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breezeflows · 3 months ago

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The Long Road (Stanford Pines x Reader)

Chapter 4

Y’ALL THIS ONE WAS/IS A ROUGH ONE. I had a lot of writers block with this chapter, but I think I finally accomplished fitting in everything I wanted it to have! Also just for clarification, a lot of things that happened in this chapter will be discussed more thoroughly in future chapters! (Aka Ford’s perspective.) Thank you everyone so much for your patience and continued support!! With that, here is absolutely gut wrenching chapter 4!!

Also, last thing I promise, if you want to be added to the tag list, just comment!

Themes: Lying, Arguments, Strong language, Lotsss of bottled up emotions, Fiddleford gets traumatized by the portal, Ford over prioritizing Bill and his work over sleep/his wife etc, all the fun stuff! This chapter is very sad! But we will finally be back to the present in chapter 5!

You found yourself waking in the late afternoon, your bags now packed and in hand as you make your way out of Lizzy’s apartment. And although you were a nervous wreck to return home and confront Ford about last night’s events, you were also happy at the thought you’d be sleeping in your own bed tonight. You were hopeful that Ford would have a good explanation. Maybe he was drunk out of his mind, due to your absence, or maybe Fiddleford brought the two of them there after a breakthrough in their research. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

You keep your thoughts running as you settle into the passenger seat of Lizzy’s car. Your mind is a flurry of hope, worry, and anxiety as you mull over all the different possibilities of what happened last night.

Lizzy hops into the driver’s seat, her gaze flickering over to you as she senses your nerves.

“Hey,” she says softly. “Everything will be okay, alright? I’m sure Ford has a good explanation for everything. At least, he better.”

You let out a nervous sigh, once again fiddling with your wedding band as you try to steady yourself.

“I hope so,” you murmur, eyes drifting out the window as Lizzy kicks the vehicle in motion. “I really don’t know what I’ll do if he doesn’t.”

Lizzy places a sympathetic hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“Let’s just focus on getting there for now, okay? Try not to imagine any worst-case scenarios until we actually talk to him.”

You give a small nod as she drives, the world outside becoming a blur of trees and late afternoon sun.

6:00 PM.

With a final turn down the gravel path, you arrive at the place you consider home, the cabin. The familiarity of your surroundings should be relieving, yet you find yourself on edge, tugging down on the beanie that rested against your head.

You unclip your seatbelt as the car hauls to a stop, Lizzy turning to give you a reassuring smile.

“I’ll drive around closeby.” she says. “In case things go, you know, not so great.”

You nod softly, thanking her as you grab your bags from the backseat, stepping out of the car. The gravel under your feet crunches with each step, your heart beating rapidly in your chest.

Taking a deep breath, you make your way to the front door of your home, a nervous hand twisting the knob and pushing it open. As you step foot into the familiar space, you’re surprised to find Ford in the living room. He’s seated on the couch, working on what seemed to be some sort of gadget on the coffee table.

He looks up as you enter, his expression casual with a hint of excitement.

“You’re back!” He states as he stands, approaching you with a warm smile.

You swallow hard, clutching your bags tightly as you regard him warily.

“I missed you, how was your trip? There’s so much I have to tell you, Fiddleford and I had a major breakthrough this weekend!”

Ford’s words are light and pleasant, and he looks genuinely happy to see you. A stark difference from how he was the night before. He steps closer to you, looking as if he’s about to pull you into an embrace, but you take a step back, releasing your bags from your grip.

Ford’s smile falters for a brief moment, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

“Is something wrong?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.

“Where were you last night?”

He seems taken aback by your blunt question, a brow raised as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Ah… well I was here, working with Fiddleford, like I said.” he replies, gesturing to the gadget on the table. “Why do you ask?”

Your heart twists in your chest as you clench your fists, frown adorning your lips.

“Is that all..?”

Ford looks perplexed by your question, his eyes filled with concern as he takes a step towards you, his expression growing increasingly more confused and worried.

“What do you mean? Where else would I have been?”

You go to speak, but falter, looking down at the floor as you hold your elbow sheepishly.

“Nevermind.. It’s nothing, sorry.”

Ford pauses, his concern only deepening as he watches you avoid his gaze. He takes another step closer, his voice gentle.

“Y/N, please tell me what’s wrong,” he says, reaching out to touch your arm.

“You’ve been acting strange ever since you came through the door… Did something happen? You can talk to me.”

You swallow hard, before looking up to meet his gaze.

Ford’s expression is genuine, his grip on you squeezing gently as you gaze at him for a moment. This Ford was a huge contrast to whoever you had talked to last night, this was the man you knew and adored. Maybe you and Lizzy really did have too much to drink, and you mixed it all up with some other guy? It seemed too coincidental, but the way Ford was acting now made you second guess everything. He seemed totally unphased, and there wasn’t a single thing about his tone that would lead you to believe he was lying. This was still your husband, after all.

You shovel all of your thoughts and suspicions down as you sigh, placing a hand over the one he had rested on your arm.

“It’s nothing, I promise,” you say, cracking a soft smile as you lean into him. “I just missed you a lot. It’s good to be home.”

Ford’s eyes soften at your words, and he pulls you closer to him, gently enveloping you in his arms. He holds you close, one hand rubbing soothing circles on your back.

“I missed you too,” he murmurs, his voice soft and gentle. “More than you know.”

Your ears and cheeks turn red at his words as he pulls away, just enough to meet your gaze, his eyes searching yours for a moment before he speaks.

“So, you uh, need help with your bags?”

A soft blush covers Ford’s cheeks as you smile once more, your hand reaching to cup his cheek, thumb grazing the skin underneath.

“Sure, although I wanna hear everything you wanted to catch me up on while I unpack.”

If somehow possible, Ford’s cheeks turn an even darker shade of pink as you touch his face, his gaze flicking down to your hand before coming back up to meet your eyes. He then clears his throat, voice slightly strained.

“Y-yeah of course,” he stammers, his hand coming up to rub the back of his head. “We can talk in the bedroom while you unpack.”

“Sounds like a plan.” you say with a chuckle, grabbing both of your bags and handing one to Ford, placing a quick peck to his cheek before pulling away.

A small, boyish smile appears on his lips at your gesture. He quickly takes the bag you handed him, keeping his eyes on you for a moment before looking down at your luggage in his hands.

He clears his throat once more, his voice betraying a hint of nervousness as he speaks.

“Right, let’s go then.”

Ford then begins to lead the way to the bedroom, you trailing along behind him.

As you both enter your shared room you begin to unpack your bags, Ford chatting away excitedly as he helps you with your things, pulling out your clean clothes and placing them in the closet.

You smile at his enthusiasm, but you can’t help but notice the bed as you unpack. The sheets are just how you left them, pillows fluffed and blankets tucked into the edges of the frame.

“Did you get any sleep while I was gone?” you ask, shutting a drawer after you’ve placed a pair of jeans inside.

Ford pauses mid-sentence in his excited explanation, faltering as his glaze flicks from the bed to yours.

“Uh, well… no, I didn’t,” he admits, his voice laced with a hint of guilt. “With all the work Fiddleford and I’ve been doing, I guess I just forgot about sleep.”

You frown deeply as he moves to continue helping you unpack, your arms falling to your sides.

“Ford..”

Ford pauses again, a flicker of guilt in his eyes as he senses your disapproving tone.

“Just promise me that you’ll at least come to bed tonight. Okay? I worry about you when you aren’t getting any rest.”

His expression softens, gaze full of guilt and affection meeting yours. He nods in agreement, a sheepish smile crossing his face.

“I promise.”

Over the following nights, Ford makes a point of coming to bed, holding true to the word he gave you the night you returned from Lizzys. However, the pattern you had desperately hoped for doesn’t last long. The old habits return quickly, Ford abandoning the bedroom in favor of work in the lab for days on end. Days soon turn into weeks, weeks into months, and so on. You find yourself lying alone in bed each night, your mind filled with anger and frustration. Sometimes, you’re kept awake by the bright flashes and rumbling from below. A part of you wanted to stomp down there and give him a piece of your mind, to leave him and this broken marriage behind, but another part of you yearned for Ford. You longed for the day you’d see him emerge from the lab instead of Fiddleford, or the day he’d prioritize you again. Even just a simple acknowledgement of your presence, other than “hello, how are you”, would do. You missed how things used to be. You missed him.

But the day never came.

You were too stubborn to be the first to break the now built-up tension, after all it was Ford’s fault the two of you were in this predicament anyway. At least that’s what you told yourself, feeding into the false hope that things were going to somehow magically improve.

The same cycle repeated itself, leaving you feeling helpless and abandoned.

Until one night.

You found yourself lying alone in bed yet again, your head laid on what was once Ford’s pillow, his scent no longer attached to the fabric. The sounds of the lab seem louder tonight as you toss and turn, grunting in annoyance. You glance towards the clock on your nightstand, the glowing numbers reading midnight. Frustration mounts within you, the lack of any attention whatsoever from Ford wearing you down.

Suddenly, an extremely loud whir from the lab forces you to sit upright, your heart pounding in your chest as your irritation gets the best of you. Finally, you’d had enough.

You throw back the covers in an aggressive motion, swinging your legs over the bed. You pad across the room, your bare feet touching the cold hardwood floor. Each step you take fuels the growing anger in you, your patience thinning.

Reaching the door, you pull on it, the sound of it creaking open adding to the building tension. With a huff, you step forward into the darkness and descend the stairway leading to the lab.

You press the button to the elevator harshly, stepping inside the metal contraption. As you descend further you hear the sound of faint yelling, along with a thud. Your stomach twists with frustration and anxiety, your mind reeling with possibilities of what the hell was going on down there.

Finally, the elevator doors slide open, revealing a blinding blue light behind the glass window of the lab. Your feet carry you quickly to the source, dashing through the entryway when all of a sudden, your shoulders are grabbed.

Your body stiffens as your eyes adjust to the lighting, revealing a disheveled Fiddleford in front of you. His fearful eyes search your panicked ones, his grip painfully tight.

“Fiddleford-”

“You’ve got to get out of here Y/N,” he states frantically, his voice shaky. “This machine will bring about the end of the world, it’s dangerous beyond comprehension. It should never see the light of day.”

The sound of your heartbeat fills your ears as you process his words. The seriousness in his voice and panicked look in his eyes were enough to send a chill down your spine. You take a moment, before stuttering out a few words.

“What? Machine? The end of the world..?”

Before you can finish your sentence, Fiddleford leaves in a rush, your frightened gaze moving to the source of the light.

In front of you stood what seemed to be some sort of portal, with your husband standing right below it.

You watch him as you stand there, dumbstruck by fear and confusion. You clench your fists before taking a firm step forward, swallowing dryly.

“Ford..?”

He stands with his back turned to you, mumbling something before yelling aloud.

“No, you know what… I don’t need anyone!”

Your legs tremble as you make your way towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Ford jumps violently at the contact, his head whipping around to face you. His gaze widening for a moment, before turning cold and harsh.

“What..? What are you doing down here Y/N?” He snaps, his tone sharp and defensive.

Your gut clenches at his tone, your eyes brimming with tears as you finally break.

“What the actual fuck, Stanford!” You yell, hands formed into fists as you hold them in front of you.

“What is this?! This.. this thing?!” You yell, pointing towards the portal.

“This is too fucking far!!”

Ford’s eyes narrow, his irritation growing apparent. He stands his ground, stepping towards you and jabbing a finger towards your chest.

“This?” he replies, gesturing to the portal. “This is my life’s work Y/N! Everything I’ve dedicated myself towards for decades! Something you wouldn’t even understand the significance of, even if I explained it to you!”

His words cut through you like a knife, tears now streaming warmly down your cheeks. You grab hold of his wrist roughly, jerking him towards you.

“No!” you yell, your grip unrelenting.

“This is some sort of doomsday device you abandoned EVERYTHING for! That you abandoned ME for!”

Your voice breaks with that last sentence, your teeth clenching as you attempt to stifle your pain.

“I’ve stuck with you through everything, Stanford! When you lost Stanley, during those horrible years in college, through this!” You say, pointing to him and then to yourself with your free hand. “When you’ve practically neglected me as your wife, all of it! I stayed with you because I’m in love with you, Stanford!”

Ford’s eyes soften at your words, a strong flicker of guilt in his expression as you list all the sacrifices you’ve made for him.

“But I can’t,” your voice trembles with each word, your grip on his wrist loosening to where it falls back to your side.

“Y/N…”

Every emotion you’ve bottled up until now weighs down on you, your heart racing in your chest.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Your tearful gaze meets his, his heart aching at the sight.

Ford looks as if he’s been torn in two. Flashes of guilt, anger, and concern, all etching across his face as he stands there, desperately searching for the right answer. And although you never in a million years would intend for him to be put in this spot, he knows he has to choose. The person who devoted their everything to him, or everything he’s ever devoted himself to.

Ford stutters out his answer faster than he can think, sweat beading against his forehead.

“This isn’t,” he pinches the bridge of his nose, his expression heavily conflicted. “This is something monumental Y/N, something that could change the course of existence itself. I have to do this,” as Ford continues, you feel your heart snapping in two, your gaze lowering to the floor as you attempt to take in what he is saying.

“I have to finish what I started, Y/N.”

Your vision blurs with heavy tears as the two of you stand there in deafening silence.

Your expression is filled with pure distraught as you lift your head, your gaze meeting Ford’s. Although he doesn’t return it, his eyes glued to the ground with a solemn frown on his lips. Your lip trembles as you lower your head once more, standing there for a few moments before forcing yourself to turn away.

“Okay.”

Your legs feel heavy with each step, every part of you screaming at you to stay. But deep down you know you can’t, it was time for you to choose yourself for once.

So with that you trudge on, out of the lab and out of the cabin.

The cabin you once considered home.

Thank you for reading! I hope y’all like how this turned out :)

Tag list: @karmaisacatluzi @therottenheartofscum @catr4dora @slay-thou-pookie @wow-life-love4 @missgurlsstuff @violetvsworld @inquiit @mandossillyriduur @mokikow @phirbat

#gravity falls #stanford pines #gravityfallsxreader #stanford pines x reader #gravity falls fanfiction #ford pines x reader #the book of bill #gravity falls dipper #mabel pines #stanley pines #stanford pines x you #gravity falls stanford #thelongroad

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tinietaehyun · 5 months ago

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Bliss of Time

[WhiteRabbit!Soobin x Lost!Reader] [Wondrous Tales] [One-shot Series]

Pairing: WhiteRabbit!Soobin x Lost!Reader

Genres: fantasy, angst, romance, fluff, dark fantasy, alice in wonderland inspired.

Contains: profanity, mentions of beheading, punishment, implications of death, angsty themes, panic attacks, hallucinations, anxiety.

Links: Masterlist | Wondrous Tales Masterlist

Summary: With your abrupt arrival into this whimsical space, you wander around aimlessly. How odd, every turn you took, you ended up in the same spot.

Though as they say, third time’s the charm, when you encounter a blonde haired man, with a top hat and formal attire - goodness, were you going insane already?

The man gives you a gentle smile, walking towards you with his hand outstretched, “Goodness it’s been awhile since we’ve had any guests,” he observes you, “A pretty one no less.” That‘s it, you were definitely going insane.

He brings your hand to his lips with a soft gaze, “You must be so frazzled, guests always are. Well it’s my pleasure to be your guide. Now, come on, chop, chop, time’s ticking.” With a swift tug, you’re getting pulled along by this strangely tall man. What had you gotten yourself into?

Horrendous neon petals, purple stems and red bushes, multicoloured trees. Where on earth were you? Grotesque purple vines everywhere and a cobbled path that you had fallen upon, probably bruising the hell out of your knees.

Brushing yourself off, you stand up taking in your whimsical and wacky surroundings. The air smelled sweet and everything was disgustingly bright here. You yelp seeing a duck and her orange spotted ducklings waddle behind her.

This had to be some sort of dream, right? You picked up an invitation, opened up the envelope and poof! You were here. Yeah, this definitely had to be a dream. You pinch your arm and hiss in pain, no, no, you could feel pain. Perhaps this was just a really realistic dream?

Panic sets into your mind and you peer around lost. Where did you even come from? The sky? You remember falling, but there’s no portal, door or well, anything in the sky from where you supposedly fell. Your gaze drifts to a pitifully old, broken sign with faded letters: ‘Welcome to Wonderland.’

Great, just great. How lovely. You scramble around in your pockets to attempt to get your phone but to no avail. What the fuck? Where did your phone, keys, and whatever else you had on you go? No, no, no. You were well and truly trapped here with not even a way to call for help!

You groan dragging a hand down your stressed face, “Oh I’m fucked,” you shakily murmur, “This is bad, so, so bad.”

Building up some semblance of resilience and determination you begin following the path. Standing around wallowing in distress would get you nowhere, that’s for sure! Thus, you begin trekking down the bumpy path taking in your wild surroundings and hoping for the best.

After what seems like a few minutes, you spot the same neon yellow flower. Your brows furrow, maybe it was just another one of the same species. Yeah. No, wait- that tree with the broken branch, you swore you had passed that before. You look around and see the same broken sign.

“The fuck…?” You question wide-eyed, bamboozled by your circumstances. Did you just walk in one big circle? But the path seemed relatively straight? You didn’t take any turns? Huh? Confusion laces your features and you shake your head to get some bearings.

You walk down the path again, this time making note of key features, making sure you didn’t walk off the path at any point. Your jaw drops ajar seeing the same welcome sign. You were back to the beginning.

Your head pounds and your legs begin to ache. No, no, how long would you have to walk like this? Why was there no sense of direction? Was this your incapability or did this space have mischievous properties preventing you from leaving this spot? Dread fills your soul. A shaky breath escapes you, this was awful.

Would you rot here unable to escape this perpetually horrendous loop?

Shaking your head, you walk down the path. One more time. Maybe you just have to keep trying! Maybe there would be something different at least once, right? So, once again, you march down the path-

Only to be met with the same spot again. A frustrated scream escapes you, “No, no, no!”

Panic, disorientation and fatigue begin to plague your senses. This was the third time. How many more times would you have to walk this god forsaken path? Or were you just destined to never break free? Was this hell? Did you die? You’d go insane here!

The crunch of leaf litter alerts you and you peer around with your heart racing. What was that? Your body tenses and your breath hitches as tall, pale man with blonde locks and an absurdly tall top hat with two white ears embroidered on it as he pushes through the foliage.

You observe the male cautiously, gazing at his formal attire consisting of a baby blue satin shirt and various buckles, a waistcoat and sleek trousers and boots. His face however…was the picture of beauty in this wacky wasteland. So much so it almost causes you whiplash.

Maybe you did die, and this was an angel? His pouty lips, sharp, narrow nose and pale grey eyes. He looked beautiful. Oh, most definitely you must be going insane. Look at you, already hallucinating a stunning man!

The man gives you a gentle smile, walking towards you with his gloved hand outstretched. “Goodness it’s been awhile since we’ve had any guests,” he observes you taking in your face and form, “And a pretty one, no less.” You almost keel over on the spot.

Was this some perverse fantasy your brain thought of? Did you get drugged perhaps?

He clicks his tongue with a humourous hum, “Ah, ah, I see your brain gears turning, no need to overthink,” he pouts cooing, “You must be so confused right now,” he peers at his pocket watch, “I did run late after all! I do sincerely apologise, you can’t get out of the loop without my guidance after all!”

Your expression becomes deadpan. Of course you fucking can’t because that just makes sense, doesn’t it? He rambles softly, “Oh, I’ve been having such a busy day, running around here and there, you couldn’t imagine it! The King’s meeting overran as well because he couldn’t choose what to wear, goodness me-“

You cut in frankly, “Uhm, hey, Mr…?” You drawl awkwardly. “Call me Soobin, also known more commonly as the White Rabbit, the timekeeper. I do apologise, it’s utterly rude to not introduce myself. And you are?”

“Right…” you murmur, “Y/n. My name’s Y/n.” Soobin hums taking your hand and bringing it up to his lips, “Wonderful name. We’ve never ever had a Y/n visit Wonderland before. You must be so frazzled, guests always are. Well, it’s my pleasure to be your guide. Now, come on, chop, chop, time’s ticking.”

With a swift tug, you’re getting pulled along by this strange man. What had you gotten yourself into?

“I already walked this path,” you stammer trying to keep up with his long legs making quick strides. He seemed to be in a hurry. Soobin peers over his shoulder with a smile, “Oh, I’m well aware, lovely.” You quirk confused, “So…why are we walking down this route again?”

He chuckles, “Ah, well for those who don’t live here, the illusions here can be quite difficult to surpass.”

You sigh. You know what, if you want your sanity intact, you decide it’s best not to question it any further. “Right, makes sense,” you mutter. Soobin muses, “It does now, does it? It’s not supposed to, or are you used to walking in never ending loops?”

Rolling your eyes, you hum, “Not particularly, no. It seems you are, though.” He is delighted by your sarcastic remark, “You’ve got a little spunk, I like that. You’ll need some wit and resilience to make it here, after all. Wonderland isn’t for the weak minded.”

You grimace, “Good to know…” You glance down at his hand wrapped around yours. “Uh, Soobin, where exactly are you taking me?” You question unsurely.

“Well, there’s only one destination according to the King of Hearts rules! That’s his palace! All guests must be brought to the palace.” He hums. “King of Hearts? Is he the ruler of Wonderland?” You inquire. Soobin nods, “Indeed he is, it’s rather unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate? Why?” You question. Soobin grimaces, “Well, he’s…rather impulsive. Cruel, even. Often most people don’t make it out of her grasp, he’ll execute them if he grows bored.” You rip your hand out of his grasp with a bewildered expression, “Then why on earth would you take me there?”

Soobin gives you almost a pitiful smile, “It’s my duty to escort all guests to the King. It’s been years since our last guest, I believe you’ll be paraded rather highly.”

You shake your head and exclaim, “No, no, this King of Hearts seems terrible! Do you work for him? How many people have you led to their demise?”

Soobin’s eyes flicker with an unknown emotion, “Come now, lovely. Don’t make this difficult, I’m on a schedule here. Time’s ticking.”

You snap, “What schedule; as if anything in this shitshow of a world has a schedule!” Soobin flinches at your tone and he sighs in frustration, “It’s inevitable I suppose, you are right. I am destined to be late.”

You regard him with a blank expression. What does that even mean? Soobin chuckles at your lost expression, “No matter how much I follow my pocket watch, I’m always late. I have to thank the Hatter for that.”

“You’re throwing a lot of nonsensical words at me, Soobin,” you quip with confusion. Soobin’s fingers trail the rim of his hat, “I do apologise, it must be a lot. You’re the most stable guest I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, if that makes you feel any better.”

He’s apologising again? You almost feel an ounce of guilt for snapping at him. His eyes glimmer, peering into yours and you can’t help but feel a little bad. Perhaps, he was forced to play this twisted game of leading all those who appear here to what appears to be at most certain doom at the hands of the King of Hearts.

You dryly murmur, “Not really, but I appreciate the effort.” Soobin smiles, “So should we get moving?”

You deadpan, “Towards my death? Absolutely not. I’m awfully boring, you know.” Soobin folds his arms, peering at you, “You seem pretty entertaining now, lovely.” He was so damn pretty you might have almost believed him.

Snorting, you respond, “No, no. I doubt I’d take the King’s interest more than two minutes and oops! Off I go! Getting shot or hanged! Or whatever deranged punishment this world has.”

Soobin corrects you, “He prefers the guillotine, something about how satisfying a clean chop is.” You feel nauseous, “How? How is that meant to make me follow you?” Soobin mumbles, “I do suppose that is rather grotesque.”

You yell, “It’s more than grotesque! It’s fucking absurd! Slaughtering the pitiful souls like myself who have the unfortunate plight of stumbling into this place only to be executed because what? Because your ruler was fucking bored?”

A silence resounds loudly between the two of you as he gazes at you with mixed emotions painting his face. “We should really get going.” Your shoulders droop into a slouch, “Even after all that, you’re more concerned with your fucking schedule?”

A bitter laugh your lips, as you place a hand on your forehead, “God, I’m doomed here. With a guide who has no empathy.”

“I-I do, it’s just- the rules,” Soobin mumbles. You yelp, “Break them! Don’t you feel guilty at all, leading so many souls to their demise?” Your voice holds conviction and an impassioned tone that seems to stir something within Soobin.

“How can you be so complicit?” Your brows furrow, “Don’t you feel even an ounce of guilt? Of remorse, knowing what you’re leading them too? Do you even tell them where you’re taking them? That’s even more morbid!”

Soobin stands there hands behind his back, clasped together. His thoughts in a whirlwind mess; perhaps he shouldn’t have rambled. He never really did know how to contain his thoughts.

“You never know? You could be different? The King may come to like you?” He attempts to soothe your panicked rage. “If I’m not? How many people have you said that line to?” You shakily breathe out.

Silence is what you receive and you peer away wrapping your arms around yourself. Typical. Not one good justification.

Sweat drips down Soobin’s brow. He’d be late. He’d be late. His foot taps against the cobblestone and his heart races, fingers twitching and palms clammy. He’d be late. He had a schedule. His eyes almost seem manic. Guests weren’t usually this aware, this obstinate or stubborn.

Why did your silly words make so much sense in this nonsensical world? He was just doing his job right? He had to. That was his role. Ever since time was killed, he had struggled to keep up any time at all! It was so stressful and now that you were here, it would add to his insurmountable stress of getting you to the King on time before anyone else caught wind of your presence.

You observe Soobin, he seemed panicky. Nervous, anxious and overwhelmed. His pupils had shrunk and a manic expression on his face making you feel uneasy. “Soobin?”

“W-We really should keep m-moving?” He almost asks, as though it’s a question instead of a statement. You glare, “It’s like talking to a wall.” He stammers, “Lovely, I-I- I understand. I- I do.”

“You don’t. Don’t you want to break this cycle? I can see it. You don’t enjoy this. You don’t enjoy this pressure of whatever it is you do,” you plead. A sudden laugh escapes his lips, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just nervous. I laugh when I’m nervous.” Another chortle escapes his lips.

“You don’t need to apologise for everything.” You murmur awkwardly; perhaps he wasn’t as sane as he appears. He lets out another giggle, “L-Lets move, I don’t like standing around. Standing around means doing nothing. Doing n-nothing means no productivity. How c-can anything get done?”

An awful sense of dread fills you and you peer behind you, everything looks the same. You knew without Soobin, navigating Wonderland would be perilous and frankly for naught. Perhaps, you needed to take your chances with the King. Or…you could find a perfect chance to escape as you journey further. Yes, yes, just be patient and pretend to go along with it.

Sighing, you murmur, “Keep walking then, I guess.” A defeated expression coats your face and you see a glimmer of sadness in his eyes and he takes your hand with a subtle pout, “Please don’t be sad, it pain me so to see your pretty face stained by sadness.” You mumble, “Pretty hard to look on the bright side with no way home.”

You both begin walking and he mumbles, “Lovely I, I know.” You say nothing and after awhile, the scenery morphs and you sigh seeing the dancing flowers with their waving leaves. He looks at you expectantly as if he wanted to see you be awed or amused only to be met with your lacklustre reaction. How odd, most guests he guided loved this part!

Soobin stops facing you and tilts your head up by the chin, “Lovely, are these flowers not to your liking? Look at them dancing! Their smiles!” You frown, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” He questions. He laughs, a short manic laugh. “You don’t know. That’s okay. It’s okay not to know,” he reassures with an unsure expression. He tugs you along.

You almost feel bad for the guy. A ticking time bomb you could almost see. He must be under enormous pressure, especially with a ruler like…the King of Hearts. You could sense it, he had an ounce of goodness in there, a little sense of remorse, of guilt.

“Don’t you…don’t you want to spend some time for yourself? Are you ever free?” You ask. The question makes him freeze and he bursts out laughing startling you.

“Time…for myself? Time for myself? For me? How amusing! My lovely, is that what you asked?” You blink at him blankly, “Uh…yes? Doesn’t everyone deserve time off?”

A shattered expression appears on his face and he smiles almost brokenly, “Ah, perhaps in your world but the time keeper never sleeps. Never…dilly dallies.”

Your heart aches; you wonder what this man goes through on a daily basis to behave like this. Then again, being in this place would make anyone go insane.

He releases another frantic laugh, and abruptly cover his mouth, “I- sorr- I mean. You’re not like the other guests. It’s rather strange, how funny! I thought nothing could surprise me anymore in Wonderland. Yet, here you are.”

You raise a brow, “Uh…you mean showing basic empathy?” A manic smile appears on his visage, “Not one of my guests ever cared like you have. They usually just run off and get lost and died in some grave manner or they follow along and become the King’s, I don’t ever,” he giggles quietly, “don’t ever really hear from them again.”

You frown, “Oh Soobin.” He murmurs, “C-Can we move? We should move.” You hum, “Oh right, you don’t like standing around.”

His eyes glimmer as you both walk again, “You’re so…nice. You haven’t run away despite hearing all of this. Have you been here before? Or, or, have you already succumbed to the madness here?”

You sink into your own mind, why haven’t you run off? Maybe because you knew your own rationale and logic wouldn’t do shit here. Glancing back at Soobin, the way his large hand envelopes yours, your heart flutters and aches, you…kinda felt bad. You didn’t want to leave him alone. He gives you a soft, wavering smile, his eyes guilt-ridden.

“Soobin, I-“ your voice cracks. The air between you two becoming heavy. He shakes his head, “That’s preposterous…” he frowns, “That’s impossible. Then…why are you still with me?”

Truthfully, you answer, “I don’t know, Soobin. I just feel inclined to stay, I guess. Not like I could ever navigate this place alone anyway.” Your eyes lock for a moment, a torrent of emotions wash over Soobin and he abruptly peers away. In silence, you both walk along the path. An aura of panic and regret emanates off Soobin.

After a few minutes, you spot a large meadow full of pearlescent flowers, utterly gorgeous, glistening under the sun. In awe, you point at the meadow, “Those are so stunning, Soobin. I-“

Soobin murmurs, “Moon Lillies, beautiful aren’t they?” He peers at your wide-eyed excitement. His heart aches, you were different from the others who has the misfortune to arrive here in Wonderland.

Seeds of doubt had been implanted into his mind from your impassioned speech and thoughts. Did he really have to lead you down this path to your doom? Into Yeonjun’s grasp? Could…could this time be different?

Timidly, Soobin asks, “Why don’t we go take a look?” The very notion of taking a minor detour had his hands clamming up and heart palpitating fast. Time, time, time. He had work to do. He couldn’t dilly dally.

You squeal grasping his hand in gratitude, “Oh thank you! Yes, yes!” But how could he deny your endearing expression of exhilaration and joy? Maybe just a little detour wouldn’t be an issue, then the both of you would go right back onto the path. Yes, precisely.

Momentarily, your eyes widen in surprise as he in turn envelopes his large gloved hand over yours leading you towards the thousands of flowers. You can’t help but admire the way he walks, his strong, secure hold on your hand. His angelic features, the ever so subtle crease between his brows as though he was always deep in thought.

You had a feeling this wasn’t exactly part of the plan and would only delay the inevitable. Though, you were unsure why someone as obsessed with schedules and time would take this detour merely because you fawned over these flowers.

Did your words get to him? You feel his grasp on your hand tighten and you finally reach the sea of flowers. Oh, how ethereal this place was, a stark contrast to the wacky surroundings, this place also had its moments of beauty apparently?

“Soobin, these are beautiful, I can’t believe these exist.” You fawn in excitement releasing his hand as you run through the flowers, feeling free and almost magical in a sense. Soobin observes you as you wade and spin carefree through the flowers with a soft smile trying his best to ignore his twitching fingers and shaky hands.

“Only in Wonderland,” he muses, watching you prance around with an almost childlike innocence. Something stirs within him, the urge, no, the need to protect you from the horrors deeper located in this place. From the Red King of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, and god forbid the Hatter. No. No he couldn’t let another soul become destroyed here.

You were right. Time for himself, to indulge in such a luxury…such as now. Felt revitalising, thrilling. Soobin peers at his shaking hands. Time. Time. Would he make it on time? No, why, why did he have to make it on time? Time was killed. But, why? Why did he have to follow this terrible cycle? Because he was afraid?

A short strangled laugh escapes his lips before morphing into a manic cackle startling you. “S-Soobin?” His bizarre gaze meets yours, “Yes, yes lovely, you’re right. Time for myself. I have a choice. I…I don’t have to go through with this. Not when…not with you, lovely.”

You murmur, “Are…you okay?” He lets out a laugh, “Yes, yes, I’m just not-” a giggle slips out to which he covers his mouth, “Yes, just not used to so much free time…such indulgence.” You frown peering down at his viciously shaking hands. What had this place done to this poor man? He seemed so panicky and anxious?

You tentatively approach him and take his hands in yours, peering up at him with an awkward but comforting smile, “Breathe. Breathe with me, Soobin. Look around you, how could you not stop to ever take in the sights?” You had learnt some breathing exercises when you were younger whenever you felt overwhelmed. It should help right?

“Sights…never had time,” he murmurs deliriously peering around at the flowers surrounding you two. The glistening pollen coating your skin in a pearlescent sheen. Soobin gazes down at you with a shaky breath; your big eyes peering up through your lashes, your lips moving, telling him to breathe with such a soft voice. Your hands, petite in comparison to his. How he wished to feel your velvet skin against his, ungloved.

Another strangled laugh, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just a little panicked is all.” You’re a bit taken aback as he grips your hands back tightly. Okay, perhaps he wasn’t entirely sane, but certainly quirky. His pupils were blown out and shaky breaths tumble from his luscious lips.

“Relax, Soobin. It’s okay. Nothing will happen. Uh…you don’t even need to worry, something about time getting killed right? It’s all in your head,” you reassure. Soobin gives you a smile (perhaps a little too wide, but he was cute regardless).

“Yes…yes. Time is…dead. No matter how much I hurry, I am bound to be late. No doubt about that now that we are here in this meadow,” he shakily hums. “Yes, yes, yes,” he deliriously hums, almost delighted by the bizarre revelation you’ve provided him.

Oh, how kind you were, knocking some sense into him! He was going to be late anyway, why not spend some time with you…his new favourite guest? His….lovely. Why did the King have to always ruin things? Why couldn’t the White Rabbit indulge in himself for a while? Yes, yes, he could, couldn’t he? It’s not so absurd of thought is it?

Soobin gazes at you as you wait expectantly. Oh how adorable you were! You yelp as he suddenly draws you into a tight hug. His large frame envelopes yours; the body heat of his seeping onto your frame; you murmur awkwardly returning the hug, “Ah, thank…you? May I ask why-“

Soobin releases you with a glimmer in his eyes, “You’re too good for this world. I’d hate to see anything happen to you. I…I feel as though you do not deserve your tragic fate. You have touched me unlike any other guest I’ve led.” He leans down and your breath hitches as he gives you a sweet smile, “The others, they cannot know of you. They’ll only know if I bring you to the palace right?” A wavering laugh escapes him once more.

You gulp, he was getting rather attached rather quickly. Huh, maybe this really was your ticket out of here. Your peer up at him again, he was…rather cute. He had this now hyper quality to him, which you attributed to breaking through his usual exterior and facade. Soobin murmurs, "Look over there.” He spins you with your shoulders and points over to the distance and you spot shimmering reflections and upon closer inspection, jewels hanging off the trees? No…not quite.

His breath brushes against your neck as he murmurs, “Diamond apples.” You splutter, “What, apples?”

“Diamond, they’re even prettier close up, I’ve heard. Though I’ve not see them,” another giggle, “But now, now let’s go. We’ll run out of time otherwise.” You stammer, “Didn’t you just say there wasn’t enough-“

He tugs you behind him as he strides quickly towards the diamond apple orchard using what seems to be a large glistening lake as a placeholder for direction. “Hey- let’s not get hasty-“ you breathlessly pant trying to make your legs keep up with him.

Soobin cackles peering back at you, “Come on, lovely,” his eyes wide and smile large, “Come on, don’t you want to have fun?” The sentence almost gives you whiplash, was this the same dude you had initially stumbled upon? Were you the one going insane? Surely not. No, he was. You weren’t.

Oddly enough, it settled your heart at ease to see him finally being carefree (albeit at your expense), well, not like you had anything to do. You chuckle as he trips over his own foot and he smiles bashfully. Oh damn him…and his charm!

Now that you mention it, his golden hair that bounced with the breeze underneath his hat, looked so utterly soft. You wonder how it would feel if you… No, keep it together y/n! He takes your other hand and spins you around and you squeal, feeling the wind whip through your hair and you let out a laugh. “Now who’s the serious one?”

“Hypocrite,” you murmur panting. He grins, a small pinkish hue coating his cheeks, “Oh lovely, I know…but I cannot explain how enlightened you’ve made me feel. You must care so much for me.”

You give him a bashful smile. You suppose you could say that…more so basic empathy but you weren’t one to ruin people’s delusions. This was probably his first break that he’s ever had. Huh, how odd…

You lock eyes as he looks at you, a gaze holding such adoration. Perhaps a little too much to be comfortable. He murmurs, snapping himself out of it, “C-Come on, we’re almost there.” Another tug and you yelp, laughing as he pulls you along, “Hold on-!”

The breeze wafts through your locks as you both run through the meadow and you can’t help but grin like an idiot. Both of your clothes stained with the pearlescent pollen giving your skin a shimmering hue akin to the reflection of the moon on open water. The sweet smell becoming ever so slightly disorienting.

Soon enough, you see the sparkling water of the massive lake, glittering under the comically large sun. Beside the lake is indeed an orchard and beautifully hung diamond apples. They really did look like diamonds carved into the shape of apples with their jagged and sculpted edges. Stunning, truly.

In amazement, you walk up to one of the trees, your hands trailing over the rough bark and peering up at the apples glimmering and glittering under the sun, “They’re gorgeous, wow…” “Aren’t they just?” He fawns.

Reaching up, he picks one handing it to you. It feels a little cold to the touch but you admire it as you ask, “Does it just grow like this? Is it edible? I don’t even know how this possible.”

Soobin takes in the cute expression you make as your curiosity overwhelms you, “Yes, it does grow this way naturally, and no, it’s not edible, well,” he lets out a chuckle, “Unless you want to lose your teeth that is.”

You raise a brow, “Uh, speaking from experience or…?” He gives you a wide grin, pointing at his pearly intact teeth, “No not me, lovely. I saw another do the same foolishly, all his teeth broke.” You grimace, “Right, of course.”

He peers at you, “Anything can grow here in Wonderland. Nothing’s impossible here, well, apart from eating this.” You snort, shaking your head, “I suppose so.”

You peer back up at into the foliage and canopy of the apple tree and a particularly large one catches your eye, on a slightly higher branch. It has little crystal blossoms too, oh, how incredibly pretty!

Soobin’s gaze seems to align with yours and he hums, “Do you want it, lovely? I can pick it for you?” Your brows furrow, “You may be rather ridiculously tall, but I damn well know that’s even high for you.” He peers down at you for a moment, the gears in his head turning. He lets out a laugh and his arms outstretch, “Then, we’ll join our heights. I’ll help you up.”

Stammering you halt his hands, “It’s alright-“ He tilts his head in confusion at your hesitance and you almost melt at the instinctual pout forming on his lips. Does he even realise how cute he looks at the moment? Ah…shit. Fine.

Mumbling, you reply, “Okay, uh, alright then. Pick me up- sorry if I’m too hea-“ You squeal as his hands grip your waist hoisting you up and a chaotic giggle escapes your lips as your hands steady yourself on a branch. You hear him snickering, “I believe my arms will get sore soon, lovely. I’d hate to drop such a pretty thing due to my own incapacity.”

A warmth bursts through your cheeks at his words. Clearing your throat, you stretch your arm up, twisting the apple and plucking it with the blossoms attached to its stem. Wow, it’s even prettier close up. “You can put me down,” you suggest. You yelp as you slip in his arms and your find your back pressed against his chest and arms securely wrapped around you. The smooth timbre of his voice resounds in your ear, “My apologies, my gloves do make it hard to hold onto you for very along. Are you hurt?”

Flustered, you turn around, “N-No.” Well, maybe your heart was in tatters at this point, but other than that, no. He peers at you, your gazes locking once more. He murmurs quietly, “Oh, you get cuter by the minute.”

You scoff setting some distance between the two of you, “I- oh hush.” Soobin smiles, “It’s true? Why must you be so reluctant to accept a compliment?” You huff, “Well, you’re handsome, saying that to me is just- of course I’ll be flustered!”

You observe a familiar tinge of pink dusting his cheeks and you smirk, “Ha! There! You know how I feel now.” Clearing his throat, “L-Lets get a move on,” he grasps your hand tugging you along.

“S-Soobin where are we going?” You yelp stumbling behind him. Damn him and his long legs. “I-I don’t know. But we’ve stayed here too long.” A hint of anxiety permeates his gaze and his fingers tighten around your hand.

You look up at the sky and notice the sun hasn’t changed position. Huh, time was truly dead here. You wonder how much time has passed back in your world. Seconds? Minutes? Days? Years? You shudder not wanting to give yourself an existential crisis.

You halt your feet seeing the shore of the lake, “Soobin, let’s sit by the lake.” He freezes looking at you over his shoulder, “Is…Is that okay?” Now he truly was as timid as a rabbit, goodness he was super hyper awhile back? “Uh…why wouldn’t it be?” You question confused.

“I just…nothing bad will happen right?” He shakily murmurs, “I-I have never done this. Gone off the…the path like this,” another panicked laugh escapes him, “It’s- It’s oddly thrilling, but I’m terrified at the same time. What…what if the King finds out?”

Soobin’s eyes shake as you both walk, “My…My head…” His voice wavers and you frown, “He can only know if you bring me to him right?”

He mutters, “Yes, yes. Right? It works that way right? There’s no way he can know. I always bring the guests to him. That’s just the way it is.” He peers back at you with uneasy smile, “As long as you remain with me, he…he’ll never know.”

The words strike a chord within you, making you feel ever so slightly anxious and at unease. The King seemed to be a terrifying person. You shiver, there was no way you could go to him! Soobin was your best bet for now!

You murmur reassuringly, squeezing his hand, “Hey, hey,” you smile softly, “Breathe.” The poor blonde haired man looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. He smiles shakily, “Yes…yes, breathe, thank you, lovely.”

With a swift tug, you’re both walking towards the shore of the lake. The water laps against the sediment and you have the urge to dip your feet into the refreshing water. Hurriedly, you remove your shoes and settle down by the shore dipping your toes into the immensely cooling water.

“Ah…” you sigh, it felt good after all that walking and running. You look up at him with your hand outstretched, “Come on Soobin, lighten up. Have you tried this before?”

He observes you almost as if you were the insane one here. How ironic! Tentatively, he sits down beside you and grimaces at the feeling of the dirt against his fine fabric. For you, he thinks, he’s willing to try. His heart races with anticipation. He likes this. With you, he felt as though time itself had stopped for you both (well, it already had but that’s besides the point.)

You look over to meet his gaze and you’re once again struck by his beautiful features. He removes his top hat putting is aside and your eyes widen ever so slightly at his fluffy blonde hair. Oh…to run your fingers through it.

Embarrassed at such a thought, you redirect your gaze back to the lapping waters and glistening surface of the lake. You feel his gaze on you, you find your hands fidgeting awkwardly. In an odd and twisted sense…this almost felt like a date.

You almost might have keeled over if this happened in real life, well, this was real life but…also not. You peer back over at Soobin, you’d never met someone like him before. Well, he was clingy you suppose in his own endearing way, and clearly had some issues to resolve, but doesn’t everyone?

“You’re…” he begins before looking away, a blush appearing on his cheeks. “I’m…?” You answer. “No, it’s just…” he mumbles, “…you’re so different. So…pure-hearted. Most just go against with the antics here and I…I have no choice but to lead them to the King of Hearts. But-but you…” With a bashful hum, you shrug, “No, no, you’re making me sound as though I changed your entire life. I just…I believe you needed some time off.”

In hesitation, you bite your lower lip, “I also… truthfully, I didn’t want you to take me to the King. So…I thought I could persuade you, you know? To not do that? By…taking a detour?” You wanted to be transparent, perhaps that would be a mistake, maybe he would tug you right back up and back onto the cobblestone path.

Soobin lets out a laugh, “Oh lovely, I’m aware. But who am I to stop you when we’re this far off? In fact you have enlightened me so, to the idea of going off the path, both figuratively and literally.” You let a breathy laugh, “You’re…not going to take me back to the path then?”

He muses slightly shakily, “No one has come for us, so far. This peace, I have never felt before. It’s…It’s addicting.”

His gaze pierces through you, “You’re addicting, lovely. You make me feel at ease. As though I am not slacking off, but spending meaningful time.” Okay, perhaps, he was very clingy, but you’d let it fly only because the way he looked at you made your heart perform a gymnastics routine within your ribcage and leaves you oddly breathless.

The cool water laps at your feet and you close your eyes feeling the soft breeze. A comfortable silence overlooks the two of you, sat side by side. Soobin peers at your hand on the ground and inches his fingers forward ever so slightly. You don’t let this go unnoticed as you try to keep from smiling like an idiot.

All this time, he had no problem grabbing your hand and pulling you along, but now, he was hesitating? You inch your fingers closer to his and his hand halts in surprise before you give him a small, shy smile. Your fingers intertwine over each other, enjoying the solace together. How odd, that a place as bizarre as Wonderland could be so…tranquil?

“For once I am glad that time is no longer a thing, for once, I am glad that I am destined to be late, so that I could have fortuitous opportunity to meet you,” he speaks. Your heart flutters and you murmur, “You certainly have a way with words.”

“I speak the truth, lovely, do I not?” He questions. A moment of quiet passes and he flushes as you scoot closer to him. The curve of his ears turning a subtle hue of red. “It’s…nice like this, to relax. Not have anything to worry about.”

It was a stark contrast to your busy life. Most of it spent working and socialising (much to your disinclination), it was draining. But here, you felt so…free. Unbound. Lightweight even, as though a speck of dust flowing in a beam of sunlight.

“…Do you also work…hard? What is the world you come from like? Your world must have time, it has been years since we have followed a clock. I’m the only one who does,” he brings out a golden pocket watch. It ticks and the gears churn but the hour and minute hand seem to move back and forth. How on earth does he even use that thing?

“Ah, well, yes, I do have a job. It…takes up majority of my time, unfortunately. It’s,” you breathe shakily, “It’s rough, but gotta get paid, you know?”

“Paid? You get money?” He questions and you gawk absurdly, “You…don’t?” He murmurs, “…No? It is merely my duty, as the White Rabbit, the Timekeeper,” he answers nonchalantly.

Well, you do suppose, living in this world, you’d be so insane, that money would the last of your worries. Nothing made sense here. You snort, “Right, of course. Normal rules don’t apply here, I forgot.”

Soobin inquires softly; his eyes glistening with curiosity, “Could…you tell me about your world? Your life? What’s it like?” He was so interested in you, it made your heart feel so utterly warm.

His fingers tighten their grasp atop yours, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of your hand. Soobin regards you expectantly and you begin to describe your terribly mundane life. As you do so, he pays you much attention, you don’t miss the way his eyes drop to your lips and back up to meet your gaze.

You don’t miss the way he shifts ever so slightly closer. How enamoured he seems to be with you, and oddly, how you relish in this attention, something you’ve never experienced before. “Your voice…I like hearing you talk,” he murmurs, not taking his eyes off you.

You hum, “I could say the same, your voice is nice to hear too.” It had a husk to it, but soft edge at the same time. “You, like my voice, lovely?” He quirks up at your words, eyes flickering with delight. His lips twitch in excitement.

Lovely. Oh goodness…the way he called you that, since you arrived. It just scratched your brain in all the right places. Fuck, were you becoming just as delusional? At this rate you were going to fall in love with a man you had just met!

You look back at Soobin who observes you as you have a mental debate with yourself. You can’t help but let your eyes flicker down to his utterly kissable lips. Oh, how unfair was life.

“Yes, I do…” you finally breathe out. He murmurs, a slight rasp to his voice; the tension in the air palpable, almost sweet to the taste, “Is there anything else you like?”

You hum, “About you?”

“About me,” he confirms. Since when did you get this close to him? Or did he get close to you? Your shoulders were touching, so were your thighs. Oh fuck, what was happening?

Shakily, you respond, “About…you, your hair. Your eyes…” He nods slowly his gaze travelling down from your hair, to your eyes down your face to your lips. Breathless, you resume, “Your…lips.”

Your faces were so close now, inches apart. Breaths mingling, noses brushing against each other. Oh how tempting, was this some sort of test? An illusion? You didn’t know, but something about this moment alone, made him ever so utterly irresistible.

“My…lips?” He breathes, and you nod. “I like yours too,” he breathlessly murmurs. With that, your hand cups his cheek and you lean forward pressing your lips to his. Ah well, fuck it, you’re in this deep and you doubt you could find your own way out, might as well do what you’d never normally do in the normal world, right?

Never knew, you had the capability to ensnare the White Rabbit of Wonderland. Choi Soobin. How odd indeed! Oh but the sweetness of his lips against yours was just too good, too sweet, too addictive.

Soobin’s other hand slides around your waist tugging you closer, his back hunches leaning over and tilting his head slightly giving you better access as your lips move against each other, tongues ever so slightly brushing against each other but not quite enough.

He speaks against your lips, “You’re irresistible.” You smile against his lips, “I could,” he kisses back fervently, “say, the same, ah” you breathe out pleasurably. His lips felt so soft.

Soobin felt as though he was indeed in heaven, kissing you felt more like a dream. An escape from his unshackled yet bound duties. An escape from his never ending time. Oh…how could he possibly let you go? He didn’t want you to leave, if you did…he-he’d have to wait for another guest (who would be nowhere near as perfect as you!) or in the meanwhile resume his duties for the King!

When he got this sweet taste of temptation, how could he ever go back to the way things were? Oh, no, no, no…

You release a muffled yelp of surprise as he leans forward caging your frame between his arm on the ground, his fingers still intertwined with yours and the other around your waist, as he kisses more passionately, desperately even. A groan escapes his lips; he was kissing you like a starved man, a man who was desperate. It had you feeling all sorts of ways, made your body buzz with anticipation and nervous excitement.

He breathes out, “Mm, I could spend all my time doing this,” and you let out a chuckle, “Ah, that’s quite the…suggestion there. I thought you didn’t like waiting around.” He pecks your lips, trailing the bridge of his nose along your jaw to your neck, “I don’t… but for some reason…now I don’t care, lovely.”

Both of you part, his forehead rests upon yours. This moment felt as though you were apart of a fairytale. You didn’t want it to end. He cups your face, “I find myself rather fond of you,” he smiles a little too widely, “Really fond of you.”

You shakily murmur, “I…I can tell.” Soobin murmurs, “How I wish, you could stay in Wonderland with me, there are so many more places to see. To show you. So much more we can do,” he murmurs. He parts from you keeping a hand cupped around your cheek. “Must you really return back home?” His brows furrow, “Must you really try to find the exit?”

Woah now, oh right! You were trying to get back home. That completely slipped your mind. Huh. You mumble, “Oh…right. Yeah, I- I probably should.”

Soobin pleads, “Oh lovely, but you bring me such solace and peace. Can’t you stay? We can hide away here, away from the rest? Didn’t you say you liked it here with no responsibilities and no burdens?” Oh dear, he is awfully persistent. You give him a small smile, “Soobin…you know I can’t.”

“Even…even after we kissed? Won’t you miss me?” His hands tremble and the familiar expression of panic coats his features, “H-H-How will I return back to my duties? W-What if I go insane like the Hatter? Once you leave…there’s no way you c-can even visit-“

“Hold on now, Soobin- lets calm down-“ you stammer awkwardly. You really needed him to guide you to the exit, he clearly knows where it is, if he’s speaking like this. However the trembling waver in his voice and pleading gaze twist and churn your heart in a painful manner. For some reason you felt almost a touch of guilt.

Perhaps it was the momentary euphoria, the blissful nature of everything that caused you two to bond so well, to become so…intimate, romantic even.

Did he fall for you already? Surely not, perhaps he’s just clinging onto the ideals you imparted, the way you make him feel at ease, not you, yourself. Right? Oh, but the way he’s looking at you tells you the very opposite. He wishes for your very being. You shift awkwardly peering away, “Soobin…I-“

He lets out a frantic laugh before covering his mouth, “It’s fine,” another manic laugh. “Really, I-I- understand. I…what was I thinking? That you’d wanted to stay. Wonderland is…a horrid place under this…this… whimsical facade.” He seems to be desperately muttering to himself trying his best to organise his chaotic thoughts.

“No, no, no, I can’t let the others lay their hands on you, you do not deserve such cruelty. If…If I can’t have you…then they certainly cannot.” Your heart drops to your stomach, well, that was certainly ominous. Surely, he wouldn’t be this possessive, right?

With more delirious murmuring, he abruptly stands placing his top hat back on and outstretches his hand to help you up. You peer at his cautiously, “W-Where are we going, Soobin?”

A pained look crosses his eyes, “The exit. You…you do not wish to…be here. And I do not wish to take you to the king. We are already off schedule, the path. I don’t want their f-filthy hands on you.”

You carefully take his hands and he pulls you into a hug. Your heart races; he was acting rather strange. “Come, come, chop, chop, let’s go. Time’s ticking.” Your eyes widen in as he tugs you along once more with determination. “Uh- are you sure, I mean- are you really just letting me go? I don’t know about this- Soobin- Soobin? Are you listening?” You call out.

An aura of paranoia surrounds him. Did the King already know? There’s no way. Well…there’s no way to tell if he did already know. If he did, then there would already be troops out on the hunt. He was the only one in Wonderland who knew when guests arrived. Right?

As much as it hurt him to do so, he knew he could only hide you for so long before suspicions would arise with the others. You wouldn’t last a day with the others. No, no, no. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to let you go.

Perhaps, perhaps he could find a way to visit your world instead. He’s always had been a little different from the rest of the mad bunch. He wasn’t insane, right? No, he was the normal one. He was always the normal one. That’s why you got along so well with him, well, that’s what he thinks anyway. There he was preoccupied with his thoughts again.

Yes, yes, he could attempt to visit your world. You must have had that invite with you, he could work with that. Somehow. Then you could be his safe little secret. Maybe…he could escape this hellhole for good? He would never have to serve the Hatter or King of Hearts ever again? A delusional laugh escapes Soobin’s lips as he strides along. Yes, yes, yes!

You observe him with a concerned expression, whatever internal battle he was having with himself didn’t seem to bode well for you. You wonder what he’s thinking of as he grins to himself.

As you walk along some foliage, a sudden checkered path appears and there’s a large hole in the ground, quite literally like a rabbit burrow. He stammers, “This…this is a short cut to the other side of Wonderland. It’s a bit dark but how I often move around.” You peer at the embroidered white rabbit ears on his hat. You deadpan, “…how fitting.”

“You’re not claustrophobic are you?” He asks shakily. “Uh…” you hesitate peering down into the dark hole, “Depends how narrow it can get.” “It’s okay, I’m with you,” he reassures. You grimace, “Wouldn’t that make it even more cramped?” His eyes widen, “But, but, I need to get you to the exit! I need to!”

You peer at him surprised, “Weren’t you opposed to all that before-“ Soobin clasps both your hand with a pleading gaze, “Come on, lovely, trust me. Trust me. I want you to be safe. I’m not insane like the others, I want to protect you from them.”

From who? The king? The others? Protect? Your head spins, fucking hell, there’s too much happening.

All of a sudden, the both of you are startled with a trumpet blowing and the heavy sound of armoured footsteps. You yelp clinging onto Soobin’s arm, “What the fuck is that?!” There’s no response, you look up to see how pale he’s become, “S-Soobin? Soobin? Hello? Hey!”

His lips twitch into a shaky smile, “Oh. Ah, they’ve found us. How…convenient. I thought no one else knew about you.” What the fuck was going on? Who? Your eyes widen as you tug his arm towards the hole, “Come on! Ah, I’m not claustrophobic all of a sudden! Let’s get moving!”

“It’s too late,” he sighs. You snap pulling at his arm, “The fuck you mean it’s too late?! Come on, move your feet!” He seems to be glued to his spot with fear in his eyes.

You panic as you see several armoured guards. A few holding a banners with ominous red hearts and tassles. Many hold heart shaped spears and stand in formation. A few aim heart shaped arrows at the two of you. You freeze, you were well and truly fucked. No wonder he wasn’t moving.

“Is..Is this the-“ you begin with trepidation. “The Red King of Heart’s troops, yes. Yes they are, lovely,” he answers weakly. One of the knights steps out and bellows, “The White Rabbit has been charged with treason and the dearest guest of Wonderland has been charged as an accomplice!”

You gawk enraged, accomplice? Treason! You snap, “What? We did nothing! You mean having fun is against the rules here?”

The knight ignores your protests and continues, “I hereby come on orders of the King to escort our guest as per usual ordinance since you have failed to do so White Rabbit.”

You look at Soobin who seems to remain silent gripping your hand like a vice. The knight’s eyes snap to yours, “Dearest guest, upon your arrival to the palace, you will be greeted hospitably by our ruler and also face minor punishment for your hand in deviating our timekeeper.”

You snarl, “You were watching!?” The troops flinch at your words and Soobin sighs, “It’s over, lovely. I knew I shouldn’t have deviated. I…I knew this was too good to be true. To indulge myself or to keep you safe. The moment you set foot here, there is only one path to take. After all, time is stuck here.”

You blink at him, anger rolling through you in waves, “Stop all this nonsense! Soobin! This-“ You splutter helplessly; you didn’t even know what to say to that!

“Please come with us with no retaliation or we will be forced to take more harsh measures. That pertains more to you, our dear guest.” They begin marching towards the two of you. Fuck, if you ran into the burrow, they’d shoot all the arrows.

“C-Can we not negotiate?” You stammer however your pleas ring on deaf ears. You scream as they encroach closer and Soobin’s hand never leaves yours; a defeated expression on his face, “I’m sorry, lovely. For my foolishness has gotten us here. It appears that our time, is up.”

Your eyes begin watering, “No, Soobin, no-“ The knights lunge at Soobin and pry him away and you scream piercingly grabbing his arms attempting some semblance of defiance. No, no, they couldn’t take him away from you! Fuck! You couldn’t go to the King!

You cry out, “Give him back! Please, we’ll both go! He’ll take m-me to the palace, in- in- fact, you can escort us b-both there! Promise!” Soobin peers at you as he gets ruthlessly tugged away and finally your grip slips with a final tug, your fingers lose touch and you gasp out painfully, “Soobin!”

The knights haul him away and you spot tears running down his face and his lips form a smile, “It’s okay…cooperate with them. Please. Just cooperate with them, l-lovely.” He hisses as they pin his arms back behind him and he grunts as he writhes against their grasp. He knew what his fate would be.

Tears drip down his cheeks and you see him begin to laugh, making your heart jump to your throat in nausea. It was different laugh from what you previously heard, it was…worse. Maddening. Soobin cackles as tears run down his face, “Lovely, don’t be sad, don’t be sad, please, please, please.”

More and more maniacal laughter emits from him. You peer around at the knights who seem utterly unfazed by his insane outburst. You tremble frozen to your spot as you feel the knights grip your arms pulling them behind you. Soobin is dragged away laughing and crying simultaneously; it caused your heart to ache.

Your throat feels dry and your fingertips cold as ice, fear envelopes you. You were alone once more, in this…new version of hell. You shakily ask the knights who grip and shove you forward, “W-What’s going to happen to Soobin?”

“The White Rabbit has been charged with treason for going against the order of the King. Thus, his punishment will naturally be an execution through beheading,” the knight says nonchalantly. “He’s the timekeeper, you can’t just-“ you stammer shakily. He interrupts with a cruel laugh, “Dearest guest, anything can be replaced. Even you. There’s been many guests though you have been the most different. Now you too, will end up on the same path.”

You feel sick. No…this had to be a bluff. You hear the other knights release a twisted chuckle. “Our majesty has been rather eager to see you.”

Another knight hums amused, “I wonder if they’ll make it longer than the last one.” They all resounding laugh as your blood runs cold.

In a resounding cheer, they haul you along like a lifeless puppet, “In the name of the King of Hearts, march forward!”

Taglist: @naoristerling @staaaarykids @tremendousphantommiracle @lun4kazumii @lunathewritingcat @ur-mother-realnotclickbait @taehyhunnzly @20crowsinahoodie @baekberrie @syraphyina @fullbodyblankets @soohashits @f4iryfever @themochiverse @atiny-chocolate-chip @nothingwithoutgyu @ethystclove @hancafe @nap-of-a-starr @isa942572 @evn-09 @ninitorih @m3chigo @tenleeluvr

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theyhavetakenovermylife · 2 months ago

Text

A New World: part 5

Bayverse!Leonardo x reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

A/N: It has been some time, so I decided it was more than perfectly fine to post another part to this story. Here ya goooo

Leo is 25, reader is 22 - 23.

Warnings: None so far💙

“Okay”, (Y/N) said while playing with the pen in her hand, in a way Leo only had seen Donnie do it. “How did the other ninja turtles manage to travel through dimension?” The next day (Y/N) had decided to sit down and brainstorm ideas on how to get Leo home. At first Leo wanted to tell her that she was stupid for thinking that they even could do anything, but decided that maybe it would be a good idea to listen to the girl, who had mentioned his bonsai tree and childhood fear of heights, without him ever telling her about it.

“I don’t know, you tell me. I don’t even fully know how Krang did it, but surely I know how I did it in another universe”, Leo said, a little tired with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. It suddenly made sense to (Y/N) why Leo was the way that he was in Rise. Speaking of Leonardo from Rise…

“Well, there is this one version of you that jumps through portals as often as he changes his underwear”. That comment made Leo stare at her, wondering if she truly was mentally stable. “Probably the best place to start. Leo, swing one of your katanas and see if you can make a portal”.

Leo stared at her in bewilderment. “What?”

“You heard me”, (Y/N) said.

“You seriously believe that is going to work?”, Leo asked, raising his brow muscles at her, hoping that she would tell him it was a joke. But of course she didn’t.

“Well, you’re still in my house, and apparently not just a figment of my imagination, so yeah, at this point I would believe that pretty much anything is possible”.

Leo sighed, annoyed over the fact that she once again had a point. He stood up and signaled for (Y/N) to stand back. She quickly did as he took out his katana, noticing the way (Y/N) was staring at him, almost starstruck.

“What?”, he asked.

“Oh nothing”, she said, slightly embarrassed. “Just kind of always wanted to see you do that, sorry. Now continue, don’t mind me”.

This girl. If Leo didn’t manage to get home to his own dimension, this girl would be the death of him.

Leo held the katana in front of him with both hands, feeling the eyes (Y/N) on him. He had no idea how to do it, and he had no idea if it would work. But he went for it, and did a quick circle in the air, hoping for a light of sorts. But nothing. Nothing happened. No lights, no portal, no nothing.

“Well, that didn’t work”, (Y/N) said.

“Nooo waayyy”, Leo said dragging out the words. “I thought there was a portal right there in front of me!” (Y/N) said nothing but just raised a brow at him. “Sorry”, Leo quickly said, putting his katana away. “I tend to get a little stingy when I’m stressed, even-”.

“Sarcastic? Yes, I know. Remember, I’ve seen every version of you in action”, she said, pointing to the movies, still out on the sofa table.

“Oh, yeah, right, I forgot…” Leo felt his face get a little hot. “So, how else have they been able to travel through dimensions?” Leo could just not bring himself to call them “me and my brother”. They were NOT him, and therefore NOT his brothers. His brothers was where he left them, back in his own dimension.

“Well, most of them involve Krang or Shredder, but for obvious reasons we can’t do those”. (Y/N) was thinking, almost so hard that Leo could hear the gears turning in her brain. “There was that one time - no that was Shredder… Or maybe! - no, Krang did that… WHat about! - no, that was time travel and that was Renet… There was also the time April’s uncle got stuck in another universe… but that was Donnie that got them out of there”. Leo sunk back down on the sofa, listening to (Y/N) thinking out loud. None of what she said rang any bells, and at one point he stopped listening, until suddenly…

“The battle nexus!”

“The battle what now?”

(Y/N) just kind of slumped at that, before breathing out something along the lines of; “this is going to be harder than I thought”.

(Y/N) sat down on the small space left for her on the sofa, and started to go on google on her Macbook. As Leo tried to look along over her shoulder, she tilted the laptop away from him. She didn’t need him to know how many TMNT related videos she had been looking at.

“Do you mind?”, she said.

“Oh… sorry”, Leo said, leaning away again, yet he couldn’t shake the suspicious feeling he got from (Y/N)’s actions. She was hiding something. She was friendly, even though Leo found her slightly annoying at times, but she had not yet given him reason to suspect her of any bad intentions. That was the first time he thought she might be up to something.

“Here you go”, she finally said, turning her screen back towards him. Leo was shocked to be met by a video of a cartoon version of him and his brother’s following master Splinter down an alleyway. Yet the first thing he noticed, that he just couldn’t stop himself from saying…

“Why are we naked in that?!” Leo almost jumped on the sofa, shocked and embarrassed, by the actions of he did not commit himself, but another version of him in a different dimension. “Where are their pants?!”

“Believe it or not, the fact that you’re wearing pants is not that common for the TMNT universe”, (Y/N) said, slightly surprised by his reaction. “Now shut up and watch”.

Master Splinter drew a sigal on the wall, before mumbeling a bunch of words unknown to Leonardo. With that he disappeared through the wall of the alleyway. These versions of Leonardo and his brothers did the same thing, following their father into the battle nexus.

“You want me to try that?”, Leo asked.

“Yeah, and if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what else would”.

“Sounds very uplifting”.

And with that, Leo and (Y/N) sat out to create the portal to the battle nexus. They moved the sofa out of the way, and removed a few of the frames on the wall, so they had space to draw the sigal. Following what was shown in the video, they drew the sigal, and reluctantly, Leo started chanting, the way the other version of him did. And once again, nothing. Leo covered his face with his hands, sighing irritated. (Y/N) asked him to try again, so he did, and still nothing.

Now it was (Y/N)’s time to sigh irritated. She dropped down on the moved sofa and started rubbing the temples of her head.

“This is going to be harder than I thought”.

Leo wanted to be sarcastic, and say something along the lines of; “oh, you think so? Really? Not like I didn’t tell you so”, but he decided against it. (Y/N) was only trying to help him as much as she could, even if her means was limited. And it was obviously starting to frustrate her. Annoying or not, she only tried to help Leonardo.

“Maybe we should take a break and try again later”, Leo said before standing up, towering high above (Y/N) in her seat. It never ceased to amaze her, how tall he actually was. “Food and meditation helps the brain”.

“See that sounds a lot like something you would say”, (Y/N) laughed before standing up herself. “How does Chinese takeout sound to you?”

Okay, maybe she wasn’t that annoying after all. But Leo still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. And if it wasn’t (Y/N), then what was it?

—

Somewhere at a location unknown to the public, deep underground, a man was hunched over an open hatch in his big machine, connecting wireless. It was quiet in his laboratory, except from the sounds of his tools working against the metals of his machine. In the observatory on the floor above, sat a human boy, casting glances at the man on the floor below, before returning to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic in front of him. The exact same comic his father and his workers had taken their code names from for easy convenience. But the boy’s attention was now being taken from the comic at the sight of his father, and the boss of the man in the lap, showing up in the opening elevator behind the man in the lap. He watched as his father walked to the man, hands behind his back, talking, yet his son in the observatory couldn’t hear him through the thick glass. Though he wished he did. Yet he watched them in silence, their mouths moving.

“I hope my son didn’t cause too much trouble”, the boy’s father said in his calm tone, causing the poor scientist to jump in surprise.

“N- no, n- not at all Sir”, the doctor said, casting a quick glance at the circular machine behind him. “Nothing that can’t be fixed”.

The boy’s father took a step closer to the machine, taking it all in with his eyes hidden behind glasses. He then turned back towards the scientist, still with an unreadable facial expression, that caused people to fear him.

“Tell me, Dr. Lilja, how long until the machine is finished?”

The doctor started to fidget with his white sleeves, his fingers digging at the fabric. It had become a bad habit of his.

“It is hard to tell”, started the doctor, keeping his eyes away from the stern man in front of him, instead looking at the big machine by their side. “There’s no doubt that your son didn’t do anything on purpose, but it has given us a bigger setback than I first thought it did. It doesn’t mean that it can’t be fixed, but at this moment, I do not know when that will be. It could take as little as hours, days, but could also take as long as weeks, months… maybe even years”.

Lilja didn’t have to look at the boy’s father to know his facial expression. Anger. Irritation. Rage. Even though the young boy couldn’t hear the words of the two men in the laboratory, he knew the face of his father, and he knew that that face meant trouble. Big trouble. The same face he got after he accidentally broke the machine Dr. Lilja had been working on for months. And how did he break Dr. Lilja’s machine, you may ask? He played with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leonardo action figure on the machine buttons, while his father and Dr. Lijla was talking in the observatory. After that, he was no longer allowed in the laboratory, but only in the observatory, where he could play with his action figures and read his comics… Yeah, not his proudest moment…

The boy’s father grabbed Dr. Lilja by the neck of his shirt and stared him straight into his scared eyes. The boy gasped, putting the comic up in front of his face, only letting his eyes peek over the edge, watching the interaction play out in front of him. Lilja feared those eyes more than anything. He remembered clearly what happened to Dr. Stockman, last time he caused so much anger.

“You fix that machine in the time I told you to!” He didn’t even have to come up with a threat. Lilja knew what the punishment for not listening to him was.

“Yes! Yes! Of course Agent Bishop!”

It was at moments like this, where it once again made sense to Dr. Lilja, why Agent Bishop had chosen that code name.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt leonardo #tmnt leo #tmnt bayverse #tmnt bayverse x reader #tmnt leo x reader #tmnt leonardo x reader #bayverse leo #bayverse leonardo #tmnt bayverse leo #tmnt bayverse leo x reader #tmnt bayverse leonardo #tmnt bayverse leonardo x reader #tmnt x reader

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bestworstcase · 1 month ago

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Given the time/resources and presuming that there isn't unknown elements to setup how would you handle

A. The Reveal that Summer Rose is alive and Working with Taiyang

B. What Taiyang has been doing that is so important he's not in Vacuo?

if i were the one writing this story there is no force on earth that could stop me from doing the reveal like—well for the purpose of this hypothetical let’s pretend “time/resources” included that the 9.12 animatic did not get cut at the eleventh hour but the original 9.11 did, such that v9 is exactly the same except for the storyboard epilogue being a completed eleventh episode. given that, in my hands:

v10 cold opens in the midst of salem’s assault on vale, narrowly focused on glynda’s point of view. we use this to establish the basic sequence of events leading to that refugee ship arriving in vale, glynda and other defenders are holding the line, raven portals in to inform her grimly that patch’s defenses are falling and the ship is leaving now, she maybe expects glynda to flee with her, glynda instead thinks: mountain glenn. we might have a fighting chance there. and then sends raven to make sure the refugees make it to safety.

the remainder of episode 1 is about rwbyj getting caught up with everything. ruby has questions she wants to ask raven about summer, but she’s not forgotten how raven reacted the last time ruby reminded her of summer, and also everything else is so much, so she has a team huddle with yang about it. yang meanwhile is feeling… some way about raven being here because a) why wasn’t yang a good enough reason to stay before she ‘died’ but also b) she doesn’t not want raven to be here, so…? it’s complicated.

which leads to: yang is the one who bites the bullet to ask raven about summer. (probably not in 10.1, this is a 10.2 or 10.3 conversation depending on how high the heat is with the crown. i haven’t thought deeply about this but my impulse is to say we use 10.1 to establish what the situation is, in 10.2 we play the schnee family reunion off some sort of skirmish or setback involving the crown, 10.3 yang takes a stab at talking to raven.

now. yang is smart. and she’s had a few days to observe raven—i think she’d want some time to process mom is here? and helping?! before actually trying to have a conversation. she knows what ruby saw in the tree, and how raven reacted when ruby reminded her of summer, and what raven said in mistral.

“she lied—she left with raven!?”

versus, the truth is that truth is hard to come by, and you need to question everything, and your father and qrow are blind fools for trusting ozpin. and also: i’ve stared death in the face over and over again and every time i’ve spat in that face and survived, while raven all but choked back tears. because i’m strong enough to do what others won’t.

and yang also knows, because salem herself told them, that summer’s last mission—the one where she left with raven—brought her face-to-face with salem.

it does not take a genius to put two and two together, here. yang figures that either:

raven sold out summer to save herself, or

summer lied to raven, too

or maybe both, and either way this is an extremely sore subject—one she maybe shouldn’t start prodding right off the bat. luckily(?) there’s a safer goliath in this room she can start with instead.

where’s dad?

like, qrow told the girls tai’s “on assignment,” but little else. it seemed like he didn’t know the details, either. raven has a bond to tai—she must know where he is, right? (right, says raven, reluctantly.)

where is he? in vale. still.

if he’s trying to evacuate the ones who got left behind, why couldn’t qrow just tell us that? he’s…………not doing that.

then why isn’t he here?

<- raven does not want to fucking touch the answer to this question with a twelve foot pole, and narratively the reason we open the question like this is so that raven’s abandonment of yang—first as a small child, and then again at haven—can derail the conversation the instant raven starts squirming. probably it does not go super well from here; raven clams up, yang’s resentment and hurt come flooding out again, maybe they have another shouting match, maybe yang in the heat of the moment throws an accusation re: summer that makes raven go deer in headlights before bolting. or maybe something explodes outside the academy (figuratively or otherwise) and they have to drop it and rush to put out the proverbial fire. whatever happens, things are left unresolved.

in 10.4 we skip back just a few months. vale hasn’t fallen yet. it’s late. snowing maybe. hooded figure (a dark cloak, not white—nondescript grey or brown, maybe black, she’s keeping a low profile) is standing at summer’s grave, alone. replaying the recording of ruby’s broadcast. i hope amity tower will help bring us all together. because in the end, that’s how we’ll win—

emergency broadcast screen. static. hooded figure lowers the scroll. stares at her grave for a moment. and then from the woods behind her, salem: she sounds… just like her mother.

hooded figure startles and as she’s turning around, says bitterly: i guess it’s like they say; like mother, like daughter.

we hear her voice before we see her face, so there’s one last split second for denial and disbelief (that can’t really be her, no, what, what!?) before salem slinks out of the shadows and summer pulls her hood down and smiles wanly and is plainly not a corrupt hollowed out grimm shell of herself.

and then we do the “what happened in atlas, no i’ve not found the vault (tai doesn’t know anything 😒), salem cautiously sharing that ruby and yang ‘fell’” conversation. cinder isn’t here either implicitly or explicitly because salem isn’t sure how badly summer will take the news. to really double-underline where we’re going with this summer echoes the sentiment if not the exact words of ruby’s inspiring speech to oscar in the dojo scene; she is scared, she is hurt, but the gods intend to kill everyone, so she will not turn aside. no matter what.

(that’s the funny thing about the unserious edgy ‘ruby villain arc’ and semi-serious ‘salem fallen hero’ stuff stirred up by all the anvil-sized ruby-salem parallelism going on in v9, isn’t it? summer rose is imminent.)

anyway from there we toggle back and forth between what is now an agonizing boil of dramatic irony (they don’t know their mom is with salem) intermixed with enigma (how did this happen. why did this happen. what the HELL does raven know–) against the backdrop of burgeoning civil war in vacuo, and peeling back the outer layers of salem’s psyche against the backdrop of her search for the crown and preparation to force the coalition to risk use of the sword in vale, while tai realizes too late that he might be a boiled frog and cinder doing her level best to wring every concession she can get out of salem.

in my hands the vale storyline remains in the past relative to the vacuo storyline such that it is an inevitable build toward razing vale: we know it’s going to happen, we know there’s a span of a couple weeks, maybe even a month, between atlas falling and the sack of vale, and in this part of the narrative we’re very abruptly wrenched into salem’s side of this war—she doesn’t arrive in vale with the intention of razing it and her arc in v10 is about how and why she comes to that course of action.

and then at the end of the volume we bookend the assault on vale from the other side—cinder’s and summer’s and salem’s perspectives, tai maybe getting corralled into the mountain glenn undercity with everyone else—and play that against the climactic confrontation with the crown in vacuo to set the stage for v11.

#spitballing. not a theory per se this is just how i’d do things if it were my story

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angel-therandomthing · 7 months ago

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Full trailer breakdown for helluva boss season 2 (part 1)

1) at the start of the trailer we see a group of hooded figures that say “come out we have got you surrounded” probably, knowing blitzø, gotten into deep shit with a cult of some sort and blitzø probably owes them money

2) in the next frame we see the gang in there van with moxie and blitzø talking

Moxie: we’re are we going

Blitzø: anywhere but here, get ready for a life on the run gang

*blitzø crashes the van into a pole*

Moxie: I fucking hate you so much blitzø

First get the obvious stuff out of the way. They are on the run from what I think would be the cult from the start of the trailer indicating that they are most probably FUCKED. And judging from the fact that full moon (the next episode we are going to get) seems to be about stolas and blitzø relationships I will except that this episode will be apology tour (coming in June) and I also expect this because as you will see in a bit I am pretty sure that I got each episode correct for what parts are in it. But my favourite part of this is that moxie calls blitzø instead of sir and we don’t know why yet so it would make sense that Thai isn’t that first episode to be released but the second.

3) moxie talks about Business being at a peak and that it would be disastrous to lose what they worked for now. Which is making me think that blitzø is going to do something stupid sending back profit. Knowing that I recon that that is a scene from the last episode sinmas (coming out in December to go with the Christmas spirit)

4) in this part we see blitzø and moxie standing in front of a smashed car that looks to be there’s. We can also see different spray paint on the car that could indicate that they will get a new van (if them crashing the van at the start wasn’t a good indicator) we can also see blitzø in a ghostbusters looking back pack with a vibrator in hand( why I don’t know). Behind all that we can see witherd trees probably apart of a new ring. And giving that the rings are based off the seven deadly sins I would guess it is sloth or envy (giving that we have been to wrath, pride, greed and lust).

5) we can see fizz holding a giant blurred out thing (knowing him a sex toy) with blitzø win a bow tie in the corner. The background consists of what is Ozzie’s home , also we’re fizz lives. And giving blitzøs unusual attire I will guess that this is the sinmass.

6) this one is more of a small one. We can se stolas sitting on his bed looking all depressed. Now all I can take out of this is that this has something to do with the full moon episode (OUT NEXT MONTH. Going to do a break down and a couple of theory’s on that when it releases) BUT WHAT DID BLITZØ DO TO MY STOLAS!?

7) we can see moxie jumping over a bunch of rocks away from a explosion. From what I can see without any dialog to back me up here is this connected to a scene later on and that moxie is in the list ring. I recon it is most likely sinmas because as we saw earlier blitzø was with fizz in the lust ring.

8) I am not really going to count this since it’s just them jumping out of a portal using stolas book so this would be at that beginning of full moon before stolas gives blitzø the sucubass crystal( if you missed that watch season 2 episode 5 and the look my way music video)

9) now we see the stupid fucking cherubs come back. But this time they have been caught by the freaks from the D.O.R.K.S. Having a conversation

Unnamed male dork from season 1: so why would a bunch of angels be looking for demons

Cherub: we lay and wait for them to return to earth so we might smite them once and for all

Agent who: we would need someone with more experience

With this I’m guessing that the Dorks and cherubs are going to team up

10) we now see blitzø using a sucubass crystal to teleport to the mortal world (the one stolas got in look my way so this would be after full moon) giving the dorks finger guns and winking that them probably to tawnt them. But what is interesting is the background behind blitzø being all red which is going to then be in imp city but not in there office signaling that they could be in the run. From all this I recon this one and the next two and previous one are all from the same episode being, drum roll please 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁, master mind (airing in November which is sad because it is the most interesting looking one

Atlas I can only use 10 photos so I will post this now and work on part 2

#helluva boss #season 2 #stolitz #stolas #blitzø #helluva millie #moxie helluva boss #spoilers #i spent way too much time on this #i’m going insane #i want to kms #i am fucking crying #stolas is kinda hot.#fan theory

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whimsicallyenchantedrose · 9 months ago

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Season 3 Rewatch Drabbles: 3x12 New York City Serenade

(gif by @pirateherokillian)

Summary: A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my rewatch of season 3 of Once Upon a Time. There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season. Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on Captain Swan’s epic love story.

Word Count: 938

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Killian tossed the bean into the churning sea and then jumped just as he saw the smoke of the newest curse billow toward him. He let out a long breath as the portal closed around him.

He’d made it.

Now came the real challenge. Before he’d left the band of heroes, Regina had told him she’d given Swan and Henry a life in New York City. Killian recalled the one and only time he’d been in this New York. It had been a land of noise, bustle and endless people. It was a strange land where he could walk among the citizens dressed as a pirate of old, and no one batted an eye. (Aside, of course, from that group of giggling women who had requested he take a selfie with them, whatever the blazes that was.)

How did one even begin to search for someone in this sprawling metropolis? Killian supposed he could always break into Baelfire’s apartment and use it as a home base of sorts while he waited if that proved necessary.

The portal deposited Killian upon a sidewalk and he fell to his knees with a wince. He got quickly back to his feet, looking around himself, pleased to see this particular sidewalk was largely deserted.

Killian glanced around to find that he’d landed in front of what may be a lodging house of some kind–an apartment building, he believed it was called in this land. It seemed to be outside of the heart of the city, the sidewalk lined by well manicured trees and shrubs.

Perhaps he’d been fortunate. Perhaps the portal had deposited him in front of Swan’s abode. He strode toward the gate before the building and pulled at the handle.

It appeared to be locked tight.

Killian peered down at the lock and frowned. It didn’t seem to require a key. All he could see was some manner of keypad. How was one to pick a lock such as this?

He was still trying to determine the answer to that when an elderly lady came to the gate and gave him a disapproving look.

“Just why are you loitering here, young man?” she asked, frowning up at him.

Killian bit his lip to keep from laughing at the “young man” comment. If only she knew his actual age! “I believe my girlfriend lives in this building, madam,” he said in his most charming tone, the one that got even Granny herself to blush. “Emma Swan? Can you help me get in?”

If anything, the woman’s frown deepened, and she folded her arms. “I’ve met Emma Swan’s boyfriend, and you are not him.”

Killian ignored the nasty, jealous feeling the statement evoked. It was vital he get to Emma as soon as possible and restore her memories. He hadn’t time to reflect on the current state of her love life and the emotions that dredged up within him.

“I think you must be mistaken,” he lied smoothly. “That relationship is at an end, and she’s with me now.”

She continued to watch him carefully for another moment, and then nodded, turning toward the keypad and unlocking the door. “Well, I can’t say I’m sorry to see the end of Walsh,” she said. “There was always something kind of….shifty…about him. I’m not sure that you’re any better, though. Don’t think I can’t see right through that charm you ooze.”

“You find me charming?” he asked, flirting shamelessly as he followed her into the building and then surreptitiously glanced at the buzzer board in the entryway to find the apartment number he was looking for. His grin widened as the elderly woman finally blushed.

“Don’t let it go to your head, young man,” she said, turning to open an apartment door on the ground floor.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Killian was still grinning from the encounter as he climbed the stairs until he’d reached Swan’s floor, but the grin was replaced by nerves when he reached her door. Was he ready for this? Was he ready to see her again and see the lack of recognition in her eyes?

Would his plan to bestow a True Love’s Kiss on her work to restore her memories? He knew she cared about him; he’d seen it in her eyes when they’d bid each other farewell at the town line. Was it enough to break a curse?

He took a deep breath and then stood taller, looking at the door determinedly. There was only one way to find out.

Taking one more fortifying breath, he raised his fist and knocked.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Five minutes later, Killian hobbled down the stairs and back out onto the sidewalk, his heart smarting as much as his nether regions at the failure of his first plan. Aye, it had been a long shot that his True Love’s Kiss would work. Perhaps her feelings were not as strong as he’d hoped they were. Still one hardly wished his kiss to his beloved to be followed by a swift knee to his groin.

For a moment, as he got his bearings and began making his way toward Baelfire’s abode, Killian allowed himself to feel the sting of rejection, but then he firmly put it aside.

So his first attempt had failed. He still had the potion. Aye, he had hoped to give it to the lad after his kiss had restored Swan’s memories, but he could adapt. It was time to rethink his approach and strategize.

Getting through Regina’s memory spell was going to be quite the challenge, but he loved a challenge, and he loved Emma.

She was worth fighting for.

NEXT CHAPTER-->

#season 3 rewatch drabbles #cs fanfiction #ouat fanfiction #my fanfiction #3x12 new york city serenade #killian jones

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tabitha42 · 5 months ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 17

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

After a long, philosophical discussion, it was decided to let Shadowheart stay. Even though she clearly had a very different outlook on life to the rest of the group, she posed them no threat, and they all knew they needed her.

Eventually the subject moved back to the day’s events and onto the plan for the next day. It was decided that Wyll, Lae’zel, Shadowheart and Astarion would head to Ethel’s house. Lae'zel had said she wanted to see the looks on their face when they realised that this was yet another waste of time.

After dinner, Saff helped Gale clear away the cooking supplies as the group retired.

“You know, I think it’s unfair that the ones who did the cooking should also have to clean up. We should get some of the others to do it today,” she complained.

“As much as I wholeheartedly agree with you, I think convincing some of the others of that might be difficult,” Gale said with a chuckle. “Besides, the washing up doesn’t take that long.”

“That’s true… but if we leave now, we’d be able to watch the sunset,” she said with a playful smile. The sun was just beginning to dip below the trees, and their usual spot further down the river would give a beautiful view as the river stretched out west.

“Hmm… you make a good point… I’m sure Wyll and Karlach would be willing to take the cleaning up for today,” he said with a smile, looking forward to sharing such a view with her.

A sudden wind whipped at their robes. They ignored it at first, until another gust of wind so strong it nearly blew them off their feet swept through the camp. The rest of the group were taken by surprise too, wondering if a sudden storm was brewing, until they saw black tendrils of smoke blowing along the ground. The tendrils began to converge at a single point and the smoke grew, a strong charge of magic in the air. Anyone standing near it stumbled back as the smoke formed a circle that suddenly burst into flames, and a figure of what appeared to be some sort of black ooze began to rise out of the portal.

The group watched in shock and confusion as this played out before them - all but one, who had known this was coming and had been dreading it.

Wings suddenly unfurled from the figure and the ooze coalesced into the form of a devil.

Gale and Saff had spoken before about the lives of warlocks, bound by an unbreakable contract. Saff was horrified now to see first hand the consequences of breaking that contract.

Before they knew what was happening Wyll was left forever transformed, and with another flash of magic and fire the devil disappeared, leaving camp in silence once more.

“Wyll! Gods, are you alright??” Karlach gasped, running to his side, trying to look at him but forcing herself to remember not to touch him.

“I… by the Hells, what has she done to me…” he whispered, looking at his hands. He turned them over, seeing the ribs and markings in his skin.

“I swear, next time I see her I’ll remove that smug head from her neck!” Karlach swore angrily, clenching her fists, her fires starting to burn hotter.

“Careful, Karlach,” Gale warned. “Save that rage for when she’s here next.”

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, but it was no easy task.

“So… what exactly just happened?” Astarion asked, still at a bit of a loss as to what he just watched.

“That was Mizora. My patron,” Wyll explained with a deep sigh. “I vowed to slay Karlach. I broke that vow - and this is my punishment. She has turned me into one of her own. A devil.”

“You’re a devil now?” Astarion asked, sounding a bit too excited for just about anyone else’s liking. “Do you have a devil’s powers, too?”

“No. Just the appearance of one,” Wyll explained.

“Oh. A pity.” The glare Wyll gave Astarion at that moment could have killed, and it was only made worse by the red and black eye he now had. Even Astarion flinched at the glare, but Wyll sighed and looked away before he took the threat any further.

“Gods damn her back to the Hells!” he growled, deciding to turn his anger against her rather than Astarion. “I did what was right, and she made me pay for it. I’d be hunting devils and demons, she said. Traitors and hypocrites. But not… not Zariel’s victims. Not innocent tieflings.”

He shook his head, looking down sadly.

“Wyll…” Karlach said quietly, her rage turning to sadness as she saw the pain in his eyes. “I… I don’t know what to say. Other than thank you. No one’s ever stuck their neck out for me like that before. And… sorry…”

“Don’t apologise, please. This isn’t your fault,” he said quickly. “If this is what it takes to see you escape Zariel safely, then so be it.”

Karlach smiled, touched by his kindness. She knew that it wasn’t specifically for her, of course, he would make such a sacrifice for anyone innocent. And that made her like him even more.

Saff and Gale joined her in staying with Wyll after that, comforting him and listening as he spoke of all he could regarding his history with Mizora. He admitted he didn’t want to go back to the grove tomorrow, fearing how the others would react. Karlach offered to take his place instead, which he thanked her for. They suggested that maybe Halsin would have some way of helping him tomorrow when he arrived at camp, though they all knew that was even less likely than him being able to help with the tadpoles.

It was late by the time Wyll decided to call it a night. He thanked them deeply for being there for him - he wasn’t sure how well he’d have handled this had he not had such good friends to help him through it. Gale and Saff spoke to Karlach for a bit afterwards, about how she still couldn't believe he did that, how grateful she was, how happy she was to be travelling with someone like him. Eventually she headed off for bed too, saying that even though tomorrow should be a reasonably easy day if all they need to do is talk to Auntie Ethel, she should still make sure to get some rest anyway.

Gale and Saff slowly walked back to their tents. The camp was quiet now, the fire down to just the embers, moonlight illuminating the river. It was beautiful, but neither could appreciate it right now, their mood heavy with the knowledge of Wyll’s suffering.

“I suppose we’d better get some sleep too,” Gale said as they reached their tents. “Sorry we didn’t have time for a lesson tonight,” he said, knowing she’d been looking forward to that as much as he had been.

“I’m sure we’ll have time tomorrow,” she said with a small smile, trying to find some hope in their current bleak situation. “Though… I want to stay with Wyll as much as we can. He’s clearly struggling.” “I agree,” he said with a nod. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through. We need to be there for him.”

They heard footsteps next to them and were taken by surprise by Astarion, who seemed to appear out of the darkness. Even when he wasn’t trying to be stealthy he couldn’t seem to help it.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, sounding… somewhat sincere. “Saff, I… was hoping to take you up on your offer.”

Gale narrowed his eyes slightly.

“You want to feed on her?”

“Well, Wyll had originally offered, but… it feels a bit impolite to ask him now,” he explained. Gale sighed, reluctantly agreeing with that logic.

“Wyll offered?” Saff asked in surprise. “I thought you were only going to feed on people staying in camp?”

“Yes, well, that came down to Gale, whose blood is poisoned, Karlach, whose blood is on fire, and you, who gave me blood last time. He didn’t want you to have to do it twice.”

Saff felt a pang of guilt knowing that Wyll had offered his blood so she didn’t have to, especially when he’d potentially have had to fight while dealing with the consequences. Gale had similar thoughts, and was cursing his affliction that he couldn’t take some of the burden himself.

“Alright, let’s get on with it then,” she said, turning to head to her tent.

Inside the tent they set up her bed roll and a few furs and blankets, which she lay down on. Astarion knelt to one side, while Gale knelt on the other, there to make sure he didn’t get carried away again.

“Ready?” Astarion asked. She felt Gale take her hand, and gently squeezed his hand in thanks.

“Ready,” she confirmed.

Astarion leant down, lingering over her neck for a moment, before she felt the pain again. It didn’t get any easier the second time, just as sudden and intense. She squeezed Gale’s hand hard and let out a whimper of pain, then felt as he began drinking.

Gale watched carefully. He could feel her squeezing his hand, knowing how much this hurt. Astarion drank, and just as Gale had been about to tell him to stop, he pulled away.

“Ahh! Wonderful,” he said, licking his blood-stained lips. “Thank you, again.”

Gale pressed a cloth to Saff’s neck as she opened her eyes and looked up at Astarion, giving him a small smile to say he was welcome.

“I will leave you to rest. See you both in the morning,” he said, then stood up and left the tent.

Saff closed her eyes again, waiting for the worst of the nausea to wear off. She felt Gale clean up her neck and put the cloth aside.

“I’d best be off too, let you get some sleep.”

She looked up at him, her head spinning slightly. It felt not too dissimilar to being drunk, though less pleasant. Given what she said next though, it seemed to have the same effect on her inhibitions.

“You could stay…”

He looked at her in surprise. Gods, he wanted to say yes. Every single fibre of his being was screaming at him to say yes. But he knew he couldn’t. Not only because of the orb (that even now simmered threateningly in his chest at just the thought of spending the night by her side), but it was clear from the way she spoke that she wasn’t exactly fully with it - her speech a bit slurred, a slightly glazed over look in her eyes. Had this been from alcohol he certainly would feel it wouldn’t be right to say yes, and delirium from blood loss felt like it shouldn’t be treated any differently.

“A tempting offer… but we both need to rest, and I fear we’d be up talking all night if I stayed here.”

She looked at him with an upset, almost pleading look, which took all his willpower to resist.

“Another night,” he promised her. That finally brought a smile to her lips.

“Another night,” she confirmed. She looked so beautiful in that moment, smiling up at him, illuminated by the soft moonlight through the tent door. He could feel the orb stirring as he let himself get lost in her beauty, reminding him of the consequences if he didn’t leave, but he wanted to stay just a moment more. He still held her hand, and gently he lifted it up and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. He saw her face light up with both surprise and happiness as he did that, and he wasn’t sure if the rush of excitement he was feeling himself was from the kiss or from seeing her reaction.

“Goodnight, Saff,” he said softly, holding her hand there just a moment more, before finally lowering it back down to the bed and leaving the tent. Once outside, he took a deep breath to calm the orb that now burnt inside his chest. He knew the orb had reacted to strong negative emotions before, but he was now sure it reacted to strong positive emotions, too. He just hadn’t had any positive emotions strong enough to make it react before meeting Saff. In that moment though, he didn’t care what the orb tried to do to him. He let himself get lost in thoughts of her as he headed back to his tent.

Saff’s heart fluttered and she felt giddy from excitement. It had been so unexpected, but so sweet and romantic… she almost had to laugh at herself for getting so excited over this, like a teenager getting excited because her crush said hi to her. She let herself feel it though. With all that had been happening to them, they deserved happiness wherever they could find it.

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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sugolara · 6 months ago

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𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚

ft. K.B x S.T x I.M x fem! reader

Synopsis: After a deadly virus leaks all over the world, every country is forced to close down it's borders and airports to prevent anyone from coming in and out. Though, it's to late for some people. The dead has rose and is looking for revenge. Cw: gore, quirkless! au, apocalypse! au, zombie! au, weapons, death, angst, lots and lots of blood, cannibalism, suicidal thoughts, slow burn

previous || series m.list || next

“Found you.” Katsuki grabbed F/n’s attention as they both stood at the main entrance, “I need to talk to you.”

F/n eyed him as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder, “Okay. What about?”

The main entrance rattled open, and they both exited, walking down the road. F/n had planned on visiting the house she had placed traps in. She hasn't seen the traps go off, but she was curious if someone had managed to undo them and grab her stuff, but with Katsuki here she had to appear like she was heading to scavenge.

“Before we came, me and the other guys found this place.” He said as he eyed her from the corner of his eyes.

“Okay and?” She said, keeping an eye out for any dead, “What? Did the place have like fairies and a magical portal where we can go through when we want to escape?”

He glared at her, “Can you just shut the fuck up and let me finish.”

“Jeez, okay.” She mumbled out, but when he hadn’t said anything, she looked at him, “You going to say anything?”

“There's this place not too far from here. It has people in it. A community just like ours.” Hearing a rotter moan out quietly, he turned his attention to it but they both ignored it when it was caught underneath a car, “It doesn’t have that many people in it. I wanted to talk to Nezu about it and negotiate with them.

“With that damn bastard demanding everything, and as much as I hate to say it, we need all the fucking help we can get.” He continued, “No way are we going to meet their requirements by just looking for places that have already been looked at.”

“So why are you telling me?” She asked.

He glared at her, placing his hand on her arm to stop their movements, “I’m telling you because I want to know what you think in case all else fails. In that fucked up mind of yours, you probably have some sort of solution.”

She blinked at him before shrugging, “You know what I think? I think we should just take it.”

“What..?” He shook his head, “We don’t want to take over their place. We just want to negot-”

“You asked me what I thought.” She shrugged her hand off, “I gave it to you. That crate you guys brought back, I’m sure that was just them being generous, but they had good stuff. Imagine what more they have hidden.”

“They have people.” He tried to change her mind and it wasn’t like the decision had already been made, he just wanted her to stop thinking of violence, but violence is all you can think about if you're fighting for survival, “They have kids.”

She looked to her side before letting out another shrug and continuing forward, “Okay then. I guess, just talk it out. I really don’t have another option.”

He rolled his eyes as he followed after her, “Your options suck.”

“Can’t argue with that.” She said and they peacefully walked together. As she looked ahead, the wind blew by them both, “I went back, by the way.”

He hummed, “Back? Where?”

Her lip twitched, “To where they died.”

His eyes wanted to widen but he blinked as he stared at the side of her head, “Why..? You went by yourself? Are you that stupid to go all the way out there?”

“I needed to know.” She continued to look ahead as her hand swung near her gun.

He then looked ahead and if it wasn't for the crashed cars. The scenery of the neighborhood would have looked beautiful especially with the trees changing colors, “Does Deku know?”

She scoffed, “No. If he did…well if he did nothing would change.”

Seeing her shrug and the crestfallen face, he hesitated to speak, “..What was left?”

A small smile appeared on her lips, “Nothing. Nothing but old, muddy, ripped up clothes.”

With that, she left it alone and looked ahead. There was more to it, like their skeleton beginning to grow moss, small animals using it as a hiding place to hide from their prey, and the dirt piling up on it soon to be covered and nothing be left behind.

Squelching had Shoto shivering from how disgusted he was. Months into the world ruled by the dead and he will never get used to the sounds. Most of it was partly due to Dabi playing around with the dead like they were toys and as he watched as his older brother dig his knife through the eye socket, he merely rolled his eyes, ignored him and went back to the dirty notebook in his hand.

He twirled his pencil around as he waited for Dabi to clear the area so they could drive through the road. He was supposed to be on the lookout, but Dabi had things under control. Instead, he could continue to write in his notebook that had seen better days.

“Instead of writing love letters like a schoolgirl you can get rid of these ugly bitches.” Dabi said, pulling the knife out and eyed his younger brother who sat on the passenger seat, “Shoto.”

The younger rolled his eyes and looked at him, “I did help. And it's not love letters.”

“No?” Dabi said and walked to him and snatched the notebook out of his hands, ignoring the way Shoto tried to get it back. He skimmed over the pages, a grin on his face as he made up a sentence, “Dear baby, I miss you so much. There are days where all I can think about is you. When I’m in my bed I have these thoughts that I can’t control and all the blood rushes to my-”

“Enough!” Shoto grabbed the book back, giving Dabi a glare as he laughed, “Maybe instead of sticking your head through my business you can stick it up your ass!”

“Oh!” Dabi exclaimed with a laugh, “Feisty are we.”

Again, Shoto rolled his eyes as he slammed the door close, “Hurry up and drive. We’re supposed to be somewhere.”

The raven-haired male tapped on his door before entering and starting the car again. He placed his arm on the window, his fingers drumming, “You think love letters are going to get you far?”

“Why do you care?” Shoto said as he looked out his window.

“Because if you’re going to have your head up someone's ass, someone who’ll die with a snap of a finger, you’re wasting your entire time.” He said, looking at the mirrors, “You got other important shit on your plate and you don't need some damn girl coming in and ruining it. You’re smart, you know that.”

He eyed his younger brother from the corner and mumbled, “It’s why that bastard favors you.”

The mention of their father had Shoto feeling gloomy. He might have died trying to protect them, but that doesn’t excuse the torment he had put them through for their entire childhood. For the rest of the ride, they stayed quiet, the radio that Dabi had brought was the only sound that emitted from the car, but it would go deaf from the wind that rushed by them.

Exiting the highway, they entered a neighborhood and slowly drove by as they both looked for a place to park the car and hide it in case anyone was nearby. They found a building covered in vines and they parked the car, both getting off and detangling the vines with their knife to help cover the car.

When all that was done, they walked through the crowded street. They both kept an eye out for anything, that being; stores, dead, humans, and weapons.

“So, how long have you been with that group?” Dabi asked, his hands holding his pistol.

Shoto shrugged as he let his hand rest on top of his pistol that was in the holster, “I’m not sure. A few months into this, I think. I don’t keep track of the days.”

“Yeah, me either.” Dabi then reached into his pocket where he pulled out a bar of granola and munched on it, “You think about ever going back to Musutafu?”

“And do what?” Shoto asked, though he can say he has thought about going there, just to see his home and re-experience it before he truly is gone.

“Shit, I don’t know.” The male shrugged, but he then let out a short laugh, “I still have a bunch of prono’s underneath my bed.”

“Seriously?” Shoto looked at him with a disgusted look, “Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Nah…” Dabi said, his eyes glancing at the buildings then at his brother, “I’ve been thinking, since, our piece of shit father, was important don’t you think they would have more places to keep people like him safe? That’s been bothering me this entire time.”

Now that he had mentioned it, Shoto had begun to think as well. It would be odd for the government—since that’s where his dad worked—to only have one place that could be safe. Enji was of high status, not just a commoner, so they had to tell him more than just one place that was highly secure.

And there was another thing, Momo’s parents were also like Enji, and yet he had never seen her, nor her family where they had placed his family in.

Shoto glanced at his brother, his eyes widened as he stopped walking, “You know something don’t you?”

Dabi grinned at him slyly, “Says who?”

As his older brother continued forward, Shoto quickly catched up to him, “If you know something then tell me! This could be a good thing! Imagine how many people could be saved! Helped!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dabi said as he approached a building that was a gun store.

He felt irritated as his brother ignored him, “Touya! If you know something then say it!”

“Listen, Shoto!” Dabi placed his finger on his mouth, signaling Shoto to be quiet, “I know a lot of shit, but I can’t tell you. If Tomura were to know what I know, can you imagine the shit storm that would happen?”

“Do you not trust me?” Shoto could feel a sense of hurtness wash over him, but he had to suspect that trustiness was out of the picture. It had been since their father had them compete over each other, but he’s always imagined that if things were to be different, they would get along like any other siblings.

But, Shoto was just too much of an airhead to see that Dabi was helping him, even if the process was very, very slow.

“That’s got nothing to do with this.” Dabi opened the door and entered the building, “There’s ears everywhere. When the time's right, I’ll tell you.”

The bi-colored male rolled his eyes after he entered the building, “It’s never going to be the right time.”

The comment had Dabi look at his brother. His ocean eyes watched as Shoto made his way around the building, jumping over the counter and entering the rooms that were in the back.

In truth, he had no reason to help Shoto. They both, or well rather he, held resentment to him, for taking their fathers attention and left him in the shadows. He could have already outed his information he gathered about Enji to Tomura, but just like them both he was selfish.

Well, that's how he perceives himself.

“Watch the back, Shoto.” Dabi called out as he looked at the shelfs in the front.

In the back rooms, Shoto leaned on a wall as he let out a sigh. He wiped his eyes as he could feel himself grow tired. Tomura had sent them out to grab a few resources and since Dabi was his right hand man, he was allowed to take Shoto. The male just hoped they were back in time to go to Sorston, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to even go and see his friends.

Hearing a loud crash coming from the front, Shoto had grabbed his gun and headed to his brother, but he annoyingly let out a sigh, letting his arm rest on his side, “What the hell are you doing!?”

Holding a bat, Dabi grinned, “Cleaning.”

“You’ll be drawing the dead towards us.” He bitterly said, “I don’t feel like dying today.”

“Of course.” He swung his bat around, “How could I forget? You have a girlfriend waiting for you. You probably want to get back to her without any scratches and give her a real surprise, if you know what I me-”

“Just shut up.” Shoto rolled his eyes as he left. His brother laughing did not help the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks and speaking of F/n, he wondered what she was up to.

#izuku x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #katsuki x reader #midoriya x y/n #katsuki x you #shoto x y/n #shoto x you #todoroki shoto x reader

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theminecraftbee · 2 years ago

Text

2ND-5 LOG 0001

Is this thing working?

Oh, it is! Uh, neat. New body, and it was exciting to find out it took debug logs, but I wasn’t, uh, certain how to get them to work? You know how it is when we’re… yeah.

Anyway, not totally sure… what’s going on. Know what my goal is. There are artifacts in the vault. Collect them all! Haven’t really… I mean, I sort of also know what a skyblock is, but I haven’t done one of those in… gosh, time’s uh, pretty hard, actually. Anyway, wild I know what I’m doing, because I’m not totally sure… how I got here? But I like… know what I’m doing, sort of. Maybe. I mean, it’s survival skyblock. Everyone knows how that works, right?

This thing I’m possessing this time at least seems to have some useful functions. Doesn’t tell me when the vault rock thingies are done though. Learned that the hard way. Needs to not just be big but, uh, have pointy bits. Yeah.

Anyway, when I pictured vaults, I pictured running around and grabbing stuff from chests! Did not realize a handful of dirt and like five spruce saplings would be the most valuable things I’d get for a while. Those saplings have provided, uh… days? Days of entertainment. Cutting them, uh, you know, down, and…

I have respawn here. Yep. Tested it both ways. A lot. Tested it both ways a lot. Did you know I also have corpses here? That was weird. They seem to go away after a bit at least because otherwise the platform beneath the trees. Oh boy. Super glad that, uh, I still have control of this thing when I respawn, because, uh, slightly… clumsy. Yeah. Let’s call it that.

I should probably build something that isn’t a giant flag spruce square honestly but the square is easy and I cannot emphasize enough that all I have to my name is spruce and some tools that are. A bit. Bad…

Hm. I mean. Bit of a predicament, right? But the good news is that this thing can record logs! Hope they’re sending to someone who’ll, uh, pick me up? I mean uh. Probably there’s. You know. Whoever gets…

Anyway. Right. Food and water. Despite the fact this thing is a robot I am not and we’ll need food and water. That’s the next step. I cannot keep jumping into the void instead of eating forever. I’ll uh…

…can I just keep doing that forever? Might be easier than. Hm. Worth… considering…

Anyway, I guess that’s all I have. That’s—what’s the name on this thing? It said it at the start of the… no, I’m not going by that. Second… five? Second fifth? Whatever. That’s me signing off for today. Uh. Yep.

How do I make this thing stop I probably should have focused on basic controls of this thing instead of jumping into that portal three times but listen I just had to know and OH HEY THAT’S—

#sona stuff #vh logs #surprise I decided I would do this #it’ll be a fun sporadic writing exercise while I’m playing #also it will motivate me to keep playing. so I can decide what’s going on here #anyway meet [REDACTED] who is borrowing the name of the thing they’re possessing!#it is not mentioned in the post but they are still made of bees. for the record.#vh talk

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vicbutnotactually · 1 year ago

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Listen. If you have anymore info to drop about that caseynardo au. I’m begging bc I’m kind of obsessed already

Sure thing >:]

@toothlesshat

When they are found by the others, they actually hide their real identities. It’s not too hard considering they both wear masks and Leo wears a cloak when out and about. The boys and April have no idea how long it’s been for them, and are looking for two 16 year olds instead of the guys in their mid-40s. The Elder Gays™️ hide their identities because they think that some other versions of them got stuck there recently, and that’s who the others are looking for. They think that this version of their family is not their version if I’m making any sense.

The Elder Gays ™️ would volunteer to help the boys and April find what they think is their Leo and Casey, since they think some other versions of them got trapped there too. As they’re guiding them around looking for two people who aren’t there, they start seeing connection between what Donnie describes as the events before the portal mishaps, and their own experiences. Like, the events line up perfectly for all of them, and Leo and Casey eventually realize what happened.

Eventually someone figures it out and they all collectively realize that they’ve just lost 30 years together. Cue angsty stuff but that’s not what we’re here for >:]

@lucatea ‘s idea of how the boys and April would figure out who they are is that Leo would run off to do something dumb and dangerous and Casey would panic and say Leo’s name, since they very much get anxious when someone runs off on their own in this dangerous world they’re in.

The masks:

Bonus:

Random Tidbits:

- After a few years, Leo did lose the leg that was damaged in his fight with Shredder. He has a prosthetic made of salvaged tech.

- They had a shotgun wedding, in the middle of a fight, Pirates of the Caribbean style >:]

- They worry relentlessly about each other

- They first started falling for each other after about a month or two

- Eventually they became leaders of their own mini tribe of scavengers

- Casey confessed first

- They don’t specifically mention a that they’re married. Mikey is the first to realize it, then April and Donnie, and finally Raph, who is dumbfounded for the longest time, bc I find it funny

- It took them a really long time how to work with the salvaged tech, mostly relying on another scavenger and a scientist they know to make their gear, but later in their lives they could do some stuff with what they find.

- They live in an alien-like jungle biome, but I’m not sure what their house looks tho (so if you have ideas lmk :] )

- Part of their house has been turned into a greenhouse courtesy of Leo

- Casey missed playing Hockey so Leo learned to play to make him feel better

- Puppy Dog Eyes are an efficient way for Casey to get whatever he wants

- Leo has gotten sick several times and Casey REFUSES to leave his side every time

- Neither of them could really cook when they got there, but Casey eventually got really good at it. After 30 years, Leo is still banned from the kitchen.

- They built their house by hand

- They were there for 30 years, married for 19, and together for a total of 25, resulting in the most loving shit-talking

Some worldbuilding for the world they’re in:

It’s a sort of post apocalyptic world with many cities acting as safe havens, either protected by walls or forcefield domes. Inside of these cities, resources are scarce because of the sheer population and limited space. People can live outside of these protected cities but very few do because of the sheer amount of hyper-predatory animals that live there. Naturally, when the boys get dropped into this world, they end up far from any cities. They survive but just barely, hiding up in trees or small caves most of the time. Eventually, they would adapt, and get together with a small clan of people who are also outside the city. This planet has a lot of very different intelligent species, so mutant turtle isn’t weird, but there are very few humans, so Casey is considered strange or new.

The people outside the safe zones, scavenge, hunt, and gather for their food, as well as salvaging ancient tech that can be found all over the place. Most of this tech is used to make weapons or protection systems for their homes to keep the scary stuff away.

The scavengers take the surplus of what the find and take into the cities to trade and sell, but it’s very illegal to do that. Most of the trading happens in a black market but there’s always the risk of getting captured by law enforcement. Leo and Casey often go into the underground of these cities, getting chased by law enforcement and occasionally getting arrested.

The did try living inside of several different cities but found that they were better off on the outside instead, since the competition for resources in them was ferocious, and they had the skills to live in the more dangerous areas. They mainly stick to sneaking in outside resources, and the occasional shopping or date night at a restaurant.

Quotes I bombarded @lucatea with when I discovered the incorrect quote generator:

C: Am I in trouble?

L: Take a guess.

C: No?

L: Take another guess.

C: You love me, right, Lee?

L: Normally, I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere and I don’t like it.

L(smuggling outside resources into a city): Are we going too far?

C: No, no, no. We went too far about seven hours ago. Now we're going to prison.

L: So that’s my plan.

C: Are you alright with constructive criticism? I don’t want to sound mean.

L: No, go ahead, I want to hear it.

C: It fucking sucks.

L: That’s not constructive criticism.

C: So what’s for dinner?

L, staring at the food he just burnt: Regret.

L, tending to Casey's wounds: How would you rate your pain?

C: Zero stars. Would NOT recommend.

C: Okay. I get it. You've had a really hard time lately, you're stressed out, seven people died-

L: Twelve, actually.

C: Not the point. Look, they're dead now and really whose fault is that?

L: Yours!

C: That's right, no one's.

The vibe:

#enjoy my guy :]#they’re chaotic old men fr #shenanigans are their love language #tmnt 2012 #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt leonardo #casey jones #tmnt 2k12 #leocasey #caseynardo #2012 casey #tmnt leo #tmnt leo 2012 #tmnt au

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mystical-flute · 1 year ago

Text

Swanfire Week Day 4: Time Warp

Also on AO3

Oops, so this is a month late.

While investigating the last of Zelena's magic in Storybrooke, Emma and Neal are thrust back in time, and they must find the key to get them back home.

Okay. Now Emma was beginning to understand how everyone found Gold to be so damn creepy in the past. Not that she’d ever had a great feeling about him, even before she believed in magic, but the glittery skin and the lizard-like eyes were just downright intimidating and terrifying to look at.

Neal looked like he wanted another portal to open underneath him and take him far, far away from here. Emma couldn’t say she blamed him - despite their reuniting in Storybrooke and the work the two of them had put in already, she couldn’t imagine being confronted with Gold while he looked like that was easy for him.

“I thought I felt some powerful magic around here, and here you two are,” Rumplestiltskin hummed, his fingers steepled together. “I must say you’re rather brave to be in this kingdom.”

“And… why is that?” Emma questioned.

“Because of the war, of course. Snow White seems determined to take her kingdom back from her wicked stepmother,” Rumplestiltskin replied, before he gave her a smirk. “There aren’t many people in this realm that don’t know about that considering Regina’s reputation. I don’t think you’re from here at all.”

“How could you - ”

“I’m the Dark One, dearie. I know all.”

Neal visibly shuddered next to her.

“Okay, fine. We’re not from here. We got sent here from the future. See? It’s all written in this book,” Emma said, holding the book out in front of her. “I don’t know how to get us home. I wasn’t the one who cast the original time travel curse.”

“Ah… yes I understand now. But Once Upon a Time is a rather on the nose title for a book isn’t it?”

Emma shrugged. “Who knows why authors choose the titles they do?”

Gold smirked. “Yes. Who knows indeed.”

“So how do Neal and I get back to our time?”

“That depends on you, dearie. What was it in this time that you hated so badly that you needed to change, hm? Who hurt you, and drove you to cast a spell like this? Desperation?”

“Neither of us cast the spell. We just got caught in the crossfire when Emma was trying to stop it.” Neal wasn’t looking at Gold as he spoke, and Emma couldn’t say she blamed him. “So just tell us how to get home already.”

“What’s wrong, dearie? Not a fan of the past?” Gold giggled.

“You could say that.”

Gold flourished his hands. “Well, if neither of you cast the curse, then I suppose you’ll just have to watch the way things play out. Perhaps there’s a feeling of loss that you have, that being here will heal. Just be sure not to change things around… you don’t want something you love to disappear.”

“But how do I - ”

“There is a lake not too far from here. The waters there are magical, so I’m sure you’ll be able to work it out. And who knows? You might be able to find what you’re missing.”

But she wasn’t missing anything, was she…?

Gold raised a brow, like he knew what the issue was, and smiled. “Yes well, if you’re going to risk running into people, you’re going to need to look the part.” His hands flourished, clouds of smoke surrounding them for a moment before it vanished, and they were on the edge of… what was supposed to be a lake, she was sure, but looked like an empty sand pit.

“Where the hell did he send us?” Neal whispered as they kept themselves hidden within the thicket of trees. They were alone, which was weird.

“I don’t know,” Emma whispered as she stepped forward. “But… I feel like I’ve been here before. It feels familiar.”

“You mean when you got sucked through Jefferson’s hat?”

Emma nodded. “Yeah, but it’s weird… I could have sworn this was a lake.” It was coming back to her now, slowly. This was the place she’d fought Hook and Cora, right before she and her mother had gone back to Storybrooke.

Before they had gone… home.

“This is Lake Nostos… there was supposed to be some sort of magical water in it… I wonder why your dad would have sent us here?”

“I wonder why there’s no water here,” Neal added with a frown, crouching down. “Does Henry’s book say anything about this place?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, sitting on a log she wasn’t sure was technically on the shore or if she’d be drowning if the lake looked normal. “Keep an eye out for anyone else coming and I’ll take a look.”

Neal nodded, looking into the thick brush that surrounded them.

Emma sighed and flipped through the book, searching for any mention of Lake Nostos. She stopped at one, where a siren tried to get David to drown himself to join her by disguising herself as Mary-Margaret (which Emma shuddered at, because ew). But the lake seemed fine, so she moved on, flipping further into the book, and only stopping when she noticed the same empty basin.

“Oh no,” she whispered, flipping through the story and hoping for a happy ending despite knowing it wasn’t meant to be. “Neal… this is the place David’s mother died.”

Neal’s eyes widened. “Oh no. So if Papa sent us here, does that mean there’s something you need to see before we’re able to go home?”

Emma opened her mouth to reply, but shut it quickly when they heard the sound of footsteps and the creak of something being pulled. Neal ducked in front of her as she shoved the book in her bag, only managing to close it in time for her parents and Lancelot to appear from the forest, and her grandmother - and Emma could hardly believe she would be meeting one of her grandparents - on a cart being pulled behind them.

And Ruth had an arrow in her shoulder, her skin a sickly pale color as blood dripped onto her shoulder.

God, why would she have to watch one of her loved ones die? Hadn’t she been through enough? Hadn’t they all been through enough?

David had fallen to the ground and was clawing desperately at the sand, and Mary-Margaret was dabbing at Ruth’s forehead, bent over the cart and speaking to her so quietly Emma couldn’t hear her.

“Hey!” Lancelot shouted, looking at Emma and Neal with a hand on his sword. “Who are you and what happened to this lake?”

Emma held her hands up in surrender. “I’m… Odette, and this is Derek. We came here hoping to find some magic that will aid us in our quest. We don’t know what happened. The lake was like this when we got here.”

Lancelot frowned. “I see. We were hoping to save Ruth here. King George’s men attacked her.”

Neal gave him a weak smile. “Well, there’s five of us. If we spread out and dig, surely we’ll be able to find some.”

It wasn’t fair, Emma thought as she got down on her knees and began digging in the sand. She knew the little bit she was digging for wouldn’t work, that Ruth would die either way. The little drop David found wouldn’t be enough.

“Young lady… Odette, you said your name was?” she heard Ruth say quietly.

Emma looked up from the hole she’d been digging. “Oh - um, yes, Ruth?”

“Come here, dear. Away from my son and soon to be daughter-in-law’s ears,” Ruth requested, gesturing weakly with one of her hands, and when Emma leaned close to her, she smiled softly. “If you - if you find any of the magic water, make sure Snow drinks it. Not me.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “What? But why? You’re the one who - ”

“She’s had a curse placed on her. One that will prevent her from bearing a child… and I can’t in good conscious live while she has that burden.”

Emma felt the color drain from her face. What?

“So please… promise me she will get the water. And you, of course. I do not know what burdens you, but you’re so young. You deserve to be free of your burdens too.”

Emma nodded a little, and god, she knew she shouldn’t but… David would find a small bit of water, and somehow, her mother must have been the one to drink it, not Ruth so… if Emma could pull the same trick on Ruth that Ruth had done to Mary-Margaret… it wouldn’t hurt, right? Saving her father from the pain and agony of losing his mother would only help, not hinder, right? It wouldn’t be a bad thing…

So Emma dug, and dug, and dug until she thought her hands would start to bleed, and David found the small amount, and the switch happened with the water. Ruth, of course, did not heal from her injury.

Instead, Ruth asked to watch Mary-Margaret and David get married, so Emma and Neal helped them set it up, creating bouquets and setting up an arch.

“Ruth,” Emma murmured as she handed her a completed bouquet of wildflowers. “There is something you should know.”

Ruth was already looking dazed, but she did blink in an attempt to listen. “What is it, dear?”

“Ma - Snow’s curse will be broken,” Emma replied. “I know for a fact… because I’m living proof of it.”

“What?”

Emma smiled. “My name is Emma Swan… I’m your granddaughter. I got flung back in time and Neal and I are trying to get back to our own time period but… I just wanted you to know that your sacrifice will not be in vain.”

Ruth returned the smile and reached up to pat at Emma’s cheek. “Oh… that’s so good to hear. Thank you for soothing an old woman’s heart.”

“Hey Odette! Is everything alright?” she heard Mary-Margaret call

It wasn’t alright, because she couldn’t save Ruth. She was the Savior… how could she not save her own grandmother? But she couldn’t let that slip, so she forced herself to look over at her with a smile. “Of course Snow. I was just giving Ruth her flowers.”

Standing beside her mother as she married her father was a strange sensation, but it was really making her think of all the sacrifices her family made so she (and the new baby) could come into the world. She thought about the nursery that was supposed to be hers, the unicorn mobile, being put into the wardrobe to escape Regina’s curse… and now Ruth’s sacrifice.

It made her so damn itchy to think about it, because she hadn’t exactly shown she cared.

She wanted to go home. Not to New York with Henry (and preferably Neal), but to Storybrooke. To her family.

Was this why the curse sent them here? So she could truly understand the impact of the sacrifices?

“Mother!” David suddenly said, the wedding ceremony complete and both of them looking so stupidly happy to be with each other. “We - mother?”

But it was too late.

Emma and Neal stayed back as David and Mary-Margaret rushed over to the cart, devastation on their faces - looks she’d only seen in the book after they’d sent her through the wardrobe.

Seeing it in person was worse.

“Emma - ” Neal murmured.

“I want to go home,” she whispered against his shoulder. “I want to go back to Storybrooke. I want my family - our family. I can’t believe I was so stupid to think about leaving.”

With her words, the ground suddenly opened beneath them, swallowing them into the golden light.

They landed in the barn they’d originally been sucked into. Everything in it looked the same, and Emma scrambled to her feet, hoping beyond anything that it was the same outside too. The baby’s big naming party was today, or at least, it should be.

“Baelfire! You found her, thank goodness!” she heard Hook call as they raced toward Granny’s. “They were about to send out a search party.”

“Just needed a pep talk, Hook, that’s all,” Neal said with a nervous cough.

Emma stepped inside, finding all the guests that had been invited mingling and laughing, and her parents looked up in relief.

“Mom, Dad,” she said as she threw her arms around them. It was the first time those words had left her mouth. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I just… needed to think about some things, and I realized how much you had to fight for your happy ending, and that… it includes me.”

“Mom?” Henry said, glancing up from the soda he was drinking. “Does that mean - ”

“That’s right kid… we’re staying here. We’re staying home.”

Her mother laughed in relief. “Thank goodness… you’re going to have a lot to teach your brother.”

“So what’s his name then?” Emma asked, sitting next to Henry in the booth.

Her mother smiled. “Thank you all for coming. David and I are thrilled to introduce you to our new son… Prince Derek.”

Emma exchanged a surprised glance with Neal, managing to hide her laughter in the cheers and applause from the rest of the crowd.

It seems they made an impression in the past after all.

#swanfire week 2023 #sfweek2023 #swanfire #emma swan #neal cassidy #ouat #fanfiction

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skelletonscloset · 1 year ago

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So, I saw the ‘S/O with a persona like Wanderer who falls in love with Zack foster and helps him and Ray go to the next floor’ and I absolutely loved it!

And it gave me an idea! So, if I could, can I request almost the same thing except very different

so basically, the idea is Zack and Ray go to another floor, and there are two people up there. One with the personality of Nahida form Genshin Impact, and the other is with the personality of Wanderer from Genshin impact. And basically, this floor is after the fourth/Cassy’s floor. However, unlike the other residents, the one whose persona is like Nahida does not like killing anyone, and instead, tends to them, gives them food and water because unlike the other floors, this room has trees that give fruit, and has a lake with fresh and clean water, and the person with Nahida’s persona can make medicine. Often times when people reach their floor, the person with Nahida’s persona often tends to the person and gives them food and water for their meals for their long trip. Sometimes they might try to convince the person to stay but it never really works out for their end until the S/O with Wanderer’s persona shows up.

The one whose persona is like Wanderer used to be a sacrifice, but upon coming into the person (who I don’t know the name to call them so I’ll just keep calling them Nahida while I call the one whose persona is like Wanderer S/O), so S/O used to be a sacrifice but came to Nahida’s floor, and Nahida tended to them and eventually S/O just decided to become Nahida’s ‘right hand man’. So when they come up, Ray leads Zack a little bit, and then S/O sees them and takes them to Nahida because Nahida wants to help them.

Nahida refuses to let them leave until Zack is fully healed. And over the course of them being there, Zack and S/O fall in love. And at the end of it all, when Zack finally does get better, Nahida sees this and encourages S/O to leave with the person they love, even if it leaves Nahida alone.

(I don’t have most of the details in my mind, so whether or not what happens/or what happens in the end is up to you!)

HEY THERE! i’m so sorry for the delay! i got sick, had tons of hw, it was rough. But i’ve got it done! i Hope this works for what you were looking for!!

WARNINGS: slight language and minor spoilers, not proofread and probably some messed up grammar (let me know if i missed any!)

WORD COUNT: 1907

BLOSSOMING LOVE

The only thing that reminded you that you were even in a building was the crooked, rusty door of the elevator that stood out by itself in the back of the forest. It stood by its lonesome, no other wall or door near it. Just by itself like some sort of decrepit portal to living hell. There was another one of those elevators on the other side of the forest too, past the willow.

You were only staying in this realm because of the floor master. Her name was Lily, she’s sweet and nurturing, probably the only one of her kind in this building. She rescued you when you had narrowly managed to escape Cassy’s floor. You were covered in cuts and bruises when you were found by her. She had watched as you attempted to scramble to your feet in a fit of paralyzing fear, only instead of killing or harming you, she squatted low to the ground and offered her hand for you to take. And you had, which may have resulted in death had it been anyone else, but she didn't hurt you.

Over the course of months–maybe even years–she treated you with kindness, she had healed all your injuries, provided you food and shelter and even offered you the ability to leave whenever you chose with safe passage to the elevator. Of course you didn’t leave, you chose to stay and help her out. You’d seen many people cross over onto this floor, leaving once being nurtured and treated, promises of returning or notifying someone once they had escaped were left unfulfilled, one can only assume the horrid things that had occurred once they stepped back into the elevator that would surely rise to their impending doom. That's why when you heard the announcement that a floor resident and a sacrifice had run off and were suspected to be attempting to escape, it wasn't a shock. You knew Lily would let the people stay as long as they needed to recover.

You and Lily were sitting on a log near the lake, talking quietly when the wind blew carrying the sound of a ding, the elevator reached their floor.

“Alright lets go greet our guests!” Lily smiled, flattening her frizzy blonde hair and brushing the dirt off her pale green dress.

“No thanks, i’m not interested in meeting new people, there's no reason too when they all desert you once they’ve healed. I’ll just be in the cabin ready to make whatever remedies you need.”

“Oh come now, you should try to be friendlier, y’know.”

You scoffed, you always felt that people abused her kindness, how they always left with a dismissive thank you, as if they didn’t realize how good they had it here. It left a bitter taste in your mouth. Lily simply sighed, shaking her head before smiling slightly. “Alright then, i’ll go greet our guests.”

You made your way to the cabin, preparing all sorts of pre-made remedies and lined up materials to make whatever it was that the two people needed. It wasn't long before Lily had walked in, asking for painkillers, burn remedies, healing lotion and a plate of berries harvested from earlier in the morning. She left quickly after that. It didn't take you long to make the needed items. You held the vials of medicine in a small straw basket and in your other hand a small bowl of berries and other fruits. Your eyes widened when they met the heterochromia eyes of gold and brown belonging to a tall, hoodie clad killer.

Behind him he dragged a heavy metal scythe stained with dirt and blood and who knows what else. He wore a brown hoodie stained with old blood from the bottom up the right side, dark black hair that was messy and matted poked out from under the hood. He was covered head to toe in bandages concealing whatever injuries he had. Next to him stood a small girl, around the age of thirteen. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes that looked oddly… empty, dead even. She wore a black and white striped shirt with a white jacket ontop of her shirt and a small black satchel that went across her small frame. Your brows furrowed, handing the basket to Lily who made the two sit.

“Why don’t you tell me your names? I’ll go first, I'm Lily.”

“Youre the floor master?” The tall man leaned in, eyes wide with skepticism.

“I am.”

“What the shit?”

Lily giggled at his behavior. She explained her intentions and began rummaging through the basket you had curated for her.

“I'm Zack, and this is Ray.” Zack explained, sitting down cross legged on a small wooden bench, Ray sitting down next to him, hands folded politely in her lap.

Lily managed to clean up Ray’s small wounds and cuts. It took a lot more persuading and a lot more arguments to get Zack to untie some of his bandages for Lily to check the wounds. It looked like he had been electrocuted. And he probably had, Cassy had that time of equipment on her floor. You would know. And so maybe you empathize with him, after all, you still had your scars from the same thing. Its a wonder how he’s even alive, you had barely been shocked a great amount, he looked like she cranked it up all the way. You grit your teeth and introduce yourself to him.

His eyes were always on you, studying you as if he hadn’t see someone like you before. It was strange.

“You’ll have to stay here at least a month to make sure you’re properly healed. you can stay forever if you’d like.” Lily said, reapplying his bandages.

He didn’t say anything, he just kept staring at you. “yeah yeah.,, whatever.”

you scoffed, “i haven’t heard a ‘thank you’ yet.”

“a thank you? like hell i’m saying thank you! it wasn’t my choice!” Zack frowned, arms crossed.

You raise a brow, mouth opening to retort before you hear a quiet mutter of “thank you..” you seemed satisfied and left.

Over the course of a few weeks you learned he was Illiterate. it was shocking to you at first however he said he was taken at a young age, not really learning how to properly read or write. so you often sat around a table to help him.

“okay what does this label say?” You pointed to a small vial on the desk.

“…..anti-bee..”

“anti-biotic.” you corrected. “here put it in this basket.”

you’d been doing this for a few days now, until it finally hit him. “Hey! you’re just making me do your chores!” he scowled, flailing his arms about.

you stifled your laughter, raising a brow at him. “ya caught me. now keep doing it.” Hemumbled curses at you but continued to help you organize your things.

Over the course of a few months you had taught him what it meant to be gently loved. you tried not to make it obvious that you may have been developing feelings for him. after all, it was hard to communicate that to him. He didn’t really understand, and was still tense when your hand accidentally brushed against his arm when you walked by. he hadnt told you really what happened, all you knew was underneath all of those bandages was scarred skin from intense burns.

You sat with him near the pond, collecting some berries as the two of you talked. He cleared his throat and you looked over your shoulder.

“You make me feel funny.”

“…huh?” You stopped picking the berries, standing up to face him. He’s emotionally constipated, not by his fault of course, though you still didn’t know what he meant.

“Like, when I'm near you, and.. my heart feels like it’s going to explode. and my skin feels warm, and I want to hold your hand or some shit.”

Your jaw tensed. He was saying he liked you, you liked him too. “What's that feeling called?” he asked you, tearing you away from your thoughts.

“it’s called.. Love.” you explained.

“then i love you.”

Your heartbeat stopped, breath hitching in your throat. It was pointless to love him, pointless for him to love you. After all, he’d been ready to leave in the next few days, leaving you here too,

“I love you too, Zack.” your voice hardly wavered. it came out so smoothly it sounded like a lie.

“y'know lily said i’ll be ready to leave tomorrow.”

“oh, did she now?” you felt yourself go ridged.

“yeah, she said i can leave tomorrow!”

“Are you going to?” you almost hesitated to ask. you knew the answer, you just didn’t want to hear it.

“Of course I am.”

“right.” You didn’t really speak to him much the rest of the day.

And then the next day, the most dreaded one arrived. Lily was preparing him a basket for his travels as he prepared himself and Ray to leave. you stood behind lily, a solemn look on your face as your eyes pierced through the eleven tie door, inevitably where he was going to go and likely never be seen again.

He and Ray exchanged words while Lily turned to you. “go with him.”

you swore you didn’t hear her right. Lily always thanked you for staying with her, telling you how you had cured her loneliness, and she was advising that you leave?

“you heard me right,” she explained. “go with them. you love him don’t you? go with him.”

your eyes widened, salty tears filling them, a bittersweet smile on your face. “Are you sure lily?”

“Of course I'm sure.”

Zack looked over at you, “you’re coming with us!?” he seemed to beam.

“…” you watched as he stepped into the elevator with Ray, then back at Lily. “yeah i am.”

you stepped into the raggedy elevator, it creaked with the weight of three people. your stomach twisted with nerves, you were scared to go back through this horrid building. but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad with Zack.

the door closed, your last glimpse of the safe haven leaving your gaze as Lily waved goodbye to you as you ascended to the floor above.

Hope you enjoyed!

#gender neutral reader #angels of death #anime #no use of y/n #zack foster #x reader #second person narration #aod zack #aod rachel #original character

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