#this took me so so long but this scene is everything to me

[allthesethingswillendsoon]

Long, long time

CHAPTER FIVE: There's a first time for everything

SUMMARY: Seventh grade marks some memorable firsts for the girls, both good and bad.

NOTE: Okay whoopsie this lowkey took me ages, but it's over double what I said it would be the other day, but it's not proofread, so if there are any mega plotholes just let me know. I don't mind this one, I think it could've been better but also it's like quite a memorable one for their plot development so like yeah. Also I'm thinking of also posting this on ao3 because I prefer reading on that platform so tell me if you think that's a good or bad idea. Okay, I hope everyone likes it and thinks it's semi-worth the wait.

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Warnings: Little bit of angst, Jealous Paige 6.6k words Pairing: Paige Bueckers x Azzi Fudd

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20th of FEBRUARY, 2015

OAKRIDGE, VIRGINIA

It was a normal, seemingly average Tuesday when it happened.

Paige woke up, she chucked on her clothes and went downstairs. She said a quick goodbye to her dad as he left for work and ate cereal at the kitchen counter. When the clock hit eight she grabbed her backpack and locked the front door. Azzi was waiting at the front gate as always.

They walked to school at a not too slow-not too fast pace, Azzi chattering about her crazy dream the night before - something about gingerbread men and a zombie apocalypse. From the moment they started walking to the moment they stopped, the dark-haired girl made a point to fill the air between them with consistent conversation, not that Paige minded, it was nice to just listen sometimes. 

The first bell rang as they entered the school, and the best friends parted ways for their classes, Paige to Maths and Azzi to French. First period rolled into second period, which rolled into third period. Finally, after an agonizing three hours of education, it was time for lunch.

Tuesday was renowned for having the best lunch, mac and cheese. It was simply mind blowing that the lunch ladies -who were almost always one health code violation away from unemployment- were able to create such delicious food. Each bite was other-worldly, the perfect ratio of pasta to sauce. And after such a draining morning, every student at Oakridge Middle School was absolutely desperate for a taste of heaven.

Paige scoffed at the line of eager kids waiting for their bowl, amateur hour. If they were smart they would have known that you’re allowed to get two bowls, if Miss Amanda likes you that is. All Paige had to say on the matter was that Miss Amanda loved Azzi, arguably more than her own daughter. So, with a proud grin, Paige waltzed her way past the queue over to her lunch table.

Azzi and Paige had sat together at the same lunch table every day since they started middle school. They shared their table with a few other girls in their grade, who they were friendly with. It was a peaceful arrangement, and the cohabitation worked well for both groups.

As she neared the table, Paige felt her heart drop, something was very, very wrong. The state of the cafeteria could be described as pure pandemonium. Each pre-teen wolfing food into their mouths like their lives depended on it, and some of the most violent line-cutting techniques could be observed. Paige herself had been looking forward to their silent lunch break, expecting both her and her best friend to be fully focussing on their food as was normal on a Tuesday.

So, when her table came into sight, there was no doubt that something horrible had happened to Azzi Fudd. The scene was comparable to a renaissance painting, amongst all the chaos sat Azzi, two glorious bowls of mac and cheese in front of her, both of them perfectly untouched. She was staring ahead, eyebrows furrowed as if she was deep in thought. 

There were many things Paige didn’t like about the world, but the thing she liked the least was seeing Azzi distressed. With a deep breath she walked over to the table, prepared to beat up whoever it was that had messed with her best friend.

“Hey Az!” Paige exclaimed as she sat down, her voice filled with so much enthusiasm it seemed almost fake.

“Hey Paige.” Azzi responded, glancing at her with that same pensieve look she’d had when she was sitting by herself.

Okay, now this was concerning. Not to be too full of herself or anything, but Paige was usually a fix-all for any of Azzi’s bad moods, so the fact her presence changed nothing, was definitely an issue. 

“Everything good? You look a bit upset.” 

“No, I'm not upset.” The younger girl answered, giving absolutely no sign of not being upset.

“That’s good, I’m glad to hear that.” Sure, she was glad to hear her best friend say she wasn’t upset, but that statement didn’t mean much when the best friend in question looked like she might drop dead from stress in the next minute.

Just before she was able to continue her investigation, Azzi took in a big breath, as if trying to breathe in all the courage she could, before she started, “Listen Paige, I need to tell you something.”

Oh god, what could it be? A death in the family? An illness? She didn’t even want to think, could she be… moving? No. No. That was not the time for spiralling. Paige took a moment to compose herself. Azzi was clearly upset by whatever was happening, and the last thing Paige wanted was to make her even more upset by reacting anxiously. 

In the most calm tone she could muster, she asked, “Okay?”

“I’ve been keeping a secret from you.” Azzi said. She had clearly tried to sound confident, but the words came out sounding oh-so very sad.

“What? You’re a mob boss or something?” She joked, hoping to take away some of the tension that Azzi seemed to be drowning in.

“No, not that.” She deadpanned. Now, Paige was aware that it wasn’t her best joke, but she still thought it deserved a little laughter. 

Normally Paige’s crappy dad jokes were enough to take Azzi’s mind off whatever was troubling her for at least a second, but nothing was cracking her shell. For a moment, Paige let her composure slip, “Just tell me Az, you’re really stressing me out.”

Then, Azzi’s stressed exterior slipped, giving way to a softer look, the one she saved for Paige, “Okay, so you know Aaron?”

Paige ran through a mental list of kids in their grade before she questioned, “Aaron B or Aaron W?”

“Aaron B.” Azzi replied. It was probably a trick of the light or something, but Paige swore that as her best friend answered the corner of her mouth flickered up into a smile.

“Yeah I know him. Didn’t he pee his pants sleepwalking at sixth grade camp or something?” Paige chuckled at the memory, there was nothing like the silly fun of a school camp.

“That was Aaron W, not Aaron B.” Azzi stated matter-of-factly. 

Not laughing at the mob boss joke, sure Paige could get that. But not laughing at the thought of a twelve year old sleepwalking and sleep-peeing, simply unheard of.

Paige usually had pretty thick skin, but for some reason Azzi’s reaction mellowed her out, “Oh, right.”

For the second time, Azzi softened, her gaze meeting Paige’s almost apologetically, before she continued, “Anyways, so Aaron B?”

It was weird, the way she was acting. Her worried demeanour was a stark contrast to the urgency and statementness of her words. It seemed as if Azzi had been tasked with telling Paige this secret with as little personality as possible.

“What about him?” Paige questioned, deciding to help the younger girl move her explaining along.

“Well…” Azzi started, before suddenly developing the most intense interest in staring at literally anything other than the blonde girl sitting with her. A solid minute of silent waiting passed by, with Paige waiting to see what she had to say, and Azzi questioning if it was too late to back out.

Just when Paige thought she would never hear her best friend speak again, Azzi blurted, “He asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“What?! Paige near-yelled, she had almost stood up from the table in her outrage,“You said no, right?!” 

Who did this chumbag think he was? Asking the Azzi Fudd to be his girlfriend? 

God, it must have felt great for Azzi to put him in his place.

Nothing in the entire, ever-expanding universe could have prepared her for the words that came out of her best friend’s mouth, “I said yes.”

The words dropped like a bomb, waves of shock almost knocking Paige to the ground.

“What the fuck Az!? Why!?” This time Paige stood up from the table, hands slamming down, shaking the bowls of mac and cheese, before Azzi pulled her back down.

She got this shy look on her face as she spoke, her cheeks and ears burning, “I dunno. He’s cute, and he’s nice and funny.” For the first time during that lunch break, Azzi smiled. It was a different smile, one Paige hadn’t seen before. Once she saw it, she immediately wished she could unsee it. There was something about that smile, it held a different weight than her usual ones, like it meant something more, something deeper than when she smiled at Paige.

There was only one explanation, Azzi had gone crazy, and as her lifelong best friend, it was up to Paige to talk some sense into her, “Yeah, so what? I’m all of those things, doesn’t mean you’re gonna date me!”

Paige’s words settled in the air as Azzi returned her gaze to her. For the third time Azzi’s demeanor softened. She looked at her with such lightness, as if the weight of her vision would crack Paige’s skin open. Normally she liked it, but normal definitely did not include her best friend dating some random boy she barely knew,

Paige knew she was strong and she didn’t like to be babied, her exterior was tough and hard to break. The only people she ever really let loose around was her dad, and the Fudds. She knew none of the kids at school would ever be able to pick it, but she was a major dad’s girl. Not in the stereotypical, ‘pink princess’ way, but just in the way that her Dad was her hero, and Bob gave everything he had and more to Paige no matter what. With the Fudds, they were like the extended family she had never really had, being with them was great, she knew she was like a daughter to Katie and Tim, and like a sister to Jon and Jose. That being said, they were the people who saw her at her highs and lows, and they knew when to go hard or easy on her.

But with Azzi it was different. With Azzi she let herself go soft, let her guarded exterior turn mushy. Paige couldn’t count the amount of times she had cried over her mom, over life, tucked into the crook of Azzi’s neck. She would look at her with those soft eyes, and Paige knew it wasn’t patronising, she knew Azzi would never hold her moments of vulnerability against her. It was the only time she would ever let herself be unguarded. 

But in that moment not even the look on Azzi’s face could make her feel better.

Yet, the whole situation was somehow made worse when Azzi spoke again, “It’s different Paige. Surely you’ve had a crush on someone before, it’s just different.” 

With her words, some deep-seated anger arose from Paige. It was a weird feeling, being upset with Azzi - it had never happened before. Why would she say that, “It’s just different.”? Like their friendship meant nothing in comparison to her snapchat streak with a un-potty trained seventh grader.

“Yeah whatever Az.” Paige spat, her voice dripping with venom, “Why don’t you go and change his diaper or something?”

That time, Paige’s words were the ones to shock Azzi, “Why are you mad at me?!” Confusion was etched all across her face. “And also I told you that was Aaron W not B!”

“Same-same. Now if you don’t mind I have some Mac and cheese to eat.” Paige spoke dismissively, turning to give her full attention to her mac and cheese as she poked at it.

Paige avoided eye contact with Azzi like her life depended on it, not even daring to glance at her as she stared at her from across the table. It wasn’t until the second end-of-lunch bell rang that Azzi finally got up, leaving Paige to sit there with her thoughts.

And for the first time ever, Paige sat without Azzi at the table, and binned two, full bowls of mac and cheese.

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24th of FEBRUARY, 2015

OAKRIDGE, VIRGINIA

Paige had never considered herself a violent, or mean person. But there was just something about seeing Azzi and Aaron together that made her want to scream and yell and throw things. There were just so many things to dislike about Aaron, it was really hard to pinpoint exactly what made him so horrible.

Objectively speaking, he wasn’t ugly per se, but he definitely wasn’t a looker either. He had a button nose, a sharp jawline, clear skin, and bright green eyes. 

When she put it like that she knew that it sounded like he could be attractive - but he was not. 

Looking at Aaron was a jarring experience. It had never occurred to Paige how creepy-looking he was until Azzi started dating him.  Aaron had managed to ruin her brooding time, she couldn’t glare at her best friend without seeing his ugly face, or hearing his revolting voice - or worse, his laugh.

When she heard two girls in English talking about how lucky Azzi was to be his girlfriend she barely stopped herself from turning and strangling them both, and instead shut her mouth as tight as she could, and clenched her fists till her knuckles were pure white. 

To take her mind off the situation, she imagined him as a child, coming home from yet another lonely, friendless day at school to find his mother hosting an afternoon tea with her friends. They would fawn over him, and say “You’re going to be such a heartbreaker!” as they pinched his cheeks. Of course, they all knew it wasn’t the truth, but that’s just what you say to unfortunate looking kids, who grow up to be unfortunate looking pre-teens that ask out girls way out of their league.

Maybe what irked her was the fact that Azzi had smiled when she spoke about him, that saying the things she liked about him broke her out of her broody trance. Or maybe it was the way her cheeks had tinted the prettiest pink. How the galaxies in her dark brown eyes lit up a thousand times brighter. How the dimple in her cheek popped when she hung out with him, how her laughter at his shitty jokes echoed through the halls, honey sweet and sing-songy.

It was only when she came upon that specific reason for not liking him that she realised that maybe that gnawing, sour feeling that had settled low in her belly was something more akin to jealousy. And then, in the same strand of thoughts she decided to stop thinking altogether about why she didn’t like him, and instead just double down on the fact that Aaron sucked and she absolutely hated him. 

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27th of FEBRUARY, 2015

OAKRIDGE VIRGINIA

The final nail in the coffin came when Paige left her third period Spanish class. 

It was a Tuesday, which meant the best mac and cheese in the world. But it also meant it had been a week since Paige and Azzi had last spoken.

If avoiding Azzi was an olympic sport, then Paige had become a twenty-time gold medalist.

 For the first few days they weren’t talking, Paige made a point to stay in Azzi’s vision. She had decided that if she had to be reminded of the emptiness of Azzi in her life, then Azzi should be reminded of Paige. She made sure to be subtle with it, instead of standing directly in front of her, she’d ensure that Azzi would catch glimpses of her from her peripheral vision. Paige would watch as Azzi would spot her, then she would force herself to keep a straight face as she watched her best friend apologise to Aaron for forgetting what it was he had been saying.

That whole thing had been going perfectly, exactly to plan, but then it just started to make her really sad and really angry, and then, of course, her only option was to avoid Azzi, no matter what it took.

She thought it would be simple, she knew Azzi's entire timetable, she knew which hallways she walked down, she wouldn’t be surprised if she could estimate the amount of steps it took for her to get from point A to B. So in theory, it should’ve been smooth sailing to stay away from her, but nothing in her life had been easy, except Azzi - up until that point.

Aaron simply had to ruin, not only her friendship with her best friend, but also her ploy to never see her again. Obviously, because she wasn’t weird, she had absolutely zero idea about Aaron’s timetable, let alone his whereabouts, and in the past week the boyfriend-girlfriend duo had become attached at the hip, meaning it was nearly impossible to avoid them. The key word being nearly.

Paige had been working tirelessly to avoid the both of them, and somehow she had been able to manage it. Her genius strategy? Waiting till the second bell to leave for her next class. On the negative side, she had sprinted away from basically every hall monitor in the school multiple times. But on the positive, she had not seen Aaron and Azzi together in days, which was basically all she wanted.

As glad as she was to not see them together, it was the first time ever that Paige wasn’t on speaking terms with Azzi, and it made her really, really sad. Which was why she wasn’t thinking straight when she left third period Spanish and walked her usual route to the cafeteria - out the language corridor, round the gym, past Aaron and Azzi holding hands, then home-free into the cafeteria.

What. The. Actual. Fucking. Fuck.

Paige isn’t a squeamish person in the least, but the sight of Azzi’s soft hand encased in Aaron’s sweaty one nearly made her throw up. It was surreal, it felt like time had paused, like Paige was floating in time, stuck in place staring at them as they walked hand-in-hand down the hall.

She could have stayed in her trance all day, glued down in the centre of the hallway, but thanks to Mac and cheese Tuesday the hordes of smelly tweens are pushing her forward towards the cafeteria.

Just like the week before she walked past the lunch line and went straight to her table. Since Azzi had been sitting with Aaron and his little minions, Paige had been left to sit with the girls they shared their table with. There were four of them, and they were nice, something Paige had never cared to notice, too busy with Azzi to pay attention to the girls sitting two feet away from them.

They were nice in all the cliche ways, but what made their kindness stand out was the fact they had not mentioned Azzi once, and had simply invited Paige into their conversations. It was good for her to talk to other people, to get out of her head. 

She was aware that she hadn’t been looking or acting her best since the previous Tuesday, but no one had said anything or shown a reaction to her disheveled appearance. It was only on that Tuesday, when Paige had stomped her way to the table that the girls had acknowledged her delicate state.

“Hey Paige!” Shania greeted, her friendly smile quickly growing concerned as she and the rest of the group took in her severely agitated condition, “Are you alright?”

“Wha- Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Nothing to worry about here!” The table continued to stare at her worriedly, perhaps more so after her seemingly, self-assuring response.

“Oookay, cool.” Shania responded, voice filled with nothing but good-willed apprehension.

The table fell into silence, the girls trying to figure out how to deal with Paige’s nuclear state, and Paige trying to act as normal as she could after seeing her best friend of seven years holding hands with a grubby boy.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you about this Paige! There’s a party this Friday at Ryan’s, and you should totally come along!” Emma squealed at her excitedly.

“Yeah, sure, I’d like that.” Paige responded, trying her hardest to sound happy despite herself.

“Yay! I’ll text you the deets,” Emma said, passing Paige her phone, encased in pink diamontes, “Put your number in.”

Paige dutifully poked in her phone number before handing it back. The girls fell into conversation about the party, talking about drinks and other people that were going. Paige was content with letting it go in one ear and out the other, until she heard the name ‘Aaron B’ sandwiched in between the names of the other partygoers.

Aaron going to the party meant Azzi going to the party, that meant they were both going to the party that Paige was going to. Great. Just great. She would get front row seats to their love-fest, how exciting.

For some reason that knowledge didn’t make her cancel, instead it fueled her with reasons to go. She wanted to be there, and wanted to be the one to surprise Azzi with her presence. She wanted her to feel that same stomach dropping feeling she had felt all week, she wanted to be the one with the upper hand. Another, softer part of her, wanted her first, boy-girl, alcohol party to be the same as Azzi’s, even if they weren’t experiencing it together, together.

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2nd of MARCH, 2015

OAKRIDGE VIRGINIA

The school day had dragged on for so long Paige had accepted the fact that it would never end, meaning she nearly cried tears of joy when the end-of-school bell had rung out through the halls.

Ever since Tuesday she had been buzzing with both nerves and excitement. She was convinced that going to her first proper party would cause some cosmic shift within her universe, like the clouds would part and the angels would sing to her the second her hands touched the glass of a lukewarm berry cruiser.

With much more enthusiasm than necessary she had swiped her book into her backpack and power-walked out of school. That had become a prime part of the ‘avoiding Azzi’ plan, leaving way too early for school in the morning, and booking out of school the second it ended to make sure their paths didn’t cross.

As she walked into their street, a pang of guilt struck through her chest at the sight of the Fudd house. It had been killing her, not just the radio silence between her and Azzi, but the subsequent disconnect that had happened between her and the rest of Azzi’s family. 

It was odd, she hadn’t felt the shoulder punches from Jon and Jose in over a week. Hadn’t been yelled at motherly by Katie in over a week. Hadn’t been pulled into a daughter and extra-daughter hug by Tim in over a week. They were things that were a part of her daily life that she had always taken for granted, assuming they’d always be there. 

That wasn’t the only thing she had missed, mostly she had been missing Azzi. Paige missed her so much, she just missed everything about her. And she had officially decided that she would try to make up with Azzi, preferably as soon as possible. Her best case scenario had her hoping for a reconciliation at the party that night. All she had to do was pull her away from Aaron and she was golden, she was one hundred percent sure that Azzi would forgive her once she apologised, because she really was sorry.

The more and more she thought about the whole situation the more she realised how absolutely crazy she had been acting, from quite literally the moment Azzi told her. It was like a switch had flipped in her brain, and all rational thinking had been thrown out the window.

As she showered and got dressed for the party Paige was growing increasingly excited at the prospect of speaking to Azzi again after what felt like a lifetime of separation.

She got her dad to drop her off at seven-thirty at Ryan’s house. Her dad had given her a stern talking to about drugs and alcohol, and the dangers of them. 

Unfortunately, Bob would have been severely disappointed to find out that Paige had accepted a cruiser immediately upon arrival. As excited as she was to talk to Azzi, she was also desperately nervous about going to her first party, and having to enter by herself. Although the cruiser didn’t reveal cosmic secrets to her, it did send the lightest buzz through her, and inspire her to go to the kitchen and concoct a wickedly bitter vodka-juice blend in a plastic red cup.

After a while of floating around, Paige spotted Shania and her friends in the corner, and quickly made her way towards them. As she does she scans the room for Azzi and/or Aaron. That still made her upset, that they were now always together, like Paige and Azzi usually were, but whatever, Paige was there to make up with Azzi, not trash on her stupid boyfriend.

She walked up to the girls and fell into the simple chatter that they constantly had going. It was nice, they were nice, the way the alcohol made her feel was nice. She was content, simply standing there huddled in a circle with them as they discussed something Paige really didn’t care about. It appeared they were going to stay like that, until someone yelled ‘Spin the bottle time!’.

Suddenly, everyone, including Paige, was shoved into the basement, a large, misshapen circle of people sat in the centre of the room. Scanning the room once again, Paige finally saw her.

Azzi was sitting in the circle, pressed up against Aaron on one side and some random cheerleader on the other. She was wearing a pink sweater and her nicest pair of jeans, her hair was out and her lips were glossed a soft mauve. To put it simply, she looked really pretty.

Paige was leaning against a wall, her third drink and second cruiser of the night held firmly in her hand. She had opted out of the game, not wanting to have to swap spit with some stupid boy in her grade if the bottle were to land on her.

It suddenly hit her that she was sitting out of the game because she didn’t want to kiss someone, and that Azzi was sitting in on the game because she did want to kiss someone. And that someone would obviously be her boyfriend.

The thought of Azzi kissing him made her shudder, but she pushed it to the side. Azzi was her best friend and it should not have mattered to Paige who she kissed, so she decided not to care.

For the amount of hype the game had received, it was actually quite boring. Someone would spin the bottle, the bottle would land on someone, they would kiss, then the process would repeat. It wasn’t until Kathy Libertman spun the bottle and it landed on Johnny Albertson that there were some oohs and aahs. The fact that Kathy had the world’s most massive crush on Johnny was as widely accepted as the fact that two plus two equals four.

As Paige chuckled at the spin she glanced towards Azzi, who looked up at her at that exact moment. Instead of looking away like she would have a few days ago she held her gaze, blue eyes on brown for the first time in too long, and smiled just a little. A look of confusion mixed with shock passed over Azzi’s face before the corner’s of her mouth flicked up.

God that felt good. The cruisers hadn’t changed her life, but seeing her best friend smile at her like that again made Paige think that maybe the universe was on her side.

After Johnny had adeptly swerved Kathy, a few more rounds passed. Then, it was Aaron’s turn. Azzi was trying to play it cool, but Paige knew every single one of her nervous tells, the clench of her jaw and the furrow of her brows softening for a second as Paige gave her an encouraging nod.

Aaron reached into the circle and spun the empty coke bottle. It spun and spun and spun before coming to a perfect stop between Azzi and the cheerleader next to her.

The chatter of the room dissipated immediately as everyone watched in anticipation. Azzi was visibly distressed, and even Paige was nervous as to where the situation was headed.

Aaron hesitated for a moment, his gaze flickering between his girlfriend, the strawberry-blonde girl next to her, and the coke bottle. With a big intake of air, he leant forward over Azzi and kissed the cheerleader. The room erupted in a mix of confusion and support.

Everyone in the room was watching as Aaron and the cheerleader kissed for what seemed like forever, but Paige had her eyes trained on Azzi, who looked like a deer in the headlights stuck between them. Pushing through the room, Paige reached a hand out to Azzi who gladly took it and let herself be pulled out of the room and onto the street.

They stood in companionable silence, there were things they needed to say, but not yet.

It was nearing eleven o’clock when Paige called her dad to pick them up. The night air was chilly but when Paige’s hand brushed against Azzi, her whole body heated up from her best friend’s warmth.

Paige didn’t know if Azzi had been drinking or not, but she knew when they got into her dad’s car that he would know that Paige had in fact been drinking, and hadn’t heeded her dad’s warning. She expected a lecture on the danger of drinking but instead was met with absolutely zero conversation directed towards her, instead, her dad was talking to Azzi, catching up with her about the past week and a half of their lives. It hadn’t occurred to her till then that Azzi was just as much a part of her family as Paige was a part of hers - she had missed Azzi in her life so much.

The two girls went straight to Paige’s room and Bob to his. Only when they were tucked safely into the gentle warmth of the bedroom did Paige speak, “Listen, I’m really sorry Az. I don’t know why I was being so crazy, he just made me so upset, like I knew you were way out of his league and I just knew that you deserved way, way better than him.”

After her rant Paige sort of expected Azzi to get mad at her and let out her anger at the whole situation, yet Azzi simply smiled, “Yeah you were being pretty crazy, but I’m sorry too”

Paige scoffed at that, earning a confused chuckle from Azzi, “What are you sorry for? You literally did nothing wrong.”

“Well I should’ve told you ages ago, we had been texting every night for two whole weeks before he asked me out, and I don’t really know why I didn’t tell you… It’s just  that I was really worried you were gonna react… exactly like you reacted, y’know?” The curly-haired girl explained.

“Yeah, I get that, I did have like the worst reaction a person could have,” Paige confessed softly  “I mean, I’m just so sorry Az, I wish I never got angry, I’ve missed you so much.” 

Azzi pulled the blonde in for a hug, her head nestled in the crook of Azzi’s neck, the familiar, sweet aroma of her perfume filling her senses.

With a squeeze Azzi pulled away, before she flopped face-first onto Paige’s bed, “God that was so embarrassing.”

It was quite the situation, but it was definitely way more embarrassing for Aaron, like, fumbling the single-most pretty and smart and kind and funny girl in the whole school. She decided against saying that, and instead tried to lighten the situation, “Could’ve been worse, you saw what happened to Kathy.”

“Yeah, but Johnny’s not her boyfriend.” Azzi mumbled from her spot splayed out on Paige’s bed.

“That’s true I guess.” Paige responded thoughtfully, accepting defeat.

“Great. thanks Paigey.” She grumbled light-heartedly.

Right before Paige went to apologise Azzi sprang up into a sitting position on the bed, “It just sucks y’know?”

“Yeah I know.” Paige hummed in agreement. Their shoulders were pressed together again, and Paige could feel the touch and the alcohol mixing and making her brain short circuit a little 

“Like I really thought I was gonna have my first kiss tonight” Azzi huffed in upset annoyance.

“Well look on the bright side, he’s a mega dick, so really you dodged a bullet.” Paige reassured her. 

As much as she was glad that Azzi had found out what a douche he was, she wished even more that it had happened quietly, not in front of a big crowd of people.

“You’re actually quite right.” Azzi agreed after considering her statement for a moment.

Paige playfully shoved her with her shoulder, “Of course I am.”

Azzi went quiet for a second before she turned to look Paige in the eyes, “Yeah. I want my first kiss to mean something. To be with someone that really cares about me and stuff.”

The words came from her mouth before she could think about what she was saying, “I mean you still could.” 

Paige didn’t know what it was that made her say that. Maybe it was the liquid courage from before. Or maybe it was the adrenaline from making up with her best friend. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the way the streetlight glow filtering in through the windows was hitting Azzi’s cheekbones just right, how her lashes were long and her lips full. How Paige wasn’t sure she had ever truly appreciated Azzi’s beauty before the way it was meant to be.

“What do you mean?” Azzi asked. It seemed like a question, but with the way Azzi was batting her eyelashes at her, it started to seem more like a challenge.

Paige’s brain actually did short circuit for a split second that time, but then, mostly thanks to the liquor, she decided to just double down and speak with confidence.

“I think you know what I mean” She responded, her blue eyes flickering from Azzi’s doe-y brown ones to her soft lips.

Almost imperceptibly, Azzi shifted closer. 

“Yeah.” She breathed out shakily, breaking eye contact to not so subtly look at Paige’s mouth.

“So can I?” Paige asked, moving her hand to rest on Azzi’s shoulder; confidence suddenly oozing out of her every pore.

“Yes.” Azzi responded quickly, her eyes trained only on her best friend’s mouth, before starting again, as if trying to regain some dignity, “Yeah. Yes please.”

Paige gave a soft smile before moving her hand up to cup Azzi’s jaw, the other settling feather-light on her waist. She watched as Azzi’s breath hitches, and her eyes flickered close. Paige followed suit, leaning in slowly. Azzi’s hands were hovering over both of her shoulders, as if unsure of what to do. Paige doesn’t mind though, if it weren’t for the alcohol that was running amok through her system they probably wouldn’t have even been in that situation in the first place.

After an eternity of leaning in, their lips touched in a soft peck. Only for a second, before they pulled away. Azzi tasted sweet, like canned lemonade and strawberry scented lip gloss. Her skin was warm under Paige’s hands.

Maybe it had been minutes or days or years since their kiss, neither were sure. All Paige knew was that she wanted to kiss Azzi again, and so she did. That time she let herself linger, let herself apply a little bit of pressure, and in return Azzi pressed in a little harder too. When Azzi made a little sound of contentment Paige thought she might explode. She wanted to keep going, but something told her to stop, to let it be good just as it was.

When she pulled away and opened her eyes, Azzi still had hers closed. And for a split second, Paige swore she caught a smile on her face, a kind of smile she had never given to Paige before.

Now that was it. That was the cosmic feeling Paige had been waiting for. Scratch the cruisers, scratch everything else, that was the feeling. The kind that people chase their whole lives, and Paige had just experienced it on a random Friday night in the quiet of her room.

Friendship really was magical. 

Azzi was her best friend, of course it would be her, they were the closest of all platonic soulmates.

A few seconds later, Azzi opened her eyes, and smiled at her. Her hands were still on Paige’s shoulders and she decided that she wouldn’t mind holding onto each other like that forever.

Kicking off their shoes they surrendered to wearing their outside clothes to sleep. Paige had a double bed, which was the absolute perfect size for two people in Azzi’s opinion.

They tangled together in a mess of warm limbs under the blanket. Azzi had her head on Paige’s chest, listening to the rhythmic thumping of her heartbeat.

“Thanks Paigey. I’m glad you were my first kiss” She whispered against her jumpered chest.

“I’m glad you were mine too Az, that’s what best friends are for, right?” Paige smiled good-naturedly, her chin coming to rest against Azzi’s head.

Azzi let out a little choked sound before she responded, “Yeah, best friends, totally.”

Paige ignored the weird way she was talking - it had been a long night - and pulled Azzi into her just a little tighter, prepared to let sleep take over.

Just when she thought she was about to fall asleep she heard Azzi’s whisper again, “Paige, you were right.”

“Yeah I usually am.” Paige smirked sleepily.

“So full of yourself, god.” Azzi said as she used her arm draped around Paige’s waist to poke her in the side.

Wincing slightly Paige gloated, “That’s like the second time you’ve said something like that to me tonight.”

“Yeah whatever you goof.” Azzi conceded, seemingly forgetting about whatever it was she had to say.

Paige wanted to sleep, but she wanted to know what it was that Azzi was going to tell her, “Wait, so what specifically was I right about?” she asked as she gave Azzi’s shoulder a soft squeeze.

“Oh right” Azzi spoke softly, “It was Aaron B.”

Azzi always got a little out of it when she was tired, but she always remembered to finish her sentences, “It was Aaron B, what?”

Paige thought she had fallen back asleep after Azzi had gone silent for so long, but after taking a quick inhale of breath Azzi answered quietly, “It was Aaron B that peed his pants on sixth grade camp.”

If it weren’t for the fact Paige was so determined to know what Azzi had said she would have missed the softly spoken words, but she didn’t and she was so glad she heard them.

Paige burst out laughing and Azzi followed along.

“You’re kidding me!” Paige wheezed between gasps.

But Azzi was too busy laughing so hard she could barely breathe, clutching onto Paige’s arm as her mouth opened wide in silent laughter.

That was how they fell asleep, tucked into one another as their heaving laughter gave way to shallow, sleeping breath.

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

Feel free to send me asks or opinions and stuff in my inbox or DMs, responding to them is my favourite it's so much fun. As always, thanks for reading :)

[svetamillss]

Hiii i love your hyunju headcanons so much!! if possible can you do more of the mommy ones, or more focused on her boobs? Like maybe how she found out she liked it and how it started and stuff like that?

Headcanons: she likes to be your mommy🫦

Featuring: Cho Hyun Ju x Reader(f)

Warnings: NSFW, dirty talk, porn mentions, mommy kink.

A/N: More mommy Hun Ju, more!! Thank you for such a wonderful order!!

🫦🫦🫦

🫦It all started after she had surgery on her breasts and did it so big that many girls could envy her size.

When Ju began to wear lace bras or tight dresses with shirts (in which she will definitely unbutton a couple of top buttons), you begin to stare at her huge breasts and give compliments.

- I would bury my face into your tits and never come out again. - At first this comment discouraged her, and then she wanted to hear similar phrases from you more and more.

🫦Looking at Hyun Ju, you might think she's a pretty shy girl, but she has too depraved scenes with you in her head. She literally became addicted to your words about her tits, as soon as she hears a compliment from you, her dick immediately hardens. She wants to hear more. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. She wants it. She deliberately dresses up for you openly, as long as you look and say what she wants so much.

🫦The last blow for her was when you gave her a blowjob. You trivially wanted to tease her, without thinking about the consequences at all.

- Does mommy like the way I suck her fat dick?

At first, Hyun Ju didn't pay much attention to your nickname out of excitement, but after she scrolled this phrase in her head several more times, she was literally ready to explode. Mommy. Your mommy. She wants to be her.

- God, I'm too dirty a pervert. - she said to herself, after every thought about how you call her mommy.

🫦Secretly from you, she started watching lesbian porn, where there were a lot of role-playing games, where the younger girl obeys the older one.

Ju picked up a few wishes for herself from these videos and planned to discuss with you and offer to do the same.

- Baby, I want to confess. I watched porn to gradually learn how to do lesbian sex with you. And I took some ideas from there. I've recently become addicted to your comments about my tits, and when you called me mommy... I'm ready to cum just because of this. - she was very embarrassed that she even stopped saying her opinion.

- No need to be shy, I'm pleased that I give you such emotions. Tell me what you want?

- Call me mommy and during sex..please.. play with my tits. I want you to suck them as my little child. - but after the last sentence, she was even more embarrassed that she was in a hurry to explain herself, thinking that you misunderstood. - I'm sorry that I'm such a pervert!! I just...

- Everything is fine, mommy. I will do anything to give you pleasure.

🫦After your conversation, you really began to call Ju mommy, almost everywhere and always, except for crowded places, after all, your girlfriend was still shy of such words in public, but at home, in correspondence, you had fun to the fullest.

During sex, you always suck Ju's tit. They are really very soft and amazing, and your bites and drool look very good on it. If your girlfriend could release milk from her breast, you would gladly drink only from her tits.

Now your mommy Ju gets orgasms much faster.

🫦🫦🫦

[thewitchandtheassassin]

Life, Death, and the Space in Between Part Four (Agatha Harkness x Reader x Rio Vidal)

Summary: Every action has a consequence.

Words: 1540

Warnings: Arguments, talks of death, canon death, language?

A/N: I'm alive. I haven't forgotten this. I also have Covid so forgive me. K, thanks!

-X-

Agatha’s feet carried her forward, through endless expanse as she searched for Nicky before—

Two small, thin arms wrapped around her, his head pressing against her stomach as he barreled into her. “Mama!” his voice cracked, burrowing deeper into her grasp.

Breath catching painfully in her chest, Agatha sunk to her knees, gathering him into her arms and just… holding him, silent tears streaming down her face. He smelled just like she remembered—of earth and rain and everything good in her world. Everything good she’d ever done.

-X-

Trembling hands caressed your face, wiping away sweat and tears as your breathing grew shallow, lips paling.

“W-what’s happening?” Teen asked nervously, flinching at Rio’s cold, unwavering glare.

“Which part? The part where you shouldn’t exist right now and neither should this godforsaken Road? How your powers just sent (Y/N) and Agatha into the realm of the afterlife because you can’t control your abilities? Or the part where—” Rio choked on her words, staring down at your unmoving body, “—Life is dying?”

Teen’s jaw dipped open, eyes wide with horror. “W-what?”

The other witches took a step back, sensing the brewing storm within Rio, eyes flickering between the boy and the scene before them.

“You, Teen, are Billy Maximoff. Son of the Scarlet Witch and the creator of the Witch’s Road. Congratulations, you’ve turned a con into a reality and in doing so, have damned Life to die because you briefly gave Agatha Harkness enough power to drag my other half into the fucking afterlife!” her words were sharp, cracking around the edges. “The living can’t come back from the afterlife! In letting Agatha have exactly what she wanted, Life made a choice… and she…”

Shaking fingers drifted along your cheeks.

“God, why did you do it?” she asked your still form. “You idiot. You stupid, wonderful, selfless idiot.”

“Wait, wait, hold up. (Y/N) is Life?” Jenn repeated, her eyes jumping between you and Rio. “So does that make you—”

“Death,” Lilia finished, though it wasn’t a question.

Tilting her head slightly, Rio’s eyes never left you. “Ding, ding, ding. Thank you for playing, witches. So, unless anyone has any useful ideas right this second, I need you all to shut the hell up while I think.”

For once…

The Road was silent.

And Rio had no ideas of how to solve this fucking mess.

-X-

Staggering towards Agatha and Nicky, you forced your body to keep moving, even as the afterlife demanded more from you the longer Agatha remained. Seeing her clinging to Nicky tugged at your heart and you hated yourself for what you were about to do. Dragging her away.

“Mommy!” Nicky gasped, peering over Agatha’s shoulder at you, his excitement fading into worry. “Are you okay? You don’t look okay.”

Stiffening slightly, Agatha glanced over her shoulder at you, eyes widening at the blackening veins pulsing on your face, the paleness of your lips, the shadows nipping at your heels…

“Hey, baby,” you rasped, collapsing beside Agatha and gently combing your fingers through his long hair. “I uh… I’m okay. I have to take Mama home though. I’m sorry, we can’t stay.”

Nicky’s expression dropped but he nodded. “I know. It’s not Mama’s time.”

Reaching up, his small hand touched your cheek, knowing something’s wrong even if he can’t understand it. His other hand touched Agatha’s.

“Please stop fighting,” he whispered to Agatha, holding her gaze. “It wasn’t their fault. Someday, we’ll be a family. All of us. You and Mommy and Mami… we’ll all be happy again.”

Maybe it’s the light shining in his eyes or the actual health keeping his face colored or maybe it’s the confidence in his voice but something—even if she didn’t want to admit it—began to warm in her chest, regret flooding into her eyes as she really took you in. How sick you suddenly seemed. The way you were panting, despite not needing air. The way your glow seemed…

Dim.

Smiling softly—in pain, in heartbreak—you grabbed Agatha’s hand and tangled your fingers together before closing your eyes, yanking both of you back into your bodies before she could try and stop you.

Then…

There was only darkness.

-X-

Agatha awoke with a gasp, sitting upright abruptly. The Road. She was on the Road again—lying in the wet mud—but…

Glancing around, she saw everyone surrounding… something.

“And here I thought this coven would be happy to know I’m fine,” she half-joked, staggering to her feet and wandering over to group, almost offended by the lack of reaction. “Really feeling the sisterhood here.”

Before she could even reach the circle, Rio’s hand was wrapped around her neck, shoving her into a tree. Scathing remarks on the tip of her tongue, she froze at the look of absolute fury on Rio’s face. Of all the things she’d said and done over the centuries, she’d never been on the receiving end of this expression…

This hatred.

“Agatha Harkness, you selfish, thoughtless woman! Hate me all you want but she—” Rio choked on her words, emotion swimming so deeply in her eyes that it nearly stole Agatha’s breath. “—she always saw the best in you. Forgave you for whatever you said; whatever you did. But this? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What fucking mess you’ve caused? No, because you don’t ever think about anyone other than yourself!”

“What are you talking about?” Agatha choked out, fingers wrapping around Rio’s wrist in an attempt to loosen her grip.

Dragging her by her throat over to your body, Rio snarled, “Look!”

There, motionless on the ground, you lied. Pale in the moonlight of the Road, eyes fluttering, chest barely rising—

You looked like a damn corpse, something Agatha never once expected to see. You, so full of energy and life, snuffed out like a candle in a windstorm, only embers remaining where your flames once burned. Your fingers twitched, as if reaching out for something unseen but too weak to find.

“Nothing living can return from the afterlife. It demands a price, a price, for any mortal that passes through—and she fucking paid yours.” Rio’s lip trembled, staring at the dying body of her counterpart.

Her perfect other half.

For the first time in her existence, Agatha Harkness was struck speechless. You, who always stood by her side even when she screamed and raged and hated… you, who vowed to love her even as Agatha scorched the earth around her… you who could’ve left her to the afterlife…

“(Y/N),” she breathed, dropping to her knees beside you, a trembling hand reaching out to touch your face, only to be caught by Rio and yanked away, nearly knocked backwards onto her ass.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” she hissed, carefully lifting your body into her arms to cradle you to her chest. Feeling the way your heartbeat was waning beneath her palm. Sluggish. Barely beating. “You’ve done enough.”

Agatha’s lips parted, but no words came. There was nothing she could say. For once, the woman who had spoken her way into and out of every situation imaginable—who always found an angle to tip the scales in her favor—was utterly, horrifyingly speechless. For all her dark knowledge… she was completely unprepared.

A broken, strangled sound escaped her lips, and she moved again, reaching for you instinctively. “Rio, please—”

“No,” Rio spat, pulling you tighter against her chest. Her arms curled around you as if shielding you from the very woman who had caused this, her visage flickering for a split second. An unspoken warning. “You don’t get to ask anything of me. Of her. Not anymore.”

Agatha recoiled like she’d been struck, breath hitching sharply in her throat. She wanted to argue, to lash out, to fix this—but there was nothing she could say, nothing she could do. For the first time, she actually felt how powerless she really was.

"Please, baby," Rio whispered, this time directed at you. At the barely-there rise and fall of your chest. "Stay with me. Don’t leave me; I can’t do this without you."

But even as she begged, even as she reached for something unseen, something that was already slipping between her fingers, trying to call upon something—anything, the truth sat heavy in the air.

You were dying.

And there wasn’t a damn thing Death could do to stop it.

Jenn took a step forward, hesitant. “There has to be something we can do.” Her voice wavered, but there was determination in her eyes, staring at your still body. “Life isn’t a mortal, so that means the afterlife can’t just… take her.”

Rio let out a bitter laugh, low and humorless. “Oh, sure. Go ahead, Jenn. If you have a way to defy the fundamental laws of existence and the cosmos and the afterlife I’ve cultivated for millennia, be my guest. Clearly a bunch of half-assed witches know more than an actual cosmic entity.”

Jenn bristled but she kept quiet, knowing this wasn’t just anger—this was unadulterated grief. The panic of not being able to stop what felt inevitable.

And if they didn’t hurry…

There would be no life left to save.

[siri-ike]

@megasweetbones I'm making this the prequel to the other fic

Warning ⚠️ suicidal thoughts from a child, ploting to murder a child, multiple deaths, semi successful suicide, S.A., victim blaming negative self-talk

(Also, let me know, do you want the warning, or is it too much of a spoiler?)

Pronunciation guide for the name Álaug

Ál sounds like owl, Au sounds like eui, soft G

The thorns dug into her palm, causing her to bleed, but she refused to loosen her grip. This is it. Álaug thought as gravity brought her closer and closer to her inevitable end. Well, actually, she thought, "Í víti finn ég loksins frið" but, she's about to die, she's allowed to be a litte edge lord right now. The closer she got the brighter she could see the glow of the Lazarus water from behind her. She kurled in on herself around the black rose as the pit swallowed her whole.

One week earlier

This is it. This is the day Athanasia will escape. She's planned it for months, and it's finally time.

"Your target is Gord Keener, a Canadian politician. He's sponsoring a girl's hockey league. You will each join one of the teams to get close and kill him once you get the opportunity."

Athanasia stood perfectly still, as Grandfather assigned her her first leading role for a mission since being declared an unsuccessful attempt. It would just be her and Danielle, no, Daniel. He had told her just a few nights ago. No way would Grandfather accept him like that, especially on top of all his other issues, so she had to bring him. Which is fine. She can hunt food for herself. What's one more? Plus, she's ha- he's had some combat training, too. That's gonna take some getting used to.

The problem started when Grandfather made her bring Álaug. Come on, she had only been there for 2 months. She's not ready for a task. She barely speaks their language. But you know what? Athanasia is nothing if not resilient. She will overcome this obstacle. And not just because Daniel begged her not to kill her and push her body of a steep cliff.

Tryouts were easy, Daniel was great in cold environments, and Álaug was surprisingly a fantastic skater. They successfully infiltrated the 7, 8, and 9 year old teams.

Even with the added obstacle, this all felt too perfect. If Athanasia didn't know any better, she'd think Grandfather was purposely putting all his problems in one boat to get rid of them. The mission itself is so inconsequential. What could one polite snowman do to them?

"What about you, Jasmine?... Jasmine?"

Oh, right. Jasmine was the name she had given.

"What?"

"Which comic do you want? Alicia brought a bunch." One of the Olivias stated.

"I have Phantom Stranger, Tales from Atlantis, Boom-boom Kaboom, Return of the Gray Ghost, and The Time Keeper. Everything else is already taken."

These girls don't even know her. And from how Alicia had spoken about her books, they were clearly important.

Atha- Jasmine ended up reading 7 issues of the Time Keeper. A mysterious cloaked figure who punishes time travelers for messing with the timestream. What utter nonsense. The real Time-Wraiths would never be as welcoming and well spoken as this Time Keeper. And yet she can't stop reading. That is, until she gets to the 7th issue. In it, there's a side plot where three young girls are planning to assassinate a member of the time council. The oldest and youngest were sisters. The youngest looked exactly like Daniel but had short hair, and the third character was the most concerning. In the story, the girls told the Green Hornet that they were being blackmailed into doing the job, but in the end, it turned out the third girl had been sent as a spy.

Athanasia can in no way be considered gullible or naive. Even by assassin standards, she can sniff out a lie a mile away. But this, this is different. But the book she chose happened to be the one that warns of a traitor? That has to be an omen, or some kind of spirit trying to warn her.

At this point, Daniel is used to pretending to be one of the girls. But it felt different this time. One of his teammates had asked if she could call him Dani for short, and it felt so right. Righter than "Daniel" had felt. "Danny" was absolutely perfect.

There wasn't really any information gathering to do, so he was free to play sleepover games with the rest of his group. For once, he was included with the others. The adults didn't try to separate him or tell him he's too weak or that he was a waste of resources. He was just part of the group. Is this what life will be like outside the league? He couldn't wait to tell Athanasia all about it.

Two months ago Álaug was happily vacationing with her parents and two older brothers. And now she's expected to kill some guy? She had exepted that her parents were dead. She had had to. And even if Bölverkur and Böðólfur had survived in the first place, they definitely couldn't have survived two months alone in the Himalayan mountains. They can't even be left home alone for a week. Couldn't.

"Oley? Oley? Can you hear me?" One of the hockey girls was butchering her name.

"It's Á-laug," There wasn't any feeling in her voice. She used to hate it when people mispronounced her name. "It means curse or charmed lake."

That seemed to catch the girls off guard, and they left her alone for a while after that.

Until one of the adults walked over to her. Not the coach. This is one of the girls' moms.

"Hi, sweetheart." She placed a hand on Álaugs knee only to get slapped away. "Why are you mad at the other girls?"

Leading question, assigning her an emotion rather than asking her how she feels. The assassins taught her all about it. There's no point talking to her because she's already decided what's happening. Álaug stood up in silence and headed towards the door. The woman grabbed her hand. As she expected, there was no attempt to check herself. She would only assign blame. Álaug looked back at her. There was nothing in her eyes, no aggression or sadness, just hollowness. "What is your plan?" She leers. "Hoping that I'll scream and yell, so you can look like the big stong authority figure? Want me to blindly obey your orders so you can feel powerful? What me to cry, so you can comfort the new girl? You didn't even ask what happened. You just decided that I was in the wrong. Because someone told you a biased version of half a story." Álaug was fully aware how uncomfortable she made people, no one likes hearing such complicated accusations from a 9 year old, especially one who is clearly speaking a second language. And the calmness makes her all the more unsettling. But right now, she just couldn't pretend. The parent chaperone, or whatever she was, stood there in stunned silence long enough for Álaug to make her way out of the common area and into one of their bedrooms, where she locked herself in. From there, it was just a matter of climbing out the window. Hopefully, she'd get lucky and never see any of these people again, not the hockey team, the assassins, her cooperatives, anyone. Maybe she'd get lucky and disappear forever. Their room was on the 14th floor. She could disappear right now, and no one could stop her.

🎶🎵🎶

If only whoever was in the room to the left above them could stop singing for five minutes so she could think.

Climbing wasn't just something the league thought her. She was already good. She was on a lot of teams and sports clubs before Nanba Parbat. Not that any of that mattered now. Her friends probably think she died with her family. If only. There was a half-naked man singing and dancing alone in the room. He was way off tune. She climbed properly onto the balcony. Should she pick the lock or knock? Wait, no, why would she need to get in? She didn't care about this guy. The only thing he has going for him is that he hasn't pissed her off yet. She opted for knocking, which startled him in a rather animated manner. He opened the glass door to let her inside.

"Did Henry lock you out here?"

"Ég slapp frá forráðamönnum mínum." Easier to pretend not to know English.

"I don't understand." He paused as though thinking. "WOULD. YOU. LIKE. SOME. TEA?" Idiot.

She walked past him towards the door. But she stops. Putting aside the stupidity of trying to yell over the language barrier, why offer tea? Does he expect her to stay? She hurries, but the door is locked. Hotel doors aren't supposed to lock people in. There must be someth-

"Come now, he was probably just having a bit of fun."

She should have known. How could she be so stupid? Any trustworthy person would have been shocked to see an 8 year old girl in pajamas on their balcony. She didn't need to look back to know he was coming closer. For the first time in two months, she actually felt something. Why'd it have to be fear? She bolted for the nearest open door, which happened to lead to bedroom with a large fancy looking bed. She closed the door behind her, but there was nothing to block it. All she could do was hide. Whether she chose under the bed or in the closet, she'd be at a disadvantage either way. She darted under the bed. Down side: reduced speed, vulnerable position. Upside: he's too big to fit, and he can't reach her if she stays in the center.

"Putting up a fight, huh? I like that. Some of the other girls he hires make it too easy."

Tell him you weren't hired for anything and give away your location? Or assume the worst of a guy who apparently regularly hires girls young enough that she could be confused for one. Easy choice. She trained her eyes on his shoes as closed the door behind him.. Then his pants dropped to his ankles. Álaug reaches a hand into her pajama bottoms, for the knife straped to her thigh. Thank you, League of Assassins... ACTUALLY NO, they're the reason she's here. The league can all go lick this guy's sweaty butthole!

"Do you have braces?" He slowly made his way towards the bed. "The last one had braces. They leave scratches." It sounded like he wanted the answer to be yes.

The closet made a creaking noise, and he turned to it. He opened the closet door and grunted in disappointment. Álaug heard the scratching of hangers sliding around on a metal pole and clothes being shifted around. Interrupted suddenly by a thump, then a second, smaller pair of bare feet land on the floor behind him as he trips forward into the closet. Álaug uses the opportunity to run out from under the bed and slice his exposed ankles. He screamed and swore at the top of his lungs but only for a moment before Álaugs knife was taken from her and stabbed straight into the man's neck. The other girl. She stood there holding the knife in place and covered in blood. She was obscured in the darkness. The man jolted an arm, and Álaug took the chance to leap over to the other girl, grab the knife, and repeatedly stab him in the throat again. She felt a pain in her cheeks. She brought a hand to her face only to find that she couldn't stop smiling. Like this was her life's greatest accomplishment. The other girl took her hand and they left the room together.

In the light of the living area, she could properly make out the girls' features. She had medium brown skin and darker brown currly hair with a few broken butterflies clips in it. Her greenish brown eyes were full of tears and snot poured from her upturned nose. She examined Álaug too. Her eyes darted from her straight, dirty blonde hair to her narrow chin and down to her slightly oversized PJs held together with a headband around her waist.

"I'm Nadia. You?"

"Álaug, it's Owl like the animal Au like in bird and ends with a soft G."

"Oh, ok, um, Nadia is like, ah.-"

"It's fine. I can remember Nadia." Álaug pointed at Nadias loose jersey. "You on one of the teams?"

"Nah, Mama Crieo had me wear this to get into the hotel."

Álaug looked down at the logo on her own top. "Oh, you're an assassin, too?"

"Uhm, no." She looked at Álaug with a bit more scrutiny this time. "Who were you here to assassinate?"

"Gord Keener, a politician, I don't know what he did, can't be as bad as that guy." She gestured back to the unconscious man bleeding out behind them.

Nadia narrowed her eyes. She pointed to a suitcase on the floor. Álaug walked over to it, and Nadia followed, still refusing to let go of her hand. Álaug checked the bag tag from his flight. "Keener"

"Oh, well, that worked out nicely then."

"Nicely? Are you - " She sighed." Never mind, we should get out of here." She holds out her blood-stained jersey. "He probably didn't have spares in our sizes."

Nadia hated the plan. Staying in the suite with a dead body while Álaug climed down to get extra clothes was the absolute last thing she wanted to do, right after having to use their assailants grown man shoes to step in more creep blood to obscure their distinctly child sized bloody footprints. She finished shortly before Álaug got back, wearing two pairs of shorts and to jerseys, and two pairs of sneakers slung over her shoulders. They left the clothes near the body and snuck out using a keycard Nadia had found during her cover-up.

"Olie!"

They were almost to the front door when that same parent chaperone spotted them.

"Olie! Get back here!" She ran towards them. And they sprinted as fast as they could, but it was no use. "Olie, we were worried sick. How did you even get out?" She held tight onto Álaugs wrist.

"I thought your name was Álaug." Nadia remarked.

"So, did, I." Álaug snarked.

"This isn't funny. You're coming with me." She started walking back, dragging a resistant Álaug behind her.

Nadia watched on horrified, a million thoughts rushed in and out of her head, and she did something she never thought she would.

She bit the woman's hand.

It was shocking enough that they both could escape out the front door without being caught.

They stopped in an alley almost three blocks away to catch their breath.

"We need to find a thrift store, catwalk around wearing a recognizable team logo." Álaug suggested.

"Ok," Nadia pulled a battered looking leather wallet from he pants pocket. "20, 40, 60, 80, 90, 100, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 26, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. We have one hundred and thirty-two dollars. Hope they have coats in our size, or at least thick hoodies." She picked out the ID and credit cards. "Mama Crieo says to never take the cards because they can be tracked." She slips them into a nearby drain cover.

"I can't believe I didn't think to take his money." Álaug looks fondly at Nadia. "That must be why people commit crimes with partners."

The elderly woman who owned the diner they'd hidden behind very helpfully gave them directions to the nearest second-hand store not owned by Debra, to whom she apparently refused to send business. The store she sent them to was perfect. The kids' section was huge, and they were even able to find somewhat matching overalls. Score. Álaugs were mossy green with leaves mushrooms and caterpillar embroidery, paired with a pale yellow bell-sleeved blouse, winter stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes. Nadias were a light pink to orange gradient with butterflies and peach blossom branches, paired with a white long sleeved t-shirt, pale pink winter stockings, and black boots. The hoodie selection was less interesting but they found a purple one with a dinosaur on it and a black one with some stars on the back.

At the counter Álaug quickly ran off and brought back one more item. A pack of butterfly hair clips that she presented to her friend with a smile. They were different from the ones Nadia had, or, the two that were still intact. Her old ones were semi transparent and had round wings. These new ones were glittery and had more square-ish wings. But they were perfect anyway. The price came out to 73CAD and 1 cent. The cashier was nice enough to ignore the one cent so they wouldn't have to carry a bunch of change with them.

Nadia counts their money again after they leave, 59CAD, more than enough for two lunch packs and train tickets. The plan was to go back to Mama Crieo since Henry probably wasn't going to give her a ride back now.

Train tickets for under 12 are 10CAD each, prepackaged sandwiches are 4CAD each, and since somehow water costs money in this country, two water bottles were almost 3CAD, leaving them with only 28.32CAD left.

"Back home water is free." Álaug sat cross-legged in her seat.

"Where is that?" Nadia opened her bottle with a little fizz, she picked the strawberry flavored sparkling water. She wanted a soda, but Álaug told her the salt in it would only make her thirsty again.

"Ísland." She reminisced. That's where her home is, where her grandparents are, her classmates, and where her, her parents, and brothers should all be. "We were on vacation, my mom and dad, Bölverkur and Böðólfur, my brothers." Álaug noticed the confusion on Nadias face. "They were twins, böl means to do something bad, and verk means work or action. Böð means, like, a message about danger or inviting evil, and ólfur comes from úlfur meaning wolf. So Bad do-er and Evil message wolf."

Nadia chucked a bit. And so did Álaug, for a short moment, but it quickly turned to tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, they're perfectly good names." Nadia tried.

Álaug wiped her eyes. "No, it's fine. Æi, They're probably dead, is all. But it's OK, it doesn't hurt as much as before." She sniffled.

Nadia looked down thinking of a way to change the subject. "What does your name mean?"

Inhaling, she tried to steady herself. "Álaug is a combination of álög meaning curse or enchantment, and laug meaning pool. So, a cursed lake. All Icelandic names have some kind of meaning. My dad once got me a book with all the parts of names explained. Like, æ, laug is a pretty common end for a girl name, then there's also Ey meaning island, Rún meaning seacret or friend, Dýs meaning fairy or goddes or some kind of magical woman. For boys' names, there's Ólfur and Úlfur, both mean wolf, Þór God of thunder and lightning, protector of the courts, and those who work the land, Vin meaning friend. There's a whole bunch of them. A lot of starts to, you could pick any of the common starts of a name and a common ending of a name and put them together.-"

That wasn't the end of Álaugs speech,she actually talked about Icelandic naming conversations for almost an hour, and Nadia did not try to stop her. She didn't even remind her to eat her sandwich.

There's way too much of this, so I'll reblog with the second half.

The other fic is Jasmine Al-Ghul

Translations

"Í víti finn ég loksins frið"-> "in the void, I will finally find peace."

"Ég slapp frá forráðamönnum mínum." -> "I escaped from my guardians."

(Ignore my rant in the tags)

If the Lazarus Pits are ectoplasm, what happens if someone throws blood blossoms in one?

[hrrtshape]

miss emma !! what was your fav thing from ur recent dr visit ? 🩰

what was miss emma’s favourite thing? oooo….let’s go !!!

late november. paris. technically a school trip, but let’s be honest, no one was treating it like one. st. lazarus. either in a moment of rare magnanimity or a complete lapse in judgement, decided to shuttle the seniors off to france under the guise of scholarly enrichment. we were meant to be studying art, culture, history. and we did. but we also did a lot of other things.

first, the logistics: the school, inexplicably, booked us into the ritz. like, *THE* ritz. as if we were 1920s debutantes instead of sleep-deprived teenagers with questionable decision-making skills. me and lily rose roomed together, which meant our suite very quickly became home base. every night, we’d fling ourselves onto the beds, exhausted but wired, dissecting the day in between bites of something expensive and chocolate-drenched. the ceilings were high. the curtains billowed dramatically. it was the kind of place where nothing unimportant could possibly happen.

on our first night, we went to dinner at le relais de l’entrecôte because, you know, tradition. steak-frites and that sauce no one can ever replicate. we sat in a loud, warm corner of the restaurant, still delirious from travel, half-shouting over each other in excitement. someone knocked over a glass of wine. someone else declared this the *best night ever*, which, admittedly, we say at least twice a week. but still. it felt like it.

our first full day was when the school still pretended to exert control. we went to the musée d’orsay in the morning, which, to be fair, was breathtaking. i stood in front of a monet for so long that even the tour guide looked concerned. the whole place felt alive in a way i wasn’t prepared for. like the paintings were watching *us*.

then, lunch at café de flore, because obviously. it wasn’t good at all (saying as a french person in my better cr ) croque monsieurs, espressos, an unnecessary amount of cigarettes. it was all very existentialist-coded, very we are young and in paris, take our photo immediately

then, in an act of truly outstanding negligence, the school gave us a free day on day 4. naturally, a few overzealous classmates orchestrated a trip to la vallée village. it was equal parts stupid and exhilarating. bundled up in coats, wind whipping through our hair, dashing between boutiques like our lives depended on it. coryo bought me a silver heartshaped necklace, which he fastened around my neck with the kind of casual certainty that made my brain short-circuit. no hesitation. just a decision, made and executed. i spent the rest of the day touching it absentmindedly, as if to confirm it was real.

that night, we dressed up and went to lapérouse for dinner. candlelit, gilded walls, the kind of place where the air itself feels expensive. we lingered over duck confit and crème brûlée, talking about nothing and everything. at some point, we took turns sneaking sips from a bottle of wine that none of us were technically supposed to have. after, we walked along the seine, laughing too loudly, spinning under streetlights like we were in some forgotten scene from a godard film.

somewhere in between all of this, me and lily rose went to galeries lafayette and bought matching chanel keychains. it was impulsive, unnecessary, and immediately felt like the most important thing we’d ever owned. the saleswoman found us vaguely amusing. we were fine with that.

angelina was another highlight. we chain-smoked on the way there and sipped hot chocolate so rich it felt obscene. we sat there until 11am. letting the world move around us. we felt decadent. we felt untouchable. in reality, we were all irresponsible rich teenagers !!!!

and then, of course, there were the ritz nights. technically, we were meant to stay in our rooms, but technically, no one expected us to. me and coryo found excuses to cross the halls to each other’s rooms.

so . yeah. that trip. wow . IM TALKING MORE ABOUT THIS . like what i did daily !! just !!! have to organise these frantic 3 month thoughts

[hoonieyun]

girls night!!!

pairing: sim jaeyun x reader x park sunghoon

warnings: mentions of death, murder, blood, profanity, murder chase scene, stalking, like overall slasher movie vibes, 18+

pls ignore timestamps and possible typos lol - part of this chapter is written, please make sure to read the written portion to understand the whole story

wc: 3979

you and the girls arrive at karina’s family cabin exhausted and aggravated, mostly just you and daniella because karina’s car had broken down right before the long driveway that would lead to the cabin. it took about half an hour walking through the dense snowy forest in the dark to get to the cabin. you didn’t even wanted to go in the first place after everything that has transpired within the last month or so– but after karina and daniella begged you to tag along because it would be good for your mental health; you’re regretting it now more than ever as you’re huffing and puffing, standing at the cabin’s front porch waiting for karina to open the door. 

karina is fiddling with the keys, struggling to get the right key to open the door because of her gloves so daniella snatches it out of her hands, “give it to me.” she says and in just a few seconds the door is swinging open and the three of you are rushing inside to get away from the cold. 

the three of you are instantly scattering around the cabin, trying to figure out where the heater is because karina said, “i haven’t been here since i was 5, sorry i don’t remember where the heat is!” to which you and daniella just rolled your eyes in response. 

you all made your separate ways throughout the cabin to look for the central heating system, karina went to the basement because she knew the house the most, daniella stayed on the main floor while you ventured upstairs. you peered around the top floor, looking into different rooms to see which one you’d lay claim for the weekend. you weren’t necessarily looking for the heating system because you knew one of them would find it and it made no sense for it to be upstairs. you did, however, realize there was a locked room upstairs that was in the farthest right side of the cabin. 

after trying to jiggle the knob and slightly forcing the door open, you failed to get the door to move one bit. you were going to pry further but you hear danielle call for you downstairs. 

“find the heater?” you ask as you descend down the wooden staircase to rejoin the girls. 

“yes! yes, i did. it was in the basement.” karina said with a smile. the three of you would go on to take a moment to unpack your things into your own bedrooms and rest a bit before reconvening downstairs to have dinner together. you’re putting your coat into the closet when you hear a creak come from outside of your bedroom door. it’s slightly ajar but you don’t see anyone in the hallway, “hello? karina? dani?” you asked and there was no response so you just went back to unpacking. 

you hadn’t even realized during your rushed packing that you had packed one of intak’s sweaters and jake’s beanie. your mind instantly travels to the memories of when you stole those items from them, intak had saved up his money from his very first job to by the coat that was way more expensive than it needed to be and when he noticed how much you liked it; he let you take it even though he had worked so for it. 

jake’s beanie, it was a crochet hat made with cream colored yarn that you always said that it made him look like a puppy because the hat would slouch over, making it look like he had puppy ears. you held both items close to you, slipping them back into your suitcase because you didn’t want it to potentially be left behind if you were to put the items into the closet. 

you rejoin karina and daniella downstairs after you’ve changed into fresh clothes and take a seat next to daniella at the kitchen bar, “fuck i have no signal.” she sighs, prompting you and karina to check your phones. you both nod in agreement and grimace at the idea that you three were now in the snowy forest with no signal. 

“at least we have each other, right..?” karina chuckles trying to lighten the mood and at first you and daniella just give her a deadpanned expression but you can’t help but laugh at karina’s cute attempt at lightening the mood. 

“ok, true. i wouldn’t want to be stuck in a cabin with anyone else, i guess..” you say teasingly and almost miss the glance that karina and daniella give each other. 

“what was that..?” you ask, looking at the both of them. they just shrug and try to change the subject but you interject; forcing them to explain what their exchange of glances meant. 

“well, i can just think of someone else you’d like to be stuck in a cabin with.” daniella says and you look at her with a furrowed expression, urging her to elaborate on her statement because you weren’t sure what she was talking about. 

“you have gotten pretty close with sunghoon again..” karina speaks out and your eyes widen and mouth flies open. you couldn’t believe your friends were teasing you about your relationship with sunghoon right now. “he’s just being nice! sorry that i’m finding comfort in him..” you say with a pout and the girls reassure you that they don’t think it was wrong. they were simply stating an observation about the fact that you were getting close with your ex again and it has only been a few months since the two of you have broken up. 

🗡

you and the girls spend the rest of the night relaxing and eating dinner. karina had made some beef soup and you all enjoyed it in the jacuzzi towards the back of the cabin. you were always baffled at the amount of money karina’s family had because she wasn’t a spoiled brat like one would expect. she was very humble and hardworking; it wasn’t even until the year before did you find out karina was well off when you put two and two that her parents were the owners of the biggest hospital and pharmaceutical in the country. 

she explained that she wanted to somewhat hide that part of her life because she was afraid of people not only judging her but also taking advantage of her. she had only told you, daniella, and wonyoung the truth one night because she wanted for all of you to move in with her into the apartment her parents bought her and couldn’t come up with any explanation as to why she didn’t need any of you to pay rent. 

needless to say, your perception of karina never changed; she’ll always be the sweet and silly girl you first met in college. 

“okay, i’m going to shower. i feel like a prune.” you explain, pulling yourself out of the hot tub, karina following after. “not coming?” karina asked daniella and she shakes her head, “no, i think i’m going to brew in this hot tub a bit longer, my muscles are so sore from all that walking.” she explained, the two of you nodding in response. 

“okay, well don’t be in here too long; there might be a ghost.” karina teased and dani just gives her a dry laugh, not amused at her little joke. 

“should we have hot chocolate later?” you ask and they both beam in excitement at the mention of the warm, sweet, and creamy drink. “we should probably find something to do in the meantime, since we don’t have signal, maybe we can watch a movie or play a board game.” karina adds and you all keep that in mind for later. 

it was only 8pm so that night was fairly young and since it was only saturday, you’d have all of tonight and tomorrow to do whatever you wanted to try and get your mind off of the losses you’ve experienced within the last few months. the girls were right to pull you away from that proximity even if it was just for a day or two. you were beginning to fight off the impending feeling that the decelis killer was always looming by. like they were closer than you think and was always a step ahead. 

a little weekend getaway wasn’t going to fix the pain that you were experiencing but it was definitely good to get away for a bit. you lived in the same apartment wonyoung got murdered in and your brother and childhood best friend lived only a few miles away. all of it was still so fresh and you couldn’t fully process everything, no matter how long things would pass. 

jake had only passed merely 24 hours ago and although the image of his lifeless body was permanently ingrained into your mind, all you could think about was the fact that the last few moments you had with jake was an argument over the fact that he loved you and you were too blind to see it. 

you’d be lying if you said you didn’t have feelings for jake. someone as handsome, kind, and funny as him; anyone would fall for him. and so did you, but you felt like jake would never see you in that way so you pushed those feelings deep inside of you in hopes that they’d never resurface. 

that you could go on with your life with jake as your best friend and nothing more. you later started dating sunghoon sophomore year of university. he had accidentally ran into you at the cafeteria causing you to spill your tray of food all over yourself and although you told him that it was fine, he insisted on paying you back in someway. that being, a date and he’d pay for a whole new outfit to replace the one he ruined. thinking back at it now, you begin to pick up on the little signs that jake never liked sunghoon. 

you had always deduced it to the fact that he was just protective over you but jake always sent sunghoon bitter glances, would try to compete with sunghoon on who knew you the best, and would make excuses to avoid being in the same place as him unless he absolutely needed to be. you sighed at the thought, wishing that your best friend and ex-boyfriend could’ve gotten along better; meaning that maybe things would be different? 

who knows if that even would have changed the way things are right now. the decelis killer would probably still be running around causing havoc and fear. 

you’re broken out of your thoughts when you hear hard pounding downstairs followed by daniella screaming, instantly bolting downstairs to see what was wrong and to make sure that daniella was fine. 

sunghoon was on his way to you in no time thanks to heeseung. the two of them including jay who had fallen asleep in the backseat did their best to drive through the snow before it got so dark that it would add onto the dangers of driving on the snow. sunghoon wasn’t able to calm his nerves at all, no matter the amount of texts he would send to the unknown number, he’d get nothing back which only infuriated him further. 

there were no peaceful thoughts running through his mind as they traveled to the cabin. he was thinking of all the ways he would get revenge if the decelis killer so much as leaves a scratch on you. he would never forgive himself if you died and he’d do everything he can to get revenge. 

“we’re an hour away, we should be there soon.” heeseung explains and sunghoon is still silent, a part of him wanting to insist that heeseung drive faster but he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea if they got hurt in the process of coming to save you and the girls. heeseung quickly asks sunghoon for his phone to check the gps, handing it over while he his eyes focus on the icy road before them. 

sunghoon checks his watch and it reads 730pm, the sun is just completely set and they’ve been the only people left on the road for the last hour or so. he was impatientlu shaking his leg up and down as the drive went on which didn’t go unnoticed by heeseung. 

“everything is going to be alright, man.” heeseung says, trying to comfort his friend. “you really like her, huh?” he asks and a smile breaks out onto sunghoon’s lips like it was a secret or something. 

“no.. i love her, a lot.” he corrects heeseung and he nods in response while jay laughs in the backseat at his twin brother’s sappy behavior. “bro, sunghoon is whipped for yn. he would be at yn’s beck and call if he could.” he says, teasing his brother. 

“shut up, dude.” sunghoon says sending jay daggers in the rearview mirror but jay just mimics his expression like they were little kids. “i don’t care that we broke up and i was the one who initiated it, i still love her and i’ll do anything to protect her.” he says and although there was no tension in the car after he says this, the car falls silent as if the air in the small space has changed with sunghoon’s words. 

like there was a deeper meaning behind his words that neither of the other two could pinpoint. 

🗡

the boys have finally arrived at karina’s family cabin and its almost 9pm when they get there. they had driven past karina’s car at some point and had to find an alternate route around because her car was blocking the main entrance road that led to the cabin, adding onto the time that it took to get there. 

but when they arrived it seemed all too normal, like there was no impending doom that loomed around the cabin. was sunghoon just being pranked? he tries to pull out his phone to send another text to the unknown number but realizes that he has no signal, which he soon realizes why you probably hadn’t received any of his texts. 

the three guys walk up to the front door and with a heavy knock, jay uses his fist to knock on the door to which they hear one of you scream from inside, causing panic on both sides of the door. sunghoon and the guys are instantly trying to find ways to get inside as they begin to fear that the killer has gotten there before them and has begun to torment you and the rest of the girls. 

with all their force and combined strength, sunghoon, jay, and heeseung manage to bust through the front door, falling onto the ground as it swings open and are surprisingly met with no murderer as you and the girls stare at them as if they were insane. 

daniella is standing at the bottom of the stairs in a robe while you and karina are in the midst of descending the stairs when they had fallen through the door. the three girls looking at them with shocked and confused expressions but relief washes over everyone as you all realize that the potential danger behind each side of the door was not danger at all. 

🗡 

“hoon? what the fuck are you guys doing here?” you ask while rushing over to him and the guys to help them up. “you didn’t get my texts?” to which you shake your head. 

“no signal out here.” you say while sending a glare to karina and she just sheepishly grins. “i got a text from an unknown number threatening you.” he says, pulling his phone out again to show you the texts but when he opens his messages, the text from the unknown number is gone; causing you to give him a narrowed glare. you didn’t fully believe that it wasn’t true but a part of you also felt like he just wanted to be with you this weekend and may have come up with an excuse to do just that. 

“hey! it’s girls night!!!” karina shouts with a huff and the guys all look at each other, a bit embarrassed for crashing your weekend but there was nothing much to do besides let them stay. jay and heeseung try to vouch for sunghoon that they saw the text but you just brush it off, letting them inside so they could warm up, ultimately letting them crash your girls' night. 

everyone goes about their separate ways for a while, jay and heeseung in the living room, daniella upstairs, karina in the kitchen, and you bring sunghoon up to your room to talk. “did you really get a text?” and he nods, almost begging you to believe him with the way his eyes were staring into yours and you choose to believe him because what does he need to lie for. 

“we’re leaving tomorrow night but i’m gonna be honest i’m glad you’re here.” you confess and sunghoon shyly smiles at you. 

“why, huh? need a big strong man like me to protect you, princess?” he says, flexing his arms which look ridiculously huge in his giant coat but you just laugh at him like he’s a fool. he hasn’t called you princess in a long time and the petname leaving his lips gave you butterflies. it was like all of your feelings for sunghoon were coming back to you like when you first started dating. 

��look i just wanted to say that-” sunghoon begins to speak but the two of you are suddenly engulfed in darkness as the lights go out. “what the fuck?” you breathe out and sunghoon instantly grabs your hand to make sure you’re closeby so he doesn’t lose you. 

the two of you carefully make your way downstairs, hugging the walls in the darkness and at some point are slightly startled when you run into daniella who was leaving her room to rejoin everyone as well. when you reach the living room you’re about to ask what was happening when the lights are suddenly back on. jay is standing in the middle of the living room and heeseung is beside him, much like they were when you had left them prior. 

although, karina hasn’t rejoined the rest of you. “where’s karina?” you ask and the boys just shrug to which they earn an aggravated huff as you try to look for her where you last saw her go, the kitchen. a scream rips through the air as you enter the kitchen as you find karina lying in a pool of her own blood beside the fridge which was still slightly open. 

everyone follows suit when they hear your scream and see the horror of what caused the shriel to rip through the air. sunghoon instantly shields you away, pulling you to the side and into his arms to hide you from having to look at yet another one of your friend’s dead body. he’s hugging you and rubbing your back softly, whispering soothing words into your ear in an attempt to calm you down but it doesn’t work. you’re crying hysterically as daniella has begun to frantically yell and make an attempt to call the cops, but because there was no signal and the nearest sign of civilization was several miles away; she ultimately gives up. 

“the killer is here, sunghoon was right.” jay says and all of you look towards him as he exits the kitchen. you’re still crying into sunghoon’s chest when the rest of them try to come up with a plan. 

“here’s what we’ll do, jay go find a blanket to cover karina’s body, we all need to gather our things and leave, if that fucker is here then that means one of us could be next and we can’t stick around until morning to leave.” sunghoon says, everyone listening intently but you’ve started to zone out, unable to focus as now there was yet another image of one of your friend’s dead body burned into your mind. 

you were starting to feel like you were the reason for all of this. like you were a bad omen and brought death wherever you went. 

“princess, are your things upstairs in your room?” and you just nod in response, sunghoon telling you that he was going to quickly pack up your things so that you could all get out of there using heeseung’s car to drive to the nearest town over and calling authorities once you have signal. 

when sunghoon tries to pull away you hold onto him tighter, afraid that if he leaves your sense of safety would diminish so the two of you walk upstairs together to pack your things. as you pass through the hallway and the several doors, including the one that led to karina’s room, you’re reminded of the door that was locked that you couldn’t get into. 

“wait– hoon. there’s a locked door at the end of the hallway, what if the killer is in there?” you ask, fear coating your words as you turn your gaze towards the door that was shadowed by the darkness of the hallway. no amount of light shining near the wooden door. 

you and sunghoon cautiously walk towards the door, sunghoon making sure to hide you behind him just incase something were to happen. when he reaches for the doorknob, it’s surprisingly unlocked but you could’ve sworn it was locked when you first noticed the door. sunghoon swings the door with a creak and the two of you are met with none other than a simple bedroom. there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room, a bad sat in the center of the room much like the rest of the rooms in the cabin, a night stand on each side of the bed and a closet towards the back. 

the moonlight shined into the room through the window and your worries wash away as you’re met with nothing, the fear of something sinister and dark lying wait in the room was soon gone, allowing you and sunghoon to return to your room with less worries of the killer being in the room near yours. 

🗡

the drive to the next town over was quick as heeseung drove with haste, making sure to get to safety before the killer could strike again. daniella is the one to make the call to the police about what happens and the cops are seemingly all too familiar with the string of murders as they inform her that any further deaths or attacks in regard to the decelis killer would be reported to the two detectives on duty for the case. 

you spend the rest of the night driving back to your city after being instructed by the law enforcement that you all would need to head to the station for questioning as they send a police and medical team to the cabin to assess the situation and make arrangments for karina’s body to be taken back once they’ve ensured the area is safe. 

the only thing on your mind as you drift off to sleep in sunghoon’s arms as the two of you sit in the back of heeseung’s car was that you felt guilty. 

guilty that it seems your friends were being killed one by one and felt as if they deserved to live more than you. survivor’s guilt eating at you from the inside out as you add yet another person to the list of people who have gotten murdered within the last few months that was dear to your heart. 

glancing up at sunghoon’s sleeping figure, afraid that he may be next; and what you would do to 

prevent anyone else from being next if it meant putting your own life on the line. 

back - masterlist - next

detective's notes: yoo jimin, aka karina, is the decelis killer's newest victim. as the my partner and i try out best to find a pattern in this serial killer's ways, we're only led to one things. their relationship with yn.

ᡣ•.•𐭩♡ @pagemiah @jiiyen @jnysaln @xh01bri @rairaiblog @laurradoesloveu @17ericas @manaah02 @heeseung64 @zorange13 @firstclassjaylee @leipforggy

@wildtigerlili @mydearyeseo @hoonielvv @leehsngs @immelissaaa @skyearby @shuichi-sama @herrymxxnie @notab1tchwho @minfolio @theothernads @janjoonty @yunthejin

copyright 2025 - present © hoonieyun all rights reserved all writing here is fiction & not in any association with characters mentioned. if you enjoyed reading this please consider reblogging and following <3

[utilitycaster]

Hi! I just wanted to add to what you said about Laudna that her motivation from the beginning of the campaign did not change at all, in that she was ok and totally moved on from her trauma, and was just helping Imogen find out about her powers. I don't recall that Delilah was much of a problem outside of talking in her head sometimes, so getting Delilah out wasn't a character motivation.

There were times were it looked like her character was going somewhere when Marisha talked about Laudna being mentally stunted and Delilah's influence being akin to an addiction, and thought maybe they can address some of that in the campaign, but we had a lot of "woe is me Delilah is making me do things" which is BAD if you address the addiction allegory (still taking into account that Marisha may have misspoken during 4sD about it)

They didn't even deal with Delilah properly, she is still there and can talk with Laudna, and I don't think by the end of the campaign Laudna is in any way more capable of ignoring her as she did the first time they defeated Delilah and she was just a faint wisp, she wasn't in any way actively influencing Laudna back then until Laudna tried to bargain with her for power (i may be paraphrasing or misremembering though it's been a bit)

Saying that Laudna's character feels very fic-y is surprisingly accurate, she feels like someone who would have been sold to One Direction

Sorry for the long ask

OK first off YELLING at the being sold to One Direction but yeah, that's the thing, she feels like this passive self insert who people give things to and like without her like, doing anything other than putting her messy brown hair in a bun on the top of her head.

I think with a lot of my frustrations with various characters, there is frustration on both sides, with Matt and the cast, and Matt bears a LOT of responsibility to be clear because I think in his focus on the core plot above all it shut down player attempts to the point that even stronger players with stronger concepts kind of gave up in the end. But for Laudna, here is the throughline.

Early on she floated the idea of getting rid of Delilah when Imogen was trying to get into the Starpoint Conservatory. This was good! It was introduced as a potential longterm goal of Laudna's! It's just...that never happened. The research was always very moon focused, and when it became clear this wasn't really an academically-inclined group the research took the form of Grim Verity lore dumps, which naturally didn't allow for side research. The gnarlrock fight famously went nowhere because she and Imogen apologized right away, but then, notably, Laudna didn't do anything to get back at Delilah nor did Delilah keep doing anything. Imogen's attempts to work with Delilah failed (this feels like part of the 'No Consequences' rule; Imogen binding herself to Delilah as well or having Delilah take on more of Laudna, something Laura as Imogen actually made steps to pursue, could have been something! I mean I'm team Jiana would have been more interesting, but this could have worked!) and so then the whole probably was kind of put on ice by the Vox Machina-helmed resurrection, and Delilah faded to a nonentity that Laudna didn't have to care about. So she didn't! Until she came back, and then she sort of cared for a bit but Delilah didn't make her do anything and then she came back to Jrusar and instead of leaning into her anger she kissed Imogen and forgot all about it until they went to Whitestone 12 episodes later (still no real consequences of Delilah coming back), she reiterated a connection to Delilah back there and had some scenes with her due to the shard but again, she wasn't really inconvenienced or changed, and then there was one last flare up with the sword and then Essek fixed everything.

Like, this would have been very easy to make compelling by having Delilah actually be a threat. Part of why I don't feel much about Laudna living out her life is that like, Delilah is just sealed away again (and fwiw we gotta at some point talk about how there was a whole setpiece about how Leaving Things Sealed Just Perpetuates A Cycle and then there's at least two sealed evils and one fully unsealed if mortal evil guy hanging out, like, thematic coherence whomst?) and throughout the story Delilah mostly just serves as an intrusive thought who broke something once and hit a couple of dudes. Chetney getting caught by the red moon and attacking people felt more real and he took more responsibility for it. If Delilah had constantly been trying to take over? that would have been interesting. If she hadn't but Laudna was furious that the woman who killed her was using her body and at all times was fighting against it? that would have been interesting. But it was just this vague blurry meh. Delilah is her warlock patron and the reason she's alive, but she can be diminished to basically nothing without any drawbacks, and Laudna sometimes hates her and sometimes wishes to wield her, but that all fizzles out every time. Again: if you wished one of these things were true and mourn the character Laudna could have been - either someone using Delilah's power at the cost of her own will, or someone fighting desperately to reclaim her own body and mind - then I'm right there with you. But as she was in the story? I wish One Direction had taken her away and we'd gotten someone better.

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Jon Snow have always been outspoken. From his very first appearance to his last, he always speaks his mind. So, while I was re reading his first meeting with Stannis, I noticed how, once again, he was bold enough to share this views and even disagree with the King.

During that scene, Jon wasn't Lord Commander, yet. He was still a bastard boy, a steward of the Night's Watch, who was accused to be a desserter. What is more, he was the brother of Robb Stark, who according to Stannis claims was an usurper. Someone else on Jon's place would simply agree with everything Stannis said to get on his good grades. But not Jon.

He starts his conversation with Stannis by correcting him when he calls him "Lord Snow"

"Rise. I have heard much and more of you, Lord Snow."

"I am no lord, sire." Jon rose.

When Stannis insults all the Lord Commander candidates, Jon jumps in to defend those he considers worthy to gain the title.

Stannis grimaced. "Noye made my first sword for me, and Robert's warhammer as well. Had the god seen fit to spare him, he would have made a better Lord Commander for your order than any of these fools who are squabbling over it now."

"Cotter Pyke and Ser Denys Mallister are no fools, sire," Jon said. "They're good men, and capable. Othell Yarwyck as well, in his own way. Lord Mormont trusted each of them."

Later on, as Jon corrects Stannis once again after calling him "Lord Snow" he even complains that Stannis didn't arrived on the Wall earlier.

"Words. Words are wind. Why do you think I abandoned Dragonstone and sailed to the Wall, Lord Snow?"

"I am no lord, sire. You came because we sent for you, I hope. Though I could not say why you took so long about it."

Another monarch would be irritated by Jon's boldness. However, Stannis who hates flattery actually takes a liking to the boy. He even smiles after Jon's comment I shared right above.

[grlmmjow]

Using the tadpole to show Astarion his face

Hi! This is... my first time coming back to tumblr after a long streak of inactivity. BG3 and Astarion brought me back.

I'm on my fourth run, my first dark urge. And I'm literally obsessed with them. I have a nice little story building up with Amara, my durge, and Astarion.

For now, I've just written a reimagining of the mirror scene in camp. I believe we've all always wondered why we have never showed him his face with the help of the tadpole... Well. It's now canon that Amara did that for Astarion in my run. And here is how it went!

I hope you enjoy! And please, keep in mind that English is not my first language. I do my best, though.

Rating: non-explicit

Pairing: Astarion/Dark Urge (Amara)

Word Count: 2014.

Summary: It's just the mirror scene reimagined to stream Astarion's face directly into his brain like we've all dreamed to do once.

It was a chilly night, despite the summer. 

Amara had been feeling a wave of… almost calmness for the first time in weeks. Shadowheart was tending the fire, Gale was lost in his tomes… Even Karlach seemed to be entertained enough with Wyll.

For the first time in weeks, they had an objective. A goal. And they stopped running around in circles, scared to know if there were going to be slimy tentacles in their future. They liked each other enough to be able to begin to form friendships. Which was a lot, considering Amara had no memory of her life prior to waking up on that beach. 

Despite everything.. Amara was feeling content. Having a goal was good. Having friends was good. The need to slaughter and maim was… controlled, somehow. And her stomach was full with very nice food. Gale was a surprisingly good cook, after all.

Tonight is a good night…

“Another thing I’ve lost!” The distinct tone of a certain vampire spawn interrupted her calmness, and she felt a wave of irritation wash over her, the magic in her veins crispling and itching to soar through her fingertips. Ugh. Having to control her dark urges wasn’t enough, apparently. She also had to be very careful dealing with her wild magic. Last time she let go, she transformed half the party into cats and dogs. Oh, she swears Karlach is still cackling to this day about that.

Her mismatched eyes focused on the source of the noise. Astarion seemed to be cursing a hand mirror, bending down to pick the pieces of the glass he just shattered against the ground. She decided to approach him, feeling confident that he liked her enough to keep her company. They had had a very pleasant night together, after all. Sometimes, she still wondered if he took her virginity that night. There’s no way to know what she had been up to in her past life.

“Hey. That was a nice mirror.” She mentioned, trying to sound casual, but startling the vampire. He seemed to be on edge, and he turned around to glare at her, a faint moment of vulnerability showing through before his calm mask slipped back on and he turned that frown upside down. 

“Oh, why hello there, darling.” He said in his silky tone. Amara had to hold back an eye roll. That had to be the fakest smile she’s ever seen in her life. Which, to his credit, is not long enough, considering her amnesia. 

She had begun to understand him. To see him. His demeanor, his nightmares, the way he tensed when an enemy restrained him one specific way…  

The way he refused to lock eyes with her when they made love two nights ago.

“Why did you do that, Astarion?” She asked, pointing at the mirror. The question seemed to ruin his mood. 

“Oh, you know. I had a moment of… weakness. It’s nothing that won’t pass in the morning. Don’t you worry, darling.”

Again with the silky tone and the endearing terms. She had been beginning to hate the way it sounded so fake in her ears. Couldn’t he trust her enough not to be perfect every time they interacted?

“Will it?” She raised an eyebrow, stepping a bit closer to him. He didn’t seem to mind the closeness outwardly, but his jaw clenched at her proximity. 

“Yes.” He said, lowering his chin and narrowing his eyes to send the message. He didn’t enjoy showing weakness. That much was clear. 

“Alright.” She said, not believing him for a moment. She knew he had.. a lot of issues. His former master and torturer made sure he didn’t live a day free of his torment, not even after being snatched away from his grasp. 

She watched him gather the pieces of glass in his hands, and seemed surprised for a moment when she realized what was upsetting him. His fingers weren’t being reflected in the mirror, even if he was holding it in his hands.

Oh.

That must be terribly upsetting for a creature that lived for vanity. 

“...Were you upset that you couldn’t see your face?” She asked bluntly, and Astarion recoiled. He really, truly didn’t want to talk about this. But something in the way she spoke to him, with curiosity instead of disgust, made him turn his gaze at her. 

“I… Yes.” He answered, setting the pieces of the mirror on the table next to him outside his tent. “I’ve never even seen this face. Not since it grew fangs and my eyes turned red.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“Not even… in the water?”

“No reflections, darling. That’s how it works.” 

He seemed irritated. Amara wanted to ask him a lot more instances and examples of ways he could have seen his reflection… but she imagined he had already tried everything.

The sorcerer tilted her head. She studied his features, considering that it was such a shame that he didn’t get to preen in a mirror, considering just how handsome he was. 

But then, a thought occurs to her. She gasps, clasping her hands together in front of her. “... And what about mind reading?”

Astarion scoffed. “Mind reading?” But there was the slightest hint of hope in his tone, in his gaze. There it is, Amara thought. Finally. A bit of sincerity.

“Yes. We have been using it all the time. I can hear your thoughts, Astarion. Why couldn’t I just… show you your face like that?”

“What?” He froze, the only movement in his face was the rapid blinking of his eyelids as he processed the information. “You would do that for me?”

Amara looked almost flabbergasted. Why the hells is he doubting me, again? She tried to swallow down her irritation, and nodded as an answer.

“Yes, Astarion. I will show you your face. Come here.” 

She stepped closer to him, close enough for their chests to brush together. Her gaze lifted as his own dropped, his red eyes meeting her green and brown stare. She felt him studying her freckled cheeks, and for a moment felt self-conscious. Such a beautiful creature was surely making a judgement on every imperfection on her skin. 

“Close your eyes.” And he listened, surprisingly letting out a long sigh without a protest. Amara’s hands came to rest on his shoulders, and Astarion leaned in to press his forehead against Amara’s. She needed a moment to school her rapidly beating heart. He’ll know if you get too excited. Calm down, damn you!”

Closing her own eyes, Amara took a deep breath, focusing first on not letting her magic ruin this moment. She needed to make sure nothing wild happened. She was sure Astarion wouldn’t trust her again if he was suddenly turned into a sheep.

After a few moments, she felt confident enough to reach into her head and call for her tadpole. Soon enough, their minds were connected. She felt Astarion’s reluctancy at her prodding. He was a very private person, considering he never had such a thing in his 200 years of slavery. Well, she could respect that. But it would be impossible for her to show him his face if he kept building walls around his mind.

“Astarion.” She scolded. “You need to let me in.” 

Astarion hissed. “I know.” He sounded tense. But there was eagerness there, too. He seemed to be battling between his fear and his desperate need to know how he looked like. 

Finally, vanity won, and Amara felt the walls crumbling. A gasp left her lips as she got a glimpse of the man’s mind. And, gods. It was absolutely overwhelming. The anxiety and fear he felt at everything that surrounded him paled in comparison to the crippling terror he harbored for Cazador. Amara tensed, jaw clenching as she felt herself unable to pull away from that. She wanted to keep looking. She wanted to know. 

“Don’t go there.” Astarion growled, shifting his feet in front of her. His eyes opened, and Amara saw herself in his mind's eye.

“Sorry.” She apologized, and quickly looked away. “Let me concentrate. Close your eyes.”

Astarion grumbled something unintelligible but complied, closing his eyes again. Amara sighed, and began to focus on her task. She licked her lips and imagined Astarion, standing there in his camp clothes, playing with his dagger. It was a sight she enjoyed a lot. She wondered if Astarion felt the feelings associated with it, and felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.

“Focus, woman.” He sounded eager, ignoring her embarrassment and forgetting momentarily about his composed and charming façade. He was going to see his face. His face. She couldn’t ruin it for him with her stupid lust.

“Yes. Sorry. Let me look at you.” Amara, then, opened her eyes and pulled away from that odd embrace they shared. She watched his face as he kept his eyes closed. She focused on his eyebrows, the way his eyelashes tickled the skin of his cheeks, his straight nose, his full lips, that cute little mole under his left eye…

Ah… What a beautiful man. The sight made her smile.

“Gods…” Astarion gasped as the picture was shown directly into his brain. He kept his eyes closed as a tentative hand lifted to trail two fingertips down his cheek. “I… I’m so pale…”

Amara raised an eyebrow. Is that what he is focusing on? She refrained from making a comment, though. Astarion seemed to be fascinated with himself. 

The wandering hand that was caressing his cheek lifted up to run through the stray locks of hair that graciously fell over his forehead. A grin spread on his face, “Oh! I knew I had the best hair in camp– Shit! I have wrinkles when I smile?!”

His panicked tone made Amara laugh. She shook her head. “You look perfect, Astarion.” But he didn’t look satisfied with that. His fingers prod at the lines on the corner of his eyes.

“Come closer. Come. Amara. Closer.” She obeyed, stepping close to him, her eyes focusing on what seemed to be the problem. She’s always found his laughing wrinkles adorable. She made sure to let him know that through the tadpole connection.

“Why, aren’t you sweet, darling?” He snickered, seemingly in a better mood than before the conversation started. Amara turned bright red under her freckles. 

“S-Shut up.” It was a compliment, but it backfired into making her feel embarrassed. Her eyes now fell to his lips, and Astarion raised an eyebrow at the gesture. 

“Concentrate now, darling. I’m not done looking at myself.”

Gods, this will take all night. Amara listens, focusing on the rest of his features. The way his hair curls around his ears. That dangerous smile. Those sharp, piercing eyes of his… 

“Mmm… Good. Good.” He shook his head, satisfied with what he was seeing. Amara could feel that, once again, his playful demeanor was nothing but a façade. The tadpole connection betrayed his true feelings of wonder, fascination and emotion. She mentioned nothing, knowing that it would only make him clam up further.

“Alright, I’m done… Now, just tell me I’m beautiful, and we can call it a day…” He teased, finally opening his eyes to gaze into Amara’s, finally satisfying his curiosity.

The elf tensed under that piercing stare. She didn’t look away, her voice nothing but sincere. “You are beautiful.” 

“Observant.” He stared at her for a few seconds, as if studying her. He broke the connection suddenly, and Amara grunted, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead. What was he hiding? His face betrayed nothing.

“You see,” He started, “mirrors aren’t much use, but having someone else project your face directly into your brain is… Different. I could definitely do worse.”

Amara is still reeling from being so close to him and having such a direct connection to his feelings. The mind-shattering fear concerned her, a lot. She’d have to keep an eye on that.

“Thank you, Amara. I won’t forget this gift.”

A smile. Her heart fluttered when he pronounced her name. 

“You are welcome, Astarion.” 

[nick-nellson]

BRIDGERTON 2.03 A Bee in Your Bonnet

[mobius-m-mobius]

#insane choices being made 👀

Loki 1x04 // 2x02

[fangrurin]

House of the Dragon + BLUE (in/sp)

[wildsaltair]

the man who can light my torch any day

[hulloitsdani]

i want to know your anna thoughts so bad hi.

Hullo! Sure I can provide some Anna thoughts! I have so god damn many. Some other characters are also going to work their way in here too, if you don’t mind. And buckle up, this is gonna be a long one. I got a whole short story for y’all here.

Without further ado, I present to you: The Commander Anna Post

Let’s have some fun, shall we?

So in the age discussion of the feh main cast from a while back, I mentioned how I accounted for Anna’s bizarre position in Askr’s military by making her a child soldier. She has been fighting since she was a young teenager and has logged a decade of combat experience at this point.

I want there to be some fun consequences for this. For example, Anna is rocking some very serious injuries that will likely be with her for the rest of her life. Most notable being her left shoulder. Just by looking at her in full commander regalia, it’s not obvious that there’s any kind of issue. But Anna can’t lift her left arm all the way anymore. Her armor does an excellent job covering up the inconsistency, as it doesn’t allow for that level of mobility anyway. But take the armor off and you can see her shoulder is an absolute mess. It is, and I quote, “the worst healing job I’ve ever seen” according to Veronica.

It’s a bizarre sight for the kid. It’s not the type of thing she expected to learn about an enemy commander. Perhaps THE enemy commander. But in this situation that hardly matters, as she is the group healer as they all trek deeper into the realm of the dead. And Veronica is tending to her wounds only to find the pitiful scarred skin, warped and uneven from a hastily rushed healing process. It’s from a long time ago, she explains. From when she was still just a foot solider. But that… doesn’t make sense does it? Was Bruno not her ally? He has the capacity to heal— he was the one who taught Veronica the little she knows. Even his worst attempts were leagues better than the work done here.

Anna can only shrug, a motion made mostly with her right shoulder. He didn’t reveal that he was a mage of any kind while he was with them. So, even if he wanted to, there’s a chance he could not afford to. Veronica doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s this… uncomfortable knowing between the two of them. They know now, in retrospect, that swallowing down the truth like that must have ate Bruno alive. Just another reason for his sorry state that they didn’t catch until it was nearly too late. Add that to the pile of tiny behaviors that now make sense, right? The intensity of his expression as he insisted Veronica learn how to heal despite her protests and the daggers he’d stare into the intricate scaring on Anna’s shoulder. Throw them all in. Every last piece.

Commander Anna looks at the princess and unexpectedly breaks the tension with a laugh. You see, it’s funny, because this is exactly how she started to figure out Zacharias was Bruno. Very few know about her shoulder. She’s not exactly brazen about it, nor do the people she interacts with have the medical knowledge to glean how serious it is. She doubts even Kiran knows, to be honest. The only person who knows without a shadow of a doubt is Zacharias, because he was there when it happened. He’s probably the reason why she survived that day at all. So, you must imagine her surprise, when a masked stranger targeted this weakness and forced her to fight left handed. It was the most bizarre fight of her life! Fighting someone who clearly knew her, but she herself could not place!

Veronica was not there, but she can picture the lunacy of it. Bruno fighting his comrade as the commander attempted to fight a stranger. She hasn’t really seen Anna entirely thrown off before, but knowing that her brother managed it brings her satisfaction. She deserves it after all the times her and the rest of these fools have done it to Veronica. Feels like comeuppance. She chuckles. They both do. Gods she’s having a moment with the enemy commander. What has the world come to?

Fjorm has a far less positive reaction to piecing it together. After the events of book 2, she knows her time is short. She… cannot face the remains of her family in this state. It would be a slow painful death to rot away behind castle walls and wheeze into soft silks. No, she would much rather die on her feet. Put her body to good use while it’s still able.

So she trains. She trains until she feels her bones threaten to snap. She must have been at it for hours before the commander offers to spar her. With how busy Anna normally is, it’s a rather rare opportunity to spar one on one. Fjorm instantly leaps for the chance.

So they fight, and Fjorm can see it. The way her left arm lags and the scarring that curls out from beneath her sleeve. Burns maybe? Possible electricity? Clearly an old injury from a mage. A weakness in her defenses that she can exploit, surely.

Anna makes no such thing possible. Maybe she learned since her fight with Bruno or maybe Fjorm isn’t fast enough to take advantage of it, but Anna easily evades any attempt to use this against her. Focusing her left just seems to earn Fjorm a swift jab in return. From there, the fight might already be over. Anna’s left arm might be lacking but her legs and mobility sure aren’t. She takes the opportunity to effortlessly bully her way into Fjorm’s space and renders her lance useless. It’s infuriating, but Fjorm is learning. She can do this— she has to. Ten losses deep is when Anna calls it. They put good work in and it’s time for lunch!

Fjorm is ready to throw her lance into the sun.

She insists she can keep going, but the commander is not budging. Still, she tries to push her luck. But once a look of annoyance makes a home on her features, Fjorm knows that’s it. Another disappointing loss. Damnit. She turns to find someone else to spar, but is very surprised to find Anna will not allow such a thing. They are both going to take a break, or Fjorm might find herself barred from the training grounds. She states that if Fjorm cannot be trusted to keep her own wellbeing in mind, then she cannot be trusted out here at all.

However, Anna provides her with a singular counter offer. This can all be avoided if Fjorm tells her what’s wrong. Because she isn’t stupid, something is clearly amiss. And Fjorm— at wits end and most definitely exhausted, dehydrated, and starving—flips her lid a bit. Begins to go off. She’s angry at Anna, and her stupid backswing with her axe, and her own inability to deal with it despite her inherent disadvantage with a lance, and how she keeps failing in front of the people here, and how weak she must appear, and how even the commander of an army in Askr is outclassing her as a warrior and leader, and how she can’t even hate her for it because Anna is just doing her job, and how that all means that the problem must lie within herself!!!

That’s, uh, wow. That’s more than Anna bargained for. She briefly internally wishes that Kiran or Sharena was here right now, as they’re far better at this type of thing. Maybe… she should just go for the most obvious one, yeah? Yeah! Anna isn’t a leader. Commanding people and leading them are vastly different skills. Complimentary! But different.

Look, on ledger, the order entirely under her name, but in practice it is run by four people. Alfonse, Sharena, Kiran, and herself. And it very much HAS to be. The order operates at such a large scale now that the division of labor was necessary. Anna is not so egotistical to think she could run this whole operation by herself, either.

This includes the actual leadership position of the order. Anna is very good at telling people what to do and when to do it, but actually rallying people to a cause? That’s wayyy above her pay grade. Hardly has the force of personality to pull that off. But the others do, and so does Fjorm. Hell, Fjorm has that is SPADES. Despite having lost just about everything, she managed to rally her broken beaten homeland against Surtr and Muspel through sheer force of will. That’s kind of insane, and it’s a little bizarre to the commander that the savior of Nifil can’t see that.

Besides, she’s not a better fighter than Fjorm either. She quite physically can’t be! Fjorm is angry that she couldn’t defeat her in less than ideal circumstances, but let’s be real, all she needs is a little practice. And maybe a full eight hours of sleep. And some food. And water. Can you see what she’s putting down here? The only real leg up Anna has on Fjorm is that she’s going to ask for help, despite the heavy hit to her ego. It’s why the order exists as it does, after all.

That conversation leaves Fjorm with a lot to think about. Both as a person and of her view of Anna. She apologizes for behavior and swears to do better. As proof of her determination, she takes her up on the offer of lunch, much to Anna’s amusement.

Much later down the line, Sharena learns— PROPERLY learns, within the realm of dreams. She’s not blind though. Over the years she has noticed the scaring and the favoring of her right hand. Soooo, Sharena makes an effort to cover her! Stick by her left! Her massive shield is more than capable of protecting her too! And that’s the routine they fall seamlessly into as they follow Peony through Freyr’s dream land and Freya’s nightmare.

Anna generally deals with the challenges of that place better than the rest, for the aforementioned reasons. She knows her limits, she asks for help, and she talks her problems through. The vulnerability may be uncomfortable for her at times, but it is not enough to prevent her from doing so in order to progress smoothly. It might hurt her pride a little as commander, but Sharena and Alfonse are her friends, no? She can say that now, after walking through literal hell and back with them. So she doesn’t mind if they are the ones to see the child she grew around to protect.

Rather angry kid, if you can believe it! Stubborn too. Getting split and copied throughout time and space as a result of Askr and Embla’s never ending war had that effect. And Sharena gets to see that little girl, stubbornly clinging to her axe, bleeding from a wound on her leg that she knows one day will scar over.

It’s from one of the first battles she was ever in, Anna explains. As a merchant, her dad saw it fit to train her in order to defend herself from bandits. And she had put those skills to use before— but not like this. Never like this. It was the first true fight for her life. Not very pleasant, as you can imagine! She still gets nightmares sometimes, as you can see. Happened a few times in the realm of the dead actually. But, luckily, it no longer haunts her as much as it once did. It’s just a scar on her leg now!

The sentiment doesn’t comfort Sharena much. This is, frankly, awful! She hates how scared she looks! A-and how large the wound on her leg is! She hates how… unaware of it she personally was! Why didn’t Anna tell her about this sooner? To which Anna can only shrug. Nobody asked, and if she’s being honest, she probably wouldn’t have told. Not the whole truth anyway. She can admit when she needs help but… she’s still human. It’s a lot easier to admit she had a nightmare than admit that she finds the very thought of bleeding out a worse death than drowning. Still gets her the help she needs, without being more vulnerable than necessary. Sharena rests her head on her shoulder.

“Are all of your scars like this?”

Anna… blinks. No. They’re not. Not even the one on her leg is all bad. She was saved by this elderly couple and their son, who saw the fighting and began dragging injured soldiers off the battlefield. They made awful puns the whole time they stitched up her leg and gave her the best tea she ever had. Anna has bought a lot of different teas trying to find it, but to this day, she has no clue what it was. Makes it better, to be honest. Sharena looks at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

Ah, story time then? Okay. Well. Uh, this line on the inside of her elbow is from a bandit. Rather nasty encounter, but she returned the favor by shoving an entire container of expensive makeup powder into his eyes. Her dad was so mad but god it was so worth it. And this scar on her thumb is from one of her first times cooking in the road. She was pealing a potato but one of her sisters slammed into her and nearly took off her finger. This nick on her clavicle is from the first battle she ever won. When the enemy finally retreated she screamed so loud that her voice was raw for a week. Then there’s this scar underneath her chin, which has to be the most embarrassing ones she has. Zacharias and her had some leftover money one week and decided to treat themselves to a drink or two or five. In trying to make it back to the barracks, they both fell. Hard. She walked away with this, but Zacharias fully fractured his wrist. Explaining what happened to the healers the next morning was dreadful. And… and then there’s the one on her shoulder. Anna was actually recovering from it when she met Alfonse and Sharena.

The princess sits up for that one. Really? Gods she didn’t show it. And it’s because, on some level, she couldn’t. It was from the last battle before the shaky truce was called between Askr and Embla. The one Veronica will inevitably break. And the truce was called for good reason. The battle was hell on earth. Anna… nearly died there. She should have died there, frankly. A point blank strike from a lightning mage with metal armor in the rain should have been the last mistake she ever made. But by some miracle, it wasn’t.

… In retrospect, she thinks it’s because of Zacharias. Things got hazy after she went down, but knowing what they do now, he must have used his own magic to kill the mage and heal her. She didn’t walk out unscathed, but it was enough.

Haha, gods, she will never stop feeling guilty about him, will she?

Anyway, the injury was pretty bad. Her shoulder never moved the same again. But seeing as they were both recently hired to be Sharena and Alfonse’s retainers, they couldn’t exactly let Gustav know how serious it was. Might cost them the job. So a truly comical level of shenanigans went into ensuring it was kept secret. Including this game she created where every time Zacharias accidentally touched her injured shoulder, he would pay up 10 gold. He was not a very touchy guy, but even Sharena knew that this was something he just did. A tiny reassuring shoulder pat to convey that he was listening. So this was, perhaps, the best money making scheme Anna ever came up with. His apologetic look would shift so quickly into one of so much instant regret. And Sharena, upon reflection, remembers this.

WAIT WAIT WAIT SHE REMEMBERS THIS. THATS WHAT THE NOTE PASSING THING WAS!!!! Alfonse had pointed out in one meeting that the new retainers were passing something between each other and Sharena insisted it must have been notes because of how boringgggg it was. BUT NO IT WAS GOLD. ZACHARIAS TOUCHED HER SHOULDER EARLIER IN THAT MEETING AND SHE WINCED. HE THEN WAITED A WHILE BEFORE PAYING UP TO NOT MAKE IT OBVIOUS. THATS HILARIOUS!!!

Anna starts cackling as Sharena begins to line up all the pieces. The nightmare fully dissipating as she shares in this silly secret. There’s a chance she would have died with it. Hell, we know of a world where she probably did. This is not a story she’d even give to her family of merchants, who despite being direct reflections of her, do not share the scars she’s littered with. Never had to be, and thus don’t quite understand. But, Sharena does. All her friends do. And it feels weird to say that because real friends have always been in short supply. But gods this is too good. How absolutely absurd it is, that they are in the realm of dreams trying to find their missing friend and defeat the goddess who took them, and Commander Anna of the Order of Heroes is about to pop a lung laughing as she tells Princess Sharena of Askr about the fallout from the time she nearly died.

It’s dumb! This is dumb! And it’s possibly the happiest she’s ever been.

[ed3mm]

This was a fun drawing cause I’ve been experimenting with my style. Still not sure what I like best, but yippee! More fanart of Unfamiliar Feathers (by @lemonomic !!) because I love this fic :3

[slavhew]

best part about watching a movie is making an au with your (and friend's) ocs

reference imagesssss