#young carl fanfiction

[dyns33]

No girl on the boat

I wanted to Young Carl x Reader story, I couldn’t find any, so I wrote one. 

No girl on the boat.

It was the rule.

Well, there was Felicity, the cook, but they needed her so they wouldn't starve, and she was a lesbian, so it didn't count.

There had been Marianne, but that didn't count either, because she had quickly left after breaking Carl's little heart.

The others said it was a good thing, a rite of passage. He had only known her for three hours, he couldn't really say that he had suffered because she preferred Dave. Even if it was maybe a little vexing for him that she preferred Dave.

     "What do you want me to say ? That little one has good taste ! Young Carl, you're too young. Your time will come soon. But for now, you still have your hand."

There were also some fans who were invited when they were bored, but they weren't allowed to stay more than one night.

Then Y/N came.

DJ Gavin Kavanagh didn't ask anyone for permission to invite her or put her in a cabin. She arrived during a calm afternoon, with her big smile and her suitcases.

     "She's not my daughter, but she's like my daughter." Gavin explained with a very serious look that was not like him. "Well, maybe she's my daughter, I don't know, I was quite close to her mother, but it doesn't matter. There are three important women in my life, my mother, my sister , and Y/N. So nobody touches her, got it ?"

Of course, this made everyone want to approach the young woman. Nothing was more exciting than a forbidden fruit.

It was risky, because if Quentin had no problem with the fact that his niece had been fucked by one of the crew members, DJ Kavanagh claimed to be ready to throw overboard the first who tried something, and that he would then prevent him from getting back on the boat.

Even though he loved sex and freedom, he seemed really, deadly, serious about it.

It lasted a short week, before the team understood that Y/N was not at all interested in them anyway. She was mainly there for the music, to be with the one she called "Uncle Gavin" and to have some sort of adventure.

She did, however, talk a lot with Carl.

It was probably due to the fact that he was the youngest of them, the quietest, the nicest, and he was the only one who didn't seem to have any weird thoughts about her.

It was not true. 

He was just very good at hiding them, scared by the prospect of drowning in the middle of the English Channel, of being rejected by a girl again, but also that when he got to know her he really started to like her a lot. Y/N, and not just because she was the only girl on the boat.

In addition to the music, there were many things they shared with passion. Y/N was there for Carl, she listened to him without judging him, she was sweet, funny, intelligent, perfect. How not to fall in love ? But he had to hide it, which wasn't easy on a boat, surrounded by fools.

The others teased him a lot about it.

     "Gavin will kill you if he sees you with her." The Count reminded him.

     "We're just friends."

     "Yeah, 'friends'. Like Kavanagh is friend with her mother. Watch out, really. I mean, I get it. She's cute. But it's not worth trying an emergency defloration under these conditions."

     "Thanks Dave."

     "You're welcome. I can call Marianne if you want. Even if you were boring, she said you were alright."

     "Thanks Dave."

DJ Doctor Dave seemed to think this was an endorsement, and with Quentin's agreement, Marianne made a comeback. It was quite embarrassing to see her again, especially now that Y/N was here.

Everyone was watching Young Carl, waiting to see what he was going to do. The answer was nothing. He was no longer interested in Marianne at all, and he wasn't going to try anything with Y/N, but this pressure was beginning to weigh on his shoulders.

One evening, Marianne approached him when he was alone on deck. She apologized for what had happened with Dave, saying she couldn't explain why she had acted like this, probably because he was a bit famous, but she really wanted to be with Carl now.

Without waiting for his response, she kissed him, and that was when Y/N opened the door.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, then Y/N looked sad, quickly going back where she came from. Carl pushed Marianne gently to follow her and hold her in one of the corridors.

     "You don't need to explain to me, Carl." Y/N sighed without looking at him. "She seems very nice."

     "She doesn't interest me."

     "Really ? Not even for an emergency deflowering in good conditions ?"

She had heard that. Of course she heard that, they were on a small boat, there was no privacy.

Not wanting her to be wrong about him, Carl moved close enough to force her to look at him, but without touching her.

     "She doesn't interest me at all. I... I don't care about any of this since... Since you arrived. I know nothing will happen between us, and not just because Gavin has forbidden it. You're so... You're awesome. You deserve better than me, and either you already know it and you're gonna tell me we're just friends, or you don't know it yet and it can't end well. There are the others too. Gavin will kill me, and the rest of the band will be hellish. With me, but also with you, and if I don't care what they think about me, I refuse to let them laughing at you, I don't want them..."

If Marianne's kiss wasn't bad, although Carl hadn't really paid attention to it, Y/N's was wonderful. Tender and passionate, making him shut up and forget the world around him. He wished she would never stop kissing him, but when she did, he didn't move.

     "Uncle Gavin doesn't forbid me anything. I don't care about the others. And you're not that bad."

Not knowing what to say, he nodded stupidly, which made her laugh, then he let her take him to her cabin. They did nothing. Or rather they spent part of the night lying face to face on the bed, looking at each other, kissing and talking, until they fell asleep.

Carl thought that was probably much better than sex. Or just as good, at least. And he hoped to fall asleep alongside Y/N until the end of his days.

It was likely to happen very quickly, since they were on a small boat and there was no privacy. The next morning, when he opened the door, the whole crew was there, looking at him with pride, and a lot of fear.

In the middle of the group, DJ Kanavagh did not share the general emotions, staring at him behind his sunglasses. Slowly, he pushed Carl to look inside the cabin, the bed, where Y/N was still sleeping, then he grabbed the collar of his t-shirt to drag him outside.

The others followed them, trying to calm him down, but without really stopping him. DJ Gavin had been very clear, so they couldn't intervene on young Carl's behalf. They didn't think he was really serious about not getting back on the boat either, but they followed just in case, to see the show and get the poor idiot back up after.

     "Uncle Gavin ! Uncle Gavin, no !"

Carl's screams had finally woken up Y/N, the only one who really tried anything to stop it all, holding Gavin's arm and begging him again and again.

     "You had to touch her. You had to disrespect her. Why ? Why did you need to do that ? For fun ? To win a bet ?"

     "No ! We didn't do anything !"

     "Of course, two young people in a bed. I'm not stupid."

     "We didn't do anything ! I love her !"

That finally stopped Gavin, as they were on deck and only a few steps left to throw Carl overboard without a hitch. Taking advantage of his confusion, Y/N stood between them, taking her lover in her arms, ready to follow him into the water.

     "... You love her ?"

     "Yes I do." Carl repeated firmly, not lowering his eyes.

Very calmly, DJ Kavanagh pulled out his sunglasses, wiping them with his shirt, before pinching his nose and turning his attention to Y/N with what looked like the look of an emotional and concerned father.

     "And you ? Do you love him too ?"

    "Yes."

     "... Good. Fine. That changes everything. But if you hurt her, you're dead." Gavin sighed, pointing a finger at Carl before leaving them.

The others decided they could finally congratulate the couple, not believing them at all when they repeated that they had done nothing. Quentin asked if they should plan another wedding, and if the young man had made sure that she really loved him, and not that she was there for someone else.

Nobody found it amusing, except Dave.

The rule remained the same after that. No girl on the boat.

Marianne was gone for good, Felicity still didn't count, and Y/N wasn't a girl. She was Gavin's protegee and young Carl's girlfriend, a member of the team and a favorite of the listeners, who loved to hear what the couple had been up to during the day, or the night.

Many times, Carl had begged them to stop this column, Radio Rock's loved birds, but it was a lost cause. It wasn't that bad.

In his bed, Y/N embraced him tenderly, repeating to him that they didn't care what other people thought before kissing him, and he forgot everything else.

[v1rtualv4mp]

I really wish there were more x reader fics out there where the reader and the character are just friends, no romance whatsoever.

[tarotoftheendless]

Tom Sturridge Discord?

So... why isn't there an everything Tom Sturridge discord? For pics, videos, films, shows, fan art, fanfics, discussion, and just overall gushing over him? Would ya'll be interested in making and setting up a Tom Sturridge discord? Hell, not even just for fanfics, but maybe even roleplaying? Just for fun... Not everyone, that includes me, is very good at fanfic motivation and simply writing back and forth with someone who is pretending to be Tom (knowingly for everyone involved) or a character of his and writing a story back and forth? I guess this is a two part question: Why is there no Tom Sturridge discord? And what about over-all Tom Sturridge role-players; of either Tom and or his characters? I think a fuck ton of us would have fun with something like this. 18+ would be preferred... What do ya'll think?

[storywriter12]

So umm I'm starting to play around and write for Enzo st john I mean I've already started a book about him I might post it here or on wattpad or both

I'm also hoping to continue the book about carl grimes as well I'm not sure when I'll post something about that book but I have already started the chapter to it

I'm also going to be continuing with my walking dead relationship preferences book i have a few ideas for the next chapter well.... One idea but it will hopefully be enough for an update💞

And that's my update thank you to everyone who likes my blog and keeps me going you guys are amazing😊❤️

[myocsfanfictions]

South Side Story

Shameless Fanfiction Season 1

Desna Hills has come living in the Southside of Chicago four years before. Taken in by Kev and V, Desna is close friends with the Gallaghers. Let's see how this Southside story unfolds.

MASTERLIST

<< Previous - Next >>

Chapter 11

Canada.

Frank Gallagher was in Canada.

“How’s it possible?” Desna had asked with wide eyes observing V that had just entered the house to inform her.

“Steve apparently,” Veronica had said, taking a breath.

“That’s fucked up,” Desna had said.

Her eyes followed Carl and Debbie as they played in the playgrounds. Since Kevin and Veronica were the only two with passports, they went with Steve to cross the border and bring Frank back to America. It was unbelievable that Steve had taken the man and left him in Canada, but, in all honesty, Desna didn’t feel like blaming him.

The girl looked at the children's play, running around as she was sitting on the swing. She was Carl’s age when she was taken away from her family. Her mother had been a drunk since a young age; she had tried to get sober more than once. Desna had been in and out of foster care for the first years of her life, from what she knew. Her first memories started when her mother had managed to get sober, cooking, playing, and regular stuff… it was during that period that Kev had met Desna and her mother; he was a neighbor, and Desna remembered that she liked to play with Kev even if she could not remember it clearly.

But when she was seven years old, he came into their life.

She remembered him the first time he met her. He was so charming, lovely, and friendly. Everyone in the neighborhood liked him. Desna liked him as well, and finally, she saw her mother happy and serene. And Desna was finally feeling like she could have a normal family, like the one her friends at school had. The day her mother married that man, he promised that he would take care of them, protect them, and that they would have been happy. And they believed it.

But they were wrong.

It didn’t take long for him to show his true face; a violent drug dealer, dangerous and egoistic. He got angry at everything, at anything, and he would beat her mother almost every day. Desna was eight, and he had terrorized her, telling her that if she had told what was happening to anyone, he would have killed them both. It didn’t take long for her mother to relapse. She started to drink again. And the worst part was that she said that she loved him and that he was right. She did nothing to protect herself or her daughter. And once his attention moved to Desna, she did nothing.

What kind of parents let their children suffer? What kind of parents choose themselves over their kids? They could not defend themselves. Parents were supposed to be there to show their children the way, not to keep drinking so that they could forget the struggles of their lives.

Social services saved Desna's life. When Kev knew what had happened, he looked for her and decided to take her in with V.

If Frank Gallagher had left, social services would probably have taken the Gallaghers away. But that could not happen.

She observed Debbie and Carl.

Desna was alone, they weren’t, and no one cared to keep siblings together.

They were stuck: a shit of a father or the perspective to face the future alone, without the people that they relied on the most.

“D,” as she heard Karen’s voice, Desna had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

“You know my name very well, Karen,” she said without turning, “Cut the shit out.”

Karen giggled, sitting on the swing next to her, “Someone is stressed; why don’t you go fuck, Lip?” Then she gasped, “Oh wait, you can’t.”

Desna turned to Karen, “What do you want?”

“Always knew you were the jealous type,” Karen seemed very amused by what was going on, “I bet you can’t even think of how many things Lip and I are doing right now.”

That made Desna scoff.

“It’s not about that,” Desna answered, before turning away, “You wouldn’t understand anyway.”

She could feel Karen’s eyes on her, and she just wished that she would have left soon.

“You think you’re better than me?” Karen challenged.

Desna’s lips showed a smile as her eyes moved back to the girl next to her. “Yeah,” Karen said, seeming taken aback by her words.

“I give a shit about who I care about,” Desna said, “And in return, I want to know where I stand. Sex is fun, but I’m not a whore,” then she stood up, calling for the kids, “Honestly Karen, you two can fuck how much you want, I’m not jealous of you. I’m jealous that you have a space in his life.”

The days went by, Frank was back, and their usual life came back again. She went to school, studied, and went to work. She worked almost every day; she had nothing else to do, so why not earn some more money? She didn’t go to the Gallaghers as much, especially when she knew that Lip was at home. And when they met they didn’t really speak, they avoided look at each other more than they had to. And she missed him, but she was not going to tell him anything. Probably, it was better like that.

“Why do I need to study French?” Ian complained on top of the ladder as he organized the goods on a shelf.

“Culture?” Desna asked teasingly, “Helping a handsome French guy in need?” He glared at her when she passed him a bag of chips.

“It’s easy for you,” he complained, “You’ve got all straight A in French,” then it turned with a frown, “Are you taking Spanish classes as well?”

“Claro que sí,” he gave her another glare, which made her giggle as she passed him another good. "Come on, let me brag a little bit. These are the only classes where I got good grades,” she then said, taking a break. "Since I’ve stopped seeing Lip, even my grades are down.”

“What other things went down?” Ian asked with a teasing smile.

Desna tilted his head, “My patience to deal with smartasses,” Ian chuckled, getting off of the ladder.

“I didn’t think you’d resist this much without seeing each other,” Ian said as he approached another shelf. Desna followed him, taking a breath.

“Yeah, well…” she said, “I’m not planning to see him any time soon,” Ian turned to her, leaning his arm on the ladder, with a frown.

“I admit that I don’t understand Lip and his whole Karen thing. I can see why you broke it off,” He was saying, and her brown moved up in a frown.

“That’s not why I broke it off,” Desna stopped him. Her words took him by surprise.

“Then what happened?”

“I thought he told you,” she answered, confused.

“He told me you left him,” he said, his face grave as he observed her looking away with a scoff.

“Did he mention what he told me?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. And when he shook his head, she spoke again, “Lip is very vocal in calling Karen his best friend,” then she shrugged her shoulders, “That’s fine, I don’t care. But when I’ve asked him what am I to him, his answer was ‘a good fuck’,” Ian's eyes widened.

“Exact words?” He asked.

“Yep,” she said bitterly, nodding her head,

“Shit…” he muttered.

Then Desna took a breath. “I knew that he didn’t want a relationship,” she said. "And I knew that he had a thing for Karen, but… I don’t know…”

Ian observed her, “Did you two talk about you’re umm… situationship?”

“Not at first,” she answered honestly, “I mean, after the first time we had sex, we’d started to jump at each other at any moment we could,” they really did. After that night on the couch, they just couldn’t keep their hands on each other, and what started as steamy sex started out of nowhere became real encounters.

“I just wanted to know if he cares about me,” she admitted, “And it hurt me that he does not see anything else in me, if not sex.”

Ian’s hand moved to touch her arm, “I think he’s just an asshole,” he said, making her turn with a frown, “He can say whatever, but he would not be that upset if he didn’t care just a little.”

“Is he upset? Even now?” She asked with wide eyes, and Ian nodded his head. If he was upset, then maybe he cared, even just a little. Perhaps he missed her. And for some reason, she could not stop the smile on her face, “Am I a bitch if it feels good to know?”

Ian chuckled, “No,” and that made her laugh.

As they were laughing, the shop's door opened, making the two of them turn. Desna looked at Ian when she noticed Mandy Milkovich stepping into the shop.

“She is here for you,” Desna muttered. Ian shoved her a little.

Mandy was Mikey’s sister, and she was in the same grade as Ian and Desna. History class together. Lately, she has started to give Ian lots of attention, trying to talk to him every time she can. Desna had told Ian about her thoughts, but he usually dismissed her, saying that she was imagining things.

“I’m telling you, man, she is here to flirt with you,” she said, her eyes on Mandy, who was looking around.

“She is here to shop,” Ian said firmly.

“Of course she is; you’re a snack,” at her answer, he glared at her, and that made her giggle.

“Ian!” Mandy greeted him as she walked closer.

“I’mma go,” Desna said. She felt Ian's hand try to grab her, but she dodged him. She had noticed how Mandy seemed not to like when Desna talked to Ian, and for how much she loved him, she really didn’t want any more troubles with any Milkovich. She waved at Ian as she exited the shop, feeling a little bad and a little amused by how he was looking at her.

Desna was walking back home, her mind thinking about its favorite subject once again. Lip apparently was upset for some reason, and a part of her felt great about it. Maybe he really missed her, perhaps he really cared, but the other part of her told her that it was sex that he missed, only that, end, her joy started to die down a little.

“Hello,” Iggy Milkovich's voice made her stop. He was standing in front of her, observing her body with that gaze that really made her feel uneasy.

“What do you want?” she asked, unconsciously taking a step back when he approached. A viscous smirk was on his lips.

“You know what I want,” he said, moving his hand, but as his fingers touched her face, she slapped his hand away.

“I told you not to touch me!” She exclaimed, and he raided his hands with a low chuckle.

“No worries,” he said. I’m not going to do anything that you won’t agree to do.”

Her eyes studied his movements in case of any possible action from him, “That’ll never happen,” she stated firmly, but that chuckle left his lips again as he leaned forward.

“Don’t worry, you will,” he said.

“Why would I do that?” she asked in a shaky voice. She didn’t like his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when he moved to speak into her ear.

“You’ll see,” those words suddenly made her feel cold and unable to move. Iggy looked at her one more time before walking past her.

He was starting to terrorize her. She didn’t like his eyes; there was only lust in them. He wanted to have her again, and she cursed herself for having put herself in that situation. She did exactly what she should have to avoid. As she felt him far from her, she let out a shaky breath. He was not going to hurt her. He couldn’t. She tried to convince herself that Iggy Milkovich would not have touched her, but her hands started shaking again.

********

Tag List @th3h0nkz @aunicornmademedoit

If you liked it, please leave a ♥️ and reblog!

[walker-bait-1973]

8 Years Part One

Photo Edit by Me

A Daryl Dixon/ Sybil Tremont Fanfiction (Daryl x OC)

Background information: It’s assumed the reader knows the world of TWD. This Fanfic takes place after Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside, and the Kingdom are established and at the height of success. Carl is dead. The communities are bound by a doctrine created by Michonne. Rick is presumed dead. Daryl and Michonne never lost hope and searched for several years for Rick without luck. Daryl had a short relationship with Leah. The Saviors disbanded with Negan in a jail cell in Alexandria. The Whisperers have been defeated, and Lydia is a valued member of the Hilltop homestead.

18+

Daryl x OC (Female)

Warnings: Violence, Alcohol, Slow Burn, Fluff, Smut

Part Two

Master List

Chapter 1: Caramel

The summer of 1990 was a record-breaker for heat. The sun shone brighter than ever by early June. While people around Atlanta were finding ways to keep cool, Merle Dixon along with his younger brother Daryl, and their motorcycle gang pulled into the local 7-11 to get some ice-cold brews. They were headed to Pine Lake for a party. Merle and two of his buddies went inside for drinks.

“Hey Merle, get some snacks too!” Daryl yelled after him. Merle shot him the middle finger, laughed, and went inside. Daryl lit up a cigarette. As he listened to the group talking and laughing, a small group of young ladies walked past them. Daryl’s attention averted to have a gander at these five women. One, in particular, stood out to him. She was a curvaceous woman, with an ample chest, wide hips, and thick thighs. Her long ebony curls bounced in a neat ponytail as she walked in flip-flops with painted red toenails. She was wearing a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts that hugged her apple-shaped bottom. Her skin was a delicious shade of caramel, tanned from the hot sun no doubt. Her red halter top complimented the shade well. As she passed him he said, “Hot day.”

She nodded curtly, eyeing the pale-skinned man in the grey tank top as her friends giggled and they went into the store. She stopped for a moment to look over her shoulder at him, “You better watch yourself, you’re gonna get burned.”

He smiled slyly and playfully smacked Terry in the chest as the automatic door swung shut, “damn!”

“She’s outta your league, Daryl.” Terry chuckled as Daryl rubbed his dirty blonde goatee. He was already plotting what to do next.

“Naw… she ain’t.” He took a breath before heading into the convenience store himself. Terry looked at Buck and sniggered.

Inside, Daryl could hear Merle’s loud voice back by the beer cooler laughing with Sam and Joe. He casually walked down one aisle with low shelves, spying on the girls over by the Slurpee machine comparing flavors. He paused by the snacks and perused the various chips, raising his eyes often to watch the girls as they laughed and poured themselves the thick icy beverage. He glanced back praying his brother wouldn’t come up while he made his move. He walked to the girls and said, “Hey, ‘s y’ flavor?”

“Caramel” sucked slowly on her straw before saying, “Cherry.” A pair of large green eyes framed with long lashes lifted to look at him. He felt his insides turn to mush, as a boyish grin crossed his face.

He followed her outside and as she started walking away with her friends he called out, “’s yer name?”

Looking over her rounded shoulder, “Sybil.”

From that moment on, he was hooked.

Chapter 2: The Receipt

Alexandria

Daryl rolled over, restless in his bed. He heard footsteps thudding on the basement ceiling. Judith and RJ must be over for breakfast. He sat up, Dog instantly licking his face.

“Down, boy…” he grunted. Dog jumped to the floor and waited patiently by the back door for his morning walk. Daryl shirked into some clothes, donned his boots, and opened the door. Dog ran out into the dew-covered grass behind the house to do his duties. Daryl whistled,  beckoning for Dog to join him as he walked down the road toward the Alexandria main gate.

Rosita and Aaron were up on the platform, keeping watch for possible trouble.

“Good Morning, Daryl!” Aaron called out. Daryl waved quietly and moved along, toward the community center where many of the residents chose to eat together. He walked in, nabbed a fresh loaf of bread, and returned to Carol’s house.

“Good morning Uncle Daryl!” Judith exclaimed running to him as soon as he closed the door.

“Mornin’ Jude,” he answered as she hugged him around the waist. He put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her in return. RJ joined them and gave Daryl a high five.

“Come on, Judith… RJ… let’s get you fed before classes.”

“Y’ heard Aunt Carol… c’mon and get to the table.” Daryl grabbed a knife and started cutting up the bread for toast. Carol served the kids fresh scrambled eggs, apple slices, and orange juice. They munched on the yummy food while Carol poured Daryl his first cup of coffee. He leaned against the counter sipping it, his mind wandering.

He went weeks before he saw Sybil again. This time, she was at a grocery store as a cashier. What luck Daryl had! He spotted her immediately as he carried the armloads of food to the register. He decided to go through her line, affording him a great opportunity to talk to her again.

“Have a nice day,” she was saying as she handed the receipt over to the customer in front of him.

He scratched the back of his neck as she started cashing him out, “find everything you were looking for?” She lifted her eyes, a smile on her face, dimples adorning her cheeks.

“Naw…”

“No? Is there something I can help you with?”

“Sure. Y’all could give me y’ number.”

She chuckled, “You’re mighty confident.”

“’ Member me?”

“Not sure that I do,” she replied, toying with him. There was no way Sybil could forget those deep-set blue eyes and that handsome face.

“I can make it so y’ never f’get me again.” He leaned on the conveyor belt, stopping it.

“Oh yeah?”

There was a line forming behind him.

“You’re right I’ll never forget you if you get me fired,” she feigned being cross.

“Give me y’ number an’ I’ll pay m’ total.”

“I don’t even know your name,” she said, “that will be twenty-eighty-seven.”

He pulled out thirty bucks. When she returned his change, she handed him his receipt.

“Daryl. M’ name’s Daryl.”

She smirked, “have a nice day, Daryl.”

He grabbed his bag, frowning. As he put his change in his pocket, he realized she’d written a phone number on the back of the receipt.

She winked at him and started on her next customer’s order.

“… Daryl?”

Daryl looked up from his mug at Carol, “Huh?”

“I asked what your plans were for today. Where were you just now?”

He shook his head, “Nowhere. ‘M thinkin’ of takin’ a ride t’ Hilltop.”

“Yeah? If so, could you take a few things for me? I made Maggie some curtains for Hershel’s room in the Barrington House, and there are some parts that Eugene needs for the radio.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, get t’ stuff t’gether n’ I’ll take it w’ me.”

He took a plate of eggs and set it on the floor for Dog.  Dog chowed down while Daryl munched on a piece of toast.

“Alright, go get washed up and Uncle Daryl will walk you to school on his way out.”

“Okay,” Judith looked at her younger brother, “get your stuff.”

Once Daryl delivered the kids to class, he and Dog ambled to the gate where Carol was waiting for him. He shouldered his pack and strapped the box of things to take down on his motorcycle. Carol squeezed his shoulder, “You have a safe trip, okay? Tell everyone I say hello. Oh, and I nearly forgot. Judith wrote Hershel a letter.” She slipped it into his hand. Daryl smiled.

“I’ll make sure he gets it.”

Chapter 3: Lending A Hand

Hilltop

Daryl sped into Hilltop, Dog in tow, and parked close to the barn. He got several waves from various community members and was warmly greeted by Maggie. She wrapped her arms around him for a big hug, “Been a long time, stranger,” she remarked, squeezed his shoulder, and knelt to pet Dog.

“Too long,” Daryl confessed, nodding in acknowledgment toward Jesus and Tara.

“Damn right it’s been too long,” Tara piped up, “tell us, what’s everyone been up to?”

“Y’ know,” he shrugged, “same old. Ain’t much t’ tell.” He patted his jacket pocket, “Got somethin’ f’ Hershel though.” He pulled out the envelope and handed it to Maggie.

“A letter from Judith?” She ran her fingers over the front of the makeshift envelope.

“Mhm. Seems they’re becomin’ pretty good pen pals,” He smiled.

“They are. It won’t be long, they’ll be on the radio talkin’. I think Hershel has a lil’ crush,” Maggie’s toothy grin spread.

Daryl grunted, “I got stuff f’ Eugene too.”

“He’s up in the attic monkeying with things, I’ll run it up to him,” Jesus said knowing full well how Eugene liked to talk people’s ears off, and Daryl was more of a quiet man.

“Thanks f’ that,” Daryl remarked looking around, “Where’s Connie?”

“She’s at Oceanside with Kelly and Luke. I know you’re disappointed,” Maggie teased.

“I’ll catch her soon ‘nough.” He shrugged, “’m here now. What can I do t’ help out?”

“We have a few cabins to build. Wanna help with that?”

“Sure,” he nodded, walking with Maggie to the area of expansion past the orchards. He was greeted by Alden, one of the blacksmiths, who was delivering a box of nails.

“Daryl, good to have you here,” Alden smiled, handing him a hammer.

“Jus’ tell me where t’ go.”

He pointed to one of the cabins already in progress. Daryl joined in immediately. As he worked with the others, it wasn’t long before he was sawing logs, roofing, and throwing himself into the job at hand. Daryl didn’t mind hard work. When the frame of the cabin was finished, he felt a sense of accomplishment and moved onto the exterior walls.

When he paused to take a cigarette break, he spotted Lydia making her way over to him. She had a wide smile on her face, her long black hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. Elijah was holding her hand, the same goofy smile on his face. Daryl smirked. Young’uns.

“We brought you some water. You’ve been working hard,” Lydia handed him a canteen.

“Thanks,” he said, swishing the cold liquid in his mouth. Felt cool and refreshing on this warm Spring day.

“We were going to head to Alexandria for a visit, but now seeing as you’re here, we won’t leave until you do. If you don’t mind.”

“Naw could use the company,” he answered, patting her shoulder.

“Great! I miss everyone. And I wanted to see Negan.”

Frowning, “What y’ need t’ see him for? He ain’t no good, Lydia.”

“I know his past, and I know how you feel about him-”

“You don’t know all ‘bout that sumbitch.” Daryl never talked with anyone in his family about what transpired when he was held prisoner at Negan’s compound, Sanctuary. Tortured, starved, stripped down for humiliation…

“I suppose I don’t. But he stuck up for me when those kids attacked me. If it weren’t for him, I might not be here. I don’t need you to understand it, but I won’t sneak around to talk to him.”

Daryl had to give her credit for being so upfront about her connection with Negan. It was true that he helped her one night when three members of Alexandria ganged up on her. It was also true that one ended up dead at Negan’s hand. It was an accident, but with Negan’s history, it nearly got him lynched.

“I don’t understand it, an’ I don’t like it. But I ain’t gonna stop ya.”

That’s one thing Lydia admired about Daryl – he didn’t treat her like a little girl. He talked to her as if she was an adult, and she respected that. Too many people tried to treat her like a child. She was seventeen, and beyond her years in many ways.

Daryl tossed her back the canteen, “Back t’ work. Y’ know, y’all could help out. Get done a lot faster.”

“I can swing a hammer,” Elijah smirked, “I’m gonna help out.”

“I’ve got some other things to do, but then I’ll be back over.” Lydia kissed Elijah before leaving. Elijah blushed and cleared his throat.

“C’mon,” Daryl spoke up, “ ‘s getcha that hammer.”

Chapter 4: First Date

(One Week Later) Daryl drove up to the house where Sybil lived. Already outside, she’d been waiting for him. She laughed when he turned off his motorcycle.

“I just knew you were going to show up on that thing.”

Daryl looked down at the bike, “’s my ride.”

She nodded, “Oh yeah… it’s your ride alright. I’ve never been on one before.”

“Well, y’all will have the time o’ yer life then.” He smiled. She walked over in a pair of tight-fitted jeans, her hips swaying practically mesmerizing him.

“Interesting way to start a first date,” She commented, sliding on behind him. Her hands went to his waist, clutching tight as he kicked the motor on and took off down the street.

“Shouldn’t we have helmets?” She called into the wind. Daryl swung the bike onto the main road.

“Naw… yer fine.”

She laughed, “As I said before, you’re mighty confident.”

Daryl enjoyed the feeling of her behind him, her hands tightening their grip. He lowered his left hand and pulled one of her arms around him tighter.

“You’re bold,” she remarked, but slid her other arm around, locking her hands in front of his stomach.

“So are ya.”

They drove along Pine Lake, one of the first places he could think of to take her. When they got off the bike she said, “You’ve got me alone, in the woods. Should I be afraid?”

“I didn’t keep y’ alive on that bike only t’ kill ya in the woods,” He smirked. She laughed. It was music to his ears; so light and genuine.

“Been t’ Pine Lake ‘fore?”

“Oh yes. This is the main hang-out spot. You?”

“Come here a bit.”

They walked a trail along the east side of the lake, quiet at first.

“So that gang you’re with…” she finally cut the silence as she studied the trees, “been with them long?”

Daryl shrugged, “yeah. They’re kinda family. My big brother Merle started hangin’ out w’ some guys an’ it went from there.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Just one,” he teased.

“Ha ha,” she rolled her eyes.

“’ Bout twenty or so. Why?”

She shrugged, “Just curious.”

She pulled a leaf off a branch and twirled it between her fingers.

“Y’ thinkin’ ‘m gonna be trouble?”

“I don’t know… are you?”

“Maybe,” he stopped walking and pointed, “look,” he whispered, “a doe.”

She squinted, “Where?”

He extended his arm with his fingertip pointing, “Between them two birch trees. See her?”

After a few moments, Sybil smiled brightly, “I do. She’s beautiful. You have a keen eye.”

Daryl shrugged, “maybe.”

“Do you spend a lot of time in the woods?”

“Quite a bit. How ‘bout ya?”

“I love nature, but no… I haven’t been camping since I was a kid.”

“Yer missin’ out.”

“I suppose I am.”

“C’mon, I wanna show y’ somethin’.”

“Okay.”

They continued casually down the trail until he veered off it, onto an unbeaten path.

“Okay, now I know you’re going to kill me,” she teased.

“C’mon,” he rolled his eyes. They came to some tall rocks, “Up f’ a lil’ climbin’?”

Hands on hips she looked up at the rocks, “Should I have worn hiking boots?”

“Naw… them shoes are fine.”

She looked down at her vans and was thankful she’d chosen them.

“Alright. Let’s go. Show me the way.”

“It ain’t gonna be as hard as it looks. Found an easy way to get up there.” He motioned for her to follow. He went around the right-hand side of the stone goliaths.

“See here,” he pointed in front of him and upward, “almost like someone made a trail in them rocks.”

“They look like they have stepping stones cut into them.”

He started up the incline, turning around every so often to make sure she was still behind him. She was eagerly bringing up the rear, keeping close.

“’s is the hard part,” he said, reaching for her hand, “lemme help y’ up the rest o’ the way.”

She took his hand and he pulled just enough to get her over the final ledge. She took a breath and looked down behind her whistling, “We are up high.”

He nodded, “Higher than it looks from down there.”

She noticed a singed area and a pile of wood.

“You come here often?”

He nodded, “’s m’ place t’ getaway. C’mere… an’ look.”

She joined him on the opposite side of the rocks and looked out. What a sight to behold. She could see the large lake in its entirety from this vantage point, and the multitude of trees on the other side. The sun was bright in the sky. She felt as if she could reach out and touch it. The rays warmed her face. She turned to look at Daryl. His blue eyes were studying her, gauging her reaction. The humongous smile on her face was enough for him. He was convinced that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

Daryl rolled to his side and stared into the darkness inside the hay mound sighing. He didn’t sleep much, to begin with. And even less since the world fell. Thinking of her made it near impossible. He sat up while Dog rustled through the hay to rest his head in Daryl’s lap. He brusquely pet the dog's head. Dog whined. He’d been with Daryl so long that he could read his emotions.

“S’ alright, boy. ‘ll get through it. Always do.” He got to his feet, stretched, and said, “C’mon. ‘S go f’ a walk.” Daryl and Dog made their rounds, checking the sentinels on the wall, joining them for a bit to watch for walkers or marauders.

“You’re up early,” Cal commented, shaking out his foot that fell asleep.

Daryl shrugged, “Always am. Don’t need much sleep.”

“I don’t know how you do it, Dixon,” Cal continued.

Diane looked over at the two men, “Be thankful Daryl doesn’t sleep much. He’s saved a lot of our asses more than once because of it.”

Cal knew it was true and agreed, “Oh I know he has. It’s just when I manage to have some time to rest, I conk out. Sometimes for half a day.”

People meandered about as the sun rose, and Daryl found himself back to work at the cabins.

“You know, there’s always one of those here for you,” Jesus said, holding up a board to be nailed.

Daryl said, “Hate t’ take a place from someone else. I don’t mind the hay mound or a tent. ‘M easy.”

“So have you completely set down roots in Alexandria?”

Daryl shrugged, “Dunno if I set roots down anywhere.” The truth was the man had huge bouts of wanderlust and couldn’t sit still for too long before needing to be out in the wild again. He went with Aaron sometimes to look for more people to bring back to the communities. He brought messages from one community to the next. He also liked to provide food, go on scavenging runs; anything to keep himself busy.

People that knew him knew he was this way. They noticed a big change when Rick infamously blew up the bridge that was to connect everyone to save his people. 

Daryl disappeared for three years. During his search for Rick, he met a woman by the name of Leah. No one knew about the affair he’d had with her except Carol. Dog had discovered an old house that seemed abandoned one day during their travels. But it wasn’t empty. That’s when he found an ornery woman living there that didn’t want him anywhere around her land. After about a year they began to talk, her more than him, and in a few more months they shared food. After that Daryl realized how lonely he was; one thing led to another and the two became involved. It didn’t last long. Daryl pulled away for several reasons: he wanted to continue looking for Rick, and he couldn’t allow himself to feel what he once felt for Sybil. When he was with Leah, she knew he was far away in his mind: thinking about his brother, and she had no idea what else. He couldn’t open up to her. That took years and trust. Something he knew he could never have with her. She put conditions on him and gave him ultimatums.

“It’s your brother or me.”

“It’s your family or me.” He was not a man who responded well to conditions. He wasn’t about to choose a woman that wanted all or nothing. So he walked away, never looking back.

Chapter 5: The Race

After two weeks of working on cabins, several were finished thanks to the hard labor everyone put in. Daryl wanted to reward them all with some venison, so he decided he’d head out before the light of day to hunt.

Dog stayed in step with Daryl as they silently made their way through the forest. He’d seen deer droppings which decided the direction they would go. Tell-tale signs of a foraging deer were seen everywhere if you were observant enough. Daryl was a master of tracking. He held his breath as soon as he saw the three-point, lifted his crossbow, aimed, and fired. The arrow hit its mark between the front shoulder and the ribcage, piercing the heart. The deer dropped where it stood, feeling no pain. Just the way Daryl liked it. No suffering.

He set to work right away field dressing the internal organs before he heard the groans of Walkers coming from the left.

“Shit,” he muttered, hefting the deer over his shoulders, “c’mon Dog,” he called, quickly making his exit. The organs would keep the few Walkers busy. At least enough for him to get safely away.

He returned at dusk with his prize, congratulated by many, and thanked personally by Maggie.

“Can’t have them people be veg’tarians,” Daryl teased, taking it to hang out back.

“Oh no, too many vegetables will make the people weak,” Maggie teased. Daryl eyed her between his curtains of bangs, a smirk on his face.

“They’ll appreciate it to be sure. We can do a lot with poultry and beef…”

“But there ain’t nothin’ like venison,” he cut in.

She nodded, “Right.”

They heard kids laughing and spotted Hershel and the other kids playing with Dog. Dog of course loved all the attention.

“Seems good to have them bein’ kids, huh?” Maggie asked, sighing. She had to dig deep to remember the days of misspent youth and no fear. Riding horses with her sister Beth, playing in the fields, and nights catching fireflies.

Daryl nodded as he shoved his bloodied hands into a basin of water, “Mhm… they ain’t had it so good, growin’ up too fast ‘cause t’ way t’ world turned out.” He dried his clean hands on a rag and watched the kids for a bit, a small smile on his face.

“Can’t catch me dog,” Marigold yelled out, her laugh echoing through the trees.

(August) ”You’ll never catch me, Daryl!” Sybil yelled, swimming faster out towards the floating dock in the middle of the lake. Daryl however was an experienced swimmer and was soon closing in on her. The thrill of the chase caused Sybil to start laughing and slowed her down in speed. Daryl slowed his pace, waiting for her to gain her wits and start moving faster again. Soon her hands were touching the dock.

“Damn, y’ got away,” he said, holding the edge of the dock with his hands. She splashed him playfully.

“I know you let me win.”

“Did no such thing.”

She giggled, “Okay… deny it all you want.” She caressed his damp cheek, “I’ll still give you your reward,” she moved closer and kissed his wet lips before pulling up onto the dock. Daryl could feel his stomach flip flop and his heart quicken in reaction to her affection. It was their first kiss. His cheeks reddened and he pulled up onto the dock next to her, their feet dangling in the water. He’d been pursuing her avidly for several months. His first thoughts of just wanting to bed the woman passed once he realized there was so much more to her than just a beautiful body. She had spunk, a clever mind, and kept him on his toes. He’d never met anyone like her before. Sybil seemed to enjoy her time with him, and this kiss just solidified what he was hoping for. He knew that other guys were trying to get her attention, he wasn’t blind. But the more she accepted offers of dates from him, the less concerned he became with them.

She laid back on the dock, the sun’s rays kissing her wet skin. Her hair spread out above her head like a dark halo. Her red one-piece showed plenty but left just the right amount covered to let the imagination run wild.

Daryl chewed his lip for a moment, “Sybil…”

“Mhm?” She hummed, shielding her eyes from the bright sky as she looked his way.

“’S a band playin’ at a bar next weekend. A local band… thought maybe y’all would like t’ go.”

“What kind of music?” she asked him curiously.

“Heavy stuff. Ain’t no room for country shit.”

She grinned, “You’ve got yourself a plus one then. I think it would be a lot of fun.” The idea of being squished in close to her was on his mind. He was still a man after all.

“Rememberin’ the good old days?” Maggie asked. Daryl stopped chewing his lip.

“Gonna go find somethin’ t’ do.”

Chapter 6: Scavenging Parts

“Hey, Daryl…” Jesus caught up with the archer after morning chores, “Eugene needs some parts for the solar panel he’s been working on and gave me directions to a place he thinks I can find those parts. Wanna ride with me, help me out?”

Daryl nodded as he finished brushing a horse down, “be ready in a few. Lemme finish up here.”

Jesus drove fast down the road. Daryl stared at the directions, “A bullfrog’s hop t’ the right of a… what t’ hell is this?” He asked, scratching his head.

Jesus laughed, “It’s directions. Eugene wrote them.”

“F’ fuck’s sake. Two leagues past the old maple tree… ‘s a million maple trees out here!” He threw the instructions on the dashboard. Jesus smirked, “Don’t kill me. I wrote those just to tease you.”

“You bastard,” Daryl huffed, but smiled in the end, “figures. Where’s them directions at?”

Jesus pulled a paper out of his front pocket, “Here.”

Daryl read them quickly, “’s more like it.”

When they rolled up to the old rusty warehouse, Jesus cut the engine and looked over the list Eugene had given him. Daryl got out and started scouting for Walkers, and anyone else who happened along the way. He and Jesus cleared out a small group of the dead before breaking the chain lock on the door to head inside. Pigeons flew in the disturbed air kicking up dust and dirt. The men covered their mouths, Daryl quickly pulling his rag from his back pocket. He tied it over the bottom half of his mouth.  Both were silent as the grave as they passed through the large building in search of any trespassers alive, or undead. Once they were certain it was empty, they set out to find each of the things Eugene wanted. It took longer than they expected since neither knew where to start. Searching boxes, and reading labels… they’d found two of the five things before dark.

“Looks like we’ll be staying the night,” Jesus huffed, wiping the dust from his hands onto his pants.

“Mhm,” Daryl lowered his backpack and brought out some salted dried venison, doling out some pieces to Jesus.

“Thanks,” Jesus said as they sat on the cold cement floor.

 As they settled in for the night, Daryl volunteered to keep a watch out.

“T’morrow we hit them boxes upstairs. Can’t see shit now.”

“Agreed. I didn’t think this would be a two-day trip. I’ll just catch a few winks.”

(1 Year Later) “Sybil, get on over here, woman!” Daryl had called out over the heavy strains of guitar on the jukebox to his girl.

Sybil’s green eyes danced with merriment as she set her beer on the bar and made her way over to the young man who beckoned her. She laughed as he snaked his arms around her waist.

His nose brushed against her ear as he said, “Dance w’ me.” As if she was ever interested in dancing with someone else. She slid her palms flat against his chest as they moved to their own beat. It certainly didn’t match the fast drum solo in the Motorhead song. But finding their way to sway their bodies together had never been a problem. They began to sweat there under the hot lights, their friends milling around them. Some were dancing, others playing pool, and still, some just drinking and sharing conversation.

Daryl’s brother Merle was leaning on his old lady, licking salt from her neck as he downed another shot of tequila. He followed up with a lemon wedge from her cleavage as his loyal gang cheered him on.

“ ‘s get outta here,” Daryl said into Sybil’s ear, “ ‘s gonna get crazy t’night.”

“It’s well on its way,” she said, gripping his hand. They made a quick exit and soon were taking off on his bike. The wind whipped through Sybil’s untethered hair. The exhilaration from the cool air and the feel of her cheek against his back were enough to make Daryl giddy. He pulled up to her apartment and as he walked her to the door she stopped, key in her hand.

“We’ve been seeing each other for a while now,” she spoke up, her eyes staring into his, “and you’ve been good to me, Daryl. Come inside. I want you to stay the night.”

His jaw twitched. He’d been excited for this moment, he wouldn’t deny it. But now that it was here, he felt a sense of pride. He’d spent his time getting to know her. There was still so much to learn. And tonight would be another lesson in the ways of Sybil.

There was no small talk as her roommates were already in their respective rooms sleeping. He hadn’t been in the apartment at night unless there was a crowd of sorority sisters having a party. He and Sybil preferred being out of the house and hanging out with his gang often. She closed her room door there in the dark and turned on a dim lamp next to the bed.

She smiled at him, walking close, her hands caressing either side of his face as they began to kiss passionately. His palms rested on the flat of her back, rubbing slowly up and down as their mouths opened to explore like so many times before. It was more intense though, with pure need behind each tongue lashing and twisting together. A small groan lifted from his throat as she stepped back from him. They stared at one another, the soft glow from the light accentuating her features. The shadows delved into her curves and along the line of her legs.

“Help me out of this skirt, will you, Daryl?”

Daryl heard a noise that caught his attention. He went to investigate but seeing that it was a raccoon he shooed it away before walking the interior of the building alone. He placed a cigarette to his dry lips and lit it. Staring out one of the wide warehouse windows, he saw a few Walkers milling about near the truck. He puffed out some smoke and moved on toward the opposite end.

Sybil was more amazing than he could’ve imagined. Her body was perfection to him, and as she lifted on top of him, her hair swung down her back. He tangled his fingers into it before rubbing down around her ass while she ground her hips on top of him. He breathed as if through honey, labored, and sweet. As she rubbed his chest, a little pout curled on her lips as she neared the height of pleasure, calling out to him. He rolled her to her back, taking her breath away as he kept the rhythm up, bringing her to orgasm. He came in sync with her. He looked down at Sybil, the sweat beading on her forehead, their wet bodies sticking together, and he felt something he’d never felt before – fulfilled.

“Kiss me…” she gasped, still feeling the aftershocks of their lovemaking.

“Ain’t gotta ask, Syb…” He lowered his mouth onto hers, sucking her lips slowly, delightfully before withdrawing. He lay back, his chest still heaving as she lay her cheek upon it, listening to his fast heartbeat. He opened his legs, and she nestled her lower half between them, her stomach resting on his groin, not uncomfortable. He rubbed her saturated back, fingers slipping in the sweat, her hair pasted to her shoulders and his chest. Their bodies fit together like an intimate puzzle. Their hands locked together, fingers woven tight, his free hand cradling her. It was at that moment he knew his heart belonged to her.

When the first hint of light came through the windows, Jesus was up. He and Daryl searched the remainder of the building and found the rest of the items for Eugene by midday.

When they got outside, the Walkers from last night were still wandering around the truck, and seeing the two men, started lurching towards them.

“Dammit,” Jesus uttered while Daryl shot the closest in the head and then pulled his knives. Jesus round-housed one right in the skull, its rotted head exploding from the connection. Daryl took out two, a stab to the front of each temple, and Jesus took down the last one.

“ ‘ll drive,” Daryl said once everything was packed into the back of the pickup. Jesus tossed the keys to him. On the drive to Hilltop, Daryl was reliving those moments with Sybil still. Waking up with his legs wrapped around hers, her body still on his. He could almost feel her warmth, smell her perfume. He swerved almost hitting a Walker in the road. Jesus looked over at him, “Are you sure you’re up for driving?”

“Yeah, ‘m fine.” He sped up to get past the gathering herd quickly leaving them in the dust.

Eugene was pleased as he met the men getting out of the pickup.

“Did y’all find everything?” he asked as he pulled back the tarp over the parts. He went over the list and marked each item off, “Well done, you guys. I know these doodads don’t look like much, but when I get ‘em all put together, we’ll have some fine additions to those cabins y’all been working so hard on. Electricity! Creature comforts.”

“Glad we could help,” Jesus said as he and Daryl unloaded.

“Did you meet up with any trouble?” Maggie asked as she picked up a small box from the back.

“Naw,” Daryl responded.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Jesus added.

( 1 Month Later) Carver College

Daryl spotted Sybil and her friends in the throes of students in the cafeteria. She’d been pouring over textbooks for a test coming up in English Lit class. He breathed hot air on the back of her neck, “Hey babe.”

She smiled as she whispered, “Daryl…”

Mandy sniggered, “You two are something else.”

Daryl kissed Sybil lightly and slid into the chair next to her.

“Where have you been?” She asked in a hushed tone. She hadn’t seen him in four days. No explanations, no phone calls, “I was worried about you. I thought something might have happened to you!”

“Naw, no need t’ worry. ‘M here now.” He rubbed her hand slowly.

She picked up her books and excused herself from her circle of friends. Daryl grabbed them to carry for her. Once they were outside she turned to him, “Where have you been?” She asked him again, “You just disappeared.”

“I had t’ go outta town w’ Merle.”

“To do what?” She asked curiously.

He shrugged, “Just some odd errands, ain’t no big deal.”

“Daryl, it’s a big deal when you’re dating someone, and you just disappear. What if something happened to you?”

“Syb… don’t need t’ keep tabs on me. Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen t’ me.”

She frowned, “I’m not keeping tabs. Why are you keeping secrets?”

Chapter 7: Unavailable

The deer was finally ready to process. Many offered to help him, but he kindly rejected those offers. He wanted to work alone and get things off his mind. His memories were flooding in and he couldn’t build the dam fast enough to keep them at bay. It was close to the time of year when he first met Sybil. Even though people referred to parts of the year by the period of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, Daryl knew it was around June. He felt it in his heart, and thoughts of Sybil were at their pinnacle. He sharpened his knife on a whetstone til the blade could slice easily through the meat, and as he removed the hide, he halted suddenly.

(6 Months Later) Sybil looked up from the bed, “Where are you going, hot stuff?”

He zipped his jeans, “gotta go outta town f’ a few days.”

She sat up, slipping on one of his t-shirts, “where? You never say.”

“Nothin’ y’ need t’ worry y’self over, Syb.” He rubbed her shoulders slowly, “Y’ won’t even have time t’ miss me.” He kissed her lips.

“Your brother is a troublemaker. Why do I have the feeling you two get up to no good when you’re gone?”

He shook out his head and started working the hide again, bound to have the hide salted and stretched before dinner. His workworn hands rubbed the salt into the thin layer of skin remaining, and as he was stretching it, he could smell dinner. His stomach rumbled.  He covered the meat with an old tarp and went to join the others.

That night he sat by the campfire longer than most. The dog was sleeping by his foot, basking in the heat from the flames.

(One Year Later)  Daryl knew it was late. It was nearly one. He’d been out fucking around with his gang, causing a ruckus, getting into a fight with another gang, and then Merle suggested they all go out for drinks. Daryl had a few and lost track of time.

“Shit, I gotta go!” He told his brother.

“What? Why?”

“’S Sybil’s birthday. ‘M late.”

“You’re so whipped. Hell, she’ll have another one next year.”

“That ain’t the point!” He said goodbye to his friends and rushed out to his bike. When he got to Sybil’s apartment, he could see the windows were dark. He pulled the present he had messily wrapped out of his saddle bag and went up to the second floor. He knocked on the door, and Theresa answered.

“What are you doing here, Daryl? Don’t you know how to tell time?”

“Jus’ wanna see Syb… don’t need y’all givin’ m’ a hard time. Lemme in.”

“Why don’t you just go and try to make amends tomorrow? You’re on her shit list you know.”

“Who’s at the door?” Sybil called out behind her. Daryl looked over Theresa’s shoulder and saw Sybil tying up her silky robe.

“Syb… ‘s me. I wanna come in.”

“I’ve got this Theresa…”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you go on back to bed.”

Daryl ducked his head in shame, “Happy Birthday.” He held out the gift. Sybil’s hands were on her hips.

“Kind of late for that. My birthday was yesterday. It’s nearly two. What happened?”

“Got caught up w’ the boys. I lost track o’ time s’ all.”

“Oh, that’s all huh? My birthday didn’t matter much to you then, did it?”

“That ain’t true.”

“Sure it is. If you cared, you’d have been on time. You get with those guys and forget everything.” She pulled him into the room, and looked at him in the light, “And what the hell happened to your chin?”

Daryl instinctively touched his jaw. He must’ve gotten a bruise from the fight.

“You’ve been fighting again?”

“Weren’t much o’ a fight,” he half–laughed, “We got ‘em good.”

She stared at him angrily, “I can’t believe you’re missing the point here.” She wiped tears from her eyes, “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

“What? Y’ breakin’ up w’ me?!”

“Yes, I am.”

“Because m’ late f’ y’ birthday?”

“You just don’t get it. You didn’t show up. You didn’t call. And when you finally do show up you don’t feel one inch of remorse for it all.”

“Said I was sorry, Syb. Don’t be like that.”

“No, you didn’t apologize. You bragged about a fight. I don’t want to be a part of this. I expect more from the man I care about.”

He wiped his eyes, blaming the smoke from the fire, and decided it was time to head back to Alexandria. He’d leave as soon as he finished preparing the meat for Hilltop.

Chapter 8: Camping

Daryl waited a couple weeks for Sybil to cool off after their split.

“You’re better off without her baby brother. Now you ain’t tied down to one woman, you can date any y’all want.”

“Don’t wanna date anyone else. I want Sybil,” he muttered, wiping his greasy hands on a rag. He turned over the engine on his bike, bringing it back to life after its tune-up.

“Well she don’t want nothin’ to do with your sorry ass. She thinks she’s too good for ya! There’s plenty of other bitches that are interested in ya.”

“She ain’t a bitch, Merle. She’s different than them other girls.”

“Ooh, are you in love, pussy?”

“Why am I tellin’ y’ anythin’?” He put his tools away, and said, “Goin’ out f’ a bit.”

“Go on then, run back to that highfalutin’ uptown bitch. She must have some sugar ‘tween her legs to keep ya comin’ back to her.”

He showed up at Save A Lot where Sybil worked. She wasn’t at the cash register, but he found her stocking shelves as he searched the aisles.

“Hey Syb…” he said as he approached. She stopped marking canned goods with the pricing gun and looked in his direction.

“What are you doing here?”

“Came t’ apologize. M’ sorry I was such a dick.”

“Are you? Because I have the feeling that the sort of thing that got you in trouble with me in the first place is going to keep happening.”

“Naw… it ain’t. What can I do t’ make y’ change y’ mind?”

She huffed, “You need to stop fighting. I knew full well you were in a gang when I met you. But I don’t think I realized what that entailed.”

He reached out and touched one of her curls, wrapping it around his finger, “I can stop fightin’.”

“Yeah, right,” She rolled her eyes.

“I can,” he insisted.

“Prove it.”

“I will. Supposed t’ be a lil’ somethin’ on Friday. ‘ll come an’ see y’all instead. Maybe I can help you study…” he leaned his arm against the shelf, keeping close to her, “what d’ ya say?”

“Give me a week to think things over. Stay out of trouble until then. I refuse to have a boyfriend that will probably end up in jail. You’re better than that.”

He screeched to a halt on his bike. Right in the middle of the road. 

“Can’t go back to Alexandria.” He felt a tightness in his chest, “Just can’t. C’mon.” He veered off the road and pushed his bike into some bramble to hide it.

He and Dog made their way deep into the forest around them. He knew the area well. He retreated towards a long winding river that cut through a clearing and set up a little lean-to between two trees and dug out a hole for a campfire. He set up a perimeter and fashioned a spear from a sturdy branch to go fishing. He and Dog ate a fine catch of fish for dinner.

He lay back against a log and stared up through the tree branches as the stars peeked into the holes between the leaves.

Three months later, they were back together. It took him that long to convince Sybil that he was staying out of trouble. He hung with the gang but skipped out when any brouhahas took place. His brother and friends didn’t let him live it down. He took the brunt of their brutal teasing, keeping his focus on what he really wanted, Sybil.

He watched as Sybil tried to figure out the instructions to the tent she’d brought on their first camping trip. It was early Autumn, and the weather was still pretty warm. He snorted, “Don’t need that booklet. Didn’t need no fancy tent neither.”

“I wanted it to be special,” she huffed, “and I can’t make heads or tails of any of this.”

He walked over, grabbed the instructions, and tossed them in the fire.

“Hey!” She laughed, “How do you expect to set up this tent then?”

He set to work, “Syb… pull them ropes your way.” He handed her a spike, “Stick ‘em in the ground…”

He pulled the other side and did the same. He put together the supports inside, assembling the tent in no time. She smiled proudly as she looked at the results.

“I knew you were good for something,” she teased, messing with his short hair.

That night after hot and heavy lovemaking, they went skinny dipping in the river not far from their setup. She shone under the moonlight, her body dancing with the beads of water dripping down her shoulders, over her breasts, and into the water at her waist. Daryl joined her and as they made out she said, “I could stay here forever.”

How he wished he had.

Chapter 9: The Thick of the Woods

Daryl spent weeks wandering the woods. He’d become so silent, he didn’t even need to call Dog, Dog just knew when to come. He’d gone a longer distance with each day, following the river downstream. He’d passed some small makeshift cabins and checked them out. Even spent some nights in one or two of them. He fought Walkers. Trudged through a downpour. Played with Dog in different clearings they happened upon. They lived off fish, rabbits, squirrels, wild yams, and leeks.

(2 Years Later) Sybil and Daryl got an apartment together. They’d been together for well over four years, and things just fell into place. They were happy, content with life. She was in her fourth year of college, she wanted to be a teacher, and Daryl was working for a local garage fixing just about anything with a motor.

“C’mon Syb… y’all get that cute ass in here. ‘ll help y’ study.” Daryl wanted to be as supportive to Sybil as he could. Even when he didn’t understand what he was quizzing her on, he felt proud of his girl for being so smart.

“If I don’t know it by now, I’m never going to know it.”

“C’mon ‘s the hard stuff, Early Childhood Development,” He held up the book, “We’re gonna go over t’ ones highlighted. Y’all got the rest down pat.”

“Okay, okay,” She threw her hands up in the air.

“Listen… ‘s somethin’ y’ really want, right?”

“Yes,” she answered, her eyes locking with his.

“Then y’ gotta put the time in. ‘S been four long years, but ‘s almost over. Don’t give up.” He squeezed her hand gently as he leaned in to kiss her.

“What would I do without you?” She asked, rubbing his scruffy cheek.

“Fail t’ damn test,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. They both laughed, “Right. Question one…”

He smiled at the thought, on how she graduated in the top five of her class. He’d liked to have thought he was part of the reason for that, if she wasn’t so smart to begin with. Still, it was some of his favorite time back then, watching her mind work, the way she’d bite her tongue and look at the ceiling while she thought about her answers, and how she loved to be rewarded with kisses.

One evening, just before dusk he heard a scream. Another voice was yelling, “Over here… this way!”

Heavy footfalls, groaning, and growling. Walkers. He followed the sounds and before crashing through the brush, he surveyed the situation. About ten Walkers were surrounding a couple of women and a man. They were fighting the Walkers pretty well, but there were too many. Daryl aimed his crossbow, clipping one Walker in the head about to bite the man’s shoulder. He fell to the ground. Unsure of what happened, the people continued to fight. He unsheathed his two knives, broke through the brush, and took two out, slicing another at the knees. One of the women brought down a knife into its brain. The other woman shoved a Walker into a tree and split its head with a machete. Three more to go. The man was backing up, looking to see if there were any more, turned around, and got one mere moment from attacking him. Daryl wiped the blades on his filthy pants and looked at the people quickly.

“Thank you,” one of the women breathed, “I don’t know if we could’ve made it without your help. Imagine finding another living soul in the woods.”

Daryl nodded as Dog sniffed around for any other threats. The woman with the cleaver was kneeling, cleaning her blade on one of the Walker’s shirts.

“Yes, thank you.” She stood up and turned to face the man, “we wouldn’t have made it.” She brushed an arm across her grimy face and said, “Do we look as bad as you do?” She smiled at the light joke. Daryl did a double-take. He squinted his eyes and studied the woman closely. She wasn’t anything to look at from first glance being road worn and ragged. But he saw those mystifying green eyes he’d never forget.

“S… Sybil?” His voice broke from being quiet for so long. It sounded foreign to him.

“How do you know my name?” She asked, eyeing the stranger. He was caked in mud, grungy from head to toe, long filthy hair pasted to his dirtied face.

“’S me…” was all he could muster taking a step closer. The woman looked deeply into the man’s eyes.

“Syb… ‘s Daryl…” he patted his chest.

“Daryl?” Her eyes widened. With sharp analysis, she determined that under that mess was the man from her past when everything was right in the world. Her throat closed as she stood stone still. The air was so thick, no one spoke, but everyone was bewildered that Sybil could find someone in the middle of nowhere that knew her.

There was movement behind her and a voice, “Mom? Is it safe to come out?”

For Part Two Click Here

[bluedalahorse]

I actually don't think I know what your specific YR/Tana French crossover idea is? Besides us generally talking about how they could be in the same universe. So you should talk about that one!

Okay, this one never had any paragraphs of it materialize, but it lives in my brain and I cherish it. It’s mostly more vibes than plot points. So I’ll explain it!

First of all though, people need to stop crossing over Young Royals with Red White and Royal Blue and start crossing it over with the Dublin Murder Squad books. Tana French would write amazing YR fanfiction if she were ever so inclined.

Anyway, back to fic. Essentially when August sells Årnäs, he sells it to people who want to found a boarding school for neurodivergent kids. This would be a place away from the towns they grew up in, that’s specifically geared toward their particular learning and socio-emotional needs and so on.

15-20 years into the future, Sara takes a job at this school, not realizing it’s her ex-boyfriend’s old estate. She’s able to roll with it when she finds out, even though it’s a little strange and all. Sara works as the school counselor, and helps kids out with therapy animals and such.

Then a dead body of an Irish diplomat is found on the estate-turned-school. Like, a dead body from a long time ago, or at least from when our main YR characters were very little kids. The Irish diplomat was kind of a famous disappearance cold case, so suddenly the Swedish and Irish police are on the scene, as are private investigators Felice Ehrencrona and Holly Mackey. Both Felice and Holly are determined to crack the case before the cops do.

For the purposes of this fanfic, please assume Felice and Holly are around the same age, and also that they will end up boning one another after a late night of tacking photos, strings, and maps to a corkboard. Sapphic Felice forever and ever amen.

Meanwhile, Sara’s job is trying to keep the students at her school calm when there’s a literal murder investigation going on at their campus. Talk about disruptions to routine! It’s a difficult time.

And then… well, witnesses would help. August is decidedly not king in this universe because whatever I don’t have time for that, but he was six years old and present when this absolute Gatsby Rager happened at Årnäs, and then the diplomat went missing the next day. So he’s brought in as a witness and is getting questioned about his childhood a lot. Maybe Louise and Carl Johan’s marriage got bad because they had to cover up a murder together. I mean who knows!

Sara and August of course fall into a Second Chance Romance while they both take care of the school animals and try to keep calm. Of course they lean into other ways of releasing tension as well. Sara definitely gets fingered in a school supply closet I SAID WHAT I SAID.

Other thoughts:

Wilhelm and Simon are presumably having a nice vacation somewhere when all this goes down. As are their cats.

Maddie probably texts Felice to say the deceased Irish diplomat contacted her in a dream.

Sweden is a Republic now because I say so.

Anyway those are my Tana French thoughts. I hope you enjoyed them.

[laiwalane]

Fandoms / characters I'll write for

TV SHOWS:

American horror story

any ships (includes reader or ships between two characters)

characters (my favs):

- Maddison Montgomery

- Tate Langdon (any Evan Peters char.)

- Michael Langdon/Xavier Plimpton

- Cordelia Fox (Any Sarah Paulson char.)

- Misty Day

- Mallory

- Countess Elizabeth ofc

The walking dead

Characters

- Rick Grimes

- Carl Grimes

- Carol 💥

- Maggie

- Glenn

- Owen (he's hot lmao)

- Negan

-Beth

- Michonne

- Daryl

-Philip Blake (the governor)

The boys

characters

-homelander

-soldier boy

- hugh

-ANY FEMALE CHARACTER

Breaking bad

characters

-Jesse pinkman

- Andrea

- Jane Margolis

MR ROBOT

characters

- Elliot Alderson

- Tyrell 💥

- Johanna

- Darlene

- Dominique

house of the Dragon

everybody who is sexy

Hannibal

-any characters/pairings

(I know it will be impossible to write smth without gay ships so...I will do it :))

FILMS:

-American psycho

-The hunger games

characters:

- Katniss Everdeen

- Peeta

- Finnick Odair

-Coryo Snow (young ofc)

-Finch (that cute ginger girl from part 1)💥

-Tigriss

- Inglourious Basters

characters

-Hans Landa💥

-Dieter Hellstrom💥

-Bridget

- Shoshanna

-Aldo Raine

-Batman Begins/any other parts

characters:

-Bruse Wayne

-Jonathan Crane 💥

- Miranda Tate

-John Wick

(almost any characters)

Anime

-Jujutsu kaisen

characters:

- Maki Zenin💥

- Mai Zenin

-Nobara Kugisaki

-Gojo

- Nanami Kento

- Riko Amanai💥

- MeiMei

-Tsukumo Yuki💥

-Chosou

-Shingeki no kyojin

characters

- Eren Jaeger

-Floch Forster

- Armin Arlert

- Mikasa Ackerman

- Petra Ral💥

- Hange Zoe💥

- Zeke Yeager

-Pieck Finger

-Anie Leonhart

- Sasha Blouse

-Kumetsu no yaiba

only female characters

AHHH THAT'S A LOOOOT BUT IT'S NOT EVERYTHING

well I would like to add that if you fan of these aktors/aktresses, I'll be writing fanfiction with any of their characters

- Angelina Jolie

- Christian Bale

- Jennifer Lawrence

-Aaron Taylor-Johnson

-Cillian Murphy

- Bill Skarsgard

- Elizabeth Olsen

- August Diehl

- Benedict Samuel

💥- means I find this character hot lmao

[avadixon]

Currently planning a Carl Grimes x OFC fanfiction

I haven't even scribbled the drafts of this story yet, but I know what I want. I want to give him the life, love and experiences the showrunners took away from him... and from us.

I'm 21 (almost) and literally an adult. It isn't about me sexualizing a teenage character and writing smuts, there will be none of it. Even though eventually he is going to be over 18 in my story, it is about giving him a continuation, a story, I want him to have his first love :')

I like Enid! But in my opinion, Carl and her were too young. Their love (if we can call it that) was tender, nothing like the intensity of the feelings we experience during our adolescence while in love. They were 15 if I'm not mistaken. 16 and 17 are the ages when we feel like everything is possible and nothing can stop us. I want to give Carl that.

I don't want to make Enid not exist just so it would be easier for me. Sophia didn't die in the comics, but I'll follow the show's canonicity way more, so, unfortunately, Sophia is going to be dead here too. But I feel Enid was a type of replacement for her, so... it's not liking we're loosing much anyways.

And there's Lydia and that's when things get more complicated. I don't want to make her mean, or not interested in Carl, just so (again) it would be easier for me. I haven't watched S9 but I know she was with Henry for a while and with another guy in the later seasons. It's not like there are a lot of options and Carl IS A GOOD OPTION. (And I love some drama!) But even though I already have the plot of the entire fic in my head, I feel my hands are tied with her. The only scenario I can imagine fitting her in a way that pleases me, makes Carl's and OFC relationship much more slower! I hate to write drafts when I don't have all the ideas concrete in my head, because it leads to write way more drafts and I simply hate it. I definitely need to work more on their dynamic :c

But I can assure we're going to have some type of enemies to friends to lovers (very moderate I'm not a fan of enemies to lovers myself), slow burn, angst (not much, but in certain situations, especially in the beginning), drama, tears, lots of learnings, and of course, a very deserving happy ending.

I'm really excited about it! I have no idea when I'm going to start writing it, I'm starting college in a fortnight, but I want to make this story a mission of mine. I'm going to train my writing AND give Carl a decent ending. Advantages only!

The first chapter may be ready next week, next month, next year... really, I have no ideia! All I know is that I want to do it.

I'm not hoping anybody is going to read this and that's okay. For now, I'm using this Tumbr just to read fanfictions and (starting now) a type of diary about this small project of mine. But if there is someone reading this, I think I can say in advance that our OFC is called Nia and she is a very sweet person <3

P.S: English is not my first language, always keep that in mind.

[entityupdates]

Fanfiction Masterlist Version 2

This is a master list of all the fanfiction I have posted with links and key details. I have another masterlist but I wanted to make one that was organized more clearly.

Sorted by fandom alphabetically. Multipart/series fics are grouped together. Crossovers are repeated. Updated as necessary.

Avatar: Last Airbender

Death Comes in Threes

Lu Ten, Azulon, and Ursa died within days of each other. It's a lot for a young Zuko to handle.

2023, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K words, complete.

He Is Mild, He Is Meek

Modern AU written for aromantic writing month. Trans aro lesbian Suki adopts Momo the cat.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 6.5K words, complete.

Hypoxia

Hanahaki AU written as a gift. Ty Lee and Mai fall in love with each other in a Fire Nation where homosexuality is illegal. Ty Lee learns to use airbending to keep the flowers at bay.

2023, 2 chapters, 10K words, complete.

Momo & Zuko

Momo is interested in Zuko after he joins the gaang.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), >2K words, complete.

Moon Blinked

An attempt at horror. The moon is the bulb of an angler fish. Yue dies and is terrified of La.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.5K words, completed.

The Spirits Threw Down Their Tears And Watered Heaven With Their Tears

This is a take on the weredragon Zuko trope with a heavy emphasis on the spirits in the world of Avatar. Dragon Zuko ends up in the North and meets sea serpent Yue. This fic was originally eight chapters but ten more were added to show Zuko and Yue moving on after Yue's death. The series page includes a supplemental oneshot about Toph.

2022-2023, 18 chapters, 58K words, complete.

The World Was Made By Gran Gran's Face

A series of drabbles about Sokka during the war. I also posted a draft of one of the chapters separately on FFN.

2020-2021, 10 chapters, >10K words, complete.

We Dance To Fast Music

Written for aromantic writing month 2021. Zuko experiences aro joy through dance. Can be read as platonic, queerplatonic, and/or polyamorous.

2021, 3 chapters, 8K words, completed.

When Everything Goes Wrong: ATLA Edition

During quarantine, I was very into incorrect quotes and also active on atla twitter so this is just a collection of some of my atla incorrect quote tweets.

2020-2022, 10 chapters, 8K words, completed.

Ben 10

A Change In The Beat Won't Make Me Stumble

Ken comes home from Thanksgiving. His family is a lot more alien than he thought it ever would be but he still loves them,

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.7K words, complete.

Crime Pays, Bro

Trans AU. Ben and Rook join Fistrick's gang.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 7.7K words, complete.

Dangerous Games

This is an October challenge I tried in 2019 but failed to complete. It does get updated but very rarely.

2019-Present, 31 chapters, in-progress/hiatus

Even the Stars Can Be Rewritten

Oneshot about Alien X recreating the universe.

2019, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.8K words, complete.

Glitch's Spark

Reboot fic. Glitch gets the spark instead of Gwen.

2022, 5 chapters, 17K words, complete.

It Should've Been Me

Reboot fic. Gwen and Ben have a talk after Kevin falls into the time portal.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.5K words, complete.

It Was Automatic

Carl adapts to the ways Ben has changed his life recently and punches Will Harangue in the face.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 6K words, complete

I Used To Dream, I Used to Fly

Ben 10/Kid Cosmic/Green Lantern crossover. Hal Jordan adopts Kid Cosmic and Ben gets a new brother.

2021, 5 chapters, 10K words, complete.

Rook Gets the Omnitrix AU

This is a series with five main parts and four supplementary oneshots. Rook finds the Omnitrix on Revonnah, attends the Plumber Academy, spends some time on Galvan Prime and Anur Transyl, and ends up in an interdimensional mess on Earth.

2021-2023, series, 182K words, complete.

To Touch Each and Every Life

The Adventure Zone/ Ben 10 Omniverse crossover. How the Day of Story and Song affected the Ben 10 universe.

2022, 5 chapters, 7.3K words, complete

Voiceless

Ben 10 Omniverse/Sanders Sides crossover. Roman and Remus are Osmosians (Omniverse definition: human mutants) with the power to see visions of something they don't yet understand. Logan, Virgil, Deceit, and Patton are aliens who attend the Plumber Academy with Rook and Scout.

2020-Present, (estimated) 30 chapters, in-progress/hiatus

When Everything Goes Wrong: Ben 10 Edition

Ben 10 incorrect quotes collection.

2022, 6 chapters, 3K words, complete.

You Were A Stranger

Rook, a Ben 10 fanfic writer, is assigned to Earth's Plumber base and falls in love with the actual Ben Tennyson. Featuring fanartist Scout, Rook & Molly Gunther friendship, and Kai being kind of terrible.

2022, 8 chapters, 35K words, complete.

Big Bang Theory & Young Sheldon

Synapses

Soulmate AU. Modern Sheldon tells his friends about his damaged (platonic) soulbonds with Paige and Dr. Sturgis.

2023, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K words, complete.

DC Comics

Don't Look At Me

DC Legends of Tomorrow! Constantine loses his magic and the ability to pass as a man. He tries and fails to hide his transness from the crew.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 4.7K words, complete

House Rules

DC Legends of Tomorrow! The Legends make lists of house rules for each other to make sharing the Waverider a little more bearable.

2019, 10 chapters, 8.4K, complete

In Storm Or Calm

Justice League Unlimited! Vigilante and Shining Knight are outed after saving a pride parade from another attack by General Eiling. Oneshot and a cat sequel.

2021, 2 installments, 25K words, complete

I Used To Dream, I Used to Fly

Ben 10/Kid Cosmic/Green Lantern crossover. Hal Jordan adopts Kid Cosmic and Ben gets a new brother.

2021, 5 chapters, 10K words, complete.

Quick To Rise

CW Flash books! Johnny Quick origin story.

2018-2019, 5 chapters, 10K words, complete

Signal

DC League of Superpets/HouseBroken crossover! Krypto joins a meeting with the group.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.1K, complete

Tired of This Ghost Town

Justice League Unlimited! Vigilante fights back during the Thanagarian invasion and meets a ghost named Sir Justin. Intended to be a longer Vigilante/Shining Knight slowburn but I decided not to write it and felt the first chapter worked as a standalone.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 11K words, complete (may be continued)

Who Am I?

My Adventures With Superman! Clark realizes he's trans after Lois calls the hero she saw "Superman."

2023, 1 chapter (oneshot), >1K words, complete.

Dimension 20

5 Times Lisa Did Not Like G13 and 1 Time She Did

Never Stop Blowing Up! G13 comes to the real world. Lisa does not like him.

2024, 1 chapter (oneshot), 6.7K words, complete

Disenchantment

Mosiac

Written for aromantic writing month 2021. Bean reflects on the relationships in her life.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K, complete

Eliza And Her Monsters

She Doesn't Swim, She Drowns

Written as a gift. Eliza ends up at the beginning of Monstrous Sea and discovers she has a deep, supernatural connection with the world. There is also a Spider-Man crossover sequel where Eliza realizes her powers from Monstrous Sea exist in the real world.

2021-2022, two installments (series), 17K words, complete

Kid Cosmic

I Used To Dream, I Used to Fly

Ben 10/Kid Cosmic/Green Lantern crossover. Hal Jordan adopts Kid Cosmic and Ben gets a new brother.

2021, 5 chapters, 10K words, complete.

Lion Guard

Siku Ya Wazazi

Simba and Bunga decide to work together to give Timon and Pumba a Parents Day to remember.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.5K words, complete

Marvel Comics

I Want You In My Life (But Not Like That)

MCU! Written as a gift and for aromantic writing month. Clint and Natasha look at their relationship over the years.

2023, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.6K, complete.

Reunions

MCU/Endgame! Standalone reunions after everyone is snapped back.

2019-2020, 11 chapters, 11.2K words, complete

Sister Light And Brother Dark

Requested fic. Morgan finds a journal about her father's relationship with Steven Rogers and how they saw Ultron as their son.

2019, 1 chapter (oneshot), 7K words, complete.

They'll Have Someone to Care For Them

MCU/dsitmom! Earth 838 recovers from the death of the Illuminati.

2022, 23 chapters, 35K words, abandoned/complete/hiatus.

we felt his love and he died loving you

X-Men 97! Kid/Adoption AU. The X-Kids expect Scott to get custody of them after Xavier dies but they actually end up with Xavier's ex-husband who they didn't know about. Magneto struggles to be a dad.

2024-Present, 30+ chapters, 100K+ words, ongoing

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

(Drag) Kings And Queens

Identity shenanigans with a lot of queerness sprinkled in. Online designer Ladybug recognizes one of her commissions on drag king Chat Noir and they become friends, not knowing that they are dating in real life. They are also both trans and closed, thus living triple lives with each other.

2024, 6 chapters, 17.6K words, complete

Princes Are Always Just Out of Reach

Sanders Sides/Miraculous crossover! Roman's boyfriend Virgil is akumatized. Remus battles him alongside Ladybug as Chat Noir. Also, coming out and identity reveals.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 10K words, complete

Some Real Important Thing

Gabriel knows he's dying and decides to tell Adrien everything. Adrien does not take it well.

2024, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.4K words, complete

Naruto

Dreaming Is a Universal Language

Gaara relearns how to sleep.

2019, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3K words, complete

Thought That Cupid Shot Me With Love But It Was Only An Aro

Soulmate AU written for aromantic writing month. Sai and Ino are soulmates but don't realize it, partially due to Sai's disinterest in being in a romantic relationship.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 10K words, complete.

Pokémon

Gender's a Spectacle

S&M! Kukui's class asks about Pokémon's gender.

2021-2022, 1 chapter (oneshot) 4K words, complete

Heels On the Limonium

Trans Nurse Joy drabble.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), <1K words, complete.

Island Visitors

Pokémon Anime/TMNT 2012 crossover. The turtles end up on Iron Island.

2018, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.5K words, complete.

Immortality Is Hard On the Mind

Submas, B&W, PLA, Conquest, S&M, X&Y! Immortal Volo befriends the twins and Elesa in modern day but gets into some trouble when Ingo is sucked back in time.

2023, 15 chapters, 53K words, complete.

Masking and Related Stories

Submas, PLA, B&W! Hisuian Zoroark Ingo fic. Ingo masters his illusionary abilities and disguises himself as a human to return to his normal life. Main fic and spin-off are complete, may get additions later.

2023-2024, series, 150K words, complete.

Silence Was His Savior

Takes place immediately after the last chapter of the abandoned fic The Guardian's Dragons. Ash refuses to tell Oak what happened to his friend Bill.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), >3K words, complete

Sycamore

X&Y! Professor Sycamore's Pokemon Journey. I tried posting an incomplete fic to see if it would motivate me to write more but it did not and I never finished posting what I did have written so it may get updates eventually.

2017, hiatus

The Normal Amount of Pain Is None

Submas! Ingo deals with chronic pain after returning to Unova.

2024, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K, complete.

Vines

OC fic/writing challenge. The beginning of Blake's Pokemon journey.

2018, 15 chapters, 32.8K words, complete

Puss In Boots

We Are Not Star-Crossed

Soulmate AU. Puss uses his wish to ensure everyone finds their loved ones like he has.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.2K words, complete

Sanders Sides

Five Old Men Sitting On A Bench (Not Now, Not Ever. Ever Again)

Elderly DLMAP! Thomas is dying and Deceit wants to make amends with the other sides before its too late.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 12.4K words, complete

Like The Pictures On Our Socials, Faking What We Show

High school AU. Fake dating gay Roman/trans aroace Virgil to protect them both from getting outed.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 12.5K words, complete.

Manifestation

Orange side theory fic based on an Asides episode I now can't find the title for.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), >1K words, complete.

Nightmare Before Sunset

Sanders Sides/Warriors crossover. Many generations after the era of Firestar, the Four's prophecy comes back and a new group of cats gains the power to save the clans.

2019-2020, 20 chapters, 100K words, complete

Oblique

Written for aromantic writing month. An ace Roman and an aro Remus feel broken enough that they try to recombine into the king, distressing their partners and the other sides.

2021, 3 chapters, 11.4K words, complete

Princes Are Always Just Out of Reach

Sanders Sides/Miraculous crossover! Roman's boyfriend Virgil is akumatized. Remus battles him alongside Ladybug as Chat Noir. Also, coming out and identity reveals.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 10K, complete.

Snake In the Grass

Rikki Tikki Tavi AU! Snake Janus is betrayed by cat Virgil.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 7K words, complete.

Stolen From the Violet

Puff the Magic Dragon AU! Sorcerer Virgil is cursed into a dragon and falls in love with human prince Roman.

2020, 8 chapters, 22.4K words, complete.

Voiceless

Ben 10 Omniverse/Sanders Sides crossover. Roman and Remus are Osmosians (Omniverse definition: human mutants) with the power to see visions of something they don't yet understand. Logan, Virgil, Deceit, and Patton are aliens who attend the Plumber Academy with Rook and Scout.

2020-Present, (estimated) 30 chapters, in-progress/hiatus.

When Everything Goes Wrong: Sanders Sides Edition

Sanders Sides incorrect quotes.

2020-2022, 120 chapters, 75K words, complete

Why Don’t You Play Me One Of Your Songs?

Sanders Sides/BoJack Horsemen Valentines Day fic. Logan professes his love for Patton through song.

2021, 1 chapter (oneshot), 1.4K words, complete.

Words

Drabble series about Deceit, words, and feelings.

2020, 10 chapters, 8.2K words, complete.

Spirited

A Symptom of Our Relationship

Request. Roberto has some insecurities about his relationship with Clint.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 1.7K words, complete

Beautiful In A Moment

Clint recalls how he fell in love with Kimberly and Roberto.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.3K words, complete

Burn the Body that Isn't Mine

Trans AU! Clint reflects on his transness after dying.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 6K words, complete

Clint & Ghost Oneshots

Three related oneshots where Clint bonds with each of the ghosts.

2022, 3 oneshots, 2.4K words, complete

Do I Even Know My Own Name?

Request. Kimberly knows about Scrooge.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 900 words, complete

Grocery Run? More Like Grocery Pun

Request. Clint bothers Roberto while shopping with flirty grocery puns.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K words, complete

Hematite Stones

Request. Clint wants to give a gift to Roberto but isn't sure how.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2K words, complete

Mix Up

Clint and Carrie don't understand the casting choice for GP Future and GP Past.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 2.2K words, complete

Then To Finish, We'll Snuggle

Clint shows Roberto Elf.

2022, 1 chapter (oneshot), 1.4K words, complete

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Four Corners of the Earth - Series

The turtles are separated as children and end up in very different parts of the world, forming new families there.

Original fic (complete), prequel oneshots (abandoned), sequel (abandoned)

2018, series, 140K, abandoned

Funeral Fight

Request. Chompy Picasso, Ice Cream Kitty, and Dr. Cluckingsworth MD get into some trouble at Splinter's funeral.

2018, 1 chapter (oneshot), 6K words, complete

Island Visitors

Pokémon Anime/TMNT 2012 crossover. The turtles end up on Iron Island.

2018, 1 chapter (oneshot), 3.5K words, complete.

The Adventure Zone

Guy Stuff

Angus has some trouble with his binder. Magnus, Taako, and Merle help him thanks to faded memories of Barry Bluejeans.

2022, 2 chapters, 4.6K words, complete.

To Touch Each and Every Life

The Adventure Zone/ Ben 10 Omniverse crossover. How the Day of Story and Song affected the Ben 10 universe.

2022, 5 chapters, 7.3K words, complete.

Warriors

Broken Nature

At birth, two of Yellowfang's kits died and went to StarClan. Or so she thought. Instead, Brokenkit grows up sharing a body with his two sisters' spirits.

2019, 20 chapters, 71K words, complete.

Chasing Stars

Jayfeather is reincarnated time and time again. He is tired of it.

2020, 1 chapter (oneshot), 5K words, complete

Falling Feathers

Jayfeather knows he's going to die. He tries to make amends with his father before its too late.

2019, 15 chapters, 30K words, complete.

Nightmare Before Sunset

Sanders Sides/Warriors crossover. Many generations after the era of Firestar, the Four's prophecy comes back and a new group of cats gains the power to save the clans.

2019-2020, 20 chapters, 100K words, complete

The Ancient Spirits / The Ancient Tribes

The three regain their lost powers and learn about catkind's history.

2018-2019, 80 chapters, 125K words, complete.

The New Horizon

The clans discover the three's powers and drive them out of the clan, forcing the three to find a new home and leaving the clans to face the Dark Forest alone. Some intention of continuation but has an ending. Crossposted onto Ao3.

2020-2021, 20 chapters, 60K words, complete.

[popcorn-plots]

TW: mentions of robbery, break-ins, gun-violence, just general violence and drunk people.

Things People Say (The Accidental Killer prologue)

~~~

People see things on the news all the time. It’s part of life. You’re scrolling through Instagram, TicTok -whatever is popular right now- and you see stories about people getting shot, people breaking into other people’s homes, muggings on the street, homeless people dying of frostbite. I could go on and on with lists of the ‘Things People See’, but that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the ‘Things People Say.’

You see, people, like you and me- we see things all the time. At school, at home, on the streets. I once saw a man on the subway, totally stoned and singing a very-off key rendition of ‘All I want for Christmas is You’ by Mariah Carey. This was last year, in May, guys. Anyways, I saw that Drunk Subway Guy on my way to school one morning. I got off the train and the moment I crossed the threshold into that Great and Spacious Building called Eastern Bluebird High School, I booked it to my closest friend and laughed my way through an explanation.

Yeah, you see what happened. I talked. Everyone talks! It’s how we found out about Mr. Gardes’ retirement; the newest -and most popular- fashion trends; the candy that gave Carl Meikans food poisoning and got him MIA for a week and a half; Natalie Evans’ newest boy-toy – it’s all just gossip, really. But gossip and the ‘Things People Say’ are two different things. When someone finds a news article, a video, anything that falls under the category of ‘Things People See’, they share it with their friends and go, “I’m glad that’s not me.” or “Ha, as if that would ever happen to us,” or, better yet, my favorite one: “I can’t believe ‘such-and-such’ is going on ‘wherever-out-there’. I’m just glad we’re safe!”

Guys, gals, non-binary pals, whoever is reading this story right now, welcome to the world of ‘Things People Say’.

Now, in case you were wondering, this ‘Things People Say’ category really does have everything to do with this plot, because a while back, I heard about a serial killer on the loose in Baltimore. 

The whole school did. It was all the rage: a serial killer whose signature style is car crashes and who has been steadily making his way across the country, from Canada to Washington and now, Maryland. I, being young, naive, and like most of the vast population of Bluebird High, turned to my best friend, laughed nervously, and said a dumb rendition of a ‘Thing People Say’: 

“We’re fine! Baltimore’s not even close- besides, what would a serial killer want with a stupid high school in the middle of Manhattan?”

Lots of things, actually, starting with a senior named Christopher Russel (although we didn’t know it at the time).

title is still tbd and so is the characters and writing style (it's going to be rewritten in a kind of epistolary format) and the serial killer has a different MO and signature. this is also the book that started out as an avengers fanfiction and is now an original story, so I need to rework characteristics and names.

[tarotoftheendless]

I want to write fan fiction so bad, but my ADHD is so intense that it makes it hard to even start. I have the ideas, but my brain gets bogged down by the details that it stops me from starting. Also, I doubt myself when writing the characters from the fandom. I want readers to believe it is the character, you know, and I just doubt my ability to do those characters justice.

I of course want to write for some Tom Sturridge characters, like Jake or young Carl, but I just want to get it right so bad that it stops me from taking the plunge.

Does anyone have tips on how to overcome this?

[crazylilad]

Red- Chapter 19

AN: Just an Fyi, this is a TWD fanfiction, meaning there are a lot of TWs, including loads of violence (of all kinds)

No smut!

Please make sure to reblog, like, or whatever you wanna do! That helps me want to continue writing these kinds of stories and to figure out what people want

SUMMARY

I ran through the woods, Matthew right behind me. 

My breaths came in harsh and my legs were screaming in protest. Just a bit farther. I promised myself. 

Matthew stumbled out of the underbrush and doubled over, his cheeks red and mouth open as he huffed for a breath. I moved his arm around my shoulder and kept going. 

I flinched as a bullet ricocheted off a tree to my left. It was too close. They were too close. 

But this was only the start 

Taglist is no more for this story you guys. I might bring it back but as of right now it won't be up. For oneshots the taglist will remain. This book is also on wattpad!

Chapter 19

Rossary

*Three Months Later*

My body ached as I kicked the soccer ball into the makeshift goalie. I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept through the whole night, and going out all the time in search of people to live at the prison was finally taking a toll on my body. There was no way being in my thirties made me old but I was beginning to feel like I had the bones of a ninety year old. 

Then again, when you don’t take care of yourself and spend multiple nights sitting on a cement floor without any sort of comfort, it can take a toll on your body. And of course winter was finally here and the cold never did not help my body fight off any issues. 

“Hell no! That’s not fair!” I yelled as Rick came over and scored a point for Matthew and Carl. The two boys snickered, Matthew mimicking my voice. I scowled and picked up the ball and threw it at my brother.

Matthew’s face fell and he grabbed the ball, ready to throw it at me before getting called over by one of the people from Woodbury. A sardonic smirk spread on my face as Matthew walked over to a girl, his cheeks pinked from the cold. My smile grew as he threw an arm over the girl’s shoulder. From here I could see Matthew’s mouth move quickly as he spoke to the girl, a smile spreading on his face as he undoubtedly made a fool of himself.

Carl shook his head, looking like he wanted to stick around but knowing his dad had other plans for them. 

“Hey,” Rick called for his son. “Come on, we got pigs to catch.”

I snickered as the young boy, who had grown up so much these past few months, scowled. 

“You wanna come with us?” Carl asked hopefully. 

I shook my head. “Nah I’m gonna stay here to see what else will happen today.” Carl’s frown only deepened. I pat his head, giving him an apologetic smile before grabbing my weapons and getting ready to help around the prison.

The sound of a motorcycle stopped Carl from trying to convince me to go with them once more. Daryl slowed down until he was in front of us. It seemed it was just him going out today, meaning he was continuing his search for the Governor. 

“I’ma head out, be back in a couple days.” Daryl said. He wasn’t looking for anyone to stop him this time. Hell we were lucky he stopped for a conversation. It had been three months with no sign of the Governor but Daryl didn’t want to quit looking. It was his way of dealing with the death of Merle and the newcomers added to the prison.

Neither Daryl or I were very fond of people and more often than not the two of us were outside the fence. Typically we were together, but recently we had been spending more time apart from one another, one of us was always doing something and too busy to go out with the other. I frowned. It had been two months since Daryl and I had been able to do something with one another without something impeding on our time together.

Rick nodded. “Be careful.” 

The two men shared a meaningful look before Daryl looked away. Rick and Carl waved at Daryl and I before heading to go out into the woods in search of the pigs they spotted a day ago. 

“Are you looking for him?” Daryl nodded, keeping his blue eyes on my face. I bit my lip. “How long are you gonna be gone this time?” I asked the redneck. There was an emotion in my voice that I couldn’t understand. I realized, standing here in front of Daryl, how much I missed being near him. Although, it was a nice change of pace going around the prison without someone mentioning something about the two of us. The thought of someone speaking about me sent a shiver down my spine.

It got to the point where it felt like we couldn’t be seen together. Then again, it may have just been me who felt like that, especially considering I had grown up in the spotlight and ran away from it. Now it felt like I was back in it, but this time with nowhere to go. Daryl frowned, his eyes questioning where my mind went.

I shook my thoughts away as Daryl shrugged. He looked up, squinting as he tried to block the sun out of his eyes. “A week maybe. Dunno yet.” I nodded. “Ya wanna come with?”

I bit my lip to hide the small smile threatening to show itself. “Sure I wouldn’t be interrupting your alone time?” I joked

A scowl was etched on Daryl’s face. “Ya already do.”

I hit his arm. “You and I both know you’re the one who won’t leave me alone Daryl Dixon.” His cheeks grew a deep red and he shook his head. 

He looked forward. “You comin’ or not?” 

I smirked and got on his bike, and wrapped my hands around his torso. If only to tease him, I pushed myself closer to Daryl, my mouth next to his ear. “We both know you’re obsessed with me, hell you even love me-”

The sound of the motorcycle cut me off and without another word Daryl took off.  I was smiling so hard it hurt, a laugh leaving my throat as Daryl tried to hide his bright cheeks.

He sped through the gate before it could close, causing Rick and Carl to look over, the former with widened eyes as Daryl narrowly missed them.

The prison group was growing, and while that was good, it also meant there were less and less places to hide away from people. So, when I was able to get away I made sure to cherish every second of it.

When Daryl finally slowed down we were at the outskirts of a small town made up of small buildings scattered around. I looked around, taking note of my surroundings before hopping off the bike. 

I squinted at the sky. 

“Might rain,” Daryl muttered as he handed me an empty bag. I swung it over my shoulders. “Come on, We’ll check around town and grab stuff for the prison while we’re out.”

I followed behind Daryl and played with a knife in my hands. The town was barren. With the exception of a walker or two, there wasn’t hardly anything here. I frowned at the words painted on certain store.

Clear

Not here

No one gets to live

An uneasy feeling seemed to take control of my senses. I made note of every hiding spot, the easiest exit and where walkers would come from first. Daryl stopped in front of an old restaurant, a dark look in his eyes. I followed his gaze and noticed the writings on the restaurant walls. Walkers wandered about inside. 

“Come on,” Daryl muttered. We walked some more until we were in front of a boutique. 

Nothing was said as Daryl opened the door to the boutique and walked in. I followed after him before venturing over to the farthest side of the store while Daryl checked the front. 

My hand touched the racks full of clothes as I walked toward the backrooms. I used to love going shopping before the world ended. The times when I could be in my own head for hours, looking at clothes with no thought in the world. Now the idea of wanting to be oblivious of all that was around me didn’t feel right..

I made quick work of grabbing anything useful for the prison, making sure to check every corner for anything that could be deemed remotely useful. When I finally decided there was nothing else that could be taken, I walked to the front to find Daryl. He didn’t look up as I rested against the checkout station. 

My eyes watched as Daryl stuffed a few items into his bag, his hand hesitating over a small keychain before finally deciding he would take it. 

“Anywhere else to check in here?” I asked as Daryl stood to his full height. 

He grunted and gestured for me to follow him out the door. A few walkers had gathered in the center of the town square. I gripped my knives and followed Daryl.

Lightning lit the now dark sky, thunder following right after. I grit my teeth together and quickly made note of any place that would be safe to take cover. 

“Alright c’mon we got time to look a bit more.” Daryl said. He was looking at the blackened sky, calculating when exactly it was going to rain. 

Our steps were silent as we rounded the corner and went deeper into the town. My eyes watched every nook and cranny near us. The writing on the walls of the buildings grew sparse as we rounded a corner.

Daryl was a foot in front of me when he stopped, his back going rigid before he turned around and gripped my shoulders. 

“Go!” He yelled. I didn’t hesitate and found my footing before breaking off into a sprint. From the corner of my eye I saw the herd we had just about walked into. My mind ran haywire and I quickly connected the dots. The walkers in the restaurant, the writings on the walls before they finally decreased. It was a trap that neither of us had noticed. 

I planned to run back to the town square but that plan ended as soon as I came face to face with a walker. It was so close to my face I could see every wrinkle in its decaying skin.

“No-” Daryl’s voice was strangled as the walker growled. I fell back, tripping over my own two feet and landing on my ass. I couldn’t roll with the fall and ended up closer than the herd than I would’ve liked. Daryl was in front of me a shocked look on his face. I darted away from the herd, my feet barely underneath me as I tried to keep myself from falling face first into cement. 

Something grabbed onto my arm, its grip hard and firm as it pulled me upright. I hadn’t noticed I was holding my breath until I realized the person grabbing me was living and not what would be my death. Daryl’s eyes looked as if he had seen me die. And more than likely he though he did; I could only imagine what he must’ve seen from where he was standing.

Daryl, as often as he could be right, was wrong. It was just our luck to find the infested part of the town right before it began raining. At first, it was just a drop or two but it quickly drenched our clothes, leaving us sprinting down the streets toward the crappy apartment complex. I squinted in order to try and keep water from obstructing my view. 

Daryl pointed at a sign showing how to get to an apartment complex. “We’ll hole up there.” He yelled over the sound of walkers and thunder. 

My knife slashed the head of a walker as we ran as fast as we could. Daryl shot one up ahead of us and I pulled his arrow out, sticking it in the back of my bag as we continued to run. Very quickly Daryl and I ran up the covered stairs leading up to the second floor of the apartments. He didn’t stop until we were on the third floor. 

Daryl looked down the railing and huffed, the herd was further behind us but it was a matter of time before they made it to the apartments. He kicked down one of the apartment doors and we went inside. 

I had barely closed the door behind us when Daryl grabbed onto my biceps.

“Did he get ya?!” Fear threatened to creep into Daryl’s voice as his eyes wandered over my body, seeming to take note of any possible harm. I didn’t think me meeting death face to face would’ve affected him this much.

“No, I’m okay.” I said, my voice raw with emotion. My body throbbed from the fall I took and I knew I’d be sore. Daryl stepped back as I took my leather jacket off but his eyes never left my body. A shiver went down my spine as he looked at my bare skin, searching for what wasn’t there.

“you okay?” his voice was quieter now. I threw the jacket next to Daryl’s angel wing one before nodding. Daryl swallowed before walking toward the apartment’s kitchen. I bit my lip, wondering if he was still worried about me or if something else had suddenly hit him. 

 While Daryl was busy in the kitchen I walked toward the bedroom. My skin prickled as I really thought about how close I was to that damn walker. I was beginning to wonder if I had a death wish.

 My lip curled as I saw a dead dog at the end of the bed. It seemed the owners left it to fend for itself. What a sad death.

I pulled a sheet off the bed and covered the animal. 

“What are ya doin’?” I looked over to find Daryl leaning against the door frame. He was munching on a chip, his hand still in the red bag as he awaited for an answer. I pretended not to notice how his eyes looked over my body once more.

I shook my head. “He was just left here.” Daryl nodded along, a far away look in his eyes. For the tough guy act Daryl had around others, I knew seeing an animal suffer hurt him, maybe more than it hurt me. Daryl loved animals.

 He sat his chip bag down and came over to me, pulling another cover off the bed and draping it over the dog.

“There.” Daryl wiped his hands on his pants before sticking his hand out. I took it and let him help me over the clump of blankets that once separated us. My cheeks heated as we were pressed up against one another and I pulled away quickly. 

I furrowed my brows and followed Daryl as he walked into the kitchen and picked up a six pack of beer back with him. 

“Said we should drink after the Governor was taken care of,” Daryl said softly. “Here’s our drinks.” 

I smiled, remembering my words that seemed like forever ago. I took a beer from him and sat down on the couch in the living room. “We’re going to need a lot more than this mud water.” I said, a joking smile on my face as I opened the beer and took a drink. 

Daryl snorted. “Ain’t no rose wine around, princess.”

I kicked the redneck’s foot with my own, a scowl on my face. It was no secret that he knew I grew up rich, in fact over the past few months he had made it rather clear that he knew. 

I shook my head. “Shut up.”

He shook his head, his hair now hiding his face as he snorted. “That all ya got.”

I bit my lip. Yes, it was, in fact, all I could come up with. A few beers wouldn’t nearly be enough to get drunk, but I hoped we would at least get a little bit tipsy before we had to go back to the prison. 

I was on my second beer when I decided to ask Daryl a question. “Hey next time you go out, maybe you can keep an eye out for a physical therapist? Or a doctor?” 

Daryl, although he could hold his own in alcohol, seemed to be slightly more drunk than I was. He smiled down at me, his cheeks rosy. I was beginning to wonder if the beer we were drinking was more than just beer from the store. He spoke, “What? The fall was that bad?”

I shrugged. “Well apparently I have the body of a seventy year old now. My back is aching and the damn beds at the prison won’t help. Hell I might as well be sleeping on rocks.” 

The redneck shook his head. “Didn’t know you were so old.”

“No more older than you.” My voice was louder than I intended it to be and Daryl shook his head, an amusing look in his eyes.

He shrugged. “Why do ya gotta act like it then?”

I scowled. I was younger than him, but only by a year or so. My scowl deepened. “That doesn’t mean I’m old. I’m just matured.”

“Physically.” Daryl muttered. The smile on his face could be heard in his voice. I liked it.

“Are you calling me fat?” I hid my smile, keeping up the act.

Daryl nodded. “Nah. I ain’t cruel. I would go with plump.”

“So like you, huh?” I looked over at him, now realizing how much closer we were than before. Now we were face to face, looking at one another as we both came up with our next comeback. 

It was quiet for a moment, our breaths mingled together as we figured out what to do next. My stomach flipped and I felt sick. I couldn’t explain the feelings I felt; I don’t think I had never felt this way before. 

Daryl didn’t move, his eyes searching my face. I could see the cloudiness in his eyes. Daryl seemed to snap out in time and leaned forward. My breath caught and I held impossibly still. 

I couldn’t remember the last time I had been kissed. William was the last person I had a relationship with, and while he wasn’t the most crappy guy I had ever been with, he did leave me with a lot of worry. But something about this felt different, or I was drunk and needed to get out. 

Daryl smirked. “What was it about me likin’ ya?” his breath tickled my neck as he whispered into my ear.

My cheeks burned as I pulled back, seeing the triumphant smile on Daryl’s face. I was an absolute idiot.

“I hate you.” I mumbled. 

“I doubt that.” he said. 

My cheeks burned even more.

[myocsfanfictions]

Safe Heaven - TWD Season 3

The Walking Dead Fanfiction

They had to leave the farm, and this time, they had to be on the road for seven months. Sarah and Nicki can not help but wonder and pray to find a new place. A place where they and their new family could start a life, maybe in peace, maybe forever. Does a safe heaven really exist in a world like the one they are facing?

MASTERLIST

《 Previous - Next 》

Chapter 4

NICOLETTE

After eight months, the group was finally able to spend more than two nights in the same place. T-Dog had been searching for supplies with Carol when they stumbled upon a little village in the middle of nowhere in Georgia. They had found an abandoned school where they could finally rest.

Rick had kept them safe throughout the winter, and Nicki was well aware of that, but he had made them move around constantly. Whenever he wasn’t sure about the safety of a location, he preferred to find a better one. But now everyone was feeling fatigued, and Lori, even though she kept up the pace as if she weren’t about to deliver a baby in a few weeks, was starting to tire more easily. So, when Rick agreed to stay at the school for a few days,

"The school wasn’t big; it was a kindergarten with only three classrooms. They had cleared it of the walkers that had been inside, and Sarah had set up her traps at the doors to alert them if any walkers managed to get in. This way, they could escape through the window of the classroom they were using for sleep.

"Glenn," Rick said, making the guy look towards him. Take the map; I wanna see where the closer creek is. Tomorrow, we might need more water." Glenn got up from where he was sitting next to Maggie and then followed Rick and Daryl to the other side of the classroom.

"You think we can stay here?" Nicki heard Carol ask Hershel. The man's beard and hair had grown, but Nicolette had to admit that the new look suited the old man. It made him look kind of badass.

"I don't know," he answered with the usual gentle tone. "The herd is far from here, but it's going to catch up sooner than later. " Then his eyes went to Lori, who was talking with Sarah.

The day before they found the school, they had stumbled across a herd of walkers. They were in the cars, so they were all safe. But it was a pretty big herd—too big for that place to keep them safe.

Nicki chuckled with annoyance. She was too used to not feeling safe, not even inside four walls. It felt like a mockery. Nicolette had never believed in God, but if there was one, he surely had a strange sense of humor.

"Dad," she turned when she heard Shorty's voice, "I've seen a store just at the end of the road. I thought I could go take a look." Rick looked down at his son. He didn't like when Carl wanted to go alone on runs, but it had happened, and Nicki was sure that under the worry, he was proud of him. She had to be honest about that. Shorty was difficult to scare, and he had learned pretty quickly how to handle himself out there.

"Rick..." Lori spoke, clearly not agreeing with Carl going.

"I can do it!" Carl exclaimed, glaring at his mother before turning back to his father. Nicki could see the uncertainty in Rick's eyes, but she knew that not letting Carl go would only make him more angry at Lori. So she got up from the desk she was sitting on, grabbed her quiver, and slung it across her shoulders.

"I can go with him," she said, taking the bow in her hand. Her suggestion didn’t seem to sit well with Shorty, but she ignored him, waiting for Rick's response.

The sheriff had come to trust Nicki's skills with the bow; she had proven herself more than once. But what held everyone back was her age. They often said she was too young, but in those months, she had done whatever it took to survive, just like the rest of them. They couldn’t deny that. So, even though she noticed the glance shared between Daryl and Sarah, as well as Rick’s uncertainty, she was confident he would eventually let them go.

"Alright," he said finally, nodding. "Come back in two hours, no more than that."

"Alright," she answered, then looked at Carl. "Come on, Shorty."

The boy rolled his eyes before heading toward the door, followed by Nicki. But just as she was about to walk out, Sarah stopped her, a gun in her hand.

"Bring this, too," her sister said.

"I'm okay with the arrows," Nicki replied, but Sarah insisted.

"And I'm okay with this only if you bring a gun, too." Sarah was terrified by the idea of Nicki running out of arrows. It wasn't easy to find them; even Daryl had shown her how to make more. Her sister always wanted Nicki to be prepared with more than one weapon.

"Alright," Nicki agreed, at last, taking the gun and tucking it into the back of her jeans. Then she followed Carl out.

"You didn’t have to come with me," Carl grumbled, marching ahead. His sheriff hat perched confidently on his head, a backpack slung over his shoulders, and the gun firmly in hand.

"It’s true," she replied coolly, nodding. "But then you’d just sulk all day."

She caught his glare at her, "What's into you?"

Nicki knew that Carl had taken in the whole Lori and Shane situation very badly. He adored his father, and he loved Shane, too. He surely felt like his mother had betraid their family in more than one sense. But she also knew that Lori regretted what she had done.

"Do you know the meaning of cohabitation?" she asked, and she saw him look briefly in her direction.

"Yeah," he shot back, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "It means I’m stuck with you."

That made her chuckle, "And I'm with you," Nicki said with a shrug of her shoulders, "And you are a pain when you are angry."

"So you’re doing this for yourself?" he countered, his skepticism evident. He scoffed when she didn’t respond.

They walked in silence for several meters before Carl stopped in his tracks. Something had caught his attention. Nicki frowned as she looked in the same direction.

It was a house.

The girl wondered what had interested him so much. They had seen many houses like that one, and they had even found shelter in some of them. But she had no time to ask because he had already started making his way toward the house.

Nicolette took a breath. "I thought we were going to the store," she said, hands on her hips.

"You go," he replied. "You don't have to come with me."

Nicki rolled her eyes and caught up with him, taking him by the shoulder to turn him around. "I promised your father I would accompany you. And you should be thankful," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know that..." he admitted, looking down. She observed him, his gaze fixed on the ground as he kicked the dirt softly with his foot.

"I don't want your 'thank you,'" Nicki said, making him look up. "But tell me what you want to do." He frowned, looking up at her.

"Why did you want to come with me?" Nicki cocked her head to the side.

"Why did you want to go to that house?" she asked, moving toward it. She chuckled when she heard him groan.

"It was not a stupid question," he muttered to himself as he caught up with her.

"So?" she pressed again.

"I hate when you don’t answer," he replied, making her chuckle again. But he continued, "My house was very similar." Nicki looked between him and the house.

"Is that so?" she asked, but he shrugged.

"We don’t have to go," he said dismissively. "Let’s just go to the store."

"Don’t be embarrassed," she called out when he was about to walk back to where they had come from. Carl shot her a small frown. "Come on," she said, gesturing toward the house with her head. "Let’s take a look."

The girl took one of her arrows, placing it against her bow as Carl gripped his gun. Nicki pressed one ear against the door to ensure there was no noise inside. The two of them shared a look before Carl reached for the doorknob and turned it open.

As they entered, the air was thick with dust, and an unsettling silence hung over everything. The walls were painted a faded peach, their once cheerful hue now dull and peeling. Wooden trim, chipped and weathered, outlined the windows, allowing faint rays of sunlight to filter through and illuminate the remnants of a life once lived.

The two of them nodded at each other, ready to separate to see if any walkers were inside. Carl headed toward the kitchen while Nicki stepped into the living room. There was a worn leather sofa that sat crookedly, flanked by mismatched chairs that had seen better days. A patterned rug lay askew on the hardwood floor, which creaked underfoot, echoing the absence of life. On a glass coffee table, a stack of magazines lay untouched. It didn’t seem there were any walkers in that room.

She walked out into the corridor, where she noticed framed photos of smiling families hanging crookedly on the walls. Their faces were dust-covered, whispering stories of joy now overshadowed by the stark reality of abandonment.

Then she saw Carl walking out of the kitchen, and as he turned to look at her, Nicki suddenly heard a growling sound. It was louder than usual, and then, from around the corner, a walker appeared.

"Behind you!" they both shouted at the same moment. Nicki quickly shot her arrow at the walker behind Carl as he fired in her direction. When she turned, she saw the walker behind her now lying on the ground, Carl's bullet in its skull.

"The bastard was in the closet," she whispered to herself, realizing she hadn’t noticed it there. Then she turned to Carl, sharing a nod of gratitude with him.

Then Nicki glanced back at the walker behind her. It was a woman, and as she looked at the photos on the wall, she realized it was the same woman who had once lived there. When she turned to follow Carl up the stairs, she noticed that the man from the photos was also present. She took a deep breath, hoping that at least one of them hadn’t killed the other.

Shaking off those thoughts, she made her way upstairs. The floor seemed clear as she looked around for Carl. She didn’t have to try hard to find him; he was looking at more pictures in a drawer in the corridor.

"It’s a pretty house," she said, leaning her back against the wall next to Carl, who looked at her with curiosity.

"I’ve never asked you," he reflected, "Did you live in a house like this one?"

Nicki shook her head, looking down. "No, an apartment," she answered. Her mind drifted back to her parents. She really hoped that one day she would see them again—or at least find out what had happened to them. And their grandmother.

"It must be hard for you," he said, keeping his blue eyes on her. "Not knowing." Tears welled up in Nicki's eyes as she thought about her parents.

"It’s alright," he said again, but his tone made her frown. He was speaking almost softly to her. "You don’t have to say anything. I’ll keep your secret, though."

She looked at him, confused. "What secret?" she asked, her voice devoid of harshness.

"What makes you cry," he answered.

She shook her head, drying her tears. "It’s not exactly a secret."

Then he smiled at her, a genuine smile. "I’ll keep it anyway," he said before walking toward the bedroom. Nicki watched him with wide eyes, then a little chuckle escaped her lips as she took another arrow and followed him.

Lucky for them, there was no walker inside, so they started to look around. Nicki walked toward the drawer and opened it. There were many shirts. They could use some.

For an instant, she felt a pang of sympathy for the couple lying dead downstairs, but once again, she pushed that thought aside. Gesturing to Carl to hand her his backpack, she opened it to put some clothes inside.

"Cool!" she heard him exclaim as he walked to a shelf. "Is this a pair of binoculars?" Nicki chuckled as he pointed them at her.

"Does it work?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, turning to look outside. "We could use them to..." Nicki frowned as he suddenly stopped talking and walked back toward her. "We gotta go," he said, his face pale.

"What?" she asked, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along with him.

"A herd," he said, making her eyes widen. Was the herd already there? It couldn’t be. That herd was heading in another direction. How did they get so far so quickly?

"Where are they?" Nicki asked as they sprinted toward the door of the house.

"They're coming from the east," he answered, glancing at the street in that direction. Nicki followed his gaze. They would be there any minute now.

"We gotta tell the others," she said, nudging him to run toward the school.

The two of them raced side by side, adrenaline fueling their speed as Nicki glanced back over her shoulder to ensure no walkers were in pursuit. They weren’t far from the school, and with their urgency, they burst through the doors and into the classroom.

"Dad!" Carl cried, his voice a mix of fear and urgency.

"Carl!" Nicki heard Rick call as he sprinted toward his son. "What’s going on?"

"We gotta go now!" Carl exclaimed, his eyes wide with panic.

"A herd is coming," Nicki panted, trying to catch her breath. "Carl saw them coming from the east."

Rick's eyes widened in alarm. "Daryl!" he shouted, turning on his heel and leading them back into the classroom. "We gotta move! Everyone, get up!"

Nicki met Sarah's gaze for a brief moment, then rushed over to her sister to help gather their sleeping bags, their earlier calm shattered by the looming threat.

"Lori, let me help!" Carol called out as she ran to assist Lori. In the chaos, Hershel and Beth quickly packed away their food while Rick, Daryl, and Maggie stood guard by the door, eyes scanning for any signs of danger. Glenn and T-Dog had already jumped out of the window to get the cars running.

"Come on! Come on!" Glenn urged, running back to help pass bags through the window. One by one, they scrambled out, each person moving with a sense of urgency. Glenn, Maggie, Beth, and Hershel piled into one car, while Nicki climbed into another with Carol and T-Dog. Rick, Lori, and Carl took their own vehicle, and Daryl sped off on his bike with Sarah.

As they left the town, Nicki turned around and caught sight of at least forty walkers roaming the streets, their grotesque figures stumbling aimlessly. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she sank back in her seat, feeling the weight of despair settle over her. Once again, they were back on the road, a relentless journey through a nightmare that seemed never-ending. When would this horror finally stop? When would they find a safe place?

[percabeth4life]

I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter (coming soon) || AO3

And we’ve reached canon timeline!

Ms. Dodds clearly has something out for me.

I can tell.

She watches me with narrow eyes, a dangerous look on her face.

I can feel the magic that clings to her, it feels like the strange itch of a curse, but not quite.

There’s an almost buzz with her, cloudy and indistinct.

I really don’t like her either.

Thankfully I’m good enough at Math to do alright in her class, or I really fear what she would do to me.

But as it is, I’m very worried.

“There’s been a theft.”

Triton was worried, he hasn’t contacted me since that letter.

“Keep your head down.”

I miss him, is he okay?

“Stay away from the ocean.”

I’m worried and scared, what’s going on?

“Don’t contact me.”

I need to tell someone about Ms. Dodds, I need to do something.

“Stay safe.”

What am I supposed to do?

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Ms. Dodds almost seems to follow me around, I don’t dare use my waterbending outside of my room nowadays.

I haven’t used it much outside of my room anyways, but I played with the water in my cups and spilled some people’s drinks when they were rude.

They deserved it.

Nancy is more than happy to try to get me in trouble with Ms. Dodds though, it’s annoying. I’m not sure how to keep off her radar when Nancy tries to blame everything on me.

I’m just really glad for all of Triton’s lessons now. Triton might not be here, but his lessons still help me.

“There will be enemies you cannot match. They will be stronger than you, you will lose in a fair fight.”

Triton taught me a lot.

“There are two main paths to take. They depend on the situation.”

I don’t know if I’m treating the situation right, but I’m going to do my best.

“If you have no choice but to fight, anger them. Make them angry, mock them, tease them, attack their pride, their honor, their hair. Do whatever it takes to throw them off. An angry enemy is a dumb enemy.”

I smiled in the face of Nancy’s accusations and did my best to always be around at least two other people. I will have an alibi this year. There won’t be a repeat of previous year’s situations.

“If you can though, try to defuse the situation. Manners, sweet smiles, agreeing with them in everything they say. Don’t antagonize them, be the kindest, sweetest, most well-behaved person you can be. Make it so they don’t want to fight you.”

Ms. Dodds is scary, and I want Triton, I want the sea, I want home.

But I have to stay here, so I smile and nod and say yes ma’am and I hide my power.

I acted as ordinary as I possibly could.

I don’t think it’s working.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I tried to read the ex-cursed book from first semester. It’s all in Latin though? I can’t read it very well, just picking out certain words here and there. How annoying.

The paper felt old, but it doesn’t look it? It doesn’t seem to have any power in it anymore, at least I don’t feel anything other than the constant buzz around me.

Oh well, I’ll have to get better at reading Latin to read this book I guess.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I talked with Carl the fish a lot, while researching how to make him human again.

At this point I think I just need more power, the person that cursed him is stronger than me, so I have two options for undoing the curse. I could pull the curse apart at its base, but that would require me understanding how the curse was laid, and what the exact nature of the curse is, and so many details.

I learned a lot about curses, I’m so glad I had these books before whatever happened on the solstice.

The curses can be of different natures, woven ones where the curse is weaved almost like making a cloth, layered ones where it’s parts are all laid on top of the other, overwhelming ones where they just force their will on the subject, and twisting ones where they shift the nature of the object, that one is usually done for objects already enchanted though.

If you know the nature of the curse you can pick it apart, pull at woven ones until the fabric of the curse comes undone, peel the layers up one by one for layered ones, slip underneath and yank the overwhelming ones off (though it’s recommended to be sure of your skill to counter those), or just re-twist the twisting ones back to their original nature.

I thinks this one is either twisting or woven, but if I mess up doing the careful way of unwinding it then I could make it worse. Twisting a woven curse tightens it and makes it harder to undo and pulling a twisting one does the same.

So, I was probably going to do the second way, which is just plain overpowering it. But that requires a lot of power, especially if it’s twisting or woven. Those two are the hardest to undo through sheer power.

Ugh.

But Carl was at least nice to talk to, he helped me stay calm even though I have no idea what’s going on.

I should figure out how to make a bubble of water to bring him with me. That would be easier then leaving him with Gabe. I doubt it’s safe for him there. It was only safe last summer because Gabe didn’t find out about him till the very end of the summer.

Yeah, I’ll look into making a way to carry Carl.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I frowned over the book on healing, and the medical kit spread out in front of me. I want to get better at healing, unfortunately I need to figure out the tools.

I picked up one of the tools, this is just the basic set but it’s so varied.

Okay, so this is treated seaweed, for binding the wounds that you can’t heal all at once. This is purification stone to cleanse the wound to make it easier to heal. The slim shell knife is for working with the wound? And for cutting the seaweed to the right length. There’s an antibacterial mix, made from… something. I don’t know how this is made, I should probably learn.

The shell paste that hardens into a cast is cool though. And the spider crab thread is cool. I didn’t know the spider crabs made thread but looking through the manual it says that’s what the thread is from. Maybe there’s a mythical one I don’t know about? There’s also a jar of enchanted fish, enchanted to sleep until you open the jar, to eat dead skin.

There are also the basics, like in any land first aid kit. Tweezers, scissors, painkillers (though these are made from a fish with paralytic abilities that cuts off pain, it’s cool), and a thermometer (though again, it’s a type of coral that’s very sensitive to changes in temperature and enchanted to live).

Then there’s some stuff I’m not sure about? I don’t know if land kits have them, the one at home doesn’t.

There’s a large soft blanket made of woven sea grasses (so soft) that has one side woven with coral shielding, the kind that keeps in heat, a type of woven mix of sea grass stuffed with anemone puff that cools rapidly when exposed to water.

The manual shows how to use it all and one of my extra books shows how to combine them with healing. It’s interesting, I just wish I had someone to practice it on. I’ll just have to try it with minor injuries that I get?

I sighed, oh well. It’ll come in handy some day I’m sure.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Mr. Brunner is acting strangely as well.

I saw Mr. Brunner and Ms. Dodds talking, well, actually it sounded more like threatening each other from where I was standing.

I still don’t know if Mr. Brunner is safe, but he doesn’t have the itch of a curse on him. So maybe he’s okay.

He certainly seems safer than Ms. Dodds.

Mr. Brunner has started teaching us how to hold swords during lessons.

I don’t like any of the swords, they don’t feel right.

But some of them have that feel to them, a buzz in my head. They aren’t normal, they definitely have magic of some kind.

The one Mr. Brunner uses has the most powerful feeling, and it reminds me of Elei’s trident, made in the ocean of her power. Made of her.

I’m pretty sure that sword is of the ocean.

I pretend I don’t know that Mr. Brunner has what’s likely the essence of a being of the sea, even though it makes me ache. It’s just like Elei’s, what if there’s a being out there missing their essence?

I smile and nod again, hiding my fear, my worry, my anger.

Triton will be upset if I fall apart just because I can’t see Triton.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I stood at the edge of the pit again. This time there was someone else there, though I can’t see them.

I could feel something I hadn’t noticed before, sliding sand, soft and soothing, prickling over my hands, pinpricks of warmth and a feeling of numbness. The feelings together are strange, a bit uncomfortable, but they don’t bother me too much.

“-rry Master. I couldn’t get it to you, but I won’t fail again! I will find a way to let it reach you, I swear it.”

“Your failure has put back our plans by quite a bit, I now must expend energy to keep the wayward god under my control, I do not have the power to spare yet.”

“I know, I- I have no excuse. I failed you because of my own arrogance.”

The voice murmured something, I think it’s the Thalozan language, which is really, really, old but Triton knows a few words and taught me them.

I have no idea what the voice is saying though, I just recognize the sounds.

“I will make arrangements, return to your sleep.”

“Yes Master.”

There was a faint whisper, then the other presence was gone.

There were more faint murmurs in the other language, possibly Thalozan? Before it suddenly went silent.

“Ah, I see you’ve returned little Half-blood.”

“It’s Percy,” I reminded.

The low chuckle returned, “Indeed.”

I heard a faint murmur, “Fainter, less than before, not sure,” before he hummed, “How-“

I woke up.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I hate the stupid detention I’m stuck in.

I didn’t do anything! But Nancy Bobfit decided to blame me for stealing something, and my alibi didn’t work.

I have to clean the classroom for this detention, I’m pretty sure I’m just supposed to sit quietly in a room and listen to a lecture for an hour, but Ms. Dodds doesn’t go by normal rules.

So, I’m stuck in that room, with a rag and a spray bottle, reluctantly cleaning the room.

I’m staying polite though, I’m not going to let Nancy ruin all my hard work at making Ms. Dodds not kick me out at the first opportunity.

I sprayed the desk and wiped it down, this is nowhere near as hard as cleaning the river. I’ll be fine.

“Now honey,” Ms. Dodds started, “You know why you’re here yes?”

Ms. Dodds was apparently an expert at torture.

A faint buzz nudged at my senses.

The next hour was spent with her subtle implications that I’m a horrible thief, shouldn’t be in the school, brings shame to everyone, am a horrible person, and am probably cheating and she just couldn’t prove it yet.

It was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to lash out. But I need to keep my temper.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I blinked in the room I’m in, looking around.

I’m back in the undersea palace, Oceanus’s palace.

I’m in my probable dad’s palace.

…

I should look around.

For… research… yeah.

I promptly left the room to explore more.

It’s pretty, I like the walls, covered with glittering murals. I passed an opening and stared in awe at the dark waters filled with lantern fish and other glowing beings.

I decided I like it, it’s comfortable in a different way than the places I’ve been with Triton.

“Back again I see.”

I whipped around to see Oceanus there once more.

“Er… Hi.”

Dumb, stupid, idiot, don’t just say hi!

I quickly twisted my hand into the proper motion of respect.

Oceanus’s lips twitched.

“Perhaps introduce yourself first this time little half-blood, you have the unfortunate habit of disappearing before you can.”

“Ah, yeah… sorry.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me expectantly.

“Oh uh, I’m Percy Ja-“

“Oceanus! Who is that presence? Where does it keep coming from!?”

I decided I should resign myself to being entirely unable to ever introduce myself to my probable dad.

Maybe he just hasn’t gotten a chance to see me in a while? So, he doesn’t know what I looked like?

I hope so.

“Tethys, my love, that presence would be this young Half-Blood.” Oceanus motioned to me.

I bit my lip but ignored the pang in my chest at Oceanus calling Tethys his love, of course he would! Tethys is his wife, even if my mom is amazing and incredible and deserves the whole world, Oceanus wouldn’t have married his wife if he didn’t love her.

The Titans didn’t do that nonsense like the gods did.

The mermaid that approached was familiar, it’s the one I saw in my first dream to the undersea palace. A feeling of just general clean washed over me, curling currents swaying over my skin, interrupting the cold deep currents that I hadn’t even realized I felt.

Her tail the flowiest of any, glittering brilliantly in silvers and blues.

“Oh? The little half-blood from a few months ago.”

I quickly gave her the proper motion of respect.

Her lips twitched like Oceanus’s, “And who might you be little Half-Blood?”

“I’m Percy Ja-“

I woke up.

Why me.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

We’re going on a fieldtrip!

I hate fieldtrips!

Yay!

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I sat next to Grover, resisting the urge to drown Nancy.

Murder is bad, murder is bad, murder is ba-

Another sandwich piece in Grover’s hair…

Maybe murder wasn’t so bad.

“Don’t, you don’t need to get in trouble with Ms. Dodds here, she has it out for you.”

Grover was holding my arm.

He clearly could tell that I’m ready to fight Nancy.

I scowled but stayed seated.

“She needs to get some taste, peanut butter and ketchup sandwiches in your hair? She might as well just toss her lunch in the trash.”

“Ha just stay calm and hope Ms. Dodds doesn’t see anything.”

I sighed, “Fine.”

It’s probably for the best that Grover stopped me, Triton would be disappointed in me if I let my temper win over in a fight that I can’t win with it.

You’re not supposed to get angry, you’re supposed to make your opponent angry.

I sighed and forced myself to not snap and drown Nancy with the water from my waterskin when she threw another piece of her sandwich at Grover.

This was going to be a long fieldtrip.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

See, I like fieldtrips, in theory.

They could be really fun! But things keep happening on them and well… I’m extremely wary of fieldtrips now.

I tried to not be worried, Mr. Brunner is running this trip after all.

I’m still not sure if he’s trustworthy, but he still doesn’t seem to mean me any harm. Grover nervously wrung his hands now that we were out of the bus.

Ms. Dodds walked right behind the two of us, I worked very hard to keep a happy expression on my face. Don’t need her getting on us about being suspicious or something. That would be bad.

We walked through the museum, Mr. Brunner leading us.

I smiled as I studied the different displays. It wasn’t as cool as what’s under the sea, but it was still pretty impressive.

Oceanus’s palace was cooler though.

My eye twitched as annoying students kept talking and interrupting Mr. Brunner. I was having a hard time hearing his explanation.

I resisted the urge to tell them to shut up, that would get a look from Ms. Dodds, and I did not need that.

Mr. Brunner moved on to talking about some funeral art, explaining the significance and-

“It’s just a naked guy on a wall,” snickered Nancy.

I sighed, “It’s not just a naked guy on a wall, it’s a stele, as Mr. Brunner said it’s a column of stone that has the image of the god that the girl that it once served as the gravestone for worshipped. Honestly if your brain wasn’t the same size as a jellyfish’s then you’d know that Nancy.”

The group laughed as Nancy flushed, glaring at me.  Mr. Brunner paused in his story.

“Did you have a comment Mr. Jackson?”

“No sir, sorry for interrupting.” I flushed slightly, whoops.

He nodded then pointed to one of the pictures on the stele, “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

I brightened, “That would be the Titan King Kronos, the Titan of Time and Agriculture, eating his kids the gods.”

Mr. Brunner nodded, but made a motion with his hand, “And he did this because…”

I bounced on my feet, resisting the urge to smile, “He got a prophecy that said his child would overthrow him, so he ate his children to prevent it. But then his wife, Rhea the Titaness of motherhood, gave him a rock instead of feeding him his youngest, Zeus. Then Zeus grew up, raised in secret by some nymphs, and he tricked Kronos into throwing up-“

“Gross!” A few kids muttered.

“-his other kids by feeding him a mustard and wine mix. Then the gods got together and ended up over throwing him. They cut him into a lot of tiny pieces and threw the pieces into Tartarus.”

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re going to use this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.’”

“And why, Mr. Jackson,” Mr. Brunner started, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”

Grover snickered softly, “Busted.”

“Shut up,” Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

Just more proof to me that Mr. Brunner wasn’t human, I could barely hear her, and I was right next to her.

“Because we can learn from the mistakes of the past to improve ourselves in the present, and it’s also just very interesting.”

Mr. Brunner nodded, though he didn’t seem fully pleased, “That’s very nearly correct Mr. Jackson. Full credit. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Ms. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”

The class drifted off to follow Ms. Dodds. Some of the girls were holding their stomachs, most of the guys were shoving each other and acting like doofuses.

“Mr. Jackson,” Mr. Brunner’s call stopped me from going too.

I paused, turning to him, nudging Grover onward.

“Sir?”

Mr. Brunner looked at me solemnly from an ancient gaze, another point towards him not being human.

“You must learn the answer to my question,” he said seriously.

I chewed my lip, I know what it means, but I also can’t know more until Triton says so. He said it’s dangerous, so I would listen.

“Yes sir.”

“What you learn from me,” he continued, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.”

I wanted to get angry, it’s unreasonable of him to hold me to higher standards than the rest of the students. It’s frustrating! I tried as hard as I could, and he was a better teacher than many I’d had, but…

I glared at the ground as I nodded, I tried so hard to learn all the names and match them to the proper facts and make sure it was spelled right. It’s so hard to do in English!

I don’t know who he is, if he’s safe or a threat, but I’m so frustrated that he’s holding me to these standards and no one else.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch as he stared at the stele mournfully.

I wonder if he killed the girl?

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I stepped outside to see Grover waiting for me right by the door.

I idly noticed Nancy and her friends (I know it’s shocking that she has any) standing nearby too. A storm was forming outside.

We started walking past the fountain, right next to the stairs.

“Detention?” Grover asked as we reached the stairs.

I put my hand on the fountain as I took the first step, “Nah, not-“

“Whoops.”

And Grover was falling.

Nancy laughed, her hand out.

Grover was falling.

My vision went red, roaring in my ears as I yanked.

A scream from Nancy, a cry from Grover.

When I could see again Grover was alright, if soaked.

Nancy was gasping for breath in the fountain, looking like a drowned rat.

The other students were gaping.

“The water-“

“It just reached out-“

“Did you see that?”

“Percy pushed me!” Nancy finally gets the air to speak.

I ignored her, moving to check on Grover.

He coughed, rubbing his butt, but otherwise seemed okay.

My chest loosened. Thank goodness.

“Now honey-“ Ms. Dodds had appeared.

I glared up at her, did she not see what just happened.

“Come with me,” She said.

“Wait!” Grover yelped, “He was just trying to help me!”

Ms. Dodds looked down at him, “Violence is never the answer Mr. Underwood.”

“But-“

“You – will – stay – here.”

I shook my head when Grover looked at me worriedly, pulling my waterskin out of my bag and fingering my trident charm.

“Hold my bag? I’ll be back soon.”

Ms. Dodds turned and walked back up the stairs, “Honey, Now.”

I swallowed and followed, shooting my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare that Triton helped me master at Nancy.

I looked back to Ms. Dodds and was unsurprised to see her at the top of the steps.

The buzz around her was weakening, and the itch of the not-curse was getting stronger. She’s going to attack me.

I walked up the steps regardless, better away from everyone.

She kept going deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

She stood with her arms crossed in from of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was also growling low in her throat.

I swallowed.

“You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” She snarled.

The buzzing was fading, the itch making me want to scratch my arms.

I raised my chin, slid my “princely” face on, and responded, “I’m sorry for any problems I’ve caused Ms. Dodds.”

I held the waterskin tightly, one finger pressed on the lid.

“Did you really think you would get away with it? Or that a simple apology would pardon the crime?”

She looked angry, furious. Her face was creased, I could almost see the change that was starting, the buzz was almost non-existent.

“I don’t understand Ms. Dodds, what crime am I being accused of?”

Thunder boomed as the storm that had been brewing outside broke.

“We are not fools Percy Jackson,” Ms. Dodds continued. “It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”

I frowned, there was only one thing I know that has happened lately that she could be accusing me of.

A theft.

Of what, I don’t know, but she seems to be blaming me for it.

My heart sank.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, I- I don’t think I did whatever you’re accusing me of.”

“Is that your final answer?”

I twisted the lid, “Yes ma’am.”

Then the buzz was gone, and the itch grew almost unbearable.

Her eyes began to glow and then her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings.

She turned into a fury!

Uh oh.

I flicked the lid off in one quick move, but before I could call the water, Mr. Brunner wheeled through the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen that positively sung with magic.

“What ho, Percy!” he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.

Ms. Dodds lunged at me.

I dodged, snatching the ballpoint pen out of the air. I know this tone of magic.

The sword of the sea was in my hand.

Ms. Dodds spun towards me with a snarl and murder in her eyes, “Die honey!”

I went by the instincts that Triton had drilled into me, letting one hand flick out to send a water whip snapping around Ms. Dodds and yanking her to the side the other bringing the sword down right into her shoulder.

It passed clean through her body with a hiss.

She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot.

All that remained was a claw.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

I walked towards the entrance of the museum again, a buzz was itching at my senses, the same buzz that surrounded Mr. Brunner and Ms. Dodds. Only much louder and much more spread out.

The pen that was a sword that was a pen that was of the sea was clutched in my hand.

I was shaking.

That was the first monster I’d actually fought, the empousai from before doesn’t count.

Triton was going to be furious.

I paused before opening the doors, taking a moment to choke back the sob that wanted to break out.

I want to go home, I want Triton, I want my mom.

I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.

I closed my eyes and pulled the “princely” face on.

I can break down later, to Carl. He won’t judge.

I swallowed once more and took a step forward, opening the doors.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, still wet from me using the water to slow his fall.

Nancy Bobofit was standing soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ‘friends’. When she saw me, she gave me an ugly grin.

“I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.”

I frowned, “Who?”

The buzz grew worse.

“Our teacher. Duh!”

I frowned, is this a spell? Because I killed Ms. Dodds they replaced her with a spell?

The buzz had settled across all the students, but it was still itching at me. I really wanted to cover my ears, it wasn’t quite a sound by it was extremely disconcerting.

I turned away from Nancy, I was too angry with her anyways.

If I stay near her I might try to recreate turning Carl from a guinea pig to a fish.

I focused on Grover, who sucks at lying and who didn’t have an irritating buzz about him.

“Where’s Ms. Dodds.”

He faltered, looking away.

“Who?”

I held back the urge to roll my eyes or scream or cry.

“Nevermind.”

I snatched up my bag and slipped the pen into it. It’s of the sea, and Mr. Brunner gave it to me willingly. If he wants it back, he can ask. Then he can answer my questions.

I sat down on the fountain and pulled out my lunch.

This year is a trainwreck.

[fangsandfeathers]

I need more fics of young Elijah Kamski and Amanda Stern kicking ass together in the early days of Cyberlife.