#they should move these to spring/fall or simply not leave the house

[aprito]

the trials and tribulations of dating cross country and season

[goatbi]

Things that are canon in Atlas's world (otherwise known as my main/perfection save for Stardew Valley) Under the cut since this is gonna be a long one

if y'all wanna ask about anything, i am MORE than down to answer questions about this save, it plagues my mind

Abigail is the Wizard's daughter. Right before Caroline and Pierre's wedding, Caroline realized that she didn't want this, but had no way out. She went out to the forest a lot, to try and get her mind on right for her wedding, wishing that Pierre was the man from their early relationship, and wishing that he hadn't just proposed to her to make her happy. She ended up in the comfort of the wizard, where they had a brief, but passionate affair on both sides, which broke the Wizard's marriage, but not Caroline's, as Pierre never found out. Their marriage happened quick enough that Abigail was easy to pass off as Pierre's, and Caroline honestly wasn't even sure herself, until Abigail dyed her hair for the first time, and it stayed that way, never fading.

Sometime in Summer, Year 3, Caroline gets the courage to scrape together enough funds (with Atlas's help (he's been so kind, so lovely, loved her tea room and respected what it meant to her, he was so easy to become a friend to)) to divorce Pierre. She told Abigail about her ideas of who may actually be her father, and Abigail was the one to march up to the tower herself and demand answers. Rasmodius was more than willing to do a magical equivalent of a paternity test, and help Abigail explore what it meant to be of magical blood. Pierre was upset, but let her go-She wasn't happy, and he had know that for quite awhile now. He didn't think he was either, but that was something he didn't want to face. Caroline lived on the farm, for only a season, before she moved into the tower out in the forest. The First of Winter in Year 4, they were wed.

Harvey and Atlas marry Spring 28th of Year 2. It's a very quick romance, but everyone had seen that they were in love with each other nearly from day one, Atlas tumbling out of the mines with more wounds each time, and Harvey having this look in his eyes as he sews up his stupid husband every single time without fail. "Where would I be without you?" Atlas would ask, grinning, and Harvey would sigh "Dead probably."

Elliott, ever the romantic, goes all out in trying to win Sebastian's heart, something bolstered by Atlas. Sebastian wavers on it for a long, long time, but... Elliott is sweet, and kind, and oh so pretty. In Year 3, they finally make it official, after nearly a year of waffling, in which Elliott was oh so patient with his brooding boy, and Sebastian opens up so much more, smiling more, coming out of his shell, and, when the time comes, Fall of Year 4, Robin builds them a proper home on the beach, in place of Elliott's broken down old cabin, as a marriage gift. Sebastian tries to say it's too much, that they can make do until they can pay her, but Atlas behind her providing supplies in hard wood and stone, Robin brushes right past, only asking preferences.

Marnie gets sick of Lewis's back and forth bullshit, and cuts it off completely sometime in Year 4, a few weeks after the Sebastien Elliott wedding. It is something that starts a rather disgusting slide of bullshit from Lewis, who slides from rather respected Mayor down too the worst in Pelican Town history. Atlas discovers his little... secret project golden statue, and displays it in the middle of town, standing guard over night with it so Lewis can't simply take it and hide it again. He's exhausted, but it's worth it at the horror of people's faces when they see what exactly Lewis has been doing with their tax money. Lewis doesn't leave his house that night, and everyone is locked out. Or rather, they should be, but Atlas is sporting the Key to the Town by then, and finds Lewis hiding, hoping for this whole thing to blow over. It doesn't, and Lewis lives in shame, too old to want to move away from the town he's loved, but shunned for the fact that he brought most of the destruction of the community down on itself, with how horrible everything had been with him running the show. Pierre ends up with the job, and takes to it like a duck to water. By this point, he's learned well that shady business doesn't work for long, and, considering what happened to Lewis, he's not going down that route again.

Marlon, after the whole fiasco, ends up finally gathering the courage to ask Marnie to dance in Year 5's Flower Dance. She's blushing, and radiant, and it's exactly as clumsy and puppy love as Marlon had thought it was going to be. They take it slow, more than content to simply be as they are, working their separate jobs, happy to just be them. It's a far simpler romance than Marnie had with Lewis, but it makes her far happier than the shunned ex-mayor ever had before.

[jamessunderlandgf]

—what’s at your character’s core?

HEYYYY besties 💋 tagged by @gwynbleidd to do this uquizzie uwu mwah tagging: @jackiesarch 💋 @unholymilf 💋 @corvosattano 💋 @florbelles 💋 @risingsh0t 💋 @adelaidedrubman 💋 @pinkfey 💋 @pitchmoss 💋 @cetra 💋 @bethesdas 💋 @lavampira 💋 @thedeadthree 💋 @marazhaiaezyrraesh 💋 @oh-mali 💋 @scalpelsister 💋 @ghostfvcker 💋 @kyber-infinitygems 💋 and you!!

—SPUN GOSSAMER

the easiest thing to do is stay quiet when something’s up. you’re not bothered, and you know what? you shouldn’t be! it’s none of your business, even when it’s entirely your business. it’s difficult (read: impossible) to tell if your cheery demeanor is a cover-up for something sadder, or if it’s simply your natural state of mind. you see a lot of things: people coming through town, people leaving the house and never coming back, lies and deceit of the highest degree. what happened to you? will you ever be that kid again? your presence smells like cotton candy, and your fingertips sparkle like stars. whatever white rabbit you’re chasing isn’t going to lead you to wonderland if you don’t start reaching out when you’re not feeling okay.

—FLIGHTLESS BIRD

the thought of your found family is what motivates you in your own little world. you touch the clouds, and the soil gives way under your footprints... this is utopia. if you were to erase one thing, it would be your memory. experience is important, but ignorance is bliss. identity, in heaven, should give way to happiness. you'd give anything just to sit by the swings and eat ice cream, but this isn't that kind of world. you have to get up and wash the dirt off of your scraped knees. i think you have an escapism problem.

—BEHIND THE MASK

you aren’t slick about whatever you think you’re hiding. glass shatters in your midst, blood spills, children scream. like some of your friends, your personality of choice is entirely artificial. the difference between you and them is that you can get away with it. you’re unknown, perhaps even to yourself, and your goals are complex and unknown. anyone stupid enough to fall for you is setting themselves up to be frustrated and confused, owing to your being ultimately unknowable. i hope you can find an identity that makes you comfortable.

—ACERBIC WIT

you're a mentor — an old scarred wolf, an injured soldier, a disgraced paladin. your teachings read as shamelessly pretentious, speaking in rhymes and biting down hard into anyone stupid enough to make the wrong move. this isn't your first life, nor your second, nor your sixth — you'll make the most of your time shackled to this world, no matter how many loops it takes to get it right. with every defeat, you reincarnate; a little smarter, a little quicker, crueler and nastier. will you choose to be brutal, equalizing, that final strike in the face of your enemies? will you go soft, become tender and domesticated? the choice is yours. it's not like i can stop you.

—CAUTERIZING RAGE

the house has burned around you, and you’re the only one left standing. is it gratifying to be the survivor? fear and anger are weapons in your capable hands, used only to serve your agenda of fighting back when deemed necessary. you're a powerful person, built from the ashes of your despair and your family's mistakes. with time, you'll bloom into someone softer, like the full blossoms that grow each spring and wither away with the leaves in fall. they won't disappear if you take your eyes off of them. you're enough.

—RIPPLING SUNSET

you’re the nicest person i’ll ever meet, probably. with an undying passion to protect those who can’t protect themselves, you’re energetic and bubbly to a fault. it’s cute, watching you run around trying to tie up loose ends. i feel bad for you — out of everyone you know, you probably have some of the deepest trauma, more than anyone’s aware of. this isn’t something that you want attention for at all, and you’d really just rather forget it exists at all… even then, it seems like you can never escape it. i wish you a pleasant rest of your life, full of rippling sunsets and free of prying eyes.

[synister-ronnie-raygun]

The bear chose me...

Storytime

A few weekends ago, we were in a small Tennessee mountain town for a family visit. Much to the delight of my inner goblin, I got to go rock and fossil hunting in a stream behind the local university with my fiancé's stepsister. Even though it was technically still late spring, the day was warm enough to give the impression of midsummer.

Have you ever been in a neighborhood and seen a house that just looked more like a house than the surrounding houses? Or noticed that a tree was simply better at being a tree than any of the trees around for miles? This stream was like that, the plesently cool water was crystal clear, gurgling over the bed of rocks, and at the deepest, it didn't even reach my knees. It had just the right canopy of trees overhead, just the right amount of flying things settling down to test the surface tension to tease just the right amount of darting fish into investigating them as a meal. It was the archetype of streams that all streams should aspire to.

You could smell the nearby pasture with cows making soft cow noises, and above us in the trees, birds were making raucous bird noises. Both kinds of creatures were undisturbed by our occasional bursts of people noise as we made conversation while we were getting to know each a little better. She explained that this area was her special place to go rock hunting because the peacefulness turned down the noise in her head and gave her something external and tangible to focus on. It was an honor to have her share it with me.

Me: Basically my political views are the exact opposite of your (MAGA hat wearing) dad's

Her: Oh, thank God.

We spent a few hours talking and showing each other our finds. I rarely get jealous of people, but her pattern recognition skills are amazing and enviable. Her finds consistently were translucent jasper or rose quartz and obviously worked native American artifacts. My finds were more along the lines of round, heart shaped, or striped. I kept getting mislead by the snails that dotted the rocks, distracted by the quick moving schools of tiny fish, and I even got to poke at a crawdad with a stick. Something that I haven't done since I was about twelve.

I am absolutely fascinated by sedimentary rocks because they are chunks of time frozen and encapsulated. And sometimes they are time rendered portable. Formed layer by layer of wind and water over eons, and then carved away again by wind and water over eons on the opposite side of time. A rock that has existed though the ages of the earth, only to be carted off by the bipedal descendent of a small mammal who's bones weren't more than a thin layer of dust towards the crown of its existence. I am sure that a geologist could unlock the code hidden in the strata, "This layer is metors, this is volcanos, this is Ice Age, this is sea creatures mistakenly deciding to leave the ocean, this is more volcanos, this is oh no! more metors. And this is where our cousins decided that being a dolphin was a way better choice because there was yet another Ice Age, more random rocks falling from the sky and and another damn volcano, and those all sucked, and they left us and went back to the sea..." I'm paraphrasing here because I'm not a geologist, so I can only make uninformed guesses as to what all the stripes and chunky bits mean. When I got home and showed her my find, niece said it looked like a tasty slice of tiramisu, but she's gen-z, and everything is forbidden snacks to them.

I found a bear. It was close to the bank partially covered in mud. Small enough to fit in my palm and carved from stone but displaying a symmetry that was visible despite the chips and weathering to distinguish it from the more natural rock formations. I'd seen smaller replicas of native artifacts, and I had even owned a small charm one carved from bone that I'd found at metaphysical store in the 90s. Holding something in my hands that was crafted by another human a mellinnia ago is like grasping a thread on the tapestry of humanity that weaves us together and feeling an answering tug. I don't want to call it anything other than artifact, because I don't have the cultural knowledge to determine the significance of it. I don't even know if the words that I do know, effigy, fetish, or totem are appropriate or if they are bastardized colonizer misrepresentions of ideas that anthropologist and archeologists couldn't be bothered to learn. I just know that long ago, someone took time to shape this stone. Its little face brings me joy.

The peacefulness of our afternoon was broken by a group of men on dirt bikes and ATVs. They roared across the stream, making the water murky by stirring up sediment and filling the air with gas fumes. They merely nodded at us, but the spell was broken.

A group of cows is a herd, a group of fish is a school, and a group of birds is a flock. A group of strange men is a danger.

We decided that it was a good of a time as any to go back home with our collection of treasures.

Notes:

I'd left my water shoes home in Georgia, still covered in the mud from last year's hikes in the far more opaque creek near my house, so I had to baptize my trusty old Converse. And yes, my compression socks have jolly Roger's on them.

[zootplayz]

Never Alone

Whooo are you? Who, who, who, who I really want to know

You are the second doctor because the first (your hot-headed mother) is ready to retire.

Ho, ho, ho Happy Winterfest Jamie!

You get a pet all your own, plus there was a townie reckoning and all their pets were reallocated. So a bonus for you as you take control.

And that ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between is how you cover the fact you didn't take any in-game pictures for almost 2 sim weeks. Jamie's entire teen years. Gold star to Zoot.

Jamie is a people person doctor, unlike his analytical mother. So he loves a good party and has way too many friends. Seriously if you invited all his friends the game would break. Just fall into a black hole never to be seen again.

And no one wants that. By the time I got to this house, I finally had eco-living up and running and the neighborhood seems to be well, bad.

Fighting is encouraged? I mean who came up with these action plans? Certainly not Jamie with all his friends coming over all the time the last thing he needs is a repeat of this birthday party. Besides after one final walk with her dog Gebek, Dorothea and Mark are heading to a Sulani retirement home.

That just leaves Jamie with his pets and a crummy neighborhood.

 EUREKA 

It's time to move to somewhere less fabulously rich and famous and more Jamie.

Welcome to the kitchiest neighborhood in Oasis Springs. Where they value the creative arts not random acts of violence. This is a place Jamie is proud to call home.

Jamie fits right in with his love of music and goofy personality. Maybe he should get some flamingos for the yard? But flamingos don't come for free, every sim has got to work, and being the sim lover he is Jamie works in politics. But not that power-mad political crap he focuses on charity and actually helping the people.

Quite frankly he's really good at converting people to his cause and would make a fantastic proper politician. But he'd rather volunteer his time and work one one-on-one with the public. It's so much more rewarding to make new friends.

Not long after moving in our sim of the people had to have a house party. This time without all the fighting.

Life is simply perfect. A sim can go out, protest, and help the people then enjoy a good streak on Snow Bunny Day.

Then come back home to your green neighborhood where the sun shines that much brighter.

And at night? Oh Watcher the skies are absolutely beautiful.

A sim can breathe out here.

However, there is one hiccup.

But if you surround yourself with friends and get the best out of every day you can almost forget what happens real late at night.

With all his charity work Jamie is out a lot and if you're already out why not enjoy yourself?

Late-night dinner? Not a problem for a sim like Jamie he could get any number of friends to meet up with him. But sometimes a family-oriented sim just needs to be with family.

With the final day of winter upon him naturally, yet another party was in order.

Just when Jamie was getting ready to wind down for the night and wake up to a new spring day. After all his friends left ... THEY came again.

Why does it seem like they just will not leave him alone?

Gen 01 Read the full article

[recycledsurvivor77]

I am feeling and thinking about so many things. I don't know how to start this. I guess I'll start with some short backstory so I can get to venting. I'll fill in details as needed.

I experienced lifelong abuse, mental illness, and chronic pain. I had been gaslit, manipulated, and abandoned by a lot of people, friends and family included. I had been homeschooled under my parents' fundamentalist ideas of what I should be taught.

When I was twenty years old, I moved to Michigan. I had been living in a homeless shelter for about six months when I moved in with a single mom and her two children. In November, I had to leave, but rescued a kitten and left it with my then-girlfriend. I stayed in the shelter again until the following April, when I was finally able to move in with my girlfriend, K. In August of that year, K's best friend S moved in with us. In November, I broke up with K for the final time.

In January of the next year, I began dating S. In the spring of the year after that, we had to leave K's house to move in with S's mother. I got a well-paying job in an inconvenient location and was forced to stay with a friend closer by. We had to move from there to S's dad's house. We finally secured our own place and moved in February of this year, but I lost my well-paying job. I brought in a roommate in April, and he abandoned us on July 1st. We were evicted Sept. 12.

My friend who promised to watch my cat instead called the cops on S & I and lied to them. My partner moved back in with their mother, who stated I was unwelcome. I moved back into the homeless shelter. I got kicked out at the tail end of September. Two friends, A & E, have taken me in, but E has been repeatedly bugging me for sex despite my clear and emphatic rejections.

I realize that my choices are the cause of a lot of my own problems. It's overwhelming. Granted, through no fault of my own, I didn't have any sort of safety net or guidance. I wasn't allowed to make mistakes while my parents had my back. I grew up expecting to fail due to unreasonable standards & pressure placed on me from multiple sources. At the same time, when I look back, I can see plenty of times where I could have simply made better choices. Some things I know I can fix with a little extra planning and organization (oh God), other things I really don't have any faith in.

I have these patterns of attempting to improve my life, faltering on one point, and abandoning all self-improvement. If I make a plan or budget and things go in any way how they're not supposed to, I abandon the whole thing and reject all backup ideas for one reason or the other.

I've been on and off my meds countless times. I'm off them right now. The pain is terrible, the paranoia is through the roof, I'm exhausted, I'm anxious, and I'm suicidally depressed. Not to mention things aren't really going well with S at the moment.

I want to die. I want all my awful behavior and pain and suffering to disappear completely, forever, and the only surefire way to do that is to die. The only way for me to stop ruining people's lives is to take myself out of the equation permanently. I know I need to go to the hospital, but I don't have insurance right now and just can't afford more debt.

I often feel like things that are routine and simple for most people are unreasonably difficult for one reason or another. I fall asleep sitting up on the couch in the middle of the day, which fucks my sleep schedule. When I sleep, no matter the length of time, I wake up feeling tired. My hips and back need to be in specific positions to feel any relief, and even then I have to shift positions frequently. I lose track of what day/time it is. I get severe anxiety to the point of frequent avoidance until it harms me and other people.

I don't know how to fix this. I don't know if it's fixable. I feel hopeless. I feel incredible guilt and shame. I feel useless and worthless. I feel like I've let everyone who's ever cared about me down, over and over. I feel like I don't deserve any happiness I have. At the same time, killing myself seems selfish, too. I don't want anyone to feel responsible for my death.

I want to be killed by someone else, or I want to find a bunch of medical professional unicorns who will take action to help me with my problems. Neither is very likely. So what then? Do I just figure it all out myself? I'm so sick of figuring things out by myself.

The worst part? I was supposed to have a test for ADHD on the 24th of october. I missed the appointment despite it being on my fucking calendar because my phone was stolen and I let myself lose track of what day it was.

My mind feels scrambled all the time. Brain made of alphabet soup. Everything is terrifying and nothing feels like the right choice. I'm frozen in place, not dying but not living, either.

[originalpackersandmoversblog]

Key Things to Take Note of When You Are Moving in Peak Seasons!

Does the prospect of seasons ring a bell when you are moving homes? For example, the issues that goes along when you move in specific seasons like the pinnacle summers or chilling winters? In the event that it does, ensure you observe the tips that we are sharing beneath, for every one of the seasons. Here, we will discuss how each season impacts your migration and how, by recruiting the specialists from Agarwal Packers and taking into account a couple of thoughts, you can appreciate agreeable moves in each season.

In this way, we should start:

Season One - Moving in horrendous "summers"

•    Summers is the month when nobody truly loves to land into painful positions including a ton of problem and exertion. Be that as it may, when you have a house move previously planned for those pinnacle late spring months, you can do nothing instead of managing it. In the event that you think late spring moves are simply going to be tumultuous, you are off-base. With the right sort of packing and planning, you can jump through the moving excursion essentially without any problem.

•    There are a couple of interesting points on a genuine note - the vexatious climate that removes the energy from you and leaves you dormant. Also, since summers are perhaps the most active season, finding and booking an ideal moving arrangement could get testing. Despite the fact that there are numerous choices with regards to choosing an arrangement, then the cost you need to pay for recruiting moving experts is on the higher side. Likewise, with practically the entirety of your relatives around, particularly the youthful ones, planning for a late spring move gets simple. All you need to deal with is your moving spending plan and your wellbeing. Take care of your rest and dinners to keep well.

Season Two - Moving in frigid "winters"

•    No one truly cherishes migrating during the winters. The explanations behind that are very self-evident. The weather conditions isn't great and stays a significant downside as far as wellbeing perils. Then again, the courses and timings additionally don't appear to help you out either on the grounds that the days are more limited on the grounds that the nightfall happens basically early making it difficult to do the move over the course of the day. You need to begin with your move a lot of early so a huge segment of your process gets satisfied in the principal half of the day.

•    Assuming you are moving in the outrageous winters, you need to decide on specific moving administrations that can deal with your assets abundantly, without settling by any means. Expect aggravations and obstacles enroute in light of the fact that the winters could actually shock us with unexpected snowfalls, outrageous decreases in temperatures, and awkward environmental elements. Thus, remembering all of this, one ought to push forward and employ specialists from Agarwal Packers and Movers that can furnish you with an open to moving experience.

Season Three - Moving in the blustery and brilliant "fall"

•    We would agree, in the event that you are wanting to move homes in the harvest time season, you can partake in your moving excursion to very much a degree in light of the fact that the fall season is typically when individuals partake in a decent get-away, particularly kids. The best thing about moving in the fall season (that is in the long periods of September to December), is that the expense of employing movers stays reasonable. Since the quantity of migrations occurring during this season is restricted, the rates are pocket-accommodating.

•    While for certain individuals, the fall season may not be that well in light of the fact that the school and universities lead their terminal assessments and classes happen effectively, meaning you can't stand to allow your kids to go through a long break exclusively because of your home-moving position. Alongside that, there is dependably a likelihood of astounding showers. In this way, you want to speak with your moving experts well ahead of time so they can deal with the needful arrangements effectively. Keep additional funds with you in the event the weather conditions requires some criticalness and you face a money lack.

Season Four - Shifting in the wonderful "spring"

•    For the individuals who love the important springtime climate that assumes control over the country during the long periods of March, April, and May, then the data we are imparting to you will merit perusing. Practically we all find help and unwinding in the spring months on the grounds that the environment is with the end goal that you want to get out there and encountering nature in the most ideal way. All things considered, the air looks new, and the plant life around clears a path for pleasant excellence.

•    All things considered, the springtime is the best opportunity to design a house move. The colder time of year chills are inescapable and the debilitating summers are yet to thump entryways. Thus, on the off chance that you are moving homes in this positive season, be ready to encounter satisfaction. Furthermore, there is relatively less rush around and, surprisingly, the accessibility of movers isn't so much as an errand. You could in fact get your hands upon an extraordinary rolling arrangement in the event that you research a little. Also, when the move occurs inside spending plan, the whole migration occasion ends up being remarkable unique.

Season Five - Relocating in the soaking "Rainstorm"

•    On the off chance that you are migrating in the storms, there is an alternate sort of packing and readiness you really want to work out. The principal thing is searching for capable packers and movers that will offer you their scope of devoted rainstorm moving administrations. Next is keeping yourself refreshed on the environment switches occurring up you with the goal that you stay ready for the moving day. Rainstorm moves frequently accompany added issue due to the ceaseless showers and weather conditions change and all of this, even prompts traffic and course unsettling influences.

•    Notwithstanding the things we referenced above, there are an additional things to care for. They are - the waterproof packing and all around protected moving compartments you will require, the full-inclusion moving protection that will shield your assets in the radical downpours and brilliant arranging that will keep everything adjusted and working. In the event that you are somebody who can't keep away from the impending rainstorm move, basically enlist the specialists from Agarwal Movers and Packers and remember a functional moving arrangement so the change happens serenely.

Packers and Movers Sambalpur

In the event that you are moving in any of these seasons are a piece stressed over the wellbeing and how all that will be dealt with, simply allude the thoughts shared above and appreciate!

[mysticmunson]

I really wanna pov where fem!reader comes to his van beat up and Protective boyfriend Eddie mode kicks in 🫶

thank you for the request, my love! sorry this took a moment to answer, i changed what i wrote after being halfway done, but i hope you enjoy! continue to send in request if you please! :) feedback is encouraged

warnings: cursing, violence, (message me if i missed anything)

word count: 1.7K

It was a dumb idea to take the short way home.

You walked swiftly, Billy Joel blasting through your headphones while fiddling with the small walkman. Finding yourself enchanted by the Piano Man and the scenery of the forest, you didn’t hear the yells coming from the approaching car filled with boys from school who happened to hate your boyfriend. 

While Eddie Munson had been nothing but a fantastic partner, his edgy persona made him off putting to the straight lace majority of the senior class. Especially the athletes. Most convinced themselves he was sent personally from the devil to terrorize them, they made it their mission to make his life worse, which lead them to you. 

“Hey! We’re talking to you, bitch!” A male voice rang in your ears, causing you to halt your movements and turn off your tape. Your eyes met Jason Carver’s, his mouth in a sadistic smile as he hopped from the Pontiac driven by a fellow member of his clique. You had chosen to ignore them in school, knowing anything you did would simply antagonize them than do any good. He stepped closer with two other boys following suit. 

“Since I don’t think you heard, let me repeat myself, I know your boyfriend is up to some shady shit. Either you spill and run or we take matters into our own hands to figure it out.” He stated, feeling cornered by the men who had a solid foot on you, feeling smaller by the minute. You took a deep breath, contemplating your ways out while protecting you and your man. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Eddie doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

That was not the right answer.

The next thing you knew, you were pressed against a tree before falling to the ground as they threw punches wherever they could reach. The only words leaving their lips was taunting you to tell the truth, which you had already said, it just wasn’t the truth they wanted. As kicks and hands came in contact, you could’ve sworn they could’ve killed you, they only ran when you heard two shrill boy voices. They ran to the car, cursing and speeding off, leaving you in a small pool of blood and math notes from your spilled bag. Squinting at the sun, you tried moving to no avail before the voices appeared above you; Dustin and Mike. 

You had met the two before through Hellfire, knowing they were awkward, well meaning kids and it relieved you to see them. Their voices sound muffled as they sat you up, “Shit, are you okay? Should we get Eddie?” Dustin said, pulling you from your dazed state as you groaned, clutching your ribs and shaking your head. “Just help me home, please.” 

You realized the walk to your house was much too far in your condition, opting for Eddie’s trailer that was only about a quarter of a mile away knowing that would even be a stretch. The boys stood under your arms, helping you walk as they asked you questions about what caused this, getting more riled up with each step. Your head ached, needing a minute to breathe and spit up a bit of blood, which didn’t help soothe the boys' worry, but you just needed to get home. As you got closer to your destination, the pain worsened, tears springing from your eyes as you tumbled over your shaking feet, thanking God you didn’t fall and make things worse. Eddie’s trailer entered the boys’ vision, your head hanging low, where they saw his tall frame smoking a cigarette. They began yelling, your ears ringing from the noise, but alerting your now worried boyfriend. 

He wasn’t close enough to realize who it was, but all he saw was them carrying a practically limp body to his house, which was not a great sign. His eyes hit the shirt he saw you wearing today, now covered in splotches of blood. His stomach dropped as he sped up, “Guys, what happened- I’m here, sweetheart, it’s okay.” He began yelling as your body weakly met his without assistance, clutching you to his chest. The cries finally escaped your throat, the pain both mentally and physically, collapsing on top of you. Looking at your distraught face made him nauseous, lifting you up to carry you inside with the boys holding her bags. 

“Eds” You whimpered, face tucked into his neck as he reassured you, “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He opened his door, walking to his couch and kicking off the miscellaneous papers, previous to laying you down. He stroked your face, catching the tears mixed with blood, your eyes yet to open. He asked the younger boys what had happened, keeping his tone as controlled as possible to not upset you, grabbing towels and bandaids. He slowly began cleaning your skin, seeing the bruises begin to blossom while his anger rose. 

“It was that shithead Jason and his annoying friends! We were walking home and just saw them beating the shit out of her-” The words leaving Dustin's mouth made you whimper, flinching as Eddie cooed and kissed your head. “Sorry, she was in pretty bad shape, they only ran cause we started screaming. They must have not recognized our voices from where we were.” Mike finished, watching his mentor’s hand clench the once white rag now tainted pink. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.” 

Your eyes slowly opened, attempting to sit up before being gently laid back down by a ring clad hand. “Eddie, please don’t, you know it’ll just cause more trouble.” You begged, not even wanting to imagine how they would treat him if he even touched a hair on precious Jason’s head, he knew that deep down too. But looking at your face in pain made him not care if he ended up in your place or even worse, he would change your place in a heartbeat. He didn’t want to upset you though, especially in your state, he took a deep breath. 

“Step outside while I get her changed, get the other guys over here.” He mumbled, lifting you to bring to his petite bathroom, grabbing your extra set of clothes you kept in case of an emergency. As he pulled your heavy shirt up, he gulped at your front now covered in bruises, “Oh baby, what did they do to you.” You began gaining more awareness as he cleaned, whimpering at too much movement from certain angles. You called his name with a pule, pressing his lips to yours, freezing a moment before returning the affection. “I love you.”

He helped you walk to his bed, setting you down to rest as comfortably as possible and tucked you in. Kissing your head, Eddie turned off the lights and shut the door, walking outside his trailer to see the rest of Hellfire there. If there was one thing about Hellfire, it was that they stuck together, despite you not being an official member. They stared at him, waiting for his eventual outburst of anger, but he remained cold. He had to stay as level headed as possible, for your sake. “Jason and his idiot friends are probably at that house party on the north of town tonight, we have to take care of this on our own.” He stated, the boys nodding and murmurs of agreement, “Gareth, you stay here in case she needs anything.” While Gareth would’ve typically complained that the younger boys were included and not him, he knew his job was just as important after hearing about your state. 

“What are we gonna do, man? We can’t just walk in there and fight him.” Lucas asked, making a sadistic smile appear on the older man's mouth, “I know, but we can do the closest thing.”

—-

 Eddie, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Jeff approached the same Pontiac that had driven by you hours previously, the boys testifying it was the one that sped away. Each of their right hands clenched a bat, each standing in front of a window. Eddie at the head, Mike and Dustin on the right, with Lucas and Jeff on the left. The sets of eyes looked back and forth at each other, nodding before lifting them up with both hands. They slammed the barrel of the bat into the glass, hearing it shatter loudly before sprinting back into the woods and not looking back. The noise-filled house gave them time to run back to the trailer, throwing the bats into an abandoned shack Eddie often smoked in, knowing no one would step foot there. Once they made it back safely, he thanked them for their help, sending them on their way. He walked inside, taking a quick shower to decompress from the day behind him. He wishes he could’ve done more, could’ve beat those boys to the point of being unrecognizable. But he knew you wouldn’t have wanted that for you or him. He re-entered his room to meet your eyes, staring at him from his pillow, “Why are you up, bunny?”

“I kept having nightmares. Eds, you didn’t hurt him, did you?” You whispered as he slid next to you under the covers, he shook his head, making you relax. You laid in silence, cuddling into his warm and damp chest, tracing his tattoos. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” He choked up, tears lining his eyes as he held you closer, giving you an opportunity to console him. 

“You couldn’t have predicted this, baby. I know if you were there, you would’ve helped me. Please don’t beat yourself up about it, okay?” Your muffled voice said, kissing his chest as he shifted, making more room for your body to mold to his. He didn’t let go the whole night, doting on you for anything you needed. He was attentive, never making you lift a finger until you felt ready to, becoming slightly more overprotective than normal. Once you both made it back to school, whispers of Jason’s ruined Pontiac circled and how he cried at the state of his daddy’s car. You couldn’t help but smile at his frustrations the following week, his eyes not daring to meet yours. So while the aches and pains persisted, your bond with Eddie grew and proved how much you both cared for each other. 

But you still wished you had been coherent enough to break that bastard's car windows yourself.

[luxestarkey]

whipped - rafe cameron

synopsis: rafe is absolutely whipped for his girl and even though he outwardly denies, he knows it’s true

word count: 1k

warnings: cussing, underage drinking, rafe being a simp

-

His eyes never leave your dancing figure, drink sloshing dangerously in the cup in your hands. You’re on the coffee table in the middle of Tannyhill’s giant living room, not a care in your mind as you sing to the music with your best friends. He knows you’ve had nearly enough to drink, already anticipating the hangover you’ll have in the morning. However, he makes no move to stop you as you down the remainder of your drink and toss the cup behind you.

Rafe loves you when you’re like this. It’s not often that he can get you to let loose for a night. Your need to be perfect in every aspect of your life had been taking a toll on you lately with the end of senior year looming over your head. Although you never talked too in-depth about it, he knows the pressure from your parents was reaching a boiling point.

So when you mentioned needing a break, Rafe was more than happy to stay sober for a night and let you have fun.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hand smack across his bicep. Turning to face Topper, Kelce, and a few other guys from school, he raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Told you. He hasn’t heard a single word we’ve said for the past ten minutes. Not since she got up on that table at least,” Kelce snickers as he shakes his head. “Fucking pussy whipped.”

“I am not pussy whipped,” Rafe retorts.

“Whatever you say, man. Anyway, we were asking your opinion on the spring break destination. I think we should do a cruise, but everyone else disagrees,” Topper explains as he leans back against his chair.

“Cruises require too much extra shit man. What about Mexico or shit, St. Lucia or something?” Rafe answers, jumping slightly as a pair of arms wrap around his neck.

“Mexico for what?” you slur slightly, grinning as Rafe looks up at you.

“Hi, drunky. We’re talking about spring break,” he chuckles and brings you around the chair, pulling you into his lap.

“Y/N, cruise, Mexico, or St. Lucia?” Kelce asks as he looks at you, chuckling as you sway your head slightly.

“Mmmm, St. Lucia,” you smile, leaning back into Rafe as the boys around you continue arguing about locations.

“You ready to go to bed, pretty girl?” Rafe asks quietly, resting his chin on your shoulder as he presses a kiss to your cheek.

“No, I wanna drink more,” you whine, running fingers through his messy hair as you give him your best puppy dog face.

“I think you’ve had plenty. Your head is already going to be pounding in the morning,” he smiles and thumbs at your waist softly. “Come on baby, let’s get you up to bed. I’ll get you breakfast in the morning.” He pats your thighs gently, standing up with you as you let out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m taking her to bed. Can you idiots make sure that people leave before four or five in the morning?” Rafe questions as he turns to look at Kelce and Topper.

“Sure thing, lover boy,” Topper nods, giving him a knowing look as a smirk forms. “But you’re not pussy whipped or anything.”

Before Rafe can argue back, you simply giggle and aim your middle finger in Topper’s direction. “Jus’ because you aren’t getting any doesn’t mean he’s whipped.”

Rafe laughs loudly as he wraps an arm around your waist, guiding you away from Topper’s glare and through the sea of people still crowding his house. You lean your weight into him, following his lead as he takes you both up the stairs and prevents you from falling as you stumble a few times. Once in the comfort of his room, you collapse onto the soft sheets of his king-sized bed while he searches for clothes for you.

“Let’s get you changed, sweetheart,” he says softly and steadies your hips as you clumsily angle your body up. “Arms up.” You raise them above your head as he pulls your crop top off, reaching behind you to unhook your bra. He tosses them both into the corner of his room before sliding one of his t-shirts over your head. He moves down to your shorts, unbuttoning them and sliding them down your legs, tossing them in the same direction as your top.

He stands up and makes his way to the bathroom, pulling out the pack of makeup wipes he keeps for you. Once he reaches the bed again, he hands one to you.

“Wipe your makeup off, you’re gonna complain about pimples in the morning otherwise,” he chuckles, grabbing your phone off the bed and plugging it into the charger he keeps for you.

While you gently wipe your makeup off, you watch him closely, a large smile making its way onto your face.

“What are you smiling for?” he raises his brows, pulling his shirt over his head and changing into a pair of discarded sweatpants on his floor.

“Nothin’,” you shrug and let your eyes fall down his body shamelessly.

He shakes his head as he walks back to you, brushing some of your hair back. “I know that look anywhere, you’re thinking of something up in that pretty head. Tell me what’s up.”

“I lied,” you say softly, giggling as Rafe gives you a confused look.

“You lied? About what?” he smiles, crouching down between your legs and letting his hands rest on your thighs.

“When I said you aren’t whipped.”

“Oh, so you agree with Topper? You think I am?”

“Y’stayed sober so I could get drunk, dressed me, made sure my phone’s gonna be charged, and keep m’makeup wipes in your bathroom,” you slur, his eyes twinkling as he watches a goofy smile spread across your face. “You’re whipped, Rafe Cameron.”

He simply nods knowingly, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. “Damn right I am, baby,” he whispers softly as he gazes at you with more love in his eyes than you ever thought possible. “Only for you.”

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Merlin goes home for a little while, determined to enjoy a well-earned vacation;

Camelot immediately falls apart, with the sole exceptions of Guinevere and Gaius.

Merlin knows Arthur really well.

Which just means he knows exactly how to get him to let his servant go home for two weeks to visit his mother and relax a little:

“You just don’t want me to go because you know you can’t cope without me! Look, if you want to come with me, that’s fine, but you’ll struggle just as much there as you would here because I refuse to act as your servant in my own home.”

Arthur turns red, looking outraged as he loses the ability to speak. Merlin turns around before The King can see his satisfied smirk, tidying around the prat’s chambers with exaggerated annoyance as he just waits for the inevitable-

“Fine! Go! See if I even notice that you’re gone! Honestly, Merlin, the running of the Kingdom will probably end up going smoother without you here to mess things up, you bumbling idiot.”

Merlin grins to himself before schooling his face back into annoyance and turning around with a huff, crossing his arms petulantly:

“Fine!”

The servant decides that he’d better leave, what with the way he was struggling to keep the victorious grin from his face, so without waiting for a response, he “storms” from the room, slamming the door behind him as dramatically as he’s able when he hears Arthur yell:

“FINE!”

~

Merlin sets off at the beginning of the next week. Gaius had raised a disapproving eyebrow when his ward had told him how he’d gotten Arthur to agree to such a long vacation, but didn’t say anything. They both knew that the elderly physician thought it was funny.

Gwen and Morgana make sure to see him out of the castle gates with big hugs, and whilst all of the knights were meant to be training, it came as no surprise to anyone when Gwaine slacks off for half a candle-mark to say goodbye as well. Mordred shoots him a quick goodbye across their mental link as the servant walks away from the city, after promising Merlin that he would warn him if anyone was in any serious danger (”Serious danger only, Mordred, I mean it. If I get called home because Arthur is throwing some sort of tantrum, then I’ll act out your destiny for you.”).

Merlin’s journey goes smoothly. The world was hovering in the junction between Spring and Summer, but with a little magical manipulation, the Warlock had no trouble staying warm and keeping his feet beneath him on the uneven path. Unsurprisingly, the young man is a lot less clumsy when he doesn’t have to focus on keeping his magic locked away so tightly.

Two days after his departure from Camelot, his mother is greeting him outside her little house with a long hug and a wide grin, stroking a hand through his hair as she welcomes him home.

Coincidentally, that’s also about the time things started going to shit for everyone else.

~

It was just after noon when Elyan had to be carried to Gaius’ chambers, his whole body juddering as he struggles to draw breath, the lack of oxygen from his throat closing up mixed with the panic making his brain go fuzzy.

Percival holds him up from one side and Leon holds him from the other, the two of them bursting through the physician’s door just as Elyan’s eyes roll back in his head. Gaius looks up suddenly, obviously startled by the abrupt intrusion, but he swiftly focuses, eyes wide and assessing as he quickly points them to a patient pallet:

“What happened?”

The two knights lay him down as carefully as they can before standing out of the way as Leon forces out an answer, trying to catch his breath between words:

“I don’t know, servants brought lunch out whilst we were training so we stopped to eat and he just started... wheezing. We thought he was choking at first but he said he couldn’t breathe. Has... has he been poisoned? We stopped everyone from eating.”

Gaius had gathered a handful of odd looking dried leaves the moment Leon mentioned the food, recognising the symptoms of an allergic reaction and putting two and two together immediately. He crushes them in his hands quickly, knowing he didn’t have time for a proper mortar and pestle as he shoves the crumbs into Elyan’s mouth, following through with a vile of something green and gross-smelling

He massages the odd concoction down Elyan’s throat as best he can around the swelling, and lets out a relieved smile when the knight’s eyes blow wide open and he chokes slightly before swallowing it all, grimacing at the taste but breathing deeply as his airways open again.

Leon and Percival let out similar breathes of relief when Elyan begins breathing again, chuckling breathlessly at his disgusted groan. The door bursts open again before anyone can say anything, and Arthur strides in, his flushed cheeks and rumpled clothes implying he had sprinted across the castle in his panic.

He spots Elyan on the pallet, his deep breaths interspersed with the odd cough, and his eyes widen even further as he looks to Gaius for an explanation:

“A servant told me something was wrong, what happened?!”

The King loses a little of the tension in his shoulders when Elyan waves a thumbs-up in his vague direction, but still looks frantically between the two knights and the physician as he waits for an answer. Percival wordlessly moves to Elyan’s side, running a hand up and down the man’s arm as Leon looks to Gaius expectantly:

“He had an allergic reaction, likely to nuts in the food. He should be fine, but he needs a day or two of rest, and to come back to me immediately if his throat swells again.”

Arthur sags in relief, nodding his approval of Elyan’s needed bedrest, but Leon’s eyes go wide as he lets out a knowing noise:

“Of course! I forgot about his allergy, it hasn’t been an issue since we were kids.”

Gaius nods knowingly and begins reorganising the jars he had knocked over when the knights had startled him:

“Hmm. I imagine he watched what he ate carefully when he was travelling, but Merlin keeps an eye on all of your food now.”

Leon frowns slightly as he tilts his head in confusion, but Arthur beats him to the punch, asking incredulously:

“What do you mean, Merlin keeps an eye on our food?”

Gaius raises an eyebrow, holding in his smirk as he slowly replies:

“Well, Merlin is usually the one to bring food out to you when you train, is he not? And on days he can’t he always speaks with the kitchen staff to double check what food is going where. Sir Elyan is not the only one with an allergy, My Lord. Merlin always makes sure any food the seven of you are given is safe. He has a tendency to check the Lady Morgana’s meals as well, whenever he’s able.”

Arthur is too taken aback to reply, his mouth hanging open, but that is when Percival looks up from his place at Elyan’s side, a confused frown on his face:

“Why?”

Gaius doesn’t manage to hold his smile in at that, looking between the three knights, and Elyan, who has just about managed to regain his breath:

“To avoid situations like this, I imagine, and to check for poison. It’s not uncommon for assassins to try and lace the royal’s food with something or other.”

Arthur finally shuts his mouth, only to open it again, speaking slowly:

“So... Merlin checks all of our food?”

Gaius nods:

“Religiously, Sire.”

Leon and Percival just shrug, adding it to their list of Weird Things About Merlin That They Should Be Grateful For, and Elyan smiles goofily from his place on the bed (whether it was the lack of oxygen or something funky in the vial, the knight didn’t know, but he was definitely still feeling a little... odd), but Arthur just frowns deeper, muttering a distracted “Take it easy.” to Elyan before walking stiffly from the room.

The King makes quick work of the journey back to the council meeting, desperately trying to persuade himself that this was nothing to do with him not being able to cope without Merlin. Elyan was the one not coping, clearly. Merlin was still wrong and stupid and Arthur hadn’t even noticed that he was gone until Gaius brought him up (a lie, he missed him terribly, but shhh).

Leon and Percival look to Gaius in confusion when Arthur had almost stormed from the room, and the Physician simply smiles again, the amusement shining clearly in his eyes:

“Merlin persuaded Arthur to let him take a holiday by heavily implying that he couldn’t cope with Merlin’s absence.”

Percival snorts with laughter and Leon raises an eyebrow as he grins:

“Arthur took that as a challenge then, I suppose? Two days in and we’ve already got The King sprinting from meetings because a knight has collapsed from an allergic reaction... because Merlin wasn’t here...”

Gaius just nods, and Percival mutters an amused:

“This will be entertaining.”

~

Arthur steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that the next mini disaster, a few days later, was also down to Merlin’s absence.

Ok, so maybe it was because Merlin wasn’t here, but ultimately, it was Gwaine that messed up, not Arthur. So it didn’t count.

The knight came back from a night patrol that he’d taken with The King with an infected gash on his arm. Arthur grins teasingly as he describes to Gaius how the knight had tripped on a loose cobblestone and scratched his arm on the sharp edge of a stray cart at the beginning of the patrol, and Gaius hums disapprovingly as he unwraps the scrap of fabric Gwaine had used as a bandage:

“Did you not have any medical supplies in your pack? Or did you think it best to let it get infected so I had to wake an hour before dawn to deal with it?”

Gwaine swings his dangling legs back and forth from where he sits on Gaius’ table, pouting sheepishly as he admits:

“I looked, but there wasn’t anything helpful in there, usually the armoury-hands have them stocked up for the patrols, I guess they missed mine.”

Arthur rolls his eyes at Gwaine’s seeming ineptitude, but his scolding is interrupted before it even begins when Gaius shakes his head in disagreement:

“Hmm. The servants that work in the armoury only tend to check the packs every few weeks, and even then they only check if they need any repairs. Merlin is the one with easier access to patrol rotas, so he’s the one who stocks them up on a day to day basis.”

Gwaine just nods in understanding, as if he should’ve expected that, but Arthur’s smile drops as he unfolds his arms, getting over his annoyed speechlessness in a matter of seconds:

“You’re telling me that Merlin, my personal manservant, is responsible for all the knights’ patrol packs?”

Gaius finishes cleaning Gwaine’s wound, muttering a quiet apology when the knight hisses at the first poke of the needle, speaking slowly as he focuses on making sure the stitches were neat and uniform:

“No, Sire. Technically the knights are meant to take care of their own packs, but Merlin is a paranoid man, he likes to double check things to make sure everyone has what they need. I suppose some people got used to having it done for them.”

Gwaine winces abashedly, making a mental note to remind the others to check their packs before their next patrols, but Arthur rolls his eyes, crossing his arms again and immediately accepting that this little incident was therefore Gwaine’s fault, and not down to Merlin's absence.

The voice in his head sounded a little doubtful, but he ignores it, choosing instead to chide his rebellious:

“Do try to pay attention to your own responsibilities, Sir Gwaine, I’d hate to see something terrible happen to you because you’re unable to complete your own simple tasks.”

Gwaine just sticks his tongue out petulantly, looking away from The King before he can see the blonde’s rolled eyes. Arthur huffs at his childishness, turning around to cover his grin and speaking over his shoulder as he walks from the room:

“You will be on time for once, Gwaine, training starts in a few hours and I want to see you bright and early.”

Gwaine just smirks, waiting for the door to shut behind Arthur before moving his sly, curious eyes to the physician in front of him:

“He’s missing Merlin, then?”

Gaius just gives him a knowing glance before looking back down at the now stitched gash, gathering bandages:

“I’d imagine so, though he’d never admit it. Merlin implied that Arthur wouldn’t cope with his absence,-”

Gwaine interrupts him with a laugh:

“Hence his insistence that it was entirely my fault?”

Gaius nods wordlessly, and Gwaine snorts, shaking his head in amused disbelief.

Meanwhile, Arthur stalks back towards his chambers, eager to get out of his armour and get into bed; Gwaine had training in a few hours, but so did he, and he needed at least a little sleep. He purses his lips in annoyance as his gaze falls upon the clinical cleanliness of his room... George had been in then. 

Look... Arthur being used to a slightly messy room did NOT mean he depended on Merlin. And Gwaine not being used to having to actually organise himself ALSO didn’t mean that Merlin was... ok. Maybe Gwaine relies on Merlin a little.

So that’s Sir Elyan and Sir Gwaine, two of The King’s most trusted knights, who can’t cope without Merlin. But Arthur is doing just fine. It’s been half a week and he is just. Fine.

Just fine.

~

It was the next day that things began going wrong a little more... drastically.

George wakes Arthur up for training on time because of course he does. Arthur had found himself losing out on a lot of sleep without Merlin insisting he go to bed at a reasonable time, and waking him up late; Merlin had gotten into the habit of snatching Arthur’s paperwork away and holding it out of reach until The King agreed to go to sleep, and somehow manages to fit Arthur’s entire morning routine into half a candle-mark. George would never snatch away Arthur’s paperwork, and he takes so much longer in the mornings meaning Arthur has to wake up earlier.

Not that Arthur would ever admit to enjoying his and Merlin’s unorthodox routines. 

Eight more days to go, and he’s fine.

At least... that’s what he thought until a nameless guard approaches the training field, waving him over from his spar with Mordred. Arthur strides over quickly, annoyed at the interruption and nodding at the guard to speak as he drinks from his water-skin:

“My Lord, Lord Halbert and Lady Ethel have arrived. I believe they’re waiting for your presence in the courtyard.”

Arthur chokes, managing to turn his head to the side just in time before he spits a mouthful of water over the guards face. He quickly wipes his mouth and turns back to the pour armoured man with wide eyes:

“That’s today?!

The guard nods hesitatingly:

“Yes, Sire, would you like me-”

He’s interrupted when Arthur shouts a hurried:

“Fuck!” as he drops his water-skin and begins sprinting up the field towards the castle, desperately trying to calculate if he had enough time to wash and change before they got antsy with waiting. Probably not.

Seeing Arthur’s panic and hearing his loud curse, Leon hurriedly approaches the guard, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder as he speaks with a frown:

“Gavin? Is everything alright?”

The guard, Gavin, looks to Leon with a confused frown:

“It would appear that His Majesty... misremembered the date of Lord Halbert and Lady Ethel’s arrival.”

Leon’s eyes go wide and he glances quickly to the castle as he rushes out an exclamation identical to Arthur’s:

“That’s today?!”

Gavin just nods again, and Leon drops the hand from his shoulder, letting out a loud:

“Shit!” as he recreates Arthur’s sprint up to the castle, knowing that he was expected to be at The King’s side when welcoming guests. He doesn’t pause, even when he shouts:

“Lancelot’s in charge!” over his shoulder.

The knights all look to each other in amusement, but Lancelot quickly takes charge, running drills as if he had been doing it his entire life and trusting that, whatever it was, Arthur could get things sorted. And if Arthur couldn’t get things sorted, then Leon would get things sorted. And if Leon couldn’t get things sorted, then Merlin would... oh.

He glances worriedly to the castle just as Leon falls through the door, not bothering to shut it behind him in his panic. Oh.

Arthur lets out the deepest breath of relief he thinks he’s ever experienced when he sees George ahead of him in the corridor; he gestures him over hastily, making the servant jog to keep up with him as he continues his fast pace down the hall:

“I don’t care how many other servants you have to pull from their duties, but I need the castle prepped for Halbert and Ethel’s arrival right now.-”

Arthur barely pays attention to George’s faltering step of shock, just stops suddenly in front of the door that leads down to the courtyard, turning to the servant and putting both hands on his shoulder as he stares at him intensely, face flushed and breathing harsh:

“I need you to do this for me, George. Prepare guest chambers, send someone down to show them to the right rooms, and make sure the Kitchens know they’re feeding two extra nobles for three days, starting today. If you can organise all of that in the next two minutes, I’ll give you a raise and a Godamn hug, you hear me?!”

George gulps, his shoulders tense, his face pale, and his breath frozen in his lungs as he meets Arthur’s frantic gaze with wide eyes. He gives a shaky nod, instantly turning and sprinting down the corridor without a word when Arthur lets go. 

Leon skids around the corner, moving to stand next to Arthur with his hands on his knees as he attempts to catch his breath, speaking in a slight wheeze:

“I... I left Lance... in charge.”

Arthur nods in approval, pulling Leon to stand before holding his hands out to the side, presenting himself for inspection. Leon takes one last deep breath, smoothing the training tunic over Arthur’s shoulders, attempting to rub the dirt from his nose, and brushing a quick hand through his hair before stepping back and holding his own arms out. Arthur pulls a leaf from behind his ear, but is otherwise satisfied, and the two of them turn to the door, schooling their faces and stepping down into the courtyard.

Arthur has a calm, welcoming smile on his face, and Leon stands stiffly behind him, hand on the sword that he luckily had on his hip as he stares blankly ahead.

The nobles seem taken aback at The King's state of undress, but don’t say anything, covering their shock quickly. Arthur’s hoping that his friendly attitude will just give the impression that he’s...approachable and slightly laid back, as opposed to just an idiot who forgot they were coming because no one had reminded him.

Gods. Merlin can never know about this.

~

Thankfully, the next three days went smoothly, or at least as smoothly as possible after Arthur spent an hour rifling through his old mail to try and figure out the original reason for Lord Halbert and Lady Ethel’s visit (watching their eldest’s knighting ceremony, and discussing with Arthur the potential for their youngest to move to the city to become a squire).

He waves them off in a much more regal manner than he had welcomed them, and keeps his promise to George, upping his pay slightly; though he exchanges the hug for an awkward pat on the shoulder, which he thinks both of them were grateful for.

~

He’d successfully made it through nine days. Semi-successfully. He’d just about made it through nine days.

Five more to go. But Arthur was feeling fine about those five days. He’d double checked all his mail, and made sure to find out when his patrols were scheduled.

Which is... unknown to Arthur, where the next problem stems from. 

Arthur wasn’t the one to rota the patrols, he really didn’t have the time to sit down with a list of names and hours and times and maps and organise everything fairly, it was difficult and time-consuming, but he made sure that Leon knew exactly how many hours he could give up for patrol each week.

Apparently, the communication between Leon and the council was normally handled by Merlin, who wasn’t there. So whilst Arthur was enjoying a solo patrol along the city borders at noon, waving at citizens and making his horse do tricks for giggling children, the council were sitting around the table, waiting rather irately for his arrival.

Now normally, this could’ve been easily dealt with, but when the same guard from three days ago gallops over to inform him of the problem and take over his patrol, Arthur was reminded rather suddenly that Merlin was always the one that came up with sensible sounding excuses.

(He also makes a mental note to avoid that guard forever out of embarrassment.)

This was one of the very rare occasions when Arthur simply glares the council into submission. Normally he likes to work with them; he hates to feel like they're just doing what he wants because they were kissing his arse, but he has no excuse other than “I forgot.” and he felt like that was worse than just.. acting like a bit of a dick for five minutes.

So... yeah. Merlin wasn’t there to reorganise the council meeting around Arthur’s patrol, and then also wasn’t there to come up with an excuse for why it wasn’t reorganised.

Arthur makes it ten days before he admits to himself that perhaps he relies on his manservant just a little too much.

~

Four days later, Arthur had missed another council meeting (despite his best efforts), Lancelot and Mordred had accidentally insulted some visiting Lord (and had therefore been told not to leave their rooms until he had vacated the city), and Gwen was no longer speaking to him, on account of The King being a dick without realising because Merlin wasn’t there to rein in his ego and... well... dickishness. That, and his crown had somehow gone missing between yesterday morning and now.

(If that last one had happened even a week prior, Arthur would’ve been adamant that it had been stolen or something else equally not-his-fault, but with how quickly he’d been made aware of his apparent bad memory and social clumsiness, he had every faith that he’d just misplaced it, and Merlin would know exactly where to look.)

Arthur was sitting on the courtyard steps, tunic unlaced at the top and hair a mess when his servant finally, finally walks through the castle gates. The King perks up slightly, but refuses to give Merlin the satisfaction of being run to, so forces himself to remain in place. He was especially glad that he’d made that decision when he saw Guinevere spring over to greet him. He has a feeling she won’t be all that... welcoming, at least not yet.

Merlin wraps her in a tight hug and Arthur forces down the swell of jealousy in his lungs, especially when he laughs brightly and pulls back to clasp her shoulders. Arthur sees Gwen’s face fall at a question Merlin had asked and he gulps, biting his lip when Merlin frowns and raises an incredulous eyebrow at her response. She points in Arthur’s direction, and The King’s eyes go wide as he rapidly stands, failing miserably at looking as though he weren’t staring in their direction. Guinevere rolls her eyes before giving Merlin one last hug and walking very deliberately in the opposite direction to Arthur.

Merlin marches towards him, slight annoyance mixing with a secret eagerness to check on Arthur speeding up his normal pace significantly. Before the servant can say anything, Arthur grabs his wrist, pulling him up the steps and through the castle without a word, tugging harshly every time Merlin opens his mouth to demand an explanation for himself or an apology for Gwen.

When they finally reach his chambers, Arthur quickly locks the door behind him, whirling on an angry Merlin with flushed cheeks and a desperate look in his eyes:

“I swear Merlin, I will never doubt you again, but Elyan almost died, Gwaine got an infection, Leon and I forgot about Ethel and Halbert, Lancelot and Mordred are essentially under house arrest, I missed two council meetings, lost my crown, and now Gwen’s not talking to me. You’re never allowed to leave me again.”

Merlin freezes in place, staring at Arthur with wide eyes and an open mouth for a few moments before he bursts into laugher. Arthur huffs, crossing his arms as his blush deepens, but waits patiently instead of demanding that Merlin stop. Honestly? He may have been laughing at Arthur, but it was still the most beautiful sound The King had heard in two weeks, and he’d definitely missed it. Which is... something to think about at a later date.

Merlin finally relents, his dimples showing prominently as he holds in another round of giggles at Arthur’s red face. The servant drops his pack to the floor, stepping forward and not giving Arthur time to move away before he pulls him into a tight hug, sighing contentedly at the warm contact:

“I missed you too, you prat. You’ll just have to come with me next time and we can leave Gwen and Gaius in charge.”

Arthur huffs out a gentle laugh, finally wrapping his arms around Merlin’s middle tightly and burying his face in the slightly taller man’s hair:

“I did. Miss you, I mean. And I also mean it when I say you’re never going anywhere without me again, this has been a nightmare.”

Merlin snorts, tightening his grip on Arthur as if he were trying to squeeze all of the stress out of him:

“Co-dependency isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, you know.”

Arthur just huffs, refusing to let go as he petulantly responds:

“I don’t care. I’m The King, I can do what I want.”

Arthur can almost feel Merlin rolling his eyes, but the servant just laughs again and seems to nod in agreement:

“Hmm. That excuse is going to come back to haunt you one day. Heard you gave George a raise?”

The blonde tenses in embarrassment, now refusing to pull away so Merlin wouldn’t see his pink cheeks:

“Uh... yeah. He cleans too much and is shit at coming up with plausible excuses, but he did save my arse a few times.”

Arthur can feel Merlin’s laugh vibrate through his ribcage, and though the man was usually rather touch averse, he found he never wanted the feeling to stop. He found himself hoping that Merlin felt the same when The King chuckles at his response:

“Oh yeah? Does that mean I get a raise for being good at excuses and bad at cleaning?”

~

THE END!!! 

Literally wrote this in one day so... sorry if it’s bad😅

Had no clue how I was going to end it until I got there, my thought process essentially just went “Hugs? Yeah. Hugs hugs hugs hugs hugs.” :D

Same as always lads, you wanna write it out in full or remix it or whatever, go for it, just drop me a message and credit/tag me :)

[sailorhyunjinz]

~ ℙ𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕗𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕣!𝕁𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟 ~

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤; SMUT!!! gn!reader x inexperienced!sub!jeongin. pillowhumping, secret crush, best friends/childhood friends, first kiss, semi-public sex (ok not that but like getting caught?), orgasm (m), cum, mentions of blowjobs, mentions of cum eating. 

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥; 1,8 k 

ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖; finding good gifs of jeongin that aren’t from when he was a minor and fit the concept at least a fucking crumb is DIFFICULT YALL so i present this cute gif ahssahsah

also i always make jeongin inexperienced?? I NEED TO WORK ON THAT 

Here Jeongin was. Staring at the ceiling in the dark room, the only light coming from the streetlight outside the window of your bedroom. You were sleeping peacefully next to him but sleep was the last thing on Jeongin’s mind, his chest heaving nervously from lying so close to you. Usually this isn’t a weird occurence, the two of you best friends since childhood which equaled a lot of sleepovers but Jeongin couldn’t shake the feeling off longing. Longing to touch you. 

He covered his face with a pillow, trying to put a physical barrier in order to stop the inappropriate thoughts that included everything from you kissing him to him being fucked by you hard enough to make him see stars. His delicate dick twitched in his boxers as the thoughts piled up in his brain, him not able to act on the urge to jerk off, not when you were sleeping soundly next to him. 

The horny boy turned around to lie on his side, facing you as he grabbed the pillow and instead put it between his knees, huffing as he was hoping for a miracle, a miracle called falling asleep. Jeongin’s heart skipped a beat when he realised how close your face was to his, the air from your quiet breaths hitting his cheek. Your plushy lips formed into a pout as your cheek squished into the pillow, your eyelashes gently draping your weary eyes. Jeongin swore he could hear your heart beat next to his. The dark haired boy shuffled closer to you but almost gasped out loud as the pillow rubbed against his erection, his already sensitive cock twitching from the friction. He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, looking around in the room to distract the feeling but to no avail, his hips rutting against the pillow as if by magic, it simply felt too good to stop. 

Jeongin thought he had gone crazy, what was he even doing? How could he be thinking such lewd thoughts about his best friend that was sleeping inches away from him, all whilst humping a pillow like a desperate mutt. The mattress that lied on the floor was shuffling in a questionable manner as the soft moans from between Jeongin’s scarlet red lips were now dripping out like sticky honey. His hand shifted from his mouth to his messy dark hair, ruffling it and tightly gripping it as he felt closer to his orgasm like never before, the sweat beading on his forehead from the slightly stuffy atmosphere in the room. His dark orbs shut tightly as he tried to grasp onto those last explicit thoughts before they all dripped out of his mind like his cum if it wasn’t for you groaning out into the night.

“J-jeongin,,,”

Silence errupted between the four walls as all his movements came to a standstill, his eyes springing open as he looked at you in panic but was met by you still asleep, looking just like you did moments earlier. The poor boy sighed, frustrated of having lost his impending orgasm but relieved, at least you didn’t see him.

Or did you?

Jeongin felt as if he could cry right on the spot, feeling frustrated and desperate for a release to calm his hard-on. He turned away from your sleeping face, thinking maybe that could help stop the intrusive thoughts. Maybe even closing his eyes completely would be even better, shielding himself from anything that could be associated with you. The poor boy nuzzles his face closer to the pillow, sighing for the last time before breathing peacefully. Just as a sweet slumber lingered close by he felt you shift and before he knew it you were dangerously close to him. 

“Do you need help?” 

Jeongin turned his head around in fear, thinking maybe this was a dream but it was a real as it could get. Your one hand slipped between his legs, palming him through his boxers that already had a wet spot from the precum that was leaking out. He opened his mouth in a loud gasp but you were quicker, muffling his sinful noises with your other hand over his spread lips. You lean into his ear, his head shying away from your close proximity as your lips almost touched the shell of his ear.

“Be quiet and I’ll make you feel good”

Jeongin bucked his hips against your warm hand, craving more of your touch as his face turned bright red, flustered at the words that came out of his best friend. Your eyelashes fluttered softly as his doe-like eyes were glued on yours, his eyebrows furrowing as you gave his hard member a squeeze before tracing the outline of his hard-on with your fingertip, the poor boy feeling all his blood rushing south as you slowly released your hand from his mouth.

“Pl-please,,y/n,,, help me out, I’m going crazy” 

You smile softly at the pleading boy, crashing your soft lips against his slightly chapped ones, the kiss immedietly deepening as you slipped your tongue inside him, his body stiffening at the unfamilliar feeling before his entire body relaxed in your arms, him now sitting up on his knees. The soft mattrass dipped down from the two figures that were entangled with each other, hands roaming freely over your hot skin, the both of you barely wearing clothes to begin with. The wet sound of the kiss ringed in Jeongin’s ears, this new experience making the knot in his stomach tighten even more than it was before.

It felt wrong but so right. 

Pulling away from the kiss, a line of saliva connected you, his eyes fluttering open sweetly. You smile, heat rising to your cheeks as you looked away for a moment, trying to find composure. 

“T-the pillow felt good”

Jeongin spoke in a shy voice, scratching the back of his head as his puffy cheeks were on display, you wanting nothing more but to smother them in kisses. You looked at him, confusion dancing in your eyes which Jeongin noticed. 

“N-not anything weird! I just happened to,, accidentally rub,,, against it,,, I’m sorry if it’s weird y/n, I was really frustrated, I’ve made you uncomfortable-” 

You attach on your lips once again to stop the words spilling out of him, potentially waking someone else in the house. Your tongues swirled around each other, Jeongin gulping loudly as he felt nervous everytime you kissed him, filled with uncertainty, you were after all his best friend and he didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. As soon as you pulled away from the kiss for the second time you put a finger on his slightly swollen lips. 

“It’s not weird, I can help you. Let me help you,,,babyboy”

You cringed at your own nickname, giggling and hiding your face behind your hands, sneaking a glance of the boy through the gaps between your fingers. To your surprise he didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile. It was as if he’d frozen to ice in the stiffling room. Your smile quickly turned into concern, thinking that maybe you’d gone too far but all your worries were wiped away when Jeongin silently muttered;

“Call me that,,, I-I like it” 

You eyes widened, never before seeing him this weak for you. You smirked, inching closer to him and gently stroking his hot cheek with the back of your hand. 

“Only if you ride that pillow for me”

His dark eyes darted towards the pillow that was lying lazily on the carpeted floor, grabbing it in an instant. 

“This one?”

Jeongin whispered, both his eyes and question filled with innocence. You nod slowly, watching him straddle it, his knees poking slightly inwards. You smiled at him, your bottom lip quivering in excitement, wanting to see him submit to you. 

“W-what should I do?” 

His eyes twinkled in the dim light that came from the window, his fluffy hair pointing all different directions and his lips slightly pursed. You scoffed, licking your lips that turned dry from the kiss. 

“What you did when you thought I was asleep”

Jeongin blushed, his cheeks turning a light pink that was barely visible to you. He started humping the pillow, his twitching cock still in it’s clothed prison as the friction ignited a fire in his core, the previously ruined orgasm returning to it’s home. The delicate whimpers made their way out of his mouth in the softest manner, them being hardly audible due to him nibbling on the inside of his cheek, holding back on moaning. You traced your fingers up his exposed flexed thigh, eventually tracing circles over his tip, the wet patch making you snicker quietly from his desperation. You didn’t want to silence the pretty boy but his glistening lips leaving you with no other choice but to kiss him, Jeongin shortly moaning into the kiss, the sensation of release drawing closer with every second of your lips against his. 

As his pace quickened the mattress started moving around, his hips rolling upwards against the edge of the pillow, the previously frustrated boy now feeling nothing more but pure euphoria as the knot tightened. You smiled against his lips, enjoying to see him desperatly chase his release. His arms trembled as his hands were grabbing onto the soft material beneath him for dear life, breaking the kiss hastly.  

“y-y/n- agh,, can,, can i cum?”

His voice trailed to a whisper, the question sounding more like a statement. You nodded shyly, the so called question sounding too direct in your ears. The last couple of humps were uneven, the poor boy sweating enough to leave small sweatdrops around his temples, Jeongin’s soft hair failling in his face and covering his dark eyes with a even darker curtain. You opened your mouth to warn him from making too much noise but it was already too late. 

“Jeongin, be quie-”

A loud groan escaped between his pretty lips making you slightly startled as the room was previously muted. His eyes shut tightly, a million cubes of colors flashing before his eyes as he slowly rode out his orgasm. The white sticky substance staining his underwear, forming a slightly darker shade on the black fabric he was wearing. In panic you smacked your hand across his lips like you’d done before but it was already too late, a beam of light shining through the crack of the bedroom door. 

“y/n? are you ok?”

It was your moms voice. You pulled down the boy, covering him in a blanket as he was still lost in his pleasure, his breath shaky. Turning around and dragging the covers over yourself you closed your eyes it just in time before the door opened. You could hear your nervousness, imagining the different ways you could get out of this situation when morning came. The door closed quietly after a couple of seconds and the footsteps got fainter. 

Facing the boy you saw him smile lazily, his eyes still closed. You poked him on the cheek causing the boy to giggle, his eyes slowly opening and meeting yours. 

“thank you y/n”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes.

“Should I help you clean up babyboy?”

You smirked, insinuating something dirtier than what the innocent boy thought. His eyes widened as you plunged down beneath the blanket that covered his body. 

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

I'd also love to see the thing of Foul Legacy Childe going feral to protect the person he loves 👀

*coughs* well, if you insist >:)c again, i'm not good at fight choreography but this one seems ok to me so i hope it's alright for you too!!

~ * ~ Abyssal Ballad

Foul Legacy Childe x Reader Gender Neutral (no pronouns mentioned) Angst Warnings: Injuries, gore, pain, blood, broken bones, mentally snapping, fear, potential death

~ * ~

You had never known much about the Abyss. How could you, as an ordinary, magic-less human, who toiled away at a standard researching position in the Liyue industry? While Celestia was often praised as being home to the archons and gods above, a sanctuary for only the finest heroes and the origin of elemental Visions, the Abyss was dark and mysterious, full of vicious creatures and an endless ocean, disturbed only by glassy waves and cold, twinkling starlight. While both held their infinite secrets locked tightly away, they were seemingly opposites, forever battling against each other in a plane the people of Teyvat wouldn’t dare reach. Fairytales and journals and books all held the same message: Celestia is day as the Abyss is night, and each will consume you, for better or worse.

The Abyss had always been “for worse”, something you had found difficult to believe when Childe reappeared. You had known him before, when he was a ginger-haired, Delusion-bearing Harbinger of the Fatui, but you knew him even better now as your fluffy and affectionate roommate, with endless curiosity and a love for dozing in the sunlight. You were cautious at first, but every time he curled up next to you for cuddles or pressed his forehead to yours with a happy trill, your hesitation waned, and it seemed every day grew brighter in this eternal summer.

But the Abyss never relinquishes anything it once kept.

It had been cloudy that day, rain looming on the horizon. But you, ever persistent, had set out with an umbrella, a report to deliver, and a mothlike monster by your side. He didn’t have to come with, but he insisted, something you found sweet and kind of him to do. The citizens of the city had gotten quite used to you and Childe, some even greeting you as you left for Wangshu Inn, just out of the Harbor and towards Mondstadt. The clouds looked suspicious, but remained a teasing gray instead of pouring rain onto you.

The walk was peaceful and quiet, only broken by Childe’s rumbles and your quick responses to them. Your umbrella was long enough to be used as a cane, and it tapped merrily with every step you took, never out of sync. The Inn was close, a faint outline in sight at the end of a winding path, soon to be reached by you and your companion.

It only took a moment.

Like all bad things, it happened at the first chance, quickly and efficiently.

Childe liked sparkly things, as did you. A couple of magpies, you often joked. A crystalfly had caught his attention, and he jumped up to chase it. He’d be back soon, as he always was.

Two minutes.

He was gone for two minutes, and two minutes was all it took for someone to grab the collar of your shirt and pull you back, immobilizing you with a simple yet effective hold. They whisper to you, and more whispers join them, ordering you to show them where “the monster” was, to do it, do it or else, because pain would be delighted to meet you. Unfortunately, for both them and for you, fear has never easily gotten a grasp on your senses, and you simply choke out a command for these people to leave you alone. They laugh, and take your right wrist between their fingers. They give you a choice: tell them, or have your wrist broken. Should be an easy choice, no?

There’s a sudden yelp of alarm and they turn, dragging you with them, towards the sound. Childe stands there, tense and furious. The person behind you laughs again, and someone moves closer to Childe, only to stumble back when he hisses at them. The grip around your wrist tightens, and they address Childe instead of you. Either come with them willingly, or your bone breaks; it’s his choice now. From your position, you subtly shake your head- don’t give into their demands- and he hesitates.

There’s an awful cracking sound as your wrist is harshly yanked to the side.

You grit your teeth from the pain, before whipping your head down and biting, biting hard, on your captor’s wrist. They yell in surprise and release you, and you scramble to get away using only one arm.

Then someone hits you with a blow to your ribs, and your breath vanishes as you fall.

Something in Childe snaps. There’s a deep, guttural growl, building slowly from his throat, before he leaps on your attacker, tearing off their head with horrifying accuracy.

Your captor’s companions hastily begin backing away, holding their weapons with trembling hands, pitiful little sticks that Childe easily flings away with a swipe of his talons. He lets out a shriek, a harrowing sound filled with rage and a terrible, eager anticipation, springing up and clamping his jaw onto someone’s arm to dislocate and rip it off.

Your vision swims as you blink, the edges of everything gray and fuzzy. Someone’s screaming- everyone’s screaming. It’s loud, so loud, and you wince in pain as howls of pain make your ears ring. There’s a stabbing sensation in your chest, and you vaguely wonder if one or more of your ribs are broken, the sound of bones crumbling beneath sharp, vicious fangs in tune with your thoughts.

Blood splatters on the ground, the tang of it making you nauseous, and there’s the sound of flesh being torn to shreds while you can almost hear a mocking, maniacal laugh.

You’ve heard that laugh, so long ago, in the fiery walls of a house of gold.

You close your eyes, letting your mind slowly go blank in a valiant attempt to ignore the cries and pleas of people before they die at the claws of the Abyss. The pain in your side remains, pestering you to stay awake, but quickly fades into the background as your mind detaches from reality, dulling your senses and thoughts.

Then everything falls silent.

The lack of noise hangs thickly in the air, deathly quiet and stagnant. The pond of eerie serenity ripples, heavy footsteps pressing the grass as they approach you, and a claw sticky with blood nudges your side. You tilt your head back, ever-so-slightly, and are met with an Abyssal gaze, filled with nothing but ice-colored stars; a cold, unfeeling anger.

And you.

Childe’s stare warms as he lays next to you, carefully draping an arm over your torso. There’s a wet sensation on your cheek, and you realize he’s licking the cuts you had unknowingly received on your face in an attempt to soothe you. He licks your wrist as well, despite the lack of open wounds, and your fear settles as you focus on breathing. You suck in a gulp of air, only to cough when your chest twinges in pain. Childe noiselessly tucks you closer to his side, supporting your head in the soft, blood-crusted pillow of his fluff, and your coughing lessens into sharp gasps for air. A warm liquid fills your mouth, the taste of metal and consistency of sticky syrup. Your vision becomes hazy, and the gray around everything turns to black. You think you can hear humming, a gentle rumble from the throat as a monster drowns in midnight waters.

Music plays, and an old ballad sings. Celestial skies and Abyssal waves, eternal twins, consuming the heart and mind forever.

[wonderwomanfantasy]

melting point

a part two to snowfall

Werewolf! Bakugou x Deaf!Reader

warnings: none? some suspenseful stuff that's about it

word count: 1,000 (about)

summary: what a sweet little thing you are, perfect for some big bad wolf to come to snatch you up, luckily Bakugou is there to protect you. 

As the snow settled, and the trade fair came to an end several things changed about your little town, where change so rarely occurred. The first was a foreseeable change, your family came into a bit of money after selling you wears, assuring your family would have a comfortable winter and spring. The second was that the blonde man you’d happened to run into decided to settle on a plot of land previously unoccupied. The last change was the wolf attacks. 

As far as you knew there was never a problem with wolves before, but now chickens and even cattle were being found half-eaten. It was horrible really, the thought alone of some bloodthirsty dog stalking somewhere nearby. 

Even with how scared you were, at least you kept your head about yourself. Some other townsfolk went as far as to say that it wasn’t a wolf, but a monster. You burst out laughing when you first heard that. Monsters were things for kids, tall tails that served as a warning to stay out of the woods at night. You were surprised at how seriously some people were taking that idea. 

You watched as two old women talked, catching bits of their conversation as they turned to you. 

“- I tell my kids to stay in at night- once the sun sets they have to be home,” 

“-with that beast out there- Carlson lost two sheep last week,” 

You shook your head and continued on your way. There were plenty of hunters in town, you felt safe knowing one of them would catch the animal responsible. 

You turned your head up to the glacious sky. It was the cold bitter part of winter, no snow or cheer, just waiting for spring to come. 

Luckily for you, you looked down at where you were going before you started walking again. Bakugou Katsuki was standing right in front of you. You gasped and stumbled back almost falling, luckily he wrapped an arm around your waist catching you. His smirk seemed to say  “we really should stop meeting like this,”

You squirmed and he released you “watch where you’re going,” he signed you felt your face heat up with embarrassment. 

“I could tell you the same,” you shot back, He just smiled at you and brushed past you. You glowered at him as he passed until you realized that he was carrying a stack of logs over one of his shoulders, then your face soffened. Just how strong was he? 

You couldn’t seem Bakugou, you supposed that it had been so long since anyone had moved into town that any new fae stood out, but it seemed like he was everywhere. He seemed to frequent the butchers at the same time you did, you found him buying thick woolen sheets from your mother one day then had to buy firewood from him the next, and of course, he was always there to catch you when you tripped. 

And even though he was cocky, arrogant, and angry, you found yourself falling for him. There was just something that drew you to him and you found you didn’t mind seeing him so often. 

“A defenseless girl like you shouldn’t be in the woods this late,” bakugou signed to you, appearing out of nowhere as he so often did. You straightened quickly and crossed your arms. The worst part is you knew he was right. Your parents would have a heart attack if they knew that you were lost in the trees this close to sunset.

The truth was your father had asked you to set some simple snare traps in hopes of catching a rabbit or two as a test of your independence and well, you’d gotten a little turned around. A completely understandable mistake. 

The harsh January wind whirled around you, biting at your face and piercing your clothes like knives. “Don’t you know there’s a monster in these woods? What if he caught you and gobbled you up?”  he was teasing you. And you didn’t much appreciate it, but still, he probably knew the way back to town. 

“But you’re here to protect me aren’t you?” you signed taking a step closer and putting your hand on his broad chest. For a moment he just stood there in awe, you had to admit it was pleasant seeing him so caught off guard. 

He mouthed something that looked like “that’s right” and took your hand leading you out of the darkening woods. He even stayed back so you could show up at home unoccupied sparing you your pride. You thought, not for the first time, that Bakugou Katsuki would make an excellent husband. 

It was a bitterly cold night when you saw the beast. A storm of hail and sleet beat down on your roof as wind raced around you causing the very boards of your house to shift. You were held up in the barn laying on a soft bed of hay wrapping your two goats in blankets and tucking their ears into woolen hats so their ears wouldn’t freeze. Your mother swore they would be fine, they were tough old things after all. But you had grown up with these goats, and it broke your heart to think of them succumbing to frostbite. 

When you came into the barn they had been shivering and huddled in a pile of hay, reaffirming your decision to come here in the first place. You rested with them for a moment, building up the courage to brave the elements again. 

The barn door shuddered as the rain beat down on it before it burst open. You jolted, falling backward into a pile of straw. Your sweet goats cowering behind you. And as the hail pelted your face, you saw it in the dark of the night. A set of glowing eyes and a hulking massive body creeping towards you. 

You’d never seen a wolf, but surely this was too big to be a wolf, four times the size of a normal dog. The creature bore his teeth in a horrid snarl coming to the entry of the barn filling the doorway. You trembled and prayed that someone would come to save you. There was no way you could escape. 

But suddenly the wolf shifted, tilting its head to the side and dropping the intimidating sneer. His approach seemed much less intimidating, but that didn’t stop you from crying as he came face to face with you. His hot breath beating on your face. He snorted and turned leaving the barn. You stood on shaky legs and ran as fast as you could back to the house, shaking your father awake to messily sign to him what had happened.

 It only took a day for the news of another attack to spread through the town like wildfire, and this time you didn’t feel like correcting anyone when they called it a monster. 

“I heard you fought the beast,” Bakugou teased, you had heard that too, the story had been tweaked along the way that you had bravely managed to escape instead of the monster simply leaving you alone. 

“You really are a handful, always getting yourself into trouble aren’t you?” he teased. You were used to his teasing by now but it still made you heat up with embarrassment

“And I suppose you could do any better?” you signed angrily

“I could,” he stated matter of factly. You deflated a little, of course, he was right. He was so strong and self-confident you knew he could have done much better in your shoes. 

“And if you married me, I could protect you too,” he signed leaving you stunned, had he really just proposed to you in the middle of teasing you for being a weakling?

Bakugou smiled to himself as you gingerly walked into his embrace, placidly accepting his marriage proposal. You were such a scared little rabbit, he almost felt bad. Of course, he would never hurt you or scare you like that again, you were his mate after all. He wouldn’t have even come to your barn if the rain hadn’t been obscuring your delicious smell. 

Now that he had your heart all he had to do was win over your father, and with how well he’d ingratiated himself to your family that shouldn’t be hard at all. What a sweet little rabbit you were, trapped in the arms of a wolf.

[golden-wingseos]

loving you is like . . .

what is loving them like?

featuring —

✧ zhongli, diluc, childe (separate) x gn!reader

warnings ―

✧ not proofread

notes ―

✧ lovin him was reddd

𝐙𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐈 ― ❛ THE LISTENER. ❜

Loving him is like watching the trees in winter blossom in the spring.

in his 6,000-yeared life, many years have passed. many lives have been lost, but many lives have been made

the trees have wilted and grew. the flowers have decayed and sprung. all are little things, things that the archon didn’t notice until you had pointed it out to him

and now, he can’t unsee it

every little caterpillar would eventually become a butterfly. every beautiful butterfly was once a little caterpillar

the world is beautiful, zhongli knew that

but it wasn’t only the world that was beautiful. it was you, and the sun, and the sky, and the birds.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there is not one thing zhongli cannot find beauty in

“Aww... the snow melted,” [Y/N] hummed, their face pressed against the glass window. Staring blankly out at the ever-melting snow, Zhongli couldn’t suppress the growing smile on his features.

“It will be back,” The archon simply said. It would. After all, the snow always came back.

In his life, he had learned many things. The world comes in full circle, and so does kindness and karma. When the snow leaves, it will come back. When the flowers wilt, they will prosper in another life.

It seemed that such things came with people.

When you came, happiness and love flourished in his stomach. Rippling up his chest and lungs like an infection of sweetness, the feeling would quickly disperse as soon as you left. Love was like the wind, moving and free, yet constant and open.

And with each flower bud that’d appear on the trees, and each sunrise and sunset, Zhongli would always spare a glance at your form. His amber eyes unwavering yet cascading with love.

Life came and went, yet you came and stayed.

For the first time in his life, there was one constant since the dawn of time.

Love. To him, it feels like he had loved you for so long, it feels like he had loved you in so many different forms, year after year...

Forever.

A word that never should be used, especially by the likes of him—

But to him, you are forever... for you are love.

𝐃𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐂 ― ❛ THE DARK SIDE OF DAWN. ❜

Loving him is like watching the sunset on top of a cliff, your feet dangling over the edge.

love is dangerous

sometimes, love will hold your heart with the most delicate touch. sometimes, love will use your vulnerable state to control you, your movements controlled by a string

sometimes, love will smash your heart to pieces

it was a gamble, falling in love with him... diluc ragnvindr. you knew this all too well, but still, such beauty and gravity... it was like fate was pulling you to him

he’s a dream man. he’s rich, powerful, and reserved

yet his vengeful wrath is not unknown. his built up anger for a fault that is not his own...

so even with the risk. the risk of falling from that cliff with no one to catch you, the risk of dropping your heart like a porcelain vase...

you will love him. amongst all his pain, suffering, and hate. you love him, for he is the sun that sets in the distance, preparing a new day for the world

The comfort of being alone was to only have to rely on yourself.

And as the sun quietly went down, allowing the moon to rise, you sat atop Starsnatch cliff, wondering ever so innocently whether you could truly snatch a star from the sky.

Sunsets were a limbo of beauty. The balance between light and dark, the decider of life or death.. a sunset could represent the end, but it could also represent a new beginning.

As a child of freedom, you never once relied on anybody or anything. You’ve never had to stop and wait for someone, or hold their hand and walk them through Wolvendom..

But you’ve never met an equal, either.

You’ve heard of him, Diluc Ragnvindr. Who hasn’t? You’ve heard of his infamous dislike for the Knights of Favonius, his skilled swordsmanship and powerful vision.

Yet you never thought you would’ve walked beside him.

You wanted an equal. A match who would challenge you, a match who would match your pace instead of run ahead or walk behind. You wanted someone who would work their hardest for their goals, not relying on you to support them.

And that was him. That was the Diluc.

So as you sit upon this cliff, gazing out at the ocean of possibilities, you are left to ponder:

Once the sun sets and the sky is no longer orange and pink... will he still be there? Will Diluc be there to match your pace and your strides?

The answer was yes.

―It always has been.

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄 ― ❛ THE YOUNG MASTER. ❜

Loving him is like staying up past curfew and doing anything but sleep.

rebelliousness... something that especially comes with loving childe

it’s like a part of you knows he’s dangerous. you know he’s poison. after all, being a fatui harbinger means anything but good

but a part of you loves it. you love the excitement that comes with him... that comes with danger. you enjoy the love he gives you, treating you as if you were the only one in the world

power. that was what you had. when it came to him, power was in your grasp. you knew all too well to not associate with the fatui, for you could end up dead..

yet the dangers of such consequences meant nothing if he was there. love has no bounds... and even if he is an addictive poison, entering your heart when it should’ve been guarded..

you’ve grown immune.

Reckless love is the best kind of love.

Free falling into his arms, you never expected to fall for him. Childe, Tartaglia, Ajax... whatever he wanted to go by. But to you, he was nothing short of ‘Love’.

It was like he was the key to your cage, allowing you to stretch your wings and fly high into the sky. The feeling of adrenaline pumping in your veins as he sparred with you was a thing that you had numbed to over the years. To the public eye, you were a perfect individual. So kind, so caring, so poised.

But to him, you were you. You were strong and beautiful, ambitious and determined.

Among the dangers of his job, the hate of the world, the knives that were pointed at his throat...

He loved you. The mere mention of your name was enough to send his entire future flashing right before his eyes, a future with you.

And as he walks out of your shared house, his scarf floating with the wind and bow materialized into dust, he remembers ever so benevolently: 

When he goes home, you will be there. When he cries, you will be there.

For he is the reason you are free and unafraid, and you are the reason he is content and ready to come home everyday.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I Found a Baby Deer! Now What?

Originally posted at my blog at https://rebeccalexa.com/i-found-a-baby-deer-now-what/

My previous two posts dealt with what to do if you find a baby bird or baby rabbit. This week I’m going to complete the “commonly kidnapped baby animals” trifecta with baby deer. All three may be found unattended in spring and early summer, and unfortunately many end up dying because well-meaning people separate them from their parents intending to care for them themselves, or taking them to a wildlife rehab. Even under the best of professional care many baby animals are simply too fragile, and like the other animals, if you’ve found a baby deer it’s best to leave the care to mama.

A fawn is simply a young deer, particularly one that hasn’t been weaned from its mother yet. North America has several species of deer, though the young of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), Sitka deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Yucatan brocket deer (Odocoileus pandora) are the most likely to be known as fawns. The young of other deer like elk (Cervus canadensis) and moose (Alces alces) are more commonly called calves. There are also a few non-native species of deer raised on meat/hunting farms like fallow deer (Dama dama) and axis deer (Axis axis), but you’re not as likely to run into these in the wild unless a few have escaped from nearby farms.

Fawns are generally born brown with white spots; these spots help with camouflage. While they are precocious and can walk within hours of birth, they won’t be able to keep up with their mother until they’re a few weeks old. Therefore, like rabbits, the doe leaves her young hidden in vegetation while she goes to graze and browse. She only returns to nurse them; if she has more than one fawn she often hides them separately, and visits each one in turn.

By about three months of age a fawn will have shed its spots and started to grow in a more adult coat. However, fawns stay with their mother for a while after; bucks will often leave after a year, while does may stick around for another year, even if the mother has a new fawn to care for. Even after the fawn is weaned from mother’s milk, it still has a lot to learn about living in the wild, something we humans can’t teach it.

Too many people find a baby deer curled up in the grass and assume it has been abandoned. Unfortunately, while wildlife rehabs do their best to care for fawns that are brought in, not all will thrive on formula. Moreover, if a fawn is the only deer at a given rehab facility, it’s easier for it to become habituated to humans and lose its fear of us; while these facilities try to keep the fawns in groups, if only one is currently in house there’s not much they can do for cervine socialization.

Why is this a problem? If deer lose their fear of humans they’re less likely to run away from hunters or avoid roads and housing. Those that have come to associate humans with food can become dangerously aggressive in seeking food from any human they meet. They also may be less hesitant to attack humans if they feel threatened, or during the fall rut. Those cute little baby fawns grow up into rather large deer; a mule deer buck, for example, can top out at over 300 pounds! And those antlers are serious business, too. Bucks and does alike can do some significant damage kicking and striking with sharp hooves. And just getting body-checked by an aggressive deer could result in severe injuries! Bambi is NOT your cute little forest friend.

In short, the less human handling a fawn gets when young, the less likely it is to run into problems–or be a problem itself–later on.

Should you run across a fawn curled up in the grass, the best thing to do is give it plenty of space and keep moving. Don’t touch it, don’t pick it up, and don’t try to feed or move it. If you’re able to come back and check on it you can do so after a day or so, but chances are it’s going to be fine. If the fawn is thin and bony-looking, trembling, wet and cold, laying on its side instead of curled up, obviously injured, or has been calling for its mother without answer for a while, then it may need help. (The “curled ears” thing is not as simple as it’s been made out to be online, as per this article.)

Even if the fawn is distressed, your first action needs to be contacting your nearest wildlife rehab or state fish and game department and ask for advice. They may be able to determine whether the fawn is actually in need of help or not, especially if you’re able to text or email a photo, and they may want to come pick it up themselves as they have more experience. If they want you to bring it in, they’ll give you instructions on proper handling.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you attempt to care for a fawn yourself if you are not an experienced, licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Not only do you lack the skills and tools to give the fawn the best chance possible, but it is illegal to possess native wildlife without a permit. And I want to reiterate that the vast majority of the time, a found fawn is going to be better off under its mother’s care.

Finally, I want to end this the same way I did the other two articles, with a reminder that sometimes it’s best to let nature take its course. Many fawns don’t survive to adulthood in the wild, but instead become crucial sources of food for young coyotes, foxes, hawks, and other predatory species, as well as scavengers on clean-up duty. This is always the way things have been, and nothing is wasted in nature. If the fawn you’re about to kidnap is going to die anyway, let it be in a natural setting where its remains can benefit other young, growing animals rather than in the terrifying confines of a human facility.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[chasingpj]

𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞

"Bye, for now, puddles."

pairing: percy jackson x child of hecate!reader

words: 6,220

warnings: a little angst, missing a meal, death of a parent, i believe that is all.

timeline: post sea of monsters

if you want to be tagged every time I update this story, click here

a/n: hi hi! I'm so excited to finally get this chapter to you guys. I'm sorry this literally took a month. i was taking two writing-intensive courses this summer and i was just burnt out. i hope you enjoy it!

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten

A grunt escapes you; your contorted body weighs down the top of your suitcase as your damp fingers slip off the metal zipper. The unforgivingly humid weather provokes the heat of your efforts, adding to your discomfort. There’s urgency in your fingers, your frustration growing at each failed attempt to close your suitcase.

“Y/n! Hurry up!” Atticus shouts from outside of the Hermes cabin. As the zipper slips out of your grasp once again, you throw your head back in annoyance, hand coming up to push away wisps of hair that fall on your face. A familiar chuckle comes from the corner of the room, grabbing your attention from the wooden ceiling. Connor sits on the side of his bed; his comic book forgotten beside him as you fussing over your suitcase seems to be more interesting to him.

“It’s not funny,” you grumble, sitting onto your heels.

Connor rises from his bed, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk. He kneels by your suitcase, “It’s kinda funny.”

The corners of your mouth almost curve up, but you stop yourself, opting for a roll of your eyes instead.

“What the hades do you have in here?” The tips of his fingers turn white as he pulls on the little piece of metal. You shift your weight to the corner he works on, but it helps him as much as it helped you earlier.

“My brother’s left a bunch of books behind, so Lou Ellen and I split them up. She’s taking half, and I take the rest. We’ll study them and then exchange notes.” A hum of acknowledgment comes from Connor’s lips as he inches the suitcase closed.

“You guys are a bunch of nerds.” You squint at the other with a playful offense, and he laughs at your hardened features. “I bet you guys study more than the Athena Kids,” he teases.

“There’s a lot to learn,” you say simply, watching as he brings the zipper to the end. He leans back on his heels, and you move to take in the half-empty cabin.

The sight of the Hermes cabin being this tidy was foreign. There aren’t any sleeping bags on the floor; the belongings of your many cabin mates didn’t clutter the walls or the corners of the room as they usually do. It’s funny. There are always complaints of the cabin being too small, but it appears bigger without the mess.

“Will you and Atticus visit throughout the year?” Connor’s expression is hopeful. As the last day of camp approached, Connor’s wishes of a full cabin all year round became more apparent. The shift from a max-capacity cabin to a half-empty one must be a tough transition for social people like Stoll Brothers. If it were you, you’d be counting down the days of everyone’s departure.

You ruffle his brown locks, “we’ll probably stop by for, maybe, spring break?” Connor’s hopefulness begins to sag, and you frown. Spring break is pretty far from now, huh? “Depending on how mortal life treats us. You know, we might be back soon,” you add on quickly, hoping to lift his smile.

Though you wish to go home, you’re dreading all the supernatural activity you’ll have to deal with once you leave. Your father works tirelessly to protect the house, but entities always manage to get in. And if they can’t, they don’t mind hanging outside.

The hopefulness that faded from Connor’s face restores, and he gives you that famous mischievous smirk. “Well, I hope the ghosts bother you guys enough to come to visit early.” His tone is playful, but you can tell he meant some of his words. You laugh hesitantly and nod, rising from your suitcase.

“I’m glad you’re that eager to see us again.”

You thank him as he leans down, lifting the heavy suitcase from the ground for you.

“Y/n!”

“I’m coming!” You tug on the handle, glancing at Connor. “The year will go by fast, and soon this cabin will be bursting at the nails with new unclaimed people. Atticus, Lou, and I included. Anyways, you have your brother. You guys will find something to entertain yourselves.” You nudge him as you make your way outside.

“Yeah, you’re right. You will write to me, yeah?” Connor asks.

“Of course. I’ll send you snacks that you can’t buy at the gas station.” Connor’s arm pumps back to his side, hand in a fist as he hisses a “yes.”

The corners up your mouth hesitantly pull up as you push open the cabin door, finding Atticus and Travis talking on the porch. For the past week, the anticipation of your departure was killing you, but now that it was time to leave, you feel gloomy.

You knew the cause of your heavy heart was the uneasy tone of your going. Living day by day with the intention of moving on was hard. Because every time you look at their newly occupied beds, the sinking feeling in your chest returns. Every time you find yourself wandering in the forest, the memories of your often chaotic magic lessons flood your mind. You remember when Alice misaimed her wind spell, shooting Alabaster far into the trees. While you all rushed to check on him, Alice burst into tears because she was convinced she killed him only to approach a laughing Alabaster who shouted, “Right on!”

Every time you were in the Arts and Crafts center, you remember how you, Sage, and Lou would do Tarot Readings for the campers and how you would argue with the Apollo kids when they insisted your tarot cards are as honest as fortune cookies.

At the armory, you remember how Ambrose ran into James so hard, he stumbled and knocked down half of the shelves of weapons.

In the courtyard, you remember how Ernest, horrified by heights, produced the highest pitch scream he possibly could as he rode a pegasus for the first time under the persuasion of Alabaster.

All these memories, whether hilarious like your spell mishaps or bittersweet like when you and your sibling’s group hugged around Sage when she cried about her abusive stepmother, held a special place in your heart. Because the times where you laughed and cried together reminded you of the genuine bond, the family that was ripped away from you overnight.

“We'll see you guys soon. We should go. Argus will leave without us," Atticus says, relieved that Argus is still waiting for you on top of Half-Blood Hill.

“Have a safe trip, guys,” Travis says, patting Atticus’s shoulder before reaching out his arm and giving you a short side hug. You grab your things, hastily saying a final goodbye, and soon, you and Atticus are trudging up the hill.

Your free hand pats the pocket of your shorts, calming your worry of forgetting the necklace at the cabin. What rests in your pocket is a raw tourmaline crystal, now smooth with the help of Beckendorf, encased in a silver spiral cage.

You and Atticus carry protection crystals all the time, and they help with staying out of the radar of monsters and entities. After hearing Percy’s many stories of monsters bothering him, you figured he couldn’t be too cautious. Then after finding a spell in Alabaster’s many books that can dim down a demigod scent for a while, you decided to make him an enchanted necklace to wear.

You pack into the truck with Atticus right on time. Atticus sits in front of you, chatting away with Cecil as you make yourself comfortable in the back row with Ambrose. You frown; among the three other campers in the van with you, Percy isn’t one of them. Argus peeks into the back, doing a rough headcount. Great, now you’ll have to wait until next summer to give it to him.

Right, when you were going to chastise yourself for not giving him the necklace yesterday when you were done with it, a distant voice shouts, "wait!"

Argus halts in the middle of closing the sliding down and turns around. He shakes his head with disapproval while opening the door all the way, revealing out of breath Percy.

A smile widens across your face as he gets into the back seat with you, and you nudge Atticus’s seat.

"See, I told you we wouldn't be the last ones here.” You side-eye Percy, seeing the corners of his mouth pull up in amusement.

“Some people just don’t know how to get to places on time, huh?” Atticus says, and his eyes flicker to Percy before giving you a wide grin.

“Didn’t sleep in today, firefly?” There is a playfulness in Percy’s voice, and you smile proudly,

“Nope, not today.”

“It’s a miracle,” Percy mutters, loud enough for you to hear, and you scoff. Atticus snickers and nods in agreement.

“We were supposed to gang up on him, not you two on me.” You stick your tongue out at Atticus, and he returns the action.

“It’s more fun making fun of you,” Atticus teases.

“Rude,” you mumble with a slight smile on your face. The two boys chuckle, Atticus turning more into his seat to tell Percy something about a new Marvel movie. Excited voices fill the van as the other boys join in the conversation, and soon they are debating if Batman is really a superhero or just a rich guy in a suit.

You had to admit, as the conversation became more passionate, you were pretty entertained, but as you catch sight of Camp Half-Blood growing farther in the distance, you’re reminded of the ache in your chest. It’s only a temporary leave, but when you return, things will never be the same, and the false hope of your siblings returning has been proven to be foolish.

☆’.･.･:★:･.･.’☆

Following a ghost dog while weaving through the hustle and bustle of Grand Central is almost impossible. Atticus’s hand is latched to the straps of your bookbag as you move through people, trying not to roll your eyes at the way Ambrose turns to bark as if he was reprimanding you for being too slow. Easy for him to say when he can walk through walls and people.

“Track 28,” Atticus reminds you as your eyes find the number written on the tan bricks of the high walls. You make a sharp left towards the entrance of another hallway, ignoring the groans of a grouchy bystander that you may have cut off. The next hallway you enter is a lot less crowded than the main floor, and you slow down your pace.

“Where do you guys live again?” Percy asks as he jogs up beside you. He had insisted on walking you guys since his train departs in the same station.

“Sleepy Hollow.” Percy scrunches his face as if he recalls something, and you smile, waiting for the question everyone asks when you say you live there.

“Have you seen the headless horsemen?” Percy asks, half-joking. A snort leaves your throat, and you look at Atticus, who’s equally amused.

“Oh yeah, plenty of times.”

“Really?” Percy asks, his eyes wide with surprise, and you laugh.

“No.” Your response makes his face drop comedically fast, and Atticus bursts into laughter. “It’s just a story, but there’s a lot of history there, so the place is crawling with ghosts. We’ve met the guy who wrote the story, though,” you mention.

“No way,” Percy squints his eyes in disbelief.

“I’m serious! Atticus and I take walks in the cemetery sometimes. We leave drachmas on the graves of newly passed people, so their venture into the underworld is smooth, but some people like to wander.” You shrug. “Washington Irving is one of those people.”

“Cool,” Percy says with such enthusiasm that it makes you smile. Ambrose turns around and barks again, standing at the golden entrance that leads to the grey tunnel lit with fluorescent white lights where your train waits beside the concrete platform.

“He always rushes us,” Atticus complains, and Harvey lets out a coo that sounded close to a groan as if he agreed with him.

The marble floors turn to concrete as you enter the tunnel. The blue and silver train on your left hums as it sits dormant in its station. Ambrose trots ahead, peaking into the doors and windows to find an empty cart to occupy.

As you follow a few feet behind him, your fingers fiddle with the necklace resting in your pocket. You’re regretting not giving it to Percy earlier because, for some reason, the idea of giving it to him now was more intimidating than if you had done it earlier on the bus.

Ambrose decides on a cart, and Harvey jumps off Atticus’s shoulder, squealing happily as he follows the hound while completely ignoring a worried Atticus trailing close behind.

"I, uh, made this for you," you sputter, the words coming out fast like vomit. Your fingers pull out the crystal necklace abruptly, and you put it in the palm of his hand. "It's black tourmaline. It has protective qualities; good at keeping negative energy, negative auras, things like that. I put a spell on it to dim down your demigod scent for a while, so you catch a little bit of a break. It'll last for a few weeks, maybe a month or two if the spell caught on well."

You bite your lip as Percy studies the necklace resting in his hand. "Wow, really? Thank you, Y/n. This is great.”

Nervous, you shift on your feet under his bright, smiling orbs. "It's no problem. After everything that happened at camp, I think it’ll be good for you to have one.”

Percy nods, his features softening all of a sudden, and he shifts. “Thanks for protecting me,” he says, and you feel heat rush to your cheeks. “Getting rid of that thing became more than you expected. I felt bad that I couldn’t help. Swords aren’t really useful when it comes to demons, huh?”

A small laugh of agreement leaves your lips. “It was nothing. I wasn’t going to let you be tormented by that thing if I could help it.”

An announcement echoes in the hall, reporting the departure of your train in a few minutes. You glance over, catching Atticus, Ambrose, and Harvey with their noses practically pressed against the window as they witness your interaction with Percy. The amused smirk on Atticus’s face makes you roll your eyes; he’s definitely going to tease you when you get on the train.

"I should go.” You face Percy again, catching him securing the necklace around his neck. The stone rests a few inches under his camp half-blood necklace. "Thanks for walking us here. Be careful getting home."

"You too…” he trails off, noticing your brother looking out the window. For a second, he seems as embarrassed as you do and a nervous chuckle leaves his lips. “Your brother is waiting."

“He’s so annoying,” you complain, and Percy’s next chuckle doesn’t sound as hesitant this time. "Well, uh, bye, for now, puddles,” you tease, butterflies dancing in your stomach.

"Bye, for now, firefly."

You both awkwardly wave at each other before you turn around, getting on the train with Atticus. With your gaze fixed on the floor, you plop into the seat next to him. You don’t even need to look to know he is smiling teasingly at you.

"How cute,” he teases, nudging your shoulder repeatedly with his own.

"Ew, shut up.” You shove at his shoulder, your nose scrunching as he flails his arms against yours as if you were fighting. Atticus chuckles and a string of sounds come from your familiars as they join in to tease you, and you couldn’t help but laugh too.

☆’.･.･:★:･.･.’☆

The suburban streets of your neighborhood are filled with the chirps of birds and bugs and the sounds of cars that pass every once in a while. There isn’t much conversation between you and Atticus as you trudge up the hill leading to your dead-end street.

“Gods, I hope we can get inside without being seen,” you manage to say through your heavy breaths, lazily holding on to the handle of your suitcase as it rolls behind you. Ambrose’s nose nudges the back of your knees as if to encourage you, but it’s more cute than helpful.

“There’s no way that we are. Janie and Celia are always sitting on the neighbor’s porch.” You grunt in acknowledgment, knowing that Atticus is right. The neighborhood ghosts are friendly enough, but their company can be annoying.

As if on cue, you hear a delighted squeal from ahead the moment you reach the top of the hill. Two ladies wave their handkerchiefs in the air a handful of houses away.

Celia, the tallest of the two, wears a steel blue dress with a high neckline and a big bow tied on the base of her neck. She has a jacket button closed over her corset with a frill at the end of her sleeves. Her skirt is floor-length and complete, with ruffles cascading down its entirety. And, of course, no one can miss the high-crowned hat decorated with fake flowers, bows, and crimped fabric as it all sits on top of her blonde hair in an intricate updo. Janie, her sister, wears the same style of dress and headpiece only in a burgundy red. The resemblance between the two makes it clear that they’re siblings close in age. They have the same high pinched noses that jut in the air; both of their faces are regal like those in renaissance paintings.

You’ve seen them around for as long as you can remember. They were two sisters who died of scarlet fever a year before their first courting season, which was a big deal according to their constant moaning and groaning about it.

You look ahead, your expression blank as if their high-pitched voices didn’t fill the streets and they weren't racing toward you with their skirts in their hands.

“My word! It’s the end of summer already?”

“Atticus, you’ve grown taller!”

“What a handsome boy! Y/n, your shorts are too short, don’t you think?”

“It’s quite bizarre how such clothing is acceptable these days.”

“How beautiful you’d look in a gown like ours!”

“Where’s Alabaster?” Janie asks, attempting to circle her arm around Atticus’s, but he raises his arm to push back his damp hair to avoid the contact. She scoffs at his rejection and sighs.

“Alabaster was sweeter to us than you guys!” Celia pouts. Your heart sinks a little at the mention of him. Of course, they’d ask about him, and of course, your father will ask too.

Gods! Your father will ask about him.

You had forgotten you’d have to break the news today. These past few weeks, you debated whether or not you should do it by letter, but it felt wrong. It was only right that he’d find out in person.

“We know you can hear us,” Janie huffs.

“I hope dad doesn’t work late tonight. Do you think Grandma will be waiting for us?” You ask. As annoying as it was having spirits follow you, it was a little fun ignoring them when convenient for you. Atticus nods,

“Probably-”

“No one’s home,” Celia cuts in, and Atticus pretends to shoo a bug away to conceal that he paused from her interruption.

“But I don’t think dad is going to take long. He said his last lecture ended at three,” Atticus continues, and you nod.

‘I hope grandma came by to visit. I missed her.”

“I just said no one’s home.” Celia snaps, and you press your lips together to hide your smile.

Atticus sighs. “I know, I’m dying for those moon cookies she makes us.” At the mention of those cookies, your stomach grumbles. You hope Celia was wrong because you’re suddenly craving your grandmother’s cooking and her company. Her funny stories and voice that’s always a little too loud for the indoors never fails to cheer you up. As short and frail as she is, her voice and personality could fill a room.

“Me too,” you say shortly.

“Hello?!” Celia waves her handkerchief in your face, and you persisted in ignoring her. Suddenly, a sound of disgust comes from Janie as she brushes off her skirt.

“Y/n, retrieve this monster of yours!” She squeals as Ambrose bites the fabric of her dress, tugging on it with a growl.

“Damn this dog,” Celia shouts, attempting to shoo him away, but yelps in surprise as Ambrose snaps his jaw shut near her hand. “Get this thing under control! Y/n!”

Your hand comes up to cover your smile even though the two are shuffling behind you and a stifled chuckle comes from Atticus. The sound of Janie’s heels on the concrete becomes louder as she rushes beside Atticus again, and your smiles drop. The sight of your house comes into view, and you tilt your head confused; your father’s car is parked in the driveway.

“You said no one was home?” You say out loud, and Celia gasps beside you,

“Now you speak to me?” She snaps, halting as you approach the fence. She stands tall, hands folded in front of her elegantly as Janie’s expression is gleaming like a child on Christmas. “Your father requested to keep it a secret, so I obliged his wishes. He canceled his last lecture today to make you both a meal. What a lovely man.”

Your hand finds the latch for the white picket fence as you smile at the familiar narrow victorian-style house ahead of you. A path of cobblestone leads you to the brick steps of the small porch.

Your home sticks out from the more modern American houses that surround the area. It’s an antique, a snippet of history, as your father likes to say. The house is a russet brown only because the bricks are so old they’ve darkened in color. The house accents such as the window trims, porch overhang, and columns are copper, and the hipped roof has brown tiles that look like fish scales. Beside the porch, the bay windows from both stories stack on top of each other, and above the porch roof is the dormer that’s a part of your bedroom.

Gods, you’re yearning to be in your room. You just want to pull out your Murphy bed from the wall and bury yourself in your sheets. The idea of being in bed puts a pep in your step, and you are careful to avoid the salt ring that surrounds your house.

A butterfly passes by your face, flying to the bunchberry bushes your father has planted in the front garden. Among the grass, there are various flowers and herbs that your father grows in the summer. You’ve inherited many things from your father, but his green thumb isn’t one of them. He takes his gardening seriously while you can barely keep the cacti in your room alive.

“Enjoy your meal! Come talk to us one of these days. We missed you two!” Janie shouts after you as you make your way up the stairs. You turn around, Atticus smiling at them.

“We missed you, girls, too,” he says as if he didn’t want to admit it. Janie squeals something about how handsome his smile is, and you scoff, amused as you grab the doorknob.

Once you push the door open, you're hit with a rush of deja vu. The history channel plays faintly in the next room as you take in the home you’ve missed dearly.

There are two bookshelves against the wall on your right, a wide ledge with pillows under the bay windows. A messy coffee table filled with letters and stacked with books sits in front of the comfy reading nook, letting you know that your father was recently hanging out there.

There is a brown mahogany staircase that ascends upstairs to your left, and right beside it is the altar for your mother. A statue of her rests in the middle of the rectangle table covered in a black table cloth. On top of it lies the many offerings for your mom. Herb-dressed candles burn beside bowls of fruit, bouquets, a crystal enamel wine glass filled with alcohol, feathers, and other things. You ignore the altar as you put down your stuff beside the door, following Atticus as he takes off his shoes.

“Kids?” You hear your father call enthusiastically from beyond the foyer, and you persist forward into the entryway ahead of you.

“We’re home!” Atticus announces as he enters beside you. Ambrose barks making a beeline to the right and behind the kitchen counter. He jumps on your father with so much force he stumbles back.

“Gods! Why does he look even bigger?” Your father exclaims through a laugh, fixing the round glasses that threaten to slip off his nose as his other hand grips Ambrose’s paw. He yelps in surprise as Harvey's claws rest on top of his head, clinging to his hair to steady himself.

The warmth and smell of home fill your senses as you catch your dad’s gaze. “Well, come here! Are you going to hug your pops or what?”

You rush over with Atticus. Both of you hug your dad tightly on either side of him, and you smile as he presses a kiss on your temples. “I missed you guys so much!”

“We missed you too!” The smile on your face falters as he looks up, scanning the archway as if he was waiting for someone else. You shift, not ready to be faced with the question, and you peer around his body to look at the food on the stove behind him.

Your father notices your interest, and he chuckles. “Come on, let’s eat. You guys came right on time.”

You shuffle through the kitchen with Atticus, making your way to the rounded table at the end of the kitchen.

“Dad, what have you been up to?” Atticus asks teasingly, and your father perks up.

“I've done a lot of things to keep me busy. I volunteered to teach summer classes while you were gone. I’m reading this book with a fascinating perspective of the shift from Paganism to Christianity in Rome. It’s an amazing read; I highly recommend it. Though, I don’t quite agree with it.” Your father hums thoughtfully. “Oh! And I bought gnomes for our garden! And the thrift store had this little house and this old lady figurine! I put it on the porch. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but she’s the official guard of the door," he declares proudly. "And…” He twists and turns before heading to the bookshelves in the living room area. He grabs something from the shelf then he showcases a cartoon Dobby bobblehead with wide arms. A high-pitched cackle leaves his lips. “It completes our collection!”

“Woah! Where did you get it? We went to three different places for it, and we couldn’t find it.” Atticus matches your father’s excitement, and you snort at the two.

“I went to a mythology convention in Boston a few weeks ago. There was a game stop across the street from the center, and I thought, ‘why not?’ I went in, and I saw this little guy by the register.” Your father is giddy as he nudges the head and watches it jiggle in his hands.

You think of what your grandmother’s reaction would be if she saw all the things he bought on his trip to the thrift store. She’d definitely complain. She always said that even growing up, your father had a liking for knickknacks. On your shelves and counters, there are always little trinkets lying around. It even extends to the walls, a variety of paintings and diagrams are neatly hung beside each other. From the state of your house, it’s clear your father is a maximalist in its purest definition.

“Wow! That’s awesome!” Atticus reaches out his hand for it as your father brings over his entire collection of Harry Potter bobbleheads, the toys huddled in his chest before he places them on the dining table. “The whole gang can hang out with us for dinner.”

“I hope they like pasta,” Atticus comments, lining them up as your dad retrieves the pan of food.

Your stomach grumbles at the sight, and you’re quick to serve yourself as Atticus and your Dad talk about anything and everything. You guys discuss what your grandmother has been up to, how your father’s classes were going, which led your father to ramble so much he formed a tangent on top of another. The conversation was going so well that you were sure he wouldn’t ask about your summer, but you had assumed too soon.

“So enough about me! How was Camp?” Your father chirps, and you shift in your seat.

You smile with confidence to hide the wariness you felt. “It was great!” You figured if you keep your answer short, you could move past it quickly.

“Yeah, the usual. Fun as always,” Atticus adds.

Your father’s eyes flicker between the two of you, and the first thing he notices is the way your smiles don’t reach the rest of your face.

The clanging of metal utensils on glass plates fills the room as the both of you fixate on your food but neither take a bite. The camp was never a touchy subject. The sudden unwillingness to speak about it makes his eyebrow cock up in suspicion. His eye averts to the empty dining chair beside you and the dinner place settings that remained untouched. Alabaster was supposed to join your return home. At least, that’s what he had assumed.

“Did Alabaster decide to stay at his foster home?” There’s caution in his tone, and he’s taken aback at how both you and Atticus tense up. The clings of metal halt abruptly, and slowly, you move to glance at your father.

“Dad, something happened at camp this summer.” Now, it was your turn to have a tone laced with caution. Alabaster lived with you for months and quickly became a part of the family. Your father saw him as his second son, and you were afraid to break the news that he may never see him again.

“What happened? Did he get into trouble?” You frown at the sudden edge in his voice. Atticus shifts beside you,

“He took the others to go fight for the Titan Lord.”

“What?”

“Mother came to speak to him and told him that it was best to fight for the other side since their chances are better,” you say slowly. “They left at the end of July. Only Atticus, Lou Ellen, and I stayed at camp.”

Your father’s expression darkens, grief written all over his face. “And you haven’t seen them since?”

You shake your head, not wanting to delve into the details. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again in a while and not in the best circumstances.” Your father nods, understanding the implication in your words. “Mother promised that she’d take care of them if they fight for the other side. I didn’t want to go; it wasn’t right.”

“That must be why everything is rotting,” your father mutters more to himself. You furrow your eyebrows.

“Rotting? What’s rotting?”

“Our offerings to your mother,” he clarifies. “All the fruit I leave on her altar goes bad in a few days. The flowers wither quickly too. The garden, in general, hasn’t been doing well either. I didn’t understand why.”

Your focus returns to your plate. Suddenly, you weren’t that hungry anymore.

She must be angry, you think to yourself. A part of you wanted a sign from her to let you know if she was bothered you didn’t join. When the sign didn’t come, you assumed she didn’t care; that, in a way, you were dead to her. It didn’t dawn on you to ask how the altar or the garden your father dedicated to her was doing.

“Can I be excused?” You strain, your face a little hot, and you’re not sure if it was from your anger or from the tears you’re blinking away.

“Of course.” The warm smile on your father’s face fails to budge the dread you’re feeling. “You can be excused as well, Atticus.”

You miss the way your father and Atticus exchange looks as you stood up. There wasn’t a verbal agreement, but Atticus stands up tall, determined to make you feel better. He trails behind you, and suddenly, he slings his arm across your shoulders. “You know what’s one of the things I missed at camp?”

“What?” You ask, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in your chest.

“Beating you at Tekken,” Atticus teases. Your lips curve slightly; his playful nature manages to brighten up your mood a little bit. “Let’s play. I’ll go easy on you, but I’m sure you’ll still lose regardless.”

“You’re on,” you nudge him, and Atticus chuckles, walking ahead of you and up the stairs. Your hand grips the railing, and you walk up a few steps before halting, and your eyes find the front door.

“You don’t get it!”

“I don’t.” You shrugged, amused at the way Atticus’s eyebrows knitted in disbelief. He ignored you, grabbed the remote, and played the Star Wars movie again. You groaned, seeing the slanted letters move up the TV screen. “Atticus! I can’t watch this!”

“Why not?!”

“Well, first off, my dyslexia won’t let me read that quickly, and if a physically written prologue is needed before a movie… it’s not a good movie!”

“How dare you!” You threw your head back as a laugh bubbled in your throat. The exasperated look on his face was too funny. You had no desire to watch these movies, and you figured if you bothered him enough, he’d give up trying to show them to you. The shrug of your shoulders made him scoff. “Just watch it!”

A huff left your lips, and unwillingly, you returned your gaze to the screen. Suddenly, a hollow knock came from the front door.

“It’s late,” you said, but Atticus was too caught up in the beginning battle of the movie to pay any mind to you. Rarely did you get visitors, definitely not past midnight on a Friday. Cautiously, you rose from the couch and moved toward the door.

Rain erratically hit against your curtain-covered windows; the wind and cold made the walls around you creak as they adjusted. Whatever waited for you at the door, you just wished it was a person, not a weird ghost or monster. Your finger latched on the side of the curtain, allowing you to peek through the glass of your front door.

A gasp left your lips. Alabaster, soaked from the ruthless rain outside, was the last person you expected to see. But even though you didn’t expect him, you had an inkling as to why he was here.

Hastily, you unlocked the door and flung it open. “Al?” You sputtered; his green orbs were surrounded by tired eyes and puffy skin.

“He died this morning,” he strained. Your expression softened, and before you could say anything, Alabaster stepped forward and hugged your shoulders tightly. The raggedness of his breath, the shutter of his body, sent your chest a weight of sorrow. You couldn’t imagine being in his shoes and losing your father to a long battle with cancer at 14. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes; the person you looked up to the most was breaking down. You never thought he would need your help for anything, but it seems that you were wrong. “I’m sorry. You guys live the closest to me, and I didn’t know where to go-”

“It’s okay,” you interrupted. “Oh, Al, I’m so sorry,” your voice cracked, hands rubbed his back as a sob left his lips. A creak of a floorboard caught your attention, and you turned to see a confused Atticus emerging from the living room. With a sad look, he understood what happened, and soon his expression was mimicking yours.

“I’ll wake dad and get clothes,” he said, then rushed upstairs.

Your father didn’t even hesitate to help Alabaster, opening the doors of your house to him. In his greatest time of need, the three of you stood beside him, and overnight, he had a place in your home and in your heart. The three of you spent so much time playing video games, getting into trouble around town, learning magic. All the good times you and Atticus shared with him, were they really worth throwing away to fight with Kronos? You realize now that his departure was never only a betrayal to the camp but to you, Atticus, and your father, and you couldn’t help but think perhaps, you guys didn’t mean as much to him as he meant to you.

A shaky sigh leaves your mouth at the thoughts persistent to ruin your mood. The desire to leave camp was to avoid all the things that reminded you of your siblings, but now that you returned home, you realize that running away isn’t as easy as you thought.

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