#and eventually i'll have enough to fill a plot

[smallblueandloud]

that ds9 modern au seems very interesting 👀

wip wednesday game!

“I’ll see you later,” says Jadzia, pecking Julian on the cheek as the train slows to a stop. “Have fun with Miles!”

“Thanks,” says Julian, smiling at her. “Say hi to Worf for me, will you?”

“Will do,” she says. The train doors open in front of her and everyone piles out, Jadzia caught in the middle of a press of people.

She loves the city -- loves the sheer number of people there are, everywhere she goes. It’s not a very Trill way to think, but then again, no one’s ever accused Jadzia of being too Trill.

[wild-jackalope]

summary :: in another dimension Mark is born a full blooded Viltrumite and is sent to conquer earth, but you change everything.

warning :: Nolan! Mark x Debbie! Reader, smut, porn w/ plot, fem reader, grinding, no use of cock or cunt (yes I'm a prude), cumin inside, breakups, relationship is a little rocky at first, pregnancy, having a child together eventually, Mark is a clueless viltrumite, soft lowkey, likely some mistakes but I tried my best

note :: h..herrow..

You should've known Mark Grayson was too good to be true. Should've known when he stopped an airborne car from ending your life, that his impossibly handsome face wasn't meant to be yours.

Maybe you did know, maybe you just didn't care.

When you first met, he literally swept you off your feet. One moment, there was screeching of metal and car horns: you were stunned, heart racking your bones with intense thudding, eyes blurred with stress-tears and legs failing your desperate, internal pleas to stay alive and run!

The car being hurled towards you wasn't going to stop and you weren't going to move. You were going to die.

But you didn't.

Instead, you looked up into the sky and landed on a stranger who held back your death like it weighed nothing.

Meters above the ground, wrapped in an unknown white and grey uniform that clung to a frame sculpted by something more brutal than earth could offer. A single hand held up the vehicle that had almost killed you.

His silhouette shielded the sun from your eyes and you could just make out the stoic expression holding his face.

"Leave." He ordered.

And just like that, a breath of life filled your lungs, your legs had begun dragging you away from the destruction, although poorly, because you'd fallen to the ground twice. The spasming of your muscles kept you from running far enough. It was like moving in a dream, your mind willing you to escape but your body reduced to uselessness due to shock.

The large arms that had just stopped the car from killing you; scooped you from the ground and took you miles away from the destruction. You caught a glimpse of the ground, watching as you were flown away from the slaughter whilst others ran.

"No— I'm fine! Go back." You blurted, your visceral thought only being that he'd left the fight for you—and more might be hurt because of it.

He didn't respond, only letting you from his arms on a nearby tower. Before he'd completely let go, he took a millisecond to give your smaller frame a squeeze, as if testing the durability of your body. You hadn't time to question it, nor process it, as he was right back into the battle, hair whipping your face from the rush of air he left behind him.

After about ten minutes of regaining your breath and slapping your legs awake, you attempted to find an exit from the roof. The only door to the lower levels had been locked from the inside.

It was funny, really, something you still teased Mark about even on your wedding night. 'You left me on a roof, seriously?' You asked, laughing. 'I came back for you, didn't I?' He replied.

Indeed he did come back, but not a moment before beating the villain wreaking havoc on the city unconscious. Whilst watching dust fly into the sky and buildings sustain damage you had time to consider that maybe this superhero was new.

He returned to you and took you to the ground, resting you on some calm rubble.

"Thank you. I think I owe you— coffee maybe? Dinner? My life?" you laughed.

He angled his chin up, eyes looking down on you suspiciously, almost to study you. "You didn't run," he stated.

You flushed. Were heroes supposed to make you feel embarrassed for becoming a deer in literal headlights? "Next time I'll try to dodge the flying Sudan."

He hovered beside you, perfectly still in waiting. Expecting something.

"Who— are you?" You asked.

"Mary Grayson. I've come from the planet Viltrum to protect your people." He said, as if it were memorised from a script.

"Mark Grayson?"

"Dinner."

"What?"

"I'll accept your offer for dinner." He said.

He was gone before you could even mutter, "Oh."

You didn't expect him to actually show up for dinner— certainly not tapping on your seventh story apartment window like he'd made his reservation at your dinner table. Actually, you weren't sure what to expect. You weren't even sure how he'd known where you lived.

He arrived just after the sun set, wearing the same strange uniform. His hair messily curved, no doubt blown out from his quick flying during the day's catastrophe. Scuff marks peppered his jaw and hands, and a stain you hoped wasn't blood specked across his chest.

Against your better judgement, you pried open your window and let him in.

He didn’t have a clue about how dates worked, let alone human interaction. You offered him water, and he looked at it like it could've been some suspicious poison. You tried to make conversation, and he answered everything in the most literal way possible—no small talk, no polite questions, just raw honesty. At one point, he stared at your TV for a full two minutes, then asked if humans had always been obsessed with wasting their life with entertainment.

Still, there was something oddly endearing about him. He was out of place, odd and— call it crazy— but you enjoyed it.

That meeting seemed to seal your fate, because Mark Grayson was far from done with you.

You'd see his saves plastered on the news, and sometimes even catch him flying by the city. Some weeks, he'd appear at your window with a worn look— like your home was the only place he could think of going.

Asking never seemed to cross his mind; he just appeared.

And you always let him in.

Whenever he showed up at your doorstep, it was always a new surprise— Like the time he brought you a tree, instead of flowers.

"Mark?" You yelled up, startled, your bag slipping from your shoulder as you stepped out of your building. You side-stepped to avoid the crumbling dirt falling from the uprooted tree in his hand.

"This is for you." He landed, touching down with professional ease. The tree thudded into the patchy yard outside your apartment.

"Mark— this is— why?" You croaked.

"It's customary to present someone you're courting with a plant, is it not?"

"Well, yes, but this?"

"I suspected this will outdo those smaller, weaker plants." He stated, as if he were far above handling flowers.

You stared at the massive plant, trunk thick and roots crammed into the dirt. No flower pot could ever hold it and your landlord would likely have an aneurysm if he saw it left on the front lawn.

But Mark was so earnest about it. Prideful, even.

"So you stole a whole tree?"

"I've relocated it," he stated, very surely. "It was unappreciated, it'll be much better with you."

"Mark, this is a cherry blossom tree... from— somewhere. You can't just—"

"There were no nesting animals," he said, "do you not like it?"

That stupid furrow of his brows and the drop in his voice had your heart pulling at your chest. You sighed, long and reluctant. "No, I like it. It's just... different."

"Good," he said, pride returning to his voice, "then I'll continue with my efforts."

One week, it was a tree, the next it was a quartz crystal straight from the earth's crust, still raw and covered in dirt. "Humans like to be adorned with crystals." he reasoned, as though ripping a rock from the earth was the most natural thing to do.

Once, he'd brought you a wild rabbit, its fur bushy and eyes wide in fear. He stated its weak and terrified nature reminded him of you. You took the poor creature from his hand, cradling it and telling him not to kidnap wild animals between light laughs.

You couldn't help but smile at his complete lack of understanding. The innocence in his actions always disarming you. His earnestness was endearing and with each strange gift, each odd comment, seemed to draw you closer to him. Yet, despite the love that bloomed in your chest, there were moments when the differences between you were so glaring they seemed impossible to bridge.

Then came the night when Mark decided you'd be the one he'd try 'marriage' with.

He came to your window, a gash in his arm still seeping blood from the fight you'd seen the news cover just moments ago.

"Mark! Are you alright?" you ushered him to your room, sitting him on your bed and searching your medicine cabinet for anything to stop the bleeding.

He seemed unimpressed with your worry, stating, "I'm going to be fine. I've survived much worse."

"Don't be an idiot," you muttered, placing a gauze on his wound and tightly bandaging it up. You hadn't realised how close you'd become. He fought for the city, then came straight to your home, not the hospital, or Cecil—you.

It was the first time you'd tended to his wounds, but it wouldn't be the last.

Afterward, you sat beside him, eyeing the tight bandage in hopes that it wouldn't bleed through. Mark couldn't take his eyes off you, feeling your warmth radiate on him.

"You always let me in." He stated, not asking but still unsure.

"Shouldn't I?" You asked, meeting his brown eyes.

His jaw clenched, "it's dangerous," he said. "You know what I am, what danger I bring."

"You being a superhero doesn't scare me," you said.

He studied your face, looking for a lie in your eyes but found none. "Reckless." He muttered.

"Says the man, bleeding on my bed." You mused.

That earned the smallest twitch of his mouth, not quite a smile.

You shifted and the space between you dissipated. His breath entwined with yours, short and shallow.

"You're not dangerous to me," you cooed, leaning in and kissing him.

Your first kiss seemed long overdue, because it revealed a deep need through its fever and roughness.

His mouth moved against yours, like trying to find the rhythm of it— trying to immediately master this new experience.

Your fingers found his hair, dragging gently across his scalp until he grunted into your mouth. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his hands hovering, tense and strained over your sides.

You brushed it aside as a silly alien trait and pressed his hand against your side. "It's okay Mark," you breathed, kissing his jaw, "you can touch me."

His breath hitched, flickering between your lips and where his hands tightly rested. "I appreciate your forward approach, but are you sure you're ready to procreate with me?"

"P—Procreate? What?" You snorted, unable to hide how the absurdity jolted your body.

"That is what you're intending, isn't it— to mate?"

"Lord no—" You said, attempting to suppress any giggles rising up your chest. "On Earth, sex isn't just about having children."

"No?"

"Sometimes, but most times..." you trailed, a finger brushing Mark's arm, "it's simply for pleasure."

That got his attention. His muscle stilled beneath your touch, watching you like you were some rare thing. "I want to feel it for myself," he said.

"I bet you do." You leaned in and pressed a lingering, light kiss to his jaw.

Your hands landed on his chest, the hardness a reminder of his impossible strength. You moved, straddling his lap and letting him feel the curves of your body against him. His breath quickened and you could already feel the effects of your touches, hard against your inner thigh.

Your hands, bold and needy, began to map out the muscles of his body, curving over the planes of his stomach before finding the firm ridges. You let them linger there, listening intently to the puffs of Mark's heavy, anticipated breath.

Once you decided to let up on your teasing, your palm found the curve of his bulge, the heat of him palpable even through the fabric of his suit.

He sucked in a sharp, defensive breath, grabbing your hand tightly as protective instinct kicked in. You took a moment away from his lips to study his face.

You were faced with an expression you hadn't yet seen painting Mark's features. His brows were furrowed in an unfamiliar expression: soft frown, flushed face and wide pupils. You could only describe it as desire wearing the mask of nervousness.

You tilted your head, offered him a knowing smile.

Despite his internal turmoil, you easily freed yourself from his grip and continued your pursuit of his pleasure.

You had managed to reach a strange equality in your relationship: Mark was a super-powered hero with incredible strength, but he knew nothing of the world, and you had to teach him. But this? With Mark's breath spiking at the pressure you touched him with, the way he shivered at your wet kisses. He'd never been at your mercy before.

You pressed Mark down onto the bed, rising only to take your shirt off.

He seemed torn between action and simply taking whatever lesson on human interaction you had to give him. His hands hovered closely, but not close enough.

You took his wrist and guided him to the fabric of your bra. "You're not going to break me, Mark."

"You're frail."

You huffed, raising a brow at his expression, "I can take whatever you want to give me."

That did little to soothe his concern—but it didn't stop him.

You pressed your weight into the stiff shape poking your thigh, driving your hips forward. Mark grunted, the hand on your breast squeezing, the other finally taking a stronger hold of your waist.

"Fuck," he cursed, fingers pushing craters into your soft skin. You repeated the motion, adding kisses alongside it.

"You want to take your suit off?" You drawled, slow and sensual into his ear.

He was naked below you before you knew it. You decided to even the playing field by taking off your bottoms.

He admired your body for a moment, enough to send a kick of embarrassment to your cheeks.

“I’ll turn the lights off.” You offered, reaching towards the lamp.

But he stopped you with a firm hand.

“What is the point of nudity if I’m unable to see you?”

“Well—" you paused, "it’s more about feeling.”

He took two fingers and softly dragged them down the middle of your breasts, along the ridges of your sternum until he reached the plush of your tummy. “I’m more than capable of seeing and feeling.”

You shivered. No hiding, then.

“Let me see you.”

“Mark…” you protested. He was having none of it. You slowly relented, unclasping your bra and sliding off your underwear, the last remaining pieces.

As the covers slipped from your skin, you felt like a dish—and Mark, with his scrutinising gaze, could’ve passed for a food inspector. His eyes roamed slowly, meticulously, like he was checking every bump and curve for perfection.

You took the pause to gander at him, finally letting your eyes settle on his sex. Am I prepared to take that? You asked yourself, god if his hands don’t break me, his dick might.

“Stop staring,” You muttered, unsure if it was for you or Mark.

With no further instruction from you, Mark decided he’d better inform you how quick of a learner he was.

He took you into him with a swift motion, his flushed skin meeting your own burning flesh in a tight hold. As quickly as he palmed your skin, his mouth painted your chest with rough and inexperienced kisses. You could feel his teeth drag and catch on your breast, making your thighs quiver.

Okay, yeah, I can take him. You decided.

You reached down, fingers trailing down his defined abdomen before brushing against his shaft, and you took the size of him in your hand, feeling a hot breath ghost your shoulder. You gave him a firmer grip and Mark’s arms around you became rigid. A slow stroke drew a groan from him, one that was unguarded and ragged.

With a more assured pace and grip, you quickened your rhythm. He twitched and a dribble of precum slicked your hand.

You would save the rest of foreplay for another time.

You aligned yourself with his length and hovered over his tip, slowly fitting him into you.

There was a slight discomfort at the wet tightness but it was taken away by a sharp pain at your shoulder. Mark's teeth had sunk into your flesh, not enough to break the skin but enough to distract you whilst he pulled you flush onto the remaining size of his sex.

"Mark!" You yelped, hands circling his neck to pry him away from your shoulder.

His lidded eyes met yours, and little dazed and partly apologetic.

"You bit me." You stunned.

"I—"

"It's okay," you said, "just.. not so hard." You thought you saw a flash of a surprised grin but became distracted with the twitch of his full length inside you.

"You're soft everywhere," Mark rasped, his hips rolling into you, slow and deliberate.

The confession made your gums itch and your moan met his groan halfway. You steadied yourself on his chest, feeling the intense drum of his heartbeat. His hips continued to push into you in an untrained attempt.

You aided, rolling into him and feeling the slide along your sensitive insides. You cursed.

The two of you found a disjointed rhythm— Mark matching the sway of your hips with a quick intent, whilst you took your time on him, working to have his length hit that perfect spot which drove you quicker to your orgasm.

Even through the fog of his desire, Mark couldn't help but study the way you reacted to him. How you quivered when he reached the deepest part of you, right where his dick curved into your most sensitive part.

He angled his hips to reach further, and your breath caught in your throat.

Mark's grip on your hips tightened and in a possessive motion he guided your hips further on him replacing your grinding with his strong, quick thrusts.

Your body shook against his, responding to him instinctively and Mark couldn't help but think this is right. This is exactly where I need to be.

Your nails pierced his chest, raking white lines against Mark's skin as his dick pushed you to your orgasm.

"Fuck!" You cried, your body racked with the flood of pleasure reaching every nerve in your body.

Mark was sent over, too, consumed by the fluttering of your insides sucking him in. A guttural groan escaped him with his final, messy thrust. His seed filled your twitching sex, kept inside by his length still filling you whilst the two of you caught your breath.

Both of you stayed, matching pants filling your otherwise silent room.

"Fuck..." you exhaled, half from exhaustion and disbelief. Your mind still swam in the afterglow and you couldn't help but mutter, "It took my last boyfriend forever to..." and as the words left your mouth your heart dropped. Seriously? Mentioning an ex while he's still inside me?

"Continue," he said, a flicker of tension in his eyes.

You hesitated, considering backtracking. "I've... never finished the first time having sex with someone.."

His lips quirked into a smirk. "So does that earn me the title of boyfriend?" he asked, his voice tinged with playful confidence. Without waiting for an answer, he shifted his hips upward, lifting you off the bed with ease. You gasped at the sensation, smacking his chest.

"Don't be arrogant," you shot back, raising yourself off of him with a silenced wince.

You pulled a drawer open, rummaging for an oversized shirt to slip on, and tugged it over your head before heading into the bathroom to clean up the warm mess between your thighs.

When you returned, Mark hadn't moved. But his eyes were fixed on the ceiling as though it were the endless night sky.

"What are you thinking about Mark Grayson?" you asked, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

His gaze shifted to you and something of a smile formed on his lips, but soon dropped to a slight frown. "On my planet, home. Mating— sex, is purely to procreate. I never thought it could be a tool for anything else."

"Sounds boring." You hummed.

Mark remained silent.

It really was just the two of you from then on, living life in a new rhythm, one that included Mark in ways you hadn't considered. He was at your side whenever he had time away from saving the world,

but that still left you plenty of time alone.

The quiet away from Mark allowed you to remain yourself. You—not just the girlfriend of a superhero.

Still, his absence was... undesirable, so it didn't take long for him to decide he needed to make it up to you. He had been away for a week, trapped in another dimension battling a monstrous race, and when he finally returned, he insisted on doing something to make up for lost time. That’s when he took you across the globe on your first trip together.

It was supposed to be a nice time, a way to reconnect. But like most things with him, it ended up being more complicated than either of you expected...

That trip was the first time you two broke up.

"I can't believe you organised this, Mark." You poked your chicken chasseur with a fork, "you can be romantic after all."

"I figured you must've missed me," he replied as casual as ever.

"Probably not as much as you're hoping I did." You grinned over the rim of your champagne glass.

Mark's brow lifted, amused. "No?"

"Well, you left with no warning, no goodbye." You said, tone light but edged with something real.

"I would've," he said, softer.

You sighed, warm but honest, "I know. It's just... hard sometimes, not knowing where you are, or how long you'll be gone."

He leaned in, elbows resting on the table. "But I'm here now. So, you'll spend the night with me."

You blinked, he must've really missed sleeping with you. "That's pretty direct."

"I took you to Paris, it's considered to be earth's most romantic city," He said plainly.

"You think because you took me to Paris I'll just crawl into bed for you?" You asked, sitting back in your seat.

"Yes— and continue the course of our relationship."

You laughed, but it was dry and full of disbelief. "So that's what we are? A transaction? You leave for weeks, take me to a nice place and I give you sex?"

His jaw tensed. "That's not what I meant."

"But it's what you think, isn't it?" You leaned forward, voice low but controlled.

"Don't twist my words."

"Pretty sure I'm hearing them clearly." You sighed, attempting to soften to him, "you can't expect everything to return to the way it was when you're ready, like my life is on pause until you come back. Then you expect me to worship you when you get back?"

His brow furrowed, caught somewhere between frustration and confusion. "I'm trying to fit your pace, your customs."

"I don't need you to fit anything, Mark, I just want you to understand me." You pushed your plate aside to reach his hand, "A relationship isn't about scoring points."

He glanced down at your touch, but instead of taking it, he pulled his hand away, fingers curling tight around the edge of the table. "I'm tired of your people's petty traditions. Will you come home with me tonight or not?"

Your mouth parted in utter disbelief, "No." You said, tossing your napkin on your plate and standing.

Mark quickly followed, his chair scrapping loudly behind him. "I brought you here, you can't leave without me."

"Like hell I can't."

That led to you blowing a thousand dollars on a very long plane ride home.

It was the first time you and Mark broke up, but it wouldn't be the last.

He won you back of course, only because you saw him save two children on the news, you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The second time the two of you 'broke up' was a tad bit... bloodier.

Mark had taken you to a Christmas market, the kind that lit up at night, with fairy lights strung across every stall, holiday music echoing from an unseen speaker being muffled by laughter and chatter.

It was the kind of place that felt safe and warm, despite the freezing winter.

You'd stepped away from Mark for only a moment, drawn to a stall that sold hand carved snow globes. Each little world held in them were so delicate and sweet. You were smiling, ready to call Mark over to show him one that held a home with a joyful family— when a feeling struck you.

The kind that made your scalp tight and your stomach feel light.

You looked up, eyes instinctively grazing over the people nearby when you landed on a man whose eyes glistened red in the cold. It was a man, mid forties with a glare that pinned you in place.

You straightened, looking over the heads of the crowded market to find Mark.

You spotted his distinctly dark hair and tall frame a few stalls down, half listening to a woman trying to sell him mittens.

You walked to his side, pressing to him and keeping your voice hushed, "let's leave, Mark."

He blinked down at you, "why?"

"There's a guy giving me a look and I am not interested in sticking around to see if he'll try anything."

Mark's expression hardened, not in dismissal but recognition. He stared at your face a moment too long waiting to catch your fleeting gaze to the man. When you did, Mark followed your eye line.

You caught a brief sight of his fists curling before he was gone from your side, leaving you with a strong gust of wind.

"Mark no—" it was too late.

He was already gone.

You stumbled by, weaving through people and muttering apologies to reach him. A tight circle of people had surrounded him and by the time you'd pushed through them, the man was stumbling back, clutching his mouth with a bloodied hand.

Mark's fist connected again, a loud thwack! sounding out. The man dropped like a rag doll to the ground.

"Mark!" You shouted, grabbing the back of his coat—the one you'd just gifted to him, still smelling of the store you bought it from. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"He was looking at you with ill intention," He said flatly, disgusted eyes still on the unconscious man, "just as you said."

"Mark, men look at me. Intent isn't a crime! you can't beat them because they stare!"

"I protected you," he said, eyes cooling when they reached you.

"No, you just attacked someone!" Your voice began to crack at the realised gazes around you. Recording phones, light whispers.

Just then, you caught specks of blood on his collar. It didn't seem to bother him. He was too calm, too sure he'd done the right thing.

"You can't hurt people because you think they're bad. The world doesn't work like that."

"I'll do as I please," he said.

Your chest ached. "Yeah?" You whispered, eyes narrowing. "Then good luck fitting in because I'm not going to babysit some alien psycho." You released your grip on his coat, stepping away.

His expression didn't break, not even twitch and somehow that made it worse.

But, third times a charm, right?

You hoped to God it was when you decided to give Mark his third— and final—chance.

He showed up at your window weeks later, disheveled, like he had forgotten how to dress like a human. His shirt was stained, pants crinkled and still wearing the coat you gave him.

He didn't beg, didn't argue, just said: "I've been learning."

A simple truth, a real promise.

You let him back in, not because he had changed but because he wanted to, for you.

Thankfully, no breakups came about after that. There were missteps, yes—misunderstandings, nights on the couch—but no fights that broke your relationship.

There was growth too, and tenderness. Nights in one another's arms, domestic mornings, and something close to peace.

And it stuck.

So the two of you got married. Not long after, you had a beautiful baby girl.

But really, it was all too good to be true.

The night before you found out Mark's true intentions for coming to Earth—that he was the one who killed the Guardians of the Globe and was going to try and indoctrinate your child into a ruthless empire—he'd made love to you like it'd be the last time.

Things had shifted since your daughter had gotten her powers. Mark was quick to anger from the smallest things, his body was continuously tense in a way it hadn't been in years.

But when he laid you down with soft kisses, you thought maybe this was the Mark you'd missed, until he spoke.

"You know you were the first person I ever experienced this kind of love with." His voice was low and subtly disturbed.

"Mark?" You took his face in your hands, trying to soothe whatever sadness had come over him.

"You'll be the last too."

"Don't talk like that, Mark—" A gasp pulled from your chest as he filled you. You must've had sex with Mark hundreds of times over the years, yet the feeling of his length sliding inside you and the spark it ignited never tired.

It likely felt the same for him, because he halted, regaining the steady pace of his breath.

"I'll never want this with another," he whispered.

"Mark—" He kissed you, enveloping his name on your tongue and hushing any further talk. No, he only wanted moans from you.

His arms encompassed you tightly, as did his smell and taste. Just Mark, all around you and inside.

Too good to be true. You knew it. You had always known it.

read a continuation of this AU here

[everybondyoubreak]

every bond you break

Chapter 1: I'll stick around if you will

pairing: joel miller x female reader

plot summary: You were supposed to leave the past behind when you took Maria's offer to come to Jackson — not get stuck training under Joel Miller’s watchful, unforgiving eye or babysitting Ellie on supply runs. Keeping your distance was the plan. Despite your constant clashing with Joel, there is an obvious attraction between you two, and a few other things revealed along the way that bring you closer together.

warnings: slowburn, seriously, like super slooowburn, mutual pining, blood & gore, tension, competence kink, enemies to friends to lovers, reader is age-appropriate, overprotective joel, eventual smut, eventual romance, found family

AO3

The first weeks in Jackson were peaceful.

You had lived alone in the middle of nowhere for a long time, so any sound of life you heard was something to get used to. This was what having neighbors felt like. At first it startled you a bit, but now you were comfortable enough to get annoyed when they woke you up in the morning.

And people woke up so early here. Your house was close to the center of town, another thing to get used to. There was a dining hall, a daycare, even a bar. People, places, things. It was noisy and new. It was a lot.

This is what you asked for though.

Maria was surprised when you reached out. Well, you didn’t exactly reach out. You came all the way down to Jackson with your two bags fully packed and finally took up her offer.

Your father knew her father before the pandemic. They weren’t close then, but calamity caused the two to join forces. They’d collaborate together, exchanging supplies and directing each other to valuable resources. They were grateful for your father’s support in building their settlement. They even offered your family to join, several times.

Sometime down the line, Maria’s father passed. And soon after so did yours. Around then, Maria asserted that their offer still stands. You cautiously declined, but you got curious.

One thing led to another, and here you were. In this one-story cottage. Sure, the knotty pine paneling was peeling off the wall a bit, but you were determined to make it work. With all the newcomers, they were having trouble refurbishing enough houses quickly and safely. This was the best they could offer with your sudden arrival.

It was already a lot to show up so unannounced, you wanted to be as little of a nuisance as possible.

“You’re sure?” Maria had asked, “I know this is a bit of a downgrade from your old house.” “It’s perfect, seriously.” You insisted.

And it was. The front door had this stained-glass window which let the light scatter in this kaleidoscopic way. The kitchenette had checkered red tiles and a breakfast nook. The living room had a small fireplace along with a window-seat to read in. The house was filled with light and surrounded by sound. The complete opposite of your father’s house.

When you got up to fill your kettle to make some tea, the sink proceeded to collapse in on itself.

Fuck.

-

Maria’s husband, Tommy, came to fix the sink. He had half his body sprawled across your kitchen floor, head under the cupboard, trying to re-install the fixture.

It was surprising to see the life Maria had built here. She had a devoted husband and a baby on the way. On top of it all, she seemed extremely involved with every aspect of Jackson. Despite her extensive involvements, she was still immediately to your aide when you came to her about the sink. She sent Tommy over to help right away.

“So, do you and Maria just do everything around here?” You asked, half-joking.

“You’d think. Maria’s gotten better at delegating though. I was going to send Brian down here but,” He stuck his head out from underneath, “I realized he was the one to install this piece of shit. He did a fuckin’ awful job.”

“I wish I knew anything about plumbing, I would help-” You said, feeling useless, as he stuck his head back under, twisting away. He muttered something telling you to not worry about it. “Well there is this other thing I was going to ask you about,” He said, “Maria says you wanted to start helping out a bit.”

“Yeah, I’d love to.” You were excited to prove your worth. “She said you were a pretty talented artist as a kid, don’t know if…” “I’d be happy to help paint houses, or whatever you need painted around here.”

Tommy laughs at your suggestion, “No, I was thinking more like, teaching the art classes?” You looked out the window above the kitchen sink, out at the scrappy sanctuary ahead, and asked “Do we really need art classes?”

You were surprised, and slightly offended. Weren’t there bigger things to focus on in the community? And why weren’t you allowed to be a part of it?

“We do actually, the schoolteachers have been asking-” “I just don’t think I’m up to the task.” Jesus, you also hadn’t been around a child in what, a decade? You continued, “Maria had mentioned patrols. I’m good at long-range shooting I could really-”

Tommy stuck his head back out from under the sink, “We’re good for patrols right now, really.” The way he said it stung a bit. He could see your hurt and quickly began to explain, “You know, my brother…he just settled down here as well just a few months ago…he’s takin’ up a good amount of the rotations.”

“That’s just one guy though, I’m just saying if you need alternates or-”

Tommy wiped a bead of sweat from his raised brows and continued working, “Then we will let you know. But for now, we are good.”

He worked at the sink in silence for a few more minutes. When he was finished, you thanked him and asked, “Do you want a glass of water? I would’ve offered earlier but, you know…”

Tommy laughed, “I’m fine. Just let me know if you have any more problems with this thing.”

You nodded and kept your arms crossed. There was a confusing twist of gratitude and obligation growing inside you. Tommy and Maria were going above and beyond to get you settled here and you provided nothing.

As if reading your mind, he spoke your name and explained, “People want to live life here. They want to enjoy and create. I know you don’t think art and that stuff is important but here it matters. Really.”

“Thank you, Tommy. I think it’s just a big ask for right now. I also haven’t painted or drawn like that in years…” You stood up straighter, “I’m better at surviving for now, just let me stick to what I know.” “Alright, alright, that’s fair.”

He stuck his hands in his pocket, as if searching around for an idea in there until he came up with something. He settled on just saying, “Let me talk to Maria.”

-

Much to your dismay, you had ran out of your own food at home and needed to retreat to the dining hall for dinner. The dining hall was overwhelming in its quantities. The amount of food it offered. The number of people milling about in there at all times. You liked to keep your visits there quick.  

But as you opened your door to head out, you could spot Maria walking in the direction towards your house.

You held your breath and nervously walked out to meet her, giving a small wave to politely welcome her over. She stopped in front of the short white picket fence that surrounded your house.

“I don’t think pregnant women should be walking as much as you do.” You mentioned, gesturing to her pregnant belly. She smiled, “You’re on the way over into town. I came by to check on things.”

You nodded and crossed your arms, “Things are good."

“The sink working now?” She asked, eyes narrowing. Maria was always kind to you, but she had an interrogatory way about her.

“Yes, thank you.”

Now she stayed quiet, and you kept talking, “It really wasn’t that much of an emergency. You didn’t need to have Tommy do that right away-” Why were you so nervous? You were obviously telling the truth.

“We just want to make sure you’re alright here.” She said, hand resting on her swollen stomach. The care and attention Maria provided so readily put you on edge. Maybe you were waiting for a price to be given. People don’t care like that for free. She must’ve felt that she owed something to your father.

“I’m fine, I feel like you guys think I can’t handle myself.” The words felt sticky on your tongue coming out.

Maria sighed, “I know you can handle yourself, that’s the problem.” You looked up at her with a puzzled expression.

“You’ve been alone for a decade on top of that mountain. I know you want to be part of a community and I trust you’ll be fine,” Maria looked around at the other townspeople walking by, “It just takes people a lot of adjusting here to get back to what life was like before.”

“Is that why you’re hellbent on me doing art therapy or whatever?” “I was just spitting ideas to Tommy. It helps to have something to do here besides survive.” “Let me help you guys. It’s the least I can do, let me earn my keep.”

She put her hands on her hips, “Alright. We’re doing supply runs this week and they’re training one of the other newcomers here. You want in?”

Better than nothing. “Sure.”

“Perfect, I’ll have Tommy tell Will you’re joining tomorrow’s run then.”

-

What Tommy and Maria failed to mention was the age group of the crew. When you arrived to the meet-up, the sun was barely making an appearance. However, you were still the last to show up because you walked past the group a few times at first. You had mistakenly thought it was some school field trip gathering by the gate.

The “adult” of the group called out your name. You approached cautiously with your horse trotting behind you.

“That’s you right? The newest newbie of the crew?” You nodded in response, he stuck out his hand, “I’m Will.”

Will couldn’t have been older than 26 years old. He was stocky and had dirty-blonde hair that skirted the top of his eyes. He was growing out what looked to be a mustache on top of his lip. His horse matched his demeanor, down to the hair color. Well, minus the mustache. You leaned out to shake his hand and peer at the motley crew of juveniles he was leading.

It was three kids. Teenagers to use the proper term. One of them was a small, freckled girl with reddish hair tied messily in a loose ponytail. She looked spry but restrained, like a jack-in the box. One wrong turn and she’d spring at you. The rest of the crew was a pair of teenage boys, looking to be around 16 or 17. The taller one had brown, curly hair, and seemed a bit skittish. The shorter one was a bit more muscular, with a buzzcut faded by red hair. You could tell from his smirk he was gonna be a pain in the ass.

Will pointed at the freckled girl, “I’m gonna have you paired up with Ellie. She just started a few weeks ago so she can show you a bit of what she’s learned so far.”

The two of you glanced at each other, you shrugged and led your horse to stand beside hers.

“Careful,” Buzzcut boy leaned over to you with a grin and loudly pretended to whisper, “She’s a handful. Her last buddy just quit runs because she was such a-”

“Shut the fuck up, Dylan” Ellie snapped. The boy sneered, “It’s Devin. My name is Devin.”

“Like I care,” Ellie growled back, “I have some other names I’d like to call you instead-” You kept your head down, but a small laugh slipped out of you. The girl raised her eyebrows in surprise at your amusement.

“Alright!” Will shushed you all, “Enough. We only have so many hours of daylight to use. We’re heading east today. Patrols this week haven’t had any sightings of raiders or infected but still, no messing around.” He said this looking directly at Ellie. She rolled her eyes.

Will continued, “It’s a long ride to Wilson Valley. During this time, I want you to think about inventory. Things we need. Do we remember the acronym?”

The teens all nodded in unison but stayed silent. Will looked around, “Any of you gonna recite it for the newbie? Greg, you try.”

Greg, the lanky, quieter one, recited carefully, “Yeah, uh, we’re looking for items that are S-A-F-E.”

“Do you remember what that stands for—”

“Supplies, ammo, fire-starters, and electronics.” Ellie interjected, counting off each word on her fingers.

Will sighed, “Right, whatever, let’s just get going.”

-

The first hour riding to Wilson Valley was quiet. Will stayed a few paces behind to keep an eye on the group. You and Ellie rode side-by-side in silence, a few paces behind Greg and Devin who led the way.

Eventually, Ellie began the conversation , “Not to be rude,” You braced yourself as she asked, “But how old are you exactly?”

You dodged an incoming tree branch before answering, “It’s hard to keep track. What year is it again?”

“2034.”

You quickly did the math in your head and said the answer aloud. Ellie whistled, “Oh wow, so you’re like, actually kind of old.”

“Kind of old?” You repeated in disgust, “I’m not old.”

She smiled devilishly, “You’re older than Will, and Will is pretty old. He’s like, twenty-four.”

“Ellie, isn’t your dad like 200 years old?” Devin jeered from up front. Ellie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, and Joel could still kick your ass any day of the week, dipshit.”

You laughed and asked, “So if your dad is 200 years old, then how old are you, pipsqueak?”

“Fifteen.” Ellie answered quickly, “And Joel’s not my dad he’s—” She paused to figure out the wording. Her shoulders tensed up.

“I get it.” You said, leaving it at that. In the far distance, you could hear a mourning dove call out, softening the sudden silence between you two.

Will led the group down one more long, scraggly road, before finally arriving at what looked to be a scattered arrangement of abandoned cabins. A worn-down sign stood solemnly in the midst of the buildings. “Jackson Hole Bible College” You read under your breath.

Greg and Devin went off to what looked to be the campus’s old library. Will directed you and Ellie to take the largest cabin on the far left and search for items to grab.

When you entered the place, it looked to be a cafeteria. Or what used to be a cafeteria. Tables were flipped over, some chairs snapped in half, trays of disintegrated food and silverware abandoned mid-meal. On the front wall, there was a giant calendar boasting a time from over two decades ago. A flyer advertising tutoring services was still pinned up, a few strips of paper dangling out a phone number that no longer existed.

The place seemed eerily untouched in some parts of the room and then completely ravaged the next. Rows of coffee mugs sat peacefully on one shelf. In contrast, the shelf beneath it consisted of only shattered glassware.

It was odd how time behaved now. Destruction and decay weren’t as consistent as you’d think. Of course, most places and things had been completely ravaged as years passed. Yet some things stayed untouched, devoid of any evidence of worth or affection. You couldn’t decide which was worse.

“So, SAFE.” You recited as you scanned the room, “Supplies…”

“Yeah, you know, food, water, medicine…” Ellie began to list out as she rummaged through one of the rickety cabinets hanging off the wall.

“Coffee?” You held up a yellow can of Cafe Bustelo, shaking the contents at her playfully. Ellie’s eyes widened, “Wait, really? Let me see that.”

“You a big coffee person?” “No, but Joel is.” Ellie said, shoving the can into her backpack and zipping it tightly. She looked around, “Don’t tell Will or them. They want us to share all of what we find…but some things,” She smiled, “We can keep for ourselves.”

You nodded along, “I like the way you think.” As you rummaged around more, you found some cans of tuna, an opened bottle of honey, and other non-perishable treasures. Across the room, you saw Ellie head towards a long, thin door by the kitchen. A few minutes passed, and you could hear her loudly cursing at something.

“What’s up?” You yelled over to her, to which she grunted, “This door…it’s fucking locked!” “Hang on…” As you made your way over, you swiftly pulled a pick from your back pocket. You swatted her aside and began to dig into the keyhole, feeling around for the pins that kept it shut.

After a few seconds of shimmying it around, the lock clicked open. Ellie raised her eyebrows,“Impressive.”

It was still dark inside the now unlocked room, but you could faintly see stacks of food lined across the wall. Excitedly, you reached for the light switch, flicking it on to reveal a pair of bare feet dangling in front of you. Your heart shot up into your throat. Horrified at the sight, and the stench, of the body hanging mid-air. Miraculously, you kept quiet. There was a swollen red ring around the dead man’s left foot. The bite marks around it were a bubbly, bright red.

“Oh…” Ellie said lowly, but began to make her way inside to scavenge around the body. Without hesitation, you latched onto her shoulder to pull her back and hissed, “Careful!”

“Why? The guy’s obviously dead—” “He might be dormant…”

On cue, the feet began to wiggle and move in the air. The rest of the body began convulsing and sputtering as it dangled in the air, screeching to free itself from the noose. Ellie stumbled back, “Oh fuck!”

You shoved Ellie behind you, reached for your pistol and immediately shot up at the body, blasting it directly in the neck. The body snapped off from the head and hit the ground with a back-to-back thud. The two of you stared in disgust at the remains. The now severed head laid on its side, looking like shredded cabbage from the blow.

“Fuckin’ disgusting…” Ellie whispered.

“HEY!” Will’s voice came booming in from behind, “The hell is going on? Why did I hear a gunshot-”

Will stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of you both. The beheaded infected behind you. The pistol in your hand. Ellie laying on the floor.

Will’s frustrated face was now overcome by concern, “What happened, are you two okay?”

You nodded, “I’m fine. Ellie…” You reached down to pull her up. She ignored your hand, pushing herself up on her own, “We’re fine, Will.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Will intently, “Do not tell Joel this, by the way.”

“Ellie, I don’t know-”

What was with this Joel guy she kept talking about?

“Do not say anything Will, because nothing happened.”  “I can’t make any promises, Ellie. I won’t say anything but if him or Tommy asks…”

“Let’s just keep looking around in here.” You interjected, “Looks like this guy had stashed himself away with some good stuff.” The two of them nodded and followed you in to carefully collect more supplies.

-

The ride back was oddly tense. You could see Ellie in the corner of your eye mulling things over. A part of you felt for sorry for her. You understood how she felt in some way. Even if Joel wasn’t her father, she was clearly entangled with the man in some way. His stress was her stress. His joy was her joy.

“Hey,” You leaned over to her, snapping her out of her spiral, “I found an extra can of coffee in the pantry back there. Folgers…you can have it.” She looked up at you and gave a small smile, “Really?” “Really, I don’t need it. You should give it to your, uh... Joel.”

She nodded. As you two continued riding, she spoke up, “Joel’s not my dad but we came here together. From the Boston QZ.” “Oh.” “He’s a good guy, he’s just overprotective. Especially right now, he has his brother Tommy on my back too.” Oh. This was Tommy’s brother.

“It sounds like you have a lot of people looking out for you,” You said, “That’s hard to come by.” The air felt colder as a gust of wind traced across the back of your exposed neck.

“And you just moved here too?” Ellie asked. You nodded, knowing she probably wanted more of a response than that. “I lived alone for a while, a couple hours from here.”

“Why’d you come here then?” “I got tired of myself…or being by myself” You were being honest at least, “I’ve known Maria for some time and she always offered me a place to stay here. So I finally moved out here.”

“And look at you now,” Ellie chirped, “Hanging with a bunch of teenagers, scavenging for canned food with me, Greg, and Dylan here—”

“It’s Devin!” He called back.

“Like I care…” Ellie grumbled to herself. She reverted her attention back to you, “What did you mean back there by ‘dormant’?”

“Huh?” “Dormant,” Ellie repeated, “You said that infected guy was dormant back there.”

You looked back at her, seeing the genuine intrigue in her eyes. “Uh, in altitudes like this, especially in rooms with little to no light, the symptoms of infection slows down in some bodies. It’s a lot more subtle. And stubborn. More stubborn than usual.”

Ellie squinted her eyes, “I thought dead people couldn’t get infected.”

You pointed up at your head, “There’s still a body and a brain to work with, so it can still take over.”

“So he wasn’t dead?”

“I don’t know,” You admitted, “I think they’re still alive in there, just at complete loss of their bodies. That’s why you’re better off shooting yourself in the head when you get bit. Leave the cordyceps nothing to work with.” You felt your throat tighten at the thought.

Ellie nodded, taking the information in, “How exactly do you know all this?”

“Trial and error, I guess.”

Ellie let out a small “Hmph” in response and began riding ahead of you with no further questions. Good enough of an answer for her, thank goodness.

-

When you got back to Jackson, Will guided the group to the church hall to drop off the gathered supplies. Once that was over with, you all went down to the gate by the stables.

There was a small group of people eagerly waiting by the south gate. You all slipped off your horses and began to walk in their direction. Devin and Greg made their way to a pair of older couples standing together, presumably their parents.

You stuck by Ellie’s side, knowing she was going to ditch you any moment for her parental figure. The contrast of the surrounding adults versus your place with the group of children brought a wave of infantilization over you. Why did Tommy and Maria put you in this kiddie group?

You could clearly hold your own. You shook off the infected earlier with ease. You had no trouble finding useful items for the supply run. And yet, the hardest thing that happened all day seemed to be this. Watching the happy families reunite and walk off together. You thought you had grown past this forgotten feeling but it was still there. A slow, steady pulse in the pit of your stomach.

Surprisingly, Maria was there in the crowd. Tommy seemed to have tagged along as well. Maria had one hand on her swollen belly, her other hand in the air waving at you. Tommy yelled out your name and gave a smile. You gave the couple a quick thumbs up, hoping that was sufficient for a conversation.

You needed to talk to Maria alone later. You couldn’t deal with being around kids and families like this. There had to be some loners like yourself to work with. Where you could just get shit done and call it a night.

There was another individual standing in the crowd close to Tommy. He was taller and older.

This clearly must be Tommy's brother Joel. He closely resembled Tommy, but he had a certain intensity emanating from him. He had a few more lines on his forehead, and hair that was borderline silver that framed his tense, defined face. With his broad stance and stern expression, he looked impenetrable. Once his dark eyes flicked over you, a rush of heat spread across your face. You raised your hand to deflect his stare, nervously running your fingers through your hair to keep subtle.

He was handsome. Intimidating, but handsome. Those two traits dangerously entwined.

When his eyes went over to the young girl next to you, his gaze immediately softened. He gave a small smile and nod to Ellie.

“Come over here you two!” Tommy called out. You looked behind yourself, sure that Tommy must be yelling to someone else. He laughed and called your name once more for reassurance. You made your way over with Ellie. Your hands holding tightly onto the reins of your horse.

“How’d it go?” Maria asked you. You could feel Ellie’s eyes on you, nervous that you’d mention the slight scare earlier that day.

“Great,” You answered, “I had a good time with the kiddie group today.” Maria raised her eyebrows in bemusement.

“Hey!” Ellie yelped, pretending to be offended. Tommy gestured to Ellie and asked you directly, “Now, how’d she do?”

“She was great.” You felt another pair of eyes holding onto you firmly. Tommy’s brother stood by silently, eyeing you up and down. You looked back at him, waiting for him to chime in. But he kept quiet.

Tommy laughed, “Seriously? I don’t believe you two.” He gave you a wink to indicate that he was partially playing around. “Let me ask Will, hey Will!”

You and Ellie shot a brief, panicked, look at each other. Will nervously scuttled over to the five of you.

“How’d everything go today, Will?” Will gulped and began to talk, “Uh, good. We did find some-”

Your mind scrambled to come up with a conversational diversion. Your hands sprang into your bag, pulling out a red metal tin, “We got you some coffee!” You blurted out, staring up at Joel.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at the sudden interaction. Joel’s eyes landed back on you. For the briefest moment, they looked surprisingly tender. A second later, his expression immediately tensed up again. His eyebrows furrowed, “What?”

You felt your cheeks begin to redden. Why, of all the distractions, was that the one you decided to go with?

“We found you coffee. Your…um, Ellie had mentioned you were looking for some.”

He looked at the others, as if wondering if they were putting him up to something. “So…is that all you found for the group?” He barked.

Yes, he made you nervous, but he didn’t make you amenable.

Your defensiveness swept in, clearing out any shame completely. You glared up at him, “No, I actually found some other items. Just trying to be nice, not an idiot.” Tommy gave a small laugh to try to keep the peace.

You could hear Will chattering to Maria from the side about you, “She really was a big help…you know normally I’d ask her to share those grounds with the kitchen but-”

“Joel, say thanks.” Ellie said lowly.

You eased up and extended the Folger’s can out to him. Holding your makeshift olive branch with both hands. He reached out. As he grabbed the can, his thumb grazed your top finger ever so slightly. You looked down at the ground to steady yourself and heard him mutter out a lowly, “Thanks.”

“Well, okay,” Tommy said, “Let’s walk the horses back to the stables and call it a night, yeah?”

You nodded, staying behind to let Ellie, Joel, and Tommy walk ahead of you. Will gave you a wave and headed off in another direction. Maria stayed by your side, and the two of you started slowly walking.

“So how was it, actually?” She said quietly to you. You looked over at her, perplexed, “It was fine, really.”

“You seem annoyed with something.” “Why’d you put me in the kid’s group?” You finally asked, then lowered your voice again, “I’m a little too old for this group, don’t you think?”

Maria sighed and crossed her arms, staring ahead at Joel and Ellie. “I thought you two would make a good match.”

You kept your eyes ahead, watching as Ellie pulled out her own tin of coffee to gift to Joel. You could see him laugh and place his hand delicately on Ellie’s shoulder, guiding her into the stables. For a brief moment, he looked over his shoulder, locking eyes with you before disappearing into the stalls.

You and Maria had stopped in place further away to keep talking out of their earshot. You snapped your focus back onto the conversation at hand. “What do you mean?”

She guided you over to the fence surrounding the stable, “Ellie was paired up with a girl her age but the two got into some shit. We’ve dealt with kids similar to this before. I think she needs someone like you to work with.” You leaned against the fence and cocked your head to the side, “Really, someone like me?”

“She works better with certain people. Someone like Joel, someone like you…” “Shit, am I like Joel?” You snapped. “No one is like Joel.” Maria replied.

“Thank God.” You huffed. A corner of Maria’s mouth raised in amusement.

Maria put a hand on your shoulder, “I want people here that I can trust to uphold this community.” She looked into your eyes, “I trust you. And I trust Joel is what my husband says he is,” Her head bowed, “But I think there are some things he just can’t move past from.”

Then she added, “I think Ellie needs to see how other people are adjusting to things. How people move on and make a life here, like you have.”

You felt your jaw tense. How bold of Maria to assume such a thing.

“Why me though? Why not someone that’s lived here longer? I just got here too. ”

“She reminds me of you,” Maria finally said, “The way you were back then, with your dad.”

This came as a second blow. You looked away from Maria, mentally rummaging for some sly comment to throw back at her. But it never came. You kept your gaze somewhere far off, looking past the stables, far out as the sun melted into the mountains over Jackson.

A voice came out of you, unusually soft, “I can take her under my wing for a little bit.”

[lostinlovingrevery]

He's Definitely Obsessed With You (Series)

Origins! Logan X Fem!Reader

Plot: You're an army nurse, deep in the trenches of the Vietnam jungles, doing everything you can to keep yourself together, and the infantry that come into your tent. One day a soldier you aren't familiar with is brought in, and you find out something about him that leads to the start of an important relationship between you both that changes the course of your lives together...

A/N: This is basically the plot of Origins, but with my own spin on it with a Fem!Reader! This is my first time EVER writing an X reader, so comments appreciate! I plan to make this a series, but I wanted to put out a prologue first. Okay, it's not really a prologue and more like a chapter, and ended up being super long because I started writing and then didn't stop, and prologues are short- but IT'S MY STORY AND I'LL CREATE MY OWN RULES. The prologue is just how reader and Logan meet! (PS, there's eventual smut...Soon as I figure out how write it without getting embarrassed) Also, I'm still figuring out how to format on Tumblr, so please don't mind any funky design choices. Probably spelling and grammar mistakes somewhere in there

Warnings: Reader POV only (for now) Reader is female, also an army nurse, also a mutant- but powers aren't specified, blood mention, medical stuff talked about (like amputations), injury descriptions, Vietnam war and slight politics mention, probably a lot of historical inaccuracies i just googled things but I tried! implied reader could be religious but honestly there's nothing concrete to that. The only description of reader is her clothes and that she has hair, and wears makeup (lipstick). Reader has a hard on over Logan (she has a cruuuush), let me know if there's anything I missed!

Word Count: 4753

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Prologue:

Rain rapped lightly along the top of the large tent, creating a soothing sound throughout. A radio, playing an american music station, played a rock song, of some new band slowly making a name for itself, sat nearby on a metal cabinet. Stacks of manila folders and papers were disorganized and spread, almost completely covering a desk. A clock ticks rhythmically. The tent was lined with cots, tables, ratty mattresses, IV stands, and small tables covered with empty food trays, water canisters, and paper cups filled pills. Some of the beds were taken up by injured men, snoring and groaning as they attempted to sleep, only slightly more comfortable here in the medical tent than out in the muddy, rainy trenches. It was monsoon season in Vietnam, and you were at your wits end with paperwork in the middle of a small but-not-that-small camp, set up not far from an American fire support base.

You were sitting at the desk, half asleep as you attempted to fill out another request form for medical supplies. Halothane, Methoxyflurane, Morphine, Penicillin - are common medicines that you find yourself constantly having to restock. Of course bandages, gloves, needles, saline, tubing, multiple surgical supplies, other things you find yourself low on often too, considering the amount of amputations, large and minor, that happen around here. The medical tent that you currently reside in was a revolving door of soldiers, both American and Vietnamese, as well as nearby villagers who come for aid after the American presence near their homes led to viruses they can’t combat on their own, or other unfortunate injuries if war breaks out in their village. 

You were simply an army nurse, this was not your usual duty to perform, it was normally left to the assigned doctor of the camp. Your job was to assist the doctor, take care of the patients, administer medicine, IVs, change bandages, wet baths, feed them, and hold their hands as they cry for their momma and to God. You were busy enough, and the doctor, Doctor Frank Jones, who you were assisting had got shot by a stray bullet when out in the jungle, and had to be taken back to the main base, and back to the States. Due to a communication failure, his replacement ended up somewhere else, and transportation wasn’t an option due to the fighting happening.

 Fortunately, Doctor Jones had seen potential in you and believed you would be an excellent doctor one day - something you wanted to pursue after your service was fulfilled. He became a mentor, helping you study and learn medicine, and giving you skills that an average nurse- even an army nurse- wouldn’t usually have. Now, it was just up to you, and a few young army medics - teenage boys who were given no choice in going to war, and their skills were found best in assisting injuries on the battlefield, but they were eager to help, and their light-hearted jokes and company helped relieve some stress for you, especially with the pain you watch day in and out. You didn’t always have the luxury of their help though, as when patrols went out, they required at least one of them to join. It leads you to have to order around other grunts who have no idea how to even measure the proper dosage of cough syrup for themselves whenever a serious injury comes in, having to give detailed orders on what to do- usually just getting you the supplies and medicine you need, as the grunts are typically too distracted and upset over their fallen brother to assist you in anything medical and complicated. 

With being the only medical authority in the camp- as well as the only woman- you were well respected and popular. Your compassionate personality, and comforting presence, as well as your “Take-no-shit” attitude, led to soldiers of this camp visiting you all the time, usually making up excuses like having a cough, or a splinter in their finger, just so they could have the pleasure of your smile and encouraging words. The CO here made sure that they all treated you with respect, as a woman- and a nurse, so you never once felt unsafe- or unappreciated. Besides, a good section of this camp is young boys, too nervous about their situation to worry about trying to flirt with a woman like you. You're more of a comfort figure in these parts than anything else. Despite the stress and worry you face in day to day life, in the middle of the war, you were just happy to be doing something. You weren’t exactly a supporter of this war, but the moment you saw young boys lining up to go to war, something in you made you fiercely determined to follow, and do whatever you can to make sure those boys can go back home to their mothers and fathers.

The Rolling Stones was now playing on the radio, this was a band you were more familiar with - one of your favorites. Your foot tapped to the beat of the song, as you checked off another item you needed to be stocked up on- and hoped the supply chain doesn’t hold out on you again. For some reason, they seemed convinced that you must surely be lying about the supplies and will not send you the full amount of what you requested, leading you to storm into the CO’s tent on more than one occasion and rant to him with a few unsavory words about the supply lines commander.  He always listens though, and does his best to get you what you can- which you can appreciate. 

“Hey turn that up-” You heard one of the patients call out, and she smiles, reaching to the radio and turning the volume higher. She looked up from the desk to see one patient in bed moving his foot with the beat of the song, and the other, who asked her to turn it up, raised his arm in the air, hand in a fist as he rocked with the song. “This is a good one, hadn’t heard this one yet.”

“It came out in 65’ dumbass.” the other called out. “How’d you not know it?”

“I’ve been here since 64’ asshole! Think we always had access to a radio?”

They all chided each other, making you laugh as you shake your head, turning back towards your paperwork, determined to finish it today so you can send it out. It was rare you get these moments of quiet, so you appreciated it when you could. Things could turn on a dime in a second, especially since the fighting was getting closer to where this camp was set, and you’re hoping that you would get some help before anything serious came. You were just starting to get absorbed in the letter you were writing to the CO of the supply line, something slightly passive aggressive, when one of the soldiers yelled to you from outside. 

“Hey! Nurse! There’s some guys coming this way! They got someone injured-” 

You looked up, dropping your pencil, and turning the radio down as you readied yourself, brushing the pants of your army fatigues to straighten it out, and rolling your sleeves farther up your arms. You watched as the flaps of the tent get pulled open, as two men carry someone resting on a cot. You didn’t like how quiet the man was being.

“In here-” You lead them to another section of the medical tent, ment solely for treating wounded, in an attempt to keep something sterile and clean- well, as clean as you can get it. The soldiers set the man onto the table that sat in the center of the room, small trays and medical supplies, as well as a large overhead lamp that provided lighting to give you a better view at what you’re working on, surrounded the table. 

“We got ambushed on patrol, fortunately he’s the only one that got hit, a VC jumped out of the grass and stabbed him. We got pressure on the wound, and he’s still alive- for now.” 

You nodded as you went to a basin to pull on some sterile gloves, and walked over to examine the soldier. He was handsome- you couldn’t help but noticed but quickly put that out of your mind. A full head of deep beautiful brown hair, and a thick beard framed his face. He looked older, possibly in his mid 30’s. A sheen of sweat covered his skin, as his teeth were gritted and eyes cinched shut in pain. A wave of sorrow hit you, as you never liked seeing people in pain, it hits you bad enough to wonder why you chose to go into the medical profession of all things. Nevertheless, you push through, and began working on removing the uniform so you can see if you can save this one. At least he wasn’t screaming.

“Whats his name?”

“Logan ma’am. He’s Private First Class.”  The private responds, voice professional, but quickly drops into something softer. “He’s a good guy, and smart, usually quick on his feet, its surprising someone ambushed him…” 

“Need any help ma’am?” The other private who brought him in ask.

“No, I got it, thank you.” You tell them as you grab some sheers and began cutting through Logan's army garments. “Just make sure others are alright. See if any of the boys out there need water.”

They nodded, saluting- leading you to roll your eyes- and left your section of the tent, just as you manage to cut off the white wife beater he was sporting underneath his army garments, giving you a complete view of where he had been stabbed. You breathed a small sigh of relief, the wound appeared in the part of the torso where nothing vital was located and you managed to roll him to his side- seeing the stabbing didn’t go straight through, meaning this guy had a good chance of surviving, assuming he doesn’t succumb to infection…

“Alright Logan,” You turned you head to look at the man, who was still tense, eyes squeezed shut. He was somewhat awake, with his breathing and the way his muscles contracted, but he didn’t seem to be aware of what was going on, you still felt it important to talk to whoever you were treating though. You had to hold the hands of many scared soldiers, and quickly have learned the right things to say when comforting. “I’m going to take care of you, and in return, you’re going to need to be strong for me here.” You say softly but firmly to him, hoping that he’s hearing you through the pain, as you went and quickly grabbed a wet cloth out of a basin nearby, squeezing out the excess water, and gently placing it over his forehead, in order to soak up some sweat, and provide some more comfort to cool his skin that seemed to be burning hot. You couldn’t help but note that you don’t recognize him- you wouldn’t have forgotten his face that’s for damn sure, if he’d ever came to visit you, which most privates in this camp has at one time or another. You shook the curiosity out of your head, you had to move quickly, fighting the urge to wanting to take in the details of his face- his very handsome face, and moved to focus back onto the wound on his torso. 

You started by slowly removing the packed bandages, examining the blood flow to make sure nothing gushed, but he really wasn’t bleeding much anymore- actually, it didn’t look like he was bleeding at all now. Confused, you began cleaning the area of the stab wound so you could get a clear view of what you were looking at. At first, you thought you were losing your mind, you had to been because what you were seeing…

It was as if the skin was growing back, the wound, going inwards seemed to almost pop out, before the skin stitched together, going through what the bodys usual healing process would look like- except doing it within a matter of seconds. Turning from a bright red inflamed wound, into a baby pink scar bump that slowly faded off, you couldn’t even tell anything had happen there- except from the blood stained around it. You were blinking in disbelief, mouth slightly agape, before it suddenly occurred to you what you were just seeing.

Oh

Oh shit-

He’s a mutant.

You looked at the man, who’s muscles seemed to be relaxing now, as he took deeper breaths, the sweat on his face began to dry and disappear. You weren’t sure what to do at this point, you’re so used to every minute counting to fix someone, and this guy just healed himself in seconds!

And by god, he was so handsome. You thought that already, got to stop thinking about that. Turning away from his face, you went to examine where the stab wound used to be, gloved fingers gently pressing on the area- before the soldier- Logan, practically yelped- and sat up rushed on the table, startling you even more so than him, as you jumped back, hands in the air in surrender- as if you did anything wrong.

He was panting, the cold wet cloth you had placed on his forehead fell into his lap, as he looked around with wide eyes, pupils dilated, his nostrils flaring, he almost looked animal-like in this state. He turned to look at you. His eyes took you in, and suddenly you felt embarrassed by your army clothes you were sporting, green cargo pants, and a green collared button up shirt, tucked into your pants, making you feel less than girlish in them, despite their comfortability, your forehead was covered in sweat, and your hair pulled back in a bun neat bun with baby hairs sticking out everywhere. At least you had lipstick on to give yourself a little bit of a pop in your plain looking outfit. That should be the last thing you should be worried about. 

“You’re okay-” You finally found your voice, holding your hands out to him, “You got ambushed, but you’re okay now.” 

He blinked, then let out a small sigh, his whole self seeming to relax, his expression turned more human-like, as he faced forward, then looked down at himself. His hand went over where he had been hurt- seeing that there was no longer any injury there, although something in his expression told you he could still feel it. He swallowed, jaw tensing, before realization struck him, and his head snapped to look at you. 

“You saw- You know, don’t you?” He asks, his voice was deep, but sounded a little dry and scratchy. Still, it was enough to make your knees weak. 

You turned, going to a cabinet that held medicines and various other supplies, but on the counter was a pitcher of water and a few glass cups. Pulling off your gloves, you poured a cup from the pitcher, turning back and handing it to him. 

“Yeah. I saw.” You say cooly, holding it out for him to take. He looked at you, his deep and should you think gorgeous hazel eyes felt like they were piercing your soul; as if he was trying to decipher what was going on in your head, which you wish you knew as well because his stare was making your brain fuzzy; then glanced at the cup and finally took it from your hand, your fingers brushing together, making your heartbeat just a little faster, and you could feel a small heat blooming in your cheeks.

Jesus christ, pull yourself together 

You thought to yourself. You cleared your throat while he took several swigs of water, dropping his hand with the cup to his side as he took a moment to breathe once more. 

“Got anything stronger?” He asks, his low and smoother now, quirking a brow at you. You smiled, 

“Sorry, anything alcoholic you may want to drink in here, I gotta save for the guys who can’t heal themselves within minutes.” You say teasingly. “Supplies are low enough already.” 

You could see a small quirk of his lips, in something resembling a smile. He was still tense though, his eyes seemed to be somewhere else. He looked at you again,

“Does it…scare you? Me being a mutant?” He asks, his voice low

“Um….No?” You responded, confusion on your face, a small shake of your head, “Why would it?” 

He seemed relieved- and surprised by that answer, his shoulders finally relaxing, and he took another drink of water, eyes closing as he finished the cup, and handed it back to you, where you set it back on the counter. Wiping his mouth with his arm, he sat up more confidently, bending his leg as he brought his knee up to his chest, and propped his forearm over it, and leaned back on his other hand, taking a few deep breaths as he lowered his head down, then looked back up at you, his expression suddenly stern.

“You gonna tell them?” He asks. You knew he was referring to the army. Mutants weren’t well accepted in the world- much less the US army. The American government is actually sitting comfortably in the capital and writing out bullshit laws on mutant regulations, rather than trying to figure out a solution for the war here in Vietnam. You, a mutant yourself, albeit your powers were easy to hide and conceal, you still feared of a day that someone somehow discovers your secret. You’ve heard stories of American soldiers revealed to be mutants being killed, due to some bullshit excuse that they “lied” about who they were, and couldn’t be trusted. Whether those stories were true or fearmongering to keep mutants hiding their true identities, you didn’t know, but you certainly weren’t gonna find out yourself. You definitely wouldn’t put another fellow mutant, just trying to survive like you, in any sort of danger like that, even if he could probably just heal if he got put in front of a firing squad.

You pursed your lips together. Then smiled. “No. I’ll keep your secret.” You say. “All it means to me is that I have one less person to worry about around here. I was actually wondering why I hadn’t seen your face in this tent yet before, and now I know why.” 

He softened at that, but his face quickly fell back into something more serious and stern once more, which you’re starting to think might be his baseline. 

“You okay?” You asked, your voice was soft, and sweet, and borderline angelic for a man like him, who’s been in wars almost his entire life- which you don’t know about that. “That probably didn’t feel good, what happened.” He nodded. 

“M’ fine….Thank you.” He grumbles lowly, looking down at his hands. “I heard about you- actually I-I seen you around. You’re the only nurse on camp?” He asked, looking back up at you, there seemed to be a bit of curiosity in his voice. 

“Yeah. I’m pretty popular.” You say, in a teasing voice, blushing at the thought that he’s noticed you. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, you are quite literally the only woman around, save for the women in the village not far from here.  

“Must be busy.”

“Oh… Nah-” You playfully wave him off. “Some days are so slow, I’m actually bored.” You say matter-of-factly, but you both knew you were kidding. Another quirk of his lips. You smiled softly at him, but there was a voice in your head telling you, that since he doesn’t need your help, you should probably get back to helping the ones who do. Not that you want to leave, he was so damn handsome, you could stare at him all day. It wasn’t just his good looks though, his whole self drew you in with just a few words, and you find yourself wanting to get to know Logan, because the look in his eyes told you that he was someone worth knowing. Or maybe that was just your hormones talking. There was just this energy between you both, some type of unseen connection. His eyes trailed down you again, this time fully taking you in, stopping at your chest, and for a moment you were about to be completely turned off by this man being a pervert, but he nodded towards it. 

“Your necklace?” He asked. You looked down, oh, you thought to yourself. You pulled the string of your necklace, lifting the small coin that it held, string carefully wrapped around it so it doesn’t fall off.

“It’s a prayer coin. A priest gave it to me.” You explained. “It’s the archangel Raphael. A protector, patron saint of medical workers, like doctors, nurses.”

“Like you?” 

You nodded. He examined it, before you tucked it back under your shirt. You usually keep it hidden, but it must have fallen out while you were rushing. Now it was silent again, and you both weren’t sure what to do or say. 

“Well….” You took a breath, you glanced down at his abdomen, and suddenly your brows creased in concentration. 

“What?” He asked, by your sudden change in demeanor. 

“You can’t exactly walk out with no injury. Those two privates were pretty worried about you.” You say, putting your hands on your hips and pursing your lips together. You clicked your tongue.

“I can figure something out-”

“No no-” You held your hand up and looking around the room. “Those privates brought you in, there’s probably an incident report written right now, not to mention I have to write a report on your injuries too-” you explained. “I mean, how are you gonna explain it if you walk out, completely A-okay?”

Logan shrugged simply. “I can think of something, it isn’t the first time this happened.” You rolled your eyes. Men. 

You rather not waste bandages on a pretend injury, but you need someway to get his injury to look believeable, thats when you spotted your answer. His white tank top that you had drop to the floor, it was good enough to wrap around him, making him look as if he’s been all fixed up from his stab wound. The shirts cotton texture looked similar to the pattern of a bandage, and was good enough, especially considering no one would be looking hard enough at his wound anyway.

After a few minutes of “fixing him up” with your solution to keep his regenerative abilities a secret, you stood back examining the fake bandage/shirt that you tore up and wrapped around his torso, using bandage pins to hold it in place. Then shrugged. 

“It’s good enough.” You say. “You’re not going anywhere anyway, so it’s not like you’ll raise a bunch of questions. It looks like you have an injury, it’ll match the incident and medical report. You won’t get found out.”

“I’m not going anywhere?” He raised a brow. 

“Nope. You were injured, which means I gotta keep an eye on you. So you’ll be sleeping here, and you’ll have to pretend you’re in pain, whining and moaning and all that. Give it your best performance.” You encourage. “Take it, not many around here get a chance to get a break like that.” 

He looked at you, pondering what you were offering him- well, you weren’t offering, he was going to have do it because you weren’t gonna risk him revealing himself as a mutant, which for some reason you were now more concerned about than he was. A small smirk appeared on his face, “That mean you’ll be waiting on me then, hand and foot?”

You smiled, “Don’t get ahead of yourself soldier.” You say teasingly. “You can stay in here a little longer, rest up, maybe shed some tears to make it look like you’re suffering tremendously.” You added a little flair as you brought your hand up to your forehead, pretending to faint, before turning and walking away to leave the room, now knowing you really needed to get back to work.

“I don’t think I need to shed any tears.” He mutters, but there was amusement in his tone though. “Hey bub” He called after you as you were about to leave the room, lifting the tent flap, but you stopped to look at him. “Why are you seen keen on helping me out? Making a plan to make sure people don’t find out what I am…Seems like too much trouble to go through for you.” He frowned. 

“Well…” You dropped the flap of the tent, “Us mutants gotta stick together, right?” Logan looked surprised at first, eyes widening a bit, and jaw slacking, but then a soft, genuine smile stretched across his face, the corners of his eyes crinkling, leaving you thinking that was a smile you never wanted to go without again. Smiling back at him, you winked, and turned back before stopping and looking at him again, “Plus, you seem worth the trouble.” You add, before finally leaving him to himself.

Maybe it was too much trouble. You could leave Logan to figure it out himself. You two didn’t know each other, you weren’t friends. Yet you, the compassionate self you are, and also slightly bull-headed, was not going to leave Logan hanging alone. Maybe it was the fact that you were both mutants that urged you to help him, let him know that someone like him out there has his back, even if he had many brothers at his side watching his back too. Or maybe it was because you felt an undeniable pull towards him- and him towards you. 

While he stayed in the medical tent with you for about a week, the standard time for stitches to stay in. While staying, you both got to know each other better. You found a deep friendship with Logan quickly, both of you having an understanding of each other, not just as mutants but as individuals as well. You were able to laugh, usually at his snarky remarks to the other privates and even his comments to the higher-ups, surprising you in how he likes to occasionally challenge authority despite how quiet and reflective he can be some moments. You saw him as brave, smart, and he was protective, always going first in patrols, and keeping an eye on the younger privates. He’d hid it well, rarely making it seen, but he had a compassion that made your heart swell, especially when you came across him comforting a young private who was homesick and scared. He had a good instinct that seems to attest to his mutation- which he later revealed the full aspects of it to you later on, claws and everything- which did nothing but fascinate you, leading to a full acceptance of him he hadn’t felt or seen in a long time. He’d visit you in late nights when he wasn’t assigned guard patrol, bringing you something to eat or drink, and you’d both quietly talk about your lives, and how’d you ended up there. He listened to you complain about the lack of supplies, and how you got into medicine in the first place. You’d learn of his brother Victor- another Private First Class there at the camp, who you quickly learned a distaste for after meeting him, and how old they both really were- leading you to bombard him with history questions, that he simply answered “I wasn’t there bub.” There was an unspoken yet mutual physical and spiritual attraction between you both, but before anything could have gone further in your relationship, down in the thick muddy jungles of Vietnam, you suffered a similar fate as your mentor Doctor Jones. A stray bullet having shot through your shoulder while you were out, attempting to help a young private who’s leg unfortunately got caught in a dirt trap. You were okay, but orders sent you home on a medical discharge, saying you fulfilled your duty to the States. 

You missed Logan, and you also found yourself struggling to find your place back in civilian life again, the stress and the trauma of the things you saw weighed heavy in your mind, not to mention the worry you felt over Logan's safety while he was still over there. The only thing easing your worries was the letters you wrote to each other, until one day his letters stopped coming, and your own got returned back to you with no explanation, leaving you in fear of the worst….

[nipuni]

We are all caught up with Doctor Who!!! We were five episodes behind with all the travelling and family visiting but we did a DW marathon and MAN WHAT WAS THAT!!! We were not expecting that finale at all LMAO going to share our thoughts about it under the cut for spoilers at the end of the post!

In other news my family flew back to Argentina a couple of days ago so we are back to normal schedule, meaning I have a lot of art to post and a lot of games to play, and by that I mean mostly Clair Obscur!! Been dying to start it, I've heard so many great things about it and I feel I'm going to love it so I'm excited!!

Now DW thoughts!

My favorite episodes this season were "The Well" and "The Story & the Engine" Even though I don't think The Well needed to be a Midnight sequel and could have stood on it's own I'm not too bothered and I'm a big fan of cosmic horror and sci-fi episodes so I'm biased. And the Story and the Engine, absolutely gorgeous visuals and themes, the characters too just consistent and great all around. Joy the the world was also fun, I love the concept of the Time Hotel. I miss the monster of the week self contained episodes I think we need more of those!!! As for the other episodes I think some were fun to watch and aesthetically so impressive but I kept getting distracted by the convoluted and questionable politics, what in the Kerblam was going on with the messaging lmao!! what's with the protester turns terrorist villain theme? the conservative podcaster arc? the Eurovision power of song fixes racism and genocide? I'm trying so hard not to read much into it because it's infuriating I'm going to bite someone. I also don't like the portrayal of UNIT in these seasons, or UNIT in general tbh but that aside, what are we doinggggg 😭

Now for the final episodes I have so many thoughts. The Belinda character assassination was so rough and unnecessary, every Ruby appearance and role in this season could have been Belinda's I really don't know why we needed to bring Ruby back so soon if at all? The ending felt and was confirmed by RTD to be very last minute and you can tell the exact point at which they knew that Ncuti had to leave and pivoted the narrative but I still feel it could have been done so much better. Did we really need to give Belinda a motherhood plot one episode after we established this as a nightmare scenario in a 1984-esque world, and put her in a box for the entire episode hello? Now this is very personal and not an objective critique of the plot but I really dislike stories about babies to an irrational degree so I was not very happy about that whole debacle in the end and so much of 15th's run having something to do with babies and family aaaaaa But!! I also have a feeling that there is something bigger going on with this recurring theme that has yet to be resolved, and it probably leads to Susan so I'll wait it out.

That reveal in the end!! 15th deserved a 3rd season, the seasons are already so short now there is not enough time for full character arcs please!! I understand that Ncuti had to leave for work reasons apparently? but this felt so sudden and jarring!! and listen I don't think Billie is going to be the 16th doctor, she was not introduced as such in the credits and her posts about it on social media are also very vague so I'm pretty sure she's some version of Rose / Bad Wolf and she is going to be only in the specials acting as a sort of in between like the 14th doctor for another arc of closure (I also feel David and Billie are Russel's panic button when something goes awry in production and they need someone to step in to fill in the gaps lmao )

ALSO!! I think reality is still altered for a reason that we will eventually find out once we deal with the whole Pantheon. Maybe I'm being too hopeful lmao but I think those little changes left like the color Teal, the border between Sweden and Norway (Bad Wolf bay?), Mavity, the Poppy focus and flower motif, Ruby's memory and overall mystery, Susan's messages and the focus on family and The Doctor's lineage. I don't know it all feels like it's wanting to go somewhere and I'm hoping it does and Russel can land it better this time along with The Boss and the remaining Rani (speaking of her, why didn't Omega eat the other half instead!!! I wanted to see more of Archie Panjabi come on!!! she was so good) and uuhh Rogue in superhell or whatever. But also I tend to read too much into things and trust the writing promises and then get disappointed so we will see uughh 😭🤞

That being said!! BILLIE BILLIE BILLIE BILLEIIEIFJIEIGHAIOFH MY GIRL MY GIRL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HELLOOOOO ❤️❤️❤️ I'm playing with 14th and whoever Billie is now like dolls in my mind, I can't wait to see where this goes. I'm here for it!!! I'd be fine with her being 16th too honestly!! I don't care!!! nostalgia bait fan service perhaps but I'm the fan being serviced baby let's goooo

[rileyglas]

The List ~Pt. 3 - Chance~

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) x Reader

Summary: As you adjust to life in the hotel, you start to form bonds with other guests and offer your help when needed. However, things take a turn when you faint and wake up in the room of the one person you hoped to avoid.

Themes: The usual angst, mystery (Alastor), sassiness, Val is mentioned, Angel gets hurt (sorry), cursing, fluff, eventual smut (the next part is a SPICY one sinners), actual plot, slow burn, and of course 18+, this is the last shorter chapter, I'll start feeding you more!

1.7k Words

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (You're on it!) Part 4 Part 5  Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.A Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

**sentences in italics are internal thoughts of the reader

Over the next few weeks you seem to adjust well to the hotel. You try to help Nifty with at least one meal a day, give advice to Charlie on different ‘redemption exercises’, and have even helped an eggboy or two not get scrambled. Alastor seemed to keep his distance which was much appreciated (especially after hearing the stories and history of the “Radio Demon”). You do what you can to fill the void you feel from not being able to help to your full potential. Of course, there really hasn’t been a need for your expertise. But as they say, ask and you shall receive.

Angel was coming in from yet another brutal shift with Val. He was usually quick to dismiss the bruising around his wrists and face. “Comes with the job babe!” He’d say through a toothy smile. “I didn’t do a good job if I don’t come home with some battle scars!” You’d share a look with Husk, silently agreeing how fucked up this was, but Angel always changed the subject to avoid any pity or awkwardness.

This time was different. It was later than usual. Everyone but you and Husk had long since made their way to bed. Angel walked in staggering and not in the ‘oh he was out with Cherri’ way. He was barely able to make it to the couch before collapsing to his hands and knees. His breathing shallow and raspy – you could hear the blood gurgling in his lungs as he struggled with each breath. This was the worst Val had done yet. That motherfucker is going to kill him one day if he keeps this up – Overlord or not, he’s going to pay. You take a mental note to make a visit to Val, but right now, Angel needed help.

Carefully you try to lift him onto the couch. Angel hisses from the sudden movement. Damnit this is bad. I need a few seconds without any eyes around. “Husk, be a dear and run up to my room please. I have some medical supplies by my bed.”

“No need, I have some stuff behind the ba----” he stops when he sees the glare you’re shooting over your shoulder. “Ah alright fine, I’ll be right back.” he grumbled as he made his way up the stairs. That was the great thing about Husk - he wasn’t one to ask too many questions.

Finally alone you lay Angel back on the couch. “Hey Angel? Babe? I need you to look at me. I know it hurts and it’s hard to breathe but I have a trick that’ll help relieve some of the pressure. Trust me?” He places one of his hands on your shoulder as confirmation, unable to get enough air to speak. Time to work my magic.

Kneeling by the couch, you gently place your hands on his ribs and stomach while leaning your head over his chest, “Alright babe I need you to take a deep breath and close your eyes. This won’t feel great.” You wince as the words leave your mouth. For this to work you’d have to cause him some discomfort otherwise some more complication questions might arise. R̷̢͙̃ǘ̷̮͔͠l̵̰̝̆ḛ̷̀͊ ̵͕̍#̵̜̌2̷̼́̅ Never tell a soul what (or how much) power you have.

“Ok eyes closed and breathe in 3……2…..1….” I’m sorry Angel, you deserve so much better than this.  In one motion you shove into his ribs sending him writhing in pain while you place a soft kiss on his chest. The internal injuries made it easy to hide the pink glow that usually came from the wound, however the pain…yeah that shit still felt like torture. During your time training with Carmilla you learned the graver the injury, the more agonizing it was for you. After a few intense moments of pain, you pull away and sit back on your legs, trying to hide the lingering sting you felt in your lungs.

Angel groaned as he opened his eyes, finally able to take a proper breath. “Uhhhgg—what the fuuuuuuuuuuck was that?”

“Just some tricks I had to learn living in the city. You know how rough it gets out there. Glad you’re already feeling better.” You peck Angel’s cheek, feeling a soft twinge on your lips. The last bit of bruising on his face fades without him even realizing it. “Thanks toots. I don’t know how you did it, but I owe ya one.”

On queue Husk turns down the stairs with your medical kit. His face twists in a mix of relief and shock watching Angel up moving as if he wasn’t just on the verge of death five minutes earlier. He chuckles making his way back behind the bar. “Damn you’ve got quite the touch I see.” You tense at his choice of words. Fuck fuck fuck…calm down, he didn’t see anything. “Remind me to keep you on speed dial. Satan knows this one is bound to need you around again!” Husk points to Angel who by now has taken his usual place at the bar. “Oh shut up pussycat – the only thing I need right now is a few shots to forget this day ever happened! Let’s go! Booze me up Mr. Bartender!”

Deciding you have had enough excitement for the night, you say good evening to the guys and drag yourself through the quiet halls. Cursing the aftershock your body was going to endure after having to heal such extensive damage. It wasn’t horrible, more annoying like a bad hangover or flu, but the joy and warmth you felt from being able to help always made the pain more than worth it. You were just a few doors away from your room when your vision blurred. Why is the hall spinning? I don’t remember drinking. Oh fuck ----

Soft music fills your ears as you regain some form of consciousness. A familiar smell floods your senses causing your eyes to shoot open. Looking around you realize you’re in Alastor’s room. Not that you’d been here before, but between the bayou to your left and the freshly laundered red suits hanging by the door - it was obvious. Plus, his smell filled the room. You’d only dreamt of that smell and his warmth at least twice a week since first meeting the demon, much to your frustration.

Sharp static and ringing fill your ears as you sit up. Is this going to happen every time with this guy? Alastor appears in his chair by the bayou, chest puffed out and legs crossed. “Finally awake I see. I was just leaving my radio tower for the evening when you were coming down the hall. Quite a spectacle watching you try to walk straight. Drink too much with our good pal Husker?”

There he goes again trying to drill his eyes into your soul. You’ve seen him interact with the others. His eyes never had the same intensity as they did with you. Lie lie lie. “Yeah, you know how hard him and Angel go some nights. Guess I shouldn’t try to keep up next time.” You try to laugh it off hoping the answer was sufficient enough for him to drop the subject.

It wasn’t.

“Hmmm that’s funny. I didn’t smell a bit of alcohol when I picked you up off that floor.” Shit. “I don’t expect you to tell me everything dear however blatantly lying to me will get you on a side you don’t want to be on.” The static in his voice was piercing. You stared at him in silence. Work brain work, please give me anything. Rule #4 Never let your w̸͉̐e̵͓͐a̷̘͆k̴̭̏ñ̶͔e̶̢͒s̵̩̉ś̵͈è̸̮š̶͚ ̴̣̏s̴̖̈́h̷̲͐o̶̳͗w̷̱̾. Your lack of response apparently told him everything he needed in the moment. Standing up now, he begins to mindfully take off his jacket, unbutton his vest, and push up his sleeves.

This is it. This I how I die. And all because ---- oh fucking hell --- how did he get even more attractive? Is he doing this on purpose? Wow I’ve really got to get my priorities straight.

You can feel your heart pounding into your throat in anticipation as he sits in front of you on the bed. He slowly removes his gloves and tosses them to the side table.

“Let’s try this again…“

He reaches for your hands making you jerk slightly but he doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. You feel him pull you and as if under a spell, you follow mindlessly until you’re resting on your knees. He brings your inner wrist to his lips, gently peppering kisses between his words.

“What could possibly... “ kiss

“cause someone to drop as if… “ kiss

“the very life was sucked out of them?” kiss

An unfamiliar heat rips through your body, settling in your stomach and a little lower if you were being honest. You’ve never allowed anyone to be this intimate with you. Rule #3 N̴e̵v̴e̶r̵ ̷b̶r̷i̶n̸g̷ ̷a̸n̵y̷one too close.

“I – I – don’t..I didn’t – just tired.“ you give up on trying to form a coherent answer. What is he trying to get out of this? Alastor rests your hands on his cheeks. A deep sigh leaving his lips when he feels your warmth. You didn’t dare move, realizing you were just as touch starved as the demon in front of you.

Your mind is at full blown war. Torn between the desire to lean into this precarious high and absolute rage that he was trying to get into your head.

“I need to know so I can help you, my dear. I want to protect you.” His voice was clear but low. It lacked any trace of his usual radio effect. It’s as if he was dropping every façade. Speaking to you not as the Radio Demon but as just Alastor. “You and I could do great things [Y/N]. Trust me. Let me show you.”

What is he doing? I have worked relentlessly to be one of the strongest, most elusive demons in Hell. I fear no one. I need NO ONE. Yet here I am completely unravelling…

….to the Radio Demon.

Rule #̴̤͌1̴̢͝ ̶̘̽N̵̹̐e̴̯̋v̷̳̈́e̸̯̎r̵̠̕ ̸͈̊t̵̼͑ŗ̷̃u̴͔̓s̷̢̑t̴̪̓ ̵͎̊a̴̺͛n̶̛̳o̴̺͆t̴̤̿h̶̗̿e̴̞̋ȓ̸͜ Overlord.

[kelcemenow]

Sweet As Sugar.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 7657

Warnings This will have a little bit of everything in it! Fluff, angst, strong language, mentions of alcohol and smut. I also should have probably done a better job of proof-reading so there may be some spelling or grammar mistakes here and there.

I got this Anon request a while ago and I think I'm going to do something a bit different with this. It's such a long period of time passing so you'll see how I've covered all of that time without the plot moving too fast or being too much of a slow burn. I hope it reads well and you enjoy it! "Would you write a sugar daddy travis kelce au smut? Where the reader (female) is a broke college student who meets travis at a bar one night? Both of them slowly fall for each other, and it eventually ends with Travis asking for the reader's hand in marriage."

JANUARY

You carefully poured some vodka into your flask and stuffed it into your handbag. The taxi outside honked it's horn for the second time so you looked over your reflection in the mirror before running out of the door, your Goodwill heels clacking against the floor.

"Hurry up, bitch!" Mila called out of the taxi.

You laughed and quickly shuffled in next to her, making sure your dress didn't get caught in the door, "I was filling my flask."

"Girl, if you're broke, I can give you money? I've told you this!"

You shook your head, "No, thank you, but I'm not loaning money from a friend. It gets messy. We'll still have a good time tonight!"

"If you won't let me loan you any cash, will you at least let me buy you cocktails?"

You checked over your makeup in your compact mirror, "Now that you can do."

When you arrived at the club, Mila grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the centre of the club. You were both cheerleaders and struggling through your senior year of college, meaning your dancing skills often earned you some free drinks. As the music pumped into your ears, you began to sway and grind your hips to the beat, raising your arms in the air. You noticed that you had both caught the attention of a small group of men at the bar, so you accentuated your movements more. Mila held onto your hand and pulled you to face her, her eyes flickering over to your newly acquired audience. You smiled and raised your eyebrows before strutting over to the bar, making sure they could still see you.

"Two Manhattan's please." You smiled as the bartender got to work with making your cocktails.

Suddenly, your nostrils were filled with an almost spicy scented cologne and you sensed someone close behind you.

"I'll get these." His low voice gave you shivers.

You glanced over your shoulder to see a incredibly handsome man, dark, broad and tall, holding his gaze with the bartender. His eyes were intense and brooding, narrowing slightly as he watched the drinks being made. Being only inches away from, you studied his face and noticed a well-kemp and tidy beard and short buzzed hair. His jawline was soft yet strong, and his skin was lightly sun-kissed. Everything about his physical appearance turned you on but you wiped all thoughts from your head, reminding yourself that you weren't looking for a relationship.

"Actually, make it three."

He still hadn't looked at you, which drove you crazy.

"I'd have had you down for a Sex On The Beach."

Your comment caused his eyebrows to jump upwards. He quietly cleared his throat, finally turning his head just enough to meet your eyes, "I prefer a Suck, Bang and Blow."

Your clit throbbed instantly, your knees weakening at the same time. You smiled and picked up your drink, watching quietly as he did the same.

He leaned closer to your ear, "Let me know if you want to try one sometime."

Your breath caught in your throat, a mixture of shock and amusement. You watched as he walked back to his group, his ass and thigh muscles straining against the fabric of his pants. A heat washed over you and you shook your head, picking up Mila's drink and making your way back to her.

"Works every time!" You sang as you approached her, holding up the two cocktails.

Mila widened her eyes and took the glass in her hands, taking a delicate sip from the end of the straw. "Mmmmm, nice. Who's the lucky guy?"

You turned to your right, pointing out the tall stranger, "He's absolutely gorgeous. We had a little flirt." You shrugged your shoulders.

Mila smiled broadly, "A flirt? Is that so?"

"Yeah. He's cute." You pinched the straw in between your teeth, your eyes sparkling.

"Then what are you doing still standing over here? Go and talk to him, give him your number?"

You breathed a laugh, "You think I should?"

Mila placed her hand on your shoulder and playfully pushed you away, "Are you fucking blind? He's a God and he's obviously interested. Go...now!

Laughing, you turned your head again, immediately making eye contact with your admirer. He was practically undressing you with his gaze, scanning every inch of your body. You threw Mila a wink before strolling sexily towards him.

He stepped away from the group a little, placing his hands in his pockets. You paid extra attention to his outfit and you noticed that he was dressed impeccably. An expensive suit covered his clearly toned body and you spotted a gold watch adorning his wrist.

You were sweating by the time you reached him, but you tried not to let your nerves show on your face. In silence, you held out your hand with your palm facing upwards. The man looked down at your hand with some confusion but after a couple of seconds, produced his cell phone, the contacts app open. You tapped your number onto the screen, saving it as Y/N and walking away swiftly. With your back turned to him, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath, grinning from ear to ear.

Mila grabbed you when you were back within touching distance of her, "The digits and disappear? A classic!"

______________________________________________________________

FEBRUARY

"So, you took your time to call me." You ran your fingers gently along the rim of your wine glass.

Travis looked down at the table, quickly looking back up with a smile that made you almost melt on the spot.

"Well, there's so many numbers in my phone, I didn't know to look for your name, especially considering I didn't know it."

You blushed a little.

"I was looking for Beautiful Girl In Aura but that wasn't there."

You tipped your glass towards Travis before bringing it to your lips, "You're smooth, I'll give you that."

Travis sipped his wine and placed the glass back on the table, his body language relaxed, "So, what is it you do?"

You swallowed, "I'm a student. I'm studying psychology."

Travis nodded his head and raised his eyebrows, "Interesting."

"Is it?"

"I think so."

There was a short silence before Travis picked up his glass again, "Don't you want to know what I do?"

You smiled, "Okay. What do you do?"

"I own a large international chain of luxury hotels, golf and spa resorts."

You froze for a second, "Wow."

Travis leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table, "I think we can help each other?"

You fiddled with the edge of your napkin, curious and anxious, "You do?"

"Sort of like a business arrangement, I suppose."

"You want me to...work for you?" You questioned.

Travis smirked, "Not exactly. So, when I explain this to you, just know that you don't have to say yes. This can be on your terms as well as mine."

Your brow furrowed further, "Travis, I'm not following."

"Hear me out. I'm proposing that in exchange for your...company, I can provide you with financial compensation."

Your expression stayed unchanged, "You want to pay for me to go on dates with you?"

"Basically, yes." Travis leaned back into his chair, "It's a win win. I want to spend time with you, have you in my company. You're a student, times are hard for everyone but I could help with that. Wouldn't you like to have your student loans paid off? To have nice dinners out, to have nice things?"

Your jaw dropped open a little, "Well...yeah but-"

"Then say yes." Travis smirked again.

You closed your eyes as you repeated what Travis had said, "Why does someone like you, looking the way you do and being who you are, feel the need to pay for girls to date you?"

"Sure, some people think it's like that. But I like you, Y/N. You're interesting, funny, intelligent and absolutely gorgeous. I want to help you."

"And that's all it is?"

"I take you out a couple times a month, maybe three times, I wire you some money, I buy you gifts, pay for things? No funny business, nothing shady, all on your terms."

You couldn't help but to laugh, "I'm sorry but this is crazy."

Travis slowly picked up his glass and took a large gulp of wine, watching you intently and waiting for your response.

You realised that he was being deadly serious and as your palms began to sweat, you opened your mouth slowly, "And you don't want anything else out of this other than my company."

Travis shrugged his shoulders, "All on your terms, baby."

The corners of your mouth moved into a smile and you exhaled a short laugh, "When do I start?"

______________________________________________________________

MARCH

You waited anxiously on the front steps of your apartment, your hair moving gently in the early spring breeze. As you held onto your coat and pulled it further across your chest, a large shiny black car pulled up to the curb in front of you. You waited until the back window of the car lowered down, revealing Travis. You smiled and he winked at you, opening the door and moving along so that there was a space for you.

As you carefully climbed into the back of the car, the familiar spicy scent from 2 months prior hit your senses.

Travis looked to you and smiled, "You look beautiful."

You felt your cheeks deepen as the car pulled away, "Thank you. You look really good too."

He did. A simple white button-down shirt was tucked into light grey trousers. He appeared much more relaxed than your previous encounters and although you had been texting back and forth in the meantime, he was still a complete stranger to you.

"Thank you very much." He cleared his throat, "I got you something."

You shifted in your seat, "Oh Travis, thank you but you-"

He held out a finger, "Ah ah. I wanted to. Call it a preview of what's to come. And a thank you."

"A thank you for what?"

"Doing this? I suppose?" He produced a large square velvet box, "Here."

You took the box in your hands and your fingers felt the edges. It was clearly jewellery, something you had never received as a gift and you wondered if you were ever going to get used to being showered with gifts, expensive ones at that.

"Well, are you gonna open it?"

You smiled and opened the box slowly. Sitting in the centre of the box was a white gold chain holding the most exquisite round cut diamond you had ever seen. It glittered perfectly, causing you to gasp loudly.

"Oh my God, Travis. It's beautiful!"

Travis grinned, taking the necklace out of the box and motioning you to turn around. You lifted your hair from your neck and as Travis closed the clasp, his fingers grazed your soft skin, sending a shiver down your spine. As you turned back to face him, you touched the diamond that was now resting at the top of your cleavage.

"This is amazing, thank you so much." You instinctively leaned closer to him with your arms out, "Can I give you a hug?"

He scratched the back of his neck, "Sure!"

You reached your arms over his shoulders and his took you in from your waist. The hug was slightly awkward from your positions in the back seats of his town car, but he felt tough and safe, his scent stronger than ever. His facial hair rubbed against your cheek and you swore you felt him squeeze you a little tighter. Your heart began to beat faster and harder and you were worried that he'd be able to feel it against his chest.

You slowly pulled away and looked into Travis' eyes for second, feeling your stomach flutter before he broke his stare to glance out of the window.

"Oh, we're here."

You licked your lips and retrieved your purse, trying to slow the speed of your breathing as the car stopped outside of the most beautiful looking restaurants you had ever seen.

Travis must have noted your expression, "Well, I had to impress you for our first proper date."

The word made your heart skip, "Date?" You repeated.

Travis smirked, almost nervously, "Well, it is a date, I suppose."

______________________________________________________________

APRIL

"And there's no sex at all? No kissing, no fooling around? Nothing?" Mila stared at you intently, holding her cup of coffee to her chest.

You shook your head.

She sat back into the sofa, her eyebrows raised high, "Wow."

You pressed your lips together and waited for Mila's next question.

"And are you attracted to him at all?"

"Well, yeah. He's absolutely gorgeous. But I get the impression he's not into the whole idea of a relationship. He's so busy and successful, he probably doesn't have the time for anything serious or long term. I think he like's having female company but this way, he doesn't have to deal with all of the politics. There's no strings, no stresses."

Mila nodded her head as you spoke.

"He said it's all on my terms, but I obviously want to respect his wants too."

After a moment of silence, Mila put her cup down on the coffee table and leaned across to you, "Are you sure you won't get attached?"

You shook your head, "I don't think so. It's a business arrangement." You repeated Travis' words and you heard his voice in your head, causing you to smile.

Mila raised an eyebrow, "Oh no. I know that smile!"

You laughed, "What? It's fine! I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do!" Mila fell back onto the couch, "You're a Sugar Baby!"

"No way!"

Mila rolled her eyes, "Yes, you are! He's your Sugar Daddy and you're his Sugar Baby. It' a whole thing now, I read about it a couple of weeks ago. I just didn't think it was genuinely possible, yet here you are!"

"Will you stop? It's not that deep."

"Not yet. Just you wait, soon he'll be all you can think about. You'll be at his beck and call, your life will completely revolve around him."

You sighed and took a sip of your coffee, your mind begrudgingly fixed on Travis.

______________________________________________________________

MAY

"I'm telling you, this is the best ice cream in the city."

Travis shook his head, "I don't know, I've tried my fair share of ice cream!"

You handed him the small tub with a plastic spoon dug into the side of the perfectly rounded scoop, "Trust me."

You watched with anticipation as he spooned a generous amount of ice cream into his mouth, his tongue lapping at his top lip to savour every morsel.

He swallowed and looked into your eyes, "You're right, this is the best ice cream."

You laughed and patted his chest, "I told you!" You spooned your own ice cream and he nudged you playfully as the pair of you walked side by side in the cool evening.

"Alright, alright. I'm a man who can admit when he's wrong!" He looked down at you and smiled, "So, how do you think your finals went?"

You tipped your head to the side, "I actually think they went well. I felt really confident coming out."

Travis flashed you a broad smile, "That's great! You'll have done amazing, baby, I'm sure of it."

You felt your cheeks blush at the nickname. He had never called you that before but it felt so natural to hear him say it.

You brushed past it, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, "I hope so. I want to go to grad school eventually, so it's really important that I do well."

"I have every faith in you." Travis winked as he devoured another spoonful of ice cream.

"Did you do the whole college thing?" You glanced up at him.

Travis shook his head, "I dropped out after my freshman year."

You raised your eyebrows, "Oh really? How come?"

"I think that way of learning suits some people. It didn't suit me at all, I'm much more hands on, more practical." Travis stared straight ahead, "As soon as I dropped out, I started working my ass off, I built my career from the bottom and soon after, I bought my first hotel."

You smiled as you listened to him speak, his face content.

"My Mom was so proud of me. It was her idea that I branched out internationally too, but I swear she only suggested it so she could have vacations whenever she wanted." He laughed, "Eventually, my empire grew and grew and I was named one of the richest men in America."

You swore you noticed a switch of emotion.

"And that's sometimes the problem, women are only interested in me for my money. When they look at me they see Travis Kelce, owner and CEO of Kelce Hotels and Resorts, instead of just...me." He spooned the last of his ice cream into his mouth.

You fiddled with your spoon, scraping the bottom of the tub, "Travis-"

"Oh, before I forget..." He mumbled through his mouthful, "I've already sent you your money for tonight."

You looked down to your empty tub and nodded, "Thank you, Travis."

"No, thank you." He swallowed quickly, "I really like spending time with you."

You stopped to throw your tub into the trash when Travis placed his hand on your shoulder and turned you to face him, "Wait."

Your eyes blinked as you stared up at him, "What?"

"You've got a little bit of ice cream there."

Travis leaned closer to you and brought his thumb up to the corner of your mouth. He paused for a second, almost hesitating before gently rubbing the ice cream away. You looked down at his hand, watching as he kept it there, slowly moving to hold the side of your face. You brought your eyes back up to meet his face, shifting your focus between his eyes and his mouth as you watched his lips part slightly. You stuttered a breath and smiled a little when you felt his other hand find your waist, sliding around your lower back and pulling you in even further. Your bodies were now pressed together and as you relaxed into his hold, Travis tilted his head to the side and lay a gentle yet quick kiss onto your lips. Your eyes fluttered closed and you stayed still, unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

You opened your eyes to see Travis looking down at his feet, frowning and shaking his head a little.

"No." You said plainly, "No, it's fine."

Travis looked up, his expression hopeful.

"Kiss me again."

"What?"

"Kiss me again." You repeated.

Travis stuttered a breath before kissing you again, this time with more pressure. He lingered there for a moment before letting his lips move across yours with haste, deepening the kiss further. Impulsively, you brought your hands up to his face, one of them holding the back of his head. You had wanted nothing more but to touch him, to feel his body around yours and now that it was happening, you swore your heart was going to beat out of your chest. A heat quickly started to rise up in you, a wanting that you didn't know you had. Your fingers floated down to his neck, your nails dragging along his skin.

Travis smiled into the kiss before pulling away, "Wow." He spoke in a quiet and content whisper.

"You know that sort of thing will cost you extra."

Travis threw his head back and laughed before taking your hand and continuing your walk towards the lake beach, the romantic light of the sunset shining off of the water.

______________________________________________________________

JUNE

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I have to go there anyway for some business meetings. I'm thinking of opening up some hotels over there." He ran a hand through his short beard, "I figured I could make a vacation out of it and thought you'd like to join me for the week?" A smile crept on Travis' face.

"Do you...want me to join you?"

Travis laughed, "Of course! You can relax and sunbathe by the pool, sip cocktails during the day and then have delicious dinners with me at night."

You looked upwards, thinking, "That does sound good."

"All expenses paid, I'll get you everything you need. Tickets, hotel, clothes...everything."

You felt a flutter, "Would we be sharing a room?"

"Oh, no. We'd be in the same suite, but we'd have separate rooms." Travis retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and began scrolling, his attention now diverted.

You felt a pang of disappointment in the pit of your stomach which you quickly dismissed, "I'd love to, I really appreciate it Travis."

"Don't mention it. You've worked so hard with your finals, you deserve a break. Call it a thank you."

You smiled and ran your fork across your plate, feeling somewhat deflated. You were grateful for Travis' kindness and generosity but you couldn't help hoping that this would be a sign that he was willing to get closer to you. Ever since your kiss, he had almost took a few steps back from you. He seemed slightly distant and although you still kept up with your arrangement, he was behaving differently.

"You want to go shopping for some new outfits? I can pick you up tomorrow? Maybe grab some lunch too?" He shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.

You blinked quickly, clearing your throat and the disappointment in the pit of your stomach, "Uh, yeah sure. Thank you."

______________________________________________________________

JULY

The Greek sun warmed your skin as you relaxed on your lounger, your eyes gently closed. You could hear the waves lapping against the rocks nearby on your private beach and beads of pool water ran down onto your shoulders from your recent swim.

You stretched out a little further with your hands above your head when something shaded your face from the sun. You opened your eyes to see Travis standing over you.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want to disturb you...I thought you were asleep."

You sat up, shielding the sun from your eyes with your hand. You couldn't help but notice Travis' eyes were awkwardly shifting around you, glancing at your body. You smiled, sweetly, "No, I was just relaxing. You know, with my cocktail?" You lifted your Mojito and took a sip.

Travis laughed and rubbed his palms together, "Sure...yeah."

You noticed that he looked somewhat tense as he sat down on the lounger next to you.

"I...errr...wanted to talk to you about something."

You dropped your sunglasses onto your face and swung your legs around so that you were facing him, "Sure, is everything okay?"

Travis smiled, "Yeah. Everything is fine. It's just...I've been thinking."

"Okay?" You said slowly.

He breathed a nervous laugh, his eyes fixed on the sand underneath his feet.

You leaned forward and place a hand gently on his knee, "Trav, what's up?"

His eyes moved to your hand and his mouth moved into a smile, "See, that right there." He pointed to your hand, "I have this feeling in my stomach whenever you touch me, it's like something I've never felt before."

You were motionless, apprehension washing over you and stopping you in your tracks.

"I-I told myself not to fall for you. I made a promise to myself that this would strictly professional, that I didn't want to put you in any uncomfortable situations. But I've broken that promise."

"I don't understand?" You removed your hand quickly and rested it on your own.

"I think that we should stop whatever this is."

Your eyebrows lowered and your nose crunched upwards, "Because you're falling for me?"

Travis finally looked at you, "Yes and I-"

"Travis...I'm falling for you too."

His eyes almost glazed over as he straightened his spine immediately. His lips curled into a smile, "Really?"

Your cheeks flushed and you nodded your head quickly, "Yeah. I really am. There's this feeling I get from you, a protected and safe feeling...I can't describe it."

Travis shifted himself onto the edge of the lounger, moving closer to you and taking your hands in his, "You don't understand how relieved I am to hear you say that."

You entangled your fingers with his, exhaling a laugh, "I could say the same thing."

"I have a meeting in an hour...how about we head back to the room?"

You stood up, Travis doing the same with his face only inches away from yours, "Sure. Mine or yours?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Very funny." Travis said quickly, before lifting you over his shoulder, your legs kicking in the air as you squealed loudly with delight.

______________________________________________________________

AUGUST

You could feel his eyes on you as you carefully chopped the vegetables for dinner. After a few moments, you placed the knife down onto the counter and turned around, your arms crossed.

"Can you stop?"

Travis smiled and looked down at his phone, "Stop what?"

"You're staring at me, I can tell."

Travis shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

You laughed, "Travis?"

He flipped a page, his eyes looking at you from under his brow, "Yes, dear?"

You tipped your head to the side with your eyebrows raised.

"Okay fine!" He threw his phone down onto the sofa and made his way towards you, his hands wrapping around your waist, "But how can I not? You're stood in the kitchen, wearing my shirt and nothing else, cooking food for me. It's so unbelievably sexy."

"It's sexist!"

Travis laughed and laid a kiss on your neck, his lips lingering and his hand starting to move to your ass.

"Mr Kelce, do you want me to make dinner or what?"

His face was still nuzzled in your neck, slowly moving down to your chest as he hummed, "I can think of something else I'd rather eat."

You ran your hands over his shirtless back, tipping your head back and closing your eyes as his mouth latched to the skin just above your breasts. Your gentle moan turned into a gasp when Travis picked you up and spun you around, laying you down on the kitchen island in the centre of the room. His shirt that you were wearing lifted up slightly, displaying your neatly shaven pussy to him. His eyes glinted as he connected his thumb with your clit, watching you intently as you squirmed on the counter top.

"That's it, baby. My good girl."

His words only spurred you on, your writhing and moaning growing more intense by the second. With one hand, he pulled the bottom of the shirt up even further, his eyes admiring what was in front of him.

"You're so wet. Look at you, getting wet for Daddy."

You closed your eyes tight as you felt your pussy throb harder and harder. Travis loomed over you with hunger in his eyes. He dragged his fingers over your wet folds and flicked at your clit every now and again, your thighs twitching from the sensation. You pulled at the shirt fabric covering you and balled it up in your fists. Your nipples hardened with the growing pleasure fluttering in your core and as you pulled further at the shirt, they peeked out from underneath. Travis responded by grabbing your left breast with his large hand as his mouth made it's way to gently lick your clit. His tongue quickly replaced his fingers and you cried out a guttural scream.

Travis smiled as he sped up his pace, frantically licking and sucking at your pussy. You ground against his face, your heels digging into the hard, cool, marble. You were beginning to feel yourself come undone but before you could fully release yourself, Travis pulled at your thighs, sliding you to the edge of the worktop. You squealed gently, turned on by his strength. His arm slid underneath you and he lifted your back so you were sat up, his face buried in your neck. Your legs were spread and your pussy was pressed against his crotch, a wet patch forming on the front of his light grey shorts. You reached down and pulled at his waistband, exposing the top of his pubic hair. Travis responded by removing his shorts completely, throwing them over your shoulder to the other side of the room. Your hands immediately grasped onto his dick, squeezing slightly and taking pleasure in the fact that he was already hard. A drop of precum leaked onto the side of your finger and without breaking eye contact, you placed the finger into your mouth, sucking the liquid from it. Travis' eye widened and a growl escaped his lips.

You grinned with your finger between your teeth and massaged his cock with your free hand, running your thumb over his sensitive head with every stroke, causing Travis' hips to buck forward. He took your face in his hands quickly, pressing his lips to yours with force. and kissing you passionately. Your hand began to stroke faster and faster and Travis' moans were filling your mouth. As the intense pleasure built up between you, your teeth clamped onto his bottom lip. Travis hooked each arm under your knees and pulled you even closer, his dick rubbing against your wet folds. You watched as he thrusted slowly, the sounds of your entangled genitals filling the room. His cock was grazing your clit, spreading his precum and your wetness across you both. He held onto you tightly as he quickly adjusted his hips so that his head was pressed up against your entrance. You held his stare as you felt a growing pressure inside of you slowly filling you up, your lips parting as you gasped.

Travis grunted as his hips began snapping forwards, your knees either side of your face and your legs over Travis' shoulders. You squeezed your eyes shut as you whined through the slight pain of your pussy being stretched with this new position. Travis held onto you as he picked up his pace a little more, pressing his forehead to yours and watching as you approached your orgasm. Your eyes flew open suddenly and you felt the knot in your stomach snap. Your vision was blurred with tears and a gush of liquid covered you both. Travis smiled as he looked down, stopping for only a moment before resuming his rhythm.

"Did you just squirt for me, baby?"

You squeezed your eyes closed and silently nodded your head.

"Tell me what happened, I want to hear you." He grunted.

"I squirted...for you." You whined, desperately trying to ride out your high through Travis' relentless fucking.

Travis hummed and you noticed that his rhythm was becoming unpredictable. His forehead was glistening with sweat and his eyebrows were furrowed, indicating his effort. You leaned your head forward, resting it against Travis' shoulder. You could feel the pleasure building up inside of you again and in an attempt to stop yourself for screaming, you sank your teeth into his tanned skin. Travis' head flew backwards and he gave one deep thrust into you before his legs began to twitch and his muscles clenched. You could feel his cock pulsating inside of you, pumping his cum into your pussy.

You both stayed still for a moment, your synchronised heavy breathing the only sound. Slowly, Travis removed his arms from you, kissing your parted lips and letting your thighs rest on the counter top. He looked down to see the pool of his cum forming and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Can I finish making dinner now?"

______________________________________________________________

SEPTEMBER

With a hand, Travis helped you out of the car. Once you were stood, he placed a hand on your lower back and guided you towards the front door of his house.

"Thank you again for tonight, Travis. It was beautiful." You smiled.

"Baby, you don't need to keep thanking me." Travis kissed your hand, "I just want to treat you."

When you reached the door, Travis turned the key in the lock and motioned for you to walk inside.

"Such a gentleman."

Travis laughed and closed the door behind him, "You go and get us some drinks from the kitchen, I need the bathroom and then how about that foot rub I promised?"

You smiled and hummed, turning towards the kitchen. Travis always had a well-stocked bar; beers, spirits and champagne. But it was a bottle of red wine that took your fancy tonight. You retrieved two glasses from the cupboard above your head and searched for a bottle opener, kicking your heels off and enjoying the feeling of the cold flooring against your aching soles.

Two strong arms snaked around your waist and the familiar feeling of stubble rubbed against your cheek. You smiled and cuddled into him, his large frame wrapping itself around you.

"Lost something?"

"Yeah, I don't know where you keep your bottle opener." You said as you scanned the open drawer in front of you.

Travis laughed, "You're telling me that after all of the time you spend here, you don't know where anything is?"

"Hey! I found these all by myself!" You held up the glasses in front of his face, "Besides, you always get the drinks."

"Maybe I'm spoiling you too much!" He kissed your cheek, "You go and make yourself comfortable, I'll bring the bottle opener."

You walked into the living room, the sounds of Travis clattering in the kitchen echoing in. You moved towards the couch and glanced at the coffee table when something made you stop.

A small pile of $100 notes were neatly placed in the middle. As Travis arrive into the room you pointed towards them.

"What's this?"

Travis looked down at the money, "Oh, I didn't wire you anything but I had some cash laying around so I thought I'd pay you with that?"

A stab shot to your stomach and you could feel a redness growing in your cheeks, "P-pay me- excuse me?"

Travis gently placed the glasses and the bottle of wine next to the money, "Well, yeah. Wait, is there a problem?"

You exhaled a small breath, "I don't know, I didn't think there was, but maybe there is."

Travis took a step towards you, "Baby, what have I done?"

You could feel a lump forming in your throat, "You've made me feel cheap, Travis."

"Hold up, I don't understand why you're upset?"

"Exactly, you don't understand." You blinked away a small tear.

Travis shook his head, "But we agreed to this, this was the arrangement. You said-"

"Was Travis, was." You ran your hands through your hair, "I thought things had changed, and I thought you felt the same way."

"I didn't think-"

"No, you didn't. You didn't think, Travis." You could feel yourself getting louder, "Maybe you should think before telling someone that you're falling for them. Maybe think before you have them stay at your place for weeks on end. Think before making me feel like we had moved on from just you being my Sugar Daddy."

"Y/N, listen." He held his hand out.

"No, you listen. I thought we could have been something real. But I'm obviously still just something else that you bought." You picked up the money and pushed it into his chest, "Find someone else to pay for."

You stormed to the kitchen to collect your heels and your purse, quickly making your way to the front door.

"Y/N, wait...don't go, please." Travis called out, trying to follow you.

You slipped your feet into your shoes and slung your bag over your shoulder, "Leave me alone, Travis."

Travis held onto the door frame and watched you descend down the large steps, "At least let me get you a car?"

You turned to him, a scowl plastered over your face, "I don't need anything from you anymore, Travis."

______________________________________________________________

OCTOBER

A soft knock sounded on your bedroom door, causing you to groan and roll over in your bed.

"Sweetie? I'm coming in whether you're decent or not." Mila said through the door.

You buried your face in your pillow as you heard the door click open, "I knew giving you a key was a mistake."

Mila sat on the edge of your bed, "You have to leave your apartment at some point, you know."

"No I don't." Your voice was muffled by the pillow.

You felt Mila shift on the bed, "I did tell you not to get attached."

You quickly flipped over to face her, "I'm not really in the mood for 'I told you so' at the minute."

Mila narrowed her eyes at you and tilted her head to the side, "Babe, when was the last time you plucked your eyebrows."

You groaned and collapsed back into the bed, pulling the blanket up and over your face, "How could I have got it so wrong?"

"You can't blame yourself for any of this. He made you think it was going somewhere. He drew you in, made sure you were falling for him and then let you down. He did this, not you. He's an asshole."

"You wanna know what the biggest problem is?" You could feel your voice trembling, "He's not an asshole. He's the most amazing man and the most amazing thing that had ever happened to me. And I'm not talking about the money and the gifts or any of that. I mean, that's how it started but after a while, that stuff didn't matter anymore. He was kind and sweet and funny and holy shit, he was amazing in bed. He made me feel...perfect."

Mila laughed as she reached over to wipe away the tears that were rolling down your cheeks.

"I just thought the Sugar Daddy thing would stop after the holiday. You know, after that day when we told each other how we felt and then we slept together and it felt...different. It started to feel like a real relationship."

"Has he contacted you?"

You shrugged your shoulders, "I don't know...I blocked his number. I've barely looked at my phone to be honest. He keeps sending flowers though, but it just reminds me that he thinks he can just buy me stuff and everything will be okay."

Mila shook her head, "You really liked him, didn't you?"

You squeezed your eyes shut, releasing another tear.

Mila sighed, "I'll go and get the wine."

______________________________________________________________

NOVEMBER

You pulled your hair into a high ponytail and zipped up your hoodie before grabbing your purse and leaving your apartment. Your footsteps echoed in the stairwell and you took a deep breath as you opened the front door of the building, almost squinting at the morning sun.

You skipped down the concrete steps and turned right onto the sidewalk when the sight in front of you made you stop. Travis was walking towards you with two tubs of ice cream in his hands. He looked tired and nervous and when he looked up and saw you, his face immediately softened.

You opened your mouth to speak but you made no sound. Travis took a tentative step forward, holding one of the ice cream tubs out to you.

"So...someone told me that this is the best ice cream in the city."

You lifted your eyebrows, "Oh yeah? Who was that?"

Travis looked deep into your eyes as he made his way closer to you, "The most wonderful woman I have ever met."

You pressed your lips together and nodded your head, "Sounds like someone you wouldn't want to lose." You noted that his eyes looked bleary.

"I am so sorry, Y/N. I should have never made you feel the way I did." He cleared his throat, "You are perfect, in every way and you were right, we did have the beginnings of something amazing. I'm an idiot for fucking it up but I was hoping that..."

You waited as he trailed off, blinking tears away from his eyes.

"I was hoping that you could let me show you how much you mean to me." He breathed a laugh, "I've been a mess without you."

You smiled meekly, "Yeah, I didn't want to kick you when you were already down but you look like hell."

Travis glanced down at the floor, "I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't focus on anything but you."

You could feel a wave of emotion washing over you and the butterflies started to build up in your gut. It had been almost 2 months since your fight and all you had wanted was to see him but your head was telling you not to. But looking at him in front of you now, every feeling came flooding back.

You slowly took a step towards him, glancing down at the ice cream and opening your mouth. Travis smiled and closed the gap between you, scooping the small plastic spoon and pushing a dollop of ice cream onto the corner of your mouth.

You closed your eyes and exhaled a small laugh. Looking up, Travis beamed at you and pulled you closer to him, his warm scent bringing back familiar goose bumps onto your skin. He bent down slightly and his mouth connected with your skin, removing the ice cream with a kiss. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his neck and he lifted you off of the ground with ease. You pressed kisses into his cheek with desperation and his arms held onto you tightly, as if never wanting to let you go again.

______________________________________________________________

DECEMBER

You turned to Travis with furrowed brows. He was fidgeting and his gaze was unsettled, a worried expression on his face.

"Is everything alright?" You said with a hand on his thigh.

Travis whipped his head to face you, "Yeah, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

Your eyebrows lowered further, "Because...you're being weird."

Travis cleared his throat, "No, I'm fine. Are you fine?"

You smirked, "Yeah, sure."

He smiled at you and took your hand in his, which you noticed was shaking slightly. You stared out of the window and as the car pulled into a parking lot, you recognised the location.

"This is the restaurant we came to for our first date."

Travis smiled at you and squeezed your hand before stepping out of the vehicle, rushing around to the other side so he could open the door for you, helping you out with his arm.

You made sure your gown was falling correctly, pulling the satin material and smoothing over your hair.

"I thought this would be the best place." Travis said nervously.

Your expression of confusion returned, "Best place for what?"

Travis stayed silent, guiding you into the restaurant with a smile. As you walked quietly, you noticed hundreds of bouquets of roses surrounding a single table in the centre of the room. The restaurant was empty, aside from a string quartet in the corner and candles filling the room.

You gasped and took a small step back, your hand covering your mouth. Travis held tightly to your other hand, pulling you further into the room.

"What's all of this for?"

Travis turned to face you once you had reached the table in the middle of the room and held onto both of your hands.

"I was going to wait, but I don't think my nerves can take it." He said quietly.

You watched with bated breath as Travis looked around the room and gave the string quartet a nod who immediately began playing their instruments.

"I always thought that I didn't need anyone by my side. I always described myself as fiercely independent and somewhat of a lone wolf. I built my career myself and always assumed my life would stay that way. But then I met you."

He stared deeply into your eyes as you felt your chest begin to rise and fall quickly.

"I never thought that I would be so happy dedicating my time to someone else...and not for any other gain than pure happiness. You have changed my life and I want to spend every waking minute with you...if you'll let me."

Your jaw dropped as he lowered himself to one knee, reaching into his pocket for a small navy blue box. He stared up at you with a hopeful expression and clung to your left hand.

"Y/N, I love you...more than I thought I could love anyone. You make me a better person and I cannot imagine living the rest of my life with anyone else."

Tears begin to build up in your eyes and you listened to Travis' words.

"Y/N, will you marry me?"

You wiped away the moisture from your cheeks, trying hard to steady your rapid breathing, "Yes...yes, oh my God yes!"

Travis leapt up and cupped your face with his hands, kissing you with immediate passion. You held onto the back of his head, rubbing his stubbled skin with your fingers. He held you for a while before pulling away, opening the ring box and presenting the most beautiful diamond ring, the stones set in a delicate white gold band. Either side of the diamond were two fire opals, its colours shifting in the light.

"Travis, it's so beautiful."

He held onto the ring between his fingers, "May I?"

You smiled and held out your left hand, your ring finger prominent. The ring fit you perfectly and once it was settled on your hand, you gazed down at it with glassy eyes. You took a deep breath and looked up to Travis.

He smiled, "Can we have some dinner now? I was so nervous for this, I haven't eaten all day!"

You laughed and kissed him before settling into your seat, the string quartet serenading your first meal as a fiancé.

______________________________________________________________

I'm sorry this took so long to post but as you can see, it's rather long and I wanted to do it right! I really enjoyed this format and I hope everyone else did too! My requests are open and I'll be continuing to work through the requests I already have but please keep them coming! To be included on my Taglist for future fics, just let me know!

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[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Something has been bugging me since the end of the Playful land event: How does the world not notice that these people are never seen again after going to this park. Even if its stated that only the positive magicam posts are the only things that leave the park, surely those guest's families/friends/employers/neighbors that didn't attend the park wouldn't eventually notice their absence. Moreover, how does no one still on land notice that the moving park leaves whilst everyone is still on it, and it never comes back to drop them off.

Makes me wonder if Twst has some sort of United Nations that would be alerted of this and set a worldwide lock down, so when the park needs to connect to a mainland again the country's military can apprehended them.

One of the biiig question marks of both Glorious Masquerade and Stage in Playful Land are all of the potential repercussions of Rollo/Fellow's schemes coming into fruition. The stakes of these two events are notably much higher than your typical TWST event, and that opens their stories up to further scrutiny. I'll talk about GloMasq first, then Playful Land, since I feel the former is also relevant to the points the asker mentioned.

This is going to be kind of a long post, so I'll slap everything below a cut! ^^

I don't know how frequently this is brought up, but I've heard some say it's unrealistic how Rollo was able to find the seeds for a supposedly wiped out plant and cultivate a ton in secret for his master plan. Now, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief in this instance because:

Spite can make a person do insane things (and what is Rollo is not spiteful as heck)

Rollo has lore which paints him as a diligent person who has a talent for gardening, so it feels in line for his character; he also seems to have an interest in history and is extremely neurotic so I could buy that he obsessively researched until he came across records or some trail to the flowers

The Bell of Salvation's ringing twice in a row is what triggers the flowers to bloom, and this has not happened prior to GloMasq because Rollo is the one who is consistently tending to the bell + the bell normally has a preset schedule; anyone that passes by the flowers would do so when they are inactive, and they are such an old phenomenon to begin with that no one in modern day would really recognize it or the danger the flowers pose

The narrative of GloMasq does not call extended attention to HOW Rollo was able to get the seeds, so it's not something that comes to mind unless you as the fan speculate about it; this doesn't come across as a plot hole, but it would be one if the narrative had pointed it out because then it would practically be obligated to fill the details in

The other major fallacy of GloMasq is that Rollo's machinations would have inevitably led to chaos once the flowers reached the rest of Twisted Wonderland, as some sections of society are reliant on magic. Now, I disagree with the notion that mages could band together and fight back against the flowers; we've seen from how the NRC students handle it that this would be a pretty useless effort since only the super powerful (which are few and far between) would be able to muster up enough magic to overpower the flowers. The majority of people are non-mages though, so the argument could be made that these people could help the mages by weeding or something similar. The question is, could this truly outpace the growth and attack of the flowers, especially when the average mage has far lower magical reserves than the average NRC student??? Remember how long it took the NRC kids (who are mostly healthy, youthful, and strong) to weed just the flowers in the waterways? My money's on the crimson flowers just overrunning the entire world long before they can be plucked out.

I actually think most societies would still be intact and able to operate without magic, seeing as 90% of the human population (which is implied to be the predominant race) are non-mages. Only very select industries and professions require magic to operate, and these are overrepresented to us (the players) since we are seeing the perspectives of mainly students who attend an elite magic school. These magical sectors, as well as societies which run primarily on everyday magic use (like Briar Valley) are the ones that would be the most in danger. This most likely explains why Malleus in particular was so panicked about Rollo's plans: if fully realized, his people would be in peril. This is not outright stated, but can be inferred. The main story also retroactively affirms Malleus's fears of being powerless. He was always told by his grandmother that the Draconias have great power so they can defend their people's smiles. What happens if that magic is stripped away? Then he is no longer able to protect his people nor his loved ones. In this way, GloMasq works well as both a standalone event as well as supplements TWST' grander story. It does not challenge what we already know but does support it.

Altogether, most details in GloMasq make sense and the event doesn't go out of its way to create more questions than answers. They all tie together in the end to feed into the overall themes of forgiveness and atonement, which are also consistently present throughout the event. This... isn't the case for Playful Land. In fact, I would say that Playful Land does the opposite (in trying to explain plot holes, it creates a LOT more questions) and tries to hand wave everything away with one thing: money.

Firstly, Playful Land is kidnapping and trafficking innocent people (even if the park is said to be a more recent phenomena). Would their friends and family not notice they went missing and report this to the local authorities? My guess is yes, it's just not elaborated on in the event itself since the perspective through which the story is told is limited (Yuu doesn't know this world that well + the NRC kids, who are the people Yuu gets a lot of the lore from, are mostly privileged and don't need to worry about crimes of this magnitude). I believe the "people go missing, why aren't the police doing anything about it" can maybe allude to real world crimes that occur but aren't reported or resolved, which is very scary to think about. I don't know if this was the intention of the devs, but the comparison is certainly there and can be made. Or maybe it’s just that law enforcement hasn’t caught up yet?

It’s also odd to me that so many people were able to be taken by this huge, very showy moving park. I think that Fellow lures people out under the cover of night (which was the case with the NRC students, I will assume this is the case for the other victims too) and the park starts moving away from the pier after the guests go inside, but???? Even so, there are night owls and cities that don’t sleep. You mean to imply there were zero witnesses whatsoever??? Even though Playful Land is so big and bright, especially at night… Maybe this part plays into the idea that crimes may be reported but aren’t necessarily resolved…? That’s the only way I can rationalize it in my head.

Where the bulk of the issues start to come in is in alllllll the surrounding details. For example, a lot of the NRC students Fellow is kidnapping are connected to wealthy and influential families. How the heck are Fellow and his benefactors going to keep Vil’s fans, the Kingscholars, the Shrouds, the Asims, the hypothetical Leech mob family, and maybe even Maleficia herself and Malleus, from coming after their asses???? AND FELLOW SPECIFICALLY FUCKED UP BY ENCOURAGING THEM TO “INVITE THEIR FRIENDS” FROM SCHOOL… because guess who will be spilling the beans to the headmaster about students going missing the day after inviting everyone to go to this supposedly “free” amusement park?? All the students Fellow told them to blab to just so he could catch more of them 😭 Then from there it would definitely escalate and governments might get involved since Leona is a prince and Kalim has royal relatives. I could see Playful Land having to go on the run (as in, have supplies delivered to them rather then docking for them, knowing that police or military would be there to arrest them at ports). But they can’t do that forever, especially since not being able to dock effectively prevents them from picking up new prey.

With the combined powers of the NRC victims’ families, they would surely be able to challenge the people behind Playful Land, no?? Unless you mean to tell me these mysterious people somehow have more power than literal royalty AND the Asims combined??? And we’ve never heard of them until just now??? Okay, you’re starting to lose me here because this is adding on top of the lore we already have but in a way that comes off as difficult to believe since the amount of wealth and power some of the NRC kids have is already ridiculous.

Playful Land is also supposedly constructed by very powerful mages which makes me wonder why they got together to create such a thing???? Did they literally all get bribed with enough money to agree to this project? Were they deceived about the true nature of it?? Are the other 4 of the top 5 strongest mages involved in any way??? How was this not publicized that it was a project that very strong mages were working on given how few mages there actually are and how much Playful Land is talked about in online rumors?? And let's remember that the park also somehow has tech that easily disables Ortho's functions so he can't send a SOS signal or anything. Okay??? And you're telling me this supercomputer child who was made by a genius inventor CAN'T override it???

Speaking of online rumors, that’s another thing. How are the people behind Playful Land able to monitor any and all talk about their park to this degree?? This is the internet we’re talking about here, surely stuff will fall through the cracks or come to light eventually. Someone would leak insider info or make up conspiracy theories about the park, someone would say something. It doesn’t work if you claim the park cuts off wifi after hours so the only things circulating on socials are the positive experiences of the park. That’s still leaving a data trail implying the last place these missing people were seen was in this shady park… And even if the people behind Playful Land purged the web of the proof, it doesn’t stop others from saving or downloading that proof. It also doesn’t stop non-attendees from theorizing or spreading the news.

And what happens to all of the non-NRC students who got puppet’d???? Their fates are never addressed, and nor do any of the characters mention helping them. You’d think at least Kalim would try to lend a hand, even if the others are self-serving. But no, the NPCs that got turned into puppets are never relevant again.

The easy explanation given for everything is that there are very rich and very powerful people running these operations. They would be able to silence people who speak out against them or bribe the corrupt into complying or looking the other way. Maybe that’s just a sad truth I don’t want to acknowledge (because this stuff for sure happens irl 😞) but that all sounds WAY too convenient for fiction (where the devs have total control over the circumstances) especially when we’re given so little lore for who these benefactors actually are.

There’s still way too many questions and even turning on suspension of disbelief couldn’t stop those questions from arising in my head. At best, I think we could give the devs the benefit of the doubt and say this was intentional to keep up the idea of a “shadowy” underbelly to Twisted Wonderland society. Even so, that doesn’t account for every little thing and the event’s attempts to explain it all only makes more things to explain. There’s also themes of poverty and privilege that get touched upon, but never elaborated on in a meaningful manner; it feels kind of carelessly tossed in there despite how tricky and nuanced of a subject it is.

I tried to explain my perspective as best I can here! However, I admit that there may be bias in my judgment because I’ve made it no secret that GloMasq is my favorite TWST story event. Please let me know if you have any other issues with GloMasq’s narrative or if you have explanations for the issues I pointed out for Playful Land; I would love to hear your takes too ^^

[hodari-pavels-good-boy]

Espresso Chapter 5:

Revelry: A Haunting

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5

Pairing: Hodari Pavel x Reader

Word Count: 3.9k

Chapter: 5/?

Rating: E

Tags: Angst, Angst with a happy ending, miscommunication, fluff, eventual smut

A/N: This is a multi chapter Hodari x y/n story! Gender is not specified so everyone can enjoy it (though I did originally start writing it with the intention of it being a male reader lol). Tags will be updated as the fic goes. Cross-posted Here on Ao3. Fic below the cut! Enjoy :)

Prepping for the dinner was the easy part, 'you can bring dessert', no problem. Easy as, well, pie. The simple berry pie you plan to make for tonight won't take more than a few hours and will leave you plenty of time for the rest of the day's responsibilities. Yeah, prepping for the dinner was the easy part. Actually going? You tilt your head back, breathing deeply. That's the hard part. You're not sure what changed in such a short amount of time to have the man do such an intense 180 but it's left you with more than a fair share of emotional whiplash. From the detached reminder of where you stood with the Pavel’s to a semi-public scene with… an offer to walk you home after, it’s left your head spinning. You feel a tinge of heat grace your cheeks at the thought. 

“How about I walk ya home? Give Najuma a bit more time to socialize.”

The question stops you in your tracks, not sure if you heard him correctly. He must see something in your expression because his cheeks color and he starts to take it back. “I’m sorry that was-”

“I would really like that.” You interrupt, jumping at the chance to spend one-on-one time with him before you can overthink it. “But are you sure? It’s a long walk from my house back to the bay.”

“I’m sure. Plenty of time to kill today.” He smiles as he holds an arm out and gestures to the path behind the two of you. “Lead the way.”

You can't help but notice his entire face smiles when he does. The blue of his eyes shine as he smiles with his teeth. He's nothing short of handsome as it is but you find he looks more youthful as his eyes crinkle in mirth. It looks as if the years physically lift from his shoulders during the moment of joy and you wonder why he doesn't smile more often, find yourself a little stricken at the idea you want to see it more. He tilts his head a bit as he waits for you to start walking and his smile becomes infectious and you can't help but return it with one of your own. 

Turning and heading down the path, he quickly falls into step beside you. It's quiet at first as you make your way out of the village. He's the first to break the silence with a quiet "How's the plot treatin' you?" Simple and straight to the point. 

"It's working well enough. A place to call home if nothing else." He nods in acknowledgement. "I added a fireplace last week, not much use for it now in all this heat but when the cold comes I know I'll be glad I already built it." you continue. 

"Nothing warmer than a home built up from nothing but your own hard work and two hands." He says it so certainly, like he's speaking from experience. You think of the Pavel's house and wonder if he built his own home up years ago the same way you're attempting to do now. Just how much love and time has been placed within those stone walls and wooden beams? Has that same care seeped into the foundation? Does it leach from beneath the floorboards and stretch out the door to welcome the family home every evening, warm and inviting? An ever embracing presence filled with meticulous devotion and love? Has the sturdy frame become a skeletal structure of protection, reminiscent of the very hands that brought it into being, sturdy and true? 

Clearing his throat and interrupting your train of thought, “If you uh.. Ever need any help or advice.. I’d be more than happy to lend ya a hand.” At the turn of your face towards him you find him avoiding your gaze, face determinately facing forward as the words trail off, a light flush dusting his face.

Mulling over the words and nodding. “Well you know what, if I ever come across any trouble, you’ll be the first one I call. If you’re not too busy yourself that is.”

This time it's his turn to think over his response. You find that like that about him as you watch him now from the corner of your eye. He takes his time before he answers, putting a silent effort behind his words the same way he does with every action. His full attention on the task at hand, all-in on whatever he's set his sights on. No matter what, if you have his attention, you’ll know. It’s as comforting as it can be off-putting. You never wonder if he means what he says because he always does. For better or worse, he doesn’t make a habit of leaving anyone with any guesswork as to what he means or says.

“I can spare the time.” He eventually says. Your feet cement to the ground at the answer. The weight of the response tethering you the path the two of you walk. He said it so casually, as though it was a simple matter of fact rather than the antithesis of every interaction you’ve had with him to date. A few steps later he stops as well, turning around to face where you’ve rooted, brows knitted together in confusion. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” The words spill like a fountain over your lips before you can even really think about the words themselves. His head lists to the right as he listens without interruption. “I forgave you, no strings attached. I’m not going to hold anything over your head or bring it up to chastise you. I appreciate the apology but you don’t need to go out of your way to prove it.” 

“I want t-” He tries to get a word in as you continue.

“Thank you for the walk but I can finish the rest of the way on my own from here. I’ll see you and Najuma for dinner tomorrow?” 

“Are ya done?” He asks bluntly instead of confirming. At your tentative nod, he continues. “Okay then. Now wait just a second. Before ya run off for no reason, I thought we said we were startin’ over, yeah? Ain’t that what we are doin’ here?

It’s your turn to be confused. You open your mouth to voice it but he beats you to it. 

“Let me get t’know ya.” He rushes out. “Fresh slate, yeah? Not just as the human that sometimes knocks on things in the mine for no reason or who brings my daughter extra iron. I want t’get to know.. you.” At the end of the admission, his face flushes as he realizes how loud he had gotten and he trails off quietly. “If you’ll let me, that is..” 

“Why now?” 

“I’ve spent the last week hearin’ about ya from everyone around me. From my daughter, around the town, hell even from the damn cook. Maybe I just hadn’t noticed before or maybe it was just funny timin’ but everyone’s always talkin’ about you. And the more they talked, the more I realized I didn’t know anything about ya.” He takes a confident step forward, closing the distance between the two of you. “Once I noticed, at first I was just curious I guess. What about you has everyone singin’ your praises everywhere I go? I only ever seemed to see ya late at night an’ ya didn’t seem too different from any other human that came through.” 

This time he looks off to the side as he speaks, staring intently at a small boulder off to the side of the path. It almost looks as though he’s glaring at it, willing it to break apart as he speaks his mind to you. You find yourself silently sympathizing with the rock as you know how it feels to be under that same look in all its intensity. The same intensity that came from him a week ago. You wonder, if the rock could think, would it feel the same paralyzation that can come when all of his focus is on you? When the same warm blue that was shining in your direction minutes ago turns to ice and you feel your bones freeze in response? When the friendliness that had been perceived to be there dries in an instant the second he decides it? It had scared you, that change and its earnestness, he meant the things he said. It’s not mean, you get the very distinct feeling he doesn't care enough of others to intentionally be vicious, it just is. You could respect it if you hadn't already been burned. 

But isn't that the kicker? For all that happened, here he is. He’s apologized and by the look of it certainly means it, taking unasked for accountability. He’s inviting you to his home and into his and his daughter’s life unprompted and by his own decision, another thing that doesn’t escape your notice. That same intensity and drive that hurt and leaves you thinking stupid thoughts about a rock is the same one that’s placed him here, uncomfortable and trying to make up for it.

“Now, I already knew I was gonna apologize the night I said anything after talkin’ with Najuma and realizin’ I made a mistake.” 

This makes you startle in your fixed place. You knew he had to have come to a new conclusion pretty quick but hearing it was the same day leaves a warm feeling in your chest. He really does just want to look out for his daughter and you can't begrudge him that. 

“But as the week went on an’ I couldn’t find ya but had to hear about you, I realized I wanted to get to know ya too. Clearly ‘Juma cares for ya a whole awful lot an’ she don’t open up to no one. Figured if she likes an’ trusts ya, well I oughta try too.You aint been nothin’ but a blessin’ for my family, it’s the least I could and want to do.” 

He looks lost as he finishes and your voice is caught in your throat as you whisper out a small “Okay.”

His face breaks out into that same smile from earlier, eyes shining brighter than before and your breath catches as you look at him. ‘Oh no..’

“Well okay then. How about I finish walkin’ ya home and you can tell me more about how you built that fireplace along the way and I’ll tell ya if you built a fire trap instead.” 

He starts walking again and this time doesn’t look back to see if you’re coming with, confident you’ll catch up and follow. He’s proven right as you jog forward and laugh as you start to tell him how you got the permits and blueprints and followed them exactly. Unaware that just down the hill, a few of the townspeople could hear both of your laughter echoing off the hills as the two of you make your way towards your plot.

Snapping out the memory you look out the window to see the sun has steadily continued its ever forward moving path across the cloudless sky, not gracing you with a pause for your reverie of yesterday's events even though it feels as if your own time has stopped. Your cheeks heat as embarrassment flashes through you with the realization you’ve spent far too much time thinking and worrying about the miner and his confusing but endearing gestures and not enough time getting things done. Placing your hands on your lips and letting out a sigh to steel your nerves for tonight, you need to get to work on dessert and dough can smell fear.

The sun is just starting to bend towards mid-afternoon, casting a warm hue across the windows and floorboards  when you decide to leave your plot, figuring it’d be best to take the longer path through town to drop off and return a few items before the end of the working day before you trek out to the Pavel’s house. Wrapping the freshly baked pie and grabbing the small pile of goods by the entrance you head down to the town, intent on finishing your goals before you're expected for dinner

You stop by the library first to return a few of your borrowed books before the librarian could come knocking your door down demanding their return. A bit of bribery never hurts so on your way out you slide a jar of fresh blueberry jam across her counter with a wink before heading out the door without saying a word, a quick trip with no fuss and full of silence, just how the two of you like it. 

Next stop on the path was the inn and you were a little nervous going inside after all the fuss of yesterday but the time is still early enough that none of the dinner patrons should be on their way just yet. Popping your head in the door, you let out a sigh of relief seeing the empty building sans the cook hidden behind the counter quietly humming as he busies himself. Walking in, you clear your throat, announcing your presence as not to startle the distracted man.

“Sweet tooth! I didn’t expect to see you today!”

Smiling softly, you place the wrapped bundle of dried herbs you’d promised the cook earlier in the week on the surface between the two of you. “Hi, Reth.”

“How are you doing after..” he waves his free hand around, gesturing to the air. ‘..all of yesterday?” Straight and to the point as you’ve come to expect from the man.

“A bit embarrassed if I’m being honest.” A small but good natured chuckle leaves your lips. “You know I don’t like a fuss or a scene but this is a small enough town, everyone will find something new to talk about soon enough. You of all people know how it goes, they’ll get bored soon enough.

Reth nods along as you speak, genuinely understanding the sentiment. “Are you okay though?” he asks. 

You hum in acknowledgement, ‘Yeah. We… I think we are going to figure things out. I-” pausing and leaning over the counter conspiratorially, lowering your voice. “Mr. Pavel invited me over for dinner tonight to.. clear the air I suppose. I’ll be heading out to the bay as soon as I’m done here in town.”

You can almost pinpoint the moment the gears in Reth’s brain halt all function before restarting, brows practically disappearing behind his bandana and into his hairline as his eyes widen to an almost comical proportion. “Tonight?!”

“Yes, tonight. We talked things over yesterday and decided we were going to try again. From the beginning, ya know? A do-over.” 

“A do-over? With Hodari Pavel?” he asks, disbelief coloring his tone.

You nod as you push yourself back from the counter. “Yeah. Try and start on the right foot this time.” You glance towards the door before turning back to the man looking at you as though you’d grown a second head. “I still have to stop by the blacksmith before I leave town but I’ll fill you in the next time I see you.”

He nods his head as offers his goodbyes and well wishes before you step back into the sun to finish your errands.

—-

The dinner starts as a quiet affair. The walk from the town felt both excruciatingly long and blissfully short. Once you’d passed through the gate at the pass, you’d felt the twinge of nervousness reignite in your gut once again. The brisk wind coming in off the water reaches all the way to where you walk the path, scenting the air with that distinct smell of salt and invigorating in its crispness even this far north.

When you arrive at the Pavel residence the food is still cooking, Hodari gives a brief hello before his daughter is throwing herself at you in her excitement. You try to return the greeting as you set the pie down on the table beside him but instead hear him chuckle as she grabs you by the hand and drags you past where he stands at the grill and towards the workshop you are so familiar with. You find yourself often looking out the entrance to watch the miner stare intently at his grill, all focus on the food he’s preparing. His concentration is different from Reth but the love of the activity is no less present. The heat of the grill, mixing with the warmth of the afternoon is causing a fine layer of perspiration to gather along the man’s brow. The same way it does when you stumble across him in the mines, working hard without a thought to the world around him and oblivious to your presence moving through. A new warmth from the nervousness spreads and you have to fight the wave that's moving through you. What else can make him look like that?

“/n? Y/n? Are you even listening to me?”

Snapping out of the dangerous train of thought, you turn your full attention back to Najuma, smiling sheepishly. “I’m sorry ‘Juma. My head’s in the clouds today. I-”

“Dinner’s ready!” echoes a gruff voice across the little stream and bouncing off the workshop walls. The teen just shakes her head and rolls her eyes, smiling as she takes your hand and pulls you back to her father to enjoy the dinner and eventual dessert she’s now eyeing. You help her father bring the food inside as she rushes to go set the dinner plates and cutlery. 

“I thought I already told you to set the table before y/n got here” the miner calls into the house exasperated only to be met with a muffled “I forgot!”

You couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled in you if you tried. The man is looking at you with an expression you can't quite decipher before Najuma is grabbing the pie from your hands to place on the table, stealing your attention once again as you help her finish setting for dinner.

—

The meal itself was a fairly calm proceeding, filled with the sounds of various compliments from all parties and Najuma filling the silence between bites with talks of new inventions to bounce off you. When dinner was done, plates polished clean of any crumbs and sun long since set, Najuma disappears quickly out into the dark with talks of ‘fresh inspiration’ and ‘testing’, her mind brimming to burst with the new ideas dinner had brought.

You offer to help Hodari clean, brushing aside his refusal of ‘you’re a guest’ as you grab the plates from the table and head towards the wash basin. Together the two of you scrubbed the dishes in companionable silence. You cant help but notice how the water occasionally splashes onto his shirt, causing the material to cling to his torso. His strong arms bared as his rolled up sleeves darken with dampness and you feel your face heat. As you pass a plate to him your hands accidentally brush and his are so warm from the water. “Sorry.” He murmurs his apology. Tone quiet and even. Steady. 

It's a good word for him. He’s steady in his words, in his stance, his movements, his choices. In the mines with his pickaxe, repetitive. His warnings of firm but careful feet in the mines in case of danger and a solid presence everywhere he goes. In the lives and environment around him, his handiwork on the plots, and even the anecdotes of the villagers. Hell, even the very path from his house to the mines is worn from his steady and consistent presence over the years. Distantly, you realize the heat in your face must be a full blaze now.

In the middle of this thought process, it blows your mind a bit how just a week ago you couldn't have imagined this was where you'd be. You wonder what he thinks of it now. After the talk yesterday he seems warmer than ever before but you can't quite tell if it's because he's making an effort to gain god graces or a sense of guilt or if this is how he really is and you have to come to terms with the fact you really didn't actually know him at all before. The thought sobers you and you suddenly no longer worry about the blaze that sat beneath your cheeks.

The rest of the dishes are finished without hassle and you begin to say your goodbyes. “Thank you for having me over, Hodari. It’s been a fun time, I’m glad we could do this”

“Leavin’ already?” he asks as he places the last dish in the cupboard.

“I don't want to overstay my welcome. It's been a lovely night, truly, but I am well aware you are a very busy man with an early schedule.”

He hums but turns away as he reaches into a different cupboard behind him pulling out two glasses and an unidentifiable bottle. “Wouldn’t be no trouble at all. I’ll be up for awhile yet, would you like to have a drink an’ relax for a bit longer? Be a shame, not to mention awful manners that’d cause my ma to holler, if I kicked ya out right after a meal.”

Taking a moment to think it over, you nod and he leads you towards the main room, placing both glasses on the table as he gestures for you to sit. Pouring half a glass of the mystery liquid for you both and placing yours in front of you, leaning back to relax as he grabs his own. His large hands dwarf the glass in his hold, rough fingers gripping it so delicately. Silence stretches comfortably between you as you enjoy the drink and pleasant company. 

As the night passes the alcohol makes both conversation and laughter flow easily. After another bout of laughter over something you'll surely have forgotten by the morning, he clears his throat before speaking. “Thank you for this. You didn’t have to but I just know it made ‘Juma’s day.” 

You nod and smile. “Well if I can be so brazen as to say, it’s made mine too. You have a lovely home and the two of you are even more lovely company.”

He laughs again and you join him. “‘s good to laugh like this after a long week” and you nod again. After another drink you hold your glass out towards him as you propose a toast.

When you are finished he stares at you as though he's seen a ghost as you finish, face pale and sobered before tentatively reaching over and clinking his glass to yours before drinking what's left in one go, the words you’d just spoken ringing around the room. 

"Well then, because we are always so busy and never seem to get enough time in our own homes or to ourselves,” You hold the glass for a toast, a smile breaking across your face as laughter still dances along your lips. “In the spirit of the night and making new friends, may our laughter live within the walls of our homes. And may it haunt it once we are gone only to greet us when we return."

[Dividers by the-aesthetic-shop and firefly-graphics]

[sunnyrealist]

Let's Talk about Sebastian's Parents

I recently needed to write about Mr. and Mrs. Sallow for my fanfic, and because there is very little information out there, I had to invent a lot of backstory as to who they were and what life was like for the Sallow family prior to their deaths.

I'm so curious to know what headcanons others in the fandom have created about them. It would be interesting if some of us had similar thoughts. If you're willing, would you share your own ideas via comment or reblog? Thanks!

I threw in a little preview above of one of my many commissions from @giselsann-opencommissions that I've been sitting on for quite some time. I don't usually post them until I get to the plot points they depict. This one is close enough - I'll show the entire thing real soon.

Before I get to my headcanons, this is what Hogwarts Legacy: The Official Game Guide has to say about Sebastian's parents (see last paragraph):

Here is the background I created for my fic:

Their names were Samuel and Selina (Ware) Sallow. Their family and friends called them Sam and Lina.

They were both pureblood and the same age.

They met at Hogwarts. Sam was in Slytherin, and Lina was in Ravenclaw.

When they were students, they were academic rivals - not "enemies," per se, but they were not exactly friends until they were assigned as partners for a project in Potions during their seventh year. They realized how similar they were and fell in love.

They got married very quickly after graduation but didn't have Anne and Sebastian until they were older (around 30).

The two of them eventually became teachers at Hogwarts. Sam taught Magical Theory (predecessor to Professor Fig), and Lina taught Defense Against the Dark Arts (predecessor to Professor Hecat). They were experts in their fields.

They moved to Aranshire when they became professors. I believe they lived in the spider house in Hogwarts Legacy (there's actually evidence to back this up). It was FILLED with books to the point that it was practically a library.

The cellar was their workspace, and the twins knew that when their parents were down there that they were not to be disturbed unless there was an emergency.

Both of the Sallows were incredibly studious and conducted a lot of research in their spare time. They sometimes teamed up to study particular subjects, such as defensive magical theory and love as a form of magic in its purest form. They didn't view Dark magic as inherently evil, just as everyday magic is not always perfectly good.

Mr. and Mrs. Sallow were quite lovey-dovey. Sebastian remembers them reading in front of the fireplace, engrossed in their own books, but always holding hands or touching. He also remembers being grossed out as a little boy by how often they would kiss.

Neither of them had big families, and just about all of their family members had passed by the time the twins were born. Solomon Sallow was their only living relative at the time of their deaths.

They took the twins to Hogwarts often during summer breaks, so they had a head start on learning the lay of the land and the school's curriculum. Sam and Lina had them read some of their textbooks prior to their first year so that they could get the most out of their education.

They wanted the twins to be well-rounded, so they taught them multiple languages. Lina considered music a language and taught them how to play piano. She also would sing them a song every night when she put them to bed.

Lina was exceptionally gentle, despite her interest in magical combat, Dark magic, Dark creatures, etc. She tended to coddle and fuss over the children. Every year on their birthday, she would bake a spice cake with vanilla icing. She was proficient in both Muggle and magical healing. Her nicknames for Sebastian and Anne were "little prince" and "little princess" - "the little twin rulers."

As far as looks, Sebastian takes after Lina, who had curly auburn hair and freckles. While Anne got a few of Lina's freckles, her hair is similar to Sam's.

Sam loved to give the twins sweets behind their mother's back. He had a distinct laugh and enjoyed reading stories aloud and "doing the voices." He taught the kids how to play Quidditch; he had once been a beater. When he traveled for his studies and would come home with unique artifacts and new information, he would share all of it with the twins in plain language, never talking down to them. I see Sam as an Atticus Finch kind of father.

Christmas was a simple affair. They'd have Uncle Solomon over for dinner, and he would leave pretty quickly after dessert (he and Sam were not close and disagreements were frequent). The twins were always gifted two items: a new book and something particularly interesting, useful, or coveted.

They liked animals and had an Old English Sheepdog named Endy (short for Endymion).

Again, I would love to hear your headcanons. Are yours similar or completely different from mine? Sound off in the comments or reblog! I love discussions like this.

[smoothbrainstuff]

Did you know just drawing without worrying about cleaning up is really fun.. wow... that's crazy!! Anyway this is Internal Tempo (IT) who I've been mentioning briefly over the course of multiple posts

He's an odd model of iterator, not belonging to a specific generation as he was made of spare parts. Yeah, it is Total Eclipsing Sky's sibiling, attached by a bridge like LTTM and Five Pebbles. Safe to say the two of them don't get along for.. reasons I'll get into. Internal Tempo is actually closer to 100HP and sees them as their sibiling instead. IT loves pearls they're a total information nerd, it's collection is quite impressive. The pearls he wears on his outfit are his favorites! Mostly videos of his slugcat, Revenant

Talking WAYYY more under the cut now

Internal Tempo was first conceived because of spare superstructure parts leftover from the creation of Total Eclipsing Sky, being hobbled together and attached to his "brother". At first the top of IT's structure was solely used for factories and production, but eventually low-karma citizens from TES would begin to be relocated to live there instead, IT becoming a ghetto. The cause for the overpopulation in TES resulting in this unjust action was because of a mass migration from the surviving citizens of Ten Scales of Karma, a iterator in a nearby group who poisoned her Ancients nectar with void fluid. Internal Tempo hated this immensely, not only was the land surrounding him being polluted to keep TES's city clean, but his population was suffering and he had no power to fix it. Internal Tempo is not a god like the rest of their kind, they were a tool, it didn't have any command over citizens or a say what happened, he was a means to an end that came with the added bonus of more hands to work on the great problem. He was a hunk of scrap meant to play second fiddle to a god amongst gods, Total Eclipsing Sky knew and reveled in this

After the Ancient's extinction it got a little better for IT, he finally received full access to his and other local groups, beforehand only being contacted by TES and 100HP. Lacking most learnt social etiquette has left Internal Tempo with a reputation of being reclusive and anxiety inducing, all it's messages definitely have the vibe of people on discord who speak in all lowercase and add periods to the end of messages 24/7. Despite this fact after many cycles Internal Tempo and Last Nights Song begin to date after clicking almost immediately. Their logs of information help her immensely in keeping track of events when her systems shut down for half the day

Things begin to go awry when a heavily injured purposed slugcat manages to crawl it's way close enough to be picked up by IT's structure organisms, being ferried up to his chamber so they could save it. Through mildly clunky medical care Internal Tempo is able to save it, having to use free blueprints on chat rooms to fill in the missing parts. This slugcat, who will be named Revenant as a reference to their comeback from the brink of death, was created by TES and modified to have bat-like features. Figuring this out begins IT's delve into the rabbit hole of what the void TES has been up to. And it's bad. Enough to finally push Internal Tempo over the edge to plot against their golden brother. Hell has no fury like it's desire for vengeance. One that only gets worse when suspiciously modified scavengers begin ransacking 100 Hopeful Prayers

But this will cost him his body, an eye for an eye. All caused by a pearl and the campaign of a slugcat guided by them. Time will tell, a clocks internal tempo

[yanderes-galore]

Hi Panther,

Transformers ask? May I please make make a romantic yandere request for a oneshot with Yan!Tarn with a Neutral!Bot reader and propmts 2, 30, and 46. I was thinking of the idea in fannon where Deceptacon culture dictates the dominant con claws or bites a nasty wound that scars as a mark as “Mine” usually as a mate.

Sure, I'm not well versed in Transformers fanon as I try to keep it as canon as possible. Yet the concept seems pretty basic so I'll try.

Still relatively new to the comics and I'm not that far so if information is off, that's why.

Energon is depicted as pink in this as the comics usually use this as the color from what I've seen.

Yandere! Tarn Prompts 2, 30, 46

"It's an honor for someone such as me to take you in and love you!"

"Those lasting marks are signs of our love!"

"Even monsters can love, can't they...?"

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Kidnapping, Marking/Injury, Delusional behavior, Forced relationship, Possessive behavior, Not much plot... mostly just a kidnapping scene/plot, Transformer fanon HCs as a plot point, Mentions of "Mate", Cybertronian/Cybertronian, Bleeding, Vague implication of stalking, Graphic scene (?).

"You'll tire eventually, that's fine, I can wait."

Tarn's calm and patient when pursuing what he wants. Patience is something he's had to learn in his line of work. That and loyalty.

Tarn knew eventually he'd have you in his claws. Honestly, he couldn't wait for it. He had been eying you for a long time as a potential partner for himself.

You're a neutral party... something that can easily be changed once he has you. Part of him originally wanted to take you in to convert you. Now it seems he has... ulterior motives.

Tarn has never considered a Conjunx Endura. He had loyally followed Megatron's teachings and that's where most of his life has gone. Then he saw you... Decepticon potential in his eyes.

That and Conjunx Endura potential.

Even as you run from him in a pitiful display, Tarn indulges in the chase. It's a little game to entertain himself before he claims you. He'll allow you to think you have a choice in the matter.

Oh, naive bot... you never had a choice the moment he picked you.

"You're making this harder than it has to be. Your spark is safe with me. All you need to do is surrender!"

At this point he's taunting you. Tarn is already plotting how to corner you. Each movement he does is calculated, predicting your every move.

Right... until... you're right where he wants you.

Tarn feels excitement swell within him when he finally manages to corner you. He sees you run into a dead end and realize you're trapped. You stare at him with many emotions swimming in your optics.

Tarn sees confusion... fear... and aggression. Fear is the strongest emotion that clouds your vision. Tarn can tell you have a vague sense of who he is.

Pride fills him while he steps closer.

"Game's over, my little Conjunx Endura. I do believe you've worked us both up enough."

Tarn's voice is teasing... while barely concealing a deep hunger within. You stare up at him with more confusion and disgust than fear for a moment. The looks you give him drive him crazy.

Oh... he picked well.

"Now... will you come with me willingly..." Tarn drawls, trapping you between him and the wall.

"Or will I have to get the D.J.D involved?"

Reluctantly, as he expected, you agree to come with him to his base of operations.

To him, that's already a good sign you'll be a behaved partner once he marks you.

---

Sounds of metal on metal echoed through the room. Pain coursed through you and it was all you could even think about. Even with the red eyes glaring down at you in possessive aggression... your mind only thought of the pain.

"I took you in for a reason..." The Decepticon hisses out. You hear your own metal creak as he digs his claws into you. You swore you felt Energon trickle down. "I chose you to be mine... my mate... I think I've waited long enough to mark you."

Tarn then pulls your chin to make you focus on him.

"Haven't I been nice and patient enough with you?"

You shudder against him, trying to break eye contact to see the damage. Tarn doesn't allow you to look and brings your eyes back to him. For a brief moment you see the look in his eyes soften.

"Those lasting marks are signs of our love." Tarn hums, sitting you up. You see him pull his claws out of the wound and catch a glimpse of vibrant pink liquid dribble down them. You feel ill and the pain throbs... you decide not to focus on his claws.

"It's an honor for someone such as me to take you in and love you." Tarn praises you, eying the Energon on his hands. "A mark as deep as this will show every Decepticon I claim you."

"Am I going to die?" You heave.

"I'd never let you." Tarn replies, already preparing to call over Nickel to stop the bleeding. "You'll live... and have a pretty scar to remind everyone of what has happened."

Tarn then leans over you to brush his other hand across the side of your face. His eyes hold what appears to be adoration... but it's wrong. Anyone who really loved you wouldn't gouge a hole into your side so you spilled Energon on the ground.

"After this you're no longer a neutral party... you're a Decepticon." Tarn continues, gaze never leaving you. "I've claimed you, I've marked you, and I plan to brand you when you heal."

Tarn's tone sounds confident and pleased. You narrow your eyes at him and try to push him away. He doesn't budge.

"You're a monster... get away from me...." You hiss. Tarn makes a displeased scoff before leaning away from you. You'd take time to convert.

He'll just have to find more patience it seems....

"Even monsters can love, can't they...?" Tarn muses. "Eventually you'll understand."

Tarn presses his mask to your forehead and you flinch back. It was meant to be a comforting kiss. To you... it's anything but.

"Nickel will nurse you back to health." Tarn tells you, picking you up to transport you. His grasp his tight... Energon still dripping from his claws. As he walks with you, his gaze meets yours again.

"Until you're well rested... I'll be waiting, Conjunx Endura."

[sunflowerofchaos]

Okay enough time has passed for me to throw my two cents into the Bridgerton discourse. Many are displeased with the season and part 2 specifically. I have been trying to piece together what my issues were with it and I hope that someone can find this and maybe find something that clicks as to why the season may have been disappointing.

I am a big polin stan. In fact I started watching for and because of them. Totally believed in the supremacy of their story because of their adorable friendship and the long build up ever since the pilot.

I loved part one. That will be controversial but I truly did. Was the pacing a bit off? Yes it was!

But did it give us the romcom atmosphere, the yearning, the love? Yes definitely! I'll even argue that part one, the going from "friendship to love" is done more beautifully in the show than in the book. People said one kiss is all it takes for Colin but that's really not true in the show. If you take account of the history we have because of season 1 and 2 it doesn't feel that way.

And the funny thing is that despite part one having a bunch of side plots, it worked. It was walking on the edge of being too much but it didn't cross the line.

Not yet anyways... so here are my 6 big errors of part 2

Like everyone I was way too hyped after the carriage scene, which leads to..

Error number 1: The break after the carriage scene set the bar too high. The long break filled with press and interviews further hyping up part 2 after that high consequently did damage to the reception of part 2. I believe that almost anything after the carriage would appear as a let down due to the wait. That's kind of unfair to the show I know, but it also makes sense as we, the audience would have abnormally high expectations that are difficult to please.

Part 2 is flawed and there is no arguing that. The beginning of it felt like a let down due to the split right after the carriage scene aka the climax of part 1 (pun intended) but fine objectively speaking episode 5 and 6 are nice. But then comes error number 2, the fact that we have 2 episodes where their love is clouded by the secret of lady whistledown. I feel like that was problematic to the pacing of part 2 (which is a problem in itself). The tension in episode 5 was necessary but also so much. So much that Colin literally questions her feelings. Then episode 6 instead of lifting that cloud sooner, continues to sour the polin scenes until the very end of the episode. The reveal should have been earlier in episode 6, so they have time to properly heal and be happy. (Seperate errors that I will adress)

Error number 3 is how the wedding fell under the dark cloud of the angst. I was wishing it would be the happy wedding of bridgerton and it was happier than Daphne's or Anthony's (not that we saw the real one) but the queen disrupting the wedding felt like another punch. One more time we were close to seeing their happiness but couldn't. (Something we barely get to see at all)

Then error number 4 (my personal enemy). The pacing of the conflict and healing. The way Colin was hurting was amazingly portrayed by Luke and I even understand how Colin wanted to hurt Pen with the entrapment comment and unlike many I won't hate him for it at all. But one thing where the writing really failed me is how polin shared a number of scenes that could've had a bigger role in their healing but ultimately didn't. I will list the scenes and how EVERYTIME we think they are a step closer to healing, they go back to square one and how that effects the scene where they eventually do "heal".

Exhibit A: The modiste scene. Beautiful confrontation and it really set up the possibility of them talking through it more but then it ends abruptly with Colin shutting down (however I'm inclined to give this one some saving grace because at least they talk)

Exhibit B: The wedding. Colin once again gives us hope that perhaps they're closer to making up but when Colin walked away with Pen and they had a second confrontation where she states that she is lady whistledown, I expected Colin to at least accept that statement and not revert back to being in denial about it afterwards and shutting down again. This could've been the scene where Colin starts to accept them as one. (Not to take away from the letters scene but it would have been a great foundation for it)

Exhibit C: The bedroom scene. Ah my personal nominee. This scene could've been so much more and no I don't mean a sexy scene. This scene could've been thee scene where they talk. It would've felt more powerful to have the talk that they have in Bridgerton house in their bedroom instead. I can't stress how it would've fit perfectly and been book compliant. If they had utilized this scene better, then polin being at Fran's wedding the next day would've have felt more emotional and helped convince us of them gradually solving the conflict. Netflix, that wouldn't even take from your running time. Pen could've confronted him there as she did in the book. Colin could've faced his jealousy right then and there instead of having Cressida point it out for him and still not facing it.

Exhibit D: Bridgerton house. Yes they do talk here and you can see that scene as the one where they settle things prior to the ball, BUT one it is too close to the end and it feels cut short which frankly doesn't seem enough for the viewers to believe that they now have joined hands. This scene was personally not enough for me. I think if you expand the conversation it would be much better or again if you put this dialogue in the bedroom scene it would have been powerful and helped the pacing as the bedroom scene was in the first half of the finale and this one way too close to the ball.

You'll see that every scene post reveal is following the same frustrating pattern of them brushing over the problem. You in turn get your hopes up for it to develop further into forgiveness, then voila Colin shuts down and goes back to square one. That was extremely frustrating for me as a viewer as it happened multiple times, especially since it seems ridiculous to leave the conflict in the air till the last 10 minutes when they have had several opportunities to solve it sooner. Colin's peace at the end comes too suddenly as those previous scenes don't see him gradually make peace with the matter but always shutting down and running. Those scenes could have been used to show the steps of him gradually getting over it, forgiving her and facing himself.

Error number 5. The side plots and overall pacing.. As I said part 1 walked the fine line but part 2 crossed it. What do you mean that we get more scenes of secondary characters than polin getting over their conflict and having some time to see their happiness. That messes with the pacing, making part 2 seem to want to cram up as much plot as possible. You have Francesca's love match, Benedict's exploration, Eloise's general conflict and dynamic with Cressida, Cressida's own story, Violet's arc, lady Danbury and her brother's conflict, the Mondrichs arc, the solicitor, queen etc...

This season was simply TOO ambitious for its own good. It tried to do too much. Suddenly it didn't feel like polin season but rather the season to set everything up for the next season and that really hurts as a polin fan.

Finally error number six which is by far the most famous error. The lack of happy polin. As I explained episode 5 and 6 while showed some happiness it didn't feel real because of the secret constantly hanging around. They were happy but you as a viewer might have felt more worried and had a more bittersweet feeling. Especially when you see Colin get more and more anxious and insecure during those episodes. Then episode 7 and 8 sees them miserable most of the time. That sucks even though it is necessary it still sucks. Sucks because after all that put together we don't get to see it pay off. 4 episodes of angst and they give you one scene that suddenly heals it, 10 seconds sexy scene and an epilogue scene where they suddenly have a baby. It is simply not enough to balance out the dark vibe of the entirety of part 2. That is why thousands of people are hanging onto the petition to release the deleted scenes. So we can finally see the pay off of the angst and can properly balance out the emotions that came with it and move on.

Not to mention the absolutely wasted confession of Colin Bridgerton.. when he said I love you at the end of episode 8 I was already thinking "with everything that you are, everything you have been and everything you hope to be????!!!" But then he didn't say it and I was confused as to why they would possibly not use THEE love confession??? Since that's Bridgertons thing??? Having incredible confessions... And it's not like it didn't fit in fact it would have fit so well. At this point if you squint you might imagine hearing luke continuing the line for God's sake. That remains a mystery that makes no sense to me.

So by now I don't think anyone got that far and I can't complain because I wrote this for me. To structure my thoughts and make peace with it. And so to sum up these errors: the split, the structure of episode 5/6, the wedding sadness, the way the conflict/healing was handled, the pacing with the side plots and the lack of happiness to counteract the angst. I will revisit part 1 happily and just stop after the mirror lol. I will look forward to seeing polin happy in 2 years I guess.. and I do believe that when season 4 comes out and they're happy and are hanging around we will accept season 3 way more and come to hopefully love it.

[volivolition]

heyo!! hows unstoppable force going?? :0

HELLO ANON! lots of people asking about my fics (unless you're all just the same anon??? hgkj) in any case, im truly grateful :')!! i'll split up chatting between them, but since you asked for it specifically: let's talk Unstoppable Force! :D

Preface, here's all my fic wips as explained before!! and all my writing can be found in my #inland drabbles tag! ask 2, ask 3!

Unstoppable Force, aka "The Unstoppable Force Kisses the Immovable Object" was my first ever skills fic! as with all my writings, it's still a wip hgkjg Unstoppable Force is centered on Volition and Electrochemistry's relationship, from enemies -> friends with benefits -> lovers :3 it started as pwp but whoops accidentally got a bit of plot in there! it is still very explicit hgskgjk

Current word count is now 22,389!! granted, some of these are snippets of other fics. This document is a general free-for-all Volistry document, but Unstoppable Force in specific does have a plot in mind.

As for how it's going, it's currently a back burner project. Life's been tossin' curveballs and writing's been waiting in the outfield. for Unstoppable Force in specific, ive never written an explicit fic before so on top of the evil "your writing isn't good enough" demons im also fighting off the puritan "you should not be writing sexy shit, you are a sinner and also CRINGE" angels. like lmao LET ME FUCKIN LIVE HDHJFJ

i really love rereading it (literally canNOT stop grinning while rereading, theyre SO FUNNY, im delighted by their dialogues hgkj) and i KNOW other people might like reading it too, but also it's hard to believe anyone besides me will like the plot and characterization and. y'know. the sex?? i feel its very obvious i am a novice at this hgkj im aroace as fuck guys, this is already such an endeavor hkjgg

NEVERTHELESS. WE PERSIST!! the outline is all there, and a lot of plot points are already filled in! i just need to add more in-between sections, and figure out which sections i actually want to include in the fic hkjg

i think i want to add more of volition's thought process into this, it's fuckin fascinating, the way he denies things he wants, and moreover doesn't allow himself to want? me when the homie's self restraint is making his life worseee~!!! hgkjg shakes him hgkjg here's a writing snippet!! for you!!!

^ I NEED TO FUCKIN EXTRAPOLATE ON THIS!! HEY @ MY OWN WRITING, IS THIS TRUE??? HGKJG

i think it'd be better if i punched up the conflict in one of the later chapters? there's a part where volition's reaction to something harry says would realistically be something else, especially given the circumstances. i know exactly how i could do it but it makes me REALLY SAD augfhfhgh what if i just want volition and echem to be happy!! what then!!!

augh i'll do it eventually but I'LL BE SAD ABOUT IT HJGKJ </3 alas, writing is driven by conflict. i GOTTA CAUSE PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE!!!

okay, i could say more but that's all on Unstoppable Force for now. i have a lot of fondness for this fic as my first ever one that got me started in the fandom <33 volistry lover forever and ever!!! :D thank you for reading!!! :D

[strangersteddierthings]

Plot Idea I'll never fully flush out or write but gotta get out of my head or it'll never let me know peace again. It's basically Steve sent from the future going all John Wick. if YOU want to take this plot and write it, or if it inspires you to write something, tag me in it. I'd love to read it.

A 26-year-old Steve Harrington gets sent back to the morning of November 6, 1983. IDK if it's like El using her powers to punch a hole in time or like, some other way but everyone still alive has given him something to use as proof of his time-travel and get their younger versions to believe him, because he's got a time limit. No idea how long, but once he's altered history enough that the timeline he left ceases to exist, so will he.

No one he cares about dies this time. It's the mantra playing on repeat in his head as he looks down at the notebook that took Nancy almost three full days of nonstop writing to fill. It's the entire timeline of events, gathered and recounted by everyone still alive, because this Steve has been fighting a losing battle since Spring Break of '86 because Henry won and Hawkins got torn apart and it's been a fight to survive ever since. He's going to stop that from happening.

No one dies this time.

Will doesn't get taken that night, because this Steve is already waiting for him at his house. From Will's perspective this is just some Guy but he's more scared of whatever chased him home then of the person on his doorstep. So, Steve tells him to hang tight and all but shoves him into the house before cutting himself somewhere on his arm and stepping onto the lawn yelling out 'come and get me, ugly'. Of course, the blood draws the demogorgon. And while 17-year-old Steve was no match for just one, this Steve has been fighting packs of them for years now.

He's armed to the teeth and takes it down with precision. He's not unharmed, just one is still fast and dangerous. Steve knows how to fight them now, though. He covers the dead demogorgon with a tarp he stole from his own garage earlier that day and sits on the front porch to wait for Joyce and Jonathan.

Will is both terrified and awed.

Somehow, someway, he gets the Byers to listen. Shows them the dead demogorgon and gives Joyce the notebook from his backpack.

"Read it, and if you aren't convinced, I have more proof of its contents."

And he leaves. The next morning, he has to find El before Benny does, which he succeeds at but just barely. El is skittish and afraid but Steve gets her to trust him. Maybe because her powers brought him back here, she feels a connection to him, a trust that's there instinctively?

He returns to the Byers' house, carrying El the whole way. He stays off the main roads because people are going to recognize him as Steve Harrington and the less people that see him, the better.

Joyce lets him in and immediately fusses over El. Gives her some of Wills clothes to wear.

She's read the notebook cover to cover and has questions. Steve has answers and digs into his backpack to find the item the Joyce from his timeline gave him for proof. Maybe the proof is the same for everyone - individually recorded cassette tapes of their own voices telling them impossible things. Other proof consists of a photo album, pictures of everyone, the destruction of Hawkins, and of the ramshackle home they'd built in the remains of the apocalypse.

Then something something, details pending, everyone gets filled in on the danger that's coming. Maybe the kids get left out this time, get to just be kids or maybe they don't.

Steve meets his younger self and that's just a whole Deal but eventually he gets his younger self to listen. He tells him that being a jackass isn't worth it, and that he's not going to have a reason to change who he is in this timeline, because the events that lead to him being a better person don't happen. He's not going to have his whole life uprooted, so if he wants to be a better, nicer person, he's going to have to pick that life for himself.

Steve doesn't know if his younger self will listen, but he hopes.

Steve hunts down Brenner and shoots him point blank in cold blood. No regrets. Then he shoots the corpse a couple more times. He doesn't get to hurt El ever again. It's only after that that Steve feels the shift, knows that he's going to cease existing by the end of the day, and there's one thing left he needs to do.

He gets Hopper to let him post up with him in his police car at Forest Hills Trailer Park so he can try and catch a glimpse of Eddie Munson, alive and well.

Hopper asks who Eddie is to him.

"Nothing. We never got a chance. Will never get a chance," Steve answers. "Your Steve Harrington won't ever have a reason to even look his way. He died, back in '86. He didn't need to. He shouldn't have."

"You spy on all the other people who died?" Hopper asks. It's not judgmental, just curious.

"No," Steve says, then decides to be honest because he's going to be gone soon anyway, "I barely knew Eddie, but I wanted to love him anyway. Fell in love with his memory, from stories told to me by the kids and Wayne. We were nothing to each other when he was alive, but he could have been everything if we'd gotten a chance."

They don't talk after that. Steve gets to see Eddie arrive home, jump from his van full of life and vibrance and if Hopper notices his silent cry, he politely ignores it.

They drive out to the quarry after. Steve doesn't know what it's going to mean for him to stop existing and he didn't really want a witness to it, but Hopper insisted someone should be or else they'll all just wonder about it.

They stand looking out across the water. Hopper sees something from the corner of his eye and turns to look at Steve but he's not there anymore.

There's nothing left of the Steve Harrington from the future but his actions and a photocopy of the notebook that Nancy made because she wanted to study it, but Joyce didn't want to let it out of her sight. The cassettes, photo's, and original notebook all just disappear before everyone's eyes.

The fight's not over. Henry is still alive, but they're more prepared for him this time around. They know what to expect.

Hopefully that'll be enough this time around.

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

Where's Mommy?

Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Part 12

Summary: Wolffe's wife suddenly dies, leaving him a single father in the middle of a war.

Pairing: Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Characters: Wolffe, Cara (child OFC), Sinker, Comet, Boost, Warthog

Tags & Warnings: heavy angst, mention of death, off-screen death, spousal death, grief, hurt/comfort, family fluff

Word Count: 1.7k

Author's Note: Phew! That was a whole lot of work, but everything has been converted from reader to oc, and every chapter has been updated to third-person past tense writing 😮‍💨 Nothing in the plot has changed, but I did update some wording and filled in a few gaps I found while I was going through the story. Y'all, the next chapter is the funeral. Enjoy this last bit of, uh... not as sad moment(?), then brace yourselves! As always, please enjoy 💚

Beta: @beating-a-dead-plot

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Wolffe watched from his seat at the desk chair as Cara, Comet, Boost, and Warthog continued to unpack her things and arrange the room. He had Warthog stuff his armor in the wardrobe while she wasn't looking to try and keep the mood up. She was going to have enough to be sad about when they went to the funeral soon. Too soon. He didn't even know if he was ready for it, let alone Cara. He'd already had a conversation with the Wolfpack about it, and they'd be ready to step in when he needed them.

"Commander," Sinker called from the doorway. "Can I talk to you?"

Wolffe sighed and got up from the desk chair to join Sinker out in the hallway. He left the door open so Cara wouldn't fret about his absence, but he'd keep his voice hushed so she didn't overhear their conversation. If he was lucky, she wouldn't notice that he'd stepped out of the room. Sadly, with the look on Sinker's face, Wolffe knew that whatever happened in that briefing couldn't be good, at least not in terms of their remaining time left on Coruscant, and he braced for it.

"How was the briefing?" Wolffe asked.

"We're deploying," Sinker sighed. "I'm sorry, Wolffe."

Wolffe cursed under his breath.

"According to the intel," Sinker continued, "Captain Rex and General Kenobi were taken captive by Zygerrian slavers while trying to infiltrate their operation to free some imprisoned Togrutas."

"You're kidding," Wolffe said.

"Afraid not," Sinker said. "We're being sent to Kadavo as reinforcements for the liberation."

Wolffe pinched the bridge of his nose. "When are we leaving?"

"Two rotations," Sinker answered. "It would've been immediate, but General Skywalker and Commander Tano are already on the ground, so it bought us some time to regroup. As is, it's going to take twelve standard rotations just to get to the Kadavo system from Coruscant."

Wolffe breathed a small sigh of relief. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough for him to get his affairs in order. He looked over at Cara and watched as she played a game with Comet and Boost. She will be devastated when he has to put his armor back on and leave. With no mother, no father, and no Wolfpack, she was going to be completely alone. It'd take at least one standard month to get to the Kadavo system and back, and that didn't even take into consideration the length of the actual mission. Liberations could last for months.

"May I be excused?" Sinker asked after Wolffe didn't respond. "I promised the general that I'd help with the… preparations."

Wolffe paused. He knew what the implications of that word meant and while he was grateful that his second in command had his hands on his wife's funeral, it was still a stab to the heart.

"Yes, of course," Wolffe stammered. "Dismissed."

Sinker left and Wolffe walked back into the room, grabbed his comm, sat down at the desk, and typed a message to Fox. We need to talk. It's important.

It took a while, but Fox eventually answered back. I'll be at the funeral.

Wolffe quickly sent another message. No, not there. Tomorrow morning. The diner.

Fox replied back after a couple of minutes. Meet me there at 0600.

Wolffe put his comm back down and anxiously tapped his foot against the floor. It was a long shot, but he needed someone to look after Cara while he and the Wolfpack were gone. Even if Fox couldn't do it, he probably had a couple of trusted brothers in the Coruscant Guard who could. It was better than the alternative of some random Jedi caretaker brainwashing his child while he was off fighting the War. He wanted to be able to trust the Jedi, he did, but he always found a small seed of doubt when he tried.

"Cara," Wolffe called. She ran over to him. "I'm going out tomorrow morning."

"You're leaving?" Cara asked, her voice full of uncertainty.

"No, baby," Wolffe soothed. "I'm just gonna see Fox for a bit."

"Can I come?" she asked.

"No," Wolffe said.

"Please?" she pleaded.

"You don't even like Fox," Wolffe argued.

Cara pouted.

"Comet will be here to watch you," Wolffe said a little louder. He looked up at Comet and received a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. "You can explore the Temple together."

Cara continued to pout.

Wolffe decided to change his tactics. There was something in the Temple that could get her excited, even if only a little bit. "You know," he began. "I heard they have a tree somewhere."

Cara perked up. "A tree?"

"Mhm," Wolffe said. "A real one." It was something Wolffe and his wife planned on doing after the War; moving to a planet full of different flora and fauna for Cara to see. His wife kept images all around their apartment of different trees and plants from around the galaxy, since Cara had never been off-world yet.

Cara gasped with wide eyes. "Can I go see it?"

"Sure," Wolffe shrugged. "But only if you stay with Comet."

Cara thought about the proposal for a moment. "I'll stay with Comet."

"That's my good girl," Wolffe praised. "You can go play now."

Cara ran back to Comet and Boost, but then turned on her heels and ran back to Wolffe.

"Daddy," she said. "I have to go potty."

Wolffe blinked a few times in surprise. He was so used to Cara using the refresher by herself at home, that it didn't even dawn on him that she might need help here. He really wasn't made for parenting, but he was going to do his best to help her. The last thing he needed right now was for her to have an accident, and right before the funeral too. He glanced at the chronometer to make sure they still had time, then took her hand and guided her through the halls to find a refresher.

There should be a one somewhere on that floor, but he didn't remember seeing it on their way in. Then again, he did zone out for a bit near the end. After walking a little further, he saw a sign, but it was for a male species refresher. He looked around and saw another sign for a female species refresher, but he wasn't sure which one he should take her in. His wife would've just taken her into the female species refresher and took care of everything. Maker he wished she was here.

Since he was a male species, did he need to bring her into that one? If he did take her there, he risked her seeing things she shouldn't be seeing. However, if he took her into the female species refresher, was he going to get arrested? He noticed Cara starting to wiggle and he knew he needed to make a decision quickly. Ultimately, Wolffe took her into the female species refresher for her own comfort and protection. If he got arrested, Fox could always bail him out.

"Do you need help?" Wolffe awkwardly asked while rubbing the back of his neck.

"No!" Cara said adamantly and slammed the stall door behind her. "Mommy said I'm a big girl and big girls use the refresher alone."

Wolffe was shocked, but rolled with it. "Oh, okay. I'll, uh, I'll wait out here then."

Wolffe wasn't sure what to do with himself while he waited. He missed out on the potty training phase when Cara was two years old, and this was always his wife's territory, just like bath time. Which was something else that slipped his mind. He had no idea where the bath was, if the Temple even had a bath, or who was going to help her bathe in the morning. His wife was adamant that someone had to watch her in the bath. Maker strike him dead if she drowned when he wasn't around.

Within a few minutes, the stall door swung open and Cara came walking out. Wolffe opened his mouth to remind her about washing her hands, but before he got the chance, she was already at the sink washing her hands with soap. He didn't have to remind her; she did it all on her own. She even used the stool on her own. She didn't need his help at all. Wolffe felt a small twinge of pain in his heart. She was growing up so fast and he'd barely been around to see it. He'd missed so much, and he was going to miss even more.

"Ready to go back?" Wolffe asked after Cara finished drying her hands and hopped off of the stool.

Cara nodded and grabbed Wolffe's hand. He held it just a little tighter while they walked back to the room, because there might be a day when she no longer wanted to hold his hand, and when that day came, all he would have were the memories. It was expected of a clone to grow up fast, that was their purpose, but if he could ever find a way to stop aging, he'd give it to his daughter. It might be selfish, but he didn't want her to grow up. She was his baby girl and he wanted her to stay that way.

When rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the room, Wolffe could see Sinker standing outside of the door, dressed in his formal wear and holding what looked like Wolffe's officer uniform folded neatly in his hands. It must be that time, Wolffe guessed. He grabbed the uniform from Sinker and left Cara with him while he went into the room to change. When the door shut, Cara didn't say anything, but she did look a little confused. Sinker wasn't sure what to say to her, so instead of stumbling over his words, he said nothing.

Comet, Boost, and Warthog had already changed into their dress uniforms and went ahead, which left Sinker, Wolffe, and Cara to bring up the rear. It was fitting, in a way, for them to arrive at the funeral last. After a few moments, the door slid back open and Wolffe emerged in his officer's uniform. He fixed a couple of spots while Cara looked up at him with concern in her eyes, almost as if she knew what was going to happen, but still, no one had the heart to speak it out loud. Inevitably, it was time for them all to say goodbye.

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