#chrys-returns

[rikusuriuri]

do think about Rusty's tendency to self sabotage, typically through not trying at all but also by more direct means, Killinger says he's afraid of success and that's what holds him back (The Doctor Is Sin) & then there's his constant lack of inventions/poor work ethic even though you do see bits of his genuine passion for science/discovery/creation (ORB, creation of Venturestein, Walking Eye is really interesting just bc he built it w no motivation/purpose behind it but he did build it.) & then there's What Color Is Your Cleansuit where instead of trying to make a cure for the mutated workers he plays Oregon Trail or chills out in his bathroom, what he makes is something he says isn't going to work (bc if he actually tries, then theres the chance of him being a real failure which overrides his desire for success) i think it's really fun comparatively to like say the Monarch in The Devil's Grip whose defense mech is lying but in a "im better than this way"

[askthegreatwhitesharkfishman]

@orangesrpblog

Katakuri and Chrys are married for a little while now. One day as he returns home from his duties, he finds chrys obviously upset, looking like she has been crying which instantly makes his alarm bells ring

,,Chrys? What's wrong? What happened while I was gone?"

[layce2015]

Stranger Things (Steve Harrington x Female!Reader)

Chapter 11: Operation Child Endangerment

Previous Chapter/ Next Chapter

*(y/n)’s POV*

“That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever’s in this room, whatever’s in those boxes, they really don’t want anybody finding it.” Dustin tells us. It was the next day and Robin, Steve and I were in the back room of the parlor once again while Dustin went to spy on the Russian guards in the back dock of the mall.

“But there’s gotta be a way in.” I remarked. “Well, you know…I could just take him out.” Steve said as he leans forward on the table. “Take who out?” Robin asked him, sarcastically. “The Russian guard.” Steve said, like it was obvious, then Robin and I share a look. “What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It’s easy.” Steve said.

”Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?” Dustin asked him. “Yes, Dustin, I did. And that’s why I would be sneaking.” Steve said and I facepalm at this. “Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually…won a fight?” Dustin asked him and I snort alittle at this. “Okay, that was one time—“ Steve said. “Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?” Dustin points out. “Listen, that doesn’t count.” Steve said, defensively.

”Why wouldn’t it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you.” Dustin said then the two begin to bicker then Robin gets a look in her face, like she just thought of an idea. “That might just work.” She mutters then she gets up and runs to the front of the parlor. We all follow her and see her grabbing some cash out of the tip jar.

”Robin! Hey, Robin!” I called out before she starts to run. “Hey, what—what are you doing?” Steve asked as we run over to her. She stops and turns to us. “I need cash.” She replied, plainly. “Well, some of that is ours. Where’re you going?” Steve asked her. “To find a way into that room, a safe way. And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave and don’t get beat up. I’ll be back in a jiff.” Robin said and she runs out into the crowd.

Then I look over to see Dustin licking ice cream off of the scooper. “Dude..” Steve said as he looked over and grabbed the scooper out of his hand. “Come on, man, not my scooper.” Steve grumbled and he pockets the scooper.

“It is fascinating what 20 bucks will get you at the County Recorder's Office.” Robin said once she returned and we all were back in the back area. She sets down what looked like blueprints on the table. “Starcourt Mall. The complete blueprints.” Robin said and Dustin looks at her, impressed.

“Not bad.” He said and Robin smiles then points at one section of the print. “So, this is us, Scoops, and this is where we want to get.” Robin said as we look over blueprint. “I mean, I don't really see a way in.” Steve said. “There's not, if you're talking exclusively about doors.” Robin said as she flips over another layer of blueprints and I gasped.

“Air ducts.” I said and Robin smiles at me. “Exactly. Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room. And these air ducts lead all the way...” Robin said as she walks around us, grabs a red make then goes back to the prints, circles our area then draws a line down then to the left and circles an area. “…here.” She said and we all look up at the air duct on the wall.

Steve gets up there and removes the vent cover from it. “Flashlight.” He said and I hand him the light. “Thank you.” He said then he turns the light on and looks through the air duct. “Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if you can fit in here. It's, like...super tight.” Steve said to Dustin. “I'll fit. Trust me. No collar bones, remember?” Dustin reassured and Robin scrunches up her nose.

“Uh, excuse me?” She asked. “Oh, he's, uh...Yeah, he's got some disease. Chry, uh...It's chrydo, um...Something. Yeah, I dunno. He's missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo.” Steve tells her as Dustin climbs up to the air duct and tries to climb in. “You mean Gumby.” I tell Steve and he looks at me then shakes his head. “I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo.” He said.

“Steve, just shut up and push me!” Dustin exclaims. “Okay. I'll push ya.” Steve said, exasperated, and he goes for Dustin’s feet and starts to push. “Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass.” Dustin said, angrily. “What?” Steve asked, confused. “Touch my butt! I don't care!” Dustin shouts and Steve rolls his eyes and goes to push Dustin’s butt.

“Come on! Harder!” Dustin shouts. “I’m pushing!” Steve yells. “Push harder!” Dustin screams and I facepalm and shake my head as Steve shouts. “I'm pushing!”

“You're playing with my legs.” Dustin yells as Steve gets under him and grabs his legs. “I'm not playing, I have terrible footing. I'm gonna just shove you, ready?” Steve said. “Just shove me?” Dustin asked, confused. “One, two...” Steve said and he goes to shove Dustin but nothing. “Shit.” Dustin grumbles. “That work?” Steve asked. “One more time.” Dustin said just as Robin and I hear the bell up front ring. 

We look over and see it was Erica. “Ahoy, sailors! All hands on deck! Ahoy! Come on. Get over here and serve me some samples.” She said as she keeps pressing the bell. Robin then looks at her then at me with a knowing smile. I furrow my brow in confusion but then I realized what she was planning. “Oh, God, please no.” I said, exasperated.

Later, after getting Dustin out and talking to Erica, she goes up to the vent and looks through it. “Can’t believe we’re doing this.” I grumbled as Erica hums. “Hmm...Yeah, I don't know.” Erica said as she gets down and turns to us. “You don't know if you can fit?” Dustin asked her.

“Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to.” She said. “Are you claustrophobic?” Robin asked her. “I don't have phobias.” Erica said and I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess, you wanna know what’s in it for you?” I said and she smiles. “Finally, someone that’s not an idiot.

Later, we sit out in the main dining area and hand Erica a sundae and she looks at it before pushing back towards Steve. “More fudge, please.” She said and Steve looks at her, annoyed, while I have my arms crossed. “Go on.” She tells Steve, waving her hand, and he takes it and goes back to the ice cream bar.

“All right. You see this? This is the route you're gonna take.” Robin said as she holds up the blueprints she marked on. “Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door.” Robin said.

”Then you find out what's in those boxes?” Erica asked. “Exactly.” Robin said. “Mm-hmm. And you say this guard is armed.” Erica said. “Yes, but he won't be there.” Dustin assures her. “And booby traps?” Erica asked. “Booby traps?” Robin asked. “Lasers, spikes in the wall?” Erica lists off and Robin laughs at how ridiculous this sounds. “You have watched too many spy movies.” I remarked to Erica.

“You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment.” Erica said. “We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time...” Robin said then Erica raises her finger. “Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment.” She said, emphasizing her words. “Well, this will be a great jump start for you into the real world.” I snarked and she glares over at me. I don’t know what it is, I normally like kids but Erica pushes some sort’ve button with me.

“Erica? Hi. Uh...We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?” Dustin asked her as she looks at him. “You can't spell America without Erica." Erica said and I rolled my eyes at that corny line while she loudly slurps her drink. “Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America...Erica.” Dustin said as Erica finished slurping her drink up, loudly.

“Ooh! I just got the chills. Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech. Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?” Erica asked. “Yeah.” Dustin, Robin and I said. “It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all. So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream for life.” She demands and Robin looks over at me. “This is your fault.” I muttered to her.

“Erica, do you copy?” Robin said into the walkie-talkie later that night as we hide out on the roof of the mall, watching the back dock. “Mm-hmm. I copy. You nerds in position or what?” Erica asked. “Yeah, we're in position. It's all quiet here, so you've got the green light.” Robin said. “Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment.” Erica said. “Can we maybe not call it that?” Robin asked her. “See you on the other side. Nerds.” Erica said and we wait.

“All right, nerds. I'm there.” Erica said after a few minutes of silence. “Do you...Do you see anything?” Robin asked. “Yeah, I see those boring boxes you're so excited about.” Erica replied. “Any guards?” Robin asked. “Negative.” Erica replied. “Booby traps?” Robin asked her. “If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?” Erica said, annoyed.

“Thank you for that.” Robin said, exasperated, and I run my hand over my eyes. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they have a really good booby trap to get her.” I grumbled. “I'm in.” Erica said and Steve runs his hands over his face and through his hair. “Oh, God.” He sighs and I place a hand on his shoulder.

Then the door opens and we see Erica walking out. “Free ice cream for life.” She shouts at us and we all share a look before we make our way down.

Once we get in the room, Steve uses his pocket knife and opens one of the boxes. Inside was a weird metal box and Steve reaches in and grabs the top open, only to see four smaller containers inside. “That's definitely not Chinese food.” Steve said and he goes to reach in. “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.” Steve tells us and Robin, Erica and I stand back but Dustin stands still.

”No.” he said and Steve holds out a free hand to him. “Just...Just step back, okay?” He said. “No.” Dustin said, firmly. “Step back. Seriously.” Steve tells Dustin. “No! If you die, I die.” Dustin tells him and they stare at each other before Steve shrugs. “Okay.” He said and he pulls out one of the containers, revealing a container full of a green substance with something floating inside of it.”

“What the hell?” I said. “What is that?” Robin asked but then we heard a loud metal sound and the room shifted alittle. “Was that just me, or did the room move?” Dustin asked. “Booby traps.” Erica whispers as we hear more mechanical sounds. “You know what? Let's just grab that and go.” Robin said as she takes the container out of Steve’s hand and Dustin goes over to the buttons and presses it, but nothing happened.

“Which one do I press, Erica?” Dustin asked her. “Just press the damn button, nerd.” Erica shouted. “Which one? I'm pressing the button, okay?” Dustin argued. “Press open door." Erica said. “I'm pressing open door." Dustin shouts and Steve goes over to him. “Just open the...Press the other button.” Steve said as he presses a button.

“Out of the way so she can push the button...” Robin said. “Would you stop?” Steve argues with Dustin. “I'm trying.” Dustin said, exasperated. “Would you let me just do it? Would you stop?” Steve said as he and Dustin continue to argue while he presses the buttons. “Just open the door!” I shouted but then we heard a noise.

Suddenly, the room drops down and Robin and Erica scream as I realized that we were in an elevator. “Oh, shit.” I muttered as continued all the way down.

[hurricanek8art]

Nightmares and Memories: a Legacy of the Sith one-shot

In which I am apparently posting fic now? I DON'T KNOW. I've had this drabble written since the rumors about a certain someone's return started a few months ago as a "just in case" and now it's really relevant and I'm hopped up on Celebration excitement and frustration over not being able to solve that art problem. SO FIC. I GUESS. *INTERNAL SCREAMING*

Agent Chrysali Vidoi is used to nightmares, what with all the ghosts from her past and skeletons in her closet—but some are worse than others, and this one might be the worst of them all, because he's the only one left that she's genuinely afraid of. Set somewhere around the beginning of 7.5's story. Spoilers for that and some of 7.6 obviously abound. Sticking most of it under a read more because of that, and also because I'm slightly terrified and it's less of a jumpscare when I open the SWTOR tag. 🙃

...I need some kind of divider graphic for summaries for if when i post more writing instead of just a line of these (~~~) thingies i forgot what they're called...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This wasn't right.

She was on the deck of his flagship. The Eradicators were outside the viewport. This wasn't right. This was all space flotsam.

This wasn't right.

This.

Wasn't.

Right.

"Hello, Agent."

Chills went down her spine. The air flew out of her lungs. She turned, trying to draw her blades, her blasters, something, but it was too late. In a heartbeat, she was in the air though nothing was touching her, pinned to the bulkhead like an insect. She couldn't struggle. She couldn't even move.

"It's been a long time," he said, unreadable behind the featureless mask. His hands were folded behind his back, she could feel his eyes upon her. Sweat rolled down her face. Tears poured from her eyes. Don't, please don't, don't look at me, don't—

"You have changed in our years apart. Grown stronger, I think. You have something to lose now, something to fight for. It's emboldened you. Made you even more dangerous."

No, please, no, no—

"Oh, do not concern yourself with that. I do not come seeking revenge," he said coolly, taking a few steps forward. The pressure in her lungs, the fear in her mind, increased with every micrometer. "At least, not yet. Not now. I wanted to see how you've changed before I make my move."

Her heart pounded in her chest, in her throat, in her ears, but still she was trapped, and he grew ever closer, faces centimeters apart now.

"I have waited all this time. Planned. Strategized. Looking for the perfect moment to finally strike. I believe that time grows close now. So close I can almost taste it. I am coming, Agent. I shall return."

Her voice struggled to leave her throat. "Why... tell... me?"

"I chose you all that time ago, did I not? You and I are alike. Made unique from our peers. Alone in the galaxy because of it." His mask was almost touching her face, it was so close. She couldn't breathe. "You defied my offer before. But I am generous. I will extend the offer to stand by my side once more, and once more only. I trust you to make the correct decision, when the time comes. Goodbye, Agent. Until we meet again..."

Chrysali's entire body shuddered and jerked as she awoke, gasping for air. Strands of hair stuck to her face with sweat, loose pajamas clinging to her skin, and her heart hammered and thudded against her ribs. Chills went up and down her bare arms, the soft red light of the cybernetic nodes studded along her arms and shoulders steadily blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dark in the bedroom, and awareness of where she actually was began to sink in. She was safe, she was home, he wasn't here—

"Chrys?" Theron mumbled sleepily. He must've been woken up when she sat up so suddenly and shifted his arm around her. "Everything okay?"

She fought to steady her breathing, still searching the room. "I—the flagship, the Eradicators—Jadus, he was there, he spoke to me—"

He groggily sat up with her, awake but not quite alert. "What do you mean?"

"He was—was talking about returning. He wants me to serve him again. I can't—I won't—I—"

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Theron said quietly. He put an arm around her, rubbing her arm soothingly. "Sounds like another bad nightmare. You've had these before."

"This one was so real," Chrysali breathed, panting slightly.

"But it's gone now," Theron soothed. "C'mon, let's go back to sleep, we've got a busy day tomorrow." He glanced at the chrono on the opposite wall and groaned softly as he laid back down. "Today. We have a busy day today. In about five hours."

Right. They were still tracking Shae, however poorly that was going. And Chrysali was still putting feelers out with her old network to dig up more dirt on Heta Kol, see if they could tackle that part of the problem from a different direction. Lots to do.

"The human cost is acceptable. The only alternative is to let Jadus escape—and do worse down the line."

"The human cost isn't acceptable to me!"

She shuddered at the old memories, trying to push them away. It was so long ago now. And Lana had tracked Jadus briefly during the Zildrog incident, he was somewhere in the Unknown Regions, minding his business on his own little planetoid. He wasn't an active threat. They were okay. They were safe. She was safe. Theron was safe.

Chrysali settled back in, head in its usual spot on Theron's chest so she could listen to his heart, hand rested against his ribs and over the scar tissue from Nathema. Theron was already back asleep, arm instinctively back around her and settled just right so he could feel her breathing.

They were safe.

It was just a nightmare.

It had to be.

Slowly, uneasily, Chrysali drifted off back to sleep

[mercymermaid]

my eyes burn

eight hours later, another oc redraw! but this time, she’s got some lore (under the cut, if anyone’s interested, along with her original form)

meet chrysanthemum, the leafwing/skywing!

first off, her original image (my foot censored out, no feet pics tonight)

second, her lore! (or what i have of it so far 💀)

chrysanthemum is a skywing/leafwing hybrid, born on pantala where a skywing pirate, named condor, (dad) found a leafwing (mom), named hellebore, but when chrys was born, hellebore told condor to leave pantala, for both his and chrys's safety. condor raised chrys on his pirate ship, and told her that she was half skywing, half seawing, and that was that, and to not question the fact that some of her traits didn't line up with either of the tribes, because it was clearly from her hybridness screwing with her genetics. she wonders why her name is chrystanthemum, when neither of her parent tribes should be related to plants at all, but all condor said is that chrysanthemums were her mom’s favorite flower (which they are, along with hellebore wanting to pass on a flowery name without thinking of the consequences)

eventually, at 6 years old (late 16/early 17), while employed on condor’s ship (which he was the captain of), they were attacked and burnt to the ground, and chrys was the only survivor. she made it out with no proof of the fire (or even her previous life) due to being off the ship at a town and returning to it ablaze, the only things remaining being her earring (given to her by condor)

now completely alone, she had nobody else to tell her the truth about her origins, but she had the pirate tale of being such a well-known captain’s daughter AND surviving the fire.  

she eventually took control of her life and travels all over pyrrhia, searching for her mother, desperate to know what she is and where she came from. all condor had told her before his death is that she was a seawing with a love for chrysanthemums, and that she was still alive, but had given chrys to him due to… issues (his words, not hers) one day, if she travels to pantala, perhaps…

she’s snappy and stubborn, aged roughly 8 (18-20), but is clever and can easily worm her way out of situations. due to her hybridness, she cannot breathe fire (and obviously no leafspeak), and her wings are smaller than an average skywing's, though she has a little more natural stamina and strength in them than other dragons, especially leafwings. she gets cash through odd jobs and theft, and has a small gang consisting of other misfit dragons also looking for their purposes.

condor never died. he survived and searched for chrys every day, trying to find her before she inevitably found out her origins, but eventually gave up after hearing no word of her, assuming her death.

[gracebethartacc]

can I hear more about your To Where And Back Again rewrite? I’m super invested in your version of Thorax :3

YAY I actually yapped about my sunrax plot to a buddy in DMs so I’m just gonna copy paste a bit from that/edit it here otay ? peace and love

Ok so sunrax are all sunshine lolipops rainbows in the empire alright? Cut back at the hive, no one gives a shit about thorax being gone for like months at this point besides pharynx, and finally he gets a chance after chrysalis orders the swarms to go after all the important pony figures (aka the to where and back again events) so pharynx uses this as a excuse to finally track down where tf his brother went

and nowwwww we get to see thorax’s reaction/the shit that happened off screen in the empire w sunburst seeming him there bc that’s his only canon acknowledgement of sunburst actually lmao

So, crystal empire now overrun by changelings invading, thorax is full on panic attack like he is in the ep when they go to the hive, sunburst says to thorax to get out of there and vaguely mentions that he has a plan, to which he tells thorax to take his form and gives thorax his cloak, thorax is VERY confused bc wtf is ur plan???? To which sunburst would then run out and distract the changelings so they’d be focused on him while thorax escapes. TWABA events of thor meeting up w starlight and trixie (and eventually disc) and goes through basically the same song and dance as canon tbh bc it’s my fave ep and I don’t see anything to change BUT with a added pharynx thorax confrontation scene ! Perhaps they get split up eventually with the changing lay out and thorax runs into him and things would go down briefly. That as well as another change being chrysalis being more pissed at thorax for abandoning the hive bc in this case this is her son so no duh she’s like extra ticked at him specifically (never understood why she cared so much in canon bc he’s just some random drone yk? We never see em interact before this so it feels a little out of nowhere imo. But in this case it makes a lot more sense why she’s so mad at him in particular) 

I definitiy think this would be more of a thorax and starlight ep and not just starlight bc yk thorax has way more emphasis in my vers lol. Also the metamorphosis I can see maybe including something to do w sunburst? Like thorax sees him hanging up in the cocoons like the others and it like gives him that last little push alongside starlights words ? Like him remembering how he was able to share love instead and hasn’t been hungry anymore it’s kinda like a lightbulb moment for him of realizing they don’t have to live like this starving all the time (which I think sunburst in the cocoon could be a extra little hint to the one “thorax is disguised as starlight” scene bc they Both have a bond to sunburst so it isn’t out of nowhere/can subtly hint to that!)

The drones can get the realization/reveal that chrysalis has been holding them all back this whole time by keeping them in the dark about the metamorphosis and that they’ve actually all been starving for no reason/trapped in what is essentially their caterpillar states, this way it’s not so sudden of a dime flip of they all just change all at once, now it’s more of a proper reason to go against chrys if now it’s clear she’s been betraying them all this time it’s basically a liar reveal scene ok it’s that

After the metamorphosis pharynx is pretty bitter and (is definitely not forced to) leaves with chrys and a few other changelings as the mini rebellion/renegade changelings thorax mentions in canon that we never actually see, so we get to see chrysalis being all crazy and pissy by herself in the woods added to by the few drones still sticking around, but after every mission to go take back the hive there’s less and less drones returning bc they all end up switching sides, until all there is left is herself and phar, who is being manipulated SO hard bro is being hit with so much mother gothel lasers, but eventually the to change a changeling ep would happen honestly pretty much the same ish (but with some added grace rw lore stuff like phar feels thorax abandoned him specifically or maybe a conflict with pharynx starting to doubt chrys as more and more of them leave and finally confronts the fact that maybe chrys has been abusing him and the others as well and gets his metamorphosis wings and he’s like oh shittttt im so cooked and tries to hide his wings like the entire time until like maybe he has an outburst at some point and they open and thorax sees and he’s like ohhhh. Oh ok I get it nowwwww like I said it’s like p much same plot as canon ep of he metamorphoses n all that you get it its not changed much plot wise besides just added rw specifically lore refrences similar to TWABA it’s not changed much plot wise it’s just the build up to it is changed and some character things are rw specific etc etc you get it you understand the vision here hopefully lol yapping session over sorry this isn’t the most coherent like I said it’s copy pasted from messages lol

[1waveshortofashipwreck]

Should've Been Born Later, Nix - Chapter 4: The First Night

Easy Company x Fem!OCs

Chap. Synopsis: What will happen to Easy Company the night of their Fall?

Words: 3,502

Find the fic's navigation page here !!

Have a question/want to be on the taglist? Let me know !!

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Hope y'all are having good days so far~ Also, I want to let you know that I'm open to writing Bonus Content for the series! If there's a particular scene you'd like to be written in more detail, or any specific headcanons, please don't be afraid to let me know! As always thank you a million times over for all the support and I love you all dearly!! 💖

Once at home, the boys all filed out of their makeshift clown cars, Chrys retrieving the black duffel bag she put the men’s things in from the trunk. “I’ll keep these in my room till y’all need them,” Chrys said.

Speirs, Guarnere, and Toye all started to protest, before captain Winters put a stop to it. “Men, we can clearly see that the atmosphere around weapons is different in 2023, I don’t like it either, but we need to follow our hosts on this one,” he explained to his men. The men grumbled but agreed with their CO.

“Alright y’all! Have we got everyone?” Zay asked, her “mom friend” instincts kicking in - she always had an instinct to take care of and protect everyone around her, maybe that is why she went into nursing.

Speirs performed a silent headcount before responding, “Yeah we have everyone, lead the way!” Zay smiled in gratitude at Speirs, turning on her heel before her bouncy saunter could be seen leading the pack. Chrys hung back to talk with Toye, probably about what kind of guns they have - it was a bit of a hobby for her. No one but Winters saw the subtle glare Nixon tossed at Joe after he started chatting with Chrys. Finally, he had something to fire back at Lew the next time the intelligence officer said something about Zay. Everybody, focused on their own conversations, missed Speirs pulling something out of his pocket. Ron inspected the colorful pens he had swiped from the receptionist’s desk, “Sharpie Premium Highlighters” displayed along their sides. Speirs had never seen pens with these colors before, so of course, he needed to have them.

Before they knew it, the group was at the elevator. While this was a larger elevator and could fit all twelve of them, they were once again squished like sardines. While Zay wound up being squished against the back wall with Liebgott, Chrys was squished towards the middle, Nixon on one side, Toye on another. Now, it was Winters’ turn to sit back and enjoy the show. Nixon immediately began to strike up a conversation, causing Toye to return the glare Nixon cast his way earlier. Dick let out a silent chuckle, unaware of the similar situation happening behind him. Joe Liebgott, feeling confident, subtly slung his arm around Zay’s shoulder.

“Sorry, doll, it’s just so crowded in here,” he said in a quiet voice, a smirk evident on his lips. Zay simply snickered and rolled her eyes, letting Joe keep his arm around her. If looks could kill, Luz and Roe would have been accused of friendly fire. They were towards the front of the elevator, turned to the side to help fit everyone in. They were glaring at Liebgott, who simply returned to them a smug smile. When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Zay moved from beside Joe to the front and led the pack on their way, unaware of the situations around her.

As the group filed out of the enclosed space, Roe made sure to wait for Liebgott, “It’S jUsT sO CrOwDeD iN hErE.” He mocked him with a low voice, ensuring Zay didn't hear.

"Hey, I'm the one that got to put my arm around her," Liebgott replied to the medic. The self-satisfied soldier continued walking ahead with the group, while Roe was fuming internally, praying it did not show up on his face. Meanwhile, Zay led the group down the hallway to a door that read 553. The door opened to reveal a modest but comfy apartment. There was a combined kitchen/living area, with the kitchen to the right of the front door. In front of the group was a coffee table with a full size couch against the wall. Flanking the couch was a loveseat and an armchair, framing the coffee table on their respective sides. Directly across from the couch was the entertainment stand, the boys trying to process all the electronics they have never seen before. Across the room was a sliding glass door that led out to the apartment's balcony. To the right of the TV was a small hallway with a door on the left, on the right, and at the end.

"Welcome to casa del Bennett!" Zay cheered as everyone filed into the apartment - there was an eclectic feel to the furniture and decorations. It was easy to see that Zay and Chrys collaborated on the decor, neither of them losing their styles to the other. The decor was a mix of bright, cheerful artwork and trinkets, with posters and models of cars mixed in all around, a perfect blend for the sisters. “Make yourselves at home!” Zay stood beside the kitchen as the boys took a look around, Chrys making her way back to her room, opening the door on the right side of the small hall and disappearing behind it.

“This is a nice place you’ve got!” Luz said, plopping down on the couch in the living area. Toye and Guarnere politely sat down on the loveseat, while the rest of Easy Company gathered to stand in the living area rather awkwardly.

Zay smiled and locked the door, a nervous habit, before walking off down the hallway. “Y’all get comfy, I’m gonna change my clothes really quick.” With her signature bounce, Zay went into the door on the left of the hallway. Easy Company was left to fend for themselves, at least for a few minutes. Roe helped Malarkey sit in the armchair, while the medic opted to sit beside Luz on the couch, close to Malarkey if he needed anything. Bull rested on an arm of the loveseat, while Liebgott took the last seat on the couch, securing Luz in the middle. Winters and Nixon stood off to the side, next to the loveseat, and Speirs rested on an arm of the couch, beside Roe.

“What do you think all that is?” Malarkey asked, motioning to the entertainment center. While someone from 2023 would recognize the twins’ internet router, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and bluetooth speaker as common electronics, the boys had absolutely no idea what they were looking at. As if on cue, the two sisters returned to the group, both having changed their clothes. Chrys was wearing a black sweatshirt with an Alfa Romeo logo the boys did not recognize on the front with a pair of plaid pj pants. Zay opted for an oversized, navy blue t-shirt with the band Queen’s logo on the front, though once again, unrecognized by Easy Company. The shock displayed on the men’s faces came from the fact that Zay seemed not to be wearing anything on her lower half. While Chrys sat on the ground, close to Guarnere and Toye, Zay stood confused at the boys.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, concern thick in her words.

“Um… I think you… forgot something in your room,” Luz mumbled out, bright red and trying his best not to stare at Zay’s legs.

“Hm?” Zay followed Luz’s eyes to the point of confusion. “Oh!” She let out a small giggle, slightly lifter her shirt to reveal her bright yellow pajama shorts. “This is the style for pajama shorts in 2023, helps to keep cool at night,” she explained, opting to sit on the floor - she wound up sitting at the feet of Richard Winters, merely intending to sit beside Chrys. Winters could not help but blush, seeing her so close to him. “How’re y’all feeling?” Zay questioned the group in earnest, looking at the men.

There was a brief pause, as well as a few glances around from the men, before Guarnere spoke up, “Still kinda shocked, I guess… it’s still so weird that this is all happening.”

“To be honest, I’m worried about our other guys,” Liebgott chimed in, his arms crossed and his leg bouncing anxiously. “There’s no way to tell them where we are, and we’re not there if they need us.” Joe said all this while staring at the floor, his jaw clenched. The rest of the men nodded in agreement - the soldiers relied on each other, especially in the winter wasteland of Bastogne. Knowing that they were so far away from the rest of their men hurt their hearts in more ways than they thought possible.

Zay and Chrys listened closely to the group. “I’m sorry y’all have to go through this, I can’t imagine the pain and anxiety you’re feeling right now,” the blue-haired girl said after a beat. “I wish I had answers to your questions, but I can assure y’all, Chrys and I will do everything in our power to help you get back to your men. For now, y’all have had a really long day, and you need to be at your best to-”

Zay was cut off by what sounded like the mating call of the humpback whale. All heads turned to the source of the sound - Nixon’s stomach. Lewis let out a small laugh before speaking, “I sure hope you still eat dinner in 2023.”

“Nope, eating as a concept stopped in the 1990s,” Chrys replied, her face and tone deadpan. There was a beat of silence, the boys unsure whether or not the woman was joking, before Chrys let out a snicker. Zay and Chrys began to descend into laughter, followed by the rest of the boys. The group continued to discuss dinner, Zay explaining the concept of Door Dash to the soldiers. Swears, confusion, and laughter abounded throughout the technology education.

“So we can really get anything we want? And they’ll just deliver it?” Malarkey asked, wonder in his eyes. Zay smiled and nodded her head. Malarkey looked at the boys before exclaiming, “We could get actual pasta!”

“Are you kidding? We could get warm juicy American burgers!” Luz retorted.

“Hey what about Chinese food? That shit’s delicious,” Toye argued back. The group descended into bickering, sounding like child siblings in their tones.

“Men!” Winters scolded, causing everyone to fall silent and turn their attention to their captain. Dick looked down at Zay, “We’ll take whatever you recommend.” Dick had a polite smile on his face, imitating Luz as he tried everything not to look at Zay’s bare legs. The girl looked back up into Dick’s green eyes, a blush rising on her cheeks, as well as a thankful smile.

“How about some fast food?” Chrys offered, “McDonald’s usually has something everyone likes.”

“Sounds perfect!” Zay replied before going to Door Dash on her phone. After what felt like forever while the twins explained the options for food to the boys and take their orders, Zay pressed the “Complete Purchase” button. “Alright! The food will be here in a little bit. In the meantime, would y’all like anything to drink? We have water and soda, but also beer, wine, and some other stuff.” Zay explained with a mischievous grin - she saw how the men loved to drink on the show, save for Winters, and was excited to relax and have fun with them. A chorus of intrigued “ooh”s and whoops came from the men of Easy Company as Zay stood up to go to the kitchen. After getting everyone’s drink orders, Zay headed to the kitchen, not noticing Dick following her.

“Thought you might want some help carrying everything,” he said more bashfully than intended when Zay noticed him. Zay returned his smile as they reached the tile of the kitchen area.

“That’s really sweet of you, Captain Winters,” she responded, blushing as she looked up at the man in front of her. Her mind could not help but wonder, what would he do if he knew how big of a crush she had on him?

Dick laughed quietly and smiled at the girl, his blush matching hers. “Please, call me Dick.” Zay’s smile widened as she shifted her gaze to her feet, praying futily that he did not notice her blush growing. “Doc was right earlier, you know, it is really kind of you to take us into your home like this,” Dick mused, grateful for the girl in front of him. Her eyes immediately returned to meet his gaze with a smile.

“Oh it’s nothing, really! Chrys and I have people over all the time, so it’s no trouble, I promise.” Zay went to the fridge as she spoke, starting to take out the bottles that were requested - a coke for Dick, red wine for Zay, Speirs, and Roe, and beers for the rest of the group. Once Zay had organized the eight bottles and three glasses, she bent down to grab her serving tray from the cupboard. Dick wanted to avert his eyes, he wanted to be polite, be a gentleman, but alas, he was entranced. The captain was just barely able to turn his head away before Zay returned to the drinks, acrylic serving tray in hand. Once Zay put everything on the tray, Winters was quick to pick it up, Zay shooting him a Look. “Thank you,” Zay said reluctantly, trying and failing to hide her smile. Dick simply nodded before following her out of the kitchen.

The night continued to devolve into drunken, chaotic fun, with laughter and Chicken McNuggets abounding. Soon everyone was burping and hiccuping with inebriation, of course save for Winters. “You guys wanna play truth or dare?” Chrys asked with a smirk as Zay clumsily emptied the group’s third bottle of wine into her glass, splashing a couple drops onto the carpet.

“Yeah! Let’s use the bottle to pick!” Guarnere said, gently plucking the bottle from Zay’s hand. The twelve made a circle on the floor, pushing the coffee table flush with the sofa. Zay wound up sitting between Winters and Roe, while Chrys was between Nixon and Bull. “Who wants to go first?” Guarnere asked, placing the bottle on its side in the center of the circle.

“I will!” Chrys volunteered, spinning the bottle. As Chrys leaned forward, shifting her weight to her knees, Nixon could not help but be floored by the dark-haired woman in front of him - she seemed so genuine, so down to earth, he needed her in his life. The bottle spun and spun before landing on, of course, Captain Nixon. A chorus of “ooh”s and chuckles erupted from the group as Chrys asked, “Captain, truth or dare?”

Nixon smirked and looked at the girl, heavily relying on his liquid courage. “Dare, doll,” he replied. Chrys, hiding her blush, smiled and walked to the kitchen, returning with a fresh bottle of beer.

“I dare you,” she paused as she used the bottle opener, “to drink this entire beer in 10 seconds.” She held the beer out to him, intrigued to see if he could do it.

“Done and done,” he replied casually, immediately starting to down the drink. It may not have been Vat 69, but Nixon still drank the beer like it was the best thing he ever tasted. Before Chrys reached five, Nixon handed her the empty bottle, covering his mouth as he felt the carbonation expel itself. The group laughed at Nixon’s belch but cheered as he spun the bottle in front of him. The bottle slowly came to a stop, pointing itself at Wild Bill Guarnere. “Alright Gonorrhea, truth or dare?”

Bill laughed as he finished off his fourth beer. “Truth, Cap’n.” he said assertively, leaning into the circle. Nixon thought for a minute before asking his question.

“Tell us about the worst kiss you’ve ever had.” the captain asked the staff sergeant. Guarnere thought for a minute before his facial muscles cringed with disgust.

“Suzie Watson at my Senior Prom, we were slow dancing and next thing I knew her tongue was licking my lips,” Bill recalled. The group responded with sounds of ick as Guarnere flicked the bottle. The game continued to bring wild revelations and compromising positions to all in the room. At one point, Luz had spun the bottle, and it landed on captain Dick Winters. “Captain Quaker, sir,” Luz addressed Winters, earning laughs all around him, including from the captain himself, “truth or dare?”

Dick chuckled and shook his head. He debated whether or not to participate when the game began, but when Zay plopped herself next to his feet and looked up at him with the sweetest doe eyes he had ever seen, how could he not? The captain weighed his options, considering which answer is more of a risk. “Truth,” he answered, looking over at George.

“You got a girl waiting for you back home? And if you don’t, are you looking for someone?” Dick could see Zay's head perk up out of the corner of his eye; he could tell her head turned towards him, but he was nervous to meet her gaze.

“Can’t say I have someone waiting at home, but I would like to have a family, someday,” Winters replied quietly, his bashfulness and beet red cheeks warming Zay’s heart. In a moment of wine-fueled impulse, she laid her head on Dick’s shoulder as he spun the bottle. Surprised, Winters looked over at the girl, a content smile on her face as she rested on him. Now it was Winters’ turn to feel his heart warming. The game continued on until about midnight, when a few soldiers allowed themselves to yawn.

“Alright y’all, looks like it’s time to get ready for bed. For where y’all are sleeping, once we put up the air mattress, we can sleep four of you out here, then three in my room and three in Chrys’ room,” Zay explained. She wobbly tried to stand up, resembling a baby giraffe learning how to walk, before losing her balance and falling into Roe’s lap with a squeal. Eugene caught her in one smooth motion, looking at Zay with concern and amusement. “My bad,” the girl said between giggles. No one saw Liebgott and Luz roll their eyes at the scene, save for Winters. Roe helped the girl stand back up while they all discussed sleeping arrangements.

“I can sleep out here,” Speirs spoke up.

“I’ll take the couch,” Bull added.

“I can room with Zay, if you don’t mind,” Eugene looked up at the girl, who smiled and nodded her head.

“Hey! I wanna room with her!” Luz cried out, pushing Roe’s shoulder childishly.

Liebgott somehow got involved in the scrimmage as well, while Zay simply smiled down at the still-sitting Winters. “Would you like to stay in my room?” While she has not revealed the fact they would share a bed yet, Zay certainly preferred the idea of sharing a bed with a gentleman like Winters. Dick smiled and nodded, agreeing to her offer. Zay returned his smile before raising her voice to get the men’s attention. “Y’all! Dick already claimed a spot, so the other two spots go to Roe and Luz.”

Liebgott groaned and rolled his eyes, walking over to the loveseat - his bed for the foreseeable future. While all of the bickering was occurring, Chrys agreed to Nixon, Toye, and Guarnere bunking in her room. “Do you guys want pajamas? Our brother comes to visit us a lot, and he usually leaves his clothes here… his memory isn’t the best,” Chrys told the group, quiet laughter making its way across everyone’s lips. Chrys smiled and made her way back to her room, the rest of the men standing from the floor.

“I’ll go grab the air mattress,” Zay said over her shoulder, bouncing away to her room.

Ron stayed quiet until the twins left. “Sir? What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked Winters, everyone suddenly remembering the problems at hand.

Dick thought for a moment before responding, “We’ll go back to where we first arrived and see if we can find anything and go from there. If we don’t get any information, we’ll ask Zay and Chrys for input… maybe even watching the program we’re on could help.” Speirs nodded in understanding as Chrys came back into the room with a laundry basket of t-shirts, pj pants, jeans, and other bits of clothes for the men to use. Once Zay returned with the air mattress, she and Chrys set up their respective pull-out couches in their rooms while the boys changed, the clothes somehow being a good fit for everyone, even Bull.

Once the boys were all decent, Chrys and Zay set up the air mattress in the living room, supplying the four sleeping in said room with a plethora of pillows and blankets. Soon, the men were settled in their respective bunks - Bull on the couch, Liebgott on the loveseat, Malarkey and Speirs on the air mattress, Guarnere and Toye on Chrys’ pull-out couch, Roe and Luz on Zay’s pull-out couch, and finally, Captain Winters and Captain Nixon were, in fact, about to share their beds with Zay and Chrys, respectively. Since there was nowhere else for the boys to sleep, the four of them felt their own versions of excitement, nerves, and every other emotion under the sun.

~~~~~

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

Taglist: @b00ks1ut , @blueberry-ovaries , @bucky32557038ww2 , @claudycod , @dontirrigateme , @emilee1421 , @executethyself35 , @hanniewinnix , @ithinkabouttzu , @jump-wings , @love--persevering , @panzershrike-pretz , @stolen94 , @xxluckystrike

Thank you again for reading!! Be on the lookout for Chapter 5 coming next week!! 🥰✨

[kelpan]

Hello!

I can't tell you how good it feels to be getting a chapter out only about a month after the last update, instead of, you know, four 😅. But for any who were concerned after my last authors note, I can say I am doing a bit better than I was, a fact I'm both grateful for and still getting used to. I had a surgery at the beginning of this month, which took me down for about two weeks to recover from, but I can say it was well worth it, as I'm already seeing improvements in my health. Just trying to take it all one step at a time, even when bad days still arise.

If anything, it gave me plenty of time to work on this chapter and get it to a place where I'm happy with it. Only two more chapters left in Act 1!

Also, it was my birthday earlier this past week! Gemini season has begun! :D

Credit for the OC Chrysanthemum headshot goes to wwispie on Etsy/Instagram!

Ao3: Petals on a Stream of Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1, Chapter 13: Once Lost, Now Found

Wednesday

7:45pm

Chrysanthemum

Outside the walls of the daycare, the low lighting grew dense and heavy, lit only by harsh emergency lighting. Everywhere stood masses of confused patrons, huddled in groups of various sizes in shops or along corners. Somewhere, Chrys heard a mechanical voice stick out amidst the chaos, dissonant against the flow of human ones flooding the air. She dashed forward, following the direction of the sound. A human staff member may not be able to contact an animatronic, but perhaps a robotic one might. 

Just a ways ahead, she found the source of the voice; A single staff bot currently attempting—and failing—to corral a large family into remaining still enough to be scanned. While expressionless, Chrys could swear she heard exasperation in the bot’s monotone voice. 

“Guests, please remain in place. Scanning will commence—GUESTS. Please remain in place. Scanning will commence—GUESTS. Please remain in—”

“Hey!” Every face in the vicinity turned to look at her. She disregarded those that were human and spoke only to the staff bot. “Are you able to get a message to an animatronic? It’s urgent.”

Head cocked, her request was met with a blank stare. A red laser pinprick lit up the center of its oval iris, washing over her. 

“Employee designation recognized. Request granted. What is your message and intended recipient?”

The family huffed from behind the bot, but she refused to let them distract her from her goal. If they wanted this to be over sooner, they should have been more patient and cooperative in the first place. 

“Uh, for Sun.”

“Sun is off-line. Choose available recipient.”

“Wait, what?” The bot’s response made her pause. “But I literally just saw him a couple of minutes ago.”

“Sun is off-line. Choose available recipient.” 

“Oook then… uh, what about Moon? Is he available?”

The bot remained silent for a moment before answering, the sound of a fan revving signifying his inner query. “Affirmative.”

“Great!” She pumped her fist. “Then, uh, tell him he needs to go to Kids Cove as soon as possible. I have reason to believe that’s where Marigold’s gone. You know, the missing kid.”

The staff bot bobbed its head before returning to duty. “Received. Message sent.” 

“Great, thank you!”

Hopefully he gets there quickly…

Task completed, she let her feet lead the way back, letting the frustrated bot return to his unenviable duty. Though with each step, her assurance wavered. A peculiar knot still remained lodged in her chest, weighing on her. But why? She came to a halt when a flash of pain shot through the inside of her cheek, catching up to her that she’d been chewing at it without realizing it. 

This didn’t make sense. She’d done what she sought out to do; Give someone better suited to help Marigold in this situation an advantage, point them in the right direction. That’s all that she could do, right? 

So why did she feel so dissatisfied?

A single thought repeatedly clawed to the surface, eating away at what was left of her confidence. What if… what if she was wrong? What if her deductions meant nothing, and she was pulling help further away from where it really needed to be? Should she have thought to check it out herself first, and called for help later? Was she just wasting everyone’s time, sending them on a wild goose chase?

She groaned, the butts of her palms shoved to her eyes as she spun in place. She didn’t think this through! Stupid, so, so stupid! If she’d bungled this she’d feel like the worst sort of person—a detriment, with the audacity to burden others with her incompetence.  

Looking out from beyond her hands, she found herself standing in the space between the front gate of the Daycare and the path which led to the elevator. The realization dawned on her that this would have been the most likely path for the party to have followed upon returning to the Daycare. What were the odds that this was where Marigold had run off?

While things weren’t crystal clear, her eyes had had enough time to adjust to the dim space that she could make out some of the graphics and advertisements around her, scanning for anything that might have caught a child’s eye. A cut-out for Roxy Raceway, a poster of Freddy singing, and—there! Protruding from a wall, a mounted arrow sign, pointing down a conjoining hallway, with the words “Kids Cove” written at its center, surrounded by what looked to be an image of palm trees.

Bingo!

Her body took off of its own volition, and soon the slap of her sneakers joined the cacophony of the crowd as she jogged, deftly avoiding wayward packs of confused and irate people until she reached her destination; A wide open and decorated archway that once would have made for a inviting display, now cordoned off by an array of wooden crates, opaque sheets of plastic and caution tape, with two signs bookending the haphazard mess of clutter. Flashlight in hand, Chrys drew close, using the light to read the message. 

“Kids Cove.” She breathed. “Closed for renovations. Do not enter without special authorization. Fazbear Entertainment will not be held liable for any harm received past this point. Well,” she sighed, craning to try and look beyond the blockages. “Trying to find a lost kid counts as special authorization, right? Right. Of course it does.” 

After a minute of examining the area, she discovered a small opening between the sides of two crates, just large enough for her to squeeze through if she dropped to her belly and shimmied on her side. 

“Guess I know how she would’ve gotten in…”

From the floor, nothing but a void greeted her beyond the crates. No light, no glow, only an inky abyss, one that even her flashlight couldn’t overpower, at least not from this angle. Positioning herself down to an army crawl, she ignored any dust her movement kicked up, though they made her nose sniffle, and inched her way through. Once she could stick her top half out on the other side, a quick look confirmed her suspicions; No emergency lighting present, not like the rest of the building. The air felt oppressive against her skin, tickling the hair on the back of her neck. If Marigold managed to make it in this far before the lights went out, there’d have been no way for her to have found her way back out again on her own.

“Marigold?” She called, pulling herself to her feet and stepping carefully into the dark, the flashlight acting as her anchor and her guide, lighting her way past the abstract and colorful shapes partially revealed within the minuscule circle of light.

With a bit of examination, the abstract shapes revealed themselves to be different kinds of playground equipment. Jungle gyms, slides, swings, all in various shades of underwater or muted jewel tones, with most still in some incomplete form of assembly. She had to hand it to those two attendants. For as infuriating as they were, it appeared as if they knew at least a little of what they talked about. 

The further in she went, the more apparent it was how secluded this section of the pizzaplex was from the rest of the building. None of the fanfare from the guests outside could make it this far, making every sound more pronounced within the silence. Her footsteps, her breathing. Though she was here with good intentions, she couldn’t shake the feeling that perhaps this wasn’t the wisest of decisions. Ignoring the goosebumps which prickled across her arms, she pressed on, reminding herself that she was an adult, and there was a kid in need right now. It was her responsibility to keep herself under control.

“Marigold?” She called out again, her voice bouncing throughout the room. “Marigold, can you hear me?”

Waiting for the last of her echoes to fade, she held her breath, hoping to better catch even the softest of sounds.

“… Miss Chrys?”

She whipped to the side with a sharp gasp, flashlight darting to try and locate its source.

“Marigold?” Chrys repeated, hesitant to trust in what she heard as the real deal and not just a figment of her imagination.

“Miss Chrys!”

“Marigold!!!”

Certain now without the shadow of a doubt, Chrys rushed ahead, narrowly avoiding the scattered pieces of unfinished playground equipment littering the floor.

“Where are you? Are you hurt? Don’t worry, I’m—AHHH!”

Her words switched to a shout as the floor disappeared out from under her, stomach lurching as she sprawled forward, arms outstretched in a desperate attempt to cushion her fall. Her flashlight flew from her grasp, the beam darting about in erratic streaks, before going out with a bang and a crackle, leaving her blind in the dark as she hit the ground.

“Miss Chrys!!!”

Marigold’s terrified voice shrieked in her ear, closer than ever before, adding to her disorientation. Her knees and elbows smarted, having taken the majority of her weight in the fall, and her shoulder ached, but overall, that seemed to be the worst of it. The fall must not have been that bad, though to Chrys it felt like she fell a good couple of feet, at least. 

“Miss Chrys, are you ok???”

Reminded of the present by a pair of tiny hands yanking and tugging at her shirt, Chrys shook herself from her daze and did her best to focus.

“Marigold, is that you? Oh, I’m so glad to—oof!”

“I’m sorry!!” The girl launched herself at her so hard she pushed the air from her lungs, and clung to her as if she were a lifeline. “I thought big brother would be here, his office is here, he’s always working! But then it was all blocked off, and I wasn’t sure if I should look behind it, but I wanted to find him so I tried, but then there was nobody, and, and then, then the lights went out, and I didn’t know how to get back, and I tripped and fell and now my ankle hurts and… and… WAHHHHHH!!!!” 

The girl spoke in a single, fluid torrent, her words a bleeding mess of incoherent emotions and distress. Her tears broke into full bodied sobs, her breathing disjointed by deep gasps of air.

“Hey, hey!” Chrys sat up, scooping the wailing child into her arms. “It’s ok, it’s ok. You’re safe, that’s all that matters. Everything’s ok, shhhhh…”

She rocked in place, patting gently along the child’s back in a soothing motion, keeping her little murmurs of reassurance soft and calm and steady. 

“There you go, that’s it,” Chrys said, sensing her efforts were taking effect. “Take a deep breath for me. In—” She demonstrated the motion first, pleased when Marigold imitated. “And out. Good, good.” 

The poor thing sat on her lap tucked in the fetal position, head nestled up under Chrys’s chin. She hiccupped and sniffled as her tears ebbed, snuggling in as close as she could. 

“Marigold,” Chrys asked, pausing to consider her words before continuing. “What’s going on, why did you run off? We were all so worried.”

The girl coughed, the sound heavy with mucus, and curled even further inward. “… he promised.”

“Promised? Promised what?”

Silence hung heavy in the air around them, until after another wet cough, Marigold continued. “Big Brother promised he’d celebrate my birthday with me. But… everything’s been so bad lately. Since Grandpa didn’t wake up, all Mama and Papa do is shout and yell and cry, and Big Brother is never home anymore! I just… I just wanted everyone to smile again, like when mama and I first moved in… he promised!!! 

The wails started anew, face pressed into her chest, the tears soaking through the already wet fabric as she worked herself up again. Chrys winced alongside each of her pain-filled cries but remained silent, giving her the space to release all the pent up grief and confusion bottled up inside. She knew how it was to be so overwhelmed that you couldn’t think straight. Wrapping her arms fully around her shaking frame, she held the girl close, cheek pressed to the top of her head, rocking gently back and forth. Words wouldn’t help here. Just presence and kindness. To know it was alright to cry, to know you were safe while you let it all out, give voice to the ache that refused to leave. 

To know you weren’t alone. 

A memory appeared in her mind then, foggy, but there, of her mother holding her in a similar position soon after her Dad had died. Oh, how she’d cried and cried, inconsolable, but her mother had let her, holding her tight as the soft melody she sang soothed her frazzled nerves…

“When the Sun sets…”

The same song found purchase in her own throat now, vying for space amidst the child’s cries. Chrys sang just above a whisper, a purposeful breathiness intermingling with each note. 

“And the Moon rises…”

Marigold shifted, turning so as the side of her face rested against Chrys’s chest, where her heartbeat was strongest. Chrys ran a gentle hand over her head, caressing the soft curls. 

“The stars will dance for you. As the petals blow, from the trees embrace, carrying away your light. And there I’ll go, to the waters edge, to sing with you again….”

Marigold’s breathing settled as the last note faded, the music having won against the sorrow. The empty air around them no longer carried a sense of unease, but rather that of a comforting shield, protecting them in an otherworldly cocoon of peace and quiet. 

“What… what song is that?” Marigold’s tiny voice asked, her sniffle the loudest. 

“Just… a lullaby my mother taught me. It always used to help me whenever my heart hurt. Maybe it can help yours too.”

Though she didn’t reply, Marigold seemed content with her answer, snuggling in closer and twirling a lock of hair as they sat together in comfortable silence. They should start trying to find their way back soon, Chrys knew, alleviate everyone’s worry and return to enjoying the rest of the party, but… she couldn’t find it within herself to move the exhausted girl quite yet. Poor thing could use an extra minute or two. 

Though, despite her wishes, fate seemed to have a different plan. A sharp clang, thin and metallic, rang out from the darkness, shattering their illusion of solitude. Marigold gasped and stiffened. Chrys remained silent, listening.

“Monster…” Marigold whispered, in the tiniest of voices. She trembled, attempting to back further into the safety of her arms. Chrys adjusted, using a free hand to wipe the wet strands of hair out of Marigold’s tear-soaked face. 

“It’s ok,” Chrys replied, reassuring. “Maybe something fell, or…” In the distance, a soft tinkling sound resounded through the void, active, and growing closer by the millisecond. It took Chrys a split-second to realize what it was.

“Bells… they’re bells! Oh, thank goodness. Marigold, it’s alright, that’s no monster, that’s just Mr.—”

“No!” Marigold screeched, fighting against her “No, no! Monster, monster!!” 

Tugging against her hold, her behavior grew more frantic by the second, forcing Chrys to struggle in order to keep Marigold still. If she slipped up and let her run off into the dark like this, she could only imagine how badly she could get hurt. She had to figure out a way to get her to calm down before things got out of hand. 

Wait, the flashlight! Of course!

Everything always seemed scarier in the dark; it’s why night-lights were staples in childhood bedrooms. Marigold just needed to see that there was nothing to fear! Deciding to try, Chrys switched her hold to a single arm, just long enough to snatch the tool from the ground and smash the defiant button, hoping to make the stubborn thing work through sheer force of will alone. 

“Come on, come on!”

The jingles grew louder, only to stop just before they would have reached them, the lack of noise louder than the sound itself. A red glow began to break through the darkness surrounding them, illuminating the dark shapes around them bit by bit. Marigold exploded the second she noticed, kicking and clawing as if her life depended on it, her tiny nails digging into Chrys’s arm hard enough that she could feel the sharp pricks of pain and warm wetness bloom across her skin. Dropping the flashlight, Chrys abandoned her previous plan and focused solely on restraining Marigold, certain now that she would inevitably harm herself in such a state. 

“Marigold, stop! It’s alright! Relax! There’s no monster, I promise! You have to calm down!”

A sharp “crunch” from the side interrupted her just then, followed immediately by an eruption of light which split the space between, blinding as her pupils constricted. 

Blinking against the pain, snippets of vision registered as her eyes adjusted. Blue fabric against yellow stars. Grey and blue endoskeleton. A sleeping cap more hood than cap draped over thin shoulders. And a silvery, crescent moon face, framing blood red, glowing eyes, the very same which had stared down at her while she lay on a concrete floor. 

Marigold screamed.

[sweettoothvn]

Will the li help Mc decorate their art studio? I hold a bunch of resin and wood carving tools.. 🪵

Andre - As someone who dabbles in engineering you would think maybe he has some sort of organization- but no. He just. has an 'organized mess'. He's probably not the best choice to help.

Casey - He has a bedazzler on hand. if you dont want your stuff bedazzled, keep a VERY close eye on him

Chrys - Actually helps you but insists that you make her some pots in return

David - Why did you ask him of all people to help you? He's watching you work but he doesn't know how to help nor really care to. He laughs if you trip or fall.

Eddie - Helps you organize your tools and supplies in certain areas, all labeled and coordinated to fit your needs. He does the same with his craft supplies so this was easy and surprisingly didn't take as long as you would have thought! He then shows you some stuff he's whittled.

Kieran - He's not really a good choice to help either since he doesn't know how to help- and he doesn't like being bossed around. You gotta be really careful with how you instruct him or he might just make this a very annoying experience for you. He also won't stop making sex jokes about your tools and supplies.

Noble - He's ecstatic that you want his help! He tries his best to help you out and make the place look as charming! He may or may not have studied what your taste is so he could try to impress you with this- aha no what?

Zach - He has his own art studio so he's SUPER excited to help you with this! He keeps offering tips as he is a sculptor and offers to let you borrow any supplies or tools you may or may not need. He's also more than willing to help you with any future projects!

[b-lizi]

After reading @99corentine 49th chapter, I thought about a lot of references about Chry's past. There will be spoilers about KFP2, Blue Eye Samurai and the fic GOL HAH DOV, but mind you : if a piece of media isn't enjoyable because you got spoiled, then maybe it isn't well made (unless it's an Agatha Christie but the whole point of her novels was the mystery) so bear with me.

In chapter 49, Chry wants to know about his past after a strange and stressful encounter with Elenwen. He tries to return to the place where he first awoke, one year before the events of this chapter, but without any success. He upset for several things, for his loss of memory of course but also the fact that he might have a family and even a spouse (with his ring at the marriage finger) that didn't go after him.

Firstly, there's the feeling of emptiness and shame about his worthlessness, how he compares himself to Miraak, someone who was important even as a pawn of Hermaeus Mora, when he was just good enough to be left behind by his supposed relatives and be used as a thrall by a cruel man in a foreign country. Chry feels like that all the glory he had in one year, even after killing Alduin, was nothing, like a fraud, that he's just worthless (these thoughts happens just when he has the post prophecy blues, like Teldryn said, so yeah Chry might feel depressed). That his past is was he is at core. Which isn't true but he believes it and that's something a lot of us can relate to (golden child syndrome, school failure, broken dreams, childhood trauma, etc.).

Fortunately, Miraak reminds him that Chry was the one who believed he could be a better version of himself, going to tyrant to leader (even though he still is at the head of a cult lmao), that his actions helped and saved so many people and that he's a great hypocrite for telling others they can be better when he tell himself the contrary.

It reminds us ofc of Paarthunax's iconic wise words "What is better ? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature though great efforts?" But I feel it echoes better to Miraak's case because he was in fact evil and became a bit more grayer thought the story, whereas Chry has forgotten his past and was just lost and miserable. In this case I was reminded of this sentence in Kung Fu Panda 2 : when Po discovers the calcined remains of his childhood village (that he forgot about because of PTSD), he's feeling sad and ashamed that his birth was in bloodshed and suffering, but the soothsayer who saved him says to him "Your story may have not such a happy beginning, but it doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your story. Who you choose to be." And that's pretty much Chry's case : he awoke in a place of suffering and when he left, he wanted to have a life of his own and to be greater than what he was before, to be in control. Man the parallels between him and Miraak are even greater ksjsjsks

Then let's return to the family problem. Even better (or worse idk), the spouse problem. If Chry had any family left in the Summerset Isles, they didn't care to go after him when he was gone missing.

There are several theories about why Chry wasn't found, if he ever had relatives : the first thing is that he's of mixed heritage because he has a greater physical strength than all the other altmer altogether and most importantly striking blue eyes ; altmer people don't have blue eyes* and it's a great deal for almost every Alinor citizens to be of pure lineage, so imagine having in your family a very unusual child with characteristics a little bit too close to Nords'. You just want to get rid of it to avoid shame on your family.

(*nota bene : in Skyrim game, altmer people only can have amber, golden or emerald eyes, whereas in ESO you can have them have blue eyes, but we're following Skyrim's logic here)

So if we follow this theory, Chry's supposed family wanted to get rid of this problematic scion, either by banishment... or marriage. A marriage that didn't go well at some point. And that's when I got reminded of Blue Eye Samurai (incredible series on Netflix, go watch it). Some context : in the Edo period (17th century in Japan), we follow the revenge journey of Mizu, a lonely samurai with mixed heritage (a Japanese mother and an unknown white father) with striking blue eyes. These eyes disgraced them because it was considered demonic at this time in Japan (like in ancient Greece, blue eyes were either vulgar or bad omens).

At some point in their story, Mizu finds their mother who they thought died years ago in a fire. She wants them to marry an old samurai who, like them, is a castaway, so they can in some way redeem themselves for their shameful life and at least be a good bride. They get married and although Mizu is a bit reluctant at first (because of how are viewed their eyes), them and the samurai fall in love with each other and have lovely years together as an odd couple. But it falls apart when Mizu wants to show their incredible battle skills to their husband, who gets scared and angry, calling them a monster, because deep down he still had this bias that blue eyes are demonic and bringer of destruction (an onryo). That he only loved Mizu because they were behaving despite their mixed heritage.

He betrays them, bringing mercenaries to kill them and Mizu, deeply hurt and enraged, kills everyone and run away to pursue their revenge of getting rid of the four white men who lives secretly in Japan. But I digress

Maybe something similar happened to Chry, that when he discovered his thu'um, he got shamed by his family/spouse and he went (or ran away) to Skyrim to search for answers or got abandoned here. Maybe we'll know and maybe we won't because there's still almost two chapters left for the fic to be finished and I am not well.

Anyway I had fun doing these parallels! Theories and psychanalyses my beloved.

Mizu my beloved

[snailsrneat]

"So exactly how did you get Sam to give me such a nice discount?"

"Eh, I got bestie privilege~. Sam and I go back. Flex that next time you need something cheaper and remind him I vouched for you, prefect."

BA-BAM! HAVE A RETURN ARTWORK!

AAHDHDHDHHRHRHEHSSHHSJSHSHHSHSHDGHSHDHSGGSGSVSVEGHSNSNSJDHDJHZHDHSUDHFGHSNAJSDGDFHSKSHGSDHNDM-

*Ahem* OH MY LORD, I AM WHISTLE SQUELING.

First of all, the energy between these two. I feel like they're kinda like the plastics from mean girls except way more crazy.

Also that dark look on Twyla's face? Yes. Just yes. My girl be goin around actin crazy like that all the time. Love the fact that Chrys definitely sees it and is just like, "Aww, look at my insane adopted daughter."

My eyeballs are melting from joy, 100000000000000/10 love this with all my heart this is my new wallpaper

[dyxtd21]

Chrysocolla X Gender Neutral Reader (Part 1)

The night was dark and cold. It had just started to rain about 10 minutes ago. The awakened citizens of Newport City were all in a hurry to get back to their homes. Taxis, Ubers and Bolts were all picking up their customers to drive them to their designated locations but not for Chrysocolla, the ‘esteemed’ writer and geek of the city, who everyone knew of him. Some due to his scripts for movies and whatnot and some due to his…child-like wonder and imagination aka a pathetic nerd and geek.

Currently, Chrysocolla was seated at a large table filled with the board, figurines and dices of the famous known board game, called ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’

For those who didn't know Chrysocolla so well, Chrysocolla was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, not just because of the way it looked but because of the tactical and strategic thinking for the game. It enthralled Chrysocolla so much that whenever he felt stressful, he would return to his basement where his ongoing Dungeons and Dragons game was setup.

As for his character, Chrysocolla decided to be a Human Bard called “Fabian the Flamboyant,” with the reason being that Chrysocolla was never the public-speaker and was always introverted and reserved. 

As for his co-players companions, one was none other then Smoky Quartz, the tall, anthropomorphic wolf, bounty hunter and mercenary. Smoky Quartz and Chrysocolla were considered as ‘brothers’ but not by blood but by same creator. 

A side note is that, Chrysocolla and Smoky Quartz were both gemstones, sentient, living and talking gemstones. Unlike humankind, their coloration and appearance were completely different from the standards, even more so with their gemstones visible to everybody to see. 

His third companion was Blue Zebra Jasper, a female gemstone with the appearance of a seductive succubus. Her stature tall, with a busty and curvaceous figure and with the additional features of long curved horns, small bat-like wings and a tail. Her coloration was a blue with light brown zebra-like stripes and she wore a short and skimpy dress with high heels. 

She agreed to come to the nightly sessions just because she thought it would be fun and…sensual.

Their fourth and final player, a newbie, was going to arrive late, much to the dismay of Smoky Quartz. 

“So, tell me, Chry, where's the newbie?” Smoky Quartz inquired.

“I'm sure they'll be arriving in no time…” Replied Chrysocolla, a bit quietly and composed. 

“Is that so, then, tell me, dear Chrysocolla, why are we in the dark?” Asked Blue Zebra Jasper, with a flutter of her small demon-like wings. 

The basement was dark and dulled. It was no problem for all of them, but it would be a problem once the newbie was going to arrive. 

“Yeah, I was just about to ask that, dear. I feel like a Kobold, which is fine by me.” Spoke Smoky Quartz, winking at Blue Zebra Jasper, in the process, a flirtatious act. 

Smoky Quartz was both ruthless, menacing but also playful, to those who saw deep past his dangerous lifestyle and personality. In addition, he immensely treated women of any kind with respect, like princesses and queens. 

“Yeah, I don't mind the dark but…it will be troubling, for the newbie.” Blue Zebra Jasper agreed with Smoky Quartz but brushed his flirtatious act away. 

Despite being or rather taking the appearance of a succubus, Chrysocolla knew deep down that Blue Zebra Jasper wasn't looking for anything serious. From what he saw during their sessions and out of sessions, Chrysocolla witnessed countless times of Blue Zebra Jasper flirting with random men, and women, staying with them for a night, but then breaking their hearts or playing hard to get with them. 

But, Chrysocolla reminded him that it wasn't very wise to get onto Blue Zebra Jasper's bad side, otherwise…things tended to get horrible real quick.

“Fine, I'll turn on the lights.” Chrysocolla replied as he stood up and made his way to the light switch, flicking it up.

The basement illuminated right away with a yellow hue, a colour Chrysocolla thought it was nice and pleasant to look at. 

It took a couple of minutes for Smoky Quartz's eyesight to register. Being an anthropomorphic wolf also meant excellent night vision. 

He wasn't kidding. He is a Kobold! Chrysocolla thought to himself, mentally laughing at his own joke about Smoky Quartz.

Suddenly, a knock was heard upstairs. 

“That must be our new player.” Blue Zebra Jasper announced, mainly to herself.

“Yes, it is. I'll go and greet them.” Chrysocolla didn't like interacting with new and strange people, he was convinced that he had social anxiety, which he did. 

Chrysocolla climbed the stairs upwards and entered his hallway. He then walked down the hallway and up to the front door.

With a deep breath and a moment hesitation, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it, opening the front door. 

“Hey there. Chrysocolla, right? It's nice to meet.” 

Chrysocolla looked at the stranger in front of him, their soon-to-be fourth player.

A beat of silence happened as Chrysocolla struggled to speak. This…person in front of him was…attractive. 

“Y-yes. T-that's me…” Chrysocolla replied with a stutter.

“Great. I'm Y/N, and I'm here to play that…Dungeons and Dragons board game. Is this the correct place?” Y/N asked, with a smile on their face. 

Chrysocolla nodded in confirmation.

“Awesome. So may I come in?” Y/N asked.

Chrysocolla nodded again and side-stepped, letting Y/N inside his home.

“J-just down t-those stairs.” Chrysocolla pointed to a set of stairs which led downstairs in the basement. 

Y/N nodded and walked downstairs with Chrysocolla following them suite. 

After descending down the last step, Chrysocolla led Y/N to sit down next to Blue Zebra Jasper, who turned to look at them.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?~ Blue Zebra Jasper, a deep pleasure~” 

Chrysocolla and Smoky Quartz have each other a knowing look. Whenever Blue Zebra Jasper met someone worth her time, she would activate her flirtatious act. 

But Y/N didn't seem to mind. They thought Blue Zebra Jasper's appearance was merely a costume but an exotic one at that. 

“I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you. I really love your costume. Was this a costume or cosplaying event? Should I have worn something to match the theme of the board game?” Y/N asked with a lot of questions. 

“Well, you could have dressed up as a court jester, it would have fit you well.” Smoky Quartz replied with a nonchalant attitude, a quirk he had and did whenever he met with annoying individuals.

Y/N didn't say anything since they were stunned by Smoky Quartz's anthropomorphic wolf appearance but Blue Zebra Jasper was the one to call out Smoky Quartz's joke and attitude.

“Smoky Quartz! Be nice to them!” Exclaimed Blue Zebra Jasper. 

Smoky Quartz didn't say anything after that.

Chrysocolla coughed. “So, let's start.” 

“Yep, let's start. So, what are the rules of the game?” Inquired Y/N.

Chrysocolla began to explain the rules of the board game of how there are different races, classes, objectives, Dragons, the dice mechanic, the Dungeon Master (Whose Blue Zebra Jasper) and so on. 

Afterwards, a beat of silence as Y/N contemplates everything. Then, they confirm they're understanding. 

“I understand but what class and race should I be?” Asked Y/N, politely.

“Glad that you asked. I made you a character sheet. You'll be an Elf.” Replied Chrysocolla, with a serious tone.

“An Elf? They sound…mystical, right?” Asked Y/N, hoping that the Elf race was good.

“You could say that.” Confirmed Blue Zebra Jasper. “Now, let's begin.” She clears her throat as she begins to read as the Dungeon Master: 

“You all find yourselves lost deep into a forest, however, you all hear some noises past some bushes. What do you all do?” Blue Zebra Jasper stops reading for a moment, waiting for a reply.

“Easy, I slowly make my way towards the source of the sound, with my daggers ready in hand, in case of any threats.” Smoky Quartz replies as his character is an assassin. 

“We follow Wulve suite.” Chrysocolla replies for both his character, Fabian the Flamboyant, and for Y/N's character, Eldwin. 

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the 20-sided dice. It lands on a 5. 

“Bad luck. The noises that you all heard were the sounds of a pair of Lizardfolks. They spotted Wulve and are heading your way, looking suspicious. They inquire about your business on their land. How do you all reply?” 

Y/N tilt their heads sideways. They notice that they have a high enough ‘Charisma’ state of 6, so they answer. 

“I simply tell them that we're on a quest, having to cross their territory in order to stop the evil Red Dragon from causing more chaos in its quake.” 

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the dice again. This time, it lands on a 15.

“Nice work. The Lizardfolks believe you, and they let you through their territory but still keep a close eye on all of you. You all continue on your journey.” 

Chrysocolla rubs his hands together due to the anxious feeling of looking at Y/N. Chrysocolla felt so many…unwanted feelings at the same time, mainly anxiety but also…a feeling of harboring a crush, on Y/N, nonetheless.

Blue Zebra Jasper continues: 

“You all have arrived at the city of ‘Blackburn’, a city known for its market but also shady deals and trouble. You all enter a tavern which is filled with an assortment of races. What do you all do here?” 

This time, Chrysocolla is the one to reply, with a stutter: “W-we try t-to find o-ourselves a s-seat, first and f-foremost.”

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the dice. It comes up as 2. 

Blue Zebra Jasper shakes her head.

“As much as you try to find a seat, there are none. They are all occupied. However, one seat is free, across from a female human, who looks down in the dumps. What shall all of you do?” 

Chrysocolla replies, with a stutter: “I-I try t-to cheer her u-up, with a s-song.” 

Blue Zebra Jasper tilts her head at Chrysocolla's stutter but rolls the dice. It comes up as 9.

Blue Zebra Jasper shakes her head: “No matter how much you sing and play, she is not feeling any better. She thanks you for trying to cheer her up, though.” 

Smoky Quartz speaks up towards Chrysocolla, quietly. “Bummer, dude.” 

Chrysocolla quietly looks down at his lap, twisting his fingers this way and that due to anxiety and the upsetting feeling starting to appear within him.

Y/N senses the upsetting and anxious feeling surrounding Chrysocolla and tries his turn. 

“I walk up to the lady and…promise her a night she'll never forget.” As Y/N said the latter half, they look over at Chrysocolla for a moment but then back at Blue Zebra Jasper, slightly blushing but composing themselves.

Blue Zebra Jasper slyly smiles and rolls the dice. It comes up as 18.

“She agrees to come along and you both rent a room. The night passes with full bliss and…pleasure~” 

Smoky Quartz clears his throat. “What about me? What happened to me in the meantime?” 

Blue Zebra Jasper turned to look at Smoky Quartz. 

“In the meantime, you, Wulve, got the map of the underground cave from the shady figure who beckoned to you to meet them, in private.” 

Smoky Quartz smiled at the outcome. “Sweet.” 

Chrysocolla looks up from his lap and back at Smoky Quartz, nodding in agreement.

Smoky Quartz looks at the clock on the wall and realizes that it's already 12 O'clock, midnight. He stands up, showcasing his intimidating and tall stature. “Anyway, we can stop here. I need to get going. Later guys and my princess~” 

Smoky Quartz got up and gave a flirtatious wink at Blue Zebra Jasper, who frowned at his action. 

“Oh, go and stab someone.” Blue Zebra Jasper said, bitterly. 

Smoky Quartz smirked. “Already there, my dear.” 

Afterwards, Smoky Quartz began to climb upstairs and headed out through the front door. 

Blue Zebra Jasper said goodbye to both Chrysocolla and Y/N. Afterwards, she headed upstairs and out of through the door as well. 

Now, it was only Chrysocolla and Y/N alone, together and the ever presence of silence blossoming between them.

[chrysacr]

@elijahsequeira location: Mojo Dojo Casa de Elijah's House notes: he's sad but what else is new

It was possible that the banshee could have spent forever in bed, but at some point he had to get up again. Chrysaor wouldn't fade away, broken as his soul was it seemed cemented into this plane and thoughts of escape had never crossed his mind. He had wanted the wailing to end, of course, but only so that he could return to Elijah, and so the pain would end. With burning clarity the banshee had seen the Great Old Ones doom that they were to bring but had been powerless to communicate more than three pitiful words.

"I'm... So tired of being sad." Chrysaor admitted after he walked in the door from his first day back at Woven. They hadn't really talked about it, about anything really, Chrysaor existed around Elijah's gravity and for a time it just seemed like maybe they were both at a loss. If the incubus didn't know what to say to him that was fine, because Chrys didn't know what to say to himself either. "All the time I'm just-" he looked, almost hopefully at the incubus, "I'm sad." This was the closest thing to emotional honesty that Elijah was ever going to get from him, so he hoped the demon appreciated it. "Can't this be easy? Can you just kiss me and we go back to how things were?"

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Made a Family

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy Summary: Diego Hargreeves' daughter has been telling him all about her daycare class and begging him for a playdate with another one of the little girls. He can't deny her anything, even if it ends up being more than he agreed to. Warnings: Mentioned OC death, mentioned parental/partner loss, and canon-typical child abuse Word Count: 4,263 Ship(s): Diego Hargreeves/Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves & Viktor Hargreeves

Archive link!

A/N: I wrote this a long time ago and then put off posting it because I felt like it was too short and self-indulgent. I was having a discussion with one of my wonderful mutuals and they mentioned that they wanted more parent Viktor stuff, so I'm basically just posting this for them! @lovely-number-7 , I hope that you enjoy it lol. Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

Picking up Chrysanthemum from her daycare class was one of Diego’s favorite things to do. It didn’t matter how hard he had been working that day or how exhausted he was, he loved getting to see her little shining face looking up at him from the other side of the half-door that blocked him from the rest of the class.

Diego’s daughter had been born right as his life finished settling out in the new universe that he had been dumped in. He still felt guilty for leaving his siblings standing in that park in the middle of unfamiliar territory, especially after everything that they had done, but he didn’t regret it. Not when he got to see his beautiful girlfriend every day when they both returned home from work and got to hold Chrys in his arms. Lila and Chrys meant more to him than anything ever had before and he would never regret his decision to make sure that they were safe and well cared for.

He pulled up to the outside of the daycare, closing the door behind him. He tried to keep his gruff exterior, the one that kept the single parents away from him, plastered onto his face but it was incredibly hard when when was thinking about his little girl.

The foyer of the daycare center was a plain white room with four staircases, half going up and half going down on the wall opposite the door into the building. The two bottom ones were for the older kids (5-7 and 7+) and the top two were for the younger (1-3 and 3-5). To the left was the office where the parents could check their kids in and out and to the right was the kitchen where the meals were made.

Diego turned to go to the office so that he could check Chrys out and then go and collect her from her room. The check out process was quick because the secretary immediately recognized him and so was able to hand him the sheet where he signed to prove that it was him.

He walked as quickly as he thought appropriate so that he was standing on the landing on top of the right staircase that led to the toddler room. He stuck his head through the open top half of the door and then scanned around for his daughter. He always showed up right after naptime, so she was either groggy from just waking up or bouncing around because she had renewed energy. 

The teacher was stacking the purple foam pads in the corner so that the kids could have the floor to play again. She caught sight of him and then smiled softly, “Chrys? Your dad’s here to pick you up!”

Immediately upon hearing those words, the aforementioned toddler’s head appeared from behind the low bookshelves. He knew that she had been playing with the Mega Bloks that the school kept. They were her favorite thing since she could make whatever she wanted without repercussion and she loved the bright colors. 

“Daddy!” the little girl squealed. She raced around the bookshelf towards the half door as fast as her little legs would carry her.

As soon as she was in arm’s reach, Diego reached past the wooden barrier and scooped her up. She let out a shriek of excitement as she was whirled through the air and then down into her father’s arms. He securely tucked on of his arms underneath her thighs so that she wouldn’t fall if she were to lean too far back. “Hey flor pequeña,” he chuckled as he kissed her chubby cheeks.

Chrys let out a series of long winded giggles as she used her little hands to push his face away from her. “Daddy! Your beard is scratchy!”

He chuckled as he pulled away from her so that she was no longer under the barrage of kisses. He took the backpack that Chrys was sent to school with every day from the day care worker and slung it around his other shoulder. “Thank you,” he said politely. He turned around and began to carefully walk down the stairs while he asked his daughter, “How was class today?”

“Good! I got to play dollhouse with Luna,” she chirped, clapping her hands together to demonstrate how excited she was. 

Diego got her out to the car and then fastened her seatbelt securely over her body so that she was tightly strapped into her carseat. He gave her another kiss on the top of her head to make sure that she knew she was loved before he got into the driver’s seat. He glanced back at her to continue the conversation while they started backing out of the parking lot. “I’m glad you got to play in the dollhouse, bebita.” He genuinely was happy for his daughter, he knew how desperately she had wanted to play with the huge dollhouse that the daycare center had set up.

“I got to play with Luna, Daddy! She’s my favorite” the four-year-old explained happily. Diego was grateful every day that his daughter didn’t have to suffer with the same speech impediment that he still struggled with to that day. He would have loved her just as fiercely if she had, but he wanted her to have an easy childhood, free of stress and worry.

“Yeah? Is Luna your best friend?” he asked, glancing back at her with the rearview mirror once more before he turned his attention back to the heavy post-school traffic.

“Mhm! Bestest bestest friend,” the little girl giggled. She reached over and grabbed the bag that her mother had helped her pack before daycare that morning. She removed the stuffy that she had brought with her today and grasped her tight. It was something that she always did when she wanted a hug but wasn’t in the right situation to get one. Diego and Lila had thought it up when they realized just how many long trips were going to be required from them for her job.

Back before their little girl had been born, Diego had considered going back to the Police Academy, but after what he had gone through when he was living in Dallas in the sixties he knew that he couldn’t. So instead, he went back to college and worked on becoming a swim coach and teacher. Lila already had a degree from when she was living with her mother, which had transferred into the new universe, so was putting it to good use as a specialist detective working for the government. That was the real reason that they had to travel around so often, because her job brought them all over the country so that she could examine crime scenes and pieces of evidence up close. They kept their roots down in The City, though.

He felt a small smile slip over his face as he thought about his daughter getting to have the childhood that Lila and Diego had desperately wanted for her. Neither of them got to have a normal childhood, with the exception of Lila before she was four, so they wanted Chrysanthemum to have it. She was already connecting with more children than either of them could have ever been allowed to and her interpersonal skills were flourishing. It had been a huge achievement for them both to get their daughter this far in life without giving her any massive trauma and seeing her develop well.

She was kind, compassionate, and the sweetest little girl that either of them had ever had the joy of meeting. Both of them were overflowing with pride for their daughter and felt so lucky that they got to call her theirs.

The entire time that they were driving through the crowded streets back to their apartment, Diego thought felt his heart swelling with pride and joy. He could hear Chrys singing to herself in the backseat whenever a song came on the radio that she enjoyed. It reminded him of Allison when they were younger, before that childhood innocence had been stamped out of her. It was normal, according to their pediatrician, for children to have some amount of echolalia because that was how they began to pick up on language. Seeing the trait that had been stamped out of his sister in his daughter made Diego miss Allison more than he had in the nearly five years since he had seen her.

That was the one thing that he wished he could change about his life. He and Lila had disappeared into the city so that they could start their family and create a steady life for Chrys before she was born. He had meant to try and reach out to his family so that his daughter could know her aunt and uncles, but then he just never had. He was happy with his family, even if he wished that it could have been bigger for the sake of his daughter if nothing else.

They pulled into the parking garage of the apartment where Diego and Lila lived. He found his reserved spot and then began to get Chrys out of her carseat. She was winding down from the excitement of daycare and was beginning to look a little sleepy like she did everyday when she came home from school. She had just been weaned off of having multiple naps a day but still went to bed fairly early in the evening. 

“What do you want for dinner, bebita?” he asked as he shouldered the backpack a little easier and began to walk her towards the house.

“Can Mommy make chops?” she asked as she scrubbed at her eye with one of her little fists.

“I can ask her. I think she just finished one of her cases so she might be really tired when she comes home. Daddy can make you something else, though,” he offered.

She considered it for a moment before she gave him a half-shrug of agreement. “Can I have cheese and crackers for my snack?”

“Did you not get a snack from daycare?” Diego asked, brows furrowing together with worry. That had only happened once before, when the kitchen had an issue so they weren’t able to get any food up to the kids, but it had still upset him. Reginald withheld food from the kids several times when they were younger and he determined that they hadn’t done a good enough job in their training to earn the right of a snack or even a meal if they had been bad enough. The idea of his daughter going at all hungry made him furious.

“I did, but I’m still hungry,” she whined, leaning further against him. Her hand was still clenched tightly around the purple unicorn that she had pulled out of her backpack in the car.

Diego chuckled and kissed the top of her head. It was only when they had gotten into the elevator of the parking garage that would lead them up to the apartment building that he realized what was wrong about what he had just seen. “Where did you get this, bebita?” he asked as he reached down and touched the stuffy in her hand.

“Luna! We traded, which is why I brought one of the stuffies that’s not my favorite,” she explained, flushing slightly.

Diego resisted the urge to laugh at that. He knew that his daughter was deeply ashamed that she couldn’t love all of her toys exactly the same amount since she was worried that some of them would get sad when they realized that they weren’t her favorite. He thought that it was adorable and he was so proud of her for already having this much compassion and kindness when she was only four years old.

“I wish that you had told us that you were going to do that, sweetheart,” he reprimanded gently as he tucked some of her brown-black hair behind her ear. “Mommy and I need to know when you do things like that so that we don’t think anything’s lost.”

She listened to him and then nodded. “Sorry, Daddy. I’ll tell you next time, okay?”

“Thank you,” he kissed the edge of her forehead. They walked through the halls of the apartment building and then he set her down. Chrys immediately ran off so that she could unpack her bag. Diego set his own bag down on the dining room table and then removed his shoes so that they were resting beside the door. He got out a plastic plate from the cupboard and then set out some crackers and cheese slices for Chrys when she was finished unpacking her bag.

He turned on the television to the PBS kids channel that The City got as an initiative to have more widely available entertainment for lower income families. For the four years before Diego had graduated that’s what they had been since they were only getting income from Lila’s job in the government, and she wasn’t able to take as many jobs when Chrys was younger and needed to be minded more often.

He was sitting on the couch while grading some of his student’s papers, he was currently working as a health teacher for the sixth grade class of the local middle school, when Chrys suddenly turned to him. “Daddy, do you think that me and Luna could have a playdate?”

“Sure, but I’d have to talk to Luna’s parent or guardian about it first,” he nodded. 

Chrysanthemum grinned. “She’s gonna talk about it with her dad tonight! Can I have a piece of paper with your phone number so that you guys can talk? It’s how Abby and Derek had their playdate since their parents are always super duper busy.”

“Okay, I’ll have Mommy send you with one tomorrow when she packs your morning backpack,” he smiled and ruffled her hair.

The child turned back to her snack and show, happy as a clam that she might get to spend time with her best friend outside of the daycare environment.

---

The next morning, Diego woke up at the normal time that his alarm clock went off. He went about his routine just like he always did without thinking that something might be off or strange about the day. He went on his mile long run (having toned it down from five miles when he had a screaming newborn in the house to exhaust him for about a year straight) and then took a shower. He was just about ready to make himself his normal breakfast when Lila burst out of their closet looking rumpled and upset.

“Is everything okay, mi corazón?” he asked, brows knitting together with worry.

She looked stressed for a moment before she answered, “I got called on another job. I know that I need to take Chrys to school because you have swim club today and need to grade your papers since you can’t do it in the afternoon but I really have to take this. We could get a loan for a house after this, Diego.”

He reached out and took her hands, bringing her out of the closet doorway so that she was against him. He brushed her hair, still styled like it had been when they first fell in love, away from her face. “I can take her to school today. The kids can wait to have their papers graded for another day. You know that they want to put off finding out their grades for as long as possible,” he chuckled.

The worry lines that had been creased around her face softened and she smiled back at him. “I just don’t want to be a shit mum.”

“You are anything but a shit mother, Lila,” he murmured as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. Worrying about whether or not they were going to be good parents was mostly what had destroyed their sleep schedule after Chrys was born since she was a fairly quiet and very sleepy newborn.

He gently kissed her on the lips and then said, “Pack up and get going so that you make your flight on time. When you’re settled down wherever they’re sending you this time, call us.”

“You’re the best husband that I could have asked for,” she grinned. She fisted his shirt and then pulled him down the few inches that he towered above her so that she could press a longer kiss to his lips. 

The two then split apart and went their separate ways. Diego went to wake up their daughter and get her dressed for the day while Lila focused on packing her bag for the trip that she was going to have to make for work. Soon she was headed out the door, giving a kiss to both her husband and her daughter.

The rest of the morning was generally pleasant. Chrys always woke up kind of groggy but in a relatively good mood, having inherited Diego’s morning person attribute. She was overly excited once she actually woke up because she knew that today she was going to be at least one step closer to getting the playdate that she wanted with her best friend. She could barley sit still the entire time that Diego was trying to do her hair and help her get dressed.

Her bag was almost forgotten in her hurry to get out the door and to the daycare center. Diego still managed to remember it and included his number tucked into the frontmost pocket where nothing else was so that she wouldn’t forget it.

Lila was normally the one that dropped Chrys off at daycare since she worked later into the afternoon so wanted to spend more time with their daughter when and where she could. Diego had done it a couple of times before, in situations like this when Lila had been on trips. It still felt like his heart was breaking into a million pieces when his little girl wrapped her arms as tightly around his legs as she could for only a moment and then rushed off to climb the stairs all on her own to her daycare room.

It didn’t happen that day though, because the person that she was most excited to see that day was still standing in the foyer getting checked in by her parent. “Luna!” Chrysanthemum called as soon as the door opened far enough for her to see the other four-year-old.

The aforementioned little girl whirled around and met her friend with a big hug. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too! Did you ask your dad?” Chrys asked.

Diego was so focused on his daughter interacting with her best friend that he didn’t even notice the adult that was checking her in until he spoke up. “She did. If your parents said that it was okay and I can talk with them then we can get you guys on the road to having a playdate.” His voice was eerily familiar, but Diego couldn’t quite put his finger on it until he looked up and saw who it was.

He felt like all of the air had been stolen from his lungs. His brother looked very different than he had the last time the two of them had seen each other, but it had been about half a decade so he wasn’t surprised. “Viktor?” Diego breathed.

The man turned towards him, giving Diego a much better view of him. Viktor’s face shape had changed so that his cheekbones and jaw were a lot sharper. His muscle mass had shifted so that it was broader through the shoulders and less heavy on the hips. His chest was entirely flat instead of the small bump that had come with his binder back when they were Hotel Oblivion. The hair on his face had obviously been shaved off that morning, but Diego could still see the traces of stubble along his neck. The veins in his hands and arms were also a lot more prominent.

“Diego,” Viktor blinked. “I, uh, didn’t realize that you were still in The City.”

“There wasn’t really anywhere else for us to go what with,” he gestured down to where Chrys was pulling the note from the front of her backpack pocket to show Luna. He then turned his attention back up to Viktor as he spotted the baby sling over his chest and stomach. “You’ve got two kids?”

“Kind of a long story,” he nodded. “This is Nikolai, and then you’ve met my eldest.”

It was surreal to see that. Logically, he knew that something like this could happen. Before all three of the apocalypses that they had to fend off, Viktor had a life and a career that he obviously adored. It made sense that he would have jumped back into that when given the chance and even settled down to have a family.

“Listen, I have to go to work but do you want to catch up sometime? Maybe you can come over the first time that Luna and Chrys have a playdate,” Diego suggested.

“Yeah,” Viktor nodded. “We can do that.”

He then finished signing in his daughter and walked both of the little girls up to the room where they would stay for the rest of the day. Diego had signed Chrys in and then gone back to his car by the time that Viktor came back down.

---

The two brothers talked and not three days later, when the weekend had finally come, they were both sitting in Diego’s living room. Chrysanthemum and Luna were down the hall in her bedroom, playing with the myriad of toys that she had been vibrating with excitement at the idea of getting to show off. Viktor had Nikolai out of the carrier that he had brought him up in and was currently patting his back as he tried to soothe his cries.

Diego held his hands out to offer some help. Viktor seemed grateful for this, passing the three-month-old baby over to his brother. “Was Luna this fussy?” he asked as he shifted the baby around and began to bounce him. He had gotten very good at doing that while half asleep when his own daughter was this young.

“I wouldn’t know,” Viktor half shrugged. “I became Luna’s dad when she was eighteen months old.”

Diego knew that it was prying, but he couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t quite realized how starved he was for familial affection like he had gotten when they were all trying to stop the end of the world. He was desperate to become a part of Viktor’s life again and to know what had happened in his absence. “Oh? Did you adopt?” 

“Sort of,” he sighed. “You know how I have the absolute worst luck when it come to romantic partners?”

Diego nodded and waited for him to continue. “Well after the whole reset of the universe I found out that all of my old stuff was there, minus what I blew up with my powers. It was like everything had stayed from before Harold showed up. So I just kind of picked up where I left off but I was standing up for myself and able to actually be a person instead of the husk that the medication made me be. I met someone who called themself Light. We got along great because we were both trans, and they had already had Luna. We ended up moving in together and becoming co-parents and we were kind of trying to take romance slow but then they got pregnant again with Nikolai. I was going to stick around and continue to help with the whole parenting thing but, um, they didn’t make it through the delivery. So now I’m a dad and I don’t have my partner.”

There were so many missing details that Diego was desperate to know, but Nikolai was only a couple of months old so the loss of this partner still had to be a fresh wound on Viktor’s heart. He chose to drop it instead of pushing forward. “You’re a good dad. Chrys is enamored with Luna, I think that they’re going to stay best friends forever or grow to resent each other.”

Viktor laughed at that, running a hand through the short locks on the front of his head. “I worry. I didn’t have anyone good to base my parenting off of from my life. I mean, Sissy and Light were both amazing parents but I hadn’t been around them for all that long. And I was learning alongside Light because they had aged out of the foster system so they didn’t have anyone to base their parenting off of either.”

“Lila and I worry too. It was really hard, the beginning couple of months. But eventually you kind of feel like you get some footing and you begin to gain confidence,” he reassured.

The two of them fell into an easy back and forth just like they had before the whole family had split up once again. They talked about parenting, what the other had been doing their time apart, and what they thought that their siblings were doing now that they were free in the world. It turned out that Five and Viktor were still very close, which wasn’t all that surprising, and Klaus would pop into his life every now and again. Slowly, Diego got the family that he had been hoping for since his daughter had first been placed into his arms.

[hurricanek8art]

for blorbo(s) of your choice <3

[ 🕊️ ]ㅤ.ㅤwhen did they feel the safest ?

[ 🪢 ]ㅤ.ㅤwhen was the last time they broke a promise ?

[ 🍃 ]ㅤ.ㅤdo they feel like they belong ?

I HAVE CONQUERED MY PSEUDO-WRITER'S BLOCK AT LAST AND LO. ANSWERS. What continues is stuff I've had half-written and have been trying to finish for *checks notes* two and a half weeks. 😭

Ooooooooh good ones. Hmm. I want to default to Aja, but Chrysali needs some love since she's my Imp-side main and also depending on how Jadus returning goes she might be having a bad time in 7.7 onwards 🙃 (This one ended up kinda long sorry I'll put it under a read more)

[ 🕊️ ]. when did they feel the safest ?

So "safe" is a... nebulous concept for Chrysali because of *gestures wildly at backstory and entirety of Agent storyline* but! I can count exactly 3 times off the top of my head!

Time one: when she was a kid right before the Battle of Druckenwell. Everyone was alive, Chrysali had friends, her parents were so happy together it was kinda gross (twelve-year-old, cut her some slack 🤣), her sister Lyuba was just about to graduate to Space Equivalent of High School i forgot what Star Wars calls it, and her brother Danyil had just gotten everyone booked to go on a trip to the Galactic Museum on Coruscant with the rest of his university's engineering program, to see the exhibition on the history of aerospace engineering. He was allowed to bring the whole family along, and little Chrysali was excited for her first ever trip off Druckenwell. To the heart of the galaxy, of all places! (And then, well... see I don't really like writing angst, but it just kinda happens. Like, uh, the Battle of Druckenwell did. But right before all of that? Safe.)

Time two: weirdly enough it was on Rishi while everyone was hunting the Revanites. Sure, it was really super dangerous, but it was the first time she didn't feel like she had to constantly watch for a knife in the back alongside all the usual dangers—Lana was still kind of a wild card, but she could trust Jakarro and Deefour to act for their own self-preservation (which if they were smart meant they knew not to cross her), and Theron and Aja were... actually good? And got along with her somehow? Probably just the Jedi and Jedi-adjacent thing they had going on, right? Right. (Spoiler alert: they're your friends now ya doof)

Time three: Around Onslaught, before Kira and Scourge show up with the whole "hey Tenebrae's actually still alive" bomb. Chrys and Theron are finally together after 7 years, more missions together then they could count, and Theron doing the most ill-advised undercover stint in galactic history without warning her about it. About a week after they'd decided to just say screw it and move in together, Chrysali realizes all of a sudden that, well, she's not always great with touch after everything she had to go through in the Imperial Science Division, but she connects the feeling of being in their quarters on Odessen, just sitting together with Theron holding her close, it's... safe. He's been "safe" for so long, so have her quarters, but it's the first time she feels both concepts of "safe" wash over her at the same time. And she likes it. ❤

[ 🪢 ]. when was the last time they broke a promise ?

This one's tricky because the nature of her job means that Chrysali has to lie when she makes promises about 80% of the time, so when she makes a genuine "I swear" promise, Chrysali will do absolutely everything in her power to keep it. So, she doesn't break them often, to the point that I can't even think of one, but... there is a potential broken promise on the horizon. She promised Shara she'd stop Jadus before he could hurt anyone else, whenever he came back, no matter what. She had to make that choice on his flagship worth the risk. And, well, we don't know what he's up to yet. Chrys is... holding in there over the idea of him making a return.

She's gonna try like heck to not break that promise, though.

[ 🍃 ]. do they feel like they belong ?

She does, finally. It took so, so, soooooo long, but Chrysali has found... maybe not peace (I don't think she's ever going to find that) but she's figured out how to be content. How to settle. She has so many people in her life who care about her, who trust her even after everyone she's been and everything she's done, and who would move the stars to protect her if they could. She's never going to be that kid on Druckenwell again and she has pretty regular setbacks, but Chrysali's finally begun to feel comfortable with who she's become, the good parts and the bad. Odessen is home. ❤

[the-birds-of-the-faith]

Bishop Chrysor

Haro. [Chrys gives a curt nod.] Glad to see you are well.

Haro: "Oh as well as can be dear. I have been rather tired since my kids returned"

Haro:"But I'm glad you're holding out well aswell"

Kudaai: "false Idol..."