#well see ya in another 3 months /j
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artblock hitted me harder than i thought, this (↓) took me nearly 3 months to do lmao anyways
idk wanted to visualise some hc's i have for some qsmp characters i guess (this is definitely not all i have in brain tho) (also, random code monster in a corner because i didn't have enough place for what i wanted and just decided to draw it separately later)
MORE DETAILED NOTES UNDER THE CUT:
Q!Cellbit:
• I really wanted to keep him as human at first, but well, i love giving non-human traits to my faves and cat really fits him guys I'm sorry my first thought about him when i started watching him is that qCell is a pathetic wet cat it was predestined really. Anyways, i noticed not many artists (the ones who catboy-ifying him. maybe its just a me problem tho) give him whiskers, so i gave him whiskers👍
• Gray hairs were a random detail i decided to add, but then i gave it some thought and honestly, his life was (still tbh) stressful - so i guess it works👍
• Made half of his hair (not even stopping at just head hair) white just because im extra sometimes. Like, i could stop at just one streak, but why would i do that?
• Got some of his shit together after being taken away by Feds and stopped looking like he is about to pass out from everything really. God bles love truly changes people👍 It doesn't change the horrific eye bags tho, they are never going away, saying as a person with eyes bags, those bad boys are the part of me at this point, so are they for him
• Burn marks are mostly on body, they haven't touched face all that much.
Q!Baghera:
• Okay, like i said, she's human-duckling shapeshifter - what that means, is that she can basically take any form ranging from just a normal human to just a normal duckling. Will point out - not a duck. Duckling.
• q!Baghs usually takes the form that is closer to human, but still has some duckling traits - because they are kinda looking cool and also like that water doesn't bother her nearly as much ig. 70% of her body is actually covered with down feathers - fluffye👍
• Now that i think, wouldn't she kinda easily float in the water? At least a bit? Because of all duckling feathers? Sick.
Q!Etoiles:
• Cucumber👍 Quite literally tho, he doesn't even have blood. Literally edible. Can regrow cut off limbs by sitting in a water for a bit. All that stuff.
• Idk who first thought of kintsugi scars for him, but this person is a genius.
• LEAFY HAIR! The flowers and tendrils are also parts of a hair and they glow! I love when glow!
• Idk, i love the idea of scarf going woosh, so i gave q!Et it👍 The yellow parts if it also glow.
• Star-freckles! Because why won't a cucumber man have star-freckles! Their glow mostly seen in the dark and they also blink.
Q!Tazercraft:
• q!Mike is a creeper hybrid with like 45% of creeper in him. The green parts are really patchy all over the body, and also fluffy. He doesn't explode often (nearly never, not enough creeper in him ig).
• q!Pac is a creature indeed👍 He is something alien-esque - fishlike, that's kinda all i can say. More importantly, he glows and can regulate that glow.
• They weren't always like that tho. They were humans for the most of their life, but something happened (I haven't thought of something yet) and now they are like that👍
• Deffo soulmates in a "they are literally bonded by an actual soul" way.
Q!Fit: (i dont have much for him and i watch him a lot lmao. I think with him i just follow canon ahah)
• One of the very few of actual just humans on the server
#art#fanart#mcyt#qsmp#cellbit#qsmp cellbit#etoiles#qsmp etoiles#baghera jones#qsmp baghera#mikethelink#pactw#qsmp tazercraft#fitmc#qsmp fitmc#dont even watch french much ahah well i had to get it out at some point#well see ya in another 3 months /j#take a shot every time i use 👍 emote
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Quick vent (when I write you I don't literally mean *you* just, people I read from that annoyed me that I know won't see this)
God I just got reminded how poisonous the silksong subreddit is after every event like what the hell. "Team Cherry doesn't deserve their fans" "Why did they announce it so early if they didn't want to give news" "Just de-wish-list the game and move on, that'll make them pay, we are Team Cherry's source of income, if an employee didn't show up for multiple years they would get fired" "It just shows how horrible Team Cherry is to their fans"
I'm not paraphrasing. This is things I saw and read and like, I get that the drought of any news can be hard especially if Hollow knight is your favorite game and you are/were hyped about silksong but bud
Team Cherry is 3 guys who have lives (hell one of them became father during that time), Probably enough money to live comfortably for a WHILE, who produced one of the best metroidvanias out-there, reigniting the genre, and they did that with a box of scraps, in a cave little money and little time while eating the leftovers of the other companies of the building they were in (I'm not making that up.) They keep saying (well, kept...) that their favorite thing is making games, and that if they could they would just keep working on silksong and never release it (partially paraphrasing an interview). They now have infinite time and almost infinite money to make the game they want, and said they would retire from the internet because they didn't want to be impacted by what the fans said/wanted so they could do truly the game THEY wanted.
Sure, not communicating sucks a bit but I feel like you are acting like in a relationship, "Why are they not communicating that's toxic" I think you put yourself in a relationship that's not one. They don't care about you and that's fine, they are just making their game in their corner which they've always done. I would LOVE more news. And I'm sad and confused as to why they choose not to, but also, I respect it, because I never paid a subscription for anything. Hell I'm thankful they are even making another game for Hollow Knight that was never a guarantee, they aren't Nintendo or anything again they are 3 guys, one of which wasn't there for Hollow Knight, and they went "Mmmh. A DLC won't work let's make a new game" And honestly with how some are behaving maybe not looking at what fans say and staying away was a good idea because wow what the hell.
Now here, with how long they take, with no news etc. (well I say no news but very technically Ari and William (And Leth as well) (no Jack is he even real /j) were spotted at an Autralia game pax a few months ago and said "Yeah yeah we are working on it :D" to someone who asked so ya know, there is that at keast dfgdfg) I certainly HOPE the game is good. Making Metroidvanias is long especially with that small of a team, BUT they are good at it, they chose that it was better to stay away to make it so I hope this was a good decision for the game. But I have very little doubts about that.
Anyway, just a vent cause everytime I'm like God I think you guys do not know what developers being "horrible to their fans" is like. In the end I'll just be happy to play silksong when it comes out, and pray Team Cherry will maybe address the lack of news just as to avoid that shitstorm of people who apparently can't do anything else than shit on them. Because at this point I'm almost convinced half of 'em will not even be happy to have silksong out they absolutely want "Team Cherry to pay for their indifference".
Then again, reminding this is mostly the subreddit, the Hollow Knight discord is actually pretty chill. And tumblr too honeslty. But what am I even expecting from reddit sdfsdf
Anyway can't wait for Silksong. Next event for sure /j (I do believe we'll have something next year tho, cause now it's starting to be very long without anything) (yes we say that everytime but like, I don't know I have a feeling.) (Lemme cope)
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Well I saw my name pop up in @angie-j-kay 's response so might as well throw my hat into the ring too~
So this is going to sound a bit pretentious and I'll do my best to elaborate. As I've wrote my main WIP Rituals and Red Tape I never really sought out to impart a lesson, not my place really lol, but there has been this overarching concept of identity and action. That even if we are comfortable with who we are there are those that can and will try and shape that sense of comfort around what they see as acceptable and good. Also the spaces we inhabit, be that the real world or a nebulous space are impacted by our actions. The latter of the two kind of comes from this scene from, of all things, Dragon's Age Inquisition that really stuck with me (it is the time travel scene and if you know you know).
So first and foremost, and I understand how this usually sounds, the initial concept came from my dreams. I haven't had it in a while but for a few months span I had this dream lore (thats what my partner and I kind of jokingly called it). They were these dreams that all took place in the same location, be it the feeling or actual spot in the dream, and had this running narrative that I would impart on him in the morning. Now Rituals and Red Tape does take inspiration from it but it is more of an adaptation. It was on a long car ride (see 3+ hour) that the idea was more fleshed out. The main character was going to be this overworked and tired park ranger type, who just wants people to follow the rules for once, yes you can summon the flesh eating plague but did you fill out the appropriate forms? That then evolved into the cults of this place being ran in look and function more like an office or company. A mix of the mundane with some horror.
The MC just wants to have an easy life. Minimal paperwork. And for people to just, follow the god damn rules! Really what they are trying to achieve is keeping their boss happy so they don't have to have another discussion...oh and keep reality from breaking apart at the seams. What I'm trying to achieve, entertain mostly, in writing this more and more I've realized I'm also working through some things with it.
As many or as few as it takes to tell the story. I'm still getting everything out there so a final count comes after some serious fat trimming. Really though I don't enjoy the idea of putting an end goal, just isn't healthy for my spicy brain.
Original Content baby! And I post the first draft stuff on my Tumblr here (I have a page that I try to keep up to date) and I post the more edited versions (what i'll call a light second draft) on my Wattpad Maxwell Alabaster (shameless plug)
I started really writing late last year~ Although I have been doing this kind of thing for a while, mostly RP on forums and minecraft back in the day.
Something I'm always happy to champion: Write slop! Just have fun with it, not everything needs to be posted. If the spirit fills ya write the most trashfire thing possible and have a blast doing it. Also don't be afraid to try out a different style or medium. I have another WIP that is told through audio transcriptions and other kind of data. I even got a mic and am going to start doing audio files to compliment the writing and add something new because it sounds like a fun time.
As for who I follow, I'm terrible at actually reading other's things (time being in short supply usually and reading being an effort) but some people I've had very pleasant interactions with and when I can get the spoons to read their stuff are @asterhaze @conkers-theficwriter @angie-j-kay (as stated before) @tailoroffates and @tisiphonewolfe If I didn't state your name it isn't that I haven't enjoyed you! It's that these are the people I have freshly interacted with and are as such fresh in my brain! Also I don't want to bog people's notifications down...I have a lot of folks I enjoy interacting with.
Writers of Tumblr, I have an ask game for you all!
Please reblog and answer these questions, maybe tag others too! My asks are also open for them.
What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?
What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?
What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?
How many chapters is your story going to have?
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
When and why did you start writing?
Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?
#My writing#Rituals and Red Tape#I spent way too long coming up with the answers#thanks for the tag as always#but seriously check these other people out#they are wonderful writers
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The Double Isekai Is back!
Hello...
I have a creative problem :'3
Like ya know... I had one double Isekai with Malleus... And ya know... All is good and well on that end... A lot of crack...
Until I came with another one TwTb
And this time... IT'S ORTHO...
So a few warnings before we proceed: this will have mentions of bullying and also chap 6 spoilers since chap 7 is literally hours away from us(when I wrote this one). :'3
So yep... That's kinda all :3
Now onto the Isekai explanation!
Under the cut cuz I will TERRORISE you with this for a while. /j
So for starters... If you skimmed through my oneshot book... There is a very suggestive title about what Malleus's double Isekai au looks like. So check that out if you want an unhealthy dose of crack. Healthify it by reading it in parts when ya feeling down if you want. :'3
Well we are going to use that premise of: character gets Isekai when they were smol so they can forget everything about twst.
Well... In Ortho's case... He was Isekai around 5-6 years old...
That's right, folks... This bby was Isekaid right when a Phanthom was ready to butcher him up. Right in front of Idia, who thought his brother was presumably dead.
Meanwhile, Ortho is found by a family outside, with different wounds and crying his eyes out. His hair wasn't a flame anymore, instead just a black wet lump on his head due to the rain.
They take him to a nearby doctor/hospital (whatever fancies you more) to see what was wrong with poor Ortho. It turns out he showed signs of amnesia and hallucinations due to a hit to the head. He had no home to go to, so he would most likely be sent straight to an orphanage. The only thing ortho knew about himself was his name, age and that a little gem pendant he had was very important to keep.
Meanwhile, Ortho was starting to bond with the couple that found him, especially with their child, Yuu. Since they were literally 5-6 years old, they quickly got attached as if they were blood related.
And that's how Ortho got adopted immediately by yuu's parents, having them to be siblings! :D
Years did pass and Yuu with ortho were closer than ever. Sure they were still siblings and acted like one was the most insufferable scum of the earth sometimes. But siblings are siblings... We all know what really goes in there, deep down...
Speaking of deep down... Sometimes ortho would be plagued by nightmares. Something about silhouettes screaming his name as he seemed to be dragged somewhere deep, akin to a big hole. Soon those nightmares were speculated to be the product of the bullying he received.
Due to the fact that he was a programmer prodigy and even a genius at exact science, Ortho was often picked on by the bullies or persuaded by the ones who only wanted him to do something for them.
He did wear glasses to help his sight out due to the endless hours of reading and staying in the front of a screen (most likely in twst the digital screens are developed to not tire out your eye), so he pretty much had a shit eyesight. Add to that his curly black hair that lately covered his eyes, having him actively slamming into things he notices too late. Sometimes, Yuu told him that they swore they saw the hair catching a faith blue or another color when Ortho would feel a powerful emotion. Along with the lil odd coincidences.
But no fear! Yuu to the rescue! Since they were a tad bit older by a few months, Yuu took it upon themselves to protect their 'Lil precious brother'. So Yuu being in a fighting arts club(it can vary for whatever fighting style you like...), they took it upon themselves to protect their lil bro from the big bad bullies.
Of course in exchange ortho gave to them the answer sheets to the tests. That's how siblings work, I ain't makin the rules here... :'3
But Yuu sometimes jumps the gun with the protectiveness. When Ortho wouldn't be home, they would immediately call like:
Yuu: ArE yOu GoInG oUt WiTh SoMeOnE?!
Ortho: Yuu... I'm at the grocery store... WITH OUR MOM!
Yuu: doesn't answer my question...
So with this, the base is kinda there... I know we all are here for the Isekai... Now let's get on with it!
It was a start of high-school year day... Like first weeks when everything sinks in that 'welp, you're in high school... Now ya making part of the tired kids'. So of course new things were on board like: new place, new teachers, new friends! All of this shit!
But also some things are still unchanged like the cafeteria food(if there is any cafeteria in your place), gut wrenching homework, oh so dreaded tests and expectations...
And bullies... Ortho can't forget about that one. :'3
Since in first days he showed to be a prodigy and always cowering behind his sibling, Ortho basically had a massive target on him. And since it was a local high-school, it was basically impossible for his old bullies or even some of their aquitances to not recognise him around or have that shitty luck to even run into them several times.
So of course the first moment Yuu wasn't around, Ortho immediately was targeted. Sure, he tried to stand up for himself, but really he was more on the artistic side of sports rather than violent... So all he could do is 'miraculously have a coincidence save him', by having the bullies slip on the floor so he could escape with his laptop tightly holded in his arms.
Meanwhile, Yuu was looking at a mirror that the students claimed it 'suddenly appeared on the hall wall', when Ortho dashed in, not seeing that well due to his hair, slamming into Yuu with force.
And that slam made the 2 to topple in and hit the mirror, which made them to dissappear right before all the students's eyes.
Now sure as hell no one will tamper with that mirror. :'3
Meanwhile, Ortho wakes up in a coffin and tries to get it out. He hears a voice outside searching for something, so he tries like any normal person to kick and scream that he needs to be out because he isn't dead.
Well the lid of the coffin sure gets blown up like Yuu's coffin too. This time, Yuu doesn't question the Raccoon-cat thing that blows fire. They immediately run to ortho to check if they are alright.
This had to be a grand prank... No? Floating coffins? Cult robes? Floating magic mirror?
Ortho does notice that he still had his laptop, so maybe they could use that to figure out wtf was going on...
But before they could do anything, the Raccoon, who by a good listen they found out was named Grim, threatened to make them BBQ.
Cue chase around the campus until Crow man appeared.
Everything goes exactly like in cannon, making the exception that Yuu was tested first, ending up with crow man leaving ortho off the hook bc 'they are a package deal'. Also because it was clear as day Yuu would obliterate him if he dared separate them.
So they go to the library to research from where exactly they came from. Ortho uses his laptop to prove that indeed they were who they claim to be, so crow man has no other option than to believe them and concluded that they came from another world.
The laptop's location function gave only error by now, but the internet surprisingly worked, so they could still bingie watch cat videos or memes. Or google shit about their world. Ortho needs to see those live performances of his fav k-idols after all...
They end up in Ramshackle and ortho has a new quest: find a goddamn power outlet.
They remeet Grim and also meet the ghosts.
Cue cringe af anime poses while holding Grim or protecting the laptop, their only way to kinda try and contact their previous world.
Crowley comes back to see the chaos unfolding. We get to redemonstrate how this shit works, so crow man can leave us alone. But nope! He doesn't! Because apparently now we are Janitors!
At least the night ends up with sum fluffy sibling cuddles.
The next day, the 3 are assigned to clean up the main street. To liven up the mood, Yuu tries one of those choreographies Ortho tries to learn, only for him to correct them and turn into a quirky time of singing and dancing.
Ace comes along and we get an intro of the great Seven. When they reach the King of the Underworld, Ortho's breath hitches for a moment, as if he saw that figure somewhere. He couldn't fathom where exactly, but he knew he saw it before.
And after the history lesson, Ace becomes a lil shit and jumpes a bit the gun when mentioning about the wierd af music these 2 magicless humans were singing, asking if the one singing it was a constipated elephant. (no... Yuu just doesn't know how to sing, Ace... Get over it.)
This time Ortho immediately flares up bc: 'how dare you disrespect my sibling and my fav band?!' and immediately kicks Ace in the stomach.
But Grim decided to square up while Yuu and ortho were minding their cleaning business. It ends up with the statue of the Queen of hearts getting charred and Crowley punishing them with cleaning 1000 glass windows. Ortho does the math like: 'so 250 for each...'
Bow we go exactly like in cannon, because ortho was the smart one who decided to stay behind and do his side of the punishment. Well now reduced to 200 since Deuce was apart of the group Unwillingly. Then find a power outlet in the cafeteria to plug in his laptop and watch sum cat videos or MVs...
Yuu and Grim return trashed and dirty af, but they are happily telling ortho that now all 3 of them will count as 1 student. Ortho does raise a brow at their deplorable state, but doesn't pursue it as Yuu made it clear they don't wanna talk about it.
But in the middle of the night, a collared Ace comes around. Ortho made him to sleep on the floor.
So the next day, they officially attend classes! Ortho did mostly the brainwork and Yuu with Grim the muscle work. Ortho properly meets Deuce tho, the 2 getting along great.
Grim tries to run away, but it doesn't work like that. :'3
Deuce clears out the fact that Ace was kicked out of his dorm. When asked about it, Ace revealed that it was all because of a slice of goddamn tart.
Yuu suggests that Ace should make a tart to compensate for the 'stolen' one. Yuu was actually decent in kitchen, but they still insisted to ask a dorm mate, who knows what their leader prefers, to help out.
They meet Cater. The older ginger gets so perplexed when Yuu and ortho tell him that they are indeed siblings. Like they looked so different you would say they were from totally different countries. Especially with ortho being so pale he could be compared to a ghost. Ortho does mention how his skin seems to be a tad bit more sensitive and so he cannot get a tan no matter how hard he tried every summer. He was just naturally pale.
Cater does bamboozle them into painting the roses for him so he could get them to Trey. But in the end, with some errands to do, Deuce snapping and finding out the truth about eggs and a lot of cooking mishaps... Finally they baked a mont blanc and were very proud of it.
They were ready to dig into the leftovers when Cater comes in and mentions about Trey's UM. It was another term that Brought ortho a lump in his throat, but he didn't mention it as he was surprised to see that the tart tasted like his favorite type of food. Yuu was also surprised, mentioning that if they could do this spell, they would eat anything in this world without any doubt.
But they have the mont blanc! And off they were to present it to Riddle.
Again, it goes like in cannon because ortho is the smart one who decides to just watch these idiots get their asses handled.
But that also means witnessing the overBlot. And that's when we get tricky.
Ortho started to have a headache and suddenly he could hear screams from the past and see misterious silhouettes he wouldn't recognize. He knew how the ob could be defeated and tell it to Yuu as being 'just a hunch'.
Well defeated ob means sad violin montage. Get yer tissues ready, folks...
After the whole ordeal and Riddle coming to his senses, we have an apology unbirthday party re-run. Riddle presented his extremely salty tart and the group collectively agrees to not let the redhead back in the kitchen. Trey is just laughing on the floor.
Once Crowley brings in Adeuce and our Ramshackle trio to tell them about blot, Ortho keeps it silent. Yuu knew their lil bro would totally ask a flurry of questions. So later on, at Ramshackle, they approach ortho about it.
Ortho just tells them that he simply just knew about overBlot. That he saw silhouettes and heard someone screaming his name, just like in his nightmares. And so he starts to get scared, since he doesn't know what is going on with him.
Yuu just hugs him and reassures that whatever will happen, they will stick together and get home one way or another. They are siblings, one will not make it out without the other.
For the rest of the night, they watch along Grim some funny videos on the laptop to cheer up.
A bit of time passes and things seemed to calm down for Ortho. He heard about the magishift tournament and gets curious, much like Yuu and Grim.
Crow man uses their excitement and curiosity for the game to have them investigate the wierd string of accidents.
So with a few interviews of the students at the infirmary, Ortho notices a pattern and tells to the group his theory: most accidents happened on the main hall/staircase.
They notice a security camera in there and decide to use ortho's genius to hack into it.
The problem? It needs to be manually.
So at 1 am, Adeuce are holding up Yuu who holds up ortho on their shoulders, who holds the laptop and connecting it to the camera while Grim is on his head, holding a flashlight for ortho to see what exactly he is doing.
They manage to connect it to the laptop! :D
But what they don't know is that by that, they disconnected someone else from that camera, gaining their attention.
Cue ortho pulling all nighters as Yuu, Grim and Adeuce continue with their investigation by interrogating people.
But at one point, Ortho suddenly got disconnected. He was took aback by this, so it becomes a war in between ortho and whoever else wanted control of the camera.
In the end, enough evidence is gathered and ortho has to leave the camera alone, much to the misterious party's confusion.
Again, things again roll like in cannon, since it was more handled by the Heartslabyul peeps. The overBlot still happened and ortho has almost a breakdown if it wasn't for Grim to snap him out of it.
The Ramshackle gained their place in the magishift tournament tho. Ortho is really eager to play, but because of his breakdown, he managed to get wounded at the foot, so he couldn't play. He was content with watching his sibling play tho. :3
Yuu gets headbutted by the murderdisk. 400K, ultra HD, color!
Both of them end up in the infirmary and fight with pillows. They also meet cheeka when the lil cub went after his uncle.
Adeuce and Grim fill the 2 in with what they missed: the Ignihyde actually making an appearance along with the Diasomnia's performance in the tournament.
Well ortho's foot and Yuu's head are healed completely by the time exams come. Ortho did raise a brow on how Yuu wasn't asking for him to tutor them, as usually this happened. Yuu just insisted that Ortho need a bit of time to clear up his mind and learn for himself. The younger was a bit touched, but also concerned about this motive, since usually Yuu wouldn't leave him alone unless it's really necessary.
The exams pass, but Ortho notices the lack of a bicker in between his friends. Even Grim stood along him more, which he usually wouldn't in favor of 'bossing' Yuu around or squaring up with Ace.
It turns out Ortho made an almost perfect score, getting in the first 50. Yuu was actually no.49, which had them breath in relief. Ortho wanted to ask why they were suddenly so relieved while Adeuce and Grim were fidgety. Yuu just tells him that they don't know why Adeuce and Grim are so panicky.
But as Jack comes to say hello, the anemones pop up. Yuu accidentally sputters out if Adeuce and Grim signed for the deal too, which gained a colective gasp in between the anemoned boys and Yuu.
Ortho is just confused on main. Jack is also a bit confused, but mainly disappointed in them for getting so low as to sign a deal for a cheatsheet.
As the anemones get dragged to Octavinelle, Yuu explained to Ortho that they signed a deal with Ashengrotto. The condition for not being an anemone and working at the lounge was to enter in the top 50, which they did. Ortho asked what did Yuu give as a collateral.
"Oh, I gave the Ramshackle." "THAT'S WHY I WAS THROWN OUT A WEEK AGO BY THAT TALL BITCH?!" "details... Details..." "DETAILS MY ASS!"
Jack just awkwardly stays there and witnesses the screaming match in between the 2. He does pick up a burning smell, but then again, it was a chaos and he feared that if he bothered the 2 siblings, Jack would get his ass handled.
So what to do? Go to the Octavinelle right now and face Azul. Ortho needs his and his sibling's bastard cat back.
Azul surely picks up too the burning smell, but he thinks it's sum dumbass in the kitchen, so he sends Floyd in there. Ortho was just simply bubbling with rage, but he tried to contain himself in there.
Azul notes how ortho looked familiar, but Ortho was there to see the terms of Yuu's contract, since he needed to know if he will dwelve more in the cafeteria or he can go back there and sleep properly.
Azul simply shows him the said contract, telling him that it was now kept as a receipt more. Ortho calms down once he realises that he can safely return to Ramshackle.
But Yuu wants to free the anemones, since they realised Azul scammed them all. Ortho had no say in all, but at least no contract was signed for the meantime.
But that didn't mean Azul forgot them. He put his eyes on Ramshackle after all...
So here it comes the gathering of possible blackmail against Azul. It doesn't work since that guy was good at literally everything on the surface.
Except PE, but then again, everyone knows that already.
The twins finally get a grasp on an alone Ortho, telling him that he seems quite familiar. His face, his voice, his eyes, all seemed quite familiar. Ortho tells them to leave him alone, which the twins tell him that now surely he reminds them of that 'someone' even more.
And that's when they drop the bomb: Maybe that someone can help Ortho with the mistery about himself.
That's when Ortho stops to listen, asking who that 'someone' is. The twins tell him that Azul can have him meet that person, of course for a few terms that are yet to be discussed.
When Yuu searches for Ortho, they are told by a student that ortho was going to Octavinelle along the Leech twins. Yuu almost strangles that student in that rage fit, but Jack stops them and the 2 go to Octavinelle too.
In the V.I.P. Room, Azul was again selling the idea of 'yes, you look certainly like someone I know', to Ortho, although he mentions a few things that are different, mainly the hair, which ortho doesn't really makes it as something that drastic of a difference.
Yuu just bangs the door with a murderous look, ready to unalive both Azul and the twins then and there.
Jack was just there. :'3
Azul does reveal that Ortho might have a quite important connection with twisted wonderland, especially with a certain individual, hard to reach, that only Azul could convince him to meet with Ortho.
Yuu takes ortho a bit to discuss about it. They did ask if Ortho was alright with such a thing. It must be a bit of a mess for him right now, so of course such things was something game changer for him. Ortho says that if he doesn't know, the nightmares will still plague him. And who knows what wierd things might happen to him in the future if he doesn't figure out?
Yuu this time signs again a contract, because they couldn't afford their lil sibling to get in trouble. The collateral was Ramshackle. Azul was extremely generous with his side of reward tho: giving the answers + freeing the anemones if they manage to get him a certain photo from the Atlantica museum.
So we goin under the sea✨🎶
No... I will never get tired of this joke... X3
We see the twins in their mer forms! They are long! And probably really lethal if we piss them off. :'D
So with the first attempt at getting the photo being busted by the twins, Jack offers for Ortho, Grim and Yuu to sleep at Savanaclaw. Leona puts them to sleep in his room as long as they don't bother him.
Ortho seeks tho a bit of advice. He knew Leona was a dormleader and had family problems, so he wanted to ask what would happen if, suddenly his actual roots would come back at him. Sure, he was adopted and had to live with this label over him all his life. But on the other hand, suddenly he is supposed to have roots in here, which doesn't make any sense in his agenda.
Leona just gives a piece of advice: Life is full of shit. It's important only what you do out of it to matter for you. Rewards don't come without working hard for them. There are lucky and unlucky people and everyone has to deal with everything at one point. It's inevitable. So just do what makes you happy. You will have deal with shit sometimes, but that's not something to be avoided.
Ortho just thanks for the advice and heads on to sleep with Grim. Meanwhile, Yuu meets HoRnI bOi at the Ramshackle porch like it's totally not creepy. Yes, this is my version to the tsunotaro vs Hornton conflict.
The next day, Leona just gets a laugh out of them for being so dumb to sign a contract with Azul. They couldn't steal the contracts as they are 'protected by a magical zapping spell' as Azul told Ortho, but then he adds that it's also a paradox, mumbling more and more until it turns into ortho rambling about the contracts's theoretical and practical proprieties.
So what to do? Ortho has a plan!
Yuu, Ace Deuce and Grim go back after the photo while Ortho, Leona and Ruggie sneak in the VIP room. Ortho cracked open the safe codes using his laptop that Azul left in there, so they could seenlessly take the contracts.
And put a note with a funky donkey in it. Because that is a must. >:3
So when Azul realises that all of it was actually a diversion, he comes face to face with Ortho, who acted like he just came in. Azul asks if he took the contracts. To which Ortho shakes his head.
But Azul saw the pen in ortho's pocket along with the same sticky notes he found in his safe.
Ortho just showed a mischievous smile as he ran out of there, to Leona, Azul hot on his tail.
Welp... OverBlot...
Here we go again... Yuu just Exhales in 'is this a trend among dormheads?'.
Ortho tries to keep a bit his cool. It's the 3rd time. He can handle it! Yuu just throws again hands.
But everything goes slow motion, when his sibling is almost crushed by one of Azul's attacks. Ortho slides in to take the hit.
But it doesn't come at all.
Instead, gushes of wind almost push ortho and Yuu off their feet. When they opened their eyes, they saw that somehow the spell was conquered by something that also hit the overBlot, making Azul to lose his attention and balance enough to get successfully knocked out.
Ortho simply was at loss of words. He asked who saved him and Yuu in the knack of time, but he was meet with just worried gazes, as if something happened while he had his eyes closed.
Yuu breaks it to him... They saw what happened. They saw a blue flame that was summoned and gulped Azul's spell. Ortho again asked who did it, but it was a bit of silence, before Yuu actually spoke.
He did it. Ortho summoned that flame.
Ace adds how he saw an orange fire too, but that went out really quick. Deuce added that the spell must've been really powerful since ortho looked drained of energy. And instead of being 'Woa, I have magic, so cool!' and get all excited as everyone would expect from him, Ortho enters a panic state. This wasn't supposed to happen at all in his mind. It made no sense and it scared him a lot.
Yuu just suggests to stay for a little, drink a bit of water and try to calm down. It works only after a while. And finally things could start to go back to normal a bit.
Yuu and horni boi bond a lil while Ortho enjoys sum cat videos on his laptop along cuddling with Grim.
Yuu wanted to tell Crowley about the magic mishap, but ortho insists, more like begging, to not do it. He had to figure it out on his own before word would get out.
Leona, Ruggie and Jack decided to keep their mouths shut as the octotrio were forced to as a repayment for Ortho as the anemones were freed, but Azul didn't arrange for Ortho to meet this misterious dude it was speculated he might have a connection to.
With the exams off everyone's chest as well as the anemones, the winter holiday is coming in strong!
Crowley gives to Yuu, Grim and Ortho one phone to share in order to contact him while he is off to 'his very important research trip'. Yeah... The 3 just note in Adeuce and Jack's numbers additionally. They also make a gc with the 3 contacts. Just to be safe... Ya know?
But the shit part was that they still had to do a bit of handymen work while dealing with octatrio for the whole holiday. At least crow man promised them a feast at Ramshackle to patch up for it. Which was alright.
Ortho decided to hit the books seriously this time. So he borrowed a lot of them from the library and was studying in the cafeteria, as the Ramshackle was extremely cold, so they couldn't possibly stay in there without being decked in blankets.
They meet Jamil and the Scarabia peeps. And off they are dragged to the desert dorm. Ortho just wanted to study, but nah... Gotta go and party with Kalim and the Scarabia peeps.
Until the Dormhead suddenly switched moods.
Of course the first day of actual scarabia boot camp. Poor Ortho, Grim and Yuu. Even if 2 out of 3 were athletic a bit, they all ended up crawling by the end of the whole march.
But Kalim again has a wierd mood switch and gives them a oasis to cool off.
Already with the second night in, Yuu demanded that they had to get out. They were locked in there and who knew when Kalim would snap again and put them to March through the desert?!
So they break out!
But during all of that, Ortho trips and from his neck, his gem pendant's string rips and falls. He knew he should've changed that flimsy string, but he didn't have the chance. He didn't have a chance to even look for the gem, as the Scarabia students were hot on their tails and they had to escape via magic carpet!
But they get yeeted in the Octavinelle lounge.
Surely it was a wild night for the poor unsuspecting octatrio. :'3
Because Yuu blackmailed them with the fact that they still didn't repay them personally for everything they did to them, they had to help into the Scarabia mess.
And also find Ortho's pendant. Grim knew how ortho was smelling, so the pendant couldn't have a smell that far from their owner's.
Returning to Scarabia, Kalim seemed in a good mood. Yuu explained that Ortho lost something of value in here, to which Kalim happily showed them that he found a wierd gem on the halls, suspecting that it had to come from Ortho.
He shows a blue-ish gem in a silver frame, attached to a broken string. Grim confirms that it reeks of Ortho's usual smell, so the boy happily puts it in his pocket, thanking Kalim for finding it for him.
So first day was more like looking around and analyzing what seemed wrong, which at first looked exactly like normal, despite the Ramshackle trio's accusations and whines.
At night tho, they split up, having Jade alone with Kalim in the treasure room while the others distract Jamil with a game.
Jamil makes a move and asks what's with Ortho's pendant since it looked quite pricey. Ortho replies that he had it since he could properly remember. Yuu also mentions that it was true, since they only saw ortho with that pendant 24/7 since they first meet. Ortho adds that he doesn't know why, but he must keep it at him at all costs.
Jamil theories that it must be an important heirloom, to which Ortho goes silent. Azul thankfully drifts the convo from becoming too sour, shifting it to Floyd's winning streak.
Back in their shared room, the group contemplates about what to do tomorrow with the problem at hand. It was quickly settled a plan.
Later that night, Ortho couldn't sleep. Azul was also awake, asking why he couldn't sleep. Ortho refuses to say, to which Azul figures on his own that it had to do with what happened before, during his own overBlot.
So he takes ortho under his arm and makes a promise: if by any means Ortho needs to have the need to go to someone to vent, he will personally give him a private place and an ear to listen to him. It was a little thing for helping him out after all. And Yuu was always there, which meant it would be super rare for that to happen.
Ortho finally gets out his pendant, asking if it's possible for this to be magical. Azul tells him that he has to find out on his own, as it's his pendant.
Nonetheless, the next day they bust up Jamil like in cannon!
Cue ob, crying Kalim and the infamous: DOKKAAAANNN...
While trying to resist the gush of powerful wind, Ortho sees for a faith second the blue flames everyone told him about. He starts to panic a bit, but has 0 time to process entirely as he found himself flying off along the others, screaming and praying they won't become pancakes for good.
After some talking and convincing Kalim of the truth, they had to return.
That's when they notice that despite the darkness, they had a quite faith light with them. Turning towards the source, everyone is a bit silent or gasping.
Ortho asks why they are all looking at him, so Yuu pulls out the phone for Ortho to see his reflection in it.
His hair gained blue tints and a few blue flames were swishing around, as if the hair itself was trying to catch fire. That gave the faith light.
Of course ortho got a spook out of his, his panic flaring up the flames more and changing their color accordingly. Yuu tries to get close, but Ortho insists to not do that, in fear of burning them.
Yuu is a petty mf and still hugs their lil bro, even going as far as caressing their head when they realised the flames did not burn them.
Kalim mentions that this has to be something akin to 'their' hair, to which ortho perks up, but Jade reminds them of the overBlot.
While on their way back via oasis maker and the twins swimming, Azul tries to teach Ortho a basic shield spell. It's wonky, but they couldn't deny it would be insanely useful in this situation. Wonky as it was.
It proved to be useful, as ortho and Yuu tried to get out of the other's way of attacking, while distracting the hipnotised scarabia students.
Once the overBlot was defeated, Ortho took a breath of relief and his few flames dissappeared too. He still could do the said spell, but, now his hair was again fully black and curly like a mop. Yuu even joked about the 'mop head' being back, which did gain a small giggle from the one in question.
Unfortunately Grim picked that up and now Yuu is (insert fighting style) minion while Ortho is mop minion.
But still... Everything ends up like in cannon, with Adeuce returning, relieved to see their buddies safe.
Of course sum time passed and with the winter holiday over, the classes had to get their students back in.
While on the first day after the holiday, Yuu notices the statues of great 7. They told Ortho about all the shit with the funky af dreams and the knocking in the mirror. Ortho notes how only the king of the underworld seems familiar to him.
But their thought process gets intrerrupted by Deuce bumping into a boy and the boy starting to cry. Ace sure af didn't miss the opportunity to 'call on a teacher'. Yuu palmfaces as Deuce tries to calm down the boy, but he runs off.
Cue idiots leaving this incident aside.
The VDC gets announced and Yuu tries to nudge in their lil bro, saying that Ortho had some affiliation to this kind of shit. Ace asks if it's because of those girls and boys idols from his world, he keeps watching. Ortho gets really into it and explains that he appreciates the work and the music they make. Yuu just likes to watch crack compilations. :D
So with all the pestering, Ortho decides to finally give it a shot. They sign up for it at Rook tho, who does note that ortho looks familiar, to which he said 'yeah, I get that often... Moving on!'.
Like NRC dudes... Please... For 1 second could you NOT say that?
Training for the VDC was, surprisingly, along Jamil and Kalim, who were incredible dancers. Ortho was skilled into dancing as well, unlike Deuce, Ace and Grim's boiling noodles show. Yuu stood this one out, bc that was something they admit they aren't good at and would rather just dance in private or for the gist of it rather than that.
But because Grim still insisted to go in there, Ortho had to be the 2/3 from their student title to go with him. Sure they weren't fully the 1 student they are marked off ass, but still it is above half, so it can still count, ya know?
Yuu escorted them at the auditions, just to and I quote 'watch the good, the bad and the dumb in action'.
They meet again Lilia! Who notes that Ortho again looks familiar. It was at this point that Ortho was growing annoyed by this. They also see Cater and the older ginger happily explains to Grim how idols are in this world, which wasn't that far fetched from Yuu and Ortho's world.
They wanted to watch a choreography video on Cater's phone, but they had to watch an add of Neige. Ortho points out that the clothes look a bit too big for him to be ruled as just 'oversized style'. Yuu Exhales in the distance because here it comes the fashionista Ortho. As if it wasn't enough the whole 'lemme arrange your hair cuz it looks horrible'.
But also, Ace notes that a robot was in there, which gains the robot's attention and so, they are coming to the lil group.
Cue spiderman pointing meme, but it's Human Ortho and Robo Ortho. It was an awkward silence since everyone else knew this was probably fucked up. Robo Ortho notes how this is one of the 3 part magicless student, which was very curious. The human Ortho notes how it was super cool the robot design and all that.
They are very much empty headed in this situation... Like braincells go poof. :'3
One of the poemfiore guys tasked with organising breaks the moment by looking for 'Ortho' to go in, to which both respond. Even more confusion since 'We have the same name! Who is getting in first?!'.
Yeah... Even the poemfiore student is confused, since there are 2 Orthos. So he calls in Rook to see this one. Rook calls in Robo Ortho, saying that human Ortho was written in as a 2 part student this time, which meant he and Grim will share a comune score.
The auditions go normally after that mishap.
And a few days later, the braincell group was getting out of the lessons, when an arrow almost cut their necks off.
It turns out that Ortho didn't make it (Grim basically made his score split in half), but Adeuce did. Well, it was all up to the judge after all, so Ortho congratulated them on their work. He will support his friends after all. Yuu cheers Ortho a bit more by telling him that he will always be no.1 for them when it comes to dancing.
But also ortho, Grim and Yuu are required to come too! Which was a bit wierd!
It turns absolutely normal when Crowley is in there and announces that Ramshackle will be the new training camp place. Ortho is chill with it as long as his laptop doesn't get tampered with. Yuu is chill with it just if you let them eat their cake in peace.
Well... Somehow, both conditions are broken. Vil cursed all the food and also confiscated Ortho's laptop so he wouldn't stay up until late watching shit on YouTube.
The training camp was annoying for the Ramshackle trio and a hell for the others who participated into it. Ortho is actually glad he didn't make it past the auditions now.
But at least they befriended Epel. Epel was a good friend. :D
One night Jamil saw a bug crawling on the floor and he slept outside. :'3
With all the training and ordeals, finally the culture festival day came.
Ortho and Yuu each received 2 VDC tickets each. Yuu immediately gave one to their friend, Horni Boi, while ortho had no idea who he should give it to.
So as he was contemplating who should he invite, he happens to cross paths again with the other Ortho. They again talk for a bit, robo ortho bringing up the fact that he has to convince somehow his big brother to get the hell out of his room besides for the presentation. Human Ortho kinda pities the situation, so he gives to Robo ortho his other VDC ticket, telling him that he could use it to gaslight robo ortho's big brother into going outside.
Both are little gremlins... Pass it on...
On the big day, Yuu, ortho and Grim look around the stalls a bit. They see Jade, Trey and others who at the sports festival didn't have a club stall. It gets explained that the culture festival is the most important for clubs that aren't sports centered.
They also see the Gargoyle research society, but didn't find anyone in there. Bummer :'3
The trio returns just in time to see the rehearsals. First it was the 'NRC tribe'. Yuu still cannot shake the uga booga image formed due to the name.
Next was Neige and the drawves from RSA. Their performance made Ortho to question why tf these guys didn't go to kindergarten with this. Like it would be something that kids would absolutely eat it up.
Then it clicked for him when he heard Leona passing by and whining about his furball of a nephew coming in here to visit.
So he told his theory to Yuu, the 2 failing to see Vil getting to the backstage.
But Grim, Kalim and Rook saw it!
Cue cannon going downhill and overBlot Vil!
At this, Ortho is a bit took aback and his hair suddenly catches the blue flame it caught back in Scarabia. He notices it and mentions more to himself how he forgot to conceal it, to which Yuu ditches the overBlot to ask 'conceal it?! What do you mean?!'.
Ortho ditches the question in favor of not getting killed. He Aparently now has some better profiency at spells, which was also something that Yuu heavily questioned.
In the end, Deuce's UM saves the day! :D
After all of this, Malleus shows up. Everyone loses it over the nickname Yuu gave to this very OP Fae prince. Malleus is entertained by the nickname and ofc fixes the stage as both a thank you for the ticket and an unintentional flex.
Then he notices Ortho and confuses him for the 'little Shroud' who apparently seems to 'lose his flame'. Ortho is quick to retort that he is no Shroud and that most certainly he had no fire hair or something like that, concealing it back to the black curly hair. He is just a simple human from another world, who is Yuu's younger brother with a few months.
After the whole VDC ordeal which goes like in cannon, Yuu takes Ortho to the backstage to talk about it, asking to be honest with them. They are siblings through and though. They can figure it out one way or another.
So Ortho breaks down crying, telling Yuu about how the fire kept coming back and he tried to hide it. He is scared of this, because it meant he belongs in here, which got ortho to theorise that actually, the accident that brought them in here was because of him. He stated to blame himself for Yuu ending up in here and having to deal with this shit. He didn't want magic, he just wanted back home. He just wanted to not be a freak anymore, as it was clear that everyone else considered his case to be wierd and unnatural.
Yuu and Grim both hug Ortho and try to reassure that it will be alright, that he isn't a freak and that he will forever be Yuu's brother. They are a little family. Even Grim is included. They won't allow for anyone to separate them. They will go home one way or another and everything will be OK.
What they didn't know was that someone heard them.
Robo Ortho was looking for the other Ortho to thank him, bc finally they dragged Idia outside and had a fun time together. But he oh so happened to hear the convo. Sure he didn't intend to do it, it was purely accidental... But it was enough to piece together a few things and go tell Idia about it.
So... After that, everyone is tired, so they go to bed. Yuu didn't find Grim after talking with Mickey, so they went to search for them.
Ortho woke up due to yet another nightmare and so, he went out to search for Yuu, finding them wounded and trying to return to Ramshackle. Oh hell nah... Ortho is getting them immediately to the infirmary and calls Adeuce to get on board with searching for Grim, while Ortho made sure Yuu wouldn't pull a smooth brain move and go after the clearly rabid Grim.
Like in cannon, Grim couldn't be found before the Shrouds get him.
Yuu notes that it was the perfect opportunity for Ortho to meet the supposed Shrouds. He just had to go and ask for Grim. Ortho promptly refused. His denial power really was impossible to fight. :'3
So for the rest of the culture festival... It was that invisible thick tension over everyone.
Until the VDC tribe reunites and discusses about the outcome of it. With Vil, Rook, Jamil and Kalim's generous donations to Ramshackle, Yuu and Ortho were happy for finally having Ramshackle be a decent place.
And that is when the Charons come around. Ortho immediately recognises them, but doesn't know from where. But it didn't matter as the Charons tried to get Vil and Jamil.
And they also managed to take Azul, Riddle, Leona and Aparently Idia along the 2 initial targets.
Yuu is blowing a casket about it. Their friends are unconscious in bed, their cat-raccoon is gone and now NRC is dirty af. Ortho is the voice of reason this time, convincing Yuu to chill tf out before they do anything hasty.
Well chill gets thrown aside when they along Epel find out Rook is off to deliver to Vil something.
Cue crazy af broom race. :V
Rook reveals to be secretly filthy rich and also to have tracked Vil using his UM, which was actually cool.
Yuu tries to cheer Ortho, asking what his UM would probably be, but Ortho is still denying it. :'3
They get pom pomified and Yuu doesn't miss to be extra about it.
So they reach Stix and finally get let inside after Yuu blows a casket and Rook is extra af about it. Ortho and Epel are just 'we don't know these guys'.
They get let in and finally they face Robo Ortho and Idia.
Cue awkward af time... Robo Ortho is very welcoming while Idia is a bit shy. Human Ortho hid behind Yuu before Idia could spot him and he was glued in there.
Yuu tries to move and reveal him, but ortho would follow immediately after. Idia notices if Yuu is perhaps constipated, to which they are all like 'Nah... I have my mophead glued to me'. Idia asks what exactly a 'mophead is' and Yuu tries to show but hooman Ortho had none of that. :'3
It's just awkward for Epel and robo ortho since Rook seemed to enjoy this one to the maximum.
At one point Yuu loses their patience and bodyslams their bro before him, accidentally hitting Idia too.
Well isn't that a nice meeting? U-U/✨
Well of course it's a bit of silence once the 2 properly see each other. Human Ortho's glasses fell off so Yuu picked them and put them in their pocket. Human Ortho immediately hid his face with his hair and hands, saying something in between the lines of 'sorry you have to see me'.
Idia looks at robo Ortho who does motion for him to approach the other Ortho. It ends up with Idia telling the others that they can stay in a meeting room while the ob boys finish the tests and everything. There were just a few things he had to discuss with the human Ortho.
Ofc our hooman Ortho promptly refused, trying to stick to Yuu, but instead slammed face first in a pillar. He can't see shit without his glasses after all. Yuu simply gives him his glasses back and tells him that it will be alright. That he needs to know one way or another. Ortho tries to reason that this isn't how he wanted to find out, but Yuu reassures that it would be just a small talk and then they will be back together.
So while robo ortho gets Yuu, Epel and Rook to the said room, Idia guides human Ortho through the Stix halls, towards another room.
It was a very awkward silence in between them, which ortho decided to break by asking if Idia knew about his pendant, showing it to the other. Of course Idia knew about it. He explains that it was a protective pendant, meant to protect Ortho. Ortho notes how that surely didn't work at all back then, nor did in twisted wonderland, to which Idia responds with the fact that protective stones forcefully pull your magic out to react to different dangers.
That explained so much about the wierd bullies incidents, but Ortho wouldn't voice out that one. :'3
Idia goes on about how the Shroud family has a distinctive 'blessing', which gives them the job of watching over the tartarus. He elaborated about the blot and the 'blessing' having a tight connection, before making a pause and stopping on the hall. Ortho halted too and asked why did they stop.
Idia makes a pause before turning to him and mentioning how he thought he was dead. He thought Ortho died during that incident and he could still remember his cries and how his last words were for him to help, but he couldn't. It marked him deeply after all... And that's how robo Ortho was created. And Idia sure as hell loved his robot lil brother to the bone.
To that, Ortho responds that he can bearly remember. He doesn't have a sharp memory like a robot. He isn't and will never be like Robo Ortho, because he lives in the present and changed accordingly, while Idia still seems to live in the past.
At this, Idia cups Ortho's cheek in his hand. He does admit that he may live sometimes in the past, but even if Ortho before him is not like the other one, he will still be a Shroud. It's in their blood and he cannot change that one.
And that's when Ortho's hair ignites and is fully a blue flame. It wasn't now partially flame as it used to be, but a full blue fire.
Ortho gets back and asks what in tarnation did Idia do to him. Idia says that he did nothing, that it was simply coming from inside. He says that he won't force Ortho to stay in here, but he needs to accept one way or another that he belongs in here, that is his destiny.
It turns out, all this time, Idia guided ortho on another way to the room Yuu, Epel and Rook were assigned in. Idia had to go because something came up and gave Ortho sum time to think about it before leaving.
Ortho immediately makes that hiding spell for his hair, takes a deep breath and comes in, getting immediately tackled by Yuu in a hug, asking if he was alright and if they need to deck Idia. Ortho creaks a smile at that and tells them that it was everything alright... He just had to think a bit about it.
But when the power cuts out and seeming something wierd keeps happening, everyone starts to raise a brow. The announcements told about the layers of tartarus melting to which ortho remembers what Idia told him about STIX up until now.
Only the Shrouds were able to tamper with Tartarus. And only robo Ortho was fast enough to tamper with all the tech around. So of course he goes to the control panel to check if his theory was true, which is confirmed when robo Ortho intercepted his attempt at breaking in the sistem.
They needed to get out and Epel happily blows up the door. :3
They meet up with the kidnapped gang and try to blackmail the employees into getting into Tartarus. At first they are skeptical, until Ortho slams his hands on a table as his flame hair returns, this time a very annoyed orange, scaring the crap out of everyone.
But the employees get blackmailed anyway to help them. Since Ortho had 0 control of his magic and could brealy do something with it, he had to stick with Yuu and the pom pom trio.
At least his fire hair is a good flashlight. :'3
Ofc this one goes like in cannon, but with a few tweakings lore wise.
For starters, Robo ortho was gaslighted by the Tartarus Phanthoms. Once defeated they also formed a will for Robo-Ortho too. So now he is his own person too.
After that, like in cannon, everyone goes back to NRC. Ortho wants to hide again his fire hair, but Yuu stops him, telling him that it looks badass and no matter what, they are still their lil nerdy bro.
Ramshackle was renovated tho! It looks super fancy now. UwU
Idia and robo Ortho turn up to visit the new Ramshackle, revealing that now Robo-ortho had his own will and was officially an NRC student.
As for human Ortho... Idia already knew there was 0 chance of him actually staying with him, but he wants to at least be on good terms with him. They were after all brothers...
Human Ortho is still trying to accept everything, but he admits that even if his blood belongs to twisted wonderland and the Shroud family, his home is back in Yuu's world. His family was the one whom he was raised with and whom he loved for so long. Idia can still be his bigger brother... But it will take some time for that to settle in.
And that, theoretically, would make both orthos twins. :'3
So to tell them apart, Idia refers to robo Ortho as Ortho, while for the human Ortho as Orpheus, since this was actually his full name back in Yuu's world.
Yuu still refers to their lil bro as 'mophead'. Now it's a fire mop! :'3
They play video-games and bond a bit more!
And bc this is where chap 7 starts... Imma leave it at this... While I could convert at least that first smol part(really... Why 19? Usually there were more parts coming out... -3-) I decided that perhaps I should wait to convert it fully along the events!(since we have 2 orthos) :3c
So what do y'all think? What shenanigans would probably be valid and what crack potential can it have? Since I kinda went full on angst on this one U-U
Until next time! Buh bye!
#twisted wonderland#twst ortho#The Double Isekai Saga!#First Malleus now Ortho#But it's now only fluffy sibling love and angst#Bc sibling luv is very important U-U9#The only spoilers in here are just for chap 6#But you can read until the end of poemfiore arc and that's kinda it :'3
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Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz NSFW Alphabet
Not my gif
A: Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)
Hawk is pretty quiet after sex. He likes to lay there with you draped over his chest and a smirk on his face while you both catch your breath. If it was a particularly rough night he will get a wet cloth and clean you off before getting snacks and turning on some rock music or an action movie. He’s almost always the big spoon when cuddling.
B: Body part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also yours)
His favorite body part of yours is your face. He thinks you look so innocent and pure like a literal ray of sunshine. A complimentary opposite to his look. He especially likes how sweet you look while doing certain *ahem* activities. His favorite body part of his are his abs. He worked hard for them and they give him confidence. He loves when you run your hands down them while y’all are making out.
C: Cum (anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)
Hawk likes to cum on your face or inside you. You guys are young and not at all ready for kids so you always wrap it up, which is why he usually cums on your face. He could honestly finish just thinking about how you look covered in him like that. When it’s a super passionate or romantic night he prefers to finish inside you with or without the condom. He just likes to look deep in your eyes.
D: Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory)
He’s always wanted to try anal. His tattoo buddy Rico told him it was awesome, and he’s wanted to do it ever since. He’s nervous to ask you though because he would never want you to be in pain. When you eventually tell him you want to give it a go, he’s beyond excited but also super gentle.
E: Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)
Hawk is somewhat experienced, but his confidence makes up for anything he might not be sure about. He was with Moon for a few months and learned all the basics, but it’s with you that he really starts to experiment. He’s also a super quick learner.
F: Favorite Position (This goes without saying)
The boy loves to try new things. You guys are making your way through the Kama-sutra. He still thinks you can never go wrong with the classics though- missionary and cowgirl. As long as he can touch you he’s a happy guy.
G: Goofy (are they more serious in the moment, or are they more humorous, etc.)
He almost always is wearing a smirk when y’all are going at it. He’s more serious than goofy at first just because he feels like he has something to prove but once you guys get comfortable and he knows he can be himself around you, he lets loose a little and will crack a joke or two during.
H: Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes)
God I wish I could say the carpet matched the drapes lmaooo imagine a little mini mohawk. But fr he’s probably trimmed. Nothing too fancy but he keeps it clean.
I: Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect)
He’s a romantic at heart, but only for you. He’d never tell anyone but on Valentine’s day he goes all out. Rose petals, candles, a massage. And he loves to buy you lingerie to wear for him.
J: Jack off )Masturbation hc)
He does it a lot when he’s by himself because he can’t believe he got such a sexy mf as his girl. He always thinks of you. If he’s ever too frustrated from training or a tournament he’ll rub one out by himself so he doesn’t take out his anger on you. He’d never want to hurt you. But if you’re there, he obviously prefers you over his hand.
K: Kink (one or more of their kinks)
Anal, Hair pulling, choking, he loves when you bite his shoulder when it feels good, or scratch his back so when he takes off his shirt at practice everyone knows he did a good job. He also loves to leave hickeys all over your neck and thighs. He’s a confident boi but he has an insecure past so he wants everyone to know you’re taken and taken well ;)
L: Location (Favorite places to do the do)
He’ll take you anywhere and everywhere. Bed, the dojo, the canyon, on his motorcycle in an alley somewhere, he literally does. Not. care. You guys even did it in his mom’s Sentra while it was in the middle of the car wash
M: Motivation (What turns them on, what gets them going)
Any time you bend over, or ask him to help you with something like opening a jar, he likes to feel needed and wanted. You could honestly look at this boy funny and he’d pop a hard one.
N: NO (Something they wouldn’t do)
Anything that causes you pain. He would never slap you or make you gag on him or anything like that. Also threesomes are out, whether that’s with another guy or another girl, he wants it to be just you and him always.
O: Oral (preference in giving or receiving)
The first time you went down on him he thought he was gonna explode. He couldn’t believe it was happening. But the first time he went down on you? He’d never heard such beautiful noises and he knew from then that he wanted to hear those little moans every day for the rest of his life. He’s got the basics down when you first get together, but after you show him what you really like and y’all start experimenting? God tier head.
P: Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual?)
Honestly depends on the day. When you guys first meet he just wants to impress you so he’s super fast and rough, but once you tell him that slow and steady wins the race, he starts to take his time. You still enjoy a good pounding every once in a while though
Q: Quickie (Their opinions on quickies)
He’s the king of quickies (not too quick tho if ya know what I mean). He’s a young guy, he’s horny all the time and doesn’t care if anyone sees. He’s doing what he wants when he wants as long as you’re ok with it.
R: Risk (Are they game to experiment)
YES. It’s his favorite thing. You both love to get freaky and try new things. He’d do anything you ask him to do, and do it well.
S: Stamina (How many rounds can they go for)
Ngl, when y’all first got together, this kid would bust in under 10 minutes. He’s a young guy, you were his second girlfriend ever, and he spent most of his childhood thinking he would never even talk to a girl like you. He bounced back fast though and could go for multiple rounds. And he’s built up stamina over time so no issues here.
T: Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them?)
He loves to use toys on you. In the beginning, you were having trouble reaching the summit *wink wink* no matter what he did. He was amazing, but for whatever reason you couldn’t quite finish. You told him it was fine but he said he couldn’t enjoy it if he knew you weren’t enjoying it. So one day he bought a tiny pink vibrator and held it between your legs while he fucked you and you LOST IT. Now he has several different toys that he uses on you all the time.
U: Unfair (How much they like to tease)
He’s not much of a tease. He likes to let you both have what you want. But he loves when you tease him. The anticipation of you hovering over him, not knowing when or if you would finally sink down, gets him that much more excited.
V: Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)
Kind of quiet, but lots of swearing and groaning. Literally the “ugh fuck” right in your ear as he sinks into you. He doesn’t like to be too loud (his old shy self is still there) and would rather hear you scream for him.
W: Wild Card (Random hc)
He is very much into foreplay. He likes to make sure you’re on the brink of orgasm before he even gets in you. Your only sexual experiences before you met him were guys just shoving themselves into you completely dry and when you told him that, he promised you he would never do that to you. He’s been a foreplay prodigy ever since. It’s his thing.
X: X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants)
Probably about 5 or 6 inches, average girth. Honestly size really is overrated. The G spot is only 3 inches in I’m tired of everyone acting like bigger is better. You Don’t Need Much if they’re using it right and he definitely does.
Y: Yearning (How high is their sex drive)
On a scale of 1 to 10, Hawk is an 11. He could fuck you all day every day for the rest of his life. Morning, noon, and night. Rich or poor, in sickness and in health (I got carried away lmao)
Z: ZZZ (How quickly they fall asleep after)
Hawk likes to cuddle, eat snacks, and watch a movie after. Maybe it’s because he always felt insecure sleeping around other people as Eli but he always lets you fall asleep first. He loves to feel like he’s watching over and protecting you while you sleep on his chest. Literally when you’re in such a vulnerable state around him he feels so honored and would die before he let anyone lay a finger on you.
#cobra kai#hawk x reader#eli moskowitz x reader#miguel x reader#robby keene#ck#karate kid#smut#hawk smut
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Summary:Josh helps you overcome your stage fright of singing, in multiple ways; asking his brother jake for help too.
Warnings: fluff, 18+, Sharing the twins (NOT TWINCEST), praising kink, daddy kink
PART FIVE OF SEVEN. // this part is 18+! Minors dni.
You nod your head, breaking character as the over-stimulation starts to hit. You wanted to keep the act going but with Jake finally being so close to you, and the pace he's going, it is starting to be hard to keep up. You feel your legs start to turn to jelly, and everything starts spinning...and you can't verbally tell him, so you do it the only way you know how, by reaching around, and tapping his side 3 times. Luckily he knows what that means, as he immediately stops what he's doing and lets go of your hair, "Y-Y/N are you okay?" . You turn your head lightly, "i-i'm okay...just a lot." He pulls out of you, and lightly sits you on your back on the bed, Josh now seeing what happened and coming over too, "baby? are you okay? what happened?" he asked, with worry in his eyes. "Can we touch you?" Josh asks lightly, and you give him a nod. He places a hand on your head, stroking your hair, and you glance over to see Jake sitting at the end of the bed, a blank stare on his face, looking as though he could cry at any second. You pat Josh's arm, giving him a nod showing you're okay, before calling to Jake. "J-Jakey...come here", you motion him towards you with your finger. You see him hesitantly get up, and crawl up sitting next to you. He still won't look you in the eyes, playing with his hands and you can see the worry. So you grab his hand, and reassure him, "Jake... you did nothing wrong. I promise. I'm okay". He looked up at you, tears welling up, "I-I thought i hurt you, i couldn't forgive myself if I did something like that". You looked at Josh, "Would you mind giving us a second?" you asked him, and he nodded as he left the room. "Jakey...you didn't hurt me i promise. It was just a lot to process all of a sudden. Being so close to you, the pace, my body just was taking a lot in all at once..". "i'm sorry.. you asked me to be rough and i probably went too far with it, i should've calmed down". You stuck out your hands taking his into yours, running your thumbs over the back of his hands, "Jake. i. am. okay. You didn't hurt me okay? I guess" you took a deep breathe, preparing what you were about to say, "I guess it was just that, in the beginning i had feelings for both of you. For different reasons, but i pushed that away because I love your brother, with all my heart, but i still have moments where I look at you and i remember why i liked you too, maybe even loved you. and i think it just hit me, and i got mentally overwhelmed". You finished, taking a deep breathe. As you were talking you saw Jake's eyes widen with shock, "y-you liked me? even back then?" he asked. You gave him a nod yes, and he just let out a sigh. You sat in silence for a second before he said, "ya know... that first time Josh brought you over to study... i was in awe. I thought you were the prettiest girl i had ever seen.", you gave him another nod to show you are listening, before he continued, " when Josh came home some months later and said you had started dating, i knew my chance was gone. i knew i had lost my shot with you. because the truth is, i liked you too, i have ever since i saw you.". It was your turn to give him a look of shock now as the words left his mouth, "Why didn't you ever say anything? like before me and Josh got together?" you asked, genuinely curious. He let out a deep sigh, and looked down, " I just.. I knew how much he liked you and I wasn't gonna be the one to get in the way of my brother's happiness. I also saw the way you looked at him and I knew". You sat there absorbing his words. So all this time, Jake had liked you too. It made your heart swell. "Well, I know it didn't go quite as planned, but I'd really like to finish... just at a much gentler pace..if you're okay with that.." you looked up at Jake to see what his reaction would be. This was supposed to be a one time thing after all. "i-i'd like that"
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Title: filthy rich [3/3] Pairing: millionaire!sakusa kiyoomi x y/n [filthy capitalist au] Genre: mystery, major angst ahead, thriller, mafia!au-ish
Synopsis: Just run, Y/N. Don’t look back.
Warnings: dark and yandere themes, toxic relationships, mentions of violence, shady business, class differences, mentions of rape, smoll breeding kink, unwanted pregnancy, mentions of abortion, and sakusa being a manipulative bastard
Notes:
Im disappering again for a week or two so as a parting gift, here ya go, im starting a bokuto fanfic soon and posting the reboot of notice me soon too hnnng thanks for the wait guys uwu
A sorta realistic take on a yandere is harder than it looks kssjdn omg anyways here yall go the long awaited last chapter of filthy rich. I’m not sure if I should put like a one shot sequel but so far im marking this series completed. Thanks for sticking by!
previous || series masterlist || blood son [sequel;one shot]
You run your hands through your hair and shut your eyes tight, the quietness and stillness of your shared apartment was something to bask on before you put on a fake mask of happiness. It had been exactly two months since you found out about the birth control switch and the medaide agenda.
In the span of those two months, you had grown more observant towards your boyfriend’s actions and you knew that it wouldn’t be anytime soon until he actually notices that you were onto him.
You let out a shaky breath as you recollected some weird things you’ve seem to have noticed, how his brows would furrow when he’d receive a call indicating that something was up and it was serious or how you visited your ex-boss one time a week or so ago along with Kenjiro since you wanted to see how he was doing.
“...Well, he just didn’t come home and sold the place. Apparently he was in a rush to move or something because of family matters so I didn’t exactly see him.” the neighbor gossiped to you two.
“Y/N?”
You jump on your spot as you hear that dreadfully familiar voice.
“Hey,” You greet, walking up to him, you decide to do your usual hug but stop when you notice a small red stain on his necktie, the tie is dark blue and although it wasn’t obvious from afar, it definitely was up close. Your brows are furrowed together, this time in pure curiosity, “Did you get hurt? It’s unlike you to get messy.”
You notice the quick shift of attitude in his eyes, you were seemingly getting good at observing his emotions these days and it looked like he panicked for a second there.
Odd.
“A friend of mine had gotten hurt a while ago, you remember Atsumu Miya?”
A vivid image of a blonde man crossed your mind, he was another conglomerate friend of your boyfriend, another person to be weary of to add to the list, “Oh, is he alright?” you asked, trying to keep it casual as you untie his tie for him as usual.
“Yes. He’s awfully clumsy. You don’t need to worry.”
“Oh…” You mumbled, “by the way, I visited my ex-chief.”
“Ex-chief?”
“Mhm.” you hummed, “You know, my boss from before? Me and a few co-workers decided to visit him since he was a really good boss. Turns out he just left without telling anyone, poor man.”
“Sounds unpleasant. Did you know why he quit?”
“No.” You shrugged as you take the tie out and place it on the side, “He suddenly just quit his job and moved, neighbors said it was also because of family matters. It’s kinda weird because as far as we knew, he didn’t have a family.”
“Would you like me to look into it?”
You almost stiffen when he slithers his arms on your waist but you didn’t want to give away any suspicion, “No. I don’t want to pry. Hopefully he’s enjoying his retirement.” You sighed, turning towards him with a tight smile, “Now what would you like for dinner? I was thinking Mediterranean? I need to lose some weight since I’ve been feeling bloated for a while.”
He leans in for a soft kiss on your temple, “Mediterranean would be fine. Would you like anything else? We could order more.” he hummed, his lips slowly started to dangerously hover on top of yours.
“No, it’s fine.” You give him a quick peck and wiggle your way out of his arms, your stomach doesn’t feel well these days. Whenever you were near Sakusa you had the urge to throw up your innards despite having an empty stomach.
You don’t notice the dangerous gaze on your behind as you pick up the phone for your take-out.
Sakusa hasn’t felt you in a long time and it’s driving him insane, he wants to feel your heat, your body, and everything in between. He wants to fill you up and see you pregnant with his children. He wants everyone in the world to know you were his and his only.
Yet he can’t do that.
You’ve ignored his affections these past few weeks and it had been driving him insane to the point where he had to ask one of his men to put an eye on you to see if you had been cheating on him or seeing someone else.
Yet you hadn’t.
Your routine was the same old one and Sakusa is digging his nails deeply into his skin in his office one day with his tie uncharacteristically untied. Miya Atsumu sits across him, taking a sip from his flask, “Ya look like shit.” the blonde points out.
“Fuck off, Miya.”
“Heard from your cousin that you’re not getting laid by your girl these days.”
“You better be thankful that you’ve got men behind you or I’d be shooting your fucking brains out for saying that.” Sakusa spats, his dark gaze pointedly looking at the blonde across him.
“You should just find someone else then and not yer prude of a-”
“Keep telling me ideas like that and maybe I might just shoot you and chop your body up until it looks fuckin’ unrecognizable.”
Atsumu raises his hands up, signaling that he was giving up, “Gee, omi-omi. I was just giving my advise. It’s so easy to drop her.”
“I don’t want to drop what’s mine.”
“You’ve got issues.” He chuckles, “Haven’t you been switching out her pills and fucking her raw for the last couple of months? I bet yer ass you got her pregnant on that before but ya just don’t know it. Getting her pregnant would definitely secure her spot in her life. Woman’s nuthin’ without ya.”
“She’s...she’s not showing…”
“When was the last time ya two went at it?”
“Two months ago.”
“Ya poor boy.” Atsumu sighs, shaking his head, “Ya sure you don’t want to take a break from being a loyal boyfriend for one night? i bet Y/N wouldn’t notice.”
“And no one would notice if you fucking disappeared. I’ll make sure of it, now get out.”
You may not have been the sharpest tool on the shed but you know that someone’s been tailing you these past few days, you’re not stupid. You could only come to the conclusion that it was Sakusa who was doing such things but you couldn’t get why.
Something just didn’t make sense. It felt like you were missing an important piece in the puzzle, med-aide and the switch of your pills and now a hidden tail?
You furrow your brows together in deep thought as you sat down next to a teenage boy on his phone, you decided to take the bus today to the grocery store, surprisingly the one tailing you wasn’t around today.
Your eyes slowly shift towards the boy’s phone, it seemed like he was playing a video game.
An otome game, to be exact.
You felt your lips twitch up, you remembered those games a lot growing up. The graphics seem to have massively improved now by the looks of it, “...That looks interesting.” You tell the teenage boy who turns to you in surprise.
“Oh, thanks.” the blonde replied quietly.
“Is that a new otome game?”
“Kind of.” He blinks, his gaze returning back to the screen, “It’s sort of a remake of the yandere simulator from back then.”
You feel your shoulders tense up.
“A yandere?”
“Yeah.” The blonde nods, “The girl’s awfully creepy in the game, she stalks him, does things to get him. The player has to catch her in the act and evade her at the same time.”
“Oh…” You blink, “I-uh, this is weird… but what’s a yandere again?’
“It’s someone obsessively in love with you. They’ll do anything to have you stay by them.” He says, pushing on a button but suddenly the screen turns red and you feel shivers run down your spine as you hear him curse and the words ‘you’re caught’ appear on the screen.
“W-what happened to your character?”
“He died. Nothing much.” he mumbles, “If the Yandere knows they can’t have you, they’ll kill you.”
You immediately went pale as soon as you heard that. Maybe, just maybe you were being paranoid. He wouldn’t go to that extent, would he?
“How did your character escape the yandere in the game?”
“Well, I haven’t finished the game yet but based on some anime’s and manga’s I've usually read. They either killed to get away or they moved so far away where they wouldn’t be seen so I think the creator might have the same ending.” The blonde said, he slowly looked to your side, “You’re looking awfully pale, ma’am. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, j-just remembered a horrible game I played back when I was your age.” You gulped in, “Nightmares, you know? The yandere tried to get my character pregnant and tried to get in her way of moving out of the country.”
“Sounds like a very realistic one.” He mumbles, “What did your character do?”
“I wasn’t able to finish it.” you whispered, loud enough for him to only hear, “I couldn’t really find a way out.”
“The developers of the game must’ve made it hard for you. Maybe your character should’ve ran away,” he advised, “Or better yet, you should’ve killed him.”
“I-well, I don't think there were options like that.”
“Well if I were you and there was no option for killing, I’d run. Far, far away. Change my identity and all that.” he exits the game and stuffs the phone back in his pocket, you get a good look of his cat-like eyes and immediately feel a shiver on your spine with the next words he say, “I mean its a game but you wouldn’t wanna loose and get your character killed, right?”
“R-right.”
The teenage boy hops down without even saying goodbye and you have a scary realization that you can’t break it off like you originally had planned. You needed to run, run far as you can and get lost.
The words that the teenage boy says echoes in your head for the next few days, from that point on, realization dawns upon you that, nothing is certain now. You couldn’t trust anyone, you couldn’t let friends and family be involved in this. Sakusa Kiyoomi is a powerful man so you needed to be careful with how you were going to disappear.
You continue to act nonchalant and the same as you try to lay out your plan but you knew that you had only a week or so to complete this for it to successfully work.
Sakusa Kiyoomi wonders what he should do to save the relationship, he’s tried everything in the book that he could think of but you remained the same. Was this the end of the relationship? For real?
He could never stomach the idea of having you leave him.
It’s eerie that day, something felt different when he came home to an empty apartment. It looked the same yet something felt very, very different. Apparently the apartment guards said you were here since your car hadn’t left the driveway and they hadn’t seen you go out.
He checks out your side of the closet, your clothes remain there untouched and your toiletries were there too. He scans the fridge for your notes but nothing is stuck there. He suddenly feels like something cold was dumped on him.
It couldn’t be, right?
Right?
He runs to every room, checking every nook and cranny and when he finally reaches the last room which was the bathroom, nothing is there.
Everything was in its place except you.
Where were you?
Your bank account remains untouched, your wallet and phone was left in the apartment. It was as if you were returning home, the very least. Komori tells him to calm down, saying that they’re letting the best people find you around the city, they don’t rule out that someone might’ve had the audacity to touch you.
Whoever took you would be given hell to pay, that’s for sure. Was it the triad? Kkangpae’s? Or opposing yakuza’s? Oh, they’ll definitely have their heads on the platter if they tried to harm a single hair on your head.
Sakusa doesn’t even hesitate to notify the police about you already despite the memorandum that twenty-four hours is needed to consider a person missing, it's nothing a little money can fix.
“I hope we find her soon.” Your aunt sighed, “I’ve notified her parents about it. It’s definitely weird that she’d leave all her valuables behind.”
Hinata and Natsu sit there next to their mom, completely sad and worried, “I’ve hired the best people for it already, obaasan. We’ll find Y/N.” Sakusa replies yet his thoughts are in a complete frenzy now.
And find you they did.
No stone was left unturned. He made sure of it. Yet after a month of relentless searching. Nothing came up, it seemed like you had just vanished and Sakusa Kiyoomi had turned the whole underground world upside down for you but nothing came up.
Some say that you disappeared and ran away but that was immediately ruled out, no security cameras saw you in and out during that day and it would be impossible for you to just leave without security cameras on you. The guard had exclaimed that despite the blackout that day, the generators only took a few minutes to power up so they’d definitely catch you on camera in case you ever exited the building (along with the guards since they knew exactly what you looked liked) plus the clothes and such were still there, left untouched.
Some said you died, it was definitely impossible for you to just vanish without a single trace after all since everyone was looking for you.
Yet no one dared to say it in front of the boss, not if they valued their life.
The billionaire had dried out his connections to find you. What good was it to be the most powerful and richest man in the country if he couldn’t find you? Life had no meaning now, you were gone. It felt like a part of him was ceasing to function.
Sakusa Kiyoomi was a dead man walking now.
Unknown to the whole world, you’re in a small town with little to no signal. Your hair is chopped unevenly and your skin is darker from the repeated exposure under the sun, your life is simple and mundane now yet you’re happy.
For the first time in months, you actually felt free.
You shut your eyes tight, the events that transpired this past few months replayed in your head. Your escape was definitely done as carefully as you can and you didn’t even know if you’d succeed since you weren’t a master in that sort of thing.
You recalled that it was a week before you ran away, a few days after you met that kid in the bus. Someone from the electric company had come to inform you that there was a scheduled black out in the city that day during the afternoon and you felt something bubble up in you. That was the day you’d put your plan into motion.
You knew that the longer you delayed your plan, the harder it would be to escape.
You had a few minutes to actually put your plan to work. The camera’s on the hallways would cease to function for a few minutes according to the guard downstairs as he did a protocol on the building (apparently the generators were quick). So that morning after Sakusa left, you placed only a few clothes and the stash of money you had been carefully hiding in a garbage bag and chopped your hair short in an uneven manner. Burning all the remaining hair on the fireplace and the black hair color that you use with it. The maid uniform that you stole on your floor and a fake name plate that you made was on and you were good to go.
The minute the black out started, you took the garbage bag and walked out. Taking the stairway used by the caretakers, you made sure to just look down and never directly up at the camera’s pretending to work.
When you finally made it out of your building. You let out a stiff sigh and put down the bag, it was only the beginning. If you thought the same way as Sakusa Kiyoomi, you could only imagine that you needed to be more careful from this point on.
You take the newly bought duffel bag that you strategically hid behind some boxes. Thankfully when you had placed it yesterday afternoon, it hadn’t been touched.
You put on a pair of shorts and a baggy shirt with cheap shades and stuffed the maid uniform in the duffel bag along with your belongings in the garbage bag. You take the other route that led to the busy streets. It was easy to look like a tourist and seemingly blend in the crowd, from that point on, you only had one destination in mind.
When you were younger, you vividly remember an acquaintance telling you about this small town outside of Tokyo where her grandparents were from. It was only an hour away via plane and when you went down another few hours via bus yet if you took the bus route all in all, it would take a few days.
Since it was far, only a few busses actually went there and since you had to leave within the day, you decided to just take the bus nearest to that town and take another bus when you arrived there.
The plan smooth-sailed from that point on.
Except for one minor detail.
You open your eyes and look down at your now small bump. The monster who almost had you trapped left a parting gift, you grip your garden hoe tightly.
A big part of you wanted to kill it.
Yet every time you try to, you hesitate.
The moment you arrived here, you had to pretend to be a weary and poor widow. You just didn’t expect to be a weary and poor expecting widow. You let out an uncharted sigh at the thought, it was hard enough to be alone here with little to no money.
This child had the demon’s blood in it.
Yes, you may have gone free from his cage but in truth with his seed growing in your stomach day by day, you started to feel quite the opposite.
taglist [thanks for your support ilyasm skkss im so sorry for updating late too :(]
@maraudusk ;; @iamnotobsessed ;; @ssuna ;; @weebartistinc ;; @aomineavenue ;; @tsukkismamagucci ;; @onlyshinji ;; @ichiraku-verse ;; @watevermelon ;; @victoriasee ;; @caramelcandescence ;; @n-nara ;; @bloody-bella ;; @ricefarmerkita ;; @paripedia ;; @srhlsx ;; @craftyfawns ;; @kepchups ;; @soggycardboardd ;; @vinnieluv ;; @dinablossom ;; @yourstruly-01 ;; @shinhiromi ;; @dinablossom ;; @kneecotinee ;; @vicassa ;; @ahoeforshouto ;; @benimarus-main-mop ;; @atsunakaashi ;; @myaaa-xoxoxox ;; @newfriendjen ;; @usedcoupon
@kn0xiousnight
[can’t tag you guys uwu just make sure ur tags are open :<]
#sakusa kiyoomi x reader#sakusa kiyoomi imagines#sakusa kiyoomi headcanons#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu headcanons#yandere!sakusa#idk its my take on yandere and toxic relationships#haikyuu scenarios#📝📝.Filthy rich series#hostclub.adulting
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🎉 NEW GAME: Introduce your mutuals to everyone and what do you think of them? 🎉
SLAAYYYYY THIS IS GONNA BE SO LONG !!! yay im excited. n if i miss anyone im so sorry :( but i got most of the moots that i talk to the most !!
@solarchuu tee is my pretty baby!! i love them so so so much. like words can not describe how much i love them. they were one of my first mooties and one of my first few moots that i still talk to after,,, what ?? 5 months ?? I MISSED THEM SO MUCH WHEN THEM WENT ON HIATUS!!! they make me feel so pretty and i love them sm for that pls tee ur so hot kiss me now
@ellesmain ELLE BABY I LOVE U HELLO??? AND I MISS U ALWAYS !!!! god i love her work and just the way she always randomly pops up in my inbox with the sweetest words. shes so nice and i already know shes pretty nd yeah oikawa is so lucky to have her and so am i :,(
@cursedmoonchild ok sandy i know we don’t talk that much but omg when we do, it always makes me smile :,) i love interacting with her please kiss me asap ++ SHE JUST SEEMS LIKE THE TYPE TO GIVE THE BEST HUGS ??? I WANT TO HUG HER.
@joyaphoria joy i know you probably will never see this bc you left tumblr (or on an extremely long hiatus) but it would feel like a crime if i didn’t introduce you. joy :( i love u so much. like you would make me smile every single day with some dumbass suna headcanon ever tho u know i hated them :( but i would do anything to talk to u again,, i hope ur doing ok & i miss u more than you’ll ever know
@silversslut MIA I LOVE THIS PRETTY GIRL!!!! I LOVE OUR RANDOM TALKS AND I LOVE WHEN SHE RANDOMLY SENDS ME THINGS ON INSTAGRAM— THEY MAKE ME LAUGH SO FUCKING HARD AHHEVWVS ! thank u for being my first moot on insta and thank u for not doxxing me :p ++ i hope ur doing okay baby <3
@nekomamiiz IZ MY FUCKING GF IM SO IN LOVE WITH HER FINE ASS !!! PLS DROP UR MAN AND DM ME SO WE CAN MAKEOUT I WOULD TREAT U SO WELL. also i miss her pls come home
@bunbyy HI ALON I LOVE HER YAS SLAY HER ART IS SO GOOD. IF U HAVE TIME PLS MAKE ME MORE I WILL LITERALLY gGET ON MY KNEES AND GIVE U MY ENTIRE LIFE SAVINGS. ILY AND IMYSM
@https-inarizaki RIN MY SPOUSE HI I LOVE THEM AND WHEN THEY RANDOMLY DIE AND COME BACK TO LIFE. i hope ur doing okay, i know you’ve been busy. kissing u and hugging u so hard rn bc i know u hate it <3
@strawberriebunn BUNNNNN I WUV HER SHE DISAPPEARS ALL THE TIME AND IM LIKE WHERE THE FUCK IS BUN AND THEN SHE JUST APPEARS ON MY DASH AND I START CRYING. HIIIII I HOPE UR DOING WELL UR SO AMAZING
@bunny-rei menace to society but i <3 THEM and their random messages of ur webtoons + ur so sexy ahahhshs omf
@yvvji sage. god. they remind me of my favorite song? like i never get tired of talking to them? like? i love them so much? ur love is my drug — kesha is my fave song btw (im kidding but holy shit i love you)
@bokutoism RYU COME HOME IM GOING TO COOK FOR U PLS. im obsessed with them. and will continue to tell them how in love with them i am for the rest of my life. i, to say the least, get so happy when they’re in my inbox. yeah i <3 you.
@sunkeiji SAYUUUUUUUUUU MY PRETTY BABY SHES LITERALLY THE BEST HELLO !?? HER WORK, YES. HER, YES. EVERYTHING SHE DOES MAKES ME SWOON. PLS LET ME HUG U AND KISS U AND PRAISE U FOR BEING PERFECT. yes my bestie <3
@kissyomi DEEEEEE MY BESTFRIEND. MY PERSONAL HYPEMAN. shes gonna get slapped one day 😧 stop calling me a slut or i will end you/ j I LOVE U THO AHHSHA. thank u for caring about me more than everyone else. even tho ur an aries 🤢
@kyoutxni fyn we dont talk that much but hey, just wanted to say i <3 you and every single conversation we have :(
@getoswhore if she ever posts another face reveal, i will kill her /jjjj no but fr the way my eyes popped out of my head??? anyways, hi im sar we’ve been moots for a while but its time for us to fall in love and be gay
@fsrintaro honey, my sweetheart, im so sorry for not following u back for the longest i literally didnt see u followed me. ANYWAYS SHES THe sweETEST MOOT I COULD ASK FOR. kiss me. now.
@saintmanjiro hey she makes me so nervous bc oh my fucking god her writing. im so blessed to be moots with her. on my knees rn thinking about all of her works.
@makkiwhore BEA HI I LOVE HER. THE ABSOLUTE BEST PLS I MISS TALKING TO HER :((( HER THEMES ALWAYS HIT DIFFERENT.
@reitani ok im not exaggerating when i say this but REI ???? is probably one of my favorite accts on this app, why? SHE HAS IT ALL??? theme. talent. and shes a sweetheart. yes. you? i love you.
@melsun MEL MY BABYYYYYY I LOVE HER SO MUCHHHHHHHH OMFG AND YES HER WRITING SLAYS TOO <3 i cant believe i met her on my sfw acct now we only talk on this account LOL anyways, she’s perfect <3
@vryr one of my favorite tokyo revengers blogs. literally turned me into a slut (real) inspired me heavily. i love her and her talent and her messages always make me cheese like a bitch, it’s actually gross. and shes the hottest person whatever im jealous
@izukuskani SWEETEST BABY EVER AND THE WORK ON HER ACCOUNT YESSSSS. shes so pretty and nice too !!! i love her :D
@luvboku i think she’s actually the love of my life. hands down if i had to pick someone to spend the rest of my life with thats not animated, its her. yeah shes got me down BAD. she doesn’t know this but im obsessed with her. oh yeah and her account is beautiful and her works are rlly good !!! and shes pretty so pretty oh my god *drools*
@spoofybun BUN IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST AND ONLY MOOT TO GET MY NUMBER. SHES SO SPECIAL TO ME. I LOVE EVERY CONVERSATION IVE EVER HAD WITH HER AND SHES SO GREAT AND AMAZING YES HER I LOVE HER.
@kisakunt blair where do i begin with them?? ive been moots with them for less than a week, but i love interacting with them sm??? they’re so fucking funny like i laughed at my dashboard for 5 whole minutes bc they’re just that funny. im going to stalk them. ANOTHER ACCT THAT NEVER MISSES WITH THEMES !!! i will be bothering them for the rest of their life now
@miykui AMAZING WRITER ?? LIKE THEY WROTE VIRGIN KAZUTORA SO WELL ??? IM IN AWE ??? like im a slut and its urs and arzu’s fault so thanks a lot guys.
@kireissei peachy, my pretty, we literally became moots earlier this week but like i already am in love with her. she’s and angel, not even kidding, i love when she’s in my inbox!!
@myeternalyearning ZEHHRRRRR AND THEIR THEME !! YASS SLAY. I LOVE TALKING TO THEM TOO!!! VERY FUNNY AND FUN IN GENERAL. they seduce me sometimes too /jjjjjj NO BUT I LOVE THEM AND IM SO HAPPY WE’RE MOOTS
#if i missed someone pls#im so sorry#this took me an hour to do so i probably did miss someone#ANYWAYS MOOTIES#THANK U FOR KEEPING ME SANE#U ARE MY EVERYTHING#I ENJOY ALL OF U SO MUCH#<3 im so happy that you guys dont hate me#if u do pls lmk so i can delete myself off the planet
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OMGOKGOGMGOGMOGMG YOU WRITE FOR BOB AND BOSIP OKOKOKOKOOKOKOKOK SO HOW ABOUT BOB AND BOSIP BOTH HAVE A CRUSH ON THE SAME PERSON AND KINDA FIGHT FOR THEM AND LIKE THEY TRY TO MAKE THE OTHER ONE JEALOUS AND STUFF AND CAN THE READER BE FEMALE???
Ofcourse! thank you for the request love, also im not quite sure if you want it to end in a poly type realationship, or just have 2 different endings- so soz if its not what you wanted! I can redo it if you want to! :)
F/L/N-first letter of your name
𝐁𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐩 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
Y/N wasnt really the type to make friends and/or get into a relationship, but ever since she met Bob and Bosip, alot of things have changed in her life, now onto the main story
𝐘/𝐍'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕:
It was a gloomy day, it looked as if it was about to rain and so far everything went terribly, as if this day couldnt get worse i forgot my laptop at college. I was walking to a pedestrian crossing until i spotted two of my friends, Bob and Bosip, as i came walking closer to them i heard bits of the conversation they were having, "Dude! You knew i liked her!" I heard Bob say,"Well its not my fault, shes just kind and has a great sense of humor and sarcasm" Bosip spat back at Bob suprisingly calmly, and so on the arguing continued until i broke it off with a loud fake cough, "erm, sorry to ruin yall guyses argue, but who is the lucky gal that yall are fighting over" i said with a smirk while slinging my arms around their shoulder, not gonna lie, finding out that they like someone did kinda hurt, its not the fact that they love another, im happy for them for finding someone special! Its the fear of our friendship getting broken. "O..Oh!,,- uhm- well,,-" Bob started, "S..she has H/L H/C hair, beautiful E/C eyes and her name is Y-MgHmN-" Bob then gets cut off by Bosip slapping a hand over his mouth to prevent 'daydreaming Bob' from spilling information that the said gal is you. You just looked at them confused and just shrugged it off, "so her name is F/L/N? Hmm thats a unique name, i like it, might take her for myself" i said (Y/N:" BI PANIC BI PANIC BI PANI-") "W..WELL,,!- you cant technically date her,,-" Bosip said nervously thinking i would stop asking questions about the lucky girl. "Well i have to go now, my cat will be pissed at me for not feeding him in time, or he will just piss on the fucking floor lol, anyways, goodbye!" I waved to the two with a closed-eye smile, leaving them be awe-struck. The two then looked at eachother with a challenging look and then Bosip said "Who ever wins her heart, gets to keep her.", "bring it on piss coloured shark!" they then parted ways.
[𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲]
𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐩'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕:
I was walking to Y/N's house to give her the Kandi i made for her, but soon got stopped at the sight of Bob standing at her porch with Flowers in hand, "didnt see ya there" he said, "maybe you should go back home" he then pushed me into the bush next to the stairs then rang the bell, Y/N came out of the house *cough* looking as beautiful as ever *cough* then stared at the beautiful bouqet in Bobs hands. "Here you go m'lady, a beautiful bouqet for a beautiful girl" he said flirtatiously, i could feel my blood boiling, after i few minutes i heard them send a fareawell to eachother and then the door closing, i slowly rose from the bush,glarring daggers at a smirking Bob, "what the hell are you smirking at" i said calmly, "nothing, im just thinking about how my victory will be played" he said. I just sighed and stomped away from him feeling sorrow.
[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲]
𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕:
It was another day, yet another fight between the two fellas who fell inlove with the same person,but this time, the shark has caught its pray in time /j (that joke was important, you can fight me)
2𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕:
Bosip was nervously waiting in a cafe where he asked you if you two could meet up, he then looked up once the bell chimed to see you looking amongst the crowds to find him, when you spotted him you quickly ran to the table and sat down across him, "sorry for being late! My cat was being a bitch cause i didmt give him pets, anyways, wanna order now?" you looked straight into his eyes, that moment he thought he was on cloud 9, he felt his stomach churn and he began to stutter alot "w..well,,- we could g..get F/D if you want t..to!-" he said looking to the side, trying to look anywhere but you, you just smiled at him and replied with "sure!". When you guys ordered you just started a small talk, the bell chimed again implying that someone just came into the cafe, once Bosip looked at the said person the smile he had dropped a little, "is everything okay?" You asked him concerned, "yeah! everything is just fine,, heh,,-" he replied, Bob was standing at the door seemingly to look for someone, Bosip then had an idea and took your hand and started softly going over the lines on your hand, you jst stared at him cause you didnt know he had a soft side, hes usually always calm and monotone, seeing him like this made your heart melt. Bob then spotted you two sitting at a table, he felt really jealous that his FRIEND was holding his crushes hand instead of him, he just straight up left the cafe without a word. This went on for weeks and weeks until a whole month passed, you were starting to get suspicious at the two, one day you just desided to eavesdrop on the two who were having a heated argument, "Cant you see!? She clearly likes me more!" Bob yelled, "really!? Cant you just move on and accept that she likes me!? I even held her hand!" Bosip then snapped back.Bob started "Ugh, wait a minute, what if we ask her?", "ask who?" you came out from behind the door, the two then yelped at the sudden appearance of you, "N..Nobody!-" they both yelled in sync, "yeah no, im not buying it" they then both sighed, "well,Y/N, Bosip and i, from the very start we met you, we thought you were the most beautiful girl we ever saw, and well, we saw you as special, so what im trying to say is, Y/N, we like you, like like you, like a lot" Bob confessed, you then snickered at the two now confused boys, "is that what this was all about? You two trying to make each otger jealous and win my heart? Oh boys, you couldve just said that before! I also took a quite liking to you two too" you dmiled at them, they just stared wide-eyed at your confession, did you really mean what you said? "but, how are you going to choose who to date?" Bosip questioned, "dont need to, we can just be a poly realationship" you kissed their cheeks while putting your arms around their shoulders, "now this is why were called the pussy slayers" Bob joked, "BOB, YOU MOTHERFU-"
[I HAVE FINISHED THIS, IT TOOK ME 3 DAYS, SORRY THAT IT TOOK DO LONG, ANYWAYS, thank you for the request again! And yes, i headcanon that Bosip loves to make Kandi, fight me in dms, anyways, thats it for today, bye-bye! :D (ALSO TY SO MUCH FOR 6 FOLLOWERS AA)]
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i know they're losing (chapter 3)
Hello everyone! Welcome back to your favorite(/j) hot mess of a fic. Sorry this chapter took a little longer to post, I thought I'd give you all a bit of time to recover from that last one. Plus, I was working on Scott's POV of this (which will be posted soon, don't worry!) Anyways, enjoy the fic!
(Once again obligatory disclaimer this is characters not people, don't ship real people, etc.)
(Also a disclaimer that I am not a medical professional and any medicine portrayed in this fic is likely inaccurate. Do not follow any medical procedures used in this fic, as I did absolutely 0 research to confirm any of this.)
Chapter Title: I turn at last to paths that lead home
Chapter Wordcount: 3214
Content warnings: blood, canon-typical violence
AO3 Link
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Actual fic under the cut:
The next morning dawns bright, sunny, and with a looming sense of unease that Jimmy can’t seem to shake. Scott’s ring feels heavy on his finger despite the resolution they reached yesterday, and he shifts anxiously as he waits for his husband to wake up. The sun’s well over the horizon and Scott still isn’t up, which only makes him more anxious. Usually, Scott’s an early riser. Today, though, he’s sleeping like the dead, and the scar on his throat doesn’t help the effect. Something is wrong. Jimmy doesn’t know how or why he knows it, but something is wrong and why is Scott still sleeping?
Finally, Jimmy can’t take it any longer. “Scott? Scott, wake up,” he whispers.
Nothing.
“Scott! Wake up!”
His husband is still firmly unconscious, and Jimmy’s heart leaps into his throat as he begs one more time. “Scott? Please?”
Scott rolls over and blinks at him, thank god, his voice coming out thick with sleep. “Five more minutes, darling.”
“I think something’s wrong,” Jimmy urges. “It feels wrong. Really wrong.”
That gets his love to sit up, rubbing at his eyes. There are still dark circles visible under them, and Jimmy gets a rush of guilt for waking him. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. It’s alright, go back to sleep.”
“No, no, I trust your gut.” Scott gets out of bed with only a slight stumble, sliding on his cloak in one graceful movement. “Let’s go look, and if it’s nothing then I’ll sleep more, okay?”
Jimmy nods, hurrying after him. “I have a really terrible feeling, Scott. Be careful, please.”
“I should be telling that to you.”
“Hey, I’ve gotten more careful!”
Scott laughs, looking more alive than he has in months, but quickly sobers again as they reach the front door. “You’re right, Jimmy. Something isn’t right.”
“I know, it feels awful!”
“Mhm.” Scott snatches up a frankly ridiculous axe from nearby, a shimmering pink monstrosity that’s twice the size of Jimmy’s head. “Stay behind me, just in case.”
The door creaks as it swings open, and the source of Jimmy’s unease becomes immediately clear.
Across the valley is the demon, standing next to Scott’s enchanting tower.
“That’s the demon!” Jimmy hisses, once he gets his racing heart under control. “Right there by the tower!”
Scott looks like someone just killed a cat in front of him, an odd sort of heartbreak flashing across his face before it’s replaced with determination. “That?”
“Yes!”
“Right. Okay. Jimmy, I need you to listen to exactly what I say right now. If I say get down, you get down. If I say run, you run and don’t look back no matter what you hear. Can you do that?”
Jimmy looks at the elf who very nearly broke his heart, and chooses to put that heart right back in Scott’s hands. “I trust you. If you say run, I’ll run.”
“Alright. Give me your engagement ring.”
“Wh-”
“Trust me. Please.”
Jimmy hands it over.
Scott slides it onto his finger. His hands are a little smaller than Jimmy’s, and it only fits on his right middle finger. Which would normally be cute, but right now Jimmy is just terrified. “Okay, Jimmy. I’m about to go out the front door, and when I do, I need you to go out the side door over there and run for the stables. When you get there, roll in the mud and then run for the village. Speed over stealth, corrupted elves track by smell and sound rather than sight.”
Jimmy nods.
“From there,” Scott continues, “I need you to track down an elf called Gilnar and tell them to lock down the kingdom and warn everyone of the danger. I also need you to tell them that Lord Smajor orders them to protect you.”
“What about you? Will you be okay?”
“I will, I promise.”
Jimmy knows Scott’s lying because Scott could never properly lie, not when it’s to Jimmy. He always looks away, no matter how steady his voice stays. Jimmy says nothing about it, but he grabs a spare sword and prays he’ll be quick enough to save Scott if it all goes downhill.
Scott hefts the axe. “Ready?”
Jimmy isn’t, but he nods. “Ready.”
Scott steps out the door, calling out something in some elven language that sounds like a challenge. At the same time, Jimmy bolts out the side door, sprinting for a low building which he thinks is the barn.
Somehow, he gets there without incident, and he throws himself into the mud without hesitation. The farrier gives him a deeply weird look, which Jimmy ignores in favor of sprinting for the village. The altitude means he’s out of breath by the time he gets there, hurrying inside the walls. The elves give him strange looks, a few seeming rather judgemental. Jimmy tries not to flush, remembering Scott’s instructions.
“Excuse me?” He asks the nearest elf. “I’m looking for uh, Gilnar?”
They stare him down, raising a single eyebrow. “For what reason?”
“Scott- Lord Smajor sent me.”
In the background, there’s a cry of pain, which thankfully sounds demonic rather than elven.
“Gilnar should be that way.”
“Thank you, uh, gentleperson!” Jimmy hurries that way, stopping another villager. “Are you Gilnar?”
The look he gets is even stranger. “Do I look like a captain of the guard to you? No. What do you want Gilnar for anyways?”
“Scott told me to find them.”
“Then that’s them over there,” the elf tells him, pointing out an incredibly short elf with neatly plaited brown hair.
“Thank you!”
Gilnar looks up at his approach, seemingly unbothered by the mud. “Lord Codfather, right? Scott sent ya?”
“He said to tell you to lock down the kingdom,” Jimmy reports faithfully. “He also said you should protect me, or something like that, but I don’t really need- I’ll be fine is the point.”
“Riiiiight. Calros!”
A tall elf appears behind them.
“Protect the codfather, Lord Scott’d be a bit put out if he died, I think. Alqualoth!” Another elf appears. “I need you to help me get everythin’ locked down.” With that, Gilnar hurries away, a few elves falling into formation behind them.
“So….this is awkward,” Calros, the tall elf, offers.
Jimmy ignores them in favor of running to the edge of the cliff the village is built on, trying to catch a glimpse of Scott. He’s rewarded only with the sight of his husband dueling a demon, which isn’t exactly what anyone wants to see at 8 o’clock in the morning. At least Scott doesn’t seem to be entirely overwhelmed, but the demon has far too much of the upper hand for Jimmy’s comfort.
“Whoa, whoa, let a girl catch up,” Calros yelps. She doesn’t seem very dignified for an elf, but Jimmy’s not very dignified for a human, so he understands. “So, uh...how’s Codland?”
Unfortunately for Calros and her well-meaning questions, at that moment, Scott starts screaming. It takes a moment for Jimmy to even register the sound as Scott’s voice; he’s never heard Scott scream before. It’s a high, broken noise, pure pain in every note as the demon pins Scott to the mountainside. Jimmy doesn’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t give to never have to hear that noise again, which is why he jumps the wall at the edge of the village.
“No, wait!” Calros yells.
Jimmy’s already gone, landing awkwardly on the other side. He hardly feels the pain of what’s surely a twisted ankle, sprinting for the scene of the fight. The sword flies into his hand, the gleam of enchantment shimmering bright. He doesn’t have a single second to think about what he’s doing as he opens his mouth to shout. “Hey, demon thing! Yeah, you! You’re ugly! And you probably smell bad!”
The being turns its head in a way that’s far too human for Jimmy’s comfort, and thank god, Scott stops screaming. “What did you say to me?” It hisses.
Jimmy’s heart is beating in his throat, palms sweaty as he scrapes together the few remaining bits of his courage. “I said you’re ugly! And you suck! Leave my husband alone!”
The demon loosens their hold, rage twisting their smile into something even more terrifying, and Scott backhands them across the face, kicking his way free. Jimmy watches as he struggles to his feet, the ring gleaming on his hand.
Scott cries something in some elven tongue, and the demon hisses.
He calls out another word, a command, and the ring glows with a light of its own as the demon is forced back, inch by inch. Finally, it flies backwards and vanishes entirely.
Scott sinks to his knees, cradling the hand with the ring on it, and Jimmy breaks into a run again.
“Scott! Scott!”
His husband looks up at him with haunted eyes, face bruised and battered, a little blood trickling down his brow. His teeth are bared, just a little sharp, and there’s something desperate about the way he whispers Jimmy’s name, his voice hoarse from screaming.
Jimmy kneels by him quickly, looking for any major injuries. “What’s wrong? Where- what’s hurt? I’ll fix it, I promise, I-” he’s cut off by Scott yanking him into a desperate hug, burying his face in Jimmy’s shoulder.
“Oh,” Jimmy says weakly. He wraps his arms around Scott in return, running a soothing hand up and down Scott’s back as he feels the elf tremble. “It’s alright, Scott, we’re alright.”
“Jimmy,” Scott says again. “Jimmy, I can’t.”
“I-”
“I want it to be over. I don’t want elves or nations or politics. I just want you.”
“I know, I know,” Jimmy soothes.
‘Why does it have to be me? It wasn’t supposed to be! It wasn’t supposed to be me!” Scott sounds almost angry, but the words quickly dissolve into incoherent sobs and fragments of sentences. “I- please- shouldn’t have- Jimmy. Jimmy.” He repeats Jimmy’s name over and over, hands clutching the fabric of Jimmy’s shirt, and Jimmy has never felt so helpless. All he can do is whisper empty comforts, kissing the top of Scott’s head and holding him close.
Elves have begun to surround them, varying looks of concern or disgust on their faces. Jimmy glares up at all of them, daring them to say something.
“Uh, milord?” Gilnar starts, and that’s the final straw.
“Give him a goddamn minute!” Jimmy snaps, rage bubbling up under his skin. “He just fought a demon for all of you, let the man rest! I know you’re all elves and you’re all- all elegant and composed or whatever, but you can’t expect someone to be perfect! We’re all human, you know!”
One of the elves gives him a look of disdain. “You are human, Codfather. We are not. Lord Smajor knew the responsibilities and difficulties of ruling.”
“He’s too young for this,” Jimmy thinks he hears someone mutter, but he’s too angry to bother paying attention.
“I- well I don’t think anyone could have expected a demon! And probably even less people’d be willing to fight one! Scott’s one of the bravest, kindest, smartest people I know, so lay off him, will you?”
“You know nothing of the affairs of elves,” the same elf sniffs.
Jimmy’s about to open his mouth and inform them that he knows about the affairs of being a decent person, for goodness sake, but he’s cut off by Scott raising his head, his sobs subsiding into ragged breathing. “It’s fine, Jimmy. They are correct, I do have responsibilities.”
“They can’t expect you to be perfect,” Jimmy argues, but there’s no dissuading Scott as he staggers to his feet.
“Gilnar, get the village out of lockdown and make sure people are aware of the threat of Xornoth. Celebear, search the library for any books on corruption of elves, and Lauriel, translate any you find that are not Sindarin into it. Elder council, I need research done on any rings of power that are strong enough to counteract Vilya to that degree, that will narrow down what Xornoth has. Now, the Codfather and I need to negotiate wool and fish trades,” Scott adds, grabbing Jimmy’s hand. Jimmy yelps, startled, as Scott drags him off with inhuman strength.
They make it up the hill and into Scott’s house before Scott slumps, collapsing into one of the kitchen chairs. “Well, fuck me to the End and back,” he groans.
“Are they always like that?” Jimmy asks, worried.
“Pretty much. Gilnar’s okay, just tough as shit, and so are Celebear and Lauriel, but...I wasn’t- well, I wasn’t meant to inherit Rivendell, and the Council of Elders takes every opportunity to remind me of that fact.”
“Oh. Who’s Xornoth?”
Scott laughs, a bitter, exhausted sound. “My twin, also known as the demon that’s been terrorizing you.”
At first, Jimmy thinks he’s misheard. “What?”
“My twin. My older sibling. The person who was supposed to inherit the throne of the elves.”
“What?”
Scott sighs. “Let me start from the beginning. My parents were two elven monarchs, one of the Sindar, and one of the Noldor. With other bloodlines mixed in, but the Sindar and Noldor is the important bit since those two groups haven’t always gotten along. Somewhere around fifty-five years ago, they started trying for kids. What they didn’t expect was that Xornoth and I are identical twins, only the fifth set of elven twins ever recorded.”
“Whoa.”
“Mhm. Xornoth was- is- technically the older one, who was always set to inherit the throne of the elves and unite our divided people. They were compared to Elrond, wise and powerful leader of another land named Rivendell far in the past, and I was Elros, his twin. Impulsive, snarky, human.” Scott closes his eyes, looking as if it pains him to talk about this. “Our parents died when we were both quite young, and we were brought up expecting Xornoth to take the throne as soon as they came of age. I spent my time hanging out with mortals, instead, getting involved in things like mcc and 3rd life.”
“Ohhh,” Jimmy says intelligently.
Scott nods tensely. “When I was the elven equivalent of seventeen or so, Xornoth gave me a ring. This ring, specifically,” he says, tapping Jimmy’s engagement ring. “Vilya, an elven ring of power. They told me to leave Rivendell and not return.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know at the time, but they were being corrupted by a ring of their own, not to mention their own desire for power.” Scott’s voice shakes a little, and Jimmy takes his hand in comfort. “I returned after coming of age while away to find that Xornoth had fled and I was now the heir of Rivendell. Which absolutely no one wanted.”
“Why not? You’re amazing!” Jimmy protests.
“Remember when I told you that I’m not a very elven elf? That. I’m too human for their tastes, spend too much of my time with humans.”
“Well, I think you’re wonderful.”
Scott squeezes his hand tight, a faint, fond smile creeping onto his face. “Thank you, Jimmy. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Jimmy replies, and then something Scott said catches up with him. “Wait. Scott?”
“Yes, darling?”
“Did you give me an elven ring of power for an engagement ring?”
“….Maybe.”
Jimmy’s torn between laughter and outrage. “Me! You gave me, little old Jimmy Solidarity, an elven ring of power?”
“You’re the most precious thing in my life. I gave you everything I could offer.”
Jimmy flushes immediately, feeling his cheeks heat with the compliment. It’s not fair that Scott can make him lose all his remaining braincells with just a simple sentence, it really isn’t! “Stop that!”
“Stop what?” Scott asks innocently.
“Saying that stuff and giving me that look, you know what I mean! That soft one that- that makes me all blushy and stuttery!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He’s smirking. He definitely knows exactly what he’s doing, and Jimmy would hate him for it if he was even capable of hating Scott.
“I’m trying to scold you for giving me a ring of power that’s super important, stop- stop flirting, for goodness sake!”
“You’re hot when you’re flustered, though.” The charming words would be a lot more effective if Scott didn’t also choose that moment to try and wipe the blood off his forehead, only succeeding in smearing blood everywhere and reminding Jimmy to be worried about him.
“Let me get that,” Jimmy offers, looking around for a rag. Scott patiently lets him fuss, and Jimmy dabs at the cut with a wet rag and bandages it carefully. He moves on to cleaning out smaller cuts and scrapes, then the bruises, handing Scott some ice to put on the largest ones. Even then, he’s not fully satisfied until he makes Scott count backward from 100 to prove he hasn’t hit his head too hard.
“Ninety-two, ninety-one, I swear I’m fine, Jimmy, ninety, eighty-nine, eighty-eight, eighty-seven, I literally explained elven rings of power to you, eighty-six, eight-five, can I stop counting now?”
“No.”
“Jimmyyyyyyyy,” Scott whines.
“Just a bit more? For me?” It’s a dirty trick, but Jimmy gives him the puppy dog eyes that he knows Scott can’t say no to.
He’s rewarded with a long-suffering sigh and “Fine. Eighty-four, eighty-three, eighty-two…”
Jimmy makes him count all the way down to seventy and then multiply together thirteen and twelve before he’s satisfied, ignoring Scott’s complaining about having to do math so early in the morning.
“I can’t believe my own husband made me do math.”
Jimmy laughs and bops him on the nose. “I’ll make breakfast to make up for it?”
“You better!” Scott says, but he’s smiling too.
Jimmy makes them both pancakes, firmly ignoring the lingering fear from the demon attack, not to mention all the revelations from this morning. Those are problems for future Jimmy. Present Jimmy is going to scold his husband for sneaking bits of pancake batter (“It doesn’t even taste good, Scott!”) and drink hot chocolate in a beautiful little kitchen with the love of his life. None of that demon nonsense, no thank you. Just hot chocolate and pancakes and the sound of Scott’s laughter as he teases Jimmy about smelling like fish. Which is a perfectly fine smell, thank you very much, Scott, why are you laughing?
Every so often, he pauses and admires the bracelet that’s still on his wrist, running his fingers over the elegantly shaped flowers. This must have taken Scott so long to make, and he did it all for Jimmy. He gave Jimmy a ring of power, for goodness sake! Jimmy doesn’t think he’ll ever be over the thrill of how it feels to be so loved and to know it, too. To know Scott loved him back in 3rd life and loves him now and will love him for the rest of Jimmy’s mortal lifespan and beyond. He can’t quite wrap his head around it, honestly, but it’s not a bad thing, not at all. How could having Scott in his life ever be a bad thing? He thinks- knows, as well as he knows his own self- that whatever happens next, he and Scott can face it together.
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Call Me
Okay so I want to throw this little bit out into the universe of one of my favorite instances of Jasper I've written. Context: He's a host for a dinky late night radio show and he has like... 10-15 listeners max and David is one of them, a college student who Can’t Sleep even between classes and his job, so he’s up late late listening to Jasper’s show. He calls in sometimes because Jasper is always offering advice and encouraging people to call in and chat, specifically about LGBTQ topics and David finds comfort and encouragement in their chats. They’ve been talking for a while but he still goes by the name Red.
- - - -
“Alright you night owls, this next one goes out to my long lost buddy, Red.”
David looked up at the radio in surprise, his pencil stilling on the page.
“It’s been a while since we’ve heard from ya and we miss you dude. And I’m gonna get hella gay up in here, but that’s on brand for me, I miss you.”
David’s breath caught in his throat painfully, his heart hammering.
“So I hope you catch this, give us a call, let me know how you’re doing buddy I’m dyin’ here, don’t leave me hanging. Cause I’ve got a question for you and you wont know what until you gimme a ring. Yes I’m gonna be that guy. So call. Please.”
The music picked back up, and true to Jasper’s word, Blondie’s Call Me started playing.
The pencil had slipped from his fingers without realizing as David tried to decipher all of that, especially that last, sincere please. Jasper missed his calls? Maybe he was just worried because David had dropped off so suddenly. It had just been too nerve wracking once he realized he was crushing on the radio host. But what could Jasper possibly want to ask him? Was it good or bad?
He was still nervous and the idea of calling in downright terrified him now, but… he at least owed it to Jasper to let him know he was alive. It must have looked bad, for him to be consistently calling about once a week and then suddenly stop with no warning, going on nearly two months of silence now. Jasper was always so nice and seemingly happy to talk to him, he must be worried. Gosh, now he had to call, he felt terrible.
David had to take several steadying breaths and about twenty good minutes to work up the nerve, but he managed to eventually press call, hands shaking as he listened to the phone ring.
“What’s up caller you’re live, how’s it hangin?”
“Um, hi...” he said quietly.
He heard a soft intake of air and a shuffle. “That you Red?” Jasper asked, sounding hopeful, the excited smile evident in his voice.
“Y-yes, it’s me,” David replied.
“Aw, buddy, good to hear your voice again man, I was gettin’ worried bout you.”
“I’m so sorry I- just- life, you know?” David hedged, feeling even more guilty because he couldn’t give an honest explanation.
“I feel that, it’s cool dude, it’s just good to hear from ya. I assume you heard my call out?”
David’s heart started beating faster, so, so antsy. If it weren’t for the guilt of worrying Jasper he probably wouldn’t have had the guts to call, but he could still be a wreck about it, easily. “Yes, I did. You... had a question?”
“Yeah! You don’t mind me askin’ live?”
“Um, sure, that’s fine,” David said nervously. It couldn’t be too bad if it was something Jasper could ask on air. Right?
“Sweet. So. Last we talked your rough waves from the coming out thing were settling. You found a boyfriend yet?” the radio host asked casually.
David eyebrows shot up in surprise, his face going so very red and he was so very grateful this was a phone call, not in person because that would make it ten times worse. “Um- n-no, I- I haven’t… um, no,” he stammered uselessly. Why was this the topic??
“Awesome!” Jasper said in delight, leading to an awkward pause. “Wow fuck that sounded hella mean I am so sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Cheese and crackers, foot in mouth Jasp, good one. Anyway! I just meant because- like, stop me if this is too weird, or hang up on me, but I was wondering if I could like… take ya on a date?”
David’s heart stopped in surprise, the blush that had just started receding coming back full force. His stomach whirled in a mix of dread and excitement, trying to go one way or the other as his brain stalled for a good long moment-
“Red?”
David sucked in a breath. “Is- are you- are you serious?” he asked softly, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
“Course dude!! I wouldn’t fuck around with you like that, hell no! I’m for super serious!”
“But… we’ve- you- you don’t even know what I look like,” David stammered, trying to find reason to turn him down, but so, so desperately wanting to say yes. He felt stupid for saying it the second it left his mouth, Jasper didn’t seem at all the type to place a lot of importance on appearances.
“I don’t need to! I’m sure you’re rad as hell, but I’m not a looks guy, okay? I like your personality, and I love shootin the shit with you, and you’re super nice. That’s the kinda stuff I’m into, and if you’re hella cute, which I’m sure you are, that’s a bonus!”
David stared down at his desk for a long moment, his thoughts a mess, one hand over his mouth as he took this all in. He had to take a moment to pinch the soft skin on the inside of his arm to decide that this was really happening and he hadn’t passed out at his desk into some dream where his crush happened to reciprocate-
“Reeeddd?” Jasper teased softly after another long pause, bringing him out of his panic spiral. “No pressure my dude, you can say no.”
“Yes,” David blurted shakily.
“Yeah??” Jasper asked, his voice picking up in obvious excitement and relief, despite his apparent brace for a rejection. “For real?”
“Y-yes, I’d… I’d like to,” David said softly, his face still red.
“Aw man, awesome, shit. Okay uh- no PI on air so uh- I go off air at 3, you’re usually up pretty late, yeah? Think you’ll be around?”
“Yes, I should be.”
“Supes, call back when you hear me sign off and we’ll hash stuff out, okay? Or at least do personal numbers to talk during the day.”
“O-okay,” David stammered, his mind whirling. “I’ll do that.”
“Sweet. Okay man, you sound a little wigged out so I’ll let you get back, and I will be counting the minutes til sign off,” Jasper teased.
“Okay, um, talk to you later? Bye.”
“Ta-ta for now!” Jasper sung.
David disconnected the call, his pulse still racing as he listened to Jasper on the radio once more, turning the volume back up just in time to hear.
“Oh my god, wack, holy shit you guys he said yes- fuck he’s probably listening and I sound like a giant goober- hi Red! Okay, anymore callers before we go back to music? Holy shitballs.”
A quick, incredulous laugh escaped his mouth before David could stifle it, his chest swirling with fear and elation. Jasper- Jasper had asked him on a date- and he sounded just as rattled as David felt. That helped a little to know it wasn’t just him- Jasper had just been loads better keeping a cap on his nerves while they were talking.
“You’re up caller!”
David came back from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice, one of Jasper’s other regular callers.
“Oooooh Jasper asked a boy on a daaatteee~” she teased in delight.
“I know oh my god dude I’m still weak from it, I didn’t wanna mess up with Red but I like… really want to meet him and take him out, especially once he stopped calling? And no offense Red if you’re still there it’s TOTALLY cool cause that woke my ass up! Holy shit I still can’t believe he said yes.”
David listened all throughout the rest of Jasper’s show, all thoughts of homework lost as he leaned his elbows on the desk, hands clasped in front of his mouth. Anticipation made his nerves spike again while sitting through Jasper’s familiar sign off, where he bid goodnight to his listeners and started the after hours playlist. David waited a minute before taking a deep, deep breath and pressing the call button.
It rang only once before the line picked up, and a hopeful voice answered. “Red?”
“H-hi Jasper,” he replied.
“Hey dude! Hey, sorry to put you on the spot like that but- y’know, I figured it would be less creepy to everyone to just be upfront and ask you, instead of being like ‘hey call me after hours hoohoo wink wink,’ ya dig?”
David stifled a giggle, smiling. “I understand. It probably would’ve made me more nervous to have to wait that long, wondering what your question was,” he admitted.
“That too! I wanted to just… put it out there, figured it’d be best. So! You’re really cool with going on a date?”
“Yes, I… I’d like that. To meet you,” he added softly, flushed.
“Rad, okay, nice. So let’s just exchange numbers for tonight? I know you might not sleep anyway but it’s friggen late and I don’t want to keep either of us up too long.”
“That sounds good, I don’t want to keep you up either,” David replied. He gave his number first when Jasper gave the go-ahead, listening to the other man hum as he typed it into his phone, and a few moments later David heard a buzz near his ear.
“I just shot you a text so you have my number and can add me.”
“Got it,” David replied, pulling the phone away briefly to see a text notification at the top of the screen, a short string of peace sign emojis that made him smile.
“Awesome sauce. Well- shit, I’m really excited but again, we can talk later. Try to get some sleep, okay dude?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned and losing his usual casual tone. “I worry bout you.”
David smiled, touched by the thought. “I’ll try.”
“Okay, I’ll text you sometime tomorrow- today, whatever, much later. Give you a chance to snooze. Night Red, and thanks for- you know. Thanks. Night!”
“Goodnight Jasper, and thank you too,” he replied softly.
“No prob, catch ya later.”
David pulled the phone away and ended the call, his heart still hammering as he tried to comprehend everything. But he decided to pack it away for later, turning off the radio and closing the long abandoned textbook. Hopefully he could get a few hours of sleep and be a tiny bit more composed when he next spoke with Jasper.
Doubtful, but it was a nice thought.
#camp camp#cc david#cc jasper#jaspvid#ellowrites#but for real this is like#the most best i've ever been able to channel my vision of jasper?#when they meet for their date he's wearing that stupid bowling alley carpet shirt and i just#god it's so jasper#also a great example of me abusing the dash symbol#but it's my staple#also mentioning way too often about the state of david's heart but he's a sleep deprived nervous wreck SO
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10 Books I Hope to Read in 2021
This isn’t in any particular order, just books that I hope and plan to read this year. I’m really inspired by my reading year in 2020 which was the best in a long time I truly believe––may academics allow––that I can carry that into the new year. I set my Goodreads goal to 24 books and here are 10 I hope get included:
1. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
This is the first ever book that I’ve preordered, so this is an important mention! I fell in love with the A Court of Thorns and Roses series last year (my #1 books of 2020) so I plan to keep up with it. All of the characters are my little babies that I want to protect. Their relationships are so sweet and they make me laugh and cry and make me happiness and fearful and hopeful. The fae world is also amazing with a great plot that got super political and action packed in book 3 and I hope to see some of that in this 5th book.
2. Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
I’m also really big on wanting to continue series that I started in 2020 (especially finished series like this) so I don’t have to keep rereading the first books. Really all this requires is buying them. The Darkest Minds was fun and adventurous with some of the cutest friendships I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to see how this turns politically and how it grows to Ruby vs. Clancy. This could get really intense and I’m ready for it, even if I’m stressed that I’ll end up crying.
3. Angela Davis
This is general want since I plan to get more into nonfiction and educational reading this year. I liked my read of The New Jim Crow and I feel like Angela Davis could give me a similar feel to fulfill my want for personal education. My current read is When They Call You a Terrorist and Angela writes a foreword in my edition––so I’m assuming if I like WTCYAT, I’ll also like Angela. Even if I only end up getting to her podcasts that would be fine because I’d just like to learn.
4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Just because I found the first book so entertaining and fast moving, I’m going to continue with this series. Plus the fact that I have every The Mortal Instruments book. It’s a pretty large world that I can’t just give up on so soon. Possibly just to get on the hype train, I’m going to try my hardest to dig into this series. There are a few things, I’m unsure if they will arise in this book or not, that I know will make me feel... weird––thanks to spoilers from 7 years ago when I thought I’d never read this series––but I’m ready.
5. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
I recently bought this at Half Price Books and I had no idea what I wanted to get until I saw this. For most of early high school, Maggie was my favorite author because I adored her Shiver series and loved the first two books in The Raven Cycle and recently enjoyed All the Crooked Saints. I hope to read all of her books someday and own them all. I had never liked magical realism so much until reading her and it’s now a theme in books that draw me in.
6. Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
My current read is the first novel in this series and although I’m not sure if it’s worth it to continue the series, I think I will. My sister got me the first 4 books in a boxed set 5 or 6 years ago and I’m only touching them now. This could be a mistake because I’m much more mature of a reader than this is aimed at. I would hate to not read them though since it took me so long to read them, that’s not the books’ fault. I also think they could be good buffer reads as just a trashy, fun novel about high school vampires for when I’m busy.
7. Stand Off by Andrew Smith
This is a long awaited one! Winger, the first book in this duology, tore me apart! I keep forgetting that it’s one of the books that have made me genuinely cry over the years and it was my favorite novel of 2017 and I finished it on New Year’s Eve. I loved the style of writing and the characters were funny and lovable and the setting new to me at the time that everything was intriguing. I plan to reread Winger so that I remember everything that happens even though I know that I’ll be utterly heartbroken at the end but that is okay! I want to see how life turns out for our main character, whose name I don’t even remember!
8. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I bought this one from B&N a few days ago and I’m super excited because I loved the ACOTAR series by SJM. I know that everyone who is a fan of her writing really adores this series as well and I’m ready to adore it too. It helps a lot that the series is completed because then I can soar through it without stopping. Surprisingly, I think I’ve managed to avoid spoilers from this series. I’m ready to throw myself in the characters and a new fantasy world by the SJM, who has risen to the top of my favorite authors list.
9. It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
Since only one other book on here so far is YA contemporary fiction, I thought it’d be perfect to include another one. This is a sequel I don’t yet have on my shelf but one I plan to buy. I loved Jenny Han in high school after reading TATBILB, which is my favorite trilogy ever and I had fun with the first book to the Summer series. Picking up Jenny Han again would hopefully revert me back to a time when reading was purely fun and I didn’t get upset if I didn’t meet my page goal for the day. I also haven’t read much contemporary (romance) since I started reading again over the summer even though it has historically been my favorite genre.
10. The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
This is one that I plan on getting from Book of the Month. I would have gotten it in what I believe was the December picks but I had no idea what it was about. If I had known it was a Jane Eyre retelling, I would’ve picked it up immediately! Jane Eyre is probably my favorite classic of all time after reading it in high school. It’s obviously a modern version but I’d love to see how such a classic story is updated and made new. It will also help me read more genres since I didn’t read a single mystery thriller in 2020.
#10 books i want to read in 2021#a court of silver flames#sarah j maas#a court of thorns and roses#series#never fade#alexandra bracken#angela davis#city of ashes#cassandra clare#the mortal instruments#the scorpio races#maggie stiefvater#betrayed#p.c. cast#kristin cast#house of night#stand off#andrew smith#winger#duology#throne of glass#it's not summer without you#jenny han#the wife upstairs#rachel hawkins#booklr#booklover#bookblr
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Chess. Chapter 14 (final chapter)
Y/N never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. She only took what she needed, or what she felt others needed. She’d stayed out of sight for a long time, avoiding anything that could get her in to too much trouble. But for some reason Rick Flag shows up in her life, and in an instant, everything changes.
TW: Language, sexual themes, injuries. Rated M
(This story is obviously non-canon, i.e. Diablo and GQ, but I hope you’ll enjoy it either way.)
----------------------------------
I ran to a wall, searching for an exit. Hearing gunshots from outside, I became confused. The Bat works alone, I thought. The lights turned back on.
In the middle of the room stood a tall, caped figure.
This is ridiculous!, I thought. “You picked a hell of a time to show up, guano jerk!”, I yelled at him; readying myself for a fight – one that I was sure to lose, but I wasn’t going out lying down.
The door we had entered through sprang open, and in ran my friends; Rick leading the charge.
My heart nearly jumped through my chest. “Rick!”, I screamed, all dignity gone.
When he saw me, his eyes instantly lit up. “Y/N”, he yelled. “Get into cover!”.
“Stupid bat! You’re ruining another date night!”, Harley yelled, and shot in the direction of the caped crusader, missing by several feet. I looked in her direction. She was standing in cover behind a pillar. Behind her laid the bag.
I sprang towards her, and threw myself at the floor, sliding across it on my stomach. Grabbing the strap of the bag; I made myself disappear. I ran towards Rick; but my ankle gave in to pain, and I fell, reappearing a couple of feet from another pillar, dragging myself to sit behind it.
The Bat ran towards me, but the Joker shot at him from the cover of the now turned over table, Harley and he had been sitting on earlier. Forcing the Bat to jump for cover; gave Joker the time to run towards my pillar, avoiding balls of fire and gunshots, coming from Rick and Diablo. Before he could reach me, Floyd shot at the ceiling above him; making it rain dust and debris around him. He went to join Harley at her hiding place.
The Bat once again ran towards me. He was hit in the back by a wooden crate, thrown by Croc; and fell to the floor; struggling to get back up. Katana came at him then, sword raised; but he tripped her with a shot from his rope-gun, making her fall over – legs bound.
Who the hell is fighting who?, I thought. I climbed to my feet, and began limping towards Rick again. He was covering behind the table the clown had occupied.
A bullet whistled past my head. I was suddenly covered by thick black fabric; and swung around to lay on my back – the bat over me; staring at me with angry eyes.
“I told you to keep your head down!”, he rumbled. “The hell I will!”, I hissed; and swung for him with my claws.
He rolled to the side, allowing me to get up on all fours.
“Y/N!”, Rick shouted again; running towards me while aiming at the masked asshole I’d just gotten out from under.
A gunshot landed at my feet, making me stumble and fall again; the bag being pulled out of my grasp as I did.
“Thank you, Chess!”, the Joker smiled down at me, and moved backwards towards the door, aiming at me.
“Hand over the bomb, Joker”, the Bat growled.
The clown held on to the bag firmly, aiming his gun at the caped man. “No. I’m sorry, but this is my new toy. And I don’t like sharing!”, he yelled, and pulled his trigger.
The Bat leapt out of the way; and the bullet hit the wall behind him.
Rick aimed his gun at the Joker. “Give us the bag, asshole!”, he shouted.
“Language!”, Joker roared, aiming his gun at him.
Harley kept her aim firmly on the Bat. “Let’s go, puddin’”, she said, and they both began to back towards the door.
“Quinn!”, Floyd called. “Come on, doll. We went into this together, let’s get out of this together!”.
“I’m sorry guys, but I can’t leave my J again”, she said sadly.
Joker pulled at her arm to come with him. “Come on, tootsie pop”, he beckoned, swinging the bag over his shoulder.
“Harley, the phone is in there”, I cried out desperately.
Harley froze. “Puddin’, they need that bag”, she said pleadingly. “Yeah, and I need my boom”, Joker answered. “Let’s go”.
“Harley!”, I tried again.
She looked from us to her lover. “I’m sorry, puddin’”, she said, moved her aim; and shot.
The Joker fell to the ground growling, holding on to his leg. She grabbed the bag, and slid it across the floor, in the direction of where the rest of us where standing.
The Bat dove for the bag, grabbing it, just as it landed in front of Digger; who’d spent the most of the fight in hiding – his loyalties in an uproar. He didn’t seem to know whether to fight him for the bag, or just step back, and let events unfold.
Frost reappeared through the door behind Joker and Harley; followed by a dozen masked minions, all aiming at us.
Harley went to her knees next to Joker. “I am so sorry, puddin’. But I had to do that”. He snarled and threw his head in frustration. “Fine!”, he yelled. “Babe, this is the lambo all over again!”, he said to Harley.
“I know”, she pouted. Frost dragged the clown to his feet, letting him lean against him for support. Harley fluttered her lashes. “See you in a couple of months?”, she asked.
The Joker smirked. “You know it, cupcake”, he said, and grabbed her face to kiss her.
“That’s all there is to that”, she smiled.
The group backed out of the door, aiming at us all the way. “Chess; you’re fired”, Joker called in my direction, as he disappeared.
Harley slowly walked towards us, sniffling. Diablo grabbed her in a warm embrace, and Croc patted her head.
Katana said something. “No thanks”, Harley answered. “He’s still my puddin’”.
Digger found a can of beer in one of his pockets, and offered it to her. She accepted it with a sad smile.
Rick took me into his arms, kissing the top of my head. “Let’s get out of here”, he said, and we moved for the door at the opposite end of the room.
“Chess!”. We stopped in our tracks. The Bat walked up to us.
“Careful”, I frowned. “You don’t want to damage government property”. Rick straightened his back, ready to act if needed.
The Bat chuckled hoarsely. “No”, he said. “I want to apologize”.
“For what?”, I asked. “For using my friend to get to me? For selling me out to Waller, and letting her torture me?”.
“I was going to say; for putting that GPS-tracker in your new leggings”, he smiled.
I shook my head. “Of course”, I said.
“Look”, he continued. “You seem like a righteous person. You don’t belong with these people”. He gestured at the squad, who were now flanked by the guards from our flight.
“I am gathering a group of friends, who all have special abilities”, he said. “We’ll be working towards a better future for not only America, but the world. I want you to join us”.
I looked at him, disbelieving. “Taking down criminals?”, I asked. “Yes”, he answered. “And who are those criminals? My friends here?”. “Well…”, he said; but didn’t continue.
I sighed. “You believe to be on the side of the good; but at the same time you’re breaking the law – deciding who gets punished, and who doesn’t. I’d say that’s pretty criminal in itself”, I said. “I don’t make it my business to decide who is bad and who is good. I just want to help people”.
“Look, man”, Rick said, grabbing my hand to hold. “Whatever you might think of these people, whatever they’ve done in the past… The work they’re doing now is important. And it’s work no one else will do”.
“You force them to do it”, the Bat answered.
“He’s got a point, mate”, Digger called at him.
“Yeah, he does”, Rick admitted. “But at least you can go back to your cell, knowing you made a difference, without being sanctimonious about it”.
I looked the Bat in his eyes.
“My side of the fence does seem a lot less self-righteous”, I said.
The Bat nodded. “We’ll probably meet again”, he said. “For your own sake, make sure it’s not as opponents”.
“Right back at ya’”, I said. “By the way; 1-2-3-4-5 is a shitty combination for a safe holding such important papers, Bruce”.
My fingers laced with Ricks, we followed our group out of the building. I could feel the Bats eyes on my back as we walked away. “Are you ok?”, Rick asked. “I am now”, I answered. “Shit, the bag!”, I remembered.
I spun around towards where the Bat had been standing. He was gone.
“Fuck!”, I screamed frustratedly; and limped back towards the middle of the room, desperately trying to see where he might have gone.
Rick grabbed me from behind, embracing me as tears began to stain my eyes. I wept into his shoulder, and he stroked my back; kissing my hair. “It was all for nothing”, I sobbed. “I didn’t make a difference at all”.
“Hey”, Rick said, looking down at me. “You made sure the Joker didn’t get to keep the bomb. You probably saved lives”.
I kept crying into his jacket, staining it with my tears. He picked me up, and carried me out of the room.
“Hey!”, Kelper called from behind us. “Can someone uncuff me from this chair? And maybe find me a new pair of pants?”.
---
We were back at Belle Reve in the conference room. Waller was debriefing.
“Well, that was a massive fail to what should have been a very simple mission”, she said.
“Waller; you sent us in blind!”, Rick growled. “You almost killed Chess!”.
“If you’d done your job like I told you to; your girlfriend here would have been in and out in no time”, she answered. “Allowing the Ph.D. sociopath to follow was not part of the plan!”.
“Psychopath!”, Harley sneered at her. She was sitting in her chair, dark shadows under her red eyes. She’d been crying the whole flight back, and the whole night through in her cell. “And I’m not. Not really. I can feel plenty”, she sniffled; and dug into a tub of ice cream someone had provided for her. I felt terrible for her.
“Shut up Quinn”, Waller growled. “You’re lucky your head is still attached to your neck”. She leveled her voice. “10 years off your sentences will still be granted to all of you – except miss Quinn”. Waller sat down in her chair at the head of the table; and looked at me coldly. “And you, Y/N”.
I gasped, and a murmur sounded among the squad. Croc was growling, and Diablo set fire to a pen.
“You absolute cunt!”, Digger said. “I second that”, said Floyd. Katana simply nodded from her corner.
“Y/N risked her life for your stupid ass plan with the bomb!”, Rick roared. “She gets her sentence reduced, just like everyone else”.
“No”, Waller said. She slid a file folder across the table at me. I opened it. “That”, she said, “is the official report – signed by commissioner Gordon – that you, Chess, stopped a terrorist attack on Gotham U; by sneaking in to the Jokers hideout, and stealing the bomb he had meant to use”.
I looked at the file in disbelief. Standing up, I limped towards Rick.
“You then gave the bomb to the vigilante known as the Batman, who turned it over to the authorities on your behalf”. She sighed. “You’re a free woman, Y/N”.
My arms fell, and I dropped the file on the floor; where Rick picked it up, and read it.
“But Kelper…”, I began. “The former judge Kelper has been taken into custody under the suspicion of corruption and the severe physical assault and rape of a young woman, 18 months ago”. She stood up, and began packing her briefcase. “Apparently Kelper admitted to the whole thing, while having one too many drinks at the country club with Bruce Wayne”.
I couldn’t move.
Waller looked at me pointedly. Pure hate flew between us. I got you, bitch, I thought. “Your nano-bomb will be removed once this meeting is over; and your gear and personal items have been packed up for you. They will be delivered to your place of choice”. She looked like she’d eaten something very bitter. “Unfortunately, I’ve been told that your apartment has been rented out to someone else; but I’m sure you’ll figure out some other living arrangements. You’re crafty like that”. She moved towards the door. “We’re done here”.
I looked at Rick. He seemed stunned – at once happy, but also heartbroken. I looked around at my friends. This is my family, I thought. This is home.
“Waller!”, I called. “I want to stay”. She stopped, and looked at me.
“Like I said, you’re free. The X Force consists of criminals; which you aren’t. Anymore…”, she added.
“I’m not a criminal”, Katana said, looking up at us. I smiled knowingly at her.
I found Ricks eyes. He looked at me meaningfully; and nodded. I turned to Waller again.
“You went through a hell of a lot to get to me. It seems a waste to deny my offer of staying on board”.
She seemed to consider my words carefully. “What do you want?”, she finally said.
I sat down in her chair at the head of the table. “I want the bomb out”. “That’s already a done deal”, she answered. “On all of us”, I added. The squads eyes all fell on me.
“That’s not happening”, she answered. “Your offer isn’t that good”. She went to leave again.
“Ok!”, I called. “I want the bomb out for myself. I��ll be a free woman, and I can decline any mission I want to”. She nodded. “I want a fair paycheck for each mission I join. They all get 10 years, I get 10 grand per day the mission takes; from briefing to completion”. Another nod. “Health care, dentist, retirement fund… all that shit”, I said. “And I get new equipment when needed; without GPS tracking!”. Batdick, I thought.
She sighed. “I have a feeling there’s more”, she said coldly.
I smirked. “Flag and Katana get the same pay and bonuses as me”, I said. “Floyd gets a weekend with his kid; along with a viewing of her upcoming dance recital”. Deadshot looked up at me, disbelieving. “Croc gets access to nicotine pads and gum. However much is needed for him to quit smoking. And a larger flat screen”. Croc grumbled, but smiled at me. “Chato has a nieces quinceañera coming up. She get’s tickets to Fall Out Boy; front row – center. With a card from her uncle stating that he loves her”. Diablo nodded at me in thanks; his eyes welling up. “My Little Pony – Twilight Sparkle merch for Digger”. His eyes lit up, and smiled – happy as a joey in its mothers pouch.
“And Harley gets a puppy – that Croc can’t eat”, I added, looking pointedly at the big guy, who smirked and nodded.
Harley burst into tears. “You’re a doll, Chessie”, she cried. I smiled.
“These are my demands”, I said, and looked back at Waller. “Take it or leave it”.
Wallers lips tightened. “You’ve got a deal, Chess”, she said, and reached out to shake my hand.
I took her hand, and squeezed it. She went to let go; but I held on to her. “Oh! And I want a vacation”.
She sighed. “Fine. Where? Hawaii? Dubai? I’m guessing you want first class, am I right?”.
“Nah”, I answered, and walked over to Rick. I put my arms around his waist, and looked into his smiling warm eyes.
“I have something better in mind”.
---
I woke up in a daze. The ceiling above me was wooden instead of concrete, and for a moment I couldn’t remember where I was. Smelling burning firewood and coffee, I turned my head, and saw a figure huddled under a blanket, crouching in in front of an old fire stove. Oh yeah, I remembered, and smiled to myself.
“Hi”, I said, and Rick turned to look at me. “Mornin’, kitten”, he smiled at me. “Coffee will be ready in a second”. I made to get out of bed. “Don’t…”, Rick managed to say, before I let my toes hit the floor, and stepped out of the bed; woolen blankets falling from my naked body.
“Oh my god!”, I gasped; my entire body tensing up from the cold of the room. I could see my breath in front of me. Rick ran to grab a blanket from the bed, and wrapped it around me; beginning to rub my shoulders.
“Told you”, he chuckled. “It’s colder than a penguins ballsack in here!”, I gasped. Rick wrapped me in his arms, his body rumbling from stifled laughter. “It’ll be warm soon enough”, he said. “Says the guy in long johns”, I scowled.
“Let’s get you back to bed”, Rick said, lifted me from the floor, and placed me back on the old pullout we’d spent the night on. He tucked me in under the blankets there, and kissed my forehead.
“I could get used to this”, I sighed contentedly. “Good”, he said, “because I’m not planning on letting you leave any time soon”.
He laid down next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. “Are you sure no one knows where we are?”, I asked. “No one that matters”, he answered, and put his hand on my cheek, pulling me in for a kiss.
He placed a leg over mine, locking me down; and then moved to lay himself on top of me. Our kiss deepened, tongues intertwining; and his hands began to roam the blankets for an entrance to my naked skin. Finding it, he ran his fingers down my side, over my stomach; and up to my breasts – moaning in pleasure when he found my nipples erect in response to his touch.
I pulled my arms out from under the blankets, and began playing with the hair on the back of his head; continuously savoring the taste of his tongue; when I felt a different sort of rumbling in my stomach, mixing with the aroused feeling spreading from my core.
“Rick”, I breathed, as his lips moved to kiss the spot bellow my ear; avoiding the band aid covering the incision that had been made to remove the nano-bomb from my neck. “Mhmm”, he responded, not unlatching from his targeted spot. “I need…”, I gasped as he pulled at my left nipple. “Yeah, I know”, he breathed into my ear, continuing his relentless attack on my breasts; and moving his other hand down my stomach.
I grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. “No”, I said, and pulled my head to the side, to look at him. “No?”, he asked, confused.
“I need food”, I giggled at him. “And coffee. And probably to brush my teeth, after that thing you called hunters casserole last night”. “That was a family recipe”, he feigned being hurt. “And it was… very special”, I smiled, and stroked his cheek.
He sat up. “Well”, he said, “coffee I can do. Breakfast will take a few”. I sat up, and kissed him gently.
“I love you”, I smiled. ”I love you too”, he beamed at me, and kissed my forehead again, before standing up, and moving towards the door.
“Oh”, he stopped, and glanced at me. “But after breakfast; sex. Right?”.
“Oh absolutely!”, I answered. He nodded, satisfied.
Opening the door, the room instantly went cold again; and Rick hurried to go grab the crate of perishables we’d left outside, in the tiny shed by the cabin. Entering the cabin again, he put down the crate on the table; and went to hand me a small envelope.
“This was on the door”, he said, brows furrowed. “I didn’t think anyone knew where we were”, I said, a little worried. “I didn’t tell anyone”, he assured me.
He went to pour me a mug of coffee, and I looked at the envelope in my hand. Chess, it said on the front of it.
“If this blows up when I open it, I’m gonna be super pissed”, I mumbled, and heard Rick chuckle as he offered me the mug. I gently opened the envelope, and sipped at the coffee; warmth spreading through my body.
Inside was a picece of bespoke stationary; and a polaroid picture of my cats; lounging on an expensive looking couch. The letterhead on the pice of paper read Wayne Ent. On the middle of it, one sentence was written in intricate letters.
No hard feelings, right? S.
I laughed out loud, catching Rick by surprise; and handed him the letter to read. He chuckled along with me, gave back the letter; and went to fry up some eggs for breakfast.
No, Selina, I thought. No hard feelings at all.
I stood up and walked naked through the now much warmer room. Sliding my arms around Ricks waist from behind; I kissed his shoulder.
“What’s up, kitten?”, he turned and smiled at me.
“You know”, I answered, “maybe breakfast can wait a bit”. I kissed him. “Let’s see if we can repeat that finger-trick you’re so curious about”.
THE END.
Tag list:
@gloriousgam3r
@hyp-oh-critical
#rick flag#rick flag x reader#rick flag fic#rick flag imagine#suicide squad fic#suicide squad imagine#harley quinn#the joker
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What’s In a Name: Epilogue - J. Toews
Epilogue.
Where we left off: Jon and Bekah welcomed Lincoln into the world in 2020.
Warnings: smut, language
Word Count: 3,827
Series Masterlist ) Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist
2025.
The rink has seemed like home for Bekah since meeting and marrying Jon. This morning it was a bit different as she kneels in front of her now five year old tying his hockey skates.
"Tight enough Linc?" Bekah asks and Lincoln stands to his feet.
"Yes, Momma. Maybe even better than Daddy does it." Bekah muffles her laugh from Lincoln's comment.
"Good. Now, let's get this jersey and your helmet on." Bekah stands and pulls over the house hockey green jersey over his pads. She feels someone staring but doesn't take her focus off the very squirrelly Kindergartener who doesn’t have the patiences for her to stop. Tapping his helmet she hands him the gloves and the eyes she felt moves closer.
"Hey there! Do ya'll know you have the same last name as the Hawk's captain and your son is wearing his number too. That's cute." Her comment was laced with a sense of entitlement and Bekah bit the inside of her cheek.
"Yup. Heard his foundation bought the jerseys for the league too." Bekah replies and turns her focus back to Lincoln as she rubbed lightly along the JT foundation logo on his shoulder. The woman then got called by her own son and scurried off before continuing.
"Is Daddy going to be off work before my game starts?" Lincoln's voice is muffled with his mouth guard in place.
"He should be here any moment baby boy." Bekah leans down to reassure him. "Speaking of!" Bekah eyes Jon coming through the doors of the rink. He embraces Bekah as he does every time he comes home before turning his attention to the kids.
"Sorry I'm late but looks like you’ve got this covered." Jon whispers after his lips brush hers.
"We are all set. And the fake Louis over there thinks it's cute Linc is wearing 19 and has the Captain's last name too." Bekah smirks.
"Well maybe Scar should run by with her Daddy sweater on." Jon shakes the toddler's hand. "Hey baby girl!" Bekah laughs and goes to take Scarlett out of the toddler carrier attached to her back. The now two year old in her St. Patrick's Day Daddy jersey goes running after Lincoln who started walking to his team. "You would think she runs this place." Jon laughs grabbing Bekah's hand as she tucks the carrier into Lincoln's bag.
"She had grown up coming here. Linc has been taking classes since she was 7 months old, Tae."
"I'm gonna go save Linc from the relentless questions I am sure she’s asking him." Jon heads over to scoop Scarlett up and wishes Lincoln's team good luck playing their first game. The three walk up to sit in the stands and Scarlett starts cheering as the team takes the ice.
"Coot! Core! Let's go Inks!" Scarlett's chubby hands clap.
"You really think he's okay playing with these older boys?" Bekah's leg is bouncing on up and down and Jon's hand settles her.
"Yes. He's playing up because he's good not because he's our son, Beks. No one knows he's five." Jon whispers to calm his wife's nerves.
Lincoln's first hockey game started and even though he was the youngest on the ice by two years, you would never guess. The Toews genes evident in how he played. Bekah, Jon, Scarlett cheered as he scored his first goal and then laughed as he jumped up in excitement but didn’t land on his skates. Bekah looked towards the scoreboard and realized the same mom from earlier was staring at Jon. "I might never get use to people just staring at you." Bekah whispered not realizing she even said it out loud.
"I know Babe." Jon's lips kiss her temple. "Maybe you should bring your Louis with you next game." Jon chuckles knowing the Louis Vuitton collecting dust in the closet was never coming to the hockey rink.
"Funny Tae... funny." Bekah bumps her shoulder into his side. "Maybe if Scar decides potty training is actually something she's interested in I could bring a real purse with me." Bekah spins one of Scarlett's ringlets around her finger.
"She won't even be three until February." Jon bounces his mini-me on his knee and she laughs.
"Yeah, yeah. I know, boys and girls are different." Bekah knowing where Jon was going with the conversation and how she already had Lincoln trained by Scarlett's age. "There you go Linc!" Bekah shouts as Lincoln dives in front of a puck and Jon's laugh rings out.
"You would never know Momma wasn't really into hockey ten years ago. Would ya?" Jon kisses Scarlett's head. “Now she’s rocking the hockey mom life.” Bekah eyes Jon and he mouths, “sexy at it too.” Bekah feels the heat in her cheeks but turns her attention back to the ice.
The game ended and Jon helped Bekah put Scarlett back in her carrier then met Lincoln and his team.
“There’s my boy!” Jon scooped Lincoln up with all his gear on. “You played hard. We are so proud of you.” Jon drops Lincoln down and the three of them start taking off his gear while Lincoln talks a mile a minute recounting the entire game.
“Did you see my double shift dad? See how I used my skate to kick the puck out of the corner?” Lincoln’s little voice sounding just like Jon and both parents laugh.
“We sure did Linc. Now let’s get home and get ready for Auntie Rin, m’kay?” Bekah feels Scarlett bopping up and down on her back while Jon tries to control Lincoln’s excited dance as he attempts to undress him the rest of the way.
The car ride home was filled with giggles of Brynn’s arrival and recap of the game. Bekah grazed her finger down Jon’s arm and he shifts as she moved to his leg. “What was that for?” She questioned and sees Jon smirk.
“Nothin’ Beks.” The sly smirk permanently graced his face for the rest is the ride. Bekah dropped it knowing if it was something he was hiding she’d find out soon enough.
The kids bolt inside the house as soon as they are unbuckled. “Don’t go too far Rin will be here in less than an hour!” Bekah called out and hears a door shut from behind her and spins on her heals to see her best friend rounding her car.
“How about like one minute? You should know my driving skills would get me here faster!” Brynn opens her arms waiting for Bekah’s embrace. “Now help me with these crazies!” She pulls open the sliding door to a choir of squeals.
“Hey kids!” Bekah leans in and unbuckles Derek and Brynn’s newest edition to their family. Morgan’s little fingers make grabby hands at Bekah. “Hey sweet girl. You taking it easy on your Mommy?”
“You lied about 18 month old girls, friend. Lied.” Brynn answered.
“Mom’s right Aunt Beks.” Jack, the oldest, pops out and half hugs Bekah. “Morgan is giving her a run for her money as Dad says.” All three adults laugh and Jon scoops up Brynn’s middle son, Jameson.
“How about you boys take Morgan to find Lincoln and Scar. I’m sure they are in the playroom. Remember how to get there?” Both boys nod and run in the house with their sister in tow.
Jon and Bekah flank Brynn as she breathes out. “I love them but they can be a lot.”
“And you are doing a damn good job. Have you heard when Morgan can be adopted yet?” Jon moves to the back of her van to take out the suitcases.
“Caseworker says she’s different than the boys even though it’s the same birth mom. So in the land of foster to adopt... We shall wait.” Brynn laughs. Derek and Brynn decided to be foster parents not long after Lincoln was born. They took placement of Jack and Jameson not long after finishing all their paperwork. Jack was 3 and Jameson was a newborn. When the couple found out that the birth mom had another baby and she could either go into foster care with different family or them. There was no question. They needed to keep the siblings together.
“So glad you decided to spend the boys’ fall break here Rin. I’ve missed you.” Bekah slid a drink over as Brynn launches herself up to the kitchen stool.
“Me too. How do the kids get up here? I see the pictures.” Brynn laughs while taking a sip.
“Have you seen my children, they climb on everything! Scar swings her tiny self up there and then jumps down. It’s resourceful.”
“They are Jon’s kids, there is no denying that.” Brynn laughs with a sip.
“Hey! I should take offense to that but I might have to agree there.” Jon presses his lips to Bekah’s temple and she leans into him. The friends fell into easy conversation until they were interrupted by Morgan who wanted a snack. Jon handed the toddler enough fruit snacks for all of them and she toddled back. “I’ve wondered this for awhile. Why is she not a J?”
Both women just look at him. “Tae, I’ve never thought about it. Jack and Jameson. A J girl name makes sense.” Bekah looks at Brynn who just shrugs her shoulders. The caseworker said her and Derek could change any of the kids names but they decided to leave them for a few reasons then gave the boys new middle names when they were officially adopted.
“They are all alcohol brands, but is that just...” Jon questions and Brynn’s mouth drops opens.
“I... how... ummm...” Brynn starts and her eye go wide. “At least they aren’t named after the place they were...” Brynn looks down the hall then back to her friends, “conceived.” Her face lights up with mischief.
“Rin, Linc and Scar aren’t named after that.” Bekah answers with a puzzled look written all over her face.
“Sure they are. Lincoln was in your Lincoln Park place and still miss that roof, every time I come here...” Jon starts laughing as he’s caught on.
“But Scarlett? Are you saying she was in Columbus? Like Scarlett and Grey? Because that’s not the case.” Bekah runs her hand over her face.
“Beks, we live on Red Maple. R-E-D.” Jon laughs while pulling Bekah into his side. “And everyone in this room can do the math on Scar’s birthday and my last cup win.”
“Oh. My. No!” Bekah responds sending both Jon and Brynn into a fit of laughter.
“So if Jon makes the All-Star game this year, maybe we can expect a Seattle named baby to come out of the trip?” Brynn snickers knowing she’s getting under her best friend’s skin.
“Speaking of trips. I miss you coming with me.” Jon seems to have changed the subject before hearing his name being called and he retreats to answer the kids.
“Bekah, you know you could go with him Wednesday. They play in St. Louis. I’ve got the kids and Kelly lives here now. I’m sure she can help if something goes crazy, which I don’t plan on that happening.” Brynn jumps off the stool and backs up to look down the hallway. “Seriously, you should go.”
Brynn was right. After the shut down of the economy in 2020, Kelly and Zack made the decision to move back to Chicago where Zack started teaching at DePaul for help with future college tuition. Bekah and Jon hadn’t gotten away as much as they had in the past without taking the kids. Taking a day and a half to go watch him play and enjoy dinner alone did sound amazing.
“You sure Rin?” Bekah sounded giddy.
“Yes, very much so.” Brynn had wandered into the living room that was now the Sedona inspired room. Prints hung of Jon and Bekah’s first trip, wedding day, the first time they took each kid and a family picture from the past summer when both kids hiked most of the way up. “I like the new one!”
“Speaking of new ones.” Jon’s stealth like entrance made both ladies jump. “I have something for you, Babe.” As he spoke, he pulls out a puck from his pocket. Bekah spins it in her hand and tears come to her eyes.
“Lincoln’s first game 8U game. October 18, 2025.” She sees that Jon had Lincoln sign the top too. “Tae.” She squeaks out.
“We might need a Lincoln shelf.” Jon wraps his arms around his wife and pulls her in.
“Tell him!” Brynn breaks the couple’s embrace as she spoke. Jon looks down with his eyebrows raised.
“How about I come to St. Louis with you this week?” Bekah stands on her tippy toes to whisper in his ear, “Just me.”
“YES!” Jon shouts out. “Seriously, Brynn? You are making this happen?” Jon turns and pulls her into a hug.
“You two lovebirds...” Brynn started and looked at how Jon lifted Bekah up in the air in so much joy about a few moments alone. “Still after all these years I’m happy as hell for you but also your passion for one another is...” she starts making a heaving motion.
With that, Bekah and Brynn soaked up their time together. Let Lincoln take a day off school on Monday to play with what he calls his cousins. And really with David’s kids living in Manitoba, Kelly and Brynn’s kids were the closest thing he had to cousins near him.
Monday night was a home game. Jon rented a box and invited Kelly and her family to join. The kids had so much fun cheering on the Hawks. After years of going to games they still loved the atmosphere. Tuesday morning came quick. Bekah left a giant list of instructions for Brynn which made her laugh. Jon took Lincoln to school before taking a morning skate. They flew out that afternoon. Jon interlaced his fingers in Bekah’s as the plane took off.
“You look like a first time flyer Beks. What gives?��� Jon kisses her ear sweetly.
“Just worried about the kids and Rin and...” Jon’s lips land on hers to stop the rant swirling from her brain to her lips.
“They will be fine. Promise.” Jon pulled his arm around her and she breathed him in. The flight was short and the drive to the hotel was too. “You know you’ve never stayed here but could’ve all those years ago. New Years. Winter Classic.” Jon places her bag on top of his and grabs his wife’s hand.
“Yeah, I didn’t make the wises choices back then.” Bekah whispered.
“You are here aren’t you? We are here... so those choices lead to now.” Jon’s knuckle pressed the button. “And while it took some convincing..”
“Sorry.” Bekah mumbled as she pressed their floor.
“Baby, don’t be.” Jon kisses the top of her head as the door opens and leads them to their room. Opening the door he drops the bags as Bekah closes the door. His body pressing hers agains the door and lips locked together. Pulling at her legs to wrap them around him. They break and Jon’s lips slide down her neck. A moan escapes from her lips.
“Tae.” She tries to continue but Jon’s lips are on hers again. His hands tight around her with the door holder her up. “Tae.” She moans out again. Jon leans back a little to look her in the eyes.
“Ca va, mon amour?” Jon leans back and takes in his wife.
“I’m okay. Extremely turned on but also slightly worried about your teammates hearing us as they check in. Plus, there are things I would like to do to you that I cannot do pinned to this door.” Bekah leans to bite at his lips.
“Well for starters we aren’t on the team floor. I made sure of that. Now, what things are you talking about?” Jon pulls both of their bodies away from the door and carries Bekah towards the bed.
“First, Captain, I’d like you to rid you of these clothes.” Bekah wiggles free of Jon’s grip and stands to her feet. He grunts as she starts to take off his clothes. Running her fingers over his still well toned abs followed by her tongue until her teeth find his boxers. She pulls on them with only her mouth and Jon helps with an approving grunt. “When is the last time we didn’t have rushed sex Tae?”
“Too long Beks.” Jon barely gets out as his entire body reacts to Bekah’s lips running along the bottom of his shaft. “C'est cela.” He moans out as he finds the edge of the bed. Bekah continues until she wraps her lips around him and he stops her. “I need you undressed and up here.” He lifts her up and slides her tunic dress over her body then her leggings. “Damn sexy Baby. Damn Sexy.” He stands to carefully removing her bra then underwear kissing her skin as more is exposed.
“Really?” Bekah questions placing her hands over her breasts. “Sorry. Just feeling not as perky as I once was.” Bekah doesn’t look up at Jon with her admission. He pulls her chin up to make her eyes meet his.
“Rebekah, you are more beautiful and sexy than ever. I’m so fucking lucky you are mine.” He shifts her to lay her on the bed and hovers over her body.
“I’m lucky too. I just went from confident at hell to catching a glimpse of my stretch mark in the mirror.” She ran her hand over the mentioned mark from her last pregnancy. Jon met her hand with his lips.
“This means you worked hard to bring our sassy daughter into the world.” Jon moves up to her breasts and sucks one in between his teeth. “And I’m glad I currently don’t have to share these.” Bekah’s breath hitches then she laughs as he moves to do the same to the other. He kisses down her stomach and moves his way between her legs. Spreading her lips with his fingers he sucks on her clit causing Bekah’s hips to jump off the bed and her hand to land in his hair. Jon hums in approval. He moves his fingers to scissor deep inside her. Bekah went to call out his name and bit her lip. Jon looked up and kissed her thigh. “Beks, no one to wake up. Let me hear you.” He moved back to circling Bekah’s clit with his tongue as she moaned out.
“Tae. Fuck. Tae.” Bekah feels her orgasm crashing over her. Jon doesn’t let up as it washes over her. Her legs tremble and toes curl up his back. She loosens her grip and he quickly shifts up her body to press himself fully in her. Both moaning in the familiarity and need for each other. Jon presses his lips to hers and stays there. “Tae, move please.” Bekah tries to press her hips up and Jon smiles.
“I love you Beks.” He simply says as he pulls out slightly and starts a rhythm making both moan and spill out affirmations in the moment. Jon feels Bekah tighten completely around him and with a few more movements of his hips they both hit their high. Jon crashing into Bekah’s body, chests heaving from the intensity. They stay like this for a moment then a beeping sound starts in the direction of the pile of clothes.
“Tae, what is that?” Bekah questions and Jon laughed. “What?”
“I set an alarm to make sure we made it to team dinner.” Jon moves to find his phone. Turning off the alarm he looks at a notification. “Oh, dinner on our own. Fantastic!” He jumps back in bed and wraps Bekah up.
“Can we still go get dinner?” Bekah asks.
“Or order in.” A sly smile crosses Jon’s face and Bekah nods. “Hey, did you tell Brynn we were trying for a third already?”
“No, why do you ask?” Bekah looks up at him.
“Well she mentioned the whole naming of kids thing and Seattle plus she suggested this trip...” Jon trails off.
“Oh, no, but she’s Rin. I swear she knows things without me telling her.” Bekah jokes. “Oh, shit. What time is it?” She looks at Jon’s phone. “Get your shirt on, we need to FaceTime the kids!” Jon heads to his luggage and quickly pulls out two Hawks shirts. He starts to FaceTime and Bekah looks at her now sexed looking hair and quickly braids it to the side just in time.
“Hey guys!” Jon waves at the screen seeing Brynn, Lincoln and Scarlett sitting on the couch. Bekah notices Brynn’s face with Lincoln asked what they have done since they got there and Jon talked about getting to the hotel and checking in. The family talked for a little and said their goodbyes. Jon gets up to head to the shower and looks back.
“J’ai besoin de nous.” Bekah whispers just looking at the floor.
“Babe, did you just say I need us?” Jon comes back over and pulls her up to his chest.
“Yeah. That’s right, right?” Bekah bats her eyes.
“It is. You are picking up more French from my mom’s FaceTime lessons with Lincoln aren’t you?” Jon kisses her cheek and she feels the heat rushing to them.
“Yeah. Speaking of, he said, ‘j’ai mon voyage’ and also ‘tabarnak’ the other day.” Jon starts laughing. Hard. “Shit, what did he pick up?”
“Well, I had enough is basically what j’ai mon voyage means and...as for the other. I’ll talk to my parents. I’m sure they didn’t mean to teach him what some deem a cuss word.” Bekah’s mouth hangs open. “Babe, I’ll fix it, okay?” He moves her braid and kisses her again. “Back to the I need us. Explain.”
“Just that. I need us. I love our family and our life and even this team but at the end of the day it’s me and you.” She spins her ring around her finger.
“Well, Beks... J’ai besoin de nous too.” Jon whispers. “I told you hockey is almost over and then it’s just us being parents and husband and wife.”
“You really think you are done Tae?” Bekah questions.
“Yeah. Dach is ready to be captain. I have four rings. Kaner and I are talking about going out together. This team has what it takes to win another one too. Now, I would love baby number three to experience some of this hockey life.” Jon rubs Bekah’s lower abdomen.
“Are you asking if you think that got me pregnant?” Bekah laughs and Jon nods. “Well, you might have to try harder Mr. Toews.” She smirks and heads towards the shower. “And if so... I’m not naming the baby Louis!”
“Death of me Beks. You will be the death of me!” Jon scoops Bekah up and heads towards the shower.
#jonathan toews fic#tazer me 19#love a damn blackhawk 🤦🏻♀️#j toews#What's in a name fic#WIAN epilogue#finally letting it out#maybe more to come
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Hi Sarah! My friend and I are starting a bookclub (as much as you can with two people who aren't pressed for deadlines) and I was wondering if you have any recommendations? (That is if you have time to rec anything!) We're starting off with Deathless and have Fitzgerald next in line somewhere but I def want to try to expand the genres we read and tbh from years of following you, I trust your judgement
I don’t...like giving recommendations? At least not directly, it seems like too much opportunity for getting it wrong. Everybody has their own tastes, after all, and even the best of friends don’t necessarily vibe with what you vibe with. (I’ve experienced this with multiple friends, so I know what I’m talking about.) Truly, one of the reasons that my whole “I’m going to get back into reading for pleasure!” push has been so successful is that I only bother with books that interest me, and stop reading when they fail to catch my attention.
But I’ve now read at least 60 books in 2020, which is approximately 60 more than I’ve read in the years prior, so I’m happy to share that. Below is my list of recent reads, beginning to end, along with a very short review---I keep this list in the notes app on my phone, so they have to be. Where I’ve talked about a book in a post, I’ve tried to link to it.
Peruse, and if something catches your interest I hope you enjoy!
2020 Reading List
Crazy Rich Asians series, Kevin Kwan (here)
Blackwater, Michael McDowell (here; pulpy horror and southern gothic in one novel; come for the monster but stay for the family drama.)
Fire and Hemlock, Diane Wynne Jones (here; weird and thoughtful, in ways I’m still thinking about)
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (here; loved it! I can see why people glommed onto it)
Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (unfinished, I could not get past the first paragraph; just....no.)
Rules of Scoundrels series, Sarah MacLean (an enjoyable romp through classic romancelandia, though if you read through 4 back to back you realize that MacLean really only writes 1 type of relationship and 1 type of sexual encounter, though I do appreciate insisting that the hero go down first.)
The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden (here)
Dread Nation, Justine Ireland (great, put it with Stealing Thunder in terms of fun YA fantasy that makes everything less white and Eurocentric)
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (VERY good. haunting good.)
Tell My Horse, Zora Neale Hurston (I read an interesting critique of Hurston that said she stripped a lot of the radicalism out of black stories - these might be an example, or counterexample. I haven't decided yet.)
The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society, T. Kingfisher (fun!)
St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell (some of these short stories are wonderful; however, Swamplandia's inspiration is still unreadable, which is wild.)
17776, Jon Bois (made me cry. deeply human. A triumph of internet storytelling)
The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (deeply enjoyable. the ending is a bittersweet kick in the teeth, and I really enjoyed the adults' relationships)
The Door in the Hedge and Other Stories, Robin McKinley (enjoyable, but never really resolved into anything.)
The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (fun, but feels very early fantasy - or maybe I've just read too many of the subsequent knock-offs.)
Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls (weird little pulp novel.)
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (enjoyable, but I don't get the hype. won't be looking into the series unless opportunity arises.)
A People's History of Chicago, Kevin Coval (made me cry. bought a copy. am still thinking about it.)
The Sol Majestic, Ferrett Steinmetz (charming, a sf novel mostly about fine dining)
House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (immensely enjoyable read, for all it feels like fic with the serial numbers filed off)
The Au Pair, Emma Rous (not bad, but felt like it wanted to be more than it is)
The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo (preferred this to Ghost Bride; I enjoy a well-crafted mystery novel and this delivered)
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (unfinished, I cannot fucking get into Le Guin and should really stop trying)
The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo (enjoyable, but not nearly as fun as Ghost Bride - the romance felt very disjointed, and could have used another round of editing)
Temptation's Darling, Johanna Lindsey (pure, unadulterated id in a romance novel, complete with a girl dressing as a boy to avoid detection)
Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton (a strange, dark psychological portrait; really made a mark even though I can't quite put my finger on why)
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (slow at first, but picks up halfway through and builds nicely; a whiff of Gone Girl with the staggered perspectives building together)
Stealing Thunder, Alina Boyden (fun Tortall vibes, but set in Mughal India)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant; The Monster Baru Commorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (LOVE this, so much misery, terrible, ecstatic; more here)
This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (epistolary love poetry, vicious and lovely; more here)
The Elementals, Michael McDowell
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (didn't like this one as much as I thought I would; narrator's contemporary voice was so jarring against the stylized world and action sequences read like the novelization for a video game; more here)
Finna, Nino Cipri (a fun little romp through interdimensional Ikea, if on the lighter side)
Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey (engrossing, even if I could see every plot twist coming from a mile away)
Desdemona and the Deep, C. S. E. Cooney (enjoyed the weirdness & the fae bits, but very light fare)
A Blink of the Screen, Terry Pratchett (admittedly just read this for the Discworld bits)
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (not as good about politics and colonialism as Baru, but still a powerful book about The Empire, and EXTREMELY cool worldbuilding that manages to be wholly alien and yet never heavily expositional)
Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (see my post)
Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan (didn't finish, got to to first explicit sex scene and couldn't get any further)
Prosper's Demon, KJ Parker (didn't work for me...felt like a short story that wanted to be fleshed out into a novel)
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (extremely fun, even for a reader who doesn't much like Napoleonic stories)
Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (fun romp - hard to believe that this is the same author as Time War though you can see glimmers of it in the imagery here)
A Scot in the Dark, Sarah MacLean (palette cleanser, she does write a good romance novel even it's basically the same romance novel over and over)
The Resurrectionist, E. B. Hudspeth (borrowed it on a whim one night, kept feeling like there was something I was supposed to /get/ about it, but never did - though I liked the Mutter Museum parallels)
Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (he's a better ideas guy than a writer, though Hell Is The Absence of God made my skin prickle all over)
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fun, very much a throwback to my YA days of fairytale retellings, though obviously less European)
Four Roads Cross, Max Gladstone (it turns out I was a LOT more fond of Tara than I initially realized - plus this book had a good Pratchett-esque pacing and reliance on characterization)
Get in Trouble, Kelly Link (reading this after the Chiang was instructive - Link is such a better storyteller, better at prioritizing the human over the concept)
Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips
Soulless; Changeless; Blameless, all by Gail Carriger (this series is basically a romance novel with some fantasy plot thrown in for fun; extremely charming and funny)
Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James (got about 1/3 of the way through and had to wave the white flag; will try again because I like the plot and the worldbuilding; the tone is just so hard to get through)
Pew, Catherine Lacey (a strange book, I'm still thinking about it; a good Southern book, though)
Nuremberg Diary, GM Gilbert (it took me two months to finish, and was worth it)
River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (I wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did; would have made a terrific movie but ultimately was not a great novel. Preferred Magic for Liars.)
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (extremely fun, though more trippy than Gods and the plot didn't work as well for me - though it was very original)
The New Voices of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (collected anthology, with some favorites I've read before Ursula Vernon's "Jackalope Wives", "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" "The Husband Stitch"; others that were great new finds "Selkie Stories are for Losers" from Sofia Satamar and "A Kiss With Teeth" from Max Gladstone and "The Philosophers" from Adam Ehrlich Sachs)
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Previous Chapter
10. Elephants
series summary - Will the Halstead brothers be able to reconnect with their sister after 5 years? chapter summary - the Halstead reunion continues Madeline Halstead (oc), Will Halstead, Jay Halstead, Mouse [mentioned] TW - pregnancy related death
series masterlist | main masterlist
Madeline basked in the warmth, feeling her roots revitalising as their chatter enveloped her, a sense of tribe, a much missed shield. Still, It seeped in corroding the cocoon.
It. An unwanted guest - never leaving, always looming. Ready to creep, sprinkling in doubt, threatening to ruin… well, anything. They won’t like them. A decorated hero turned detective and a doctor. They like boxes, they like lines, they like nor-
“Babe, just tell them already!” she could hear Jess’ laughter. Angelic against Its coils.“You’ve got this! They all love them, what’s different this time?”
But what if they don’t Jess? What if they lea-
"-addie, you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry" The brothers watched Madeline flash a smile. They didn't miss her tenseness, the way she clasped her trembling hands onto her teacup. The siblings were glad at the more smoother than expected reunion but they all knew of the certain elephants they couldn’t ignore. They decided to ride out the silence.
Finally, she broke the quiet. “I uh- I need to tell you guys something. Something important” That phrase paired with her expression would have warranted teasing from the brothers followed by Madeline's bursts of laughter. Something related to getting seconds of ice cream or wanting a second dog perhaps. But this wasn't 5 years ago.
Madeline bore into them, searching as if their eyes laid a hint of what their reactions would be. Both brothers tried for a reassuring smile, hoping to pass this sudden test she had put them on. Jay hadn't felt this level of nervousness, if ever - which was saying something considering he sat across from _the worst _of what Chicago had to offer everyday - he felt as if she didn't like what she found, there would be another five years lost.
When she seemed satisfied, Madeline spoke, “Jay- you’ve met but uh I don’t think I introduced him. Not officially anyway. And Will, you haven’t met yet but,” she took a deep breath and beamed, “I have a son. His name is Nathan, Nate … He’s 3 and I love him, more than anything in the world. I know- sounds corny but it’s true” Her expression was undeniable.
Will was elated. He had heard from Jay that night when the detective had stumbled into his apartment - “Will, she was right there. And there’s this kid, the cutest kid man. He called her mama… Fuck - Will, she had a kid and we weren’t there” - still, he could count the times he had been this happy. The brothers knew that after half a decade apart, it would be a gamble if their little sister would want them to be in her life let alone her family’s. Will hoped that her telling them was a good sign - maybe some sort of invitation that would lead to him becoming an uncle… He realised he had just been sitting there - smiling like an idiot - and rushed to congratulate but was stopped by Madeline's shake of her head.
"Please. J-just let me- I need to tell you this" Madeline breathed out, her eyes dripping with something they couldn't quite place.
Jay recognised the mint green envelope that she pulled out of her purse. She opened it and laid out a photograph on the table, her movements so careful as if the slightest jolt would would make it evaporate.
They immediately recognised Madeline - younger and thinner - sat on a sofa, mid laughter with a young woman in the middle. The woman reflecting Madeline (who Jay guessed was in her early 20's at most) had blonde hair, glowing skin and a growing bump to match. She was snuggled against a similarly aged man with dark brown skin who lovingly gazed at her as he held her close.
"Danny took this one, it's one of my favourites," her eyes crinkled at the memory. "That's Ty and Jess - they're family y'know. Really helped me out"
Jay recognised that look even through her misting eyes - it was one he had seen many times before - the look Nadia and Erin had when they had talked about each other.
Madeline continued, "Jess and I - we were so close, like sisters. And people used to think we were cause of our eyes," she shared a wistful smile, pausing as her baby pink nails traced the edges of the photograph.
Jay furrowed his eyebrows at the past tense - were they no longer friends? did this 'Ty' have something to do with it? had this ‘Jess’ just upped and left?
When she looked up, her eyes were filled with pride, "Nate ... he was a preemie, nearly 2 months early. But healthy considering - 4 lbs, 6oz."
A smile touched the brothers' eyes as they imagined their little sister, a part of that precious moment. But it faded away at her features starting to cloud.
"But Jess-," Madeline started as if on rote, her agony seeping through her blankness, "-she had complications and they took her for an emergency c section-”
Jay recognised that look as she trailed off. It was one he was all too familiar with - the one he couldn’t hide. Hoping to be the anchor Will and now Hailey were, Jay shifted closer to her where she was fiddling with her bracelet.
Madeline jerked, blinking herself back to the banquette. She took a shaky breath and continued, "Before they took her, I was so scared y’know?” Jay couldn’t take his little sister’s gaze as it crushed his spirit.
Her eyes empty, she shared a hollow laugh, “But she was laughing … told me to chill out, that she'd be back with Nate before I knew it-” She braved a tight smile, hoping to smother the pain. Knowing it never did. It didn’t matter that every syllable had been rehearsed, imprinted in her mind - Madeline always wished she could pause at Jess, beaming before they wheeled her away, before they-
The brothers held a breath as they realised where this was heading. Will had seen one too many of these cases even working in the ED. The ones where what should be a happy occasion would turn into one of much grief - the ones where more often than not, they couldn’t give answers.
“They said she lost too much blood- t-that there was nothing they could do.”
“Jess- she never got to hold him”
They saw the blame laced with confusion. The waves of emotions she had fought to surf, the numbers of tears she had shed, the days she had clung onto to arrive at this exact place with her grief. They saw it all. They knew the power of the nightmare those two sentences held. It was too great.
Will found himself thanking God in that moment. He didn’t know what to feel about that. Or in fact any of it. Guilty for being thankful that it had been the friend that was struck with the ultimate misfortune? Or was it because he let this happen to her, his little sister in the first place? Maybe it was both. Or was it relief? None of that changes anything. He could hear in the back of his mind. None of that changes the fact that you failed her.
Jay didn’t know what to say. Having done one too many notifications and witnessed the tragedy that came with the job, he knew. That no apology would be enough. Probably better than none though he thought. But everything about one just sounded phoney. Because in the end, it wouldn’t change the fact that he hadn’t been there. That he had failed her. All he could bring himself to say was,
“What’s he like?”
“Nate? He has Ty’s eyes y’know. So Much life in them. And he has this laugh … you have to hear him, it’s just like Jess’ - it lightens everything. Oh and he’s silly and hilarious, just like his Dad … has the biggest heart … he’s just amazing.”
You have to meet him, I want you to. She wanted to say. Madeline didn’t know why she felt as if she had to make an appeal of Nate. You’ve done this before - why all this now? she thought. But she knew, that this was different. Because this was Jay and Will.
As he listened to Madeline beam about her son, Jay couldn’t help but replay the all too short meeting he had at her porch that day. And before he could swallow it back, it slipped out,
“Can we meet him?” Shit. That was way too soon.
But his growing doubt came to a halt as soon as Madeline’s features lit up. “Y-Yeah? For real? You want to?”
“Maddie, heck yeah! Of course we do” The brothers’ reply didn’t do justice for how truly, undeniably happy they were.
See? Told ya Madeline heard Jess’ smile. She breathed again,_ It_ silenced. Madeline couldn’t put a word to it but it felt great, something like relief and ecstasy rolled into one. But she wasn’t done yet. She still had another brother to ask about …
"And Mousey?”
Will gave a cautious glance, knowing how much it hurt his little brother to see his best friend go.
Jay chuckled at that nickname. He hadn’t heard that one in a while, “He went back about 2 years ago, comms specialist”
“Really?"
“Mmhh. Do you remember the sergeant we used to tell you about? Well, he put a unit together and he reached out to Mouse” Jay smiled, proud.
With the same admiration as when she was little, Madeline spoke, “Seriously? That’s awesome! That unit’s lucky they have him. And … he’s okay?” Will noticed the look his younger siblings shared - he wondered if it had something to do with that one and only phone call he ever got from Pat while he was in New York.
“Mads, He’s good, spoke to him about a month ago - I should probably call him again soon though” Tell him you’re finally home, safe.
“Yeah? That’s great. Maybe I’ll join you, make it a surprise? Oh! And do you know his address? I want to send him something. Samoas and Cinnamon Crunch right? And jerky. Wait… or was that your thing?”
Jay smiled at her chatter, “No, he likes ‘em too Mads. And yeah, I’ll text you everything - Man, he is gonna freak out when he hears you.” He was surprised that Madeline had remembered those little details because even though the nightmares chased him, being overseas felt like another life ago. He guessed in a way it was. Will couldn’t help but feel a pang as he was reminded yet again of how his sister who was barely in school at the time knew more about Jay’s time with the Rangers than him.
“Good. I missed him” she shared a sweet smile before it turned into a mischievous grin. “So?”
“Yes Madeline?” Will amused, raising his eyebrows.
She huffed in return, “C’mon! All I know so far is that Jay’s a detective in a district with a nice sergeant and that you work in the Emergency Room in the same hospital as Connor which who kne-”
“Hang on ‘nice’? Which district did you go to?” Jay joked. There was one thing everyone agreed on at the 21st district - Trudy Platt although one of the best cops in the city, nice was not the first word that came to mind.
“Yeah, Sergeant Platt” she stated as if it was the most obvious.
“Pretty sure this is the first and last time I’ll ever hear Platt and nice in the same sentence - the less I have to interact with her the better.” Will dramatically shuddered before laughing with the others.
“But seriously, stop avoiding my question.” Madeline mocked annoyance.
Will jokingly put his hands up. “Alright, alright,” He straightened up and announced “Well Maddie, I have a girlfriend. Her name’s Natalie-”
“About damn time too. He’s been pining after her for how long? since you started there?" Jay smirked.
“Ooooh. So she’s at Gaffney’s too? Is she a doctor? Or a nurse? What’s she like?”
Will’s eyes crinkled at her curiosity. “Yeah, we work in the ED together - she’s a doctor too. Natalie’s great, I think you’ll like her. Hang on -” he paused, fumbling with his phone. “She can’t wait to meet you by the way.” He added before giving her his screen.
It was a selfie taken in a park or maybe a garden. Will’s girlfriend ‘Natalie’ was white and had shoulder length brunette hair - there was something kind in her eyes as she laughed. Probably to one of Will’s Really Bad jokes… Madeline amused. She’s pretty … I’m loving that top, maybe I’ll ask her where it’s from. Madeline chuckled at her eldest brother’s grin as he held her close. There was only one word to describe his expression - Smitten.
When she swiped to the next picture, she was pretty sure her heart stopped. It was probably taken a few seconds after the first one and everything else was the same except from one unmissable detail. Madeline zeroed in on the toddler now in Natalie’s arms. Crap, I waited too late. Did I miss becoming an aunt?! How old is he? Maybe like two?
Will laughed at her shocked beyond belief expression. “You’re not an aunt just yet Tiny. He’s Natalie’s son but hoping that down the road y’know …” He trailed off, giving a lopsided smile.
“You are SO in love with her” she teased before turning her attention to … “Jay?”
“Good luck” Will laughed. “Even if there is someone, he’s not sharing - Believe me Maddie, I’ve tried.”
“Uh-huh. Like I believe that. C'mon there's no one?” She tried again, now putting the puppy eyes on max.
“Nope.” Jay smiled and she couldn’t tell if he was lying - she never could to be honest. Damn his Ranger training. She was about to let it go but she saw Will raise his eyebrows and take a sip of his mug.
So there is someone she smirked.
As he looked at the row of townhouses standing impressive against the dusking sky, Jay wondered what this place was to his little sister. He had barely resisted the urge to ask the whole less than 5 minute drive to this street. The not knowing was honestly killing him but he heard his partners voice, “She’ll come home Jay.” He smiled, hugging Madeline. Guess I’ll have to follow Hails on this one too.
Watching his younger siblings hugging, Will smiled. Our family’s back. Maybe he hadn’t let himself get there but it was clear to him now how much he had craved it. He squeezed her tight, feeling that missing part of his soul starting to be found. And as he watched her walk through the gate, he made a promise right there and then - He wasn’t going to let go. Not this time.
Walking up the stone steps, Madeline couldn’t hide her grin at her body full with that warm cozy feeling. That’s got to be one of the best days ever. Replaying bits of the long awaited catch up, she chuckled at Will calling her Tiny - a nickname she almost forgot about and hated when she had turned a teen - she now realised how much she missed it.
The brothers drove back in silence for a while and when Jay heard Will say,
“She didn’t ask about Dad.”
He nodded and stared ahead. That was an elephant he was unwilling to touch. Not yet anyway.
💙✨🦋✨💙
A/N - The characters belong to Dick Wolf and are from the One Chicago universe he created. Thank you so much for reading! This chapter was really difficult for me to write and at one point I considered deleting the whole series but I kept at it and about 4 months later here we are ;) This one touched on a really heavy topic but I hope I was able to do it justice and that you enjoyed it. I’m still not sure how I feel about it but I think this is the best I can hope for in this chapter - let me know what you think 💗
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