#2)yelling at soulmates stupid wonderful brother for? trying to thank her? for not being afraid of her own soulmate?

[flowerflamestars]

Robin fic snippet

Palm scrubbed over her shining cheeks, Elle sat on the ground and said, shudderingly, “Well. I know why you’re alive.”   “For you.”   It probably should have stung, but it didn’t. Not really. A magic girl born in a place magic couldn’t quite thrive, protected in the one way harsh, horrible way Gotham knew how: hope. A woman who’d come back someday, and love it still, blood and crime and chaos all, the whole festering soul of a city.   Jason had belonged to so much worse.   “What?” She blinked. Scowled, wiping under her eyes like Jason couldn’t have told her her face was still perfect, if she’d only asked. “No. Jesus, Jason. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”   He didn’t believe her, and Eleanor clearly knew it, rising up on her knees and drawing closer on the uneven ground.   “You were born in the city,” Elle said, softly. Fiercely. “Magic can’t love like people can, but Gotham loves you. That’s why, god, it didn’t know how to fix you, but it tried. You came back in pieces and it put you back together because it didn’t want to let you go.”

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Kaz Brekker x Reader - Your What?! Part 1/2 (Soulmate au)

A/n: So I can't believe I'm doing this but... This a soulmate au! With Kaz fucking Brekker! I'm just going to cry in the corner now... I also decided to split this into two parts, so part 2 will be out tomorrow!

Warnings: language, mentions of trauma, mentions of the menagerie, mentions of death, I think that's it? You have been warned!

Summary: You and the crows are on a mission and your soulmate mark starts burning

All rights go to Leigh Bardugo, Netflix, and you! I just own the plot!

Soulmates are the bane of my existence.

You can say otherwise, tell me that I live in a wonderful world to have a chance to even meet my true love or whatever. Personally, I think it's bullshit.

Come on! Most people probably don't even meet their soulmate because the whole system is stupid! Maybe it was different billions of years ago when people couldn't have the same initials but now it's not about the initials.

It's about the pain.

Knowing the initials is just a slight sign to help you along your journey. The pain where those initials are is what it really is.

When your soulmate is hurt or in danger you mark will burn. Depending on the level of how much pain or danger they will be in it could feel like a mosquito bite... Or feel like your getting stabbed multiple times.

In my opinion well really... I don't give two fucks about it. It is what it is but the worst part about soulmate marks is when the person dies.

So when your soulmate is going to die, or is VERY close to death your soulmate mark fill start to flicker. Apparently it's worse then the normal pain you face with soulmates. When the person dies though...

In the case that your soulmate dies, the mark will slowly fade away causing you excruciating pain that could last YEARS. (Dramatic I know.)

That's what I used to think anyways.

When my sister finally escaped the menagerie I was ecstatic, but then she got dragged into the whole 'ice court heist,' so that was fun. In the time that everything happened I eventually got dragged down with her when Ketterdam was on lock down looking for criminals.

Then I found my soulmate.

Kaz fucking Brekker. Or Kaz Rietveld would be more correct, I guess.

After the whole heist was finally over we decided that fine, we could bond and we did. Being us, we didn't tell anyone not to stir up trouble, (we both had enemies) and because Inej Ghafa was my sister. Her and the others would be very protective of me.

Not like they can stop me though.

"Y/n." I snapped my head to look up to Kaz and he raise's an eyebrow at me.

"Don't kill Pekka." I roll my eyes at him. Since Kaz did tell me about his past I told him if he wouldn't kill Pekka I would.

Or at least his son.

I sigh. "Fine but don't expect me to give him a fucking birthday present."

"I never said you had too." Kaz says blankly and I almost grit my teeth together at the thought of Kaz having no emotions. Wow, people really don't know him. Though I guess that's the point.

The Crows and I start walking towards the warehouse-club and Kaz walks with me step by step. That must means he's worried because most times he doesn't even look at me when we're on a job to not show weakness.

Shit.

I brush my hand quickly up against Kaz's gloved ones and I give him a nod.

A promise.

A promise to make it out alive as long as he does. I step back and lower my pace so I'm not leading with Kaz anymore and I fall into pace with Inej and Nina.

My mind goes to when Kaz found out I was his soulmate. I had found out on when he went on a mission one time and I just... Didn't tell him.

*Flashback*

The walls of the Crow club all the sudden become suffocating as I stare intently at Kaz. I spin on my heels and dash out the doors tears filling my eyes. I don't even know where I'm running, I just needed to escape out of the Crow Club.

I need to escape the disappointment.

I slide down onto the wall of the alleyway feeling like a fool. How could I have ever thought someone like Kaz could love me. Regardless of the soulmate mark he didn't even know about.

I sense a someone is in front of me and I go to lift my head up and a man has me at gun point. I go to grab my knives. Shit. I curse every saint ever in existence. They aren't there. I don't even have a gun.

Bare fists I guess it is for me.

We turn in a circle and he clicks the safety off his gun and in a split second I duck when I hear a short, boom!

I growl in pain as a bullet goes through my shoulder and he goes to shoot again and...

BANG!

The man drops dead to the floor.

I turn around and behind me is Kaz holding a gun, but his face is in pain and worry is there as well, spread across his face more plainly then I had ever seen before.

"Your my soulmate." He mutters and I barely hear it. My chest heaves and I just nod my head not being able to speak.

He come's over and pause's right in front of me, just a foot away. Slowly, he takes off his gloves and he nervously takes my hand and laces our fingers together.

Then we start walking back to the Crow Club.

To a new future. Together.

*Flashback over*

"What do you even have against Pekka Rollins anyways, Y/n?" Inej questions me as we speed-walk to the warehouse where some Dime Lions are stirring up trouble.

My brain scrabbles to put something together but I have always been a efficient liar. No offense to my sister she's fantastic at what she does, but lying had never really been her thing.

"Rollins is a barrel boss." I shrug my shoulders seemingly uncaring even though there is so much more layers to it. But I guess I'm not lying.

Yet.

"So is Kaz." Nina points out but I already planed for that response.

"And we're dregs. Pekka is a big barrel boss, he scares off people from coming to the dregs. It's a problem and it's getting on our ass's." I grumble.

"I didn't know it mattered to you that much." Inej states. I wanted to scream in her face. He killed Kaz's brother! He almost killed Kaz! He creates monsters where ever he goes and tries to control them like caged lab rats! But I couldn't do that, so furiously I snap at her.

"Well it should to me, it's my job."

Nina and my sister both look at me weirdly, oh crap. They don't know I have basically the same authority as Kaz. Fuck.

*Flashback*

"Why give me a promotion? Isn't there other people who could use it? Who would do better than me?" I ask Kaz as he goes through the papers on his desk.

"I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it." He looks up to me and starts to get out of his desk. He goes to the door but before he can open it I grab his arm.

"I basically have the same power over the dregs that you do. I don't think that's a good thing."

Kaz just shrugs his shoulders and opens the door.

"What's a king without his queen Y/n?"

*Flashback over*

"Wait what?" Nina asks confused.

At least it goes off the topic of me hating Pekka Rollins with everything I have. Internally I sigh at my foolishness, I had only accepted Kaz's request recently, so no one really knew who was helping him out all the time.

*Flashback*

"Nemesis." The man whispers as I circle around him using the blinding light and the darkness to my advantage.

"Yes, and I get to decide if you live or die. Tell me, did you kill that little girl - Oh what was her name? Sarah was it?" I say loudly my voice confident and dangerous.

"No-no!" The sleaze ball yells and I throw one of my knives at his hand. The knife goes through his hand sticking it to the wall. The man screams out in pain.

"Liar." I hiss.

"Fine! Fine! I killed her!" He manages to scream out. "I killed her." He sobs as he says those three words again.

"Good." I say as I secretly pull a knife out behind my back into my right hand.

"I will grant you mercy." I whisper into his ear.

"Oh thank you!" The man sobs. "Thank you!"

I quickly slit his throat and he chokes on his blood for a few second and horror frames his face, before he falls to the ground.

Dead.

I hear a click of a cane and I whip my head around to face the one and only Dirtyhands.

"You know killing him was accepting my offer, right?"

"I know." I don't have to look at him to know a small smile that has become reversed for me, is sitting on his face.

Then I remember what he said to me when he first gave the offer. I turn to face him as I try to hide my smirk, and I look at him right in the eye.

"My Crow king."

And I turned and walk away.

*Flashback over*

"Well-" I start to say but I'm cut off from Jesper's very excited 'we're here!' Thank the saints though, because it gives me time to escape they're questions for now.

"You all know the plan."

Nina puts her hands on her hips. "Only the parts you deem important enough for us to know."

I nearly snort and a small smile grace's my lips. They really have no idea, well obviously some idea being that the ice court heist existed.

Kaz rolls his eyes and makes a go motion.

Inej goes to slip through the shadows but before she's totally gone I make eye contact with her before she leaves. It clearly says our conversation is not over and stay safe.

I suck in a breath, I always hate it when I have to say goodbye to anyone. Especially when that some person could die.

Running over to back of the warehouse, I pull my hood up trying to be the most concealed that I can be.

Wylan is going with Jesper to go make a distraction so they'll be going through the front doors. Nina will be going to go flirt to go get some extra info, perhaps steal some things on the way and wiggle her way into the top floor where the Dime Lions are. Matthias and Kaz will be going together with them posing as the warehouse-club guards. Inej will be going through the roof, while I'll be going through the back.

In the end everyone will get to the top floor so we can exterminate some Dime Lions, and get into the vault where a whole bunch of kruge is. Hopefully there will be enough so I can put my share's with Inej's so she can get that upgrade on her boat that she needs. It's not like I'm going to use the money to do anything useful, she deserved it and plus I intended to stay with this city.

I silently slide sneakily into the window, coming out of the other end with a knife in my hands. If I have learned one thing from living in Ketterdam, it's that you can never be too prepared.

I stay close to the wall as I see someone roll down the rope-ladder. I grin to myself,

Right on time Inej.

I climb up the ladder without fear of falling down even if the ladder was just made out of rope. I get to the top and Inej offers me a hand and I take it.

The top floor is basically empty except for some Dime Lions henchmen that are laying around, dead or knocked out.

Then, I guess there is also the vault full of kruge.

I look around the room everyone is here except for-

Kaz.

"Where's Kaz?"

Matthias looks a bit uncomfortable and guilty as he shifts nervously on his two feet.

"He said he had to take care of something and to just go."

I sigh, well I know he isn't in danger... Yet. My heart is screaming for me to go after him, but it wouldn't look good for Dirtyhands or Nemesis. Knowing Kaz he's probably fine, he would just want me to open this vault I guess.

The fact that my soulmate mark isn't burning is probably also a clear sign that he's fine.

Get yourself together Y/n.

"Can we open the vault without him?"

The others look mildly surprised at my response (excluding Nina, and my sister).

"You might be able to do it, your one of the best lock pickers there is. Only second to Brekker." Nina states.

I bit my lip and start to walk over to the vault. I let my hand fall over the lock. I let it feel the certain gears and the parts that make up the lock.

The shank of the lock would be easy enough to undo with some man strength to help pull that open. Though that would be the last step - I need to stop thinking too far ahead.

It's a very simple lock that any petty thief could probably do in 32 seconds flat. Besides the fact that it was absolutely ginormous to fit over a fucking vault.

"Inej I'm going to need some help!" I yell across the room to my sister who is in the shadows on a look out, to make sure no ones coming here.

She comes and strolls over to stand beside me. I put my hand up the lock, and I grab one bar and I move it to the side but I hold it there with my hands.

"Can you find the bar to the left and pull it up once?"

Inej does and I hear a huge click! ring through the room.

"We should wait for Kaz till we open it." Inej states and I nod my head in agreement.

"So while we wait." Nina start's talking... Oh no, that can't be good. "We should maybe share the fact that Y/n is Kaz's second hand!"

Angry courses of what! come throughout the room.

"The fuck does Kaz think with putting you in all that danger!" Jesper yells and I see Matthias nod along with him.

"I'm already in danger most of the times I'm Inej's sister!"

"You should have told us!" Nina shoots back.

"You guys are really talking about this while were on a heist!" I shoot back.

My soulmate mark starts to tingle a bit but I ignore it, being that this conversation will most likely take a lot of energy.

"It still puts you in unnecessary danger." Inej and Wylan point out.

Fury rakes through my body. Who are they to tell me that's it's 'dangerous'?! I live in fucking Ketterdam!

"I don't know if you haven't noticed, but I'm not a doll! I can take care of myself! And you can't say anything because 60% percent of you guys don't even fucki- Ahhh!" A string of curse leave my mouth as I collapse against the vault.

"Y/n!"

To be continued...

Words 2480

-thedelusionreaderbitch

Shadow and bone taglist: @kaqua @rika90 @thefandomplace

[coco96]

LDAF - JB Romantic

Bare Left Arms (Bucky Barnes X Fem!Reader) Request: ... people have the names of their platonic soulmates on their left wrist/arm and the names of their romantic soulmates on their right wrist/arm ... R has REALLY long list of platonic soulmates ... Bucky ... isn’t on her left arm list, he assumes that it’s because he’s unlovable ... when Bucky fully lets her in for the first time ... then they get each other’s names on their right wrist ...

Losing Almost Everything (Clint Barton X Daughter!Reader) TRIGGER WARNING: ATTEMPTED SELF HARM Other warnings: Spoilers for Infinity War, death Request: Clint barton’s oldest daughter from a previous relationship. She’s enganged to bucky when the snap happens and goes into a deeper depression when she finds out from her dad and natasha that laura and her siblings were dusted and clint and natsha both stop her from harming herself just in time.

Old Thoughts (Bucky X Daughter!Reader) Warnings: Coming out, mention of homophobia and not being accepted, yelling Request: Hi! Would I be able to request a Bucky x daughter where he finds out she’s a lesbian and maybe isn’t so accepting of it at first but at the end he’s understanding/accepting and just rlly fluffy? If you don’t want to do it it’s totally fine

Anniversary announcements (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Mentions of past abusive relationship and swearing. Request: … Bucky and the reader has been dating for a long time and one day they discuss for something stupid and Bucky move his arms in a strange way and the reader gets scared (because of the movement, not because she is affraid of him) and Bucky gets very sad and the reader try to explain him that she is not affaid? Like a lit angst with fluff. Hope you could understand it..

I’m Here (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Claustrophobia, panic attacks Request: Can you write one where Bucky and the reader are ok with each other but there’s some tension thrown around? Tony decides to make them work out what ever it is and lock them in a small room together. The room ends up being too small for the reader and she falls to the floor hyperventilating and Bucky tries to snap her out of it while cussing out stark cause he knows they’re on speaker.

Inspiration (Bucky Barnes X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Mention of past serious accident Request: … Bucky Barnes x reader where she was recently recruited after him and she has a similar prosthetic leg or something (you pick) and they bond over their prosthetics? Thank you so much!! 💕

You Should Know (Bucky X Male!Reader) Warnings: Bucky’s past Request: Hey! Could you please write a Bucky x male reader one shot where they’ve been dating for a while but the reader doesn’t know that he’s dating the Winter Soldier so Bucky tells him? Maybe some angst and fluff?

Bad Day (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: minor swearing once Request: … reader has had a really rough day at work and is really frustrated and when she comes home Bucky accidentally makes a joke that just sets her off? Can it please be really fluffy at the end? Thanks in advance!

Sisterly Assistance (Bucky X Male!Reader) Request: Can I request a Bucky x T’Chala’s!Brother!Reader where Reader is older than Shuri but younger than T’Chala… He was taking care of Bucky with Shuri, and developed a crush on the White Wolf… He decides to tell Shuri about it and she plays match maker with them, because she knows that Bucky likes her brother, too…

Good Enough (Bucky Barnes X Asexual!Reader) Warnings: Self-consious reader Request: An asexual gender neutral reader x bucky where the reader breaks down bc they think they arent enough for bucky? Xx

Movies (Steve X Fem!Reader X Bucky) Request: … Just where they’re all just snuggling together with the reader between the both of anthem because she’s the smallest + they’re talking about stuff thats been going on with the avengers; theyre all just really comfortable with each other + care about each other a lot. …

I Still Love You (Bucky Barnes X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Spoilers of Civil War Request: With the stark reader and Bucky one, can you do where he blames himself for the death of readers and Tony’s parents, but she still loves him, even though Tony doesn’t allow it. Eventually Tony and reader have a heart to heart and gives her his blessing. Bucky puts aside his guilt?

Learning To Love (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Request: … Bucky and the reader are in love but he avoid her because he hasnt remember how to be with a girl. So the reader confronts him and he tolds her that he is affraid of hurting her and fluff (love your fic, your amazing) <3

Part Of The Family. (Bucky X Tomboy!Reader X Reader)     |     Part 2 Request: Could you write something where Steve and Bucky live in a house and they have a spare room and put an ad out for a roommate? Reader is a college student with a crude sense of humor and she takes the room. She thinks farting and burping are hilarious and on weekends the 3 of them get together with lots of beer and sports on the tv. Because she’s one of the guys they say she’s the best roommate to ever have.

Pretty Woman (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Mention of cat-calling Request: … Bucky x reader by the song “Oh Pretty Woman"by Roy Orbison?

Late Night Truth or Dare (Bucky X Reader) Warnings: Alcohol and drinking Request: … the avengers with reader play to thruth or dare (they had been drinking so its more funny) and they said funny things until they ask bucky and he confess he is in love with the reader, and all ask them to kiss? …

I Can’t Leave You Here. (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Drug mentions, prostitution mentions Request: ... Bucky is dating a ‘normal’ girl but she’s never taken him to her place cause she’s embarrassed that she’s very low income? One day he follows her home and realizes how bad off she really is so he asks her to move in with him at the tower?

I Can’t (Steve X Fem!Reader X Bucky) Request: … ‘Having a secret crush on both Steve and Bucky’ would include and I was wondering if you could do an imagine based on that with fluff and angst maybe where they try to make her choose and she gets upset and doesn’t choose so she ends up with either neither of them or both of them. Thanks in advance.

Starbucks (Bucky X Male!Reader) Request: … reader is a barista at Starbucks. When the reader is on his lunch break, he’s meets Bucky for the first time after offering him a seat at his table (because all the tables were full). They hit it off really well and become good friends. Later on, Reader notices that Bucky starts coming to have coffee whenever reader is on break so they can hang out.

Memories In A Nightmare (Bucky X Male!Reader) Warnings: Nightmares, harm to character. Request: ... reader who has pretty galaxy/space powers calming down his boyfriend bucky? Extra fluffy! Maybe in his mindwahsed state bucky hurts the reader but reader judt loves bucky and is like no this isnt u!

A little Persuasion (Bucky X Reader) Warnings: Angry/ upset Bucky, flirting, jealousy. Request:  ... Bucky is in love with the reader but wont confess, so Pietro flirts with the reader trying to make Bucky jealous and it works out, and Bucky confronts Pietro in front o the reader and lot of fluff?

Surprise! (Avengers X Reader) Warnings: Sad emotions Request: … reader thinks everyone forgot their birthday but they were just planning a surprise party for them? …

Finally Complete (Bucky X Wife!Reader) Warnings: Infertility Request: ... They’re married and she finds out she can’t have a baby. So him and tony (her big brother) go adopt a little girl to surprise her. She gets in from work to see her super soldier snuggled up to a 4 yr old girl. She jumps up extremely excited and asks if your her new mommy. Reader is so happy she’s in tears.

Liebling (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Request: ... the Avengers make fun of the reader because she’s german and one day she pretends to insults them in german but actually she gives them cute nicknames? Maybe some Bucky x reader because he knows he’s got a special nickname? ...

I Brought Flowers (Bucky X Reader) Warnings: Mentions of PTSD and illness Request: Bucky X Reader

I’ll Kill Him (Avengers X Fem!Reader)    |     Part 2 Warnings: Mentions of Domestic abuse. Request: Reader is the Avenger’s assistant and like a little sister to them, and one day she doesn’t come into work and Bucky goes to her house to make sure she’s OK and finds out she’s in an abusive relationship and helps her.

Sleep (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Warnings: Mention of violence and fighting Request: ... reader kinda acts like a cat and is constantly tired, no matter how much sleep she gets! ... the reader have aerokinesis ...

Unfortunate Reunion (Bucky Barnes X Reader) Warnings: Spoilers of CW, Black Panther, swearing and death of character Request: Bucky angst here, maybe a break up? Or a reunion years later after a break up? Maybe reader death? Thanks!

New Member (Bucky X Fem!Reader) Request: ... Bucky x mutant reader? Maybe she has fire powers? She’s very shy when she first goes to compound too ...

[kelelamentia]

The String that Binds Us

The String that Binds Us

This my try at a soulmate fic

@ozmav

 Wayne Enterprise:

 Marinette and her class were on a field trip to Wayne Enterprise in Gotham, she was lingering at the back to avoid Lila and her sheep; Marinette want no part in that thank you, but she could still hear them talking.

“There have been so many people and celebrities wanting to be on the other end of my string.”  Lila boasted.

A string is a glowing red thread that leads from one person’s heart to their soulmates; it will appear when the soulmates are close to each other and gently tug them together. When Marinette was younger, she her string would lead her to Adrien.  Looking back Marinette realizes she dodged a bullet.

“Heck even Damian Wayne said he wished it was me!”

“I have no doubt Lila, you are awesome!” Alya praised.

Lila voice carried through the hall, gain the attention off many people outside her classmates; people Lila wished never heard her.  Marinette just rolled her eyes and kept quiet; anyone worth their salt would never want Lila to be on the other end of their string.  Just as Lila was boasting about something else; she felt a tug on her heart. Marinette looked at her chest; it was her string!  

It gave a couple more gentle tugs, Marinette taking a couple steps with each tug, before it full out DRAGGED her to where it wanted to be!

“AH!”  Marinette yelled, as she was hauled in one direction.

Marinette’s yelp drew her classmate’s attention to her; so they were witnesses to her be towed away be her string, not that anyone reacted.  No one has ever seen a string react so strongly before, so how could they?

As Marinette ran; trying to keep up with her strings pace, she passed 2 men in suits; nearly running into them.  They seemed to be making their way to her class.

“Sorry!  I don’t know where I’m going!!!!”  Marinette shrieked, as she passed them.

Marinette’s first obstacle in her run to her soulmate was a door; an ‘Employee Only’, that needed a special key to get in.

“Crud!”

“Hang on little lady, I got your back!”  Came a male voice from behind.

It was one of the two men she nearly ran over; he bolted passed her and unlocked the door, holding it open for her as well.  Marinette thanked him as she stumbled past.

“Thank you!”

“You’re not leaving me behind Miss!  Someone has to make sure you don’t run into anymore doors!”  

“Thank –Whoa!” Another hard tug from her string cut Marinette off.

Once the door was closed, the second man finished making his way to the stunned class; he introduced himself to the teacher.

“Hello Ms.Bustier?  My name is Bruce Wayne; I just heard one of your students lying loudly about my youngest son and I feel the need to put a stop to it, now.”  Bruce put emphasis on the word ‘now’ while staring hard at Lila.  Lila shrunk into herself; knowing everything she said now going to come into question, Bruce Wayne was nothing but thorough in his questioning.

 With Marinette:

Down 3 long hallways, up three flights of stairs, two more hallways and another two doors, through one very startled business meeting, and now; so far, 10 flights of stairs.  Marinette was getting tired and rather dizzy, thankfully the man that was running with her had a good sense of humor and thought this was hilarious; he also introduced himself as ‘Dick’.

“Why is this taking me all over the place?  And WHY is this place such a maze?!”  Marinette asked, running out of breath and stumbling around because of her string.

“I don’t know why you’re running all over; or why your string is pulling this hard, but this place is a maze because Bruce is weird.”  Dick did his best to answer, breathing still calm and keeping a steady pace.

“Why couldn’t have it just let me take the elevator; instead of running up, what fifteen sets of stairs now!”

Dick just laughed at Marinette’s comment as they ran down another hallway.

As they ran through more twists and turns Marinette was beginning to wonder when this would end. Just as she thought that, she collided with another body, hard, giving her only a moment to brace for impact.

“Ouch.” Marinette said; she ran into a wall of muscle; also clearly male body, so the impact hurt her slightly.

“Oof.” Sounded the person she ran into, obviously not as bother by the hit.

When Marinette had braced herself, she put her hands in front of her, so they were resting on the new person’s chest.  Her soulmate; for that’s what he had to be, ended up wrapping his arms around her.

Something happened with the string right after it finished pulling; the string began to bind them together, winding around them shoulder to ankle; so there was no escape. Marinette couldn’t believe what was happening; neither could her soulmate or the three bystanders.

“I-I’m so s-sorry! I didn’t mean to run into you!  The string just yanked and I couldn’t stop!” Marinette rushed out in one gasp.

Before her soulmate could answer her, there were comments from their audience.

“I can’t believe it! Demon Spawn really does have someone at the end of his string and she’s cute!”

“If I wasn’t seeing this for myself I wouldn’t believe it, the Brat has a soulmate! ...And very active string?”

“Guys watch it, we don’t want to scare the Little Lady off before she’s properly introduced do you?”

“Shut up you idiots, you’re not wanted here.”  Marinette felt more than heard from the chest she was pressed against.

Marinette knew it, she made her soulmate upset!  She needed to find a way to fix it.  Red in the face Marinette started to ramble.

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to…”  Marinette was cut off by her soulmate.

“I don’t mean you Miss; I meant our stupid unwanted peanut gallery.”

“That not nice little D, I help get her to you.”

“Shut up Grayson.”

“Umm…”  Marinette interrupted, bringing their attention to her. “Hi, I’m Marinette…”

“Hello Marinette, I’m Damian and apparently we’re soulmates.”  Damian introduced.

“Apparently?  Really Demon Spawn, you two are literally tied together with your sting; that’s more of a definitely.”

“Timmy’s right you know.”

“Shut up Todd, Drake!”

“Guys please introduce yourself before she just deems you all dangerous.”  Dick tried.

 “Fine Dicky-Bird, hi Rosie-cheeks; I’m Jason.”  Jason greeted.

“And I’m Tim, we’re Damian’s brothers; along with Dick, sorry if we made you uncomfortable.”  Tim apologized.

“It’s fine! It’s just a lot happened in such a short period and my string dragging me around was really confusing.”  Marinette explained.

Jason and Tim started laughing.

“We know, watching Damian get towed around like he was on a leash was hilarious.”  Jason cackled.

“Yeah, seeing him get dragged from his desk was hysterical!” Tim snickered.

Marinette felt Damian growl and looked up at his face; he was turning pink.

“Shut up.”  Damian commanded, looking like he wanted to hurt his brothers.

Marinette wanted to sooth Damian’s ire.

“Damian,” Marinette drew his attention. “I did much more embarrassing things than you; I got pulled away from my class, nearly bowled over Dick and the person he was with, almost ran into about four doors, up like twenty flights of stairs, and disrupted a board meeting.  I think I did worse than you.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Grayson, did she really do all that?” Damian questioned Dick.

“Yup, I’m surprized she’s not more tired really.”

“Are you hurt?” Damian asked, focusing on Marinette.

“What?  No, I’m fine.”  Marinette answered confused.

“Are you sure?  That must not have been an easy run.”

“It wasn’t bad Damian, I promise.”

“If you’re sure Marinette.”

“I’m sure.”

“Look as cute as your conversation is, you two are still tied together; how do you plan on getting out it?”  Tim inquired.

Marinette blinked at Tim and looked back at Damian.

“I…Don’t know. I’ve never heard about a string doing this at all.”  Marinette conceded, wiggling around; only to stop when she noticed was kind of rubbing herself against Damian.

Damian turned a little pink from Marinette’s movements, but his best not to let his brothers know. Tim walked around the pair; occasionally pulling at the string, trying to see if it would give, making observations.

“This is really interesting; this has to be the first record of a string dragging people together instead of the tug and the first record of tying them up!”

Again everyone fell into silence, unsure how remedy the issue; until Jason spoke up.

“Why don’t they kiss?”

“WHAT?!”  Damian and Marinette yelled as one.

“You guys have any better ideas?”

Damian and Marinette turned bright red, but couldn’t argue with Jason.

“B-But, you guys are watching…”  Marinette whimpered.

“The Lady is right; we should leave and let them have their moment together.”  Dick stated, corralling Tim and Jason to a nearby exit.

Marinette and Damian were left alone, quiet and embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about my brothers Marinette; they live to humiliate me.”

“That wasn’t too bad Damian…”

Damian cleared his throat.

“We should at least try Todd’s idea.”

“Right, sure, of course, but I…This is…I mean…”  Marinette tried.

Damian blinked at the girl he was bound to.

“Are you saying that you’ve never been kissed?”

“Yes.”  Marinette whispered.

“But how?!  You’re beautiful!”  Damian exclaimed, having been shocked by this revelation.

“I-I-I-I-I” Marinette stammered, turning even brighter.

“Forgive me for my forwardness Marinette, but it’s true; you are beautiful.”

“T-Thank you Damian.”

“You’re welcome my Dear, but we really should try to get out of the string now.”

“Right.”

There was some awkward moving and wiggling; they stood at two different heights, but eventually they got close enough to kiss. When their lips finally met Marinette expected the electrifying spark that should come with a soulmates kiss, what she didn’t expect was the warm, comforting feeling that wrapped around her; making her heart sigh in contentment and her very being say ‘Oh, there you are; hello.’

When Damian and Marinette pulled away from each other the string was gone.   During the kiss Marinette had moved her hands from Damian’s chest to around his neck; causing a more intimate embrace between the two.

“I should get back to my class…” Marinette breathed without any conviction.

“True, perhaps you would be willing to join me from dinner tonight?  I would enjoy getting to know you Marinette.”

“I would like that too Damian, but I think I’m going to be in trouble for running away for the class; soulmate string or not.”

“Don’t worry, my brothers more than likely have…handled the situation with your class.”

Marinette tilted her head in confusion.

“If you say so Damian.”

“Let me walk you back?” Damian asked holding out his arm.

“It would be a pleasure Damian.”  Marinette said intertwining their arms.

Together they walked back to the entrance, back to Marinette’s class, but into a new beginning for them.

End

That was The String that Binds Us

 Also

 Extra:

With the class at the hotel, after the tour and Lila getting called out by Bruce:

Alya – SHE WAS LYING THE WHOLE TIME!!!!!

Nino –Babe please…

Adrien – Come on guys, Lila couldn’t have done that; her lies weren’t hurting anyone.

Alya – WHAT!  NOT HURTING ANYONE?!  THAT WITCH HAS COST ME MY REPUTATION AS A REPORTER!  NO WONDER PEOPLE STOPPED FOLLOWING ME THEY SAW THE LIES!

Nino – Bro, what do you mean by ‘her lies weren’t hurting anyone’ did you know she was lying?!

Adrien – Umm…

Alya – You-You-You-Grrr. Did anyone else know!

Adrien – Marinette did.

Nino - *Suddenly getting* She tried to warn us…Dude why didn’t you back her up if you knew!

Adrien – Well Lila wasn’t hurting anyone and Marinette was the one to provoke her to getting worse.

Alya – Not hurting anyone?  She hurt me and ruined my rep, she led the rest of the class on about all the things she has done and PROMISED!  HOE IS THAT NOT HURTING ANYONE?!

Adrien – Wait a minute…

Nino - *Interrupts* We were CUREL TO MARINETTE!  WE ACTED LIKE BULLIES AND YOU LET US!

Adrien - *Has no response to that*

 Extra 2:

Jason and Damian are alone:

Jason – So?  Did you enjoy your soulmate rubbing on you?

Dami - *Spit take* TODD!

 Extra 3:

Damian and Marinette at a restaurant:

Marinette – I just realized I never gave you my full name; I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Damian – I’m Damian Wayne.

Marinette -*Oblivious* Like Bruce Wayne’s son?

Damian - *Now knowing Marinette cares more for him than a name* Yes Marinette, has anyone told you that you are a wonderful girl?  Because you are.

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

The smell of freshly baked bread

There’s mention of a minor character's death in this section and talking about said character’s death. There’s a bit of my autobiographical information in this section as well.

It was a shit day all around. He had a rough day at work, he discovered he had a flat tire when he got out of work, and him and his boyfriend had had a fight earlier that morning about something stupid.

So he found solitude in the kitchen making one of his favorite things in the entire world - homemade bread. His nana had let him help her in the kitchen from a young age. He officially made his first loaf, from start to finish, when he was 9. Whenever he was down, the smell of fresh baked bread always comforted him. It was also the clue for any of his friends that something was wrong.

“What’s going on Race?” Jack took a seat at the kitchen table with a glass of lemonade. “And don’t say nothin’ - you’re making bread.”

He sighed, a smudge of flour on his cheek. “It’s been a shit day, Jack.”

“Care to elaborate?” Jack gave him a look, his baby brother was easily read and he had some idea what was wrong.

Kneading the dough, Race channeled his anger into the dough. “Had a fight with Spot this morning about something stupid, work was shit and I had a flat tire. I’m just done with this day.”

“And so you’re making bread.” Jack sighed, watching him work. “Wanna talk about it?”

Race quickly buttered a bowl, throwing the bread into it to rise. He washed his hands before joining Jack at the table. “What if Spot and I aren’t meant to be together?”

“Spot loves you Race and you love him.” The concern for his brother showed on Jack’s eyebrows. “Is this because of one fight?”

Race shook his head. “There’s been many little fights. There’s times we pick a fight just to do so. I’m exhausted by it.”

“Do you want to break up with Spot?” Jack asked quietly, looking at Race for any signs.

The tears were in his eyes before Jack could say another word. “God no, Jackie. He’s my soulmate and I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“So you love him, that’s good. Now we just have to figure out why you’re picking fights.” Jack took a sip of lemonade. “When was the last time you two had a date?”

Race looked at the fridge. There was a calendar that they kept track of all important dates. He moved to grab it before flipping through it. Four months, it had been four months since they had a date.

“Plan something, Race. Surprise him - take him out on the town. Do something coupley. Spend some time with each other outside of this house.” Jack gave him a look. “Has anything changed in the last four months?”

Race shrugged. “We’ve both gotten busier with work. We try to spend the weekends together but there’s always something.”

“Start making your relationship a priority. You two need to talk to one another and be aligned to what you want to do. Yes, your friends will all still be here but your relationship with Spot comes first before anything else.” Jack gave him a look, before looking over his shoulder. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Jack made his exit, stopping to pat Spot on the back. Race moved to put the dough in the bread pans before putting them in the oven and setting a timer. He looked at Spot with a sad smile. “Wanna talk?”

Spot nodded. “Let me change first. How about you grab us a beer and meet on the patio?”

Race grabbed the beers, stepping onto the patio, fussing with his phone while he waited. He gave Spot a small smile as he took a seat and sipped at his beer. “So how much of that did you hear?”

“Enough to know that you don’t want to break up.” Spot sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry Race for yelling’ at you this morning but I almost never see you anymore and if I do, we’re out with friends.”

Race took a sip, agreeing with him. “I’m sorry for yelling back at you. The moment I heard your anger, I just got defensive. Did ya know it’s been 4 months since we had a proper date?”

“That’s far too long.” Spot sighed. “So what do we do?”

Race held his hand out for Spot. “We start making us a priority. Date night at least once a week, we alternate planning them. We both agree when we go out.”

“And we talk more.” Spot paused. “I know things have been shit with both our jobs, but we need to start talking more. I’ll talk with Itchy about changing my hours -  being home earlier and spending more time with you.”

With Race as a teacher, he was home by 4pm everyday while Spot, being a mechanic, didn’t get home until 6pm or later.

Race blinked back the tears. “I promise to talk things out with you before we each lose our cool.”

“I promise to start planning dates for us to just be a couple.” Spot squeezed his hand.

“This sounds like we’re making wedding vows.” Race chuckled. “I promise to ask before making plans for us.”

“And I promised to attempt to make dinner once a week for us.” Spot grinned.

Race shook his head. “Do you want to kill me?”

“I promised to only make grilled cheese, cereal, or French Toast on the nights I make dinner.” Spot amended with a chuckle. “I promise to leave the complicated dinners to you.”

Race grinned. “I promise to make sure you’re well fed and happy.”

“I promise to cuddle with you on the bad days and make you laugh on the good days.” Spot murmured, rigging Race closer to him. “And I promise to love you forever and always.”

Race’s face softened as some of the tears escaped, running tracks down his face. “And I promised to love you forever and always. Kiss me, Spot!”

Putting his hands on Race’s cheeks, Spot closed the distance and kissed him. They had a mini makeout session on the patio until Race’s timer went off. Pulling away with a groan, Race sighed. “Hold that thought for 2 minutes.”

He ran inside, taking the bread out of the oven, inhaling deeply. His favorite scent in the entire world. He took the bread out of the pans, letting them cool on a cooling rack. He sliced two pieces from a loaf, smearing butter on them before going back into the patio. “Peace offering.”

“Should I start pissing you off more so I can have homemade bread?” Spot asked, biting into his piece. “This is amazing, Race.”

Race shrugged. “‘My nana would always pull me into the kitchen and make bread with me. It’s a comfort thing. I’ll start making it more if you want.”

“I never knew that about you.” Spot smiled. “What else would she bake?”

Race chuckled. “It’s almost easier to tell you what she wouldn't make. She would often visit us and she’d be in the house for 10 minutes and would immediately start making something - bread, dinner, cinnamon rolls - Spot she was an amazing cook and she made everything with love.”

Squeezing his hand, Spot smiled at Race. “That’s fantastic you have these great memories of her.”

“Yea. It really is.” He cleared his throat. “She passed away when I was 11 - lung cancer. I was actually thinking about her as I made the bread. Wondering what we’d talk about or how she’d love me as an adult. I only got her for 11 years. There was a long time that I resented my older family members and parents for getting more time with her. But I realized she lives on in her recipes and memories.”

Spot smiled sadly. “She would be so damn proud of you snookums. I’m so damn proud of you. You keep her alive by continuing to make her recipes and talking about her. She lives in you.”

“Nicely done, quoting The Lion King.” Rave laughed, wiping away the tears. “Thanks for listening.”

Spot leaned over and wiped his tears away. “I’ll always listen, Race. Sometimes we just gotta slow down and just talk. I promise I’ll always listen when you want to talk and talk when you want to listen.”

“I promise I’ll always listen when you want to talk and talk when you want to listen.” Race repeated, taking Spot’s hand in his and squeezing it. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Racetrack Higgins.” Pulling him in, he kissed him gently with a smile.

This one slightly got away from me - almost 1500 words. Thanks for reading! This one is very near and dear to my heart!! Any feedback or comments would be especially appreciated and loved.

Thank you @wide-eyed--wonderer for sending this in!!

[denbroughism]

━━  𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

It’s Lilia Barber ( @jaedenphy​ ) day and guess who’s making a fanfic masterlist for her?? That’s right, me! Okay, so I gathered together a bunch of fics I’ve read and considering that you’ve read the fics I sent you, some of these fics you’ve read before but are still godly. List under the cut for length purposes <3

My comments and reviews may contain spoilers and the ones without a specific chapter count are one-shots :)

The way making this masterlist made me reread the fuck out of so many fics smh

LAST UPDATED: 1 August 2020

Bill Denbrough / Richie Tozier

"Game Over, Bitch” by sweetpeacheddie | General

Richie plans a surprise date with Bill, but it doesn't quite go according to plan...

MY COMMENTS: smug Bill? yes. the Bill in this fic made me grin like an idiot just from how sneaky and attractive this little piece of shit is. Richie being soft and scared about Bill not having a good time is so adorable and the way Bill used it against him made me go jsjjdjsjd

Twister by @antisociallilbrat | Teen

Fluffiness, tongue twisters, and making out

MY COMMENTS: it’s short but still adorable idc idc. fics about love interests helping Bill with tongue twisters is adorable in itself and the flirting and the teasing in this fic made me scream from how cute they are pls

The Cruel Irony of Sunshine by @theflirtmeister​ | Teen

That’s when Richie spots him.

Leaning against one of the ridiculous fake palm trees, clearly not listening to the conversation he’s caught in, is Bill Denbrough in the fucking flesh. Richie could have picked him out from a hundred yards away, with his floppy hair, perfect eyebrows and jawline that could cut crystal.

Richie hates everything about him.

MY COMMENTS: the reason why i want to write bichie fanfics. the amount of angst and fluff mixed with longing and pining is godtier. the way they fell apart because of a fight and the first thing they do when they meet—after pining and longing mixed with anger—is fight made me cry :’)

Disciplinary Action by Apuzzlingprince | Explicit

He simply sat down on the end of Bill’s bed and patted a knee. Bill stared at him, uncomprehending.

“Bill,” said Richie, gesturing for him to come closer. “Pants down, over my knees.”

Bill balked. “Wait, s-seriously?”

Bill does something stupid and reaps the reward.

MY COMMENTS: i don’t think i’ve sent you this one because i remember i read it on my laptop instead of my phone lmao. this fic is the definition of “i’ll make it up to you with sex” fics but holy fuck this one is good. i remember reading this a while ago and yelling internally because wow this fic is so jsjsj

Dissolve by @wonderwheelzier | Explicit

After eight years of radio silence, Bill Denbrough finds himself at the same Hollywood party as his once best friend, and his first and only love, Richie Tozier. As adolescent memories come flooding back, Bill has to decide what he wants to do with this second chance.

MY COMMENTS: first off, the author is a brilliant writer so let’s put that out. second of all, this fic is 17K words long so that’s really fun. third of all, what the fuck? this fic is amazing and so well written, honestly. the way the pining and the smut were tied together wonderfully just blows my mind. this is such a pretty fic and the way the story ends with Richie leaving and BIll knowing that there’s no going back? that shit HURTED

If Your Love Was Bad for You by @perceabeth​ | Teen

Prompt: angsty unrequited type of situation with a happy and/or bittersweet ending.

MY COMMENTS: i gotta be real with you, i forgot about this fic whoops. but i read the last paragraph and i started heaving. i love this fic but i forgot the title and the way this fic started jsjfjsjf this fic is ends in a bittersweet tone holy fuck. the account on AO3 is an orphaned account, but i found the tumblr user of the author so here ya go

Soulmate AU by @perceabeth​ | Major Character Death

n/a

MY COMMENTS: i still think of this fic to this very day, this fic is the reason why i hate soulmate AUs oh my God. Richie and Bill’s dynamic isn’t too laid out in this fic, but the ending? God, the ending—absolutely wrecked me. I cried and I screamed and I couldn’t function properly after reading this fic. It’s one of the best fics I’ve ever read and deserves all the love you can give. I love this fic, I adore it, read it.

One Week Away by @trash-the-tozier | Teen | 2/2

School is out for spring break, and the Losers are taking a week long trip to visit Beverly in Portland. Could there have been a worse time for Richie to realize that he was in love with his best friend?

MY COMMENTS: I remember sending this to you but reread it. this fic is so soft and adorable my babies istg. Richie pining for Bill while Bill tried to stay away from Richie because he has a crush on him? God-tier trope. Put it in, roll it up, give it to me. The Stanlon in the background and Bev being the cheerleader she is? i love this

What We Built by @sinningtozier​ | Teen

each nail, each plank, the little scratches on the walls and the sloppily carved initials were a testament to them, a testament to their love and what they built.

MY COMMENTS: Soft boys in love that is all. The connections between kisses and hugs and the tears and pain was just adorable. Bill and Richie always being there for each other makes me smile and cry oh my God

Blood Brothers by @fairyling​ | General

bill and richie don’t say they’re dating but they kiss and they fight. their relationship isn’t one that the other’s understand or event try to.

MY COMMENTS: i read this fic once and i still cry about it <3 it’s just a really soft and adorable fic but then the ending made me scream and cry oh my God. Blood Brothers. The way Bill remembers vaguely even as all else fades away just hits hard. i love this fic so damn much and i think you would too

Eye On the Ball by @call-me-eds​ | Mature

Bill tries to cope with his role in his friend group and Richie can’t stand it.

MY COMMENTS: first of all, everyone say thank you to them for making Bichie Week and making fic hunting a gazillion times easier. Second, this fic is amazing i don’t care. the way Bill is so tight and Richie is trying to loosen him up is a concept that would first come to mind when you think of Bichie, but somehow I’ve rarely seen this put to work. This fic is amazing that is all

The Math Tutor by @sinningtozier​ | General | headcanon

georgie needs a math tutor, bill’s strong point is english not math, so his mom hire’s her coworkers son to tutor him three times a week 

MY COMMENTS: look, i know this is a headcanon but lol i love this so much. Bill is so awkward around Richie and i find that hilarious omfg

Like I Do by @thegreatwhiteferret​ | Explicit

Richie is feeling down on himself because of his ADHD and Bill jumps in and tries to teach him to appreciate all of his flaws for how beautiful they are.

MY COMMENTS: I’ve always been a sucker for Richie’s ADHD going feral and his s/o helping him calm down. This fic covers that part along with smut so bonus points on that

Bill Denbrough / Stanley Uris

Ain’t Eez-Eh by simplerplease | Mature | 17/17

Bill gets drunk, texts a number written on the club bathroom wall, regrets it, then falls in love.

MY COMMENTS: deadass the first thing that comes to my mind when anyone says Stenbrough. this fic is iconic and god-tier. I’ve read this a few times and I love it :’) if you haven’t read this fic... wow alright, cool. read it.

All My Little Words by jojenstarked | Teen

Stanley Uris never considered himself a jealous person. That is, until he met Bill Denbrough and suddenly he was jealous of the person getting songs stuck in his head.

Bill Denbrough had always wanted to meet his soulmate. Then he met Stanley Uris and he forgot all about them. All he wanted to do was get him to love him back.

Good thing they're soulmates.

MY COMMENTS: this fic is so adorable and so soft holy fuck i remember crying a bit after reading this from how sweet this fic is, i love this fic sm

More Like Baerista, Am I Right? by @billdensbrough​  | Not Rated

In which Stan is a fake black coffee drinker, Bill really shouldn't be a barista, and the rest of the losers just want them to get together without a counter in-between them.

MY COMMENTS: First off, this fic is 10K words long and contains slow-burn and a lot of pining so there’s that. Other than that, it’s really soft, adorable and fluffy. It’s just a really adorable stenbrough coffee shop AU, truly one of the best coffee shop AUs

Richie Tozier / Stanley Uris

Untouched (Need You So Much) by breathplayed | Explicit | 9/?

Stan Uris could’ve gone his entire life without knowing what Richie Tozier’s dick looked like.

(Or, Richie has a big dick and Stan the Man has a Big Crisis.)

MY COMMENTS: this is the abandoned fic i cried about the other day omfg i can’t believe i started an unfinished fic :’) but either way, this fic is so sexy and hot holy fuck, the pining, everything is godly. Richie singing a song for Stan and Stan being awkward about it?? amazing. last updated in 2018 and ends with a sort of cliffhanger, but still—

Stan My Man! Series by @birdboyinthedeadlights​ | Explicit | 4/4

n/a

MY COMMENTS: bitch you thought i wouldn’t add this fic on this masterlist when it’s the definition of goddamn iconic. you really thought i was going to leave the fic that pushed us both into the Stozier hole? as if. the was the Stozier friendship and dynamic is laid out is wonderful. The banters and the snark along with the lovely fondness is tied perfectly. i love this, you love this, we all love this, i’m dragging you back into the Stan My Man! series hole, you’re welcome <3

I Wanna Hold You Like You’re Mine by @birdboyinthedeadlights​ | Explicit

Stan's hand was moving before he could think better of it, wanting to touch the pleated navy skirt in front of him. God, it looked so soft, it must feel amazing. The whispered drag across his thighs -

“What’re you doin’?”

Stan’s hand froze, looking up at Richie’s unfocused gaze. No aide of glasses to let him see Stan’s heating face in the low light.

“Nothing.”

Richie’s eyes squinted, trying to make out the shapes around him until he looked to where Stan’s hand still hovered. The small inhale and grin let Stan know he didn’t need his vision clear to figure out what was going on. He always did know Stan too well.

“You’d look pretty in that.”

MY COMMENTS: Hello, yes, the author is so great at writing Stozier fics oh my God. The intimacy, the relationship, the pining, the need. Everything about this fic is brilliant. The way Stan wants Richie’s love and Richie wants to give Stan love but they’re both so afraid, so nervous. God, the way they dance around each other and when it’s time to take a dip, they were both to scared. Oh God, I love them so much and this fic ties the intimacy of pining and the ‘friends-with-benefits’ line so well, so perfectly. The mirroring between past and present? I love this and the author is a genius.

I Need You by @childrenofthe80s​ | Teen

Richie Tozier was a mix of emotions. He was absolutely miserable and it was all because of a motherfucking named Stan.

MY COMMENTS: the way the insecurity trope is flipped to Stan being insecure and Richie holding onto him and comforting him just makes me so soft oh my Lord

The Truth is That I Think I’ve Had Enough by @eddieeatsass​ | Explicit

For the first time since Stan developed feelings for his best friend, Richie was finally single on Valentine’s Day, and Stan was fully planning on taking advantage of it. He invited Richie on a camping trip, just wanting one night where he could pretend, but Richie had different plans.

MY COMMENTS: Yo, do you remember this iconic fic? Because I sure as hell do. The camping mixed with the repressed feeling and Richie slamming his head on the tent cover when he tried to strip? Amazing

why not me? by seeingredfics | Mature | 1/?

everything between stan and richie was supposed to be platonic, especially their secret hook-ups and longing stares.

MY COMMENTS: This is unfinished but even the first chapter has a satisfying end to it. Richie is so soft for Stan, Lord Christ and wasted!Stan gives off second-hand embarrassment like no other. But other than that, it’s amazing.

I Guess That's Love by @birdboyinthedeadlights | explicit

Stan shook as Richie held him.

Richie was used to this - used to the damaged boy with his fractured face and shattered soul. Used to playing clean up to his meltdowns and sitting with him through his dissociations. Richie knew he was a burden, wouldn’t ever say it, but Stan knew.

Stan was tired of knowing.

MY COMMENTS: I don't think this author can even write a bad stozier fic, this is so good as well tf? The angst is so wonderfully done and put together with a Stan Uris who's trying his best just mames it perfect

Bill Denbrough / Richie Tozier / Stanley Uris

Not Complete Until There’s Three by @thoughtfullyyoungduck | Not Rated

Mike’s call brings back some memories for Stan, more specifically memories about Stan and Richie. Stan is in for a rough awakening when he comes back to Derry and finds out Richie and Bill are married.

MY COMMENTS: see my reaction here :’) but other than the angst from Stan’s half, the fic is godtier. There isn’t much Stenbroughzier fics out there, but this one is so satisfying and the way everything falls together was simply perfect.

Sk8er Boi by @s-s-georgie | Teen

Stan and Richie are dating. It sucks that Bill likes both of them.

MY COMMENTS: Honestly the first Stenbroughzier fic I’ve ever read. This fic dragged me into the Stenbroughzier mess I’m now dragging you into, but holy fuck. This fic is really adorable and the pining—the lovely, lovely pining. It’s so soft and adorable aside the slight angst that is all

To Make You Feel My Love by @thegreatwhiteferret | Explicit

Stan takes care of his very neglected boys.

MY COMMENTS: i remember finding this fic and falling in love with it immediately. i know it’s on Tumblr somewhere, but I can’t find the author’s Tumblr (if you know, please respond so I can change it) and this fic covers the intimacy and the worry along with the love and fondness. Really cute, really smutty, threesome warning.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Uris by @thegreatwhiteferret​ | Explicit

Stan is always taking care of his boys and making sure they feel loved, so for his birthday Bill and Richie decide to show him how much they love and appreciate him by fulfilling his biggest fantasy.

MY COMMENTS: This is the second part to this series but it’s optional to read the first one. If you read this in order of the list, then you’ve read the first part lmao. 

Soulmate Tattoos AU by @peachyuris​ | Not Rated

stenbroughzier w/ soulmate tattoos!!

MY COMMENTS: The amount of pining here? Godly. Bill misunderstanding the situation? Stan and Richie feeling like something’s missing? I love this, I love them and I know you’ll love it too.

Milkshake Date by @winterstenbrough | Not Rated

stenbroughzier milkshake/diner date?

MY COMMENTS: Insecure!Richie is something used a lot, but never fails to warm my heart whenever his significant other(s) help him out. This fic also covers that aspect and is really soft, babies

[trensu]

Episode 30: The One where LWJ Wishes Jin Zixun Would STFU and Die Already

Okay, so we’re still in Yiling

Non-wangxiantics stuff happens

Unimportant nonsense happens

Ooooh, jc just appeared, looking awesome in purple robes as usual

Turns out he’s helped jyl sneak away so she can show off her wedding robes to wwx!!! And we get some wonderful Yunmeng Sib time!! I LOVE MY YUNMENG SIBS SO MUCH

OMG

Wwx’s face when he sees her in her wedding robes

HIS EYES WELLED UP WITH TEARS. SHE LOOKS SO PRETTY.

Jyl: i’m getting married, i wanted to show you my wedding robes!

wwx:*choked up* yeah, i heard you were getting married…(he’s looks so emotional here omg)

Jc: who told you?! 

(he says this all snappishly bc of course he does, this is jc we’re talking about)

Wwx: None of your business! *scowls*

LOL SO DEFENSIVE, WWX. what’s the matter?? You don’t want to tell your sibs about your recent date with lwj?? How you showed him your home??? hoW YOU DISCOVERED YOU WANTED TO CO-DAD CHILDREN WITH HIM????

Ah, brothers…

Jyl calms them down before they could get too into it tho bc she’s a good big sister and knows her little brothers well

Jyl: i came alone tho, so you can’t see the groom today

Wwx: *pouts* i don’t want to see the groom at all

I can’t get over the way wwx keeps looking at her. HE LOVES HIS SISTER SO MUCH. HE’S SO HAPPY FOR HER

Lol, both of them tell her how beautiful she looks and she’s all it doesn’t count when you guys say it bc you’re my little brothers and it’s my wedding so you have to be nice to me

So now we get the obligatory soup time with the yunmeng sibs

And AHHHHHH, JYL JUST ASKED WWX TO COME UP WITH A COURTESY NAME

And wwx is all, “for who???”

And jc says, for my future nephew!! And he looks so damn pleased and proud when he says it. JC WANTS TO BE AN UNCLE SO BAD me too jc, me too

Wwx: hmmm, well, the next generation for the jin clan is “ru” so how about jin rulan?

Jc: jin rulan? It sounds like the lan clan. Why should a kid of the jiang clan and jin clan be called “rulan”??

Omg jc sounds so offended here; chill out bro

Wwx: it’s not that bad if it’s from the lan clan all right? Lan means orchid, a gentry amongst flowers! ALSO MY SOULMATE IS FROM THE LAN CLAN SO THERE

Wwx sounded all sulky here, like RULAN IS A GREAT NAME, HOW DARE YOU

Jyl cuts in before there could be any bloodshed with, oh yeah, having you come up with the courtesy name was jc’s idea

The look jc gives her is one of utter betrayal like, why’d you have to go and tell him that? HE CAN’T KNOW I WAS BEING NICE TO HIM, GOD.

They all have much more sibling time together but since there’s no more wangxiantics we’re gonna skip over it (EVEN THO IT HURTS ME TO DO SO BC I LOVE MY YUNMENG SIBS AND I WANT TO SEE THEM HAPPY AND TOGETHER FOREVER)

We cut to the Burial Mounds where there’s a Wen family dinner going on

Wwx is all spacey bc he misses his sibs so much but manages to distract EVERYONE from it by making grand declarations and generally being an over-the-top Drama Bi.

WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS LET THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU TAKE CARE OF YOU LET THEM TRY TO MAKE YOU HAPPY STOP MAKING YOURSELF MISERABLE OMG

A-Yuan time!

Wen ning saved some of jyl’s soup to give to a-yuan!

He gives a-yuan a taste of the soup and a-yuan’s all “delicious! One more spoon!”

And after wen ning gives him more, he’s like, ONE MORE SPOON!

PRECIOUS, HE’S PRECIOUS AND SO CUTE

Then we get some Sad Times in the Demon-Subdue Palace where wwx has the saddest series of flashbacks ever

the promise he made to JC (twin heroes of yunmeng!!) that he didn’t keep

and then the oath on the lantern (always stand with justice and live without regrets) which he half-keeps

and then his declaration in the rain with lwj (if i should be killed, let it be by you) which he will keep BUT WE’RE NOT GONNA THINK ABOUT THAT

HE’S SO SADDDDDD

I’M SO SADDDDDDDDDDDDD

THERE’S SADNESS EVERYWHERE

Gross, now we’re in lanling, fastforwarding through that nonsense

Now we’re back at the burial mounds and get more A-YUAN TIME!!

Uh oh, a-yuan just murdered a lotus sprout

He’s all, what’s this?? And yanks the poor thing out of the mudpit it was growing in

Wwx yells at him: WHAT ARE YOU DOING

And a-yuan starts crying and wwx looks like he wants to start bawling too

Wen qing kind of tells him off 

a-yuan’s a little kid and doesn’t know better, she says

Wwx gets this defeated look about him and says it’s fine, i see that it’s not meant to be now

LIKE, HE’S JUST RESIGNED THAT HE CAN NEVER HAVE ANYTHING FROM HOME EVER AGAIN?

HE CAN’T EVEN HAVE ONE STUPID LOTUS PLANT BC OF COURSE HE CAN’T HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT

MY POOR PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY

After a little adorable convo with wen qing, a-yuan goes to comfort wwx in his cave

A-yuan: i’m sorry i made a mistake. Wq says if you miss your sister, you should go see her

Wwx: she’s so far away...i won’t go

A-yuan: hmmm, you should become a bird and fly over there!

AND THEN THEY PRETEND TO BE FLYING BIRDS AND IT’S SO CUTE

But wwx is still sad inside :(

Now we get a time skip! 

~ONE YEAR LATER~

Wwx overhears a bunch of gossipy cultivators talking about how the jin clan is doing a one-month celebration of baby Jin Rulan!!

WWX IS OVERWHELMED WITH JOY

HIS EYES ARE ALL TEARY AGAIN

AND HE’S LIKE, DID YOU  HEAR THAT WEN NING? MY SISTER HAD A BABY! I HAVE A NEPHEW!!

Wen Ning is a supportive bro so he’s all congratulations!!!

And then wwx gets all the happiness gets drained out of him when he remembers that he has no official ties to either clan so he’ll probably never get to see his nephew ever

We cut to Lanling, where i guess guests are arriving for the upcoming celebration

We don’t really care about any of these people

EXCEPT THAT ZEWU-JUN AND HANGUANG-JUN’S ARRIVAL IS ANNOUNCED

AND WE’RE GONNA LISTEN TO LWJ TALK ABOUT HIS BELOVED SOULMATE

Unfortunately he’s talking to asshole cousin jz, fuck that guy

Lwj: since all of his seniors are invited to the first-month celebration, wei ying should also be invited as he is the baby’s senior too

Lwj says this all respectfully, gaze steadily forward and not looking directly at anyone

Jz: you want us to invite wwx even tho he’s the enemy of all four clans??

JFC IF SOMEONE COULD’VE JUST KILLED THIS GUY WE COULD’VE AVOIDED AT LEAST A QUARTER OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE NOW

Lol, lwj glares at jz SO HARD the minute jz calls wwx the enemy; i’m surprised the asshole didn’t drop dead on the spot

Lwj: not an enemy.

Jz: not an enemy? Do you have such a shitty memory that you don’t remember what happened in qiongqi way? Do i need to remind you?

NO LWJ NEEDS YOU TO STFU

Also, HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HANGUANG-JUN THAT WAY??

Lxc: what wangji said isn’t wrong. Wwx hasn’t caused any trouble since he took off to the burial mounds.

Jz: what, you’re taking the traitor’s side too zewu-jun?

You know, i was almost proud of lxc for finally siding with wwx and lwj

But the minute jz throws that accusation, you can see him start to pull back, WTF LXC

So now, since apparently having to deal with JZ wasn’t horrible enough, we get jgs and jgy on the scene, yuck

Jz gives them a summary of the conversation

Oh, i forgot to mention jzx has been here the whole time too but he’s basically useless bc he never shuts up his cousin

Jgy is all like, ah, hanguang-jun is being kind but perhaps inviting wwx is not the best idea ever

And jz is all well, I heard that he went to the burial mounds but no one knows why he went there!

Lwj: to visit an old friend

LWJ IS NOT ASHAMED OF VISITING WWX. HE DOESN’T CARE IF THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS HE WENT THERE TO VISIT HIS SOULMATE

Jz: an old friend?! Wwx is a ruthless killer! Everyone wants him dead! Why do you have a friend like him?

I HATE THIS GUY SO MUCH

Lwj: when did he kill ruthlessly? Please tell us exactly.

DAAAMMN, LOOK AT MY BOY GO!

Jzx finally cuts in here and shuts them both up

He approaches his dad and is like, yeah okay so wwx killed some of our guys before and he’s kind of rebellious or whatever but like hanguang-jun said, he hasn’t done anything wrong for a whole year!

Then he goes on to show us that he’s completely whipped for his wife (AS HE SHOULD BE) by saying, also, since wwx has seceded from the jiang clan, jyl hasn’t been able to see him and she still misses him very much!!

Jzx: it’s a good opportunity to bring him back

His asshole cousin is all, are you crazy??

WILL THIS GUY EVER SHUT UP, OH MY GOD.

But thankfully lxc puts in his two cents!

Lxc: jzx makes a good point. If wwx intends to change and return to the right path again, it’s a good thing!

Jgs starts droning on and on about stuff i don’t give a damn about and lwj throws him the dirtiest of looks the whole time lol

But he more or less agrees to let wwx come on the condition that he turns in Plot Device 2

And jgy is like, SWEET, we can write him a letter telling him he’s invited but he must come alone (BC THAT AIN’T SKETCHY AF) and then once he’s here we can tactfully request he give me, i mean, the jin clan Plot Device 2

Lwj was looking concerned basically the minute jgy started talking but here he chimes in

Lwj: what will you do if he refuses?

BC HE KNOWS WWX IS NOT GONNA HAND THAT THING OVER TO THE JIN CLAN BC THEY’RE A BUNCH OF SLIMY SKEEVY BASTARDS

Then jgy does that thing where he replies without actually answering the question

Jgy: hanguang-jun, why are you so pessimistic? Wwx is not evil or vicious! (FUCK YOU JGY, WE ALREADY KNOW HE’S NOT EVIL OR VICIOUS, NO THANKS TO YOU) i’m sure if we talk it out, he’ll be reasonable and make the right choice!

Oh, thankfully, lxc answers the question properly

Lxc: even if wwx disagrees, he can go back to the burial mounds as long as he promises not to kill any innocents

Which, wwx would definitely promise that bc he’s never killed an innocent person IN HIS LIFE

BC UNLIKE THE JIN CLAN BASTARDS HE HAS INTEGRITY AND A FULLY FUNCTIONING CONSCIENCE

Jgy: hanguang-jun, can we bother you with the errand of writing the letter?

LOL

Jgy says that and we immediately see lxc smile at his little brother

Like, heck yeah, bro you have the chance to talk to your soulmate now! (LXC is trying to win back his greatest wingman title lol)

Ofc lwj keeps his face blank, but he bows and says yes

BC HECK YEAH HE GETS TO DELIVER GOOD NEWS TO HIS SOULMATE

HE’LL BE ABLE TO MAKE WWX SMILE

OFC HE’S GONNA BE ALL OVER THAT!

And that’s the last of the wangxiantics for this episode. Not a lot of them this time around, and none with shared screen time

But you know what

That’s okay

Bc this shows that they’re always on each other’s minds EVEN AFTER A WHOLE YEAR APART!!

Return to Masterpost

[iamthechocobabe]

We All Have Battle Scars

So, two things. One, I just now realized I was spelling Lestallum wrong all this time. WHY DIDN’T YOU GUYS TELL ME???? Second, I just now realized that the ‘codeprint’ Prompto talked about in the game was a barcode on his arm that I never got a chance to take a super close look at. When he said ‘codeprints’ I had assumed it was genetic, like something in your blood or skin. 

Yeah, I’m a dumbass. Sue me. Also, this is long, sorry I’m a schmuck for word vomit. 

We All Have Battle Scars A PromptoXOC soulmate au based on We Intertwined ~Chapter 19~ SFW *POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING FOR ABUSE* Word Count: 4,178

2 months later...

Silence filled the train car as the four friends traveled to Tenebrae, the sound from other passengers drowning out the noises from outside. Every day was getting shorter-12 hour sun filled days were slowly turning to ten hours, then eight, seven and so on. Prompto overheard Gladio and Ignis talking about how that now Lady Lunafreya was dead after being killed in Altissia, there wasn't anything to hold back the Starscourge. 

Soon enough, there wouldn't be daylight. 

Prompto wanted desperately to call Alaea, ask for her advice about the four's struggling friendship and the inevitable darkness that was surrounding the world. Ever since Ignis went blind, Noctis had been too grief stricken with Luna's death to really focus on much else, Gladio was angry, almost blaming Noctis for what happened to Ignis and Ignis was mostly silent, still getting used to going on without his sight. Prompto himself felt confused at the struggling of his three best friends, not sure what to do or say to make anyone feel better. Prompto himself had been heartbroken when Lunafreya passed away, knowing that he would never be able to thank her for encouraging him to be friends with Noctis. 

He wanted to talk to Alaea, ask her how they could overcome this latest hurdle in their friendship. It wasn't like the four hadn't had fights or something before, but this was intense, more intense then anything before. The last time Prompto talked to Alaea was right before they had left for Altissia, but Ignis recommended no one use their cellphones after boarding the train. Since they were headed to Niflheim with the intention of reclaiming the Crystal, Ignis had everyone refrain from using their cellphones in case the Empire was trying to locate and track them. 

It was dark and as Prompto held the torn photo of Alaea in his hands, wishing he could hear her voice again, the world was getting that much darker. 

Noises from the other passengers caused Prompto to look up and he felt his jaw drop when he saw the massive storm cloud outside. It was insane, a giant rain filled cloud hovering over the mountains nearby, ominous looking as Prompto could see the strains of rain coming from the clouds. After grabbing a few pictures, though they weren't that great from the train car, Prompto ran to find Noctis to talk about it, passing Gladio and Ignis along the way. 

"There you are, buddy," Prompto almost ran past Noctis in his rush and forced himself to slow down. "Did you see this? It's unreal..." 

"Never seen anything like it..." Noctis mused and Prompto hummed. "Doesn't make any sense," 

"Do you think it's going to be stormy in Tenebrae?" When Prompto was met with silence, he looked at Noctis. "Noct?" 

Noctis' look darkened as he looked around, looking confused as he stood up and observed the people in the train car. "What's going on?" Noctis whispered, his eyes straining like he couldn't see very well. 

"It's a real mystery," Prompto sighed as he continued to look out the window. "I'm not liking that stormcloud-it's giving me chills,"

"The hell are you doing here?" Noctis approached Prompto and suddenly tried to actually attack him, though Prompto ducked away at the last minute. 

"Easy there, buddy," Prompto said cautiously as he backed away, the passengers starting to notice what was going on. "You alright?" 

Noctis' eyes were still strained and squinted and he held his head for a second like he was in pain before approaching Prompto once again. "Shut up!" he yelled and the passengers began to panic as Noctis drew his sword and lunged at Prompto. 

Backing away, Prompto started to head out of the train car as the person over the bar tried to intervene, though he was smart enough not to actually leave his barrier of saftey. "Be careful there!" the bartender said. 

"Is this for real?" another passenger asked, panic on the car beginning to grow as Noctis followed Prompto out the door and into the sleeping car.

Going around a corner, Prompto observed nervously as Noctis began opening and closing the sleeping compartments, his eyes blazing as he checked every one. "Show yourself!" he yelled into one car and the noise of a baby crying made Prompto go to Noctis again, to try and see what was going on. 

"Uh...Noct?" Prompto asked softly only to almost get backhanded as Noctis took another swing at him, Prompto backing away once again. 

"That son of a bitch..." Noct whispered, his voice filled with anger and sadness as he held his head once again, like he was in pain before continuing on after Prompto, chasing him into the other train cars. 

"C'mon Noct, you're scaring me!" Prompto said as he dashed between the upset passengers as everyone tried to avoid Noctis swinging his sword wildly, insanely. "Seriously, man. Cut it out!" 

Prompto raced to another car, calling out to the passengers to warn them to get away from the center aisle as Noctis followed, eyes still blazing hot with anger. "It's not safe," Prompto tried to reason with Noctis as he stomped towards him. "Plus, you're causing a scene! Quit playing around, okay?" 

"You think this is funny?!" Noctis yelled, swinging his sword once again and causing Prompto to fall over. 

This was beyond a joke-this was paranoia, like Noctis was seeing something only he could see, something that wasn't making sense. This obviously wasn't like Noctis...was he going crazy? Did losing his close childhood friend push him over the edge? Prompto needed to get to Ignis and Gladio, get one of them to talk sense into Noctis, but right now he needed to avoid getting killed by his best friend. 

"Dude, are you seriously trying to kill me?" Prompto yelled as he ran from the car. 

"Why wouldn't I?" Noctis growled as he continued his pursuit. 

Prompto tried to open the door to the next car, but it was locked-with nowhere to go, Prompto was forced to face Noctis, the person who was more like a brother than anything else. 

"What're you after, following me around this whole time?" Noctis demanded and Prompto wondered if he was talking about how Prompto was following him on the journey, following him since high school. "It's all YOUR fault," 

Noctis pushed Prompto against the wall, shoving his forearm against Prompto's neck, making it hard for him to breathe. "What are you talking about?" Prompto gasped, his neck aching like crazy at the force. "Do you really mean that, Noct?" 

"Of course I do!" Noctis yelled. "You can't talk your way out of this!" 

"You won't even let me!" Prompto gasped as Noctis' pushed further into his jugular, constricting his airway. "Noct, please-can't we talk for a sec?"

"Never,"  Noctis choked out, trying to hold back tears for some reason. What the hell was going on? 

A sudden force rocked the train, causing Noctis to fall over as the train pulled to a sudden stop. Taking the opportunity and realizing that they had been pulled over by the Empire, Prompto left the train with the intentions of finding Ignis and Gladio, not thinking about how Noctis could be in danger on the train by himself when he was having what was apparently a manic episode. 

Prompto tried to reach the front of the car, but was stopped by practically every MT nearby, forced to take them out or risk the lives of the passengers as the Empire continued to attack the train, bombing and even using tanks to try and destroy it. Prompto used his gun as he fought against every attack, every wave as he made his way up to the car, telling everyone to be sure to head to the back of the train to take shelter. 

Reaching the front of the train, Prompto felt relief wash over him when he saw Ignis and Gladio trying to work with the train, the engineer now lying dead on the floor along with a few MT's. Fighting the wave of nausea from the scent of fresh blood, Prompto approached the two, Gladio sitting in the engineer's seat and Ignis trying to logically reason and coach Gladio as to what to do to get the train moving. 

"Something's up with Noct," Prompto informed them, his voice hurried and panicked. "He's acting bonkers and he was trying to attack me," 

"Where is he?" Gladio asked. 

"I don't know-" Prompto stopped and almost hit himself for being so stupid. "Shit, he's so out of it, what if he's off the train? Gods, why am I so-" 

"Never mind that," Ignis said and directed Gladio to push a button, starting the train and getting it moving. "Go find him and make sure he's on the train, we'll go slow for as long as we can-call us to let us know what's happening," 

"Got it," Turning right back around, Prompto headed out the car and down the train, taking out MT's along the way and helping out anyone he saw in trouble. His heart raced as he dodged an MT attack, swallowing what fear he felt as he took the MT out and moved onto the next, everything happening so quickly. 

"Do something!" Prompto heard a familiar voice, a voice Prompto had instructed himself to kill if he ever heard it again. 

Ardyn Izunia. 

Imiprial chancellor and murderer of Lady Lunafreya. 

"You," Prompto growled and chased Ardyn up to the top of the train, struggling to keep his footing as he drew his gun and forced Ardyn to a stop with a warning shot at his feet. "Don't move," he warned as Ardyn put his hands up and stood there, though his stupid smirk never left his face. Prompto reached behind him with one arm to pull out his phone to call Ignis and let him know what was happening when Ardyn chose to speak, his snarky voice never losing its confidence, despite being held at gun point. 

"Don't worry," he said, his confidence never once faltering. "I'm sure Alaea will be perfectly alright," 

Prompto froze, his world completely stopped, the phone in his back pocket forgotten as he tightened his grip on his gun. "What-how-" Prompto whispered, Alaea's perfect smile burned in his brain as the thoughts of what Ardyn meant threatened to overwhelm him. "What do you know about her?" 

"Soulmate's are a beautiful thing," Ardyn observed. "Be sure to hold onto her while you can...if she's still at home when you return, that is," 

"Did you do something to her?" Closing in, Prompto aimed the center of his gun right between Ardyn's eyes, fighting the temptation to pull the trigger because he needed to know, needed to make sure Alaea was alright. "What did you do? ANSWER ME!"  

"Nothing as of yet," Ardyn smiled then, his smile sending chills right down to Prompto's very core; Prompto felt a tear escape at the horrifying thoughts that were coming to mind, what this monster would put Alaea through. "But don't worry, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," 

"What-" 

"PROMPTO!" 

Startled, Prompto backed up but couldn't dodge the swing Noctis landed, knocking the gun from his hand. Before he could think to recover, Noctis swung again, Prompto exclaiming as he fell from the train. 

It was hard-after being so used to Prompto's prescence and seeing him almost every day, Alaea didn't know what to do with herself now that he was gone. She passed the time by working hard with the Chocobo's, rekindling her friendship with Libby and having a general nice attitude towards people, even those who commented on her scar. 

"It's kind of refreshing," Libby was telling her one day. Two months had gone by since Prompto left and while they had talked every night for most of the past few months, Alaea still missed him and wished he'd come back soon, naturally. 

Alaea shivered, still remembering when she discovered what had happened with Altissia, when she called Prompto and he told her that they were going to the capital of Niflheim and she wouldn't hear from him until they got back.  

She had been tending to some customers at the restaurant, planning ideas on the expansion for the restaurant once again now that they were getting back into the swing of things, when Libby came up to Alaea with her cellphone. She showed Alaea the news article and Alaea felt like the world dropped out from under her when she saw the news line. 

Altissia in Ruins

"What-what-" Alaea choked out as she ripped the phone from Libby, her heart breaking at the sight of the formerly beautiful city, now completely flooded and some areas on fire, completely destroyed. Fantasies she'd had of her and Prompto strolling down the canals, riding in the gondolas and even attending the Chocobo Moogle Carnival, were now dashed. 

"A tragic event, indeed," 

Glancing up, Alaea noticed the man approaching the two of them, though Alaea subconsciously backed away. His cropped dark red hair and over sized coat felt intimidating, though he was about as poshly dressed as other annoying rich people who had visited the Outpost before. But something about him threw Alaea off, his voice, the smug smile-something made Alaea nervous as he signaled 'don't trust me' through his body language. 

"Death of the Oracle," the man observed, circling Libby and Alaea. "The prince must be in shambles at his bride-to-be. And I hear his poor friend lost his eyesight as well...such a shame," 

Shaking her head, Alaea handed the phone back to Libby, wanting to get away from this person as soon as possible. "I'm going to try and call Prompto," she said and walked away from them, leaving Libby to deal with him as she practically ran into the house. 

Pulling herself away from the memory, Alaea focused back on the conversation between herself and Libby. "What's refreshing?" Alaea and Libby were unloading bags of wood chippings that they used to pad down the sleeping pens at night and were chatting casually about this and that. Alaea hadn't talked to Libby since they were both five, so it was nice to hear Libby's input about things and to just...have a friend. 

"You," Slamming the last bag down, Libby wiped the sweat off her forehead, her left pigtail almost completely loose by now. "You're a lot nicer lately-honestly, it's kind of cool. Reminds me of when we were kids," 

"Yeah," Alaea mumbled. "I guess I was so bitter about things that I turned everyone else away...so, yeah, sorry about that," 

"It's good to have friends," Libby mumbled as she watched the sun go down. "Especially with the world being the way it is," 

Alaea observed as the sun once again went down, this time at four o'clock in the afternoon versus yesterday when it went down at five. Every day was getting shorter and shorter and while Wiz was trying to take extra measures to protect the Outpost from the daemon's that would swarm the night, Alaea felt like it wouldn't be long before they were forced to evacuate. 

"Do you think the new bounty hunter's Wiz hired will be able to protect the Outpost?" Libby asked, looking at some bounty hunter's that now guarded the Outpost at all times. 

After Altissia was destroyed and more daemons began swarming the world, Wiz took what little savings they had left and hired some bounty hunter's to protect the Outpost at night. The bounty hunters seemed decent enough and had the philosophy of being prepared, recommending that everyone pack emergency backpacks of extra clothes, food, water, etc. in case they needed to evacuate. Alaea prayed it wouldn't come to that, but each night they were losing another Chocobo and it was starting to get worrisome. 

"I hear there's talk of evacuating Duscae and Cleigne to Lestallum," Libby observed, though Alaea still chose to remain quiet, her thoughts on Prompto, hoping he was alright. "But, I think someone's looking for you," 

With hope alive, Alaea turned around, hoping to see Prompto standing to the right but instead, found her Aunt Gina, fiddling on the border of the property. When she saw Alaea, she waved softly, though she didn't approach. It had been the first time she'd been back since Alaea confronted her mother and Alaea began to approach first, feeling like she had to at least thank her aunt for leading her to a conclusion with her mother. 

Alaea stopped and frowned in confusion when she felt something in her heart, in her mind. It was an intense fear, fearing something bad was going to happen, wondering what was to come. But while she felt it, they didn't feel like her feelings, it was like she was watching someone else's feelings. Alaea put her hand to her chest in confusion, wondering what had happened to make her this afraid. 

Then the fear changed-it changed to something else, an intense feeling of hurt and anguish, heartbreak and defeat. 

Betrayal. 

"Alaea?" Libby went up to Alaea to ask her was going on, why she was acting weird while Gina approached slowly, not sure if she was welcome or not. That's when Alaea felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, so painful that she wondered if Libby or someone had struck her from behind. 

"What-what the hell?" Alaea fell to her knees at the brute force of the pain as she bit back the tears forming in her eyes. "What happ-" 

A shock to her system threw Alaea backwards, unable to control her body as it convulsed, jerked and twitched, feeling electricity jumping through her blood, making her see red as she dug her fingernails into her palms. Unable to think, unable to breathe, all she could do was focus on the pain as it rippled through her body like a current. 

"Ali?" Wiz approached and glared at Gina, who knelt by Alaea when she fell down. "What the hell did you do?" 

"I didn't do anything-" Gina said as Libby tried to get Alaea to sit up. 

"Wiz, help me carry her," Libby said and Wiz ignored Gina for the time being to scoop Alaea up into his arms and carry her into the house. Setting her gently down on the couch, Alaea drooled and moaned as her eyes were blank, staring ahead. 

"No," Libby's eyes filled with tears, knowing that familiar look and ran to the door. "MOM!" 

Without hesitation, Lonnie ran in and noticed Alaea on the couch, her arms curling into her stomach as she whimpered in pain and Lonnie immediately recognized the sight. 

"Where's that blonde kid, her soulmate?" Lonnie asked Wiz. 

"What?" Wiz looked between Lonnie and Alaea, panic freezing him to the spot. "What's wrong with her?" 

"She's feeling the connection to her soulmate," Libby said, bringing a bowl of water and a towel to try and wipe away the drool and sweat. 

"Is Prompto dying?" Wiz asked, fearful for Prompto for the first time. He knew Prompto Argentum's journey was going to be dangerous, but this...

"We don't know," Lonnie said as she continued to help Libby by making sure Alaea wasn't biting down on her tongue as when she convulsed and occasionally jerked. Gina stood by, not sure what to do or how to help, but not wanting to leave her niece behind as Alaea flinched and twitched again. 

The shrill ringing of the phone distracted everyone as Wiz glanced at it, wondering who could be calling at an inopportune time such as this. "Dammit-now of all times," he grumbled as he answered the phone. "We're closed," 

Wiz almost hung up, but the calm and sophisticated voice on the phone made him pause. "I'd like to speak to Alaea Thorin, please," 

"What?" No one ever called for Alaea, except Prompto and occasionally Libby. And now? They would call now?"Who is this?" 

"The after effects of the taser should be wearing off by now-put her on the phone, would you?" 

"Who the hell are you?" Wiz almost hung up, but nearly dropped the phone when he heard Prompto's voice in the background. 

"Wiz! Don't give her the phone!" he called out, sounding weak and destroyed. Prompto yelled in pain and at the same time, Alaea screamed and held her stomach. 

Wiz dropped the phone like it was made of hot iron and backed away, not sure what to do. 

"Wiz? What is it?" Lonnie approached the phone, but Wiz stopped her. 

"It's...someone's hurting Prompto and that's who's..." Wiz couldn't find the words and felt horror creeping into his chest as Alaea whimpered again. "He wants to talk to Alaea," 

"Give her the phone, then," Lonnie said and went over to help Alaea up. 

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Wiz walked in front of Lonnie. "I'm not letting my daughter talk to a psychopath!" 

"What does he want?" Libby asked at the same time as Lonnie and Wiz continued to bicker. 

"He's obviously calling for a reason-" Lonnie tried to reason, but Wiz wasn't having it. 

"Lonnie, I swear by the Six, you can be really dense sometimes," 

"Where's Prompto?" 

During the commotion, no one saw Alaea get up from the couch and hobble over to the phone. Now holding it up to her ear, Alaea listened intently, still reeling from the pain inflicted on Prompto earlier. The after effects from an electric shock to her-their-system made Alaea exhausted, but she bit through the pain. 

"Ah, Alaea-perhaps this time, you could actually speak to me instead of running off like before," 

Him. Alaea could recognize that creepy, smug tone from anywhere, despite hearing it only once-it was the red headed guy, the person who sent chills down Alaea's back, the person who Alaea avoided when he was here. It turned out, she was right. Of all the times for Alaea to be right, it was now? 

"Where is he?" Alaea walked into the kitchen to sit down on a stool, the cord from the phone following her as she maneuvered it around objects in the kitchen. 

"He's here, I assure you-you must be feeling simply awful right about now. While this was not the ideal situation, I must say that this worked out splendidly," 

"Ali! Fucking hang up the phone!" Alaea held her breath as she heard Prompto's voice for the first time since he left Altissia. He was panicked and afraid and Alaea could feel the fear eating into him, the deep and emotional trauma causing Alaea to strongly feel their soulmate connection. 

But she also felt it when Prompto's arm was twisted as her arm stung at the pain. 

"What are you talking about?" Alaea wiped the tears from the pain in her eyes and forced herself to stay calm. This psychopath held the cards right now and Alaea knew the slightest mistake could cause her to lose the game-to lose Prompto. "What do you want?" 

"Well, I originally planned on holding you as a bit of leverage-ah, it's not important now," 

So, he was there for a reason on that day. Alaea held her breath, thankful she had followed her instinct and not given this prick the time of day. Who knew where she would be if she had stayed to talk, listened to him as he tried to lure her away? 

"Let me talk to Prompto," Alaea bit her lip to keep herself from screaming when she felt a pain on her left cheek-she was not going to give this asshole the satisfaction of hearing her pain, knowing that she was in pain as well because of her and Prompto's soulmate connection. 

"Your love is quite brave, Prompto," The man said, his voice oozing with what felt like pure evil. "She has not once cried out, though I imagine the pain and fear she feels is enormous," 

"You called me for a reason, right?" Alaea stood up, ignoring the pain in her left leg and continued to talk, forcing herself to not raise her voice or get angry. "Let me talk to him," 

There was silence for a few seconds before Alaea heard Prompto's voice and she wanted to cry at the beautiful sound, even though it was weak and clearly in pain. 

"Ali-please, just hang up," 

"Prompto-" 

"I'm sorry, Ali. I'm so, so sorry this is happening-please, please hang up the phone. I'll be okay, just hang up," 

"It was a microwave," 

There was a small pause and Alaea pictured the confused look on Prompto's face and she smiled, thinking of him. "What?" 

"The joke-how the guy who was selling the TV's knew it was the blonde girl even after she died her hair, why he couldn't sell it to her," Alaea laughed once, the tears now freely falling. "It wasn't a TV-it was a microwave," 

There was another pause before she heard a soft chuckle, though she could hear Prompto's sadness and pain through his soft laughter. 

"I love you, Chocobee," 

Closing her eyes, Alaea opened her mouth to respond, but the dial tone stopped her words.