#//so for both of them to heal link needs to address dark link without just outright killing him

[hyliasblame]

So who are you anyway

I Don't Know.

All I know is I am Angry and Terrified and I am Link's Fault. But he either Won't acknowledge it Or is Too Stupid to realize.

But I know if I Kill him I will stop Feeling these Things.

[rosiehunterwolf]

And the Walls Kept Tumbling Down

Prompts: Trust and Breakdown

Word Count: 3,706

Characters: Pixal and Lloyd

Timeline: right before season 8

Trigger Warnings: Mental Breakdown/Panic Attack, Lack of Self-Worth

Summary: Pixal has been Samurai X for awhile, now- a role that allows her to be herself, to be happy. But it’s also... incredibly lonely. Luckily, she’s not the only one alone- Lloyd has been left in the city while his friends go after Master Wu, and his presence is comforting. But as they struggle with a mysterious biker gang, Pixal can’t help feeling the want to be part of something more.

Link to read on FanFiction.Net:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13897921/1/And-the-Walls-Kept-Tumbling-Down

“Master Lloyd, maybe you should go get that checked at the hospital.”

“Pix, I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” Lloyd mumbled through the gauze as he snapped it with his teeth, winding the last several inches around his forearm. “And I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Why? You are our master now, aren’t you?”

Lloyd snorted, tentatively testing his arm as he moved it back and forth. “I’m no master. I can’t even keep our team together.”

Pixal stared at him, shocked. “We all agreed on this, Lloyd. It is the most efficient plan to find Master Wu.”

“Yeah, and whose plan was that?” Lloyd’s voice was suddenly sharp.

“I believe it was Zane’s, but-”

“Exactly! It was Zane’s plan, not mine. I did nothing. And now, they’re off searching for Master Wu, and I’m sitting here, doing nothing.”

An unfamiliar sensation squeezed at Pixal’s chest, one that felt hot and fierce and miserable all at the same time, before she had to remind herself that no, she didn’t have a body, didn’t have a chest to feel pain in, and that she was just speaking to Lloyd over the monitors.

At least, in the moment, she was.

“Zane trusted me to watch over this city,” she insisted, her voice unstable- which it shouldn’t be, she was a nindroid, not affected by such things- “He trusted us.”

Lloyd flinched visibly, looking away from the computer they were using to talk. “Pix, I didn’t mean- look, I’m sure Zane much would’ve rather had you come along with him, but instead you got stuck babysitting me.”

“Normally, I would object, but I think you’ve already proven your own point,” she commented, shooting a pointed glare at his bandaged arm.

Lloyd gritted his teeth, letting out a slow breath. “I get it, Pixal, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“A doctor’s visit couldn’t hurt, Lloyd.”

“Will you drop it already?”

She frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t grow cross with me, Master Lloyd. I am only trying to look out for you-”

Lloyd stood up sharply. “I get it, okay? I’m incompetant. You don’t need to keep calling me ‘master’ out of pity, I know I’ll never be able to live up to my unc- Master Wu.”

Pixal blinked at him, stunned. “Lloyd, I never-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!” And then he was reaching forward, slamming down the laptop’s lid, and Pixal’s world went dark.

He knew how much she hated that, when he turned her off or walked away without her consent, like she was some sort of object.

He hadn’t meant it- she had learned a lot about Lloyd in their past year alone together, and he often became impulsive when he was angry in order to cover up his sensitive, insecure side. It would probably only be a matter of hours before he came running back, apologizing repeatedly, and sobbing over what a horrible friend he was as Pixal patiently waited for him to calm down. But she had grown to like and respect Lloyd, and it still stung when he snapped at her, even though the logical part of her mind knew that it wasn’t really her that was the problem.

What bothered her even more so, though, was the things he said about himself. It had been abrupt, this time, but she hadn’t missed the times he had slipped it in more subtly into conversation. It made her angry, how he refused to appreciate himself.

And now, stuck in this stupid form, she couldn’t go after him.

Well. Technically, she could.

The Samurai X suit had been up and operational for a few months since her last major upgrade- the one that had finally given her her own, independent body, separate from just the mech itself.

But she was nervous to remove herself from the computer entirely. She was aware that she was so incredibly useful as a program, with instant access to all sorts of technology and data. She had become an asset to her team.

She liked feeling important, feeling like she was part of the group.

But being the samurai allowed her to physically be there. In these last few months, she felt like she had really grown to know and trust Lloyd- even if he didn’t know it was her beneath the samurai mask. She wanted to get to know the others fully, too- she was already fairly close to Zane, but she liked the rest of the team, too- Cole, Jay, Kai, and especially Nya, Pixal felt intrigued by. She had spent some time connecting similarities between them- there were a lot of differences, too, but she felt like they could be friends. A physical form would allow her to bond with them, like a human. She was well aware she wasn’t one, but she wanted to understand.

But she was afraid, too. Except for Zane, and maybe Lloyd, now, seeing the others again felt daunting. They had never been particularly close before she had been scrapped. What if they thought she was infringing on their team? The six of them had been close for so long. It would make sense if she wasn’t wanted there.

She just wasn’t ready, not yet. Communicating with Lloyd through the monitors would just have to do for now. It was difficult, though- it didn’t seem like he took her as seriously this way.

For now, though, they had bigger problems. Lloyd’s injury hadn’t been too severe, from what she could tell, and would heal quickly. But it had been a sizable wound, and could leave some pretty severe scarring, if he wasn’t careful with it- she knew he wouldn’t be, which was why she had to keep him in line- but the point was, these were no common thieves going around, dealing this kind of damage. This gang- whoever they were- were something bigger, more dangerous than their day-to-day threats. Pixal wasn’t sure if it was severe enough to start calling the others back- she didn’t want to interrupt their search for Master Wu. But she would certainly have to keep a closer eye on Lloyd from now on, to make sure he didn’t get in over his head.

She should probably start playing a more active role as Samurai X. Although the ninja had a tentative relationship with her mysterious persona, she wasn’t about to send Lloyd against this gang alone again.

She just hoped he would have her.

---

The next call came in much sooner than Pixal had anticipated. At the unappealing hour of four in the morning, Lloyd hauled himself out of bed and stumbled drearily out the door at Pixal’s report of a prison breach alarm coming from Kryptarium. With the rush, there was no time to talk to him, and the drive to the prison was awkward and silent.

When they arrived, it turned out the alarm had been triggered by accident. The good news was there were no criminals to stop, the bad news was that they had woken up at four am for no reason.

Not that Pixal particularly minded- sleep was inconsequential to a nindroid, but Lloyd was less than pleased.

“I mean, if you’re going to have an alarm system that immediately pages the city’s ninja team and makes them stop everything they’re doing to rush over there, it should at least be heavily guarded. How do you even accidentally set off an emergency alarm? I thought these guys were supposed to be professionals!”

Pixal stifled a laugh as he paused, taking a sip of the iced coffee he had picked up as they had headed back. He had told her, “If I’m already up and ready, I might as well spend some time in the city for a little while. Y’know, in case they trigger any other ‘alarms’ that I need to go rushing off to.”

“Perhaps they need a lesson from the ninja,” Pixal suggested.

“I’ll say,” he grumbled. “I don’t know how this city ever survived before we showed up.”

“Well, experience is the best teacher, and you guys have triggered enough traps and alarms to last a lifetime.”

“Wait, what?” Lloyd spluttered. “No, we haven’t! We’re highly trained ninja, we’re better than that.”

“Oh, really? I seem to remember quite a few in the Tournament of Elements, or the time with the technoblades, or when General Cryptor tracked you- shall I go on?”

“Shut up,” Lloyd snorted, trying to hide his grin. “You don’t know nothin’.”

“You’re right, I don’t. I was only with you for a short time before I was uploaded into Zane’s head, and after that, my view of your adventures was extremely limited. I can’t imagine how much more trouble you got into when I wasn’t there.”

“I hate you,” he said, attempting to scowl and failing miserably, the look on his face was too comedic for Pixal to bite back her laugh this time. It wasn’t long before Lloyd joined her, and soon, he was bent over, clutching his stomach, and he had to sit down for a moment to catch his breath. Pixal felt warm inside as she watched him take a long sip from his coffee. She enjoyed seeing him like this. He had been far too tense over the last few weeks, and she missed the more childlike, carefree side of him.

After a moment, though, the expression on his face fell solemn, and he turned to the tablet they were using to communicate to look her directly in the eyes. “Pix, I’m really sorry for yelling at you last night. I was being a brat.”

She paused carefully, both relieved and nervous that they were finally addressing this. “Lloyd, I know you were hurting. I am only trying to look out for you.”

He put his hands behind his head. “Yeah, I know, I need to work harder-”

“Lloyd,” she interrupted firmly. “That’s the other thing. I need you to stop saying things like that about yourself.”

He cocked his head at her. “Like what?”

Good grief, he doesn’t even know he’s doing it. “Talking down on yourself. I called you ‘master’ because that’s what you are now. You’ve earned this title, Lloyd. Just like you’ve earned everything else in your life, and more. It was not my intention to say you would take your uncle’s place, but say that you can be just as great of a leader as he was.”

Lloyd suddenly found the cracks in the concrete to be very interesting. “See, people keep saying that, but- it’s just so hard. I feel like I always mess everything up. Something always goes wrong, or worse, someone gets hurt-”

“Lloyd, you’re one person. You can’t expect to be successful all the time. You may be a ninja, yes, but your job is very difficult and dangerous, something most people wouldn’t even dream of tackling. You’re part of a team for a reason, and I’m sorry they’re not here right now, but until they return, you’re going to have to give yourself a little credit.”

Lloyd’s breathing hitched, and he scrubbed at his suspiciously wet eyes. His next words were so quiet, Pixal could barely hear them. “I just miss them. Everyone… everyone always leaves, and I’m tired of being alone all the time.”

Pixal was struggling to breathe herself- even though she was a nindroid, didn’t need to breathe- the sensation was still there.

She could remember when she had been alone too. Those nights after Zane had… had died, had been some of the worst times of her life. The emptiness had only made it sting worse, but when Lloyd had reached out to her, she had refused him.

She had been scared, scared to let anyone else into her life in case she lost them too, but now she realized that he had been hurting just as much as she had. She knew his friends had gone off on their own like she had, leaving him just as alone as the rest of them. She had been the cause of that, she had only hurt him more when he was already going through so much.

When she spoke again, it wasn’t just for the situation at present.

“I’m sorry, Lloyd. I’m so sorry.”

He looked up at the screen, his watery green eyes staring into hers, then raised an arm, his fingers ghosting the screen, before falling back to his side. He looked away, swallowing.

“What is it?”

“I just… I wish I could hug you. I wish you were here. Like, actually.”

“I am much more useful in the computer, Lloyd.”

“Yeah, but you’re not… you’re not here. I don’t care about how useful you are.”

Pixal let out a trembling breath, but Lloyd hardly seemed to notice, already beginning to stand up. “Sorry about being such a downer. I better get back to the Bounty, I’m sure the police have something for me to do.”

“Lloyd?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I just… they’ll be back soon. I know they aren’t like… other people. They’re going to come back. And besides, until then, I’ve got you, right?” He gave her a shy smile.

Pixal froze. This was it. He was extending- a metaphorical- hand to her. Offering her to be part of something that she had been wanting for a long time.

But it felt wrong. She wasn’t a ninja. She wasn’t one of his teammates. What if she was assuming wrong? What if he wasn’t really asking that?

“I’m not one of the ninja, Lloyd. I can’t help you the way they can.”

“No, you’re whoever you want to be, Pix. But you’re still my friend.”

Friend. Pixal felt a sudden urge to correct him, to tell him he was mistaken. “I’m not part of your team. I… I can’t be.”

“Trust me, Pix- in every sense that matters- you are one of us.”

---

“Pixal, I need my car! Now!”

The nindroid’s voice came out slightly crackly from the radio. “Your coordinates, Master Lloyd?”

“I’m somewhere around… well, you know how to find me.”

The cable he was gripping onto slowed to a stop, then quickly began to swing back down. Squeezing his eyes shut, Lloyd prayed that Pixal knew what she was doing, and let go.

Air whipped past him as he fell freely, the fall feeling both agonizingly slow and alarmingly quick at the same time, but before he had time to question what the hell he was doing, a blur of green darted out from a nearby alleyway, and Lloyd fell into his car.

He quickly pulled himself up and took over the controls. “Impeccable timing, Pix! You’re getting good at that.”

“I have to do something while you’re busy fighting crime, don’t I?”

“Speaking of which…” Lloyd cut off, gritting his teeth as he wove in between cars on the busy street, chasing after the biker. “Who is this person? Anything you can tell me about them?”

“They appear to be affiliated with the same criminal biker gang we have been having trouble with over the last few weeks. I am afraid I cannot tell you anything other than that. They have been keeping a very low profile.”

“Well, whoever they are, they’re good. I’ll keep you posted.” Gritting his teeth, he pushed on the gas and shot through the streets after the mysterious biker. They were a skilled driver, but Lloyd wasn’t lacking in that department either, and soon, he had caught up to the biker. The person’s eyes glowed an eerie red through their mask, their expression emotionless, and Lloyd forced his gaze away for a moment to examine the object in the back of his bike- presumably the stolen item. It was a red mask, with an ugly, beast-like face patterned over the top, complete with a mouth of crooked, yellowing teeth, and deep, glowering eyes. It looked like nothing more than a costume. Lloyd wondered what they could possibly want with it.

Putting on another burst of speed, he pulled in front of the biker, making them screech to a halt to avoid a collision. The two of them stared each other down, only a short stretch of road between them.

The criminal revved his engine, and suddenly, was racing towards Lloyd. Lloyd began to do the same, and just when he thought the biker was about to hit him head-on, mechanical arms extended from the bike, driving into the road, and sending the biker flying over his head. Lloyd slammed to a halt and jumped out of the car, running over to the bridge as the biker went over the edge. He yanked something near his chest, and all of a sudden, a big sheet was billowing out from his back, gray and black and red-

Lloyd’s breath caught in his throat as the parachute unfolded fully, revealing the emblem of a face that Lloyd had never thought he would see again.

No, no, no. Lloyd stumbled back from the railing, his breath hitching in his chest as he tried desperately to draw it in. This doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps they just are a fan of Garmadon, it doesn’t mean he’s here-

But it wasn’t working. His body just wasn’t listening to him, his heart beating too fast, his breath trembling and shallow, and his head-

“Lloyd!” A voice came from seemingly out of nowhere, and in his panicked state, he couldn’t, he couldn’t-

“Lloyd, it’s Pixal. What’s happened, why aren’t you responding?”

Oh. It was Pixal, on… on the radio. With trembling fingers, he reached down and switched on his mic. “...Pix?”

“Lloyd, don’t scare me like that, what’s wrong?”

“Pixal… Pixal, I don’t know…” Oh gosh, he was spiraling, spiraling hard, panic swamped his brain as images of his father flashed before his eyes, first running off with the golden weapons, then trying to kill him when the Overlord had taken over, then when he had submerged under the ocean, down, down, down with the Preeminent-

No! Lloyd’s eyes snapped open, scattering the images. He couldn’t be thinking about this now, not- not when-

Oh gosh. His father couldn’t be involved with this gang, he couldn’t. He was gone, gone for good. He missed him, so, so much, but nothing with his father was ever that simple. Something always went wrong, and Lloyd was just beginning to get over his last death, he couldn’t- couldn’t live through the pain again-

“Lloyd, Lloyd listen to me, just try to breathe-”

He could barely hear her. His legs had stopped working, and he sunk to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest, trying to remember to breathe. The last thing he needed was to pass out from lack of oxygen.

He buried his face between his knees, gulping through the sobs. Dammit, why was he like this, he hadn’t had an episode this bad since Morro-

And now he was thinking about that part of his life, one he had so desperately hoped to forget- it had been years, why was still not over that, he had gotten good at suppressing those feelings long ago, but when he got like this, he couldn’t control anything-

He hated when he got like this, it was so terrifying, he just wanted to go home, he just wanted Kai to be here, why was he always all alone-

Suddenly, firm, cool arms were wrapping around him, pulling him close. Lloyd gasped, his eyes flying open sharply.

A pair of glowing green eyes stared back at him, shadowed with fear. “Hey,” she whispered, her metallic jaw moving with the words, “I’m here now. You’re going to be okay.”

He had lost it, he was hallucinating, how was- how was she here-

“Pixal?!”

“Yeah,” her voice was quiet, rubbing her fingers across his palm. “It’s me. I’m here.”

“How?”

“I’m Samurai X, Lloyd.”

“Oh.” Vaguely, a part of his mind told him he should be more surprised by that piece of information, but he was just tired. His mind was already on overdrive, he couldn’t afford to take in anything else.

“Lloyd.” Pixal’s voice was scared, and he realized he was trembling in her grip. “Please, what has happened to you?”

“It’s- it’s…” Lloyd gasped for breath. “My dad, he- the biker, he was- he had-” and those words alone were too much. Everything was breaking, splintering apart right in front of his eyes, and he clutched onto Pixal like she was his lifeline- in a way, she was. She felt different from Kai’s warm, soft touch- harder and cooler- but sturdier and stronger, too. And right now, Lloyd could use a bit of strength.

But most of all, she was here.

“Why did you tell me?” He managed to get out. “Out of everyone, you told me first? Not Zane?”

Pixal was silent for a moment. “I know what it’s like. I mean, not exactly- I can’t feel what you are feeling right now. But… feeling emotions has been hard. Draining. You, out of all people, seem to know that. But you’re still so strong through everything. I just… you helped me to see how to heal. How to get better.” She paused, looking down at her hands. “But I guess it doesn’t always work out that way. I figured it was about time I helped you back.”

He leaned his head into her lap, examining her long, silver fingers, brushing them gently. “I like you like this. You’re pretty.”

He wasn’t looking at her face, but he could almost feel her smile. “Thank you. I worked hard to make this. I wanted to make sure… that I was better, this time. I still have some modifications to make, but…”

Lloyd winced, feeling a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry I made you show me before you were ready.”

“Lloyd,” she said firmly. “This was my choice. Not yours.” She took one hand and turned his chin so their gazes met, green on green. “I trust you. I always have.”

Lloyd felt his lip tremble. “I-”

Pixal stopped him. “It’s okay, Lloyd. You don’t have to say it. I know.”

Lloyd curled into her side and wept.

[collecting-stories]

Birthday - c. 13 - Georgia

Summary: Just a whole lot of feelings.

A/N: Sorry I didn’t post when I said I was going to, thank you guys for your patience though! Also, if you haven’t seen it, there’s a link on my page to help raise money for a friend of mine to get bottom surgery, if you wouldn’t mind taking a look and considering donating or reblogging to get out the word. 

Georgia Masterlist | The Walking Dead Masterlist

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Not who I expected to see waiting outside the pharmacy for me but, I’ll take it.” Tara called out as she walked across the small parking lot to her car. Parked right next to her four-door was Daryl’s truck and he was standing there waiting, leaning against the tailgate.  

“I haven’t heard from her in a couple days, just wanted to be sure she’s alright.” Daryl replied.  

“You mean after you told her you didn’t want to date her?” Tara asked, crossing her arms over her chest.  

“Ain’t that simple.”  

Tara groaned, already exhausted with both of you. “It is that simple, she really likes you and come on, I know you like her. You fucking stopped at the drug store to talk to me because you’re concerned about her. That’s pretty solid proof that you like her too.”  

Daryl looked away, scuffing his foot on the ground and taking his pack of cigarettes out to smoke, he needed something distract himself.  

“Can I have one?” Tara asked, already holding out her hand for one of his cigarettes. Her sister would probably kill her if she knew but Tara smoked occasionally, more recreational than anything else. “She’s staying at my house in Woodbury. Her dad’s supposed to be home soon, think she’s just waiting it out away from her mom.”  

“He any better?” Daryl asked lighting his and then holding the lighter for her cigarette. You’d be bitching about the smell no doubt, or pretending it didn’t bother you.  

“Not really,” Tara shrugged, “he doesn’t hit her or anything but he’s pretty dependent on her mom. I mean, the guy’s been in and out of rehab for years now, he can barely hold a steady job. Last time he was in the hospital he was on suicide watch cause he’s so miserable. Why are you asking me all this anyway? Why not ask Maggie?”

“Some friends ya don’t tell everything to.” He replied. “Ya let me know how she’s doing?”  

“Go to the diner and make up and see her yourself.”

“I already told her, she’s got enough shit going on, don’t need me adding to it.” Daryl replied.  

“Before you go,” Tara stopped him as he started to walk around to the driver’s side of the truck. “Just tell me, do you like her? Would you date her?”

He nodded, slowly. Not like he was unsure, just like he was trying to censor his answer. He settled on “yeah” because anything else would have been too much to tell kid. He would date you, hell, he was pretty sure that he would marry you if he was given the chance. He’d never thought much about liking anyone before. Daryl had seen Merle with different women his whole life but he’d never really bothered appreciating any of his own. People just came and went and he figured that was exactly how life would always be. And now there was you and he wouldn’t mind setting up a future, he’d already laid one out in his head. A nice one, like all the upstanding people in King County, the ones who whispered about him, had. There’d be a house, or a farm like Hershel’s, and kids if you wanted them though he’d never thought of himself as needing to bring any children into the world. It’d be nice though and you’d both be happy.  

“Don’t tell her I stopped by?” Daryl asked.  

“I won’t.” Tara replied, “think about it though? Cause she was happy with you and she was standing up for herself and she never used to. I don’t want her to lose that.”  

Daryl shut the door on the truck and Tara backed away as he started the engine, reversing and then peeling out of the parking lot. She took another drag of the cigarette and dropped it on the ground, smashing it into the white line with her shoe.  

You were working at the diner that afternoon and when you saw Daryl’s truck pull into Dale’s Autobody across the street you considered taking a ten minute break just to go talk to him. If you could figure out what was going on between the two of you, or even just apologize for what you said in the grocery store. You would’ve killed for a time machine that night, imagining the possibility of rewinding yourself back to the moment before you told him, of being able to pretend you didn’t feel the way you were feeling.  

If you could’ve done it over again you wouldn’t have said anything. Kept quiet until, and you hoped there was a possibility, he liked you so much that he couldn’t possibly reject you. And yet, you knew it was pointless to think that way. Standing in the parking lot with him, you had known that the only thing you wanted in that moment was him.  

-

Maggie sat on the top rung of the wooden fence with you, lanterns set out to illuminate the make shift camp site that she and Tara had put together for your birthday.  Glenn had come once it was dark enough that no one from the house would realize that he was there. You were usually wired, especially considering the amount of alcohol that Glenn and Tara had both brought with them. You had half a bottle of wine left, holding the nose in your hand as you sat there with Maggie, silently staring ahead to the porch light that looked more like a lightening bug at this distance.

“Glenn’s been talking about college,” Maggie finally said. Tara and Glenn had both punched out early but you and Maggie couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Or maybe she was just sitting up with you to be nice. “It’ll be nice to get away from all this. Have you talked about it with your parents?”

“My mom says the college fund is,” you sliced your hand across the air, “gone. Guess it’s waiting tables for me.”

“Woodbury has a college, maybe you could go there?”

“It’s not Emory...” you replied. “I don’t know any more honestly. I just wanted to go to college cause I wanted to get out of here. Guess I still do.”  

You had thousands of dreams of college as a kid. Getting out of King County and never coming back. You could be one of those kids who moves to the city without leaving a forwarding address, who disappears from the average existence of small-town life. Breaking whatever mold, you had been born into. It always seemed like it would be you, Maggie had the farm and she complained about the church but you knew she loved it. But now she was talking about life outside of King County and it seemed insane to you that you would be the only one contemplating all the things in your life that you thought about changing. Maybe some of them could stay the same.  

“I told Daryl I liked him.” You said, “told him I was gonna be 18, we could date.”

“What’d he say?” Maggie asked, reaching for the wine bottle to take a sip.

“Same thing he’s been saying, that I shouldn’t ‘get dragged into his life’.”  

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you.” Maggie sounded too hopeful for her own good. And why shouldn’t she? Even if she thought about leaving King County everything about her screamed small town. The high school sweetheart, the southern twang, the pastor’s daughter dichotomy. She hit all the marks.  

“Means he doesn’t want to.” You replied, taking the wine back.

“Well take it however you want but, maybe it’s a sign? You been getting too close to something dangerous. I love you and you know that but you were spending all your time with him, not going to church, not doing stuff with me or Glenn or going to youth group. Maybe it’s a good wake up call. Your mama wouldn’t want you tossing it all away for a boy. Especially not Daryl.” Maggie stated.  

You knew somewhere along the way you had given up trying to keep up appearances. You weren’t the sweet kid who had sat all through Thanksgiving and then snuck out at the end, something had changed and you had stopped caring if people knew who you were hanging out with. Deanna had only seen you because you’d gotten too reckless.  

“Guess so.” You said, hopping down off the fence. You had never told Maggie about your mom and you certainly couldn’t now. You weren’t even sure that she would believe you.  

“What?”  

“What?” You asked, eyes meeting hers in the dark.  

“You got that look, like you did before you dragged me to Dale’s.” Maggie said, watching the slow smile on your face as you bit your lip.  

“Just thinking.”

She was right though, and you knew it. Even as you climbed into the tent you were sharing with Tara, laying on your back as if you could see the stars through the vinyl, your head was swirling with any sort of idea you could grasp at. Maggie could say whatever about you and what you cared about but at the end of it you knew what you wanted. Her pep talk wasn’t going to deter you.  

-

In the morning you stopped at Dale’s, church bells ringing as you got out of your jeep. You were supposed to be meeting your mom for service but you had pit stopped here. Axel was out front working on a car and he waved when he saw you. Daryl wasn’t overly forthcoming with information about his life so it didn’t surprise you that he would’ve neglected to tell anyone about the night at the grocery store.  

He was in the back, maybe just finished with something cause he was wiping his hands on a rag from the back pocket of his coveralls and you weren’t quite ready for the ache in your chest at the sight of him. Your heals on the concrete weren’t quiet and Daryl looked over when he heard them, jaw tensing.  

“What’re ya doing here?” He asked.  

“I thought about what you said.” You replied, a little less confident than you had felt when you stepped out of your car. “And I’ve come to a decision.”

“Am I supposed ta ask what that is?”  

“Yes.” You moved closer, he wasn’t running but he looked a little reminiscent of a caged animal.

“I got work.”  

“Wait, just hear me out,” you begged. He started to say something, no doubt telling you to leave, but you stopped him, forging ahead. “I know I told you that I liked you when we were at the grocery store but it’s more than that. I love you. And I think you love me too. I’ve been thinking about leaving King County and getting away from my mom for a long time and lately I been thinking I don’t care. There’s still some things I want, ya know, but I can get ‘em right here and mostly, I just want to spend time with you.”

There was a lot Daryl wanted to tell you, that you were right. He did love you. “Ya don’t know what yer saying.”

“I do.”

“No,” Daryl snapped. “Ya don’t! There ain’t a future here for ya. Yer wasting yer time and one day, you’ll wake up and yer gonna realize that’s all ya been doing, wasting time, and yer gonna want out. Save yerself the trouble and just go.”  

“I’m not wasting my time.” You insisted.  

“I got work.”  

“No, Daryl,” you grabbed his arm, stopping him from turning and leaving.  

“I told ya before, I’ll say it again, there ain’t nothing here for ya.” He replied, pulling away from you.  

“Fine then tell me I’m wrong.” You said, “tell me you don’t love me and I’ve just been imagining it.”

“I got work.” He repeated, brushing passed you.  

You knew what you should’ve been feeling. Depressed, angry, absolutely gutted. All of those fit the bill but you couldn’t make yourself feel any of those. As you climbed back in your jeep, pulling out of the parking lot, all you could feel was the smallest, fleeting, sense of hope. He hadn’t said that he didn’t love you. Nothing he said suggested that he didn’t feel the same way. You’d been thinking that he just didn’t like you back but it wasn’t that at all. He was just afraid.  

You knew how you felt. And now, you knew how he felt too.  

-

taglist: @gigilame @sabertooth-potato @enrapturedbythemoon @thanossexual @yespleasejayhalstead @cbarter @onemorebeautifulnightmare @mainokutan @solllaris @twdeadfanfic @legit-emily  @hopesxxhigh @coffeebooksandfandom @jodiereedus22 @tehfabbooty @thecaptainsgingersnap @of-storms-and-sadness @alwaysadreamingoptimist @bucky-barnes-babies @ly--canthrope  @daryldixonandfrogs @jaycc7983 @easnuppa @imaginecrushes @tonystarkismyboy @watchmeaspire @harpersmariano @guccicloudz @sapphire-angel @buzzybhee @alexbealee @elodieyung @its-evita-here 

[dontmindmyshadowhunting]

The new Shadowhunter Academy - Fan Fic (Chapter 6 - Staying Alive)

Chapter 6 of the new Shadowhunter Academy (fan fic) is out! ;)

Kit & Ty are both at the Academy for a few days to act as guest lecturers :)

Dru is attending of course, and an unexpected guest might show up :)

AO3 link to Chapter 6 - Staying Alive

Link to entire fic up until Chapter 6 is here (fair warning - there is explicit content in Chapter 4 so skip it if you want to avoid it ;)).

****

Kit was ten minutes late. It wasn’t a big deal but given the students’ eagerness to learn from the famous Christopher Herondale, it seemed like hours of anxious babbling that he might not show up.

Dru was starting to wonder about that herself.

When the door of the training room finally opened, Kit’s cheeks were flushed, his blond curls soaking wet - as if he had just come out of the shower - and he looked… pissed. Like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room.

“What am I to teach you for the next hour?” He snapped.

“Spear?” Daniel, one of Simon’s mundane recruits, replied. He was an enthusiastic student who had been nicknamed “Harry Potter” on his first day at the Academy because of the resemblance he bore to the hero from the eponymous books (if said hero had acne problems).

“Oh, right. Spear.” Kit grumbled as he grabbed one from the table filled with multi-sized weapons and twirled it gracefully – the circle moves almost a blur – before instantly stilling it into a horizontal position in front of him. “See that pointed head? Well, you put that right through your opponent’s body. Preferably hit a vital organ.” He threw it toward the dummy placed at the far end of the room. The spear pierced straight through its chest where the heart should be. “Like that.” The students started applauding.

“That’s it. That’s the lecture.” Kit whirled and started toward the door. He stopped short before the figure of Catarina Loss barring the door. She looked furious, her blue complexion a shade deeper than usual.

“KIT HERONDALE, you go back in there and I don’t care if you look at your fingernails for the next hour, you are NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM.”

For the rest of the class, Catarina remained seated on a big granny armchair she had conjured up, in front of the door, knitting a tiny pink pullover (probably for Mina), while Kit told the students everything they needed to know about spears. As it turned out, he was an excellent teacher, and aside from technique, had several stories and anecdotes to share about these weapons, and their history through the ages. He certainly knew how to catch his audience with witty jokes and, yes, Dru had to admit, his Herondale charm and good looks.

****

He wasn’t what Henry had expected. Not by a long shot.

First, he looked nothing like his sister Drusilla, whom Henry shared most classes with. He had gray eyes - the color of iron - where hers were blue-green, and his hair was crow dark where his sister’s were a deep, warm brown. He knew that the Blackthorn siblings were born from two different mothers, but didn’t he have a twin who died during the Cold Peace, and who shared Drusilla’s traits? He had been too young to fight at the time but Henry had seen Julian Blackthorn on a big screen in Idris right before the battle of the Imperishable Fields and he definitely looked like his sister.

To be honest, when the rumour had spread that the best Centurion of his generation - and the creator of several groundbreaking inventions - had finally decided to make an appearance at the Academy, Henry had imagined a crazy inventor wearing oversized safety goggles and a dusty lab coat. Obviously not some Adonis, who looked like he belonged more on a runway than in a library or a lab.

Second, he was more than a little surprised to discover that he was shy and reserved, for a Blackthorn that was. His rigid stance and the way he kept stroking the pendant tied around his neck, to quote only a few tells, betrayed how nervous he was. The whole character was a mystery to him. If he had his reputation - hell, if he had his looks - Henry would probably be parading around like a peacock.

“I am curious. So we are going to start with a question,” the teacher said, his expression bemused and his gaze fixed above the students’ heads toward the far end corner of the room. Most of the time, Henry had noticed, it looked like he wasn’t really addressing them. “Why do you want to become Centurions?”

Several voices erupted at the same time, and he flinched, before lifting a halting hand. “Please. Speak when you are granted permission to.”

The voices subsided and several students raised their hands instead, including Henry.

“Gillian?” He asked as his gaze flickered to her. Henry realized that he never looked anyone directly in the eye.

“Because I want to study faerie lore, the real deal, not the load of crap they teach you at the Academy,” she said smugly, and most students sniggered approvingly.

The Centurion’s lips twitched but he nodded in acknowledgement.

“Henry?”

“Because we get to wear that hot uniform,” he replied, giving the Blackthorn teacher a slow once over.

There was a collective roar of laughter in the classroom. The Centurion just nodded, straight-faced, as if it was as good an answer as any. Henry realized that he was starting to like him.

“Shut up, Henry.” Her Highness Amber Cartwright said as she entered the class. She shooed a student from his seat in the front row and sat there. “I am sorry for being late, Professor Blackthorn,” she said in a sultry voice, as she crossed her long legs in an exaggerated gesture.

The teacher spared her a brief glance. Henry braced himself for the double take - everyone, boys and girls alike, did a double take upon beholding Amber for the first time - but... nothing. The Centurion’s face remained impassive. Moving on. There is definitely something off with him, Henry thought. He is either half-blind and not wearing his binoculars or one fucking hundred percent gay.

“Call me Tiberius. I believe we are all around the same age.”

Amber beamed, her usual scowling face alight. “Okay. Tiberius,” she said, her voice caressing his name.

“And you are…?”

“Amber Grace Cartwright,” she said proudly, as she brushed her fingers through her blond hair.

Tiberius moved to his desk and furrowed his brows as his gray eyes scanned the paper lying there.

“You are not on my list.”

Amber’s face fell a little. “I know, I did not initially register for these training sessions, but Talib agreed to give me his spot. You see, I changed my mind and I really really want to become a Centurion someday.” Henry wondered how she had managed to convince Talib. Only the twenty most promising students - among those interested in becoming Centurions, and Amber had never expressed such an interest - were allowed to follow the course and there was a waiting list.

The teacher just lifted a dark eyebrow. “Oh. Okay.” They all waited as he sat at his desk and started scribbling on the paper, dark curls falling over his face as he bent his head. He was nothing if not meticulous. At the start of the class, he had asked, one by one, each student’s name. Henry had the feeling he had memorized all twenty of them. “Xian?” He asked without looking up.

The girl’s eyes widened and she whipped her head right and left, wondering whether he really was addressing her. As if there was another Xian in the classroom.

“Yes, Pro- Tiberius?”

“You don’t need to pass that folded paper on to your friend Barbara, I can provide the answer to your question.”

“Oh.” She flushed a deep red, and hastily crumpled the paper that she had been clutching under the table. Henry wondered what the message had been about.

“The answer is no. I don’t provide my personal number to students, but if you want to communicate with me, you may either send a fire message or a letter to my attention at the Scholomance, depending on the urgency of the matter.”

His tone was even, his face serious, as if he hadn’t meant to humiliate the girl, but simply state a fact. A low chatter erupted in the class, students casting worried glances at each other. Henry wondered himself how the Centurion had managed to read Xian’s paper when he was seated at the desk in front of the class, a few feet from her. The only one who didn’t seem troubled by that was Amber, who turned to glare at her friend. Xian stuck her tongue out in turn. Oh, Henry thought. Let the Hunger Games begin.

****

After a short recess, the students had another hour of training with Kit.

“As you well know, Shadowhunters use Runes to heal faster when they are injured in battle. Sometimes, it’s all that you need. But other times, a wound needs to be tended before an Iratze is applied. For instance, if you have foreign bodies in your wounds, you have to take them out before using your stele. Except, of course, when it would do much more harm to retrieve them, for instance if it's an arrow. Also, and although you should carry a stele with you at all times, situations may occur when you are without them. Finally, although we have a stronger constitution and heal faster, us Shadowhunters are humans, and we suffer the same diseases as mundanes. We can faint. We can die of a heart attack. We can die of blood loss following a car crash. Therefore, it’s important - and Catarina shares my view on this - to train you in first aid.” A crooked smile lit up his gorgeous face, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. “So who wants to be my dummy?”

All students - save for Dru - raised their hands eagerly. Brianna actually elbowed the girl next to her so she would put her own hand down.

“Drusilla Blackthorn,” Kit announced, with a smirk on his face.

Dru rolled her eyes and came to stand next to him.

“I think it’s more efficient to work on the basis of real-life situations’ simulations. So, what happened to my dummy in this scenario?”

“She fainted!” A student said.

Several students giggled.

“Okay,” Kit said, then looked over expectantly at Dru.

She rolled her eyes again and mimed fainting. As she lay still on the floor, she wondered if he would consider them even after the demonstration or continue to make her pay for the trick she had pulled earlier that day.

Kit knelt next to her.

“Is she conscious or unconscious?” He asked.

“Unconscious!” Another student said.

“Dru, close your eyes,” he said. She did as requested, letting out a deep sigh. “Okay, so how do you check whether or not someone is unconscious?” He asked, and she felt his fingers brush her hand, then he pinched her. She swallowed a swear word.

“Dummy? Dummy? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, blink or move your fingers. No answer. So you can assume she’s unconscious. Next step: you have to check if she breathes.”

She felt Kit’s fingers gently cupping her chin and forehead and tilting her head backwards. He pulled her lips open. “Check the airway first. If the throat is clear…” His hair tickled her face, and the Blackthorn locket grazed her jawline, as Kit leaned over to put his ear directly above her mouth. “See what I am doing? I am checking for a breathing sound while observing the rise and fall of her chest. So, tell me, is she breathing?”

“No,” a student said. Dru recognized Brianna’s voice. You will pay for this, roomie, Dru thought.

“Okay.” Dru realized Kit’s voice trembled a bit. She opened her eyes and saw the conflict in his gaze. What was the matter? “If you are with someone else, that person must go fetch a defibrillator that’s now in every patrol car. If you are alone, you can’t leave the patient so you must call for help. Do not - and I repeat - do not leave your patient’s side to do that. You must practice CPR at once.”

Realization dawned on Dru. Oh, bugger.

“In a real-life situation,” Kit said, drawing the words out. “You should… take your patient’s shirt off or - more accurately - rip it open.” He flinched as he said the last words, but swiftly regained his composure. She had to give him credit for his professionalism. “You must give chest compressions on bare skin. In our case though…”

Dru smirked. “Didn’t think it through, did you?” She whispered to Kit. Seeing his look of dismay, witnessing him trip over himself, was surprisingly satisfying, and if there was something Dru never missed, it was an opportunity to play a prank. Especially when she had been the intended victim of the stunt. She just couldn’t resist. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she became reckless. Act first think later became her course of action.

“That’s fine”, she said out loud as she sat up. She pulled the top of her gear off before lying back, wearing only her bra above her gear pants.

There were a few gasps in the crowd. Kit gulped.

“First of all, make sure your patient is lying on her back on a firm, dry surface. If there is blood, move the body away from it. I understand Catarina already taught you how to deal with hemorrhage.”

A few students mumbled a confirmation.

“You should push on the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, which corresponds to the beat of several songs you can use to help you maintain the proper tempo.” He fiddled with his phone and the sound of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees started playing.

Dru snorted. Kit was barely looking at her as he plowed on.

“Position your hands above your patient’s chest, like this. Interlock fingers. Then, give chest compressions. Like this.”

Dru tried to hide a smile. Kit’s palm was sweaty against her bare skin. He was flushing a deep red, his face a mask of embarrassment. Punk’d, she thought. Had he known he would be giving chest compressions to Dru - that he considered like a little sister - he would have thought twice about using her as a dummy.

He stopped abruptly, after thirty compressions. “Okay, we are… going to stop here for today.”

“What about the rescue breath?”

“I’ll show you next time,” he choked, as he stood and almost tripped on his feet scouting back. It seemed like he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.

“Does… anyone have any questions on CPR before we move to another exercize?”

“Yeah,” Talib raised his hand. Shit. Not him, Dru thought. What the hell was he doing here anyway, wasn’t he supposed to follow the Scholomance training course?

Kit nodded to him.

“Is that the Blackthorn locket you are wearing?”

Kit’s mouth dropped open. Dru tensed. She knew that Ty had asked that they keep their relationship a secret. Only family and very close friends were in the know. Not because Ty was ashamed, far from it. But because, as a Centurion, he was entrusted with all missions related to the First Heir, and that would change as soon as the Scholomance found out how involved Ty was with the subject of his investigations. Ty didn’t trust anyone else with these missions, so he had begged Helen and Aline not to tell the Penhallows about Kit and him, even though the identity of the First Heir remained a secret to most. One could never be too cautious.

Watching his face fall, the glint of panic in his azur eyes, Dru started to feel really bad for the Herondale boy. She knew that if he had been allowed, he would have screamed his love for Ty at the top of his lungs, from the Academy’s roof. Instead, he lowered his gaze to his feet, swallowing hard.

“Yeah, it’s mine,” Dru blurted. “Seriously, Kit? I told you not to wear it at the Academy!”

Kit whipped his head up in surprise, his blue eyes wide and questioning. He looked like he was about to say something, but Dru wouldn’t give him a chance to deny. What was done was done. She whirled around and retreated to a corner of the training room, bowing her head in order to conceal the blush that had started creeping up her face.

****

“Do you know who founded the Scholomance?” The Centurion teacher asked.

Amber was the only one who raised her hand.

“Amber?”

“It was originally founded by an alliance between the Fair Folk and prominent Shadowhunter families.”

Most of the students gasped. Everyone turned a questioning look at Tiberius, whose lips quirked. “Correct. This is not common knowledge, to say the least. How have you learnt about it?”

“I read a lot and… I may have borrowed some of my brother’s notes. Cartwrights have been filling the ranks of Centurions for generations.”

“But…” Barbara said, looking confused. “I thought the whole purpose of the Scholomance was to investigate all Downworlders, especially faeries, since they are the Nephilim who possess the most extensive knowledge about them.”

“And where do you think the Centurions got their knowledge from?” Amber snapped.

“Why would the Nephilim create a school with Downworlders?” Xian interjected.

“About that,” Tiberius intervened. “The classification of faeries as Downworlders is not entirely accurate and has been challenged over the past few years. Contrary to general belief, some of the Fair Folk species do not have any demon blood. Maybe you’d like to carry on, Miss Cartwright.”

Amber pursued, with a smug look on her face.

“As the story goes, not long after the creation of the Nephilim, the Angel warriors and the Fair Folk made an alliance to protect the Earth from demon invasion. They shared their knowledge - the fey teaching the Nephilim how to use magic in the school they created together, a sort of real life Hogwarts - and even… consorted. After all, the biggest problem that the fey have been facing in the past centuries is the thinning of their blood. Why not mix it with that of Raziel’s chosen warriors? Ultimately, a union was arranged between the Faerie King and a member of a highly respected and powerful Nephilim family. Not all fairies were happy with the union and there was a secession. The Faerie lands were split between two courts from then on. The Unseelie court, choosing to acknowledge a Nephilim queen, considering her as part of the fey royal family, ara nothlir, and the Seelie court, refusing the Angel warriors’ influence.”

She paused to watch the effect of her words on the wide-eyed students.

“The Nephilim queen was not immortal but the King used his magic to stretch out her years. Although they were happy, they had to rule in troubled times. The strong divergence in traits, opinions and customs between the Fair Folk and Shadowhunters soon drew them apart. Raziel’s warriors criticized the fey for being cunning and strongly disapproved of the tricks they played on mundanes and the creation of changelings. Faeries thought Shadowhunters to be ruthless, overbearing and contemptuous.

The Unseelie king’s death - it came as a shock, everyone thought the mortal Nephilim queen was bound to die before him - without any heir being born from their union, was a fatal blow to the alliance. Unseelie laws were clear, the queen dowager no longer held any claim to the throne - the full fey blooded prince Arawn succeeded to his father - and she hid in Faerie under the protection of a few Nephilim who swore to protect her. They could easily be distinguished from the red caps as they wore black cloaks identifying them as Angel warriors. They were not sanctioned by the Clave though, which preferred to sever all ties to the Fair Folk. With the magic they had learnt from the fey, these protectors created an enchanted wall of thorns surrounding the tower where the Shadowhunter queen and her family lay low for hundreds of years.

When an heir was born from the union of the Seelie Queen and Unseelie King, most Nephilim took it as the last stroke of the Fair Folk’s betrayal. It didn’t help that there were whispers about a prophecy stating that the world would fall to shadow under the First Heir’s ruling. So began the witch hunt, the primary target being the cursed descendant. That’s how Centurions began to use the knowledge they had collected from their former allies at the Scholomance against them.

The chase officially ceased when the disappearance of the First Heir was officially announced by the Unseelie Court and the tensions between the Nephilim and the fey eased until they finally made peace with the signing of the First Accords in 1872. The Scholomance was closed then, as a show of good faith that Downworlders and Shadowhunters were no longer at war.”

“What has become of the Nephilim queen’s family?” Henry blurted.

Amber turned to look at him. She was positively gloating.

“They had nothing to be blamed for, so the Clave as well as the Fair Folk let them be after the signing of the First Accords. After all, they were a very influential family to begin with. So, they are still among us.”

“Who are they?”

“Before King Arawn changed the Unseelie Court’s sigil, the symbol was that of a full crown…adorned with a rose, symbol of his father’s attachment to the Lady of Roses,” she said mysteriously.

“The Nephilim queen’s descendants are known as the Rosales,” Tiberius specified evenly.

A low chatter erupted and the words “Inquisitor”, “Diego” and “Cristina” were thrown around repeatedly. They all knew the Council kept a lot of secrets, but the fact that the current Inquisitor belonged to a family that had forged an alliance with the fey in the past, confirmed how little they really knew about Shadowhunter politics.

“And what about their protectors?” A voice suddenly raised from a corner of the classroom.

Amber turned to look at the Centurion who nodded imperceptibly.

“Easy,” she said. “They were released from their oath a long time ago but they have kept their Shadowhunter names. Some say the earlier generations had sharp, elven features due to their closeness to - and interbreeding with - the Fair Folk. They were black cloaked warriors guarding the queen’s family like thorns protecting the delicate rose from its predators. They called themselves the Black Thorns.”

As the students suddenly burst into commotion, Henry’s gaze focused on Tiberius, who stood straight like an arrow, his expression unfathomable. He had a feeling there was more to the story but, whatever it was, Henry knew he would have to swear the Centurion vows before being allowed to hear it.

****

Being a Shadowhunter had major downsides. No matter how hard you tried to shut yourself from your environment, your highly trained senses betrayed you by fulfilling their role like obedient little soldiers.

Dru had never better understood Ty’s need for headphones as she weaved a path in the main hall towards the exit - she wanted to crawl in her bed and hide there until at least the next morning - and tried to ignore the glares and angry whispers that followed her.

“Seriously? Christopher Herondale and Drusilla Blackthorn? It’s like some stupid chick flick where the hot jock hooks up with the weird geek.”

“He’s probably with her because she’s easy. Did you see her take her shirt off in the training room like it was no big deal?”

“Oh, come on, every girl does that here. We’re warriors, we undress to draw Runes on each other all the time. And how is it different from when we train in sports bras when it’s summer?” Well, Dru was relieved to hear at least some girls had her back...

“It’s different when you have a pair of breasts like hers.”

“Right. Tell me about it. Best boobs at the Academy.”

“Yeah, I would definitely hit that.”

“You’re kidding? That girl’s creepy, I would be afraid to be strangled in my sleep.”

“What does he see in her anyway? She has a pretty face, but she dresses like a Goth freak. And don’t get me started on the size of her thighs...”

Dru never allowed anyone to say a single bad thing about her family and friends. But where her own securities were concerned, she was like an open wound anyone could poke. Dru bit back tears as she hurried her footsteps. She needed air. Fresh air.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped her head around. It was Brianna.

“Seriously, Dru? Why didn’t you just tell me before I made a fool of myself?”

“Brianna. I just gave him a necklace. I am not dating him or anything. He’s just a member of Livia’s Watch, that's all. Hence the locket.” Why had she not thought of that excuse earlier?

Brianna lifted her eyebrow dubiously. Dru felt her temper rising.

“Fine.” She snapped. “Believe me or not, I don't CARE.”

NNNNEEEEW YOOOORK. They both startled as the voice of Alicia Keys suddenly blazed through the main hall’s stone walls.

As one, all the students rushed outside to see where the noise came from. Brianna and Dru exchanged puzzled glances before following them wearily out of the wide double front doors.

Dru blinked and, when her eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, tried to hide her shock as she took in the incongruous sight.

In the Academy’s front yard, a crowd had already started to gather in a circle around the main attraction, giving it a wide berth.

A splendid charcoal grey convertible car was parked at the center of it, as if it had appeared there by magic. "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys was playing full on from the vehicle’s sound system.

Leaning casually against the hood of the car with his arms crossed was the tall figure of Ash Morgenstern. His platinum blond hair was peeking out of a green beanie and he wore an elegant gray cashmere coat that made him look like a British gentleman.

In the back of her mind, several questions buzzed like little alarms. Was he not supposed to be under house arrest? What the hell was he thinking showing up in front of the Academy ? Where did he get the car anyway?

But foremost in her mind was Ash. It’s Ash. It’s really Ash. How gorgeous he was - even more so than she remembered - and how she had never felt more relieved to see anyone in her whole life. She had missed him, she realized with surprise.

Ash straightened up and gave Dru a crooked smile as soon as he caught sight of her.

She couldn’t help it, she ran to him and threw her arms around his slender neck, burying her face in his chest. He smelled of aftershave, a sophisticated fragrance of amber, sandalwood, mandarin and jasmine. Ash stiffened at first, obviously startled by her sudden display of affection, then relaxed and squeezed her tighter.

“If I had known I would receive such a warm welcome, I would have broken out of jail sooner,” he whispered in her ear.

She drew back and shook her head disapprovingly, though a grin was still plastered on her face.

“What on earth are you doing here, Ash?”

“I have come to rescue my Queen.”

“Rescue me? From what?”

“Food poisoning, of course. You told me it was awful here. I was in the neighborhood and it just so happens that I know a perfect French restaurant in Manhattan.”

“And so you decided to break out of your confinement and show up at the Academy in a flashy sports car?”

He shrugged. “I thought it would be a more inconspicuous way of traveling.”

“Inconspicuous? Really? As compared to what?”

He raised a silvery eyebrow. “Flapping my dark wings?”

“Where are you going with my sister?” Ty demanded with a frown as he marched towards them, his voice louder than usual, probably due to the headphones covering his ears.

“Manhattan. For dinner.”

“It’s not safe,” he said, then glanced at the vehicle. “Is that an Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante?”

“What’s not safe?” Ash asked. “My company? The car? The whole idea of a crazy night out?”

“All of the above,” Ty answered, his gray eyes like saucers, still fixed on the car.

“Oh, so now you care about where I go and who I am with?” Dru intervened.

Ty’s gaze snapped back to her, and his eyes crinkled in confusion.

“Of course I do. Why do you ask? Wait- Are you… angry with me?”

“Of course I am! I had to find out you were at the Academy by eavesdropping on fellow students!” She was grateful the music was loud and the observers far enough that they could not overhear their conversation.

Ty’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “But... But I wasn’t sure I was coming until this morning. I didn’t want to tell you before I was certain. I thought you would be happy to see me.”

“Yes, Ty, I am happy to see you. But I started at the Academy months ago, and you have only decided to show up today! We both know who convinced you, and it certainly wasn’t me.”

The look of hurt on Ty’s face almost made her regret her words. As if on cue, Kit suddenly appeared, coming from the opposite direction to where Ty was standing. Dru realized with a pang that they were purposefully avoiding being seen together and maintaining a safe distance between them.

“Hey guys, I think I missed the invitation to the party,” Kit said playfully, but Dru knew him and could sense that his heart wasn’t in it. He was just trying to ease the tension.

“You didn’t miss anything,” Dru replied sharply. “Ash and I were leaving.” Ty opened his mouth to object but she cut him. “And you, Ty, do not get to tell me what to do.”

“Where your safety is concerned, I do,” Ty snapped back, red starting to creep up his white neck. His hands were now fluttering at his sides.

“If you’re worried about her safety, Ty, why don’t you come with us?” Ash offered in peace. “You too, Kit. Raziel knows we all need to… let off steam.” He looked like he was holding in a laugh and Dru wondered whether she was missing a private joke.

Ty’s gaze flickered to Kit then, and their eyes met for a brief second before they both hastily looked away. They were clearly blushing now, Ty nervously stroking his heron pendant and Kit thrusting his hands in his pockets and staring at his feet.

“I can’t,” Kit said, kicking a pebble. “I have to stay here where I am protected. Catarina and my parents will kill me if they know I left the Academy’s grounds.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, Kit. Who would you rather have as bodyguards? Me and the badass Blackthorn siblings?” He said, gesturing at their little group. “Oooor… these frightened little squirrels posing as Academy students?” He pointed toward the crowd of students who were still gaping at him. And the car. But mostly at Ash.

“I guess you have a point,” Kit conceded.

“Okay,” Ty answered hesitantly, looking away.

“Then jump in, Angel warriors,” Ash said as he opened the door for Dru. She ignored it, and instead, grabbed the edge of the back door to jump inside and landed on the front passenger seat. “What? I have always wanted to do that!” She told him when he lifted his eyebrow at her. Ash laughed and shook his head as he rounded the car to take the driver’s seat. Kit and Ty crammed in the back - the space had definitely not been designed to hold two full-grown Shadowhunters - and immediately stared out the car, pointedly avoiding looking at each other.

Ash put the Aston Martin in gear, as the students parted to let them through. The engine's roar was deafening, almost drowning the sound of the music still blasting from the sound system. Dru felt exhilarated, gusts of wind carrying away all her resentment and worries as they blew her hair. Everything was perfect… save perhaps for one thing.

“Ash,” she called over the noise. “Can you turn the music down?”

He threw her a puzzled look, his hands tightening on the wheel.

“Why? I thought you’d like it. We are in New York after all.”

“It’s not my hometown,” she observed, winking at him.

He grinned as he fiddled with the dashboard and suddenly 2 PAC's "California Love" was booming full volume.

“Better?” He asked.

Her answering smile was so wide it almost hurt her cheeks.

“Not just better. Perfect.”

[nosferatvpussy]

distorted lullabies [chapter XVI]

Word count: 5,351

Warnings: vulgar language

Pairing: Dracula x female reader

AO3 link

_________________________________________________________________

“I think I see the pub. The White Lion was the name Diana gave you, right?” I said as we rounded a corner. Mallory’s grimace was substituted by a relieved smile when her eyes landed on the next block. I snorted. “Do us both a favour and throw those shoes away.”

“Will not!” She retorted, straightening up and putting some force on her stride. The grimace appeared on her face when she took a second stride and then she leaned on me again, as she had been doing for most of our walk from Strand to Covent Garden. “You saw me with them in Gloucester, we were meant to be. They just need to be softened, is all. We should’ve taken the bus or the tube,” she said, pointing at the Underground station across the street. 

“It was a ten minute walk. I wasn’t facing Covent Garden station–”

“So you chose walking through Covent Garden?” Mallory waved around us. “There are people everywhere.”

People scurried about, going from store to store with heaps of bags in their hands. A  group of tourists took photos in front of a Victorian pub. A man talking loudly on the phone passed us, gesticulating his hands in the air and got his fingers caught in a teenage girl’s hair, who shouted curses at him. They stopped going their own ways to argue. Covent Garden was always crowded. No matter the time of year, there were tourists snapping shots and Londoners busy at work hurrying from one side of the city to another. Christmas, which wasn’t far now that little lights hung in front of buildings, was especially chaotic. I tried to avoid the place altogether at all times of the year.

But today, I didn’t mind it. Diana was leaving for Glasgow and had invited Mal and I for lunch and because she worked near Covent Garden, we all agreed it would make matters more convenient for her if we chose a restaurant close to her. Meeting Diana was another touch of normality I needed. Things were returning to the way they used to be. Or at least, I could pretend.

“It’s a lovely day,” I said. “I didn’t want to waste it.”

“It’s an average day. Terrible weather, as usual. You’re the one who’s awfully chipper.” She elbowed me. “Did you have your talk with Dracula yesterday?”

“Tonight,” I slanted a look at her, waiting for her to start chastising me about him, but Mallory was busy throwing flirty looks at a short guy coming out of a store rather than paying attention to me. Ahead of us, Diana rose her head from whomever she had been texting and waved, her face lighting up when she saw me. She put her phone inside her purse and settled it on top of her suitcase. “There’s Diana waiting for us.” I tugged Mallory with me before she caught another man in her web. “You’ve got court this afternoon.”

“I can squeeze him in between lunch and court,” she said, turning her head to look at the guy. I turned too, and rolled my eyes at the stupid grin in his face.

“What about Sean?”

“Oh, he’s seeing Sarah to make me jealous now. Besides, Sean isn’t half as cute as that one.” She threw another grin over her shoulder.

“Go give him your number and I’ll go wait with Diana.”

Mallory unlaced her arm from mine, smiling brightly. 

“Be back in a sec.”

I watched Mallory leave, swaying her hips towards the guy as if she hadn’t been complaining about her feet hurting for the last ten minutes. The man licked his lips and smiled at her. If he wanted to appear wolfish he was failing miserably. Out of them both, Mallory would be the one to chew him up and spit out his bones after she was done. Only one person had managed to master a lascivious smile that actually managed to be charming, and he was a foot taller than that guy and infinitely dead-er. 

“She’s still playing that game, huh?” Diana said from behind me. I pivoted just in time for her to catch me in a hug. 

“She’s good at it. Unbeatable so far,” I said, and chuckled into the hug. “I missed you, Di.”

“Me too! Don’t disappear like that again.” She gave me a quick squeeze before letting me go. “You didn’t answer my texts and when you finally answered my call you barely spoke. I was worried! How was I supposed to nurse you back from heartbreak if you didn’t tell me anything?” 

I had a faint memory of talking to Diana on the phone during my stay at Mallory’s. She’d spoken at me while I had given her nothing but monosyllabic replies. I wasn’t sure if I’d told her what had happened and suddenly I felt guilty for leaving Diana in the dark. We shared a property and saw each other nearly every day for coffee, dinners, watching bad films on the telly, until I disappeared without so much a call to let her know I was okay. 

“I’m sorry, Di. I really should’ve–”

“No, no, don’t you apologise. Mallory told me what she could when I called you the other day. It seems not even she knows what exactly is going on but I’m glad that you and her recovered your friendship. The three of us can go back into our card games over wine, what do you say? I miss those nights.” She smiled at me as she cupped my cheeks in her hands like a mother would. I nodded, smiling back. One of those nights, we had gotten especially hammered and went dancing and singing in our yard until we passed out on the grass. We woke up covered in morning dew with headaches strong enough to make our eyes hurt. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better,” I said. Diana narrowed her eyes at me and I nodded, raising my eyebrows. “Seriously, I’m much better than before. I slept well last night for the first time since the wedding. Renfield is home,” I told her, and smiled big. 

Last night, I’d slept on my own bed in my own room and didn’t worry about Dracula slipping in through a window. Renfield being out of the hospital probably did contribute to my good night of sleep but I knew it had more to do with Dracula’s unforeseen kindness twice in the same day; first, Renfield being released and second, the truce he had granted me. Two days past my deadline and he was giving me gifts instead of tearing half of London town to shreds looking for me. Little apologies, if I could call it that. 

“Oh, that’s good! That’s really good. What about you and Count Dracula?”

“I’ll talk to him tonight but I’m not as worried as before.” 

Those small acts of kindness from him had given me more confidence than I could have hoped for our conversation. I would make him understand my reasons and apologise. Perhaps some of the kindness that had permeated his heart had remained there and he would listen.

“Here she is!” Diana exclaimed, opening her arms wide. Mallory strode over, a grin almost splitting her cheeks as they hugged. “Did you get his name, address and his family’s so you’ll know where to send your condolences after you’re done with him?” Mallory guffawed. “You know, you didn’t have to abandon both of us–”

“You really didn’t,” I added, though I was smiling. A lot of smiling for me in a day after a long time of not feeling the urge to. 

“I know! I was a twit!” Mallory held Diana in a half hug to grasp my arm. She fixed her eyes on mine. “I never said I was sorry! God! I’m terrible, aren’t I?”

Diana and I made a chorus of playful rebukes until Mallory laughed.

“Do you leave for Glasgow after lunch?” Mallory asked, pointing at the suitcase near our feet. 

“Yes, I’ll go straight from here to the airport. I’ll spend the next week there for a work conference but I just had to see you before I go,” Diana said, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “You do seem well.”

“Now she does. You’ve got no idea about the sulking –” Mallory chuckled when I made a face at her. “I’ll leave you alone but I’ll get on your nerves in a couple of weeks about it.” Turning to Diana, she took one of her long silvery strands of hair and raised it to examine it. “And this hair! You should’ve gone all silverfox ages ago.”

“I supposed it was the time to start assuming my age– oh, heh,” Diana giggled like a teenage girl as Mallory went around her, bunching Di’s hair behind her back to have a proper look at it. My smile faltered.  No.  “It’s fashionable now, did you hear it? Looking your age, being au naturel. The hair I’ll accept–”

It must have been the lighting. Of course. Had to be. 

But as Diana craned her neck slightly to try and have a look at Mallory behind her, it remained there. A patch of toneless, rended skin, jagged and raised, shaped like a semicircle. Her body had done its best to heal it, although it had left her with a lifelong scar. It didn’t look like my scar or Mallory’s; ours seemed precise, a mere mark of the piercing of teeth that had taken place. 

“I’ve got to go,” I said. Mallory and Diana stopped their chattering. I glanced between Diana’s face and the scar on her neck. She pushed a swath of her hair over her shoulder to cover it from my gaze. When I met her eyes again, they were glazed, like Mallory’s were every time I changed her bandages. “I’ve got to go,” I repeated.

“Where?” Mallory questioned. 

Mallory and Diana called my name as I turned around and started leaving. I ignored them. There was nothing they could say to assuage me.

People were spilling out of the Covent Garden Underground station. I bumped shoulders with people until I reached a corner where I could see the road. I instinctively raised a hand to signal a black car, only to drop it when I realised it wasn’t a cab. Three more black cars rolled by, none of them taxis. My heart sputtered in relief when I finally saw the plaque atop a car, identifying it as a London taxi, but sank when I noticed the light was off. I jabbed daggers with my eyes at the car’s backseat, spilling unjustified hate towards a passenger, but there was no one there. The cabbie was just driving around lazily, probably on his way somewhere to grab lunch, as was everyone else. 

“Fuck this,” I muttered, circling back to follow the people heading towards Covent Garden station.

I knew better than to join the herd waiting for one of the lifts. The station was always notoriously busy because of tourists and the usual bustle of people that lived and worked at Covent Garden and not many people dared to descend the equivalent of a 15 storey building to reach the platforms. To the spiral staircase I went, ignoring the warnings that the 193 steps were meant for emergencies, and started trotting down as fast as my high heels would allow. A woman speaking loudly through a device fixed on her ear dashed past me when I reached the first landing. She carried a pair of shoes on one hand and a purse in another. Her bare feet made almost no sound as she bounded nimbly to the next landing. My shoes hindered me from doing the same, so I stopped, and took them off as I supported myself on the handrails and went down the stairs in black nylons. The sound of an incoming train made me hurry and I felt threads pulling on the soles of my feet. I’d have to remind myself to sew those holes later. Not that it mattered much. Nothing seemed to matter but the rage churning in my chest. 

I allowed myself to take one quick, sharp intake of breath to relieve my lungs as I reached the end of the stairs before making three turns and descending a few more steps towards the platform. The train made a sequence of warning sounds that the doors were about to close. I sprinted the short distance to enter the wagon, almost barreling into an elderly couple in my haste. 

Flopping down on a seat, I fit my shoes back on my feet, noting that the holes near my toes had evolved into rips that extended all the way up to my calves. The left leg of my tights had a rip to the thigh, too. I didn’t remember snagging it anywhere. My purse rested on my lap as I pushed the hair sticking to the sweat in the back of my neck. My fingers brushed the serrated skin on the side of my neck and I flinched for a second but forced myself to feel the soft line, as if to be sure that it really diferred from the one on Diana’s skin. I dropped my hand not a second later. It was foolish of me to search for a resemblance between a simple line and a splodge of ugly, discoloured ridges. The bite on Diana’s neck resembled Zoe’s. If I was to trust Zoe’s word on at least that, he had tried to kill her. I had to assume he had tried to kill Diana, too. Was this another one of Dracula’s attempts to torment me? Did he have a mind to taste all of those who were dearest to me? 

Five stops and less than ten minutes later, I exited at Knightsbridge Station. I’d hoped the short trip would have helped me to put my thoughts in order but no such luck. It was all just a flurry of baffling questions and a rage that made my whole body tremble with its force.

Once I was above ground, drizzle fell like a balm over my skin to cool down the warm sweat on my forehead. Tiny particles of water stuck to my eyelashes making it harder to see through the fog that had settled about the outskirts of Hyde Park. Cars passing me had their headlights on when it was only noon and people walked slowly, eyes squinting and breaths fogging as they talked. My nose pricked up from the cold and my joints hurt as if they could break as easily as ice. I shouldn’t be surprised at London’s astounding change in weather within 10 minutes yet nothing had hinted at this dreadful weather earlier that morning. It certainly defied rules and for a moment I was only walking through a dream. When I woke up, I’d still be at the wedding, dancing with Dracula. A yes would still leave my lips but instead of dragging Mallory to the restroom, I’d take his hand and we would leave. My purse containing that dreadful needle with Zoe Van Helsing’s blood would lay in the bottom of the castle’s pond, never to be found. And then we would return to London where he would bite me and make me like him. A silly dream, a stupid girl’s dream with a happy ever after. 

I stopped before the building I’d entered almost three months ago. Renfield’s gift to me. I had thought nothing of it. Just a small errand for one of Renfield’s fancy clients in Knightsbridge. A small thing that had tipped my life over the edge. I pushed the door to enter the building and made my way to the lifts at the far left corner. A doorman hollered for me to check-in at the desk first. As I pushed the button to call the lift, I shouted my name over my shoulder and told him that I’d registered once before. He asked me where I was headed. I didn’t spare him an answer and went into the lift when it opened.

I held my breath the entire trip up to the penthouse. As I stepped out into the long hallway, my heels clicked on the lavish black marble flooring. It felt odd on my ears. The hallway was only present in my memory along with a tune. I’d been listening to music when I came here for the first time, but I couldn’t remember which one. The soft clicks on stone shouldn’t make me hesitate, yet I found myself slowing my pace as I approached the single door on the wall at my right. I’d known what to expect when I first came here; have some documents signed, dribble a Count’s advances and leave. I was worlds apart from that day. 

The door opened.

Dracula stood beyond it, barely visible inside the flat’s darkness. He squinted at me as if the glare from the soft lights from the hallway were too much for his eyes. 

“Come in.”

“I didn’t ring the doorbell.”

“James called from the lobby to tell me that he couldn’t hold you off. Even if he hadn’t, I would have smelled you.” He stepped further into the flat, half his body hidden behind the door. “Do come in. I can’t bear the lights.”

As I passed him, I cast a quick glance in his direction. His forehead rested on the door and he made no other sign to acknowledge me. I followed the gentle beam of light from the hallway, illuminating the long black table in the center of the flat. At the back of the room, I could see the dull light of day obscured almost completely by thick curtains that extended all the way from the high ceiling to the floor. Just as I placed my purse on the table, the door was shut and I was completely submerged in the dark. I pivoted to face Count Dracula but there was nothing before me. My heartbeat suddenly spiked at my blindness and the disorientation that accompanied it. 

“Why is it so dark in here?” I asked, pinning my arms to my sides so I wouldn’t extend them before me in an attempt to situate myself. I could feel sensation returning to the tips of my fingers and I was very aware of the tip of my nose all of a sudden, weighty and warm. 

“It’s daytime, I was asleep,” his voice sounded much closer than I expected and instinct drove me back until my backside hit the table. A breeze tickled my face as something moved in front of me. I remained still. “Did you know your stockings are ripped?”

“I’m aware. Dracula–” I stopped talking when the darkness dissipated, muted violet lights coming to life around us. Blue lighting followed, concealed behind skirting boards and creating patterns on the walls. It was still dim to make out details from the flat but at least I could see in front of me. The spot where Dracula had been was empty and now he stood to my left, one hand lowering from where he had touched a light switch. His hair was tousled and his clothes – a grey shirt and black sweatpants – were crimped. He was barefoot. The alertness on his face made me doubt that he had been truly asleep before I arrived. Tossing and turning in his bed was a far more likely possibility by the look of him.

“When I texted you yesterday, I assumed no clarification was necessary. I hoped we would talk at a more opportune moment but–”

“Diana,” I said.

He closed his mouth and blinked. If I hadn’t spent so much time around him, studying every movement of his face, every twitch of an eyebrow and every way his mouth contorted in a smile, I wouldn’t have noticed the surprise that had crossed his face. The trepidation.

“What of her?”

“Don’t even try pretending,” I vociferated, stepping forward. “Her throat was mangled. You tried to kill her–”

“Y/N–”

“When?”

“Things were different–”

“I don’t fucking care. When?”

Dracula shut his eyes and shook his head lightly to the sides.

“After that night at the museum.”

“Oh… Really? After–” the words got stuck in my throat. After he had given me an incomparable gift, he chased and laughed with me. I’d gone home and slept, peacefully yet confused about all that had happened. He seemed to have enjoyed himself, and yet... “Why?”

“It was a mistake.”

“Renfield I can understand, he’s nothing without you. Nothing but a servant, I see that now, and it was before we’d met. Mallory… god, I wish you hadn’t done that but I get it.” My voice was strangled but no tears escaped. I suspected there weren’t any left. Or that maybe they had become frozen in the cold inside of me. “I do. I can’t fight you and she was proof. But Diana, why? I gave you a deal, I was attacked by my mentor because of this–” I jabbed a finger at my throat where he had bitten me  “–and I still went on a date with you. Wasn’t I being compliant? A toy for you to play with, to dance to your own tune when you wanted to, destined to be yours until I succumbed? Isn’t that all I am?”

“No,” he said, stepping forward. I retreated until my behind hit the table again. He didn’t follow. “At first… that’s what you were to me. You are obstinate, I knew it from the start, but I have managed to make even the most tenacious people bow. I was sure I’d have you at the museum. I was delighted that you seemed so responsive to my advances there, and equally displeased that you were capitulating so easily. But you refused me and ran. It seemed to me that we were both at work at making the other bend a knee.” The corners of his mouth tugged up, a slight gleam in his eyes. I kept my stare at his nose so I wouldn’t have to acknowledge how much I had missed that look on him. “You must understand that not much confuses me anymore, or frightens me. You do.”

“I frighten you?” I asked, shocked.

“Perhaps not in the same way I frighten you, but yes. I thought it impossible. Though I strive to be a modern man, I found myself wondering if you had not bewitched me. Medieval of me, isn’t it?” He chuckled. The sound was sour and it blossomed inside of me until I felt heavy. “Renfield told me you had a way of getting into people’s heads, that you had a way with words, but it wasn’t enough for me. A spell, for sure.”

“That is medieval,” I retorted. “I'm a lawyer, not a witch.”

“Precisely. If I wanted it to be easy I would’ve chosen someone else. But Delilah, ah, that you were,” he said, wagging a finger at me. “You were always Delilah and you knew it. Seducing me with those eyes and your woven words, a meticulous trap to mellow me and cut my hair.”

“It wasn’t like that!” I exclaimed, furrowing my brow. He raised his in response. “For a while, okay, I was Delilah, but not at the museum. I’d done nothing up to that point! Nothing at all to sic you on Diana.”

“You asked Renfield about me. About vampire legends,” Dracula said, tilting his head. “He was persuaded that you meant to kill me.”

My jaw slacked and I buried my face in my hands. 

I shouldn’t have opened my mouth to Renfield. I knew he would relay it to Dracula and asked anyway. Every single thing that had happened could have been avoided if my arrogance hadn’t blinded me to the possibilities; the deal, that visit to Renfield, my plan with Zoe. Diana, Mallory, those students in Surrey. Me and my godlike hubris. What else could I have done? Rolled over and showed Count Dracula my throat?  Here, have it, it’s yours. In the end, that’s what I would’ve done – and had done – but not without irreparable damage. 

“So you bit Diana, because what, retaliation?” My voice was muffled by my own hands. “To hurt me? One of your lessons?”

“Impulse,” he replied. “After the museum, I visited Renfield and, convinced that you had bewitched me, went to your house that same night.”

I peeked at him from between my fingers, my hiding spot. Strands of my hair fell like curtains, concealing him from me. Sweeping my hair back, I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. I had my parcel of blame and he had his. To make peace with my wrongdoings I would have to listen to him first. 

“I wouldn’t let myself be hexed by you,” he continued. “That night, I was going to break our deal and make you mine. Bend you at my will. I stood in your garden facing your window,” –he tipped his head back as if he was there again, eyes transfixed in memory– “watching and waiting for you to close the curtains, to come about me, a prince in waiting for his bride,” he scoffed, shaking his head to the sides and started to pace in front of me. 

“But Diana came upon you,” I presumed. 

“She did. I said hello to her. She asked me how I knew her na–” I waved a hand for him to spare me this part. “No details? Fine, it would be distasteful.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he making puns? He didn’t seem to notice his choice of words, for he carried on. “She startled me. I was angry at your dominion over me and I thought to lash out back at you, thus I bit her. Bit her beneath your window so you could see me for what I was, so you would understand that you couldn’t control me and that I could kill without a care for you. However, you were fast asleep. There was no point in killing Diana if you could not see. I let her go.”

I stared at him, gritting my teeth until my temples hurt, and waited for him to say more. He stared back, chin raised and that dark gaze unmoving. 

Beneath my window, where I’d found Diana the next day, pale and empty-eyed, watering a spot of grass. The very same spot, I imagined, where she had bled. Blood amongst the earth as if it had seeped out of it. A source of a river, running thick with blood.

“Was that it?” I managed to ask, trembling. Any moment now I would choke on my anger. At him or me? “Do you realise how horrible that sounds?”

Dracula closed some of the distance between us. I tried stepping back but all I managed to do was press my butt against the table. And why try escaping now? I’d come here. Had I not accepted what would inevitably happen? I tipped my head back to look at him, noting the crinkles around his eyes and next to his mouth, the shape of his lips. Seeing him up close after what happened was both a relief and a pain. 

“I do. I have never softened my words for you and I won’t start lying now. Diana was a mistake, I will admit to that.” He cleared his throat. “Mallory was extreme, perhaps, but I don’t know if I would’ve done that differently. I’m not merciful and if that’s what you expect of me… well,” he smiled. “I can’t give you that. I’ve shown you what I am. But despite my efforts, you have changed me.”

“How?”

Keeping his hands well in my sight, as if to give me an opportunity to retreat, he raised them and cupped each of my cheeks. They didn’t feel cold on my skin. Maybe I’d grown accustomed to that. 

“I have lived for almost six hundred years and I have not been kind, except for you.” He drew a hand back and I looked at it, frowning in bewilderment as he rubbed his thumb on the side of his finger, a dampness between them. My tears hadn’t frozen. “I don’t expect you to forgive me. From now on, I won’t move a finger to hurt anyone you care about and if I ever hurt you again it won’t be intentionally.”

“I know I’ll forgive you, eventually,” I said, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all. I bumped my fist on his chest and one of his hands held it there, wrapping around my wrist like a manacle. “I keep telling myself it’s the bond, and it must be. It can’t be real. But do you know the worst part?” I stared up at him and he simply shook his head. “After all you've done, after how much you've hurt me, I’m still in love with you and I can't stop.” The admission, filled with guilt and shame, evoked a horrible sob out of my chest and I sank to the floor, as if I was pleading for absolution after denying it for so long. Dracula had let me go and I stared at my wrists, bare without his touch. He wasn’t merciful. Neither was the love I felt for him, like a knife to the heart, a noose that tightens around a neck until it breaks. “I can't stop, Dracula. I still want you as much as I did from the moment we kissed. Does that make me a horrible person? Does it? Please, tell me it does.”

I stared up at him, my knees bent under me, ready for the taking, as if there had ever been another possibility. He was looking straight forward. Pretty, hollow words, that’s all he’d said to me. I could falter, bend and break. He wouldn’t. Then, as I watched his regal posture, he knelt before me and took my hands in his. 

“There is no bond,” he said. My mouth parted, trying to form words, letters, a sound, anything. My whole body relaxed, astonishment carrying all the stiffness it had built. I started shaking my head and Dracula grabbed my jaw lightly to stop me. “There was, once. You broke it. I felt it fading overtime but I thought it was only your blood being drowned by others.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, straightening so I stood half-up, supported by my calves. My breath ricocheted on his face from this new proximity and I had to lean back to gaze at him.

“I am.”

“Since when?”

“Well, since 10 seconds ago,” he said, and I shook my head. “When did it break? I suppose it started fading when you first visited Renfield in the hospital. You asked questions our tie was meant to prevent you to ask. You told me yourself at your house that you couldn’t move all afternoon as you waited for me. A silent obeisance. I’m willing to believe it broke completely when Doctor Helsing and yourself–”

I grabbed the collar of his shirt, winding it around my fingers in an attempt to ground myself. Dracula took my waist in his hands and I tensed at the familiar touch, a coil tightening around my belly button and pulling downwards between my thighs. A shiver down my spine emerged not a second later. It was an odd combination of fear and desire but at this point I was having trouble dividing the two, if they had ever been divided before I met him.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” he muttered, raising an eyebrow and then smiling. “You’re the liar here.”

A foreign sound echoed inside the room. A laugh. One that I could only recognise as my own because I touched my chest to feel it shaking. 

This is it.  I’m really going into hysterics now.

It couldn’t be. If it were true, it was never the bond. All of it was me.

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[calzona-ga]

EXCLUSIVE: ABC’s promo for the Season 17 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy teased a “shocking, jaw-dropping ending.” That was an understatement.

In one of the series’ biggest twists ever, a beloved character, Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, whose tragic death in an April 2015 episode left fans heartbroken, came back. Appropriately, the late McDreamy appeared in a dream sequence, joining Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey on a beach seconds after Meredith collapsed in the parking lot of Grey Sloan Memorial.

The sweet Meredith-Derek reunion was the joyous coda to an emotional two-hour season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy’s 17th season, dedicated to frontline healthcare workers, which marked the conclusion of a Station 19 crossover. It was marked by tragedy, as Meredith struggled to cope with the mounting COVID deaths at the hospital; anger, as medical personnel were left to fight the disease without enough PPE; hope, as the teenage girl whom DeLuca had unsuccessfully tried to save from human trafficking was reunited with her family; heartbreak, as Owen refused to reconcile with Teddy despite her pleas for forgiveness; and happiness, as Link and Derek’s sister Amelia took their newborn baby boy home. In fact, just minutes after Link announced their son’s name, Scout Derek Shepherd Lincoln, Derek made his appearance. While not necessarily designed as a clue, “it all came together quite beautifully,” Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff and star Pompeo said.

In an exclusive interview with Deadline, which had known about the big twist, Dempsey, Vernoff and Pompeo reveal how the idea for McDreamy’s return came about, how long he will stick around, how the scene was filmed, and the great lengths to which the show went in order to keep the cameo a secret so fans can fully enjoy it.

Vernoff and Pompeo also address Meredith’s fate following her medical emergency and in the context of Pompeo’s contract coming up at the end of the season, how the real-life coronavirus pandemic changed Grey’s Anatomy on and off the screen, whether will there be COVID casualties among the staff of Grey Sloan, are there plans for a time jump, and is there hope for Teddy and Owen.

Dempsey, who has a cancer foundation, had his own questions for Vernoff and Pompeo about whether advancements in COVID treatments and the issue of wearing masks are reflected on the show.

DEADLINE: Before we talk about Patrick’s return, let’s address the incident that brought on the cameo, Meredith’s collapse, because we usually associate those kind of visions with somebody on the brink of death. Is Meredith OK? Is this just her being overworked, or is it COVID or something else very serious?

VERNOFF: Well, you have to tune in next week. We started the episode with Meredith dreaming of a beach, and at the end of the episode, she’s dreaming of the beach where Derek happens to be, and that’s what we know so far.

DEADLINE: How did the idea to bring Patrick back come about?

VERNOFF: From a writer’s perspective, it happened because it was my job to find a way — once we determined that we were doing the pandemic — to also bring joy, and escape, and fan candy, and all the things that at Grey’s Anatomy we give people. We give them romance, and we give them humor, and we give them joy, and a lot of that is lacking for the medical community in this pandemic. And so, I was walking on the beach one day, and I was like, what if there’s a Meredith dream motif?

There have been studies about how intense our dream life has been. In the pandemic, people are having really intense dreams because of the lockdown. We’re not getting enough stimulation, and so, it’s happening in our dreams. So, it started as that. It started as, how do we give people some escape. I had this imagining of a beach motif throughout the season, and I called Ellen, and I said, what if we bring back, I don’t know, some dead character that you could dream of on the beach, that would be so fun for the fans.

And she said, let’s get Patrick. Even in my most excitable dream life, that thought hadn’t occurred to me as an option, and there it was.

DEADLINE: Ellen, what made you think of Patrick?

POMPEO: Patrick and I both have homes in Malibu, and we went for a hike one day. I had known that Krista wanted to do a beach thing, and I was at the beach. Patrick and I weren’t hiking on the beach, but we were hiking in Malibu, which, you can see the beach.

And the idea just struck me so I just said to him, would you ever consider coming and being a part of the storytelling this season? I know that Patrick has his foundation in Maine where he helps cancer patients and cancer survivors, and that’s a huge effort of his, and I know that it’s important to him, also, to give people hope, and give people joy, and we wanted to bring something to this moment.

There’s just so much darkness, and we knew that coming together would be a little ray of light. And so, I think we had the same idea, at the core, to want to help people and bring a smile to people’s faces. So, he loved the idea, and we were just so excited, and we had a ball filming it.

DEADLINE: Patrick, were you surprised when Ellen asked? What made you say yes?

DEMPSEY: I had a lot of calls from a lot of local government officials in Maine saying, we really need to get the message out there, to get people to socially distance, to wear a mask. I came across a photo that I was going to post that had Ellen and I, and I think that produced a call where I reached out to Ellen, and this was right around, the conversation was starting for Season 17. And Ellen’s like, let’s get together, I want to go over a couple things, I want to catch up.

We hadn’t spoken or been together for a while. It was a great opportunity to catch up and say, OK, what can we do for all the frontline responders? I’ve been tracking what Grey’s had been doing with giving masks, and making sure that people had the right equipment, and it came from that place — OK, what can we do to make people feel better, to give some comfort in this time of uncertainty, and that’s how it began. And it was really a wonderful experience to go back, to work with [director/EP] Debbie [Allen].

I think the whole atmosphere has changed, certainly working at the beach, and seeing everybody again was really a very healing process, and really rewarding, and a lot of fun. And hopefully, that feeling translates, and the fans enjoy it. I know that they’ve been wanting us to get back together, and I think this will satisfy a lot of people, and surprise a lot of people, hopefully.

DEADLINE: Was it easy to go back into character?

DEMPSEY: It was really enjoyable. It was really exciting, and fun, and it was great to see everybody. Kevin [McKidd, who directs Episode 3] was there as well, so there was a lot of familiar faces, a lot of new faces. The dynamic behind the camera had changed. There’s much more diversity within the crew. There was a nice balance, too, of equality that I was seeing. So, culturally, there was a lot of things that were different, that I thought were very positive and very inspiring, actually.

DEADLINE: Ellen, Patrick, did you filmed the beach scene together?

POMPEO: Yes.

DEADLINE: How was it looking at each other, on set, in character, after so many years?

DEMPSEY: Well, I have less eyesight than I used to, so (laughter). It was great. It was really fun, very special. it felt really comfortable, incredibly safe. The whole process, I have to say, from getting tested before even showing up to the set, the whole process in which we shot, I felt safe the whole time. You felt the crew was protected. We had the outdoor space, and it was easy.

POMPEO: It felt great. Patrick and I have this chemistry, where I think, even from when we first met, for some reason it just felt like we’ve known each other for a hundred years, and it’s just the same feeling. It’s like riding a bike, we just have a chemistry and a dynamic that’s always served us well, and I think we have a genuine affection for each other.

And it was very healing to come back, and know that we’re doing something good, putting out a positive story, a healing story, going to make people smile, and I think, for me, I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be able to be at this place in the show where we can do this. We constantly get to rewrite, I don’t want to say the ending, but we get to keep the rewrites going, which, I guess, you writers love, right?

They love to start over, to scrap it and rewrite it, and make it better, and that’s what’s fun about this process this far along, is getting the opportunity to work with Patrick again, and just coming up with ideas, how do we keep surprising the fans, and how do we keep the quality of the show up, is what makes it continue to be fun.

DEADLINE: How long is Patrick going to stick around for?

VERNOFF: It’s more than the one scene you saw, Nellie, and it was just joyful. I really want to echo that. Patrick and Ellen and I were all there at the beginning of this; I wasn’t there for the pilot, but I was there for the first seven seasons, and that was 17 years ago. That was, like, a lifetime ago; my kids weren’t alive. It was so wild to walk out on that beach, and just be together again as these different people that we are now. But I can’t overstate how joyful and healing an experience this was.

DEMPSEY: Yeah, for me as well. It was really special. It’s really hard to believe, 17 years, that’s remarkable. I mean, a lot of us didn’t have children at that point, right? So, our kids have grown up, they’re now in school. It’s crazy how much time has passed, but it really was so comforting, and lovely, and inspiring to go back, and to work together, to see everybody. It really was so open, too, that was the thing, really, people were very, I think, vulnerable in a positive way, where we were all grateful to be there and to be together.

DEADLINE: And you are game to do more episodes?

DEMPSEY: Yeah, it was fun, because I really love the message of what the dynamic is in this story. With everything that we’re dealing with right now, and certainly we have been distracted with the election, but we’re going to get back into the reality of COVID and being in a pandemic, and all the lives that have been lost. Where are these souls going? And I think that’s what attracted me to this storyline, I think it can be really helpful and healing to so many people.

POMPEO: I also think that, in a strange way, the behind the scenes of the show is certainly paralleling what we need, with the stories that we put out. What do we love about the show? We love that the show brings people together. We love that the show hopefully opens people’s minds, it opens people’s hearts, and I think that, in the running of the show and the making of the show, if we follow those same principles, if we follow the principles of love first, of acceptance, of open mind, open heart, forgiveness, all of it is, that’s the message of Grey’s.

And for us to be able to mirror that behind the scenes, and truly walk our walk and talk our talk with each other, those who created the show, I think, is a really amazing full-circle sort of story for a TV show that’s gone on this long.

DEADLINE: How hard was it to keep Patrick’s return a secret?

VERNOFF: I have to say that it was an epic feat, the keeping of this secret. I didn’t send cuts to the studio and network that included that last scene. I didn’t have writers’ assistants in the writers’ room for the last couple of months. There were writers who didn’t know we were doing this on that staff. Most of the actors didn’t know we were doing this. The crew didn’t know we were doing this when they showed up on the day.

I put the name “Ellis Grey” in the script that we read at the table, and I had Meredith say “Mom” at the table, so we got there on the day, and no one had been told what was happening. So, also watching the crew react, and [producer] Linda Klein, who’s been there from the beginning, we got Norman back, who was our amazing hair guy from the beginning [Norman T. Leavitt was makeup department head on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy for the first 14 seasons]. I was like a crazy person with this secret. And Ellen and I were texting at all hours of the night, like, who knows, I think this person.

POMPEO: Absolutely.

DEADLINE: Will we see Ellis on the show this season?

VERNOFF: I don’t know. I don’t know. You have to tune in and see who comes to the beach. It’ll be a joyful discovery.

DEADLINE: Ellen, your character is dealing with a lot of tragic COVID deaths in the premiere. For you and Krista, will we see some tragedy within the ranks of the Grey Sloan staff too? A lot of medical professionals have lost their lives to COVID in real life.

POMPEO: I think we have a responsibility to really show what these healthcare workers have been going through. It’s so easy for a big part of the population to just be irritated with wearing a mask, and they’re sort of disconnected from what real doctors and nurses and anyone who works in a hospital are actually dealing with.

I don’t want to speak for Krista, but I think for me, certainly, I saw this as an opportunity to tell the story of how hard this is for our healthcare workers; it’s devastating for them. I think Krista will tell you that they’ve sat down with so many doctors and nurses, and they hear the stories, and they’re writing right from these stories that they’re hearing. And this has been devastating, and changed the medical community forever.

So we have to show, that’s our responsibility, to show what a struggle this is for healthcare workers, and continues to be as we see [COVID] numbers spiking again. We have to try to spread some empathy, and show people that this is very real, and it’s really hard, and the next time you want to complain about wearing a mask, think about what these people have to do. They have to wear a mask, they have to wear full PPE, full cappers. They literally have to do 50 things just to be able to perform their job.

DEADLINE: Krista?

VERNOFF: I have to say that I feel like Ellen did an extraordinary job in that premiere, paying respect to healthcare workers with her performance. The thing that she did is exactly what I’ve been talking about so much, which is that these doctors and nurses who come to the writers’ room every year. They are joyful and excited, and they’re always there to tell us these exciting stories. And this year, it felt like, it was the first time they were talking to anybody.

It was the first break they were taking. It was the first time anyone was asking them what they were living through, and to a person, it felt like they were on the verge of breaking. They were different people, and I felt like Ellen so beautifully embodied it throughout this episode, the change, what this pandemic is doing to people who were trained to help and heal, but not trained to walk through war, and not trained to lose dozens of patients, sometimes in a day.

It’s breaking them, and I feel like we’re already showing the strain and the impact, and yes, there will be more of that, and somehow, we’re also bringing joy. We’ve been carefully threading this needle, of paying honor and homage, and telling the truth of this story, while finding ways to also bring joy to the audience, and I’m really excited about Season 17.

DEADLINE: You’re not going to hint whether anyone on the show is in jeopardy, are you?

VERNOFF: Well, for sure, Nellie, for sure people are in jeopardy. Meredith collapses at the end of the premiere. People are in jeopardy, and multiple people are in jeopardy throughout the season, in myriad ways, because that’s the moment we’re living through.

DEADLINE: Ellen, should we read more into Meredith’s collapse in light of you figuring out your future on the show? You have said that you’re not sure what you’re going to do beyond this season.

POMPEO: You can’t read into anything. Really, that’s dangerous territory. I think that, collectively, we, or creatively, it’s the same this year as it always is. Is there a reason to continue? What stories do we have to tell? What characters do we have to bring back that gives us story to tell? I said in another interview last week, we’re always in this incredibly sweet spot with this show, for whatever reason.

We always have incredible circumstances that allow us to continue creatively, whether it’s ideas, or circumstances that happen. Our goal is just to make good TV. I think we’re all aware of the icon status of the show, we’re so aware of that, and I think that that’s why Patrick was so humble and so grateful to be able to come back, because we are very grateful that we have this huge platform. And I don’t think any of us take the platform that we have lightly.

And so, at this point, I think, we don’t know what we’re going to do. We know that we’re grateful, and we know that we want to show our gratitude, and grateful to each other making the show, that we’re able to keep continuing to grow, and to tell stories that we think are important, and getting this moment. Listen, who gets career runs like this? Patrick Dempsey’s been working since he’s … I know he’s been working off-camera even earlier, but I mean, when was your first role, Patrick, when you were 16 or 17?

DEMPSEY: Sixteen, 17, so 30 years.

POMPEO: Who gets a run like that? So, I just think that we’re incredibly grateful to be able to still be here, and be telling these stories that we feel are important, and we’ll see. Creatively, this is our heavy-lifting, to keep raising the bar for ourselves, but we’ve got something great, which is we’ve got gratitude, and we’re all smart, creative people. So, if there’s a way to figure it out, we certainly will.

DEMPSEY: The range of emotions, where you’re getting a chance to cry, but you’re also getting a chance to laugh, I think that’s a huge success in the storytelling. The whole ride has been remarkable on so many levels, being a part of this show for so many years, and it’s profoundly changed my life in so many ways. I’m very grateful for that, and hopefully to use that platform in a positive way, where you’re doing something good. And I’m grateful to be a part of this show at this particular moment in time.

DEADLINE: The premiere is set in April 2020. Krista, will the show fast forward to now?

VERNOFF: We’re not fast forwarding. We’re playing it through. So, by the time it’s airing, most of what we’re doing is almost a year ago, in the timeline. And there’s more joy.

DEMPSEY: Do you get into how the disease is treated over time as well? Do you get into how the science — and I think this is an important thing for us to remember and to really believe in the science, in the breakthroughs that they’re making on a daily basis. How do you track that, and has that been part of your conversation?

VERNOFF: It is. It’s a constant part of the conversation, and we have three doctors on staff now who come into the writers’ room most of the time, and we have a lot of conversations of even the evolution, what you see in terms of the protective gear that they’re wearing in the premiere versus the evolution of the protective gear, when are they treating with ventilators and when are they not. There were drug studies and drug trials, and we’re doing our best to be honest about that progress, and also the evolution in the hospitals.

Grey Sloan in the premiere has a special COVID ward, and these intake tents, and then, throughout the course of the season, other spaces evolve to hold COVID patients, and we’re hearing news about other hospitals. Washington was hit really hard early on. So, we’re trying to play through all of that.

DEMPSEY: Sorry, follow-up question, if I may. Do you get into the politics of the mask, and how that affects in a negative or a positive way? Do you go down that road at all?

VERNOFF: We try to stay away from overt politics, and the politicizing of the mask is a real thing that happened. So, we’re not talking about politicians. We just don’t do that at Grey’s Anatomy, partly because we want the show to be for everybody, and we don’t want it to become so polarizing, where it feels like we’re preaching from some particular pulpit. We’re just sticking with the science, and the reaction of doctors to the idea that people are not understanding and/or not believing that masks are imperative to protect other people and themselves.

So, we’re playing it through character, is the answer, like what an outrage it is for these doctors, who spend their lives and their all-day, every-day, trying to save people, to see human beings out there choosing not to protect their fellow human beings, because they’re not believing in science, and they’re not believing scientists.

DEADLINE: How is filming going? Grey’s was one of the first shows to shut down production early in the pandemic to protect the cast and crew. How is it now, with the new COVID wave? I write stories about shutdowns virtually every day.

VERNOFF: I mean, knocking wood, so far.

POMPEO: Good so far, yeah. We’re good. Of course, anything can happen at any moment, but I think that collectively, everybody’s really careful. And again, we’re trying to be mindful of one another, and we’re trying to be mindful of how we live our lives when we’re not at work, because that’s the smart thing to do, and we have to come to work and keep everybody safe. Nobody wants to get shut down.

VERNOFF: We’re really careful in our creating of the show, also, to help the actors feel safe. We shut down before other shows, we also came back to production before a lot of other shows, thanks to truly the leadership of Debbie Allen. There was some leadership from me, but for sure, it was guided by Debbie Allen going, if we don’t come back, we’re never going to come back, come on, Krista, we’re coming back. Set a date, set a date, set a date, where’s the scripts? Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.

She kept saying, if you put a date on the calendar, we’re going to work toward it, and we’re going to figure out how to do it safely, and we really did figure out how to do it safely. We were lucky that we’re set in a hospital, so that our actors, when they’re working together tightly, can be in masks. But it was also my job, and the job of the writers, to come up with plans and motifs that allowed the audience to see the actors’ faces, and the actors to feel safe in that.

So, you didn’t just see a beach motif, which is a continuing motif through the season, and it was designed, that particular motif, so that Ellen could come to work without a mask and feel safe, because she’s outside; the epidemiologists have been clear about how much safer outside is. But you also saw, for the first time in 17 seasons, Meredith’s house back yard. We built a backyard set on the exterior of the lot, outside the writers’ bungalow, so that those actors could give us some no-mask time, and feel safe in the beginning.

And more and more, we’re understanding how to keep everyone safe indoors, so we’re getting a little bit more without masks indoors, but at the beginning, we had to really be creative, in terms of how are we doing this, how are we keeping ourselves safe, how are we helping them feel safe, and how are we giving the fans a show that’s joyful in addition to true.

DEADLINE: And one final question: is there any hope for Teddy and Owen?

VERNOFF: Teddy is doing good. They’ve got a long haul, Nellie. If there’s hope for them, it’s in the ethers, but you know, I didn’t have a lot of hope that Patrick Dempsey was going to be back on Grey’s Anatomy last year, and look where we are. So…

[inevitably-johnlocked]

The Video

Alrighty, so as promised, I listened-slash-watched-slash-backtracked the video over making and eating dinner, with a break in between to take a phone call from my sister, so I may have missed and misunderstood/misheard a few things and may need another rewatch to fix any presumptions I make in this mini (?)-review.

Two things I do need to correct from my last post:

One is that I actually was sent the video to pre-watch before it was posted; I found it in my emails two days later but because I was swamped with day job stuff (as in I was working until 11 PM both days, and I didn’t even sit down until 4 on Saturday), and my fandom email is NOT a primary address so it’s not hooked up to my main Mail server on my MacBook (limited space), I hadn’t checked my emails since Thursday afternoon. So yeah, technically I should’ve known it was out, so apologies: technically I knew it was coming out; my sorry arse just didn’t check my emails.

Second, is that meta I did send her did get referenced and used; some of it word for word (like the discussion about the difference between Johnlockers and TJLC) so meta was read, my bad on assuming it wasn’t before watching.

C’est ça on that front.

A few things that ruffled my feathers and maybe I misheard, but I’ll mention them as I remember it:

I did find it slightly bothersome that the assumption was that Johnlockers that we were a bunch of teenagers (we weren’t – most of the people I talked to were in their 20′s and 30′s and many were academics of varying sorts). SZ was younger than many of us in our little corner of the fandom, I think, and it was filled with amazing meta and university-level papers on queer history, ACD canon history, subtextual writing and literature.  EDIT: I did skim back over to a bit of the beginning since I missed it over making dinner, and I guess a lot of the people who contacted SZ were teens at the time of the airdate, so again, my little bubble and all that and apologies for assuming. :P

This is a totally biased view and probably indicative of how deep down the rabbit hole I was: A bit annoyed at the implication in our belief that Mofftiss weren’t trying to deliberately imply the Gay Sherlock / BiJohn thing especially paying special attention to it during Q&As and meet and greets and interviews; That the cues weren’t there. Though she did point out the queerbaiting aspect of it. I don’t know. Maybe I misunderstood since I was stuffing my gob with pasta and wishing I had a cheesecake.

I think SZ should’ve worded her Twitter callout post a LOT better, because the cons were only mentioned for about 10 minutes, and in only in relation to the drama. She did praise the cons as a positive experience for people, so I’ll give her that.

The Twitter stuff pre-vid-posting still rubs me the wrong way.

Still feel that selling the shirts is tasteless. Mug is cute, though.

Things I did find interesting / good / stuff I didn’t know:

I know I’m a minority in this regard, especially since I am a fence sitter, but I feel... relieved? sorry I can’t think of the word... that SZ essentially did accuse Mofftiss of queerbaiting by the end of it – that it’s not just us who see it. I’ve always said without an S5, it IS queerbaiting, and given that S5 probably won’t happen anytime soon... well. Like I’ve said in the past, I hold out a glimmer of hope. Not holding my breath though.

The mentions of some of the fandom theories and speculations were done tastefully, light jesting but not mocking them.

The discussion section about AA / Mary... Yikes. I forgot it got THAT bad.... I guess because I was always in the “Mary’s a kickass villain” camp so I was blissfully ignorant about that stuff until a few years later. 

The ace stuff, 100% true, and I’m glad it was brought up.

The term “Ragnalock” got a chuckle out of me, will admit that. First time I’ve heard of it.

I had no idea the ARG theory was anything more than thelostspecial website. Somehow I missed that whole thing about it being part of the series itself.

And, a lot of things, in hindsight: just an overall, “yeah. :|”

And some additional notes I can’t really classify one way or another:

Cringing at MYSELF because of some of the post-S4 theories that, looking back: oof. Apple Tree Yard specifically. 

AND cringing at myself because I know I perpetuated a lot of the “IT WILL HAPPEN” in my corner of the fandom pre-S4 because I wanted people to be excited for a new season. For that I am very sorry to everyone who were hurt by my belief. S4 was a brick wall and I hit it hard, thought I do enjoy theorizing about how fake it was. It’s the only way to cope for me, LOL.

Ooof the drama stuff, a lot of it I didn’t know the entire deets about, only about the PPG being involved. I tried to stay out of it when I could and focused mainly on meta writing, my own healing processes, and making people feel welcome. It’s what a few bigger bloggers did for me when I joined by interacting with my posts and offering their kindness, and I wanted to return the favour. Inevitable it had to be covered, but yeah, dark times.

LOOOOOOOL the critique about TFP. Literally stuff that we’ve talked about in our “something’s fucky” tag. 

And to address the elephant in the room: Yes, I DID give SZ meta, but it was the link to fandom meta that is essentially on the header of my blog on desktop, just as I do with anyone interested in the fandom.

Overall, it was a thought provoking vid, a bit of a nostalgia hit to be honest. I thought that it was a good video, interesting in that strange way where you relive strange moments of your past. I feel it was a fair analysis of the fandom, but please, please remember: I can’t speak for those directly involved in the events mentioned, because I WAS NOT THERE. Not my place to disregard their feelings if they have a different opinion than I. 

That said, I think it’s worth a watch if only to see what the fandom WAS. But it’s informative and respectful, I think. Though, I think she could’ve left out the bit at the end just before the credits.

And finally: to anyone who are coming here from the vid: I have been here since S3, joined because of LSiT, and later I wrote villain Mary meta and TAB meta. These days, I primarily have focussed my attentions on curating content, offering my advice on stuff, introducing newbies to the series, and trying to spread positivity, all peppered in with the random theory from time to time, and trying to atone for my... “enthusiasm”?... in the past. I like promoting community and open discussion from all viewpoints, as long as it remains respectful. So yeah, I do have some meta you can check out, just let me know what you’re looking for, and I do lots of fic recs, so if you’re looking for something, hit me up.

Cheers, all. I’m going to bed. 

[afni-fics]

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn: Chapter 27: Dragon Rising (aftermath)

Elder Scrolls DC - A Reluctant Dragonborn: Chapter 27: Dragon Rising (aftermath) (35298 words) by C_R_Scott Chapters: 27/? Fandom: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics), Batman (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Tim Drake, Lucien Flavius Additional Tags: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Skyrim/DCU crossover, Reluctant Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, Not Beta Read, Alternate Universe - Skyrim Fusion, Modded Skyrim, Skyrim Spoilers, Tim Drake is Dragonborn | Dovahkiin, Tim Drake-centric, Trope: It sucks to be the chosen one, Trope: Trapped in another world, Trope: Kidnapped by the Call

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Summary:

The immediate aftermath of the recent events at at Dragonsreach. Tim, Lucien, and Irileth go to have a private conversation at the local Whiterun tavern, The Bannered Mare.

It was almost funny. 

Even when he was constantly suffering from his burns shortly after Helgen, Tim had been reluctant to indulge in any of the local meads, ales, or wines offered at the taverns both in Riverwood and Whiterun. He knew he was just barely eighteen and not the legal age of consumption back home. When he drank any of the alcoholic beverages, it was due to the fact that the taverns had practically nothing else to drink and he honestly questioned the quality of some of the water he was offered. 

Now, about two weeks since Helgen and after that "meeting" with the Jarl, there was no hesitation as Tim took the first goblet of wine the waitress Saadia offered when he, Lucien, and Irileth entered The Bannered Mare. He snagged the goblet and accompanying bottle so smoothly that Saadia almost didn't notice it was gone until the clink of Septims replaced their spots on her metal serving tray. By the time she'd realized the exchange had been made, Tim was already halfway across the room, had poured out his first glass, and was tipping it to his mouth.. 

"Hey--" the dark skinned Redguard woman started to protest, but Lucien stepped in her way and offered a pained smile. 

"Sorry about my friend," he said as he took the other two empty goblets and dropped a few more coins on her tray. "But we really need that bottle right now." 

"Hulda," Irileth addressed the woman behind the bar. "I'm renting the room upstairs for them tonight. Any more food and drink they consume can go on my personal tab. We're not to be disturbed."

Hulda, the tavern's owner, nodded respectfully. "As you wish, Housecarl."

Irileth motioned for Timothy and Lucien to head up the stairs ahead of her before following behind. Once they were in the room, the Dunmer woman sighed with exasperation. "Well that all happened."

Tim had just finished filling Lucien's goblet and offered to pour one for Irileth. She looked like she wanted to decline initially, but then relented and accepted. 

Lucien swirled the dark red liquid in his goblet. "So... I suppose a toast to our new Thane is in order," he said sardonically as he raised the goblet in Tim's general direction. 

Tim rolled his eyes. "Don't you start," he complained irritably. "I still don't know what that means."

"It means the Jarl of Whiterun has given you, a perfect stranger and rumored mythical figure, a honorary noble title, along with all the power and influence behind it, with the same amount of impulse and foresight as those earlier assignments that nearly took your life," Irileth grumbled.

"The amounts of which were entirely too much of the former and not enough of the latter?" Lucien added with a sarcastic lilt to this voice

Irileth sighed at the scholar, but didn't dispute his claims.

"Why did Jarl Balgruuf give me this title in the first place?" Tim asked wearily. "I didn't do anything to deserve a reward this valuable. I feel like it's put me in the Jarl's debt!"

Irileth took a sip from her goblet and sighed. "He made you Thane not because of what you did, but who you are. Rest assured you are not in debt to him or Whiterun."

She leaned against the wall and continued her explanation. "The Jarl, Proventus, and I had spoken at length about appropriate compensation for your work and the pain and suffering you endured because of what you had been asked to do while you were healing at the Temple." She pointed at the cloak-wrapped bundle. "That along with a generous purse of Septims and a choice of a new weapon from the finest pieces Warmaiden's has to offer was to be the original compensation." 

Curiously, Tim set down his goblet so he could unwrap the parcel. His eyes lit up at the new full suit of leather armor folded neatly in front of him. He unfolded just the jacket and studied it appreciatively, leaving the pants, boots, and gloves on the table. The leather was dark brown, high quality from the feel of it, and was reinforced in strategic areas both for added protection and warmth without sacrificing range of movement. It sported a high double-folded collar that would better protect his neck and metal spaulders that would do the same for his upper arms and shoulder joints. 

"This, with the gold and the new weapon, would've been just fine with me," Tim agreed as he set the jacket down on the back of the nearby chair. "Why did the Jarl change everything at the last minute?"

"Is it because of the Greybeards and their 'summons' today?" Lucien asked.

The Dunmer nodded. "Place yourselves on the Jarl's throne. The first Dragonborn acknowledged and summoned by the Greybeards since Tiber Septim during the Second Era is witnessed in Whiterun Hold. This should have been an event of great distinction for the Jarl and his city. Unfortunately. because of his impulsive decisions earlier, that first new Dragonborn to be acknowledged in over one thousand years nearly died before he could fulfill whatever destiny the gods have in store for him." 

Tim didn't know who this Tiber Septim was, but based on the way Irileth spoke of him and the way Lucien seemed to sit up and take notice made it seem like he had another important historic figure to research as soon as he could. 

Irileth looked at Tim. "After the Watchtower battle and you were sequestered at the Temple for healing, the rumors of you being Dragonborn spread like wildfire throughout the city. Some believed immediately while others were quite skeptical. However, I was in the Plains District today when the Greybeards sent their summons." She shook her head. "As soon as that summons went out, those Nords who had been skeptical turned to believers.

"So" Lucien murmured. "Basically this whole overblown escalation of Timothy's compensation by the Jarl was essentially damage control because his actions nearly killed this Era's potential new Dragonborn. Balgruuf felt the need to immediately acknowledge and elevate Timothy's standing to show his appreciation, both to stay in good favor with his citizens and with the Divines."

"I think I can understand the need to appease is citizens, but why the Divines?" Tim asked curiously.

Lucien continued. "Well, the only way a new Dragonborn can exist in this Era at all at this point is if they were chosen and blessed by the Divines themselves. The Septim Dragonborn dynasty was extinguished in the Third Era. Some might interpret this to mean the Dragonborn themselves is a rare gift from the Divines to the world. To even inadvertently cause grave injury to the Dragonborn without adequate recompense could be seen as rejecting their gift and insulting the Gods."

Tim sighed. The more he heard about this title "Dragonborn" in connection to him, the more it felt like a heavy albatross slung around his neck. The idea that some "god" had kidnapped him from Earth just to be a "divine gift" for an alien world made his skin crawl. 

It made him feel less than human.

He shook his head to shove those thoughts back into a dark corner of his mind to be nightmare fuel for another night. "Well, what's done is done," Tim muttered.  "I don't know if I'm this Dragonborn thing everyone says I am. However, I do know I'm now a Thane, for whatever it's worth, and I've been 'summoned' by someone powerful enough to trigger small earthquakes by yelling for me, so I probably shouldn't keep them waiting." In an effort to turn the page on this day's events, he went to his backpack and pulled out his map of Skyrim before looking to Irileth. "Since I don't seem to have much of a choice in the matter, can you show us the best way to High Hrothgar?"

After getting all the information they can to prepare from Irileth, the Dunmer returns to Dragonsreach. Lucien leaves to start purchasing supplies, and Tim changes into his new gifted armor from the Jarl before heading down into the tavern for food and to write in his journal.

Note:

Author Note: Going to add a journal entry soon, then going to start the journey to High Hrothgar. I need to test a new mod, though, to add to the immersion and potentially fun screenshots. If it works, then YAY! If it doesn't, then oh well. The story will continue. If it works, I will share the name and link to the mod itself.

#elder scrolls dc#fanfiction#tim drake#skyrim fanfiction#red robin#batfam#crossover#lucien flavius#wip#afewnovelideas

[whitetickle-sl]

slur/slər/

Learn to pronounce

verb

1.speak (words or speech) indistinctly so that the sounds run into one another."he was slurring his words like a drunk"Similar:mumblespeak unclearlygarblestumble overstammermisarticulateOpposite:enunciate

2.MUSICperform (a group of two or more notes) legato."I can play it if I don't slur the notes"

noun

1.an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation."the comments were a slur on the staff"Similar:insultslightslanderslanderous statementlibellibelous statementmisrepresentationdefamationaspersioncalumnysmearallegationimputationinsinuationinnuendo

2.an act of speaking indistinctly so that sounds or words run into one another or a tendency to speak in such a way."there was a mean slur in his voice"

So I’ve gotten in trouble for daring to mention the N word when asking about a black girl who commanded her white sub to call her by the N word that ends with the letter A. which is a variant of the one that ends with er. So I’m bring in some facts for everyone. and I’ll merely link t o the dictionary description for the original down below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

Here is the vidio with a Black girl tickling a White Girl as her lee. She was basicly upset wit the White girl. Now the black girl treated the N word like it’s some kind of badge of honor and wanted the White girl to call her that. Apparently I’m atacked for trying to even dare  say the word. I can understand callingsomeone that being bad but now it’s like we’re treating the word like Voldimort, he who should not be named.......I just now discovered the video has been taken down. Well just great. just when I had an example it’s taken down. Whatever it was  Black girl  dominating a white girl being mad at her about something. Now the white girl did get cheeky and call her the B word which got her tickled worse, that’s what you get when you insult your ler and I think she deserved that.

But with the info I have atleast provided you all, with while slur can be an insult it’s usualy running a word together. The Origanal term meant Dark Skinned. Nothing degrading there, the more infamous one came from the portigese and spanish and apparently became more used instead as a means of respect....I don’t know who they were trying to respect because obviosly no one feels respected being called that, even though it literaly just means the same thing. Guess I will have to look deeper into the history of this. Because so far now, We got the classic neatral which I think we need to just need to push for making it neutral, because I feel it’s only an insult because it became bastardized over time which is the second more commonly recongised reaction, then there’s being an honory black where only blacks get to use it and your only allowed to use it if your given the blessing of the black community. That’s like me saying you can’t call me white because of what the Barbary pirates did. Ok it’s more understandable with the word slave I guess because that’s literaly a slur for Slav who used to be slaves to the Ottomons and other people once upon a time and before that term became world wide there was other words for a slave. Slasve is a very modern term and meant different things in history and so there are even translations that even kind of miss us the word. Trying understand what people meant when making the recordings helps us to retranslate what they truely meant. and then you got the 4th use of the N word which apparently has the word promoted to a master role?

So how does the N word work as a neutral term for Blacks, an insult one instance, a friend or equal the next instance and master and superior in the next?! How can I call you a master with an insult or Insult you with a compliment? and then don’t get me started on the new white rule that whites can’t even utter the word from their lips even if they aren’t calling anyone or referring to anyone by the word.... Just Grade stupidity right there. I understand it has it’s awful history and I’m not trying to make light of it, rather I simply want to just de bastardized a word that was once common and once had no insulting meaning. If you remove the sting of a word it no longer has power over you. Now it seems it’s become an entitled word. You know what I call it? I confusing word! There is literally no other word that bounces back and forth between insult and compliment and neutral, and permitted and tabooed without warning or control than the N word/ The N word is utterly chaotic and disruptive and it’s being used to create even more division now not simply as an insult but as a taboo word! There are alot of taboo words but you literally have one right here that is upsetting to not only culture but even language itself! 

You know what I think? 2 wrongs don’t make a right and a word that only one race can use and just easily change it’s meaning like that is not justified. It doesn’t heal the wounds of the past. I hate that I am having to address this word again, just one post is all I should ever have to post and I have a right to make such posts. I have a right to address the issue.

So why am I talking about it again? Well since I was accused of using a slur in the other post rather than continue to deny it I recalled what a slur is supposed to be in the first place. That’s why I went on Google and posted the definition in this post. As you can see the term slur while can be involved in insulting someone it seems to be more involved with words mashing together or being said wrong. I won’t bother saying the original word and it’s many different slurred terms, I’ll just mention that you got versions that end in O, er and a. Now given that the word technical has been said differently over time and there’s both not only a negative slur but even a slur that’s treated more positively it’ technically is a slurr. So yeah I guess by that Logic I still used a Slur. fine caught me red handed. HOWEVER. What makes the word evil is when it’s used as an insult and I didn’t. However Telling me I can’t even adress the issue  behind the word that I can’t even say neutrally IS JUST AS EVIL Because 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Here I am trying to resolve a problem and people are atacking me for daring to use the word. Well a broken clock can ring once or twice correctly a day but just because you could argue that I was using a slur doesn’t make you right about me. Because I think it would of made more since to atack me for using the word to insult someone. However I didn’t use the word to refer to anyone let alone black people in general. I was talking about a black girl but she  was calling herself that AND WANTING A WHITE GIRL TO CALL HER THAT. Yet I didn’t call her that but I did repeat what she said. That’s not the same thing though. Now if Anyone of the Black community was in fact insulted by that post if you saw it, then I’m SORRY IF IT PUT A BAD TASTE in your mouth but please know I wasn’t trying to put anyone down. I was just curios about the Black girl’s use of the word. Her use of the word confuses me and I think it helps fix the problem to address it and negotiate about it rather than lay down some segregationally rule. Because that rule is Hypocritical and it will domino effect into something as evil as what happened in the past. You can’t right a wrong with another wrong and ignorance and taboos don’t fix anything. So I don’t apologies for speaking my mind but I do want people to know I do care about your feelings but sometimes I can’t make promises. and it’s not fair to me if I can’t express my own concerns and curiosity because I have to worry about walking on egg shells. 

To be honest I didn’t even like addressing the word in that post but I’m not going to delete it either. That would seem like surrendering to a stereotype of who I am and what haters want to make of me plus it would seem cowardly. I made my bed and so I will sleep in it. I knew the point I was trying to make, and I knew I didn’t mean no ill intent. Plus if I get rid of it I have nothing to show myself why stuff happened in the first place. So I will be keeping that post around, both because people actually like it looks like and for me it’s a teaching platform. Someone tried to trip me up and I’ve made mistakes of erasing posts before and it never helps in big arguments. So deleting posts won’t solve anything if you know for a fact what you meant. If anything the hater’s arguments actually kind of help this case even more and only prove just how big a deal this actually is. It also seems to teach me just because people attack you doesn’t mean you throw in the towel, doesn’t mean you just get mad and scream back at them either. I mean I’m still expressing my emotion on the issue but I’m also bothering to looks stuff up so I can reproach the argument. The thing is their arguement is the word is a slur so I shouldn’t say it. No that’s a terrible excuse, because slurr just means to say a word wrong and say it as a different word. So now I’m challenging not even the meaning of the N word but the meaning of the Word Slur. Thank goodness I can at least say SLUR ^^ that’s how much a headache this is I can’t even say the other word it’s so maddening! I mean I can say it no one’s really stopping me from saying the N word...I just don’t want to say it! Yes I would get harrassed for saying it  in another post but the thing is I’m gonna be harrased anyways so it makes no big differance. But anyways just because it’s a slur does that realy make it bad when a slur is technically just a mispronounced word? and when I’m just talking about the word and it’s history about how it used to be neutral back when it wasn’t controversial does it even count as an insult then? like if you were tak about the word cracker and how people come to use that in reference to white people but your not constantly using it to deliberately speak negatively of white people then is it an insult then? Not only that but by this definition is even Cracker realy a slur? It’s being missused but is that a slur? I suppose you could argue that a slur is a word used to speak negativly of a a person but that’s only if you are doing that directly. In otherwords it would directly mean an direct insult. But when I used it I wasn’t being direct so it doesn’t count. So If I was talking about the term cracker well I’m intentionally referring to whites as such just on how they are refered to as such by certain people. But if I’m not using it directly as the word for them and not contently calling them that, then I’m not using a direct insult. A controversial word maybe but not a direct insult. and since  Cracker isn’t a miss pronunciation of another word, it’s not a slur in that since either. The original N word is not a slur because it’s not misspronounced it simply has bad press. and until it becomes more excepted as neutral again I will keep to my promise that I will not be using it again in future posts..if I can help it. The original word is technically viewable by the link much to my discomfort but I will not take responsibility for the word being uncencored by links. Now Gigmig technical is a slur since it’s mispronounced version of Giggle Milkee as I merged the 2 words together. However Gigmig may be a slur but it’s not controversal. hehe well I mean the topic is controversial to hates I suppose but not the the Gigmigs themselves. To be honest though I invented the term Giggle Milkee trying to come up with terms for White lee or ticklish White. It doesn’t have to emply to slave, however most of the Giggle Milkees in my band don’t seem to mind the idea of being tickle slaves themselves. Infact it’s rather popular to them. But I do understand not all people are big about that, So that’s why Gigmig actualy has a neutral meaning, by default it means ticklish white person or White lee tickled by other races. It can be used for slaves but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s inherently more neutral in that it can involve concential tickling as well as concential, it can be used towards a perceaved equal or towards someone seen as property. However I don’t see it ever being used to describe a superior in any form. Giggle Milkees are never masters, only equals or less. What do you expect their lees when is the lee ever the one in control? when your the one being tickled your either putting your trust in the tickler or your at their mercy.

Anyways guys I hope to never have to address the N word again I realy hate that topic, but I’m also stubborn ;p and not  ashamed. But I would appreciate other people tackling this issue more from my perspective and helping in the cause to weaken the the power the N word has so all sides can be free. As for me I just want to move on and have fun with my fellow Gigmigs and fun with future grabber friends or future Grabber masters~ Also to would be Grabbers I am trying to find a word for ticklers of whites who are white. Grabbers technically emply you capture people and that’s the only thing bothering me realy. Some suggest new term words for diverse ticklers who tickle whites or anything involving this them would be appreciated. Or just let me know if your ok with the term Grabber and how it comes to be used according to lore and what other additional Alternatives you would suggest being used along with the term Grabber or in it’s stead. I got a few ideals myself for giggle Milkees and grabbers but I’ll save those for another post. I’m getting tired this note is to long as is and I just to move on.

Please share if you like and support this Post ^^ and yes I do appreciat hearing people’s concerns, just watch about dictating me on what to do.

[dragonshost]

Day 58: JennyLu

I have no excuses for this one.  It’s just pure, unadulterated wish fulfillment.  In my defense, who wouldn’t like to be carried in a strong female mechanic’s arms?  I am only human.

On FFN - link

On AO3 - link

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Armada Day 58: Missing The Train Jenny x Lucy

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"I can't believe I overslept!" Lucy panted, her feet pounding the cobblestones as she sprinted through the streets of Crocus. "I'm gonna miss my train!" Thankfully it was early enough that most of the residents were still at home in their warm beds, and the rest of the visiting guilds weren't in as big of a rush to vacate the city as Lucy was. Or maybe they had just all managed to awaken in time and weren't running pell-mell in the semi-dark down dew-slickened cobblestone roads.

Which proved to be slicker than she had initially assumed, her foot suddenly sliding out from under her. A screech erupted from her lips as she crashed to the ground, landing strangely on her arm. It throbbed where her shoulder hit the cobblestone, and her ankle burned. Fantastic. Even if it was nothing serious, there was no way Lucy was going to be able to make her train after all. Not at the pace her new injuries would force her to adopt.

Using her good arm, Lucy pushed herself into a sitting position. She sighed as she saw the state of her clothes. The road wasn't exactly clean by any means, and the morning dew had turned the grime into mud. Hopefully it was early enough that no one had witnessed the spectacle she'd made of herself.

Well, sitting in the middle of the street wasn't going to get her anywhere fast. With a groan, Lucy gathered her legs under her and made the attempt to stand. Another yelp burst from her lips as pain shot up her leg and she fell back to the ground. Her vision clouded up with bright flashes of light, she furiously blinked back rising tears. "It's not that bad," Lucy wheezed under breath. "One more try." Once again she tried to stand up, only for the pain to rush upwards once more. This time she was ready for it, though, and although a whimper did escape her throat, she managed to stand up. "There. I've had worse."

Determined to make it the train station - maybe she could exchange her ticket for a later one - Lucy hobbled a few steps forward. Greatly favoring her leg, she made it about ten paces from where she initially fell before she called the endeavor quits. Lucy wasn't sure if it was because the injury was worse than she thought, or if she was just used to Wendy healing her all the time, but holy stars above did it hurt. And a headache was starting to bloom in her skull, probably from gritting her teeth too hard and too long. Spotting a bench, Lucy eked out a few more steps from her injured leg before collapsing onto it.

Lucy panted heavily, feeling more cold water seeping into her behind from the wet bench. Wasn't it already July? Why was everything so wet? Exasperation made her burgeoning migraine even worse. Shaking her head, she tried to clear it, only to make the pounding worse. Fantastic. Absolutely fantas-

"Are you alright?" a sweet voice asked, startling Lucy so badly she nearly fell off the bench. Great. Now her chest hurt, too. Adrenaline sparking like lightning in her veins, Lucy twisted to see who had addressed her.

It was a tall woman, with blonde curly hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the top of her head. "Sorry to startle you," the stranger apologized. The expression on the woman's face was warm... unlike her clothing. A light purple sports bra and matching spandex shorts showed off the woman's many assets - her long legs, heavy bust, and magnificent abs.

Realizing she was staring, Lucy felt her ears burn despite the other woman not pointing it out in the slightest. "No, it's okay," she said. "And um... I'm fine."

The other woman gave Lucy a pointed look. "Your ankle looks too red to be 'fine.'"

The heat from Lucy's ears crawled its way over to her cheeks. "I... might have taken a bit of a tumble," she admitted. Was it really that red? Lucy peered down at it. Now that she looked a little closer, it did seem to be swelling spectacularly.

"Mind if I take a seat?" the woman asked, though she had already moved to do so without waiting for Lucy's response.

"Wait-" Lucy tried to warn her, but wasn't swift enough.

Surprise danced across the other woman's face as cold water no doubt sank into her butt as well.

"Sorry," Lucy mumbled. "I was about to warn you, I promise."

The woman let out a light laugh. "Don't worry about it - I should have watched where I sat." She gestured at Lucy's leg. "Is it alright if I take a closer look?"

Lucy's nodded minutely, and the woman gently raised Lucy's leg to her lap. "At first glance, I'd say it's sprained." Then she frowned. "How long ago did this happen?"

Lucy gave her a half-shrug. "Just a couple minutes ago? I was running, and I slipped and fell." Now that she was looking more properly, the woman seemed vaguely familiar to Lucy, and the guild mark on her arm even more so - Blue Pegasus. Lucy wracked her brain tried to put a name to the woman's face but came up empty.

Frown deepening, the Blue Pegasus mage laid cool fingers on the joint. "Does this hurt?" She prodded it gently. When Lucy hissed in pain, she withdrew her hands. "Please tell me you did not try to walk on this."

Sweat ran down Lucy's neck. Whether it was from the pain, the sheer hotness of the woman touching her, or from the warning tone in the woman's voice she wasn't immediately certain. "Um... yes...?" she answered tentatively. Lucy pointed down the street. "Just over there."

The woman stared at her long and hard, and Lucy withered a bit under the harsh gaze. "Is that... bad?" she ventured.

She shook her head slightly. "Yeah, it is, but mostly I just can't believe you managed to get that far with a broken ankle."

"Awesome," wheezed Lucy. No wonder it had hurt so much. "So I'm definitely not making it to the train station. At all."

"Not on this foot, you're not," the woman confirmed. "Can I help you to your guild's inn?" At Lucy's surprised expression, the woman smiled slightly. "I don't forget a face. And your guild mark is very lovely. Your guild has a healer, right?

Lucy held her marked hand close to her chest and tried to calm her raging heartbeat. "Yeah, but she's probably already left on the train that I've probably just missed." Why had Makarov booked her team such an early train?! You'd think that after a dragon invasion and a midnight ball that a girl would be allowed a decent night's sleep, but apparently not! And more to the point, how was it that the rest of her team had managed to make it and hadn't even spared a thought about whether she was coming or not?! It was a role reversal that Lucy definitely did not care for.

"No worries. I think Sherry from Lamia Scale will be at my guild's inn," the woman offered. "And her cousin is a healing mage as well. We'll ask them for help." Gently, she lowered Lucy's leg off her lap and onto the ground. "Here, I'll help you walk."

Accepting the offer, Lucy allowed the other woman to hook an arm around her, only to bite back another yelp of pain as the woman chose the wrong shoulder.

"...Did you hurt this shoulder, too?" the woman questioned, lowering Lucy back onto the bench.

Lucy nodded, furiously trying not to cry. "Yeah. I landed on it. I think it's just wrenched, though."

The other mage contemplated the problem for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Guess it's a princess carry, then."

"...What-wait whoa!" Lucy suddenly found herself airborne, supported only by the other woman's strong arms, and her face eye-level with her impressive chest. "Y-you don't have to carry me!" she squawked in protest, heat consuming her entire face down to the tip of her nose. The tall amazon was carrying her. Princess-style. Holy stars above.

"Don't worry about it," the woman stated, already walking down the road. "You're not heavy, and my guild is just up there."

Lucy clammed up at that, and tried to keep her eyes to herself. Which proved to be too difficult, so instead she just looked up at her savior's face. The Blue Pegasus mage was beautiful, but not wearing any makeup that Lucy could see. Which made sense for an early morning run. There was a slight smattering of freckles across her nose that Lucy found to be incredibly cute, and her eyes were a very pretty light blue.

True to her word, it was a brief journey to the inn Blue Pegasus was using for the duration of the Grand Magic Games. The older woman shouldered the door open with ease.

Only to find the both of them swiftly swarmed by concerned guild members.

"Lucy!" Hibiki Lates exclaimed in immediate recognition, his face bright with genuine delight. "What brings you here? Looking for a bit of fun?"

"H-Hello, Hibiki," Lucy greeted awkwardly. Did the man not notice that his guildmate had her in a princess carry, or what?

"Have you come to join our guild instead, Big Sister?" Eve questioned, blatantly ignoring the fact that he was now older than Lucy.

"I-idiot!" Ren chided Eve, flushing heavily under his tan. "Though I... can't say I would mind if... the lady... came around more often..."

"Some room, please, boys," the woman told them. "As you can see, she's hurt her leg. Ren, can you get Sherry to bring Chelia over? This lady needs some healing."

"Oh, of course. Be right back." The man left for the stairs, confirming the suspicion that his fiancée had indeed spent the night.

Eve also backed down willingly, but Hibiki pouted and remained where he was. "Are you sure you don't need any assistance...?"

"I'm sure she doesn't need your help to change her clothes, Hibiki," the woman said with a pointed look at him. "Let Sherry and Chelia know that she'll be in my room."

Hibiki sighed, and reluctantly stood out of the woman's way. "Sure thing, Jenny."

Wait, Jenny?

The name through Lucy for a loop, and her gaze returned firmly to the model's face. No wonder she had looked familiar to Lucy. Makeup made a scary amount of difference sometimes. Not that Jenny wasn't already gorgeous without it, though.

Lucy gave Hibiki a short wave as Jenny passed him by.

"Visit with us a bit before you leave!" Hibiki urged. "It'll be good to catch up!"

"I'll try."

"You and Hibiki know each other?" Jenny questioned, curious. "Were you a thing in the past?"

Lucy coughed and spluttered at the mere thought of it. "No!" she said, emphatically waving her hand. "I was just a part of the Oracion Seis suppression team from Fairy Tail is all, so I met the Trimens there. We didn't even talk all that much. He's just... uh..." Lucy let out another cough, though this one was born from embarrassment. "They're all just super... friendly."

"Super flirty, you mean. Sorry, it comes with being a member of this guild." Jenny paused in front of a door. "Can you open this for me?"

Reaching out, Lucy turned the door knob, gaining them entrance into the room. "You don't lock your room?"

"The boys know better than to touch my stuff without permission... and so do the women."

Lucy repressed a shudder. It had been brief, but she had seen Jenny's battle form during the Grad Magic Games. And now that she had been carried by said woman for more than a block... yeah, Jenny was not someone to mess with if you weren't as powerful as Mirajane.

Speaking of which... Jenny was nothing like how she'd come across during the tournament - either as a guest or a participant. Was it like the Trimens? A stage persona expected of a member of Blue Pegasus?

Jenny set her down on her bed. "Let me get you something to change into..." She trailed off as she headed for the room's closet. She briefly thumbed through its contents before her face lit up. "Ah ha," she declared as she found what she was looking for. "Luckily for you, I always pack a couple extra sets of clothes, just in case." Turning back, Jenny walked over and handed them to Lucy. "I hope you don't mind that they're my maintenance clothes."

"No, no!" Lucy vehemently protested. "I don't mind at all! I'm just super grateful you're lending me anything at all! Thank you, you've been so nice to me! Honestly, I'm not sure how I can pay you back."

A smirk crawled its way onto Jenny's face. "No, not at all. Just knowing that I've been of help to one of Mirajane's guild mates is enough of a reward for me." Malice dripped off the name of her former opponent.

...Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely a stage persona. Was this part of some elaborate plot to get back at Mirajane for the bet? Was Lucy in danger?

"I'll be right back with an ice pack and some water," Jenny announced, heading for the door. "Be right back."

Lucy choked on her own spit as she caught a glimpse of the humongous wet spot across the back of Jenny's tight shorts as the woman departed.

...No, she was definitely not in danger, she decided. Not from a woman that had willingly sat in cold water for her and had even lent Lucy her own clothes to wear. Lucy's clothes had probably gotten Jenny fairly dirty as well.

Lucy held the soft, off-white and well-worn shirt up to her nose. It smelled of laundry detergent, with a faint trace of oil from the black stains that marred. The old jeans were much the same, with splashes of paint across the thighs and calves of the fabric.

Surprising, just like their owner was proving to be.

Maybe Lucy would take up Hibiki's offer to hang around for a bit after she was healed up, and find out much more about the real Jenny Realight.

[talpup]

Summary: Yami Sukehiro just wanted to join the Magic Knights and make his mentor proud.  He knew there would be trails.  He knew trouble would come his way.  Knew he would be faced with discrimination for being a foreigner and a peasant.  What he didn’t know.  Didn’t expect.  Was that literal Chaos would come his way.  That he and his mentor’s sister would be at the center of world ending trouble.  Or that he would fall in love with his mentor’s sister and face more than discrimination; but the jealously of Nozel Silva who loved the same woman he did.

Please remember this fic is rated mature and has warnings of violence, abuse, sexual tension, eventual sexual behavior, and other possible triggers.  For a full list of story tags please check the fics AO3 (link to that at the top of my tumblrs homepage).

Chapter 80

“Do you have any idea how utterly stupid your actions were?  Did you even think?  Did you stop to consider anyone other than your own selfish insatiable curiosity?”

Teris stared at her enraged Captain.  She waited a beat, unsure if these were questions he wanted answered or just part of his tirade.

“You disobeyed a direct order from your Commanding officer in the mist of a dangerous mission.”  Jax went on.  “You endangered yourselves, each other, and your comrades.”

Jax didn’t need to tell her that.  Teris knew she massively screwed up. She had put the team in danger.  She put Yami in danger.  Teris felt Yami standing beside her.  She couldn’t have been more thankful he was okay.

Though her mana’s response had been slow to act in the labyrinth.  Once outside, Teris’ own system had seen her well on the way to healing before she and Yami were taken to Healers Hall.  Yami had woken up less than an hour after their exit from the geyser labyrinth.  He had no memory, and thankfully no ill effects from what happened.  It was all too similar to what happened to Teris when the force inside her took control.  Except in this case it was the supposed Darkness within Yami.  After seeing it for the first time, Teris was glad she didn’t remember going through it herself.  Though a part of her feel watching Yami go through it was far worse than anything she could've remembered from her own experience.

“Are you even listening to me!”  Jax barked.

Teris’ eyes focused on her Captain.

“Soon you will be going to Magic Investigations to give your report and answer all of their questions.”  Jax went on.  “You will come straight back after.  And here you will stay until after the Winter Solstice.  Do you understand me?  I don’t care if there’s an entire squad of Magic Knights willing to escort you somewhere.  I don’t give a damn if there’s another damned war or the Clover Kingdom itself is being attacked and set ablaze.  You will not leave this property until I say.”  Jax’s eyes pinned on Yami searching for any sign of argument then narrowed on Teris.  “I swear, Teris. If I so much as think of opening your grimoire to that blasted page of Chaos or looking through those pages Nozel gave you I’ll burn those mana forsaken papers and lock you up in a cell so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

Greywright cleared his throat.  This was becoming uncomfortable even for him. And the Magic Knights Commander had both seen and given his fair share of dressing downs over the years.  Even though Yami had played a part and stood beside Teris, Jax mainly addressed his scathing remarks to Teris.  Greywright wondered how much longer the two could take it.  Though they both remained at attention.  Teris seemed to sink further and further with every word.  While Yami’s muscles tensed and trembled, hands balling into fists.

Greywright glanced at the line of Magic Knights who had been part of the missions team and silently stood behind Jax.  Even Neyres who had smirked with smugness and Jack who had been amused, were looking away in discomfort.

“Acting Vice Captain Fuegoleon and Randall found the vault.”  Jax told Yami and Teris.

Teris’ eyes flicked to her cousin.  She owed him an apology.  She owed the entire team an apology.  If Jax was looking to make her feel worse by having her fellows there to view her shame, it wasn’t working.  The Black Bulls.  The entire Magic Knights order.  Heck the entire kingdom could be present for this and she still wouldn’t have felt any worse than she already did.  After what had happened with Yami. There was no way she could feel any worse for endangering him.  It was humanly impossible.

“Of course they weren’t able to carry much between the two of them. Taking what they thought most valuable to the kingdom.  They certainly could have used your help.  Not only to get more out but to fight.  Both men were injured by a beast.”  Jax said.

Teris glanced at her cousin again.  Catching Fuegoleon’s gaze her eyes darted back to the floor.

“Minor injuries.”  Greywright said.  “Randall’s scratches and bruising were barely worth the healers time.”  He didn’t know about anyone else, but he had reached his limit.  If Jax wanted to tear into Teris some more the Black Bulls Captain would have to do it without an audience when she returned from Magic Investigations.

The Greywright confirmed what Yami had already surmised.  The two Crimson Lions wouldn’t be standing here this morning if they had been terribly injured.  Greywright’s Ki told Yami the Magic Knights Commander had had enough.  Yami was relieved by that.  He wasn’t sure how much longer he could have stood silently by while Jax focused all of the fault and anger on Teris.  Yami had played his part.  He hadn’t so much as tried to reason Teris out of it.  Sure, he had mentioned the lack of map and time stone.  But those had barely been half heartened attempts to dissuade her.  Yami could have stopped her if he wanted.  Even if it had meant knocking Teris out from behind and dealing with her anger later.  He could have stopped her.  But he hadn’t even tried.

Yami wanted to pull Jax’s wrath away from Teris and claim his hand in it all.  He didn’t need to sense Teris’ Ki to know she couldn’t feel any worse than she already did.  He would have to talk to Teris later.  Tell her none of this was her fault.  If she refused to believe him, Yami would play her game of guilt and simply think of a fun way for her to make it up to him.  A smile began to tug at his lips at the notion.  But he managed to stop it.

“You two.”  Greywright looked at Yami and Teris.  “Apologize to your fellows.”

Not even close to done, Jax turned to the Knights Commander.

Greywright met the Captain's gaze.  “Let them apologize so we can all go about our day.  You want to continue this later, be my guest.  But I’m taking them to Magic Investigations now.”

“Fine.” Jax snapped, clearly displeased.  He looked at Teris.  “Well? Apologize to your fellows and teams Commanding officer.”

“I’m… sorry.”  Taken off guard, Teris’ words sounded more like an uncertain question than anything else.

Greywright gave her an exasperated look that all but pleaded her to work with him.  A portal opened in the Black Bulls great room.  It was different from Bronn’s.  Yami sudden growth of tension eased. Bronn’s appearance would’ve made this a thousand times worse.

Ellara appeared with Cob following.  The Spatial Mages bright smiling face markedly out of place among so many somber expressions and frowns.

“What’s taking so long?  I have Investigation Mages sitting around waiting to interview those two.”  Ellara gestured to Yami and Teris.

Greywright looked at Jax.  Lucky for them Jax’s lingering anger and worry over what happened covered his concern about Ellara getting her hands on Yami and Teris.  As much as Greywright hated to admit it, he found Ellara’s interest in what happened suspicious.  The near crazed look in the Advisors eyes when she asked him question after question yesterday had stayed hauntingly with him.

Greywright was glad he had gotten to Sir Jorah before Ellara had a chance to speak with the Wizard King.  Ellara hadn’t been pleased about the written order from Sir Jorah saying that Yami and Teris were not to undergo any form of memory or communication magic during their debriefing with Magic Investigations.  Greywright wouldn’t go so far as to personally admit he suspected Ellara of using her magic to effect Sir Jorah.  But the Knights Commander knew how persuasive the Wizard Kings Advisor could be.

“Then let’s go.”  Greywright said, waving Yami and Teris along.

“Cob.” Ellara ordered.

Cob opened the way to Magic Investigations.

“Right back.”  Jax called after Yami and Teris.

Yami gave the Captain a wave.  Honestly, Yami didn’t see Teris wanting to go anywhere other then home after the interview anyway.

Appearing outside of Magic Investigations, Ellara dismissed.  “Thank you, Cob.  This way.”  She said to Yami and Teris who looked at each other and followed.

The last time they had been in Magic Investigations had been after the labyrinth where they had received the History of Chaos.  The events instigated by Julius and Bronn from back then didn’t exactly make them feel comfortable to be back in the building.

Hearing more than two sets of footsteps following, Ellara turned.  “You need not be present for this, Commander.”

“They’re my Magic Knights.”  Greywright said.

“I’m sure they’ll behave themselves.”  Ellara said.

“You think you and your information loving paper sniffers are the only ones interested in what happened yesterday?  I’m coming.” Greywright said.

Ellara sighed and turned back around.  “Fine.  But I don’t want to suffer your complaints about how back logged you are.”

“I suffer your complaints often enough.”  Greywright toyed.

“And will continue to do so.  Especially when it comes to this hobbling order you talked Sir Jorah into giving.”  Ellara opened a door for them.

Greywright eyed her as he passed.  “The Wizard King hardly needed convincing. After what Yami and Teris went through yesterday.  Both of them and their mana are on edge.  Any spell that would access their memories would only further disturb them and agitate their mana.  The less that happens the better.  Especially with the Winter Solstice so near.”

“A sound argument.  But debriefing them would have been so much easier and quicker if Marx had been able to use his memory absolute spell to show us what they experienced.”  Ellara said, not admitting that she would have been the one using her magic to look into their minds.

Greywright glanced back at the two Black Bulls who silently followed him and Ellara.  “I’m sure Yami and Teris can paint you and your Mages as vivid a picture as you want.  After all, they have nothing better to do for the rest of the month.”

80.2

Marx entered Julius’ office at the darkened Azure Deers base.  The Communication Mages body might’ve been tired from the long day and even longer night, but his mind was wide awake and racing.

Head thrown back against the upholstered chair Jax’s eyes opened at Marx’s entry.  “I understand the need for us to be careful.  But, meeting at three in the morning?  Seriously?  Isn’t this a bit much.”

“Absolutely not.  The Advisor only left her office an hour and a half ago.  She was met by one your Black Bulls by the way.”  Marx told Jax.

“Olsen? The man has it bad.”  Jax sighed and shook his head.

“As long as that’s all it is.”  Marx said.

Jax waved the Investigations Mage off.  “If Ellara was going to use someone from my squad as a spy, she wouldn’t have picked Olsen. Olsen’s obsessed with romance.  The only intrigue that would catch his attention is a secret love affair.  Trust me.  I know my people.”

“Just as I know mine.”  Greywright said, entering the office.

Jax and Julius bolted up from their seats.  Marx spun around, taking a step back in surprise.

Julius’ eyes snapped to his Vice Captain who stood behind Greywright’s shoulder.

“Don’t be so hard on Jon, Julius.  What could the man do when I entered and ordered him silent?  You may continue your watch, Vice Captain.” Greywright told Jon.  “If anyone else shows up...  Well, I’m sure your Captain told you what to do.”

Head ducked, Jon disappeared.  Closing the door behind him.

The Knights Commander stepped further into the officer.  “What’s with the face Marx?  You weren’t followed.  At least by me.  I’ve had one of my magic army men watching this place and the Black Bulls base since the sun set.  Was just about to give up.  Thinking maybe I didn’t know you my people as well as thought, when you arrive.” He looked to Jax.

Julius muttered under his breath.  He really needed to figure out how to break the spell that blocked Bronn’s magic from entering the Azure Deers base.  Though fairly certain his old Captain wasn’t still sour and mad about the prank wars, the thought of asking the retired woman made Julius feel like a chagrined child.

“I figured that wasn’t everyone.  You had to have someone in Investigations feeding you information.  I figured it was Marx.” Greywright turned to the Communication Mage.  “You carried yourself quite well during Yami and Teris’ interview this afternoon.  I doubt Ellara suspects a thing.  Well, anymore than she suspects any and everyone.  She’s always been a watchful, suspicious sort.  Her position, like mine, all but requires us to be to some extent.”  He sat.  “Shall we?”

“Sir.” Julius tendered.

“Ah.” Greywright held up a finger.  “Don’t try to explain this as anything other than what it is.  You’ll be forced to lie and I’ll be offended.  You don’t want to offend me, Captain.  Not today.” He watched the three men look among each other with uncomfortable uncertainty.  “Fine.  I’ll go first.  Ellara’s interest in what happened with Yami and Teris yesterday unnerved me.”  The look in her eyes flashed through Greywright’s mind causing the hair on his arms to raise.  “Luckily I got to Sir Jorah first and convinced him that any memory or communication spell would be unsettling and potentially dangerous for Yami and Teris.  Sir Jorah didn’t even finish hearing me out.  He agreed and immediately wrote up the order that a verbal interview was all that would be allowed.  Ellara mentioned how it would’ve been easier and quicker to let you, Marx, have at them.  But let’s face it, we all know Ellara.  She’s far too proud and controlling.  She would’ve used her magic and done the spell herself.”

Jax slowly sunk back into the seat.  “So you believe us?”

“I don’t know what I believe concerning Advisor Ellara.  But I know the two of you, and the rest of my Captain's, better than I ever knew my own siblings.  I know you and Julius wouldn’t be meeting here like this unless you truly believed something was amiss.  It’s my job to keep my Knights and this kingdom safe.  I would be foolish and remiss in my duty not to take your concerns seriously.”  Greywright tilted his head.  “You don’t take me for a careless fool, do you Jax?”

“I take you for a great many things, Sir.  But a careless fool has never been one of them.”  Jax answered.

Julius sat down, shoulders easing.

Still anxious and unnerved despite not being in trouble, Marx moved to the decanters of alcohol on the bureau beside the sitting area.  “I need a drink.”

“Get me one too.  Whiskey.  Two fingers.”  Greywright told.  He smirked at Julius.  “I know you can’t stand the stuff but unlike Jax, you’re a good host.  Given how often he comes by you’re bound to have some.”

Marx served himself a fingers worth of bourbon.  Downed it.  And, refilled his glass.  He handed the glass of whiskey to the Magic Knight’s Commander and sat down, setting the copied files he had brought on the low coffee table.

“That’s the transcript of Yami and Teris’ interview along with everything I found on to geyser labyrinth and this… person Teris spoke with.” Marx said, not sure person was the proper term for a long dead form that had reanimated for a short time.

Julius took up the interview notes while Jax grabbed the file on who the corpse Teris talk to was.  Marx tried to avoid the Magic Knights Commander’s gaze.  Attempting to settle his nerves he told himself Commander Greywright wouldn’t have calmly sat down if he was going to discipline and write them up for this secret meeting.

Having been at Yami and Teris’ interview and seen everything on the first team of Magic Knights ever to enter the geyser labyrinth, Greywright studied Marx while the two Captain's read.  “You said copies. Would that be you making them?”

Marx swallowed thickly.  It wasn’t against the rules to make copies of interviews, reports, and other official documents.  But his not having gone through the proper channels and logged his making of the copies was.

“It’s alright, Marx.”  Julius soothed as he read.  “The Commander knows our suspicious and need for care.  You can tell him without fear.”

Marx, never one for breaking the rules, gave Julius a scalding look.  He eyed the Magic Knights Commander warily.  Julius wasn’t the only one with lofty goals.  Marx had wanted to be Wizard Kings Advisor ever since his younger self learned of the position.  But he wouldn’t become Wizard Kings Advisor if dismissed from Magic Investigations for making illegal copies; never mind his support and secret meetings with fellow believers who suspected the current Advisor of subversion.  Commander Greywright might not be his direct superior. But the man was Advisor Ellara’s counterpart.  Given the magnitude of his ever accumulating infractions, the Knights Commander could end his career just as quickly and easily as Advisor Ellara.

At Commander Greywright’s arched brow Marx tentatively nodded.

Greywright took a sip of his drink.  “So how’d you get them? ��The copies that is.”

“I didn’t make the copies while in Investigations.  Like Magic Knights Headquarters, any magic used while inside Investigations is recognized and logged.  In order to use a copy spell within the building one would have to send in a form of what was copied and why.”  Marx said.  He knew the Knights Commander was already aware of this but was hoping that would suffice.

Greywright shook his head.  “You Investigations Mages and your love of notating and filing every single thing.  So how’d you get these without it being logged then?”

Marx glanced at Julius still uncertain with making such a confession. Then again the Magic Knights Commander already knew the worst of his transgressions.  Meeting here in secret to discuss their concern about Advisor Ellara being connected to the Agents of Chaos and using her magic to effect Sir Jorah…  What he was doing might not be treason, but it felt that way to Marx.  Then again he revered the position of Wizard Kings Advisor second only to that of Wizard King.

Clearing his throat, Marx told.  “I created the copies in my home.”  At the Commanders questioning expression he went on.  “My magic allows me perfect recall of everything.”

“You forget nothing?”  Greywright questioned.

“That’s correct.”  Marx nodded.

The Commander blinked.  As useful as that could be, it was probably also annoying as hell.

“So what?  You bring these pages to mind with your perfect memory and use some sort of spell to transfer it to paper?”  Greywright asked.

“In the most rudimentary sense.  Yes.”  Marx said.

“It says here the corpse Teris saw was a member of the first team of Magic Knights ever sent into the geyser labyrinth.”  Jax said.

Julius looked up.  “So they wouldn’t have known about the time limit. They were stuck down there?”

Jax nodded, summarizing as he read.  “It took three other missions upon the labyrinth’s opening before they found all the others from the first team.  The Magic Knights wrapping up the remains and bringing them out for a proper burial.  But the one Teris spoke to had never been found.”

“And she was a light magic user?”  Julius asked, wanting to be sure.

“The last one in the Clover Kingdom till Teris.”  Jax looked at the report to get the number right.  “Three hundred and seventy-seven years ago.  Says here she was Captain of the Azure Deers.”  He looked at Julius.  “Only six years your senior at thirty seven when she led the mission.  Maybe your library has more on her?”

Julius frowned, doubtfully.  “The Deers base has moved twice since then. Most of the Captain's logs from that far back would be housed somewhere in Magic Investigations.  That’s if they weren’t lost or destroyed.  Still, it’s worth a look.  What was her name?”

“Shadow Banashe.”  Jax answered.

“Really?” Julius raised a brow at the name.  Given Teris and Yami’s magic. And the fact that the long dead woman had called herself a Harbinger. It was--

“An interesting coincidence.”  Marx said.

Jax tossed the file down.  “Sure.  It’s all one big coincidence. Just like how it’s been three hundred and seventy-seven years since the Clover Kingdom had another light magic user.  Or this Shadow Banashe was thirty-seven when she led the mission and died down there.  I’m sure none of that has any connection to Yami being the seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son.  Look.  I’m not one to believe in signs and portents.  But when they keep slapping me in the face, it gets pretty hard to ignore.”

Marx looked skeptically at the Black Bulls Captain.  “What are you saying?  That this is some sort of fate or destiny?  That Captain Shadow was meant to be sent on that mission?  Supposed to be trapped and die down there?  That Teris was meant to find Captain Shadow’s body all these years later just so she could be locked behind a stone wall so Yami could access the dark force within him?”

Sitting back, Jax crossed his arms.  “Alright smart guy.  Why did Teris sense something when no one else did?”

“Captain Shadow had been a light magic user.  As a light magic user herself, Teris likely sensed the residual mana within the late Captain’s remains.”  Marx reasoned.

“A team had already mapped that way.  So why had no one found the late Captain's remains before Teris?”  Jax asked.

“Her remains were behind a stone wall.”  Marx answered.

“And how did Captain Shadow or her remains get there?  Yami and Teris’ description of the rock wall was exactly that.  That it was a wall. Not some cave-in that had trapped Captain Shadow in there.”  Jax said.

Julius set down the report of the interview.  “Teris and Yami both said that Teris had touched the wall.  Is it possible that something recognized her magic and that’s why the wall allowed her through?”

“Something? Or the dead Captain Shadow?”  Marx questioned trying to get Julius to hear just how absurd the query sounded.

Undeterred, Julius told.  “Magic is capable of some pretty fantastical fetes. Dark forbidden magic even more so.  All be it at a much greater and often deadly cost.  Rare as they are.  There has even been record of Fate Mages.”

Marx could scarcely believe Julius had taken up the Black Bulls Captain line of thought.  If the situation weren’t so serious, he would have thought this some poor attempt at a jest.  He half expected Commander Greywright to laugh at the two.  Instead, the Magic Knights Commander looked at him to respond.

Seeking to be the voice of reason in this lunacy, Marx cleared his throat and told Julius.  “Yes.  But what you and Captain Jax are suggesting is something so far beyond all that.  Yami and Teris may be especial powerful and have rare magic.  But in the end.  Yami is just a young man with dark magic.  And Teris is simply a young lady with light magic.  The Agents of Chaos and others might attempt to make them out as more than that to suit their beliefs and aims.  But, that is why we call them crazy zealots.”

80.3

Yami entered the common study.  Scratching the back of his head, he squinted at the brightness of the candlelight.  “Teris.  What are you doing?”

Seated at a long table, Teris stopped writing.  Looking up, she froze.  The sight of Yami always made her heart flutter.  But this was different. He had clearly just woken up.  His hair more tousled than usual.  He was shirtless and barefoot.  His black pants hung low on his hips without a belt to help hold them up.

“I—uh…” Teris floundered, taking him in.

Still half asleep, Yami didn’t catch the way she looked him over. “Teris?”

Teris shook sense back into her head.  “Go back to bed.”

“Why are you whispering?  Everyone’s asleep and Jax isn’t here.” Yami said, voice at its regular volume.  He stared at her, eyes adjusting to the light.  “But you knew that already.  Didn’t you?”

Teris fidgeted with the quill, unable to meet his gaze.

At least she had the sense to look guilty, Yami thought.  “You’re not messing with anything Jax told you not to, are you?”

“No.” Teris said.

Yami gave her a look.

“No.” She said, again.

“Good. Cause I’d miss you if Jax locked you away in a cell.”

“You mean you wouldn’t come visit?”  Teris played.

“Nope.” Yami stepped to her.  The winter cooled floor, that made everyone else chill, warm under his bare feet.

Teris remembered something and turned, jotting down a few words.

Yami leaned over her seated frame.  His hands rested on the table to either side of her, caging her in.  Head beside hers, Yami looked over Teris’ shoulder and read.  “Captain Shadow.  Azure Deer. Thirty-seven--”

Teris flipped the paper over.

Yami looked at her.  “If I didn’t know Julius was Captain of the Azure Deer I might be jealous of this Captain Shadow.  What with finding you at the dead of night in your robe writing his name and hiding it from me.”

Teris put the quill down.  “It’s nothing.”

“Then why hide it?  What is all that?  Who’s Captain Shadow?”  Yami asked, eyes searching her profile.

Teris tried to lean away, Yami’s face distractingly close.  But his arm stopped her.

“Teris?”

“She was the one I talked to in the labyrinth.”  Teris answered.

“The dried up corpse that reanimated?”  Yami asked, wishing she would look at him.

Teris nodded and turned the paper over so Yami could read it.  “I caught a glimpse of her service record while we were at Magic Investigations.”

“So you’re trying to remember what you saw and write it down.”  He shook his head and huffed.  “You just can’t help yourself.  Can you?”

Teris turned to him.  “She used me.”

“She’s been long dead.”  Yami told.

“That doesn’t change the fact that whatever part of her remained. Whatever it was that called and spoke to me, used me.  It used me to get to you.”

Yami’s expression softened.  “I’m fine, love.”

Teris lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.  Her fingers traced the line of his jaw and down his neck and arm.  “You don’t remember what happened.  Didn’t see what I saw.”

“Scared you did it?”

“It scared me for you.”  Teris told.  Her hand clutched his arm.  The fear that she could have lost him to the force inside him making her throat raw with emotion.

Yami studied her beloved face.  “I know the feeling.”

When the fear didn’t leave her eyes, Yami straightened and pulled out the chair Teris sat in.  Teris squeaked, feet lifting off the floor as Yami turned the chair around so she could face him.  He squatted in front of her, legs butterflying to either side of hers.

“Scary as it may have been.  I came back to you didn’t I?  I came back to you the same way you came back to me.”  Looking up at her, Yami swore.  “I’ll always come back to you Ikigai.”

“What does that even mean!”  She asked of the endearment.

Yami chuckled at her whine.  Avoiding the question, he asked one of his own.  “You think there’s a single thing in this world or any other that could keep me from you?  I thought you were smarter than that, Princess.”

“Yami.”

“Don’t shake your head and try to argue that there’s greater powers out there.  I’ll surpass my limits if it means staying by your side. You can’t begin to fathom what you mean to me.”

“If it’s even half of what you mean to me, I’m sure--”  Teris jumped at the tickling feeling of his rough hand gliding up the top of her bare foot.  She tensed further when his hand continued around her ankle and slowly traced up the back of her calf. “Wha—what are you doing?”

Yami’s eyes lifted from her curled toes.  “What’s it look like?”

Teris trembled, legs pressed tightly together.  Yami’s hand grazed passed the back of her knee and gripped her thigh.  Teris jerked on instinct.  Yami caught her foot before it connected between his legs.

“Careful where you kick.  You’ll want that later.”  He smirked at Teris’ wide eyes.  “I mean later, later.  Not later tonight.  Unless...”

“No!” Teris said, hoarsely.  “You said you wanted to wait too.”

“I do.  I’m just giving you a hard time.  You make it so easy sometimes.  It’s like you’re asking for it.”

“Trust me.  I’m not asking for anything.”  Teris blushed.

“I remember you asking me to kiss you some more earlier tonight.” Yami teased, wondering what she wore under her robe.

Teris’ color deepened.  “That’s different.  We weren’t alone then.”

“Yes we were.”

“We weren’t alone, alone.  The others were awake and about.  And we weren’t in our sleep clothes.”

“I’m dressed.”  Yami said.

“You’re wearing pants.  That hardly qualifies as dressed.”

“Would you feel better if I was in my sleep clothes too?”  Yami questioned, deadpan.  He made for his pants fastenings.  “I could take them off if that’d make you more comfortable.”

“Yami! It—I—no!”

Yami chuckled.  He pushed to his feet and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up with him.  “You need to relax.  Turn around.  I’ll give you a massage.  Help you loosen up.”

Teris stared into his mirth filled eyes.  She wasn’t annoyed by his teasing.  She was annoyed that his teasing flustered her.  If she played back...  No, they had been through that twice before.  One of them had to keep a clear head and handle on things.

Her eyes betrayed her, lowering to take in Yami’s bare chest.  Teris reached out, fingers tracing the lines of his well defined abs.  Yami watched her take him in.  He reveled in her soft touch, wanting her to explore and feel more of him.  Her fingers stopped at the waist of his pants.  Her eyes slowly caught up to the halted path of her trailing fingers.

Teris licked her lips and swallowed.  The tips of her fingers grazed along the waist of his pants.  Yami sucked in a breath and caught her hand. His other hand lifted her chin.  The lust filled glaze in Teris’ eyes almost his undoing.

Yami cleared his throat.  “You do want to wait.  Don’t you?”

Eyes still hazy, Teris nodded.

Yami was both relieved and disappointed.  He meant what he said when he told Teris he wanted to wait too.  But in moments like these.  When faced by the tempting sight of her.  The desire and reasons for waiting alluded him.

Yami grabbed Teris’ hips and spun her around.  The quick movement left her dizzy.

Yami steadied her.  His chest pressed into her back, strong arms coiling around her waist. “I got you. I’ll always have you.”

Teris shivered.  It wasn’t just the husky words that delighted. It was the way Yami’s hands slid along the silk fabric of her robe and pressed flat against her abdomen, pulling her closer to him.

Yami kissed along Teris’ shoulder to her jaw.  A humming growl of hunger rumbled deep in his chest.  It set Teris’ hips to dancing.  Her thighs squeezed together, a thrumming need igniting. Her head fell back against his shoulder.

Yami kissed the apple of her cheek.  He watched her fluttering lashes.  “You need to stop working on this.”

Teris tensed, coming back to herself.  Her head lifted. She tried to turn and face him.  But Yami’s arms tightened, holding her firm.  He nuzzled against her, watching the rise and fall of her chest.

“Just for tonight.”  Yami murmured, lips brushing her neck as he spoke.  He kissed her pulse point and nipped at her earlobe. “If Jax returned and found you at this…  There's no telling what he’d do.  And I really would miss you if he locked you in a cell.”

Yami’s fingers curled under Teris’ chin and turned her head to face him.  His nose brushed hers.  He gave her a chaste kiss.  Then his mouth latched on to hers. Teris kissed him back.  Her hands crawled up his arms and snaked around his neck.  She tugged at Yami’s hair, back arching against his chest.

“Yami.” Teris breathed, coming up for air only to dive back in.  She stretched up and back to him, pulling him down to her.

Yami gripped her swaying hips.  His hands pressed one way and then the other, making her dance to his rhythm.  Teris moaned into his mouth. The sound and vibration shot through Yami like lightening. He broke the kiss, struggling to tamp down his growing excitement. Teris leaned back against him.  She tugged at his neck and shoulder, lifting her face, seeking another kiss.

It was her eyes, pupils blown full of desire, that broke him.  Against his better judgment Yami’s lips and tongue met hers once again.  His hand traced up between her breasts to cup her face.  Teris’ short trimmed nails clawed down his arms.

Yami pulled away again, straightening to his full height.  “We need to stop.”

Though disappointed and tempted to push for more, Teris didn’t.  Her arms lowered from around his neck, falling to her side.  She moved to step away, but Yami held her fast.

“You’re giving me mixed messages here.”  Teris laughed, lightly.

Arms wrapped around her waist, Yami rested his chin on her shoulder.  “There’s something I need.”

Teris’ head tilted to get a better look at him.  “Something you need?”

Yami nodded, eyes never leaving the tie that dangled from her waist.  Deep voice serious, he told.  “It’s imperative.”

“It’s imperative now?” Teris laughed.

Yami reached for one of the ends to the belt that held her robe closed and slowly started to pull.

Teris grabbed his arm.  “Yami!”

Yami halted.  “I just want to see.”  He said, as if it were the most innocence thing in the world.

“It’s just my sleep clothes.” Teris said, knowing it was far more than that.

Yami’s eyes fixed on her.  “I just want to see what you sleep in.”

“They’re just night clothes.  It’s not that big a deal.”  Teris told.

“If it’s not that big a deal, what’s it matter if I see?  I’ll show you what I sleep in.”  Yami offered.

Teris pressed her lips together, tempted.  She had often wondered what Yami wore to bed.  Usually while laying awake in her own bed.  But his earlier comments had all but confirmed the answer was his underwear. She blushed, imagining him in nothing but that.  Her legs once again squeezing together at the mental picture.

“We need to stop.”  Teris said, feeling overheated.

“We have stopped.  I just want to see.”  Yami said.

“That’s all?  Nothing more?”  Teris asked.

“That’s it.”  Yami answered. When Teris still seemed hesitant, he said.  “All I want is to see you in your night clothes.  It’s not like I’m asking to see you without them.”

“Yami!”

“Please.” Yami looked over her shoulder and slowly began to tug the belt end he held.  He half expected Teris to stop him again; and told himself that if she did he wouldn’t press further.  He didn’t want her to feel pressured into anything she wasn’t willing or ready for.

Teris released Yami’s forearm.  As intimate as it was.  It wasn’t like she was wearing anything suggestive or see through.

Yami’s movements didn’t speed when Teris let him continue.  He wanted to savor this.

Teris laughed when it turned out Yami had pulled the wrong end of the belt, knotting it instead of undoing it.

Yami growled in frustration.  His other hand moved to tug at the tie. Teris laughed further, watching Yami fumble and struggle to undo the knot.

“You’re making it worse.”  Teris firmly gripped his hands and pulled them apart.  She stepped away from him.

Thinking that he had messed up his chance, Yami had a moments disappointment. But the feeling didn’t last long when he saw her turn around.

“Allow me.”  Teris smiled, still amused by his irritated clumsiness.

Yami watched her slowly but expertly pick out the knot he had made and pull the belt open letting the ends fall.  Her hand reached up to the side of her right breast and pulled free another tie that he hadn’t known was there.

Teris felt a sudden wave of nervousness.  Her shy gaze met Yami’s and all her uncertainty fell away. His eyes held so much more than physical desire. Love and adoration burned in his gaze.  There was an absolute trust and a sort of reverence shining in his eyes that made her feel unworthy. She didn’t deserve such a man and his devotion.  Especially after what happened at the labyrinth.  Teris pushed the guilt away and bolstered herself, silently swearing that she would to do everything in her power to be worthy of Yami and his care.

Yami stared into the dark pools of Teris’ eyes.  He could get lost in her gaze for eternity and be a happy man.  He hadn’t really expected her to agree to this, let alone pull the strings herself.  But watching her do so was so much better.  The sight made things so much harder, in more ways than one.

Yami swallowed, throat bobbing as Teris slowly opened the robe. It was a simple thin strapped, silk, midnight blue camisole with a matching set of shorts.  Yami’s eyes followed the camisoles deep ‘v’ that dived between her breasts.  He saw the hard twin peaks of her nipples that raised the soft, thin, clingy fabric.  With effort he pulled his gaze further down, wanting to take in every inch of her.  The shorts sat low on her hips. And the camisoles hemline only reached Teris’ waistline.  Leaving a couple inches of smooth, pale skin visible in between.

Yami groaned lowly at the sight.  A small damp spot blossomed in his underwear at his growing excitement.  His eyes lowered still, taking in her toned thighs.  He noted a light birthmark high up on the front of her left thigh.  Yami could easily see that being a favored place of his to kiss once they were wed.  He saw that short as the bottoms were, they rose even higher at the sides.  Tilting his head slightly he saw why. The shorts were a butterfly style.  The front and back of the fabric didn’t close together in a seam but rather overlapped slightly to cover her hips.  If only a widow was open or they were outside on a breezy night.

Voice caught between terse and hopeful, Teris asked.  “Happy?”

“Completely.”

It was an effort not to protest when Teris lifted the robe back on and wrapped it closed.

“You should go to bed.”  Yami told her.

Teris tied the belt around her waist.  “You too.”

“Oh, I will be.”  Yami smirked.

Teris blushed at his salacious tone. They both turned at the sound of the front door opening and closing.

“Jax is back.  You need to head up, quiet as you can.”  Yami whispered.

Teris agreed, especially after the scolding they got from the Captain this afternoon.  Even if she hadn’t fully learned her lesson as was secretly looking into stuff, Jax wouldn't be happy finding her and Yami like this alone so late.  She turned to the table but Yami blocked in her path.

“Naha.” Yami sounded softly but firmly, shaking his head.  “I’ll grab those.  You go.”

Teris looked from him to the papers, hesitating.

“Now!” Yami whispered.

Teris turned and made her way out, the padding of her bare feet barely audible.  Yami huffed at her insatiable curiosity and stubbornness.  He heard Jax's tread on the stairs and turned to the papers. Quickly shuffling them together, Yami rolled and stuffed them in his pants pocket.  He kept his hand in there to reason away the bulge should Jax look well enough to see.  As for the bulge that still remained at the center front of his pants.  Well, Yami just had to wait that one out.

“Yami?”

Yami turned.  “Jax.  Kind of late to be just getting in.”

The Captain ignored the comment.  Yami wasn’t his Vice Captain yet.  He owed the man no answers as to his whereabouts.

“What are you doing up and in here?”  Jax scanned the room.  He had seen the faint candlelight light shining through the window on his way up the path to the house and had been sure he would find Teris in here.

“Bad dream.  Was heading down for a snack when I saw light coming from in here.”  Yami said, all of which was true.

A flash of concern crossed Jax’s face.  “Not the page of Chaos was it?”

“Don’t think so.  Teris said she woke up feeling disoriented any time that thing messed with her.  That hasn’t happened.”  Yami said.

Jax crossed his arms finding it strange.  Though they hadn’t known it at the time, the closer the Summer Solstice got the more the page of Chaos had communicated with Teris.  With the Winter Solstice a mere week away Jax would have figured Yami would be going through something similar.  Not that he wanted it to be so.  But still, it made him wonder.

“Maybe it effects you differently.”  Jax theorized aloud.

Yami shrugged.  “Couldn’t say.”

“I’ll see if Marx can come by.”

“Why? Mushroom Head wasn’t able to see anything last time he tried. What makes you think now would be any different?”  Yami asked.

“I don’t.  But at least we’d know if it was happening and you just haven’t been picking up on it.”  Jax said.

“What’s it matter?  Knowing if it’s happening or not.  It’s not like it would make a difference.”  Yami said.

“Just-- It’ll make me feel better.”  Or possibly worse, Jax thought.  He sighed.  “I’ll talk to Julius.  See what he thinks.“  Why did he feel that it was them, not Yami, who missing something.

Yami made for the door.  “Whatever.  I’ll leave you to snuff out the candle.  I’m headed to bed.”

“What happened to your snack?”

Yami turned back and grinned like the cat that got the cream.  “Got something far tastier than any food to relax and wear me out.” Jax watched the younger man go, wondering what he was talking about.  The kid’s strange, Jax thought to himself.  Not really such a kid anymore, his mind told.  Yami was eighteen.  So was Teris.  Jax recalled what he’d been like at eighteen.  The only things he had cared about were food, fighting, and girls.  Well, one girl in particular.  That was something he and Yami seemed to have in common, right down to being enamored with one particular girl.

Jax’s hand dipped into his pants pocket, fingers caressing a well worn piece of fabric he always carried with him.  His heart clenched in a familiar ache around the hole that one particular girl had left.  He would do everything in his power to make sure Yami wasn’t left suffering the same ache.

Pulling his hand from his pocket Jax rubbed his face and sighed.  Only one week left to the Winter Solstice.  Yami and Teris would have to be under constant watch.  He had considered forbidding them from leaving the house but thought they would chaff too badly at that and didn’t want to chance them running off, restless.  As it was they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the property.  And anytime they left the house they would be accompanied by two other Black Bulls.

As they got even closer to the solstice, Jax would likely bar them from leaving the house altogether.

He and Julius were suppose to have discussed what they were going to do with Yami and Teris during the two days leading up to the solstice. But with Commander Greywright showing up to their secret meeting and all the stuff with the deceased Captain Shadow Banashe, they hadn’t gotten around to it.  Maybe they would get a chance to talk before the meeting with Sir Jorah and Greywright tomorrow.  No, Jax corrected himself, the meeting this afternoon.

Jax shook his head and yawned.  He was exhausted.  He didn’t know how Bronn did it, being out in the field for extended periods.  Maybe that was why Bronn was so ready to marry and retire.  The constant field missions had worn the man down and made him feel aged.

Sixteen more days and Jax would have two new Vice Captain's.  Sixteen more days and he’d see his best friend wed and hopefully headed for a happier, easier life out in some Forsaken Realm village.  As if life in the Forsaken Realm was carefree or easy.  Then again after the last few years since Yami and Teris had joined the squad, anything would likely be easier.

Jax just hoped the Agents of Chaos didn’t get their way and they were all around to enjoy Bronn and Gilly’s wedding on December thirty-first.

I'd like to take a second to thank you all for sticking with me through this fic.  For those who have commented and/or reblogged, or sent in an ask, thank you!  Ever single interaction has been such a joy and encouragement.  Truly.  I’ve made so many new friends on this sight that even now I’m smiling as I type.  Thanks again!  Hope you all have an awesome New Year.

Next chapter snippet:

Lips pressed together, Teris looked at Nozel.  Could she do such a thing? Call upon and use Nozel’s affection for her?  The affection she tried to pulled away from and dissuade every time Nozel showed a hint of it.  Could she use that affection to try to get justice for Zara?

[stevenuniversetanzanite]

Someone Must Get Hurt (Cordelia x Reader (Part 1))

This is set during around and through coven so she’s still Cordelia Foxx technically. 

Summary: Reader joins Miss Robichaux's swearing she would keep her main power to her grave. She doesn’t expect to fall for the Headmistress. 

Note: This story was inspired by my vague memory of the soul eater in the x files episode the gift. Subconsciously also inspired by a great fanfic which I will insert the link as soon as I find it.

I’m not American so any odd spelling, phrases or inaccuracies. I apologies for in advance. Also, I’ll come up with a name for this later. This is my first Cordelia x reader and mostly set up. 

Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

You'd been sent to the academy because you had accidentally set your curtains on fire in a fit of rage. A bland reason but you couldn't deny that's how you learned about the school. After being kicked out by your roommate after you 'committed arson' and forced to move back in with your parents, they spilt the beans. You were from a long line of witches going back to Salem. You thought they were taking the piss out of you all the way up until you stood outside of the black cast-iron gates of Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. The name of the school being coded for the students' protection. They couldn't flat out say there was a school of witches leaving in New Orleans. 

 What your parents told you explained a lot about your past. You had the ability to 'heal' other's injuries- mainly using it on your friends and siblings. For your safety, you made them swear to never to tell anyone; not teachers, other children or even your parents. They abused your power. Every cut, scratch and broken limb. It tore away at your heart. If you refused, they threatened to tell. They never did, they knew they had you wrapped around their finger.

 Your power didn’t come without its downsides. The universe isn’t that forgiving. Someone had to hurt. Always cloaked in long sleeve and skinny jeans to hide the mistakes from being too kind. Heatstroke became your best friend in the summertime.

 Healing wasn’t the best word to describe your power. It was more a transference of pain. You could take it away from someone else if you choose too.

 So, when you first walked through the halls of the school, you swore to never tell a soul about your true gift. You hid it from the other girls and your headmaster. Nan knew, as soon as it was mentioned she was clairvoyant you gave it away. Curse the human brain for thinking about what it shouldn’t. 

 She was kind enough not to mention it to the others. You were nicer to her because of it. The other’s you were wary of. Queenie’s power scared you, she could easily bring harm to others- mainly Madison had the urge to push people's buttons. Queenie ended up being nice to you. When Zoe joined the two of you got along well. 

 The headmistress was a whole other thing. Cordelia Foxx took your breath away from the moment you met her. She was aware of your boundaries and willing to obey them- something few people did. Not to mention she was heavenly. It was shocking that no one took her seriously. She had very little control over the girls -Madison was the worst. She was incessantly rude to everyone who crossed her path, but Cordelia never raised her voice at any of you. You wish she did, that movie star needed to be put in her place.

 It was common knowledge among the students that you worshipped the land that Cordelia walked on, which flooded you with inappropriate comments from the others whenever she left the room. 

 She had one flaw. Her husband.

 Your chances were cut off when met Hank Foxx. You immediately loathed the man. Whether it was due to your new-found feelings for your teacher or a sixth sense, you had an intuition about how people were. He was rotten to the core. You got the same feeling when Fiona showed up. Fiona gave you the heebie-jeebies. Her aura was dark- nothing good could come from her arrival. 

 This place was meant to be your haven. At first, it was. No serious harm happened to anyone in the coven. Your urge to help people was manageable. To play it safe whenever someone got injured, you rushed out. Paper cut, you were out of the room in a second. The school began to think you were squeamish at the sight of blood until the girls had caught you watching a slasher.

 The group had come back from watching a horror movie at the cinemas. You weren't invited because they thought you wouldn't be able to handle it.  They were going to head into the living room to calm down for the night before heading to their respective rooms. 

 Madison strolled up to you to see what you were watching, "Hi bitch." She grabbed your shoulders shoving you forward. The sudden contact caused you to jump. You scrambled to pause your movie.

 It was Zoe who noticed what you were watching first. “Y/n, how are you watching that?” Zoe asked. The group stared at the screen. 

 “I stole miss’s laptop,” you were oblivious to what she was asking. Fearing they would rat you out, you tried to reason with them, "She had Netflix and I couldn’t help myself.” 

 “Are you watching a slasher?” Queenie asked. 

 “Yeah?”

 “They have blood in it,” she spoke again, hinting at why they were surprised. 

 “It wouldn’t be a good slasher if it didn’t.” You were left in the dark when it came to what the others thought about you.

 The commotion late at night caused Cordelia to appear asking what they were doing up this late.

 “We caught Y/n watching a slasher,” Nan filled Cordelia in. Her face went from confusion to surprise.

 “I thought you didn’t like the sight of blood?” Cordelia said.

 “No- I mean, I don’t like it, but I can stand it.”

 “Then why do you dash at the sight of blood?”

 “Odd behaviour for someone who can stand the sight," One of the girls said. 

 “I’m done with this conversation; I’m going to bed.” You got up and left the room, leaving the laptop left open where it was.

 “Is that my laptop?” Cordelia asked. 

 You kept your secret intact for another day, but you feared that soon they would know. 

 The next morning you all received a talk about taking other people's things. This was obviously addressed to you. Madison made a joke about her being lucky that you didn’t look through her porn, which led to loads of questions about whether you had looked said stash or if she even had anything to find. Madison brought it up to mess with you and all the others decided to join in once they noticed how red you got. The whole tangent making both you and Cordelia immensely uncomfortable. Cordelia cleared her throat, catching the attention of all the girls before one of them could make another inappropriate comment. The headmistress decided to end the morning meaning early.

 The oldest witch couldn’t have wanted to leave any faster.

 “Ms Foxx?" She hummed to notify you that she heard. She focused all her attention on you. You observed her body language, her hands clasped together in front of her. You screwed but big this time. She was in a rush to get out of here and now you’re keeping her longer forcing her to interact with you, in what is going to be a failure of an apology, you thought. "I'm sorry about borrowing your laptop. For the record, I only used it to watch movies. I didn't look through any personal files like Madison was suggesting and I know that me saying that makes it seem like I did but-"

 She cut you off, "I know you wouldn't do that," she said. "They were just riling me up." Yeah. Wait, her up. How would that rile her up? You thought.

 “So, we’re good?”

 “Yes. Now run along, I think breakfast is being served.” She nudged you towards the kitchen. “I’ll see you in class.”

[little-fae-hero]

Tiny Time ch. 2- A new place?

Part one

*Tagging people @aceofspadeswiththedragoneggs @wildpuppa @pinkittwice @eleventhspy @jjpony @sillus @4firey1 ....ps don’t worry their will be more Link interactions in the next chapter*

A pair of blue eyes open to the world with confusion.

-

As the oldest warrior, Time, drifted into the dreamless sleep he was unaware of the changes that were happening to him. Memories soon began to fade from his mind but he didn’t fight it. The barriers he had spent years developing to protect his mind faded as well. His giant frame began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller. His body finally stopped shrink, stopping at a small and thin body. His clothes shift as well, his black paints shifted to shorts, his tan shirt shrink with him. However what changed was the things that appeared. A green gems appeared tied around his neck, as well as a deep green tunic that was lazily wrapped around his body. Old scars began to heal and fade as if their were never there while old forgotten wounds appeared again. When the transformation stopped the man now boy drifted into a comfort sleep. It felt nice.

—-

A pair of blue eyes open to the world with confusion. The little boy on the bed bolted up in confusion.

“Where am I?” He states out loud before grabbing his head in pain.

‘Gods what hit me?’ Link thought through the pain. This felt like the time the happy mask salesman knocked him out when he had gone some time without sleep. He remembers Tatle screaming at him to sleep but he wouldn’t listen so the little fairy took matters into her own hands and went to the happy mask salesman. While the dude was weird he was also determined to help Link.

Link thoughts stopped and he finally look around the room.

It was a little bedroom with a small bed and dresser.

And it wasn’t familiar at all....

This wasn’t the inn in Termina he practically lived at, besides if he was in Termina Tatle and Tale would have been glued to his side. Despite how Termina made him feel he would visit it frequently to play with Skullkid and visit with the citizens of Termina.

However it wasn’t Hyrule ether. It seemed like the Lost Woods however Link didn’t dare go back without Navi. He didn’t think he could face Saria without her. However this didn’t look like the inn in Castletown, it wasn’t as nice as the inn. And it definitely wasn’t Lon Lon Ranch because the house and the barn weren’t as nice as this room.

So where was he?

Link stayed quiet for a minute trying to collect his thoughts. It was after he had helped Termina because that memory was clear in his mind, and he knew he had been on his own for a while seeing as he knew where to go to forge for food. But what exactly happen before he couldn’t tell. Was it a year sense Termina or two? Was he on his way to visit Tatle and the Skullkid or was he on the way to visit Malon. Malon the one who had helped him after everything that happen. So why wasn’t he there with her safe? Why wasn’t he with the Skullkid or the happy mask salesman? Why was so quiet?

Why was it so quiet?

His masks!

Link bolted out the bed to the brown families bag on the side of the bed. His mask, the only constants in his life. He open the bag and digged through the masks in the bag. Until he finally got to the ones he’s was looking for, the Goron, Zora and Deku mask, the transformation mask.

It turns out that even if a soul leaves the realm of existence they leave a mark, almost like an imprint on the world. So even if the souls disappeared and were at rest their was still some of them left in the mask. Link could hear them, the spirits telling him how to do stuff or what to say, they have became the only consent in his life after Termina.

Link hugged the mask closer, happy they were their with him, they made him feel save.

Link let go of the mask and put them back in the bag, slightly wondering why they weren’t speaking.

‘They’ve been asleep for a long time little one’ a voice said in Links head. He knew exactly who it being to, the fierce deity or as Link liked to call him the Oni. He was the only ‘soul’ in a mask; but seeing how he was a god trapped Link didn’t really know if he counted as a soul.

‘Why?’ Link replied in his head before gathering his stuff. He was slightly confused on why he had such big swords and shields; even though he knew how to use them, physically he couldn’t use them properly.

‘It’s something I don’t even think I can explain’ the god replied as Link just shrugged. After grabbing his stuff Link made his way to the door and reached out to grab the doorknob.

‘NO!’ The Oni yelled making Link winced ‘they’re are people down there’

Link put his ear to the door and sure enough he could hear voices; they appeared to be speaking in another language that Link couldn’t understand.

‘Won’t they be friendly? They help me didn’t they?’ Link asked confused.

‘I’m not sure, I don’t know anything about them. They could be friend or foe but you can’t risk a fight right now’ Oni explains to the boy and Link slightly nods, his mind was still foggy so rushing into a possible fight wouldn’t be the best answer.

So Link turn his attention to the window, looking out he appeared to be on a second story, nothing a little tuck and roll couldn’t break. Link started to go over a mental list of what to do, find a town, get some supplies, mental figure out what’s wrong, come back; then he jumped.

Link rolled before looking at the house then observing the area, a path which was clear as day leading to somewhere else.

‘Let’s hope it’s a town’ Link said putting on his bunny hood.

‘Lets’ The Oni said.

Link ran off in the direction of the path, leaving the house behind.

-30 minutes later-

“He’s gone” Twilight practically screamed in a panic down to the other Links. Any argument they were planning to have died as soon as Twilight spoke.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Legend asked with a mix of anger and confusion.

“I mean he’s gone, he left the room” Twilight said as the group ran upstairs to check the once occupied room.

Twilight was right, their leader was no where in sight. The room was turned over slightly likely from Twilight looking for Time but nothing else seemed off. Legend went over to where the discarded armor was kept.

“He left his armor and his sword” he said gesturing to both pieces still clearly in a chair.

“That isn’t like the old man” Warrior said as nervous started to pierce his voice.

“Do you think he could have been kidnapped?” Four offered.

“Who would be stupid enough to try and kidnapped Pops?” Warrior asked.

“Maybe the Yiga. Their not the brightest....but even then none of them can really get to my house it has a protection spell on it” Wild said.

“I didn’t feel any dark magic” Hyrule offered in a quiet voice, still not liking to talk about it.

“Maybe he just need a walk?” Wind threw out.

“Out of a second story window? And Time isn’t one to just up and go wonder. That’s their camps” Legend said pointing to Hyrule and Wild.

“ENOUGH!” Sky screamed causing everyone arguing voice to stop in shock. Sky never raised his voice and always preferred to stay out of conflict. Maybe it was the fact Time was missing and they need someone to take control “Time is missing, the best thing to do would be to try and find him even if it’s just a walk”

Sky turned to Wild “do you think you can get your wolf friend to track him?”

“Umm maybe I’m not-“ Wild started.

“I’ll go look for Wolfie” Twilight said rushing out the door, no one saw Four practically roll his eyes.

“We can’t all go” Legend piped up “if Time did in fact just go for a stroll someone needs to be here in cause he comes back”

“Your right. Plus he could easily be in the surrounding area” Wild added just as Wolfie came in.

“So what’s the plan?” Warrior asked while the other Links turn towards Sky.

“Well Warrior and Wind why don’t you go with Wolfie and follow the sent. Wind has that special jewel that allows him to talk through Wild’s sheikian slate” Sky said before addressing the rest. “Stay around the area, don’t go to far and try to make sure Time didn’t get hurt or someone planning an attack”

The other Links nodded in understanding before Wild held out one of the straps for Time’a armor. The Wolf sniffed and seemed to pick up the sent as it turn to ran downstairs, Warrior and Wind found themselves chasing after the wolf.

“Me and Hyrule will check the eastern side of the house” Legend said.

“How about he rest of us check the western side, maybe it had something to do with the cave?” Wild offered to Sky and Four who nodded.

The Links soon began their next mission.

To find Time.

— around the same time elsewhere-

Link finally took a second to sit, sitting my a sign next to the road; he couldn’t read it but Link had an feeling is showed the name of the town.

‘Oni?’ Link asked in his mind. Physically he was removing the slightly red, green piece of cloth tied around his knee to wrap around his hand. The triforce on the back of his hand was sting.

‘Yes little one?’ Oni replies, was it Link’s imagine or did his voice sound softer.

‘What happen? Everything seems different....you sound different’ Link said as he began to dig through his mask bag, it alway just felt better to hold the mask you were talking to.

‘Alot happen little one...I sound different because I was hurt and only just now have started to recover’ the Oni explained.

‘What do you mea-‘ Link’s thoughts where cut off when he finally saw the fierce deity mask, an audible gasp escaped him.

The fierce deity mask, the indestructible mask that housed the War god’s souls was damaged. A clean slice went through the mask left eyes, going close enough to the edges almost enough to cut the mask in two.

Link lifted a shaky hand over the mask to trace the cut with his fingers. The only thing he could imagine doing this is Majora but he’s dead...

Right?

‘I apologize little one but I must leave’ Oni said interrupting his thoughts.

“What?..no” Link said not realizing he had said them out loud.

‘It won’t be forever my child. I just need some rest. I will speak to you soon’ Oni said before his presence left Link.

“No...no..no” Link mutter to himself when he felt the Oni leave, he hugged the mask to his chest. He hated being alone, he always had. He had Navi and then he had Tatle, and after them he had his mask.

Now he has no one.

Link began to cry on the ground, the emotions of the past year flooded him, the abandonment, the trauma, he was alone.

“Hey stop” he heard someone yell break him out of his thoughts. A covered wagon stopped on the road, and a brown hair women jumped out.

“Aww you poor thing” the women said stepping closer to Link.

Link immediately respond was to try and crawl away.

“No no no, it’s ok Little one I won’t hurt you” The women said and Link pause at the familiar nickname. The women gave him a smile.

“My name is Ema, and that my son Tama and my husband Rico (ps I made these names up on the fly I know their bad). We’re on our way to Terry Town to sell some honey” the women, Ema explain to Link.

Link slowly stood up to look in the wagon, sure enough their were jars and jars of honey, her son appeared to be eating some with a spoon.

“Do you know where your parents are? Did you get separate from them?” Ema asked. Link nodded a yes.

“Are they are Terry Town?” Another nod yes.

Ema smile “me and my husband would be more then happy to give you a ride there”

Links studied the women and the wagon. Their was nothing out of the ordinary and they seemed to know the way to town.

Link sallowed the lump in his throat and took a chance.

“.....ok”

[dailyaudiobible]

12/21/2020 DAB Transcript

Zechariah 1:1-21, Revelation 12:1-17, Psalms 140:1-13, Proverbs 30:17

Today is the 21st day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian. Today would've been my parent’s anniversary. It’s funny how you remember all these things when they come up. But I obviously have lost both of my parents, but I am grateful that they had a wedding day or none of us would be here doing this right now. So, grateful today for my parents but also grateful every single day for you, that we can come around the Global Campfire together no matter what's going on and relax, exhale, come into a safe space where all the things that are going on, they…they can wait, they can wait a few minutes, they'll still be there. But we may need a change of perspective before we come unglued about them. And maybe with a change of perspective we go back out into the day energized, restored, oriented to God as we take the next steps forward in our lives. And, so, let's take the next step forward in the Bible. And it has been a custom to read a book a day. That custom is gonna end here basically. We have arrived at the 11th of the 12 minor prophets. And this book is called Zechariah and we’re gonna camp out in Zechariah for a few days. In fact, all the way up into we only have two days left in this year. So, we’re gonna settle in here for a minute and catch our breath before we end the year.

Introduction to the book of Zechariah:

What we know of Zechariah is that he and Haggai, which we…we read the entire prophecy of Haggai yesterday. Haggai and Zechariah were contemporaries. Zechariah would've been maybe a little younger. His ministry continued long after Haggai and they were actually prophets in the same place prophesying about the same thing at the same time for the same reason, which is all centered around the rebuilding of the temple. So, Zechariah’s grandpa, his name was Iddo, he's named in the Scriptures among the first leaders of the priestly families to come back from exile with Zerubbabel. So, from that we can surmise then Zechariah was probably a priest or at least from a priestly family. And the name Zechariah means “God remembers”. And it’s the remembering of the covenant and the restoration from the remembering of the covenant that is central in this book. Si, I said, Zechariah and Haghai prophesying at the same time for the same reason about the same kind of thing, but Zechariah’s way longer than Haggai. So, there's more context, more scope, more material. Like Zechariah talks about eight different night visions that he experienced that sound an awful lot like what we’re reading in Revelation. They’re apocalyptic in nature which makes them highly symbolic. And what we begin to see is that God wants the centerpiece of the Temple rebuilt to be the centerpiece of the people because He has plans for moving things forward, plans of restoration, plans of good and not harm. But the people have to collaborate, they have to respond. And what they have to respond to is essentially what God says through His prophets, “come home to me, return to me. Don’t stay in rebellion.” And we’ll see that as we read through that Zachariah also talks about the coming of a Messiah. Zechariah is one of the texts that are used in the New Testament in reference to Jesus. In fact, we find quotations from Zechariah in Matthew, Mark, John and the book of Revelation as they refer specifically to Jesus. And, so, ultimately what we receive in Zechariah is prophetic encouragement and once again reminds us that God is the most-high. There is none higher. There is no competitor to His sovereignty, not even close. And if we will remain in a covenantal relationship with God well…well then, we are going somewhere good. And, so, we begin Zechariah chapter.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this week of rejoicing. We thank You for the comfort of community. And Father as we move through these days, leading right up to Christmas as we move toward the end of the Advent season, help us Holy Spirit to put ourselves in the position of…of the ancient ones, longing, waiting, expecting a Redeemer, a Savior to come. And You came and we rejoice in that, but we put ourselves in that position because…O Jesus we long for Your restoration, for Your return, for all things to be made new again. And, so, Holy Spirit some of these things are mysteries that are beyond us and some of our life is pulled in all kinds of directions during this week because of all the festivities but we want to stay rooted and grounded in deep intimacy with You almost as if it's our little secret, not that we’re keeping You a secret, but that no matter what we face, no matter what room we walk into and the conversation is going south in a hurry or no matter what situation we are pulled into whether that be envy or jealousy or pride or arrogance, no matter what we get pulled toward we want to have been walking with You, speaking with You, being led by Your spirit so that when we face those things and we see the little triggers that we usually get pulled into we can just smile, we can just smile at each other knowing that we didn't fall for the bait this time, we stayed connected in a covenantal intimacy with each other and we brought light and good news into any darkness that we face. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We can't do this without You. We need You. But we can do this with You. Come Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here.

And it's Christmas time and that's pretty much what is going on around here, as we…I mean…this is it…this is Christmas week friends. I can't believe it. And it is our intention to be releasing our annual Christmas party, our virtual get together from all over the world. And that's literally the truth. We have voices coming in from all over the world, and we plan to release that this evening. So, watch for that. And the other thing that’s going on right now is the Family Christmas album, just reminding you of that. You can stream it wherever you stream music. You can download it wherever you buy music. If you want a physical CD copy you can get that from the Daily Audio Bible Shop. But that is what we have created to be the backdrop, the soundtrack for Christmas around the Global Campfire. So, check that out.

And also reminding you that we released a new vocal single with Jill, my wife, singing “O Holy Night.” So, check that, you can stream that anywhere or download that anywhere as well. So, just look for Jill Parr, that’s P A R R, since that my wife’s…well…that’s her maiden name. That's what she was known as before she got herself all entangled with somebody like me. And thank God that she did or none of us would be here because I don't know how I could…I don’t know How I could just exist now without her and her support and…and her love. And, so, yeah check that out at iTunes, Google play, YouTube music, Spotify, wherever you get your music. Just look for her or “O Holy Night” and you'll find it.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. And I thank you. I thank you deeply and profoundly as we near the end of the year. I appreciate all of…all of you who have clicked that link. That is why we continue to be able to throw logs on the Global Campfire and to keep moving forward day by day. So, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can it the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Father God thank You for our grandparents and our parents, those…those loved ones who are struggling in their…in their everyday life, whether that be from dementia or Alzheimer’s or something else or aches and pains, whatever it is Lord we entrust them to You. We pray that You would be soothing those aches and pains, You’d be relieving them, You’d be healing them. We pray Lord that You would remove any confusion in their life, that You’d be protecting them from harm, that You would be helping them to enjoy their everyday. Father God we thank You for those that do know and love You and we pray that they would be comforted by You and rely on You during this time and all time. But Father God for those who don’t know You, we pray that…that You would be revealing Yourself to them, that there would be those in their lives that would be able to share the gospel with them and they would be able to understand and respond, that they might know the joy of knowing You, of knowing Your son, of knowing that they are saved and knowing Your love. Father God, thank You for those who are caring for our loved ones. I pray that You’d be supporting them and encouraging them and refreshing them and replenishing them, that You’d be giving them wisdom on how best to offer care. Please be at work Lord in Jesus holy and precious name. Amen. Hi guys it’s Michaela from…

Hey DAB family its Nick just asking for prayers. It’s been a long tough season of ministry and I’m just deflated, I’m just done, and I just covet your prayers, the hugs of God’s people that just will surround me and help me, give me the strength to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. Thank you so much for your prayers. I know that…that God will bless it.

I just wanted to say good morning to everybody and thank you for Daily Audio Bible. My family, my wife and I and my older kids have been pulled away from the Lord and we got…we got off the rails of our…our life with the Lord and we just thank you Daily Audio Bible family for being that beacon in the dark. I recently downloaded the app and became…listening to the Lord became slowly back to the line with my Christian faith and it’s helped me tremendously. I’m overwhelmed by the things going on in this world, but this beacon of light has helped me put back on the path and give me faith back in the Lord. I just want to say thank you. It’s…it’s helping me greatly. And thank you for being there and being that beacon of light for us who get lost in this world. It’s…it’s a dark world and it’s helping me build my…build my faith back up and helped me in life to pursue and to continue on searching the Lord and given me strength to help me deal with these issues in life and bring me closer to my family. And I thank you. God bless everybody.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family my name is Ben I am calling from Salem Virginia and just wanted to thank all of you guys for being a part of this. I can’t make up my mind whether it’s a holiday greeting or an encouragement or a prayer request. I got it all. You guys have it all. So, Brian thank you so much. I love this program. I just started tuning in this year, but I’ve been so ministered to by you all and this program, the prayer requests, the encouragements, moving through the Bible like we do. I’ve heard God’s spoken word on the inside of me and He has confirmed things as Brian reads and as you guys talk. It’s amazing. I…I…I love it. It is definitely a part of my daily routine and I am so thankful for each and every one of you all and I just pray that this ministry would continue and grow and that this is, you know, it’s eternal, we’re together forever. And I’m thankful and I love each and every one of you. I know that sounds silly, but I don’t know how. I love God’s word and I am…oh man my time is running out. I'm like Jonah I'm in the belly of the whale. I’m looking forward to being spit out. Not sure how much longer I have to stay and pray but I thank you all…

Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling tonight to pray for some of DABbers who are…who are having the challenges. I'm trying to find the ladies name who her husband and her were planning on moving to be around family and you kept getting discouragement. I wanted to tell you to keep on being encouraged and keep on looking and God wants to see do we really want it and He's…just continue to pray and I continue to encourage him. I continue to encourage the lady who said her son went away to…went away to travel over overseas and his car and somebody had taken his passport. I'm praying for that young man. Lord in the name of Jesus you have your way Lord. Let him be somewhere protected. Let him be somewhere safe. O father in the name of Jesus you touch the heart of that young man. He's only 23 years old. Lord you bless him, you bless him wherever he is. You open doors even in the worst places. In the name of Jesus. I thank you Lord. I want to thank…I want to thank God for China and Ben, pray for their precious little…little…little brown and her are continuing on in the ministry and I pray for Jill and her coming and thanking her for…for the heart and for the love of God enough to come and…and just looking forward to enjoying her. I want to just say thank you to all the people and encourage those who are going through, those who are going through jobs because of this pandemic, those who are going through challenges because of this pandemic as…as Paul said when they were on the ship he said anybody who was whaled onto this ship that they would have a safe landing. And let's hold onto the ship because God is ready to bring us through out of this 2020 into…

Good morning DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of Our God and Our King. I just heard Daniel Johnson Junior's call in with his praise report about the echocardiogram results from last year this time and where God has brought him close to normal. And my brother, I just want you to know that God's got you. God's got you. And thank you for sharing your life with us. Your job, your family, everything, God's got you. And I'm looking back at 2020 myself and I'm just thinking, not just 2020, the last…gosh…the last 13+ years of my life that I've spent with DAB and looking at what…what you guys have brought me through. There's some days that I would turn on DAB and I’d be so desperate to hear the word of God and so desperate for…for some sort of comfort or insight and then some other days it’s, you know, business as usual just listening to it. But you guys, my father's death, my sons drug addiction and recovery, my mother's death, you know, job losses, Ebola, now coronavirus, marital problems, divorce, marriage. God thank you for DAB. Thank you for this ministry. And I know that those of you who are listening, some of you guys in the same situation, know that we’re here for you. God is here for you. And, you know, as Daniel Johnson Junior always says, make it a great day. I love you all. God bless.

[sugdendingle]

So there’s this article that’s going around bashing the Reylo fandom as a response to Katie McCort’s article on ‘Systemic Hatred of Women’. Normally I would link back to whatever it is I’m referencing so people can draw their own conclusions but I refuse to post the link to the first article mostly because it’s just a nicely worded hate piece against Reylo and our fandom and it doesn’t need more attention from me. I’m sure you can find it if you look around the antis are sharing it. I’m still going to respond to some of it though because it’s a lot of the same things I see going around about our fandom and I want to address some of them.

There is this misconception that the Reylo fandom is almost exclusively made up of cis gendered, straight, white women and that’s just not true. We’re an incredibly diverse community made of various races, sexualities, genders, ages, etc. It’s clear that it’s easier for people who dislike us and the ship to dismiss us by saying well they’re all just a bunch of white women who want to ship the two main white presenting characters. They also mostly assume we’re teenagers so that’s another way they get to patronize us by acting like we’re simply a bunch of children who can’t make good choices even when it comes to which fictional characters to ship.

To that effect I think because many dismiss us all as a small (but loud) fraction of white women in the SW fandom it makes it easier to say we’re all racist. We as a fandom need to stop allowing this. This idea that our fandom as a whole is racist is false and in many cases is being used mainly as a weapon against us not to call out real instances of racism. People who don’t like us and our ship have just decided it’s okay to blanket our whole fandom as toxic and racist without real proof to back it up. Even those times when there have been people claiming to ship Reylo sending harassment and being racist they don’t represent our fandom. There’s a different between the actions of single individuals and an entire fandom using their collective power to hurt people and the Reylo fandom has never done that.

I also resent the idea that it’s our responsibility to find these people and deal with them. Is it important to call out problematic behavior when you see it? Of course. But we are not responsible for babysitting every corner of the internet looking for someone who has a Reylo icon and possibility sent out a racial slur. I’m genuinely confused why this responsibility falls on the shoulders of Reylo shippers to police our entire fandom but not on the SW fandom as a whole to do something about the many many problematic people calling themselves SW fans and sending hate. I don’t see people calling all SW fans racist because some chased Kelly Marie Tran off social media. I don’t see people calling all SW fans misogynistic with the amount of disparaging things that’s been said about Rey as a character and with how many didn’t even want a female protagonist for the ST. Or how TLJ was one of the most criticized in large part because it was more inclusive to female fans.

No apparently those are just trolls who don’t represent real SW fans. So why then does that logic not apply to the Reylo fandom? Maybe perhaps because it’s easier to try and get rid of a ship that the general SW fandom hates and silence it’s fandom by claiming it’s one of the worst things a person can be. Who is really going to want to be associated  with a ship or fandom if they think it’s racist right? I’ve seen new SW fans coming on tumblr asking about Reylo and the antis are quick to jump to them and tell them how toxic and racist it is (not to mention they claim it glorifies abuse against women which 🤦) filling these people’s heads with lies. I don’t care what people think of me I’m used to shipping the ships that everyone hates but I do care that people lie about us and our ship and don’t even give people the chance to make up their own minds.

As for the situation with JB which was also included in the anti Reylo article it’s clear the person who wrote this has a huge bias. Anyone who cares how people are treated would look at that situation and recognize JB was out of line, his actions caused real world harm to people. NO ONE is saying JB hasn’t been the target of racism from SW fans but to put ALL of that on the Reylo fandom is not only messed up it’s simply factually wrong. There are people who would never ship Reylo and who never wanted a leading black character in SW who have sent JB hate. The Reylo fandom just continues to be the easy target.

There’s a part of the article that talks about how some of the people who ship Reylo do so as a way to work through trauma in a fantasy that’s not possible in reality. They also say that one of the reasons people ship Reylo is about kink and bsdm which maybe these things play a factor (for some) but it’s not necessarily the main one. In the first place yeah Reylo is a fantasy not possible in reality it’s a soap opera in space. I recognize there are things that happen within their relationship that wouldn’t happen in real relationships but there’s also a lot about their ship that’s very much grounded in reality, which is a significant part of the reason people are drawn to them.

I’ve been through trauma myself and media has definitely helped with healing but I don’t look at Reylo as some fictional manifestation of reclaiming power that was stolen from me. I don’t look at Ben as some de facto stand in for my abuser and Reylo as some fairytale version of how things should have been. I don’t see Rey as someone who managed to get her “abuser” to change and then they lived happily ever after. I see two messy people who helped each other grow and change throughout the course of three movies. If anything I think Reylo helps me because I relate a lot to Ben. He’s shown me that it is possible to break free from the darkness and as person who has struggled with mental health problems my whole life it’s an incredibly important message. Rey and Ben together showed me it is possible to find someone who can understand you no matter what you’ve been through and no matter how alone you feel.

As for incorporating kink into Reylo many of us definitely do enjoy the smuttier side of fandom but I know for me that wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t emotionally invested in the ship. I think some assume the main reason we ship Reylo is because Adam is hot or Rey and Ben together is hot and it’s all simplified to being about sex but for the majority of us the ship is about so much more than that. I’m drawn to Ben and Rey because of the complexities of their stories both together and individuality. There’s this idea now that liking a character who does anything with questionable morals means you’re a bad person but I personally have never been drawn to the innocent characters. Both Rey and Ben are more grey not fully good or evil and I love that about them. More importantly I’m drawn to how much it’s clear they love each. Even in TFA they understood each other in ways no one else could because of their bond.

I feel like in order to get Reylo and especially Ben as a character you have to be willing to think deeper about the media you consume and some people only want surface level SW. On the surface it’s just bad guy Kylo Ren vs Rey but there is so much more going on than that if you look. I think people forget that fictional media is open for interpretation. Scenes like where Ben tells Rey “you’re nothing, but not to me” is one people have twisted to mean something manipulative when I don’t see it that way at all. To me Ben was trying to tell her he sees her. He sees that she came from nothing that she has no one like him (because he’s felt so abandoned by his family for so long) but she’s not nothing, to him she’s everything you can tell in how he literally begs her to stay with him. This is isn’t some example of me deliberately twisting facts to suit my narrative of what I want the characters to be this is simply that I see the scene differently than some one else might. I don’t get what’s wrong with that?

I know this got long and kind of rambly I just needed to vent. I just wish the hate would stop. If you don’t like Reylo don’t ship it. Learn to live and let live. Nothing we are doing is hurting anyone. We are shipping two adult characters because we see something positive here. I don’t get how something that’s about love something that brought so many people together can inspire such hate in others.

[angelofthequeers]

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Power's back! I lost power about an hour or two after my last update and the worst of the bushfire passed that day. Since it was just yesterday with no power, I figure I'll upload yesterday's and today's chapters together.

Chapter 33 | Chapter 35 | AO3 link

“By the power vested in me, I declare you all my slaves!”

“Well,” Rena Rouge says as the golden bubble that Malediktator is creating starts to expand above his head to terrifying proportions. “We’re screwed if that pops.”

“What’s the plan, Ladybug?” Honeybee says, unslinging her trompo. “I can –”

“No, no, don’t go charging in.” Ladybug throws a hand out to stop Honeybee in her tracks. “This’d be so much easier with Chat Noir and Carapace. I’ll have to…Lucky Charm!” A massive machine gun falls into her hands, and Rena Rouge and Honeybee’s eyes bulge.

“Well, that’s an effective Lucky Charm!” Honeybee splutters. Ladybug just snorts, detaches the laser pointer, then tosses the gun away.

“No way I’d use something like that,” she scoffs.

“Are you sure?” Rena Rouge and Honeybee say in unison, eyeing the discarded gun longingly.

“Yep,” Ladybug says. “Honeybee just needs to take the sting out of Malediktator. Rena, we’ll need you on standby to make sure that Honeybee’s secret identity is safe and that no one suspects who she is.”

Honeybee grins and flips her trompo around her fingers with the string. “Venom!” she says once she’s holding the trompo, and it starts to throb like a beating heart.

“You know, part of me wants to be annoyed that all I ever get to do is hang back and trick people,” Rena Rouge says. “Then I remember how fun it is to mess with them when they don’t know who I am. And how screwed this team would be without me.”

“Just keep telling yourself that, hon,” Honeybee tuts.

“We all know what we’re doing?” Ladybug says before they can start arguing. Rena Rouge and Honeybee nod. “Alright. Let’s go!”

While Rena Rouge ducks away to hide and Honeybee starts to edge around, Ladybug aims the laser pointer at the rooftop with Malediktator and his guards. Just as predicted, Chat Noir lets out a mew at the sight and starts to chase after the laser, and Ladybug can’t help but grin as she guides him around to knock over all the guards like bowling pins.

“What?” Malediktator gasps. Honeybee takes this as her cue to swing out with her pulsating trompo outstretched and jab it into his chest. He lets out a choked cry and freezes in place like a statue, allowing Honeybee to grab the sash and throw it to Ladybug to tear it in half. Ladybug captures and purifies the akuma, then throws the laser into the air.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

The healing ladybugs deposit everyone back on the ground, and then Malediktator melts away to reveal André Bourgeois once everything’s fixed. Chat Noir and Carapace blink and shake their heads as Malediktator’s brainwashing fades away.

“Dude,” Carapace groans. “What are we doing here?”

“Missing the amazing Ladybug and Honeybee saving the city,” Ladybug grins and holds her fist out to Honeybee, whose eyes light up.

“Pound it!” she cries with Ladybug.

“I really can’t be Queen Bee again, huh?” Chloé emerges from a nearby alleyway with a wistful look on her face as she takes in the sight of Honeybee. For a moment, Ladybug has no clue what’s going on, until she looks around for the missing Rena Rouge and then remembers her instructions to her teammate.

“Sorry, Chloé,” she says, keenly aware of André and Audrey Bourgeois watching from nearby. “But Paris knows your secret identity. I can’t allow you to be Queen Bee again for the safety of you and your family.”

‘Chloé’s’ mouth droops. “I understand, Ladybug. And…I’m sorry about the mess I caused.”

Honeybee shifts on the spot at her illusion self’s words. Ladybug smiles and says, “Apology accepted, Chloé. Thank you for being brave enough to own up to your mistakes.”

“Want me to take her back to the school?” ‘Rena Rouge’ leaps down to land next to ‘Chloé’, in a mimicry of the same trick that had been pulled with the illusion Marinette earlier. “I didn’t have to use my power, so I’m not gonna time out.”

“That’d be awesome, Rena,” Ladybug says. “Thanks. Chat and I will stay here and brief with Honeybee.”

‘Rena Rouge’ scoops ‘Chloé’ up and bounds away, while André and Audrey start to bicker – or, to be more accurate, Audrey starts to tear into André while he cowers.

“Thanks for trusting me to help, Ladybug,” Honeybee says once Carapace has also leapt away. “Here, I’ll duck into this alleyway and take the Miraculous off –”

“No need,” Ladybug says. “You passed the test…Chloé.” She says Chloé’s name in a whisper that only Honeybee and Chat Noir can hear.

“The what?” Honeybee’ eyes bulge, while Chat Noir blinks and turns to look at where ‘Rena Rouge’ had disappeared with ‘Chloé’. After a moment, his face clears at the realisation.

“We test all our newbies to see if they’ll give it back when we ask,” he says. “And I’m guessing milady tested you more to make sure we could trust you with a Miraculous again.”

“Welcome to the team, Honeybee,” Ladybug smiles. “But Chat and I are responsible for you, so if you blow this second chance –”

“I won’t! I won’t!” Honeybee practically leaps ten feet in the air. “Thank you, Ladybug, thank you! See you next time!”

“Huh,” Chat Noir comments as Honeybee jumps away. “She doesn’t make a half-bad hero.”

“Pollen will be a good influence,” Ladybug says, then grimaces when her earrings beep. “Well, that’s my cue. I gotta recharge and hand out the Dragon. I think that’ll be our team for the time being, until Master Fu’s comfortable with handing out more zodiacs than just the Dragon. I know we’ve already pushed it, giving out all the working Wu Xing ones.”

“Good idea,” Chat Noir says. “Message me who gets it tonight, okay?”

“Of course, kitty,” Ladybug says. “Oh, can you drop by Chloé’s and get an email address from her so we can add her to the group chat?”

Chat Noir bows and says, “It would be my purrleasure, milady.” He takes off before Ladybug can scold him, leaving her to sigh loudly and duck into the nearest alleyway to detransform and refuel Tikki. Then she’s once again swinging through Paris, towards the small Tsurugi mansion with a sleek red car parked in front of it; although she’s never actually been to Kagami’s house, she certainly knows where it is, at least, thanks to Adrien. But she doesn’t know which room is Kagami’s, so she’s forced to take a quick peek inside each window until she finally stumbles across Kagami sitting at a desk, clearly deep in her homework. Kagami looks up at the tap on her window, and her eyes widen when she catches sight of the superhero dangling outside.

“Ladybug? Is everything alright?” Kagami says after rushing over to open the window. Ladybug slips inside and stares around at the room, marvelling at how it’s just so…Kagami. The walls and massive king bed are a deep red colour, the carpet is soft and black, the desk is made of rich, dark wood, and there are several decorations such as a Japanese flag on one wall, a few fencing trophies on a dark wooden shelf, and some photos pinned to the wall above her desk. A closer look reveals to Ladybug that these photos are of her – well, Marinette – and Adrien, cut from photoshoots and magazine articles, such as the article that had covered Marinette’s hat at the Agreste fashion show.

Oh. Wow. Kagami must really care about them…

“I know it’s not ideal, only having staged photos of them,” Kagami says as she draws level with Ladybug. “But they’re my friends, so I figure the circumstances behind the photos don’t matter.”

“Maybe you could take photos with them?” Ladybug says.

“I suppose…”

“From what I hear, you’re a very direct person. Why hesitate now?”

“It’s just…” Kagami sighs and looks away. “I’ve never had friends before. I don’t know what’s appropriate and when it’s appropriate. If I make a wrong move, how do I know I won’t lose them? Unlike fencing, I don’t get to come back for a rematch. And unlike fencing…I don’t know how to navigate this.”

“Oh.” Ladybug reaches out to rest a hand on Kagami’s arm. “Can I tell you something? I’m inexperienced when it comes to friends as well.”

“Impossible. You’re Ladybug. You’re sweet and charismatic. Me? I’m just an awkward autistic girl who only knows how to stab people.”

“You’re autistic?” Ladybug gasps. “So am I!”

“What?” Kagami’s head whips around to stare at Ladybug. “You – but you’re –”

“An awkward mess outside the mask,” Ladybug says and squeezes Kagami’s arm. “I mix my words up all the time. I melt down and flip out whenever I’m really stressed or losing control of the situation. I have to plan out what I’m going to say before I talk to people about important stuff, otherwise I turn into a blabbering mess. I have to bounce or fidget or do anything to stim because I can’t sit still. I’m clumsy. I’m obsessed with fas – uh, my special interests. I can never seem to be where I should be because I just can’t manage myself, even before I became Ladybug.”

“Oh.” Kagami tilts her head and ever so slowly reaches out to pat Ladybug on the shoulder stiffly. “You get it. I have to script my conversations as well. And…well, I don’t have meltdowns and I’m very organised, but…mostly because Mother would be extremely disappointed in me.”

“Yeah. Masking,” Ladybug says. “It’s kind of ironic, you know. I’m wearing a mask as Ladybug, but it’s the one time when I’m not masking at all. Like, I have to be the saviour of Paris, the role model for everyone…but I can also just be freely autistic because, well, who can tell me to stop fidgeting? And my main responsibility is fighting the akumas, which I don’t need to plan for in advance or work into a schedule.”

“Wow…” Kagami’s soft smile is genuine. “I can’t believe it. You really get it.”

“Yeah,” Ladybug says. “So, trust me when I say that asking your friends for photos isn’t a wrong move. And if you do mess up, you have to trust that they’ll call you out for it. That’s what friends do. But they won’t leave you because of a mistake.”

“Thank you, Ladybug,” Kagami says. “Just…thank you.” Then she squares her shoulders and slips back into business mode and says, “But why are you here? I doubt that you visited me just to give me advice.”

“You’re right,” Ladybug says. She swipes open her yo-yo and pulls out a little box. Kagami’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open. “We were hoping that you’d join the team and fight alongside us.”

“M-Me? I mean, it’s an honour to be offered the chance to fight alongside you, but why me?”

“Because you’re strong and terrifying with a sword,” Ladybug says. “But you also crave freedom, just like Chat. You’re kind and loyal and helpful and always do your best to do the right thing, even if you struggle to properly interact with people. And those are the qualities that make a hero. So, Kagami Tsurugi, if you’re willing, here is the Miraculous of the Dragon, which will grant you the power over the elements of the storm. You will use it for the greater good, to protect Paris and have your teammates’ backs.”

For a moment, Kagami just stares at the box. But before Ladybug can start to panic, Kagami nods and takes it and snaps it open, then gasps and shuts her eyes against the brilliant red light that pours out of it.

“Greetings, young lady, and good day to you!” says the little red dragon kwami that materialises in front of Kagami. “Fear not! I am Longg, the Dragon kwami.”

“You’re a what?” Kagami says after a moment.

“A kwa-mi,” Longg says. “Allow me to tell you about the many feats a magic being like myself will help you accomplish once the magic words have been spoken!”

“She’s more of a direct learner, Longg,” Ladybug says as Kagami slips on the beaded choker.

“Ah,” Longg says. “A woman of action. Very well, then. All you must say is, “Longg, bring the storm” and you will –”

“Longg, bring the storm!” Kagami says, and Longg is sucked into the choker in a blur as red light envelops her. Kagami’s superhero outfit turns out to be a tight, scaly, dark red suit with black shoulders and upper arms, both of them made of black scaly armour with golden trim spiralling along and down to her elbow-length red gloves with golden trim. Two gold-accented black dragons coil around her legs, with their tails fading into boots and their heads meeting and intertwining around her stomach, and a gold and red dragon’s tail flows out of the back of her suit. A circle divided into swirling thirds sits on her chest, with a little elemental symbol in each third, and she has short red dragon horns with gold and black accents sticking out of her windswept black hair, and a red mask with gold and black lightning bolts extending from the bottom. Her eyes, previously light brown, have turned to dark brown with gold sclerae.

Okay. Bad Ladybug. Stop staring. Stop it.

“I love the armour,” Ladybug says, and Kagami runs a hand over the scales on her shoulder.

“I know that the suits are magic, but I always feel safer when I’ve at least got a little armour on,” Kagami says.

“What should I call you?”

“Hmm…Ryuuko. My name is Ryuuko.”

“Well, Ryuuko…” Ladybug crosses over to the open window and smiles back at Ryuuko. “Let’s go for a little evening stroll.”

.

[10:46 pm] Honeybee has joined miraculass.

catitude: welcome to hell

catitude: i mean

catitude: nice work today thanks for saving us

[10:47 pm] Ryuuko has joined miraculass.

Ryuuko: Hello

ladyBIrd: hey

catitude: sup

Honeybee: ew who named this chat

mess w turt u get hurt: rena

what does the fox say: hey

what does the fox say: it’s a great name

ladyBIrd: …it grows on you

Honeybee: KNFLKDSMNZBXCKCLKSDHFOA;SLD

Honeybee: LADYBUG HI

what does the fox say: pfft

what does the fox say: gtfo with your keysmashing i was here first

Honeybee: fuck off

what does the fox say: wow rude

[10:49 pm] what does the fox say set Honeybee’s name to honeybeetch.

honeybeetch: omg

honeybeetch: i hate you

ladyBIrd: I think it’s kind of funny

honeybeetch: asdfghjkl of course

honeybeetch: it’s perfect

what does the fox say: lol desperate

honeybeetch: the only reason i’m not gonna fuckin deck you

honeybeetch: is bc i’ll lose my miraculous

honeybeetch: that and pollen will give me the look of disapproval

catitude: don’t you mean

mess w turt u get hurt: nO DONT

catitude: beecause?

Ryuuko: I’d like to leave, thanks

honeybeetch: where are u

honeybeetch: i’ve got venom ready n everything

catitude: :)

ladyBIrd: Chat, you’re grounded

catitude: :(

honeybeetch: wait

honeybeetch: laDYBUG IS BI

honeybeetch: AJSDHLDSKJ

what does the fox say: don’t even think about it

what does the fox say: i was here first and i have dibs

honeybeetch: actually fite me

honeybeetch: you think your illusions will do shit when i sting you

ladyBIrd: I’ve got a boyfriend, so

ladyBIrd: and there’s a girl above both of you on my list

what does the fox say: :(

honeybeetch: :(

catitude: :)

mess w turt u get hurt: istg i don’t understand why chat reacts half the time

catitude: 0:)

[10:53 pm] catitude has set Ryuuko’s name to airhead

airhead: Are you asking for death?

airhead: Because I have a sword and I’m intimately familiar with how to wield it

honeybeetch: omg i hate everyone here

honeybeetch: except lb of course

[10:56 pm] direct messages

Chat Noir: so

Chat Noir: ryuuko?

Ladybug: Kagami

Chat Noir: omg yes i love

Chat Noir: but i gotta ask

Chat Noir: why give Chloe another chance?

Chat Noir: not that i want her to fail

Ladybug: she’s proven she really does want to change

Ladybug: she even apologised to Marinette and everything

Ladybug: granted, it was an illusion by Rena

Ladybug: but she still passed the test

Chat Noir: i mean

Chat Noir: i’m glad you gave her this chance

Chat Noir: i guess i just don’t want her to let us down again

Chat Noir: especially with the miraculous

Ladybug: the Bee will be perfect for her

Ladybug: I know it

Chat Noir: true

Chat Noir: bee works best with someone with potential for growth

Chat Noir: sting for the greater good and remain warm without burning out of control and all that

Ladybug: ok, how do you remember that?

Ladybug: that was months ago

Chat Noir: i have a near-purrfect memory

Ladybug: does your autocorrect recognise all your puns?

Chat Noir: actually

Chat Noir: yeah

Chat Noir: don’t @ me

Ladybug: :)

Chat Noir: :(

Chat Noir: wait does that mean rena knows honeybee

Ladybug: it was unavoidable

Ladybug: I needed her Mirage

Chat Noir: oof

Chat Noir: thank god she doesn’t know our ids

Ladybug: haha, yeah

Ladybug: I’m gonna DM Honeybee before I sleep

Ladybug: night, kitty <3

Chat Noir: night bugaboo <3

[11:02 pm] direct messages

Ladybug: Hi, Honeybee

Honeybee: ASKJFDSL;KGLDKFG

Honeybee: HI LADYBUG

Ladybug: you don’t have to freak out

Ladybug: it’s just me

Honeybee: yeah but

Honeybee: i’m in a gc

Honeybee: with LADYBUG

Honeybee: and i’m a SUPERHERO

Honeybee: pollen’s trying to take my phone help

Ladybug: lol

Honeybee: so like

Honeybee: not that i’m ungrateful

Honeybee: but why me

Honeybee: why not marinette

Honeybee: she was right there

Honeybee: and she didn’t mess up and out herself to paris

Ladybug: for one, she told me she’s got a pretty busy schedule

Ladybug: for another

Ladybug: I guess I just remembered our conversation about your mother

Ladybug: and I knew there was potential there if I just teased it out

Ladybug: because you really have been trying, even if you slip up

Honeybee: i just

Honeybee: it’s easier to push ppl away

Honeybee: i have to tell my mother to fuck off tmrw and

Honeybee: i’m kinda losing my shit rn so

Ladybug: you can do it, Chloe

Ladybug: she’s a toxic influence

Ladybug: and she’s stunting your potential for growth

Honeybee: ik ik

Honeybee: pollen said it’s like pruning the weeds to let the flowers bloom?

Ladybug: yep

Ladybug: kwamis are pretty wise

Ladybug: Pollen will help and support you

Ladybug: and you’ve got the group chat

Ladybug: you’re not alone, Chloe

Honeybee: <3

Ladybug: <3

Honeybee: ASLKFHSDLK