#undead/vampire!chell

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, December 4

CORDELIA: Please! I don't have anyone else to turn to! (Giles gets up and offers her a chair.) GILES: Please. Sit down. CORDELIA: Okay. Thanks. GILES: You know, I... I don't recall ever seeing you here before. CORDELIA: Oh, no, I have a life.

~~Out of Mind, Out of Sight~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

BtVS Double Drabble: Gone Fishing by badly_knitted (Buffy, Xander, PG)

Cutting the Strings by eevol76vamp (Xander/Dawn, T)

The Pain of Another by xaeyrnofnbe (Angel, Cordelia, Doyle, G)

Spur of the Moment by michkatjane (Angel/Spike, T)

i'm on my knees (what more could you ask for?) by properlyirregular (Cordelia/Doyle, T)

Delivery Boy of the Undead by coulduseprozac (Willow/Bruce Wayne, Batman xover, Not Rated)

Chemical Overreaction by MadeInGold (Buffy/Maggie Walsh, M)

A Hopeless Kind Of Devotion by Fishy_my_Wishy (Buffy/Faith, T)

with you still by [author revealed to be] evesock (Angel/Angelus, E)

projecting by [author revealed to be] TechnicolorRevel (Buffy/Faith, T)

One Of His Better Days by Greywizard (Buffy, Scoobies, Faith, FR15)

Strange. Just Strange. by Chelle (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Slayer's Blood by Lilacsandorangeblossoms (Buffy/Spike, R)

Unwanted Gift by veronyxk84 (Buffy/William Pratt, T)

[Chaptered Fiction]

And we know it's never simple, Never easy. - ch. 1 by Cumultus9 (Faith, Tara, Buffy/Faith, Willow/Tara, T)

Ripples - ch. 1 /27 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, T)

Ripples - ch. 1 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Stories of True Love in Capeside - ch. 5 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Science of Being Yours - ch. 12 by Maxine Eden, ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Masquerade - ch. 6 by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Watcher - ch. 35 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Whiplash - ch. 14 by Ninereeds (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Lucidity - ch. 11 by Soulburnt (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Alexander Spencer - ch. 3 by calikocat (Xander, Psych and Teen Wolf xover, FR21)

Dawn Rising - ch. 80 by Luna (Buffy, LOTR xover, FR15)

The Science of Being Yours - ch. 1-4 by Maxine Eden, ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Ripples - ch.1 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Poetry Professor - ch. 8 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Watcher - ch. 35 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: buffy railing faith by evesock (Buffy/Faith, rated E, NSFW)

Artwork: cat!spuffy doodles (cat Buffy, cat Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: #duality (insp) BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 - 2003) by andremichaux (Buffy/Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: Tag yourself: Tara Maclay edition (insp.) by whatisyourchildhoodtrauma (Tara, worksafe)

Gifset: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER ➤ Timestamp Roulette 7x20 | Touched by clarkgriffon (Faith, Scoobies, Buffy, Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: Wes & Lilah | Angel [1999 - 2004] Requested by Anonymous by sulietsexual (Wesley/Lilah, mild NSFW)

Gifset: iwryfanficmarathon’s 20th anniversary bangel + locations ↳ angel’s apartment (sunnydale + los angeles) by ptieuca (Buffy/Angel, mild NSFW)

Collage: #254 Hozier - Work Song by thedecadentraven (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Collage: #255 by thedecadentraven (Spike, worksafe)

Collage: anya collage by slut-jpeg (Anya, worksafe)

Edit: richard siken, litany in which certain things are crossed out by dogmetaphors (Spike/Drusilla, Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Edit: “Great love is wild and passionate and dangerous. It burns and consumes.” - Spike by tifa-and-rinoa (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: THE HARSH LIGHT OF DAY you love that tunnel more than me. i love syphilis more than you. by detectivedawnsummers (Spike, ensemble, worksafe)

Gifset: Come on, Slayer. What are you afraid of? How 'bout being buried alive? BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | 1.10 // 6.02 by andremichaux (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: 7x01 Lessons by magicgilmore (Wood, Buffy, Dawn, Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: ANGEL THE SERIES | 2.13 & 3.01 #Protect Angel from his found family by cangelgifs (Lorne, Angel, Cordelia, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Season 1 recap Overall very deeply charmed by the whole thing... by zestyjesty

[rewatch notes for Goodbye Iowa, This Year's Girl and Who are You?] by mothmans-wedding-photographer

PODCAST: Episode 83: Superstar (w/ Chelsea Jensen) by Gym Was Cancelled: A Buffy Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

ISO: mistystarshine seeks ideas for one-shots [prompts already included]

Recs: Hex0ff recs ASH [Giles] in Bleak Expectations [radio series]

ISO: Damarrgen is Seeking an Episode [with Giles]

ISO: veganbethb seeks more analytical Podcasts

[Fandom Discussions]

What If: There was no deal? [and Drusilla was there for the fight between Angelus and Buffy] by nightshade and NotASlayer

POLL: which ATS early trio dynamic was better? by xaeyrnofnbe

i'm back on my anti sprusilla soapbox... by selkiemaidenfae

... I will always love 07x05 Selfless because it gives us so many good moments with Anya... by faithandbuffy

Would Willow have been able to keep up her “sobriety”? by cheesecake611

Am I wrong, or is season 4 the only season where Buffy doesn’t cry? by quoththeraven1990

Christophe Becks Departure [composer] by Sovereign_Prince

Something that bothers me about “Surprise” [Drusilla] by zesty_pete

Was Riley too emotionally conservative or immature for Buffy? by No_Introduction_4136

My head-canon for how the Faith spin-off could have gone is pretty much a one for one with Supernatural. by Deanbledblue

Unpopular character opinion; I can’t Stand Anya by Middle-Tower-9136

If they had called Buffy [in ATS S4] instead of Faith, would she also be willing to inject herself with a drug in order to save him? by brwitch

One of my all-time FAVORITE one-liners from my man, Oz [and also Oz and philosophy] by Jdobbs626

The other Giles? [Nikki Wood and her watcher] by No_Introduction_4136

Giles and magic in final battle by pohtatehoe

Angel, *Lineage* (S5, E7) by 4everspike

Zine: I'd Never Seen BTVS until I watched 5x07 [Fool for Love] 10 times in 17 hours [guesses and analysis] by jess eggy

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[sarcasticgaypotato]

(( It’s more angst. For necromancer au with @bondibee )) GLaDOS was fine.   Her life was different than before, but GLaDOS was fine. Chell avoided her, but… that was fine. It wasn’t. GLaDOS only saw Chell once every few days.  When the vampire absolutely needed to feed, she’d seek GLaDOS out- GLaDOS made never made herself hard to find, offering herself up more than willingly- spend the few minutes it took to drink her fill, and then disappear off into the castle to lock herself away in the cellar again. And now, with Chell’s teeth growing in, and this newfound venom in her bites, the whole process had just gotten more efficient, and faster.  GLaDOS often could rarely get in a ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ before Chell was gone and GLaDOS had nothing but the bite on her neck to remember her by. She didn’t even remember the last time she had said ‘I love you’ to anyone but an empty room. But this was just… what Chell needed. This was her choice, she was still just settling in, she needed space.  Sure it had been months but these things took time.  Chell was still adapting to this new life, and once she did, things would go back to normal.  She might still need blood to survive, but she’d be able to scoop GLaDOS up in her arms, hold her, love her.  Kiss her with that mouth instead of always biting, perhaps actually hold a conversation again. That day hadn’t come yet, but… it would. GLaDOS had to keep telling herself that. She studied Chell as best she could, despite having to do it from afar. She poured over books, recorded her findings, ran as many tests on saliva and blood as was possible, and threw herself into whatever work would keep her busy enough. Whatever could keep her brain busy. Distracted. Because it was when she was sitting in bed alone, with nothing to do and nowhere to hide that everything came crashing down. When she looked at the empty spot that Chell had once claimed, the ever so slight indent in the bed where the former knight had used to sleep every night, with her arms wrapped oh-so protectively around GLaDOS’s much smaller frame. When she pressed her face into the pillows on Chell’s side, hoping to still catch some trace and remember the scent the woman had possessed before the stench of decay had taken over. When she clutched said pillows, digging her nails into the fabric, and letting a hoarse sob be pulled from her throat. That was when her world crumbled on top of her.

Sometimes it was easier to be furious. To scream, to punch the headboard of the bed, to throw books and papers to the ground, to smash an inkpot against the far wall and watch it shatter, to curse whatever powers that be for doing this to her. Angry at the world, angry at Chell, and angry at herself, her failures. Rage was easy. It burned hot and fast and sapped her of her energy.  She got all her fight out, and then collapsed into bed, too exhausted to stay up and think anymore. It was the sorrow that was far, far more difficult. When the weight of her actions settled upon GLaDOS’s shoulders, like boulders they slowly began to crush her under their weight. Suddenly, breath came hard and heavy, like her lungs had filled with fluid, and she choked and sputtered, trying to gain a grasp on herself and her senses. Tears cut paths down her cheeks, burning her skin with their shame like acid, and staining her sheets as a mark of her weakness. Her cries echoed throughout the halls, the cold stone walls warping and twisting the sound. A mournful, lonesome howl, heard by all the castle’s inhabitants, no matter how hard some of them tried to bury themselves away where they could not listen. It was one such night when GLaDOS found herself interrupted by a knock on the door. Only for a moment did she stall her sobs, hold her breath to listen to the sound.  A metallic knock. A strange, empty sound. She knew to whom it belonged, and it wasn’t the person she wanted to see.  But even as she ignored it, the knocking did not cease.   Eventually, without her sending them away or letting them in, the door cracked open regardless.   GLaDOS pressed her face into the pillow she was holding it, letting it muffle her ragged breathing and soak up her tears, pointedly ignoring the not-so-quiet clanking footsteps trotting up to her bedside. “...Go away.” Her voice was far raspier than usual-to the point where she found herself bitterly thinking about how much it reminded her of Chell’s typical gruffness- and she hated the way it wavered despite her attempts to hold it steady. Several ethereal chirps met her in response, hollow and distant, despite coming from directly beside her.  But she was not met with the sound of clunking footsteps leaving her room. Instead, she heard the shifting of metal. GLaDOS looked up, eyes embarrassingly red and puffy, and was met with an outstretched hand, and a piece of parchment, sealed with wax. Beside her bed were two suits of armor. The two polished, shining metal figures were lively with movement, shifting in place, tilting their helmeted heads.  But no humans resided within. Thin wisps of colored smoke escaped their otherwise empty joints, and nothing but a faint colored glow resided in the place their faces should’ve been. She was responsible for the two of them. Needing someone to practice with before she brought Chell back to life, she had wanted to test the waters.  So, she pulled long dead souls from beyond, and shoved them in suits of armor, curious to see how they would react. To say they were shells of their former selves was an understatement.  GLaDOS had no idea who these two might’ve once been, as nearly everything about them was destroyed in her first fragmented attempts. But she would not have called them complete failures.  They were sentient, but blank slates. Easy to shape into the creatures she needed them to be. Helpers around the castle, someone to fetch her supplies, hold open a book, or just… listen to her talk. The time before she succeeded in bringing Chell back was a lonely one.  A corpse that followed her commands with nothing but deafening silence, able to stand next to GLaDOS while she spoke, listening, but unable to really hear. These two were a bit of a relief.  They could not speak any real language, but their chirps and chatterings became something that GLaDOS could roughly translate the meaning of.  She had longed for intelligent conversation partners, but… at the time she had been able to settle for someone who was just able to listen, comprehend, and earnestly respond of their own free will. When she finally succeeded with Chell, GLaDOS thought… she wouldn’t need these two anymore.  She’d have someone to help with her studies, someone to talk to, someone to fill the lonely void. Of course, just because someone can be with you doesn’t mean that they will. And so, as time passed and Chell never truly returned to her rightful place at GLaDOS’s side, the elf decided that perhaps these two experiments could stay.  They kept her sane, if she was ever there in the first place. But this, this was new.   They had never come into her room uninvited like this before, and last she checked, neither of them knew how to write. So, letting surprise and confusion momentarily block out her grief, she look the letter that was being offered, and carefully began to open it. Upon unfolding the parchment, she realized that there were several sheets, each covered front and back with surprisingly neat handwriting that she did not recognize. But the name, signed on the last piece of paper that had fallen to her lap as she tried to sort through the pages, that she couldn’t mistake. Chell. GLaDOS’s heart caught in her throat and she looked up to her two metallic companions, looking for some kind of answer. They chirped, pointed to the letter, then pointed at the floor.  The cellar, deep underneath their feet.  Then, they gestured to themselves, then to GLaDOS. Chell sent them with that letter for GLaDOS, just recently. GLaDOS stared at the two of them for longer than intended, uncertain what to say or how to react.  It was only after the taller of the two chirped again, and nervously pointed at the letter that GLaDOS snapped herself out of it, and began to properly read the thing. The suits of armor shuffled out of the room, but even as they closed the door behind them, GLaDOS knew from the lack of their loud footsteps moving down the hall that they were waiting just outside, no doubt curious as to what GLaDOS’s reaction would be. Normally she would’ve ordered them to leave, but as her eyes began to scan the first paragraph in front of her, all thoughts of the two nosy spirits instantly left her mind. GLaDOS would have never known what to expect from Chell’s writing. They had lived together, rarely apart long enough to warrant writing letters to each other.  Even if Chell had never been the most talkative sort, she had spoken with her actions.   If GLaDOS were asked to assume what Chell’s writing ability was, she would’ve ranked it average at best, if not slightly below.  Someone who rarely played with words off their lips no doubt would have difficulty spilling them onto a paper. But as GLaDOS read the carefully crafted letter in her hands, she realized that she could not have been more wrong. Whatever words were trapped behind tightly closed, icy cold lips, was all here. Thoughts that stewed in that brilliant head of Chell’s, feelings that still lived in a no-longer beating heart. Nothing like Chell’s current avoidance, her letter seemed to want to never leave GLaDOS’s focus.  Chell filled each page with sentences more flowery and poetic than the last, clearly making no attempt to edit or shorten her thoughts as she solidified them with ink. It was the most beautiful thing that GLaDOS had ever read, and by far the most painful. Paragraph after paragraph, Chell lamented her existence.  She wrote of how she longed for life as she once knew it, even if only for one day that she could spend in GLaDOS’s company, in complete safety.   She told of how she wanted nothing more than to gather GLaDOS in her arms, and hold her tight to make up for lost time, but feared nothing more than doing her elven lover any more harm than she already was. And what hurt the most- what brought fresh tears to ruin her recently dried eyes- was just how much Chell wrote ‘I love you.’ As if the undead woman were attempting to make up for the lack of the spoken phrase all in one letter, as if it could fill the empty that her absence had created. No letter could replace Chell. No words, no matter how gorgeously crafted, could be as good as simply having Chell in her arms again. But that did not mean that GLaDOS clutched the papers any lighter, or that she wasn’t holding them close to her chest as fresh cries were pulled from her throat, bittersweet in their tone this time, although just as painful. They were all she had now, the last reminder of the person that lived beneath the hunger. The lover inside the undead, whose influence could poke through in writing, but not when they stood face to face. These letters could never be enough, but for now they had to be.

[sweenyalicewriting]

Song Shorts 2

Here are some new and old songs! @the-onewho-reads, @ahelpfulpeach, @aircaves, @avallon-moon, @im-homestucked

I have finals next week, but my birthday is also next week, so I want to find time to write, plus these shorts are so much fun!

I’ll list the song below, but if you want to hear the songs I’ll drop the playlist here too:

https://open.spotify.com/user/sweeneyalice/playlist/3ZnQdhuTdVfotj8WdV0wkY

Alexander Rybak

Kotik (Kitten)

What I long for

Andrew W.K.

Ready to Die

Andy Black

Ribcage

Andy Grammer

Honey, I’m Good

Aurelio Voltaire

Death Death

Happy Birthday

When You’re Evil

Avicii

The Nights

Avril Lavigne

What the Hell

Bebe Rexha

I’m gonna show you crazy

Bowling for Soup

Girl all the bad guys want

Britney Spears

Womanizer

Bruno Marz

Just the way you are

Marry You

Runaway Baby

The Lazy Song

The Cab

Angel with a shotgun

Christina Perry

Human

Cody Simpson

La Da Dee

Coldplay

Viva la vida

Creature Feature

Such Horrible Things

Echosmith

Cool Kids

Escape the Fate

Friends and alibis

Let it go

Reverse the curse

The flood

Eurythmics

Sweet Dreams

Fall out boy

Centuries

Falling in Reverse

I’m not a vampire

Forever the sickest kids

She’s a lady

Foster the people

Pumped up kids

Fun

Some nights

G.R.L

Ugly Heart

Good with Grenades

Bruises & Bitemarks

Green Day

Boulevard of broken dreams

Misery

Griffinilla, Jeff Burgess

Stay Calm

Gym Class Heroes

Stereo Hears

Halestorm

Love Bites

Mz. Hyde

Halsey

Control

Hollywood Undead

Bullet

Hot Chelle Rae

Tonight tonight

Icon for Hire

Happy hurts

You were wrong

War

Imagine Dragon

Demons

Monster

Insane Clown Posse

Boogie Woogie Wu

Jasmine Thompson

Mad World

Rather be

Jason Marz

I’m yours

Jayn

Smoke and mirrors

Jimmy James

Fashionista

Lily Allen

Hard out here

Linkin Park

Numb

What I’ve done

Lonestar

Mr. Mom

Marianas Trench

Haven’t had enough

Toy Soldiers

Maroon 5

Maps

Moves like Jagger

One more night

Meghan Trainor

Dear future husband

Dollhouse

MIKA

lollipop

Mike Posner

Cooler than me

MKTO

Classic

My Chemical Romance

Blood

Famous last words

I don’t love you

Mama

Teenagers

Napoleon XIV

They’re coming to take me away

The offspring

You’re gonna go far, kid

Olly Murs

Trouble Maker

One Republic

Counting Stars

OutKast

Hey ya!

Owl City

Beautiful Times

Fireflies

Vanilla Twilight

P!nk

Family portrait

Raise your glass

Panic! At the disco

Don’t threaten me with a good time

The Pierces

Secret

Pitbull, Kesha

Timber

Plaine White Tees

Hey there Delilah

Rachel Platten

Fight song

Rascal Flatts

My Wish

The Ready Set

Killer

Rihanna

S&M

Roomie

Long distance love

Scissor Sisters

I can’t decide

Set if off

Wolf in sheep’s clothing

Why worry

Shinedown

Enemies

Sounds like harmony

Flower child

Wonderland

Up

Starset

My demons

Tally Hall

Cannibal

Teddy Geiger

For you I will

Temposhark

Don’t mess with me

Theory of a Deadman

Angel

Savages

Thirty Seconds to Mars

This is war

Three days grace

So What

Pain

Train

50 ways to say goodbye

Two gallants

Despite what you’ve been told

Walk the moon

Shut up and dance

The Wanted

Chasing the sun

Glad you came

We own the night

Yolanda Be cool & DCUP

We no speak Americano

[sarcasticgaypotato]

ok so. I definitely didn’t make necromancer!AU chelldos sims in the Sims 3. I definitely. didn’t do it. ...Definitely didn’t make sure the first thing I did was have them kiss. Certainly not.

[sarcasticgaypotato]

(( Surprise, it’s even more of me and @bondibee‘s necromancer AU. )) GLaDOS had adapted the feeling of being bitten. ...Well, perhaps adapted was an understatement. To say that GLaDOS had come to… cherish it would be more accurate. She had come to look forward to Chell’s feeding just as much as Chell herself did, it had gone from a five, maybe ten minute ordeal to one that was upwards of an hour, and despite its bloody, violent, inhuman beginnings, it had been turned into something gentle, something affectionate. Chell’s first bite had been with blunt, ineffective, human teeth. She had to rip and tear at the flesh, pulling and tugging at GLaDOS’s skin until it gave her the reward she sought. GLaDOS knew she could never forget that moment. Not the pain that, for a moment, made her wonder if she was going to die. Not the fear that had shot through her like an arrow at that thought, and certainly not the realization and acceptance that had settled over her as she had come to accept her fate so quickly.  To believe that this was what she deserved, punishment for her sins. Now, to think of it as punishment was… absurd at best. Chell’s teeth had changed, slowly but surely. Average canine teeth growing longer and sharper, until they were like miniature daggers that cut through flesh as if it were nothing but air. She had developed a venom of sorts, a numbing agent as well as a sedative.  GLaDOS had started building a mild immunity to it- which she was admittedly thankful for, not being able to feel her neck for several hours and being knocked out cold really killed the mood- leaving her awake, but comfortably relaxed when Chell sank her teeth in. Chell took her time now too. No longer did she rush forward and bite down without hesitation, but instead, she had retaught herself the patience she once had in life. GLaDOS’s hairs raised on end as Chell trailed her lips over GLaDOS’s neck, kissing old wounds, and gingerly tracing the tips of her fangs around the more prominent scars, a silent apology that she had never quite given up, despite being long since forgiven. Cold hands brought goosebumps across GLaDOS’s skin as they travelled from her shoulders down to her arms, lightly grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her closer if needed.   She could lazily wrap her arms around Chell’s frame, tracing her muscular back and shoulders, and running her fingers through that beautiful dark brown mane of hair. Sometimes, the two of them kept words out of it. Leave the only sounds to be GLaDOS’s gentle gasps and shallow breathing.  Others, GLaDOS urged Chell on. Murmuring sweet nothings as her fingers played with the hem of Chell’s shirt, waiting for the vampire to pick where she wanted to bite. And when she did, it was a sharp inhale of breath through GLaDOS’s teeth, followed by a content sigh as she let herself go limp in Chell’s arms. She could trust those arms, holding her with enough firmness to keep her in place, but a softness that reminded GLaDOS of how far they had come.  Chell did not have to hunt her anymore, and GLaDOS was not prey.  She was not a struggling victim, escaping the iron grip of the terrible monster. Of course, that wasn’t to say that in the eyes of a brave, foolish, overly self-centered adventurer, things could be seen quite differently.  He could see himself as the hero. Come to slay the horrible beast and save the poor, helpless damsel from her fate. He could manage to barely make it past all the traps, and stumble his way into a scene that surely was as incriminating as could be. An elven woman in a silk gown, with eyes lidded and head thrown back, being held in the arms of a powerful looking humanoid with a complexion of the dead, who was drinking steadily from said elf’s neck, a small dribble of blood escaping the corner of her mouth and dripping down to create a splotchy red stain on the beautiful white silk. Surely, this poor, powerless woman was being viciously attacked by an unholy creature, bent on nothing but destruction and the defiling of anything good and pure in the world. Only problem was, GLaDOS knew full well what that ‘unholy creature’ looked like when she was dangerous, and this wasn’t it. As GLaDOS slowly raised a nearly closed eyelid and focused her gaze lazily on the intruder, she was drowsy and admittedly a bit out of it, but still managed to slightly adjust her position against the plush piece of furniture Chell had draped her upon to get a better look, then let a smile twitch onto her lips. She could feel Chell’s body posture shift in an instant on top of her, as the vampire pulled her mouth away from GLaDOS’s neck, blood dribbling down her chin as she turned to face the newcomer as well. Unluckily for this young fellow- as a terrible hiss left Chell’s throat and her eyes went feral, her long, still bloodied teeth bared in a snarl- he was about to see what an angry vampire really looked like.

[sarcasticgaypotato]

Just in time for the spooky season; my first thank you fic! Prompt given by @moonwatcher13 who requested necromancer AU fluff, thank you so much for the generous donation, and I hope you enjoy!

Chell had been dead for a long time.

Years turned into decades since her heart last beat, and her lungs last drew breath. By the natural order of things, she should’ve been six feet under, with bones turned to dust. And yet? Here she still was. Pulling herself up off of her bed, and stretching her eternally stiff limbs in an attempt to chase the grogginess from her mind. The sun had started to disappear behind the tops of the trees, casting the world in long shadows and encroaching darkness. The rest of the world’s day was ending, which meant Chell’s was only just beginning.

As she walked, slowly and silently, through the cold stone halls of the castle she called home, she found herself dwelling briefly on what got her here. Rather, who.

An elf as pale as moonlight, as sharp as a blade, and mad as anything. With her piercing eyes of gold and blue respectively, and her hair as white as bone. GLaDOS was as intelligent as she was dangerous, and as dangerous as she was curious.

She was always pushing. Pushing the limits of what she could achieve, of what was allowed. She found limits and shattered them, for better or for worse.  Chell was the result of one such test; her greatest experiment to date. Bringing the dead back to life.

Chell had long said that it hadn’t been worth it. That she would’ve been better off staying properly dead, and that GLaDOS would’ve been better off not living with an unholy beast.

But GLaDOS never heard a word of it. She always dismissed Chell’s laments with assurances stated like facts, so certain that she had made the only choice possible. Chell knew that that certainty came, at least in part, from love. GLaDOS was hardly shy with her affections, willing to kiss even a bloodstained, bloody maw with unabashed enthusiasm.

Yet, as Chell approached the room that GLaDOS called her study, she had to acknowledge that GLaDOS’s refusal to regret her creation came out of stubbornness too. To doubt the existence of her undead lover would be to admit failure in her experiments. And given that GLaDOS had told Chell just how many times even her initial resurrection had failed… Well, it was no doubt that GLaDOS wanted a success, and this was as close as she could get.

Of course, that experiment had taken place years and years ago, and GLaDOS had moved on to new things. She was never satisfied, never able to lull in one state for too long.

She was always hungry, and Chell could relate.

Inside the fire-lit study, Chell poked her head in to see GLaDOS moving back and forth, flitting from her desk to her caldron, scribbling down notes before hurrying back to throw something else in and watch the reaction.

She didn’t even seem to notice Chell as she came in, her head much too deep in her work, and a face full of colored steam no doubt helping to obscure her vision.

Chell didn’t mind it, at least for awhile. She was relatively content to lean against the doorway and watch her partner with an unblinking gaze, basking in the sight that was GLaDOS truly in her element.

But after awhile, Chell started to get...antsy. She resisted the urge to tap her foot as GLaDOS went about bottling whatever her new creation was, all without giving more than a brief “Oh, hello Chell.”

Slowly, Chell slunk over to where GLaDOS stood- leaning over her desk and pouring over her notes- unable to be patient any longer as she wrapped her arms around her lover’s slender waist, and let out a low, impatient sound. After waking up alone- as was a frequent occurrence when she slept throughout a whole day- it was only natural that she wanted some quality time with her beloved. 

“Come now, you haven’t been waiting that long.” As GLaDOS spoke, a hint of amusement mingling with exasperation, Chell moved to rest her chin on the elf’s shoulder, only to stop and pull back at the sudden sound of a hiss that wasn’t her own. Tucked away in the folds of GLaDOS’s robe and wrapped around her neck like a scarf was one of her pet snakes that raised its head and reared at Chell when she got too close.

It took more self control than she wanted to admit to resist the urge to bare her teeth and snarl back in response, keeping her head back and instead settling for glaring daggers at the albino reptile until GLaDOS slowly coaxed the thing down her arm, onto the desk, and then sent it slithering off into the shadows to hunt. 

With that taken care of, Chell wasted no time nuzzling close, breathing in deeply as GLaDOS’s scent drowned out that of the rather pungent potion in the air around them. 

She tried to close her eyes, to stand there peacefully and simply drink in the moment of GLaDOS’s warm body pressed against her unnaturally cold chest, to enjoy the feeling of her rather small partner in her arms, safe and sound and right where she was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t relax. A nagging little something prickled in the back of her mind, reminding her with every passing moment of the now unguarded expanse of flesh only inches away from her mouth. 

She blinked heavily, as if the action would push away the thought from her mind. She wasn’t starving, she would eat when she needed to. There was no point in interrupting such a nice moment, so Chell bit her tongue- not literally, she had learned the hard way that such an action was ill-advised- and waited. And waited.

GLaDOS was taking forever. And she kept fidgeting, moving in and out of Chell’s grasp to grab tools and tinker even further.

It was about half an hour into all this when Chell made up her mind. Saving the usage of her voice for an apology instead of asking permission, she gathered GLaDOS slightly tighter into her arms, and pulled her backwards, stumbling for a moment before plopping herself into GLaDOS’s desk chair with the elf in question on her lap.

“Chell!”

The warm satisfaction in her otherwise cold chest was more than worth GLaDOS’s scolding tone and the light smack on her shoulder.

“If I had been in the middle of handling something dangerous-”

“You would’ve managed it.” “Yes, I would’ve thrown it on you and documented the results.”

Chell felt her lips curl into a smile. Surely GLaDOS could wrap up her work like this just fine, and then Chell could get her meal. Of course, as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against GLaDOS’s neck in a gentle kiss, she couldn’t help but think that a little taste in the meantime wouldn’t hurt…

“Don’t you dare.”

A raspy whine escaped Chell’s lips before she could help herself.

“I need to finish recording my findings and I don’t want to be falling asleep in the process. My experiments are more important than your impatience.” “...’s only tasting…”

“Sure you were.”

Reluctantly, Chell resigned herself with a grumble, licking her lips restlessly. She knew GLaDOS had a point, a vampire’s venom was a sedative, and was hardly the thing that one wants in their veins if they weren’t ready to take a nap. 

Still, it only would’ve been a little nibble…

In truth, GLaDOS wasn’t working for all that much longer before she capped her ink pot and set down her quill. A glance out the nearby window and a look at the moon’s position still rising in the sky meant Chell had barely been awake for an hour in total. But it felt like an eternity.

Which was, perhaps, what made it all the more satisfying for GLaDOS to finally turn around and shift in Chell’s lap, wrapping her arms around her neck- and as always not shying in the slightest from the awful, blackened wound- and meeting her gaze with a languid smile.

“See? Patient vampires get what they want.”

There was no time to waste in meeting GLaDOS’s warm lips in a quick kiss, Chell savored her taste, and offered a please and thank you all in one, anxiously waiting as GLaDOS shrugged her robes to the side enough to display more of her neck in a silent invitation.

Chell tried not to rush, flexing the muscle of self control that had taken her years to build and still needed work to this day. Instincts told her to lunge, to bite immediately and to drink her fill quickly. But what remained of her rational thought urged her otherwise, to instead leave a trail of kisses down her partner’s jaw to her neck, to be gentle and slow. To bite only after going over every available space with affectionate offerings, and to bite gently.

There was a time and a place for a hearty bite, to relieve the urge of a vicious, powerful chomp. But all it took was a look at the still healing wound on the opposite side of GLaDOS’s neck to remind Chell to take this one easy.

A purr rumbled from her chest as she felt the warm rush of blood against her teeth and tongue, sinking her fangs in just enough to prompt a proper blood flow before she pulled back, bringing her tongue forward instead to lap at the beads of blood as they appeared.

GLaDOS shuddered in response to the cold sensation, and Chell grasped her hand and squeezed it gingerly, rubbing her thumb along her partner’s pale knuckles. The chill wouldn’t be so bad once Chell’s mouth began to warm a little, stealing the heat from the living to possess in her own icy form. 

As she lingered in the space, lapping and nuzzling, drawing out the experience longer and longer, it was impossible to ignore the older marks on GLaDOS’s neck. The violent, jagged scars from years ago, flesh permanently branded with Chell’s signature. It was sobering, and only pressed her further into the affectionate touch she had the control to give. 

It was a lucky thing that GLaDOS was who she was, Chell thought. Had she not been so eager to wrap her arms around a dangerous undead, long before Chell had been able to temper herself to be so gentle, Chell wasn’t sure if she would’ve ever gotten to this point. For any other living person out there, eagerness to cuddle up with a corpse would’ve been hard to come by.

But Chell counted as many blessings as a vampire could have that she had somehow landed herself with someone who was more comfortable with Chell being dead than Chell herself. Someone who didn’t freak out as venom dulled her senses, but instead simply yawned and snuggled closer, continuing to run a hand lazily through Chell’s hair. Someone who was content to sit here with her for hours, to tangle herself lovingly in Chell’s cold arms with nothing but joy in doing so.

Someone who loved her for who she was, not in spite of it.

[sarcasticgaypotato]

Let's be honest though, if GLaDOS were a vampire, she'd try to sneak bites on Chell in her sleep and when Chell woke up, GLaDOS would say "Those are love bites."

(( Hey @unnameddoc, I hope you don’t mind but I might’ve written a little something for this AU of yours. ))“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”A low grumble escaped Chell before she even opened her eyes. A part of her was tempted to just pull the covers back up and fall back asleep, but she could feel at least four sore spots across her neck, as well as a particularly fresh one that still had a drop of something warm running down her skin.She didn’t need to look at it to know that it was her own blood. Not an alarming amount of blood, but just enough to remind her that someone wasn’t as subtle as they thought they were.There was a soft chuckle from somewhere next to her, and Chell could feel a hand trailing up her arm, unnaturally cold fingers dancing across exposed skin.Reluctantly, the hunter cracked an eye open, being met with the sight of a vampire practically hanging over her, a playful look in her golden eyes, and a suspiciously red tint on her lips. She looked as guilty as could be, red-handed and caught in the act, yet she didn’t seem to care in the slightest, simply feigning offense and offering a mock-offended response.“Oh you don’t mean that.”Her voice was smooth and silky, and the downright enticing tone of it almost made Chell agree with her, if not for the fact that the vampire’s pointed fangs glinted in the low light, reminding Chell why she was annoyed in the first place.It wasn’t even morning- of course it wasn’t, Gladys was practically nocturnal- and the last thing Chell liked waking up to was figuring out that she was being snacked on.  She had enough trust in Gladys to know the woman wouldn’t kill her with any of this, but that didn’t exactly make it feel any better.“If you were fully dead then I wouldn’t have to wake up with blood loss and a headache every morning.”Her voice was rough and almost gravelly from a general lack of use, standing starkly in contrast to her companion’s almost sing-song like tone. She had a voice like a siren, though Chell was quite thankful she didn’t have the abilities of one.With a low huff, she rolled over onto her back and fully met the vampire queen’s gaze, raising her hand to her own neck and catching the droplet of blood before it stained any of the blankets.  She held her now slightly blooded fingers up in front of her, looking at Gladys in an accusatory manner.“Love bites darling, don’t be so suspicious.”If Gladys was trying to look or sound innocent, she failed quite miserably, a cat-like smile flashing across her lips before taking Chell’s red-stained hand and bringing it to her mouth, deliberately taking her time to carefully clean the blood off, clearly enjoying herself quite a bit.Chell swallowed, feeling that her throat had suddenly gone very dry, tearing her eyes away from the undead woman and forcing herself to let out another grumble and keep up her annoyance without falling victim to her partner’s admittedly effective attempts at distracting her.“Keep your love bites for when I’m actually awake.”And with that she pulled her hand away and rolled back over on her side, making sure that she pulled the blankets up over her neck before closing her eyes again and trying to get comfortable, knowing full well that she could expect at least two more marks of ‘affection’ by the time she woke up.

[sarcasticgaypotato]

(( Even more necromancer AU with @bondibee. This time, something a little more lighthearted? )) Things couldn’t go back to the way they were. Chell knew it, and GLaDOS knew it.  They had both stopped pretending that was the case shortly after the first bite. Their old life, while in reality had not been more than a few months ago, seemed impossibly far away. Replaced with… whatever this life was. If you could even call it life, for Chell. For awhile, Chell just… existed.  She did little but try and seclude herself in the dark corners of the castle, and feed.   She didn’t go for walks outside to enjoy the fresh air- sunlight was harsh and uncomfortable for her eyes- instead she lingered in the basement cellars, enjoying their lack of light and low temperatures.  She didn’t try and take care of the animals that GLaDOS had for testing- she used to like to play with them when the mage wasn’t watching, knowing that their lives could quite quickly be cut short by an experiment gone wrong, and attempting to give them a sliver of happiness away from being trapped in their cages- for she knew she was a far bigger threat to them now than any test GLaDOS may have run. And the one thing that Chell certainly didn’t do- perhaps the thing that was most difficult to give up, but most important that she did- was initiate any contact with GLaDOS outside of feeding. It was strange, in a way, that a part of her mind still considered GLaDOS her girlfriend.  Someone who she had once been always ready to scoop up into her arms and carry around the castle, someone she cooked breakfast for in the morning, someone who she willingly held and kissed and followed to bed, someone she loved, cherished, and was ready to die for. Odd indeed, that Chell still had the title of GLaDOS’s romantic partner, as now she did nothing but try to avoid the mage. Chell had good reason, of course. It was because of the fact that she still loved GLaDOS that she made herself so scarce.  If she was around the elf, she would hurt her.  Even with Chell getting to drink her blood once every couple of days and not having the time to starve again, she knew that if given the chance, she would eat even if she wasn’t hungry.   The only time she ever truly felt safe around GLaDOS now was directly after she finished feeding, and even then… she didn’t like to stick around and look at the wound she inflicted. GLaDOS hadn’t liked any of this one bit. It wore on her, and Chell saw it.  Everytime she attempted to come find Chell, only for Chell to both hear and smell her coming from halfway across the castle, and quickly slip out from under her nose.  Everytime that Chell passed by GLaDOS’s chambers when the mage ought to have been asleep, only to hear muffled, hoarse sobs coming from within. To have gone to such lengths to bring Chell back, only to find herself more alone than before, was more painful than the elf had expected. And so, after awhile, she apparently had enough of it.

Chell could duck around corners and hide in the shadows if GLaDOS was coming to find her, but GLaDOS had long since stopped bothering with that. Instead, it was no more than a minute or two after Chell had pulled her mouth away from GLaDOS’s neck, licking her lips and hastily pressing a cloth against the wound- leaving the proper dressings for GLaDOS to do later- and attempting to get up and leave when a hand gently grabbed her wrist. “Don’t.” GLaDOS was laid back in her bed, white hair splayed out against the pillows, and eyelids half shut.  She had been getting groggier and groggier with every new bite, as of late. Something that GLaDOS was intending to study, but Chell hadn’t been sticking around to hear the progress of. It was no doubt connected to the fact that GLaDOS’s neck had started to go numb after Chell’s bites, to the point where it hardly hurt her.  Now, she was practically falling asleep?  Chell couldn’t shake the fear that the next step was going to be putting her in a coma. Or worse. “Please Chell, don’t… don’t leave me again.” The elf’s ears drooped, and Chell felt a stab of something not unlike guilt in the place where her heart would’ve been.  She had always hated seeing GLaDOS like this. Somehow, the dangerous and powerful, black magic-using mage had always had an infuriating good pout. This time though, it didn’t come in response to some childishly playful desire. Her eyes- hair parted just enough to show both her oft visible golden one and the elusive blue one-, for as drowsy and distant as they looked, still shone with a gut wrenching loneliness.  

“...I need to leave.” Chell muttered under her breath, still tasting GLaDOS’s blood on her lips, and trying to ignore it. She could shake GLaDOS off without trouble. There was no way she was casting any spells in a state like this, and she definitely didn’t have the physical strength to keep Chell in place.  Chell just needed to… to push her off.  Which she was going to do any minute now. Chell was going to stop sitting there on the bed like an idiot, staring wide-eyed down at GLaDOS like a startled deer, and she was going to leave before… before she got used to this again. She wasn’t in danger of hurting GLaDOS right this moment, she was plenty satisfied with the meal she had, but Chell knew she couldn’t get comfortable. If she got comfortable, it meant that she might start doing this more in the future. Getting close to GLaDOS more and more often.  And then what? GLaDOS could get hurt. Or… hurt more than she already was. What happened if one of these times Chell accidentally killed- Her train of thought was broken by the realization that she was being tugged closer to the bed. GLaDOS couldn’t physically force Chell to stay if Chell was resisting, but somehow she found herself letting GLaDOS weakly tug her closer. Maybe… maybe she’d stay for a minute. Lay down next to GLaDOS, but she wouldn’t touch her. And she did just that.  For a minute. Or two, before GLaDOS inched closer, pressing herself up against Chell’s side. And Chell did not stop her. By minute five, Chell’s arm found its way around GLaDOS, and by the ten minute mark, GLaDOS had completely latched onto Chell’s torso, nuzzling her face against Chell’s shirt, ears no longer drooping, but comfortably relaxed. Nevermind the fact that Chell’s body was stone cold, or that GLaDOS still hadn’t paid any proper attention to the wound on her neck- the cloth loosely pressed against it had started to gain splotches of red- Chell was certain she hadn’t seen GLaDOS this happy since… the day she first brought Chell back to life. It was… nice, to see her like this, Chell mused, as she absentmindedly ran a hand through GLaDOS’s hair. It had been late at night-nearing the early morning hours- when Chell had eaten, and so when the sun started to creep up, Chell found herself drifting off.  With a full stomach and a comfortable place to rest her head, how could she not? GLaDOS had quickly fallen asleep curled up against her, and Chell couldn’t bring herself to get up and move them both in order to return to her own room. While it was the right thing to do, Chell just… couldn’t. She could let tonight slide, but this would have to be a one time occasion. This could not happen again, Chell knew that much.   No matter how… amazing it made her feel. Despite every part of her being as cold as ice, Chell felt something almost like warmth stirring in the pits of her chest. An old memory of a feeling, sparking up, trying to be recognized. GLaDOS still fit perfectly in her arms, that much hadn’t changed.  Looking down at her, Chell could almost pretend that things were… normal again. Of course, the deep, rumbling purr that instinctively left her throat at the sight of said elf wasn’t… wholly normal, but for once, Chell didn’t care.  She pressed her face against the top of GLaDOS’s head, breathing in a scent that was ten times stronger, ten times as complex, and ten times as pleasant and intoxicating than Chell had ever noticed it in life. The cellars and dungeons may have drawn her in for their appeal to her newfound life, but they had not become her home. In GLaDOS’s room, in her bed, with the elf herself in her arms? That was home. And for once… the beast inside of her didn’t disagree.  Even if Chell only believed it was because her hunger was sated, and that all this would take a turn for the worse tomorrow evening, for now… the remnants of her human head and the instincts of her undead form were in agreement over something. This was right.