoon. After a little looking around, you spot them and waved your hand.

Hoseok looked relieved to see you alive and breathing while Namjoon just smiled at your direction. You noticed that Yoongi was nowhere to be seen. You guess he was still with her.

You shook your head. It was none of your business, like he said. All you need to do is focus on your studies and try to make the most out of university with your new friends.

Just before Hoseok and Namjoon reach your table, your new friend's phone began to ring. She stood up and answered it, leaving you alone at the table.

"Y/N," Hoseok breathed. "Are you okay? I thought you were sick." he pouted.

You offered a smile and nodded. Meeting the trio was a blessing. Hoseok was a great friend, same goes for Namjoon.

"Why did you come to school?" Namjoon asked, clearly disapproving that you chose school over health.

"Shush, you guys. I'm alright!" you laugh at Hoseok, still upset at your attendance.

Hoseok was about to speak again when a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, let's get something to eat so you can take your medicine." your new friend, who you've forgotten to take the name of, offered.

Namjoon blinked back in shock calling her name while Hoseok sarcastically smirked on the side.

"Eujin?!"

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

NEXT | PREVIOUS

[amberskywrites]

Eternal

Chapter 8 - Tearing Walls Down

Chapter 1 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 9 || Masterpost | AO3 Link | FF.net Link

Updates: Once a week, either very very late Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday

Fandom / Genre: Nanatsu no Taizai (Seven Deadly Sins) / Canon-Divergent and Hurt/Comfort

Pairings: Meliodas/Elizabeth, Zeldris/Gelda, Meliodas & Zeldris & Elizabeth & Gelda

Overall Story Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, Canon-typical violence, Canonical character death, Canon temporary character death, Cursed characters, lmk if I need to add anything else!

Chapter Warnings: Brief description of injuries and murder intentions, lmk if I need to add anything! ^^

Story Summary:

Eternal…

life.

reincarnation.

silence.

and chains.

For 3,000 long and painful years, these four have been doing all they can to lift their curses. They have failed, again and again and again. With only a sliver of hope left, they try once more.

-

Or, what if Zeldris accepted Meliodas’ offer to go with him 3,000 years ago?

.

.

Elizabeth and Ban were walking in relative silence, after they had abandoned the Apprentice Holy Knight Jericho. Elizabeth felt a little bad, and had made sure Ban hadn’t left her completely exposed as he had clearly been intending, but they still had left Jericho restrained without her armor or any weapon and in less clothing than Jericho was probably comfortable if the rage on her face had said anything.

Though, Elizabeth supposed it was a better way of getting them out quicker - and Jericho didn’t have to die, so that was good.

The princess winced with each step, though, her leg feeling as though it were throbbing. It probably was, she hadn’t really given it a chance to rest, or a moment for herself to actually deal with her injuries. Elizabeth glanced at Ban, who had absolutely no sign of having been in any kind of fight if you ignored the holes in his pants. Which weren’t even from a fight, Elizabeth reminded herself. Those were from the restraints to keep Ban in prison, and he had left his cell without any kind of help.

Any sign of exhaustion was just as nonexistent as any kind of wound on Ban, his eyes merely bored as he hauled the armor he had stolen from Jericho with them.

She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a tiny bit jealous.

Shaking her head, Elizabeth took a deep breath and forced herself to walk a little faster. Was it really this far from the entrance? It hadn’t felt like it coming in.

“You all good, Princess?” Ban hummed, slowing a little himself so Elizabeth could keep up.

No.

“I’ll be fine!” she smiled reassuringly. “Thank you for the concern though, Sir Ban!”

Ban didn’t look convinced, but shrugged. “Whatever, let’s stop here and go through this stuff and continue in a bit. My arms are getting tired.”

“You sure?”

He dropped all the armor as his answer, arms splaying wide and a grin on his face as he gestured to the pile of stuff that Elizabeth guessed wouldn’t actually fit either one of them.

Elizabeth laughed softly, a little breathlessly, but didn’t protest as she leaned against the wall. She didn’t dare sit to watch Ban, not entirely sure she’d be able to pull herself up after, and she wasn’t too interested in letting Ban carry her - nor did she want to even ask that of him. He began to rummage through the armor, and she took the moment to actually take a look at her leg.

She grimaced at the sight.

It wasn’t awful, in fact she was certain the others had far worse injuries. But looking at the gash made her stomach churn. Taking another deep breath, Elizabeth leaned further on the wall and put most of her weight onto her less injured leg, lifting the one with the cut to get a better look at it.

It was hard to see at first, honestly. Up until now she had been ignoring the blood slipping down and drying down her calf, but now she had to acknowledge it. She was risking infection at this point.

She startled as the sound of something tearing filled the air, and nearly fell on her ass from the sudden movement, though she relaxed slowly when all that had happened was Ban wordlessly offering her a long strip of cloth. Elizabeth took it without hesitation, and he went back to rummaging in the metal as she began to tend to her leg.

It didn’t take long to wrap the cloth around and scrape off a little bit of the dried blood - and bits of grass stuck as well. Elizabeth cursed herself though, knowing that waiting this long to do anything was going to bite her in the near future.

She felt eyes on her and glanced up, seeing Ban also judging her leg with a small frown.

Did he have to deal with infections? She was tempted to ask, because it wasn’t like he had to wait a certain amount of time for wounds to heal and he also didn’t have to treat them like anyone else.

Elizabeth huffed to herself and let her leg fall back to the ground, though tried to not put as much pressure on it as she had before. Maybe she could ask later.

Ban dusted his hands off before turning his frown to the stolen armor. “Well, unfortunately everything’s too small and don’t think you’d want this junk.” He glanced up and grinned. “Ready to get back to looking for the Captain?”

Elizabeth offered a small smile and a nod.

If she used the wall for more support than before, and Ban walked at a slightly slower pace, neither of them said a word about it.

-

Meliodas wasn't sure what he expected, but Hawk was definitely not getting many scraps for the next month.

Hawk had just let Elizabeth go on alone.

He had let an injured Elizabeth go on alone into a prison crawling with trained guards.

Sure, Baste was a lot emptier now.

Meliodas and Zeldris sending Ruin flying into the prison, and the Holy Knight creating a crater in the wall had turned some heads. Friesia’s melted armor, now melded to her skin just from Gelda’s flames, had sent some running into Dalmary out of fear. And then Ruin being so easily defeated with just a punch had sent the rest running for the hills, any guards still deciding to see the commotion quickly fleeing upon seeing two dead Holy Knights and the Dragon’s Sin of Wrath stained in blood - mostly his own, but what they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

But that didn’t mean there weren’t still a few guards left, or that Elizabeth had managed to avoid them all. And he had a feeling the guards wouldn’t care if she was a princess.

The Weird Fangs surely didn’t care, and they had hurt her enough.

Gelda's grip on his arm was firm as Hawk led them down the hall Elizabeth had disappeared to. Her nails dug into his skin, holding him in a place where Zeldris had ripped his shirt. Her veil of darkness was gone for now, since their only light was fire from the torches hanging on the wall.

Zeldris kept himself between Meliodas and Hawk, occasionally glancing back at him and Gelda, a small frown on his face every time he took in Meliodas' tense posture.

Meliodas stuffed his hands into the remains of his pockets, and Gelda's grip tightened just slightly, and honestly he was glad she was holding onto him like this. It was grounding, in a way. Ensuring he didn't lose control and bring everyone down with him again.

Hawk was too nervous to say anything, after having caught sight of Meliodas' expression upon saying Elizabeth was on her own.

He didn't think Meliodas would actually hurt him, but… he really didn't want to risk it.

None of them wanted to risk it.

Meliodas took a deep breath, and forced his shoulders to relax. He felt eyes on him and glanced up, meeting Gelda’s gaze. She was frowning just like Zeldris, though hers was more concerned than her husband’s. She gave his arm another squeeze, though it was more gentle, and she rubbed her thumb in small circles in an attempt to comfort him, if just slightly.

The blonde wouldn’t admit that it did help, and his shoulders slumping now was less of a struggle.

Meliodas kept his eyes on the walls from now on, trying to remember their way back out while worry still gripped his hearts in an iron fist. 

His conversation with Zeldris ran through his mind. Elizabeth was hurt. She had gotten hurt. He can accept this. He needed to. He would accept this. She would and did get hurt and he couldn’t do anything about it right now, and he had to accept it. He had to.

Except…

Except what if she wasn’t just hurt? What if she was almost dead, and she died when he got there? He just had to witness her death, it could technically be at any time. She’d hold out until they found her and she’d die right in front of him. What if she did die?

He couldn’t accept that. He couldn’t handle that.

There wasn’t a reality that existed where he could handle her dying.

Gelda stopped, forcing Meliodas to do so just before he ran into Zeldris. Zeldris, who had turned around and was looking over Meliodas’ shoulder, back down the corridor they had just walked. Gelda turned as well, her hold on Meliodas loosening. Both were frowning, silent, and Meliodas’ brows furrowed at their expressions.

Hawk was still walking, not noticing at first that they had all stopped, still sulking about the promise of a decrease in scraps. His ears perked up though when he realized he only heard his steps and he turned, racing back with a small squeal definitely not because he was afraid of almost wandering off alone in this place.

He bumped into Zeldris, who glanced down at Hawk and narrowed his eyes slightly, a warning to stay quiet, before he reached for his sword and that had Hawk hiding behind him even more. Both Gelda and Meliodas were also tense, small sparks appearing in Gelda’s hands after letting go of the blonde. Meliodas just stood absolutely still, looking like a snake ready to lunge at anyone who got a little too close for comfort.

Hawk heard it now, footsteps. They were unhurried, and… and more than one, unless somehow whoever had more than two feet like Hawk. But he should be the only nonhuman creature in the prison right now, right?

His eyes widened though at the two people who had stepped into view.

“Elizabeth!”

Elizabeth smiled wide at Hawk, letting go of the wall she was heavily leaning on to rush over as best she could to pet him. Hawk leaned into her touch with a relieved sigh. If Elizabeth wasn’t mad at him, maybe she could convince Meliodas to be less harsh after leaving her alone.

Zeldris began to nudge the two back, his heel poking Hawk in the chest. When Hawk didn’t budge, Zeldris kicked back just a little harder and that got Hawk moving back with a yelp as metal dug ever so slightly into his skin.

“What the heck, Zeldris?” he huffed. Glaring up at Zeldris, Hawk’s confusion only grew as both he and Gelda slowly moved back, Gelda moving to pull Elizabeth even further away while Zeldris kept his eyes glued to Meliodas and the mystery man Elizabeth had been with. Hawk froze, and Elizabeth’s brow furrowed as they watched, the silence almost suffocating.

Elizabeth was most confused - the two were radiating what she could only assume to be tension, a silent anger maybe? No, anger wasn’t the right word. Besides, Ban hadn’t seemed angry at the idea of reuniting with his captain earlier, so that couldn’t be it. But Elizabeth couldn’t put her finger on it, other than whatever it was, it was very nerve wracking. At least, this close it was.

“What… what’s going on?” Hawk asked, looking up at Gelda anxiously. Gelda didn’t respond, but did crouch to wrap an arm around Hawk and her other around Elizabeth, pulling them close in something that could be interpreted as a hug but definitely didn’t feel like one. Zeldris also offered no answer, though he did glance back, and he seemed to relax ever so slightly.

Not that that helped either Hawk or Elizabeth relax themselves.

Just when Elizabeth thought she really was going to start choking from the stifling silence, it evaporated in an instant with Meliodas’ face breaking out into the happiest expression Elizabeth had ever seen.

“Ban!”

Ban grinned right back, laughing in delight as they charged at each other. “Captain!”

Elizabeth’s jaw dropped as they began what she could only assume was a greeting that went back years, smiles brighter than the sun could ever hope to be. Their hands slapped together loudly and she winced, her own hands stinging just imagining how hard they were hitting each other, but outside of sound she could barely keep up just seeing them, they were moving so quickly.

They stopped, and Elizabeth jumped when Ban suddenly slammed into Meliodas, sending the blonde flying through multiple walls, the Fox Sin not even attempting to keep his laughter down. Elizabeth leaned forward as much as Gelda would allow, ignoring her muscles screaming at her to keep still, and she could see Meliodas in the crater they had created. She bit her lip harshly, but let out a gasp as Meliodas launched himself from the wall just to fly into Ban and send him flying in the opposite direction.

Meliodas was openly laughing now as well, clutching his knees to keep from falling over as Ban recovered and rejoined them.

Elizabeth didn’t hear what they had said next, too stunned with the sheer power both were radiating - it was overwhelming, and neither of them seemed to be even trying. Elizabeth blinked, and was confused once more as Gelda tightened her grip and Meliodas and Ban were on their stomachs and goddesses above, were they arm wrestling?

She couldn’t help herself, a giggle breaking through the confusion because it all just seemed ridiculous but also they were so happy and shouldn’t they be leaving Baste now, they had found and broken Ban out. Zeldris’ expression had also morphed into one of slight amusement, though he was still eyeing the two sins with concern.

It took Elizabeth a second too late why Zeldris might be concerned.

“Go!” Meliodas shouted, a wild look on both his and Ban’s faces.

The floor began to tremble, and Gelda tightened her grip even further and Elizabeth could feel Gelda taking a deep inhale just as the cracks began to form and her eyes widened.

Next thing Elizabeth knew, the floor completely gave out underneath them and there was suddenly nothing under her besides Gelda’s arm digging painfully into her stomach. A scream got caught in her throat, because she wasn’t falling, not as fast as the building around them. She squeaked as Gelda dodged a piece of the upper level plummeting, and she closed her eyes tightly and scrambled slightly to get a better hold on Gelda. Vaguely, Elizabeth could hear Hawk actually screaming, though it was soon drowned out by Gelda herself plummeting to the ground as well now and the air rushing past was all Elizabeth could hear.

Elizabeth’s next few breaths were labored, and she could now feel the floor underneath her legs, and Gelda’s arm slipped from around her. Gelda patted her back lightly before turning her attention to Hawk, trying her best to get the pig to calm down. Elizabeth blinked, looking down at the ground and she coughed, dust still settling and surely the building hadn’t fallen that quickly, right?

Must’ve blacked out for a second, Elizabeth reasoned, and she did her best to steady her breathing. She forced herself to sit back on her knees, it hurt but she had to see the damage. She gasped, head whipping around and she couldn’t believe it.

Baste Prison was utterly demolished.

From an arm wrestle.

She was so dumbfounded - and a little nervous now after that display of casual power - that she didn’t notice Meliodas crouching in front of her at first. She yelped when she turned and was met with bright green eyes very close, but she slumped under the gaze upon seeing the concern written all over Meliodas’ face.

He smiled at her - and she noticed it didn’t quite reach his eyes, how could she not with him so close? - before standing and offering her a hand. “Let’s get back to the tavern and get you patched up, yeah?”

Elizabeth laughed quietly as she accepted his hand and let him pull her up, his arm going around her waist to support her. They all took a moment to collect themselves - Ban and Zeldris brushing rubble from their hair, Gelda reforming her veil of darkness around her, and Hawk whining softly after being hit a few times from broken bricks that didn’t cause too much harm.

Elizabeth smiled to herself as they started the trek back to Mama Hawk. The anxiety from seeing Ban and Meliodas so carelessly toss each other around, the realization of just how strong they were, it was finally slipping away a little bit. She was still a little worried about what she had gotten herself into, but as Meliodas’ arm tightened just a fraction around her as they walked, Elizabeth also felt an odd sense of confidence.

Maybe, just maybe, they really could save the kingdom.

Elizabeth’s smile widened at the hope the thought brought her.

-

Gilthunder’s face remained neutral as he listened to the knight - Golgius of the Weird Fangs - who had practically crawled to Gilthunder to deliver the report. He was trembling, the sound of metal scraping against metal grating on the ears but Gilthunder pushed the unpleasant noise to the back of his mind to form a headache later.

“So, the rumor was true then. It was the Seven Deadly Sins.”

“Y… yes, sir.”

“How many?”

“I… I don’t know for… for sure… Prin… Princess Elizabeth was with them, though.”

Gilthunder’s brow furrowed, and his lips tugged down slightly. The princess was with them?

That may cause an issue.

Well, more of an issue. Golgius’ news of the Fox Sin’s escape was already putting a damper on his mood, Baste no longer standing wasn’t as much of a concern to Gilthunder.

If Elizabeth was with them, which wasn’t the actual issue, he wouldn’t be able to go all out like he wished. If he did, he’d hurt her, and that was the issue.

Gilthunder decided to also push that to the back of his mind. He’ll cross that bridge when he got to it.

He had Golgius describe who had been travelling with Elizabeth, and it only further confused Gilthunder, though he forced his expression to remain passive. The only one he recognized was the blonde Golgius had described, Meliodas, it had to have been him. The other two descriptions sounded like people he recognized, though the pink haired knight couldn’t put his finger on why he may find them familiar.

Gilthunder dismissed Golgius, with the knowledge now that two of the Sins were accounted for at least. They were travelling on some massive green pig, along with the missing Princess Elizabeth and two foes they knew next to nothing about. He could work with that information.

“You really let them break him out?” drawled a voice from above. “That makes things annoying.”

He turned to the window, where a boy had remained in the shadows while Golgius had been in the room. The boy was floating beside the glassless window, and looked away from it to send Gilthunder a look with a mix of annoyance and boredom on his face.

“Considering their mode of transport, I doubt it will be as annoying as you believe. Do you still want to get revenge?”

Gilthunder watched the boy’s face morph into a glare, jaw clenched and hold around a green pillow growing tighter. “Of course I do.”

“Then I’m sure you’ll be more than happy to find them, King.”

The boy - King - continued to glare as he turned to look outside again. His fingers twitched, and his bored look slowly relaxed into one of glee. Gilthunder could only assume King was thinking of Ban again, imagining the immortal man finally taking his last breath.

[thecat-inthehat]

Ninja pre-Armor Crush fucking sucks man, I have to keep using my Very Valuable Mudras to refresh my huton instead of electrocuting things with extreme prejudice

on that note-

The job system in XIV is a bit weird, because for ARR and HW, almost all of your job-specific abilities come from doing your class quests. It’s a good way to encourage you to do them, sure! But I’m currently in the middle of 2.4(ish) and I have all my classes at 55 or so. I can’t get access to my HW abilities because I’m not in HW, meaning that there’s a good two or three things on each job that I can’t touch yet. Now, it’s not exactly important, mind you, as the only content I can do is lv 50 and it’s not like I could use them anyways.

But like, there’s this weird disconnect if you’re playing through the story for the first time (probably with Road to 70), and you’re gaining levels through content and not getting abilities for it. They did away with base classes learning abilities naturally after 50, but brought it back around 62. So there’s this long stretch where you’re gaining levels and (theoretically) learning to play your class as you level, but you can’t. Stormblood attempted to balance it by letting you learn things naturally, with your capstone ability locked behind quests. Shadowbringers did away with it entirely, as your class trainers are literally on another world, and you’re not about to interrupt the ending of SHB to say “hey go back to the Source and grab your capstone abilities”. It just wouldn’t work.

Now, I know that the major part of that is that the abilities are linked to the class quests in ARR/HW because they’re mentioned in story. The SCH quests used to have you learn “leeches” and then give another quest that had you use them. The Astrologian quests used it for a pun, in which one character goes “the events have weighed on me heavily” and then you learn the spell Gravity at lv 52. It was hilarious, I laughed myself silly. And like, in theory I’ve got no issue with abilities being locked behind class quests if they’re going to tie into each other.

The problem, therein, lies with class rebalancing. Those two abilities are either nonexistant or earned at a lower level -- and the story itself hasn’t been updated to match. Rather, it has, but only really on a superficial level. I talked about it some on my SCH post here, but this post is more about the large gap of the 2.x patches and having your abilities locked than it is the story/duty mechs. It’s still so very interesting to look back and see the places where improvements and Quality of Life changes were made, and how they were been integrated into the game and story. I distinctly remember the Summoner Stormblood quests leading up to unlocking your capstone ability, and it felt so good to earn it that way.

There’s also been a very slow but persistent idea that the Warrior of Light has grown with their Soul Stone. You’re no longer having to research and unearth abilities (ARR), or triggering abilities via similar situations while still learning (HW), but instead you’re starting to build some new moves while taking guidance (SB), and eventually inscribing your own abilities into the stone itself (SHB). It’s an idea that I’m very eager to see where it might go with Endwalker, and how the jobs/classes will grow.

[lovelivingmydreams]

Quick question: Is Jamming With History still being written? Is it just slow to update (which I understand if it is, I write as well and get when things just don't work and/or when motivation/inspiration/energy is nonexistent) or is it an abandoned WIP (which I also fully understand)? /gen

A very good question and thank you for being so polite about it! It is not abandoned! I have a finale. I have their prom outfits picked out. I don't announce updates to the storry on here, nit on a regular basis at least. But I am trying to finish of another big project of mine (A story by heroes and villains) cause I am so darn close and I write on other projects in between. But I promise I wanna write about how the year ends for these two disaster gays so bad!

I think I also am a bit worried i went too hard in the birthday outing and cant top it. But I will try my best I promise!

Thank you for showing interest! It has certainly reignited the part of my brain where that AU lives.

[lala-pipo]

(1) WOW! 4 months has passed since you answered my last ask hahaha… so fast… I understand, sometimes when I spend too much time on something, be it working or studying or even recreational stuff I feel burnt out to :D Like I spent 5 straight days last week playing Stardew Valley, now I haven’t touched the Switch lol anyways, I am still enjoying the updates on Dorm Life! It’s slowly progressing but I think it’s good for both of them so far? Taking it one step at a time :3

(2) It’s like they are back at it again with their bantering and anime/fanfic conversations :’) the comfortableness is there but also at the same time it feels unsettling? maybe because we are seeing it from Taem’s POV and he is kinda fidgety (for a lack of better word) or tense about the situation? Hmmm but yeah the ending at the latest chapter though!! Whoooo could have been calling Jong at that time? And the off-character part where he turned off his phone, refusing to take the calls :O

(3) Obviously like Taem we would probably just wonder if it’s Key right, but idk why some instinct telling me it’s not Key like it’s a new part of the story? A new subplot? Lol or maybe it is Key and we are closing that chapter? Uhuhuh I’m just going to theorize in the corner here as I wait for the next update :3 Ah! Yeah, and you said there won’t be any crying moments anymore, so will there be more cheesy things like the end of the latest chapter? Cringe inducing lines and “aww” moments? ;)

(4) Yeah, ofc ofc since to Taem, Key is his “antagonist”, we were bound to kind of see it the same way… in the latest update too, there were a lot of thoughts inside Taem’s head regarding his observations on Key right… like I think there was a part where he thought that Key was looking down on him, or even he thought that Key and Jong should be having stricter? (Idk if that’s the right word) boundaries on things that they should and shouldn’t talk about lol

(5) To be honest, it’s kind of entertaining to see Taem’s train of thoughts on these things like, that almost instantaneous thought in someone’s head that they don’t really share to others. It can be a little bit biased, it can be overdramatic, but ofc I also I understand Taem’s hatred? Or more like insecurity maybe? When it comes to Key (and Jong). It’s the kind of things people think about but not really say out loud hahaha I love it, it makes the characters more whole?

(6) Oh yeahh? I shall be sneaking my way into AO3 to see your replies :3 For a while I kind of realized that you uploaded every 3 weeks? On my Sunday nights, so I timed it perfectly lol recently I’ve been busy too so this one took a while hehehe :D Since my last ask I think you updated twice with chapter 10 and 11! I think chapter 10 was more like “where is this going, what is happening” uncertain section with everyone just passing by time and going with the flow? Ft. mother and Kai hahah

(7) In chapter 11, I think the direction is clearer for them, thanks to the convo by the river!! It was a necessary conversation and I’m glad that they were able to talk about it, after great difficulty :’) Then the chapter was filled with fluff cheese fluff Taem’s thoughts on Key fluff :3 hahaha oh! Maybe I wasn’t paying attention as much but there weren’t many biblical allusions in the past 2 chapters? Maybe it was intentional or maybe not, either way I didn’t notice many of them I think? haha

(8) Maybe ‘cos Taem’s thoughts are filled with “where is this going”, Jong, Key, and then the upcoming exam lol so not so much bible references going on in his head haha… Also!! I saw new fanfics for Jong’s month and I did not read them yet!! So excited, probably will read them as I wait for the updates :D Also!! SHINee x AoT fanfic, yes please omg… I actually searched for one back in 2013-2014? When AoT Anime was just released… we have Pacific Rim AU, so I was rooting hard for AoT AU :’(

(9) Sooo yeah, I’ll look forward to any new fanfics by you in the future too! But please do take time away from it if it tires you out or if you are burned out! It should be an enjoyable thing to do for you :D Anyways! Thank you for the updates! I thoroughly enjoyed the fluff, oh! and thank you for accepting my tomo-choco lol, and I gratefully accept yours! <3 I hope you had and will have an amazing time for the upcoming months! Take care, and stay healthy! – cricket anon

____________________________________________________

Cricket nony!

Wow indeed! It certainly has been a while. How have you been? I have never heard of Stardew Valley before, but I’m glad you’ve enjoyed playing it. But I know that feeling, sometimes I play games for weeks and then I won’t touch them for a year. Humans are weird like that I guess. ^^

I’m glad you’re still enjoying my slow updates. I mean we are about to cross the finishing line. There are only two chapters left to complete the storyline + the epilogue. So yeah. Considering that I already wanted to be done with the story by March – and now we’re nearing July already. Haha – but at least I’m working on it to push this story over the finishing line.

It’s not really a subplot – more like the underlying theme of the story which has been there since chapter 1. If the story was written from Jonghyun POVs it would have been a main theme, but since we’re seeing everything from Taem’s perspective, we just know what Jonghyun shares with him – which is not a lot. :’)

Yes, there won’t be any more tears. There will be a few cheesy moments, but less so compared to chapter 11. :’D Chapter 12 is like the last peak before – hopefully – all ties come together in chapter 13 *knocks on wood*

Oh, Taemin will have a lot more thoughts on Kibum in chapter 12. Lmao The whole situation between Kibum and Taemin is loosely based on something from my own experiences. However, without going too much into detail – let’s keep it simple and say I was the Jonghyun in that scenario. Lmao

Yeah, I think there are plenty of moments in this story in which Taemin thinks a LOT of things but says something very different out loud. I think that’s only human. It’s just better to not share all thoughts one has. :’)

It’s certainly intentional that there are less biblical references after they’ve actually been to church. There are still some left to come, but far less than in previous chapters. It’s supposed to show that Taemin is slowly beginning to find his balance in a way, his way in life? I don’t know how to put it, but he slowly gets more rooted.

THANK YOU! Finally someone who understand my craving for SHINee x AoT fanfic. I really, really want to write one because for some reason I want to write something more action driven with blood, and gore and violence lmao and of course titans. I mean romance is cute – but romance is even cuter if you put it into a dystopian setting where people are fighting for the survival of human kind. A SHINee survey squad would be so cute T_T <3 I don’t really know why no one picked up on yet after all those years – we have so many crossovers in this fandom – and yet a crossover with one of the biggest fandoms out there is just nonexistent. It makes no sense to me. I also always wanted to write a Harry Potter crossover but there are so many out there already – so AoT really lets my weeb juices tingle. Lmao

I remember really liking bmot’s JongTae pacific rim AU…although I still have no idea about pacific rim to this day. :’D I always wanted to look it up because I like the description in their story – it seemed an interesting concept but somehow I’ve never went further than thinking about it.

Thanks for dropping by again, cricket nony! Talk to you in 4 months? Maybe…lmao Take good care of yourself. *waves* <3

[alison-anonymous]

flawsome bandits pt. 1 ♡ sonic

Flawsome First Meetings

EARLY RELEASE!

Hello, my darlings and WELCOME to my second multi-part fanfic, Flawsome Bandits (a Sonic the Hedgehog Movie! x Reader). I have not yet finished the second chapter of this story yet, and I’m currently trying to prewrite these chapters so I can update them along the way, but I wanted to get the first one out to all of my patient darlings as soon as possible! Please let me know what you think, the love always encourages me to write more ;) Love you all, please enjoy!

Warnings: none

♡♡♡

If you've ever had amnesia, you'd know that things seem very quick.

Little flashbacks of what you're guessing to be your backstory come back in little spurts that never last long enough and are gone too soon. They leave huge, gaping holes in your background information from what your favorite color is to who your parents were. Try your story on for size.

You were Y/n Wachowski. A sassy, quick-witted teenage girl with a love for speed and a sharp tongue. Parents? Unknown. Distant relatives? Undiscovered. Hometown? Who the fuck knows. You were sent to live with the Wachowski's as your permanent foster parents after you were discovered wandering around the woods by a couple of hikers. They said that they found you wearing a ripped and dirty jumpsuit with pastel colors that looked like it was ten times smaller than your size. When they had tried to confront you, it was almost as if you couldn't hear them, your mouth open and unspeaking. Eyes wandering, glossy and unseeing. 

You couldn't remember much about your past. Most of the time it was like looking at a blank sheet of paper, ready to get into the printer but it's out of ink. After being diagnosed with a concussion and severe amnesia, you were seen as unfit to take care of yourself, so that was how you ended up with the Wachowskis. But just because you were lucky enough to have loving and patient foster parents didn't mean that you had an answer to every question they asked. You had no idea what your favorite color was, what you liked to do in your free time, or even if you were a night owl. 

It was like you didn't even remember who you were. Like you had just been born, only you weren't a baby and were instead a teenager. It got incredibly lonely being a child with no memories, and the kids at school found you very creepy. But it was okay. Tom and Maddie made sure to give you as much love as was humanly possible, and when the bullying at school got to the point where they would follow you home, they switched you to homeschooling. 

It appeared that you not only had no existing memories of your past, but you also had barely any idea how things on earth worked. Whenever someone mentioned examinations, vaccines, bucket lists, and even governmental agencies, you had no clue what they were talking about. 

Not everyone was as patient as Tom and Maddie were, unfortunately. Most people would assume that you were kidding when you asked them what a protractor was or why people ride animals. It all seemed so strange and new to you, like Tarzan when he was visiting the human world and not the ape land he was familiar with. But out of it all, there was one thing that you became absolutely fascinated with. 

Cars. 

The faster, the better. You seemed to have an unchecked need for speed that tickled at your mind every time you got behind the wheel. Whenever Tom allowed it, you'd take the truck or his old squad motorcycle out for a spin in the abandoned corn fields where you could do as many tricks as you wanted without putting anyone else in danger. One of your favorites was driving backwards. 

It's during one of those days where our story finally begins. The Montana sun was high up in the sky, beating down its scorching rays onto the untouched pavement. A flock of birds fled for the telephone polls in an attempt to escape from the ever increasing sound of revving coming from the abandoned corn field near Crazy Carl's traps for the supposed "Blue Devil." In the midst of the dead and crusty corn stalks, there sat a young girl on a very old squad motorcycle. Her hair fluttered gently in the slight breeze running through the air, a pair of sunglasses perched delicately atop her nose in the absence of a helmet. Before her stood a makeshift riser composed of some old wooden slabs she had "borrowed" from an old tree house a little ways south. A smirk played across her lips as she kicked up the bike's kickstand and revved the engine. 

"Alright, Y/n, if you make this jump, you'll be the most famous girl in Green Hills…" Her words got lost in the wind as she took a deep breath and began to ride towards the jump, her speed increasing with every passing second. The distance began to decrease, her growing closer and closer until an abnormal electric blue blur zipped past her. Startled, she swerved, momentarily losing control of her bike as she slowed to a stop, planting her boots firmly on the ground. Chest heaving, she flipped her sunglasses up onto her forehead and slipped off of the bike, looking around the empty field to see if she hit anything. 

What was that? She wondered. 

Unbeknownst to her, a couple feet away from her, hidden deep within some dehydrated bushes was a royal blue hedgehog. He had been on his way back to his cave after taking a turtle for a little joy ride down the interstate when he spotted his favorite human on earth, Star Chaser. She was the most amazing girl he had ever seen, and lived with Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady. He would make it a priority to hang out with her every time she was out practicing her racing tricks, a dopey grin spreading on his face every time he saw her ecstatic smile. She just never knew he was there. 

More than anything, he wished that he could get to hang out with her just once. Just for one day, spent full of speeding down the empty country roads and flying over makeshift jumps and laughing about the funny faces they made from the wind hitting their skin. But he knew better. He had to stay hidden, just like Longclaw said. Never stop running, and always stay hidden… alone. 

There was something about her that just drew him to her, something familiar. He watched with caution as Star Chaser searched the field a bit more, her footfalls making satisfying crunching sounds on the long gone plants. Her beautiful e/c eyes searched the grounds before her for whatever had interrupted her practice. Finally, after she was satisfied with not having hit anything, she got back onto the cycle, flipped her sunglasses back on, and zipped away, leaving a trail of smoky exhaust in her wake.

The blue hedgehog zoomed back to his cave himself, dodging trees and bushes with expertise. The whole time he ran, he couldn't prevent his mind from wondering what life might be like if he were somehow able to live alongside the humans. If he could have a conversation with Star Chaser that didn't exist in his imagination, to maybe even discover why she seemed so familiar. What would life be like if he didn't have to hide? 

♡♡♡

Just when things finally start getting familiar, the concept of moving decides to rear its ugly head in. Y/n had found out that her foster dad got a promotion, a job in another city with a higher ranking and a wider variety of donut holes to snack on. That meant that they were going to have to leave Green Hills. 

But, knowing her, she shoved the grief and frustration so far down inside her until it became nonexistent. Maddie had left on a trip to see her sister, leaving Y/n and Tom alone. They had had a freak power outage the night before, leaving Tom a bit on edge. His phone kept ringing off the hook as his coworker was just a bit dependent on him, and had no idea if he should just ignore the 911 phone calls or pick them up. 

“Remind me to drive by the library tomorrow,” Y/n set down her latest novel on the counter by the car keys. She watched as Tom stole a bit of frosting off of the cake and scrunched up her nose at the lack of sanitation. “I need to return this before we get fined.” 

Tom nodded just as his phone began ringing. He held up a finger to his daughter and leaned against the counter, lifting up the phone to his ear as he began to talk to his wife. Y/n turned to the fridge and was trying to decide whether or not she was hungry or just bored as she did her best to not listen to them talking about the move. Just as she was about to reach for the watermelon, a loud clattering noise came from outside. Tom and Y/n exchanged an alarmed glance and quickly shuffled over to the window, childishly trying to shove each other out of the way so they could get a good look. 

“Shit,” Y/n swore as she took in the knocked over trash bins sitting next to the garage.

“Watch your potty mouth,” Tom scolded, but a smile still stayed on his lips. “The racoons are back.” Y/n watched as he quickly turned towards one of the junk drawers and pulled out Maddie’s bear tranquilizer gun. She snorted. 

“You better not be using my tranquilizer gun,” she heard Maddie’s voice say over the speaker. “That’s for bears.”

“Good,” Tom grinned as he loaded up the machine. “Now I know it’ll work. Y/n, stay inside.” Y/n scoffed as he hung up the phone and opened up the back door. Yes, of course she was going to stay safely inside like a crappy sidekick and miss the potential action of scaring trash pandas half to death. Grabbing an extra flashlight, she raced out after her dad to see him pressed up against the side of the shed, holding the gun and flashlight near his face. He jumped once she saddled up next to him, putting her flashlight in front of her like her own makeshift gun.

“I thought I told you to stay inside,” He narrowed his brows. To his dismay, Y/n only shrugged.

“You did. I didn’t listen,” she grinned, making it obvious that he had no other choice than to let her stay. He sighed, but nevertheless nodded. On a quick countdown from three, the two burst into the shed, waving their flashlights around like mad men.

“Green Hills PD, put your paws up!” Tom hollered. Y/n slowly made her way out from behind him, flashing her light around the empty room until it finally came to a stop. Her eyes widened in shock and her jaw nearly dropped to the floor as she tried to make sense of what exactly she was looking at. An electric blue creature wearing white gloves and tennis shoes stood before them, holding what looked like a gold wedding ring between his forefinger and thumb. She couldn’t tell what was stranger: the fact that he existed or the fact that he seemed oddly familiar. The creature’s green eyes flashed from hers to her father’s before he let out a small, nervous chuckle. 

“Uhh, meow?” 

And then, Tom screamed. His fear and the sudden introduction of the loud noise caused Y/n to scream, too, which finally led to the little blue creature screaming. But the longer Y/n stared at it, the more she began to experience a slight hint of deja vu. She couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that she had seen this thing before. 

“Wait,” she whispered, barely loud enough for her dad to hear, but the blue creature’s ears perked up. He turned his attention back to her and the second they locked eyes, the same sense of familiarity began coursing through his veins. After all of those days spent watching her from afar, how did he never notice the e/c eyes? Where had he seen them before?

Unfortunately, Tom just had to go and ruin the moment by pulling the trigger on the tranq gun. 

“Dad, no!” Y/n cried, but it was already too late as the dart sank into the blue creature’s thigh. They could only watch as the animal looked down at the needle in his leg and slowly looked back up with a hurt glare.

“Ow,” he whined, his eyes already beginning to lose their concentration. Y/n was about to take a step towards the creature, but Tom wrapped his hand around her arm to stop her. The creature’s eyes floated over Tom’s shirt, zeroing in on the words that littered the old fabric. “San… Fran…sisco?” He muttered. The ring he had been holding on to loosely slipped from his fingers, and began rolling across the floor. As its velocity increased, it began expanding, deying all laws of logic as a portal overlooking the given city appeared. Y/n and Tom’s jaws dropped to the floor as they watched the creature stumble, dropping his little bag through the portal and collapsing onto the ground. Y/n’s heart ached for the poor thing as she fought to get out of her father’s grasp in order to help him. 

Within seconds, the portal closed up, eliminating the slight wind that had appeared. “N-No…” The creature whimpered before finally passing out. A thick silence crossed over the three as Tom’s grip on Y/n’s arm loosened, both humans trying to figure out what the heck they just witnessed. 

“What the actual fuck?” Y/n breathed. 

“Language…” 

♡♡♡

“Yes. Let’s shoot the poor thing and then put him in a cage,” Y/n rolled her eyes sarcastically, watching as her father poked the blue creature resting inside of their dog’s old cage. She batted at his hand, and gave him a death glare, but he just sighed. 

“Come on, kid, what if he’s an alien?” Tom asked incredulously, turning back to the sleeping creature. He nudged its head with a metal spatula and sighed. 

“I don’t know…” Y/n sighed, resting her head on her knuckle. I mean, she had to admit he was kind of… cute. The nostalgia that he was causing was just an added complication. There was something about his entire being that seemed eerily familiar to her, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Tom slowly withdrew something that had fallen onto the padding; an electric blue quill. The two slowly leaned closer to inspect the object, noting the little blue bolts of electricity that whizzed across its surface. It absolutely fascinated Y/n, while Tom seemed a little more apprehensive. He turned away from the cage and set it down on the counter, running a hand over his face. 

“This is nuts,” he whispered. Y/n took the opportunity to get a little closer to the being, scanning his body with careful eyes. She debated reaching through the bars to touch him, but before she had a chance to, his eyes slowly popped open. Her eyes widened and she stayed perfectly still as he pushed himself up to a standing position and made his way to open the cage. Her breath catches in her throat as he finally looks up at her and gives her a small, sheepish smile, stumbling out onto the counter top. Even in the given circumstances, the only thing that the girl can think of is how absolutely adorable he is. 

...wait, what?

“Star Chaser?” Y/n quickly turned her attention back to the present and furrowed her brows in confusion. Who was Star Chaser? “Donut Lord?” The blue being slurred, holding on to the cage for support. Tom swiveled around at the sound and scoffed.

“So the Blue Devil can talk. You’re not here to abduct us are you?” 

“YOU abducted ME,” the Blue Devil replied defensively, pressing his hand against his chest. Y/n rolled her eyes and stepped between the two, looking the being in the eyes. 

“I am very sorry for that-”

“Why are you apologizing to it?!” Tom cried, running his hands through his hair incredulously. Y/n just rolled her eyes. 

“I told him to just leave you alone. But, if I may ask, who are you and why were you in our shed?” She finished. Tom facepalmed behind her while the Blue Devil did his best to concentrate his fatigue on the beautiful girl standing before him. Gosh, her eyes were pretty…

“I-I needed a safe place, and Donut Lord’s house was the only place I could think of, Star Chaser!” 

“Why does he keep calling me Donut Lord?” Tom asked warily, slowly reaching for the tranq gun. Y/n quickly shot him a glare and he let out an annoyed huff. Even though he was her foster father, they acted like siblings with good-hearted and frequent quarrels. 

“Because you talk to donuts,” the Blue Devil explained. “And then eat them when they get out of line.” Y/n snorted, trying her best to contain her laughter by pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. She didn’t notice the small smile that formed on the blue hedgehog’s face as Tom shrugged, nodding his head slightly. 

“Fair. Why is she Star Chaser?” The Blue Devil got a distant look on his face, a small, thoughtful smile still lingering on his lips.

“I’ve watched her race out in the fields. It’s amazing how fast she can go. Sometimes I wonder if she’s trying to chase the stars out of the sky…” A soft smile slowly formed on your lips at his words. No one had ever talked about you like that before. 

The distant look on his face was suddenly replaced by one with worry. His eyes began frantically glancing around the room, Y/n being able to practically see the alarms going off in his head. “Wait, where are my… Why am I still on earth? Oh no, I lost my rings!” 

“Rings?” Y/n furrowed her brows in confusion. Just then, a loud rumbling sound came from outside. It had such an impact that it shook the entire house, startling the chimes that Maddie had hung up above the sink. The three looked around in confusion.

“What’s happening? Is this your mothership?” Tom began panicking, walking briskly around the table towards the window. He jabbed an accusing finger at the nervous hedgehog. “I do NOT want my daughter getting probed.”

“Dad, stop,” Y/n sighed, following him towards the window. “You’re the one who abducted him. Can’t you be just a little bit sentimental?”

“Thanks,” the hedgehog muttered just loud enough for Y/n to hear. She stood next to her foster dad at the window and peered out the glass. A giant grey vehicle that had been passing stopped and began backing up towards their driveway.

“What the hell kind of make is that?” Y/n muttered. The Blue Devil was by their side in a second and was peering through the window too. Once he caught sight of the ginormous lab van, he let out a squeak and pulled the white curtains shut.

“They’re after me!”

“Who’s after you?” Y/n questioned in concern. She got pushed behind Tom as he stood protectively in front of her, eyeing the Blue Devil suspiciously.

“And what does that have to do with us?” 

“I don’t have time to explain, but you have to help me!” He pleaded. Y/n felt her heart sink for the creature, her instant gut feeling telling her that they had to help him. He was in danger, albeit he was apparently a runaway. Unfortunately, Tom had different ideas as he furiously shook his head.

“No, we don’t!”

“But Dad-”

“Y/n, enough,” Tom ended her protests sternly. He turned back to the blue hedgehog and furrowed his brows, wondering what reason he could possibly have that would need them to help him. “Why should we help you?”

“Well, my legs, which normally would be classified as legal weapons, feel like spaghetti. I need your help, please! It’s life or death.” The Blue Devil’s green eyes pleaded to Tom. Y/n slowly made her way out from behind her dad and glanced down at him. He knew exactly what to say in order to get Tom to help him, didn’t he? It was almost as if he had been there all of those times when Tom was wishing for someone to come to him in their time of need. His facade crumbled and he caved in almost instantly.

“Alright, fine. Y/n, take him up to the attic. I’ll take a look at what’s going on outside.” Tom ordered. Y/n nodded and motioned for the blue hedgehog to follow her. They quickly scampered towards the stairs, and as they began to walk quietly up the flights, Y/n noticed two things. One, Crazy Carl was right after all. The little “Blue Devil” was a lot larger than she had expected him to be, measuring up to be about half of her height. And two, the thing was having a horrific time walking. With a strangely racing heart, Y/n slowed down her pace and offered her hand to the being. He gave her a small smile and accepted it, wrapping his gloved hand around her own. 

“My actual name is Y/n, by the way,” she finally spoke in an attempt to break the hurried silence. “But I like Star Chaser better.” He smiled beside her, trying to figure out why the girl before him seemed so familiar.

“I just thought it suited you. My name’s Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“I knew you weren’t an alien,” Y/n said as she let go of his hand to pull down the ladder. She picked the hedgehog up and set him down gently inside the attic. His name kept ringing throughout her head on an endless loop, like it was supposed to bring back some big part of her life, but it always came back empty. She gave him a small smile and was about to head back down when he stopped her.

“Wait,” his dreamy green eyes were full of concern as he looked straight into Y/n’s. “Be careful.” 

Y/n appreciated how genuinely concerned he was for her safety. It was a beautiful gulp of fresh air amidst all of the others who thought she was crazy or weird. At least his sincerity made the fact that he had been basically stalking her and her family for a while now a little bit less creepy. Y/n gave him a reassuring smile and closed the attic door, racing all the way back down to the main floor where she skidded to a halt by the door. 

There was Tom, with some very strange looking man sporting a signature Man with the Bowler Hat mustache standing in the Y/n slowly approached her dad and watched as the man turned his attention towards her.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had a daughter,” the man smiled creepily, sending shivers down her spine. She scrunched her nose as Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively.

“I have a name,” she raised her brows skeptically. “Y/n.” 

At the sound of her name, the man got a shocked look on his face, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as he stared intensely at her. Tom and Y/n exchanged confused glances before the man quickly snapped back into reality. 

“Y/n…” he repeated. “Interesting. Anyways, where was I? Oh, yes,” he suddenly propelled himself towards Tom, becoming very uncomfortably close to his face. Y/n slowly sank into her father’s arm in order to back away from the strange man. “I was spitting out formulas while you were still spitting up formula.”

“I was breastfed, actually,” Tom responded, mildly weirded out. Y/n’s face contorted in disgust. What the hell was this conversation?

“Nice,” he nodded. “Rub that in my orphan face.”

“Okay,” Y/n spoke up, finally having enough as she pushed the two apart. “Listen, I have no idea who you are and why you are here, but I think you should be leaving.”

“Ooh, fiesty one,” the man nodded, narrowing his eyebrows at you to the point that the folds on his forehead nearly overlapped one another. “Doctor Robotnik, I-”

A sudden thump sounded from the kitchen, startling the man enough to make him shut up. Tom and Y/n froze, running through every possible excuse in their minds as to what that could have been that wasn’t Sonic. Y/n turned to Robotnik and offered him the best sheepish smile she could muster.

“Um… Racoons?”

Robotnik gave her a fake smile and shouldered his way into the house. Y/n and Tom scrambled to follow him, praying to god that their little blue friend wasn’t sitting on the kitchen counter. Thankfully, once they reached the kitchen, they were greeted with a friendly racoon, shoveling handfuls of celebratory cake into its mouth. Y/n breathed a small sigh of relief through her mouth.

“See? Racoons.” Tom spoke defiantly, placing his hands on his hips. Y/n began to search the room quietly for any sign of Sonic while Robotnik was preparing to leave. They had almost gotten him out the door when he stopped and backtracked. In confusion, Y/n and Tom followed his gaze and their hearts stopped.

He slowly held up the lone electric blue quill for all to see.

“Looks like I was right,” a shit-eating grin formed on his face. “Note the lack of surprise.” He pointed to his monotone expression and Y/n could already tell that she fucking hated him. She slowly began to back away from him when a floating egg shaped orb harnessing a bright red laser became very interested in Tom. Y/n’s heart raced, back growing tense as she began to hesitantly back away until Robotnik gave her a warning glare. 

She wasn’t going anywhere.

“So, let’s try this again. Where. Is. It?”

“Look, man, leave her out of this. We have no idea what ‘it’ is,” Tom exclaimed, beginning to hold his hands up in surrender. Robonik simply shook his head and pushed some buttons on the gloves that he was wearing. 

“I hate liars. You have five seconds to tell me where it is. Five… Four…” He began to count down, Y/n only being able to watch in horror as the white orb came ever closer to her father, the menacing light flashing. Daring someone to challenge it. Tom stared, his facade crumbling with every second that was counted down, trying desperately to find a way out. Things were looking to death when a sudden electric blue blur shot out from behind the counter and stood in front of Y/n, hands outspread in protection.

“Wait!” Sonic cried. “Don’t hurt them!”

Y/n looked down at the little hedgehog in shock, and was startled when Robotnik let out the most girlish scream anyone had ever heard come from the pipes of a man. Then Tom punched him in the face. 

“Yes, go Dad!” Y/n whooped as the Doctor crumpled onto the floor, unconscious. Their victory was short lived, however, as the second she finished talking, she was dragged behind the counter by Sonic to avoid getting hit in the face by a laser beam. The three watched in horror as the Wachowski’s custom designed kitchen became destroyed by the angry red bots, shooting around with no instructions as their master was now taking a nap on the floor. Before Y/n even had the chance to ask what they should do, they noticed that Sonic was already missing. Looking frantically around the room, Tom motioned up to one of the kitchen cupboards, and sure enough, there was Sonic preparing to jump onto one of the bots that was probably scanning for their heat signatures or something equally significant. The two shook their heads rapidly, but Sonic simply gave them one of the most adorable sassy nods Y/n had ever seen. He leapt onto the robot, trying desperately to smack it as it spun around like a horse without a head.

“This-was a… horrible idea!” Sonic screamed before he got flung off the robot, sailing through the air, and landing straight into Y/n’s arms. He offered her a sheepish smile, and Y/n rolled her eyes, a smile still playing across her lips. She set him down just in time to see her dad knock the bot out with a frying pan. It careened to a halt and collapsed onto the ground. 

“Alright,” Y/n nodded, kicking it once with the scuff of her shoe for good measure. “Shall we get out of here?”

“Yes, please.”

♡♡♡

The three runaways were able to pull out of the driveway just as a bunch of other Men in Black vans were pulling up to the house. Tom sat behind the wheel while Sonic sported a shotgun, and Y/n crouched in the middle of the backseat with no seatbelt. Because this was living on the dark side, and on the dark side, we don’t wear seatbelts.

“Okay, so now that we aren’t running from scary doctors, what the hell is going on here?” Y/n asked, leaning forward on the console and resting her head in her hand as she turned to Sonic. He leaned his head back against the seat and sighed.

“Well, I just might have been the reason for that big power explosion… and now people after me. To make things worse, I lost my rings to a place that I’ve only ever seen on your dad’s skin tight T-shirt, and I have to make it to the Mushroom Planet or else I’m putting everyone here in danger.” He finally took in a deep gulp of air after pulling out that whole explanation in one breath. Y/n furrowed her brows in concern.

“Mushroom Planet?” Tom asked, his lips pressing into a firm line. 

“You must have lost them in San Francisco,” Y/n said. Suddenly, Tom jerked the wheel to the right and pulled off to the side of the road, unlocking the doors in the process.

“Alright, get out.” Y/n and Sonic stared at him in confusion.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sonic narrowed his eyes slightly. Tom leaned forwards and opened the passenger side door for him, running a hand down his face.

“Look, this is the worst time for me to be getting into trouble with the law and my daughter doesn’t really need a track record. So, you can go off and have good luck with finding your weird little Mushroom Planet. I’ll hopefully wake up in a hospital room soon with a successful colonoscopy and a happy, totally sane teenage daughter, so goodbye.”

“What? Dad!” Y/n started to object, her blood boiling in irritation at his insensitivity. Sonic shook his head and gave her a half-hearted smile as he slipped out of the car. 

“It’s okay, Y/n. Goodbye, I guess…” But instead of leaving, he just stood there. Staring. Y/n turns to stare at her father too to double the effect. 

“Why aren’t you leaving?” He groaned in frustration.

“How the hell is he supposed to know where San Francisco is?” Y/n laughs, and Tom sighs in defeat, knowing that she’s right. He gives her a half-assed glare, but as usual she was refusing to back down. Sonic doesn’t notice the small smile forming on his own lips, his appreciation for this strangely familiar girl increasing with every second he spent with her.

“It’s West. Straight shot.” Tom finally tells him. Sonic nods.

“Okay. West. Cool. Cool, I’m totally cool with saying goodbye right now,” he exaggerates, swirling his gloved hands around with the hurt clearly evident on his face. 

“I’m not,” Y/n grumbles, pressing her cheek against the rough leather of the driver’s seat. Before anyone could say another word, Sonic shot off in the given direction faster than the speed of sound. Y/n’s jaw drops open along with Tom’s as they look down at the spot where he once was. 

“H-holy shit,” Y/n stuttered. 

“D-did he just-” Tom didn’t even get to finish the sentence before Sonic came back, only this time soaking wet. He was sporting a nice fish on his head and a bunch of seaweed hanging on to his quills, which accented his sarcastic expression perfectly. Y/n tried to stifle her laughter by pouting and turning to her father as he rolled his eyes.

“So, as I crashed into the cold, dark Pacific,” Sonic began, sending a wink in Y/n’s direction. “I noticed a couple things. A, I have no idea where I’m going. B, salt water stings. And C, I shouldn’t even be on this planet right now but I am. Why? Because you shot me.” Sonic’s eyes narrowed.

“I know,” Tom sighed, turning back to the road.

“You shot me!”

“Okay, you don’t need to rub it in,” he sniffed, glancing at Y/n out of the corner of his eye. “She was there too…”

“She didn’t shoot me,” Sonic stood up for her. Y/n gave him a kind smile as he began listing off characteristics on his gloved fingers. “I’m wet, I’m cold, there’s a fish on my head, and clearly I’m not going to be able to do this on my own!” Once he finished, Y/n slowly reached out to him and pushed the fish off his head, watching as it flopped about helplessly on the ground.

“You do owe it to him,” she subtly pressed, leaning back once again in her seat. Tom stayed silent for a moment, staring firmly at the little blue hedgehog for what seemed like forever. Finally he caved and started the ignition once again.

“Fine. Get in.”

“Really?” Sonic and Y/n chimed in hopeful unison. “You’re going to help me?” He shook out his fur at such a high speed that once he finished, it poofed out like a dramaticized afro. Y/n giggled in her seat, not being able to handle how cute it was. Butterflies began to wander around in her stomach.

“I guess it is sort of my fault,” Tom hesitantly admitted. 

“Actually, it’s entirely your fault,” Y/n teased. He gave her a playful shove, but snorted nonetheless. Sonic quickly climbed into the car and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Road trip!” He cheered, looking excitedly around the car. Y/n cheered along with him while still trying to shake the eerily feeling of familiarity. Tom shook his head, squeezing the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

“What the hell am I doing with my life?”

♡ a.a.

[aenwoedbeannaa]

A Curse Meant to Be Broken || Geralt x Reader || Part 4

Summary: One monster is taken care of, but the fight did not come without cost. With you injured, Geralt sets out to take care of the remaining monster. This just might be the beginning of a whole new life for you; a life where you never have to see this town ever again.  

Word Count:  2,045

Warning(s): Violence, blood.

A/N: Sorry it’s taken so long for an update on this story—Hope you all enjoy! Thank you all, as always, for reading.  

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

If you enjoy my work and want to read more, you can check out my masterlist, and if you’d like to be added to the taglist for this story or any others, comment or send me a message and I’ll add you!  

***

Geralt rushes back to the baron’s manor, clutching you against his chest as if holding you tighter will slow down the inevitable. He never should have allowed you to stay – he should have been more careful. It had been reckless of him to allow you so close during those crucial moments. He’d put you at risk, and you might very well die because of it.  

He doesn’t bother to explain the situation upon barging through the door. No one in this damned manor cares enough about you to be even remotely deserving. Instead, he barks orders. “Clean bed, now!” He knows it would be nearly impossible to keep his voice down, so he doesn’t even try. Why waste the energy?  

Thankfully, the staff he encounters upon entering the manor – two guards who look half bored to dead – respond nearly immediately to his frenzied yelling. One of them motioned for him to follow, which he does, cradling your limp body in his arms gently, so as not to jostle you around too much. The gashes on your back are not only deep, but filled with poison thanks to the Noonwraith’s taloned fingers, and he wants to do what he can to avoid making the pain even worse.  

For you, the world seems to exist only in a murky grayness where you can neither sleep nor wake. You are reminded only of the intense fever dreams you’d had when you were a child and contracted Yellow Fever. You shiver against the nonexistent cold as heat radiates off your body, soaking the fresh sheets of an unfamiliar bed with sweat. Geralt can only watch with a grim determination as he goes about cleaning and dressing your wounds.  

Images flash, causing you to toss and turn in your fitful false sleep. You see the wraith, with its spectral glow and horribly disfigured face, hands like talons. You see Geralt pressed back against the wall, the wraith descending upon him. It is like you’re watching the scene, rather than taking part in it. You watch as you pull the knife. You see the look of doubt and dread flicker on your face for a fraction of a second before you watch as you drag the sharp edge of the knife against your open palm. Your blood sizzles as it hits the stone below, which you can hear even over your own yelling.  

“Mama!”  

You see the wraith charge at the girl, who looks utterly terrified and utterly determined at the same time. You almost forget that the girl you are watching is you as the wraith turns and descends upon her, striking out with razor-sharp claws and tearing away cloth and flesh in one easy stroke. You watch in horror as the girl – me, you vaguely remember – flattens herself on the ground, as if hoping she might sink right into it.  

Thankfully, you are only partially present as pain sears through you as the Witcher carefully cleans each wound. Though his hands are gentle, the elixir he uses to counteract the venom is not. He grimaces as he holds you down gently as he pours the elixir into your open wounds, pushing against you as you fight to throw him off, no doubt trying to escape the hissing burn of the anti-venom. He knows how the elixir feels as it burns away the venom by indiscriminately tearing through your cells.  

He gave you as much as he could of a human-safe herbal mixture for the pain, but from the way you are trying to thrash about, it seems it has only lessened the pain from one level of excruciating to another, slightly lower one. He hurries to finish cleaning the wounds so that he can apply a numbing salve and wrap cloth bandages tightly around your body, brow furrowing as you finally stop trying to lurch away from him – though he is unsure if it is because the numbing salve is working or because you have simply given up fighting.  

He makes no attempt to turn you onto your back, not wanting to further irritate the wounds. Though you are tightly wrapped in bandages, he worries that in moving you, he would risk tearing at the deep scratches. So, he leaves you on your stomach as he goes to brew an elixir. He knows he cannot give you any of the Witcher potions that he has tucked in his pack for fear it will kill you, so he has no choice but to start from scratch. For the first time in a long while, he is quite thankful for Vesimir’s insistence that you learn human healing potions as well, despite their general uselessness to a Witcher.  

Stephic does not interrupt once; not even to check and see how his oh so valued servant is fairing. The Witcher doesn’t find this in the least bit surprising. All noblemen, be them Nilfgaardian, Temerian, Redianian... They’re all the same. They care only for themselves and their profit, no matter what they claim. If you survive this, you will be left with a horrible scar from your shoulder down your back. He supposes that, in Stephic’s eyes, that must diminish the value of his property very much. It is despicable, but it is nothing he has not seen time and time again.  

At least, he thinks, that should make this all easier.

Having rushed back to care for you, he has not had the chance to speak to Stephic regarding his reward. As per usual with Barons, he had offered a tidy sum for the contract. And, truth be told, Geralt knows that he could really use the coin. Autumn will give way to winter sooner than later, and work is hard to come by in the winter. But still...  

* * *

“You want the girl?” Somehow, Stephic finds the request so ridiculous that he is laughing, more like cackling, really. “I offer you four hundred Crowns to off the wraith and you want to trade it for a maimed wench?”  

Geralt has to clench and unclench his fists at his sides to keep from lashing out. Perhaps it is the nonchalant way in which the Baron shakes his head in disbelief that angers him; the way that he cannot possibly imagine that your life is of any value – but he would very much like to punch the pompous asshole in the face.  

He holds back for your sake, responding with a curt nod, “That is exactly what I’d like to do.”  

Stephic stands for a moment, hand on his chin in thought as he considers the Witcher before him. “Intersting...” he muses.  

The Witcher looks at him, eyebrows raised. He can’t help himself.

“Hardly interesting, Your Excellency.” The words drip from his lips like poisoned honey. He will have to play along if he is going to get anywhere with this man. “You know girls like her can fetch a good deal more than four hundred Crowns, if you know how to go about conducting business.” The words disgust him as he says them, but he keeps his expression neutral as ever.  

“Not when they’ve gone and gotten themselves shredded apart by a wraith,” Stephac points out. Geralt left you, asleep at last thanks to the specially brewed potion, but Stephic had finally knocked on the door and set his eyes upon the horribly disfigured back of his most special servant-girl. He’d even dared to wrinkle his nose at the sight; another moment Geralt would have liked to kick his teeth in.  

“So you want a raise, is that it?” asks Stephic, shaking his head.  

Geralt, though, is a step ahead, as always. “Perhaps I do,” he said pointedly, with conviction. “After all that shit, I certainly deserve one.” He crosses his muscled arms over his chest, eyes flickering with satisfaction as the nobleman backs away slightly.  

“Well, perhaps this could be a good deal for me,” the Baron says. Of course, in keeping with the tradition of his sort, he covers his apprehension with a false smile and the false air of confidence pretending that the whole thing was all his idea. “It’d get that unruly little brat out of my hands.”  

Geralt smirks, putting up a façade of his own. “See, I knew we’d come to an understanding. I take the brat and you keep the coin.” Better to let the Baron think that he was a man with the same warped moral code as himself, than come in playing the part of a foolish White Knight. He continues speaking, even though the words taste sour on his lips, “You save yourself a lot of trouble, and I turn a profit from some... businessman in Novigrad.”  

Geralt can see quite plainly that Stephic will accept the offer, he casually traces the sign of Axii in front of him, watching Stephic’s eyes glass over as he speaks again, “It’s a great deal for both of us, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes, yes,” Stephic nods vacantly, “A profitable deal for both of us.”  

“Indeed,” the Witcher says, holding back a smirk. “And perhaps, even a hundred Crowns for my trouble?”  

Stephic nods emphatically, still under the influence of the sign, “Of course, Master Witcher.”  

Geralt watches as the man clumsily pulls a leather pouch from a pocket in his doublet. It is small, certainly not the entire reward, but Geralt takes it with a thankful smile and conspiratorial nod towards the slimy little bug-eyed noble. He could have easily asked for the whole four hundred crowns, but then the Baron might talk – say he was “hexed” and extorted by the greedy monster-slayer. He didn’t need any more of those rumors floating about.  

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Geralt’s lips twitch into a smirk as he takes the purse and steps past the Baron and out of the room.  

***

“Drink this, it’ll help with the pain,” Geralt says as he pulls a clear vial from somewhere in his pocket. You eye it suspiciously for a moment, not thrilled with the idea of swallowing the mystery liquid, but ultimately grab the vial and toss the bitter liquid to the back of your throat and swallow before you can gag. The unpleasant burning in your throat is a small price to pay for some relief to the deep ache in your healing back.  

You can hardly believe that it’s been nearly two weeks since you and Geralt had lifted the curse holding your mother to the place she’d been murdered and banished the wraith forever. Though, you suppose the fact that you’d only snapped from the seemingly endless fever dream a few days before is a huge contributing factor.  

You sit behind Geralt on his mare, Roach. You must admit, you are quite fond of the horse, even if getting on and off the horse was nearly impossible thanks to the pain in your back. Thankfully, the potion works quickly. It settles over you like a warm blanket, numbing the pain in your back and pulling you toward sleep. This is how you’ve spent most of the journey – asleep against Geralt’s back. You wish you could be awake more often to take in the beautiful sights instead of watching them blur by in a half-awake stupor.  

“Hm?” Geralt mumbles, turning his head back slightly to look at you. You must have let one too many frustrated sigh escape your lips.  

“I just....” you begin sleepily, “I want to see everything.”  

Geralt grins, yellow eyes catching yours for a moment and making your breath stop.  

“You will,” he promises. He’s already turned back to the path in front of you, but those golden eyes still have you stuck, eyes fixed on the outline of his face as you breathe in the comforting scent of his long hair.  

“I will show you this whole Continent, if that is what you wish, Y/N.”  

You smile lightly as you let your eyes slip shut, arms wrapped tightly around him, letting the slow and steady sound of his heart beating lull you to sleep. But you swear that his heart is beating ever so slightly more quickly than it usually does. 

If you’d been able to see his face, you would have seen a soft smile on his usually stone hard face.  

***

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