#will is panicing thinking that nico has been cursed

[ethan-acfan]

Nico and will get drunk, nico switches to Italian, Will switches to Spanish, neither can understand the other, and they both start crying like idiots because they think they've been cursed

[mediumgayitalian]

Nico wakes up to gagging and a soft glow coming from the bathroom.

His first thought is, bizarrely, that Hazel’s home. But her bunk is still empty, and her shoes aren’t by the door, and she didn’t wake him when she came in. She always wakes him when she comes in, even if it’s four thirty in the damn morning, because nothing makes her cackle quite like Nico choking back curses and tweaking under her smothering pillow.

“Shit,” comes a small voice from the bathroom, followed by more retching. “Shitshitshit, no —”

Nico bolts for the door.

“Hi,” Will says, or tries to. His scarred knuckles clench with every gag, wrapped too tightly around the rim of porcelain to tremble like the rest of him.

Something about the wobbly smile he keeps trying to form in between gags. Something about the sweat that has drenched his t-shirt, something about the deep circles under his eyes, something about his spot in the bed completely cold, wrinkled.

Something is not adding up.

“You’re not sick,” Nico murmurs, pressing the back of his hand to Will’s forehead. Will mutters something about bliss, leaning into Nico’s hand; he smiles again, but it is strained, and at odds with the glassy look in his eyes. The sharp, rapid breaths.

“Just don’t — feel good.”

Every word is punctuated by a big, heaving gasp, like he’s trying to breathe through heavy cotton. On a hunch, Nico slides his hands down Will’s face, brushing the goosebumps on his neck, the irritated, pulsing tendons, and rest flat against his chest, over his heart.

His heart that is pounding, so quickly it is actually challenging to recognise as a beat rather than a buzz.

“You’re having a panic attack,” Nico says quietly.

Will shrugs. He gags again, but clamps his mouth shut before it goes anywhere, breathing deeply and carefully through clenched teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. His heart pounds faster, and the rapid movement of his chest grows shallow, but he manages to choke back his bile, swallow down whatever nausea is plaguing him.

“I’m — fine.” His laboured breathing is the loudest sound in the cabin. In the camp. “I’m handling it.”

Nico watches him. Watches him clench his jaw and squeeze his eyes shut and make a noise like he is being betrayed, like he is being sold for thirty silver by his own body, his own mind; watches him flex his muscles rigid and hold himself still like he can stop the nails and thorns from coming. He thinks of wide smiles and far away eyes and mental health pamphlets and cheerful slogans on infirmary walls.

“I think one of those things are true.”

“I don’t need —”

Whatever he doesn’t need is forgotten, because he is heaving again, only this time his body finds something to dredge up, even if that something is stomach acid and he cries as it burns its way up his throat, and in between heaving he wheezes, horrible whistling gasping noises, and his hair plasters to his forehead, and his body slumps into Nico’s hold and jerks away from him like rocky waves against a lakefront.

“How long have you been here?”

Will just shrugs again, and he cries, and he says “Leave, please,” and Nico wraps an arm tighter around his waist, and presses a kiss to his sweaty temple, lingering, holding, tasting salt from Will and from his tears both, and squeezing his eyes shut, and holding back the anger. Gritting his teeth and softening his hold, deliberately, resting his fingers delicately on the dip of Will’s hip, the raised pink of the stretch marks along his ribs.

“I hate it when you run from me,” he murmurs, and Will sobs again.

“I can’t breathe,” he says, and Nico squeezes and promises he can. “I’m dying. I’m dying, I’m gonna —”

“I’m here, Will.” He doesn’t say you’re not dying. He doesn’t say you’re fine, because this is the longest they’ve sat together in five days, because it is the the quiet middle of June, because yesterday Kayla spent half her shift screaming at Will to get out and ignoring him when he shouted back. Because the bandage around Will’s wrist has been worn to threads, because Lee’s hoodie has not been washed in weeks, because there is a newcomer named Michael and Will cannot even look at him. Because it has been bad. “I’m here.”

It is as much a reminder as it is a plea as it is a reprimand as it is a fruitless nothing, because when Nico struggles he gets angry, when Nico struggles he gets mean and biting and violent, but when Will struggles he wants the world to kill him. And for all that Nico is halfway to the grave he has clawed and chewed and fought his way to survival. And when Will scratches at the skin around his ears and screams into his hands and opens the chapped over scars on his lips his palms his fingers, Nico can only hold him, Nico can only gently pry his nails from his flesh and tell himself that one day they will get to the point where Nico wakes up. Where Will wakes him up, where he burrows into the place between his arms and his chest and hides in someone else for once. Where he trusts someone outside of himself enough to bare his back.

“I’m here,” he whispers again, and he presses his lips to Will’s hair and holds him as he sobs, “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.”

[ahonice]

just friends

nico hischier x fem reader

word count: 10.9k (the longest fic i’ve ever written i’m so sorry)

warnings: unplanned pregnancy and mentions of unprotected sex, cursing, the word climax, a little angsty, if i forgot anything lmk.

note: i started this on september 1st, this actually took forever. ANYWAYS hope y’all enjoy lmk if you love it, if you hate it, any feedback in general is appreciated!! love y’all babes <3

+++

it was an accident.

you and nico had been in a casual friends with benefits relationship for about a year and a half, having known each other for three years in total, when it happened.

you and nico were being stupid one night. after a few too many drinks, and no condoms to be found anywhere in your apartment, you and nico fucked without protection. 

you were on birth control and nico had pulled out, well he did halfway through his climax.

you didn’t think anything when you didn’t get your period the following month or the two months after that, you hadn’t had a period in four years thanks to your birth control. 

for weeks you thought you were just bloated, maybe you had been eating too much lately. you were much hungrier these past couple of weeks, it made sense.

it wasn’t until you threw up eleven times in one week before ten in the morning that you grew suspicious and worried at the possibility of you being pregnant. 

you stopped by the drug store on your way home from work and panic bought nine different pregnancy tests. 

you drank seven things of water during the day and took no bathroom breaks in preparation for this moment, and you had never been so scared to get test results back.

positive. every single one of them.

you felt faint, like the walls of your tiny studio apartment were caving in on you. 

you couldn’t have a baby, you couldn’t be a mother, it just couldn’t happen.

+++

the first thing you had to do was tell nico.

you and nico weren’t exclusive, and while he probably has his fair share of hookups, you did not. he was the only possible candidate for the father. 

nico was currently three days into an eight day road trip, and as much as you wanted to just get it over with, you knew this is not the type of bombshell to be dropped via snapchat or imessage, considering you two only used imessage to play game pigeon and the nature of your saved snaps was not welcome to an “i’m pregnant and you’re the father” chat.

you decided to just text him that you needed to talk when he got back.

to: nico (hookup)

hey lmk when you’re back in newark, we need to talk.

from: nico (hookup)

oh? 

from: nico (hookup)

everything okay?

to: nico (hookup)

not quite sure yet.

+++

five days later you found yourself at nico’s door, nine positive pregnancy tests in a ziploc bag in your purse. you were shaking, you don’t think you had ever been this nervous in your entire life.

nico opened up the door with a wide smile. you didn’t know what face you were making, but it was enough to make nico’s face fall and worry come through his tone of voice.

“y/n? what’s wrong?”

you didn’t even register his words, you just moved past him into his apartment and sat down on his couch.

“y/n?”

“i’m pregnant.”

the words fell out of your mouth before you could stop them.

nico sat there frozen on the loveseat as you pulled the pregnancy tests out of your purse.

around three minutes later you pulled your phone out and opened up some home makeover game, nico was still frozen.

“-oh and you’re the father but you probably already know that.”

+++

it was around four minutes later when nico finally opened up his mouth to speak.

“what are you going to do?”

his question made me a little angry, yes he wasn’t entirely at fault, but he could’ve at least taken

a little responsibility and said “we” instead of “you”.

“i don’t know yet, i have an appointment with an obgyn on saturday. i’ll learn about my options there.”

“what time?” nico asked, opening up his phone calendar.

“10:30.” you knew that nico had practice at that time because it was a game day. “you have practice, i’ll just let you know what i decide to do.”

“this is my child too, i want to be a part of the decision making.”

“well you’re not going to be the one taking care of them, i am.”

“what makes you think that? i mean obviously i will be on the road at times during the season, but when we’re on homestands and since we’ll be married we’ll have the off season together-”

“woah take a girl out to dinner before you propose nico.” you interrupted. “we aren’t getting married…” “we’ve done a whole lot more than just dinner, and yes we are? how are we supposed to raise this baby together if we aren’t together.”

“have you ever heard of co-parenting? -also who says i’m keeping it, i haven’t made my decision yet.” you get up from your spot on his couch. “look i have to go, i’ll tell you about my appointment tomorrow.”

nico let out a heavy sigh. “don’t make any decisions without me.”

+++

“y/n?” 

you looked up at the nurse who was holding the door open with their body and walked up to greet her, your knees slightly wobbling from the nerves running through you.

“please follow me into room two, i’m just gonna get your vitals.”

you stayed silent as she took your blood pressure and checked your reflexes, you had to take a moment to calm yourself down after you saw your weight, you had freaked out before you remembered that there was currently another being inside of you.

“alright your vitals look good.” the nurse spoke before exiting the room. “follow me into this room, you can go ahead and take a seat on the bed in the center of the room. the doctor should be in shortly.”

you nodded and thanked her before she exited and you took a look around the room, taking a few mirror selfies to send to the family group chat. you had told all of your immediate relatives over facetime on your way back from nico’s yesterday, the news was received better than you had planned so you couldn’t say anything about your mom’s comments on being a grandmother, she made it very clear she was on team “keep the baby and be a badass single mom in the city”.

you sat on the bed/chair thing, ripping the paper instantly as you tried to get comfortable.

you took your eyes off your phone as you heard a series of knocks.

“miss y/n?”

“yes, that’s me.”

“hi, i’m dr.swarn i’ll be assisting you today. is this your first ultrasound?” the middle aged woman asked.

“yes it is.”

“and do you know how far along you are?”

“i’m assuming three to four months…i just found out yesterday…”

“well we will find out today.” the doctor began getting the sonograph ready as you attempted to mentally prepare yourself. “-and i have to ask…the father, is he in the picture?”

“he is, but it’s complicated…we aren’t together.”

the doctor simply nodded before asking you to lift up your shirt and warning you that the gel might be cold.

after a few moments, a grainy black and white image showed up on the screen, dr. swarn pointing things out. “-and this is your baby! it is a couple weeks too early to figure out the gender, so i would estimate that you are about four months pregnant.” 

you didn’t really focus on anything she said though, all your attention was on that tiny blob.

“do you want to hear the heartbeat?”

as dr.swarn began to turn up the volume the door swung open.

a very out of breath and sweaty nico stood in the door frame, bent over catching his breath.

“sorry i’m late!” nico walked up towards where you were lying on the table and smiled up at the doctor. “i’m the father.”

dr.swarn smiled at him before speaking. “well you made it just in time, we were just about to listen to the heartbeat.”

she had the screen turned towards her so nico had yet to see the baby. “this is your baby-” dr.swarn turned the screen back towards you and nico. “and this is their heartbeat.”

it was like everything around you had disappeared and all you knew was the image of your baby and the sound of their heartbeat. nico grabbed your hand and effectively pulled you out of the trance you were in.

“would you like me to discuss your options with you?” dr.swarn asked, turning the heartbeat down.

“no, i’m keeping it.”

+++

you got a recording of the heartbeat and got a couple prints of the ultrasound before exiting the doctors office, nico getting the same things as you.

“so you’re actually gonna keep it?” nico asked once he had walked you to your car.

“yes i am, and i don’t expect you to be involved at all if you don’t want to…i can do this on my own.”

“well you won’t have to.” nico started. “move into my apartment.”

you sighed, but nico spoke again before you could. “look we don’t have to get married right away, just move in…we will see how things go from there.”

“nico- i’m not moving in with you, i am perfectly fine living in my apartment and so is the baby.” you didn’t mean for your tone to come off so harsh, well you did a little bit, but you didn’t want nico thinking that you would be getting together just because of your child together. “look nico, i know that you believe that to raise a child the mother and father need to be together but i don’t and i don’t want to be with someone just because people think we have to. i will not be having a shotgun wedding.”

“what is a shotgun wedding?”

“-it does matter. we are not getting together nico.” you got into the driver's seat of your car. “i don’t really know how this co-parenting shit works, and i’m assuming you don’t either so let’s just make sure to be patient with one another, okay?”

nico nodded before you said your goodbyes and drove off in the direction of your apartment.

+++

around two weeks later as you sat in your little cubicle your phone started ringing.

nico (hookup)

you sighed and saved the progress on your current project before picking up the phone.

“hello?”

“hey, are you home right now?”

“no, it’s two in the afternoon on a thursday. i’m at work.”

“oh i didn’t think you would work while pregnant…” “i need to fund this child’s life somehow.”

there was an awkward silence for a few moments before you spoke up again.

“did you need something nico?”

“well i called to ask if you would like to come over for dinner tonight.”

“what are you making? because i don’t mean to sound rude, but this child doesn’t like anything i cook and you’re much worse than me.”

“hey i’m not that bad!” you both chuckle before nico speaks again. “is there anything you’re craving right now?”

“jiggly cheesecake and that gouda mac n cheese with sausage i got when we went to new york two years ago.”

“okay i can’t make any of that.”

“just make whatever you want, i’ll force it down if the baby doesn’t like it. what time should i come over?”

“5:30?”

“okay, i’ll just come straight from work.”

you said your goodbyes before you go back to your work.

+++ 

once the clock struck 4:45 you called it a day and headed out to your car before driving to nico’s apartment.

you knocked on the door, a tad bit confused because you heard multiple voices on the other side of the door, if it wasn’t for the welcome mat on the outside that you had forced nico to get you would’ve thought you were at the wrong door.

“hey.” nico opened the door, the voices only getting louder.

“hey…are other people joining us…?” you asked, looking around his apartment confused.

“yeah i probably should've mentioned-”

nico had begun to speak, but a voice that you knew as nico’s mother. “is y/n here!?” soon you saw her smiling faces coming towards you with open arms. “oh come here, it’s been too long sweetie!”

god bless your work bag that seemed to span to five feet because it was hiding your baby bump that was very noticeable in your blouse.

“hello mrs.hischier, how are you?” you asked politely, but you were really wanting to strangle nico right now.

“i’m great! luca and nina are here too!”

“oh that’s great! i’ll go see them in a second, i just need to talk to nico really quickly.”

you smiled as she walked away before turning to nico and gave him a swift slap on the backside of his head. “are you crazy!? did you just ambush a pregnancy announcement on me!?”

“look, i know this probably wasn’t the best way to approach this, but my family needs to know.”

“i am fully aware of that, but this is something that you plan out, not something you spring on a pregnant woman!”

“i’m sorry! just- let’s go into the living room, nina really misses you.”

you had met nico’s family multiple times before and were especially close with his sister nina, she was the only one who knew of you and nico’s odd relationship and was the number one supporter of you two getting together.

you walked out, your work bag still covering yourself as you greeted luca and nina, the later giving you a look that only made you nervous.

you made small talk with the family before nico announced that dinner was ready. thankfully nico had brought your plate to you, both you and the fetus were happy with the look and smell of the fettuccine alfredo, with sausage, that nico had made. “thank you.”

as much as you didn’t want to, you had to set your work bag that had been used as a bump shield on the floor to eat, you just hoped everyone was too distracted by the food in front of them to notice.

“so what was the news that you had to share? i assume it has to do with y/n?” mrs.hischier spoke excitedly, it was obvious she was hoping that you and nico had started dating.

“y/n is pregnant and i’m the father and we are keeping it, but we are not together.” nico spoke quickly, his head down as if he was a child being scolded.

“oh…” 

it wasn’t the worst reaction that could’ve happened, but it definitely wasn’t the best one, but how good of a reaction could one get after they tell their mother they got their fuck buddy pregnant.

“we’re figuring this all out as we go, but i am very sorry mrs.hischier i understand this isn’t how one would usually want their son to become a father.” you apologized, your head was also down.

“i’m not angry, just shocked and a little bit disappointed in you nico…but everything happens for a reason so i fully support you two.” you and nico let out identical sighs as his mother revealed that she was not going to disown either of us.

+++

the rest of dinner went great, you even made plans for both yours and nico’s family to get together for a small gender reveal brunch before the hischier’s headed back to switzerland.

nina had called dibs on walking you out so you prepared yourself for the question you knew she was going to ask.

“are you absolutely, one hundred percent, serious when you say that you and nico are not together in any way, whatsoever, romantically?” nina asks, using too many synonyms for the word definitely.

“yes i am absolutely, one hundred percent, serious when i say that me and nico are not together in any way, whatsoever, romantically.” you reply, mocking her words.

she doesn’t seem too pleased by your answer and whines. “why? i want a sister and you are the only person i like, in general.”

“that is very sweet nina, but me and nico don’t like each other in that way. we’ve been…boinking for almost two years now. if either of us had feelings, i guarantee they would have been confessed by now and we probably would not be expecting a child out of wedlock in five months.”

nina let out an exaggerated sigh as you neared your car. 

“me and nico are just friends, okay?” you spoke, getting into the driver’s seat. 

“yeah friends who happen to boink on a weekly basis and are now expecting a child together.”

“i’ll see you at brunch on sunday nina.” 

+++

“i’m team boy and girl!”

“mom i already told you we aren’t having twins.” 

the sunday morning activities were supposed to be fun, and they were, but they were causing you a shit load of stress. 

it seemed like everything nico was doing was aggravating you, and when nico and your little brother were in the same room it was a recipe for disaster. plus your mother wasn’t any help, she teamed up with nico’s mother and kept pressuring you to at least move in with nico, who you believe put them up to it.

“okay let’s just get this over with!” you yelled out, just wanting to figure out the gender so you could go home and have some much needed alone time.

nico came up next to you holding the envelope that contained the gender. “you ready mommy?”

“ew, don’t call me that.”

everyone had their phones out and began counting down as nico opened up the envelope.

“it’s a…GIRL!”

everyone’s cheers only furthered your headache, but you gave nico a smile and side hug before going over to your mother who ecstatically hugged you.

“a baby girl! i’m so happy for you y/n, my first grandbaby!”

you quickly said your goodbyes, not bothering to eat any of the food that was made or open any of the gifts that were brought.

were you being a rude, ungrateful, bitch for no reason? yes. but you were too exhausted to care or feel bad about nico’s constant dejected looks on his face throughout the morning.

+++

the second you got home you passed out on the floor of your apartment , god bless the pregnancy pillow your mother had delivered to you because you had a weird thing for sleeping on hardwood floors. 

you woke up at three in the afternoon to a series of knocks at your door. you took a while to get up and once you did you regretted it because you saw nico looking very angry through the peephole. 

you grabbed a sharpie and a sheet of paper towel and wrote the words “GO AWAY” in a very bold font before slipping it under the door.

the knocking silenced for a moment before it got louder, along with a call of your name.

“y/n. open the fucking door.” nico was seething.

you opened up the door. “what? i was sleeping.” you pointed to the pillow and blanket on the floor of your kitchen.

“on the floor?”

“yes- what do you need nico?”

“you left the party so quickly that you didn’t even get to open up your gifts, or acknowledge them.” nico gestured to the large bag of wrapped gifts that sat at his feet. “you actually left the party so early that the food wasn’t even served before you had said your goodbyes, which by the way thanks for not saying goodbye to me and thanks so much for the fake smile and side hug you gave me after we found out the gender of our child. that’s gonna be a real joy to look back on.”

you felt your headache coming back, you were starting to believe the sole cause was nico.

“seriously what was your problem this morning?” nico asked after a few moments of silence.

“my problem was that i didn’t even want this baby in the first place and i know for a fact i’m not going to be a good mother, and you! nico you are my problem, everything you did this morning seemed to piss me off and it’s probably just the pregnancy hormones making me easily irritable, but you were getting on my fucking nerves by breathing this morning.” 

nico kicked the bag of gifts into your apartment in a fit. “well i’ll stop bothering you then.”

you knew you should’ve been a rational adult and went after him, but you weren’t, so you slammed the door and brought all the gifts to the living room so you could open them.

you smiled as you realized that all of the gifts were for you. your favorite candies and snacks, maternity clothes, and some prenatal care items that you probably should’ve started taking the second you found out you were pregnant, with the exception of one gift. it was from nico, you could tell by the poor wrapping job, you had been the one to wrap all of his christmas gifts ever since you met him except your own of course, those he always wrapped himself and they were a nightmare.

once you got his present unwrapped you found a boat load of mini devils gear. bibs, socks, a onesie, even a pair of noise canceling headphones. at the bottom of the box you found a very tiny devil’s jersey with the number thirteen on the back and a big patched “C” on the front. you teared up once you saw the big patched “DADDY” above the thirteen on the back and a matching bow headband with a small note. i’m writing this before the reveal and i know we don’t know the sex yet, but i’m hoping for a girl and i know you are too. i hope the headband is a little good luck charm that baby girl judith is on the way. - nico.

you teared up at the note, especially at nico remembering the name you’ve always wanted to name your first daughter.

you quickly called nico, tears streaming down your face and nose all stuffy.

“hello?”

“come back up…please.”

“on my way.”

+++

you stood by the door waiting for nico to knock and once he did you immediately opened the door and nearly tackled him from the hug you gave him.

“i’m sorry.” you mumbled, still crying.

“i know, it’s okay.”

you walked into your apartment and sat on your couch next to nico. “you remembered my baby names.”

“how could i forget them?” nico stated.

“what would you have done if it was baby boy gannon instead of judith?” you asked, turning your head that was leaned on his shoulder up to look at him.

“turn the headband into a bowtie…?”

you laughed at him before your stomach growled loudly.

“what are you in the mood for?” nico asked immediately.

“canes, but that’s in the city and i don’t wanna make you go to new york.” 

nico stood up after hearing your restaurant of choice. “c’mon, i’ll drive.”

+++

“how is it?”

“this is sex in a chicken tender nico, thank you for taking me here.”

nico laughed at your response before the both of you continued to eat a comfortable silence.

“hey tell your family that i’m sorry for how i was acting this morning, i am super grateful for them helping plan the reveal and to delay their flight to attend.”

“don’t worry, they understand that pregnancy emotions can be a lot, but i will still let them know.” nico said, making a mental note to text the family group chat.

“their gifts were very thoughtful too, how did nina know i like black licorice?”

“oh i let them know all your favorite things, that wasn’t alcohol.” nico shrugged as if it was no big deal.

you took a moment to process his answer, it wasn’t that weird for nico to know all of your favorite snacks and desserts, that’s what friends do…right?

+++

to: nico (hookup)

i have my sixth month checkup tomorrow at 10am, would you like to join?

from: nico (hookup)

yeah, do you wanna meet there or drive together?

to: nico (hookup)

could we drive together? 

from: nico (hookup)

of course, i’ll pick you up at 9:30, we’ll stop by mcdonalds for breakfast. i know you love their sausage muffins.

you hadn’t seen nico since the day of the gender reveal party and when you went into the city together to get canes. of course you stayed in contact, but it was hard with both of your work schedules that often collided. 

the next day nico was knocking on your door right at nine thirty in the morning, and you were still passed out. the pregnancy pillow and weighted blanket combo was not being your friend right now, though it was at 5am when the gremlin in your womb wouldn’t stop kicking. which she did for the first time earlier that day.

after about five minutes of nico knocking on your door with no response he began to fully panic, had you fallen down and couldn’t get up? were you dead in your bed? did you forget he was picking you up? so many things could’ve happened to you.

after a few moments of contemplating, nico decided that his only option was to break the door down. he began backing up a few steps and then running full force into your door, it took about seven tries for the door to fall to the ground.

the sound of the first impact of nico’s body was enough to wake you up. at the second impact you became aware of your surroundings, and at the third you thought someone was trying to break into your apartment.

you grabbed the closet weapon you could find, a meat pounder that you left on your kitchen counter last night, and got in position, ready to attack the person on the other side of the door.

once the door fell to the ground and the body fell on top of it, you got ready to swing.

“y/n!? are you alive!?”

“AHHH- nico!?” you froze your movements, the pounder hanging right above your head. “what are you doing here!?”

nico was still on the ground, also frozen as he tried to catch his breath. “ultrasound.”

you dropped your hands to your side as an ohhh played in your head. “i’m sorry i completely forgot. just give me a few moments and then we can leave.”

you turned around to enter your room before you froze and turned back around.

“i don’t have a front door…”

“i’ll text jack to come over and watch over the place and reattach it while we’re gone, the kid needs something to do this morning anyways.” nico said while pulling out his phone.

“does he know?”

“no, but he will…i’ve been meaning to ask you about telling the team anyways.”

“we can talk about it later , i need to get ready.”

you quickly got dressed, sporting a tight tank top, tight leggings, and a tight zip up. all tight because this baby had you gaining five pounds a minute. you huffed and puffed trying to get the tank top on. eventually you got it over your bump, but it was rising up and you were spilling out of it in too many places. deciding to just embrace the bummy look you threw on uggs, didn’t bother to put your contacts in, and left your hair in the rat's nest bun you’ve been wearing for the past five days since you were told to take a break from work by your boss, of course you had to faint in front of her.

“nico i need to get maternity clothes, i’m pretty sure these tanktop strings will snap if i raise my arm and don’t get me started on these leggings.”

“you’re huge…” 

“thanks nico, you’re really helping out right now.” you joked, but deep down you were upset. you don’t tell a pregnant woman she is huge, especially if it’s your baby. “let’s go, we can’t be late.”

“jack is almost here, babe.” the nickname slipped out before nico could even process what he was saying.

“uhm…”

“yo nico what’s up…where is y/n’s door.” jack said while walking into your apartment.

“you’re standing on it.” you spoke. jack’s eye’s wandered to you and then to your belly, and then they got really wide. “hi jacklyn.”

“oh shit.”

“we can talk about this later, but me and nico really have to go because we’re already running late.”

you and nico quickly walked out, the later telling jack that you had a toolbox under your sink and to “go crazy.” 

“no mcdonalds then huh?” nico asked as you got into his car.

“no, but i’ll be fine.”

+++

you weren’t fine.

you quickly got hangry and so did judith, nico seemed to be your punching for just about everything and even though he said he was fine, you could tell you hit home when you told him he needed to wax his eyebrows.

dr.swarn was completely fine with you guys being ten minutes late because she didn’t have anyone scheduled after you. the appointment went great except judith didn’t want to kick when nico felt your stomach, and of course nico’s hands were all dry and calloused which you hated feeling on your skin, and then after the ultrasound was over you guys rushed to mcdonalds because nico was determined to get you a damn sausage muffin, but of course you were two minutes past the cutoff for lunch and the teenager taking your order wouldn’t budge and you had to pretend like the cheeseburger didn’t come back up the second you got into the restroom. all you wanted to do is go home and be alone…and eat jalapeno poppers…and mozzarella sticks…

nico stopped at target to get what you wanted, and mac n cheese bites because he knew you’d love them.

you were pleasantly surprised when you arrived home to your door back on. luckily it had just separated itself from the hinges when nico tackled it to the ground, so it was an easy fix for jack.

once you stepped inside, nico quickly got to work, placing large portions of everything he bought in your airfryer. nico said it was crazy to buy a twenty size quart size air fryer and that you would never use it, but here he was being proven wrong.

you quickly changed out of the leggings and jacket, leaving the tank top on because you knew it would be just as much of a workout to get it off as it was to get it on and you threw on nico’s heart boxers he swears he wore as a joke, but you knew he picked them out at the store being one hundred percent serious.

“you two kids come sit down.” jack spoke loudly, as if he was your father.

“jack we are both older than you.” nico spoke sitting down in the spot next to you on your couch.

“doesn’t matter. you’re pregnant?”

you both nodded as jack pointed to you.

“-and you’re the father?”

you both nodded as jack pointed to nico.

“and you’re keeping it together as…”

“friends, just friends.”

“friends don’t have babies together.” jack gave you a skeptical look.

“they do now.” you stood up. “goodbye jack.”

+++

“i think it’s best if you two move in together, for both your safety y/n, and the babies.”

dr.swarn spoke before leaving you and nico in the room alone,

you were now seven months pregnant and you were constantly fainting, your boss had stopped allowing you to come into work and told you that you “needed rest” so you met her halfway and you now work from home.

nico was over one night after a game when he walked in on you passed out on the kitchen floor, but this time it wasn’t on purpose. he immediately began staying the night on your couch to make sure you were alright and as soon as you could he got you into dr.swarn’s office.

“i’m taking you home and we’re packing you up. i’ll text jack to come over with luke.” nico said as you exited the obgyn. 

“you know i can help right? judith is fine-”

“-but you’re not fine! you told dr.swarn that you’ve been fainting since even before you got pregnant, and i didn’t know. why didn’t you tell me about all this?” nico interrupted you, obviously upset.

“because it’s not important!” you snapped back. “it doesn’t affect judith in anyway, so i don’t understand you’re so worried.”

“it’s important because it affects you. i am worried about you, and i’m allowed to be. now there is no more arguments, you will be moving in with me and ending your lease at your current place.”

“nico-”

“no, that is final.”

+++

for the rest of the day you sat and watched tv while the two hughes and nico packed up your apartment until they had to pack your tv, which you insisted they did last.

“the truck is all loaded up, we’re gonna drive it over to nico’s and he is going to drive you in your car.” jack spoke as you approached where the truck was parked on the side of the street.

you nodded as nico helped you into the car. you hated admitting it, but you were much larger than you were expecting to be at this time in your pregnancy. 

+++

once you had made it to nico’s apartment you did the same thing you were doing before while the boys unpacked your stuff into the second bedroom, absolutely nothing.

you got up and waddled over to where the guys were all watching luke struggle to get the fitted sheet on your bed.

“can i please do something? anything?” you begged.

“yeah, go out and use my laptop to create a list of things you want as gifts at the baby shower, a registry because i know you want specific things for judith.” nico answered your begging.

“baby shower? i’m having a baby shower?” you had not been informed of this.

“yeah, all the guys on the team and their partners are gonna come, so are your friends and family, mine is coming too.” nico spoke like it was no big deal. 

nico had told the guys about three weeks ago because they saw the ultrasound in his locker. which in response had you getting multiple text messages from some of the girls all sounding very similar to “i thought y’all were just friends?” 

“when is this?” you asked, knowing you would need to get an outfit ready.

“next saturday, we have no game.” nico replied simply

“that’s in a week!” you shrieked, when you went maternity clothes shopping that did not involve any dresses.

“yeah, so you better get working on that list.”

+++

it only took you ten minutes to make the list because all you had to do was transfer it from a google doc, where it was already made but just titled as your shopping list, to a spreadsheet where people could claim a gift to give you, nico, and the baby.

it was a list with the basics. a stroller, breast pump, car seat (preferably one that went with the stroller), bed sheets, clothes, the essentials to keep a newborn alive, but you also had other things like decor for the nursery toys, and this bedside bassinet that your mother had been raving about since she saw it on facebook. you thanked god that your new room had a walk-in closet because that was going to be judith’s room. you weren’t even sure it was a closet because it was completely empty, no shelves or rods to hang anything on, it was more of a very small room, but it worked out better for you so you couldn’t complain.

you quickly went back to where the boys were, silently screaming as they made your bed completely wrong.

“please, oh please for the love of god, let me make my bed.” you begged nico, genuinely astonished that they had managed to put your pillows in the wrong order and put your comforter on inside out.

“i thought i told you to make your list?” nico said.

“i already finished. it was easy.” you said as you began stripping your bed of everything on it. “i just put down everything i already had on my shopping list…and then some because i know my friends are gonna wanna get me multiple things.”

you made sure to stare jack down as you put your comforter on the correct way before you placed your pillows in the correct order as well as the blankets at the end of your bed.

nico was quick to rush you back into the living room, turning on a movie for you to watch. you quickly got bored, which meant you quickly got hungry.

“nico!” you yelled out, needed your baby daddy to come to your rescue.

“yes honey?” nico approached where you were lying down, the two brothers laughing at their captain.

“i’m hungry.” you gave him a hopeful smile. “for taco bell…” “you’re order still the same as it was last time?” nico didn’t even hesitate to grab his shoes and keys. 

“yes, but if they have nacho fries please get those too.” you answered, nico had basically all of your fast food orders memorized by now.

“nico can i get some food too?” jack asked in a girly voice.

“please honey!” luke added.

“fuck off you two, go finish putting her clothes away.

+++

soon enough you had dragged nico out to go shopping for a dress for your baby shower. luke and jack had left shortly after nico arrived back home with your food and once you finished eating you got nico to drive you to the mall.

“ooh what about this one?” you pulled out a simple floral dress.

“it’s nice, but it’s only march. don’t you think it’ll be too cold for a tank top?” nico spoke, reminding you that it was still freezing cold in new jersey.

a few minutes later you approached where nico was sat in a chair with a dress you thought would be more appropriate. 

“what about this? i love the pink.” it was basically a dupe of the skims long sleeve dress, but you didn’t really care. “we’ll have to find a polo that matches the color while we’re out.”

nico approved of the dress so you were quick to go to the checkout and buy the dress, excited about the event that was going to happen, after you pulled nico into the closest department store and found a polo that was close enough to the shade of pink of your dress. 

“how are you gonna tell the media about…this whole thing?” you asked on the way home.

“what whole thing?” nico questioned, not exactly understanding what you meant.

“the fact that you knocked up some chick, who you are now living with to raise the baby, but you aren’t together with said chick.” you deadpanned, thinking of all the reactions you knew you were going to get from the hockey world. you could already see the “baby trapper” and “gold digger” comments and dms you would get.

“i didn’t knock up some chick, i knocked up my…friend?” 

“yeah go with that, it sounded real believable nico.” you said sarcastically.

“look i don’t really know how to tell the world that i got my hook up/best friend pregnant because, as jack as told me multiple times, my pull out game is weak.” you laughed and agreed with jack that nico did in fact have a weak pull out game, the evidence was currently kicking you. 

after a few moments of silence nico spoke up again. “alright what if we don’t mention our relationship at all. we just make an instagram post together of images of the ultrasounds and pics from the baby shower and tell everyone that we are expecting. we definitely won’t post the gender reveal video because you look like you were planning my death in it, but we just make the post and don’t comment on our relationship.”

you had to admit that it was a good idea, but you already knew that this would make everyone assume that you were dating. most people did already, which you understood. you wore playoff jackets with nico’s name and number, you attend team events and parties together, hell you went to the nhl awards with him and his family, and you are super close with his family, so you were never upset that people assumed your relationship status with nico because you did everything that the other girlfriends and wives did.

“i like that idea.”

+++

“alright this gift is from me and jack.” luke spoke as he handed you a gift.

you were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people looking at you and just simply being in your home, but you knew that these people were here for you and at the end of the day you were getting a shit ton of gifts. 

so far every single thing you had put on your list was gifted to you and now it was just things people thought you or the baby would like.

“oh you guys…i love it!” it was a wood wall decal of judith’s name and it matched the pink polkadot of her sheets.

“there is more under it.” jack spoke up. 

you lifted up the large sign and saw a baby onesie in maize and blue that said “future wolverine.”

you and your friends started laughing at it. 

“you guys do know that i went to ohio state right?”

you were met with a disgusted stare by the brothers, more specifically the youngest, only causing you to laugh harder, not noticing nico’s pissed off expression, the one he had on his face all day.

+++

you continued to open up gifts and thank everyone, nico was one writing duty so he wrote down each gift and who it was from so you could send them thank you cards later in the week.

once presents were done it was photo time. you took lots with your family and nico’s family, as well as some with your friends, and of course you had to keep the tradition going with the girls from the team and took a picture of everyone pointing at your belly.

you only took a couple with nico, as he had been oddly distant all day.

after everyone left you and nico began moving everything into judith’s nursery and setting things up.

“thank you for setting that up, i had a lot of fun.” you spoke up, interrupting the awkward silence that was looming around you two.

nico nodded as he finished building the crib, you were given the simple task of putting all the wipes and diapers in the changing table’s cabinet.

“so once we’re done do you want to make the instagram post? or were you wanting to wait until after judith was born to post?” it was awkward, nico was just sitting there once the crib was all set up. “...nico?”

you were met with silence, nico was staring at you, yet not speaking.

“okay what the hell is up with you today? you’ve been weird all day, the only time you were even interacting with me was during pictures.” you had snapped, getting aggravated by the swiss’ behavior today.

“it’s nothing i just…” nico started speaking, but trailed off quickly.

“are you having second thoughts about all of this?” you whispered, scared to say it too loudly, scared that it is the truth. “second thoughts about judith?”

nico’s head instantly shook. “no, of course not.”

“then what’s wrong?”

“it’s nothing, i’m just not feeling the greatest and i didn’t want to risk you getting sick so i tried to keep my distance from you…” nico lied.

earlier, when the party was first starting, nico had overheard your conversation with your friends about how you couldn’t wait to give birth so you can start going out on dates and having meaningless hookups, saying that you missed being a twenty two year old who could do twenty two year old things. 

nico understood you had urges, hell he had his urges too. over the course of your pregnancy you and nico had the occasional…hang out, but ever since you moved it was happening once, sometimes twice, a day. he thought it meant something, he thought you guys were finally going somewhere, but it seemed like you just wanted to go back to how things were before, which would probably be impossible, you have a fucking kid togther.

nico had realized a year ago that he had feelings for you. the only reason he didn’t go full legal team on your ass when you told him you were pregnant was because of how desperately he had fallen for you.  

“oh, well you could’ve just told me that earlier, i was worried that i had done something.” you said before an awkward silence settled in the room. “well could you put all the sheets and clothes we got today in the washer? i’m gonna start on thank you notes in the living room.”

you shook off the tension as you exited the small room, nico gathering everything that needed to be washed in a small basket before going into the laundry room.

+++

“i don’t like that, why don’t we just wait to post until she is born to post everything, have the caption just be judith? i think that's better than a three hundred word rant that could be summarized by i knocked up my friend.” 

three weeks until you were due to pop and you and nico still hadn’t gone public with the pregnancy. of course the wag blogs found a way to get a hold of a picture of you and nico from earlier on in the pregnancy where people could only speculate whether or not you were with child or just had a large lunch and somehow it got out that you had moved in with nico, only furthering the rumors that had been going on for years that you and nico are more than just friends. 

“okay. let’s wait until she comes to post, but i don’t like that caption, let’s keep thinking.” nico replied, the devil’s PR team email staring back at him. “they want us to publicize it before someone else does it for us.”

“well it’s a good thing i’m chained to this bed until i go into labor.” you joked, you were so big you could barely sit up let alone walk anywhere. “no one is going to find out, don’t worry. it will all be okay.”

+++

two weeks later you had been having contractions all day, but dr.swarn said to not go to the hospital until your water had broke because these contractions could’ve been directly connected to stress. considering that your pregnancy was exposed three days ago, you would say that you were pretty stressed out.

one of the girls, not even thinking, had posted a photo dump on instagram to celebrate the devil’s season ending and included one from your baby shower. nico, you, and unborn judith right in the center of it all. it was quickly taken down, but the damage had already been done and now all of nico’s and your social medias were being flooded by comments. 

nico was currently at locker cleanout, and the meeting he had to have with the PR team to apologize for not listening to them and to set up a game plan to rescue him from whatever deepshit this was going to get him in was scheduled for right after.

you were laid down on the kitchen floor, your mother was somewhere in the living room timing your contractions. you were having a big contraction, holding onto the nearby chair leg for support, when you felt a gush of liquid puddle under you. 

“MOM!?” you yelled out, your water had just broke.

“sweetie!? what’s going on- OH LORD!” your mother scrambled to get you on your feet as you cried out in pain. “let me get the bag!” you had never seen your mom run so fast, you would’ve laughed at her nearly tripping if it wasn’t for the child threatening the slip out at any moment.

you were assisted into the backseat of your mother’s car as she drove to the hospital.

“if you could step on it, that would be great i’m kinda-” your sarcastic comment was cut off by another contraction. “nico…oh my god nico! i need to call him!”

you fished around the packed bag until you got a grip on your phone, dialing up nico as quickly as possible.

“i’m sorry but the number you reached is not available. please leave a message at the sound of the beep.”

you groaned loudly, speaking into the phone. 

“your child is currently in the process of being born, i’m at the hospital closest to the arena. please hurry.”

+++

you laid in the weirdly comfortable hospital bed, not yet fully dilated. it worked out in your favor because nico had yet to show up. you left a couple text messages and then a few more voicemails.

“i don’t know what the fuck your doing right now, but if judith is born before you get here your last name will not be on the birth certificate.” you said into the microphone, leaving the third voicemail of the day.

nico’s entire family was flying in next week and nico had made sure that he had all of next week off from any media or anything related to hockey so he could be there for the birth, but now judith was coming early and no one but your mother was here.

dr.swarn entered your hospital room again, she had arrived shortly after you because you had paged her the second you got into the car. “how are we doing momma?”

“not good, baby daddy is nowhere to be seen and i’m still not dilated enough to get this monster out of me.” you answered, setting your phone down beside you.

after a few moments dr.swarn smiled. “well i’m sorry about nico’s absence, but judith is ready to come out. you’re ready to push.”

+++

you don’t remember much, the epidural had kicked in. 

you remember holding onto your mom’s hand so hard that she yelped in pain at one point.

you remember cursing nico for not only doing this to you, but not being there for you.

you remember crying, a lot, and you remember judith crying a lot too.

you remember holding judith for the first time. both of your tears stopped for just a moment as you had skin on skin contact.

you whimpered as they took her away for cleaning, but soon she was wrapped up and you were able to hold her again. 

you remember the sound of footsteps and a thick swiss accent begging to be let into the room, continuously yelling that he was the father. your mother was quick to go into the hall and defend nico from the nurses saying he couldn’t go into the room, and as soon as nico saw you holding judith he began crying. 

“y/n i am so so sorry, i was-”

“where the hell were you!? i just had to give birth to our daughter without the father there!” you scolded the man.

“i put my phone at the bottom of my bag during locker cleanout and didn’t even think to take it out before my meeting with management. i got here as fast as i could.” nico had to catch his breath while he spoke.

“i was all alone…” you teared up, all of your emotions catching up to you again.

“i know. i know baby and i’m so sorry.” nico said, coming to your side. “can i hold her?”

you were too distracted by nico calling you baby, well more specifically by the feeling in your stomach, to answer with words. you just nodded and handed judith over. “be careful, and make sure to support her head.”

you smiled at the sight of nico holding judith, tears in his eyes, quickly taking a picture.

“were you serious about my name not being on the birth certificate?”

+++

once everything had settled down and you and nico were finally given some alone time in the hospital room you began making calls.

your mom had already messaged your families group chat, informing them of judith’s birth and sending pictures, so now you just had to call nico’s family. first was his mother, you had wanted to call her before you went into labor but it was around midnight for her and you didn’t want to wake her up.

she was so happy to hear from you, and you had never heard such an excited scream in your life when you turned the camera onto where judith was currently sleeping in your arms, nico having moved to lay behind you in the bed, his chest being your pillow.

“oh you have to call nina next, she has been so excited to become an aunt!”

that’s exactly what you two did.

facetime nina was fun, she gave you some much needed comic relief and she didn’t make any comments on yours and nico’s relationship…while he was in the room.

the second nico stepped out of the room nina was quick to ask when the wedding was.

“never gonna happen. i don’t like nico like that, and he doesn’t like me like that.” you said while putting judith back in that plastic jail they call a crib. “we’re here to talk about my gorgeous daughter who looks a little too much like nico for my liking.”

“ouch.” 

your head whipped around to see nico standing at the door. “your back early.” you were hoping he didn’t hear what you had said earlier. lately nico had been acting insanely weird everytime someone brought up your relationship with one another.

“the nurse was just outside, she’s gonna go finish the final paperwork and we’ll probably be out of here in the next hour.” nico said before turning back around. “i’m gonna go help out with the discharge papers.”

once he left you let out a groan. “nina why is your brother acting so weird?”

“what’s up with him?” she asked, curiously.

“ever since the baby shower he has just been…off. i don’t even know how to explain it.” you  started off, beginning to pace around the room. “he is so distant, and really out of it. i would think it might just be with the upsetting ending of the season, but this has been going on since before the playoffs. he keeps saying that he is sick and doesn’t want to expose me to germs, but i live with him and i haven’t even heard him sneeze from allergies.”

“do you think, and i hate to ask this, that he is having regrets about…everything?” 

you felt tears fill your eyes at her question. “yeah, i do. i asked him, and he denied it, but i can’t think of any other reason why he would distance himself from me and from judith.”

the lack of response from your friend on the phone was enough to make you start crying.

“i have my essentials packed up and my mom has a lawyer on speed dial just in case something happens…” you felt horrible having to admit this, especially to his sister. “i don’t want the lawyers, it’s my moms doing.” you felt guilty for what having a lawyer would be implying. 

“-i’m not judging you. just make sure nico doesn’t find out, i have a feeling he won’t be a fan of you even having a bag packed.” nina cut you off. “look i have to go, just keep me updated.”

you assured her you would before saying your goodbyes.

+++

“hey you just have to sign the discharge papers and the birth certificate, then we can leave.” nico said, entering the hospital room you had been in for the past couple of hours.

it had been around twenty minutes since you said goodbye to nina, deciding to finish phone calls tomorrow and instead spend your time crying while holding your crying newborn, best way to bond right?

“okay.” you sniffled. “could you put judith in her carseat? i’m gonna change.”

bond right?

“okay.” you sniffled. “could you put judith in her carseat? i’m gonna change.”

nico nodded and picked judith up from the hospital’s crib, holding her close to his chest and staring at her in awe. he couldn’t believe that this precious little girl was his.

“i’m always going to love and protect you, no matter what. your mother too. someday we’ll be a happy family, the three of us, hopeful gannon will join us sometime soon…” nico trailed off. “daddy loves you and he loves mommy too, you’re the two most important women in my life now, don’t you ever forget that…your mommy does a lot.” 

nico couldn’t finish his peptalk, or whatever one would call the conversation with his daughter, because you had stepped out of the bathroom changed and ready to go. “are you okay?” it was obvious that you were crying, you don’t know why you were even trying to hid it. 

“i’m fine, just emotional…just gave birth ya know.” you tried to laugh it off.

nico didn’t believe it. “we’ll talk when we get home.” 

+++

“why have you been acting so weird-”

“i overheard what you said-”

you and nico spoke at the same time, nico gesturing for you to go first.

“you overheard!?” you were convinced you were breaking a sweat from how panicked you had become in an instant. “look nico, the lawyer was my mother’s idea a-and i haven’t even actually talked to them yet, my mother just has them on retainer.”

“wait, what!?” nico stared at you with a look that scared you. “i was talking about what you said at your baby shower. you have a lawyer!? do you have all your things packed too so you’re ready to leave me and take judith with you!?” your silence only made nico angrier. “oh my god you do have your shit packed.”

“j-just the essentials…” you stuttered out.

“yeah because that makes a difference.” nico had distanced himself from you. “i cannot believe this.”

“i only did that stuff because for the past month it's seemed like the last thing you wanted was to be in mine and judith’s life!” your loud voices woke judith up, her loud wails only making the room more tense. you picked her up and tried to soothe her as you spoke to nico. “i’m only gonna ask you one more time nico, do you regret being with me and deciding to be in judith’s life?” 

“no. i do not regret it y/n.” nico spoke sternly.

“then why the hell are you treating us this way?” 

“because i am in love with you.”

your eyes widened in shock and you nearly lost your grip on judith from the whiplash that seemed to go through your body.

“you…what!?” 

it was essentially a stare down between the two of you, it was so uncomfortable in the room that even judith shut her mouth. 

“i have for a year now, probably longer, a-and i thought that judith would finally be my way into your heart. i thought that me being there for you, and for our daughter, would make you love me too.” nico’s tone of voice was one of a kicked puppy. 

“what are you doing?” you asked, not pleased with what he was throwing onto you. “why are you telling me this?” 

“i just needed you to know.” nico whispered his response, not expecting that reaction.

“so you’ve been in love with me for a year now?” nico nodded at your question. “so how does that add up to you treating me like some gold digging whore who got pregnant on purpose for the past month?” 

“i’m not-” nico let out a heavy sigh. “at your baby shower you said you couldn’t wait for everything to get back to how it was before the pregnancy.”

“yeah, so?”

“so!? you’ve basically been counting down the days until you’re able to fuck someone else, while i’ve been doing everything in my power to prove myself to you that i am worthy of being more than just the guy you fuck when no one else is available.” nico grew angry, if this was a cartoon steam would be coming out of his ears.

“i didn’t ask for you to do that nico! i was happy with how things were before judith, is it so wrong to want that back?” you were equally as angry. who was he to make you feel guilty about not being in love with him?

“yes it is! you are a mother now y/n, you are not allowed to be irresponsible anymore. you have to take care of two lives now-”

“are you not going to be helping me!?” you interrupted nico.

“when i can, yes i will, but i have a job that keeps me away a lot.” 

you rolled your eyes at his words. “you are not allowed to dictate my love life just because you knocked me up.”

you didn’t know if you should be thankful or agitated that judith decided to start crying at that moment, but either way you started your slight bouncing movements back up to try and settle my daughter, as odd as it was to use that term in a real scenario, and tried to find those parental instincts everyone was always talking about.

“she’s probably hungry.”

“i didn’t ask you…but thank you i will try that.”

+++

the first night with judith was rough. as much as nico wanted to, he couldn’t leave you alone and retreat off to the hughes’, both because if his mother found out, and she would, he might as well get his obituary ready in advance and he just could not handle the torture the brothers would put him through.

it was like your daughter had a sixth sense for when you were just about to fall asleep, choosing those exact moments to cry out for something. you never knew what she wanted, always going through the same order of “milk, diaper change, pacifier, cuddles, burping, scenery change, and clothing change” until one of them worked. 

nico slept on the couch, it was close enough to your room where if judith began to cry he would hear it and wake up. he was going to stay in your room with you and judith, but after the blowup of him confessing his feelings and you borderline rejecting him things it got a bit awkward. still now, almost twenty four hours later you and nico hadn’t had a proper conversation let alone spoken about what had happened. 

you were on the phone with nina for a while, then your mother, then nina and your mother, both of them giving you their advice but following it up with “just listen to your heart.”, so it was all canceled out in your mind. 

you turned to your newborn, who was staring at you from her little bed next to yours. “judith what am i supposed to do? your daddy, the one with the funny voice, is so amazing and sweet. he treats me like a princess, so why am i struggling so much to figure out what i want with him?” 

judith stared at you with those large brown eyes, a small look of adoration on her face. 

“i love you.” you whispered to her. “-and i love your father too.” 

you sat up in bed, eyes widening at your revelation. you love nico. 

“oh judith, thank you for listening to your mommy!”

you hopped out of bed, rushing into the living room. “nico! nico! nico! nic-”

“what!? what's wrong!? is judith alright!?” nico basically jumped off of the couch, worried that something had happened.

“she’s fine, everything is fine…well not everything it’s just.” you took a moment to look at nico, the lighting was horrible yet he still looked amazing. “i love you too nico.”

there was a silence that followed, it wasn’t awkward or filled with tension, just a calm silence. 

you blinked and then suddenly nico’s lips were on yours. 

the sound of judith’s cries separated your lips and caused you both to race to your bedroom.

spoiler alert: nothing was wrong with judith, she was just crying to cry. 

nico’s arms were wrapped around you and were holding you into his chest as you both laughed. 

“so what now? are we dating? getting married?” you asked, leaning your head against nico’s shoulder. 

“as much as i would love to get married right now, we’ll start with dating…so will you be my girlfriend?” nico asked, mumbling against your head and giving light kisses every now and then.

“yes, i will be your girlfriend.”

“yes!” 

you laughed at his response, judith held in both of your arms. “let’s go to bed, she’s finally asleep.”

+++

nicohischeir and y/nonfilm

nicohischier me, my girlfriend, and our beautiful babygirl. welcome to the world judith.

view all 17 comments

jackhughes god father mode activated😎

y/nonfilm …who said you were the god father?

ninahischier best day ever!! i got a niece and a sister 🩷🩷

njdevils baby hischier alert‼️

comments on this post have been limited

+++

note: i 100% HATE this ending (the whole thing actually) it’s so rushed and just bleh, but i have literally been working on this for 71 days. SEVENTY ONE DAYS. college has been kicking my ass lately so i haven’t been very focused on writing anything. but i hope y’all still like this PLEASE DON’T LET IT FLOP i’ll cry. okay love y’all babes BYEEEE!!!

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: To the creator of the gifset I will never thank you enough -Danny Words: 2,241 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'The Wreck of Our Hearts' -by Sleeping Wolf

XXXVI: There's a HORSE Loose in the HOSPITAL

"So what's Frank's color? Does it match Hazel's?" Leo follows her around while Ara secures the ballistae. "Is he bright pink?"

"They're lavender, not pink," she has a vague smile on while she explains, not minding his interrogatory. "Percy and Annabeth are scarlet."

"What's ours?" He stands in her way. "You never told me."

Ara moves him out of the way and continues her chore. "It's golden."

His body lights up instantly. "Golden looks great on you! Do I look good?"

Ara laughs. "You could see it for yourself, you know?" 

"What? For real?" He gets excited. "How?"

"Light yourself on fire, it won't be that different."

"Funny. Seriously, I bet we all look god-like in your eyes," Leo's smile dies. "Do gods have soul lights?"

Ara's never thought of that before. "I don't know, they glow all the time regardless of how they feel. I don't even know if gods have souls, they're entities, right? Their bodies aren't vessels, just a form they take."

Leo hums, tinkering with the object he's been making since the night prior. "What about Chiron? And the nymphs and—"

"Mythical creatures don't have soul lights. I don't know why," she frowns. "They experience life differently."

"Can't wait to tell Jason you can see when he's horny," he snickers.

"Ew!" Ara makes a face. "First of all, I don't see sexual attraction, if anything, I only see when he's fawning over Piper."

"Same thing," Leo rolls his eyes. "If you're in love you want the person in every way."

Ara tries not to think of what that implies about his relationship with her. "There are people that don't feel romantic attraction—Or aren't interested in sexual stuff. Soul lights tell you about a person's interests, and what they love most in the world. In other words—"

"Weaknesses. You called them that, I think that's not accurate, but whatever," Leo leans against the ballista smiling at her adoringly. "I still love you even when you're wrong."

Ara stares at him with amusement and annoyance. He treats their situation like it makes him the luckiest guy in the world, which is insane. Leo jokes about being crazy, and she jokes about it too, but there are limits to how delulu you can pretend to be before it gets dangerous.

She hasn't been able to forget the way he freaked out at first, and she wants to ask him if he also conveniently forgot that thing about being an ill match after knowing about their soul lights, or if he's pretending to be happy for her sake.

"Done," Ara sighs, patting the ballista.

"Why are you securing them?" The boy asks. "They don't need maintenance."

"So they don't go off if we crash against them."

Leo frowns. "Crash?"

Ara whistles and Nico jumps from the topmast, landing next to her quietly and swiftly. The girl turns Almighty into a sword. "It's normal to lose your footing while training."

Leo steps back in alarm, eyes widening and darting between Nico and her. "You're training here? Near my valuables?"

Nico snorts. "I can't fight Ara, we can't afford to lose any limbs at the moment."

The girl tosses the sword at Leo and he catches it on instinct. "You got this, Firecracker." 

Nico unsheathes his sword and Leo looks over his shoulder nervously, eyes on the stairs. Ara clicks her tongue. 

"You can't outrun us and you know it. C'mon, stand your ground!"

"I don't like swords!" He complains. "And why are you teaming up all of a sudden?"

"He's doing me a favor."

"I think it'll be funny to watch you panic until you get it right," Nico admits with a smirk.

"Hazel!" Leo shouts. "Zhang!"

Ara raises a brow. "Both of them want you to train as much as I do. And Frank won't save you."

"For all the wrong reasons," Nico nods. 

Leo tries to appeal to her by being cute. "Doll, c'mon, I forge you weapons—"

"Oh, right!" Ara presses the hair tie around her wrist and once it becomes a shield she tosses it to Leo, who struggles to catch it now that he's holding her sword. "Now you're ready!"

"Where did you get that?" Nico eyes the shield with interest.

"Leo made it! It was my birthday present."

"I can make one to match your killer aesthetic, man," Leo offers. "Just put the blade of eternal damnation down..."

Nico ponders, worrying Ara for a second, then he shakes his head and lifts his sword slashing the air. "Nah."

He vaults at Leo, and the boy yelps and jumps out of his way, his dark curls burst into flames. "Jason, help!"

"No one's going to help you!" Ara raises her voice. "We all want you to get better! Who knows what my prophecy could bring? You want to help, right?"

He glares at her while Nico corners him against the mast. "Not fair, Ara!"

She shrugs, not even remotely sorry. "Neither is the curse."

Nico tries to hit Leo's head with the butt of his sword and Leo dodges him, but Nico trips him and Leo falls, dropping the shield and her sword.

"Fast reflexes, weak stance," Nico lowers his sword and offers a hand to pick him up.

"Fine," Leo makes a face, taking Nico's hand and getting up. He picks up the sword and the shield. "Just stay away from my fingers, I need them."

"Make sure I don't get close then," Nico replies, jabbing at him effortlessly.

Leo does his best to stop him with Ara's shield and strikes back, though poorly. It makes her proud anyway, he's trying and it brings her hope.

When Jason almost falls to his death while handling a hoard of Venti, he asks them to hold a meeting. He recounts his vision of Lily, Grover, and Rachel talking to Octavian and Reyna about the note Annabeth sent them.

"She's alive," Leo's arms are covered in the cuts he got during training. He's in no pain, Ara mended each wound with special care, and the boy loved every second of it. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

"What does that mean?" Frank makes a face.

"It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry." Leo rolls his eyes, shirt full of crumbs.

"I can't believe Reyna would try to find us," Frank continues, handing over the bottle to Leo. "It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel adds. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with seven demigods, the daughter of Olympus, and a warship."

"And me." Hedge says proudly. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

"How's Lily?" Ara asks.

Jason gives her a look. "She was close to stabbing Octavian, but Rachel kept her at a proper distance—apart from that she looks okay."

Ara watches Leo and cleans the corner of his lips with her thumb. "Lily hates being in charge..." she sighs heavily. "I've failed her."

"C'mon, Ara, you're doing all you can," Piper soothes her.

"It's not enough!" She complains. Leo clears his throat and Ara corrects herself. "Lily can't work like that, the closer she is to the action, the harder it is to see the whole picture. Reyna will have it worse, though, Romans work in teams exclusively and to be forced to travel alone..."

"Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt," Jason agrees. "But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

"Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," Piper says politely. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

"Can't you just send her an Iris-message?" Frank suggests.

"They're not working very well," Hedge sighs. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess..."

Everyone falls silent. Leo's voice turns playful. "Coach? Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?"

"No one! Nothing! I just meant—"

"He means we've already tried," Hazel interrupts him. Ara remembers Coach used to have a girlfriend back home, a nymph they met during their first quest. "Some magic is interfering... maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves."

"I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone...? Nah. Never mind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic." Frank grumbles.

"She'll find us," Jason assures them. "She mentioned something in the dream—she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I—I'd forgotten about it, actually, but she's right. It's a place I need to visit."

"And where is this place?" Piper asks.

Jason's soul light suddenly flashes across the table, a dark blue that envelops his body and grows in intensity the more he looks at Piper. "A... uh, a town called Split."

Ara elbows Leo discretely but with urgency, he looks up in confusion and she gestures at Jason, a look of amusement on her face as she does. Leo watches the blond boy for a moment and snorts, understanding what she's exposing.

"Um, yeah." Jason blinks, trying to gather his thoughts. "In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?"

Leo nods with a shit-eating grin still on his face, then he presses the intercom. "How's it going up there, buddy?" Festus responds with a couple of clicks. "He says maybe ten minutes to the harbor—Though I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split. I mean, you name your city Split, you gotta figure it's a warning to, you know, split. Kind of like naming your city Get Out!"

"It could be called Care Bear Island and I would still not feel safe," she brushes the crumbs off his shirt. "And slow down with the chips, dude, look at yourself..."

"Wait," Hazel frowns. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

"Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so," Leo leans closer to Ara while she fixes his appearance. "All that coastline we've been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called... what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia," Nico corrects him and Jason gives a start. Ara has a hard time not laughing and Nico tries just as hard not to make eye contact with her. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia, a major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

"Whose palace?" Hedge asks with alarm. "And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie—I still have nightmares."

"Why would you have nightmares about that?" Frank questions.

"Nico is right," Jason interrupts before Hedge can respond. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there."

"And why would Reyna think that? Because you've always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?" Piper questions.

"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," he explains. "We both kind of idolized the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace. Of course we knew that was impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. But still, we made this pact that if we ever did, that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian..." Leo tilts his head. "I got nothing. Why was he so important?"

"He was the last great pagan emperor!" Frank exclaims.

"Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?"

"Why wouldn't I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

"I remember something about that," Hazel ponders. "The nuns at St. Agnes taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She scowls at Jason. "Why would you idolize him?"

"He wasn't a total villain," Jason replies. "Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves... or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter—the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire, like, peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around..."

Jason's gaze locks on Leo, who's pretending to write on his palm. "Go on, Professor Grace! I wanna get an A on the test."

"Shut up, Leo."

Ara laughs and Leo smiles at her reaction proudly, dragging his chair closer to her. He has been flirting at every opportunity and in front of everyone like he hasn't done in months, and she can tell he's overdoing it to make her forget their problem. She tries to resist it, but as usual, it's no use.

Piper brings them back to the subject. "So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?"

Nico grabs a grape and pops it in his mouth. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"Who was a son of Jupiter, like me," Jason nods. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried... well, according to the legends, his scepter was buried with him."

Nico smiles slightly. "Ah... that legend."

"What legend?" Hazel questions.

"Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

"Okay, now I'm interested," Leo whistles lowly, his eyebrows raised. "Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."

"Not sure I would've put it that way," Jason sighs, "but yeah."

"We don't have much time," Frank reminds them. "It's already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death—"

"Which are guarded," Hazel points out, "by a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants... Well, I'm not sure. But according to Pluto, she plans to 'rebuild her domain.' Whatever that means, it's bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally."

"And if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaea and get there before the first of August," Frank groans. "Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus—"

"I know," Jason eases him. "We won't take long in Split. But looking for the scepter is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."

"The scepter of Diocletian could make a huge difference," Nico concedes. "You'll need my help."

"Hey, sounds fun," Piper tries to step in. "I'll go, too."

"You can't, Piper," Nico reasons. "It should only be Jason and me. Diocletian's ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but any other demigods would most likely... ah, spook him. And I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit. Even Hazel won't be able to do that."

Something scalding pokes Ara in the back, like the red-hot pointy end of a spear, and she bolts forward. Her palms slam down on the table and everyone looks at her.

"Ara?" Hazel eyes her with concern. "All good?"

There is a presence in the room, and it wants her to join Jason and Nico. "I'm going with the boys."

Nico frowns. "Ara, I just said—"

"I know," the presence isn't talking but it feels like it's pushing down on, bending her back. "I'm not saying I'm a modern version of the Emperors but I'm the daughter of Olympus, so—"

"You're the leader of both camps," Jason finishes for her, understanding her point right away. "Greeks and Romans answer to you, yeah I see what you mean."

"So far that hasn't helped much," Nico mentions.

Ara glares at him."I think I hear hooves."

His face shifts, that's what they used to say to let each other know they were being heard. Usually, the code was used while talking about Connor and Lily, and the hooves referred to satyrs and nymphs, they like gossip a bit too much. Or Chiron, so they could run away before he could catch them in one of their childish competitions.

Festus rings the ship's bell and speaks through the loudspeaker in his usual machine language, distracting everyone from the weird stuff Ara just said.

"We've arrived," Leo announces. "Time to Split."

Frank makes a noise of annoyance and looks at Ara. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

"No," she smiles, getting up from her seat.

"'Cause you can't live without me?" Leo catches her wrist before she can go away and kisses her hand.

"You already know the answer."

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @asnyox-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh @ebony-reine-vibes

[jamtoasties3316]

For the genderswap what about this :

Rumours has it that every F1 driver will turn into a women once they become world champion. It's not sure when and some people think it's a myth.

But turns out it's true. The thing is it has been so long since it happened that Lewis felt safe. It never happened to him, only to Jensen as far as he is aware of.

So when Abu Dhabi comes and he is disappointed after losing the championship he thinks that drinking his sorrow away won't hurt. The curse hits him right were he is getting wasted. And he was is so freaking out. He tries to find some help and stumbles into an equally waisted Max. Max who don't even care about it anymore. He recognized Lewis and just pull him with him to his hotel room before fucking him.

Other drivers saw them and Lewis get fucked by almost the whole grid.

Oh yes!

Lewis being spared by the curse for so long he thinks it stopped with Jenson, or nico but he wasn't allowed to pound that no doubt up tight cunt.

But then the curse hits him late, the firdt time in ages je isnt champion anymore. He panics and goes to find Valtteri because that would be a safe option, but runs into max.

Mzx grinning when he sees Lewis snd dragging her along, groping her big tits and round ass and ofcourse touching that fresh pussy too! Max fucks Lewis hard and Lewis just takes it, thinking it will at least be over soon.

But ofcourse other drivers hears or max told them and all are so excited it's finally happening again! Lewis needing to take pretty much every cock on the grid rven when he tells them its enough and then some, and by thr end his pussy is a dripping mess and just gaping. Someone taking a photo of it to safe with the other photos of former champions and Max enjoys Lewis the rest of the night, maybe even shoving his champagne bottle in Lewis while taunting him a little and opps if he goes live on social media...

It's okay though, lewis knows he csn get revenge on max soon enough, when the curse hits him too.

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Hidden Oracle: Chapter 35 (SPOILERS)

"What did Nero do--order it online?" Kayla, I don't think USPS has a box big enough to fit that in. Also, I thought it was a statue of Nero. Why does it look like Apollo? Did he just build a giant statue of Apollo, point at it, and say "That's me!" despite all evidence to the contrary?

"Nico and Will were floundering in the lake, apparently having been capsized in the middle of a canoe ride." Okay, so I almost overlooked this bit completely, but I was gently reminded that Apollo tasked these two paddlebrains to warn the camp of an oncoming attack EIGHT CHAPTERS AGO. Instead of anyone being remotely prepared, we fly in to see campers screaming in panic and the two people who were supposed to warn them instead having a little canoe ride IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ATTACK ON CAMP. I can just imagine (the following is not a quote from the book): "There's going to be an attack on camp." "I know. But we've got afternoon plans." "The last two attacks on camp were the Romans and the Battle of the Labyrinth." "Mhm. Perfect time to go canoeing." "Lee died that time." "I'm sure it won't happen again." These are the two scatterbrains hiking into Tartarus headfirst. They're gonna die. They're gonna go canoeing in the Cocytus and die. They're not even real people and I'm never letting them live this down. They're the Canoe Duo now. Canuo.

"every so often a beam of ultraviolet light shot from Athena's helmet like a search lamp, hitting the Colossus's chest" IT- IT ACTUALLY HAS LASERS

"I know I cannot ask you to risk your life for us." Good to see Apollo's done asking for sacrifices. Only took him four thousand years.

"its ghastly neck beard" Ah, so that's how we know it's Nero.

"when the planes were so thick in the air, I literally could not find a safe lane to drive in." It's interesting to note that mortal air traffic actually does affect the sun and moon chariots. Also disturbing to know that the sun and moon in the PJO universe fly so low in the sky.

"I never thought I'd say this about bugs, but I'm going to miss those guys." Oh, so disliking bugs is a common Demeter kid thing.

"still dripping from their swim in the canoe lake." Serves you right. "What's the plan?" You two were supposed to come up with the plan D:<

"You're thinking of Talos. This is not Talos." It better not be! We gotta stop letting all these killer automatons near Nico! They're Hades kid-killers! And judging from Nico's lack of reaction to the mention of Talos, he never even learned how his sister died, so he wouldn't know to stay away from them! Can we all agree to keep Hephaestus's inventions FAR away from Nico from now on?

Unrelated, but it's interesting to note the differences between the OG Talos and the mini one the Titan's Curse gang fought. The mini demo copy had an opening in the sole of its foot while the OG has one in its ankle.

[whateverthedragonswant]

9-1-1 6x07: Cursed

I've been doing this with Big Sky to try to figure that show out but I wanted to post the notes I have for 6x07 (because this was such a great episode) (I also might do this format from now on):

Writer: Taylor Wong

Director: James Wong

Things taken note of:

Parallels: Eddie & Athena: "freak accident" - neither believe in curses, Athena especially doesn't believe in "coincidences"; Bobby & Buck “No more talking curses, Buck” "Stupid bracelet curse" - both believed in the jinx, Bobby is hesitant here but eventually thinks the curse might be a thing & Buck starts to think Eddie is right until he's proven wrong

Character Mirroring: Felisa -> Eddie - Felisa believes she's cursed and so did Eddie at one point, though not in the same supernatural way; Felisa -> Buck - the universe is trying to tell Felisa something but she's not listening, same with Buck

Props: Movie poster (present); Movie title (mention): What the HEART Wants (Buddie) - two doctors, "Saving Lives. Saving Each Other"; When Time Stops (Madney & Eddie) - when character is cut in half, her character couldn’t feel anything because of that, Chim saw it -- not only does this mirror last season's Madney journey for Chim, Chim was also present for when this happened to Eddie after Shannon died

Emergencies: all Felisa's this episode; 1) chandelier - being stuck or pinned down - Eddie has felt stuck before in season 3 as well as season 5 (which mirrored his season 3 arc to an extent) - when the pressure is taken off she can feel again (like how things progressed after the Ana breakup, the breakdown); 2) wax - feeling of not being able to breathe and panic - Eddie had panic attacks last season for the first two episodes (& no coincidence that he's the first person to tell her not to panic & to relax) - this started to decrease once Eddie and Ana broke up; 3) Alexis stabbed - someone else getting hurt - Eddie ended up hurting Ana which is what he was trying to avoid while he also kept himself in denial for Christopher's sake & passing out due to hydrogen sulfide - Eddie felt like he didn't have control thus the panic attacks while in a relationship with Ana in season 5; 4) chase - trying to get away from someone/something - Eddie made a quick escape in 5x02 when Ana visited the firehouse & Eddie kept trying to get away from the truth regarding his relationship and about himself and how he was feeling & asphalt - being stuck, unable to get out even while calling for help & not able to breathe - more of the same for Eddie (& no coincidence that Eddie is the one to figure out how to get her out)

The Number 4: featured all throughout this episode (4 emergencies, 4 weeks for Buck, 4 different failed attempts Buck made to donate, Felisa is in room #4 in the spa, 4 people passed out in the new age store , Nico made 4 attempts to get the bracelet back, the wax was at 104 degrees, Buck would have had a 4 minute drive to the clinic from the firehouse - this not only is calling back to 4x06 (4) for Eddie but also because they're letting us know that this same situation is now happening for Buck

Buck's universe messages: 1) No forms - denied entry; 2) Pat passing out - not taking it; 3) Closed for lunch - closed, no entry; 4) power outage - not happening; 5) car dying - don't go -- and not to mention: the nurse is talking to him and one another person (mixed messages), "closed for lunch, will return at 2:00" & "a week from Tuesday" "only 2 miles away" (the number 2 is being played on here so I think Connor & Kameron getting antsy in this episode is no coincidence)

him asking Abuela about his future while having Christopher in front of him (him looking towards his future)

Relevant lines: Hen: "I don't think it has ears." (Eddie pops up, wondering what they're talking about, picks up the bracelet); not too long after, Buck touches the bracelet, Connor/Kameron show up, & Eddie overhears them along with the 118 - and in a direct parallel, Eddie picks up bracelet/unbelieving/bad thing happens right after & Buck picks up bracelet/unbelieving/bad thing happens right after; they even had Hen offering the glove to Eddie who thinks it's ridiculous & doesn't take it and Buck removing the towel from the bracelet (that Chim put over it) & picking it up, thinking Eddie is right & Hen is the one to come tell Buck he has visitors (aka THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT THEM)

Relevant scene: Eddie at Athena and Bobby's - all are drinking coffee -> Eddie has learned & is a lot closer to where Bobby and Athena are, Buck is missing from this table because he's not ready yet (and that's not shipping goggles talking, that's what the writing set up); they purposely paralleled Eddie to Athena this episode (& we saw them work together) & Bobby to Buck

Relevant lines: "You were here the whole time?" "Felisa said Alexis convinced her to buy that bracelet." Eddie's dislike for Alexis doesn't just have to do with her taking advantage of Felisa or Eddie's initial suspicion of Alexis harming Felisa - Alexis is a stand-in for someone/something that Eddie felt pressured by & that is why he's so insistent on Felisa opening her eyes to the truth & why he distrusts Alexis so much in regards to Felisa

Prop: snake bracelet with red eyes (present) - not only is this meant to embody the "curse" (which is really the universe screaming into the void) but they purposely chose for it to be a snake that coils around the wrist, effectively trapping it/the wearer

Relevant Scene: Buck and Eddie closing doors of the ambulances at the crystal emergency; Buck: "So you still don't think she's cursed?" Eddie: "No, but I'm starting to think I am." (shot ends with him looking at the ambulance Felisa is leaving in and then up at Buck); also, I got a bit of a 4x13 vibe here with that shot, even right down to Felisa/Eddie & Charlie/Eddie

Relevant lines: Hallie: "What kind of luck? Lucky in love? Finances? Job opportunities?" Felisa: "All of it." - Eddie has had a run of bad luck in love and job opportunities (with the post he had last year), finances was something we saw mentioned in season 2 for him as a concern

Props: jade green (mention) - this can be used for many purposes, one of them being to remove blockages so the energy can freely flow through the heart chakra (x); citrine (mention) - this can be used for confidence & clarity (x); amethyst (present) - serenity & calm, also can be used to open the "third eye" (x); marcasite (present) - can be used to give courage, knowledge, & to cure emotional scars (x)

Relevant lines: Alexis - "Hey, maybe we shouldn't purchase any more decor items that could double as weapons." - next scene is Alexis stumbling in, stabbed in the stomach by a crystal

Relevant scene: Felisa calling 911 during pursuit is the only time we Maddie in the episode - I could be wrong here but this to me means that if these types of emergencies Felisa had during her "curse" happens to Buck in his journey, then Maddie is definitely going to play a part which if the Buckleys come in on the back half of the season, it doesn't surprise me

(Tumblr hates me so I had to break up the format)

Relevant lines: "Or the bathroom backs up again for the third time this week. Thanks again, Diaz." -> Eddie needs to listen (first 2 times were 3x08 fight, 5x13 breakdown), the universe is tired (and he does listen as we see, Felisa was his last test so to speak)

Relevant lines: Buck: "There was a power outage." Connor (aka Universe): "And we tried to call you but you didn't pick up." Buck: "Maybe I left it in my car, it was charging..." - Buck's not getting it (cue the Universe facepalming, looking back and forth between Buck and Eddie, going "You idiots")

Relevant lines: Nico: "She checked the box." "On the site, there's a little box: 'terms and conditions.' She checked 'I accept'. She should have known this would happen." -> if this isn't the Universe speaking for itself...especially since they made sure to mention Buck's donor forms in this episode as one of his strokes of bad luck

Sequencing: Buck makes the run to the clinic and barely makes it -> Eddie's beach scene with Felisa

Relevant lines: Eddie: “I think you broke your curse” - Eddie has broken the "jinx" and is ready to move on to the next chapter

Important scene: Felisa talks about her past to Eddie on the beach, saying losing so many people can only feel like a loss; this prompts Eddie to talk about Shannon and the tsunami (their chairs are the same type because Felisa represents Eddie); “Must have been terrifying.” “Yeah, it was. He was scared for a long time. We both were.” “Well, you wouldn’t know it now.” (all about Eddie); “The longer we stayed away from the water, the more the fear would grow. I never wanted the ocean to have that kind of power over him.” (about Eddie as well; he was scared to move forward with his life); “You know sometimes it’s easier to believe you’re cursed than to believe you’re wrong.” (again about Eddie) - all of this amounts to one thing: Eddie’s ready

Props: Beach chairs (present) - this is used to show pairings of two around Eddie, though only one couple is shown in the scene in the foreground when Eddie calls Abuela; Water bottles (present) - the third chair is for Buck because there are two water bottles, one by Eddie's chair, the other by the empty chair that is a different type, this is why Felisa sits in the chair on Eddie's other side (and why Christopher is sitting on the sand with his friends); Water/Ocean (present) - water symbolizes life/rebirth

Framing: not only do we get the chairs/water bottles shot but also they show us Eddie looking back after Felisa leaves & then looking forward (to show us that he's moved on from the past & is now looking to the future, he even gets up to move forward while calling Abuela & accepting her beliefs but also asking about his future) & we get that great shot of him and Christopher, showing us they're both ready to move forward, in the way the Universe wants them to (and so do we)

And this is right after the Henren episode. The Universe aka the writers are screaming loudly with this one.

As I've said before, it's no longer a matter of if; it's a matter of when.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (2)

Alright, Here is the addition to the first post I made about Marinette having a somewhat of a similar backstory to Jason.

[Masterlist]

WARNING: the Revenge part have some suicide, death, physical abuse and bullying stuff mentioned. Extreme Lila Bashing.

--------

Marinette runs a business called Afterlife (I am bad with names, gimme a break) with Wayne Enterprise as a partnership. She is the mysterious designer MT.

Jagged knows about Marinette and the whole LB thing after one scare and an explanation and promotes it a lot.

The Waynes can’t believe that she knew Jagged Stone.

So Afterlife brand is taking off and is the hottest new thing since Jagged is wearing it and MT is apparently the mysterious newly adopted Wayne who hasn’t appeared in public much and the family’s personal designer.

Loads of Celebrity commissions.

Gabriel loses sales as the new line they launched ‘coincided’ with the launch of Afterlife’s newest fashion line called Karma.

I should mention that Edna Mode(?) and Audrey Bourgeois gave many praises to MT because they are amazing designs and to spite Gabriel a little bit.

Gabriel doesn’t panic yet. A lie

I haven’t talked about Lila much, have I? Let’s just say she got a visit from a ghost, well, several ghosts.

Remember that guy Marinette mentioned that could get her fake documents. It was John Costantine, who owes her a favor ( he owes her more than a few and he would do anything she asked for her brownies. )

Tim and Babs dig up dirt on Lila Rossi and their silence was brought with a delicious cake.(coffee flavored for Tim)

Gets John to do a little summoning for her.

------

(Suicide implied, death, bullying, You have been warned)

“~Lila~. ~Oh Lila~”

Lila turned to her other side, wishing the voice would shut up.

“Oh, Lie-la, sleeping so peacefully. So silent. I wish you would stay that way forever.” The voice said menacingly.

Lila’s eyes snapped wide open to come face-to-face with supposed to be dead Marinette Dupain-Cheng with a manic look. Did Marinette had red eyes before?

Lila screamed.

“Oh, it’s no use. No one will hear you. Remember when you said those words. To poor Bianca. Every day at lunch break in the old unused bathrooms when you beat her up for not doing as you say.”

A girl with long dark hair appeared. Covered in black and blue bruises. Looking at Lila with hate.

“Let’s not forget. Poor Tommy. Alex. Andrea. Wil. Gary. Nico. Freya. Magnus. Della…” As Marinette listed off names, more and more teens appeared, the youngest being a 10 year old girl.

They all had the same expression as Bianca. Utter hatred.

“And there is me. The latest in your long line of victims. Lie-la, how do you feel right now, looking at the casualties of your greed for fame and fortune? Your ‘enemies’. And you know that English saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’.” Marinette gave a sinister laugh.

“You are dead. You were all supposed to be dead. This isn't real. This isn’t real.” Lila chanted, closing her eyes and covering her ears.

She felt cold fingers lifting up her face to meet red eyes, promising many Bad things.

“Sorry, sweetie. This is the cold harsh reality. You thought that you could get away with it. The deaths you caused with your filthy lies and ‘so-call accidents’. You danced on our ashes and you built your kingdom with our blood on your hands. I hoped you enjoyed it while it lasted. ”

The nails dug further into her face, drawing some blood and sure to leave some scars.

“Because, Lila Rossi, this is the last time you would know peace. And could you pass on a message to the Agrestes for me. Tell them that Death cannot hold back the wrath of Ladybug.” Turning to the other ghosts. “Get her.”

Marinette stepped back as the other teens pounced on her. Scratching, pulling, biting. Inflicting pain on Lila. She jumped out the window and landed next to John smoking.

“Thanks for everything. Will she be okay?” Lila’s screams can’t be heard due to a soundproof charm.

“She will wake up in the morning, a little sore thinking it was all a nightmare.”

“That is until she looks into a mirror. I left a little something to remind her that it actually happened. By the way, can you help me with this curse?” She said, pulling out a notebook.

“Let me see. Hmm.. Oh.. that’s a good one. Nice. Wow...You are very creative with curses, remind me to never get on your bad side. But are you sure about that last part?”

“Lila needs a lesson and as much as I hate her and wants her to suffer for the rest of eternity. She doesn’t deserve being tormented for the rest of her life. At least, she should learn that actions have consequences, especially for everything she had done so far.”

“You are too kind despite everything that has happened, Pigtails.”

“Doesn’t mean I am going to give you the resurrection spell I used.”

“You are no fun. You are as bad as Bats.”

--------

Lila’s curse is that she sees her victims when she leasts expects it. Alya, talking about her blog, is replaced with Bianca cracking her knuckles and about to punch Lila. In everyone else, it looked Lila screamed ‘Please don’t hurt me” to a confused Alya.

Lies some more to save face but the more she lies, the more the ghosts keep appearing. Some actually hurt her but there are no bruises or cuts to prove that it happened.

She is just so jumpy all the time and during photoshoots, Adrien gets replaced with a rotting corpse and every picture comes out with fear in her eyes.

Gabriel fires her after a million complaints.

Not before relaying Marinette’s message. “She cursed me. She came into my room and did this to me (pointing to the scars on her face.) She sent my dead classmates after me.”

“Who?”

“Ladybug. She told me to tell you that even Death cannot stop Ladybug’s wrath. So better watch your back, M. Agreste.”

(Gabriel didn’t feel threaten not at all. There is no such thing as ghosts. Sure magic is real with the Kwamis and the Miraculouses as proof. But ghosts? Those are just stories. Lila Rossi just had a nightmare that was too vivid for her. He definitely is not searching Google for warding them off. Especially revenge-seeking ones. He was just looking for inspiration. That MT caused a lot of trouble and sleepless nights for Gabriel but this next line was sure to be a success.) He was wrong.

No matter how many NDAs he made people signed and how much security measures he took. Afterlife seems to hosts fashion shows, launch new lines or their designs made the cover of a famous fashion magazine and SHOWING UP the GABRIEL brand EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!

Gabriel is rarely in the headlines these days and most of the billboards in Paris is filled with products from Afterlife (Chloe as a model with a mask to conceal her identity which adds to a mystery.) or WE.

He is super frustrated and a little desperate.

------

Got any ideas for revenge on Gabriel, Natalie and Adrien? Also the rest of the class?

(Part 3)

[fanficlibraryposts]

Percy Jackson Fic Recs

 who even cares about reputation? by rubiesanddiamonds

She decides she really likes his laugh. And his voice. And his general aura. A lot. 

*punk!percy and girly!annabeth*

what’s a god to a nonbeliever? by Almas

It’s not that he’s “hung up on The Menace” as Dionysus so delicately put it. It’s just that it’s a bad idea. Awful, really. Percy Jackson’s got off-limits stamped across his pretty little forehead. If Zeus had sent Dionysus to that demigod camp over a nymph, then Poseidon would certainly toss him into Tartarus if he went near his son. 

*on hiatus*

To Make a Legend by WardofWinters (QoLife)

Percy was having a normal day at the beach, until he decided to try to waterbend like Katara from his favorite show.Problem is, he succeeds. Now he has to figure out how to waterbend, and keep the normal people from finding out they have a waterbender in their midst.Finding out he's actually a child of Poseidon will probably explain a few things. (Used to be named Avatar: The Legend of Percy)

*Is a series, should have at least have basic Avatar: The Last Airbender knowledge*

Silver Screen by herecomesthepun

in which Annabeth is a YouTuber with a penchant for Harry Potter sweaters and Percy is a rockstar who falls in love with the clumsy web star presenting his award. Percabeth, AU.

Of Gods and Men by plottingalong

The order of things are changing. Old rules are shifting, old gods awakening. Percy Jackson must come to terms with his own mortality, or rather, the lack of it. 

And I will swallow my pride (In hopes of a final goodbye) by IzzyMRDB

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep." ~Robert Frost

-

Rhea thought the fight was over when she handed Luke that blade. The war she fought for others was over. She was wrong. Now a thousand miles and a thousand years from home, all alone with just the ghost of a curse to accompany her in her travels, she will only fight for the wars she chooses.

"I promise." It tastes like a lie, but I know I’ll do my best to fulfill it. How am I to make the gods listen when they don’t even know who I am?

Hold Tight and Pretend It’s a Plan by Rynna_Aurelia

Olympus has fallen. The second Gigantomachy has ended far differently than the first, and in Gaea's triumph, the world has been torn apart. But the Fates have seen what ends their failed meddling brought Western Civilization, look on at the dead—and undo what should never have happened the only way they possibly can. Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, is returned to his twelve-year-old self, memories intact and determined to save everyone he can. But he is not alone. The Moirai underestimated the strength of the Lord of Time when stealing his power, and there is something about this particular demigod brat that intrigues him. . .

 Perseus Jackson came roaring to life with a violent gasp, green eyes wild. After a moment of panicked flailing and struggling to breathe, his fear-filled gaze settled upon a girl with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, her face stern and unimpressed.

 "You drool in your sleep."

Trading Tomorrow by Darkmagyk, loosingletters

Percy Jackson arrives at Camp Half-Blood bruised and bleeding, with the knowledge that he's the son of a god and his mother is dead. His little display with the Minotaur has caught the attention of the camp. But he’s not sure it is good attention, yet. Only the Hermes Cabin's not-quite Co-counselor Theseus, ‘call me Theo,’ doesn't treat him like a fascinating zoo exhibit. Which would be a relief, except he looks exactly like Percy: same green eyes, same trouble making smile, same black hair. The only differences are the fact that Theo is six years older, covered in battle scars, and the black tattoo on his arm. A trident and the letters SPQR.

Theo is eighteen, powerful, and unclaimed. And his resemblance to Percy could set a dangerous precedent.

*pretty much everything by Darkmagyk is amazing*

i could be your hero by sundaysabotage

“I just don’t get it,” he huffs to Will as they put up holiday decorations in the unusually quiet infirmary, “they talk to me like I’m supposed to know stuff. Like I’m the new Percy or something.” Nico expects Will to laugh at this, shrug off his concerns as unfounded and tell him he’s being over-dramatic like usual. He is wrong.

“Okay, babe, don’t take this the wrong way. But, you kind of are the new Percy.”

___ Based on a tumblr post I made about Nico being the obvious choice as Camp Half-Blood's unofficial leader when Percy leaves for college. (only no one bothers to tell Nico that)

*some solangelo and Nico being Tired(TM) for you*

Were I That Burning Star by californianNostalgia

 An old panic gripped me—the breathless fear of being forgotten, being lost. Would anyone remember me when I was gone? Would someone think to lay a flower down on my grave and say some fond nothings like, “Was a pretty cool guy, that Lester,” while wiping off a single dramatic tear rolling down their cheek? Oh, who was I kidding. So what if no one remembered? There wasn’t much I was proud to be remembered by anyway.

After defeating Python and bringing down Nero, Phoebus Apollo reclaims his godhood. He is glorious once more. But for some reason, he can't quite make himself go back to how things were before.

(A Character Study of Various Gods, including but not limited to: Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and maybe Zeus)

* absolutely beautiful, very philosophical, made me see the gods in a completely different way*

PJO Fic Rec Part 2

Disclaimer: The fanfiction above were not written by me for I am not nearly as creative. However, I am an avid reader and movie buff so these are some of my favorite fanfiction within the fandom. I politely ask that you read the tags attached the fanfiction beforehand so that you know what you are getting yourself into, there may be crossovers. If you don’t like it then don’t read it. In addition, I ask that there be no bashing, the fics are based on my preferences and what I like. Lastly, if there are any specific genre or fandom of fics you want me to get into let me know through my ask box.

[ranhaitanisgf]

❝ three answers ❞ jyugo

[𖤐] it's 4am rn what did i just write....sorry about that LMAO if you want someone to blame blame sammy their the one who started all this. its all her fault. blame. them. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this all the same, for my nonexistent nanbaka fans <333

[𖤐] this does contain a mention or a pretty major manga spoiler, so read with caution!!

❧ masterlist

--

jyugo has never been one to want anything; it’s a fact that deep down, he’s always known. it was never something that bothered him too much, (maybe because he never wanted to think about it) and so he never really took the time to ask himself, ‘what do i want?’.

he answered this question for the first time when he almost lost everything he didn’t even know he wanted.

even when it was all dangling right in front of his face, even when he was about to lose the one thing he had wanted, his thoughts were still jumbled with confused thoughts and questions that didn’t clear up until he saw his chance walking away. his chance. a chance. i want…

“please!! give me a chance!!”

“...took you long enough…”

in that moment, when his number plate clanked against the stone floor, he suddenly knew how it felt to have the most important thing to oneself be almost taken away. in that moment, when he was given a chance, he swore that he would never let it happen again; that he would never let anything important to him be in danger, he never wants to lose the people close to him. he doesn’t want to be the monster that he was in the past, so he’s decided that he’ll do everything he can to protect the people he could never stand to lose.

the second time he answered this question is when he fell in love.

this feeling makes him feel like every other emotion he’s ever felt was fake; they all paled in comparison to this sensation. he still isn’t able to decide whether it’s a good or a bad thing, hell, he doesn’t even know what he should do with this feeling in the first place, (should he tell you? how does he handle it? it’s times like these when he wishes he knew his parents.).

he has never needed anything so badly that he would be willing to do anything to have it, that he would reach out for it so desperately that he forgets everything around him. he never thought that he would be able to experience such a vivid emotion such as this, and now that he’s feeling it, it almost feels like an amazing ride that he never wants to get off of.

i mean, how could he not fall in love with you? everything about you was just...amazing, (he wishes that there was a better word to describe you, but he doesn’t think there’s any words he knows that would be enough to do so). you had the kindest soul he had ever seen, always there for others and putting other people’s needs above your own, (he thinks you should worry more about yourself). he admired everything about you, and yet, what was holding him back? why would he avoid your gaze whenever you would glance over at him?

you can’t have them, you know that. you’re a monster.

oh, that’s right.

he almost forgot about it for a moment there, but how could he? the little voice in the back of his head was there to help him remember it; that little voice that sounded exactly like him, (he said that he would be able to control the elf inside him, but this was the sacrifice he made to have that control in the first place).

“hey, jyugo, is everything alright?”

“h-huh?”

“oh, sorry! you just seemed kind of down, like something’s weighing down on your mind...you probably wouldn’t want to, but you can always talk to me if you need anything, alright?”

just like that, you had saved him yet again, and you didn’t even know it. each time he was drowning in his own thoughts, you would pull him back out with just a few simple words. he would cling to them every time, holding onto them with such a grip that he didn’t even know was possible; you were truly something else, and he was forever grateful for it.

when he had finally managed to confess his feelings for you, (it was by accident, and it was caused by uno, nico, & rock) his world was turned upside down. he had surely thought that there was no way you could would like him back, there was no way somebody like you could love somebody like him, and yet, the words coming out of your mouth seemed to say something different.

“I-i really like you too jyugo!”

for a while, everything was perfect. now, he had everything he could ever want, and there was nothing that could take this away from him. sure, there was still the occasional incident, but as long as you were near, surely nothing would happen, right?

he’ll be able to grow up and go to an ice cream parlor with you and experience all the wonderful things in life with you, and he’s giving you a promise ring for now, but he swears that one day he’ll take you to a pretty spot with cherry blossoms and he’ll get down on one knee and ask you to marry him, and then the two of you would get married and you would yell at rock for trying to eat the cake before he was supposed to, and then he would take you to go do everything you’ve ever wanted to do and the two of you would buy a house and you would yell at him for trying to paint the walls himself, and it would all be perfect. for now though, he was going to savor every single moment with you; every late night that he spent having whispered conversations with you, every smile that you would flash his way, every time you would lace your fingers with his, he was going to have it for the rest of his life.

oh, how stupid he was to think that it could last forever.

he’s been left alone more times that he can count, so why was he so surprised when it happened again? maybe it was because it was his fault, or maybe it was because you didn’t want to leave him, you didn’t want to go just yet. maybe it was because you were slowly dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

“h-hey, stay with me, (y/n)! you can’t go yet, i-i have so much to tell you!!” he hurriedly pulled you into his arms, his eyes frantically looking over your body, only to find the color red slowly seeping through your shirt.

“you shouldn’t...cry, i think you look prettier when you’re smiling.” how could he smile in a situation like this?!

“w-we’re going to take you to okina-sensei, and he’s going to-”

“no, he’s not. jyugo, you have to keep going, alright?” don’t say that, it’s like you’re saying you’re gonna...

“stop talking like that, y-you’re not going to…”

“there’s...so much you can do with what you have...you’re special that way, so don’t go thinking that you need me to do what...i know you’ve always been able to do.” i need you though…!

“(y/n), p-please-!” no, stop looking at him with that smile on your face.

“ever since i saw you...i knew that you were different...thank you for letting me partake in a dream...even if it was for just a little bit…” stop talking like that, you’re not going to die.

“s-someone get okina!!!” you’re going to survive this; you have to.

“jyugo...hehe, are you going to...keep your promise…?”

“what? (y/n) please…”

“you said that you...were going to marry me, right?” please don’t do this to me.

“(y/n), w-will you marry me?”

“of course...i’ll marry you jyugo. hehe, i’m so happy right now...” even with the tears sliding down the side of your face, you were gently smiling up at him, almost like you hadn’t been coughing up blood just a moment ago.

“we’re gonna get married soon, and, and we’ll have a nice wedding and…”

“i know…” your hand shakily reached up to cup his cheek, the metal of the promise ring he had given you cool on his skin. he leaned into your touch, the tears in his eyes falling rapidly down his cheeks and over your hand. there was no way this was happening, not now, not to you...

“please don’t cry...can you please smile, one more time…?” it took everything in him, but because it was you asking, he was somehow able to turn the corners of his lips up just a bit, giving you a small smile despite the flood of tears pouring from his eyes. your gentle touch against his skin brushed his bangs from his eyes, a fond look in your eyes that were also flooded with tears.

“i’m so...happy right now...thank you for everything, jyugo, i love you...so...much…” the panic that was set aflame in his heart when he felt your hand drop from his cheek and when he saw your eyes flutter closed was akin to nothing that he’s ever felt before.

“(y/n)...? (y/n)!! don’t close your eyes, please wake up!! t-there’s so much i have to tell you, you can’t go yet! p-please…!”

why was it that everytime he found something that made him happy, it would get snatched away from him? was it these shackles? was that the reason why? if only he could have rid himself of this curse, then maybe he would finally be normal, maybe he would have been able to marry you.

the third time he answered this question, it was when he lost everything, and it was the final time he answered it.

nothing.

--

howd i do 😃

[lepusrufus]

Double edged scalpel ch. 8

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7

Summary: Fluff? Smut?? Stuff???

---

It was still early morning, if the bright light and faint chirping coming from out the window were anything to go by. Cassandra had been awake for a while, her body not needing nearly as much sleep as humans did.

She looked down to where Nicole's face was pressed on top of her chest, cheek slightly squished against the skin. Sleep had turned her features into soft lines, unlike her usual nonchalant façade that she wore like a crown. Though the dark circles under closed eyes were still present and, Cassandra mused, probably a permanent facial feature at this point.

The brunette couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips. She couldn't remember the last time someone had been in Nicole's position, so willing to let themselves be embraced by the shadows of the castle and wear the title of her "lover" with such grace. She wasn't even sure someone had been there before.

Though as endearing as the sight was, Cassandra was starting to get bored. Nicole's position half on top of her meant she couldn't really move without waking her up. How much sleep do humans need again? Eight hours? She was pretty sure it'd been eight hours. Besides, what harm would it do to stay and cuddle for a while, not that anyone other than the small redhead in her arms would ever be allowed to know about her apparent love for such things.

She hesitated for a second, the memory of Nicole jolting awake not too long ago making its way to the forefront of her mind. She would have to be more careful than Bela had been, opting for the gentlest way she could muster, fingers gingerly trailing down her cheek.

Cassandra frowned when the redhead flinched slightly at the touch, but soon let out a content hum upon hearing her name whispered by the brunette. Nicole didn't even bother opening her eyes. Instead, she nuzzled into Cassandra's neck and tightened her grip around her waist ever so slightly.

"Mmornin'," she said as if she actually had any intention of getting up.

"Slept well?" The brunette asked, shifting to lay on her side and starting to play with the long auburn locks sprawled on the pillows.

The reply she got was little more than a hum as her half asleep lover shifted and readjusted her position. Nicole's hand started to gingerly trace her spine upwards, then down again, on her waist and then stilled for a moment. She finally opened her eyes and looked somewhere past the brunette locks blocking her view. The arm on Cassandra's waist was removed and stretched towards the nightstand for a few seconds only to fall back on the bed accompanied by a soft groan.

"Can you pass me my phone…" Curse you, short arms.

To her dismay, Cassandra started to laugh at her struggle, earning herself a sleepy glare. She did oblige though, turning slightly and picking up the small object from the nightstand. With the phone finally in hand, Nicole unlocked it and let out another groan at the hour.

"It's so fucking early."

"It's 8 a.m." Cassandra raised an eyebrow when the redhead simply tossed the small object on the bed, probably never to be found again given it's sheer size, and turned back in her arms with an almost childish whine.

Nicole really wasn't a woman of many words in the morning.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?"

"I was bored," Cassandra answered simply.

Of course.

After another small groan, Cassandra decided to change tactics. Her hand moved from red hair down Nicole's bare back. She felt her breath hitch when she got to her hip, slender fingers going in ever so soft circles over the skin and the fabric of her underwear.

That seemed to wake the redhead up at least slightly. Her lips started to lazily move across collarbones, leaving a trail of kisses and an occasional nip. Then up her neck, hand now tangled in dark hair and giving it a light tug to tilt Cassandra's head and get better access to the spot right under her ear. She left a light bite there and the brunette let out a small moan, hand now fully gripping Nicole's hip and pulling her closer.

Cassandra's thigh, now placed between her legs just right, was hard to ignore but Nicole was a woman on a mission. She shifted her weight, now fully straddling the brunette and continued her trail of kisses along her jaw until she finally reached soft lips. Cassandra moaned in their kiss when Nicole's fingers came to rest around her neck, giving it a faint squeeze. She slipped her tongue past slightly parted lips and her other hand started to slowly trail lower.

The sense of satisfaction she got from Cassandra's impatient whine was hard to describe. Revenge for getting woken up so early.

"Just touch me already," Cassandra broke their kiss momentarily, and the redhead decided to be at least a little lenient.

She shifted her hips, giving way for her hand to wander beyond black lacy underwear. One finger started to circle her already wet entrance ever so lightly, causing Cassandra to buck her hips impatiently.

"Nico- ah!"

Her complaint was cut short by two of Nicole's fingers entering her. Cassandra squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip, stifling a moan.

The rhythm of her fingers was slow at first, enough to elicit a few more groans from the brunete, but her pace steadily increased. It wasn't long before Cassandra was grabbing at the sheets, not trusting her claws on Nicole's back anymore, and trying to clench her thighs together.

Nicole kissed along her neck as she came, the pace of her fingers slowing until Cassandra relaxed under her. Then, she pulled her hand away and sat back down on the soft sheets, taking in the view of her lover trying to catch her breath. When golden eyes finally fluttered open and looked up at her, Nicole grinned.

"Thought you didn't need to breathe."

"Do not get cocky with me." To her credit, Cassandra tried to glare, but her eyes were soft and lips turned into a small smile.

Sweet revenge. Although, Nicole mused, if Cassandra woke her up this early again she'd make her beg.

"I think we should start getting ready."

They still had a few hours to spare, but being early never hurt anyone. Cassandra seemed to have other plans though, as she placed a hand around Nicole's throat and pushed her down into the pillows.

It was Cassandra's turn to straddle her hips, her much taller frame giving the impression that she was a predator ready to sink its teeth into a meal. Paired with the devilish glint in her eyes when she leaned down to whisper against Nicole's lips, it was all too hot.

"And not return the favor? Who do you take me for hmm?"

So much for revenge.

---

Arranging tools next to the autopsy table has always been oddly relaxing. Repetition and the soft clinking of metal against metal when the scalpels were placed in their place. The leather gloves as she slid them on her hands. The apron that was waiting to be put on. All a comforting routine.

With some time to spare, she went to stand behind Cassandra, who was scribbling something in one of the many notebooks she had around. Many, Nicole had learned, as opposed to just one that magically appeared everywhere. She looked over her shoulders to see what she was writing and frowned.

She had one of the textbooks from Nicole in front of her and seemed to be correcting old notes from god knows how many years ago. Notes in german.

"Do you… speak german?" Nicole inquired. She wasn't necessarily surprised but it was weird it had never come up.

The brunette only let out an mhm and finished scratching out something, replacing it with the information from the book. In english. "And french, italian, hungarian, and some russian. My russian's really rusty though, been a long time since it was in use around here."

Okay. Impressive. Nicole supposed that being immortal does come with benefits such as infinite time to learn different languages. Cassandra let out a chuckle at her surprised look.

Then she checked the hour and snapped the notebook shut. Showtime.

Clank

They both froze.

Their eyes darted to the door, left slightly ajar.

Clank

"You… heard that right?" Nicole's question was so low, it would've probably gone unheard if not for sensitive vampiric ears.

"Loud and clear. Stay here."

And she should have really. Cassandra was strong and could take care of herself. Whatever was making noise was probably a bored prisoner wanting to quicken their demise.

But the sinking feeling in her gut gave her no peace. Whether it was worry for Cassandra, the fear that crept up her spine at being left alone, or a mix of both was anyone's guess.

She grabbed one of the scalpels from the tray.

It gave her a false sense of security as she slipped through the door and down the dark corridor connecting the study to the cells.

One of the perks of being small? You can hide almost anywhere. And this was no exception. The shadows hid her well while she stepped for the first time past old cells. Some run down, some full of devices not unlike the ones in the room she had just exited.

She could hear a growl up ahead and came to the realization that it belonged to Cassandra. She was frustrated at something and Nicole wondered if being there was really a good idea. Most likely not. But she came all the way there, might as well see what got the brunette so upset.

She started walking towards the sound of heels against stone and was about to call out Cassandra's name when a shadow caught her eye. She froze.

From where she was, still enveloped by darkness, she saw something peeking around a corner at her lover, but it's back almost completely turned to her. Someone, she realized as she strained her eyes to take in more details. A man, no taller than Cassandra, ragged clothing and something shiny in hand.

Panic took over when she realized that shine came from the reflective barrel of a gun, half in position and ready to shoot. Shoot at Cassandra.

She sprung forward, stealth be damned with how loud her boots sounded against the stone underfoot. The sound alerted Cassandra, who turned in her direction wide eyed. It also alerted the man, who spinned on his heels and let out a choked scream that seemed to ring in her ears.

The sound died in his throat when the scalpel was plunged in his neck, through the trachea and whatever other veins and arteries the blade found in its path. He leaned back against the wall, disgusting gurgling sounds making their way past bloody lips.

"Nicole!" Cassandra was by her side in the span of a second. She wanted to turn to her but instead she stumbled forward, almost crashing into her arms.

Something was wrong.

Adrenaline was finally starting to leave her body and instead searing pain was making its way in her muscles. Her head was starting to spin but she managed to look down only to see a crimson stain on her abdomen. An ugly contrast with her white uniform, really.

Her ears were ringing, but she faintly registered Cassandra let a long string of curses spill past her lips.

Then she was picked up, the wound in her abdomen sending jolts of pain with every hasty movement. She couldn’t help crying out when Cassandra presumably reached the dungeon steps and started ascending.

Staying awake was becoming an increasingly hard task. No matter how much she tried to keep her eyes open, it resulted fruitless as black splotches were starting to obscure her vision.

She finally let her lids shut, her head slumping against Cassandra's shoulder as nothingness started to envelop her foggy mind.

[wolves-and-winters]

Broken - chapter 1

Cast of Characters

Daniela Lexington - A 22 year old woman who became a Strike team agent to help in her personal vendetta. She has a slender build, grey eyes, and mahogany hair.

Nico Troy - A veteran Strike team agent, partnered with the young and fiery Daniela. He is around 55 years old, with dark hair and brown eyes.

Ash- A 24 year old assassin, and the main henchman of Donovan Brandol. He is tall and has a lean, muscular build. He has blond hair and blue eyes.

Donovan Brandol - Main antagonist. 50 year old male, cruel and remorseless. He has greying hair, and cold black eyes.

Overall warnings for the series

Sibling death (Past), gunshot wounds, panic attacks, fever, infection, delirium, swearing, emotional instability, knives, and violence.

Chapter warnings: Biting, fist fight, slap in the face, attempted torture, gunshot wounds.

________________

All of their careful plans always seemed to go to hell in a flaming hand basket. No matter how careful Nico’s plans were, they always went awry somehow.

Daniela was struggling in Ash’s grip, her storm grey eyes full of rage.

Donovan paced around the two captured agents, a sinister smile on his lips.

“Nico Troy, it’s been too long.”

“Oh, you missed him did you?” Daniela’s snarky voice asked.

“And you’ve brought your partner. And she is beautiful, isn’t she?”

Daniela glared at the man through the loose strands of her red-brown hair. Donovan leaned towards her, grabbing her chin, and examining her face.

Daniela jerked suddenly, pulling free of Donovan’s hand, and sinking her teeth into the meat of his hand, between his index finger and thumb.

Donovan let out a startled shout, and Nico watched as Ash grabbed Daniela hard by the back of the neck, as his boss yanked his hand back, and slapped Daniela hard across the face.

She spat his blood at his feet, her lip curling into a sneer.

*****

Ash’s grip on her neck and arm tightened as she struggled.

“Spirited little bitch, aren’t you.” Ash hissed in her ear. “But things here have consequences, and you’ll pay dearly for that later, once we’re done with your partner.”

Donovan was still glaring down at her, and Daniela bared her teeth.

“Lock her up, we’ll deal with her later.”

Ash hauled her to her feet, dragging her towards the door. Nico took a step towards, her, and Donovan tutted. “Not you.”

Daniela kicked, screaming and thrashing in Ash’s hold.

Ash sneered, and wrestled her out the door, and down the hall, before shoving her into a small, windowless room.

“See you later, sweetheart.” He sneered, closing the door.

Daniela huffed as she heard the lock click, and his footsteps receding.

“Well Ash.” She murmured, pulling a bobby pin out from under her braid. “You should have been more careful when you searched me.”

Kneeling before the door, she inserted the pin into the lock.

**********

Nico didn’t even bother to resist as Ash strapped him into the chair. He was unarmed, and no match for both Ash and Donovan.

“Do you have any preference on where to begin?” Ash asked. “Donovan may grant you one if you ask nicely.”

“You have me. You don’t need my partner. Let her go.”

Ash snorted. “Why would we want to do that?”

“I’ll tell you what you want if you let her go.”

“You’ll tell us what we want anyway.” Donovan replied, jerking his head. Ash nodded, and took his place behind his boss.

“Now, where to begin.” The older man said. “I don’t think knives. You have plenty of scars, but your partner... well, she is a blank canvas isn’t she?”

Nico spat in Donovan’s face, which earned him a hard punch in the gut.

“Maybe I’ll split your knee caps with a hammer to start. You won’t be needing them anymore.”

A gunshot rang out, striking Donovan in the arm. The man staggered back, cursing. Ash went for the gun at his waist.

He wasn’t fast enough.

The bullet punched through his chest in a spray of red, and he collapsed to the floor, seemingly in slow motion.

Donovan ran towards the door, and Daniela sprinted after him. She fired again, her bullet striking him through the back of the leg.

*********

Daniela hit the floor as a gunshot rang out around her, the muzzle flash was coming from behind the door. Brandol had backup.

The girl hissed, and returned fire. The room was suddenly eerily silent. This stillness was broken by the sound of a helicopter taking off.

Daniela rushed over to her partner, stepping over Ash’s limp body. Only his labored breathing indicated that the man was still alive.

As soon as her partner was free of the straps, Daniela was heading towards the door.

“Come on, Nico, we need to go.”

“Hold it, Daniela.” He replied, kneeling next to Ash, who was shivering uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood.

“What? Want me to finish him off first?”

“No. I want you to find a vehicle, and then come back.

Daniela tilted her head, but did as her partner asked. After all, he had been willing to die for her. It was the least she could do.

********

Nico carefully pressed down on Ash’s chest, the man groaned, but didn’t otherwise react.

“She really got you, didn’t she?” Nico said, unable to help but be proud of his partner. The kid had done amazing.

It took ten minutes for Daniela to return with a plain white van.

“Okay, now what?” She asked, hopping out of the driver’s seat.

“Get in the back, and do your best to stabilize him.” 

“What?” The girl exclaimed, shock and anger flashing across her face.

“He’s Donovan’s right hand. If anyone knows where Donovan is going, it’ll be him.”

“And where are we going to go?”

“To a safe-house.” Nico replied, hauling Ash into the back of the van. “It’s well stocked with medical supplies.”

“Why not just go back to base?”

“Because then we’ll have to wait months to have another shot at a mission. No. We need to do this now.”

Daniela huffed, and climbed into the back, next to the man she had shot a mere twenty minutes earlier. Nico laid his coat over the younger man, who was still violently shivering.

“Trust me, Daniela. I know what I’m doing.”

[firerose]

The sea

Feedback is apprechiated ;)

Percy was happy. The giant war was over, he was studying with Annabeth so

they could move to new Rome soon. He was happy….. until it happened. 

The thunderstorm should have been a warning, a sign that the lord of the sky was angry but unfortunately Percy was tired of having to deal with the gods so he chooses not to notice it. He cursed himself for that later. 

He had stood up early that morning, awoken by another dream about the hell he and Annabeth had gone through. His mom had already been in the kitchen and he was greeted by her with a warm smile.“ Bad dreams?“, She had asked softly. Percy had only needed to nod and she pulled him into a warm hug. He loved her hugs, he loved that she had forgiven him for being away for so long, he loved his mother for everything. She was the reason the sea inside him was calm.

“Thanks, mom I just wanted to get some fresh air.“, He had told while departing carefully. Percy was grateful for her but he still did not want her to worry too much. If he had only known that this was the last time his mom would hug him, he would have stayed in her arms forever. 

Percy had taken his jacket and walked outside and then………

Thunder, a white light crashing down behind him throwing him forward with the price.

He lay still on the street while people around him ran out of their houses screaming in panic. 

Percy‘s body was burning, he felt blood running down his forehead but all he could think about was his mom who had been exactly where the explosion went off.

The police later assumed that a lightning strike had hit the apartment by accident but Percy knew better. He was brought to a hospital even though his burns were only small. 

He had insisted that he wanted to stay.“Please I have to see if my mom and my stepdad are okay!“, He had begged the paramedics but they did not stop their attempts to get him on the stretcher.“The fire brigade will find them kid. Everything is gonna be okay“, One of them promised but Percy saw in her eyes that it was a hollow promise. His heart ached in despair and when the doors of the ambulance closed tears fell down his cheeks. 

The proof came when the police visited him after the doctors had checked him. They looked devastated, of course, no one wants to tell a son the message that his pregnant mother was dead. Percy took the news with a small nod. He could not do more not even cry. He had been through so much that maybe this last thing had broken something inside him. He could not believe that they would do this, that they would kill his mother after he saved them. His thoughts wander to Paul and his unborn baby sister that he has lost as well and the sea in him slowly starts rising. 

Annabeth soon heard about his suspicion  She stormed into the small hospital room, her face tear-stained. He immediately wrapped her in a hug like it is her that is going through this tragedy.“Percy…...I…..I‘m so sorry.“, She sobbed.“It is not you fault wise girl….he did this.“, Percy claimed and he is surprised by the deadly calmness in his voice.

Annabeth looked at him in confusion but then she understood. Her eyes widened in shock.“No…... Percy……..he wouldn‘t……..“ She tried to say but her unbelieving in her own words stopped her. They both know Nico Di Angelo and they both know his mother died. Percy felt the waves crashing again his chest, he felt them threatening to burst out and so did his rage.“ Come on Annabeth you know Zeus. He is an arrogant asshole who just cares about himself! I fought years for the gods, I went through hell for the gods and now they… they.“, he wasn‘t able to speak anymore, there was too much rage boiling up inside him. He finally processed what happened and the sea in him roared with a desire. A desire for revenge. Annabeth pressed herself closer to him in comfort. She is scared, Percy‘swords scare her and yet she knows that there is nothing she can say to help him. She just hoped that she wasn‘t about to lose him. 

Percy was grateful for his girlfriend but he knew that he couldn‘t stay. The longer he stayed, the more his body was trembling and the sea roared louder.“ I want to talk to Zeus. Now.“, He told Annabeth could. She let him go her eyes full of something he never saw in them before.

Panic.

“ No Percy that is not a good idea! If he is targeting you then yelling at him would be a great excuse for him to…….. hurt you.“, She answers logically as always but her tone fearful. Percy can‘t help but feel angry at her words.

“I‘m not scared of Zeus and if he wants to kill me he is welcome to try! My mom did not deserve this you know that as well as I so don‘t try to stop me!“, He nearly yells and he departs from her quickly. The storm in him screams in agreement and he looks forward to setting it free, Annabeth hated herself for making him angrier. She loved Sally too so why doesn‘t she support Percy? What did Zeus or any other god ever do for her? A small voice whispers that she just wants to keep him safe but she can also do that against the gods. She gently grabbed his hand and gave him a weak smile.“Okay just let me come with you.“, She pleads and Percy feeling a warm thankfulness for her calming his waves a bit, smiled back. 

The man behind the desk looks at them in shock when they enter the building..“You shouldn‘t be here.“, he claims, his voice sounding a bit concerned. Percy felt cold amusement washing over him.

He killed scarier monsters than this old man. He takes out his sword without a second thought.“ We are exactly where we need to be now let us talk to Zeus or I will try my sword out on you.“, He threatened and did not notice Annabeth‘s worried glance.“You should listen to him! He once took down giant you are no match for him!“, Annabeth‘s voice sounded just as dark as his but she just wanted to keep Percy from doing something he would regret later. The man‘s eyes were stuck on the blade then wandered to Percy‘s eyes as if those could burn him.

He moved back a bit uncomfortable.“ Alright I‘ll let you up.“

Percy felt a sense of victory letting the water rise again. It pushed through his veins and when they entered the small elevator his body tensed from the power it made him feel. The gods would pay for taking his family. They would see what happened if someone pushed him too far. Maybe some days ago he wouldn‘t have felt this darkness but a few days ago he also had a mother. He was overtaken by memories, of her soft voice, her laugh and her hugs. He wondered if it would make her sad to see how angry he was but she certainly was also sad to be killed there was no difference anyway. The memories hurt but they also foiled his anger. 

Percy and Annabeth walked down the way to the god's council in silence. The minor gods and nymphs whispered and pointed at them, their eyes worried some even pitiful. They all knew Percy‘s story and they all feared him.

Only Zeus and Hera were in the throne room  When Percy walked in his eyes immediately landed on Zeus who glared at him in outrage.“HOW DARE YOU COM HERE?!“, The Lord of the skies shouted in fury but Percy did not even wince.  Instead, he glared back.

"How dare you kill my mom?!." Percy spat back. Zeus only looked annoyed but the others gods looked at each other uneasily. Zeus shook his head like he wanted to get rid of a nasty fly.

" My boy, there are things that you don't understand. I'm sorry about your mother but sometimes cruelty is necessary to prevent worse.", Zeus explained and Percy felt as if he had been punched in the gut. How could this all immortal god talk about an innocent woman death like that? He felt disgusted at Zeus rising and Annabeth spoke it out.

"Sally Jackson was a mortal woman! How could she have been any danger to you?", Annabeth asked her voice full of angry disbelief."Well it was more about her child than her, "Hera responded and maybe there was a hint of regret in her voice.

" Silence wife!", Zeus told her harshly but Percy's blood already froze."You.....you killed her because of me?", He asked fear numbing his fury. He hoped that he had just heard wrong but he was the only child of Poseidon so they could only mean him. Zeus sighed as if this whole situation bored him."Apollo gave me a prophecy that said that she would have a child with Poseidon that could end my sign that is all you need to know." Zeus said defensively and a dam in Percy that held back the growing stormy sea finally broke. Zeus had killed his mother because of a prophecy? 

Of course, gods always sed prophecies to harm others,

Percy balled his hands into fists his ears ringing." That is your excuse? you were scared so you just killed my pregnant mother in front of me? She was going to have a baby. She was happy and you killed just because of your god complex!" Percy accused Zeus, his voice trembling with anger. The waves were rushing through his veins and he can feel it in the veins of Zeus and Hera as well  Not as much but it was there flowing through their veins like calm waves. "I told you you would not understand now leave before I make you Perseus.", Zeus commands but that only makes Percy turn to him. 

Persues...

His mother called him that because she wanted him to have a happy life...

Percy slowly opens his hand his senses searching for a certain source of water. When they find it Percy feels a tug in his fingers. He smiles darkly at Zeus."I think you underestimate what I'm capable of my lord. you really should have killed me instead of my loved ones.", Percy muses and he follows the tug by moving his hand forward, pushing back the waves in Zeus body. The god looked stunned for a moment even confused but then his body god thrown back so that his head smashed against his thrown. The stone cracked and Annabeth gasped in shock together with the other gods." Percy!" Annabeth yelled terrified at her boyfriend's power. Percy couldn't hear her. He could only focus on Zeus and how he was held in place by an invisible force his force. He wondered how much he could hurt a god.

He moved his hand to the side and Zeus growled in anger as he tried to resist the painful control he was under. Percy took a deep breath he was not sure what too now should he let Zeus go? Should he show the gods mercy? Then he remembered his mother and how she had died in a fiery explosion. He looked into Zeus blue angry eyes and he calls for the water in the god's throat, His hand makes a gesture like he was strangling someone and immediately Zeus grasps his own his gasps for breath was music in Percy's ears. He feels Annabeth shaking him begging him to stop with sobs in her voice. Hera watches the situation as if it was a very interesting movie. She was not at Percy's side but seeing the man who cheated on her so often be choked to please her too much to interfere.

Percy loved seeing Zeus so helpless, he loved when his other hand made the gods nose bleed with golden blood. Zeus looked in much pain and Percy loved every second of it." Now you know what it feels like to be a demigod. It's painful and you wish that the suffering would end but it never does. How do you like that?", Percy jokes and closes his hand a bit more. Zeus face turned red his eyes nearly popping out of his skull."Percy stop....please stop." Annabeth pleads and there is something in her voice that makes him hesitate." Sally would not want you to do this!", Annabeth said her voice shaking in horror. The words echo in Percy's mind and painful guilt helps to dim his inner flame. What would his mother say if she could see him right now? He was harming others with his powers just like Zeus had. 

His rage dies down like the sea after a long storm. He opens his hand and lets go of Zeus blood. The god nearly fell off his throne as he gasps for air. Percy still felt satisfaction at that sight. He turned to Annabeth who held onto his arm, her face pale from what she had seen." I'm sorry Annabeth.", He said and he really meant it. He shouldn't have scared her like this, he should have just told her not to come with him. Annabeth gently squeezes his hand. She understood Percy#s anger and she even shares it but she still prays that he will never lose himself to his power ever again. Zeus had regained his strength and his eyes blazed with electricity." YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!", Zeus yells but Percy only felt a surge of frustration at those threats. After all that had happened to Zeus, he was still a god that was full of himself and would not learn anything from this. Percy looked at him coldly." No, I will not. Haven't you learned what happens when you make me angry?" Percy asked dangerously calm. He felt tired of all this talking and especially Zeus. He took Annabeth's hand and left as he suspected no one tries to stop them. The sea in his body has calmed down again but Zeus who is watching him from his throne can tell that he has changed. The sea can start raging again any moment and maybe it was Percy that the prophecy referred to. Maybe he  will be the end of the gods after all.

@emilydaughterofapollo @perseusjackson-jasongrace @incorrectinfinity, @reading0mens @fictionalnormalcy

[thefinalcinderella]

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Chapter 7 - The Qualifiers (Part 3)

After this chapter I have officially finished 50% of this book...yeah that’s right after 2 years I have finished half of this book...

Next chapter is pretty long, we might be staying there for a while folks

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. A “one-two finish” refers to members of the same team winning first and second place 

Previous | Next

When Kakeru reached the finish line, he was handed a water bottle by a staff member and ordered to move; if he stayed near the finish line, he would become an obstacle to the later runners.

He wondered how the others were doing. He was worried, so he lingered under the trees next to the finish line to check on the situation. There was another cheer, and he caught a glimpse of a Kansei uniform on the other side of the crowd—it was Kiyose.

“Haiji-san!” Kakeru shouted and leapt out onto the pathway that the runners who finished passed through to get to the lawn. Kiyose was crouching. Startled, Kakeru ran over to him.

“Are you okay?”

He didn’t seem to be breathing too much. The runners who finished in the top rankings had that ability; they were able to run the race at their own pace and with ease. There was no way they would be gasping for breath and unable to move after reaching the finish line. “It’s your leg, right?” Kakeru judged after checking Kiyose’s breathing.

In order to lessen the burden on his muscles even just a little bit, Kakeru poured water from the bottle onto Kiyose’s shin. After Kakeru lent him a hand, Kiyose stood up and started walking with a slight limp in his right leg.

“Kakeru, good work.”

Kiyose’s first words were words of appreciation towards Kakeru. Is this really the right time for that? Kakeru felt like crying.

“Yes.”

 When he hung his head, Kiyose laughed and ruffled his hair.

“Let’s go cheer on the others.”

“But, we should cool your leg imme—”

“It’s not a problem. Let’s go.”

Kiyose slipped into a gap between the spectators. Kakeru followed him, saying, “Excuse me.”

At the finish line, there was a close race for eightieth place. Since the results were decided by the combined times of ten people, everyone was desperate.

“It’s the twins, it’s the twins!”

Kakeru spotted Kansei uniforms in the tight group. On the other side of the course, Hanako was jumping up and down.

Jouta and Jouji both gritted their teeth and crossed the finish line. After them, Yuki, Musa, Nico-chan and Shindou finished in the eightieth to ninetieth places. King fought bravely and finished in one hundred and twenty-third place.

“Good. That’s a good pace,” Kiyose murmured. Prince, however, was nowhere to be seen. Among the regular schools, there were more and more that had all ten people finish the race.

“It’s not looking good for us at this rate.”

Kakeru stamped his foot. He almost wanted to run one more time himself. Is he here yet? Is he here yet? Then, from behind the trees, where Kakeru had been staring as if in prayer, Prince appeared.

“He’s staggering…” Kiyose furrowed his brow. Prince had already passed his limits, and his eyes were unfocused.

“Prince-san, run! The finish line is right in front of you!” Kakeru shouted, trying to at least guide him by ear.

“I know that.” Prince struggled forward, fighting the nausea that was rising up. Sweat was flowing from him and his fingers were unpleasantly cold. Where did the blood go? Prince vaguely wondered. My face is probably pale as a sheet of paper right now.

He was clearly anemic, but he couldn’t collapse here. There were twenty meters until the finish line. If Prince stopped running, Kansei, which only had ten people, would be eliminated from the qualifiers. If Hakone was a no-go for them because of him, his collection of books would surely be burned. He had to avoid that.

Prince summoned up all of his willpower. As soon as he did that, his stomach squeezed, and he finally felt an unendurable nausea.

He no longer cared about the several hundred people watching him. As Prince ran, he threw up with all his might. He could hear the female spectators along the route letting out cries of “Kyaa!”

“This is no time for throwing up! Run!” Kiyose’s angry voice rang out.

Are you a demon or something? This is why I hate sports clubs. Prince cursed at him in his head, wiping his dirty mouth with his hand. Of course, he had no intention of stopping his feet. He wondered why he was doing sports, something he wasn’t good at. He wondered why he had been doing all this running practice like an idiot.

It was to participate in the Hakone Ekiden.

Because I thought it would be nice to share in you guys’ muscle-headed dream for once…!

Prince crossed the finish line in one hundred and seventy-sixth place and lost consciousness on the spot.

Everyone in Chikusei-sou had fallen flat in their encampment on the lawn. Less than half of them had the energy to even check their wristwatches for their times after finishing. Yuki had given up on the attempt to clearly grasp the ten’s combined times.

The tallying and calculation of intercollegiate points took up more time than expected, so the results were to be announced at around eleven o’clock. They had to wait at least another hour after all the competitors had finished running.

“We’re in a delicate position.” Kiyose calmly calculated while icing his shin. “When averaging our positions, we’re probably in the mid-eighties. That’s borderline.”

“Depending on the intercollegiate points of the schools that are also borderline…”

Nico-chan glared at the sky with a difficult look on his face.

“It’s possible we won’t qualify,” Yuki said.

Oh no, the twins moaned. Shindou and Musa were quiet, looking like they were praying to their respective ancestors and patron gods. King was plucking at the grass. Prince didn’t so much as twitch, still lying facedown on the grass. Hanako and the shopping district people, who were surrounding them, were unable to give any careless encouragement, and could only wait for the results.

Kakeru suddenly looked at Kiyose’s hands; the ice they had brought in the cooler box was melting in the plastic bag.

“I’ll go get some ice. Maybe they’ll give us some at that store over there.” Wanting to escape from this oppressive atmosphere, Kakeru stood up. Musa seemed to feel the same way.

“I shall go as well,” he said and followed him.

They cut across the lawn and headed for the store with the red roof. It was easy to tell which schools were confident that they would qualify by the expressions on the runners’ faces; it was the borderline schools, like Kansei, that were exuding a sense of high tension, but the schools that had clearly ranked lower were generally calmly waiting for the results to be announced. Among them, there were teams that were happily picking at the multi-tiered bento boxes made by their female managers.

There are all sorts of people, Kakeru thought. For those people, their goal was to make it to the qualifiers. They knew the outcome from the beginning, so when they were finished running, they made it into a picnic-like event and enjoyed themselves. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re different, he felt.

I don’t want it to end the qualifiers. I want to see even greater heights. I want to be an even faster and stronger team and compete in the Hakone Ekiden. That’s what I’ve been training for, and that’s what I’m going to keep training for.

“I wonder what will happen, Kakeru,” Musa spoke to him worriedly.

“We can get to Hakone,” Kakeru assured him. Burning magma was gushing up from the pit of his stomach. Everyone had run the qualifiers with all their might today; there was no way they could lose.

Musa’s eyes widened at his forceful words.

“Kakeru, you seem to have gotten stronger somehow.”

“That’s not true.” Kakeru shook his head. “We ran pretty hard, didn’t we? So I just think we’ll be okay.”

Musa nodded. “You are correct. We are going to Hakone. All together.”

When Musa said it, it sounded like the happy ending of a fairy tale, or a reliable prophecy.

When Kakeru and Musa asked for some ice, the shopkeeper readily gave them some. Since they came empty-handed, the shopkeeper put the ice into a paper cup. “We were careless,” Musa said. A group of spectators walked by behind him.

“Another black runner. It’s pretty unfair to bring in foreign students.”

“With a bunch of guys like that, then Japanese runners won’t be able to compete.”

Musa’s face stiffened at the whispered comments that they intentionally let him hear, and Kakeru was about to turn around and object.

“It’s fine, Kakeru,” Musa stopped him. “I have heard a lot of comments like that today alone.”

“We can’t let them say something so one-sided!” Kakeru still tried to chase after the spectators that were getting further away, but Musa seized his arm.

“We must not get into quarrels. They are talking about foreign students who came here because of their talent in athletics. I am embarrassed. I am embarrassed of myself. They don’t seem to be able to tell the difference, but my legs are not fast. I am just a foreign student with no talent to be envious of.”

“That has nothing to do with this!” Kakeru was indignant. “You, me, the people who took first and second place today, we all ran the same course. And yet…”

He didn’t know how to say it, but Kakeru was frustrated. He felt like Musa, who he lived with, Kakeru himself, and the international students from other schools he had never exchanged a word with were all being insulted. That’s right, I can’t express it well, but it’s an insult to everyone who’s taking running seriously. Kakeru squared his shoulders.

“It’s just as Kurahara said,” someone said. When he turned around, he saw a lanky man with a shiny and round head. “But let it go. They’re amateurs who don’t know what running is.”

Kakeru and Musa watched as the man bought oolong tea at the store. Kakeru had seen him before. Without letting his guard down, he searched his memory in a panic. I recognize this shiny head.

“Rokudou’s Fujioka! …san,” Kakeru deduced the answer.

Rokudou University had won the Hakone Ekiden several years in a row. This was their captain, Fujioka Kazuma. Kakeru had only met him at the TSU meet in the spring, but he wondered why someone like him would come to the qualifiers.

“I’m here to observe our opponents,” Fujioka said, perhaps reading Kakeru’s question. “Kansei has become quite strong. It looks like you’re going to make it to Hakone.”

Fujioka had the complacency and presence of a champion.

“Thanks to everyone’s hard work.” Kakeru’s natural competitive spirit reared its head, and he answered back proudly. Fujioka let his gaze collide with Kakeru’s, not taking a step back, and then looked at Musa.

“You shouldn’t care about people like that. It’s a ridiculous opinion.”

“Which part of it is ridiculous?”

Kakeru stopped Fujioka, who was about to leave while drinking his tea. The way the spectators talked about Musa made him angry. However, he couldn’t figure out exactly why he was angry, but Fujioka seemed to know what was causing this annoyance.

“Please tell me,” Kakeru pleaded.

Fujioka stopped and stared at Kakeru with interest. “Alright then,” he said and turned to Kakeru and Musa again.

“There are at least two ridiculous parts. One is the reasoning that it is unfair to include foreign students in the team because Japanese runners can’t compete with them. So what about the Olympics then? What we’re doing is a competition, not a kindergarten field day where we all hold hands and one-two finish. (1) It is natural that there would be individual differences in physical ability. But on top of that, sports are about equality and fairness. They have no idea what it means to compete on the same field in the same sport.”  

Musa was silent, attentively listening to Fujioka’s words. Kakeru was just simply overwhelmed by Fujioka’s quiet analysis.

“Their other misunderstanding is thinking that winning is good,” Fujioka continued. “If a Japanese athlete takes first place, if they get a gold medal, is that all that matters? I firmly believe that isn’t true. That shouldn’t be the essence of competition. Even if I win first place, it isn’t a victory if I felt that I lost to myself. Things like times and rankings change rapidly from competition to competition. Who decides who’s the best in the world? It isn’t because of that, but because we have unchanging goals and ideals within us that we continue to run.”

That’s right. Kakeru felt his hazy, pent-up feelings clear up. I got stuck on these things and they made me angry. Fujioka’s amazing. What Kakeru felt and wanted to say were extremely easily untangled and put into words.

“You haven’t changed at all, Fujioka.”

Before they knew it, Kiyose was standing behind Kakeru and Musa.

“An outsider said something unnecessary.” Fujioka bowed to Kiyose in a stoic manner and left this time.

“No, you were helpful.” When Kiyose said that, Fujioka turned his head over his shoulder and a corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.

“Looks like you’ve got quite the lineup.”

���Well, I suppose.”

“I’ll be waiting at Hakone.”

With a resolute attitude befitting a champion until the end, Fujioka disappeared between the trees. It’s like he said “I’ll be waiting in nirvana,” or something. I wonder if he’s not going to wait to see the results announced even though he came all the way here, Kakeru thought, but he hurriedly bowed towards Fujioka’s back.

Musa also said, “Thank you very much,” and bowed deeply. Fujioka’s words had energized Kakeru and Musa, like dispelling thunderclouds.

“I came after you guys because you left without taking the bag.” Kiyose lifted the plastic bag.

“Sorry,” Kakeru said and accepted the bag, then transferred the ice he got from the shopkeeper to it. Kiyose was already walking without dragging his leg.

“Is he called Fujioka-san? He is an amazing person.” Musa seemed deeply impressed.

“I guess that means you need emotional strength and wisdom in the true sense to continue winning Hakone,” Kiyose laughed a little. “Well, he’s always been strangely calm; as a high school student his nickname was ‘Trainee Monk’. It's a bit unpleasant, isn’t it?”

Kakeru and Musa looked at each other and nodded, saying, “That’s true.”

Spectators and runners were beginning to gather at the large display board near the finish line.

“It’s almost time for the announcement.”

“Let’s go.”

Musa jogged back to Kansei’s encampment. Kakeru matched Kiyose’s pace as they made their way across the lawn. He was curious to see what the results would be, but they had come this far and there was nothing they could do about it now. What occupied Kakeru’s mind at the moment was Fujioka’s figure.

The power to change thoughts into words. An eye that calmly analyzed the hesitation, anger, and fear within you.

Fujioka was strong. His running speed was extraordinary, but the mental strength that supported it was incredible. When I was just running recklessly, Fujioka must have been analyzing himself in his fast-moving head and pursuing running on a deeper and higher level.

Kakeru felt both battered and inspired with a strange kind of excitement.

What I’m lacking are words. All I do is let my hazy feelings stay hazy. But I can’t do that from now on. I’ll be as fast as, no, even faster than Fujioka. In order to do that, I need to know my running self.

That was definitely the “strength” Kiyose had spoken of.

“I feel like I’m starting to get it,” Kakeru murmured.

“Is that so.” Kiyose seemed satisfied.

A student in a gakuran carrying a megaphone climbed onto the stage. He reverently opened the memo with the results of the qualifiers. He was a student member of the administration committee from the Inter-University Athletic Union of Kanto, which organized the Hakone Ekiden. His assistant, a female student, stood by the display board while the gathered people listened attentively with anticipation and anxiety.

“We will now announce the qualifying schools for the Tokyo-Hakone Round Trip University Ekiden Race. First place, Tokyo Sport University.”

The TSU crowd gave a loud cheer. Kakeru saw Sakaki being given a spank of joy by his senior. The TSU runners hadn’t come apart, reaching the finish line in a good position together; it was a victory of total strength that displayed the depth and closeness of the runners.

The female student pulled out the first place card on the display board. The name “Tokyo Sport University” and the total time of ten people were written in the first place column: ten hours nine minutes and twelve seconds. The average place for the ten runners was forty-ninth place.

“As I thought, it was a pretty fast-paced race,” Kiyose groaned in a low voice. The expression on his face showed that they were in a difficult situation to qualify. Kakeru curled his hands into fists.

“Second place,” the announcer dispassionately read the memo aloud. “Koufu Academy University.”

Cheers erupted from another corner. “Hmph,” King sniffed.

“That announcer is putting the perfect pause between ranking and the school name.”

“Don’t act all important, get on with it,” Prince, who had finally come back to life, immediately complained.

“Aah crap, my heart feels like it’s gonna explode.” The twins and Hanako were huddled together, quivering like young birds that had fallen from their nest.

The announcement had proceeded to fifth place, but Kansei’s name was not called. Up to this point, all the schools had been Hakone regulars; if they couldn’t get into sixth place, the seventh to ninth places were likely to be different from the total time order of the qualifiers because of the intercollegiate points involved.

“Sixth place.”

“Please please please!”

“Kansei, Kansei!”

Their desperate prayers were in vain, and the announcer said, “Saikyo University.”

“Aah!”

“Are we done? Are we done?”

Nico-chan and Yuki looked up at the sky. Kiyose was staring at the display board in silence. The glint in his eyes suggested that he was looking through the white cards that still hid the seventh to ninth place columns.

“In accordance with the rules, seventh place and below are determined by subtracting each school’s intercollegiate points from their total times. Seventh place, Jonan Cultural University.”

Kakeru felt like he was losing the strength in his legs, but he managed to hold on. They still had a chance. There were two more participation slots to be filled. He felt a pain in his right shoulder, and he looked to see Shindou’s fingers digging into it. Musa’s face was half-buried in Shindou’s arms, and he was mumbling something in his mother tongue.

It’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay. Kakeru stretched out his arm and gently patted Shindou and Musa’s backs.

“Eighth place, Kansei University.”

He thought he misheard. King leapt upon them. Kiyose raised his arms to the sky with a rare full-faced smile. Shindou and Musa weakly sat down on the grass. Nico-chan and Yuki high-fived each other, and Hanako and the twins screamed as they slapped Kakeru all over his body.

While being mobbed, Kakeru looked. At the display board, where the words “Kansei University” shined brilliantly. At Prince, who shed a single tear outside the circle.

We did it. The truth finally reached his brain. We are going to be in the Hakone Ekiden.

The next thing Kakeru knew, he was bellowing from the pit of his stomach.

Kansei University’s total time was ten hours sixteen minutes and forty-three seconds. The ten’s average place was eighty-sixth place.

Jonan Cultural University, in seventh place, had the actual time of ten hours seventeen minutes and three seconds. The intercollegiate points put them ahead of Kansei. The school that just barely passed in ninth place was Shinsei University.

Their time was ten hours seventeen minutes and eighteen seconds. Kakeru looked up at the time written on the display board and exhaled with relief and joy. Kansei University had successfully obtained their ticket to Hakone on their first attempt. And they even finished in ten hours and sixteen minutes, which was good enough for seventh place.

There were cries of surprise everywhere.

“Kansei actually did it.”

“And I heard they only have ten people on their team.”

“That’s the school where the third place and sixth place guys came from, right? I already learned their uniforms.”

“Me too. It’s black with silver lines. It’s kind of cool.”

As they were cleaning up their encampment on the lawn, they were asked to give a few words to the close coverage cameras, but Kakeru’s mind was dizzy and lacking oxygen. He was more tired than when he was running and his feet were unsteady.

We've only passed the qualifiers; the actual race is next January. The Hakone Ekiden is in approximately seventy-five days. Even though he told himself that, happiness filled his chest.

Kiyose once said this: “Hakone isn’t a mountain in a mirage.” That really was true. The residents of Chikusei-sou had finally reached the point where they could see the mountain as a real entity.

While feeling excited, Kakeru swiftly folded the plastic sheet. Jouta and Jouji were sitting on the grass. They were frowning for some reason as they peered at the notes of the results they had copied from the display board.

“What’s wrong?” Kakeru called to them. The twins looked up at him.

“Haiji-san said we’re going to the top,” Jouta muttered.

“Mm? Did he?” Kakeru responded lightly, but Jouta wasn’t convinced.

“He did say that. But, this time…”

“What about it?” Kakeru put down the plastic sheet and crouched down next to the twins. “Let’s clean this up quickly and go home. I’m sure we’ll have a party tonight.”

“Kakeru, doesn’t ‘top’ mean winning?” Jouji asked with a grim face. “Our total time is ten hours sixteen minutes and forty-three seconds. TSU, who qualified in first place, has a time of ten hours nine minutes and twelve seconds; that’s a difference of seven and a half minutes. And yet, this is still the qualifiers, right? So, how fast do the runners of the schools that win Hakone run twenty kilometers?”

“If we practice, can we get to that level by New Year’s?” Jouta asked him seriously. “Hey, what do you think, Kakeru?”

Kakeru couldn’t answer anything.

Previous | Next

[biclarisselarue]

Annabeth wakes up crying. It’s been a month since she made Nico take her down to the Underworld. A month since she waded into the River Styx. 

Her knees come up to her chest, and she gradually forces herself to breathe, deep, calm, patient. An unbidden memory of Luke teaching her how to stop a panic attack floats into her consciousness, the gentle hand on his shoulder changing into something rougher as her mind reconstructs the image. It’s for Luke that Annabeth went through hell for the curse. To stop him, to save him. 

A small part of her mind whispers that it’s for Percy, too, but she can’t think about that. Not now. Not on the brink of a war that he won’t come back from, that he’s been doomed to be a piece of since before he was born. Compared to that, her little swim is nothing, and she knows without thinking that she’d do it again in a heartbeat if it increases the odds of them winning. Of Percy living. Of Luke coming back. Of everything being okay again. 

Though, she supposes, when has anything ever been okay? Annabeth lets out a quiet, bitter laugh at the thought of her dad realizing what kind of a danger his daughter is now. The Annabeth who’s only desire was to finally go on a quest seems so far away now, and her heart aches. That Annabeth wouldn’t have found a monster after coming up from the Underworld and allowed it to attempt tearing off her arm with only a suppressed flinch. It had been a good test of the curse, if a bit hasty, but the sheer energy thrumming through her veins hadn’t given her a moment to stop and reflect. 

Nico’s been giving her strange looks from across the pavilion whenever he deigns to show up. It would be fine, if Percy hadn’t caught on, and if she has to make up one more excuse for why she can’t practice with him while he gazes at her with that stupid mixture of concern and hurt, well. It’s close enough to his birthday that the camp is in full war zone mode, and Percy is a busy guy. Everyone wants to talk to him; just in case it’s the last time they can. 

It won’t be. Annabeth sees his smiling face through the water of the Styx every time she closes her eyes. It won’t be. 

[much-obliged-timothy]

Whumptober #26

Devil May Cry - #26 - Blindness

I didn’t have enough time to proofread tonight, so I apologize for any errors!

*

“Do these things ever stop coming?” Nero said as he sliced through yet another smaller demon.

“Stop complaining,” Vergil said.

“It was a question, not a complaint,” Nero pointed out. “Besides, we should be trying to get to the source of where these things are coming from rather than wasting time cutting them up.”

“Kid’s got a point,” Dante said, shooting a demon dead and trying to catch his breath. “Whatever is sending these things at us is just trying to wear us down. Might as well charge in and finish this up.”

“You two are impatient,” Vergil said.

“You’re welcome to stay here and keep swinging away at the cannon fodder. Dante and I will go actually be useful,” Nero said.

Vergil’s expression darkened in irritation, and Dante had to hide a laugh. Nero sure knew how to get to his father. 

Sure enough, Vergil moved towards the large hole in the ground that the demons kept pouring out of. “Let’s hurry this up. I can’t tolerate being around the two of you for much longer.”

Nero flashed Dante a thumbs-up, and Dante grinned in return. The two followed after Vergil, and they jumped down into the hole.

“The hell is that?” Nero as they finally spotted the source of this mess.

There stood a large demon, swarmed by what appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of the smaller demons. It let out a grating scream that had all three men wincing at the volume.

“Think we pissed her off,” Dante said, and dove to the side as it whipped a sharp tendril at him.

“Don’t let the tendrils hit you. They’re coated in some kind of substance,” Vergil said, readying his sword. “Could be deadly.” 

“I dare you to touch the tendril,” Dante said, nudging Nero.

“I should’ve done this job alone,” Vergil said with a long sigh.

“But instead, you’re graced by us,” Nero said, and ran at the demon.

“Reckless,” Vergil hissed. “That boy is so damn reckless.”

“He knows what he’s doing. I think,” Dante said, and took off after Nero.

Vergil moved more carefully, taking precise strikes against the demon’s legs to stagger it. Dante and Nero climbed its back and began to slash away at it, dodging its thrashing tendrils as it screeched and tried to shake them off.

Nero narrowly avoided a tendril in an attempt to get the demon to stab itself. But it was immune to whatever coated its tendril, so Nero instead tried slashing at the tendril itself.

“Nero! Stop playing around! You have no idea what that’ll do to you if it hits you,” Vergil said.

“Careful, he might ground you,” Dante teased.

“It won’t do shit to me if I can cut it off,” Nero said, striking the tendril again and shifting his body so that it flailed past him harmlessly. “This thing is damn hard to cut through. And why does it have so many?”

“You can study them once the demon is dead,” Vergil said, slicing the Yamato across the demon’s leg.

It screeched again, sending a tendril flying at Vergil. Vergil easily moved out of the way, but Nero’s eyes widened as he saw a smaller tendril streaking towards Vergil’s back.

“Vergil!” he cried, leaping off the demon’s back.

He crashed into Vergil just in time to knock him out of the way. Vergil stumbled off balance and hit the ground, looking up just as the tendril stabbed into Nero’s chest and sent him flying back.

Nero hit the ground hard, fingers grasping at his chest, trying to yank the tendril free. Dante and Vergil both sprang into action, trying to cut the tendril off the demon.

Dante grasped it and yanked it free, Nero crying out at the sensation. He grabbed his sword, but dropped it a moment later, gripping his head as panic flashed across his face.

“Nero?” Vergil demanded, fending off another tendril before it could get the vulnerable boy.

“I can’t see!” Nero said in alarm. 

Nero swung his head around side to side, but his vision remained pitch black. His chest tingled, but his limbs still worked just fine. He could hear and smell everything fine. 

But his vision was gone.

He reached out blindly for his sword, grasping it. He got to his feet, trying to listen hard. He was used to fighting one armed, but not blind. He’d never had to fight blind before.

“Down!”

Someone grabbed him and yanked him to the ground. Something whipped over his head, and he abandoned his sword, grabbing his gun instead and firing at the sound.

“Stop, before you hit one of us,” Dante said, thumping him in the head. “Let me see you.”

“Bastard,” Nero said, trying to kick him.

“Ow! That wasn’t a joke! I really am trying to look you over. Vergil, cover us.” Dante gripped Nero’s shoulders. After a moment, Nero felt Dante’s hand on his chest.

“There’s some sort of film over your eyes,” Dante said at last. “Shit. My dumbass brother talks so big and can’t even watch his own back.”

Nero tightened his hold on his gun, refusing to give into his fear. The darkness reminded him of being sucked into the Savior back in Fortuna. But this time, he would not be weak. He would not be helpless and useless.

“Tell me where to shoot,” he said.

“You should-”

“Tell me where to shoot,” he repeated impatiently.

Dante sighed, and put a hand back on his shoulder. “Someone’s got to keep you covered. Alright, kid, let’s do this. We’ll shoot the thing, and Vergil can carve it up. On your right.” 

Dante directed Nero where to shoot, and pulled him out of the way of harm. Nero focused hard on the sounds around him, trying to determine where Vergil was so he didn’t accidentally shoot him. What a waste to save him from the tendril just to accidentally shoot him. 

Still, it might be a good excuse to get revenge for his arm…

No, no. Another time, maybe. Right now, he had a demon to kill, eyesight or no eyesight.

“Oh fu- on your left!” Dante cried, gripping Nero’s arm to yank him aside.

But Nero could hear the sound of the tendril whipping through the air towards them. He fired twice at it before Dante pulled him aside.

There was an awful shrieking sound, and then a heavy thump that shook the ground. Nero lowered his gun.

“Vergil?” he guessed.

“Killed it,” Vergil said.

“He’s taking all the credit, but that thing has quite a few bullet holes in it,” Dante said, clapping Nero on the back. “Nice shooting, kid.”

“His eyes,” Vergil said, his voice close to Nero now. “What the hell is this substance?”

“No clue,” Dante said, and Nero heard the slightest strain in his voice. He was worried.

“Is it permanent?” Nero asked, forcing his voice to remain steady. Still, he tightened his grip on his gun to keep his hand from shaking.

“Let’s get you back home so we can look into this,” Dante said, evading the question. “Vergil, cut off a few of those tendrils.”

Nero listened to Vergil do just that. After a few moments, a hand fell on his arm and began guiding him forward.

“We’ll need to carry him out of here,” Dante said, and Nero was surprised to find that his voice was too far back to be the one guiding him.

“I can walk just fine,” Nero said.

“It’ll be too much of a hassle to guide you out,” Vergil said, voice right next to Nero. “Here, just- stay still.”

Nero let out an indignant noise as he was lifted. Wind whipped against his face as Vergil made his way up and out of the hole they jumped into, and it was a few moments before he was set back down. Vergil put a hand on his arm to guide him again.

Nero wanted to shove Vergil’s hand away, but he was well aware he’d end up tripping if he tried to walk alone. There were too many corpses of those smaller demons scattered about.

So he reluctantly allowed himself to be led back to the van. He could hear the engine as they approached.

“What happened to his eyes?” Nico said.

“Unsure. Get us back to his house,” Vergil said.

“I’m sorry, what was that? It sounded like you were trying to give me orders,” Nico said.

“Alright, alright. Nero came in here with his eyesight and now he’s suddenly blind. Maybe fight when we fix that?” Dante said. 

Nico grumbled out curse words, but the van jerked into motion. Nero, familiar with the layout, shrugged Vergil’s hand off and got up.

He kept a hand out in front of him as he cautiously made his way to where they kept the water bottles. He managed to grab one and twist the cap off, pouring some into his cupped hand and splashing it into his eyes.

“Stop,” Vergil said, taking the water bottle from him. “We have no idea what that substance is. You could be making things worse.”

“I’m blind!” Nero snapped. “How much worse could I possibly make it?”

“You could make it permanent,” Vergil snapped right back.

Nero swung his head in the direction he thought Dante was in. “You can’t take me home like this. Kyrie will worry.”

“Over here, kid,” Dante said from the opposite direction. “I’ll take you back to my office for now. I already messaged Trish a description of the demon to look into.”

“Are there any other symptoms?” Vergil said.

“A headache, but that might just be because I’m sick of dealing with you,” Nero said. He slumped back against the side of the van, resisting the urge to rub his eyes. “My chest is tingling and my eyes burn. Want to hear about how that makes me feel since you’re playing doctor?”

“Fine, then we’ll stop trying to help and you can suffer,” Vergil said. “If that’s how you want to be.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Nero said, slamming his fist against the wall. “Sorry if I’m not exactly in the best mood right now, but I kind of just went blind, and it might be fucking permanent.”

“And you’re mad because it should’ve been me,” Vergil said.

Nero let out a disbelieving laugh. “You think I’m that shallow? If I wanted it to be you, I wouldn’t have pushed you out of the way. Maybe you wouldn’t have done it for me, but I don’t regret doing it for you, even if this is permanent.”

Vergil fell silent. Nero turned away from him and made his way back to a seat. He didn’t want to let his fear grow too much, so he busied himself feeling his chest injury and trying to judge how badly it had torn his clothes.

When the van finally stopped, he got up and made his way off it without help. But then someone caught his arm and guided him along.

“Dante, I know my way around your office,” Nero said impatiently. “I don’t need a guide.”

“I know that,” Dante said from far ahead of him. “Tell it to your old man.”

“I- oh.” Nero turned his head towards the hand on his arm, though he could see nothing. 

“It’s a mess in there. Knowing your way around won’t help,” Vergil said without taking his hand away.

Nero allowed it, if only because of Vergil’s tone. He sounded...almost reluctant. Like he’d finally realized that Nero had saved him for no other reason than that he hadn’t wanted to see Vergil get hurt. No ulterior motive, no “you owe me”; just an instinctive desire to save him.

“Good news,” Trish said as they got Nero seated. “The effects would be permanent on a human, but it’s only temporary on a demon.”

“How is that good news? Nero is more human than demon,” Vergil said, that cold anger back.

“He’s demon enough,” Trish said. “It should wear off in a few hours.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Vergil said.

“It will,” Dante said.

But Nero knew what he’d see if he hadn’t been blinded. He’d see Dante and Trish shooting Vergil that “shut up or you’ll scare him” look. They sounded confident, but Vergil was right. Nero was mixed, with more human in him than his father or uncle. They might be fine if it was them, but it was Nero.

“Reckless,” Vergil grumbled, because he’d evidently reached the same conclusion Nero just had. If Vergil had been stabbed by the tendril, this wouldn’t be an issue. But it had been his son, and now they’d just have to wait and hope. “You’re so reckless.”

“Runs in the family,” Nero said.

That fear was coming back, though. He couldn’t fight if he was blind. It would take him years to learn how to do it with any competency. Years in which the people he cared about wouldn’t have him there to protect them or watch their backs. Years of being weak and vulnerable.

“Stop,” Vergil said firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. For once, Nero took a strange comfort in it. “They are right. You’re not human. You’ll be fine in a few hours, and then you’ll go right back to doing something stupid and reckless and put yourself in another bad situation.”

“We’re working on his pep talks,” Dante said.

“Both of you, shut up,” Nero said. But he didn’t want silence, not really. 

Vergil and Dante seemed to pick up on it, for which Nero was grateful. He felt the slightest pressure on his shoulder, as if Vergil had tightened his hold.

“Hey, Nero, since we’ve got the time, why don’t I tell you about the time I kicked your old man’s ass in a sword fight when we were kids?” Dante said.

“They were toy swords, and you cheated,” Vergil said. 

Nero was grateful for the distraction as the brothers began to bicker and argue about what had happened all those years ago in their fake sword fight. Nero listened to them, focusing on their words so that he wouldn’t have to worry about what would happen if this never wore off.

But he knew what would happen. Vergil and Dante would look after him and help him adjust. Because for as irritating as the twins could be, they would never abandon Nero to fight alone in the dark.