#yeah I’m bad parent- I have favourite children- hush

[afterartist]

Reblog with the reasons why I’m curious lmao

[toujourspur13]

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape  immediately  recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart?  JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.  

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away,  how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder  that he was the last one.  

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”. 

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side.  However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war.  No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

[littlemissagrafina]

Like a boat out on the ocean (I'm rocking you to sleep)

Read on AO3

"Okay, wait, wait, wait. So lemme just me get this straight," May's voice echoed through the lab, her astonishment clearly seen thanks to the video call she and Tony were currently on. "Peter was hit by two different spells and the effects of the two combined together managed to turn him into a kid again?"

Tony sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his face, using the other to support a now very young and very much asleep Peter on his lap.

"That's about it, yeah. There was a wannabe Voldemort that decided to make an appearance after he decided he was the all powerful lord of the mystic arts or some shit like that."

"The others didn't want to take any chances so we called in Strange for some help since the sorcerer side of the villains are a bit out of our usual Tuesday routine. Between all of us we managed to get the situation handled pretty fast but there was a little scrabble towards the end and a stray spell got fired towards Peter."

Tony saw the small flare of panic in May's eyes and he rushed to carry on explaining before she interrupted and started stressing herself out. "Strange shot his own spell to try and stop it but it was too slow to fully block it and they merged together just before hitting Peter. With the distraction of those spells, the others were able to apprehend Lord Wannabe while Strange and I took care of Peter."

"That still doesn't explain how we ended up with a spider baby instead of a spider teen, Tony. I'm pretty sure the sorcerer wasn't just throwing around spells to turn people into children." May raised an eyebrow at him in a way that reminded Tony way too much of his mother. Damn, why are Italian women so terrifying?

"No, he wasn't." Tony paused. This was the part that he was slightly hesitant to tell May. Yes, it was fine now but the danger of the situation had still been very real and prominent in the moment.

"The spell that was going to hit Peter was apparently one that would reverse the natural state of whatever it hit until they, essentially, became the dust they once started from. When it mixed with Strange's spell trying to block it by freezing it in time, the effect was that it de-aged Peter back to around three or four years old."

May nodded, taking it all surprisingly well. Way better than Tony himself had taken it although he wasn't going to admit that anytime soon. He was the definition of cool and collected after all. And no, no one was allowed to give the many many instances proving him to be the opposite of calm and collected where Peter was concerned.

May speaking brought Tony back from his thoughts. "And that was the only effect? No injuries or anything else to be worried about?"

"No," Tony shook his head. "Nothing else of major concern besides the obvious. "He nodded down to the still asleep child in his arms. "And he still has all his memories and powers as far as we can tell, it's just the body and mindset that got a bit of a reset."

May couldn't help but feel relieved to hear that. She couldn't imagine having to tell Peter about his parents or Ben all over again or even begin to know how to explain everything about the spider bite and Tony. "That's good. Do you know how much longer he's going to be like this for?"

"According to Strange the spells should wear off in a few weeks and he will most likely just revert back to his actual age and size." 

"Right, considering his track record I'm definitely grateful that it wasn't anything worse. I'll try and get up to you guys by morning if that's alright? I don't want to chance driving in the dark with the roads still full of ice." As much as May wanted to get to her kid to reassure herself that he was really okay, she knew that she still had to be logical and careful and driving on roads riddled with black ice at night wasn't the way to go.

"You'll be okay with him until tomorrow?"

Tony nodded, shooting her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, we'll be fine, May. Clint is letting us use some of Cooper's old clothes until we can buy some for Pete tomorrow so we're all good here for now. Besides, Morgan is having the time of her life now that he's younger."

May gave a chuckle at that. "Oh I'm sure she is. She adores that boy so much. It must be a dream come true for her to have a "little" brother now. Anyway, the boss is calling so I have to go. I'll be up there tomorrow! Take care of our kid, Tony."

"Yes ma'am!"

---

Tony was woken up that night by little footsteps and sniffles. Sleep was quickly brushed away as he sat up, Friday automatically turning the lights up until it was just bright enough to see without disturbing Pepper sleeping next to him.

He was momentarily surprised to see a little Peter instead of Morgan thanks to the small footsteps, before he remembered the events of the now previous day seeing as it was just after 3am thanks to a quick glance at the clock on his bedside table.

Tony made his way quickly and quietly out of bed, used to the same routine when Morgan had nightmares and he woke up before Pepper did. He bent down, back only protesting slightly thanks to the small amount of extremis that found its home in his blood after his use of the gauntlet.

"Hey there, Roo." Tony whispered to the little child, slowly kneeling in front of him and giving him a small smile as he wiped away a few stray tears from rosy cheeks. "Whats'a matter, huh? You have a nightmare?" 

Peter nodded, his chin wobbling and tears welling up in his doe eyes once again. He made little grabby hands towards Tony and the man instantly scooped him up, holding him gently to his chest with one arm and cradling the back of his head with the other.

Slipping out of the room, Tony padded quietly down the hall. Just before he reached the stairs he heard a creak from behind them and turned around to see Morgan's head peeking out from her door.

"What are you doing up, Mongoose? Little Stark's are supposed to be asleep, sweetheart."

"Heard Petey get up, Daddy. Is he okay?" Morgan matched her father's still hushed voice.

Tony felt like his heart was melting right then and there. He would never get over how much it meant that his two kids, despite having no blood relationship between them, loved each other so much. "Yeah, baby, he's okay. Just had a bad dream but we're gonna go and help Petey get some sleep again."

His daughter stared up at them, intelligent eyes scanning them for a moment before she disappeared back into her room only to come back a few moments later with her favourite Hulk blanket.

She marched up to the two of them and pulled Tony's shirt, asking him to lean down and he did so, careful not to drop Peter.

"Hi, Petey," she whispered, feeling instantly happy when her brother gave her a small wave. "You can borrow my Brucie blanket. It makes the bad dreams go away."

"Thank you, Morgie." Peter whispered back as Tony took the blanket and wrapped it around the little boy.

Heart feeling like it could literally swell out of his chest because of his sweet children, Tony stood up again. "Thank you, Morgan. Are you okay to go to bed or do you wanna come with Petey and I?"

Morgan shook her head. "I'm okay, Daddy. Take care of Petey? You can dance him like you do with me cuz it makes me sleep really nice?"

"Sure will, Morgs. Go get some sleep, Little Miss."

With a smile, the girl went back to her room and peeked her head out once more. "Night night, Daddy. Night night, Petey."

"Goodnight, Morgan."

Her head ducked away and Tony waited to hear her get under her covers before he continued down to the living room and perched on the edge of the coffee table for a moment.

"Pete? You still awake, Bud?" Peter nodded and Tony shifted him back away from his chest so he could look at his kid's face. "We're gonna choose some music to play quietly okay? You wanna choose or me, Bambino?"

Peter lay back against his chest. "You." It was said quietly but decidedly as well.

"Okay." Tony got up, making sure the Hulk blanket was still wrapped around Peter, and moved to and open spot in front of one of the windows looking out across the lake.

"Fri, can you play Morgan's Tiptoe playlist for me, please?"

Soft music soon filled the air. Song after song playing as Tony held Peter close, shifting and swaying in a dance that you only knew when you held a child in your arms. He swayed and shifted, moving around in patternless circles and lines that had Peter relaxing further and further until he was fast asleep against Tony's shoulder.

Peter slept, but Tony carried on dancing. He felt at peace with the music softly echoing around him as his son in all but blood slumbered restfully in his arms.

---

Having a family hadn't always been in the cards for Tony. The fear of being the father to a young child the way that Howard had been to him… well, it was enough to make him nervous at the thought of having his own family even as much as he desired it.

Tony never wanted to make a child feel unwanted the way that he had been made to feel. He never wanted them to feel that they weren't loved, important, or valued.

If there was ever a time that Tony could have kids of his own, the last thing he would do was make them feel as he had felt growing up.

Any child of his would be loved and cherished with all that Tony had. It was a promise to himself that he would never break.

Standing with Pepper as they watched Morgan and Peter race across the yard towards them, both trying to be the first to hug them, Tony couldn't help but feel as if he had fulfilled the promise to himself.

[ultimate-distaster-material]

-Saiouma Oneshots- Kindergarten Teacher! Kokichi x Parent! Shuichi

>Quick Disclaimer< In this story, Monaca is nice- Her legs are actually disabled as well. I tried to mention everyone who is in the actual story's POVS. The adults are 22 whereas the kids are 5. Kirigiri and Shuichi are childhood friends too.

This story is very long, it was made to show my appreciation for all of the support. Sorry it took so long for me to update.

!TW!

Family Issues

Mentions Trauma

Mentions Dead Bodies

kIsSinG (Ok I'll stop)

KOKICHI POV

“So, Nagisa. I heard you’re getting a new caretaker?”

I looked at Nagisa, pitying the poor boy. He never had good parents. They would always force the youngling to work, days over days, sometimes hitting him to help him stay awake. That’s his reason for being very smart at a young age.

I would always stay here with him in the afternoon, occupying him so he doesn’t have to go back home.

“Mhm! I heard he’s a boy, I hope he’s nice!”

I smiled at the small boy. Even with all the despair he has been through during his life, he still had a glimpse of hope resting in his heart. I admired him for this, he was very strong for pulling through all the drama, especially as a child.

“Y’know, I’m gonna miss going here when I grow up. Will I ever see you again?”

“I mean, I could probably get in contact with your new caretaker, and could visit you once in a while…”

“I don’t wanna leave this place…”

I comforted him as his tears threatened to fall from his eyes, tracing random designs on his back, listening to his troubles. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I energetically got up from my seat, Nagisa following close behind me, and then opened the door.

There was a man with teal blue hair and a detective uniform standing at the door. He looked kinda sexy-

“Hello, Mr. Detective~ You here for something?”

He stared at me before handing me a few slips of paper. Adoption papers? Wha-

“Who are you?”

Nagisa was a little scared, as he was a detective. The poor boy probably thought that the man was here for something serious.

I hushed Nagisa as I pulled him infront of me, giving him a good view of the man.

“My apologies…I’m Shuichi Saihara. Nice to meet you.”

I nodded at him and decided to introduce Nagisa and myself/

“I’m Kokichi Ouma, and this is Nagisa. Judging by the adoption papers, I’m guessing you’re here for Nagisa?”

He nodded and shook the hand I held out to him. He had such a calming voice…

“Are you mean?”

“I promise I’m no-“

“You smell like coffee.

“Wha-“

“Nagisa, it’s not ok to interrupt people y’know.”

Nagisa muttered a small ‘sorry’ to me and the man before getting his bag. He peered up at me with teary eyes. I could tell he didn’t want to go with a new parent, due to trust issues. I sighed and pat him on the head.

“You better take care of him.”

Shuichi smiled at me, reassuring that everything was going to be fine. I held out my phone with my contacts open.

“Phone number?”

I asked him as he took my phone (and ran off with it) and he handed me his, and we both entered each other’s phone number. Nagisa smiled as I showed him my phone, his eyes gleaming with hope and joy. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Shuichi even grinned at us placing his hands gently on Nagisa’s shoulder. I waved them goodbye as they waved back, Nagisa ranting to Shuichi about me. I’m glad I was able to make him happy. I walked around the small room, arranging everything back into its normal places and counting all the items to see if they were still there. 10 paint brushes, 2 art easels, 20 pencils, 5 paint palettes, 40 books and 7 whiteboard markers. Looks like I’m running low on markers, I’ll grab some in the morning. I smiled and locked the door behind me. I strolled down the street under the glowing sky, showing colours of orange, yellow, red, and peach. I sat calmly at the bus stop, taking off my painting apron and stuffing it into my bag neatly. I placed earplugs into my ears and started playing my favourite playlist.

Soon the bus arrived, squeaking its brakes as it parked into the bus stop. I sighed and planted my feet onto the ground as boarded the bus. It didn’t take long to get home.

||Time Skip Cuz Lazy||

I jingled my keys as I brought them out of my pocket, slotting them into the lock and opening the doors to the kindergarten. I walked in, turning on the fans by a little, and the lights. I began to write whatever was happening onto the big whiteboard and restocked my pens. I smiled as children and parent sprawled into the room, yet keeping an eye out for Nagisa. If he had any new scars or bruises, or darker eyebags, Shuichi won’t be waking up the next day. I waited about five minutes, everyone was here, but the two people I had been waiting for.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, and I spotted Shuichi giving the small child a piggy-back ride. I smiled as they both grinned back at me, Nagisa climbing off the adults back and running over to me.

“Kokichi! You won’t believe it! He let me use his magnifying glass and we went to the park. He even pushed me on the swing! I love my new dad!”

I grinned wider, glad Shuichi was giving him a good treatment. He even said he loved him.

“That’s great Nagisa! I’m grateful that Shuichi has been treating you right.”

Shuichi lovingly hugged Nagisa.

“I better go, or I’ll be late for work! Bye, have a good day you two! I love both of you!”

The young boy I waved goodbye as the detective briskly walked out of the kindergarten building, waving us goodbye, blushing. Wait, he loved both of us…?

||POV Change||

SHUICHI POV

I walked out the door, blushing crazily. I can’t believe I said that. I’m so embarrassed…

I hopped into the car, driving down to the detective agency. When I had first met Kokichi, I thought he looked a little cute, but I just ignored my thoughts. I’ll just tell him I was talking Nagisa and his non-existent imaginary friend…yeah I’ll just do that.

I arrived at the agency, closing the door gently behind me and taking in a deep breath. The aroma of coffee wafted around the area. No wonder I smelt like coffee…According to Nagisa anyways.

“Good morning Mr. Saihara. You looked like you’ve slept well!”

My partner, detective Kirigiri. I grinned at her, starting to tell her about Nagisa. She nodded at me while I spoke, thankful that I finally had something to cheer me up. I had been so busy with work lately that I was so tired to even show much emotion.

“So, Shuichi. We have a new case to work on.”

“Hm? What’s it about?”

“Just a new murder case, the usual.”

I nodded at her getting my file reports organized and ready. She gave me some evidence, suspect reports, reports of the victim and the time and place of the murder.

“It seemed to be planned too…”

I muttered as she passed over a small picture which showed the room.

“Huh?”

I pointed at the picture, spotting a nearly invisible ‘escape route plan’ peeking out of the screen. You could only see half of it though.

“That’s new…”

“Wait…How did you know this wasn’t there? Weren’t you at the crime scene?”

“It was a photo in the victims camera roll. You were correct, I was there, but it seems like the killer needed this to escape.”

“That makes sense.”

“So, the killer must’ve either been scared they would mess up, has a bad memory or had minimum time to figure this out…”

She agreed with me and pointed to the wall again, pointing back to the photo.

“There seems to be something white in the vents that we never checked.”

She stated bluntly while narrowing her eyes to get a better look.

“You’re right! Why didn’t you check the vents though…?”

“Rats.”

“Wha-“

I shrugged it off and looked back at Kyoko, then the picture again. She smirked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You wanna check it out, don’t you.”

“Kinda-“

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

I followed her out of the building, and we entered the car park, halting to a stop right infront of a shining, neon purple motorcycle. It gleamed in the sunlight and Kyoko continued to smirk at me.

“Chickening out?”

“N-No..”

“Good.”

She grabbed a helmet off the dark purple handlebars and gave it to me, claiming to have a spare one in her bag that she could wear. Which she did.

She hopped onto the motorcycle, gesturing for me to do the same. I gulped and lifted my leg over the seat and sat down, trembling.

“Hold on tight!”

I didn’t hesitate to do exactly as she told me. She revved the engine, and we took off down the road, her purple hair flowing viciously in the wind. I was petrified. We were going veryfast. I gulped as I felt the wind blow in my face. I rested my chin on Kirigiri’s shoulder, avoiding her purple hair flowing into my face as we raced around the city. The city lights were blurred, and people looked like smudge marks. I peered down at the road, barely able to adjust to the distorted white line and concrete. I felt a sickening dizziness, and my head just couldn’t keep up with my blurry surroundings. Yet, I felt like I was in heaven. The glorious wind blowing in my face, the soothing noises of the motorcycle engine, and the feel of Kyoko’s warmth. I closed my eyes, loosing touch with everything around me. I was in my own little world. That was, until I sensed the motorcycle slow to a halt and Kyoko’s small weight lift off the motorcycle. But since I was laying on her, she lifted me up too without realizing, and my body went tumbling forward, Kyoko’s doing the same.

“Sorry…”

I sighed and apologized, staring at the ground. She arose from the ground, dusting off her uniform and patting me delicately on my back.

“No worries, Saihara-Kun. Just be careful next time.”

I nodded as we barged into the murder scene, nobody being there.

“Watch out. We cannot predict anything. Expect the unexpected.”

I remembered her wise words and examined the room, Kirigiri assisting me by lifting me up, since I weighed less, and I unscrewed the vents to see a rat. Great. I sneakily snatched the paper and Kyoko lowered me back down to the ground, peering over my shoulder to see if anything useful was written on the small piece of white paper. It read,

Sorry, my dear friend.

“So, the victim was the culprit’s friend….

“Seems so.”

“Wait, why wasn’t it near the victim then?”

“When we arrived, the fan was on, making it completely possible to blow into the vents, in which the paper could slip through, and the rats could’ve possibly taken it.”

I nodded to show my agreement and we inspected the room a little longer. I spotted her typing on her phone a few moments later, sighing.

“Saihara-Kun.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Are you gonna leave your kid at kindergarten or…”

Shuichi blankly stared down at his wrist, reading the time.

2:12

Nagisa’s kindergarten ended at 2:00. He was over the other side of the city. He would be very late, as they had no car.

“Take my motorcycle. I want to stay a bit longer anyways.”

“Really? Thank you Kirigiri-San!”

I rushed out of the building, grabbing a sleek blue helmet and boarded the motorcycle. The wheels screeched as I raced across the city, my hair spasming in the wind. The motorbike’s wheels whirred as they rolled along the road, forcing the motorbike to drive faster. My hands gripped the handlebars incredibly tight, fearing the vehicle would stir out of control if I didn’t have power over the handlebars.

There it was. The kindergarten. I zoomed towards it, halting to a stop in the parking lot. I rushed inside, panting heavily as Kokichi and Nagisa were staring at me. The small, blue-haired boy ran over, enveloping me in a tight hug. I lovingly hugged back, patting his back in the process.

“Where were you? Parents shouldn’t be late, y’know.”

I gulped and peered up at the kindergarten teacher, mentally scolding myself. I knew I shouldn’t have been late. If it wasn’t for my partner, I would’ve left Nagisa there until I suddenly realized that he wasn’t anywhere nearby.

“Kokichi, don’t blame Dad! He had a really important case today!”

“Alright, just tell me next time.”

I muttered a sorry, and nodded, showing my understanding. The kindergarten teacher walked up to me, swiftly patting Nagisa’s head for a short period of time, then shifted to face me. I gulped, fearing I would get in trouble for not being a ‘good parent’.

“Why’d you call both of us cute.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about-“

“Why.”

I looked to the side, shivering a little and sighing. I soon peered back at him.

“Look..”

My ahoge resembled a deflated balloon. It was deformed, bent at every inch.

“It just slipped out, okay…?”

He looked at me, unamused, rolling his eyes and sighing.

“Totally…”

“Well, Nagisa and I have to go…”

“Alrighty! See you Nagisa!”

“What about me-“

“What about you?”

I rolled my eyes as I watched Kokichi ruffle Nagisa’s hair. He looked down at the boy expectantly.

“Nagisa has wanted to ask you something, but he’s clearly too shy…”

He nudged Nagisa knowingly, as the small boy stuttered out words.

“Well…I was wondering if some of my friends could have a sleepover…I’ve never had one, and…”

There was an awkward silence as my mind scanned over what I had planned next week. Nothing.

“Or not! T-That’s fine t-too!”

He looked sad and embarrassed at the same time, fiddling uneasily with his fingers, making eye contact with the ground.

“No, its fine! I was just trying to remember if I had anything scheduled next week…We can have one!”

Nagisa’s eye lit up, sparkles glimmering in his blue orbs. He shined so brightly as he bounced around the room excitedly. Then I realized something.

“Wait-“

“What?”

Kokichi looked up at me, clearly waiting for an answer.

“How am I gonna get Kyoko’s motorbike back to her-“

“You drove a motorcycle.”

“Yes-“

Kokichi jingled the keys on his short fingers, swaying them from side to side. He stared into my eyes, smiling.

“Want a ride then? I could pack the motorbike in the back of my car and drop it of to ‘whatever her name is’.”

“Kirigiri.”

“Right.”

The three of us strolled out of the kindergarten, after Kokichi had tidied up all the mess and checked up on everything, locking the doors behind us as we exited the building. Hopping into the car, we all drove off down the road, me directing the other adult towards the crime scene. Leaving the car, I unpacked the motorbike as Kokichi and Nagisa followed me in. I shifted to look back at the others.

“Uhm, I don’t think Nagisa should see this…”

“Why?”

I leaned into Kokichi’s ear and whispered to him.

“Dead body.”

He bobbed his head to show his agreement, Nagisa looking back and forth at us, confused. He held an arm infront of Nagisa, restricting him from going further, as I entered the building.

||POV CHANGE||

NAGISA POV

I watched as Dad entered the house, a bit worried. Why couldn’t I go in there? I decided to ask Kokichi.

“Why can’t I go in? What’s even in there?”

“Something you don’t want to see.”

I gave him a look of uncertainty, waiting for Dad to come back. I was a little worried, so I decided to start a conversation.

“I think you like Dad, am I right?”

“He seems pretty nice, probably would be a good friend.”

“No, you like Dad in that way. Not friendship, love.”

His eyes widened as he blushed furiously.

“W-Why would you t-think that, N-Nagisa?”

“So, you do like him.”

“N-No! I don’t!”

I rolled my eyes a little. It was so obvious. The whole time Kokichi and I were waiting for Dad, he was talking about him. Literally the whole time. I remember our conversation, word for word.

||Flashback||

“Alright! Time to go everyone!”

Kokichi opened the doors, the young children flooding out of the kindergarten. He sighed as he looked around after all the young kids were safely returned to their parents.

“Nagisa, where’s Shuichi?”

“He told me he was investigating today, apparently it was really serious!”

“Right…”

Kokichi sat on one of the chairs, relaxing his legs and leaning against the table. I did the same, and looked at him.

“Y’know, Shuichi is kinda hot.”

“Wha-“

“His hair is pretty, don’t you think?”

All I could do is agree. Kokichi peered down at his watch. 2:10. He sighed.

“I’m just going to text him-“

“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“He never answers when he’s at work…”

Kokichi fiddled the phone in his hands, clearly annoyed. Probably wanted to see Shuichi. Who knows?

“I know someone who does answer their phone though.”

He peered at me and handed me his phone. I cheerfully took it and tried to memorize their number. Typing it in, I quickly added the number to Kokichi’s contacts and texted the person. I had seen their number when Shuichi and Kokichi exchanged phone numbers.

‘Hello, do you know Shuichi Saihara by any chance? If so, do you know where he is?’

‘Yes, Shuichi is my work partner at the detective agency. We are currently investigating together. Who is this?’

‘This is Nagisa, his adoptive son. I’m texting him on my kindergarten teacher’s phone. I just wanted to tell him that kindergarten ended 12 minutes ago.’

‘Thank you Nagisa. I will have Shuichi know. He sure is forgetful.’

‘Thank you! Can I please know your name?’

‘Kyoko. Kyoko Kirigiri.’

‘Wait, how do you know my number?’

‘I memorized it when I saw Shuichi and my teacher exchange numbers. Sorry if that’s creepy or anything…’

‘It’s fine. I have to go now. Goodbye Nagisa!’

‘Bye!’

I turned off the phone, the glowing screen fading into pitch black darkness. I peered at Kokichi, telling him that Shuichi should be here soon.

||Present Time||

We were still waiting for Shuichi when I spotted Kyoko and himself exit the huge building. Kyoko stared at me, grinning slightly.

“Are you Nagisa?”

I nodded as she walked up to me, ruffling my hair playfully, then glaring at Shuichi. I could see him gulp and look away.

“And you are…?”

“I’m Kokichi, Nagisa’s teacher.”

“Nice to meet you.”

They shook hands, smiling at each other joyfully.

||POV CHANGE||

KIRIGIRI POV

I’m a little disappointed in Shuichi if I’m being honest.

Leaving your kid who’s in kindergarten with his teacher?

I mean, me and Shuichi have known each other since we were kids and happened to get into the same agency. I know Shuichi. He is forgetful, but not this forgetful. I mentally facepalmed at his previous actions and shook hands with Kokichi.

Nagisa and Kokichi look like they have a close relationship.

I disconnected our hands, watching as Kokichi signalled for Shuichi to enter the car. The two closed the doors behind them, waiting for Nagisa to say goodbye. The younglings hand reached for the door handle, struggling to open the car door. I went to assist him, just to realise it was locked. Shuichi and Kokichi strained to unlock the doors from the inside.

How did this even happen-

“D-Dad!”

Nagisa panicked as he saw the two people he seemed to be the closest to stuck inside the black and white car. I sighed as I saw the trapped kindergarten teacher flirt with the parent. Shuichi literally looked like his parents were a combination of a tomato and strawberry. I watched them as they continued to flirt together. I mentally facepalmed and refocused on the incident infront of me.

I saw Nagisa’s confused face as he walked up to peer through the window, prying into their business. I gently tapped the window, catching their attention.

“Are you two lovebirds done?”

I yelled from the other side of the window. They both were facing me, furiously blushing. In full honesty, they look like they dyed their faces bright pink.

“I’m going to break the window- “

“NAGISA DON’T- “

Too late. Nagisa had grabbed a rock off the ground and pounded it against the window.

“Really- “

“Sorry I was panicking…”

“It’s fine…”

“I guess we’re driving back with a broken window.”

“I guess they call you a detective for a reason!”

Kokichi laughed at his own joke as Shuichi giggled as well. It was so obvious they liked each other, they were so blind and dense. I could tell they liked each other, yet they were uncertain the other loved them back. I sighed and grabbed my purple helmet, putting the blue one Shuichi used in my sleek black bag.

“I’ll be going now.”

I waved goodbye as I hopped onto the motorbike, smiling as my purple streaks of hair flowed relaxingly behind me as I sped down the road. Out of the corner of my eyes. I could see the Kokichi pull Shuichi into a quick kiss through the car’s windscreen, Nagisa just staring in horror. Poor innocent thing.

-BONUS SCENE-

||TIME SKIP||

||W.O.H SLEEPOVER PLANNING||

||3RD PERSON||

“Hey Nagisa…Hey Jataro…I was thinking, I really want to get away from my parents…Do you know anything I could do?”

Kotoko raised a finger to her chin, in deep thought, looking a little depressed. Jataro looked sad as well.

“I just want to get away from everyone…”

Nagisa peered down, sad from seeing his friends loose hope. Monaca wheeled herself over to join our conversation.

“I just want someone to notice me…”

Masaru sat on the ground soon after, despairful.

“I just want to have a peaceful household…”

Nagisa peered down at the ground, wanting to encourage his friends to be joyful. Sure, he had trauma as well, but there is still happiness. He just began to spit out words of reassurance to his small group of friends.

“Jataro, why would you want to disappear from everyone? We are all here. We want you to be here. What’s that point in leaving everyone if everyone needs you here?”

He peered up at Nagisa, who was staring at him, the boy’s wise words causing a smile to form on his face.

“Monaca, we are your friends We notice you. Stop acting like nobody does, because if you haven’t already guessed, you are our friend. We notice you. Why would I be talking to you if I didn’t know you were here?”

She smiled at the blue haired boy, watching as some of the other kindergarten teachers came over. Komaru, Toko and Nagito stood there, watching their students, along with Kokichi who the whole time had secretly been there, unnoticed.

“Masaru! Kotoko! I think I have a solution to your problems!”

Nagisa shouted as the teachers watched, inspired by the boy’s acts of hope. Nagito especially. Toko had to slap a hand over his mouth so they wouldn’t interrupt the kids. Nagisa thought of the time where he was talking to Kirigiri while saying his goodbyes. She had told him these exact words.

“Shuichi has been so happy since he adopted you, y’know. I’ve been thinking about what my future would be like if I had a child. Say, did you know any that need a better home? I do want more than one though…”

“There is a solution I might have, but I need to check. Also, my Dad agreed on the idea to have a sleepover!”

“Sounds great!”

Everyone cheered in unison as they started planning what they would do, also deciding what snacks to bring. Monaca was spinning in her wheelchair in excitement, Masaru pushing her around in circles while Jataro inspired them to continue. Kotoko and Nagisa were drawing each other with crayons, Kokichi sitting on the other side of the table, spreading conversations.

Soon enough, it was time to go home. They all wished each other goodbye, as Kokichi drove Nagisa back to their house. They parked in the driveway, to see Shuichi waiting for them on their front porch.

“Good afternoon you two! How was your day?”

Kokichi ruffled Nagisa’s hair as he explained his day to Shuichi, also asking if he could tell Kirigiri about what I had found out.

“Ah- Sorry, Kyoko wants to see me. I will tell her the news as well Nagisa.”

“Bye!”

The small boy and Kokichi cheered and waved in unison, watching as Shuichi peered back at them, about to leave.

“Bye! I love both of you. And this time, I mean it.”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

🏰👑⚔️🐲 79 update

When morning came, it was to the sound of tolling bells. Exhausted from Viren's cries, Eren had tried everything he could think of to hush his unhappy pup, yet nothing had seemed to work. Levi looked just as frazzled, having too tried to lure the pup to sleep only for it to have failed. Now the constant ringing had ruined his last hope that Viren would finally drift off from crying himself to sleep. Sighing deeply, Eren rocked Viren as he paced back and forth. He couldn't remember a morning when the town's bells had rung so insistently. Did they even have a reason to be ringing? Levi looked ready to find whoever was responsible for the racket and throw them off the bell tower. The poor alpha had decided that if Eren was staying awake with Viren, he should too... which ruined Eren's plan of swapping roles if Viren failed to calm. It wasn't their first sleepless night due to Viren's lack of lyrical talents since becoming parents but in the castle there was always someone to swap with, namely Armin, who was happy for cuddles even with the crying. In this city, and in this inn, he didn't feel comfortable enough to let his son out of his sight or Levi's hold. Eren's internal musings were disturbed by a crashing noise coming from the room next door. The sound accompanied by Armin swearing, Mikasa scolding, another loud thud then footsteps, before ending with a knock on their bedroom door. Levi's groan as he climbed off their bed summed up Eren's feelings over the morning, he didn't even have the energy to tell his mate that it was only Mikasa and Armin on the other side of their door. Crying even louder, Eren hushed his pup... not that worked, but at least he was trying, while having a whole new appreciation for what his mother had gone through when he was a child. Letting Armin and Mikasa into the room, Levi retook his place on the bed next to the blanket shaped lump that was Luca. Their son really didn't appreciate Viren's strong lungs. Turning face his friends tiredly, Eren smiled thinly, knowing that he had to human now they had visitors in their room. Walking over to them, Armin smiled at Viren as he wiggled his fingers towards him despite the pup's eyes being tightly scrunched closed "How's my favourite little man?" "Unhappy" "Awww... do you want me to hold him? How long's he been crying?" Had Armin really not heard? Eren could have murdered him on the spot "All night. At least 6 hours..." "Have you tried feeding him?" No. He hadn't tried anything of the sort. He hadn't tried feeding him. He hadn't tried bath time. He hadn't tried exercises in case Viren had to poop and was struggling. He'd tried skin to skin contact, and double checked that his son wasn't suffering nappy rash. He's even tried a little healing magic but there was nothing there to heal. The poor pup had exhausted himself into the point of "hysteria". He hadn't tried anything of the sort "Yeah... pretty much everything. The bells aren't helping either" "They woke me up... let me take him. I'm sure he'll settle for Uncle Armin" Not really wanting to hand his pup over, Levi was quick to agree before calling Eren over to sit in his lap. Viren continuing to cry as Armin hushed and rocked him. Eren letting his head drop against Levi's shoulder as he internally smirked. It was relieving that Viren hadn't settled immediately, not that he didn't want his son to rest, as it showed it wasn't anything he'd done or hadn't done "Armin, you're not settling him" Glaring at Mikasa, Armin moved Viren to his shoulder "He won't settle. This is the unhappiest I've seen him since he was reunited with Eren and Levi" "Let me try" "No. I've got him. Besides, you don't deserve cuddles. Do you know what she did this morning? I woke up to find a sword at my throat. Apparently I lack special awareness, then, when she finally goes to help me up she trips me. Hear what your Aunty did to me Viren?" Mikasa snorted, smiling too widely for the hour of the morning. Closing his eyes Eren let Levi wrap his arms around his waist as the alpha's before the alpha's hands settled to rest on his own. Levi's pain bled through their bond, Eren sure the man was sporting a headache at least the size of his own "It wasn't that bad. He was already mumbling in his sleep before the bells started. I simply thought it'd be interesting to see how he reacted" "You try waking to a sword to your throat... How long do you think these bells are going to keep ringing? And why are they ringing? Is it some kind of custom here? To annoy visitors with a million bells the moment the sun rises?" Levi's breath was warm against his neck as the alpha replied "I don't think so. To toll the bells this many times is either in celebration, which I think we would have heard about ahead of time, or something major has happened" Groaning as his brain tried to kick in, Eren pinched the bridge of his nose. It was far too tempting to sleep, and now his eyes didn't want to open again "You think something's happened?" "I'm not sure. It was rare for the bells of Mitras to ring. Erwin found the noise grating after the first half dozen or so rings. Eventually he managed to have the bell ringing cancelled for the most part. So yes, I do think something has happened" Kissing his temple, Levi's left hand soon abandoned his to move to his forehead "You're warm" "It's nothing. Just a lack of sleep" "I'm grateful he doesn't have the same issues with his lungs as you do, but he is just as tone deaf as you are. And he only seems to know one song" Growling, Eren didn't care if Levi was joking. He wasn't in the mood for humour "Don't be a dick to our baby. You might have your alpha senses, but I have dragon senses remember" "I know. You really should rest. Let us take care of..." "No. I'm his mother. I should be awake too" "Armin and Mikasa are here now..." Really? He didn't notice the presence or scent of his two friends... Levi was lucky he was too tired to snap at him "If you're staying awake, I'm staying awake. Luca probably needs to go to the bathroom too" "I'll take him. I assume he's the bundle in the bed?" Hearing he was talked about, Luca climbed out from under the sheets. His son looked miserable as he slunk across the bed to Mikasa. Reaching down she lifted him into her hold. It really wouldn't be long until he couldn't ask for cuddles anymore. Each time Eren thought that, he couldn't bring himself to stop trying. Luca was still a baby. His baby... His baby the size of a large dog now. God. He was growing up too fast "I'll take him to the bathroom. Maybe see about getting something to eat? How does that sound?" Luca chirped his agreement. Far too easily bought by food. Eren didn't want him out of his sights, but now Mikasa had promised food he couldn't say no "Thanks, Mikasa" Viren was still crying when Mikasa came back with Luca half an hour later. Accompanied by Freya and Steege, Levi tapped his arm then resorted to shaking him until Eren groaned at him "I'm sorry to disturb you. Especially after last night, and with your son being so upset, but there's been an incident. There are guards on the front step to take you both to the court" Last night? Did she mean Viren crying all night? "Did they say what happened?" "No. It seems to be something significant. The old man downstairs isn't happy, they threatened to come up and get you. He tried to explain you were a lovely young couple with your children... then had a shock when they informed him Eren was a prince" That sounded about right. The man was forgetful, but he was also a crack whip when it came to gossip. He would have fitted in rather nicely at the castle, and Eren couldn't deny he wouldn't mind bringing him back to Eldia. The man had children, but they'd all left to make their own way in life and never seemed to come back to visit him. It was all rather sad. He didn't live this long to be left alone at the end "I don't think Eren is in any condition to be up and walking around" If they court wanted them there, then there was no other choice "I'll be fine" "You're hardly fine" "Then what am I supposed to do, Levi? The world doesn't stop because Viren cried all night. It doesn't stop because my head feels like it's about to explode. If something's happened and they want us there, then we go. We go because that's what expected of us" "You're sick" "It doesn't matter how I feel. Viren needs to be dressed. We need to get dressed. Freya, can you please inform them that we're getting dressed and will be down shortly? I'll be bringing the children with me" "We'll be leaving the children here" Levi grabbed for his hip as Eren started sliding out his slap "We're not leaving then here" "Eren" "Don't fight me on this Levi" "Viren's upset. Luca has had enough. You're sick. And we're both exhausted. Mikasa and Armin can handle this for a few hours while we sort whatever they want out" "Of course we can. We don't mind" Armin's words betrayed the look of rising panic on his face given Viren hadn't settled "If something's happened, I want the kids with me. Now let me get up, we need to get ready to go. I don't want to cause a scene in front of the boys. I don't want them coming up here to drag us down there, and the longer you keep me in your hold, the angrier they're all going to be. So let me go" "Eren..." Taking Levi's hands off him, Eren was done. Something major was going on, they were being called in, and all Levi could think about was the fact he was a little feverish from a lack of sleep. There were more important things than his health. Like preventing his son's from having to suffer through another traumatic event. * The sight before then was absolutely revolting. Warned before they entered the room that it was best Luca didn't head in there with them, Eren brushed it off, and now his mate was severely regretting the decision. All it'd taken was look for Eren to be throwing up the dinner he'd eaten the night before while collapsing to the ground in a stunned heap. Laying on the cold stone slab, in one of the rooms deep beneath the courthouse, Willy's shirt was covered with blood which had gushed from man's mouth after having his tongue cut out and being left to bleed to death in the city's marketplace. He'd been found by one of the vendors preparing for the day ahead, hence the ringing of the town bells. In a similar state of shock, Levi wasn't completely sure what he felt at the sight. Three of the tribunal members had been waiting to show the unsuspecting pair the gruesome sight. It wasn't until they'd opened Willy's mouth to show them sight of the severed tongue that Eren had collapsed, and though he wanted to move to Eren's side to comfort him, he couldn't take his eyes off Willy's body. Surely Willy seeking them out, and this, couldn't be unrelated... He'd sought them out... If he hadn't been turned away, would Willy still be alive? He hadn't told Eren that Willy had visited. He hadn't had the chance, not with Viren crying all night. It'd been the last thing on his mind to tell him, and the last thing Eren needed after staying up with Viren. Whining for his alpha, Eren finally pulled his attention. Sinking down by his omega, Eren flinched when Levi's hand landed on his thigh, another small whine coming from between his parted lips. As tears rolled down Eren's cheeks, they shimmered with diamond shards. Willy wasn't worth Eren's tears. Let alone tears of such distress as to be diamond encrusted. Beginning to cough, his mate was working himself into internal panic "Come here, Sweet Boy" Levi couldn't gather him into his arms due to Viren on his shoulder, but Eren could move the few centimetres as Levi sat properly. Shaking like a leaf, Eren found his way into Levi's one armed hold. His breath hitching as he hid his face against Levi's shoulder "Is this my fault?" God. How could Eren think this was his fault? Fuck. He shouldn't have let "No. No, this is absolutely not your fault at all" "He... he's dead. They... cut out his tongue. I told him he needed to clean up his loose ends... They cut his tongue out!" "Eren, there's something I need to tell you. Willy came with a group of soldiers and money to see us last night. Freya woke me to tell me. He was put off by the innkeeper, and left. But she had the impression that there was something more to it all..." "He what?! Why didn't you tell me?" Cringing, Levi wished Eren hadn't yelled right in his ear "I was going to. Then Viren was upset, and we were called in here" "He... he wanted to see me? After I..." "Eren. The visit wasn't planned to be pleasant. The innkeeper told Freya as much. We think he intended to pay the old man off for access to our room, only he didn't count on him being scatter minded" "He might still be alive, if we'd... Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you? You were awake all night. You were right there... and you..." "I was going to tell you. I promise I was going to tell you" "He's dead and the last thing I did was yell at him. I told him to stay away..." "Eren, he was murdered. Probably by the people he betrayed. Probably by those very loose ends from his attempt on your life. He doesn't deserve your tears, not after he tried to kill you. Not after what he put our family through. It's disgusting, but he's the one who brought this on himself" "He was still a person. He still had a family. Who cuts out a tongue and leaves the person to die?! Why didn't he try to get help?!" Hushing Eren softly, his mate really needed to stop yelling "I don't know. I don't know, Sweet Boy. But you need to calm down for me" "Calm down?! Someone fucking murdered him! I wanted him arrested! I wanted him to admit what he did, not for him to be murdered! There's no justice in death! And there's... there's no atonement either" Atonement. How could Willy have ever possibly atoned for what he'd done? He'd caused Eren's death. He'd caused the omega to die in his arms, and the loss of their third mate, who both of them were still mourning and suffering symptoms over. Willy could never have atoned for his sins, even if he'd spent the rest of his life in penance. The man had played a dangerous game in attempting to play both sides of the war. He'd brought this on himself, and now Levi was stuck piecing Eren back together yet again, because his mate cared too fucking much. How was that fair? How was this shit his to deal with? Swept away in the moment, and foggy from Eren's pain, Levi hadn't forgotten he was in the bowels of the courthouse, he had however forgotten that they had an audience. When one of the males began to speak, he found himself growling in an attempt to warn him off. Instead it led to Eren pushing himself back. The omega looked distraught as he wiped at his teary face "Prince Eren, have you composed yourself enough to talk?" The man wanted to talk? Eren was crying. Viren was crying. Luca was huddled up near the pair of them, probably terrified from all the scents in the air "Yes, your honour" "We called you here to enquire into whether you knew anything pertaining to the death of William Tybur. It's exceedingly obvious that you played no hand in the man's demise, however, you were witnessed arguing with him a few days ago. You accused him of partaking in the attempt against your life, correct?" "Y-yes, sir" "Explain yourself" Eren nodded, pulling himself to sit with his knees up and elbows resting against them. Levi thanked god his omega was wearing pants, because otherwise his mate would be exposing far too much for him to handle "The day you asked Levi and I to act as bait... I watched him. I watched his face. It was subtle, but the moment I laid eyes upon him I knew that he was involved. He looked... Willy looked displeased to see both Levi and I alive. There was also the way that he was the only one to make a huge fuss. I mean, yes, Magath did. But Willy... Willy honestly thought we were dead and that that was how it should be. It was all over his face. I couldn't stomach him. I couldn't stomach standing there with the man that tried to kill my family, so I left. I'm sorry for seeing so rude as to walk out of your court, but I didn't trust myself not to lose control of your magic. It can be rather temperamental, and I was suffering from the loss of our third mate, Obsydin. Honestly, this whole trial has been far more than I expected. A few days passed and, Levi and I were shopping with our sons. Because my magic blew up half the city, a lot of storeowners turned us away because Luca is a dragon. Willy sought us out to enquire over our health, and all I wanted to do was... honestly, I wanted to punch him. I was so upset over the treatment of Luca that he copped my bad mood. I told him to clean up his loose ends or it was going to come back to haunt him. I mean, I knew he was attempting to play both Levi and I, as well as Marley. For someone who was Zeke's close friend, Zeke never actually talked about him. Our marriage wasn't perfect. But Zeke tried. He tried when he found out I was pregnant and in his own way, he tried to stop Dina coming after me by taking me back to Eldia. He was worried about the baby, which I didn't know wasn't his at the time. He was always smiling. He was always too nice about things, and I lost it at him. I struck him in the face and told him to face his own sins. I wanted him... I wanted him to admit to organising to have my papers stolen as he knew about them all. He knew there were piles of them in my room, then they went missing. He knew someone attempted to murder me, and he was acting as if he was best friends with Marley, despite everything he said about them. He was supposed to be helping me abdicate the throne. I never wanted to go against Dina to claim control of Marley. I wanted her to pay for her crimes legally. I wanted her to understand that she ruined her son, and her country, by her actions and words. I wanted the same for Willy. But... I'm so sick of death. I'm sick of people suffering. I just want peace between Eldia, Marley, Draecia and the rest of the world. Levi just told me that Willy sought us out last night. Our son Viren has been crying all night, refusing to settle, so he kept it from me. Now I can't help but feel this is all my fault. I told him to... to take responsibility and now someone's cut his tongue out and left him to bleed to death. We don't know what happened to the maid. We don't know what Marley has planned. Dina doesn't care for any of those loyal to her... and it's... it's too much. I'm sorry, Your Honour. I know this isn't how a prince should act. But I didn't want to be a prince. I didn't want to be a dragon. I just wanted to be a normal person like everyone else and now so many people have been hurt and are suffering because Dina had me kidnapped to start a war that both Erwin and Zeke never wanted to begin with" With Eren's fiery soul it was easy to forget he was only 21. 21 and he'd already lost a clutch, lost a husband, lost a mate, lost his blood family, been cursed, been abandoned by Levi for months and forced into bed with another, and suffered through a hard birth that left him magicless until someone tried to kill him... oh, and of course, he'd been imprisoned in the one place he'd come to call home for weeks without proper care or treatment... and his lungs were fucked. He was also a prince, with two sons and an alpha with a memory problem that he was still to confess in full, worrying about the people of three nations, and in a foreign land where he didn't feel safe. His best friend was now prince and his sister refused to give him enough breathing space to grow into his own person. It was a ridiculous amount to be going on. Levi was sure that every single aspect of it all never left his mate's mind. He was so fucking strong to still be standing, in this case sitting, and being completely honest over the fact he'd run away because he needed to do what was right for him. Levi was falling in love with him all over again, even with the smell of blood and vomit in the room. He had the strongest and most passionate omega he'd ever met for his mate. Never could he love another like Eren. There could never be another like Eren. Clearing his throat, the man nodded towards the other two tribunal members "We believed Willy to be conspiring with Marley before this incident occurred. While investigating the Tybur family, we found large payments being made to them by the royal household to secure trade deals across the mainland continent. We also found claims that the Tybur family in fact controls more of Marley than Queen Dina herself did" Eren simply blinked at the man, Levi however nearly went him. It was as good as confessing that they knew Willy wanted Eren dead, and that the Tybur's had plans of their own to rule Marley. Having been labeled interim leader, the only thing stopping Willy from taking the throne once Dina was imprisoned, or executed, was Eren's legal claim as Zeke's husband "Do you understand me, Prince Eren?" Eren bit his lip. The omega looking down to his lap "Eren, he's saying that Willy wanted the throne for himself. They knew he was playing both sides, only they didn't account for Willy being murdered" The omega's head shot up, looking from Levi to the tribunal judge in angered confusion "You knew?! You knew and you let him walk around, to get himself killed! Why didn't you protect him? Surely if he was being watched, then you have to know who he was with. What he was up to. Who tried to kill me and what happened to that maid! You... you used him as bait too... I can't believe this. You would stoop so low. You've already dragged Dina's trial out. She should have been sentenced to a life where she's forced to give back to people. Where she's forced to realise what a real day's work is like. And that she can't always buy her way out of things. Willy should have been made to do the same. Helping people. Helping rebuild. Something more than... than him being butchered for you!" "We didn't know this would happen so soon. We thought..." "You thought wrong! You're a tribunal! You're supposed to be made up of individuals who think that way! You're not all the same. You're supposed to be open minded and fair. This isn't fair! I'm done. I'm so beyond done. My life is in pieces! Eldia needs its prince. Draecia needs its princess. Both are stuck here because you can't rule that Dina is guilty. Magath is guilty. Willy was guilty. Almost every single person in a position of power is guilty. I'm fucking guilty for taking lives. None of those lives should have been taken, and there's nothing that can bring them back. Everyone thinks people's lives are all a game, but they're not. There's no magical time connecting web or thing. We can't go back in time to before all this happened. And now it seems like the same mistakes are being made all over again. I'm done. I'm done with all of this. I want to go home. I want to be a mum. I want to live in a place where war isn't constantly feared..." Digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, Eren shook his head "I'm sorry, but this wasn't the right way to go about any of this. You made a mistake. You let him die. Levi, we're going back to the hotel" "Prince Eren" "No. I had so much faith in your judgment. I let you rip my life to shreds. I let you hurt the people I love with your questions. I know you didn't know any of us. I know our small issues probably don't matter to you, but Dina is guilty. She needs to be punished legally. Marley is suffering and needs so much help. So many people are dying and those who could help simply trample over them. Marley should just... it should be returned to its people. Let the countries reform themselves with support from the rest of the world... or let them form a government of their own where instead of listening to a ruling monarch because of their bloodline, have the people elect their own leaders. I don't want to be prince. I don't want any of this" Gathering himself up, Eren had the grace of a newborn foal as he found his legs beneath him. Patting Luca on the head, their son gently took Eren's hand in his mouth to lead to him towards the door. The three tribunal members didn't look impressed over Eren's frank words. Levi feeling his mate had pissed all over their pride and plans, and held no sympathy for them at all. They'd upset Eren, and they deserved to suffer his wrath. No one did sass like a pissy Eren did.

[g-2doc]

Start of a fic:

Where - ages ago - I wanted to write up my headcanons for Murdocs childhood/write up my take on his entire fuckin life, but kinda went off the idea because of how long it'd probably take... Whoops I'm a quitter ://

Murdoc walked to school. It was quite far, but he couldn't afford the bus and the car had been stuck on the drive for nearly a year, since his dad couldn't be bothered to fill the tank. Besides, getting his dad to drive him in would be suicidal, as there wasn't a day that went by where the man wasn't hammered out of his mind. Murdoc didn't overly mind walking to school either. Though his second-hand, charity-shop, bought-with-his-own-money school shoes were a size too big and didn't let him forget it... Otherwise, he was fine. It just meant he had to wake up earlier than most of the kids who went to his school. Getting up early wasn't all bad either, since it meant he missed when his dad woke up incredibly hungover and even more angry at the world than he normally was.

He always made the effort to arrive exactly on time. That way, he wasn't early - meaning he wouldn't have to hang around in the playground with the other children - and he wasn't late - meaning he wouldn't get a letter home, avoiding a scolding and a few bruises. He wasn't an antisocial child, he would've loved to have been able to gone in early in the mornings to play games with his classmates, but no one wanted him to because no one liked him. So instead, he just showed up on the bell, and went straight to his classroom every morning.

"Hang up your bags, then come sit down at your desks," The teacher instructed as she always did. All of the other children shoved past Murdoc to get to their pegs. He stood back, waiting his turn. Luckily, he was more than used to being ignored. Once there was space, and a colourful array of backpacks and satchels was on display, Murdoc slipped in and hung up the Sainsbury's bag he carried his books in.

"You still haven't gotten a bag, Murdoc?" The teacher asked, appearing behind. Murdoc turned, surprised she was talking to him. He shook his head. She'd told him he'd needed to get one the week before. He used to have one, a plain black one he'd found hanging on the fence of the local church, but it'd gone missing one day during school. He'd found all of his books scattered in the playground - so he'd counted his blessings.

The teacher didn't looked pleased. She folded her hands in front of her long, floral skirt. "You know, they sell school backpacks in the office?" She suggested.

"I don't 'ave any cash, Miss," Murdoc replied, a little worried she was going to tell him off. She sighed, appearing quite agitated.

"Well, perhaps if you ask your mummy and daddy nicely, they can get you one," She then said. Murdoc didn't know how to reply. There wasn't a way a child his age could articulate his home life. He didn't fully understand it himself, even. His dad hadn't explained to him the reason why he seemed to be the only little boy in the school who didn't have a mum. He didn't really understand the reason why they never had any money, and he didn't know why his dad didn't go off to work each day like the other kid's dad's did. He didn't really know he reason why he rarely saw his dad, why he always came home late, or why he didn't wake up early to see Murdoc off to school. He only knew facts, not the reasons for them. So he simply lowered his head, not replying.

The teacher obviously sensed that Murdoc wasn't willing to take the conversation any further, and went back to the front of the class to take the register. Murdoc's peers were all sat at their desks, chatting to one another from across the aisles. Murdoc sat at his desk, the one in the back corner. The kid next to him never spoke to him, always spoke to his friend who sat the other side of him. At the beginning of the year, when they'd chosen where to sit, he'd complained profusely about having to sit next to Murdoc, but he'd put up with it by blanking Murdoc the entire year.

"Children! Quiet!" The teacher scolded. The class hushed. As the teacher begun to take the register, reading out each name, Murdoc begun to continue colouring the corner of his desk with his pencil. He'd managed to get a significant amount done since the cleaner last scrubbed it off, forming quite a nicely sized silvery triangle.

Once the register was done, the class begun to do their morning prayer. Murdoc's dad had told him not to bother joining in with the school's prayers. Murdoc and his dad were Catholic, whilst the school was Anglican, and while Murdoc's dad was hardly a saint, he was loyal to his faith (even though he didn't abide to the teachings of it - at all). The teacher had spoken to Murdoc a couple of times about him ignoring their prayers, but she'd given up trying to explain that the religions were actually both churches of the same religion, and decided to let Murdoc do as he would.

The first lesson was maths, which Murdoc didn't pay attention to either. He knew enough maths to get by, so he didn't need to listen. He opened his maths book, and put his notebook on top so that the teacher would be less likely able to tell the difference.

Murdoc wasn't exactly an artistic child. He couldn't draw, nor paint, nor do whatever else those fancy artists did those days. However, he still had his notebook. It was A5, ring-bound and had a plain black cover; it'd cost him just short of a quid at the post office at the end of his road. He'd had it a couple of weeks and it was nearly full. Though not artistic in the classic sense of the word, Murdoc was remarkably creative. The inside of his head was filled with tunes from the radio, pictures of stars, words that rhymed and melodies that stuck. The book contained scribbled lyrics, funny little sketches, and big ideas: and it'd fast become his prized possession.

"Whassat?" A voice sounded. Murdoc looked up from writing out Space Oddity for what was probably the fifth time in his notebook. The kid next to him was looking at his notebook with a slightly confused expression. Unknowing to how he was supposed to reply, despite being incredibly excited about the fact he'd been acknowledged, Murdoc simply gaped in response. "You deaf or sum'fink?" The kid asked.

"I'm not deaf," Murdoc answered, shifting awkwardly.

"Whassat then?" The kid repeated, pointing to Murdoc's notebook. His friend was talking to someone else, so Murdoc decided he wasn't trying to trick him or anything. He glanced to his notebook, all messy and scribbled.

"Um, it's a notebook," He said.

"Yeah, but what's in it?" The kid questioned. Murdoc picked it up and turned to his favourite page. He'd done a fairly decent drawing of the Bad Company logo, along with some other band's lyrics - some Queen and Led Zeppelin, that sort of stuff. "Oh, you like rock music?"

"Yeah..." Murdoc mumbled, lowering his book again.

"That's cool, my sister has tonnes of vinyls up in 'er room," The kid said. "If you're free after school, you can come to my house and listen to 'em!" He smiled brightly.

Murdoc's eyes lit up. He'd never been to someone else's house, let alone invited round by a classmate. Swallowing hard, Murdoc tried to keep back the grin that was trying to tug at his mouth.

"Um, yeah, I'm free..." He mumbled.

"Wicked. I'm Tony, by the way, Tony Chopper." The kid held out his hand for Murdoc to shake, reaching across the aisle. Murdoc was amazed even further by the fact that he wanted to actually touch him.

"I'm Murdoc Niccals." They shook hands briefly, before Murdoc retracted his hand back to his lap - returning to his position of hunching shyly.

"Murdoc - that's a proper cool name that is," Tony said, sounding very impressed.

"Thanks..." Murdoc mumbled. Name or otherwise, 'cool' rarely existed in the same sentence as 'Murdoc'. In fact, any praise at all was rare. His dad stuck to adjectives like 'ungrateful', 'gross' and 'really fuckin' stupid', and parents were supposed to be the biased ones.

"When your mum comes to pick you up, you can tell 'er you're comin' to mine,"  Tony explained. At that, Murdoc's stomach dropped. He'd already picked up at that age that his home life wasn't normal, but he hadn't picked up how to go about informing others. He shifted in his seat a bit.

"Uh, ok... I will..." He murmured, barely audible. Tony nodded happily, then went back to his work. Murdoc had been excited about going to Tony's house, but suddenly he was terrified. What if Tony's parents wanted to speak with his 'mum'? What if they found out that Murdoc didn't have one? What if they ended up talking to his dad? What if his dad came to the school? Murdoc was panicking. He had a shot at making a real friend and his home life could end up blowing it for him. He considered phoning Billy at his work and asking him to come and talk to Tony's parents, but the number was taped above the bread bin at home, and he had no way of getting it at school...

As it turned out, he spent the entire rest of the lesson fretting over what to do. He hardly noticed when English started, because he'd been so wrapped up in his worrying. Then English went by without him doing any work, or even doing anything in his notebook.

The bell for break rang and the students rushed to get their snacks out of their bags. Murdoc didn't have a snack because his dad never bought him one, and he was no closer to a solution, so he went to sit in the hallway like he always did. He slumped down against the wall - the same spot as always.

[oceanbreaks]

           T A S K    T H R E E   :   Q U E S T I O N N A I R E 

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 001. GENERAL.

does your character have any nicknames ? no, that’s sad someone give him one, make it stupid - like boo bear.

when was your character born ? november 11th, 1984.

where was your character born ? valdez, colorado.

is your character allergic to anything ? nah, this bitch invincible.

does your character have any illnesses ? a doctor a day keeps the apple away.

what is your character’s mbti type ?  enfp, the campaigner.

what is your character’s economic status ? upper middle-class.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 002. APPEARANCE.

what is the color of your character’s eyes ? hazel , i think.

what is the color and texture of your character’s hair ? ramen noodles.

how tall is your character ? six foot, yeet . his only redeeming quality imo .

what is your character’s body type ? lanky af, might break if u step on him.

does your character have any scars ?scarification cos he’s an edgy bitch, prick marks, picked scabs scars.

what is your character’s post prominent feature ? this dicc . kidding xd , his brows be thicc.

does your character have any body modifications ? no piercings, too many tattoos.

what is your character’s clothing style ? mismatched everything.

what does your character’s voice sound like ? annoying.

what does your character smells like ? weed, irish spring-old spice infusion, but mostly weed.

what are some unique mannerisms ( talking with their hands, accents, talking fast, etc ) your character has ? so many hand gestures, put them in your pockets fool.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 003. FAMILY.

does your character have any siblings ?yeet, an older brother. we kinda stan, sometimes.

what are the names of your character’s parents ? are they still alive ? jane and ryan, they’re the whitest suburban parents okay don’t hold their names against them.

does your character have any children ?not that he knows of.

does your character have a spouse ? no, thank god.

who is your character’s favorite family member ? probably his brother uwu.

did they ever live with their family ? if so, how old were they when they left home ? yeppers, lived with them until he went to college.

does your character want to have children ? or do they want more, if they already have them ? yeah he wouldn’t mind, if it happened he’d be excited but like wldn’t put the effort in to be like hyfr kids !

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 004. FAVORITES.

season: one of true detective. he doesn’t care for the weather !

curse word: shit, that was a classic.

food: pizza, basic bitch.

book: what’s reading.

artist: fábio magalhães , disgusting .

animal: it’s weird to have a favourite animal and thas the fax.

tv show: mind hunter, the twilight zone.

movie: videodrome and don’t u forget it .

social media: y-y-youtube. ( also twitter & facebook ).

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 005. PERSONALITY.

is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent, intellectual, slow-witted ? he acts like a dumbass but he’s smart-ish, he literally has a masters in film criticism, i mean u gotta be kinda smart to bullshit right.

what does your character want from a partner ? what do they think and feel of sex ? constant love and attention, sex is cool but watching your partner appreciate ur favourite part of ur favourite movie ? just as orgasmic .

what are your character’s weaknesses ? he’s a bad bitch u can’t kill him.

how well does your character accept / own up to their own mistakes ? how do they deal with the mistakes of others ? he owns up to his mistakes all the time, cos he makes a lot of them xd , he’s pretty forgiving but like . . [ gay judgement ]

is your character pragmatic ? responsible ? reckless?  i’m tasha, im 20 and i never learned the definition of pragmatic, good thing he’s reckless then.

how is your character’s imagination ? daydreaming a lot ? worried most of the time ? he doesn’t daydream per se but he has a lot of ideas that he’ll let you know about.

is your character aware of who they are ? of their strengths and weaknesses ?no, he’s oblivious. but ignorance is bliss yeet, it makes him invincible again , he’s a bad bitch. you can’t kill him.

how they react when facing a stranger’s suffering ? what about the suffering of their loved ones ? [ gay panic ] with strangers and [ gay judgement ] with family.

how do they feel about their physical body ? hates it, a shoddy vessel for an excellent soul.

what do other people think your character’s worst quality is ? well he’s a fuckin deadbeat so maybe jot that down.

is your character an introvert or an extrovert ? extrovert , disgusting.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 006. EXPERIENCES.

has your character ever been arrested ? petty crimes, his parents always bailed him out tho shoutout to them uwu.

has your character ever cheated on a partner ? no, he fucks with monogamy ok ):

has your character ever been cheated on by a partner? no, none of his relationships have ever lasted long enough dhfjg

has your character ever been in love ? how did it turn out ? well ya, probably. how all relationships turn out, down the shithole.

has your character ever had sex ? what was their first time like ? he sure has, it was drunken and awkward and endearing in that way ig.

what was your character’s first party like ? drunken and awkward and endearing in that way. prolly blacked out.

who was your character’s first love ? redacted cos i’m too tired to head canon.

what is their best childhood memory ? what about the worst ? getting into shenanigans with his brother. worst - anything involving his parents and their sad eyes ’n judgement, gross.

what’s the most terrible thing that ever happened to your character ? when he woke up in a literal garbage dumb and got literal rabies and had to get a literal tetanus shot. that and the time he was constipated for like six days straight , ugh.

what are some past occupations your character has had, if any ? he’s delivered pizzas, glenn rhee is quaking. kidding he outsells ly boo.

what are their most embarrassing memory ? any time he’s shat his pants, there’s no way for it not to be embarrassing - no matter how many times it happens.

have they ever done charity work ? um no .. lmao.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 007. QUIRKS.

does your character drink ? do they take drugs ? imagine if i said no.

what is your character’s most prized possession ? stupid film mementos given to him by stupid film ppl.

what are three things you can always find in your character’s wallet / purse ? condoms ( i say this as if he ever gets laid ), cash, cards.

what are your character’s bad habits ? his whole life, that and he leaves the toilet seat up.

is your character a night owl or early bird ? night owl, hoot hoot.

do they prefer crunchy or smooth peanut butter ? s-s-smooth?

do they prefer netflix or hulu ?both.

do they prefer cats or dogs ? dogs.

are they left handed, right handed or ambidextrous ? left handed, quirky bitch.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ 008. RANDOM.

did your character like school ? what was their favorite subject ? [ me in 2k12 vc ] i love learning, i just hate homework and like, school and applying things. english ):

is your character good at their job ? hell yeah fr !

what is your character’s dream job ? doesn’t have one, legend.

what is your character afraid of ? what keeps them up at night ? not being in control of bodily functions, aging.

what did your character’s childhood home look like ? was it in valdez ? it sure was, and it was white picket fence suburbia. v cute.

what is your character’s level of comfort with technology ? decent. he knows how to troubleshoot and stuff, he doesn’t use computers for that much though.

what is a talent your character thinks they have but is very wrong about ?singing … sweaty … hush … this is why the band died.

what is a talent your character actually has ? driving , is that a talent ? no ? ok, then having swag.

what does your character’s home look like? listen their apartment is nice ok, it’s just made ugly by bobby’s presence.

[imaginemexo]

Elliot Alderson x Reader - The Dark Army

Request from @wiitchy-biitch: Would it be too much trouble to request a little Elliot x Reader fluff? Elliot is a pure bean who deserves all the love that Sam Esmail won't give him

Words: 2,433

Darlene looks at me. I can see the sympathy and pity deep in her eyes.  

Poor, old Elliot. Back at it again with the endless, breeding misery.  

"Elliot, I have to go,"  

I perk up, staring at her expectant, wanting to say something, anything, but nothing coming out.  

"Talk about your fondest memories, okay, buddy?"

She smiles at me with her wide lips, readjusts her knee-high socks, slips on a pair of black-tinted sunglasses and vanishes. Leaving me all alone to bathe in this dark, uncertain time.

She's opposite me; she looks different from her profile. More modest – less of an identity. Plain. Just a girl. A normal girl.  

I like normal girls.  

I like anything normal.  

"I've never done this sort of thing before," She says, sniggering behind her menu. "Internet dating – just sounds so...cliché. Moronic, you know?"

There's a subtle harmony ringing in my ears. I can't tell if it's the music in the restaurant or the after tone of her voice.

I ruffle my hair, menu still closed beneath me. I feel as if I am on high alert; the paranoia is setting in again.

Should I tell her? Should I tell her something's wrong with me?

I swallow down the bubble of anxiety building in my throat. "I've never done anything like before either," I reveal, uneased. "I'm trying to work on my social anxiety."  

She looks at me as if I still am the same person. She's glittering and radiating the happiness I wish I had. I watch her finger caress the fine paper; chest rising and falling with every soft breath. Real. Not fake. Not a fragment of my imagination.

"Don't worry, this is an utterly safe environment for you to do that," She smiles, eyeing up the dessert section. "No judgement here."  

My top lip overpowers the bottom one. I feel an unnatural smile come along.

"Cool."  

Her attention is elsewhere. My attention, however, is fixated on my favourite film: Back to the Future. It's not the so-called plotline, or the characters, but I like the visuals. It scratches that part of mind that doesn't allow good to exist without condition.  

Her legs are on my lap, her eyes watching her mobile device intensely. She seems to be exhausted; slow blinking, sagging eyes.  

Is she getting bored of me?

She must be; we've spent the last three days together.

I shake the thought out of my head, trying to concentrate on the movie. It works. Until that little small voice comes back into my mind, draining me, gnawing at me.  

Hello, hello, hello! It calls inside of my head. I'm here. Notice me.  

She's getting tired of you. She's getting tired of you! 

My thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a generic, droning tune.  

"Hello?"  

I shift my focus to her.  

Eyes closed, mobile device pressed to her ear.

"No, I'm not home."  

I pretend as if I'm not listening.  

"No, I'm with my boyfriend."  

I don't react.  

Boyfriend?  

When did I become the boyfriend?

"Okay, talk later. Love you."  

Without another word, response or acknowledgement, she hangs up her phone and throws it down on her stomach. She seems restless. A gnawing desire to move; a desire to go outside and see the world for what it is but she's cooped up inside with myself and Flipper.  

It can't be much fun.  

We're not the best company.  

She rakes her fingers through her hair, fidgeting slightly.

"I'm sorry for calling you my boyfriend back there," She says. "My Mum; always prying into my life."  

I feel sad. Yet I feel grateful for being important. Recognised. Valued.  

"No," I slowly say. "I liked it. I mean, I didn't mind it."  

Y/N peels open her eyes, her teeth on display, eyes shimmering. She lifts her feet, the bare, sweaty sole touching my cheek. "Well, maybe you should become my boyfriend then."  

My heart rate soon elevates.  

Do not scare her away. Be calm.  

I laugh; coming out too flamboyant and loud than I anticipated.  

"Yeah, maybe," I answer, through the fake, nervous giggling.

"Cool. You're my boyfriend now then."

I remember how naïve I was back then. How stupid I was to think that Elliot Alderson was going to be someone different; living life and not stuck on the outer fringes.

When she became my girlfriend, I promised myself that I would lead a bug free life from there on out. I went to see those stupid Marvel movies with her. I joined a gym. I hearted things on Instagram. I drank vanilla lattes.  

Now, she's sobbing in my apartment, packing her bags, stuffing the suitcases to the brim with things that didn't necessarily belong to her.  

Flipper is fast asleep, slumbering peacefully on my couch.  

I stand in the corner of my bedroom, sullen, awkward, shy, reserved within myself. I don't know what to say.  

"Elliot," She cried, zipping up the suitcase. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you fucking tell me?" 

I watch her analyse the bruises upon my skin; my arm that inhabited a cast until a few days ago. A deep, oozing, poisonous gash upon my forehead. 

 "There's no way to explain how I threw myself off of the Coney Island Pier by accident," I said, quiet and hushed. I don't want her to leave. "I didn't want you to worry." 

She collapses onto the edge of bed, eyes locked onto the ground. "Elliot, I've spoken to Darlene."  

"What?" I ask, almost shocked and betrayed. "Why would you do that?" I adjust myself in my hoodie; it feels tight all of a sudden. 

"She told me about your...issues, Elliot. She told me about your...delusions. She told me everything."  

I don't say anything.  

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

I don't say anything.  

"I must ask: did you throw yourself off of the pier as a suicide attempt? Or was it an entity that you see that made you do it? I'm so confused; I need to make sense of this." 

I shake my head. I don't say anything.  

"Elliot, say something." 

I chew on the inside of my cheek.  

It was him. It wasn't me. 

"Do you feel differently about me?" I ask, fighting back the tears.  

Y/N seems relieved to hear the sound of my voice. She wipes away her own tears with the base of her hand.  "Of course I don't, how could you ask me that?" 

She looks at me as if she dreads losing me. "I love you. I'm not in love with a version of you that you pretend exists." 

She loves me. 

Not the bug free Elliot Alderson. 

But the bugged Elliot Alderson – the Elliot Alderson with the flaw in his code. 

I cry like a little boy in the rain; arms hanging loose by my side; chin tucked to my chest.  

"They don't like me," I say through the tears.

Y/N frowns, full of sadness and sorrow. "Stop your tears," She says. My head flops onto her shoulder. Oh no, I think. I have lost all control. "They don't even know you, Elliot."  

I play with her the ends of hair that are draping down her back like silk.  

"They know enough," I answer, calmer. "They don't like me."  

Her fingers circle patterns on my back through my shirt. "My parents...they're very...different to you and I," She vacantly replies. "Don't take it heart, okay? They don't know anything about you. They don't know you the way I know you."  

I'm not a bad person.  

Am I?

Why don't they like me?

Do I even exist?

We lay in silence, wrapped up in the duvet. She is lit by the white wine, bitter sunlight. Her hair is messy; skin dewy and glowing. She bats her eyelashes at me, topless, her hands searching my own.

She removes her gaze from me, and returns a look to my palms. She's fascinated by the patterns and swirls. Can she predict my future?

I wonder if she's there.  

There's a sense of tranquillity and peace whenever she's around; the world seems to stop.

"Do you want children?" She asks, not looking at me, grazing my skin with the tips of her fingers.

I watch her closely, searching through the files in my mind.  

"I don't know," I awkwardly respond.  

She hastily replies with, "I do. I really want children,"  

I decide to initiate contact – I touch her hair.

"I don’t want children," I reveal. She flinches, and still doesn't look at me. "I think of it this way: I'll be saving them from the invisible hand that brand them with an employee badge, ridding them of the zero-hour contracts, nine til five; the people who control us every single day without us knowing it."  

She giggles in my face as if I'm joking. She pecks my nose and jumps up from bed quick. "I guess you won't appreciate the news."  

She flicks a pristine white card onto me.  

I pick it up in my hands and find a delicate drawing of a bird, soaring high in the sky, carrying something in its pale yellow beak.  

I open it up to find a small, written message.  

Congratulations.

You're going to be a father.  

Angela stares at me, soulless and empty. She looks at me as if she doesn't even recognise me at this point. Her beady blue eyes decorated in makeup that she does not need.

"Who are you, Elliot?" She asks, swirling her drink in the glass lifelessly. "I don't even know who you are anymore."  

I squint my eyes at her suspiciously, an infectious grin soon following. "I'm still Elliot," I reply, unable to contain the overwhelming joy within me. "I'm just happy."  

"I've never seen you like this," She acknowledges. "You're literally bouncing. Are you on some new meds, Elliot?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm just really happy at the moment," I say.  

She takes out her phone. "I'm calling Darlene."  

"There's really no need," I respond. "Things are just going really well for me, at the moment."

My best friend does not seem convinced, though, she puts her phone back anyway.  

"I never realised how many stairs there are until right now," an all too familiar voice calls out. My heart leaps in my chest – relief. "My back is absolutely killing me."  

I find my girlfriend, my girlfriend, my girlfriend who I intend on making my wife one day soon, struggling with a mountain of shopping bags, stood in a baby blue maternity shirt and jeans that I funded. Her stomach is protruding; a safe haven.

"Oh," Angela says, deflated. "Congratulations?"

I ignore her comment.

"Why didn't you say? I would have come down and helped," I say, happily taking bags from her grasp. "It's not like I was doing anything special."

There is an uncomfortable silence within the apartment.

"Elliot.." Y/N says through gritted teeth. "Angela is sat right there."  

I snap back into reality. I immediately feel a violent pang of guilt.

I look towards my best friend. "I obviously didn't mean it...like that."  

Angela forces a smile, standing from my couch, adjusting her messenger bag on her shoulder. "I know," She doesn't seem upset. "Happy Elliot makes no mistakes."  

She heads towards the door, my girlfriend and my best friend merely uttering each other's names as a sense of acknowledgement, before we are finally left alone to our own devices.  

When are you coming home?

Elliot!

Elliot, please pick up.  

Elliot, answer the phone.  

When are you coming home?

I haven't seen you in weeks.  

ELLIOT.

My phone has been blown up with texts and missed phone calls.  

I've been absent for twenty-six days, six hours, thirty-nine minutes and approximately twenty-eight seconds. Twenty-nine minutes off of the seventh hour of the twenty-sixth day.  

My heart has broken once more. The two broken halves completely torn in half, taking all arteries and fibres with it.  

It's a suffocating type of sadness. The worst it has ever been.

I'm surprised she's still contacting me. That she's still making an effort to know if I'm okay.

He's back. More alive than ever.

He glares at me mockingly, pouring a lime green substance into a triangular glass. "Aww, soften up, kid," He says, pushing the glass towards me. "It wasn't much of a loss. You didn't even have a fucking name for it."  

The bar is dead and silent; desolate and lonely. Just me and the stranger in the booth in the corner.  

I haven't seen a bartender once during my time in the bar – the whole twenty-six days, five hours, twenty-three minutes and approximately fifty-eight seconds.  

"Not the fucking point," I hiss in return.  

My father snorts at me, his thin lips in a pursed, ridiculing grin. "They say that when a woman has a miscarriage, it's God's way of saying that the baby was not ready for this world."  

I look up from my glass, staring this fragment of my imagination in the face. "Fuck God. He's not a good enough scapegoat for me," I say.

My phone has fallen silent for the past three days, fourteen hours and thirteen seconds. No doubt this time. No doubt, no approximation. That's how long it's been.  

I think she stopped trying.  

I don't blame her.

I would have done the same.

It's time to face the music. It's time to apologise for my behaviour.  

Though, it's time to break off all ties. It's time to let her go.  

I don't want to forget about her. It's just for the best, I think.  

I want to rush in there, and apologise profusely, until the words are unable to leave my lips once more. I want to rush in there, and do all of it again, restart.  

But you can't disappear for thirty-eight days without a word and return home as if everything is same; that nothing is different.

I enter my home – our home.  

The door is unlocked. The wood surrounding the lock is cracked and broken.

There is an unholy sight before me.

Her skin has been drained of colour. Grey. She looks ill.

The only dashing sense of colour is the pink, purple bruise around her neck.

She floats ominously, innocent and beautiful.

I take a step closer, a small note pinned through her lip.  

She was tired of you.  

Deepest condolences,  

The Dark Army

My sister steps out from the shadows. "I found her a few days ago. I tried calling,"

She's gone.

"You better start writing your speech."  

"What should I talk about?" I ask, numb.

"Talk about your fondest memories."  

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Horror movie recommendations

This list was originally posted in 2017 but has been updated for Halloween 2018.

I’ve been compiling this list for months and thought what better time to post it than October just in time for Halloween? Below is 50+ horror movie recommendations and a smaller list at the end of non-recommendations. 

Some general info:

This is a completely subjective list of my personal favourites and I’m not saying these are the best horror movies ever, since there’s still a tonne of horror movies out there that I haven’t watched and everyone’s preferences are different. 

My general tastes lean more towards the slasher, psychological, supernatural/paranormal and thriller/mystery sub-genres, which this list will reflect. 

Not a fan of found-footage, sci-fi, monster (including vampires, zombies, werewolves etc.) or virus sub-genres, so you won’t see many movies that fall under these categories. 

I haven’t seen many of the ‘classic’ horrors pre-dating the 70′s, so there won’t be many included.

All rec’s include the title, year, genre, main cast, summary, IMDb rating and a personal overview (none of which contain any spoilers).

Movies with asterisks are ones I consider must-see’s. 

At the end there’s also a small list of movies I advise avoiding and/or that have a better reputation than I think they deserve.

Amityville Horror (2005) 

Type: Paranormal/Haunted house/Possession

Starring: Ryan Reynolds & Melissa George

Summary: Newlyweds are terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a large house that was the site of a grisly mass murder a year before. 

IMDB rating: 6/10

This is your standard haunted house/possession film, but I think the acting from Ryan and Melissa is strong and since it’s based on a true story, it’s kind of chilling. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)*

Type: Slasher/Supernatural

Starring: Heather Langenkamp & Robert Englund 

Summary: Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. While the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won’t lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep.

IMDB rating: 7.5/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an absolute classic and a must-see for any horror fan. Admittedly, on my recent re-watch I found it more comedic than anything else, but Freddy Krueger still stands out to me as being one of the most terrifying serial killers from a movie. Freddy’s back-story adds to his creepiness and the idea of being murdered in your dreams is something that’ll probably keep you up at night, particularly if it’s your first time watching.

A Quiet Place (2018)*

Type: Sci-Fi

Starring: Emily Blunt & John Krasinski

Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing.

IMDB rating: 7.7/10

A suspenseful and heart-wrenching movie following a family’s survival in a post apocalyptic world. Along with Hush, this is the only horror I’ve seen to include a deaf character, which sets the entire mood for the movie in which the family need to out-wit monsters with super hearing. By far one of the best horror movies to come out in recent years.

Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Brian Cox & Emile Hirsch

Summary: A father and son, both coroners, are pulled into a complex mystery while attempting to identify the body of a young woman, who was apparently harboring dark secrets.

IMDB rating: 6.8/10

What I like about this movie is that the idea behind it is quite unique and slightly steps away from the traditional slasher/possession/cult sub-genres we see a lot of within horror. It’s set in a morgue which instantly sets the tone for the entire movie. The build-up is somewhat slow but trust me, shit will hit the fan. The face of Jane Doe will haunt you forever and there is something inexplicably terrifying about a dead body having the power to wreak havoc, because how the hell do you stop it? 

  The Boy (2016)

Type: Thriller/Psychological 

Starring: Lauren Cohan & Rupert Evans

Summary: An American nanny is shocked that her new English family’s boy is actually a life-sized doll. After she violates a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.

IMDB rating: 6/10

I didn’t expect to like this one, but gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not particularly scary, more tense and somewhat creepy (if you’re like me and dolls give you the heebie jeebies). Lauren Cohan is amazing as the lead and there’s a twist at the end that you just won’t see coming. 

The Bye Bye Man (2017)

Type: Psychological

Starring: Douglas Smith & Lucien Laviscount

Summary: Three friends stumble upon the horrific origins of a mysterious figure they discover is the root cause of the evil behind unspeakable acts.

IMDB rating: 4.3/10

I’m genuinely surprised at how low the rating is for this movie and how many bad reviews it has. Is it the best horror movie ever? No, not at all. But is it worth watching? Yeah, definitely. I went in with low expectations but it managed to keep me hooked until the end. The psychological elements in it are what make it so interesting to me. You never quite know what’s real and what’s not and I feel like the idea behind it is slightly different than the general ones that are overused. There’s definitely some jump scare moments in there and the concept behind The Bye Bye Man is very interesting (although more back-story and explanation to how and why he came to be could’ve improved it). The biggest flaw I can think of, which I can only assume is the reason for the low ratings, is that the acting is pretty mediocre and the characters are one dimensional. But for me that wasn’t much of an issue since the plot was interesting enough to keep me watching. 

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Type: Psychological 

Starring: Chris Hemsworth & Kristen Connolly Summary: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

IMDB rating: 7/10

The ending of this film is slightly “eh” to me and gets a little out of control, but I still rate it as being a generally good movie. The cabin isn’t what you expect and it will definitely play with your head. 

Carrie (2013)

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Chloe Grace Mortez & Judy Greer Summary: A shy girl, outcast by her peers and sheltered by her religious mother, unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.

IMDB rating: 5.9/10

This is a remake of the 1976 original and I know remakes generally aren’t popular or well-liked, but I enjoyed this. I haven’t seen the original so perhaps my opinion would be different if I had, but Chloe Mortez does a fantastic job as Carrie, and you won’t know whether to hate her or love her. 

Case 39 (2009)

Type: Psychological/Supernatural

Starring: Renée Zellweger & Ian McShane Summary: A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.

IMDB rating: 6.2/10

Renée Zellweger is a fantastic actress and seeing her name on any movie is usually a good sign (excluding Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Her performance in this movie is great and the little girl Lillith will freak you out, because evil children are always more chilling than evil adults. Kind of has an ‘Orphan’ vibe, which is probably why I like it. 

Child’s Play (1988)*

Type: Slasher/Supernatural

Starring: Catherine Hicks & Chris Sarandon Summary: A single mother gives her son a much sought after doll for his birthday, only to discover that it is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.

IMDB rating: 6.5/10

I feel like this movie isn’t as popular as I’d expect it to be amongst horror fans and I do kind of understand why. The idea that a doll would be able to over-power and kill a fully grown adult is ludicrous (and hilarious), but nonetheless this movie is a classic for the slasher genre. It’s wacky, kooky and out there, but it’s supposed to be. Chucky is a comedic killer with personality, which is a nice change from the usual faceless, voiceless, killers that have no back-story or depth and just go around with a knife stabbing people. It probably will make you laugh more than a horror movie should, but give it a try if you haven’t already. And if you like the first one, there’s 5 more movies to watch. None are as good as the first and when it gets to the fourth and fifth installments - Bride of Chucky (1998) and Seed of Chucky (2004), it gets incredibly silly, but I still got a kick out of watching them. If you’re looking for a movie that will genuinely scare and horrify you, this franchise really isn’t the right way to go, but it will make you laugh with it’s dark humor and it incorporates just enough gore to qualify as a horror of sorts.

Circle (2015)

Type: Mystery/Drama

Starring: Allegra Masters & Aimee McKay Summary: Held captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.

IMDB rating: 6/10

This is another on this very long list that was much better than I expected it to be. The premise is interesting and gripped me from the beginning. It keeps you in suspense throughout, but the ending is underwhelming and there’s room for improvement. However, overall this is a relatively enjoyable viewing experience which poses many questions about humanity, morality and gets the viewer questioning what they would do in the same situation and how far we would go to survive.

The Conjuring (2013) & The Conjuring 2 (2016)*

Type: Paranormal/Haunted house/Posession

Starring: Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga Summary: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

IMDB rating: 7.5/10

The Conjuring movies are by far some of the best in the genre. Aside from the fact that Vera Farmiga is amazing and I love her, both movies have a strong cast of characters that make it easy to connect to the families involved as well as Ed and Lorraine. The stories are well written, there’s lots of jump-scare moments and the fact that both movies are based on true stories taken from the biographies of the real Ed and Lorraine Warren adds to the fear factor. I’m generally not easy to scare, but these two did get to me. Also, after you’ve watched them, research the true stories they’re based on, it’ll have much more of an impact.

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Type: Psychological 

Starring: Stephen Lang & Jane Levy

Summary: Hoping to walk away with a massive fortune, a trio of thieves break into the house of a blind man who isn’t as helpless as he seems.

IMDB rating: 7.2/10

I actually walked in on my parents watching this one day and found myself rooted to the sofa, unable to stop watching. It’s very, very tense, so much so that I actually stopped breathing myself in parts! Let’s just say that being blind certainly isn’t a hindrance to this guy. 

Don’t Hang Up (2016)

Type: Psychological

Starring: Gregg Sulkin & Garrett Clayton

Summary: An evening of drunken prank calls becomes a nightmare for a pair of teenagers when a mysterious stranger turns their own game against them…with deadly consequences.

IMDB rating: 5.7/10

I watched on a whim, not expecting to like it, but I did. It will keep you engaged and the anti slowly increases bit by bit. There’s also a motive for the person on the other end of the phone which you won’t necessarily see coming.

Emelie (2015)

Type: Thriller/Psychological

Starring: Sarah Bolger & Carly Adams

Summary: A couple’s replacement babysitter turns out to be more than they bargained for when she subjects their kids to a series of twisted activities.

IMDB rating: 5.4/10

This is another I decided to watched on a whim, mostly because I saw Sarah Bolger’s face, but I actually ended up enjoying it. It’s not really that scary, but is creepy in parts and kept me hooked until the end. Once again, there’s a motive and reason behind her actions, which is always more interesting than someone just doing something because they can or because they’re bored.

Final Destination (2000)*

Type: Psychological/Supernatural

Starring: Devon Sawa & Ali Larter

Summary: After a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, he prevents the accident only to have Death hunt them down, one by one.

IMDB rating: 6.7/10

I’m pretty sure everyone has seen or at least heard of Final Destination. Again, not necessarily a horror, but still has it’s moments and is a classic. Obviously, there are 5+ Final Destination movies now, which are all good, but the first is definitely the best. What I love most about these movies is how creative and unique the deaths are. You never know how the next person will die, but you know it’s gonna be epic.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Type: Slasher/Supernatural

Starring: Robert Englund & Ken Kirzinger

Summary: Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenage population. Except this time, they're out to get each other, too.

IMDB rating: 5.8/10

Don’t let the slightly low rating put you off. This is one of my guilty pleasure faves. Combining two of the most infamous slasher killers in the world and the result is rather satisfying. Just like A Nightmare on Elm Street, this isn’t a movie that particularly takes itself seriously. It’s a fun ride and great to see Freddy and Jason go head to head in a bloody stand off. 

Get Out (2017)*

Type: Psychological/Thriller

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya & Allison Williams

Summary: It’s time for a young African American to meet with his white girlfriend’s parents for a weekend in their secluded estate in the woods, but before long, the friendly and polite ambience will give way to a nightmare.

IMDB rating: 7.8/10

I watched this after hearing good things about it and certainly wasn’t disappointed. Not necessarily what I’d class as a horror, but certainly a thriller and boy, oh boy, did this give me the creeps. The tactics that are used are so subtle and not in your face but so effective. The story will go in a direction you just will not predict (trust me) and will probably make you a little reluctant to meet your future in-laws haha. 

Gothika (2003)

Type: Psychological/Supernatural

Starring: Halle Berry & Robert Downey Jr.

Summary:  A repressed female psychiatrist wakes up as a patient in the asylum where she worked, with no memory of why she is there or what she has done.

IMDB rating: 5.8/10

This movie isn’t necessarily the scariest, but has a strong cast with Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr. and Penelope Cruz and will play with your mind, particularly in the beginning. There’s an element of crime/mystery as Halle Berry’s character tries to piece together how/why she came to be in the asylum and who murdered her husband, which adds to the intrigue. 

The Green Inferno (2013)

Type: Gory

Starring: Lorenza Izzo & Ariel Levy

Summary: A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.

IMDB rating: 5.3/10

It isn’t perfect, but I actually liked this movie (I only watched it this year, 2018). I like that as far-fetched as it is, it also feels feasible in a way. For many minorities around the world white people are the enemy and if they had the chance to persecute them for all the suffering they endure at their hands, they would. It’s dramatic and the gore reminds me of movies such as Saw and Hostel. 

Halloween (1978)*

Type: Slasher

Starring: Donald Pleasence & Jamie Lee Curtis

Summary: Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield to kill again.

IMDB rating: 7.8/10

Halloween is the first horror movie I ever saw and is what piqued my interest in the horror genre. For that reason, it will always be one of my favourites. It’s by far one of the most well-known and defining slasher movies and a true classic. The music alone will give you the creeps, but throw in a masked murderer (and one that apparently can’t be killed) and you’ll be in for a scare. As with most popular franchises Halloween has so many movies that I’ve lost count, but there are continuation issues with most of them and nothing can beat the original. The only other in the franchise I’d specifically recommend watching is ‘H20: 20 Years Later’ (1998), which you can watch immediately after the 1978  original and still understand what’s going on. This is the perfect Halloween movie (the clue is in the title) and it’s a tradition of mine to watch it every October.

Horns (2013)*

Type: Supernatural/Fantasy

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe & Juno Temple

Summary: In the aftermath of his girlfriend’s mysterious death, a young man awakens to find strange horns sprouting from his temples.

IMDB rating: 6.5/10

After the disappointment of ‘Woman in Black’ I didn’t have high hopes for this one, but I actually loved it. It had my stepbrother and I glued to the screen for the entire two hours it was on, which is a big deal since he can barely go without his XBox for more than 5 minutes. It’s weird, out there and not what you expect going in, but it really just works. The fantasy, supernatural and religious influences create an interesting and unique story. It also manages to incorporate comedy with more serious themes and even manages to depict an intriguing murder mystery and compelling love story amongst all that. Daniel Radcliffe is great as the lead and this is the first movie I saw of his that really stopped me from seeing him as Harry Potter and opened my eyes to the talented and adaptable actor he is. Overall, the movie is a mish mash of many different genres and themes (so for that reason may not be to everyone’s tastes) and I wouldn’t necessarily class it as a horror in the traditional sense, but it has elements of it and definitely stands out to me as being a unique movie that is a must-see.

House at the End Of The Street (2012)

Type: Thriller/Psychological 

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence & Max Thieriot

Summary: After moving with her mother to a small town, a teenager finds that an accident happened in the house at the end of the street. Things get more complicated when she befriends a boy who was the only survivor of the accident.

IMDB rating: 5.6/10

I feel like this movie deserves more credit. Jennifer Lawrence and Max Thieriot do a great job and although it does take a while to get into the nitty gritty of the story, it’s engaging from beginning to end. And maybe I’m just bad at predicting these things, but there’s a twist that you just won’t see coming. 

Hush (2016)

Type: Psychological/Slasher

Starring: Kate Siege & John Gallagher Jr.

Summary: A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

I saw the synopsis for this movie and didn’t expect to like it at all. After all, how entertaining can it be to watch a deaf woman stumble about running from killers for an hour and a half? Boy, how wrong was I. It’s incredibly tense, particularly in those moments where it’s completely silent and we get to experience it through the senses of the main character, Maddie, who is trooper and incredibly tactical and resourceful in her battle for survival. 

Identity (2003)*

Type: Thriller/Mystery

Starring: John Cusack & Ray Liotta

Summary: Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain-storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.

IMDB rating: 7.3/10

Incident in a Ghostland*

Type: Psychological

Starring: Crystal Reed & Mylène Farmer

Summary: A mother of two who inherits a house is confronted with murderous intruders on the first night in their new home and fights for her daughters' lives. Sixteen years later when the daughters reunite at the house, things get really strange.

IMDB rating: 6.3/10

The best new horror movie I’ve seen in years. In fact, I would include this in my top 20 favourite horrors of all time (maybe even top 10). A truly gritty, raw psychological horror with twists and turns that leaves you haunted long after it has ended. With all of the mediocre horrors that have been released in recent years, Incident in a Ghostland reminded me exactly why I love horror so much and does everything a truly good horror should do.

Insidious (2010)*

Type: Paranormal/Posession

Starring: Patrick Wilson & Rose Byrne

Summary: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

IMDB rating: 6.8/10

There’s a reason these movies have earned so much recognition and are included on almost every top list of horror movies I’ve ever seen. It’s easy to think this movie will be your standard possession movie, but it takes it that step further by making you connect with the family and giving Patrick Wilson’s character a personal journey of self-discovery and growth. He uncovers secrets from his childhood as he tries to save his son from the same entity that plagued him as a child. There’s three movies in this franchise and I’d recommend watching all of them if you enjoy the first one.

Intruders (2015)

Type: Psychological/Thriller

Starring: Rory Culkin & Leticia Jimenez

Summary: Anna suffers from agoraphobia so crippling that when a trio of criminals break into her house, she cannot bring herself to flee. But what the intruders don’t realize is that agoraphobia is not her only problem.

IMDB rating: 5.7/10

I randomly put this movie on one night when my stepsister was round just to have on in the background and before I knew it we were both glued to the screen. How it ends is not the direction you expect it to take at all and I always like movies that have a twist at the end. It has a kind of ‘Don’t Breathe’ vibe with the intruders getting a lot more than they bargained for and just like ‘Don’t Breathe’ it’ll keep you engaged until the end. 

The Invitation (2015)

Type: Thriller/Psychological

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green & Emayatzy Corinealdi

Summary: While attending a dinner party at his former home, a man thinks his ex-wife and her new husband have sinister intentions for their guests.

IMDB rating: 6.7/10

This is by far one of my favorite films I watched in 2017. There’s not many movies that can have me on the edge of my seat and questioning everything pretty much until the end, but this movie succeeded in doing exactly that. It makes you constantly question reality and whether the main protagonist, Will, is suffering from a psychotic break or his suspicions truly are justified. I’ve never studied film, so I’m unable to dissect it in a proper or adequate way, but what I will say is there is something about the way in which it’s filmed, directed and edited that perfectly portrays the apprehension, uncertainty, distress and suspense, particularly from Will’s perspective. My one critique is that I feel the ending could’ve been taken a step further and had more surprises thrown in there, since it was so tense all the way through but became a little predictable in the last 20 minutes. Despite this, it’s a great movie and also a very interesting exploration of grief and how it can deeply affect a person’s psyche. Definitely more of a thriller than a horror, but I enjoyed it a lot.

I Spit On Your Grave (2010)

Type: Psychological/Slasher

Starring: Sarah Butler & Jeff Branson

Summary: A writer who is brutalized during her cabin retreat seeks revenge on her attackers, who left her for dead.

IMDB rating: 6.4/10

This is the one movie I debated whether to include, because it’s so controversial. The original was released in 1978 and this is a remake, so I can’t speak to whether the original is better or to what degree the remake follows the original. All I will say is that it’s definitely not one for the faint hearted and I’d recommend anyone that considers watching it to take extreme caution before doing so. The first time I heard about this was from my stepbrother who told me it was so brutal and graphic that it’s been banned or censored in almost every country it’s been released in and after seeing it, I can understand why.  I have a strong stomach and I’ve seen so many horror movies that it takes a lot for something to affect me, but this really did. And honestly, that’s the sole reason I’m including it on this list, because in my opinion, any horror movie that sticks in my mind and continues to haunt me after I’ve seen it is one that’s done it’s job. The main warning I need to give is about the rape scenes which are extremely long (according to Wiki up to 30 minutes long), graphic and difficult to watch. There were a few times when I had to close my eyes and remind myself it was just a movie, because it really felt like I was watching this poor woman get raped and tortured. There’s a lot of gore too in comparison to most of the other movies on this list and the killings are very sadistic and violent. Basically, after the first 15 minutes this film is intense and horrific from start to end. 

  Jennifer’s Body (2009)*

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Megan Fox & Amanda Seyfried

Summary: A newly possessed high school cheerleader turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror?

IMDB rating: 5.1/10

In many ways this movie is trash, but god, I love it. It’s nothing how you’d expect a movie featuring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried to be, which is what makes it so great. As always Amanda’s acting is A+ and although Megan is sexualised (as she is in every movie she’s in), she makes a pretty convincing and at times scary villain that you love to hate and hate to love. The two actresses are the perfect contrast to one another, as are their characters and the dynamic between Jennifer and Needy is an interesting one to watch. It’s definitely more of a parody or spoof than a genuine horror, but the movie owns itself and doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is, which is why I think it’s so great. And despite being humorous and cliche in part, I’d argue that it has it’s scary moments (particularly the scene where Jennifer goes to Needy’s house after the fire) and interesting characterisation for both the main characters, who are actually nothing but innocent victims that are thrown into chaos. 

The Last House On The Left (2009)

Type: Psychological

Starring: Garret Dillahunt & Monica Potter 

Summary: After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

This is your standard rape/revenge movie and reminds me of ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ but a tamer version. It’s good and worth a watch but nothing special, which I base on the fact that I re-watched it recently and didn’t even realise I’d seen it before until over half way through when I thought, “Huh, this seems familiar”. Before you watch, I should warn you that the rape scene is graphic and distressing. 

Lights Out (2016)

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Teresa Palmer & Gabriel Bateman

Summary: Rebecca must unlock the terror behind her little brother’s experiences that once tested her sanity, bringing her face to face with an entity attached to their mother.

IMDB rating: 6.4/10

This is another one of those movies I decided to watch on a whim, expecting it not to be very good and it actually surprised me. I really liked the lead character (which is a rarity for me) and got on board with her and her family. The “entity’s” connection to the family is explored and it’s Rebecca’s job to  save herself and her family from it. Not one for those scared of the dark (hah!). 

Orphan (2009)*

Type: Thriller/Psychological

Starring: Vera Farmiga & Peter Sarsgaard

Summary: A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9 year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.

IMDB rating: 7/10

By far one of the best horror/thriller movies I’ve ever seen. Vera Farmiga brings her A game to any role she plays and this movie is no exception. This probably is more of a thriller than a horror and there’s a slow build, but it will keep you gripped. Generally with most movies there’s a level of predictability, but trust me, you will not guess the twist with this one. It’s still one of the only times I can recount being truly shocked at a movie, and although it’s not necessarily scary, it’s incredibly chilling and might make you reconsider adopting in the future.

Oujia: Origin of Evil (2016)

Type: Supernatural/Possession/Haunted house

Starring: Elizabeth Reaser & Lulu Wilson

Summary: In 1967 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her 2 daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business, inviting an evil presence into their home.

IMDB rating: 6.1/10

This is a very underrated movie. I feel like the title insinuates it’s gonna suck, but it’s actually really good. It has a similar vibe to ‘The Conjuring’ with a little girl getting possessed, but it’s executed very well and has its scary moments.

Pet (2016)

Type: Thriller/Psychological  

Starring: Dominic Monaghan & Ksenia Solo

Summary: A psychological thriller about a man who bumps into an old crush and subsequently becomes obsessed with her, leading him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works. But what will the victim have in store for her captor?

IMDB rating: 5.7/10

This is one of those movies where the only thought that goes through your head the entire time is, “What sick fuck thought of this?”. Dominic Monaghan is an actor I personally love and he’s great in this movie (if you’re able to overlook his poor American accent, which I admit I struggled with at times) and trust me when I say that how this movie starts, is nothing close to how it will end. 

The Purge (2013)

Type: Psychological/Thriller

Starring: Ethan Hawke & Lena Headey

Summary: A wealthy family are held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legal.

IMDB rating: 5.7/10

Another movie on the list that I wouldn’t necessarily class as a horror, but which is scary purely based on the fact that this is something that could feasibly happen in the future. All crimes are legalised for 24 hours and anything can happen. The summary speaks for itself really. 

The Ring (2002)

Type: Supernatural 

Starring: Naomi Watts & Martin Henderson

Summary: A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it.

IMDB rating: 7.1/10

This is well-known within the horror genre, because it quite simply delivers. It’s scary and every time I watch it I still feel a surge of panic whenever the videotape comes on screen and afterwards dread the sound of my phone going off. It’s simple but effectively scary and a classic.

Saw (2004)*

Type: Slasher/Gore 

Starring: Cary Elwes & Leigh Whannell

Summary: Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there or why, and soon discover they are pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.

IMDB rating: 7.7/10

Saw is another classic in the horror genre and one I go back to re-watch again and again. It’s a gore fest and I don’t know many people that have the stomach to sit through it, but it actually has a lot more to it than that. There’s a story behind Jigsaw, the killer, which is built upon across the franchise (I’d recommend watching all of the movies) and even the victims have back stories that are sometimes quite interesting. Just like ‘Final Destination’, it’s fascinating to see what the next death trap Jigsaw sets up will be like and whether or not the person will make it out alive. The music also gives me shivers whenever I hear it. It’s up there with the Halloween soundtrack as being my fave.

Scream (1996)*

Type: Slasher

Starring: Neve Campbell & Courteney Cox

Summary: A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game.

IMDB rating: 7.2/10

How can anyone that enjoys horror movies not have seen Scream at least once? For me, this will always be at the top of my list as being the best horror movie. A strong cast, characters that viewers are actually able to connect to (Sidney is badass, Dewey is a loveable dork and Gale is that character you have a love-hate relationship with), interesting back-story that has continuity across the franchise (unlike Halloween) and a shit-ton of horror tropes classic to the horror genre that are both scary and at times funny. Again, I’d recommend watching all of the movies in the triology (even Scream 4 isn’t bad), but the first stands out to me as being the best, simply because nothing can beat the reveal of the killer. 

Shaun Of The Dead (2004)*

Type: Comedy/Zombie

Starring: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

Summary: A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.

IMDB rating: 8/10

I’m not a huge fan of horror comedies, but Shaun Of The Dead is an exception. This isn’t just one of my fave movies from the horror genre, but of all time. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are the ultimate comedic pairing and bounce off each other so well. The humor is spot on, actually laugh out loud funny (unlike Scary Movie), it’s cleverly written and witty, but also manages to incorporate an appropriate amount of gore and emotion. Just please go and watch this movie, you won’t regret it. I’d also just like to point out as a final point, that there’s a reason this is the most highly rated movie on IMDB off this list. 

The Shallows (2016)

Type: Thriller/Shark

Starring: Blake Lively

Summary: A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.

IMDB rating: 6.4/10

Now, I’ve seen my fair share of shark movies over the years and it’s an area I tend to steer clear of because they’re inevitably always complete and utter shite, but not this one. I was pleasantly surprised at just how engrossed I became with this movie. Usually when I’m watching something I’ll pause midway through to grab some snacks or I’ll browse social media for a few minutes, but with this I remained glue to my screen from beginning to end. I think what makes this movie so good in comparison to other shark movies I’ve seen is Blake Lively’s performance. She does an amazing job as the lead, particularly considering 90% of the movie is of her on her own. Nancy is a pragmatic character that really fights tooth (excuse the pun) and nail to survive and she makes you really root for her. It does drag a little towards the end, but overall I enjoyed this movie and although I wouldn’t exactly class it a horror, most sites list it as being so. 

The Shining (1980)*

Type: Psychological/Supernatural

Starring: Jack Nicholson & Shelley Duvall

Summary: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

IMDB rating: 8.4/10

An absolute classic to the horror genre that most of you will likely already have seen. Surprisingly, I only got around to watching this in 2018 (although I’d seen snippets of it before, I’d never watched it properly) and it met all of my expectations. It’s movies like these that represent everything that’s amazing in the horror genre. 

Sinister (2012)

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Ethan Hawke & Juliet Rylance

Summary: Washed-up true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt finds a box of super 8 home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.

IMDB rating: 6.8/10

I only recently watched this after seeing it on multiple “best horror movie” lists and can understand why it was included. Although the build-up is slow, it adds to the tension and definitely has it’s jump-scare moments. Ethan Hawke as the lead is incredible. Even though you know he’s not crazy, you still find yourself questioning his mental health as he becomes obsessed with his work and in the process puts his entire family in jeopardy. I wasn’t overly fond of the ending (a trend that’s common for me), but overall it’s a good movie. 

Split (2016)*

Type: Thriller/Psychological 

Starring: James McAvoy & Anya Taylor-Joy

Summary: Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.

IMDB rating: 7.3/10

I was so so so so excited to see this movie the second I saw it advertised, (mainly because of James McAvoy, let’s be honest here), but also because it looked so damn good. As expected, James delivered in this movie, he really did. Portraying mental illness is a tricky task for any actor and a mental illness that manifests itself in 23 distinct personalities is even trickier to pull off, but James did it. I was gripped from the very beginning and found myself developing attachments to each distinctive personality that we saw. The end was disappointing since it got a little wacky and too far-fetched for my liking, particularly considering the tone of the rest of the movie, but overall it’s a brilliant movie that I would recommend anyone to watch. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)*

Type: Slasher

Starring: Marilyn Burns & Edwin Neal

Summary: Two siblings visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas along with three of their friends and are attacked by a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.

IMDB rating: 7.5/10

How could I not include ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ on this list? It’s as defining of the slasher genre as ‘Halloween’ (although in my opinion, not as good) and one of the first franchises I watched when I was first discovering horror. The 1974 original is the best out of the 7 films that make up the franchise which is no surprise. As with any long-running horror franchise, the movies span across 4 decades and there’s huge continuity issues with each producer/director putting their own spin on it and a lot of the time failing to do it justice. I haven’t seen all of them but have to warn you to steer clear of the fourth installment, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation’ (1994), at all costs. Don’t let the cast fool you, it’s by far one of the worst films I’ve ever seen and the 3.4 rating it has on IMDb is generous. The only other two worth watching in my opinion are the fifth and sixth installments -  ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003) and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning’ (2006), which in some ways I actually prefer to the 1974 original. 

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

Type: Slasher

Starring: Addison Timlin & Veronica Cartwright

Summary: 65 years after a masked serial killer terrorized the small town of Texarkana, the so-called ‘moonlight murders’ begin again. Is it a copycat or something even more sinister? A lonely high school girl, with dark secrets of her own, may be the key to catching him.

IMDB rating: 5.6/10

I feel like most people would rate this movie as average or even below average, but you know what? I really liked it. Probably because I’m a sucker for a good old slasher movie with a bit of history to the town/killer and that’s exactly what this movie is. 

Vacancy (2007)*

Type: Psychological

Starring: Kate Beckinsale & Luke Wilson

Summary: A married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras in their room. They soon realize that unless they escape, they’ll be the next victims of a snuff film.

IMDB rating: 6.2/10

This was recommended to me by my best friend who said he was so scared by this that he didn’t sleep properly for a week. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s that scary (but that’s just because it takes a lot for a movie to scare me), but it will have you on the edge of your seat. I do really like this movie for the fact that it’s so isolated and feels like something that could realistically happen to anyone that’s on holiday in a strange place. There’s a pretty slow build too, which adds to the tension and fear. Definitely a must-watch.

The Witch (2015) 

Type: Supernatural

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy & Ralph Ineson

Summary: A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.

IMDB rating: 6.8/10

This is a fairly new movie that I’ve seen come highly recommended so I decided to give it a try.  Since it’s set in the 1630′s and based on true accounts of experiences with witchcraft during that period, it has a very historical and thematic feel to it. Anya Taylor-Joy is incredibly talented and fast becoming one of my fave young actresses within the horror genre. She does a fantastic job in this movie, as does the entire cast. The build-up is slow and very effective and unlike other supernatural movies I watch where I’m usually thinking “As if that would ever happen”, there’s something about this that feels unnervingly realistic despite how wacky it is. Perhaps it’s because it’s based on true accounts but the sufferings the family go through feel reflective of something that may have really happened in our history. I do have some critique when it comes to this movie though, the main one being that I didn’t like the ending. It gets a little crazy and what starts out feeling realistic soon becomes very far-fetched. I also didn’t understand the ending and had to do a little Googling to find out the meaning of it, which I feel is something that should’ve been self-explanatory. All in all it’s a decent movie although it doesn’t stand out to me as being amazing. 

  Wolf Creek & Wolf Creek 2 (2005 & 2013)*

Type: Psychological/Slasher

Starring: Nathan Phillips & Cassandra Magrath

Summary: Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are befriended by a local who turns out to be a sadistic psychopath and will plunge them into a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture.

IMDB rating: 6.3/10

You know when you have that one horror movie that impacted you so much the first time you saw it that you never forget it? This is that movie for me. It still haunts me today, which is partly because I saw it for the first time at such a young age, but mostly because it’s based on a true story and could so easily happen to any one of us in real life. Just watch how the killer lures them back to his place, it’s so sneaky and clever and quite frankly has made me wary of ever accepting a stranger’s help if my car breaks down(!) As for Wolf Creek 2, as far as sequels go, it’s decent and follows the POV of the killer Mick from the first Wolf Creek.

Would You Rather (2012)

Type: Psychological

Starring: Brittany Snow & June Squibb 

Summary: Desperate to help her ailing brother, a young woman unknowingly agrees to compete in a deadly game of “Would You Rather,” hosted by a sadistic aristocrat.

IMDB rating: 5.8/10

I feel like this movie delivers exactly what it says on the tin. A bunch of vulnerable individuals who are desperate for cash for various reasons are invited by a stranger to engage in a game of “Would You Rather” in exchange for a large sum of money. Obviously the choices they’re faced with aren’t the traditional ones you’d expect to have in “Would You Rather” and horror and gore ensues. I think what’s great about this movie is that it has you questioning what you’d do in this situation. If you needed money to save a loved one from a life threatening illness, how far would you go? 

You’re Next (2011)

Type: Slasher/Psychological

Starring: Sharni Vinson & Joe Swanberg

Summary: When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of the victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.

IMDB rating: 6.5/10

Yet another movie I wasn’t expecting to like much, but that pleasantly surprised me. This’ll certainly keep you on the edge of your seat and the mysterious killers turn out to not be so mysterious after all. You might guess who they are before the big reveal (me and my mom did), but it will still keep you guessing for a while and the journey is intense as the family fight for survival. 

Zombieland (2009)

Type: Comedy/Zombie

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone & Woody Harrelson

Summary: A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.

IMDB rating: 7.7/10

The only other horror comedy that I actually like. I mean, for the amazing cast alone this deserves to be on this list. But it also has the perfect amount of comedy, seriousness and gore. 

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Type: Psychological 

Starring: John Goodman & Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Summary: After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack.

IMDB rating: 7.2/10

Going into this, I was expecting it to be rubbish, (mainly because ‘Cloverfield’ was so bloody awful that I didn’t see how a sequel could be any better), but it took me by surprise. The main question throughout the film is, are the men telling the truth? Are they good guys or bad guys? Those are the questions you will doubt the answers to right up until the reveal at the end. It kept me hooked and the fact that it isn’t found-footage like ‘Cloverfield’ definitely works in its favour.

Lastly, I’d like to mention some movies that I see included on a lot of recommendation, best of or top 10/50/100 lists that I personally don’t rate and why. That isn’t saying you shouldn’t watch them, just that they’re not necessarily as good as they’re portrayed to be. Warning: The movies listed below will contain spoilers.

It Follows (2014) - The entire movie is based upon the idea of a sexually transmitted disease/curse, which is just laughable and something I couldn’t take seriously at all. It’s impossible to root for the main character who is so utterly conceited and selfish that she willingly has sex with her best friend a.k.a the guy who has been crushing on her for years and who cares about her so much that he offers to have sex with her to free her from the entity, which results in his untimely death. The only good thing about this movie is that it raises awareness of the consequences of unprotected sex with strangers and hopefully encourages people to learn more about someone before jumping into bed with them.

The Babadook (2014) - I’d heard so many great things about this movie and how terrifying it was and for that reason I went in with high expectations. When it got started my first thought was “Surely this is the wrong movie”, because bloody hell, it was bad. I’ve seen so many reviews crediting it for how amazing it is considering it had such a low budget and all I say to that is - you can bloody well tell it had a low budget. Everything about it screams “low budget movie”. The incessant whining and yelling from both the mother and child made my ears bleed and all it succeeded in doing was irritating (and boring me) me rather than scaring me. I don’t condone that the idea behind it is a good one, but the execution is poor and the acting mediocre. For that reason, I often question how this has managed to receive such a high reputation within the horror genre. 

The Descent (2005) - Again, such a highly accredited movie for which I can’t understand why. A bunch of girls running around in the pitch black underground from some mysterious monsters that kill them all one by one… it’s just so boring. There’s no plot, no build-up, no mystery, nothing. I actually watched it for the first time when I was 16, around the time I was starting to really get into horror movies and even back then it didn’t scare me. I can, however, see why it’d be scary to others as it does create a feeling of claustrophobia since it’s set underground. My dislike for is mainly because monster movies aren’t really my thing. 

Friday The 13th (1980) - I feel like I’m betraying myself by including Friday The 13th, because there’s no denying that it was really defining for the slasher genre and it was one of the first movies that introduced me to horror, but I just don’t like it. I tried to re-watch it recently (since I hadn’t watched it all the way through since I was a teenager) and I couldn’t even get half-way through. The franchise is so big with there being 12 films and the story just gets lost on me. I know there’s some sort of story there with Jason and his mother, but it doesn’t harbour the same impact and intriuge to me as Michael Myers’ back-story. Essentially Friday The 13th will always be a poor rip-off of Halloween. 

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - I already mentioned that found-footage movies are a huuuuge no-no for me and they’re by far the worst corner of the horror genre. Blair Witch is something you either love or hate, for me it’s the latter. It’s just so boring. With any found-footage movies there’s an inability for me to connect to the characters or the story and for that reason the suspense and fear just isn’t there which is so important for any horror movie. I watched this movie once and I’d never watch it again. It’s one of those movies where the end credits roll and you sit back in your chair, look over to the person you’re watching it with and say, “Well there’s 2 hours of our lives we’re never getting back.” 

Paranormal Activity (2007) - Another franchise that’s done so well and become so huge, but I can’t understand why. More found-footage which I despise (the wobbling and half-head shots alone are enough to put me off watching), but these are somewhat watchable in comparison to Blair Witch. I think when you watch these movies in the cinema (which I did for at least 3 of them, though I can’t remember which ones), there are a lot of jump-scare moments mostly because there’s a lot of “normal” scenes set in the day where nothing much is happening, so when those scarier moments happen they’re more impacting. However, a lot of the time the development is so slow with the movement of a sheet or door being the only occurrence for over half of the film and then in the last 10 minutes everything goes crazy. Admittedly there are some of the movies in the franchise that are better. My personal favourite is Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which is actually the one that is often overlooked and underrated, but that by far had the biggest impact on me. So if you do choose to watch these, that would be the one I’d recommend. But overall the franchise is extremely overrated and it’s reputation is based purely on those cinema jump-scares they’re so famous for. 

The Woman In Black (2012) - AKA the most boring movie in existence. This was the first Daniel Radcliffe movie I’d watched since Harry Potter and as a huge fan of him, I went in with high expectations and it certainly disappointed. Not because of Daniel’s acting, but because of the simple fact that it failed to engage me. It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t tense and I found myself wishing that something would jump out to scare me just to keep me engaged, even if it was only for a second. This is one of those movies that was so incredibly dull that I wouldn’t even be able to recall what happened if someone paid me £100 to do so. All I remember is Daniel Radcliffe looking out of a window a lot and jumping every time he saw a black figure standing in the distance (yawn!). 

The Strangers (2008) - I only watched this a couple of weeks ago to see if it was worthy of being included on this list and came to the conclusion it wasn’t. It’s not the worst horror movie I’ve ever seen and unlike some of the others on this list I wouldn’t strongly recommend against watching it, but like all of the movies above, it completely failed to engage me. I paid attention for the first 15 minutes, after which I ended up pulling out my laptop. And the ending is possibly one of my most hated endings in any horror movie whereby the villains/killers have absolutely zero motive. When they were asked, “Why are you doing this?” their response was simply, “Because you were home.” Really? I’ve sat through two hours of watching two people get mentally tortured and hunted like dogs just because a bunch of sadistic people stumbled across their house and decided to torture them just to pass the time? No thanks.

The Mist (2007) - Again, another movie I opted to watch based on the fact it was included on a list of recommendations and I was bitterly disappointed. Some big mysterious alien-like bugs attack a small town from beneath the cover of mist. It’s so boring and not at all scary. Once again, my dislike for this movie can be put down to my dislike for monster/alien sub-genres. 

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) - This is a movie that everyone has heard the name of, even if you haven’t seen it. For that reason, I had high expectations going into it, but unfortunately it was just more boring shit about a family getting hunted down by a bunch of cannibal deformed humans in the desert. Yawn.

The Girl With All The Gifts (2016) - This movie starts out so promising and I was so eager to learn the mystery behind the dystopian world it was set in and when I realised it was just another zombie movie I was deflated. Once the mystery ends and the “hungries” are revealed there’s really nothing more to watch for.  I also don’t understand how this qualifies as horror because it’s not in the least bit scary or pertaining to anything I consider defining of a horror movie and I would happily let any young teenager watch it. The only thing that remotely relates it to horror is the inclusion of zombies. 

V/H/S (2012) - I should’ve been smart enough to read more about this movie before watching it, but I didn’t and it turns out it’s a found-footage movie, yay my fave(!) /sarcasm. The problem with this movie (aside from the fact that it’s found-footage) is that I found it impossible to follow. It jumped from one group/plot to the next and I couldn’t make head or tail of what was going on. Because of this, it didn’t keep my focus and I ended up having to Wiki what the plot/ending was and ended up frowning at the screen in utter confusion because I just didn’t get what the plot was supposed to be from what I watched. 

Drag Me To Hell (2009) - Along with ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation’ this is the worst horror movie I’ve ever seen. God knows how it’s managed to scrape a 6 point something rating on IMDb. I couldn’t even list all of the things that make this so terrible, just save yourself from wasting an hour and a half of your life and don’t watch this movie. 

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) - This movie is considered a classic in the horror genre and is on pretty much every recommendation list you’ll ever find relating to horror, but god, it’s awful. Maybe it’s because I’m accustomed to modern horror which is so much more vivid, graphic and unafraid to push the boundaries, but I find this movie so tame, boring and not at all scary. It’s predictable with a terrible and anti-climatic ending that drags out a lot. There is nothing appealing or interesting about it and if you do decide to watch it, just don’t go in with high expectations like I did, because you’re bound to be disappointed. 

[kristallioness]

Broken and healed

Summary: Kya takes good care of Aang by healing his broken arm. He returns the favour.

Word count: 2,038

Author's note: Unconditional love is the kind of love that parents feel for their children. Given the meaning of the word, I wanted to write something about Aang and Kya since these two don't get enough of the attention they deserve from the fandom. If no one else does, then I certainly have headcanons for this father-daughter relationship. Kya was once an innocent little girl, too. Their relationship wasn't always strained! Never mind, everything changed when "Turf Wars: Part One" happened. Aang loved Kya - this is (and will always be) canon.

----------x----------

It was another sunny afternoon in summer when Aang came back home to Air Temple Island and landed Appa in the courtyard. He slid down the side of Appa's head, releasing a short groan once his feet stomped the ground. Appa growled back and licked his right side.

"Don't worry, buddy! Katara will heal this up in a jiffy," Aang reassured him for the nth time that day by patting the sky bison's forehead. The airbender had left early in the morning to head to the border separating the Western Earth Kingdom from the United Republic. There'd been reports of smugglers working near the area and the White Lotus couldn't handle the situation on their own. Calling the Avatar was the closest and fastest solution to solving the problem before it could escalate. During the ambush, one of the thugs had pulled his right arm behind his back to take him out, but they had both tripped during the process - with Aang landing on him and his own arm.

Aang supported his broken arm across his chest and only tried to use his left hand as he stepped to the door, slid it open and walked inside the temple, searching for his wife.

"Katara? I'm home!" he called out. There was a faint clatter, most likely coming from the kitchen. As Aang stepped inside, he stumbled upon a little waterbender crouching over something on the floor.

"Kya?"

"Huh?.. Daddy!" Kya jumped a bit at the sound of her name, but she turned around, stood up and ran straight into her father's feet, actually managing to knock him off balance. Aang squatted down and hugged her back properly, mindful of his painful arm.

"It's good to see you, sweetie.. Is mommy home?" he wondered.

"Mommy had to go to work, she went to the hospital an hour ago. She took Tenzin along in case he becomes hungry," Kya explained, in rather good detail. Obvious enough, Tenzin was barely nine months old, he still liked when his mother would nurse him. Katara didn't wanna leave him alone with the acolytes either in case he started to miss her.

"That sounds like something your mother would do. And Bumi's still at school?"

Kya nodded.

"So, what've you been up to?" Aang asked. That was the last thing the little waterbender wanted to talk about, she dropped her gaze to the floor, dragging one of her blue slippers over the wooden floorboards.

"What's wrong? You can tell me," Aang put a finger under her chin and gently lifted her face back up to meet a pair of misty cerulean eyes.

"I broke mommy's favourite plate," Kya's lower lip quivered and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Aang had noticed the familiar broken pieces behind her tiny figure earlier. He realized now that it was his fault. If he hadn't called for Katara, Kya wouldn't have startled and dropped the dish.

"Oh.. Shh-shh! Don't cry, my little waterbender!" Aang stroked her cheeks with the back of his left hand, wiping away some of her tears. Kya released a couple of louder sobs.

"I-I was ju-just h-hungry ah-aand I wanted to eat something..."

"Come here!" he pulled her into his embrace and hushed her for a minute or two before she began to calm down.

"Mommy's gonna be angry," Kya sniffed.

"Well, maybe a little.. but she'll understand that it was an accident. You wouldn't have dropped it if I hadn't scared you. I'm sorry," Aang said, rubbing her back and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. She nuzzled her nose into his robes, sniffing a few more times. He had an idea.

"Do you know what? I know how we can make it up to her."

"How?" Kya lifted her head to look into her father's compassionate grey eyes. He wiped away the last of her tears from the corners of her cerulean ones.

"How are your healing lessons going?"

"Good.. I guess," the little waterbender shrugged as she rubbed an eye.

"Mommy told me that you can heal by using your waterbending now. Am I right?" Aang slightly tilted his head, Kya nodded again.

"Well.. See, my right arm is broken," he said, holding it in front of her. She gasped.

"I'm sorry, daddy! What happened?" she gently rubbed her hand above the injured limb.

"Well, a bad guy yanked it behind my back and I sort of fell on top of him.. as well as my arm. I think the bone might be cracked a little because it hasn't stopped aching since. Would you help me and make your mother's life easier by healing the broken bone yourself?"

Kya's face beamed as she nodded enthusiastically.

"And after that, I'll help you clean up this mess and we'll both tell mommy what happened. Okay?"

"Okay!"

"Before we go, what would you like for a snack?" Aang stood up and opened the pantry.

"I wanted a papaya," Kya said and watched how he grabbed her fruit, peeled it quickly by only using his left hand, then handed it to her. She jumped up and down with excitement.

"Thank you, daddy!" she exclaimed and took a big bite out of the papaya.

"Lead the way, my little healer," Aang let Kya grab his left hand to escort him to the healing hut. The little waterbender was always a step in front of him, skipping along the hallway while enjoying her snack. Once they entered the vast room, Aang headed to the back and took a seat on the edge of the bed closest as well as opposite to the cabinets. By then, Kya had also finished eating and she scampered to the sink to wash her hands.

"I'm ready!" she declared and climbed onto her father's lap. Aang winced as he pulled up his sleeve whilst Kya summoned some water around her hands from one of the large pots in the corner of the room. He supported his right arm on his daughter's knees. She gently laid her hands on it and started waterbending in circular motions. The water immediately began to glow and Aang could feel how the pain began to subside slowly. Kya really must've been doing the right thing. He decided to distract her since she still looked rather worried, about him and the incident in the kitchen.

"Tell me, how did you learn to heal a broken bone again?"

Aang knew the story very well since Katara had told him the same evening when they were getting ready to fall asleep, just lying in their bed. She'd broken her ankle that day and instead of healing the fracture herself, she limped to the healing hut with Kya's aid and let the young waterbender practise. It was her first time healing a broken bone successfully.

"Mommy broke her ankle and she asked me to heal it."

"That's right," Aang nodded, pretending like he'd already forgotten. Kya took about three minutes before she finished. He could feel that the pain was practically gone.

"How does that feel, daddy?" the little waterbender asked as she stopped healing and waterbended the remaining water back into the pot. The airbender carefully twisted his arm and moved it around in every direction.

"Pretty good, just a little bit sore now. I think we should put on some of that special salve to quicken the healing process, just in case."

Kya nodded in agreement and jumped off Aang's lap to open the doors of the cupboard opposite to them.

"Where does mommy keep that salve?"

"It should be right in front of you, on the top shelf," Aang pointed a finger to one of the tins, which Kya picked up and read the label on the side of the round container.

"This one?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Kya stood in front of Aang and opened the tin. She picked up a thick layer of cream with the tips of her fingers and smeared the cool stuff all over his right arm. Having applied enough salve, she put the tin back in the cabinet and washed her hands again before she began searching for a long elastic bandage. Kya wrapped the cloth around the injured arm to protect it from any sprains. Aang tucked the loose ends under the edges, admiring the work she'd done in a few minutes.

"Now I have an armband, just like your mother used to wear around her arms," he smiled, then rolled his sleeve down. Kya dove into the cupboard one last time to fetch some gauze. She climbed up on the bed and began rolling it around Aang's neck, then tucked it under his arm and brought it back up to tie the two ends together. Besides being wrapped in a sarashi, his injured limb was now supported by a sling, in case she hadn't done her job properly and there were still fractures she'd missed. The airbender doubted that though, she might've been a beginner at this, but she would always do her best.

"I'm finished!" she declared proudly.

"Done like a professional healer. Just like your mother. Thank you, sweetie!"

"You're welcome, daddy!" Kya grinned back.

"You've.. earned.. this," Aang said and gave a kiss on either one of her cheeks, making her giggle at the show of affection.

"C'mon, let's go clean up the mess in the kitchen, too," he patted her on the shoulder and they left the healing hut. Passing the closet in the corridor, Aang grabbed a dustpan and Kya found a small broom from the storage. Back in the kitchen, he knelt down and held the dustpan in place with his good arm while his daughter brushed the shards on it. Pretty soon the pair heard footsteps approach the room.

"Aang! You're home!" Katara exclaimed, standing in the doorway. She'd heard the pieces of the broken dish clattering together during the cleaning, so she'd headed straight towards the source. She was cradling Tenzin in her arms when she stepped into the kitchen. Aang simply stood up and hugged his slightly shaken wife, after which he offered her a proper kiss. The baby boy smiled at the sight of his father and held his tiny hands out, wanting to cuddle him, too. Aang noticed it and he kissed Tenzin's forehead instead, grabbing one of his small hands with his left one. The little airbender liked to play with his fingers.

"Sweetie, what happened? Are you hurt?" Katara examined Aang's right arm, gently rubbing the top with the palm of her right hand. She figured he'd visited the hospital as well, the sling and wrappings and everything looked pretty well done.

"Eh, the fight got a little out of hand," he shrugged.

"And I'm not hurt. Not anymore.." Aang added, after which he squatted down next to Kya and wrapped his good arm around her shoulders.

"Kya.. you healed daddy's arm?" Katara's mouth fell a bit open as she sat down on her knees in front of her husband and daughter. The little waterbender nodded.

"And there's something else Kya wants to confess. We both do," Aang patted her shoulder. She gulped before speaking.

"I was hungry, so I wanted to pick some snacks and put them on a plate, but I dropped it."

"It was my fault. I arrived home and began calling for you so you could hear me and come heal my arm, but I gave Kya a scare instead," Aang finished for her. Katara eyed the broken pieces on the dustpan for a mere second before she cupped Kya's cheek.

"Oh, my poor little waterbender.. That's okay, it was just a plate."

"Yeah, but it was your favourite plate, mommy."

"You know, sweetie, sometimes plates might get broken, but you can always try to glue them back together or, if that doesn't work, buy a new one. Things come and go, but family stays the same. You'll always be our little waterbender. That'll never change."

Kya smiled and jumped into her mother's embrace. Katara hugged her as much as she could with her free arm, careful to hold onto Tenzin with the other one.

"I love you," Katara said and kissed the top of Kya's head.

[sahara-rose]

I’m currently playing Final Fantasy Type-0, now I’m at chapter 7. Well…. how the starting cut scene and the director of the game made me prepare for it but shit I was freaking wrong. ;____; Annnnnddddddd yaaa knowww i was thinking about the the kids like they actually look like the ffxv couples love child. I’m gonna mess around with this a bit because crossovers! and genderbent! like fem! iggy, fem!prompto and maybe fem!loqi

like:

fem!ignis and gladio’s child :

King :

- He’s the first child, the first one that make ignis feel so warm and bubbly inside when she gave birth to him (and she tug gladio’s shirt “I want more!”) 

- He looks like gladio but his attitude is like ignis i mean really he can handle things calmly, he’s smart and he can sass those milites soldier just like ignis does.

- He likes to read what gladio mostly read, because sometimes when he was a kid he’ll sit on gladio’s lap and hear his dad read the novel out loud though he doesn’t understand them but he enjoys it until he fell asleep on gladio’s chest.

- He can use swords but mostly into guns thanks to aunt prompt.

- Yes he like hunting and camping

Deuce 

- She was the first princess of gladnis’s heart.

- She likes to help her mom at the kitchen and she is so sweet and polite, sometimes ignis or gladio just kneel at her and kiss her.

- She likes make those cute shape cookies with mommy and those beautiful colouful icing cakes (ignis have all of the pictures of deuce with her cakes and cookies because mommy is so proud of her). She cooks meals too and of course king is her food tester (but he doesnt mind because she’s good at it)

- She likes to read too (she’s into those romance novels that was recommend by her mother and talks a lot about it)

- She plays musical instruments just like ignis (i like to think ignis play instruments) 

- She’s good at blades but she is more on magic mostly healing magic

Trey

- The second son, another prince of theirs

- Trey likes to lecture his friends (like seriously in the game, he talks a lot of facts) just like ignis like to lecture uncle noctis (he thinks mom is cool when she can make the king of Lucis to listen to her lecture)

- He is very well manner, calm and likes to give advice to his friends 

- He likes to hang around at the house’s library (his parents had this huge library at their house). He’s into lot of genre’s from historical to fictional.

- He just like king can use swords but prefer more on bow 

- and yes yes he likes hunting and camping too

Rem

-Their second princess

- She likes to hang around the kitchen with mommy and Deuce

- She helps her sister and Deuce will gladly teach her how to cook (ignis record tons of videos of them cooking together)

- She mostly likes to read on tactical and fictional.

- She mostly on daggers and magic.

The whole fam 

- Of course the boy love going hunting and camping with dad, being outside of the wall enjoying the fresh air is fun especially when they came back with ingredients for their mom and sisters to cook 

- Grandpa clarus is so proud of them (”You did a great job ignis” and gladio “But dad I did my part too!” “Hush now”) 

-Grandpa clarus gave them their own custom made weapons for them (again he is very proud of his grandchildren, he talks about them a lot with his friends)

fem!promtp and noctis

Machina

- Their first prince, noctis cried on the day he was born (he was panicking okay dont blame him)

- He’s brave but sometimes he have his own insecurities (like in the game), just like prompto so sometimes prompto will have a talk of encouragement with him because of course she wouldn’t want her son to feel what she felt when she was in his age!

- He is playful like his mother and surprisingly he enjoy fishing as much as noctis does (prompto had a hard time holding him when they arrive at a fishing spot until noct have to take him to his lap and let him hold some parts of the rod. He gets really excited when daddy reel in a fish)

- He likes chocobo (prompto took tons of pictures with him and those lovely birds), he even get to own one when he was old enough to be responsible to take care of it from grandpa Regis (yes he named is Chichiri *cries*)

- He’s good with magic just like noctis and daggers!

-He is very very protective of his family and friends

Jack

-Their second son and princes (again noct cried when he was born)

- Jack is totally like noctis + prompto’s attitude.

- He can be lazy and playful but he is actually smart.

- Machina and Queen will be really protective on him and he doesn’t actually mind because yay! they spoil him!

- He likes taking pictures like mom, sometimes they went out together just to take pictures, of course queen or machina is their model lol

- Very good with katanas and sometimes he spar with his dad or cor (the marshall is very impress like really this kid is good!)

Cater

- Their first princess (yes noct did cried)

-very playful and likes to be with mommy

-spoil by both parents and regis but she is well behave and kind

- like noct she just hate losing but optimistic like her mom

- she enjoys taking pictures with prompto and it became her hobby

-good with guns (like prompto) and magic

Nine 

-their last child (again noct did cried)

- impulsive but he is quite well behave

- protective of is siblings (he beat up the guys that bother his sister until his parents had to meet the teacher and noct “Yeah! son! i’m proud of you!”)

- can be call momma’s boy actually

-surprisingly to his parents he likes fishing (”its relaxing and its not that complicated” he said)

- good with lances and spar with dad sometimes

The whole family 

- Grandpa regis of course will spoil them, he and clarus sometimes had this little contest; who’s grandchildren is better like lol who isn’t proud of their beautiful and amazing grandchildren (”Don’t worry, all of you are the best grandchildren” - regis)

- Like clarus he also gave them the custom made weapon with the lucis family crest on it (noct complains because “heyyy how come I never get one?”)

- Congratulate prompto for doing a good job on being both a queen and a mother (”did I do a good job dad?” “Hush noctis, I’m talking to your wife here”)

Fem! Loqi and cor

Sice

first child, (loqi instantly fell in love with her)

- she’s not good with words but she got good judgement just like her dad

- she cares about others, she’s bad at showing it but she usually push them up to be better (she got it from cor) 

-she likes to hangout with her friends and mostly training because she wanted to be strong just like her dad

- loqi was the one made her cool hairstyle and mostly her fashion because loqi just love her so much

- just like her dad she is strong and brave but her weapon of choice surprise cor but made him proud of her skill nonetheless

- good with using scythe but she can use katana too and mostly on black magic

Seven

-second child (of course loqi loves her too! another girl! yes!)

- she’s reticent and seem cold (just like mom) but she is actually very caring a nice, she had a hard time saying no to people.

- like her sister she likes to train too but she mostly like to be indoors, enjoying drink while reading or maybe meet up with close friends only

- her mom helps her with her hairstyle and clothing. 

-She’s very good with whipblade though she can use swords too

Eight

- their first son (yes loqi love him too she just couldn’t stop kissing him when he was born “Its my first son!”)

- his sisters like to spoil him, they usually help him with his insecurities when people made fun of his height (they meet those boys and beat them up like really they did) 

-mom loqi always boost him up and is very proud of how smart he is and how honorable her son is. She helps him with his hair style (”you look a lot handsome with this kind of hairstyle! just like your father”) and his fashion mostly following on cor (and he looks so good in it Loqi couldn’t complain)

- he learn how to fight with cor, he’s very good fighting with Knuckles, given how fast and strong he is.

The whole family 

- Regis sees them as his grandchildren so they call him grandpa regis,

- Regis is actually amazed on how different their fighting skills so regis had their own custom made weapon 

- Regis showing Cor’s embarrassing photos to the children!

Luna and Nyx

Queen

- Their first child

- she’s mostly into reading and listening to her mother’s old Tenebrean stories, (yes she can speak with the Astrals too)

- She is always tried to take care of everyone 

- She likes to nag sometimes and being so straightforward like nyx but she is very well mannered and polite.

- Very skillful with swords and she spars with her dad and yes good at magic too mostly healing magic

Ace

- their first son! 

- ace is just like luna, he’s good with magic although he cannot speak with the astrals, his magic is mostly on offensive

- he had his own chocobo and he always play with it almost everyday

-he can be mature but sometimes reckless and he sometimes act out of anger (”I blame you on this” luna said to nyx)

- he likes going out with his father and can sing like luna does

- very good with magic and he can use daggers like nyx.

Cinque

- their second princess

- very playful and childish but she is actually very smart and sharp

- she sometimes talks to the astrals especially to gentiana because the glacian adores her so much (she gave the astrals weird nicknames but they dont actually mind because its adorable)

-very strong and powerful girl, she hangs out with deuce and seven sometimes.

-she likes to do her mother’s and sister’s hair, sometimes she will playfully do Nyx’s hair.

- surprisingly do very well with mace and do good with daggers and magics too

the whole family

-uncle ravus favourites! and sylva’s beloved grandchildren.

- ravus will spend time with ace at the chocobo ranch just talking and petting his chocobo (grandma bought it for him)

-sylva will teach them magics, offense and defence.

Welp its just me imagining things, so I’ll just tag you lovely people to talk about it….. @moonraccoon-exe, @yuu-be-good , @asoeiki, @theginia and @stephicness 

just hey me rambling again ahahahaha ;____; sorry if im bothering you guys! 

[twdgfanfiction]

Chapter 6 - Troubles Beneath The Waters

"I wanna go with Alexis." Mariana didn't know why she disobeyed what her father wanted, and started to regret the decision when David frowned deeply at it, feeling guilty about it, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to explore her new home. There were other people there, other children. She had a chance to make friends after spending weeks with just David and Ava, trapped in a car. Alexis was nice, nicer than her other companions save Jordan. With the hand guiding her away, down the stairs to meet the other people, the young child couldn't bring herself to look at David's saddened face before he and Ava disappeared from sight.

Walking down the stairs, she could hear the hushed argument between her carers, unable to stop her face from falling as the words grew quieter and quieter, before she could no longer hear them. Her expressions didn't go unnoticed, as she heard Alexis quietly comfort her. "You alright, kid?"

"Yeah." She lied, staring straight ahead in fear that Alexis would figure out her true feelings. The older woman likely could see that something was bothering her, but decided to let it go, instead shrugging as the both of them made their way down the flights of stairs. Their footsteps echoed through the emptiness, and soon, Alexis paused by a door leading into one of the floors, Mariana close by her side as the adult opened the door. Inside, she could see grown up sitting on chairs, talking to each other, some of the children colouring by their feet.

Spotting the children, Mariana felt nervous slowly overwhelm her, unsure how to go and ask if she could join in, and rather moved closer to Alexis as both of them walked closer to the group. The children were too engrossed in their activities to notice the new arrival, but their parents glanced up from their conversation, offering the small girl comforting smiles as she moved further behind Alexis' legs. Softly, her temporary carer muttered to one of the adults. "This is Mariana. She just came in here with some others, but would it be alright if I leave her here with you guys?"

"She's more than welcome to sit with us." One of the women agreed, leaning forward to see Mari as she added. "Do you wanna colour with us, sweetheart?"

Nodding silently, the young girl moved from behind Alexis' legs and instead kneeled down beside one of the children; a girl who looked older than her, with pale, freckled skin and fiery red hair plaited. She was busy colouring, but she listened when the same woman who asked Mariana if she wanted to join touched her shoulder, quietly asking the child. "Grace, share your crayons with Mariana, okay?"

"Okay, mom." Grace replied, turning to Mariana as she noticed the smaller child's jacket, a bright smile on her face as she complimented her. "I like your jacket!"

"Thanks." Mariana smiled back, looking down at the half coloured picture with her fingers fiddling with the bottom of her jacket. Grace noticed her uneasiness around them, turning back to her own picture as she grabbed another piece of paper, passing it over to Mari along with a packet of crayons between them, turning so that she was facing the other girl more than the other children around them. They showed no interest in them, only small toddlers scribbling on their papers while in their own little world. The adults behind them continued to talk to one another, pleased that their children were busy with their own thing and giving them a break.

Mariana took a green crayon, the idea of what she wanted to draw held in her mind as she scribbled on the paper, careful not to tear it with any rough strokes. However, when she glanced over to the doors leading to the stairs, she saw that Alexis was nowhere in sight, the uneasiness building as neither her temporary carer or David and Ava were anywhere near her. Rather, she was surrounded by strangers. Glancing around nervously, she turned back to Grace when the older child asked her. "So, how old are you?

"Six…" She revealed, watching as Grace's smile widened.

"I'm nine! What's your favourite colour?" She continued to question, showing a curiosity in Mariana that even the adults didn't show, rather letting the kids to carry on with whatever they were doing. "Mine's blue, like my jacket!"

"I like pink the best." She laughed, feeling that uneasiness melt away as the other girl joined in with her laughter, both of them going back to drawing as Mariana slowly asked her. "What're you drawing?"

"My cat. He's called Smokey." She responded, picking the picture up to show Mari. A poorly drawn cat, coloured in black, was standing beside a drawn Grace in a blue dress. Staring at it, the younger girl listened as her friend mumbled. "He ran away just before mom brought me here. She said he'll be fine, but I miss him."

"I like cats. My dad's allergic, though. I'd like a black one, too." Mari confessed, recalling the incident where David came across a stray that she had been feeding, his watery eyes and constant sneezing would have been funny if she didn't feel bad for causing that for him. Her mom told her to stop interacting with the strays for both David's and her health, considering strays usually carried all sorts of diseases. She listened, but she missed playing with the cats that came into her garden.

Grace smiled at that, and carried on colouring in her picture, both of the young girls sitting in silence while hushed whispers carried on behind them. She kept quiet and listened. Used to hiding and listening, even before the monsters came, she pretended as if she couldn't hear their worried words, the uneasiness the adults felt over what was happening outside their walls. Grace didn't show any of that wariness that Mariana was feeling, the child older than her, but didn't seem to understand what was going on. It was alright, Mariana didn't really understand it either, and it felt nice to simply talk and draw with other children, rather than surviving with adults.

Staring down at her drawing, she paused, sitting up straight as she placed the green crayon on the floor, grabbing a brown and starting to colour in the people in her picture. For a moment, she glanced out of the window, noticing the distant buildings, the windows boarded up and the clouds forming a thick, grey blanket across the sky. It was dreary. Looking back at her drawing, she carried on in silence, enjoying the time she was spending with Grace. Soon, the child beside her piped up again. "Mom, when do we eat? I'm starving."

"We get dinner soon, darling. You'll have to wait until then." Her mother replied softly, glancing over at Mariana as she asked the child. "How're you doing, Mariana?"

"I'm fine." She lied, feeling her stomach constrict painfully, growling out loudly in hunger. She hadn't eaten anything save that candy bar that morning, and she was eager for dinner to hurry up and come. The mother seemed unconvinced with her lying, and her voice dropped to a tender tone as she continued to question the girl.

"You here with your parents?" She asked, looking down at the picture that Mari was drawing. "Is that them?"

She had finished colouring the people in, and had started to draw the clothes. David, Kate, Gabe and Mari were all standing in a park, enjoying a picnic that she remembered helping Kate make, and looking down at the smiling faces, she couldn't stop her lip quivering and the tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. A small hiccup came from her as she tried to wipe the tears away, but her actions caught the attention from all the women as Grace's mother picked Mari up, sitting her in the adult's laps as she calmed her down. "Hey there, don't cry. What's the matter?"

"I want my mom." She confessed, continuing to wipe away the tears that kept welling in her eyes, some falling down her face as she sniffed quietly. Laura knew how to make her daughter happy even when she was sad, and always she repeated the teaching her mom taught her in her head, more often over these past few weeks that she was on the road. It made her mom happy when she smiled, but she also taught Mari that sometimes it was alright to be sad. It meant people could help you. Sometimes, she wasn't able to stay strong on her own, and it hurt more knowing that her mom wasn't there to stand by her.

"Okay, where is she?" The woman asked, her kind words only hurting Mariana more as the tears continued, her face scrunching up in grief and pain as Grace stared at her worryingly, unsure what to do or say to help her new friend.

"...She's gone." Her voice dropped to a whisper, but the adult holding her visibly stiffened when she was told the truth, showing the guilt of forcing Mari through that pain on her face. Rather than say anything, she held the child close, slowly rocking her in an attempt to lull the weeping girl. The feeling of arms around her gave Mariana that security, just how she felt like when David held her close. Safe. Warm. She didn't want to leave that warmth, and when she saw the door open and her father walking in with Ava by his side, she couldn't help but stiffen slightly.

The feeling inside her was confusing. She was afraid, but guilty of being scared. David was her father. He wouldn't lash out at her, he never did, but knowing what he can be like when he loses his temper, she didn't want to be near him when he did. She felt hands grip onto her jacket tightly, the woman holding her feeling the child stiffen as they both stare at the approaching man. David paused, confused and concerned when he saw the tear stains on his daughter's face, kneeling down in front of her as he asked, his voice dropping to a low tone. "Mariana, what's wrong?"

Mariana didn't answer. She didn't want to bring up her mother, she knew that her dad missed her as much as she did. Instead, Grace's mother answered for her. "She told me that she misses her mom. The poor thing's pretty shook up."

The mention of Laura caused David to frown deeply, still staring at Mariana as she averted her gaze to anywhere but him. Gently, he took her from the woman's arms, holding her close as he muttered to her. "I know you miss her, mija. I do too…"

"Do you wanna see your new room, kid?" Ava asked, trying to lighten the mood as she appeared in front of Mariana, offering the mourning child a small smile. The thought of her own room again, sleeping in an actual bed rather than the back of a car, brought a smile to her face as she nodded silently.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her." David spoke up to Grace's mother, smiling slightly with gratefulness clear on his face as she passed him the picture that Mariana made. She nodded in response, though she was wary from Mariana's reaction to his appearance before. If he had noticed her change in expression, he did not comment on it, and rather turned around to leave for their room. Mariana peered over his shoulder as they left, waving goodbye to Grace as she enthusiastically waved back, a grin on her face before she carried on colouring.

"You excited, kid?" Mariana heard Ava question her, glancing back to see the grown woman holding the door open so that David could walk through. Closing the door once they were through, she followed after him as they all made their way down the stairs, staring up at Mariana as the young child rested her chin on the grown man's shoulder. "Comfy beds tonight, and we can hang up the picture that you drew, yeah?"

"I'd like that." She agreed, already feeling better, and earning a warm grin from her friend before she turned her attention to David.

"You alright, man? You were pretty quiet when we left the top floor." She wondered, causing the male survivor to turn his head and glance at her with a small smile. Mariana glanced at him, wondering what was wrong with him before he brushed Ava's worries off.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." It was clear from the bags under his eyes that he was telling the truth, the young girl in his arms rubbing her eyes when she felt the same tiredness wash over her. She didn't know how long had passed since she woke up, but after the incident with Ava and the walker, along with David's outburst, she just wanted to go to her room and nap. David noticed her actions as he looked at her, giving the child a small smile as he whispered. "You tired, mija?"

"Yeah…" she mumbled, leaning her chin against his shoulder again as she stared at Ava walking behind them, her eyelids growing heavier the longer they walked. Soon, they stopped walking down the stairs, rather David opening the door that led into one of the floors with Ava right behind them, letting the door shut by itself as they kept moving down a corridor. None of them said anything, all visibly exhausted and happy to be in safety rather than on the road. Slowly, David opened the door leading into their room, Mariana glancing over her shoulder to look inside with excitement bubbling in her stomach.

She didn't know what the room was used before, but she could tell from the mattresses on the floor that it wasn't a bedroom before. Still, it looked more comfy than the back of the car, and when David placed her down on the ground, she walked further in the room while the adults looked around. Standing on the mattress by the window, she could clearly see the river flowing through in the distance, the walls around the small section of Charleston blocking everything from the outside. Stretching, she glanced down the window and immediately regretted her decision, noticing how high up the third floor was. Backing away, she heard a drawer being opened and Ava calling out to her.

"Hey, kid?" she started, waiting for Mariana to turn to her, noticing a roll of tape in her hand, before she continued. "How about we hang up your picture, huh? Make this place feel a bit more like ours."

"That sounds good." David agreed, handing Mariana her drawing with a warm smile. "Go and do that with Ava while I unpack all of our stuff."

"Okay." She nodded, taking the picture from him and moving closer to Ava, deciding to take the mattress pressed against the wall opposite to the window. Undoing a strand of tape, Ava's hands guided Mariana's smaller ones in placing the drawing, holding the strand of tape between her teeth before both of them were happy were the picture was. Taping it in place, Mariana smiled as she moved off the mattress again, staring at the people in the drawing with her smile faltering.

Ava stared at it, only glancing at Mariana for a moment before ruffling her hair affectionately. "Looks pretty good, Mari. You do anymore and we can put them up with that one, how about it?"

"Cool!" She agreed, her smile returning as a wide grin when Ava returned the gesture. Shuffling could be heard from behind them, both of the survivors glancing back to see David rummaging through Mariana's bag, his hand pulling out with what was revealed to be batteries.

Walking towards a file cabinet, he turned to his daughter with the batteries in hand. "If your walkman runs out, mija, there's spare batteries in here."

She nodded in response, feeling that fear slowly disappear as David just kept packing away their things, the baseball bat he took from their home propped up against the wall, near the door, stained with dry blood. A fragment of that feeling still gripped her, but she felt better than she did before, and with the thought of sleeping easy tonight making her smile, she turned back to Ava as the grown woman yawned. Stretching her arms, she picked Mariana up and sat down on the mattress, letting the child sit in her lap as she mumbled. "I'm exhausted. How about we take a nap until dinner, kid?"

"Alright..." She yawned back, feeling the exhaustion hit her fully as her eyelids dropped. Ava balanced her on her knee, working to removing the shoes from her small feet before tossing them against the wall, placing Mariana on the mattress as she worked unlacing her army boots. Crawling closer to the wall, the child removed her bunny jacket, allowing Ava to take it as she laid down on the comfy bed, staring at the wall with an unwavering gaze as she listened to Ava sighing in relief, the heavy thud of boots being tossed casually on the floor before the mattress sank under her weight.

It was too warm to use the blanket. Instead, the two laid on the mattress, Mariana listening as David finished packing the stuff away and sit down on the other mattress, curious and unsure about what he was doing. Soon, however, her eyes closed fully and she drifted off into her dreams, the warmth on her back disappearing slowly.

Her dreams pictured a simple time, the feeling of a cool breeze on her bare shoulders, her favourite pink dress and green fields rolling in the winds. She ran with her brother, laughter and chatter loud in the air as they played tag, hide and seek, any game that would entertain them until Kate got the food ready. She could see her and David sitting on a blanket, actually getting on civilly for once, rather than arguing and shouting that she was so used to.

The smell of freshly cut grass wafted into her nose when she tumbled over, rolling down the hill with Gabe as both of them giggled loudly. She enjoyed the feeling of the the cold winds and the hot sun, laying there before David asked both of them to get up, not wanting either of them ruining their clothes. The food they had, it made her stomach growl and yearn for that taste again. Kate was a good cook, as was her dad, and she enjoyed the meals they cooked for her and Gabe at home. As she sat there, munching away on a sandwich while Gabe and David play fought in the grass, she could remember Kate's laughter, the smile on her face, and it was then that she realised that she may never hear that laugh again, see that bright grin on her step mother's face again.

Her dreams collapsed around her, a hand shaking her awake and dragging the child away from the good memories. Slowly, her eyes opened and saw the same wall she was staring at, her chest constricting painfully as she knew those dreams were just that. Dreams. Turning around, she saw that the hand that was stirring her awake belonged to Ava, the woman looking like she had only just woken up herself. Retracting her hand, Mariana sat up as her friend explained. "Time to wake up, we don't want you sleeping too much otherwise it's gonna be a pain to sleep later."

"What time is it?" The young child asked, rubbing her eyes before glancing up at the window. The grey clouds had gone, rather the bright blue replacing it with few white clouds rolling by and the sun shining brightly, bathing the room in a warm glow.

Ava stood up, grabbing her shoes from where she had tossed them before and slipped them on, doing a half-hearted job of tying her shoelaces before leaving them be. Hands on hips, brown eyes half closed with tiredness, she glanced over at the window and shrugged. "Dunno, around three I'd say. You wanna take a look around Charleston, kid?"

She nodded enthusiastically, before glancing down at a sleeping David, snoring loudly and with a book sprawled over his face as Ava quickly piped up, walking closer to Mari with a gentle smile. "I'd leave him alone. He's still pretty tired, but we can still do stuff. Come on, it'll be fun."

With a final glance at her sleeping father, she turned to her shoes by the bed, slipping them on and attempting to do the laces herself, though it was somewhat difficult for her. In the background, she could hear Ava chuckle deeply before kneeling in front of her, taking the laces in both hands before glancing up at her. "Here, I'll show you."

Looping the two laces, she held them as she continued tying the laces, explaining with an amused tone to her voice. "So, you loop them so they look a bit like bunny ears, and then you cross them like this… and there you go!"

"Next time, I'll try it myself!" Mariana suggested, a smile on her face as Ava returned the affectionate gesture, ruffling her hair again as she then stood up, helping the child to her feet before passing her bunny jacket left on the mattress.

"Sure thing, kid." She agreed, waiting for Mari to zip up her jacket before making her way over to the door. She followed after the grown woman, sticking close to her side as they left their room, closing the door softly to avoid waking the sleeping man inside. With the door closed behind them, Mariana paused for a moment before rushing behind Ava, the grown woman continuing to walk towards the doors that led to the staircase. There wasn't that many people that were around, she noticed.

The stairs were just as empty, though she could hear people laughing and chattering, the sound coming closer as she and Ava made their way down to the ground floor. The people that the voices belonged to passed them in the stairwell, too engrossed in their own joking to pay attention to them. She glanced up at them, keeping silent as to not rudely interrupt their conversation and rather watched as they walked past, disappearing on the floor above. She kept quiet, eager to go outside and enjoy the nice weather for once, though she felt somewhat guilty for feeling relieved that David was asleep. She could still feel the blood on her face, her stomach twisted as she remembered the sickening sounds of flesh and bone being battered, still stuck in her mind, and it was not long before her grim expressions caught Ava's attention.

"You alright there, kid?" She asked, concern clear in her soft voice.

"Ava…?" The small girl started, finally meeting Ava's gaze as she continued. "Why did dad do that to the monster, before?"

The mention of David's actions caused Ava to frown deeply, looking away from Mari for a few moments as she tried to think of what to say to such a young child, how to make her understand what had happened. Mariana waited patiently, staring up at the adult as she paused on the landing between staircases, finally trying to explain to her. "It's complicated...Look, David was scared, and sometimes, you lose control and do stupid stuff when you're scared, especially if someone close to you is in danger."

"Were you scared when he pushed you?" She suddenly asked, wondering if Ava felt the same as she did, noticing the older woman's eyebrows raising in surprise as she thought of her answer carefully. Slowly, she leaned against the wall, her arms crossing over her chest as Mariana stood there, her feet awkwardly scuffing against the dirty floor.

After a few seconds, she heard Ava reply softly with a saddened frown. "Yeah, I was, but I know your dad, okay? It's just been a hard time right now for us, and I know that he loves you more than anything, kid. You're all he has left, he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

"I guess…" She confessed, understanding somewhat where Ava was coming from. She missed her family, and thinking about it, she wasn't sure she would ever see them again. David and Ava were the only people she had, thinking of the grown woman sort of like a big sister. She always wanted a sister. Although she loved Gabe, he was loud and boisterous, and she often enjoyed the times spent with her mom, and later Kate. Ava smiled at her reply, moving off the wall with her arms falling to her sides.

"Come on, let's enjoy the nice weather before your dad finds out we left without him." She pressed, guiding Mariana down the stairs with a hand to her back, making sure the child didn't slip and fall until they finally reached the bottom of the long staircases.

Walking through the door, she could see dozens of people enjoying the breeze blowing through the open front doors, some of the children that weren't with Grace and the adults running through the door while playing tag. The laughter and chattering between the grown ups were loud in the air, and it felt almost like she was back at home during the family gatherings. She wanted to go and join them, but they looked older than her, and she could feel the intimidation hit her hard as she instead remained by Ava's side.

The woman noticed her apprehension at joining the other kids, and rather than force her to interact with them, she allowed Mari to stay close to her as they continued to walk. The other kids noticed Mariana's presence, even when she hid herself further behind her friend, and muttered to each other before carrying on with their fun. She was pleased that they left her alone, and quietly followed Ava outside instead. Immediately, she could feel the warm sun rays on her face, squinting slightly as the sun blinded her temporarily.

Ava squinted as well, raising her hand to keep the sunlight out of her eyes, and Mari quickly copied her actions, able to see more clearly with the sun no longer blinding her. In the distance, she could hear rambunctious laughter and snorts, the clip clop of something repeatedly running on the concrete floor amongst the noises. People were all around them, more than she saw those few weeks since the walkers first appeared, with families and couples enjoying the sun, sitting by tables outside the abandoned cafe. Ava dodged a child that ran past her, though she was pleased with the easy air rather than annoyed with the near miss, and turning down at Mari, she suggested with a gesture of her hands. "Let's walk about and see what's here."

"What's that sound?" Mariana suddenly asked, hearing the same clip clop coming closer to them. Ava heard it as well, turning her head in the direction of the sounds with pursed lips, appearing confused with what it was. Following her gaze, both of them were caught off-guard when they saw a horse trotting around one of the buildings, a small cart attached to it with children laughing in it, an adult riding on the horse's back to guide it around the path.

"Well…" Ava started, surprised as she moved Mariana to the side, the horse trotting past them as its rider waved at them, Mari waving shyly back as she noticed the children enjoying the activity. Still staring at them, she listened as Ava continued. "That's not something you see everyday."

"It looks like fun!" She giggled, earning a chuckle from Ava as she placed a hand on top of her shoulder, both of them watching as the rider brought the horse to a stop. Dismounting, she gestured for the kids to jump out of the cart, and they obeyed her, albeit reluctantly as they visibly didn't want their fun to end. Ava quietly decided to walk over and introduce themselves, interested in the horse and cart, and so made her way over with Mariana by her side.

The children didn't stick around, voices from the adults behind them calling them back to their side caused the group to run off, bidding goodbye to the rider as she got to removing the saddle and harnesses tying the large beast to the cart. Ava moved up behind her, speaking up so that the woman knew they were there. "That's a pretty cool idea there."

"Oh, thanks!" The rider replied with a wide smile, turning around with the heavy looking saddle in her hands. Slowly, she glanced between Ava and Mariana, pointing out with a low laugh. "I haven't seen you guys before. New here?"

"It's that easy to tell?" Ava joked, both of them chuckling before she revealed to her. "Mariana and I got here this morning. There's another guy in our little group, but he's sleeping right now."

"Man, I feel him. I've been up since pretty early with Saphira here." The rider groaned, patting the horse on its side affectionately before she finally introduced herself. "I'm Mickayla, but everyone around here calls me Mikki."

"Ava. That's a cool horse, where'd you find her?" Ava asked, shaking Mikki's hand slowly as she looked up at the horse's face, the animal calm and subdued with the people beside it, though it was staring at Mariana as she watched it in awe. She's seen horses, but she never really went up to one, and the sheer size of the animal was quite intimidating for the small child. The animal's ears moved around, listening to the sounds and voices all around it while her rider kept talking with Ava.

"Saphira was mine before all the lurkers appeared and started eating people. A couple of days in, I rode up here looking for a safe place to stay. Maria's been pretty accommodating, but I do worry about feeding and giving Saphira the space she needs." Mikki confessed, moving to place the saddle in the cart while Ava looked up at the horse, moving to pat her affectionately on the side. The action got no reaction from the beast, Saphira rather glancing at Ava before looking away, interested in the child looking over her.

With the saddle safe in the cart, Mikki turned around and finally noticed Mariana staring at her horse, walking closer to the child as she placed a hand on the animal's back, speaking up to grab Mari's attention. "You can stroke her, if you want. She doesn't bite."

"Can I?" Mariana asked, looking up at Ava for permission before she did anything.

Crossing her arms, Ava gave her a small smile and nodded, gesturing to the horse as she replied gently. "Go on."

With a bright grin, she turned back to Saphira as her owner removed the straps tying the horse to the cart, keeping an eye on the child as she moved closer to the large animal. Slowly, her hand lifted to the flank and stroked softly, feeling the solid muscle underneath the short hair twitching with the touch. Eyebrows raised with surprise, and she couldn't help but feel giddy as Saphira moved her head towards the child, clearly curious to the small human touching its flank. A blow of air in her face caused Mari to giggle quietly, and softly, she felt Mikki's hand guiding her own to the long nose, stroking it gently as the owner explained. "She likes being stroked there, but be careful of her eyes, okay?"

"She's pretty." Mariana complimented, looking over the splotches of white on the horse's otherwise chestnut hair.

"She is." A voice behind them caused all three of the survivors to turn, Mariana lowering her hand from Saphira's hand as the horse lifted her head, staring at the newcomer with dark eyes. It was Maria, the tall woman accompanied by Stephen as he kept his baby close to his chest, eyeing the horse with a calm expression while his female companion walked closer to the group, adding with a tender tone. "You must be Mariana."

"Y-Yes." She stuttered, glancing away from Maria as the grown woman kneeled in front of her, offering a smile that somehow made the child feel better in her presence, smiling back as she added. "Have you seen the horse?"

"Yes I have, darling. She's pretty, isn't she?" Maria nodded, looking up at the horse as Mikki continued to remove all the complicated looking gear, leaving only the halter and reins on the animal as she turned to their leader, listening as Maria asked. "How's the response to the cart, Mikki?"

"Kids love it, I've just finished another run around the community. Now, it's just leading Saphira here back to the pen." She explained cheerfully, patting the horse on the back as she moved to throw the stuff in the cart. With it packed away, she placed both hands on the horse's back and launched herself on top, straddling the animal carefully as she pressed her heels in its sides, clicking her tongue loudly and sure enough, Saphira starts walking slowly.

Looking down at the other people, she raised her hand in a farewell gesture. "I'll be back for the cart. Thanks for giving me the pen for Saphira, Maria."

"She gives the kids some fun, at least. Be careful, Mikki, I don't want you flying off her again." Maria warned, chuckling when Mikki rubbed the nape of her neck sheepishly before she started trotting away, the sound of the horse's hooves against the concrete growing quieter and quieter as the woman and her animal companion disappeared around a corner.

Mariana stood there for a moment, before she turned to the grown man who had been silent during the entire time they were talking, tapping her foot on the floor awkwardly until he noticed her staring. When he looked down at her, she could feel the nervousness growing in her stomach and looked away, remembering her mother's lessons on how rude it was to stare at people. However, she heard his footsteps grow closer and looked back, noticing that he had closed the distance between them and offered a comforting smile, likely knowing how awkward she was feeling. Gently, he finally spoke up to her. "How're you liking Charleston, Mariana?"

"It's nice, sir." She mumbled, though she was curious to the bundle in his arms.

Laughing softly, he kneeled down and pointed out. "Just call me Stephen, kid."

His kneeling allowed her to see what was bundled in his arms, and she was shocked to see a pudgy baby's face staring back at her, large blue eyes blinking as she looked back at them with surprise clear on her face. Stephen looked down at his son's face as well, glancing up at Mariana as he revealed. "His name's Micah."

"He's cute…" She cooed quietly, loving the sight of Micah staring up at her as she nervously asked the grown man. "Can… Can I hold him?"

Stephen paused for a few moments, seemingly unsure whether to part with his baby or not, but the brown eyes staring at him, silently pleading to let her hold the adorable baby, he gave in and sighed quietly, passing Micah into Mariana's arms. Taking the baby, she copied Stephen's actions as he guided her on how to hold him, and when he was convinced that she had hold of him, he backed away with a gentle laugh. "I think he likes you."

"Ava, look!" She called out, looking over her shoulder as she noticed that Maria and Ava were talking quietly to each other, not wanting to disturb Mariana and Stephen enjoying some time with the baby. The mention of her name caused Ava to turn around, her gaze turning softer when she noticed Mariana holding Micah in her arms, looking down at the baby with affection clear on her youthful face. The grown women moved closer to them, Ava sticking a finger up to Micah and laughing when he grabbed hold of it, his fat fingers wrapped her long digit tightly.

"He's never letting you go now." Maria joked, crossing her arms while reminiscing of another time. "He threw up quite a tantrum when I made him let go of mine the other day. Other than that, you have such a well behaved boy, Stephen."

"Reminds me of his mother." The grown man grumbled, standing up when kneeling started hurting his legs. Mariana kept hold of his baby, both her and Ava cooing over the bright eyed infant.

In the background however, she could hear Maria softly ask her friend. "How're you holding up?"

"I don't know." Stephen confessed, a long sigh coming afterward while he ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, the same hand slowly running down the side of his face and thick stubble. While she was distracted with Micah gurgling in his blanket, she listened as he continued. "It's gonna get harder when Micah grows. Eventually, he's gonna wanna know where his mother is."

"When he's the right age, you can explain to him. It's not your fault, Stephen." She comforted, placing a hand on his shoulder and offered him a saddened smile. A larger hand hovered over hers, and although he didn't return her smile, he instead nodded solemnly and moved on from that conversation, rather slowly taking Micah from Mariana's arms as he whispered to the whimpering baby. "Someone's getting cranky, eh? You can't be hungry, I just fed you."

"Babies could eat for days at that age." Ava joked, watching as he tried to calm his son down, before she turned to Maria and asked her. "So, where do you go to get something to eat?"

"Oh, we go to the storage on the ground floor of the tower for food and such. It's better to have everything we need in the tower in case something breaches the walls." The leader explained, looking at the tower not far from them while ava followed her gaze.

Nodding in agreement, she turned back to Maria and softly questioned her, crossing her arms with a worried expression on her face. "Has there been any problems with security?"

"Not anything big." Stephen piped up, joining the conversation as both of the grown women looked over at him. Mariana looked up at him as well, but found that the conversation was starting to bore her, and she instead looked around to get a good look of her new home while he continued to explain. "We've had some dozy people accidentally leaving the gate open during the night shifts, and the lurkers can get in, but it's usually only a few that we could handle."

"The walls themselves looked pretty sturdy when we came here." Ava pointed out, earning a nod from both of the other adults before they decided that the conversation should end there, noticing that Mariana was growing bored with just standing there as they carried on talking.

Turning to the young girl, Maria appeared thoughtful for a few moments before smiling warmly, offering with a cheerful tone. "Mariana, do you wanna help me with some gardening?"

"Like plants and stuff?" She asked, returning the bright smile when Maria nodded in response. "Yeah!"

"What's this I hear about gardening?" A new voice called out, causing all the survivors in the group to turn in the direction it was coming from. Mariana noticed that it was David walking up to them, a peaceful expression on his face replacing the worn tiredness she was used to seeing. When she moved closer to him and hugged his waist tightly, she listened as he laughed softly and picked her up into his arms, balancing her on his hip. "You alright, mija?"

"Yeah, Maria is going to teach me gardening!" She revealed, looking over at Maria as the woman stood there. David followed her gaze, walking over to Maria with his daughter still in his arms.

"Gardening, huh?" He started, turning back to Mariana when the leader nodded with a slight smile. "Well, behave for her, mija."

"I will." She promised, holding onto his shirt as he placed her back on the ground. With him straightening up, she moved back to Maria's side, grabbing hold of her hand as she guided the child away. Turning around, she saw David and Ava move closer to Stephen, the three of them discussing something before the second in command led them away somewhere. When they finally disappeared from her sight, she turned back around and instead glanced up at Maria, wondering why she looked so familiar to her. After a few moments, she felt her chest tightening and her eyes widened slightly in shock when she remembered those same striking green eyes staring down at her, the warmth mimicking the way that her mother looked at her in the past.

Unable to look at her eyes anymore, she stared ahead, noticing a patch of green that had been carefully kept near the river. The plants kept bloomed in numerous different colours, the petals bright and vibrant as the two survivors neared the plants, Mariana kneeling down at she felt the soft petals under her fingers, careful not to break or tear them. Maria moved past her, picking up the pots that were left on the side of the plot. The young child noticed her actions, leaving the petals alone as Maria moved the pots over to where she was kneeling. The flower inside was a beautiful pink colour, the leaves a vivid green that left Mariana awed with the colours.

"I enjoy coming here and just looking at the flowers. They're pretty, aren't they?" She asked, placing the pot near the other flowers before grabbing a trowel that was left by the plants.

Watching as she dug a hole in the ground, Mariana nodded softly and replied with a quiet voice. "Yeah, I like the pink one."

"So do I. Do you wanna plant this one, then?" She offered, finishing digging the hole in the free space, turning to the young child as she brought the pot between them, grabbing the thick stem and gently lifting it out of its confinements while Mariana nodded enthusiastically. Her smaller hands wrapped around Maria's, both of them working together to place the plant in the hole, and once it was in, the little girl pushed the dug up dirt back over it, copying Maria's actions as they patted the dirt down.

With it properly planted, Maria placed her dirtied hands on her thighs, sitting there as Mariana wiped her hands together, getting rid of some of the dirt while the older woman wondered. "That's a pretty cute jacket you have."

"Ava found it for me." Mariana revealed, looking down at the jacket with a bright grin.

"I take it you like bunnies, then?" She pointed out, chuckling softly when the young child nodded quickly. "I do too. I love their ears, and cute little noses."

"I wanted a rabbit but my dad wouldn't let me." Mariana revealed, staring at the flowers while Maria moved her gaze to them, both of them taking in the beautiful sight as the distant sound of flowing water reached them. Stretching out her long legs, the grown woman grunted in discomfort as she rubbed her ankle, listening as Mariana asked her boldly. "Do you have any pets?"

"Erm… I had a cat." She pondered, stretching her arms upwards with a long yawn before she continued. "A lil' ginger tabby called Tigger. He was a shy one, poor thing."

"My dad's allergic, but we had strays coming into our garden often." The young child remembered, earning a snort and stifled laughter from Maria as she tried to stop herself, feeling terrible for laughing at David's misfortune with cats. After she managed to control herself, the two shared a short glance, before the leader ruffled Mariana's hair affectionately, moving a strand from in front of her face before sighing in bliss.

"You're a good kid, Mariana." she complimented, earning a bashful smile from the other survivor as she glanced away, looking at the towering wall that blocked the street to their right. From behind her, she could hear footsteps approaching fast, and the two turned around to see Alexis running up to them, appearing out of breath as she finally stopped just behind them. Maria and Mariana got to their feet, waiting for Alexis to catch her breath before the leader asked worryingly. "What's wrong, darling?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Maria, but there's a bit of a problem." She revealed, glancing down at Mariana momentarily before she added. "Stephen's busy with the new guards. But it's about Howe's again."

"Alright, just give me a second." She sighed, turning to Mariana as the latter looked up at her in confusion, never hearing that name before, and explained to the child. "Mariana, I need to talk to Alexis for a moment. Stay here and I'll be right back."

"What's happening? Who's Howe's?" She asked, confused over what was happening while none of the adults explained it to her. Glancing nervously at each other, Maria just guided the young girl back to the flowers, letting her sit back down while she instructed her.

"Just stay here, okay? I won't be long." She ordered gently, before turning around and walking off with Alexis to give them some space. Mariana watched as they went inside one of the buildings nearby, likely for privacy as they discussed the delicate matters, and soon her curiosity got the better of her. She was told to stay there and wait, but she was worried on what was happening in her home. She didn't know who Howe's was, but the look of worry on Maria's face when they were mentioned brought back the feelings of uncertainty, just like when David couldn't hide his own feelings from her.

Ignoring what she was told, she got back up to her feet, and walked over to the building that she saw the two women go inside, and paused by the open door. Glancing inside, she could see that Maria and Alexis were standing off to the side, the leader's back to the doors, and kneeling down behind the door, she listened as Maria sighed in frustration. "We've agreed to this deal for both of us to get supplies. Carver's asking for more than we can give him."

"He said that if he doesn't get the stuff, we're gonna regret it. Personally, I think he's an asshole who's getting too big for his boots." Alexis snapped, clearly angered with the problems they were having. Mariana listened intently, confused with the name thrown around. Carver. She dIdn't know who he was, but he didn't sound nice with the pure venom that the grown ups spat his name with.

"I've got no choice. If this keeps going, we're gonna have to cut him off and try to survive on our own." Maria confessed, her tone carrying a tiredness and uncertainty while Alexis nodded in agreement, the hidden child listening as she added. "Jesus, what've we got ourselves into?"

"If it makes you feel better, the supplies we got from Howe's will keep us going for a while. We could always try our hand at growing crops, like they've done." The other woman suggested, shrugging with crossed arms before adding. "We've got room for a greenhouse. We can get the stuff we need from a gardening store I spotted out of town."

"It looks like that's the way to go. Alright… the next time you go out, I need you and your group to go to that store, but please, be careful. I don't want anyone getting hurt, or worse, out there." Maria ordered, sounding genuinely concerned for the safety of Alexis and the other scouts that leave the safety of Charleston's walls.

"I get that you're worried about us, but sometimes, we gotta go into danger for the wellbeing of the group." She pointed out, before quickling adding while Maria started walking around the room, lost in what she should do. "I'll see what we can do. Either way, we're leaving tomorrow. If Carver isn't willing to play ball, I say we cut him out of the deal."

"I'll think about it. Either way, I should check on Mariana. I don't like leaving a little girl alone." The mention of her name caused Mariana to sneak away from the door, rushing back over to the flowers and sitting down before the adults realised they were being spied on, and tried to keep her cool when she noticed them leaving the building. Glancing back at the flowers, she was scared about the man they described. Either way, she would have to tell David and Ava about the problems, and hoped that they would make everything alright.

[sprinkleofdiaz]

A New Friend

Synopsis: It's Scott’s first day of middle school. Plagued with anxiety Scott’s posistive it's gonna be bad. That is until he makes a new friend. 

Pairing: (Platonic) Scott and Stiles

Word Count: 1,544

Warnings: None. 

A/N: so this is kinda an alternate version on how Scott mets Stiles. Thank you so much @illbeyourgentlemanstory. You continue to be an amazing friend and it's thanks to you I wrote this 💙💙💙

Scott swallowed hard as he stared hard at the school building that towered over him. Around him was the buzz of kids chatting excitedly to their friends about what they did over summer, parents taking photos of their children looking smart and ready for their first day of middle school.

The summer weather still lingered with the sun beaming in a cloudless sky. Scott couldn't tell if his sweaty palms were due to the summer warmth or the nerves that had now consumed him. He tried to steady his breathing and wiped his hands on his trousers.

The school grounds looked pretty clean and a quick thought crossed his mind, wondering how long it would stay clean for. The upbeat and excited atmosphere around made him feel slightly out of place. There was no one that he could immediately go up to and start a conversation and there was absolutely no way he had the courage to voluntarily go up and introduce himself. Scott’s summer had consisted of trying to fix his health. After an appointment with the opticians he had been told that he had to wear glasses. It wouldn't be long-term, just enough to correct his eyesight. He was now donning a pair of thick black frames that were slightly square. Scott hated them as they made behind his ears itch and he thought they made his eyes appear slightly larger than normal. As if that wasn't bad enough, after an unfortunate night of wheezing, coughing and the general feeling that a tonne of bricks were being stacked on his chest he had been taken to hospital and diagnosed with asthma.

He felt his mother’s hand gently hold his shoulder as she walked around and crouched in front of him, smiling.  

“It's going to be okay sweetie. Just remember if you need to use your inhaler but you're too embarrassed, ask your teacher if you can step outside.” His mom said, trying to comfort him.

“But what about my glasses. I look ridiculous” he whined.

“You look great Scott. I promise. I have to get to work and school will be starting any minute now. You're gonna be fine. I love you.” She said planting a kiss on his forehead.

“I love you too.” Scott mumbled back, frowning. He waved bye to his mom before heading up the stairs leading into school. He kept his head low the whole way down only stopping to take out his timetable and map and find out where his home room was. He shuffled awkwardly past the many students trying to avoid eye contact and not bump shoulders with anyone. He reached a dull purple door. Mrs Porter. The plaque, that was slightly faded, read. Reluctantly, Scott reached his hand out and twisted the doorknob, the coolness of the metal making his hand less sweaty. He entered the class and an older woman looked up from the desk and politely smiled at Scott. He realised this was Mrs Porter thanks to her nametag.

His eyes quickly scanned the classroom. It seemed as most of classmates were already here and Scott felt his heart sink a little when he saw most of the seats taken up. Until he noticed a spot towards the back that was unoccupied, silently thankful he made his way to the seat. He could feel hushed voices and eyes on him. Some of his old classmates from elementary school trying to get a better look at his glasses, his new classmates just taking in the new stranger.

Once he sat down he didn't look up once, he just picked at the graffiti scratched in the desk. After ten minutes, Mrs Porter stood in front of her desk and clapped her hands together to get the class’ attention. Once the class fell quiet she went on to babble about the classroom rules and how important it is to focus this school year.

“We have some time before first period starts so how about we hear about some of your summer stories? We won't get through everyone but I'm still very interested to hear the wonderful things some of you got up to ” She said cheerfully. Scott on the other hand didn't feel so cheerful.

Scott relaxed a little as each chosen classmate told the class their summer tales. Scott heard stories of crab fishing at the beach, riding roller coasters and attending concerts and he was thankful he wasn't picked to talk about his summer.

“We have time for one more student. Scott McCall let's hear about your summer.” Mrs Porter said. Uh-oh, he spoke too soon. Scott could feel his breathing become more shallow and he was certain it wasn't from his asthma. That was when the door burst open and standing in the doorway was a lanky kid wearing plaid and panting heavily.

“S-sorry I'm late.” The late kid panted.

“And you are?” Mrs Porter asked.

“Stiles. Stiles Stilinski.” He replied, still trying to catch his breath.

“Stiles?” Mrs Porter furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to the register to look for his name.

“Yeah. It's not my real name but I'd prefer to be called that.” He said now closing the door. Mrs Porter scanned the register carefully. Scott figured she found what she was looking for because her eyes lit up and she gave Stiles a polite smile.

“Ah yes. I have it here in my notes, take a seat stiles. There's a seat next to Scott over there” she said pointing to the empty desk next to Scott’s. “Scott there's still time to hear about your summer.”

Scott had almost forgot about that. He sighed to himself as started towards the front on the classroom. He paused and shuffled backwards to let Stiles walk through. Stiles looked at him and smiled.

“Hey.” He said, nodding. Scott smiled back.

“Hey.”

Scott couldn't help but feel a little happy at that. He was the first person to say hi to him today. And didn't give him weird looks about his glasses. He turned to walk to the front feeling a little more confident than before. Unfortunately he hadn't realised the bag one of the student left sticking out from under the table. In his moment of confidence he tripped over and felt hard on the floor. In that moment he wanted to curl up in a fetal position and cry. He felt the burns on his arms from hitting the carpet and a burn in his stomach from the embarrassment. Laughter from his classmates erupted around him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and another on his arm helping him up.

“Here buddy.” He heard a voice say. Stiles. Too embarrassed to say anything Scott scrambled to the front of the classroom.

“Simmer down class.” Mrs Porter said trying to calm the class down from their hysteria. “Go on Scott. Tell us what you did over your summer.”

Scott could feel his heart hammer against his chest and a lump form in his throat. He did nothing over the summer except a confirmation of his poor health. His mouth felt dry as he watched the curious eyes of his classmate on him. He was sure if he opened his mouth his tongue would betray him and he'd say the wrong the thing.

“I-I got new glasses.” He stammered. Okay, not the worst thing he could have said. It earned a few snickers from his classmates and Mrs Porter pursed her lips before going “That's nice, dear.”

Thankfully, the bell rang signalling first period. Scott felt as though a weight was lifted off his chest and he made his way to pick up his bag from his desk, taking extra precaution not to trip over any stray bags this time.

Once he got his bag he shuffled it onto his shoulder and kept his head down as he made his way out of the classroom. He felt a hand grip his shoulder. He turned around and saw Stiles smiling at him.

“Hey man! It's Scott, right?” Stiles asked.

“Uh yeah.” Scott mumbled in reply.

“Cool glasses dude! What class have you got now?” Stiles asked cheerfully.

“Um.. math.”

“With Mr Skinner?”

Scott nodded.

“Dude same! Awesome let's go!” Stiles exclaimed excitedly, slinging an arm over Scott’s shoulder.

As it turned out Stiles and Scott shared several classes together. And Scott learned that Stiles’ dad was a sheriff and his favourite movie was Star Wars. When Stiles learned Scott hadn't seen Star Wars he flipped.

“That's it. We are having a sleepover and watching all the movies!” Stiles had said at lunch.

It was the end of the day and Scott and Stiles both stood outside, chatting aimlessly, as they awaited their parent’s arrival. Stiles’ dad came first and he walked out of the police car and smiled at the two boys.

“Hey dad!” Stiles said waving.

“Hi son. And who are you?” The sheriff asked Scottish kindly.

“Dad this is my new friend Scott! Can you believe it, he hasn't seen any of the Star Wars movies. ”

“Is that so?” The sheriff said chuckling before lightly placing his hand on Stiles’ back and guiding him to the car.

“Bye Stiles!” Scott called.

“See ya tomorrow Scott. Science first period.” Stiles replied pulling a face. Scott grinned. Suddenly he didn't think this school year was gonna be so bad after all.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

👑🏰⚔️🐲 DMODT 79 - update

When morning came, it was to the sound of tolling bells. Exhausted from Viren's cries, Eren had tried everything he could think of to hush his unhappy pup, yet nothing had seemed to work. Levi looked just as frazzled, having too tried to lure the pup to sleep only for it to have failed. Now the constant ringing had ruined his last hope that Viren would finally drift off from crying himself to sleep. Sighing deeply, Eren rocked Viren as he paced back and forth. He couldn't remember a morning when the town's bells had rung so insistently. Did they even have a reason to be ringing? Levi looked ready to find whoever was responsible for the racket and throw them off the bell tower. The poor alpha had decided that if Eren was staying awake with Viren, he should too... which ruined Eren's plan of swapping roles if Viren failed to calm. It wasn't their first sleepless night due to Viren's lack of lyrical talents since becoming parents but in the castle there was always someone to swap with, namely Armin, who was happy for cuddles even with the crying. In this city, and in this inn, he didn't feel comfortable enough to let his son out of his sight or Levi's hold. Eren's internal musings were disturbed by a crashing noise coming from the room next door. The sound accompanied by Armin swearing, Mikasa scolding, another loud thud then footsteps, before ending with a knock on their bedroom door. Levi's groan as he climbed off their bed summed up Eren's feelings over the morning, he didn't even have the energy to tell his mate that it was only Mikasa and Armin on the other side of their door. Crying even louder, Eren hushed his pup... not that worked, but at least he was trying, while having a whole new appreciation for what his mother had gone through when he was a child. Letting Armin and Mikasa into the room, Levi retook his place on the bed next to the blanket shaped lump that was Luca. Their son really didn't appreciate Viren's strong lungs. Turning face his friends tiredly, Eren smiled thinly, knowing that he had to human now they had visitors in their room. Walking over to them, Armin smiled at Viren as he wiggled his fingers towards him despite the pup's eyes being tightly scrunched closed "How's my favourite little man?" "Unhappy" "Awww... do you want me to hold him? How long's he been crying?" Had Armin really not heard? Eren could have murdered him on the spot "All night. At least 6 hours..." "Have you tried feeding him?" No. He hadn't tried anything of the sort. He hadn't tried feeding him. He hadn't tried bath time. He hadn't tried exercises in case Viren had to poop and was struggling. He'd tried skin to skin contact, and double checked that his son wasn't suffering nappy rash. He's even tried a little healing magic but there was nothing there to heal. The poor pup had exhausted himself into the point of "hysteria". He hadn't tried anything of the sort "Yeah... pretty much everything. The bells aren't helping either" "They woke me up... let me take him. I'm sure he'll settle for Uncle Armin" Not really wanting to hand his pup over, Levi was quick to agree before calling Eren over to sit in his lap. Viren continuing to cry as Armin hushed and rocked him. Eren letting his head drop against Levi's shoulder as he internally smirked. It was relieving that Viren hadn't settled immediately, not that he didn't want his son to rest, as it showed it wasn't anything he'd done or hadn't done "Armin, you're not settling him" Glaring at Mikasa, Armin moved Viren to his shoulder "He won't settle. This is the unhappiest I've seen him since he was reunited with Eren and Levi" "Let me try" "No. I've got him. Besides, you don't deserve cuddles. Do you know what she did this morning? I woke up to find a sword at my throat. Apparently I lack special awareness, then, when she finally goes to help me up she trips me. Hear what your Aunty did to me Viren?" Mikasa snorted, smiling too widely for the hour of the morning. Closing his eyes Eren let Levi wrap his arms around his waist as the alpha's before the alpha's hands settled to rest on his own. Levi's pain bled through their bond, Eren sure the man was sporting a headache at least the size of his own "It wasn't that bad. He was already mumbling in his sleep before the bells started. I simply thought it'd be interesting to see how he reacted" "You try waking to a sword to your throat... How long do you think these bells are going to keep ringing? And why are they ringing? Is it some kind of custom here? To annoy visitors with a million bells the moment the sun rises?" Levi's breath was warm against his neck as the alpha replied "I don't think so. To toll the bells this many times is either in celebration, which I think we would have heard about ahead of time, or something major has happened" Groaning as his brain tried to kick in, Eren pinched the bridge of his nose. It was far too tempting to sleep, and now his eyes didn't want to open again "You think something's happened?" "I'm not sure. It was rare for the bells of Mitras to ring. Erwin found the noise grating after the first half dozen or so rings. Eventually he managed to have the bell ringing cancelled for the most part. So yes, I do think something has happened" Kissing his temple, Levi's left hand soon abandoned his to move to his forehead "You're warm" "It's nothing. Just a lack of sleep" "I'm grateful he doesn't have the same issues with his lungs as you do, but he is just as tone deaf as you are. And he only seems to know one song" Growling, Eren didn't care if Levi was joking. He wasn't in the mood for humour "Don't be a dick to our baby. You might have your alpha senses, but I have dragon senses remember" "I know. You really should rest. Let us take care of..." "No. I'm his mother. I should be awake too" "Armin and Mikasa are here now..." Really? He didn't notice the presence or scent of his two friends... Levi was lucky he was too tired to snap at him "If you're staying awake, I'm staying awake. Luca probably needs to go to the bathroom too" "I'll take him. I assume he's the bundle in the bed?" Hearing he was talked about, Luca climbed out from under the sheets. His son looked miserable as he slunk across the bed to Mikasa. Reaching down she lifted him into her hold. It really wouldn't be long until he couldn't ask for cuddles anymore. Each time Eren thought that, he couldn't bring himself to stop trying. Luca was still a baby. His baby... His baby the size of a large dog now. God. He was growing up too fast "I'll take him to the bathroom. Maybe see about getting something to eat? How does that sound?" Luca chirped his agreement. Far too easily bought by food. Eren didn't want him out of his sights, but now Mikasa had promised food he couldn't say no "Thanks, Mikasa" Viren was still crying when Mikasa came back with Luca half an hour later. Accompanied by Freya and Steege, Levi tapped his arm then resorted to shaking him until Eren groaned at him "I'm sorry to disturb you. Especially after last night, and with your son being so upset, but there's been an incident. There are guards on the front step to take you both to the court" Last night? Did she mean Viren crying all night? "Did they say what happened?" "No. It seems to be something significant. The old man downstairs isn't happy, they threatened to come up and get you. He tried to explain you were a lovely young couple with your children... then had a shock when they informed him Eren was a prince" That sounded about right. The man was forgetful, but he was also a crack whip when it came to gossip. He would have fitted in rather nicely at the castle, and Eren couldn't deny he wouldn't mind bringing him back to Eldia. The man had children, but they'd all left to make their own way in life and never seemed to come back to visit him. It was all rather sad. He didn't live this long to be left alone at the end "I don't think Eren is in any condition to be up and walking around" If they court wanted them there, then there was no other choice "I'll be fine" "You're hardly fine" "Then what am I supposed to do, Levi? The world doesn't stop because Viren cried all night. It doesn't stop because my head feels like it's about to explode. If something's happened and they want us there, then we go. We go because that's what expected of us" "You're sick" "It doesn't matter how I feel. Viren needs to be dressed. We need to get dressed. Freya, can you please inform them that we're getting dressed and will be down shortly? I'll be bringing the children with me" "We'll be leaving the children here" Levi grabbed for his hip as Eren started sliding out his slap "We're not leaving then here" "Eren" "Don't fight me on this Levi" "Viren's upset. Luca has had enough. You're sick. And we're both exhausted. Mikasa and Armin can handle this for a few hours while we sort whatever they want out" "Of course we can. We don't mind" Armin's words betrayed the look of rising panic on his face given Viren hadn't settled "If something's happened, I want the kids with me. Now let me get up, we need to get ready to go. I don't want to cause a scene in front of the boys. I don't want them coming up here to drag us down there, and the longer you keep me in your hold, the angrier they're all going to be. So let me go" "Eren..." Taking Levi's hands off him, Eren was done. Something major was going on, they were being called in, and all Levi could think about was the fact he was a little feverish from a lack of sleep. There were more important things than his health. Like preventing his son's from having to suffer through another traumatic event. * The sight before then was absolutely revolting. Warned before they entered the room that it was best Luca didn't head in there with them, Eren brushed it off, and now his mate was severely regretting the decision. All it'd taken was look for Eren to be throwing up the dinner he'd eaten the night before while collapsing to the ground in a stunned heap. Laying on the cold stone slab, in one of the rooms deep beneath the courthouse, Willy's shirt was covered with blood which had gushed from man's mouth after having his tongue cut out and being left to bleed to death in the city's marketplace. He'd been found by one of the vendors preparing for the day ahead, hence the ringing of the town bells. In a similar state of shock, Levi wasn't completely sure what he felt at the sight. Three of the tribunal members had been waiting to show the unsuspecting pair the gruesome sight. It wasn't until they'd opened Willy's mouth to show them sight of the severed tongue that Eren had collapsed, and though he wanted to move to Eren's side to comfort him, he couldn't take his eyes off Willy's body. Surely Willy seeking them out, and this, couldn't be unrelated... He'd sought them out... If he hadn't been turned away, would Willy still be alive? He hadn't told Eren that Willy had visited. He hadn't had the chance, not with Viren crying all night. It'd been the last thing on his mind to tell him, and the last thing Eren needed after staying up with Viren. Whining for his alpha, Eren finally pulled his attention. Sinking down by his omega, Eren flinched when Levi's hand landed on his thigh, another small whine coming from between his parted lips. As tears rolled down Eren's cheeks, they shimmered with diamond shards. Willy wasn't worth Eren's tears. Let alone tears of such distress as to be diamond encrusted. Beginning to cough, his mate was working himself into internal panic "Come here, Sweet Boy" Levi couldn't gather him into his arms due to Viren on his shoulder, but Eren could move the few centimetres as Levi sat properly. Shaking like a leaf, Eren found his way into Levi's one armed hold. His breath hitching as he hid his face against Levi's shoulder "Is this my fault?" God. How could Eren think this was his fault? Fuck. He shouldn't have let "No. No, this is absolutely not your fault at all" "He... he's dead. They... cut out his tongue. I told him he needed to clean up his loose ends... They cut his tongue out!" "Eren, there's something I need to tell you. Willy came with a group of soldiers and money to see us last night. Freya woke me to tell me. He was put off by the innkeeper, and left. But she had the impression that there was something more to it all..." "He what?! Why didn't you tell me?" Cringing, Levi wished Eren hadn't yelled right in his ear "I was going to. Then Viren was upset, and we were called in here" "He... he wanted to see me? After I..." "Eren. The visit wasn't planned to be pleasant. The innkeeper told Freya as much. We think he intended to pay the old man off for access to our room, only he didn't count on him being scatter minded" "He might still be alive, if we'd... Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you? You were awake all night. You were right there... and you..." "I was going to tell you. I promise I was going to tell you" "He's dead and the last thing I did was yell at him. I told him to stay away..." "Eren, he was murdered. Probably by the people he betrayed. Probably by those very loose ends from his attempt on your life. He doesn't deserve your tears, not after he tried to kill you. Not after what he put our family through. It's disgusting, but he's the one who brought this on himself" "He was still a person. He still had a family. Who cuts out a tongue and leaves the person to die?! Why didn't he try to get help?!" Hushing Eren softly, his mate really needed to stop yelling "I don't know. I don't know, Sweet Boy. But you need to calm down for me" "Calm down?! Someone fucking murdered him! I wanted him arrested! I wanted him to admit what he did, not for him to be murdered! There's no justice in death! And there's... there's no atonement either" Atonement. How could Willy have ever possibly atoned for what he'd done? He'd caused Eren's death. He'd caused the omega to die in his arms, and the loss of their third mate, who both of them were still mourning and suffering symptoms over. Willy could never have atoned for his sins, even if he'd spent the rest of his life in penance. The man had played a dangerous game in attempting to play both sides of the war. He'd brought this on himself, and now Levi was stuck piecing Eren back together yet again, because his mate cared too fucking much. How was that fair? How was this shit his to deal with? Swept away in the moment, and foggy from Eren's pain, Levi hadn't forgotten he was in the bowels of the courthouse, he had however forgotten that they had an audience. When one of the males began to speak, he found himself growling in an attempt to warn him off. Instead it led to Eren pushing himself back. The omega looked distraught as he wiped at his teary face "Prince Eren, have you composed yourself enough to talk?" The man wanted to talk? Eren was crying. Viren was crying. Luca was huddled up near the pair of them, probably terrified from all the scents in the air "Yes, your honour" "We called you here to enquire into whether you knew anything pertaining to the death of William Tybur. It's exceedingly obvious that you played no hand in the man's demise, however, you were witnessed arguing with him a few days ago. You accused him of partaking in the attempt against your life, correct?" "Y-yes, sir" "Explain yourself" Eren nodded, pulling himself to sit with his knees up and elbows resting against them. Levi thanked god his omega was wearing pants, because otherwise his mate would be exposing far too much for him to handle "The day you asked Levi and I to act as bait... I watched him. I watched his face. It was subtle, but the moment I laid eyes upon him I knew that he was involved. He looked... Willy looked displeased to see both Levi and I alive. There was also the way that he was the only one to make a huge fuss. I mean, yes, Magath did. But Willy... Willy honestly thought we were dead and that that was how it should be. It was all over his face. I couldn't stomach him. I couldn't stomach standing there with the man that tried to kill my family, so I left. I'm sorry for seeing so rude as to walk out of your court, but I didn't trust myself not to lose control of your magic. It can be rather temperamental, and I was suffering from the loss of our third mate, Obsydin. Honestly, this whole trial has been far more than I expected. A few days passed and, Levi and I were shopping with our sons. Because my magic blew up half the city, a lot of storeowners turned us away because Luca is a dragon. Willy sought us out to enquire over our health, and all I wanted to do was... honestly, I wanted to punch him. I was so upset over the treatment of Luca that he copped my bad mood. I told him to clean up his loose ends or it was going to come back to haunt him. I mean, I knew he was attempting to play both Levi and I, as well as Marley. For someone who was Zeke's close friend, Zeke never actually talked about him. Our marriage wasn't perfect. But Zeke tried. He tried when he found out I was pregnant and in his own way, he tried to stop Dina coming after me by taking me back to Eldia. He was worried about the baby, which I didn't know wasn't his at the time. He was always smiling. He was always too nice about things, and I lost it at him. I struck him in the face and told him to face his own sins. I wanted him... I wanted him to admit to organising to have my papers stolen as he knew about them all. He knew there were piles of them in my room, then they went missing. He knew someone attempted to murder me, and he was acting as if he was best friends with Marley, despite everything he said about them. He was supposed to be helping me abdicate the throne. I never wanted to go against Dina to claim control of Marley. I wanted her to pay for her crimes legally. I wanted her to understand that she ruined her son, and her country, by her actions and words. I wanted the same for Willy. But... I'm so sick of death. I'm sick of people suffering. I just want peace between Eldia, Marley, Draecia and the rest of the world. Levi just told me that Willy sought us out last night. Our son Viren has been crying all night, refusing to settle, so he kept it from me. Now I can't help but feel this is all my fault. I told him to... to take responsibility and now someone's cut his tongue out and left him to bleed to death. We don't know what happened to the maid. We don't know what Marley has planned. Dina doesn't care for any of those loyal to her... and it's... it's too much. I'm sorry, Your Honour. I know this isn't how a prince should act. But I didn't want to be a prince. I didn't want to be a dragon. I just wanted to be a normal person like everyone else and now so many people have been hurt and are suffering because Dina had me kidnapped to start a war that both Erwin and Zeke never wanted to begin with" With Eren's fiery soul it was easy to forget he was only 21. 21 and he'd already lost a clutch, lost a husband, lost a mate, lost his blood family, been cursed, been abandoned by Levi for months and forced into bed with another, and suffered through a hard birth that left him magicless until someone tried to kill him... oh, and of course, he'd been imprisoned in the one place he'd come to call home for weeks without proper care or treatment... and his lungs were fucked. He was also a prince, with two sons and an alpha with a memory problem that he was still to confess in full, worrying about the people of three nations, and in a foreign land where he didn't feel safe. His best friend was now prince and his sister refused to give him enough breathing space to grow into his own person. It was a ridiculous amount to be going on. Levi was sure that every single aspect of it all never left his mate's mind. He was so fucking strong to still be standing, in this case sitting, and being completely honest over the fact he'd run away because he needed to do what was right for him. Levi was falling in love with him all over again, even with the smell of blood and vomit in the room. He had the strongest and most passionate omega he'd ever met for his mate. Never could he love another like Eren. There could never be another like Eren. Clearing his throat, the man nodded towards the other two tribunal members "We believed Willy to be conspiring with Marley before this incident occurred. While investigating the Tybur family, we found large payments being made to them by the royal household to secure trade deals across the mainland continent. We also found claims that the Tybur family in fact controls more of Marley than Queen Dina herself did" Eren simply blinked at the man, Levi however nearly went him. It was as good as confessing that they knew Willy wanted Eren dead, and that the Tybur's had plans of their own to rule Marley. Having been labeled interim leader, the only thing stopping Willy from taking the throne once Dina was imprisoned, or executed, was Eren's legal claim as Zeke's husband "Do you understand me, Prince Eren?" Eren bit his lip. The omega looking down to his lap "Eren, he's saying that Willy wanted the throne for himself. They knew he was playing both sides, only they didn't account for Willy being murdered" The omega's head shot up, looking from Levi to the tribunal judge in angered confusion "You knew?! You knew and you let him walk around, to get himself killed! Why didn't you protect him? Surely if he was being watched, then you have to know who he was with. What he was up to. Who tried to kill me and what happened to that maid! You... you used him as bait too... I can't believe this. You would stoop so low. You've already dragged Dina's trial out. She should have been sentenced to a life where she's forced to give back to people. Where she's forced to realise what a real day's work is like. And that she can't always buy her way out of things. Willy should have been made to do the same. Helping people. Helping rebuild. Something more than... than him being butchered for you!" "We didn't know this would happen so soon. We thought..." "You thought wrong! You're a tribunal! You're supposed to be made up of individuals who think that way! You're not all the same. You're supposed to be open minded and fair. This isn't fair! I'm done. I'm so beyond done. My life is in pieces! Eldia needs its prince. Draecia needs its princess. Both are stuck here because you can't rule that Dina is guilty. Magath is guilty. Willy was guilty. Almost every single person in a position of power is guilty. I'm fucking guilty for taking lives. None of those lives should have been taken, and there's nothing that can bring them back. Everyone thinks people's lives are all a game, but they're not. There's no magical time connecting web or thing. We can't go back in time to before all this happened. And now it seems like the same mistakes are being made all over again. I'm done. I'm done with all of this. I want to go home. I want to be a mum. I want to live in a place where war isn't constantly feared..." Digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, Eren shook his head "I'm sorry, but this wasn't the right way to go about any of this. You made a mistake. You let him die. Levi, we're going back to the hotel" "Prince Eren" "No. I had so much faith in your judgment. I let you rip my life to shreds. I let you hurt the people I love with your questions. I know you didn't know any of us. I know our small issues probably don't matter to you, but Dina is guilty. She needs to be punished legally. Marley is suffering and needs so much help. So many people are dying and those who could help simply trample over them. Marley should just... it should be returned to its people. Let the countries reform themselves with support from the rest of the world... or let them form a government of their own where instead of listening to a ruling monarch because of their bloodline, have the people elect their own leaders. I don't want to be prince. I don't want any of this" Gathering himself up, Eren had the grace of a newborn foal as he found his legs beneath him. Patting Luca on the head, their son gently took Eren's hand in his mouth to lead to him towards the door. The three tribunal members didn't look impressed over Eren's frank words. Levi feeling his mate had pissed all over their pride and plans, and held no sympathy for them at all. They'd upset Eren, and they deserved to suffer his wrath. No one did sass like a pissy Eren did. Reaching the outside of the courthouse, Eren turned to look back at him. His omega had strode through the place too fast for someone ill. Shaking his head, the omega simply waited for Levi to join him as Luca released the omega's hand, licking at the few drops of blood drawn by his teeth accidentally. Taking the few steps, Eren started walking towards the inn instead of talking to him, letting a strained silence fall between them, though Levi wasn't sure why they weren't talking. Unable to understand just what was going through Eren's mind. Reaching out, Eren came to a stop as Levi's fingers brushed down his arm. Closing his eyes, Eren took a deep breath before opening his eyes and releasing it "You're mad, aren't you?" His mate was an idiot. A gorgeous, strong, idiot "Why would you think that?" "You didn't say anything" "I was trying to give you space. Though I'm not sure why" "I lost my temper" "And said what needed to be said" "My mouth moved on its own" "You had a shock. It was disgusting that they didn't warn you" "The needed to see our honest reactions" Eren was more understanding than he was. An honest reaction didn't need the corpse being exposed. Simply telling them Willy had died would have been plenty. Eren had fucking fallen apart in shock. It wasn't like Levi wasn't as equally disgusted, he'd simply seen worse living underground and in war. Even hunting trips gone wrong where soldiers had been gored by boar tusks, unable to be healed as their organs spilt from their abdomens. Eren wasn't like that. They should have all known this, yet... "I shouldn't have lost my temper" "No. That's where you're wrong. Everything you said was correct. They should have acted sooner. They should have prevented this from happening. I know you think you constantly need to follow this unwritten rule of always carrying yourself with composure, but you don't. These moments when you let your emotions show, those are the most honest and pure moments. When you let your real self show. When you stand up for yourself, you make stupidly proud. I fall in love with you all over again when you let yourself be you" Eren groaned at him, pinching the bridge of his nose "You're an idiot" "You're the idiot. You need to stop apologising for everything. If you fuck up, I'll tell you. Like I expect you to tell me when I fuck up" "Did you see them. They looked ready to arrest me for my words" "Because they didn't like the fact they were wrong being pointed out. I'm sure they knew they'd fucked up the moment they saw Willy's body. They failed to protect him, despite their suspicions. His death is on their hands" "I still feel like if we'd talked with him, this might have been prevented" "Or, he might have gone after you. There was a reason he had a large sum of money on him. There was a reason he was accompanied by Marley soldiers" "Because he was going to die..." Dropping his hand, Eren shook his head, before suddenly turning and striking the stone wall closest to them. Levi had thought they were simply walking close to the wall because Eren was dead on his feet, not because his omega planned on attacking it for no reason. It only took a few moments for Eren's hand to heal as if nothing had happened, but it didn't make what had happened alright "Feeling better?" "Not really" "Good. You had no reason to do that" "I know. I'm... I'm done. I've had enough. Dina probably won't even receive a sentence worthy of her crimes. I had so much faith in them Levi. I truly believed that they'd handle this case properly and professionally. That those questions were only to reconfirm the truths we already know. That we nearly died but those responsible would be held responsible. I'm done, Levi. I want to go home" Mentally sighing, the alpha knew what would happen if they left. Eren would be mad at himself for not seeing things through, then upset over not knowing what happened with his ex-mother in law. Carefully, he picked his words "Then we'll leave. If you truly want to leave before the verdict is handed down, we'll leave. I think they know that you won't be returning to court. Willy is gone now, taking his secrets with him to the grave" Rubbing at his hand, his fiancé sighed at him in annoyance "I hate when you do that" "Do what?" Feigning innocence Levi smiled. He didn't like that Eren had lashed out, but he did like the fact his mate knew that he knew he what he really wanted down deep "It's like you reach into my mind and know what I'm thinking" "I think you're thinking that we should stay, even though you're done with court you don't want to leave without knowing the verdict" "I said I hate when you do this to me" "I know. And I know you're stressed. Why don't we let Mikasa watch the children? I know you said you can't handle them being out of your sight, but you're exhausted. You threw up and you collapsed" "I'm well aware of that fact, but I'm his mother" Viren was still crying. Not the same constant cries, more like every few minutes he let out a loud cry and then lulling for half a moment, fighting to stay awake like his mother was "Levi" "Eren, please. If you keep stressing like this, you'll only feel worse" "I don't think I can sleep" "Then rest. I'm worried for you" A fever from lack of sleep was bad enough, but now Eren was shaking with effort to remain standing "I'm his mother. I can't pass him over to someone else each time he cries all night. What about when we move? Who do I pass him over to then? Or are you planning on bringing all our friends with us?" "It doesn't make you any less of a mother to make use of the people we have with us. This isn't an ideal circumstance" "They're our sons. I can't not be with them" "They'll be in the room next to ours" "Why don't you get it!? I don't trust letting them out of our sights. I don't trust that Marley won't go after them. That someone want go after them" Willy was dead. Dina was arrested. Levi doubted anyone would try go after them now that their own loose end was taken care of. Willy was their scapegoat "Why don't you get that you don't have to do this alone!? Do you think I would let them out of our sights if I believed they'd be hurt? They watched over the boys while we recovered. Luca's upset. You're upset. Viren is upset. You need rest. You need to get out of your own head for a while" "I don't want to be that kind of mother" "The kind of mother who admits he needs a little help?" "The kind of mother who can't deal with his own pup" He wasn't being a bad mother. He was being a stubborn shit. The moment the others saw him they'd be fussing. Mikasa would probably have worn a hole in the floor worrying over why it was just the two of them requested at the courthouse "Eren, I don't want to use a command to have you rest, but you need rest" "Then don't use a command. Let me lay in bed with Viren and Luca. I won't do anything strenuous. I won't even move. Please..." Viren's crying was the issue. Eren had already admitted it was worse for him with acute senses. Now he had his mate nearly in tears all over again, accidentally making him feel like a bad mother "One hour. If Viren doesn't fall asleep within an hour, Mikasa and Armin can watch him while we rest" Not impressed, Eren worried his bottom lip before realising his big green eyes weren't working against Levi's worry "Ok..." "Good. Let's get back to the inn" As predicted Mikasa was waiting for them. Armin was in his room with Hanji, and Moblit, going over the correspondence from the castle. Standing in the hall, she rushed to throw her arms around Eren once they'd cleared the staircase to the second floor. Catching him off guard, Eren slammed it to the wall due to the force of the impact. Snarling at the female alpha, Levi was slightly more forceful than he meant to be as he pulled her off his mate. Eren whimpering in confusion over what the hell had happened "I was so worried! What happened?! You look ill... are you sick? Sicker than you let on? What did they want? Why did they only want to talk to the two of you?" "Shit happened" "It's ok, Mikasa. I'm fine" "You're not fine. You're as a pale as Levi. Here, you need to rest" "Mikasa..." Taking his arm, Eren shrunk back from the touch "Really. I'm fine. I'm not hurt, only a little tired from Viren's crying, but I'm going to lay down" "Then I'll watch the boys. You need to rest, this has all been so taxing for you..." "Taxing for me? It's been taxing for all of us. Not just me. Not just for the only omega in the group. I'm going to rest. I'm going to lay down with my boys. You'll find out what happened, but I don't want to talk about and I don't want you fussing over me" "Eren" "Leave it alone, Mikasa. I don't want to talk about it. Come on, Luca" Left with Mikasa in the hallway, Eren slammed the door hard enough for Levi to flinch. Any harder and the omega would have probably broken the antique piece of wood right off its hinges "What the hell happened?!" Scowling at him, Mikasa adjusted the red scarf around her neck "Don't give me that look. Willy was murdered something this morning before sunrise, and the tribunal wanted to make sure we had nothing to do with it" "Murdered?" "His tongue was cut out. He was left to bleed to death in the marketplace. We weren't told before being shown the body. Now he's going to rest, and you're going to let him" Leaving Mikasa with more questions than answers, Levi let himself into the room he shared with his fiancé. Eren was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. Luca had dragged his blanket from their bed to set himself up on the floor in the sunlight streaming through the window. Closing and locking the door, Eren raised his head at the noise. His eyes red rimmed "I didn't mean to freak out" "I know" "She took me by surprise" "I know" "Is she mad?" "No. Confused, but not mad. I explained what happened" "I don't think I could have. I can't get the image out of my head" "No. It wasn't a terribly nice surprise" "How's Viren?" Still crying? How was supposed to be? Eren could hear how unhappy he was "I'll change him, then we'll settle him down. You're supposed to be resting" "I know" Gathering up everything, Levi went about laying Viren down on their bed in order to change him "What's going on in your mind? Talk to me" "I guess I'm in shock. When I was in Marley, I was threatened. I mean, I had death threats. There were some who threatened to cut my tongue out... and now... it's fucking gross" Luckily Viren's nappy wasn't. A little wet, but nothing like some of the presents he'd gifted them "It was. Is that why you don't want to sleep? You're scared of nightmares?" "Have I told you how much I hate when you're in my head?" "You've got nothing to fear with me here" "You can't control my magic" "No, but I can be with you when you need me. You don't need to be strong in front of me" "I know. I can't stop thinking though" "You think? Never" "God. I'm so done" "Then move your arse. If you want cuddles, you've got to get ready for them" "I can't move. My boots are too far from my hands" "Who's fault is that? You didn't need to grow so damn tall" Flopping back on the bed, Eren smiled softly at him. His hand reaching towards him to wave at him before dropping down on the bed "I'll keep that in mind. You know, you look good like that. You're a really good father to our sons" "You just want me to take your boots off for you" "Mmm. Maybe. I didn't think it was humanly possible to be this tired, yet awake at the same time" "That's because of all that thinking you're doing. Viren's changed, let me settle him then I'll help with your boots" "Thank you. When we get back to Eldia, I promise I'm going to do everything I can to be the best omega I can for you" "You already are" "Mmm... I want to be better. I really love you, you know" "I know" Settling Viren down on Eren's pillow there was a moment of silence, followed by a second and then a third. Kissing the pup's forehead, Levi thanked the gods as he pulled back, careful not to disturb the pup as he climbed off the bed. Whispering, he crouched to work on Eren's boots "Viren's finally sleeping" "Really?" "Yeah. I think he's finally going to stay asleep" "Thank god... I love him more than life, but my head is ringing" "You're next" "I don't want to" "You need to" "I have too many thoughts in my head" "I can help with that" Giving a weak laugh, Eren shook his head "I seriously doubt that we're thinking the same thing there" "I don't know. Maybe an orgasm is exactly what you need?" "Only if you can suck my brain" "I can try" Purely because Eren was thinking he was joking, Levi helped his omega out his pants. Both of them careful not to wake Viren, who'd now been quite for last 15 minutes. He hadn't been horny until he had Eren laying beneath him with the sweet smell of slick filling the space between them. Burying his face between his legs, Levi ran his tongue along Eren's shaft, the omega whining as he arched into the touch "Levi... I'm tired" "You don't need to do anything" "I don't know what to do" Sleepy Eren mumbled out the words softly, having already forgotten when Levi had literally just said "Let me take care of you" And orgasm was exactly what Eren needed. Coming hard, Levi swallowed what he could before catching the rest on his tongue. A smirk on his lips as he drank Eren's seed down, expecting to see Eren's blissed out expression, he looked up to find Eren's eyes closed. A few seconds passed as Levi reapplied himself between Eren's legs to lap as Eren's slick arse. Moaning at the contrasting tastes on his tongue, Levi was caught off guard as Eren let out a loud nasally snore. The little shit had cum, then fallen right to sleep with his dick out and legs over Levi's shoulders. Part of him wanted to laugh, while the other part of him had to deal with getting the pantsless omega up to lay next to their son without waking either of them... and the fact he was hard and definitely going to have severe case of blue balls.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

🏰👑⚔️🐲 DMODT 79 update...

When morning came, it was to the sound of tolling bells. Exhausted from Viren's cries, Eren had tried everything he could think of to hush his unhappy pup, yet nothing had seemed to work. Levi looked just as frazzled, having too tried to lure the pup to sleep only for it to have failed. Now the constant ringing had ruined his last hope that Viren would finally drift off from crying himself to sleep. Sighing deeply, Eren rocked Viren as he paced back and forth. He couldn't remember a morning when the town's bells had rung so insistently. Did they even have a reason to be ringing? Levi looked ready to find whoever was responsible for the racket and throw them off the bell tower. The poor alpha had decided that if Eren was staying awake with Viren, he should too... which ruined Eren's plan of swapping roles if Viren failed to calm. It wasn't their first sleepless night due to Viren's lack of lyrical talents since becoming parents but in the castle there was always someone to swap with, namely Armin, who was happy for cuddles even with the crying. In this city, and in this inn, he didn't feel comfortable enough to let his son out of his sight or Levi's hold. Eren's internal musings were disturbed by a crashing noise coming from the room next door. The sound accompanied by Armin swearing, Mikasa scolding, another loud thud then footsteps, before ending with a knock on their bedroom door. Levi's groan as he climbed off their bed summed up Eren's feelings over the morning, he didn't even have the energy to tell his mate that it was only Mikasa and Armin on the other side of their door. Crying even louder, Eren hushed his pup... not that worked, but at least he was trying, while having a whole new appreciation for what his mother had gone through when he was a child. Letting Armin and Mikasa into the room, Levi retook his place on the bed next to the blanket shaped lump that was Luca. Their son really didn't appreciate Viren's strong lungs. Turning face his friends tiredly, Eren smiled thinly, knowing that he had to human now they had visitors in their room. Walking over to them, Armin smiled at Viren as he wiggled his fingers towards him despite the pup's eyes being tightly scrunched closed "How's my favourite little man?" "Unhappy" "Awww... do you want me to hold him? How long's he been crying?" Had Armin really not heard? Eren could have murdered him on the spot "All night. At least 6 hours..." "Have you tried feeding him?" No. He hadn't tried anything of the sort. He hadn't tried feeding him. He hadn't tried bath time. He hadn't tried exercises in case Viren had to poop and was struggling. He'd tried skin to skin contact, and double checked that his son wasn't suffering nappy rash. He's even tried a little healing magic but there was nothing there to heal. The poor pup had exhausted himself into the point of "hysteria". He hadn't tried anything of the sort "Yeah... pretty much everything. The bells aren't helping either" "They woke me up... let me take him. I'm sure he'll settle for Uncle Armin" Not really wanting to hand his pup over, Levi was quick to agree before calling Eren over to sit in his lap. Viren continuing to cry as Armin hushed and rocked him. Eren letting his head drop against Levi's shoulder as he internally smirked. It was relieving that Viren hadn't settled immediately, not that he didn't want his son to rest, as it showed it wasn't anything he'd done or hadn't done "Armin, you're not settling him" Glaring at Mikasa, Armin moved Viren to his shoulder "He won't settle. This is the unhappiest I've seen him since he was reunited with Eren and Levi" "Let me try" "No. I've got him. Besides, you don't deserve cuddles. Do you know what she did this morning? I woke up to find a sword at my throat. Apparently I lack special awareness, then, when she finally goes to help me up she trips me. Hear what your Aunty did to me Viren?" Mikasa snorted, smiling too widely for the hour of the morning. Closing his eyes Eren let Levi wrap his arms around his waist as the alpha's before the alpha's hands settled to rest on his own. Levi's pain bled through their bond, Eren sure the man was sporting a headache at least the size of his own "It wasn't that bad. He was already mumbling in his sleep before the bells started. I simply thought it'd be interesting to see how he reacted" "You try waking to a sword to your throat... How long do you think these bells are going to keep ringing? And why are they ringing? Is it some kind of custom here? To annoy visitors with a million bells the moment the sun rises?" Levi's breath was warm against his neck as the alpha replied "I don't think so. To toll the bells this many times is either in celebration, which I think we would have heard about ahead of time, or something major has happened" Groaning as his brain tried to kick in, Eren pinched the bridge of his nose. It was far too tempting to sleep, and now his eyes didn't want to open again "You think something's happened?" "I'm not sure. It was rare for the bells of Mitras to ring. Erwin found the noise grating after the first half dozen or so rings. Eventually he managed to have the bell ringing cancelled for the most part. So yes, I do think something has happened" Kissing his temple, Levi's left hand soon abandoned his to move to his forehead "You're warm" "It's nothing. Just a lack of sleep" "I'm grateful he doesn't have the same issues with his lungs as you do, but he is just as tone deaf as you are. And he only seems to know one song" Growling, Eren didn't care if Levi was joking. He wasn't in the mood for humour "Don't be a dick to our baby. You might have your alpha senses, but I have dragon senses remember" "I know. You really should rest. Let us take care of..." "No. I'm his mother. I should be awake too" "Armin and Mikasa are here now..." Really? He didn't notice the presence or scent of his two friends... Levi was lucky he was too tired to snap at him "If you're staying awake, I'm staying awake. Luca probably needs to go to the bathroom too" "I'll take him. I assume he's the bundle in the bed?" Hearing he was talked about, Luca climbed out from under the sheets. His son looked miserable as he slunk across the bed to Mikasa. Reaching down she lifted him into her hold. It really wouldn't be long until he couldn't ask for cuddles anymore. Each time Eren thought that, he couldn't bring himself to stop trying. Luca was still a baby. His baby... His baby the size of a large dog now. God. He was growing up too fast "I'll take him to the bathroom. Maybe see about getting something to eat? How does that sound?" Luca chirped his agreement. Far too easily bought by food. Eren didn't want him out of his sights, but now Mikasa had promised food he couldn't say no "Thanks, Mikasa" Viren was still crying when Mikasa came back with Luca half an hour later. Accompanied by Freya and Steege, Levi tapped his arm then resorted to shaking him until Eren groaned at him "I'm sorry to disturb you. Especially after last night, and with your son being so upset, but there's been an incident. There are guards on the front step to take you both to the court" Last night? Did she mean Viren crying all night? "Did they say what happened?" "No. It seems to be something significant. The old man downstairs isn't happy, they threatened to come up and get you. He tried to explain you were a lovely young couple with your children... then had a shock when they informed him Eren was a prince" That sounded about right. The man was forgetful, but he was also a crack whip when it came to gossip. He would have fitted in rather nicely at the castle, and Eren couldn't deny he wouldn't mind bringing him back to Eldia. The man had children, but they'd all left to make their own way in life and never seemed to come back to visit him. It was all rather sad. He didn't live this long to be left alone at the end "I don't think Eren is in any condition to be up and walking around" If they court wanted them there, then there was no other choice "I'll be fine" "You're hardly fine" "Then what am I supposed to do, Levi? The world doesn't stop because Viren cried all night. It doesn't stop because my head feels like it's about to explode. If something's happened and they want us there, then we go. We go because that's what expected of us" "You're sick" "It doesn't matter how I feel. Viren needs to be dressed. We need to get dressed. Freya, can you please inform them that we're getting dressed and will be down shortly? I'll be bringing the children with me" "We'll be leaving the children here" Levi grabbed for his hip as Eren started sliding out his slap "We're not leaving then here" "Eren" "Don't fight me on this Levi" "Viren's upset. Luca has had enough. You're sick. And we're both exhausted. Mikasa and Armin can handle this for a few hours while we sort whatever they want out" "Of course we can. We don't mind" Armin's words betrayed the look of rising panic on his face given Viren hadn't settled "If something's happened, I want the kids with me. Now let me get up, we need to get ready to go. I don't want to cause a scene in front of the boys. I don't want them coming up here to drag us down there, and the longer you keep me in your hold, the angrier they're all going to be. So let me go" "Eren..." Taking Levi's hands off him, Eren was done. Something major was going on, they were being called in, and all Levi could think about was the fact he was a little feverish from a lack of sleep. There were more important things than his health. Like preventing his son's from having to suffer through another traumatic event. * The sight before then was absolutely revolting. Warned before they entered the room that it was best Luca didn't head in there with them, Eren brushed it off, and now his mate was severely regretting the decision. All it'd taken was look for Eren to be throwing up the dinner he'd eaten the night before while collapsing to the ground in a stunned heap. Laying on the cold stone slab, in one of the rooms deep beneath the courthouse, Willy's shirt was covered with blood which had gushed from man's mouth after having his tongue cut out and being left to bleed to death in the city's marketplace. He'd been found by one of the vendors preparing for the day ahead, hence the ringing of the town bells. In a similar state of shock, Levi wasn't completely sure what he felt at the sight. Three of the tribunal members had been waiting to show the unsuspecting pair the gruesome sight. It wasn't until they'd opened Willy's mouth to show them sight of the severed tongue that Eren had collapsed, and though he wanted to move to Eren's side to comfort him, he couldn't take his eyes off Willy's body. Surely Willy seeking them out, and this, couldn't be unrelated... He'd sought them out... If he hadn't been turned away, would Willy still be alive? He hadn't told Eren that Willy had visited. He hadn't had the chance, not with Viren crying all night. It'd been the last thing on his mind to tell him, and the last thing Eren needed after staying up with Viren. Whining for his alpha, Eren finally pulled his attention. Sinking down by his omega, Eren flinched when Levi's hand landed on his thigh, another small whine coming from between his parted lips. As tears rolled down Eren's cheeks, they shimmered with diamond shards. Willy wasn't worth Eren's tears. Let alone tears of such distress as to be diamond encrusted. Beginning to cough, his mate was working himself into internal panic "Come here, Sweet Boy" Levi couldn't gather him into his arms due to Viren on his shoulder, but Eren could move the few centimetres as Levi sat properly. Shaking like a leaf, Eren found his way into Levi's one armed hold. His breath hitching as he hid his face against Levi's shoulder "Is this my fault?" God. How could Eren think this was his fault? Fuck. He shouldn't have let "No. No, this is absolutely not your fault at all" "He... he's dead. They... cut out his tongue. I told him he needed to clean up his loose ends... They cut his tongue out!" "Eren, there's something I need to tell you. Willy came with a group of soldiers and money to see us last night. Freya woke me to tell me. He was put off by the innkeeper, and left. But she had the impression that there was something more to it all..." "He what?! Why didn't you tell me?" Cringing, Levi wished Eren hadn't yelled right in his ear "I was going to. Then Viren was upset, and we were called in here" "He... he wanted to see me? After I..." "Eren. The visit wasn't planned to be pleasant. The innkeeper told Freya as much. We think he intended to pay the old man off for access to our room, only he didn't count on him being scatter minded" "He might still be alive, if we'd... Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you? You were awake all night. You were right there... and you..." "I was going to tell you. I promise I was going to tell you" "He's dead and the last thing I did was yell at him. I told him to stay away..." "Eren, he was murdered. Probably by the people he betrayed. Probably those very loose ends from his attempt on your life. He doesn't deserve your tears, not after he tried to kill you. Not after what he put our family through. It's disgusting, but he's the one who brought this on himself"