#v: before death

[wrinkled-sheets-and-sunlight]

( frisky business ) our muses have sneaky sex at one of their places of work — (( okay but... imagine— Anthony and Bo at the casino... human smexy times before the Bad Times™ can hit jddfngjdfg ))

@burning-fcols

Bo couldn't even call this a bad idea, his hands wrapping around Anthony's tiny waist as he pulled his partner into broom closet somewhere in the basement of the casino, it no doubt having been years since it was used, judging by how little was stored in it. An hour, they had an entire hour before Bo had to be back upstairs after his break, his boss having all but demanded he go 'take a breather' after a customer had pissed him off. He hadn't even known Anthony was there until his walk outside for a smoke had been interupted by an oh so tiny hand in his own, eagerly pulling him towards the downwards staircase instead of the door just a few steps away.

It wasn't a bad idea; it was the worst one they'd had yet. If they got caught, they were both dead, Bo already smelling the gunpowder that shot out the bullet with his name on it. But that was far from being a deterrent, no, it only made him want to fuck Anthony's brains out all the more. There was no future for them, not with eachother, and Bo would much rather make what he has with Anthony last than play it safe. He had nothing aside from Anthony, and if their futures are fucked, what better way then to go out then after having sex in the casino Anthony's family all but owned.

They had been doomed from the start, but little moments like these were untouchable by the outside world.

"What's got you so riled up, angel?" He knew, it said in the way hands grabbed at his clothes and lips pressed against his like it was the last kiss they'd ever have. "This t' make me feel better, or you want what I was gonna give that old ass fucker up there?" In other words, just how rough was his angel looking for him to be?

[hells-fvry]

Tucked away where hopefully no one can find them, Anthony had taken Bo’s hands in his… Having ushered the bartender away with a nervous energy both so unlike the mafioso ( when allowed to be in his true element, confident in who he is and who he’s with ) and yet painfully-familiar thanks to the life Anthony leads, he gazes intently into his lover’s eyes. A mismatch of one light blue and brown hue, unwavering as his voice despite the tremor in his hands, ❝ Run away wit’ me. ❞

Once the words are out, Anthony seems to realize how insane they sound. But he only digs in further, words quickening as he shakes his head ( soft golden hair— pale enough to nearly elicit a heavenly-glow when hit by light —growing messier ) before pleading explaining, ❝ I know it’s crazy. I know it’s a stupid fuckin’ idea but jus’ hear me out— I don’ care. We can figure somethin’ out. We can go somewhere else, where they don’ know us. Where we don’ have ta hide who we are or what you mean ta me or— or anythin’ ever again! ❞ Tears spring to his eyes, the man clearly not believing himself… but clinging to the possibility anyway. ❝ There’s gotta be a place like that. There’s gotta be. We’ll find it. Hell, we’ll make it if we have ta. ❞

Tears start to silently fall down his freckled face, a galaxy spanning across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Moving closer to Bo, a hand cups his partner’s cheek with a shaky strained smile, ❝ We can be togetha’ all th’ time. We can make a life fer ourselves… an’— an’ even if we can’t— ❞ With that, his manic expression falls into one of anguish, far more genuine than the false promises he’d been making, ❝ I’d ratha’ die as yer Angelo than keep livin’ as fuckin’ Anthony. ❞

❝ Please, Bo… Please jus’ say we can go. ❞ Anthony can’t leave without him. There’d be no point to it. — (( *shoves sum PAST!Them @ you* ))

@burning-fcols

Bo would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about doing the very thing Anthony was now suggesting, the bartender having left his post without question for a 'smoke break' when he caught the mafioso's eyes from across the room, nothing even needing to be said between the two with how frantic he had looked. As common as it was, fear was not something that he liked to see on his angel's face.

Bo didn't answer at first, couldn't, too lost in those mismatched eyes he had seen hold so many emotions over the years, desperation unfortunately being all to familiar. "Anthony...." A sigh as a hand untangled from Anthony's to card through his slicked back hair. "Angel, baby...you know we can't do that." Normally stoic and gruff to those around him, his angel was one of the very few that got to see the softer side of the normally guarded man. "We...fuck-" Swallowing hard as he watched tears fall down his boyfriend's freckled cheeks, he couldn't resist leaning forwards to kiss them away, a hand coming up to hold the wrist of the hand on his cheek while the other came to rest on Anthony's hip.

"We can't..." A whisper between them as Bo pressed their foreheads together with eyes falling shut. "You know I would love nothin' more, angelo, hell, I can't tell you how many times I've thought about the same damn thing, but..." A shaky exhale, his eyes now wet where they blinked open. "We...we wouldn't make it far. Your family...they got too many fuckin' eyes. A-And we don't even have any damn money! I'm barely making rent as it is. It's too risky, we...we just gotta stick this shit out, I'm saving what money I can, it's just gonna take some time, and then I'll take you anywhere you wanna go."

[snek-eyes]

So it turns out Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death plays Queen instrumentals, and after listening way too hard to the coffee date scene, I gotta share how well the part of the song they used fits.

Crowley gets a fantastically dramatic entrance to the section that makes everyone feel things:

Mama, ooh I don't wanna die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

Great for a snake having an existential crisis. Then we get the instrumental break, which builds until it drops off right in time to highlight the comedy of:

Until Aziraphale says:

I see a little silhouetto of a man

He sure did!

Thunderbolt and lightning very, very frightening me

Of course you are, bud.

(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo Galileo Figaro

History jokes!

Spare him his life from this monstrosity 🥲

And there's a reason beyond the dialogue why this part feels so stressful, because it gets the back and forth of:

Easy come, easy go, will you let me go? Bismillah! No, we will not let you go (Let him go!)

Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let him go!)

Go back and listen to the scene, it's a very subtle joke. 😄

[thedreamerstoryteller]

[betterthanbatman1]

Umm I love them???

[yuseirra]

I know this isn't going to be it, but considering his personality... something like this seems more like it than the stuff he's said

[akuma-tenshi]

congrats on winning ds mr. campbell i'm going to kill you again if you win nymph

[yaoigoddess9158]

I have found a new blorbo

I would say that he’s my son, like I do for all my other blorbos, but uh… he’s love interest of the mc, which is supposed to be us, the player, so… that won’t really work out

Anyways

[cosmogenous2]

goth bartender called me gorgeous

[dceasesd]

i’ve been on a dick&jason kick lately their dynamic is truly unmatched like no one else compares

[coquelicoq]

crashes ur board meeting n drags u out by the collar but its fine bc youre the one always saying shit like "im looking for people i can use" ok lol. get used idiot

[eryanlainfa]

My brain at 2 am : what if... au where Var died and Aiden is the one carrying the journey through the trials in an attempt to appease their grief

Me : ... stop that

My brain : so V takes his mother's place in the narrative and the name of the series just becomes a reminder of his absence

Me : ...

My brain : anyway. Here's a "We'll be fine" animatic except it's Aiden and Yong singing :)

Me, crying : omg-

[shiroi---kumo]

⋯✧・♪♫♪・✧⋯ There had been screaming in the hall only a few hours ago, one prince leaving the scene flustered while the other left with a bloody nose. It had taken multiple binds on both sides of the equation to separate them and he didn't understand why the minute red started to pour from a pale nose, that his Liege seemed to be like a Windarian dog locked in for the kill.

Even Safiirin struggled to get the boy to cease. He hadn't heard the conversation that started the fight but he had heard his Liege scream after the younger had shouted at him "Usva, just leave me alone!"

By the time he got there, they had already come to blows and he barely had enough time to process and barely enough strength to help Safiirin hold him back. It took everything to get him off of his brother and after much fussing and a large amount of blue mist, the boy finally slowed enough for his binds to rip him away from his intended target. Away from his brother.

He watched as Pilvi was whisked away by Kukka and Sydän with Sielu following close behind and the only thing he could do was talk to his own liege to find out just what happened to cause him to attack his brother like he did. They'd always fought. The boys have always fought for as long as he's known them and that's their entire lives.

Benefits of growing up in the palace he assumes but he almost doesn't know if it was a benefit at this point to be so close to the situation. Usva had been relentless today and there is a small voice in the back of his head that wonders if no one had been there if he would have killed his brother in the process and that same small voice wonders if he would have felt anything for it when he did.

Pilvi too, was different today. Instead of backing down and doing whatever it took to simply defend himself and get away from his brother - he watched the white prince fight. Even as his hair was pulled and he look a fist to the face. He watched as teeth grit and white mist seeped out in warning. He watched as the younger prince for the first time in many years fought back and he watched as even through the tears running down his face - jade eyes turned pure white.

Revon had forced his body between the two them at that point and he heard the boy wordlessly screaming as he was carried down the hall. He heard the screaming corroding into sobs and declarations of "It hurts!" to his own binds as he was surely taken to Palo's office. They would tend to the younger. He was not his Liege, - instead he would tend to his own and Usva wasn't giving him a word.

Nothing more than "He deserved it" and "Pilvi had it coming." There was no remorse where they should have been. Where in previous years there would have been. Safiirin and Syksy took him to explain it all to his father instead and hopefully Aurinko would be able to get more out of the elder Eclispe prince than they could.

So now the symphony is slipping through the halls with his hair still a bit askew and some small bruises blossoming on his lower jaw. There is a fright existing in deep orange that usually isn't present as he knocks once, then twice and then a third time in a rhythm only he had before he turned the knob to let himself slip inside the other musician's room.

Sielu is perched at his desk with an angry look on his face and even angrier scratching filling out paper work. Grading papers if he had to take a guess.

"Sorry to intrude." He begins. "I just wanted to check in and ask - is Pilvi okay?"

[factorialsotherfandoms]

*siiiiiigh*

Look I promise today's prompt was going to be cute, I swear to high hell it was. And no, this isn't going to be anything like canon, and yes, I don't care fix is for silly ideas and aus and dreaming.

So anyway today, instead of nosebleed, I'm writing alt prompt: begging. Spoilers for 22/12/23 streams~

TW: temporary major character death, possession, grief, suicidal thinking as a result of said grief, self harm

(Read all the way to the end for a happy ending still)

"Please!" Philza screams. "Please, give him back!"

The others at Spawn look nervously between them. Their weapons are still raised, their tempers sharp, unable to quite process that whatever is controlling Forever will not use his totems.

Philza pays them no Mind, gives no quarter to their words. Ugly sobs tear through his voice, tears dropping onto the moss and cobble that makes up Spawn. He cradles Forever's head in his lap, shields him with his body even as he runs fingers through white hair and begs a miracle from the sky.

Forever - the parasite within Forever - laughs, his whole body shaking as black blood spills from his lips and from the gaping wound in his chest.

"How quaint," the monster laughs. "Even now you still can't accept what's been done."

"Fuck off!" Philza turns down to look at the monster corrupting his dear friend's skin, snarling even as tears continue to pour. "Fuck the fuck off and give me my fucking friend back!"

"Ah but little bird," Forever's chest strains in a cough and corrupted blood splatters over Philza's cheeks. "Can't you see he's already dead?"

Philza leans further down, pulling his hands from white hair to press against the wound. There's only more gasping, cackling laughter as he bows his head and let's a few sobs pass. "No, no..."

"Let him go, Phil," a gentle hand hovers near his shoulder. "He might respawn yet - just let him go."

If Forever wasn't allowed to use a totem, Philza doubts he'll be allowed to respawn; he slaps the hand away and turns his eyes back to the heavens.

"Rose!" He screams. "Rose! Help me! Please!"

She's only promised to aid him and his children, though - Philza knows this, knows that so far across the worlds she must be weak.

"Please," he sobs again, quieter now. "Please, I can't loose him... I can't..."

The tears are no longer sobs, now just silent torrents dripping from his face. The hand comes back, resting on his shoulder as he cradles Forever's possessed, dying form, and rocks himself.

Someone strokes Philza's wings, and he almost - almost relaxes. But then there's hands on Forever- hands trying to pull him away - and he screams again; he throws himself forwards, clawing at whatever would try steal his friend.

The monster in Forever's skin laughs, but laughs as though it can no longer breathe.

"She'll help!" He begs the people around him to understand. "She- She promised... She'll help..."

Because no matter what, if he loses Forever, Philza doesn't think there'll be anything left of himself for Rose to save.

---leave off here for ambigious ending. Continue for things getting worse, and then better---

The laughter beneath Philza's chest ceases, Forever's corrupted body falling still. The form that had been taunting him goes slack, tension against pain falling limp.

Philza is intimately familiar with what that means.

Philza knows death in all its forms.

Philza turns to the heavens, and screams.

It is not the screams of before, not a begging, not a plea, not a blind hope within the world. It is a scream born of anguish, of a splintering mind, of something once great and terrible carved open and laid bare. The abyss yawns before him, the void open and wide. Once he'd skim its surface, dancing and laughing and free - now he seeks only it's embrace, the oblivion which it promises as a final, lonely embrace.

The spectators turn away, or watch, Philza doesn't know - he just screams and screams and screams, helpless to what is happening, helpless against the shattering of an already fractured mind. He thinks he might see Rose's frowning in the grass around his knees - too late, too late, too late, and he would curse them if he had the throat left to form words at all.

But he doesn't, and so he screams.

The darkness fades from Forever's body only now, only too late. It trickles into the earth, corrupting instead the concrete beneath Forever.

The moss beneath the pair of them remains pristine.

Someone tries to pull Philza away - he hears Etoiles say something about an explosion - but he refuses. He refuses, he refuses, you will carve him from Forever or you will not seperate them at all. Bury him in the grave beside his confident, burn him on the pyre with his friend, leave their bodies entangled and deep and dark their remains.

Tubbo and Fit will look after his children - they don't need a broken husk for a father, after all.

He bends all the way down, now, pressing his face to Forever's chest. The blood there is red, red, red - still trickling from his back, but only as gravity pulls it away. Philza pays it no heed as he presses himself as close as he can.

Distantly he is aware of people being shepherded away, of whispers around him - it's a curse, it's a curse that even now his mind notices the movements, the threats, keeps plotting to keep him alive.

He doesn't want to live, not in a world without the sun.

He doesn't want to live, but his chest keeps on heaving anyway.

He doesn't want to live, but suspects he might be forced to anyway; hands peel him from Forever and force him against a solid chest, and this time he is powerless to stop them.

They let him keep Forever in his lap, at least, now cropped blonde hair bloody and draped across his thighs. His own black hair is stroked, and what can he do but continue his sobbing against Fit's chest as the world caves in?

The world remains suspended in time, a frozen mess only beating by Philza's sobs and tears. It drags and it shifts, and he is too far gone to recognise the vines which reach up, entwining around his limbs.

It's only when he hears the waystone that he looks up.

Blue eyes meet brown, and Philza throws himself at Forever.

Even after a respawn fuck only knows where Forever is weak, so weak. They both tumble to the floor, Philza's quick twist putting himself below the only thing saving Forever's head from the grown.

"You bastard!" His throat is too raw to scream, his sobbing back with full force and distorting everything he says. "You fucking dumbass! You- You- You fucking idiot why did you tell me you were okay?!"

"Hi Philza," Forever's words are rote and his smile is confused.

There's footsteps, heavy footsteps, and a potato canon pointed at the pair.

Philza twists again, shoving Forever behind himself, protecting him come what may.

"Sorry, Forever, but just need to check. Clothes off, and we need to see you bleed."

"Fit!" Forever struggles the full laughter or fake scandal, seemingly too weak to do more than lean against Philza's back. "I didn't know you were into that!"

Philza hates the option, he hates it so much, but Fit's right, Fit's absolutely right - they need to know.

"It's okay," Philza keeps his body between his friends, tears still quietly pouring as he cups Forever's cheek again. "I'll help you."

The "and all I needed to do was die" isn't nearly as obnoxious as either of them want it to be.

Gently Philza helps Forever strip. It's cold, and he shivers, and there's ugly burns on one shoulder and and ugly death-scar on his chest, but not a hint of the black infection from before.

The buttons on Forever's clothes are too complicated to easily redress him. Philza slips off his haori, and wraps it gently around him. Tucks the belt in an approximation of tied, and pulls Forever properly into his arms.

"Blood too," Fit says. "I'm sorry, but..."

"No, no, I understand," Forever whispers, even as Philza hisses.

He scrapes his hand through filthy gravel, tearing the skin in an absolute mess; Forever bleeds red, and Philza grabs his hand, already pouring a splash potion on it and picking out the gravel.

He can do this, he can do this, even if it's all he can do.

Behind them, Fit takes photos, a d relaxes.

"I'll let the others know," he promises. "Why don't you two get somewhere warm, eh?"

"I don't-" Forever begins.

"Let me show you somewhere special," Philza says. "I think you'll like it."

Even in the depths of hating himself for things he cannot help, Forever has never been able to say no to that.

The children are asleep in Rose's Garden. Philza won't wake them now, and especially not with Forever in tow. Now yet - reintroductions... they'll get there, they'll get there, just not today.

But the children are in Rose's Garden, and so the nest is free.

It's a little exposed, but the hay is warm and the blankets and pillows and clothes that make it up... And it's so far away from anywhere, so far from anyone who might panic and hurt Forever before there's been time to spread the news.

It's also home.

Philza will have to put Forever back on the bunker's allow lists, but in his heart he knows Forever will always be welcome in his home.

[ccbatman]

actually so evil how much of hal's internal world gets obliterated with the rewriting of his relationships with jessica and martin.