#especially when said guy was one of the first to be stuck inside the giant robot with his brother. and testing was a lower priority due to

[quietwingsinthesky]

🌹:O

:3c

Lucifer doesn't care how the labcoats say it works; he knows there's no such thing as a clean break from a drift the minute the plug is pulled. Instead, Michael goes from a second consciousness beside his own to being dragged out of Lucifer the further Lucifer gets from him, both of them gripping tight to the connection until it slips, until it snaps, with a violent recoil that knocks Lucifer's brain out of alignment and reminds his legs that they don't work. His next step falls too fast, too heavily, and refuses to take his weight. It's only Michael, now only a voice outside of Lucifer's head yelling his name, catching him from behind that allows Lucifer to collapse to the floor with his dignity intact.

[iamtrasch]

Minho x reader: Loyal

Living in the Glade and becoming a runner.

Words: 1121

Read here on AO3 Chapter 1

Chapter 2: The 4-Step guide to becoming a Runner

______________________________________

Adjusting to the routines of the Glade was surprisingly easy, given that you had no memories to compare it to. After a few days, the only thing you could recall was your name. Without any recollection of your past life, you couldn't determine if it had been better or worse than your new existence here.  At first, you were assigned as a Slicer. Your days were spent caring for the animals, cleaning, and fixing up fences. You took every opportunity you could not to work in the slaughterhouse or any other job that forced you to be inside for most of the day.  The benefit of not working inside was being able to see at least somewhat into the maze, the thought of exploring it was stuck in the back of your head since your first day. Although you didn't mind life in the Glade, you couldn't help but wonder what was behind those giant stone walls and beyond the maze. You tried asking around. But most of the people you talked to everyday had never been in the maze before, so you didn't know much, and the answers you did get didn't satisfy your need for knowledge at all.

You came to the conclusion that the only way to get real answers was to talk or better to become a runner and who better than the guy you had an albeit very short conversation with. The leader of the runners, Minho.

After your first conversation in the Maze, you didn't really talk to him at all. The runners had their own tasks and were in the maze most of the day or in a hut more in the woods which nobody but the runners were allowed to enter. You really only saw them in the evenings when everyone was eating, fighting, drinking or just talking. Even then, you were cooped up into your own little groups that just naturally formed because of your assigned jobs.

This evening, you had exactly one mission: Talk to Minho. You had drafted a small plan:

1. Get some good meat parts 

2. Offer them to Minho (bribery)

3. Ask him about the maze 

4. Become a runner 

It was foolproof that nobody could resist delicious food, especially not a guy that had been running through the Maze the whole day. Because of your job as a slicer you sometimes ended up also helping cook, this was one of those times. This was the perfect day to set your plan into motion. Today's kitchen work wasn't anything big, so you finish up fast to be able to get some good pieces (that most of the time went to the cooks). Step one complete. With your hand full of skewers, you waited for the perfect moment to catch Minho alone. It came not so long after. The group of runners had settled down at a log near the fire and while everyone went to stand in line for food, Minho stayed back for a moment to drink some water. This was it! You quickly made your way over before he could get up.

“Want one?” You offer him a skewer, but just as he reaches for it, you pull back.

“Giving me real mixed signals here” he said annoyed

“I want to make a trade”

“A Trade ?”

“I'll give you the food if you answer my questions” he glances back at the formed line behind you, knowing that he will probably not get any of the good pieces dangling in front of his face he relents :“fine, what do you what to know ?” you sit  next to him on the log. “what's it like in the maze ?” you ask while giving him a skewer. He takes a bite turning to you to study your face, finally he speaks “Why do you care ?”

“I don't know. Since the first day I landed here and saw the Maze, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. There has to be more.” And I want to see it for myself. “

“There is a reason we only have a handful of runners. You think you want to see it, but the Maze doesn’t care how curious you are. It’ll chew you up and spit you out.”

Your jaw clenched. Did he really think that you couldn't handle it?  

“Then let me prove myself ”

Finishing his food, he narrows his eyes, “You really think you have what it takes to be a runner ?” ”You have the stamina? The memory? A good sense of orientation? You know when it's time to run? ”

Without hesitation, you nod enthusiastically. A small smile forms on his face and he stands up.

“Fine, your training starts tomorrow. Meet me in front of the gate at dawn. I will talk to Gally and Alby”. With that, he walks off.

From that day on, you were trained to be a runner.

Minho was right, adapting to the runner's life wasn't easy. Running through different paths and remembering said paths to map them afterwards, took some getting used to. You sure as hell didn't have the stamina that the rest of the boys had, but the thirst for knowledge kept you running. Every night you came back to the glade with a new scrape or bruise.  Sleep also didn't last long, not only did your sore muscles not let you fall asleep, you also had to get up at the crack of dawn. But every day it got easier. The burning in your lungs and legs dulled. You couldn't and didn't want to stop. What helped to get accommodated was the company, which couldn't be better. The Runners were a different breed, bound by trust and the constant push to keep moving. You joked and shared your theories about the maze with each other. A few thought that beyond the maze there was a huge desert and the maze/grove was the only Oasis. Your theory was that because of the moss and ivy that covers the Maze walls, that it had to be a giant forest with trees even bigger than the ones you have in the Glade. But none of you really knew. That was the thing about the Maze, every step inside it was a question waiting to be answered. The Maze was alive in its own way. It shifted, it tested you, and the threat of grievers was around every corner.

Yet, in that constant felling of uneasiness there was the need to satiate your hunger for knowledge. You found community with the people that ran beside you. Together you fought the exhaustion and growing helplessness. The Maze didn’t just bring you together, it made you a Runner.

[nuggeett875]

Unbroken Promises-Derek Hale (p4)

3rd P.O.V:

Delilah walked up to the loft door with Eli and Thalia standing behind her. They were both nervously bouncing, although there was excitement there as well. 

Thalia had explained that they were going to meet somebody very important, who they had been waiting to meet their whole lives. Their dad…

“Mommy, who was that guy that you were talking to last night?” Eli asked as the three sat at the table for breakfast. Delilah took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap to stop them from shaking. “Eli, Thalia-do you remember what mommy told you when you were younger about your Daddy?” 

“Well the man I was talking to, his name is Derek, and he’s your dad.” She figured there was no point in dancing around it, “He wants to meet you, is that what you guys want?” 

Their eyes were big as they nodded quickly. 

Delilah knocked on the giant door and seconds later it flew open revealing Isaac, his eyes went wide at the sight of the twins and quickly moved out of the way to let them inside. Delilah looked over and saw Derek sitting on the couch bouncing his leg nervously. 

“I’ll be in my room.” Isaac said before running upstairs. Derek looked up and smiled, but stayed in place. He was scared that if he went closer then he would scare the twins and he couldn’t do that, they were all the family he had left. 

Delilah knelt down and pulled Eli and Thalia in front of her as they started at Derek, “This is Derek, this is your dad.” Eli froze and seemed to exhibit the same nerves as Derek.

Thalia on the other hand, she walked over to her father and climbed up in his lap like she’d done it a thousand times. It had looked so natural, Derek’s eyes met hers and he knew in that moment she had complete control over him, just like Delilah did, and he was sure it’d be the same with Eli. 

“Mommy said, you had to go away for a while cause you were sad, but that you still loved us, and would find us one day. Are you still sad?” She asked calmly not breaking eye contact with him. 

Derek smiled big and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, “No baby, I’m not sad anymore. I-” He paused, “I love you.” She smiled and hugged him tighter, “I love you daddy.” 

Eli after seeing this ran over and Derek slid off the couch, now sitting on the ground to wrap his arms around him. “I love both of you so much. I’m not leaving again, I promise.” 

Delilah was watching with tears falling down her face. She knew that Derek was going to be good with them but she never imagined how much love he would see in his eyes, it was the same way he looked at her.

The way he still did. 

“Daddy, did you know I’m named after your mommy?” Thalia asked as the three pulled away from the hug. He laughed, “Yeah, I did. And Eli is named after your mom’s grandfather.” He said as he ran a hand through Eli’s curls. 

Eli laughed and tried to swat his hand away but ended up hitting Thalia to which she gasped and hit him back. “Hey, mine was an accident!” She stuck her tongue out at him and he started chasing her. 

Delilah walked over and sat on the ground next to Derek as they watched the two race around the loft. “So as you can see they got you’re energy and impulsiveness.” Derek smiled and looked over at her, “Del, I’m so sorry. I should have answered, I left you all alone and I should have been ther-” 

“Derek don’t. I understand why you left. At first I was hurt and angry but over the years I started to let go of that. Especially seeing the way that these two hurricanes acted with each other. They reminded me so much of you and I couldn’t stay mad.” 

“So is that why you were throwing things at me in the diner the other day?” He asked with a smirk. Delilah laughed, “Maybe I had some left over anger, but I promise it’s gone now.”

They looked each other in the eye and stared there for a minute, before hearing screams of laughter. 

Delilah and Derek looked up seeing Eli hanging upside down from Isaac and Thalia clinging onto his leg. “Mommy! Can we keep him? He’s fun.” Delilah laughed and walked over tickaling Eli then lifting him up, “Well seeing as he’s not a stray dog, no we can’t keep him.”

Eli and Thalia started pouting, “But, you can see him whenever we come to see daddy.” They sated smiling again Eli jumped down running over to Derek, “Daddy, can we come over tomorrow?” 

Derek looked at Delilah, “I don’t know buddy, it’s up to your mom. Plus I’m going to be teaching Isaac some stuff it’s going to be really boring.” Eli melted into Derek and started groaning. 

Thalia ran over and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, sitting on the couch. “Pleaseeee? We won’t be bored, and mommy will say yes.” Looking up at her Derek gave in and nodded, “Sure baby you guys can come over.” 

Delilah’s jaw dropped, “Derek Hale, when did you become so weak?” Derek gave her a playful glare. “When my daughter asked. She’s my little girl she gets what she wants.” 

“Hey why don’t you guys go play with Isaac for a little bit I gotta talk to your mom.” Derek said, the two running over clinging to Isaac again, already laughing. 

“Del, you should know something. There’s a new creature in Beacon it attacked a kid named Stiles at the auto shop, and I’m going to talk to him about it tonight at the game.”

“Talk to him about it or scare him into telling him what he knows?” Derek stayed silent, “Derek.” 

“Does it matter?” Delilah threw her hands up in the air, “Yes, it matters Derek this is the reason I said I’d be helping you, because you clearly don’t think before you go off and do crazy stuff like this. Tonight when you talk to Stiles, I’m going to be there.” 

......................

Delilah P.O.V:

“Well if it isn’t Derek Hale?” I heard behind me. I turned around and saw Derek hugging my mom. “Hi Ms. D.” He said smiling. “I heard you were back in town, and about your sister. I’m so sorry.” 

She then hit his head, “Why didn’t you come sooner? You were here for a year probably living in some run down shack.” I smiled and laughed, “Actually a burnt run down shack.” I told her refering to the old Hale house. 

Mom gasped and hit him again, “Derek Hale!” He rubbed his arm, “Is this where you get it from?” He asked me. I went to respond but sumbled when Thalia and Eli ran past me and jumped for Derek. 

He caught both of them and was holding them as they gave him hugs and immediately started asking him questions, “Daddy, where’s Issac?” Lia asked. “He’s at the loft right now. Maybe you can go see him later.” Derek told her pressing a kiss to her cheek and Eli’s forehead. 

Thalia nodded before telling Derek all about her day. All, about, it. I was surprised Derek was able to keep up with her, must be some werewolf superability he has. I walked over and picked up Eli out of his arms and placed him at the counter on a stool.

“You, young man need to finish your math homework.” He groaned and leaned back in the chiar, “But I want to talk to dad.” Derek walked over to him, “Sorry little man work comes first.”

I smiled and walked around the counter leaning on it in front of Eli, “How about you finish your work now and then we can head over to dad’s loft,” I looked up at Derek, “If that’s okay with you?” 

Derek smiled big and nodded sitting next to Eli who started working eagerly on his assignment. 

“So, when are you planning on talking to Stiles?” I asked Derek. “Tonight, at the game. Scott will be playing so that will give me a minute to get to him.” Thalia looked up at him, “You know uncle Scotty?” 

Derek tilted his head back and forth, “In a way.” Thalia nodded and started playing with his fingers. “I can leave the twins with Isaac if that’s alright wiht him and come with you.” “You don’t need to do—”

I cut him off, “I’m coming with you Derek Hale. You’re not going to intimidate Stiles into talking.” I gave him a look to finish the conversation. “I’m done!” Eli declared getting our attention. 

I pulled his paper to me and started reading over the equations. “Eli, 12+15 is not 32.” He sighed, “You just said I had to be done. You didn’t say it had to be right.” 

Derek looked at me, “He’s right, you did say that.” I glared at him and groaned, “Alright fine, let’s go.” The twins cheered and we made our way out of the diner towards the loft. 

…………………..

We got to the loft and Derek swung open the door before the twins barreled into it due to their race. “I won.” Eli said smiling big, “No, I did. Daddy, who won?” Thalia asked. “How about you both win.” They pouted before hearing footsteps coming down the staris. 

“Isaac!” Eli and Thalia ran over and jumped at him, Isaac barely having time to catch them both. “Hey guys, whatcha doing here?” He asked placing them on the stools so they were at his height. Well, almost.

“Mommy and Daddy said we could come over here so that we could see you, and play.”

“Hey Isaac, I was wonderinf if you could watch the twins tonight while I handled somethig with Derek. You know with you being a fugitive and not being able to go out.” He laughed and nodded, “Sure I can watch them.” 

“Mommy what’s a fudge-a-tive?” Thalia asked her face scrunched up confused. “Isaac is on time out from the police hon.” I answered, no point in softening the truth. Thalia nodded, satisfied with the answer.

“Can you play with us please?” Eli said wrapping his arms around Isaac’s neck and hanging off him. Isaac laughed, “Sure, what are we gonna play?” 

Thalia and Eli looked at each other, “Hide and Seek, start coutning.” Then they jumped off the stools giving me a near heart attack and ran off to hide. 

Derek sat on the couch and I took off my jacket and threw it over the coffee table before I plopped down next to him. “You know there just so much like you. Down to the annoying food habits.” Derek looked at me a raised an eyebrow. “And what are these habits?”

I laughed, “You know stealing food off my plate. They do it all the time to each other, although they did also get my irritation of it and it usually ends in me having to end an argument.” 

“Oh, come on, you love when I do that.” He smiled cheekily. “No, no I distinctly remember hitting you multiple times because you couldn’t keep your hands off my plate.” 

“Not the only time you hit me cause I couldn’t keep my hands off something.” I gasped and my eyes widened. He did not just— I hit him on the shoulder, “Derek Hale!” He threw his head back laughing. 

“Our children are in the other room.” “So they can’t hear us.” I groaned and slid down in the seat. “So,” He started the mood shifting to, something. I couldn’t tell what it was, “have you gone on any dates since they were born?”

I took a deep breath. “Um, no. No I haven’t.” I turned my head sideways and looked into his eyes. “And even though I’d love to say that it’s because I had no time, I just could never seem to get over this guy I dated in highschool.” 

Derek smiled a bit, “Well he sounds like a hell of a guy.” I nodded slowly, “Yeah he was. Smart, good at basketball, hot…good kisser too.” We both leaned in, “Wonder if that’s still the case.”

We leaned in further our lips about to touch, “Derek. Is this a good idea?” I whispered. “I have no idea,” his hand reached up cupping my face, “let’s find out.” He then smashed his lips to mine and I responded, quickly kissing him back.

We stayed like that for what felt like hours, it was just like highschool again, fireworks going off and butterflies in my stomach. I pulled back, “The twins—” He pulled me back into the kiss before whispering, “Are with Isaac.” 

We continued to kiss until we heard giggles and looked up seeing Eli, Thalia, and Isaac all sitting on the staircase watching us. Well more like Eli and Thalia trying to move Isaac’s hand from covering their eyes, his closed tight as well. 

Derek cleared his throat and shifted in his seat turning towards them, “And what are you three doing?” Isaac dropped his hands knownig it was safe for the twins to look, “Playing hide-and-seek?” Eli said more like a question. 

I laughed and pushed my hair behind my ear, “Well, now that you guys were found, I think it’s time to head home, hm?” “Nooo.” They groaned drawing it out.

“Can we stay till tonight please?” Thalia asked. I looked at Derek and he was already looking at me waiting for an answer. Guess he was okay with it. “Alright you can,” they started cheering, “but, you guys have to take a nap before tonight.” 

“Buzzkill.” Eli whispered, “What was that?” I asked him giving my best mom look. His eyes went wide and he jumped to hide behind Isaac, “Nothing. Promise.” I hummed and waved my hands at them to which they all left. 

“So, where were we?” Derek asked leaning in but I pressed a hand against his chest and sighed, “Derek. That-what just happened-I, I just don’t want things to get complicated.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “What’s going to get complicated. This is us Lilah, we are the most natural thing in the world.” “We were yeah. But now with the twins and this new monster running around Beacon I don’t want you to get distracted and something to happen. This is dangerous shit Der.”

He placed his hand on my thigh and the other wrapped around mine. “I know that, but trust me when I say I will never let anything happen to either of them, or you. Delilah you’ve been my world since we were 15 and now I have two more of you. I lost you once, and it was completely my fault, but I’m here and I’m not leaving. So please, please don’t let me loose you again.” 

By the end of his talk his eyes were locked onto mine and I could tell he meant it. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Eli and Thalia…or to me. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach again and I leaned forward pressing a kiss to his lips.

The kiss grew more before we heard the same giggles as before, I pulled away and rolled my eyes looking up to see the three in the same spot as last time. “All right, that’s enough from you.” I told them.

Standing up I grabbed my jacket and put it on pulling my hair out the back. “I have to go see Melissa about some stuff, but I will meet you at the game so we can talk to Stiles.” Derek nodded getting up and walking me to the door. 

I stepped outside before turning around and pressing a final kiss to his lips. “Have fun with them. And trust me don’t give them any sugar before their nap or they will be bouncing off the walls and never let you put them down.” He nodded and smiled.

I turned around and headed downstairs in the elevator then walked to my car. ‘This is going to work out. Right?’

…………………..

3rd P.O.V:

Delilah walked into the hospital with two coffees in her hand going straight for the check-in counter where Melissa was spinning around in her chair. “Well this looks productive.” Delilah laughed placing one of the coffees down in front of her.

Melissa pushed herself closer to the desk and picked up the cup taking a sip. “Well what can I say, slow day. So where were you all morning, Scott and I stopped by the diner for some lunch but you weren’t there.” 

Delilah nodded and looked down at the cup in her hand playing with the sleeve, “Yeah, I was with Derek. The twins are actually over there right now.” Melissa’s eyes widened, “Wow. That’s—are you sure that’s a good idea?” 

Delilah nodded, “Yeah, I trust him. Damn, Lissa you should see him with them. Especially Thalia, it’s like they’ve known eachother their whole lives. He’s so good with them.” Melissa nodded, “And, how is he with you?” she asked with a knowing look.

“Well, there may have been…a kiss or two today—ugh am I am idiot.” Delilah asked leaning forward dropping her face in her hands. 

“No honey, no you’re not an idiot. You’re just, in love. I mean you have been with this guy for 7 years. Of course there’s still going to be feelings.” Melissa told her placing a hand on her arm.

“Yeah, yeah I guess you’re right. It did feel like being in highschool again. Like there was nothing else in the world just us.” Delilah said with a huge smile on her face. The two of them continued to talk till Melissa got off her shift which was a little over an hour later. 

Delilah decided to head to the game with Melissa, which worked even better since Scott had her car. When she got there, Delilah told her friend that she would catch up but needed to check on the twins and made her way towards the school.

She saw Stiles heading inside quickly and followed behind him, but she lost him in one of the halls and started looking around. 

“Stiles.” Derek asked walking over with Erica besides him and a basketball in his hands. “Derek…” Stiles said testing him. “What did you see at the mechanic’s garage?”

Stiles took a deep breath, “Uh, several alarming EPA violations that I”m seriously considereing reporting—” he told Derek evasively.

Derek simply stared at him before popping the basketball that was in his hands. “Holy God!” Stiles yelled his heart speeding up.

“Now Derek I’m sure there are better ways to ask someone a question.” Delilah said standing right behind him.

Derek turned around and she gave him a look which told him she was unimpressed with his ways of communication. 

Derek huffed, “Stiles, hon. What did you really see at the garage. This is important, please.” She said taking a step towards him. 

“All right, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark. Kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales.”

Derek tilted his head, “All right, fine. Eyes…eyes are, um, yellowish, and slitted. Um has a lot of teeth…Oh and it’s got a tail, too.” 

The three standing across from his looked up and saw the exact thing he just described their eyes going wide. “What? Wait, have you seen it. You have this look on your faces like you know exactly what I am talking about…”

Stiles turned around and saw it screeching and ran to join the other three. Derek growled at it just before it pushed Erica into the wall and knocked her out.

Derek pushed Stiles and Delilah, “Run!” He started fighting it but looked over to make sure Delilah was safe, “Der, watch out.” The creature swiped it’s tail and cut Derek on the neck causing him to start to fall.

Stiles ran over and grabbed him helping him stand, Delilah doing the same. They started running away and Derek told Stiles to call Scott to help. 

While trying to dial his phone Stiles dropped it and leaned down to pick it up which made Derek drop over his back into the pool, “Stiles, son of a—” Delilah gasped and jumped in the pool trying to reach Derek, pulling him out of the water. 

Stiles looked between Derek and Delilah, and his phone before decideing to jump in and help Delilah hold him up.

“Where did it go? Do you see it?” Stiles asked the three of them looking around. “No.” Derek said.

“Okay, maybe it took off?” The looked over to the corner when they heard the monster screech again. “Maybe not.” 

Stiles and Delilah were there for another hour holding Derek up, their limbs tired. “You gotta get me out of here before I drown.” Derek told them holding his head back to keep the water out of his mouth.

“You’re worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth?” Stiles asked him incredulously.

“Did you notice I’m paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?” Derek asked annoyed. Delilah groaned and spit out more water, Derek’s weight pushing her down more, “I should have kept swimming after highschool.”

“Why didn’t you?” Derek asked remembering her time on the Beacon Hills swim team. “It got too hard when the twins were born.” Stiles looked over at the two of them his mouth dropped. 

“Wait you guys knew each other in highshool?” Delilah nodded, “Yeah we dated.” “Wait! Are Eli and Tha—”

Derek groaned, “Yes Stiles they are. Now can you please focus on not letting me drown?” Stiles rolled his eyes at this comment. They looked at the side of the pool where the creature just waiting there. 

“Wait, did you see that?” Stiles asked after seeing the giant gecko touch the water but immediately pull back, “I do’t think it can swim.” 

“Oh well that’s just perfect, we can live in here forever now. Greath thinking Stiles.” Delilah said and Stiles rolled his eyes. “You know this sarcasms really not helping the situation Delilah.” He told her. 

After another 45 minutes of holding Derek up Stiles told the two, “Okay, okay…I don’t think I can do this much longer.” He said looking over at his phone. “No, no, no. Don’t even think about it.” Derek told him. 

“Would you just trust me this once?” Stiles asked him. “No!” “I’m the one keeping you alive, okay? Me and Delilah, have you noticed that?” 

Derek looked over at him as much as he could, “Yeah, and when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna be able to fight that thing—you or me?” Stiles rolled his eyes, “You don’t trust him. He doesn’t trust you. You need Derek to survive, which is why you are not letting him go.” Delilah told the younger boy.

Stiles looked over at his phone again and decided to not listen to Delilah. He swam over to it and jumped out of the pool. “Stiles!” Derek yelled. 

Delilah tried to hold Derek up but with his weight, and the pain in her arms and legs she couldn’t any longer and they both began to sink to the bottom of the pool.

Stiles tried to get Scott on the phone but as soon as he answered he hung up telling Stiles he “couldn’t talk right now”.

Stiles turned and saw the creature running towards him so he jumped back in the pool swimming to the bottom. He grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled him up, giving Delilah a chance to swim up as well. “Tell me you got him.” Derek asked spitting out water, Delilah doing the same. 

Stiles just gave them a look and they both groaned. Another 20 minutes went by, and Stiles and Delilah had enough, “I can’t stay up any longer. I need something to hold onto.” Stiles said. 

They started swimming over, and at this point Derek had some feeling in his feet and hands, as they reached up to grab the diving board Stiles hand slipped and they all began to sink.

As they drifted lower and lower Scott reached in and pulled Delilah out then Stiles and Derek, throwing them on the side. He growled at the monster and begain fighting it. 

When Scott threw it into a mirror which shattered it, the moster flew Scott into the broken glass. Scott picked one up and held it out facing the other. When the monster caught a glimse of it’s reflection it screeched and ran away. 

…………………..

Delilah P.O.V:

We walked out of the school and I had my arms wrapped around myself trying to keep warm. I’m surprised I can even still feel them.

Stiles and Scott set up a laptop on one of the cars and started going through files with what looked like old written notes. “Is that even a language?” Stiles asked.

“How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?” Scott asked as he kept scrolling. 

I walked up behind them with Derek and Erica, “It’s called a Kanima.” Derek told them one of his arms wrapped around me. “You knew the whole time?” Stiles asked looking pissed off. 

“No. ONly when it was confused by its own reflection.” Derek answered. Scott furrowed his eyebrows, “It doesn’t know what it is?” I shook my head, “Or who.” 

Stiles shook his head slightly, “What else do you know?” Derek shurgged, “Just stories. Rumors. They’re shapeshifters. But it’s-it’s not right. It’s like a—” He couldn’t find the word.

“An abomination.” Stiles replied grimly. Derek nodded. We went to walk away but were stopped. 

“Derek, we need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents.” Scott suggested. “You trust them? Scott even with what you told me happened last year.” I asked him. 

“Nobody trusts anyone! That’s the problem. While we’re here, arguing about who’s on what side, there’s something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us, and it’s killing people, and we still don’t even know anything about it!” Scott said exasperated. 

“I know one thing,” Derek said starting to turn away to leave, “when I find it. I’m gonna kill it.” He wrapped his arm around me tighter and we parted ways with Erica. When we got to the camero Derek pulled out a jacket from the back and wrapped it around my shoulders.

We drove in a comfortable silence Derek’s hand resting on my leg. “I didn’t think we would get out this late. Isaac texted me and the twins are asleep, so if you wanted to stay there tonight. So you didn’t have to move them…” I smiled and looked over at him nodding, “That would be great thanks.” 

A smile made it’s way to Derek’s face, “I missed that.” I whispered and he looked over, “Missed what?” He asked turning his attention back to the road. “You’re smile. You used to smile all the time, but now you have to keep up this grumpy wolf reputation.” I mimicked his grumpy face and he started laughing.

“Well I find it works better with those idiots. But with you, it’s like being back in highschool.” I gasped and shot forward in my seat. “That’s what I told Melissa!” We started laughing, “Really?” He asked and I nodded.

“God, I miss highschool sometimes. Hanging out at your house after school, writing our initials on the library shelf, watching you play basketball. You were amazing, and really, really, hot when you played.” I trailed off at the end with a whisper. 

His hand tightened on my leg, “Yeah?” He asked smirking. “Mhm.” I placed my hand on his and leaned my head back in the chair closing my eyes.

We got back to the loft 6 minutes later and rode the elevator up, “I definately need a hot shower, that water was freezing.” I told Derek who was standing in front of me with his arms on either side leaning on the railing. “You do too. You smell like chlorine.” I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Derek smiled and nodded, “Well it would be great if we could save water, you know for the envi—” I placed a kiss on his lips, and we stayed there till the doors pulled open. 

We walked through the big sliding door and saw Isaac asleep on the couch with the twins on either side of him covered in blankets, asleep. Eli had his head on the couch arm and one leg on the coffee table, the other hanging over Isaacs leg. Thalia’s head was leaning on Isaac’s knee her feet propped up against the back of the couch.

I laughed quietly and Derek did too. “They get this from you I swear.” I told him and we walked back to his room. Well the bathroom that adjoined his room…we did decide to save water and acted like we were back in highschool again. 

20 minutes later Derek and I walked out of his bedroom and I was using a towel to dry my hair. Derek had let me borrow a pair of sweatpants which I had to roll 4 times, and a shirt. I walked over to the couch and hung the towl over my shoulder. 

Kneeling down I placed my hand on Isaac’s knee and shook it gently. He shot up and his eyes went yellow for a second placing a hand over each of the twins protectively. “Hey, hey it’s just me. Why don’t you head up to bed, I got them. Thanks for watching them.”

Isaac nodded and smiled, “Anytime, they’re great.” He got up and walked up the stairs just as Derek walked out of his room in a pair of sweatpants, his hair still damp.

I picked up Eli, who was in a completely different position from when we came home. He moved around a little but I pressed a kiss to his head and ran a hand through his hair and he settled back down placing his head on my shoulder. 

Derek walked over and picked up Thalia, and she simply rested her head on his chest feeling his warmth. Derek smiled at his daughter and kissed the top of her head. He lead me to a room down the hall and we placed them down on the bed, they instantly drifted towards each other.

Eli’s leg was over Thalia’s and her hand was across his stomach. I smiled at them and kissed each of their heads before making my way back to Derek’s room. 

We were now both lying down my head on his chest tracing random shapes on his side, and he had one hand running through my hair and the other running up and down my leg, which was thrown over his waist. 

I don’t know how long we stayed like that but soon the tiredness from the night hit me and I was out letting the darkness drift over me. 

[kenneth-carson]

Irregular Around the Margins || Self-Para

Set: The Carson Sibling discussion - December 25th The Carson/Armstrong Reunion - December 28th After the news of what Ken did earlier in the month hits, Kevin Carson decides he is done sitting around and decided to make a play against the eldest. He asks his younger siblings to back him up when they go to London to see him. Triggers: tis a dooszie <3, guns, violence, blood, abuse (physical and verbal), choking

The news shouldn’t have been as big as it was. Some major player in London who was an associate to their dad’s family’s network had been knocked off. So what? It didn’t really have any repercussions on them and it happened all the time.

At least, that was what the Carson siblings had initially thought. The middle two, anyway. The youngest had dug a little deeper before the truth found its way to the dinner table.

“Ken did it,” their father told them.

“Ken did what?” Gillian replied, not really paying that much attention. Their father had been so out of it since their mom’s death that he hardly ever made sense anymore. It was mostly about entertaining him now until they could turn him out of his chair without everyone getting upset about the second quick change in upper management. 

“Killed Samuel Knowles.” 

…now that had everyone looking up at their father. Kevin frowned, eyes squinting. “Come again?”

“Knowles killed George,” he said. “Barry said…Uncle Barry said Ken figured it out. Got him to talk. To confess.” 

“No that’s– that’s bullshit,” Kevin scoffed, smiling like this was a joke. To him it was. “Ken didn’t kill no one. He never has. He’s too much of a pussy.” 

“Well…Ken isn’t exactly Ken right now, is he?” Tommy pointed out. 

Kevin’s smile died in an instant. His hand curled into a tight fist. “Fuck.”

After a stretched out moment of silence Gillian said, “He’s a dead man walking anyway. Those loyal to Knowles won’t let him get away with that. It’s just a matter of time. A demon doesn’t make him bullet proof.” 

Her brothers nodded in agreement but their thoughts continued to whirl. Their father watched them with disappointment before turning to stare out the window, across the drying landscape of the property. 

--

It didn’t take long for other people to hear about what had happened. Shipments from the UK had come in, stories passing from one person to the next like currency. Within a day everyone under the Carsons’ umbrella knew what measures had been taken. 

Samuel Knowles was a powerful man with an operation that had stretched back decades. Their world was no stranger to the uprooting of empires but it was always a shock to see a giant fall to that of whom had only ever been a pawn in the larger game. 

It was no surprise to anyone that those loyal to Knowles had been sent after Ken. 

What was surprising was to hear that they hadn’t succeeded, returning to the city licking their wounds and further showcasing how much more capable Kenneth Carson was than anyone had given him credit for. 

His siblings were especially shocked, but none more than Kevin. This surprise had morphed quickly. Mutated into the anger and resentment that had been building inside him toward his brother. The first born, a title Kevin had thought belonged to him instead. Because where had Ken been in the beginning? Off in England, living some stupid life on his own. All while Kevin had gotten stuck being what Ken should have been. 

And then he got brought back, and suddenly he was just…there. Their mom expecting them to know the guy when he hadn’t been around for Kevin’s bat mitzvah, or mom’s birthdays, or the Christmas Tommy had almost set fire to the kitchen when his stupid toddler hands had twisted the wrong knob but it had been Kevin who got in trouble because he was the one who was supposed to be watching the little twerp. 

Kevin had always thought Ken was going to get himself killed. He was such an idiot, it was unbelievable the things that would come out of his mouth. Always so happy in the mornings, hugging everyone even if he didn’t know them, always letting people go instead of just putting a bullet through their skull and making everything so much more complicated than they needed to be. He never just did what mom told him. Not like Kevin did. Ken questioned her, every time, and she had let him. 

Now, instead of himself, Ken had gotten their mom killed. 

And people were acting like he could just take over for her? To stand where she stood? To be who she was? To have the name and face and power that was never meant for his hands? Didn’t he know he was never even supposed to be a part of this family? 

Didn’t the demon? 

Kevin demanded a meeting with his siblings, knowing they would understand when he said, “We have to do something.”

“Look,” Gillian sighed, tossing her head so her bangs moved prettily out of her face. “I know you’re pissed, but there’s nothing we can do. He’s over there. We should be worrying about what’s going on here, in our own backyard. And in order to do that–”

“In order to do that we have to let people know that we’re more capable than he is!” Kevin cut her off. “Just because he killed Knowles doesn’t mean shit! I’ve killed more people than I can even remember! You don’t see me getting this sort of praise.”

“Yeah, worker bees, maybe,” Tommy said. “Knowles was the big dog over there, Shipman. He did it for revenge. You know how that tugs on people’s heart strings, seeing someone do what you wish you could.”

“Then that’s what I want!”

“What?”

“Revenge,” Kevin said. “For mom.” 

Gillian and Tommy went still at this before sharing a look with one another. Kevin glanced between them before letting out a breath, hand slapping the table, “Unbelievable. You should be backing me up right now!”

“Kev, we can’t kill Ken,” Gillain said. “He’s-!”

“Just because he’s possessed doesn’t mean he’s untouchable! You said that. Besides, if we can talk to it, get it to understand one of us is the better option, then it’ll jump ship. Shit, it’ll probably help us,” Kevin said. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m not getting possessed,” Tommy huffed.

“Well whoever gets the demon gets the business,” Kevin said. At the silence he got in reply he chuckled, “Come on, guys, don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out. The demon’s the one who's in charge. Whoever gets it, gets everything. You said it yourself, Tom, it wasn’t Ken who killed Knowles. He’s just getting the credit.” 

“But…”

“Look, we all know it isn’t going to be you. Let’s just put it out there so we can get on with my plan.”

“Why not?” 

“Because you’re still too young and everyone finds you annoying,” Kevin said, blunt. “Don’t give me that look, you know it’s true. You do it on purpose. People don’t want someone who’s just going to piss them off all the time or who they think could get shot from saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.” 

“But mom liked me more,” Tommy said. “She said–”

“She only said that because you’re a fucking baby when things don’t go your way. She was never going to give it to you, why do you think she had you by her side all that time? It was to make you feel important so you didn’t lose your little mind when she didn’t give it to you.” 

“No! It was because she couldn’t stand either of you. I’m the only one who ever did things like her!”

“Because you can’t think for yourself! You always had her telling you what to do. You really believe you can do what she did? You really think you can run an empire like ours? You couldn’t even stand up to her! She only ever bitch slapped you because she knew you wouldn’t do anything about it. You really believe people are going to answer to someone like that?” 

“Kevin!” Gillian yelled. “That’s enough.” 

Kevin laughed, not looking away from Tommy. “See? Even now someone has to come save you.” 

“Fuck you,” Tommy sneered making Kevin laugh again. 

“Stop it. That’s not the point I made,” Gillian went on. “We can’t kill Ken because he’s our brother!” 

“So what?” Kevin shrugged. “He’s the reason mom is dead. As far as I'm concerned, he was never our brother and after that, he never will be.”

“That…that doesn’t matter…he’s still–”

“What are you saying, Gil? You care about him?”

“Of course I do!”

“More than you want to be in charge?” 

She swallowed, mouth closing, eyes falling to the table. 

“That’s what I thought.”

“She’s right,” Tommy said. “He’s family. That’s what we’re all supposed to be about, aren’t we? Even if you don’t give a shit about him, we can’t be seen as the ones who take him out. It would project that we have no loyalty.”

“Then we expose him for what he did to mom.”

“And what? Go back on what we told everyone? Then we’re just liars,” Tommy scoffed. “Not to mention if people find out we have a demon for a pet no one will want to work for us ever again.”

“Fine! Then no one has to know it’s us. I don’t care, if he’s out of the picture then the focus will be back on us three anyway,” Kevin said. “So…are you guys with me or what?”

“Or what,” Tommy replied, pushing his seat out from under the table and standing. “You’ve fucking lost it. I want nothing to do with this.”

“Fuck you!” Kevin called out after him, watching until Tommy had the door slamming behind him. Then he turned to look at his sister. “Come on, Gil, you know I’m right. I know you’ve been thinking the same thing as I am. Everything will be so much simpler if he was gone.”

“Kevin,” she replied, voice soft. “He’s our brother.”

“No, Gil, he isn’t.,” Kevin told her, reaching out to take her hand with his. “You remember what mom told us, he was only ever a spare. A contingency plan. They had him just in case they needed him. Mom was going to kill him for trying to break the deal. She was protecting us from him. You heard him, he doesn’t want us to have the deal. He doesn’t care about us! He just wants to live his own life because he doesn’t know what family is about. He never did. He grew up over there with a nanny, he doesn’t know what we’re about. But mom did, and mom would want us to protect the family. Everyone who came before us and everyone who is going to come after us is counting on us now. The only way to do that is to stop anyone from hurting us, and right now, that’s Ken.” 

Gillian’s eyes had tears in them and he could feel the tremble in her body through her hand. It was funny, for as much as a front as she put on around other people about how she was made of steel through and through, it was so easy for him to see how soft she really was. 

“Okay,” she said and sniffed, shaking her head. Her shoulder set into a straighter line as she sat up, fingers gripping his back tightly. “Okay. I’m with you.” 

“Good,” Kevin said. “I knew you would be. Now, we just gotta keep Tommy quiet about this. I don’t want him tipping Ken off.” 

“He won’t,” Gillian said. “He may not like what we’re doing but he won’t try to stop us. You know him, he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, or involved in any serious confrontation.”

Kevin snorted but nodded, knowing she was right. “Alright. I’ll ask around, see if we can find someone trustworthy over there to do the job.”

“No. We need to keep it quiet. Keep it clean.”

“Keep it in the family,” he finished for her, echoing the quote of their late mother. 

They smiled at one another. 

And so the game continued. 

--

The drive to London this time was with the knowledge of what lay at the end. 

Before there had been plenty of questions, the picture was too out of focus to be able to tell where he was going. This time he knew, and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. 

His stomach was sick with nerves, making his chest tighten uncomfortably. The anticipation of what was to come sat with him in the passenger seat, watching the lights from the street lamps or dolled up houses pass by in streaks. 

You’re being stupid, the demon told him as he flipped his turning signal on, pulling down the road toward his uncle Barry’s. 

“To you, I’ve never been anything else,” Ken replied. 

This is an exceptional example. 

“I don’t have a choice.”

There’s always a choice, Kenneth. 

“Not when it’s them,” he said. “Not to me.”

Rich considering it’s them that are planning to off you for their own gain. The younger one may have squealed, but that was only for his best interest. If you survive and the other one dies, he still comes out on the winning side.

He pulled up to the house. It was modest for a man like his uncle. Big, sure, but not a mansion like some of the other families lived in. Not like the Carson’s house back in Texas, or their mass of land to match. It was quaint and homey. There were Christmas Lights strung along the edge of the roof, and a blow up snowman waving in the slight breeze that curled through the air of the night. Cars lined the street outside, the windows of the home casting a warm orange glow. 

Fine, it said when Ken didn’t reply. But you know as well as I what must be done. 

“Don’t. This is different. You promised you would let me talk to him,” Ken said as he pulled the keys from the ignition. 

Very well. Be careful, Kenneth, it said before retreating. He almost made the mistake of thinking the demon was worried about his well-being before remembering without him, it would need to find a new host. And there were only so many choices around here now. 

He grabbed the box of gifts from his back seat and strode up to the house. The wreath clad door opened before he could knock, revealing his uncle standing there with a large grin on his face. “Kenny! You made it!” 

���Sorry I’m late,” he offered, “Traffic was–”

“When’s it not? You should know to account for that shit by now,” Barry said, reaching out to grab Ken by his shoulder and pull him inside. “Come in, come in! Danny and the kids are already here. And– oi’! Stace! Look who’s just come in.”

His aunt poked her head out from the long stretch of hallway that ran through the middle of the house, from the front door all the way back into the kitchen, passed a staircase on the left of it and a sitting room on the right. She smiled, and it was one of the first smiles Ken had seen on the woman that looked genuine since her husband had been killed. “Hullo, Ken! Please come in and sit! I don’t know how much longer I can keep these dogs away from the food.”

“I thought I said you shouldn’t wait on me,” Ken said but she merely disappeared back around the corner. 

The house was warm, almost to the point of being stifling, even when Ken had just walked the short way in the cold temperatures that lay behind the door that had been shut behind him. Barry took the box of gifts from him with a grunt, giving Ken the chance to shrug off his coat and scarf, hanging them on the hooks that were in the entryway. 

He saw the signs of his siblings all there, tucked in a row. Tommy’s green peacoat. Gillian’s crisp white trench coat, without a spot on it. Kevin’s cowboy hat. Their father’s vest, that Ken had to place his things over since the other hooks were occupied and nearly overflowing. Then he turned, peering down the hallway as he heard the chorus of voices and laughter from beyond, and followed the sounds of it until it opened up into the kitchen. It smelled like cigar smoke and savory food, like an oven that had been working all day. 

On the other side was the dining area, where his family was all huddled around two tables that had been shoved together. Kevin, Gillian, Tommy, their father. Two empty spaces at each end, one with a glass of wine in front of it and the other with an ashtray with half a cigar sitting in it. Then his cousins, Aunt Stacy and Uncle George’s two children sat. One alone and the other with his wife, who was bouncing their baby in her lap as he peered around the table with dark, curious eyes. 

“Ken!” Gillian cried, standing from her place to wrap her arms around him. She tilted him from side to side, laughing. “Oh it’s so good to see you!”

“Likewise,” he said, returning the hug with a softer touch. She pulled back, smiling at him. 

“You’re late,” Tommy drawled from his place before taking a sip of his own glass of wine. 

“I already chewed ‘im out,” Barry chuckled, sitting down at his place and scooting his chair closer to the table. 

“Saved you a seat,” Kevin grinned, tapping the table top beside him and pulling out the empty chair. Ken felt Gillian grip the back of his shirt a bit tighter where she still had an arm around him but he didn’t react. 

Ken wasn’t a good liar. He hadn’t had to do it before, saw no point in lying to people when the truth was so much easier since he didn’t have to keep up with anything but reality. It made him easy to read, especially to a room full of people who had known him the longest. Not that the time and closeness was necessary to truly be able to see Ken Carson. He wasn’t someone with layers that needed to be peeled back, he was what he was and even if you saw him in passing, you would know exactly who he was. 

But, in some cases, it also made him difficult to understand in a pure sense. Anyone could look at him and see what they wanted to see, not what was actually in front of them. 

Tonight, Kevin looked at his brother and saw the fraying threads of a man who was usually so put together. He saw the dark circles under his eyes. He saw the worry and the fear, the taught line of his shoulders. 

It made something sink in his gut, oozing something rotten into the pit there. 

The whole trip over here, he had been excited. Finally, they were going to put an end to the thorn that had been in his hand for the past sixteen years. He would get revenge on the person responsible for his beloved mother’s death– the person who had threatened the family like no one else because he had been on the inside and they had let him in. 

Now, looking at that person– Kevin saw his big brother. 

“How’ve you been?” Ken asked as he sat down, reaching over to tug Kevin against him in a side hug. Kevin allowed it, but only for a few seconds, before he was leaning back. 

“Ah– you know,” he shrugged, eyes falling to the table top. “You?”

“Ah, you know,” Ken echoed, teasing. 

“When can we eat?” Barry barked. 

“Everything’s ready,” Stacy said, wiping her hands off on her apron. “Come get your plates!” 

Dinner was relatively boring. All anyone spoke about were the same, base level topics. 

How Tommy had grown up so much since they had last seen him, how cute the baby was that was dining with them that night, about the general news in the world and how bleak everything was and would be for the future, and, of course, business. 

Uncle Barton shared with them how things had been tense in the past two weeks, chaos running through the system until the dust managed to settle. It wasn’t as if the death of Samuel Knowles had managed to bring everything to a halt, as business waited for no one and would outlive everyone, but it had sent ripples enough to put a pause in some production. 

Meanwhile, on the Carsons’ side of things, there was less to be said because…what was there to say? Everyone knew it was going poorly. Even Barry wasn’t going to touch the topic out of respect for his brother, not wanting to poke the still grieving man while he was down. 

It was pleasant. 

It was polite. 

It was…painful. 

To Ken, it felt like torture. Having to sit there, listening to people talk but to have no one actually say anything. 

It felt like a waste. He just wanted to cut everyone off and say, Can we actually discuss what we’re all here to talk about?

But he remained present instead because, while the small talk may have been meaningless, the time spent listening to it felt precious. Everyone sitting around the table together for the first time in a very long time may have been a miracle in itself. And no fight broke out, no tense argument put together by crafted passive aggressive comments. There were smiles and laughter and bad jokes, stories that had been told every year came out to repeat themselves once more. 

So when it all came to an end when Kevin asked to talk to Ken outside, he lingered just a few seconds longer than was necessary at that table before following. 

When he passed Tommy and Gillian, they both turned to look at him. He smiled, giving them a nod. Ken walked back through the hall toward the front door, grabbing his coat on his way out after Kevin who had put his hat back on. 

They stood on the front porch together, side by side. It was misting, making the already miserable weather that much worse. Ken squinted his eyes against the thick layer of water that was coming down in thin sheets, shoving his arms through their respective sleeves and tucking his hands under his armpits to try conserving all the warmth he had soaked in from outside. 

“Let’s take a walk,” Kevin said, already stepping down and out from under the protective roof of the porch into the night. Ken sighed, glancing back at the door before going after him. 

“Kevin,” he started, “I know what you must be thinking–”

“Do you?” his brother snorted. “Well go on then, tell me.”

“You think it was me who…who…” Ken swallowed, still unable to even get the word out. “That I’m making some sort of play for mom’s seat. Or that I’m trying to start something over here to take over everything, but I’m not.”

“Sure as shit looks that way, Ken,” Kevin said. “I mean, look at you. Uncle Barry is practically treating you like you were one of his own. All he could talk about before you showed up was you. Fuck, that’s all anyone’s been talking about ever since word got out about what happened. About what you did.”

“But it wasn’t me!” Ken reasoned. “It was the demon.”

“The demon killed Sam Knowles? Just like it called mom?” 

“Yes! No! I don’t–”

“You’re so full of shit,” Kevin shook his head, stopping them as they reached the end of the block. Above them the streetlamp burned bright enough to cast light across the street corner, making the wet pavement a reflective surface and the little rain droplets shine as they quickly passed by on their way down. “You know you pushed me to this! You chose yourself over fucking family!” 

“It wasn’t me!” 

“The fuck it wasn’t! It’s your body, Ken. Your hands, your heart, your fucking finger pulling the god damn trigger. I don’t care if that thing is inside of you and can come out to play whenever it wants. You’re still in there, too,” Kevin said, shoving his finger harshly into Ken’s chest every few words for emphasis. “Even if it was that thing’s idea, you let it do it! You were a bystander!”

“It doesn’t work like that, Kevin,” he said. “I don’t have any control when it–”

“Shut up,” Kevin said. “Just shut the fuck up.”

Ken swallowed and felt the demon begin to move inside his head. “Kevin, please. You have to listen to me. You have to let me talk to you or else it’s going to–”

“I'm sick of listening to you! To everyone fucking talk about you like you’re hot shit. As if I don’t fucking know exactly what you are. You’re nothing. You were always nothing, you were just a contingency plan mom and dad had,” Kevin yelled. “The only reason they didn’t feed you to that thing was because you have our blood running through your veins but you aren’t actually one of us, are you, Ken? You were never a true Carson, and yet all you’ve ever done is use our name and our deal and our legacy to ruin us! Well I’m not going to let that happen. Mom saw you last year for what you are and she knew what had to be done, so now I’m going to finish it for her.”

“Kevin,” he breathed, unsure of what else he was supposed to say to any of that. The pain of it was too intense to comb through at that moment. 

The street lamp flickered. 

The demon hummed inside his head, making his skull rattle, teeth vibrating with it. Ken took a step back but Kevin grabbed a hold of his coat lapels. 

“Don’t–!” Ken yelled, not sure which one he was addressing. But there was a flash as Kevin raised his hand up, the glimmer of metal as it passed through the light, and something hard passed over Ken’s cheek. Once, twice, and again before cloth was pressed against his nose and mouth. 

Then it was just cold and dark for a long time. 

He woke up inside his mind and groggily got to his feet to find his way back to the surface, viewing from the place the demon allowed him to. 

The demon was very, very annoyed with the cards it had been dealt. 

Kevin had ambushed his brother, apparently having put in a call to those that were still bitter over the loss of Knowles and who were able and willing to help him kidnap Kenneth. After drugging him and shoving him into the back of a car, they had driven him out to the middle of nowhere. There was only grass on either side of the road, the only structure was one of those made for supporting telephone lines or electrical power or something of the sort. Not one that required personnel to work it. There was no one that could be conned into helping. 

Kenneth’s body was being held up by two of the men as they had wrestled it out of the car and into the street to sit on its knees before the headlight, which had fanned out in to illuminate the scene. It was still raining here, making a mess of everything, the earth’s scent obnoxiously pungent in the air. 

Kevin came forward, kicking Kenneth in the stomach. The demon allowed the body to lean over, as if Kenneth could feel the blow and the pain that it elicited. The men holding him up let go, allowing Kenneth to fall over. Kevin leaned over him, picking Kenneth back up by the collar of his shirt and coat until he was back on his knees before him. 

“Come on out, then you mother fucker!” Kevin spat. “Come on! I know you can hear me.” 

The demon chuckled, lifting Kenneth’s upper lip to reveal his perfect teeth. “Oh, yes, I can hear you loud and clear, Kevin Carson. You never were one for inside voices.”

Kevin didn’t startled, merely took out the gun he had bashed Kenneth’s pretty face in with earlier and pointed it against his brother’s forehead. The muzzle was warm from where it had been tucked against Kevin’s body, a stark contrast to the cold wind and colder rain water that had everyone hunching their shoulders up against. 

Everyone except the demon, who could simply block all of this out by paying no mind to the chemical combinations that ran through Kenneth’s brain and through his nervous system. 

“Good,” Kevin said. “Then you’re going to hear me when I tell you that your time with Ken here is up. After I blow his brains out, you’re going to need a new ride. I’m it.” 

“I see that,” the demon said, nodding Kenneth’s head. “You’ve thought this through, then?”

“‘Course.”

“You wish to make a deal?”

“...no,” Kevin frowned. “We already got one.”

“Your family’s deal, yes, but what about you?” the demon asked. “I have more to offer.”

“What more could I need?”

The demon laughed and it used its own voice, Kenneth’s taking on a static-y quality on top of that deeper register it so loved to feel in the chest cavity of its host. “You desire to be seen, don’t you? I’ve noticed you, Kevin Carson. All these years, bidding your mother’s favor, only to get what in return exactly?”

Kevin shifted his stance, fingers loosening and tightening as he readjusted his hold on the gun. The metal clacked as he did. The demon continued to smile up at him.

“Your brother kills one man and is suddenly the talk of the town. You have killed many men and women and have only garnered silence for it. She never did let you up the ladder, no matter how many times you came back with a win for her,” it said. “All you got were nightmares.” 

“Shut up,” Kevin said, quietly and then louder as he shoved the gun forward, making Kenneth’s body bend back with it. “Shut up! She loved me!”

“Of course she did,” the demon cooed. “I know. I could feel it. She loved you very much. The problem was that she also loved your brother and sister, too. A miscalculation on her part, you see. She did not think all three of you would be so different in your strengths and weaknesses. But then, there was still time. Still years before she had to decide who would get to take her place. A margin of years that could account for accidents that you might have put yourself through, or mistakes made that she could use to take one of you out of the running. Of course, with her gone, there was never a true legacy decided upon.”

The demon closed Kenneth’s eyelids for a moment. When it opened them, the demon was looking back with its dark, endless gaze. 

“But there could be. I could do that for you. Ensure your place so that this,” it raised Kenneth’s hands to gesture to the situation, “could not happen to you.”

“...what do you mean?”

“Oh, Kevin Carson, come on! If you’re willing to kill your own flesh and blood for this, what makes you think your other siblings will not take you out next?”

“They…they wouldn’t. It’s different.”

“Wouldn’t they?” it smiled and then turned its attention to the sound of tires rolling over wet cement. 

“Who the fuck is that?” one of the men said. There was a chorus of curses, and then everyone who was not Kevin made a run for it. They all piled into the car that was idling and screeched off down the road, leaving the demon and Kevin in darkness. 

But only for a moment before the other car made its way forward. It ground to a halt a few meters back, new tints of headlights peering over the pair. Kevin had moved around Kenneth’s body, the gun now shoved against Kenneth’s temple as he stood behind him to face the newcomers. Car doors opened and shut, footsteps came rushing forward. 

“Kevin! Oh, Jesus Christ, what the fuck are you doing?” Tommy’s voice called as a gasp accompanied him. 

Both Tommy and Gillian stepped out in front of the car. 

“Don’t come any closer!” Kevin yelled, making them pause. 

“Kevin! Let him go!” Gillian said. “This isn’t right!”

“What are you two doing here?”

“Why the fuck do you think we’re here, you fucking dumbass? You can’t kill Ken!” Tommy yelled.

“Gillian?” Kevin questioned. 

“I– Kevin, this isn’t right,” she said. “I’m sorry but I–”

“Fucking coward,” he spat. “This isn’t even Ken!” 

“The fuck are you talking about? I’m looking right at him!”

“Tell them,” Kevin said, using his other hand to shove at Kenneth’s shoulder. The demon waited for him to do it again, harder, enough for it to be realistic when the demon pitched Kenneth’s body forward onto the ground. “Tell them!”

It rolled Kenneth over, reaching up to take hold of Kevin’s arm that held the gun and shove it upward. A shot rang out, making Gillian scream and the younger siblings run back toward the car for some semblance of cover. It knew that Kevin Carson was strong, stronger than even Kenneth was despite its host’s fit physique, due to the shorter and stouter body Kevin had been born with and all the hours of manual labor he had invested into it. 

But the demon had more experience then Kevin Carson and so with a swift and deliberate twisting of the man’s wrist, the gun was released and clattered to the ground below. It then used the man’s weight against him, allowing his forward momentum to carry and helped him along toward the ground by yanking him forward. It rolled Kenneth’s body out of the way so that Kevin could fall flat on his chest and the demon could lift Kenneth up onto his knees. 

It grabbed Kevin by the shoulders, turning him over to push a knee harshly into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and leaving him winded while the demon wound Kenneth’s arm back to deliver punch, after punch, after punch until Kevin’s blood ran freely from his nose. It coated Kenneth’s knuckles. 

“Ken!” Gillian yelled. “Stop it! Stop it!”

“Kenneth may be present,” the demon said, hauling in air of its own as Kenneth’s body demanded it from the laborious task of physical exertion. “But I am afraid he will not be able to comply with your demands, Miss Gillian.”

“Oh fuck,” Tommy said. “It’s–”

“Ah, Thomas,” the demon peered up, having to use a hand to swipe rain from Kenneth’s eyes so that it could focus them properly. Though they still appeared inky black, as the demon had no intention of letting the siblings think their brother was remotely reachable. “I wanted to thank you for your call earlier. Without it I’m not sure Kenneth would have been so easily manipulated into coming tonight.”

“What?” Gillian turned to Tommy. “What is it talking about?”

“I…”

“Oh, Miss Gillian, don't act so innocent, you knew this whole time what your little brother would let Kenneth know what Kevin here was going to do,” it said, smiling down at Kevin. The middle brother lashed a hand out but the demon easily evaded it, snatching it out of the air and moving it to the side to land another harsh blow to Kevin’s face. Kevin yelled in pain, turning his head to the side in order to spit out the blood that was pooling in his mouth, running back into his throat from his nose, so as not to choke. It tutted, shaking Kenneth’s head. “I so wish you would have taken the deal when you had the chance, Kevin. But– as it stands, I can’t let you go now. You brought witnesses and, unfortunately, the only play I have left will be to kill you so Kenneth will not be seen as weak.”

“Why…?” Kevin swallowed. “Why not me?”

“Because you’ve just tried to kill your own kin, you idiot,” the demon growled through gritted teeth. “Our brand is loyalty to the family. Who would want to follow a man who completely turned his back on that? This way everyone will think Kenneth was only doing what was right. You, on the other hand, would be forever marked in black for killing Kenneth out of spite and jealousy. And while I admire it, humans would only find fault.”

“Wait–!” Gillian said and walked toward them, but didn’t dare get too close. “Please, wait. You don’t have to kill either of them.”

“I do, though, Miss Gillian,” the demon said. “Kevin has forced my hand. And while I enjoy you thinking that a bullet could stop me, I must inform you that you would be mistaken. You would only be killing Kenneth in the process. I cannot be undone so easily.”

The woman startled at the words, eyes glancing to where Kevin’s gun was only a few paces away from her, before stepping back toward Tommy, plan apparently foiled. 

The demon sighed, “I am sorry about this, Kevin.” 

“Wait,” he managed to get out, hands touching Kenneth’s stomach, his arm. “Wait, please–”

Using Kenneth’s hands, it touched Kevin’s cheeks. The man grunted and watched as the cuts and forming bruises on Kenneth’s face began to heal. His own face pulsed with pain, though he did not realise that his own healthy tissue was being taken by the demon, transferring them from one brother to the next in order to keep its host from having to answer any unwanted questions. After all, it planned on returning to Miss Isabela Madrigal and all those back in Swynlake after tonight, it wouldn’t do to let her worry by having him come back to her looking the way he did. She needed him picture perfect, didn’t she? Grass on either side of the road began to die, too, though it went unnoticed by all but the entity that was using its life force. 

It then moved Kenneth’s hands down to Kevin’s neck. Such a soft thing, the human neck, and yet it held so many precious things within it. The trachea, spine, esophagus, jugular. Yet it was so exposed, so vulnerable, so easy to wrap a pair of hands around and squeeze.

“Ken!” Tommy yelled. “Ken, if you can hear me, do something!”

The demon chuckled and then began to unfold itself from its host’s body. Its darkness began to pull in the shadows of the night, preparing to step out from the human shell it walked around in so that it could have the pleasure of eating its first Carson soul. 

That was, until it felt something sharp and strong pry it from its place. The demon faltered in its movements, diverting attention to the sensation. It found itself being…pulled. Or rather pried from Kenneth’s body, like someone would peel back the skin of a citrus fruit only with more ligaments connecting the flesh from the meat, each one coming loose with an agonizing snap. 

When it looked back, looked within, it found Kenneth. 

The door it usually kept him behind had been demolished, torn to pieces by blood covered hands and a mangled mind. It had never felt Kenneth be so…primal in presence. Usually he was quite civilized, centuries of manners and societal teachings having turned him away from the baser instincts that lingered within every human being. It seemed he had tapped into them now. 

In that moment, facing its hosts being like this, the demon felt a flicker of doubt. 

It turned back around and reached for control of the body only to find Kenneth yanking it back. 

No, Kenneth said, the voice firm and bright inside of his mind. 

The demon struggled against the vice like grip that Kenneth had on it, so surprised by this display that it was caught in the moment by the emotion and by Kenneth’s deluge of humanity that was washing over. It may have had a great deal of practice in knowing how to possess a host but in all the bodies and minds it had been inside, it had never known this. A host had never fought back with so much strength that it rivaled its own and it did not know how to get out from under it. It didn’t have the time to try figuring it out either, instead simply trying to use pure force to get Kenneth to let go. 

Kenneth didn’t seem to intend to let it win, though. Not this time. 

Apparently it had played the wrong hand. It hadn’t accounted for this. How could it? This was new. This was unknown. 

The demon would have thought it very interesting, had it not been terrified. 

“No!” someone yelled from outside of Kenneth’s mind. They both peered out to see Kevin’s slack form underneath Kenneth’s hands that had not let go of his brother’s neck despite the battle raging on from inside. “Kevin!” 

Thinking this was a perfect distraction, the demon began to wriggle out from Kenneth only to go still as Kenneth hauled it back. 

It seemed in the time he had been behind the door, locked away inside that space, he had learned how to build one, too. After all, he’d had plenty of time to get to know his cell while the demon used his body for its own gains and entertainment. And Kenneth was a Carson, who had learned how to build and recreate as well as the next. It was just that his execution never quite lived up to the standard. 

The room the demon was dragged into would hold it, but only for a little while. 

Ken slammed the door shut behind him and willed another wall over the door, giving him that much more time. 

It would have to be enough.

He breathed in harshly as he returned to his body and threw himself off of his brother. His fingers felt numb and tingly, ribs aching from where the demon hadn’t paid those wounds any mind. Ken pushed himself up and looked back at Kevin, who had turned over into his side, gasping for air. 

“Kevin, Kevin, oh god–” he said and crawled over, pulling his brother into his arms, letting him lay in his lap as he looked down at him. “Are you–?”

But Kevin yelled, fear and panic in his eyes, and tried to shove Ken away from him. A hand pushed against Ken’s chin, pushing his head up and away. He jerked back, out of the reach, turning back. “Please! Please don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”

“Kevin,” Ken tried to tell him, hand touching his brother’s face. “Kevin, it’s okay. It’s me, it’s–”

“Get away from him!” Gillian cried. Both her and Tommy had raced toward them after Ken had let Kevin go. She grabbed Kevin while Tommy had run behind Ken, yanking him backwards by his armpits. They separated them, Gillian helping Kevin get to his feet, though he slipped and she had to catch his weight so he didn’t bring them to the ground. Both turned around to look fearfully over at Tommy, who now had Ken with the gun tucked under his chin. 

Ken grunted against Tommy’s hold. He tried to lift up his hands, saying between wheezing breaths, “Tom–! Tommy, it’s me. It’s Ken!”

“The fuck you are!” Tommy scoffed. “I’m not falling for that shit! Oldest trick in the book!”

“Tommy, please.”

“Look– this isn’t personal,” Tommy said, words frantic. Ken could feel the slight tremor in his hand that echoed through the gun. “But we can’t just let you kill our brother. We’ll get you your souls. This doesn’t have to change anything. Kevin, say you're sorry.”

“I–” was all Kevin could get out, still too busy breathing. 

“See?” Tommy asked. “And we couldn’t let him kill Ken! Which I’m sure you appreciate! This is all just a big misunderstanding. Okay?” 

“Tommy,” Ken tried again, breathing in a stuttering breath. He felt the shift in his brother and startled when he was turned around to face Tommy, his brother’s hands clutching his upper arms. Ken was taller than Tommy was by a good few inches, but his legs faltered under him at the unexpected and forceful shift, still trying to settle back into his body, and he wound up on his knees once more. He grabbed onto Tommy, trying to stay upright, and Tommy bent with him, not letting him go. 

He blinked, looking up at Tommy whose eyes were wide, jumping back and forth between Ken’s. 

“...Ken?” he asked, voice hushed. After a moment, he found what he was looking for and his face slackened, amazement clouding his stare. “Holy shit. You did it.” 

“Tommy!” Gillian yelled. “Come on!” 

Tommy looked up for a moment and Ken could hear the sound of the car doors again, opening and slamming shut. Their gazes met, eldest to youngest, and Tommy reached up to clutch the back of Ken’s neck, pressing their foreheads together briefly. 

“Sorry about this,” he whispered and then stepped back, mirroring Kevin earlier that night and landed a blow to the side of Ken’s head with the butt of the gun. 

And then Tommy was running off toward the car, following his siblings inside. The vehicle backed up and turned down the way it had approached, leaving Ken alone on that road in the middle of who knew where. Rain continued to pour down on him, making him shiver at the chill that ran down his spine. He groaned softly to himself, pressing the heel of a hand into the ground so he could roll over onto his back, blinking blearily up at the night sky that offered him nothing else but darkness.

Well, well, well the demon’s voice echoed. It was muffled coming from inside the place he had constructed for it. Look who decided to play after all.

[thehearthwolf]

The Doll's House

Word Count: 7405

genre: horror/supernatural

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Creator Chose not to Use Archive Warnings (sorry, I'm not the best at knowing what to tag, so I'm using AO3 tags) There's blood.

Summary: Three friends come across a doll as they fix up their "new" house.

If you would rather listen to the story, it also is on YouTube.

“Why did we buy this house again?”

“Because it was a good price and we’re fools.”

“Okay but why?” I said, gesturing to the wall which now housed our second rusty pickaxe. Finding the first one was a little creepy, but it was stuck in a stump outside, so it made a little sense. This one. This one was stuck in the wall. In one of the closets. Inside the house.

I made a mental note to never go into the basement ever again. I did not need to find myself face to face with a pickaxed killer.

“Uh, he missed in his murder attempts?” My roommate Steve guessed, shrinking behind me. Which was hard for him as Steve was a tall guy with muscles larger than my head. He would have looked intimidating if it wasn’t for his large innocent eyes. Instead, he gave the impression of a rather large puppy.

Turning my head in disgust, I asked, “Why you gotta say creepy shit like that?”

“Because, Dan, it’s creepy. And it makes sense.”

“If there was a murder here, by law, they have to tell us.” A woman came walking in, her arms full with a large box. She was a tall, striking woman; her long hair tied up into a ponytail. But unlike Steve, she was intimidating. She adjusted her glasses with one hand, the other doing just fine holding the large box on its own. Her resting face looked that of someone who just had their dog insulted. Nice person though. Just a scary face.

“Meryl, just because it’s a law doesn’t mean people will actually do it. It’s like that, ‘fifteen minutes and we go home’ rule in college. Especially since we bought it off of the family itself. I bet they’d have no clue.” I said, rolling my eyes.

The three of us had bought this house dirt cheap. The people who were selling it were distant relatives of the previous owner, so they knew little about the place other than the man never actually lived in it for long. It needed a lot of repairs and was sold as is.

I didn’t particularly mind as I wasn’t afraid of a little work, but this was starting to get ridiculous. So far, we had found three, very real looking, dolls, a really creepy photo from what we’re guessing as the early 1900’s, leaky bathrooms, lights that refused to turn on, creaking stairs when no one was on them, and we had only just started cleaning. Not to mention the old-style wall art everywhere that felt like a judgement on my tastes of decorating as a whole. But the kitchen was nice.

Steve shrugged. “I never said he was successful.”

Pinching my nose, I sighed, “Again, not helpful.”

Meryl came over. “Another pickaxe? Jeez, how many did this dude have?” Placing the box down at her feet, she grabbed the handle. As she was wiggling it, the tool started to get free.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I yelped, aghast, “What are you doing?”

Meryl gave me a look from behind her wired glasses. “I’m removing it from the wall, so we can, ya know, get rid of it.” She went back to pulling at it. I rushed forward, placing my hands on the handle to stop her. Glaring, she gave me ‘The Look.’ Her annoyed face. I gave a small, involuntary squeak.

“I-” It came out as an octave higher than normal. Clearing my throat, I tried again, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, what could be on the other side of that wall? Eyes? Bones? The dead?”

“A doll?” Steve added.

Meryl rolled her eyes. “Who’s not helping now?” She said, “Dan, you’re being dumb. Let me remove the stupid thing.” Moving me to the side, she gave a giant tug. The pickaxe surrendered its hold on the wall, along with a burst of wind, causing Meryl to stumble.

Silently we all stared at the new hole in the wall. From what I could see, the only thing inside was just normal drywall. “I-Is someone going to get a closer look?” Steve asked. I turned, wide eyed at him. He motioned for me to go forward. Shaking my head, I pointed him to the hole. He took a couple steps back. “N-No, I’m good, thanks.”

“Oh for crying out loud. I’ll do it.” Meryl snapped. As she went closer, she mumbled, “What a bunch of wimps.” She glanced down the hole. “No, nothing- wait, I do see something.” Shoving her arm in the space, she said, “Gah, it’s down there all right, but I think I can get it.”

I grabbed my head. “Meryl, what are you doing? You leave whatever it is inside that wall. We don’t need-” I stopped. Too late, she had successfully pulled it out. “You gotta be kidding me.” I groaned.

Another doll.

The paint on her was peeling off; her purple dress covered in dust, ripped up and full of holes. What was once pristine brown hair, now was a ball of knots and ribbon. One of her eyes was permanently closed.

Shutting my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You had to say doll.”

“Leave it in the wall. Leave it in the wall.” Steve chanted in panic. I nodded vigorously.

“Stop being wimps. We’ll just put her with the rest.” Meryl said, grimacing at the old toy. “And maybe call a clairvoyant.” She added.

Nodding, I said, “Let’s burn it. Just in case.”

A small noise came from behind the bedroom door. All three of us jumped, screaming. A black cat came trotting up, meowing some more.

Giving a heavy sigh of relief, I said, “Fluffy. You scared the life out of us.” The cat just stared at us. Steve gave him a pat on the head.

“Well, now that you scaredy-cats are done, I’m going to continue unpacking.” Meryl said, picking up her box.

I stared at our new creepy collection. “What about that stuff?”

“You can take it to the garage.”

“Me?” I spluttered.

“Yes, you. Take Steve with you if you’re so scared.” She said walking out of the room.

We stared wide eyed at each other with neither of us moving. “Guess we better get this over with.” I whimpered. Steve nodded vigorously; his mouth shut into a thin line. The cat now clutched tightly to his chest.

Groaning, I picked up the two things as if they could turn into a mob of spiders at any moment. Quickly shuffling down stairs, I tried to get this ordeal done as fast as possible. Steve followed closely, his feet nipping at my heels.

The garage was in a dire need of cleaning but in terms of repairs, it was fine. Cobwebs littered the ceiling. Only half the lights were working, casting a dim glow. The place was filled with boxes, as this was the safest place to store them as we fixed up the house. In the back corner were six barrels full of junk that we found or needed to toss.

Steve shuffled his feet at the door, still holding the cat. I gave a half smile. “Do you want to stay by the door?”

“Yes, please.” He whispered. Grinning apologetically, I continued on to the garbage by myself, now with a rock in my gut.

The cans were getting close to overflowing. I could just see the old photo from earlier, faded but the people in it were just visible. Three people stood proud, a man and two women with a child on one’s hip. The women looked to be almost exact copies. Both having chubby sort of cheeks, their hair done in curls, and wearing the classical dress of the 1900’s. Sisters is what we assumed. The man was probably a husband of one of them, of which we had no clue. He had a strong jaw and cold eyes. A pickaxe by his side. Made sense. A creepy pickaxe man, in a crazy pickaxe house.

The little girl, on what I guessed to be her mother’s hip, was cute. She was pretty young, no older than five. Part of her hand was in her mouth, a little blurry from the movement. In her other hand was a doll. She wore a cute frilly dress, with lace all about it. It matched that of her owner.

For the most part, the photo wasn’t actually creepy other than it just sitting here in this house over a hundred years later. I had watched a lot of scary movies to tell me to just throw it away. But if I was being honest, my gut was telling me to burn this house to the ground and just build a new one on top. Steve had been the one to point out that wouldn’t necessarily make the ghosts and bad luck go away.

Sighing, I tossed the pickaxe and doll in with the photo. With the toy staring up at me, the hair on the back of my neck rose. I grabbed for the photograph. Stepping into the light to see better, I stared intensely at the little girl. The doll. The rock in my stomach turned into a boulder. It was the exact same doll in the picture, only in better condition. Going back, I grabbed the toy to compare them. To make sure. Two little grey eyes stared up at me with the same expression of nothing.

Wait, wasn’t one of the eyes closed?

Tossing the thing with a yelp, I shuffled backwards. Dolls sometimes will have one of the eyes stick, yeah, no big deal. I rationed with myself. There was no way there was anything wrong with the toy. It could even be a different one. Maybe the previous owner was a collector and just so happened to store dolls in walls for the fun of it. Yeah, the previous owner just wanted to mess with us.

“Dan? What’s wrong?” Steve called out from the door.

The toy looked up at me with its blank expression. Shivering, I wondered if I should tell the others about my find or go put it back in the trash, never mentioning it again. Rubbing the stubble on my chin, I took one tentative step forward, my breath coming out in white puffs.

Wait. Why is it so cold? It’s summer.

A small cracking noise broke through the silence, as if an explosion went off.

“What was that?” Steve called out, panicked. He came inside the garage, cat now gone, and grabbed the back of my shirt. We stared at the toy in mute horror together.

A fissure appeared on the doll’s face. Move. The sweat that was once dripping off of me were like icicles as her face slowly broke. Move. The gap on her face grew wider by the second. Move. White smoke started to spiral out. MOVE. The smoke was formless. But it was not long before it took shape.

Three hapless figures floated next to each other. They all considered each other, two of them dissipated back into smoke, raising up through the ceiling. The remaining one’s features started to form into more of a clearer person.

A young woman stood before me. Her face was round, soft, but her eyes were sharp and cold. Full of rage. I knew that face. After all, I had only just seen it. She was the women in the photo. Except for the eyes. They were the man’s. She must be the daughter, all grown up. Instead of a little frilly dress, she wore what I imagined to be the wedding gown of her time. It was ripped, the ends matted with something. Mud? Blood? I could not tell in her ghostly form. As for the top of her clothes, I knew for a fact that it was covered in blood as her neck had an opened wound across it. There was no debate there.

Tilting her head, she considered me. Her lips curled into a crooked smile. Rasping out, she said, “Marry?” Her voice sounded as if someone ran their nails down a chalkboard. Steve screamed. With a jolt, I was finally able to move. Stumbling backwards, I blindly fumbled for the garage door, pulling my friend along.

The ghost followed suit. Extending out her hand, she tried to grab a hold of me. It was matted in what I could only imagine as the same substance as that on her dress.

“Marriage?”

“N-naw, thanks, but no. No. I really- Don’t think- No.” I stumbled over the words; my mind hazy.  I was able to get to the door. The handle wouldn’t move. Locked. I slammed the garage door opener frantically. It made a groaning noise but did not move. Shit.

She hissed, “No?” Barring her teeth, she appeared in my face. “No?” Screeching, her hand lunged at me. Steve and I scattered. The cold wind ruffled my hair, as I felt her arm just went by.

Slamming into the boxes still left for us to unpack, I dearly wished that we had parked at least one of our cars inside. Even if the doors wouldn’t open, driving through it would give the desired results too.

Running toward the back, I glanced behind. There was no ghost lady following me. Swiveling around, I frantically searched for her. Steve was by the garbage, with no one by him, and there was no glowing in the dark corners either. She had just vanished.

Searing pain bloomed in my abdomen. Turning my head, I could just see the dead woman behind me. My vision started to blur. The roomed changed around me. Lights disappeared and reappeared elsewhere.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look what me and Cynthia made you!” A little girl in a purple frilly dress came running out to the man covered in soot. His eyes were sharp, cold. But when he saw his daughter, they lit up. He watched as a piece of paper covered in a child’s drawing fluttering in the little wind that her running produced. Grasped firmly in her other hand, a doll.

The girl and the doll were identical in every way. The frilly dress, the black shoes, even the curly hair. The toy was very well loved but despite this, it was pristine and clean. Not a hair out of place nor a shoe unshined.

As she ran to greet the man, I looked around. Behind her stood our house. The paint was bright and clean, with the windows clear and the shutters correctly on their hinges. The porch had a brand-new feel to it, with it being a shiny white color and there were no wood planks missing. The only thing that wasn’t there was the garage, which had to have been added later in time. Staring at the house one last time, I turned back to the little family reunion.

Running up to her father, the girl lifted up her arms. The man smiled sadly. He said in a thick Southern accent, “Now, now Doll, I can’t carry you. I’m too dirty, we wouldn’t want to get your nice dress ruined, now would we?”

Bending down on one knee, he laughed as she puffed out her cheeks. Gently taking the piece of paper, he smiled greatly. “My, what is this? Is this a picture of the family?” The girl nodded shyly. “Why, Doll, this is absolutely amazing! It’s almost like a real life photograph. There’s you and me hand in hand, with Cynthia. Not to mention your mother and your Aunt Amelia. Look! You even got her smile right.” The caricature he pointed at showed a stick with a frown on it.

            A muffling sound could be heard. It sounded like a scream. I looked around. No one was outside besides the two in front of me. On the porch was the mother? Or the aunt. I couldn’t tell, but she looked fine, she just stood there. Nothing strange had happened. Shaking my head, I turned back to the little family.

“Absolutely perfect. What superb skills my favorite child has!” The father said, beaming.

“Daddy, I’m your only child.” The little girl giggled.

“Dan.” I heard someone say my name. More words came after but I couldn’t hear them clearly. I shook my head again, trying to pay attention.

Grabbing his daughter’s hand, he started walking toward the house and said, “That may be, but the statement still stands.”

“Dan! Wake up!”

Gasping, my eyes flew open. My garage was back. Hovering over me, Steve was pressing his hands on my lower body. The pain had been dulled during the vision but now it was coming back in its full fury.

“W-what happened?” I stammered out.

Steve shook his head. “You screamed out when crazy ghost lady stabbed you with her hand, then you just went limp. I was afraid that you had-” He took a shaky breath, “that you had died. So I grabbed one of the pickaxes and started swinging it at her, and then she just screamed and disappeared.” He nodded toward the weapon laying by his side.

“You killed her?” I asked, impressed.

“No. I don’t think so. I think that, for whatever reason, she doesn’t like that thing. Thankfully there are three of us and two pickaxes so we could-” Steve spat blood on my face. His eyes widened. A glowing ghost hand protruded out of his chest.

“Die. Like him.” The woman sneered out from behind, snatching her now red hand away. Steve’s body fell with a thud, his eyes staring unblinking at me.

“No!”

Grabbing the pickaxe, I swung at her. Her body froze, a line slashed through her. Slowly she descended into a white smoke, sinking into the floor.

Gasping for air, I grabbed Steve’s body. “Steve.” I whispered, pressing my hands onto his chest. “Come on bud. We gotta go.” He didn’t move. I shook him gently. “Come on.” I said, tears streaming down my face. “Steve.” I choked out. Clutching his body, I sobbed.

Sometime past before I finally got up. I had to get to Meryl. Before that ghost did. I had already wasted so much time. Setting Steve down, I sniffled. Leaving him here in the garage felt wrong, but it was unrealistic to move him elsewhere. So I settled for laying him against the wall.

My body screamed in protest as I slowly got up. There was no time to waste to get to Meryl, and I couldn’t call her as I left my phone in my room to charge. Limping toward the door with pickaxe in hand, I hoped dearly that the door was unlocked with her disappearance. Much to my happiness it was. First bit of good luck I had all day.

Climbing the stairs, I yelled out, “Meryl! Meryl, help!” A soft ‘what’ could be heard from her bedroom. Limping as fast as I could, I threw myself into the room. Her back was to the door, and didn’t even look back at me when she spoke.

“I’m not falling for it. Whatever you and Steve are playing.”

My heart squeezed in my chest at the mention of his name. Choking out, I said, “Steve’s dead. We need to leave. Now.”

Meryl whipped around. Her eyes widen as she looked me over, focusing on the pickaxe in my hand.

“What the hell happened? What do you mean Steve’s dead?” A pause. “What’s with the pickaxe?” She asked slowly.

I shook my head. “We were attacked. There are ghosts. Actual ghosts, Meryl. And they are not Casper.”

“Oh.” Was all she said. Just a small ‘oh.’ She didn’t move. There was no indication that she was going to come with me at all. She just stood there.

“Okay.” I said, dragging out the word. “Ready to go then?”

That rose her from her stupor. “Right! Yes. Let’s go. But, uh,” she turned around, “let me get my phone.”

I stared at Meryl. She was acting really strange. I knew that hearing about ghosts being real and killing your best friend was a lot to take in. But this reaction was not the one I expected for Meryl to take. That’s when it hit me.

She thinks I killed Steve.

I placed my face in my hand, groaning.

“What’s wrong?” Meryl asked quickly.

I moaned, “You think I killed Steve. That I went crazy and killed him with a pickaxe.”

Silence. Followed by a “Yep.”

I blinked, taken back by the blunt response. “Didn’t think you’d give an honest answer.” I said. She shrugged.

“Well I-” But what she was going to say, I never found out. She paled as she gasped out, her breath coming out in puffs. Shuffling away, she pointed behind me.

Whipping around, I came face to face with an older woman. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun. Her pale, wrinkled, round face stared at me with no emotion. Her dress grey and fancy. Everything was in perfect order, not a hair out of place. Except for her chest. A dark stain covered where her heart would be.

I opened my mouth, but my best friend, the bride of hell appeared behind me. Startled, I gasped instead, dropping the pickaxe in my hand. Damn it! A smile crept onto her face, her teeth rotten and holey. Wailing, she slammed her hand in my shoulder. I struggled to throw her off. My hands went right through her, leaving small lines in her form. Still, she remained unmoving, her body slowly reconnecting itself. My vision started to blur again. The lights increased; the room faded away.

The little girl, now a teenager, sat on the front porch, tears streaming down her face. She looked down at her doll. Despite the many years she had the thing, it still remained clean and perfect; not a thing out of place. She no longer looked like the doll, her hair was now pulled up into a tight bun, the same as Aunt and Mother. Her dress just a pale cream.

She looked darkly back at the kitchen at the now raised voices. I hate it when they fight. When he disappeared to who knows where. It upsetted Mother. And when Mother is upset, I’m the one who gets it.

I stepped back at the sudden thoughts running in my head. They weren’t mine. I turned my attention to the girl. Were they her thoughts?

Quietly striding out of the house, Amelia regarded her niece in silence. It wasn’t until the girl heard her mother shout out, “You worthless piece of shit!” Did she notice the cold woman standing there. Quickly, the girl wiped her face, hoping the woman would ignore her.

“What are you doing?” Amelia looked down and saw the doll in her hand. Her eyes turned dark. “Why do you have that?” She hissed out. Marching over, she snatched the toy out of the girl’s hand. “You will never find a suitable husband if you carry that thing around!” Snarling, she tossed the toy into the woods near the house. The girl screamed out, she lunged forward to go get it, but the older woman grabbed her arm. Ignoring the protests, Amelia pulled her back inside.

“You want to be free of this?” She gestured to the arguing couple. “Find a good husband. A rich one.” She snarled in the girl’s ear.

“Now, time to be useful for once, Doll.”

Screaming could be heard. But why was the girl screaming? Grant it, her aunt was no picnic but to scream? I groggily opened my eyes. The face of an angry woman stared back.

Right. The girl is a ghost and wants to kill me. I thought dully.

“Dan! Dan, wake up!” A voice yelled out.

I blinked. Where was that coming from? Sounded from behind me. Wait-

My brain finally had downloaded the first thought. There were ghosts. And they wanted to kill us. The vision I had this time must have had me gone for only a minute at most, but the vision itself felt longer. Snapping to, I turned to see Meryl backed into a corner with what I assumed to be Mother dearest. Meryl would grab various things out of the boxes spewed about, and threw them at her. But they would just pass through the ghost. She didn’t even seem bothered by it. Meryl needed the axe.

The only reason I had not fallen to the floor this time is that my Ghost Bride still was holding on to me, keeping me on my feet. She lifted her hand up and tried to brush my hair, but her hand went through me. I shivered.

Focus.

Swiveling my head around, I tried to look for the pickaxe I had stupidly dropped. My skull screamed in protest but I continued.

After a second of looking, the weapon appeared to still be by my feet. I couldn’t fully tell where specifically as there were five of them.

Groaning at the spinning room, I kicked the pic in the direction I hoped Meryl to be. “Meryl! They don’t like the pickaxe.” I yelled out.

Without hesitation, she lunged for it. But mother dearest anticipated what Meryl was doing, as I had just shouted out what she needed to do. Mother grabbed my friend’s shoulder, slamming her into the ground.

Meryl didn’t even miss a beat as the second she hit the ground, she rolled back onto her feet and lunged again. This time it was successful, as she grabbed the hilt. In one swinging motion Meryl slashed through Mother causing her to disappear into the ground.

Twirling around, Meryl now set her sights on releasing me. Black clouded the edge of my vision. I could feel blood trickling down my leg. Meryl side stepped around us to get a better position. The ghost followed Meryl’s movements with her head.

The Bride hissed out at Meryl, “He’s mine.” To which my friend replied with a pickaxe slashing her body in half. Just like before, she disappeared through the floor. Without her holding me up, I started to fall. If it wasn’t for Meryl grabbing me, I would have face planted into the floor.

Setting me down, Meryl shakenly pressed her hand on my shoulder. “What the hell, Dan? What was that?”

“The quick rundown is that those ghosts came out of the wall doll, I think three in total? It’s that family we saw in that portrait we threw away. The bride killed Steve, and the mother tried to kill you. I don’t know where the aunt is, and I don’t really want to. I keep seeing what I assume to be the bride’s life flash before my eyes every time she stabs me with her hand for whatever reason, and honestly this sucks ass.” I huffed out. Swaying slightly, I leaned against Meryl.

“Okay.” She blinked at my explanation. “All right. How does this pickaxe work? Did I get rid of them forever or-?”

I shook my head as minimal as possible. “It only stops them for a couple of minutes? I’m not sure on the exact time.”

“Okay, I can work with that. Is the doll still intact?”

Thinking hard, I said, “I think so? It was only the face that broke.”

Meryl nodded. “Based on Hollywood, we need to completely destroy the doll. They’re connected to it so if it’s gone, then they should go away. We probably will have to burn it.” She looked around, frowning. “Lighter. We need a lighter.” Shaking her head, she closed her eyes. “I- uh- I think we have a tiny blow torch thing in the kitchen? That thing that Steve used to make those dessert things?”

“Sounds like a plan.” I said softly. I tried to nod but the room spun at a sickening pace and I immediately stopped.

Meryl gave me a concerned look but didn’t say anything. I must have looked terrible but she kept quiet to not make me panic. But I knew I was dying. Wasn’t too hard to figure out with two new holes added to my body. If it wasn’t for Meryl I would probably be freaking out and wondering about the great beyond.

She placed me gently against the wall and stood up. Grabbing her bedsheet, Meryl started to rip them into long strips. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back.

“Dan, don’t close your eyes!” Meryl appeared in front of my face. I blinked in shock. She had a bunch of the bedsheet strips around her arm. She must have been real quick with ripping them.

Wrapping them around my wounds, she tightly tied them to me. The pain of her makeshift medical wrap woke me up slightly but the world still had a fuzzy grain to it. Holding onto the pickaxe with white knuckles, Meryl was constantly looking around checking for ghosts. Once she was finished patching me up, she glanced in the hallway to check if the coast was clear.

Grunting, Meryl said, “Up ya go Dan.” Gripping my arm around her shoulder, I leaned heavily on her. Ever so slowly, we walked together down to the kitchen. It was an awkward fit as Meryl had to try and keep one arm decently free.

The kitchen was one of the best kept places in the house. It was pristine white and had marbled everything.  It was spacious with tons of cupboards stuff full of cooking utensils we would tell ourselves we would use but never do. It had relatively new appliances that worked properly and the electric wiring was actually up to code.

Overall, an excellent kitchen. The only problem I currently had with it was the ghost standing in the middle. She had a stern, round face, her grey hair pulled into a tight bun on top. Wrinkles covered her face and hands. Her dress was proper and clean. Staring at us as if we had dishonored not only her, but her cooking too. This must have been the Aunt.

We both regarded each other in silence. Our breath coming out in white puffs. The only sound was that of Fluffy eating in the corner. Shuffling her feet slightly to the left, Meryl half took half dragged me along to the closest drawer. The Aunt just stood there. The drawer opened. No reaction. A hand enters. Still no reaction. Shuffling noises are heard. Again, the Aunt does nothing. The hand retracts from the drawer with no lighter. The Aunt smiled. It was an unpleasant one.

Meryl whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “Do you know where we put the blow torch thing?”

A pause.

“Um, yes.”

“Well?”

I swallowed loudly as I remembered exactly where it was. “Funny story.” Meryl turned to me with a stern face. “It’s actually still packed up. In a box. In the, uh, garage.” I whispered that last part out as I realized my mistake.

“Great.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “So we have to go to the garage then?”

I gave a grim smile. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Meryl shook her head and said, “Dan, you’re fine. To say that you are alive right now is a miracle in of itself. Besides, we need to be in the garage anyway.” Clearing her throat, she said in a louder voice, “Sorry, wrong room, we’ll just go now.”

The Aunt glared at us and took a step forward. “I think not.” She said.

Meryl swung the pickaxe wildly behind her, dropping me to the ground. Two vaper shapes hung frozen behind us. The Mother and the Bride. Adrenaline started to kick in as I shot to the side, out of Meryl’s way as she advanced on the Aunt.

Unperturbed, the dead woman casually flicked her hand at us. Instantly the kitchen became alive. What random stuff we packed in the drawers came flying out at us. Pencils, a ball of rubber bands, various sized wrenches, among other things. The items that worried me the most were the plastic and metal forks, and knives all flying about. With the three of us living together we had collected a stupid amount of utensils. How or why, I will never know, but I regretted it a little now.

Throwing my one arm over my head, I dragged myself to the cupboards by the cat’s food dish. I grabbed the underside of Fluffy, pulling him toward me to get him out of the way. He made a murr sound but allowed me to take him, the food now gone. Together we huddled in the corner, trying our best to remain unharmed. I was failing. Miserably.

Meryl was not having a better time than me. She definitely was the one to draw the shorter end of the stick. Multiple little cuts appeared all over her face, arm, basically any exposed part of her body. Luckily for her, her glasses were at least able to prevent her eyes from getting stabbed. But that wasn’t too big of a comfort with a million little push pins flying around.

Swatting away all the flying objects, whether they were little or large with her arms and pickaxe, she advanced closer to the Aunt. But the ghost did not move, showing no signs of terror of the weapon in Meryl’s hands.

With a few more steps until she reached her goal, two forms of white smoke came out on either side of Meryl from the walls, both advancing on the other. The smoke became the Mother and the Bride, with their arms out, ready to spear their target. Meryl didn’t notice, her focus solely on the Aunt, who was also mirroring her family’s movements. I tried to scream out in warning, but it was too late.

The mother and daughter both stabbed Meryl’s sides simultaneously, freezing her in place, her eyes wide in shock. The pickaxe fell from her hands. With no danger now, the Aunt stepped forward and smiled with sickening malice. Lurching forward, my arms flailed out, desperately trying to reach Meryl.

Please. The Aunt raised her hand once again. Please no. Slowly, so painfully slowly, did her arm reach for Meryl’s chest. Not again. Not Meryl. Please. My thoughts screamed out to no one.

Meryl barely made a sound. Just a soft groan. Her head jerked a little when the hand was removed. Staggering forward, I grabbed at the air, trying but not quite being able to reach her, ignoring the two ghosts still holding her up. The Aunt’s lips moved, saying something. I couldn’t hear her. There was just ringing in my ears. My brain chanted, not her, please, not her.

“Dan.” Her voice was quiet, but it ripped through my body as if a bomb had gone off. “Dan, run.” I blinked, not comprehending. “Go to the garage.” I could barely hear the last of her words as her head fell, not to get up again. The women smiled at the body before dropping it. It hit the ground with a weak thud.

            The three ghosts turned their heads toward me. I shuffled backwards. The Bride smiled at me, but there was no warmth. No love. My insides burned looking at them. Gritting my teeth, I gave Meryl’s body one last look before limping out of the kitchen.

I was alone.

Angry tears fell from my eyes. Everyone that I had held dear had been taken from me. They were going to pay. Anger fueled me. Slamming the garage door open, it echoed across the space. A black blob skirted pass me into the room. Fluffy. I gave a tiny smile.

I went to the pile of boxes labeled ‘kitchen’ ripping open the top one. It was full of plates. Gritting my teeth, I shoved the box out of my way. The noise of shattering plates filled the room as they broke across the floor. But what did I care? I just continued on, onto the next box, and the next. Until I found what I needed, I was not going to stop.

Fluffy hissed. Whipping around, I saw smoke pouring from the ceiling and walls. The vaper swirled into three shapes. Angry faces appeared and soon the rest of their bodies. The women of the household had finally appeared before me. They floated there, regarding me with undisguised disgust.

They drifted forward. Glancing around for a weapon, I instead scooped up the cat. Holding it out, I yelled out, “Stop! I warn you!” To add to my threat, Fluffy snarled. The ghosts paused for a second, confused. Taking advantage, I moved backwards. The ladies had composed themselves over the shock of me using the cat as a shield. They did not seem to be affected by cats quite like mummies. Watching me, they spread out, flaking me on three sides. My only option was back. Away from the boxes. Banging against the garage wall, I cursed. Nowhere else to go.

Fluffy jumped from my arms, fur all spiked, hissing. The ghosts watched the feline warily, still unsure of it. Using that bought time I frantically looked around the barrels, trying to find something to fight with. A pvc pipe stuck out from the trash. Grabbing it, I swung at the Mother. It passed through her with no effect. She stared at me unamused. I dropped the pipe, backing up once again.

“All right, let’s try again.” I grabbed the next thing sticking out of the trash barrels, a wood stick. Out came a rusty pickaxe. I could have cried. Another pickaxe. Grinning, I noticed that damn creepy doll just inches away. Her face gone, broken apart. An idea suddenly popped in my head. Without looking at the ghosts, that were probably too close for comfort, I slammed down the tool, crushing the doll. A scream escaped the white women, they lurched, holding their heads.

The old lady swung out her arm, smacking me across the room, the pickaxe flying from my hands. Groaning slightly, I got up. The ghosts were starting to recover slightly, but they looked a lot paler even for them. I limped as fast as I could back to my weapon. The Mother lunged at me, snarling. Swinging the pickaxe, she disappeared into smoke screaming.

Lurching back to the doll, I went back to smashing it to pieces. I kept at it. Over and over. If I saw any amount of silver in the corner of my eye, I would swing the pickaxe frantically, chasing them off.

I screamed out at the sudden pain in my already damaged shoulder. Turning my head slightly, I could see that the Bride had stabbed me once again. The room started to swirl once more.

On the mantel sat the doll. It was dirtier than before, but still was in decent condition. Having it spend a couple nights in the woods when she was a teen did not help the doll’s condition over the years. Picking up the toy, the woman placed it inside the unfinished closet. The house was going through some minor changes to help the place look better in the future.

As she closed the closet door, she glanced at herself in the mirror. She loved the way she looked in that white dress. Her hair tied up, with a veil loosely falling down. The dress was her mother’s. Simple and white. Nothing expensive. They never could have afforded expensive. But not anymore.

The thoughts of the Bride once again popped in my head. Gritting my teeth, I tried to wake up. I did not need this. Opening my eyes, I was still in the memory. I tried kicking a chair but my leg just went through it as if I was the ghost. Sighing, I turned back to the memory.

The plan was simple. Marry him. Then kill him. Joseph was rich. Richer than she could ever hope. Somehow, she was able to catch the eye of the wealthiest person in town. She first started to notice him snooping around her house a couple of years ago. When she turned twenty, she caught him slinking around the corner just below her bedroom window. He stammered out that he fancied her and had only wish to speak with her. Their courtship was a little rough in the beginning, but it had smoothed out toward the end.

He was older than her by quite a few years. But that didn’t matter. Only his money. She’d be rid of him soon anyway. It was Aunt Amelia’s plan of course. To marry him in order to get them out of there. Then they could live their lives in comfort. She could even find a new husband. Become even richer.

Be free.

But there was one slight problem. Father wasn’t in on the plan. Mother and Amelia said not to tell him. He was rather fond of Joseph; they got along very well. The two of them would constantly head out into town and ‘bond.’ It infuriated her.

The door was thrown open, and in walked the twins. Aunt Amelia as stern as ever and Mother with a bored look on her face. She sat in the chair closest to the exit. Unconcerned with her surroundings.

Amelia walked up to the bride from behind and placed a cold steel knife in her hand. “Don’t mess this up.” She hissed in her ear. The Bride nodded, holding up the weapon to examine it. It was thin and long. Perfect. A cold smile crept on her face. She couldn’t wait.

“What is that?”

She spun around. Standing at the door was Father. He stared at the weapon; brow furrowed.

“Father.”

“Get out Ronald.” Mother snarled. Amelia stood behind her, glaring.

“Not until you tell me what that knife is for.”

“To kill Joseph.” The girl answered.

His eyes widened. “No-”

Mother took a step and stood in front of him. “Tonight, we can have it all. We just have to get rid of him.”

Father stared coldly at her. “No. Not this way.”

“In that case-” Amelia pulled out another knife from the folds of her dress and lunged. A pain welled up from my leg.

Gasping out as the memory released me, I sunk to my knees. Looking over, Fluffy was clinging to my leg, his fur all fluffed out, eyes wide. In the fear of the ghosts, he had clawed at my leg. I patted his head. “Good kitty.” I whispered.

Anger gripped me. I wasn’t going to let them treat me like the father. They weren’t going to win. I turned toward the Bride, glaring. She took a step back as if I had stabbed her with the pic, shock on her face. I walked back to the doll, unopposed.

With a renewed fury, I swung the pickaxe as hard as I could, pounding the toy into dust. The ghosts screeched even louder. The Aunt screamed out, “Why? Ronald, why?” Her cry did not make me pause. I didn’t even look. I kept going. Until nothing was left but broken pieces and dust.

The screaming had stopped. Turning around, I saw the ghosts slowly evaporate. Their mouths opened. No sound came out, they were frozen. Their whitened forms turned ash grey. Bit by bit, they disappeared. Grey smoke crumbled down into the ground. After a moment, they were gone.

I fell down on the floor in mute shock, tears staining my face. The pickaxe still in my hands. For a brief moment it glowed. Screaming, I tossed it away. Smoke billowed out of it. Two new ghosts emerged. This time it was the Father, and some unknown guy with him.

He was younger, had short brown hair, and in a suit like the father. Blood covered most of his clothes. The man looked vaguely familiar. As if I was looking in a mirror. A small memory emerged from some unknown place in the back of my brain, about a distant uncle being killed on his wedding day.

The Father looked the same as he did in the memory, now with a small hole in his chest. Some of his fingers were missing too.

Bowing to me, the Father said in a scratchy voice, “Thank you,” before disappearing. The younger man just nodded as he faded away, the room along with him.

The world turned blissfully dark.

[mikeysbabygirl]

Mikey's girl PART TWO II :

Warning : suggestive talk, dirty jokes, Bonten being gossips again...

Summary : I didn't thought of making a part two of this, but you all liked it so much and asked to meet the other executives, so here we are !

PART ONE LINK HERE.

You should read the part one before starting this !

-" You know... " Sanzu, sitting on the chair in front of Mikey's started, earning his boss's attention. " You maybe should invite her to the gala event, boss. "

The latter lifted his head from his paperwork in front of him, looking at his henchman dead in the eyes and tilting his head to the side.

-" Your girl, I mean. " He added, in front of his boss' confusion.

Mikey frowned, which made Sanzu gulp down.

-" That's none of your business. "

Haruchiyo sank deeper in his seat, playing with his pill's bottle under the table discreetly.

-" Yeah, right. I'm sorry, Mikey... "

Nodding, Mikey looked back at his work, but something kept him from focusing on the words he was reading. Because of that damn Sanzu, he couldn't help but wonder what would be your reaction if he, actually, invited you at the gala Bonten were organizing in few days.

-" Why... Though ? " He started, for the first time his tone was laced with a spark of doubt which surprised Haruchiyo.

-" Um, well... Most men like to bring compagnie to these kinda events, and... You know, chicks usually like when their guys take them out to classy places".

Deep inside, he couldn't deny what his henchman had just said since he had no knowledge of being in a relationship besides some one night stands here and there.

Chicks usually like when their guys take them out... would you give him that smile of yours that made his chest go through strange heat states ?

Most importantly, would you actually appear next to him, as... As an official something ? Would you like being associated with one of the most dangerous Japan criminals ? You, the closest thing to an angel ?

-" That's still none of your business, though. "

Anxiety began creeping in inside you the minute you stepped into that ballroom. From the excessively rich decoration to the women's eyes that already started scanning you, everything screamed at you to run, this was not your element.

And could you blame your guts for that feeling ? You were used to white hospital walls, not to giant velvet curtains and crown moldings on high walls, used to the cries and screams of patients, not to the snarky whispers while those rich women were looking at you, and your body was more comfortable in scrubs and white coats, not the overly expensive mermaid dress Mikey has bought for you.

If there was something you despised, it was being the center of the attention. You gladly took the champagne glass the waiter passing by had offered you, ignoring the eyes lingering on your dress and body, especially that you were not seeing your boyfriend anywhere around you and started feeling lonely.

Not so far away from there, Takeomi and Kokonoi were discussing some business matters, both dressed in their most stunning suits, champagne glasses on hand. To be fair, Takeomi has been long ago stolen from whatever his friend was saying, eyes stuck on the young woman who just entered the room. It didn't took too much time for Hajime to notice that his co-worker was not listening to him anymore.

-" that's interesting... " The Akashi absentmindedly nodded his head.

-" You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you ?" Kokonoi asked with an exhausted face.

-" Not a clue." He answered in a smirk.

His face grew outraged, not only he was not even looking at him, he was, in addition admitting it openly.

-" Go to hell. "

-" Oh I'm counting on it, but I have a good reason for not listening".

Koko rolled his eyes, took another gulp of his drink and asked.

-" What is it ?"

The smirk adorning Takeomi's lips at that moment, as he put his hand on his co-worker's shoulder and turned his body toward where you were standing already told him it was about a woman.

-" This young blood. "

Hajime's gaze followed Takeomi's one,until it stopped on the one who had seemed to catch it. And his interest rose from none to two hundred percent in less than a second.

The first thing he had thought seeing you was how has he even been too blind to not notice you in the first place ? High fashion so stunning it could have blinded him. The mermaid shape of the dress embraced each curve of your body perfectly, it was in a Champagne-like color, which highlighted your skin tone too well for your own good, and then his eyes trailed down your legs, under the see-through fabric of the dress, he could use that sight of your bare thighs as he pleased.

-" A whole snack, indeed. " He admitted, cutting off his friend with what he added next. " But she's way outta your league. "

-" Huh-?" His hand on his friend's shoulder tightened and he made Koko face him again, which took out a frustrated groan from the latter since he was not done admiring you. " You mean she's too good for me ?"

-" I mean with a dress like that, her boyfriend must be either Christian Dior, or me. " Koko scoffed under a dark glare from Takeomi. " And honestly if I had someone like her on my bed, I wouldn't even be here t'night. "

Indignation filled the older man senses, painting a weary expression on his face.

-" I had girls like this between my legs when you weren't even born, jerk. "

-" and years later what you have between your legs now is a soft cucumber". Kokonoi replied, then snorted at his own comment making Takeomi roll his eyes.

-" You're being such a smartass, sit here and watch how real men make pussy rain. "

This time, Hajime couldn't hold his laughter, earning few glances from the people around. An idea clicked in his head at the same time.

-" I'll let you give it a try " he made a step toward him, locking eyes with his. " Then I'm heading toward her and bet tonight you'll receive a charming picture of her young pussy creaming on top of my bills. "

His answer has been a devilish smirk adorning Takeomi's lips, then he offered his hand to Kokonoi which he shook.

-" Deal. "

Oh no... You began biting your lower lip when you caught one of them approaching you. They have been standing only few meters away from you and shamelessly undressing you with their eyes, and now, the one who seemed the older was coming toward you with a smile on his face.

-" Isn't it a crime for such a beautiful lady not to enjoy herself at our event ?"

Our ? You wondered as he made a final step toward you, taking your hand in his and directing it toward his mouth in a gracious kiss. You smiled politely and shook his hand, he was not that bad, actually handsome, but a little too old for you.

-" Who told you I was not enjoying myself ? And, I assume you're one of the organizers".

Her voice's as soft as her skin, he mentally noted, reluctantly releasing your hand.

-" sweetheart drinking on your own is sad. " He watched as your smile grew wider, enjoying how your eyes lit up. " Takeomi Akashi, consider me your champagne mate for the night."

His confidence took a small laugh out of you, he was surprised by how warm his chest has felt within seconds because of you.

-" you have me very flattered, but unfortunately I am tak-"

-" Heard her, Omi ? " Another man's voice startled you from behind, within a second the voice's face appeared as a younger man, the second one that has been eye fucking you all along. " She's not interested".

Kokonoi stood between you and Takeomi, leaning over and taking your hand in his, placing a small kiss on your skin. If it wouldn't have looked creepy, he would gladly have left his lips lingering there longer, inhaling your perfume.

-" Kokonoi Hajime, dear. "

-" I am delighted" you flashed another smile toward him, thanks God was he a master in hiding his reactions since his heart missed a beat, couldn't take his eyes off of your face.

Not to sound cliché, but he found you looked different, almost out of place. Your face had that wide smile, those still bright eyes, an innocent expression in a nutshell, still not at all stained by all the dirty blood on that ballroom's walls.

And that,along with your enticing looks, was what had caught all Bonten's men attention. They had that chase arsenal, the need for destruction, and you looked like the perfect prey, untouched, like you would be beautiful even after the damage.

You on the other hand were flattered by their attention, really. Still couldn't help but be outraged by how stupid they thought you were, staring at you, discussing for nearly ten minutes and shaking hands just before they came to talk.

-" And it is my duty to say I really like the way you wear this dress. "

-" I like it too. " You answered Kokonoi in yet another smile. " Unfortunately for you, it's staying on. "

Both men scoffed at your answer, one mocking his friend, the other even more pleased. Kokonoi has never been a man of easy chores, he appreciated a little hard work and that made you even more interesting.

-" What a shame I won't be witnessing that wonderful view... "

-" Keep flirting with what's mine and you'll witness me declaring World War three. "

You three stiffened at the new voice, you were in no need to turn around to understand the hand that pulled you tighter by the waist was Mikey's. He stood there next to you, holding you close and sending daggers at both his men, poor them, you had thought still you couldn't help but smile seeing them with their tails between their legs.

-" Boss... " Kokonoi started, his face turned stern at the same time your eyes slightly widened.

Boss... Your smile was even harder to hold, you were far from being a tease but if was funny seeing them struggling in front of their boss' dark glare.

-" So this is... She is... " Takeomi began connecting the dots, then his eyes had caught the sight of his younger brother from the other side of the room, smirking along with both the Haitani brothers, that was when everything became clearer.

-" Now I understand why you told Mikey to invite her" Rindou contained his smile while talking to the pink haired man. The three of them were mocking Kokonoi and Takeomi's pale faces, Sanzu with a wide smile and Ran with a breathed laugh.

-" The face they're making is priceless. " Sanzu answered, yet his smile faltered since one of their partners cut Mikey off in his threatening glares, approaching him along with Kakucho.

-" duty calls... " Ran deadpanned and started walking toward them first, quickly followed by his brother and a sighing Sanzu.

Your fun was short lived since before anyone could add anything, the man with heterochromatic eyes that came in your house that night brought what looked like a business man with him who wanted to talk to your boyfriend, and soon after the greetings, the unknown one started introducing his project in front of Mikey's unbiased look.

There you were, standing in the middle of eight men discussing business, gazes drifting toward you from time to time as if you were nothing more but a doll on a shelf and that started really playing on your nerves, especially that the man was offering an investment that no one better than you could tell would cause a great loss.

Both the Haitani brothers had their eyes on you, even more obviously than Sanzu who still had too much respect to eye you that way in front of Mikey. Not a single inch of your skin was still unburned by their glances, from your bare shoulders under the shoulder-off dress to your breasts. The one you had stitched had a sly smile on his face that you wanted to wipe away, and the one you remembered as Rindou, the grumpy one just stared with a weary expression. He was too good at hiding that with every breath you were taking his heart was racing faster.

-" I'll study the case, none of us know enough about these to say if the income would be satisfying for us. As you know, we are quite demanding with our partners. " Kokonoi had replied to who you understood now was the president of a new pharmaceutical company.

No one of you can, but me... your mind was screaming for you to talk. Yet you were quite intimidated, honestly who wouldn't be ? Most of the men there were eyeing you as a piece of meat, and all the women were gathered far from any business talk, judging each other dresses and outfits. You secretly bit your tongue.

Shut up, shut up, shut up... Plus, what kind of honest pharmaceutical developer would use a criminal organization to promote their product?

-" I assure you that you will not regret investing in our antibiotics, I am fully confident that within the next twenty years we will dominate the pharmaceutical market." The CEO explained with another pathetic smile, that was the last straw for you, no doubt if you didn't talked at that time, you would have exploded.

-" This doesn't make much sense... "

Now have a room full of wolves, throw a piece of meat in the middle and close the door, that would be your feeling currently. Though you spoke in a low voice, all gazes turned toward you, you refused to meet any of them especially your boyfriend's one which you felt burning through your skin.

-" Aww she talks ! " His sugar coated tone almost made you throw up, which didn't help was how Mikey's hand tightened around your waist. " Why don't you go put on some lipstick, sweetheart? This strong sex's talk gives bad headaches. "

With each word of him, your blood boiled a temperature higher, and with each glance at his contemptuous face your nails dug deeper in your palm. All men stiffened around, hearing how he addressed you. To be fair, partners used to talk to their girls even worse, but what they all wondered was would Mikey consider you as their usual girls ?

Sanzu knew he wouldn't, he knew his king too well to not notice how his eyes darkened even more than usual...

-" Aww he barks ! " You scoffed in the same tone, making the man frown. " Thank you for caring about my lip's color, and since this conversation is for the strong sex, the strong sex's gonna use her pretty lips to tell these men around that investing in your project would be the worst decision they could ever take. "

The conversations around the ballroom seemed to get muffled, everyone could sense the tension climbing across the air. Kokonoi frowned, quite interested by your statement.

-" This is not about a stupid feminist argument sweetheart-"

-" Watch your fucking mouth when you talk to her. "

The man shivered to the spine under Mikey's voice, nodded fervently and cleared his throat. All the executives could not help but follow what was happening mouth agape, since when did Mikey stand up for his bitches ?

-" I apologize, Sir. What I meant is, this conversation's quite complicated for her-"

-" why ?" You cut him off, struggling to free yourself from Mikey's grip to make a step toward him. " Is it because I was born with a pussy between my legs ?"

-" Show us a proof... " Ran whispered under his breath, Sanzu almost laughing out loud because of his lewd statement. At the same time, Ran's face turned pale catching his boss' dark glare on him.

-" Say that again ?"

The silence around was suffocating, you didn't even cared about what Ran might have said since you were too busy throwing death glares at the pharmacist.

-" Um prove ! I said she has nothing to prove. not to him. He should respect her honestly, that is not how you treat a lady-" The elder Haitani made it up, luckily for him Manjiro was way too busy keeping you grounded to care more about him.

-" Within 20 years, antibiotics will be obsolete and completely unnecessary, with bacterial resistance increasing and the anti-antibiotic movement growing. " You managed to free yourself from your boyfriend's grip to stand still, with all your height in front of the taller man. " You just don't like it when pussy comes with a head, that's it. "

-" I wouldn't mind you giving me both-"

-" Repeat that ?" Mikey snapped back after Rindou whispered under his breath. Rindou straightened, cleared his throat and adopted his usual weary face.

-" I said she's a goat, boss. Women are smart, they giv- have wonderful heads. "

At this point, Manjiro was just too busy burning you with his gaze to even care about Sanzu, Ran and Rindou struggling to contain their laughers as dumb schoolgirls. His rage was roaring inside him, not only because of the several eyes stuck on his pretty girl,but also because his pretty girl had to draw everyone attention to her.

In less than a second, your waist was squeezed again, you found yourself face pressed against his strong chest, only able to look at the white fabric of his suit's shirt when you heard him.

-" I gotta talk to my women. Koko ?"

That one's eyes which were stuck on the curve of your hips from behind quickly got back at Mikey's face, straightening his shoulders, he nodded toward his boss.

-" Take care of this f'me, be back in a few. "

With that, he guided you, without a word outside, in a terrace that emptied as soon as you two got inside.

Kokonoi guided the man further from his co-workers, talking about whatever, and they took the opportunity to start spilling whatever they have been thinking.

-" Wow- " Sanzu began, popped a pill and stared at his older brother who was the next to speak.

-" that was... Fuckin' hot. "

Either nodding, or scoffing, none of them could deny that for once, having a woman taking part of the talk, putting a man back in his place and especially such a gorgeous woman had all their pants tightening.

-" She's the pussy that has been taking the Sano-conda for months, no doubt she's strong " Sanzu replied, earning all the glances to himself. Kokonoi who just came back to them rose an eyebrow.

-" Don't tell me you just gave Mikey's dick a name? Don't tell me his name is literally a mix of Sano and Anaconda?"

-" Okay I won't tell you" that one shrugged, still it didn't wiped the disgusted expression on Hajime's face.

-" So, you guys now believe us ?" Rindou inquired, Kokonoi and Takeomi's gaze met for a second, remembering their bet. They were not ashamed, far from it, they were just pissed by the fact that no one would obviously ever win that bet.

-" Someone tells me where I could buy these dark impulses ? 'cause I got the darkest black card out here and never had such a glamour-puss ".

-" That's exactly how I called her !" Both the Haitani brothers exclaimed as twins, then turned to look at each other with a sly smile.

- " how are things going, champagne mate ?" Sanzu took a chance to approach his brother and mock him while that one groaned.

-" She would've accepted if she was not head over heels for Mikey, I'm sure. "

-" Spare us, she's so young you could be her dad. "

-" you're thinking I wouldn't like her callin' me daddy ?" Takeomi snapped right back, making the Haitani's laugh.

-" shit bro, that ass in that dress was screaming for a spank. Bet Mikey's spanking his naughty girl right now " Ran made almost all of the men laugh.

-" What the hell am I hearing ?" Mochi who just came back from where he was smoking in the terrace asked, joining the group.

-" Where were you ?"

-" Smoking. And bro, how the hell did Mikey managed to get himself such a hot stuff ?"

He almost startled when the Haitani's and Sanzu looked at each other and went in for another laugher. What caught him more aback was that both Koko and Takeomi were smirking.

-" What the hell's happening here ?" He turned toward Kakucho, the only serious one there and asked. The latter sighed.

-" Nothing, just them being... Them. And me wondering why the hell my mother didn't swallow instead. "

Mochi only nodded slowly, confused as if to laugh or cry because of his friend's state, before Sanzu cut him off.

-" You can play coy all you want, just don't dare saying you wouldn't want whatever the fuck Mikey's having on the terrace now ".

Throwing a death glare at Sanzu and feeling his cheeks heating because of all his co-workers laughers and glances at him, he put his hands in his pockets and looked away, ignoring the statement.

He would not deny that. He could not anyway. His boss got himself the prettiest and cleanest girl they had ever seen since they started their careers, sweet, smart, and fierce, him just like any other executive could not say they were not even the slightest bit envious.

-" Yeah that's what I thought" the latter scoffed. " What are they doing anyway ? It's cold outside. "

-" Yeah... " Kokonoi started, and even himself wasn't believing what he was about to say, yet the influence of staying so long around these men have had the best of him. " It's cold outside, she's gonna tell him to cum inside. "

Nearly everyone's attention was on their group at that point, the laugher most of them had let out echoing through the room until even both you and Manjiro heard it from the terrace. Kakucho and Takeomi were the only ones who didn't laughed, still a smile was there curling both their lips, reluctantly.

-" That was the lamest joke I've heard in my life. " Takeomi told Kokonoi, who only rolled his eyes.

-" This is a nightmare... " Kakucho stated, before Ran answered.

-" No, this is Bonten ".

-" Every Saturday night on your TV. Stay tuned. "

•••

If only the laughers echoing from inside have been useful, yet even those were not enough to cool off the atmosphere between the two of you.

Mikey had his back facing you, both his hands on the railing. His knuckles were turning white from how strong he was gripping that one, keeping himself grounded.

His demons started roaring again, screaming for destruction and burning with wrath. And deep inside, he was terrified.

Scared that he might just let go of the wheel, scared they might hurt you, the ones inside his head, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He has been so hell bent on keeping you away from his gang life at first, he really should have kept that mindset, let Ran die in his backseat that night because now, he knew there wouldn't be any back off possible. You were just too... Eye catching, your honesty, your innocence, everything about you was a forbidden fruit for all the devils inside that ballroom, not a wonder you got all their eyes stuck on you the entire night.

And that was one of the things upsetting him so much, how even his presence didn't scared them off of your face, of your body and your fire. That feeling of jealousy was a whole new cloud in his already dark sky, he had never felt such a thing before, never actually cared about anyone to even feel it. And now, he was finding himself wanting to kill people just because their eyes landed on you.

-" It's getting late-"

Enough, in a split second you found yourself pinned against the wall, with Mikey's hand around your throat and his knee pressed between your legs.

You gulped down, dived deep in those dark eyes you loved so much. Never have you ever seen his face in such a state, it was emptier than usual, darker, even. You could not help but feel scared, feeling your hands trembling on each side of your body yet you maintained his eye contact.

-" Find it fucking funny to have all those eyes on you ? Running this mouth 'f yours around my men ?"

His voice was lower than usual, more dangerous, his lips inches away from yours gave you the impression of eating you alive, but nothing could have been compared to the way his eyes were burning each inch of your skin, from your face to your chest.

-" You should be the one asking yourself questions. " You replied with all the courage left in your body. " Like : Do I actually own a gang or a kindergarten ? "

He would not hurt you, right ? You wondered right after the words left your mouth. Your Manjiro, the man that turned into a boy in your arms, he would never get mad at you until hurting you, right ?

You heavily doubted it as you watched his hand tightening around your throat, still his knee between your legs, the friction he was giving you had something comforting, as if he wanted you to understand you were not in danger of death.

-" You really want me to force you to watch as I kill them all, hm ?"

Closing your eyes briefly for a second, you repeated a mantra inside your head.

He would not, he would never... he just was feeling insecure, you knew him better than anyone. Being between a bunch of men which everyone wanted you in a different way had all his insecurities and demons screaming, be smarter.

-" When I fuckin' ask, you answer. "

His hand squeezed a little more on your throat, making you gasp louder. At the same time, Manjiro thrusted his knee against your crotch, making your clit throb from pleasure, a smirk adorned his merciless face while you squeezed your thighs against each other.

-" No. But I won't stay there and shut up when someone disrespects me. " In a bold, or maybe suicidal move, your hands flew to his collar and brought him closer to you. Lucky you, your gesture was rather soft, otherwise he would never have took it that lightly.

And to be honest, whenever you would flash that fierce part of yourself, he would already be thinking about thousand and one ways of having you, taking you, keeping you next to him forever.

-" You brought me here tonight. You wanted me to be your girl in front of anyone. You don't disrespect the boss' girl. "

His girl, could the world stop for a minute and just let him feel the hurricane moving his chest at that meer word?

Mikey stared blankly at your eye color, sinking deep in your ocean. There were so much things he could read there that he couldn't quite say anything, couldn't comprehend anything except his heart beating louder, his lips screaming to take your pretty ones. Each of your words was his daily reminder to why he has chosen to keep you longer in the first place, each more second that you sustained his glare was a slap in the face, telling him if whatever soulmates existed, you would be his.

-" if you waited long enough, you would've known I was only waiting for him to make one more mistake to gift you his head on a platter. "

Dead serious, the look in his eyes dared you to even think he wouldn't be able to do it. That night you knew, he knew, and all of them inside knew he would kill for you.

Your hands left his shirt to cup his cheeks, even though his dark desires were still yearning for destruction and pain, your gentleness soothed his worries and thoughts, he leaned in your touch the slightest bit.

-" I know that, but I don't want this. And deep inside, you don't want this either. "

Frowning, his hand around your throat loosened and his knee left your thighs, Mikey straightened, sensing where you were going and stared at you.

-" What do you mean ?"

-" I mean that you need someone who can stand for herself, even when you're not here. When you're by my side, I'm the strongest. But when you're not here, I take your sword and carry your crown gladly. "

Has his heart ever beaten that fast in years ? Through fights or workouts ? Through experiencing death ? Never, he promised. And nothing has never been that right, he had lost too many people to think he could protect you forever, what he needed was to rest, to feel like whenever he would not be able to stand for you, you would be able to do it yourself.

-" you don't need someone you can protect, Manjiro. You need someone who'll make you drop the sword for a while and rest, I can be that someone. I can be your someone. "

Think of it as if his whole life suddenly made more sense, as if hearing his needs out loud was the thing that made them relevant,accurate.

He felt exposed, naked, but not only. He felt as if you broke his walls, looked passed his insecurities that were hiding inside and built brand new walls around his heart. With windows, this time, to let the light seep in. He was at a loss of words and couldn't even face you, look you in the eyes.

Just what did he do to deserve such a blessing ? You were so perfect that it started to hurt, that it became torture to keep wondering when you would finally understand he was not worth it, you...

Your heart missed several beats when he turned his back to you, began making few steps toward the door that led inside the ballroom.

Was it the end ? Have you gone too far ? Months of trying to make his guards fall down have them ended up themselves falling, failing ?

Anxiety had you digging your nails in your palms, heart racing rapidly especially when he stopped few steps away from the door and turned to look at you from the corner of his eyes.

And God was he pretty, with his empty dark eye devouring you that way, wind slightly blowing his hair.

-" What you waiting for ?"

His stern voice snapped you out of your thoughts, you tilted your head to the side questioningly, eyeing the hand he reached toward you to take.

-" better hurry up and come with me, before I make them all hear how dumb I fuck my queen. "

Tag-list : @dreamingofyourmoons @fl4mepillar @thisbicc @isacreellover @Inupiko @akanemayumi @simpingforwakasa04 @luno614 @gukiemochi @shuujin

Wow, I bet you all know the kind of unfunny and lame jokes I make everyday, poor my friends...

I stressed posting this honestly cause you all liked the first part so much and I didn't wanted to ruined it, I was kinda pressured, hope you like it though !

About Sanzu's girl, it's soon to come ! And soon I'll be back to your requests, have a good night 🖤

Reblogs and comments are appreciated 🖤

Network : @downtown-roponggi @tokyo-ballroom

[doomfox]

College Days

Something I wrote after various ramblings and doodles with my friends, @etheriumart , @stillafanofsonic , and @appendingfic ! Go check them out and enjoy this ficlet! Also, taking writing prompts for this au! Send ‘em in!

...

Geoff was a weird kid. He knew it. Everybody told him so, even his father (who would, at every opportunity, utilise his dead name against him and point out his ‘unmanly’ hobbies as ‘proof’ he was faking his life), and he had simply come to accept it.

So he was somewhat glad, when he arrived at college, to find that people here could be as weird as they liked. And nobody gave a crap.

“Shit... sorry, dude.”

Some guy Geoff would never interact with again bumped into him, clearly in a rush, apologised and moved on. Geoff watched him leave, noting the plush toy strapped to his backpack. He stared. People here could be as weird as they liked. It made him feel safe.

He smiled to himself and turned on his way, adjusting his massive backpack and striding down the hall. He passed by a couple of girls openly making out, nobody batting an eye. He remembered the name of his roommate - Eclipse Whipple.

Eclipse. Weird name. Probably a weird kid like himself.

Geoffrey finally found his destination, a wooden door (one of many) along a narrow hall that was presently quiet. Most students would be in class or heading there right now, though he had nothing to do but dump his stuff and get ready for initiation in a few hours.

Geoff fiddled with the lock, opening the door and stepping inside. It was, as expected, a very spartan environment. Two beds, stacked head-to-head, a pale green carpet, a desk covered in clutter and a cheap computer, and a few posters on the wall above one of the beds.

Geoff paused. Ducks. The posters were of ducks.

“Oh hi!!! You must be Geoff!!!!”

An excited voice rasped from the figure reclining on the bed beneath the ducks and Geoff stared as he tried to figure out who - or what - he was looking at. He hadn’t know what to expect of a guy named Eclipse. Maybe a dude with long black hair, all-black clothing, with chains and makeup to match. Certainly not a reptilian humanoid with black-and-red scales, dressed in an old hoodie and jeans and with a tail that waved like a charmed snake behind him as he stood.

“I’m Eclipse!” The creature announced, heading over to greet Geoff. “I’m new here too! I bet we’re gonna be great friends!!!”

Geoff’s eyes were popping out his head by now, and he suddenly realised he was staring. “Uh... hi?” The human stuck his hand out to take Eclipses’s and the two teenagers shook. “Sorry I... you...” He raised a finger and pointed. “You’re an alien, right??”

Eclipse grinned, sharp yellow teeth gleaming from a white muzzle. “What gave it away? The tail and the scales??” HE stuck his tongue out, revealing it to be green and forked. “Yup! Alien as you can get!”

“I’ve heard about you guys!” Geoff said, remembering the news reports from several years ago. Of strange aliens defeating a giant robot in somewhere called Green Hills, and more of them slowly showing up. Now, though in no great numbers, they were everywhere, and the people of Earth were made aware of the existence of these otherworldly travellers. “I never thought I’d meet one of you!”

“You don’t have a problem with it?” Geoff watched as Eclipses’ tail, which had been waving happily behind him, now lowered and wrapped around an ankle.

“What?? No!” Geoff said, grinning wide. “Why would I??”

Eclipse shrugged but seemed happy. “Some people... some humans can be pretty weird with me when they first meet me. It’s not like my brothers... they’re fluffy, people think they’re ‘cute’ or whatever. Especially Silver.”

Geoff cocked his head. “You have brothers?? Like, alien brothers???”

Eclipse grinned. “Yeah!! OMG I’ll show you!” the alien turned and scampered over to his desk where a battered cell phone sat charging, “come on!! I’ll show you my family!!!”

Geoff did as he was asked, dumping his bag and heading over to check out Eclipses’ photo gallery. He found pictures of an older, chubby human with a full beard, who Eclipse called his dad, and two other alien creatures - one almost snow white and very fluffy indeed, the other black-and-red like Eclipse himself, with red eyes that pierced through the screen.

“... and that’s Silver with his rabbit!” Eclipse chattered happily, grinning mischievously as his tail waved, “I used to really wind him up when we were kids! I used to say I’d EAT Smokey!!”

Geoff guffawed. “No way!”

“Yeah! It was hilarious, he went crying to our dad every time!” The phone eventually went away and Eclipse clutched his stomach. “Speaking of food, I dunno about you but I’m starved! You wanna go grab something to eat?”

“Well...” Geoff’s anxiety rose a little, the human unsure about just wandering about a brand new college filled with unfamiliar people, “I guess...”

“Come on! We can explore too!” Eclipse grabbed Geoff’s hand, his three digits clutching the human’s five as he rushed for the door, “I was gonna go myself but it’ll be way more fun with somebody else! Let’s go!”

And so Geoff did, allowing himself to be dragged off by his brand new alien friend.

Which is how they found themselves wandering around the campus, exploring, checking out the gardens and watching students go by on their busy days. Eclipse seemed so excited and filled with energy, so much so that Geoff didn’t think he could keep up, but it was fun. Soon they found themselves in the cafeteria, in search of something to eat.

“I hope they have chicken wings!” Eclipse chirruped, ignoring the strange looks from humans as he had all morning, “chicken wings are my favourite! Or jerky! Or-“

“Hey...” Geoff paused, narrowing his eyes as he nudged Eclipses’ skinny arm. “take a look over there...”

“Huh?? What...” Eclipse looked about, tail waving as he tried to pinpoint what had caught his new friend’s attention... and gasped as he saw what was so interesting. An individual with long white hair tied into a ponytail, large pointed ears, and a long black tail tipped with white fur. “OMG!!! Another alien!!!” Eclipse said excitedly, “I had no idea!!!”

“How many of you guys ARE there on this planet??” Geoff said incredulously.

Eclipse merely shrugged. “Yeah, I have NO idea who that is...” he said, before grinning wide. “they’re sat on their own... let’s go say hi!!!”

Before Geoff could protest Eclipse was again leading him buy the hand toward the table, happily dragging the human into an engagement with their new friend.

“Hi! My name’s Eclipse!! And this is Geoff!!!” Eclipse said excitedly, hopping into the chair beside the other alien, “are you new here too? What’s your name?? Can we sit here??? I love your hair!!!!!”

“Uh... th.... thank you??” the very confused doglike alien stammered in a very deep voice, mismatched grey and yellow blinking in surprise.

Eclipse continued to stare, grinning happily as Geoff sat down on the stranger’s other side. “Hey, I’m Geoff.” He said, extending a hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you, do you mind if we join you?”

“Uh... no! No, that’s okay...” the alien ran a hand through his long white hair, awkwardly clearing his throat as he looked between his two new companions, “uh... my name’s Finley! Or... or Fin, I guess. The Jackal.”

“Awesome!!!!” Eclipse chirruped, “great to meet you, Fin! Man, I was worried I’d be the only non-human in this place!”

“Same!” Fin replied, a shy smile crossing his muzzle, “I didn’t know there were any other off-worlders here...” he frowned, looking Eclipse over, “but.. I don’t recognise your species?”

Eclipse shrugged. “It’s complicated,” he replied.

“And I’m just a boring old human!” Geoff added, not wanting to be forgotten about in the discussion. His stomach rumbled and he remembered what Eclipse had dragged them out for in the first place. “A pretty hungry human,” he said. “You mind if we grab something to eat Fin?”

“Sure...?” the Jackal replied, “you guys really want to sit with me?”

“Heck yeah!” Eclipse replied, already hopping out his seat and searching for the counter, “we can tell stories about each others’ planets!! It’ll be awesome!!!”

Soon enough, all three of them were happily eating and chatting at the table. Mostly Eclipse doing the talking, chattering about nothing while he tucked into a plate full of meat.

“... so Silver spent a whole week thinking I’d laid eggs in him!! I think he was checking the toilet everytime he went to see if they’d come out!!!!” The alien cackled, clearly revelling in the memory. “It was the funniest thing ever!!!”

“That.... does sound pretty funny...” Fin replied, poking at his fries.

Geoff frowned. “What are they anyway? Your brothers?” he took a bite out of his burger, ignoring the mustard dribbling from his chin. “They looked way different from you. No offense, just curious.”

“They’re hedgehogs!” Eclipse said helpfully, bits of chicken showing in his teeth as he grinned. “My whole family is... kinda adoptive,” he explained, his tail drooping a little as his grin followed suit. “Except for Shadow. He actually IS related to me by blood...” Eclipse stared into the table for a moment, as though considering something. “But that doesn’t matter!” he continued, infectious sharp-toothed grin returning, “my dad always said blood doesn’t matter when it comes to family! My dad and Silver are my real family, just as much as Shadow! Dad always said he’d accept us for what we are, not matter what!”

Both Geoff and Fin looked away at that statement. “He sounds like a cool guy...” Fin said quietly.

“Ditto,” agreed Geoff, “you’re real lucky, ‘Clips.”

Eclipse merely grinned and continued gnawing away at his chicken. “So what about you guys?” he said, continuing the conversation, “what are your families like?”

The silence that followed said as much as he needed to know. Not that Eclipse was observant enough to pick up on it.

“Unsupportive,” Geoff said bluntly, declining to explain more.

“My dad’s okay....” Fin said quietly, “he’s just... obsessed with money. The only reason I’m here is because he wants me to study Business... that’s why we moved to Earth. He says it’s a new planet with lots of opportunity.”

Geoff stared at the jackal incredulously. “So you just... moved planets??”

Fin shrugged. “Yeah... we came here when I was a kid.”

Geoff shook his head. “That’s insane!” he said, looking to Eclipse. “How long have you been on Earth?”

Eclipse shrugged. About nine years? I was about ten when I first got here. Not sure, I never figured out how time works in relation to the Black Co- ..... where I used to live.”

Geoff frowned. “Where was that?”

Eclipse shrugged. “I don’t like to talk about it...”

Oh. “That’s okay,” Geoff replied, “you don’t have to.”

There was movement beside him and Fin swore as he checked his cell phone. “Shit, I’d better get going... I’ll be late for my class...” he polished off his fries and stood, clutching his plate. “I guess... I’ll see you guys around?”

Eclipse looked up to the jackal, grin firmly back on his muzzle. “Heck yeah! We’re friends aren’t we??”

Fin stood still, one ear going flat while the other perked. “... friends?”

“Yeah!” Eclipse bounced in his seat. “We can be best friends! It’ll be totally wicked!!!”

Fin allowed a small smile at that. “Yeah... sure. I’d like that.” The jackal looked then to Geoff, who smiled and nodded his agreement. “Okay! Yeah, I guess I’ll see you guys later!”

“Call us!” Geoff said, “we’ll hang out!”

At that Fin excused himself and left, long tail waving behind him as he disappeared from the cafeteria. “This is so cool!” Eclipse said happily, wiping barbeque sauce from his chin, “I bet this is gonna be the BEST college year EVER!!!!”

Geoff quietly agreed, amazed at Eclipses’ childlike excitement. He’d been here an hour, maybe two, and his world had been turned upside down. Best friends with two weird and cool aliens from other planets. Who would’ve thought it?

[cowboycakes]

Loyalty

Chapter One: Memories

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x fem!Reader

Synopsis: You are a Marleyan warrior who holds the Jaw Titan, tasked with infiltrating Paradis and destroying it. But what happens when love causes you to betray your mission?

Themes: NSFW, 18+, action, betrayal, multi-chapter series.

Warnings: Female bodied reader, explicit sex (penetration/riding, gentle and fluffy, Levi is a virgin), violence/severe injury and blood/battle scenes, threats, mentions of death. Profanity. Spoilers seasons 1-4.

Word count: 2.7k (recently edited to make it flow a little better!)

Note: This story contains spoilers for all seasons of aot (not the manga). It is canon divergent (reader has the jaw titan rather than Porco and reader is on the mission with Reiner and Bertholdt.) Some scenes differ/are more rushed than the scenes they line up with in the actual show. This first chapter is set in season 3.

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The most important lesson you'd learned on this journey was that you couldn’t help who you fell in love with. Love would strike you like a viper by surprise, sinking its fangs deep inside of you and injecting you with lethal poison. Your poor soul was so torn.

The viper in question manifested itself as someone quite inconvenient. A raven haired man - the strongest, most cunning, most selfless man you’d ever observed. And all the while, he was still an island devil.

You were supposed to strike back at the viper, sinking your much larger set of jaws into his heart. Your mission - and specifically your mission - was to end him and his kind. The remaining Ackermans were dangerous. They were a threat to your and your comrades’ titan powers. The goal was to get close to him, to find his weaknesses and strengths. To know his ins and outs like the back of your hand. And then you’d have the advantage. Then you would kill him.

That plan had obviously backfired.

You stood on top of the wall now, alongside Reiner and Bertholdt after they’d just exposed the entire mission to Eren and the others. You could feel the static in the air from a few yards away. They were about to transform.

That wasn’t the problem, though. The problem was that the duo was looking right at you, waiting for you to slash your hand and join in. To rush to their side and eat Eren while you had the chance. Then you could all go home and be celebrated as heroes.

Instead, you were staring back at them - a big, sweaty, teary-eyed, nervous mess.

It was time to betray your homeland.

“I’m sorry Reiner, Bertholdt…” you sob, pulling your hand to your mouth, “but my loyalties lie elsewhere, now.” You rip your teeth through your hand.

Three bolts of lightning shake the wall simultaneously. You emerge in your strongest form - the jaw titan. Your titan had a hardened face like a skeleton with an elongated jaw that stuck out like a wolf. Sharp ridges lined your mouth like fangs, and bright red orbs glowed through your eye sockets. A mane with a color that mimicked your hair grew down from your neck.

You were terrifying. Which is why you needed to get the hell away from these scouts before they decided you needed to die.

You had no interest in defeating Reiner and Bertholdt, that was Eren’s problem now. You were more concerned about the captain on the other side of the wall. He could certainly handle himself, but Zeke had quite the throwing arm. Things could go south very quickly.

You launch yourself down the wall, using your giant talons to slow your fall. You scan the field as you descend, trying to find any sign of Levi.

A voice booms your name to the left of you as you reach the ground.

It’s Pieck in her titan form.

Pieck was like a sister to you. It’s been so long since you’d seen her. You feel a tinge of regret now. Pieck was never going to see you the same again.

You narrow your red eyes at her and charge with full force. Your jaws snap at her heels as she whips around and runs full speed across the field. You finally see who she was running to - Levi and Zeke. Zeke was cut out of his titan form and being held by the hair in Levi's hand.

You pick up your pace, grazing Pieck's legs with your sharp teeth. She stumbles when the two of you go over an indent in the ground, only a few yards from your destination. Her mishap allows you to sink your teeth into her legs. She turns around to bite your neck in response, crushing your weakest spot. You jolt your head, flinging her away from you.

She gets up fast after hitting the ground, continuing at full speed toward Zeke and Levi. You are quick to go after her again, but slow down once you see Levi drop Zeke and bolt out of Pieck's way.

Did he really just give up Zeke that easily?

Suddenly, you feel someone cutting through your titan's nape.

Your vision goes dark.

Out of the darkness, you’re thrown into an old memory. Ah yes, you remember now. All of it is so vivid, right in front of you again.

You’d sneak away to the Captain's office at night frequently. You’d tell yourself these visits were for the mission, to aid you in knowing your victim a little better. His weaknesses could certainly reveal themselves in the comfort of his study. But they certainly weren't for your mission anymore. You’d started to simply crave his company.

You’re walking down the dim halls when you hear two sets of footsteps approaching, quite rapidly. You’re met with two giant bodies slamming into you from behind, grabbing your arms to keep you from running.

“You know, Y/N, I’m getting worried about these visits of yours,” Reiner says, tightening his grip on you. You yelp. “There’s only so much you could be talking about in there with him. There’s only so much shit you could be making up about yourself. He’s going to catch on.”

“He isn’t!” you struggle, “And I’m more clever than these sluggish devil bastards! I’m getting all the information I need!”

“Guys, keep it down!” Bertholdt whispers, frantically looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

Reiner let’s go of you as you topple to the ground in front of him, your hands and knees landing on the cold brick floors below.

“Kill him faster,” Reiner whispers. The two of them make their ways back to their rooms in silence.

You finally stand up when you can’t hear their footsteps anymore, dusting your knees off and collecting your nerves.

You were the oldest titan shifter on the mission from Marley, quite a bit older than Reiner and Bertholdt. You were supposed to be bossing these little shits, not the other way around. But it seemed they were always calling the shots. You deserved to carry out your particular mission however you pleased.

Levi's door is cracked open a bit further down the hall, allowing some faint light to spill into the hall. And inside, there he was as usual, sitting at his desk with a tea and reading some boring literature that you could never understand.

“Long day?” he questions without looking up from his book.

“Yeah,” you sigh, plopping your body down onto a leather sofa near his desk. You lean back into it, reaching your arms up to stretch out. “Thanks for always letting me join you in here. It helps me de-stress.”

You had made a routine of coming in here after a fateful night in the dining hall, after you and Levi realized you could click really well in conversation. You two had shared your entire life stories with each other by now - yours obviously contorted to fit a reality that didn't consist of you being raised in Liberio. You'd grown very close to him, way closer than you had with anyone else in the Scouts. Even though he'd never met the real you, you could relate to him - his struggles and his past especially. His cynical personality had a strange and almost addicting way of brightening your day, and you'd always make sure to tease him for it. Not to mention how handsome he was. He'd catch you stealing glances at him sometimes, but you had a feeling he secretly liked the attention.

If you didn't know better, you'd think you were falling for him.

Your favorite stories of Levi's were of the Underground. It was such a peculiar concept to you, even though it faintly reminded you of life in Liberio. You realized that the people living in the Underground were lucky, in a way. They were oblivious to the world above, secluded from wars and titans. If only every other circumstance of theirs wasn't so unfortunate.

You smile at him as he finally looks up from his book.

“Your tea’s over there,” he says as his eyes dart to the coffee table.

You quickly grab the tea and move it to your mouth.

It was way too hot.

You feel titan steam shoot up from your lips. It had really burned you that badly. You slap a hand over your mouth before the steam could escape, the sound echoing off Levi’s office walls.

“What’s the matter? Tea’s gone cold?” Levi questions, his voice dark. His eyes had been on you the whole time.

“Hmmph?” you say through your hand.

Levi gets up and advances across the room, stopping just in front of you. You’re still frozen on the couch.

“I said, what’s the matter?” His hand meets the one still clamped over your steaming lips.

“Is there something you need to hide under there?” Levi’s finger slips under one of yours, forcing it away from your face. Then another.

Oh shit.

This was a setup. He was actually on to you.

Shit! Regenerate! Faster!

Another finger is forced away from your face. You close your eyes tight, focusing all of your energy to your lips.

This may be it. Right here. Reiner and Bertholdt were going to kill you.

The final two fingers are pried away at once. You open your eyes to look up at him innocently, no steam in sight.

“Uh…” you stutter.

He sighs.

“Sorry. Just trying to keep tabs on who my enemies might be.”

“So you… burned my mouth? Dickhead,” you laugh. You needed to come off as clueless as you could.

Levi’s eyes delicately scan your dewey face. Your lips were still throbbing and swollen. You always wondered if that’s what had compelled him.

He leans down, kissing you softly. Your eyes were wide and your face was motionless for a moment. Then you returned it, cupping a hand sweetly around his jaw.

In a flash, you’re transported to another memory.

You're sitting down on a wooden bench on the outskirts of the combat training arena. You remember being so tired on this day.

You lean your head back and close your eyes, letting the sun soak into your sweat-covered skin. Eventually, a shadow blocks the light shining on you.

You open your eyes to see Levi.

“Want to spar?” he taunted.

“Hell no,” you pant, still limp on the bench.

“You sure? Might be fun to have your ass kicked three times in one day.”

You chuckle at him.

Levi sits down next to you, leaning forward to support his elbows on his knees. The two of you sit there quietly, your ears filled with the sound of summer insects and a cool breeze through the trees.

Your eyes eventually wander to Levi again. He looks upset all of the sudden.

“I’m sorry for kissing you,” he states.

You’re shocked he’s actually bringing it up. After the kiss broke, he just went to sit down at his desk. He acted like none of it had ever happened.

“No, don’t be. I kind of liked it,” you confess, leaning forward to be at his level.

“This can’t continue.”

You feel a tight sensation in your chest. You’re hurt.

“Tell me about it,” you sigh, putting your head in your hands and thinking back to your real duties for once. You were only making things more complicated for yourself.

Of course, it did continue. The two of you avoided each other for a couple of lonely weeks until you nearly ended up in a titan’s mouth on a mission. It had you gripped tightly in its hand, completely helpless to it in your human form. You were about to transform when Levi swooped in and sliced its nape.

He helped you to your feet once the titan hit the ground and scolded you for your carelessness. You just stared back at him once he was quiet again. And he stared back at you. For a bit too long.

That night, you ended up in his office again and performed a teary-eyed confession about your feelings for him. It was in those moments that you discovered you didn’t care about the mission anymore.

You’re thrown into another memory.

This one was so intimate. So special. You never wanted to forget it.

“I’ve never,” Levi pants underneath you, “done something like this before.”

You’re straddling his thighs, tracing circles into his abs with your fingers.

“That’s ok, I’ll guide you,” you whisper.

Candlelight glows off of both of your naked bodies in Levi’s dimly lit bedroom. A surprise make out session led to Levi being curious, and the both of you taking all your clothes off in a rush and throwing each other onto the bed in desperation.

You move your hand from his stomach to his erection. Levi lets in a nervous breath once you make contact.

“Hey, you’re gonna do great,” you say sweetly, “you still wanna do this, right?”

“Yes, I do. Just nervous I’m not gonna… do it right.”

It was ironic to see humanity’s strongest so nervous about what was between your legs.

You shush him quietly as you move your lips down to his tip, slowly taking his length into your mouth. You drag your lips up and down as he lets out tiny grunts and bucks his hips up slightly to meet you.

Once he’s warmed up to your touch, you scoot up over his legs until you’re almost straddling his length.

You look up at him to see his eyes wandering over your bare body, lingering in your more intimate spots.

“You’re really beautiful. I’m not sure if I’ve ever told you that,” Levi murmurs as he moves a hand up to glide over the side of your waist.

“You too,” you smile at him. “Are you ready?”

He nods.

You lift yourself up gently before easing him into you. The perfect sensation of him pressuring your walls made your breath hitch. You feel him let out a huff of air once he's fully inside.

You start to rock your hips up and down rhythmically as you lean forward to place your hands on his collarbones. He gently thrusts back to meet your hips. His mouth was parted, his face was flushed and sweaty. He grips the sheets in his hands as you continue riding him.

Everything felt so warm and wet. So gentle and passionate.

Both of you let out little whines as you speed up.

"How can I," he moans, "make you... finish."

You grab his hand from the sheets and move his finger to your clit, pleasuring yourself with it for a moment.

"Just like that," you whisper. "You're doing so good."

The two of you continue rutting against each other on the bed - two wet, tingly, whiney, pleasure-filled messes.

All of it felt so right. It was honest.

The memory gradually crumbles in front of you, plunging you back into the darkness.

It wasn’t the intimacy, the long talks, or the sex. It was none of that.

It was the fact that he was a brave and honest thing in your world full of lies. It made you fall for him.

Levi made you rethink your entire role in this war. What right did you have to come and destroy people’s lives? These people were innocent for all you knew. They were the victims. But they had spirit, guts, and passion that no one on Marley did. You related to them. You loved them.

So whose side did you really belong on?

And why were you being shown these memories?

And what was this bloodcurdling noise suddenly ringing in your ears?

It sounded like… your screams.

You finally enter reality again with a gasp, coughing up leftover fluid in your lungs from your titan form. You look down frantically at your body to see all of your limbs severed. Someone had cut you out of your titan form.

The culprit was crouched right in front of you.

Levi.

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Hi guys! I've been sitting on this fic for awhile, unsure if I wanted to post it or not - I sort of wasn't confident abt it. But I hope some of you like it! I will be coming out with another chapter soon. Also, if you left a request, I promise it will be up soon! Lots of love - Shep

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[meganwritesfanfics]

Fresh Bruises (Josh Lyman x Reader) Part 1

WARNING This story contains mention of domestic abuse

“The speech was amazing Mr. President.” Y/N said as she walked next to her boyfriend her arm linked with his. 

“Thank you Y/N, but the credit really goes to Sam and Toby.” President Bartlett said as the whole entourage made their way through the halls of the hotel. 

“I would sir, but I wouldn’t want them to get a big head.” Y/N laughed.

“You know you two are really made for each other.” CJ laughed as she walked next to Josh. 

Josh smiled as he kissed the side of Y/N’s head. 

For a moment everything seemed to be going fine. The speech had gone amazing, everyone was feeling good about it, people were happy, including Toby. That was until Leo, who had been on the phone turned around to look at everyone, a worried look on his face. 

Quickly Josh turned to look at Y/N. 

“Go, I will stay back here with CJ.” Y/N said as she reached out and straightened his tie. 

“I love you.” Josh said kissing her cheek before he headed up to Leo and the President with Toby and Sam following quickly behind. 

“It’s probably nothing,” CJ tried to soothe even though Y/N knew otherwise. Leo and Josh were very similar in the sense of when something was really wrong, it was pretty easy to tell. “I can’t believe you gave up working in the White House just to date him.” She teased, pointing towards Josh who was having a hard time not glancing back to look at Y/N. 

“I loved working at the White House, don't get me wrong, but I have always wanted to be a family law practitioner. Plus I love Josh and he... “ Y/N started when suddenly she saw a man standing in the hallway to the side. It was a face she hadn’t seen in a long while. 

“Y/N?” CJ asked, looking at her questioningly. “Is everything ok? Do you know him?” 

“He’s an old...friend.” Y/N said with disdain. “I will catch up with you guys.” 

CJ smiled hesitantly before she walked away. 

By the time they had made it outside both Sam and Toby were on the phone. Leo was talking to Bartlet and Josh had finally broken away looking for CJ and Y/N.  Through the crowd he could make out  CJ but he couldn’t see Y/N anywhere. 

“CJ!” He called as he made his way over to her. “Where is Y/N” 

“She saw someone she knew inside and stopped to talk to him.”

“Him?” Josh said a slight bit of jealousy in his voice. 

“Yeah, I recognized him but I couldn’t figure out why, but something felt really off about the whole situation.” CJ started and suddenly a knot formed in Josh’s stomach. 

“CJ, what did he look like.” Josh said as he grabbed onto CJ’s shoulders firmly and in such a way that scared CJ.

“Josh, I don’t know I just saw him for a moment he…” She started when suddenly her focus shifted to behind Josh. “Like him Josh.” She pointed as Josh quickly spun around. The knot in his stomach grew, so much so that Josh felt like he was going to throw up. The man he saw was one he had not seen in two years and one he had hoped he would never see again. 

“You are a giant brat you know that right.” Y/N said storming into Josh Lyman’s office. 

“A brat wow I don’t think I have heard that one since the 3rd grade.” Josh smiled looking up from the report he was reading. 

“You cannot just invite me to go with you to the gala. And you especially cannot ask Donna to ask me.”  Y/N exclaimed however there was no anger in her voice only amusement. 

“Well I couldn’t be expected to trudge my way all the way to your office just to ask you to go to an event you should have been invited to in the first place.” Josh laughed. 

“If you couldn’t be bothered to come to my office then why should I be bothered to go to the gala with you.” Y/N stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Oh don’t act like you are not stoked to be going to the gala. Donna said you haven’t been able to stop talking about wanting to go, so I figured I would help you out.” 

“Oh thanks for the pity ticket.” Y/N said her voice changing slightly as she turned to leave his office. 

“Hey wait.” Josh quickly said as he stood up rushing towards Y/N grabbing her wrist. 

Quickly Y/N instinctively flinched away pulling her sleeve down trying to hide the bruises. 

Josh took a step back, lowering his head slightly. “It was not out of pity.” 

Y/N reached out taking Josh’s hand. “Thank you Josh, but I can’t go with you. I’m with Henry.” 

Josh let go of her hand quickly running it through his hair as he made his way back behind his desk. “No, yeah, I know that. I was just thinking we could go as coworkers, and friends.” 

“I would love that, but I don’t think Henry would see it that way.” There was a silence between the two filled with tension. “I’m sure there are plenty of girls who would love to go with you.” Y/N said looking down. 

“Are you sure, I could always talk to Henry.” 

“No, please don’t do that, if you talk to him, I can’t have you, he won’t…” Y/N said completely flustered. 

“Hey, hey, hey” Josh quickly said rushing towards Y/N but being cautious not to grab her, not wanting to scare her. “It’s ok, I won’t talk to him if you don’t want me to.”  Slowly he placed his hand on her arm. He looked down at her hand seeing the bruise around her wrist that couldn’t be hidden by her shirt. “Y/N. Are you ok? Does Henry…” Josh couldn’t find the words to say just exactly what he was thinking without upsetting her more. 

“Does Henry what?” A voice said causing Y/N to nearly jump out of her skin. 

Both Josh and Y/N quickly turned to see Henry standing in the doorway, arms crossed. 

“Henry!” Y/N gasped jumping back away from Josh. “What are you doing here honey?” 

“Well I came here to see if you wanted to get lunch.” Henry said with almost a growl. 

“I just… Josh was…” Y/N said panicking and Josh could see the fear in her eyes. 

“I had a legal question, Y/N was just helping me out.” Josh quickly said trying to come to her rescue. 

“Ah, I see.” Henry said quickly changing his focus from Y/N to Josh with a wicked glare. “Y/N can I speak with you in your office.” 

“Yeah of course. Josh I will.” Y/N gulped. “I will see you later.” 

Josh knew he should have said something, he knew he should have done everything in his power to stop Y/N from going with him. But he didn’t. He thought they were in the White House for god sakes, Henry wasn’t that stupid. Plus Y/N’s secretary would be outside her office, she would hear if anything was happening. That was what Josh kept telling himself. But he couldn’t focus on anything but wanting to head to her office. 

“Donna!” He finally yelled after about an hour of rereading the same sentence. “Will you call Y/N’s assistant and set up a meeting.” 

“Celia said that Y/N gave her the rest of the day off.” Donna called back immediately, sending a knot into Josh’s stomach as he quickly stood up heading towards Y/N’s office. 

“Josh, Josh where are you going?” He could hear Donna call but he was on a mission. 

“Josh.” Toby quickly said as he walked by Josh, noticing how pale he was. 

“Follow me.” Josh said not even stopping. 

Toby quickly did as he was told, catching up to Josh who was nearly sprinting down the walls of the White House. 

“Josh what is going on, what is wrong?” Toby tried to say but Josh was too focused, too scared about what he was going to find when he got to that office. All that came to a screeching halt when he saw Henry. Josh froze causing Toby to almost collide with him. 

“Josh what are we…” Toby started as Josh threw up a hand to shush him. They watched as the nervous man came out of Y/N’s office, looking around frantically when suddenly he made eye contact with Josh. Instantly Josh knew, he knew what had happened. As Josh took a step forward, Henry took off. Instead of focusing on the man who ran, the two men bolted inside the office. 

As soon as the door opened they could see the destruction. There were papers tossed everywhere, chairs were knocked over, books had been pulled out of the bookcase and were now on the floor. 

“Oh my God.” Toby gasped.

Josh didn’t have words as his eyes suddenly landed on the form of Y/N who was laying on the floor behind her desk. Quickly he ran to her noticing the bruises and the bloody gash on her forehead. “Call someone!” 

Toby left, leaving Josh who had scooped Y/N into his lap as he assessed the damage. Y/N had a busted lip, her nose was bleeding potentially broken and the gash was bleeding through the cloth Josh had ripped from his shirt and placed there. 

“Y/N, wake up ok, I need you to wake up.” Josh pleaded, looking up to see Toby standing in the doorway again. 

Suddenly Y/N woke up gasping as she looked around the room. For a moment she didn’t remember what had happened, that was until she looked into Josh’s eyes. 

“Y/N, are you ok?” Josh quickly asked and Toby ran over to join Josh kneeling next to them. 

“What, oh yeah, I uh… I just fell. I must have hit my head on the desk. I’m so clumsy sometimes I…” Y/N rambled sitting up not looking either of the two men in the eyes. 

“Y/N, stop.” Josh said forcefully, causing her to look him in the eye. 

“I just…” Y/N tried again but tears had started to form in her eyes. She couldn’t do it, she didn’t have an excuse, she didn’t have anything she could hide behind. When she looked at the two men before her, she knew that there was no more hiding it. “Josh.” She cried as she began sobbing. 

“Hey, shhh” Josh said wrapping his arms around her. “It’s ok, he’s not going to get away with it. We are going to call…” 

“No!” Y/N quickly exclaimed grabbed Josh’s arm tightly. “You can’t call the police. You can’t.” 

“Y/N, Henry just beat the living crap out of you. And I take it this isn’t the first time.” Josh said, causing Y/N to look down at her bruised wrists. 

“Josh, you don’t understand he works for the police. He is the police.” Y/N said looking back up at Josh, whose heart broke seeing how damaged she was. 

Josh hesitated for a moment, all he wanted to do was see that son of a bitch burn, but he knew that he couldn’t force Y/N to do anything she didn’t want to. 

“Ok, we won’t call the police but I’m not letting him near you again.” Josh growled protectively holding onto Y/N. 

“Josh, I live with him all of my stuff is at his place I can’t…” Y/N started again but Josh shook his head. 

“You can stay with me until you find another place and Toby and I will go pick up all of your stuff Y/N. You don’t need to be afraid of him anymore. I won’t let him hurt you again I promise.” 

“I don’t want him to hurt you guys.” Y/N cried leaning into Josh more. 

Josh smiled slightly as he gently kissed the side of Y/N’s head. “Don’t worry Y/N we will be careful.”

“Thank you Josh.” Y/N smiled at him as the paramedics came into the room. 

Josh was true to his word, he hadn’t let Henry near Y/N again, at least not alone. He took care of her and let her stay at his place. She never found a new apartment though because it wasn’t long before the two began dating. Y/N had quit working at the White House because she knew it was a conflict of interest to be on the legal counsel for the White House and to be dating a White House Staffer, but more importantly, she really wanted to work in family law. Their life together wasn’t perfect but the two wouldn’t ask for it any other way. And after more than a year and a half of dating Josh knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Y/N. 

That’s what made seeing Henry even more terrifying for Josh. And as he looked at the man and looked into his eyes. Josh saw the same look he had seen two years ago in the White House, but this time Josh looked down to see a knife in Henry’s hands. 

“Y/N!” Josh screamed as he took off running back into the hotel. CJ followed quickly behind him leading Josh back to where she had last seen Y/N. 

Josh felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. As he ran through the halls he prayed to every god he could think of that he would find Y/N and she would be fine. But as CJ stopped in the hallway pointing to where she had last seen Y/N, and as Josh saw a single high heeled shoe, one that matched exactly the kind of shoes Y/N had been wearing he knew that the likelihood of her being ok was slim. 

“Y/N!” Josh screamed again as he ran in the same direction of the shoe. 

At this point Toby and Sam had made there way into the hotel, after informing the secret service that they needed to get the president away, they didn’t know if there was an immediate threat but they knew something was wrong.

“Josh I saw Henry what was he doing here I thought he moved out of D.C.” Toby said as he followed after Josh. 

“I don’t know but he had a…” Josh started when suddenly he looked up to see a bloody handprint on the wall. 

“Oh God.” CJ gasped, her hand instinctively going over her mouth. 

Josh bent forward feeling as though he wanted to throw up. He knew that he needed to keep looking for Y/N, that he needed to find her, but he was so scared, so terrified of what he was going to find that his body wouldn’t move. 

“Josh, Josh we need to keep going.” Sam pleaded with him gently laying his hand on his back. 

Josh nodded straightening back up as he continued down the hall following the bloody handprints and pools of blood that trailed their way down. Toby had made his way a few feet ahead of them and as he turned a corner following the blood he quickly backed up as he turned white. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Josh could barely say his voice cracking so hard the words were barely audible. He quickly ran over to where Toby was looking down the hallway, and when he saw it his knees gave out as he fell to the floor. “No, no, no” He cried as he began to crawl to the body of Y/N who lay unconscious on the floor surrounded by blood. “Y/N” Josh cried as he pulled her into his arms. Her face was beaten and was already starting to bruise and as he looked down trying to assess the damage he saw the source of the bleeding, a giant gash in Y/N's stomach. “Oh god!” He gasped trying to take off his jacket but Toby beat him to it, placing his jacket on Y/N’s stomach applying pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “Baby, please wake up, I need you to wake up. Y/N I love you please.” Josh pleaded as he kissed each bruise on her face, his tears mixing in with the blood. 

“Josh, she has a pulse, but it’s faint we need to get her help.” Sam said. 

“Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine my love.” Josh said as he picked up Y/N walking as fast as he could out of the hotel where he found a slew of secret service waiting. 

“What happened?” 

“Where did the suspect go?” 

The questions came at lighting speed and Josh knew he should answer them but his mind was only focused on the woman in his arms. A woman who he couldn’t imagine living without. 

Toby quickly jumped in answering as many questions as he could as Josh made his way towards the ambulance that was waiting. 

He could hear people talking to him, but his mind couldn’t process what they were saying. All he could do was stare down at Y/N’s face, watching as his tears fell hitting her cheek. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry.” He cried. 

He felt someone reaching out to grab Y/N and he instinctively pulled away. 

“What is your name,” A voice said and Josh finally looked up to see a kind paramedic looking at him her eyes soft. 

“Josh,” He spoke softly, his voice broken. “Joshua Lyman.” 

“Ok Josh, I need you to let us help her ok. You can stay right by her side but I need you to let us take care of her.”  

Josh hesitated for a moment before he nodded and handed Y/N over to the paramedics, his hands shaking. 

“Good, now tell me about her,” The paramedics continued as the other began to strap wires to Y/N and began bandaging her up. 

“Her name is Y/N Y/L/N she is my girlfriend.” Josh continued his eyes staring at Y/N his breathing getting more and more rapid. 

“We are going to take care of Y/N, don’t worry ok, but I need you to stay calm ok, I think you are going into shock.” The paramedic continued. 

“I just…” 

“Josh!” A voice screamed and he turned to see Toby running up to the ambulance with Sam and CJ following behind. “We will meet you at the hospital, I’m going to call Leo and tell him what happened.” 

Josh just nodded his eyes were wide and everyone could see that he was extremely pale. 

“It’s going to be ok,” Sam said trying his best to be positive about the situation. 

“Alright Josh, we have to get going ok,” The paramedic said. 

Josh nodded again and as the doors began to shut to the ambulance he watched as Toby looked at him, tears in his eyes, as he placed his hands on his heart.

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

All Men Have Limits - IV

Character: Dick Grayson x Reader x Bruce Wayne

Summary: A certain bat believes that Y/N is in way over her head, that she’s too naive to act in her best interest. So, whether she wants it or not, the vigilante family is going to help and protect her before she gets herself killed.

Word Count: 3,800+

Previously on…

As Y/N packed her bags, she was also brainstorming her route once she got to her safe house. She’s just stay there for a couple of nights. Then she’d leave town. Gotham wasn’t safe for her right now. And if she was out of city limits, The Court of Owls had less influence. Though she didn’t doubt they’d send an assassin to the other side of the world to hunt her down.

Y/N looked around her extravagant room.

She doubted she’d ever be back here.

Things were getting…complicated.

It was a cruel reminder for why she kept to herself. People meant drama. Drama meant distractions. And distractions meant she wasn’t focused on the task at hand – which was bringing down the corrupt.

Y/N was just zipping up her duffle when there was a knock on her door.

“Come in!” She turned to see Dick walking in.

He eyed her bag. “What are you doing?”

“I was just about to go pack up my equipment in the cave.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here,” he confirmed.

She gave him a repulsed look. “Uhh…No, I am not. This mansion is about to be flooded with unidentified members of The Court.”

“Sure is,” Dick smirked. “But I have a solution.”

He held out his hand to show a bracelet. It looked expensive. The band was gold but there was a giant garnet gemstone at the center of it.

Dick handed it to Y/N.

“You shouldn’t have?” Y/N asked with confusion.

“I called in a favor with an old friend. She’s a magician.”

Y/N tried not to laugh, “A magician?”

Dick gave her a playful glare. “Yeah, a magician. But it’s not tricks and gimmicks. She knows actual magic.” He tapped the gemstone. “When you wear this, you’ll look like a different person. It’s a cloaking spell.”

“Why didn’t you guys suggest this right away?”

Dick sighed. “Bruce isn’t fond of metas and…magic.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just leave?”

“I would rather have you in disguise with our eyes on you, than have you out of reach,” he explained softly. “When you’re wearing this, all of us will still be able to see the real you. But not anyone else.”

“I don’t want to go to this stupid gala. I’ll just wear this and stay in my room or the cave.”

“Well…that’s the other part,” Dick cleared his throat awkwardly. “You’re gonna be my date.”

Y/N blinked in surprise. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone asked her on any kind of date. Not that Dick even asked. He more so told her.

“That wasn’t exactly a request, Dick.”

“Everyone knows everyone. If you’re by yourself, people will ask too many questions. But if you’re my date, no one will think twice why you’re there.”

“I-I don’t have anything to wear…”

Dick laughed lightly. “Alfred already sent out for a dress and shoes for you.”

“…why do I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman?”

“Come on, Y/N. You know it’s not like that.”

Y/N remained annoyed.

“I’ll be here at your door around 8 tonight, k?” Dick gave her a soft smirk.

“Fine.”

———————

This was just another night for Dick. He’d been dragged to enough of these stupid galas to know the drill: wide smiles, forced laughter, and lay the charm on real thick. With the way this family handled their identities, they could’ve been a family of actors instead of vigilantes.

Dick straightened his cufflinks as he made his way to Y/N’s room.

He could hear the murmur’s of the guest from the ballroom, proving just how many people were attending for the sound to reach him in such a giant manor.

There was a part of Dick that half expected Y/N to be in her usual baggy sweaters and leggings when he opened the door. A silent protest that she wasn’t going to be anyone’s arm candy tonight.

Dick knew he didn’t give her much choice.

When his family had been discussing the situation, Dick tried to off to stay hidden out of sight with Y/N. But Alfred was having none of it. They all knew he took these events rather seriously. Especially one that was started and named after Bruce’s mother.

Dick knocked and turned his back to the door, he double checked there were no guests exploring where they shouldn’t be.

When the door opened, Dick turned around and was stunned to silence.

“Is this bracelet working on you or do I really look that bad?”

Y/N shifted as he stared at her like she’d cast a spell on him.

Dick was seeing Y/N. That was for sure.

“I see the dress fit,” he finally spoke.

What the hell was the matter with him? That’s really what he chose to say?

Though Y/N couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. “That it does.”

Dick woke up a bit and cleared his throat. “You look…beautiful.”

He never had a problem charming women. So why is he suddenly talking like a total cave man?

“Don’t look so surprised,” Y/N call him out teasingly. “Just because I dress like a scrub every day doesn’t mean I don���t know how to clean up.”

His brow furrowed at the first comment. “You’ve never looked like a scrub, Y/N.”

OK. OK. He was getting back to his normal self.

“Well…” Y/N broke eye contact from her bashfulness. “Thank you.”

Dick held out the hook of his arm. “Shall we?”

Y/N inhaled, “Right.”

As soon as she hooked her hand onto Dick’s bicep, a wave of relief washed over her. She wasn’t doing this alone; she was doing this with him at her side.

“So, what’s the the plan here?” Y/N asked nervously.

“The plan is to blend in. Don’t talk to any press. And…” He smirked. “It wouldn’t hurt to try and have a good time.”

“Right. I’ll try to do that while I’m in a room possibly filled with people who want me dead…” Y/N sighed.

“Not ‘possibly.’ There will be.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes at him. “Way to make me feel better, Dick.”

He laughed. “You’ll be fine. I’ll be with you the whole time. Damian, Tim, and Bruce will be there, too. And somehow Alfred convinced Jason to even make an appearance. You’re not in this alone, Y/N.”

“Mhmm,” Y/N answered as they arrived to the party. She didn’t bother hiding that she was still extremely nervous and on edge.

“I did really mean it,” Dick told her quietly.

His tone made Y/N tear her eyes away from the party to look at him. “Really mean what?”

“You look beautiful.”

His words didn’t fumble this time. He was confident and clear, leaving no room for doubt or insincerity.

Y/N gave him a shy smile.

“I’m guessing a drink would make this a bit easier, huh?” Dick offered.

“Yes. Yes, it would.”

Dick guided her to the nearest bar.

All the staff knew what the Wayne family looked like. Which meant the bartended skipped over all other guests and b-lined for Dick when he requested a drink, and then looked to Y/N to order what she wanted.

There was loud laughter from a group of people near them. Followed by a voice that Y/N thought she knew, but still sounded a bit off.

When Y/N looked over, she realized it was Bruce talking to a group of guests, who were absolutely fawning over him. He was smiling and laughing, and taking very frequent sips of his drink.

This was Bruce Wayne: the character. Charming playboy, debatable narcissist, and spoiled brat. But in the eyes of Gotham’s elite, he could do no wrong.

Y/N wondered if Bruce had ever considered bringing her as his date. ‘Don’t you start,’ said a voice inside her head.

Dick followed her eye line.

“Doesn’t it make you nauseous watching him like this?” Y/N mumbled.

“Not Dick. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Jason answered.

Dick and Y/N turned to see Jason and Damian.

Yes, Dick adopted Bruce’s charm. But he didn’t rip himself into pieces, building characters that were unrecognizable to the people who actually knew him. Dick’s charm was a part of his personality. His flirtations came naturally. But he only used them on people he intended on building a genuine connection with. (Though Nightwing was guilty of using said charm on targets during missions a few times.)

Y/N looked around for Tim and saw him talking to what appeared to be serious businessman. He was the only one carrying on the legacy at Wayne Enterprises. If any of the boys needed to be here, it was Tim.

“Shouldn’t you guys be making rounds or something?” Y/N asked.

Jason shrugged. “People only cared about us when we were cute kids. Now we’re just spoiled adults who are the product of nepotism.” He smirked down at Damian. “But this one isn’t out of the clear yet.”

“Don’t remind me,” Damian groaned. “At the last one, a woman pinched my cheeks as if I was some toddler.”

“I thought I was about to watch him murder someone,” Dick added.

“I wanted to,” Damian clarified.

Dick started talking to Jason about something.

It provided Y/N the perfect window with the youngest Wayne. 

“I’ll sneak you alcohol if you do a mercy killing for me,” she offered Damian.

The boy looked amused but gave no indication that a deal was made.

“Your date that awful?” Jason teased as he smirked at Dick, who ignored him.

“Do you have the hearing of a dog? Fuckin’ Christ.”

The four of them stuck together for most of the night. Tim would touch base with them every so often. But he kept getting dragged away by board members or partners or anyone that wanted to kiss the ass of the future head of Wayne Enterprises.

Dick and Y/N were laughing at Jason about something when Dick’s face suddenly fell as he spotted something on the other side of the room.

“God damn it, Damian.” Dick hissed as he put his drink down on the nearest counter. He turned to Y/N. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

Y/N just nodded.

But then Jason seemed to spot the youngest brother as well.

“I should probably help him and do some damage control,” Jason sighed.

Y/N laughed and nodded for him to go ahead.

“Now you can see why I avoid these shit shows.”

She laughed but pushed him away, “Go help Dick.”

Now that Y/N was alone, her senses was hyper focused on the party around her.

As she reached for her drink, she noticed that her surrounding area had gone eerily quiet. And she felt far too many eyes on her. There were hushed whispers and even gasps. 

“Would you care to dance?” A voice asked from behind her.

Y/N’s entire body tensed.

She turned to see Bruce waiting patiently for her response.

But the look on his face was that of a man she didn’t know.

Bruce had a charming glitter in his eyes and his smirk was arrogant.

Y/N looked around at their audience, then at the dance floor. She was desperately trying to remember the last time she danced with someone.

“Umm…I don’t really know how–” her words came out so slowly.

“How to dance?” Bruce offered.

Y/N nodded.

“You just need a good partner,” he reassured her as he held out a hand.

‘What a fucking line,’ Y/N thought as she tried not to roll her eyes. She half expected him to add a wink.

Bruce guided her to the center of the dance floor and then pulled her closer with his right hand while his left wrapped around her hand.

Y/N wasn’t expecting him to pull her so close, but their body’s were now pressed together.

Bruce moved his mouth to her ear. “Relax,” he murmured.

“It’s hard to relax when you’re using me to set up your new flavor of the week,” she criticized. “Everyone is watching us.”

Bruce may be used to such scrutiny, but Y/N had zero experience with it. And it was safe to say she hated it.

“They’re not looking at me. They’re looking at you,” Bruce corrected.

“A woman who’s not even me. It’s just the dress.”

“I’m happy you like it, seeing as I picked it out,” he commented smugly.

Y/N’s chest tightened at the revelation.

“I see the real you right now, and that’s who I asked to dance.”

Y/N wanted to make a run for it. She didn’t want Bruce with an audience. She just wanted him to herself and she wanted him as he really was.

But her brain shut down for just this song and she followed her heart.

If Y/N concentrated hard enough, she could ignore all the invasive gawking. If she closed her eyes, it was just her and Bruce. So, Y/N tucked her head into his shoulder and let Bruce glide them across the floor.

Somehow she felt that Bruce was allowing himself this as well.

One song was not enough for what they both needed and wanted.

But Y/N would take what she could.

Though what she did not expect was to finally pull away to see Bruce looking utterly heartbroken. As if pulling away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever have to do. And for the first time, Y/N legitimately considered that Bruce might want the same thing as she did.

He’ll just never act on his feelings.

If Y/N had blinked, she could’ve missed the moment of honesty and vulnerability Bruce had colored all across his face – bleeding from his eyes.

Because, the next moment, the character was back.

As the party clapped for the band, someone called Bruce’s name. And their locked stare was broken.

And just like that, Y/N was snapped back to reality as if someone threw a bucket of freezing water over her.

Now that Bruce had moved on, no one bothered to keep their voices down. And the upperclass women of Gotham made it loud and clear that they were not pleased with Y/N’s presence.

“Seems he’s found his next prey.”

“She looks half his age, of course he would go for her. Typical man.”

“She’ll eventually learn like we all did.”

“I still say he was the best lay I ever had.”

“Remember when we both slept with him in the same week?”

Now Y/N wasn’t just brought back to reality – she was put in her place.

Before she could even realize what was happening to stop it, her eyes were filled with tears. She had to get out of there.

“Excuse me,” Y/N whispered desperately and she tried to push her way through the crowd.

As soon as she made it outside, she let out a gasp. The fresh air helped, but it wasn’t enough.

There wasn’t any guests outside, but Y/N didn’t feel a safe enough distance from the party. The gardens and maze were in her peripheral and it took her all of two seconds to decide that would be her safe haven.

She hurried through the maze and prayed that no drunken couples had tried to also sneak away from prying eyes. 

But when Y/N reached the center of the maze, she was alone.

A fountain sat in the middle and the sound of its moving water calmed Y/N down a bit. But even that couldn’t stop her tears from finally escaping.

Y/N sat on the edge of the fountain as she tried to get a hold of herself. She could only imagine what this was doing her makeup that she spent an hour doing. 

‘What a waste,’ she thought.

Her escape was short lived. 

Dick called her name repeatedly from a distance.

Y/N panicked at the idea of him catching her crying. She quickly tried to hide any evidence of tears and pull herself together.

Dick finally caught up and let out a sigh of relief from behind her.

“Y/N, you can’t run off like that,” he tried to tell her.

He opened his mouth to lecture her further, but when he finally made it around the fountain and was facing her, his concern shifted. 

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing,” Y/N struggled to speak without sounding nasally. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You were crying.”

“I’m fine,” she tried to laugh. “Seriously, Dick.”

But he wasn’t having any of it. He moved to sit next to her on the edge of the fountain. Without hesitating, he wrapped an around her shoulder and pulled her into him.

“Come here,” he muttered softly.

Why did it feel so natural for him to do that? Like he’d done it a million times before?

He rubbed her arms. “Jesus. You’re freezing.”

Then he was taking off his suit jacket and putting it over her shoulders. But he didn’t miss a beat, quickly bringing her back into his arms again.

“Wanna tell me what’s got you so upset?” Dick asked after a few minutes of silently comforting her.

“It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to me if it made you cry.”

Y/N took in a shaky breath, feeling like she was on the cusp of crying again. “I’m just like the rest of them.”

Dick waited, feeling like she needed to say more before he spoke.

“They were whispering terrible things. But it was everything I already knew. I’m just another stupid girl that managed to convince herself that she was different.”

Dick was silent as he processed his words. It wasn’t hard for him to know Y/N was talking about Bruce, even thought she never uttered his name. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Dick announced. “Let’s ditch this stupid gala. Get out of these clothes. Put on some sweatpants. And I’ll have Alfred order us as much pizza and wings as you want.”

Now Y/N wanted to cry for a completely different reason.

Dick was the sweetest man she’d ever met.

“Sound like a plan?” He asked her when she didn’t respond and instead just stared into his blue eyes.

Y/N nodded.

“We can even invite my good-for-nothing brothers if that’ll make you happy.”

Her first instinct was to say yes. They all amused her beyond belief. Watching the way they all interacted with each other was like watching a reality show. And it was always obvious how much they loved each other deep down – even with Damian, who would rather die than admit such a thing.

But if all of them were included, who knew when Bruce would eventually make an appearance. And Y/N just didn’t think she could be in a room with him again tonight. 

“Just you and me,” she clarified.

That seemed to please Dick and he nodded. 

“Just you and me,” he confirmed as he offered her a hand up. 

When they started walking back to the manor, Dick wrapped an arm around her shoulder, keeping her close to his side.

“I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to be completely honest with me,” but she said it through a smile.  

Dick looked a bit nervous, but nodded. “Alright.”

“Do you know how to order takeout on your own?”

Dick threw his head back and laughed. “How dare you!”

He pinched her waist, making her yelp. But he didn’t let her escape his hold. “Yes, I do. In fact, when I’m at my own place, I live off takeout. And let me tell you, no one can order food quite like I can. Thank you very much.”  

Once they reached the second floor of the manor, the two of them parted ways to changed out of their fancy clothes.

Y/N washed her face, scrubbing the layers of makeup off. But before she could rid herself of the evidence, she noticed the smeared mascara and eyeliner. 

Words could not describe the relief of putting on baggy sweatpants and a hoodie and fluffy socks after wearing a fitted gown and high heels.

30 minutes later, just as promised, Dick was bringing up a huge pizza and a box of wings to Y/N’s bedroom.

They ate on the floor. Dick managed to light the fireplace that was in there, because Y/N didn’t know what to do with the thing. The television was on, but neither of them were watching it. It was simply white noise.

Two hours later, Y/N was laughing so hard at a story Dick was telling her that she had tears in her eyes and her stomach hurt.

“I don’t believe you!”

“I’m not kidding. Ask Jason. He took my clothes and I was ass naked, running through the streets of Gotham. I wanted to kill him.”

Y/N grabbed another wing and got sauce all over her face.

“What?” She asked when Dick was watching her with adoration. “Do I have sauce on my face?”

He tried to hide his smile. “Nope.”

She knew he was lying and then purposely smeared more sauce around her lips. “How about now? Do I have anything now?”

“No. Nothing.”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how attractive am I right now?” Y/N laughed as she wiped the sauce off her face with napkins.

“11,” Dick responded without hesitating.

The playfulness was sucked out of the room when they both heard how serious his tone was.

Y/N’s face went somber as she looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t dance with you.” She laughed lightly, “I’m a lousy date, huh?”

“That’s not true,” he immediately shot down. “This is the most fun I’ve had…” His words died out when he realized he couldn’t even remember. “Well, it’s the most fun I’ve had in awhile.”

“Me too,” she replied with a quiet sweetness.

Through her full-body laughter, she had moved closer to Dick without realizing it.

He glanced at her lips. He just couldn’t help himself. 

The thing about Dick wearing his heart on his sleeve was that it was nearly impossible for him to hide his feelings, his desires. It was all in those blue eyes of his, waiting to easily be read by someone.  

And while Y/N looked at him looking at her, she felt beautiful. Because that was all Dick could possibly think as he stared at her.

Neither knew who leaned in first. Perhaps this was their dance that they weren’t able to have earlier.

But they made up for it by sharing an impassioned kiss now. 

Dick’s lips were softer than Y/N expected. His hands gripped her waist possessively, making it very clear what he wanted – but still being ever so gentle and soft with his touches.

One of Dick’s hands moved from her waist up her back to tangle his fingers in her hair. He tugged on the strands and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

They both could slightly taste the pizza and wings on each other’s lips, but neither of them cared at all.

The kiss didn’t last long enough for either of their liking.

But Y/N pulled away anyways, gasping for air a bit.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he whispered through hooded eyes as he brushed some hair away from her face. “I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile,” he added with a smirk.

But Y/N wasn’t really sorry about the kiss. 

She was sorry because she knew that things were far more complicated than ever.

-----------------------------------------------------

Part V

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! 

Please, please, please write me a book report of what he thought of this chapter. It will be your VDay gift to me 😘

[bittydragon]

Surprise Ore

Notes: I have decided to partake in the bingo event by @aslitheryprinx and here is my submission! I may do more in the future, so this may just be my first one! I have written for the letter O with the prompt Ore. I hope y’all enjoy! It’s my favorite boys!

Bad whistled to himself as he twirled his pickaxe in his hand, searching for resources in the mines. He and his friends had recently found an abandoned mineshaft deep underground and once they realized it was deep enough to find precious ores such as diamonds, they all hastily packed up their mining supplies and went underground.

They all ended up splitting up to cover the most ground and to quickly clear out the mineshaft of any precious materials. Dream and Sapnap had taken the northern pathways and Bad and George took the southern pathways. It was the fastest way to clear the area out, so they didn’t mind. Plus, all four could take care of themselves so it wasn’t a big deal.

Bad squinted as he thought he saw a strange object in front of him and lit a torch. He was elated to find a minecart with a chest inside of it. Opening the chest, Bad was pleased to find an enchanted book, an emerald, some extra iron, and two golden apples. The rest were unlaid tracks that the group had no need for, so Bad let it be and stored the treasures in his inventory.

He continued to twirl his pickaxe around, whistling his small tune to himself, until he came upon a small vein of diamond ore. He grinned and quickly got to work, mining the ores until each one popped out a small diamond. Five diamonds in total, not a bad vein!

He carefully set the diamonds into his inventory and was about to continue his search for more ores and treasures when his eyes landed on another diamond ore, just a few steps away. He grinned, his tail thrashing excitedly behind him.

This must be his lucky day to find two veins so close to one another! The others were going to be so jealous of his haul. He noticed with only slight confusion that this piece of diamond ore looked slightly different than normal, but Bad brushed it off as a trick of the light. There was lava nearby and Bad hadn’t placed a torch recently, opting to use the calm glow of the lava instead, so it could just be the lighter lighting in the area.

With that thought in mind, he brought his pickaxe down onto the ore. In just a few swings the ore shattered, revealing it’s shiny treasure. Bad was a tad disappointed that no more ores were hidden behind it, but his disappointment was quickly covered with confusion as he glanced at what he just unearthed.

Instead of a small diamond in the newly carved out hole, there laid a small creature barely bigger than Bad’s hand. It’s skin seemed to be covered in the familiar precious gem and it was curled around itself almost like it was trying to hide.

Bad quietly slipped his pickaxe into his inventory and knelt down to investigate the creature. Carefully, he reached out and scooped it up, wincing at how cold the diamond skin felt against his hand. He stood back up at full height and examined the creature in his hand.

They seemed to be asleep for the time being, their little eyes shut tightly as they repositioned themselves to be more comfortable in the hand. Bad couldn’t help but awe as the little creature snuggled into his fingers like they were craving the warmth he gave off. 

The sudden rattling of bones nearby startled Bad out of his trance. He protectively curled his fingers around the little diamond creature and held them closer to his chest. Right, he was still in an abandoned mineshaft and those were normally littered with monsters. He wasn’t supposed to head back home for a few hours still, how was he supposed to protect himself and this little creature? He destroyed the ore they were sleeping in, so he had no safe place to set them.

After a few moments of thought Bad sighed. He only thought of one good place to put them, hopefully they would be okay if they woke up. He opened up his inventory and settled the creature inside of one of the little cubes, sighing in relief when the creature went in with ease.

They barely even stirred as Bad settled them inside and closed his inventory. It was only a few more hours and he could get home. Hopefully everything went well.

He pulled out his sword and shield and prepared to face the skeleton that was slowly approaching, it’s bow already drawn.

---

Skeppy yawned before cracking his eyes open, expecting to see the familiar stone of the cave he was abandoned in. His eyes shot open in surprise as he was met with completely white surroundings.

Did he die? Did some monster find him in his sleep?

He shakily stood up and tried to explore, but only made it a step before he ran into a wall. It only took a few seconds for him to realize he was stuck inside of a strange white box. It was cold and reminded him of the stone he always slept on, but it was most definitely not.

He pressed his face against one of the walls, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of outside his new box. He didn’t mind the box as he was used to small spaces, but he wanted to see if there was anything to explore if he ever got out.

Sure enough, when he pressed his face against the wall he could see the vague shape of something else next to him. It looked like one of those golden apples he’s seen in the chests littered around the mineshaft. As he looked around through the other walls, he noticed different objects in every direction. 

Where in the world could he possibly be then?

If only the world answered his question. Instead, nothing changed and he was left in the blank white cube. He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground with a huff.

Maybe he would get answers eventually. As long as he was patient.

…

Oh god that better not be too long.

Thankfully, it seemed like only an hour had passed before something finally changed. Skeppy yelped as suddenly real light flooded into his box and the ceiling disappeared. Now he could see what looked to be wood in a few different colors above him.

He stood up in awe and tried looking further out of the box, completely oblivious to the much larger beings watching him with similar feelings of awe.

“They’re so small… you said you found them while mining a piece of diamond ore?”

“Mhm! They were sleeping and I didn’t want to take them, but I couldn’t leave the little guy alone with the monsters!”

“Smart idea. They probably would’ve been killed without their ore surrounding them. Though maybe you should take them out of your inventory now?”

“Oh yeah! Good thinking Sap!”

Skeppy didn’t notice anything was wrong until large clawed fingers wrapped around him and lifted him into the air. Oh. Oh. He was caught by giants.

Skeppy immediately began thrashing around, frantically trying to escape the grasp of whatever giant creature had grabbed him. His struggles were futile as another clawed hand came up from under him and gently eased him into a sitting position on the hand.

He wanted to struggle as he was brought upwards but couldn’t bring himself to continue struggling as he relaxed into the warmth the hand gave out. Why was this person’s hand so warm?

He nervously grabbed onto a finger and winced as they chuckled. Skeppy risked a glance upwards to see the person who grabbed him and gasped in shock.

“Holy shit…” They were terrifying. They looked like a literal demon. Their face was hidden under the shadows of their hood and all Skeppy could see were their brightly glowing eyes and horns jutting out from under the hood.

“Language!” But they seemed harmless, especially if they were gonna tell him off for the fact that he cursed. He let out a shaky sigh, if he played his cards right maybe he won’t die today.

As he studied the demon’s face, he quickly realized the demon was studying him right back. If their wide eyes were anything to go off of they were surprised that he could speak to begin with. As much as Skeppy wanted to feel offended by that fact, he also knew that most creatures smaller than a human, or demon, were non sentient and could barely even form a thought other than survive or kill.

Skeppy flinched back as a clawed finger wormed its way under his chin and lifted his head up just a tad more. He quickly reached up with his own hands and grabbed the finger. It didn’t hurt but if the finger tried to suddenly snap his neck he was ready to provide some sort of resistance.

His fears seemed to be unneeded though, as proved by the high pitched “awwwwww” that followed as soon as he grabbed the finger. His eyes widened as he heard a few different voices awe at the sight as well.

He whipped his gaze around and found there were three, three, other giant beings here. He paled at the sight and tried hiding in the clawed hands that currently held him. At least he was fairly certain the demon wasn’t going to hurt him. 

The masked human was most definitely the scariest, Skeppy couldn’t read any of their expressions and could only see the crudely painted smiley face. He did not like that.

The other two he could thankfully deduce were humans, but it surprisingly didn’t mean anything to Skeppy at the moment. This demon still seemed like a far better choice.

Skeppy was thankful when the demon’s fingers curled around his form and hid him from the others’ sights. He was extremely glad that they seemed to realize he was uncomfortable, even more reason for Skeppy to trust them.

He heard the demon talking to the others but couldn’t make out the words. All he was focused on was how warm and comfortable the hands were and how happy he was that these hands were the ones protecting him. 

The diamond sighed and got comfortable against the fingers. Maybe once they were all done talking they could do some proper introductions. Until then, Skeppy was just going to wait their conversation out.

[hermannsthumb]

you should totally do something with ksci janitor’s vamp newt it’s so just so good

i sure will! in a vampire mood this weekend. @k-sci-janitor's vampire newt found here. warnings for quick mention of drinking, allusions to sexy stuff, and also the different kind of drinking you'd expect from a vampire fic (tho on the vague side)

-------------------

The circumstances that led Newt down the unwitting path of immortality and general un-dead-ness are, in hindsight, honestly kind of embarrassing. It'd be one thing if he could say it happened in the pursuit of, like, knowledge, like the fierce jellyfish sting scar on his wrist leftover from a research expedition when he was twenty-two or the equally fierce one on his knee received in response to his question (at the age of five) of what would happen if I jumped out of this very tall tree?, or even something unrelated to his extensive biology career, something impressive, y'know, Van Helsing style, something like tracking down some vampire king and barely escaping with his life (un-life?)—not what really happened, which was little more than a bad date. And not even the worst date that Newt's been on, if you can believe it.

Newt was young and stupid then. He still is young and stupid, technically, though the former by appearance only. (Eternally pushing thirty. If he could've picked, he would've done twenty-eight, just before his handful of grey hairs started cropping up. Newt's had almost forty-five years of staring in the mirror at those four fucking grey hairs. He gave up dyeing them around the nineties. Not worth it. Still annoying.) He liked to do what young and stupid people did, like get stupid tattoos, and have a stupid haircut, and get drunk at stupid punk shows and not stumble home until he'd had at least one regrettable hook-up with a stranger and maybe lost his wallet. (The two were often related.) That particular thing was what did him in that night. It was a different time back then, man—if a dude showed even the slightest inkling that he ran in Newt's sort of circle, if you caught his drift, Newt fucking jumped at the chance.

(The band was on their second set of the evening and Newt had already screamed himself hoarse with singing along. He'd ducked outside in a back alleyway for only a second to get some fresh air, the club suddenly too hot and smokey for him to handle, and was just about to go back inside and close out his tab for the night when he realized he wasn't alone. There was someone—he was sure—lurking in the shadows a few feet away. He could hear breathing. He could see—eyes, maybe, in the dim neon light of the bar sign overhead. "Hello?" he'd called.

"Have a light?" the person called back.

They emerged from the shadows, and Newt felt himself relax at once. It was some spooky-looking guy he remembered seeing in the club, leather jacket, boots heavier than Newt's, dark hair and eyeliner. Tall. Newt remembered him, firstly, because he thought he was hot, and secondly, because he swore he caught the guy staring at him at least three times, and to Newt, that was as good as any pick-up line. He was wagging an unlit cigarette at Newt now. He was taller than Newt thought he was back in the bar—much taller, at least a full head on Newt. His eyes were a golden-brown, almost yellow, like a cat's, and Newt found himself unable to tear his own away from them. "L—light?" Newt echoed.

The guy stuck the cigarette in his mouth and arched a perfect eyebrow. Newt didn't smoke, but he did keep a lighter on him for occasions like this. He fumbled through his pockets for it while the guy stepped closer. "I was watching you," he told Newt, while Newt raised the lighter to the cigarette, "in there."

The flame danced and glinted against his eyes. Newt swallowed. "Uh-huh?" he said.

He flicked the lighter shut, leaving them both bathed in nothing but pink neon. A hand slid up against the wall next to Newt's right shoulder. Another plucked at the left lapel of his jacket. Newt was still staring at those eyes. "What's your name?" the guy said, in a puff of cigarette smoke.

"Um." Newt's leather jacket was being pushed off his shoulders. He felt his long hair being tucked to the side of his neck. All at once something seemed in snap in Newt—some reminder of where he was, and what he came here hoping for in the first place. Some hot dude was eyeing Newt up all night long, and now he was actually coming onto Newt, and Newt was about to get laid. He grinned. "Newt," he said. "Just call me that. You were watching me, huh?"

"All night," the guy said.

Newt's jacket hit the ground with a soft thump. A knee was being pushed between his. Newt felt his cheeks heat up a little—he wasn't used to people being this forward with him, and especially not in a semi-public place like this. Usually they at least made a show of offering up their apartment first. "What, um, what for?" he said.

They were kissing. Newt was clinging to the back of his jacket. And then he was kissing Newt's neck, and then he was—

"That kinda hurts," Newt mumbled. "Um, dude, I think your—your fuckin', tongue piercing cut me, or something. It's—"

It was hard to keep his eyes open. His neck felt weird. The guy was into biting, apparently, biting really hard, and yikes, that was going to leave a super embarrassing hickey that Newt would have to explain to his students somehow on Monday, but it also felt really good, like, Newt was maybe getting off kinda good, and Newt thought, dizzily, that he should at least return the favor before he finished up and collapsed in a happy heap on the ground. So he did.

The guy pulled back with a hiss. "Ow. What—?"

Newt tasted something coppery in his mouth, and he panicked and swallowed on instinct. "Oh, shit, dude, I'm sorry," he slurred. His voice sounded like it was a million miles away. "I was trying to be—sexy. Um." There was blood on the guy's chin. He was staring at Newt in something akin to horror. Dark circles were spotting Newt's vision. "I think you cut your lip," he said, and then he passed out.

Newt was alone when he woke up. It was still dark, too. He walked the two miles home, collapsing in bed, fully-clothed, just before dawn, and he didn't wake up again until sunset. He forgot his jacket, but at least he remembered his wallet this time.)

So, anyway, Newt thinks he can be forgiven if he...embellishes stuff a little when, for the first time in his whole long life, he finally spills the details to someone. Also, no way is he admitting the truth to Hermann of all people.

"There were a bunch of murders in the area at the time," he says, while Hermann, angled on his side next to him in bed, watches him raptly. It's kind of weird pillow talk, but their pillow talk rarely isn't weird. Usually Hermann will launch into a critique of Newt's latest pet theory before Newt's even caught his breath. At least he very courteously waited for Newt get a glass of water from the bathroom first this time. "Really brutal ones. Like, throats torn out, blood drained. Really nasty shit. Everyone was saying they were some kinda bizarre wolf pack attacks, but I knew better."

"Of course you did," Hermann says, running his hand down Newt's chest, and Newt can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. (He has a feeling he is.)

"You bet," Newt says. "It took me months of, um, super hard research. Finally I hunted him down to this—" Newt debates the coolest lair possible of a vampire, and then remembers Lost Boys, which, even though he resents it slightly for totally stealing the vampire vibes he was going for, is still a kick-ass movie. "—this weird cave, where he lived. The king of the vampires. I won, obviously, but he fought back, and he managed to infect me just before I hammered the, um, the wooden stake into his heart."

"So courageous," Hermann says. He reaches up and tucks a piece of Newt's long hair back. Hermann being totally cool with the whole vampire thing, and maybe even possibly into the whole vampire thing, is probably the last thing in the world Newt expected from him. They're no strangers to hooking up during long late nights of science, but Newt swears it's gotten more frequent. "You must've been terrified."

"Nah," Newt says, though he remembers the glint of the flame off those yellow eyes, and he shivers. Hermann notices; his eyes, not yellow, but a warm shade of brown that makes Newt feel like he's being wrapped in a blanket, soften. If Newt could still blush, he would. "I'm—um—I'm pretty brave."

Newt hadn't exactly been planning on telling Hermann about the whole thing, but (last week) he had the very unfortunate timing of beginning a late-night dinner just as an oblivious Hermann strolled back into the lab to pick up his forgotten pair of glasses. To his credit, he only freaked out a little when he saw Newt draining a blood bag like a fucking Capri-Sun, and even then (after what felt like ten years of horrible, horrible silence) all he said was "You're the one who's been stealing those from medical?"

Look. Newt hasn't drank from a human being the entirety of his un-life, and he doesn't plan on it any time soon. He's...a vegetarian. Effectively. It's sort of the reason he picked up a medical degree along the way once he got tired of breaking into blood banks. Even if it's still a little ethically dubious to steal blood like that, at least he's not swooping around on unsuspecting people like that—goth asshole who swooped in on him did. (Newt's never managed to find out who he was—he suspects he was some sort of vampire drifter in town that night just to find a victim. And Newt just had to think with his dick at the worst possible time.)

Hermann tucks another strand of Newt's hair back. Newt also did not expect how fast Hermann became cool with the whole thing, but on the other hand, giant aliens are clawing their way out of the ocean on a bi-monthly basis these days. It's hard to be skeptical about most things. ("Well, it does make logical sense," Hermann had said with an eyeroll. "When you consider some of your rather more bizarre quirks, I mean. I ought to have guessed it ages ago. I suppose that's why you have that awful haircut," and that stung, because yeah, Newt hasn't felt like changing it up since the seventies, and why should he, it kinda rules? but he just laughed it off and said, "You're one to fucking talk, dude!") "Newton," Hermann says now, gently, "what actually happened?"

Newt sighs. Hermann always knows when he's lying about shit. "I was making out with a vampire in an alleyway and then he bit me. And—um—I kinda didn't notice at first, 'cause it felt... good."

"Mm," Hermann says. The corner of his mouth twitches up. "That's more along the lines of what I expected. That, or you were hounding him for details like a proper biologist and he got tired of answering your inane questions."

"Very funny," Newt says. "Ha."

Hermann rolls away from him and stretches his arms above his head. Newt watches his throat work as he yawns, swallowing down a sudden lump in his own, and he feels a surge of something hot and—alien—in the pit of his stomach. "Over forty years," Hermann says. He picks up Newt's discarded sweatshirt from the floor and tugs it down over his head. "You must get terrifically lonely."

Newt half-shrugs. "I guess. I'm kinda used to it by now." His dad (who never brought up how Newt's aging seemed to be at a standstill when they saw each other, not once) is long-gone. Newt's tried dating, but no one's ever seemed to be into it as much as he is—and besides, it's not like he could ever do the actual til death do us part thing unless he went against every ethical bone in his body and made someone like him. When the internet became a thing, he considered making a forum or something to find more of his kind, but the thought everyone just being like the guy who accidentally turned him in the first place terrified him and he killed the page before it even left infancy. So, without any better ideas, Newt forged some paperwork and leaned pretty hard into the world of academia to fill up his sad little hole of a heart, resigned himself to casual flings with anyone who seemed interested, and it mostly worked. Mostly. And then the kaiju came along, and then so did... "You make it a little bit better," he confesses.

Hermann lays back down next to him. "I do?" he says.

Newt thinks he sees something like that hot, hungry feeling he felt in his stomach flash behind Hermann's eyes. He nods.

Hermann suddenly kisses Newt, pulling him down on top of him, and then tugs the collar of Newt's stolen sweatshirt down below his collarbone. He drags Newt's hand up to press against his throat. Newt feels the erratic beat of Hermann's pulse beneath his fingertips, his heart pounding against his ribcage (pressed up against Newt's silent one), and he almost moans. "Have you ever...?" Hermann murmurs, gazing up at Newt through his dark eyelashes.

"N—never," Newt stammers. "I told you."

"Do you want to?" Hermann says. Newt tries not to gape. "Just a bit at a time, whenever you need. You wouldn't have to steal those silly blood bags anymore. And—" He hesitates. "I admit I am curious. About the sensation."

"Um," Newt says. "I—"

He feels something sharp poking his lower lip. Fangs. His fangs. Oh, shit, he's never had that happen before. He forces himself off of Hermann before he does something stupid.

"Maybe, um, maybe later?" he squeaks, while Hermann just smiles at him.

[diaphragmjellyfish]

Hawk Fluff Alphabet

Requested by @manicgrungegf​

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

What hawk finds most attractive about you is your kindness. You’re literally the sweetest person to everyone you meet and he likes to think that if he knew you when he was Eli, you still would have dated him. You didn’t care about the muscles or the tattoo or the hair. You genuinely loved him and were always kind to him even when he was being an ass. 

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

He’s not sure about whether he wants kids or not. He’s kind of just enjoying being young and having fun right now, and he never actually thought he’d get married before, but he’d be open to it later on down the line if it was something you really wanted. 

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

For as much game as he talks, this boy is a LITTLE SPOON. He loves being held by you, and sometimes can’t fall asleep unless your arms are wrapped around him. In public, he’s always the one with his arm around you, hugging you from behind, putting on that alpha male persona, but when it’s just you guys he’s a total puppy. 

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Hawk likes to take you to parties. You guys can drink, dance, hang out with your friends, it’s the perfect place in his opinion. But for more private occasions like your anniversary, he likes a nice picnic on the beach. He’d make PB&J’s for you guys (and cut off your crusts), pack some juice boxes, and bring a big giant blanket (and condoms shhh) for you guys. 

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…)

You’re my happy place. Hawk thinks of you as the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Whenever he feels frustrated from training or insecure about his scar or angry at Demitri, he knows he can always go to you for support and you’ll make him forget all about that stuff. He’s never not smiling when you’re around. 

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

He first knew he loved you when you said his scar was cute. It’s always been his biggest insecurity, and even when you guys first went out, he always just assumed you just tried not to look at it and look at his hair or muscles instead. But when you told him you liked it, thought it gave him character and looked kind of tough, his heart shot through the roof. This beautiful, ethereal, magnetically charming girl thought his scar, his deformity, was cute?! Love on sight. 

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

He’s more gentle than you would think, but still not as gentle as, say, Miguel. He would never hurt you or make you do anything you don’t want to do, but he likes to rough house, play wrestle, and tease you a little bit. He likes to sneak up behind you, pick you up and spin you around, and ruffle your hair as a “good morning” every day. 

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

Hawk is holding your hand all. The. damn. Time. He likes everyone to know who you belong to. Inside, he’s still a little insecure and nervous that you’ll decide you can do better and leave him, so he finds holding your hand reassuring, especially when you run your thumb over the back of his hand. 

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

His first impression of you was honestly not good. You were friends with Samantha Larusso so he just assumed you were stuck up and snobby. The first time you guys actually talked was at a party. You were pacing nervously outside because your friends had left, your phone died, and you had no way to get home. Hawk took pity on you and offered to give you a ride on his motorcycle, and you guys ended up driving all over town, talking, laughing, drinking milkshakes, and you quickly made plans to hang out the next day. 

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

He is the most jealous boy, mostly because he’s insecure that you’ll leave him for someone else. Sometimes you think it’s hot, but if it ever bothers you, he’ll make a conscious effort to work on himself and trust that you’ll always come back to him. 

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

Your first kiss was the sweetest moment ever. You guys were sitting on the beach one night talking about all your deep thoughts. He started telling you how he was super insecure about his lip scar and thought no girl would ever want to kiss him before he got the mohawk and muscles. “Well I can think of one girl who would love to kiss you.” At this, he looked at you with pure shyness, and you leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss. Now, his kisses can range anywhere from sweet and loving, to possessive and dominant. You love them all. 

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

He knew he was in love with you when you first talked about nerdy shit with him and Demitri. He always thought he couldn’t like nerdy stuff like Dr. Who or girls wouldn’t like him, so when Demitri brought it up while you three were hanging out, he panicked. But then you started talking about the new trailer and how excited you were for a female Dr. and he fell in love on the spot. 

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

His favorite memory with you is that time he needed to touch up his hair color and you asked if you could do it for him. You got him a little poncho (garbage bag but shhh), parted his hair in neat little sections, and touched up the dye. You guys had such a fun time, you gushed about how good his hair looked down, and it ended up looking way better than when he did it himself. Now every time he needs a touch up he comes to you. 

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Hawk doesn’t generally spoil you with material things. You both would much rather spend your time and money on memories, or food. Of course on your birthday and anniversaries he gets you little gifts, but generally speaking, his love language leans more towards quality time. 

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

Lavender reminds him of you. Soft, sweet, feminine. He thinks it looks amazing on you, too. He’s actually thought about dying his mohawk lavender next just to feel closer to you. 

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Princess. That’s the biggest one. Sometimes angel, or babygirl. 

Q = Quaint (What is their favourite non-modern thing?)

His favorite non-modern thing is old muscle cars. He’s saving up to buy an old Corvette one day. It’s one of his big goals in life. He wants to have a mohawk made for the car, too, so everyone knows how cool he is. 

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Little secret about Hawk, he loves to cook. When it’s raining outside, he likes to have you come over and make a big meal with him. Maybe chicken pot pie, steaks, or pad thai, and sit on the couch eating and watching old movies. 

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

Unfortunately, Hawk used to be an expert at being sad back before he joined Cobra Kai. The way he likes to deal with it is generally just crying. He likes to let it all out, be alone, collect himself, and then maybe watch a movie or hang out with you. If you’re sad, his first question is “who do I have to beat up?” If it’s not from a person, he’ll take you on an adventure. Hikes, long drives, exploring new places, just to get your mind off it. 

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Umm karate. It literally changed his life. He loves to tell you about the new moves he learned in training, talk about the tournaments coming up, or the rivalry between Cobra Kai and Myagi-Do. And you’re a sucker for gossip so you love to hear about it. 

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

Music, soft blankets, the tiredness after a workout, a good hot meal, and he loves to watch cringe compilations on Youtube. 

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

Ever since his transformation from Eli to Hawk, this boy likes to show off everything, all the time. His hair, his tattoos, his muscles, his fighting skills, his sarcasm, his girl… 

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

He proposes to you about 6 months into your relationship with a ring pop outside of a gas station. You both knew it was a joke, but honestly started referring to each other as fiance and never stopped. Then, about 3 years later, he got you a real ring and took your hand and said “about time we actually do this, huh?” Of course, he took you to the same gas station where he had “proposed” the first time. Not the most romantic thing looking in on it, but to you guys, it was perfect. 

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

Highway To Hell- ACDC

Y = Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

He proposes to you multiple times! Of course he thinks about it. He wants you guys to be together forever! 

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

A hawk! It’s his signature symbol, of course he thinks it would be super badass to actually have a pet hawk. He would name it Desmond, and get it a tiny little mohawk.

[milliumizoomi]

Not the same

Pairings: Bakugou x GN! Reader

Warnings: Feeling Lost for Bakugou, cursing, Angst, Angst and more angst.

A/n: I was actually really excited to write this cuz at times I just CRAVE angst

You sat in the dark room, tied to a chair with ropes made of metal secured around your wrists and feet. There was also duct tape on your mouth to prevent you from saying anything or perhaps using your quirk. Next to you was the hotheaded ash blonde as he was knocked out on the chair next to you, bound the same way you were. You knew you had liked the boy for the way he was driven to become the best but you never said a word of it to anyone, not even your closest friends.

You both had gotten kidnapped while you were on a trip with the class, although this is Bakugou’s second time. ‘Ugh.. this sucks.. I hope the teachers and our friends come save us..’ you thought. You knew it would make no difference in your tried to wiggle out of the ropes because you had already tried and in return, the ropes sent an electric shock through your body so you didn’t run the risk of doing it again. The door to the room you were in then busted open and the ash blonde boy next to you jolted up at the sound. ‘He heard that..’ you said to yourself. “MMM! MFPHH!” Bakugou attempted to scream but they were muffled by the duct tape. “Aha! Look who decided to wake up..” Shigaraki said menacingly. You both narrowed your eyes at him. “Aww.. no need to get hostile.. tell you what, me and the rest of the league will come back in a few minutes then we can get this started..” he grinned evilly and said as he left and shut the door behind him. You rolled your eyes at him as he left. What he didn’t know was that your friends had managed to find where you guys were really quickly and were making their way into the building to save you.

About three minutes pass and suddenly you and Bakugou see shadows fly by each of you. You both get taken aback. Bakugou was ready to start making noise. “Shhh we’re here to get you free!” Kirishima whispered. But you then realize that he was faced to Bakugou. You brushed it off, thinking that it was just because they’ve known each other longer. But you turn to realize your friends since childhood stood there as well but they were also looking directly at Bakugou, not even sparing you a glance. You eyebrows furrow at this. The room was then filled with all the students trying to get the ropes of Bakugou and then Bakugou’s muffled screams.

You just sat by and waited, thinking that they would eventually tend to you.. but things took a turn and you realized it but didn’t want to accept it. “Ow! Ugh you bastards.. why’d you even come here?!” Bakugou yelled at he ripped the duct tape off his mouth and whisper-yelled to classmates while twisting his joints. “We came to save you Bakugou!” Your best friend for years said to him. You looked up at them bewildered. Were they not going to help you? You were confused. And then they did the worst thing they could’ve done.

They started to leave. And they left you as you were.

You wanted to cry. You never expected them to do this to you. You started making a flurry of noise and muffled screams to alert them that you were there too. But they just ignored you and continued to escape. None of them looked back. Not Midoriya, Not Uraraka, Not Kaminari, Not Iida, Not Todoroki, Not Kirishima, hell not even the so called “friends” you’ve had since childhood... or even Bakugou. They all just began escaping without even caring about you.

You were making frustrated screams and rocking the chair back and forth. Everyone began jumping out of the hole in the wall that they had initially came through to get to Bakugou. Of the last to go was your “best friend”. She turned and looked at you dead in your face. You gave her pleading eyes, silently begging her to save you. She just turned away and jumped out of the hole. They knew you were there.. they apparently just didn’t care.

You held your head down as you realized that you now had no one..

Not your parents, not your teachers, and not even the “friends” you claimed to have. A couple minutes after they all jumped and were apparently out of the area, the door swung open to reveal the league. They all stopped at the door as their eyes widened. Their eyes went from the hole in the wall, to you, to the the discarded chair next to you. They then began to connect the dots. “Damn.. that’s low.. especially for them..” Dabi says as he scratched the back of his head. The villains actually felt bad for you. Yes they kidnapped you for the intent to do some bad things to you but when they realized that Bakugou got rescued and you got left behind, they felt disgust. Not even them would abandon one of their own.

Toga walked up to you and crouched down to you to realize that tears were coming down your cheeks and rolled off the duct tape but there was no expression on your face. “Hey..” Toga said softly. You looked up at her. “You feel abandoned don’t you..?” she asked. You nodded with no emotion. “Then how would you like to join us..? We won’t leave you.. I promise.” She said. You stilled, not knowing whether or not you should do it. They realized you pondering over the invitation.

Shigaraki then chimed in. “Tell you what.. we’ll free you ONLY if you promise not attack us or escape!” He said. You nodded. At this point, you knew you had nothing to lose or anywhere to go so you agreed. Twice freed you and you got up and stretched and ripped the duct tape off of your mouth. “Ouch! That hurt!” You exclaimed as you rubbed your lips. “Follow us” Shigaraki said as he and the rest of the league turned on their heels and walked out of the room with you following close behind.

You spent the night with them and they actually made you feel a little better. But there was still a giant hole in your heart of where your love for UA and your friends was. And it was slowly filling with hatred. “Hey.. Toga?” You called out to Toga. “Hmm? Yes L/N?” She responded. “ I accept your invitation..” you said as you turned to her and grinned. The entire league perked up and smiled evilly at this. “Welcome to the League of Villains then L/N” Shigaraki said. You smiled back menacingly. “Glad to be here.. UA is never going to be the same to me.. after what happened today, I don’t trust a single one of those bastards..!” You said darkly. “And that my friend, is the type of society we’ve been trying to show the world.. but don’t worry I can tell you’ll fit in great here.. and we have the perfect job for you..” Shigaraki responded to you as the rest of the league responded with sounds of agreement. This.. was the start of your new life with a new family that vowed to never leave you.. your life of villainy.

Months later, everyone at UA was going out on with their day normally. They were going to class, eating lunch and practicing as such. No one even remembered about you. Your ex best friend, when asked where you were, lied to all the teachers saying that you left on your own free will. There was no one else around to witness so the rest of your class never heard these conversations. Right now, class was going to be over in a couple minutes and lunch was next. When the bell rung, all the students got out of their classes and made their way to the cafeteria. The hallways were now empty.

Perfect.

With help from Kurogiri, you went from the LOV base to the empty hallway. “Thank you ‘Giri!” You said as you stuck your head back through the warp gate. Kurogiri patted your head gently and told you to go. You nodded and started to skip through the hallway as the warp gate closed.

In the cafeteria, everyone was being all happy or whatever and it made you sick to your stomach. ‘To think I actually liked this place full of fakes and wannabes’ you thought as you rolled your eyes. You strolled through the doorway, and by first glance, on one could even tell that you were a villain.. but they’d find out soon enough. You walked past a table and picked up an apple a student had and took a bite out of it. You then tossed it back over your head and back to the student. This made the student angry as he got up to call you out.

“HEY! Who do you think you are?!” He screamed. You turned back around to face him with your eyes glowing. All of a sudden, the student couldn’t speak anymore. It was like the inside of his throat was completely destroyed as he also began to cough up blood. Everyone witnessed this happen but no one knew it was you because you just walked away and no one realized you. ‘These hoes haven’t changed a bit.. never realized me in my time of need.. ever!’ Thoughts like these kept running through your head as you then decide to make your presence known.

You ran and got up one of the tables. “Hey heroes!” You yelled. At the sound of your voice, everyone stilled and looked at you. “How’s it going?” You asked. Your ex best friend’s eyes widened at the sight of you. How were you not dead? She was sure those villains were gonna kill you.. unless..

As she thought about these things, your former teacher, Mr. Aizawa called out to you. “L/N? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at your new school?” New school?? What? You stood up there confused. “What the hell are you talking about?” You asked. Everyone was taken back at the sound in your voice but brushed it off as the conversation continued. “Your new school. Ex BSF/N said that you moved schools” Mr. Aizawa said. At the mention of her name, she perked up. She was starting to get nervous.

“OH?! Did she?! You don’t say..” you replied as you looked her dead in her face. “Well.. I’ve started a new line of work I guess.. telling from what happened with that kid over there that’s still throwing up blood.. AYE! Get over it!” You said as you looked at the kid who’s was at the verge of death by your hand. Everyone’s blood ran cold as they looked at the kid who was dying from blood loss. “SOMEONE GET RECOVERY NOW!!” Aizawa yelled.

“L/N WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Bakugou then got up and blurted out. “Shut up before I kill you..” you replied as cold as ice. Everyone froze. “Oh and you don’t get to refer to me by that name anymore..” you continued you looked away. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Your ex best friend yelled. You looked at her with such a cold look she could be frozen. “What’s wrong with me?” You laughed menacingly. “Oh so what?! You can leave me in the hands of villains and expect me to come back and be buddy buddy with you?!” You blurted out.

Everyone’s faces paled. Left.. with villains?? Everyone was silent. “Oh so now none of you have nothing to say huh?!” You screamed. “I hate all of you.. Kirishima, Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, Kaminari and even Iida.. you lowlifes claim to be heroes but left your classmate behind in the hands of villains.. you make me sick!” You stated. “And then to top it off.. the person I was kidnapped with left me and my so called childhood friends did too.. some heroes you are” you continued as you put your hand on your face. “You WHAT?!” Aizawa yelled. The kids felt ashamed of themselves. In truth, all except your best friend had forgotten to come back for you. They knew they shouldn’t have ignored you though. But your best friend remembered about you but chose to lie about you’re whereabouts.

“See? Assholes.. none of you deserve the term hero!” You said. “You’re so ashamed of yourself because you got caught.. pathetic.” You continued. They all held their heads down. Someone one went to say something to you again but you turned to them, eyes glowing as you destroyed the inside of their throat too.

Everyone was shocked. “Bastard.. why?” Bakugou said. You looked at him and smiled evilly. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m against heroes now.. so to put it in short.. I’m a villain” you said while laughing at him. “You did this to me.. to think I even liked you.. ugh” you continued as you rolled your eyes. ‘They liked me..?’ He thought. He went to say something until another student jumped up to grab you. They held on tightly to you. You didn’t even budge. You just leaned over and whispered in their ear. “Die..” Then just like that, the student dropped to the floor with you looking at their body with no emotion. “Shouldn’t have touched me..” you said. Everyone was shocked. They knew your quirks but they never thought there’d be a day when you’d use them like that.

Your quirks were pierce and control. Pierce allows you to look at a person and cause damage to any part of the person’s body at any degree you want. Control works somewhat like Shinsou’s quirk but the difference is you don’t have to ask a question to take control of the person. As long as the person is touching you or makes eye contact with you then your able to control them.

Aizawa went into hero mode as he erased your quirk and stared to charge at you. “GET EVERYONE OUT HERE NOW!” He screamed. You began dodging him with ease because you know all his moves having trained with him a lot in the past.

“Well.. looks like I’m done here..” you yawned. You flipped onto the top of the the food serving section in the cafeteria as a warp gate opened behind you. “It’s been fun.. oh and the names V/N and I’m the new member of the LOV!” You stated as the rest of the league emerged through the warp gate. “Thanks for the new asset to our group. They make a great team player.” Shigaraki says as he grins. “Aww.. thanks Shiggy” you said.

You turned back to the student and the heroes who were glaring and shocked by all of this. “Thanks for opening my eyes.. It’s all your fault.. so thanks to you~” you said in a sing song voice. “Let’s go.” Dabi said as he turned back to the warp gate. “Ok! Bye everyone~” you and Toga said in unison as you all went through the gate.

You turned back for a second as said “Its all thanks to you that I’m not the same.” Then walked into the warp gate.

As you disappear the words you said rang through everyone’s head like a loud bell. The words that stuck with them the most was “It’s all your fault..” and “Its all thanks to you that I’m not the same.” This was a blow to UA, a blow to their hearts.. and a blow to their mentality. Physically, they lost 3 students that day but mentally they lost 4.

And while they beat up themselves and grieved over what happened, you went on to live a life of evil and hatred.. all thanks to UA high.

©Property of sunaslilone. Please don’t rectify, repost or modify without my permission.

Tagging: @nathaslosttheirshit @dragonsdreamoffire @uniquabackyardigans @kiribis-confesion-page @unfazedrose @haikyu-whore (Open ! Click here to be added!)

A/n: I wrote this when I saw the post @nathaslosttheirshit made so this was their idea.

Also this is like my first G/N fic.

[penwieldingdreamer]

First Meetings

So, now that I have been stuck at home due to my mother's positive Covid test and watching The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for 6 days straight, inspiration struck again, thank god 🙏😅 The new center of this -maybe- series will be Lee Pace. Of course this is only a fantasy and everything only came from my imagination but with a pinch of real events happening, still it's going to be in an alternative universe.

Thanks for being my beta @fortheloveoffanfic

Hope you guys will like it. Let me know what you thought and if you like to be tagged in upcoming drabbles I have palned and will hopefully be able to continue now again.

Summary: You work as part of the Mae-Up and Hair Crew on set of the Hobbit Trilogy, where you meet many interesting people, but one has gotten more of your attention than you would have thought.

Warnings: none, except for a very long drabble 😅

Words: 1722

You had been part of the crew ever since Peter Jackson had started working on the Hobbit trilogy in 2011 and met everyone that had been essential to the movies on and off screen. Apparently Fran had seen your work first hand when you were at a competition for make - up artists and she was impressed by the end results. You hadn't won any of the prizes but you were only one against one hundred others and yet she wanted you to be part of the second historic movie trilogy PJ did in his life.

The first people you had met were of course the dwarves and Martin who was Bilbo in the movie. They all were fun to be around, especially Dean and Aiden, as well as James Nesbitt who would always greet you with jokes or a song, giving you something to look forward to during those nearly endless days of filming.

And then, at the ending of shooting the first movie of the trilogy Philippa came up to you, a very tall man following behind her. You had just gotten done with James' make-up and wanted some fresh air, with all the fumes inside the trailer you sometimes thought you might get sick, so you sat outside, watching the pair walk over to you.

"Y/N," she said in greeting, a smile breaking out on her face. "May I introduce you to our newest cast members. Lee is going to be Elvenking Thranduil and he's in need of your service." Pippa, as you called her, had always had a way with people and she was next to Fran and Pete the only one of your bosses you could be yourself with and even call family away from your own. In your former jobs you had only been the one for the make-up, the one being ordered around and not even been able to give an opinion to change should something not look right on the person. But here, you were part of the crew and they would listen to you.

"It's nice to meet you." You said, holding out your hand for the actor to shake. With a smile in return he grabbed it and you had to concentrate not to let your reaction show on your face. Holy shit, his hands were huge compared to your smaller ones.

Only your boss's voice pulled you back to the task at hand. "So, Lee needs to get into his wig and ears and we'd like to try the crowns with the wardrobe department. Let's say meeting in an hour and a half over at costumes?"

"Oh, uh, sure." you mumbled, hastily disentangling your hand from his. "I'll send him right over when I'm done."

Pippa grinned at you. "Why don't you come over, too? We wouldn't want there to be a repeat of Elrond's circlet like the last time."

A soft sigh escaped your lips, nodding your head you stepped up onto the small stairs outside the trailer. "I'll bring him over then and make sure the wig will be in one piece once you guys are done."

"Great, I'll see you guys later!" she said, clapping her hands and walking off, leaving you with the giant in human form standing in front of you.

Once he made sure she was out of ear shot, Lee turned back to you, a smile plastered onto his face. "Do I want to know what happened to that wig?"

"I don't think you want to know, it was a mess and the guys making the wigs were so angry because the circlet Hugo was wearing in the fitting got caught on the strands and ripped it in half. They had to do it all over again."

Nodding his head, the actor entered the trailer behind her. You told him to take the empty chair next to Richard, who was getting ready for his scenes and he took the time to watch you flit around in your workplace. Everything was chaotic and still in order all the same. When you had come back to your place, the prosthetic ears and wig in hand, Lee grinned at you, his dark blue eyes shining with mirth. "Well, we wouldn't want another repeat for the King of Woodland Elves."

"At least you're already in character, then." Richard mumbled next to him with a laugh trying not to interrupt the woman doing his make-up for the day, listening to the words leaving his co-stars mouth.

Watching the actor, who was Thorin in the movie series, he laughed. "I just need to get my crown and wardrobe and I'll be good to go, everything else is already perfect."

Ruckus laughter floated through the trailer and you couldn't help but admire the shape of his face. Before you could stop yourself, you had already mumbled a 'yes, perfect' and Lee's eyes turned back to you. You felt the blush creeping over your face, swiftly grabbing a comb and a few clips to prepare his own hair for the wig cap you were going to be putting on under. All had seen the flush spread out on your skin and Martin who was getting up from his chair next to you send you wink. That was a great way to make a first impression on the day of meeting a new part of the movie series. You were scolding yourself inside, making sure to only talk to Lee when he was asking something, otherwise keeping your mouth shut.

"Okay let's see the green coat again with the silver overcoat. Y/N, be a dear and bring me that one please." Ann Maskrey, one of the costume designers asked you, while Pete and Pippa watched Lee getting dressed in the green coat. You walked over to the wardrobe and took the first silver coat. "No, not that one, the one with the deep orange silk on the inside." So you took the correct one on the second try and held it out for Lee to put on. He grinned down at you, pulling the coat over his shoulders and straightening himself. It would be easier if he wasn't such a giant, but he was a handsome giant.

"Right then, that looks good. Let's try it with the smaller branch crown."

You sighed, hoping there wasn't going to be another wig fiasco when you helped putting the crown on. Weta had done an amazing job designing all the pieces for the movies, for all movies they worked on, but sometimes these things were a bitch to work with. Your comb and pins at the ready, he sat down on the chair, pulling the knee-high boots on over the leggings he wore underneath.

"I'm going to be gentle but if I should hurt you with the pin please let me know." you told him, lightly pinning the crown to the wig so it wouldn't fall off.

Lee had closed his eyes, hiding the bright blue contacts he wore for his role. "I can take my fair bit of pain, but if it's intolerable, I'll let you know. So far I can't complain about these gentle hands."

By the time they had taken pictures and you had finally calmed down again so the flush that had started to spread over your face and neck at the close proximity to Lee was controlled again, Ann had asked you to take off one crown and exchange it for the larger branch crown with red leaves.

"I think this is going to be a lot more striking for King Thranduil then the other one."

So you repeated the process, gently combing the wig while Lee sat on the chair, chewing his gum and closing his eyes. He even held the hairpins in his hand because he saw you struggle to get them out of the confines of your little bag. When he moved it closer to you to work with your finger touched his and if you didn't know better there was a tiny spark from that brush of skin.

Finishing up, you grabbed the unused pins from his hand and told him you were done, giving the tall actor a light tap on his shoulder. Just as he walked over to the small area where they viewed him in his costumes, the door opened and Martin and James walked inside.

"Sorry, you guys but we had a small, unfortunate accident." the Irish actor apologized, showing the burst seams on his pants. "We were doing our stunts and well."

Martin grinned, walking over to you and throwing his arm around your shoulders. "We also wanted to see what all the fuss was about that haughty elf king."

Giggling, you looked over at Lee who grinned at his co-stars and repeated the walk he did before.

"Just so you know, if I were a female dwarf, I'd tap that elf ass." James whispered into your left ear, your once controlled blush intensifying again while the blond actor nodded his head enthusiastically.

"He's a perfect elf, you know. Broad shoulder, tall, elegant, striking eyes. The hair." Martin spoke so only you and the dwarf actor could hear.

"The long legs." James added, nodding his head over to the American actor who strutted along the area, having thrown off the overcoat.

"That smouldering look." the Brit continued before you held up your hands.

"Enough, you." You hissed so no one would know what you had been talking about, but you knew they were only trying to rile you up. Yes, Lee was attractive, hell, he was gorgeous and Pippa and Pete did an amazing job casting him, but you knew him for less than a day. He could be a total asshole when he didn't have people to impress for his first day on set. "You guys should get to Lucy or Sam so they can stitch up those holes."

"Well, I'm going to tell you this, one day you'll end up with a guy like that and you'll remember what I told you. You deserve the best in your life, luv." James told you proudly, pulling you closer into a one armed hug. He was brother and father to you in one person and you knew that his words were going to bite you in your ass.

They always did.

Taglist(I wasn't sure who to tag, also who might want to read it, so please let me know if you don't want to see mor of this in your notifications)

@fortheloveoffanfic @ladyreapermc @toomanystoriessolittletime @meetmeinthematinee @omg-imagine @fanficsrusz @eevee-of-rivia @fics-not-tragedies @omgkatinka @fuck-yeah-hope @wholelottatiffy @axshadows​ @a-really-bi-girl @madbaddic7ed @maggiemoo1892 @pinkzsugar @agniavateira @mary-ann84 and everyone who might want to read this.

[dreamii-yume]

My guy's birthday is on the 18th Yume, there's a scarce amount of spice for him unfortunately, so for a crumb idea

Ruggie wanting to confess after receiving a gift, even though it wasn't the gift he really wanted if you know what I mean 😏

Anonymous asked :

"No thought, head empty, just fluffy romantic Ruggie with mc on his birthday"

*****

Ruggie looks SO GOOD in a suit Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

An extravagant birthday party.

A delicious feast spread out on the table.

A well-made suit.

Ruggie’s eyes could scan his entire surroundings all day and would still find something worth to notice about all of this. Despite already having experienced such luxury celebration in his first year here in Night Raven College, he couldn’t help but be impressed by the number of things he can receive in this particular day. Not that he’s complaining though, look at all these donuts he can eat, all the gift his friends got for him, all of which something that he can only dream of having as a child. For someone like him who was born with nothing of value, a piece of cake alone was the highlight of his day, so you can forgive him for savoring such moments.

Though there was just one little thing that this year had that made it more special than the last, that was you socializing in the background, a great distance away from him. With a donut stuffed in his mouth he rests his cheeks on his palm, just staring at you with a drink in your hand, conversing with someone so happily. Even as his powerful ears twitched in effort, he can’t get a good grasp over what the conversation is all about. He’s curious, you looked excited that it was bothering him a little, what are you talking about?Glancing over to the side instead, he saw the small mountains of gifts from friends piled up on the floor. All special in its own ways, yet one thing only sticks out to him the most is the one that he had on his hand.

A sweet little thing, a hand-sewn plushie of a cartoonish hyena with similar color scheme as him, wrapped in a neat ribbon with a birthday tag that you clearly written yourself. It wasn’t food that can fill him up, or any tool that can help him in his daily life, but it was something that put a smile on his face. It wasn’t the best plushie in the world, he could see the little ripped seams on the side that you tried to cover up and uneven stitches, this probably wouldn’t cost much if he were to sell it, but who said he’s going to do that? It was cute to see effort place on a gift like this. Though, it made Ruggie chuckle a little remembering how you gave it to him, smiling ever so nervously to cover any mistakes you might make.

“Here, so you won’t be too lonely at night, hehe…” You sounded like you were joking around, and it did make him laugh, though he knew it that you were only half-serious about it. That childish reasoning was endearing after all, and if we’re talking about something embarrassing you should’ve heard his thoughts at that moment. The moment you walked up to him with a smile and a cute little blush in your cheeks, it got his imagination going crazy.

Wouldn’t it be funny if that gift could be that three special words that he wanted to hear from you? One that can confirm his feelings in return.

...But of course, he’s kidding. There’s no way in hell that you’ll actually ever say that, this is just his own delusion after all.

“Ruggie-senpai, do you want some milk to go along with those donuts?” Ruggie flinched as he suddenly heard your voice and quickly turned around to face you, for a moment he thought he might be imagining you again. He was too distracted by his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice you strolling down towards him. In your hand was a glass full of cold and fresh milk, one that would really go well with his favorite treat.

You smiled, and Ruggie couldn’t help but be mesmerized by it for a split second, he thought of how shining it looked in his part. Eventually, he did give a toothy grin right back at you, before anything could be considered suspicious. “Right. Thanks for the offer, (Y/N)~ I’ll happily take them~” He said as he gulped down the dairy liquid, washing off the sweetened flavor of the donut with a satisfying gulp. You tilted your head to the side, blinking as you observed how his ears twitches excitedly because of it.

“I’m glad that you seemed to be having fun, Ruggie-senpai. This is a day to treat you like a king after all, so please help yourself as much as you want.” You said, Ruggie couldn’t agree more as he nod excitedly and quite shamelessly in the matter. He noticed how you stared at him curiously as he grabs another donut from the plate, you look like a newborn puppy. “...Those donuts really look good too, huh...I wonder…”

Ruggie heard you mumbled out the last part as he bit into the dough, and turned to you as he chewed it. It took a few seconds until he puts on a mischievous smirk when the both of you just realized that you said something you don’t intend to be heard by anyone out loud. “A-Ah, wait...! That’s not—!” You hold your hand up in defense, cheeks flaring up.

So, you wanted a taste, huh? Well, if there’s a giant plate of delicious treats in front of him like this too, he can’t blame you for wanting to grab one for yourself. “…Want one?” He asked in a clearly teasing and smug fashion, his tail wagging behind him.

You pouted like a child, but your mannerism clearly shows that you do. “N-No, thank you…This should be something that’s only for you…! I don’t have the right to…have a taste…” You said, averting your eyes away from the temptation, but he could clearly see those small glances from time to time. The way you gulped down your saliva as well, your voice slowly lowering down the more you talk. Ruggie could only sigh, you’re such an easy book to read that he worries how you’ll even survive out there. “I’ll…I’ll go for something else, like…Like the cake or something…”

“Alright, alright~ I get it, you’re a humble little lady~” Ruggie said, sighing loudly with a shrug and for a moment, you thought he gave up in trying to convince you. However, you were proven wrong as he looked straight back at you with his usually lazy eyes looking weirdly intense. “But I like you if you’re a bit naughty too sometimes, y’know~?”

Then, he pulled you by the arm so suddenly that you almost stumbled over, but quickly caught off-guard as he grabbed your jaw in a tight hold. Grinning, he holds out his half-eaten donut in front of you. “Right, open up, Sweetheart~” He said in a teasingly loving way, pushing your cheeks together to force open your mouth, enjoying the little surprise noises you’re making. Then, he began to push the donut inside, allowing the sweetness to fill your taste buds almost immediately. Trusting that there was enough dough filling your mouth to not let the rest fall to the ground, he let go of your jaw and chuckled. “See~? It’s delicious, isn’t it? Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside!”

Though still in shock and confusion, you unconsciously nibbled on the piece of treat, slowly basking in the taste and your eyes sparkling at the sudden burst of flavor. You bit a piece off with a hand ready to catch the remains, but before you could do so, Ruggie leaned closer and holds the piece for you. “…Especially when you share it with others.” He said as he opened his mouth and bit the other side of the donut.

Gasping, you widened your eyes and blushed deep red, he was so close and was coming closer every time he bits off a piece of the dough. You tried backing up, only to realize how his hands were wrapped tightly around your wrist, preventing you from getting away. Stuck onto the other side of the donut, your heartbeat began to race as Ruggie began closing in on you. He’s inches away from your lips and like a deer in a headlight, your mind and body froze, you didn’t know what else to do. Shutting your eyes tight became your last resort as you felt his breath brushing against skin, a drop of sweat fell in the side of your forehead.

Ruggie opened his eyes slightly to see your reaction, to see how much your body was trembling, your lips trembling from his presence alone. Your nervous breaths, shaking and airy with your hands slowly dampening up against his. He thought of how cute it is that even with the other side of the donut stuffed in your mouth, it almost seems like your lips were puckering up to ready themselves for what’s about to happen, for him. One literal bite away and your lips would touch, Ruggie couldn’t help but to wonder how it end up like this, it was the force of habit and was something he thought of right on the spot. He’s heart was racing just as much as yours, his cheeks are probably just as flushed as yours too, but there was not a tinge of hesitation in his actions.

…He was going to do this. You being right here in front of him, eyes closed and unconsciously preparing yourself for something that you don’t even realize is a kiss, it’s a risk that he was willing to take…Who cares if he didn’t get what he really wanted for his birthday? It doesn’t have to be a special day to show you his own side of the story, what he’s really feeling for you. He…can say it, he can show it at any time of the day, as long as you can understand.

And with the final piece of the donut gone, and your soft lips clashing against his, Ruggie had taken the first step towards that goal.

I ended up making a sweet and spicy dish lol Sorry, Darling~ (*/▽＼*)